I really enjoyed this mystery. It is well written and suspenseful. I couldn't put it down!

We've all heard stereotypes of Baby Boomers. This book is just as guilty as anyone else of lumping all the people in a generation together...but it has some very different and interesting things to say about them.

The author's goal is to explain how "the young" (approximately the first half of the Baby Boom) got to be the way they were in the late 1960s and how their parents (the author's generation) unwittingly made them that way. We all know that people were eager to reproduce and have nice things and be safe after 15 years of depression and war; Aldridge goes beyond that idea to explain why his generation was willing to accept bland, soulless suburbs as good places to raise children and why they were so lenient in parenting. He explains how "the young" formed their sense of social justice and why they developed so little respect for their parents.

The really astonishing thing about this book is how his characterization of the Baby Boomers holds up after 30 years. When I look at what they've done as they've grown up and taken control of the society, I can see how the same traits Aldridge identifies are still present in the Boomers (as a group) and how they've affected American society.

If you like this book, be sure to read _The Way We Never Were_ by Stephanie Coontz.

This book is a wonderful introductory handbook for anyone unfamiliar with the beliefs, practices, and/or history of the Muslim world. It could easily be subtitled 'everything you want to ask a Muslim but were too afraid you'd offend him/her if you did.' The text is clear, brief and to the point. Although the language is simple, the book is not simplistic and does not make sweeping generalizations.

The book is organized by topic. The first chapter orients the reader with a geographic and demographic overview of Islamic world, while another chapter (Islamic Civilization) provides a cultural overview. 'The Spread of Islam' outlines political history of the Islamic world. Muslim beliefs and traditions, as well as the relationships between Islam, Christianity and Judaism, are explained. This little book is highly recommended for those who consider themselves informed about the culturally diverse peoples in the world, or in their own communities.

Having lived in Druid Lodge, a charming early Victorian house overlooking beautiful Killiney Bay, Dublin, Ireland, for more than 20 years, and given the prominence with which Druid Lodge features in Brendan O'Cathaoir's book, I read with rapt attention from start to finish.

The story is told with genuine affection for its characters and subject matter, and provides a snapshot of Ireland in the latter half of the 19th century, a time of social upheaval and change, increasing positive foreign influences on our way of life, and captures the mood of the nation at that time.

Interesting parrallels may be drawn between the changes afoot 130 years ago and the current economic boom Ireland is enjoying.

Great book by a great author. (I loved his Marbury v. Madison: Powers of the Supreme Court, it is on ... also). In both books he takes potentially complicated subjects and boils them down to the important elements, and does it in an interesting and engaging way. I recommend this book to any teacher - or anyone wanting to understand learn more about history and law.

This is one terrific book! Kay Strom has packed in so much information and excitement, it's hard to believe it's a book primarily written for kids and teens. She combines dialogue, action, and narrative into a fast-paced story that readers of all ages can enjoy. She also uses comtemporary American English to avoid bogging down in archaic terms and expressions. Now, all I knew of John Newton before reading her book was that he composed "Amazing Grace." I had no idea he'd been a slave ship captain in his early "lost" years, nor that the harshness and deprivation of his early life was crucial to his coming to belief in later life. Reading of the desperate straits he endured, and the miserable deeds he sometimes committed because of them, gives a whole new meaning to the lines from the hymn which go, "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind, but now I see." This epitomizes the entire story, but an interested reader would still want to glean every detail Ms. Strom has so thrillingly and believably captured in just 125 pages. This is a story the entire family can enjoy.

I have just translated this book into Japanese. It took me no less than 2 years. As is well known, the main achievement of John R. Mott is that he promoted the eccumenical movement and paved the road to WCC (World Christian Council). During my translation, I found the parts of World War I and the Russian revolution the most provocative. It cannot be said that this book is easy to read, partly because the author intended to make this book the decisive biography (a few had been written before), utilizing a great amount of material. However, this book is not only extremely valuable as a document of the Christian Ecumenism but we can get a new perspective of the history of USA and the world from the late 19th century till 1950s.

This is a terrific and sometimes moving book about John Wayne, one of my favorite movie stars of all time. OK, maybe he wasn't the world's greatest actor, but he had a larger than life presence on the screen and was a hell of a father and good citizen off the screen. The author goes to great lengths to cover all these different aspects of the Duke's life and also tells a lot of backstage stories that are fascinating. I agree with the author that his best performance was in The Searchers. Everybody should read this book.

Susan Yim captures the essence of an artist whose life spanned the 20th century and left his mark on the world with big, broad and bold strokes. Spontaneous and vivacious, Young was the life of the party for some 80 years. His art showed how simple it was to present a story in just a few strokes of his pen. Yim presents us with some of the sketches that Young created while traveling the world. This is a great book to peruse when it seems life is too complicated. See things as Young saw them and get a sense of the purity of form. It has a cleansing effect.

There are many good collections of the poetry of John Keats. Why would you be interested in this particular book, titled "Keats - Truth and Imagination"?

Each poem is accompanied by a painting, often by an artist inspired by Keats' poetry. The paintings are sensual and exquisite, complementing the beauty of Keats' language. This attractive, little book is printed on glossy paper. It is moderately priced and would make an excellent gift.

Amusingly, the book's printing history reads like the credits for a major Hollywood production: Created and Produced by Flame Tree Publishing, part of The Foundry Creative Media Company Limited, published (1999) by Gramercy Books, a trademark of Random House Value Publishing, and written (Introduction, Author's Note, and Chronology) and compiled by K. E. Sullivan. The ISBN is 0-517-16101-X for my 1999 edition.

Sullivan's compilation is quite good; it consists of many of Keats' most popular work as well as some lesser known poems. My only disappointment was that Sullivan decided (or was compelled) to present only a short extract from "The Eve of St. Agnes", one of my favorites.

This collection includes several of Keats' Odes (Grecian Urn, Melancholy, Nightingale, Psyche, and To Autumn) - Fancy - Happy is England! I could be content - How many bards gild the lapses of time - Keen, fitful gusts are whispering here and there - La Belle Dame sans Merci - O solitude! if I must with thee dwell - Ode - On a Leander Gem which Miss Reynolds, my Kind Friend, Gave Me - On First Looking into Chapman's Homer - On the Grasshopper and the Cricket - Stanzas - To Hope - To Leigh Hunt, Esq. - To one who has been long in city pent - and the longer poem Isabella, or The Pot of Basil - and extracts from The Fall of Hyperion and from The Eve of St. Agnes.

John Keats is not a difficult poet, but occasionally the reader may encounter some unfamiliar references to mythology or somewhat archaic words. However, I am quite convinced that the attractive format of this book, the beautiful art work, and the careful selection of poems makes this small book an ideal gift for readers either familiar or unfamiliar with poetry. For that matter, I suggest you consider giving this book to yourself.