How to Set His Thighs on Fire: 86 Red-Hot Lessons on Love, Life, Men, and (Especially) Sex

Book Description

You can't run a magazine like Cosmopolitan and not have women dying to find out what you know. And after eight years at the helm of the world's bestselling women's magazine, Kate White is ready to tell. How to Set His Thighs on Fire is an entertaining and informative guidebook with enticing lessons you won't find anywhere else. White has compiled the must-have little instruction book for any girl who wants to take on the world and needs the inside scoop on how to do it--from a successful woman in the know.

Customer Reviews:

Amazingly accurate!.......2007-04-07

This book is amazing. As an avid Cosmo reader, I thought that this would be sort of a rewording of most articles. I was happily mistaken! I enjoyed this book (so did my husband I might add). This book gives you that extra umph of self confidance. I cant wait for a sequel!!

More Life, Love, Work, and then Sex but certainly not disappointing!.......2006-09-25

Who penned the title for this book? It should have been titled something else but hey I still bought it and I don't even read Cosmopolitan Magazine. This is another book of life lessons or at least How to's for women. 86 lessons in all. Of course, not every lesson is associated with sex and men but rather a woman's life and pursuit of style and self. I'm a big advocate of finding self and I think Kate White is too.

There are endless magazines on the market about anything under the sun for women. You'll find all subjects from fitness, style, health, and hobbies but no magazine delivers the message of self confidence laced with sex appeal as much as Cosmopolitan. Kate White has put together this book of 86 lessons she's acquired in her years as Editor and Chief of Cosmopolitan that will make you think, experiment, nod in agreement, and laugh.

It was a good read that offers advice on sex, men, life, self-confidence, and work. It's somewhat of a mentor book that covers all those topics that you eventually end up asking your mentor with some sex advice that you'd normally ask your most experienced girlfriend about. Each topic is to the point and fairly short so you can read at your leisure with out having to get sucked into a plot you can't put down so this is a great book for reading while waiting in line or a few pages before bed. Most of the chapters are two pages with a few that need more pages to cover the topic but all fairly short.

I loved the different topics. My favorite was lesson forty-two: Guys Like Women Naked, Period. I got a chuckle out of quote in the book: "Want to know how to look hot naked? Answer: Take Your Clothes Off! Also there are a number of other great lessons in the book dealing with work and personal appearance that I really liked. Anyway it's worth a read even if the title kind of misrepresents the contents of the book.

girldiver:)

half about sex and makeup, half about the world of work.......2006-08-20

Based on the cover of the book, I expected ALL sex advice. And I hoped it would be REALLY HOT! But actually, it is a fun and useful advice book I would give to any girl 16 or over. It is also an outlet for Kate White, Editor in Chief of Cosmopolitan magazine to tell bitchy stories about people who have annoyed her! About half of this book contains good, sensible advice for the young woman early in her work life. Most of the career advice is good common sense, things that those of us who have been working for a decade or two have learned the hard way. Things about office gossip, bitchiness, and being stabbed in the back, paying attention to things that you see and hear, and keeping your mouth shut about a lot of it. I could have used this advice at twenty or twenty-five. Kate White is a powerful business woman, so she is well-qualified to give career advice, but she also wrote this book as if it were a letter to a younger sister, so it is fun and entertaining. Plus, the other half of the book is about non-career girl stuff: sex, relationships, and makeup tips. Though I already know how to treat a zit, apply eye makeup, and the rather simplistic tricks in the sack Kate White included in the book (putting a mint in your mouth before going down is about as novel as it gets), it doesn't hurt to remind yourself of the tricks of the trade: try something different to keep sex interesting, don't wear your husband's sweatpants around the house ALL the time, wear something sexy, tease your hair, and wear eyeliner, have your own life, don't tell your man every little detail, save the malicious gossip or discussions about the lives of soap opera characters for your girlfriends or your gay boyfriends. There really is a lot of good advice in this book. If you have an affair, DON'T CONFESS. DON'T discuss shoe purchases with your man. And pee with the door CLOSED.

Pretty good book - better than it's title suggests.......2006-08-08

Quite a bit was "been there, read that" -- but it was a worthy pep talk!

More Than Just Sex Tips.......2006-07-16

While I understand the marketing thinking behind calling this book HOW TO SET HIS THIGHS ON FIRE, truthfully the book would have been better named How to Set Your World on Fire. Sure, there are the requisite sex tips (and I'm not even too embarrassed to admit that I learned a thing or two in this category), but what I really liked about this book were the sections dealing with life and career.

Two chapters that really resonated for me were TOSS OUT YOUR FIVE YEAR PLAN and HOW TO COME UP WITH A KILLER IDEA. Great sex advice as well as career tips, what more could a girl ask for?

There truly are a number of thought-provoking pearls of wisdom in this book beyond the naughtiness we've come to expect of Cosmo. More importantly, the book is fun and easy to read. And while you may learn a few things about setting his thighs on fire, don't be surprised if you learn other life lessons along the way.

