I really enjoyed this book a lot! Out of all of Elvis' girlfriends June seems the most "real" of all of them! I have seen her on TV and she seems like a great woman! The times she shared with Elvis are so innocent and he treated her with such respect. It was the Elvis before he was touched by Col. Parker, Hollywood and Vegas. He was a semi-regular guy, Elvis, his mammas son. I was actually suprised how liberal Gladys was with June going into his bedroom in her home. She must have trusted her son a lot and June was a nice girl too. Gladys also seem to have loved June like a daughter. It is too bad his friends and fame had to come between them. I know Elvis had great works ahead of him, despite that it would have been nice if he could have had a real life like a normal person. He had such a good heart and tried so hard to treat others well. June has a wonderful book and I highly recommend this! You will not be unhappy, but more of an Elvis fan than ever!

I first borrowed this book from the library when i need to do a project about a famous person.I found it by chance because i don't know any thing about Elvis Presley at first.But after i read this excellent book, i was so attracted by the Elvis that June wrote about, and i rushed to the bookstore to buy this book.In this book, you can find that you are with the king of rock'n' roll.

A refreshing, affectionate, funny and ultimately sad look back at what in Elvis' own words were 'the best years of my life'. June takes us on a golden trip down memory lane to a place that we all sometimes like to visit which is what gives the book such a hold...we can all relate to it on some level. Coupled with that June gives a new humanity to a man who has been picked at and slandered from almost every angle over the years. We see them on a day to day level facing the almost impossible rollercoaster ride that was everyday life for Elvis. June conveys so well the enormous pressures that Elvis must have been under for so long without being at all judgemental. The story ends too suddenly with no insight into the feelings that were and must still be left behind. June mentions briefly her sorrow at hearing 'Unchained Melody' being played on the radio the night he died, a song he had sung specially for her 20 years previously and one that she had been waiting for to appear on a record for all those years between. You are left with the feeling that maybe June Juanico, had she stuck around, might have been one person who cared enough and had enough clout to have made a differnce to a man who was so talented and yet lived such a lonely life with no one to really guide him through the turmoil that was his every day existence until the day he died.

An excellent book. A very valuable addition to what must be by now an enormous library of books on the King.

Glasgow, March '99

I don't usually write reviews, but this is the loveliest of books, so lovely that I'm keeping it out on my coffee table for conversation starters. It looks so "dirty" but it's so literary and interesting. There's not a story or poem in here that isn't wonderful, and the humor is good too. I leave it out so that people can pick it up and turn to any page and be surprised, and always interested. Stories like "River of Butterflies", "Blue in Cuba", and "Grady's Bar & Grille" are just amazing and original. Excellent book.

Great stories, thoughtful essays, I don't do poems.....ok, I did read and like some of them!-:) The "Carmen by the Lake" story made me cry. I love stories about coming of age.

I love Clean Sheets, and I love this book! Stories and poems and a very funny sex-story about an insect, of all things -- all of it together is as good as the Clean Sheets Magazine ever gets, and it has so much in it it's better than any Yellow Silk or any other anthology! There's a poem about "This is how it feels" (when you go down on me) that is probably the sexiest single poem I have ever read.

After reading about Hondo and Fabian in the NY Times book review, I picked this up for my two-year-old daughter. This quickly became her favorite book, which brings on cries of "Again! Again!" Reading this to her is a pleasure as the pictures are gorgeous and the simple story is easy for her to relate to and get excited about every time we turn the well worn (already!) pages. This would make an excellent board book. We have given it to several neices and nephews since we discovered it, and everyone from the two-year-olds on up love it.

The Publishers Weekly editorial review of this book is entirely accurate so I'll leave the details to them. I loved this book for the perfection of the way the artist/author captures the exhuberant love for life expressed by the dog and cat characters, Hondo, Fred and Fabian. Peter McCarty manages to give us the essence of a happy day in the lives of these animals. It is so infectious that I felt happy just looking at the simple yet evocative illustrations. This is a book for very young children, I suppose, and I'm sure toddlers will love it and will be readily able to appreciate the fun it celebrates, but as an adult I loved the way it illuminates the feelings of non-verbal beings and the opportunity it gives us to glimpse the richness of those feelings that we so often overlook. It's a wonderful book.

