This book started out a little slower than I liked, but it eventually got me caught up in the story. I wasn't hooked until halfway through, but at that point I couldn't put it down. The story is about a shy girl that is given lessons by her friends to help her talk to boys. The girl learns, though, that popularity isn't everything that she dreamed it would be.

The popularity plan---a plan devised by 4 girls for Frannie, a shy and awkward teen, to find love. And it worked! Soon, Frannie's social calendar was filled with dates and parties. She was suddenly one of the prettiest and most sought-after girls in the school. The only problem was that the one boy she wanted, artistic and quiet Ronnie, wasn't interested in her. Then, her friends began to avoid her and her whole world fell apart

I have always enjoyed the Sweet Dreams series and have kept many of them from my teen years. This book was the first one I had ever read in this series. Frannie is painfully shy, but her friends can solve that! With their "popularity plan", Frannie is destined to become popular and over come her shyness in no time. Frannie begins to have eyes for Ronnie, but will her popularity push him away? Great book - I also recommend it's sequel "The Popularity Summer" (Sweet Dreams #20).

I can only say - nice, fine, or "giantest".

"Railroads In the Woods" is a praiseworthy collection of old and historic logging photographs from Oregon and Washington State. John T. Labbe and Vernon Goe did a workmanlike job of selecting the 440 b&w photos. But Labbe and Goe also penned a winning text. They take us from the 1880s, when "early railroads were just a step away from the bull teams," to August 1957, when the Long-Bell division of International Paper Company finished logging the hills overlooking Keasey, Oregon. While some of the pictures are of minor importance (and quality), most are large, sharp, and informative. Especially dynamic are the picture of a powerful Shay (a geared engine built in 1894); an interior shot of a Big Creek mess hall, which is surprisingly roomy and comfortable; and a two-page spread of the spectacular Baird's Creek bridge, near Longview, Washington. This book has a fine index, and the printing and layout are beautifully done.

I am not a thief. I say this because the book: "Railroads In The Woods" was the only book that I have ever intentially checked out from the public library with no intention of giving it back. My plan, which worked, was the pay the library for the book. Now I have found that I can get this book from Amazon.com...This is great. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in railroads, history, or just looking at really cool pictures. If anyone reads this review and wants a more detailed description from me...please feel free to contact me at" Upstanding@aol.com

The author, Vaux, loves birds, has lots of birding friends, lives on an island that attracts a remarkable number of species, and writes a column on birding for his local newspaper. As a description of the birding life on Martha's Vinyard, this book is serviceable. His descriptions of Razorbills, for example, are evocative. Unfortunately, most of the book consists of recycled, apparently not re-edited, newspaper columns. There is some interesting local information in these columns, which I appreciated. On the other hand, too much of the book consists of items describing how Mr. and Mrs. Homer Pettifogg III, new and rich visitors to the island, saw a Rose-breasted Grosbeak on May 21, 1998, and had no idea what it was until your humble author arrived to straighten them out and share their whiskey. If you enjoy such trivia, then this is the book for you. However, if you want something a bit more limpid and inspiring than provided by this author's clunky writing style, you might want to look elsewhere.

Bird News provides a year in the life of Martha's Vineyard birds, with the author/observer charting feathered marvels both native and imported. A report by month and day allows for intimate first-person seasonal observations which prove revealing and involving. Highly recommended: a literary bird journal.

"Catholic Religion" makes many excellent points, the foremost being that "the opposite of Catholic is not Protestant, but *heretic*." Accordingly Staley provides a vision of Anglicanism and Episcopalianism in good Anglo-Catholic fashion with due reference to the historic Christian faith. Staley was reacting to what he and others in the "Oxford Movement" considered the hyper-protestant vision of the Church of England then ascendant in England with its "low church" banalities and disdain of history in favor of evangelical and puritan innovations. His work has remained in print all these years because because it meets a legitimate need within Anglicanism to remember that our faith must strive to be truly "catholic" (i.e. the faith of the historic church Jesus Christ established) and not something "new". His work effectively reminds us that every heretic begins their recruiting message by saying "I'm just trying to teach you something NEW that GOD HAS REVEALED TO ME."

Modern Episcopalians reading ONLY works from this school of thought will quickly lose the biblical and evangelical heritage that is also theirs in the classical Anglican statement, the 39 Articles. The Articles, you see, were written to maintain the "Catholic" religion and not simply express "new" and "Protestant" ideas. Both the Lutheran and Anglican reformations purposely sought not to "reinvent the wheel" doctrinally and ecclesiastically if at all possible in light of the truth of the Holy Scriptures. That is why both traditions, for example, affirm justification by faith alone through Christ alone and why the Articles and the Augsburg confession have such deep similiarities. Yet for Staley, the reformation always seems more like a burden than a joy to behold. For that reason he neglects the articles and the Cranmerian logic behind the development Prayer Book. He even seems at times to be a Pelagian in his view of the sovereignty of God in salvation when discussing such things as predestination so averse is he towards affirming anything the reformers might have believed.

