Marion Brady has carefully analyzed what most of us intuitively know - reality does not fit the patterns of school. How to get school to fit the patterns of reality is laid out in a clear concise form. For a student to learn, material must be relevant, practical, and consistent with their world. Marion Brady shows us how. This powerful book would be a bargin at any price.

I personally have been fascinated by the history of the war in the Pacific. In particular, it is the carrier battles that have held my interest and fascination. Barrett Tillman provides an excellent account of the history of one of the most important naval fighters of all time. The F4F held the line against the superior Japanese A6M Zero until more advanced and capable fighters (the F4U and F6F) could be introduced to push the Japanese back across the Pacific Ocean. This book gives the details of the Wildcat's development and battle history, from Midway until the end of the war where it was serving on the escort carriers. This book is highly recommended!

Wilbur Duncan is professor emeritus of botany at the Univeristy of Georgia, and with his wife, Marion, have travelled extensively through the eastern US photographing and studying the plants. This book is essentially an update to his 1978 Wildflowers of the Southeast United States, expanded to include the area east of the Mississippi River.

Note to begninners and novices: this is a pretty heavy-duty book, no shortcuts to get to the flower by color or leaf. If you ID the "thumb-through" method, it will take time as there are 630 species with photographs. That's a lot to thumb through. The first portion of the book is descriptions of the species (631) arranged by family and genus. So a working knowledge of scientific names at the family and genus level is a very big help. All the photographs are labelled ONLY with scientific names. Trying it out on a total beginner and a novice taught me that scientific names are a hindrance to easy learning, BUT, if you really want to know what species you are looking at, it is an absolute necessity. That's why it's for the SERIOUS enthusiast.

Scott Ranger

Maney holds nothing back in this devilish tale of the man we love to hate, Young Bob La Follette. Although Maney could have praised him, he totally ripped him a new one, and I thought it was totally awesome. Ultimate Warrior rules!

Though I see there have been some negative reviews that this, latest edition of the "Fannie Farmer Cookbook," is not as "good" as the original, I have to say that the "original," published in the late nineteenth century as the "Boston Cooking School" cookbook, would hardly be especially useful today (recipes for squirrel anyone?). Fannie Farmer is synonymous with good, old-fashioned practical cooking--no nouvelle cuisine here--and the updated version simply keeps with the times, adding new techniques which take into account modern equipment and food mores (things like fat, cholesterol and sodium are taken into consider, but this isn't a diet cookbook).

All in all, the "Fanny Farmer Cookbook" is a super all-purpose cookbook, offering well-tested, simple recipes for just about any food you can think of. Alongside the classic "Betty Crocker Cookbook," the "Joy of Cooking" and something new from Martha Stewart (I like the "Martha Stewart Living Cookbook," which is a compilation of recipes from her magazine) and/or Cook's Illustrated (either "The Best Recipe" or the "Cook's Bible"), "The Fanny Farmer Cookbook" will create a perfectly balanced recipe collection for the experienced cook or novice baker.

On a final note, I'd recommend the hardcover edition, as the softcover model I saw in a bookstore was not very sturdy. Cookbooks get a lot of use and abuse, so I'd recommend spending a bit extra to get a the hardcover edition.

I'm 25 and my mother has had her 11th Edition Fanny Farmer Cookbook since before I was born. The pages are falling out and the covers are taped to the binding. Holiday after holiday, this is the only cookbook my mother refers to and my mother is famous for her good cooking. Some say the recipes in here are bland. Listen, if you want to learn how to really cook as though you've been cooking all your life, this is the only cookbook that will teach you! There are basic recipes for poultry, meats, breads, deserts, all from scratch. The recipes are all simple, easy, and delicious. The best part is, once you've learned those basics, it's no time before you start adding your own flavor to make your own recipes. It's perfect for those who can't cook and for those who can because you always need the basics. I just brought one for me and one for my mom. Now I finally have my own Fannie Farmer Cookbook and my mother can finally retire her old one.

This book is a must in every kitchen. I consider myself to be a fairly accomplished cook, and I'm not afraid to try new and complicated recipes in the latest cookbooks. Fannie Farmer, however, is my *ANCHOR* cookbook. I always go back to this cookbook when I'm thinking of modifying or combining other recipes, because Fannie is packed with basic tips and procedures for making sauces, roasting, baking, proofing dough, and so on. This book will tell you the best way to bake a potato, roast chestnuts, and roll out pie-crust. It offers lots of variations, substitutions, and so on for 1000's of recipes that constitute the basics of today's American cooking (including the influence of world cuisines). I've given this cookbook to several younger friends as bridal shower gifts. It's the best start to your kitchen library!

