FO Books

While not the first book of the series, this is the first one I read. And it stood pretty much on its own, though I'm sure reading the series in order would give you better context as far as some of the character's actions are concerned. And I admit, I picked this one because it had a picture of a "cutesy" chef (but with a scowl) cookie jar holding a gun on the cover. And, unlike choosing Nerd in Shining Armour by its title, this gamble wasn't half bad. It was an enjoyable story with some decent characters, and every time you thought you really, really had it figured out there was a twist. It really kept you guessing, which is a pleasant surprise in a mystery novel these days. Though the characters weren't the greatest, the mystery portion was well written and the overall story drew you in - enough that I'll probably read another in the series.

I discovered Diane Mott Davidson with this book and was so glad I did. I immediately went backward and read the rest of the series, and I'm still reading forward, moving toward her latest PB release Dark Tort. I highly recommend this series. Goldy is a caterer and a sleuth. Each mystery tale comes with a delicious list of recipes (prepared by Goldy during the course of the story). In Tough Cookie, Goldy is temporarily hosting a local TV cooking show when so much goes wrong! Cooking disasters on the set, a blizzard, and then a dead body. She finds it herself and unfortunately for her, it turns out to be her ex-boyfriend. Goldy begins to investigate to determine whether her ex was murdered or not. And it leads to real danger for her. Goldy is married to police investigator Tom in this outing, but in her earlier books, we get a nice build up of their relationship, starting with how they met in her first book, Catering to Nobody. I suggest you start with #1 Catering to Nobody and work your way up to this one and beyond. You'll be glad you did. Delicious!

I love this series of Goldie mysteries...a good combination of great receipes and a good mystery in each

Love these books. Have read them all to date. Arrived as promised.

I picked up this book in a used booked store in Powell River, British Columbia, while waiting for a ferry to Vancouver. I didn't know that culinary murder mysteries was a genre and this book was part of a series of similar mishaps. Where was the warning label?

The author sets up her heroine as a gourmet-wannabe Nancy Drew running after inept murderers while strewing recipe cards along her trail. She dishes out food descriptions ad nauseam and then raves over them until you want to gag her with a kitchen towel. All the while, she insults her readers' intelligence by serving up as novelty that age old recipe of suspecting the evil looking guy first, and then making her model character the evil culprit!

If you're a fan of this author's work you'll probably enjoy it. But if this is your first time try, be aware that it is definitely an acquired taste. I'll pass on seconds.

This textbook is packed with details, but I disagree with those that feel that this is a bad thing. I felt that this book was an excellent supplement to what I learned in class. Besides, it's molecular biology. The details are important and can't just be cut out of the book...

This book is my textbook for nutrition metabolism. However, my instructor just pick parts of the book so it is fragmental for me. Anyway I think it is a good book.

This book has the latest and most up to date information regarding molecular cell bio. Every time i needed clarifications on something i didn't understand, this book had the answer.

This book is indeed the best introductory book on molecular and cell biology. It is well written and fully illustrated. This new edition also includes a lot of the most recent information particularly in the areas of signaling, cancer, and stem cells. It is a valuable resource for all students of molecular biology.

This is the second copy of this book that I have (the first being the 5th ed.). It seems that the authors cannot settle on a cohesive system in which to arrange the material. Like the 5th ed., I think that the material does not follow a logical course of organization (but admittedly better than the last ed.). Nevertheless, the material presented is of good quality being that it is easy to understand and difficult to become lost in the material. Overall, it is a good book.

Well, It seems to me that Rosen is a guy who is very jealous of Lennon's geniuses and life.
There isn't a single page in the book that doesn't say bad things about John.
Sometimes in the middle of a phrase, camouflaged, but the bad thing is there.

And first of all, the book is based (even relying on Rosen's memory) on stolen material that another weird guy (that I won't name here) took from Lennon's house.
This is not right.

But I'm giving three stars just because this can always be red with all this things in mind.
So there is a good amount of stories about Lennon's last years.
Just don't trust the book so much.
Read it as Rosen's interpretation of things, not the absolute truth.

