Form-3 Books

Each story has its own heart warming experience that are really wonderful. This book shows that you could get something that you dream off at the least expeted place and that what's make life is so great:)

These books are great, they helped me boost my self confidence and awareness for my health. I am 14 years of age and I weigh about 80 kilo's so I am rather large but reading these stories I realise that if I try to lose a lot of weight I'll most probably end up with anorexia or bulemia or something like that. These stories have made me feel more comfortable with my weight.

Love this book. In my mind I know that love is the most powerful force. In the course of daily living, I do not always remember what I know. The stories in Chocolate for a Lover's Heart help me remember what is most important in life.

This was a good book and I enjoyed reading it! If you want to read a book that goes straight to your heart, read Stolen Moments by Barbara Jeanne Fisher. . .It is a beautiful story of unrequited love. . .for certain the love story of the nineties. I intended to give the book a quick read, but I got so caught up in the story that I couldn't put the book down. From the very beginning, I was fully caught up in the heart-wrenching account of Julie Hunter's battle with lupus and her growing love for Don Lipton. This love, in the face of Julie's impending death, makes for a story that covers the range of human emotions. The touches of humor are great, too, they add some nice contrast and lighten things a bit when emotions are running high. I've never read a book more deserving of being published. It has rare depth. Julie's story will remind your readers that life and love are precious and not to be taken for granted. It has had an impact on me, and for that I'm grateful. Stolen Moments is written with so much sensitivity that it made me want to cry. It is a spellbinder. What terrific writing. Barbara does have an exceptional gift! This book was edited by Lupus specialist Dr. Matt Morrow too, and has the latest information on that disease. ..A perfect gift for someone who started college late in life, fell in love too late in life, is living with any illness, or trying to understand a loved one who is. . .A gift to be cherished forever.

Cats love Christmas too, so why not share the Christmas spirit by singing their own special version of carols snuggled together around the xmas tree. If you have cats, you will identify with every xmas carol in this book.....Truly enjoyable.....

This is a really funny book - best read aloud in the company of like minded feline fanciers. Better still - sing a-long around the piano. Add a glass of wine (or 2) and you are guaranteed a great laugh. Excellent present for those fond of cats.

Anyone who lives with a cat will know exactly where the writers of this book are coming from. A very humourous collection of songs which reflect the moods of many a cat.

Not only are the songs enjoyable to read, but the illustrations are an added pleasure.

The only thing which lets the book down is the size of it. A few more songs, for the price paid, wouldn't have gone a miss.

This little book is full of big laughs. Very creative. If you have cats or know someone who does, it's the perfect gift. I brought it to work and everyone wants one now. I recommend this to everyone. Even the illustrations are great.

This is one of the best Citizen Dog books ever printed. Each and every page either brings a chuckle or a full laugh out loud roar. I seriously advise you to read this one.

Gayle Waters

I was so happy to find that Citizen Dog had finally made it to the status of a cartoon book -- I had missed it terribly after moving from the St. Paul area and have been on a start-and-stop letter-writing campaign to my local paper, repeatedly advising them to add this great little cartoon to their selection. (They never listened, unfortunately).

I had first seen Citizen Dog in The St. Paul Pioneer Press when I lived in nearby Inver Grove Heights, between 1996-1998. It was an hysterical cartoon. In it Fergus (the dog) and Mel (his human), are amazing equals, which I think expressed the closeness one can have with a pet. But I doubt Mr. O'Hare intended that-- it seems more of a natural evolution of the characters.

All I know is that it wasn't that surprising to find Fergus the driver and Mel the passenger in the car. Or, in one memorable instance, Mel chastizing Fergus for setting up Cuddles (the local cat and perennial target of jokes) by loosening the shaker of salt at the diner just prior to his joining them.

The situations they confronted were forever filled with mundane eccentricity -- like Fergus and Cuddles walking up to the Drive-Thru and, when Fergus explains to Cuddles, "you order anything you want here." Cuddles proceeds to ask for, "World Peace."

