This book was my first, but my 4th best. I mean, it's still tremendous, but the action isn't the best, but good enough. My favorite part is the part where Jack and Annie face a terrible time getting back to the tree house. Also, the funny part is at the time mentioned above, and at the beginning of the story. It's where Jack and Annie discover lions dislike giraffes. I get the reason, but it was still very funny. Also, I didn't know that giraffes could give a big kick like that. Well, I'm not going to spoil the book, so read it for yourself, and I guarantee you'll love it even though it may not be the best.

Lions at Lunchtime is a great book, written by Mary Pope Osborne. It is about Jack and Annie's adventures in Africa. The magic Tree House takes them to Africa to solve a riddle. Jack and Annie meet a lot of animals. They also meet a worrior. You will have to read the book to see if they meet any lions.
If you like animals, you will like reading Lions at Lunchtime. It was an exciting book. I really like the part when Jack and Annie walk under a giraffe. You will have to read the book to find out why they walk under the giraffe.

Annie and Jack are getting out of bed. They started to sneak outside. They walked to the tree house and climbed up and looked at the Africa book with giraffes on one side and zebras on the other. It took me two weeks to read this book. I can't tell you any more, but I think it's a good book for 2-4 grades. The book is adventurous to me, and I think it's a great book.

If only as much effort and thought had gone into the writing of this book as into the design, Ugly Town might really have had something. The covers and illustrations, the intro pages- heck, even the size and weight- are darn near perfect in exactly the retro way they intended. But the writers have a background which includes scripting comics for Dark Horse, and that's how this reads.

It's a meatless tribute to all things hard-boiled, featuring prose written in a spare (much too spare) style. Descriptions are sorely lacking, and the dialogue, while it talks "tough," is un-creative.

There is really only a couple of instances of good dialogue. Here is one: "There's nothing like a mourning widow. And [she] was nothing like a mourning widow. More like a morning window, and I could see right through her." Not classic stuff, but if the rest had at least attempted this style the book could have attained a kind of punny vitality. But no. It doesn't attempt real spoofery, and it certainly is not authentic.

It's like boys playing in sandbox much too vast for them. Descriptions of drinks and cigars give the impression that the authors just wanted to feel naughty, while a scene where the hero talks his way out of being killed by a thug is especially contrived, obvious and amateurish. Other aspects detract as well, but suffice it to say, Red Harvest this is not.

I really can't see true pulp fans being fooled by this, but give it a try... after you've read Chandler and Hammett and James Cain and Paul Cain and Whitfield and Burnett and Daly and Browne and Brown and Huggins and Brackett and Cave and Whittington and Fischer and Ballard and Bellem and Latimer and Martin and MacDonald and Gault and Spicer and Miller and Dewey and Woolrich and Nebel and Gardner and Adams and Davis and Spillane and Kane and Chase and Albert and Halliday and... you see?

There are much better out there. Lots of 'em. Then check back with the authors of this book after they've gotten some practice. Maybe they should check the above list, too.

Superb. This book makes me wanna head to the nearest dive bar, sink a few stiff ones and hop into my time machine -- destination: 1942. The only reason I don't is, well, time travel and booze don't mix. So I make due with By The Balls.

For men, this book literally grabs you by the balls from the first page and never lets go (for women, this book figurativly grabs you by the balls, etc.). The character of Ben Drake is the kind of hard drinking, hard talking, hard detecting detective you just don't see anymore but really should. The mystery is pure old school P.I. with a nice dash of modernism mixed in for a concoction that sure packs a wallop. Please, I beg of you, read this book.

Well Patricia, I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed your book. It captured in detail the attitude of the era, as it related to those of "color" and particularly females and even further, black females. I found the reading to be very easy to follow. The imagery in wording kept this reader entertained throughout the book. I so wanted Alberta and her life long friend, Reggi, to connect in a romantic way.

I am sure there have been those that have offered suggestions as to how they felt a particular passage or point should have gone or would have liked for it to have gone... This reader is no exception (a slight chuckle should be inserted here). With that attitude in mind, and Alberta knocking on Chief Harris' door to report a joke that she felt was a violation of the Code of Conduct. "she knocked and waited for Chief Harris's response. "come in," he answered. She handed the papers to him" It appeared that the Chief desk might be at a "door opening length" and not centered in the room or further from the door, and I wanted Alberta to show her dismay of the "joke" in her body language as she approached the desk, as this has been prominent in most "American Negro Women" charisma since inception. However, Chief Harris hardly ever looked up anyway, so perhaps this was a mute desire on my part.

