Travel Books

My children love these books. I read some of them to see what they are reading and I was happy with them

The set was delivered fast, and in great condition. My daughter is enjoying the books. Will buy more from you!

My son adores this series. The books arrived on time and they can only benefit him.

My daughter is 7 and she reads on a 5th grade level so it is hard to find books that are challenging enough but that she still enjoys.Even though these books are rated for 4-8 yrs they work perfect for her.They are so much better than some of the cheesy books books she brings home from the school library to read that take her 15 minutes to finish.We tried Charlotte's Web because it is a movie she really enjoys and although she was perfectly capable of reading it after the first 5 chapters she had lost interest.Even though she is a good reader I have to keep in mind that she is still only 7.

These are the books she asks for,the ones she reads several times and that is fine with me.They are fantasy however they have bits of historical information throughout and a book that teaches and kids don't even realize they are learning because they enjoy it so much is the best kind in my opinion.My daughter even acts out some of the stories with a little back pack she has.These are the types of books your kids will start doing the did you know questions and believe me nothing feels better than for you child to actually teach YOU something.

Jack and Annie always work together to complete their mission and take notes of historal information along the way.These books are not gender specific so they are great for boys and girls.These are some of the best chapter books and I recommend them to any parent looking for quality books to keep their children interested in reading.5 stars

The seven year old for whom this gift was intended was absolutely thrilled with this boxed set. She is an excellent reader and has already finished previous sets of this Magic Tree House item. She was quite excited when she tore off the wrapping paper.Magic Tree House Boxed Set, Books 9-12: Dolphins at Daybreak / Ghost Town at Sundown / Lions at Lunchtime / Polar Bears Past Bedtime

Ms. Gabaldon is a superior writer and story teller. This tale is of Jaime and Claire, now well into their relationship with all the joys and vagaries of love in middle age. Is this as steamy and tumultuous as earlier works? Well, no... They are older now and broiled in making commitments made earlier in life work. This is what life is all about, after all. As in earlier books, Claire knew she was setting herself on a course of relative poverty and hardship when she made Jaimie her choice as a life partner. And this is partially what this book is about.

I, for one, found the interjection of homely details such as the daily struggle with hygiene without running water and washing machines very interesting. This is my fourth time through the novel and very much appreciate how she braids these themes into the story. Life goes on during menstrual cramps, hot flashes, lack of water, etc. These details makes me care for the characters deeply. Because I know they are human and have mundane, maddening, mind numbing problems like I do.

Diane's style of humor has me laughing outloud on a regular basis. One such example is the baptism of Joan and Jemmy, with the Jaime, Roger and Germaine grinning episode.

I find myself dogearing pages I love so much I want to revisit them. There are many such pages... for reasons of humor, an exceptionally phrased passage, an epiphinal moment, or just plain tenderness.

Don't let the negative reviews stop you from reading this book! It is well worth the time to drop in for a visit with these very human characters to see how they live their lives and solve their problems.

Sir or Madam:
Since I prefer to read books written in series format as a unit rather than individual books at different times, and since I have chosen to read the entire Outlander series in this way, I have not yet reached The Fiery Cross. However, I can review this title by itself or as part of the entire series when I have completed my reading. Please let me know your preference, and I will write my review accordingly. Thanks. CMB

Note: This form insists that I provide a rating before it is forwarded to you. Therefore, I have chosen a 3 as a neutral response. CMB

book size is too small to read comfortably! would not have purchased if I knew the size.

I don't know how anyone can give these books below three or even four stars. Every single one is absolutly enchanting and without a doubt some of the best novels written by anyone in years. I'm nearly done with the fifth installment and can't wait to move onto the next. Although I must admit that this one starts out the slowest of any of the rest, but it does pick up dramatically after Aunt Jocasta's wedding. Then later (DON"T READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS) when Roger nearly dies from being hung, I just couldn't put it down. Such drama that you can really emmense yourself in. I can't say this enough, everyone should read these books!!!!!!!

I just finished reading "The Fiery Cross" and I was totally enthralled with it from beginning to end. I, of course, have read the first four books. Twice actually. This one was my favorite. The other books are excellent and exciting. What I really like about "The Fiery Cross" is that it really digs into each of the characters. You really get to know each of them. Like them or not, they're human. You get a look into their lives and what it was like to live in the 1770s. The love story continues between Claire and Jamie, it deepens, and matures and their passion remains...well, passionate. I never thought this book was boring. I could not get enough of Claire and Jamie's world. I loved getting to know Roger and Bree better. I was happily engrossed with this story, so much so that the hours flew by. I would dream about these people what was happening with them. I would find myself thinking about the story all through the day always anxious to get back it. I read because I love a good story, especially a good love story. It's wonderful to get into Diana's books and totally leave the real world behind for a while. This is an excellent continuation of the series. I enjoyed it very much. I recommend it highly.

Ignore the reviews laden with the white liberal guilt or the white liberal defensiveness. This book is about a struggling country that needs the money from the west to survive, yet at its heart wishes the west would just take its rude tourists and away. As tourists we refuse to see that we've created a new form of economic imperialism around the world, we really just want to get away from the cold and draining life we left at home. It is easier to close our eyes and claim that angry brown people are lazy, stupid or senseless. After all we gave them hotel jobs, cruise ships and casinos, how dare they be angry at us. How dare they refuse to close their eyes to the parralells between slavery and the tourist industry maid job. This is not an essay providing answers - it is merely an essay trying to get people to wake up to the problem. After all the west caused the problems - what if they tried to solve them too!

A major failing of this essay, which claims to be non-fiction, is Kincaid's sole reliance on her own memories of Antigua. As an eye-witness, Kincaid has the chance to provide a unique perspective on the issues of slavery, corruption, tourism, colonialism, and SIDS (small island developing states). Yet, she ruins this chance, in my opinion, with her complete disregard of any perspective other than her own.

A Small Place presents a biased and incomplete account of many of the issues facing Antigua and other islands in the Caribbean. Some of Kincaid's criticisms are certainly valid; however, others have been blown completely out of proportion. If one really wishes to know the history of Antigua and to understand the lingering consequences of colonialism, I suggest looking elsewhere.

