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I've relied on older editions of the Official Red Book for information about various coins that I've seen. Having been a coin collector since I was a child, I decided to purchse this book to see what information has changed or been updated. From time to time, I've found unexpected coins in my change and I enjoy being able to look them up to see what they are, what historical period they might represent, etc. It also helps me understand this country's history through its coinage.

This book was just what I was looking for. I have a coin collection that I want to sell and needed to find out the current market value. Easy to read, nice spiral binding.

This price guide covers a lot of coins that aren't covered in coin price magazines. It provides more detail about each coin series in general. It is also a numismatic reference with a wealth of background knowledge and details on many die varieties. Here is some of what you'll find inside:

- High-quality color photos of all coins
- Background info on each coin series
- Prices by grade (although prices aren't shown for the scarcer grades)
- Mintage figures
- Metal composition for each coin variety
- Closeup photos of many major die varieties, especially bust halves

Included are photos, background data, and prices for many coins you won't likely find in other price guides, including:

- Colonial issues
- Post-colonial issues
- Pattern coins
- Commemoratives
- Proof and mint sets
- Bullion coins
- Private and territorial gold
- Private tokens (including Civil War and Hard Times tokens)
- Confederate coins
- Hawaiian coins and tokens
- Philippine issues
- Alaskan tokens
- Mis-strikes and error coins

In addition to the coin listings, there is a wealth of information in the front of the book, including:

- Description of coin grades (no grading photos, though)
- Introduction to, and history of United States Coins
- Checking coins for authenticity
- Famous coin hoards
- Sunken coin treasures

Some of the negatives are as follows:

- Prices for uncommon but certainly not rare coin grades are not included (example: AU and mint state draped bust large cents)
- Intermediate coin grades (example; AU-58, MS-66) are not shown (Coin Values magazine shows these, but Coin Prices magazine does not)
- The coverage of Hard Times tokens, a popular series, is very inadequate

My husband has bought this book for years. He particularly likes the ring binder. Your service was excellent.

#1 Best Selling Price Guide is a MUST:

The official RED BOOK a guide book to United States Coins R.S.Yeoman ed. Kenneth Bressett, 61th edition, Whitman, 2009.

Best in organization, easy of use, pictures, illustrations, & data, also the most popular. Whitman's RED BOOK is an essential guide, indispensable requisite and required handbook with up-to-date numismatic information.

Best of the best in the area of numismatics have contributed to this volume, the most notable, respected, knowledgeable and distinguished numismatist were consulted for the 61th edition.

165 plus prominent coin collectors auctioneers, and museums contributed directly to the 2009 Red Book Guide, Bressett, Jeff Garrett, Tom Hallenbeck, Steve Contursi, Ira & Larry Goldberg, Bill Fivaz, David Akers, Silvano DiGenova, the Smithsonian Institution, Heritage Galleries, the ANA money museum, Stack's Rare Coins, Superior Galleries, the United States Mint, and several dozens more.

The guide has some problems, notable some errors occurred and as I mentioned earlier "All" prices guides without exception are outdated by the time is printed, mainly due to market conditions, collector interest, commodities volatility, speculators, currency value, supply & demand, among others.

Numismatics is a hobby as any other do not expect a handsome return on your investment, at least not a monetary one. Have fun. Good luck.

The Encyclopedia of Country Living is very interesting to reading, but when it comes to looking up information it is really not written like an encyclopedia. Though it's very informative and the information is very useful, the writing style is more conversational.
I am enjoying and using the information, but have found myself seeking more in depth books on a few topics, understandable though, to be in depth on all topics this book would need to be thousands of pages long.

I am very happy I purchased this book. It is very informative, and I will be honest I have not been able to read all the way through yet. The foundation of information is just what I need to determine my country needs and where I want to focus more (buy more books, sign up for newsletters etc...) and in what areas I have an interest. I would suggest it to anyone that wants to know more about country living. This is a very in depth foundation of information and personal experiences (not just the authors) to build on when planning to move or if you are already in the country living lifestyle.

This book is the most informative, easy-to-use book of its kind that I've found. It's laid out like a true encyclopedia -- just look up "tomatoes" or "goats" or whatever interests you, and learn everything there is to know about growing, keeping, and using them in the home/farm. The author has spent 30 years collecting local rural knowledge and writing about her own trials and errors -- truly an irreplaceable collection of knowledge.

definitely has a bunch of homesteading info. probably could use some editing, but overall a very good resource to learn from. should not read from start to finish, pick a chapter about something you want to learn and read that.