Patty, you have a winner here, and I am so happy for you. May you continue to capture your talents in print, that readers such as I can enjoy your work. Looking foward to your next book. Your friend in prose....Charles (aka "charliewang"

Ms Pope's lyrically brooding new novel...One has to accept the characters of "The Colored Waiting Room" as generalized figures moving in your mind, an authoriative and memorable picture of a Black woman's life. Very compelling blend of experiences...true to life, I certaninly cheered Alberta on, and cried for her at the same time..Ms Pope captures that almost indistinguishable mixture of love, personal weaknesses, and vulnerability.

I loved the book, it held my attention from beginging to end. Ms Pope captured the charactors and made them live. Bravo!!!! Colored Waiting Room is a book that should be read by everyone, Patricia Pope is an extrodinary writer.

I am not a non-believer in animal communication. I believe whole-heartedly that animals can communicate, and that we can truly speak to them with our minds and hearts. This is great book material, and of course, the stories are moving. But having met with the author Rapheala Pope, in person, I really question her ability to intuit my animal or even me as a pet owner for that matter. I found it paradoxical after reading this book. The contents of this book sold itself to me, and I couldn't wait to meet with her. The person I met with did not seem like the same person who wrote this book! My dog has some serious behavioral problems, and I've worked religiously with her for the last 2 years. I love this dog with all my heart and soul, and I really would do anything for her. Rapheala had the audacity to ask me if I would ever consider "giving her away" because she felt we "were mismatched." This I felt, was ludicrous. This dog would surely be euthanized if it did not have such a dedicated owner as I. I am well educated, and have researched extensively the causes of behavior exhibited my companion animal, and was quite surprised that Raphaela did not "pick-up" on this. The gardener at my local cemetery said to me the other day "I can tell you really love your dog." I find this amazing that a telepathic animal communicator could not even read something so simple as the obvious dedication I have for this animal, and offend me so greatly by suggesting that I should perhaps consider giving her away. She could not have been further from the truth in her feeble attempt to intuit ANYTHING about our relationship. In relation to the book, of course it is great reading material, and I can see why dedicated animal lovers would want to purchase it. But then again, how would a book filled with experiences like mine fly off the shelves? Of course this is a very subjective review, but this book was the initial reason I sought-out her "intuitive abilities" in the first place. I may be a believer, but not in Rapheala Pope.

I first heard of Rapheala (when I still lived in Hollister, CA) through my mother, who is a friend of a friend of hers. I arranged a day with Rapheala, who came to my barn & spoke with many people. She is amazing! There were a few "non-believers" that day who left believers in a BIG WAY. And one who heard something they didn't want to hear, but years later realized the truth of what she had been told. If you have EVER wondered "What IS my cat trying to tell me" or had any similiar questions about the animal friends in your life, this book is for you! Talk about getting a new perspective, not to mention the laughs, insights and ok, some tears. And to anyone who's lost beloved pets, and wants to believe they are still alive in spirit...here's your proof! And, if you see this Rapheala, expect to hear from me soon...my mare is going to be a mommy!

Wisdom of the Animals is among the first to go beyond demonstrating the validity of animal communication and recounting consultations for kitty potty problems and the like. For this book, the authors seek out wolves, whales, dolphins, and wild birds to learn about their lives and the impact of humans on them and the planet. They speak with domesticated animals too. The authors convey how horses, cats and dogs perceive human habitats and foibles.

Wisdom of the Animals is unique for another reason. The readers see the process of learning to communicate with animals mirrored in the authors themselves. Elizabeth Morrison is much newer at it than Raphaela Pope. She shares her process of building confidence, learning techniques, and receiving clearer and clearer information. Animal communicators in-training will benefit from reading what Elizabeth and Raphaela receive from the same telepathic conversation.

Best of all, this book is a heart-opening and heart-warming read. It was a treat to spend 240 pages in the company of two such wonderful people!

This book is exciting and cool because you could learn more about Indians. The main characters are Jack, Annie and Teddy. Teddy is their dog. They start out in a treehouse. Then Jack says, "I wish I was there." The wind blew! The treehouse spun. It spun faster and faster. Then everything was still, absolutely still. Then they are at the Lakota camp. It is an Indian tribe and they are trying to free Teddy from a spell.

