The most moving novel I thought Madeline Baker had written was First Love, Wild Love--until now. Under A Prairie Moon was just as poignant and romantic, if not more, and was definitely a page turner. Mixing in humor, time travel, and honest emotion, I finished the book easily in one night. The end is a tear jerker, knowing that Kathy and Dalton's fate is inevitable, but only for a short time. I can see Madeleine really put her heart and soul into creating Dalton, and I found myself hoping that my own Dalton Crowkiller would somehow appear in my own Montana home. He's the epitome of tall dark and handsome, and still possesses a gentle soul that made me all the more attracted to him. Great book, wonderful character. This Eddie Little Sky must've made quite the impression on Madleine Baker if he was her inspiration for her Indian characters, particularly Dalton. Her attraction for him was more than evident.

This was the best book I have read to date. I loved it! No book has made me feel the emotional ups and downs of the hero or heroine. The way it was written made me feel for both Kathy and Dalton. Madeline Baker really took me from the present back to the old west and back again. It was truly an amazing story, I couldn't put it down. If you want a fantastic read, purchase this book. You will not be disappointed!

THis is book has to be the most captivating story that I have read in quite some time. And I read a lot of romance novels. I COULD NOT put it down. Dalton and Kathy's characters were so very real. Their love was everlasting. Kathy, suffering from depression from the lost of her husband, is not only carried away intrigue of Dalton, but thrown in to a different century with her beloved. This is, by far, Madeline's best Indian romance story so far

This is a very accurate and clever book- i just read it with a friend and laughed out loud a number of times! It's a perfect gift for the single gal you are know. The beauty is in the detailed, hip artwork and the on-the-money "Superhints"(read the book, you'll know what I mean). Here's my superhint: Get this book, you'll be glad you did...

I received this book as a gift from my best friend, who happens to be a gay man. This book tells you all the signs (which are just general, but mostly true) to look for in a guy, and has some of the cutest illustrations. I would recommend this book to any woman out there who thinks she might have picked up a gay best friend instead of a boyfriend.

this book was hilarious...i bought it for myself and shared it with all my "justfriends" buddies! The illustrations are awesome! The authors seem like really down to earth guys ...read their thankyous at the begining of the book! Perfect gift for any girlfriend who finds herself in these situations!

This is the only book I've ever read that explains a concrete scientific system for controlling film exposure and processing. This book does not cover the artistic process, but instead the chemical/physical process. Ansel Adams explains in great detail the process of visualization of the desired image and a scientific method for achieving that goal through use of the Zone System.

A must read for any aspiring b/w photographer.

This is the book I turn to for the heavy duty technical data on the most important aspects of photography, but guess what? This is probably one of the most readable and easy to digest technical books on photography you are ever likely to read or need. Adams has a way of making mysterious worlds within Photography accessable. I will admit though that this book is not for the absolute beginner, though having said that those who want to stretch a little could find much that is of use without having too much knowledge off the mark.

When I looked at the three books of this series, The Camera, The Negative and the Print, I waded into each wanting to choose only the best one from the series. I quickly realised that neither of the other two had what The Negative had and I have subsequently realised that this was by far the best choice for me. The negative deals with Visualization and image values, Light and Film, Exposure, The Zone System, Filters and Pre-Exposure, Natural Light, Artifical Light, Darkroom processes, Dark Room equiptment and procedures and value control in processing.

This book is an absolute must for intermediate photographers who have mastered the basics and want to take a step up into the world of greater control over their imaging with an eye to developing and processing their own film and prints. Everything you need to know about getting your images right before you even hit the shutter is in this book, all you need to do now is accentuate the positive by going and buying The NEGATIVE!

Hands down this is the best B&W photography book written. The second in a three book series, Ansel Adams meticulously details every aspect of capturing an image on B&W film. The Zone System offers the reader the opportunity to create perfectly exposed photographs with precision. Both novice and experienced photographers will find this book beneficial. The three volume set is well worth the investment.

It's a sweet story of a 'simple' stuffed rabbit amidst the more 'complex' modern toys in a boy's "toy collection". The rabbit starts to believe that in order to get the love of the boy, he needs to appear 'real', or be able to zoom about like the motorized toys...
(And I'm not going to tell you the end hahahahaha!!!)
It was great having that read to me, while I was hugging my stuffed animals in bed.
But -- in a way, at first glance it looks like a simple story, but it is actually a surprisingly complex story. Leave it on your child's bookshelf as he/she grows up and he/she will reread it again and again as he/she questions issues such as "who am I?", "what does it mean to be 'real'"?, "what is my role in this world?", and even "what is death"?

