On-the-tape

If you want a book that will take you back to the country life and its people with all their foibles and admirable qualities and love animals then his books will be pure enjoyment! I love the way he tells his stories. In his stories, he doesn't ever claim to be the best veterinarian around (I think he underrated himself), but you know he is a wonderful, kind, animal and people loving person. The way he speaks about the people and animals he comes in contact with, come to life and you feel you are right there with him. You will laugh, maybe cry, and cheer him on as you read. If you have animals, or raise them, you will love his books, although you don't have to own any to appreciate them.

My first experience with the late James Herriot's inspirational books took place in a bookstore in Singapore, in the 80's. I was barely 14 & had not heard of this writer/vet. But as soon as I started reading All Things Wise and Wonderful - my very first JH book, I knew I had to get the rest of the series.
Through his poignant, funny, sensitive and Yorkshire-accented writing, I relived his world as a practising vet. His was a world where decent, civic minded people lived with much love & respect for their pets and farm animals. A world where I wanted/want to be in.
It is true how one book reviewer put it: every chapter will have you either laughing out loud or shedding a quiet tear. To this day, I still remember some of his stories that touched my heart. The courtship years when a young JH was trying to impress Helen (who eventually became his very supportive wife); the timid little black stray cat, who with her last breath, would placed her one surviving kitten into the hands of a caring family; the endearing 'beggar' dog; the bored, pampered & misunderstood pet dog of a wealthy spinster...I could almost touch and see JH's characters through his vivid writing. I even felt his pride when his daughter also became a vet, & his son a doctor.
I am sorry that there were not more of his wonderful tales.

The reading on the audio cassettes is done by Christopher Timothy, the actor who plays James Herriot on the BBC series "All Creatures Great And Small". He does a magnificent job of Sigfried, Tristan and all the dales farmers. It is truly a delight to listen to this series of tapes - it takes you into another world.

(Note: there appears to be an error above, listing Edmund Stoiber as the reader.)

In this set, James has joined the RAF to support the war effort, though fate has other plans for him. We follow his attempts to get in shape and become a pilot, as events and people remind him of his many experiences back in his vet practice.

Perhaps because of the War Years, some of these stories are slightly more edgy, such as a rash of dog-poisonings and an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease that is uncomfortably reminiscent of recent events. But overall there is that sweetness of tone that pervades all of Herriot's work.

I think my favorite story was the old farmer fetching two gallons of the local pub's best beer in a milk bucket in order to warm a mother pig to her new family. Of course he saved a "drop" for himself and his mates. The amazing thing about these books is that there is never a repeated story throughout the whole series.

No matter what you think of cats, sitting down with this book will give you a quiet chuckle.

If you are among those unfortunates who have yet to discover the joys of being owned by a cat, you will be able to indulge the ever-pleasant pass-time of feeling smugly superior to this poor deluded couple who find themselves willing slaves to their delightful but demanding Siamese.

If you are one of the lucky ones currently living under the paw of a common or garden variety moggie, you will be able to breathe a sigh of relief and think "it could be worse" as you search the supermarket shelves for their favourite brand of cat food (without which you dare not show your face at home).

And if you are one of the fortune-favoured (?) few who have lost your heart (and possibly your reason) to a Siamese, you will enjoy the consolation of knowing that at least you're not alone.

The book is a delight for cat lovers and non cat lovers alike. Warm, wry and witty, it encourages empathy without expecting conversion. One of my absolute favourite cat books. And if you enjoy it, there's also a sequel - "Cats in May".

I got this book on Friday and read it through twice within 48 hours, laughing more loudly the second time, and rushing to find someone that I could share excerpts from the book. Even though the book was first published 45 years ago, it has not gone out of style. Anyone who has Siamese cats today can still identify with Ms. Tovey's experiences with Sugeih, Solomon and Sheba. I can't recommend this book enough and encourage an enterprising publisher to put all of Ms. Tovey's books back in print so everyone in the world can read them.

When I read this book, I was in an airport, and I had to hide my face in my coat because I couldn't stop laughing. If you have ever been owned by a siamese cat, this is a book you just have to read, I loved it!

