An interesting, well-written mystery with a much-appreciated twist. This book will be enjoyed by mystery and gardening fans, and also by another group of readers who are rarely, if ever, represented in books of any kind -- folks, especially women, who struggle throughout their lives to lose and maintain the loss of large amounts of weight. Ms. Harrison's protagonist is a woman who has lost 100 pounds, and is maintaining that loss, but fights a daily battle against cravings for high-calorie food. Other characters in the book are in a similar situation, and the danger posed by individuals who prey upon the desperation of those trying to maintain large weight losses is central to the plot of this novel.

"Lilies That Fester" is an extremely absorbing read, that really keeps you guessing as to the identity of the villain until the very end.

Bretta Solomon may be feeling good about herself now that she's shed some weight, but the headache of coordinating the first floral competition at the Branson Florist Convention, has done quite a bit to sour her mood. Dealing with avid competitors who will not stop hounding her to reveal more about the different categories that Bretta has thought up for the competition, plus in-house wrangling amongst the board members has been enough to make her wish that she had never agreed to oversee the competition. The only bright spot in the horizon is that she seems to have picked up an admirer -- good looking, single and an amateur gardener to boot! And then just before the festivities start, Bretta receives an urgent message from a couple, the McDuffys, that her dead husband used to know. Knowing about her ability to solve perplexing mysteries, they leave urgent messages with her, pressing for a meeting. Having had no success with actually meeting Bretta so far, they leave a letter and a cassette, with instructions for Bretta to read the letter if they fail to make the planned meeting for the following morning. However the McDuffys fail to turn up the next day. Reading the letter, Bretta discovers that the couple want Bretta to discover what had happened to their daughter just before she died of a heart attack. Her behaviour had changed drastically the few months before her death, and the McDuffys suspect that someone was at the root of all her unhappiness that caused her death. Bretta is of course saddened by the letter, and is not sure what she can do. And then she discovers that the McDuffys seem to have mysteriously vanished. Although her hands are quite full with trying to mange the competition, as well as deal with her many back-stabbing colleagues, she feels she must track down the McDuffys, if only to talk to them. But where to start? And then someone starts playing a series of dangerous pranks on Bretta, and her would-be beau starts behaving strangely. What exactly is going on? And how are the McDuffys connected to all this? Bretta is determined to find out.

This is by far the best Bretta Solomon mystery novel, and I was quite engrossed. There are so many things I liked about this mystery novel: the mystery was an intriguing and interesting one, and the plot unfolded smoothly and flawlessly till the very end where Janis Harrison pulled everything together brilliantly. Bretta Solomon is a wonderfully clever, warm hearted and feisty amateur sleuth, and "Lilies That Fester" showcases this character superbly. (I absolutely loved the wry tone she used when observing the silly antics that other members of the board indulged in) "Lilies That Fester" is definitely a first rate read.

This graphic novel is an adaptation of the immeasurably-more-subtle story of the same name to be found in Harrison's collection "Viriconium Nights". The artist has focussed on the violence of the story, leaving out the extraordinarily subtle relationship between character, philosophy and landscape which is Harrison's trademark. Forget this, and take the real trip: get "Viriconium Nights" and "In Viriconium" (called "The Floating Gods" in the US, but the British edition is better) instead.

However successful this short story is in its text form, Luck in the Head becomes a visual masterpiece with some of Ian Miller's most outrageous illustrations and interpretations of the city's horror and vacancy as well as Chrome's loneliness and confusion. Ian Miller bombards his audience with crude depictions as well as intricate ones, all depending on the atmosphere he is trying to set. Very Successful Graphic Novel.

I enjoyed this book. The majority of the book focuses on WHH's experience as Govenor of Indiana Territory, and as a commander in the war of 1812. The book was written in the 1930's. As is typical of many biographies of its era, little attention is paid to Harrison's family or his personal life. Some may find that a refreshing change from the psychologically based biographies of today. Others may feel that an important facet is missing.

