I was really excited to get this book and explore the world of collage. I am a mixed media artist so I am familiar with materials. The pictures are gorgeous, but I found the instructions vague and lacking in detail. There is the collage picture and opposite is the materials list with bulleted instructions. One page per picture. One page for instructions (this is the area that needed more detail) And that is it.

Look at the house shaped box collage called "Crossings". The material list is there but the written instructions don't match the list. I expect to learn in the instructions how the 3 3/4" x 48" birch plywood is cut and used. Forget that. . .there is only vague information about how the box comes together. The pictures are inspiring and showcases great collage artwork. I celebrate that but hey the meat is in the instructions and sharing the techniques with others. If you are looking to learn about collage get another book.

If you are a collage artist, you will want to purchase this book. It is not a "how to" book but a wonderful resource of images and artists you might not find anywhere else. Many different styles of collage are represented and I find something new and inspiring everytime I look at it! There are many women creating in the collage world today and not enough resources to find them...get this book and see new images and artists! The collages are shown in beautiful, full page reproductions so that you can study the details. Highly recommend!

Collage for the Soul presents a wide array of handsome artwork and is complete with text on definition, process and technique. Holly Harrison and Paula Grasdal have assembled a stellar line-up of artists who generously share their personal expressions on canvas, in boxes, in book form, with fabric, and beyond. From simple to sophisticated, these pages will stimulate your thinking process on how to approach collage. The clear close-ups of the compositions, next to the materials listing and basic instructions, enables and encourages you to translate into your own individual creation. As a collage artist, I know that my focus and interests change and evolve so this book will be a constant resource of inspiration and information. Not to be missed!

Yes, many of the photographs are spectacular. But the beautifully reproduced pictures aside, HOTSPOTS is an excellent example of how not to produce a tome designed to further the cause of conservation and ecological awareness. The bigger the book of this type (and HOTSPOTS is a very big book indeed), the more important variation in layout becomes, so that the eye will not become bored. In HOTSPOTS, full-page photographs alternate relentlessly with double-page spreads of interminably dry text better suited to an article in Nature or Scientific American than a coffee-table book intended for the general public. Even the Bulletin of the OTS (Organization for Tropical Studies) is livelier. Herein, endless lists and quoted statistics are interrupted only by the occasional attempt to actually interest the general reader in what is being said. The most accessible prose in the book is the foreword by Harrison Ford, and the publishers don't even have enough sense to put his name on the cover, where it might help to sell a few copies. Do I detect thereby a whiff of scientific snobbery? Attempting to plow through the unbearably monotonous text that only succeeds in rendering fascinating and vitally important information dull as dishwater, one has the impression of a group of scientists dedicated not to furthering the cause of conservation so much as effusively stating their own priorities. Only a few of the included maps are rendered with an eye (pun intended) toward enlightening the reader. In many, color separations are insufficiently boldly conceived and rendered, with the result that their interpretation becomes muddled. The book contains no explicatory drawings, diagrams, or other art work. These would not only serve to make the points lost in the text understandable, but would make the book far more pleasing to look at. Some of the most interesting photographs are set in the margins of the plodding text...and reproduced there so minutely as to render them virtually unviewable. Except for a few pages at the end of each section, there is no middle ground...photos are either full or double-page spread, or absurdly (for a book this size) tiny. More photographs, of varying size, should have been used in place of the monumentally dull text. The entire project cries out for the hand of a good designer. People will buy HOTSPOTS for the photographs or not at all because the text is, for the general public, virtually unreadable. What a shame and a disappointment. As an example of what might have been, I recommend THE LAST RAINFORESTS (Oxford; ed. Collins), MANU (Francis Patthey; MacQuarrie) and one of the most informative and best laid out of this type of volume, JUNGLES (Crown; Ayensu). Next time, they should let Harrison Ford write the whole book.

Hotspots is rich presentation which provides an extensive survey of the most biologically diverse and endangered ecoregions on the planet, compiling the studies and perceptions of a range of scientists and conservationists to provide a strategy for coping with conservation challenges to each of these regions. 25 areas receive focus from the Andes to Africa and the Philippines. Extensive illustrations compliments in-depth, detailed articles. Very highly recommended: a special presentation.

This is a great book. My Aunt Avecita Chicchon helped in makeing this book, so I learned a bit more about it. This book has helped me understand a little bit more about the rain forests of the world, and appreciate the work my aunt and uncle are doing for South America.

This book is basically music theory for the beginner, written in a hip and readable fashion. The title however is misleading. Obviously, you need to know chord structures to do jazz improvisation, and the book does contain a laundry list of jazz CDs to pursue. But that's about it. There is absolutely nothing about jazz instrumentation, arranging, rhythms, or scoring. If you're an absolute beginner, you may find this book useful. If you're a working musician, forget it.

