Tucker Reviews

I could only image what my two month old daughter thinks as she smiles at me,"I know this man; he is my father, who loves me and cherishes me, and he will protect me. I know his voice because before I was even born, he spoke to me and comforted me. I know that I already love him, even though I can only let him know this with my little smile." Phoebe is at peace with her mother and me because we used the Sleep Talk scripts. And, we are convinced that Phoebe sleeps all night because we continue to use Sleep Talk today.

What this book does is provide words (scripts) of encouragement to read to your child while they sleep to help with problems they might be experiencing. For example, my son wouldn't go to sleep easy AND would wake up more that once during the night. Getting him back to sleep took some time. This went on for two years. We tried everything including the Ferber method. Within three days of using one of the scripts in the book it was easy to get him to sleep. If he did wake during the night he would go back to sleep on his own or be easy to sooth and fall asleep. This was using a script right from the book. Even more amazing was when we would fight with him to give nebulizer treatments. As I fought with him through a treatment I made sure he knew what the nebulizer was and it was good medicine. That night I read a script I wrote using the same words I used during his treatment. The next day he was calm and took the "good medicine." This book provides scripts for many situations and gives you the tools to write your own scripts. It is easy to understand and you can be using the method in short time.

How I wish I'd had this book when raising my children! It's now at the top of my list for new parents. Not only does the author give specific scripts to use with children as they sleep (with impressive results from clients), she offers wonderful little tidbits on dealing with issues that arise in all families. All of this is presented in a loving, thoughtful, intelligent and logical manner. One of my favorites is the "one-finger" technique. Instead of saying, "No, don't touch that!", she suggests, "You may touch that with one finger." When I'm fortunate enough to have grandchildren, much of what is presented in this gem of a book will be put to good use.

I got a hold of this book when I was still wet behind the ears as far as bass fishing goes. I'm not a huge reader, but I couldn't put this book down. Roland talks about how to be observant and pick a pattern apart, including everything from lure color to presentation speeds. He really reveals it all when he's talking about these patterns. He gives the time of year, water temp, clarity, etc.

I gained a tremendous amount of confidence from reading this, as these are some of the patterns that earned him 9 B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year titles.

I've only been seriously fishing for about a year and there's no telling how many of these patterns I've used. I did skip over the parts on trolling and live bait, as they are not allowed in tournaments.

But an excellent book, as I refer to it over and over.

Roland Martin has always been my favorite bass pro. He exudes a love of the sport and has an unquenchable thirst for fishing knowledge. And he shares it all in this book.

It is packed with the bass patterns that Roland has learned throughout his career. He explains which lure works best under a given situation and why. He covers shallow, heavy cover situations to deep structure, live bait to lures to fly fishing. If you love fishing for bass, buy this book!

Roland Martin's book is the best I've ever read, and is still timely today. It's like the Bible of Bassfishing to me. The thumbworn pages of my copy have guided me to fishing success time and again. WARNING: Do not loan this book to a friend. It will disappear.

AN EXCERPT FROM THE SCOTSMAN: Thursday, 30 November 2000:

"Shelby Tucker's Among Insurgents: Walking Through Burma is the account of an American adventurer who entered Burma illegally from China, was captured by Communist guerrillas, passed on to Kachin freedom-fighters and was eventually arrested by the Indian Army. A hugely informative book of near-lunatic courage."

A BOOK OF THE YEAR! (The Sunday Telegraph, UK)

"For near-lunatic courage and a unique mine of information, [this book] by Shelby Tucker might belong to another century. At the age of 53, Tucker, a maverick American lawyer, decided to cross North Burma, entering illegally from China and departing illegally into India. He was captured by Burmese Communist guerrillas, passed on to Christian Kachin rebels (with whom he was soon consorting), was arrested by the Indian army, and six months later emerged to write this astonishing book: a surreal mixture of "Boy's Own" derring-do and expert knowledge of an almost unknown region."