I would consider this book one-sided but nevertheless absolutely necessary for any catechist wanting to understand the full range of Anglican views. It should not be kept and viewed as a scholarly curiosity by evangelical catechists though. It should be studied for it's vision and information to help evangelical catechists broaden their appreciation for the "catholicity" of Anglicanism. Otherwise, evangelical catechists face the danger of simply becoming less than catholic themselves, seduced by the charismatic/evangelical zeitgeist into giving up too much of their birthright in the interest of being "relevant". Buy it. Read it. Use it. With wisdom.

Staley gives us a fine guide to being both Anglican and Catholic, that is a part of the worldwide, historic and universal Church (not necessarily in the Roman Church). The book is essentially a concise catechism for the Anglican faithful. In his book he discusses many topics of value. For instance the first 70 pages are an introduction to the history of the faith. In these pages Staley demonstrates the importance of the church's orders: Bishop, Deacon, and Priest. He also stresses the essentiality of Apostolic Succession (through the Episcopate), as a guarantee against heresy and false teaching. He attempts to emphasize the genuine character of Anglican orders, by giving the English Church's history before being under Rome, while under Rome, and after breaking from Rome under Henry VIII. In these pages he explains the causes of Reformation, and the goals of Reformation in England, which overall were not meant to replace the Catholic faith, but simply bring it to a better state. In these chapters an Anglican slant is given to the faith, which I find refreshing. At times Staley seems a bit anti-Roman Catholic, but he was also living before Vatican II.

The last 120 pages deal with the faith of the Church in doctrine and practice. He has sections on the three creeds, the Trinity, the Incarnation (which Staley describes as, "the greatest honor and blessing our race has ever received"), and other important topics. Most of his ideas are firmly rooted in the Church Councils and Church Tradition. He discusses the Catholic view of the seven sacraments, including the Eucharist. Regarding the Eucharist, he takes a decidedly Anglican position when he reiterates the firm Anglican belief in the Real Presence, "without presuming to define the manner of [how the body and blood are present]". He also emphasizes the free-will of humankind and the power of God, sounding more like the Church fathers than the reformers. However, that is the goal of Staley's book: to celebrate the Anglican Church's place in the Historic Church. Staley also gives excellent information on the Creation. He is sympathetic to evolution as a possibility, so long as it is God guided.

He also discusses Christian duty, prayer, and the Bible including the deutero-canon. Staley says, "No Bible is complete which does not contain the apocrypha." Overall, Staley gives a good Anglo-Catholic view of most every major doctrine and practice.

In general, Staley's book assumes the Anglican Church is Historic and Catholic, which may be a surprise to Evangelicals within the church. However, the Church, since the mid-1800s when the "Oxford Movement" sprang up, has as a whole moved toward Catholicism in doctrine and praxis, although not as far as Anglo-Catholics had anticipated. Overall, I think this is an excellent book for anyone searching for catholicism in the Anglican Church. Of note, this book was originally written in 1893, so some issues are outdated. It was revised and condensed in 1983, and the new parts are useful as well.

Even though Wright's book is not the first and cannot be considered the definitive work on the McGillivray and McIntosh families, it still is a valuable volume as it provides hereunto unpublished historical details and corrections to previous works. (The individual who will benefit most from this book will be the one who has read Edward Cashin's 'Lachlan McGillivray: Indian Trader' and John Caughey's 'McGillivray of the Creeks'.)

Wright's greatest contributions are: (1) providing information on other members of the McGillivray Clan, in addition to Lachlan and son Alexander, who were resident and active in the Old Southwest; (2) presenting documentation that sheds greater light on the fate of Alexander McGillivray's only son, Alexander Junior; and (3) giving information on the lives and families of Lachlan's less famous daughters.

Be aware that Wright only spends one chapter on the McIntosh family. His primary subject matter is Lachlan McGillivray and Alexander McGillivray.

This is one of the most fascinating books I have read on the subject of Alexander McGillivray and his family. New theories on his death with strong arguments and documentation give new insight on his impact and influence on the Creek Nation in regards to the Spanish and their distrust of him. Alexander McGillivray has long been overlooked as a great Indian Chief, trying to keep peace in the Creek Nation while keeping the powers of the Spanish, British and Americans at arms length.

