I'm disappointed with this book. It's vague, and has very little useful information.

Outline of a case: - The client called - She visits the location without any foreknowledge of the situation the resident is in - A general description of the location - From clues, she discovers the problems - Tells the client her findings - Client confirms author's suspicions - After making adjustments the client is happy.

The only part of the case where we see some details is the clues she discovers. She explains the clues very well, but doesn't say why they are a problem.

For example, in one case where the man had just separated, the author explains that she could see the problem because in the relationship corner of his kitchen, he had a bowl of lemons, a bottle of balsamic vinegar, and a block with sharp knifes. Why? These items are common in a kitchen. What gave these clues away? Did she pick up bad energy intuitively, and it is difficult to translate into writing?

As to the solutions, again, there are no specifics, except perhaps mentionning that the offending items are relocated, but no mention of where.

If you're trying to learn about Feng Shui, don't bother with this book. Get if you're absolutely desparate to read about Feng Shui and you can't find anything else.

A truly helpful book. I loved it and constantly refer back to it. I had read several other books on Feng Shui. They suggested changes to make but never related them back to results. This is a fun-to-read book about people who have made specific changes and received specific results. It's the only book on that treats the subject this way. I read it in one sitting -- acutally lying -- I couldn't sleep until I'd finished it. In the morning I began moving furniture. THE BEST. I can't wait for more from the Feng Shui Dectective.

Adventures of a Feng Shui Detective is easy to read and a fun way to discover feng shui. It was the first book I read on the subject and I found the writing to be accessible, open, engaging. It explained many of my intuitive feelings about design made me want to further explore how feng shui could bring some balance to our home.

This book is one of the rarities these days. A book categorized as a mystery, that actually is. "Old Bones", was an enjoyable read that read quickly, only taking a few days of moderate reading. Sure the gathering of a family with strained relationships, decades after some troubling event and all sharing some family secret, is a common theme in mysteries, but it works here, just as it has in so many other novels. What makes this book most intriguing is the setting of Mont St. Michel and you'll find yourself caught up in the mystique. While the mystery isn't that complicated, nor the solution that shocking, there are definite elements of the story that can't help but make you appreciate the book. This book sold me enough on reading another Aaron Elkins book down the road.

And the tide comes rushing in. Not your usual tide, however, but the one that graces the shores of Brittany/Normandy where Oliver Gideon, world famous "Doctor Bones" is giving one of his lectures. This tide takes the life of Guillaume du Rocher, gentried man and local hero of the Resistance movement during the war. Gideon is called in when, the next day, skeletal remains are discovered in the du Rocher celler (readers know that Gideon's specialty is unveiling the secrets of the bones; he is to skeletons what Kay Scarpetta is to pathology!). This particular skeleton, he determines, is that of a young man who had died some 50 years earlier, believed to have been a member of the Resistance.

In addition, the scorched remnants of a Nazi officer murdered in 1942 serve to complicate the matter. This indeed is a conundrum for the "skeleton detective." What follows, too, is the lurking suspicion--nay, even knowledge--of collaboration (dreaded word to the Frnech!) during the Nazi occupation! Oliver is up to the challenge, however, as he methodically, painstakingly, scientifically unravels the story. He understands full well that some stories are better remained buried!

What is unearthed here, in particular detail but in a fascinating manner, starts a chain reaction: Gideon hmself is threatened and the principal heir to the du Rocher estate is poisoned Of course, owing to its setting, World War II espionage, intrigue, deceit, and, yes,

murder are principle ingredients.

Elkins is quite good at pacing the suspense, of which there is plenty. Certainly, his detective credentials seem in order (Gideon Oliver appears in a series of books). "Old Bones" won the l987 Edgar Award as the best mystery of the year, and it is no wonder. (Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)

Professor Gideon Oliver is in France attending a conference where he is giving a series of lectures on forensic anthropology. He is accompanied as usual by his friend, former military intelligence officer and current FBI agent John Lau. Gideon is invited to help the police in the investigation of skeletal remains found in the basement of the du Rocher chateau. Members of the clan have gathered there in answer to a summons from the family patriarch, Guilliame du Rocher. Guilliame's untimely demise by accidental drowning leads Gideon to a current mystery and an old one dating back to World War II. Elkins does a good job of describing the tensions, greed and rivalries resulting from the reading of Guilliame's will. The plot is intricate but easy to follow as Gideon explains each step of the crimes' solutions to John Lau enroute. I understand why the author won an Edgar Award for this book.

A book where you wish terminally ill kids to hurry up and die? A dying kid masturbating on the monirail at Walt Disney world? What else can I say. A really disturbing bit of fluff

There's nothing quite like the experience of readiing a Stanley Elkin novel. The bizarre events, the over-the-top characters, and the sentences -- long, winding sentences filled with tangential details and parenthetical clauses, sentences which tumble and turn, drunk on themselves, but which somehow by the end all manage to add up.

