The Prince Get it now!

10/5 Stars:

Machiavelli, to me, was one of the most important writers of the science of war and politics. His views of war vary from both Clausewitz and Sun Tzu and he has written some interesting political views as well. The Art of War was considered to be his magnum opus, in part because it, of the two was published during his lifetime while The Prince was not. However, i consider The Prince to be far more influential and helpful in everyday life. This is a must-read for anyone interested in political science or even if you own or run a business or company. The Prince contains useful information on how to obtain a kingdom, and how to keep and maintain it; even how a prince should conduct himself to maintain either respect or fear in the hearts of the people. The book is short (about 81 pages) but very direct and precise, each sentence is worth very careful consideration.

One useful reading tip:

Unless you're a world historian, i strongly suggest reading this book next to an active internet connection for some quick history lessons. There's no lack of historic references of famous people such as Cyrus, Duke Valentino, and Alexander III of Macedon (Alexander the Great) throughout this book to emphasize Machiavelli's points and observations on the science of politics.Get more detail about The Prince.

The China Study Best Quality

I have read a number of books on diet and nutrition and didn't expect much different from this one. I was wrong. Uniquely, this book has a large amount of science-based data on nutrition and disease and makes a compelling case for changing what we eat. Whether or not you follow the recommendations and move toward becoming vegetarian or vegan (I have), the book is an interesting read and clearly debunks the healthfulness of many fad diets. I bought copies for my kids and hope they and their families change their diets as a result.Get more detail about The China Study.

Don't Look Twice Immediately

This is the absolute best from Andrew Gross. It has great characters, superb action and should only be read when you have a good chunk of time because it is so hard to put it down. Excellent read.Get more detail about Don't Look Twice.

The Odyssey Top Quality

This Kindle download is difficult to figure out. It begins with a very lengthy introduction by Theodore Alois Buckley, which might cause you to think you had downloaded a critique of the Odyssey and not the actual story. That is not so.


The actual translation of the Odyssey begins at 8% on the Kindle: "O Muse! resound; Who when his arms had wrougt the destined fall of sacred Troy, and razed her heaven-built wall, wandering from clime to clime, observant stray'd..."

"Now at their native realms the Greeks arrived; all who the wars of ten long years survived; and scaped the perils of the gulfy main."

It is the translation by Alexander Pope and you either like his translation or you don't; there are, I believe, easier ones to understand.

Buckley says,"It would be absurd, therefore, to test Pope's translation by our own advancing knowledge of the original test. We must content to look at it as a most delightful work in itself,-- a work which is as much a part of English literature as Homer himself is of Greek."

The Kindle edition has what I consider a major problem:

There is no Table of Contents so you can not jump to a particular book which is very unfortunate because when studying the book you want to do exactly that. The fix would be to add a Bookmark every time you come to a new book so that you can easily go back and forth.

But... it is free and free is a very good price.Get more detail about The Odyssey.

Northanger Abbey This instant

First time reading Jane Austen....seen plenty of Jane Austen inspired movies and enjoyed them all but definitely prefer reading the books. Austen did not disappoint...this is a good read and keeps you routing for Catherine while guessing what will happen next.Get more detail about Northanger Abbey.

The Iliad

A free translation of the Iliad. Sometimes the wording is a bit tricky( I have read other versions, mind you), however, this version is free so there can be no complaining.Get more detail about The Iliad.

The Iliad Review

A free translation of the Iliad. Sometimes the wording is a bit tricky( I have read other versions, mind you), however, this version is free so there can be no complaining.Get more detail about The Iliad.

Shop For The Wild's Call

This novella is an extended prologue, a sample of the writers work, to entice you into buying the series. I think it's a smart idea in principle, to lure in uncertain browsers and give them a taste of what is to come.

That being said, this taste was enough for me. I've read a lot of post apocalpytic fantasy, and this wasn't bad by any means, but it was completely average, and did not stand out enough. This has a magic at it's core, somehow some people have become imbued with spirit animals, and are working to establish new communities, now that the government has appeared to fall a part completely. If you have not read many books on this topic, this one may pull you in deeper, but as I just finished Parable of the Sower, which was both more powerful in content and in writing, I'm giving this one a pass.