IN TODAYS MODERN WORLD OF 5 MINUTE MUSICAL BLISS METHODS MANY OF US LOOSE SIGHT OF THE BASIS OF WHAT ALL THIS INCREDIBLE NOISE WE CALL MUSIC IS ABOUT. THEN .... LOW AND BEHOLD A BOOK APPEARS THATS NOT TRYING TO TEACH YOU THE NEW LICKS OR HOW TO STILL MAINTAIN YOUR COOL WHEN YOUR ON STAGE WITH HEAVY PYROTECHNICS AND 40,000 SCREAMING FANS IN FRONT OF YOU, BUT THE REALLY IMPORTANT PARTS OF MUSIC THAT EVERY PRACTICING, NOT TO MENTION GIGGING MUSICIAN SHOULD KNOW.(I DON'T CARE HOW GOOD YOUR EAR IS OR IF YOU CAN PLAY THIRTY-SECOND NOTES AT 220 YOUR GONNA REALLY BE IN TROUBLE WHEN SOMEONE TELLS YOU TO PLAY IN THE KEY OF F AND YOU THINK THEIR SPEAKING LATIN) EITHER IN THE ORDER WRITTEN OR IN SECTIONS OF INTEREST THIS BOOK IS A STEP BY STEP PRIMER WHICH ALL MUSCIANS SHOULD HAVE IN THEIR GIG BAG(OR HEAD FOR THAT MATTER)

I have recommended this book to many and can't remember the last person I let see it. That's why I'm ordering another copy today. I knew little about reading notes of music, let alone understanding jazz arrangements. This book is an excellent starting place to understanding music in general, let alone jazz. I highly recommend it to everyone. And it's very reasonable.

Bretta Solomon has decided to begin putting her life back together after her husband's untimely death by buying the historic Beauchamp mansion and restoring it. Bretta and her flower shop staff have been working hard at decorating the house in time for the shop's annual Christmas open house. Unfortunately, a week before the event, the manipulative Cameo Beauchamp, erstwhile owner of the Beauchamp Mansion, persuades Bretta to hold a select dinner for a few friends (read River City's most upstanding citizens) so that they can have a sneak peek at the restorations.

Of course Cameo has an agenda of her own that she fails to appraise Bretta of! Just before dinner, Cameo drops a bombshell: someone at this ill-fated dinner party has attempted to blackmail her and she's not going to stand for it. And then dramatically, the lights go out and when they come back on, Cameo is found strangled. Bretta is all for staying out of this investigation but when the town's leading gossip columnist accuses her of the crime, Bretta goes all out to find out who did actually kill Cameo Beauchamp.

I enjoyed this mystery alot more than the first one ("Roots Of Murder"). Bretta Solomon is a charming and sympathetic woman, and I thought the other characters were developed well as well. But I really didn't understand the sheriff's attitude or hostility towards Brettta, especially as Bretta's husband had been a rather close friend. His antagonism seemed all out of proportion. Also, I had to read the last three chapters twice in order to make sense of who had committed the murder and why. And while I did understand it the second time around, I think the novel would have been stronger if there had been a few more clues strewn about in the preceding chapters.

I really enjoyed this book, and look forward to many more in this series!!!!!! Terrific book for the holidays, or anytime!

I have been absolutely thrilled with the new mysteries, especially the series that have started up in the last year or two, and Janis Harrison's Gardening Mystery series is just one example of theses great new series.

A Murder Sets Seed is the second of Janis Harrison's Gardening Mysteries. Widowed Bretta Solomon, owner of a flower shop, is our amateur sleuth. She is a fabulous, full-bodied character who holds up the story with her personal strength, humor, and wisdom. The entire of cast and the story line of A Murder Sets Seed are impressive and complete, so readers can expect to react, thank goodness. The mystery, with its developments and revelations, pulled together expertly.

Cameo Beauchamp-Sinclair, a rich socialite, has a couple of problems: she is being blackmailed and needs a surrogate daughter. After she meets Bretta Solomon, she sells the Beauchamp Mansion to her and turns to Bretta for help with the problems. During one of Bretta's formal dinners Cameo denounces her unknown blackmailer in front of the other guests, which causes a snowball effect into murder and mayhem.

i think this book is awful. please send me some information on it. i read it, but it was so confusing and had so many numbers and stuff, i didnt understand it at all. it would be so greatly appreciated if you could send me a summary of the book, that could help me in writing a 4 page report.
thank you, jojo evanick

"The battered Moroccan bus heaved its bulk up the Atlas mountains, eroded by the tracks of a hundred absent streams." Nothing says it better than Paul does with his own words. This work is insightful, bringing the reader almost physically to dozens of different poverty-stricken locations, and well-written. Moreover, despite the harsh realities he presents, Paul's detailed description makes the experience fluid and enjoyable. "As dawn rises over the mud-walled royal palace at Ouagadougou, the emperor's horse, impatient in its heavy trappings of emerald, scarlet and gold, snorts and paws the ground." Yes, this book is definitely about global poverty, but it's written from a view you've never seen before. Embedded in the enchanting description is an awakening for the reader -- a new awareness of people and their struggles all over the planet.

