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Book reviews for "Pennekamp,_John_David" sorted by average review score:

Final Seconds
Published in Audio Cassette by Books on Tape, Inc. (12 July, 2000)
Author: John And August, David Lutz
Amazon base price: $64.00
Average review score:

Oneof the best books I've ever read!
John Lutz and David August did an unbelievable job at writing Final Seconds. I was blown away by the suspense and mystery of this novel. They should make more books together. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a good read. (Final Seconds would make a great movie!)

Wheres the movie?
Lots of action that makes you read this book more than once! I hope they make a movie out of this!

Holy Smokes
This book is great. It has a lot of twists and turns. It keeps you reading right to the end. There was a couple of times where I felt bad for bad guy and thought that he was going to prove victorious over the good guy. It really is suspense filled. Read it.


Gael Force Thirteen
Published in Paperback by Writers Club Press (2001)
Authors: John Dwyer and David Nolan
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The best Irish literature since Peig
This book ranges from the barren wastes of West Cork to the bare behinds of San Francisco. Mr. Dwyer writes with a youthful exuberance that belies his advanced years. I read this book until I was blue in the face. A must for those cold winter evenings by the fire with the rain pelting against the windows and the sheepdog snuggled in your lap.

he's still got it
Dywer has perfected his style over the years culminating in this masterpiece of irish fiction. He's been getting on a bit in recent years and even though he quiped jovially in his last interview 'I couldn't score in a brothel with my pants down' it's good to know he can still put pen to paper and the other hand on his little lad, mickey.

The Irish Really Do Have the Gift
A wonderful collection of stories from the fertile mind of Irishman Dwyer (even though he reveals that, when beach-bathing, we Americans do not all look like Baywatch blondes, as he had anticipated). Tom the Tinker was truly inspirational, and his other stories made the Irish in my own blood dance with delight.


The Haunted Woman (Canongate Classic)
Published in Paperback by Canongate Pub Ltd (1995)
Authors: David Lindsay and John Pick
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Stimulative
David Lynday's "The Haunted Woman" primarily has to do with paganism, mysticism, love, and human frailty. How has this been done? Very simply, a woman and her mother are looking for a new house to live in. They come across a house in the woods. Oddly, the local legend says that the house was built on an elf's hill. Consequently, the third story of the house was taken away by the elves. The builder of the house, his name Ulf I believe, was never seen again. But this was long ago. As it stands now, the house is more like a bungalow. Everything seems to be in order. But every now and then, a person will say, "I saw the missing floor, but when I retraced my steps, it was gone again."

Incidentally, the woman buys the house. She discovers a stairwell that can only belong to the "missing level." As she ascends, her consciousness raises. She becomes more than herself. Of course, there is more to the second floor than that! I will tell no more!! When she returns to the first floor, the stairwell disappears. And she forgets all that has happened.

The story is special and original. It will send chills down your spine, not unlike the Blair Witch Project. I myself was curious as to what would happen. I wanted to know just what was up the stairs. If you want to know what is up the stairs, you will have to read this book. It is one of the most original books I have ever read, along with "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde and "Cosmos" by Witold Gombrowicz.

I found the book intense and suspenseful.

The world of Ulf's Tower is a haunting experience!
I have just finished "The Haunted Woman" and "enjoyed" it, if that is the right word, very much! I have also read Sellin's book and Wolfe's book on Lindsay recently. Sellin believed that the musician in THW was Crystalman. I don't agree. The world of the musician, who was probably Ulf in one sense, contrasted our world of convention and superficiality. The world of Ulf's tower was a step closer to Muspel light, to use words from Arcturus. I do not think that Lindsay is trying to say the exact same thing in every book. It would be easy for reviewers to look at each subsequent work through the lens of Arcturus. We have to give lindsay more credit than that. Isbel ends up moving back to what her life was before. She says if Marshall can endure her then she should be able to endure him, Lindsay's view on how most human relationships are, expressed quite succinctly. The world of Ulf's tower in "The Haunted Woman" was mysterious and powefully presented by Lindsay. In part the book is a cry against the phony conventionality and superficial nature of the world man, not Crystalman, has created. The last seventy or so pages I couldn't put the book down. It races to a heart pounding climax. It really makes you wonder about what we call real in our everyday existance with it's TV and malls and a whole host of other artificial barnacles on our short lives. "The Haunted Woman"? Yes Isbel was haunted by her experience and so shall the reader be haunted by this book. I know I shall be!

