GB Books

Nigel Steel and Peter Hart have produced an excellent review of World War I in the air as related from the first person histories of the IWM. The book may not be a reference work but it certainly conveys the life of the aviators and the evolution of military aviation.

Both my 12 year old son and I read this book. It gave us a common vocabulary to talk about what was going on. It made the problems and feelings that he was having seem normal. Lots of other families are going through the same things.

I have purchased this book for my homeschooling 6th grader as a reading comprehension material. The language level of this book is 6th to 7th grader material with good amount of challenging vocabs. I liked the introduction of this book a lot. It gave a lot of "behind a scene" story of the author and also, it is a perfect example of a great book report. I strongly recommend to read the introduction, then start reading the book. You will enjoy this book from different perspective.

I originally read this when I was 10. Diffucult going for a 10 year old, yes. But it was worth it. It's stayed with me my entire life. It's still a great story. All the 1 and 2 star reviews don't surprise me. The mentality of the average American today is laughable. If it doesn't have the story line of some blockbuster movie, it's boring. If 19th century man's scientific knowledge and need to survive is not rewritten to conform to their 21st century, tree hugging, animal rights, urban yuppie/hipster mind set, then it's considered barbaric. If the story doesn't move along at the frantic pace of the latest xbox or wii rendering, then the author is a hack. It's just amazing how poorly educated and developed adults and children of the last couple of generations are. In regards to reading a book, and understanding the context and timeframe it was written in. My suggestion to the mental midgets: stop reading books, your not furthering your own appreciation or knowledge of literature. Turn your HDTV/cable back on for a few hours until your hand recovers from the marathon xbox session. After this your mind should be numb enough to stop writing book reviews.

I finally finished reading this whole book. I was tempted to give up many times because frankly it can be boring and repetitive in many places. Overall it was a pretty mind numbing experience.

I would not suggest reading it if you have objections to religious teachings. As this book was written for that purpose, teaching virtues of the church. I did appreciate all of the lessons the book taught and I do beleive I gained some appreciation for life and humility.

As said earlier it was quite repetitive, and I beleive it could have been shortened by cutting out some of the first half. It seemed all they did in that part was kill everything in sight and build stuff over and over and over. Also many of the scenarios were plain unrealistic almost to the point of fantasy. It was almost like they landed in Eden and were "blessed" with every single possible animal in existence running around on the island.

A fairly low-key and low-rent adventure story. A shipwreck, and miraculously all who survive are of one family unit, plus some pets and enough livestock and food animals to keep them going.

They have to contend with the wildlife, build a tree house and other sorts of things to survive. Pretty tame all around, this story.

I read this with my 8 year old daughter. When she and I would prepare to read each evening we would joke " Lets see what the Robinson's kill tonight?" Then there is the crazy array of animals. Where in the world can you find Kangaroos, Antelope, Grizzly bears and condors without being in the St. Louis Zoo? This became stupidly funny and neither of us could take any of the book seriously. We finished it just to see how it ended. Even without the killing and impossible aminals it would have been dry and boring from the never ending descriptions of plants discovered and rigging gadgets from stuff they found, which is why Disney added Pirates to their version. I don't reccomend this book at all!

Good transaction and prompt shipping. I purchased 8 of the series of these Hardy Boy books as a gift for a friend. I have not actually seen them, but I know the friend is pleased. I am not going to individually rate every book; it would be the same rating for all of them.

THIS REVIEW IS FOR THE APPLEWOOD EDITION WITH THE "MAN GOING OUT A WINDOW" ON THE BOOK COVER. Not the Grosset & Dunlap edition with the picture of the boys in their boat by a light house!


While I generally prefer the original texts over the re-written books of the 1960's, this one is an exception. This early text edition dwells on the deep-sea diving craze of the late 1930's. Not Scuba-diving (scuba tanks were not yet in use), but diving with an airhose attached to a pump on the boat.