What this book lacks in factual information, it does not make up for with a strong emotional appeal. Kincaid's story line is incomplete and unengaging. She repeatedly wanders from topic to topic and back again, giving no sense of what is most important or relevant. Additionally, whatever sympathy she may gain from the Western reader is repeatedly lost with her hateful generalizations.

I am sorry that I have to write such a negative review of this book. I believe that it is important for people in the West to understand the plight of developing countries, especially SIDS. However, I do not believe that A Small Place is at all helpful in promoting this dialogue.

It is important to understand the past. And I can sympathize with Kincaid's intense hatred of those who have and continue to oppress "her people". However, I think this text is short-sighted in its desire for change. After repeatedly criticizing tourists for their greed and laziness, does she really expect them to want to understand Antiguan society? I see the hatred and dualism expressed in A Small Place as a major obstacle in achieving a better tomorrow.

I had to read this book for a Multicultural Literature class at my Uni, and, far from being informative, all it did was fill with me a contempt of my own. I am not a racist by any means, but when confronted with such a bitter, snide voice as the one Kincaid displays, I find myself unconsciously getting defensive. When she says, "you are a tourist; you are ugly," I find myself saying, "Fine, I'll keep my money and let you trade with seashells and beads." Kincaid is a master of the self-fulfilling prophecy: she says Antiguans are so oppressed and so downtrodden and so angry, and rather than doing anything to help it, she's exacerbating it by using such a bitter, over-the-top voice.

Other reviewers have stated that the vision of Antigua portrayed is a warped and extremely limited one, biased by Kincaid's apparent small mindedness, and I must confess that I'm glad to hear that. To think that the entire island is solely occupied by bitter people who imagine themselves to be ex-slaves would make me steer clear of the area any time I go on vacation.

Because, yes, I am a tourist. And no, being a tourist does not automatically make anyone ugly, despite what Kincaid's bitter rant might say.

If you expect a well-reasoned and persuasive essay, look elsewhere. At best, this is the mindless rantings of somebody who's been through a lot and really needs to vent. The only thing she was able to persuade me by the end of the book was that I was an evil person.
The book is divided into several chapters. The format is fairly simple: in every chapter, Jamaica Kincaid hates on a different group of people. In the first chapter, she rants about tourists. In the second chapter, she rants about British people. If she focused on one group of people, her argument might make sense, but when she focuses on them all it becomes clear that she just hates everybody. Because she writes the entire book in second person, every insult is directed straight at the reader. I left the book feeling extremely guilty, while at the same time not exactly sure what I had done wrong.

Published in 1988 Kincaid's "A Small Place" is an unflinchingly angry portrayal of post-colonial, post-slavery life on the island of Antigua. To put it simply: Kincaid is as mad as hell, and she's not going to take it anymore. If you're white and can shelve your defensiveness for a moment this book is actually really enjoyable, it's written in first person and directed at "you," the British colonizer and/or the fat white tourist. Kincaid's sense of humor is wonderfully dark, and there are a lot of moments of humor if you keep an open mind. Still, at the heart of the matter is the story of Antigua's decay, left to rot by the British colonizers, with a population that doesn't vote openly corrupt officials out of office. She openly points out the irony of the celebration of emancipation alongside the valorization of the Hotel Training School, which teaches the residents of the island to be servants. In the end Kincaid concludes that no one is to blame, that after slavery the masters are no longer evil and the slaves are no longer "noble," but that everyone is merely human. She problematizes the matter, but offers no solutions, which might irritate those concrete sequentials among us. Also, she refers to Columbus, and the explorers in general, so adored in American culture, as "human rubbish" on multiple occasions. You might not agree with Kincaid, but this is one topic someone should be angry about, and her unapologetic narrative is about as honest as you can get.

A fascinating, non-technical explanation of the modern concepts of theoretical physics. Full of wonder and surprise...makes us look at the world and universe with a fresh pair of eyes. A modern classic.

One review stated " It Will Change the Way You Look at the Universe!" I have found this to be true and at a young age, it definitely sparked my interest in conceptual physics. I own this book in hardback and have found that the illustrations go a long way in explaining the content. A Brief History of Time explains a range of subjects in cosmology, including the Big Bang, black holes, light cones and superstring theory, to the nonspecialist reader.

A great book for both young and adult readers.

Reading this 10 years after the 10th edition was published, I find the science has advanced well beyond what is within the book, but at the same time the scope of the book remains relevant.

This should really be considered a history of philosophy of science, for indeed it is. There is only one equation in the entire book (E=MC squared), and there is no math done in here, so it should be accessible to really anyone.

I don't think the material gets dry so much as a little hard to follow at times. You can only explain so much of complex mathematical proofs in entirely conceptual terms. Prof. Hawking has sacrificed complexity for readibility, and overall he's done well.

You won't be a theoretical physicist after reading this book, but you may enjoy the field enough to pick up a slightly more in-depth tome.

Stephen W. Hawking is a theoretical physicist who has held the post at Cambridge University once held by Isaac Newton. Hawking writes of attending a conference on cosmology at the Vatican in 1981. At the end of the conference the pope cautioned that scientists should not examine the moment of the creation of the universe because that was the work of God. In his book Stephen Hawking has not heeded the pope's advice. One of his conclusions is that we now have a picture of developments "to about one second after the Big Bang" (p. 118). For Hawking, scientific inquiry has moved from "what" questions right on through to "how" and is at the point of answering "why." As soon as theorists succeed in incorporating the law of gravity into a properly developed and tested grand unification theory (GUT) we will then "know the mind of God" (p. 175).

Hawking writes carefully for the non-specialist. He has taken the trouble to provide a glossary with page references. He has avoided mathematical formulas and has worked hard to find analogies for the abstractions of twentieth-century physics. The universe looks the same from all directions, "rather like a balloon with a number of spots painted on it, being steadily blown up. As the balloon expands, the distance between any two spots increases, but there is no spot that can be said to be the center of the expansion" (p. 42).

Any careful reader can use Hawking's little book (198 pages including introduction, glossary, index, and three excursi on Einstein, Galileo, and Newton) to participate in ongoing discussions about a number of questions that are asked these days primarily by children and physicists. What is nature, and where did it come from? What is time? Is it possible to move backward in time? Is there a beginning or a boundary to the universe? Will the universe come to an end, and what kind of end will it be? What did God do in the beginning, and what role does God play now in the physical world?