Average customer rating:

White Hot Holidays, Vol. I
Lora Leigh , Leda Swann , Cricket Starr , Trista Ann Michaels , and Allyson James
Manufacturer: Elloras Cave Pub Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Anthologies | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Erotica | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Anthologies | Erotica | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1419956000

National Geographic Guide to Birding Hot Spots of the United States (National Geographic Guide)

Average customer rating:

guide to birding hot spots

National Geographic Guide to Birding Hot Spots of the United States (National Geographic Guide)
Mel White
Manufacturer: National Geographic
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 079225483X
Release Date: 2006-03-21

Book Description

Boasting more than 220 full-color illustrations and maps, this is the perfect practical companion to the National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America. A must-have for birders everywhere, it's as useful at home as on the road, pinpointing the best places to see more than 400 species of birds from coast to coast.

Beginners and casual birders will appreciate the introduction on birding basics, which offers expert advice on how to prepare for the field. Then it's on to the heart of the book, organized into thirteen regions from New England to the Southwest. Each section begins with an overview map covering several states and showing major roads and hotspots. Next, each state has separate close-up maps that identify National and State Parks, bird sanctuaries, nature trails, and many other prime birding locations. Entries give clear directions to major sites along with notes on the birds you're likely to find there, the best seasons and time of day to see them, frequent sidebars on subjects of particular interest, and much more. Each state entry closes with a list of additional key places complete with specific contact information. Finally, a comprehensive index cross-references each bird with every site where it can be found.

A veritable pocket atlas of avian information, this guide will be equally useful to the novice just starting a lifelist and the advanced birder in search of an especially elusive species or a new and unique place to enjoy this enormously popular activity.

Customer Reviews:

guide to birding hot spots.......2007-09-09

My wife and I can't wait to visit the sites mentioned in this great bird manual. Very clear and precise and in excellent condition.

Average customer rating:

Review based on audiobook
Wonderful!
Good Book
OOOOH YESSS...WHITE HOT is Entertainment at it's BEST.....!
Bad Romance Novel

White Hot (Brown, Sandra)
Sandra Brown
Manufacturer: Amazon Remainders Account
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Similar Items:

ASIN: B000BLNP0A

Download Description

"When she hears that her younger brother Danny has committed suicide, Sayre Lynch relents from her vow never to return to Destiny, the small Louisiana town in which she grew up. She plans to leave immediately after the funeral, but instead soon finds herself drawn into the web cast by Huff Hoyle, her controlling and tyrannical father, the man who owns the town's sole industry, an iron foundry, and in effect runs the lives of everyone who lives there. As she feared, Sayre learns that nothing has changed. Her father and older brother, Chris, are as devious as ever, and now they have a new partner-in-crime, a canny and disarming lawyer named Beck Merchant, who appears to be their equal in corruption. Soon, Sayre is thrown in closer contact with Beck and becomes convinced that something more sinister is at play than her father's usual need to dominate people and events. As she sets out to learn just what did happen to Danny, she comes to realize that there are many secrets in Destiny -- secrets that hide decades of pain and anger, and that threaten at any moment to erupt and destroy not only her father and brother, but perhaps Sayre herself. Underneath the rigid control that the Hoyles exert over the town, trouble is brewing. Old hatreds foster plans for revenge, past crimes resurface, and a maverick deputy sheriff determines that Danny Hoyle's death was not suicide, but murder. As tensions mount, threatening to ignite a powder keg of long-held hostility, Sayre finds herself inextricably drawn into a struggle with striking laborers, her unscrupulous father, and her own emotions over the love/hate relationship that is growing with Beck, a man apparently with his own agenda, and mysteries of his own. As she has shown in the dozens of bestselling novels in which she has combined hard-edged suspense with intense emotion, Sandra Brown is a master storyteller, and in her new novel she is at her very best. "

Customer Reviews:

Review based on audiobook.......2007-03-08

*This is a review based on the abridged audiobook so some of the names might be misspelled.

There's only one thing that could bring back Sayer Lynch to her birthplace in Destiny, Louisiana, the funeral of her younger brother. At first, his death is ruled as a suicide, but when one cop starts to suspect that it was actually murder, Sayer decides to prolong her visit in Destiny until she could learn the identity of the killer. While in Destiny, Sayer learns of tragic accidents that have happened at her father's company, accidents that could have been avoided had her father given enough thought to employee safety instead of money and profit. But her father, who rules everything in his life like a dictator, has ruined her life and the lives of his many employees.

Out of all the author's out there, Sandra Brown has got to be my absolute favorite, with her unique writing style, her flawed characters, and her surprise twists. This novel is no different. In the beginning of the novel, I wasn't impressed with any of the characters, or the plot, but as the book developed, it got better and better. At first, I was unimpressed with Sayer's hate for her father, but soon as the reason for the hate was explained, it added to the emotional status of the character as well as the plot. The novel was full of surprise twists, some of which were obvious, others not so much. By the end of the novel, the reader gets to see the villain's good side, his love for his oldest son. You get to see Sayer's attempt to escape her family's influence only to realize that she can't escape her gene pool and also has some of those manipulative traits. The book also explores the power of revenge and the need for justice. It's a clever novel and brilliantly written.

