Book Description
Neil Campbell and Jane Reece's
BIOLOGY remains unsurpassed as the most successful majors biology textbook in the world. This text has invited more than 4 million students into the study of this dynamic and essential discipline.The authors have restructured each chapter around a conceptual framework of five or six big ideas. An Overview draws students in and sets the stage for the rest of the chapter, each numbered Concept Head announces the beginning of a new concept, and Concept Check questions at the end of each chapter encourage students to assess their mastery of a given concept. New Inquiry Figures focus students on the experimental process, and new Research Method Figures illustrate important techniques in biology. Each chapter ends with a Scientific Inquiry Question that asks students to apply scientific investigation skills to the content of the chapter.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent timing.......2007-10-10
I received the book in brand new condition and it arrived even faster than the estimated date. I ordered it on a Thursday and got it by Monday..and there was a holiday in there.
Review.......2007-10-06
This textbook is a bit vague on hard facts but has a lot of details. It is sufficient.
Biology seventh edition.......2007-10-02
The book was as needed for a class. Amazon is a joke and I will never order a book from them again. I paid for next day and it took a week. Other books from other source's took 2-3 days by mail. Seems amazon just means they send it next day delivery whenever they get around to sending it out. How many people are going to pay $17.99 for next day after waiting anywhere from 5 days to a month to get it ready to ship. NEVER AGAIN !!! Book was availible cheaper but nobody else offered next day. So I got ripped twice,for cost of book and so called next day shipping.
The Ur-Text for General Biology.......2007-09-22
This is the Ur-text for general Biology. Very very detailed but extremely well written. Escpecially detailed at the molecular level (as opposed to say, ecology.)The best parts of the book are the illustrations. I have read many textbooks and none come even close to the usefullness of these illustrations. Most people could get all the Biology they need by simply studying the illustrations and their explanations. They are incredibly informative.
If you have the time this is the book. If you just need a general overvwiew you may find this book overwhelming.
Excellent Textbook.......2007-09-16
THis is a good textbook. It has a lot of good information in it. It is even better because it is the newest edition.
Average customer rating:
- I hated it
- Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
- Love & struggles
- fantastic story
- Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: What an amazing book!
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Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel
Lisa See
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
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Suite Francaise
ASIN: 0812968069
Release Date: 2006-02-21 |
Book Description
In nineteenth-century China, in a remote Hunan county, a girl named Lily, at the tender age of seven, is paired with a laotong, “old same,” in an emotional match that will last a lifetime. The laotong, Snow Flower, introduces herself by sending Lily a silk fan on which she’s painted a poem in nu shu, a unique language that Chinese women created in order to communicate in secret, away from the influence of men. As the years pass, Lily and Snow Flower send messages on fans, compose stories on handkerchiefs, reaching out of isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments. Together, they endure the agony of foot-binding, and reflect upon their arranged marriages, shared loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. The two find solace, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding arises, their deep friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart.
Download Description
Lisa See is the author of Flower Net (an Edgar Award nominee), The Interior, and Dragon Bones, as well as the critically acclaimed memoir On Gold Mountain. The Organization of Chinese American Women named her the 2001 National Woman of the Year. She lives in Los Angeles.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
I hated it.......2007-10-18
I wanted to like this book. It seemed like I would like this book, but I didn't like it at all. I put it down halfway through and didn't even finish it. I wasn't crazy about it early on, but then when something awful happened to one of the 2 main characters and I DIDN'T CARE, I knew I was finished with this book.
Although I did find fascinating the whole foot-binding tradition and how Chinese women lived then, I was very disappointed in the story.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.......2007-10-17
Fascinating story about the life of a young girl in 19th century China. Wonderful insights about Chinese customs, life and values. Great selection for our Book Club!
Love & struggles.......2007-10-16
I recently chose Snow Flower and the Secret Fan for a book club. All the ladies seemed to enjoy this pick as it demonstrated in detail the culture and helped us be grateful for our big feet, not to mention our freedom. OBEY, OBEY, OBEY, is not something that I could have done as easily as Lily and Snow Flower. Their courage through it all left me in awe, respecting their everyday life, struggles and love.
This is a recommend read for all mothers, daughter and wives that think they have life difficult.
fantastic story.......2007-10-11
I loved this book - I am a fan of novels that weave historical information, or cultural information thru the story, and See did a fantastic job with both. The characters were so well done and the imagery was fantastic. I only wish it was longer!
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: What an amazing book!.......2007-10-10
My favorite book in my 2 year book club. I love the way she writes and describes a world and lives of strong women who have no choice, no love, no life but yet have each other, dreams, and and hope.
Average customer rating:
- A fun legal thriller
- Daddy's Girl
- Sliding Through This One
- Fun and substance!
- Flying thru the pages at the edge of my seat.
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Daddy's Girl
Lisa Scottoline
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
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Binding: Hardcover
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Scottoline, Lisa
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Simple Genius
ASIN: 0060833149
Release Date: 2007-03-13 |
Book Description
Natalie Greco loves being a law professor, even though she can't keep her students from cruising sex.com during class and secretly feels like Faculty Comic Relief. She loves her family, too, but as a bookworm, doesn't quite fit into the cult of Greco football, headed by her father, the team captain. The one person she feels most connected to is her colleague, Angus Holt, a guy with a brilliant mind, a great sense of humor, a gorgeous facade, and a penchant for helping those less fortunate. When he talks Nat into teaching a class at a local prison, her comfortably imperfect world turns upside down.
A violent prison riot breaks out during the class, and in the chaos, Nat rushes to help a grievously injured prison guard. Before he dies, he asks her to deliver a cryptic message with his last words: "Tell my wife it's under the floor."