--Colin Thubron, for The Sunday Telegraph (UK), in "Books of the Year" Column

"I read the book over the weekend and laughed my head off. What an addle-pated odyssey it is. The nonchalance with which he does things that could get him locked up in some bamboo cage for thirty or forty years takes my breath away. I've seldom been more aware of the thinness of the line between courage and lunacy. Luckily for his narrative, he is aware of it too, and has great fun jumping back and forth over it. I take my hat off to him, both for actually doing what he did and for writing so well about it." --Tobias Wolff

"I cannot recommend Among Insurgents highly enough. Shelby Tucker describes a quite extraordinary trek across the genuinely remote and dangerous mountainous north of Burma. His account gets to grips with an immensely complicated political scenario and is written in the classic manner. I was reminded quite often of Fitzroy MacLean and Peter Fleming." --Justin Wintle "To one familiar with the dangers inherent in such an enterprise, the story almost defies belief. A 53-year-old American teams up with a 22-year-old Swede, whom he has met on a train and known for less than an hour, with the aim of trekking across one of the most inaccessible and least explored areas on earth, in a country which, everyone recognizes, is ruled by a military autocracy and which has been engaged in a vicious civil war for nearly half a century." --Stephen Morse

"I read it in growing amazement. What a journey and what a lot of research since! Very impressive." --Robin Hanbury-Tenison

"I think [Shelby Tucker] may have written a classic of modern travel writing." --John McEnery

"Among Insurgents is a vastly impressive piece of work and life. Shelby Tucker may be a mad man, but he certainly writes wonderfully." --Peter Wolf

"I read it at one sitting, with my wife providing earthly sustenance at intervals, and thoroughly enjoyed the adventure. The vitality and freshness of the enterprise shone throughout." --Robert Pelletreau

"Those of us who would never go on such an adventure (and that's most of us!) can have something stirred within us, feel a little freer, more willing to take risks, after reading this book." --Fred Fenton

There currently is no better comprehensive guide to world wide marine shells than this new edition of the 'Compendium'. If you were a budding shell collector starting a library on this subject, this would be the most important book to get. The 'Compendium' is the first book to provide a comprehensive overview of the world's amazing variety of marine shells, displaying images of over 4200 species with their common AND scientific names. This feature alone enables any collector to access the rapidly increasing information available on the subject of worldwide molluscs - for instance on the internet - by targeting a particular species directly by its scientific name. This book is not only beautiful to look at but is also a great resource of general information on the subject, providing the most useful reference to date for all advanced seashell connoisseurs and collectors worldwide.

We have used the Compendium since it was first published as our primary identification reference. It is well organized, the pictures clear and colorful. It is a valued reference used by many in our museum library.

Since childhood, I've loved the beach and seashells. In our library are a dozen or so books on shells, but this is undoubtedly the best I've ever read. Small, unimportant shells that abound on the Gulf Coast are difficult to find in ordinary books, resulting in the fact that I'd picked them up since childhood, but didn't know what they were. I know now, thanks to the "Compendium of Seashells." If a person could have only one book on seashells, this is the one to buy.

This book is a MUST for anyone who seeks a well-rounded understanding of Marx. It is ordered in an ascending fashion, starting from his initial ideas about his absolutist materialist ideologie in his early academic years, down to the culminating work of the Communist Manifesto as an outcast revoutionary. It is structured in such an intelligent and convenient way that the reader can feel like he is holding hands with Marx and his intellectual development.

What I find most fascinating about Marx's style of writing is that while it is subtle, sophisticated, and academic his audience was geared for the masses. In other words, the writing has a strong activist tone to it. And he gets away with much of his merciless attacks and accusations against capitalism and the bourgeois since he wrote outside of the insitutional setting.

It has been a refreshing experience to read a scholar who is so daring and bold. Marx, in my eyes, completely represents intellectual freedom bounded by the human spirit alone, and not by insitutional, political, or economic structures and agendas. Marx-Engels reader provides intellectual and spiritual refreshment in every sense of the word.

