There are a lot of twist and turns in this book. The heroine, Maya, is very sweet - you can't help but like her. She doesn't quite fit in with the rest of the town, but that doesn't stop her from pursuing her dreams to build a school. The characters are great in this book. I would definitely recommend it as one of those rainy day, curled up by the fire books. Nice pace and entertaining.

If you are a fan of Susan Elizabeth Phillips, you will most certainly love this book. It has a feisty heroine, a wounded but repairable hero, a handful of cute kids, and a small town of eccentric characters. And just when you think the problems will overwhelm, they melt away like snow in the sun. A light, fun read, with one of the few laugh-out-loud birth scenes I have ever read.

What a sweet story. I particularly liked Maya. I found her to be very personable and someone I could count on. Axell could have been worked on a little more, but on the whole, an enjoyable read for a rainy sunday afternoon.

It seems that in our ever-increasingly casual society, we have lost some of our common sense when dressing for the office. This book has no surprises - there are no hidden secrets for compiling a work wardrobe - if we put a bit of thought into it, I'm sure most people could determine on their own that belly tops, sandals, frayed jeans, see-through blouses and poor grooming are potentially career-limiting moves.

The information in this book is pretty basic. Save your money - you can probably get this quality of advice from Mom - for free.

If you are looking for a comprehensive guide to making a positive impact through appearance, this is your book. I am a recruiter with a Fortune 100 company in the US, and a professional image consultant recommended this book to me when I originally began my position. As a person who was looking for solid guidelines around professional dressing, as well as a reference for others who are looking to improve their appearance, I have found no other book to be comparable.

There are many aspects which make this book such an important resource for professionals:

1. The author provides specific guidelines around what items should be in a professional wardrobe, even going as far as to outline what quantities are particularly helpful of each piece of clothing.

2. The book is filled with "before and after" pictures, which allow the reader to see first-hand how the author's recommendations can make a startling appearance alteration.

3. To reflect the variety of workplace formality levels, there are six levels of workplace dress covered in the chapters. For those people who work for companies that have never successfully defined "Casual Friday", this book gives a lot of great hints of how to dress casual but still remain professional.

4. Two separate chapters outline accessories and generic grooming guidelines, and I have only found those hints in this particular guideline book.

5. For people looking to improve their wardrobe on a limited budget or a first job out of school, the author does not suggest spending a fortune on designer clothing. Rather, she suggests some key pieces to acquire first, and then others that can be obtained after your finances begin to improve.

Overall, I see the negative impact every day in my position from candidates who do not make the extra effort to go from "dressing up" to "looking professional". I strongly suggest that you make the $15 investment in this book, since it could help you to acquire the high paying career of your dreams!

This book is an excellent guide to dressing for the workplace regardless of where you work. I especially liked the sections on business casual (for both men and women). This section helped me to see that, though I am a manager in my firm, I was dressing like the delivery man. There are so many options for dressing these days and dress has become so casual that we lose sight of the impact that our clothing has on others and the subtle signals we send. The authors do an excellent job of demonstrating how important dress is, especially for women. And, it doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg to dress well, it just takes conscious buying and this book as your guide. If you feel like you are not making the impact at work and maybe in your life that you would like to make, get this book. Perhaps your appearance is sending a different message.

The most incredible thing about this book is the fact that it's true! Burton led such an extraordinary life! I would recommend this book to anyone who is curious, but reluctant to travel, experience, and live. This book is also excellent for anyone who is interested in language, religion, or travel. Burton spoke 26 languages, experienced firsthand an assortment of different religions including Hinduism and Islam, and shows just how much one person can accomplish in a lifetime. Only 4 stars due to some dry bits in the book, but never a dull moment in Burton's life...

This was by far the best biography of the illustrious Richard Burton I have read. The level of scholarship displayed by the author is impressive and does justice to a man whose gifts made him one of the most impressive characters from history. I highly recommend this book as well as those written by Burton himself.

A mostly gripping account of an absolutely fascinating life. Rice tells in great detail the travels and troubles of Burton as he searches for the source of the Nile, penetrates the forbidden cities of Mecca and Medina, brings the Kama Sutra to the west, translates the Arabian Nights, and joins a snake cult in India, and that is just a small sampling of the accomplishments and endeavors of Burton, a man who was constantly exploring himself and his world and transforming both in the process.

Rice tells the story with such attention to detail you feel like you are traveling right beside Burton, and when he doesn't know certain facts about a specific incident, he will tell you that he is conjecturing, and how he came to the conclusions he did. The net effect is that you feel like you can trust what Rice has written as being authentic and accurate.