I was sad to hear that Mark O'Hare no longer draws Citizen Dog. There is only what is contained in this and his other books now. We'll miss you Mark. . . and Mel. . . .and, especially, Fergus.

Another great book of Citizen Dog strips from Mark O'Hare. Though this volume seems to devote quite a few pages to Cuddles the Cat, that doesn't detract from the essential "dogginess" of the collection. Frankly, it might even enhance it. Depicting Cuddles as the rather timid and hapless feline that he is only serves to magnify Fergus' robust, spirited, intelligent, charming, and confident canine nature. More than a bunch of comics, this book is a fabulous tribute to Fidos everywhere. I highly recommend that you get a copy for your favorite dog. (You're sure to enjoy it also!)

Mark O'Hare continues his string of hilarious collections of the misadventures of Fergus, Mel, Cuddles, Bruno, and Fluffy. The humor is sly and mischievious. There are plenty of recognizable situations and far out extrapolations. For folks who enjoy a daily giggle via the comics, I highly recommend this collection, as well as the previous two books.

This book contains wonderful short mystery stories with great endings. Occasionally you can figure out the ending but in most cases they are a surprise. I really enjoyed the book.

There's a lot to like here though not all of the stories are terrific. I do like his novels a bit better, especially the Scudder ones, but I wouldn't have "met" Ehrengraf without having read this book--and he's a trip!!! Maybe Block will write an Ehrengraf novel some day. I wish. Most of his novel series' heros are included here: Scudder, Rhodenbarr, Chip Harrison, and even the intriguing Keller. A more recent collection entitled, "Enough Rope" is also available though I believe many of the stories in this book are in that one as well. My favorite quotes from this book are:
"Supposition is blunder's handmaiden" from "The Ehrengraph Riposte," p. 229.
"Youth is one of those things time cures" from "The Night and the Music" p. 742.
"He couldn't say exactly why, but he didn't really feel good about the idea of having a relationship with the sort of woman you couldn't give a bear to" from "Some Days You Get the Bear" p. 535.
I loved the clever Ehrengraph stories and the touching "Some Days You Get the Bear" the most. Enjoy!

From his title "The Grandmaster of Crime" as written on the cover, Lawrence Block has compiled a delightful mix of over 70 of his short stories. He's taken shorts from his series characters Bernie Rhodenbarr, Martin Ehrengraf, Keller, Chip Harrison, and the ever-lovable Matthew Scudder. He's also added in a handful of fairly new stories as well as stories that were turned into full-length features like "Sometimes They Bite", "Like A Lamb to Slaughter" and "Some Days You Get The Bear". This is a must have for true Block fans, who will enjoy reading every last story!

If there is any doubt that Lawrence Block is the most creative mystery writer of his generation, this book dispells it. A comprehensive work that encompasses nearly every published Block short story (over 70 of 'em!) it is a must have for mystery fans. The book includes seven Matthew Scudder stories, nine Martin Ehrengraf stories, three Bernie Rhodenbarr stories and the complete texts of the three previous Block short story volumes. As a bonus, there are five "new" Block stories, never before previously anthologized.

The stories run the gamut from hard-bitten to whodunnits? to even the occasional horror story. Block shows every bit as much mastery with his short works that he does with his novels. The diversity of his subjects and the bredth of his knowledge is simply breathtaking. The book also includes a short prologue by the author, explaining how the book is laid out and giving a little helpful background.

Overall, "The Collected Stories" is a fine tribute to a great writer.

Bergson's _Laughter_ has been out of print for too long. It's the best theoretical study of comedy available. A meditation by the great philosopher of "elan vital" about our natural response to humans acting mechanically, _Laughter_ is also about the nuts and bolts of comedy. Moliere is the main model, but it works for Shakespeare, Chaplin and Preston Sturges just as well.

