A Hunger Like No Other (The Immortals After Dark Series, Book 1)

Book Description

Acclaimed author Kresley Cole introduces a sizzling new series with this tale of a fierce werewolf and a bewitching vampire -- unlikely soul mates whose passion will test the boundaries of life and death.

A mythic warrior who'll stop at nothing to possess her . . .

After enduring years of torture from the vampire horde, Lachlain MacRieve, leader of the Lykae Clan, is enraged to find the predestined mate he's waited millennia for is a vampire. Or partly one. This Emmaline is a small, ethereal half Valkyrie/half vampire, who somehow begins to soothe the fury burning within him.

A vampire captured by her wildest fantasy . . .

Sheltered Emmaline Troy finally sets out to uncover the truth about her deceased parents -- until a powerful Lykae claims her as his mate and forces her back to his ancestral Scottish castle. There, her fear of the Lykae -- and their notorious dark desires -- ebbs as he begins a slow, wicked seduction to sate her own dark cravings.

An all-consuming desire . . .

Yet when an ancient evil from her past resurfaces, will their desire deepen into a love that can bring a proud warrior to his knees and turn a gentle beauty into the fighter she was born to be?

Includes an excerpt from Kresley Cole's next romance novel, No Rest for the Wicked.

Download Description

"Acclaimed author Kresley Cole introduces a sizzling new series with this tale of a fierce werewolf and a bewitching vampire -- unlikely soul mates whose passion will test the boundaries of life and death. A mythic warrior who'll stop at nothing to possess her . . . After enduring years of torture from the vampire horde, Lachlain MacRieve, leader of the Lykae Clan, is enraged to find the predestined mate he's waited millennia for is a vampire. Or partly one. This Emmaline is a small, ethereal half Valkyrie/half vampire, who somehow begins to soothe the fury burning within him. A vampire captured by her wildest fantasy . . . Sheltered Emmaline Troy finally sets out to uncover the truth about her deceased parents -- until a powerful Lykae claims her as his mate and forces her back to his ancestral Scottish castle. There, her fear of the Lykae -- and their notorious dark desires -- ebbs as he begins a slow, wicked seduction to sate her own dark cravings. An all-consuming desire . . . Yet when an ancient evil from her past resurfaces, will their desire deepen into a love that can bring a proud warrior to his knees and turn a gentle beauty into the fighter she was born to be?

Customer Reviews:

A Hunger Like No Other.......2007-09-19

Although I found this book to be enjoyable, it did not require or engage my entire attention. I was able to read it at work between calls and was able to keep up with what was happening. This book to me seemed to drag at times and at other times moved along. I am not yet certain if it is going to stay in my collection or be passed on. I have not yet started the second book in the series although I will read it and have purchased the third book. It just did not reach out and grab me.

So So.......2007-09-14

I liked the start of the book but after a while it was a little fustrating. It took for ever for them to have sex. The theme was good and the charters are enjoyable. I think the charter Emma went a little overboard by playing really had to get. Took her for ever to come around. However, I still plan to read the rest of the series.

Sexy, Daring, but Something's Missing.......2007-09-01

I could hardly put this book down, especially the spicy scenes, which were written perfectly! And the plot of the book was believeable, and well-written.

But when Emmaline and Lachlain finally come together, the book immedietly goes downhill. Even when they finally have sex, the scene is too short, and not nearly as descriptive as previous scene. From there on is just plot, we don't get any more sexy situations!

And perhaps this is just me, but Emmaline's Valkyrie family were the MOST obnoxious characters I have EVER read in a book. Their logic, tactics, and personalities were grating and flat.

However, I still give the book 4 stars because all other aspects were amazing, and I definitely intend to read more in the series!!!

My first paranormal romance and ....I loved it!!.......2007-08-25

I usually read historical romances (medieval, Georgian, regency & Victorian), but the trend in romance seems to be going in the paranormal direction so I figured I'd give one a try. I was seriously afraid of what I call "rolling eyes syndrome" ; some things are just unbelievable and I was hoping that this wasn't going to be just a bad B-movie read.

I am so surprised! I love this book! It reminds of some of my fav Scottish romances, but MUCH more intense and WAY edgier/darker! The alpha male hero is totally hot Scottish highlander hunk (a real treat for this Julie Garwood fan) and the heroine is this a shy little thing who eventually turns into a kick a*s woman. There's werewolf's, vampire's, Valkyrie, witches, wraiths etc., and Cole (author) does a excellent job introducing and giving background information on each one of these. She does this so well that I became instantly engrossed in the book and simply couldn't put it down. There are tons of really cool secondary characters that each have their own unique powers and personally I can't wait for those sequels!

So if you like historical romance or contemporary for that matter, this is a great place to start checking out paranormals. As for me, I have a feeling this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Fabulous.......2007-08-20

This is a great book. The character's are so well developed. You really feel like you know these people.

A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War

Average customer rating:

A history teacher's review
Best book of its kind
Excellent
Hard to Follow
A Landmark History

A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War
Victor Hanson
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Greece | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0812969707
Release Date: 2006-09-12

Book Description

One of our most provocative military historians, Victor Davis Hanson has given us painstakingly researched and pathbreaking accounts of wars ranging from classical antiquity to the twenty-first century. Now he juxtaposes an ancient conflict with our most urgent modern concerns to create his most engrossing work to date, A War Like No Other.

Over the course of a generation, the Hellenic city-states of Athens and Sparta fought a bloody conflict that resulted in the collapse of Athens and the end of its golden age. Thucydides wrote the standard history of the Peloponnesian War, which has given readers throughout the ages a vivid and authoritative narrative. But Hanson offers readers something new: a complete chronological account that reflects the political background of the time, the strategic thinking of the combatants, the misery of battle in multifaceted theaters, and important insight into how these events echo in the present.