Get more detail about The Wild's Call.

Where To Buy Reckless: A Novel

Intruders enter the Greenwich, Connecticut home of Wall St. Equities trader Marc Glassman, his wife April and their teenaged children, Evan and Becca. The two adults and Becca are murdered.

Private securities investigator Ty Hauck learns of the killing of his friend April at a time when he is assigned to investigate the questionable dealings of financier Dieter Thibault. Hauck plans to also make discrete inquiries into the murders of the Glassman family. He soon teams up with US Treasury agent Naomi Blum as his two investigations soon tie together, but progress is hampered by someone who seems to be several steps ahead of them.

Before Too Big to Fail became a mantra that still remains a truism; fans would have said this conspiratorial financial thriller was over the top of Wall St. and Big Ben, but no more. Hauck is at his bull dog best while Blum brings out even more obstinacy in the hero as they become the trains that won't quit. Fans will enjoy their escapades as the enemy has reaches into the highest levels of cross Atlantic governments in which Too Big To Fail remains as strong as before the great recession meltdown. This is a great Hauck tale as he goes private (his cases when he was a police detective in The Dark Tide and Don't Look Twice) with the economy still open to blackmail.

Harriet Klausner
Get more detail about Reckless: A Novel.

Purchase The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Part 1 (Illustrated Version)

This free book is in 8 separate pieces. You can get a complete Mark Twain Collection - 300+ works for 99 cents. Do yourself a favor and spend the buck.Get more detail about The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Part 1 (Illustrated Version).

Order Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

JUST GET IT! Title I know... ridiculous... but well written and just plain awesome! Hell, theres a good reason that Tim Burton has already signed on to do a movie based on the book!Get more detail about Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

Buying Oliver Twist

Oliver Twist is the best novel by Dickens.Out of all the very enjoyable books by Dickens, I think Oliver Twist just has that certain wow factor that keeps the reader hooked from page one.This novel, along with The Christmas Carol, are great read alouds that both adults and children can enjoy.I've read this book at least a dozen times, but Oliver Twist seems to get better with time.Get more detail about Oliver Twist.

Buy The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Part 1.

This free book is in 8 separate pieces. You can get a complete Mark Twain Collection - 300+ works for 99 cents. Do yourself a favor and spend the buck.Get more detail about The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Part 1..

Cheapest Love and Freindship [sic]

There's a reason this did not appear during the author's lifetime. It was a juvenile piece, never intended for publication outside the family. It's typically self-conscious and very knowing. Written by a teenager, I recommend it only to die-hard Austen fans and scholars, and even we have to admit it's not great work!Get more detail about Love and Freindship [sic].

Cheap Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: A Novel

I was looking forward to this book because I love historic fiction and know very little about the Japanese/Chinese struggle during WW 2. Or about the interment camps, or about Seatlle. A lot of reasons to find it compelling. But I could hardly read it - It was soooo boring, labored and immature. I put it aside after three chapters.Get more detail about Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: A Novel.

Discount Love and Freindship [sic]

There's a reason this did not appear during the author's lifetime. It was a juvenile piece, never intended for publication outside the family. It's typically self-conscious and very knowing. Written by a teenager, I recommend it only to die-hard Austen fans and scholars, and even we have to admit it's not great work!Get more detail about Love and Freindship [sic].

Low Price Wolf Hall: A Novel

If you are interested in Henry VIII era try Phillipa Gregory novels. They are very well done and interesting. Forget this one or read just a few pages...that should decide you NOT to try to read this further. Strangely written. The whole novel is I Cromwell etc etc etc. I think we could have figured out that it was supposed to be Cromwell observing things. Love historical novels..hated this one.Get more detail about Wolf Hall: A Novel.