According to Elliot Mintz, Rosen was one of the witting conspirators in 'Project Walrus', in which John Lennon's personal journals were stolen from the Dakota shortly after his death. According to Rosen, he was set up by others; and has paid a high price. Whatever the facts, his book, 'Nowhere Man' demonstrates that these documents did come into his possession; and accordingly, along with Guiliano's 'Lennon In America', presents one of the most accurate portrayals of Lennon's last years available. But the diaries are far from his only source of information. During eighteen years of research, Rosen interviewed many of the key people in Lennon's household, including Yoko Ono and John's two children. The result is a beautifully-presented work which deserves to be read by anybody interested in the truth behind the Beatles.

I read this book in December. When I picked it up, I could not put it down! I knew from the offset, however, that this book is mostly made up of the author's fantasy. He's read the journals and they are gone. He's filled in the blanks with his imagination. The result? An interesting, fun, and thought-provoking read.

I have never idealized Lennon because I knew that he had problems of his own. Reading this book touched on the kind of problems that he could have had. I want to read more Lennon biographies, especially since I don't know what parts of this book are true and what are false. Above all, like I said earlier, this is a gripping read that you won't be able to put down!

Just remember much of it is speculation.

When I started this book, I knew, from the many years of following the story, that John Lennon was a unique person. But this book puts into perspective his daily struggle to maintain his life in the face of his personal demons. He was and is a testament to the fact that fame, however lucrative, creates a development pattern for the "star" that actually secludes its participant and forces the person to live inside a self created world, devoid of outside normalization. This is a tribute to a man who continued to the end to search for himself in the middle of all the noise. In my mind, he succeeded in ways you and I will never have to understand. Great insight and easy reading. I recommend this highly for any Beatle fan.

I found this book good and very informative..about the mind of John Lennon. Liked it much and got an understanding of him I hadn't thought of before..

While the particulars and the intrigues surrounding the election of 1800 made it the most raucous election held to that point in US history, it was, more importantly, according to Thomas Jefferson, the culmination of the American Revolution begun twenty-five years prior. It was, in his mind, no less than the repudiation of the elitist Federalist era that had lasted the long decade dating from the Constitutional Convention in 1787. More so than the election, the author focuses on the events and decisions of that decade that gave rise to a political party, the Republicans, who opposed the entrenched party of government, the Federalists, all of which did lead to the first Presidential election with identifiable political parties. Some of the most capable political figures in American history were players in the 1790s. While John Adams held the offices of both Vice President and President in the 90s, it was Alexander Hamilton who was the driving force behind the Federalists and their policies of nationalism and commercialism. Both Jefferson and James Madison were greatly disturbed by the power and size of the federal government, the militarism of the Federalists, and their rejection of republicanism, or average citizen empowerment.

Most of the leading figures in colonial society in the decade after the Revolutionary War came to understand that the Articles of Confederation left the United States in a helpless state, almost on the edge of collapse. When those elites met in Philadelphia in 1787, they had no intention of constructing a true democratic republic; in fact, they feared the democratic initiatives of recent years in various states. The design of the US Constitution, with its roadblocks at every turn, virtually guaranteed that popular initiatives could not be realized. However, it was not fully appreciated at the time just how much power some, namely Hamilton, wanted to exert through the central government.

Early on in the Washington administration, both Madison and Jefferson knew that Treasury secretary Hamilton's initiatives to fully fund US war debts (a boon to speculators in War bonds), to assume the wartime debts of the states, and to establish a central US bank were designed to enhance the interests of commercial elites. However, it was the US involvement in European affairs that engendered the strongest opposition throughout the decade. The official neutrality position of the US towards British-French hostilities in 1793 merely confirmed to many that US elites had far too much respect for aristocratic British society. Democratic-Republican societies (the forerunner to the Republican Party) emerged at this time to denounce the failure of the US to support the French in their efforts to establish a republican order.

When the French began preying upon US shipping in 1796, largely as a result of the US pro-British stance, the Federalist reaction was militaristic. The French refusal to accept US envoys in 1798 caused the Quasi-War with France to reach a fever pitch. Both Hamilton and Adams had to exert a moderating influence to keep ultra-Federalists from forcing a war with France. However, they did ram the Alien and Sedition Acts through Congress which were designed to curtail critical commentary of the policies of the US and its officials. Numerous newspaper writers and editors were jailed under the Sedition Act. It is the black spot on Adams' presidency that will not go away.