I cannot beleive the amount of information this book contains! The author makes no pretenses. She doesn't claim to know everything. She bases her knowledge on her experiences, letters, & information gathered over the years from others. This massive book is many many years worth of information! It has been updated many times. I'm pretty sure she doesn't leave anything out from the older versions, explaining why the book gets larger and larger. One thing that I'm aware of being left out because she mentions it is raw egg recipes. She says she was requested to leave them out for food saftey reasons. This was very dissapointing to me. No Egg Nog, No Mayonaise. :o( Anyone country living can usually trust that their backyard eggs are safe.
Just about anything you can think of regarding the "simple life" is noted in this book. She gives TONS of information for outside sources so you can further your knowledge in the vast areas. This books makes a fantastic starting point or reference point to whatever it is you are looking for more information on. Look it up in her book, learn the basics (or sometimes much more than the basics), & then use her references to guide you.
From farm animals, to gardening, to canning, to flowers, to recipes, to you name it! It's here! Even giving birth alone! Outhouses, water issues...on and on it goes!
This truly is a must have! You will find yourself picking it up often. It's like curling up to read the letter of a long distance friend...sort of!

This textbook seems to be on par with the other texts I have had to purchase for nursing school. Nothing incredibly wonderful in terms of organization or content. Seems repetitive in places. Relatively well written in terms of syntax and vocabulary choice. I was able to read through the chapters without having to stop and disseminate what the authors were trying to say, so that was definitely positive. I do like the soft-back option - helps to cut down on the weight of the book. I read the first 11 chapters of this book then just used the rest as a reference.

The book itself is full of good information about community nursing. The test bank questions are horrible.

This book is not only adorable, but it's full of great tips! This book makes for an excellent gift!

I'm completely inspired and changing our life. Great details on how to go gorgeously green not just the whys.

I have mixed feelings about this book. Overall, I think it has a lot of good advice that can be easily applied. On a positive note, it is clearly written for women. The jokes, comments, etc. always refer to "The Gorgeously Green Girl" which makes this book a great gift for female friends and family members. For myself, I found it a bit annoying after a while but could overlook it. The book does contain many, many websites which left me with the impression that everything green that I would be buying must be ordered online! This is not the case. My local health food store carried many of the natural soaps, shampoos, feminine products, etc. mentioned in the book which was a lot easier and cheaper to buy locally. The book does not just focus on women's issues either. There is great advice regarding wrapping your hot water tank, buying Smartstrips to turn your computer completely off, and how to garden organically. I really think you can only benefit from reading this book.

Though this book has some great tips and is fairly easy to read, it could have been summed up in maybe half the pages the author actually used (saving many trees, of course). I found many of her tips to be a bit silly, and her lack of descriptive vocabulary (must everything be "simply to die for" and/or "gorgeous"?) boring. The list of fashion vendors provided in Chapter 4 seems more like shameless free advertising. Some of the vendors no longer exist, and many are quite expensive. Save your money and check out websites or the local library for more up-to-date advice, or start a green group to discuss alternatives to eco-friendly living instead.

Seems like she's jumping onto the green bandwagon because it's the cool thing to do these days. None of her info has citations and some of it is conflicting (re: microwave usage). And I really don't care for the yoga poses in the book...seems like she's advertising for her yoga studio. There are better books out there, like Renee Loux's.

This was given to me as a christmas gift and is my cookbook BIBLE!!!!!!! EVERY recipe I've tried here has made me feel faint with bliss, yes, every single recipe I've tried has been rediculously tasty, this man is genius at combining flavours. Try the poussins with sundried tomatoes and chianti whatever it was called oh my god you won't be sorry, I ate nearly the whole pot whilst my husband barely got a look in, I just couldn't help myself. The fifteen christmas salad is so, so tasty, and the port chops with apple stilton and sage were utterly divine. If I'm entertaining and need really impressive food, this book is ALWAYS my first port of call.

