I have recently started reading screenplays, and this was given as a gift after having seen Ghost World four times. This is an excellent movie and I recommend it to most anyone.

The screenplay itself is just a screenplay, but a well written one. There are a few scenes that were either cut or shortened, and I really enjoyed them. But the best part of the book was all the extras, like introductions by Daniel Clowes and Terry Zwigoff. Plus there were a lot of pictures, and all the scene notes at the end were very interesting.

If you liked Ghost World, or you just like screenplays, check this one out. It's one of the best that I've read.

I love this book. I advise you to read "The Demon Lover" and "Two Japanese Tales" Those are really good.

Wali Dad is my all-time favorite of Aaron's books for children (and they are all a close race!). The comic book style and quality of the illustrations are a pure delight, and the story telling is true and compelling. Do not miss the joy of reading this book to yourself and to any children you know.

Glimmer Train features up and coming talented writers, and boy have they have one in Daniel Wallace. What a great writer. The folks at the Train have the ability to spot talent, so look for these authors elsewhere for other good reads. This is the new crop of the biggies. Especially Wallace. A++

I found this book to be so refreshing. Daniel Solomon is an architect and urban designer who writes eloquently and passionately about how cities get built and the huge forces to be overcome if we are to regain civility and harmony with our environment. His writing is funny and perceptive, taking to task the pretensions of Modernist dogma and the way our profession has been taught for the last fifty years. He writes about the need for 'background architecture' to repair the urban fabric and the idea of urbanism as a way of looking at our built environment.
There are some fascinating stories about his home city of San Francisco and the fight to pull down the ugly urban freeways built during the 60's.
The book is essential reading for urban designers and policy makers and all who care about cities and how they are built.

This book gives great meditations and prayers focusing on your place in God's plan as a mother. Each week has scripture and prayers that are directed to a mother-to-be.

Collins is a masterful and lucid expositer of modern philosophy. Unlike many philosophers, he realizes the key significance of the concept of God in philosophers as diverse as Spinoza, Pascal, and Hegel. I have used this book as a resource for my teaching at the graduate level. --Doug Groothuis, PH.D. Denver Seminary

Dr. Block takes us on a tour of the Ancient Near East, comparing Israel and Yahweh to the neighboring gods and religions.

Using this book, one will be able to gain a working familiarity with some of the more common religious thought forms of the Bronze and Iron ages. A major conclusion of his work is that Yahweh is distinct from all the other gods in that he cares for a people while all the other gods care only for their lands. Yahweh is the electing God of love and mercy.

For gaining a better understanding of the Old Testament world, books such as this are indispensable. Block is a master teacher who knows how to systematically present ancient texts and beliefs. In the end he arrives at a profound restatement of Yahweh and His relation to Israel, resulting in a summary exposition of Ezekiel 8-11. In that text we discover how the Glory of Yahweh leaves the temple and heads east to leave Jerusalem and depart from Israel. This movement is explained in the Babylonian context where gods often leave temples when they are dragged away by captors. Yahweh, however, is unique in that his departure is voluntary and under his own power, for he is doing with the other gods can not and do not do. My summary can not do justice, you really need to get the book and read all the details for yourself.

The book is divided into five basic chapters that can each be read in one sitting. As a result, I found myself reading this book in less than a week -- and with little effort, which is good for me being that I am slowest of all readers. That is, I did not find myself spending all my free time reading, but the pages evaporated into the past as quickly as they appeared: the reading was over before I realized what hit me.

I have spent a good amount of time reading Ancient Near Eastern material, and I feel like this treaties has been the most pleasant and enjoyable. One critique I would give, which is really a wish and not a critique, is that it would be nice if there were a chapter on the New Testament. I would like to see Block develop his theme in relation to Jesus, who is the Lord of the New Exodus. Jesus is the "Yahweh-Saves" Man, and it would be wonderful to see how Block would incorporate this into his overall scheme (in my mind, the idea is perfectly complimentary to Block's present thesis, and I'd like to read the good professor's take on the matter). Where Block does not develop the theme, I recommend reading "God Crucified" by Richard Bauckham (available on Amazon), or "The Challenge of Jesus" by N.T. Wright, esp. chapter 5, also available on Amazon.

This gem of a cookbook, published in 1985, was way ahead of its time. The inside jacket flap reads, "Drawing on the diverse cooking traditions of America, Italy, France, India, Morocco, and the Middle East, the authors have assembed 184 recipes that include not only the classic examples of each cuisine, but also unsual dishes that provide surprising gastronomic rewards." It is an apt description.

The book was published before roasted peppers, balsamic and other flavoured vinegars and gorgonzola cheese were as commonly used in the everyday North American kitchen as they are today. Since it focuses on soups, pastas and stews, with a few side dishes or accompaniments in a chapter at the back of the book, there is a huge variety. The soups range from the traditional, like borscht or mushroom, to chestnut soup with brandy and cream, or cream of lettuce. The stews, pastas, and salads have names that get your mouth watering: chicken tagine with prunes, onions, and almonds; braised short ribs with onions, mustard and white wine; lamb stew with rosemary and capers; penne with black olive purée and ricotta; Bibb, watercress, walnut, olive and Gruyère salad with creamy walnut dressing, etc. The recipes combine ingredients with flair, and the results are delicious, a symphony of flavours and texture. Even their chili recipe includes red wine, coriander and chocolate.

This book is one to be enjoyed when you love cooking and have the time to prepare meals. What is better than the aroma of a hearty soup or stew, simmering for hours on the stove on a wet autumn day? It is a great book for those who have a well-stocked spice rack, and who are not daunted by a long list of ingredients. The recipes are perfect for company, especially if your friends enjoy trying different dishes and ingredients. These are not meals for the rushed weekday evening or for those with strictly meat and potatoes taste. This is dining, as opposed to mere eating.

This joke book was certainly very goofy, and I loved the Knock Knock Joke which went :

Knock Knock.
Who's there?
Popeye.
Popeye who?
Popeye've got to have the car tonight.

There were some jokes that I've heard, but the others, like the Popeye Knock Knock Joke above, I had not heard of them before, and I told some of them to my sister, who didn't "get it". Just like I've said, very goofy, very good, and very clean! D23H