Douglas Reviews

This is a book worth having, if only for the stunning artwork by Illustrator Cheng-Khee Chee. But in addition to the artwork, the story is one that is ideal for young and old. In this story, the world begins as a beautiful place, filled with luscious trees and colorful plants and flowers, stuffed with a wide variety of strange and exotic creatures. They begin talking, then discussing, then arguing over who God is. Before they come to blows, Old Turtle offers her wisdom and view of the future. There is peace until God adds people to the earthly creatures, and they (we) go through the same argument - whose definition of God is the accurate or better one? The people argue, hurt each other, wars break out (stop me if you've heard this one!). Old Turtle comes to the rescue again. Diversity, God as in all of us - a wonderful book, and absolutely worth having or giving in hardcover.

"Old Turtle" talks about God and creation without being preachy.

This is one of my very favorite childrens' books, and I like a lot of childrens' books.

If you are lucky enough to have a child to love, do yourself and them a favor and buy this book, then be sure to read it to them again and again. You will probably enjoy it as much as he or she will.

I think this book is truly wonderful!

Lind

I NEVER write reviews, but I had to write about this one!

It talks of all the different aspects of the earth and their arguments with each other over what is God. Old Turtle speaks up and proclaims that God is all the things they have said, but most importantly, GOD IS.

Old Turtle then goes on to talk about how humans are coming and are a gift. The humans do come, but they forget the gift and thereby destroy much of the earth. When they remember, they realize that if they love, they will experience the gift of God again.

This is how I want to teach my son and new baby about God. Not the politics of who is "right" or "wrong." We can all just be assured that through whatever spiritual path we are all on, we can take solace in knowing that GOD IS.

Beautiful story.

The Night Before Christmas by Clement Moore, with illustrations
by Mary Engelbreit, is the perfect Family gift or chidren's present.The poetic tale of The Night Before Christmas, can become a lovely custom to sit and read with a child during the hectic days preceding the Holiday.
Every family should own this classic tale that never tires children.The illustrations are magnificent in this book, but not too
sophisticated for children.It could be any era, not just 1820.
I remember with nostalgic pleasure having this read to me,
until I began to recognize the words and reading it to myself on a nightly basis.
I am sure another generation of children will be thrilled
with this book,and their parents will likely feel the same
with the memories it invokes.

I discovered this book 31 years ago, for my daughter and it is still loved by all the family. The illustrations are wonderful, warm, charming and delightful and bring a special meaning to the story. We still read it to all the young children on Christmas Eve and for adults we read the story and pass a grab bag gift every time the word THE is mentioned. It would not be Christmas without this book. It is magical.

I am a huge Engelbreit fan, and I just love this book. Every page is dazzling. My two year old loves it as well; he just gets lost in every illustration. He points to this and that and just can't get enough of just LOOKING. Engelbreit's bright colors and attention to detail just shine in this book. They just don't come any better than this!

Let me start this review by confessing that I am biased. One of my letters from Vietnam is included in the book. I therefore view the book differently from the average reader.

I also got an advance copy of the book a week before the official release date, and have been able to read it.

Andrew Carroll produced this book by reading through almost 50,000 letters and selected roughly 200 that best show what everyday life in the military - and in war - are like from the viewpoint of the average soldier, sailor, marine, and airman.

Andy was able to get these letters by persuading Dear Abby to publish an appeal in her column on Veteran's Day in 1998. The column urged readers to contribute these letters so that the sacrifices of the writers would not be forgotten. The result was a flood of 50,000 letters - some faded, some muddy, some blood-stained, and one pierced by a bullet. One letter was written on Hitler's personal stationary by an American sergeant who worked in Hitler's personal quarters in Germany just after WW II. What could be a better symbol of justice?

The letter writers' views are very different than the views you will get by reading the memoirs of a general or an admiral. When I was in the Army, there was a wonderful comment that explained life in the Infantry:

"The general gets the glory, The family gets the body, and We get another mission."

Your view of the military - and of war - changes depending on your position in this food chain.

Overcoming an enemy machine gun is an interesting technical problem when you are circling a firefight in a helicopter at 1,000 feet. You take a very different view of the problem when you are so close to the machine gun that your body pulses from the shock wave of the muzzle blast.

These letters were written by soldiers while they were in the military. They are describing events that happened that day, the pervious day, or the previous week. Their memories are very fresh. Their views also are very different from the views that someone might have when writing his memoirs thirty years later. In thirty years the everyday pains, problems, and terrors could very well be forgotten or become humorous.