Buffalo Before Breakfast by Mary Pope Usborne.
Would you ever want to go into the time of Indians?
Jack and Annie go into the time of Lakota Indians and meet a Lakota boy. The Lakota boy shows them how to hunt buffalo. Jack and Annie learn to ride ponies. Jack and Annie meet the Lakota boy's
Grandmother. One of the lessons in this story is to not show off. The picture on the cover is colorful. The
Buffalo had stopped stampeding. Find out who stops them.

This is one of my favorites, probably my 3rd. I like buffalo and Indians, especially because of what fun they cause on good western movies, like "How The West Was Won", and the Indians got of to a good start in "Stagecoach", "The War Wagon", and especially "The Pony Express. Another reason why this book exceeds 5,000 stars is because of all the fun there is, it seems like a Hardy Boys book rather than a learning book. But for some reason I'm starting to think that the more action there is in a Magic Tree House book, the more learning topics the book has. Definitely one of the Top Five, too good to say Top Ten.

The Vatican has attempted to halt continued dissemination of the only English edition of The Acting Person with good reason. Apparently, it is not a faithful translation of Karol Wojtyla/John Paul II's Polish original. The translator, who is herself a phenomenologist but thinks differently from the author has changed crucial passages of his work. The second Polish edition which has been translated into French and Spanish is apparently accurate, for those who can read those languages. I myself am looking for one of these, preferably Spanish, but have not been able to find one. Two good overviews of Karol Wojtyla's philosophical anthropology can be found in Kenneth Schmitz's At the Center of the Human Drama and Jaroslaw Kupczak's Destined for Liberty.

I just wanted to act on the review of the guy from mexico(sorry lost your name).

I have just been reading the Biography of Pope John Paul II also known as Karol Wojtyla. And the English Version of The Acting Person is written by the lady he says together with Karol Wojtyla.Because the orginial edition(polish one was not really finished it where his thougths put on paper with unfinnished sentences). The Vatican has tried to stop the publishing but it is indeed her work together with Karol Wojtyla. Read the biography written by Carl Bernstein(same author of all the presidents man) this book will tell you everything about Pope John Paul II.

There is a part in in wich is explained the new improved version of the Acting Person.

Best Regards Onno

I still hope to read one day the Acting Person.

If anyone is interested in finding a copy of The Acting Person, log onto the website address: http://www.i-logic.com/personalism/jp2/actingperson.htm

This book should be read by anyone in academic philosophy. It is a masterpiece yet to be discovered by mainstream american philosophers. It's just too bad that it is not more readily available.

Although it would be nice to have a thorough biography of the popes, it should be written by someone who shares a Catholic perspective of the papacy. This book does not.

A well researched, matter of fact history of the papacy. While not refraining from the good, the bad, or the appalling facts of papal history, this respected Roman Catholic historian does not present history in an unbalanced or tabloid manner, as someone with a denominational axe to grind perhaps would. In fact, relative to other histories I have read, he does not dwell as much on the negative details as one might expect, especially given the name of the book.

Beautiful full color photos support the text nicely and are placed appropriately and conveniently near the relevant body copy in the page layout.

I would give this five stars if not for two faults. One, the text would be more easily read if broken up into a two column format on each page. This book is too wide for one column of type and the eye has to work unnecessarily hard to follow that many text characters across the entire width of the page and then down to the next line. This was, unfortunately, a bad design decision.

The other problem is that the author has a tendency, after initially referring to the chosen name of a pope and his number, to not always subsequently include that number after the pope's name. One has to continually refer back to the paragraph where the pope's name and accompanying Roman numerals are originally mentioned, and then back again. This may be an overly harsh criticism, but with so many names being mentioned, one can easily become confused (which "Leo" or "Gregory" is being referred to again?). The literary taboos inhibiting redundancy should have been waived for the sakes of clarity and memory reinforcement.

The book also includes a useful glossary and chronological listing of the popes.

Despite my rather cosmetic criticisms, overall I am very pleased to own this book as an educational and reference resource.

As one who has long reveled in papal history (I have read all 40 volumes of Ludwig von Pastor's magnificent and magisterial History of the Popes and all 19 volumes of Horace K. Mann's very readable and informative work on the medieval popes)I found that this book, despite its provocative title, does a good job telling the history of the Popes in 317 pages. When I first saw the book I expected to merely browse thru it but it caught me up and I read it all. I am giving it five stars not because I agree with all the author's judgments but because it is so well-written that there is not a dull page in the book. He tilts some to the "liberal" side, but that is to be expected, and I liked the fact, e.g., that he spent more time on Nicholas V than on Alexander VI. Incidentally, I did not have any trouble knowing which Leo or Gregory was being discussed, since they are all pretty individual persons one is not likely to confuse. An attention-holding and eminently readable work.