The bottom line is that there is almost no mystery to this book, it is a dated adventure book about diving. If you have an interest in diving you will enjoy this trip back in time. If you enjoy a good mystery you will have trouble getting through this.

The revised text of the 1960's is MUCH MUCH BETTER! One of the few improvements made when the books were re-written.

THIS STORY IS A PRETTY GOOD ONE IN THE SERIES. IT BASICALLY BEGINS WHEN THE HARDYS GET A NO NAMER THREAT FROM EGYPT, THEN THEY SEE A GHOST OF A PIRATE FROM THE 18TH CENTURY THAT APPARENTLY HAS HAUNTED WHALEBONE ISLAND YEARS AGO HAS NOW RE-APPEARED. THE OWNER OF THE GOLD HEAD OF PHAROAH RHAMATON 4 LOST THIS HEAD ON THE SHIP AND THEN THE SHIP SANK. THEY HARDYS INVESTIGATE THIS MATTER AND IN DOING SO ALMOST GET BLOWN UP. THEIR FATHER, DET. FENTON HARDY. GETS HIS BUTT KICKED AT LEAST 2 TIMES IN THIS STORY. THAT'S WHAT ESPECIALLY LIKE ABOUT THIS BOOK. JUST READ THE BOOK I AM NOT GOING TO EXPLAIN IT ALL TO YOU!! IT HAS A GREAT STORY LINE THAT MAKES YOU WANT TO KEEP READING. I READ THE WHOLE BOOK IN 1 DAY! EVEN SHORTER!! BUY THE BOOK!! YOU WON'T BE SORRY

This review concerns the revised 1966 edition. Frank and Joe help their father investigate for a shipping line which suspects that the owner of a valuable Egyptian treasure is trying to defraud their insurance company by claiming that the treasure was aboard their freighter, the Katawa, when it sank off Whalebone Island near Bayport. Also, Frank and Joe are haunted by the ghost of a pirate said to have haunted Whalebone Island years ago. This book sounds like it shouldn't be bad, but for whatever reason I never found that I was very interested in it. Very few of the chapter endings left me with the feeling that I had to read more. That said, for anyone who is going to read this title, read the revised edition because it is better than the original, which completely lacked a mystery and was really nothing more than an adventure story.

Just like the last Hardy Boys book, "A Figure in Hiding," this book is somewhat less thrilling than the others. This time the Hardys are seeking the golden head of Pharaoh Rhamaton IV, which was supposedly on board a sunken freighter, the Katawa. The Hardy Boys journey to nearby Whalebone Island where they receive the "secret warning." However, secret warning seems to be an oxymoron as the warning is received from a lighthouse. The sender of the warning did not want to be known at that time, but he wanted the Hardys to see the warning.

As the story proceeds the boys encounter a rather suspicious group of sailors on a salvage ship operating near where the Katawa sank. The Hardys believe the salvage ship might be attempting to recover the head from the Katawa. Later the Hardy boys discover even more suspicious evidence on the Katawa itself.

Later the boys discover that there is a sunken U-boat (a World War II German submarine) near where the Katawa sank. The boys also discover they have allies from an unexpected place.

As with most Hardy Boys books, there are questions galore. Who is the ghost of the pirate on Whalebone Island? What is the significance of the U-boat? Where is the golden pharaoh's head? Who is trying to warn the Hardys to stay away from Whalebone Island? The answer to these and many other questions are revealed as the pages of this mystery unfold.

This story is another story that has less excitement than many of the other early books in this series. I was somewhat jaded by this point and knew immediately that the ghost was a man, and was just a little bored with the author's shallow deceptions in this book. I am still happy that I read the book, but it is one of the weaker entries in this series.

Though the Hardy Boys series is written in a relatively archaic fashion, as reading material for an increasingly younger audience they are excellent. The stories were once recommended for children ages 10 to 14. As children are exposed to more violence and seem to require greater levels of stimulation, the recommended age range has move to 9 to 12. I think any child capable of reading some of the challenging words in these books will enjoy them, regardless of how tame most of the action may be. Once a child has reached age 12 or so the stories may be of less interest, but given the combination of mystery and action, these books remain good safe choices for parents who want to know what their children are reading.

