This is a wonderful introduction to Indian food that I found quite by accident at my public library. I was looking for something with not too many choices, but good selection and this is it - three or four each of soups, vegetables, meat, chicken, sauces, and a couple of desserts. If you haven't done this before, get a small ELECTRIC spice grinder and make the curry powders and garam masala first - she give very good instructions - unless you have strong hands.

Trade professional Jeffrey Edmund Curry provides a solid introduction to the principles of worldwide marketing. This book, with its simple definitions of basic marketing terms, will be most appreciated by lower-level employees at companies with newly expanded, global horizons. Newcomers to international business will find information on a wide range of key topics: understanding the role of governments, developing products for the foreign market, doing market research, preparing for market entry, developing distribution, advertising and promotion, making your initial contacts, staffing the new market, evaluating performance and creating a marketing plan and market audit. We [...] recommend that executives of companies with global ambitions read this book and pass it along to the people who'll execute new cross-border strategies.

Fascinating. Reads like fiction, although it is biographical. Well researched. Good picture of northwestern Mexico in the late 1800s, both politically and culturally.

Modern challenges meet old-fashioned romance in Edna Curry's TRAVELING BUG. A lovely, light read, TRAVELING BUG will definitely feed the need of romance and tropical heat.

Jeff Banning left his father's computer business two years ago to become a tour guide. While he had loved programming, he resented his father's remarriage to a much younger woman so quickly after his mother's death from cancer. But when owner Vince Banning becomes certain that someone is stealing software through the company web site, only Jeff is in the position to stop the crime before the company is driven out of business.

Jeff uses his position of tour guide and family influence to land a transfer to Minneapolis where can accompany Banning employees on their upcoming cruise. What he didn't know was that he stole Diane Foreman's chance at promotion and fulfillment of her dreams.

Diane has long dreamed of accompanying the tours she schedules. Certain she has at last earned her promotion, she was deeply resentful to learn that some rich playboy had landed her much coveted position. Worse, when Jeff shows up at the office, she finds herself making foolish mistakes because he makes concentration so difficult. But, when Jeff invites her to help as tour guide for the Banning Corporation, she quickly agrees.

The resulting sultry nights in Mexico certainly build a beautiful backdrop for romance. But what's a girl to think when one moment the man is kissing her, and the next working intensely with another woman; one who's obviously sexy, available, and interested. As the tropical nights heat up, Diane finds herself succumbing to the tropical heat. Yet for every moment of pleasure, there seems to be another of mystery, as she can't quite unravel the connections that Jeff holds to his father, the sexy secretary, and the secrets he's obviously keeping.

A light hearted tropical romp in the sun, TRAVELING BUG definitely warms the imagination with its tropical delights. Lovers of light romance will find this traveling adventure quite enjoyable.

This book provides an outstanding and comprehensive reference of Unix security and I hightly recommend it.

This prequel to the Dune series is an admirable effort but it falls far short of the standard set by Frank Herbert. The book's most noticeable failing is the hasty and poorly executed introduction of the Harkonnen's "no-ship" technology. Not only is the idea lifted almost exactly from Star Trek 6 (and who knows where else), but this crucial plot element is introduced far too late in the book to interest the reader. The prose tends to be redundant. Plot elements unique to Herbert's Dune Universe are overexplained. Even a reader new to the Dune universe needs only one explanation of the purpose of the Bene Geserrit or the physical deformities of the Guild Navigators. For whatever reason, the authors found it necessary to continually remind the reader of the subtleties of the Dune universe. Most of all, Frank Herbert's literary tone is discarded in favor of the more popular tone and structure currently in vogue in the science fiction community. Despite its failings, Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson's resurrection of the Dune universe is certainly passable, and even a welcome reintroduction to the characters that many thought had died along with Frank Herbert.

Sure we all wish Frank Herbert had lived to finish his Dune series, but he didn't and this is the closest you're going to get so just start grinning and bearing it, okay? ;-)

If you didn't make it through Herbert's original 6 books, don't start with this one, because the master himself definitely tells the story best, but if you're like me and have read pretty much everything the man ever wrote, just can't possibly get enough Frank Herbert, this is definitely worth your time.

Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson do a credible job of bringing Frank Herbert's characters and universe back from the dead. The book is a "prequel" to the original series, and further good news is that there are clear hints that there will be at least one additional prequel book and a "postquel" book as well.