Hanson compellingly portrays the ways Athens and Sparta fought on land and sea, in city and countryside, and details their employment of the full scope of conventional and nonconventional tactics, from sieges to targeted assassinations, torture, and terrorism. He also assesses the crucial roles played by warriors such as Pericles and Lysander, artists, among them Aristophanes, and thinkers including Sophocles and Plato.

Hanson’s perceptive analysis of events and personalities raises many thought-provoking questions: Were Athens and Sparta like America and Russia, two superpowers battling to the death? Is the Peloponnesian War echoed in the endless, frustrating conflicts of Vietnam, Northern Ireland, and the current Middle East? Or was it more like America’s own Civil War, a brutal rift that rent the fabric of a glorious society, or even this century’s “red state—blue state” schism between liberals and conservatives, a cultural war that manifestly controls military policies? Hanson daringly brings the facts to life and unearths the often surprising ways in which the past informs the present.

Brilliantly researched, dynamically written, A War Like No Other is like no other history of this important war.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

A history teacher's review.......2007-10-06

"A War Like No Other" is classical historian Victor Davis Hanson's offering on the Peloponnesian War - the 27 year struggle between the Delian League (Athens and its allies) and the Peloponnesian League (Sparta and its allies) that ran on and off again from 431 to 404 B.C.

Hanson's book is perhaps also a "book like no other" if I may borrow a phrase. Despite the prominently placed quote for the New York Times on the front cover proclaiming that it is a contemporary retelling of the war, this is not a narrative history of the war. Rather, it does exactly what the subtitle promises - it tells the reader HOW the war was fought. It analyzes the techniques, the weapons, the strategies and the tactics but it is not a history per se. The book vaguely follows the course of the war, but often shifts backwards and forwards through the decades of the war and even before and after the war.

Giving this one a rating is tricky. It is well-researched and well-written. Hanson does a tremendous job of linking the events of the past with more current events, such as World War II, the Cold War and terrorism. In a way, you could say that the quote (and title of the book) from the ancient historian Thucydides was really not true, this war was not a war like no other, instead at least parts of it are like every war that followed since.

While well-written, i think that Hanson's decision to break the book up into thematic units ("Fire", "Disease", "Terror", "Armor", etc.) made the book less strong than if it had been told in more of a narrative manner. Hanson provided tons of endnotes to document his work, it was also quite annoying. Not the notes themselves, but the fact that they were endnotes with commentary requiring the reader to constantly flip back and forth to the end of the book and to keep two sets of bookmarks. If a writer plans to write additional commentary in his or her notes common decency would suggest that footnotes are better for the reader. The continuity and flow of the main text is not broken by constant flipping to the back of the book. Shelby Foote did this to great effect in his gigantic 3 volume Civil War series. Tom Holland uses both in his book "Rubicon" - notes at the end, additional commentary at the bottom of the text.

As a history teacher, I found immediate uses for portions of the book in my classroom. I read to my class from Hanson's description of life on the Greek naval vessels and was able to use his information to give a brief description of the war and the experience of the soldier. I do recommend this book for serious world history teachers and any afficionados of classical ancient history.

Best book of its kind.......2007-09-20

I am a big fan of those authors like Jared Diamond who try to look at the big picture, but I also occasionally read more "conventional" history which focuses on events during a particular time and place. "A War Like No Other" is the best book of that kind I have ever read. It tries to understand the "why's" of the Peloponnesian War. Why was their a stalemate for so long; why was the effectiveness of Hoplites limited, and why didn't the Greek world realize this earlier; why was cavalry important and why wasn't more use made of it; why were the Greeks so poor at conducting sieges; what determined success at sea; why did Athen invade Syracuse, a fellow democracy, and one very distant; why was the war marked by a greater frequency of atrocities than the Greek world had previously experienced; what was the nature of democracy and oligarchy and what form did social tensions take; why were a few critical battles won or lost. The book also implicitly explains why any one with a classical background might be distrustful of democracy. Finally, students of modern history know the importance of economic might; Hanson, in answering some of his questions, shows the importance of economics in this ancient conflict.

I have a few minor complaints. The maps provided don't always show the places referred to: in fact, the reader would be advised to refer to the map on p.182 when reading the earlier chapters. It would have been helpful if the chapters on armor and cavalry had been earlier. Hanson is a like a home team announcer in sports, the home team being Athens, so that the failure to conquer democratic Syracuse, not just the loss of life (p.212), was a "tragedy". However one may dislike the Spartan state, it was Athens, not Sparta which was expansionist. For a celebration of the Spartan way of life, I would recommend Steven Pressfield's "Gates of Hell", which while a novel, focuses on the Spartan ethos.

Excellent.......2007-05-29

Hanson has crafted a history of the Peloponnesian War which breaks form the traditional, chronological storyline. Instead, Hanson has broken down the conflict into the types of warfare and the whole book is essentially detailing the evolution of Greek warfare into the tactical juggernauts of Thebes and later, Macedon. Basically, Hanson contends that the Peloponnesian War exerted such stress on the Greek city-states, over twenty-seven years, that the old politics of pitched hoplite battles and open sea engagements, a la the Persian Wars, were too ineffective and inefficient. Sparta's armies were preeminent on the field of battle and Athens' fleets ruled the seas without equal, until the final stages of the war. Because of their absolute dominance in their respective fields, the real fighting took place elsewhere: in nightfighting, sieges, the novel use of auxiliaries who attacked with ranged weapons (javelins, bows, slings), a newfound appreciation for the cavalry wing and the impact of the plague on Athens. Hanson's book falls short of the elusive 5-stars because his style sometimes dragged. However, this is a clear, concise, well-researched and well-written analysis of a war that changed everything in the eastern mediterranean, opening the power vacuum for Thebes and Macedon.