The answers to such questions, Hawking believes, are to be found in the inquiries of theoretical physicists. For Hawking, the core of modern physics is quantum mechanics, the development of theories having to do with the movement and the components of energy, as distinguished from classical physics, the study of the properties of matter. Hawking states that quantum physics underlies nearly all of modern science and development, including nuclear power and micro technology and asserts that quantum physics will eventually not only explain the origin of every thing but also predict the future.

A number of ideas compressed into this small book warrant further examination. Hawking writes of a "survival advantage" (p. 12) scientific discovery has conveyed to humankind that can be canceled by further discoveries that "may destroy us all" (p. 12). Life in our sector of the galaxies developed because of disorder in matter that disrupted the generally smooth character of the universe. Hawking suggests that intelligent beings can exist only in an expanding universe. The idea here is that scientific laws are predictable in only one direction through time and that a collapsing universe would cause a reversal of the "arrows of time" (pp. 143 f.) and would thus invalidate human comprehensibility. Hawking speculates about a notion called "the anthropic principle" (p. 124), which appears to mean that the universe is as it is because, if it were not, we would not be around to observe it. But if the anthropic principle is the bottom line then scientific cosmology has become anthropology, and why waste any more time with telescopes or particle accelerators? Hawking suggests that the universe (time and space taken together) is "finite yet without boundary" (p. 136). This is the most arresting and, as yet unprovable of Stephen Hawking's proposals, but he is willing to wait for further observations that may move this idea to a higher degree of probability.

In the midst of all this theorizing Hawking conveys something of the playfulness of many who are engaged in the quantum physics quest. There is mention of a now-discarded theory known as LGM 1-4, LGM standing for "little green men." The explosion that is supposed to have kicked off our expanding universe is commonly known as the Big Bang. The smallest known particles are called quarks and come in flavors; the uniform nature of collapsing stars goes by the maxim "black holes have no hair." (p. 92)

Because theoretical physics has turned very precisely toward the whys of life, theology and ethics will have to pay closer attention. I will give two examples. When did time begin? Hawking offers the idea of a "singularity," a unique event in time at which the laws of science break down and predictability disappears. The Big Bang, therefore, is a singularity, and it may be said that time began with creation itself. From this it follows that time will come to an end when the universe ceases its expansion, collapses into itself, and perhaps sets off another Big Bang. The singularity idea has many implications for the theological dimensions of eschatology as well as for cosmology.

An example of the importance of quantum physics for ethics might be the "uncertainty principle" of Werner Heisenberg (1926), which Hawking refers to as "a fundamental, inescapable property of the world" (p. 55). Briefly, the uncertainty principle asserts that the position and velocity of particles cannot be precisely predicted. Rather, particles exist in a quantum state, which is a combination of position and velocity and which suggests a range of possible locations where particles are likely to be found. This means that we do not live in a deterministic universe where definite results can be expected. This also suggests there is a limit to our capacity to know what is going on.

If results in science are subject to randomness, ought not this principle of uncertainty be recognized when we speak of "good" and "bad" behavior? Isn't it less pretentious and more helpful to think in terms of quantum ethics, which would allow for a range of appropriate actions? I think this kind of approach is in harmony with Jesus' comments about ethical behavior. When asked about the greatest of God's commands he cited the Shemah (Deut. 6:4) and added that "you shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12:29-30). This admonition finds parallels in many traditions and leaves much room for intelligent, responsible reflection-action.

Theoretical physics awaits and accepts the judgment of the future, whose discoveries and experiments either prove, or dismiss earlier claims. The author cites many instances of this: even the supernovas of physics, Newton and Einstein, admitted earlier mistakes or had their ideas corrected by others. Most theological reflection, on the other hand, lacks any sort of empirical reference. In other words, theological speculations, disconnected as they are from a close reading of "secular" history, normally make predictions that do not have to agree with observation.

In the last ten years or so theoretical physics has turned cosmology into a subject for scientific discussion and discovery. Can theological speculation accept the challenge of quantum physics and adapt to the conceptual limits that are laid down? Are seminaries prepared to train pastors and teachers to pay attention to the quanta discussions? How might theocentric statements be tested and then sustained or discarded? These are a few of the questions that quantum physics has placed on the theological agenda.

This review has been published in a collection of reviews and articles, That's What I'm Talking About (Nativa 2008). THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT

Stephen W. Hawking is a theoretical physicist who has held the post at Cambridge University once held by Isaac Newton. Hawking writes of attending a conference on cosmology at the Vatican in 1981. At the end of the conference the pope cautioned that scientists should not examine the moment of the creation of the universe because that was the work of God. In his book Stephen Hawking has not heeded the pope's advice. One of his conclusions is that we now have a picture of developments "to about one second after the Big Bang" (p. 118). For Hawking, scientific inquiry has moved from "what" questions right on through to "how" and is at the point of answering "why." As soon as theorists succeed in incorporating the law of gravity into a properly developed and tested grand unification theory (GUT) we will then "know the mind of God" (p. 175).

Hawking writes carefully for the non-specialist. He has taken the trouble to provide a glossary with page references. He has avoided mathematical formulas and has worked hard to find analogies for the abstractions of twentieth-century physics. The universe looks the same from all directions, "rather like a balloon with a number of spots painted on it, being steadily blown up. As the balloon expands, the distance between any two spots increases, but there is no spot that can be said to be the center of the expansion" (p. 42).

Any careful reader can use Hawking's little book (198 pages including introduction, glossary, index, and three excursi on Einstein, Galileo, and Newton) to participate in ongoing discussions about a number of questions that are asked these days primarily by children and physicists. What is nature, and where did it come from? What is time? Is it possible to move backward in time? Is there a beginning or a boundary to the universe? Will the universe come to an end, and what kind of end will it be? What did God do in the beginning, and what role does God play now in the physical world?