I will always have a soft spot for Jamie because he was the chef that inspired me to become a chef myself. His casual let's make this fun style of cooking got me off the couch watching his show, and into the kitchen with his first book back in 2000. I have every single Jamie Oliver book, including the English version of Jamie at Home that will be released here in October (which I also love). I think Cook with Jamie is the best organized and most broadly informative of Jamie's books. He pretty much covers everything- from great dressings, to cuts of meat, to how to fillet a fish. The explanations of techniques are informative without being overwhelming or daunting. The photography is, as usual, gorgeous. And the recipes I have tried are all great: potato and horseradish salad with bresaola, summertime tagliarini (lemon, olive oil, parmesan, parsley and pine nuts), crab linguini, grilled spatchcocked chicken with new potato, asparagus and herby yogurt, pan fried scallops with lentils, pancetta and lemon crème fraiche, shrimp cocktail with marie rose sauce- you get the picture. You simply cannot miss with this book!!!

I like this book tremendously. I'm somewhat of a collector of cookbooks and this is one of my favorites. It has full color pictures of all the recipes, which work with precision every time. (I've already had three people ask me for the Shortbread recipe and I've only had this book a month or so.) I also enjoyed Jamie's tips, such as shaking salad dressings in a jar to emulsify instead of whisking. The attached ribbon bookmark is handy too. One of the main things that I like is that it doesn't take 30 ingredients to make one of the recipes. It's broken down to the basics and the flavors really exhibit themselves. The sections are broken down well into categories such as Fish, Pasta, Custard, etc. There are a few negatives that I've found with this book however. Firstly, Jamie Oliver seems to promote his devices and other books a bit too much for my taste. Secondly, the pages are thin and seem very fragile when splattered with water. Lastly, and perhaps it's an English thing, but he seems to use terms such as "a pinch", "a slight cup", and "a dash" quite a bit. I'd much rather have precision. Overall a very knowledgeable, refreshing read.

I got this from my brother for my birthday (although at first he refused to get it because he hates when chefs "use their own name in the title of their cookbooks", but I'm so glad he caved.) I've started looking more for cookING books rather than cookbooks, to teach me different techniques around the kitchen and it's really a fun book just to sit down and look through. It includes great "how-tos" from picking out meat to differet kinds of chopping, it gives definitions and uses for different herbs and spices, and it does include a ton of very delicious looking recipes. I haven't tried any yet but soon! I can't wait.
If you're the least bit interested in cooking, I highly recommend this book.

I fell in love with Jamie Oliver during reruns of his show on Food Network. He's the everyday guy who gives back - and seems to really know how to cook casually. So, I probably would have rated this book higher (particularly since the proceeds go to such a good cause), but for two things:

1) I bought Tom Colichio's Think Like a Chef at the same time

2) There is a big difference in how europeans cook - or at least, how Jamie cooks that will probably mske his book less appealing to aspiring American cooks than other book options (not that it doesn't have appealing ideas)


Here's my best example (from a veggie, fish lover): Both Colechio's book and Oliver's have a very similar recipe: Basically - Salmon cooked in sea-salt. Jamie's has a whole fish, eyes and all (and recommends not cutting the fish). Tom's uses a salmon filet. Jamie talks about how to buy the best fish and types of fish, Tom talks about basic techniques you can build upon to create great dishes. I prefer Tom's "no eyes" on my fish and shrimp approach.

Both books are laden with colorful pictures of the finished dish, and step-by-step instructions... Oliver's is filled with dishes that don't look particularly appealing. (Could be all those whole fish - and seemingly over-cooked veggies). Tom's is filled with "starter" recipes you build upon - that look scrumptious. (Pan roasted mushrooms - YUM!)

For REAL cooks (I'm a novice's novice) this may be fine. Some of the basic instructions on herbs, creating a salad, diagrams of meat cuts, what equipment you need for your kitchen and Jamie's unpretentious style - still make Oliver'sa worthy choice for a novice chef. Other, more ambitious illustrated topics, like how to deal with a squid, make other starter books a better choice for true amateurs.

BOTTOM LINE: If you're looking to learn cooking - this has some good insights - but you may be turned off by the European flavor of receipes. Between the two books, for a foodie amateur chef, Colichio's is a better choice. Or --- just grab both for a whole education.

I love this book! It is easy to understand and my two homeschooled children love it!

I love this whole series of books-- and so do my children!
This year, my almost 7-year old ASKED for this book for his BIRTHDAY!!!

This is very well written. A great help to helping children understand History. It makes reading about the past fun and enjoyable.

The book was in excellent condition--not even a page bent! Also, it was received sooner than expected. A great purchase all around.

