D-A Books

This book is perfect. The artwork of Ken Marschall is absolutely stunning. The text is so accurate. It is my favorite book on the Titanic to date.
Majestic, is the word that comes to my mind when I look at this book.
I savor each and every page.

I love it.

Amazon rocks!!

Product was of a decent price, arrived in a timely manner and in good condition. Overall, well pleased with transaction.

I have been interested in the Titanic story most of my life, and this still taught me things I did not know about it. The illustrations are beautifully done.

"Titanic An Illustrated History" is an excellent title for anyone who wants to know more about the Titanic from building the ship to the investigations into the sinking.

The book is around 225 pages, has numerous photographs and colorful illustrations, and contains around 12 chapters and focuses on the following main areas:

1. Inception and building the ship.
2. The maiden voyage and details of the sinking.
3. Evacuating the boat.
4. Rescue efforts and memorial services.
5. Investigations into the sinking.
6. Discovery the Titanic on the ocean floor several years later.
7. Some of the Titanic artifacts found during the discovery.

The narrative was smooth throughout the book and was very enjoyable to read. The book also served to dispel myths presented in the latest Titanic movie from Hollywood (1997?) that starred Leonard DiCaprio and others. In particular, while people of different social classes were pitted against one another in the struggle for survival in the movie, the book was full of examples of people who willingly sacrificed their lives so that others may live. While the movie was okay, Hollywood did seem to twist some of the facts. Thankfully, the book was more accurate.

Read and enjoy this great account of an unfortunate episode in maritime history. Recommended.

I have to agree with the previous review posted this is probably the best book ever published on the tragic Titanic. It is a beautifully illustrated history of the tragic liner from conception to her well documented demise and discovery in 1985. Ken Marshall's paintings bring the grand dame to life and also help to put into perspective the wreck as she was in 1994 when the book was first published. It is a must have for any Titanic enthusiase even if it is slightly outdated now.

An interesting book to peruse - a good mix of text and photos explains what cultures around the world (including the U.S.) typically eat and how they shop for/obtain their food. It makes a good coffee table, waiting room, gift-giving book.

Hungry Planet is a moving look at what families of the world live on...it combines incredible photography, well chosen statistics and outstanding commentary to clearly portray the diversity and real life economic situations of our fellows on planet earth. I love this book for the way it influences my children to see compassionately and with greater gratitude (and me too!)

An through and interesting way to present the food of different cultures. The book not only shows a picture of what a week's worth of food looks like across the globe, but puts how much it costs and in USD. The book also elaborates on the eating habits, culture, and daily life of the people. There are also recipes! A great book with an eye opening perspective of people all over the world.

Everyone I have shown this book to has been fascinated. The photos are stunning.

I couldn't put this book down! I was drawn to it because it mixed my loves of both food and culture into one superb read.The photography is stunning,the cultural facts immersing and the reading about different families addictive.

If you have lived thru what Ms.O'dell is writing about, you will appreciate this book more. However, if you haven't you can still love it.I have lived it and she is so honest--she put into words all the ambivalent feelings I had caring for my mother. I would not have traded the experience for the world but no one understands like someone who has been there. I laughed and cried and exorcised my guilt. Thank you Ms. O'dell....my mom's spirit was right there with me when I was reading. The only thing that that would make it better would have been our moms writing a chapter from their point of view. I often looked in my mom's eyes seeing her lost but unable to tell me what was in her brain.

Carol wrote a very heartbreaking memoir..she says on the cover Mother Mother a daughter's humorous and heartbreaking memoir..I did see some humor but I also saw a very vibrant picture of Carol's Mother. I read some--reflected--read some more--as I got closer to the end of the book I read it straight through. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who has a loved one that has Alzheimer's--the beginning, middle or end of the disease and I recommend this book to anyone that has a loved one that is dying. Carol has a list of recommended reading in the back of the book and a list of many organizations that might help someone who is looking for help.