"The Marx-Engels Reader" is the best single collection of Marx's thought. What makes it doubly important, is that it is one of the few texts which contain an index. This sounds unremarkable, but believe me, it makes the text extremely more useful. This book transcends the state of being a mere anthology, and is an indespensible reference work.

Make sure you get the second edition.

Marx and Engels wrote an absolutely tremendous amount of the most diverse topics of society possible. This reader does a good job of putting together some representative readings, starting from their most famous "The Communist Manifesto", going into his analysis of revolutions and conditions in many different countries, including France, India, Russia, etc., finally reaching into topics such as family and morality (mainly addressed by Engels).

Though not a Marxist myself, I found this compilation a very comprehensive view of their thinking. It should be sufficient to anyone not seeking to write a dissertation on their thinking.

THE SONG READER, by Lisa Tucker, is the story of 16-year-old Leeann and tells of her life with her older sister Mary Beth. Mary Beth is a song reader, a person who helps people sort out their issues by dissecting the songs they listen to. Initially Leeann believes this is a gift, as Mary Beth helps neighbors in their small town, Tanier. Mary Beth takes care of Leeann since their mother died in a tragic car accident. Through brief snippets of memories, the reader is able to make out that their father did something terrible and then abandoned the family. The two sisters live a precarious existence, which is made more solid by the entrance of Tommy, an abandoned little boy who Mary Beth adopts. Mary Beth supplements their income by waitressing and being a song reader while Leann struggles with school and the memories of her father. Mary Beth meets Ben, a graduate student at the local university, who falls madly in love with her. When Leeann figures that they will be married, they inexplicably break up leaving Leeann to wonder if there is any way her small family could ever find happiness. Mary Beth encourages a Holly, a troubled customer and friend of the family, to reveal her haunting secret and when this happens it catapults the family into a dire situation. Holly's revelations put the small town on opposite sides and many people begin to think Mary Beth is some sort of witch or cult leader. Mary Beth spirals into a deep depression, refusing to get out of bed and eventually she is unable to take care of her responsibilities. Leann decides that the time has come to get a hold of her father, even though Mary Beth has always forbidden it. Leann's father shows up and Leann is transported back to the times where her father was her primary caretaker even though he had a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Her father is quiet, nervous, makes tons of lists, and seems unable to show any affection to Leann. While Leann and her father settle into an uncomfortable routine, Mary Beth gets worse, and sores begin to form on her body. One day Ben arrives and takes Mary Beth to the hospital to heal and Leann begins dating Holly's son Mike. Mary Beth continues to heal but when a family secret is revealed Leann must get past her anger or risk losing her sanity and the precarious stability that the family has achieved.

THE SONG READER covers many themes including the concept of "home", splintered families and in addition, it's a coming of age tale of a young woman embracing love and her sexuality. The characters of the parents are strangely fascinating, the father because his actions are opposite the so-called stories that precede his entrance back into Leann and Mary Beth's lives. The dead mother is also interesting because only after she is six feet under, do the daughters really realize what a piece of work she was. Since it was obvious that the mother had no respect for her own self and marriage, her actions continue to haunt her daughters years later, even if they don't know how to connect the dots yet. And simply put that is on of the masterful things about this book. The reader is kept in the dark just like Leann but given clues to how the family breakup was orchestrated by Mary Beth and her mother. The only thing that bothered me was the lapses in time, Leann is 10 when the books starts and then shoot up to 16 in only a few pages with important occasions given little attention.

SONG READER is a fascinating book because it doesn't use smoke and mirrors only raw human emotions to craft a loving book filled with disappointment AND ultimately hope and forgiveness.

It's been a long time since I read a book all the way through~

ahh.... you might have thought I was singing the ole Led Zeppelin tune! now that's one I can tell my song reader.

