This is a fantastic reference for anyone interested in oaks, especially the deciduous oaks, as a deciduous oak is featured in the book. Although written in the U.K., the representative oak in this book looks almost identical to the U.S.'s eastern White Oak (quercus alba) or California White Oak/Valley Oak (quercus lobata).

The illustrations are full-color and painstakingly precise -- a pleasure to look at! You could learn a great deal this way even if you didn't know how to read. Of course, reading is a pleasure too, especially since the book is so well-organized.

The various chapters deal with how an acorn grows into an oak; an oak tree in the 4 seasons; common animals (insects, birds, invertibrates, mammals) found in and around oaks, various plants and fungi found in and around oaks, etc. I learn something new each time I browse through.

Yes, I am an oak-nut, as if you couldn't tell. :) If you are too, I wholeheartedly recommend this book! You will truly love it.

The rediscovery of Greek and Roman literature kickstarted the Renaissance in Europe. In a similar way, though on a somewhat smaller scale, the conveniently Imagist makeover of Chinese poetry by Ezra Pound and Amy Lowell undoubtedly had a seismic and far-reaching effect on later 20th century American poetry. In his learned Introduction to this outstanding and indispensable Anthology, Weinberger traces the many subsequent debts owed by a galaxy of fine American poets to that seminal work of re-invention. Such impressively talented scholar-translators as Burton Watson, J. P Seaton, Jonathan Chaves and several others receive an honourable mention, though their work is well anthologised elsewhere, and Weinberger¡¦s brief seems to have been only to include full-time poets: with the possible exception of Hinton, that is. (However, Sam Hamill's, Arthur Sze's and David Young's names have inexplicably been left out: all three of them marvellous contemporary re-interpreters of the classical Chinese tradition, and all three fine poets in their own right.)

Weinberger concentrates in particular on five exemplary writers: Ezra Pound himself, William Carlos Williams, Kenneth Rexroth, Gary Snyder, and David Hinton. They are certainly all major figures, and it's useful to have them grouped together in this way (particular since the last of them diverges in such interesting ways from the Imagist 'Less is More'tradition: though he certainly 'makes it new' in accordance with that central dictum, which is even quoted in the original Chinese characters both on the cover and on the titlepage).

I thought I already knew quite a lot about American translators from classical Chinese---a whole shelf of mine already groans under their weight---but the William Carlos Williams renderings were entirely new to me, and so were some of the later Pound translations.

For this reader it's hard to contain his excitement at such a beautifully produced edition (only spoiled by a spine-label that's somehow been glued on upside down), and I recommend anyone interested in either recent American poetry or in the classical Chinese tradition to go out and buy it straight away. It will admirably complement Minford and Lau's recent historical anthology of all translations (both European and American, and both scholarly and 'creative'), which of course covers a much broader range, but which is similarly ground-breaking and enthralling to read.

As a nurse I have found this book to be of benefit for maintainance of a positive outlook for persons with chronic or terminal illness. I have found that when a loved one is non-responsive it helps the support person(be it family or friend) to read from this book to the ill person. It provides comfort for both.

So often I'll have a word I need "on the tip of my tongue" and then it disappears. The Oxford Reverse Dictionary is a marvelous source for finding those elusive words. The other day I wanted the word for pig intestines used as food, so I looked under "pig" and there it was: "chitterlings." I find this an indispensable resource.

This is the standard dictionary for English-speaking students of Pali.

First published in 1925, and the work of just two people, it's now a little out of date in places and occasionally misleading.

But for sheer depth of coverage, etymologies, and canonical references, there is still no better Pali-English dictionary than this.

This collection is perfect for those who love Indian literature as well as novices. It strikes a good balance between featuring male and female authors, and has a diverse selection of poems and short stories (as well as Mahadevi Varma's brilliant essay on feminism). Some background knowledge on Indian culture and society might be required, though, as the footnotes did not often explain nuances.

Ms. Kushigians book is quite the contrary to todays paper. It reminds me of the Barny show. By the way, my mom, Elizabeth Kushigian, just farted again!

Although there are a lot of books about CS Lewis out there, I found this one to be much better than I had anticipated. Rather than being a series of merely academic essays about his work, the authors of these essays do what good critics should do--help one understand the original text on a deeper level. Reading these essays not only helped increase my understanding of Lewis' theology but also deepened my enjoyment of his fictional works. The essay by Root entitled "Tools Inadequate and Incomplete: C.S. Lewis and the Great Religions" was particularly enlightening in articulating how Lewis' perspective on Christianity acknowledges commonalities with the great world religions yet still preserves the unique contribution of Christianity as well. In all, the essays do a great job of synthesizing broad themes (including hell, scientism, language, gnosticism, and grace) across many of C.S. Lewis works, fictional and nonfiction, and have personally helped me in my own journey of faith.

This is definitely worth the purchase if you are at all a fan of European Theatre. The plays of Plautus inspired many others, including Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors. Thus, any fan of the theatrical world would be missing out if they did not check out this book of the wildly irreverent, slapstick style writing of Plautus.