Texas Wildflowers es un excelente libro para el biologo de campo, ya que cuenta con bellas fotografias de los ejemplares revisados en el libro. Es una ayuda para los estudiantes de botanica de Texas y el Noreste de Mexico. Solo le falta un indice por especie y uno por color de flores para su mejor manejo en campo.

I received a copy of "Texas Wildflowers" when I was in middle school, in preparation for a class assignment to collect, identify and preserve a variety of Texas wildflowers. I have held on to my copy for the past 18 years, and it's still the best book for identifying Texas wildlflowers! The photos are superb, and the location and identifying information for each flower is informative and interesting.

My only complaint is the book isn't bound in a weatherproof binding so I can bring it along on my annual wildflower photography visits to Texas locales such as Lyndon B. Johnson State Historical Park; McKinney Falls State Park; Inks Lake State Park and Burnet, Texas.

During this mystery, I half expected Scooby-Doo and Shaggy to walk around a corner of the haunted mansion to help solve the mystery. Just like "Sasquatch" (#25), "Headless Horseman" (#26), "Burial Ground" (#38), and "Galloping Ghost" (#39) Trixie and friends run into a "supernatural" mystery. This time, the ghost of a old witch haunts a local mansion and appears to possess their new friend, Faye. But it is real or simply an elaborate scaring scheme?

This book was fun to read because it was rather freaky, even if it was predictable. Like most of the later books, it has one-book characters and places that pop in during this book and are never heard from again. Overall, though, it was a pleasure to read.

Trixie, Honey and their new friend Fay are mixed up in the spookiest adventure ever! Fay is sure she's "possessed" by the evil spirit of the witch Sarah Sligo. Trixie sees and hears Sarah Sligo. Honey is scared out of her life!(Almost.) They wake up in smoke, with people banging the door shouting "Open up you witch! We know you're there!"Fay is sure the ghost of Sarah Sligo is making HER do all this. Will they find out who is doing it? Before Fay gets scared to death? Literally???

Personally, being a member of a weekly TT group, I've seen all too many times when our resident ST pulls this book out of his pack before a satisfying game to ignore its value...

This is the book if you want to explore the never-ending realms of The Umbra, the previous edition, was packed with a better loyout, but inside this book is everithing you want to know about Umbra

The "Price of Freedom: The United Federation of Planets" is a truely excellent sourcebook for the "Star Trek: The Next Generation Role Playing Game". It is chock full of new Overlays and new Starship Templates. It includes information from the movie "Star Trek: Insurrection", and Character sheets of the Bridge Crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise D. The only real complaint about this book is the lack of Species Descriptions and Overlays for Species other than those already described in the Core Rule Book. Only the five founding Species of the Federation where covered in any detail. Aside from that this book is full of useful information.

This is just a great book. It's an excellent supplement to the Star Trek TNG RPG. Not only does it give you a bunch of new ships to play with(all Federation obviously) it gives oodles of info on things like the Merchant Marine and Starfleet Academy. While not needed, or what I'd call a "must buy", I would surely say if you do buy this book you won't be sorry. It's an excellent game enhancement! =-)

THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO WRITE TO THE WORLD , I HOPE I CAN HELP YOU SOME DAY YOU ARE GREAT

Since it's original copyright in 1931, this book has enlightened many. Easy to understand and amazingly accurate. Worth reading at ANY price!

The most boring thing I've read in a long time. Two perfect people having a perfect romance. Skipped over a lot to get to the end which is slightly better than the rest.

Even though "The Notebook" is Nicholas Sparks first book, I read it after "A Walk to Remember" and "Message in a Bottle". This is a nice creative love story taking place in the late 1940's (post WWII). Noah has never forgotten his first love, Allie, and can't seem to get over her, and then she suddenly comes back into his life again. The problem? She is engaged to another man.