Wonderful!.......2007-02-21

Such a compelling story! Very well written, with amazingly well-drawn characters, and an intriquing plot, set against the important background of factory safety issues. I was spellbound, and couldn't put it down until I got to the end and everything was resolved.

Good Book.......2007-02-16

Sayre Lynch returns to Destiny, the home town that she left 10 years ago and swore never to return. Danny, Sayre's brother has commited suicide and she feels compelled to go to the funeral.

Sayre has not talked to her brother Chris, and her father Huff since she left Destiny.

After the funeral, she meets Beck Merchant, the corrupt lawyer that works for her father. She knows that if he works for her father, Beck must be as underhanded as her father is.
Beck pursuades Sayre to come back to Huff's home after the funeral, even though she wants to go back to to LA.

Huff Hoyle runs a foundry that is the only place in town for most of the population there to work. Even though there has been accidents and deaths at the work place, Huff will not make security changes. He is out for money and nothing else matters.

Chris Hoyle, Sayre's brother, who has already been on trial for one murder, is suspected by the police in Danny's suicide. There are too many factors that don't look like suicide and the evidence points at Chris.

While wanting to leave and go back home Sayre is torn between leaving and making sure the murderer is caught if her brother was killed by someone.

Things keep happening that makes Sayre think Chris has killed Danny.

People keep getting hurt at the foundry and it just gets covered up by Huff and the police.

This book was hard to put down once you start reading. I liked the characters of Sayre and Beck, even though Sayre did some dumb things at times. Beck is attracted to her, but he still reports everything she does back to her father.

I didn't like Beck at first, but he grows on you. The characters of Huff and Chris were so mean that you wish they would get what is coiming to them.

This is a good book, you will learn how a small town has to survive under the strong arm of a man that is ruthless.

It is a keeper.

OOOOH YESSS...WHITE HOT is Entertainment at it's BEST.....!.......2006-11-29

WHITE HOT wondrously written by none other than the legionary talents of a True trail blazer& Gifted prodigy ...SANDRA BROWN!
(((much)) props to the beautiful the eloquent....SANDRA BROWN...!

You'll notice specially while listening on AUDIO....
WHITE HOT flames sparkles ...Tenaciously & Teasingly and yummmm what a nice savory Intense Kick it has!
..Yes indeed...Most definitely some will find that the AUDIO is the way to go if you wanna be Carried away...
After a hard consuming rat race of a day and your Inner self screams a Sweet Rapturous release YOU can find it in Relaxing with this READ.
WHITE HOT is your Remedy to get Carried away Audio Utopia Style..teeheee!

This reader experience..a soothing Cure or so to speak a bliss of pure listening pleasure that jumps starts ones entire Being with rthymic vibrations ,also it can best be describe as.."OOOH Snap, what a wild Rush...WOWWEE..!!!"

As the Story line un folds into separate entities or piece by piece of life forces ups and downs struggles,plus survival of the fitness,who ,why what and How the HECK..?!!!
it delicately weaved into a it Story.
It's story is...ATTENTIONNNN...SIT UP TAKE NOTICE.. demanding while it peaks little by little then show signs of revolving,and at the same time blends into sharing portions of it's secrets.
The story teller makes it seem with little of ease(what a season Writer!) to connect,cross,and joined everything together...all as ONE all proper like.
Yet and still the climaxes kept being reborn with Bursts of explosion, dissolving in to colorful arrays of real life fast pace suspense ,romance & drama.
I didn't want it to end..but the ending was on POINT..holllaaa!
WHITE HOT subconsciously made me have thoughts &desires of reading RICOCHET also..yuppp by Sandra Brown...hmmmhh..what a nice touch!

Prolonging the story for me would've continue to be a pleasurable intriguing delicious treat!
this Reader's deepest thought was..," noooooo...don't end...PLEAZZZE more....Mr. Victor Slezak.......aaha a don't Stop!"
Then again,That's ONLY the Magic, the talents of SANDRA BROWN...affects on you.
This is one Reader whose glad to have thrown caution to the wind....
As I Listen I heard and took in the Story with an...OPEN MIND. Heyyy that's sooo American to demonstrate...my Freedom Choice!!

The Hero/Heroine blend&jellied very well together!
The Hero-BECK was smart,sexier than he had a right,also Tough too!
You know,this Reader was not at all taken back by the character,disposition of the Heroine.

It was different cause usually it's the HERO who act ornery,because of sigma's society places on us...we don't say much about it..men acting out how they feel..it's the NORM. but when WOMAN...acts ornery she gets persecuted.

