I got this as a gift last year and can't wait for this year's edition to arrive! Be warned: double your annual book-buying budget before you get this; you'll find at least one book a month that you absoltely MUST read. Amazon should give these things away, they'd make their money back a hundred times over.

I have been purchasing "Book Lover's Calendar" for the last 3 years or so, and have rarely been disappointed by any of their suggestions. The summaries are well-written, concise and educational. They have introduced me to some fabulous writers, and prompted me to re-read some forgotten favorites. A must-have for any bibliophile!!!

I have collected more book suggestions from "The Book Lover's Page-a-Day Calendar's" plentiful source than from any other. Admittedly, I have an eclectic taste in reading material and am always open to a good idea. 2003 will be the fourth year I will be reading the current day's page of "The Book Lover's Page-a-Day Calendar" a part of my morning ritual. My desk drawers and purses are filled with calendar pages torn off over the past three years. The one-paragraph reviews I saved are all about books meant to be further researched and either purchased, borrowed from the library, searched for in out-of-print venues or given as gifts to others. If you are a book lover, I'm sure you won't be able to resist finding out more about books under such headings as "Rediscovered Classics," "You've Never Read (fill in name of classic author)?" "The Writer's Life," "Worth Looking For," and other such teasers. The books reviewed are not always the most popular or well-known, but most have some nugget of appeal that will pique your curiosity. I'm looking forward to starting the 2003 calendar, which like its predecessors, I'm sure will not disappoint. I've learned to order this calendar early on because I've sometimes spent the end of the year searching for a place that still has copies available.

Jude wants to get ahead in the world. Starting at a young age he studies the Classics; learns Latin and Greek, and opens his mind wide to knowledge in general. He is preparing himself for Oxford, but Oxford won't have him, nor undoubtedly will any other university. You see he is poor, and poor people aren't admitted to college in Victorian times.

After exiting a short-lived dismal marriage Jude then meets and falls in love with his cousin who ultimately leaves her husband and moves in with him. There is no "happily ever after" in this novel. Sue, his lover, has sexual problems that need the ministrations of Dr. Ruth, who unfortunately was not available at the time. Sex is repellent to her, and so she and Jude live fairly platonic lives; lives that are not made easier by society's negative reaction to their living in "sin".

Jude and Sue are nice, if not psychologically whole, individuals. You wish them well, but Thomas Hardy has decided to sacrifice them to his philosophical views. He burdens the poor couple with society's repressive attitudes toward women, the lower classes, and marital nonconformity. A novel that begins with the hope of springtime, ends in a winter of despair.

It is a pessimistic, depressing story that examines Victorian sexual and societal mores, and for this it was condemned by many critics. Hardy was so affected by this criticism that he never wrote another novel. Instead he successfully turned to poetry, although his pessimism was again apparent in some of his verses (Read for instance his elegant poem "God's Funeral"). Some of the novel is a bit melodramatic, but that is a common trait of many works of the period. My credulity is strained somewhat by the basically non-sexual relationship of Jude and Sue. Sue is described as an attractive, intelligent and even flirtatious woman. Put simply, I could not fall in love with such a lady, and live with her as brother and sister.

I enjoy many Victorian novels because they combine outstanding literature with an exposition of the society of the times. Hardy is one of England's best. Highly recommended, and I strongly suggest that you buy the Norton Critical Edition of this work. In addition to the novel text you are provided with interesting information about the author, and a collection of contemporary and current reviews of the novel.

For an author who considered his poetry to be greater than his prose, Thomas Hardy clearly demonstrates his unswerving ability to create a masterpiece. Characters from the ambitious Jude to the spineless Sue paint a poignant picture of 19th century Victorian society. For those who collect banned books, a must have. This critical example of Victorian England is a great thesis to expand one's ideas on. Overall, a magnificent book.

This was a delightful fictional account of two ten year old boys' adventures and escapades while living at home in rural Virginia during the Civil War. They are delightfully innocent of modern day attitudes, and the story is sympathetic to both sides of the conflict in the sense that war is difficult for both sides involved. The relationships are heart-warming and real. The boys demonstrate budding character traits of honorable young men. Highly recommended for a Southern view of the Old South.

this is one of the first southern prospective civil war books i have ever read and it will probebly be the best it even kept that southern voice

I am only on the 7th day and already have a handful of new books I want to read!! This little calendar, mounted to my kitchen wall, gives me a great start to every day--just enough about each book to whet my appetite and know whether I want to pursue looking up the book, or wad the page up and trash it. Ideal for book lovers of any age or background!!

This book is AWESOME!!! I've had it for over a week now and haven't put it down. If you are a doll collector, this is definitely better than the other book "Girls Toys of the 50's and 60's" This book is primarilly all dolls, not kitchen sets, costumes, games, etc.! Although it is in black and white, the pictures are very clear and definitely help in identifying original dolls, outfits, and accessories. I'm going to also buy "Girls Toys of the 70's and 80's", but I wish they also had a DOLL ONLY book for that time period. Anyway, if you collect dolls from the 50's and 60's, this book is just GREAT!

Excellant guide to the effects of drugs upon criminals. A must guide for any DRE. Another great Law Enforcement book is "BOOT: AN LAPD OFFICER'S ROOKIE YEAR," by William Dunn.

Although the dialect rendering of Black English in these short stories may offend today's delicate politcal sensibilities, the reader should bear in mind that these stories were written in another century for a different audience. Get past that, and you have pure Plantation Tradition - the same tradition that inspired Margaret Mitchell and disgusted William Faulkner, James Branch Cabell, and Ellen Glasgow. The stories are simple, sincere and guaranteed to elicit emotion. Marse Chan is an American Classic, and No Haid Pawn has been likened to a tale of Poe. Get this, read it, and if you don't see life in Ante-bellum Virginia as it was, you can see it as Page thought it should have been.

It is amazing the memories that this book, and it's companion volume on Sear's Wishbooks, can stir up. So many other childhood memories of family, friends, school, neigborhoods come flooding back- all triggered by some favorite toy that you either owned or dreamed of owning. Everying from Marx playsets, Remco greats like the Big Caesar Roman Galley and the Barracuda Sub, Ideal classics like Robot Commando.... And let us not forget Hopalong Cassidy, Tom Corbett, Lone Ranger, Batman, etc. merchandise. Be careful though, or you'll end up on EBAY with this book in one hand searching the listings for that favorite toy that got away (it is amazing how many are available at reasonable prices....)

I picked this book of a rack of used .50 books expecting it to be yet another run-of-the-mill sci-fi/thriller story. However, i was greatly supprised by its ingenious plots, masterfull suspence, and front of your seat action . It begins as a group of scientists testing out a new superpowerfull military laser somewhere in the middle of the Pacific. However, in doing so, they manage to rip a huge hole in the ozone layer. Soon after, a storm forms and begins to kill off all the animals in the surrounding islands. Then it takes off from there with twisted science excitement. A must read.

This book is filled with nostalgia. Great reprints of the Sears catalog pages over the years. See Lionel, American Flyer, Marx, Allstate...plus HO and N scale trains. You'll look at this again and again. Certainly brings back a lot of great memories.