About halfway through the book we skip forward to the 1990's. Allie is now confined to a nursing home and suffering from Alzheimer's. Her husband reads her love story from a notebook everyday in the hopes of helping her remember who she is and who she loves. The identity of who her husband has been all these years is kept a secret until the very near the end of the book, and while it is quite obvious who he is, it really could have gone either way and still been a good book.

It's a story about true and long lasting love, apparently based on the author's own grandparents story. However, I found the sex scene grossly inappropriate for a story even loosly about his loved ones (really, do we need that many details? It's mainly gratuitous sex in a book...badly done). I found the rest of the story pretty good and mostly believable, although the end kind of lays in on a bit thick. For the most part, the second half of the story is far superior to the beginning, although the beginning is more romantic...or is it? You can decide that yourself.

This book is better then "Message in a Bottle" but I prefered "A Walk to Remember". However, I am still in search of good romance minus the smut that Sparks and many other authors find necessary. I'll just have to keep looking.

I have to admit, when I neared the end of the book, I was looking for more information about what happened in between the initial romance and the ending days of their lives. But I realize now that the book needed to leave that less understood because it gave an easy to guess story a little more excitement and room for speculation. This has to be one of the most touching love stories that I have ever read. If you have ever encountered Alzheimer's within your family, this book may hit so close to home that it will scare you. Sparks is masterful at creating the perfect beginning to a love story. But his real genious is in the ending of the love story. You look at the whole situation in the storyline and can safely say that these two people had what most people can only find by reading a book like this: emotional, passionate, exciting, overwhelming love. I am so pleased that someone finally wrote a love story that actually feels like it could be real.

I have to agree with the other reviewers it's Atwood at her best, and so help me disturbing as can be, disturbing as the Handmaid's tale. I have actually listened to the audio-book (unabridged!) and it is the absolute best narration - the way he reads it makes you believe you are there with Jimmy or Snowman if you wish - I really loved this book and am sorry, it's over.

Keep reading - this is not your usual Margaret Atwood story line, or is it? A brilliant and illuminating novel about a possible future for a world that has come to worship at the altar of technology. The story has considerable tension in it to keep the reader glued to the book to see what comes next. Above all, this is a book about "words" and the beauty of language lost. Atwood flavors her grim vision of the future with the spices of words no longer in the vernacular, creating an intense paella that is immensly satisfying and yet somehow shot through with loss. Atwood exhibits her marvelous sense of story and language in this book, leaving the reader running for a dictionary of ancient words to reintroduce them to everday talk. Words, lost or unrecorded, die a death, unmourned.

Atwood's latest and strangest novel is truly unlike anything she has previously written, and readers of Atwood's other novels may find themselves flipping to the front, checking to see if her name is really on the title page. Like "The Handmaid's Tale," which was also set in the future, "Oryx and Crake" describes a dystopic tomorrow-land--but there the similarity ends. Featuring an uncharacteristically sparse prose and an abundance of scientific content, Atwood's bitingly satirical and hauntingly apocalyptic novel seems heavily influenced by science fiction novels of the last three decades, even while it recalls such classics as "Frankenstein," "Brave New World" and especially "Robinson Crusoe."

"Oryx and Crake" is technically a single-character novel; "Snowman" (or Jimmy) is the surviving human after a cataclysmic global disaster. He serves as a mentor of sorts to the strange yet harmless "Crakers," who have been so genetically altered that they resemble humans only in their basic appearance. Their blandness is so thorough that neither Snowman nor the reader can tell them apart. Through a series of flashbacks, Snowman describes his closest friends Crake and Oryx and their role in bring the world to its present state; and he mockingly details his attempts at elevating them to the status of gods for the new species. Atwood doesn't really develop these two characters; instead she (through Snowman's eyes) presents only the basic, painful "truth" behind a new Genesis mythology.

