Bond Reviews

This book is a compilation of love stories and poems from the classical literature and folklore of India by Mr. Ruskin Bond; who is the India's best-loved author.

The collection includes the stories by well-known works like Kalidasa's Meghadutam and Prince Ilango Adigal's Shilappadikaram as well as the lesser-known writers of ancient India. The book featured many charming stories of Hindu gods and goddesses in love, and nineteenth-century retellings of folk tales from Kashmir, Punjab, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. The book is both passionate and sensuous in its contents and is sure to appeal to the romantic in all of us.

Yesterday night, I saw the play "Saved", by Edward Bond, with 2 friends of mine. It was translated in Greek, but I'm sure it doesn't lose anything of the original English text in the translation, which was excellent. The play lasted a little more than 3 hours, which in itself was exhausting. So, one first comment is that, while "Saved" is good writing, & the characters come alive...still, why 3 hours? Definitely overlong, in my opinion.

"Saved" is basically the story of a family. A father & mother, who hate each other & won't even address each other by name, but still live in the same house. Their daughter, who is a very sick young woman, maybe suffers from bipolar disorder & clearly has severe psychological problems. This woman, Pam, forms a relationship with a young man (Len) who seems kind of a loser, but is kind & caring nontheless. In the beginning, they promise that they'll be different from Pam's parents...but of course, this promise soon, too soon, is forgotten. Still, Len is the only person that stands by Pam, when she's most in need, & even after she falls desperately in love with another man, who couldn't care less about her.

The rest of the story I won't reveal. "Saved" is basically the story of extreme unhappiness in one family, a family that choses silence & sometimes loud, violent fights over talking & trying to communicate. They don't know HOW to communicate, all they know is shouting, hating, throwing things & crying. This is a very sad (but powerful) play, very violent at parts, which is the reason for the 3 stars: I can understand & appreciate characters with problems. But there's one scene which has to do with a baby, which broke my heart while I was watching it, & which I can't seem to get over. I know it is a powerful scene, & I know that many people might argue that it's the most meaningful scene in the play. But I just found it too cruel to be meaningful.

My mother told me my step-father was finally learning Spanish, so I purchased this for him as a Christmas gift. Unfortunately, his Spanish studies went nowhere, but I did get to share the book with my children, who are both learning Spanish. While the text was simple enough for a 9 year old to follow, it simply didn't have the same rhythm, charm, and cuteness that the English versions of the "Mouse" books. Illustrations are nice, however, and my kids enjoyed it.

As a bond trader, I find this book highly academic in its content rather than be a sort of trader's manual. It sounds more like the stuff to be r4ead by bank managers and portfolio managers but not too interesting for the average options speculator.

It therefore provides an education into how the market works. The difference can be seen by comparing a manual that tells you how to drive a car and another one that describes all the parts and tell you how what works.

Therefore purchasers of this book should know what they want. For an academic treatment, it is probably the best book. From a trading standpoint of practical use it may be useful but less than some might expect.

In general, I have found the Sword of Truth series to be very enjoyable and have recommended the books to many; however this last book has been extremely difficult to read.

Frequently, Goodkind preaches to the reader for countless pages concerning issues that are clearly reflective of world politics during the last couple years (9-11, Iraq, so forth and so on). The quality and definition of his characters are frequently flushed down the toilet during his extensive babbling over the meaning and value of freedom. At times it is unbelievably hard to distinguish between the inner monologues of the main characters because they all seem to blend together in tone and singular message. At times you find yourself begging he'd just drop the issue and move on with the story.

While I'm proud of my country and our way of life, I read to get away from reality and the media. I don't need my diversions to become a source of another point of view on world politics. I hope Goodkind remembers the personalities and admirable qualities he gave to each of the characters we have come to love, and reasserts them in future books. As is, I can barely recognize the characters as the same from previous books.

In short, this latest book shows a complete lack of effort on Goodkind's part. It lacks the imagination and cleverness that I have come to expect. The plot fluctuates between predictable and absurd, and the actions taken by the characters seem uncharacteristic and overly simplistic. Goodkind let his personal feelings for world politics influence his writing and the result is a book that nags the reader with a singular message from the author, leaving the reader disappointed from cover to cover.

I am a little over half way through this book. I have read all of his books in this series. I have not really been impressed with any of his books to begin with nor with his writing. I consider his books to be fillers between the Jordan books, even though Jordan's last was horrible and frustrating. Goodkind seems to have very little that is original, or at least he cannot present an old idea with a fresh face. Come one, Sisters of the Light? > Aes Sedai? Sisters of the Dark? > Black Ajah? Mud men? > Aiel? Sword of Truth? > Sword of Shannara?