The answers to such questions, Hawking believes, are to be found in the inquiries of theoretical physicists. For Hawking, the core of modern physics is quantum mechanics, the development of theories having to do with the movement and the components of energy, as distinguished from classical physics, the study of the properties of matter. Hawking states that quantum physics underlies nearly all of modern science and development, including nuclear power and micro technology and asserts that quantum physics will eventually not only explain the origin of every thing but also predict the future.

A number of ideas compressed into this small book warrant further examination. Hawking writes of a "survival advantage" (p. 12) scientific discovery has conveyed to humankind that can be canceled by further discoveries that "may destroy us all" (p. 12). Life in our sector of the galaxies developed because of disorder in matter that disrupted the generally smooth character of the universe. Hawking suggests that intelligent beings can exist only in an expanding universe. The idea here is that scientific laws are predictable in only one direction through time and that a collapsing universe would cause a reversal of the "arrows of time" (pp. 143 f.) and would thus invalidate human comprehensibility. Hawking speculates about a notion called "the anthropic principle" (p. 124), which appears to mean that the universe is as it is because, if it were not, we would not be around to observe it. But if the anthropic principle is the bottom line then scientific cosmology has become anthropology, and why waste any more time with telescopes or particle accelerators? Hawking suggests that the universe (time and space taken together) is "finite yet without boundary" (p. 136). This is the most arresting and, as yet unprovable of Stephen Hawking's proposals, but he is willing to wait for further observations that may move this idea to a higher degree of probability.

In the midst of all this theorizing Hawking conveys something of the playfulness of many who are engaged in the quantum physics quest. There is mention of a now-discarded theory known as LGM 1-4, LGM standing for "little green men." The explosion that is supposed to have kicked off our expanding universe is commonly known as the Big Bang. The smallest known particles are called quarks and come in flavors; the uniform nature of collapsing stars goes by the maxim "black holes have no hair." (p. 92)

Because theoretical physics has turned very precisely toward the whys of life, theology and ethics will have to pay closer attention. I will give two examples. When did time begin? Hawking offers the idea of a "singularity," a unique event in time at which the laws of science break down and predictability disappears. The Big Bang, therefore, is a singularity, and it may be said that time began with creation itself. From this it follows that time will come to an end when the universe ceases its expansion, collapses into itself, and perhaps sets off another Big Bang. The singularity idea has many implications for the theological dimensions of eschatology as well as for cosmology.

An example of the importance of quantum physics for ethics might be the "uncertainty principle" of Werner Heisenberg (1926), which Hawking refers to as "a fundamental, inescapable property of the world" (p. 55). Briefly, the uncertainty principle asserts that the position and velocity of particles cannot be precisely predicted. Rather, particles exist in a quantum state, which is a combination of position and velocity and which suggests a range of possible locations where particles are likely to be found. This means that we do not live in a deterministic universe where definite results can be expected. This also suggests there is a limit to our capacity to know what is going on.

If results in science are subject to randomness, ought not this principle of uncertainty be recognized when we speak of "good" and "bad" behavior? Isn't it less pretentious and more helpful to think in terms of quantum ethics, which would allow for a range of appropriate actions? I think this kind of approach is in harmony with Jesus' comments about ethical behavior. When asked about the greatest of God's commands he cited the Shemah (Deut. 6:4) and added that "you shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12:29-30). This admonition finds parallels in many traditions and leaves much room for intelligent, responsible reflection-action.

Theoretical physics awaits and accepts the judgment of the future, whose discoveries and experiments either prove, or dismiss earlier claims. The author cites many instances of this: even the supernovas of physics, Newton and Einstein, admitted earlier mistakes or had their ideas corrected by others. Most theological reflection, on the other hand, lacks any sort of empirical reference. In other words, theological speculations, disconnected as they are from a close reading of "secular" history, normally make predictions that do not have to agree with observation.

In the last ten years or so theoretical physics has turned cosmology into a subject for scientific discussion and discovery. Can theological speculation accept the challenge of quantum physics and adapt to the conceptual limits that are laid down? Are seminaries prepared to train pastors and teachers to pay attention to the quanta discussions? How might theocentric statements be tested and then sustained or discarded? These are a few of the questions that quantum physics has placed on the theological agenda.

This review was first published in 1989 and has been republished in a collection of reviews and articles, That's What I'm Talking About (Nativa 2008). THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT

There is much to like in Brenda Joyce's well written novel and a few things that were annoying which brings this book in at a four star rating instead of five.

Firstly, hero Aidan is wonderful. A Master of time travel with other special gifts and sired by a demonic father, he is the epitome of both bad boy and tortured hero combined. After losing his son in the 1400's to his diabolical father, he is bent on destroying his sire even if that means he turns his back on helping others. He, in fact, almost is ambivalent about the needs of others.

This changes when he hears a cry from the present from heroine, Brie, who lives in modern day New York City. Brie is my kind of heroine. She is smart, kind, generous and always willing to do the right thing. Brie is able to empathize completely with others feeling their immense pain but the connection she has with Aidan is so strong that it is almost debilitating. Brie works for a super secret government group that is hunting demons and such. Aidan is no stranger since she met him earlier when he was helping her friend.

Aidan comes to Brie's aid and he takes her a bit unwillingly back to 1502. Brie is captivated by Aidan but he pushes her away as she wants friendship and love from him and he only seeks to use women to replenish his powers. He is on a quest to kill his father and sweet Brie is not going to get in his way. The interaction between these two is wonderful. The kindness in Brie is healing and the sexual tension is blazing. Aidan is changing and even he can't understand how it is happening. There are sweet moments of unselfish acts between the leads.

As for the annoyances of this novel, I had not read all the other books before this one and was a bit in the dark about some of the characters showing up to assist Brie both in modern day times and in the past. It was jarring when people from modern day would just show up in Brie's past; it almost took me out of the story. I also was not a fan of how weird modern day New York seemed with roving soulless gangs of boys and visible demons lurking throughout the city.

Still, even though I am not a huge fan of time travel, this one is really well done, thanks to a terrific hero and lovely heroine.

In the fifteenth century in Loch Awe, Scotland, being a Master of Time, Aidan the Wolf of Awe had pledged his life to keep people safe, but six plus decades have past since he saved an innocent. He had adhered strictly to his vow until he faced the worst dilemma of his life. Vicious Moray blackmailed him into breaking his oath or else Aidan's son would die brutally. Aidan committed the murder demanded by Moray, but the evil one took the child anyway. A distraught Aidan has since become an emotionally crippled hermit.

