The plot is well conceived and might have become a good regency in the hands of a competent author. Ms. Delaney's understanding of the social conventions of the era are so woefully inadequate that I winced every time a character opened his or her mouth. I set language aside, being quite willing to have regency characters employ contemporary grammar and word usage. What I cnnot abide is to have them discuss topics in a manner no one in this period would have found concievable. Imagine a gentleman happening upon an unknown lady at the piano and saying, "You play terribly." Come to think of it, such a thing would be inconcievable for a gentleman in any era. In the next conversation a lady asks her wealthy neice, who has just come from London where she has been enjoying the season, if she knows how to dance and proceeds, over the heroine's objections, to arrange dancing lessons with her son's tutor. The plot will turn on these lessons. Say what? All young ladies knew how to dance. It is like asking an American seventeen-year-old if she knows how to drive a car. Atop all of these absurdities, we are asked to endure Ms. Blair's style, which is as subtle as a bludgeon.

Miss Delaney is delightfully unpredictable, naive and mischievous, stubborn and clever. She is a 'Wiley Coyote" in silk and lace. But Lambrook--I wanted to land him a facer myself. Miss Blair's imagery is brilliant and the story bounces along at a frolicking rate. Two thumbs up for her first novel--looking forward to the next.

Ms Blair has managed to give an early-nineteenth-century heroine a strong late-twentieth-century character and still stay in period, one of the most difficult feats for a writer of this genre to accomplish. The result is truly delightful. There are lots of fun and twists and turns along the way to entertain; a hero who's very believable but still gorgeous; some interesting minor characters--and all this written with a deft hand. I look forward to seeing what Catherine Blair brings us next...

This book is nothing but a waste of paper. I am a firm believer that most books, no matter how bad the plot is, will help children in their reading skills. The writing style is not entirely bad, in fact the chapters are broken very well and leave cliffhangers, but that is about the only good thing about this book.

Centered on four 12 year old girls who are overly concerned with their clothes, hair and boys, the plot takes a while to pick up. When it does, many of the characters are just plain mean to each other and present poor role models. The notion that the lead character believes her teacher has a crush on her, even after she discovers that someone else was writing her the secret admirer notes she finds in her locker is disturbing.

Why 1 star?:
This books only redeeming quality is that the chapters do fit nicely in the way they are broken up. Blair (or most likely her editor) split them well so they form episodes. However, the events taking place are mean-spirited and promote a sense of superiority, and the idea that girls can only think about boys, and their looks. This book creates a poor example for developing young women and has no place in school libraries. There are much better books out there that girls will enjoy just as much and will probably get something out of: Flying Solo by Ralph Fletcher and Secret School by Avi, just to name two. E-mail me if you want a list of more.

O.K., so it does have a certain teeny-bopper kind of feel, but I bought these books years ago and I loved them. I have every single book in the set. Randy, Sabrina, Katie, and Allison always made me laugh, and I enjoyed following along with them throughout each story!

Ok, I read the book because I was in the mood to read something really dtizy and predictable, but turns out it was ditzy and semi-predictable. SUMMARY: Sabrina (a.k.a, Sabs) gets these notes from a "secret admirer, and Sabrina thinks it's from some one older and more mature, like the hot 7th grade social studies teacher, Mr. Grey. Sabrina goes all out to try to look good for him, but ends up with some mager embarassments along the way. Ok. that's all I'm gunna tell you, you gotta read it yourself to find out what all happens.

I purcahsed this hoping it to be similar to "Backroad Buffets and Country Cafes." Instead, Edge is more intersted in telling annoying stories rather discuss the food of the restaurants he has chosen. The author's style stinks with an obsessive use of alliteration--and how many times can one use "porcine" to describe barbecued hogs? Finally, and especially irritating, is Edge's constant injection of racial commentary on dining in the South in the era of segregation. I did not buy this book to read about defunct cafes that have historical significance in the Civil Rights movement or any other movement. Rather, I bought it as a travel guide for fun dining. If a guidebook is what you want, get O'Briant's book--more restaurants, no prententious babble.

Hunger is never a simple matter in the South and unlike other road food books, this one is not only concerned with what's on the plate, but also with the how and why and by-whose-grace it got there. Yes, you'll find out what you need to know about (and where to get a great taste of) Kentucky beer cheese, Big Bob Gibson coconut pie and great barbecue in Birmingham. But you'll also meet the people who make and eat this food, and learn the history -- some bitter, some sweet -- that lies enticingly behind it. The ability to notice and relate social/political/spirtual undercurrents behing the food of the South is what makes John T. Edge and Southern Belly such great companions both for the road or simply dreaming about it.

