I bought this book thinking that it would tell me something about the problems I was having with my car. Not knowing that much about cars I was just as clueless after buying it as I was before. Maybe they should put somekind of warning on the cover saying just how much machanical knowhow you need to use this book.

This volume contains even more information than previous Haynes manuals I have used. It contains good, clear photographs of various parts of the car in place and partially dismantled, not just line drawings. I was pleasantly surprised to find information on how to get the "check engine soon" light to go out after changing oil and other service procedures. It also includes a pretty complete set of wiring diagrams. These are things not always found in car repair manuals for the do-it-yourselfer.

Upon getting released from prison, Milo "Meat" Pitts, indulged himself in a plan to rob an armored car at a department store. He was aptly named Meat because of his bulk and strength; but his only friend . . . or just sidekick, as he sometimes considered . . . was Ducky, who was comically the opposite in structure.
Mitchell Morse who had once been a good linebacker in college, but chose a career as a police officer, eventually lost that job due to his excessive force. Then as a security guard . . . which he eventually lost . . . ended up as a guard at a discount store, where he was to meet Starla who worked as a cashier.
Starla, whom was very loose with herself in an attempt to get out of a dreadful job, and dreadful city, encountered more grief when an ex-husband whom she had self-proclaimed being divorced from eight years ago came knocking at her trailer. She didn't like being around Meat, but his idea to get a lot of money held her interest. Though it would be a long two months before the robbery, having to put up with Meat and that goof Ducky in the meantime.
Doc Kasperson (a scammer of sorts . . . teetering legitimacy with his hair growth idea) was an acquaintance of Meat, and who was brought in to get the details of the job. Unfortunately throughout the novel there is a client who constantly is pestering the Doc, along with the story, but becomes relevant towards the end.
This novel contains an occasional interlude of dark humor that may or may not pertain to the story, but when it involves Meat and Ducky these humor parts make the story worth reading. It's well written, but overdone and could have been shortened by 40 pages.

It would have been good to have kept the book from seven years ago. Looking to get it again. Kakonis writes better than Elmore Leonard in some ways. He makes criminals even more realistic. Criss Cross had a strange duo that went well together, but a duo I've seen in real life...when a huge tough guy is partnered with a weakling. Another tough guy...who is a victim of occupational circumstance...ends up in a battle of wits and brawn with the criminals. A attractive woman is also good to have in the mix; and there is one.
........So, now that this has been re-read: The ex-cons were "Meat" and "Ducky," the huge and scrawny, respectively. Starla is the wife of Meat, whom she hadn't seen in eight years, and is forced into helping with robbing an armored truck at the department store she works at.
Starla looks for help in the plan (and for her own sake) by getting "Morse" included. And Morse, who has gone from college linebacker, to police officer, to security gaurd, to then hit bottom at the department store looking for thieves, goes along, but not for the sake of Starla or the money; he want's to break up the robbery.
There's Doc Kasperson involved, too; who mixes upgrading the plan of the robbery with scamming men over hair products. This charactor, and the man he is scamming, might be a bit of an annoyance, and interfering with the interesting and comical escapades of Meat and Ducky, who are without a doubt the main attraction.
This crime novel is well written, but to me, about a total of 20 pages here and there too long, maybe more. Ranking Tom Kakonis's novels: 1. Double Down / 2. Michigan Roll / 3. Shadow Counter / 4. Criss Cross

This book is of poor quality.... both content wise as well as production wise. It fell apart after reading it two times already. It is just a bunch of old photos that you can easily get in a less expensive book. DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!

Fifty Years of Ferrari has been written to celebrate Ferrari's long competition history in Grand Prix and Sports Car championships. It is an outstanding book; detailed, interesting, and well presented. The pictures are good quality and relevant. Alan Henry has obviously gone to a lot of trouble to write and organize this book, and the work has paid off with glorious results. I would recommend Fifty Years of Ferrari to all Ferrari enthusiasts who are interested in Ferrari's long and illustrious racing history.

