My kids love George Edward Stanley's Third Grade Detectives. Now, all they talk about is solving mysteries with science, just like forensic scientists do. They can't get enough of these great books.

I found this book to be written for both married and unmarried people. The title is very interesting.
This book offers insights to all relationships and can help anyone in a relationship build better relationships.
This is not sugary sentiment or smoke and mirrors to make you feel better for awhile. This will really help you in the long run, whether you are man or woman, in a committed relationship or not.
Read it, you will be pleasantly surprised.

I LAUGHED,I CRIED I COULD NOT STOP READING "A FAMILY OF SICILIANS ".BUTTACI'S STORIES AND POEMS BROUGHT BACK FOND MEMORIES OF MY CHILDHOOD GROWING UP IN A SICILIAN HOUSHOLD WITH NONNA CONCETTA AND NONNO GIUSEPPI.I HAVE HEARD THE STORY ABOUT THE CASTLE IN MUSSOMELI SO MANY TIMES AND ALL OF A SUDDEN IT APPEARS LIKE NEVER BEFORE AS ONLY BUTTACI CAN TELL IT.I HIGHLY RECOMMEND A FAMILY OF SICILIANS TO EVERYONE,ITALIAN OR NOT.IT IS GREAT READING. ROBERTO MONTAGNINO SCUSSEL

Salvatore M. Trento's works have revolutionary implications for the study of sacred sites. His theoretical approach is based on the idea that electromagnetic fields may influence the brain, and that many sites where inscriptions, standing stones, and stone chambers were located had aberrant magnetic fields. Trento hypothesizes that the "extreme geomagnetic flux associated with these locales" may stimulate "a cascade of pineal gland chemicals that altered cognition." Certainly the readings that Trento took at the sites presented in this book support this idea: they suggest that the locations of cave paintings and sacred sites were chosen as a result of these geomagnetic influences. His observations may have applications not only to the study of sacred sites such as are featured in this book, but paranormal phenomena such as UFOs, ghosts, and Mothman. I think that Trento, famed outer limits researcher John Keel, and anomalist Jim Brandon should all get together to see if they can come up with a grand unified theory of paranormal phenomena.

In connection with his idea that prior civilizations were more in touch with nature than we are, Trento reminds us that many of these places are sacred, and that we need to listen to them. They may have the keys to our continued survival on this planet. The guide thus becomes a means to once again restore our lost union with the earth: "To heal the spirit, if not the body," he writes, "we need to reconnect with our surroundings in ways that go beyond Earth Day celebrations and tree hugging. We must learn to feel what the planet is offering. But to do that we need to experience it firsthand." This book, then, reminds us, as did Emerson, that revelation is available to us all, and that "the sun shines today also," as it did for our ancestors. Perhaps it is not the sun shining that affects us, but rather geomagnetic forces flowing and ebbing. This is not, I admit, as poetic as Emerson's ideas, but it may be at the heart of our religious experiences in nature, and may indeed offer us a solution to the current ecological crisis.

Other places featured in this book are of interest not because of their impact upon the pineal gland or other biochemical systems, but merely because of their strangeness or grandeur: the fossil beds at Lompoc; the Calico Early Man site, which some say provides evidence that humanity was present in the Americas as early as 200,000 years ago; the locations of Bigfoot and sea serpent sightings; the pirate treasure of Neahkahnie Beach; the Sausalito Hum. My personal favorite is the Lava Beds National Monument, whose beauty and grandeur cannot be understated. Though the variety of topics found in this book might seem scattershot in its approach, in fact there are sufficient destinations here to satisfy a carful of people: anthropologists, archeologists, paleontologists, biologists and paranormalists alike.

My wife Fayaway and I have used this guide for years, and can vouch for the information contained herein: directions are clear, as are the maps, and contact information is included for some sites. This guide is recommended for those travellers in pursuit of the strange, the marvelous, and the strange in the Pacific Coast states. Happy travelling!

This has been an excited experience by reading such great book. I concider there should be more books like that which inform and let people know about the truth involved in these events such as Gotti and Gravano connections.

I loved this book! Having just finished my own American pilgrimage, and non-fiction book: HOLY PERSONAL, looking for small private places of worship, Indiana University Press, Fall 2000, I found HOME ALTARS OF MEXICO one of the best books on the subject currently available. It touched me deeply. The color photographs are wonderful, somewhat formal considering the informality of the subject matter, and the contrast is intriguing-- no SOHO artist could improve on these spiritual assemblages. The text is a series of very well-written and inspired essays. Salvo looks at the altars of one small town in Mexico, so the book is highly focused. A truly aesthetic collection that brings light to a subject that is too often triviaalized and trendy.

I found The Twenty Horns to be a fascinating read. As the son of an Italian imigrant, my Mother (who lived in Boston when first coming to the US), would talk about the obstacles she and her family faced. I was reminded of this when reading this piece. This story would make a great movie!

The Opera Journeys Mini Guide Series is just wonderful; it's like a "Cliff Note" of the opera, and extremely informative and educational. I particularly like the size; these guides are not cumbersome and fit right into my shirt pocket. The ladies will find sufficient room in their pocketbooks.

The story narrative with the music examples is excellent. I prefer it to a libretto; indeed, it's a much easier way to follow the essence of the story. The essay is magnificent; very well written, not pedantic, and extremely insightful and comprehensible. I congratulate Burton Fisher for a job very well done and Amazon for making these handy, information-laden booklets available. The Opera Journeys Mini Guide Series is a wonderful contribution to opera education and opera appreciation.

My tip: acquire the entire collection because you will be in easy reach of superbly presented opera guides consisting of story analysis, principal characters in the opera, story narrative with music highlights, background, analysis, and commentary.

Heinz Dinter, Ph.D.

This book was filled with wonderful descriptions of Phoenix personalities and I enjoyed the historical references peppered throughout the book. I live in Phoenix and it gave me some ideas for places to explore I haven't yet been to. The restaurant reviews were on target. I do suggest that it be updated each year as since publication a few of the restaurants have gone out of business. This is a good travel guide as it gives great ideas for activities that appeal to a broad range of interests. The insider tips were definitely a plus.

The outstanding characteristic of this book is how easy it is to read. Very little mathematical background is required; instead, what is needed is developed in the text itself. This includes just enough linear algebra and group theory to present and explain the results presented. All the examples are worked out in good detail, and the book is almost free of typos.

The topics covered are block codes, specifically linear and cyclic codes, and their implementation with linear feedback shift registers. After some development of Galois Fields and linear algebra, BCH codes are introduced, and specifically Reed-Solomon codes are covered. A last, quick chapter on convolution coding concludes the book.

This book is for you if you want to know how error corrective coding works, but not really why. A typical comment is that the Berlekamp algorithm (for decoding Reed-Solomon codes) is "complex," but "its complexity lies mainly in the proof of the algorithm, which we omit." If you want a book with greater detail, try "Information Theory and Reliable Communication" by Bob Gallager as one of many more advanced texts.