I began with Story of the World Vol. 1 by recommendation of a friend. I think I've enjoyed this volume even more. The chapters are short and are written in a way that holds my son's attention well (he just turned eight). I highly recommend getting the activity book to accompany this. It contains maps, coloring pages, games, review cards, and many suggestions for crafts to illustrate each chapter. There are also comprehension questions, narration, and suggestions for further reading.

My daughter is almost six, and she is not as excited about this series. I think if we didn't have the activity book she would not enjoy history at all. That may simply be because it's not her interest, while my son likes anything non-fiction, but it is also written a bit above her comprehension level. I would wait to use this until at least age seven. My son at this point begs me to read just one more chapter every day.

As for those who've said this is historical inaccurate, I would say that I haven't found a huge margin of error. When I have come across something that contradicts what I've learned elsewhere, I consider it an opportunity to dialog with my kids about it. Or I skip it. I also believe that at this age my focus is to expose them to the idea of history and culture rather than to drill them on historical facts.

This is an excellent book. It is written in a warm and caring manner which is easy to understand. It is full of information not just for anyone dealing with a dementia patient, but for anybody who is caring for another person, (or who may think at some point they will). It covers subjects which apply to the caring of anyone who is ill and/or elderly, even if it is not dementia. I would recommend this book to anyone, before they are faced with the illness. I wish I'd read it sooner, but better late than never. Absolutely a great book, it should be in every library. I plan to buy 2 copies for my library, I will definitely NOT donate mine. I can't say enough good things about this book.

This book, now in its 4th edition, is absolutely one of the finest books that has been written regarding Alzheimer's Disease and the process of care giving. Full of detail about the disease, this book also takes it a step further, providing very practical information on care giving, making a home / care giving setting a safe place, and, frankly, providing suggestions for periodic care giving to the care giver. Throughout the several editions, I have come to recommend, loan, give, patients and care givers this book perhaps 50 times or more, and, every time I hear the same thing - "what a helpful, fantastic book!". Published by Johns Hopkins and holding a 95% 5 star rating on Amazon, it's unbeatable. it's 600 pages long. that might, at first blush, seem like a lot to read. none of us who give care to others can set aside 10 to 60 hours (depending on your reading speed) right away to read it all and made sense of it all. Take your time. It's not a race to get through it - it's a race to understand the contents - take your time and begin to put into practice an additional suggestion each day. This book is a labor of love and is worth the price, used, new, and way more (oh no - don't tell Johns Hopkins that or they'll start charging us a lot more!!). Best of luck, and be sure to find for yourself a support group in your community or on-line.

Absolutely the definitive book for anyone dealing with dementia, alzheimers, etc. Great to give to all family members. Very thorough and easy reading.

My mother has been diagnosed with dementia, probably Alzheimer's, and I have been seeking information to help me understand and deal with her deteriorating mental capabilities. This book provided great examples of what to expect, what others have gone through, and how to deal with some of the more difficult issues. It was recommended to me by a geriatric case manager, and I highly recommend it to others.

I appreciate what the authors put together in this book - it has a ton of useful info and has helped me in understanding (and thus adding alittle patience) to what is happening with several senior members of my family.

Not all the info is relevant to my needs, but that's the point, not everyone has the same issues to deal with.

Thanks!

The Western Garden Book Western Garden Book (Sunset Western Garden Book)is THE standard reference work for gardening from California to the Pacific Northwest, the desert Southwest up to western Montana. Includes descriptions and scientific names for plants that will grow in various climate zones. Plant descriptions include growing conditions, when to prune, and dealing responsibly with diseases and insect pests. It has been produced for over 40 years with many editions. Used editions are still good. Get a new one every ten years or so if you are a serious gardener. Makes great holiday/birthday gift for the new homeowner in the West.

A good reference book to replace my 40th Anniversary edition (1998) hoping to get more information on draught tolerant landscape (not much more than the 40th edition). What's missing though is the Index with scientific and common names. My 1998 edition had a 12 page index the new one has 3 pages. All in all, I like the old one better.

As Master Gardeners my wife and I are often asked questions, and while we have a lot of gardening books, this is the book that most often answers our questions.

This book has been a mainstay of gardening information for many years. There have been positive changes/updates through the years and it is a great reference.

My latest obsessive interest is gardening, specifically vegetable & fruit gardening. So I've been in info-gathering mode: going to the library to scope out books, obsessively cross-referencing blurbs about the same plant across 5-10 books at a time, being some of the things I've done. So I'm drowning in a sea of gardening books as I write this.

