I have family & friends who love to travel and this provides a lot of choices for making the perfect gift. The patterns are simple and easy to follow and she provides guidelines to make your own sampler. They are also easily accomplished in a short span of time.

This book tells the little known story (today) of the use of Zeppelins, which contain an internal frame and are also called dirigibles, by Germany to bomb London at night. Wilbur Cross leads you through the developement of the Zeppelins, and their use in the war. Many missions, with flotilas of dirigibles each hundreds of feet long, are described in minute detail. Several German officers are portrayed, most were gallant and intelligent, many were killed, another illustration of the ultimate waste of war.

Cross also writes of the effort of England to upgrade weapons, mostly biplanes and improved ordnance, to destroy the Zeppelins, and Germanys' attempt to upgrade the effectiveness of their Zeppelins. Terrorizing the populace of London was one result of the Zeppelin bombing, that is covered along with damage caused by the Zeppelins and their effect on the outcome of the war. Finally, continued postwar developement of the Zeppelin is covered to some extent. This was a very enjoyable and readable account for me.

This is a very well-written book about the Zeppelin raids on Great Britain during World War 1. Both sides' development of new weapons and tactics is documented, and key events are described in a very dramatic style. Personalities such as Peter Strasser, the German airship fleet commander, emerge through the story. The book is a very readable history of the most important events in Zeppelin operations of WWI, including the failed resupply mission from Bulgaria to German East Africa. A final chapter briefly recounts the attempts to develop commercial Zeppelins between the wars, ending, of course, with the Hindenburg disaster.

Les Miserables will be a tough read for some. Victor Hugo, in typical Nineteenth Century prose, is exceedingly verbose. His character introductions go on literally page after page, covering minute details that some modern readers will find tedious. Not only are they long, but they break the modern writing rule of "show rather than tell." When he presents new characters, we don't hear them converse or see their actions to form our own opinions. Hugo simply regurgitates a ten or twenty-page biography on them.

But this was how books were written then, and he did it as well as it could be done. The language is marvelous and rich, the characters interesting and complete, and the story sweeping and classic.

Jean Valjean, freshly released from a French prison, is caught stealing silver from an extraordinarily pious Bishop. Amazingly, this Bishop denies the silver is stolen, allowing Valjean to go free. Valjean, brutalized by nineteen years of life in "the galleys" and suffering poverty and maltreatment as an ex-convict, is so affected by this merciful act that he vows to reform. Seven years later he has changed his name and transformed himself into a righteous and contributing member of society, now a prominent factory owner and town Mayor. Life is good as he shares his profits and kind heart with the poor and unfortunate--until his past catches up with him. Valjean is then faced with an incredible predicament whose genius and complexity can be appreciated only by plowing through the full text.

Historically, this is an important literary work. Much of its political and religious sub-text may be lost, however, on those unfamiliar with the basics of the French Revolution. Like Valjean, readers will be better people for making the journey through this book. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, author of Wake Up Dead.

Les Miserables begins in the same year as Dumas' Monte Cristo (1815) with the escape of Jean Vajean from prison, where he spent 20 years for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his family. After becoming the mayor of a French city under another name, Valjean meets a woman named Fantine and a police inspector named Javert. One's desperation will move his heart to pity while the other's relentless adherence to the letter of the law will cause him to live in perpetual hiding.

I read this book in high school and, to tell the truth, I can't really remember what I was thinking at the time I started it. After all, I don't think most high school students (myself included) would understand the full historical weight of such a work. If Monte Cristo is a historical lesson unto itself, Les Miserables is a veritable tome of 19th century French culture and politics. Weighing in at 1463 pages, Hugo's story will bore you sometimes but will also move you at least as much. This is the book wherein lies Hugo's famous account of the Battle of Waterloo (which, at about 60 pages, has apparently little to do with the actual storyline) in all of its detail, dark descriptions of Paris' sewers which were used by revolutionaries, and of course the vivid account of the city of Paris itself in all of its glory. Hugo names every street and shop and almost every other minor detail and character you could possibly imagine along the way. We follow the characters of Valjean, Fantine, Cosette (the daughter of Fantine), Javert, Thenardier, Marius and others for nearly 20 years. Aptly titling his work "The Miserable", Hugo takes us to the very bottom of Paris' underground world of poverty, prostitution, and suffering. Indeed, Les Miserables involves, like most novels, a struggle of sorts. But here everything seems more painful, more hopeless than your typical novel. The fictional characters, embedded in a stunningly detailed historical time and place, are unusually real and fallible. And in the end this is a story about justice, mainly for the weak and the opressed.