A delightful little book about charming pets in a series of natural and daily life "adventures" that are sure to please and calm a child. The illustrations are interesting and will hold attention. The narrative and illustrations are calming and will quieten the active child at any time of the day especially at bedtime.
Evelyn Horan - teacher/counselor/author
Jeannie, A Texas Frontier Girl, Books One-Three

As a 46 year old father of 2 young children, I have found this book to be very informative and very humorous(actually at times horrifying for fathers to be). The book could be classified as humorous horror for fathers. Peter Downey touches on all important aspects of childrearing in a down-to-earth, easy to read, practical, "lets get our hands dirty on this" fashion. Fathers with children will really identify with the problems discussed in this book. He doesn't shy away from touchy topics like sex, nudity in front of the children or physical discipline. He's obviously read the "professionals" on childrearing and his advice on how to deal with the many problems we dads encounter reflects this, but is also heavily flavoured with his own personal strategies developed on the frontlines of being a dad to 3 children himself. Of course, if you're a perfect dad, doing everything right or if you're not a dad you may want to read the book for it's humour, with which Peter is not stingy.

A great book! Mr. Downey entertains while delivering important, every-day advice to new dads. Dad's will laugh out loud and feel re-assured that they're not total failures at fatherhood. With his unpretentious writing style and unique brand of wit, Mr. Downey covers everything from baby's first steps to "permanent" birth control options, and he never fails to entertain. Dad's can only hope that Mr. Downey continues to share his thoughts and experiences through his children's pre-pubescent and teen years.

Finally, a down-to-Earth, no-holes-barred reference book for new Dads. No fancy terminology - just creative terminology. No detailed psychological analysis from a group of doctors who pride themselves on using 10-syllable words - just the blunt facts from an everyday-Dad's point of view. An extremely humorous, yet insightful view into Dadism.

A perfect follow-up to Downey's "So You're Gonna Be A Dad". I could only hope he continues his wizardry of words addressing prepubescent teenagers!!

This is a fantastic book for the first-time potter or for someone experienced hoping to learn more. The only weakness was too few photos of finished products to see the results of techniques being described in the book. Otherwise, a fun book that will inspire you to learn more about your craft!

I got this book as a Christmas present from 3 of my dearest friends last year and it has just been a FANTASTIC source of inspiration and information since. Projects were easy to follow and instructions were clear, illustrated with lots of nicely taken photos to guide you every step of the way. I would highly recommend this book to both beginners and/or experienced potters.

What a great book for all of us clay lovers. Not overwhelming yet offers information on about everything you need to know. I've had this book for several years and I keep getting out again and again.

Ellie has agreed to house sit for her Aunt Kate. Her pompous fiance drives her down to impress the rich old lady, who dislikes him immediately. After Kate's departure with the fiance to the airport. Ellie experiences all kinds of strange manifestations involving the six founding families of the area. A rare book telling of their boring scandals seems to be the trigger. A neighbor agrees to help her solve the mystery. It seems like a practical joke, until an old friend of Kate's gets seriously injured....

This was a very quick read and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I picked it up and didn't stop reading until the last page. The characters are quirky and entertaining. The atmosphere appropriately creepy, and the story line engrossing. A very good read.

Now why is this book not available? At least it isn't as I write this review, which is a shame. This mystery is comparable to the queen of mystery, Agatha Christie. Full of chills, spills, witty dialogue and creepy people, this is a delight.

Ellie and her fiancee Henry arrive at the rambling mansion belonging to her aunt, who is an eccentric rumored to be a witch. Ellie is remaining in the house while Aunt Kate goes off on a trip, bringing a rare and quite dull book along as a gift (which she promptly forgets to give her). In the area is Ted, a friend of Kate's, and an enigmatic, quirky young man named Donald.

Soon Ellie suspects that the house is haunted, from a few specters that crop up. But she just as quickly suspects that the hauntings are all-human in origin. Is it the doc next door? The hypersensitive jerk? The humorless, desiccated librarian? The Senator who is up for reelection? The perky columnist? Creepy undertones are shown in all the characters, but which one of them would endanger -- and perhaps murder? And what secret is so terrible that would make this person so desperate?

Witchcraft, comedy, ghostliness and action are covered in this book, fast-paced and well-plotted, with lovable heroes (Ellie, Donald, Kate) and despicable people as well. One can only theorize who Marjorie Melody was based on, so cloyingly loathesome is she. And what kind of person could have inspired Henry, who readers will.... uh, react to from the first page.

A fantastic, chilling novel/mystery with wry wit, this is a book not to be missed.

This mystery includes ghosts, people's reputations, and the dog
that barked in the night. It was difficult to put the book down.
Ellie goes off to housesit her aunt Kate's estate in the Virginia
horse country, and immediately encounters a resident ghost, or is
it? Various ancestors of "old families" make an appearance, and just what are the dark secrets the families have buried?

Between eccentric Aunt Kate, her friend Ted, the neighboring doctor and his son, Donald, some strange servants, and the present generation of the "old families," not to mention the large assortment of dogs and cats along with a pet rat, the story gets interesting. Is there trickery, perhaps mass hallucinations, or has someone really raised the dead?

