Jared Carter's second collection shows him growing more and more comfortable writing as a formal poet. There are stanzas that show the control of great contemporary formalists like Hollander is Wilbur. While none of his poems as a whole reach that stature, he seems well on his way.

It is when he turns to free verse that he seems to stumble. Rather than finding it liberating, he oftens seems to lose his rhythm, have trouble determining where to break lines ... in other words, he has the same problem all but the best free verse poets have. Not that he is asking, but if he asked me, I'd tell him to stick to formal verse. I would similarly recommend this book to people who enjoy neoformalism.

I like the logo section and image brochures section, but I can't help to disslike what the book begins with - I think however that it is purely my own perceptual persevering that can not get past this, nor can I put my finger on exactly what is so bad with it, maybe because of the way that the book uses the page space. I don't like it until you get to p.14-15, but after that it goes bad again! A very uneven, unequal book. It ruins the rest of the book for me - my tip is to start from the back of the book and work yourself forward instead!
I could live without this book, I think that "The Big Book of Design for Letterheads and Websites" is a lot better...check that review...

This story works with gender identification. The main character is a girl who enjoys playing baseball. Her mother believes that she must balance this activity with a more feminine activity and so enrolls her in ballet. The plot is activated by some nice reversals. The art is full-page, watercolor and pastel. It is colorful and depicts an unstructured world: both figures and architectural elements are melted and out-of-kilter. I think the style has limited appeal. The illustrations miss the opportunity to depict the main character's fantasies in a manner distinct from the portrayal of reality. As such, readers may not fully understand that certain scenes occur only as a projection. While there is some multicultural representation among the humans inhabiting the story, the main characters are clearly Anglo-American.

Carter Lindberg, Professor of Church History at Boston University School of Theology, and specialist on the Reformation, offers here a piece of scholarship that will be the definitive work on reformation initatives in handling the problem of poverty, at least from a Lutheran perspective.

Lindberg's book is divided into two sections: (1) a historical presentation of reformation initiatives for the poor; (2) a collection of a dozen primary sources related to this subject. Firstly, the historical presentation, which covers the first 160 odd pages of the book, shows impressive erudition with an incredible wealth of footnotes (perhaps excessive) numbering almost two hundred per chapter. Lindberg's writing is not terribly engaging and will not likely win new fans for reformation history studies, but for the medieval historian, or the layperson who is already interested in this subject, this is tolerable. Certainly the writing is clear enough, and Lindberg first points out the historiographical context in which he is engaging before chronicling the reformation initiatives for the poor.

His point is that policy concerning the poor was in fact (and contrary to other scholars' views) affected by theological concerns, most notably a change from medieval notions of earning up salvation through almsgiving, towards the idea (re-introduced by Luther) that salvation cannot be obtained that way, and that rather giving is the natural duty of the Christian arising out of the state of forgiveness and salvation by grace through faith. He gives ample evidence to support his claims, drawn to a large part from documents which he includes in the second half of his book. Thus his argument should be taken into account by social historians who might want to downplay the importance of theology and individuals like Luther.

More entertaining than Lindberg's narrative are the primary sources contained in the second half. These are: 1. Canon Law (post-1140), 2. Jacques de Vitry, a sermon illustration, 3. John Hus "On Charity Trusts", 4. Johann Geiler of Kaysersberg "Concerning Begging", 5. Nuremberg Begging Order of 1478, 6. A Forward by Martin Luther, 7. Erasmus "Beggar Talk", 8. Andreas Bodenstein "There Should Be No Beggars Among Christians", 9. Martin Luther "Clergy Should Preach Against Usury", 10. "Concerning the Common Chest of Schwabach", 11. Order of Wittenberg (1522), 12. Poor Order of Ypres (1525).

The book also contains a bibliography, and the footnotes should provide additional reading for the serious scholar.