Now for some casual thoughts. The only other novel I've read that's similar to this one (at least in time and place) is Monte Cristo, so I often find myself comparing the two. Although they share a common historical backdrop, the two works are very different in feeling. Dumas' is a story of justice and revenge but it incorporates adventure and psychological thriller purely for entertainment. Monte Cristo is also a lighter read, more agile on its feet and quick to please; we get engaging and tense dialogue and characters who are slightly unbelievable in their wit or lack thereof. Les Miserables, however, is a heavy book (in more ways than one). Hugo takes all the time in the world to introduce us to each and every character and describe geographical, political, and historical events with a ferocious attention to detail. And while Monte Cristo is primarily about a single man and his fallible-ridden philosophy of vengeance, Les Miserables is about a whole society and its faults. Hugo's scope is thus incomparably more vast than your average novel.

After reading this book I felt like I'd been on an epic journey to other worlds and back, and at the end of it all I was...tired, very tired. But then again a lot of great literature is like that.

My experience with Victor Hugo's classic, Les Misérables, was quite by accident. While studying France's political turmoil during the 1800's, my tenth grade world history professor decided to waste some class time by showing us a video. At first, I paid no attention to the video, considering the fact that most of the movies he showed us were taped off of the history channel a good century ago. Soon I found myself intrigued with the plot twists and characters. After we finished the movie, I decided to read the book for English. Thinking that if the book was too boring, I had already seen the movie so I could fake my way through the essay test. I have never loved a book so much in my life! I found myself reading it during films in Spanish, under my desk in history, and losing sleep because I was staying up all night to read. I finished the complete unabridged novel in five days, a very enormous feat for a busy teenager! I found Javert to be the most interesting character and felt that if his dedication to justice hadn't been misguided, he could have been a hero in the story. He could have been Enjolras. I wish every high school student was required to read this book, although I know it would not bring them as much joy as it brought me. The only reason I love this story so much, is because it wasn't force-feed to me. I now have tickets to see the musical this summer in Toronto and can hardly wait to go. Everyone can find a character they identify with. Many young girls can relate to Eponine's love for Marius that is not returned, while others may relate to Enjolras' continued struggle for his beliefs. There are many lessons Hugo has included in this book: redemption, forgiveness, justice, honor, love, war, poverty, bravery, and the division among social classes. Even though this book was written in a different time, in a different place, its controversy and story will always live on because its themes are timeless.

Although it is isn't a "How to" book, "Our Babies, Ourselves" is by far the best book I've read on baby rearing. Meredith Small presents different cultures' techniques for raising children, then analyzes them using an anthropological perspective. Small examines how these cultures differ in such areas as nursing, where babies sleep, carrying babies, and how quickly to respond to a baby's cries.

Small names specific studies as evidence. She uses research evidence, as well as her experience, to draw conclusions on benefits and drawbacks to these various approaches. She is not "objective" as one reviewer states -- she has her opinions, but she informs the reader what evidence and reasoning she bases her conclusions on.

The main message I get from the "How To" baby books I've read is "You should raise your child the way we say because we're smarter than you." Whether it's "What to Expect the First Year," the Sears books (which I agree with much of) or others (not to mention "Babywise"), the most evidence these authors give is "(unnamed and unexplained) studies say we're right."

Small presents the evidence in favor of quick response when baby is hungry, crying, or has another need. She also favors co-sleeping and slings for carrying babies, based on the research she presents. You can disagree with her conclusions (though I agree with most), but at least she is open with her evidence.