It's a wonder SAYRE...what a lovely name didn't have a breakdown...what a tough Cookie;O)
All the lemons that what smacked up side SAYRE head,and knives diggers thrown into her heart her feelings,however her actions&feelings were justifiable,also how her own blood/relatives mistreated her It sunk!
I felt Sayre's pain.

What a passionate Spitfire Sayre was and I give kudos to her for taking a stand for the TRUTH cause some folk wouldn't nor couldn't separate themselves from family the way she did!
Sayre was such a TRUE... SHE-ROE ,
like most STRONG BRAVE COURAGEOUS woman she endure hardship liken to a good solider.
I Champion for the love Sayre & Beck shared...even in the mist of sooo much pain,suffering&death...Love prevail in the end...!
THANKS once again Ms. Brown for entertainment at it's very,very BEST!
Best wishess!
susieQ

Bad Romance Novel.......2006-09-13

This was my first and last Sandra Brown book. What a complete waste of time! I had trouble finishing the book but managed to get through it out of pure frustration. There was nothing "suspenseful" and only bad romance writing.

Average customer rating:

White Hot is Not White Hot
CARLA NEGGERS' WHITE HOT IS TERIFFIC!
Carla Neggers' White Hot is wonderful!
I found it only lukewarm.
Another good read for romance lovers

White Hot (Pocket Books Romance)
Carla Neggers
Manufacturer: Pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Romance | Subjects | Books

Romantic Suspense | Romance | Subjects | Books

General | Contemporary | Romance | Subjects | Books

General | Romance | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

Romantic Suspense | Romance | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0671567705

Amazon.com

The suspense stays light, the romance central, in this contemporary novel of romantic suspense set along Florida's Gold Coast, where investigative reporter Jeremiah Tabak suspects his onetime lover Mollie Lavender of attending elegant charity parties in order to snitch expensive jewels from the rich and famous. Ten years ago, Jeremiah and Mollie had a torrid one-week affair that ended when Jeremiah sent her packing, convinced that their destinies lay elsewhere. Now Mollie is back, running her own publicity firm and determined to avoid reliving the past. But intrigue and desire ensure that she and Jeremiah remain in close contact, facing some increasingly nasty skullduggery. Colorful secondary characters--including an ancient chain-smoking gossip columnist and a trio of old-geezer neighbors--enrich the relationship between cynical, laid-back Jeremiah and smart, independent Mollie, who both have reached that place in life where they may be looking for something more. Neggers's well-rounded, sympathetic characters and reliable moral barometer give White Hot far more than mere surface glitter. --Ellen Edwards

Book Description

New York Times bestselling author of Cold Ridge Florida's lush Gold Coast lends an exotic backdrop to this dazzling tale of fiery sensuality and searing suspense from New York Times bestselling author Carla Neggers.

WHITE HOT

Mollie Lavender just moved to Palm Beach to start a public relations business and things are going swimmingly. So far her clients include a dog, a ninety-year-old ventriloquist, and a grumpy astronaut. But when she runs into hard-hitting reporter Jeremiah Tabak, she learns that even a decade isn't enough time to heal a broken heart.

Society parties aren't Jeremiah's usual beat, but there's a cat burglar on the loose and a hot tip suggests his old flame is right in the thick of things. Seeing Mollie stirs up old desires...and new suspicions. Is it coincidence she attended every gala where the burglar struck? Jeremiah thinks not. The only way Mollie can prove her innocence is to help set a dangerous trap to catch the real thief. But Jeremiah's touch triggers powerful emotions...and the next thing stolen might be Mollie's heart.

Download Description

"New York Times bestselling author of Cold Ridge Florida's lush Gold Coast lends an exotic backdrop to this dazzling tale of fiery sensuality and searing suspense from New York Times bestselling author Carla Neggers. WHITE HOT Mollie Lavender just moved to Palm Beach to start a public relations business and things are going swimmingly. So far her clients include a dog, a ninety-year-old ventriloquist, and a grumpy astronaut. But when she runs into hard-hitting reporter Jeremiah Tabak, she learns that even a decade isn't enough time to heal a broken heart. Society parties aren't Jeremiah's usual beat, but there's a cat burglar on the loose and a hot tip suggests his old flame is right in the thick of things. Seeing Mollie stirs up old desires...and new suspicions. Is it coincidence she attended every gala where the burglar struck? Jeremiah thinks not. The only way Mollie can prove her innocence is to help set a dangerous trap to catch the real thief. But Jeremiah's touch triggers powerful emotions...and the next thing stolen might be Mollie's heart. "

Customer Reviews:

White Hot is Not White Hot.......2004-05-10

I just finished this book, and I must say I was disappointed. I checked to be sure it was by Carla Neggers. It is, but it is a reprint of an older book.

She has gotten so much better than this.

Our heroine, a musician, had a short affair with our hero, an investigative reporter ten years ago. She has come back to Florida to find herself.