The Borrowers is a book for losers. Not the modern kind of loser, but people like me who are always losing stamps and pins and pens. The book tells the story of Arrietty Clock and her parents, tiny people who live beneath the floor of an old house and `borrow' the things they need from the humans who live in the house above. A postage stamp becomes a painting for their wall, pins become knitting needles. Even Arrietty's parents' names - Pod and Homily - are borrowed.

Life has never been easy for the borrowers, but now times are changing for the worse. The Sink family in the scullery, the Broom Cupboards, the Rain-Pipes and even Uncle Hendreary and his family have emigrated. Only the Clock family remain, living in fear of Mrs Driver, the housekeeper upstairs. When Pod comes home and says that a boy is living upstairs and that the boy has `seen' him, Pod's wife, Homily, is thrown into panic.

Arrietty, however, is intrigued. While her parents cling to the dubious safety of the life they know, Arrietty wonders about the world outside and dreams of adventure. She persuades her reluctant parents to let her accompany her father on his borrowing expeditions. On her first venture out, she meets the boy upstairs. A dangerous friendship develops. Meanwhile, Mrs Driver stalks the borrowers, full of the sort of cruelty Roald Dahl would have been proud to create. It is only with the boy's help that Arrietty and her parents narrowly escape Mrs Driver's attempts to destroy them. At the end of the book, Arrietty faces the dangerous adventure of emigration.

Like all great books for the young, The Borrowers can be read as an enthralling story of adventure, but also contains many layers of meaning. Mary Norton's creation of the tiny race of borrowers is an imaginative achievement in itself, but she does not stop there. She gives poignance to her tale by telling it through the voice of the boy's sister, now an old lady, who tells us at the start that her brother has long since grown up and died a `hero's de!ath' on the North-West frontier. The old lady seems to believe her brother's tale of the borrowers, and yet at the end of the book she provides evidence to suggest that the borrowers may have been nothing but a product of her brother's imagination. The reader is left wondering about reality and truth. On another level, in the relationship between the borrowers and the human world, parallels with the misunderstandings and confusions which occur between different cultures can be discerned. The uncertainties the borrowers face and their final exile mirror the plight of our world's increasing number of displaced people. Long after the book is finished, the characters and the questions their story raises reverberate around the mind. The Borrowers is a book which will fascinate, intrigue and entertain.

This is a great tale of a tiny family living under the floor in a house. It shows how the father goes up into the house when everyone is asleep and "borrows" things his family needs or wants. He must only borrow things that will NOT be missed. They are not to be seen by the "big" people. Some of their relatives were seen and had to move from their home to stay safe. Once seen the "big" people will bring in exterminators and try to catch the tiny people (they think they're rats). In this story, the Borrower's daughter befriends the young boy of the house. He does NOT try to harm the family. Mater of fact, he befriends them and brings them things they need. Unfortunately, the Borrower then feels useless and their house gets cramped. It's a great book for young children (and even adults to read). It's easy to get lost in the story, even when you know people like this cannot exist. I won't tell you the ending, you need to read it for yourself. I highly recommend this book.

This book is a must for all kids and pre-teens who enjoy a suspense-filled, fun-packed, fantasy. Living at the size of a toothpick isnt easy, but it sure is fun! The borrowers draw their readers into an amazing, wonderful world as they go through each of their adventures. When reading about how the tiny people "Borrow" household items and turn them into amazing things, its impossible to not be so absorbed that you almost feel 2 inches tall! Throughout the whole book, I was always awaiting the Borrowers next move, and when it ended, I wanted MORE! I recommend this book to anyone young or old who wants to read an enjoyable, wonderful story about survival in a completely different, yet the same, world. I ensure you that it is wonderful, and will be all-around loved by everyone in the family.

