Nonfiction Books

I have this book as a text for a political science class I'm taking at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Though a bit pricey at $40, I truly find this a solid read. It should be appropriate for all levels of reader, though it seems to be geared towards those with at least basic knowledge of the American political system.

He says the climate is important and supports us taking care of it, by driving smaller cars. Yet he still flies around in his own jet. hmmmmmm.

In his book, 'An Inconvenient Truth', Al Gore writes about a
"hockey-stick" graph, with "global average temperature" on
one axis, and time on the other axis. "GLOBAL WARMING" IS
SCIENCE FICTION. Temperature varies from point to point.
What people call temperature, is what mathematical
physicists refer to as a value assigned to a point in a
temperature field. There are potentially an infinite number
of readings one may obtain in a given region of space. But
to assign a single temperature reading to a given region of
space is misleading. For example, putting a thermometer
under a bed, beside a window, or on top of a radiator in a
given room may give you a different reading, with or without
you in it. A temperature reading should only be assigned to
a single point, and not a space. For to assign a single
temperature reading to a region of space, such as a room, or
a city, is misleading. The earth is a very big place. For
example, on a hot day in India, it may be a cold night in
Canada. A global average temperature reading is essentially
meaningless since there appear to be a countless number of
places, or points, upon the earth, or slightly above the
earth, where a temperature reading might be taken. If your
population size is infinite, or vast, how large should your
sample size be in order to obtain a meaningful statistic,
such as an average? If you cannot determine what the global
average temperature is today, or was yesterday, why would
you claim global warming is taking place? Why would
academics, or politicians, lie? ("Fifty thou a year, buys a
lot of beer." - Timbuk 3).


The 'Kyoto Accord' will help establish the creation of a
global economic planning agency. Have you noticed that the
manufacturing sector in North America has been disappearing
has factories are closed "here", only to open up "there"?
The Wealth of a Nation is determined by what that nation can
produce. The Living Standard of a Nation is determined by
what that nation can consume. Don't confuse WORK with INCOME.
They who advocate "enviro-mentalism" are not really concerned
with weather patterns, but are interested in economics. If
they really cared about helping the global poor, would they
not open up factories overseas without closing them
domestically? Instead, they are behaving as if transportation
costs are negligible. Do not most Americans live within 30km
of their jobs?


Consider, as another example, the irrational belief that
enviro-mentalists (such as Al Gore) are advocating, that it
is possible to save electricity by not using it. A magnet
rotating inside a coil of wire will generate an electrical
current in that wire: engineers call this INDUCTION.
A TURBINE is essentially a giant magnet placed inside a giant
coil of wire: In order to generate electricity, the giant
magnet must be rotated, according to scientists. (Where
these giant magnets come from, is another story.) In theory,
the pressure of steam, water, or air against the vanes of a
wheel turn the magnet inside the turbine, generating
electricity; In nuclear power plants, nuclear energy is used
to heat water, converting the water into steam, and the
resulting steam pressure is used to operate the turbines which
provide households with available electricity. The turbines
are not going to stop producing electricity, just because you
stop using it. By definition, the only way you can SAVE
ELECTRICITY is BY STORING IT, as in a rechargeable battery.
If you are a customer of a hydroelectric company, you can save
money by not using electricity. However, if you choose not to
use the electricity which the turbines generate, that
electricity will be wasted, like an untappped natural gas leak.
Gasoline is made from oil: Conserving gasoline makes more
sense than conserving electricity, so why don't "they" ban
landscaping (lawn mowers)?


In the name of "enviro-mentalism" a philosophy of "act local,
think global" is emerging, which in practise means the creation
of a local "slave labour" population and a "no-fly list",
restricting travel for some. An elite "work" force of "symbol
analysts" is emerging, university-educated "citizens" who will
manage the "locals". Imagine a dog with a leash around his
neck, which leash is attached to a stick in the ground. The
owner/manager tells the dog, "You are free to roam. as you are
able (allowed) to". That is the future that enviro-mentalists
are advocating: The new economy is about serving females, and
offering males (the boyim) opportunities to serve females. The
future looks a lot like the past, only without the black oil
and the gasoline-powered lawnmowers. The future is FEMDOM.
Fight the future. Resistance is not futile. Ever read the
play, Lysistrata?