The book is kind of slow during the earlier chapters, but stay with it and you will be rewarded with one of the most fascinating accounts you have ever read. I read it more than 5 years ago and still recommend the book and find and give away stray copies to friends. GO OUT OF YOUR WAY TO GET THIS BOOK ! !

It seems there's a new computer-genealogy "how to" book being released every month -- more the result of the marketing department's presumed wisdom than because we need yet another such volume. This is especially true when genealogy is simply one in a long line of topics: There are now "Unofficial Guides" to wine, children, stock picking, job interviews, and menopause. However, each volume in this series is prepared with the assistance of a panel of experts -- in this case Matthew Helm (publisher of the JOURNAL OF ONLINE GENEALOGY), John Scroggins (who received the FGS Award of Merit for his efforts in increasing public access to government files of interest to family researchers), and Tim Stowell (active in the USGenWeb project). Actually, the advice and information you'll receive here is pretty good, including setting up a computer workspace, the difference between primary and secondary sources, setting your research goals, managing your information as you find it, how to find genealogy web sites (method as well as a list of addresses), strategic tips for online research, the proper use of search engines and online library catalogs, creating personal genealogy web pages, and publishing a book as well as publishing to the web. The style is not unlike the popular "Dummies' Guides," with tips, time-savers, caveats, and informative sidebars scattered throughout.

Author Pamela Rice Hahn has written a book that is aimed at genealogists hoping to learn more about using the power and advantages of the Internet to assist them in their search for information about their ancestors. Each chapter in the book covers the basics of learning about genealogy while recommending web sites that will supplement the information presented.
The first chapter describes some of the common documents that every genealogist needs to have in their family files. Learning what to expect from an online search for records is an important lesson. Even though the number of vital records available online is increasing every day, you will still find the bulk of your documents at courthouses, libraries and archives. Chapter 2 gives ideas and tips for organizing your home work space and getting online. Since you are reading this online article, I'll assume that you've handled that part of the setup.

The next two chapters cover organizing all the accumulated papers, charts, and forms that you will be collecting at an alarming rate. The advice I found most helpful was the idea of setting up a research notebook that includes enough information to aid you in your research trips without bogging you down with copies of every record in your collection. This section also includes ideas for setting up a full filing system and choosing a genealogy database software.

Chapter 5 describes the various types of information available online. Choosing a Web-based email service, learning about the options available in full-fledged email programs, and subscribing to newsgroups and email lists are topics that are covered in this chapter. This is followed by a chapter covering some of the major genealogy web sites and how to maximize your time while surfing.

The remaining chapters cover in greater detail the various types of information that you should be collecting and which web sites may offer the most help in your search. Topics include search engine tips, immigration, census records, libraries, courthouse research and preservation of family photographs. Chapter 14 contains suggestions to aid you in setting up your own genealogy web site. Several appendices finish out this content-rich book.

I have been interested in Genealogy for some time now and never thought it was possible to pursue it so thoroughly the Internet! One of the reasons that I bought this book is that I am not an "Internet expert" by any stretch. In the process of learning how to find information on genealogy I learned a few things about my computer. I live way up in Canada and regardless of where you live, this book is a must have for anyone interested in the subject.

I especially liked the step-by-step process that begins with teaching you first how to use the necessary tools to accomplish your goals and ending with results you were after. In any subject that interests me I hate to buy a book that reminds me of the dry texts I read back in school. I have seen them while wandering bookstores and despite the fact the subject interests me I will not buy it. This book was nothing like any of those books, which was very refreshing.

* Helps anyone not particularly well versed in the Internet get started with learning the necessary tools.
* Takes a well thought out step-by-step approach to attainting your ultimate goal.
* I thought it was very well laid out and easy to read.

If I had wanted a thesis on nutrition, I guess I would have looked for one. I found this book waaaaay too complicated (with a chart for everything) which some people like, I don't. I want something simple and easy to follow. You can't figure out what to eat without breaking out the slide rule and going through charts galore. The idea's are good but the execution is decidedly way too complicated. I don't want to have to break out a calculator to figure out what to eat!

Heal Your Heart is simply one of the best texts on nutrition and diet one can buy. The menu plans are easy to read and flexible building upon the idea of exchanges for particular food groups. The diet emphasizes low sodium which many similar diets don't include to their detriment. One can choose from a variety of caloric levels, 1000 calories, 1200 calories, 1500 calories and so forth to adjust the exchanges to your personal situation. I found the text easy to read and straightforward. Rosati's discussion of physical activity and especially spirituality round out a holistic healthy life style for the motivated reader. Superb.

I borrowed someone else's book, and I liked it so well, thatI've decided to purchase one myself. For heart patients, it certainlyis a book everyone should read!

