In short, I did read the book, and it left me breathless. I don't think I have ever finished a book in a quicker time. We had 2 weeks to finish and take the "proof" quiz, and I think I must have done both before the first was out.

Now, 7 years later I am 20 and find myself typing this review on my computer in a little room of Phillips Hall, Michigan State University. I'm in my second year, and am starting my first novel. It was kind of strange, really. As I sat here at my desk citing a story line in my head, the thought of "Invitation" suddenly occured, and without any sort of pre-meditated planning on thinking about it. It just happened.

It took a few moments, but I soon realized what had happened. The book I am planning has a small trace of commonality with "Invitation", and the thoughts of my own soon-to-be novel triggered the memory of it. I found this occurence to be utterly amazing, since I had never remembered anything before without first thinking about it. "Invitation" must have really left a lasting impression on me, even if it took me seven years to realize it.

It's a funny thing - how something as simple as a collection of words can stay with somebody so long and come back to them when they least expect it. As a person who is new to novel-writing, I hope that my books will have the same effect in the years to come.

Okay, I've rambled long enough. Some of the people that wrote bad reviews really need to rethink what they're saying. A piece of art isn't always 'good' based on how much blood was spilled.

Please keep reading...any books.

Secondly, I have found myself to be quite in love with Florence. Even though she is a fictional character, her innocence and love and affection for everyone who is kind to her has won me over. If only Florence could come to life, travel through time to the twenty-first century, and arrive in my household, I would love her forever as my sister. I am quite jealous of Walter Gay indeed.

As with the other Lonely planet books,the target audience are independant travellers who will find lots of essential information - such as locations of supermarkets, laundromats and other conveniences.

The maps at the back of the book are easy to read and accuratew butI would also recommend buying a pocket subway map ( easily available in london) because all travellers will need to refer to it very ofen and it is tedious to have to refer to the back of the book constantly.

only problem i had while using this book was that all attractions are listed with the name of the nearest underground station but there is no information on how to walk to the place from the stations.

The book begins when Professor Pierre Aronnax, the narrator of the story, boards an American frigate commissioned to investigate a rash of attacks on international shipping by what is thought to be an amphibious monster. The supposed sea creature, which is actually the submarine Nautilus, sinks Aronnax's vessel and imprisons him along with his devoted servant Conseil and Ned Land, a temperamental harpooner. When they are returned to their senses, the find themselves inside a dark, gloomy, desolate, endless, predicament. They are locked in a cell. However they soon meet Captain Nemo who agrees to let them move about the ship freely on one condition. They must remain aboard the Nautilus. So begins a great adventure of a truly fantastic voyage from the pearl-laden waters of Ceylon to the icy dangers of the South Pole, as Captain Nemo, one of the greatest villains ever created, takes his revenge on all society.

The detail that Verne pours into this book is amazing. This is one of the few books that are capable of making the readers feel that they are actually there. His descriptions of how the Nautilus operates, how Nemo's crew harvests food and his account of hunting on Hawaii are excellent, and the plot never falters. The characters are wonderfully scripted; each one having their own unique personality, and they are weaved flawlessly into the awe filled spectacle.

This is the book that predicted that there would be submarines, and that submarines would eventually go to the South Pole. It predicted the development of the SCUBA suit; it even predicted nuclear powered ships. The technology used in this book makes it easy to understand even today. This book is widely recognized as a classic- in my view, correctly.

I needed a good quality book that would extend my PHP knowledge without treating me like an idiot for the first four chapters or wasting my time with high end stuff I'll never use.

I appreciate cookbooks, I have the Perl Cookbook, Perl CGI/Cookbook and a couple of similar C volumes and find they are useful to get me pointed in thie right direction in both method and style. Often, of course, the code I end up with bears little resemblance to the cookbook code but it saves me time. They also provide a large number of examples of how to perform real world tasks with a language which I find an easier way of learning a language than some dry textbook with short snippets of example code.

In the 24 sections this book covers a huge range of tasks, from the simple, such as string manipulation, through to the highly complex such as drawing graphics with GD and outputting XML.

Each section is broken down into a number (the average is about 8 or 9) problems, each problem comes with at least one solution and a discussion. The discussion will often mention other avenues of approach for variations of the original problem as well as detailing the various parts of the solution.

