I thought this book was very enjoyable. I am an avid reader of the Chicken Soup for the Souls series and as a new mother I thought this book was perfect. Of course some of the stories are more touching than others, but they all sparked an emotional response from me. The format of short stories makes the book easy to read and hard to put down. I often find myself at night, saying, " Okay, I'll just read one more story" and 45 min later of course I'm still reading. I would recommend this book to all, mothers, children, fathers, grandparents. . ., but its a tear-jerker so remember the tissues!!

This book is GREAT...As a mother of an 10 & 12 yr olds, this book makes me realize how thankful I am to have kids. Any Mom will understand & enjoy these stories. They made me laugh and they made me cry. This is my 1st Chicken Soup book, my daughter has one also, now we have started a " book collection " that our family will enjoy reading together for years to come. Take the time to enjoy a GREAT selection of books.

I had heard about the books from a friend at work, and got three for Christmas (Woman's soul, Woman's soul II, and Mother's soul). I don't normally enjoy reading but could not put the books down, in a matter of a week, I read two of them. They are absolutely wonderful. The Chicken Soup for the Mother's soul, WOW, what a book! It's awesome, and the stories touch the heart. Some of them even bring tears to my eyes. I recommend these books to anyone and am forwarding the Mother's soul book onto my mother.

I am currently transitioning from my previous career as an Army aviator flying helicopters to a career with the airlines. This book is a terrific aid in understanding the differences and realities of high speed and highly technical flight.

The systems and advanced avionics sections are phenomenal! They are generalized in order to apply to as many aircraft as possible, but really explain well how they operate and how you will interact with them.

My favorite part about the book is that the authors write it in an easy to understand manner. They do not write in an overly complicated technical manner, but rather at a level that a new or transitioning professional pilot can understand. They don't baby talk to you either. It's just right.

Big Kudos and a must buy!!

This book is the consumate soup of all of the most important things you need to know before you go into ground school at a regional or major airline.

It was written by airline pilots who still remember how overwhelmed they were when they sat through their first aircraft systems ground school at their respective airlines.

I consider it mandatory reading before you consider setting foot in a flight simulator or airline ground school.

Bravo!

This manual gives me a general idea on how an aircraft turbine engine operates. This book is for any teens who want to be a turbine engineer. There are no complex technical drawings or discussions in this book, therefore it's a nice book for begineers.

I bought a first printing (only Printing) of "In a Net of Dreams" at an airport magazine stand. Little did I suspect it would be my all-time favorite book. Only tape holds my poor battered copy together.

So when I discovered this compilation, I had to have it. And it was worth it.

Sc-fi, Fantasy, Comedy, Drama, pop-pculture references, and bad puns, this series has it all. And wraps it up with engaging, well developed characters.

Why are you still reading this? Order this book now. And pray with me that there will be another sequel.

At first I was daunted by the task of reading this brick that deforested half of Equador, but as soon as I started reading the book I could not put it down. I knew I would enjoy it from the moment I saw those first three quotes: two from Shakespeare -The Tempest and Hamlet - and one from Monty Python's flying circus: "And now for something completely different." This was my type of humor. And as for humor this is probably the best book to read for that. That is if you like puns. Wm. Simmons knows how to use the right amount of puns, and doesn't go overboard, though I am sure that is tempting. As I read I was drawn into the world of the game and of the story. Part of the reason I loved it was because of the characters who were believeable and lovable... and in some cases not so loveable. I wanted to know what would happen to them. I almost cried when... well, that would give some stuff away. The story was the best part. I lost myself in those books (though in the middle of math that might not be a good thing) and read them constantly. After I finished each book, it would seem like I was waking up from a dream, or another world. And then I fell right back into the dream in the next book. Wm. Simmons is a wonderful story teller, and those who read this book will not be disappointed if they are looking for a book that has a serious plot with lotsa laughs.

Wm. Mark Simmons, the fastest pun in the West, is back, and he's done it again! "Woman of His Dreams" crowns the Dreamland Chronicles trilogy after a long wait by his fans. I have loved and laughed through all of the adventures of Ripley and his cohorts, and this latest installment is the best yet. Simmons' trademarks are strong characters, thought-provoking philosophical twists of plot, lots of action, and truck-loads of wit. Even though familiar with his style, I still was not prepared for the finale. I found myself watery-eyed at the last page, and sad to see it end. This is a book I have given to friends and had them call me in the middle of, just to tell me it's the first time in years they've laughed out loud while reading a book. Simmons may or may not have screenplay experience, but his novels read like movies, extremely visual. Now...if only Spielberg would read them...