Hard to Follow.......2007-04-17

This book breaks the Peloponnesian War into its component parts and discusses how each influenced the strategy of the two sides. The author seems to presuppose a working knowledge of the conflict on the part of the reader. Because this was my first effort at educating myself about the war I found Hanson's explanations hard to follow. "A War Like no Other" is not for beginners. Prior to tackling this book I would suggest first reading Thucydides and some other more basic text about the complicated conflict between Athens and Sparta.

A Landmark History.......2007-02-04

I was encouraged to read Hanson's history, "A War Like No Other", because John Keegan heaped praise upon it in his "History of Warfare". As a devoted reader of Keegan's, I took his advice, picked up a copy, and was not disappointed. It is easy to think that Classics scholarship has little room for innovation, but Hanson manages to break new ground with a history that is also compelling and readable. Indeed, Hanson's work shares much in common with Keegan's seminal masterpiece, "The Face of Battle". Hanson's goal is to explore and, as accurately as possible, reconstruct the raw, local experience of the Peloponnesion War from the eyes of participants.

Hanson's chief innovation is a common-sense, experiential approach to the conflict which yields surprising results. Hanson asks the question, for example, "Was it really possible for the Spartans to ravage the countryside of Attica?" To answer this question, Hanson actually assembled primitive implements that the Spartans would have had, and attempted to "ravage" sections of his farm over a period of time. The conclusion is impressive: estimating generously, it would have been extraordinarily difficult for the Spartans to have inflicted meaningful damage to Athenian surroundings.

In a similar fashion, Hanson explores the physicality of phalanx combat, and shows its relatively modest significance in the war. One gets a sense of the carnage, the noise, terror and psychological intimidation that a Spartan hoplite unit could produce. Even more impressive is Hanson's narration of naval conflict -- specifically, the difficulties in maneuvering, the environment on-board, and the participants.

Hanson's experiential approach does not preclude analysis of the strategic considerations and cultural motivations behind decisions. His analysis of the Athenian assembly -- its demagoguery and passions, or the Spartan oligarchy -- constantly in fear of Helot revolt, is excellent.

Hanson not only covers phalanx and naval combat, but examines siege warfare, terror, strategy, disease, and the overall influence the conflict had on Greek civilization. Indeed, it is this last item that is the most depressing. If there is any difficulty in reading the history, it is the foreknowledge of the tragedy -- the reduction of Athens and other cities, the senseless, pyrrhic victories, the massacres, the waste. It is a tragedy worth witnessing however, for the lessons are meaningful and lasting. One sees the tyranny of the majority, the passions of the mob, and sees also the wisdom of the American Founding Fathers' crafting of an indirect democracy. One sees as well the influence of demagogues, men who felt little compunction ruining their society for personal gain -- demagogues who are still with us, unfortunately, even if the faces, names, times and places have changed.

Eureka Street: A Novel of Ireland Like No Other

Average customer rating:

brilliant but slightly bogged down
If you've not been there, go.
Good, not great, worth a quick read...
Understated Look at Belfast
Would have been five stars if not for the big words.........

Eureka Street: A Novel of Ireland Like No Other
Robert Mcliam Wilson
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0345427130
Release Date: 1999-02-22

Amazon.com

Romantic Ireland is definitely dead and gone. With the exhilarating Eureka Street, Robert McLiam Wilson cheerfully and obscenely sends it to its grave. Jake Jackson, his thoughtful anti-hero, finds Belfast's tragedies are built on comedy: Catholics and Protestants so intent on declaring their differences "resembled no one now as much as they resembled each other…. That was what I liked about Belfast hatred. It was a lumbering hatred that could survive completely on the memories of things that never existed in the first place." He spends a certain amount of time worrying about seeming too Catholic and an equal amount worrying about not seeming sufficiently Catholic. Sometimes, after several drinks, Jake forgets that he's not a Protestant. Each position is as dangerous, and absurd, as the other. His best friend is less torn up. Chuckie Lurgan is a chubby Methodist whose only accomplishments so far have been shaking Reagan's hand, appearing in the same photo as the Pope, and having "an intense and troubling relationship with mail-order catalogues." But Chuckie suddenly surprises Jake with his first entrepreneurial scheme. Though he's placed an ad for an enormous sex toy in Northern Ireland's "only mucky paper," he hasn't any intention of ever fulfilling an order. Instead, he follows legal protocol and sends each disappointed customer a refund check, in the proper amount, stamped GIANT DILDO REFUND. The gamble is that most people will be too embarrassed to cash them. "Chuckie smiled the smile of the just-published poet." And soon he has more than 40,000 pounds in the bank and a lust for big money. He also has a rich, new girlfriend: "He hoped his dreams wouldn't suffer from all this reality."

Jake is more preoccupied with the day-to-day. His construction site job gives him ample opportunity to consider his romantic failures and the ever-present symbols of war. There's also a new graffito that has sprouted among the various deadly acronyms. IRA, UVF, and UDA make no more sense than OTG, but at least everyone knows what they stand for. OTG becomes a puzzle to all of Belfast--is it, the authorities wonder, a new terrorist group? (Jake also notes several other phrases, FTP, FTQ, and FTNP--the "T" stands for the and "P" and "Q" for Pope and Queen. The "N" is for Next.) Despite his love for Belfast, Jake loses heart with its zealots and fanatics and, halfway through, Eureka Street threatens to slide into windy bathos. It's only a momentary lapse amid energetic, colloquial poetry and comic realism.

Book Description

In a city blasted by years of force and fury, but momentarily stilled by a cease-fire, two unlikely friends search for that most human of needs: love. But of course, a night of lust will do. Jake Jackson and Chuckie Lurgan--one Catholic, one Protestant--navigate their sectarian city and their nonsectarian friendship with wit and style. Chuckie, an unemployed dreamer, stumbles into bliss with a beautiful American who lives in Belfast. Jake, a repo man with the soul of a poet, can only manage a hilarious war of insults with a spitfire Republican whose Irish name, properly pronounced, sounds like someone choking.

