History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Sheila Hicks: Weaving as Metaphor (Bard Graduate Centre for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design & Culture)

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Sheila Hicks: Weaving as Metaphor (Bard Graduate Centre for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design & Culture)

Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Artists, A-Z | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0300116853

Book Description

This intriguing book examines the small woven and wrought works artist Sheila Hicks has produced for the past fifty years. With their distinctive colors, thoughtful compositions, and narrative, these miniature creations reveal the emergence and continuity of the artist’s approach to her work. Internationally recognized for her mastery of a textile vocabulary of extremely different scales—sculpture, tapestry, site specific commissions for public spaces, environments of recuperated clothing and uniforms, and more—Hicks has thoughtfully crafted miniatures throughout her nomadic career. The palm-sized works present a record of her remarkable and personal journeys.
Focusing on some one hundred miniatures from public and private collections, the book demonstrates the breadth of Hicks's concerns: her persistent inquiry into the mysteries of color, her playful yet reverential subversions of weaving traditions, her surprising range of materials, and her exploration of new technology. From initial experiments based on pre-Columbian weaving structures to a 2005 sculptural project using ninety colors of synthetic filaments, these small works offer a unique opportunity to access and examine the artist's conceptual and technical forays. The volume includes informative essays by Arthur C. Danto, Joan Simon, and Nina Stritzler-Levine as well as illustrations of the artist’s working tools, related drawings, photographs, and chronology.

Electrochemical Methods: Fundamentals and Applications

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Great book for fundamentals of electrochemistry
Second Edition updated
Excellent reference

Electrochemical Methods: Fundamentals and Applications
Allen J. Bard , and Larry R. Faulkner
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Analytic | Chemistry | Science | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0471043729

Book Description

This edition is fully revised to reflect the current state off the field.
* Significant additions include ultramicroelectrodes, modified electrodes, and scanning probe methods.
* Many chapters have been modified and improved, including electrode kinetics, voltammetric methods, and mechanisms of coupled chemical reactions.

Customer Reviews:

Great book for fundamentals of electrochemistry.......2007-02-24

This book is a great one to brush up on your fundamentals of electrochemistry and a must-have-on-your-bookshelf item for electrochemists. The latest edition also covers sections on modern day applications of electrochemical methods and serves as a good reference to understand the techniques.

Second Edition updated.......2001-05-03

The 1st edition (the 1980 version) was the gold standard of electrochemistry books, and the authors have done an excellent job of revision for the 2001 2nd edition. In particular, the sections on impedance and modern pulse methods flow nicely. The spectroscopy section has been updated as well. I have not worked many problems, but they seem useful in elucidating concepts. The mathematics is of a higher order than one expects from electrochemistry, showing the impact of kinetics on electrode processes nicely. I recommend this text for electrochemistry courses highly.

Excellent reference.......1997-07-27

This is a very complete and thorough book, and covers all of the fundamentals. It suffers from being somewhat out-of-date (1980), so it does not cover modern techniques (e.g., x-ray, STM) or single-crystal electrodes.

It can be rough for the first-time student, but it's a must for the serious researcher. I often spend hours working on a problem, only to discover the answer is buried in here!

Average customer rating:

Worst book about Project management

Book Full of Errors

This is not the book.

Many Errors

Project Management: Processes, Methodologies, and Economics (2nd Edition) (Prentice-Hall International Series in Industrial and Systems Engineering)
Avraham Shtub , Jonathan F. Bard , and Shlomo Globerson
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Project Risk Management: A Proactive Approach (Project Management Essential Library)

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Third Edition (PMBOK Guides)

Project Management Institute Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures

Managing Organizational Change

SimProject Player's Manual and Access Code

ASIN: 0130413313

Book Description

Centering on theory and practice, this book presents tools and techniques most suited for modern project management. From budgeting to scheduling and control, the authors show the relationship between project planning and implementation. Expands analytic techniques using the latest standard software. Contains fundamental concepts in project management. Builds case studies with continuing compounded information. For those interested in learning more about project management and as a reference for managers, engineers and technology experts.

