I've collected hundreds of books - from philosophy to mysteries to cookbooks. And, I'm a philosophy teacher who reads (lots of) fiction for pleasure. But if I were to save only one book for eternity, it would be this one. The recipes are presented clearly and are simple to prepare. But the book is more than the recipes. It is also a collection of inspiring stories from around the world. For those of us in the US, with luxuries and overabundance the norm, it is a humbling look at how the rest of the world struggles with the simplest needs. I have no particular religious affiliation but this is the book I turn to (at least once a year) for a spiritual overhaul and reality check. I can't recommend it enough.

I've had this cookbook for ten years. It's been dragged all over the world with me and I think I've actually tried over 60% of the recipes. Every meal has been delicious; beating-out "gourmet" recipes that take twice as much time to prepare. It's a wonderful way to get to know the cuisine of the real people of other cultures, too. I wish they were all written like this!

This is positively the best cookbook I own! I bought it while living in Belize, where specialty ingredients are scarce, and I was cooking all the time. Every single recipe I have made from this book (and I've made a few!) turned out perfect and amazingly tasty the very first time. The authors and testers have clearly done their work well. This book is worth buying for the (very-simple-to-prepare) Korean spinach salad recipe alone. People who *hate* spinach will love it! Hope you enjoy this cookbook as much as I have.

This is, perhaps, my favorite book of photographs. The photographer uses his gift of vision and art to expose the soul of dance and captures the beauty of the human body. The dancer's he has chosen are the stongest and most fit, clearly talented, and willing to defy the bodies natural positioning. These dancers aren't wimps! The photographs are black and white, each conveying a message or emotion. This photoraphy puts one at ease with the uncovered, natural form of various portions of the dancers body. (Not a children's book) I love this book- It's just magnificent and beautiful!

this is a very good book if you love dance and good photography

Personally, I cannot get enough of books of photography with its focus on dancers.So I am disappointed with how few I have found that I have truly loved! In fact, this is the ONLY book so far that I give a 5 star rating. The pictures are crisp and clear. The dancer's bodies varied (important!)yet all beautiful, the captured poses interesting, captivating ect. ect.....I wish there were more like this one.

I am glad it was a book. I would have missed too much while in a state of uncontrollable laughter, if it had been a movie. At that time, I could not wait to order, A Cowboy Never Lies 2. Truly one of the best books I have read in a long time. I enjoyed it so much, I also ordered it in cassette, so my father could listen to it.

I read about Mr. Burnetts escapades in "A Cowboy Never Lies" laughing all the way through, put it aside for about 2 months then read it again so as to make sure I caught all of his zany escapades. My 14 year old son kept asking what book I was laughing about. [Usually he doesn't give a hoot about what I'm reading] I told him he could read my book when I was done with it. Later that evening I couldn't find my book so I headed to my sons bedroom to ask him if he had seen it; but only had to get to his door and hear his howl of laughter to know I wouldn't get my book back 'til he was done with it. I fooled him tho....I went out and got "A Cowboy Never Lies II". He knows I have it, and is bugging me to finish it so he can get started reveling in Dans' sidesplitting fun.

Yeah, I wuz alive 'n sorta moved around the fringes of Dan's circle, even entered a coupla events justa see if I wuz as tough as I thought I wuz. We-e-elll, I wuzn't, but his crowd wuz. Man! Until I saw em do it, I didn't think there wuz such a thing as a cowboy what could eat rawhide fer breakfus', drink a quart a beer fer lunch 'n eat ten pounds a rodeo dirt fer a full course dinner, then be ready ta dance 'n drink 'til sunrise, includin a lil scuffle outside tha dance hall! Now the story-telling enhancements to the truth are like salt, pepper and tobasco on yer favorite food and Dan has definitely perfected the flavoring without distorting the truths...much, anyway. If ya don't wanta laugh while reading this, I can only wish ya luck. Consider it a challenge, cuz it shore will be. --- Mike Danford

My five-year-old is having a bit of difficulty with two children at his daycare. I have purchased several adult books on how to help a child deal with bullies/teasing, but hadn't been successful in finding a good children's book. Then I found "Simon's Hook". Through funny pictures and dialogue, the book has given my son five sensible practical approaches on how to deal with difficult peers. I highly recommend this book.