I make sure I use this book with each class I teach--3rd and4th graders. They always get it--that love makes us real, too. Theymake the connection between the Skin Horse becoming shabby and people getting old. I always bring in my stuffed velveteen rabbit I bought years ago and it starts making the rounds and popping up on different children's laps. It is a pleasure to see them become attached to the rabbit instead of "mechanical toys that were very superior, and looked down upon everyone else." They also relate to the lessons the Velveteen Rabbit learns from the Skin Horse about how becoming real is a painful process sometimes and can take a long time.

This book is a simple work of art. Its beauty in itself is virtually indescribable. When I was little, it was my favorite book. In fact, I've had it ever since I was born. It is about a boy who owns a stuffed rabbit, and longs for it to be real. Eventually, because he loved the rabbit so much, his wish was granted. The book is so well written that it brings tears to my eyes almost every time I read it. It is definitely one of my all-time favorites.

When Peter Reinhart's previous book (Crust and Crumb) was published, I stated in my review that this was the only book any serious baker would need. You can still get by with that one, but Reinhart has outcompeted himself with The Bread Baker's Apprentice. Until he pulls another stunt like this, Baker's Apprentice is now the only book any serious bread baker would ever need, or anyone less serious for that sake. Like the last book, Baker's Apprentice is overflowing with information, experience and wisdom, but this one is also tightly organized and well laid out. It is at the same time a baking tutorial, a recipe collection, a reference work, and for baking freaks like me, bedtime reading. Maybe it is a missionary tract too. The various bread types cover a repertoire worthy of any professional baker, yet one that can be accomplished by us amateurs. The photos are pretty but also inspirational and instructional, showing shaping options and procedures. Reinhart's last book got me away from yeasted white bread and onto the path of rustic, naturally leavened bread (although he by no means forces the reader to follow that path). His chapter in this book about the Poilane-style Miche (the loaf shown on the cover) got me off the path and onto the road.

This is an expensive book worth every penny. Reinhart will show you how to bake bread even if you've never baked anything that didn't come out of a can and if you are an experienced baker, Reinhart will strengthen your understanding of how bread is made.

His explanation of the science of how bread is mixed, baked and even tasted is definitive and clearly written. The section on shaping dough is aptly photographed and understandable. It is, by far, the clearest description of shaping dough found in the current crop of baking books.

The bulk of the book consists of recipes, more accurately, formulas, for baking various kinds of bread. I've tried only two of them so far and both came out excellent. And one of the things that makes this book so helpful is that if your bread doesn't come out excellent you'll learn why it didn't and what to do about it.

This book amplifies Reinhart's previous book, Crust and Crumb, and like that book the formulas will help you bake the best bread you've ever made. And the theory will help you to create your own signature variations.

This is a priceless book and it is also a definite classic. If you don't bake, buy it for someone who does.

For the past week, my kitchen, my whole house even, has been filled with the lovely smell of bread. My bread has always been dense and cakey; after years of trying I had given up on the idea of bread making. But now, using Peter Reinhart's wonderful wisdom, my bread is light, airy, chewy, crusty and just amazingly delicious. Much longer fermentation, real bread flour, far less yeast, and minimal kneading! It's magic. It's more in the method than the ingredients. You must try it and see for yourself.

... [I'm making] rich, decadent cinnamon buns (using the RICH man's formula) are undergoing final proofing before being popped in the oven. They have risen phenomenally, sitting as they are atop a 1/4 inch layer of homemade caramel. I cannot remember having made a dough so light, bubbly and elastic. ...

What I love about the book is that, while giving you "formulae," as he calls the recipes, he NEVER FAILS to encourage to experiment. He may have a formula with little fat, but he'll tell you what'll happen if you put a bit more or a bit less, if the fat is lard or butter. You make the final call in your kitchen.

There is something odd, though. There is a formula that calls for 5 1/2 tablespoons of butter and 6 1/2 tablespoons of sugar, for example. Couldn't this have been rounded to 1/4 or 1/3 cups? I suppose it gets important when scaling up, and although the calculations maybe easy had the metric system been used, the ornery imperial system is very unfriendly for this purpose.

The photos are fantastic; sometimes they are indeed worth a thousand words. I look at the photo, and as I feel my bread I know what to "shoot for" so to speak.

