Definitely not a standard Regency: if you're looking for blushing debutantes, dashing heroes and glittery balls, you won't find them here. What you will find is an earthy and very realistic story of an unlikely friendship between a courageous but despairing vicar's widow with two young daughters and a cynical, rough-and-ready marquess. Winn is no ballroom dandy; he is a disgraced divorced man with no intention of ever marrying again. Then he meets Roxanna Drew and, without even realising it at first, is drawn to her.

The story contains a number of unexpected twists, but the underlying theme is of two people betrayed by love, who find it difficult to trust, and yet learn that they need to trust each other. Kelly pulls no punches, and at times the book is earthy, shocking and tear-inducing.

I loved it, and will be re-reading it very soon.

Carla Kelly is undoubtedly the best writer of the Regency genre. Her characters are well-developed and completely unlike the cookie-cutter heroes and heroines you usually find. Of all her books (and I have read all of them), Mrs. Drew Plays Her Hand is my favorite. I'm not normally a person who re-reads books, but this one is an exception. One Good Turn, her latest book, is also fabulous!

I never really thought of myself as a romance novel reader, but then, somehow, I got sucked into the sub-sub-genre of the regency romance. Ah, the hours spent trolling my local library in search of books entitled "The Rake and the Reformer!" Ah, the mocking I endured from my friends! And the truth is most regencies are pretty bad, completely innacurate, and more than likely to present a dangerously dated scenario--impoverished, weak woman saved by a dominant, rich man, while sexual attraction substitutes for genuine feeling. I don't know what need this sexist formula fulfilled in me, but I read a lot them. And then I happened onto a book called Mrs. Drew Plays Her Hand.

In Carla Kelly's works the men and women treat each other with respect. Admiration comes first, love follows. And the protagonists actually like each other before they consumate their relationship. Imagine that! In her books there is none of that "I hate him and yet I'm kissing him! Darn his maddening attraction!" There is only the believable progression from liking and admiration to love.

Roxanna Drew is an impoverished widow who loved her first husband (also something that virtually only Kelly would attempt) and has two adorable daughters. When we first meet her she is trying to avoid the ugly advances of her brother-in-law. Lord Winn is a military hero who doesn't fit in society anymore because of a disgraceful divorce. He becomes her landlord and falls in love with her and her family. As her situation becomes more desperate he offers to help. There are lots of very kind, believable moments as he gets to know Roxie and her daughters. Instead of the usual conflict consisting of contrived misunderstandings and forced bickering which hides "attraction," what threatens Roxie and Winn is her recent bereavement and reluctance to love again. As usual, it's the kind of actual human problem that only Carla Kelly would attempt in this genre. After I read Mrs. Drew I read all her other regencies and now she has effectively ruined me for every other romance writer. Darn her terrific writing ability!

I must, with all due respect, disagree with the gentleman below, who I think was in a strange 'I love it, BUT ...' mood when he wrote his review.

Brookfield's book does indeed cover it all when it comes to grip, despite its lacks as a medical text-book. You will get to read in-depth descriptions of different grip strength types, and about possible and about improbable grip feats. Many urban legends die here.

Brookfield gives good advice on how to combine the exercises for the different grip types, and also shares his experience on what grip exercises that are best avoided if you want to keep gripping.

He also shares his best grip implements constructions, so that you will be able to walk out of your toolshed with the focused looks of an aspiring gripmaster in your eyes.

If you want to do one thing for your grip, buy that book!

I've been powerlifting and weightlifting for about 5 years now and I bought this book on a whim one day because it looked interesting. This book is simply awesome, a VERY good read! I ended up reading it from cover to cover. I've now become a grip training maniac and I love it. Not only have I learned that grip training is essential and often overlooked, but it's a lot of fun too. The best part is that most of these grip implements that John describes, you can make at home in your garage. Grip work seperates the men from boys, you can't "fake" a powerful grip. John will describe so many ways to work your lower arm, some of them very unorthodox but all very rewarding. People in the gym laughed at me when I first started training grip on a regular basis, now they ask for my advice. An incredible grip will give you more self confidence and respect at the gym than most anything..BUY THIS BOOK! you won't be disappointed!

To put it short and simple, this is an easy to read, incredibly informative volume on how to increase your hand strength. Lots of exercise suggestions, a little history on hand strength, some strength challenges. So many ideas that get you excited and motivated to train your hands. Truly a great book with lots of info that's very difficult to find elsewhere, and written by a man with some of the strongest hands in history, a genuine authority. If you want to build stronger hands for whatever reason, wrestling, rock climbing, jar opening, showing off, whatever, then this is about the best book you could buy.