With this book, Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson weave the warp and woof that make up the complex tapestry Frank Herbert started in his classic Dune novels so many years ago. All of the familiar characters are there in full regalia, along with their progenitors:

Emperor Elrood and his son Shaddam, as well as Shaddam's ever-present companion, Hasimir Fenring. Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. Leto Atreides and his father, Duke Paulus, as well as Thufir Hawat, the Duke's faithful Mentat. The Spacing Guild. The Bene Tleilaxu. The Bene Gesserit, along with their on-going breeding programs and their constant struggle to create the god-child they call the Kwisatz Haderach. Pardot Kynes, the Planetologist. The mysterious Fremen.

Dune: House Atreides is full of political and religious intrigue: Watch as Shaddam and Fenring wrangle their way into power. Watch as the Bene Tleilaxu work a most devious and conspiratorial plot against House Vernius and the Planet Ix. Watch as the Bene Gesserit make an unexpected move in their ages long plan to birth the Kwisatz Haderach, or "Shortening of the Way," a male Bene Gesserit "whose organic mental powers would bridge space and time."

Watch as a certain Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother gives action to the Bene Gesserit Dictum: "History has seldom been good to those who must be punished. Bene Gesserit punishments cannot be forgotten." Watch as Pardot Kynes becomes the Imperial Planetologist to Arrakis, the Planet Dune, and as he befriends the Fremen and begins a plan of his own making, one he sees as taking hundreds of years to fulfill. And watch, as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen works a most exquisite revenge against the Harkonnen's old rival, House Atreides.

Written in a style that complements that of Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert's father, Dune: House Atreides is a fitting and welcome prequel to this longtime favorite series of science fiction fans.

Though it is the 3rd in the series, I had not read any of the witch books by Anne Rice before reading "Taltos." I was worried when I purchased it that I might be tragically lost, not having followed the previous stories of Rowan, Mona, etc. But I was instantly drawn in and swept away, due mostly to Mr. Ash, a great character that recalls some of Anne Rice's other tragic protagonists like Louis from the vampire series or Azriel from "Servant of the Bones." As I said before, I have yet to read the prior 2 books in the witch saga, but with "Taltos" they aren't absolutely necessary. This book isn't REALLY about the Mayfair family but instead uses them as a backdrop to tell a fascinating tale of an ancient race - the Taltos - who have lived, disguised, among humans since time began! I enjoyed the pacing of this book, its humor, its mystery, but most of all the beauty of the Taltos, who were completely fascinating and essentially a departure from Anne's vampires and ghosts. She has created, in "Taltos," something new and different. I gave the book 4 stars instead of 5 because its ending seemed a bit rushed and wasn't quite the payoff I had hoped for... 50 more pages might have done it! I can see why others might not have felt this an appropriate conclusion to the witch tales, since it wasn't so much about them. But maybe Anne will one day give us more Mona, more Mary Jane, and hopefully more Mr. Ash! Still, it stands on its own as a thoroughly enjoyable book, I recommend it!

This was a very enjoyable book. It puts a very interesting spin on the Lives of the Mayfair Witches which was begun in The Witching Hour and Lasher. This book goes more into detail about the race of people called the Taltos, which was touched upon in Lasher. Ashlar is a Taltos who has been alive for centuries. The story appeals not only to my romantic side, but also to my love of history. The idea of a race of non humans, who can pass as humans and have lived alongside of us is intrguing. These people represtent a type of Utopia to me. They were peaceful and loving. They loved music and dancing, and remembering the past. They knew nothing of war and violence until the humans came and hunted and destroyed them. It surely makes one give pause to legends, as Anne Rice has done using the Picts in this book. Anne Rice has an enchanting style of writing. Her characters are well written and very lovable. There are few writers who can write characters like Anne Ric! e. She pays well attention to detail without any overkill. Though at times there are mild discrepancies in the story, they are hardly worth worrying about, as I personally was taken away by the characters and the story. The pages flew by as I was swept away with these characters and what they went through. This is defiintly the best book in this series! A must read for anyone who has read the other two! Anne Rice has created yet another masterpiece.