Ah well, gotta go! Those sweet cinnamon rolls must be just about ready now. Buy the book!

Hygieia is an important and fascinating compendium of many kinds of heath lore about women's health. This hefty paperback with the cramy, near-square pages and the fine line drawings and calligraphy outgrowth of the author's master's project written while raising three small children (she had three more after the early editions of the book appeared.) Hygieia combines listings of traditional botanical remedies from North America and Western Europe with new ways of using the imagination and ,ythology to create a self-health model for women.

Parvati-Baker's book is not so much intended as a guide to how to USE herbs to build health as a guide to new ways of thinking and feeling about women's reproductive and sexual lives. There are chapters and sections devoted to thinking about sexual desire, about natural birthing options including natural home birth and non-separation from the placenta (Lotus birth, about re-visioning menstruation as a time to celebrate, about Western and Asian myths of heraling and women;s power, about re-thinking fertility itself, and about many types of spiritual and psychological practice, especially those that have leant meaning to the author.

Hygieia is a personal book, a sort of a glimpse into the inner as well as the family life of its creator, Jeannine Parvati. It is about many aspects of being a woman involved in creating one's own healing, as Parvati-Baker experiences this. The openminded reader is drawn into her world, where she (or he) can pick and choose those ideas and images that speak to her (or his) psyche, while leaving that which does not work as well to bloom in the same garden for another. It reads as a journey into a way of being where healing and honoring one's reproductive and living self is a birthright that can be claimed by all.

Those lookig to use this book as a sort of alternative pharmacopeia will probably be disappointed, for the author is calling the reader into a more broadbased, holistic understanding about the relationship between plant allies, the earth, and women's health and well-being.Hygieia does not prescribe; it brings seeds for further contemplation on ways of regarding botanicals, health, adn the experience of being female.

Hygieia is not for those women seeking pre-digested, one-faceted answers to their ailments, nor is it a "Herbal for Dummies." It is not a "how to" book which will give you quick, easy answers. It will require you to find those answers for yourself, all the while guiding you in the process of self-discovery.

It is written for those wise women seeking to deepen their knowledge of themselves through contemplation. It is for those fortunate maidens and mothers who enjoy being in tune with their lunar bodies, women who think and dream and live moment to moment, day by day. It is for Changing Women, and not the clinical, bare females of medical journals and anatomy books. Hygieia is for responsible women who first take their inner wisdom as gospel, before that of any book or doctor or even healer.

Those women who are open and ready for such an approach will love coming back to it again and again, picking it up with a specific question or simply leafing through it and letting it guide them to what is right for them. It is a guide for finding our own relationship with plants, our own balance in healing ourselves. Jeannine Parvati Baker's herbal is akin to a philosphy, a way of life. It is a herbal for a lifetime, not simply for a "quick fix."

As a librarian with over fifteen years experience, I have reviewed and read reviews, browsed and selected thousands of books. With this in mind, I can attest to you that Hygieia is a unique, wise and beautiful book. It is one of those rare books that is a treasure to hold and behold, as well as, to read and savour. Many moons ago, I became acquainted with Jeannine Parvati Baker's work from her book, Prenatal Yoga (which I also highly recommend). From that, I learned about Hygieia and I loved every page of it.

Hygieia imparts the knowledge and wisdom of herbals for the needs of women. Letters from women, dream interpretations only add to the delight of this wise-women book. It is easy to use, with an organized format and thorough index, but also a pleasure to simply browse. I find myself returning to this book often as it is in invaluable tool for women at any age or stage in their life. Even though I share most of my day, every day, with books and purchased this book for our collection at the library, it is truly such an outstanding book in both wisdom and beauty that I had to buy my own copy!

This is a book that I would have loved as a child. Don't get me wrong, I love it today but a child would bask in the wonders of the Earth for hours with these images. It's hard to believe that some of the locations in this book are on this planet. There is such beauty and awe in these pictures. At almost every turn of the page there is a "wow" coming out of my mouth. Well worth the money. The only gripe I have is the reference of the locations. You have to flip around all over the place to find out the location of the photographs. There does not seem to be any order connecting the photos to the descriptions. Don't worry though! Still get the book.

