"Creating Beds and Borders" is a volume in the series of 'Fine Gardening' Design Guides issued by the Taunton Press. The book consists of separate articles by various contributors to 'Fine Gardening' magazine. Continuity is supplied by the subject matter, garden beds and borders.

This book's articles are grouped into four sections: (1) Design Strategies; (2) Great Border Plants; (3) Special Techniques; (4) Garden Gallery. It begins with four articles on the design of island beds and borders. Plant selection and placement are the topics covered by the majority of the essays, along with techniques for starting and renovating perennial beds. Gardening in the shade, in bogs, and in Southeastern heat and humidity all receive special attention in section four.

The one topic I felt could have used more coverage was flower bed edging techniques. One of the authors advocated a six inch by six inch trench to separate the bed from its surroundings. Another author, Sydney Eddison wrote an interesting article on "Good Looks Begin at the Edge," but she concentrates on edging plants, rather than on the physical separation of bed and lawn. Perhaps a future volume in the 'Fine Gardening' series will address the challenge of excluding the lawn from the flower bed (information I could certainly use).

Because it discusses a technique we're currently experimenting with, my favorite article in "Creating Beds and Borders" is "Roses Enliven a Border" by Judith C. McKeon. Up until a few years ago, we segregated all of our roses into one bed, away from the other perennials (I don't remember why). However, McKeon advocates growing roses as specimens in a mixed border:

"When shrub roses are grown as graceful specimens in the mixed border, they become part of its architecture, giving structure and a substantial backdrop for perennial companions. Like other ornamental deciduous shrubs, roses enhance the garden with the seasonal interest of their flowers, foliage texture and fruit displays."

I would only disagree with McKeon's recommendation to use the old Alba rose, 'Konigin von Danemark' as part of a mixed border. Our specimen of 'the Queen' is a hefty seven-footer and she is absolutely covered with thorns. Even the thorns have thorns. If you plant one of these royal ladies in your border, you'll never work in there again unless you cover yourself in leather.

'Konigin von Danemark' is a beautiful, raspberry-scented rose that could possibly be used as a deer hedge. For a mixed border, try other McKeon favorites such as 'The Fairy' or 'Gertrude Jekyll'.

Color photographs grace almost every page of "Creating Beds and Borders". It is not organized as a reference book per se, but is a collection of beautifully illustrated and well-written essays for (most particularly) the American gardener.

Excellent writing! Byers throws you in quickly straps you down and sends you on a rollercoaster of mistery and action. Amazing twists and turns as he retains the sense of the scarred lands... also in this book Vlad seeks out the slarecians for the name of that which abides... and lemme tell you you're biting off bits of your lips to see if he will, but that's not all! you find out how flipping cool belsameth is with her trechery and ... well, it's just flipping great well worth the $.

The first of the Creed Books for Hunter: the Reckoning has a good mix of in-character rumors and philosophies and out-of-character rules and goodies (the new traits and edges are especially nice). Excellent insight into the Avengers of the WoD and worth a look by any Hunter STs and players.

finds Tuvek/Vazkor nearing his quest for his mysterious witch/goddess mother. This book has more in common with "The Birthgrave" than its immediate predecessor, "Vazkor, Son of Vazkor". It has more of the epic feel, with Tuvek discovering, as his mother did, the realm and scope of his powers through his travels through strange and mystical kingdoms. This is classic Lee, with all the epic quality of "The Birthgrave" (though please read that first), and Tuvek/Vazkor's character is much more sympathetic and likable than in "Vazkor, Son Of Vazkor" as he grows gradually less bent on vengeance as the story progresses. If you loved "The Birthgrave" as I did, this is similar in tone, and worth reading as well.

White Bird is a personal journal written by a white American Baptist woman seeking spiritual fulfillment. The book is the story of her decades-long search. She is convinced she will find what she is looking for by pursuing her ongoing desire to connect with the black community, notably the one in Denver but also others in distant U.S. cities where she has lived. Her circuitous route to success comes in the form of an intense, driving spiritual quest which will resonate with anyone who has had or, indeed, is still having difficulty finding the right spiritual fit. Merrick's story is a surprising and absorbing journey that will resonate with those who, like me, have no particular or identifiable "black experience." It is the goal we have in common, not the path to it. I did not expect to tune into the author's quest so readily, yet her fast-paced and multifaceted narrative was mesmerizing, catching me up in her fervent search. I was hooked!