The dying declaration plunges Nat into a nightmare. Suddenly, the girl who has always followed the letter of the law finds herself suspected of a brutal murder and encounters threats to her life around every curve. Now not only are the cops after her, but ruthless killers are desperate to keep her from exposing their secret. In the meantime, she gets dangerously close to Angus, whose warmth, strength, and ponytail shake her dedication to her safe boyfriend.
With her love life in jeopardy, her career in the balance, and her life on the line, Nat must rely on her resources, her intelligence, and her courage. Forced into hiding to stay alive, she sets out to save herself by deciphering the puzzle behind the dead guard's last words . . . and learns the secret to the greatest puzzle of all—herself.
Filled with the ingenious twists, pulse-pounding narrative drive, and dynamic, flesh-and-blood characters that are the hallmarks of her bestsellers, Daddy's Girl is another wild, entertaining ride about love, family, and justice from the addictively readable Lisa Scottoline.
Customer Reviews:
A fun legal thriller.......2007-10-19
I have a soft spot for Lisa Scottoline. Many years ago I was working in a used book store when I ran across her first book, 'Everywhwere that Mary Went' and I loved it. We had two copies of that book and we must have re-sold them a dozen times after I started recommending them to people who asked for someone new to read. Pretty soon, Lisa Scottoline was one of our hottest items - we even special-ordered in some new copies! I like to think that I had a very, very small part in her success, even though the used book store is now defunct.
"Daddy's Girl" is a fun read as are most of Scottoline's books. This time she strays away from her old standby, Bennie Rosato & company. Even though she introduces a new character, young law professor Natalie Greco, the territory is still familiar - Philadelphia.
While not the deepest book in the world, it is fun, full of lots of action and it keeps you reading.
Daddy's Girl.......2007-10-13
WOW this was a terrific murder mystery. I could not stop listening to it.
Sliding Through This One.......2007-10-06
Lisa Scottoline has a long line of fast-moving thrillers filled with gutsy female protagonists and clever one-liners. This one has what turns out to a female law professor who becomes brave, and a number of somewhat half-clever lines, like the very first one: "Nat Greco felt like an A cup in a double-D bra." Dare I say that falls flat?
But for me the most serious problem was that the book didn't seem to move; it dragged along. Quickly yes. But nonetheless, it dragged. This may be because of no solid base. Was anything near believable? Again, maybe halfway. And I think one has to go right over the top into never-never land or stay rooted. This one hedges, and thus left me unsatisfied at the end. I have to say that not wanting to give away endings, I will only add that it bothers me that there was really no good guy anywhere here. That may be life sometimes but, hey, this wasn't reality to begin with! She's done much better!
Fun and substance!.......2007-09-20
I only discovered Scottoline this year, and I am really enjoying her works. My life is busy, stressful, and hectic, and these stories about brave (and nosy) female protagonists are fun, quick reads. This one was my favorite so far because of Nat Greco's fun, interesting family dynamics and her passion for teaching and justice.
The thing that I am liking most about Scottoline's work is that she writes an exciting novel that is easy to follow and to read -- so much so that I don't want to put it down -- but there is always something positive and substantive about the "lessons" that the character is learning. In DADDY'S GIRL, the distinction between what is "just" or justice and what is "legal" turns up over and over again, in the law school, in the police procedures and investigations, in the discussions of legal history and legally related literature, and in the discussions of the the Underground Railroad. This repeated theme give the novel a passion and a purpose that lets me forget that I am reading a murder mystery.
Overall: A fun, easy weekend or vacation read and a real page turner.
Flying thru the pages at the edge of my seat........2007-09-10
This is the first Scottoline novel I have read and it certainly won't be my last. This was an action packed, suspenseful, romantic novel that was very hard to put down. Natalie Greco is a law professor who accompanies a colleague to a prison for a class he gives as part of a program affiliated with the law school. While they are there, a riot breaks out and Nat finds herself fighting for her life. She receives a dying wish from a CO who is fatally wounded. The wish is a message to give to his wife. "Tell my wife It's under the floor". This sets off a wild and action packed tale with twists and turns that will have you at the edge of your seat. Mix that with a very protective family and boyfriend. Add a little bit of lust for the colleague and you have yourself a great thriller.
Average customer rating:
- KEPT ME UP TOO LATE
- Implausable, repetitive, not as good as Shiver
- Just didn't work for me
- Adult Nancy Drew Thriller?
- Absolute Fear Review
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Absolute Fear
Lisa Jackson
Manufacturer: Kensington
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0758211821
Release Date: 2007-03-27 |
Customer Reviews:
KEPT ME UP TOO LATE.......2007-08-12
I enjoyed this novel by Jackson. It is the sequel to Shiver and links many of her characters from previous books that you would not have had to read to enjoy this book. Mystery, thriller, and a bit of romance with nary a slow down. Great read.
Implausable, repetitive, not as good as Shiver.......2007-08-11
This book suffers from some implausible connections and story lines. There are developments and scenes that are both repetitive to Shiver and to earlier in Absolute Fear itself. The introduction of new character Kristi is interesting. Shiver was more dense, more spell binding, not just because it started the story line, but because of better writing. Absolute Fear is worth reading in paperback, but probably from the library. I enjoyed it, but it's a long ways from Shiver in quality and even further from Elizabeth George or James Lee Burke.
P
Just didn't work for me.......2007-08-03
"Cold-Blooded" and "Shiver", the previous two books in this series, were very good. This one, not so much.
Not enough info on:
*Eve's relationship with Cole before the shooting.
*What happened to Eve and Cole in the three months after the shooting.
*What really happened with Cole on the night of the shooting, because the few lines it was covered in were unclear.
Not enough development of the male and female leads. Ex: Did Eve work? If not how did she get her money?
As someone else pointed out why did Cole lose his house, car, job, money and possessions when he hadn't even been indicted yet? His attorney was a friend so he would have gotten a break on that fee and Cole was an attorney also so he would have been able to do a lot of the work on his own.