All I can say is Thankyou Steve Anderson.After years of having to flip all the images and reverse all the words, Steves book presents a wonderfully, clear picture of the golf swing.Two of my friends who are right handed also got the book and have improved dramatically.My only complaint is that they're playing better than me now and are winning all the bets!

Having read many golf books I feel qualified to comment. Steve's book breaks the full swing and short game down into manageable and understandable pieces. The pictures in the book make the instruction more understandable. My scores have definitely improved by implementing the instruction techniques contained in On the Other Hand.

"On The Other Hand" is a fantastic instructional manual that has helped improve my game (better than my more expensive clubs!). It seems like Steve's fundamentals are missing from many other sources of golf instruction. I am glad he decided to put them in print for everyone to read. The book is filled with effective instructions, real life adventures, and easy to follow photos (whether you are left or right handed). I am not an expert, but I think this golf book is going to be "HOT!!!"

This is an incredible book. It is clearly written with profusely illustrated with excellent quality photos. It has greatly expanded my ideas about what is possible on a sewing machine. I read it from cover to cover even though I don't actually plan to use many of the techniques. However, I have already put the author's advice on blind hemming and narrow hemming into practice. I am also intrigued by the possibilities of hemstitching (stitching hems and hemstitching are totally different things). I love this book.

I shied away from getting this book at first, i wasn't sure if it was for me, so many books are written with the husqvarna or elna in mind (i have a babylock) but i finally bought it, because it really is for any type of sewing machine (although it does use the hemstitches that are on the computerized machines) In a bout of insomnia i took this book out and started reading cover to cover, and i realized that i have been using the wrong presser foot!! No wonder my fabric has been puckering and getting crammed into the needle plate, i had been using my zig-zag satin foot when i should have been using my regular foot (ya there is a difference!) There are little things like that as well as techniques like corded buttonholes, scallops, pin tucks, hem stitching (point of paris, venitian, you'll even find out what to do with that daisy stitch) Sewing heirloom laces together is discussed, and there are beautiful blouses for you to try. As a tatter, i really liked the one with the column of tatted insertion.

Besides sewing techniques and stitches, this book discusses optional presser feet, and also how to choose a sewing machine, something very valuable if you are thinking of geting into heirloom sewing and are in the market to get a computerized machine. Bring it with you to a trusted dealer!

Excellent chapeters on hemstitching, fagotting, pintucking and more. Everyone should read this book before they purchase a new machine. The photographs are inspiring and beautiful. Even if you don't do heirloom sewing, the book has an outstanding chapter on precision sewing which will increase your skill tenfold.

Love to hate lawyers? Here's one you'll love and...well, be exasperated by. Lawyer Farbman makes all the wrong moves and trusts all the wrong people in this hip, funny, and ultimately inspiring novel. To author and lawyer Donald Friedman, nothing is sacred: he skewers the usual suspects and then some--Jews, shiksas, lawyers, mobsters, bankers, partners, wives, girlfriends, the lame and the halt--as he sends his protagonist on a fast-paced trajectory to hell. A modern day Job, Farbman teaches us the value of living simply if only by being an example of someone who can't.

Farbman is a smart lawyer with successful parents, a brotherly partner, a beautiful wife, two perfect children and a good friend. His saga begins at a meeting with a Rabbi that gives him to insight into the emptiness of his success, and a hint a what is needed to turn things around. Contrary to appearances, his marriage is failing, his law practice is venal, he has no relationship with his parents or his children and his friendships will collapse. He realizes his life lacks meaning but he can't make the turn until his wife get's so sick that he is really needed. It looks as if purpose will serve a cure, but Donald Friedman is too smart for a simple story. Just when we expect him to be rewarded for his responsive behavior to his wife and children, Farbman's life crumbles from bonuses to boils. Donald Friedman has written a very important book in the guise of a funny and high paced melodrama. The book is about "Teshuva". It takes a book this good to explain that Teshuva is the "turn", or more accurately the "return", anyone seeking a spiritual connection in their life must make. Ultimately, it isn't fun; it's deadly serious. The wonderful thing about this book is that Friedman makes us laugh while he teaches us the theological formula for a sucessful life.

This book kisses you and holds you, makes you cry and makes you laugh but mostly it offers hope. It is a journey through human emotion and ancient philosophies that tie us into a bow of dreams and wishes for a good life on this good earth. God bless the author, and may he continue to write these stories we love to live.