Although far less plausible and possessing characters of much less depth than Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth, Burrough's At the Earth's Core, despite some embarrassingly preposterous elements, is an entertaining read due to its well-rendered, imaginative fantasy setting and fast-paced swashbuckling adventure. The story is never dull, and the hideous and hypnotic bat-winged Mayars make for memorable villains. The depiction of a human sacrifice to these monsters halfway through the novel is particularly unforgettable. There is also a multifarious array of attacking prehistoric monsters, without the claustrophobic feel of the 1970's film.

Also recommended is Basil Copper's treatment of the descent-into-the-earth theme in his creepy novel The Great White Space, now unfortunately out of print.

For Edgar Rice Burroughs, life was relatively simple. Men fell into one of three categories: muscular heroes, ordinary types, and evil, greasy villains. Women existed primarily to act as universal lighting rods that attracted either the first or third category. Regardless of the universe that ERB wrote of, these constants held with predictable regularity. With the publication of AT THE EARTH'S CORE, he began yet another series that put the hero at odds with nature, evil doers, and beautiful, virtuous women. David Innes, the handsome hero, drills down to the center of the earth in a manner that brings to mind Jules Verne's tale, both of which posit a habitable, temperate core that supports a variety of lush, prehistoric life. Despite knowing that the earth's core was held to be molten, ERB did not hesitate to bend science for the sake of a good tale. ATEC possesses both the plusses of ERB at his best and the negatives at his worst. Like Tarzan, Innes is a likable, manly sort who feels at home regardless of whether home is a jungle or a tea room. The logic of how ERB gets his hero placed in an exotic locale is irrelevant and often purely unscientific. For his Martian (Barsoom) series, he merely had his hero, John Carter, gaze at the Red Planet to effect his transport there. For his inner world series (Pellucidar), Innes used a drill machine, a device that at least tries to be scientific. Once there, Innes has the necessary adventures with beasts, villains, and beautiful women, in this case Dian the Beautiful. The workings of the plot about how he finds her, loses her, and then finds her again are almost not to the point. Where ERB excels in his ability to place the reader, who is usually a 15 year old boy, in a realm that allows imagination to run riot. Events flow so smoothly that the youthful reader will probably overlook the negatives of ERB's prose style. In the world of ERB's muscular heroes, both hero and villain speak in the artificial, courtly dialogue that rings true only to the ears of the young. Coincidence runs rife to the point of ridicule. Beautiful women are haughty at first, but lusty later, and then only to the clean-limbed hero. His plots are often mirror images of one another. You can substitute the center of the earth for Mars, Venus, Africa, or wherever, and hero, villain, and lovely lady are interchangeable. Yet, despite all this, AT THE EARTH'S CORE is the kind of read that ought to be part of any kid's early mental universe. Reading Burroughs as a thirty year old requires a strong ability to suspend one's disbelief, but once having done so, the ride is usually worth the effort.

...so one day independently wealthy David Ennis is confronted by his scientist buddy Abner Peery who has just invented a vehicle that essentially drills through the earth. (If the reader is into descriptives it looks like the device Dr Evil of Austin Powers fame has devised to take over the world.) They decide, "Well, let's try it out." and the reader is then treated to a journey to middle earth which is similar to Jules Verne's, but not as serious. I would say that Burroughs brings us satire similar to Voltaire's "Candide" or Swift's "Gulliver's Travel". The inner world, Pellicidar, is one where if you are not careful, you can be awake for days because the sun never sets or rises--that sun being the molten earth core rather than the sun we all know of. In Pellucidar, the various dragons, apes, and reptiles and mutations of such, are heads of gangs, tribes and kingdoms in the middle earth. And the royalty has beautiful sorcery princesses like Dian the Beautiful, who David falls for and who leads him into an innerworld adventure taking the reader to an unforgettable serial-pulp style reading enjoyment. If you dig Robert E. Howard or Jules Verne or Rice Burroughs' Tarzan series you will definitely love this. My opinion is that this is one of those series that could stand some revamping and the reader will feel that this is somewhat dated but, I feel that it is still well-worth the investment of time and $.

Disney Mouseworks seems to be moving to smaller books and it looks like the end of the line of the Disney Classics series. The new Read-Aloud Storybooks are shorter (by about 20 pages) and smaller (by an inch here and there). That's too bad for those of us who have been collecting the old series. The paper is nicer and the artwork is very good, though, so it's not a total loss.

The Edgar Rice Burroughs books are full of suspense, a perfect bedtime story. The best thing is that many (if not all of them) can be downloaded from from Project Gutenberg. Try reading the first one, Tarzan of the Apes, to your child as a serial bedtime story. They'll be begging to go to bed.