I first saw the work of this super talented photographer in the wee hours of August 20th, 2000 outside Palais du Luxembourg in Paris. I was so fascinated by the colors, the angles, the beauty, and the emotions conveyed that I pledged to get a copy of the book as soon as I returned to the US. The pictures portray everyday places and people that seem out of this world when viewed through the lens of Arthus-Bertrand. The photographer and his staff really did their homework when putting together the captions that accompany the pictures. They have gathered information on geography, history, ecology, anthropology, economics, sociology, politics, and popular culture to describe the sites, hence increasing our awareness of our precious and wondrous yet fragile world. Earth from Above will never make it to my bookshelf because it's so fascinating that I keep it out on my living room table to share the wonder!

I saw this amazing exhibit, "La Terre Vue Du Ciel", of Yann Arthus-Bertrand's in the Jardin du Luxembourg Senat when I was in Paris a few weeks ago. The exhibit included much larger-than poster-sized photos that are some of the same photos contained in the book. They were spectacular and breath-taking. Stunning really. But if you can't afford to go to Paris, or if you can't get a hold of a poster of his work, this book is a fantastic collection of awesome, thoughtful, inspiring, thought-provoking, and humanistic usually unseen images taken from above Earth, that have an incredible aesthetic beauty. I can't recommend this book more highly. I was going to purchase 3-4 of them myself for me and my family and friends. However, I waited to get back to the US before doing so since they are large and very heavy due to the high-quality paper the photos are printed on. I was sorry they would not fit in my luggage as I had wished to stare at the photos for many hours on the plane trip home. Many kudos to Yann Arthus-Bertrand for an outstanding artistic work! Bravo! I hope to see another exhibit by this talented photographer in Paris or the U.S. in the near future.

It explained the basic concepts of cryptography quite well but at times I found the story of "Alice and Bob" to be a bit tedious. Although written for the layperson, the book skims too rapidly over some very basic concepts (S-Box and Confusion for example). Too much of the book was dedicated to hacking-type breaches of security and not enough to cryptanalysis of DES and other systems. Still, overall a good book. The next edition should tighten it up a bit.

This book clearly explains the foundation of cryptography, numbers, and the techniques that have emerged to provide modern security technologies. The book starts with Part I, that sets the context by introducing terms and the basics, including ciphers, data encryption standard (DES) and secret keys. The authors did a remarkable job by making complex concepts easy to understand. The next two parts go into more detail about public keys and digital certificates. While these are relatively simple to learn on the surface, the details have always eluded me until I read this book because more papers and books on the subject get too deep into details too fast and assume knowledge of advanced math on the part of the reader. Not so this book - the authors make it easy through clear writing, illustrations that illuminate the textual descriptions and a knack for explaining the complex in simple and easily digestible chunks.

I especially liked Part IV, which covers secure electronic commerce because it covered the full spectrum of technologies and the information is immediately useful to all IT and security professionals. Like in the first three parts of this book I came away with a complete understanding of how everything works.

This book epitomizes clear writing. Moreover, it is simply amazing how much knowledge can be relatively painlessly gained from reading this book. Although I am sure the authors intended to make the inner workings of cryptography accessible to non-security professionals (which they unquestionably accomplished), they also set a standard of excellence in technical writing by producing a book that is, in my opinion, near perfect in its ability to seamlessly use lively prose and well thought out illustrations to convey highly technical information. If you need to learn cryptography but are challenged by the math and the impenetratable writing of other books on the subject, start with this one.

This is a nice book that makes apparently elliptical subjects clear enough for the average person to understand. It shows you how cryptography works and its limitations. It also shows you how daunting a task it is to try to secure communications.
A must read for anyone who wants to understand the fundamentals without getting a brain fog.

This past weekend, I read the first draft screenplay adaptation of James Robert Baker's FIEL-INJECTED DREAMS and was summarily BLOWN AWAY! I then obtained a copy of the book and was, impossibly, FURTHER BLOWN AWAY! To all fans of the book, the movie WILL do justice to the novel and I for one cannot wait to see James Robert Baker's vision fully realized on the silver screen.

Like the previous reviewer, I read the screenplay first (it is currently circulating throughout the Hollywood community) and I must say that the STORY of this book is amazing, as amazing as the almost perfect distillation of such in the screenplay. James Robert Baker is a force to be reckoned with and I hope we can all look forward to many years worth of subsequent genius work by him. Incidentally, FUEL-INJECTED DREAMS would make an excellent film and, if I have any say in it, WILL make an excellent film. Of course, expect a reprinting of the novel around the time of the film's release.