This is a book that I would not buy for substantive gardening because it does not measure up to what else is available. Many of the blurbs are less substantive than a seed envelope. I looked at it because of Amazon's high ratings, but here's why I think this book is an unwise investment for that purpose:

1) It's hard to read. For most of the plants listed, the header is accompanied by a single tiny (~1inch size) representative pastel-colored illustration followed by 1-10 short paragraphs of generic text. I'm only in my 20s and I feel like I have to crack out reading glasses.

2) The meat of the book is like a dictionary, alphabetically listed by scientific name or common name. To find something, you have to thumb through pages of tiny print with nothing to grab your attention. It's boring, having neither anecdotes (if you like those) nor the utility of bullets. Too bad Sunset magazine didn't include some of their big, eye-popping, full-page colorful photo spreads.

3) And like a dictionary, the blurbs are short and generic. For all the bountiful garden greens available in California & along the west coast, there is a 7 paragraph generic description of "lettuce". The strains are mentioned not to describe their look or taste, but to just list their names so they've been covered. Some of the fruits and trees are accompanined by tables, so their descriptions are better.

4) This book tries to have the scope of American Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Gardening while being the local expert, but falls very very short because it is not detailed enough and also passes the buck. True, there's a huge list of plants, but it's more like a cheap catalog with generic, cursory tips and zero visual stimulation. The worst is the passing of the responsibility. For example: (a small blurb on tomato problems) "If certain diseases or nematodes cause trouble locally, you may be able to grow varieties that resist one or more problems. Keys to resistance you may see on plant labels or in catalog descriptions..." Thanks. My all-in-one West Coast compendium tells me to look for local info in other resources.

5) With such generic, short descriptions, you'd think there'd be plenty of space on the page. But the margins are about 1/2 inch, so if you plan on jotting down notes, crack out your reading glasses.

6) There's almost zero visualization because not only are there so few pictures, a lot of times the strains are not even described, merely mentioned by name only. There is a short chapter in the beginning with 1-2inch color photos, but it is organized by scientific name. It wasn't useful because I didn't know the scientific names of strains I was trying to learn about. The seed catalogs that I've gotten from online companies do a much better job.

7) Because I was impressed by how bad I thought this book was (given it's high ratings), I checked the library for older editions to see how it had "improved" over time. Unfortunately, they only had the 7th ed and it was same as the 8th, minus different cover art.


For better, encyclopedia-like gardening books that have gorgeous color photos and insightful, detailed writing, try:
American Horticultural Society A to Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants and The American Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers (American Horticultural Society Practical Guides) and American Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Gardening
-- has it all including photos and sequential drawings when plants need specific instructions. Fat, heavy books (You may pull a muscle, but together, these are the books that comprise a full reference.)

New Illustrated Guide to Gardening
-- succeeds where Western Garden fails; big coffee-table photos with substantive, practical writing; not as heavy cause it doesn't list everything like the book above, but it comes close

The Random House Book of Vegetables (Random House Garden)
-- I put this one in because in an ideal world, I want to see pictures of the varieties alongside good text in an all-inclusive gardening compendium. If anyone knows of any current book like this, please let me know! Thanks!

I liked the story behind what these kids did. It was exciting and scandolous. I didn't like the actual people in the story. Most of them seem like overpriveleged brats who were looking for a free lunch. I was also a tad disappointed with how simple their methods really were. It had less to do with brainy algorithims and more to do with teamwork and deception. All in all though, an interesting book.

This book came to my attention after hearing a radio interview with one of the MIT Card Counters. I immediately searched out this book, and it didn't disappoint. Ben Mezrich does a great job of boiling down a sophisticated card-counting system, following the rise and fall of one of the team's key members. And for those interested in the details, an essay on card counting mechanics by the main subject, "Kevin Lewis," is presented at the end of the book.

This was Mezrich's first forray into non-fiction and it shows at times with some cheesy and tedious metaphors and heavy-handed attemps at injecting prose into the action. Nonetheless, the book is short enough and the action quick enough that I wouldn't describe this as a major distraction.

If you liked "Rounders" or the casino scene in "Rain Man," then this book is probably for you.

Book was like new and delivered as promised. Great book for a great price. Very easy transaction. Thank you!

Mr. Mezrich, in "Bringing Down the House", gives us a fascinating account of a group of MIT students who took "card counting" at the blackjack table to a whole new level. This fast paced page-turner takes a thrill ride that reads like a novel. Great read!!