This book is badly written and poorly reasoned, a shallow, tendentious screed that promotes environmental apocalypticism at the expense of common sense and sound policy. Gore seems to think that until recently, the Earth's climate was stable and that CO2 emissions are driving temperatures to unprecedented levels. In fact, the world is still quite a bit cooler than it was during the Middle Ages, when greenhouse gas emissions were neglible. When people realize how much Gore's absurd proposals would cost, and that they would accomplish little more than to drive American industry into the arms of the Chinese, even those who are conned by his reasons will have second thoughts.

I am horrified to hear a reviewer, in this day and age and with the united voices out thousands of the world's preeminent scientists shouting it to the rafters, that he/she doubts the existence of a global climate crisis. What more evidence does one need? When our children are dying from starvation and flooding and our grandchildren from disease, people such as these will standing on the last dry hill denying to the end and perhaps saying "It's God's Will" when in fact it was OUR will. The same people praise George Bush when he slowly tries to strip the US of its liberties and freedoms; in the face of his criminal, heinous, dictatorial behavior and outright lies.
Please, dear readers, PLEASE buy this book. Buy a used copy of the paperback for a few bucks if the cost is too high. It may not be perfect but the warning is real and the threat is real. Don't listen to those who have thrown away their reason because they've been brainwashed by Rush Limbaugh or from their facist fathers in the pulpit. Reason is what lifted us from the Dark Ages, is what gave birth to democracy around the globe. It is what will save us.

The distresses with Gore's propaganda book for global warming are manifold. The first and worst sin Gore commits is he's NOT FAIR AND BALANCED in his struggling argument that global warming is real, caused by man, and the single-biggest threat facing the world. If Gore was FAIR AND BALANCED in his presentation, he could persuade more readers to give him the benefit of the doubt. Gravely for him, his presumptuous, one-sided and absolutist/elitist argument for global warming--where he brainwashes the reader to believe that global warming is 100% fact through arrogant declaration but no foundations--actually sours the reader and makes Gore appear as a fanatical, ideological DEMAGOGUE with an agenda and shabby credibility.

The most flagrant trespass in Gore's book is it's constructed to indoctrinate grade school/high school kids in the Religion of Global Warming. This is indisputable if we look at the layout of Gore's propaganda: it's short on text, full of colorful graphs, size 30 fonts on some pages, and full of pictures. With this shortcoming of substance, it's clear Gore's slideshow-turned-book was NEVER designed to make an intelligent argument about global warming's allegedly looming threat. It was designed to proselytize impressionable kids at the K-12 levels to believe in the Religion of Global Warming.

The predicament of failure of substance is found everywhere in Gore's propaganda book. He never has many sources to credibly validate the legitimacy of graphs and projections he cites!!!! Even gloomier for Gore's trustworthiness is that his sources come from biased, agenda-driven organizations whose "statistics" you cannot trust--if you're being intellectually honest, which the majority of sycophant-reviewers here refuse.

For instance, a purportedly "authoritative" chart claiming to show 2005 was the hottest year EVER in the history of humankind was conducted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an ideological group sponsored by the UN!!!! Their whole mission statement is to prove that global warming is to be blamed on human activities, so any statistics emerging from their partisan group must be discounted. However, unfair and unbalanced Gore has the insolence to cite this statistic as "authoritative."

Another misconstruction in Gore's argument of ideology is to blame man and global warming for Africa's abysmal problems with genocide and civil wars!!!! Despite the insanity of this supposition, Gore shamelessly alleges that this is so, yet if we analyze his thinking, it can easily be discreditable. Gore's accusatory misconstruction is we (read: US and the West) are single-handedly to blame for the murderous genocide and afflictions in Africa because of our alleged contribution to global warming!!!!

Gore charges the US "helped manufacture the suffering in Africa," as he bases this antagonistic accusation on the supposition that US greenhouse gas emission caused the drying up of Lake Chad--which he then misuses to account for the genocide in Darfur!!!! To any intellectually honest person, of course, the ethnic cleansing and civil war in Darfur are mainly caused by Muslim Janjaweed fighting the non-Arab rebels who are in turn fighting the Sudanese government. With self-hating, anti-American allegations like these, Gore's credibility itself suffers.

