After skating with Pics for 4 years (and not knowing another single soul with them), I was first excited to really get into this book. When I first got it I tore through it, and haven't opened it since.

The book is okay, for beginners it a place to start. It certainly would build excitement as a beginner.

These are my complaints:
1) The printing and graphics/illustrations are pretty horrible. And all of the low resolution (quality)
2)There are no illustrations that take you through the moves in a clear and concise way. Photos of those doing the moves to SEE correct positions would help.
3) After a certain basic level, the explainations drop off to nada.
4)The explainations themselves are extremely hard to follow, unless you already know how to perform the move and have some background information. Where there was stuff I didn't know how to do and wanted to learn, I was very confused.

In general, this is a good start for those using Pics, and I'm glad that this sport is expanding so I won't have to skate so alone so much! I want something even better though. Where a skater can pick up the book, read the paragraph over and over and pick up something new each time about arm positions, leg positions, checking, balance, edges, etc.

This book is so much fun!

I love to skate (ice and roller), and now, I'm able to in-line skate like I do on the ice and on traditional roller skates!

HOW TO JUMP AND SPIN ON IN-LINE SKATES has taught me what to do, and now, I skate all the time. I don't have to wait for a rink to open since I can skate anywhere!

What I like the best is that I can now do spins on in-line skates, which I thought was impossible. The writer explains in detail how to do moves, and when I follow the steps, I'm doing amazing things!

Jumping is so much fun too. I especially like the photos and drawings of the skaters in action.

Every day, I can't wait to get my skates on! I would recommend this book to everyone: advanced skaters and beginners!

Everyone should have a copy of this book!

HOW TO JUMP AND SPIN ON IN-LINE SKATES, by Jo Ann Schneider Farris is THE BEST!

This book has made me LOVE SKATING more than ever!

Jo Ann's writing style is so enthusiastic and fun, and every section makes me want to put my skates on and experiment.

The drawings by Larisa Gendernalik are so neat too! I love the cute skating figures she has made and find myself trying to look like the photos.

I want to recommend this book to everyone who loves to skate. You'll have a blast reading the book and you'll find yourself wanting to get your skates on so you can try every move.

Again, HOW TO JUMP AND SPIN ON IN-LINE SKATES is the BEST!!!!

Of the eleven Darkover novels I've read, this is surely the dullest. It's a good deal longer than it needs to be, and the greater part of it is given over to the attempts of four people to help one of them, a former Tower Keeper, perform the 'marital act'. Regrettably, there is not much lurid detail involved, so we're denied even something to appeal to our prurient interest. And it goes on for quite a long time. In many places the narrative reads like a first draft, and I kept wishing the author had gone through one more time to tighten up the prose. Later on there's a rather silly time travel sequence, a blast from the past as it were, which doesn't contribute a whole heck of a lot to the proceedings. The action picks up a little at the end, but so what. Unless you're a rabid fan who must read everything this somewhat overrated s.f. writer published, consider this one a waste of time. (BL, Tucker, GA)

We like the Darkover books in my family. My husband got into them first, but they're spreading to the rest of us. These books are mostly real page turners, full of action and suspense; but, nevertheless, they have marvelous character development with tremendous complexity in how the characters think, feel, and interact.

There is some wonderful philosophy sprinkled throughout about the nature of marriage and of gender roles in society. The fantasy and telepathic aspects of the books make for intriguing variations on what leads to dominance in relationships and what leads to successful and unsuccessful relationships, whether between husband and wife; parent and child; or between siblings.

This book shares these nice features with many others in the series.

My older son, age 12, is a strong reader and loves reading adult science fiction and fanatasy. He has picked up on these books and started stealing them out of my husband's bookcase and loving them. For the most part, I think that's o.k. for the Darkover series, BUT NOT FOR THIS BOOK! It's too bad that books don't have ratings like software or movies. This one is definitely R or possibly NC-17. For myself, I enjoyed the explorations of how telepathy would affect sex myself -- some of which got pretty darn strange; BUT it's not the sort of thing that my pre-pubescent child, who is already pretty confused about sex roles as it is, should be reading.

