"The Witches' Companion" is a very exhaustive encyclopedia of all the terms, characters, locations, and events in the Lives of the Mayfair Witches trilogy (The Witching Hour, Lasher, and Taltos). Everything's included in this mammoth 500+-paged book: maps, illustrations and photos, a Mayfair family tree, bits of Anne Rice information, a chronology of important dates, in-depth character biographies, European and American history--the list goes on.

If you're an Anne Rice fan--and especially if you enjoyed the Mayfair trilogy--, then I highly recommend this official reference guide to her popular witch series. It's definitely worth owning, since it answers every question you've ever had about this trilogy and then some.

Also recommended: Katherine Ramsland's "The Vampire Companion".

Unless you have an excellent photographic memory, you need this book. It straightens out and clarifies all of the family lineage, and gives you more background information on locations, people, and objects. It also gives some much needed info on the Talamasca, which is ever-present in Rice's novels. Buy this if you like reading the Mayfair trilogy.

These books are excellent.Anne Rice is a very believeable writer. The insight into the lives of Lasher and the other Mayfair Witches are spellbounding,I could not put the books down. If you would like to read a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat,and very hard to stop reading at bed time,read the Mayfair Witches chronicles. There needs to be more of them!

I bought this book at the Museum of Appalachia (also founded by the author) on my first visit to Tennessee. The book is almost entirely a transcript of a dialogue/interview between the author and Alex Stewart. At first, I thought this would be a strange format, but as I read on, I discovered that this would be the only way to authentically capture the mind and spirit of Alex on paper.

If you're not from the South, you might find Alex's dialect charminging unusual. A few times I had to read a passage over and over again to fully understand what words Alex was saying. Here is an example where it took me a while to realize that Alex meant "Lord" when kept saying "Law":

"They didn't have no men folks, but they had several children. Making liquor was the only way they had of making a living. Law, they had it hard."

The author cleverly asks questions to get Alex to reveal his pioneer wisdom. More than that, though, the author's selections and chapter arrangements helped to organize the sprawling encyclopedia of Alex's mind.

By the time I reached the end, I was sad to have the "conversation" over. I felt I had known Alex a bit personally, and I mourned at his passing. It was joyous reading while it lasted and my heart ached to know more of Alex.

This is a fabulous book I can't recommend enough. 10 STARS.

One reason I bought this book is because my Greatgrandmother was Alex's Aunt. I visited Alex as a child with my Parents and Grandmother. Alex was always sending my Grandmother items , such as walking canes. He made my mother a rolling pin, which she still has. Most of all the book gave me many names of my relatives that ive been searhing for.

I have read this book and it is all true. Alex was my great uncle. I remember as a child going to his house and striping cane for molasses. They would start early in the morning and work all day. Before uncle Alex died my father took me to see him. I'll never forget a small wooden carving he had of a racoon in a tree with two or three dogs at the base of the tree. He was a very gentle man with a lot of heart. I am very honored to have known this man and loved this man.

I have a bookcase full of cookery books, BUT, "Easy Beans" and "More Easy Beans" are two of my top favorites. All the recipes I have tried are delicious, and best of all for a busy professional, quick and easy to make when I come home tired at the end of the day. As an MD interested in nutrition, I can heartily recommend the recipes in these books for the good of your heart. Well done, authors!

This wonderful book took all the mystery out of cooking with all types of beans, peas and lentils. The recipes are versatile, nutritious and extremely simple to prepare. The authors' blurb at the beginning of each recipe is informative and quite often humourous. The Leek & Lentil Soup (page 28) has now become a weekly favourite of both my family and co-workers!! And as a final added bonus, the binding lies flat on the counter for easy reading while cooking. What more could a busy chef ask for?!

As a fairly recently converted Vegetarian, I was thrilled to discover "Easy Beans", then, joy!!! "More Easy Beans". These 2 have become my most-used EVER cook books. I have wowed family and friends with various soups, dips, casseroles, chilis, etc. etc. etc. Thank-you so much. More More Beans please.

THIS IS BY FAR THE BEST BOOK EVER WRITTEN FOR THE FAMILIES OF ALCOHOLICS AND ADDICTS. FOLLOW THIS PATH AND GET SOMEWHERE. PLAIN SPOKEN AND EASILY UNDERSTANDABLE. A HOW TO.

Toby Rice Drews is in a class by herself. She is an absolute sanity saver and a restorer of health and equlibrium. I have been blessed with knowing Toby, and she is in person as she appears in all of her books--warm, gentle, loving, and a true giver. I have given her books to friends and family and they have found them indespensible. One slept at night with her Bible on the pillow next to her and Toby's books on top.

