I loved this book and couldn't put it down

Elizabeth Dunkel presented me with Katia--a friend who has gone through everything I have, who feels the way I do, who thinks the way I do. Dunkel captures the hilarity and the tragedy of life so well in this novel. I hope she writes a million more books. She is inspiring to me as a writer and as a woman.

Dunkel, tells the story of a woman, where you can meet anywhere. She tells the story of Kate, Frank and Boris in details. But she doesn't let us get bored.

This beautifully crafted little book is a thin volume just 7 1/2" x 8 1/2" with silvery accents on the cover. It is a satisfyingly enchanting compilation of rare fairy art and delightful quotations on the subject of fairies. If you have been a fairy lover for any length of time you will have probably seen a few of these wonderful paintings but most will probably be new to you as Elizabeth Ratisseau has done a brilliant bit of treasure hunting to come up with these images. The work is broken down into sections for each of the four elements, Earth, Air, Fire and Water, as well as a section on Fairies of Childhood. Usually, I find several disappointing images sprinkled among the good ones in compilations or calendars featuring fairies but each and every one in this book is truly magical, hauntingly fey. I encourage you to get this as a treat for yourself or any other fairy person you love.

At first, I didn't know if I would like this book. But, I really enjoyed it. I love to look at the pictures. This is a good book for any child, especially if they are into fairies. You should get this book!

For not yet published...I find it odd that I have a copy. Needing more copies for friends,which they will also enjoy. The pictures are truly wonderful, and children love them. The adults will love the quotes. A must. I truly enjoyed the book.

This is a great thrilling detective story. Although all evidence seems to point to one suspect, the story allows a few twists and turns, only to find in the end that... Well, you really HAVE to read this for yourself. But be aware: Once you take this book in your hands, you won't be able to put it down until you reach the last page.

The character of Detective Chief Inspector Fenwick is painted deeply. I'm looking forward to read more books with him in order to see how his private life evolves besides his professional life.

Fatal Legacy is a fantastic read. Intriguing plot, interesting characters, and just the right dose of twists and turns. Anyone interested in a "can't put it down" detective story, this is it. This book was thoroughly enjoyable to read. It's the first book I've read by Elizabeth Corley and I look forward to finding more books by this talented writer.

In West Sussex, Managing Director Alan Wainright apparently committed suicide. His will, changed a few months ago, leaves the lion's share of the estate to his nephew Alexander. Alan's influential son Graham is outraged, though he inherits a sizable amount, but not close to what he expected.

Following a police investigation and an inquest that is ruled suicide, Graham asks ACC Harper-Brown to reopen the case because he thinks someone murdered his father. Because he wants DCI Andrew Fenwick to fail, Harper-Brown assigns the case to him with instructions not to disturb the family or rekindle the media frenzy. With his hands tied, Andrew begins an investigation that he sure will substantiate the current official position. To his surprise, Andrew and his crew begin to find discrepancies and perhaps illegalities that reach from Wainright Enterprises to the local community leadership.

FATAL LEGACY is an engaging English police procedural that entertains sub-genre fans due to a story line that works on two levels: that of the investigation and a glimpse or two at Andrew's personal life. Though the murderer is in clear site the climax uses sociopath behavior (someone kills Alan at the beginning of the tale), it seems unnecessary, as avarice would have sufficed as the motive. On the contrary the most likely associate to the killer gets off free because of a lack of solid evidence and the need for closure due to the immense visibility of the case. Elizabeth Corley provides a strong tale for those readers who interested in a tight investigative novel.

...

I got this as a gift a few years ago. Looking at the publication date, I would have to say I recieved it when it was fairly new. When I saw the title I was a bit put off...there a quite a few books that use *feng shui* as buzz words to rope in suckers looking to change their...well...chi...and inprove their lives...