One of our hero's snitches, tells him that she is probably involved with a cat burgler. So our hero has to find out because he still has feelings for her (possibly he is just nosy).

Anyway we are led on through the book by unsubstantiated inuendos. It is clear that if she is innocent, someone else must be guilty.

But not only do we have a jewel thief, we have an enforcer, and a very disfunctional family. I knew who the thief was all the time. But the rest of this boring mess was unbelievable to me.

I usually love Carla Neggers books, and You will too. But this reprint was before she hit her stride.

I think publishers try to trick us into buying older books with new covers and as you can tell, They got me.

CARLA NEGGERS' WHITE HOT IS TERIFFIC!.......1998-09-06

I've been a fan of Carla Neggers' books for years, and WHITE HOT was no exception. Not only did I find myself laughing out loud at some of the quirky characters, but the store was gripping with unexpected twists and turns. WHITE HOT is a great read from a great author!

Carla Neggers' White Hot is wonderful!.......1998-09-01

I found WHITE HOT rivetting! The characters came alive, the dialogue sparkled, and there were a couple unexpected twists. Helen, the society editor, was a hoot. As a fan of Carla's from way back, I think her strength is putting you right there--whether it's Cape Cod, Saratoga, or Palm Beach.

I found it only lukewarm........1998-08-02

Neggers has a good storyline and wonderful secondary characters in this story of suspense and rekindled love. But Mollie's and Jeremiah's romance was completely and disappointingly predictable and warmish, not white hot. The suspense was low key, and I had a harder than usual time finishing the book.

Another good read for romance lovers.......1998-06-03

On a beautiful summer beach ten years ago, jaded reporter Jeremiah Tobak met innocent college student Mollie Lavender and fell in love with her. However, he was wise enough to know that they had no future beyond the current spring break. He ended their relationship in such a way as to insure that Mollie will hate him rather than pine for him forever. A devastated Mollie returns home and earns a degree in public relations.

A decade later, a successful Mollie opens up her own PR firm in Fort Lauderdale. Jeremiah is also based in the same area. However, neither are aware of that fact until an informant tells him that Mollie has attended every social event in which a cat burglar has struck. Jeremiah quickly gets involved with Mollie, who realizes that her love for him never ended. As the pair struggles with their feelings and fears, they must also deal with a cat burglar, who will go to any lengths to remain anonymous.

Whether it be New England, California, or Florida, Carla Neggers brings with her her own brand of Yankee humor and warmth into the story line of every one of her novels. WHITE HOT is romantic suspense written the way the sub-genre was intended to be: readers anxiously awaiting what happens next. The audience will adore the vulnerable hero and the patient but strong heroine, and the story line will burn their fingers. Ms. Neggers turns up the audience's internal furnaces into the red zone with this torrid thriller.

Harriet Klausner

Average customer rating:
White Hot Holidays, Vol. III
Jaci Burton , Delilah Devlin , N. J. Walters , Jennifer Dunne , Jan Springer , and Ann Wesley Hardin
Manufacturer: Elloras Cave Pub Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Anthologies | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Erotica | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Anthologies | Erotica | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

White Hot Holidays, Vol. II

White Hot Holidays, Vol. I

All She Wants: Ellora's Cave

Blackmailed

Ellora's Cavemen: Dreams of the Oasis Volume 3

ASIN: 1419956027

Average customer rating:
White Hot Holidays, Vol. II
Sherri L. King , Annie Windsor , Sylvia Day , Lynn LaFleur , Denise A. Agnew , Rachel Carrington , Maggie Casper , and Suz De Mello
Manufacturer: Elloras Cave Pub Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Anthologies | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Erotica | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Anthologies | Erotica | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

White Hot Holidays, Vol. III

White Hot Holidays, Vol. I

All She Wants: Ellora's Cave

Bound Hearts: Wicked Sacrifice (Books 4 and 5)

Real Men Do It Better (Tempting SEALs, Book 3)

ASIN: 1419956019

Book Description

A special holiday anthology of sizzling stories from Ellora's Cave, home of Romantica.

A Taste for Hot Steel: Frontline Encounters of a Foreign Correspondent

Average customer rating:

can't afford to miss this
A taste for the truth

A Taste for Hot Steel: Frontline Encounters of a Foreign Correspondent
Terence White
Manufacturer: Penguin Global
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Journalists | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Afghanistan | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

General | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

Russia | History | Subjects | Books

Afghanistan | Asia | Travel | Subjects | Books

Essays & Travelogues | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Travel | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0143020684

Customer Reviews:

can't afford to miss this.......2007-09-28

Terence White, for more than 15 years one of the kings of the Afghanistan press corps, writes a thriller that has the additional advantage of being true.

He starts by being gut-shot with shrapnel while covering a Kabul mortar attack gone wrong, survives Afghan hospitals and returns a few years later to see what's become of the country. All in all, White gives you a perceptive insider's look at the country from the fall of the Soviet-backed regime until the recent days of the US-led incursion.

