Madame President is a great story with appropriate levels of realism, good descriptions, lively characters, and some new and creative situations centered around the challenges of third party politics and the first female President.

Among the most memorable of the lively characters is Hawkins, the anecdotal southern Senator who starts as one of the President's sexist opponents but eventually crosses both political and gender boarders to ally himself with the woman he comes to respect. Then of course you have the President herself, a Jacquelyn-of-all-trades if you will, who is a strong leader, an honest politician, a gardener and a musician all rolled into one.

The creative and complicated plot centers around a Chinese political power play fueled by some American entrepreneurs hungering for pacific oil. While the international events in Asia are described in a way that suggests first-hand experience, the boardroom discussions within the White House and Department of Defense are just as riveting, exciting, and educational. The political events described by Mr. McCreary were so realistic that I sometimes found myself confused: when I would hear the news on NPR on the way home, I half expected to hear some press release about the events of the Freedom Party, the showdown in the Pacific, or the struggles of the Gray administration. The action scenes are exciting without being contrived, and the technical veracity of the military conflicts is interesting without boring the reader with engineering details as Clancy does.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical novels or political dramas, and who appreciates a story that is both credible and exciting.

All five hundred pages are filled with non-stop action that could be and probably is happening today at the highest levels of our government. This work far surpasses anything Tom Clancy does these days. Make it into a movie, please. I want to see the President kissing her Communications Director. No, seriously, what I mean is the good guys and good gals get married, as it should be.

McCreary takes us inside the head of Madame President and makes us feel what she feels, shed the tears she sheds, and take command when she does. He describes and paints the scene wherever the characters visit, revealing his deep knowledge of small things like horses and farms, as well as all of Asia. His description of the military confrontation is right on the mark. And perhaps we are given insight into why the Chinese have been so very anxious to shape the leadership of our government -- oil and hegemony, rulership over all of the Pacific Rim.

I enjoyed this book. It delves into Meryl Streeps craft much more than the other 2 books written about her. It has very little personal information, but I am sure Ms. Streep likes it that way. This book reads much like a text book, but for a true Streep fan it is a fascinating read.

This is a really good book for the serious Streep fan. It delves into her acting in much more detail than the other biographies, which seem to only list her acting awards and leave it at that. I was extremely pleased to see a discussion of Streep's work in PLENTY, which was so understated and low-pressure and unlike anything she had done before. It's interesting to watch Streep's performances and discover not only the different characters she plays, but the different acting STYLES she seems to have at her disposal. Her work in PLENTY was certainly different than her fettered, mannered (but equally brilliant and appropriate) interpretation of Karen Silkwood. This kind of attention to her craft really places this book at the top of the heap. I would love to see an updated version of this book because of all the great performances she has given since then (A CRY IN THE DARK, POSTCARDS, DEATH BECOMES HER, MARVIN'S ROOM, BRIDGES, ONE TRUE THING, etc.) but I realize that excellence doesn't sell books anymore to the public, so let's all buy the juicy Gwyneth Paltrow bio and find out what the new fall fashions are.

Two hundred New York Times Sunday crosswords at a nickel apiece is a great deal. The book is loaded with the work of well-known as well as less well-known constructors. Most of the puzzles are quite challenging and interesting to work and there is an ample number of humorous concepts included in the batch.
The drawback to the book - i.e., the "price" we pay for the publisher's generosity - is the lack of perforation and/or distance between the working areas and the binding. Having to write around curves on the top couple of lines across is a bit irksome.
Yet, all in all, this book is a true bargain and well worth the cost and the minor inconvenience.

I'm pretty good at word puzzles but these books by the NY Times are continually able to stump me. I keep doing them because they increase my vocabulary enormously. I always keep a dictionary close by, and disect each clue after I have completed the puzzles. NEVER have I done a whole puzzle without aid! This keeps me humble!

............ with these genuine texts from the early Christian era. The documents contained within this sourcebook were written primarily by saints, emperors and philosophers and help us clearly envision life during the early Christian period (100-425 C.E.) as it was truly experienced by Christians and Pagans alike. There are texts describing the management of temples and shrines, cults, hymns, religious attitudes, missionizing (non-Christian), and perception by outsiders of Jews, Christians and Gnostics. The most fascinating sources are those pertaining to personal accounts of conversion and various edicts that persecute, at different points in history, Jews, Christians, and Pagans. Also interesting are the sources describing the impact of Constantine's conversion on the spread of Christianity. I highly recommend this sourcebook to anyone interested in early Christianity.

Macmullen and Lane have done a service by presenting a treasure of texts revealing primarily the religious attitudes and experience of non-Christians during the formative years of Christianity. Christians today often assume that the language of faith in the early church was the exclusive domain of Christianity. The authors prove otherwise. The titles of some of the chapters demonstrate the range of experience and language of "pagans." For example: "Magic, Dreams, Astrology, Superstition," "Healing Shrines," "Hymns," "Cult Groups," "Holy Men and Women," and "Hermetism and Gnosticism." The sentiments contained in these texts are mirrored in early Christian churches, naturally, since these attitudes and languages were part of the religious atmosphere breathed by all peoples of the time. The unbiased reader is helped to easily appreciate the cultural and religious kinship between followers of Christ and those of either the Mysteries, philosophy, and mythologizing theologies such as those of the Gnostics.The last six chapters of the book are especially helpful in appreciating the dynamics of conversion and persecution. While I generally do not favor of history-of-religions approach to the study of historical phenomena, I make a strong exception regarding this book. I recommend that the reader use this book as a companion to Keith Hopkins' "A World Full of Gods."