But this many years down the road, I have to say, grudgingly, that there are many plusses to this book. The recipes are nutritious, delicious and *solid* in a culinary sense and the directions are clear and easy to understand. The recipes are decidedly Asian in nature. In my area most are easily available with the possible exception of dashi soup stock and tamarind paste which would require more of a hunt...

Several recipes stand out as ..well...outstanding. Berry balsamic parfaits (try it over vanilla ice cream with mint sprigs, unbeleivablely good)Seared salmon with horseradish butter (actually the horseradish butter is a winner all by its lonesome) easy and delicious. Chicken soup for a cold is a very good asian soup soup stock with the addition fo ginger and chilies. Adding your own touches makes it a whole soup meal for company... just pass around accompiments...

There is a lot of feng shui information in the beginning. Some I found interesting. Where is the best place in my home for the kitchen? What if it wasnt there? How to set up the kitchen so I didn't eat too much? (okay, i liked that part)...The yin and yang of eating...

There are different options on changing the recipes thru out the book, I like that. And how to serve the dishes. The book is more square than rectangle and is a hardcover that lies flat (yay!) The binding is in very good shape after all these years. It does tend to open to the recipes i have used more frequently at this point tho.... the paper isnt wipable unfortuantely...soy sauce stains from earier dishes are here and there. The color of the paper is a nice off white, very easy on the eyes... the pages are a bit thin, you can see shadows of the other pages through them. Ah well, you cant have everything...

There is a removeable and cleanable attractive book jacket and the artwrk inside is tastful with and asian flair... no bok choy running away from dancing knives thankfully!

Thinking back to my original objection, I was wrong. This was an excellent gift and an excellent cookbook. It's smaller size would make it an excellent addition to a themed gift basket with an asian flair (like some dried noodles, soy sauce, dried mushrooms, dashi stock, mirin...all inside a big wok!)

I'm not sure what I expected when my wife brought home this cookbook (not much though). We must have 30 cookbooks... but we keep coming back to this book for quick and easy recipes that are quite wholesome. I can't vouch for the Feng Shui aspects--I guess it's cool that the dishes have a purpose. But every recipe we've tried has been great. We also like the Moosewood series of books--but find those recipes often take way longer than estimated (the ones in this book are very fast).

From the Feng Shui book we regularly make the peanut noodle vegetables; the chickpea curry (mentioned in another review), and the grape gazpacho. There are a couple other stand-bys... but we're also up to try new ones all the time.

There are some pretty goofy "theme" cookbooks out there... and, on the surface, this may seem like one too. But don't be left out--it really is good.

Having never been a person to play close attention to my yin, let alone my yang, I was understandably frazzled when my wife announced that our day guest had turned into a dinner guest. With two young children, dinner is on a set time-table. Now I pride myself on having dinner guests. Cooking is my hobby. (My wife told me I needed a hobby and her genius suggested cooking.)

So there I was with a few cans and a little over a pound of ground turkey meat. I rifled through my recipe books and came across one that I wasn't even aware of: Elizabeth Miles' The Feng Shui Cookbook. And there on pg. 167 was a recipe for Quick Chickpea Curry (containing the ground turkey). While the recipe promised to warm my qi and creative energy, I was glued to word quick.

Well in less than 20 minutes I had achieved both. The curry was fab, sprinkled with yogurt and cilantro. Our dinner guest went back for seconds and then thirds. And the conversation was robust. The Feng Shui part achieved its goal in spite of my cynicism.

Since I have enjoyed a number of the other dishes with other guests. Miles' text is as strong as her recipes. She has carefully crafted a book which tells you how certain food can feed certain moods and inspire different reactions. And this makes for immensely edible thoughts and results and of course, food.