Frank, Joe, Chet and Biff go to northern Canada to locate an ancient Viking rune stone that was recently stolen from the man who found it. This is an average book, so there is not much to say about it really. The plot isn't bad and there is a moderate amount of action. Most fans will probably not be overly excited about this book, but it shouldn't bore them either.

This book is the kind that you want to read again and again. It is about Frank and Joe who take a trip to Canada on a case because someone robbed a man of a valuable stone left by the Vikings. Carabou, a french canadian trapper was robbed of 1000.00 in cash from the sale of the stone. Will Frank and Joe find it?

The Viking Slmbol Mystery is a great book in my opinion.This book is not just another boring book,it is an exiting book.The chareters were very detailed.Ihad a good picture of them in my head.This book is a book that keeps you in it.I would recomind this book to you.

The front teaser to this book promises that this story will be one that thrills Franklin W. Dixon's legion of fans. This sentence has a couple of problems. First, Franklin W. Dixon never existed. Second, this story is far from thrilling. Indeed, this story is one of the slowest moving of the Hardy Boys series.

Frank and Joe Hardy and their friends Chet Morton, Tony Prito and Biff Hooper join Frank and Joe's famous father Fenton Hardy and his associate Sam Radley in searching for criminals around the Great Slave Lake in Canada. Mysteries abound as the friends try to learn who is robbing cabins around the lake and who has stolen a Viking rune stone that may prove that Vikings visited western Canada centuries ago, but may also be a clue to a fabulous treasure.

Unfortunately, this story seems to plod, though I am unable to point to any one reason why. I was unable to become concerned with the plight of the Hardys at any point in the novel. I think part of the reason is that the boys, their friends and their father seemed to escape from danger so readily and easily. Thus, I found it difficult to sustain any concern for any them. If the boys would have appeared to be in perilous danger and it was more difficult for them to escape, I might have more involved in the story. Instead, each time the Hardys or their friends got into any trouble, they easily got back out of trouble. I found myself wondering how quickly I could finish the book instead of being thrilled.

This story is one of the weaker stories of the first 59 books. Fans of the series will want this book to complete their collection. However, new fans should start at the beginning of the series to get a better impression of the series.

The publisher recommends the Hardy Boys series for ages 8 to 12 because the series is relatively tame for the previous target audience of ages 10 to 14. This particular book is a very good fit for the new age range. Though the Hardy Boys series contains archaic information, as reading material for an increasingly younger audience they are fine. Once a child has reached age 12 or so the stories may be of less interest, but given the combination of mystery and action, these books remain good safe choices for parents who want to know what their children are reading.

This book I rate a 1.6 in a sense. It was ok and worth reading, but was not all that wonderful. My biggest critique of this volume was simply this - and pardon me - but "American ignorance" And any Canadian will know what I'm talking about. First of all, before something goes to print - get your facts together and make sure its accurate. I see this with Scooby Doo, The Hardy Boys and other works of jeuvenille fiction. Americans think there are no English people in Canada!. The brothers travel to the Prairie provinces in Canada in this volume and meet up with who? PIERRE! A Frenchman. Everytime Americans come to Canada they run into French police officers, French fur traders, French lumberjacks etc. French people historically settled in Quebec, New Brunswick and to a lesser degree Nova Scotia - NOT the Prairies - which was settled by people of Ukranian ancestry. My problem with this volume is simply a lack of knowledge on behalf of the Syndicate. The book itself otherwise is medicore. RATED C-

For those already familiar with veves and sigils, there is much to savor here, and this is definitely a book for practitioners. Gary Brodsky is a troublesome hustler of sorts (check out his other titles), and the marketing of this book is questionable, but the book itself is quite good. If you like to get your hands dirty, this is for you. Paul Huson's 'Mastering Witchcraft' and Moloch's 'Pragmatic Magics' are both strong in that respect as well, although they offer a lot more supplemental information. This book is meat and potatoes, but the sorcery is pure and has an elegant simplicity. Hopefully Brodsky can push a second printing in the near future.