Quite candidly, Toby Rice Drews has made this book an ongoingly useful tool to keep around. Each chapter is independent and helps one deal with the situation/crisis at hand, and yet I found it powerful to read the whole book in two days. I have tools now that truly help me regain control of my life with an alcoholic, both when he is drunk and also when he is moody between his drunken episodes. This author is excellent. I also wish she'd publish a book written for the alcoholic that addresses the psychological wounds he has inflicted on his family and gives him tools to accept what he has done and to change his actions. And please I hope someone does a comparison of all volumes by T.R. Drews. I am anxious to reap all her wonderful help.

Anne Rice has reached the ultimate boundary of thrills with the vampire chronicles. I felt I was one with the characters. Each page brought forth Anne Rice's imagination on paper. One of the best series of the decade. Diana.J

These 3 books were amazing... a friend on-line pushed me into reading the first, and I eventually borrowed the second and third from my English teacher... I couldn't stop! Lestat, Louis.. they're wonderful characters. Marius, Pandora, the same. But Armand has always been my favourite. Always has, always will. I am absolutely AMAZED at the way Anne Rice writes, and I am drawn to her books like a pencil to paper!

It was great! These books were so wonderfully emotional and dark, I could practically see in my mind's eye Lestat and Louis, and I could feel the strength of the old ones.

Excellent source for the novice breeder. Tells you in clear terms when to seek professional help. Explanations of medical situations done in clear,easily understood terms. Offers a very real view of the joys as well as some of the dangers of breeding pure bred cats. Helpful information on behavior of the queen, stud and new born kittens. Short and simple enough to act as an excellent resource during actual birthing.

I bought this book to provide more information about cat breeding as I am a new breeder.

I feel much more prepared now and know that this is a resource I will use often. The pictures are gorgeous!

I bought this book to familiarize with the various aspects of cat breeding, should I ever encounter a pregnant cat. I found it very informative. Some of the information contained is specifically for cat breeders, such as why breed, choosing mates, etc. But there is a wealth of information that is useful for all other circumstances. It contained information on cat heats, mating cycles, the birth process, care of kittens, and MANY other topics, all in good detail.

She broke the mold of bestselling authors with her tormented vampires and complex witch families, often set against the mossy, misty backdrops of her native New Orleans. Anne Rice is one of the few authors whose lives and opinions are as interesting as what they write, and Michael Riley offers more insight than virtually any other interviewer has done.

Michael Riley was a friend of Stan Rice's, and met Anne Rice at her wedding to Stan; he remained a pal after Anne shot to fame. Yet "I had rarely if ever seen an interview or profile that I thought did justice to her." So the two sat down and discussed many things about Rice: Her youth and her Catholic upbringing, about good and evil, New Orleans, California, her mold-breaking fiction, the immensely popular vampire Lestat, the handling of sex in her books, intellectual pretentions and elitism, the movie adaptation of "Interview With The Vampire," and what in her life inspired aspects of her books.

A less respectful reviewer probably would have descended leering or sneering, given that Rice's works include erotica, S&M fiction, and a Lolita-type novel. But Riley is professional, affectionate yet not gushing, and his questions have brains behind them. (Not the usual "what's your favorite food? Do you have any pets?") His respect for Rice is clear, and it makes the book especially interesting that he has genuine interest in what she says. But of course, the book hinges on Rice and what she has to say to Riley -- whether or not you agree with what she's saying, her warmth and humor are in clear evidence, and she's clearly thought through what she says.

It may not be necessary to know the author to enjoy his/her works, but it definitely can't hurt. Fans of Anne Rice will find this a must-read, and even casual readers of her books should give it a shot.

Michael Riley takes the reader inside Anne Rice's worlds of reality and fiction through a series of extensive interviews. He's broken the text down into titled sections to emphasize the topic covered in each phase of the dialogue. Rice delves into where her characters and story ideas come from and just how much her life in New Orleans has influenced her work. It's interesting how the influences changed over time. First Lestat was her husband Stan and she was Louis but now she's more like Lestat than Stan. She discusses how her husband's poetry has had a great affect on her own work where certain lines will run through her head as she writes.

This is a good book for writers to read. Rice gives a lot of background on the movie biz and a view into the studio politics that occur when they purchase the rights to make a novel into a movie. The story behind the making of Interview With a Vampire is told in great detail. An interesting fact I learned was that when Hollywood buys the rights to a book any sequels that are written involving the same characters are contractually connected. Therefore the studio has the right to see them before any other studio can look at the books for potential development into movies. Rice also talks about rejection letters and how she dealt with them and provides in site into how the larger New York publishing houses operate. Highly recommended for fans and writers alike!

I just finished reading this book in one sitting. It seems as if you're in the same room as Anne & Michael Riley. He knows exactly what questions her fans want answered. It's refreshing to read Anne's own responses in their entirety without having a reporter interpreting her "meaning". I give this a "9" because the only thing that would have made it better would be if Anne had offered pictures of herself & environment.