I visited Rhodes together with a friend in the eighties, and bought a couple of paperbacks, one of which was "Fuel-Injected Dreams." I didn't catch on to it right away, and read it straight through only when I got back home, and that wasn't the last time I read it, and I lent the book to a friend, and we both agree that it is a stunner. So much happens in the book that it's impossible to remember every amazing turn of event if you read the book, say, every two years. The book really gets your adrenaline flowing, and "Adrenaline" happens to be the title of another of Jim's novels. "Dreams" is an equilibristic tour de force, and James Robert Baker was the man who dreamed the novel for us, and I will always love him for doing so, may he rest in peace.

It was about time I read "Tom Jones." Fielding's 1749 novel gives us a panoramic view of 18th century British life. Its titular hero journeys among the low- and high-born trying to find his way in a world in which he occupies a precarious position. Fielding uses the sprawl of 800 pages to explore a multitude of social, political, and literary issues, gluing them together with an exquisitely outlandish, fully embodied sense of humour.

The action of the novel begins with a view of the Allworthy family, a landed gentleman, Thomas Allworthy and his sister, Bridget. Into this family is dropped an orphan, a foundling - a child, if you will, of questionable parentage. This child, Tom Jones, is raised alongside Bridget's child, Blifil, as relative equals. Both are tutored by two ideologues, the philosopher Square and the theologian Thwackum. Jones is a precocious, free-spirited youngster, spoiled by Allworthy while Blifil, the heir apparent to the estate, becomes the favourite pupil and spoiled accordingly by his mother. As the two youths age, Tom develops a fondness for the neighbour's daughter, Sophia Western.

Tom's sexual development begins to get him in trouble, as it tends to throughout the novel, and as a result of one such incident, coupled with the goading jealousy of Blifil, Tom is driven out of the Allworthy home, left to seek his fortunes in the world. Meeting his supposed father, Partridge, on the road, the two begin a quixotic ramble across England. Sophia, meanwhile, pressured into marrying Blifil, runs away from home, beginning her own voyage of discovery.

"Tom Jones" begins with the narrator likening literature to a meal, in which the paying customer comes expecting to be entertained and satisfied. All 18 books of "Tom Jones" start out with such authorial intrusions, each cluing us into the writer's craft, his interactions with his public, and various other topics. This voice is actually sustained throughout the novel, providing a supposedly impartial centre of moral value judgments - each of which seems to tend toward enforce Fielding's project of a realistic, and yet, didactic portrayal of a world full of flawed characters.

Some of the issues the novel deals most extensively with are modes of exchange, anxieties over female agency, and the power of rumour and reputation. Exchange and the ways in which value is figured include a wide range of goods - money, bodies, food, and stories - and are integral to the story. The treatment of women is a great concern in "Tom Jones": from Partridge's perpetual fear of witchcraft to the raging arguments between Squire Western and his sister over how Sophia should be treated, to general concerns about sexuality and virtue. A novel that can be in turns hilarious, disturbing, and provoking, "Tom Jones" is never dull. Despite its size, the pace of the novel is extremely fast and lively. So, get thee to a superstore and obtain thyself a copy of this excellent and highly entertaining novel.

Journey with a guy with much testosterone, but a HUGE heart. I was not looking forward to reading this book for my 18th Century British novel class, but upon starting to read I found it to be a pleasurable story. This piqaresque novel has a humor that I have seldom encountered in other narratives. What is ironic is that Fielding wrote this piece during one of the most traumatic periods of his life. His wife just passed away, his daughter was dying, and he was inflicted with the gout. One would never think it from the clever way the book is written. The point of view gives us an in so that we feel as if we ourselves have roles in the storyline. Rooting all the way for Tom despite his flaws, we find out more about human nature along the way. A good read, light a candle and sit down with some wine like they would've and enjoy this classic comical delight.

Tom Jones is probably one of the greatest novels in all of English literature. I imagine some might be put off by the length and by its designation as a classic (something which Mark Twain said was frequently praised and rarely read). Tom Jones does not deserve to be ignored since it is a riotous rollercoster of a book filled with comic vignettes and blows against the self-satisfied and pompous. It is a book that not only is instructional, but is considerate enough to give the reader a good time while doing so.

Though frequently termed an immoral book, Tom Jones holds up rather well in the early 21st century. Even Fielding's comic characters seem to have a dimension often lacking in 18th and 19th century novels. Fielding is a genius.