i bought this book years ago after i borrowed A Valentine Wish from the library, and fell in love with that story. well, i just recently found this book again and decided to reread it. it was so worth it because Ian's story is just as captivating as his twin sister Anna's. once again, i could not put this book down. Gina does it again with the unique subject, showing incredible creativity to combine the twins stories, keep them parrallel, and somehow tie them together without entirely revealing all the mystery...... if you read Anna's story, you need to read Ian's to make it complete.. if you can get a hold of a copy, i promise you won't be disapointed.....

Mac Cordero heads into town to find out the truth expecting the worst but ends up finding family and a future. This book was very good. It went beyond the normal boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy wins girl back. Gina Wilkins took time to develop the other charaters and to bring them in not only as part of the main love story, but having their own story to tell. I did not read the other stories in this series, but I plan to track them down and learn more about the others. If they are as good as this book, it will definitely be worth the time.

This is an amazing account of courage and commitment to a long term goal. What I find remarkable about Starkell's style of writing is that he is very forthright about stating any errors of judgement he made during this expedition (as he also was in 'Paddle to the Arctic'). The man is obviously able to laugh at himself. Another interesting aspect of this book is how the father and son relationship is affected during the journey. My only complaints are related to the graphics, the text itself warrants 5 stars. These concerns are; a) there should be more photographs, b) there should be only 1 photograph to a page (especially with a paperback), c) the maps should be much more detailed. Any books by Starkell have alot of practical value to people who do backcountry travel.

I read many true life adventure books. This is among the best. A father and son on a two year trip 12,000 mile canoe trip from the middle of Canada to the mouth of the Amazon. The writing is crisp and honest. The tale is amazing. Any 10 pages of this book rival the adventure content of entire books I have encountered. It breezes from one harrowing account to the next. I was sorry it ended.

This book is not about a nice long relaxing canoe trip on serene waters. Although Starkell and his boys DO have some quiet carefree times...the majority of this trip includes an astounding amount of obstacles that very very people would chose to endure. Numerous problems arise from the natural world...but the most frightening adventures are the frustrations and threats that the Starkells recieve from their fellow man.

This is an amazing book and a must read for any canoe tripper. Also, anyone interested in true life adventure stories will surely not be disappointed. It's a gripping tale from start to finish. It's also a feat that will probably never be attempted again.

The only big question I have after reading this book is..Why hasn't someone made this gem into a movie? With all the twist and turns you'd think it would be a great candidate for the big screen.

I just received my 1st copy of Dietminder and I absolutely love it. This is just what I have been looking for. Six months ago I typed up this same format on my home computer, and placed all my paper in an 8 by 11 notebook, but I became frustrated with that b/c it was to big and bulkly. Ever since then I started looking around for a book similar to my home version, but small enough that I can carry it in my purse & bingo I found it.

Dietminder has everything you will need to help you keep track of your weight-loss process. You can make note of any nutritional and/or dietary supplements you take daily as well as keep track of your calories, sodium, fiber & fat grams etc. It also provides you with a place to record your goals, present weight, physcial activity performance & your before & after photos. I love it and would definetly get it again, but keep in mind if your not the type of person who is detail oriented when it come to your weight loss process then this journal might not be for you.

After giving birth to my baby I was committed to losing weight and becoming a stronger, healthier role model for my daughter. I read a great book, The Business Plan for the Body, and in it, the author wrote that most people fail on changing their eating patterns because they don't keep a food diary. He claims that until the routines of eating healthy are solidified, food journaling is key to success. I've done weight watchers and atkins and have never had great results. It has nothing to do with the validity of either of those programs, it's me! I cheat! For me, there's something different about writing it down. I feel more accountable. I've already lost 32 pounds and am more motivated and satisfied than ever before. This book is wonderfully organized. It has a place to write your long term goals, chart your long term success, and keep day to day track of your food and activity. Further, you can use only the parts of what works for your system, be it points, fiber, fat, carbs, or calories. At the end of each day, there's a place to circle whether or not you met your goal for the day; and I know this sounds SO first grade, but I'm always pumped to circle "YES"!

