I loved LAST WISH. It was such an incredible book that I couldn't put it down until I finished it (I had borrowed it from my town's library). In LAST WISH, Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield are turning 17 years old. Elizabeth wants to throw Jessica a birthday party that Jessica will never forget...and Jessica wants to do the same for Elizabeth, unknowingly that they both want to give each other birthday parties! Through all their secret birthday party planning, it all seems to go smoothly and perfectly until an earthquake shakes Sweet Valley and ruins it all! To find out what happens, you must read this book. An excellent addition to your SWEET VALLEY HIGH collection. Also, check out parts 2 EARTHQUAKE and 3 AFTERSHOCK, to find out the conclusion of this awesome SWEET VALLEY HIGH Super Special Saga.

Last wish is the best book I've ever read!!!!
I'ts Jessica and Liz's seventeenth Birthday,they both are in for a shock when they feel the earthquake shaking Sweet Valley....
But what else can go wrong on Friday the thirteenth.....

This book was the best Sweet valley book yet. It is a must read. I cant belivie that an EARTHQUAKE struck!!! I hope everyone will live, but everyone knows that the main people will. I dont think I will be able to wait for the next book and if you read this book it will be the same for you! E-mail me if you LOVE Sweet Valley or IM me at SVgirl014 (but that is not my e-mail address) Long live SV, and happy reading

Citizen Washington is not your typical historical novel. While it is held together by a single voice, it is broken up into many short perspectives that lend the story of George Washington a varied examination. At first I found this inconvenient, but once I got to know the people speaking, I welcomed them again and again as they returned to add their view of an event. The story is told without sentimentality or heroics. In fact, the battles fought (or retreated from) are described very simply and directly. It's been a long time since I studied American history, so it was refeshing to read how the Revolution was fought and won from a "novel" point of view. Citizen Washington is definitely worth a read. I found the Federalist vs. Republican debate especially helful, told, as it is, from characters near the debate.

This is an excellent historical novel about George Washington. The novel presents Washington through the eyes of many of the people who knew him, including his wife and his slaves as well as the other great men of the day. It is a good approach for describing a very complex man with many sides.

The book focuses primarily on Washington's life up until the time he became President. The book does cover his entire life, but his years as President are skimpy by comparison to the rest of his life. The author's interest is more on who Washington was as a man than on his public accomplishments. Focusing on his formative years provides more insight into his character.

Nevertheless, the novel demonstrates the truly great accomplishments Washington made to American history. Without Washington, we would not have won the Revolutionary War: he provided the military strategy, the determination, and the leadership needed to win. Without Washington, we would not have become a country: he provided the leadership the 13 colonies needed to come together as a union. Without Washington, we would not have become a democracy: he resisted efforts to anoint him king, and he voluntarily relinquished power--first as commanding general who won the War of Independence, and later as the nation's first President.

Washington was an admirable person, and deserves the adulation the nation gave him then and since. But of course he had his flaws, and Citizen Washington conveys them, particularly via the characters in the novel who did not idolize him. Such was Washington's force of personality, though, that even his detractors were in awe of him.

This novel is particularly valuable as an adjunct to a nonfiction account of Washington's life, the best of which is James Thomas Flexner's Washington: The Indispensable Man.

This novel was one of the most informative books I have ever read. Not only did we get a run-down on the usual suspects of the era, Jefferson, Adams, and Washington, but the insight gained on the characters which history misses sometimes, like Alexander Hamilton, Henry Knox and Martha Washington made the book very hard to put down. The way Martin intermingles fictional and non-fictional characters is a work of genius. This novel is a fast-paced, fast-reading tale which NEVER bogs the reader down with an endless string of statistics and facts. The story is always the most important part of the book, and Martin hit a home run spinning this tale. I would recommend this novel, obviously to any Martin fans, but also to anyone who has wondered what historical fiction is like. I can not wait for his next novel!!!!

Open the book. Chase County, Kansas has U.S. Route 50 and the Kansas Turnpike running through it. The Flint Hills are the last remaining grand expanse of tall grass in America. The population of Chase County is 3,013. This is clearly William Least Heat-Moon's masterpiece. The closest reading experience I can summon is that of Barry Lopez's ARCTIC DREAMS.

