Courthouses Of California arrived too late for holiday mention but will enjoy a year-round audience, from library collections specializing in California history to those interested in the state's architecture in general and the rise of California courthouses in particular. The tour is organized by county and covers the entire state, picking the finer of California's older courthouses and providing surveys of its history, restorations, and events which have taken place within its walls. Fine black and white photos throughout.

astonishing. you can't see the world the same after this book.
Ray Shell gives us the opportunity to live, to think to fell what it is to be a crack addict.

What an amazing book! If you appreciate the creative "let your hair down" style, this book is for you. Can you say Peace, Love and Freespirited? Those kids on "That 70s Show" need their costume designers to get this book. The embroidered clothing is so colorful and fun, not making any kind of statement, just enjoying the expression. Macrame dresses, Tie dyed halters, patchwork capes, funky bright tennis shoes, all telling the story of free expression through colors, seemingly free form designs and attached baubles. If you are down, feeling low and in a funk, looking through this book will lift your spirits and make you want to head for the closet and get out those boring jeans and tops and give them real style. I loved the 70s, the jean purses, the torn washed jeans, the joy of the time and this book takes me back to that time with fond memories, wishing I was 16 again and could dress the way I wanted to.

It has details that would make you feel like your are apart of them.I like the end when everything comes out of the bigf screen. They also chose the best horror movies of the old ones.They used the boys in the book to explain so well what everything looked,felt,smelled,and tasted down to the bone.

Ray Garton raised eyebrows in the horror community when he came onto the scene with SEDUCTIONS and DARKLINGS (a favorite of mine) but it was his third novel LIVE GIRLS that earned him cult status among fans and it is still reverred as one of the most frightening vampire novels ever written. CRUCIFAX was his paperback follow up to that novel and it proved him to be a leader among a new generation of horror authors. His work set a new standard in the genre, mainly involving in-your-face horror and gore (which later became known as the Splatterpunk movement, I believe.) CRUCIFAX is a kind of play on The Pied Piper story in a modern setting, but infinitely darker and more terrifying. The Piper in this case is a dark and dangerous man who insinuates himself in with all the bored and jaded and runaway teenagers in a CA town. A young man (who has a very complicated relationship with his little sister,) begins to worry about her when she joins what has become a cult of personality around the dark man. But the young man has no idea what is in store for him when he decides to rescue her. The man who holds her is evil incarnate. And not only does he have the power of psychic domination over the cult members, he commands a pack of wolverine-rat-like creatures that he uses on those who try to fight him... Garton's strengths are his characters and his passion. It burns in a clear, crisp writing style that makes for compelling reading. Keep in mind, however, CRUCIFAX is unapolgetic horror and things get very bloody. (In fact, there is an infamous chapter missing from this mass market paperback that apparently didn't make it past the editor and was later included in a small press "writer's cut" edition called CRUCIFAX AUTUMN.) When Garton does horror, (and he doesn't write enough of them for my tastes) there are few out there that can match him. Highly recommended.

I am a fan of the so-called splatter-punk genre. This is by far the best example of this genre out on the market today. The plot itself is a twisted take on the old fairy tale "The Pied Piper of Hamlin." I loved this book!!!!

This book is one of the best introduction in crystal structure analysis that I have ever seen! Due to it's limited size (and price !!) it covers the most important topics of x-ray structure analysis in an easy understandable language without boring the reader with mathematical details. You really get a good impression about what the basic principles and problems of x-crystallography are, and how the can be solved. Everybody wanting to start with x-ray structure analysis should read this book at the very beginning.

The book covers diverse areas about clay minerals and describe very clrarly how to identify their structure using X-ray diffraction. The book is written in an ordered way, very easy to understand, allowing quick use. This subject is very interesting, because new worldwide researched technologies, nano-technologies, are dealing with clay minerals. although the book was written at 1980, I greatly recommand it. New books about this subject are not available, and other books are much less detailed and friendly to the reader.

The book "Crystallography in Modern Chemistry - Resource Book of Crystal Structures" by Thomas W.C. Mak and Gong-Du Zhou (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1992, ISBN 0-471-54702-6) is always on my bookshelf - and I constantly refer to it.

