Bond Reviews

A slim collection of Bond short stories not published until after the author's death. Dealing as they do with greed, betrayal and conscience they are a worthy addition to any Bond aficionado's collection of stories about the man from 'the Ministry of Defence'.

'Octopussy' is the study of a man in decline, as one Major Smythe, wracked by guilt over a wartime episode, gradually loses his will to live. With his secret almost mercifully exposed by a stranger, he makes his exit in the most bizarre manner since Dr No himself.

'The Property of a Lady' is a real curiosity with the final action set inside the main sale room of Sotheby's, of all places. Here Bond, aided by the suitably ice-cool Faberge expert, Mr Snowman, attempts to expose a pay-off to a Soviet spy involving a Faberge 'Object of Vertu'.

'The Living Daylights' is a melancholy tale about a 'hit' that has been assigned to Bond. It is deemed necessary in order to allow an agent, '272', to escape unhindered across from Soviet occupied East Berlin. Bond is cooped up in a small, musty apartment with the rather officious 'Number 2' of West Berlin station and eventually falls foul of him when he hesitates at the last second as the identity of his target becomes clear. The two men make an interesting combination. In Bond we see a man still guided by humanity and in Captain Sender (Number 2) we see a man guided by nothing more than rules.

Three stories then to add to the already impressive litany of Bond adventures, and three stories that reveal more about the characters themselves than about any plot. As short stories they are unable to develop any kind of fast-paced, multi-faceted, globe-trotting battle between good and evil that make up the backbones of so many Bond adventures. However, in limiting themselves into looking into why people do the things they do and the consequences of actions they are no less interesting and thought provoking.

Just a quick note...this is an accessory for the James Bond Role Playing Game (like Dungeons & Dragons). It is not a fiction novel.

Wayne Gralian
Wayne's World of Books / Krakow RPGs

This delightful Board Book shows Paddington's daily routines. The watercolor illustrations help connect the actions to the words in the book. This helps children learn the words and book easier. Used in a story hour program, the children loved the book's rhyming pattern and actions. Any toddler would love this book in their collection.

My thirteen month old granddaughter can read this book all day. Charming illustrations in this board book accompany Paddington from dawn to dusk. This book has a very homey, comforting feel to it. It is very short, just right for a toddler's short attention span. For a fun short read, Paddington Bear is a great choice.

I am thinking about starting my own small business & found this book to contain very good info about what to do & even more important what not to do. Gives both the pros & cons of starting your own business in a enjoyable reading style but does not sugar coat the difficulties involved. I found lots of helpful info about who to contact & where to go to get both additional info & purchasing wholesale.

Retail in Detail, How to start and manage a small retail business, was the most informative book I have read to date. In all the information out there to help you decide what to do and when, it gets a bit overwhelming. This book broke down very important points and explains them in detail. Other areas are hit lightly but you are given a variety of other areas of interest to answer them whether it is another book, etc. I will keep this with me for a long time.

This guide has a complete listing of the books and movies up to "The World is Not Enough." It's a light and entertaining read for casual Bond fans or for people who don't know much about the older Bond movies, like myself. However, I can't imagine that hardcore Bond fans could enjoy this. Probably those fans know more about Bond than is included in this book. The listings for the books are about a page each, and for the movies rarely exceeds two pages. So if you've seen all the movies or read all the books, then I don't recommend it for you. However, if you'd like to have an introduction into the world of Bond, it's an excellent book. I thouroughly enjoyed it from cover to cover.

This is one of those books for someone who wants to know as much about James Bond as possible in just a short amount of time. It gives you just what it promises, a rough history about Bond. If you truly want to impress people with your knowledge about 007 you need to research more. But if you want to just get by in a conversation about Bond this is the book for you. So I recommend this for anyone who needs to know about the most famous secret agent out there in just 007 minutes.

Okay so Davisons out of print but it's so much better (and called Group Theory For Chemists)! This book is a bit badly laid out, doesn't explain things very well and is pretty much useless unless you already have at least a simple grasp of Group Theory. I don't know what awful libraries you lot in Cleveland have but this is certainly not a particularly good book.

In this text, Dr. Kettle presents the most lucent introduction available for students wishing to attain an understanding of Group Theory for chemical applications. The text is not overly mathematical in its presentation, setting it apart from the numerous other texts available on this subject. After having read this text, a student is amply able to understand discussions of group theory with respect to spectroscopy or otherwise.

This book shows that children in the 50's weren't as docile and obedient as your grandparents claim they were. Alice, the main character, constantly bickers with her mother, who has unwillingly dragged her to New Zealand(of all places!). In places, the book is sarcastic and funny, but I docked it major points for being rather boring in the beginning. Along with the normal problems of moving and being the new kid at school, Alice has to move into an intimidating old mansion with a lady that hates kids and an uncooperative, grumpy old man, and also discovers a mystery regarding her origins.

This book, Truth to Tell, is about a young girl called Alice who is being dragged halfway around the world by her mother, who is going to help an eccentric old lady, Miss Emilia Fairchild, write a book about her house. Alice hates New Zealand, and more, she has a stepfather. She struggles to find out who her true father was, for she looks like Len,her stepfather, but how can that be? Her mother claims that her father was killed during the war, but why had she never met her father's parents? Mrs.Fairchild then says, "It's a wise father that knows his own child," and Alice has to find out who her father was, and, more importantly, who she is. I loved this book because it offers wonderful insight into a girl's struggles to grasp a situation that's out of her control and find out who she is.

This book was written by a journalist who interviewed all the siblings of several families. The descriptions of the people that she met were well-drawn. The author also outlined some of the concepts that have been put forth by psychologists studying sibling relationships and character development. These were interesting, and went beyond the most usual system of birth order characterization.

My intent in reading this book was to gain some insight on some pernicious troubles that persevere in my relationships with my own siblings. This book didn't seem very helpful in that light. A few of the relationships had some undercurrents, or outright problems, but there wasn't a lot of narrative about solving the problems. The problematic relationships seemed to be glossed over by the subjects themselves, so that there wasn't even any material that gave me a chance to see problems similar to my own from the other perspective.

My daughter loves the tale about Tom Kitten and his sisters, Moppet and Mittens. Their mother dresses them in fancy clothes for a tea party but the kittens mess-up and lose their clothes. It reminds me of when I was a young girl, and didn't quite enjoy wearing stiff, fancy clothes. The antics of animals dressed in clothes appeals to the younger children.

All About Growing Orchids provides a wealth of information for the beginner orchid grower and dispels the myth that orchids are difficult to grow. Attractively laid out (and priced), the easy to read text is complemented by colorful drawings and excellent photographs. Written primarily with the home hobbyist in mind, many of the photographs depict orchids displayed in the home, which should inspire readers to fully exploit the potential of these breathtaking flowers for home decoration.

To cover all this territory in 96 pages is a challenge and All About Growing Orchids succeeds admirably. What are the drawbacks? The biggest is that the Orchid Selection Guide, though it provides an excellent overview of the different types of orchids to grow in a few pages, inevitably has to resort to some generalities. The information on orchid sources is also due for an update, and the book could benefit from a guide to orchid resources on the Worldwide Web. Nevertheless, armed with this book, beginner orchid growers will be well on their way to learning how to grow and bloom orchids in their homes.

I read Barry Bonds stars of sport
I thought it was cool because berry bonds played for the Pittsburgh Pirates
And the San Francisco Giants and those are my favorite teams.
I think people who play baseball will really like this book!
I recommend this book because this book is a great informational book about
Baseball