My friends and I are working on Jules Verne for our writing class. We read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Around the World in Eighty Days. We were very excited about this new Captain Nemo. My teacher also is having us read Mysterious Island. My teacher also loves Jules Verne and he listened to part of this audiobook and he ordered his own copy. What we all liked the most was the science of the oceans and how Captain Nemo used those sciences. Captain Nemo also has a great crew like Sonja and Ari. We liked the sea creatures with the ESP powers and the story of good verses evil. This would be a cool comic book or movie.

My friend bought the Captain Nemo book and was telling me about it, so I bought a copy of the audiobook (cause I travel a lot and listen to most of the best selling audiobooks). I must admit, this Captain Nemo story is great. The whole idea of this genius, submarine commander in the future is very unique. One of the my favorite scenes is when Captain Nemo, Titus and Jackie are using the top of the Nautilus as a driving range in the Carribean Sea. That image just shows how bold and arrogant Captain Nemo and his crew were. A lot of my friends at NYU loved this whole Captain Nemo idea. We hope the author has a sequel. We want to know what happens with Captain Ari, Sonja and Tiger.

My wife and I take our three children on camping trips and sometimes the long drives can be uneventful, so, we take the kids to the bookstore and let them pick out books to read and audiobooks to listen to. When we went to get Harry Potter's latest novel, Goblet of Fire, I was surprised to see my fourteen year old daughter with a copy of the Captain Nemo audiobook. At the register I looked it over and asked her if she really wanted it. She told me a bunch of her friends in school read the book and have the audiobook. So, all of us listened to this tape and I must admit, my wife and I were very impressed. The story of a group scientists struggling with the need to do good and a secret crew of submarine commanders was a brilliant mix of literature, science and adventure. Captain Nemo takes you on a magical journey with a crew of sailors and soldiers who battle an evil warrior named Uriah. Along the way there are gigantic sea creatures by the name of Goliath, Hermes and Brutus. All these creatures of the deep oceans have a connection with the legendary Jules Verne captain as he discovers one of his sons is a traitor. For parents sake, I would rate this a great story for teenagers. The morals in this story are just what the book world needs.

My friend brought a copy of this audiobook back from Baltimore, after the holidays. I have listened to this story of Edgar Allan Poe's life and I have started doing some research for a literature paper. The version of this story is amazing. My friends and I have never heard such great talent before. The way this writer formed the relationship between Edgar and Lenore is very moving and breathtaking. If anyone is doing a term paper or research on American writers and poets, this one will make it even more fun. Ian.

I can understand why some readers are comparing Edgar Allan Poe: A Love Story to Stephen King or Anne Rice. But, I urge listeners to take note: Poe was a real person, not a ficticious character. I did a term paper on Poe years ago and visited his house in Baltimore. From my studies and real live experience at Poe's House I must say this audiobook has also become "Haunted", in a wonderful way. Poe's struggle with his own short comings, self-demands and demons resulted in his untimely death. His genius was too much for him to handle... If you are looking for biographys, watch out for the critics who wrote after 1890. For those who are new to Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven", "The Tell-Tale Heart","The Bells", "Lenore", etc, this audiobook is one of the best out there on the market. Poe's poems always had a rhythm different from other poets and for this he was constantly bashed. But Poe was also the kind of person who could bounce back at the critics and seek revenge. Edgar Allan Poe: A Love Story is that revenge. Just listen to the story-teller, it's as if you are there. You can feel Edgar's heart breaking.

I especially like the simple little, live stage production of this audiobook. It gives a fresh, raw edge to one of Americas earliest 'bad boys' in the early world of entertainment. Too bad Stephen King, Anne Rice or other mystery-horror writers can't produce something like this. These authors should think about doing something on Vincent Price or Boris Karloff. But for now, I highly recommend this twisted Edgar: Love Story

A sensitive and perceptive young college freshman from south Alabama, Eugene B. Sledge volunteered for Marine Corps officer training school during the middle of W.W. II. However, such was Sledge's desire to join the fighting before the war ended, he purposefully flunked out of school and promptly joined the ranks of the enlisted Marines.