I have no children of my own, but I love children and am very close to my small nieces and nephews. How I wish this book had been available for me as a small, intimidated and shy child! I have purchased several copies for my relatives and constantly recommend it to my friends with small children and grandchildren. I keep a hardcopy for review from friends and they love it! Will there be more adventures for Simon!

Simon's Hook - A Story About Teases and Put-Downs is a great book for any child. BUT it is also a teaching tool with a highly original story and wonderful images. Children learn several ways to deal with teasing - from ignoring the teaser to changing the subject to avoiding situations, etc. (We don't want to give away the whole story). And the story is so good that children will pick it up again-and-again just to read - yet we know they are learning how to cope with teasing at the same time! Simon's Hook is a great addition to any family, school or library. From The Science Spiders Newsletter.

I'm 28 years old. I have no children. I don't even have any small children anywhere in my immediate family. And here I am, buying and writing a gushing torrent of praise for a children's book.

This is the best book in the whole world. No, really. Okay, except maybe the proper Harry Potter books, but. It's still a darn fine book.

The crystal ball lamp is really what I'm itching to make. Meanwhile, I've been busying myself with churning out wizard money, rings, and baby unicorn horns to dole out to Potter-loving friends. And you bet I'm going to try the Every Flavor Be--ah, I mean, All Flavors Gumdrops recipe posthaste. Can't wait to see the look on my boss's face when I slip him a tabasco one. Ahem.

Kids WILL need help from grownups for most of this stuff, but that's not a bad thing. And, if I may make a suggestion: if you help your kids whip up a batch of Dragon Blood, put it in little plastic bottles from the craft store--and glue the caps on. Messy stuff

Anything that encourages kids to put away the mouse, turn off the TV, get offline and open an old-fashioned adventure - a book - should be treasured. The Book of Wizard Craft does just that. In this visually brilliant book, an old wizard encourages kids to awaken their imaginations, get out the glue, glitter, string, and create! And in a slight-of-hand way he teaches them fascinating facts about alchemy, the runes, and some spooky-fun stuff, too! Lindy Burnett's illustrations are pure magic! The genius of this wonderful book, she has worked wizardry at her own cauldron - the painter's palette. Each beautiful page draws in the eye and the imagination as she spins straw into gold at every stroke of the brush! Ms. Burnett brings exceptional artistic delight to this fun, playful and educational journey through ancient teachings. It is a brilliantly crafted, colorful, alive work of art!

... Or at least pretend to be! (NOTE: This is not a Harry Potter book, although it's certainly riding his "robe-tails.")

Not only does this book have some really neat and practical projects (container herb garden), but also has some pretty icky, kids-love-it projects like a terrarium for carnivorus plants and a mold garden. You can make your own wizard's robe, invisible ink (that you can use with your newly-made quill pen), and sew your own journal. The recipes include gumdrops, rock candy, and homemade slime (!). There's bits of history and folklore in it, too, just in case you get tired of making all this great stuff and want to read a while.

The illustrations are wonderful, the writing is engaging, and it has a ribbon bookmark (okay, it may be a silly thing to mention, but I love ribbon bookmarks). This is a very entertaining book. Many of the projects would lend themselves nicely to a theme party, and there are a few suggestions for that, too. Your Harry fan will have a *blast* with the ideas in this book. I can't wait to some of them with my own little HP fan...

