A wonderful child's/young adult science fiction novel that even adults will enjoy.

Libra: The Cat Who Saved Silicon Valley
by Lincoln Taiz, Lee Taiz
Paperback: 326 pages
Publisher: Amsea Group Publishing, Inc.; (December 15, 2002)
ISBN: 0972304401

Libra The Cat Who Saved Silicon Valley is not your ordinary young adult book, nor is it your ordinary science fiction book, nor is it your ordinary learning book, but with a combination of them all, this book is a one of a kind read that will keep the reader interested long after the book is finished.

It is the story of a cat from the planet Gatos (gato is the Spanish word for cat) meets alien cats and tries to figure out who or what they are. Their adventure leads them to a "battle" with Silicon Valley Computers.
Ultimately, Libra goes back to Gatos but her adventure on Earth will never be forgotten, nor will the friendships she made.

The book is a twist of learning and play on words that children can understand and adults will enjoy. The sci-fi fan will love the language, information, and adventures in this story and the young reader will learn more about reading and language than they expected.

The book comes with a CD of music featuring Amanda Shelby. The 25 songs are fun to sing and listen to. And it is an added bonus that makes this book a real deal.

Before writing this review, I had my 5th grade son also read the book. He loved it. He enjoyed the play on words and the story line. He has since taken the book to school and has shared it with his friends. It is truly a book for all ages.

Mr. Lincoln's City: An Illustrated Guide To The Civil War Sites Of Washington by U.S. Army Major General Richard M. Lee (Retired) is enhanced with 15 maps and 130 historical photographs as it offers the reader a series of major tours throughout downtown Washington, DC, to 80 sites that were significant to the events occurring between 1861 and 1865 during the American Civil War. There were a total of 68 forts encircling Washington, which the Union forces utilized as a major war base with its rail net and staging areas. This proved critically important as Confederate forces approached the city when the great battles took place in neighboring Virginia to the detriment of the Union Army. Here land marked for the onsite visitor as well as the armchair traveler are the Washington Monument slaughterhouse, the fetid creeks and canals, the sick, the wounded and the dying lying in hospitals strewn across the city. This is also the place where President Lincoln brought his forces to final victory, preserved the union, and resulted in Washington becoming the premier city of a reunited republic -- an unassailable position it has held down to the present day. Mr. Lincoln's City is an enthusiastically recommended addition to American History and Civil War History reference collections, as well as an ideal resource for planning a Civil War oriented tour of Washington, DC.

William Lee Miller's book Lincoln's Virtues: An Ethical Biography proves Abraham Lincoln was a most unique individual an
ethical politician. Miller introduces the Lincoln as he lived and breathe and Lincoln lived and breathe politics. Lincoln's practice of politics is familiar to us because it was partisan, compromising as well as searching for consenus and individual distinction.
Lincoln the politician seems commmon, it is his ethical quality on the rub of a matter which is outstanding. For Lincoln there was more to poltics than winning elections. There were larger issues of life to be effected by law and politics. Miller points out Lincoln achieved his moral basis from no individual but from the reading of books such as the Bible, Pilgrim's Progress, biographies of Washington and Shakespeare.
Miller indicates that in Lincoln's early political career the larger issue was the rise of the common man which Lincoln believed was best achieved by Henry Clay's Whig policies. Post-1854 Lincoln's moral issue was slavery. Lincoln recognized slavery was a moral issue and to present it politcally as a moral issue and not allow it to be presented as an economic issue clouded by the prejudice of the day as Lincoln's great political rival Douglas presented the slavery issue.
Miller presents Lincoln's strength of mind and in particular its ability to study and think an issue. His clear judgment balanced by a sincere sensitivity. This was best explained by Leonard Swett in the footnotes on p490 of Miller's book.
The best part of the book was the Stanton-Lincoln relationship on pp 410-426. Stanton began with disdain of Linclon but in working with Lincoln in the Civil War Stanton grew to respect Lincoln and be astonished by Lincoln's work. Miller points out the lack of vindictiveness in Lincoln and contrasts that with 20th century American Presidents. The ethical biography of Lincoln shows the gift to the Amercian people the Presidency of Abraham Lincoln was at our most crucial time.
This excellent and fresh biography of Lincoln shows he transcended his times and was a product of his times. He was a great man whose example gives us hope that an ethical politician is not and should not be an oxymoron.