Chase County, Kansas is an empty area in relative terms. The arrangement of the book is to follow a sort of geographical grid. The author introduces new concerns with a series of paragraphs and quotations from other works. Individual stories are inserted for interest and historical verisimilitude. For example, Gabriel Jacobs was a Dunkard preacher from Indiana. He and his wife arrived in Chase County in 1856.

The book is filled with maps. Cottonwood Falls, State Lake, Spring Creek, Den Creek, Rock Creek, Cottonwood River, Sharp Creek, Roniger Hill, Landon Rocks and Bazaar are shown on the map of the Bazaar Quadrangle. Chase County is tall grass country. Beef is the major pursuit. It absolutely depends upon grass. The work of Chase is to turn soil and cellulose into humanly digestible carbohydrates and protein. Tribal people took their health from prairie plants. Antelope are returning to the Flint Hills through a restocking program. The author observes that the land in Chase County is like a good library, it lets a fellow extend himself. Common Chase properties of the land are the vales and uplands through which the author enjoyed traveling.

A review by me cannot do justice to this book. The work is as multi-dimensional as EXECUTIONER'S SONG by Norman Mailer. Vachel Lindsay traveled down the Cottonwood Valley. A student going to high school in Chase County thinks there is no privacy, no opportunity to be one's self. A grade school teacher told the author she hoped that people in Chase County could learn to love themselves less and the children more. The largest cottonwood in Kansas has a trunk 27 feet around. The Timber Culture Act of 1873 gave 160 acres of land to the settler who would plant ten of these acres in trees. In 1931 a Fokker plane carrying the famous football coach Knute Rockne crashed in Chase County near Bazaar.

People ariving in Chase County after 1862, the Homestead Act, were limited to taking a quarter section, 160 acres. Most county bottom land had been claimed by 1870. Absentee land ownership has been a fact of life in Chase County since the 19th century when the English aristocracy and the railroads owned large tracts.

The author says that for him writing is not a search for explanations, but a ramble. He believes that Chase County is the ideal place to develop a prototype of a new agricultural community. The book began when the author arrived at Roniger Hill with an image of a topographical grid in his head. Of the dozen settlements in Chase County, three or four can still be called villages and two are towns. The significance of prairyerth is that Chase County lies among it. "The Prairyerths and Blackerths are deep soils, lightly granular, relatively nonacid, unleached, with full stores of humus and minerals."

A book in my top-ten all-time list. It proves that no place is devoid of deep historic, geologic, and geographic meaning--if you are poetic enough, as Least-Heat Moon is, to observe and record it. The enormous amount of detail is presented in such a way that it makes you happy; as it prolongs the experience. The book has unique features--quotes that lead off every chapter, it's "geographic" the organization--that further the pleasure. Every place on earth needs a deep map. I am jealous of anyone from Chase County. I wish my home county had such a comprehensive compendium. To be sure, all of this information is there for the asking, but who esle but WLHM can pull it together in one place and present it in a such a gripping fashion? If you like history, America, people, geology, geography, maps, exploration, or adventure, are experiencing a turning point in your life, or are just someone who appreciates a job well done, this book is for you.

I first picked up this book when a job change brought us into the Tallgrass Prairie region of Kansas. As it turns out, we settled in Cottonwood Falls, Chase County, Kansas! It was extraordinary to read PrairyErth, knowing that we would soon be experiencing this place first-hand.

There is truly nothing like living in this community and experiencing the sights, places and people described so richly in PrairyErth. William Least Heat-Moon knows this place well, and paints a picture that is as vivid and timeless as Chase County itself. As a "local", I've returned to this book time and time again.

Unfortunately, my job is now taking us away from here. If you've read the passage about Spring Street in Cottonwood Falls, then you know our home. This is truly a beautiful and extraordinary place; unique in the world. If you would like to experience the sense of community that my family and I have been so blessed with, give me a call.

This book and Robert Adair's _The_Physics_of_Baseball_ are essential to being the best player, executive, or fan possible. This book is timeless, and focuses on the 'real playing field' of baseball -- the strike zone where the hitter and pitcher battle it out. This book covers technique well, but more importantly, it teaches approach, and the earlier in your life you can learn that, the better you will be.