There is very little more that can be added to the already numerous insights into this book. This was the second book I have read about the Arthurian legend, the first being White's "The Sword in the Stone", and Bradley's I found to be better by far. Bradley was able to weave the old tale, much of which has been a jumbled of different versions of the myth, and tell it for a different point of view. Bradley has for the most part used females as her protagonist in her other works and continues the trend by telling the legend from the woman's point of view. Bradley mainly focuses on Morgaine and her story, but also tells us of Igraine, mother of Arthur; Viviane, Lady of the Lake before Morgaine and mother of Lancelot; Morgause, aunt to Arthur, mother of a number of his Companions, and all-around power hungry woman; and Gwynhefar, the only character other then Morgaine to provoke such strong emotions that you will either love her or hate her. The only deterrent to the book is that due to the chronological length of the story the book is very long and at some points, especially when the theological debate is voiced (though this is even done so smoothly that one can hardly notice it), very slow. However, these spots are few and do not detract from the overall story. The one character that I wish Bradley went more in-depth on was Raven, though it would have been difficult to write on a character that says nothing unless prompted by a prophetic vision. Like the majority of fans I would suggest this book to everyone, and encourage the skeptics to read it, arguing that it is worth their time.

Without any doubt, "The Mists of Avalon" is one of the few colossal achievements in the fantasy genre from the last thirty years. It boldly replays all the significant parts of the Arthurian saga from the perspective of the female characters, focusing mainly on Guinevere and Morgaine. In Bradley's hands, they become fully rounded characters, as we see how their upbringings and differing worldviews lead up to the roles they play in the story that we all know and love. None of the minor characters, male or female, are neglected. They are all developed carefully, with realistic motivations. In "The Mists of Avalon", less time is spent on warfare and battles than in most earlier versions, and more is devoted to looking at aspects of medieval society that we rarely hear about, ranging from medicine to religion to childrearing.

The first hundred pages of "The Mists of Avalon" are, in my opinion, the best part of the book. They cover the life of Igraine and of Uther Pendragon, and give a glimpse of what British society was like prior to Arthur's birth. After that, we get a lengthy section dedicated to Morgaine's training as a priestess on the island of Avalon, and the introduction of Guinevere and Lancelot. The middle section of the book proceeds at a much slower pace, with lots of attention being paid to the development of all of the main characters. The story then picks up at the end for a very impressive finish. I particularly like the beautiful descriptions throughout the book, and the way that different literary elements are blended to create wonderful images.

Some readers have commented that the book is anti-Christian. I have to disagree with this. It does have some Christian characters who are portrayed negatively, but plenty that are portrayed positively as well. And although she goes a little bit over the top on a few occasions, Bradley is generally accurate in her depiction of theology in the Middle Ages. I don't think that she is opposed to Christianity as much as opposed to anyone who has become completely inflexible in their worldview. This may not be clear at the start of the book, but it is definitely obvious by the end.

Bradley began her career writing short stories and then moved on to science fiction novels. She first became famous with the Darkover series, which is, in all honestly, pretty lousy. When writing "The Mists of Avalon", however, she took the time to carefully construct her plot and think through her dialogue and descriptive writing. The result is one of the masterpieces of modern popular literature, and a work that will certainly be remembered as a fantasy classic for many generations to come.

I first heard about The Mists of Avalon from my mom, because she and all of her women friends were reading it at the same time. I was curious to know what the book was about, but I was far too young at the time to have understood it. But just recently, I was searching the library for books on Arthur and Camelot and all of that sort of thing. Then I remembered The Mists of Avalon, and decided to give it a try.

I must admit I am not completely finished reading it yet, but I have to say that I have never read a book like it. It tells the story of King Arthur, but from the women's point of view. I had always thought of Morgan as the evil sorceress, but now I see her only as a woman fighting to protect her religion, and way of life.

However, even though this is a wonderful book, I find it hard to sympathize with any of the characters except for Arthur. Morgaine is certainly my favorite character, but even she seems somewhat cold and harsh. Gwenhwyfar (Guinevere) is a pathetic, whiny girl; Viviane is a heartless woman thinking only of herself and of Avalon; Lancelet is just plain icky; and none of the other characters were that great. But even so, the story is enthralling, and each day I look forward to reading it in the evening.

So if you like Arthurian legend, I would recommend you read this straight away. It is definitely worth reading, and I can't see why anybody would want to give it less than 5 stars.