Now we have two women in the TSTL (too stupid to live), dumber than a box of rocks, don't have two brain cells to rub together category. Eve had found her friend brutally murdered with a tattoo carved into him, she'd been shot and almost died. Then her father was murdered in the same manner as her friend (also with a tattoo) and Eve has been targeted by the killer. Yet she went running around on her own, meeting a friend at a restaurant and then into a deserted insane asylum. TSTL
Kristi's dad is a cop and she's mad at him because he won't give her privileged details on a current investigation so she can write a true crime book. Kristi had been kidnapped, chained to a wall, and almost died because of the serial killer that had been after her. Yet there she is, a year or so later, wandering alone around the same insane asylum as Eve, not at the same time, taking pictures of the area where a nun had just been found also carved up and dead. TSTL
Other reviewers have brought up the fact that the insane asylum plot is getting really old and I agree; its way past time for it to go away.
Then there's the now dead priest who was taking advantage of women and fathering kids all over the place. This is just plain insulting! There have been cases of abuse by priests lately, but the vast majority of priests are good, spiritual people who believe in their calling. This part of the plot was particularly distasteful!
I realize New Orleans is not a huge city but it's not Mayberry so having all these people related to each other goes way past the bounds of being even slightly credible.
Fortunately I bought this book used!
Adult Nancy Drew Thriller?.......2007-07-09
Far-fetched -- where in the world can you have detectives, girlfriends, daughters, killer, mental hospital inmates, be related to each other, with the ending surprising even the characters as to their relationship? Except for the hot and heavy spicing of sex episodes, this could be classified as another Nancy Drew novel.
Absolute Fear Review.......2007-06-13
Absolute Fear was the second book in the New Orleans series. The characters were familiar and I enjoyed them in this book. The new characters were very intriquing. The end really stunned me. I couldn't believe that Kristi saw her father's death in the near future.
Average customer rating:
- Great story, great plot, great performance
- A must read
- Unguessable!
- Not her writing
- Don't Let This Book Hide at the Bottom of Your Yet to Read Pile!
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Hide
Lisa Gardner
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Suspense
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ASIN: 0553804324
Release Date: 2007-01-30 |
Book Description
You have good reason to be afraid. . . .
It was a case that haunts Bobby Dodge to this day—the case that nearly killed him and changed his life forever. Now, in an underground chamber on the grounds of an abandoned Massachusetts mental hospital, the gruesome discovery of six mummified corpses resurrects his worst nightmare: the return of a killer he thought dead and buried. There’s no place to run. . . . Bobby’s only lead is wrapped around a dead woman’s neck. Annabelle Granger has been in hiding for as long as she can remember. Her childhood was a blur of new cities and assumed identities. But what—or who—her family was running from, she never knew. Now a body is unearthed from a grave, wearing a necklace bearing Annabelle’s name, and the danger is too close to escape. This time, she’s not going to run. You know he will find you. . . .
The new threat could be the dead psychopath’s copycat, his protégé—or something far more terrifying. Dodge knows the only way to find him is to solve the mystery of Annabelle Granger, and to do that he must team up with his former lover, partner, and friend D. D. Warren from the Boston P.D. But the trail leads back to a woman from Bobby’s past who may be every bit as dangerous as the new killer—a beautiful survivor-turned-avenger with an eerie link to Annabelle. From its tense opening pages to its shocking climax,
Hide is a thriller that delves into our deepest, darkest fears. Where there is no one to trust. Where there is no place left to hide.
Customer Reviews:
Great story, great plot, great performance.......2007-10-17
Having just read yet another "wanna-be Patricia Cornwell," I was hesitant to pick this one up - but I'm glad I did. It's definitely no wanna-be!
A great storyline with good character development and tight plotting, the book kept me guessing. I usually figure out the bad guy two-thirds of the way through, but this one had me until the last few chapters. I appreciated the depth of the characters and their relationships, too.
The performance on the audiobook by Maggi-Meg Reed was outstanding, too. She captured the characters well with vocal changes and accents. The only thing I didn't like about the audiobook was the lack of disc-prompting ("this ends Disc 1," etc. - very useful for those of us who listen on MP3 players).
I've never read a Lisa Gardner book, and I got the feeling from some of the references in "Hide" that there was a preceding novel with the same characters. This usually bothers me, because many series writers rely almost too heavily on the preceding books to flesh out the characters. Like many readers, I like reading a stand-alone book and discovering, to my delight, that there are more books with the same story. The book stood well enough on its own and generated my interest in the prequel.
While a fairly quick read, "Hide" is absorbing and tense, and I highly recommend it.
A must read.......2007-10-04
This is one of the best books I've read this year. A book I could relate to, and could not put down. What Russell did for his daughter, I know many of us would do the same for ours. At one point there were tears rolling down my face. A must read for 2007.
Unguessable!.......2007-08-26
Annabelle Granger has spent her whole life on the run and she doesn't even know what she has been running from. While she was growing up her father uprooted the family every 12-18 months to keep her safe from a threat but he never told her what exactly that threat was. And now, with her parents both dead, there is little chance of her ever finding all the answers. After all the family name changes, she doesn't even know what her real name is. Is it really Annabelle Granger?
A grave is found on the site of an old abandoned mental hospital containing 6 murdered girls, one of whom has a bracelet with 'Annabelle Granger' on, one that Annabelle remembers finding gift wrapped on her doorstep when she was a child, before all the family moves. She goes to the police to let them know that she is alive and well. They have as many questions about her life as she does and it's a rush to find the answers - who killed the girls, was this person the threat that her father tried to save Annabelle from, and is Annabelle still at risk?