Williams' emphasis on plate discipline and mental approach, combined with his teaching of how to analyze your own swing gives you the basic tools you need to be an excellent offensive player. For pitchers, this book is a must to understand the weapons available to the batter.

For fans, this book will help you understand what's important and what's just filler by the broadcast team. If you're under 14 years old, buy this book, or go get from your local library, and study it on a field with a tee and a bag of balls. Then read it every day before you do your hitting reps.

This book turns bad hitters fair, and good hitters great. You just need to put in the work.

This is the greatest book anyone an possibly buy on hitting. It is written by one of the top 3 hitters in baseball history, Ted Williams, and he definitely knows what he's talking about. Take it from me, I know. Im a 15 year old baseball player, whenever I get into a slump I can read this book and it will automatically get me out of it. If you read this at the beggining of a season it's possible your batting average could at least increase by .200, depending on how good you are. He explains the importance of having a good swing, stride, and everything essential to being a good hitter. This is a must have for every little leaguer.

This book is perfect for anyone looking to expand their knowledge on how to hit a baseball. Everything from pitch recognition to a smooth swing are discussed and analyzed. Ted Williams also includes some of his stories from when baseball was a lifestyle. This book allows anyone to see the time and hard work that must go into becoming a good hitter. Becoming a good hitter does not mean picking up a bat and taking a few swings. It starts before you ever get to the ballpark. He walks you through ways to pick up pitcher tendencies, and stresses patience at the plate. This book provides helpful diagrams, which show what pitches are good ones to take a swing at. But he doesn't stop there, he goes into great detail about what you should try and do with that pitch that is in the zone. Also included are tips for making your stance comfortable yet effective, grip on the bat, and improving your power for maximum effectiveness in every at bat. Ted Williams also provides insight on knowing the situation, and doing what is best for your team. A must read for players of all skill levels. This book will grow with you as your hitting experiences expand. Ted Williams deserves more stars than I am allowed to give him for this book.

This book is wonderful. Great, great characters, a clever and very well thought through plot (but not so intricate that you can't follow it), and a payoff at the end that matches or exceeds the reader's expectations. The protagonist, Victor Carl, is a real original. And the book's well written to boot! (Lashner's a practicing lawyer and a graduate of the Univ. of Iowa graduate writing program).

Victor Carl, the protagonist of "Hostile Witness," is one of the most enjoyable characters to appear in suspense fiction in quite some time. Far from being the embodiment of the idealized American lawyer, Carl is full of flaws and frailties that make him all the more enjoyable to follow in this fast-paced, suspense-laden thriller that has humor and heart. The book may be set in modern-day Philadelphia, but its roots lie in the California-based film noir classics of the 1940s and early 50s. "Hostile Witness" is easily the most enjoyable book I've read in a long, long time. I hope it is the just the first of many such books from newcomer William Lashner.

I adored this book!! It was a really meaty story. Just like the ones I love to sink my teeth into! I don't think I have come across a lawyer protagonist I liked quite this much since Rudy Baylor in John Grishams's "The Rainmaker". You can't help but adore Victor Carl in this story. Perhaps some of his goals lack sensitivity but you know that deep down, Victor is an honorable man and sure enough, by the end of the book even he realizes it. The suspense of the story is riveting, the characters are very real and there are enough twists and turns in the story to keep you intrigued. But the best thing about this book is it's depth and it's quality. I can't fully explain it, but it makes most lawyer type thrillers seem shallow in comparison. Sometimes I had to reread a passage and just stop to think about what was going on, but that is a sign of a great read, in my opinion. It is a delicious story and a one you just want to savor,so to speak. When you are done you sure want more of Victor Carl and I can't wait to read the next in the series. I hope Mr. Lashner is working hard on a third!!

As a written and oral communications trainer specializing in grammar, I needed the best reference manual I could find for my students. After reviewing dozens of them for over a decade, The Gregg Reference Manual by William Sabin continues to receive an A+ in my book. It is the only one I recommend because it is so comprehensive in scope, easy to use, and simple to understand. I take my copy with me everywhere.

