Bones of the Earth, Spirit of the Land: The Sculpture of John Van Alstine will be of interest to working artists, as well as to all readers with an interest in contemporary art and the process of turning ideas into visual form. An extensive collection of color photographs (images of sculptures supplemented by drawings and landscape photographs, a less well-known aspect of his work) documents the evolution of Van Alstine's stone sculpture, from a smooth, polished Modernism to the aesthetic of raw, unfinished stone favored by Noguchi and the land-based Postminimalist strategies of Richard Serra. In the 1970s, he began assembling unworked stones, adding wood and metal to create works that respond to the landscape and allude to a narrative impulse beyond the rigors of form. His later works continue to synthesize stone and metal (the signature of Van Alstine's sculptural vocabulary), now throwing found objects, such as a fuel tank and anchor, into the mix. These recent sculptures move from a response to the landscape to an exploration of humanity's relation to the land through forms that evoke tools, vessels, and transport. The introductory essay by Nick Capasso reinforces the story told by the photographs, discussing the sculptures, public art commissions, and works on paper. Here we learn of Van Alstine's early memories of stone and his various personal experiences of the landscape-whether in the Adirondack Mountains of his childhood or in Laramie, Wyoming, where he taught in the '70s. Capasso provides a succinct and informative discussion, guided by the principle that for Van Alstine "stone is everything," and shows an acute sensitivity to the artist's feeling for his chosen materials and the nuanced changes in their treatment over the years. Van Alstine also has the opportunity to speak for himself in an interview with Glenn Harper, Editor of Sculpture magazine. (Another version of the interview appeared in the May 2000 issue of Sculpture.) In this illuminating discussion of materials, process, and content, the artist identifies key technical realizations and pivotal conceptual leaps behind the changes in his work. Harper draws out several fascinating explanations of the layered meanings underlying the abstractions and found objects in Sledge (1992) and Ara (1989). Bones of the Earth as a whole gives a detailed portrait of an artist committed to his materials, his craft, and his place in the real landscape. Its pages reveal Van Alstine's unique mediation between, in Capasso's words, "image, object, and place."

This book will enchant readers about the wonderful world of touring Europe on a bicycle. It will inspire you to plan a week's vacation and travel to France to enjoy the countryside, food and hospitality of the country that respects bicycles more than cars. This book will describe in detail the days-in and days-out of a long bike tour through Britain, with a group, roughing it. Proof positive that it can be done, but not anyone is Jane Schnell - a postive energy source who will not be denied the opportunity to cycle anywhere in the world at any age. After reading "Both Are Better" I wanted to load up my bike with panniers and set off down the road, with tailwinds, of course. A great read, even while on the road trip.

Harper Allen offers another wonderful Avengers tale in "The Bride and the Mercenary." Right before her wedding, Ainslie O'Connell is stunned to see a homeless man outside the church who bears a striking resemblance to Seamus Malone, the man she'd loved and lost two years ago. Throwing caution to the wind, she goes after him. Soon she finds herself on the run with a man with no memory, running from assassins who will stop at nothing until he's dead. Can Ainslie convince him he knows her, when she's no longer sure she knew him at all?

"The Bride and the Mercenary" is a solid tale by this author, though it doesn't rank with her best. It features most of the elements her fans have come to expect from her: nonstop action, creative storytelling, a strong-willed heroine and a highly romantic tone. Allen fills her story with many inventive touches that make it unique. I love Seamus's hideaway. I loved that Ainslie was a boxer. I loved that she had an adopted daughter, but that the kid wasn't a big part of the story. It was just part of the heroine's character. I love the attention the author gives to the most minor of characters we meet along the way. Witness how fleshed out the hero's former partner is in a few pages compared to how some authors can fail to develop their characters in entire books.

That said, I didn't enjoy "The Bride and the Mercenary" as much as the first two Avengers books. If those books were extraordinary, this one was only very good. It was somewhat disappointing to see the third book in this series be an amnesia story when the first Avengers tale, "Guarding Jane Doe" was also an amnesia book. Seeing amnesia strike twice in such a small group of people, let alone the first and third books in a series, is a little far-fetched for me. Just like in GJD, the amnesiac here is convinced he must be a bad person and a murderer, though this conflict is much more frustrating and exhausting than it was in the earlier book. It's also a little too easy to predict what's really going on and most readers will figure out who the villain is early on, though the road there is filled with unexpected twists and turns.