Throughout this genuinely exciting page-turner, his wry, self-deprecating, Kiwi humour, and his often ironic take on the deteriorating conditions in Afghanistan, make it the best book on Afghanistan that I've seen in the past decade or more. Gripping stuff and well written. If he starts writing fiction, order that too.

A taste for the truth.......2007-06-26

The 9/11 attacks prompted not just US military intervention in Afghanistan, but -- even more swiftly -- the descent of a Western-style media circus upon that benighted and war-torn land. In its turn, the 2001 media invasion yielded a spate of books by newly minted experts. Some were newcomers to Afghanistan: They pasted over the gaps in their experience with secondhand 'analysis' rooted in a conventional wisdom that was always mostly nonsense. Others were pseudo-'old hands' whose claims to expertise, or even marginally useful experience, were undermined by a variety of factors. Foremost among these were a refusal to spend serious time in-country, instead 'parachuting' in on brief trips to score a swashbuckling dateline; consequent ignorance of local languages and customs, and confusion over basic politico-military issues; and most of all, a profound lack of intellectual rigor.

'A Taste for Hot Steel' is not of that genre, and its author utterly not of that ilk. That alone makes Terence White's memoir a must-read for anyone hoping to grasp how things really were in Afghanistan when the Taliban and al-Qaeda rose to power. Among other differences, 'Hot Steel' saw print at a decent interval: far too late to capitalize on the post-9/11 window of publishing opportunity. White, it appears, has too much respect for Afghans to exploit them as a stepping-stone to fame. Moreover, this is a memoir first and foremost. Beyond providing a brief historical summary, 'Hot Steel' does not really set out to explain Afghanistan -- a refreshing break in itself. Lesser reporters and 'analysts' have lectured us (and Afghans) ad nauseam about the place, and have mostly gotten it wrong. White, on the other hand, clarifies much without really trying.

'Hot Steel' engagingly documents White's New Zealand childhood and his adventures in Southeast Asia, Indonesia and elsewhere, both before and after his time in Afghanistan. But his account centers on the years that he spent reporting from Kabul for Agence France Presse, from 1992 through 1997. No Westerner spent more time there, under more dangerous conditions.

Today Kabul is occupied and patrolled by Western troops. It is home to a community of perhaps 6,000 extremely sheltered foreigners, whose creature comforts include poolside parties and French restaurants. So it must be explained that reporting from Kabul in the 1990s involved daily legwork along the front lines that would have tested the nerve and eardrums of a trained soldier. The city was split violently down the middle: government loyalists on one side, a renegade alliance backed by unfriendly neighboring countries -- notably Pakistan -- on the other. Many frontline neighborhoods were left in ruins. Most neighborhoods were wracked by artillery, rocket and small-arms fire. Today's Western hacks -- glued all day to their computer screen while their Afghan stringers gather what passes for news -- could hardly have imagined, much less endured the conditions in which White immersed himself. Yet he did so day after day, year after year, through five years of warfare and political upheaval. In the end, he left only because paranoid Taliban officials kicked him out.

In those days, when Kabul was quiet, action often erupted in the countryside. One of White's more hair-raising war stories opens on an autumn day in 1993. The beleaguered Afghan Defense Ministry offered to fly journalists to a strategic rural district by helicopter, to prove they had just beaten back an attack by a particularly nasty renegade faction. White jumped at the chance. A gaggle of other journalists -- many of them based in the West, in Afghanistan only for a few days -- boarded rather more reluctantly. When the choppers touched down in Tagab district, sure enough, the enemy had abandoned the district headquarters. Hearing the rumble of artillery fire many miles to the south, White climbed aboard a government ammo truck headed down to the front -- just to find out what was really afoot. All the other hacks save one boarded the choppers to fly back to town. White and his colleague -- unsure when and how they would return to Kabul; with no interpreter, no entourage, no minder, and no 'security' except government troops defending tenuous forward positions -- arrived at the front line in the teeth of a renegade counterattack. Few reporters have survived adventures as terrifying as what ensued ...

Much of the narrative revolves around an even more harrowing incident that nearly cost White his life, and left him hors d'combat for several months: A Defense Ministry mortar tube malfunctioned, blowing itself and its crew to bits almost in his face, while he was photographing them in October 1995. Experienced Afghan surgeons at Kabul's military hospital saved White's life. (By 1995 they had been operating on wounded Afghans for nearly two decades.) They also understood that, while they could stabilize White, they could not protect him against the infections that would likely ensue. He was medevacked to France promptly after the Afghans pulled him back from the brink. It speaks volumes of both the man and his subject matter that it never occurred to him to steer clear of embattled Kabul after he recovered. Yet White avoids the self-conscious swashbuckling of certain Western 'adventurists' who have milked Afghanistan for fame and fortune.

