"The Southern Heirloom Garden" is a rich and instructive work.

At the start of the book, William C. Welch and Greg Grant tell us that "gardening is one of the oldest, and richest, of our Southern folk arts."

The authors divide the book into two sections. The first section refreshingly explores French, German, Spanish, Native American, and African-American contributions to Southern gardening.

The Spanish, for instance, intensely developed and utilized small garden spaces, while African-Americans used brightly-colored flowers in the front yard as a sign of welcome.

This section also has a commendable essay on historic garden restoration in the South.

The second section addresses the plants "our ancestors used to build and enrich their gardens."

There are nearly 200 full-color photographs here, along with dozens of rare vintage engravings. While some of the pictures are a bit small, they are still informative.

Southern gardeners and historians will particularly enjoy this fine volume.

This is a really great book. I loved the essays on each plant. Greg Grant is very humorous. This is not just a coffee table book, although the pictures are beautiful. It offers advise and inspiration to those of us who will never have the "Southern Living Landscape" look.

In these days of trying the "Western grass garden" or the "English perennial border" it's particularly refreshing to study a book devoted to plants that happily grow in the Southern humidity and heat. While the opening chapters on historical gardens in the new world (French, Spanish, etc.) were interesting, the later chapters on plants were the most informative. When reading I could hear my Grandmother using the same commonplace names, like "paw-paw" and how to make jelly from the fruit. The challenge will now be to find some of these plants. (The authors admit some plants are only available from old gardens in the South). It remains one of my favorite garden books for its affectionate commentary on one of the oldest southern pastimes - our gardens and the talking and sharing of plants with loved ones.

We used this case book in our MBA course for corporate finance. The real cases are exciting. The topics are very broad and ranging from cash budgeting to financial risk management. Most of the cases are supported with good background material like charts and income statements. The book is excellent for class discussions, but not for the ambituous reader who wants to teach himself corporate finance. There are simply no right or wrong answers why there's no solution provided. It's a great book to work with, but deadly boring if you want to read it page by page.

As a student utilizing this text for class, I found it extremely insightful, as well as challenging in content. The book is subdivided in to various topib headings related to corporate finance, everything from debt and equity offerings to derivative risk management. After a chapter introduction outlining and reviewing pertinent academic information, there are several case studies on real companies. The book closes with three case studies which incorporate multiple topics highlighted in the book.

Book was very factual. I do not recall the road to the "On Time" ferry having a 90 degree turn to the dock. It was more like an arc. The bridge road was at 100-115 degree right turn. The DA, my next door neighbor, needs further examination. The author should not assume she drowned. An autopsy would have painted a far different picture. Money buys many things.

Since the only other review of this book doesn't make any sense, I thought it necessary to write a coherent one. This book is truly incredible. It proves Ted Kennedy's guilt with clarity and integrity. The facts are simply undeniable - if it weren't for Ted, Mary Jo would be alive today. The Kennedy family has long been America's sweethearts. It is high time that they are revealed as murders, philanderers, cheaters, liars and losers. Sorry, but this is coming from an Irish Catholic who is ashamed to admit that the Kennedys claim some ties to the land of her origin! They are all bad but Ted Kennedy is the worst. He should be behind bars- this book will tell you why. Read it - it's a well done piece of detective work and it will hold your interest. It may also make your blood boil - but that's not the authors' fault! DOWN WITH THE KENNEDYS!

For those that are NOT familiar with the idea, WOTC has offered an 'Open Game License' to any publisher that would like to contribute to the further growth of the d20 system that has been implemented with D&D3Ed.

Sword and Sorcery Studios is one of the leaders in the race to see who will dominate the d20 market (outside of WOTC). With White Wolf Games as Publisher/Printer of their materials they stand a good chance.

Of all of the campaign settings to date, The Scarred Lands is easily the most imaginative, without journeying so far afield that they lose site of the core d20 rules.

The Scarred Lands takes the classical concept of a war in heaven and turns it on its ear. This blasted landscape of a continent and the surrounding waters is a direct result of a war between the Gods and the Titans. Gorges carved by a Titan's sword, a sea of Blood born of a wounded Titan at the bottom of the Ocean's depths... it goes on from there.

This setting is exactly the opposite of campaigns like the Forgotten Realms or even the venerable Greyhawk campaign. The Scarred Lands is a dangerous and dealy place, full of strange and wonderous people and things... a city of Necromancer (each and every one of them striving to be a lich), a city whose very walls are the arms of a giant mithral golem... this is NOT low fantasy...