The novel, one could argue, depicts a second character: the scientific community. Through extrapolation (one might say exaggeration--but I'm not so optimistic about industrial self-control), Atwood projects into the future the topics of today's headlines: anthrax, genetically modified foods, cloning, gene splicing, weapons of mass destruction, the overuse and abuse of psychiatric drugs, Internet porn, SARS, ecoterrorism, globalization. On a lighter level, she also skewers the moronic corporate brand names flooding the market these days: anyone who thinks her inventions are far-fetched should consider such mind-numbingly lame (and inexplicably popular) trademarks as Verizon, ImClone, MyoZap, Swole, Biocidin, and Rejuven-8.

"Oryx and Crake" may well fall short of some readers' expectations for "a Margaret Atwood novel." But judged as an entry in the genre of science fiction, it's a powerful and visionary masterpiece.

Hunter S. Thompson has made a career out of becoming a part of his journalistic endeavors. He has dived into his stories so frequently and so deeply that he has developed his own character in them, the gonzo journalist. The Rum Diary, thankfully, gives us a different look at Thompson: the quiet observer. Quiet, that is, relative to the other characters in this book.

The Rum Diary chronicles Hunter's own time spent in Puerto Rico. The book itself is a pretty wild ride. After arriving in Puerto Rico, Thompson goes to work for a newspaper that is in the midst of a protest. The reporters risk mugging just to enter the building. Thompson soon meets a couple of friends and drunken hijinks ensue with Thompson and everybody else gorging themselves on the local drink, Rum (hence the title). Think of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas but take away the drugs and add more booze. That would be close.

This book isn't nearly as vital or symbolic as some of Thompson's more famous works but for true Thompson fans it offers an insight into the man, not the myth.

I enjoyed "The Rum Diary" though it was my first HS Thompson book. The first point in my rating is Thompson's unique ability to describe landscapes, be they the crowded silling infested streets of St. Thomas to the beautiful landscape of the surreal Vieques (sp?). The imagery was painting beautifully through prose in The Rum Diary. The second point is character development.... This book could have been a bit better if the characters/professions were discussed a little more in depth. As a non-journalist, I felt I didn't know enough on journalism in the late 50's to know any hardships of that career choice, but as the story goes, it seems it (as anything else) has it's political hurdles/hardships. Some of the characters are more impressionable and better developed than others. Sala gives the reader feelings of responsibility/truth/sarcasm; Yeamon gives a feeling of irresponsibility/intimidation/carpe diem; Chenault emotes classic femme fatale feelings; Moberg represents the "the lowest of low"/nothing to lose which by the way is already lost; Lotterman as the classic example of bureaucrat; Sanderson as a star of hope waiting to be embraced! Enjoy, it is a good read.

Also recommended if you enjoy this or have read the following:
On The Road (Kerouac)
Green Hills of Africa (Hemmingway)
To Have and Have Not (Hemmingway)
Huckleberry Finn (Twain)

This is the "lost novel" by Hunter S. Thompson, a book that he started writing in 1959 to make a quick buck. He struggled all through the sixties to get this thing rewritten and published, but because of its quality and Thompson's legendary shakedowns with agents, publishers, and contracts, it died on the vine - until a few years ago. This quasi-fictional account of a New York reporter drifting into a job at the San Juan Daily News is somewhat based on Thompson's experience on the Carribean island in the late 1950. Trying to put Puerto Rico on the literary map like Hemingway did for Paris, he spells out a story of corruption, boredom, and alcohol in a more simple San Juan, before the big booms of the travel booms and technology of the sixties. Paul Kemp, the fictional narrator, describes the coworkers, women, natives, and insane government, riddled with syndicates and kickbacks. The writing here isn't like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - it's more of the Orwell/Mailer/Miller genre, and does a good job of painting memorable scenes of the insanity, camaraderie, poverty, and drunkenness on top of the tropical backdrop. It's not bad stuff, and I wonder if it recently went through heavy rewrites, or if there just wasn't a market for it back in the sixties. Either way, it's a light, fast read at just over 200 pages, and made me wonder if Thompson's other unpublished work would be as satisfying in a trade hardcover. Maybe someday?