Yet another, equally heavy reprimand Gore deserves is for the irrational conclusions and methodology he continually abuses to arrive at his presumption that the scientific community has a consensus that global warming's manmade. In example, Gore mendaciously cites a Science magazine study of every massive, peer-reviewed article on global warming from scientific journals and magazines. He cites this utterly dissolute study to pretend to prove that there's consensus among EACH AND EVERY SCIENTIST ON THE PLANET that global warming is manmade. However, killing Gore's believability is the mortifying fact that said Science magazine study only reviewed TEN PERCENT of every available article on global warming. With this contemptible restriction on what a proper population sample of articles would be, Gore assumingly and pitifully declares that there is basically complete, 100% consensus on the fiction that every single scientist on earth is in unison about global warming.

If this is reliably the case, as Gore forges it to be, then why in the hell are there so many scientists who outright dispute Gore's BS allegations?!?! Some prominent critics of global warming are French geophysicist Claude Allegre; director of the Office of Climatology at Arizona State University Robert Balling Jr.; Associate Professor of Geology and Environmental Science at University of Auckland Chris de Freitas; and so on and so forth. These scientists only scratch the surface; for a more comprehensive list of authorities discrediting global warming, simply do a Google search or check Wikipedia.

Gore's book stumbles in its ineffective struggle to convince the reader of the conclusiveness of global warming. Instead, Gore and his fellow, global-warming co-conspirators simply incriminate themselves as ideologues menacingly dismissing the REAL, BIGGEST threat to the world: Islamic terrorism. Gore often speaks of his kids' kids hating our current generation for not addressing global warming, but they'll likely hate our generation more if we succumb to Gore's advice and pursue the unreliability of global warming while ignoring terrorism!!!!

El relato de Elizabeth, permite no solo acompañarla en su viaje a través de Europa, Africa e Indonesia por un año, sino ser además testigo de lo que suele acontecer dentro de la cabeza y en el espiritu de mujeres de este tiempo. Nos vamos formando para ser exitosas, para vivir vidas emocionantes. La falta de propósitos más profundos nos llevan a decisiones cortoplacistas y descentradas. Sublevarnos entonces contra nosotras mismas y decidirnos a cambiar nuestro rumbo se convierte en una travesía como la de Elizabeth, dolorosa y larga, en la que el verdadero propósito es alejarnos de la persona que nos fuímos convirtiendo y dejar que aflore un ser, con un centro mejor establecido que nos permita empezar de nuevo y ser capaces de tomar decisiones y caminos diferentes.

Este libro es para cualquier mujer, de cualquier edad y condición, porque todas encontrarán en él algo con lo que identificarse.
Gilbert aborda con cierto humor y con inteligencia temas como el amor y el desamor, la vida, el éxito, el fracaso, la espiritualidad, el auto-conocimiento y mucho más.

Con humor y realismo Elizabeth Gilbert explora su esencia espiritual llevando al lector a encontrarse con ella cara a cara en su camino. Cada mujer que lee este libro puede identificarse con muchas de las experiencias de crecimiento personal y espiritual. Esta es una comedia divina que todas vivimos y pocas podemos articular.

This book is amazing. I bought it cause one person in my family is going through something similar and it has really helped me to give her advice. I haven't finish the book but i can't stop reading it. Definitely something that happens to many women.

Just what I needed... a concise explanation of the hows and whys of open ended questioning and ways to create "good questions". The grade level appropraite examples of good questions in the areas of numbers, measurement, space, chance and data, are easy to use and have been a valuable tool for stretching my students as math thinkers. This wonderful resource includes "coaching" that has stretched me as teacher. Thank you!

I agree! This book is fantastic. I typed the questions into a document and rephrased some and left blanks for monetary amounts. This way I could make easy homework activities and modify the questions as needed. The questions are perfect: open ended, based on real world situations, and easy to understand. I also like how the book is organized by mathematical content areas and suggested grade levels.

As a speech-language pathologist in an elementary school, I am very interested in materials that encourage good math communication, logical reasoning and use of math language. This book is different from most other problem-solving books in that it concisely provides questions on 16 diffferent math topics for grades K-2, 3-4 and 5-6 - all of which lend themselves well to creative math discussions. Our district math committee chose to have a copy of this book in each elementary school. After looking through it, I was convinced that I needed a copy of my own to quickly refer to when seeing my students. This was $10.85 that was well-spent!

