Following the same formula as the clever Choose Your Own Adventure series (why can't these books still be on the bookstore shelves?), the Passport series offers exciting Indiana Jones-style adventures, starring yourself, a cameraman, and an investigative journalist.

In Forgotten Days, your team is hired by a prim English woman to track down the missing pages of a forgotten diary written by one of her ancestors. The adventures follow the same thread as all those old-fashioned hero stories, filled with double-crosses, triple crosses, badguys with guns, narrow escapes, girls tied up in the badguy's tent- all those classic adventure elements. It's a perfect book for preteens and possibly even early teens (it's actually even entertaining for adults!)

Watt of Edinburgh is an incredible scholar who will have a continued legacy. This book is one of his many incredible works. Excellent for understanding how culture and politics formed Islamic dogma more often than a true search for truth during its most formative periods.

Compiled and written by David Montgomery, Franz Schubert's Music In Performance: Compositional Ideals, Notational Intent, Historical Realities, Pedagogical Foundations is a comprehensive, 319-page guide written especially to help performers better understand and bring out the minute subtleties of Franz Schubert's classical works of music. Extensive history and detail, understandings of rhythm and tempo, advanced studies and methodology and a great deal more pack the pages of this extremely technical and professional guide intended especially for skilled performers who seek to hone their expertise to new heights. Enhanced with a thorough index, Franz Schubert's Music In Performance is a core addition to any Classical Music Studies collection in general, and Franz Schubert Studies reading lists in particular.

If I had to rank my favorite British mystery authors who produced their best work in the 1930s through the 1950s, my list would look like this:

(1) Edmund Crispin a.k.a. Bruce Montgomery (2) Michael Innes a.k.a. John Innes Mackintosh Stewart (3) Dorothy Sayers (4) Margery Allingham (5) Michael Innes a.k.a. John Innes Mackintosh Stewart (with a drop in rank for his mysteries that went off the surreal deep-end).

Out of my Fab Four Brits, Michael Innes and Edmund Crispin share the most similarities. They were both of Scots-Irish background, both wrote their mysteries under pseudonyms while teaching at college, and both were educated at Oxford -- Oriel College and St. John's College, respectively. They both wrote highly literate mysteries with frequent allusions to the classics (nine out of ten of which go zooming right over my head). Michael Innes has his detective, Sir John Appleby poke fun at this high-brow type of murder fiction in "Death at the Chase":

"That's why detective stories are of no interest to policemen. Their villains remain far too consistently cerebral."

Expect that even the most vicious murderer in an Edmund Crispin mystery will quote Dryden or Shakespeare at the drop of a garrote. "Frequent Hearses" is a fertile setting for this type of classical badinage, since its plot involves the making of a film based on the biography of Alexander Pope. Gervase Fen, Oxford don of English Language and Literature, and amateur detective extraordinaire is hired by the film company as a story consultant, and he is plagued throughout the book by a Scotland Yard detective who is an amateur classics scholar. Fen wants to discuss the murder. Chief Inspector Humbleby wants to talk about the Brontes and Dr. Johnson. Neither one will admit to a less than perfect understanding of either his profession or his hobby, and both despise amateurs. Their encounters keep "Frequent Hearses" sparkling along right up until its final page. Here is a sample of dialogue, wherein Inspector Humbleby deliberately misunderstands Fen's explanation of the film's subject:

"Based," Fen reiterated irritably, "on the life of Pope."

"The Pope?"

"Pope."

"Now which Pope would that be, I wonder?" said Humbleby, with the air of one who tries to take an intelligent interest in what is going forward. "Pius, or Clement, or--"

Fen stared at him. "Alexander, of course."

"You mean"---Humbleby spoke with something of an effort---"you mean the Borgia?"

All of Crispin's characters are carefully (one might say 'crisply') developed, and distinguished for the reader by a quirk or eccentric manner of speech (sometimes Crispin overplays the eccentricity at the expense of realism, especially with his main protagonist-- I do wish Fen would stop expostulating, "Oh, my fur and whiskers!"). Physical description is sketchy. If one of Crispin's characters walked past you in the street, you probably wouldn't recognize him. However, if you were to overhear his conversation with the postman---

And I don't mean to imply that "Frequent Hearses" is all dialogue and no action. There is one especially harrowing scene where a young woman chases the murderer into a maze in order to learn his identity and then (when reason returns) can't find her way back out again. By the time Fen rescues her, she has endured an experience right out of an M.R. James horror story (in fact, the young woman quotes M.R. James at length while she is traversing the maze - a typical Crispin characteristic).

The mystery surrounding the murderer's identity and motivation is as cleverly convoluted as the maze, and it is equally as hard to get to its heart. Crispin himself wrote and published at least one film script and composed music for several films, so "Frequent Hearses" is told with the knowledge of a movie industry insider.