As the author points out, the republican political societies and the partisan opposition press did profoundly impact the perceptions among average Americans who now saw Federalists as social elites and who were increasingly alarmed at their militarism, policies favoring elite commercial interests, including tight-money monetary policies, pro-British and anti-French stances, and their ignoring of First Amendment rights to a free press. The first significant evidence of a shift among voters was the takeover of the New York assembly by the Republicans in 1800, virtually guaranteeing Jefferson all of New York's electoral votes, since that body selected the electors.

The author describes well the peculiar electoral system of that era whereby the two Congressional caucuses actually nominated two candidates for President, reflecting the fact that electors actually cast two votes for President, one vote of which could not be for a candidate from his state. The top two vote getters became President and Vice President regardless of party. If no candidate received a majority of votes in the Electoral College or the top two tied, then the House of Representatives decided the election with each state getting one vote. In 1800, the vote of nine states out of sixteen was required to win the election. Another variable in the election process was the manner in which electors were selected. In some states the legislature chose, in others popular voting by district or statewide selected electors, with states frequently changing the system between elections.

Into this novel electoral system stepped the candidates for President in 1800: John Adams and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina were nominated by the Federalists and Jefferson and Aaron Burr of New York by the Republicans. As the author points out, there was far more politicking in the election of 1800 than ever before. In the first place, the Republican press had greatly expanded. If anything, the Republicans were more organized with pamphlets, parades, dinners, picnics, etc. The Federalists, sensing their cause as being lost, mounted scurrilous on Jefferson concerning his alleged atheism and radicalism. And there are the intrigues of Hamilton before the election and of Burr once the election moved to the House of Representatives because of the tie between Burr and Jefferson. Wiser heads did finally prevail in the Congressional contest, averting a potentially dire political crisis. As it was, the election represented the first peaceful transfer of power from one faction to another in US history.

The author captures well the fact that the 1790s and the election of 1800 were very pivotal times in US history. The promise of the American Revolution was slowing ebbing away. Perhaps there are those believe that the direction of US history was firmly cast by the Revolution. This book makes clear that is not the case. The thinking and efforts of Jefferson, Madison, republican societies and newspapers were instrumental in changing the course that the Federalists had set for the US and the greater society. Jefferson was overjoyed that the US had finally been able to cast off the Toryism of the Federalists and hopefully begin anew on the path promised by the Revolution.

Overall Ferling gives a good read. The book is detailed in many areas and does provide a chronology of events very well. Through his establishment of the characters of the men involved, the reader does almost forget he is reading a historical evaluation and not an historical novel (this may be good or bad depending on the reader, but one can not feel a bit emotional while reading the epilogue and the eventual reestalished friendship between Adams and Jefferson).

However like most books that deal with these subjects one can see the biases begin to seep through. Hamilton: Bad Guy. Adams: The Old Blowhard. Washington: Hamilton's puppet. Burr: The Secondary Character. Jefferon: The Hero. Ferling falls into the same traps which at times does hurt the book. He gives credit to Jefferson in many areas where he should have been questioning Jefferson's actions and words (the lack of any indepth evaluation of Jefferson and slavery is a bit daunting). Though Ferling does a good job at spelling out the changes brought about with the election of 1800 in the epilogue, he does in the end fail to address key points (Jefferson's Barbary War, a mere mention of the LA Purchase, no mention at all of Jefferson's embargo, and most importantly the slavery issue...which is virtually ignored, except a pretty interesting discussion of Sally Hemming)and maybe more depth with the chapter could have spelled out and defended Ferling's thesis a bit clearer.

Other areas of criticism for this book have to come from the 10 chapters devoted to events pre-1800, and only, what can be considered an overview, of the election and the subsequent House battle. It is here where depth is needed and at times does not seem to be provided. Another issue is his paragraph devoted to the 3/5's Clause, something I felt he should have expanded on (maybe even devoting a short chapter to it). And, like most reviews, I agree with the poor editing of the book. Long paragraphs with 3-4 different issues being explained, when they should have been broken down to lone paragraph.

Overall it is a good book and topic worth reading about. It's easy to read and it does flow very well.

This is a splendid book that not only covers the personalities and the election, it breathes enough life into it to make it all fun. This is a breeze to read yet very informative.