Besides further opening my eyes to other cultures and other ways to raise babies, this book was most beneficial to me in emphasizing that evolution determines how the human race developed and why babies have the needs they do. People pushing in the 1950's and 60's for bottle feeding, putting babies face down to sleep, letting babies cry it out, putting babies in separate rooms to sleep, etc., not only did it without scientific evidence, they also were going against babies' biological needs, determined by millions of years of evolution. Now I think of evolution and what reasons babies have for a particular behavior when deciding how to deal with an issue.

I highly recommend "Our Babies, Ourselves" to any parent interested in an anthropologically and biologically-oriented approach to parenthood, especially motherhood. It provides numerous data on how biology affects the parent-baby relationship as well as the baby's behavior and objectively presents how various cultures (including the United States') worldwide accommodate and/or neglect these biological factors and the impact that accommodation or neglect has on the parent/baby relationship.

I got this book when my baby was 3 months old and for me it confirmed every instinct I had as a first-time mother who knew nothing of raising a child prior to having one. I carry my baby in a pouch any time I can; I breastfeed; I'd let the baby sleep in my bed if I could (my husband and I have a waterbed and it's not safe for babies), etc. All of these behaviors are highly, highly beneficial to babies for specific biological reasons.

This is not a "how to" book, nor does it promote any particular approach to child rearing. It is objective and actually rather academic in nature, yet intriguing and easy-to-understand.

Read the book! It's worth it!

Our Babies, Ourselves has been making a huge impact on me and my approach to my almost 6 week old baby - strongly recommend it.

It's a look at ethnopediatrics, cross cultural study of babyraising. It's strong confirmation of a lot of our casual observations of how our baby behaves and responds, and is the most powerful thing I've read to confirm to me that my instincts about what to do are good and effective (my instincts and my baby's desires = strong alignment with how attachment parenting is described).

Not a how to baby book but really great. Looks closely and nursing, sleeping and contact. Powerful thing I just read: all babies cry, with the crying peak at 6 weeks or so. But babies who are slept with and held when parents aren't asleep (as our baby is - he's solo for only about an hour a day total exclusing of changing him) cry for far shorter periods of time. That is, it can be proactive - babies who are carried and held will cry much less when the do cry. If you pick them up only when they start crying - too late.

The book does a great job of explaining some of the complexities of the parent-kid bond, and looks at how different cultures parent differently according to their society's values, and how attempts to inculcate those values can sometimes (and not only in our culture) lead to babyraising practices that don't make sense developmentally. Really inspiring and smart book.

If you love distance running or cross country, this book is a fascinating look at a great team and a dynamic coach. Adam Goucher is the most well known, and best depicted, of all runners in this book. Many other top notch American distance runners also are mentioned. Chris Lear does a first rate job of making the joys and agonies of a cross country season real. Never sloppy or sentimental, the author does a fine job of describing the sport, the team, training sessions, and the personal dynamics of runners and coaches. Of course, it helps that he was a first person observer of the CU team during one of its most demanding seasons. I plan on recommending this book to every high school distance runner that I know as well as all my coaching acquaintances. It's a gem.

As a Division III cross country and track runner, I found this in-depth look at one of the nation's premier programs both enlightening and distancing. Chris Lear does an excellent job of getting access to every aspect of life at Colorado, but the overall effect of the book is to describe life in truly rarefied air. Very few runners have the facilities, talent, or wherewithal to devote so much of their lives to training. In fact, only the elites (that occasionally show up for CU sunday runs) and the soon-to-be elite collegians have made such a decision to devote their lives (and souls) to the sport. Lear gives a tough-minded portrait of Adam Goucher, the CU star who finally wins the national cross title he's been lusting after since the begining of his career, as well as a dynamic look into the team psychology and training. Perhaps the most ellusive character of all is Mark Wetmore, CU's Ahab-like coach, who admits in an afterword interview with Lear that his training might have been a touch too intense. With 'Running With the Buffaloes,' the average reader is given a front row seat in the trenches of Colorado's season, which insists on remaining delicately balanced a stress fracture from failure.

a real great inspirational read, for any runner. Even if you'll never train like this, you can always dream...