I've bought the book and done some spells, but they don't seem to be working. Could someone enlighten me on what I could be doing wrong? I followed the instructions. Is there supposed to be something that happens that tells me the spell was a success? Shoul d the wax cover your entire name during each signature you draw?

This has to be one of the most worthless books on occultism on the market. At the same time though it is a bit dangerous, Brodskys book does tap into powers used in santeria which are capable of granting power but thoose who do not understand the orishas would have no buisness doing these spells. a practitioner of santeria may find some usefull spells in this book, then again just about any practitioner of santeria would be more than capable of writing better spells than those described in this book. though if you are interested in learning more about santeria i would suggest reading, Santeria: The Religion: Faith, Rites, Magic (World Religion and Magic)
by Migene Gonzalez-Wippler, Charles Wetli

The material in this book is not to be taken lightly. It is truly power unimaginable. Some drawings require the reader to use several candles (color coded) in specific positions. Others just require that you draw these signs referred to as signatures.
Most require your name. The introduction clearly specifies that you have to be careful doing these. Along with the "signatures", there are easy to follow instructions. I highly recommend this book.

The only thing worthless is the previous review by the Santeria moron who does not like anyone messing with his belief system! With that said, this is an EXCELLENT book!!! It's practical and does not take any training to use. Brodsky spells out exactly what it takes to use the book properly and safely. I am "not" involved in Santeria in any way and yes I have used this book and gotten some awesome results!!

If you approach the material in the book with all due respect and follow the instructions to the tee, you'll reap great rewards because the spiritual forces that these veves represent are interested in helping people outside their "humble" worshippers!

Brodsky should be commended! I applaud him!

Ibn kathir's the Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) is one of the celebrated works in the respective field. As a Muslim theologian, he successfully captures various events unfolding in the Arabian Peninsula that necessitates the advent of a messenger from God. He then goes into sketching the Prophet's life before he is endowed with the mission to establish the religion of God. This volume (which is the first of a four-volume series) comes to an end when the Prophet starts preaching the new faith to the polytheistic Arab and some of them start listening to him.

Even though the book is very informative, ibn kathir, resorting to the practice of his era, provides as many narrations as possible to relate a single anecdote. He even mentions the chain of narrators from whom he related the story. Though his style is an indispensable tool for a Muslim scholar to discern the authentic reports from the false ones, it, however, affects the smooth reading of the material. In addition, ibn Kathir often leaves the reader in the dark, regarding the authenticity of a story being told, and thus, making it accessible to a scholar only.

There are a number of works on the life of the Prophet (PBUH) that relate the authentic stories alone. Ar-Raheeq al-Makhtum and When the Moon Split - both by Safiur Rahman Mubarakpuri; Muhammad Rasulullah: The Apostle of Mercy by Abul Hasan Nadwi are some good books on this subject.

Anyway, this book is worth having in your library as a reference to the life of a great Prophet!

This book is part of a 4 book series. I use the word `book' interchangeably with `series'. The series begins with the pre-Islamic period up to and including the events right after the purdah of Prophet Muhammad (SAAS). This book is not an introductory book and as such may be challenging for budding historians or fleetingly curious individuals. The book presents each situation and conclusion with exhaustive research from multiple chains of narration. This book is a great reference guide and a resource for those individuals who are beyond the beginner stage of reading summarized historical accounts and are looking for `the source' of the recording. As such, this book and Ibn Kathir do an excellent job of presenting the narrators, their validity, degree of strength and the slight variations in the accounting that can lead to misinterpretations, especially as the events tie into tafseer of the Quran. I would highly encourage the addition of this series to the library of those individuals who are in search of a detailed analysis and presentation of the events that transpired. I would also highly advise AGAINST the use of any abridged or summarized versions. Such abridged versions may also lead to unintentional indoctrination into the editor's belief, because of the obvious subjective judgment involved in the production of such works.