The late great Princeton philosopher Walter Kaufmann does yet another fine job of translating and defending Nietzsche to a 20th (and 21st?) century audience. Kaufmann deserves a great deal of credit for bringing Nietzsche out of the ranks of taboo books for the (unfortunate) association with Hitler after World War II.

This association is ironic when one considers how Nietzsche extols the Jewish race on pages 187 & 188, describing them as

...beyond any doubt the strongest, toughest, and purest race now living in Europe; they know how to prevail even under the worst conditions...by means of virtues that today one would like to mark as vices - thanks above all to a resolute faith that need not be ashamed before "modern ideas"....

Can anyone seriously contend that Hitler was inspired to commit genocide upon the Jewish people because of Nietzsche with passages such as this in mind?

If I have one bone to pick with this book, it is Nietzsche's unwarranted misogynistic tirades in the chapter called "Our Virtues." These attacks on woman's intellectual acumen are not only wrong, but completely unnecessary and contribute nothing to Nietzsche's overall philosophical thread of thought. His dictum of the "eternally boring in woman" (a verbal joust to Goethe's "eternal feminine") is nothing more than an adolescent, shallow cheap shot. Personally, I think his hatred of women has much more to due with his psychology (the fact that he was such a very lonely man + the inaccessiblity of Cosima Wagner) than any serious intellectual analysis that he devoted to the issue. In any case, given the accomplishments of women in the 20th century (as well as the "hidden" triumphs of historical women from before this century) any educated person today would be compelled to dismiss the idea of men being mentally superior to women as hogwash.

With the exception of the anti-woman chapter, the rest of this book is quite good. It is in many ways a re-writing of his "Also Sprach Zarathustra" via a non-poetic medium. Most of Nietzsche's more important ideas are incorporated into the book at some point or other. Also, Kaufmann furnishes the reader with helpful footnotes which elucidate the allusions that Nietzsche is making. A profound book. To give you a taste of why this book is worth reading, I will leave you with one of my very favorite passages of Nietzsche. It appears on page 153:

"Measure" is alien to us; let us own it; our thrill is the thrill of the infinite, the unmeasured. Like a rider on a steed that flies forward, we drop the reins before the infinite, we modern men, like semi-barbarians - and reach "our" bliss only where we are most - in danger.

While I don't worship Nietzsche as I did when I was young, I think this is a very challenging and worthwhile book. Even people who don't accept Nietzsche's basic approach to life can learn much from it, if they read it with an open (but skeptical) mind. All of Nietzsche's key ideas are here and are presented more lucidly than in Zarathustra and more sanely than in his last works. Even better than the big ideas are the seemingly random insights that can illuminate a whole new area of thought. There are also, it's true, some really stupid passages, such as the comments on women, but overall the gold far outweighs the dross.

I'm a newbie to Nietzsche's works, though I'd come to Beyond Good and Evil through the proverbial back door. After having read prominent 20th century texts from Camus to Derrida, I figured it was time to read something by Nietzsche, perhaps the most famous first figure to doubt what was "knowable." Nietzsche, anticipating the cynicism and angst that would become the hallmark of existential texts, was equally scornful of religion AND science (both, which he argued, were reductionist and misleading). The ultimate skeptic, Nietzsche warned readers about believing to deeply in "certain truths" often framed within the dichotomy of binary opposites (good vs. evil, black vs. white, heaven vs. hell; in short, everything the Western world bases its moral framework on).

I've given Beyond Good and Evil five stars, but there are some problems with the book that the unintiated may want to know. First, although this is the most straight-forward and accessible of Nietzsche's works, it's still a difficult read. Second, although Nietzsche's writing style is full of verve and gusto (or, to use N's own word, "brio") and although this style makes for delightful anti-philosophic reading, his points do become burdensome after a while. After reading the introduction and the first 30 pages or so, I found myself saying, "Okay, okay, I got it." Nietzsche's misogyny, his failure to provide concrete examples (occassionally) and his belief in a human two-level caste system ("...life itself in its essence means appropriating, injuring, overpowering those who are foreign and weaker" (152-153)) may challenge (or turn off) some readers. Neverhtheless, at 180 slim pages, Beyond Good and Evil accomplishes its task before it becomes tiresome.

As far as I'm concerned, Marion Zimmer Bradley is the master of injecting new life into old stories. Her retelling of the Arthur legend, The Mists of Avalon, is a phenomenal book (as anyone who has read it will tell you, if they have any sense!).