If you like vintage British mysteries with a 'classical education' and haven't yet discovered the 'Professor Fen' novels, then you're in for a treat-- assuming you can find these out-of-print volumes. Here are all nine of the Fen mysteries plus two collections of short stories, in case you jump into 'Frequent Hearses' and want to keep going:

"The Case of the Gilded Fly" ("Obsequies at Oxford"), 1944; "Holy Disorders", 1945; "The Moving Toyshop", 1946; "Swan Song" ("Dead and Dumb"), 1947; "Love Lies Bleeding", 1948; "Buried for Pleasure", 1948; "Frequent Hearses", 1950; "The Long Divorce", 1952; "Beware of the Trains", 1953 (short stories); "The Glimpses of the Moon", 1978; "Fen Country", 1979 (short stories).

Montgomery is uniquely qualified to write this text. He is a lawyer, theologian and human rights specialist who has taught at the International Institute for Human Rights, Strasbourg, France. The text takes as its point of departure the Tiananmen Square massacre. Montgomery was in China at the time of the massacre. He begins with the basic press reports and then adds his own personal observations about the events. Montgomery then proceeds to outline and analyse the Marxist approach to human rights and highlights some fundamental weaknesses with it. Montgomery then explores the contribution of Chinese religion to the shape of China as a nation - folk religion, Confucian, Taoist and Buddhist thought. This sets the tone for assessing why in the history of China Tiananmen Square is not necessarily an aberration. That is, the pre-Marxist beliefs in China did little to empower human dignity and promote human rights. The author then traces the place of Christian thought in China from earliest contacts up to the present time. He indicates weaknesses with the Church's unfulfilled mission in China up to the advent of Mao. He then sketches a solution to the human rights problems of China based on a transcendent perspective for grounding human rights. This text builds upon two other works of Montgomery in the field of human rights. The text is very readable and does not require a legal background to follow his thesis. All in all, a highly readable book written by a passionate defender of human rights who happened to be in China when that momentous move towards democracy was repressed.

This book tells the story of Jeane Dixon, a devout Catholic, who was probably one of the greatest clairvoyants the world has ever known. She lived most of her adult live in Washington, D.C., to where she moved with her husband at the start of World Was II. There, she became the toast of the town. She made so many accurate predictions that it was mind boggling. Yet, she never asked for money for a reading, as she considered it an act from God. On the other hand, she never had to consider that as an option, as she lived a privileged life, having grown up in a wealthy household in Wisconsin and, later, marrying a very well to do business man.

The numbers and accuracy of her predictions are startling. Moreover, many of them were made years in advance of their occurrence. The one that gained the most notoriety was the prediction of President Kennedy's assassination, which is fully discussed in the book. The book also discusses Mrs. Dixon's thoughts on the issue of conspiracy behind the assassination. Given her track record, it is quite an interesting discourse.

The author of the book, an investigative reporter and friend of Mrs. Dixon, gives an excellent account of her predictions and, often, the context out of which they arose. She describes how the predictions came about. While many of the predictions involved well known individuals, Mrs. Dixon also made many predictions for people with whom she came into contact in her everyday life. All in all, this is a memorable book about a most remarkable woman who, indeed, had the gift of prophecy.

Simple.

Explores EVERYTHING about each bit of text.

Explained in complete fashion, yet can be understood by even the most casual reader.

The only commentary I've read that wasn't WORK to read.

Montgomery skillfully brings to life the gray wolf's struggle for survival in this tale of tragedy and triumph.

Great Houses of Ireland is a wonderful book for the Irish, architecture, or home design enthusiast. It is filled with lots of great pictures of some of Ireland's most extravagant castles and houses, both inside and out. The book also includes history and interesting facts about these monumental abodes. If you enjoy European architecture, lavishly decorated homes, and lots of beautiful photography, this would be an excellent book to own. It would also make a great coffee table book with it's hard covers and large size.

I've always been insatiable when it comes to mystery novels and this new one by B. Rae Montgomery certainly lives up to its recommendations. It grabs you from the first paragraph and doesn't let you go until you've read the very last page.

After living in Florida for many years and an admitted fan of dog racing, I was delighted at the care the author took in describing the sport. With the controversies that continually surround the world of Greyhound racing, it's gratifying to discover characters that truly define the caring and loving breeders and trainers that make up the majority of those involved.

An extraordinary new talent, Ms Montgomery masterfully combines a tender love story with fast-paced action and terror. I recommend it to anyone who loves the adrenaline rush that comes from not being able to put a phenomenal book down. I'll wait impatiently until her next book is released.