This is a very British novel along the lines of Ruth Rendell (but not as intense!) and is rather typical of Ms. Yorke, whose work I feel is sadly overlooked. Her novels are wonderfully descriptive of the modern day life of genteel, intelligent middleaged women who find themselves in dangerous/mysterious situations. This novel's heroine is a goodhearted independent lady in a blah marriage who takes the big step of bringing a girl she believes to be her godchild into her home. The girl goes to work as a nanny for a neighboring family and a kidnapping plot unfolds. Smart, amusing, clever, sad, suspenseful as all of Ms. Yorke's novels are. Detailed portrait of modern day English lives. I highly recommend it, and all of the author's wonderful novels.

Margaret Yorke captures the desperation of the unhappy housewife and the lonely and abused teen. She seems to be a master of making the reader feel empathetic toward her characters. The evil in the character of Godfrey added the touch of menace that makes for a good read.

Book accurately describes weather encountered in FL. Photos are black/white. Well-written, easily organized. Has chapters on hurricanes, flooding, fires. Also on temperature zones (very accurate) and local climatic differences. Includes historical information on major weather patterns.

Very useful for gardeners identifying plant zones. And excellent for anyone planning on moving to FL and trying to learn about hazards from an unbiased point of view.

Really a wonderful handbook to understand weather in general & FL in particular. Highly recommend it!

book did all it was supposed to.

"Girl with green eyes" is actually based on a previous edition by the title of "The Lonely Girl" which in turn makes part of the "The Country Girls Trilogy." It is a semi-biographical account, a personal reaction to the author's early life experience in an environment (Ireland - early sixties) marked by bigotry, prudishness, poverty, and emigration. Because of O'Brien's use of a sensuous prose and graphic sexual content her books were banned in Ireland. Her work however, obtained success in other parts of the world. O'Brien has written plays, children's books, essays, screenplays, and non-fiction about Ireland.
The main characters, Kate and Baba, have had a strict Roman Catholic upbringng, in a family farm in Dublin; both are insecure, and when their lives face an upturn they are not able to overcome their social constrains, they become victims of their upbringing. They are destined to fail in their marriages and have a disillusioned adulthood.
O'Brien's writings express concern with the status of women in society, their disappointments in sexual love, and their inability to reach happiness and fulfillment given the social constraints which bind them. Her male characters tend to be violent, treacherous, or weak, while the heroines experience solitude and frustation.

The cover of this edition is curious and belies the real subject of this book. It's hot pink background and depiction of lipstick, perfume bottle and a sealed letter, promise a sweet romantic story for girls on the go. I picked this book up because of the author's notoriety and because I am currently interested in literature about Ireland.

Perhaps this book is out of date and perhaps since the 60s it has been upstaged by current issues and stories. I am told that when it was published it was banned from Ireland. The subject matter remains serious and, although not shocking in the strictly moral sense, it is emotionally unnerving. The brutal loss of innocence is never easy to witness and this book proves this.

This is the story of Caithleen, a country girl of 22 who is working in Dublin in a grocery shop. She meets an older married-but-separated man and becomes smitten. She eventually moves in with him in his isolated house outside the city whereupon they are both menaced by her father and his peers for living in sin. Other constraints spell doom for this couple. Caithleen is neither sophisticated enough for Eugene's social milieu nor wily enough to compensate her lack of cleverness through other charms. Eventually she conspires to leave him in the naive belief that he will follow her. He doesn't follow and thus her broken heart is doubly battered. That pithy old saw, "marry in haste, repent at your leisure" seems to apply here, in a direct way for Eugene, and in bitter irony for Caithleen.

Edna O'Brien is an adept storyteller and this piece moves relentlessly towards its bitter end without a single sidetracked moment. She is clever enough to refrain from comment on Eugene's callous nature and his overriding irresponsibility and, through his actions, shows that he is his own unwitting victim. Caithleen's hope, bafflement, disillusion and raw pain are all at the fore of this tale. To my mind, given that loss of innocence is not yet out-of-date, this book is as current today as it was in the early 60s.

The story is embedded with details of Dublin: Clery's department store, O'Connell Street, The Liffey, the Customs House, Molesworth Street, the Shelbourne Hotel and an ashtray with "Guinness is good for you" written on it in red are among the cited Dublin icons which surround these characters.

Invaluable, this is the kind of book you'd want even if you lived in Sydney. It explains the different character of Sydney's neighborhoods and gives concise intelligent explanations of how Sydney has become the muti-faceted city it is. I've only been to Sydney twice, but with the help of this guide I'm beginning to get it. The maps are pretty good, but some lack detail. Hotel and restaurant sections are comprehensive, and in my experience extremely accurate.

This is an excellent guidebook for Yanks and others who want to learn more about the Harbour City. With 4 million people, Sydney is almost too big to cover in a single volume, but the editors of this fine book do their best. The descriptions of hotels and restaurants are usefully broken down by neighborhood - and Sydney is even more diverse than most cities; the reader who is planning a trip will want to decide where he or she is going to stay before making any other decisions. The maps are superb. The city has changed almost beyond recognition in recent years, and an up-to-date guidebook is a must for the serious traveller. Highly recommended.

Most kids have an affinity for dinosaurs and sharks. You see, dinosaurs and sharks don't have to do what anyone is told and if an adult asks them to do their homework, they eat em. With that said, this book is great for the very early Pre-school to second grade readers. More advanced readers will not be challenged by the two sentence per page writing. Much of the artwork is intriguing, using full page watercolor of the prehistoric beast. However, the book devotes many of its pages to other prehistoric animals that are a let-down in a book about huge killer fish. The hardcover book is certainly an early offering of cool.