Caring for a parent with Alzheimer's must be devastating. The disintegration of personality, the abusiveness, and the confusion. It calls into question the whole notion of sanity. When Carol O'Dell's mother adopted her, she insisted that Carol would be taking care of mom when she got old. As the Alzheimer's set in, so did the promise. As mom becomes more abusive, this commitment feels almost overwhelming.

As the disease advanced, O'Dell became more immersed in her mother's daily care, but with less and less emotional reward from a mother who no longer recognized her. And what about O'Dell's husband and kids who also wanted her attention? It is strange going from the craziness of caregiving for mom to the normal concerns of kids and husband.

While most of us who are not in the situation would probably rather not think about it, this strange stew is part of the human condition. One of the reasons I read memoirs is to put myself in another person's shoes, and experience what their world is like, and Carol O'Dell's book has given me that, an intimate look at this most disturbing experience.

In addition, she has offered me a sort of hope, in a surprising direction. Carol O'Dell faced the painful situations, she used writing, both to eloquently communicate to the reader and also to contain and absorb some of her own experiences. She talks in the book about walking out to the river to center herself after an especially painful bout. I also can feel her retreating to her room and writing in her journal.

I believe the act of writing is the opposite of Alzheimer's. It doesn't cure the disease, certainly, but it helps establish or re-establish the sanity and purpose of life, so that we can stay alive, energetic, and hopeful despite such horrific and confusing setbacks. Writing about inhumane situations creates a sort of humanity of its own.

I thought "Mothering Mother" was enlightening, encouraging, humorous and heartwarming. I read excepts from it out loud to my husband and he asked me if Carol O'Dell was writing about her mother or MY mother! My Mom, the Ancient Toddler, has quite a few of the traits that Carol's Mother had. Carol doesn't pretend to have all the answers, but she does a terrific job exploring and writing about the many emotions a caregiver goes through. I'm SO glad I read this book!

I can't tell you how much of an impact this book has had on me. I'm also a daughter caring for her mother and it was almost like I was reading my own thoughts. It was just so extremely comforting to know that I'm not alone with the thoughts and emotions I'm experiencing as my mom fades further and further away from me as Alzheimer's takes over. She's in the later stages of that dreadful disease now. This book was written with such honesty and raw emotion. It has greatly heartened me to know that maybe some of my own thoughts aren't so bizarre after all, and that maybe I really can make it through this without completely losing myself along the way. Thank you so much, Carol, for sharing this part of your life with us. You are truly a gem! I wholeheartedly recommend this book.

This was a surprisingly emotional book that helped solidify my love for this series back in the day. Applegate was smart enough to take the classically funny guy with hidden pain and turn into a storyline that affects the main plot of the entire series. Great action sequences as well.

It was a fun book, the first one Marco, his jokes are just soo funny, another reason why I read these books, no matter how bad they get in trouble or how hurt someone is he can always make you laugh. I likes when he beat up those muggers with his gorilla morph.

I like this book a lot. The best Animorphs book I've read. Right after I read it, I swore to myself that I would always read Marco books. (He's an Animorphs character.)

Review by a 9 year old Animorphs fan

Marco never wanted to be an Animorph. He never wanted to risk his life saving the world with his animal-morphing powers. He knew that if he died, his father would go insane--since both his son and wife would be gone forever. Now, the two year anniversary of Marco's mother's death is coming, and Marco is nervous. And after a dangerous mission that almost got he, Jake, and Ax killed, Marco decides to quit.

But before he quits, Marco decides to go on one last mission to steal a Yeerk ship from Visser Three so Ax can use it to return to the Andalite planet. However, the kids' plan goes terribly wrong and they end up trapped. But while everyone else worries how to escape, Marco is shocked when learning a terrible secret. Now, he has a reason to fight the Yeerks. And no matter what it takes, he'll kick butt.

THE PREADTOR contains one of the most shocking secrets in the Animorphs series. And this is definitely one of the best Marco books. Although it was a great read, I had a problem with this book. The first half of the novel was about the Animorphs' adventure at the mall with Ax who keeps running away. Even though it was funny, I would've preferred more Marco dealing with the secret.