This book is very easy to follow. Each chapter has a short story in the beginning that uses the list words for that chapter. It also has some dictionary work. What comes between X and X in the dictionary (in the back of the book). Toward the end it introduces cursive writing alongside of the printed word. Overall an easy to follow and easy to use book.

I found this book to be very helpful in that it is easy to
follow for student and parent. I used both the 1st and 2nd grade books. In our case, these were to be used as review tools this and the 1st grade speller accomplished that. Our daughters
needs were served but because she already knew the work, it did not challenge her, so in all honesty I cannot give a better assessment of this book.

As a homeschool Mom, I have never been happy with any of the spelling books I've used in the past. They were always too much. This book is just right -- the right words, the right amount of work, and the right content that holds my son's attention. I use "The Well Trained Mind" method and this works beautifully with it.

I ordered two copies of this book because I thought I would have to sit and read it with my 10 year old. She finished it in less than an hour. Needless to say, I didn't have to read it with her. She wanted more detail, so I am going to buy the Hearney (I think that is how you spell it) translation. I think that will be a better fit.

Beowulf: A New Telling is great. Amazon's shipping however, is NOT. I ordered 32 copies-no rush delivery- and they were delivered in 5 SEPARATE PACKAGES!!!! Totally unnecessary, I believe, and very confusing for me and my school bookkeeper!

Here you have a re-telling of the story, Beowulf, for those age 12 and up. The reader will enjoy its good, solid, plot unencumbered with the sometimes odd (or stupid) twists and changes that the "visionaries" in Hollywood have repeatedly and needlessly used to enhance it.

It retains the original's storyline, but for those of us who are not fluent in "olde English," it's in quite simple modern English.

The themes of good vs evil are clear. The main characters are well enough developed so that the reader can enjoy each: The good guys are good; and the monster as well as other bad-guy types drip with insanity, EVIL, and really atrocious table manners!

Additionally, it's not very long - somewhere around 100 pages.

I recently purchased Beowulf: A New Telling by Robert Nye to read with my ninth grade special education students. They thoroughly enjoyed it and were able to dive into the symbolism used in the tale. I know it was a success because they have all ready made plans to go see the movie when it opens!!

Rather than offering my own opinion of this book, I will give you a few brief quotations describing the major characters and allow you to decide for yourself if this book is worth reading. Author Robert Nye describes the character of Beowulf as "weak and sickly" in his youth and "below average size" as an adult. He also describes Beowulf as "short sighted." He claims that Beowulf "admits to his weaknesses" and is "not given to boasting." This begs the question: what Beowulf is Nye talking about? The real Beowulf, the one that we know from the epic 7th century poem, was none of these things. We are told that he was neither small nor weak, but rather he possessed the strength of 30 men ("thirty men's might in the grip of his hand").This is how he was able to overpower his adversary, the demon Grendel, when no other man could challenge Grendel. The original Beowulf boasted quite often. Apparently, Robert Nye has his own idea of how a "hero" should behave. Instead of arrogance in Beowulf we see humility when he says, "He was a better swimmer than I" in reference to his dramatic swimming race against Breca. The problem here is that Beowulf did not lose this race with Breca. He won! But Nye's Beowulf cannot be all-powerful and still be humble, meek and peace-loving. We know from the original story that Beowulf cut off Grendel's head after he was dead, so he could offer it to the Danes as a trophy. This action was apparently too harsh for Nye. Instead, he tells us that Beowulf cut off Grendel's head in self-defense after Grendel momentarily came back from the dead!

The character of Unferth has also been dramatically altered. He is portrayed as both pathetic and evil, a drunkard full of contempt for Beowulf and his people. As such, his words carry no weight and he really serves no purpose in the story. The real Unferth was an insecure man, who was desperately afraid of Beowulf gaining more glory than him. But there is no evidence in the poem that he was evil or that he hated his own people.

The depiction of Grendel's mother in this book is downright laughable. Nye tells us that she has "red lips" and "hanging breasts." Furthermore, "she had eyes in her breasts." We are never told why she needs eyes in her breasts, but I guess the author just liked this visual.