I became aware of the importance of recording what I eat while partaking in a "Rapid Results" program at my local gym (with a personal trainer). I was given a small pocket-sized food log, in which I recorded what I ate and when. This really forced me to take a look at my eating habits, and change them for the better. However, with the small food log I was using, I couldn't record other useful information, such as fat grams, protein, carbs and fiber. So after I filled up that food log, I purchased the Diet Minder's Food and Fitness Journal.

This book contains everything you would want in a food journal and more. First, there are sections in the beginning in which you describe your current physical condition and your goals (there are even places for you to put "before" and "after" pics. Then, on the pages where you record your daily records, there are sections to record calories consumed (as well as fat, carbs, protein and fiber), water consumed, snacks consumed, Vitamins/supplements/meds, physical activity, calories burned during physical activity, weight, and any notes you wish to add.

The Diet Minder's Food and Fitness Journal is perfect for anyone who wants to keep track of what they eat (or how much they exercise), especially if your on a "special" diet where you have to have a certain fat/protein/carbohydrate ratio. It is small enough to take anywhere, but large enough to comfortably record necessary information.

From personal experience I believe that recording food intake and exercise is extremely important when it comes to health and weight loss(of course there are also studies that prove this to be true!). Doing so motivates you to stay with your plan, and try harder to reach your goals. It also gives you a dose of reality when you have to record that piece of cake you had after dinner that just tacked on an extra 350 calories!

I highly recommend this journal to anyone who wants to lose weight and improve his or her health.

A very interesting book regarding past finds. After reading the book I discovered why it has been reprinted so many times and why it is still read today. The book has just enough information in each chapter but not so detailed that it takes away from the story. It was my first book on the subject.

This is one of the best books I ever read. Reading it with 14 for the first time I didn't know very much about archeology. Through this book I got so interested in Archeology that I read many more books about ancient Crete, Egytpt, Greece, Sumer, and the Mexican civilizations. Although anyone who really is looking for exact facts can easily find them, it is not just a simple heap of facts. Its purpose was never to be a sober school book, but Ceram himself wrote that it is intended to be a "novel of archeology that shows the suspence in reality, but lets imagination sparkle". Masterfully written this book pays it's respect not only to the masterfinds but also to the masterminds of archeology. This book will open anyone's mind to appreciate this fascinating science.

Gods, Graves and Scholars didn't begin as a pleasure read, as it was required reading for an undergraduate archaeology class. The 482 pages seemed daunting, even for a small paperback. But, beginning with page three and continuing through to the end, I found this book a real page-turner. Ceram successfully and craftfully takes the reader through archaeology's history, captivates the reader with personal anecdotes, and is unpretentious with language and content. Place it on your reading list or in your home library if you haven't already--this is a keeper.

I loved this book ... it presented issues relating to prejudice from a national, class and gender perspective. Although it was written in almost a different era, it is still able to portray the enormous difficulties encountered when one is 'different'.

.. Jealousies rage where there is truly no justification. .. Individuals are sacrificed for the good of the group. .. Language both empowers and divides. .. The science fiction element is sufficient to enhance the scope of a book that potentially could have been bound by western culture.

I have never written to an author before, but I did this time ... and not only that, I have taken up Linguistics in addition to my Psychology studies at University.

This is a truly glorious book! It combines linguistics, science fiction, feminist thought and alternative history all in one. The introduction of Laadan as a women's language fascinates me with its concept. The characters are extremely well-drawn and believable. The little side jaunts to the average woman's life in this time period is almost scary to imagine possible. It's enough to make a woman look at men differently for awhile. For men, it provides excellent insight into women's perspective.

This is truly a brilliant book. Like "The handmaiden's tale" it sketches a future in which women don't have equal rights. Like "Memoirs of a spacewoman" it is written from a distinctly feminine perspective. However, it quite outclasses these books, by at least two orders of magnitude. It is believable science fiction, full of interesting ideas and truly mindstretching. In addition it is warmly human, at least for such a bitingly incisive book. As I said, a brilliant book!

This is one of the novels that I have most looked foreward to reading. I was so happy to discover the greatest Austrian, if not European, novelist of the 20th century. I loved the title, and I usually love modernist literature and the difficulties it presents.

