As you can see, my Spanish is not very good anymore; the only practice I get is from reading books which were originally written in Spanish or have been translated, as was Harry Potter. For those of you who are interested in beefing up on your grasp of the Spanish language, I highly recommend these books. Although they will be difficult at times, it is still a great read, especially if you have the patience to take your time with the novel. [If you want to read it quickly and easily, try the English version; it's just as good!] Reading a book that is as good as this one makes learning the language so much better, as I'm sure you're aware.

The hero of the story is Harry, a kid who's entire life has been spent in a cupboard under the stairs, being raised by relatives who don't love him at all. One day he finds out he's really a wizard, and has been accepted at Hogwart's, the greatest school for wizards in the world. When he enters the wizarding world, adventures just seem to jump into his lap. It's a great story for all ages!

Que te diviertas!

The supposed similarity of this book with those written by Minette Walters must be owing to plot elements such as: three suspects and a body found in water (the Breaker); or, a long dead body that brings a formerly frustrated cop back to harass the main suspects (The Ice House). However, the depth of character development found in Walters' better books is missing. And, the reader probably won't learn much from this book, unlike those by Deborah Crombie (last two), Minette Walters, or P.D. James -- or even Elizabeth George for that matter.

The book reads like a screenplay -- which should be appreciated by TV buffs. Each chapter is an act, containing a 'scene or two. The set descriptions are good, although are a bit misplaced, i.e. the setting sun as mango hanging in the sky dripping juice at the soon-to-be death scene might have worked better in the scene where Cora was thinking about her long-dead RAF lover.

The writing in "Likeness in Stone" is not as rich as text by P.D. James, however, the plot moves along at a reasonable clip to a solid ending. In some of her books, James lingers over detail at the expense of a tangled ending, although she seems to have overcome that in her last two books.

Bill is driven to join the investigation, something the current force does not appreciate. Two other suspects besides Ian surface Helena's best friend Joan Poole and another former student. As Bill seeks the connections between the deceased and her three potential culprits, another dead body is found that is eerily similar to the Warner case. Bill realizes that he must quickly uncover the killer's identity before the individual becomes a mass murdering serial killer.

A LIKENESS IN STONE combines the best of the British police procedural with a chilling psychological drama into an incredibly well-written and exciting debut novel. Bill and the rest of the cast are all top rate characters, but it is the cleverly designed story line which constantly forces readers to reevaluate what they think is going to occur that turns this book into something special. Keep an eye out for J. Wallis Martin because if this novel is any indication, she has a great career ahead of her.

Harriet Klausner

Yes this book is challenging to the reader: if you have ANY fear of some means of death or injury (who doesn't?) then there will be some part of the book that defies you to keep staring at the clinical reality of the situation.

Yet Stone makes his case with emotion, feeling and yes, humor -- but never without the utmost respect for those considering suicide or those reaching for help in a desperate act. Never once did I feel Stone was judging the subject or the reader. He saved all that for the system and those that perpetuate it.

I read this book a year ago and it's principles have stayed with me and inspired me to me more open, generous and thoughtful.

Thanks.

Otoh, if you don't intend anything as dramatic, then still one can pick a lot of amazing information and stats from it, plus it's very easy to read, contains no hifalutin touchy-feely sermonizing whatsoever, could be somewhat helpful in discerning if anyone around you has set his mind on a premarure departure (though it's by no means a main focus of the book), so all in all, I'd say it's a curious book and at the very least is bound to gratify every man's natural curiosity about this somewhat macabre topic. The book looks thicker than it is because of the bibliography and notes. There's a lot of notes in it, just as interesting as the text itself. The author expresses himself with a kind of dry humor that makes the book even more readable. Not a must-read, but the appropriately curious will not be disappointed.

Now having read the work of Geo Stone, a very clinical, white light is shed on the mystery and attraction that is suicide. Dry humor, at times, is used, as this is a heavy subject, but it still abounds with the reality that "when you point the gun properly, as the author will instruct, that is it..."

No longer do I find room for curiosity or the enigmatic romance. In that sense, then, I have learned that suicide isn't something only impacting the self. The book showed me how others are left with a hole in their life.

I do wish there were more historical information regarding the Catholic Church and Christianity in it's developed stance on the moral issues. It did cover early Christianity and the short lived period of suicides in order to bypass the temptations of earth to get one's seat in heaven, but I would love to have read more.

Also fascinating were the situational ethics brought up by the author compelling one to really analyze if there truly is anything "sinful" about suicide. In one instance, murder during war is honorable....suicide is not. Other examples and contrasts made by the author borderline on the profound where one can actually walk away feeling neither "pro" nor "against" suicide.