Allison Burnett is channeling Lautremont... he's written a brilliant, sad, deeply truthful, angry, beautiful, extremely funny and literary book about love, ambition, art, friendship and ultimately lonliness... it had the story sense you'd expect from a screenwriter (thank god - story seems lost on many fiction writers these days) with the soul of a real literary gem... BK is a great hero... a sad hero...a very clever device... and Allison isn't afraid to create sad and ugly characters... it's worth a read and a consideration... frankly all these negative reviews are surprising and makes me wonder about all the bitter and jealous wanna-bes who hate anyone who actually write and not starve...

I loved Christopher. I was so moved, I cried and laughed out loud while reading it. Burmett has such a sense of drama that it's riveting. I gobbled up the book in two days. The characters are so touchingly portrayed. They are crazy and damaged and wounded but totally loveable. Some of it was so heartbraking. Burnett shows us their fragility and vulnerability in all their pain and confusion. These characters making their way through life trying to make sense out of what "The Fates" are offering up. At first I was somewhat put off by the narrator B.K., his cynicism was too much for me but I came to be totallly endeared to him. He is tragic and sad, somewhat pathetic but brilliant and hilarious. Through his painful and unrequited relationship with the main character Christopher he becomes a human being capable of love. Having grown up in New York City during the time this novel takes place I found it so true and seeing this world through the eyes of B.K. I got to relive that time and found some new insight and understanding. It's also about the making of an artist and becoming an adult and as an artist and human being I found it inspiring. The courage it takes to accept and face life as it is and to grow. It's one of those books that you are sad when it's over.

Allison Burnett's first novel is a satisfying read. He has captured the neurotic thought and behavior that unites us as humans, with humor and a depth of emotion that is honest. He has created rich and real characters that are as flawed as can be. I found each of them loveable. I can't wait to revisit them.

This book took me from roaring laughter to nostalgia to melancholy, moving me greatly. Christopher and B.K. make some interesting desperate behavior choices at times. The characters are less than perfect people, some learn life lessons and in the end some have a lot to learn.

The other reason i have been recommending this book is the use of language and imagery. I am a lover of words and phrases and Allison Burnett displays mastery of this skill. "for a dashed hope dies quickly as one fulfilled." He has captured the fantasies we create while falling in love eloquently or with humor.

B.K. Troupe is an eccentric and entertaining idea of an emotional roller coaster as the narrator, and Christopher is the ride. Burnett reminds us that relationships are complicated and everything is temporary.

Run out and get this book.

This is how all books should be. Many terms other authors skip over are explained clearly. A must have, atleast for beginners.

Gives a very good introduction to "Finite Element Method" for those who have very little or no knowledge of it. It is an excellent reference and I wish the author decides to reprint it ,however, including the FORTRAN source code in a CD ROM.

This is the best introductory book I have read in Finite Element Analysis, it goes step by step in an easy to learn way.

Set in Texas in the 1870's, Tanner Burnett is disguised as a banker on a stage bound for Fort Worth. When the outlaws he works with rob the stage, Elizabeth Anderson is accidentally shot. Tanner rushes her back to San Antonio to find a doctor. Dealing with ghosts from his past, Tanner cannot cope with another death on his conscious. He pretends to be Beth's husband as he cares for her in a San Antonio hotel room. Beth is traveling out west as a mail order bride. She is also escaping ghosts from her past. When Tanner escorts Beth to her Fort Worth, he encounters the family he has not seen in over ten years. Beth finds she is engaged to Tanner's younger brother, Tucker Burnett. Tanner and Beth do not know that Beth never wrote to Tucker, she actually was writing to his meddling mama, Eugenia Burnett.
It is a touching family reunion and all parties must adjust to the changes of the past eleven years. Tanner and Beth both have secrets from their Civil War tragedies. Everyone has to learn how to trust again. This installment in the "Burnett Brides" trilogy is leaps and bounds better than the first, The Rancher Takes a Wife. It contains the emotional development that the first is sadly lacking, but the atmosphere is much darker because it deals with heavier issues. 4.25/5

Tanner Burnett hadn't been home in a long time, and he wasn't planning on a trip now. But when an innocent young woman is shot during a holdup he was involved in, Tanner feels responsible for getting her to her destination as soon as she is able to travel again. The young outlaw didn't plan on having his heart captured by his beautiful victim. But he knew a life such as the one he lead had no room for love, after all he had been on the run for years. But Tanner is an honorable man, even if he is an outlaw, so he fufills his promise to see her safely to Fort Worth, and right into the bosom of his long-lost family. Seems the lady was to be married to his brother Travis, the sheriff!