I started reading this book because I wanted a great adventure story. This is not an adventure story. This is on the edge of death pure human suffering. Callahan is a very skilled seaman and very lucky man. His story is riveting and told very well. His story is so interesting, his writing skill, though quite good, really isn't necessary to read the book cover to cover. This book has many places where you want to sit down and cry with the man. I'm really tempted to give five stars, but I really wanted more information about his readjustment when he got back to land, but it ended fairly abruptly. Still, I feel I know Callahan's Dorado fish, his raft, and his feelings pretty well. He did a great job.

This is a great book if you want to make sure no one ever wants to go sailing in the ocean ever again. Stay away from the ocean. A guy's boat gets hit by a whale and he has to jump ship and kick it on a life raft for 67 days battling mother nature and sharks. Those sharks want his flesh and the sun keeps beating down on him like a big lemon blister. He eats turtles and rain water and some how lives to write a book about it. You can thank god for that!

This book is an excellent ocean survival story that kept me throughly entertained from start to finish. Honestly I couldn't put the book down. This book will change the way you look at your life. After you finish reading it, you won't take the simple things in life for granted anymore. If you enjoy true life adventure and survival books, then I suggest you read this one, it's excellent.

There aren't a lot of books by former naval avaitors about flying and fighting during Desert Storm. This book is also rarer since the platform he flew, the A-6 Intruder, has been retired despite several advantages over its replacement, the F/A-18. The book describes the working up period prior to deploying to the Arabian Gulf, shipboard life, as well as the buildup and actual fighting done during Desert Storm from his carrier. The wrting isn't as gripping as a professional writer would do, but nonetheless is an authentic account from a unique source. Overall, I was gald to have had the opportunity to learn more about what makes combat and naval aviation so much more different than what land-based forces go through. As a book to throw in your bag for a weekend reading source, this will be fine.

Angles of Attack: An A-6 Intruder Pilot's War; Peter Hunt; Ballantine Books, New York, N.Y., 2002; softcover, 368 pages, illustrated. ....
This newest Gulf War memoir is excellent; it really does put the reader in the cockpit. Like the A-7 Corsair, its stablemate in the Navy's attack community, the A-6 Intruder flew its final combat sorties in the six-week action that ousted the invading Iraqis from Kuwait. Intruder squadrons flew from all six carriers deployed during Desert Storm (as well as two Marine Corps shore-based squadrons), and one A-6 aviator tells a story that covers the buildup of Desert Shield and the nightly launches that devastated Iraqi naval and land assets.
Peter Hunt's enthusiastic account is one of the best of the type this reviewer has read in recent years. The focal point of the book is, of course, his experience flying 45 combat missions with VA-145 and the close bond with his bombardier-navigator (BN). The descriptions of the prewar activities as the squadron, air wing and carrier prepare to deploy give a fine insider's view of carrier aviation. The work ups are described in detail that might at times slow the story, but Hunt carries the story well with the result that these portions are well worth the reader's time. Hunt tells what it was like flying combat from one of the Navy's oldest carriers, USS Ranger (CV-61).
Peripheral areas like a port call in the Philippines, the loneliness of Christmas Eve at sea ' he decides to sort out his personal survival items ' and thoughts of family so far away are some of the most appealing aspects of Hunt's work..
The author and his BN participated in the Battle of Bubiyan, which saw the destruction of several Iraqi navy PT boats that eliminated that threat. They also flew during the last major attack on Iraqi units along the so-called 'highway of death' as the invaders torched the Kuwaiti capital and tried to flee.
Though a rather large paperback, the writing flows well and the author has a nice, personal style. Unfortunately, the book concludes on a sour note because of his dissatisfaction with the post-war Navy, the impact of the Tailhook scandal and the resulting 'rot from within.' Family separation also plays a hand in his decision to leave, as does the demise of the A-6 community, with no replacement after the A-12 debacle. Nonetheless, Angles of Attack is a fine effort that tells the story of one of the Navy's stalwart aviation communities during its last combat deployment.
Peter Mersky

Title of this review says it all. The only reason I wanted to post another review of this book is to just add another 5 stars-it's that good.