The Magic Kingdom has all of the virtues of Elkin's other great books, as well as an irresistible premise: a man who mourns his dead son by taking a group of terminally ill children to Disney World. It's as unsentimental as such a story could possibly be, and though the characters all certainly have annoying qualities, by the end the children possess a nobility which is far truer than the superficial good intentions of the adults around them.

Certainly, this will not be a book for everyone. If you only want a straightforward story with sympathetic and coherent characters, look elsewhere, for The Magic Kingdom is a sort of cross between Virginia Woolf and Monty Python. If, however, you are able to keep your imagination open, appreciate wild flights of language, and don't mind moments where you aren't sure whether to laugh, cry, or throw up, then this book is for you.

If you want sentimental garbage about dying kids and them being perfect little angels, don't buy this book, watch Oprah. On the other hand, if you want a book that is totally unsentimental, yet extraordinarily heartbreaking, about dying kids who are fatally human, not angels, then get this one and quick!

I ordered this along with Harry Wong's First Days of School as something to give my student teacher. I was not impressed with this book. For $7, get Harry Wong's.
This book does contain some useful information, but it's an easy read, with really very little substance. Much of the information is common sense (like what supplies to keep at your desk, or how to make friends with the office staff). In most cases, this information is given out during student-teaching, college courses, or the district induction program. It contains very little in terms of setting expectations, dealing with crises, organization, etc.

If you do choose to get this book, I hope it would be one of many you'd read.

This is very similar to "Your First Year as a High School Teacher." I think that the authors were trying too hard to make this a how-to book, when it should be regarded instead as a reference book.

What I mean is, the book spells out everything a new teacher has to think about, from discipline, to lesson plans, to staff relations, to supplies, etc. etc. etc. I don't think it really succeeds as a how-to book, though. If you want something like that, start with Harry Wong's "First Days of School" instead. This book might be handy next to your dictionary and thesaurus as a reference guide, though.

The numerous sidebars are what set apart this book from some others. "From the desk of..." provides nice anecdotes and stories. Sometimes it's nice to know that other teachers have also laughed and cried their way through their first years. "Making the grade" points to numerous excellent online resources. Let me stress how good their resources are - this is truly where you could the best use from this book. The "Teaching terms" are a bit condescending (What first-year teacher doesn't know what a 'school assembly' or a 'grade book' is? If there are a lot, we are all in big trouble!).

On the whole, I think first-year teachers will be able to use snippets of this book. But unless you are a subsitute looking for a "crash course" approach to the profession, I think you will be a bit disappointed if you read this book cover to cover.

This is a fantastic book! I am a business professional looking to switching careers and go into elementary education, and this book was exactly what I needed to give me a heads up on what my first year as an elementary school teacher would be like. It's well-written, easy to read, and contains lots of tid bits of information that I never would have thought of! If you're considering elementary school teaching as a career, you have to read this book! I'm reading it now before I start my teaching licensure classes, and I'll read it again right before I start my first year of teaching. This book helped me to realize that I really do want to become a teacher.

also a little annoying. Elkin's original writing style, as well as the content, is what makes this novel funny, but it is also what makes this book annoying. Reading the book for my AP Composition class and paying attention more to style than actual content, I noticed that Elkin used several different literary techniques (as most writers do), but it's how he used and combined then that sets him apart form other writers. Elkin makes several plays on words and commmon phrases (such as having a character say, "the plot thickens" while working with clay) and at times uses very descriptive imagery, along with various allusions, hyperboles, and metaphors. While this all made the book interesting at the beginning, it gradually also became overwhelming as the book went on, and certain parts seemed unnecessary and dull.

When I first began to read Boswell, I can honestly say that I thought it was dull and boring. What's the point of this book? is what I thought to myself. But as I read on, I began to see the light, the light of comedy in literature. Never before had an author used comedy so cleverly and and easily as Stanley Elkin does. His comedy is not only funny, but brilliant. he can take a three word sentence and turn it into a humorous event that has comedy and meaning. Not only was the comedy very good, but the stucture of the book was clever as well. Elkin would use different stratagies to keep the reader interested, such as interrupting the plot of the story with small stories that didn't really have anything to do with the story , but added humor and sometimes moral lessons. If you as well want ot see the light of comedy, I strongly recommend Boswell to you.

Herpes A Nutritional Approach gives a good but short overview of the subject. In just 31 pages the reader receives a lot of summarized information. The reader looking for facts and definitions should be satisfied. However, the reader looking for more in-depth information would probably not be satisfied with this book alone.

The first part of the book briefly covers what herpes is, the types, the causes and how it develops. The section on herbs is more extensive and gives a good overview on which herbs, vitamins and minerals are recommended to boost the immune system and soothe the condition. This is the part of the book i found the most interesting.

The last section gives a very short case history and recipes. I was surprised however to read recipes using ingredients i had previously read should be avoided. In other books nuts, peas and brussels sprouts were said to be avoided or consumed with moderation. These contradictions were therefore rather confusing.

