After a long winter of hibernation, spring is back and Moomintroll and his friends Sniff and Snufkin can finally get out and play in the woods and fields of Moominvalley. That's when they find the Hobgoblin's hat and bring it back home as a present for Moominpappa. Unfortunately, the hat's too big so they decide to use it as a waste paper basket. But overnight, the eggshell they've just thrown away mysteriously turns into five small white clouds...

Finn Family Moomintroll is a collection of several of the Moomin funny and silly little adventures following the discovery of the hat. Indeed, the sometimes absurd situations reminded me of Dr. Seuss's Cat in the Hat. Lavishly illustrated with wonderful black and white ink drawings by the author, it is also a perfect book to read aloud to your children!

Other titles in the series are: Comet in Moominland, Moominsummer Madness, Moominland Midwinter, Moominpappa at Sea, Moominpappa's Memoirs, and Tales from Moominvalley.

this is the very first of the moomintroll series by tove jansson. children of any age will love to read this book, or have it read to them. it is full of moomintroll and his friends adventures, in their beautiful fantasy land. i got this book before i could even read, but had my mother read it to me before bed, giving me sweet dreams of happiness and laughter. the moomins are fun-loving trolls from finland and are adventurous and go on wild excursions together. i reconmend this book to anyone who loves fantasy.

Like some of the previous reviewers, I grew up in Japan and enjoyed the 70's hit TV anime series (they later re-made them in the 90s to be truer to the original books, I believe) and later read all the books voraciously. The series captivates its readers much like the Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter books do; by totally drawing them into its unique and marvellously rich world, a world that is somehow fanciful yet credible.

Now that I have a 7-year-old boy of my own, I enjoy reading them aloud to him. We burst out laughing every time Sniff says something self-serving, get the shivers when we see a picture of the Groke (I was truly scared of her when I was a child), wonder what in the world the mysterious Hattifatteners are up to, and marvel at how everything comes together in the end of each story. The author has a true gift for weaving fantastical creatures, objects and situations together to create a solid, almost palpable world. Finn Family Moomintroll is probably the best introduction to the Moomin Family, and a great book to read by yourself, to give to that special child in your life, or better yet, to share with him/her by reading it aloud.

It's a nice book, with excerpts of letters, and many photographs; although geared towards children, I at sixteen found it adorable. Although when you look at it, it's sad--how an innocent girl, caught up in politics, was shot. It's a nice look into the "eyes" of Anastasia, and I bet 'Shvyzbik' would be pleased.

Beautifully and honestly presented, "Anastasia's Album" tells the story of the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicolaievna Romanova. It offers a delightful glimpse of life in Imperial Russia, before and during its collapse, enhanced by photographs from the Romanov family albums and quotes from the family's letters and diaries. "Anastasia's Album" covers Anastasia's life from birth up to the family's imprisonment. It very tastefully tells of the family's tragic end and also has an epilogue that addresses the Anna Anderson controversy and subsequent films, setting the reader straight on the historical truth.

One of the greatest things about "Anastasia's Album" is how children absolutely love it! I teach elementary school, and the book has been a favorite among my students every year. It has turned several of my students on to history, and many of them did their own Russian history research after starting with "Anastasia's Album."

In all, this is a fantastic book, and Shelley Tanaka did the world a great service in writing it! "Anastasia's Album" should be in every school library and is a must-read for history buffs of all ages.

I loved this book. I did wish it was longer, with more pictures.
Also more quotes from Anastasia herself, not just the author's
words.

In creating a portrait of her life with Hugh Franklin (yes, of the soap opera), Ms. L'Engle employs a device she also uses in her fiction: cutting back and forth between times so that the reader is at once engaged in their courtship, in her mourning as she watches her husband die, in the bustle of their extraordinary lives. One engages in all of these at once, knowing the outcomes, suspense is not the point. When Hugh does eventually die, you have been involved in the best and worst of the marriage and feel its centrality in the author's life. Even after multiple readings, this chapter is good for a cathartic sob. Part of the remarkable grip this book has on me is the humility of the author. She is unimpressed by her Newbery Award and tremendous contribution to American letters, unimpressed by her husband's fame as a television star. She is impressed, however, by their ability to share a life, to give themselves to a family, and to balance those with maintaining their individuality and ensuring that each of them pursued their dreams. Her priorities are clear, and without ever being strident or judgmental, this work is a gentle reminder of what is important

This book, along with C.S. Lewis' A Grief Observed, are two of the best books ever written about love and loss. L'Engle's characteristic style of inspired wanderings brings you back gently and eventually to her main discussion of her courtship and 40-year marriage, and to the inevitable and tragic ending thereof. While certainly saddening, this book is not about wallowing in grief, but is a celebration of the non-traditional (in many ways) life that she and Hugh built together, and how the strength and love of their relationship rippled outward to affect all they came in contact with: children, god-children, friends, neighbors, and acquaintances.