However, one of the pleasures of Allen's books is that unlike many romance novels these days, they are romantic. They aren't just two people with a lot of sexual chemistry or a lot in common who get to know each other over 250 pages and decide to get married in the end. Allen's books have such a strong sense of romantic atmosphere that the reader can truly feel these are two people who are meant to be together. This is one author who manages to capture the magic of falling in love. Her heroines are some of the best around and her heroes are strong, honorable men any woman would fall for.

While "The Bride and the Mercenary" wasn't as surprising as the author's other books, it was a pleasure to read, being swept up in the action and emotion of good romantic suspense.

Brimstone was actually a lot more fun than i had initially thought it would be. My first impressions on picking the novel up were: "another Regency-period comedy of manners with cravats and corsets, blah, blah, blah." And actually, it is. But i have to say, the hero, Lord Brynston, is excessively sexy, and the heroine is even quite tolerable. Oddly enough, the character who i really enjoyed the most was Brynston's little brother--a VERY minor character--who seems to be some sort of larval, unnervingly articulate Devil-incarnate. The antagonists seemed to lack a truly believable motivation for pursuing Katie and her father (some moonshine about owing money .... Not that anyone really reads Regency novels for the quality of it's villain's motives. However, i kept trying to reconcile a couple of middle-eastern henchmen eunning loose about the urbane English countryside for years looking for the Starrs and gave myself a headache. on the whole though, lots of fun.

A very amusing book on how the moon changes it shape. Very easy to follow and the pictures are wonderful. My nephew, who is 6, talks about his favorite book "Cabbage Moon" all the time.

This book tells you about the incredible story of the emotional and magical saga of the 1996 New York Yankees. This book also includes all the stats of the 1996 team.

The story begins with Laura's husband offering his wife to another man as payment for his gambling losses. He ends up paying with his life. Laura Cheney is a gently-bred lady with spunk. She's went through labor alone and she's penniless. While she digging for water, her son is kidnapped by the man who won her in a bet. Though she has no money, Laura is desperate and goes into town. She finds Deke Sheridan, a white man raised by Indians. After an illuminating conversation, he agrees to help her. I really liked this couple. Deke was harsh, but only because of his past and the surroundings he lived in. CA slowly gets Deke to respect Laura's determination (riding a horse after giving birth only three days prior, continuing on the trail while ill) and her feistiness. He also saves her life by telling his brother that she's his wife, much to Laura's dismay, but she learns their ways and comes to respect Deke's adopted family. As a mother, I felt for Laura when she realized her son was missing, and I could empathize with her wanted to find him so desperately. Deke was a heartthrob, too. He's not very educated in the intellectual sense, and his mouth is foul sometimes, but he did know a lot about human nature. Laura's steel-tempered gentility slowly cracks the shell that has become Deke's shield for so long.

This is not the best way to start your film guide library, but if you already have some comprehensive film guides, this publication is a good addition to your bookshelf. Rose does not cover a lot of titles and his understanding of what a classic is might me problematic, but the very concept of this guide is interesting. Apart from a regular movie synopsis and rating, Rose includes such sections as production trivia, best quotes, slip-ups and marketing slogans. In some cases they take much more space then the actual descriptions of the films and often make for a much more interesting read than your standard film guide reviews. Thanks to that the guide can be read like a regular book (and a very entrtaining one), not just referred to occasionally. In short - a good buy.

Even before the film "Shakespeare in Love" revitalized interest in "Twelfth Night," this play has been one of the most read of the Bard's comedies. As with the other Cliffs Notes dealing with Shakespeare, this volume begins with a brief life of Shakespeare that collects what little is actually known about the man, followed by a brief synopsis of the play and a list of characters. The Summary and Commentary section looks at each scene of the play, and is most useful if you read the commentary after you have read the corresponding scene. You simply cannot get by just reading the summary with any Shakespeare play because the dialogue is absolute crucial to any understanding or appreciation of the characters/play. The character analyses look at Viola, Olivia, Duke Orsino, the comic trio of Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, and Maria, and Malvolio. Unlike most of the little yellow books with the black stripes, you will not find sections dealing with specific literary themes or motifs. The best analysis of any Shakespeare play makes much better use of the dialogue that this particular volume does, so I have to reiterate that you cannot teach/read any play without being able to deal with specific language and key lines.

Obviously, a miniature didctionary like this one can't include the amount of information found in a home reference-type dictionary, but for a small travel dictionary, or one for a beginning student of Italian, this one is really good. I used it for a two-week, intensive language course in Rome and every word I needed for class I found in this dictionary. It's also very compact and will fit in a pocket, purse, or fanny-pack. If you want something a little more complete, yet still paperback book-size, I recommend the Bantam New College dictionary. Now, does anyone have a recommendation for a complete, home-reference dictionary???