This version of Disney's Tarzan is clearly written and has accurate drawings true to the film's content. Rarely do you find a smaler version of the big books so well presented.

I travelled to Moscow in November 2002 and found this guide to be of great assistance in planning what I wanted to see, getting background information and in follow-up reading and reference after I returned. One use after I returned was in matching my photos to the pictures in the guide to label them and this worked extremely well. The pictures are beautiful, and the background information is extensive and helpful in understanding what you are going to see.

The one drawback is that the 1998 publication date makes this book not very useful in information on new hotels, restaurants or prices.

Compare guidebooks and I think you will see that this one is by far the best for detail, pictures and general information.

Highly recommended.

If I was taking just one guide, 'Eyewitness Travel Guide to Moscow' would be my first choice. Although it is starting to age (published in 1998) it is a good visual and historic guide to Moscow, with enough color photographs to both inspire and guide you.

As other reviewers have noted, this book is ideal to use to review with a tour guide the sights and areas that you want to see because of its diagrams, pictures and suggested itineraries.

The history and art sections are reasonably good for a guide book.

The restaurant and hotel suggestions are a bit stale, and the pricing is out of date (although the range of pricing is still reasonably accurate).

This is one of the best travel guides I have ever used. It gave more information than the private guides I hired. It includes some of the little known, "personal facts" as well as information on food, transportation and gifts to bring home. I highly recommend this book. It was so good, I bought the ones for my next two trips as soon as I got back from Moscow!

... we're still waiting. elsa maxwell

This adorable little book is ostensibly a copy of Hyacinth Bucket's one-year diary (a gift from Richard). As with any diary, the entries are (of course) handwritten. Also, there are copies of newspaper clippings, invitations, a few annotated photographs, and so on, throughout. The first page, as one might expect, is a list of important phone numbers (all filled in and suitably annotated by Hyacinth with comments such as "dirty hands--must NOT touch wallpaper" next to the electrician's number, for example).

Though the diary makes reference to people and places that were introduced in the series--like Marston Hall (Hyacinth's rural retreat) and C.P. Benedict (the Garden Centre king), it is not a script-based book as is her Book of Etiquette. In fact, it includes incidents that never appeared in the series at all, such as a visit to the Antiques Roadshow. Also, from various comments included in the diary, the reader begins to wonder fairly early on whether or not Richard is seeing another woman (which adds quite an interesting twist!).

In short, this is a light-hearted and thoroughly entertaining (not to mention insightful) book, and it is a must-have addition to the series for all who love this priceless British comedy and that precious Bucket woman. Highly recommended!

I ordered this book on Feb 14, 1999 and have not yet recived this book! 3-5 weeks has turned into 3 months!

If you're a Craig Rice fan, as I am, you'll be pleased by the publication of this book. Whether it's the first or only biography that will ever be written about an author whose work has been egregiously neglected by reprint publishers--to the detriment of the reading public--it furnishes the curious fan with some vital information about a fascinating but very troubled woman whose life was a far cry from the delightfully wacky works she's best remembered for.

So why am I disappointed?

Because a lot of Marks's writing is sloppy and thus confusing, which in turn suggests sloppy editing; and because the proofreader, if one existed, didn't do his or her job very well. Typos abound. Even the page numbers given in the index are incorrect!

Nevertheless, I applaud Marks for his scholarship and dedication to the project. Perhaps his book will spur future biographers to delve more deeply into Rice's life and works. Above all, perhaps it will spur a publisher into reprinting her novels and story collections to reach new readers.

It's nice to see the witty, vital work of Craig Rice finally getting some scholarly attention. Jeffrey Marks has done a thorough job of research, and he deserves praise for untangling such apparently Gordian knots as Rice's real name, the history of her marriages, and her confused publication history. However, his biography is more of a necessary first step than a truly engaging work in itself. While he details the sorrows of Rice's life, he never really shows us why her contemporaries referred to her as funny, bright, and lively. His analysis of her place in the history of her genre is cursory at best (surprisingly, given his knowledge of the field), and he tends to summarize rather than discuss her novels. The book is also quite badly proofread. Nonetheless, he has performed a true service for Rice fans and critics, who I hope will use this book in order to do more analytical work.

Jeffrey Marks does a fairly good job writing about a woman who lived such a hard and bizarre life. Finding details for Craig Rice's life story must have been a real challenge. I am Craig's grand-daughter and I learned more about Craig's life from this book than from conversations with those who knew Craig. The book must have required exhaustive research on Mr. Mark's part. He ties the story of her life together and includes a great deal of information about Craig's novels, her movie scripts and her short stories.