This is definetely a book to read and have it in any persons library who is interested in Religion. Obviously it is all about Prophet Mohammed (PBH). As is standard of the time, all the narratives starts with list of narrations. For some one who is not familiar with who those individuals are, names are very distracting, but they can not be eliminated either for they are reliable for some and unreliable for others. Major highlights are taken from Ibn Ishak or ibn Hashim, so it is difficult to find what new thing you learn from this book if you eliminate late narratives. For me it is a tremendeous gift from translators that made this book available to me in English. Ibn Kathir certainly one of the great scholars in Islam.

The Life of the Prophet Muhammad by ibn Kathir Vol I: 1 873938 16 0

Ibn kathir's the Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) is one of the celebrated works in the respective field. As a Muslim theologian, he successfully captures various events unfolding in the Arabian Peninsula that necessitates the advent of a messenger from God. He then goes into sketching the Prophet's life before he is endowed with the mission to establish the religion of God. This volume (which is the first of a four-volume series) comes to an end when the Prophet starts preaching the new faith to the polytheistic Arab and some of them start listening to him.

Even though the book is very informative, ibn kathir, resorting to the practice of his era, provides as many narrations as possible to relate a single anecdote. He even mentions the chain of narrators from whom he related the story. Though his style is an indispensable tool for a Muslim scholar to discern the authentic reports from the false ones, it, however, affects the smooth reading of the material. In addition, ibn Kathir often leaves the reader in the darkness regarding the authenticity of a story being told; thus, making it accessible to a scholar only.

There are a number of works on the life of the Prophet (PBUH) that relate the authentic stories alone. Ar-Raheeq al-Makhtum and When the Moon Split - both by Safiur Rahman Mubarakpuri are some good references on this subject.

Anyway, this book is worth having in your library as a reference to the life of a great Prophet!

The Life of the Prophet Muhammad by ibn Kathir Vol I: 1 873938 16 0

Ibn kathir's the Life of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) is one of the celebrated works in the respective field. As a Muslim theologian, he successfully captures various events unfolding in the Arabian Peninsula that necessitates the advent of a messenger from God. He then goes into sketching the Prophet's life before he is endowed with the mission to establish the religion of God. This volume (which is the first of a four-volume series) comes to an end when the Prophet starts preaching the new faith to the polytheistic Arab and some of them start listening to him.

Even though the book is very informative, ibn kathir, resorting to the practice of his era, provides as many narrations as possible to relate a single anecdote. He even mentions the chain of narrators from whom he related the story. Though his style is an indispensable tool for a Muslim scholar to discern the authentic reports from the false ones, it, however, affects the smooth reading of the material. In addition, ibn Kathir often leaves the reader in the darkness regarding the authenticity of a story being told; thus, making it accessible to a scholar only.

There are a number of works on the life of the Prophet (PBUH) that relate the authentic stories alone. Ar-Raheeq al-Makhtum and When the Moon Split - both by Safiur Rahman Mubarakpuri; by Abul Hasan Nadwi are some good books on this subject.

Anyway, this book is worth having in your library as a reference to the life of a great Prophet!

This book explains wht really attacts women- confidence! Bottom line this book explains the tests women give you and how to spot them, how to project and use confidence as a aphrodisiac as well as all the small details that make or break a pick-up. Does this book have any credible advice? Everything in there works, my friends and I tried everything in the book and had ultra great success. Anyone who does't like this book has never tried to apply the priciples- end of story.

There is nothing in this book that will really help a guy to meet or keep a woman, unless he has been living in a cave for the past 50 years and has absolutely no common sense. It's basic crap like have clean fingernails, keep wine in your apartment, yadayadayada...If you do some of the stuff brodsky reccomends you might look like a loony or worse a stalker. Buy Nice Guys and Players for better info. Also check out the seducingwomen101.com for the real truth about women written by a women. Brodsky must need some cash to write this piece of drivel.