I often found the manual more frustrating than helpful. Pictures are numbered but the number is rarely used (see illustration rather than referring to the number). A popular engine during the time span designated was the GM 2.5 L OHV. No complete picture of the engine, only partial views in the manual. The PCV valve explanation on page 1-25 is incomplete (see Chiltons). The organization of the manual could be better. A great manual for a GM mechanic but not for the back-yard mechanic. A good supplement to the Chilton's manual.

The book has excellent picture references and well thought out instructions. Wiring diagrams are well done too. The only draw back is it offers no vacuum hose diagrams. I believe it is a good book for the basic home mechanic.

Although this book was not as interesting as many of Cronin's other books(The Citadel, The Green Years, etc.), it was pretty good. It tells the story of a doctor accused of malpractice who went on a cruise in the canary islands to calm down and escape publicity. On the boat, he meets the young, beautiful, Mary Fielding, and they obviously fall in love. He is later given a chance to save her life and be the wonderful doctor he always was. The plot is rather boring and predicatable, but the characterization is excellent. All the people he meets on the boat are very interesting and that is the strong point of the book. I recomend this book to anyone who has enjoyed Cronin's other book, but don't expect anything too wonderful.

The change of scene novel seemed to be a staple among the mainstream novelists of the 1930s and 1940s, particularly those who hovered, as Cronin did, in the nether regions between the merely popular novelist and the "literary" novelist. In Grand Canary, we see some of the stock devices of Cronin novels--a driven young doctor, the caustic impact of passion, the struggle for redemption. Yet, instead of the outward struggle through medical school and inward struggles amid doubt, Catholicism and Protestantism which usually informs a Cronin novel, we are here exposed to a trip to the Canary Islands. This is rather a stark contrast from the Irish and English scenes more familiar to Cronin readers, and the book's atmospherics seek to invoke a certain "other-island-worldiness". One cannot help but note that Graham Greene and Evelyn Waugh in this era were both using exotic locale as a canvass for resolution of a spiritual inward conflict, and it is quite safe to say that this is nowhere near as satisfying in evoking an exotic place as, say, Greene's Power and the Glory. But for those of us who enjoy a Cronin novel, such academic discussion is of secondary importance--the real question is whether the novel is a good read. The answer is simple: Cronin's use of locale and certain "mystical" elements detracts from the reader's interest in his characters. We have precognitive dreams, yellow fever, destined encounters of newly enchanted lovers, a missionary gone astray in a first exposure to the pleasures of the flesh, and the victim of unrequited love martyring herself in the name of familial duty. It's all rather like a parody of a Somerset Maugham tropical clime short story, except that we have Cronin's idiosyncratic faith-based vision rather than Maugham's skepticism putting the puppets through their paces. The novel is by no means a bad read--some of the characters are quite intriguing, if a bit "set piece" in design. But the plot devices and cardboard side players are less than we expect from Cronin, and perhaps less than we expect from ourselves when we seek out light fiction to read.

I was somewhat disappointed in "The Grand Fleet 1906-1922," this latest effort by D.K. Brown. It's just not up to the standard of his earlier works, of which I have a high regard.

He second guesses US designer's analysis of British ships (like I always say, 20-20 hindsight is a wonderful thing) but then admits that these were probably for ships for which he (Brown) lacks references for. He then puts up future DNC Goodall's contemporary analysis of US designs without noting the errors contained in them that have been exposed for literally decades (see Friedman's "US Battleships" for one).

Mr. Brown also raises the old bug-a-boo about the all-or-nothing protection scheme of the "Standards" as being possibly overwhelmed by numerous hits on their unprotected ends. Somehow, he seems to be forgetting the fact that every post-war British capital ship design used nearly the same scheme, to say nothing that such fears were shown groundless by the pummeling that the USS Colorado received during WWII. If the all-or-nothing protection scheme was so bad, why then was it copied in most of its essentials in British post-WWI capital ship designs? Why didn't the Nelson's, KGV's, Lion's and Vanguard continue to use the incremental armor scheme so favored in the pre-war dreadnoughts? Perhaps Mr. Brown is saving such thoughts for the next volume in this series, but it's a glaring omission, nonetheless.