Brilliant, exuberant, and bitingly funny, Eureka Street introduces us to one of the finest young writers to emerge from Ireland in years.

Customer Reviews:

brilliant but slightly bogged down.......2006-04-02

At the outset, I was enthralled by the character of Jake. His first-person-narrative is engaging, humorous, perceptive, and acutely witty. Throughout the book Jake's surprising awareness and recognizable psychology never cease to beguile me, and I almost wish that Wilson had written a novel of Jake and not a novel of Ireland. However, even the narration of the ridiculous life of Chuckie is entertaining enough to keep me reading. Wilson's incisive depiction of Belfast is informative and heartfelt, but slightly saccharine. I appreciate his insider's opinion of a city with which the greater world isn't generally acquainted, but too often his descriptions turn into rambling. Chapter ten is particularly effusive on that point.

The development of his male characters is intelligently and smoothly done, and the unfolding of events during the first half of the book is compelling. He also elocutes very well the inescapable politics governing the lives of his Northern Irish characters. Sometimes the author's self-assured political rants are irritating, and at other times the reader is left floundering in the deluge of unbelievable political scenarios in which Chuckie is placed. Unfortunately, when Wilson's politics wash up in America, they take on a familiarly cliched ring. His America is naive, vapid, and predictable. He was clearly as investigative of the United States as those who propagated the idea that America was full of cowboys and Indians in bygone days. While he succeeds at capturing something that a foreigner can appreciate as an earnest examination of Belfast/Ireland, his sloppy and banal illustration of the U.S. goes only so far as to capture the essence of an America created by television and chic rhetoric. The past of his female American character, Max, is filled with none other than sex, drugs, and self-inflicted abuse. Like all of the book's female characters (except for, perhaps, Chuckie's mother, Peggy), Max is depthless and ill-conceived.

The idea motivating the book was admirable, but the product was something less than I think Wilson was hoping for. His purpose would have been much better served if he had provided us with something simpler by giving a singular perspective (namely, that of the most interesting character: Jack) and if he had kept the politics subtle. Whatever its flaws, the novel has some brilliant attributes that make it too good to dismiss, and I won't be surprised if Wilson's other attempts have a bit more success with me.

If you've not been there, go........2006-04-01

Wilson's description of Belfast is, in itself, one of the most beautiful pieces of regional description you'll ever find. Now, take that and put in stories of the silliness and sadness that humans do in the name of whatever's handy and you can't help but be engrossed. If you know Belfast, you'll be at home. If you don't, maybe this'll be the book that gets you off your duff.

Good, not great, worth a quick read..........2005-08-07

I love the setting and the way that Wilson indulges his obvious love for Belfast as place. I also enjoyed the perspective that his characters support- the supposition that war and strife are bad is a difficult one to say yet again but his zealous and very human spin on this theory nearly pulls it off. But most of all this book has so much high octane wit (at least in its first half) that it makes a mere sparring partner out of the heavy subject matter. Quite a trick, that- to make palatable such stomach turning material is homage to the author's scythery, when he keeps focus.
Unfortunately the wheels fall off when the attention lazily turns to the sappy and not fully dimensioned second person "chuckie" character. I don't know if the Author OD'd on too much Vonnegut or something during his brief stint in America but the detached humanistic satire becomes very sloppy as the plot veers into far fetched territory. The lazy depiction of America-as-viewed by a fresh off the boat irishman is neither clever nor original nor even all that funny. Chuckie calls back to Ireland to tell his friend that he's already been mugged twice is just plain silly.
I wonder some times what happens to an author's concentration level that a startlingly crystalline narrative is given up in favor of gloppy second person omniscient been there done that satire.

Maybe Wilson has a start to finish actually great book in him yet. Hope so.

Understated Look at Belfast.......2003-09-11

Wilson's "Eureka Street" is a look at Belfast that is not redily available in the U.S. The character's are not. They are people with definative characteristics. The interwoven tale using different narration techniques lets the story unfold and does not overload the reader with unending minutia that is, unfortunately, all too common in fiction today.
A great book that would be five stars, but I'm waiting for his next book, which I'm sure will not dissapoint.

Would have been five stars if not for the big words................2003-02-11

Robert McLiam Wilson attended Cambridge so I should cut the obvious intellectual some slack; however, I can't get past his usage of enormous words every few pages in this book.

The book, overall, is hilarious, well-crafted, witty, and extremely entertaining. It is introspective and thought-arousing. The theme is based on a peculiar friendship set in extremely peculiar times in northen Ireland. The two men in the friendship - one a Catholic, one a Protestant - find themselves looking out at the nightmarish battle plagued streets where they desperately try to find meaning and purpose in their everyday lives. I loved the plot and you will too, but be warned, you will find such words as(get ready):

elocutionary, incongruous, aggregate, bourgeois, desultory, wintry, lissom, quandry, protozoic, copiously, opprobrium, ecumencial, lexical, coquetry, litany, cuckolded, cerebrospinal, pallid, suffused, goaded, pugilistic, volubly, galvanized, reticent, ominously, osculate, and many, many more. Also take note: all of these words can be found in the first one-hundred pages of the book!

Now, before you Cambridge grads barbeque me too bad, please understand that most of us - your everyday bums from your everyday places - don't use words like litany, mannish, proletarian, incongruous, or ecumenicalism in our everyday vocabulary. Most people I know - and there are many - would be hard-pressed to use a word like "mundane, nonchalance, or imperative." Something tells me that Mr. Wilson doesn't use all these words either - although he just might.

A very good read, with our without the huge words. Enjoy!

Average customer rating:

Great Buy!

