Sterling Reviews

Whether it's your schedule or your body that prevents you from doing long hikes, this is a good resource for southern Washington's Cascades. Has all the usual statistics you've come to expect in a Spring-format guidebook.

This is a popular text for your basic college TV and Radio intro class. I have used it for several years myself and it's a fine overview of the subject. Gets pretty technical on electronic stuff and has less on broadcast history and personalities (in my view). Also, since the death of one author the book has become more dated each year and will continue to do so unless they do a fairly significant rewrite.

I have searched for this book for a long time. Well, not this book exactly, but some fiction that has dealt with this particular time period from this perspective (before the Noachian Deluge, with a young Earth in mind). As a writer myself, I enjoy the world-building of such writers as Robert E. Howard and J.R.R. Tolkein, and it has always intrigued me to see if someone might try such a feat from a creationist point of view. Lo and behold, after a multiplicity of word searches, I came across this book.

Is it Tolkein? No. It's not even Howard. It has a few typos and "amateur" sylings that one would expect from a publishing house that does not edit its output. However, it is a capable adventure story with a fresh perspective, and an imaginative approach. Though a few of the creationist concepts (like the fire-breathing parasaurolophus) seem a little shoehorned into the framework of the story, it is a relief to see dinosaurs and man co-existing in a natural setting, without the standard evolutionary fall-back of time-travel. The matter-of-fact presentation is part of the charm of this story; one does not know the origins of the giants, nor is a big deal made of discrediting evolutionary theory; the story simply tells itself.

Fans of Clint Kelly's Reg Danson series should enjoy this book; it's clean enough for family reading, and meaty enough that it should appeal to fans of adult adventure. It is also excellently illustrated by the talented Canadian artist Lewis Lavoie (well enough that I am sorely tempted to look into having my own books illustrated), whose upcoming book on the Land of Nod is eagerly awaited on my shelf.

All in all, a satisfying read, if not necessarily a classic. My only real complaint is that the women were not given stronger roles. I am hoping that the promise of more books in the series (as given on the authors' website) is not an empty one, as I am looking forward to completing my collection of this truly unique venture into historical fantasy fiction.

THIS BOOK IS A GREAT WAY TO LEARN ABOUT THE MOMENTS IN FASHION. IT HAS GREAT COLORFUL PICTURES AND EVERYTHING THAT WAS IMPORTANT IN FASCHION FROM BAGS, SHOES AND CLOTHING.

I am not sure what to think of a book of "scholarship" that lacks a single footnote to back up its often bizarre claims related to the pre-Columbian settlement of the Americas. Also, its casual racism seems to be over the top even for the forties, when it was written. Nevertheless, Gladwin's bold, intuitive leaps of speculation can now be seen to anticipate what many more cautious researchers are beginning to suspect about the ethnic makeup and history of the earliest Americans.

I was curious to note that not once did Gladwin mention the Olmecs, an early Mesoamerican civilization which may have had African origins. I have to wonder whether that was a product of his antiblack bias, evidenced by the extremely unfunny cartoons and snide remarks found throughout the book.

Pearl has moments when it almost takes off--there's a great deal of decent research, particularly dealing with the Japanese attack on the base. But too much of the book is simply shallow. I was left with the distinct impression that the Japanese were able to attack the base by surprise only because of the elaborate game of musical beds being played by everyone there. Ultimately, I cared little for the cliche-ridden characters and found myself longing for a good history of the event.

This is a well organized collection of many of the clues that can be founed in several other sources. The author offers little new insight with the exception of a cave that she discovered. It is a good book for beginners who would like an introduction to the clues pertaining to the lost dutchman's mine.

A bleak book that was difficult for me to finish. While the author sketches the landscape wildly beautiful in its austerity and the book seems very well researched, the characters are somewhat flat and unreachable. While the writing is fine, the story drags and becomes oppressive. Tragedy, betrayal, abuse, selfishness and hopelessness abound. The ending is a bit of surprise, but still grey and dull. Let me recommend Lillian Beckwith's wonderful books if you are wanting a more upbeat (though hardly glamorized) glimpse of the Scottish Isles.

This book provides useful suggestions on how to engage infants and toddlers in conversation during a parent's day to day activities. It also provides guidelines for introducing children to books and to maintain their interest in word discovery through literature, songs and rhymes. There is a wonderful chapter for parents to make their own inexpensive but imaginative toys. I had already read several books on children's linguistic development before buying this one, so I was disappointed with the redundant information I found in this book and was a little surprised to discover the authors using a very straight-forward and simple writing style. However, when I finally read the back cover of the book, I realize they intended the audience to be "low literacy parents and parents for whom English is a second language". I actually admire their down-to-earth approach compared to the high-jargoned variety of books that fill the bookstores. This book will be useful for daycare providers who need ideas to communicate to parents in an effective manner.

I remember reading this book circa 1994 as a graduate student at Rice University. It was very interesting, and I found Bruce Sterling's praise of librarians & libraries and the importance of freedom of information very eloquent and uplifting. Hans Moravec, on the other hand, I find to be one sick puppy and scary to boot. He's most famous for wanting to be able to download his consciousness into a computer and attain "virtual immortality". Having read more recent works, such as Theodore Roszack's critical study _The Cult of Information_, I can see that Moravec's ideas are just idle fantasy now...probably never realizable. David Brin also had some very sensitive, cautious words, which I deeply appreciated. I think this book was a rare convergence of librarians & SF writers in the time of the early 90s when Cyberpunk was all the rage (it's not dead yet, but it's not as BIG as it was then, either) and it was easy to be giddy about technology, etc. The internet was still young then. I think we've learned a great deal more and are much more realistic now than when the summary of this conference was put together in book form...This book is now pretty much a historical document more than it is anything useful for a 21st century contemporary reader.