I am not a fan of science fiction works where male-dominated societies are replaced by female-dominated ones. I do like much of the Darkover saga, notably those that show conflicts between cultures native to Darkover (as well as conflicts between Darkovan and Terran culture). As I cut down my library, I consider which of the Darkover novels I should keep with me. I have never swayed from my opinion that THE FORBIDDEN TOWER is probably the one to keep, above all others.

A confession - this was the very first Darkover novel that I read, and it took me a while to realize that it was part of a series. I think the attractions of the book have been described well by others, as well as the plot. I will not say much more for fear of spoilers. The only thing I will add regarding the plot is that the resolution of the two couples's problems is achieved via something that can be used successfully just once (as far as Darkover fans are concerned). Unfortunately, MZB tried to use the same solution for another and much weaker novel THE WORLD WRECKERS (which many fans also consider to be non-canonic in the sense that its events violate the history told in other books, earlier and later).

I will instead explain why this book is so outstanding among many good books (including those dedicated to the Free Amazons, and the story of Lewis Lanart-Alton in THE HERITAGE OF HASTUR). THE FORBIDDEN TOWER takes place relatively late in Darkovan history (which spans several centuries). The events in this book occur some years after the planet has been discovered, or rather rediscovered, by Terrans. [For that story, read the co-authored REDISCOVERY]. There is a prequel to this book, THE SPELL SWORD, but it is not really necessary to read it. There is a sequel to this book, called THE BLOODY SUN which some would view as essential reading and others not. I believe that this title can stand alone, one of the few Darkovan titles that can do so.

The protagonists of this book are Damon Ridenow (whose ancestors were dry-town bandits), and his new wife and her sister. Both women hail from the powerful Lanart-Alton (or rather Alton) clan. Each clan - the Ridenow, the Altons, and others - have specific powers, although not all members of the clan exhibit those powers. [Forgive me for errors in terminology, because it has been a while since I read the whole series]. The difference in inheritance of powers becomes a minor issue between the sisters, in that one became a Keeper (a position of great honor and power, but enforced celibacy) and the other - married. There is no resentment between the sisters, but the fact that siblings do not inherit the same level of power becomes an issue in other books.

There is both internal conflict (generated by the beliefs and expectations, as well as life experiences of the protagonists) as well as external conflicts (the decisions and actions of others). Part of the appeal of this book is the internal conflict. No body is perfect here, and each person has a reasonable point of view. The sole Terran, Andrew Carr, husband to Callista Lanart-Alton (the former Keeper), must work his way not only through a complicated relationship with the other three, but also his own feelings about marriage. [Marriage in Darkover is not quite like marriage between Terrans]. Part of the attraction in this book is seeing Andrew adjust to and gradually accept this very different notion of marriage, not to mention his relationships with his wife's sister and her husband.

I should mention here that if you have a very conventional mind about marriage, you will be shocked by some of the goings-on. But I assume that as a reader of this review (who is interested in science fiction), you are prepared to accept that other worlds have different rules.

I loved the ending of course. It was not just that the good guys won, but how they won. Somehow their particular solution to the problem made sense brilliantly. And very few people got hurt, compared to THE HERITAGE OF HASTUR.

I won't say what happens to these couples (and to others) down the road, because that is a story fully told in later books, particularly THE BLOODY SUN. However, since I know the ending to this particular story, that does not make me love or hate it more. It just adds a special poignancy to this particular book.

I think of THE FORBIDDEN TOWER both as a romance and as a creative work of SFF. Even after reading through other works, this book remains the most accessible as well as the most memorable.

Grade - A+, 4.9
[No breakdown in grade given]

Recommended - Very Highly for lovers of SFF (or soft SF). Might appeal to readers of Catherine Asaro or Mercedes Lackey.

This is a simple, moral tale - one could almost describe it as a fable - concerned with the dangers of all-consuming avarice. Monsieur Grandet, his wife and their daughter Eugenie live in provincial Saumur. Grandet is a wealthy miser - so parsimonious that his house is falling down around him for want of repair, and even the family's food is rationed. The arrival of Grandet's nephew, the ambitious yet impecunious Charles, disturbs the household regime - Eugenie falls in love with him - and thereafter a tragedy unfolds.