In this fifth installment of the popular sci-fi series, Marco and the other Animorphs attempt to help their alien friend Ax return to his homeworld, only to make a shocking discovery that forever alters Marco's attitude toward their cause. For sequel see "The Capture."

If you have to work with people who speak a different language, then this book is a treasure. It is an easy book to read, and the way it teaches is inspiring. I could not have done all the difficult jobs I did working with an international team if I had not read this. Highly recommended.

When I was introduced to this book in March of 2007, I was just putting the finishing touches on a communication workshop of my own, Mastering the Art of Listening. As a business coach, I long ago realized that most breakdowns in companies as well as relationships, occur in a world of dysfunctional communication. What inspired me about this book was it was if I had read Thomas' mind when creating my own workshop. I am now leading Communicate or Die workshops for businesses and my own workshop for relationships. A must read if you own a business or work for one, especially in a bigger corporation.

"I started reading "Communicate or Die" and couldn't put it down. I was reading it on the subway and kept missing my stops and having to go back."

As a public speaker, I am always looking for new and practical books to help me convey a down-to-earth message. Communicate or Die definitely meets those standards. It is truly a winner!

I have read this book a few times over the years and always been empowered to communicate more effectively when I read it again. In the last months I have been studying the book's material, like my life depended on it as the title indicates. I read for 20 minutes each day, highlight sections and writing observations into my journal. It is one of the best books on communication I have read and studied and as I take on a new and bigger challenge, my daily study is an imperative.
The book puts me into an environment where I am conscious of my speaking and how I listen to people, of effectiveness and forward motion. To share Communicate or Die's wisdom and tools with my associates and clients, I have ordered a special edition of 750 copies with our own brand on the cover. It is to be my gift to herald in a new and prosperous 2007. I consider it a small and high-leveraged investment in the leadership of my volunteers and colleagues and essential for the task that we have taken on in the world - the end of rape on earth.
Peg Thatcher, International President, Project for the End of Rape; CEO, Thatcher & Associates.

I have this book since 1984 when Tetsuko Kuroyanagi became a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. I was in 7th grade at that time. I have read it over 20 times. Every time, I found joyful, happiness, and touching. But I lost it when we moved. I did get an used one. And I have read it over and over again. This book inspired me to study Japaneses. I love it. GREAT BOOK for children and for adult. READ IT if you want to find your childhood and refill your imagination.

In 1969 I was part of a group of teachers who created a school much like that featured in Toto Chan. We thought we were on the "cutting edge" of educational practices without knowing that a school in Japan had been delivering many of the same holistic, humanistic educational practices over a quarter of a century before. I'm sure many U.S. educators who thought/think they were/are in the vanguard of educational practices would appreciate this beautiful story of a dedicated educator and his students.

Honestly I read this book over 25 years ago and thought that this book has long been discontinued. I guess this proves what a time-tested treasure it is. The author, a TV celebrity in Japan, recalls her childhood and the unorthodox school she went to. Absolutely adoring in the simple story of how a concerned mother tried to do the best for her daughter and how a simple man did his best to give a bright and meaningful future to the few children who comes into his life.

It is the type of book that makes you wish that there were more teachers like him and that you had a teacher like him.

This is one of my all-time favorite books. First published in Japan in 1981, this beautiful book depicting the true story of innocent little Totto-chan, her family, friends, and above all, the innovating educationer she befriends in the years leading up to, and during the first years of WW2, remains a national best seller in Japan to this day. I don't have any children of my own, but if I did, and if Tomoe-Gakuen (the elementary school Totto-chan attends) existed today, I would immediately enroll my children there. Since there is not, I hope I have the good luck of finding somebody like Sosaku Kobayashi to help make my child the happiest and kindest child in the world.

It was due to this book's beauty that then UNICEF Executive Director, James P. Grant persuaded those working at UNICEF to appoint the author, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi (who is Totto-chan grown up), to UNICEF's International Goodwill Ambassador, enabling her to visit and help children in need all over the world.