If you've ever blamed poverty and underdevelopment on cultural or racial inferiority, or wondered why Europe and the West industrialized while other regions didn't, read this book. A friend just lent it to me, and I found it incredibly convicting. Learn how most of the world lives, and most importantly, why it does.

I frequently find myself returning to this dictionary time and again, because it has so much valuable information in it and because it is very extensive in its wide range of topics (for example, ever wondered what 'Selah' means in the Psalms? - it's in here). I would highly recomend this to anyone who is seeking to better understand terms, ideas, names, places, etc... in the Bible.

Unger's greatness is in his humility. His writings seek to glorify The Lord, not himself. I also recommend his Commentary on the Old Testament, by far the best-ever written. Unger is a christian to be honored and his writings should be treasured. This book is a must-have for the grace-oriented believer.

This is an excellent reference for anyone who is interested in careful and concise Biblical explanations and definitions. The scholarship is current, and its premise that the Bible is inerrant is certainly welcome by those who desire a dependable reference for Biblical analysis.

Additionally, because of the superciliousness of the reader who gave this work a one-star rating (i.e., 'A reader from USA'), his remarks, in this reviewer's opinion, should be substantially discounted. Instead, let the merits of the work be the principal criteria as regards its true worth.

Just returned from a trip to Ireland using this book and most of the information was seriously out-of-date. Tourist offices there actually know that the bad information you received is from this book. Also, pretty sketchy on the details. Stick to the Internet for better info.

Ireland might seem a simple place, but it isn't. During a month in Ireland, Cadogan's "Ireland" by Catharina Day (Globe Pequot Press, ......)was my constant travel companion, and I'd highly recommend the newest edition to anyone traveling in the Emerald Isle.

The book contains excellent maps, historical perspectives, a guide to the politics, historic chronology, Gaelic language, geology, myths and legends, and religious complexities of this beautiful country. It also has a fairly hefty section on practical travel advice tailored specifically to the Irish traveler.

The book is divided into very logical sections, and information is generally easy to find in its rather comprehensive index. Best of all, the island is divided naturally in this guide into its four regions -- Munster, Connacht, Ulster and Leinster -- so the traveler needn't thumb through the whole book to find things that might be one mile apart. It is further divided county by county, and travel is laid out very nicely and clearly, in the order you would see it by car. I found only minor errors, none that would have significantly changed my travel plans for the day and none that might not have been the effect of changing markets and seasons.

I often would read this guide in bed at night, it's so well-written, entertaining and informative. I would highly recommend this book to the American traveler in Ireland. It's complete, funny and quite educational.

There's a new edition of this great guide available, as of March 1999. This is definitely the one to go for.

I found the descriptions of people/places/scenes just too descriptive and I'm more used to characterisations from Greg
Bear/Peter F. Hamilton etc. So I found my mind wondering elsewhere than reading the book. Just over halfway thru this book and dont know if I will finish it. Something I have only
done twice before.

Mr.Harrison (the author) has a brilliant talent for writing. His descriptions are perfect, lingering in the mind. His characters are well-defined so you can picture them in your mind. The plot is rather unlikely, with everyone meeting up every so often in the most unlikely places in a James Bond fashion. The book is rather like a Bond book, Fleming-style. It's highly original, and is almost space-opera at points. It's quite negative with a baffling ending, but comes highly recommended.

I found this book astonishing - completely unlike anything I had ever read before. Harrison has a remarkable, truly unique way of touching and revolting you at once - a very, very good book.

The 1930 novel "The French Powder Mystery" is a well-structured detective story that challenges the reader, is scrupulously fair, and makes good reading. Unlike some Ellery novels, the solution is not unduly difficult. I unraveled many clues, but I allowed myself to miss a critical clue made invisible by misdirection.

Cyrus French is the chairman of the eminently successful and stylistically influential French's Department Store in midsection New York. In recent weeks the store window has been opened precisely at noon each day to exhibit somewhat fantastical, European modern furniture. Today the waiting crowd is awestruck as a dead body tumbles from a wall bed.

In this second novel Ellery Queen again displays his remarkable analytical skills, his masterful deductions. The ending was entirely proper, the clues narrowed the field to a single individual, but it lacked the flair to be found just a few years later in The Tragedy of X (1932) and The Greek Coffin Mystery (1932) and The Tragedy of Y (1932) and The Spanish Cape Mystery (1935).