Working with varied groups as a grammar expert, I am concerned about receiving a question I can't answer. Thanks to The Gregg Reference Manual, that's never happened. I've found answers to questions about even the finest points of grammar as do my students. Regardless of the concept in question, the book is amazingly easy to navigate thanks to its unique index. Unlike others, this one does not simply contain page references. Mr. Sabin references the numerous and detailed subjects in his index to distinctly numbered and lettered paragraphs instead. Those paragraphs contain both clear explanations of the related rules along with enlightening examples that serve to clarify rather than complicate the issues in question.

In my business, I have worked with thoursands of corporate and government employees ranging from experts in English to those who can barely differentiate between a subject and a verb. Whatever their English expertise or lack thereof, I recommend this manual to all of them. Without exception, those who bought it are praising it for the resons mentioned in this review and more. In addition, the price is right.

Try it for yourself, and join the myriad of other satisfied users who say, "Gregg is great!"

I've used this book for years, and I think it's terrific. Why? Four reasons: First, the information about grammar and usage is so mainstream, so consistent with the majority of other important references (The Chicago Manual of Style, for one). Second, it is accurate and reliable. Third, the outstanding index makes it wonderfully easy to use; you can look something up, in everyday terms, and readily find a reference. Fourth, the rules are short and the examples clear; once you've found the rule you need, you can read it, grasp it, and 30 seconds later be on your way.

As a full-time trainer of writers and editors, I have used this book with everyone from grammar-challenged support staff to highly educated professional editors. With some classes, I've also used the optional worksheets (sold separately). I can't recommend Gregg highly enough.

If I could give this book ten stars, I would. It is absolutely the best, most usable reference book of its kind. My jobs have all required superior composition abilities and, starting with its seventh edition, this book has been my required companion for almost ten years. It has always provided the answer I sought (often with extensive coverage), no matter the subject, no matter how obscure it seemed. Not only does this book have everything, but the index is the most comprehensive I have seen in any book, which significantly increases its usability. GRM is a must-have for anyone who writes, edits or proofreads, whether term papers, business letters, manuscripts, or any other writing. It has rules and examples of grammar, usage, capitalization (an astronomical list of rules), the gamut of punctuation, sentence structure, formats for a wide range of documents, forms of address and salutation, proper titles for individuals, government and other officials--the list goes on and on. I would almost venture to say if the rule isn't in this book it doesn't exist, and if it does it isn't significant! Make this book yours; if writing correctly is important to you, it will be one of your most worthwhile purchases.

Any animator looking for a book to help them improve their craft knows that most books on animation usually fall short in so many ways, it's easy to think it's impossible to write a comprehensive and accurate book on the subject (don't even get me started about the abysmal state of computer character animation books). Williams is the penultimate animator's animator and he tells it like it is. Williams systematically demystifies virtually every aspect of animation from simple walk cycles, to breaking joints to dialogue and acting. Along the way, he corrects or eliminates information that is inaccurate or practices that distract (lose the headphones and the rad tunes when you work and watch your quality and quantity improve). Williams also is a great storyteller and writer. His accounts with Milt Kahl, Art Babbit and Ken Harris are gems, giving real insight into the personalities of these ingenious men. Since so much of the book is gleaned from his tutaluge under the now-gone "greats" of animation, any price for this tome is a steal. His gift to the world is this book.

If you want learn to REALLY animate characters with life and believability, get this book.

Richard Williams is a man who is largely responsible for the revival of the art of animation in the early 1970s. Williams had Disney animator Art Babbitt and Warner great Ken Harris working in his studio in London and training a new generation of animators in the techniques of good character animation, which was not taught at the time in any school or considered an art form.

Williams' long awaited book on animation technique is the logical successor to Preston Blair's CARTOON ANIMATION and it successfully updates some of the weaknesses of that book, particularly in handling dialogue animation. He covers a lot of the same ground that Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston did in their now out-of-print THE ILLUSION OF LIFE.

There is some history, but that's available in other books. What is unique about this book is that Williams writes how surprised he, an Academy Award winning animator with a successful professional studio, was to learn that he needed to learn just about everything over again from Harris and Babbitt. Fortunately for us he is now sharing these priceless lessons with the public.

