I will be short. "You can not fight something that you don't know". Read this book to get a glimpse on masonery.

Few people are aware of the earthmound remains of Precolumbian peoples in the US. William Morgan's little book does much to change that, and in a highly readable manner. Organized by epochs, this comprehensive illustrated catalogue of over 100 important sites is a must for early-history buffs. Most important, each site is "reconstructed" and illustrated with a clear to-scale map which is at the same scale as all the other mapped reconstructions. The book is a model for such studies, as sites of interest can be quickly compared in scale with the Acropolis, the Giza pyramid complex, and other more famous sites. Highly recommended.

It's unlikely this book will be of much interest to anyone not living in the Tacoma area. Just the same, it is a colorful portrait of the city that used to be, the dreamers and scheamers who came so close to creating the west coast's hub city from scratch. The story of Tacoma's rapid rise to prominence, and its equally swift and steady decline is not only facinating, it delivers a valuable lesson on what still happens today when civic cheerleaders go blind with optimism.

This book is a must-read if you want to amuse and/or bore your fellow Tacomans with antecdotes on street names, unusual buildings, et cetera. Perfect fodder for Tacoma's burgeoning barstool-pundit culture.

Anderson's journal, diary and narrative are an insightful look into his personal experiences, observations and thoughts during the fur trade year of 1834. Describing the multitude of people, places and events along the soon to be Oregon Trail , I can see why many historians reference his book for this time period. In typical Dale Morgan fashion, the editing is extremely well done, meticulously picking his way mile by mile with Anderson. Also included is the "Galaxy of Mountain Men" which are short but pertinent biographies of forty five men who influenced and helped shape the fur trade and western expansion movement.

A must have for anyone working with UNIX from beginner to advanced system programmer.

This light-hearted venture into the world of Bernie Rhodenbarr, burglar extraordinaire and bookstore owner contains much of the sharp, witty dialogue of the previous books in the series only sharper and wittier. The discussion between Bernie and Carolyn over the sexual preference of Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone is priceless. This is a sometimes-confusing mystery involving a series of events that sees Bernie burgle an apartment, return the booty and then re-enter the place to plant evidence after finding a corpse in the bathroom. Bernie sets out to work out who committed the murder, plus who committed a burglary that he's been mistakenly charged with. This is a most entertaining mystery that continues to keep you thinking, while providing plenty of smiles along the way.

Lawrence Block is one of our most talented mystery authors. In the Bernie Rhodenbarr series he explores how an ordinary, but intelligent, "honest" person might go about pursuing a life of crime as a fastidious and talented burglar who isn't proud of what he does, doesn't like to hang out with criminals, and really gets a big thrill out of breaking and entering . . . and removing valuables. As you can see, there's a sitcom set-up to provide lots of humor. But the humor works well in part because Mr. Block is able to put the reader in the Bernie's shoes while he breaks, enters and steals . . . and evades the long arm of the law. To balance the "honest" burglar is an array of "dishonest" and equally easy-money loving cops. As a result, you're in a funny moral never-never land while your stomach tightens and your arm muscles twitch as tension builds. To make matters even more topsy-turvy, Bernie at some point in every story turns into an investigator who must figure out "who-dun-it" for some crime that he personally didn't do. It's almost like one of those "mystery at home" games where the victim comes back as the police investigator, playing two roles. Very nice!

So much for explaining the concept of the series. The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams is the sixth book in the series. I strongly suggest that you begin the series by reading Burglars Can't Be Choosers and follow it up with The Burglar in the Closet, The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza, The Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling, and The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian. Each story in the series adds information and characters in a way that will reduce your pleasure of the others if read out of order. Although, I originally read them out of order and liked them well enough. I'm rereading them now in order, and like it much better this way. The Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart comes next in the series.