Customer Reviews:

Worst book about Project management.......2006-03-31

The authors didn't go through in details how to calculate Present worth, installments, etc.Before using this book, it is better to read Principles of Engineering Economy textbook.

Book Full of Errors .......2005-09-07

This was a required textbook for a graduate-level project management class I am taking. Unfortunately, it is full of mathematical errors (Our professor pointed out 4 errors during one class session alone!). The other major downfall to the book is that it is heavily skewed toward an engineering perspective of project management and does not consider a business approach. I have had better financial textbooks explain formulas to use when calculating future and present value of cash flows in a more straightforward manner than this book. If you must buy this book, buy it used and save a few dollars.

This is not the book........2003-11-30

If you want to learn project management or get better at it, don't read this book. It brushes over important concepts and spends and inordinate amount of words attempting to describe the profession. It assumes detailed knowledge, gives very poor examples and, in summary, is a total waste of time.

Many Errors.......2003-05-04

The material contained in the text is generally well written and well organized, but beware of using it as your only source of information. There are an unacceptable amount of errors in the text which can lead to a very frustating learning experience. The authors do a good job of incorporating many real-world examples into the text which helps the reader to avoid becoming bogged down in theory.

Humanists and Reformers: A History of the Renaissance and Reformation

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Thorough and Friendly

Humanists and Reformers: A History of the Renaissance and Reformation
Bard Thompson
Manufacturer: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

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Civilization & Culture | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

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Customer Reviews:

Thorough and Friendly.......2001-02-05

I have been reading sections of this book for a class in Church History that I am co-teaching this semester, and I love it. Thompson does an inspiring job at making each individual a "real person" for the reader, which is often hard to find in history texts. Also, his in-depth and thorough look at both movements and people never becomes pedantic or tiresome, but rather creates a greater context into which these elements truly make sense. His writing is reachable, clear, humorous - friendly to the casual and professional student of the Reformation. Highly recommended!

Insurgency and Terrorism: From Revolution to Apocalypse; 2nd Ed., Revised

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A great book to understand insurgency and terrorism
The Textbook on Insurgency and Counterinsurgency
Great Reference
Beginning to Develop a Science of Terrorism

Insurgency and Terrorism: From Revolution to Apocalypse; 2nd Ed., Revised
Bard E. O'Neill
Manufacturer: Potomac Books Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Strategy | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Military Science | History | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1574881728

Book Description

A systematic, comprehensive, and straightforward textbook for analyzing and comparing insurgencies and terrorist movements, Insurgency and Terrorism was first published in 1990 to broad acclaim. Observers, scholars, students, military personnel, journalists, and government analysts worldwide found it worthy of study. Now Insurgency and Terrorism has been thoroughly revised and updated to cover activity that has since occurred in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Philippines, Colombia, and elsewhere and to address the new tactics and weapons used—and threatened. Author Bard E. O'Neill, the director of studies of insurgency and revolution at the National War College, addresses insurgencies with respect to ultimate goals, strategies, forms of warfare, the role and means of acquiring popular support, organizational dynamics, causes and effects of disunity, types of external support, and government responses. Course syllabi included.

Customer Reviews:

A great book to understand insurgency and terrorism.......2006-08-08

I have read the first edition of this book and I found it very useful to understand insurgency and terrorism. Moreover I wish I had read this book when I was in Colombia or in Haiti where we had to deal with insurgencies. In my opinion the book is an important tool for the intelligence analyst because it shows a framework to analyze the complex phenomenon of guerilla and insurgency. It was very valuable for me to learn about the four strategic approaches (conspiratorial - military focus - protracted popular war - and urban warfare)

As I wrote above, I read the first edition, so I don't know if the ideas that I'm going to write about are been included or not. The first one is about the "Legal Warfare" that was developed by the Insurgencies in Colombia and Argentina. It consists in accused soldiers of violations of human's rights. On almost every occasion they were false accusations. Therefore, they were judged and condemned by the civil authorities. However, nobody accused the terrorists of human right violations. The last one is about the insurgency that is developed from a defeated army. This is the case of what Col Volckmann said in his book "We remained" about the resistance in Philippines in World War II.