For people who have read this book and those who have not, I also recommend "Totto-Chan's Children : A Goodwill Journey to the Children of the World" by the same author. It tells the story of Totto-chan grown up, still big-hearted as ever, striving to help children in need. Check it out!

I have not read a better book which has made me laugh, cry, love, and ponder over is such a way! This book is awesome and worth much more than 5 stars.

Beezus and Ramona is a good book! In this book, you meet Fred, Ramona's imaginary pet lizard. Ramona also happens to destroy a library book! How do you spell Ramona and Beezus? F-u-n, f-u-n, f-u-n! I'm not allowed to tell you anything else. So how do you find out about this? READ THE BOOK-NOW!

Is there *anyone* on the planet who doesn't like Beverly Cleary's books and the wonderful characters she created?

Beezus and Ramona (along with Henry Huggins and the rest of the gang on Klikitak Street) were part of my childhood. 40 years later, they were just as appealing to my own son. And don't tell anyone -- although we bought these audiobooks when he was about 8, at 12 he still likes to put these on ocassionally and listen. Why? In large part because of Stockard Channing's masterful performance here. Her rendition of Ramona is EXACTLY how we imagine this impish little creature would talk.

I highly recommend these books, both because of the delightful stories and characters that Mrs. Clearly created for us, and because Stockard Channing has brought them to life so perfectly here. The stories are reminiscent of simpler times and will take parents back to their own childhoods while providing toddlers to tweens with good, wholesome entertainment.

We listened on road trips, and unlike certain kids entertainment (a certain purple dinosaur comes to mind), you won't want the kids to wear headphones to preserve your sanity. You'll want it on the main speakers for everyone in the car to enjoy.

Five stars!

If you have a little sister and think she's annoying, think again. Does your sister think Bendix is the most beautiful name in the world? Does she ruin your birthday cake--twice?! Sometimes little sisters are annoying, but Ramona is impossible! Beezuz, Roamona's big sister finds out that no matter what happens in her childhood with Ramona, they will think it funny when they grow up. I hope you'll enjoy this book!

Beezus really got annoyed with Ramona, she wrecked the art class, she bite into all those apples,etc. I would have probably screamed if I had Ramona for a sister! I like Beverly Cleary's books. I own this particular book of hers, and I read it again and again! It's awsome! I totally recomend it, along with Cleary's other awsome books!

Ask any older sibling about younger siblings, and you'll get one common answer...they're A-N-N-O-Y-I-N-G. They steal your toys, throw tantrums, and constantly steal the spotlight. But, even the most perturbed older siblings know that, deep down, it's impossible not to love younger sisters and brothers - sometimes.

Nine-year-old Beatrice "Beezus" Quimby has always been a quiet soul, content with spending her time embroidering pot holders, helping her mother do the sheets on Saturday's, and reading the countless books she checks out of the Glenwood Branch Library on a weekly basis. Unfortunately, her four-year-old sister, Ramona, is the exact opposite of her. Ramona has one thing on her mind, and that's making as much noise as possible, and driving the whole family out of their mind. Beezus can't stand it, especially since the responsibility of taking care of Ramona, and ensuring that she behaves, is often delegated to her, so that her parents can get their work done. Ramona, however, refuses to obey Beezus. Unless, of course, she's reading one of her favorite books - The Littlest Steam Shovel, or Big Steve the Steam Shovel - to her. But even that doesn't keep Ramona occupied for long. When Beezus is in the midst of creating pictures for her art class, Ramona is there to cause a mess, and challenge Beezus' imagination. When Ramona is offered two marshmallows as a snack, she uses them as powder puffs, as opposed to putting them in her tummy, where they belong. During checkers games with Beezus' pal Henry Huggins, Ramona destroys the checkerboard, and wreaks all sorts of havoc - even some involving Henry's beloved dog Ribsy. In Beezus' eyes, she can't win - even when it's her birthday. But as she gets older, and learns more about her mother's relationships with her siblings, Beezus begins to realize that, as obnoxious as Ramona is, she's still her sister. And even though she may become angry at Ramona for her crazy antics; she still loves her - just not all the time.

