I have read all the books written by brothers A&B Strugatskii and would name them among my favourite authors. This particular book is actually a second and probably the most popular part of a trilogy where the main charachter is Maxim Kammerrer. In spite of that it can be easily read separately. The story will keep even the ones who do not like science fiction preoccupied for a few hours. The authors explore our fear of the unknown. What is the real purpose of the alien world and its beings? Are they offering a friendly hand or are they here to destroy us? Or, may be, they are merely passing by... To make matters more complicated, the potential alien does not know that he might be a walking bomb as Earth is the only home he had ever known...

Why would a SuperMan (or X-man) want to stick around on the little Earth, getting the poor humans out of various boring problems?

May be, because he (or she) does not realize his (or her) powers. Or, because, he feels gratefull or has some other emotional attachments.

But this things can not keep him for too long...

When Annabel Andrews (she who switched places with her mom in "Freaky Friday") realizes that her younger brother Ben has tinkered with their old TV to make it show tomorrow's programs, it isn't long before she gets a great idea. Her friend Boris's mother is both eccentric and poor. If they can use the TV to win money to renovate Boris's apartment, it might just straighten out his home life . . .

Once again, Mary Rodgers scores a winner. An entertaining page turner, it has valuable lessons for kids in teaching them that the other guy's point of view just might not be what you think it should be.

A Billion for Boris' attention-span is good. It's a page-turner for ages 8-88. Ape Face tinkers with an old TV set so it shows tomorrow's news. Boris manages to get it back, and he and Ape Face's sister, Annabel, decide to us etheir new knowledge to help Boris' writer-mother get more money and refinish Boris' apartment. How? By betting on horses. A book which kept me reading until the last page. The sequel to Freaky Friday and the book before Summer Switch, it is ultimately one of Mary Rodgers' masterpieces.

There are calendars and then there are Calendars. The art works by Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell are exceptional. Each month is set out with it's own mythology story and picture. The centre fold is a full length picture. This calendar is a must to own and definitely worth displaying for all you friends and family to admire; so make sure it is the focal point in your home.

The illustrations are great, is a show of hands. It's a lavish extravagance of color and virtuosism but the human figures appear to be posing very much as if they were ready for a photo session, and that lack of spontaneity. And if you like painting things like that you will find a -what to do guide in those artworks. A wild calendar!

This book was great. The author does a great job talking about the FIDE in the first half of the book, just to inform you about the technicalities of playing in a World Championship match. The author talks about "The War of Nerves" theory, the somewhate eccentric Bobby Fischer, but at the same time, the outstanding play of him also. Part two of the book is absolutely great. It is a game-by-game analysis, showing other possible moves, a full rundown of the game, move by move, and what I enjoyed, the final position of the pieces. That truely gives you a chance to "get inside" the mind of these great chess players. If you are interested in chess, or want to get interested in chess, read this book!

This book was written by a panel of experts and afficianados -- ranging from music and news editors to chess grandmasters. It follows the most highly publicized chess match ever played. Expert analysis of each game is combined with personal and historical context.

The title of my review refers to the fact that I was in Iceland with my father (Richard J Roberts) and the others as we watched the matches, and was somewhat privy to much of the the behind-the-scenes reporting (as privy as a 10 year old could be).

I have been fresh water fishing for 50+ years and am now retiring to Florida. I needed a quick start on Florida saltwater fishing and this proved to be invaluable. Very well organized to learn about all or only the species desired. I went on a back bay flats fishing outing and not only impressed the other fishermen on the boat with my knowledge of fish, technique and baits, but the guide as well. I am now ordering copies for friends who have been fishing Florida for several years because they wanted to know where they could get it. Worth more than the price.

This book helped improve my angling skills and helped me catch the fish I always wanted in and offshore.

This book is about a Princess who is allowed to choose her own stepmother. She devises a wonderful plan which will help her find the woman who will be a loving addition to the royal family. I first read this book to my oldest daughter 17 years ago, and I am now sharing it with my youngest daughter who is 4. We all ***LOVE*** this book. The story is wonderful, and the illustrations are some of the best that I've ever seen. Definitely a 5-Star Book!!!

We LOVE this book! The story of a princess who, although loved well by her father, longs for a mother to share her secrets. Her father, the king, refuses to re-marry because he might choose a bad stepmother. Elena urges her father to let her choose a GOOD stepmother who will also be a good wife. Her plan is simple but ingenious. The last pages always make me cry with joy! The illustrations are wonderfully heart-warming. This is a FIND!

Comprehensive book that covers every major virtuoso from Corelli to Zukerman by a knowlegeable Russian violin scholar who lived when the great russian music was being composed.

This is the most complete book about violinists I have ever read. This is the book that will "fill in the gaps" of any missing knowledge you may have concerning the great violin soloists of the past.

(This is the paperback edition)

I'll say it again, this is essential reading for any violin lover!!!

