I just don't like the red colour. :) This review is from the perspective of a Vampire gamer.

Very good book. I think they finally addressed the complaints about the previous "Laws of the Hunt" and brought a bunch of things up to date. Different organisations are well-described. We now finally have the trait maxima (attributes, willpower, humanity and influence) in one neat section. Ghoul creation rules are finally in concord with "Laws of the Night," and there is a section in the back that describes very neatly how mortals undergo various transformations. For me the parts "Mortal to Ghoul" and "Ghoul to Vampire" were *very* gratifying. The only thing that is lacking are the rules on blood storage for Ghouls - 2 blood traits or more? I want to know! Overall, a very good Revised Edition.

I liked this book because Rosie doesn't get frustrated. Also, Rosie has a good imagination. She, in her mind sends a letter to her summer vacation spot, the lake. Thus the title, Letter to the Lake.

For the serious student of the French Revolution and the discourse surrounding it, Williams letters, along with the wealth of accompanying materials included in this volume, offer a fascinating insight. Kudos to the staff that assembled this piece of work.

Words have tremendous power, and reading the letters written from one person to another often helps us to know that person far more intimately than anythng else ever could.

During the summer of 1926, three extraordinary poets (two Russian and one German) began a correxpondence of the highest order. These three extraordinary people were Boris Pasternak, Marina Tsvetayeva and Ranier Maria Rilke. Rilke, who is revered as a god by both Pasternak and Tsvetayeva, is seen by them as the very essence of poetry, itself.

None of these three correspondents is having a good year: Pasternak is still living in Moscow, attempting to reconcile his life to the Bolshevik regime; Tsvetayeva has been exiled to France with her husband and children and is living in the direst financial straits, with each day presenting a new hurdle in the struggle to simply "get by;" Rilke's situation is perhaps the worst of all...he is dying of leukemia in Switzerland.

Pasternak and Tsvetayeva have already exchanged years of letters filled with the passion and romance of poetry, itself. Although Pasternak saw Rilke briefly in 1900, Tsvetayeva has never laid eyes on her idol. These three poets are, however, connected by a bond far stronger than the physical. They are kindred spirits, and each find repetitions and echoes of himself in the other.

Tsvetayeva quickly becomes the driving force of this trio. This is not surprising given her character. She's the most outrageous of the three, the boldest, the neediest, the one most likely to bare her inner soul to its very depths. Tsvetayeva's exuberance, however, eventually has disatrous effects.

Although Pasternak and Tsvetayeva consider Rilke their superior by far, these are not the letters of acolyte to mentor, but an exchange of thoughts and ideas among equals. If you've ever read the sappy, sentimental "Letters to a Young Poet," you'll find a very different Rilke in this book. Gone is the grandiose, condescending Rilke. In his place we find an enthusiastic Rilke, one filled with an almost overwhelming "joie de vivre," despite his sad circumstances.

As Susan Sontag says in her preface, these letters are definitely love letters of the highest order. The poets seek to possess and consume one another as only lovers can. But even these lovers haven't suspected that one of their trio is fatally ill. Pasternak and Tsvetayeva are both shocked and devastated when Rilke dies.

Love, many people will argue, is best expressed when the people involved are able to spend time together. There is, however, something to be said for separateness, for there is much that can only come to the surface when the lover is separated from the beloved.

These letters can teach us much about Rilke, Pasternak and Tsvetayeva. They can also teach us much about the very depths of the soul...both its anguish and those sublime, angelic heights...areas not often explored by anyone, anywhere, at any time.

Book 2 of the Year of the Ninja Master...Wade Barker continues to amaze The action keeps coming as Daremo strikes fear into the forces of evil...they need the exercise.

An ideal picturebook story for ages 5 and older, Barbara Santucci's Loon Summer is the story of Rainier and her dad as the spend time together on a lakeside cottage. Rainie misses her mom (who no longer lives with her dad), and throughout the summer she watches a pair of loons lay their eggs, hatch babies, and form a loon family. Beautifully illustrated by Andrea Shine, Loon Summer is very highly recommended for family, school, community library collections, as the hopeful story of a child adjusting to the difficult realities of separated parents but who is able to grow in her trust and understanding of the unconditional love her parents will always have for her as their daughter.

Louisiana Breakdown is an impressively written and thoroughly entertaining novel by Lucius Shepard that blends superstition and lore with faith, potions, and machinations. When a new figure arrives in a small Louisiana because his BMW breaks down, he becomes caught up in the town's tradition of appointing a ten-year-old Midsummer Queen every twenty years. A dark fantasy, Louisiana Breakdown is commended as an imaginative and thought-provoking tale of the fantastic.

This book will appeal to those saearching for a classy romantic comedy. But between the jokes and the lyrical descriptions of Italy, as in Craig's other books, there are deeper questions being raised. The children in this updating of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream take on the role of the fairies. Is this because we need the raw energy and passion of children to really see things as they are? Or are they just meddlesome trouble-makers playing with potions and cobwebs? The characters fall in and out love - and most importantly, as with Craig's other books, seek to learn how to be true to their own best natures.

I am a children's book author. However, I am also a great fan of slavery novels. I have read many slavery books over the years, but this is by far the best. "Luke's Summer Secret" is easy to read and it holds your attention until the very end. I would like to commend Randall Wisehart on a well written book.

I am presently reading the sequel "Winding Road to Freedom". I hope Mr. Wisehart continues to write many more books concerning this very intersting subject. If you have not purchased these books, I would advise you do so. It's worth the read.

Teena Haywood

Mary George's book is a delightful account of two (not so) innocents abroad -- two Americans from Tallahassee who buy and renovate a cottage in southern Ireland. The book is lovely bed-time reading, with short essays, poetry, and even some excellent recipes. Ms. George writes gracefully, with many piquant phrases and descriptions. One gets the flavor of the Irish south coast from her little book. Look elsewhere for tight narrative and drama, but come here for charm.