As this book opens, Bernie has been going straight . . . for almost a year. Barnegat Books, a used hard cover book store he owns and operates, has been providing his living rather than burglary. Then, he receives a double shock. His new landlord is Bordon Stoppelgard, and with his 30 year lease at an end, Mr. Stoppelgard announces that the new lease will be for $10,500 a month rather than $875. How can Bernie afford that? He can't. Then, Stoppelgard comes into Barnegat Books to buy a first edition of Sue Grafton's "B" Is for Burglar for $80 plus tax. Bernie tries to refuse him the sale, but Stoppelgard insists, slapping a hundred-dollar bill on the counter. Then he laughs at Bernie for selling a five-hundred-dollar book for so little.

But Bernie's sorely tempted to burgle again . . . both for the money and the thrills he gets from burglary. That temptation is particularly great just now because Bernie knows that the wealthy Martin Gilmartins will be out for the evening. Bernie does his best to avoid temptation . . . and succeeds. His only slip is to call Mr. Gilmartin from Carolyn Kaiser's apartment to ask him how he liked the show . . . a call that can be traced by the police when Mr. Gilmartin discovers a burglary has been committed and valuable baseball cards are missing. Bernie's alibi isn't very good because he decides to go out after leaving Carolyn. Someone might think he was visiting a fence to sell the baseball cards. What to do?

Most people will find The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams to be the very best book in the series. The plot is deliciously complicated and unusual. There are mysteries galore to solve, and it's not clear until near the end who did what to whom. The satirical references to mystery novels and novelists are priceless (these include wickedly twisted misstatements of Sue Grafton titles and stories, and a hilarious sequence about cats solving mysteries referring to the Lillian Jackson Braun books). The book also introduces Raffles, Bernie?s new mouse-exterminating-assistant cat who is always on the paper chase, and Carolyn's offbeat theories about women and cats. The baseball card trivia about the Chalmers Mustard Ted Williams set will delight any collector or fan. The comic sequences had me laughing out loud as Bernie finds unexpected surprises as he employs his burglary talents. Bernie also discovers a new source of income which most readers would not have anticipated. Some of the new characters will also amuse or delight you, even though they are only in this book. In essence, there's enough good material in this book for four excellent novels. And it's all nicely pulled together.

How will Bernie save the store? Who took the baseball cards? How will Bernie solve the other puzzles in the book? You are making a big mistake if you don't read this book!

The theme of this book is whether honesty or dishonesty pays better . . . and why. Where do you see dishonest people doing better than honest ones now? Will that continue? Why or why not?

Donald Mitchell
Co-author of The 2,000 Percent Solution, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise and The Ultimate Competitive Advantage

Given the Splendid Splinter's recent death, I couldn't resist this title, and in the process, I discovered that Lawrence Block is one of the more clever authors of this day. Our hero is a used book seller and a part time burglar, who tends to use his skills for good rather than evil. One minor complaint is we are often led down a path, only to be filled in later by Bernie the burglar of a fact he had been withholding the reader for a few chapters. But all in all, this light hearted book is fun, and easily readable. I plan to try out more of Mr Block's works.

As the long title suggests this is a scholarly edition of Malory's classic story of King Arthur and his knights. As such, it forms a counter-balance to the edition edited by Vinaver and Field which is based on the Winchester manuscript. Even though I tend to prefer the Winchester manuscript's readings over the Caxton edition's, I believe this is an excellent edition of the Caxton. No Arthurian library is really complete without it.

Obviously if you are looking at this book you have more than just a mere passing interest in King Arthur and Sir Thomas Mallory's Le Morte Darthur. This edition makes available the origional text with the origional orthography adding only modern punctuation and paragraphing to facilitate reading. The book contains two volumes the first contains the actual text. The second contains some notes showing variations in the various textual versions of Le Morte Darthur as well as a glossery of middle-english vocabulary. The book can be used by the novice and the scholar alike. While the versions translated into a more modern english are fantastic there is no substitute for the flavour of the origional. As Robert Frost said,"poetry is what is lost in translation."

"The Rival Queens", is the first work that I have read by Fidelis Morgan whose talents go beyond that of a novelist to being an actress and playwright as well. She also brings to her fiction her writing that documents the true lives of 17th and 18th Century women, and she has also edited the work of others as well. All these accomplishments bring to her writing a great authenticity as she chronicles the mysteries of 18th Century London, the stage, and the players upon it.