If you are an Anne Rice fan this is a must have. Originally signed and numbered up to 850 as well as released on a small scale to comic book retailers. this is also now available for the first time in 11 years on a Book On Tape. This is a short story about a vampire (of course) who dwells in the home of the remaining Rampling family. Mystery and intrigue lead the young Ms. Julie Rampling to this man of darkness who is afraid his home will be torn down. It's a nice tale of Romance and old fashioned Anne Rice. Very rare and a true collector's item who has to read everything by this author.

Loved the book. Glad I found it for less then the price here. 131. used when new it was 6.95???
Do yourself a favor if you are seeking this very hard to find peice by Ms. Rice don't spend so much for it here. It is true it is in limited print and also that it is hard to find, yet I had no trouble purchasing it through another book store, well known and online. I paid Retail price for the book or 6.95
The book fantastic, the price here outragous!

Rice never fails to entice me into buying her books no matter what my financial situation!! I am somewhat biased when singing her praises, she and I are born on the same day, though me a decade or two younger!! I am a collector of her works, she's a true artiste, she takes me to another planet and I love that from an author.

This book, written in a simple straightforward style almost like Young Adult fiction, is very good. I learned so much about Filipino culture from reading this book. I am American and my partner is Filipino and he was surprised at all the things I discovered about the culture, food, language and customs of Filipinos while reading a compelling story. The recipes tucked into every chapter will make you hungry. A very good read!!!

The 2003 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY) has named ER Escober's "Not My Bowl Of Rice" as a finalist in the Best Fiction Multi-Cultural category. The IPPY Boook Awards, launched in 1996, are designed to bring increased recognition to the deserving but often unsung titles published by independent publishers. Award announcements were made at the BookExpo America in Los Angeles recently.

The award is well-deserved. In this wonderful novel/cookbook, the author expertly brings to life the story of mixing cultures and ingredients. It's a really tasty book!

A friend told me about this book because I was interested in buying an Asian cookbook. Well, I got more than I bargained for, in a good way! 'Not My Bowl of Rice' not only is a wonderful Filipino/Asian recipe book, it is also a page-turner of a tale of Ligaya- the main character- who took me on a beautiful and hilarious odyssey from her Filipino homeland to New Jersey to New York and to the San Francisco Bay Area. Along the way, I met her wacky relatives and friends and felt the joy and pain with Ligaya of each situation she faces as her life unfolds on becoming an American citizen. A very good read indeed! And quite a tasty one!

"Pellucidar" is the second volume in the Pellucidar series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and find our hero David Innes and his scientist friend Abner Perry returning to the inner world. At the end of "At the Earth's Core" the duo had returned to the surface only to discover that Hooja the Sly One has substituted a Mahar, one of the rhamphorhynchus-like sentient reptiles that tyrannized Pellucidar, for Dian the Beautiful, the woman Innes loves. So the plan is to get back down there, rescue Dian, and if time allows end the exploitation of the primitive humans by the evil Mahars. The good news is that Innes returns to the inner world, but the bad news is that he ends up in a different part of Pellucidar where he has no friends and new enemies. This 1923 novel is stanrd ERB adventure, where the hero is separated by circumstances and bad guys from the woman he lives (in fact, it is very reminiscent of "The Gods of Mars," the second John Carter novel). But this is still before ERB was in his potboiler stage where the main game was turning out as many Tarzan novels as possible. What makes Pellucidar a bit different from the rest of the Burroughs fantasy adventures is the unique geography of the inner world and the prominence of smart guy scientist Abner as a supporting character (i.e., the brains of the outfit). If at all possible you want to pick up a copy of "Pellucidar" that has the original illustrations by Illustrated by J. Allen St. John, who remains by favorite ERB artist. The Pellucidar series consists of six stories, including a Tarzan crossover, and continues in "Tanar of Pellucidar," but these first two novels stand alone as

Pellucidar continues the tale of David, the lovable protagonist from At The Earth's Core. It tells the story of his return trip to the fabled subterrainian stone-age land known as Pellucidar. Here he must locate old friends, reunite with his lost loved one, and face his all-but-forgotton foes.

Burroughs' writing is simply fabulous, and even makes the characters seem all the more realistic, though many of them are not even human, but sentient creatures who can exist only in the minds of great writers like Burroughs, and in the land known as Pellucidar.

In the incredible world inside the Earth David Innes discovers a new frontier for Mankind. He strove to carve a civilization out of its Stone Age perils. But the kidnapping of the beautiful cave-woman-empress, Dian, made him drop his fight for advancement and enter into a still greater battle against all the primitive monsters of Pellucidar!

1st rate book!