But, for real, the way this book reads makes you feel like you are right there along with the characters in the story. Drew me in. I like the songs she refers to throughout the story. Could make a soundtrack out of this book easy. Not sure if I ever heard of a Book soundtrack, but perhaps this will be on the big screen someday*

I'd like to know more about this story. Seemed so real

Magnificent Read Lisa, good job
look forward to your next.

a fellow music lover,
StL Steve

Every once in a while a book comes along that inspires us and moves us to tears all at the same time all the while making it hard for us to tear our eyes away. That's what this book did for me: It gave me the gift of an equally rare and wonderful reading experience that will resonate within me for a long, long time.

The Song Reader is the story of two sisters who are seemingly alone against the world. Mary Beth is the legal custodian for her younger sister, LeAnn. Mary Beth supports them both as a waitress and a Song Reader, which if you're anything like me and associate a certain year with what was playing on the radio, or your favorite song with a paticularly happy time in your life you will understand the concept of song reading. Through these girls' indescibably strong bond they somehow make it work, but their life certainly is not without struggle and pain. Mary Beth doesn't understand LeAnn and vice versa and it's the unanswered questions and years of bottled up anguish that [possibly may] tear this family apart.

I am a [fan] for a coming of age story, but this one is a cut above all the rest. LeAnn is struggling with her feelings and finding her place in the world. Both she and her Sister, Mary Beth are honest, hearwrenching characters that will take up residence in your heart and mind for a long time.

Lisa Tucker has out done herself on her first time out. She has important things to say and a very unique way of saying them. If she hasn't already, I'm sure she will soon become quite an important strong voice in cotemporary fiction. I am anxiously awaiting another wonderful novel by Ms. Tucker!!

...Grandpa Tucker's Rhymes and Tales is a "lucky," or well worth expense. This book is chockfull of fun story-poems, and just simply poems, that offer the reader and listener an alternative to the bedtime story, or anytime story for reading to our children. That's what I did with this book. I read the rhyming tales out-loud to my 10-year-old daughter, as I believe the contents of "Grandpa's" book are best enjoyed out loud. The stories are amusing, the rhyming clever, and often the underlying messages offer lessons of good behavior without being preachy.

"Grandpa" is "hip" too. While many of the poems deal with personified animals, Tucker's most frequently used character is a snake that goes by the name of Sammy, a cool dude with a mischievous personality. Many holiday poems include Sammy getting in and out of trouble, or becoming hero for the day. Take for instance "Sammy, the Snickers Snake." Sammy dresses as a barber's pole on Halloween and saves his town from a vampire by holding his snake friends, Hiss and Hoss "dressed together like a cross," scaring the vampire away. And then the friends rejoice by giving themselves a "high one." Sammy is justly rewarded with a five-pound Snickers bar.

I have only one complaint about this book: it would be better served with full page, color illustrations. All of the children's poems here lend themselves to pictures. The black and white sketches are well done, but I would like more drawings and in color to make the book more inviting for very young children.

Grandpa Tucker's Rhymes & Tales is an absolute delight. I especially love the Sammy Snake poems. Sammy is charming and mischievous. He may get himself into trouble, but he gets himself back out again. Sometimes I laughed out loud as I read about his adventures. I love the humor, but I also appreciate the gentle lessons on life Mr. Tucker slips in. He never preaches, but he does encourage children and adults alike to love one another and take responsibility for their actions. This is a book you will read over and over again.

I've know Grandpa Tucker my whole life, but even if I didn't his book of wonderful rhymes and stories are beloved by children all over! Its the kind of stuff that gives kids the giggles so badly that they get hiccups!

Buy this book for the children in your life!

This fascinating book is the story of smallpox. Starting with the distant past, the author traces the history of smallpox's relationship with mankind. Then, the book goes into luxurious detail on the World Health Organization's campaign to stamp smallpox out. But, just when it seems that the story should be over, it takes an ominous turn when the author begins chronicling the Soviet Union's nightmarish program of breeding smallpox as a weapon. This horrendous project is traced from its genesis after World War 2, through the use of modern genetic splicing to enhance the disease's lethality under Mikhail Gorbachev, to its continuance even after the fall of the Soviet Union.