This book should become a classic-alas, I fear it will be overlooked by most, and that will definately be their loss.

I kid you not-I've read most of the first person accounts of aerial combat, from all periods, and this one is right at the top of the list.

I've read this to my six-year-old since he was a five-year-old - he doesn't get tired of it, and mercifully, neither do I. The idea of a hero who uses _painting_ instead of punches to win the day is so cool it makes me wish I'd written it.
Also, I take my son to the children's floor at Berkeley Main Library, where they have a kid's size version of the Brushmobile (you'll have to read the book to know what that it) that he's loved to 'ride in' even before we'd found the book. The day he no longer fits behind the palette, I think we'll both cry.

I read stories to little kids at the museum here in Houston. We have many wonderful books the museum has provided for us, and I have had the pleasure of reading many beautiful and interesting books to the children who visit us. But, this book is my personal favorite, and the kids I read to have laughed and applauded Art Dog at every reading. I highly recommend this book. (Also look up Zoom City, which is by the same author. It is my 3yr old son's favorite book). But as for Art Dog: Great Story, and great illustrations. Bravo Arthur Dog and the Dogopolis Museum!

By day, Arthur Dog, Dogopolis Museum of Art security guard, and lover of paintings by Vincent Van Dog, Pablo Poodle, Henri Muttisse, and Leonardo Dog Vinci. By night, Art Dog, masked grafitti artist painting the city in beautiful color. "No one knew who Art Dog really was... until one night at the museum." Yikes! Someone has stolen the Mona Woofa! After being falsely accused, Art Dog paints his way out of jail, lifts his nose in the air..."I can smell art a mile away," and saves the day in superhero fashion..... Thacher Hurd has authored an entertaining, wacky picture book that's sure to tickle the funny bones of young and old alike. His delightful, high-spirited text begs to be read aloud, and is full of terrific sound effects, wordplay, and dog puns. But it's his bold, bright, and splashy illustrations that really make this book stand out and sparkle. Perfect for youngsters 4-8, Art Dog is a funny, engaging, rip-roarin' adventure you don't want to miss. "Who was Art Dog? Who was this painter in a Brushmobile, catcher of crooks, bringer of light to the Dogopolis night?" Only readers will know!

Bradamant is a rarity. A female knight in service to the Emperor Charlemagne. A respected and feared warrior knight, she is also a young woman coming of age and struggling with her beliefs. She is a lover torn between the enemy knight she loves and her devotion to her king. Fearless and ruthless on the battlefield, Bradamant is vulnerable and confused in love. With Bradamant: The Iron Tempest, Ron Miller has crafted a very highly recommended, classic medieval adventure tale of chivalry, humor, magic, treachery, and romance -- all from the perspective of a woman warrior holding her own in a male-dominated age of violence, intrigue, and treachery.

Ron Miller has given us a real treat! From white knuckle action and magical adventure to the highest ideals of chivalry and downright lust, BRADAMANT has it all. And it's presented in a richly literate prose reminiscent of Sir Walter Scott but doused with a wicked sense of humor. Don't miss out on this modern classic!!

A brilliant book destined to become a classic. Undoubtedly the best new fantasy novel of the past decade. I have read the book twice and plan to order the audio edition as soon as possible. I recommend this book without reservation--it's a must-read.

Aldrich Ames' met with the author for several sittings after he was jailed and without the government's permission. That was just one more offense in a career of treason, drunkenness, slough and almost revolting passivity. Yet this man not only sent as many as 25 agents to their execution, he also spared no information to his KGB handlers. At times, he would be rooting for our side by day and by night he would have reversed and treacherously divulged everything he had previously learned.

Of course the answer is how? Despite the agency's superiority in resources and technology, they retain a dangerous and imbecilic "he's one of us" mentality. Ames repeatedly failed to follow protocol. He was spending money like a madman and while there were a few who were convinced of his guilt, the amount of time and the ultimate leakage that occured with every day was shameful.

