I love this author. I have all her books and have watched her grow in breadth and skill. When she has a new book, I buy it immediately - new and in hard cover or revisions of earlier books.

This one was a "small disappointment" - those who have read her STARS books will recognize the quote. Actually, it was a big disappointment. I found the main characters unsympathetic and somewhat boring. The concept of the book is great, making its reality somehow worse.

SEP has a sense of humor about the realities of life, the challenges of growing beyond where a character currently is - fun, sexy, human and positive. BREATHING ROOM disappoints.

It's orgasmic, addictive, and just makes you want more when you're finished. I bought the book the day it came out and let it sit on my shelf for a week. I couldn't bring myself to read it because I knew I'd finish it in one reading and then I'd be craving more. Each one of SEP's books is interesting and written pretty well, but her last two hardcovers..."This Heart of Mine" and "The Breathing Room" are her best work. "The Breathing Room" isn't a conventional romance, it's a novel that comes alive and wraps itself around your heart. SEP sinks her hands into the depths of the human soul and truly captures every emotion in words that come together like poetry.
Both Ren and Isabel are well-developed, a truly complimentary couple. I love the fact that all of SEP's novels feature characters that are almost polar opposites, usually very stubborn, independent and righteous. Even the sub-plot between Ren's ex-wife and her husband is fully developed and thoroughly enjoyable. I'm the kind of reader that usually flips through sub-plot scenes but you can't really pull this one away from the rest of the story. It fits in there perfectly and without it the book really couldn't be whole.
You won't regret buying this one, don't wait for the paperback! Buy it. You'll probably be reading it more than once.

I couldn't wait for the release of Susan Elizabeths Phillips new book 'Breathing Room". She is one of my favorite authors and like all her books before this one did not disappoint me. The characters are great. I love Ren, the bad boy movie star and Isabel,the self-help doctor. Most of all i loved being in the Tuscany countryside. The description of the towns and the townspeople made me feel like I was there. The worst thing about a Phillips book is when it is finished. I can't wait for her next one. I am truly a hugh fan of hers.

We used this text for our Beginning Russian class in college and let me say that it's the worst text to use. The WHOLE CONVERSATIONS ARE IN RUSSIAN and EVEN THE WRITTEN TEXT IS IN RUSSIAN!!!.....There are no English translations and since Russian is a difficult language to learn you need the translations side by side with the Russian. By using this book it really discouraged me from continuing Russian! Quite a few students felt the same as I did about this text. This text states it's for beginners, but no way, it's far for the intermediate-advanced student or a student who has background in the language. If you are looking to learn Russian on your own try Pimsleur's Russian Quick & Easy or Pimsleur Russian: Basic. for audio only. Then once you've mastered that, then try Living Language Ultimate: Russian in order to learn the reading and writing. They provide translations for you (text only, not on tapes)

When I first time found this book in the university library,I was attracted by this book so much,and again and again I reborrowed this book from the liberary.And when I travelled in Russia last year I bought the travel guide of lonely planet series,it also recommends this book as good russian textbook.Finally I decided to have one my own copy ,and I searched it at Amazon.com.

But when I saw the general review of this book I was surprised that this book has "only" three stars!And I can't help but write a review to counterbalance it.This is really a rather good one on the market with its relatively low price.The downstairs said that this book doesn't have English translation to accompany the Russian text.I don't see it as a drawback.If there's English translation beside the Russian text,you would probably rely on the English translation and would not spend time to read the Russian one, which I think will hinder the learning of a new language.

The content of this book is well organized and the materials are very authentic whihout losing fun.I really think it's one of the best text book for the beginners of this difficult language, and I truly recommend this to everyone who would puck up Russian language efficiently and happily!

This Russian Language book is by far the best beginner Russian book I have ever seen. I studied with this book in College and by the end of two semesters I had a wonderful base of Russian grammar and vocabulary. This book gave me such a great foundation I was sucessful with my studies and today I am in a PhD Russian program.

This is a this book of three essays with some just sort of interesting photos and illustrations. I was expecting lots of great Anime and collectable art that is inspired by Manga and Anime, but this is a companion to a traveling exhibit of art inspired by Anime and Manga. The art is just ok, nothing really interesting, and the essays are dull as if written for a thesis. There are way too many footnotes, and phrases like "ontological insecurity". I just don't see this type of art as high-brow art. Skip this book.

The synergy between Japanese anime and American pop culture is explored in this book, a companion piece to the traveling exhibition currently in installation at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. My Reality examines the role of anime on modern art; in particular, there's a technology-friendly bent to anime, which the book asserts has been assimilated in the technique of "serious" artists in both hemispheres. The book, much like the exhibition, touches upon the common anime themes of high technology, aliens, cyborgs and so on, but through a series of essays, draws a link between these and real-life themes such as gender roles and popular and consumer culture. Showcasing artwork from emerging artists like Takashi Murakami, Mariko Mori, and Paul McCarthy, this book is an interesting, although way too brief, commentary on art and culture in the face of technology and the future, as well as providing additional depth to the context of this intriguing exhibition.