"The French Powder Mystery" is certainly not a modern police procedural novel. Evidence is blatantly mishandled. The concept of chain of custody is decades away. Fingerprints are apparently the peak of forensic science. Mysteries are solved through deductive skills, not by meticulous laboratory science.

Ellery Queen's New York of 1930 seems remotely distant. While drugs and drug addiction are not unknown, they are largely unfamiliar evils. A former college companion of Ellery Queen says, "Mightn't it be the same stuff? Heroin, I think you called it." For an alibi a young woman replies, "When I left the Zorns that evening it was a little after ten. I walked and walked in the park (Central Park) until almost midnight." A well-to do, cosmopolitan young woman had cigarettes, appropriately scented, made up especially for her by a custom tobacco manufacturer.

The French Powder Mystery is classic Ellery Queen and should appeal to all fans of deductive mystery stories. Good hunting.

Frederic Dannay and Manfred Lee, the authors of this and the other early Ellery Queen books, certainly enjoyed mystery. They not only invented a fictional sleuth called Ellery Queen, they also wrote the books under that pseudonym. Not content with that, this novel also has a forward by a fictional 'J.J.McC' and some additional notes by an unnamed 'editor'. You may enjoy all of this or, like me, you may find it all rather irritating and wish they would simply get on with the story.

Talking of irritating, was there ever such a provoking hero as Ellery? Pompous, arrogant and vain, he makes Lord Peter Whimsey look like a man of the people. "Scoot!" he says to a police officer, handing him some items for fingerprinting. Anyone who thinks that America has always been a classless society, in contrast to Europe's class-consciousness, should read this 1930 novel.

But is it a good tale? Well, yes, if you want a story in the classic mould. It has rather too many red herrings for my taste but I shall say no more, for fear of spoiling it.

One other complaint; the authors don't trust to the power of simple story-telling. Characters do not merely 'say' things. They 'grin broadly' - for no apparent reason - and display tobacco-stained teeth when they speak. The authors seem to think they have to embelish everything to retain the reader's interest. When the Inspector orders his men to inspect the crime scene, they do so 'grinning'. Why? Have they forgotten that the victim's poor spouse is in the room?

Having said all that, if you are a mystery fan you will want to read at least one Ellery Queen story and this is as good a one as any. One last tip: if, when you reach the final episode, you have not solved the mystery, go back over the earlier parts of the book. As the authors say, the clues are all there.

The first ten Ellery Queen novels were pure logic problems, unencumbered by considerations of plausibility of character or situation. However, the puzzles are so enjoyable (especially the challenge to the reader once all the clues have been revealed) that we can overlook these flaws.

The French Powder Mystery concerns a dead body, discovered when the automatic window display of the French Department Store kicks into action one morning. The logic of the solution is rigorous, and the naming of the killer is literally the last two words of the book - even when the denoument is underway and all is being explained, the name of the bad 'un is still a surprise.

A better plot than Roman Hat and the Dutch Shoe Mysteries, I recommend it wholeheartedly!

I bought this book because it had a cool cover, I like amateur sleuth mysteries, and I'd never read any in Ann Ripley's "gardening" series before. Though Ms. Ripley writes well enough, and she can follow a mystery plot formula, I was surprised at the sheer boredom of it all. Unless you like plants. Really like plants. The characters were one-dimensional, the dialogue stilted, and any attempts at humor fell flat. Outside of a good climactic scene, the rest of the story had me sitting there wondering when something interesting was going to happen. I think the author missed her chances at using the characters to make the book sparkle. I couldn't wait to finish this one, but not because it was a page turner.

Due to the success of her PBS gardening show and the demands of her husband and two daughters, Louise Eldridge finds little time for herself. That is why she looks forward to walking her dog with former Jefferson University ethnobotanist Dr. Peter Whiting when he walks his dog. Peter regales Louise with fascinating stories about life in the Amazon. He claims a rain forest tribe has invented a fountain of youth through a plant they convert into tea.

However, her walks end when someone murders Peter in Ravine Park. Mt. Vernon District detective Mike Geraghy learns that Louise walked her dog with Peter every night near the crime site. He interviews her while warning her not to get involved as she has previously done in homicide investigations. However, Peter's wife asks Louise to help complete her husband's research. Though she agrees because her show is on hiatus, Louise would have said no if she understood the danger she is in from several assailants.

Though billed as a gardening mystery, HARVEST OF MURDER reads more like an amateur sleuth medical cozy though it never goes deeply into the science. The story line is shrewdly arranged so that the audience can comprehend the motivations of the key players, especially on the part of the scientists to include the victim. The heroine is a nurturing person whose family make her feel more like a neighbor to the reader who care what happens to Louise. Ann Ripley provides amateur sleuth fans and those who derive joy from a not so scientific medical thriller an affable reading experience.

I really loved it but I miss the gardening essays found in her other books.