A "must have" for fans of noir. The book presents itself as an encyclopedic reference, and as a guide to the main body of noir it succeeds admirably. Each entry includes production crew, cast members (identified down to bit players), shooting and release dates, running time, plus a brief plot synopsis and critical comment by one of the staff of contributors. Naturally, where there's controversy, it's this latter that generates the most. But agree or not, the comments are almost unifromly informative and stimulating, and a testament to the continuing vitality of noir's golden age. The appendices, however, are a more mixed bag. The categorized lists are helpful as guides, but serious rethinking should have gone into Appendix C, which comes across as a somewhat heavy-handed and murky critique of noir's available literature, rendering its vaue doubtful. Appendix E presents a compilation of "neo-noirs" or recent films in the classic mode. As a work striving for encyclopedic range, I can understand the urge to extrapolate, but it's also clear that this Third Edition just about exhausts the possibilities and I am not looking forward to another sequel. Nonetheless the work itself remains an invaluable tool for serious fans of noir everywhere, and should not be passed up.

A "must have" for fans of noir. The book presents itself as an encyclopedic reference, and as a guide to the main body of noir it succeeds admirably. Each entry includes production crew, cast members (identified down to bit players), shooting and release dates, plus running time, along with a brief plot synopsis and critical comment by one of the staff of contributors. Naturally, where there's controversy, it's this latter that generates the most. But agree or not, the comments are almost uniformly informative and stimulating, and a testament to the continuing vitality of noir's golden age. The appendices, however, are a more mixed bag. The categorized lists are helpful as guides, but serious rethinking should have gone into Appendix C, which comes across as a somewhat heavy-handed and murky critique of noir's available literature, rendering doubtful its value as a reference guide. Appendix E presents a compilation of "neo-noirs" or recent films in the classic mode. As a work striving for encyclopedic range, I can understand the urge to extrapolate, but it's also clear that this Third Edition just about exhausts the possibilities and I am not looking forward to another sequel. Nonetheless the work itself remains an invaluable tool for serious fans of noir everywhere, and should not be passed up.

For the Noir Geek, this is THE Sacred Book. Over 300 titles from the genre's "classic" postwar period are given the synopsis/analysis treatment. Reviews can be a bit "scholarly" (depending on the particular contributing writer) but overall very enlightening for fans who want to "go deep". As a collector who obsessively videotapes and archives obscure noir, I have reached for this book again and again and found it to be a valuable reference tool. One warning to those who wish to use it like a standard "movie guide"- the synopsis capsules are clinically outlined to the point of effectively becoming "spoilers", so you may want to see the film first, then read about it. Some reviewers have taken umbrage with the book's U.S.-centric focus. To them I would point out that while this volume excludes European-PRODUCED cinema, if one takes a closer look, a number of the films included were DIRECTED by people like Billy Wilder, Fritz Lang and Roman Polanski, all in fact native Europeans, so referring to them as "American" noirs may be a matter of semantics. Highly recommended for genre fans.

Although I have not read this book in years I still consider it the best book I have ever read. You must read this book.

A great book I never put it down. You have to read this book.

The story is a gripping drama about a man named Lancelot du lac and he's the best swordsmen and he saves Guinivere from Malagants troops and they slowly fall in love but Guinivere is already betrothed to Arthur, King of Camalot and their love tears the kingdom apart and it also leads to the death of the king but Lancelot takes his place and marries Guinivere

American Jewishness is becoming more and more integrated into mainstram American society, Chana Landau does an amazing job juggling both cultures and maintining both modernity and tradition. It is interesting to see the cognitive differences that seem relative to each culture, suggesting that cognitive differences are not universal (despite what theorists say). I loved the book, I recommend it to Jews, non-Jews, old, young- everyone. Im a college student, and Flamboyant was one of my most favorite novels yet. Its a must read.

This book was wonderful. It was unusual and entertaining with a great message. Elizabeth Swados developed real life characters who I ended up caring a lot about. I very much enjoyed reading this novel.

