...is that she is the _only_ modern chronicler of the Arthurian legend to give us a King Arthur who merits his own legend.

This is not to say that her retelling of the Arthurian legend is the greatest of modern times: that honor, IMHO, remains with T. H. White's _Once & Future King_. Yet though White does better justice to the legend as a whole, his King Arthur himself is, alas, perhaps the least memorable character in the book: appropriately enigmatic, but not very impressive.

But Stewart's Arthur...! Merlin himself, though the narrator of the story, is in awe of this Arthur, even as a boy. Here at last is an Arthur to be reckoned with; an Arthur worth fighting and dying for; an Arthur capable of bringing Camelot into existence by sheer moral force; an Arthur worth all the books and stories devoted to him.

Here, too, is a Morgause to take seriously -- though for Morgan you will have to go to Stewart's _Prince & the Pilgrim_, and for Mordred, to _The Wicked Day_, both quite worth reading, esp. the latter.

In fact, fans of The Merlin Trilogy _must_ read _The Wicked Day_, for Arthur's story is not complete without it. Merlin, of course, drops out of the story halfway through, long before the fall of Camelot. It is this fourth book that brings the story to its startling yet richly satisfying climax.

This was the best book that I have ever read in my whole entire life

Mary Stewart's trilogy dealing with the Arthurian legends is a favorite of mine. I enjoy reading the humanized version of a legend which I find intriguing every time I pick it up. The author did an excellent job of bringing the characters to a level at which the reader can sympathize with them while still looking upon them with a certain fascination. As Mary Stewart is one of my favorite authors, this opinion may be biased, but I think everyone who has never read at least one book of the Merlin Trilogy has missed a truly satisfying experience and should rectify the situation as soon as possible.

This book as well as Style at Home are two of the best books to have for your home. As I live very near the store of Nell Hills and have been there several times, I can say that anyone who comes through Kansas City should make the short detour to Atchison for this store. It is well worth your time, and Mary Carol Garrity is one of the nicest shop owners to I've had the pleasure of doing business with!

This book is another excellent and beautiful example of decorating you can do (and live with) by Mary Carol Garrity! Her suggestions and ideas are wonderful and the photographs are inspiring!

Nell Hill provides lovely and inspiring examples of decorating your home to make your holiday season enchanting, personal, and nurturing. Would that Atchison were more accessible!

Now in an thoroughly updated third edition, Hill Guide Sonoma Valley : The Secret Wine Country provides an outstanding food and wine guide to California's wine country, pairing walking tours with features of restaurants and wines and even including recipes from featured chefs. The inclusion of rates and prices makes it easy to choose lodging and attractions.

My wife and I and two other couples will travel to Sonoma Valley soon, and I've been designated trip planner. I got out this book, a copy of which I had purchased on a previous trip, and found using it a great pleasure. It's extraordinarily thorough, very nicely organized, and well-written. It is, in fact, the best guidebook I've read.

Written by two longtime residents of the area, "Sonoma Valley the Secret Wine Country," is not only an indispensable guide for those planning a trip to the Sonoma Valley, it is also a great read for the "armchair adventurer" simply wishing to learn more about Sonoma's unique history and culture. This is a travel guide that one wants to continue reading long after the trip is over. The book is organized in a somewhat non-traditional format, a format that I found far superior to the familiar one. Instead of there being "restaurants" and "lodgings" sections, the book is organized by area, so that if you find yourself in say, Glen Ellen,(the tiny hamlet of Jack London and the Valley's only winery "tram" tour) you can simply open up the book and find out what attractions, be they eateries, wineries or antique stores, are in the immediate vicinity. This format, along with the detailed "insider's" information the authors have compiled, allows you to get to know the places you are visiting in a much more intimate and realistic way than a traditinal travel guide. You will never have that dreaded feeling of seeing youself as a tourist with this book. After reading about the Sonoma Valley's freindly, but sometimes strained relations with it's more famous rival, the Napa Valley, you'll know not to say something like "oh, that Cabernet is excellent-almost as good as the one I tasted in Napa last weekend!" There is also a number of little extras in each section, such as recipies from the locals, ratings for the level of rommance in each place, and brief histories on each of the places you are visiting. Again, I found this to be a really great book, not only for travelling, but simply as an entertaining read about a very interesting place. Indeed, the book prompted me to remove myself from my laurels and write my first online review. This guide definitely earns five stars, the online reviewer's highest praise.

I read this book when it was first released in the 1970s. It is an excellent resource for evolution vs. Creation. Harold Hill, a noted scientist, simplifies the process and helps the reader understand why Creation makes a lot more scientific sense then evolution. A must read!