In conclusion, the book is brilliantly written and is very useful to understand and defeat insurgencies.

The Textbook on Insurgency and Counterinsurgency.......2006-03-15

Terrorism and Insurgency by Bard E. O'Neill, is an invaluable resource for those interested in understanding insurgency and the relevant factors that lead to its success or failure.

This book appears to be written for a classroom audience (the author in fact provides a proposed semester-length class schedule complete with lesson plans and assigned reading). However, O'Neill also has government analysts and policy makers in mind. Throughout the book, and especially in chapters covering government response and the conclusion, he stresses the value of providing as complete a picture as possible while keeping in mind objectivity and maintaining an unbiased approach to analysis.

O'Neill begins his book by looking at insurgencies and the related fields of terrorism and guerilla warfare. His framework for analysis includes understanding the nature of the insurgency, insurgent strategies, both political and military, understanding the physical as well as human environment, organization, and the role of external support.

In the final chapter, O'Neill lays out a comprehensive lense through which a government analyst could view its adversary and policy makers can create successful counterinsurgency operations. Urging the avoidance of polemics and shortsightedness, O'Neill provides a credible and realistic lense through which to create effective countermeasures.

O'Neill helps to settle many unhelpful arguments and issues for analysts. For example, he rejects the false dichotomy of freedom fighter versus terrorist, as one deals with ends (freedom fighter) and one is a means to get their (terrorism). As such, a freedom fighter can use terrorist tactics to achieve his ends.

Also, a driving factor that many insurgencies use to determine their strategies are the physical and human environment around them and the perceived and real government response. Understanding this is invaluable both for insurgents and counterinsurgency operations.

The ideology, or political campaign, the insurgent group promotes, serves the valuable function of differentiating friend from foe. Providing an alternative to this ideology is integral to separating insurgents from the majority population (assuming the insurgents are a minority).

Many insurgencies survive through external support from other states or insurgent groups. One method students and analysts can use to find weaknesses to exploit is by knowing which insurgent groups do and do not receive external support and the motives for the disparity.

Finally, many responses to insurgency fail because of inflexibility, sloppiness, ignorance, bias, anger, bureaucratic imperative or psychological aversion. These failings create often flawed and fatally mistaken counterinsurgency strategies. Avoiding this should be of primary concern.

Great Reference.......2006-02-17

This is an excellent book. The author is a well known and respected expert of the field. The book begins with an introduction that attempts to level set and baseline definitions and meanings. Although this may appear to be semantics, the differences both subtle and great is important. The book is well organized it is easy to refer to a specific chapter or section in the event you need a quick refresher and or reference. The book is well written, concise and offers a large quantity of foot notes at the end of each chapter. This book is for both the expert and the novice.

Terry Tucker, Adjunct Professor, Military Studies/History University of Maryland and Senior Doctrine Developer SANGMP, Vinnell Arabia

Beginning to Develop a Science of Terrorism.......2005-07-27

I had never thought of insurgency and terrorism as having enough material to justify having a textbook on the subject. Then again I didn't realize just how many different insurgencies are going on at any one time. In fact, he concentrates on the contemporary world, only mentioning in passing that Roman Armies also fought insurgents.

Part of a scientific analysis is to classify them into types based on common attributes. By assigning names to these classes, we make it so that we can use these names and immediately know what kinds of programs have worked against them in the past, and of course what have not.

Dr. O'Neill has looked into the Types of Insurgencies, Politics and forms of Warfare, Insurgent Strategies, the Physical Environment, the Human Environment, Types of Popular Support, Organizational Structure, External Support, and Government Response.

Through these classifications, he is, for the first time beginning to draw together a consistent approach to the study of terroism. Perhaps this is the start of a Terrorism Science to go along with Naval Science or Military Science.

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A Place in History
Politically Correct Equals "Boring"
A Masterful Historical Novel
Berengaria Bares All ~ or ~ I'll Navarre Go Hungry Again
This book will surprise you!