Upon reporting to boot camp in San Diego, Sledge was introduced to his Drill Instructor with this eye-opening greeting: "If any of you idiots think you don't need to follow my orders, just step right out here and I'll beat your @ss right now. Your soul may belong to Jesus, but your @ss belongs to the Marines. You people are recruits. You're not Marines. You may not have what it takes to be Marines."

Fortunately, Sledge did indeed have what it took to be a Marine, and he has written WITH THE OLD BREED: AT PELELIU AND OKINAWA, an engaging personal chronicle of the horror of war as seen through the eyes of a young Marine grunt. Though this book is a personal account of historical events, it reads like a novel. Sledge is able to transform the course language of a salty Marine and the brutality of war into unembellished passages whose honesty have a lyrical beauty all their own:

"The situation was bad enough, but when the enemy artillery shells exploded in the area, the eruptions of soil and mud uncovered previously buried Japanese dead and scattered chunks of corpses. Like the area around our gun pits, the ridge was a stinking compost pile.

If a Marine slipped and slid down the back slope of the muddy ridge, he was apt to reach the bottom vomiting. I saw more than one man lose his footing and slip and slide all the way to the bottom only to stand up horror-stricken as he watched in disbelief while fat maggots tumbled out of his muddy dungaree pockets, cartridge belt, legging lacings, and the like. Then he and a buddy would shake or scrape them away with a piece of ammo box or a knife blade.

We didn't talk about such things. They were too horrible and obscene for even hardened veterans. The conditions taxed the toughest I knew almost to the point of screaming. Nor do authors normally write about such vileness; unless they have seen it with their own eyes, it is too preposterous to think that men could actually live and fight for days and nights under such terrible conditions and not be driven insane. But I saw much of it there on Okinawa and to the me the war was insanity."

WITH THE OLD BREED does not concern itself with a the strategic and tactical campaign of the Pacific Island hopping campaign. Rather, it is a a fascinating portrait of an sensitive young man's baptism under fire -- a first hand narrative of an ordinary young man's extraordinary bravery on a few remote Islands in the Pacific Ocean. No W.W.II library is complete without this book. Highly recommended.

Three veterans of the First Marine Division have written accounts of WWII in the Pacific. E.B. Sledge in this book, William Manchester in "Goodbye Darkness," and Robert Leckey in "Strong Men Armed." Sledge's book gives an honest, plain spoken, first hand account of two horrific campaigns. He pulls no punches in describing the brutality and the horror, but he doesn't dwell on it. He merely describes it in a matter of fact fashion.

Leckey's book ("Strong Men Armed") doesn't dwell on personal experiences, but gives the vast panorama of the Navy/Marine Corps island hopping campaign, and helps to put Sledge's personal memoir into the context of the whole war in the Pacific.

Manchester's book ("Goodbye Darkness") reads something like the out-loud ruminations of a mental patient working through unresolved issues on the psychiatrist's couch.

Leckey is a noted military historian who has written a number of very good books on the subject. Manchester is a noted author, and of the three has the most recognizable name. Sledge, however, although not a professional writer, is the First Division alumnus who has written the best book on the Pacific War. (Leckey runs a close second and Manchester a distant third).

Very few authors of books on the war in the South Pacific bring the vivid first hand experiences to light the way Dr. Sledge is able to do. He paints a picture that your mind and spirit is able to see as you read his words. He tells of the funny side of war, if there is one, the emense amount of hard work involved, and the brutality of war as he experienced it. The contrast of fighting on a barren coral rock, as was Peleliu, to the muck and mud of Okinawa is compelling.

As I have been a close personal friend of Dr. Sledge for over 30 years, I have heard many times in his own words the accounts of the battles fought on Peleliu and Okinawa. However, Dr. Sledge, in the words he writes is able to bring the battles to life, and involve the reader as if they were there. His story is so much like the man he is, strong, well prepared, confident, a believer in God, and willing to go to war for his country and "kill japs".

Anyone who wishes to gain insight into the nature of the war with the Japanese, and of war in general, needs to read this book.