There are some sidelights about the Washington Redskins, and an argument about who was the best quarterback of all times. Disagreement with Kate can give men a bad itch where gentlemen don't scratch. Overall, it was good reading for a rainy evening.

As a music fan, there are two things you want to add to your experience, a songlist compilation and a biography. Anything more is really too much, but in the case of groundbreaking album cover art, and knowing Pink Floyd's history of employing visual effects in their shows, a book like this is necessary, especially since albums are gone now, and the tiny graphics you get on a CD jewel case don't compare with the stuff promoters used to jam into album jackets. This book is a trip into Storm Thurgeson's head, not necessarily Floyd's. The difference is not much since Storm was a boyhood chum, and listened so well to his employer's ideas, instead of pushing his own. That's one reason the band was so successful musically as well, was Hypnosis' reliance on the members' themes. This book is not a graphic artist's design book, though I wish it were, but it would be tons bigger. It covers 30 years (and not even all the Floyd's covers (for instance, The Wall)). But you will appreciate the fact that Storm operated more under impluse as a designer than by today's modern design houses which try to render graphics in a production line style...can't be done. The author's bylines give us insight if not in technical process, then in the intellect process, and it's good fun knowing this guy was a friend to the Floyd for a LONG time, even having to uncomfortably stand in the middle of relationships for the 'Is There Anybody Out There?' live Wall issue. All in all, I'd give 5 stars for the artwork and presentation, but lose half of one for lack of technical explanation. Enjoy!

Few people have been more closely associated with Pink Floyd over the band's 30-year career than graphic designer Storm Thorgerson. And virtually no one (outside the band members themselves) has been more responsible for the mystique that shrouds the band and its music.

In "Mind Over Matter", Thorgerson explains in some detail the concepts and techniques behind the creation of some of the most evocative and memorable images in the history of Rock and Roll. With stories and recollections dating back to the band's foundations in the mid-sixties, Thorgerson goes piece-by-piece through most of the band's catalogue, recounting not only how he and his team created the images, but also detailing what they are meant to represent and how they relate to the music.

The book features beautiful color reproductions of the band's album covers, lyrics layouts, and CD booklets. (All but two Floyd albums-- "The Wall" and "The Final Cut"-- are included ; these are omitted because Thorgerson was, in his own words, "temporarily relieved of [his] duties" for these albums.) But the biggest treat to the serious fan are the reproductions and discussionsof lesser-known images, such as a tour promo and program from 1975, and artwork specially conceived for the 'deluxe' boxed set "Shine On". Also included are the designs for the remastered and repackaged CD releases of the Floyd's albums, as well as some art which was apparently created just for this book.

As a full-sized coffee table book, "Mind Over Matter" is gorgeous to look at. Thorgerson's text, which is witty and insightful, makes for a good read. All in all, no Pink Floyd fan should be disappointed.

What do you get when you cross art and the greatest rock band in history? A materpiece! If I had the chance, I would give this book a million stars!

Storm Thorgerson, mastermind behind most of Pink Floyd's album artwork, has compiled almost all of the rare, unusual, interesting, and familiar pieces. It also includes stories on how they (the art) came to be (which, by the way, sheds a light on the innovative genius of the band). It goes from the early years of Syd Barrett to the post-Waters era. This book is a must for any Floyd fan, especially one who is interested in the history and progress of the band.

I think Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz is a exciteing book which is funny and intresting in a lot of ways.I read all the Oz books but I think this one is one of his best!I definetly rate this a 5 star book! From Hallie McPherson

NOTE: This is not the edition of the book I would have liked to review. I just didn't see it anywhere. This review is based on the Del Rey edition.

Dorothy and the Wizard In Oz is the 4th book in The Wizard of Oz series.

In this story, Dorothy and Zebediah (Zeb), her second cousin, fell into the middle of the earth though a crack. When they landed, they were in a city. The rest of the story is the trying to get out of the middle of the earth.

There is one really neat thing that happens in this book. As many of you remember, whether you read the book or saw the movie, the Wizard of Oz floated away in a hot-air balloon. Well, in this book, the Wizard lands in the city where Dorothy and Zeb are. He must have been floating for a really long time!

As I have for all of the books in this series, I suggest this book for those who like to read for fun and don't mind a little major fantasy. (Like when Dorothy and Zeb fall through the earthquake to the center of the earth, they could've never survived!)