So, give The Scarred Lands a try, if you are familiar with the D&D Third Edition Gazetteer or the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, the formatting will be easy for you to follow.

Finally, SSS has stated their manifesto to be "3rd Edition D&D with a 1st Edition feel"... with that goal in mind... I'd say they are succeeding.

This book gives brief descriptions of the continent of Ghelspad and all of its kingdoms and countries and with this, it is the first publication by White Wolf that gives deeper insight into the upcoming Scarred Lands Campaign Setting.

Be prepared everyone! The Scarred Lands really rock!

If you already own the D&D Third Edition Gazetteer or the Living Greyhawk Gazetteer, you will have no problems with this book. It is made up the very same way the other two mentioned books are and seemlessly fits into the 3E-rules. This is a D20-System Open Gaming License product.

Brain's Winter Essay
The novel brains winter the author Gary Paulsen produces an absolute masterpiece. Brian who is a thirteen-year-old boy has crashed while going to Canada to visit his father. He has already survived the summer and part of fall but will he survive winter. It is the sequel to Hatchet and it gives an awesome description of the struggles in the winter. For example Brain needed to use his survival skills like to hunt animals, build a shelter, and provide warmth. Brian had gone through the summer trying to survive and stay alive, and he had thought that it was tough. But now he is in a whole new world. It is below freezing temperatures, food is harder to hunt in the snow, and he had to kill more animals for food plus to use the skin to stay warm. As he moves along winter and he gets used to the surrounding he hunts larger animals such as moose and deer. One day he went after a moose and was attacked and hurt in the process of killing it. So he tried smaller game and he then killed a deer. He thought the deer had suffered to much and he felt bad for it. But later in the book he found that when the moose was attacked by the pack of wolves he was no longer in sorrow for the deer. The deer compared to the moose was so much quicker. The wolves attacked and practically ate it alive while the moose struggles to get away.
In the first couple chapters of the book Brian was a little unprepared for the winter. He had felt better now that he had the survival pack with the food, lighter, pots, and sleeping bag. He had felt the cold air and the leaves falling off the trees, but he had ignored all the signs that nature was telling him. He then noticed he could see his breath and ice started to form around the lake. He then realized that it was going to change fast and he needed to catch up to be ready and prepared.
Brian had had a good idea of what the winter would be like. He had gotten many ideas from nature to make his shelter warmer and to have better chances of surviving this winter. For example, Brian had seen the beavers making a house by packing mud around the outside of their shelter and so Brian had done the same. He then realized that he now had a warmer shelter so all he had to do was make a little fire to make it warm. Brian also later in the book discovered that he needed snowshoes to stay above the snow. He had got this idea from the rabbits because in the winter the rabbits adapted by growing bigger feet to get away from predators easier.
I would rate this book a four out of five stars because it is a nonstop action book. It is a great book for the outdoorsy type of person and it is a heart pounding descriptions such as both the moose killings. And the author has one of the best ending out of all the books I've ever read. But you have to read it to find that out.

In the novel Brian's Winter a boy named Brian Robeson gets in a plane crash in the Canadian wilderness. He was stuck there for about 94 days now. Well with in those days Brian made a lot of mistakes like not look at what is going on around you like the weather for example. Well Brian did pay attention to the animals like the beavers, bears, wolves, and rabbits. Brian first came to the Canadian wilderness with just a hatchet. But when Brian finally noticed what was going on around him he made things like snowshoes and a parka to help him survive.
I liked the novel Brian's Winter because it gives you a lot of good survival tips to know how to live in the wilderness, if it ever happens to you at all in your lifetime. I also had a connection or to, like when he felt bad when he killed the animals, but you need to for you to survive. I also liked the way that the author kept on making you guess what was going to happen. That is what made me want to read the book more and more One of the dislikes that I had in the novel was that some of the graphics of when he killed some animals I thought it was gross.
I think I would rate this book a 9 out of 1-10 because of some of the graphics but other than that I think it was a rather good book.

Brian Robeson is a teenage boy and he wants to survive the wilderness. The novel Brian's Winter is written with great, realistic details. It was also written with simplicity, which is why I liked it. I could understand it, completely. Brian is a thirteen-year-old boy who hasn't been rescued, from the novel Hatchet. So he has to face the cold winter months, alone in Northern Canada. This time, Brian has a survival kit, which he found in the plane wreck. The kit includes a rifle, two butane lighters, a fishing line and a sleeping bag. But he still has to find some food, to stay alive...I liked this book because it has a lot of hunting, and suspense in it. When Brian was in the woods alone, he hunted, and I could imagine that I was he. One part I liked in particular was when he found the Cree, and he was warm and stayed full of food.