This book is extremely well structured, well written and useful. I would recommend it for anyone already using PHP or intending to do so in the future.

It gives problems and solutions to everyday problems that programmers face, and conveniently groups the examples by category, such as strings, arrays, etc.

PHP Developer's Cookbook helped me with many of the tasks that I was currently embarking upon, and looking through its contents helped me find new and better solutions for current and future problems.

A word of warning, however, this book will probably NOT teach you PHP. The categories are not placed in a good order for beginners, but are great for those of intermediate and expert programmers alike. If you are new to PHP, I would say look elsewhere, say PHP Essentials, but I would recommend that you definetely keep this text in mind if you decide to further your PHP skills. Strongly recommended for intermediate and expert PHP programmers.

PHP Developer's Cookbook is for INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED users that have already had their introduction, already used PHP for a while, and find themselves, while working on a project, saying, "How do you validate an email address?" or "How do we save sessions in a database?"

This is a book of PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS, broken into little categories for easy reference. (Look at the table of contents.) Of course you could go through it from start to finish and learn quite a bit, even if you're not working on a big project yet.

All that being said, THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST VALUABLE PHP BOOKS I'VE EVER SEEN, and I've seen them all. It's the only one I'm going to keep on my desk now as I work. It's exactly what I was looking for. (I work on PHP projects all day, and am constantly searching the mailing lists to remember how to create drop-down-menus, how to process individual words in a text file, etc. This book has it all!)

Combine this with the new feature on www.php.net that lets you type "www.php.net/functionname" to immediately look up the manual page for every PHP function, and you're all set!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I read this book in one sitting. The author's stunning use of the language grabbed me and simply would not let me go until I learned what really happened to Isobel Howard and her mysterious friend Cathryn in the summer of 1936.

It's been a long time since a new author has enjoyed such a command of the written word....she's a great storyteller and I look forward to reading her next work.

If you like a well told story, with flawed, but interesting characters, this is a book for you. Following Isobel's life through to its ultimate conclusion is a great ride.

Enjoy!

Frankie Daniels is a tough-talking, hard-as-nails Atlanta police detective. She is thrown for a loop when her affair (she thought he was divorced) with the police commissioner's son-in-law, is revealed.

Frankie is 'transferred' to Purdeyville, a Mayberry-like town with a good looking sheriff sweeter than Andy Griffith. She arrives to find the smoldering ruins of her new rented house, and a bristly encounter with her new boss Marshall Matt Webber.

This tough and streetwise lady softens throughout the book as she adopts some of the values of the small southern town. There is a ton of fun as this mouthy Atlanta cop has to deal with barking dachshunds, a loose bull, the price of Alma Grimes' Pecan Pie, and similar routine police work.

But murder and mayhem (and bad luck) seem to follow her, and she and Matt have a plateful of crimes to solve. Frankie fights her attraction to the warm and sensitive Marshall, not wanting to make the same mistake twice. The ensuing mystery was exciting and had a suprise ending.

Charlotte Hughes has a wonderful voice, and she is rumored to be "breaking out". Certainly her latest novel, combined with her recent impressive work for MIRA abd with janet Evanovich, would indicate a load of talent. The romantic tension between Matt and Frankie is an interesting turn, since Matt is a wonderful male lead and Frankie almost doesn't deserve him. But he finds the softness under her bitter facade, and he thinks she is a keeper.

I can't say enough about the robust fun, and the quirky hard sweetness of this book. The fast pace and compelling plot is a bonus and it would have been a favorite without the mystery. I loved the supporting cast as well, and wished the book would never end.

The vulnerabilities created by witnessing the worse of mankind's depravity on Atlanta's streets combines with the lies her former lover told, leave Frankie rather hard edged-except when she yields to her emotions by crying in the shower. She has stopped seeing the people involved by crimes, thinking in terms of case numbers instead. She even wonders if she has lost her femininity. Meeting Police Chief Matt Weber forces her to reevaluate herself, her past and her future.