In summary, a very useful and necessary book for anyone interested in the subject, especially given the controversy surrounding religion-based social work even today, but not light reading or introductory material for those unfamiliar with the field.

For a person interested in Underground homes this book will give you a general introduction into some of the different techniques with this style of building. There are better books out there. If your really interested in Underground building it is best to read all the different ones you can get your hands on before you build. I would have liked to see some more photo's of completed projects in this book.

I picked up this book yesterday. I brought it home and started to answer some questions. I haven't spent alot of time on each question in particular, but I can tell you I've read almost all questions and I've figured out mabye a total of five. I take alot of logical tests and laterial thinking quizes but this one is a real toughie! I'll be on this book for a while! hope you have fun too

"Check Your IQ"? Not quite, I'm afraid, at least not if you're looking for an assessment of IQ itself.

This book consists of a series of 8 tests designed to exercise you intelligence. Although the test cannot be used as a mean to measure your IQ directly, a score chart is provided at the end of each test to give you an approximation of the ranking of your intelligence, from "Average" to "Exceptional". As one of the author of this book is a puzzle editor of the British Mensa Magazine, the tests in this book are in fact extremely close to the ones you would get if you were to take the standardised IQ test as provided by Mensa. However, this also means that there is nothing new or exciting about them either, and the questions are all very similar. In fact, we have probably all came across such types of questions before.

If you are already familiar with IQ tests, and are becoming bored with the "Which is the odd one out?" or "What comes next in the following sequence?" types of questions, then you won't be too excited about this book either. But if you're planning to take the Mensa standardised IQ test, this book can be used as a warm-up.

Contrary to its title, this book was quite "incomplete" as a guide to flower arranging. It is beautifully illustrated and offers several very creative ideas for floral centerpieces, but offers limited instruction on arranging itself. It is definitely not a book for beginners. I rated the book "3 stars" for its price (very economical) and its photography.

I expected more info on the guitar models themselves, as in "Gibson Electrics--The Classic Years". In this book, for example, hardly any mention is made of the Sorrento (which I play, and love). There's a lot of history to cover, I know, but there are way too many photos of guys with tattoos (and of women as "scenery"). Not enough details on the instruments.

This book is a strong 3 star book. I am not giving it a 4 star rating because of the fact that de Camp and Carter swiped a key ingredient from Robert E. Howard's Queen of the Black Coast (as found in Conan of Cimmeria) and placed it at the end of this story. Readers that are unfamiliar with that work will enjoy this book more than I did.

It is not a bad book mind you. It traces Conan's life as a youth in Cimmeria, through his years of bondage, until the point that he gains his freedom and embarks on the book's adventures. The reader will appreciate a fairly authentic Conan. He broods, he berserks, he is reflective, he has wit and sensibility. He is not overly polite. He is not so indomitable that he is inhuman. An intriguing bit of his religious side is revealed as well.

He befriends a thief, Subotai, who provides a hint of comic relief throughout the book without becoming a buffoon. Conan also links up with another thief named Valeria. (A character named Valeria appears in Howard's Red Nails, but they are not the same individual.) She is a very alluring character that infuses the book with an appealing feminine presence. Overall, the characterization of this book is strong. Two of the best characters are Conan's parents, but their presence is brief.

Conan's inevitable clash with the forces of evil is somewhat satisfactory, but the first half of this book is more intriguing than the last half. De Camp and Carter create some moody settings along the way that absorb the reader to some degree. Conan fans who enjoy monstrous creatures will probably not be very satisfied as they are kept to a minimum. The presence of sorcery and sexuality is not overdone. This is actually a well-balanced blend of all of the elements that make Conan stories appealing to his fans.

My main gripe is with the inclusion of elements from other Conan stories that make this book seem like a rerun at times, but I never felt like pitching the book against a wall. This book is based on the screenplay that was used in the Schwarzenegger movie, but I have never seen the movie to know how close it was to this book. If you like other work by de Camp and Carter, you will probably like this.