But, my very favorite passage was where Mr. Brown discusses the wartime exploits of British battlecruisers. In what can only be called revisionist history, Mr. Brown states that "the author believes that the basic concept of the battlecruiser was sound. Invincible's glorious career at Heligoland Bight, Falklands and Jutland justifies that statement. The three magazine explosions at Jutland (and the later case of Hood) have obscured the real value of such ships."

Sorry, but that just reminds this reader of that famous U.S. saying, "Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?" The exploits of a single ship, no matter how glorious, can not be said to justify a ship type that is most remembered for "sinking and leaving barely enough survivors to man a Yugo," to use a phrase I wish I'd thought of first (my hat's off to Cen). I'm afraid that the author's admiration for these ships' undeniably powerful appearance has kept him from applying his considerable talent for design analysis to their equally obvious flaws.

That said, this book does offer very interesting insights into the ships of all classes being built in Britain in the 1906-22 time frame. If you stick to following what the author knows best, the British design process, you won't go far wrong. His examples of British naval design thinking are mostly original, and include details for the lessor known ships, such as destroyers and submarines, that are so hard to find for pre-WWI vessels.

Finally, he cleared up something that has always puzzled me; why the British were so reluctant to fit super-firing turrets on their warships. For that alone, this book was a worthy addition to my library.

The Grand Fleet: Warship Design and Development 1906-1922 covers exactly what the title sugggests, the developement of primarily the British fleet in the years leading up to, during and immediately after World War I. In my opinion this was a well written scholarly book that focuses on the design process and underlying assumptions that led to the developement of the modern battleship navy. The work is broken down into sections for each class of ship, I found the section on aircraft carriers to be extremely informative on the British methods of carrier operations and the developement of this naval arm. Each section is chock full of technical drawings and photos of the ships concerned. The actual descriptions of the shipos in combat during the World War is rather limited so I would not consider this book as a source for combat operations, the focus of this volume is on naval architecture. If you read John Massey's Dreadnought and are seeking more technical information then this book is definetely for you. If you are looking for a light read then I would steer elsewhere.

Lewis's shorter works were generally originally composed as speeches or as articles for periodicals. Various sets of them were collected and published in book form both during his life and after his death. Trying to determine what works are in what collections is difficult - most works appear in more than one collection, some works appear under more than one title, and some collections appear under more than one title.

To aid readers, in this review I've listed the works in this collection, with notes indicating other collections they have appeared in. Where a work has appeared under more than one title, I give both titles separated by a slash.

Table of Contents:

"Miracles" (1), (2)

"Dogma and the Universe" / "Dogma and the Universe" & "Dogma and Science" (1), (2)

"Answers to Questions on Christianity" (1), (2), (3)

"Myth Became Fact" (1), (2)

"'Horrid Red Things'" (1), (2), (4), (5)

"Religion and Science" (1), (2)

"The Laws of Nature" (1), (2)

"The Grand Miracle" (1), (2)

"Christian Apologetics" (1), (2), (3), (5)

"Work and Prayer" (1), (2)

"Man or Rabbit?" (1), (2)

"Religion Without Dogma?" / "A Christian Reply to Professor Price" (1), (2), (3), (5)

"Some Thoughts" (1), (2), (4), (5)

"'The Trouble With "X" ...'" (1), (2)

"What are We to Make of Jesus Christ?" (1), (2)

"Dangers of National Repentance" (1), (2), (6)

"Two Ways With the Self" (1), (2), (6)

"On the Reading of Old Books" (1), (2), (4)

"Scraps" (1), (2), (6)

"The Decline of Religion" (1), (2), (4), (5)

"Vivisection" (1), (2), (4), (5)

"Modern Translations of the Bible" (1), (2), (4), (5)