I thought the novel almost read like a compressed Dickens: the characters are essentially two-dimensional, more illustrations of human faults and virtues than true to life. The book's brevity and (therefore) lack of meandering, coupled with a merciful omission of overdone bathos in its depiction of women, made its impact all the greater than having to plough through 1000 pages of Dickensian whimsy.

Balzac seemed concerned with the damage being done to human relationships by contemporary society's obsession with money. In "Eugenie Grandet", everything has its price - the characters only have worth in terms of their personal monetary wealth. It struck me that this has been a recurring theme in modern fiction - a questioning within capitalist societies of whether the material wealth that is produced by the economic system underpinning those societies is of itself a sufficiently fulfilling raison d'etre, or whether more is needed to meet human needs.

It is a delightful short tale of a pathetic story. Eugenie Grandet is not be the best novel from Balzac, but their characters are truly unforgetable. Reading this book would be a very satisfying experience. A Hint: Read it after Ursula Miruët; the stories are not connected, but a comparison of the heroines, and endings of both stories, worths the pain.

I have read Eguenie Grandet and ever since then i have developed an unsatiable omnivorous Balzac appetite. Few years have passed since i read 'La Pierre gouriot' (which i found quite boring at the time. when i was 15). and today i find balzac to be one of the most heart-rending authors i have ever read. The true compassion one feels for his herorines is unchallenged - thanks god Balzac wrote 97 finished novels. Also, the descriptions in this book are no doubt of the best descriptions ever written, filled with warmth and poetry. Balzac gives us realism but his realism is filled with warmth, the compassion the characters sometimes lack is being compensated by the readers compassion. To read Eugenie Grandet is to know what compassion is!

not grea

Su

I started reading this book last night and was up till 3:00AM! I couldn't put it down. Every turn of the page was another adventure and another laugh.

'Eleanor of Aquitaine' is the story of the 12th century French queen of both England and France. Hers was an interesting life, and Marion Meade tells it quite well. In a real Epic, Eleanor marries the kings of France and of England, goes on a crusade, gives birth to no less then 10 children, including Richard Lion Heart and King John. She divorces one husband and participates in a rebellion against the second. She helps to of her sons reign as kings, and finally dies before watching the collapse of the empire she so desired.

The problem with Meade's narrative is that much of what she describes seems debatable. As a previous reviewer noted, this seems as much fiction as fact. hardly a page goes by without the words 'must have' appearing somewhere. Much of the thoughts, plans, and ideas of Eleanor and other characters is pure speculation. Worse yet, often some of the actions and whereabouts of characters are given based on extreme circumstantial evidence.

Meade is also trying to hard to model Eleanor into a modern style feminist. Although she constantly attempts to depict Eleanor as an active, resourceful and wise woman, who rarely if ever makes mistakes, it is quite clear that Eleanor does not fit into that model. In fact, I got the impression you could easily have written the story of Eleanor as an essentially passive bystander in the political dramas involving her parents, husbands and children.

The footnotes, by the way, are complete waste of time for anyone trying to distinguish fact and fiction in Meade's work, unless one is a scholar of the period.

Ultimately 'Eleanor of Aquitaine' is a very good read, but one suspects it is a poor history.

Name 5 important women born between 100 a.d. and 1900 a.d. Eleanor of Aquitaine has to be on your list, perhaps in the first or second postion.

Born in the 12th century, she married Louis VII of France, divorced him and married Henry II King of England. She bore 10 children, 2 to Louis, and 8 to Henry. Among them Prince John and Richard the lion hearted of Robin Hood fame.

It was a time of great change. The Church was changing. It no longer saw women soley as the spawn of Satan. The cult of the Virgin Mary was taking hold. The politics of monarchy were changing. King Louis VII ruled only a small portion of what is modern day France. King Henry II wasn't even English, but a French nobleman who benefited from the untimely death of William the Conqueror's heir, and Civil War in England. He could "seize the day".(Horace) The second crusade led by Louis, failed miserably; perhaps some of modern day Muslin/Christian conflict has roots here. It appears that Louis did not heed Horace's advice.

