I found this book in the library and used it for my first garden bounty -- my first canned peaches, my first jam, and my first frozen green beans. Keeping the Harvest is informative, fairly comprehensive and simple to follow. I'm buying it now so I'll be ready for next summer!

I bought three books on canning and this book was the best. It is simple to understand, has pictures of the way things should look, such as the canning jars in a not water bath. I was canning tomatos and this book was so easy to follow. It listed the different methods for canning, as stating the best method.

I bought a pressure cooker and could not understand the manufactures directions, this book explained in simple terms, everything I needed to know, to use the pressure cooker. It has pictures on how to can tomatos from start to finish, which I really appreciated. To me a picture is worth a thousand words.

I think if you are a first time canner or even experienced, that this easy to use book is for you. I know I will be using it for years to come. Thank you to the authors.

Good for science project stuff. But not for really raising mealworms. Need to raise mealworms for feeding pets!

Masons' book is great for teachers that are looking for fun science activities. The activities in this book can be modified from Pre-K thru middle school. Great for interactive and hands-on experience. I have personally used it for three different grade levels and each time the students were very enthusiastic and eager to learn more. Mason makes the experiments easy to follow. Mealworms are fun and easy to care for. Following the metamorphic cycle is an experience my Pre-K, Kinder, and First graders will never forget. Thank you Ms. Mason.

Major Hugh North is in Brazil investigating the activities of the Americus Arms Corporation, which employs several Fascist and Nazi sympathizers. After he moves his investigation from Sao Paulo to Rio de Janeiro, North learns of an unidentified ship which is headed to some unknown Brazilian port carrying Axis saboteurs, technicians and gold to help fifth columnists in their activities in gaining a foothold in Brazil and surrounding countries. North's mission is to find out the identity and destination of the ship and prevent its reaching any port in Brazil. He receives much help from Aurora Morrow, niece of a shipping magnate. The most interesting character in the novel, however, may be Paula Harte, who was born in Chile but whose father was a German subject who died during World War I. Paula is now acting as a freelance agent trying to sell information to the highest bidder.

Major Hugh North is in Brazil investigating the activities of the Americus Arms Corporation which employs several Fascist and Nazi sympathizers. After he moves his investigation from Sao Paulo to Rio de Janeiro, North learns of an unidentified ship which is headed to some unknown Brazilian port carrying Axis saboteurs, technicians and gold to help the fifth columnists in their activities in gaining a foothold in Brazil and surrounding countries. North's mission is to find out the identity and destination of the ship and prevent its reaching any port in Brazil. The events described in the story occur before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 but after the fall of France and Holland to the Nazis.

Using friends and contacts in Rio, North arranges a party to which are invited leading members of the local Patriotistas movement. All are suspected of being supporters of the Axis cause and most are either of Spanish, German, Italian or Japanese ancestry. At the party Luis da Evarista, President of Americas Corporation, is murdered. North decides that the solution of the murder may lead to the information he needs to stop the unidentified ship from reaching Brazil.

North receives much help from Aurora Morrow, niece of a shipping company owner. The most interesting character in the novel, however, may be Paula Harte who was born in Chile but whose father was a German subject who died during World War I. Paula is now acting as a free-lance agent trying to sell information to the highest bidder.

Major North's decoding skills play a big role in his success as a spy. He is capable not only of deciphering messages intercepted from his adversaries but also of sending to them false and misleading information.

When the local medical authorities are unable to determine the cause of the death of Luis da Evarista, Major North identifies the poison used and shows that it was administered through the cigar smoked by the deceased.

This is an entertaining, smooth read, full of good characters, great romance, and hot sensuality.

"A Most Wanted Man" is a good story, with charming characters and a decent little "mystery." The heroine, Leanne, seems almost too good to be true, and the romance was more one of those "meant to be" sort of things than a well-developed relationship. But I appreciated the good writing and appealing characters, and the romance was very sweet (especially with the happily ever after ending).

I thought "Love Sessions" the best of the bunch. Stories where the hero and heroine know one another but are forced to reevaluate themselves and their relationship always appeal to me a lot, and Devine handles the fears of the heroine very well. Both of the characters were well-developed and very charming, and Hunter is a man any woman would want! Devine's writing style was a little out of the ordinary, but still very easy to follow, and if anything the oddity only enhanced the story.

"Promise Me Pleasure" was probably the weakest story, although I began to like it more as it went on. This is a personal preference, but "immediate hot attraction between two incredibly attractive people" stories don't appeal to me as much, especially when they involve international playboys. And the relationship seemed to be initially based too much on sex. That said, Mason does a good job of developing that relationship, and the fantasy of being "romanced" by the world's sexiest man will be enough to pull in many readers. The writing was good, and the characters attractive.

All in all, this is a good summer read. Enjoy!

"A Most Wanted Man" by Marilyn Campbell - Leanne Shepard needs some repair work done on her newly inherited home in Key West. When she hires an elderly handyman named Zachary Rush to help fix the place up, she has no idea he's really a gorgeous, thirty-three year old fugitive in disguise...