Save Olive Kitteridge: Fiction

I ordered the book for our book club selection well in advance of our meeting - over a month. The seller failed to ship the book and only had a label printed for FedEx. When I tracked it they said it looked like it was at our local Post Office but when I called them they had no record. I still haven't heard back from the seller and truthfully, now I don't even want the book as we had our book club meeting alreadyGet more detail about Olive Kitteridge: Fiction.

Shutter Island Right now

I couldn't put down this eerie and unsettling fast-paced psychological thriller by the author of Mystic River. Two U.S. marshals are sent to Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane on a small island off Massachusetts in the summer of 1954 to investigate the disappearance of a patient. They must relinquish their guns and have trouble getting cooperation from the staff, especially the director Dr. Cawley.

Teddy Daniels, the lead marshal, is having a hard time dealing with the death of his wife two years ago. He has an ulterior motive for wanting to be on the island. A hurricane hits the island preventing Teddy and his partner, Chuck Aule, from leaving, but it gives them time to find out what is really going on after the patient mysteriously reappears. What is happening in Unit C? What is real and what is imagined? It will keep you guessing until the end.Get more detail about Shutter Island.

Lowest Price The Titan's Curse

This was a good book series that could have used a bit more plot development.Get more detail about The Titan's Curse.

The Book Thief Decide Now

From the description, I thought this might be a "kids' book" but I couldn't have been more wrong. It did not talk down or lower itself to be understood. It was simple, eloquent and full of description which I often find annoying but which added immeasurably to this novel. There was just enough lightness to perfectly balance the grim subject matter without trivializing it. Highly recommended.

A note on Kindle formatting: I noticed very few errors but the pages would occasionally look wonky to accommodate Death's 'announcements'. Not a big deal and didn't distract noticeably.Get more detail about The Book Thief.

Freakonomics Rev Ed: (and Other Riddles of Modern Life) Order Now

This book involves flexible thinking or a more relaxed personality. There are ideas presented in this book that if taken personally will offend. However, I found this book very interesting, enlightening, and fun. Both of the authors presented some good points and backed them up. The reader doesn't have to agree with what has been said, but the authors present enough material for discussion/debate. I have heard there is a sequel, and if I find it I will definitely read it.Get more detail about Freakonomics Rev Ed: (and Other Riddles of Modern Life).

Elizabeth Street Buy Now

Read this book - well-written, excellent sense of time and place, bittersweet love story and it's based on real people's stories. I loved it.Get more detail about Elizabeth Street.

Edge of Apocalypse Get it now!

I should have read the back flap of the book and seen that the authors had a secret agenda based on christian mythology. Ugh. Would have been a passable 'B-Level' thriller if not for the mythological agenda they were pushing. Wish I could return the book. Offensive.Get more detail about Edge of Apocalypse.

The Man in the Iron Mask (mobi) Immediately

I first read this book at the tender age of 14 and am now 40+. I tend to read it every 2 to 3 years or so and I always manage to find something new or enjoy a familiar passage even more. The book is so full of history and so many stories (some liberties are taken) that many movies could be made out of just this one book and still be informative and entertaining. It started my life-long love affair with history when I was a teenager and that fire is still burning bright almost 30 years later. I am somewhat of an expert on 16th and 17th century France and England and I owe it all to Mr. Alexandre Dumas.

Get more detail about The Man in the Iron Mask (mobi).

Atlas Shrugged Best Quality

scary long with very small print.....but very engaging right off. similar style to pasternakGet more detail about Atlas Shrugged.

Edgar Allan Poe's Complete Poetical Works Review

Edgar Allan Poe did not write a huge selection of poetry. But, this book captured all that he did write. The divisions, "Poems of Later Life", "Poems of Manhood" and "Poems of Youth" give a little insight into his life as he aged. It was in his later life that he wrote "The Raven" and "Annabel Lee". Yet it was in our youth when we were first introduced to "The Raven". I remember the foreboding I felt the first time I heard this piece. I didn't quite understand it but it sent a chill down my back and it was a few years later before I was introduced to "Annable Lee". Although this was a love story, I wondered why everything in Edgar's life was so dark, all the time. The man could begin a poem about church bells, wedding bells, Christmas bells and turn it into another dark, paranoid piece.