This is a fair and thorough account of history of the violin and its masters. The late Mr. Schwartz left a work to be praised for decades: all due gratitude for his delegent and extensive research and his stellar authourship.

Chapters on early masters are especially impressive, with more than sufficient information and fair analysis on each artist. The simplistic, yet comprehensive and highly informative writing style of Mr. Schwartz make it a more enjoyable reading; anyone, even with minimal knowledge on violin, will find it accessible and pleasant to read. Not a single line in this book is boring, or pedantic; a personal tribute/annecdote at the end of each chapter on modern violinists, is often moving with the author's candour and endearing admiration for the artist.

I ordered these CDs to research the power of music and sound on reducing stress and evoking memory for a novel I'm writing, and so clamped on the ear phones and followed the instructions offered for "deep relaxation." This stuff works! Only one of the four CDs was not to my listening taste, but all four booklets by the quartet of authors were fascinating and full of factual and scientific information for the lay listener. This packet may be just what you're looking for. I'm ordering it for a friend who has just had her hip replaced and needs rest and relaxation to get better.

I ordered these CDs to research the power of music and sound on reducing stress and evoking memory for a novel I'm writing, and so clamped on the ear phones and followed the instructions offered for "deep relaxation." This stuff works! Only one of the four CDs was not to my listening taste, but all four booklets by the quartet of authors were fascinating and full of factual and scientific information for the lay listener. This packet may be just what you're looking for. I'm ordering it for a friend who has just had her hip replaced and needs rest and relaxation to get better.

This book is tiny but full of little pictures that make it an even better reference guide. If you are looking for color pictures, detailed information and/or illustrated examples in culture then this is NOT the book for you.

This book should be on the reference shelf of anyone designing or evaluating logos. It is compact and packed with information on shapes, images and symbols from the perpectives of cultures around the world - from prehistory forward. It is illustrated and cross-referenced. Grab it several time throughout the design process to make sure you are on target with the symbolism inherent in the shapes and images you are using in your designs. Great value.

Pasternak's poetry is better than his prose. Why he is still often better known for the latter baffles me. I suggest this or any of his collected poems to the reader looking for creative, quality poetry. Pasternak certainly ranks as one of the greatest amongst the group of very talented Russian poets that emerged during the first quarter of the 20th centuary. His poems deserve just as much (if not more) recognition as his novels.

While Pasternak is known in the United States mainly for his novel "Dr. Zhivago" - or, more to the point, the film based on "Dr. Zhivago" - he was quite an accomplished poet. A better poet, I think, than he was a novelist. Although I've never read Mr. Rudman's translation - or, for that matter, any translation at all - "Sister of Mine-Life" keeps to its bosom a host of beautiful poems.

Rather than try to explain Pasternak's incredible gift for metaphor and detail, his absolute love of words - he was a decent translator of Shakespeare and others - I'll roughly approximate my favorite poem, from it's original Russian. It is untitled.

***

My friend, you ask, who ordered
That the holy idiot's speech should blaze?

***

Let us trickle words
As the garden drips amber and lemon
Absently and generous,
Gently, gently, gently.

And there's no need to explain
Why there is such ceremony
Of madder and of lemon
Scattering on leaves.

Who made pine needles rush
On a long stick, like music
Through the locks of Venetian blinds,
To the bookcase.

Who reddened the rug of mountain ash
Rippling beyond the door,
Written through with beautiful,
Quivering cursives.

You ask, who orders
That August be great
To whom nothing is small
Who lives in the finishing

Of maple leaves;
Who, since the days of the Ecclesiastes,
Hasn't left his post
And is hewing alabaster?

You ask, who orders,
That the September lips of asters and dahlias
Shall suffer?
That leaves
Should fall from stone caryatids
To the damp gravestones
Of autumn hospitals?

You ask, who orders?
--Omnipotent God of details,
Omnipotent God of love,
Of Yaigails and Yaidvigas.

I don't know, was it decided,
The riddle of the road to the afterlife,
But life, like the stillness
Of autumn -- is details.

I can't quite transmit the pine needles rushing through the Venetian blinds as boats through a sluice, but I'm sure Mr. Rudman could. Even through my approximate translation, it's possible to see what a man of detail Pasternak was. In my edition, the introduction begins: "With Pasternak, you must hurt" -- as great ideas are, the editor notes, painful.

Pasternak certainly took painful care of his words, his thoughts, his beauty. And "Sister of Mine-Life," one of his earlier collections - (the summer of 1917) - is beautiful, detailed and pained.

***

As a post script, I prefer "Sister of Mine-Life," to "My Sister-Life" because the construction "sistra maya" - rather than "maya sistra" stresses that she's my sister.

Also, because life and sister are both female in gender, "my sister" and "my life" are dually coupled in Pasternak's title. "My" could refer solely to sister, or it could be my life, as well.