I will be reading more books by Ferling.

I simply did not enjoy this book. That's not to say I got nothing out of it, because the information is there. But halfway through the book, I briefly considered putting it down and moving on to something else. It's just not written in a way that is reader friendly. It reads like something written by a historian, not a writer. The best books are written by those who wear both hats.

Among the fifty-plus presidential elections in the United States, there have been four that stand out as particularly controversial. We're all familiar (and have our opinions about) the 2000 election. The 1876 election also involved disputed votes, and while the winner (Hayes) did not have the popular vote, he won in a deal that also ended Reconstruction. In 1824, John Quincy Adams had neither the popular nor electoral majority but won through a seeming corrupt bargain in the House of Representatives; the consequences of this bargain would tarnish Adams's presidency and help Andrew Jackson (who had the plurality of popular and electoral votes in 1824) win in 1828. These three may have had their impacts, but perhaps none were as important as the first controversial election in 1800.

John Ferling discusses this election in his book Adams vs. Jefferson (subtitled The Tumultuous Election of 1800). Kind of like the movie Titanic, the big event doesn't really happen until 2/3 of the way into the book. Unlike Titanic, however, this story is filled with enough interesting characters that you don't need to wait for the climax. The two leads in this book are the title characters. Adams is the unappreciated one and he knows it; while Washington, Jefferson, Franklin and Hamilton get the lion's share of acknowledgement for their roles, Adams would be pushed aside. While the others would appear on coins and cash, Adams would be relatively unmemorialized (although that has changed in recent years).

Jefferson, on the other hand, is the high-minded but often duplicitous friend of Adams and a founder of the Republican party (which would eventually evolve into the modern Democratic Party). Adams was a Federalist, albeit a moderate one, but even that was too much for Jefferson and their relationship would get antagonistic especially after 1796, when Adams was elected president and Jefferson vice-president. For Adams, it would be a rough term in office, besieged by Jefferson on one side and Hamilton on the other.

1800 would be a rematch between the two, but the real fireworks would actually occur later. Due to the electoral process at the time, Jefferson and fellow Republican Aaron Burr tied in the electoral college, with Adams a close third. If not for the three-fifths rule in the Constitution at the time (designed to count slaves as three-fifths of a person when determining representation and electoral votes), Adams - the only non-slave holder among the four major candidates (Charles Pinckney being the fourth) - would have won.

With a tie, the election would be decided in the House of Representatives, where views were decidedly mixed as to who should win (although it spoils nothing to give away that Jefferson would be the winner). The results of this election? Among other things, it led to a new Constitutional amendment to avoid these sorts of ties in the future. It also represented the beginning of the end for the Federalists, who would never have much of a shot at the presidency again. What is most significant, however, is the end result: the peaceful transition in leadership from one party to its rival.

This is the second book I've read by Ferling. The first, a biography of John Adams, was wonderful. This one is good but not great; although only 200 pages long, it is an occasionally slow read. There is also the occasional bit of anachronistic language, such as when Ferling refers to Federalist bloggers. Adams vs. Jefferson offers little to those already familiar with the era, but if you haven't really read up on this period, it is a worthwhile book to pick up.

Essential classic to refresh past and current thinking on urban development and inequality. History is repeating itself all too comfortably.

As others have noted, this book was the beginning of photojournalism, and remains an accurate but depressing look into the lives of poor New Yorkers in the early part of the 20th century.

This book never fails to amaze me. I read it in college, then ordered it for someone else recently.

If you have never read it - or, if you have not read it recently, give it a look.

In these times when the rich are increasingly wealthier than they've been since the 19th Century - the middle class is shrinking - and the poor are becoming poorer, it is wise to look and remember how socially aware and socially responsible we must be.

Few books in American history have had the social impact that Jacob A. Riis's How the Other Half Lives had. Riis spent years crawling through the slums of New York's Lower East Side in the later half of the nineteenth-century, always with a local guide sympathetic to his cause. He hoped, through the evolving technological advances of photography and his published, emotional plea, to rouse the well-to-do citizens of New York into helping the millions of poor and impoverished, native and immigrant alike, which continued to swell the city's population. In order for them to have had the chance of becoming productive American citizens, they must first have been given the opportunity at a fair start, which the abject state of the tenement buildings were unable to provide.