In The Firebrand, Marion Zimmer Bradley takes on the Iliad of Homer. The story is told mostly from the point of view of Kassandra, prophetess of Troy and sister to Paris, son of Priam who spirited Helen away from Sparta and became the catalyst for the 10-year-long Trojan War.

Many wonderful details make the characters, like the Amazons or the Kentaurs, amazingly human and real. Ms. Bradley has an enviable gift that makes her readers care about each and every one of her characters. At the center of the story lies a conflict, embodied in Kassandra herself, between the Earth Goddess and the newer Greek gods, like Apollo and Athena. As in the Iliad, the gods seem to meddle in everything, fathering children or bringing down plagues.

I really enjoyed this book because it puts a new spin on the old story and gives the female characters attention that they well deserve. Kassandra is a strong, consistent character, struggling with her vows of chastity to the free-worker Apollo and the Sight given to her by the Earth Goddess. For angering Apollo, Kassandra is cursed with seeing terrible things and having no one believe her. Helen, the wife Paris stole from the Spartan king Menaleus(sp?), is also well-developed as a character. She does, however, remind me strikingly of Gwenhyfar from The Mists of Avalon. Besides having the face that launched a thousand ships, Helen has the sort of strength that inspires admiration even in the unwilling. She, too, like Kassandra, is a pawn of the gods. Other strong women, like the Amazon Queen and Andromache, prove that the war was not fought by the soldiers alone.

Surprisingly scary, Akhilles(spelled scarily, too!) along with Agamemnon are Troy's, and Kassandra's, greatest enemies. Aeneas, the future founder of Rome,is a rather unlikely, but extremely likable, romantic hero. Pretty much the only nice man in the book...where Kassandra is concerned, anyway!

I will say that the plot really seemed to fragment toward the end. I liked the writing, but I felt that the storyline lacked the strength of the previous parts of the book. There are, however, a few delectable and - for readers familiar with the Iliad and the Odyssey - unexpected surprises in store.

As a sort of halting scholar of the Ancient Greek language wrestling with my first attempts at translating Homer, The Firebrand provided me with inspiration and gave me a more personal attachment to the characters, for which I am extremely grateful. It's obvious to me that Ms. Bradley is an extremely well-researched writer, who has a wonderful creative vision that makes the Iliad her own, while at the same time it remains the same wonderful story. Anyone who likes these sort of legend retellings should read this book! And then recommend it to a friend!

Don't let Zimmer Bradley's use of the non-standard spelling "Kassandra" scare you away from reading this book. It merely serves as a clue that this will be a spirited retelling of a classic tale.

This utterly absorbing story refocuses theTrojan War through the eyes of the young princess of Troy as she grows up in a female-empowered land recently mastered by men. Her mother's generation of ruling Queens relinquishes power to their consorts and self-styled "Kings" as the book begins. This exchange of power mirrors the more violent one that will be effected when the famous war is over. This Kassandra is much more than a prophetess forever cursed to "speak the truth but never be believed" - she is a girl-woman learning that miracles take work, that education, power, and strength go hand-in-hand to make a leader, and that gender roles are complicated indeed.

If you'd prefer to ignore the philosophies that Zimmer Bradley is projecting, then read "The Firebrand" for the journey of a young girl in a world full of vengeful goddesses and gods, and the life of the fascinating heroine she becomes, one who rarely fails to take her fate into her own hands

I began reading Marion Zimmer Bradley my sophomore year of high school when my english teacher (surprisingly) assigned the book at summer reading. Now I know a lot of people have read The Mists of Avalon, especially because of the tv movie, but if you are able to get a hold on this book, I strongly suggest it. It is almost the same as The Mists of Avalon, but set in mythical Troy instead of Camelot. We see through Kassandra's eyes, the prophetess cursed by the god Apollo. Just The Mists of Avalon, this book is also a feminist view in a male-dominated world. We see Hector, Achilles, Priam, Agamemnon, Paris and Menalaus, but they are not the heroes of the war. Intead, Bradley makes the women Kassandra, Hecuba, Andromache, Helen and the warrior Amazons the heroes. I really liked this book more than The Mists of Avalon, and it got me interested in Ancient Greece. If you like The Mists of Avalon and can find a copy of this book (because it is unfortunately out of print), I would suggest that you try this one. :)