This is a very scholarly work on the development of Lincoln's ethics as a man and a politician. The book is a deep study of Lincoln's writings and influences, the books he read, the candidates (Henry Clay) that he favored and the influences in his life such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. I would recommend for those unfamiliar with the detail of Lincoln's life to read a primer as Miller brings forth information in such detail that the reader has to have more than a baseline of familiarity with Lincoln. As a scholar, Miller uses some phrases and language that reflect my limited education and caused me to occasionally keep a dictionary near by. I found that midway through the book that this need was less so.

In summary, the author notates the severe disadvantages that Lincoln had with a large and poor family, little schooling and s little opportunity for higher education and without the finer things in life such as well fitted clothing that must have caused more attention to Lincolns height and ungainly lean look. In spite of any set backs caused by losing future elections, even in cases where Lincoln had the inside track such as the Senate vote of 1855, Lincoln maintains a humility along with a sincere interest in staying on the high ground ethically. As Miller points out through extensive study of Lincoln's history, writings and course of study, Miller does well to describe the development of Lincoln's virtues. Miller notes that Lincoln is not politically naïve, he starts out an as industrious politician dealing with matters of economy but also graduates as a leading member of the Whig Party in his State and eventually a leader of the Republican Party. Lincoln is astute in that he disagrees with the Know Nothings but instead of criticizing them waits for their collapse so that their better followers may enjoin the new Republican Party. Miller frames Lincoln's successfully arguments about the evils of slavery and the intent of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Miller points out that Douglas and the growing State of Illinois gave Lincoln a National platform to espouse his views. After reading the passages from the debates (Lincoln initially engineers), I see Lincoln's argument more clearly that the Nebraska Act and popular sovereignty was absolutely wrong in that the Act allowed a small population to determine a national issue about the expansion of slavery into the territories. Miller also notes that Lincoln in his time stressed that slavery was wrong in clear, logical arguments with a point that anyone at anytime could be enslaved but his best argument was simply, that it was wrong and in violation of the Declaration of Independence. I am most impressed with not only Lincoln's stand against slavery, irregardless of his occasional carefulness about equality of the races for those times, but his strident ability to defend his position and impress those that heard him speak. His Humility is incredulous that he does not make those that defeated him or snubbed him his enemies but enlists them for the betterment of his party and the installation of his national Government. My favorite passage in the book deals with Stanton's initial meeting with Lincoln, where Lincoln is virtually used as a local boy for a case in his State but never taken serious as a true partner in the case. Lincoln later has no deliberation in later making Stanton his Secretary of War. Lincoln was not condescending to those that disagreed with him, he recognized that differences in geography and environment made men think differently but not necessarily evil. I agree with Miller, that the second Inaugural was his greatest speech, only Lincoln after four years of war could say "with malice toward none".

Perhaps no figure in American history has been the subject of more mythology, legend and revision than Abraham Lincoln. He has been elevated to the status of Christ-like martyrdom. He has been called a white supremacist and a racist. Revisionists of the right have accused him of fomenting war to promote mercantile interests. His motives and morality have been questioned. His commitment to the anti-slavery cause has been questioned. But who was the real Abraham Lincoln? What were his true thoughts on the great issue of the day? How did the prairie born son of illiterate pioneers become the most revered man in American History?

In this wonderful new book, William Lee Miller examines, not so much the events of Lincoln's life as the evolution of the character of the man historian Paul Johnson calls "a kind of moral genius." The book covers the years from Lincoln's birth until his inauguration in 1861. In particular, Miller examines how Lincoln's politics can be squared with his morality. Using Lincoln's own words, Miller effectively refutes the revisionists of both the right and the left and restores Lincoln to his rightful place as an American giant and irrepressible foe of slavery.