It is great to see a book like this. After all the years of people, movies and tv skipping over the idea of a woman president, here comes an unknown author out of nowhere with one of the most exciting ideas in the book world. Xavier Joseph Carbajal's Lady President is an exciting statement with great colorful, believable players. All the way from Senator Trevor Thomas, the multi-millionare-Washington D.C., political bully, to Joey Adiar, the lone gunman. The way this author shaped beautiful, powerful women into this story was excellent. I picked this one up when I was visiting a friend in Boston. I highly recommend this one. This is a high spirited, tale of a woman's struggle for respect, wisdom for her duty and strength in a time of crisis. If you see this book in the store, skip the dustjacket and read some of the pages. Pick a page, any page. All of this story is fresh and fast paced. This author is going to be up there with Grisham, Clancy, Koontz and the rest of the top ten. And there better be a sequel.

I had to pick a bunch of books to do my government paper. Lady President was one of the books. My teacher said it was great for a fiction but since there has not been an America woman president I could only use it for entertainment purposes. Still this book was the talk of my class. And I did my paper on other women in American politics. My older sister and my mom read Lady President and they loved it. They thought President Marie Arcola was a strong, tough character. We also liked Senator Ttrevor Thomas and the other characters. Someday this story might be true or a story like it. I will be going to college in two years and plan to go into education. I know for a fact there is politics in the field of education. I think this book educated a bunch of my friends and I about America with a woman president.

I am doing a high school paper about women in politics and I read Lady President. It is difficult to understand why women have to struggle in this country and I can identify with President Marie Arcola as she tries to get the generals and senators to cooperate and let her do her job. My teacher brought up this idea of an American woman president in class and the class was divided. Some of my friends read this book and were impressed. My government class has learned alot about other countries from this story. Especially Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. And the way the Taliban treated women. I think Lady President is ahead of its time and we hope to see another book with President Marie Arcola.

Effective Perl Programming is a concise, well written guide that is packed with useful Perl tips. The book is a series of "Items" (in the same style as Effective C++) that are each a tip about how to use Perl. Each tip is accompanied by a detailed description that discusses the pros and cons or each tip and several examples. The tips are then arranged into sections such as "Regular Expressions" and "Object Oriented Programming". In a relatively small book the authors manage to present an enormous amount of helpful information.

This book is a worthwhile purchase if you are a new or intermediate Perl developer. The tips presented here will really help improve your code. However, if you have been working with Perl for a while then this book isn't worth the money. There might be a tip or two that you don't know, but chances are you know most of what is presented.

This is an excellent book. It runs through 60 items, through regular expressions, "map", and "grep". Each item describes a concepts and best usage of one of the core concepts of Perl. This may be one of the first technical books I read from start to finish (the very *best* way to read this book of progressive concept development). Reading this book changed my understanding of Perl programming, improved my code (by the first 50 pages), and reduced my programming mistakes.

This was also the single most fun technical book I have read. Not comedy, but true delight at finding new ways to use Perl. I can readily believe that Joseph Hall is a successful and popular instructor, if this is an example of his class design.

The day I got this book, I turned to page 1 and started reading. Two hours later, I had made it only to page 80. Why? Because this book is DENSE and FULL of tips and tricks that will expand the horizons of the intermediate programmer. I spent a lot of time studying the numerous examples in order to soak up all the information that was being presented.

I've been programming with Perl since 1992 and teach it at a community college. And yet with every turn of the page, I learned something new. Examples:

Making regular expressions more efficient

Using map() and grep()

How to call a subroutine from inside a string

Great stuff! The techniques I've learned from this book have been incorporated into my new Perl scripts and they are shorter and faster than ever before.

I can't lavish enough praise on this book. Authors Joseph Hall and Randal Schwartz should be commended. If you have been using Perl for some time and want to hone your skills, get this book now.

Our family looked a long time before finding the info that Joseph Jenkins presents in his book. Having moved onto raw land after living in camping trailers and RVs, we had been used to chemical toilets and now faced a situation where we were weekly going to a dump site. I had heard that there were "composting toilets" which were a great alternative, especially for organic farmers, but that they were very expensive. Jenkins' book contributed more to our life than any other resource excluding the Holy Bible. He presents well documented facts for any one who is concerned with bacteria, disease, the environment, recycling and perhaps best of all simplicity and economics. Joes book has helped our family to live a less stressful and more productive life. What he presents can be understood by anyone and will fit the budget of the poorest of us. Joe Jenkins has given us one more tool to help us all return our planet to the beautiful garden it was intended to be.