It's certainly worth the read and is an interesting look at a group taking on Vegas. As most know, the book chronicles the rise and fall of one of the MIT blackjack teams and gives a behind the scenes look at the roller coaster ride they went on. There were tense moments that kepy the reader turning pages when the team was avoiding being caught, but there really weren't as many stories of the "Vegas" lifestyle as I was expecting. The finish was predictable and somewhat anti-climatic.

A delightful little book, Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate is almost a modern-day fairy tale. Told in monthly installments, the novel is simultaneously story and cookbook, filled with both recipes and home remedies and as well as the story of Tita, our heroine, who was born, raised and taught in the kitchen, and who has the amazing ability to cook her emotions into her marvelous recipes. Tita's story is one of longing, love and the need to be her own person; to escape the tyrannical presence of her mother and create her own life with the man she loves. It's a relatively fast read, but enjoyable all the same.

If you enjoyed Allende's The House of the Spirits, then this is the right book for you! Much like Allende's novel, Like Water for Chocolate combines the ordinary and the supernatural in the portrayal of two young, Latino lovers living in the midst of civil war. However, Esquivel's work remains unique though her use of food in not only emphasizing her pride in the Mexican culture, but also in expressing the strong conflicting emotions that are deep within the hearts of the characters. Through the use of magical realism and the motif of food, Esquivel depicts a love story that explores the classic theme of what happens to a dream deterred.
Every chapter of the novel begins with a recipe, which serves to accentuate how the life of a traditional Mexican family is centered on the kitchen. Thus it is no surprise that the main character is no other than the youngest daughter and head chef, Tita, who is characterized as a talented young girl whose spirit is constantly broken by her mother's incessant upbraiding. Tita's lifelong pain is symbolized through the motif of onions, which appear throughout the novel during times of deep sorrow and heavy weeping. Esquivel's use of food as a motif is further evidenced by Tita's culinary masterpieces--such as the rose dish that causes its consumers to be afflicted with erotic obsession. Overall, Esquivel's originality is derived from her ability to mix the elements of cooking, erotica, and the magical realism in creating a novel that demonstrates the consequences of emotional repression. I personally recommend this novel to anyone who is looking for a love story chock-full of Hispanic culture, garnished with elements of the supernatural.

Get ready to be engulfed in the mouth-watering aroma of delicious Mexican dishes and a tale of romance, mystique, and an all-consuming passion. Laura Esquivel's beautiful novel, Like Water for Chocolate, is a combination of simple prose and the charm of magic realism that makes it a delightful and fascinating read.
The novel encompasses the life of Tita de la Garza, the third daughter of Elena, from her unusual birth to the spectacular event of her death. Intertwining with Tita's story are monthly recipes that are served during the course of her life and have had significant impacts on Tita and the people around her. The dominance of food throughout the novel is further embellished by Esquivel's use of magical realism. Taking a role itself, the appearance of food or the ingredients that are used to prepare food instigate a myriad of events in the story. Tita's birth is explained as being triggered by her cries within Elena's womb due to chopped onion, and the dishes that Tita prepares carry a magical power that could induce tears or passion once consumed, such as the "Chabela Wedding Cake" and "Quail in Rose Petal Sauce."
Thwarted of the chance to marry her only love, Pedro Muzquiz, Tita transfers her emotions into food and allows her cooking to express the concealed feelings she has for him. Just as strong as her passion is for food, Tita's and Pedro's ardor for each other surpasses all boundaries of time and familial obligations. The fierce passion of their love is so powerful that it magically ignites them at the final climactic moment of their joining, causing a great fire and ultimately concluding Tita's life.
Overall, Like Water for Chocolate is a sumptuous and sensual tale that will evoke a sense of longing in the reader's heart and appetite.

Chocolate in the tummy, title or story improves the experience.
This book is on my stack of all time favorites-some of the dramatic images will amuse you and stay with you-for years.

"Like Water for Chocolate" was a romantic food novel that I was required to read for my college English class. The book was very realistic at times but would have certain elements playfully exaggerated with a fantasy twist. It was unique how the Laura Esquivel incorporated recipes to go with chapters of the book. This novel was written beautifully and will leave you in a half fantasy world of love surrounded in a deep aura of Spanish foods. It truly transports you to another world. Recommended for the romantic. :)