Running With the Buffaloes chronicles the 1998 season of the University of Colorado Men's Cross Country team. As a former collegiate cross country runner (NAIA Division II), I am very interested in any book that focuses on cross country, and the fact that this is of an elite squad filled with interesting men makes the reading all the more entertaining. While the subject of the book is the entire team, Chris Lear focuses the most on Coach Mark Wetmore and Senior Adam Goucher. Chris Lear follows the team from their arrival on campus for preseason practice all the way through injuries and tragedy up through the NCAA National Championship meet.

Adam Goucher is the elite runner of the men's squad. He placed second at nationals as a freshman and has spent the next two years trying unsuccessfully to win the race. This season is his last chance at winning the National Meet and is one of his last chances to ensure financial security through running (winning the National Championship will all but ensure major sponsorship so that he can be paid to continue running at the elite level). While Goucher trains with the team, he also trains at a higher level than the cross country team, so much of his training is by himself because of the intensity of training. We see Goucher progress through the season, tested by Wetmore's high mileage training and by the high cost this training is taking on his body as the season wears on.

Mark Wetmore is the coach of the Colorado Cross Country team, and ever since he first started coaching at Colorado, he has preached a high intensity, high mileage regimen for his men. He trains them hard so that when it comes time to race he knows that their bodies are capable of what they will have to do. He is tough, but effective. He demands discipline as there are many who want to be in contention for the National title, but they must be willing to put in the work.

While Goucher and Wetmore are given extra attention, Chris Lear gives sufficient time to the other runners on the squad. We get to get a glimpse of who these men are and their personalities start to shine through. The season starts with so much promise, but injuries start getting in the way, and late in the season one of the runners dies in a biking accident. Lear shows how everything affects the team and how they deal with the season and the loss of a friend.

I don't know if Running With the Buffaloes would be interesting to everyone, but I found this book to be fascinating. It gives a very good look into an elite collegiate squad, and for anyone interested in running or just reading a very interesting story that happens to deal with sport in general and cross country in specific, this is the book to read.

This book has everything: history, adventure, espionage, even a dash of romance. It's a page turner, with not a wasted word, and is unbelievably gripping. Definitely worth staying up all night and losing sleep for. It's also thought-provoking. How do you cope with sheer horror on a day-to-day basis without losing your sanity and humanity? Set in the concentration camps of WWII, it answers (in its way) the question of why Hitler never used his stockpile of poisonous gas. Get this book NOW and spread the word!

this was the first book about WWII i read and i must admit that i was a bit timid when i started, but the first line teased my curiosity and i felt compelled to read more. the characters: the angry Jewish terrorist, the american pacifist, the desperate Jewish mother, and the nurse employed by the Nazis were wonderfully and honestly written, which is truly the treasure of this novel. the last 100 pages held me at the edge of my seat as if i were on a rollercoaster and Iles conducted the story like a true master of fiction.

Greg Iles is a terrific writer. I have read his later books, which are gripping contemporary suspense stories. His career got jump started with this book and the previous "Spandau Phoenix" (which I haven't read yet, but am planning on starting soon).
"Black Cross" is an involving, complex story of trust, greed, love, evil, heroism, and change. As always, Iles' characters are superb, and not black and white stereotypes.
Join Mark McConnell, the pacifist, who joins in a suicide mission only to help defend, and finds himself in the position of having to risk the lives of innocent people to achieve a goal to save the invading Allied troups; Josh Stern, a daredevil Jew, whose bravery and macho charm, are equal to his selfishness and innate brutality; Anna Kaas, an undercover nurse, who has faced the horrors of the concentration camp and who realizes that she too must act to save more than the prisoners; Rachel Jansen, an incredibly brave, level-headed prisoner who watches both her husband father in law murdered, and then desperately tries to save her two children; and Wolfgang Schorner, the head of the camp who falls for Rachel and wants to help her, but who is still a murdering, consciously Nazi.
All of these leading characters are devastatingly real; but the supporting characters are stunning, too: Ariel Weisz, the "weasel" Jew who helps the Nazis; Frau Hagan, the burly woman who befriends Rachel and teaches her the tricks of the prison; Sergeant Strum, a heartless, mindless killing machine; Duff Smith, the arrogant general who recruits McConnell and Stern to do the bidding, lying to them in the process; Avram Stern, the shoemaker who also has another secret; and Ian McShane, the burly Scotsman who trains McConnell and Stern in how to get the gas bomb to the camp.
What a stunning book this is. At first, I thought I wouldn't get involved as I am not a fan of blending historic characters into fictional plots. (We have Churchill and Eisenhower here). But Iles is a genius. This is a great read and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

