this book gives you all the information you will ever need on any Xiphophorus species,including collection data.
It will be your best companion for years to come if you are keeping wild Xiphophorus species.

In this story an American goes undercover to Russia to try to persuade a russian Cosmonaut to defect to the United States. The American is an astronaut also so the space program is willing to take him in so that they can learn the plans of the Americans and of their technology. The story is written very well and and in all forms is very interesting.

This is an interesting book, it gave me something I normally don't read - almost a human interest story. It has a very insightful look at relationships if you take it away from the main story. The writing is far less dark then many of the other books that get close to this particular topic and region of the world. Given the large amount of book in this class, his one stands out becuase of the writing. He has a very good flow through out the book and he is a master at describing the location and people involved. I think we get to know the main character becuase the author does such a good job of dropping into the story bits of the lead characters life and thoughts, so you really come away with a strong sense of the man. I love the level of detail and the story that takes in all the twists and really makes it work. This is a book for a reader that wants to become part of the story and pay attention.

This book was written as a fiction novel during WWII times. It is the story of the son of Joseph Stalin. What he went through and what he had to go through when he met his real father. When very young he was adopted by a couple in Russia and 16 years later they told him that he wasn't their son. This story is very well done and also very interesting, it keeps you glued to your seat throughout the whole story.

I am not a big fan of the travel memoir, of any sort. I read this only because I have become increasingly interested in traveling to Spain and wanted to read something fairly recent which deals with Spanish culture.

I am quite surprised by the previous review. Perhaps I'm a bit more open minded, but I never caught a glimpse of the author's "imperialist attitudes." The only instances that _may_ have been interpreted as such were when Lambert was expressing distrust of locals he had just met...but who wouldn't? One fellow in particular had a habit of either not being fully forthcoming or bending the truth a bit. If this is one of the first people you meet, I would expect that you might be leery as well!

I think one of the strong points of this man's story is that he moved to a country and had to work at adjusting and allowing those around him to adjust to him. He said that they would try leaving in Spain for a year, then weigh out whether they had adapted AND were accepted by the locals. Only then would they decide whether to stay or not. Along the way, Lambert describes the many obstacles and cultural faux pas which he encountered making his dream of living in Spain come true.

By reading this book with an open mind, I think that it is apparent by the outcome of the many subplots (particularly those having to do with Lambert's relationship with the workmen doing the construction and upkeep on the house) that Lambert and his wife were accepted after working at it for a year.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book for those interested in Spanish culture away from the sangria and the flamenco, or those eager to learn more about breaking in to another culture. Very educational.

Something is missing from Spanish Lessons, some kind of energy or heart.

Maybe what's missing is that Derek Lambert is too normal. The very best travel essays and memoirs all have something in common - a narrator who is eccentric, peculiar, a little bit different, whether it's something he does, or just part of his personality. Lambert is just an average guy living in Spain; the crazy things that would happen to Bill Bryson don't happen to him, and the crazy things that Tim Cahill would do aren't done by him.

Or maybe it's something stylistic - Lambert is a fugitive from journalism, and his writing still has that who-what-where-when bluntness, tinged with an all-too-palpable struggle to add some literary flair. That makes this book rather less compelling than it might otherwise be - the narrative just never picks you up and carries you along, and that is essential in travel writing.

It could even be that Lambert just hasn't fallen in love with Spain the way Mayle did with Provence or Mayes did with Tuscany. Spanish Lessons lacks vivid local color and fascinating local history, two things that can really make a living-abroad book. Lambert seems to be reluctant about giving in to Spain, too - he even quits his Spanish lessons after a few weeks. While this kind of restraint may be understandable, it doesn't make for the sort of book that can transport you to a new place.

Probably it's all those things. Lambert has written an essentially normal story - man buys house, man has problems with builders and plumbing, man holds party, etc. - that just happens to be set in Spain, and despite the generous descriptions of food and gardens and colorful local characters, the pedestrian nature of the material comes through.

While this is an interesting light read, and its flaws are minor, it just isn't entrancing. Borrow this book, don't buy it, and look elsewhere for truly hysterical or truly lyrical travel literature.

Having read a lot of travel books I immediately cring at books advertised to be "like Peter Mayle" because most of them are anything but! Hurray, in Spanish Lessons, the spirit of Peter lives on. The ability to see the humor in a difficult situation and to enjoy,not condemn customs and habits foreign to him are well in evidence here. The book is amusing, well written and punctuated with laugh alouds. Lambert takes on the Spanish with a limited vocabulary and a house renovation job that would make most of us cring and comes out if not the better, at least even. I enjoyed the book and its insight into life in a small Spanish village, its characters and its culture. All this and not a jug of Sangria in sight! Encore!

This book is a take off on a real event at the end of World War Two dealing with holocaust loot captured by the allies. That is about the nicest thing I can say about the book. It was really trying to get up to the average mark but it did not make it. Overall it was just dull.