For years, I was a Catholic Benedictine Monk, and do know what the Church dictates on this subject, but I no longer am in agreement with this opinion. Nothing in life is black and white. Nothing is easy.

If you want this book to offend you, it will. If you wish to be challenged, emotionally and ethically, it will. It simply is how you wish to see it.

Through confrontation and suffering, we grow as human beings. This is the basis of the Paschal Mystery of Christ.

Michael

The Rolling Stones is one of Heinlein's most lighthearted novels. It was written primarily for young adults, but it's a good read at any age. The book is about a middle class family, living on the moon as the story begins, in a time when middle class families can buy spaceships about as easily as you or I could buy a large recreational vehicle or a small yacht.

Briefly, the story involves a family--a mother and father, their four children (the twins Castor and Pollux, their annoying elder sister and usually underfoot younger brother), and grandmother Hazel Meade Stone. The twins had the idea of buying a spaceship and flying out to the asteroid belt to make their fortune in space mining ventures. Their father rejected this plan, preferring to send them to Earth for a formal university education. But Grandma Hazel prevailed with more ambitious counsel, and the whole family ended up buying a spaceship and becoming an adventurously nomadic collection of rugged individualists. They flew first to Mars, then to the asteroids, then, as the book ends, further onward.

The Rolling Stones is Heinlein's "family values" novel, with the highest virtue held to be loyalty to one's kin. Grandma Hazel Meade lies under oath and practically vamps a Martian judge, at one point, to save her two grandsons from doing hard time as punishment for trying to sidestep Martian import taxes. Earlier in the family's travels, the usually self-oriented Stone twins endorse the idea that the family should return to the moon, rather than go on toward Mars, because their younger brother (Lowell) seemed to be incurably space-sick. Even father Roger Stone's decision to override the computer and force a launch from the moon in the event of a mechanical glitch is explained as loyalty to the family honor, rather than being a petty manifestation of his own egoism.

The quality of the writing in The Rolling Stones is par for Heinlein--which is another way of saying it would be a masterwork for many another writer. If you want Heinlein without the aspiring sexual scenarios and political red flags, then The Rolling Stones is about as good as you're going to get.

Jerry Neil Abbott
(jna@ix.netcom.com

Simply put, this book is high adventure, following a family from the moon to Mars and to the asteroid belts, and beyond. Blending the novelty of a space ride with father-knows-best sensibilities--which at times seem dated but are all the more charming for it--he shows us a strong family full of independent thinkers and people willing to forge their own road.

Fans of "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" (another excellent Heinlein for any primer) will note that the grandmother of the Stone family was Hazel Meade, the hard fighting kid from the Lunar revolution; this book takes place about two and a half generations later. And of course it's obvious that Star Trek's tribbles are literary descendants of Heinlein's flat cats, though I think Heinlein got more mileage with them.

What's really most wonderful about this book, though, is how it touches the imagination. The concept of running an interplanetary shipping business bringing luxury items to asteroid miners and sight-seeing bikes to Mars strikes a chord, as do the little things like home life aboard a space ship and the grandmother's caustic sense of humor. Whether you're a long-time sci-fi reader or new to the genre, don't pass this one up.

I got about 30 pages in and was pretty well turned off by this book. However, I kept at it, in an effort to be fair. Around the time Thuro's father is assassinated is when the book really gets going. The scenes between Thuro and Culain were what kept me going at first, and then the introduction of Prasamaccus sold me on the book as a whole.

The charaters are very well written. The interactions between them is what makes this an enjoyable read. The plot is sometimes fleshed out in a rather dry way, but those passages were for the most part easily skipped, and I didn't miss anything.

Anyone who is a fan of Guy Gavriel Kay should pick this up as light reading. Anyone who loved this book should really pick up Tigana by Kay. The approach to character is very similar, and Kay is able to keep a complex plot going without making it sound like a history recitation.

I do not wish to give a synopsis, since I will leave the total pleasure and experience to you when you read this book. I will say this, if David Gemmell's other books are as good as this one, I plan to read a lot more of his work and fantasy in general.

For all intents and purposes, this is a re-working of the Arthur story, where we meet Arthur as a young Romanized Briton. He gets taken in by a near-immortal Atlantean warrior after his father is killed by other nobles, and trained to take care of himself. He then goes on a quest to find the sword his father threw to the Lady in the Lake, in an alternate universe ruled by an insane Atlantean sorceress.

What's really interesting is that Mr. Gemmell weaves a lot of real-life history into his work, making it very realistic. It is indeed far more likely that the "real" Arthur was simply a Romanized Briton, fighting after the Empire's exit from the Isles. The Legion that he finds in the Mist was actually destroyed, except for its auxiliary cavalry, in the Iceni revolt; instead, in this, they were exiled into the Mist in a fit of pique.