This book was quite a trip through fantasy. To be able to step out of this world, even for a short time, and experience the world of knights and wizards we read about in other fantasy novels would be a treat. Mr. Simmons has given us a way to at least imagine exactly that to be possible. The mix of the silly/familiar characters found here and there through out adds a perfect humor to keep you guessing from page to page. In short; of the dozens of books I read while trying to stay cool in 130 degree heat (in the shade), dodging sand storms, and hoping a SCUD wasn't about to land on my head, THIS book was the only one I brought home with me. I can't wait to get into the "Chronicles." Thanx a TON Mark.!!

Alright gang, I have held the hard bound copy of Dreamland Chronicles in my hands. Then Mark took it back. It was for the reviewers to write about. But it is real I have seen it. It does exist. It is coming so be patient. Also read everything in it including the footnotes and the footnotes to the footnotes. They are hysterical. This man is a wonderful and witty writer. Very clever and subtle. He is just so darn witty.
Also He has a wonderful speaking voice but that is beside the point. Wait and the Book will soon be in your hands too, and for keeps.

Take a dash of The Matrix, a pinch of Grimm Fairy Tales, a smattering of Dungeons and Dragons, as well as a heavy dose of humor, and you have something approaching 'In the Net of Dreams'.
It's filled with memorable characters and settings, all viewed through the cynical eye of it's hero, Robert Remington Ripley III, who lets you know he's aware how ridiculous the situations he keeps getting dropped into are. It's a book that's more entertaining, funnier, and smarter than it's component parts.

It's a shame Wm. Mark Simmons has never gotten wider recognition for this series.

Lions and tigers an bears? Oh my! Add Munchkins and Winged Monkeys and a Horse of a Different Color to the list. This is Oz Country, and things simply don't get better than this. To celebrate the centennial of the publication of L. Frank Baum's novel (and the 60th anniversary of the classic MGM flick), preeminent Oz historian John Fricke has written a glorious homage of all things fun and fantastical. Not only does the book offer a fascinating chronicle of the Ozian phenomenon, but the illustrations, culled from Willard Carroll's priceless collection of more than 10,000 museum-quality pieces, are breathtaking. Oh Auntie Em, there's no place like home . . . provided you're snuggled up in front a fire with this gem.

With Willard Carroll's Oz collection as a backdrop, John Fricke has cataloged the fabric of Frank Baum's stories of Oz. I am certain that Frank Baum could not have been aware this fabric would become a great tapestry upon which the world could identify what it meant to be human. Oz has permeated our society with its influence. It is found in our languages, our politics, human behavior, and is probably used more often as a simile than any other imagery in our language.

From the opening pages of this book to the last, the book is a compelling journey through Oz. The collection of Mr. Carroll's Oz memorabilia is so large that it is like trying to comprehend the distance between stars or that a few people actually have a billion dollars. This colligation of Oz collectibles somehow unites every civilization, geographic location, and human condition. It is one of the few things that have true universality.

After reading John Fricke's take on Oz, of course, based on Willard Carroll's collection, I am left wondering how history would be different were it not for Frank Baum's Oz?

The pictures are glorious, the layout intelligent and thoughtful-I will never see Oz in quite the same way again. John Fricke's writing is stellar. Willard Carroll's collection ---what can I say, WOW! 100 years of Oz is entertaining, educative and provides a new look at Frank Baum's Oz through the other end of the spyglass. This is a visit to a museum with a very knowledgeable guide through an unforgettable exhibit. Thanks for the tour. I'll be back again.

This book is a must for all collectors.

"100 Years of Oz" is a delight for everyone who has ever fallen in love with "The Wizard of Oz" (which includes just about everyone.) The success of the book lays in John Fricke's capabilities as a writer. His words are consise, thoughtful, and honest. The photographs, likewise, catch the eye like flashes of brilliant light. It is not easy to take one of America's most chershed series of books, its favorite film, and 100 years of mechandising and condense it all into one volume. Thankfully, Mr. Fricke has done that- impeccably. Buy this book today. I highly recommend it to everyone as an example of first class research. Above all, it is a time capsule of memories. Fricke will long be heralded as "Oz"'s best friend. Congratulations to all who made this book such a beautiful addition to my library.

Wright brings in a whole new approach to assisting clients by presenting a more comprehensive and values driven program.

There is also a good deal of solid life advice in these pages that many would do weel to heed.

I have heard that Wright comes up short as a practice consultant through colleagues but the wisdom in this book is worth its weight in gold. I think it is a worthy resource to pass on to clients to let them know where you are coming from and to establish expectations.

This book gives a new meaning into the commonly asked question "what are your goals and objectives?" All advisors are trained to ask that but only 8 out of 10 do. The book emphasizes the importance of asking the question. Understanding a persons mission and overall plan can only help you help them achieve the perfect calendar.

I have been advising high net clients for years. It wasn't until I read the book that all the pieces of the puzzel finally fell into place for me. Now, "The Wright Exit Strategy" is required reading for all my new clients and any existing clients who truly want to achieve the best possible outcome with their lives and the use of their wealth.