The first problem was the tenement itself. Usually a building, four to six stories high, intended for the occupancy of just a few families, soon had over a hundred people packed into every nook that could fill a human body. Most interior rooms never saw the light of day. Fresh air was a rare commodity, leaving most residents to breathe the same stale air day and night. The maze of tight, blind passageways created to fit each family made it impossible for firemen to reach helpless victims trapped on the upper floors, compounded by the fact that most fire escapes were blocked with residents' furniture, trapping more even still. Overall, the filth of the structures proved most offensive to the senses. One such building was so dubbed the "Dirty Spoon" because the grime on the walls had effectively made it fire proof (Riis 30). Rear tenements, built in empty courts behind the street buildings, were usually worse, little more than dilapidated hovels cut off from light by the surrounding structures.

Despite this vision of abject poverty, and indeed starvation was prevalent, many in the tenements were not what would have been considered poor. Some, in fact, earned a decently living for the era. So why didn't they move? The real question to be asked is, to where would they move? Tenement houses were the norm in New York, each as good (or lousy) as the next. Additionally, the rents paid by most of these residents (especially blacks) were very high, often amounting to more than a week's wage. Only the abundantly wealthy could afford better, while the middle and lower classes were left to the stink of places like "The Bend" on Mulberry Street, which Riis considers the heart of slum depravity.

Predictably, these conditions bred all types of criminal activity. Faced with constant hunger and only the streets to call home, many resorted to gang violence or controlled substance dependency. Children, who sometimes never saw beyond their squalid block, with a family that could not provide for their basic needs, soon created gangs of their own, making their way as they could. Other children toiled with their families in the sweatshops, for which the tenements were the main housing. Perhaps the most regrettable victims of the tenements were the infants, who were regularly victims of abandonment, left on wealthy doorsteps with vain hopes by desperate parents, or given up to "Baby-farms" where they were left to starve to death (Riis 148). These conditions Riis blames squarely on tenements: "The product is our own" (Riis 171).

However, all hope was not lost to Riis. Already airshafts had been implemented in new building designs to allow ventilation (to what effect can be debated) and new windows punched into walls, so that "air and sunlight" could "have a legal claim" (Riis 211). Rear tenements, too, were quickly disappearing. He felt that by writing How the Other Half Lives, the wealthy and influential of the city would come to the aid (Riis 131). In this respect he was correct, when through his book he found an ally in Theodore Roosevelt, who began implementing many of the suggestions that Riis proposed. He urged people to look beyond the building facades (which were admittedly nice on some buildings) to the teeming filth that they masked (Riis 209). Perhaps the most intimidating argument for his more fortunate peers was the possibility of spreading disease, for to him public sentiment had "slumbered peacefully until... a dreaded epidemic knocked at our door" (Riis 212). He called for laws to be imposed against the current tenement conditions, for the buildings to be renovated or new "model tenements" built in their place (Riis 223). Likewise, tenants should have received the quality accommodations their high rents were entitling them to. Riis endorsed the park system (City-Beautiful influence?) as a way of relieving crime in congested districts, for reasons such as this elegant observation: "I have seen an armful of daisies keep the peace of a block better than a policeman and his club, seen instincts awaken under their gentle appeal" (Riis 138). Children, Riis felt, were the "key" to rescuing the city from poverty and corruption (Riis 143).

The other contribution for which Riis has been immortalized, and no doubt thanked repeatedly by modern historians, is the treasure trove of photos he took while on his outings, one hundred of which are found in the Dover edition. (His original publication did not include the photos for technological reasons). The impact of the strikingly bleak images caught on film far outweighs any of the emotional condemnations he wrote. The reader, thankfully, is also treated to many of the stories behind these images, adding yet another dimension, such as the young paupers on page 157 who claimed that they "Didn't live nowhere." Another, probably unintentional, effective element to the photos is the pained grimace on many faces (like the "Street Arab" on page 152), as though they are writhing in agony from hunger, although it is no doubt just a reaction from the camera's blinding flash in dark quarters. The street dwellers and criminals, even those presumably embarrassed by their situations, seem willing to have their pictures taken. Perhaps it is the only such opportunity many had.