This book is a must have if you plan on working with QuickTime to make multimedia content available! I call this book 'a rare find', as it is great for beginner through master, leaving few questions unanswered or stones unturned. The text is a good mix of "how to" information combined with "tips and tricks" to get your implementations to work.

I purchased this book for its material regarding steaming content over the Internet, and learned a great deal in the process. The chapter on QuickTime VR answered my "how do they do that?" questions, and has led me to explore the use of this technique for my upcoming projects.

The QuickTime VR chapter is a good example of the depth of knowledge used to develop this text, as it gives in-depth information on photography techniques that only a mid- to experienced photographer would know.

My only criticism of the book is that it only begins to explore about half of the knowledge needed to set up your own streaming web server, but I can hardly fault the authors for that -- it says right on the cover "A Hands-On Guide for Webmasters, Site Designers, and HTML Authors." It says nothing about being aimed at System or Network Administrators. If your main interest in this book is the setup of streaming servers, you might want to consider another book (or better yet, purchase this book along with another to round out your knowledge).

With the ... QuickTime Pro included, I can say without reservation that this is one of the best computer book values I have ever purchased. The book paid for the rest of the cost by showing me how to trick Microsoft Internet Explorer / Windows Media Player in such a way that it will not try to open your .mov files (great in a Windows-dominated environment)!

Highly recommended, even if you have only a passing interest in QuickTime.

Mastering QuickTime is essential to quickly and easily building exciting, dymamic and interactive web sites. This book (QuickTime for the Web) is essential to mastering QuickTime for the web. It has saved me more time and energy than any book I've bought in the last two years.

I've been using QuickTime for nearly ten years, and have often been frustrated when trying to explain to people that it is not just for video and sound any more. The frustration stems from the lack of examples and explanations to use these powerful features for non-programmers. This book changes that. It explains clearly and wittily how to use QuickTime to enhance your website or CD-ROM, and take advantage of over 10 years of cutting-edge digital media technology for free.

[Full disclosure - I work for Apple on the QuickTime Engineering team, and know the author - believe me I wouldn't endorse this book if it wasn't great]

When I read my first of Kawabata's palm of the hand stories I can't admit that I was hooked, but I was definately intrigued. On the edition I own there is an entire story on the back cover, and after reading it I could pull NO MEANING from it what so ever. I thought, like one of the other reviewers put it, that the story was pointless. I have come to learn a harsh lession however. If there is one thing that Kawabata's works are not it is pointless. Every part of every word is overflowing with meaning. The truly pitiful part about his work is that to someone ignorant of Japan and Japanese culture it is sometimes hard to grasp what the meaning is. The simple enjoyment I received from reading the stories helped to inspire me to learn more about the country. I am by no means saying that you can't realish every word of this collection without knowing Japan, but I am saying to attempt to fully UNDERSTAND some of them it is truely a desireable asset.

House of the Sleeping Beauties is one of my favorite anthologies, and I couldn't wait to get my hands on another book from this brilliant author. The stories in Palm of the Hand are full of poetic and philosophical undertones and magical realism. My favorite one is "Bamboo-Leaf Boats," a poignant tale about a woman who grieves the loss of her fiance. The pain the protagonist goes through moved me. The other stories are beautiful as well. I suggest you read this wonderful book...

This was the sixth Kawabata book that I have read. As other reviewers have said before me, this book contains over 100 short stories. When one at first thinks of 100 short stories in one book one yends to think that the book must be massive. This book is 238 pages long. At first I was taken aback by the shortness of the stories. I mean after reading 20 pages I had finished something like 8 stories, but as i continued to read the stories started to have a larger impact on me especially the story "Bamboo-Leaf Boats" This little story was about a young girl whose fiance had not returned from WW II. She had lived her life thinking that she would never married because she was crippled by polio, but a marriage had been arranged with this young man. But he didn't return from the war, so what she saw as a silver lining in a dark cloud turned into more cloud. "The Grasshopper and the Bell Criket" was one of the sweetest stories in the book. It like many other stories in this book is hard to describe, but I found myself with a big smile on my face after i read it. It is just a sweet story about young love.

Read this book I believe you will enjoy it if you are interested in Japanese literature, but for those unuse to Kawabata, I believe you should read Thousand Cranes or Snow Country first.

Jim Tolpin's book is JUST what I wanted; it's a book with page after page of GREAT IDEAS. Not wanting a PLAN, but rather something to get the mind in gear and get me going. Just a quick glance through this book told me it was what I wanted.