I read this book cover to cover, and have also read other books in this genre of pickup/seduction. I give it a rating of 3 stars because I consider it to be middle of the road. It's not one of the worst books I've read in this genre, nor is it one of the best, but it is overpriced if you buy it from Gary's website, where it sells for nearly thirty dollars. The book is clearly thought out and well written, there's lots of common sense advice given here that unfortunately some guys need, several dos and don'ts, but no analysis or underlying theoretical structure to explain why one should say or do some things and not say or do others. In other words, Gary lacks a method, which makes it seem like he's saying try anything, just don't give up and soon or later, you'll get the girl. This is hardly inspiring, but a healthier attitude than complete resignation. One strong point Gary makes in this book which is elaborated more fully in his 'The Castration of the American Male', is that men have ceased being men because our culture tells us its wrong, and this is the often overlooked cause of why men think and act in a manner women instinctively find unattractive. In order to be successful with women, men have to first reclaim thier masculine heritage and birthright; women want men, not she-males!

This book is allright, not as good as Charm the Pants off any woman which I have also reviewed. There are good bits in this book which are worth pondering.....

1) To quote "Which instinct is more important to you to give in to and indulge....the instinct to avoid rejection or the instinct to hunt and have conquest? If your choice is to give in to the instinct to avoid rejection, then what you need to do next is accept the fact that you have little potential."

Hes right.

2) Don't be somebody who is too nice ie. want to comply with her wishes all the time. A woman will test you to find out if you're a man or not. Let her know in no uncertain terms that you definitely are.

3) Women don't want to be impressed, they want to have a good time.

However in a few places Brodsky seems to have lost the plot and has gone completely mad.

1) "Go into the Men's room and get some toilet paper. Twist the toilet paper until they resemble roses. Then go back out and offer them to her."

Shes gonna think you're a nut and not in a good way.

2) If wanting to dump her Gray Brodksy says

"You tell her that for religious reasons you have to change your appearance. Tell her you will be growing a beard as long as possible and will be dressing in various robes, to increase the energy field for your aura. Then go into the bathroom and come out wearing a turban. Tell her you will need to be wearing this at all times, to keep the energy of your chakras from escaping from the top of your head."

yeah right Gary.

I bought this book for my science-oriented 4yr old grandson who is fascinated by "black holes" in space. This book is a huge disappointment as the illustrations are unattrative, the story is silly and it teaches nothing. The back cover states it is a "space spoof." I wish I had known that before I bought it. Nowhere in any reviews was that made clear. Additionally, my copy had 8 pages missing text. It certainly is not for a 4 year old, nor was there anything in it for his grandmother.

I totally loved these books when I was a kid! I really wish I still had this one. :D It has that eerie quality that most kids just love.. not scary at all, just strange, it will stick with a kid. It's that indefinable magic that shows up so much stronger when you're young, and maybe reading books like this will keep it alive later on. :D The characters are great too, this is how all kid's books should be!

This book really fills a big black hole in modern literature. The subject of toads in space has been constantly avoided, mishandled, and disregarded since the publication of Ivan Rabinavski's "Why Toads could never make it on the moon." Jane Yolen places the space-toad in its proper perspective in a beautiful and meaningful manner, pulling no punches and using no foul language. I loved it

This is such a wonderfull little book! I highly reccomend it for your kids, and art class, or just yourself! :)

I think it was cute for parents of the child, but not really worth purchasing, I expectsd a graft project book. Waste of money.

An amusing introduction to the artist Matisse that I highly recommend. Written as though it's an 8-yr-old's school report, it is accessible and very informative. It includes reproductions of Matisse art and biographical information. Loved it. And it was useful as a teaching tool.

Cute, but not as substantial as I would have liked.