Queen Without A Country
Rachel Bard
Manufacturer: Literary Network
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0971033382

Book Description

As 25 year old Berengaria of Navarre journeys on a ship bound for Sicily, little does she know what adventures and trials lie before her. She must face an indifferent husband, a domineering mother-in-law and the turbulent political climate of twelfth-century Europe. Will she find happiness amid such tribulations?

Customer Reviews:

A Place in History.......2007-03-15

I really enjoyed this book. I was curious about someone whom I may have heard mention about, but knew nothing except that she had been Richard I's wife. I knew a lot about him so I was interested. What I like about this book, compared to so many other historical fiction novels, is the lack of rediculous, embarrasing sexual descriptions. Also, the main character is not a super-woman, but someone who seems very real and good. She was someone I could relate to as opposed to a sexual goddess type that you usually find in these sorts of books. The historical information is extremely well-researched and presented in an interesting way. The characters are well-developed and likeable.

Politically Correct Equals "Boring".......2006-12-05

I love the story of Berengaria but have had a hard time finding out about her life after Richard. Therefore, I was very happy to find this book.

Unfortunately, the author is so preoccupied with not writing about any scandal that the book just becomes boring. For example,

Richard is portrayed as a man who likes men and women equally. But for some reason, he finds it very difficult to bed his wife.

His first betrothed Alice is mentioned in passing -- no mention of her affair with his father.

There is no explanation of the animosity between Philip the King of France and Richard. Nothing about their relationship.

Not only those scandals/rumors are missing but also some of the most exciting parts of the crusade! No mention is made of Richard's massacre of the Saracens! The crusade comes off as a very boring war.

I can't comment on the second half of the book about Berengaria after Richard since I know so little about her. But, if the first half is any indication, I will need to read a different book to get an idea of what kind of woman she really was.

A Masterful Historical Novel.......2006-11-09

Richard I of England's charisma reaches out and grabs us 800 years later. He is the epitome of the chivalrous medieval knight. But Richard's behavior toward his wife, Queen Berengaria, reveals a cold, callus aspect of his personality.

From casual reading I have noticed that many accounts of Richard's life mention that he married Berengaria, daughter of King Sancho VI of Navarre on May 12, 1191 in Cyprus. However, some biographers do not mention the marriage at all! Many state that the marriage was never consummated. Aside from the marriage, Berengaria is rarely mentioned in connection with Richard.

With this meager knowledge, I was eager to read Queen Without a County. Who was this woman? Why did she have such a weird name? What became of her after her marriage?

Rachel Bard has done a masterful job with this difficult subject. Facts are scarce. But she sticks to those at her disposal. There is a love interest Bard admits may not have occurred. But she believes the little evidence available indicates that it might have happened.

Because of the lack of information, to do justice to the subject, Bard was compelled to write a novel, not a history. Using her imagination in conjunction with the facts, she creates a warm, injured, patient woman who overcomes incredible obstacles. Bard's Berengaria is not a 21st century woman wearing long dresses and strange headgear. Berengaria is woman of the Middle Ages. She has medieval interests: doing embroidery; copying manuscripts from Arabic into Latin; building a monastery. Berengaria has medieval morals (e.g., she worries about when to cover her hair) and a medieval concept of herself as a woman.

A 21st century woman would not put up with kind of abuse to which Berengaria was subjected. Berengaria patiently put up with it for years and blamed herself as much as Richard.

Most historians seem to agree that Richard was at fault for Berengaria's problems. Some believe Richard was a womanizer and that no single woman could hold his interest. Most writers, however, seem to believe that Richard was gay. He was simply not sexually interested in his beautiful wife. Because Richard was not interested in her, it seems that the rest of his world scarcely gave her a glance. Because of that, history is not interested in her. The different perspective on Richard Lionheart will intrigue those interested in this period.

Berengaria Bares All ~ or ~ I'll Navarre Go Hungry Again.......2002-12-26

The author Bard (aptly named!) has crafted an ingenious combination of historic fact and valid conjecture into a novel that tells the story of an important and practically forgotten Basque woman. Thanks to Bard's efforts, Berengaria has escaped being a figure lost in history, and has risen out of the mists of obsolescence into the light of historic fiction.