In 2008 New York City, empathic Brianna Rose's pleads for someone to help her. Heeding the call, his first since Moray destroyed him, Aidan leaps to her. She has had visions and dreams involving Aidan and his son. Brie vows to help this tormented kind soul move on by finding a way to reunite father and son even as Moray has plans for the intruder.

The latest Masters of Time romantic fantasy (see DARK SEDUCTION and DARK RIVAL) is a superb thriller starring a wonderful wounded warrior, a courageous modern woman with a psychic gift, and an odious villain who uses others' love as a weapon to destroy them. In some ways Moray the malevolent steals the show with his twisted usage of love, but his opponents this time include a modern day woman prepared to kick butt whose bravery moves the hero to action. Brenda Joyce provides a strong dark thriller that her fans will relish.

Harriet Klausner

Maybe there's something wrong with me, but lately it seems like my favorite romance authors are getting a little bit lazy and have stopped writing books that make me yearn for more, this book is no exception.
Joyce revisits her Masters of Time Series with Aiden, the Wolf of Awe and, and with the murder of his son by his father Moray we find him a bitter man filled with rage and the desire to die. Brie Rose is an empath who feels the pain from Aiden across centuries (he is a highland warrior, she a modern day New Yorker). Based on a prior meeting she thinks she is in love with him but believes herself to be too plain and boring to receive love in return.
Blah, blah, blah he finds her, she tries to heal his pain etc. Am I the only one that thinks this plot has been done before? My biggest problem with this book is that I really liked the Aiden of prior books and would have liked to see more of him, but the plot of this novel only showed us the wimpy man that was so hurt all he cared for was death and destruction. Brie's love was so blind and I'm not sure what it was really based on, it just came out of no where and seemed a little undeveloped to me. I just couldn't get into it that well. The ending has some redeeming qualities, but overall I would just wait until you can check it out at the library. I really like a lot of her prior books, but this one fell short for me.

It seems like the entire romance industry is obsessed with demonic series romance. So Brenda Joyce hopped on the trend last year with the Masters of Time Series.

If you read the first two entries, you are either going to love or hate this book. There is very little in between.

This book is huge departure for the Masters of Time series. The is the story of Brie Rose and Aidan, Wolf of Awe, the happy-go-lucky-designer-loving-playboy who readers met in the first two books.

After the build up of Aidan's funny, sexy character in the first two books, this story is a huge disappointment. Aidan is no longer carefree, hardened from the "death" of his son by the hands of his deamonic father Moray. Yet for a man harded by pain, death and war, Aidan is a wishy washy vestige of manhood (especially when compared to the other Masters). He frequently blushes like a teenager. His redemption also proceeds at warp speed.

My other large complaint is that TWO WHOLE LOVE SCENES are thin (like 1-2 pages) and are more like an afterthought she popped in the book at the last minute.

Brenda did a passable job, at best. Save your money, go buy Gena Showalter's new series, published this srping. At least she did not get lazy on book 3. Or you can buy Karen Marie Moning who delights readers for 7 books.

Paranormal fans are in for a treat with Brenda Joyce's DARK EMBRACE, Book #3 in her fantastic Master's Of Time(tm) series for HQN (Sept. 2008). In present day New York City, 26-year-old, nerdy, myopic virgin, Brianna Rose is thrilled to be employed by the Center for Demonic Activity, a secret government agency dedicated to the war on evil and is content to fight dark forces throughout the ages at her computer. She works in the Historical Crimes Unit finding matches between current targets and demons operating in the past. As a Rose woman, Brie is gifted and extremely empathic to others pain especially highland warrior, Aidan, the Wolf of Awe, who she's met briefly, fantasizes about daily and dreams of nightly! When Brie wakes from a nightmare in great pain, she knows Aidan is in terrible danger and upon further research discovers he was hanged for treason and his stone effigy is atop a medieval tomb. In 1502 Scotland, Aidan is not only a fierce highlander but also one of the Masters of Time, sworn to defend mankind from evil. However, Aidan has turned from his god given calling and for years has been on a rampage of destruction seeking retribution for the death of his beloved young son, Ian by the hands of his evil demon father, Moray, who has convinced Aidan that he is also a deamhan. The hardened Aidan, who is also a shape-shifter wolf, has no feelings for women except to use them for sex to gain power that he needs to destroy his father. However, during some of his darkest moments he senses Brie, who wants to help him. When Aidan senses it is Brie, who needs his help one night from attackers on the streets of NYC, he time travels to her rescue. After Brie calls her boss, who shows up at her apartment threatening Aidan, Aidan sweeps Brie back to his time with him. Will Brie be able to stop Aidan from marching on Inverness with his men and ultimately being hanged? Will they find out what really happened to young Ian, who appears to Brie as a ghost? And finally, will Brie and Aidan's intense attraction for each other lead to her seduction and his salvation? Don't miss the enthralling DARK EMBRACE in Brenda Joyce's Masters Of Time(tm) series which offers readers all they could want in a paranormal romance: extraordinary lovers and their fiery passion for each other woven into a uniquely intricate plot.

I have been looking for a book that gets right to the heart of HDR photography. I have read several books on the subject or what was to have been on the subject only to find out there was very little actual HDR instructions in these books. I decided to try one more when I bought this book, and I wish I would have bought it first. This book in very informative on all aspects of HDR photography and is not an introduction to photography like some of the others I read. If your interested at all in this type of photography and you want full and complete instructions, this is the book to buy. Excellent study book, and the photos inside are really beautiful. This book has ignited a very very deep interest in me to get out and start using the techniques explained. Get this Book

A very informative book with brillant photography,a great guide to getting started with high dynamic range photography for all levels of photograhers.Easily explains all aspects of high dynamic range and the post processing that is involved with the different programs that are available for doing this type of photography.

This book is definitely worth reading if you have photography background but are just getting into HDR. I've been a professional photographer for over 10 years, but just started playing with HDR for personal projects. This book provides a solid introduction to the concepts of HDR and the tools that are currently available on the market.