Richard Paul Evans is a gifted and talented author of inspirational and insightful tales. This book fulfills those goals. This is a story of two people in need of trust, faith, hope and love. A man who has lost so much in his life discovers a young woman who never had much to loose. Hunter is a preacher turned gambler. He has turned his back on God due to the death of his wife and child. Hunter is accused of a murder that he didn't commit. Quaye is a young girl from a starving Irish family, whose father "sold" her to a man, Jack, on his way to America. The husband turns out to be an extremely abusive man interested only in gold and money. Quaye accepts her life as the only possibility, no matter how horrible. hunter and Quaye are thrown together in a blizzard. They learn and discover things about themselves when viewed through the others eyes. The story was well written. The details of place and time were wonderful. The only disappointment was... this was the first novel of Richard Paul Evans that did not move me tears with it's lessons on life.

I have read every one of Mr. Evans' books, and find that he only gets better! The Looking Glass, as well as The Locket and the Christmas Box trilogy have helped me to heal differences between myself and my children and mother. I know that each book will require at least 3 hankies or 1 box of tissues, but that is okay, because tears heal. I believe that part of the message he is trying to send is that "it is okay to cry", and cry I do, when I read his books.

This is the first book I have read by Richard Paul Evans and can not wait to get my hands on his other books. You can feel deep down in your heart the agony and then love between Quaye and Hunter as described by R.P.Evans. I would love to see this come out as a movie and plan on buying the audio version of this book!

Utopia is a classic masterpiece that conveys More's vivid imagination of the Island of Utopia. Although most of the characters are fictional, it is intriguing to learn about the true values of European societies during the 16th century, when More actually wrote the book (although many scholars believe that the exact year was 1515). Truthfully, the book is quite easy to understand. All More tries to do is convey his own views of how society should be through Raphael. Moreover, the use of imagery in Book I is quite fascinating, including the constant references to Roman and Greek myths and beliefs. It is also quite remarkable to see that the story begins to be more and more interesting after More and Giles come back from dinner. To make a long story short, I think it is a great book because of the actual time it was written in since most pieces of literature written at that time were either lost or destroyed.

As a social critique of Enlgish and European society, this book is very effective. It is also beautifully written. But it should not be read as the depiction of what society should be like. Thomas More, a wise and brave man executed by orders of Henry VIII, knew that Utopia shouldn't be taken very seriously, and that is exactly why he used the word Utopia to name his famous island. Utopia, in latin, means "in no place", that what can not exist. The problem is that this simple fact was not understood by many. And so, "utopianism" was born. The preposterous belief that there is a universal and definitive form of organization for human societies led to disasters like Nazism and Communism. By organizing everything perfectly (according to who?), these systems become the negation of the very essence of the human being: its innate imperfection and its need to be constantly changing, always on the move. It is simply impossible that some political, economic and social system resolves once and for all the troubles of humanity. Problems are exactly what make humans progress and reform constantly. Besides, the State has proven indispensable for survival, but also limited in what it can accomplish (in Utopia, the State provides everything for everybody). Stagnant societies degenerate and disappear, or remain to live from the charity of dynamic societies. Closed, perennial social systems, simply don't work: there is abundant proof in history, ancient or recent. "Utopia" is an excellent account of human shortcomings and a good tale, but it is not, nor was intended to be, a recipe with solutions for the world. Aldous Huxley and George Orwell have shown us what might happen in a supposed Utopia. The Communist world was worse. And Anthony Burgess clearly shows us in "A Clockwork Orange", that in "perfect" societies, the only way to practice freedom is violence. Let's not be perfect.

It's unfortunate that it seems as if most of these reviews were written by people whose only knowledge of More has come from the (mostly incorrect) opinions they have formed after reading this book. I don't think one can truly understand its import until he or she understands where Moore is at this point in his life and what he previously wrote ("Life of Pico", for example) and what he wrote later (while in prison, perhaps). No, he wasn't expressing his views through Raphael. In fact, it's clear that Raphael is an opinionated fibber (i.e., he discovered Utopia after Vespucci's fourth voyage? There were only three and Morus knows it...) and his account is purposefully filled with contradictions. There's more to it! More is raising issues, trying to make the careful reader think (and shame on some of the other reviewers for not being careful readers). And once you've read this book, read enough More (ha!) to understand what was going on in the bigger scheme of things, such as More's relationship with the other Renaissance humanists of his time and Henry VIII.

