Even English professors often admit they wouldn't read James if they didn't have to. The Spoils of Poynton, however, is an enjoyable and easy read. 20th century readers prefer a plot that flies by and, thus, aren't often interested with the snail paced action of James' psychological dramas. However, James' intricate and subtle method, his ceaseless asides, are well worth working through. "Spoils" is a great introduction to James' work because it displays his talents (particularly, his character interaction is intriguing) with rare brevity (184 p).

Stover is the first and only author in my experience to accurately return to first principles in the study of the nature of Chinese culture. I have lived in China for 13 years and I turn again and again to this little book to help me understand my environment. His observations about the zero-sum game of traditional Chinese civilization and about the mechanics of governance are as apropos to the modern Chinese state as to the imperial one. He avoids both the tired historical and cultural cliches that litter so much writing on China and the appeal to mysticism that is the hallmark of those who pretend to understand Chinese civilizarion. If you only read one book about China make it this one

I like this book, and that is my opinion. You can think what you want to but I am an avid Racing Fan/Dale Jr. fan and I think this book is perfect for anyone!

Finally a new work of poetry that reflects a deeper introspection! If you enjoy how one's most centered inner spaces reflect all things exterior, you will enjoy this compilation of reflective insights. The author is a scientist and this may explain the uniqueness of the work. His voice is original in that his expressions and metaphors reveal and weave the abstract realms of love and emotion with the calculated observations of lucid reasoning and logic. You get the quantum and chaos of the human condition with this poet. One can't but feel his sharp observations and fierce passions on everything from classical philosophy, religion, to his very own personal relationships. Truly a refreshing work from clearly a genuine explorer of the human soul!

Leon Wood has written an ideal commentary on Judges. It is solidly conservative, scholarly but not tedious or trivial, and thorough.

It's emphasis is interpretation of the text, not preaching material. Wood interprets objectively and with reason, always with reverence for the Word of God. Like most thorough commentaries, this is a reference book and not intended for popular reading, though understandable by serious laymen. Highly recommended.

Written in the free-form style of jazz music, Leon Forrest's novel captures the pride, woe and miracle of a people and of a generation. There will never be a more human, more complete, more whole celebration of storytelling and history than Divine Days!!!

From the very start we see the main characters engaged in sexual congress with no less than forty two varieties of hyacinth, not withstanding the fauna! Then we see worlds exploding, enormous batallions of space aliens parading throughout the known universe all to descend on La Habana to eat its way through the EVIL COMMUNIST FORCES that cling pitifully to the power strings. Once again a trimuph from such writers as Penelope Hernandez Gonzalez who brought you "My trip to Edinburgh and the person I met there" (to be found in the compilation: Lost Dreams and Possibilities Vol. 2). Well worth checking out if only for the parting and courtship scenes, the saddest and most pathetic examples of human conduct this side of a Jeffrey Archer novel. A must-see.

Assimil's Dutch With Ease is exactly that...gemakkelijk! It is based on dialogs which students read and then look at the translation. While I'm not a fan of learning by translation, this method was helpful in the first few lessons until eventially I only had to look up the occasional word. Moreover, the text is amusing with little cartoons throughout the text written in Dutch to keep you motivated to learn. I've enjoyed the method so much that I've bought Assimil's "Le polonais sans peine" (Polish without Punishment: French version) and "German Without Toil" (1950s edition).

When I first undertook my lessons with this book, I had the help of native Flemish-Dutch speakers to guide me with the pronunciations. Dutch pronunciation is easy enough to learn, but I would recommend a native speaker's help rather than going at it on your own from the crude pronunciations guides most self-teaching language books offer. If a native speaker's help isn't available, you probably want to consider buying a cassettes with the book.

Veel geluk!

If your going to France or anywhere where English is not the primary language, you should at least pick up a book that will help you get by. I travel from time to time to Paris and I found it very useful to have. It is small enough to carry around.

This book was written long before the internet; long before it was cool to be a geek; back when engineers and scientists really did wear pocket protectors. And, even though technologies have changed, the personality types outlined in this book still exist.

Engineers and Scientists are hard to manage. This book gives over a dozen examples of work styles and management techniques that are more relevant than ever in today's labs, engineering departments, programming teams, and IT centers.

It is a shame that this excellent book on managerial psychology and technique is no longer in print.