A truly haunting novel
I have always been fascinated by Lindsay's "A Voyage to Arcturus", an incredible, allegory. However, a few years ago, I read his "Devil's Tor", (his final work), and found it ponderous. Not so "The Haunted Woman." It was thoroughly entertaining. This book ranks with some of the best fantasies in mood and mystery. It has been a long time since I have enjoyed a work so much.


JSA: Return of Hawkman (Book 3)
Published in Paperback by DC Comics (2002)
Authors: David S. Goyer, Geoff Johns, and Stephen Sadowski
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Goyer is one of my favorite writers/JSA best comic out
JSA is the only comic I collect and for me it is the only one worth collecting. Many other books have retold the hero's origin to keep it fresh, but Goyer and Johns remind me why I collected comics when I was a kid. The raw enjoyment of reading about superheros; no contrived plots or edgy themes, just good old fashioned comic book goodness.

Astounding
Hawkman has always come across as a rather boring character and I initially passed on this collection. That was a mistake on my part that I realized when I finally picked it up and read it.

The writers of this excellent series have smartly chosen to keep story arcs fairly brief lasting about five issues. This allows each trade paperback to contain two arcs. The two in this volume are excellent.

The first arc finds the JSA being attacked by the Injustice Society and Johnny Sorrow. The Flash winds up accidently travelling back in time to ancient Egypt in his efforts to defeat Sorrow. (Time travel isn't something treated lightly like in Dr. Who.) This ties the two arcs together nicely and also relates the origins of three legends: Dr. Fate, Captain Marvel and Hawkman.

Other surprises wait as Black Adam joins the JSA and the exploration of Hawkman and Hawkgirl's relationship deepens. Kendra discovers she's really Hawk's wife reincarnated, but everything isn't peachy keen. All in all, it's well written and art is top notch. Enjoy!

JSA & Hawkman, without pre-Crisis confusion
Perhaps the title is misleading. There IS some pre-Crisis confusion, but now it's all locked away in Carter's head. Hawkman is a great character and the conflict between Hawkman and Hawkgirl has been played out really well in the pages of HAWKMAN. I recommend this book to everyone. JSA is the original superteam--and they have characters from Alan Scott to the Sand to the new Hawkgirl. It is appealling to all.


Maximum Effort
Published in Paperback by 1stBooks Library (2002)
Authors: John C. Peick and David C. Matteson
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" Maximum Effort" Review
I found this book very informative and easy to read, a concise and clearly written handbook on not only how to choose a lawyer, but also how to effectively comnunicate and work with your chosen attorney for maximum results. I reccommend it to anyone who finds themselves involved in "legal tanglings", and has little knowledge on how lawyers, courts and the law works.

The answers I've been looking for
I was so glad a friend suggested Iread this book because it totaly de-mystified the lawyer/client arrangement.I found the book well laid out, easy to use,practical,wtitten for the layperson and highly useful. The glossary and self -tests are are very appealing to those of us who need help entering into the world of attorny/client relationships.
I consider it required reading for anyone dealing with or about to deal with a lawyer.

Maximum Effort Gives Maximum Benefit To Reader
This book is extremely concise and informative. It should be required reading for anyone planning to work with an attorney. It would be especially valuable for someone who is anticipating an individual legal action such as a personal injury case.


New England Forests Through Time : Insights from the Harvard Forest Dioramas
Published in Paperback by Harvard Univ Pr (2000)
Authors: David R. Foster, John F. O'Keefe, and John Green
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A Long-term View of Cultural and Natural History
This book is the result of a three-way collaboration between a scientist, a philanthropist and artist dedicated to producing a diorama depicting 300 years of New England's natural and cultural history.

The work, started in the late 1920, captures the essence of the Harvard Forest approach to environmental science, in which a solid understanding of the landscape history provides a basis for interpretation and conservation of nature.

Lifelike and detailed, the dioramas' historical and ecological approach remains relevant today as it becomes more apparent that changes in nature can only be assessed through long-term perspectives.

Liked Bullough's Pond? Are You Ready for Harvard's Forest?
Many people do not realize that Harvard University has its own forest in New England. The forest has been a source of study for silviculture since its founding in 1907 for almost 100 years.

In the late 1920s, Harvard professor Richard T. Fisher joined with a philanthropist, Dr. Ernest G. Stillman, and talented artisans in the studio of Guernsey and Pitman in Harvard Square to develop a remarkable series of dioramas to capture conservation issues for future generations of silviculture students to study. These dioramas are the basis for the text and illustrations in this book.