50 years and this is still a great book in a great series. Unlike so many popular Christian books that become dated over time, William Barclay's Daily Study Bible just seems to get better. He has excellent historical material. He offers valuable insight that will apply to your life as we begin the third millenium. You will be glad you bought this book, or any of the others Barclay wrote in the New Testament Series.

I find that William Barclay's "The Gospel of Mark" is an excelent book to learn more about what is the true meaning of what the Gospel of Mark is all about. It is fairly easy to read and it puts what is written into historical contexts. It let me know a lot more about what was going on during the life of Jesus Christ. so that I could understand the Gospel in much greater depth than I ever had before.

I would greatly recommend this book for use as a suppliment to the Bible for study groups or individual study of the Scriptures. I also think that this book is good for both a historical and/or a theological study of the life of Jesus Christ. It really helps to make sense of what Mark had to say by reviewing what the people knew and thought during the time that Jesus was among them so that we could view the Gospel from that perspective as well as what it means to us today.

I think that every Christian will find that they will learn a great deal from this book. As a Christian I feel that this book should be on everyone's must read list.

Reading this commentary was like having a daily conversation with a deeply learned companion. Barclay's remarks are always insightful. Without being dogmatic, he brings Mark's prose alive. His understanding of the original Greek and of the customs and mores of the ancient world provides helpful context to the story. What a wonderful personal tutor! I now am reading his book on the letters to the Corinthians and will read the entire series.

I would in fact prefer to award this 3.5 stars, but the Amazon system seems to compel one to choose between 3 and 4, and I think 4 is too generous. To begin with the text, there is no doubt that this is not the best Shakespeare to buy. It is to a large extent based on the Oxford Shakespeare, which - quite rightly, in my view - has attracted a lot of criticism for some of its peculiarities. Thus, for example, Oxford prints TWO versions of *King Lear*, the quarto text and that of the folio. Norton rightly takes issue with this, and produces the kind of conflated text that most readers would want, but adds the other two AS WELL (so we are offered THREE versions!). This kind of thing is, in truth, academic self-indulgence - it shows an undue respect for academic concerns which to most readers are not of the slightest interest. There is a similar tendency to pay scant regard to what most readers really want and need in the Introduction: that tells us a good deal about Shakespeare's time, and the material is interesting, but it is not often shown to be relevant, or necessary, to an understanding of what Shakespeare writes. The explanatory annotation accompanying the texts is not bad, but often inferior to that of comparable editions, notably Bevington's. The introductions to individual plays are usually stimulating, but not necessarily convincing. Thus Greenblatt on the one hand says about Macbeth's murder of Duncan, "That he does so without adequate motivation, that he murders a man toward whom he should be grateful and protective, deepens the mystery ..." (p. 2558), yet adds a few lines later: "Macbeth and Lady Macbeth act on ambition ...". Precisely, that IS Macbeth's motivation for the murder, as Macbeth himself points out unequivocally in 1.7.25-7 - there is, therefore, absolutely nothing mysterious about his motivation. The edition does, however, offer a number of good references to other writings about Shakespeare. All in all, I do consider 3.5 stars is a fair "grade", in seeking to assess this for the benefit of the majority of readers looking for a complete Shakespeare to buy; but I consider David Bevington's by far the best edition of the complete works, then the Riverside, and only then this one - though, with its annotations, it is certainly more useful than the Oxford edition on which it is based. - Joost Daalder, Professor of English, Flinders University, South Australia

I confess that after examining 5-6 of the top-selling complete Shakespeares I tried not to like the Norton. There are less expensive editions, there are editions with glossy pages and colored photographs, there are editions that are half the weight and bulk of this leviathan, which is far more Shakespeare than the average reader--perhaps, even scholar, for that matter--would ever require. But despite its bulk and unwieldyness, its 3500 (!) thin, flimsy pages, its sheer excess, I couldn't ignore its advantages. The small print enables the publishers to squeeze in contextual materials--in the introduction and appendixes--that in themselves amount to an encyclopedic companion to Shakespeare's works; the introductions to the plays are written not in "textbook prose" but in an engaging style worthy of their subject; and perhaps, best of all, this is the only edition that places the glosses right alongside the "strange" Elizabethan word instead of in the footnotes. You can read the plays without experiencing vertigo of the eye. So this is the edition, though you may wish to go with the smaller, bound portions that Norton publishes of the same edition--especially if you can't afford the cost of a personal valet to carry this tome from home to office. On the other hand, the complete edition is excellent for doing crunches and other aerobic exercises--activities many of us who read the Bard are abt to ignore.

