Washington Irving's A Knickerbocker's History of New York is the single funniest book in American literature. Despite a weak and too-lengthy opening segment on the origin of life and other awkward philosophical questions (the merits of this section are addressed by Irving/Knickerbocker in volume two), once the Dutch colonize the ancient island of Manhattoes (present-day Manhattan), Irving hits a rollicking gallop, going full stride at full speed and doesn't stop until the dubious William the Testy is vanquished at the first volume's end.

"Diedrich Knickerbocker" was arguably the greatest of the several personae Irving adopted during the course of his long writing career. 'Diedrich' penned 'The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow' and 'Rip Van Winkle,' as well as short stories 'Wolfert Weber,' 'The Devil And Tom Walker,' 'Kidd The Pirate,' and 'Dolph Heyliger.' Irving achieved magic whenever he wrote, but when he steps into Knickerbocker's antique Dutch shoes, the combination of humor, history and folklore that results is unique, sweeping, and highly entertaining.

Few writers could or would dare to write the kind of poetic sentances Irving/Knickerbocker could, such as "the inhabitants were of primitive stock, and had itermarried and bred in and in, never swarming far from the parent hive."

All lovers of American literature and history, and of Americana generally, should know this delightful, warm and amusing book. Too often today, when addressing the origins of American literature and our early writers, we turn to names like Hawthorne and Poe, forgetting that Irving came first and was in fact the first American writer ever to be taken seriously by Europeans. (It was Hawthorne and Poe that paid lip service to Irving, who was born a full 21 years before Hawthorne and 26 years before Poe.) Some historians and critics go so far as to credit Irving with the creation of the short story as a literary form; he was also the U.S. ambassador to Spain, a world traveler, a biographer of George Washington, and at one time requested to run for mayor of New York City (an invitation he kindly declined). Thanks largely to Irving, the New York City and Hudson River Valley areas have a thriving plethora of myth and folklore all their own. As Americans, we owe the dynamic, magnanimous and prolific Irving a great debt, which decade after decade we neglect to pay or acknowledge.

Knickerbocker's History of New York is not difficult reading, though it is too advanced for children and most teenagers. However, any young adult or adult with a love of American history, particularly with an interest in the founding of our country or the American Revolution specifically, will find it fascinating. Humorists will find it a page-turning delight, and send their volumes of Twain back to the library post-haste....

I am glad I accidentally got the book. What a beautiful surprise!!! I have never been to France, but, thanks to this lovely book, I am going this April.

Try to imagine that someone captured all the stars in the sky, molded them into straining human and animal shapes and then sealed them beneath a glistening coat of spring rain. If you can fix that image in your mind you have some slight idea of the power of the sculpture of Luis Jimenez. This artist uses materials that you'd expect to see gracing the clear-coated skins of street rods to make amazing sculptures of men and women who work hard for a living, play hard for life and face Death like a long-lost lover. In his book "Man on Fire" you see a collection of the various stages of the ideas that have sprung from this creative man's mind. It is fascinating to see the pencil drawing receive color, then go on to a maquette and finally a finished sculpture that more often than not looks like liquid fire trapped momentarily in solid form. It is equally fascinating to see and read about what inspired Mr. Jimenez to combine such diverse influences to create uniquely new works. Having seen several of Mr. Jimenez's pieces in person, I can say that the pictures in this book pale in comparison to the real pieces but then a pale reflection of near-perfection is still near perfection. I'd recommend this book and this artist to anyone interested in something beyond the usual and I look forward to seeing more of his work in the future.

James Moore shows in this book how modern Christianity, for the most part, is completely ignorant concerning Darwinism. Darwinian evolution is not only compatible with Evangelicalism, but even supports it. James Moore devotes many pages to Asa Gray, one of the leading evangelicals of the 19th century (he taught at many seminaries and was the editor of Biblioteca Sacra), vehemently supported Darwinism and used it as a weapon against liberal theology. Moore also devotes several pages to George Frederick Wright. Wright was so revered by evangelicals that he was asked to contribute to the series of essays called The Fundamentals (the source of what we today call Fundamentalism). Wright was a vigorous supporter of Darwinism and gave many lectures on the subject of how Calvinism and Darwinism are perfectly compatible.

I think the thrust of this book is summed up by a quote from the back cover: "The paradox that emerges--that Darwin's theory was accepted in substance only by those whose theology was distinctly orthodox, and was not embraced by liberal Christians--demands an explanation. This is found in the affinities of Darwinism with orthodox theology and of other evolutionary theories with liberal and romantic theological speculation."

So, for all you anti-evolutionists out there, I suggest you read this book before you continue to perpetuate the lie that Christianity as a whole has resisted Darwinism from the start.

Other reading text books are full of philosophies. The authors of this text, instead, provides you with tested procedures that allow you to step right into a classroom and see for yourself how it works. It is written with such description and detail that you can immediately implement the ideas into your classroom as well. A must read for beginning teachers and vetren teachers as well.

I wonder why the discrimination (is it ignorance?) exists regarding James's first great work, "Roderick Hudson." Yes, it is early James, and yes, snobs, it is very "readable." It's a page turner, the sentences are short, and the clauses only interfere in the early chapters, as James revised this earliest work with woefully-advised insertions of his later style. Once you get past these early chapters, however, you will be carried along - there are a few laughs as colorless Rowland Mallet tries to rein in the wild, sensitive Roderick.

Much of the action takes place in Italy - and you get to meet the delicious Princess Casamassima (at this point, Judith Light), to boot.

A real winner - for me, second only to "Portrait of a Lady"---

This book/diary is most worthwhile to all Bond afficionados, on several counts. For one thing, it is one of the most up-close and personal looks at Roger Moore you can hope to find. This journal was kept by him during the filming of his first effort as Bond. He really comes across as down-to-earth, warm, human, very humorous, a practical joker, and utterly lacking any pretence or arrogance. What a fantastic human being. But second, it is an in-depth look at the making of one of the immortal Bond movies. I tell you, after reading this book you will have a new appreciation for "Live and Let Die". The stunts, the locations, the women, the laughs, its all here. Its extremely readable and hard to put down. I found it ended all too soon. I wish he had written one for each movie. Very few books quite like this.

This book is great!! The only problem is the proof-reader dropped the ball. The story is very complex and the person who is responsible for little things like: spelling and making sure the right name stays with the right character blew it. I find it frustrating to have to reread a page because the name was wrong. The book itself and the story idea are great. Mr. Moore has several good story ideas going at the same time. Yet he makes it all work. If you enjoy complex stories this book is for you.

Don't be fooled by the title- although it focuses on the dark side of every Wraith, this outstanding book contains tons of important information on all sorts of subjects- from exactly what your Eidolon IS, and when it comes into play, to roleplaying romance and love.

Other important topics covered include exactly how Castigation affects your Shadow- and while your Shadow is by definition your adversary, the isn't always your enemy. There is a lot more to Psyche/Shadow interaction than just "I'm the Good Guy, he's the Bad Guy."

Every Circle of Wraiths should have this one- you owe it to yourselves... and to your Shadows. :)

Software Standards is a developing field for most companies. It is a jungle out there, and the number of books about the subject is huge and growing. This book attempts (and succeeds in my humble opinion) to show a clear path for those who seek to manage the chaos of software engineering. However, I also recommend getting the IEEE book as reference, ISBN 1-55937-898-0, although this book includes most of what you'll need.