L. Frank Baum, who wrote the Wizard of Oz, a little before WWI, the famous tale of Dorothy and her delightful friends that was immortalized in the 1939 film starring Judy Garland, did not stop writing the adventures of Dorothy. In later years, he wrote further exploits, as Dorothy returns to the magical realm time and again, meeting with her old friends the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, etc but encountering newer evils, i.e. Mombi the witch. The only other film drawn from these later novels is the 1980's film "Return to Oz" starring Faureza Balk as Dorothy, a less popular film. I highly recommend the Oz books, all of them, though you might want to check their chronological and consecutive order, for they are excellent works of fiction and fantasy, and in fact, the very first "fantasy" series of its time. Baum did what Tolkien would later do in his extensive Lord of the Rings novels and what C.S. Lewis did in his Narnia Chronicles, the first book being the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. These works of fantasy are excellent. In this particular story, we again meet Dorothy (formerly Pip, a young Kansas boy, a sort of male counterpart to Dorothy, had adventures in Oz) who has been living with her cousin Zeb in California. While riding on a buggy, an eathquake takes Dorothy and Zeb deep underground and they are transported back to Oz. We are introduced to characters that will appear in other Oz novels, including the benevolent enchantress and ruler of Oz, Ozma, who took over the land after the incident involving the phony Wizard in The Wizard of Oz. The rest is history. Dorothy will forever live in our hearts, and the Oz will forever be linked with innocence, with magic, and with childhood. I still enjoy reading these novels, and everyone should also, and be caught up once again in L. Frank Baum's immortal epic.

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application by L.R. Gay and Peter Airasian is a wonderful textbook for assisting people who are writing a Research paper or doing their Masters thesis. Each chapter of this book is very understanding, well organized and written. This book goes through a step by step process of educational research, so that a person can fully understand what it is. It provides you with a variety of samples to help answer any questions you may encounter while doing your paper. This book was a great resource in helping me prepare for my Action Research paper.

As the introduction to Educational Research states, "one out of every two introductory educational research students uses this book." It is no surprise that college professors use this text because it is well written. The material is both in depth and reader friendly. The text takes you though a step-by-step process of planning, conducting, and evaluating research. Anyone who is struggling with writing a Master's Thesis will find the book to be a most helpful resource tool. The material is presented with a straight forward approach (along with some humor), and the book also provides useful chapter summaries and actual research reports. From a personal standpoint, the book is just that much better because it was written by a woman in a time when a woman with a brilliant mind was considered to be dangerous.

Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Application 6th Edition is an excellent introductory text to assist in writing a Master's thesis or Research paper. The book is well organized and will take you step-by-step through the process of educational research. It begins with selecting and defining a problem, gives strategies to prepare and evaluate a research plan, selecting measuring instruments, also includes the different types of research, to analyzing and interpretaing statistics, and to writing your final research report. This book teaches the importance of reviewing and analyzing your research related literature and includes samples of educational research reports. Excellent summaries are included at the end of each chapter. It is a great resource and my book is earmarked and tabbed throughout as I am working on my Master's Degree Action Research paper.

Ralston is hardly the first fighter to realize there is more to be gained from internal martial arts than the ability to knock people down effectively, but few if any have written as effectively or honestly about the connection between the principles that make internal martial arts work and the exploration of one's own physical and conscious being. Ralston's Cheng Hsin cannot be 'explained' by a book any more than internal martial art can be learned from a book, but Ralston offers the reader both concrete, valuable advice on training, and a way for the reader to begin his or her own study of the connection between internal martial arts and ontology. The book is dense; the dedicated student will find multiple readings rewarding.

Also recommended: William C.C. Chen, _Body Mechanics of Tai Chi Chuan_. Tai Chi pugilism straight-up, from a consummate teacher and master of the art.

Every once in a while you find a high impact book. Something that awakens something deep within and lasts forever. This is the one. It is a book that you can pick up time and time again and always gets something new out of it, or something deeper than you ever did before. It is written by a man who is one of the most courageous I have ever met, some one who dared to venture into experiences we might dream about and others that we might never have considered possible. It is about fundamental ways of being, of connecting with principles - a source - that somehow we find ourselves disconnected from, and to the degree that we are disconnected, disempowereed, distressed, even suffering (though we may not acknowledge it). This book is about the effortless joy and freedom and power in our humanity that is available to us all, right here, right now, in every moment. Peter Ralston has made a huge diffence in my life. Allow him into yours.

As an American with an interest in internal martial arts, I am often frustrated trying to understand, both conceptually and bodily, the meaning of the traditional Chinese terms for the principles that are the foundation of these arts. This book communicates these ideas in a refreshingly accessible way for English speakers without diluting their power. However, this book demands repeated readings. The concepts that are discussed are not easily communicated by language but are best understood through direct bodily experience. With perseverance and dilligent training these principles can transform the skill of any martial artist. This is an indispensable resource and the most enlightening book I have ever read on this subject. I highly recommend it.