And Eleanor, where was she? Well she joined Louis on the Crusade. In fact she was blamed for the outcome of the first disasterous battle. It seems that it is easier to blame the queen and her excessive luggage, than the head of the crusading army. Thousands began the Crusade, only hundreds returned. It is not hard to imagine how Eleanor and the others felt. But, she was stuck with Louis. Or was she? Louis needed a male heir, and Eleanor had not produced one. Divorce was not what Louis wanted, but he did need that male heir, and Eleanor was not getting any younger. And so, he freed Eleanor.

Imagine Louis' surprise at her marrying Henry just 8 weeks later. By the way she forgot to ask his permission. Louis was not happy.

But Henry was. He got Eleanor and Acquitaine, 5 sons of which 4 survived to manhood, 3 daughters who through marriage, could be used to achieve his political ambitions. Everything is going so well. Then what does he do? Well, Henry falls in love. Eleanor moves out, back to Aquitaine. And then? The male children of this estranged couple plot against their father, then seek asylum with Louis Capet, Eleanor's X. Of course, mother Eleanor is easy to blame.

In modern terms we might refer to this family as disfunctional. However, that disfunction had a price, and a payoff. France and England warred on and off over the next 300 years. Eleanor's decendants sat on the thrones of England, France, Jerusalem, and the Holy Roman Empire. We remember her today. And unlike many of the middle ages chroniclers, we think that she was important and we admire her.

It is difficult to write a biography from the distance of eight or nine centuries. There are few reliable, contemporay sources. It is most difficult to write one about the most powerful woman in Europe, since few thought that women were important enough to chronicle except in the blame game. Marion Meade has done such an admirable job. Her biography make Eleanor come alive. That this book, copywrited in 1977, remains in print is a testament to her impecable research and excellent writing.

I highly recommend this book.

Just as with most world-wide examples today, the historical lives of English monarchs and other persons of power and fame was dominated by men. But, as women mature I personally believe we grow weary of so much exposure to one-sided male perspective. This book helped alleviate my weariness. Meade does Eleanor, and the rest of us, a service by telling Eleanor's incredible story of power and politics and gender with a historians well researched, reasoned clarity, a scholar's forth-rightness, and a woman's sensitivity. And what a story did Eleanor's life make!

Hey, I'm an archetype anyway you slice it. Prodigal, jester, shaman, wanderer-it's all in there. I have made millions of dollars from ideas that come to me in dreams. Jung would laugh at this book. Believe me. Look inside yourself. And laugh.

Jung is loopy. Jungian psychology is loopy. Jungian psychologists are loopy. It surprises me that people take this stuff as seriously as they do. Maybe there's a good Jungian explanation for that too. That said, Jung was, in my opinion, the Wagner of early psychology, and, like Wagnerian opera, there's a lot to be learned by mulling over some of the ideas presented therein. But remember, Jung was more of a Romantic philosopher than a psychologist. Colorful stuff. Just don't take it too seriously.

This book has gone a lone way toward helping me bring some key issues in my life and dreams to consciousness. Having read a lot of Woodman's writings I'd have to say that this may be one of her most key books.

After reading the review written by the reviewer below I'm reminded of the fact that the Jungian way of thinking is not for everyone. Those who always take life events, stories, dreams, and personalities literally will probably think this book is loopy. However, I have found that the use of archetypal images and themes in exploring my life goes a long way toward getting at the depths of who I am without explaining away the mystery or reducing myself to a one dimensional being.

Woodman is a brilliant archetypal thinker. This book is so dense with good stuff that it is impossible to absorb it all in one or even two readings. Well worth having around to read over and over again

Most men don't understand how to dress and so they dress alike. This book shows you, in simple clear photos and not a lot of text (no one reads all the text in a style book), how to have fun, get some style and be sexy. The photos are of handsome, well dressed men from various eras (style is timeless) that men can admire and imitate. Tom Cruise, Ben Affleck have nothing on James Dean, Dean Martin and Steve McQueen.