MEGATOOTH is a great childrens book about the most terrifying creature that ever lived. Imagine a Great White shark the size of an adult Humpback whale- weighing 40 to 70 tons having 6 to 7" triangular, serrated teeth and no known predators!! MEGATOOTH describes this frighting animal of the past with paintings done by the author and informative text about how this huge shark lived and what it ate. MEGATOOTH would make a great Birthday or Christmas gift for that young shark lover out there and i can't imagine any little boy or girl who loves dinosaurs not loving this book as well!

The back cover of this paperback has a line that says 'A stunning collection of more than 100 nude album covers' If only that were true, well the 100 bit is true! Most of them are low budget stock shots bought by small record labels for their LP covers. Mainstream record companies were too conservative to use such blatant selling techniques. None of the covers are of any photographic or design interest (and most of the music on these LPs was produced by session musicians and is of no particular interest either).

The hundred plus covers are presented one to a page with some copy on the adjacent page, this is rather overgenerous for the text because there is really nothing to say about the covers so the author's repeat bits of the clichéd copy from the back covers. I think the (mildly) most interesting covers are the ones produced for the American bachelor market during the fifties and sixties, these are now so ancient and of such awfulness that they take on a curiosity of their own.

I think it is only worth getting this book if you are interested in a very sub-genre of commercial art or maybe you'll want to own the only book that will ever be published about the subject. Worth checking out though is 'Vixens of Vinyl' by Benjamin Darling, a nicely produced little book (six by six inches) of LP covers that feature females but not nudes. These covers are from major labels so at least you'll see some decent photography and design.

Face it...in the 50s & 60s, record covers sold most LPs, NOT the music. The cooler the cover, the better chance you had of selling a schlock recording. Sexy models were always in vogue, yet NUDE models were usually reserved for third party labels, bargain basement recordings and risque comedy LPs. There are a BUNCH of covers reproduced here, most of them were limited released and single pressings. This is true manna for the record collector and a great conversation piece for the average reader. Not much text but tons of full color covers featuring REAL (not enhanced or anorectic) models. Lots of topless nudity, so you may want to keep this one on the top shelf.

Lots of good NC Restaurants are here. Book is a little dated, but still has great recipes. Just wish it was spiral binded. The crabcake recipe is wonderful. A must for the southern cook!

I have given this book to lots of friends. There is a pen-and-ink drawing and a brief history of each restaurant featured in the book. Each restaurant has submitted several recipes. Most of the restaurants featured are the top restaurants in the state. The author has also written other books for states throughout the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. If you are a realtor, this would make a perfect housewarming gift for your clients who are new to the area!

I thought it was a really great story once I got into it. The characters were wonderful, the dialogue excellent, and I felt as though I were in Indiana in 1880! It was the most amazing book I have read, and I hope that Linda O'Brien keeps writing such fascinating stories!

In 1880 Philadelphia, a desperate Madeline Beecher flees for her life after witnessing a murder. Upon boarding the west bound train, Madeline meets New Yorker Amelia Baker, a woman heading to Indiana to marry her fiancé, a man she never met. In Indiana, disaster strikes and a train wreck occurs, leaving Amelia dead. Madeline decides to fulfill her deceased companion's destiny by masquerading as Amelia as the safest course for her future. When she leaves the hospital, she plans to continue on to see "her fiancé," Jeremy Knight, an extremely shy person who could only court a gal by mail.

Jeremy's brother Blaine wants to leave the family farm. He figures his best chance is with Amelia. However, he is stunned with her beauty and her vivacious personality, which is nothing like her letters. He knows that he is falling in love with his brother's girl and must leave the farm soon. Worse yet, a guilt-laden Madeline returns Blaine's feelings. Then there remains a killer, who plans to eradicate the only individual who can identify him.

On the surface, PROMISED TO A STRANGER seems like a trite plot centered on a love triangle starring two brothers and their woman (think Elvis in LOVE ME TENDER). However, far from being banal, the Americana romance story line is crisp, exciting, and charming. The triangular protagonists are all warm with personal needs and motives that freshen up the novel. The elements of intrigue add suspense to an already complex, well designed tale. Linda O'Brien displays much writing ability with this wonderful historical romance.

Harriet Klausner

This book seems to be more of a case study than a guide for busy parents. I am struggling with the book's layout. When I do find guidance and information, it has been excellent. However, I find the book difficult to access. While the stories do sound very similar to what I am experiencing with my own 2 year old, I do not have the time or energy to sift through the story to interpret the message. I need a book that's a little more straightforward and the guidance a little easier to find.

Of all the parenting books out there, this one is head and shoulders above the rest. It addresses the ever evolving nature of children, how they learn at various stages, how to cope and facilitate healthy development of your child. Dr. O'Brien offers so many positive "how t(w)o's" that I found the book to be a pleasure to read. I only hope she will continue to write this age evolving series into the teen years! Bravo!!!!!

This brief book is a companion volume to the author's '12 Short Hikes: Mountain Areas, San Diego.' Like the other volume, it contains short pleasant walks even young children can enjoy, and suggests some scenic areas to explore.

This book also has the similar problems to the other volume. Instead of maps, O'Brien gives black and white ariel photos. I don't find these as useful, especially when he outlines the trails in black, making it difficult to see the route he describes. It is also worth noting that only half of the hikes described are actually on the coast; others are in urban parks. It is still worth the purchase price, especially for families wanting to introduce their children to the outdoors.