One could be forgiven for thinking that this is just another "how-to" book, albeit a bit off the beaten path of woodworking manuals and the like. Not that "The Humanure Handbook" doesn't deliver practical information. On the contrary, the book empowers the reader to exploit a vital and overlooked resource, and to eliminate personal contribution to a chronic source of pollution, water and power waste in the bargain. (Trying doing *that* with a router.) The methods described are cheap and simple. And the author puts his money where his mouth is, espousing methods he has personally employed for over two decades, and backing this practical experience with impressive in-depth research.

This much easily justifies the purchase price, but there's much more here than "A Guide to Composting Human Manure".

The Humanure Handbook dispels some fallacies of commonly accepted and widely repeated composting techniques. Even if you're already an avid composter (and I was) chances are Jenkins has some surprises for you (and he did).

As social commentary, I can think of no other "how-to" book that tells such a compelling, frightening tale of blind assumption and culturally ingrained self-destructiveness. We see with startling clarity how the "civilized" world has combined ignorance, chemistry and technology to convert a needed resource into a nightmarish and wholly unnecessary problem. We are forced to confront the false assumptions each of us has unconsciously absorbed. And, by extension, we are forced to question how many other fundamentally bad ideas have become invisibly institutionalized in modern society.

Unlike many preachy indictments of modern life, however, The Humanure Handbook provides answers rather than merely posing questions. The solutions can be applied on any scale, from personal to global, in virtually any climate and economic environment.

If I have a quibble with the book, it is that key concepts are repeated extensively. I suspect some fierce editing could boil the book down by a fair chunk. To an extent, the repetition is by design; most of the book's chapters can be read in isolation, and it makes a superb reference volume. I suspect most readers who get through the introduction will end up reading it cover to cover, and a bit of repetition is a small price to pay for a message that is vital, practical, maddening, empowering, humorous, and inspiring.

*Everyone* should read this book.

What a fun and informative book. Joe's ability to include much needed scientific information in a light hearted and comic way makes the reading truely enjoyable. Composting toilets are catching on for many reasons throughout the world and I see why this book has become a primary source of facts about the whole process of using human manure through a low cost composting method. I have actually used a toilet built to his specs--with the 5 gallon plastic bucket and saw dust--and must say it works. My wife and I are planning to add one of our own to a little cabin on our 80 acre tree farm. Have a laugh and learn how to reduce your impact on the Earth. Read the Humanure Handbook!

I read this book during my 4th class of Espanol at the university level. This is not an introductory book, so don't bother to read it unless you have a solid understanding of Spanish basics, including basic conjugation, the subjunctive mood, etc.

This book has a lot of tips to sharpen your Spanish. Chapter 8 has "sentence starters" to help you start off your spoken Spanish; evidently these are the equivalent to English's "well..." or "the thing is..." Chapter 9 has "snappy answers" organised according to how you want to respond (e.g. in disbelief, with surprise, etc.) The answers for affirmation are quite useful (e.g. esta bien, claro, de acuerdo). Of course, you can easily get this information from any college-level textbook, but the distribution of these words into nicely organised categories is quite useful. There is also a chapter on how to swear effectively (evidently chingar is a strong word), which I never did in my classroom. An earlier chapter on how to use 64 key verbs was invaluable as well.

One particular chapter I loved was how to choose the correct Spanish word for particular English verbs. This can get tricky for some English infinitives like "to become" and "to happen." Another chapter on the history of the Spanish language was very interesting to read.

One thing I didn't like was the treatment of the subjunctive mood -- it left me a bit more confused, and my Spanish teacher actually told me that some information was incorrect. Finally, one glaring omission that I hope the author writes about in any later edition is the use of "por" vs. "para". To me, this trickiness is right up there with "ser" vs. "estar."

This book was so much fun and so useful I keep re-reading it, and learning something more each time. The author doesn't neglect grammar, but neither does he present grammar as a list of dull rules. Rather, he guides the reader through examples of how Spanish grammar and structure reflect how Spanish speakers think. It's practical, but not in the hackneyed "Can you direct me to the nearest bathroom?" mode. Rather, this book tries to help gringos learn how people really speak Spanish. There's much emphasis on traps which frequently snare native English speakers learning Spanish. The book is well organized, and written with a great sense of humor. My only minor quibble is the absence of an index. I agree with others: this isn't a book for those just starting out, pero cuando quieras aprender un poco más, ¡debes comprar este libro!