Best Book I Ever Read

A Fun Book for Both Kids and Adults

If you've ever owned a dog...

Like mother like daughter
Marley: A Dog Like No Other
John Grogan
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies | People & Places | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
General | Family Life | People & Places | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
Nonfiction | Dogs | Animals | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
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Bad Dog, Marley!

Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog

Amazing Gracie: A Dog's Tale

Bad Dogs Have More Fun: Selected Writings on Family, Animals, and Life by John Grogan for The Philadelphia Inquirer

No Talking

ASIN: 0061240338
Release Date: 2007-05-01

Book Description

This nonfiction book has been faithfully adapted for young readers from the #1 New York Times bestselling memoir Marley & Me by John Grogan!

Marley, a lovable Labrador retriever, is always getting himself into trouble. Some may say he is the world's worst dog. But those who know and love Marley understand that nothing can stop his loyalty, exuberance, and passion—not even the Grogans' screen door! How this big, rambunctious dog becomes the heart of the Grogan family is the story of Marley.

Customer Reviews:

Great Buy!.......2007-09-21

I purcased the audio book in preparation for a long family road trip this summer. It was a great buy! We all loved the story, especially my 10 year old son who would not let us turn the car off until a chapter was completed. I highly recommend this audio book. Dog lovers will truly appreciate it. The narration was wonderful!

Best Book I Ever Read.......2007-09-10

This is a hilarious book that you can't miss. It will mke you laugh and cry. Marley is a great book. This is a true story. John Grogan and his wife Jenny want a family pet. They want a dog. They get a dog and name it Marley. Marley is a dog that is not easy to train. He is a funny dog.He pukes at dog beach. Read the book to see what happpens, and to hear some hilarious things.

A Fun Book for Both Kids and Adults.......2007-08-17

Desperate for something contemporary and entertaining to read to my fifth grade class I decided to give Marley: A Dog Like No Other a try. My students were immediately attached to Marley and his amusing antics, as was I. Grogan does a wonderful job catering to this particular age group; he includes several references to bowel movements and vomit, thoroughly describes Marley's destructive nature, and keeps the text moving at a brisk pace, eliminating the possibility of boredom. Day after day, my students begged me to read about Marley, even though we all became sadly aware of what the end of the book would bring.

I recommend this book to parents, students, teachers, and all other animal lovers. It may bring tears to your eyes at the end, but it makes you remember how important the relationships we have with our pets are.

If you've ever owned a dog..........2007-08-15

Marley: A Dog Like No Other is a great book for all ages. It is about the struggling times of a dog and his owner. Through out the book you learn how hard it really is to raise a dog. Marley was brought into a whole new environment. He came from a cage with a mom and a bunch of puppies to a house with no other dogs. He tore everything apart including sofas and walls. This book is filled with moments of laughter and moments of sorrow. It teaches you that even if you don't want to, you have to let go of something eventually. For anyone that has had to deal with loosing a family member this is a great book to read. The author of this book John Grogan is actually the owner of the dog so you get the full picture of all the memories they shared together. When Marley was a puppy he was never really known as a "great dog" he was the dog that got kicked out of training class and the one that jumped on every one who walked in the door. Even though he did all those bad things, his family always saw something good in him that they didn't see in other dogs. Through all the stories that John shares with the reader you feel as if you were really there with Marley. His detailed writing really pulls you in and you will not want to put the book down.

Like mother like daughter.......2007-07-28

This book was just perfect, even the second time around! My nine year old daughter watched as I laughed and cried through Marley and Me, and desperately wanted to read it. I just couldn't let her due to the adult content. I was thrilled to hear of this version and even happier with the read! After my daughter was finished (she loved it!), I was caught stealing her copy. It was still the same loveable Marley!
It is a great adaptation.

A War Like No Other: The Truth About China's Challenge to America

Average customer rating:

A War Like No Other: The Truth About China's Challenge to America
Richard C. Bush , and Michael E. O'Hanlon
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Taiwan | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Arms Control | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0471986771

Book Description

"Nobody approaches the objectivity and precision of Bush and O'Hanlon when it comes to analysis of the military and political dimensions of the Taiwan issue. This is one challenge that U.S. policymakers and military strategists cannot afford to get wrong, and scholars cannot afford to ignore."
- Michael Green, former Senior Director for Asian Affairs National Security Council

The Showdown to Come

In 1995, during a heated discussion about that year's Taiwan crisis, a Chinese general remarked to a U.S. diplomat, "In the end, you care more about Los Angeles than you do about Taipei." In a single sentence, he both questioned the level of America's commitment to a longtime ally and threatened massive, perhaps nuclear, retaliation should the United States intervene militarily on Taiwan's behalf. In the end, President Clinton sent two aircraft carriers to the region, and China ceased its military exercises in the Taiwan Strait. A decade later, however, China is much stronger, both economically and militarily, and it holds a significant amount of America's national debt. If another Taiwan crisis should occur-as it almost certainly will-would China back down?

In A War Like No Other, you'll discover how little it would take to transform the close cooperation and friendly rivalry between the United States and the People's Republic of China into the first-ever shooting war between two nuclear powers. This chilling look into one possible future offers thoughtful advice to both governments on how to reduce the chances of such a nightmare actually occurring. Two Brookings Institution scholars offer specific prescriptions on how the two nations can improve communications, especially in times of crisis; avoid risky behavior, even when provoked; and, above all, remember which buttons not to push.