Despite Riis's commendable crusading and fight for the underprivileged, he was still in many ways a man of his time. The modern reader cannot help but be struck by the prejudices running through his commentary. The groups that receive the most of the brunt are the Italians and Polish Jews. The Chinese also pay a price for their differences, and Riis tells us that his "senseless idolatry, a mere grub-worship" have made nothing strong about him, except his passions when aroused" (Riis 77) and speaks of opium addiction as a form of white slavery (Riis 80). At least he commends them for being clean. Surprisingly, however, he looks fondly on African-Americans (along with Bohemians), who he treats with sympathetic respect. He sees their hardships, and the causes (ironically), that "the blame is born by prejudice and greed that have kept him from rising under a burden of responsibility to which he could hardly be equal" under those circumstances. That after only twenty-five years of freedom, he "may be seen to advance much farther and faster than before suspected, and to promise, with fair treatment, quite as well as the rest of us, his white-skinned fellow-citizens" (Riis 119). When he wished, it seems, Riis was quite able to see beyond differences.

Riis, through How the Other Half Lives, awakened a society that had once turned a blind eye to the hardships prevalent in the tenements. He showed them effectively that the struggle was not theirs alone, but that its reach was felt for many miles in ways not readily apparent. His photographic images, forever capturing the lowest moments in people's lives, begged for intervention. Whatever Riis's shortcomings, future generations in New York and cities around the country would be better off because of what he did, and benefit from the experiences of those who did not live long enough to see those changes occur. Unfortunately, the images in Riis's work are still a common sight in many developing countries, making his century-old ideas of relevant, present power.

We all know the story, which can be found in any edition of this book-- and yes, they will all have typos, as the book was never originally put through a rigorous editing process. That's part of it's 'charm.'

The problem, though, is this specific edition--many images are left out, and the images really make the book; after all, Jacob Riis was one of the first muckraking photojournalists... wouldn't you want to see those pictures? They add incredible depth to the story. Luckily I had to read this for a class, and didn't mind it, but... for someone reading it for personal purposes, spend the few extra dollars for an edition with photographs. It is SO worth it.

Riis was before all else a photojournalist, and this his major body of work. As such, the fact that there even exist editions which do not contain quality reproductions of the photos astounds me. This edition only contains a few, and they are small, pixelated, two-tone reproductions. The Dover edition is the one to get.

Was very basic and general, but a good overall summary of the process. If your looking for more info than that I would suggest finding a more extensive book. Ended up w/ idiot's guide and now have much more of the info I needed.

With foreclosures, it seems, on every street of the nation, now may be a good time to start shopping for a home through a foreclosure.

This book explains all the basics, such as the types of foreclosures available, and the way to buy foreclosures. Some homes are available at auction, some from banks, and some from government agencies. It is possible to finance a foreclosure with a traditional real estate loan, but the author also explains how to use various more creative means of financing.. There are a great many forms, charts, and check lists for the first time buyer.

Altogether, a good overview for a beginner.

Although I have my Florida Real Estate License (which needs to be updated), I've never bought or sold investment properties or any other type of Real Estate. My original plan was to sale Time Share, but 911 TKO'd my plans. Since I've never bought an investment property, I confess that I don't know what I don't know, so read this review with caution. While a lot of reviews warned against it, I bought this book and read it anyway and I thought it was a pretty good read. Granted it's the first book I've ever read concerning the subject of foreclosures. With that said, I thought the information related to the choosing, vetting and paying of contractors was informative and the sections on financing were enlightening. I'm not saying this book is the bible of foreclosures, but I think it's a good place to start your research. I gave it four stars because it's a fast and easy, to the point read, that's chalked full of information.

Excellent book! I book is full of very useful information. Everyone can can find several useful items in this book, no matter how much knowledge you have.

This book has excellent chapters on how to finance your investments in foreclosures or bank-owned properties. Other information is relatively okay, but the finance information is important and gives people the hope that you don't really need to have the capital immediately to purchase something at a discount.

With the current real estate cycle, foreclosures are truly increasing tenfold and if you are just starting out in real estate, this is one of those opportunities that you simply cannot ignore. Invest now to make your move, an investment in this book and other foreclosure books can not only help you be smarter, but may make you richer.

