This is a good overview of mostly standard guage steam engines. There are some good drawings that could be used to create or enhance an engine model. There is very little information on narrow guage and none on two foot guage engines.

Maybe I looked at a different book than the previous reviewer. This is dynamite. It's obviously great for model makers, but I like it just for the reference info and the photographs. Couple this with Drury's Guide to North American Steam Locomotives and it's a great reference set.

In this sequel to "Empire of the Atom," Van Vogt continues the story of Lord Clane, a mutant of noble birth with a body badly warped by radiation, and his efforts to unify and uplift human civilization. The setting is several thousand years in the future, after a catastrophic war with the alien Riss, who are again threatening to invade the solar system. Fascinating ideas and political discussion--reminiscent of Asimov's "Foundation and Empire" series.

First a remark : I believe that the plot of "Empire of the atom" was the inspiration to the BBC's famous "I , Claoudius".

"Wizard of lin" continues the story of lord Clane , this wonderfull mutant with a twisted body and an ingenius mind. Lord Clane must , this time , deal with both a fearsome military leader from the saturn moons , and the second Riss invasion - the same Riss that destroyed man's civilization 8000-12000 years ago.

In this book there is maybe a bit less plot-twists than in the usual Van-Vogt BUT don't think I mean that the book is below the Vogtian average - on the contrary - it is among the best.

Political schems on personal-power-strugles on personal conflicts and so on. On top of all that , as in "Empire of the atom" , you get a glimpse into a world where advenced technolegy such as spaceships is used to move armies into battles of face-to-face combats with swords and axes in hand.

A uniqe future , the writing of a master , and a truly vivid hero , makes "Wizard of lin" and ofcourse "Empire of the atom" , books that I REALLY didn't want to finish reading.

My grade : EXCELLENT.

"Sometimes I will wake up in the morning thinking that everything is okay, and then I realize that my brother is dead and all of a sudden I feel terrible." (pg. 80)
This is a book of drawings and quotations from young bereaved siblings. They talk about their personal experiences of loss, hearing the news, what the funeral was like, how they reacted, how their families changed, their feelings of guilt and sorrow, and what helped them to heal. A good resource for bereaved siblings of all ages.

Al Scates is a legend in the volleyball world. Anything with his name on it should grab any volleyball fanatic's attention, as the success of his previous book will attest. But the key component about this book is the contributions make by Mike Linn, the strength and conditioning coach at Saint Louis University.

The book itself follows the usual structure. There are chapters on volleyball drills and conditioning exercises and what not. The key here is the Mike lays out the kind of exercise regimen that will help you with your volleyball game. The pictures are good illustration of the drills but most importantly, the material covered complement each other very nicely. There is now a bonfide volleyball conditioning book that focuses on the volleyball athlete, rather than try to cover all sports and doing a poor job of it.

I know of Mike's work through some of the Saint Louis University athletes that have come under his guidance. the man knows his stuff and have doe great things to improve the team strength and conditioning of all the Saint Louis University athletic teams.

I really like this book but it doesn't hold my 13 month old daughter's interest. She is not completely familiar with the Sesame Street characters so she doesn't recognize them in the book. I enjoy pointing out the different foods the faces are made of and naming them. She's anxious to turn the pages. I love the sticker sheet and the page for making your own face. My daughter pulled the sticker sheet out and I'm not sure where it is. I think she'll enjoy it later and if your kids are a little older, I think they'd have lots of fun with it too.

The Golden Mean: mathethmatics and the fine arts is a worthwhile investment. It discusses the golden mean in music, painting, sculpture, architecture, and even poetry. I was looking for a book that had more focus on the visual arts, but this does't. It briefly speaks of the golden section and how the old masters used it to created their compositions, but not as much as I had hoped. If you're intrested in the golden mean and the fine arts than this is a great purchase, however if you are looking for the same information I am, than it is at most slightly helpful.

The first 48 pages of this tome deal with the title subject, and are insightful and worthwhile. Yet the remaining 100 pages seem more of a rehash of birth order determinants set in a biblical melieu: the responsible child (#1=Pharisee); the rebel child (#2=Samaritan); the lost child (the Essene); and the comedian/clown/distractor (the Sadducee). Each of these vignettes is portrayed in an open and instructive manner, yet the nexus between spiritual addiction (1st 48 pages) and this child-order hypothesis seems lacking. The chapters on Scripture & Spiritual Abuse, and What Would Jesus Do, seem to offer diagnosis without treatment. Notwithstanding, this book can be recommended. The notion of Spiritual Addiction, particularly by those called to the clerical life, is present in this book, and if we are content that this is a valid first cut at a significant problem, then the recommendation stands. Much more needs to be done on and with this topic. The authors' seminal book --"Good Goats: Healing Our Image of God" attacks the problem of spiritual addiction much better. "Good Goats" offers diagnosis and treatment of the root factors in spiritual addiction.(5 stars).

My 20 month old loves this and "I Don't Want to Live on the Moon". From the moment I got them they were his two new favorites. I think the reviewer was mistaken in terms of the illustration. They are beautifully done and my Son can almost recite the book by heart by looking at the pictures. Maybe the reviewer doesn't have children to test with... I gave this book a 4 and Moon a 5 according to my son's preference. I wish there were more of these books on the market.

I've always loved the Soul Reaver series, so when I heard a 2nd installment was going to be issued a couple of years back I was elated. But much like the original, your going to need some help if you want to minimize your frustration with Soul Reaver 2's complicated puzzles and obstacles. That is where this book comes in. Prima's guide was to the point and provided clear instructions on how to master Soul Reaver. Beautiful color illustrations, some background information of the games characters, and combat tips made Soul Reaver 2 a much more enjoyable game to play. Thegame by itself is a masterpiece with stunning graphics, great story line, and very realitic environments, Prima's Soul Reaver 2 guide enhances the magnificance of this epic game.

a good find. wish that the rest of the titles are also availble in audio cd version. my kids, who are audio-visual learners, love it. they are slowly developing an interest towards the reading of books.