Whether or not you are a Poe fan, this book is his history through his years of writing. It has something for everyone. So, when you are in the right dark, somber mood, curl up with "Edgar Allan Poe's Complete Poetic Works".

Linda Langan Powell, author of "The Old Cypress Tree", book of poetry.Get more detail about Edgar Allan Poe's Complete Poetical Works.

A Touch of Dead Top Quality

The short stories were not in depth enough to really get anything out of the book.Get more detail about A Touch of Dead.

The Invisible Man This instant

Not really what I was expecting but now I can at least say I read it.Get more detail about The Invisible Man.

Edgar Allan Poe's Complete Poetical Works (Dodo Publishing)

Edgar Allan Poe did not write a huge selection of poetry. But, this book captured all that he did write. The divisions, "Poems of Later Life", "Poems of Manhood" and "Poems of Youth" give a little insight into his life as he aged. It was in his later life that he wrote "The Raven" and "Annabel Lee". Yet it was in our youth when we were first introduced to "The Raven". I remember the foreboding I felt the first time I heard this piece. I didn't quite understand it but it sent a chill down my back and it was a few years later before I was introduced to "Annable Lee". Although this was a love story, I wondered why everything in Edgar's life was so dark, all the time. The man could begin a poem about church bells, wedding bells, Christmas bells and turn it into another dark, paranoid piece.

Whether or not you are a Poe fan, this book is his history through his years of writing. It has something for everyone. So, when you are in the right dark, somber mood, curl up with "Edgar Allan Poe's Complete Poetic Works".

Linda Langan Powell, author of "The Old Cypress Tree", book of poetry.Get more detail about Edgar Allan Poe's Complete Poetical Works (Dodo Publishing).

Where To Buy Edgar Allan Poe's Complete Poetical Works

Edgar Allan Poe did not write a huge selection of poetry. But, this book captured all that he did write. The divisions, "Poems of Later Life", "Poems of Manhood" and "Poems of Youth" give a little insight into his life as he aged. It was in his later life that he wrote "The Raven" and "Annabel Lee". Yet it was in our youth when we were first introduced to "The Raven". I remember the foreboding I felt the first time I heard this piece. I didn't quite understand it but it sent a chill down my back and it was a few years later before I was introduced to "Annable Lee". Although this was a love story, I wondered why everything in Edgar's life was so dark, all the time. The man could begin a poem about church bells, wedding bells, Christmas bells and turn it into another dark, paranoid piece.

Whether or not you are a Poe fan, this book is his history through his years of writing. It has something for everyone. So, when you are in the right dark, somber mood, curl up with "Edgar Allan Poe's Complete Poetic Works".

Linda Langan Powell, author of "The Old Cypress Tree", book of poetry.Get more detail about Edgar Allan Poe's Complete Poetical Works.

Shop For Edgar Allan Poe's Complete Poetical Works (Penny Books)

Edgar Allan Poe did not write a huge selection of poetry. But, this book captured all that he did write. The divisions, "Poems of Later Life", "Poems of Manhood" and "Poems of Youth" give a little insight into his life as he aged. It was in his later life that he wrote "The Raven" and "Annabel Lee". Yet it was in our youth when we were first introduced to "The Raven". I remember the foreboding I felt the first time I heard this piece. I didn't quite understand it but it sent a chill down my back and it was a few years later before I was introduced to "Annable Lee". Although this was a love story, I wondered why everything in Edgar's life was so dark, all the time. The man could begin a poem about church bells, wedding bells, Christmas bells and turn it into another dark, paranoid piece.

Whether or not you are a Poe fan, this book is his history through his years of writing. It has something for everyone. So, when you are in the right dark, somber mood, curl up with "Edgar Allan Poe's Complete Poetic Works".

Linda Langan Powell, author of "The Old Cypress Tree", book of poetry.Get more detail about Edgar Allan Poe's Complete Poetical Works (Penny Books).

