On-the-print

Ava, dealing with a change of life and a deadly disease such as AIDS, has her real fears of ever finding someone to love, ever having a career again, and how strong will she be once she gets really sick. She deals with these issues in a courageous and positive way, even when she sometimes stumbles . . . she still manages to find her way.

A story of triumph and victory, of loving and being loved, of facing your fears and trying to move through them anyway . . . this is one book that is difficult to put down.

As I've said, I can't wait for Pearl Cleage's next one.

But I have to recommend you buy a box of kleenexs ~~ it is heart-wrenching and so sad as well as uplifting. Now that you have this warning, don't hesitate to buy this book. It is a book about friendships, first loves and hope.

Sam Thibodeau returns with his wife and veterinary partner, Lydia Newhart, and embarks on a new chapter in his life. Dee Dee, his oldest friend and first true love returns home with her son, Trooper, Sam revisits old memories and forgotten dreams. Dee Dee not only comes home, she comes home with a secret ~~ and Sam and Lydia become involved with Dee Dee and Trooper. Dee Dee gets involved with candle-making (with those delicious quotes about candles interspersed throughout the book ~~ this book is a booklover's dream!) and renews old friendships along the way.

It didn't take me long to read this book ~~ as it is a slim book and it is one that just grabs your attention by the eyes and you won't be able to put it down. Don't pick it up if you have lots of weekend plans ~~ I can guarantee you that your stuff won't get done till you finish this book. It's easy to read, the characters are unforgettable and of course, there's all those little quotes to keep your interest riveted. It's such a darling little book ~~ just don't forget your box of kleenexes.

"On the Beach" has a profound psychological impact because it is devoid of the intense action that usually accompanies nuclear apocolypse films. The destruction has already occurred elsewhere and the citizens of Australia are largely going about their business knowing they will soon die. The fact that their infrastructure has not been destroyed and that all of their social aparatus is still intact makes their fate all the more sad and earie.

Although this book is set in the Cold War it's outcome is still relevant and feasible today. The nuclear warheads generated by the arms race haven't gone away. The former Soviet Union is a desparate, chaotic place, and as several reviewers pointed out, more small countries are joining the nuclear club. One could say that Nuclear madness has merely transformed itself, but its danger certainly hasn't disappeared.

I think everyone should read this book to be reminded of the possible future we all face.

Shute is essentially saying, through all of this, that human beings are incapable of hopelessness on a mass scale, even in a time when it seems that hopelessness is the only viable future. There is lots of partying and reverie early but as the months wear on this even diminishes, to the chagrin of some of my classmates, who seem convinced that the world would devolve into anarchic chaos and debauchery as the end approaches, but it seems that Shute would posit that this may have been the case at first, but as the months wear on most people want to die with a sense of "dignity." As Commander Towers would say, to do things right, even to the end. We see people in utter denial, even in the end, that it can happen to them, people who drink and party any threat of reality away, people who stick to principles, and so on and so on, all the while there is never any doubt that death is coming, and soon. Truly a bone-chilling account, perhaps one of the most ominously powerful books I have ever read, whose incredible strength grows as you read along, probably reaching its peak and staying there about two-thirds of the way through. One of few books that has the power to depress and unnerve so well, and one of the few books that has the power to hook its reader so well.

I caught the movie on TV yesterday the end with the empty streets of Australia when the radiation cloud finally arrives and the last people on earth are dead, makes one want to cry (and it did when I was younger)...but now as I have gotten older and seen too much of the brutality of mankind, my mind has changed and I think maybe it's time to nuke the whole place. People haven't and won't change. They'll just keep murdering each other until they are finally extinct.

Funny how time and seeing too much of humanity changes one's perspective on this book.

But Bryson, as always, manages to find humor, frequently directed at himself, in the trials and trivia of everyday American life, particularly those aspects that had changed since last he was a permanent resident. And since these were written for a British audience, there is some playing to British biases about American and Americans in general.

Bryson's wit is what carries the book, and in most of the essays there are Brysonian gems and riffs to cause a smile, a snicker, sometimes an outright belly laugh. Sometimes he gets into too much silly exaggeration, at least for me, but overall there are sufficient truly funny pieces to cause one to part with a few shillings to buy the book.

Although the US edition has lost some of the strengths of the original, it also retains most of its enjoyable content. Bryson makes insightful and witty observations about American culture. Based on his weekly newspaper columns for an English newspaper, Bryson describes life in America.

Readers are guaranteed to laugh out loud, but at the same time the humour delivers much food for thought about North American culture. For North Americans who are perhaps guilty at times of arrogance, such self-examination and a critical close look at ourselves is of great benefit.

This is an entertaining as well as thought provoking read.

Enjoy. I sure did.

In this book Barbara is on her one solving a mystery among Pakistani immigrants into a seaside resort town in England. Some potential readers might think that Barbara Havers can't manage alone. Ah, but they are very wrong, as Barbara shows more depth and real-life than the classy and superficial Lynley.

The book is stunning, and you can believe me because I've read them all!! It is however not recommendable to read af the first of all the writers novels, as she makes several references to the things from previous episodes and novels and to her partnership with Lynley. The reader will understand those references much better if (s)he has read at least one of the previous books.

In Denmark (where I come from) we love her books and Elizabeth George is one of the most popular criminal writers from USA.

The Lindburgh chapter was interesting. In all these years, I somehow missed the fact that the kidnap ladder was hinged. I never doubted Hauptmann's involvement. And I still don't.