Interestingly or not, the CIA has satellites that could zero in on Brezhnev as his dacha while he was being detained-but when it came down to getting the goods on Ames, they were more like the Keystone cops. Stealing trashcans, going door to door as salesmen, til someone called the cops and all of the vaudeville that one associates with those types of blunders. The book is far more flattering to the 'bureau,' who took full honors for the arrest even though there had been an agency team that had first fingered Ames and his wife.

The underlying issue for me was a) how the nature of espionage seems to be more about getting moles than about truly gathering intelligence and b) the astonishing lack of effective ways to figure out if someone is working for the other side. All of which, indicts or acquits the nature of being human in a world of frightening homeland security and total information awareness. Getting the info is apparently easier than managing it and logically acting on behalf of the constitution- not an ideology. There has been nothing discovered that has solved that problem. I really enjoyed reading this book and having some insight into diplomacy and superpowers and flawed characters all over.

Excellent book. Well investigated and written. Once you start, it's hard to put it down.

I really enjoyed Pete Earley's book "Hot House" about Leavenworth Prison and this book is every bit as good. An excellent combination of detailed research and captivating writing. Much more in depth than "Killer Spy" by Peter Maas (which was not a bad book, but tells more of the FBI's role in the investigation).

A couple years ago the author of this book (who didn't know me, nor I him) sent me a free copy. I have no idea why...

...but I am thankful now that he did. It sat on my shelf for about two years. But I eventually picked it up with the desire to become more "relationship oriented."

The chapters are nice and short -- they can be ingested in about twenty minutes. That's very convenient for me. He also does a fine job making profound relationship-truths simple to understand.

This books has been a great help to me.

Like a little seed that Steve planted in my life, it is now shooting up and bringing forth good fruit.

Thanks for the book, Steve!

Funny, smart, erudite, Steve Chandler affirms that our biggest and most powerful erogenous zone is our brain. Chandler deflates the myth that love just happens---true love, whether of a friend or a spouse or a pet, is cultivated and created, over and over again. Great stuff.

How to Stop Taking & Start Giving helps you gain a brand-new sense of ownership for all your relationships. Learn how great relationships offer unlimited opportunities for support & sharing.

In Chapter #1 we are invited to think back through our lives on what are the best gifts we ever received. What did they have in common? The Element of Surprise<, right? In your relationships this element of surprise works wonders. Try it & see!

Steve Chandler offers us a light touch, a common thread of common sense; takes us on a tour of how we live our relationships - both intimate & formal - & allows us to get an idea of who we really are; how others see us & ultimately, how we affect our relationship to our own lives. The ripples are given names like: Magnetize Yourself; Rise Above Yourself; Give the Gift of Silence; Bring It With You When You Come; Satisfy a Deep Craving; Relax With Money; Think and Thank; Be a Servant; Build the Love In; Make a Difference; Eliminate Prejudice; Learn to Say No; Give from the Spirit & many, many more.

Eminently readable, profoundly life-changing, engaging & authentic, 50 Ways to Create Great Relationships could just as easily have been 50 Ways to Love Your Life or 50 Ways to Build a Happy Business or 50 Ways to a Enjoy Your Friends, even 50 Ways to Confound Your Enemies.

Nothing new yet Steve Chandler does have a way with words & ideas. He offers us healthy mental exercises as vital as any we perform with our body to keep ourselves flexible, lose the fat of fate, strengthen the muscles of our minds & allow humor & affection their rightful quota in this thing we call Life.

If you can't catch Steve Chandler's seminars, then grab his books! Give them to every one of your friends. They will surely make a difference to you & your relationship to everyone in your life, from the person in the Complaint Department to your boss to your children to your spouse to your parents to their parents to the policeman who just pulled you over or the messenger with your pink slip! Do check out my eInterview with this author - you'll find it quite enlightening!

In 1905, a young Danish couple arrive in England with their two small sons. The husband, Rasmus, becomes a total Anglophile while his wife Asta, struggles with language problems,loneliness and depression as she is left alone with the children for long periods of time while Rasmus travels on business.To while away the hours, Asta starts a diary which she continues for the majority of her life. Years later, her descendants discover and publish the diaries which become an international success and which bring to life a number of unanswered questions about a sensational murder trial and the dubious birth of one of Asta's daughters. At first I struggled with the various characters, finding it difficult to place them in the right generations but all became clear eventually. The plot is involved, with red herrings strewn all over the place--an intriguing read and worth perservering with as all the solutions come right at the end of the book.