The read is easy going, very interesting, too. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

Bob Beecroft
Fallbrook, CA

Tolpin does a great job of providing photographic and scale drawings of tool storage ideas. From tool totes to cabinet style storage - great ideas and solutions for your consideration.

If any book on toolboxes could be thought of as sexy, this would be the one. While not a how-to book in any way, it is just full of ideas for those with an interest in the topic. If you want to build a classic tool box, are interested in this history of these things or just want to look at some great pictures of masterwork boxes this is the book for you. It is a very well put together text that would be at home on the coffee or in the shop (it would be a shame to get such a good looking book dirty though...)

The Left Hand of Destiny: Book 1 is the first book of a two-part story about the new Klingon Chancellor, Martok. If you have seen Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, you have seen Martok as a general. At the end of the series, Martok was raised to Chancellor of the Klingon Empire. This is the story of his journey home from Deep Space Nine, and what awaits him when he gets there. It is very well-written for a first-time author and the book packs quite a punch for any Trek fan.

J.G. Hertzler played Martok on the television show, so you can tell that this story is near to his heart. Usually when an actor decides to write a book, it doesn't turn out to be very good. The success rate is a little better when the book is about the character they've played. Trek has a good track record in this, though. Andy Robinson wrote the wonderful Stitch in Time and Armin Shimmerman co-wrote The 34th Rule about his Ferengi character. Both of those books were wonderful.

Hertzler adds another one to the pile. If you're a Trek fan and an admirer of Martok, this is definitely the book for you. It is well-written (with a couple of missteps detailed below) and very interesting. It brings back many familiar characters from the television show, but none of them feel forced. They all serve a purpose and are appropriate for this story. Not only that, but Hertzler captures their characterization really well. I don't know if that's Lang's influence or if Hertzler picked it all up while being on the show, but there are no out of character moments in this book. Worf and his son Alexander are the most recognizable of the bunch, but characters from Martok's family also show up and are perfectly captured from the one episode that featured them. Emperor Kahless is almost a brand new character, since he didn't really get a lot of characterization in the one episode that featured him. In addition to that, he has changed a great deal since that time. He adds a bit of colour to everything.

The original characters are also interesting, though the villains are a bit one-note and moustache-twirling to suit my taste. There are very few scenes from their viewpoint, but it still felt a little off. The other main original character, Pharh the Ferengi, is priceless though. He provides a lot of the comic relief in the novel, but he's also an intelligent character. He's not like most Ferengi. While commerce and money are still everything to him, he's not as mercenary as most of the members of his race. Instead, he's a three dimensional character who is a joy to read about. The interaction between Martok and him not only adds to Martok's character but also makes the story more entertaining as a whole.

Of course, the tour de force is Martok himself. Hertzler shows that he truly understood the character he played on the show. Martok is deep, brooding, and hesitant to assume this role that has been thrust upon him. He loves his people and the Empire, but he does not see himself as the savior that they need. He feels he is simply a man, not a symbol. He would dearly love to put down the mantle of responsibility that he has been given when the usurper shows up, but he knows he can't. I could hear Hertzler's characteristic growl whenever Martok spoke in the book, and that's a tribute to the authors. The good thing about these Deep Space Nine books is that the characters can grow and change. We learn a lot about Martok in this book, even as he learns a lot about himself and his limits. We get a history for him that he never had on the show. I think it produced an even more well-rounded character (though he was wonderful in the show as well). Kudos to Hertzler for this one.

There are a couple of missteps that bring the level of the book down a little bit. These missteps are something any first-time author could do, though you would hope the editors would catch it. First, in a couple of scenes, characters appear (or at least they're thoughts do) even when they aren't actually in the scene. For example, a scene is told from Alexander's point of view, and there is one instance in that scene where we also get Martok's impressions of what's going on. He is watching the same thing from elsewhere, so we really shouldn't be getting his thoughts at this time. The fact that his name only appears once in the scene makes me think that the authors just lost track for a moment. Secondly, some of the action is just impossible as it's described. In one scene, one of the characters does a back-flip through somebody's legs. I had to do a double-take for a moment. These and other small problems plague the book and bring it down from a 5-star effort. All of them could have been fixed with a quick re-reading, and I would have thought Lang would know better.

Still, this is a wonderful book from a new writer. Book 2 sounds like a roller-coaster ride as well. I hope we get some more Martok stories from Hertzler in the future. If you're a DS9 fan, you owe it to yourself to check this one out.

David Roy

Star Trek - Deep Space Nine: The Left Hand of Destiny: Book One written by J.G. Hertzler and Jeffrey Lang is a book about Klingons and their vengence. This book is a very well-written novel giving the reader a good look into one character known as General Martok. The character development is excellent starting out with a dream sequence and working its way to the set-up for book two.