A Strike like No Other Strike: Law and Resistance during the Pittston Coal Strike of 1989-1990

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A Strike like No Other Strike: Law and Resistance during the Pittston Coal Strike of 1989-1990
Richard A., Jr. Brisbin
Manufacturer: The Johns Hopkins University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Copper Crucible: How the Arizona Miners' Strike of 1983 Recast Labor-Management Relations in America (ILR Press Books)

ASIN: 0801869013

Book Description

The miners' strike against Pittston Coal in 1989--1990, which spread throughout southwestern Virginia, southern West Virginia, and eastern Kentucky, was one of the most important strikes in the history of American labor, and, as Richard Brisbin observes, "one of the longest and largest incidents of civil disorder and civil disobedience in the United States in the second half of the twentieth century." The company aggressively sought to break the strike, and workers and their families used a variety of tactics -- lawful and unlawful -- to resist Pittston's efforts as the situation quickly turned ugly.

In A Strike like No Other Strike: Law and Resistance during the Pittston Coal Strike of 1989--1990, Richard Brisbin offers a compelling study of the exercise of political power. In considering the legal significance of the strike, Brisbin asks the larger question of whether even extreme transgression or resistance can fracture the "imagined coherence of the law." He shows how each party in the strike invoked the law to justify its actions while attacking those of the other side as unlawful. In the end, both sides lost; although the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately ruled in favor of the union, most of the strikers faced elimination of their jobs and an ongoing struggle for pensions and health benefits.

A Love Like No Other: Stories from Adoptive Parents

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if adoption touches your life in any way, buy this book
Outstanding - insightful, balanced, and powerful
Professional authors write of their personal experiences...
Compelling adoption stories
I couldn't put it down

A Love Like No Other: Stories from Adoptive Parents
Pamela Kruger , and Jill Smolowe
Manufacturer: Amazon Remainders Account
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: B000GFR9UI

Book Description

Adoption now affects more American families than ever before-1.5 million adopted children live in the United States today, and 60 percent of Americans report some kind of personal connection to adoption. Happily, this surge has coincided with an increasing mainstream acceptance of adoption as just another way to form a family, complete with its own frustrations and joys that deserve to be discussed and celebrated.

A Love Like No Other does just that. It features twenty leading writers, all of whom are adoptive parents, discussing their personal experiences. They include adoptive parents of children of other races, like Emily Prager, who grapples with how to best keep her daughter connected to her Chinese roots; parents whose families blend biological children and adopted children, like bestselling author Jacquelyn Mitchard; single mothers of only children, like journalist Sheila Stainback; and same-sex adoptive parents like Jesse Green, who wonders how his sons will feel when instructed to make a Mother's Day card. They live in big cities and small towns, and have adopted domestically and overseas. Some of their stories soberingly address the potential complications of adoptive parenting, while others tell of happily enriched family lives.

Impressive for both its breadth and its quality, A Love Like No Other is a timely and heartwarming mosaic of the contemporary lives of adoptive parents and their children. In elegant prose and with refreshing honesty, these essays will introduce you to a group of families you won't soon forget.

Customer Reviews:

if adoption touches your life in any way, buy this book.......2007-03-02

At last, an intelligent, well-written book that candidly and unsentimentally explores the challenges of raising an adopted child. The different authors in this collection have kids who range in age from toddlers to teens, and the subjects they explore are fascinating, honest and heartfelt. If you are an adoptive parent, an adult adoptee or a relative/friend touched by a loved one's adoption, you will find something thought-provoking in this anthology.

Outstanding - insightful, balanced, and powerful.......2006-05-19

This book consists of a series of essays by adoptive parents, each of which expresses some distilled, highly personal, and pretty intense kernels of truth about their own individual adoptive parenting experiences. The authors are all professional writers, and this really comes across in the power of their words. The essays reflect both joyful and painful experiences and as a result richly characterizes the complexities of being an adoptive parent. I was completely hooked--couldn't put it down.

Professional authors write of their personal experiences..........2006-03-25

This was a very moving collection of adoptive stories from professional writers. I emphasize the "professional" part only because the result is a much better book (editing, flow, content) then other compilations I've read written by non-writers. (Those, unfortunately, caused me to sometimes focus on lack of editing, poor grammer, etc rather than the content).

The experiences written about include domestic (open & closed), foster care, and international adoption. I enjoyed the variety of stories included in this compilation. I also appreciated the inclusion of stories addressing various stages and experiences that are common to most adoptive parents, regardless of the origin of your child.

Compelling adoption stories.......2006-03-24

This collection of essays covers all aspects of adopting. The stories are very moving, honest and compelling. It covers both international and domestic adoption. It addresses some of the most difficult challenges that adoptive families must face. It is the best adoption book that I have read in YEARS!!

I couldn't put it down.......2006-03-24

Of the (too) many adoption related books I've read over the past years, this was one book that I could not put down until I had finished it. What I loved about it was its inclusiveness, and its "real-ness." Every type of family situation is covered here (singles, married, divorced after adoption, domestic adoption, international adoption, transracial adoption, same-race adoption, special needs adoption, supportive extended families, non-supportive ones, post-adoption depression, birth family searches). And the parents of these children tell their stories, warts and all. Their joys, their sorrows, their bafflement over behaviors they haven't anticipated and cannot understand, and their acceptance of their children, as they are and for who they are. Several of the essays resonated personally with me. I could have written them from my own experience. I highly recommend this book, particularly for pre-adoptive parents seeking to learn all they can about the post-adoptive experience, from every angle.

A Grief Like No Other: Surviving the Violent Death of Someone You Love

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My own experience with grief

A Grief Like No Other: Surviving the Violent Death of Someone You Love
Kathleen O'Hara
Manufacturer: Marlowe & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Death & Grief | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1569242976

Book Description

A Grief Like No Other is the book no one wants to ever have to buy; sadly, many people continue to need it. From 9/11 to Cindy Sheehan's son – from mass tragedies like the recent London bombings to Law and Order type crimes that make the news only to be replaced by another name. As such, more people are left with the aftermath of dealing with the violent death of a loved one. It brings its own special brand of grieving since victim’s families can spend years dealing with legal ramifications, guilt, and a myriad of other circumstances that don’t accompany “normal” deaths.