When it comes to upgrading a computer there are a number of ways to add hardware, but what if you want to make it faster using only the hardware the computer comes with? This book is tailored made for you and you can have that fastest pc on the block.

The authors' start off with the BIOS and the setup of the computer, they also delve into the BIOS Update and what to do and not to do. The next thing you read about is the optimization and compressing of the hard drive. While I don't agree with drive compression, the authors present a fairly good argument in favor of the technique.

Then you get to the meat of the book with the ability to over clock the CPU, from Intel 286 to the P3, and they also include Cyrix and AMD. Further they discuss the over clocking of the video and motherboards. There are examples of the techniques discussed and tips and hints are also included.

While the book details things can make the user dangerous if there is no experience, they also explain the do's and don'ts of the ideas. I personally don't find the over clocking to be a viable solution to speed after seeing what can happen if it done wrong, but as a repair technician I like the money it brings in.

Over all the authors are very complete and detailed in the information presented, they include tables, diagrams, figures and examples to make sure you have the right information at your fingertips.

This book is the best choice for people who want to get everything out of their computers. But it will be also very helpful for persons, who want to just improve their computer skills. Authors of this book discussed a great number of different topics how to improve computer performance and stability (and not only that). Optimization and Tuning are well known topics and they are described in many other books I've read. But this book does it's job the best. As for Overclocking it is one of the most interesting topics. I'd say this is the only book about overclocking. Authors gave a very good idea what exactly it is and how to do it. They gave a lot of recommendations and (that is important) many examples. When you do something you would like to know what you are doing, what for, and what will be the result. This book gives answers to these and many other questions. I would recommend this book to everyone - both beginners and professionals. It is nice written. Many pictures help in understanding the material.

This is a book about analyzing public policy it has
nothing to do with business policy. While its basic eight s
steps could be used in a business analysis, the book
focuses on public problems and the role of government.

Eugene Bardach's A Practical Guide For Policy Analysis: The Eightfold Path To More Effective Problem Solving is a treatise on analyzing policies for any business. Bardach offers a very carefully written and informative text, enhanced with extensive suggestions, examples, explanations, footnotes, and in-depth problem-solving plans. Intended to help the reader learn the management skills of an executive, A Practical Guide For Policy Analysis concentrates an amazing amount of versatile wisdom into a mere 102 pages. A recommended guide for anyone who must learn to deal with high-stakes or high-stress daily crossroads.

I feel sharing the Jesus' heart and mind with Him...Everyday, through the help of this book. When I read the Bible, I focused on the event,theme, or things to be learned. But reading Peterson's book, "Praying with Jesus:A Year of Daily Prayers and Reflections on the Words and Actions of Jesus", I feel Jesus to near me than I think, and experienced. Why don't you try to pray with Jesus...? Soon I will get one more book for giving my friend... (I will say thanks to Eugene Peterson.)

. . . to a powerful body of work. Eugene Peterson is clearly the best Christian writer I've ever read. Here, Peterson will lead you to explore the words of Jesus with brief commentary.

this book gives a compelling story of a self-made millionaire, creative and adventurous. The Author makes strong case that Bedaux was actually NOT a NAZI collaborator, but rather sacved many Jewish lives and fortunes from Hilter's perils.Bedaux' explorations are well worth the read as are his contributions to 20th Century management.Bedaux was a facinating figure in this time in our history,,,,more should be written about his life and times.

I have researched Charles Eugene Bedeaux and find this work the very best on his facinating life. I now firmly believe he was NOT a Nazi sympathizer, but in reality did all he could to use his position to subvert Nazi efforts in France. Ask the old men of Tours who still remember all he did for this French town!

Jim Christy is a superb researcher and writer. I highly recommend this book....it reads more like an adventure novel!

When is the movie coming-out?????

The first half of this novel (the Chicago half) are the most intense as any crime/suspense novel you'll read. The characters are vividly drawn; Izzi has a keen sense of place (mob-connected, underground Chicagoland). The tensions are palpable and running just under the surface of every interaction. Great page-turning stuff.

Unfortunately, the second half gets a little too bogged down in sentiment. I guess I'm strange, I don't feel everything has to be resolved in one neat bow. When the action moves to Atlantic City, the writing seems to lose some of its edge.

Still a great read, by one of America's truly underappreciated writers. We lost a great talent when Eugene Izzi died.

Eugene Izzi's style is as fresh today as it was when he first wrote this novel. His characters are believable, authentic, and interesting. A great read!

I have read several books for survivors of rape and this one has the best ideas written most succinctly. Also, this book can be completed in one day if a person has the time.

This is the best book I have read on the subject of rape & how to survive it. Unlike so many of the books out on rape, this is not written from a statistical aspect & how to prevent rape in the first place. This book is written totally to the survivor with exercises to help you recover from rape. If you are a victim of rape & trying to figure out how to recover from it, this is the book for you! It really made me realize that my reactions are typical of the normal victim & that there is nothing wrong with me for taking so long to recover. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has been the victim of rape & is trying to become a survivor!