Madeleine L'Engle once again lets her readers into her own personal struggles, and details her faith and grief during her husband's fight with cancer. There is a strong similarity between "Two-Part Invention" and C.S. Lewis' "A Grief Observed" and this book also describes the triumph of faith and love. In a time when terminal illness is a common denominator for many families, this book is a touching testimony to strength of resolve and the real love possible in marriage. For anyone who is a frequent L'Engle reader, this book gives great insight into her personal journey.

This classic gives insight into the mind of the Serial Sex Killer, Ted Bundy. Described variously as "handsome, smooth talking, erratic and charming" except one thing he killed women descriminately. This gives a detailed account (as Stephen G. Michaud and Hugh Aynesworth researched it and did interviews with family, friends, girlfriends, the sympathic wife who believed Bundy was innocent to the end and wouldn't hear otherwise.... and Bundy himself straight from Death Row in 1980.

Bundy, himself, wouldn't discuss the murders as if he did it, he never said he was guilty of the crimes, he always claimed he was innocent (even as he went to the the executioner in 1989). So Michaud and Aynesworth made a deal with him that he didn't have to discuss them as if he did it, he could discuss them as if discuss a psychological case, and Bundy agreed to that. So Bundy discusses his crimes and his "entity" (as he called it) in third person throughout the book.

Bundy was a textbook sexual psychopath who terrorized the College communities of Washington, Utah and Florida over a span of years. He left none if little evidence so he was very hard to catch. As all serial killers do, they get cocky and so self-assured they won't get caught that they make a mistake and Ted Bundy made his mistake in Florida around the University in Tallahassee where he was caught.

The Only Living Witness answers all the questions about one of America's worst monsters. It is a timeless classic. It covers most of Bundy's life, including his youth and his years as a student and volunteer before murder became his primary occupation and after ... when the first 4 or 5 girls went missing and he volunteered to "help" the DES with the searches for the women as a credit for his law school course, or so he would have his girlfriend (at the time) believe.

I finished the book with a sense of fright for those women never found, and sadness for the families that won't get to bury the missing women, and the family and friends of Ted Bundy who was so manipulated and conned by their son and friend so much they believed in his innocence until he at last confessed the murders. A brilliant brilliant read and research source into the mind of a mass serial killer and sexual defiant psychopath. His crimes are as vivid and studied today as they were when he was being hunted and caught!

This book for me personally was a real page turner. I wanted a book to help me understand the mind of a serial killer and also to relay to me in more detail the crimes of Ted Bundy. This book did indeed give us an insight to the serial killer's mind and indeed gave us the unanswered questions to those girls Bundy robbed of their lives. I found this book informative without going overboard on statistics and the like...I felt the style of writing and pace of the book had me gripped from the description of the weather in Florida at the beginning of the book and I was not dissapointed from then on in. I felt regret when I finished the book as it had stimulated me intellectually and made me do my own thinking as well as educating me. I came away with a sense of loss and waste not only for the families of the victims but also for the family and friends of Ted Bundy who it seemed were duped with his innocence until the last confession. A brilliant brilliant read!

The good news is...you will never forget this story, and the bad news is...you will never forget this story. An astonishing study of a real life "wolf" a monster. I'm a little embarassed that I'm closely related to a well known criminologist (sociologist) who doesnt believe in the death penlty (and has written many books on the subject). This book will convince you that serial killers should fry and I believe that I could have personally pulled the switch Ted Bundy after reading this story. I read this book nearly 18 years ago and although I forget lots of books I've read, but there hasn't been a time when I washed my car that I havent thought back to this book (you'll find out why when You read it). It will haunt you forever..I highly recommend it to all and I will have my own children read it someday so they will understand that one can never be too careful. I came away from this story feeling a very deep sorrow for the victims and their families. The author will take you to a dark world that few ever experience, and will forever change the way you think, the author (through painstaking interviews) succeeds in writing a book about the Devil himself that will not soon be forgotten.

The events recounted in The Revenant would make a compelling plot on their own. What makes this book incredible is the rare ability of the author to develop historical characters without sacrificing the flow of an amazing story. By the end of this book, you will be standing and cheering for Hugh Glass. All of these things make this a very fun book to read!