Southern Belly is to food books what "burnt ends" are to barbecue: chewy, smoky, tender and tasty. John T. Edge understands that food = culture, and he captures the sum of that equation with efficient writing, colorful storytelling, and an obvious affection for his subject matter. It's a nifty travel book that would serve quite nicely as a guide to The South. And it's a well-researched antropological study that traces the history and status of the region's culinary traditions. But mostly it's a love story.

If you love food, if you love America, and especially if you love American food, you'll love Southern Belly.

THis is a good book on not judging people by the first impression. PEople thses days have to learn not to judge epople by looks. Just becasue someone looks different doesn't mean they are different. IF someone is bigger than you, it doesn't make them a bully. A lot of people make stereotype's and think people are mean because of their size. Yet they have to that it whats on the inside that counts.

We all judge people at one time or another, its natural. We just have to learn to except people for who they are. I like this book because it shows how people treat others in modern life. This book shows how to except others. I also like it because judging is not a good think, it the good qualities we need to look for i a person, not the bad ones.

This book, a continuation of the Rainbow Fish series, is about a group of fish with shiny scales. They live near a Coral reef and eat all the krill they want. One day, a big blue whale came. He started eating the krill, and staring at the fish. The fish are afraid that they will become whale food! How will Rainbow Fish and his friends deal with the whale? Read this book by Marcus Pfister to find out!

I love this story. ... I think it teaches lots of lessons. For example, it teaches how it is wrong to make snap judgements about others. It also teaches how to work out differences, and meet with people that are different.

Mother Teresa coined the term "the leprosy of the West" to describe the selfish trend of dumping the elderly in nursing homes where they can conveniently be forgotten or periodically described a receiving the best of care. Carol Lynn Pearson examines this disease in her delightful Yuletide story "A Stranger for Christmas."

The short tale may be somewhat predictable, lightly sugar-coated, and in certain cases a little less than plausible, but none of those debatable deficiencies is a crime. This allegory of two neglected little old ladies trying to prove that good people still exist among the modern day Christmas hustle and bustle leaves the reader with a very satisfied feeling.

In fact, I preferred 'Stranger' to the enjoyable, but in my view overrated modern classic "The Christmas Box." Amidst all the holiday habiliments, sneak an hour to read it, and you may completely re-prioritize your Christmas to do list.

A Stranger for Christmas was such pleasant reading. You'll want to meet the two old ladies and talk to them about their make believe friend. (Didn't we all have one of those at one time or another?) The book only covers a few days of real time, and takes only a couple of hours to read, but brought laughter, moments of sadness, and then tears of joy. My thanks go to Carol Lynn Pearson for providing such an enjoyable experience.

This book is a must for every family. We read it aloud several times over, with adults & children. All enjoy the story & it teaches us the real meaning of sharing & caring. Beautifully written. It will touch everyones heart.

I read the mystery as part of a Black Literature discussion group here in suburban Maryland, outside DC. Good story. Humor. Action doesn't fade when the events begin to come together in the denouement. I identified with Darryl Billups more than I did with Easy Rollins in Walter Mosely's "Devil in a Blue Dress", although the latter had a better story line. Since our discussion group quickly got off the subject of Walker's book, I missed the opportunity to talk about the newspaper journalist's life, and places and scenes mentioned in the story about Baltimore. I will read Mr. Walker's next work as well.

I just loved this book. A fan of mysteries, but having trouble finding ones to my liking, I was so pleased when I read this book. Daryll Billups, kept me laughing and intrigued. I also like that his character was fully developed. I loved hearing about what was going on in his life outside of his detective work. I liked the set up for a series, because I will be looking out for future books. Make sure you pick this one up.

Darryl Billups, Baltimore Maryland Police Reporter, has to deal with office politics, personal relationships, and the evils of race hate and domestic terrorism. Walker has an excellent ear for conversations, and an excellent eye for real life situations. There is little need for suspension of disbelief, so well structured is the plot and the characterizations. A nice blend of public and private, suspense and romance.

Although well written and generally humorous, the hikes described in this book are often not day hikes, or barely on this side of being day hikes. It seems Mr. Blair doesn't include looking at flowers, trees, animals, views, etc. on hikes, but instead sprints as fast as possible from point to point. A hike estimated at a "conservative" 7 hours took a triathlete and a disance runner NINE HOURS to complete. One hike he describes as a day hike (High Divide) is described in EVERY OTHER book as a 2-4 day hike. Fast and light is one thing, but Seabury Blair is living in a fantasy land. Be forewarned: unless you are a VERY strong hiker who doesn't enjoy hiking for reasons other than for a good workout, this book downplays the difficulty and potential seriousness of these hikes. I strongly suggest a book such as Wood's "Olympic Mountains Trail Guide." Don't waste your money on this one.