I found this book to be an enjoyable read with plenty of action-adventure, mystery and intrigue... only Klingon style to keep the readers interest engrossed to the ending. If you like books about Klingons and their ways of life this is the book for you will love this book. As Martok returns to the Klingon homeworld things aren't as they should be and this is where the adventure kicks into full throttle and doesn't disappoint the reader.

There is great character development with General Martok and his life as a Klingon soldier, also we get a glimpse into Martok's family both present and past. This is where the revenge takes off and doesn't end as Martok seeks to rectify the situation the only way he can... by himself. But, Martok has an ally on the planet in Lieutenant Commander Worf and together they take on Martok's bastard son who is in temporary control of the government and wants to see his father fail.

This is solid 5 star TREK adventure albeit Klingon style but nevertheless, this is a great look into one of the greatest war heros of the Klingon Empire... General Martok. Action-adventure is high, mystery and intrigue is high readability excellent... this is an adventure that is told well, a must enjoyable read.

I have been looking forward to this book for over a year and it doesn't disappoint. I can't wait for part II to see the conclusion. It takes us into the mind of General Martok from Deep Space Nine. From his days as a lowly Klingon who scrubbed the decks to where he is today in the empire. As a reader and viewer of Deep Space Nine I have to say read this one. I hope there are many more Klingon books by Hertzler and Lang! The raw power and emotion comes off the page. The passion the Klingons have in their personality comes off the page. It's one of those stories you just can't put down! It makes me wonder why the producers of Star Trek don't bring back this series to television. There are hundreds of stories they could still get out of that cast of characters. With new people boarding and leaving the station that series should have lasted 10 seasons!

Some gardening books are about particular gardens, others about favorite plants. Some writers look back over lives of gardening and living and write reflective passages. Others travel to beautiful gardens that have stood the test of time and share what they find. This little book does a bit of all these things.

Gardeners will appreciate "People With Dirty Hands." While it does not describe the elementary aspects of gardening, it does take a new angle -- describing some of the action behind the scene at the local plant nursery.

In the past few years, Rosarians have noticed an explosion in the quality, kind, and appearance of roses. In a day when hybridizers are splicing genes and bringing all kinds of mutants into the commercial world, a number of naturalists, gardeners, and botanists are saying, "Look what we're leaving behind!" Once lost, the past can never be recovered.

"People With Dirty Hands" follows the adventures of those concerned with saving the past. The 'Rose Rustlers" are my favorites. These plant collectors drive all over the old rural areas, particularly in the plains states (Texsas) looking for old, abandoned but still thriving roses. The roses can be found in cemetaries, on fences along the road, and covering the collapsed timbers of old houses, barns, or pig stys. The 'Rose Rustlers' take grafts from the old plants and start new plants and pass them along to caring gardeners. The idea is to propagate the old roses and keep them going. Some biologists do this for scientific reasons, but many ordinary gardeners are joining hands across the nation to keep the old plants alive. They are saving the past for the future generations.

What drives some people to obsess about their tomato plants so much that you wonder if they need a straightjacket as much as
a nice gardening hat? Author Robin Chotzinoff went in search of eccentric gardeners who do more than grow veggies, flowers
and herbs - they show us how magical a patch of dirt can be. In People With Dirty Hands, read about the Texas Rose
Rustlers who find old roses growing in the oddest places (like graveyards), propagate them and then sell the flowers to people
who aren't interested in raising genetically-altered blossoms. This book also has tales about ladybug farmers, big city manure
delivery folks and more. (...)

I absolutely loved this book! It is the perfect gift for the gardening fanatic!!

The author, Robin Chotzinoff, decided to tour the country in search of understanding why some people become obsessed with gardening. What she found was a collection of people, as colorful as the plants they grow. A man who grows 450 tomato plants in his backyard, because "You can't buy a tomato." The Texas Rose Rustlers, who propagate old-fashioned roses they find in cemeteries, because "tea roses are impossible!" Then there is the man who earns a living by selling thousands of gallons of ladybugs. Oh, and we must not forget the Green Guerrilla who delivers manure to New York City gardeners.

Like many obsessive gardeners, I use to wonder:

"Am I alone? Why wasn't everyone an obsessive gardener? How could they not be?"

Fear not obsessive gardeners! You are not alone! Robin Chotzinoff says she likes writing about gardeners because they are much more interesting than real people. As I always say, "Anyone can be normal."