As a fervent admirer of Shakespeare, this complete collection, comprising excellent introductions to each play and helpful textual notes as well as informative writings on the history of both England and the art of acting that shaped Shakespeare's writing, was like a dream come true. While before I had to walk around trying to find a good edition of the play I wanted to read, now I can open the Norton Shakespeare and read without being afraid of not understanding words or missing the point of the play. This book's obvious drawbacks are its heft and, as mentioned, its delicate pages, but these are easily outweighed by the abovementioned advantages! Buy it and read!

"Somebody, Someday" is wonderful autobiography and travelogue. Robbie Williams, one of the biggest pop stars on the planet except in the United States, and Mark McCrum takes us on a yeaer-long journey through the ups and downs of Robbie's life. We get to see the ugly moments that inspires his introspective, self-effacing, and witty music. These moments are offered up forthrightly and honestly without the sense that he is fishing for pity. It's a good and solid read even if you're not a Robbie fan.

Although this book was good it was no where near as good as the first official book "let me entertain you". The book follows Robbie and friends around while on tour and has some great bits about Robbie himself but i was a bit dissapointed to find that the book is alot of the time about his band and management instead of him. Although that is not a *bad* thing, i really just expected it to be more about the great Mr. Williams himself, i didn't purchase the book to read the life story of people in his management (although they were very sad and touching storys)! A good book but could have been better.

Everyone knows who "Robbie" is, it was nice to get a look at "Rob". This book takes away some of the aura of stardom that surrounds "Robbie the pop Icon" and shows you his human side.

Excellent read!

I like the cover art on this paperback as well as the description of it as "Dracula meets the Godfather". I figured it would be good for some cheesy vampire action; you know, one of those books you have to read because it's so laughingly bad. I'm pleased to say I was completely wrong!

The novel begins with Chris Csejthe trying to find a cure for the mysterious disease that started to plague him shortly after the deaths of his wife and daughter. Chris, who narrates the story, then finds himself in the middle of a bizarre life-or-death situation while two powerful vampire "families" (in the mob sense) fight over him. Turns out Chris is in the middle of vampire transformation; neither human nor vampire, Chris begins an adventure of discovering who he is, testing his new powers, and solving the mystery of the tragedy that took the people he loved. Along the way he meets Dr. Mooncloud, Bassarab, Lupe, Suki, Elizabeth, and a whole slew of other-worldly creatures such as elves, goblins, dryads, nagas, knockers, sprites, and many others. All the while, he narrates the events around him with sarcastic humor, literary references and some healthy wariness. Any vampire novel that can weave an enchanting tale of an alternate history such as this while quoting Sappho, Yeats, Victor Hugo, Donne, Wordsworth, Oscar Wilde etc. deserves more recognition! Simmons has created a fascinating world filled with funny, intelligent characters. The dialogue is snappy, the plot is filled with twists and turns, the story is suspenseful, and the book itself is impossible to put down. I am so pleasantly surprised by this novel, and I sincerely hope that Simmons will revisit these characters and give us a sequel! I found this book in the fantasy/sci-fi section, but it easily crosses into horror, humor, drama as well. It has something for everyone: humor, action (you'll find lots of weapons and methods of killing without intense graphic gore), suspense, mystery, fantasy. Buy it, you won't be disappointed.

Very little drives me crazier than authors who rely on literary convention, who are self-indulgent in any of the several ways possible for fiction (for example, if the main character is righteous, or if the author uses the book to promote his or her pet ideas, or if it's a historical makes the characters of the past have the sensibilities-- feminism, for example-- of the present). Wm. Mark Simmons does NONE of these things. One Foot belies its somewhat lurid cover art by asking the readers to believe only one thing-- these "supernatural" creatures do exist-- and goes on to tell a story that keeps my interest and never rings false to my internal B.S.-meter (and I read a lot, so it's finely tuned). The once-human "monsters" are still very human in their hearts and minds (which are sometimes monstrous, like those of some humans); their situations have scientific bases. Add to this "keeping-it-realism" a literate quality, thoughtfulness and a significant portion of humor, and you wind up with a work which is at the same time intelligent, funny, and very rereadable, which is my standard of measure for quality fiction. Or to put it another way, most of my paperbacks stay awhile and then get traded in. Not this one. I look forward to its sequel(ae).

I've read many different vampire myths, but this one is wittier and more intelligent by far. Told from the viewpoint of a man experiencing the change between humanity and vampirism, this novel makes the reader feel the impact of the shift from a mundane life to a supernatural undeath. The dialogue is splattered with allusions to literature, history, and most especially - movies and pop culture. The arguments on the question of free will between our hero and the vampire leader are like an episode of Politically Incorrect. This is a well-researched novel with enough fact included to make you wonder how much of it is fiction. The fight scenes are more than enough to slake any bloodthirst. Sardonic retorts, exasperated vampyr and a sexy wolfgirl make One Foot In The Grave an apetizing read!