It is a fine line between presenting dialogue that is authentic from the 18th Century, and writing so faithfully to every bit of slang then in use so as to make reading a work frustrating to impossible. When I read historical fiction, one of the last burdens I want to have is the constant interruption of language that has become arcane, or footnotes that interrupt the narrative flow. Another failing of some writers is that they take great liberty with the historical figures they place within their fiction. Fidelis Morgan uses Samuel Pepys as a player in her tale, and nothing she portrayed was inconsistent with what I have read of the man.

Her two heroines who are the sleuths are both wonderful, and are a good team while often being the perfect odd couple. This piece has all the drama of hands drenched in blood, blood spouting from public fountains, and bodies that either appear or actually seem to have misplaced some of their parts. The book is fun and entertaining with the author adding enough levity to keep her work from becoming another bloodletting ripper tale. I definitely will be going back to her first work, and I look forward to reading many more.

If you're in the mood for a wildly entertaining historical mystery novel, Fidelis Morgan's latest Countess Ashby de la Zouche/Alpiew adventure should more than satisfy. The book possesses a really interesting and engrossing storyline, colourful characters, and is written with a great deal of wit, elegance, and humour.

While chasing down what they hope will be the latest society scandal involving the only daughter of a rich City alderman, the Countess and Alpiew, (the 'scandal' column reporters for the "London Trumpet"), make the acquittance of Colley Cibber (a playwright and actor currently working at Drury Lane). Always on the lookout for publicity for himself, Cibber invites the Countess and Alpiew to a lecture on the Passions. And because the Countess is (again) trying to evade the bailiffs for nonpayment of the Poor Rate (and because Alpiew is truly interested in attending the lecture) the ladies accept Cribber's invitation with some alacrity. The lecture, however, turns out to be instructional in a manner in that neither the Countess nor Alpiew anticipated as they are treated to a very public and bitter squabble between two of Drury Lane's leading actresses: the even tempered and universally adored Anne Lucas and the fiery tempered Rebecca Montagu.

But it is the morning following the lecture that turns out to be the really momentous one for both the Countess and Alpiew. First, they are greeted with the grim news that Anne Lucas has been murdered. Secondly, the Countess gets arrested by the bailiffs for nonpayment of the Poor Rate. And finally, Rebecca Montagu turns up at the Countess's doorstep, intent on hiring both the Countess and Alpiew to discover who Anne Lucas's murderer is and to protect her from her more ardent fans (the 'phanatiques'). Desperate for the money so that she can spring the Countess, Alpiew accepts the case with some reluctance, for she cannot rid herself of the feeling that Rebecca Montagu is not to be trusted. Soon, with the Countess at her side, the duo begins what could be their most frustrating of cases as the most obvious suspect in Anne Lucas's murder seems to be their client (Rebecca Montagu), who seems to be playing a deep game of her own, and who seems intent on making a may game of them. The more they dig, the more evidence they come up with that seems to imply Rebecca's guilt. What are they to do? And more importantly, what will it say of their reputations as private inquiry agents if they come up with the evidence that will send their own client to jail for murder?

"The Rival Queens" proved to be a rollicking fun read. The action never let up, and the plot unfolded at a brisk and smooth pace that had me fairly devouring the bok until I reached the last page! The storyline was a totally engrossing one, and there were enough cunning plot twists and red herring suspects to keep most mystery buffs happy. Best of all was Fidelis Morgan's prose style, which turned out to be witty, hilarious (I esp liked the bits where the Countess would purposely misremember Cibber's name, and address him by a fishy name instead) and very graceful. I really enjoy mystery novels that allows me to appreciate the history and the culture of the period, and "The Rival Queens" fulfilled this requirement admirably. Here's to future Countess Ashby de la Zouch & Alpiew mystery novels!