This is a truly fantastic thriller. Annabelle is so unsure of her identity it is almost like she is trying to deal with amnesia. In finding out who she is she has to find out who she can trust and that entails letting down her guard, something her father has trained her never to do. I kept thinking that I had worked out who Annabelle was and who the threat was and then there was another twist and I was back at square one again. I like an author who can keep it fresh and keep me guessing and Lisa Gardner certainly did that for me in "Hide". I can't wait for her next book.
Not her writing.......2007-08-09
This of course is the sequel of "Alone" and I'll ask the same question: where's the plot? After read so many excellent books written by LG like: "The Other Daughter", "The Next Accident", "The Survivorss Club", "The Perfect Husband" among many others I'd think that LG didn't wrote these two stories. I cant't believe that after writing so many books that you can't close she wrote this kind of gibberish. I'm still a great LG's fan and I'll be waiting for the next one. But this surely is not her kind of writing.
Don't Let This Book Hide at the Bottom of Your Yet to Read Pile!.......2007-08-05
Have read a few of Gardner's books and this is easily the best of them. One of those books was Alone which also had a few of the characters from this novel. Although this novel could easily be read as a standalone novel I would recommend reading Alone first as paragraphs in Hide do give away key plot points of that novel. You'll also have a greater understanding of the characters who are back again if you read Alone first. They are both great reads.
I actually don't know why Gardner didn't just use fresh characters as the plot from Alone paid no real part for Hide's plot but as I said by using that novel's characters she does give away parts of that storyline and ultimately some of the reader's enjoyment if they chose to read that after.
In Hide ex sniper but still Massachusetts state cop Bobby Dodge is contacted by his ex, who is homicide detective for the city. She takes him on a tour of a new crime scene where six mummified little girls are found in an underground chamber on an ex mental hospital's grounds. Annabelle Granger's father has had her changing identities for most of her life and upon learning one of the victims was wearing a necklace with her original name on it she decides to tell the police the bizarre tale of her life. Soon it becomes apparent the necklace used to be hers, she gave it to her childhood friend who disappeared not long after her family did. Was she meant to be the victim? Is this killer what her father had her family running from?
Hide is a great read! I will definitely check out other Gardner novels.
Book Description
Meet Isabel "Izzy" Spellman, private investigator. This twenty-eight-year-old may have a checkered past littered with romantic mistakes, excessive drinking, and creative vandalism; she may be addicted to Get Smart reruns and prefer entering homes through windows rather than doors -- but the upshot is she's good at her job as a licensed private investigator with her family's firm, Spellman Investigations. Invading people's privacy comes naturally to Izzy. In fact, it comes naturally to all the Spellmans. If only they could leave their work at the office. To be a Spellman is to snoop on a Spellman; tail a Spellman; dig up dirt on, blackmail, and wiretap a Spellman.
Part Nancy Drew, part Dirty Harry, Izzy walks an indistinguishable line between Spellman family member and Spellman employee. Duties include: completing assignments from the bosses, aka Mom and Dad (preferably without scrutiny); appeasing her chronically perfect lawyer brother (often under duress); setting an example for her fourteen-year-old sister, Rae (who's become addicted to "recreational surveillance"); and tracking down her uncle (who randomly disappears on benders dubbed "Lost Weekends"). But when Izzy's parents hire Rae to follow her (for the purpose of ascertaining the identity of Izzy's new boyfriend), Izzy snaps and decides that the only way she will ever be normal is if she gets out of the family business. But there's a hitch: she must take one last job before they'll let her go -- a fifteen-year-old, ice-cold missing person case. She accepts, only to experience a disappearance far closer to home, which becomes the most important case of her life.
The Spellman Files is the first novel in a winning and hilarious new series featuring the Spellman family in all its lovable chaos.
Customer Reviews:
A Family to Drive You to Drink . . . or to Cocoa Puffs!.......2007-10-16
What do you get when you combine a dysfunctional family composed of people who are more than normally weird with a detective agency and two missing person cases? It's a recipe for laughs, hurt feelings, unbelievable double crosses, and unusual solutions. I recommend The Spellman Files to those who would like some more zaniness with their mysteries.
Mom and Dad run a detective agency that has employed their children as operatives since they were quite young. The perfect older brother, David, has escaped into "normal" life as a well-paid lawyer . . . but the family's web of intrigue keeps pulling him back into the chaos. He's also a good source of business for the detective agency, so it's all right . . . as long as he pays on time.
Uncle Ray is Dad's brother (an ex-cop), and he's lonely. But Ray's attraction to the family's company is more than offset by his need for a good card game, lots of booze, and ladies who rent by the hour. When Ray indulges, these lead to dozens of lost weekends where it takes a detective to track him down.
Ray is also the bane of young Rae's life, the 14-year-old surveillance-obsessed daughter, who loves her candy and sugary cereals. Rae is growing up a little too fast for her own good, and the tension between her world-wise ways and her emotional needs adds a lot to the story.
But the center of the action (and the book's narrator) is 28-year-old Isabel (Izzy) Spellman who shares some of Ray's love for the bottle and Rae's angst about their family. Izzy has problems with men, exemplified by the fact that she sees them as future ex-boy friends before she's been on a first date. She is also pretty dependent on her family.
Are detectives likely to leave well enough alone? No! Meddling reaches a new height of weirdness as the family snoops on one another.
As the book opens, Rae is missing and Izzy is being grilled by the police about Rae's disappearance. That grilling continues in episodes throughout the book with the rest of the book as a flashback about how Rae came to be missing.
Izzy is having a hard time becoming a mature adult. She needs more space from her family, but really isn't ready for handling the space. Mom and Dad worry and meddle accordingly. Annoyed, Izzy regresses into childish pranks. Rae wants to be close to her sister, something that's hard to do when they are so far apart in age.