"Love Sessions" by Thea Devine - Leslie Gordon tells herself that the only reason she's bidding on Hunter Devlin at the charity bachelor auction is because a date with a celebrity like Hunter will make a great article for the magazine she writes for. When their date ends up in a secluded ski resort in St. Moritz, she isn't so sure of her motives any longer...

"Promise Me Pleasure" by Connie Mason - Stood up at the altar, Cara Brooks decides to take her scheduled honeymoon cruise anyway. She soon discovers that getting ditched was to be the best thing that ever happened to her...

This is an entertaining anthology to read on a rainy day or while lying on the beach soaking up the sun. Nothing heavy or complicated. Just a light, enjoyable read.

I consumed this mystery in very short time. Like all good mysteries, the murder is revealed in the first chapter (in this book on page 4!). The past is fast and furious, leading the reader through a maze of character relationships held together with drug dealing, jealousies and suspicions, and of course murder. This was the third Zubro book I've read (Political Poison, and Another Dead Teenager being the other two) and it has renewed my faith in the author as a competent crafter of murder mysteries. Characterization remains a weakness for Zubro, however. His characters at times are difficult to differentiate: primarily they speak the same. He shrewdly and effectively uses how they dress and what their home environments look like to establish their character, as well as creates interesting set pieces for them to move and act within, but as soon as they open their mouths, they sound like everyone else.

But his strength remains crafting plausible plot lines that hold you and tease you enough to wonder if you really know who did it. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will continue to acquire and read his others.

Like potato chips, the Tom and Scott mysteries are easy to consume and (as brain food goes) nutritionally valueless. I WANT to like these books. I keep hoping...

The problem with Tom and Scott is that I can't tell Tom from Scott. Oh, I know one of them (narrator Tom) is a Viet Nam vet who now teaches highschool, and one of them (guess who) is a highly paid professional athlete. Scott is Southern-born, starts out a little closeted (a potentially interesting conflict never explored), and Tom is...not. Unlike in Joseph Hansen's Brandstetter series, or Richard Stevenson's Strachey novels, I'm never lured into believing Tom and Scott are real people. They are a gay fantasy--not even an interesting gay fantasy. They are too perfect, too plastic. Barbie's Ken without Barbie.

Another thing. No sense of humor. Scott and Tom have the most painful repartee I've heard outside of a kung fu movie.

But as serious a handicap as having cartoons for lead characters is, Zubro does have his strengths. He concocts a crafty, clever mystery here about murder and drug rings in highschool, and he paints a realistic picture of highschool (minus the drugs and murder), as well as unflattering portraits of administrators, fellow teachers and students.

It wouldn't take a lot to turn this series into something delicious and satisfying. Until then I'll keep munching away, knowing I should be doing something better with my brain.

When Robert E. Sherwood died, in 1955, his fame was almost mythical: a Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatist whose ROOSEVELT AND HOPKINS: AN INTIMATE HISTORY won his a fourth Pulitzer Prise; FDR's speechwriter and intimate advisor; Overseas Director of the OWI. We first meet Sherwood in the midst of his gifted, gay and delightful family. Later, after service in the Canadian Black Watch during World War I, he came to New York, worked on VANITY FAIR with Robert Benchley and Dorothy Parker and was a member of the Algonquin's Round Table. He went on to prove himself an outstanding dramatist with REUNION IN VIENNA and ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS, among other plays.

This is, as John Gunther says, "A brilliantly readable and rewarding book. It is not merely a biography of the fabulous Sherwood, but of the fabulous times he lived in. Beautifully written, lucid, witty, and a thoroughly good job."

When Robert E. Sherwood died, in 1955, his fame was almost mythical: a Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatist whose ROOSEVELT AND HOPKINS: AN INTIMATE HISTORY won his a fourth Pulitzer Prise; FDR's speechwriter and intimate advisor; Overseas Director of the OWI. We first meet Sherwood in the midst of his gifted, gay and delightful family. Later, after service in the Canadian Black Watch during World War I, he came to New York, worked on VANITY FAIR with Robert Benchley and Dorothy Parker and was a member of the Algonquin's Round Table. He went on to prove himself an outstanding dramatist with REUNION IN VIENNA and ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS, among other plays.

This book is easy to read and is good at covering the basics of Masonry. The last chapter has some good witnessing information you can use when sharing the truth with Masons or anyone else. I gave it four stars because I think Ron should have pointed out some more of the many ways that Masonry is involved with occult practices.

This book is a breathtaking introduction to high-altitude climbing with anecdotal history about the Everest expeditions and the region's history. It is a well-researched book for both a hobbyist and a serious climber and focuses both on the Khumbu region and the lesser know Tibet face.

This is an excellent overview of how the US government responded to the shortages of natural gas and petroleum in the 1970s. It provides an overview of each industry (as they existed "pre-restructuring"), a review of the basic statutory framework within which the government agencies tasked with allocating the shortages had to work, and then a review of how the principal agencies evolved policies for rationing supply.

The work does not address the question of how the industry could have been strucutred and regulated differently to eliminate the shortages -- the task that fell to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission a decade later. Still, it is a very useful resource for anyone seeking an historical perspective on the energy shortages of the 1970s.