Out of expedience, two women on the fringes of society in Restoration England become embroiled in a mystery far more complicated than what it first appears. Lady Anastasia Ashby de la Zouche and her trusted servant Alpiew exist from day to day in that part of London where the demimonde earn their living by taking advantage of opportunity. Just released from debtor's prison, the two women have contracted to uncover shocking stories for a scandal sheet, even if they have to fabricate the details. In the context of researching a story, they are hired by a respectable woman to follow her husband, who the wife suspects of infidelity. Not exactly inconspicuous, the two bumbling sleuths eventually witness the husband's brutal murder, although they cannot get a good look at the perpetrator. When the wife herself is accused of murder for hire, Lady Ashby and Alpiew delve into the dark passages of nighttime London, replete with murderers, thieves and cutpurses, on a mission for truth.

The result is a comedy of errors as the aging Countess Ashby exploits her memorable dalliance with the former King Charles II, now deceased. With the buxom and youthful Alpiew as a partner, the two unlikely detectives uncover more fodder for gossip and accusation than anticipated, from secret experiments to an alchemist's laboratory and suspects in high places. The two women are as engaging as they are foolish and impetuous and render the story with a broad wink at the vagaries of human nature. And, of course, in the nick of time, all is made right and fortunes restored. Snappy dialog and quirky characters make this back alley romp a pleasant experience.

A historical mystery that is a delightful rowdy romp through London in 1699. Not at all the usual 'researched and narrated to the nth degree' slow moving dull historical mystery one finds so often. Countess de la Zouche, bawdy ex-mistress of Charles II, keeps out of debtor's prison by selling naughty gossip tidbits with the aid of her former maid, Alpiew. Their adventures include murder, scandal/mystery involving alchemy, numerous backstreet characters and nobility. Witty and satirical, this book is definitely a fun read.

Countess Ashby and Alpiew are an unlikely team. Alpiew is a former employee of the Countess'. Ashby thinks she ran away with her husband, but in reality, Alpiew was just another of the items he stole when he took off for the New World. They meet again in debtor's prison, each vying for a job with a scandal sheet. They end up combining talents and sharing the salary. In the course of their business, they are asked by a Mrs. Wilson to follow her husband. She suspects that he is cheating on her. They lose track of him the first night and witness his murder on the second. The come to discover that he is also an alchemist who will do anything to get the money to continue his research. But how far did he go, and what has he done?

At times the language of another era is somewhat difficult to follow, but usually all is explained soon after. The characters of the aged former royal favourites and their servants are very entertaining, as are the characters themselves. The mystery can be difficult to solve, but all the clues are there if you only look. I am definitely going to read more of this series.

This book has wonderful photos of every type of weather from clouds, sun dogs, rainbows, hail, freezing rain, and on and on. Each description is only a page long and includes a photograph. It's easy to understand and doesn't get into too much detail. My 6 year old, although she didn't understand the text, got this book out of the library and liked it so much she wanted a copy of her own -- she loved looking at the different photos. And as an adult, I had to agree with her, it's great just to thumb through as well as read the specifics.

It has been said "people complain about the weather but never do anything about it." Perhaps that's because they don't know much about it. This book will help you learn more about our weather. I was looking for a book that explained about various weather phenomenon and came across it. I loved it not only because of the pictures and descriptions in the last chapter on various weather types (different kinds of fogs, clouds, storms, precipitation, optical effects, etc), but also for lost of other information covered in the book, but also because the book's other chapters also contained so much excellent information. Subjects like Understanding the Weather (which covers the atmosphere, sources of weather, global wind patterns and different kinds of winds, frontal systems, etc.), Forecasting the Weather (obviously that has never been an exact science!), Changing the Weather, and also a secion on different climates and how humankind and animals adapt.

There are lots of pictures and diagrams in this book which help to explain key weather concepts. One day I will force myself to read this book cover to cover instead of getting sidetracked at all the gorgeous illustrations and pictures in this book, every time I pick it up to read it.

I love this book all about weather, how it occurs, what makes our planet hum. It has helped me read the sky far more clearly & understand daily forecasts. It is filled with gorgeous photographs & easily interpreted diagrams. I never knew there were so many forms of fog!