Rarely do I finish a book and immediately want to read it again. This, however, was the case with The Revenant. It is a novel of revenge yet includes so much more. The usual predictablity of this genre was lost on Punke as he relives life in the early mountain west. The story is vivid and captivating; written in such a way that you feel personally involoved. Furhtermore, the ending will leave you pondering your own resolve...
Truly a great read and a debut that suggests great things for Punke's future as a writer.

Reading stories about the American West, especially in the early 19th century when frontiersmen travelled into the largely unexplored wilderness of the Rocky Mountains, has a way of calming the spirit while spurring the imagination. This is especially true for stories written by skillful wordsmiths who weave fact and fiction with threads of adventure and human emotion.

From the talented Michael Punke comes such a story. Mountain man Hugh Glass, scouting for the Rocky Mountain Fur Co. is attacked by a grizzly bear and left with two men while he either heals or dies. Instead, they choose to leave him, expecting he can't recover from the savage attack. They take his gun and knife and away they go, convinced it is the last they'll see or hear of Hugh Glass. WRONG!

THE REVENANT is subtitled A Novel of Revenge. Certainly revenge is the powerful motive driving Glass to overcome unimaginable pain endured in an unforgiving environment so he can catch up to the men and mete out his own form of justice. However, it is also a story of survival and enlightenment. The encounters Glass has with a wide and varied cast of colorful characters throughout his journey drives the story and measures change and personal growth. When he meets his antagonists in a surprising climax, the reader has had time to reflect upon what s/he would do in a similar situation.

THE REVENANT is a powerful adventure and is fertile ground for empathic imagination. It is an excellent story, well-written and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Mills' book tells it like it was! I should know, I'm Joe Crockett, his first crewchief mentioned in Chapter Four. I find Hugh Mills' to be a great pilot, and great man, and a great author. This isn't an easy story to tell, but Hugh manages to allow even the novice to the Vietnam War, a chance to ride in the cockpit of a Hughes OH-6A "Loach"! It had been 28 years since Hugh and I flew missions together and reading "Low Level Hell" took me back to a time, rich in experience. I highly reccomend this book to anyone with the slightest interest in Army Aviation and the Vietnam War!

I just finished reading Hugh L. Mills "Low Level Hell": I thoroughly enjoyed it. From July, 1968 to July 1969 I was in the Big Red One assigned to Alpha Company, 2nd Bn., 16th Infantry. Mills book brought back many memories; both good and bad. It was particularly meaningful to me since A-2/16 worked all over the Division's TAOR and the names of the villages and towns Mills wrote about were familar to me. I have often remarked that the BRO's air support was exceptional and reading "Low Level Hell" reminded me of that once again. It also gave me a better understanding and appreciation of the role of the hunter killer teams and how they were a major factor in minimizing casualties. To quote from the book "First Infantry Division in Vietnam" at page 126: "As the year 1968 was about to pass into history, the 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalary reviewed the year with a profound sense of pride. Much was accomplished, but they were not content to rest upon past laurels. The year 1969 was met with the same loyalty, skill and determination which has made the 1st Squadron, 4th United States Cavalry the most respected and feared unit of the 1st Infantry Division." - I know from reading "Low Level Hell" that Hugh Mills and the rest of Troop D (air) significantly contributed to the loyalty, skill and determination that earned the reputation that has become legendary.

I think "Low Level Hell" would make an excellent movie. There's lots of action sequences: The chemistry between Hugh Mills and Rod Willis would play well not to mention the comraderie among Troop D (air) at Phu Loi. I hope it will be playing some day soon at a theatre near me - And, I will keep my eye out for another Mills book chronicling his and Willis' second tour with "Darkhorse" and, if we're lucky, a third one all about his days as a Cobra pilot with the 101st.

In LOW LEVEL HELL, Hugh Mills has written one of the most exciting accounts of aerial combat to come out of the Vietnam War. Mills flew OH-6A Light Observation Helicopters, nicknamed "Loaches," with the famed Darkhorse unit, the air cavalry troop assigned to the "Big Red One," or 1st Division, in 1969. He was a scout pilot, an "Outcast," whose mission required him to fly just a few above the ground looking for the enemy, and in eye-to-eye combat, engage him. In the long history of warfare, military scouts stand out as a special breed. Always out in front of friendly troops, at the point of the spear, the first to make contact, usually outgunned, the scout needed an extraordinary blend of skills and courage. With the advent of the helicopter, aeroscouts became modern day Kit Carsons and Jim Bowies operating in three dimensions above the battlefield. As a Naval Aviator flying fixed-wing close air support in the Mekong Delta, I had the privilege of working with Darkhorse pilots when they later became an independent troop of the 164th Aviation Group. I knew of no more courageous and dedicated men than the pilots and crew chiefs who flew scouts. LOW LEVEL HELL tells their story with a flair and excitement and detail that I guarantee will get your adrenaline pumping.