Berengaria deserves this study. Her husband, Richard the Lionhearted, is certainly well known. Yet virtually nothing is known about his wife, nor the country she came from. How many of us can say they feel well-informed about Navarre and/or the Basques? And of those of you that have raised your hand, how many of you can say you know anything about Berengaria? If your hand isn't still up, buy and read this book. Even if your hand is up, do the same.

Well done, bard Bard! What's next? I can't wait!

This book will surprise you!.......2002-12-19

I can only honestly judge a book once I've finished it. And this one is a winner. There are no unfinished storylines nor unresolved issues in this story. Bard did her research well, and managed to bring history alive. The author was apt at weaving a particularly intriguing story among a myriad of historical facts. Most important of all, the writing is clean, her words very well chosen. For me, the topper was the sense of humor in the writing.Example:"Fortunately the city looked calm. No arrows were flying over the walls." Hmmm, READ THIS BOOK YOU'LL LOVE IT!

Shakespeare's Christmas (The Third Lily Bard Mystery)

Average customer rating:

great book in a great series
Shakespeare's Christmas
Ho Ho Hum
Ho ho ho...
murder, kidnappings, molestation - this book has it all

Shakespeare's Christmas (The Third Lily Bard Mystery)
Charlaine Harris
Manufacturer: Dell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0440234999
Release Date: 2005-03-01

Book Description

Even in a sleepy Arkansas town, the holidays can be murder.

Lily Bard is going home for the holidays. More comfortable in baggy sweats than bridesmaid's frills, Lily isn't thrilled about attending her estranged sister's wedding. She has moved to Shakespeare, Arkansas, to start a new life, cleaning houses for a living, trying to forget the violence that once nearly destroyed her. Now she's heading back to home and hearth--just in time for murder.

The town's doctor and nurse have been bludgeoned to death at the office. And Lily's detective boyfriend suddenly shows up at her parents' door. Jack Leeds is investigating an eight-year-old kidnapping and the trail leads straight to Lily's hometown. It just might have something to do with the murders...and her sister's widowed fiancé. With only three days before the wedding, Lily must work fast to clean up the messy case before her sister commits...marriage!

Customer Reviews:

great book in a great series.......2007-01-17

I love this series and this book lives up to expectations. I think the author is very talented.

Shakespeare's Christmas.......2007-01-04

I loved this book! Then again I love anything that is written by Charlaine Harris. She is a fabulous writer, I get lost in her books.

Ho Ho Hum.......2006-05-06

This was the only installment of the Lily Bard series I had not read because there were only two copies in my county's entire library system (versus the half-dozen copies of the others). Now I know why it was given so little representation on the bookshelves. I saw this mystery coming a mile away, and midway through chapter four I lost my patience and headed straight for the end. This is not the same Lily Bard in the earlier installments -- she's overly occupied with her clothing (and ye gods, the descriptions are awful). I can't believe Charlaine Harris wrote this, it's so uninspired. Luckily, I had also checked out a copy of "Grave Sight," her newest series, which had me hooked with the first paragraph.

Ho ho ho..........2005-06-06

In this 3rd installment into Miss Lily Bards life, we are treated to a trip back to Lilys hometown. Varena, Lilys sister, is getting married and Lily is to be her maid of honor. While away, Lily gets herself involved in yet more trouble when she stumbles across two bodies in a doctors office.
Shakespeares Christmas didnt disappoint. There was murder, mystery, humor...and Jack. Oh how Im loving Jack.
This is another great addition to the series. Read it.

murder, kidnappings, molestation - this book has it all.......2003-07-05

In the third Shakespeare book featuring Lily Bard, the victim of gang-rape years earlier (and consequently murdering one of the rapists), the former future-housewife turned cleaning lady is on a visit home, to attend her sister Varena's wedding... right before Christmas.

She has barely settled down in her hometown of Bartley, Arkansas, when the small town's doctor and nurse are killed... and she, along with her sister, are the first ones to find them. Sooner than later, her lover - Jack Leeds - comes to town. Being a detective, he is planning on finding out who kidnapped Summer Dawn, eight years before.