My book is about two kids whose treehouse takes them back to a time when pirates were alive. Now is that cool or what? Anyway back to the story,as Jack and Annie are in the boat with the pirates they go to an island called,''Kidds Island''. As they get off the boat,Jack and Annie make a plan to escape while the pirates are digging but their plan is messed up by the captain. Will Jack,Annie,and the pirates find the lost treasure?
I like this book because it was very interesting and it has very cool adventure. It also has really cool and scary endings.

Pirates Past Noon
Mary Pope Osborne

Would you ever want to travel to the time of the pirates?

This is a story about two kids Annie and Jack. They have found a magic tree house and travel to the time of the pirates. The pirates show up and capture them. The pirates make them tell were the buried treasure is. They tell them they don't know were it is, but then Jack & Annie find the treasure and tell them were it is. The pirates found it too and leave to get some shovels and in that time something happens to Annie and Jack, but you'll have to read the book to find out what happens to the two of them.

I thought this was a great book think it is for people who like adventure books.

I recommend this book to kids 6-10 years old and I think kids would love it if they like adventure.

I just loved this book! It was a book with tremendous action, cool characters, some cool magic, and a great plot! What made the book so good was that there were really funny pirates. Also, the parrot is neat, and what happens to the parrot is so neat! I highly reccomend this to any Magic Tree House fan.

"Pope Joan" or "Papissa Joanna" was originally written and published in 1886 by the Greek author Emmanuel Royidis. The book tells the story of Pope John VIII, the purported female Pope who ruled Christendom for a period of two years, five months and four days in the middle of the ninth century. "Pope Joan" is a comic masterpiece of irreverence towards the medieval Church and the accepted pieties of its revisionist historians. Indeed, insofar as Royidis continued to propagate the legend of Pope Joan, to claim that the work contained only "facts and events proved beyond discussion", the text itself ingeniously combines history and legend, as well as brilliant wit, to subvert claims of authority. As Lawrence Durrell notes in his Preface to his brilliant English translation and adaptation, "the authorities of the Orthodox Church were horrified by what seemed to them to be the impious irony of its author-and no less by the gallery of maggot-ridden church fathers which he described so lovingly." Not suprisingly, Royidis was excommunicated from the Orthodox Church and his book was banned in Greece.

The first three parts of "Pope Joan" tell the story of Joanna prior to her arrival in Rome, before she became an historical personage. Set in the ninth century, the narrative captures the European world in disarray after the death of Charlemagne, captures a time when civilization was tenuous and the Church provided one of the few viable social structures. It is this part of the narrative that is unambiguously fictional, the imagined story of Joanna's life in Germany and then in Greece. After her parents die, Joanna clandestinely enters a monastery where she meets the monk Frumentius and develops a romantic relationship with him. When her true sexual identity is surmised, Joanna and Frumentius flee one monastery and then another, eventually ending up in Greece. Joanna soon becomes tired of her romance and her intellectual brilliance attracts the attention of Church leaders throughout Greece. She leaves Frumentius and departs alone for Rome, where the legend, some say the history, of Pope Joan begins. She becomes a papal secretary renowned for her intellect and, when Pope Leo IV dies, she ascends to the papacy. Pope Joan becomes pregnant and dies after giving birth during a procession through the streets of Rome.

While the general outline of the narrative may seem only mildly interesting, the brilliant translation and prose of Lawrence Durrell, together with the biting, irreverent wit of Royidis, make "Pope Joan" an unsurpassed work of comic genius. A flavor for this wit and style can be found in a short passage describing what ensued after Pope Joan gave birth: "Great was the consternation when a premature infant was produced from among the voluminous folds of the papal vestments . . . Some hierarchs who were profoundly devoted to the Holy See sought to save the situation and change horror and disgust to amazement by crying out 'A miracle! A miracle!' They bellowed loudly calling the faithful to kneel and worship. But in vain. Such a miracle was unheard of; and indeed would have been a singular contribution to the annals of Christian thaumaturgy which, while it borrowed many a prodigy from the pagans, had not yet reached the point where it could represent any male saint as pregnant and bringing forth a child."