In Skin Deep, Kathleen Cross addresses the subjects of race and skin color and masterfully crafts a modern day classic. Cross's imaginative and artful use of the English language breathes intriguing life into her characters from the simple to the complex. Her plot is at once seductive, creative and exciting. Her study of the multifaceted evolution of African American men and their roles in our families dismisses all stereotypes and is a testament to both the strength and vulnerability of our men.

The story revolves around Nina, a "proud young Black woman" of mixed parentage, who in appearance is white but in heart, soul and lineage is Black. The story explores Nina's loves, passions, her family secrets, and a God awful nightmare. In this novel, Cross lifts the bar for all modern day novelists. Each chapter provides an intricate piece of an elaborate puzzle. Every sentence compels you to scramble to find the next piece, breathlessly anticipating that next morsel and yet dreading the day when you solve the mystery. As the puzzle takes shape, each piece is increasingly difficult to anticipate until the last elusive part slides into place.

This book leaves you wanting, needing, demanding MORE! I anxiously await the next adventure with Ms. Cross. On behalf of all who enjoy superior writing, I thank Ms. Cross for the gift of this brilliant literary work.

I read Skin Deep in a matter of 3 days. It is a gripping story and the author painted extremely vivid pictures with her descriptive writing. I found myself getting emotional at some parts of the book and that is not an easy feat to perform for a writer. There is a difference between making someone smile on the outside and inside as well. For a novelist to do both shows a remarkable gift. Its hard to believe this is her first novel. Her style of writing is amazing and her attention to every detail was refreshing.

The underlying theme of judging the inside of a person rather than what is on the outside really hit home and I commend her for such a bold debut into the writing world. She boldy ventures into a world of black on black and white on black racism and is real with it.

I look forward to reading her future novels.

When I picked this book up I thought it was another romance book which I have begun to read again. While reading I realized that this book was more than that. Skin Deep has romance, intrigue and drama. The storyline is not predicatable and the questions that I had throughout were not easily answered until the end. Kathleen Cross has done a wonderful job with this book. How can she top this?

Nina, the story's center, was outwardly comfortable with her bi-racial make-up but inwardly she was confused and had every right to be. Too many secrets were being kept from her. I enjoyed the romance between Nina and Ahmad and was glad to see it play itself out. Ahmad was a stand up type of guy and a blessing for his daughter Ebony. Ahmad was betrayed throughout his life but came out on top. Nina's best friend Tonya was a true friend indeed and was the most humorous of them all. All the characters portrayed are believable which makes this book very captivating.

There are so many twists and turns in this book that it's hard to categorize and hard to put down (one day to read). My favorite sections are Rasheed and his poetry (deep) and Ahmad's determination to have Nina as his wife. He never gave up!

Excellent job!

I bought this book, thinking it was a biography. Disappointed when I saw that it was fiction, it languished on my shelf, unread, for 6 months. Once I began reading it, however, I found it an easy and entertaining read.

The myth of a female pope has existed for a thousand years. Donna Woolfolk Cross has written an entertaining novel based on this premise, and allows the reader to step into the 9th century.

The Joan of this novel is born of a poor, pious but mean-spirited cleric and his Saxon wife. Joan has a thrist for learning, which is contrary to the teachings of the church at this time. Her thrist leads her into conflict with her father, leaving home to attend school, disguising herself as a man [taking on her brother's identity at his death] and joining a benedictine monaster, going to Rome and serving as the pope's doctor, ultimately becoming a cardinal and then pope.

Cross has done an excellent job of background research. The reader accepts being inthe 9th century, as s/he is soaked in the appropriate atmosphere: we learn of the medical practices, the hierarchy of the church, daily life, the "zeitgeist" of the age.

However, I found the character of Joan too perfect. Joan was portrayed as more intelligent than men, more honest than men, more caring than men. She was so perfect that there was no opportunity for her character to develop. I felt that Cross' underlying purpose was to promote a feminist viewpoint, not to honestly examine the historical evidence of whether or not Joan indeed existed. This bias of our time undermined what could have been a great novel.

