I found the reference to God unnecessary. Many people don't believe in God or don't want to get into the ethics of God making disabilities happen, with their children who read the book. It should have been left out. The scientific aspect was good but there are many other books that do a better job. Steer clear of this one-it was more of a parent trying to make come to terms with his own issues than a resource for a child.

We just bought this book and my son wanted to read it three times in a row the first day. We adopted a daughter with Down Syndrome a few months ago and her younger brother has been struggling to understand and accept her. This book has provided him with technical information he needed to understand the syndrome, spiritual information he needed to see his sister through God's eyes and insights he needed to process his own emotions and come out loving his sister more. Thanks Larry Jansen! I plan to pass this book around to friends and family to use to explain down syndrome to their children as well. The only drawback I see in the book has to do with the way Mr. Jansen explains disabilities as what makes some people special. All people have their own gifts and strengths regardless of a disability.

Larry Jansen has done the world a major service with this gently written, intelligently expressed book about a child with Down Syndrome. It is a loving look at how this condition affects not only the person with it, but others in the lives of that person, such as family members. It is an excellent book about acceptance and a very effective teaching tool in helping very young children recognize and accept a person with physical and/or mental challenges. It is a book for everyone; educators, all parents, all children and all people who care about others and are interested in paving the way towards human acceptance.

Anne Garland has three suitors - which one of them will win her hand? Hardy's "The Trumpet-Major" is set in Southern England during the Napoleonic Wars. This was a nervous time - tensions were high due to the threat of French invasion: this context permeates the actions of all the characters of the novel. Indeed, Hardy introduces into the narrative some real historical figues, such as King George III and Captain Hardy (of HMS Victory fame).

This isn't a bad book, but it pales in comparison to to Hardy's major novels. I like Hardy when he's at his gloomiest, when weird events happen in the depth of the English countryside. This book is pretty routine stuff both in its underpinning theme (who will marry the eligible young lady? - it seems to me that nineteenth century novelists were almost totally obsessed by this)and its lightness of style. Utterly harmless, but instantly disposable stuff.

I have read most of Thomas Hardy's novels--he is, along with Wilkie Collins, my favorite novelist--and this is the first one by which I have been disappointed. Still, a disappointing book by Hardy is worth ten by nearly anyone else, so let me explain. The ending felt quite out of the blue and abrupt compared to the events leading up to it, yet in retrospect, it makes more and more sense.

The ending aside--where the oddness is confined to just the last two pages--this is a superb character study of five disparate main characters and a handful of minor characters. Hardy is a master at imbuing each character with not only distinct personalities, but with the inconsistencies and flaws that make them leap, whole and warm-blooded, from the page. His characters are never stock people; they always seem as though they are people you could (or do) actually know in your own life.

The primary character is Anne Garland, a lovely country village girl who is much sought after by three different local men. These include Festus Derriman, a ne'er-do-well with a temper and a lust for his uncle's money; John Loveday, a soldier and the trumpet-major of the novel's title, who is the kindest, most patient character I believe I have ever seen in a novel; and John's younger brother Bob, who is a boisterous sailor with good intentions but a short attention span when it comes to the ladies. The machinations by which these three seek to catch Anne's eye is endlessly inventive and endlessly interesting for the reader, and her varied reactions to their attentions is a marvel of observed detail and the inconsistency of human nature. By turns hot and cold towards each of the men, Anne never seems shallow or thoughtless--merely human. There is also another sharply etched female character, the actress Matilda Johnson, who appears only a couple of times, but who is the linchpin of much important action.

As always, Hardy likes to insert subtle humor into even the most serious of situations. In detailing the village's concern about Napoleon (who is referred to frequently in the book by the derisive nickname "Boney"), Hardy writes:

Widow Garland's thoughts were those of the period. "Can it be the French?" she said, arranging herself for the extremest form of consternation. "Can that arch-enemy of mankind have landed at last?" It should be stated that at this time there were two arch-enemies of mankind, Satan as usual, and Buonaparte, who had sprung up and eclipsed his elder rival altogether. Mrs Garland alluded of couse to the junior gentleman.