This book is VERY easy to read - another job well done by Harold Hill. The book very clearly (and with a lot of humour thrown in) goes through various aspects of the creation/evolution debate. No matter which side of the debate you are on, this book is highly recommended.

Perfection may not be attainable, but as a beautiful book and a model study of a landmark work of architecture and landscape architecture this volume sets a high standard indeed. The photography is superb, the book design elegant, the production sumptuous. The subject in fact might be somewhat overwhelmed by the presentation, were the subject merely the "Big House" at Kykuit itself. The building was somewhat of a compromise design, remodeled once, involving two architects and an interior designer (all first class, of course). It is not the architecture of the main building, if tasteful, that alone warrants this lavish production, but rather it is the ensemble--the magnificent gardens featuring an important collection of sculpture, the interior enriched by a collection of art and sensitive decor, the varied ancillary structures, including Japanese structures, and the intimate view of Rockefeller family life at Kykuit. The text is unpretentious but well crafted. One suspects that every detail has been carefully researched and considered for relevance to the general reader. The tone is apt. A very talented and skilled team has produced a well-neigh perfect work of art about an important work of art.

As early as the 17th century, Dutch New Yorkers built family compounds in the Hudson River Valley north of Manhattan. Completed in 1913 for Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller, Kykuit (the names comes from the Dutch, "lookout")has been home to four generations of Rockefeller family members. Now owned by the National Trust for Historic Sites, Kykuit has only recently been open to the public.

The Beaux Arts estate, built by architects Delano and Aldrich, with formal gardens designed by landscape architect William Welles Bosworth, is a treasure-trove of rare antiques, fine furnishings, and invaluable artworks, most notably, Gov. Nelson Rockefeller's (the last family member to occupy the estate) unparalleled collection of 20th-century sculpture.

Written by Nelson Rockefeller's daughter, Ann Rockefeller Roberts, and photographed by Mary Louise Pierson, his granddaughter, "Kykuit" provides intimate details of family life that breathe live into what might have been just another coffee-table book about the fabulously wealthy.

"Kykuit" is a must-have for anyone interested in exceptional gardens, architecture and fine arts.

Apparition Hill is Mary Ruefle's seventh published collection of poetry and showcases poems completed in 1989 (some of which first appearing in such magazines as The Kenyon Review and The Michigan Quarterly Review). A master of memorable imagery and lyrical clarity, Apparition Hill continues to document Mary Ruefle as a master poet. How It Is: Things begin to burgeon. The peas go gallivanting/in their pods. That old spring prop, birdsong, wafts/through the trees, the trees with their leaves lit/like the underside of the sea. We walk deep inside/and have a picnic there. In the filtered gloss of/the forest,. pears come out of our pockets and/lunch proceeds. All this is pleasant and I will/erase it. I will erase it because the height of insanity/demands that I do. The height of insanity says we were/in a field under a festoon of clouds. The height of insanity/says I was not there. The height of insanity says/I have not had a happy life. The height of insanity/says it was snowing, insists that I say in the heaven/of February, in a porcelain snow. I will erase it./The heaven of February knows I was there, in the woods/on the twenty-second of April, eating. My hand goes/to my mouth. There is horror in my eyes. How do I know?/The martinet in a boiled shirt says it is so./Christ, I've had a happy life! But whom am I to know?

I have used the past four editions for a children's lit course for several years. The first five chapters provide an overvierw of approaching kid lit and a history of the field and its illustrators. The remainder has summaries of some 2000 books in various genres, areas and age ranges. The greatest aspect, and terrific for teaching or discussion, are the highlighted/boxed commentaries by various authors and experts. The appendices have lists of awards as well as short discussions on other media, getting kids and books together and censorship (boo, hiss.) A great text and invaluable resource.

Hill and Celio have done a remarkable job of summarizing over 15 years of various attempts to "restructure" urban public education systems. In this brief book, they (1) carefully outline the strengths and weaknesses of each particular strategy - from site-based management, to school "models," to vouchers, to contracting; (2) reveal what each strategy presumes but does not itself provide for, and (3) highlight the political and ideological assumptions that drive reformers to favor one particular strategy (or way to implement a particular strategy) over another. What oft has been thought but never so well expressed, Hill & Celio's articulation of "integrative capital" theory draws together numerous threads in the reform literature and, for my money, is worth the price of the book alone.

A short book but by no means a quick read, Fixing Urban Schools is about the one thing that can finally transform public education -- not more educationist gimmicks, new ideas.