New England was mostly ancient forest when the European settlers arrived. The small Native American population cleared only a modest portion of the forests, and used the game from the forests rather more than the timber. With immigration, New England rapidly became one big farm. So much for the original forests. Next, the New England farms were put out of business by richer, midwestern farms shipping their goods to the east. Within a few decades, new forests arose to cover the temporarily cleared and abandoned fields. With rapid growth in pines, a second wave of clearing occurred about a hundred years ago, leaving the forests to start to regrow again. The current hardwood-dominated forests are a result of this man-driven process. These experiences provide many lessons for understanding the impact that people have on forests, and for suggesting better practices for the future.

In one sequence of seven dioramas depicting the same place over time, you can see the whole historical process take place. I found it fascinating. I recognized in each image places that I had visited in New England. Now I can connect each site to what it represents in terms of environmental circumstances. That is like learning to read nature in the way I can read a book to get a message.

Today, we think ahead further (but probably not yet far enough) to consider the implications of our actions on future generations and other species. These dioramas show the importance of capturing the natural history of an area to begin to draw those lessons.

Another set of dioramas were designed to exemplify the conservation issues in New England forests, including loss of old-growth forests, habitat needs for wildlife, natural losses due to hurricanes, erosion from cutting forests, imported pests that feed on forests, and the impact of natural fires and fighting forest fires.

To me the most fascinating part was in the suggested good principles of forestry management. Each stage of forest growth and regrowth is displayed, along with what needs to be done for each stage. This reminded me of being asked about what to do by a client with very large holdings of forests in Maine a few years ago. If I had known about these dioramas, I could have given much more appropriate and valuable advice. I do feel quite a pang of regret at the missed opportunity, as a result.

The final section of the book shows the detail of how the dioramas were created.

The book also tells you about the history of the Harvard Forest and how to reach the Fisher Museum where the dioramas are displayed. I recommend the visit!

The reference to Bullough's Pond in the title of this review is for the highly regarded book that slightly preceded this one, about the ecological history of a man-made pond in Newton, Massachusetts. If you have not yet read that fine work, you have a real treat ahead of you. Anyone who is interested in understanding the rhythms between humans and nature can learn much from these two books.

Having read these two books, a new question occurs to me. At one time, forest fires were aggressively avoided in New England. The current view is that these are a natural process and should not be so aggressively countered. Where else do our views need to be shifted to reflect the long-term best interests of all?

How should use of forests and water reserves be adjusted to reflect optimum benefits for the next ten generations? How would our use change if this question were stretched to cover twenty generations? Do we even know how to think about these questions? Do we have plans to be able to learn how?

Overcome the presumption that only the here and now is important. What we do here and now is very important, but our decisions need to be much more independent of momentary needs and perspectives.

fascinating microcosm
Perhaps microcosm is not quite the world, Forests Through Time offers a fascinating angle of insight into one aspect of the ecological development of New England. For a wider angle, one reads Bullough's Pond, and for the complete picture of the land in colonial times, Changes in the Land. This however is a fascinating view and well worth perusing.


The Official Guide to Coin Grading and Counterfeit Detection (1st Ed)
Published in Paperback by House of Collectibles (1997)
Authors: John W. Dannreuther, Scott A. Travers, Professional Coin Grading Service, Q. David Bowers, and David Hall
Amazon base price: $29.95
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Average review score:

Easy to understand
This book gives an excellent overview of the coin grading and the attempts to artificially alter coins to enhance their apparent value. The book is organized in essay format, with good flow between chapters. Numerous diagrams make this an easy read. As might be expected in a general work, some aspects of the work deserve a more complete treatment than they receive here. This is a good read, and a worthwhile introduction. I am not a "coin person", but I found this quite diverting.

This is a wonderful informational book!! :)
This is a real good book I would recommend for anyone. There is a whole lot in this book to explore. Sometimes I almost think it is WAY TOOOOO BIG!!! But it isa wonderful book, and it is at a WONDERFUL price here!! Pick it up! It is a good book!

Must-have book for coin enthusiasts and collectors.
There is more knowledge packed in this book than any 10 coin books combined. I now know the standards involved in Mint State grading, although the average collector like myself should understand that you probably won't be able to sit down after reading this book and tell the difference between an MS-64 and an MS-65 if you couldn't before. Still, I am much more comfortable now in all stages of grading, and much more confident when buying and selling coins. The counterfeit detection part is probably not relevant to the average collector, but it is interesting information that adds to your knowledge of the hobby and the enjoyment of collecting.