You will be surprised, as I was, by the man with whom Anne Garland ends up. Yet now, just a day or two after having finished the novel and having been almost affronted by the abruptness and seeming insuitability of the ending, my position has softened and I can see that Hardy was actually quite true to the characters, their motivations, and their choices--however inconsistent they may at first have seemed to the reader. This is not by any means a great Thomas Hardy novel, but an average novel by Thomas Hardy is still a marvel of construction, of character, and of plot.

She was walking through the library carrying the university's entire Hardy collection. I already had a nasty schoolboy crush on her, but after that day I was jello. And perhaps it began on the afternoon she lectured on Thom. Hardy, describing him as a poet who sacrificed his art to survive as a novelist. Yet, his novels were not pot-boilers, and Hardy eventually returned to his true muse. I shouldn't write this - let Linda explain it to you.

I enjoyed the first two thirds of this book as much as any novel of the frontier I have ever read. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed with part 3. The whole tone of the third segment was jarringly anachronistic and peppered with little in-jokes, for example, a Delaware indian is named Lenny LeNapier. The actual name of the Delaware tribe was Leni Lenape. I felt like I was suddenly reading a comic book with '90s people plunged into the 1840's. It seemed like Jones wrote the first two parts as a serious frontier story, then said "To Hell with it!" and turned the last portion into a farce. What a letdown, after the excellent beginning and middle, not to mention the author's superb The Buffalo Runners, where the authentic historical tone is maintained throughout.

What a beautiful, racous, shoot-them-up, exhilarating, galloping story! The author did his research and spins a most believable tale of the old West. Characters like Pine Leaf, Spybuck and Dade are marvellous and unique. And the Indians truly come to life. Very enjoyable, indeed, plus quite a history lesson.

The authors tell the story of Dianne Masters in an interesting prose that will keep you entertained, which is necessary because the book is over 400 pages.

Apparently, this book was the basis for the 4-hour movie that periodically shows up on TV. While the movie presents a one sided view of Dianne Masters as the victim of her husband, Alan Masters, the book does point out some negative aspects of her life.

The biggest drawback of the book is the lack of access to anyone close to Alan Masters. Therefore, the author provides a rather shallow picture of Alan Master's viewpoint.

If you have seen the movie, the book does fill in many blanks left by the film and provides background information filmmakers leave out because of time restaints.

Far From the Storm was written by Robert Elmer. It has 174 pages and is the fourth book in a series. The date is May 4,1945. In Denmark everyone is celebrating. World War II is over! But some pepole still want revenge! After Uncle Morten got back from Sweden an arsonist burned the Anna Maria. Peter, Elise, and Henrik try to find clues. They think it might be Keld Poulsen, the school bully. Morten and Lisbeth are getting married, and they are planning to go off in the Anna Maria. Right before the wedding the three kids find out that someone is going to burn the Anna Maria again. Will they get back in time to warn someone, or will the arsonist be successful in burning the Anna Maria again? Read this exciting book and find out! by Cromwell Campbell

Edwin Guthman met Bob Kennedy during RFK's labor- management corruption investigations. Guthman was a skeptical newsman who had to decide whether RFK, an unknown, was worth trusting with sensitive source information.

He later worked closely with Bob Kennedy in the Justice Department, and his memoir gives fascinating insights into this most capable and best-motivated of the WWII Kennedy brothers. Note: the title *does not* refer to those brothers; and note further: the "Band of Brothers" initials form "Bob." (In Arthur Schlesinger's "Robert Kennedy and His Times," near the end of chapter 11 on staffing the DoJ, Schlesinger mentioned Guthman's book with that terrific title. Soon after I'd read that, much publicity emerged about the 2001 TV series of almost the same name, which coincidence was intriguing enough to move me to locate the Guthman book.)