This book contained everything I could have reasonably hoped to expect from a presidential biography of the subject. Naurally the book tends to gravitate to the early history of Indiana as pertains to Harison, the military acheivements of General Harrison and the Native Americans he encountered. The presidential portion of Harrison's life, I feel was conveyed fully, since this portion of his life was so breif. I particularly appreciated the way the author expanded subjects of American history around Harrison in an effort to better explain the environment and circumstances from which Harrison would have perceived them.

Psychology Astray is a pretty good book, although the author does make some presumptions known to be wrong himself. Pope uses--homosexuality can not be changed by psycotherapy--as an example of the misinformation taught for years in his chosen field. 1000 page books have been published that maintain that it can be and is. Something about barometric preassure doesn't cause bone discomfort where a major bone is conected different than usual with another one is in there too which is wrong. He delves into what they know about schizophrenia, without mentioning that it is the most misdiagnosed mental disorder there is. (Social workers often are the ones who decide who is schizophrenic in mental institutions). The field of psychology has a lot of problems, it really does. It would be easy to prove that the rouphly 100 year old area of study is responsible for far more harm than good that it's done. Labotomys. Wrongly detained individuals. Prescriptions for addictive drugs for the wrong symptoms. Pope points out that what qualifies experts as such is often miscalculated credentials. Like cops, part of the problem is the egotisticalness of the majority of students who choose the field, the "it takes a village to raise a child" crowd in abstract. They know what's best for you because they learned the later discredited stuff in school of predesesors who did the same. Most of them want everyone to be the same and feel that other people who are they're own people should not have the right to be or even act paranoid. Dr. Pope does a pretty good job of exposing the lack of evidence about one particular subject that gets reported on the news as fact by producers who did take the same classes and were taught by the same professors who learned the same or similar mis-information. x

ideal for intro psychology students and also just to look at methodology of many studies we take for granted. focus on repressed memories is interesting considering it is such a hot topic, though you do not necessarliy need to be reading for this subject to apprecaite and enjoy this book

A very interesting look at the life and time of one of the world's most accomplished actors.

...This book was wonderful. There is nothing more refreshing than hearing about a person's life from their own perspective. This man is just wonderful in himself, and does not run on in his prose, remaining witty and entertaining, giving one just enough information without ever boring. Definitely an INSIDE perspective in every aspect of the concept.

I really liked Harrison's gloomy '70s novels, the Viriconium stuff as well as _The Committed Men_, and _The Centauri Device_. I'd all but lost track of him, though, except for a few short stories, before _Signs of Life_ was published.

It's a strange novel, ultimately quite affecting, though I admit I didn't quite "get" it all. The genre is rather odd: sort of an SF analog to Magical Realism: that is to say, SFnal things happen (or, rather, one SFnal thing), but the explanation might as well be a typical Magical Realist explanation for Fantastical events.

Anyway: the story is the first person narrative of one Mick "China" Jones, a middle-aged Englishman. It seems to be set in the early '90s. China is involved with a very unpleasant character named Choe Ashton: the two of them run a shady biological courier and toxic waste disposal business. China falls in love with Isobel Avens (a significant last name, that), a much younger woman. After some happy years together, her dreams of flight, as well as possibly her unhappiness with China's dealings with Choe, begin to drive her away, finally she leaves him for a doctor who does some advanced bioengineering (here is where the SF theme sneaks in). All comes to a believable and moving and depressing end.

A disturbing book about a woman who wants to become a bird and her amoral lover. Picked by Graham Evans as one of his favorite books of 1998. It's short enough to be read in 1 night if you have insomnia. If you didn't finish, you'll automatically have insomnia until you do. It was probably designed to be read in the bathroom, and that's where I'd leave it.

Harrison Owen suggests that there is a gap in leadership, because we are going through chaotic, transforming times, and traditional leaders can no longer be in control and protect us from it. However, instead of looking for leadership in the few or "the One," we should recognize that all individuals have the capacity for leadership and, through self-organizing activity, appropriate leadership will emerge for different tasks. He is especially impressed by the power of the informal organization to achieve results and for true leadership to emerge from the interaction of people in this informal milieu. He identifies leadership with the power of Spirit to inspire others. Five functions of leadership are the focus of the book: evoking Spirit with vision, growing Spirit with collective storytelling, sustaining Spirit with structure, comforting Spirit at the end, and reviving Spirit to move through a period of grief at endings and move on.