Elizabeth Anderson is on the run herself from an unsavory past. Putting herself up as a mail-order bride, she has been corresponding with Mr. Burnett of Fort Worth, Texas and has agreed to become his bride. But when she is waylaid by the hold-up and forced to spend her recuperation time in the company of the handsome and sexy Tanner, she finds she regrets her decision to marry the unknown Mr. Burnett. While she has fallen in love with Tanner, Elizabeth is determined to make a new life for herself, and sacrifices her chance at love for honor. She insists on Tanner taking her on to Fort Worth, where she will keep her promise to become Mrs. Burnett. Imagine her surprise when she discovers Tanner is also a Burnett!

Sylvia McDaniel brings us another intriguing story of love in the Old West with her second installment of The Burnett Brides series. The Outlaw Takes A Wife is a tale filled with sensual romance, heartwrenching drama, and a wonderful happy-ever-after ending. Everything a great romance needs! McDaniel has also done her historical research of the period, and includes the fascinating tale of the legendary outlaw Sam Bass within this story. Look for the final installment of the Burnett brothers' story in The Marshall Takes A Wife, due out in July, 2001.

Sharon Galligar Chance, Times Record News

Beth Anderson is forced to leave behind her childhood home at the end of the Civil War and all its accompanying tradegies. Shamed and alone, she accepts an offer from Texas to become a mail order bride, knowing nothing of Eugenia Burnett and her matchmaking ways. Since Eugenia had success in pairing up her oldest son and his new wife, Rose, the crafty woman decides she'll try to find a good woman for her wayward son Tucker. Eugenia has never given up on her middle son, Tanner who ran off to join the war, even though the Army belives him dead. But no one has seen or heard from Tanner in a decade. But Eugenia is right, Tanner is alive and running with outlaws. He's a dangerous man who figures he's got nothing left to lose. But when a stage robbery attempt goes bad, Tanner does his best to save the stage driver from being shot. Instead, Beth takes the bullet. No matter how hardened Tanner believes his heart is, he can't leave Beth alone to die. So he takes her to San Antonio and cares for her himself. But he does not count on being so drawn to the woman of quiet courage or how deeply her sad past will affect him. Beth is drawn to the man she sees underneath the fast guns and grim eyes. Though they try to resist each other, love is inevitable. It becomes equally complicated when Tanner runs into his youngest brother, Tucker, and discovers Beth is intended for him. The sparks fly and the dialogue is both humorous and poignant in this story of redemption and homecoming. Well worth reading.

Miss Ophelia was one of the best books I've read this year. It started out slow for me in the beginning, but after reading one-third of the book I had a hard time putting it down. My favorite character was Uncle Willie. He didn't believe in keeping secrets from his 11-year old niece Isabel which I felt was very important. He also had a great sense of humor. When you're open and honest with young people you can prevent them from making the same mistakes you and others have made in the past. I wish someone had done that for me.

If you're looking for quality fiction filled with humor, subtlety and sensitivity, then you can't miss with Mary Burnett Smith's Miss Ophelia. Smith, a first-time novelist, doesn't stumble with plot, characterization or pacing. The characters are engaging and the story a delight. This is a real WINNER!....Member, Circle of Friends Book Club II

"Miss Ophelia" is on my "favorite" top 10 book list. It was well written and very true to life. I thought "Uncle Willie" was HILARIOUS!! I will definitely read more books by this "BRILLIANT" author.