Ms. Swados captures the idiosyncratic natures of an orthodox jewish and young woman and her relationship with Flamboyant--accent pronounced -a yet younger prostitute who is a student athe Harvey Milk School. Ecah sentence pinches the reader-me with the sheer use of words and idioms and sterotypes twisted on its head. The humor is black but never at the expense of the two characters but perhaps at the expense of their environments. A magical tour of New York and two very different people. Ms. Swados has a one of a kind voice--

This is an excellent book - well researched, authoritative and entertaining. As an olive producer I read a lot of nonsense about our product so I'm always delighted to find someone who has gone to the trouble to get it right.
However ... while Deborah has given a fairly comprehensive review of oils produced around the world, it's a pity she hasn't heard of the largish island west of New Zealand which has been producing excellent olive oils for many years. (I would have overlooked the omission except that New Zealand got a mention.) She even accuses prominent Australian nutritionist Dr Rosemary Stanton of being British!
Perhaps in the next edition?

This is an excellent book. It includes an extremely lucid discussion of what extra virgin olive oil is and how it is produced. The descriptions of almost 150 oils from around the world are extremely useful, especially since it includes oils commonly found in most supermarkets in addition to specialty oils (lots of web addresses are included). The discussion on how to classify and taste olive oil is probably the best I have ever read. Almost 2/3 of the book is devoted to wonderful recipes based on olive oil. I have not even finished reading it yet and I have already marked favorites and just took the first batch of olive and pepper knots (an easy cocktail treat) out of the oven. Finally, the book is filled with practical advice and hints on cooking, cookware, and just eating well. This book is definitely worth the purchase for anyone who wants to learn more about olive oil or to explore Mediterranean cooking.

As a cookbook author myself, I see lots of culinary offerings, and I can guarantee Deborah Krasner's is one you will both learn from and cook with. It's seductive, reassuring, and authoritative all at once, and the recipes, clearly thoroughly tested, work. Yes, it's about olive oil. But it's like having a confident, knowledgeable, generous friend in the kitchen with you. The writing pulses with vitality and enthusiasm; the recipes sound irresistible (and those I have tried have been).
Who could resist a Grilled Portobello, White Bean, and Arugula Sandwich, an Iced Celery Soup with Feta, Toasted Walnuts, and Apple, and twenty-one pages of pastas, each more invitingly full-flavored than the last? It's hard to decide which to fix first: but I got to tell you, the improbable sounding 4-ingredient cookies on page 195 (Sweet Taralle) are as easy to make as they are impossible to stop eating, and the Cellentani Pasta with Oven-Dried Tomatoes and Gorgonzola (which also features capers, olives, and garlic) is extraordinarily flavorful. You will also learn how to do a superb fake aged balsamic vinegar (in case you don't feel like dropping $90 a bottle for the real thing). And though the book is not vegetarian, it is very vegetarian-friendly.
There's also loads of helpful cooking arcana. Krasner takes you through things like "Respecting a Recipe" (ie, how to make it work for you each and every time, even if you have to make changes), "Boning a Whole Fish" and why heating the pan before you add the oil is "a significant step forward." Next to a recipe extolling the virtues of cast-iron skillets, adjacent text explains why cast iron works, and how to season and care for it.
If you've been boggled by the numerous selections every grocery store now seems to offer, you will never again be intimidated, for The Flavors of Olive Oil is also, as its subtitle says, a tasting guide. There are ratings of more than 140 individual artisanal oils plus "A Short Course on Olive Oil" (which will tell you everything you need to know about choosing, buying, storing, cooking, and , yes, tasting olive oils), But its delicious writing is lubricated with far more than the flavor of this particular oil; the book glistens with the flavor of life and celebration, in and out of the kitchen.

--- Crescent Dragonwagon

First of all, I must admit that I had never heard of the Franklin Report
until a real-estate broker colleague of mine
was talking about giving copies to all of her clients. At the time, I needed
to find an architect for a large project, soinquired about the book. Since
then, it has taught me a lot about the home services buisiness. I've really
found theFranklin Report to be an amazing tool that saves me time,
aggravation and in the end -- money. The book givesme all the research and

information that I would otherwise have to go and spend hours digging for. I
once called anarchitect whose name I overheard at the office to renovate my
townhouse and I was so embarassed to find out hewas a modernist and
basically scoffed at the traditional design I wanted! Now, I've put together
a list of the book'shighest rated traditional architects and interviewed
them all. In the end, I got the best quality for the budget I
hadanticipated -- thanks to the Franklin Report. Now my friends want to know
how I know so much about the business -- so I quietly tell them my industry
knowledge came from The Franklin Report.