In the middle of this family sniping, Izzy reluctantly agrees to work on a cold missing person's case. It's clear that something is fishy about how the person came to be missing, and Izzy turns up a lot of suspicious activity surrounding the event. But few would ever solve this mystery from the clues provided, even though they are fair ones. While the case is seemingly simple, it's not quite what it appears. For excellence of this mystery, I upgraded the book to be above average.
I found the humor to be overdone in the book. The spying-on-one-another gags wear thin after a while.
Rae, however, is a very interesting character and I look forward to reading more about her. I suspect this would have been a better book with Rae as the narrator than with Izzy as the center of attention.
The Family that PI's together..........2007-10-04
Meet the Spellman Family. The older generation is made up of Albert, his wife Olivia, and his brother Ray. Albert and Olivia own and run Spellman Investigations, a PI firm in San Francisco. Among their employees are their two daughters, twenty-something Izzy and 14-year-old Rae. The only member of the family to escape the PI business is Izzy's older brother David who became a lawyer.
The family is anything but normal. Uncle Ray regularly vanishes for extended weekends and only returns when tracked down. Izzy regularly runs a complete background check on her boyfriends so her parents can't surprise her with anything later. Rae thinks "recreational surveillance" is a hobby
And no one respects anyone else's privacy. Double and triple locks on bedroom doors mean nothing. Yet that doesn't mean that people don't have secrets. And life in the Spellman house can be very entertaining and funny.
Even though this book deals with private investigators, this isn't a mystery novel. Yes, there are a few mysteries, but that isn't the point. The book is all about exploring the family dynamic of a very dysfunctional family. Yet it does it with love, warmth, and humor. We get the story from Izzy's point of view. And while she is often frustrated with her family, we can tell she loves them.
The book starts out a little slowly, but the laughs pick up as the story progresses. I found myself laughing out loud several times and chucking many more. The characters seem like types on the surface, but once we get to know them, we see so much more.
This book is quirky, offbeat, and well worth reading. If that sounds like something you would like, track down this book today.
Better than Evanovich!.......2007-09-26
I loved this book. I loved the characters. Rae, Uncle Ray, Izzy, David etc. A wonderful read and a stunning first novel for Lisa Lutz. Can't wait for her next book due out on March 11, 2008...The Curse of the Spellmans: A Novel.
Thank you Lisa for such a great read!!
Laughing......not.......2007-09-24
Sorry, just couldn't get into this novel. For a comedy, it just wasn't funny---smirky maybe, and trying way too hard. I kept waiting for the canned laughter that always accompanies the lousy jokes on TV sitcoms--you know the one, where it's your cue to guffaw along with the audience, whether you want to or not. I actually think this author has talent, but she needs to stifle the urge to go for the big gag--just tell the story and let the laughs fall where they may.
Good read!.......2007-09-20
This was a pretty good book. I chose to read it after seeing a review about it in PEOPLE. The ending is completely unexpected and the story moves pretty well, with only a few dry spots. If you like PI books your sure to like this one.
Customer Reviews:
Art history for everyone.......2007-10-07
This is a valuable companion to the standard college text for the art history student. It is short yet complete, and makes art history entirely accessible. It is clearly written, entertaining, and is a great overview for the novice or serious student of art history.
Learn with your children.......2007-09-01
This book was purchased for my son for school, but I purchased two to refresh my memory. It is a wonderful book.
Art Education Student.......2007-08-16
I am preparing to take the Art education part of the GACE exam. Not only is ths book a must but all of my professors encourage us to study it. The color photos are perfect and you could not buy anything better.
Great summary.......2007-05-13
This book points out the specifics of different art movements in a brief and informative fashion. Don't expect in-depth analysis of specific works, but you will get a run-down of the important names and pieces from significant periods in Art History. This book helped me go from a 4 to a 5 in A.P. Art History practice tests. I highly recommend it for the price!
The Annotated Mona Lisa.......2007-05-07
Excellent book for AP Art History review. I have used it in my classroom for eight years with great results!
Book Description
This manual presents the first empirically studied, integrative treatment approach developed specifically for PTSD and substance abuse. For persons with this prevalent and difficult-to-treat dual diagnosis, the most urgent clinical need is to establish safety--to work toward discontinuing substance use, letting go of dangerous relationships, and gaining control over such extreme symptoms as dissociation and self-harm. The manual is divided into 25 specific units or topics, addressing a range of different cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal domains. Each topic provides highly practical tools and techniques to engage patients in treatment; teach "safe coping skills" that apply to both disorders; and restore ideals that have been lost, including respect, care, protection, and healing. Structured yet flexible, topics can be conducted in any order and in a range of different formats and settings. The volume is designed for maximum ease of use with a large format, lay-flat binding, and helpful reproducible therapist sheets and handouts.
Customer Reviews:
A useful and inspiring resource.......2005-04-09
This book, intended for therapists, is a comprehensive, compassionate, and accessible guide to what Najavits establishes is the first crucial step for someone struggling with PTSD and substance abuse: learning to feel safe. It is also an excellent resource for patients who want to help themselves. What I like best is that the book is filled with checklists, stories, exercises, and quotations such that I can open to nearly any page and find ideas that are both practical and inspirational. In short, this is a great book.
A Very Powerful Book.......2005-03-15
Thank you for writing such a great book. I have suffered from addictions for years, tried many books and many methods. Working with a group or individual is one thing, but for me, nothing helps more than a book. It's on call twenty four hours a day and I can easily reference it. As far as books go...this one is by far the best. The most comprehensive and in-depth book I've read so far. It provided tremendous support and guidance on issues that often result in isolation. Most of all, it didn't talk down to me as a reader. That's something I don't need! Thank you for making this book available and writing it in such a helpful way.