This is the best HDR book I have read. It covers all the important issues of HDR and gives your the tools to execute dynamic images.

High Dynamic Range (HDR) Photography presents an opportunity to capture pictures that look more like the real world. Even though this book is not perfect, the subject is important enough for serious photographers to take the time to read the book and experiment with the technique.

Because the range of light that the human eye can see is far greater than what cameras can photograph, it's not uncommon for photographs to show impenetrable shadows or burnt out highlights where the human eye saw detail. Photographers have had some success ameliorating the condition with things like levels and merging and masking in Photoshop. Now HDR promises to extend the light range a great deal further.

After an overview of HDR photography, the author discusses methods of capturing images for HDR processing. He next presents a discussion of two major tools of HDR photography, merging and tone mapping, and then describes the processing of an image in one of the HDR programs, Photomatix Pro. Next he describes the HDR programs available (including Photoshop's apparently second-rate facility) and compares the results of the different programs using several images. The book then discusses post processing of the HDR image, and provides additional tips on making the original capture. The author finishes up by describing special techniques like flash merging, panoramas and single image HDR processing. Sprinkled throughout the book are the portfolios of several HDR artists.

Because I found it difficult to grasp the processing techniques just from the written word, I downloaded trial versions of some of the available HDR programs, and I prepared a set of photographs with different exposure values to use whenever McCollough suggested a particular technique. Even though I felt that McCollough could have given more explicit instructions on the use of the various converters, I was able to create images that demonstrated a far greater range of light then any individual image I had captured, or then images that I was able to adjust in Photoshop.

Because our eyes have become accustomed to the limited range of standard photographs, many of the author's photographs appeared to be too vivid, although when I considered the sample HDR images I had created, I realized that they seemed to reflect the actual light values I had seen when taking the pictures. On the other hand McCollough has no objection to pushing the range of light beyond what the human eye can see to create surrealistic pictures for artistic impact.

I wish that, rather then providing a step-by-step explanation of processing of an image in Photomatix Pro, the author had provided an actual tutorial that the reader could follow on his or her own computer, using downloaded images that the author provided. I guess I really want a book called "the Complete Guide to Photomatix Pro". On the other hand I would also have liked to see full demonstrations of the other available software, similar to the demonstrations provided in "Mastering HDR Photography: Combining Technology and Artistry to Create High Dynamic Range Images" by Michael Freeman.

Because HDR works best where there is no subject movement, the techniques contained in this book are most likely to be applicable to landscape and still life photography. However, it appears there are also opportunities in single image HDR photography for moving subjects.

I am certain that as HDR matures we will be presented with many volumes that can show us how to use this technology, but for now at least, this an excellent place to start.

Great ideas. I gave it as a gift but skimmed it prior to wrapping it. Good stuff

I didn't know this book would list the dumb things to do before you die. I'll pass on the bog swimming, testicle festivals and penis parades for the real eventss I don't want to miss like the Balloon Fiesta.

"100 Things to do Before You Die: Travel Events You Just Can't Miss" by Dave Freeman and Neil Teplica is a travel book for those who like adventure, "living on the edge," and somewhat of an avante garde approach to life. It is NOT for the "faint of heart" or most senior citizens (although it depends on the seniors).

100 Things provides information on such festivals and events as: Academy Awards Ceremony (which is REALLY difficult to get into); World Campionship Punkin' Chunkin' , North American Rainbow Gathering, Mardi Gras, Custer's Last Stand Reenactment, Testicle Festival, Roswell UFO Encounter, etc. As you can tell these events CAN be pretty bizarre (but never dull).

The book's events are divided by both country and, in the back, by month, which is helpful.

Unfortunately, the book only lists their own "whatsgoingon.com" website as internet info on the events. This would have been great, but it hasn't been in service lately. This glitch may be temporary, or the website may no longer cease to exist - but I would make sure that the website was up and running before I purchased the book.

According to my opinion absolutely useless book - seems that authors just "copy -paste" infomation from different sources. Also I disgaree with other reviewers that book is giving some practical information concerning participation in certian events. Having seen some of the events (places) what authors are describing I consider that information sometimes is misleading. Not to mention format and layout of the book - you really do not want to hold in hands such book, especially about travelling.

This book is the worst. The suggestions of things to do are just plain aweful. It seems to suggest every crowded fair and typical tourist attraction in any city. This would be great if you love crowds and mayhem. The suggestions are useless. New Years Eve in Times square? Mardi Gras? Acadamy Awards? Carnaval? Who's not aware of these events? It could have some redeaming qualities if it had suggestions about where to stay and how to plan these types of trips, but it does not offer any other information than the dates and location. Nobel Prize Ceremonies? Running of the Bulls? Come on!!!! What a waste of paper, money and time.

The author has painted a sympathetic picture of China, more realistic of the existent problems facing billions of Chinese people, instead of sticking to the useless ideological issues like social system, etc. The book tells readers the best things that the government has done regarding human rights is to make sure billions of people are free from cold and starvation. People do not need empty talks about freedom and democracy when their stomaches are empty and they do not have enough clothes against cold weather.

Great book!

A must read during these times when China is in the news every day. The best balanced view of what is going on there.

I was initially intrigued with the China "road trip" concept that is the backbone ofthe book. The narrative about the trip was fantastic. You are drawn into the sights and sounds of places far removed from Shanghai and Beijing and his interactions with real Chinese people from throughout the country and very insightful.

Mr. Gifford does a great job of explaining why things might be the way they are in China based on historical and cultural reasons. If you don't know much about key pieces of Chinese history not only does he provide background information, but links it to understanding China today.

I was completely naive as to some of China's practices regarding their one child policy and found this very disturbing. This and the corruption that runs rampant throughout the country is very troubling in terms of quality of life for Chinese people. You come to empathize with their situation and perhaps gain a better understanding as to why they are as determined as they are for economic growth.

Five stars for both a great journey and an informative look at where China is today, why it is the way it is, and some interesting perspectives on what the future may hold. Read it!!