I fell in love with Beverly Cleary's RAMONA books when I was five-years-old, and now that I have decided to re-read them, I'm finding that I can't help but fall in love with them all over again. I feel as if I have reverted back to my five-year-old self, and can actually relate to the mishaps that continually take place during both Ramona, and Beezus' lives. Beezus is such a fun character, who seems wise beyond her years, and is serious to a motherly extent. Ramona, on the other hand, is carefree and impossible to handle. Her wacky thoughts, and determination to always have her way is humorous; while some of the debacles she finds herself in are downright cringe-worthy. Cleary has penned a book here that is essential to read aloud to both older and younger children. The message of love is clear on every page, and truly helps to bring siblings together. Clever, funny, and irresistible.

Erika Sorocco
Freelance Reviewer

I bought this book for my son, and we both are very happy with it.

Each book contains a new, exciting adventure!
The story just keeps getting better every time a new book comes out!
And i continue to love Bobby Pendragon more and more every adventure.

Starting at this book, the entire series takes on a very dark overtone. Just who is Saint Dane? Why does he want everyone dead? After his last victory, what powers has he gained? And most of all, how will this effect the very boundaries of the territories?

The book starts where the creepy ending of the last book left off. Bobby returns through the flume to see that Saint Dane had made a change of look in front of Mark and Courtney and given them Gunny's disembodies hand in a bag.

After this, Bobby is thrown into a world full of people who are DEFINITLEY not human, and where humans are nothing but poorly treated slave animals to the dominant spieces. Did I mention that a mysterious plague is going to wipe out this entire territory and the only way to stop it is to cross items between the territories, one of the biggest Traveler rules?

Will this have an effect on everything? Will Mark and Courtney have a special task from now on? Who are the acolytes? How does the mysterious old man connect to Uncle Press? All of this is answered in this book of the Pendragon Series!

I was given a gift of the first Pendragon book. I groaned because I NEVER read science fiction/fantasy. I felt I should "try" to read it because, after all, it was a gift. Keep in mind that this series is for teens and I am a grandmother! You guessed it: I couldn't put it down. I am about to start Book # Seven - The Quillan Games. These are so very entertaining. I would highly recommend them to anyone over the age of 10!

I have been a fan of fantasy and science fiction for all of my life. I stumbled upon this series and have enjoyed each of the books. As you progress with Bobby from book to book it hooks you into waiting for his next journal. The books are written for teens, but adults can enjoy them as well. The moderation is well done and consistent between each of the books so no different voices to piece together for the same character. I've found that as each book in the series builds upon each other, the storyline keeps getting better. I would recommend this series to both young adults and adults. As good does not always win in the books, as in real life, the storyline of perseverance and making hard choices parallels decisions that our youth face in their lives. A good series for anyone to read.

I really enjoyed reading this book, it is very informative, and accurate. we just started to apply these principals to our diets, and we have been eating healthy and feeling great.

Dr. Russell writes in a way that, to be consistent, one would have to become a 7th Day Adventist. He takes extinct Old Testament references regarding what Jews were supposed to eat and what they weren't supposed to eat, and acts as if they compose God's universal, timeless law. Poor exegesis. If he stuck to the scientific pros and cons of food I would have received him better (even though much of his data is controversial/speculative). There have to be better written books out there (I know Richard Foster does a much more thorough analysis of health and fasting).

The title of the book really says it all. God created us and gave us specific instructions on what to eat. We would be wise to follow them. I've given copies of this book to my whole family.

I have found this book to be very insightful about my eating habits. Putting biblical boundaries around my eating choices actually gives me the freedom I've been needing to say no to all types of junk food. It has also helped me learn to trust God's guideance in other areas of life. God knows His creation and wants the best for us.

This is the best book I have read with clear, easy to follow advice that will show you Bible references for all of it's tips. It has a page of foods with Bible verses to look up where the food is eaten. There are references for the unhealthy foods, too. If you want a straight forward book without a lot of the authors own "reasons why", you will be very happy. You will come away with the answers you were seeking.