Order Edgar Allan Poe's Complete Poetical Works

Edgar Allan Poe did not write a huge selection of poetry. But, this book captured all that he did write. The divisions, "Poems of Later Life", "Poems of Manhood" and "Poems of Youth" give a little insight into his life as he aged. It was in his later life that he wrote "The Raven" and "Annabel Lee". Yet it was in our youth when we were first introduced to "The Raven". I remember the foreboding I felt the first time I heard this piece. I didn't quite understand it but it sent a chill down my back and it was a few years later before I was introduced to "Annable Lee". Although this was a love story, I wondered why everything in Edgar's life was so dark, all the time. The man could begin a poem about church bells, wedding bells, Christmas bells and turn it into another dark, paranoid piece.

Whether or not you are a Poe fan, this book is his history through his years of writing. It has something for everyone. So, when you are in the right dark, somber mood, curl up with "Edgar Allan Poe's Complete Poetic Works".

Linda Langan Powell, author of "The Old Cypress Tree", book of poetry.Get more detail about Edgar Allan Poe's Complete Poetical Works.

Buy My Horizontal Life

Lighten up, people! This woman is hilarious!! I recently read Ms. Handler's middle book (awesomely-titled after a Judy Blume novel), and I thought it was absolutely perfect. My husband bought me her first and her third books for Mothers' Day this past weekend. I read the first book in one sitting...and loved it! This woman is crazy and irreverent and sardonic. This book is laugh-out-loud funny, and the author is so intelligent and witty and self-deprecating (throughout the entire book she is painfully and incredibly aware of her own short-comings), that you can't help but love her!!! Shame on you readers who do not "get it"! She is blatantly inviting you to be in on the joke!!Get more detail about My Horizontal Life.

Purchase The 8th Confession

Never a disappointment. From beginning to end the suspence is there always.
W BGet more detail about The 8th Confession.

Cheapest The Lightning Thief

I had been putting of this series for awhile now. Although I normally love YA, I just thought this one would be more along the lines of a children's book and wouldn't keep my attention. And, I was wrong (and someone better record this, because I don't say it often...hehe). This was a very engaging read from the beginning to the end.

I really love reading about Greek mythology and this book really went in depth with it, there were several times that I wrote down names just so I could look them up later, made me feel NOT smarter than a 5th grader!! Percy is a great charcter, he's a scared kid who still stands up for what he believes is right, even when it would have been alot safer for him to run away. Percy meets some great characters along the way, some destined to be his friends, some destined to be his enemies. And sometimes the ones he thinks are friends don't turn out that way.

It's a perilous world that Percy finds himself thrown into, and I was glad to go along for the ride with him. I dug through this book at lightning speed and I'm really excited to read the rest and see what trouble Percy and the crew find their way into next time!Get more detail about The Lightning Thief.

Cheap So Long, Insecurity: You've Been a Bad Friend to Us

Excellent content for upbuilding and healing. Beth is energic and hits the mark. Thanks!Get more detail about So Long, Insecurity: You've Been a Bad Friend to Us.

Buying Hungry Girl 1-2-3: The Easiest, Most Delicious, Guilt-Free Recipes on the Planet

I've cooked several recipes from this cookbook and like most of them. Some have ingredients that I wouldn't normally use (so I probably won't ever make them). The recipes also help see healthier substitutes to use on your own.Get more detail about Hungry Girl 1-2-3: The Easiest, Most Delicious, Guilt-Free Recipes on the Planet.

Save Shanghai Girls: A Novel

I was interested in the book within the first 10 - 15 pages, and couldn't put it down so I read it easily within 3 days. I'm also a very fast reader. My copy had book club questions in the back that I think will make for a very interesting meeting of my all female book. There are so many different things going on this book parental relationships with each other and their children, womens place in society, the challenges in being a minority in America, the list goes on. It's a very dynamic book and I would highly recommend it if you're looking for something that is really focused on a women's role in the world and all the different obstacles a pair of sisters could be faced with.Get more detail about Shanghai Girls: A Novel.