"God in the Dock" / "Difficulties in Presenting the Christian Faith to Unbelievers" (1), (2)

"Cross-Examination" / "I was Decided Upon" & "Heaven, Earth and Outer Space" (1), (2), (6)

"The Sermon and the Lunch" (1), (2), (4)

"What Christmas Means to Me" (1), (2), (6)

Notes:

(1) also published in "God in the Dock - Essays on Theology and Ethics" / "Undeceptions - Essays on Theology and Ethics"

(2) also published in "Essay Collection & Other Short Pieces"

(3) also published in "Timeless at Heart: Essays on Theology"

(4) also published in "First and Second Things: Essays on Theology and Ethics"

(6) also published in "Christian Reunion and Other Essays"

Recommendations:

This is an unnecessary collection. Everything in it is already available in "God in the Dock - Essays on Theology and Ethics", it will overlap almost any other collection of Lewis' shorter writings on Christianity you might buy, and will give you no work you cannot get elsewhere. Don't buy it.

So what should you get?

If you are interested in Lewis's shorter works, my best advice is to get "Essay Collection & Other Short Pieces", which, as of the time of this writing, is available from .... That collection consists of about 130 short works by Lewis. The works in that collection are mostly, but not exclusively, Christian.

If your interest in Lewis's shorter works is restricted to those on Christianity, and your budget or enthusiasm does not run to "Essay Collection & Other Short Pieces", then my second-best advice is to get any or all of the following (they don't overlap significantly, and between them they include most of Lewis's shorter Christian writings):

"God in the Dock - Essays on Theology and Ethics"*

"The World's Last Night and Other Essays"

"Christian Reflections"

"The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses"

* Be careful - there is a UK Fontana paperback lurking about called "God in the Dock - Essays on Theology" that is substantially shorter than the "God in the Dock - Essays on Theology and Ethics" collection. A full version of "God in the Dock - Essays on Theology and Ethics" was published in the UK under the title "Undeceptions - Essays on Theology and Ethics".

God is not cool because He's not seen as God. He's not seen as incredible and yet always near. The Grand Miracle knocks the wall down and helps the reader to think of God as the most astounding and needed being you will ever encounter--and there's not a bit of academic bilge anywhere in this book. Pour a cup of tea and read till you're crying.

This book is not really that great. It is small and incomplete, the wrong size for taking into the field, and it doesn't hold up well(spine breaks and pages fall out). You are MUCH better off using an Audubon or Peterson guide. Save your money.

In addition to its beauty, the Grand Canyon offers a snapshot of earth's history in one place. This slim, concise, well-illustrated book is a great introduction to the formation and geological history of the Grand Canyon. It is short enough to read while you are at the canyon, or on the trip there. The writing is lucid, and no geology background is needed.

I read Venus and Serena:The Grand Slam Williams Sisters.It talks about Venus and Serena playing against each other and their debut as pros.It also gives you some pointers on playing tennis.In the book, they include cool facts about them. I didn't like it when they gave the scores, because they didn't always say who's score was who's!

This book wasn't great; it was just okay. Personally, the book went just a little too quick for me in the sense that Venus and Serena's early life wasn't discussed in much detail; only their current tournaments and lifestyles were written about in more detail. Other than that one major criticism, though, there were a few good elements to the book. It was very informative, and it would be worthwhile to read if you are doing a biography on Venus and /or Serena Williams. Nonetheless, all in all, I rate this book a three because there are definitely better books on the Williams sisters out there. Save your time and your money, unless you want a dozen or so quick facts about the Williams.

I visited Port Lucaya last year and I plan on returning this year and wanted up-to-the-minute restaurant and hotel listings with critical reviews. This appears current but the reviews are not very detailed and do not give much flavor of insider information. Review seem slanted to the high-end etablishments. There are no maps and no travel tips. These listings might be valuable for first time visitors. This information is all available in other books. $9 seems steep for a non-physical book, but this is my first experience with eBooks.