With that said, reading this novel has been one of the most tedious and painful experiences I ever subjected myself to. I don't really care about any of the characters (how can you care for someone without qualities??), there is no plot, the characterization seems cliched, the ideas seem trite.

This novel probably does give a good indiciation of how the Austro-Hungarian Empire must have felt in relationship to Europe right before World War I--someone just needed to shoot this cumbersome beast and put it out of its misery; the novel is the same way--compared to Kafka, Joyce, Proust, Svevo,even Faulkner, this novel doesn't hold much interest.

I do feel that students of literature should at least read the first section, "A Sort of Introduction" to get a feel for what Musil is doing. But once one gets the point of the novel of ideas, one doesn't need to finish the rest of the novel, unless one is really into it (hey, enough readers seem to like it, maybe you will be one of them.)

Finally, this is the type of book that looks good on a shelf, and the type of book that people read during graduate school and then never read again. It is a very important book, but knowing what Musil accomplished may be more of a prize than reading the entire novel. If anything you can wow your literary friends by mentioning a great Austrian writer with a name that sounds like cereal--don't worry most won't ask you anything more about the book.

A summary of this book is not at all representative for its contains. The background story is at most uninteresting. What made me read this novel was the delicate description of the inside of Ulrich's head. His thoughts are deeply influenced by the troubled times of his pre-war Vienna, as are the reflections of the other main characters. In my opinion, Musil was way ahead of his times, judging by the scientific description of the passions and thoughts of the persons described. The flaw of the book, as I see it, is that he sometimes allows himself to wander too far off with his mind-spins. The result is slightly incomprehensible at times, if not contradictory. You need time to profit from reading this book, but do it.

Like Thomas Mann's "Magic Mountain", this immense book aims at giving an overview of the ideas of its time. Musil is a more precise thinker and stylist than Mann, and "The Man Without Qualities" has a lot more to offer than Mann's book.

There are two opposing tendencies in the novel: On the one hand, Musil offers a highly entertaining satirical portrait of Austria-Hungary right before the First World War. His detached hero Ulrich meets all kinds of bizarre people, who happen to be members of the ruling class of the country. Like a vivisecteur, Ulrich analyzes the philosophies and ideologies of his time. On the other hand, he dreams of a kind of new mysticism, an emotional purity that is opposed to the dross surrounding him; together with his sister he embarks on quest for "the other state of being". Musil never finished the novel, he died before he could achieve a conclusion; which may have been impossible anyway.

This gigantic torso of a novel is arguably the greatest novel of the century. I have not yet come across anything that could rival it. Musil's prose is so precise that after reading a few pages you feel that your mind has been refreshed and cleared. This is not a novel to be read in a few days, but even if you never manage to finish it, you will always come back to it.

Most collaborations are difficult to read and painstakingly ackward. This is probably one of the few exceptions. 10 conservative, yet, highly recognized scholars attempt to debunk much of the information coming out of the Jesus Seminar and other liberal critics of the gospels and the life of Christ.

The introduction by J.P. Moreland and Michael F. Wilkins introduces the reader to the topic at hand: Who was Jesus Christ? Can we trust the accounts of HIs life? and finally, why it all matters?

The two best and most interesting chapters are written by Craig L. Blomberg (Where Do We Start Studying Jesus?) and William Lane Craig (Did Jesus Rise From The Dead?) Other chapters are very interesting indeed, such as Edwin M. Yamauchi's "Jesus Outside The New Testament: What Is The Evidence?" All in all, this book is a must and is well edited. There are the usual problems in collaborations such as writing style changes, which often disturbs the flow from chapter to chapter. The rules of historical evidence is followed and the theologians and philosophers keep the story staright and follow all the rules oflogic. To the Christian or open-minded skeptic - buy now!

This book is a composition of short essays written by a number of prominent Christian apologists which focus on specific and fundamental questions about the Christian faith. Each of the chapters offers solid defenses of orthodox Christianity as well as highlighting where folks like the Jesus Seminar are in opposition to Christian orthodoxy and the many philosophical and scholarly flaws that undermine their case.