Henri Bergson describes why we laugh, and subdivides this description further into three characteristics. Each of these characteristics is then divided further occassionally. Example: >We laugh at mechanical rigidity. The three types are repetition, inversion, and reciprocal interference of series. An example of repetition is a frozen facial expression (repetition) and is comical only if it's imitatable.< Then he proceeds to give examples of word play, character, actions, etc which illustrate his points.

This review is partial, and does not include the major essay of Wylie Sypher that serves as epilogue for the essays of Meredith and Bergson.
Meredith, Bergson, and Freud are among the few who so far as I know have presented major theories of comedy and laughter. Meredith's discussion of comedy involves a distinction between the low comedy of laughing, slapstick and its varieties, and the high comedy of intellectual perception. This latter is his main interest and involves as he understands it our discernment of some distinction between ideal and real. It is this high comedy which is a moral corrective and enables us to put the arrogant, and rude in their place.
For Bergson the theory is a theory of laughter. It has to do with his own major philosophical distinction between the 'mechanical ' and the ' spontaneous' between the rigid and that which flows. For Bergson laughter can come at our observation of someone walking along and falling down, comes as some kind of break in the expected pattern of motion and action.
Neither of these theories begins to cover all the different kinds and ways we smile and laugh at others. They are , as I understand it a start at trying to find the essence of a set of realities which may in fact have more than one essence.
These works then as I understand it are invaluable starting points for thinking more deeply about the subjects of what comedy and laughter are .
And writing this I am quite dismayed how humorless it is.
And this as if to remind that true comedy ( at least as literature( requires a power of invention and creation out of the ordinary.
Is this perhaps the ' germ' of another way of thinking about comedy i.e. as a special kind of human inventiveness involving surprise

Bergson offers a taxonomy of laughter. The description is concise, realistic, and rife with examples. He begins with a broad definition of anything that is laughable and further narrows the definition where appropriate. Never have I encountered an example not explainable by this.

This has already been mentioned by other reviewers. There are plenty of melodramatic elements in this volume. Junior being reunited with his mother, the blinding of a cashier at Junior's mother's lunch counter, Pat Patton giving Tracy a blood transfusion to save his life and the conversion of a hoodlum. That about covers this volume and once again, I couldn't put it down and I look forward to beginning volume four!

Back to the days of the Sunday Funnies and comic books, Of characters who lived in your memories, before television took hold of everyone. Flat-top, Pruneface, Big Boy...Tess Truehart and the Kid... The fun and memories are all here in Dick Tracy - Volume3. Now I have to go and get Volumes 1,2,4 and whatever else they have. If you remember the days of comics and funny papers, or to introduce your son or daughter,or grandchild, I recommend this highly....Dick Tracy...The 'Bulldog' Jaw.

In this latest chunk of Gould-plated detective action, the fantastic still takes a decided back seat to the mundane -- not to mention the intensely melodramatic. Junior Tracy is reunited with his mother, Mary Steele. Tracy nearly dies in the course of a ghastly shoot-out that rubs out gangster "Cut" Famon and his gang. Dick takes it upon himself to convert a former hoodlum, "Lips" Manlis, to the side of good. A naive cashier and her gambling-addicted boy friend suffer dramatic payback for their sins -- a hair-raising stay in a women's prison followed by temporary blindness in her case, the "big sleep" in his. Similarly soap-operatic stuff would always be a part of Tracy's universe, of course, but with the legendary grotesque villains still some years away, these melodramatic sequences seem all the more potent somehow.

