I picked this book up because a good friend of mine was involved in this case. This is a typical "true crime" book, fairly well written. The author keeps your attention throughout.

If you like this type of book, I recommend it. May be too graphic for some...

Carlson is a consistently interesting writer, and this book is another worthwhile effort. Two children are murdered in a rural area of southern Indiana, while real estate speculation and controversy over a historical renovation project provide motives for several potential suspects. The female deputy sheriff, who is the star of the show, is also grappling with her own personal and family problems. All the threads are well integrated into a mostly believable story. The actual solution to the mystery depends on a somewhat less believable premise, but the writing and plotting is good enough to make the book enjoyable in spite of that.

Author Moselle Schaffer died in August, 2000. She was an elegant, witty, strong woman with a sharp sense of humor and tons of Southern charm. She was eccentric in spades and lived life precisely on her terms. If you can track down this quirky, funny book, by all means, buy it. Moselle also did a lot of freelance writing and she gloried in animal stories. She wrote several for The Indianapolis News at a time when I was chief of The News' Metro North Bureau, covering the two north suburban counties that included Camel Lot. I also discovered along the way that she had been a close friend and confidant of the late Frances Farmer, the ill-starred actress whose tragic life included a final chapter as an afternoon movie hostess on the former WFBM-TV in Indianapolis. Before she died of cancer in 1970, Frances gave Moselle a charm bracelet she had received when she was featured on the old Ralph Edwards "This is Your Life" TV show. All of the female subjects of the show, which was a kind of precursor to today's "Biography" but featured surprise reunions with people from the subject's past, received a charm bracelet with miniature representations of important places or events in the woman's life. She confided to Moselle that she never liked the bracelet. Miss Farmer is entombed in a Fishers, IN cemetery mausoleum.

Very few of the historical women who disguised themselves as men to become soldiers have told their adventures in their own words. Nadezhda Durova was a minor noblewoman who spent seven years in the Russian cavalry during the Napoleonic wars and earned the distinguished cross of St. George. Years later a chance meeting introduced her to Pushkin, who read her service journals and encouraged her to publish with the praise, "Charming! Vivid, original, beautiful style."

A key moment in Durova's life happens during infancy. Her father, an army officer, brings his family to camp. Shocked to see his wife abusing the baby girl, he keeps Nadezhda with the regiment and orders his soldiers to raise her. Soon her favorite toy is an unloaded gun.

After her father's retirement, when Napoleon's ambitions turn to Eastern Europe, Durova needs little excuse to run away on her horse and join the army. She reaches the front just in time for the disastrous Prussian campaign. Her worried family asks friends to seek her whereabouts. Soon rumors of an amazon reach the tsar.

Durova has little praise for her own performance at the front. In a fit of exhaustion she even sleeps through a town's evacuation. Her superiors give better reports that result in a decoration from the tsar for saving the life of an officer during battle. During a direct interview Alexander I allows her to remain in the army using his name as a pseudonym. He then places her in an elite unit.

Life in the hussars is less than ideal. Unable to grow the Russian officer's expected mustache, Durova gets passed over for promotion by superiors who think she is a boy. Not everyone considers this a disadvantage-particularly the colonel's infatuated daughter. Durova's talent for amusing anecdotes shines as she describes how she extracts herself from this predicament.

Durova sees action again during the 1812 campaign. Wounded in the battle of Borodino outside Moscow, she has the good fortune to go home before Napoleon's death march retreat.

This narrative has both the freshness and the failings of journal writing. Pushkin appears to have lent some editorial assistance. Individual episodes shine but frequent interruptions disturb the flow. Readers are advised to consider that Durova is a creature of her era, occasionally exhibiting prejudices not accepted in the present age.

Although famous in her native Russia, Durova is little known to the English speaking world. Mary Fleming Zirin's translation brings an original story to a new audience. This volume reproduces the entire memoir with additional documentary evidence of Durova's military career and a well-researched introduction.

I thought it was very interesting to see what my home town looked like years ago. There are pictures of a corner that is within block of my current house. There is also a picture of my grandpa and my great uncle who worked for the street dept. Now I just want more. It fuels the fire to find out where you really come from.

The book discussed herein is nothing more than a brief biographical overview of Hoagy's life/work. It then touches on the recordings on the LP's, discussing the artists and the inspiration, as well as details included in the songs. The albums make this worth three times as much as Amazon asks for. You'll be enchanted again and again by his melodies, and his "every man's " lyrics. Wonderful albums. Book is okay.

This is a must read for every Hoosier, Most physicans would also enjoy reading about this country doctor who did things the rest of us could only dream of doing. The book is warm hearted, entertaining, and well written. After reading the book, I felt as if I had sat by a fireplace sharing a very pleasant conversation with Doc Bowen. He is one of the few politicians I ever heard of who never was involved in any scandal, remained true to his principles, and remained loved by the folks of his constituency. As a fellow family doctor, I felt proud to have someone of my own profession rise to governor and later cabinet secretary on the administration of President Reagan.

This field guide to Indiana wildflowers should be a valuable reference for both the professional and amateur botanist. The species descriptions given are adequate to distinguish similar species in most cases. The ranges given for several species appear to be inaccurate.

Since 1966, colleges and universities in the state of Indiana have held a mathematics competition between teams of undergraduate math students. Known formally as the Indiana College Mathematics Competition (ICMC), it is best known locally as the "Friendly" competition. This is due to the emphasis on the social aspects of the event, where faculty and students get together and there is a de-emphasis on the competitive aspects.
It was originally organized as an alternative to the Putnam exam, where the emphasis in the friendly competition was to be on problems at the undergraduate level. This book is a complete listing of all the problems appearing on the exams from 1966 through 2000 and complete solutions to all of the problems are included.
The exams have between 5 and 10 problems, and they cover all aspects of the undergraduate curriculum common to all programs. With the emphasis on being within the reach of the undergraduate student, there is a lot of material that can be used by teachers of mathematics at that level. If you are looking for the right problem to challenge your students or one to present to the class that is outside the general sameness of textbook problems, then this is the place to look. An index of problems grouped by type is included, making the search for specific types of problems very easy.
A discerning brain will also note the change in emphasis as the years progress. While a correct mathematical proof is eternal, how we do those proofs and what proofs we do change over time. Therefore, there is also a bit of a history lesson within the pages.
Any teacher is only as good as the material that they are presenting and you can get some of the best possible material from this book.

Published in the recreational mathematics e-mail newsletter, reprinted with permission.

James is a B&B owner in Alpine, Texas, and he knows this country! I used Jim's book to help me plan my own trek through West Texas while researching the Texas guide for Lonely Planet. Definitely worthwhile, even if it's becoming just a bit dated.