Michael Pennock once again provides the "basics" of the Catholic faith in a highly approachable format. Like his earlier text, "This is Our Faith" (also from Ave Maria Press), he reviews the teachings of the Church - the Trinity, the Sacraments, Prayer, you name it - without getting bogged down in too many details. Unlike his earlier work, he gives us the barest of the essentials without sacrificing scope. "The Seeker's Catechism" is simply that - a tool for catechesis (teaching), R.C.I.A., and general reference to Catholicism.

The very size of this text - it can fit in your back pocket - matches its accessibility of the text. Anyone working in parish offices or programs - clergy, religious, religious educators - should own a copy, at the ready for those inevitable questions which come from visitors, students and the occasional detractor.

By making frequent reference to the "Catechism of the Catholic Church" and several important Church documents, he enables his readers to refer to the larger texts. This is important for those in catechetical programs (R.C.I.A. for example) as well as those Catholics looking for more information. One minor criticism here - Pennock makes reference to official Church documents by their English titles. Most publishers and Catholic church employees refer to the Latin titles of these publications, which could lead to some confusion. Also, I would have liked more scriptural references - a necessity when working with evangelicals and other Christians - but this does not detract from the strength of the text as a whole.

Given the near-vacuum of many Catholics with regard to many topics of the faith, not to mention the need of so many others who are seeking to join the Church, Pennock's text is a much-needed and highly usable instrument. I recommend this text to anyone and everyone.

Don't let the title of this book mislead you -- a lot of the questions in here are asked by full grown adults, not just teens. This book is well written and easy to read. The question+answer style lends itself to easy, quick, and poignant reading and learning. In addition, Pennock supplements many of his explanations with Bible and Catholic Catechism references so the reader can investigate the answers further.

While most of the questions are of interest to anyone, there are a few that are obviously only of interest to teens (e.g. "My girlfriend just dumped me, what should I do?") -- just the same, most of the questions that Pennock chose to answer cover pretty much all the common (and sometimes hard to answer) questions that all Catholics ask.

I only gave it 4/5 because there were a few (two or three) answers that I felt were unclear. They seemed to draw conclusions that didn't really follow at all from the Bible verses they referenced and I couldn't understand the logical leap he made with his explanation -- more elaboration was required.

Ultimately, this is a good book with straightforward answers to what many Catholics (not just teens) wonder about. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to understand Catholic beliefs better.

This book was published in Dec 01 which means it was written using .NET Beta 2. It is now completely out of date and many of the examples just don't work. To be fair, there is an "Update" document available for download from Wrox but wht not just buy an up to date book in the first place. My recommendation is "Applied XML Programming for Microsoft .NET" by Dino Esposito, # 0735618011.

VB or C which is it? I don't mind books the have syntax for both VB.net and C#. I also don't mind books that have JUST C#(since I don't know C# why would I mind this?). I Like books that have JUST VB.NET since thats what I like. But this book doesn't do any of these! It provides C# only on many occasions! And as a VB.NET only programmer its awfully hard to build on C# examples. It's almost as if the authors didn't know how to code everything in VB.NET and just skipped it sometimes.

Very interesting title and content. This book is very helpful to learn XML .NET features.

I've used this dictionary now for several weeks to prepare speeches on current events. I have found that the entries do not cover the "nuances" of meaning very well. And not all forms of the word are explored. For example, one can derive a noun, adjective and adverb out of most Italian verbs (although the meaning may not be what you exactly expect), and these variations are often ignored. I've replaced my 10-year-old paperback with this version, but will still seek out an unabridged Italian-English dictionary.

I have bought several Italian English dictionaries in the past. There are all different. Some have pictures, but then they do not have enough room and miss some every day words. They are good for beginners and some travellers. The other type of dictionary is the dry word for word transalation without giving you any examples on how that particular word could be used in a sentence. What I liked about Cassel's dictionary is that it addresses both points. First, it is over 1100 pages so you will find almost any word. Second, where appropriate, it gives examples of how to use the idiomatic type words. Any student of the Italian language knows that it is very easy to become frustrated by conjucations and the irregular verbs. That area is well covered here. However, if you really want to learn about Italian conjugations, read the "501 Italian Verbs by Colaneri and Luciani" There is also an appendix for words such as "wild cat strike" and "Warehousing" and slangs such as "floozie" and "flophouse" are also covered. So, this dictionary caters to your every need. The only complain that I have is that some pictures such as certain plants and architectural parts of the building would have made the book much better. All in all a great dictionary for all levels.

This book had stale information when it came out years ago and now it appears that they don't plan to update it. I heeard that the original authors became embroiled in litigation and lost the rights to the book. Well it's a shame and it shows.

The information is this book is totally out of date and is approaching uselessness at this point. Try the Vault.com Guide to the Top Law Firms, or check out the Vault.com site, where all the law firms profiles are updated in real time.

This is the best review of the law firms for the prospective associate. In contrast to similar resources, its reviews do not merely parrot the happy-face PR from the firm's web page. There is a big difference between law firms that is difficult to ascertain from the firms' published materials or from a handful of half hour interviews -- every law student choosing between bigfirm jobs should read the Insider's Guide.