While each of the chapters offered compelling reasons in support of Christianity while rejecting the 'scholarship' of the Jesus Seminar, I felt that two chapters were quite outstanding. Habermas's chapter on miracles and Craig's chapter on the resurrection both did the best job of deconstructing the Jesus Seminar, in part, by demonstrating the reasonableness of orthodoxy. Habermas did a good job of demonstrating that the Jesus Seminar, far from being a group of people offering fresh scholarship because they are not bound by Christian tradition, are clearly bound tightly to a naturalistic worldview that slants their entire approach to their study of Jesus. These guys are not neutral and impartial scholars. As both Habermas and Evans effectively demonstrate, the Jesus Seminar is often in the intellectually dubious position of trying to meld two worldviews that are hostile to each other - Christianity and naturalism. The result, as the entire book effectively shows, is a highly subjective effort on the part of the Jesus Seminar to naturalize Christianity and to christianize naturalism. Since this can't be done objectively or evidentially, the Jesus Seminar tries to do it subjectively. And while this has certainly resulted in the Seminar getting lots of attention, it also makes books like Jesus Under Fire easy to write, because the Seminar's scholarship methods are frighteningly easy to refute.

William Lane Craig's chapter does a very good job of refuting the Seminar on the question of the resurrection. Craig's main emphasis is on demonstrating the massive falsity of John Dominic Crossan's musings on the resurrection. Craig's chapter in this book, coupled with Craig's formal debate with Crossan some years ago, provides defenders of orthodox Christianity with a multitude of reasons to be confident in the intellectual soundness of Christianity while also being confident that opponents of orthodox Christianity are in a very bad way if Crossan's views represent the best they can do.

In conclusion, this is a book that puts the Seminar squarely in its place as a group of rogue people who's scholarship and improbable theories are better suited for daytime television than in the halls of academia. I was very impressed with the concise nature of each chapter, and how each chapter is heavily referenced. Lastly, I was also very happy to see a somewhat lengthy list of suggested readings on various Christian topics that complement this book.

When it comes to religious books, topics discussed tend to be pretty fluid, and there is no shortage of rebuttals and rebuttals to rebuttals among scholars of differing views. But every once in a while, a book comes along that really cripples the opposition, and this can be seen by the muted response the opposition offers to the book. Mere Christianity by CS Lewis is one of those books, The Gospel and the Greeks by Ron Nash is another. Jesus Under Fire is a book that comes close to falling into this category. This book has been out on the market for nearly 7 years now, and the response to this book from prominent folks on the other side of the equation has been sparse at best. And what little response there has been has often been guilty of the same philosophical and scholarly presuppositions employed by the Jesus Seminar that were so thoroughly refuted in this book. It is therefore with great confidence that I recommend this book as a quality starting point for exploring the rationality of traditional Christianity, and then applying the same tests of logic, philosophy, and intellectually honest scholarship to the views and methods employed by the Jesus Seminar and its sympathizers.

This is an excellent book !!! It has a unique arrangement with eight chapters written by eight different authors. Each chapter addresses a different issue regarding the arguments over what type of person Jesus of Nazareth really was. Issues such as the reliability of the Gospels, miracles of Jesus, the Resurrection, and others are all addressed in a scholarly and fair manner. No straw man arguments here... Despite the fact that there are eight different authors, the book flows extremely well.

The only down side to this book is that each topic isn't covered more in-depth. The editors acknowledge this fact, and offer an excellent list of resources for further study of each specific issue.

This book is also an excellent resource for refuting the types of arguments coming from the members of the Jesus Seminar.

In an age when Americans either lionize the founders and perform idolatry on them (see David McCullough) or disparage these men as hopelessly racist and dysfunctional, Wilkins performs another great service for his fellow Americans- he sees these men clearly for what they were and still are. Studying four Virginians (Jefferson, Mason, Madison and Washington), Wilkins looks at their writings and their culture and draws out their views on freedom and slavery. Comparing these views with their acts toward black Americans and the culture of 18th century slave-holding Virginia, he sees this quartet as both shaping and shaped by the world in which they live. They are Americans after all, with all the complexity and idealism that comes with being a thoughtful American. Of the four, Jefferson perhaps gets knocked around the most, but then he deserves such treatment more than his fellows. But Wilkins is not interested in scoring points against these men; rather, he seeks to understand why such educated and thoughtful men could build a nation with a great and wicked contradiction at its heart- the existence of slavery in a land devoted, on its face, to freedom. As usual, Wilkins does not remain in the 18th century but draws parallels to our own day. His subjects remain models for liberals (in the eighteenth century meaning of the word) all around the world today, fighting for basic human liberties in both awful and wealthy places. Americans cannot help but be products of these men on some level, for all that we think of as American has in part been passed down through the hands and minds of these men. To understand his four Virginians is to begin to understand our own times, in both its marvelous ideals and its unfulfilled promises.