Bebe Moore Campbell's writing style is just as interesting as ever. I liked this story about a young Jewish immigrant and Holocaust survivor, Gilda, who befriends an African American, Hosanna, in Los Angeles, CA. She presents us with the beginning of a friendship which grows into a patnership in a small cosmetic buisness. Unfortunately, their friendship is abruptly ended due to some interferance by Gilda's uncle and first husband. So obviously, there are hard feelings felt by Hosanna who struggles to keep her buisness going, but runs into many road-blocks experienced by many would-be African-American buiness entrepreneurs at that time. Campbell does a spectacular job featuring the lives of Hosanna's daughters, Vonette and Matriece, along with other somewhat significant characters in the cosmetic buisness owned by Gilda. What stands out in this book, is how Campbell showed how one gets overwhelmed by grudges. One is unable to function properly, follow their own dreams, and as a result runs away from various issues in life. I liked how she tied in the issues of betrayal by fathers to their children, and how they were able to workout such sticky issues.
The book deals with people with dreams, how they fight to keep these dreams alive. In addition, it showed the simplicity of a family that is overflowing with love and great family principles (Vonette's family) as well as what happens when we live our lives in continous denial (Blair's family). I recommend this book for anyone who wants to think about soceital issues with some history, who has dreams,and would cry or just laugh at some of the characters in the book. It is a fun book to read.

This novel was a bit lengthy, but don't let it dissuade you from reading it. It was a very enjoyable read spanning three generations and fifty years. In the early part of the novel, the two primary characters, Hosanna Clark and Gilda Rosenstein, one black, one Jewish form a friendship and business only to end in Gilda betraying Hosanna. The remainder of the story includes an interesting cast of characters who are largely members and friends of both families including one of Hosanna's daughters (Matriece 'Triesey' Carter) who learn of Gilda's perfidy from their mother and feels obligated to right the wrongs done to her mother. The plot thickens as the history, hidden agendas, and background of the characters are revealed. Without revealing too much'there were lessons to be learned in the lives of these characters'the pain of vengeance, peace of atonement, and the power of forgiveness. Campbell crossed race and socio-economic lines to bring life to a great novel.

Although some parts were slow and in this reader's opinion I think it could have been shortened, this was a true page-turner, especially in the last 1/3 of the book. You'll leave with a message that we all need to consider...

My book club selected this book as our June '03 selection and I was dreading the 500+ pages. I finished the book in 2 1/2 weeks and it was worth it. It's been awhile since I've read Bebe Moore Campbell, but I forgot how well she writes. There's a lot in the book (love, reparations, friendship, relationships, forgiveness, and addictions). Her writing style is awesome. Bebe takes her time with this novel and, rightfully so, the characters are well-developed. She bridges the generation gap that is throughout the story, making the ending powerful. I just thoroughly enjoyed this book. There's a lot of fiction being published these days targeted at African-Americans and some of the novels are written without much thought or substance. Bebe Moore Campbell continues to deliver well-written novels, great characters, and a great story.

After having had this book for some time, I finally set out to make it part of my summer 2000 reading schedule. I am drawn to books of the northern wilderness, which was the initial attraction to this one. I'll state up front that I have not read anything else by Krakauer, so I cannot draw any comparisons as other reviewers have done.

Krakauer tells the tale effectively. He uses an intelligent vocabulary balanced with a conversational writing style. He easily held my attention as the facts unfolded throughout, employing logic and drawing inferences to fill in many questions that remain. He obviously did his research on the central character, Christopher McCandless, and must have invested countless quantities of money and time to gather accurate information. With so many of the facts of this distressing story remaining obscured probably forever, his assumptions and extrapolations about Chris' actual fate are posed as theories rather than as irreproachable conclusions. I appreciate this aspect of Krakauer's account.