Having already dealt with the results of "fraternization", Frankie fights her attraction to the sinfully sensual chief. But as small town crime increases, Frankie finds it increasingly difficult to maintain her distance. Matt's clear regarding his feelings, but Frankie backs off when she becomes the object of small town gossip. But taking down the town bully and finds her hotel room vandalized demonstrates that Frankie has thrust herself in the middle of small town drama and the ... danger it can present.

Irreverently humorous moments lend a marvelous touch of levity to the wonderful romantic suspense HOT SHOT. Frankie thinks she is a hot shot when she arrives in Purdyville with ten years of street smarts. As she finds out how out of touch she is with humanity, however, she learns to balance street smarts with genuine concern. Yet author charlotte Hughes respects the strength that allows a detective to walk the Atlanta streets for ten years by not compromising the qualities that make Frankie unique - from her chain smoking to her ability to floor an unruly man twice her size in a parking lot. In addition, Matt's steadfast determination to win her heart, defend her reputation, and still respect Frankie as a person likewise will win reader's hearts. Further, Hughs masterfully captures the flavor of small town living that makes it unique, especially illustrated when Frankie brings a store-bought cake in a plastic container to a potluck. A tale of redemption, love and healing, HOT SHOT comes very highly recommended.

What if you had been switched in the baby nursery at the hospital for another child? How might your life have been different?

These are the kinds of thoughts that will occur to you as you read Pudd'nhead Wilson.

I was attracted to the story after reading about its genesis in the new illustrated biography of Mark Twain.

Pudd'nhead Wilson is tragic story about the consequences of two children being switched at birth in the slave-holding society of the American South. Those who admire the eloquent portrayal of common humanity among African-Americans and whites in Huckleberry Finn will find more examples of this point to delight them in Pudd'nhead Wilson.

Pudd'nhead Wilson was a novel that gave Mark Twain a great many problems. The book started as a short story about Italian Siamese twins with a farcical character, as the drunken twin caused the Prohibitionist one to get into trouble with his woolly headed sweetheart. As Twain turned the story into a novel, the most important characters began to disappear in favor of new characters. Stymied, Twain realized that he had written two stories in one novel. He then excised the original of the two stories in favor of the tragedy, while leaving many satirical and ironic characteristics. Part of this switch no doubt related to Twain's growing pessimism as he grew older and to the personal tragedies and financial difficulties dogged his efforts and life.

Perhaps it is this deep plot difficulty that caused Twain to leave the novel with two rather large flaws, which vastly reduce its effectiveness. The first flaw is building a plot around switching two children at birth to establish that perceived racial differences and slavery had been unjust. Unfortunately, the "bad" actor in the novel turns out to be the irresponsible Tom Driscoll (ne Valet de Chambre), who is 1/32 African-American but is raised as a white free man. Thus, those readers who wish to believe in racial differences affecting character can point to that underlying racial factor as still being present in explaining the misbehavior in the story . . . despite what appears to have been Twain's opposite intention. Had Twain developed his story to make the false Tom morally equal to his all-white counterpart Chambers (ne Thomas a Beckett Driscoll), the story would have worked much better in condemning racism and slavery. The second flaw involves having the story turn on establishing the unchanging nature of finger prints in a trial conducted in a small Missouri town many decades before that point was scientifically proven and legally accepted.

For us today, the story moves slowly because we know all about fingerprints as a means of identification which makes much of the eventual resolution easy to anticipate, and also because Twain left many unnecessary remnants of his other story in the book.

Despite these weaknesses, the Pudd'nhead Wilson has many brilliant sections that strikingly portray how the concepts and realities of slavery corrupted both African-Americans and slave-holders. Because of thefts in the Driscoll household, the real Tom's father threatens to sell his slaves down the river (a fate to be avoided). When three of them confess, he agrees to sell them locally. Frightened by the potential for her child to be sold in the future, Roxy plans to kill herself and her son. By accident, she realizes that she can successfully switch the two children's clothing, since both of them look the same to Tom's father, and ensure that her son will never be sold, because he will be raised as the master's son, a white person. Many of the ways for rearing white child are bad for Tom, making him spoiled and disagreeable. Chambers does much better on a simple diet, and from performing physical labor. Tom is arrogant and nasty. Chambers is uneducated and cowed. Later, when Tom realizes that he is 1/32 African-American, he begins to behave as a slave would towards white people.