The book is written as an essay or narrative, with observations, examples, and opinions about what could or should be. While Owen's book reflects a trend in business to provide more meaning and purpose through spiritual underpinnings, some may find his discussion of "Spirit" somewhat fuzzy and hard to grasp. The language of the book is occasionally rambling and his claims don't always seem totally convincing.

Harrison Owen describes leadership as a capacity within each of us. He builds on his concepts of "Open Space Technology" by focusing on leadership as helping people see possibilities on a large scale rather than focussing on the minute. Storytelling plays a significant role with Harrison on leadership. One must remain true to the spirit of founders yet translate that to current situations. His thoery blends nicely with concepts put forth by Ronald Heifetz and Marsha Sinetar.

What a relief to read The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You after the disappointing Stainless Steel Rat in Hell! What a difference fifteen years can make!

This Stainless Steel Rat is the Rat we all fell in love with - biting sarcasm, acerbic wit, the lapses in attention that land him in trouble, the daring escapes from that trouble, and a plot that moves briskly at all times, always staying a half step ahead of the reader. Just under 150 pages, it is just the right length; short enough to be read in one sitting, but long enough to draw the reader in.

The only downside to this one is the packaging. Contrary to the title and cover propaganda, the Rat does no recruiting (beyond his lovely yet dangerous wife and the twins). A better title would have been, The Stainless Steel Rat: Bug-eyed Alien Sex Goddess. Read the book and you'll see what I mean.

I have read & enjoyed a number of Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat books, but this has got to be the best one yet. The book is loaded with the same slap-dash sense of humour and spontaneous action as found in the other SSR books, but this book's clever, well thought out plot puts it far above them. Slippery Jim's final solution for dealing with the slimy alien problem-makers is ingenious and satisfying, as is his surprising insight to the behaviour of the galaxy's sadistic grey men.

Published in the mid-nineties, this book is a fairly selective encyclopedia of the Blues. No entry on Ken Bates? Still, it provides basic information on many of the CFC greats (Charlie Cooke, Ray Wilkins, Peter Osgood, etc.). Would be nice to have this updated to include information on Vialli, Zola.

Whilst now outdated, this is one of the best books to cover the club up until the time of publication. In easy to read A-Z format it contain illustrations and is an indispensable guide to the football club. Some of the entries are rather brief, and their are some small errors, but overall, a good read.

Theo, a ten-year-old boy, is an orphan who lives with his brother. He, his brother, and his brothers friend try to survive through the Nazi occupation in WWII. When the three join the resistance, Theo's brother doesn't have much time for Theo anymore. So Theo finds a puppet that his dad made before he dided, called Karageosis. Theo uses Karageosis to share his feelings with--almost as if he's real.
The book is exciting because of the resistance acts the brothers perform. It can aslo be a little sad at times, though, you can really get into it.
This book would be good for a reader that can be patient and wait for the excitment. They must also have some knowledge on the whole Occupation to understand where Theo's feelings are coming from.

Theo is a well written, sensitive and appropriately painful historical fiction. Harrison conveys the terrible impact on Greek Life during WWII Nazi occupation,written from a Christian orphan's (Theo} perspective. Theo demonstes the fact that to survive, one must possess bravery and fear simulataneously. Harrison uses the Karageosis, the historically correct puppet to express Theo's strong will, bravery, sadness and humor throughout the story. Theo also is protected my a Priest and his saintly wife, who dedicate their lives to saving Greek Jews from deportation and extinction. This book is an important work since it accurately conveys the war's impact on all Greeks-Gypsys, Chrisitans, Jews, city dwellers and countryfolk alike. The young reader, to fully understand, must have general knowledge of the holocaust, Nazi Germany, and WWII. The story is sad, but worth the pain. The adult reader will be reminded of the many humans dedicated to help eachother despite their religious/cultural differnces during WWII. This provides inspiration and comfort.