I also tend to get a little annoyed when he has the characters go round and round discussing the same thing over and over again for 40 or 50 pages. This happens a lot in this book. I really wish that he would write more about Nathan and have him do something. I also don't think he has enough Zed in the books. This book did not have enough substance and I don't really believe that he has any intention of finishing anytime soon.

Once again, his books are generally decent to read, but few of them are memorable to me. I do have to admit, that his stories have definately gone down hill. His last two books have been pretty bad.

Do you remember getting getting goosebumps when Richard was named "The Seeker of Truth"? Do you remember how misty eyed you got when Gratch hugged Richard and said he "luuuuugggged" him when Richard tried to send him away? Or how you turned away from your computer at work to sneak a few pages in when Richard got captured by the Mord Sith? You ain't getting that emotion here or in the previous two books.

Actually, I'm wrong, there is one point in the book where that kind of emotion did briefly make an appearance. And that is with the reintroduction of two favorite characters that we haven't seen nor heard from for several books. Mainly because it was a link to the past books. Unfortunately great characters like Scarlet and Gratch seem to have been forgotten.

What I want from the next book or books is this: Richard, Kahlan, Cara, Zedd to be back together in D'Hara. I want Gratch and Scarlett to at least be mentioned (even though it was eluded to during the Pillars of Creation that Scarlet's kind may no longer exist). I want to see the Mord Sith worry the hell out of Richard by constantly protecting him. I want Chandelen and the Mud People. I want and epic battle when Jagang Order meet the D'Harans. I want more Nathan. And I want Richard to learn how to use his damn magic. I want goosebumps, misty eyes and I want to read at work when I should be working.

Having read a few of the books that she has edited, I was very disappointed in this one. The stories did not reach out and grab me the way that I expected them to. I would defintlty say you are better off with one of her other works

This book contains three short stories. The first one, Slaver's Luck is duplicated in SM Visions by the same publisher. The cover and illustrations are amateurish, but the writing is good for this genre. My main complaint is that the book(let) is so small. I read the whole thing is under an hour.

Three short stories by three different authors take us into the world of magic, violence, and sex. The first story is one of my favorites not just because it features a female dominant and a male submissive, but because we have enough time to empathize with both characters. The second story does not spend as much time on character development, we don't understand really how the elvish princess becomes a slave, but for those of the male dominant and female submissive bent it may be worth reading. The third story is gay in nature and gives us insight into the romantic aspects of fantasy erotica. For the price, it is worth purchasing.

I agree with much of what has already been said as far as the amount of filler and the editorial glitches. And can anyone figure out the last chart -- table 11.1? These numbers make no sense and don't even correspond with the info on table 9.1. I began the book with some excitement but ended up feeling very uncertain about the method.

I think the ideas in this book are absolutely crucial to investors, but I'm dissappointed by its inconsistencies & omissions. There is no concrete demonstration of how O'Higgins arrived at such spectacular returns, for example, in a particular year, by investing in zero-coupon bonds. 24% annual return is awesome, but it would be nice to see an example of how this would happen in a particular year, some hard data for the novice investor to see (not just total annual returns, year by year). Especially someone (like me) who knows virtually nothing about bonds are finds it hard to beleive that this "safe" investment could provide an 80% return in _one year_. He does not go through even one example to illustrate the process of allocation of his portfolio, so there are some details that I have not figured out after several readings. He also suggests in his section about stocks that he will later explain how to invest in small-caps, since they outperform blue-chips over time, but he never does, at least not in _this_ book! (Maybe this book was pieced together from sections of his old book, Beating the Dow?) I am deeply suspicious that no one edited this book as a whole work, that it was a cut-and-paste job with some new chapters on bonds.

Some information he provides like pieces of a puzzle and later uses, expecting the reader to put the pieces together. An example is the use of the change in the price of gold as an indicator of inflation, about which one of the earlier reviews complained.

Rather than taking on faith many of his derivations, I think I'm going to have to do some more research before I follow this strategy. That's my main gripe -- there is still work for me to do after reading this book, to confirm the annual percentages and cumulative returns that he claims. I am, however, convinced by this book of the value of bonds in an investment portfolio, and of the importance of contrarianism when it comes to investing.