On the downside, the selection of firms which are reviewed is somewhat limited.

I would not rate this text over average. There is little supplementary material for instructors (no test bank , no teaching aids, etc.) Also, the writing is not always clear and to the point. The last half of the text is, as far as I can tell, nothing more than in intermediate text without examples and illustrations (paragraph after paragraph of discussion - - - on and on). Frankly, I think an intermediate text is better. On the positive side, the text goes into great detail on the history of accounting and how we got to where we are today. Also, the summaries at the end of each chapter are good. Sometimes, I had to read the summaries to find out what the authors were trying to say in the related chapter. That's because, to me, some of the text went off on tangents without a clear reason. However, that may be due to my limitation in understanding. In summary, in my opinion, the strongest attribute of this text is that it gives a good (I think) history of the developement of accounting theory. Starting with about chapter 10 or 11, I'd prefer to use an intermediate text. However, this is only my opinion.

Master mystery writer Gilbert takes the classic English weekend country house murder and resituates it in an Allied POW camp in Italy just before the Allied invasion of Italy (which is ably described by Alan Moorehead in Eclipse). Gilbert spent time in a prison camp, and thus writes with authority about the setting. The book is similar to The Great Escape in that the prisoners are mainly English officers engaged in tunneling out of the camp--although here the camp is run by Italians. The camp's one Greek POW is found dead in one of the tunnels and one of the officers is appointed detective to figure who killed him, how, and why, and what it means. Thusly, Gilbert presents a traditional whodunit, with the impending German assumption of control of the camp as a looming threat. Like your average Agatha Christie, it's entertaining and relatively clever.

If you wish to read one of the dozens of Dick Francis novels, and every mystery fan should, please don't start with Second Wind. To be sure the writing has all of the usual Dick Francis qualities of concise yet telling prose. But the plot involving not a horseman but a BBC meterologist, Dr. Perry Stuart, and his fellow meterologist Kris, the desire of suicide-minded Kris to fly through a hurricane, the tiny island of Trox, now deserted, and the mysterious goings-on there, and the collection of folks met at a party at Newmarket is in the end unsatisfying. The plot was strained at times, and the various physical poundings befelling Perry, including surviving a hurricane with only a life vest, seemed more cartoon-like than real.

Although Francis had the help of a professional meterologist for the atmosphere, still the impression was a very superficial one and in a way misleading. There was little or no talk that I recall of the various models that forecasters rely on, or the atmospheric teleconnections that enable forecasters to predict with some accuracy the weather a week down the road. Also, Francis has Hurricane Sheila whipping up the waves in November which would be some 17 named storms, close to if not a record for the number of named Atlantic storms in a single season.

In sum, Francis seemed to have trouble in deciding whether this is mystery or suspense, or whether he should highlight the business of weather forecasting or the machinations of terrorists and their helpers. Read Dick Francis, but not this one.

SECOND WIND is my first Dick Francis mystery novel and I'm hooked (that leaves about 37 books to go)! I couldn't put this book down and found myself out of breath as surprises continued to erupt toward the end of this well-written story!

SECOND WIND tells of English meteorologist Perry Stuart's flight into both extreme weather and bad company after accepting a Caribbean vacation opportunity to chase a hurricane. The chase plane goes down and Stuart barely makes it to an island that is anything but usual. Dick Francis really keeps readers guessing throughout this complex tale! Story components include British weather forecasts, sick race horses, depressed friend, piloting airplanes, Florida, hurricanes, ocean/island survival, cows, good guys and bad guys. Francis rather brilliantly incorporates a fascinating look at British TV meteorologists in action by neatly tying weather forecasting in with his favorite topic, horse racing!

Dick Francis, a former British steeplechase jockey, is a top-notch storyteller who is superb at constructing unique who-done-it scenarios. It's my understanding that nearly all of Francis' novels are based in some way upon his own experiences and/or that he and his wife take a great deal of time to research for background and technical accuracy, etc. Francis writes in a smooth, fast-paced, vividly descriptive style using an economy of words. The thing is, every word is effective! I immediately cared about Francis' very human characters and felt a part of the story because of his cultural and setting descriptions. I also learned from entering his well-researched worlds of meteorology, flying, and, of course, the horse racing scene based upon his own experiences!

I highly recommend this book to all readers who enjoy a mystery full of compelling surprises! I predict you won't be able to stop with just one Dick Francis novel!

The primary reason I continue to seek out and read Dick Francis is that he continually creates heroes that are efficacious and rational. He avoids the common pitfalls of most modern writers, and instead invents characters who pass the ultimate test: "Would I like to meet and know this person?" If you can answer "yes" to that question then there is great potential for enjoyment in the fiction centered around that character. If you answer "no" to that question, why even bother reading further?

In Second Wind the master of galloping fiction spins an interesting story with more twists than a hurricane. Although it is not my favorite Francis book it is certainly worthy of my growing library of top books recommended to friends.