This is a fascinating book! Unlike some books I've read recently, this one dragged me along, keeping me up at night when I could not put it down. As I know little about the topic, I appreciated the way the author made the whole subject clear to me, educating me while keeping me entranced. Overall I would say that this is a great book, one well worth the cost. I highly recommend it!

I read this book on the flight to NYC where my husband and I viewed the remains of the World Trade Center. A memorable event. Tucker's book is a memorable reading event for anyone interested in public health, bioweapons, US and world policy, and anyone who wants to read a darn good story! The book can be divided into three parts; the history and impact of smallpox on the human race, the unprecidented efforts to successfully eradicate this disease from the earth, and its real potential for reintroduction as a potent bioweapon. Tucker is a careful researcher as well as a wonderful storyteller, an unbeatable combination considering the nature of the topic he chose to write about. You like Tom Clancy? The story told here is real. Don't let the non-fiction designation deter you from reading this page-turner.

I just recently finish Preston's book 'The Demon in the Freezer'. You would think that would fulfill my appetite for knowledge concerning smallpox, right? But that particular book and this one, Scourge, are very different. While Preston writes for the masses, often in a very novelistic, suspenseful way to bring information concerning microbial dangers to everyone, this particular book is more for those whose interests and avocations and jobs lie in these fields. This does not mean the book is written boringly. Both books deserved the five stars for different reasons. 'Demon...' was exciting and horrifying in it's details concerning smallpox, this book brings to life the unfortunate politics played behind the scenes by physicians, by government entities such as the Defense Department, by politicians who do not understand the full implications of most biological and bioethical discussions, by entire countries (U.S. and Russia the worst as per usual).

Though Tucker and Preston mention a few names and incidents in common in their books, their writing is very different. Tucker is deeply involved in bioweapons development as a member of an elite group that monitors this type of problem internationally. Preston writes like a journalist. So the impact of their writing is completely different and I personally think anyone interested in this problem is well-served by reading both books.

Scourge tells the story of the political problems not only in eradicating the smallpox worldwide, but the current problem concerning the existence of stocks at the CDC and VEctor, and whether they should be destroyed. Tucker goes into far more detail concerning the problems in India and Bangladesh that made that country one of the last to contain smallpox (and bodes ill should smallpox ever raises its head there again). He also goes into much more detail concerning Russia's two-faced behavior in supplying the world with the vaccine that led to eradication, but in secret continuing to work on smallpox and genetic variations in order to have them for biological weaponry.

Tucker also gives a good warning at the end chapter, that while the ability to use smallpox as a weapon is more difficult then imagined, the possibility of using it still exists. He emphasizes that panic does not contribute anything useful, but awareness and preparation for the possibility does. I am glad that the smallpox vaccinations are there, and I think more physicians and other medical personnel should be prepared for seeing these cases, and being able to differentiate between smallpox, flu, and chickenpox.

Karen Sadler,
Science Education

In addition to "The Hour of the Dragon", this edition also contains "Red Nails","Jewels of Gwahlur","Beyond the Black River","The Black Stranger","Wolves Beyond the Border(draft),"The Phoenix on the Sword",and "The Scarlet Citadel".This is the second volume of a 2 part set reprinting all of Howard's Conan stories in chronological order (volume 1 is People of the Black Circle). It's unfortunate that the publisher did not simply title them the Conan Chronicles Volume 1 and 2, instead of creating confusion by calling them People of the Black Circle and Hour of the Dragon. It's obvious that most of the people reviewing the book haven't read this edition but are just writing to say that they enjoyed reading Conan the Conqueror as a kid. Well that's fine and dandy, but you are not helping the people who already own the series published by DeCamp and Carter and want to know if it's worthwhile to buy this too. Well let me reassure everyone that indeed this is worth buying because it is THE ONLY place that collects ALL of the Howard Conan stories EXACTLY AS HE WROTE THEM,arranged in CHRONOLIGICAL ORDER of Conan's career, WITHOUT those awful pastiches by DeCamp and Carter mixed in.