Why? The answer is simple: It is the best resource book about chemical structures I know. I use it constantly to compare the molecular structures I obtain with the ab-initio calculations I do with Gaussian 98W with the structures discussed in the book.

The authors have collected crystal and molecular structures to illustrate chemical concepts for their introductory and advanced lectures at several universities over a period of 25 years. And what a magnificent collection of structures they have managed to collect, reproduce, discuss and place in perspective!

This collection covering 1323 pages ranges from the "run-of-the-mill" structures for freshman chemistry courses (Chapter 2; 27 structures; about 160 pages of structures, data and illustrations), main group inorganic compounds (Chapter 3; 43 structures; about 280 pages), inorganic compounds of the transition elements (Chapter 4; 23 structures; about 260 pages), organic compounds (Chapter 5; 23 structures; about 110 pages), organometallic compounds (Chapter 6; 16 compounds; about 160 pages) ans inclusion compounds (Chapter 7; 9 compounds; about 130 pages).

I must emphasize that the term "compound" in my list in the previous paragraph is far wider than just a single compound, for instance, the discussion of the compound "Zinc Blende, ZnS" compares it with many of the other compounds having the ideal zinc blende structure; a useful set of references for further reading is also provided for each compound type.

The authors did not include structures haphazardly, but put a lot of thought into the selection of structures which are useful for illustrating chemical concepts, for instance, including hexamethyl benzene and its structural problems. The crystal and molecular structure of benzene, the symmetry of the benzene molecule as deduced from vibrational spectra, the actual equilibrium geometry of the benzene molecule, the structures of the hexa-substituted benzenes (hexachloro-, hexanitro-, hexaamino-, etc.), as well as borazine and its P- and Al-analogues, etc are also discussed. The discussion emphasizes the similariity, as well as the differences between these intriguing compounds, and the list of about 30 references to the original and extended literature invites the reader to delve deeper.

A book which compliments the book by Mak and Zhou is the very valuable book written by Kozo Kuchitsu (Editor), "Structures of Free Polyatomic Molecules - Basic Data", Springer Verlag, Berlin, 1998, ISBN 3-540-60766-8), which collects the structural data of some free polyatomic molecules. However, since it's purpose is to provide a collection of critically evaluated structural data and references, it does not provide a discussion of the individual structures.

In conclusion, I can say that I recommend that all teachers of chemistry should use the book by Mak and Zhou, and that all libraries should own copies of it for the use of their students. The only reason why I use the library copy is the cost of the book - namely, US$240.

And I wish that the book were available in electronic format on a CD-ROM - it would make it a far more useful teaching tool, since its structures and tables could then be electronically projected from a laptop in a well-equipped classroom and discussed without the need of Xeroxes and copyright problems! In addition, a CD-ROM ought to be cheaper than the printed version and students could buy it. Strange, in this age of the information highway, that this has not been done. I would strongly recommend it!

This is a grand collection of writings by some of the best writers, who happen to be latino, in the United States today.These are the tales of an emerging group of people whose experiences are as diverse as the ethnic groups they come from. There are Cubans, Puerto Ricans and Mexicanos, all different , all Americans with a common thread, their Spanish heritage and a new found country. The collection of essays, fiction, non-fiction, excerts from novels and poetry are splendid echoes from the souls of Americans. The cultural differences aside, the homogenous nature of these offerings are in their portrayl of people who want to be recognized for what they are, Americans, who just happen to have different experiences from those in the dominant culture. These experiences give validity to the lives of many who may feel disenfranchised just because they are different. The words are so powerful, so funny, so sad, so real. This book is a favorite of mine to share with students. I read from this book yearly at a read in for middle school children and always get the class thinking, maybe reflective, but always roaring with laughter in the end. The students invariably ask me where I found the book and where could they get a copy. Mine is worn out, like an old glove that fits perfectly after years of use, it is still serviceable, full of dog eared pages but I continue to break it out yearly for the students benefit. What is nice about this book is that it can be read in sections, as the format of short stories lends itself to frequent endings. This is a great collection of writings that will not disapoint, in fact it will inspire you and make you greatful for what you have and who you are. If you are interested in the experiences of your latino friends and how they came to be who they are this book will provide insights. Written by Americans, for all people to understand why we are all different but still Americans.