'Hot Steel' also avoids two common but unfortunate Western attitudes toward Afghans. These stem from a profound lack of cultural sensitivity among the Western pseudo-intelligentsia -- reporters, diplomats and aid workers, especially human-rights activists -- whose collective views inform most of what the outside world thinks it knows about Afghanistan. Such Westerners gravitate toward Afghan 'technocrats,' mostly either urbanites once affiliated with the brutal 1980s communist regime, or wealthy scions of the pre-communist feudal establishment who spent decades in exile in the West. These Afghans wear suits, speak English or other Western languages, enjoy their whiskey, and have assimilated (or at least know how to parrot) politically correct Western shibboleths. Therefore they must be the country's natural leaders, right?

The first tendency is to portray Afghan 'technocrat' values as mainstream, and everybody else's as 'extremist.' The second -- arising when reporters come to grips with the 95 percent of Afghans thus rendered 'extremists' -- is a tone that makes it clear the reporter regards his subjects as one-dimensional, barely human: like animals in a zoo, or role-playing actors at a theme park. Pirates of the Hindu Kush, anyone?

White's account is free of such dehumanizing overtones. He knows who the real Afghans are; he likes them (or not) on the same basis as he would a fellow Kiwi. He doesn't always approve of their customs or behavior. But he regards them as his fellow men and women, not curiosities in funny headgear.

Though his memoir leans more toward action than contemplation, White should consider trying his hand at a serious political analysis of Afghan affairs -- which he understands far better than, say, US or UN officials. If anybody were actually willing to listen to him (hardly a foregone conclusion, of course), his wisdom and experience might actually help the West avoid another 1842 in Afghanistan ... a country that could yet make the Iraq war look like a squabble in a kindergarten sandbox.

Fondue and Hot Dips (Nitty Gritty Cookbooks)

Average customer rating:

Great recipes in a little book

Fondue and Hot Dips (Nitty Gritty Cookbooks)
Joanna White
Manufacturer: Bristol Publishing Enterprises
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Sauces, Salsa & Garnishes | Cooking by Ingredient | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Appetizers | Meals | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1558672540

Product Description

Bristol author Joanna White present a new fondue and hot dip collection to meet the demand for this endlessly popular serving style.

Fondue pots offer a simple, but always delicious, casual approach to entertaining and family eating, and this book will give you a vast variety of ways to keep yours filled with creamy cheese fondues, both lean and hearty hot dips, luscious sweet dips and every manner of warm concoctions "dip-able".

Customer Reviews:

Great recipes in a little book.......2007-01-09

I purchased this to acompany a fondue I gave as a gift. It was well received. Of course I glanced throught the book before giving it and may buy one for myself since it is still part of the 4 for 3 sale. For the price and quality, it can't be beat!

White Hot: Cool Colors for Modern Living

Average customer rating:

Your Arctic Sanctuary
The Power of Color to Inspire
Brainstorming high quality art book!
Colorful and Lively and Fun...
It all depends on how you want to look at this book.

White Hot: Cool Colors for Modern Living
Tricia Guild
Manufacturer: Clarkson Potter
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Decorating | Interior Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

General | Interior Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Style | Interior Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Tricia Guild | Expert Advice | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0609604937
Release Date: 1999-10-05

Book Description

For more than two decades, Tricia Guild's bold use of bright colors has spurred groundbreaking change in the design world. White Hot finds Tricia in a more contemplative mood as she shifts away from intense, saturated colors toward a calmer and cooler palette, bringing her talent as a colorist to a whole new realm of whites and neutrals. Tricia's cutting-edge approach to color and space centers on creating peaceful and harmonious enclaves at home that act as quiet counterpoints to the hectic noise of life--ideal living spaces for the new century.

Each chapter explores the limitless possibilities of a single color group in a variety of design settings, whether Tricia is adding new accents to update one corner of a room or entirely revamping the look of a space. Through Tricia's eyes, whites and neutrals take center stage, subtly enhanced and energized with infusions of intense color strategically placed. White Hot's luscious photography further illustrates how light, patterns, shape, and, above all, texture play their parts in creating intriguing variations in tones and hues.

These enormously inviting spaces reveal a master colorist working at the height of her powers. Tricia ponders the caressing quality of blue just before it turns to mauve, and the chameleon character of sea green as it hesitates between green and blue. And more than ever before, she reveals the mechanics behind her innovative color combinations, from the spontaneous juxtaposition of green and lilac spotted on a house in India to the shimmering blues and yellows of Italy bathed in rich Mediterranean sunlight. By including color breakdowns at the end of each chapter, she also highlights how nature's lessons can be translated into concrete design principles. An integrated visual and practical experience, White Hot ultimately delivers a deliciously creative adventure in contemporary home design.