Discount Lightning Thief film edition, The

I had been putting of this series for awhile now. Although I normally love YA, I just thought this one would be more along the lines of a children's book and wouldn't keep my attention. And, I was wrong (and someone better record this, because I don't say it often...hehe). This was a very engaging read from the beginning to the end.

I really love reading about Greek mythology and this book really went in depth with it, there were several times that I wrote down names just so I could look them up later, made me feel NOT smarter than a 5th grader!! Percy is a great charcter, he's a scared kid who still stands up for what he believes is right, even when it would have been alot safer for him to run away. Percy meets some great characters along the way, some destined to be his friends, some destined to be his enemies. And sometimes the ones he thinks are friends don't turn out that way.

It's a perilous world that Percy finds himself thrown into, and I was glad to go along for the ride with him. I dug through this book at lightning speed and I'm really excited to read the rest and see what trouble Percy and the crew find their way into next time!Get more detail about Lightning Thief film edition, The.

Lowest Price Drive

Written in a style like Blink or Freakonomics, but different content. Very interesting and enjoyable.Get more detail about Drive.

Low Price The Postmistress

...but like the others who reviewed The Postmistress, I found it disappointing...it fell short of its potential. The era, the characters, the locales...even Grand Central!...set the stage for a wondeful story, but it just never takes off and grabs you. It starts and sputters. While some of the passages were beautifully written, others were just plain torture to wade through. It was like running a race, then falling back just before the finish line, over and over again. Wish I had read the reviews first. Fagedaboutit!Get more detail about The Postmistress.

Look Again Decide Now

I began to realize I'd wasted my money on this garbage the moment the author described the protagonist's boss as "sexy." I bought the paperback; the cover and blurb on the back suggest an emotional and moral drama with a very interesting premise, but the execution is so poor that I could barely bring myself to finish reading it.

Other reviewers have said it already. The characters are unlikable and wooden, their thoughts on the "moral issue" of the novel only serving to move the predictable plot forward, and every bit of interesting research the author has done gets shoved aside by the protagonist's stupid decisions.

The book's only well-written pages involve research the protagonist conducts at a funeral home, which, despite the book's racist overtones, and horribly-applied phonetical spelling of the African-American characters' speech, is interesting. Sadly, these pages are unrelated to the main plot.

Please don't be fooled by the packaging, or the fact that this author is apparently a bestseller in another genre. She chose a subject too big for her meager skills and wrote it poorly.
Get more detail about Look Again.

Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight Right now

This book is, on one level, a fine politicial strategy book, For example..problem: Governor Bush could not raise funds or campaign in the primaries as effectively as his competitors,as he had a state to run. But Rove had written a paper on President McKinley who had the same problem. Emulating McKinley's solution was the answer.

On another level, it is a surprisingly unbiased summary of the Bush years--what went right and why; what went wrong and why. Rove accepts full blame for what he perceives as his own mistakes.

If this well-written book has a flaw,I felt that the investment of two or three chapters on the Valerie Plame travesty was overdone.Richard Armitage --a dove at State- was the leaker; Rove was blameless. But it meant a good deal to Rove, of course, so perhaps the comprehensiveness of the subject was necessary.

Well done. Very interesting and revealing. Highly recommnended.Get more detail about Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight.

Island Beneath the Sea: A Novel Order Now

I have not finished reading this novel, but I want to register a protest. Neither Amazon's entry describing this novel nor any of the reviewers makes any reference to the translator. It is a fact that the same brilliant and distinguished woman has translated most of Allende's novels into English; she has also translated numerous other works of Spanish and Central and South American literature, including poetry by Pablo Neruda and Cesar Vallejo, fiction by Carlos Fuentes and Pedro Paramo, as well as the works of Sor Juana de la Cruz. She is a major literary artist and, along with Edith Grossman, one of the very best translators of Spanish language literary works. Her name -- too little known, is Margaret Sayers Peden, and I believe that her name should appear in the entries of all her translations, since she works very hard and contributes mightily to our awareness of these works and to the reputations of the authors she translates. I know that Isabel Allende has often acknowledged her debt to Margaret Sayers Peden. Others should recognize her brilliance, as well.Get more detail about Island Beneath the Sea: A Novel.