Miller is an unabashed admirer of Lincoln. Through careful scholarship and relentless logic, the author dissects Lincoln's words and actions, explores his motivations and raises and disposes of revisionist arguments. He does so in an amusing and folksy style that clearly reveals his affection and fascination with this greatest of all Americans. All of the positive traits associated with Lincoln are shown to be true. In speech after speech, Lincoln is revealed to be an intractable foe of slavery. Miller's exploration of Lincoln's character show a living politician to be sure, but a politician who clearly sees the elective process as a path to his moral goals, namely the containment and end of slavery. Lincoln is revealed to be unusually conciliatory and non-vindictive. For example, he placed Edwin Stanton in his cabinet despite Stanton's support for his Southern Democratic opponent and despite the fact that Lincoln was personally humiliated by Stanton years earlier. Not many presidents would do that. It reveals much about Lincoln's character.

Miller has no patience for arguments that attack Lincoln's character because he was not a morally pure abolitionist. Miller places Lincoln's pragmatism in its proper context, given the opinions of the electorate Lincoln faced in Illinois and then nationally. He also shows how Lincoln's pragmatic approach was in fact the moral and ethical method to solving as intractable a problem as American slavery. He contrasts Lincoln's pragmatic moral approach with that of Stephen Douglas who Miller contends lacked any morality at all.

During the vital six years between 1854 and Lincoln's election as President, Lincoln is shown to have developed a comprehensive and consistent moral perspective on slavery. He thought it a terrible evil and planned for its ultimate destruction. But Lincoln recognized that immediate abolition was not possible so the platform of the Republican party, which Lincoln helped build, was limited to the demand that slavery not be permitted in the territories. Douglas had no belief that slavery was immoral and would have allowed its spread to the territories to preserve the peace and the union. As Miller shows, there is no evidence that slavery was anything but Lincoln's prime concern from 1954 on. The Civil War was fought because the Southern states could not abide the election of a president determined to halt the spread of slavery. As Lincoln put it to Alexander Stephens after his election as president, "you think slavery is right and ought to be extended; while we think it is wrong and ought to be restricted. That I suppose is the rub."

A key component of Lincoln's thinking that distinguishes him from many of his allies of the day is his magnanimity, most famously reflected in his "malice towards none..." second inaugural. Miller shows how this magnanimity was a key component of Lincoln's moral thinking. Lincoln always argued that slavery was an American, not merely a Southern problem. He never personally condemned the Southerners who supported slavery but instead tried to understand them and his program always called for accommodating their fears and concerns. In this book, Abraham Lincoln is revealed as a truly great American and a most moral man who proved to be a brilliant leader. He comes across, not as a saint but as a living breathing human being with desires and passions but with a real commitment to justice. This book should really be read by all college students as an example of how an American politician can be effective and still remain committed to his core principals. The brilliant scholarship and lively style makes it a must read for anyone with an interest in American history. I expect this book will be on many university history department reading lists.

What I like best about the Lincoln Keller series is that Lee Meadows uses intrique, suspense, drama, and intelligence to keep the reader turning to each new chapter, no matter that it's long past bedtime. In Silent Suspicion, like Silent Conspiracy before it, he uses excellent character development and plotting to help the reader in trying to understand and solve the mystery while the protagonist, Lincoln Keller, is doing the same. This book was hard to put down. It felt like I was right in the middle of the action, and I had a real sense of what the characters were feeling, seeing, and doing. Keller's frustrations became my own when a lead didn't pan out or a seemingly valuable clue lead nowhere. Keller has all the machismo of an ex-NFL football player, which he is, while at the same time he has the inner strength and sensitivity that could make the incident in the epilogue so very believable. Lee Meadows is an excellent writer and I eagerly await his next Lincoln Keller saga.