Simply stated, I loved this book, I especially liked the part when Rice describes the little people, the "Leprechauns," through Ashlar's friend Samuel, how she described his gnarled disorted face. I am an avid reader of Anne Rice, I've read like 8 of her books already and I cannot seem to get enough of her. Her vivid imagery, her usage of words, seem to enthrall me into another world. Also, when I read her novels, I pay attention to little quotes that she says that are very unique. I can't wait until Merrick comes out so I can devour that book as well. After reading several of her books, I have come love Memnoch the Devil the best, she was just magnificient, as always. Ever since I read The Witching Hour I was hooked on the lives of the Mayfairs; consequently, I bought Lasher and Taltos-reading them one after another....she's just excellent.

Many readers are put off by the very idea of serious works being reduced to a comic book format. I'm not. My experience with the Classic Comic Books of old was a good one and helped stimulate me into a more conventional direction later on. It should be admitted, however, that some serious topics are more suited to that format than others. In this case, the authors' section on postmodern art is well suited as it traces the evolution of visual styles over the preceding decades. There is much to learn here. But this asset, I'm afraid, is simply outweighed by the other two sections. These deal with topics that likely defy the most skillful of conversion attempts. Put briefly, rendering the postmodern theory of these two sections into skimpy simplifying text along with none-to-helpful graphics is almost like rendering quantum theory into a serious discussion between Ren & Stimpy. The material is simply too refractory. The authors' effort represents an honorable failure; and a task made no easier by the fact that the rhetoric of many of PoMo's leading exponents has itself been exposed as empty and inflated. (Sokal & Bricmont's, *Fashionable Nonsense*) Still, whatever its ultimate worth, I think PoMo is worth pursuing since it does capture the Zeitgeist of two key contemporary trends: consumerism and globalization. More text, however, is required by any effective introduction. So, at your own risk.

I love the Introducing series. They are excellent study guides for topics that may be unfamiliar. They are generally not to detailed but provide a good jumping off point for further research.

Introducing Postmodernism was a bit vague, but i guess so is postmodernism itself. To completely understand the book, you first must have an idea what postmodernism is, and if you have such an idea, you don't really need a postmodern study guide.

It gives alot of examples of postmodernity in society without actually stating what postmoderninsm is, but who CAN acctually state what postmodernism is?

It discusses everyone from Stephen Hawking to Madonna, everything from "Cyberia" and genetic cloning to Disneyland and karaoke.

It might give you some ideas if you have to write a paper, than again it just might frustrate you and cause you to spin off into cyberspace.

Now that we are beginning to hear the first whispers that we are entering a whole new world/era, understanding Postmodernism might be as important as ever. "Introducing Postmodernism" is part of the Totem series of graphic study guides that takes readers on a quick tour through structuralism, deconstruction and semiotics as advanced by such Postmodern icons as Foucault, Levi-Strauss and Barthes. The text by Richard Appignanesi, the founding editor of the series, is illustrated by Chris Garratt. There are three parts, looking at the genealogy of Postmodern Art, Theory and History. The first part is clearly the strongest as it shows how the crisis in representation caused by the invention of photography impacted upon the world of art. Within this context impressionism, cubism, abstract expressionism and pop art represent a logical progression. The second part on theory gets into structuralism and semiotics, but without a specific textual context the level of abstraction remains problematic, which can be remedied in class via the use of concrete examples. The third and final section on history also offers a nice section on "The Satanic Versus" and the fatwa ordered against author Salman Rushdie by the Ayatollah Khomeini, which certainly takes on an additional level of interest in the current times. "Introducing Postmodernism" does throw an awful lot of concepts at the reader and I think you have to take care in setting it up for students and being sure they do not lose the fundamentals of Postmodernism in all the clutter of artists and concepts. I also find it very interesting that other books offering the basics of Postmodernism look at an essentially different roster of people, with Derrida and Madonna the apparent common denominators. I am using this book in an "Introduction to Popular Culture" class and hopefully it is going to work to have the cherubs understand the era in which they live.