When I saw that the author worked for PBS, I thought propaganda, red flag, don't buy, etc. Well I bought it anyway, and was glad I did. Gifford does a great job painting contemporary China on a printed page. Gifford, obviously identifies with the Chinese, but he hasn't gone completely native. His ability to speak Chinese opens doors and allows him to relate the thoughts of ordinary Chinese and minorities living in 'China' to the reader. Here is my perspective: I loved Paul Theroux's RIDING THE RED ROOSTER. Theroux rode the trains, while Gifford travels by road. Theroux wrote about some of the obnoxious habits of the Chinese, like spitting and seeing all Caucasians as big nosed White devils. Gifford has not wrote that yet (I'm 2/3 through the book). Also, Gibbon's gives more in terms of historical background to bring the reader up to speed. So like Theroux, but different; but destined to be a classic. A great book which brings the reader up to speed relative to contemporary China. Strongly recommended.

For me, this book raised the perennial writers' struggle between showing vs. telling. I wish Gifford would have done less of the latter. When he presents characters and situations, the book can be downright powerful. But then he waters it down with what I think is way too much of him giving his own opinion about China, at which time the material slides into shallowness or possibly (I wonder) personal bias. I'd give this book 10 stars if Gifford would have let it really be about China, as opposed to his having forced China to share the stage with himself.

This book surprised me. It is written in an ironic complaining voice, funny but not terribly moving. As I read on, however, I was captured by the injured life that unfolded. What more can you ask of a novel. It makes you laugh, it makes you cry.

Ok, can we say too many unnecessary cuss words? It is not even likable. You can't even get past the front page without being assaulted with a cuss word in every sentence. Can't he tell his story without all that garbage? The story lacks character and plot that flows and captures the reader. It is boring and filled with unnecessary ramblings.

Imagine having the plane to your daughter's wedding canceled . . . you
wouldn't be happy camper . . . in fact, you might even write a complaint
letter.

That's the premise behind DEAR AMERICAN AIRLINES, a funny but sad
first novel by Jonathan Miles . . . his main character, Bennie Ford, winds
up trapped in Chicago's O'Hare airport.

So he starts writing a letter--one that never ends . . . it actually runs
the full length of the book (some 180 pages) and covers a wide range
of subjects, including the joys of sitting in the waiting area chairs:

* Enclosed please find my sciatic nerve. Due to the wear and tear
on it from hours upon hours in this miserable fu*king O'Hare
seating--these patent-pending O'Chairs--I am sending it to you for speedy
repair. A return envelope is also enclosed, which you may address to me
care of the wheelchair bank across from Gate K8, Chicago, Ill.

I also got a kick out of how Bernie's mind rambled to include
the facility's bathrooms:

* For the past ten minutes or so, among other activities, I've been pondering why
airport bathrooms hardly ever feature graffiti. Truckstop bathrooms serve much
the same purpose--as pitstops for travelers on the go--yet their walls are
almost always festooned with rich commentary. Jesus saves! (The rejoinder:
But Satan invests.) Don't look for a joke here, it's in your hand. Please don't
toss cigarette butts in the toilet, it makes them hard to light. John 3:16.
(Rejoinder: Matthew 3:20--just missed you.) Etc. And my personal favorite,
which I saw scrawled on a condom machine in an Allentown, PA, truckstop:
Insert baby for refund.

That last one actually had me laughing out loud . . . good thing I wasn't
in an airport, in that the folks there would have probably wondered
about me.

The author even came up with such investment ideas as the following:

*It occurs to me that those whizbang handheld slot machines might
be a good investment for you. Here's how it would work:
Passengers would be handed one of the machines with their boarding
pass. At the gate, thirty minutes prior to the scheduled departure,
everyone would have to take a spin at the very same time. If everyone
hits jackpot simultaneously, a massive cheer goes up and the plane
departs on time. If not, they wait one hour and try again. The upside for
you is that we passengers would bemoan our bad luck rather than
castigate you. Fate would get the blame, not the poor attendants
who in this scenario will just shrug and smile and bid us better
luck next time. Your planes would take off at about their normal rate
but the populist heat would be diverted. See? I offer this idea to you
gratis though you should feel encouraged to cite me in the press release.
It would make my mother so proud to see me in the business pages.
In fact, here's my quote: " 'Americans love gambling, but their main
form of gambling--heading to the airport--has been flagrantly rigged
for years,' said Benjamin Ford, a transportation consultant who
devised the system for the Texas-based airline. 'The Jackpot Take-Off
from American Airlines is a game of pure chance, and takes the flying
game out of corporate hands and delivers it into the hands of the
people.' " Tweak as needed, and you're welcome.

What a concept!

And what a book DEAR AMERICAN AIRLINES is . . . it's the perfect
thing to read on your next plane trip.

Even while feeling the anger and frustration of flight cancellations, it is not enough just to write to American Airlines for a refund. All the now conscious thinking regarding the consequences, or imagined consequences of this predicament, are coming to mind.

Trying to stay busy in an airport by doing some translating work becomes interspersed with the imagined emotional responses of this flight cancellation. Boored behavior exhibits itself.

I find it fascinating to read how a mind can jump from one subject to another--although we all do this all day, every day.

Scary thing, the mind.

Benny Miles is 53, single and a failed poet who now translates Polish novels.

"The last poem I published was in 1965; the last poem I wrote, not counting the ditty above, came maybe a year later. It would be false modesty to say no one noticed though just barely. Mostly, it was an amicable split. That great old line of Larkin's - `I haven't given up poetry; poetry has given me up' - doesn't apply here. No, exhausted from decades of quarreling, we each gave up on the other."

He is a recovering alcoholic who is twice-divorced - the first being a "shot-gun marriage" after hot summer fling with Stella who learned she was pregnant - the second marriage lasting shorter than the blink of an eye. Stella dumped the boozing, "searching" Benny and took their infant daughter Stella (aka as Speck) and moved to California to live with her Parents. Told him that she'd had it with the lack of love in the marriage and his indifference to her and to Speck. Benny has minimal contact with his daughter. Years later, Speck invites Benny to her wedding - Benny accepts in an effort to reconcile and make amends. He buys a $392.86 ticket on American Airlines. The flight is re-routed to Peoria for inexplicable reasons and he has to bus to O'Hare to catch his connecting flight. The flight is rescheduled for the next day putting him on the edge of being late for one of his daughter's most important life events - on the cusp of failing to be there for her yet once again - while he is stranded with thousands of other hostile and disgruntled passengers pleading to catch an earlier flight.