Is there anything worse than living in Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union? ...unfortunately the author learned the answer to this question is: "living in Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union with cancer". I'm not a fan of medical dramas, but it would be unfair to pigeonhole The Cancer Ward as strictly a medical drama. It is much more an exploration of the lives of the different men who inhabit a 1950's era Soviet oncology ward. The men come from a mix of cultural, ethnic, and social-status backgrounds, and at times the author does use them to advantage for commentary on elements in Soviet life, but Solzhenitzen never allows the social commentary to overpower his handling of the characters. He is a cancer survivor too, and he draws heavily from his own experience. The book is at its best when showing how cancer recasts one's priorities, particularly the last several chapters, which follow Oleg after his discharge from the cancer ward. It is here that Solzhenitsen so artistically renders the world transformed through the eyes of a cancer patient.
This book is not like Gulag Archipellago, but is wonderful in its own, much more personal way. The fact that Solzhenitsyn produced both of these works is a testiment to his craftmanship as both a storyteller and a first-person historian.

So much serious stuff has been written about this famous novel that first-time readers may be surprised that the first of the two parts of the book is actually an easy read with a light touch and plenty of humour despite the utterly gloomy and sad premise: a group of cancer patients in a decrepit, impoverished cancer hospital. Not much action, but vivid and touching dialogues abound. The second half of the book is a bit more demanding, with lengthy philosophical reflections on life and humankind. But it's worth it: some of the most haunting and moving passages of modern writing are found here. When Solzhenitsyn lets his protagonist compare life to the rivers of Siberia "running into the sand", he may just have created the most beautiful metaphor of life ever put on paper. Please, do read this book.

This book is written in the true Russian style. It's poignant and shocking and hard to put down.

No one writes a fat, sprawling, old-fashioned Russian novel quite like a Russian. To the ranks of Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy, you can add Solzhenitsyn and to novels like *The Brothers Karamazov* and *Anna Karenina* you can add *Cancer Ward.* In fact, *Cancer Ward,* like Tolstoy's slim but immensely profound *The Death of Ivan Illych* begins in much the same fashion: a married, middle-aged career man is suddenly confronted with the most immediate and terrifying thing of all: his own mortality.

Although in *Cancer Ward* instead of the self-absorption of bourgeoisie society, the setting is Soviet Russia in the two years after Stalin's demise. It's still a world of repression, imprisonment, suspicion, fear, lies, exile--and, most of all, the ever-lurking presence of death. These conditions are allegorized in the cancer ward itself, in the doctor's who must have faith in their largely ineffective treatment and--all appearances to the contrary--who never tell their patients the truth about their condition...which leads to the absurdity that Solzhenitsyn uses as the title of the first chapter of *Cancer Ward*: a patient sent to the cancer ward assured by his doctor that he has "no cancer whatsoever."

What is allegorized is a people who've been systematically brutalized into the deepest self-denial, terrorized into ignoring the cancer destroying their society.

But for all the allusions--evident or oblique--to the secret police, the Gulag, and the totalitarian state, as well as the impassioned outcries against Stalinism, *Cancer Ward* is about the universal and timeless problems of death, of faith, of freedom, and of how we should live our lives and what might give them meaning.

Like all the greatest Russian novelists, Solzhenitsyn tackles the biggest questions. *Cancer Ward* is a philosophical novel in the best Dostoyevskian sense of the term. Filled with passion, pathos, humor, and heart, as well as a vivid cast of memorable characters to embody every idea, every human emotion, *Cancer Ward* is a masterpiece and Solzhenitsyn a writer rare in our age who still dares to deal with serious things seriously and compels you, by the sheer unquestionable moral force of his conviction, to take them seriously, too.

This is perhaps the best book I've read in recent memory. Don't miss it.

It is almost unbelievable how the liberal elite in America covered Stalin's crimes until Solzhenitsyn's prophetic writings emerged. And not to be outdone, President Ford and Henry Kissinger refused to welcome the greatest writer of the 20th Century in order to placate the Soviets. May Solzhenitsyn rest peacefully in the assurance that one honest man changed the world. And may his literary works live forever.