The most important thing that an aspiring animator will get from this book is: that animation IS an art form, and good animation has nothing to do with whether it is done on computer or on paper. Williams exhorts his readers to 'draw whenever possible' and even though there is a computer modelled figure on the cover of the book, there is not a single piece of computer generated imagery in it. The book is about the bare bones, about creating life in art. Animation is the twentieth century's contribution to world art and deserves to be taken very seriously.

Buy this book.

I'm a graduate of a one year animation certificate program in classical animation. In many ways, this book covers a lot of the ground of Preson Blair's classic bible "Cartoon Animation", as well as Tony White's excellent "Animator's Handbook". However, it also deals with practical examples to extend the lessons from these initial books. The whole section on 'walks' has lessons on acting, character and animation that deal with all areas of acting in animation, not simply walk cycles.

It's also more practical than the Illusion of Life, in that it has a logical progression of lessons and enough custom illustrations to more precicely demonstrate these points. In many ways, It's the intermediate book between the intellectual aspects of the Illusion of Life, and the basic principals of Cartoon Animation.

For me, this was like a second year of school: I had learned all the concepts and basic principals I needed in that first year of school using Tony White and Preson Blair. Richard William's book expanded on those concepts, and has already started to improve my work in the first two months of receiving it. I highly recommend this book to any animation students out there, as well as graduates looking to increase their skills.

Cancer Ward is often overshadowed by its predecessor, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, and its successor, the immense memoir, The Gulag Archipelago. While the worldly impact of those two works is perhaps greater, the aesthetic power of Cancer Ward is stronger than both of those works. The story is poignant and powerful, reaching out and probing deeply into the essential questions that are never answered by not only Soviet society, but western culture as a whole. The religious message that emerges is stunning and unique, recalling the works of Dostoyevsky. Overall, this is an excellent book, and any reader who enjoyed One Day or Gulag will be blown away by this work.

Having read a good bit of Solzhenitsyn's books, I can safely say that this is the pinnacle of his work. It simultaneously examines how people cope with the loss of freedom (to the Soviet state and the cancer ward), with the death that surrounds them, and with their own mortality. Through the whole work, too, through death and triumph over disease, runs Solzhenitsyn's recurring theme of the survival and growth of the human spirit under terrible conditions, seen as the main character and those around him realize former errors and deficiencies of character and seek to redeem themselves by doing good for others. I would highly recommend this book to all readers of Solzhenitsyn and, really, anyone.

Having just finished reading it for the third time, I believe that Cancer Ward is a very fine novel, rich at many levels: in its depiction of Soviet provincial society in 1955, a poor society just emerging from Stalinism; in its portrayal of many separate characters (doctors, nurses, patients, hospital workers) in that society, many of whose lives have been permanently damaged by the terror and the GULAG, but in different ways; and, as I know from personal experience, in its depiction of the isolated world of the cancer patient, from which the rest of society is seen dimly, as though through dirty glass. In spite of all medical progress, the basics of this world have not changed much in 50 years: the core treatments are still surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, and the side effects both long and short term can still be brutal.

The ending of the book will disappoint those who want a happy ending, or just an ending with all the loose ends tied up. In real life, though, loose ends usually stay loose. My thought is that Solzhenitshyn intended the reader to understand that for the characters and the society who are so damaged by the past there can be no happy endings; the best they can hope for is to continue from day to day, grasping at whatever happiness briefly comes their way.

Last year, I had the pleasure of meeting and attending a reading by Terry Tempest Williams, author of Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place. At the time, I was unfamiliar with her work, but I was nevertheless astounded by her presentation. Immediately, I bought two of her novels-- one of which was Refuge. When I read it a few months after meeting her, I was amazed at the tone and emotion in the text. Williams' book can be a source of peace or healing to many whether you have experienced cancer, a loss, or just adore nature. The language is rich yet gentle. The structure of the narrative is such that, during reading and after, a reader feels she has experiences a unique marriage of nature and family issues. The way in which Williams weaves the Great Salt Lake and its inhabitants with her own family's suffering is not only amazing but especially touching as well. Just as the waterfowl and other creatures are evicted from their home during the great rise and flood of Salt Lake, so does William's mother fight for the domicile and dominance in her own cancerous body.
This is a must read. A wonderful story of love, hardships, and more love, REFUGE is a truly breathtaking piece of art.