I read this book as a teenager in the late 1950s under the title Conan the Conqueror. This is the same book. Certainly, if one thing set my life on the course it did, it was this book and the man who wrote it - Robert E. Howard. For me to recommend this book is both a pleasure and an honor. Howard's writing and this book fired my imagination and my life. I went on to get a BA in English (concentration in professional writing) and had a 15+ year career as a journalist and editor. Over the years, my copy of Conan the Conqueror has gone the way of all things. I'm ordering a copy of Hour of the Dragon today and will cherish it forever. Hopefully, I can pass on this book and my love for it to my grandchildren and keep the cycle going.

This book actually began life as a serial in "Weird Tales" in the 1930s. Robert E. Howard (REH) never actually wrote any Conan novels, all of Conan's tales were written for the magazine marketplace. But this is his only novel length Conan tale so it is considered by many to be the only REH Conan novel.

That being said, it is easily one of the best Conan stories written. In the tale, Conan is the king of Aquilonia, but he has plenty of people conspiring to dethrone him. These conspirators raise the wizard, Xaltotun, from the dead to use his magic against Conan.

They succeed in dethroning Conan when he is paralyzed by the wizard and unable to ride out into battle. After the battle they believe Conan is dead (big mistake) for a time, only he is actually in hot pursuit of the Heart of Ahriman, the only thing capable of defeating Xaltotun.

Naturally, the Heart is not easily obtained and Conan journeys far and wide in his pursuit of it. The story is incredibly fast paced and for a relatively short novel, its packed with action and story. Of course, Conan succeeds at the end and regains his kingdom (as well as gaining a wife).

Even though the story is at a mid-point in Conan's career, its an excellent starting point for those who are new to REH's work. As other reviewer's have noted, this story also exists in paperback as "Conan the Conqueror," although it has been edited to correct grammer and some of REH's politcally incorrect references. Heck, it was the first Conan story I ever read and it got me hooked.

REH is a moody, atmospheric writer and much of his work, including this one, carries a sense of darkness to it. Even this book, where Conan ultimately is victorious carries that feeling to it. It tends to almost carry an air of that darkness, a feeling that no matter what Conan does, his victories will be short-lived and even he will not be able to defeat death when his time comes.

For sword and sorcery fans, this is as good as it gets. Ignore the hoard of imitators who followed and stick to the master-- Robert E. Howard.

I am really finding myself enjoying many of the new entries into the extended Little House family, this book included. However, I did not like it quite as much as others in the series (and of course not as much as the originals, but that goes without saying!). I don't think this is the writing, but perhaps just the setting, more urban than any of the others, so not as full of descriptions of self-reliant country life. This book is well written, and I do look forward to following Charlotte's life and seeing how it fits into the big story of the Little House family! I especially enjoyed the description of school life in the early 19th century Boston area.

It is !814 and Charolatte Tucker is 5 years old. Charolatte lives by Boston Bay with her many brothers and sisters. There is plenty to do, visit Papa's blacksmith shop and play with the brothers and sisters! I enjoyed tis book very much but it fades when compaired to the original Little House Books. But over all I suggest you read theis book.

CHarlotte Tucker is Five years old and lives with her mama and papa Her Twelve yeared old brother Lewis who teases her, Tom whose seven and Lydia nine and little Mary whos not even one yet, Charlottes days are busy from helping mama in the garden to visting papas blacksmith shop or hearing mamas storys . Soon Charlottle goes to school and learns her ABCs , Theres one funny part where mama is making pounded cheese and red powder gets into the bowl and it tasted awfull ! Charlotte is a brand new American girl and she and her young country have a lot to learn!