This book was required for a university class in Spanish conversation. There is so much information in this book that is invaluable to the Spanish student. It is written to show the intermediate student how to "break out" of the textbook Spanish into real, conversational Spanish. It tells you what aspects of the language are really used in common language and speaking, and it tells you what you should and should not say in order to sound more like a native speaker.

This is a book that can be read over and over again, and it is a very good reference tool. You should not expect to be able to remember everything, because there is so much information. It will tell you everything from how to vary your speech, to how to better learn and improve your Spanish, to how to recognize profanity. It gives you information that you cannot get anywhere else - information that they do not teach you in the classroom. I highly recommend it.

Through a series of short entries, Rabbi Telushkin explores hundreds of issues in Jewish religion, culture, law etc. This book makes a study of Judaism accessable to people who have little background. A major caveat is that when discussing halacha (Jewish law), this book is a very good guide but is not authoritative. The authorities are the original sources and time honored commentaries on these sources. Nonetheless, in this first of many books in this format, Rabbi Telushkin provides more than a mere overview of Judaism .. he actually provides a fair amount of depth. This book can be read through from cover to cover as part of a systematic study of basic Judaism or it can be used as a reference to look up specific information. I recommend this book, even to those who are already well versed in judaism.

Rabbi Telushkin's format in writing this book is very well thought out. It's easy to "look up" what you want to know or even better yet, easy to read all the way through. The subjects he touches on are very interesting and insightful. If you're just starting to look into Judaism, this is one of the best books to start out on. It includes history , practices, and pretty much explains WHY. I recommend this book for anyone. Perfect for the Jewish family to add to their coffee table!!

When you're sitting around with friends and someone says "I wonder about...", this book is one to reach for. In a wide ranging set of short articles, Telushkin provides introductory information about Jewish religion, people and history. Each article is only a few paragraphs, so the reader can quickly gain an overview of the meaning and context of the idea. Other articles which relate to the idea you've looked up are referenced, so you can easily look up connected ideas. Although some concepts are either ignored or covered rather lightly, Rabbi Telushkin does a good job of covering most questions people ask about normative American Judaism and its history and culture. A useful introductory reference!!

I read an Anne of Green Gables many, many years ago and immediatly fell in love. At once, I went out and bought the entire series, loving each book more than the one before. This is a line of books I would highly recommend to anyone, of any age. It is truly my favorite set of books. No matter how many times I have read it...and my first copy had fallen apart years ago...I laugh and cry just as hard as I did the first time. Anne of Green Gables 2, or Anne's House of Dreams, is a wonderful story of a couple just starting out in marriage. Moving from their friendly town of Avonlea, they started out anew, in a little cottage by the seashore. Gilbert, Anne's husband, is a young doctor, beginning his practice. They make many new friends, each more interesting than the last. There is even a mystery to unravel in their midst! Romance galore, love, friendship and dreams unfold before our eyes. Even when we read of their tragedies, we hurt along with them, feeling their pain. That is how well this book is written. Read it, enjoy it and buy the whole set. You will never regret it!

Anne of Green Gables is one of the first books to make me fall in love...with it. I mean, it was cute, it was lesson teaching (hehe, that sounds strange), and Anne was just such a good character. She sort of reminded me of me: bad temper (I've gotten much cooler now, haha), big words, amazing imagination, smart (haha, well, I was and am PRETTY SMART, at least, I think, haha). Gilbert reminded me of this guy at school...haha, well, I won't get into details there, but the book was charming, and I've already read it over four times in only like three years, which is sort of alot. I loved this book, and I believe that many other people will learn to appreciate its cuteness and truth and stuff over the years, hehe. Enjoy!

When I first read this book many years back, I loved it, and was sad for it to end when I finished reading it. I loved every single part of it...I simply couldn't put it down. Anne is such a character...you can't help liking her more and more, and wishing that she was your own "bosom friend" just as I did. While reading, I was transported back to that time, and I could just see Avonlea and Green Gables, the school which Anne studied in, and I could see Diana and Miss Stacy and Gilbert just as if they were my own friends.