As the Great Salt Lake rose to submerge and destroy the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, grief rose and submerged Terry Tempest William's spirit with the destruction of her mother and grandmother by cancer. The gradual regeneration of the Refuge with the subsiding of the lake parallels the regeneration of her spirit and the subsiding of her grief. But the pain and the scars remain and transform. Terry is no longer an accepting trusting Mormon daughter but a searching questioning activist after her tumultuous emotional experience. One wonders if the gifts of awareness and sensitivity are worth the price of the pain endured. The Refuge becomes a sanctuary for the returning birds and Terry's returning spirit. No more moving piece has been written about the folly and ultimate tragedy of human intervention in the environment. From the nuclear testing of the 1950s to the manipulation of the level of the Great Salt Lake, there is much to learn about the long term consquences of our short sighted acts. Everyone should read and reread and pass on this book.

An intimate telling of family and loss, courage and humor, honest confrontations with mortality, a deeply spiritual tone, and chapter titles introducing us to over thirty different birds, this beautifully descriptive and authentic tale leaves us with tears and a search for binoculars and a bird guidebook. Terry Tempest Williams weaves with great detail the heart breaking and life affirming events of the simultaneous devastation of her mother's body and the migratory bird sanctuary that has been her refuge. She skillfully keeps from dramatizing this innately powerful story. Williams had me deeply attached to pages I knew would be increasingly painful to read. Yet, as it became more painful, I would never describe it as depressing. I am struck by the powerful way she honors her mother, their family's reverent yet human journey through a particularly virulent cancer, and the ultimate power of nature, and equally important, humanity's thoughtless interference with nature, to turn one's life into a personal desert that used to be called home. She is a master storyteller and a poweful activist. This must read challenges the reader to enter a world where solutions are not simple, and life is exposed at its most vulnerable while courage and passion abound.

Very little drives me crazier than authors who rely on literary convention, who are self-indulgent in any of the several ways possible for fiction (for example, if the main character is righteous, or if the author uses the book to promote his or her pet ideas, or if it's a historical makes the characters of the past have the sensibilities-- feminism, for example-- of the present). Wm. Mark Simmons does NONE of these things. One Foot belies its somewhat lurid cover art by asking the readers to believe only one thing-- these "supernatural" creatures do exist-- and goes on to tell a story that keeps my interest and never rings false to my internal B.S.-meter (and I read a lot, so it's finely tuned). The once-human "monsters" are still very human in their hearts and minds (which are sometimes monstrous, like those of some humans); their situations have scientific bases. Add to this "keeping-it-realism" a literate quality, thoughtfulness and a significant portion of humor, and you wind up with a work which is at the same time intelligent, funny, and very rereadable, which is my standard of measure for quality fiction. Or to put it another way, most of my paperbacks stay awhile and then get traded in. Not this one. I look forward to its sequel(ae).

This book is one of the great stories to keep in your collection. Especially if you enjoy vampires, werewolves, and fairies. They say never judge a book by its cover, but that's why I first picked it up when it was first published. The main character "Christoper Csejthe" is intelligent, not exactly handsome, but you find him attractive. He's just finding out what he is, or isn't. His wife and daughter were murdered, and he is slowly turning into a vampire. Or maybe not. You see, he never D I E D. His maker says that he is "Dracula", and he never meant for this situation to happen. While trying to learn what he will become, we learn of different kinds of vampires, their religions, and how to get rid of them. Chris learns that he is wanted, dead, or alive. He's running from everyone, and doesn't know who to trust. Along the way, he's gaining some awesome powers. This book has humor, action, and romance. I've been waiting six years for the next one. I take this one out at least once every year and read it again. That Good.

I've read many different vampire myths, but this one is wittier and more intelligent by far. Told from the viewpoint of a man experiencing the change between humanity and vampirism, this novel makes the reader feel the impact of the shift from a mundane life to a supernatural undeath. The dialogue is splattered with allusions to literature, history, and most especially - movies and pop culture. The arguments on the question of free will between our hero and the vampire leader are like an episode of Politically Incorrect. This is a well-researched novel with enough fact included to make you wonder how much of it is fiction. The fight scenes are more than enough to slake any bloodthirst. Sardonic retorts, exasperated vampyr and a sexy wolfgirl make One Foot In The Grave an apetizing read!