I thought this was a great book. I enjoy historical fiction, especially tales of women, ordinary and extra-ordinary, during the dark or middle ages. I actually read this book a year or two ago, and today I saw a documentary about Pope Joan. I was astounded at how much I had actually learned (and retained) from this novel. The historic evidence reviewed by the team of scholars was obviously known to the author of Pope Joan. I can hardly wait for two things: 1. The Pope Joan film (pleasepleaseplease do the novel proud!); and 2. The next novel from Donna Woolfolk Cross.

"Pope Joan" is truly a page-turning epic that will keep you reading until your done. Extremely well researched and detailed! Albiet, it's not a tale for the faint-hearted, as it deals (often in gruesome detail) with the attrocities which occurred in ignorance during the Dark Age. The victims of such ignorance, were usually women, who were treated as less than human. However, it is a book which most history-buffs and avid readers alike will be interested in, as it is intertwined with real life settings - and an unforgettable legend of a determined woman's triumph.

First off, I haven't even finished the book. I have about 15 pages to go but this book has affected me deeply and I couldnt help myself. I wanted to publicly thank Iyanla and say that if I ever meet you in person, I just want to give you a big long hug and celebrate Rhonda's triumphs and ability to survive and become Iyanla. There's a point in the book where Iyanla describes her proudest acheivement and she said it was being able to tell her Aunt that her uncle had molested her(she was a child at the time). Well, I just lost it at that point. I wept for Iyanla, Rhonda and anyone who had ever been abused.I agree with the reviewer who said: "I will NEVER say that my life has been hard after reading this book." I cried so many times for Rhonda, while reading this book. I felt so much sympathy and empathy for her pain. Most importantly, I have had some of the most painful experiences in my life happen over the last 2 months to the point where I can't believe anything worse could happen to me. I needed to grieve a death and the loss of a relationship and many things. This book helped me grieve and release my pain through tears.And in Iyanla's defense(to the people who were dissappointed with this book), I LOVED that this book was an autobiography.To me it made the book so much more than a self help book. I believe she does not need to end every chapter with the lesson laid out. During the chapters she brings up the "questions" that she asked herself during her struggle. I think that she wants you, the reader to ask yourself the same questions if they apply, and come up with your own answers. Her lessons are HER lessons, yours will be yours. I love this book. Thank you Iyanla, from the bottom of my heart. :)

It took me a while to finish this book because of its sheer emotional impact. It starts with a wonderful poem that describes the shedding tears that had long been held back. Iyanla lays herself bare before her readers and revisits her coming of age. With the harsh life that this woman endured -- sexual abuse, teen pregnancy, spousal abuse, poverty -- it is amazing that she emerged with her sanity, let alone the ability to minister to others.

The author draws upon her experiences to show her audience how to look for lessons in life's unpleasantness. She showed us how her upbringing caused her to internalize some damaging messages from her cruel grandmother, absentee father and an array of abusive lovers. The author explains her transformation from the much-abused Rhonda, to Iyanla the Yoruba Priestess and acclaimed author. And she does it in such a way that the readers know that they too can transcend their circumstances.

I found myself in tears a couple of times while reading this book. Tears may sometimes be viewed as a sign of weakness, but this is a tome about strength and courage. I applaud Iyanla's courage and thank her for sharing her wisdom.

To say that when the student is ready the teacher will appear rang for me with this book. I found so many answers to questions that have plagued me for many years. I feel that I will now be able to overcome a lot of guilt over mistakes that were made in human error and for my own lack of understanding and education in many matter's. I know much has to do with the time in which I was raised. When I see my grandchildren now, I tell them how precious and beautiful they are and how welcomed. That they are smart and good.That they can accomplish anything they set thier mind to and become what ever they want,one granddaughter wants to be a doctor, I shutter when I think what would have been said to me as a child, had I stated such a dream as this. I tell my children how much I love them and how proud I am of them, I'm blessed as a mother and a grandmother. Thank You Iyanla for sharing your story, my heart cried for Rhonda, but she was a powerful teacher.