I'm not sure how to feel about this book. While reading it, I really could not become absorbed by Conrad's dense prose, though, while occasionaly eloquent, is very thick, and, well, British. But now that I am finished with it, I can not get the images the novella invokes out of my head. The conquest of Africa by the Imperialist on the surface, and the corruption of man's very morality underneath. The story is deceptively simple, merely a man working for an Ivory trading company, ominously called "The Company", going up the Congo river to meet up with Kurtz, the archetype of Western Imperialism. During this trip, we are shown the inner workings of man and his heart of darkness. The novella is not perfect though. Conrad's condemnation of Imperialism is uneven. Yes, the only discernable cause of Kurtz's descent into evil and madness is the imperialist ethic of master-slave, and it is fairly clear that Marlowe (conrad) is condemning that ethic, but at the same time, he doesn't work very hard to elevate the view of the African natives any higher in the esteem of his western readers. Anyway, as the novella is only about 100 pages, it is something that can be read in a day. Invest an afternoon in it, and decide for yourself.

Heart of Darkness is a novella that really needs to be read more than just once to fully appreciate Conrad's style of writing. The story is an account of one man's simultaneous journey into the darkness of a river as well as into the shadows of a madman's mind. There is a very brilliant flow of foreshadowing that Conrad brings to his writing that provides the reader with accounts of the time period and the horrible events to come. Through Conrad's illuminating writing style we slowly see how the narrator begins to understand the madness or darkness that surrounds him.

I recommend this particular version of the novella because it contains a variety of essays, which discusses some of the main issues in the reading and historical information. Issues like racism and colonialism are discussed throughout many essays. It also contains essays on the movie inspired by the book Apocalypse Now, which is set against the background of the Vietnam War. I recommend reading Heart of Darkness and then viewing Apocalypse Now, especially in DVD format which contains an interesting directors commentary.

English majors are justly fond of Conrad, who packs his stories with subtlety, symbolism, parallels, and rich imagery. "Heart of Darkness" is a brief and strangely absorbing read. Its plot is simple enough on the surface, about a sailor who guides a steamer up the Congo in search of a vaunted ivory trader. But beneath the surface, in a palpable atmosphere of unease, lie the book's complicated themes. This isn't just a condemnation of European activity in Africa, but a glimpse at the evil within every man. In some ways this book is a precursor to "Lord of the Flies" and other twentieth century books of despair, and yet Conrad does not leave the reader without hope. In skilful, mystical passages about light and dark, black and white, tall and short, jungle and sepulchre, Conrad gives us much food for thought about the nature of humankind and the possibilities for both good and evil. I see this book more as a warning than a simple cry of despair - though it pays ample attention to "the horror" of it all.

Cold Sassy Tree, a novel written by Olive Ann Burns, is a very realistic and easy to read book. The characters are very real and entertaining in their everyday life. I liked this book because you feel like you are right there listing to the author tell you about the life of the main character. Also this story is easy to read and follow. There is never a dull moment and every chapter is filled with excitement and adventure. The story takes place on a farm where a young boy is forced to deal with his grandfather who does not follow the normal way of life that the other people in Cold Sassy do. As he grows older the boy learns that he is more like his grandfather than he thought. This boy now must make the decision to follow in the family business, or like his grandfather, follow a different path of life from those people in Cold Sassy. This book is filled with laughs and good times. The ending has an exciting unexpected twist that will leave the reader wanting to read the sequel, Leaving Cold Sassy.