While the apologist position has consistently denied the historicity of Pope Joan, there is at least some suggestion that the legend is indeed a fact. As Durrell suggests in his Preface, one telling point is that Platina includes a biography of Pope John VIII in his "Lives of the Popes". And no less an authority than The Catholic Encyclopedia states that Platina's "Lives of the Popes" is "a work of no small merit, for it is the first systematic handbook of papal history." Historical disputation aside, however, "Pope Joan" stands as a brilliant work of comic writing and masterful translation, a masterpiece of Royidis and Durrell.

People that buy the Cross version are buying the wrong book. Look instead to the beautifully written, gleefully and irreverently funny version by Emmanuel Rhodes, written over a 100 years ago, translated from the Greek by famed author Laurence Durrell.

Truly, there is no comparison between the Cross and Durrell versions. Jane Austen chided her gullible heroine in "Northanger Abbey" for indulging in pulp Gothic novels that were "all plot and no reflection". The Cross book is all plot and no reflection. Or even worse, it is all agenda and no reflection. It is unabashedly, tediously revisionistic, hell-bent on making Pope Joan an idealized, religiously progressive proto-feminist. Cross projects all our late-twentieth century values onto her, time and place be damned. And it bludgeons you with its purpose for hundreds upon hundreds of pages. Joan never emerges as a character, just a cause. This is a book that in 50 years we will be able to look back upon and say, "Oh, how '90s". Plus, the writing is cliched and really rises no higher than that of "genre" level prose.

The Durrell translation of the Emmanuel Rhodes book is everything the Cross book is not. The prose simply sings, even in translation -- there were passages that were so beautiful, they gave me a palpable headrush. It is filled with gleeful black humor, the plot is tight and well-constructed, and the book, though irreverent, is filled with respect and affection for the character of Joan. Rhodes has no agenda for Joan, he depicts everything with honesty and clarity. For example, he does not attempt to make apologies for anti-Semites, and even adopts their views in casual references as a device to voice the world views of the characters that is required to immerse the reader in the time and place of the book. And Joan's baser impulses driving her actions are never gilded over into something more heroic than they are. Plus, the Rhodes book is simply fun.

I enjoyed Cross's version of this story, especially the historical detours into the state of law and medicine in the Dark Ages. But, I'm glad I read it before I opened the Lawrence Durell/Emmanuel Royidis' version.

This is the funniest book I've read since Fried Green Tomatoes! It's a hilarious, irreverent, bawdy, sacreligious saga at the expense of every prudish, hypocritically pious notion ever spawned in Christian history. It's a scream! I wonder if my neighbors have been disturbed by my uncontrollable howling. As an example, there's the bit where Joan uses the leg bone (sacred relic) of a martyred saint which she and a group of monks are transporting, to fend off the overly-amorous monks during an episode of gluttenous over-indulgence!

This very literate debauchery is the work of a genius.

Former Mayor of Boston and U S Ambassador to the Vatican, Raymond Flynn draws a very personal and intimate portrait of Pope John Paul II. Through the various events, incidents and celebrations narrated with meticulous detail and color, the personality of the Pope comes alive to the reader. The impact the Pope has had on the average American public is truthfully brought out. This book will be of interest to an American Catholic who would be able to identify the personalities from American politics and Catholic religion, at the same time can feel along with Flynn in his admiration for this man of God. Indeed it's a smooth and delightful reading worthy of the Pope as well as of the Ambassador.

I have read many books about His Holiness Pope John Paul II, and this is by far the BEST book I have read about the Pope. It is very easy to read. Infact, once I started to read I could not stop until I finished the book. When I was done...I could not stop crying. Former Ambassador Flynn did an outstanding job in giving his reader a rare and personal glimpse of the Pope, that other authors who have written biographies about His Holiness simply cannot convey. I especially found the stories of the mother who lost her son, and when the Pope offered Flynn money stating it was not church money, but the Pope's own money to help pay for the medical bills of Flynn's oldest son very moving and touching. For those who have never met the Pope...after reading this book you will feel as if you not only met him, but have known the Pope as an intimate friend for years.

Ray Flynn has taken from his many experiences with Pope John Paul II and put together a highly interesting read. This is not your typical biography, although each stage of the Holy Father's storied life is mentioned. This book gives you the Pope up close and personal, in both his public and private dealings. What an absolutely incredible man this Karol Wojtyla is!!