This isn't a book for beginners. If you need someone to teach you how to get dressed--buy another book. But if you want inspiration for developing your own style, this book will get you excited about getting dressed in the morning. It doesn't dictate how you should dress. Instead, it tries to show timeless style from the kind of men other men look up to.

Most men's clothing books tell you how to dress, as if you were [mentally impaired]. But this gives you plenty of great ideas from movie stars throughout the 20th Century. Style never changes (even if fashion does) and this book proves it!

I was really looking forward to this bio about writer Frances Marion, but I couldn't help but be disappointed. It's certainly a complete and scholarly work, but I came away with very little sense of what Marion was really like as a person, what her writing was like or her wit. She was at one time the highest paid writer in Hollywood, but I felt barely acquainted with her when I had finished the book. I have found other books (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.'s for example) which give a closer look at early Hollywood. What I did like however was the wealth of information about Marion's famous friends such as Marie Dressler, Mary Pickford and Hedda Hopper. And the bibliography is excellent.

I bought this book on a whim. I was looking for books on some of the great silent stars..Marion Davis, Mary Pickford, Colleen Moore, Olive Thomas, etc. I find it incredibly hard to find books about the Golden Age of Hollywood. After reading this work, I was taken back to a time when flickers were just coming in to vogue and when women could thrive in a burgeoning industry! The author - Cari Beauchamp did an excellent job of capturing the feel of the Golden age of Hollywood. I thought that her research was extensive and considering the limited amount of information available on women in this era, very complete. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in recapturing the essence of the Golden Age of Hollywood in their very modern living rooms of today.

I loved this book! The author recognizes the greatness of her subject and rises to the occasion, writing in a highly engaging style. I was most impressed with Marion's deep friendships with her female co-horts through the years from Mary Pickford to newspaper columnist Jill Jackson (still active, by the way). Thoroughly entertaining, interesting, and moving at times. Anybody who believes there is no such thing as friendship in Hollywood has obviously never read this book. I only wish Mary Pickford had as sympathetic a personal biographer as the author is here. She, like, Frances Marion, was one of the greats.

This is a light entertaining story good for reading when you don't want to think a whole lot and just want something to occupy your thoughts. Its nice and short which is good because if the book had been much longer it would have become tiresome. As it is the book is amusing while you're reading it but there's nothing remarkable enough about it to make you remember it once you've put it down.

THE COMPANY OF CATS is just the right length for a very enjoyable quick-reading cozy. Her style reminds me of Lydia Adamson's. So, if you like this one, check out Adamson's "cat" books. This one is all plot -- it has almost no sense of place. In fact, a couple of times I lost track of where everybody was. And the many characters were rather cartoonish and not too deeply drawn. But that's O.K. It was still a lot of fun. Babson's books are NOT a series -- each stands alone, so you can start with any one of them. I'm really enjoying them.

This is a very good book. I couldn't put it down. The writing is fast, the characters interesting, the cats most lovable. I enjoyed the main character, Annabel. She was clever and a push over for a cat (cats) in distress. I will add this writer to my list of favorite mystery writers.

There are 26 short stories in this 16th addition to the female-oriented fantasy anthology, Sword & Sorceress, as summarized below:

A Japanese woman encounters a turtle-like creature whose fate is in her hands when she accidentally injures it in Fujiko's "The Kappa's Gift". >> A mythical room known as "The Changeless Room" (by Charlotte Carlson) materializes in a young girl's family cellar one day. Marion considers this one horror, but I don't. It's not very scary, just confusing. >> "Isabelle and the Siren" by Mary Catelli -- A woman with acute depression avoids the fatal song of a siren, though the townsfolk aren't as lucky. People with depression can probably relate to this one. >> "Dragon's Tear" by Sonya Fedotowsky -- An elf and her three companions travel to a dragon's cave in search of a jewel that will save her island. A good one. >> "A Sister's Blood" by Patricia B. Cirone -- Confined in a dungeon, two sisters--one a swordswoman, the other a sorceress--try to find a way out of their prison cell. >> "Changed" by Lisa Deason -- A woman visits a magician, known as the Collector, who shapeshifts her--as well as others--into half-human/half-animal creatures, then keeps them as caged circus freaks. Vaguely reminded me of Peter S. Beagle's "The Last Unicorn". >> A ruthless king demands a sorceress to help him attain "The Power to Change the Shape of the Land" in Dayle A. Dermatis' story. The ending was a bit unfinished. Not bad though. >> "The Frog Prince" by Linda J. Dunn -- A princess is forced to kiss frog after frog in a king's attempt to find his shapeshifting son. A unique twist on the same-named fable. >> "Honey From the Rock" by Dorothy J. Heydt -- A sorceress tries to heal a dying Greek goddess, Artemis.