This is one of the few stock market books from the 1990s that will be read and appreciated many years from now. While silly stuff like "Dow 36,000" & Harry Dent quickly withers away, O'Higgins advice gains credibility every day in this apparently multi-year bear market. Several web sites (beartopia dot com & others) mention this book. Perhaps the book's title should have substituted "zero coupon bonds" for the word "bonds." Do look up the authors corrected list of investment steps here at Amazon, however, do not let the slightly sloppy editing deter you from learning this powerful investment advice. The more knowledgable one is of the market, the more one appreciates O'Higgins and his two works. This book's advice works in bull and bear markets.

I regret to say that I agree with a previous reviewer who said that this book "turned my stomach." I bought the book because I wanted to learn about dog body language and our interpretations (or misinterpretations) of that language in an effort to improve my understanding of canine behavior.

Instead of the careful analysis I expected from a veterinarian, Dr. Milani uses anectotal examples of cruelty to dogs as her examples. She describes, over and over again, dogs who are beaten, tied outside and euthanized because their owners "misunderstand" them. Not only are the case studies anecdotal and, as such, not a useful statistical description of dog/human relations, but they are very upsetting to read. And, as a previous reviewer has stated, Dr. Milani fails to condemn the practices she describes in such great detail. In fact, she admits to euthanizing otherwise healthy dogs simply because their owners failed to change their attitudes toward their pets, take them for training or make attempts to re-home the dogs. I cannot imagine how a veterinarian could engage in such a practice.

In conclusion, my work with a breed rescue organization prevents me from recommending a book in which euthanizing dogs is called "termination of the relationship." It is a fact that sometimes dogs and owners are mismatched, but every effort must be made to re-home the dog before euthanasia is ever considered. In fact, there are several animal sanctuaries in the United States which provide permanent homes for "untrainable" or aggressive dogs.

Shame on you , Dr. Milani, for representing your book as a useful tool for improving our relationships with dogs.

More on people psychology than dog behaviors. Very Dissapointed! Reads like a story. Learned more about how humans missread dog behavior than did what actual dog behaviors are, which is what I am looking for. Very wordy. Recommend the Dog Language Encyclopedia by Roger Abrantes.

This is not written in the most entertaining or comfortable of styles, but nonetheless, it contains much valuable info on body language of dog and of dog owner.

We learn from our dogs and trainers and vets much about how to relate better to our dogs. Milani certainly has experience and credibility demonstrated by this work that she knows how to read dog's signs and react appropriately with behavior that gives them the feedback, message received.

If you're looking for more comfortable read, see "Latchkey Dogs." Both will give similar info. This one, slightly more of a heady version without all the story format.

A high priced disappointment. That sums it up for me. If the title had been The Investor's Tax Survival Guide, it would have been worth a rating of three to four. However, as a trader, I found myself wading through page after page of irrelevant information. I found much better information free on the internet specifically aimed at traders.

Unfortunately, the title of this book has little to do with its content. If you're looking for nitty gritty details on tax strategies for active stock traders, you'll be disappointed to find only one chapter that comes close.

Tesser provides useful tax advice for the general taxpayer, which makes me wonder why he did not call the book something like, "Beating the IRS After Tax Reform." Odds are the publisher wanted to take advantage of the boom in daytrading and online brokerages.

This book gives a unique point of view so, it does not duplicate what you can get in other tax books. It advocates you try to qualify for 'Trader Status', and there are several Supreme Court tax cases concerning this difficult to qualify status. This status means that your TRADE as a serious business, hold postions for generally less than a month. All your expenses become fully deductable on Schedule C, HOWEVER you lose Capital Gain treatment AND must pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on your Self Employment income but you can set up a pension plan and/or SEP IRA. I think there is too great a danger of a nasty IRS audit, and not enough taxes saved. A difficult route for a Futures Trader, nearly impossible for a Stock trader except for some SOES traders.

Another poor and disappointing effort by John Gardner in writing a James Bond novel. Not much to this book whatsoever. This one's definitely a stinker. Check out Icebreaker or The Man From Barbarossa instead.

Coming on the heels of "Icebreaker" this ranks as a major disappointment from John Gardner. The plot and prose is a collection of disjointed and very uninspiring ideas for our hero James Bond. However, several of these ideas did seem to make it to the screen shortly after in some of Roger Moore's later Bond films and Timothy Dalton's first outing. "Role of Honor" ultimately has a rambling plot that leaves the reader totally disinterested. I was very disappointed with this novel.

Not John Gardner's best, but certanly not his worst. The plot and villians could be spruced up a bit to make it better. At least SPECTRE is in it. This 007 book is very complex and only should be read by true 007 fans!