I loved reading this book because I always wondered what being a police officer was like. The stories in Cop Tales 2000 made me feel as though I was right there on the street with the cops. If you want to read about what real cops do, this is the book! I highly recommend it.

An Outstanding collection of Stories associated with the world of Law Enforcement, crafted by Authors that have lived the experience of the world of COPS. It is a must read. It brings you incidents of the real world that we all exist in. I read them twice. Read Cop Tales 2000, you'll love it. Fascinating.

This beautiful cookbook is organized by season, with four fresh produce items featured for each season. This allows even the most novice cook to find simple recipes using the freshest of ingredients. This book is a great place to start to add seasonal produce to your menues.

The recipes are not limited to those contributed by Junior League members, but also include recipes from notable California restaurants.

A bonus: this book is so attractive that it could practically be a coffee table book. The photographs and information about Northern California are exceptional.

Recently I was having dinner over a friend's house and the side dish being served was Brussels Sprouts. I never liked them as a child and the thought of eating them now, as an adult, was just as appealing as it was back then. Not to insult my host, I tried some. To my amazement, I LOVED them! I had to have the recipe (Caper Lemon Brussels Sprouts). The delicious side dish comes from the Junior League of Oakland - East Bay's cookbook, California Fresh Harvest, A Season Journey Through Northern California. The book contains recipes of Northern California's famous delicacies including Dungeness Crab, Cioppino, Butternut Squash Soup with Sage, Sizzling Shrimp, Goat Cheese Tart with Lavender Honey, Asparagus and Bell Pepper Risotto, and Mediterranean Penne Pasta to name a few. There are also many recipes for chicken, beef and lamb to give some variety to your usual dinners. The book even gives you menu ideas taken from recipes in the book for such special occasions such as Valentine's Day dinners and Mother's Day Brunch. The main body of the book is split into four main parts, Spring, Summer, Fall & Winter, containing menus, recipes and commodities in each section. The recipes are dishes you would find in the best restaurants but so easy to make even the most inexperienced of cooks, such as I, can make them. Moreover, the recipes do not contain those hard to find ingredients that you need to travel the world to find! I have not tried any of the desert recipes yet but they look awesome. I love the book so much I bought one for my mother and sister-in-law. This is one cookbook that does not just sit in my kitchen for looks

Absolutely a phenomenonal cookbook! Just purchased on vacation in Cape May, New Jersey at Love the Cook. Gorgeous pictures, wonderful recipes......California at it's best! A real winner...a real find.

Gina Gallo's memoir Armed and Dangerous raises this question in one of its more vivid anecdotes. Sometimes outrageous, frequently hilarious, and always thoughtful, this book provides an up-close, gritty, honest look at the lives of Chicago's "Po-lice." Gallo brings us inside the training academy, squad cars, and district headquarters. Then she takes us to the streets, housing projects, and crime scenes she came to know during her 16-year career with the Chicago police force. After reading this book, you will perceive police officers differently. Stereotypes are shattered as we see how the cop lifestyle affects individual officers in very different ways. If you know Chicago, Gina Gallo's book is a must. Even if you don't know Chicago, this is a fascinating, unforgettable read

Gina Gallo writes sharp, tight stories about her life as a cop and the many bizarre and fascinating individuals she met along the way. Any writer would envy her gift for spare, lean description and terse, authentic dialogue. "Armed And Dangerous" surpasses her fine "Crime Scenes" and should soon be a major feature film, or perhaps a dark television series. The ending will damn near break your heart. This book is highly recommended to anyone who wants to actually taste the experience of a street cop in the 'hood.

...ARMED AND DANGEROUS...is the story of an evolution. A memoir of the author's cop life from her days as a recruit through the events that led to her retirement, this book sets all the events, bizarre and mundane, that take place in the cop life within the context of one person's experience, and it is a moving, unforgettable read. You really do come away from this book knowing what it must be like to be a cop. And evidently if you are a cop you come away with all your own particular experiences confirmed by the universal truths that Gina Gallo, in unpretentious, direct and hardhitting language, so ably and vividly describes. This is a terrific book. It reminds me of some of the best Vietnam literature...--it's that intense, that personal, that memorable.

A collection of stories from various chicago police officers that just aren't interesting. And the writing is very poor. The word "cheap" comes to mind.

I recommend you skip this book and go directly to Gina Gallo's other book "Armed and Dangerous".
Or " What Cops Know" and "Pure Cop: by Connie Fletcher.
Or "Homicide : A Year on the Killing Streets" by David Simon. Another great book is "The Corner : A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood" by David Simon & Edward Burns.

There are a lot of anecdotal police books being published these days, many of them self-published. The primary reasons officers are paying to see their books in print is that publishing houses are rejecting them because many are poorly written, and even the good ones are not selling well. There are exceptions. Chicago police officer Gina Gallo has authored a well-written anecdotal police book titled Crime Scenes, published by Blue Murder Press.

Gallo pulls no punches as she colors the gritty world of Chicago's mean streets, the gangs, guns, hookers and the dope. She tells the story of cops trying to make a difference and trying to stay alive in a world turned upside down by street violence and stupid bureaucrats.

She begins with a story that reveals a little about police humor, that thing that keeps cops sane. Gallo handles humor wonderfully in this opening story and in others that follow as she shows just how goofy people can be. But just when she gets you laughing, sometimes out loud, her next story will tug at your heartstrings.

The book is not just about cops, but about victims, too. Some of those are funny, but many are heartbreaking, revealing a compassionate side of police work never reported by the media or seen by those who look only for the negative in police officers.

Each story takes five to ten minutes to read, which is perfect in this fast-paced world. Be careful, though: The stories are sort of like potato chips. You can't stop after just one.

"crime scenes" is a journey onto the streets and a look through the eyes of cops. this book is real and does not hold back. you will read about things that cops have to deal with on a daily basis. about private feelings that would take years of trust between you & a cop for them to even reveal to you. stories... about how cops cope with working for a huge political machine, a kid with big dreams trying to get out of the ghetto, working undercover and trying to sweep the streets of drugs/crime, losing a partner, and a prostitute who thinks a baby will help get her off the streets. you will laugh, cry, and be shocked after you read this book but be thankful that gina gallo exposed her life as a cop to write such a moving book as crime scenes. trust me, you will rarely get the truth and a real look behind the scenes of those who promised to "serve and protect..."