They sell this book at a cheaper price at our colleg

Splash! is a cute "learn to count to 10" book, very nicely illustrated with photos of penguins in Antarctica. Everyone loves penguins, so learning to count with them is pure fun! Recommended for preschool children.

This book is a good resource for public relations students and practitioners. Nearly every aspect of the business is covered in under 150 pages. Readers are given tips on how to approach different stages in one's career--from getting your foot in the door to freelancing to specializing in an established position. My only complaint is that a significant portion of each section deals with how PR is done in Europe. For American readers, most of this is just not applicable. Overall: a good guide and worth the money, just be aware of the audience for which it is written.

Chastity Cummings and her brother Henry continue the family tradition of holding a house party at their estate. Among the guests is a former suitor of Chastity's. Somewhat afraid that he will renew his suit of six years ago, she is nonetheless dismayed when he claims that his love was nothing more than an infatuation and that he would like to offer her a marriage of convenience.

This story is primarily the tale of a house party and all of the responsibilities required of a hostess. From that angle, it is quite interesting. What do you do when one of the guests brings along her three pug dogs who proceed to annoy and destroy wherever they go? A sister-in-law whose demanding requests and thoughtlessness cause trouble for the guests and servants alike? An older gentleman who importunes the housemaids? An aunt who reminds Chastity at every turn that she is nearly past her last prayers? A temperamental chef who threatens to quit if his talents are not properly appreciated?

But alas, what this book is NOT is a romance. At no time does Chastity say or even think that she is love with anyone. The romance at the end seems almost tacked onto the rest of the story as an afterthought. The explanation for Chastity's refusal of Jeffrey's proposals six years ago--that she was young and afraid of his passion--just doesn't ring true. Although I like the portrayal of the hero as a faithful admirer and a well-mannered gentleman (not a rake), he just didn't have the kind of appeal that one expects in a romance. I found myself preferring Chastity's brother, Lord Cummings, over him!

The heroine herself seems a bit cold and reserved for a romance novel. Her feelings toward the hero appear only a tad warmer than those toward another attentive guest, whose presence seems to be primarily for the purpose of making the hero jealous.

Not one of Ms. Buck's best efforts.

Miss Chastity Cummings and her brother Lord Cummings are holding their annual house party at Chester, their family's estate. Neither of them is looking forward to getting married anytime soon, but they nevertheless uphold their late father's tradition. Chastity is somewhat surprised at learning that a former suitor, Jeffrey Halston, will be attending. But it was many years ago that they were an on-dit, and Jeffrey is widowed now, and no doubt much changed.

Ms. Buck does very well at peopling the house party and the novel--the other brother and his catty wife; the widow who is after Lord Cummings; the widow's poor relation; the assorted friends and acquaintances. Unfortunately, this is to the detriment of the primary characters. We see much of Chastity, but Mr. Halston doesn't even show up until a quarter of the way into the novel. THE CHESTER CHARADE is not so much a romance as the story of one particular house party. In many ways--the lengthy converstations and gossip, the slow pace, the everyday details--this book reminds me of the works of Jane Austen. However, I do not care for any of the characters (except for the poor relation). Their sniping insults, rudeness, and dislike of each other made me set the volume aside many times, finally for good after Chapter 7. For readers who wish to see the not-so-polite side of Regency society, THE CHESTER CHARADE is a good choice. Other readers, however, might wish to try Ms. Buck's FREDERICKA'S FOLLY or TEMPTING SARAH instead, or one of Signet's other regencies.

Kimberly Borrowdale

A pleasant read, but Ms. Buck has some homework to do. First let me mention her command of English, or lack thereof. At times we know what word she meant, even when she apparently does not. Unexceptional, for example, is not the same as unexceptionable, nor is credible, at all the same as creditable. After a few of these, one begins to wonder what she does mean. Then, dear Ms. Buck, allow me to offer a piece of advice: there is no surer route to tedium than to tell everything. The Chester houseparty went on for weeks, but after a few pages detailing who sat beside whom to no apparant purpose, most readers must be willing to pack up and go home. That said, I ought to allow that there is a credible love story here, a young woman has jilted an unexceptionable young man whom, much to her credit, she now comes to regard with quite exceptional tenderness. What I found exceptinable, was the amount of tedium en route.

After reading _The Power Broker_, I was expecting a similar expose of the power politics that went in to San Francisco's redevelopment. _City for Sale_ did not live up to my expectations. Hartman's style is very dry and he gives us very little insight into the people who were involved in the battles that shaped modern San Francisco. He relies almost exclusively on secondary or tertiary sources and presents too much information without distilling and analyzing it.

Hartman spends little more than a page on San Francisco's public transit woes. He ignores the development of BART - which operates almost exclusively as a conduit for suburban workers to go to and from the financial district and serves virtually none of San Francisco's neighborhoods. He also offers little insight into the city's homeless problem - people are drawn to San Francisco because it is the only city in the area that pash cash to homeless people.

I was most disappointed that after Hartman spent 385 pages outlining how the city's business establishment had virtually controlled urban redevelopment for the last 30 years - he spends the last 15 pages trying to blame San Francisco's gentrification problems on computer programmers in their mid-20s. This book was written so recently and yet Hartman's analysis is already incorrect - silicon valley people in their mid-20s are no longer a threat to San Francisco - but the business interests downtown and in Pacific Heights who obviously created the mess still have the same control over the city's affairs.

Although this book is highly informative, Starr's writing style often hinders the reader from fully comprehending the scope of what is being written about. Starr seems to jump from topic to topic and cross century lines with little or no notice to the reader. This book would be a great companion text to another volume of Roman history, but on its own, it is very difficult to decipher.

I found this book very informative. It is almost like an encyclopedia of Ford farm implements. Also, it has great pictures and the story and history of Henry Ford, Harry Ferguson, and the Dearborn Farm Implement Company. A must for Ford tractor owners.

I wish this book could somehow be recycled back into a tree! The author wasted his time on this product