Max Allan Collins correctly points out in his introduction how Gould continued to draw story lines from contemporary headlines during this period. Boris Arson -- who started out as a vaguely sinister Lenin look-and-act-alike before eventually being reduced to the standard strong-armed thuggery -- bluffs his way out of prison with an iodine-dyed potato gun, in an homage to John Dillinger's escape from a small-town jail. Boris' sister, Zora, is a Bonnie Parker wannabe (with the extra touch of men's clothing suggesting lesbianism). Famon, who'd been sent to an Alcatraz-style rockpile for income-tax evasion, is obviously modeled on the late-period Al Capone. Gould also dips heavily into the stock ethnic stereotypes of the period, with mixed results. The amiable Indian Chief Yellowpony is a major -- and worthy -- player in the caper that brings the Arson duo to justice, and bit appearances by a Jewish peddler and Italian coffee-shop attendant are perfectly fine by me, but "darkie" valet Memphis is, as Collins admits, pretty embarrassing even by the standards of the day.

My favorite story arc in this volume is "The Hotel Murders," which I'd originally read in a paperback collection. This 1936 continuity is more of a "true" mystery than the typical Tracy yarn, with Tracy and the cops baffled by a disappearing bullet that's killed a high-rolling confidence man. Alas, Gould makes an unfortunate continuity goof, actually introducing the killer as a poor pencil-peddler BEFORE we learn that he's really a retired manufacturer! Still, I do like the story, not to mention the fact that the guilty party merits at least some sympathy for being one of the con man's victims.

The ancillary material's already getting a bit thin after just three volumes -- a brief piece by the inevitable Collins and an equally short article on Tracy's various appearances in Big Little Books. Not a good sign. Still, it's more than readers have gotten in the last several volumes of THE COMPLETE PEANUTS.

A great comic strip that holds up beautifully. Once you start you are hooked. There is a major drawback, though.

The sundays are almost impossible to read as they are cruelly reduced in size. An owl would have trouble. You must somehow enlarge them to appreciate them.

Still, a 5 star book as are all Tracy books. And most of the great stories - and villains - are on the horizon in volumes 4 and 5.

This is the Golden Age of early (pre 1940) comic strips. Also highly recommended are...
Terry and the Pirates
Little Orphan Annie
Krazy Kat
Gasoline Alley - possibly the greatest comic strip
Moon Mullins - published by a small publisher but worth the trouble

Hopefully we may soon see The Gumps, Ella Cinders, Bringing Up Father, Polly and Her Pals and Barney Google.

"Cosmos Latinos" edited by Andrea L. Bell and Yolanda Molina Gavilán is an unusual entry in the Early Classics of Science Fiction series. Instead of focusing on early stories, this anthology looks at science fiction from Latin America and Spain. There are a couple of short stories from the 1800s, and a few from 1952 and earlier, but 22 of the stories are from 1964 and later and 8 are from 1989 and later. While this series might not be the most appropriate place for this collection, it is a very interesting collection, and the author histories do offer some insight not only into the authors themselves, but the evolution of science fiction in Latin America and Spain.

There are 27 stories in all, and if you are anything like me, you probably are not familiar with any of these author's translated works. No authors are duplicated here, so you will be introduced to 27 authors. They come from a wide variety of countries including Mexico, Spain, Chile, Cuba, Brazil, El Salvador, Argentina, Venezuela, and Peru. You will also get a good variety of science fiction stories, including such themes as future societies, space travel, time travel, alien visitation, and cyberpunk.

The editors provide a nice introduction to Latin American science fiction, along with some good introductions to the authors. They also provide a large number of the translations for the stories included in this anthology. While this book might not fit the descriptive name of the series, there is little doubt that the content is well designed for the serious study of speculative fiction, so in that way this is certainly a worthy addition to the series.

Just finished this fantastic book, and I mostly wondered why there has been so little work done in making such material available. This book really left me wanting more. These Latin American and Spanish writers of SF are able to treat many of the traditional SF themes in very original ways, without being derivative of American/European SF styles. The stories have a wonderful, unique flavor. I hope the authors continue to make such stories available in English, especially the more recent stuff. "Stuntmind" was one of my favorites.

Just finished this fantastic book, and I mostly wondered why there has been so little work done in making such material available. This book really left me wanting more. These Latin American and Spanish writers of SF are able to treat many of the traditional SF themes in very original ways, without being derivative of American/European SF styles. The stories have a wonderful, unique flavor. I hope the authors continue to make such stories available in English, especially the more recent stuff. "Stuntmind" was one of my favorites.