Lily joins in on the investigation, planning to help Jack, since she's a native to the town. When one of three girls, who may or may not be Summer Dawn, turns out to be her sister's future husband's daughter, it becomes personal.

Book Description

When cleaning lady Lily Bard discovers the dead body of her nosy landlord, her plan of starting a quiet new life may end in her death.

Customer Reviews:

Compelling.......2007-09-13

Charlaine Harris excels at writing characters who grab my imagination. Sookie Stackhouse. Harper Connelly. And now Lily Bard. There is no supernatural layer to "Shakespeare's Landlord" as there is in the other two series, but again we meet a character who has a burden that makes her an outsider. Lily's backstory is painful, making her social withdrawal understandable, and the picture Harris paints of Lily's life and her fears of opening up to others is stark and poignant. "Shakespeare's Landlord" is a good mystery but also a great story.

Another great series by Charlaine Harris.......2007-02-11

Lily Bard is a woman with a tortured past, literally. She has come to the sleepy town of Shakespeare to escape that past, to a place where no one will know her and what happened to her. She cleans houses for a living, which lets her live on the fringes of society but not part of it. A man is found dead in the apartment house next door to where she lives and someone uses her trash can to dispose of the body. To protect her secret Lily is drawn into the lives of people that could expose her secret, so she has to find out who killed her neighbor, before they find out about her. Lily Bard is one of the best drawn female characters of any mystery series I have read. This woman feels real, you really feel her pain and her determination to never be a victim again. The story draws you in, I couldn't put it down and couldn't wait to get the next one in the series. I highly recommend this book.

Hauntingly Vivid Dark Cozy.......2006-09-23

In the 1st book in the Lily Bard Mystery series, we are introduced to the complex character of Lily Bard. Lily is healing from emotional and physical scars she received in a brutal attack several years before, and has moved to the small town of Shakespeare, Arkansas, to escape the horror of that experience. On an evening that she has trouble sleeping, she watches an unknown person transport a dead body to the arboretum across the street from her home. The killer dumps the body, and leaves Lily to decide whether to expose herself and her secrets to the police, or to leave the dead body exposed to the elements. She provides an anonymous tip to the police, and finds herself as a target for violence once again. Working closely with the chief of police, Lily struggles to catch a killer while learning to heal some of the deep wounds from her past.

This book grabbed me right from the beginning and wouldn't let go until I had finished it much, much later that night. A voracious reader, I could read a book a day...if my schedule permitted. With this book, however, the schedule flew out the window, I blocked out everything else, and I settled in for a nice rainy evening with a great book. I was quickly transported to the small town of Shakespeare into the troubled life of Lily. I loved her dark, brooding character and enjoyed watching her learn to open up and to begin to trust others while facing some of the demons from her past. Lily is a strong yet vulnerable character, and I look forward to watching her evolve and blossom in future installments in this series.

Most books in the cozy genre are not as dark or haunting, and I found my thoughts returning to Lily long after I had finished the book. Lily reminds me somewhat of Kinsey Millhone, and if you are a fan of the series by Sue Grafton, you may want to give this book a try.

The next book in the series is called "Shakespeare's Champion". Enjoy!

The Shakespeare series are among the best genre novels I have ever read. Truly a class above........2006-06-28

I have one piece of advice to anybody interested in Shakespeare's Landlord: buy it, borrow it, whatever, just read it as soon as possible. Put it at the top of your pile. You'll be glad you did.

Lily Bard is one of the most compelling and, frankly, admirable heroines I have ever come across. She's got a very dark past, and from the very first page it's clear how much sheer will it has taken for her to make a new life for herself. Lily is independent, blunt, ass-kicking, solitary, and smart as hell.

The Shakespeare books are mysteries, and they're good ones, but the reason to read them is to watch Lily Bard's character grow and change. Charlaine Harris has a tremendous ability to infuse the most quotidien events with incredible depth, a true master of the 'show don't tell' school of writing. Her characters are both ordinary and monumental, and she writes about the South in a way that (really!) bears comparison to Faulkner and Toni Morrison.