Hats off also to the McCandless family, since Krakauer relied upon them not only for information about their son, tragically lost, but also for their courage in allowing many private family issues to be exposed in support of telling the story as thoroughly as possible. Chris' father, mother, and sister are true heroes in my eyes.

I have some degree of understanding of Chris and his northerly wanderlust, and also an appreciation for the not-so-uncommon desire to conquer the wilderness. What concerns me, however, is the apparent arrogance of the central character. According to the author's account, Chris seemed to possess an intermittent wariness about his closest acquaintances, along with outright rejection of others who cared for him much more than he cared for them. He treated some important people who crossed his path as disposable. But probably Chris's most crucial deficiency was the flippant and over-confident approach towards the actual work of survival in the wilderness. He even seemed a bit contemptuous toward relevant learning despite his quality education and intelligence. He especially needed important knowlege about survival in the wilds of the north. However, he apparently rebuffed all attempts from others to assist him in his quest. I have spent considerable time in the extreme north of B.C. (an area not entirely dissimilar to Alaska): it is ridiculous, misguided, and presumptuous to embark on such an adventure with the dearth of equipment, supplies, and knowledge as did Chris. I would want to know everything possible about how to survive such a life and death endeavor. Indeed, I feel a strange combination of sadness and anger as I reflect on Chris's unfortunate departure. Was his death ultimately caused by youthful innocence or arrogant ignorance? It is a question I cannot answer and I commend Krakauer for his deft ability to stimulate thought in the reader rather than provide tidy little assumptive answers.

My only complaint: the personal reflective chapter towards the end of the book. I understand why Krakauer included it (personal connections with the need for adventure, context, struggles with nature, etc.), but for me it was irrelevant and it de-railed the flow of the story.

Perhaps we can learn from Christopher McCandless' experience, not in any attempt to qualify him as a martyr or to label him a fool. I have thought about how my appreciation for the north has changed, how families need to be close, the requirement to really listen to and understand people, and countless other themes which have been tweaked by Jon Krakauer's writing about Chris' misadventure. I recommend this book highly.

After reading a segment of the book initially in Outside magazine, I couldn't wait to get the book, paperback, that is. Well I wasn't dissappointed and I whipped through the book in record time. The allure of the book is similar to the draw Chris had for Alaska. The unknown and the adventure it brings can be intoxicating, even deadly. The story of this young adventure idealist is a compelling straightforward account. Written with the insight of a true life adventurer-journalist, Jon Krakauer does an outstanding job recreating the mystery surrounding the life of Chris McCandless, who gave up everything for adventure. Many want to do something along these lines but few have the nerve to actually do it. The questions abound throughout the book concerning, the why did he do this and of course they are never answered. This is a book that you can be read very quickly, quicker than the ill advised adventure Chris McCandless lived in Alaska. If you like to travel and have a bit of wanderlust running through your veins, read this book, but not while you are solo in the wilderness. The author draws a compassionate picture of Chris and one can't help but feel for him. I think the man did what he wanted to do and miscalculated, hence a fatal mistake. Much like the parachutist who loves skydiving until the chute doesn't open, Chris probably loved his adventure until the hunger pangs finally let him rest in peace.

Where does our society spend the most money, time and talents? This is the question Chris McCandless and Jon Krakauer express through the tale of going into the wild. Chris came from a well-off family that spent a lot of time working for the American Dream. This ideal of working hard to support a family and to have a lot of money is the basic dream that many Americans face. Therefore, the goal that Chris was expected to reach was to go to college then law school. However, Chris leaves the security of his chosen path, giving away his money and leaving school, to prove that he can survive on a subsistent level. Many people regard this action of leaving his family and following his dream as selfish. Chris' actions were extreme and hurt the one's that loved him. On the other hand, his actions are true to what he believed in and worked for all his life, his ideals. In conclusion, I would give the book five stars becuase it made readers, like myself, question the ideals that we follow and the relationships that we have with people.