The Lake Shore Limited Get it now!

Although I found this a beautifully written book and was generally engrossed by it, I didn't like the character Billie from the onset and had problems with what seemed a central current of selfishness and lack of empathy that cropped up in nearly everyone. Though these characters may feel love for others or say they're `in love,' most of them seem to think mainly of themselves and be buffeted by their own perceptions and issues. Even Leslie, who's presumably in a loving marriage and a very giving person, calmly considers what her life would be like if her husband died--would she get a job? move to Paris? And this as they lie warmly together in bed after making love!

That doesn't resonate with me at all, and neither did Billie's ongoing dishonesty about her relationship with Gus.I can see a character like her as realistic, but I didn't find her as sympathetic as I think the author does, and her predicament seemed almost entirely of her own making, to hold her tongue as she did about her legitimate feelings largely because of a need for housing. Then to write the play she did and not even prepare Leslie for the content and to joke about her "great creds" (credentials) to write about 9-11 seemed incredibly insensitive but was not really portrayed as such.

All and all, these people, though in their forties and fifties, seemed younger to me and not to have found much of the more selfless love and understanding that can develop through the crucibles of parenthood and long-term relationships. Nevertheless, I found the book very readable and really liked the diverse points of view, skillful use of language, revealing interior monologues (or much of them), evocative descriptions, and wonderful wit that permeated the whole. I just wish the characters or some of them had more wisdom to share or grew to find more in their trials. Everyone's response to caring for another dying, dependent, or no-longer-'lovable' partner seemed too much the same in a universe of possibilities, and being honest with a significant other rarely seemed to figure in the mix.
Get more detail about The Lake Shore Limited.

Nothing But Trouble Buy Now

First off I really liked this book. I thought the characters of Mark Bressler & Chelsea Ross really clicked & their mutual attraction for each other was entirely plausible. Don't you always despise the one you secretly crave, at first? The side story about Jules & Bo was also thrilling & I kind of wish they had their own novel to explore that development.

That being said, I can't give this book a perfect score because Ms. Gibson resorted to a hackneyed method to humanize her male protagonist: the introduction of the precocious little boy. Oh how I DESPISED the character of Derek. If I had been there I probably would've knocked him over on his blades, that's how much he annoyed me. And his description was so cliched...the little red-headed, freckled & bespectacled boy with no father-figure in his life who is awkward & clumsy. All that was missing was a lisp & braces. I honestly didn't think he was integral to the story in anyway. All he was was a nuisance with an attitude problem.

Despite him the story itself was refreshing & incredibly funny. I did find myself almost crying at one point (it was unfortunate that I was reading the book while on my commute & made several people uncomfortable with my obvious attempts not to cry in public). I highly recommend it.Get more detail about Nothing But Trouble.

Water for Elephants: A Novel Immediately

When I picked up Water for Elephants, I wasn't quite sure of the topic and was afraid I might have to put this book down - low and behold, it was a great book - very entertaining, the pages just kept turning and I finished the book wanting more! The story of circus life is like none other, as is this book....Get more detail about Water for Elephants: A Novel.

Uncle Tom's Cabin Best Quality

im a 14 year old girl and this was one option for a summer reading assignment i have to do for high school. history being one of my favorite subjects, i chose this book. in knowng the US's history before the civil war it gives a more indepth and disturbing look at slavery in the south. harriet beecher stowe took a chance to try to show people a new look at the brutality and cruelty behind slavery. after reading this book, i was courious is to what inspired her to write this book. it turns out she witnessed a slave named tom being beaten to death nad ran home to write about it. its a great book and i believe its a must read.
enjoy!

*keep in mind it was written before the civil war so its language is sometimes difficult to understand*Get more detail about Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel Top Quality

I read this book after reading Jeannette Walls' "Glass Houses", which made me want to read more of her books. "Half Broke Horses..." is an excellent picture of what life was really like back when people had to use their ingenuity to get be. Easy reading.Get more detail about Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel.