This book is hilarious. I've read it to tatters because it's the sort of thing you can pick up, open at random, and spend a pleasant time laughing at the characters who are "slightly off balance yin-and-yangwise but definitely benign". Naturally organic satire at its finest.

The Serial is a soap opera set in Marin County, California. Just north of the Golden Gate bridge it is the affluent epicenter of the self-obsessed. It's the tail end of the decade and the free spirit ideals of the hippy generation have become commodified and trend obsessed: natural fibres and organic produce are de rigueur, radical chic is bought in designer boutiques and everyone talks (without ever really communicating) in the psycho-babble of faddish self-help manuals. Transcendental meditation, personal growth, rebirthing, zen jogging and pet psychiatry are the order of the day. Though everyone in the hip Marin enclave thinks they're liberated and really together, they've simply become an hilarious parody of the straight world they're trying so hard to leave behind. The soap follows Kate and Harvey Holroyd's attempts to keep up with their wacked-out neighbours' fashionable credentials. A year in which they have a trial separation and experiment unsuccessfully with alternative partners and lifestyles.

The book has 52 short (2 page) chapters that my significant other and I found just right to read to each other at bedtime.

The book was often villified by fellow Marinites. Marin County had all of the wacky new age stuff, open marriages, etc., long before the rest of the country did, and this book follows a couple locked deep in the heart of it. Maybe it's not so surprising now, but it was certainly a shocker then. Otherwise, it's a funny blast from the past which means even more to me as I have lived there.

This short (70 pages) book of John Marin marine paintings includes good examples of both his oil and watercolor paintings which were almost all done in Maine. A dozen pages of text by the author Sam Hunter (Emeritus Professor of Art at Princeton University) if followed by about 20 color plates accompanied by quotes from John Marin.

If you are a lover of Maine art or John Marin art you will want to add this to your colledtion.

If you want to learn the mountain biking trails in marin, you need this good. It covers all the great trails. Clear directions and nice topo profiles help prepare you for the climbs and descents.

Techbargains.com

excellent fo beginners and professionnal viola players!

You may not think you'll be interested in this rather formidable looking book with its straightforward title, but it is an inspiring story. What one impassioned but modest man (he gives others most of the credit) did to save from Californication one piece after another of one of the lovliest coastlines in the U.S.is a story to savor. Read it and cheer.

I love this cookbook! It is interesting to read, and the recipes do not require a lot of unusual ingredients. Every recipe that I tried in this book actually turned out.

It's too bad Gillian Roberts wasn't more creative in starting this second series of mysteries. The premise of a veteran hard-bitten woman PI and the eager, beautiful young student isn't too bad. The three plot lines concerning an old mystery, a current kidnap, and an insurance investigation just overlap way too much to be believable or realistic.

I was so annoyed at this woman PI for her bad attitude about everything, including the young woman who at least had the gumption to care about the children involved in this case. Emma Howe is a 50 year old curmudgeon who cannot manage to keep employees. After reading this book, I can totally understand why no one wants to stick around!

This type of mystery, having to do with child pornography, is not my cup of tea...but you had no idea what you were getting into until the last third of the book. I was thinking adult pornography or maybe shipping of drugs in upholstered furniture, but was disgusted to find out where it ended up.

The plot was too forced, the characterization not up to my par at least, and the writing merely adequate. I take it Robert has written another series, but based on the reading of this book, I don't think I want to waste the time.

Karen Sadler

This is a really enjoyable mystery from the author of the popular Amanda Pepper mystery series. "Time and Trouble" is darker, edgier, better written, and more tightly plotted than any of the Amanda Pepper books, and I hope this is the first in a new series from Roberts.

Emma Howe is a crusty old P.I. whose unapologetically blunt demeanor repels her employees; she's gone through seven detective trainees in less than three years. Enter Billie August, a young, pretty single mom desperate for a steady income and a mental challenge. Theirs is a match made in hell--Billie's naive earnestness and Emma's been-there-done-that coldness bring out the worst in the other. After Billie botches her first case, their partnership seems doomed.

Billie is given a second chance, however, when the Howe Agency is asked to locate a teenage runaway. Learning as she goes, Billie soon finds herself involved in something far more complex--and dangerous--than she imagined.

These two characters are marvelous depicted; each is so distinctive, complex, and fully portrayed. The reader completely understands Emma's irritation with Billie and Billie's frustration with Emma--each person is so convinced the other is a big pain. Kudos to Roberts for creating a relationship that is so fresh and interesting.

The plot is satisfyingly complex. Another reviewer complained of "coincidences," but I did not think these strained credulity. I read stranger things in the newspaper every day.

I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading the next in the series.

I agree with the reviewers that enjoyed aspects of this imperfect novel. The problem with the physics of time travel doesn't bother me, (i) because I don't know physics and (ii) because if time travel is inherently impossible, explanations are also bound to be so. This is no more troubling to me than the standing stone "portal" used by Diana Gabaldon. I very much enjoyed the info about music and painting, as well. Most importantly, I would have preferred a longer book with a more developed story. I liked the jarring temporal disturbances, but would have liked some explanation; I also would have preferred more developed characters. Still, a good first book.