The book groups these letters by war or police action. There are sections for letters from the Civil War, WW I (the war to end wars), WW II, Vietnam War, Desert Storm, and Somolia/Bosnia/Kosovo.

Some things never change. The Civil War letter writers grumble about poor food, tiresome marches, mindless sergeants and incompetent officers. The Vietnam letter writers (myself included) grumbled about the same things.

One anguished letter was from an officer in Vietnam who was torn by his need to hide his opposition to the war for fear of demoralizing his men. At the end of the letter is a brief comment explaining that the officer stepped on a mine and died shortly after writing this letter.

Welcome to life in the military. Welcome to war.

You should read this book if you want to see what life was like and is like in the military and in war.

This book, War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars, by Andrew Carroll (Editor) is a touching book. With the recent release of the movie Pearl Harbor, the questions that my generation wants to ask the veterans of war are rising out of the ashes once again. Carroll did an excellent job of putting together a collage of soldier's letters which portrays the true emotions of our freedom fighters. Recently having studied many of the wars included in this book, War Letters pulled everything into one book; from the Civil War all the way through Bosnia/Kosovo. The letters in WWI and WWII seemed more hopeful, and 'the great generation' seemed more patriotic. While the soldiers fighting Vietnam had more of a sense of urgency, kind of 'get this over with already' attitude. A common theme with all the letters was they were writing to loved ones, and would claim they would see them soon. Unfortunately, many of these letters were the 'last letters' to the families, some even written on backs of photographs, on scratch paper, or on Hitler's personal stationary. Also, these letters are written a few hours, days, or weeks after the events happened. The soldier has no opportunity to hear what the media said, or how the nation reacted to such a horrific event. They write with their souls, spilling their guts to their families, and shedding their blood for their nation. Granted, having just completed one year of US History helps me understand these events just that much more, but all in all, this book was everything from terrifying to heart warming.

I can't say enough good things about the book, video and articles produced by Andrew Carroll. In addition, he's a kind, caring and compasionate gentleman. If you want a true taste of what the soldiers and their families are feeling during war time, get this book. This is "reality reading".

This comprehensive 600 page book showed me in detail how to set up, operate, and manage a restaurant business. The author covers everything there is to know about the very risky business of running a restaurant.

As a caterer looking to open a restaurant I also found the book very helpful. I didn't need recipes or help in sales - I needed help in running the financial aspects of my business.The chpater on computers was very helpful as well.The book is very easy to read and understand. Complicated accounting subjects are simplified, easy to understand and ( almost) fun to apply.

The books nineteen chapters cover the entire process of a restaurant start-up and ongoing management.The companion CD rom which contains all the forms is worth the modest price of the book alone. I would highly recomend this book to anyone in the industry now or who wants to get started with sound financial planning. Also the extensive resource guide in the back of the book helped me locate a manufacturer I needed a part from - I will use this book often.

This comprehensive and massive 600 page new book will show you step-by-step how to set up, operate, and manage a financially successful foodservice operation. The author has left no stone unturned in explaining the risky business of running a restaurant. Operators in the non-commercial segment as well as caterers, and really anyone in the food service industry will find this book very useful.The books nineteen chapters cover the entire process of a restaurant start-up and ongoing management in an easy to understand way, pointing out methods to increase your chances of success, and showing how to avoid the many common mistakes that can doom a start-up. The new companion CD rom contains all the forms demonstrated in the book for easy use in a PDF format.There are literally hundreds of innovative ways demonstrated to streamline your restaurant business. Learn new ways to make the kitchen, bars, dining room, and front office run smoother and increase performance. Shut down waste, reduce costs, and increase profits.

The books nineteen chapters cover the entire process of a restaurant start-up and ongoing management.The companion CD rom which contains all the forms is worth the modest price of the book alone. I would highly recomend this book to anyone in the industry now or who wants to get started with sound financial planning. Also the extensive resource guide in the back of the book is superb - we will use this book often.

This book is the best book anyone can get for learning TCP/IP. A few of the chapters might put you too sleep, but the technical context and the way it is explained is far beyond all other books on this topic. The only other series of books I have read that might compare are TCP/IP illustrated by Stevens.

This book is a must for all in the networking world.

It is known as the Bible of TCP/IP. It is great reading for beginners and for the most advanced reader.

The whole vol. set is a great investment as a resource.

With this book and Interconnection by Radia Perlman (which is quite good but dry). They will define the industry, as it is today and break down the RFC's to a readable level.

To continue I would suggest "Internet Core Protocols: the Definitive Guide" (comes with sniffer software).. It will help tie Comer's and Perlman's books together...

This new edition expands and updates the previous one (a true classic). Several parts were rewritten to improve understanding (e.g. RIP solutions) and a lot of modern technologies are now discussed, including Mobile IP, IPsec, VPNs, IP Multicasting, Voice and Video over IP, and IP Telephony.
It is worth every dollar of its price.

"American Caesar" is a highly literate, extremely well researched biography of General Douglas MacArthur. Since the General's Army career spanned almost 50 years, the time sweep of "AC" is quite extensive, but Mr. Manchester maintains reader interest throughout. As a work of history, it should qualify as a masterpiece. The strongest point of "AC" is that the persona of the General never gets lost in a sea of facts or too many characters. It remains a biography, first and foremost. The reader always is aware that s(he) is reading about a human being- with strong points and weak points just like all of us. I was impressed with the obvious importance of family, especially his wife and son to the General. Major historical figures like F.D.R. and Harry Truman take a backseat to the main character. Some readers might maintain that is exactly where they belong! While "AC" covers the General's heroism in World War I, the focus is on his military campaigns in World War II. Great detail is given to his controversial and hazardous- initial retreat from the Philippines to Australia and his push back north, capturing strategic New Guinea and retaking the Philippines. To his credit, author Manchester, a former Marine, strives to demonstrate that the General's tactics saved thousands of U.S. casualties, compared to the frontal assaults on other Pacific islands such as Iwo Jima and Okinawa. For example, the General bypassed and isolated the strong Japanese garrison on Rabaul in eastern New Guinea, rather than attack in force. He also talked the Navy and Marines down from a senseless, hazardous and tactically useless invasion of Formosa (Taiwan). His casualty rates are also compared very favorably to those incurred by General Dwight Eisenhower at Normandy and the Bulge. (The two did not exactly admire one another). If there are any weak points in "AC", they are minor. One could argue that the bio of the General is not sufficiently critical, but this reader would defer license to a talented author. One could also argue that too much space is allocated to the General's troubles with Harry Truman during the Korean War. Since so many identify the General with that particular segment of his career, it would be difficult for Manchester to pass lightly over it. (The author does not exactly admire HST). A note of warning: The MAPS in the paperback version of "AC" are too small for a close following of the SW Pacific War. If amazon could offer a large print/ hardcover version of "AC", the extra cost would be worth it. I used a magnifying glass! Inadequate maps seem to be a requirement for military tales "AC" has plenty of company in this regard. I hope this review has done credit to a first rate work of historical biography. Over 844 pages, followers of history and military affairs will not be disappointed.

AMERICAN CAESAR is a highly readable biography of a fascinating subject. Manchester has plenty of good material to examine from both the personal and professional aspects of MacArthur's life. MacArthur's genealogical background is also interesting since one of his ancestors is shared in common with both Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.

MacArthur is portrayed as a brilliant innovator as exemplified by his masterful manuever in jumping from Hollandia to Leyte in World War II and of course the Inchon landing during the Korean War. The author by necessity tells the story of the U.S. Army's role in the Pacific during World War II mostly from the army's point of view. In that respect AMERICAN CAESAR serves as a useful adjunct to Samuel Eliot Morrison's HISTORY OF UNITED STATES NAVAL OPERATIONS IN WORLD WAR II.

One wonders if American society would tolerate, let alone produce, another MacArthur. Bigger than life, vain and conceited, this American Caesar understood power and how to use it. He was a soldier, a politician and an egomaniac. In an age of political correctness where sensitivity is valued over leadership men like MacArthur are not well tolerated. Manchesters superb biography of MacArthur shows us that great men often have great flaws, a fact that many today are not willing to accept.

Like any great biography this is a story of not only a man, but of the times he lived in. Manchester takes us back to frontier army post where MacArthur was born in 1880 and with a lucid style and follows his stunning career until his death in 1964. What is especially interesting is MacArthurs understanding of drama and the power of the press which he used with great efficiency. Unlike George Marshall, Douglas MacArthur was much more of a political general going none-to-nose with both Roosevelt and Truman.

If you are not familiar with General MacAuthur, this book will introduce you to perhaps the greatest soldier-statesman his country has produced.

Two sisters and a nasty, bitter and unloving mother make up the setting for the beginning of an entertaining triology. Maggie is high spirited and artistic with a special talent for glass blowing. Brianna is a sweet, caring homebody who longs for her own business. Maggie is devoted to her father who believes in her, but dies early in the story leaving her to provide for Brianna and her mother. A famous art dealer discovers Maggie and introduces her to romance and success although not necessarily in that order. Born in Fire is a good read; I'm glad I read it first and will go on to Born in Ice and Born in Shame.

I came upon this book out of curiosity and economy...This book was in a hardcover edition with the other two titles of the Trilogy...Well all I can say is that there should have been a warning label on the book Rated: TJ...tear jerker...I would have had a box of Kleenex by my side while I read...because that is how moving I found the books. I thoroughly enjoyed all the books...I cried and laughed with the characters of the story...I highly recommend this trilogy. I will be looking forward to reading more of Ms. Roberts works in the future

The first book in NR's 'Born In' series is wonderful, you don't want to miss it! "Born In Fire" focuses on Maggie Concannon, a tempermental and loyal woman who is also a gifted artist. Gallery owner Rogan Sweeney takes an interest in Maggie's fabulous glass creations, and soon after takes a personal interest in Maggie herself. Maggie is a wonderful character, stubborn and flawed, yet still caring. Nora does a fabulous job of developing Maggie, and does it in a way that she seems like a real person. Rogan is an extremely likeable hero. Maggie's sister, Brianna, is her complete opposite; quiet, sweet, and calm. The relationship between the two sisters, however, is very touching and very real. This book is full of colourful characters, some we love and some we hate. The romance between Rogan and Maggie is wonderful. Basically, I just can't say enough good things about this book. You will love it!

The 1.st sentence of the preface says: "This book is intended as a reference rather than a tutorial". Well for an experienced Java programmer this is certainly true, but for a novice who has just grasped the fundamentals of the language and starts to write down his first lines of code this book is an excellent tutorial. Every class has a description and practically every method of every class has its example code where nearly every line is documented, with links to related methods. Looking into these examples one can quickly learn tips and tricks smoothing the learning curve a lot. The Chan's book is miles ahead, in my opinion, the unuseful example codes one can freely download from the Sun's internet pages, full of magic words comining from blue skyes not documented at all, where one has to figure out what any of them is useful for and where you are on your own. One more time: what I say is true for a novice; the senior Java programmer may feel at his ease with the API's documentation of the Sun's JDK.
My last warning: since in Java things change often this kind of books goes into obsolescence quicky. For instance: my copy is the 5th edition (October 2001) and it lacks completely the new Collections class framework.

As a beginning Java Programmer, I was looking for a reference for all the java packages. This book contains all objects which changed since the JDK 1.1. I continue to use it daily. The one dissapointment I had, was my own missunderstanding of the nature of the book. As the title implies this is a supplement, if you want a complete reference you must buy the vol 1 and 2 of the java reference. The index in this book will refer you to the other volumns for an object which did not change in 1.2. The organization is well thought out and the coding examples are helpful to me as a beginner. The completeness and index make this a superb reference manual.

There is a reason this book is rated so highly. It is worth every penny you will spend on it. I would pay double the price, but don't tell the publisher. This is my favorite reference book, and my Java programming would not be as productive without this book. The book is huge, because it covers every class within the standard library (io, net, lang, etc.). As much as I appreciate the O'Reilly Nutshell book, this is far superior to that book. This has something Nutshell doesn't. Context. Not only does it have all the classes with all their methods, it puts each method in context. It shows you how they are used by providing relevant example code and descriptions. And the descriptions in the book are wonderful. You will look up a class and find a related class that will work better for your needs. I especially recommending getting this book for a team of developers. Leave the book in the room for office use. If you can so afford, get it for each developer. This is like the Post-it note. You would never live without it, even though you managed and may have even done well before it came along.