I loved this book, and read it many times over again after I first picked it up, and it still delighted me. Lucy Maud Montgomery is a stunning writer, and I believe that she must have been like Anne, for no one could create such a realistic character and write everything that poured out of Anne's mouth...her made up stories, the things that she she thought of, her wild yet delightful imagination...all in all, Anne of Green Gables is one of the finest books I've ever read, and were ever written. I strongly recommend it to anyone, old or young. Everyone can relate to Anne and she could make you smile like she did for me.

We all have books like this in our personal arsenal of "will read and reread again" books. ("Catch 22," "Cat's Cradle," books like that.)

I've torn into "Son of the Morning Star" six times now. This book is responsible for my spending a total of some 13 days at the Montana battlefield just trying to find out what George Armstrong Custer was up to on his final horrible day on earth. Connell weaves a spell over you, dear reader, and you just hate to finish this book. (You have books like that in your arsenal, too, right?)

The book was a Christmas gift from #1 son. Prior to reading "Son," I just thought of Custer as that Civil War stereotype we study about in high school -- brave, vain and, ultimately, dumb. Of course the book reveals a much more accurate and layered portrayal of this long-haired Hotspur. Connell has researched his subject to a fare-thee-well and yet the writing never gets pedantic. This book is a time machine and you're going to be whisked back to a hot June day, 1876. Be prepared. And you'll get both sides of the complicated US Army/American Indian debate, too. (Can't beat that with a stick!)

What was GAC trying accomplish that morning and afternoon? Why, in the face of a large amount of Indian braves, did he split his command into three battalions? Why did he send an important "come quick" note to an officer he sent off away from the pack train? Why did Custer ignore Reno's plight in the valley and continue a foolhardy attempt to smash the "enemy" at his flank? Did Custer get his first bullet (left side) at Medicine Tail Coulee? Would that explain the slapdash rush away from the Little Big Horn river and up the hill to the now-famous "Last Stand Hill?" This book makes you think.

This book is contagious!

Connell brings a novelist and poet's gifts to the writing of history. Would that all historians wrote prose like this. In a unique, non-linear style, nearly every aspect and detail, macroscopic and mundane, of the Little Bighorn campaign is laid before us, as well as antecedent and peripheral matters relating to it. One of the many marvels of the book is the way Connell writes unflinchingly about a brutal and tragic period, yet with a dry sense of humor that compels one to read passage after passage all over again, and aloud to anyone who will listen. Connell would be a great dinner guest, and friend to meet for a beer. I have read Son of the Morning Star three times, not counting innumerable browsings which threaten to draw me into the entire work yet another time. I've nearly memorized entire passages without intending to. Some may feel uncomfortable at a similarity Connell draws between the Nazi genocide and the European-American destuction of the Native American cultures and way of life. But hey, no one likes an attack on his national mythology, justified as it may be. Connell neither deifies nor demonizes Custer (or any other man or woman in the story), but treats him as a fascinating, flawed human being. His account is compassionate, but unrelenting in its exposure of human frailty and folly, wherever it may be found in the complex mosaic of history. Buy this book, enjoy, re-read, and hope that Connell takes up the historian's pen again

Evan Connell's Son of the Morning Star is a masterful book that defies catagorization. It isn't quite history but it isn't fiction either. Connell has taken a mountain of historical detail, including quotations from letters, transcripts, newspapers and interviews, and arranged them in a kind of narrative montage that gives us the story of Custer at the Little Bighorn in a more complete way than we have ever experienced it before. His book begins a couple of days after the battle - when Custer's absence is still unexplained - with the discovery of the remains of Custer's troop. The realization of what they are seeing comes slowly to the soldiers that find the bodies, just as the big picture of what happened comes slowly to the reader - detail by detail.

The book is full of wonderful digressions, told in the same way as the main story. These provide background information on all the major participants (Indian as well as cavalry officers) and many minor characters as well, and the story of their lives following the massacre and the inevitable search for a scapegoat.

This is a unique and beautiful book. Connell seems to have lived with the research for this book for a long time because he has internalized it beautifully and knows just what quotes and anecdotes to juxtapose in order to create the picture he wants. I can't remember ever reading anything quite like this and certainly seldom have a book match it for emotional impact. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.