Guthman provides a unique and warm, respectful but not worshipful, set of insights into RFK's strengths and struggles as a survivor of the Joe Kennedy household, Senate investigator, and officeholder. He was present with Bob Kennedy for many meetings, plans, and conversations which directly determined the course of powerful events for the US, especially during the almost- unbelievable 1960s. It's high- energy material.

We now live in times of school shootings and terrorism, with ordinary people rising to the challenges of extraordinary demands. There has been a remarkable amount of Cuba news as well (Elian Gonzales, Castro's condition). That makes it all the better to see how Guthman shows JFK-RFK leading the nation to deal with labor- management corruption, the Cuba-nukes and Bay of Pigs crises, and attempts to keep civil rights away from much of the population. For many younger US readers now, it will probably be hard to imagine those times, as urgently important as they were to where we are now.

The Gift of Magi is an O. Henryfs classic Christmas story that is about a couple, Jim and Della, who loved each other. They were very poor people, but they wanted to buy a Christmas gift for each other. They did not have enough money, so they decided to sell their important things to buy a gift. Della wanted to buy a gold chain for Jimfs gold watch, but she didnft have enough money. Instead, she cut her hair that was her pride, and sold it. And Jim, whose watch was great and really expensive, sold it to buy the combs that Della had wanted for a long time. So as a result, their Christmas day was not happy at all. This storyfs ending is not happy, but I like this storyfs classic theme and plot. I think that this book has good theme and plot though they are simple. This is interesting and a well organized story. We can learn cultures of American from reading O. Henryfs short stories about Americanes.

The Gift of the Magi is heavily laced with details, but has a good plot. The plot is easy to follow, and is beautifully detailed in just the right parts. The plot has been adapted in different versions, so it isn't the BEST idea in the world, but it has good morals. I would give this 4 stars out of a possible 5.

The Gift Of The Magi is a magnificent "radio theater" production of O. Henry's classic story of young love at Christmas time. A young couple just beginning their wedded life and of very limited means want more than anything to give each other a gift that will reflect and celebrate their devotion, one to the other. The gifts they select, and at the cost to each of them, all result in one of the most endearing, heartwarming, and humorous of conclusions. This highly recommended, multicast production is a flawlessly performed and recorded, totally engaging, wonderfully entertaining dramat-ization.

This book was much better then expected! I am not a real big sci-fi reader, or time travel. I do however, love Nora Robert, and JD ROBB. This book actually reminds me more of the In Death series as far as the format then it does Nora's usual romance.

Caleb in some strange way ends up traveling from the future to our time. The lovely, self sufficient Libby helps him thinking he's a plane wreck victim. The way Caleb reacts to everyday items in this century is funny. I found myself laughing through this story and the ending is great!

Jacob travels through time in search of his brother., Caleb and to bring him home. While Jacob is waiting for his brother to return from a trip with Libby, he slowly begins to fall in love with Libby's sister. Sunny. The ending of this story is better then the first and it will surprise you!

These two story's are reprints combined to one great book. Even if you are not a big time travel reader, if you like Nora Roberts you will not be disappointed.

I can't believe how many negative reviews there are about this book! I have nothing but good things to say about it.
I am a big Nora Roberts fan, but I still always approach each book objectively, and the bottom line is, this book was highly enjoyable.
Both stories are romantic and quite funny at times. I found myself laughing out loud at Caleb and Jacob's reactions to the twentieth century.
I certainly wouldn't call this novel one of Nora's very best, but it was original and it was lots of fun to read. I did not get bored by it, nor did I find the love scenes too long.
So don't listen to all these critical people, just sit back, relax, and join Libby & Caleb and Sunny & Jacob on their incredible journey through time to find true love.

I have to admit, I had several concerns when I picked up this book. First, I am not into Science Fiction and time travel usually fits into this catagory. Second, as a general rule, although I like Nora Roberts books I do not like JD Robb books (one and the same author!) and I was afraid this would be more of a JD Robb type book. However, I'm a HUGE Nora Roberts fan and decided to give it a whirl.