I bought the Franklin Report originally for the same reason I subscribe to Architectural Digest and House Beautiful. I like to keep current on the big names in interior design even though I'm not about to do a two million dollar apartment. What I've found, in addition to bringing me the most informed and comprehensive round up of decorators, is that this book includes much more functional business that I need to use all the time. Most important is that these companies, used by the best ID's in town, are totally accessible to you and me. It really is the first place I feel I've found a credible stable of usually suspect trades. Plumbers, air conditioning guys, painters -- I've found them all with eye-popping results. So while I may not be hiring the fanciest decorator in town to redo my home, I certainly can find some startlingly professional and nice people to improve it at rational prices. My only criticism is I wish they had more categories. I need a good roofer!

For those of us who choose not to buzz around the social circles of Chicago's Gold Coast co-op's and North Shore newcomer's groups, it's nice to know there's a resource to get some juicy word of mouth recommendations without mind-numbing cocktail-speak. The Franklin Report is just that, a who's who power list of the city's decorators, contractors, electricians and other what the book deems "home service providers." It's not only a useful tool that blows the yellow pages out of the water and makes your dentist's sister's yoga instructor's on the side-furniture restoration business a non-call, but its an enormously entertaining read. Anytime an industry gets sized up and ranked, especially with the egos involved in design and the notoriously insulated, fragmented building industry, it's a hoot. The reviews are concise, on target and written with a certain restrained tongue in cheek, reminiscent of Zagat's, which this publication is surely trying to emulate. It's a more complicated subject, but I think they pull it off at The Franklin Report. If anything else, it's a must have for anyone doing a home remodel or who just wants to know the right names to drop at the next
cocktail party.

Elaine R.
Lake Forest, IL

The first time I picked up this book I was 18 and found it in a closet of my uncles house. I sat down and started to read, 5 hrs later I was still sitting there and reading the last chapter. This book has everything in it, sex, intrigue, romance, horrer, incest, there are moments that make you smile, and others that make you cry, all in all the charachters become real, you love when they love, hate when they hate, and get angry with them at all life's injustices.Once you start this book it is hard to put down. An in the end the ending will blow you away, it is shocking! I have owned several copies since then and in 9 yrs I still consider it one of my favorite books, one word for you if you buy this book,ENJOY!

This is one of my favorite novels. I have owned several copies. It has everything. Romance, intriuge, an exotic and foreign way of living. Real but imaginary, and extraordinary characters and an ending so shocking to have left me breathless and in tears. I feel close to Christine, as if she were someone I knew, or someone I recognized in myself. I collect all of Ms. Gage's work now although I believe this to be her best work and unsurpassible in quality. I will never loan it out.

The plot is sensational. There are many turns and twists, yet in a way loosely gathered until the end that there is little doubt of the plausibility of the story. The book's most glorious attribute, however, is the happy yet tragic ending that somehow gives statement to the few lives it carefully traced through twenty and more years. Each character is dynamic, full of personality yet not entirely in the grasp of the reader. The sense of the enigmatic only enhanced the strength of the characters. They were cold in their ruthlessness, pitiable in their weakness, lovable in their humanness, and memorable because of their ability to stand erect from the experiences prescribed by the writer and come forth as individuals of complex natures. In the end the result is tragedy, or triumph that rises above the tarnishes of life and simply shows off its beauty. It leaves the reader with a sense of the regrettable and uncontrollable events of life as much a result of fate as our doing, and also a yearning to overcome it all and survive.