This book had eluded me for years, ever since I first read it (at 13) and after reading it voraciously, lost it. I am not a fan of romance novels, but this book lured me in from the start -what a delicious read! It's one of those books that you'll put down with a satisfied sigh, and a month later, pick it up to begin again. I should know, I read "Roommates" over and over. Now that I've found out who the author is to this book, I am anxious to discover more of her work!

This story touched on a lot of heavy subjects, such as war, murder, rape (and reactions to it), anorexia, kidnapping, and poverty. However, the story itself was not depressing. The plot centers around Carrie, who has just started college at Stanford, and falls for Jake. Jake is her brother Stephan's roommate. Stephan and Carrie's roommate, Megan, fall for each other. But the story is not a simple romance, Jake feels his secrets should keep him away from Carrie, and Carrie ends up with other boyfriends, and gets engaged. Stephan marries Beth, who doesn't realize her business partner, Jon's adoration of her.

Usually in a story where more than one character's romance is told, I favor one's story more than the others, but this was not the case in this novel, I loved reading all their stories, and it wasn't confusing or hard to keep track of.

A reviewer mentioned that the ending was too storybook, but I really don't agree. This was a romance, so the ending was a happy one for pretty much all the characters. However, the characters weren't riding off into the sunset, they were happy with the ones they love, but there was still the unknowns of Jake's leg, Mark's reaction to Carrie calling off the engagement, Stephen's relationship with Megan's secret, and how Beth and Stephan will handle their new lives.

This was one of the best Katherine Stone books I've read (and I've read all of them), it was a touching, heartwarming story, and I completely recommend it to everyone.

I read this book more than 10 years ago. I had never been a reader, but, something drew me to it. I have read other authors but, never found one that kept my interest the way that Katherine Stone novels do. The book is moving,inspiring, and she writes to a wide variety of readers. She doesn't focus on the rich and wealthy, and doesn't write only about the common person. This book is my all time favorite, and I am a devoted fan of her work to this date.

I hope to be able to visit the cement ship for a long time to come. Having the good fortune to live in Seacliff and being personally involved with the person who was responsible (Rose Costa) for having the cement ship refurbished after the floods of 82-83 is a great honor. Unfortunately, Rose passed away last year and the ship is in need of repair again. The state parks have no money, so they say, and I am trying with other people (Friends of Rose) to pick up where Rose left off. The book was delightfully enlightening of the S S Palo Alto's history!

From the San Jose Mercury: "A delightful balance of historical, personal and architectural background...that will please both old-timers and newcomers." "Phyllis Butler has given us stories, superb stories, to go with architecture...hopes, dreams, passions of men and women." Kevin Starr

I received my copy of Private Collection today and I've just ordered another copy of this delightful cookbook as a Christmas gift for a dear friend. The recipes are elegant - the Avocado Crab Mornay sang on our tongues tonight. It isn't just the food that sings in this cookbook, the paper begs to be touched, and the illustrations are exquisite.

I own hundreds of cookbooks, and I like to cook. The recipes in this volume and in the first volume, called A Private Collection, are delicious and reliable. The instructions are easy to follow and the results impressive in appearance and flavor. If you need a few recipes to cook when you really want to impress someone, use these cook books. You won't fail.

I just moved to San Francisco, and this book was extremely helpful. However, to those about to move, I urge you to skip the Movers section. I hired one of their recommended movers: One Big Man & One Big Truck. The book said they could move a 1 BR in 1 1/2 hours. HA!!! AFTER they tore up my $4,000 sofa, then tried to lie and say the hole had been there all along, it took them 3 hours to move HALF the apartment (and of course, only moved the lightest items first, even though we TOLD them we only needed help with the heavy objects), until my husband finally told them to take off. THEN the owner dared to insinuate that we were liars, his employees NEVER lie, etc., and to minimize our damage by saying "Hey, a $4,000 sofa is no big deal to me, I deal with them every day." We're still trying to resolve this mess a month later, and every time I look at the sofa, my blood boils. BEWARE.

This book is something everyone moving to San Francisco should have. It covers everything from descriptions of the neighborhoods to what to include in an earthquake kit. Internet addresses and phone numbers to banks, rental agencies, and just about anything else you can think of are included. I used the book a lot before I arrived and am using it just as much, if not more, after making the move. I highly recommend it.

This book has so much info. A good book to help you anticipate your move!

The authors have blended historical research, terrain analysis, and professional archaeological investigations of this important first battle of the Mexican-American War. This book sets a new standard in the study of battles and battlefields and is a brilliant use multidisciplinary approaches to the study of the past. The text is very readable, not at all dry and scholarly, although the book is a testament to scholarly research and analysis. The illustrations are excellent, especially those focusing on the arms and equipment of both the U.S. and Mexican armies.