While often embarrassing in a public place, laughing out loud while reading is an example of pure pleasure that so rarely occurs that any author capable of producing this effect should be commended. Douglas Adams is such an author. The only problem is his writing style should be taken in small doses, because when read all together you start to get buried in all the clever little comments and they lose their effectiveness. The first two novels in this series are two of the funniest books I have ever read. The basic plot is simple: Earth is destroyed to make way for an interstellar highway and Arthur Dent, one particularly hapless Earthman, is taken along by an interstellar hitchhiker to the far reaches of space. This synopsis does not do justice to the incredible universe Adams drags us into: Ships that run on improbability factors or restaurants checks, a two headed former president of the galaxy who is looking for a real good time, and other events and people too bizarre and numerous to summarize. The problem is that each succeeding book seems to jettison some whimsy for a more serious form of science fiction until in the last book the laughs are hard to find. The first two books deserve the highest rating, but this review is based on all the content contained within. But once you start, you'll want to read all of them, Adams does make sure that the reader wants to know how it all turns out. Hopefully you'll enjoy the journey.

Few books have caused me to laugh out loud. Catch-22, Dostoevskys' notes from underground. This was the first. English humor, wit, and bizarreness at it's most dry, desiccated state. Adams grasp of physics is also to be commended, in that he understands quite enough to imagine impossibly improbable scenarios, propulsion systems, characters, and dilemas. The stories contained within are nothing short of utterly rediculous, ludicrously asinine, and outlandishly preposterous. With a cast of characters like the terribly arrogant two headed Zaphod Beblebrox, the dramatically inept Arthur Dent, and star wandering future hippie Ford Prefect, you will be left in stitches. This is the best version to buy too, as it has all of the volumes in the series in one conveniently located geometric space. Just remember that humans are only the 3rd most intelligent creatures on planet Earth, which is, after all, mostly harmless anyways...

As I was recently told, it would be impossible to incompass, in one small review, the shere magnitude of this book. All I can say is that I haven't looked at humor, sci-fi, or satire the same since I picked it up some 6 years ago. I have read it twice now, and it has lost nothing in humor, cleverness, or strangeness. I highly, highly recommend it to anyone.

I love this book. It has acompanied me on several trips (none of which I have hitchhiked through, though). And, of course, the intro by Douglas Adams adds a bit of class. The main charatcters in this book are all somewhat normal, although a few lean more twords a few fish short of a fish fry. (Tacky, I know. But isn't it delightful?) In this book, the author tells a tale which has made me laugh out loud in class precisly when I shoulnd't have. It is a wonderful book!

P.S. Im not really trying to be helpful, just trying to get others to read it.

Just when I was wondering why a consumer guide did not exist for purchasing a piano, I stumbled upon this book. As a consumer, I was suddenly armed with information that made put me in control! I found it extremely interesting that sales staff suddenly had a marked change in attitude toward me when they found I had done some research on pianos. I also noticed a change in sales tactics when they found out my research included Mr. Fine's book. I love pianos in general and must admit that I was often guilty of falling in love with the packaging while ignoring the importance of the instrument itself. I am an adult just starting to take lessons and I was learning that a quality instrument is important regardless of skill levels. I applaude Mr. Fine because I've learned to 'slow down my search' and know that I will be much happier as a result of my eventual purchase. One caution - this book does contain technical information which may look a little overwhelming at first glance - it isn't! Give it a few pages and you will be surprised at how much you understand. If you are in the market for a piano - YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK

I've read the third edition twice all the way through and have referred to it often since. Not only is it, as advertised, the indispensable guide or buying a piano, it contains well-written sections and diagrams on how a piano works, how to care for and maintain a piano and how to evaluate used pianos. I also recommend buying the supplement; it contains actual "street" prices for every make and model. Through this book I've learned such arcane facts as where to get optical midi readers for acoustic keyboards, where to get humidity controllers for the piano, the history and ups and downs of manufacturers through the decades, and how sound boards, stringing and parts of the action all affect the tone. I've played the piano my whole life and I considered myself a real piano snob, but this book educated me more about the instrument than my thirty years of experience. If you love the piano as much as I do but are slightly unsure of how all the parts work, or if you want to know exactly who all those bizarre manufacturers are you've never heard of before, or if you can't understand why Yamahas are everywhere when they sound so bad, then this book will explain it all to you. The book is obsessive, and it has a following (it also has a great web site). It's one long love-letter to the king of instruments, and I can't wait to read the fourth edition.

I own a music store and have used this book a lot when researching piano brands as well as what to look for in a used piano. There is a lot of valuable information contained in this book. For consumers, this will give a wonderful overview of the things to look for when purchasing a used piano. Highly recommended.