Having read the masterful Dune series, and having enjoyed "House Atreides," I looked forward to this second book in the prequel trilogy. Being a librarian, I was able to get it at work just a day after its release. I sat down to read...and found myself VERY disappointed. The plot is at times disjointed (coincidences abound), and some of the twists and turns are ludicrous (what happens to Leto's son Victor seems to echo events from the original Dune novel; are they borrowing from Frank?). At times, I was bored with the book...it seemed to go nowhere fast...or is that slow? And the trials and tribulations of House Vernius are so excessively tragic as to almost be laughable. Speaking of laughable--the interplay between the Baron and the Bene Gesserit sisters borders on the ridiculous. I did find the source of the Baron's debilitating affliction to be rather ironic, though. Anachronisms abound in the story. Anyone who's read McNelly's Dune Encyclopedia (based on Herbert's notes and chronology, which Brian and Kevin seem to be ignoring...or maybe McNelly's wrong) knows that these stories take place nearly 25,000 years in our future. Why the constant references to Old Terra? After that much time, wouldn't traditions and beliefs (such as the uniforms of the Ginaz Swordmasters)carried from Earth have faded or altered into something else? Much of the book seems rushed; Duncan's training (which is supposed to be the most difficult in the known universe) finishes rather quickly (and seems only slightly more challenging than Ranger training...it's as if Herbert and Anderson felt that other elements of the plot merited more attention). The "artificial spice" subplot is handled in a tedious and somewhat pedestrian manner, which is unfortunate since it is the only plotline with intriguing potential. It makes sense for Shaddam to attempt such a thing; after all, he could effectively corner the market. But Herbert and Anderson come darn close to botching that entire plot thread. (Readers of the original book know how that particular plotline works out). Plus, the liberation of Ix seems inevitable--after all, Heighliners and Ixian devices pervade the original book, and the slimy Bene Tleilax are back where they belong. Following this series is a bit like following the Star Wars prequels--much of the drama is gone, since one knows how it's going to end. At least "House Harkonnen" finishes well, with a few nice tie-ups to the serpentyne plots and subplots. There is adequate action and intrigue to propel the book through its numerous slow spots. There's enough good in it to merit three stars--and after all, it IS a Dune book, with most of the elements that made the original series a masterpiece. Read it, if only to fill in the gap between first and third books. "House Atreides" was fairly good, and an adequate addition to the Dune universe. But this...Ugh! One hopes that "House Corrino" proves to be better. There has been talk that Herbert and Anderson intend to cap off the original series by completing Frank's unfinished Book Seven...one can only hope that they do that more justice than this uninspired addition to the Dune universe.

My opinion of House Harkonnen is very similar to my opinion of House Atreides (see my review there). Like its predecessor, House Harkonnen is slow and has too many plot threads. Some of the most interesting ones (the fate of House Vernius; Abulurd Harkonnen's fight with his half-brother) are muffled in the huge number of stories being told -- we see Gurney Hallack and Duncan Idaho growing up, Duke Leto and Lady Jessica coming together, the birth of Feyd-Ruatha, etc. And like House Atreides, this book suffers from our knowledge of the future (spoiler warning) -- we know Leto, Gurney and Duncan aren't going to die and that Shaddam IV will still be emperor in the future.

Still, it's a decent read -- especially for Dune fanatics like myself. It fills in the history of the Imperium. And the fight between the Tleilaxu and Vernius; between the Grumman and Ecaz -- are interesting. In fact, the book might have been better had it focused entirely on these conflicts -- with Leto and the others serving merely as secondary characters.

The narrative style is improved and the higher rating I give this book is mainly due to the incredible villainy we get to see in House Harkonnen. This actually *improves* your appreciation of Dune. (Spoiler warning again). You smile knowing these monster will eventually get what's coming to them.

And, of course, I'm buying the next book -- which tells my real opinion of this one (3.5 stars).

Sometimes I think maybe people take DUNE too seriously. It is a great testament to the power of the series that it consistently
manages to be so philosophical, pulpy, and entertaining at once. This book follows the stories of many familiar characters, Duke Leto, Jessica, Baron Harkonnen, Reverend Mother Helena, the Emperor Shaddam IV, Rabban, Duncan Idaho, Gurney Halleck, Count Fenring, Piter De Vries, Liet Kynes among others, and adds a few new ones such as Rabban's father and mother, a renegade household, the Verniuses, and C'tair a rebel on the planet of Ix who is the twin brother of a HUMAN Navigator, D'murr. There is certainly a lot of material here, and at times it seems almost too much, but that is what Space Opera is for, and the resulting "brings up as many questions as it answers effect" is kind of nice. Perhaps one day we'll find out a little more about the Butlerian Jihad. (And it's all still hugely symbolic.) There are discrepancies, which is to be expected in any long running epic series. The only one which really bothered me was that Fenring supposedly built the Conservatorium in the Palace on Arrakis for his wife, the Bene Gesserit Lady Margot. I believe the primary works implied its origins were a little bit more legendary. But it's still a fascinating portrait of a VERY SICK human race imperceptibly struggling, one hopes, for recovery, and it's all the more a fascinating read for the dark, conflicting and increasingly ironic philosophies that permeate. I hadn't read House Atreides, and I didn't really have very much trouble with using House Harkonnen as a starting point for the new series. But you do need to know the base characters before hand. You'll learn about Paul's brother, Jessica's sister and how Rabban got to be called "the Beast." And if you're like me, you'll think Reverend Mother Helena has a heck of a lot of nerve testing anyone for being human.