Extremely useful volume for professionals.......2005-03-09
I can see why this book got such rave reviews and is such a best-seller. It's a superb book, offering both real insight into trauma and addiction, as well as hands-on clinical tools. As someone in the field, I have found both the philosophical and practical aspects of Najavits' work incomparable. On top of the impeccable professionalism, is her impressive writing. This is a must buy for anyone interested in this area.
Truly outstanding!.......2005-03-09
This is the best treatment manual I have ever read. It is inspiring, hopeful, carefully constructed, and has exceptional clinical sensitivity for clients. So many books in psychology are written in a dry, academic style, and lack real awareness of clients. This book is a rare and notable exception.
Falls short........2005-03-08
I have 35 years clinical experience in this field, and frankly found this book to be a disappointment. Would not recommend this book.
Book Description
Despite the fact that Juarez is a Mexican border city just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas, most Americans are unaware that for more than twelve years this city has been the center of an epidemic of horrific crimes against women and girls, consisting of kidnappings, rape, mutilation, and murder, with most of the victims conforming to a specific profile: young, slender, and poor, fueling the premise that the murders are not random.
Indeed, there has been much speculation that the killer or killers are American citizens. While some leading members of the American media have reported on the situation, prompting the U.S. government to send in top criminal profilers from the FBI, little real information about this international atrocity has emerged. According to Amnesty International, as of 2006 more than 400 bodies have been recovered, with hundreds still missing.
As for who is behind the murders themselves, the answer remains unknown, although many have argued that the killings have become a sort of blood sport, due to the lawlessness of the city itself. Among the theories being considered are illegal trafficking in human organs, ritualistic satanic sacrifices, copycat killers, and a conspiracy between members of the powerful Juárez drug cartel and some corrupt Mexican officials who have turned a blind eye to the felonies, all the while lining their pockets with money drenched in blood.
Despite numerous arrests over the last ten years, the murders continue to occur, with the killers growing bolder, dumping bodies in the city itself rather than on the outskirts of town, as was initially the case, indicating a possible growing and most alarming alliance of silence and cover-up by Mexican politicians.
The Daughters of Juárez promises to be the first eye-opening, authoritative nonfiction work of its kind to examine the brutal killings and draw attention to these atrocities on the border. The end result will shock readers and become required reading on the subject for years to come.
Customer Reviews:
Daughters of Juarez.......2007-10-03
Daughters of Juarez is a disturbing story, but it is a true account of the unsolved mysteries of these young women's lost lives. It is an insight into the poverty and injustice that occurs daily in this border town and surrounding areas.
Compelling story, purple prose delivery.......2007-09-09
I would have to agree with the previous reviewer who said that the story was compelling and important, but the overlong purple prose descriptions of what the families went through and the overly dramatic descriptions of the situations, with speculations on what everyone was thinking mar an important and compelling book.
Some straight crime reporting, an analysis of the facts and maybe some more social analysis (for instance, how do the drug culture, the male dominated hispanic culture, the pervasive corruption of the border towns, etc. contribute to this holocaust against women) would have helped a lot.
Still, there is not much written about this problem, which if it were happening here or in any first world country, would be page one news everyday, so the book is valuable.
So, good subject and investigative reporting marred by overly dramatic writing.
I would recommend it, you can skip over the long emotional descriptions of background, thoughts and other contrived elements.
Daughters of Juarez.......2007-08-26
I live in El Paso and have followed much of this in the newspaper including the two Bus drivers, The FBI coming to help, etc. Now I know it was all lies.
Mexico has been called the most corrupt nation on earth and I've heard the stories and now I see it in action. I have too many chilling stories direct from American victims of the Juarez Police to share here.
This corruption has spread to El Paso with corruption in the Border Patrol, the government, the police and I'm not just saying this, I've talked to people and have examples both from the Newspaper and people in the know. The FBI has been conducting an investigation into the El Paso government for several months and people are going to jail. Halleluiah!
Personally I've been afraid to go across the Border for years based on these stories and now I'll be spreading the word. Do not go into Mexico!
This book hits hard with details that would make a strong man cry. The horrible end to young lives, the Police laughing at parents asking for help and the intimidating of helpless mothers who might "know too much", the framing of innocents, The corruption of "investigations" run by incompetents.
This book is an indictment, a denunciation of a government and society gone terribly wrong. Bribes are necessary just to get your TV cable hooked up and this pattern of behavior climbs to the very top.
I hope this book helps but in a society that accepts incompetence and corruption as a given I have my doubts. If Mexico is to change it must come from the bottom and it is so instilled in the poverty stricken common people to not make waves how can we expect them to effectively rise up. But enough publicity might send the rats scurrying, we need more books and TV exposes like this.
Compelling read, but with reservations.......2007-08-09
The Daughters of Juarez, by Teresa Rodriguez (with Diana Montané and Lisa Pulitzer), chronicles a series of horrific murders of young women (and teens) in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, over the last fourteen years, the law enforcement/governmental response to them, and the myriad theories as to the perpetrator(s). Over this period, a good part of 400 poor women were raped, tortured and killed, then dumped in desert areas and vacant lots around the city. The book details a rich tapestry of police and governmental brutality, corruption, blatant sexual discrimination, disregard for public safety, and just plain incompetence.
Although many suspects have been charged and held, it is doubtful that any of the murders can ever be considered legitimately solved because of this pervasive and persistent institutional dysfunction. In fact, one can say that this is a glaring example of how not to run a criminal justice system. It's heartbreaking to consider that the families of these slain women will never see justice done. Additionally, it must have been so frustrating for those in law enforcement and government who made efforts to run effective investigations, only to be stymied at every turn by the very system they should have been able to trust, forced out of their jobs because they wouldn't falsify results or analyses, or even physically threatened.