This extraordinary volume shares the virtues of the men that provide its focus. It has the steady, right-thinking leadership of Washington. It has the learning and driving intensity of Madison. It has the cantankerous insistence on truthfulness of Mason. And it surely has much of the crafty elegance of Jefferson. With charity toward all and malice toward none, Wilkins manages the nearly impossible - a fully adult reflection on race and the American project.

The issue of slavery and the founding fathers here is not the occasion for simple-minded evaluation and homiletics. It is the setting off point for a deep, careful, and powerful examination of the practical nature of political progress in the face of genuine human failing. Unflinching and realistic, mature and balanced, this book shames the shallowness of most public discourse and private apathy today, even as it honors the founding fathers with the respect of honest recognition.

In one of the many extraordinary and too little known original writings this book reveals, George Mason wrote of slavery: "By an inevitable chain of causes and effects, providence punishes national sins, by national calamities." Breaking slavery's chain of national calamity certainly requires today - as it did then - more than words. Yet through the words in this carefully crafted reflection, Wilkins opens the opportunity for us to own our own past as a nation - and that must certainly help compel and direct action.

In writing both economical and eloquent, Roger Wilkins reclaims the founders and patriotism for all Americans. Looking at the Virginia founders -- Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Mason -- Wilkins probes the the tension they lived between "earned guilt and aspiration to honor," between living privileged lives built on the horror of slavery, and calling forth a nation based on the proposition that "all men are created equal" and endowed with inalienable rights. Wilkins shows how blacks -- free and unfree -- played a major role in the revolution. With the perspective of a life devoted to making America better, he praises the founders for "their greatest legacy": a government "wrapped in the aura of freedom and limited by a devotion to rights" that created the field that allows each generation to work to extend freedom and equality. Wilkins probes the founders, neither airbrushing their flaws nor ignoring their genius. This is the testament of an honest and wise patriot. I recommend it highly.

This book is a collection of career-spanning interviews, each of which say generally the same thing, which makes for repetitive reading. However, in each, Gorey does reveal one or two new details about himself. None of the interviews delve too deeply into the mind of this reclusive artist, who gives interviews not because he likes them but only because he can't seem to say "no". I recommed instead Theroux's slim memoir, which somehow seems to contains all the same information but more. That being said, I'm still glad I read it because I'm a Gorey fanatic and there aren't too many books about him.

Amid the doorstop-sized biographies of anyone who has put two ideas together, it's great to have this bright little collection of interviews of a remarkably original thinker. The variety of the interviewers is effective - there are graphic design types asking about paper and nibs, and literary types working on themes and influences, as well as the official New Yorker canonization, and the sharp little session with Dick Cavett. Gorey comes across as both erudite and self-effacing - he's an intellectual with an asbsurdist's lack of vanity about his place in the world, and a humanist's warmth for the pleasantness of daily life.

What made this book better than a nice bio of an interesting person is that Gorey was, in his words, "a cultural magpie," and was very generous with his compliments to artists he found excellent. So if you like the play of aesthetic styles and ideas in Gorey's work, you'll probably love listening to him talk about the artists he admires. I've added a half-dozen of his recommendations to my to-read list.

What could be better than Gorey in his own words. I've interviewed Edward and his own conversation is just as good as any of his books or artwork. His estate put this together with great care and it's worth every penny to those familiar with his work. For those who aren't- wait -and go buy Amphigorey...
then buy this.

One highlight- the Dick Cavett interview.... "Would you like to see how you look on television?" Edward, "No, I'd rather not.."