Grendel's mother is also described as the "wife of Cain." According to Nye, Cain had sex with Grendel's mother (an evil serpent) and the resulting offspring was the hideous creature Grendel. To someone unfamiliar with the poem, this might seem logical. But this is where Robert Nye really misses the point (or chooses to ignore the point). Grendel is a descendant of Cain - this much is true. But Grendel's evil nature did not arise because of a sinful union between Cain and his mother. Cain was already sinful after killing his brother and then being cast out by God. As a result, his offspring were evil and - over thousands of years - slowly became monstrous. This happened because Cain and his offspring were separated from God.

It shouldn't be surprising, however, that Nye fails to address this point. As previous reviewers have already stated, Nye chooses to ignore the Christian basis of the poem. His Beowulf has no relationship with God. In the poem, we know that Beowulf draws strength and inspiration from God, and he thanks God for his successes in battle ("the deadly struggle at the start would have ended, if God had not watched over me") Instead, Nye tells us that "Beowulf's best weapon was himself. He put all his faith in that." Beowulf believed in himself fully and therefore had no need for God - according to Mr. Nye. Let's not forget that this story is really about the battle between good and evil, Beowulf (God) versus Grendel (Satan). The poem tells us that Grendel came from Hell, and that he was an "enemy of God," who "waged war against God." Regarding Beowulf, the poem tells us that "Holy God has sent him to help our people."

If you choose to read this book you will notice that Mr. Nye wisely includes a disclaimer: "This is an interpretation, not a translation." Perhaps this is how he justifies changing the original story to such an extent that the characters are unrecognizable. His book, therefore, is not an interpretation of the original story but an alteration of it. Instead of bringing honor to the poem, he dishonors it.

There's nothing wrong with Mr. Nye writing a story about a humble, unimpressive man who manages to overcome his weaknesses. He just shouldn't have named him Beowulf.

I think my son has read this book 30 times now. I don't think I need to say any more.

It is more than obvious that Joanna Cole (author) and Bruce Degen (illustrator) had the time of their lives bringing this book to fruition. Penned in 1997, "The Magic School Bus and the Electric Field Trip" is packaged to the bursting point with anything and everything that has to do with electricity. There's so much going on here that a simple one-sided scorecard just won't suffice upon delving into Ms. Frizzle's latest adventure. It is Cole and Degen's most action-packed and tightly-woven collaboration yet. One senses from just taking in the first few pages that author and illustrator poured every fiber of their being into the Friz's ninth science-related field trip for children.

Our story starts off with a bang when a surprise guest bounces into class, positively charged with energy. She looks to be the spitting-image of Ms. Frizzle, only much younger.

"Hello, Aunt Valerie," says the girl, kissing the Friz on the cheek.

"My niece, Dottie Frizzle, is visiting today," adds Ms. Frizzle. "Dottie, we're learning about electricity!"

And so, while a thunderstorm rages on outside, our favorite frizzy-haired teacher begins her lesson for the day. She starts by breaking down a diagram of an atom. Then she points out the relationship between electrons (tiny parts of the atom that circle around its core) and electric current (where electrons are pulled away from their hosts and form a steady stream of movement). This is what gives us electricity.

Then, before the Friz can move onto magnetic current (the cousin of electric current), the lights all over school suddenly go out and the classroom is plunged into total darkness. Outside, a hearty roar of thunder echoes over the students' heads.

"There's no electricity!" someone yells.

"We're experiencing a blackout," notes Ms. Frizzle. And according to Gregory, a student in the class, a blackout happens when electric current stops flowing from the power plant to the community.

Why has this occurred? What can anyone do about it? Will this be the end of our story?

"To the bus, everyone!" orders the Friz, brandishing her trusty umbrella like a valiant knight's sword. "Let's find out what happened."

And so begins the wildest adventure Ms. Frizzle and her students have ever undertaken, one that will start at the heart of a power plant and, zooming along with millions of electrons, lead them all over town -- the library, Jo's Diner, student Phoebe's house, and back to school again.