I read this book for school over the summer. Now that I've finished, I am so happy it was assigned. This was one of those books that you miss when your done reading.
It takes place in the small town of Cold Sassy, Georgia in the early 1900s. The story is told by a 14 year old boy who has recently lost his best friend and his grandmother. Three weeks after his grandma's death his Grandfather announces that he is going to marry a young woman who is half his age. The family is embarrassed and the town is shocked. After almost a year the town and family starts to accept her the way she accepted them.
I wrote this review as a response to other reviews that I read on the site. Frankly, I was outraged by what some people had to say about this book. Someone claimed that the Grandfather raped his granddaughter and one of the boys friends raped his own sister. I don't know what version he read but that was not at all a part of the story!!! The woman the grandfather married tells that she was raped as a child but that was the only raping that went on in the book, and it was needed to explain why she was so afraid of marring and men. Another person said that a child getting whipped is "HORRIFYING" but that was part of the culture back then. People do not agree with it now but back then it happened all the time. There was also a touch of racism in the plot but again it was needed so that Olive Burns could accurately portray southern life in the early 20th. century.
This book was a joy to read and I cannot wait to get the 2nd. part Leaving Cold Sassy. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Cold Sassy Tree is about a boy, his family, and a town growing out of the narrow-mindedness prevolent in society in the early 1900's. The talent of this writer to describe characters and their feelings is unparalleled. You can picture Grandpa's ranting and raving, as well as Will's mischevious face. I would not recommend this book to everyone. If you have never lost someone close to you, don't read it. You just won't understand. There is racism in this book, but it serves a purpose. The people of that time period felt that way. It was necessary for Burns to portray people in that manner to present a believable story. The odd thing is small towns today still have the same basic hierarchy and people's reactions to scandal aren't different from those of people who lived century ago. For Southerners who have strong family ties, or wish they did, this book is a must read. It is filled with tragedy, love, wisdom, and acceptance. Don't miss out.

I think a novice would be at risk in using this book, whether to learn Visual Basic, to prepare for the exams, or both.

Prospective buyers should know right up front that this book contains several inexcusable errors. Plan a solid half hour to download the errata from the publisher's website and then mark up the corrections before beginning to read. (The publisher's errata file is by no means comprehensive, however, so you must still be on your guard--and the downloadable PDF errata file itself was so poorly formatted that the text ran irreparably past the margins, and I had to guess at the missing words of several sentences.)

The CDROM-based practice exams provided with the book are marginal at best, and are no substitute for the Transcender exams (which I highly recommend). Some of the questions are either dead wrong or address topics completely ignored in the book (one purveyor of the MS documentation style is enough, thank you!). The inexperienced will learn erroneous things through the exams, and experienced VB users may soon question the value of their purchase.

In printing the user's incorrect exam answers for review, the software behaves more like a prototype than something for commercial release (developers: don't let this happen to you!), offering the user only the default printer and no control over page margins, font size, etc. This is just one of many "little things" that could have rendered the whole book/CD package a more professional product, had it been done right.

Having said all of the above, there are some good aspects of the book. It provides some useful coverage of most of VB's features, and it could certainly serve as a post-exam resource or refresher. But this is almost certainly not the best book to serve that purpose.

I'm not sorry I bought this book, but I'm disappointed in the product which it--together with the CD--comprises. The packaging is generally more professional than the package itself, and that's a bad reflection on both author Hawhee and publisher New Riders.

--TW

I'll give 4.5 stars to this book if I could. Why?

Having 3 years VB programming experience, I brought this book 3 months ago when I decided taking MCSD #70-176 exam, by myself -- not my boss. I've read through it, did the exercises at each end of chapter, and did the test on the CDROM. Also I've read "MCSD VB 70-176 Exam Prep" book and "MCSD VB 70-196 Exam Cram" book.

Here's what I feel about this book: Pros -- 1. Best of MCSD VB Exam Guide, for both beginning and advanced VB programmer; 2. It teaches you every issue of the test, good presentation.

Cons -- 1. Less information about Exam 70-175; 2. Last 4 chapters can be cut 1/4, too wordy! 3. "Study strategies" on beginning of each chapter can be cut off, it's useless, just annoying!

Here's my sugestion: 1. Read this book first, carefully, take note, do the Exercises at end of each chapters; 2. Don't waste your time in reading "MCSD VB #70=-176 Exam Prep" book -- New Rider book is better! 3. Read "MCSD in a Nutshell" book for further deep study; 4. Read "MCSD VB 70-176 Exam Cram" book for a quick review before the exam.

-- That's what I am doing. Now I'm ready! -- I'll take the exam next week...

I decided to buy this book because of the high ratings in this site and is pleased to report that this is the best book I've seen that covers both exam 70-028 and 70-029. Make sure to do all the exercises at the end of each chapter to have a hands-on experience of the concepts being taught. Exam questions at the end of each chapter also makes you retain more of what you've read so make sure you go through those too. Although this book is by no means complete, gaps could be filled in by searching some of the topics it missed using the product's online help. Specially lacking is its Package and Deployment chapter. The accompanying CD gives you some feel on what it is like to take the exam but Transcender comes closer to the real thing than the software packaged with this book. Errors in the text and the exercises could sometimes fluster you but a quick trip to the publishers website for the latest errata for this book could help you catch the more obvious mistakes.

Overall, this book is a valuable resource for the exam and as a handy reference even after the exam.