And Then There Were None tells the story of ten people, all with different backgrounds, and who don't know each other, who are invited by a certain U. N. Owen to spend some time on Nigger Island, off the shore of Devonshire. When they disembark they learn that their host has't arrived yet. They're all speculating as to who this mysterious man or woman can be when a record starts playing on the gramophone, accusing each guest of murder. Not long after, one of them dies, poisoned.

The next morning, it's another one's turn. One by one they die, according to the verses of the nursery rhyme Ten Little Niggers, and one by one the ten little negroid statuettes displayed in the dining room disappear. After a thourough but infructuous search of the island, they're forced to face the music: the murderer must be one of them.

It was the third time I read this book, albeit the first in its original language. And even though I was bound to find it a little less suspenseful, it was nice to see the tension build up as the guests all start to suspect each other, and it was much entertaining. Lady Agatha Christie sure knew how to write them detective stories!

One August evening, ten guests meet at a mysterious island mansion-owned by an even more mysterious Mr. Owen. They soon discover that they're not on the island for a relaxing summer holiday -- they're there to die. Each one has been accused of a murder -- a murder that couldn't be proven and prosecuted by the courts -- and Mr. Owen is taking justice into his own hands.

One by one, guests turn up dead -- each a carefully planned murder. After a search of the island, it's obvious that no one is hidden there -- so the murderer must be one of the guests. But which one? Is it the bitter old maid? The doctor, who could easily possess the deadly chemicals required? Mr. Lombard, who admits to bringing a revolver to the island? As guests try to protect themselves from the murderer, they're forced to decide who can be trusted -- and who can't.

In the six-and-a-half hours it takes to listen to this recording, you'll second-guess yourself repeatedly -- and you'll never guess the conclusion. Ten Little Indians is an excellent, captivating mystery written by an extraordinary, well-loved writer. It's hard to imagine a cheery little grandma writing about such sinister murders -- but Dame Agatha Christie did it with refined style.

If you ever wondered why Agatha Christie has gotten such acclaim and praise, read this book and you'll find out why.

Ten strangers, completely unknown to each other (except for one couple) are invited to attend a party at the mysterious new mansion built on Indian Island by a Mr. and Mrs. U.N. Owen, who is unknown to all of the guests. When they get there, they discover that the host and hostess are nowhere to be found. They soon realize that they have been tricked into coming to the island, a mistake that will ultimately cost their lives.

When I first started reading this, I have to admit I was a little bored with the exposition. In fact, I stopped reading it after Chapter 1 for a few days, uninterested. But, I eventually decided to try reading more, and thankfully, I got hooked. As soon as the first person dies, your eyes become instantly glued to the pages, not wanting to put the book down. I know that's what happened to me. And when the killer is finally revealed, it's one of those moments when you hit your forehead and say, "Oh my God, I can't believe I didn't realize that!" All of the other 270 pages definitely pays off with the last 5 pages.

If you love whodunit mysteries, or if you loved the show "Murder in Small Town X", I highly suggest you read this. It's heart-pounding excitement at its best.

"There is little to be satisfied in reading this book"?? I couldn't disagree more. Bleak House left a profound impression on me, and was so utterly satisfying a reading experience that I wanted it never to end. I've read it twice over the years and look forward to reading it again. Definitely my favorite novel.

I don't know what the previous reviewer's demands are when reading a novel, but mine are these: the story must create its world - whatever and wherever that world might be - and make me BELIEVE it. If the novelist cannot create that world in my mind, and convince me of its truths, they've wasted my time (style doesn't matter - it can be clean and spare like Orwell or verbose like Dickens, because any style can work in the hands of someone who knows how to use it). Many novels fail this test, but Bleak House is not one of them.

Bleak House succeeds in creating a wonderfully dark and complex spider web of a world. On the surface it's unfamiliar: Victorian London and the court of Chancery - obviously no one alive today knows that world first hand. And yet as you read it you know it to be real: the deviousness, the longing, the secrets, the bureaucracy, the overblown egos, the unfairness of it all. Wait a minute... could that be because all those things still exist today?

But it's not all doom and gloom. It also has Dickens's many shades of humor: silliness, word play, comic dialogue, preposterous characters with mocking names, and of course a constant satirical edge. It also has anger and passion and tenderness.