There are 4 plot lines weaved in this thin 180-page novel:

1) Benny writing a complaint letter to American Airlines and waiting at O'Hare trying to catch the next flight. (1/6 of the novel)

2) Benny writing about his parents, his Father a holocaust survivor turned mechanic and his Mother a "case for a psychological bomb squad."

"They were less parents than cellmates and we all privately marked off the days of our confinement. My father won this grim contest by dying when I was fifteen - the victim of an unexpected heart attack that struck him in his sleep. For so sudden a death, and at a such a pregnable age for me, it was a strangely unemotional passing. He was only forty-eight but his death felt like that of a nursing home patient who'd been bedridden and cancer-racked for year: an act of mercy, a gift rather than a theft. I don't even remember even crying at his funeral. I felt as if I was waving goodbye as he embarked upon a new and better adventure. Send me a postcard, Tata. Be brave."

3)Benny's marriage to Stella and the birth of their daughter.

4) Benny translating a Polish Novel called "The Free State of Trieste" - a story about a soldier (Walenty) who is hit with a mortar shell and treated by an incompetent surgeon leading to his leg being amputated. The solider is recovering from the trauma and trying to find his way home to Poland when he encounters other situations beyond his control. While Walenty seemingly is battered by forces outside of his control, Benny wrestles with whether he made bad choices and was perhaps too indifferent about key relationships (Stella & Speck) which he now regrets. Both are seeking a better way forward in life.

"You can't escape what you are be it possum or poet. Maybe you get what you get. Or as the old saw goes: You buy your ticket, you take your chance."

Overall, my assessment of the book:

1) Beware: "R" rated (coarse language, sexual content)

2) Brilliant writing. Hard to imagine this is his first book. Author is able to weave highly intelligent rambling into slapstick, wit, humor, cynicism, sarcasm and heart breaking/tugging moments - trading 4 story lines listed above like alternatively eating sugar and lemon and back again.

3) If you've ever been stranded at O'Hare, Miles will place you there as if you sat with him in an overnight layover - capturing the environment, the mood, the shops, the security, the agonizing wait in uncomfortable chairs.

4) The book is 180-pages but dense. Not necessarily a page turner. The injection of the plot line regarding Walenty in the Polish to English translation may be too ambitious (or too much) for a short 180 page book - therein lies my 4 rating instead of a 5.

The book is worthy...

I really looked forward to this book and will give it kudos for being nicely written. Quite frankly though I found the story lame. It follows the poor planning, bad decision making, and vast ego of Teddy Roosevelt. He picks the wrong people and endangers many others for an expedition that if anyone else were involved the book would be called Fools Rush In. Right from the start you know their doomed and sure enough its let the suffering begin. By the time the book was over I hoped never to hear another thing about good old Teddy and his over indulged family again. He stands despite attempts in the book to make him bigger than life an exploded ego driven by celebrity. If your a Teddy fan I'd pass on this book. If you like reading about people making really dumb decisions (ie picking a guy who failed at an artic expedition to plan you tropical one) and almost dying from them then this is the book for you.

This fascinating account of Theodore Roosevelt's disastrous trip on the River of Doubt is well-written and meticulously researched. It has many "micro histories" on the flora and fauna of Brazil (hint: don't read this outside around a lot of bugs) as well as the native peoples of the region. My only frustration had to do with all the diversions when, on a few occasions, I just wanted to find out what happened next. The epilogue tells the reader the sometimes tragic personal stories once the journey ended and was one of the portions of the book that I shall remember the most. I read this as a book club assignment and we had a lengthy and lively discussion on Roosevelt, his son, and the men who played such a critical part of their journey. If you like a lot of detail in harrowing stories of exploration and adventure, this would be a perfect choice.

Wonderful Read
Candice Millard's book about Theodore Roosevelt's darkest journey, The River of Doubt, is absolutely superb. 5+ stars. Not only does Ms. Millard's work read like a suspense thriller, but it is very informative, highly educational and all true as well. The book is about Teddy Roosevelt's nearly disastrous exploration of the then unknown Amazon after his humiliating presidential defeat in 1912. During the difficult journey both TR and his son Kermit almost die while most in the expedition feared they ALL would. It is an amazing and educational book not only about TR the man, but also about the mysterious, dangerous, unknown Amazon of 1914. It is the best non-fiction book I've read in the last few years.
Ms. Millard writes in a very engaging style. Very well documented, The River of Doubt presents this extreme exploration challenge of a then unknown Amazon tributary in such a way as to reel the reader into the heart of the adventure. You actually feel as if you are on the trek along with Teddy Roosevelt and the other explorers. Feeling their heartaches, emotional swings, fears, and physical victories and failures, you root for their success. As the expedition nears disaster and TR faces death, the expedition finally reaches the outside world and success.
An amazing story that will keep you on the edge of your seat, I heartily recommend this superb book. It is one of the best biographical works I have read in several years.
Enjoy.

If the events in this book weren't so well documented I would have accused the author of making them up to increase the drama. I haven't been so engaged in a story in a long time.

An amazing story, extremely well excuted by the author.

I first bought this for my brother in law, and he couldn't stop raving about it. I had planned on buying myself a copy at some point anyway, but after hearing him talk about it, I decided to buy it a little sooner than planned. I wasn't sure what to expect from it, but it turned out to be a very good read. It's not written as an adventure novel - It's simply a play-by-play of what happened, and what some of the participants wrote about it. One could liken it to watching something on the History Channel - basically just giving the facts, but less dry than being told in a textbook. The passages of quoted letters, etc. work like the personal commentaries would - just giving a little extra insight to what the people were feeling. What I really liked about it though, was that it didn't focus solely on Roosevelt and his party - you also were given insight into the previously unknown inhabitants of the rainforest (both people and animals). The author also didn't try to paint the native people as "savages". While their violent acts were depicted, their reasons for such were explained. Their way of life, of "kill or be killed" was how they survived the violent unpredictable world around them. I think Millard did a wonderful job with this book, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who's even remotely interested in history.