The Sipstrassi stones are also interesting...they allow magic, but a limited supply exists, which is a good limiting mechanic.

This is a very good book to pick up. The second in the series is a sequel, and then the next three are the rather unique John Shannow (post-apocalyptic gunslinger) novels, which are worth their weight in gold. They're set in the same continuity, also. Much of the cosmology (particularly the cataclysm bits) derive heavily from modern fringe theory. I won't go into that, but to say that it's never had a better use.

I can't help commenting on the thing that irritated me most about this book, which was Stone's representations of his wife and kids. They were, in this book, just beautiful props without personality, devices for Stone's self-flattering view of himself.

One bright note: I haven't tried any of the recipes yet. Maybe they will redeem this disappointing book.

Unless you know or like Patmos already, it's difficult to envision some landscapes because either the details provided were too limp or simply tried to hard to paint a picture in my head where my imagination might have done better with fewer, succint descriptions.

I was also disappointed with simple editing/writing mistakes that Stone and his editor made such as using too many Greek words (spelled phonetically, not true to Greek) and then giving the English translation afterward. A person, like myself and many others, who know both Greek and English can find it annoying to have the same thing repeated twice. It's a beginner's mistake from Strunk and White's rules.

If I could get over the poor editing and lifeless passages, I found a gem of a story that could have shined brilliantly with the right organization, more concise adjectives and characters that came more to life. I do admire Thoma for his motivation, intention and courage to make his dreams come true. I do believe he is a good storyteller, as the author says he is in the book. I do believe this could have been a great memoir.

Please don't hate me for writing this review, but I'm being honest by presenting the good and the bad. A better memoir is "The Sailor's Wife" by Helen Benedict or Katherine Kizlos' "The Olive Grove."

As recorded in the brief summary above, the book follows the author's adventure one summer trying to run a Greek taverna on the Agean island of Patmos. The book recounts how the author set up shop, ran it daily with his dubious Greek partner, and finally discovered what his dream really meant to him. The narrative seems to take place before Patmos become a hot tourist location (before 1990), yet Tom Stone doesn't reveal any dates. The author's page revelas that Tom no longer lives in Greece, but in Southern California.

The book is light reading (probably take 2 hours of reading...after all it is only 199 pages) -- it includes with some folklore about the island (much revolving around St. John's visit in the first century). The recipies printed in the appendix are a nice touch, especially for those wanting to indulge in the culinary experience.

"Lennon Remembers" is an especially poignant after Lennon's untimely death in 1980. In reading this book, one gets the feeling that Lennon is baring his soul. He calls 1965 his "fat Elvis period," 1965 being the year "Help!" was released. Lennon calls "Help!" one of his few "real songs," and admits that the entire "Help!" collection was done while he was under the infuence of marijuana.

His confrontations with his fellow bandmates over Yoko Ono is painful; his hurt at their refusal to accept her comes through loud and clear. Lennon makes no pretense that to him the Beatles were a band, a concept, a period of time...in one memorable passage in the book, he declared he'd be a fisherman if the opportunity had so presented.

Intelligence and creativity are a part of John Lennon's discourse; throughout the interview those characteristics are glaringly apparent. A brilliant, creative man, Lennon makes no apology for his perceptions. An outspoken, often blunt man, Lennon tells people exactly what he thinks and always has reasons to support his arguments.

This book is really a treasure chest. It is sure to spark one's interest in this gifted, talented man and for veteran fans, it will be a bittersweet experience. Had John Lennon not died at such an early age, one wonders today how this interview would be conducted.

There'll never be another John Lennon. He raised the bar and set new standards in music and his loss was a very painful one.

This book spans the lives of Sara Everton and her husband, Richard. At the start of the novel, the Evertons have sold their possessions and are traveling through rural Mexico in order to begin a new life. They move into a vacant hacienda and re-open a copper mine which was abandoned sixty years earlier by Richard's grandfather. The hacienda and mine are on the outskirts of Ibarra, a village with 1 taxicab, 1 telephone and less than 1000 people. The nearest town is 80 kilometers away. Within six months of their arrival, Richard is diagnosed with leukemia. The Evertons approach their final years together with remarkable serenity and peace of mind. The imaginative, easily distracted Sara reflects upon her life and the lives of those around her with an almost childlike wonder.

This book is reminescent of Sherwood Anderson's "Winesburg, Ohio." Like Anderson, Harriet Doerr has a gift for turning the mundane into something remarkable and the ordinary into something extraordinary.