Readers and students alike will learn all about electricity; its many uses, how it is made, and the safety hazards of working with it. They will come to understand the very important role magnetism plays in producing large amounts of electricity. They will familiarize themselves with terms such as "transformers" and "volts."

And that is only scratching the surface of this most densely-packed field trip to date. It would be hard for any author-illustrator team to keep upping the ante nine books into a series. But Cole and Degen prove themselves just as fresh and inspired as ever. "Electric Field Trip" will require second readings to fully grasp all the concepts presented in this book, which Cole and Degen fully acknowledge within the story. Electricity, atoms, watts, magnetism -- it's highly sophisticated and complicated material, even for the most advanced readers. And the fact that Cole and Degen plowed full steam ahead with the subject matter without batting an eyelash is to be commended. Readers will most certainly be rewarded for the time they spend poring over this book.

In keeping with tradition, Cole and Degen leave readers with two familiar mainstays at the end of the tale. Clearly explained are the things made up for story purposes. What's nicer is that Cole and Degen have added a new twist this time around, which makes distinguishing fact from fiction in the story more enjoyable than ever. And then there is the enticingly sweet tidbit to leave readers with a sampling of what's next in store for the Friz and her posse. It's hard to put a finger on what it could be, exactly . . . but one senses that it will quench your thirst for knowledge, you hear?

As Ms. Frizzle herself would say, "If there's no flow, then it's no go!"

This book is a great book to learn about electricity. My daughter wants me to read it to her over and over, and I have learned from it, too!

Thanks for your help! The purchase went very smooth. I'll be back in the fall for the next addition.

I grew up in Falmouth during the time of 'Ray Meyers'. I remember the people in this book. I remember the pain of losing a friend that was murdered during this. I never knew many of the details about this time. Officer Busby and his daughter gave me those details in this book and helped me put order to the confusion from that time. I could not help but cry reading this book. I have to say I liked the way he and his daughter took turns writing the chapters. This book is a great perspective from a child's point of view when faced with awful, life-altering tragedy. Her perspective reminded me of how parents always tried to hide things from children back then. Officer Busby's story reminded me how truly horrible things happen to truly good people. He also reminded me why parents try to shield their children from those horrors.
This book is a testament to a family's strength of character and love for one another. They are the type of people we ought to look upto and use as role models, not folks who are celebrity for celebrity sake. This family never, never wanted any of this. They faced this with such strength and resilience that I can only stand in awe and complete respect for them.
For those who might find it interesting 48 Hours Mystery will be doing this story sometime in February of 2009. I would suggest you read this book and then watch the story.

This book was incredible. I could not put it down! When I finally finished it on one Sunday, my husband asked me "Are you finished? You haven't talked to me all weekend!"
It captured my interest as my family lived near, Reine's corner, the trash truck depot, the junk yard and the Busy's. I knew the selectmen and some of the officers mentioned.
This should become a movie! It reminded me of the type of story as "The Client".
The Busby's were so brave, I didn't realize what they were living through as my school bus drove passed their house each afternoon. I remember all of a sudden a tall stockade fence appearing around the house. I am still amazed at how Polly continued school through all of this!
Great reading!!

loved this book. I found it fascinating and a wonderful read. I couldn't put it down and read it in one day. When I did take breaks, I came out and told my family what I had read. I usually do that, and they're usually not interested. They found my reports on this story as engaging as I did. What struck me most about this book was the love. I think Polly's strength, and John's strength, too, were probably the source of this love, and the children responded to it. They couldn't have survived without that love.

I preordered this book back in June and had forgotten about it until it arrived in my mailbox. I started reading it last night and am almost halfway through it. I grew up on Cape Cod, and never heard of this until a few years ago when the suspected shooter's wife was murdered. This story hits really close to home, because my father was a police officer, and my worst fear was that he would get hurt/killed at his job. This family is amazing. The hell that they went through, and the complete miscarriage of justice is appalling. There is no question that this case was completely bungled/covered up.

John Busby is an advocate for extending the statute of limitations on crimes against police officers. A few years ago, the brother of the suspected shooter admitted he was the driver while his brother shot Officer Busby, but because the statute of limitations had run out, he could not be charged.

Ironically, the suspected shooter has been in a mental institution because he suffers from dementia since 2001. Some call it poetic justice. Amazing and haunting, don't miss this book.