Customer Reviews:

Your Arctic Sanctuary.......2003-11-05

The author states her favorite colors of the moment are "slate-gray, purply-grape, lavender, chartreuse, and aqua". You will see quite a lot of these colors when looking through her book "White Hot".
I live in east Texas which is a sweltering sauna for 6-7 months out of the year. I prefer to use cool decorating colors because they give the impression of, well....coolness. Walking into a room full of frosty blues, chilly lavenders, and watery aquas after being out in the hot stickiness is so refreshing. Guild's book presents ideas about how to use a vast spectrum of cool colors together so that you have both contrast AND harmony. I would have to describe her photos as having a "chilly vibrance". The look is absolutely frosty and yet it is very vivid and interesting. I would call the furnishings and arrangements "eclectic"; maybe not what you would have or want in your own home, but the point of this book is to show the potential of cool colors and I think that goal is accomplished.

The Power of Color to Inspire.......2003-01-29

I bought "White Hot" almost the minute it came out, after seeing it on display at the Pottery Barn. I should say at the outset that my taste in color and decor coincides with that of the author, so I was thrilled to finally find a decorator who spoke to my aesthetic sensibility.

As a watercolor painter, I adore Tricia Guild's romance with color and her exploration of beauty in simple, natural objects. I frequently keep her book open and find that each time I study the photographs of rooms, I get new ideas. The author quite deliberately chose to avoid making a "how to" guidebook. This book is not designed to give ideas for projects, or tell you what to put with what, but rather is designed to inspire and to trigger the reader's imagination and empower a person to tap their own subconscious creativity and come up with solutions for their living spaces. To me, decorating and design are processes that grow and cumulate organically, at different paces for different individuals. In my opinion, Guild is something of a decorating midwife, helping the reader tune into their own design vocabulary and re-imagine their space by being able to perceive space, color and objects in different ways.

Unlike many other books which I have tired of, I regularly look through the pages, which are meditative and relaxing in their beauty and tranquility. If you like Cirque du Soleil, you are going to love Ms. Guild's work. There is a magical quality to all of her work. I view her book much as I view "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron, because this is ultimately a visual workbook. Many of her ideas are democratic and easily accessible- the placement of plants, the use of pillows, fabric, wood, ceramics, and the rhythm of color combination. It is a far more right-brained approach, and one that enabled me to look at my space and get past the "stuckness" I had in seeing the same objects in the same way. As a result of using her books and getting a feng shui consultation, I redid my entire apartment, which I veiw as my work-in-progress. My inspriation came in spurts, sometimes in 14-hour long passionate bouts of rearranging. I had many ideas for re-imagining my space, and also was better able to conceptualize room arrangement.

I was able to edit and groom my belongings in ways I never thought previously possible, and found that I had far greater confidence in making purchases of new things for my apartment. Guild's book trains you to see your space as a living, breathing, mutable canvas to which ordinary objects are orchestrated into a symphony of color, form and texture.

The spiritual component of this approach to decorating is that one does not envy what Ms. Guild has or uses. Guild's approach is not to aim for perfection, or to motivate the reader to do the same. If there is a perfection in style embodied in her book, its goal is to coach, to challenge, and to inspire the user to groom his or her belongings, much as one treats oneself to a spa, to appreciate the simple beauty of nature, of flowers, plants, organic forms, and to use these elements - air, light, water, fire - in decorating to achieve a greater sense of balance and harmony in one's being.

My main source of disappointment is that there was not enough information on where to purchase some of the quirky pieces of furniture featured in the photos, and the difficulty in obtaining fabric shown in the book. I wish she had a store in New York City!

Carol Lipton

Brainstorming high quality art book!.......2002-04-18

From the moment I received this book I have loved it, as it is. For me it is a beautiful artwork about how your home can look and be, it is very inspiring and shows a lot of what you can do with light and nuances in your home. I think it is a bit unfare to say it doesn't tell you 'how to' - it is not a how to book, it is intended as inspiration, not that I know Tricia Guild but it is usually the purpose of books of this kind. It does tell you, however that color works different ways in different light and that I see as a definite 'how to' hint..
As inspiration and setting your mind to work it is assume!

Colorful and Lively and Fun..........2000-06-16

Looking with the other reviews written, I do see their sense of frustration in wanting more practical ways to decorate a home, however I felt it needed to be seen in a postive light as well. It is a very artful book, and I don't believe the author intended it to be a "How To" as much as it was intended to be lively, inspiring, "get-you-to-think" type of book. It has beautifully tipped-in pages, and is a very high quality book. I am a graphic artist, and I bought it for the book's design as I did for its content. If you would like a wonderful coffee-table type book, as well as some inspiration for decorating, you should enjoy this book!

It all depends on how you want to look at this book........2000-05-17

I can very well understand the last reviewer's comments. It is an artsy book and doesn't give much helpful advice when looking for answers to decorating issues. I chose to use it to help me coordinate a color palette that would work and not clash. With the artistic approach the author took with this book, I found myself utilizing my own imagination about what the colors evoke for me, the mood, the accessories that would create that mood. So, in its own way, I guess I did get a little help. As it's an expensive book, it's better to leaf through it for inspiration, as you won't get alot of solid 'how-to' and 'do it this way' advice, if that's what you're looking to find.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books