The book covers nearly three decades of the author's life with so many twists and turns it is hard to imagine that any spiritual resolution she would find in the end could last for long. Spiritual quests are, in fact, lifelong journeys that never end until we stop living--even when we think we have found our niche. This is not a "self help" book, and Merrick makes no judgment concerning nonseekers. She speaks from her heart, exposing her failures as well as her successes.

The Hunter game is a nice addition to anyones WoD collection. This book can help one to build better characers. You know onesa that can actually live for past 60 seconds.

When I purchased this book, I was expecting something along the lines of a a player's guide or such. What I got, on the other hand, was a sourcebook chock full of information on supernaturals around the world. Be careful that you know what this is before you purchase it. It's an excellent book and I liked it very much, but it was not what I had in mind for a survival guide.

I liked this book. Its written from the point of view of the hunters, a different one for each section. The book does not have any game mechanics, its pure story. It begins with a few tips for novice hunters, something you should get your players to read through. Then it goes on to describe each continent. It spends a lot of time discussing the world outside of North America, so if your planning on running a game in a different country then this is the book for you. I liked the fact that since the information is given out by hunters, it is full of various facts that are completely not true, so your players can read through the book and still not have any of the real information. Full of great story potential and well written. A good buy if your going to run a hunter's game.

There are several fundamental flaws in Ms. Levin's book. First and foremost, she sympathizes with Col. Edward House. Plain and simple House is not one to treat sympathetically. A critical biography of the Wilson family would point out that Col. House deliberately attempted to sabotage the President's great peace plans starting in late 1916 (a great friend and confidant). House (and Secretary of State Lansing) collaborated with the British assuring them that the President would eventually enter the war on the side of the allies. In reality, President Wilson had no desire to enter the war (even after the German's resumed unrestricted submarine warfare in February 1917). Wilson waited two long months to finally make the decision. Edith Wilson perspicaciously distrusted House from the beginning. Maybe it was a hunch, perhaps she saw through his rather obsequious personality, but she destroyed Woodrow's relationship with House. In fact, after January 1917, House no longer held a high position in the President's mind. In short, Mrs. Levin is highly critical of the Wilson's because they abandoned Col. House.

Second, Mrs. Levin's assertion that Edith Wilson was the first female president is highly overstated. While she did control, along with Dr. Grayson and Secretary Tumulty, who and what the President saw she never made an important governmental decision. While Wilson was unable to appear in public he was able to read and perform limited duties of his office. Any scholar who has combed even the surface of Wilson's papers understands this. For an unbiased and complete review of Wilson in the months before and after his infamous stroke an interested reader should look at John Milton Cooper's "Breaking the Heart of the World." Cooper is the foremost living authority on Wilson.

My point here is not to completely excoriate Mrs. Levin's book but to caution readers of its flaws. There are much better books on both President Wilson and the first lady: the mentioned book by Cooper, Arthur Link's "Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive Era," and John Cooper's dual biography of Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt, "The Warrior and the Priest." As a student of Wilson I am most disappointed by Levin's failure to observe Wilson's high moral purpose and the energy which he devoted to it (this is what eventually brought on the stroke).

Checking the other customer (and editorial) reviews, I find that no one had the reaction I did - this is a very poorly written book on an interesting subject. Author Levin wears her agenda on her sleeve from Page One, repeatedly skews the narrative to her own purposes, and fails to footnote responsibly.
What's more, her chronology is so haphazard, and she skips around so much, that the reader is never quite sure what year or country we're in at any given time, or what the heck is going on, or who said what to whom.
Add a boatload of odd editorial boo-boos and you have a very disappointing book.

Being a fan of presidential biographies and after having read some books on both of the Wilsons, I was very excited to see what appeared to be a dual biography of the couple. Levin's book was dry and downright boring . It is a very interesting and debatable premise....whether Edith Wilson really "ran" the White House when Woodrow was incapacitated by stroke.
My complaints are that the book was much more Woodrow than Edith and I am still not sure I feel like I buy Levin's theme that Edith was the first female president.
I was surprised to learn just how incapacitated Wilson was and how little the country was aware of.
This could have been a much better book.