-Matt
Illustrator for the Ultimate Foreclosure Kit
(ISBN 0978834658)

this book was really good and it came a day or two after i ordered it. I was very happy with the over all experience.

The fun of this mystery is that everyone's got a theory about whodunit. Everyone has figured out who did what to whom, and why. The cops have several theories. A mystery writer named, strangely enough, Ian Ludlow bristles with theories. Mr. Monk's two assistants not only have theories but are suspects. There are so many theories floating around that the reader needs theory detox until the odd and remarkable Mr. Monk cuts through the rubbish, and nails a particularly heinous criminal. This is a particularly entertaining Monk novel that brilliantly catches the pathos and humor of the compulsive obsessive detective.

I'm a big fan of the monk Series and have read all the novels to date... but found some of the charaterizations of Monks behavior a bit over the top in this book.. anyway.. it was nice to see that Natalie is given a "life" in this book and the inter-play between Sharona, Natalie amd Monk was the highlight of the story.. something you wouldn't get from the TV show..
on the Mystery... a bit convoluted and not I feel up to the standard.

I give 5 stars on the fine job done on the story lines outside the mystery.. as I said the interplay between The girls and monk, Sharona and her husband, Natalie and her "boyfriend", even Juile get into the act... but the mystery and the over the top characterization of monks phobias drags the overall score to 4 stars...

If your a fan you will still like it..

I am a huge fan on the Monk TV show and was suprised to see these books in the store. I don't usually buy books that are "based" on TV or movies but this one peaked my curiousity. Surprisingly they were very entertaining. Maybe because I have watched so much Monk I found that when reading them it was almost like watching the show in my head. It helps that I already knew what most of the characters look like but the writing is very descriptive as well. On paper Monk comes off a lot more stilted, rigid and more disturbed than on the show but the story lines were pretty well done.

In this book there is a lot of inner dialogue in Natalie's head that sometimes get annoying (mainly because she tends to whine) but I enjoyed how the author played Natalie and Sharona off each other and it's always nice to see Sharona back in the mix.

The books would probably be more interesting and entertaining if you are a fan of the show but it's possible that reading the books could turn someone into a fan!

What a nice surprise to have Sharona back! I'm almost at the end of this book and I'll be sad to finish, it's so much fun to read. I'm not able to watch Monk on USA Network so I either watch the few released to the "regular" networks or rent the DVD's. Reading the books is even better than watching the hour episodes!

Thanks Lee Goldberg for such great writing books that capture Monk so well and I'm constantly amazed at the funny ideas Mr. Goldberg comes up with.

It was not clear when I selected this book on line that it was the shorter version of the 5th edition. Since I am using this for assigned readings in a poetry course, none of the assigned pages are relevant and about 20% of the assigned poems are not in the shorter version, both of which shortcomings handicap my use of the book.

The only index for this book that is viewable online is the index of a previous edition. Maybe the indexs are the same, but I bought the wrong edition because of the index confusion.

Chances are you're buying this book for a class. So what. READ IT. ENJOY IT. The editors of Norton have done the hard work for you--they've sifted through thousands and thousands and thousands of poems and found the ones that are the most moving, profound, revolutionary, intelligent, touching, startling, unique, and ground-breaking. All you have to do is READ THEM.
And let's say that you fancy yourself as someone who "just doesn't get poetry." Fear not, once you've gone through this book you will "get" poetry. It will be under your skin, in your heart, in your mind. Relax.

Just what I needed for my poetry class. Great notes on each page and at the back of the book.

I got my book dirt cheap and fast and in excellent condition. Can't want more than that!!!!!

these are always good reference materials to have on hand, have used this many times to recall something i rarely use or never tried.

I would recommend this book for current Flash Developers and anyone new to the field. This however is not a good 'quickstart' book. Being a veteran Flash Developer/Programmer myself, I still managed to find enough fresh information in this book to make it worth the purchase. This book leaves no stone unturned in explaining all the nuances of Flash that other books avoid. After you are already programming in Flash, I would recommend this to take the last step to becoming a complete master of the program. Although some parts seem to ramble on theory for awhile, all concepts are things that should be taken into consideration.