"The Pocket Aquinas" is a good introduction to the world of Thomistic thought and writing. The book is divided into eight, topically organized sections highlighting the main themes of St. Thomas' work. Within each section there are collections of his work dealing with questions pertinent to the section's subject. Each section concludes with a list of suggested readings.

Overall I feel that the reading of this book I was introduced to a condensed version of Aquinas' thought. What is missing is the "feel" of Aquinas' work which one can only get from a reading of a large, unabridged section of a tome. Although I generally have little interest in abridgments, I feel that I have learned a bit of St. Thomas' wisdom. For this "The Pocket Aquinas" is a worthwhile read.

One can find in this little book, a large portion of the essential texts of St. Thomas, and in a very excellent translation from the Latin. Bourke's introductions are noteworthy. I would scarf as many copies of this one as I could. . . .

Want to get beyond primers and introductory texts but lack the background and expertise for the advanced texts. Here is a truly intermediate text which covers a broad range of topics and permits the reader to advance to the next level. This book is chock full of insights without getting mired down in technical detail and nomenclature. It delves just deep enough to give the arguments a foundation and extends them up to the point of clarity without undue complexity. It can be read by anyone with a basic understanding and is a good text for epidemiologically oriented medical scientists. I wish that it was paired with an advanced text that explored each one of the topics in more depth since many of the techniques are not described in enough detail to perform the analysis without refering to other source material. Some greater attention could also be given to the well established statistical software packages such as SAS, SPSS, and STATA. It does repeatedly make the valuable point that if you proceed through an analysis without professional biostatistical consultation you are likely to be short changing your study or even commiting errors. Take heed. It is important to know enough biostatistics to understand the techniques but in almost all cases it is better to work with a professional biostatician than to go it alone. I only wish that there were more medically savvy biostaticians like Matthews and Farewell.

For what this book intends, it truly is outstanding. In general, the medical researcher of any kind is at a severe disadvantage in dealing with professional biostatisticians because often the two do not speak a common language. This very readable, interesting and clearly written book gives the scientist enough knowledge to deal with most relatively simple cases in a language that we understand. With the basic principles of medical statistics made comprehensible, we are able to understand many of the simpler software packages well enough to perform basic statistical analyses and, more importantly, are able to converse intelligently with biostatistical professionals and to design studies that will pass muster. Unlike another reviewer, I do not feel that not covering SAS or other software programs is a disadvantage. No book can cover everything, and this book covers the basics and intermediate levels far better than any book I have seen, certainly better than any biostatistics book written by biostatisticians intended for other biostatisticians. This book understands that biostatistics is a tool, not a fundamental discipline, for the vast majority of scientists and is written to them. The book serves as a ready reference and review if one does not perform these analyses on a daily basis. This book should be on the shelf of every life scientist.

This book includes the properties of water, introduction to and application of thermodynamics and kinetics, acid-base chemistry, complexation chemistry, precipitation and dissolution, and redox chemistry in water.

The book is not recommended for an undergraduate level, it is hard to follow for a beginner. It is fairly old, published 1980, so it doesn't have current topics in environmental water chemistry, but it does cover the basics which are important to know.

The problems at the end of each chapter are fairly difficult.

While the level of difficulty compared to other class textbooks is higher, it provides a real world examples of problems environmental engineers find in their field. This book will suit better as a reference book for undergraduate and a textbook for graduate students, it goes beyond the classic theoretical solutions. One of the authors is a professor in a very good university in California. You may find this fact very important because many of the theories, formulas and conclusions that are being used in the industry are contained in this book, and have been derived from doctoral work by Ph.D. candidates at that University. You may want to keep this book as a reference after you have finished your graduate school. Every environmental engineer or scientists must have a copy of this book. Believe me! We used this book at the LMU Graduate Program.

The book starts with an overview that spans over the basic essence and inception of advertising and slowly the author migrates into the concept of advertising and how it got matured over the time. These are illustrated by examples of advertisments released in few decades. The book targets on fundamnetal advertising principles which need to be understood like Knowledge of the consumers, products or markets. There is a breif stint with creative startegies that can be used to gather response to advertising. The author also touches media planning in significant detail. To some extent an attempt has been made to quantify the advertisng results.

Overall an interesting reading as it provides sufficient insight to advertising as a subject and there are examples that help understanding betteer.

This work has fully lifted the veil on AIDS. It has focused on the various dimensions in which mankind has had to cope with a disease whose method of transmission transcends cultural barriers. The addition of a Resource Directory highlights the need for networking in today's global environment.