But I've come to like the book. I was very impressed by the North Cascades book in the DayHike! series, so I bought the Olympics one. The author does have a very good sense of humor, and understands the whining that accompinies 3,000 ft elv gains! I was a little disapointed that some of my favorite hikes were not included(oh well, then I won't have to share them!) in the Eastern Olympics and that I found a few errors-such as when bridges fell in,and some of the FS road directions could be better-with this book if you don't know the NF rd system, a FS rd map is a wise investment!. Still, it is a nice addition to your library-and it won't drag your pack down like Wood's book. And his love of hiking is very noticeable :)

Although I wouldn't call this the best Olympics hiking guide (that would be by Robert Wood), this book is excellent and not especially redundant with the Wood's book. Author writes well and with good humor, making for nice reading. One very noteworthy thing about this book is text devoted to off-trail hiking and a number of death-march hikes of 20+ miles.

The book gives a concise description of places to eat in any size city in the USA. Does not give a lot of detail but can be useful if your not always interested in five star restaurants.

This book makes cross country back road traveling even more fun. Sure there are a few problems, but most fair-sized towns have entires, and many small towns do. We have had wonderful fun and some interesting, to say the least, meals because of it. Well worth its price.

We've used this book four times, and have been pleasantly surprised each time (Carson City NV, Winnemucca NV, someplace or other in UT, and San Francisco).

The Carousel has a good plot and good detail. But the story leaves alot to be desired. Sally Grey has just found out that her five year old daughter, Tina, has been sexually abused. Sally is in shock but soon vows to find out who did it. The book goes through several storylines and plots. The characters get confusing at times but they are described in detail. The book was a little long and after the first chapter it really slowed down. The book ended abruptly and ruined the ending. The book is an okay read if you just need something to do. But if you're looking for a really good book, find another of Plain's books.

A story that has the potential to shatter you, but doesn't quite get there. When Sally Gray discovers a startling family secret that could topple the Gray Foods family empire, she does some unusual things, and doesn't quite act in the way you would expect a loving mother to act. Still, Blair Brown does a good job reading the story, it just is paced very slowly, and Blair Brown's soft voice gives it a quietness it doesn't need to have. The child, Tina, is a strong and willful character, but underdeveloped and abstract. Then, suddenly and without warning, the story is gift wrapped and tied with a bow, and you are left with a lot of unanswered questions. A good story for a lazy summer afternoon by the pool, but no blockbuster.

I have been an avid Belva Plain fan since the summer of 1996. That was when I was first introduced to her works and I can honestly say I have never once been disappointed. The characters are richly and vividly drawn and the story lines overlap and mesh together well. The family patriarch, Oliver Grey has a major flaw -- he is a pedophile. He not only has abused his granddaughter, Tina, he has also abused a niece many years earlier. Sally, the mother of Tina and the daughter-in-law of Oliver, wisely believes Tina when the child finally discloses what her grandfather had been doing to her. The only thing I had trouble with was when Sally told Tina that she [Tina] "mustn't let anybody touch her" if she didn't want them to. For pity's sake, a child cannot fend off an adult predator and to even suggest the child let her grandfather touch her improperly smacks of blame. This was a five-year-old, not an adult contemporary. She did not want, welcome or like what the man did to her and it is never the child's fault. Children don't LET adult predators hurt them. That was the only part I had trouble with. I also wondered why Daniel and Sally didn't talk to Tina first when they had reason to believe something was amiss. It seemed that communication was a long time coming, but it was wonderful once it did.

I liked the way the reader was kept guessing. One never knew which way the family business would turn. Would environmental or business interests be chosen? A combination? And who really killed Oliver Grey? This is an excellent book and I would highly recommend it. I loved it.

I haven't finished the book yet but upon finding so many error in the first few chapters I wrote to the author/company with the email address that they provide in the front of the book to see if there is a list of corrects or something for the book. They have completely ignored my emails... for example, in describing a PLD achitecture they describe it WRONG - you can see in the picture they provided it doesn't agree with what they wrote. So basically I'd give you a warning that the care that should have been taken might not have been.

No question, this book is good for EE student, it helped me a lot during college years. But when it comes to engineers, this book has too much theory or I should said it did not cover the real digital world. You only have an idea what is VHDL and some basics. You don't know what kind of programs, machines, brands and other things in the VHDL field. You can't have an idea what or how are the VHDL engineers doing today. If you are a gradute, try some other books that explain in the engineer way not a undergrad. way.

This book is the best book for VHDL hardware design. The author describes the hardware implementation of the VHDL design.