This is where ordering a book through the internet is a little disappointing, as you can't browse the book before purchasing it. "Camping Activities for Kids" is very light on the "activities." It does a good job of laying out items that should be brought along on ones first camping trip, but falls short on suggesting outdoor activities for kids. The activities that are suggested are a little simplistic. For example, "laying sticks apart from one another and pretending it's a river, and then have the kids jump over it and playing golf with sticks and using pine cones as balls." I was hoping for more endepth activities. If it's your first time camping this books okay, but if you've camped for awhile and your kids are a little older the book falls short so look for something else.

I found this to be a great resource for kids new to camping. Checklists, ideas for low-impact camping, and activites abound in a very user-friendly format. Not necessarily great for more experienced campers, but perfect for my first-grade Girl Scout troop!

My children and I were introduced to this book through a friend who'd heard the author speak. We've used several of the ideas in our latest camping trips and found it very useful.

A maiden is kidnapped...a mother searches for her, disguised as an old beggar woman...a deadly fruit is eaten...the maiden dies but not necessarily for good...

Note that I could either be talking about the ancient tale of Demeter and Persephone, or about the fairy tale "Snow White." Tanith Lee weaves the two together masterfully in her novel, "White as Snow." As I read it, I kept reading a scene and then thinking, "Hey, WAIT a minute, that was the part where Demeter tries to make the little kid immortal", and so forth. It just fit incredibly well; the book followed both the myth and the fairy tale, making me realize just how much symbolism the two stories had in common in the first place. It is a testament to Lee's skill that after reading the book, I began to seriously wonder whether the fairy tale truly *is* a corrupted version of the myth, distorted through centuries. Whether there is any real connection, the world may never know--but Lee makes us believe there is.

And as I write this, I remember that in ancient times Demeter was associated with the mirror.

I deducted one star because I had trouble sympathizing with the characters; they seem emotionally cold throughout much of the book. It makes sense, given their traumatic pasts, but it doesn't make it any easier to relate to them.

Still, four solid stars for a richly archetypal neo-myth.

When I first encountered Terri Windling's awesome Fairy Tale Series several years ago, I learned that one of the authors who was working on a tale for the series was Tanith Lee. I anxiously anticipated her book and it was well worth the wait. I truly believe I'd recognize a Tanith Lee-created character just about anywhere. She marvelously writes the most wickedly flawed, but insidiously human people. I also greatly admire her ability to sustain characterization consistently throughout her work. The plot is great here too; a variation on the Snow White tale magically interwoven with the whole Demeter-Hades-Persephone fertility mythos from ancient Greece. This book has tremendous appeal to not only fantasy, mythology, and fairy tale aficionados, but would serve as a great introduction to Lee's work as well; especially recommended would be her Red as Blood collection of fairy stories. Lee is often compared most favorably with Angela Carter; this analogy remains apt with this latest book. The other books in Windling's Fairy Tale Series are also as good as this one.

White As Snow - an adult book written mixed with a child's fairy tale and an ancient tale of Demeter. Growing up, I never really liked the story of "Snow White". The girl seemed too innocent and perfect and the witch mother was too cruel without any explanation. Tanith Lee's book gave me detail and reasons behind everything that I always questioned in the childhood fairytale. It kept me curious as to what was going to happen next. This book was at times a little vulgar and harsh, but that was what gave it zest and what gave me a desire to read on. I also liked how Lee used the tale of Demeter and Persephone to wind into the story. It added depth and a parallel. It's really interesting how both Snow White and Demeter have similar aspects to their tales. The book was so far from reality, but also real in that Lee actually showed emotions like hate and jealousy in which the children's fairy tale doesn't show at all. She makes you get wrapped up in all the hard times and emotions both the witch mother and daughter must have gone through. Although I don't agree with all the mother did (she was so selfish in a lot of her actions), I liked getting an insight into why she did the things she did. "White As Snow" is a good book and an interesting twist to fairy tales.

Every game has a companion book that is only for the GM or in this case the story teller. While this book can be useful and add a few cool little items to the mix it isn't really necessary to get into the game. Those that are only semi-into the game shouldn't bother with this, but hard core gammers and those that want to finish off a collection should pick it up.