Have you ever begin reading a book and all of a sudden realize you can't put it down? Welcome to the club. "Silent Suspicion" a Lincoln Keller Mystery, by Lee E. Meadows has done it again. "Silent Suspicion" goes beyond being a must read; it takes you totally by surprise with much suspense and intrigue as Mr. Meadows has so skillfully done in his latest book. Lincoln Keller or Linc as he is called by most is hired by Judge "War Zone" Henderson to investigate the murder of his sister-in-law, Deborah Norris. A freelance journalist, Deborah was described as being a free spirit, prankster, and caring person. Unfortunately, eight years ago brought Deborah's intriguing journalism career to an end. Although her unsolved murder is assumed to be robbery motivated, Judge Henderson feels there is more to his wife's sister's death. Recommended to Judge Henderson by Lincoln's brother Jeff, the bounty hunter, he reluctantly takes the case. The mystery begins. From the very start of his investigation, Linc begins meeting people that become directly and indirectly involved in Deborah's death which also includes another unsolved traffic accident that has taken the lives of two teenagers coming from a high school prom, also eight years ago. His investigation takes him to Winston, who now lives in Deborah's former apartment and was once her secret lover, to her two friends, Sharron, who idolized and took Deborah's death very hard, to MiShaun who envied, admired and relied on Deborah's strength in helping her face her battle with alcoholism. MiShaun, who would do anything to get ahead, becomes a major player in the mystery surrounding her friend's death. Lincoln's twists and turns investigation takes him to Trevor Stallings, looking to become mayor of Detroit to his brother, Pernell Stallings, who is a ticking time bomb kept in check by his brother, to other characters making this story one that literally keeps you on the edge of your seat. You become absorbed in trying to figure out along with Lincoln how this basketful of characters all fit in the puzzle of Deborah's murder. What you will find is another amazing mystery novel that Mr. Meadows has so craftily put together. What stands out also in this story is the Keller family members, their various personalities, and undying willingness to help brother Linc at a moment's notice. The twists, turns and overall dynamics of the story line are wonderful. I will also interject that the ending and I mean the actual ending will put tears in your eyes to the point of eagerly waiting for his next novel. Mr. Meadows has indeed done it again.

Have you ever begin reading a book and all of a sudden realize you can't put it down? Welcome to the club. Silent Suspicion: A Lincoln Keller Mystery, by Lee E. Meadows will definitely keep you from putting this book down. Mr. Meadows has done it again. "Silent Suspicion" goes beyond being a must read; it takes you totally by surprise with much suspense and intrigue as Mr. Meadows has so skillfully done in his latest book.

Lincoln Keller or Linc as he is called by most is hired by Judge "War Zone" Henderson to investigate the murder of his sister-in-law, Deborah Norris. A freelance journalist, Deborah was described as being a free spirit, prankster, and caring person. Unfortunately, eight years ago brought Deborah's intriguing journalism career to an end. Although her unsolved murder is assumed to be robbery motivated, Judge Henderson feels that there is more to his wife's sister's death.

Recommended to Judge Henderson by Lincoln's brother Jeff, the

mysterious bounty hunter, he reluctantly takes the case. The mystery begins. From the very start of his investigation, Linc begins meeting people that become directly and indirectly involved in Deborah's murder which also includes another unsolved traffic accident that has taken the life of two teenagers coming home from their high school prom, also eight years ago. His investigation takes him to Winston, who now lives in Deborah's former apartment and was once her secret lover, to her two friends, Sharron, who idolized and took Deborah's death very hard and is now Winston's love interest, to MiShaun who envied, admired and relied on Deborah's strength in helping her face her battle with alcoholism. MiShaun, who would do anything to get ahead, becomes a major player in the mystery surrounding her friend's murder. Lincoln's twists and turns investigation takes him to Trevor Stallings, looking to become mayor of Detroit one day by starting with a seat on the city council to his brother, Pernell Stallings, who is a time bomb kept in check by his brother, to other characters making this story one that literally keeps you on the edge of your seat.

You become absorbed in trying to figure out along with Lincoln how this basketful of characters all fit in the puzzle of Deborah's murder. What you will find is another amazing mystery novel that Mr. Meadows has so craftily put together. What stands out also in this story is the Keller family members, their various personalities, and undying willingness to help brother Linc at a moment's notice. The twists, turns and overall dynamics of the story line are wonderful. I will also interject that the ending and I mean the actual ending will put tears in your eyes to the point of eagerly waiting for his next novel. Mr. Meadows has indeed done it again.

Reviewed by Kalaani

Silent Conspiracy by Lee Meadows is one in a series of mysteries about Private Detective Lincoln Keller. Lincoln Keller is a former football player turned cop turned private investigator. Linc is a colorful character who is extremely likable. Meadows created a persona that is funny, sarcastic, witty, and wonderfully observant.

In Silent Conspiracy, Linc has been hired by the mysterious and beautiful Erotica Tremaine to find the members of a Fifties singing group, The Sentiments. Erotica claims to be searching for the group to soothe the conscience and curiosity of her husband. What, at the beginning, seems like a simple missing persons case turns into a full blown mystery and adventure which places Linc's life in danger. As he strives to find the whereabouts of the groups' members he learns of murders and conspiracies which were long ago forgotten by the people of Detroit.