Excel Expert Solutions
Published in Paperback by Que (1996)
Authors: Brian Underdahl, Donna Payne, David Maguiness, John Green, Bob Umlas, David Hager, Shane Devenshire, Heidi Sullivan-Liscomb, John Lacher, and Conrad Carlberg
Amazon base price: $49.99
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the home garden handbooks
I am looking for someone that knows something about old books like the home garden handbook published in 1927

No finer book for the finer points of Excel
I am a heavy duty user of Excel and I support users of the application too. This is one of the best books I have seen on Excel's most powerful features. The chapters on array formulas and range names are the best I have read on the subject. This book is outstanding. I am here writing this review because I was hoping to order a copy for work.

Very good for those who want to know Excel more
One of the excellent book of Excel. However it is out of stock. I lent it from the library and can't find it from any book store. I hope the publisher will re-printed it.


Method in Madness: Case Studies in Cognitive Neuropsychiatry
Published in Paperback by Psychology Pr (1996)
Authors: Peter W. Halligan, John C. Marshall, David M. McDowell, and Henry I. Spitz
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A wonderful contribution to the field of addictions.
McDowell and Spitz give an incredibly thorough, yet succinct overview of the field of substance abuse. The book is informative, well written, and an interesting read. It will be of great interest to all clinicians who work with substance abuse patients. I personally recommend it to anyone who encounters the problem of addiction, whether it be in a personal or professional realm.

Excellent introduction to substance abuse
I found this book to be an excellent introduction to the field of substance abuse. It is informative without getting bogged down in too much detail, and makes for interesting reading. The volume is also peppered with fascinating historical tidbits.

Exceptional
Doctors Mc Dowell and Spitz aught to be applauded for their innovative presentation. It should be a permanent fixture in the offices of every therapist as a research guide, and on the bookshelves of patients. It is a wellspring of information for both the layman and the pro. Thank you both.


On Marriage and Family Life
Published in Paperback by St Vladimirs Seminary Pr (1997)
Authors: St. John Chrysostom, Catharine Roth, David Anderson, St John Chrysostom, and Catherine Roth
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Chrysostom doing what he does best
This book gets 4 stars only because I reserve 5 stars for something really extraordinary. Chrysostom is a top-shelf preacher, and even though I may not agree with all of his dogma, his gifts cannot be denied. Let it be said from the outset that any preacher can benefit from reading his work, if only stylistically. Chrysostom has a gift for making his point in a stunning yet simple fashion. He deftly slices through to the heart of issues and sets his arguments in "real world" terms.

These sermons have to deal with, as the title says, marriage and family life. A real knockout is Chrysostom's sermon on how to choose a wife. Although it is set in 4th-century proto-Byzantine culture, the basic principles still stand. If only more preachers would offer such frank counsel on this issue from the pulpit today....

This text is inexpensive, so I would recommend giving a copy to someone who is at the stage in life where they are forming their ideas of marital/romantic relationships. Chrysostom's voice provides a good -- and well-articulated -- counterpoint to the dreck that passes for relational counseling these days. If nothing else, this volume may make them think critically about the cultural assumptions of our modern society, so they do not merely get swept along in the current of trendy mores.

Wonderful advice!
This text is easy to read and understand, I recommend it to anyone, whether or not they are considering marriage. The book is most definitely appropriate for High School age and up. However, the lessons that are taught in "On Marriage and Family Life" should be taught to children from birth.

Should be manditory by law to read
I really mean what I said in the title, this should be manditory by law to read for anyone even considering marriage. If people seriously weighed Chrysostom's words on marriage, divorce would probably be cut by half.

St. John, as always, lays forth an eloquent (yet simple & easy to understand) convincing argument for his views on marriage. He doesn't advocate marrying for money or looks or social position (something I'm sure is way more common than most people would want to admit) he advocates marrying for virtue. St. John argues that virtuous and poor is a million times better than excess gaeity & wealth.

He lays out criteria for selecting a wife, as well as traits that husbands and wifes should display. Not only does he discuss the institution of marriage, but he also talks about wedding celebrations themselves. Other topics such as sex are discussed as well (he doesn't hold negative view of it.)

He greatly stresses EQUALITY OF RESPONSIBILITY of both partners to make a marriage work. Children are also discussed in great detail. St. John Chrysostom is not only a great writer, but a holy man whose words we should try to incorporate into our lifestyles.

Highly recommended book.


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