Daughters is definitely a compelling, true tale and Rodriguez does a service to those affected by these horrors by airing them for everyone to examine. The book, however, suffers from a lack of organization: Rodriguez bounces around dates, people and events so much so that it's hard to keep them all straight. Also, she makes a point of maudlin over-description of the women and their families so as to make them more sympathetic. This in my mind is unnecessary; most people will find the thought of someone (not to mention hundreds) being subjected to the extreme violence that these women experienced and the grief (on multiple levels) that their loved ones were forced to endure to be inconceivably horrible - no matter who the reader is. I also think Rodriguez could have used some citations to support what must have been years of research and investigation. In the end, I would recommend this book as a real eye-opener, but with these reservations.
Thrilling Read.......2007-08-05
I stumbled onto The Daughter's of Juarez after having a discussion on the term femicide (the act of killing a woman is a more generic term but this term is often applied to specific mass killings of women). In Juarez, Mexico women from all social classes and with distinctly different family ties have been going missing. Now and then bodies (and the occasional mass grave) of women that have been sexually abused and mutilated show up. The Daughter's of Juarez explores the lives of these missing women, the media blips that have occurred as a result, the political turmoil caused over these cases, as well as the possible answers to what has happened to so many women. After reading about this I was horrified by what had happened and because I had never heard of anything about this prior to the reading. A thrilling and exploratory read of the lives of women in Juarez, Mexico as well as a look at the relations between the U.S. and its border neighbor.
Book Description
Oil on the Brain is a smart, surprisingly funny account of the oil industry—the people, economies, and pipelines that bring us petroleum, brilliantly illuminating a world we encounter every day.
Americans buy ten thousand gallons of gasoline a second, without giving it much of a thought. Where does all this gas come from? Lisa Margonelli’s desire to learn took her on a one-hundred thousand mile journey from her local gas station to oil fields half a world away. In search of the truth behind the myths, she wriggled her way into some of the most off-limits places on earth: the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the New York Mercantile Exchange’s crude oil market, oil fields from Venezuela, to Texas, to Chad, and even an Iranian oil platform where the United States fought a forgotten one-day battle.
In a story by turns surreal and alarming, Margonelli meets lonely workers on a Texas drilling rig, an oil analyst who almost gave birth on the NYMEX trading floor, Chadian villagers who are said to wander the oil fields in the guise of lions, a Nigerian warlord who changed the world price of oil with a single cell phone call, and Shanghai bureaucrats who dream of creating a new Detroit.
Deftly piecing together the mammoth economy of oil, Margonelli finds a series of stark warning signs for American drivers.
Customer Reviews:
Geopolitics Xtra-Lite!.......2007-10-16
Irreverence can be important when dealing with weighty topics, so I had high hopes for a few barbs to go with our national crack habit. The problem is that facts matter too, and this lightweight attempt to finesse oil's central role in power and empire scores an E for empty.
The first red flag was a failure to describe the extra 9/10 cent in the price of a gallon of American gasoline, a coffee break's worth of Heavy Investigative Work. For laughs, however, try out the chapter on Venezuela. If you can still draw breath, move on to the one on Iran. Apparently the owners and rulers of the US care deeply/are totally uninterested in overthrowing/supporting/ignoring the governments of petro-barren/oil-rich nations. And the author's feet are tired and she doesn't understand the culture she's visiting.
For a grownup treatment of oil, try Daniel Yergin's "The Prize" or "The Seven Sisters" by Anthony Summers. Though both are dated, they carry far more information and, yes, a handful of laughs.
A far better book I would suppose is.......2007-09-20
"For the Love of Oil" The Fleecing of the American Consumer by Big Oil Companies, The Politcians , and the Wall Street Comodity Traders. by J C McElroy a Professor at a midwestern college. It's only $7.43 here on Amazon and concise to the point and very enlightning yet only 67 pages long, so you don't get bored.
Generally great, but loses steam as it wears on.......2007-09-20
A fabulous look at the world of oil. Margonelli educates the reader and debunks commonly held beliefs by taking you on a trip backward through the petro supply chain. Her writing style is interesting and highly illustrative, and the insights she draws from her observations make the book initially hard to put down.
As the book takes her overseas, however, the insights start to wear thin and the text starts to drag on. In fact, I still haven't finished the book in its entirety, but what I learned in the first 100 pages was enough to make it well worth the cover price.
Fascinating and Informative!.......2007-09-11
Lisa takes readers on a three-year 100,000 mile roundabout trip from the oil well to the pump. During this trip she not only keeps readers' interest, but is informative as well.
At the pump we learn that 20 lbs. of pull takes the nozzle off the pump (preventing disaster to those forgetting to hang up the nozzle), backing over the pump causes it to easily break off at the base and automatically shut off, cell phones do not set off explosions, and sliding across the seat before getting out is not a good idea.
At the tank farm, we learn that many refineries making California's uique blend are at least 20 days away by tanker - Trinidad, Finland, and Newfoundland. Pipelines are now at 90-96% capacity; the fuel moves at only 3-8 mph. We will need 37% more gasoline by 2025, but only 8,000 of our 16,000 miles were built within the last 20 years - probably because another 10,000 miles will cost an estimated $1 trillion.
Next at the refinery, readers find out that those tall towers (fractioning) separate components by boiling point into 40 different trays; steam is the key ingredient in the process - 1.5 gallons of water is required for every gallon of crude. The Carson refinery near L.A. supplies nearly 40% of the city's needs and is investing $1 billion to store CO2 in underground wells; other environmental investments will cost another $300 million. Reducing gas flaring increases profits and helps the atmosphere. Worldwide, refineries are at 97% capacity - a major reason new ones are not being built is that profits are much greater for acquiring oil and refining it, though BP still earned $11.22/barrel in '03 on the West Coast.