Kathleen O’Hara knows both sides of this coin. As a therapist, she has counseled hundreds of people dealing with grief. As a mother, she saw her worst fears realized when her college-aged son was brutally murdered in 1999. In the aftermath of Aaron’s murder, O’Hara developed the seven stage journey that is at the heart of A Grief Like No Other. Although this is a book for those left behind in the aftermath of violence, it offers concrete and practical steps and stages, allowing family and friends safe passage through this incredibly harrowing journey.

Customer Reviews:

My own experience with grief.......2006-05-31

I would recommend this book not only for those who are experiencing the horrific pain associated with grief, but also for those who love them. Many of my friends and family members have bought Kathleen O'Hara's book and have gained a better understanding of what I and my family are going through.
It was just over one year ago that our son was killed in action. Mother's Day, 2005. I have struggled to find the words to write, the things to say, a way to begin working through this terrible pain. After reading and re-reading A Grief Like No Other, I have been given such a gift. The book gives the reader tools to begin writing. Suggestions on how to deal with the overwhelming grief, examples of others who have lost someone to violence and how they feel. It gave me courage and hope.
The author writes about her own experience of losing her son to violence. She is an amazing woman. Her book is well worth reading and sharing with others.

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A study of the quiet -- often overlooked -- pain of war ...
Praise for No Place Like Home: Echoes from Kosovo
Documentary Photography at its best!

No Place Like Home: Echoes from Kosovo
Melanie Friend
Manufacturer: Cleis Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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Book Description

British photographer and BBC radio reporter Melanie Friend has covered the Balkans since 1989. Her visits have been brief and always subject to film confiscation and surveillance. In 1999, as NATO bombs fell on Serbia, and ethnic Albanians fled Kosovo, Friend took portraits in the refugee camps of Macedonia. The 75 photographs and extraordinary interviews present one of the most profound, complex, and human documents of the recent history of the Balkans. As the centuries-old cycle of abuse enters a new phase, No Place Like Home explores life in the Balkans with fresh, unconventional insight.

Customer Reviews:

A study of the quiet -- often overlooked -- pain of war ..........2002-01-31

It's a crying shame that the world hosts chronic bouts of uncivil wars all over the planet, and then their atrocities vie for our attention. It's a pity that the current, most florid acts of inhumanity (via the media) hold us in thrall and divert us from the grinding pain of recovery from similar acts elsewhere. The focus on the Miedle East has distracted us from other hostilities that changed the map and twisted lives. One such conflict is the tangle of unrest among Albanians/Serbians/Bosniaks and others who share, or shared, Kosovo.

Melanie Friend has created a book of portraits (visual and verbal) that attends to the pain and confusion between 1994 and 2000 in Kosovo. Her wonderfully quiet, understated photographs do not feed the sensationalistic. They speak to the almost mundane horrors of daily living in burned out homes; hiding in sewers; trying to stay clean after escaping with only the clothes on one's back; eating only bread for an entire month; eating cherries for an entire month; occupying one's time trying to keep a refugee camp tent clean, mostly to stay busy; clinging to a shred of photograph as a talisman of hope for a loved one's survival; and surviving chronic fatiuge when one is never safe enough to sleep through an entire night.

The author's photographs are reproduced with such pristine fidelity that they are by themselves graceful studies of form, color and light. Alongside the photographs, Ms. Friend's interviewees tell their stories, narratives in the stark flatness of truth as they experience it. They don't philosophize particularly, nor do they bang their political drums particularly, although I'm sure all cherish their personal philosophies and have political perspectives. They describe what happened to them, their families, and their homes. All were victimized. The speakers survived, but none have recovered.

You will not see a single severed limb, starving child, or mangled body in the book. The book will not burden you with the type of content that increases your anxiety or "compassion fatigue" to the degree that you must turn away. Instead, in quietude, the author gives you a current history of Kosovo's war and its aftermath with respect and sadness.

"No Place Like Home" is an elegant book that informs by taking one in and quietly personalizing the experience of war in one's homeland rather than beating the reader into insensibility with atrocities so graphic that one must tune out. It is a thoughtful, painful, gentle response to victims of war.

Photographs and text: Wonderful!

Praise for No Place Like Home: Echoes from Kosovo.......2001-12-18

This is a fantastic book! It completely transports the reader into the lives and experiences of the people of Kosovo. They are elegantly and honestly portrayed through Friend's unique choice of medium. She juxtaposes stunning photographs and gripping testimonies of her subjects, inspiring compassion and awe from her audience. Having a degree in International Relations, I found this book offered an insightful and fresh perspective on the situation in the Balkans, while remaining accessible to a wide audience. Beautiful!

Documentary Photography at its best!.......2001-12-08

This is a book about war unlike any other. You are drawn in by the photographs and, somehow, the voices of the ordinary civilians telling you about their lives under the years of repression, the war, the flight from their homes and their return to the devastated towns and villages hit you with remarkable poignancy. The juxtaposition of these extraordinary photographs and the testimonies is truly remarkable. This is not only great documentary photography, it is also one of the most articulate and profound book about war I've ever read. Kudos to Melanie Friend! Very highly recommended!

Average customer rating:

a heroic heroine
Please! Not another "he kisses her to shut her up" scene!
WOW!!!!
excellent tale of a Lady warrior
Strong woman character, fun book

A Knight Like No Other
Jocelyn Kelley
Manufacturer: Signet
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Romance | Subjects | Books

General | Historical | Romance | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0451214382

Book Description

a brand-new kind of historical romance featuring a sword-wielding heroine ready for passionate battle

In twelfth-century England, St. Jude's Abbey is no ordinary holy sanctuary: it trains young women in the knightly arts. When Avisa, the most skilled of them, is asked by the Queen to safeguard her royal godson, the honor is both dangerous and seductive.