What a wonderful surprise.

In the first story:
Caleb in some strange way ends up traveling from the future to our time. The lovely, independent Libbie helps him thinking he's a plane wreck victim. The way Caleb reacts to common items in our century is funny. I found myself laughing several times. I particularly liked the ending.

In the second story:
Jacob travels through time on purpose in search of his brother. While Jacob is waiting for his brother (Caleb) to return from a trip with Libbie, he slowly begins to fall in love with fiesty Sunny. I liked the ending of this story even more than the first story.

I appreciated the true to life feelings that Nora is able to depict in her writing. I also appreciated the fresh look at our century.

I am a big Robert Ludlum fan, having read all 18 of his novels published (under the name Ludlum) before 1997 - except The Road to Omaha.

The Apocalypse Watch reads as though it were written by a screenwriter. The plot moves swiftly, and is carried by the dialog. However, there is a conspicuous shortage of descriptive prose. Locations, buildings, scenes, and persons are usually described in one short paragraph. That leaves little room for local color, atmosphere, or character development.

The Apocalypse Watch is a big disappointment for this Ludlum fan. I can't recommend it.

Ludlum is back. Once again, an evil group of former military and industrialists is planning to reshape the world - now who is the protagonist THIS time? Hmmm. Anyway, this is a cracking thriller in the usual Ludlum mould. You'll either love this or hate this, judging by the other review I've read. I loved it, in spite of a few inaccuracies in some of the German grammar(it's Ihrer MAnn and not Ihr Mann, to pick but a few) and military procedures. But then again there's poetic license. In this book, Harry Latham, a Consular Operations agent, has infiltrated a neo-Nazi base and stumbled upon a plan of diabolical proportions. He undergoes neurosurgery and becomes one of them, then returns to Paris where neo-NAzis are infiltrating the FRench government. When he is murdered, his brother Drew is ordered to assume HArry's identity and seek revenge on his death. Along the way there's plenty of plot twists and sticky situations for Drew and his love interest KArin de Vries to get out of. And is her husband really dead? What secret is being held from the world by the Fourth Reich? What exactly is OPeration Water Lightening? Read and find out, you won't regret it. Mainly exciting and page-turning, but sometimes predictacle reading that requires no thought. On the whole, if you're new to Ludlum, try THE MATARESE CIRCLE and THE BOURNE IDENTITY first and then read this one.

It seems to me that Robert Ludlum who, during the 70's and 80's could do absolutely NO wrong when it came to writing the best spy novels EVER, is still living IN the 70's...as far as writing goes. Let's face it, NONE of Ludlum's novels are gonna win any awards based on the dialogue of his characters...b-u-u-u-t if you are searching for the guy who could propel a novel based upon sheer narrative talent alone, Ludlum would win hands down.

As I read 'The Apocalypse Watch' I kept getting the distinct impression--at first--that this was a direct sequel to the wonderful 'Holcroft Covenant'...but that isn't quite the case. Then after reading a bit further, I felt that this was a quasi-re-write of 'Covenant' instead...but again, that isn't quite the case, either. As far as plot goes, it wasn't exactly Ludlum's most original, but I have to say, it certainly moved with the usual pace of his average thrillers. As I read this book, I felt somewhat saddened that truly one of the great Adventure/Thriller authors of all-time had begun to reach that point where his edge, his ability to be fresh has started to come to an end. What seems to have started with 'The Scorpio Illusion' has now continued with 'The Apocalypse Watch' and although I have high hopes for his future novels, it DOES appear that the 'absolute master of the superthriller' has seen the decline of his ability to dominate the audience he himself helped to create. But even so, I still enjoyed this book more than a LOT of other novels released in the past 5 years or so that were hailed as genius literary works of art. In my opinion, Ludlum just cannot escape his earlier novels, and his faithful reading audience has a very difficult time indeed reading his books without comparing them to his other tremendously entertaining novels. If we could do that, his novels (including his more recent ones) would stand up rather well.