Unlike others posting here, I take no issue with his stance on the Ramsey case, there is simply no solid evidence with which to charge them. Absent that evidence, it is irresponsible to assume their guilt. We should ALL know better than to convict people via the news media.

My main gripe, I suppose, is that I expected better information on the Zodiac case. Douglas seems to rely almost entirely on the work of author Robert Graysmith. And Graysmith's work is unfortunately more fiction than fact. Perhaps Douglas should have used Graysmith's latest book identifying Jack the Ripper. He could have pronounced that case solved.

If you still feel the need to read this book, borrow it from the library.

I almost wish he hadn't included the JonBenet Ramsey case, because I think that takes away from the rest of the book. He could have included some other cases that still "haunt" us, that would be interesting from a historical point of view. I don't think enough time has passed for people to consider the Ramsay case objectively. I am not saying I disagree with his conclusions about the Ramsays, but I don't completely buy them either. If he is ever proved wrong, he will have to eat a ton of crow. Enough said.

Still, I would recommend this book for true crime lovers, historical crime buffs, and anyone with an interest in psychological profilings. I admit freely my favorite TV show is Discovery Channels "The New Detectives." If you have never seen it, and you fall into one of the above categories, you must check this show out.

I think that Douglas was very insightful while going over the cases, telling us what occured(to the knowledge of those working the case)and giving us possible explanations(no matter how improbable).

I highly recommend this book, especially if you enjoy reading cold cases. Happy reading!

Instead of her usual batttery of suspects, there were only 3 suspects and only 2 of them were suscpicious which meant that the least suspicious character did the murders, naturally.

Next time, I won't buy her books brand new - I'll wait and get them for trade in a used book store so if they disappoint me I won't be losing money.

Lawyer Emily Graham has just moved into her ancestral home in a picturesque seaside village when a series of murders begins. And not just any murders: They replicate to the last detail a series of murders that took place there one hundred years ago, and the anniversary of the last killing is this Saturday...who will be next?

Mary Higgins Clark has created a strong heroine in Emily and filled the story with a large cast of suspects that will keep you guessing until the last minute. My favorite chapters were those narrated by the unseen killer, who may be just demented or may be the reincarnation of the original killer.

The frequent comparisons between town life in the Victorian era and the present make me think this would make a lovely and suspenseful film. And the big question (has the original killer been reincarnated?) makes for fun, if creepy, speculation. Heartily recommended.

Fulghum, bathetically, weeps over this enormous loss (?) and wonders what can be wrong with the world which so limits our unlimited potential. (Shades of the lunatic Rousseau!)

As it happened, I was reading William James at the time, and William James produced an excellent explanation of the development which Fulghum was complaining about. To paraphrase: every man would like to be a millionaire, and a great lover, and a saint, and a famous warrior, and a philanthropist, and a star athlete, and a world-famous gourmet. BUT, once you start looking at things seriously, you obviously have to choose, because these roles cannot all fit together in one human being. The philanthropist would be at war with the millionaire, and the saint would conflict with the warrior, and the gourmet would conflict with the athlete.

So we all concentrate on finding our strong points and developing them. People who are musically gifted will study music intensely, while mathematicians will pursue math. As James said, "I myself am a psychologist. I don't mind a bit if you can beat me in Ancient Greek, because I no longer 'carry that line,' as a shopkeeper would say. But, if you say that you are better than me at psychology, my attention is immediately engaged, because my intent is to be the best psychologist in the world."

This is the normal pattern of child and adolescent development. That Fulghum could be ignorant of such an obvious thing truly does make one think that he stopped learning in kindergarten.

And some people think that education is a life-long process! :-0

This book is poppycock. Not recommended at all.

finally, Yes I always buy lemonaid from kids on the street corner even if I have to circle the block. It's worth the smiles :)

I was intrigued by the interactions between slaves and slaveholders in this book. Though at times characters like Clarice seemed too good to be true, I think Ms Gibbons has done a good job of showing how slaves and slaveholders were inextricably linked to each other, if only because the one could not exist without the other. That fact may make us uncomfortable, but it was and is the truth. I do think Ms Gibbons stumbles, however, when she backs away from showing too much of the anger of the servants who were not told they were free all along until the War was almost over. That oversight by Emma and Quincy was wrong, and made me like them less.

My opinions change like Seattle weather! I'll think about it some more and let you know if I change my mind on any of this.

The main character had a life of joy and pain but it is a lesson in perservance and making the most of what life gives you. Yes, the book is sad, but I would probably describe it more "bittersweet" than sad.

So many comparisons have been made between books. Some have compared McCrae's "Bark of the Dogwood" to "Confederacy of Dunces" and some have compared "Secret Life of Bees" to "To Kill a Mockingbird." Now people are comparing "On the Occasion" to "Gone With the Wind." I'm not sure about any of these comparisions, but I do know that "On the Occasion" can stand by itself and actually gives us a little MORE than GWTW, but without the length == Thank goodness.

The characters in Gibbon's book are so well-developed and they intertwine with each other in such a way as to make the read satisfying and easy.

Do yourself a favor and buy this book. Good writing by an intelligent author.

Each one of us is different and as the saying goes "One man's garbage is another ones treasure" but my one and only opinion regarding this book is :

"This book has a lot of nothing on almost everything and hell no
I couldn't waste my precious time on a book like this". Mind you
the Seven Spiritual Laws book was amazing just as if it was written by someone else! Hoping that mr.Chopra has made a lot of money I would like him to write books that can be read and appreciated by his readers.

As I said I am just sharing my opinion so I am sorry if I am
offending someone else's views regarding this book. Thank You.