Customer Reviews:

a heroic heroine.......2007-04-27

Avisa was raised at St. Jude's Abbey, and taught knightly skills, which she learned so well that she's now teaching others, and she expects that she'll continue training and teaching for the foreseeable future. But the Queen arrives and reveals her intentions in setting up the abbey, and sends Avisa to protect a favorite godson by keeping him from the conflict between the king and the Archbishop in Canterbury.

Said godson, Christian, is eager to prove his bravery and erase the stain on his family's name after his father was branded a coward.

The Good:
The concept. I love the whole idea of St. Jude's Abbey, where women are educated and trained as knights, at a time when both were unheard of.
The conflict. What Avisa needs is in direct opposition to what Christian needs. There's no contrived misunderstanding between them--they quite simply want opposite things.
The character development. Avisa is so out of her element in the world away from the abbey, and that comes through very clearly as she tries to adapt while chafing at the restrictions imposed on women in society. Christian's desperate drive to succeed in proving his bravery is likewise very clear.

The Bad:
This is very much Avisa's story, but I missed getting to know Christian better.
The action and suspense take a while to get moving.

The Verdict:
A Knight Like No Other is a wonderful combination of history, romance, and adventure, and I'm looking forward to reading more books about the women of St. Jude's Abbey.

Please! Not another "he kisses her to shut her up" scene!.......2006-09-20

I bought this book when I found it on my discount table at my local department store. If I'd realized that this book is actually written by Jo Ann Ferguson (the name Jocelyn Kelley is a pseudonym) I would have skipped right past it. I've already tried two books by her, and found them both to be unfinishable.

Unfortunately, this one was, too. It got off to a great start (how many books are there about female knights?) with a good historical backdrop that didn't feel too "textbooky" and action that made the reader feel like they're really there. The action was fast paced, and the prose flowing. The character development felt a bit lacking, but then, it was still early in the book. Maybe it picked up later. I don't know since I didn't get very far.

The problem was with the author's clumsy attempts at putting sexual tension into the story. It just felt so contrived. The hero and heroine have known each other for barely an hour, and when she starts to annoy him, he throws her to the ground and kisses her like a sex fiend to "shut her up". And she, of course, melts in his arms. Oh, please! How many times has this stupid, lame scenerio been used before? (Even once was too many!) Are there men who actually do this? If a man had ever tried to do that to me (even if my HUSBAND tried to do that to me while we're arguing), I'd smack him a good one. And probably knee him in the crotch if the man is a stranger.

It's cliched, contrived scenes like this that give romance novels a bad name. I'm very dissapointed that I wasted money on A KNIGHT LIKE NO OTHER, especially when the premise held such promise. If you're still determined to read this, borrow it from the library. Or better yet, skip it altogether.

WOW!!!!.......2005-10-29

I know that this won't be to helpful but, this has to be the best romance book that I have read! the characters become almost real in your mind. It is just an amazing book that you just have to read!

excellent tale of a Lady warrior .......2005-05-26

Queen Eleanor wasn't a woman who believe in staying in a `woman's place'. Queen to two countries, two kings, she often was seen dressed as a man, riding a horse astride. So it was not surprising she as patron of St. Jude' Abby, where women were taught to read, write and even fight.

Lady Avisa de Vere came to the cloistered abbey when she was barely two-years-old. There she was thrived in the freedom of learning. She knows more than one language, is encouraged to speak her ideas and is trained as a warrior. One of the most skilled fighters of the Abbey, Queen Eleanor calls upon her skills. She wanted Lady Avisa to secretly guard her Godson, Christian Lovell, to prevent him from reaching Canterbury where he is to attend a wedding. The political climate is about to heat up. Becket (the troublesome priest...lol) Bishop of Canterbury has returned and King Henry is back, and Eleanor doesn't want Christian caught in the middle of the two powerful men.

Soon Lady Avisa is having Christian "rescue" her from outlaws and entreat him to join a quest to save her sister, the diversion set up to keep him from Canterbury. Christian is puzzled by this woman who uses a sword like a man, while Avisa must deals with her confusion of the world outside the cloisters and her growing desire for Christian.

Jocelyn Kelley weaves a very imaginative tale that speaks to love, honor and ancient codes that bound women yet made them want to push beyond these imaginary lines. The story might have been strengthened with Christian's POV, this is essentially a woman's tale so I understand the author's choice to eschew this. It's a strong tale that should please Historical readers.
Highly recommended for Medieval fans.

Strong woman character, fun book.......2005-03-24

Lady Avisa de Vere arrived at St. Jude's Abby when she is just 2 years old. There she has stayed and learned the knowledge of the sisters at this Abbey. This Abbey is a bit different. Queen Eleanor secretly created and funded this Abbey, where the women learn to read and write, more than one language and they are trained as a knight is to fight in sword battles as well as marital arts and archers. Lady Avisa is one of the instructors in sword fighting and is skilled enough to take down one of the Knights that the Queen brings with her when she visits to enlist Avisa in her service.

Queen Eleanor wants Lady Avisa to secretly guard her Godson and keep him away from the wedding he is traveling to attend in Canterbury. Things are about to get rather unstable in Canterbury as the Bishop of Canterbury has just returned and King Henry is also back on English soil. Christian "rescues" Lady Avisa from outlaws and soon finds his quest detoured into saving her sister, which is the diversion that was thought up to distract him.

One of the largest challenges that Lady Avisa faces is that she is brought up to be equal to Knights and doesn't understand why she can't act accordingly. She is also concerned about why she is so attracted to Christian and why he seemed to constantly be frustrated by her.

This is the first offering I have ready by this author and I was impressed. Thought some sections seemed to drag others whipped by and made me laugh. If someone is looking for a strong woman character in a medieval romance look no further.

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