But the story is much broader than that. Pudd'nhead (a derogatory term somewhat like "featherhead") Wilson is thought to be a fool by the townspeople because of something he said about a dog when he first came to town. Because of that perception, his legal career is delayed by 20 years . . . even though he is actually quite bright. In other areas of the story, a man dresses as women and a woman dresses as a man. A thief has his booty stolen from him, so he is also the victim. In many ways, the story reminds me of Shakespeare's many comedies and tragedies about misperceptions being harmful to all concerned.

Although you will not think this is one of Mark Twain's best books, it is one that will encourage you to have many valuable thoughts about questioning labels and assumptions that we apply to one another. For example, if someone is not very quick to grasp certain widely-accepted points, we may feel the person is stupid. The person may actually be able to grasp many nuances that make the situation ambiguous, and be the opposite of stupid. Or someone who is slow in one way may be a positive genius in other ways. Yet a label may be attached that is the opposite.

Keep an open mind, and observe vastly more about what is going on . . . and be able to create vastly better results!

To keep her son from being "sold down the river," Roxy, a woman 1/16 black, devises a way for her son to grow up with all the privileges of 1830s white society. But questions as to underlying nature of the boy, born Valet de Chambres and now called Tom, soon arise.

David "Pudd'nhead" Wilson is a well-educated man who found a place in Dawson's Landing, Missouri, not as a small town attorney, but as the local curiosity. He earned his nickname due to his strange and frivols hobby of fingerprinting his friends and neighbors, keeping the glass slides carefully labeled and filed.

The melding of Pudd'nhead with the plot of the story comes late, and to modern readers, the way in which a murder is solved comes not as a surprise. It is, however, an interesting enough piece of history, recorded with care and style by Twain. The most amusing and enduring portions of the book are the random quotes taken from Pudd'nhead's calendar. They include nuggets of wisdom such as "keep all your eggs in one basket... and watch that basket!"

This book takes thought to read. As slim a volume as it is, each chapter takes quite a time to work its way into your brain. And Roxy's speech, written in Twain's famous dialect spelling, can make you set aside a whole afternoon just to grope your way through. But if you find your lips moving don't worry. Each word is important, and there is little in each short chapter that is not necessary and interesting.

I found Roxy to be the most compelling character. Her life in and out of slavery is one of a mother trying to do right, a woman trying to live her life, and an unfortunate pawn in the manipulative world that judges her only by her lineage.

Although the suspense story may seem simple or outdated to a contemporary reader, many of Twain's themes are not. The subject of nature versus nurture is still debated today as are the politics of language and dialect. Twain's titular character is a hobbyist in what was then the nascent science of fingerprinting and his discussion compares to the contemporary debate over DNA evidence. Of course, the biggest problems the author addresses remain our biggest social challenges-- racial discrimination, the gap between the haves and have nots, and the persistence of classist social systems.

Artistically, no, this is not HUCKLEBERRY FINN, but few books are. Twain's use of irony wells up from every scene, every phrase so much so that it shines brilliantly. It is a pleasure to read and it keeps you thinking long after it is over.

I only gave it 4 out of 5 stars because they made a strange frame around the story - with Mary coming back to the Manor after the war and flashing back to the whole story. That in itself is fine -- but for some reason at the beginning a cat jumps out at her (and then instantly the flashback begins), why??? And at the end Colin comes and meets her in her garden and proposes... aren't they COUSINS?

The setting of Yorkshire England and the rich cast of characters including the maid Martha, Dicken, Martha's brother, and many others make this a wonderful book for all ages. I have read the secret garden hundreds of times and each time I get something new out of the book. It's a true classic.

Child characters: "Mary Lennox," spoiled, lonley, sad child. Taken from her home to live with a guardian in England after her parents death. "Dickon", Mesterious boy who communes with nature. "Colin," son of Mary's guardian, is hidden from society.

In the movie Mray sets out to find and unlock the secrets to the mesterious garden, making friends along the way.

The scenery in this movie is breath taking at times. One of Hallmarks best! A must have for any Hallmark Hall of Fame fan. Good to have in any movie collection!