I will grant one thing: if you don't love reading enough to get into the flow of Dickens's sentences, you'll probably feel like the previous reviewer that "...it goes on and on, in interminable detail and description...". It's a different dance rhythm folks, but well worth getting used to. If you have to, work your way up to it. Don't start with a biggie like Bleak House, start with one of his wonderful short pieces such as A Christmas Carol.

Dickens was a gifted storyteller and Bleak House is his masterpiece. If you love to dive into a book, read and enjoy this gem!

After years without picking up a novel by Dickens (memories of starchy classes at school), I decided to plunge into "Bleak House", a novel that had been sitting on my bookshelf for about ten years, waiting to be read. Although I found it heavy going at first, mainly because the style is so unfamiliar to modern readers, after about ten pages I was swept up and carried off, unable to put the hefty tome down until I had finished it. This book is a definite classic. The sheer scope of the tale, the wit of the satire (which could still be applied to many legal proceedings today) and the believable characters gripped me up until the magnificent conclusion. One particularly striking thing is the "cinematic" aspect of certain chapters as they switch between different angles, building up to a pitch that leaves the reader breathless. I can't recommend "Bleak House" too highly. And I won't wait so long before reading more Dickens novels.

This is the second book by Dickens I have read so far, but it will not be the last. "Bleak House" is long, tightly plotted, wonderfully descriptive, and full of memorable characters. Dickens has written a vast story centered on the Jarndyce inheritance, and masterly manages the switches between third person omniscient narrator and first person limited narrator. His main character Esther never quite convinces me of her all-around goodness, but the novel is so well-written that I just took Esther as she was described and ran along with the story. In this book a poor boy (Jo) will be literally chased from places of refuge and thus provide Dickens with one of his most powerful ways to indict a system that was particularly cruel to children. Mr. Skimpole, pretending not to be interested in money; Mr. Jarndyce, generous and good; Richard, stupid and blind; the memorable Dedlocks, and My Lady Dedlock's secret being uncovered by the sinister Mr. Tulkinghorn; Mrs. Jellyby and her telescopic philanthropy; the Ironmaster described in Chapter 28, presenting quite a different view of industralization than that shown by Dickens in his next work, "Hard Times." Here is a veritable cosmos of people, neighbors, friends, enemies, lovers, rivals, sinners, and saints, and Dickens proves himself a true master at describing their lives and the environment they dwell in. There are landmark chapters: Chapter One must be the best description of a dismal city under attack by dismal weather and tightly tied by perfectly dismal laws, where the Lord Chancellor sits eternally in Lincoln's Inn Hall. Chapter 32 has one of the eeriest scenes ever written, with suspicious smoke, greasy and reeking, as a prelude to a grisly discovery. Chapter 47 is when Jo cannot "move along" anymore. This Norton Critical is perhaps the best edition of "Bleak House" so far: the footnotes help a lot, and the two Introductions are key to understanding the Law system at the time the action takes place, plus Dickens' interest in this particular topic. To round everything off, read also the criticism of our contemporaries, as well as that of Dickens' time. "Bleak House" is a long, complex novel that opens a window for us to another world. It is never boring and, appearances to the contrary, is not bleak. Enjoy.

I don't read star trek books anymore, but I remember liking this one. My only probably is some of its basic ideas are from "The High Crusade" a science fiction novel by Poul Anderson. Don't take my word for it order that book from your library. The time travel & everybody dying parts were surprising & not in "The High Crusade" however. Enjoy.

I've read a lot of books. At lot of star trek books among them, but this book really is special. With Odo and Quark as it's central characters, teaming up to undo a great wrong, it gives every regular character the chance to shine very brightly, and very in character. I can promisse suspense, grieve, and laughter Do read this one. You won't regret it.

This book was great! It was the first Deep Space Nine novel I ever read and convinced me to buy more. The interaction between Quark and Odo as they try to save the station is both clever and hilarious, and brought comedy to a book that is otherwise rather morbid and frightening in tone.

I really liked the style of writing the author uses, and the way he skips back and forth between past and future, allowing us to see the results of the invasion, as well as how they came about.

Another good thing about the book is that it does not focus on one particular character, and, although Quark and Odo are at the centre of the story, each individual character has at least one big moment in which to shine.

The portrail of the enemies was brilliant, making them actually seem frightening, instead of cliched and ridiculous, and the writer brings a lot of dramatic tension to the book as the heroes are killed off one by one.

I recommend this book to all Star Trek fans, especially fans of Odo and Quark. Even people who have never seen an episode of Star Trek will enjoy this book. In my opinion it is one of the best DS9 novels, if not of any of the Star Trek series. My advice is: BUY THIS BOOK!