Book is full of good information, deep analysis of problems.
But the VERY BAD INDEXING and organization of "how to get the information" is making it a chore to use it. It's ok the fact that much of the material is on the CD, but giving a clean way of reaching it would be a NECESSARY help. Too many words, too little code and examples and too basic FLA files obliged me to seek more advanced help in other books.
Still good as a reference though (if you can find what you need ...)

I consider myself an extreme newbie when it comes to Flash, so after reading most of the reviews for "The Flash MX Bible" I decided to shell out the cash. God what a mistake that was.
The only pro the book has, is it's size. Yes is does contain a lot of information, but the manner it presents it, is the biggest problem. It's boring, dry, unimaginative stuff. Not something you'd expect when dealing with a program that has a firm foundation in art, and creativity.
The thing reads similar to my Lightwave 6.5/7.0 college text book only with a worse format.
So if you're an intermediate, or professional flash user this is might be what you're looking for, but if you're an amatuer or total beginner don't touch this book unless you want bore yourself away from Flash MX before you even get your feet wet.

... There's also lots of useless filler material about non-flash related programs and topics. The examples are geared towards drawing and animation rather than creating an actual web document.

I bought the "After Effects Bible" and loved it but this book is a roundabout, unfocused exercise in frustration. If you are very familiar with Flash already, maybe you can get something out of this. If you want to learn from the ground up, buy something else...

isaacs bypasses the front row seats and drops you into the story beside rosie. her delicious details create a dimension in which you stumble over a body in the kitchen and shiver in the autumn chill of central park shadows. perfect.

Book was as represented and arrived within an appropriate length of time. Would buy from this seller again.

Susan Isaacs does a wonderful job in 'After All These Years'.
Shortly after her anniversary celebration, Rosie Meyers finds herself alone after her husband leaves her for another(much younger) woman. Spending another evening alone, she decides to binge on junk food. But she soon loses her appetite when she finds her soon-to-be-ex-husband dead in the house. And the prime suspect? Rosie.
The book follow Rosie around, as she narrates in a want-to-be-private-eye style(caused by to many mystery books and old private-eye movies), trying to find the REAL killer behind her husbands murder. Can she find a way to clear her name and get her life back together? Or is she doomed to a life behind bars? Read the book to find out!

Rich people misbehaving on Long Island. Who cares? Could have been written by Dominick Dunne, although he would have done a better job of it. Susan Isaacs does turn a nice phrase now and then, but the emphasis on wealth, which is mentioned in one way or another on nearly every page, is shallow and boring. I struggled through about half the book and then skipped to the end to see the outcome.

This was a good book. I didn't expect to read the greatest book I'd ever read; what I'd expected was a story gripping enough to make me turn away from the computer and just want to read. That's what I got out of "After All These Years," which I think to be a terrible title for what is, really, quite a fun read.

"After All These Years" is based around solving the crime that middle-aged English teacher (but extremely wealthy by marriage) Rosie Meyers stands accused. I love a good murder mystery, and this one held my interest, despite the fact that stories surrounded by disgusting amounts of wealth ordinarily make me cringe. However, Rosie was a down-to-earth yet fallible woman, who mostly held true to the character Ms. Isaacs had created for her (a small flaw being that Rosie was a little too sexually promiscuous to me, considering how she acted in all other situations).

I figured out who had done it about three-quarters of the way through the story...and I'm not the world's best sleuth. So mystery fans may be disappointed by the easy answer. However, there were lots of twists and turns in this story that kept me turning pages right up until the end.

In comparing "After All These Years" to the other Susan Isaacs story I have read -- "Lily White" -- I liked "After All These Years" better. "Lily White" was an intriguing book, but based less on mystery and more a character study. Also, "Lily White" danced between first- and third-person narratives, which became confusing at most and took a lot of my concentration to follow at least. "After All These Years," on the other hand, was told completely from Rosie's point-of-view and in chronological order.

Plus...who wouldn't want to be in (or out) of Rosie's shoes as she, a middle-aged English teacher, scampers about New York on the run from the law, evading the cops and manipulating the enemy into handing over information. She'll clear her own name and lament over her jerk of an ex-husband, then play footsies with men half her age, all in the same day. For me, this was quite an escape into a world I am not (or hope not to be) a part.

And once in a while, Rosie will make you smile, if she doesn't make you laugh out loud. Recommended "beach" reading.