"The Will of the Wind" by Christina Krueger -- A teacher ignores the regulations and traditions of her school in order to initiate one of her talented students into the Priesthood. Bittersweet ending. >> A martial arts student is asked to judge a kata contest in Carol E. Leever's "Moonlight on Water". Cat & martial arts lovers should like this one. >> "Nine Springs" by Kathleen M. Massie-Ferch -- A warrior searches for a sacred spring that will heal her dying friend. Another good one. >> This poetic story deals with the reincarnation of a "Mistweaver" (by Terry McGarry). >> "Waking the Stone Maiden" by Cynthia McQuillin -- A young woman searches for the Stone Maiden. Another good one. >> "City of No-Sleep" by Vera Nazarian -- A city is transformed every night when the king falls asleep. Imaginative setting. >> "Daughter of the Bear" by Diana Paxson -- When a woman is blamed for killing a man, she calls on a Viking bear god to prove her innocence. >> "The Wishing Stones" by Lisa S. Silverthorne -- A captured sorceress plots her freedom through three little wishing stones. Nice & short. >> "A Fool's Game" by Selina Rosen -- A woman seeks the teachings of a legendary swordswoman. Good lesson on life in general.

"The Anvil of Her Pride" by Lawrence Schimel -- A swordsmith's profession proves to be the demise of the man she loves. >> "The Dancing Men of Ballyben" by Laura J. Underwood -- A mageborn woman attempts to rescue a young man who's been transformed into stone during the day. >> "Salt & Sorcery" by Elisabeth Waters & Michael Spence differs from the others, in that it's more of a present-day story set on a college campus. Some spellwork/magic. >> "Weaving Spells" by Lawrence Watt-Evans -- A woman searches for her missing fiancee in a wizard's castle. >> "Enaree: An Azkhantian Tale" by Deborah Wheeler -- A woman tires to break her traditional role in this desert setting. >> "The Day They Ran Out of Princesses" by Gail Sosinsky Wickman -- A servant is ennobled as a princess in order to sacrifice her to a tyrannical winged slug. (laughing) Yes, a flying slug. :) Glad we don't have those in the Northwest. >> "Taking Flight" by Susan Wolven -- A woman's sister's hawk returns with a message for her. >> Katherine L. Rogers' "The Vision That Appeared" I had to read twice, even though it was, like, 2 pages. It's about a woman who attempts an old family spell. Not a terrific ending to this book, but it'll do.

As with most short story anthologies, this collection has a mixture of excellent stories, mediocre ones, and ones that are easily forgotten by the next page. But what probably bugged me the most in this book was how Marion had to give her two cents in every author bio. Still, fans of fantasy should like this series, not just feminists/women readers, though it tends to attract a female audience.

Okay, this book is set up just like all the others in the Sword & Sorceress series. However, this one seems to be one of the better ones of the series. Marion Zimmer Bradley seems to know what her readers/fans like to read. Excellent stories!

As usual MZB came out with another enjoyable collection of Sword & Sorceress. # 16 isn't quite as good as 8 or 9, my favorites, but it's still great fun. My favorite story in this volume is Choices by Lisa Deason, a really original take on shapeshifting that entertained me and made me think. Also worthy of special mention are Moonlight on Water by Carol Leever and Enaree by Deborah Wheeler--it's refreshing to read great fantasy stories based on ethnicities other than Western European. The only reason I'm not giving this anthology five stars is because of the sprinkling of mediocre, highly forgettable stories in among the gems--so forgettable I've already forgotten what they were called. There's nothing truly bad here, however, and this is a very solid entry in the series.