"Cosmos Latinos" is a long overdue, excellent survey of the history of science fiction writing in Spain and Latin America, including Brazil. The authors have done an admirable job compiling a chronological history by selecting some of the most important stories written during the period from 1862 to 2001. This is an invaluable look at science fiction as seen through the eyes of a culture other than English, infusing much recent Latin American history into the futuristic tales told by the writers represented here. There is a broad array of themes covered in this anthology, ranging from religion to mankind's use of technology, as seen through traditional technologically-oriented science fiction that is akin to the best work from the likes of Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke, to more recent explorations in psychology and sociology (e. g. the North American "New Wave" movement of the 1960's and 1970's as exemplified by the works of writers as diverse as Samuel Delany, Harlan Ellison, Ursula K. Le Guin and Joanna Russ) and of course, most recently, the cyperpunk movement led by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, among others. There are also echoes of work by the likes of Stanislaw Lem and J. G. Ballard represented in this anthology. I look forward to reading a subsequent volume edited by both authors.

Reading through my old Far Side collections like this one leaves me with two thoughts. The first is how funny The Far Side is. The other is how much I miss it. Until Gary Larson comes to his hilariously heightened senses and decides his long break is over and actually begins drawing his legendary series again, trips down memory lane will have to do, and do nicely. As for The Curse of Madame "C" it's among Larson's funniest and best anthologies, and one of the greatest parts is its prologue wherein we learn with a wink and a nudge exactly why The Far Side is so populated with bovines. Just a great little book to own and keep for a rainy day.

The cartoons in this collection are hysterical, my favorite by far is on page 56. The setting is bathroom stalls from the front and we can see two pairs of feet under two adjacent doors. One pair is wrapped in bandages which are coming off. The caption reads: "It was an innocent mistake, but nevertheless, a moment later Maurice found himself receiving the full brunt of the mummy's wrath." I roared at this one, it is one of the funniest cartoons I have ever seen.
Larson is one of the best cartoonists ever, his diagrams are never cluttered and they generally are a combination of visual and verbal puns. I can read and reread his cartoons several times and never fail to get a chuckle. Which is what I did with this collection.

This story tells the tale of Gary Larson's journey into madness, when he confronts an evil gypsy cow that curses him to forever entertain people with riotous cartoons. The start of the book relates his adventures against "Madame "C"", a molevelent cow. It is a wonderful, (and thankfully short), tale concerning his frightful encounter in a smooth color cartoon over several pages.
The rest of the book details, in b&w cartoon format, the humorous trials and tevails of various critters such as worms, pigeons, and cowhands. If you haven't read a "Far Side", you won't know what I'm talking about and you've had your head in the sand for the past 20 years or so. Buy the book, for the love of Mike!

Yet another from the pen of Gary Larson. This is an incredibly funny book, but if you are a Far Side fan you probably do not need to be told this fact. They are all incredibly funny. The Curse of Madame "C" begins with the story of how the Far Side began. The story is a humorous take on An American Werewolf in London. It shows how a young Larson met all of the characters he would later write about and how he would be cursed with a need to write cartoons.

After the story ends the zany cartoons begin. From longcows to cow field trips. Mummies, aliens, neanderthals, and much, much more. This book will make you laugh from start to finish. You'll want to read it again and again. You'll want to loan it to all of your friends. You will love it.

I read this book and broke into LOUD gales of laughter on the F train. I bought 15 copies and sent them to my three sisters and all my closest female friends. They laughed harder. This is what it's like to be a single woman today. And even a not-so-single woman today.

I gave the book to my roommate when it first came out. We were both young professionals and we could relate to the book.

Although the book is a collection of anecdotals essays, I still quote them as pearls of wisdom.

What a great read!