The archaeological artifact finds are very well described and illustrated, and the chapter on the professional archaeology of the battlefield is very readable. It is exciting to be able to see what was really used and lost on a field of battle.

This is a well written and very readable study of a single battle. Military historians, Hispanic scholars, and archaeologists will all find this a very useful book. To those interested in the history of Texas and the Mexican-American War this is a book that should be read.

Douglas Scott

This 227 page book contains copies of the US & Mexican maps of the battlefield, photos of the battlefield today, a superb annotated bibliography, photos and illustrations of artifacts, analysis of weapons & tactics, descriptions of uniforms, sharp modern artwork, easy to read details of how the past and present archaeology was done with suggestions for future work, and quotes from soldiers of both sides who were there.

The research presents new clues to the battle, which may challenge popular misconceptions of both Mexican and US actions in the battle, and provides the potential tourist with places to see.

"Dealers of Lightning." is a very good book.

Hiltzik really succeeds at telling good stories. He gives a wonderful sense of the characters involved. This is not "you are there" journalism; it's clearly removed from the characters, but he gives you enough detail to give the stories life.

I've seen various treatments of PARC folklore over the years, and Hiltzak has done the best job I've seen yet.

I very much enjoyed his story how MAXC came to be built. Typical of his approach, Hiltzak talks less about the technical details of the project about more about the politics of why building a knock-off PDP-10 clone was such an affront to some in Xerox at the time. Hiltzak clearly spent lots of time talking to not only PARC scientists, but players from all over Xerox.

Hiltzik seems to have taken particular care with the oft-retold tale of the Steve Jobs visit to PARC. Hiltzik notes that none of the accounts fully agrees with each other, but Hiltzik has done his best to come up with the definitive story, and it is an enlightening tale.

Hiltzik's last chapter asks "Did Xerox blow it?" His answer is measured; he notes the important distinction between mistakes that could have been foreseen or prevented at the time (Xerox's delay in moving the laser pprinter to market) from events that were unforeseeable (how quickly lower-cost PCs would take over and leave the Star on the sidelines.)

Hiltzik's book surprised me. It was better than I had expected; *much* better than I remember "Fumbling the Future" to be. If you have any interest in the history of where personal computing came from, check out this book.

Hiltzik has done a superb job of bringing the story of Xerox PARC to life and placing it in the context of everything else that was going on at the time and the history that brought technology to that point. As someone who lived through that period, I found the book a much more objective and honest look at PARC and Xerox's role than Fumbling the Future or any other treatment. He doesn't let Xerox off easy by any means--in fact his treatment of Xerox's role has much more credibility than anything else I've seen, because it is so three-dimensional. Anyone who wants to understand today's technology, not to mention the role of Doug Engelbart and his lab, should read this terrific book!

Michael Hiltzik has done an incredible job in describing the context of the environment and the dynamics of the personalities as they interacted in the birthplace of computing technology. All of the computer interfaces that we take for granted today were developed at PARC. Hiltzik weaves a tale of the evolution of the group of geniuses and the obstacles that they encountered in dealing with the hierarchy at Xerox headquarters. In many ways, the top management at Xerox was the forerunner of the "Dilbert Boss Syndrome"--a total lack of appreciation and knowledge of what was being developed by these research magicians. It is a story of a very unique period in the history of technology and is very similar to what took place during the Manhattan Project of the 1940's. I for one am glad that Mr. Hiltzik did not spend very much of the book in explaining the technology that was developed for that would have distracted from the account. He did describe the essence of what was being developed in a brief, very excellent and informational manner--enough to let the reader know its importance. The book represents a milestone in relating the events that have brought us to our present state in the computing industry. Kudos to Mr. Hiltzik for a fine job of writing!

This was a really interesting and detailed description of the first settlers of the city of Palo Alto, CA. The authors obviously had a passion for what they were writing about, which added to the efficiency of the book.

This 15 page booklet has some very nice color photographs of the Palo Alto and Resaca De La Palma Battlefields, modern & period drawings, photos of artifacts, a photo of part of a US military uniform, map of contested lands, and a map drawn by a US participant. There is also a brief guide to further reading which includes sources in English and Spanish. This booklet is similar to other booklets in the series of National Parks from Southwest Parks and Monuments Association, because it is intended for the visitor who wants the just a little more than the basics. The booklet might be good for students who need a quick, easy to read, condensed version of the battle for a History report in high school, too.