This is a beautifully written, well nuanced novel of mystery and suspense that seamlessly moves between the past and the present. The past is told through the diaries of a Danish immigrant named Asta, who went to live in Edwardian England with her husband, Rasmus, and two young sons at the turn of the century. Settling down in East London in 1905, her loveless marriage and loneliness drove Asta to keep a journal of her innermost thoughts and experiences.

Though married to a man who spent a great deal of time away from home on business and with whom she seemed to have little in common, Asta added two more children to her family, daughters, Swanny, her favorite, and Maria, the youngest. Asta's lyrically written journals would chronicle of her life, her struggles as an immigrant, her hopes and dreams, and her adoration of Swanny. They would also tantalizingly hint at a secret that would, ultimately, impact on her daughter, Swanny, later in life.

Over seventy years later, those diaries, all forty nine of them, would be discovered and become a publishing sensation and a bestseller. Within its many pages would lie the missing pieces to a turn of the century murder mystery and the leads to the whereabouts of a missing child, as well as tantalizing clues to the puzzling circumstances surrounding Swanny's birth. This information would lie dormant until nearly a century after Asta first put pen to paper, when Asta's granddaughter, Maria's daughter Ann, would review the diaries and discover not only the secret of Swanny's birth, but the identity of a missing child, as well as that of a killer, who nearly a century earlier had butchered two women.

This is a book well worth reading, and one that will command the readers attention until the very last page is turned.

One of her very best and that's saying a lot. Rendell is my favorite alltime author, and I'm a constant reader. The format of her mysteries changes constantly and this one has the peculiar focus of a niece editing the famous diaries of her deceased aunt. What she finds develops into a fascinating story with Rendell's usual diverting subplots and surprising finale.

While this book may be a good read, I'll never know because the pages have fallen out of the book like leaves, from the first moment I opened it. I've spent much time trying to retrieve and organize the wayward pages, to allow me to read what might be an interesting story. I have personally never experienced such a shoddy product.

When Liana Robertson's teenage son disappears, she is forced to work with her ex-husband Cullen Llelleyn to find him.

Liana and her ex-husband Cullen hate eachother, 100 years of family history has taken care of that. A beautiful pearl called The Pearl of Great Price has disappeared also, along with their son, a pearl that has ripped the families apart by greed and jealous and even murder.

One hundred years ago Liana's grandfather Tom found The Pearl of Great Price only to be murdered by Cullen's great-grandfather Archer in order to own it. One hundred years of unhappiness follows the two families, passing the pearl from family to family until Liana and Cullen finally unite the two families by marriage.

Now the pearl is missing and so is their son. Liana and Cullen must face their problems to find their son and the pearl.

I found this story to be boring in places, but very good in others. It went back in time too often leaving out the main characters, Liana and Cullen. Not enough romance and I left feeling like there should have been more.

This book is a saga, a journey two familes share. Tom Robeson finds a pearl in Australia's waters and his best friend, Archer Llewellyn murders him for it. And with this The Pearl of Great Price throws the two families into generations of turmoil. The Pearl is the catalyst. The people are the story.

Liana Robeson, Tom Robeson's granddaughter, is the current owner of the pearl. Once upon a time she met and married Cullen Llewellyn, Archer's great-grandson. They thought their love was enough to mend the generations of trouble between their families. In the end, the marriage ended and the only two things they shared was a son, Matthew, and the family legacy, the history of the pearl. Now Matthew is gone, and in order to find him Cullen and Liana have to delve into their family past and their personal past. They have face their personal demons, and face each other.

Beautiful Lies is a story of discovery. From San Francisco to Australia, the book weaves a tale of hope and love. Liana and Cullen discover their family past, they discover their son, and more importantly the discover just what they both lost when their marriage ended. BL is a beautiful tapestry that showcases Richards talent in a story of betrayal and hope, of beauty and darkness . . . of a love that is destined to be.