Ninety percent of U.S. drilling rigs are looking for gas. Diesel train engines (usually multiple) are used to power the drill, and the unit costs $70,000/day. Twenty years ago only 10% of holes were successful; now 90% are - aided by detailed seismic maps and near real-time analysis of bit location. Workers are paid $13/hour, work 12 on, 12 off for 14 days, then 14 off; turnover is high. The International Energy Agency estimates raising the average well recovery rate from 35 to 40% would create more new oil than now in all of Saudia Arabis. Persian Gulf pumping costs can be as low as $3/barrel, vs. up to $35 in the Gulf of Mexico; another study concluded U.S. oil is 69X as expensive to obtain as that in Saudi Arabia.
Major oil-producing states tend to not invest in other industries, avoid taxing the populace, and are autocratic and corrupt. (So much for "trickle-down" economics?)
In 1970 the U.S. supported the Shah's plan to build nuclear power plants in Iran; in 1976 we also supported them obtaining a nuclear reprocessing facility for plutonium. Fifty-eight percent of Iran's budget goes to organizations headed by clerics answering to the supreme leader - they have the ability to start protests, provide patronage, and suppress dissent. The poor (30-50% unemployment) receive subsidized food; all have access to subsidized fuel. Forty percent of the world's traded oil passes through the Straits of Hormuz. U.S. sancionts keep U.S. companies from helping Iran maintain and expand oil production, while giving China free access. And then there are a few problems in Iraq as well!
Finally, on to China. By 2025 it will import possibly as much as the U.S. today. Meanwhile, it has set auto efficiency standards 5-10% higher than the U.S. (also boosts ability to sell autos in Europe), just developed a hydrogen-powered mini-truck for a cost of $7,000-$9,000, and set another goal for 15% of its energy from renewables by 2020.
Excellent book!
The Price of Gasoline.......2007-08-20
In the interest of full disclosure I want to start off by saying that I worked in the oil industry for 36 years and, in fact, my school years were spent in a community that was very largely dependent on oil refining for its livelihood. So, when it comes to the industry, I admit to being a little bit prejudiced in its favor and more than a little defensive when I sense that it is being unfairly criticized. The industry most certainly deserves some criticism when it comes to its past and to its present and I don't deny that. It's all of the nutty conspiracy theories that raise my blood pressure at times.
Lisa Margonelli's Oil on the Brain is the author's attempt to explain the price of a gallon of gasoline at the pump by tracing that refined product all the way back to its source. Margonelli came to her subject with the very limited understanding of the oil industry that the average American consumer has but, by spending time with industry people working in all of its many branches, she gathered enough information and insight to write an entertaining explanation of how gasoline is priced in today's market.
All of us, even oil company employees, shake our heads and cringe when we roll up to the gas pump for another painful purchase of enough gasoline to refill our tanks. That's why Margonelli begins her story at one of California's multi-pump convenience stores where she spent enough time to get a good feel for what it is like to be the retailer of a necessity for which the consumer feels gouged at every purchase. From there, she traces the flow of gasoline backward to the distribution system that includes truckers and pipeline systems, even riding with one trucker as he carried his dangerous cargo from its collection point to several California retailers.
Of course, she was still nowhere near the ultimate source of the gasoline, so she continued her backward journey and spent several days inside a California refinery where she watched the process of turning crude oil into its various finished products, including gasoline. She completed her journey by traveling to Freestone County, deep in East Texas, where she was welcomed onto one of the dozens of drilling rigs in the area.
Oil on the Brain does a fine job of simplifying and explaining the extremely complicated process of finding and producing oil and gas and I believe that most readers will gain a new appreciation for the complexity of such a risky undertaking. Margonelli also spent some time at the Strategic Petroleum Reserve located on the Texas Gulf Coast and in New York with the oil traders on the floor of the NYMEX. Those are particularly interesting chapters, especially the one concerning the NYMEX traders because it goes a long way in explaining why the price at the pump fluctuates as drastically and as often as it does.
The second half of Oil on the Brain recounts Margonelli's travels to Venezuela, Chad, Iran, Nigeria and China. All of these countries other than China are oil exporters and Margonelli details the effects, both good and bad, that impact the citizens of those countries when their governments become so dependent on the exportation of oil for their survival. Needless to say, the promises made to those citizens seldom morph into anything resembling the benefits listed by the oil companies because the local governments manage to squander and steal for themselves a large percentage of the new money that flows into the producing countries. Margonelli visited China to see for herself the rapid economic growth there that is causing the huge demand in oil imports that is so adversely impacting today's oil price.
I recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand how the search for a predictable oil supply impacts world politics and the lives of all of us. As Margonelli says in one chapter, the hidden cost in each gallon of gasoline might be as much as $5 per gallon if one includes all of the tax money being spent by the United States to make it possible to keep the oil flowing in this direction. That includes money spent on the military, foreign aid, and homeland security spending that has largely become necessary because of this country's presence in the Middle East in search of oil.
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- Bjork: There's More to Life Than This (Stories Behind Every Song)
- Black Powder War (Temeraire, Book 3)
- Blizzard of the Blue Moon (A Stepping Stone Book(TM))
- Break the One-Armed Bandits!
- Breaking Away from the Textbook: Creative Ways to Teach World History, Vol. 3
- Bringing Out the Best in People
- Busted by the Feds: A Manual for Defendants Facing Federal Prosecution
- Cesar's Way: The Natural, Everyday Guide to Understanding and Correcting Common Dog Problems
- Cock-a-Doodle-Moo!
- Country Friends Good Times: Come Along for a Joyride...Good Times, Good Eats, Good Friends!
Books Index
Books Home
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Study Guide for Biology
Investigating Biology Lab Manual (5th Edition)
Biology Study Guide
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Student Study Guide for Campbell Reece Biology 7th
Practicing Biology (2nd Edition)