All by all, considering the price, the book does give a quick overview and covers the main aspects of a nutritional approach. I preferred Controlling Herpes Naturally by Michele Picozzi which covers the same subjects more fully and with a lot more detail.

This book was recommended to me by my doctor, and it has really inspired me in so many ways to go the herbal way.

Struggling pro golfer, Lee Ofstead is playing the best round of golf of her career. When she hurts her arm administering CPR to Ted Guthrie, the most hated man at the golf course, Lee cannot finish the game. When her lover, California cop Graham Sheldon, joins her at the tournament, they join together to solve the murder. This was a light, cozy mystery. What appealed to me was the setting and the characters. I don't play golf but the setting was fresh and interesting without overwhelming you with golf information and the budding romance between Lee and Graham was nicely done. The authors are a husband and wife team. Aaron Elkins has written several fine mysteries and Charlotte is a serious amateur golfer and writer. The first in the series was A Wicked Slice.

The second installment of the Lee Offstead series from Charlotte and Aaron Elkins is a delightful, easy read. Though not a golfer myself, the material revolving around the course was not lost in lingo and jargon but was instead presented clearly. The authors do a good job of developing the characters and the plot lines, both those integral to the story and those developing for the book series. I enjoyed the down-to-earth character of Lee and the predicaments she faces in the story. I've been a long-time fan of the Elkins' and look forward to the third installment in this series.

The name of this story is called the "Six Foolish Fishermen", and they really are six foolish fishermen. They always get things mixed up and they then get confused. Three of them will only bring their fishing rods, and then the other three would only bring their bait. People will tell them to switch what they have with each other. They then still don't have the materials they needed after they switched. To me, I liked this book and I think that this story was well writen and funny.

Six fishermen are very concerned. One of their number appears to be lost! When each of the fishermen counts how many of them there are, he only sees five. Could one have drowned? Perhaps your child can figure it out before the end.

BOSWELL is Elkin's first book and remains extremely insightful even after thirty years. It is the story of a "bum" who dedicates his life to knowing celebrities. These range from a south american dictator to an Italian princess to a nobel prize winning scientist (for whom Boswell sabotages a multi-million dollar grant by claiming the grant giver called him "a little yid."). Key amongst his contacts is his very skillful lying and his eventual self-destruction of whatever relationship he may form with them. To him, it is more important that he know them and all their eccentricities, (which he keeps notecards on) than to be truly intimate with them. In fact, you could say that Boswell is not intimate with anybody, and that losing for him is half the fun. If there is any criticism I would give this book, it is that it tends to switch scenes, (many of which are ficticious "journal entries") without enough warning or understanding of what events are taking place. Whole scenarios are establish

As an archaeologist (formerly physical anthropologist) I was an avid reader of Elkin's books until I picked up a copy of this one. The main reason for the writing of this book seems to have been to get Gideon Oliver together with Julie, the forest ranger. Otherwise, it is poorly researched and unbelievable. Oliver manages to teach himself a non-Indo-European language in a matter of a few nights by studying a printed book? The archaeological references are just plain wrong, and the abilities of the physical anthropologist are over exagerated (always the case to a certain extent in his books, but usually the story makes up for it). His treatment of the Native Americans is offensive and stereotypical. Reading this book, and then Dead Men's Hearts in rapid succession was enough to turn me off of Elkin's books for several years.

I liked this book because it takes place in the rain forest and that is where I live. I thought that Aaron Elkins described everything in a way that made you think, and kept you going. I am not a big reader and I wanted to read on. It made me want to know more about what was going to happen, and what clues they were going to find next. This book gives you a good idea of what the rain forest is like. It makes you wonder if things are out there that we don't know about. I also found it interesting how Gideon Oliver could tell you so much information about someone by just looking at a single bone. I really like how the book kept you going right up tile the vary end. They talked about a atlatl and how it could have been used as a weapon. I found it interesting so I built one, and found that it was a very affective tool. I never did master the atlatl but I see how it is used to throw a spear twice as far than by hand. There really wasn't anything I didn't like about this book.

From reading this book I think Elkins is an outstanding writer. I have read only a couple books in my life, but reading this book was very interesting, knowing that the book took place around here where I live on the Olympic Peninsula in the state of Washington.

The part that interested me the most was when Gideon Oliver, a bone detective, got called to look at some bones from a murder that had happened years ago. Gideon and Julie Tendler, a park ranger, go on a six- mile hike in the Olympic National Park where a man named Louis Zander found a spear which they thought could've been the murder weapon. That chapter interested me because it had lots of action in it.

In a way this book is a love story, too, because Gideon falls in love with Julie. That's the main reason he stayed and took the case.

Some parts of the book were confusing because of some of the words the characters used, but overall I thought the book was very well-detailed. I think it was an outstanding book, and I hope Elkins comes out with another book about the Olympic National Park.