This is an ambitious novel that is generally very strong in most areas, but falls far short when the author strays from what he knows very well. As a maker of violins the author, James N. McKean, clearly is an expert on music and music theory. He also appears to have an unusual level of expertise in paintings that date back as far as half a millennia. He uses this knowledge very effectively in the book, but when he moves in to science in the form of Quantum Mechanics he clearly has stepped away from his areas of expertise, and the difference is glaring. His novel is a clever turn on the idea of time, what is real, and whether our reality is the only valid one.

Classifying this as a, "Time Travel", tale is to do the work an injustice. This is not about some fantastic machine built in a garage, or some ancient artifact that transports a person when rubbed, dropped, or tossed against the wall. McKean tried to bring a new thoughtful approach to what we perceive and whether it is the only alternative open to us. He uses misconceptions of music as well as the ability that art has to deceive to start the reader on the concept of time and place being infinitely flexible. He uses a room called a studiolo to begin manipulating the perception of the reader, and right up until he attempts to explain that our protagonist actually has moved amongst a variety of times he does very well.

The angle of using a newly discovered Da'Vinci is a hook, but it could have been any noted painter of a chosen time, and the love story seems to have been obligatory as opposed to critical. His presentation of different places in time and moving amongst them is motivation enough to drive a tale and to engross a reader.

This is this author's first work and I do not mean to be too harsh in my judgment. Even though it only reaches the level of three stars, this author has a great deal of knowledge, and I hope he decides to write again.

As previous reviews note, this is not a perfect book. It is, however, a clever and beautifully written one. The way that Matt - aware of the low-key, easily-overlooked disjunctures occurring around him, but not of their import - eases without intention into his travel through time, is unique and interesting. The smooth interweaving of a wonderful amount of information about music and painting is not only necessary to the story but fascinating, and goes down very easily: no stop-and-lecture points for our hero. And the writing itself asks gently but insistently for one's full attention.

I am a high-speed devourer of books who is impatient with excess and who hates bad writing. Even with the best of books, I tend to skip lines or even paragraphs sometimes. But I might have actually read every word of this book; I did not want to miss any of the imagery and the grace of language. While reading, I was even consciously aware of doing something I do extremely rarely: slowing down deliberately in order to picture more clearly the images and ideas Mr. McKean was offering to me. And they were almost never disappointing.

In the end, I find myself left with only two concerns: first, what happened to Orlando? and second, will Mr. McKean write again? If he does, I for one will be more than ready to sample his talents again.

If you are a beginner in JAVA, this book is not for you. Too many things without explanation, too many things that are assumed. I am a computer programmer with almost zero knowledge of JAVA or C++ and I would say this book is good for someone that has at least an intermediate level of knowledge in this field.

A splendid book. Makes Java programming baby's play. You have to be a moron if you do not learn everything about Java just by reading this book.

I am not a fast reader. If I can finish a book in fifteen minutes, it probably isn't much of a book. That is certainly the case in this instance.

If you think that a list of cruise ship lines -- which you can get at your local library -- is worth $13.00, then by all means buy this book. Otherwise, save your money.

If I had turned out a piece of work this flimsy and full of technical errors, I wouldn't admit, as Mr. Marin has, to having a Ph.D. Maybe he had a better proof reader for his Ph.D thesis than he did for this book.

Although he has attempted to provide useful information, most of what he supplies is available elsewhere. I can only hope that Mr. Marin's music-making is more satisfying than his writing.

This book is sort of false advertising, I think. It is subtitled "The Insider's Guide to Finding and Getting Jobs on Cruise Ships Around the World." It should instead be called "A dictionary listing of all the jobs available on cruise ships, a list of the addresses of all the cruise ships, plus 2 whole chapters on working as an entertainer on a cruise ship."

For me, this book did not open the gates of mystery to helping me envision life on board a cruise ship, although it did address it. It also did not really tell me how I should apply for the jobs, how I should prepare myself for such a job, what are the secrets to getting a job.

It tried to cover all the information in a few short pages. Overall the information was too general. The only subset of employees it addresses with any depth is entertainers - especially musicians.

An overview of the chapters: 1- "Working on a cruise ship" briefly addresses some particulars of the cruise ship industry, such as what flag they fly under and why. 2- "Who's Who on Board the Ship" A short paragraph describing most job titles, from "Captain" to "Snorkling Instructor" to "Radio Officer" to "Youth Counselor". 3- "Show Biz on the High Seas" - The chapter that would have made this book useful to me if I were a musician. Tells you about life as an entertainer on a cruise ship and how to apply. 4- "Entertainment Agencies" addresses 5- "Concessions" some addresses for beauty salon & fitness, boutique & gift shop, photography, casino, lecturers, scuba & snorkeling, bridge instructor, and gentleman host workers. 6- "Cruise line directory" Addresses of most if not all cruise lines, including some specific instructions for applying for certain jobs. 7- "Life on Board" answers basic questions like "will I have to share a cabin?" and "Can I receive mail?"

If you are interested in getting a job on a cruise ship you cannot go wrong with this book. It is the best one available and covers all subjects.