Linc is supported in his search by his brothers Roosevelt, Truman, and Jefferson (their Mother's favorite Presidents). Along with a number of other entertaining characters who help unravel the mystery of The Sentiments. Meadows writing grabs you from the first page. You will find yourself becoming an amateur sleuth as you read and ponder the many mysteries that are exposed in Silent Conspiracy. It is a 4 on the RAW Scale.

Reviewed by Diane

"Silent Conspiracy" by Lee Meadows was a surprise hit for our Nashville based Books Brothers Book Club. This was the first mystery read by our group, who at times are very critical but respectful of others opinions. From the beginning the lead character, Lincoln Keller, is a man who the reader will feel very comfortable with. As the story unfolds about the singing group, The Sentiments, Mr. Keller comes across a highly colorful blend of characters that help to keep your mind racing for facts and details. Our book club group drew up a character list and map of association that showed how fascinating the full story came to be. If you like mysteries, and a storyline that makes you turn the page, Silent Conspiracy is the book for you. Lee Meadows creatively brings the time period and sensation of reality to life. It is one of three books that Books Brothers Book Club has rated "4 Snaps", which is defined as "Fantastic, buy your own copy!" We are patiently waitng for our next Lincoln Keller Mystery.

Silent Conspiracy, Lee Meadow's debut mystery, is also a mini-history of Detroit. Reading this story of familiar buildings and streets brings back memories. Lee's description of places in Detroit is accurate, detailed, and well-written.The characters Lincoln Keller, his brother, Erotica, and others, are multi-dimensional and well developed. We learn something about each member of the group, The Sentiments. Lee brings each member to life, and we get to know them as if they were alive. We also get to know the community and the bond that strengthens and unifies the people against racism and the police. The bond Lee describes is so powerful and real that some of us wish for that same bond today.The mystery slowly unravels, like someone slowly peels a banana. Lee's book kept me turning the pages for another clue or a new twist in the story. Then, at the right time, the mystery is solved, secrets are revealed, and I was saddened because that was the end of the story. I wanted this story to continue forever.Lee's knowledge, research, and strong writing skills are evident in this story. Lee "did his homework" and crafted a fine "historical-mystery." I enjoyed reading Silent Conspiracy and I eagerly await for the next Lincoln Keller mystery.

The book definately strips away the mythic status that has been bestowed on Lincoln over the years. However, it tends to go the opposite way too far and villifies him mercilessly. The tome becomes a constant, annoying barrage. The book does make good points, however, about the Lincoln-Douglas debates and Lincoln's failures in life up to that point. Serious students of Lincoln and the Civil War should read it. The author could have been more balanced, though, and admitted that Lincoln wasn't a slobbering buffoon. Also the author would have been well advised to leave out the obsence anti-religious tone that infected many pages.

Mr. Masters has written a biography that definately tarnishes the mythical image of Abe Lincoln. An exhaustingly researched book, it falls into the trap of constantly deriding Lincoln for everything he did. In Mr. Masters' mind, Lincoln was a devil incarnate (which was not the case) who didn't do anything right. Anyone who reads the book should keep that in mind. The book, however, is worth the time to read in order to learn more about the 16th president of the U.S.A. Be prepared, though, for Masters' bizarre anti-religous rants.

Scully and Moulder rejoice, because this book proves "The Truth is Out There". I strongly recommend this book to anyone who yearns to understand why our country is currently in such terrible shape. You will never refer to Lincoln as "Honest Abe" or "The Great Emancipator" ever again after reading this work. I pray that the history books do not lie to our children and revere Clinton the way they do Lincoln. Hopefully, historians will have the same guts that Masters had in 1931 and tell the real story about Clinton.

A short account of the final days of the Civil War where Grant forces Lee into bloody battles of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, North Anna, Cold Harbor, and Petersburg. Grant forces the Confederates to use their most precious resource--manpower, and wins the Civil War. Good insights on how Lincoln backed Grant to the full degree in his waging of the war. Also a good overview of the final days in both Richmond and Washington D. C. For those who doubt Grant's genius, they should read this book.