This book is so great! It's stories are clever, funny, and totally true. I've read it more times than I can remember, just because it always puts a smile on my face. Buy it. NOW.

Cathy Guisewite once commented that she has three sisters, but did not give her alter ego siblings because they're like "three women sharing a brain." After reading this book, it's utterly undeniable.

Mickey Guisewite, Cathy's sister, pens a hilarious tale of the modern woman, her career, her relationships, her home life, and why all of them are disastrous and conflicting. All in a style very reminiscent of her sister. Can you trust a girlfriend not to tell her husband about the shoulder pad that wandered down your chest? Can you angrily confront a man in the office without sniveling? Can you get a boyfriend to pick up a container of Windex? How do you choose one of the four million "white" paint chips? And what can you do when the fifteen pairs of shoes JUST DON'T MATCH the dress for the Big Meeting?

The real-life relatives and significant others resemble characters in Cathy as well (one can see from where the cartoonist gets her inspiration): the obsessively thrifty, why-aren't-you-married-dear mother, the golf-obsessed boyfriend, the father who arrives at the airport six hours early, the married friends who whip out ten thousand ugly baby photos, the friend she eats lunch with, and so forth.

Amusing anecdotes (that probably wouldn't be allowed in a strip) include the woman who shrieked "I'M NOT WEARING UNDERWEAR!" in a crowded party, and the gal who had to call her mom for help when her merry widow got caught in her bedspread. These tales of romance, food, and humiliation will make you laugh, cry, then laugh a bit more.

Micky Guisewite has a hilarious style and plenty of emotional crises to unload. Well worth the read, and the reread! (Illustrated with little one-panel cartoons by Cathy Guisewite--also hilarious! They're worth the book alone...)

What a delightfully reflectiVe little tome aBout the interaction between people and their dogs.
This is a tiny book, and not a lot more than the price of a Greeting Card. It would make a great little gift for someone who has just added a dog to their family,have recently lost a much loved dog or in the position of enjoying their dog.
The description of this book sort of overlooks the numerous wonderful
pictures that accompany the quotations. Though there is nothing wrong with photographs,the pictures in the book are all paintings.And what beautiful,thoughtful and personal paintings they are!!I don't think that there is a single picture in the book ,that I have ever seen before.
As an example,there is the priceless painting of a little boy about 8 years old,who is kneeling in the dark,with a tear falling from his eye,his flashlight on the ground beside him;and he has his arms around his dog who has been found;after having broken away from his tether,which still hangs from his neck.The painting has no title,nor does it need one.What is so clear is the affection being felt between the boy and his lost, but found dog.
The quotations are all excellent and by many well known Writers,;all of whom obviously must have been dog owners and lovers.Here are some of them;
Alexander Pope
Rudyard Kipling
Lord Byron
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Ogden Nash
Ambrose Bierce
Erma Bombeck
Stephen Crane
James Thurber
Konrad Lorenz
Jerome K. Jerome
George Eliot
Doris Day
And many,many ,more;including
Robert Service,who gives us this;

"The man was stretched on the pavement brutishly drunk and deadly to the world.The dog,lying by his side,seemed to look at me with sad,imploring eyes.Though all the world despised that man,I thought,this poor brute loves him and will be faithful to death."

SIGN ON A BULLETIN BOARD


PUPPIES FOR SALE;

THE ONLY LOVE THAT MONEY CAN BUY

If you love dogs, you will love this little book. Reading the quotations will almost make you cry. It reminds us of how sweet these creatures are and how their love is always unconditional.

This is a exceptional well put together book of dog quotes. This is a book of praise for man's "BEST FRIEND." Beautifully illustrated and well thought out. A collection of dog paintings through out the book. A wonderful book for my collection of dog quotations.

www.boxcarbailey.com www.misslexxi.com

This is a small book in size, but a very large book in heart. Anyone who has ever owned a pet will enjoy this book and it belongs in every dog lovers library. Great things come in small packages.