After reading The Name of the Rose and Foucault's Pendulum, I could barely wait to get my hands on The Island of the Day Before. However, I was sadly disappointed. Having read other books by Eco, many of the philosophical meanderings contained in the text were not unexpected. But unlike his previous works, many of the long-winded descriptions of philosophy, scientific thought and theology in this text felt out of place. Rather than contributing to the plot, as they did in Eco's previous novels, they simply served to slow down the pace of the novel and leave the reader trying to remember what the book was about in the first place.

Umberto Eco's a fantastic writer but for some reason he decided to write a book that takes place entirely just off the shore of a deserted island, with a castaway who's physical isolation is a metaphor for his relational detachment. I'll start by describing the problems with this novel and then conclude with the gems.

The worst part is having the main character stranded and unmotivated just off the shore of this fabulous island. As a reader, I'm dying to get off the boat and onto the island! But the main character is happy to sit on the boat and just fantasize--it's more than a little frustrating.

Another troublesome part is the very creative Latin-based words that the author--or perhaps the translator--uses. I'm an active reader and, as such, keep a list of any new words that I find in a novel. I actually reference the list, look them up, and then read again in context. During my reading of Island, I often found twenty such words per chapter. Some of these are archaic words from the middle ages (e.g. 'arquebuses' meaning heavy matchlock guns) while others seem to be creative constructions from Latin that do not appear in my collegiate dictionary. People with an unabridged dictionary (if these words are even in the unabridged dictionary) may not mind, but for me it was annoying to find many words, and thus important phrases, left undecyphered.

Okay, now we're getting to the better parts of this novel. First, the characters are multi-dimensional, complex, funny and often somewhat contradictory: i.e., they seem real. You are drawn into a colorul, chaotic medieval world of intrigue, philosophy, romance and power politics. The characters are unforgettable, as are the crazy theories espoused in that time period...which get considerable play in the novel.

Finally, the best part is the mental creation, on the part of the main character, of an identical twin brother who becomes resonsible for every misadventure and misfortune of the main character. He becomes so convinced of the other's existence that it starts to affect his destiny. This ongoing theme is likened to the new, at the time, Paris-spawned talk of 'unconscious concepts' that steer a man and thwart his otherwise conscious life. For the main character, this imaginary brother symbolizes the unconscious concepts and shows--even today--how often we have only ourselves to blame for our most tenacious problems.

Overall, the writing makes reading the book a delight. Still, I give it only three stars because: a) Eco should know better than to write a novel where so much time is spent stranded alone on a boat with a more-than-a-little depressed main character, b) certain vocabulary choices--esp. the invented, dictionary-thwarting, Latin-based words--detract from the author's effort to reach even the seasoned reader, c) the ending leaves me feeling that Eco just stopped writing, rather than neatly ending this multi-threaded novel by tying a suitable bow. If you can stomach these aspects, perhaps by reading quickly, you'll yet enjoy the colorful characters and artful writing.

This book was wonderful! Eco is a genius; he is a marvelous medievalist, wonderfully knowledgable in historical, philosophical, and theological matters of all kinds, and a brilliant novelist. The only reason I can see for a person to dislike this book (or any others that Eco has written) would be a short attention span or absolute ignorance of history and philosophy. These books are not for those who read Michael Crichton or Danielle Steele -- they are for readers who desire complicated characters, philosophy, beautiful imagery and a sense of a certain time and place over pointless action. I am rather disgusted with reviews that condemn this book for its supposed lack of "plot." Literature is not merely about action and events, and it is sad that many people have missed the point. I would decidedly recommend this book to those who have even a minimal degree of intelligence. It is brilliant.