The Shakespeare series in particular picks up on a lot of very delicate issues and tackles them head on: questions of race, class, and gender end up tangled in the crimes Lily has to solve. For women, in particular, thinking about how Lily has changed in response to her own past can be a real eye-opener.

Not a Southern Vampire in sight..........2006-02-20

But Ms. Harris's writing style is just as unique, and just as compelling.

I'm not a fan of mysteries, normally. They seem to fall into one of two groupings: the Dame Agatha group and the Deaver group.

The Marple mass always seem to have a little murder with supper. They are slightly horrified, but everything seems so silly... the death is never really... real.

The Deaver denizen are just the opposite. A killer is always a serial killer, and they're always out to find nastier ways to kill, gorier trophies, and trickier ways of hiding themselves among the population.

Ms Harris's mystery leans more toward the Murder She Wrote grouping. The murder is treated as a puzzle, and the victim almost as a side story. But the reason for this is we're learning the life of Ms. Lily Bard, and her chosen environs of Shakespeare, AK.

Early on, Lily discloses the icky feeling that the victim gave her, so the lack of concern with his murder is totally explicable. Also, Ms. Bard has quite a back story of her own, and I found myself turning the pages just to see how she'd react in different situations.

I read this in an afternoon. I love Ms. Harris's writing style - if you're a Sookie fan, I think you'll like this simply because of the lead character. I also think if you like the first group of mysteries above, you'll like this. There are enough little twists and turns to make the pulp mystery reader happy.

Heck, I'll probably even read the rest of the series when they're available at the library. I don't usually do that for series...

(*)>

Shakespeare's Champion (The Second Lily Bard Mystery)

Average customer rating:

Read this and you won't be disappointed.
Worth the wait
Lily Bard doesn't walk away from a fight.
Great as all of Ms. Harris's books
Shakespeare at its best...

Shakespeare's Champion (The Second Lily Bard Mystery)
Charlaine Harris
Manufacturer: Berkley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0425213102

Amazon.com

No steel magnolia, Lily Bart is one blunt, tough Southern woman--a tiny, karate-chopping, bodybuilding dynamo who's come to Shakespeare, Arkansas, to restart her life after a series of traumatic events just hinted at in this second novel in Charlaine Harris's series (after Shakespeare's Landlord). When she slips into her gym for an early morning workout and finds Del Packard with a barbell across his throat, she doesn't think for more than a second that it's an accident. Not when it's the third death in a couple of months in a town hardly big enough for its own WalMart. Then the blue broadsheets with thinly veiled hints of white supremacist activity start turning up under the windshield wipers of every car on Main Street. Lily's a relative newcomer to Shakespeare, but as a cleaning woman for the local landed gentry, she's privy to many secrets that most outsiders never learn. When a handsome stranger keeps turning up at the scene of an increasingly bizarre series of events, including a burglary at one of her regular clients and a bombing in a black church, she suspects he may be more than an innocent bystander. Which is too bad, because he stirs up desires that Lily hasn't felt for any man for a very long time. Lily Bard is a complex woman who embodies many of the contradictions of the modern South--its dark side as well as its charm--and this suspenseful, deftly written novel will send new fans scrambling to read its predecessor. --Jane Adams

Book Description

When Lily stumbles upon the well-built corpse of a local body builder-his neck broken by a barbell-the town's underlying racial tension begins to boil over. The white victim was somehow connected to two unsolved murders of black residents of Shakespeare-and a dogged policeman is determined to stop the killing. But it is Lily herself who may have to decide whether to stay and fight for justice, or run away one more time.

Customer Reviews:

Read this and you won't be disappointed........2007-05-14

The Shakespeare Series is an experience. I began reading the series and was unsettled by the experiences of the main character Lily Bard. YOU can't help but be devastated by her tale but it is her strength, will, determination, character and resolve that will keep you reading more about this complex woman.

Worth the wait.......2007-03-29

I waited over a year to get this book before it was rereleased, having come across the series only recently, and it was well worth it. I just wish Ms. Harris would write more in the series, although Lily and her husband made a cameo in the Pooky Stackhouse series, it wasn't enough.

Lily Bard doesn't walk away from a fight........2007-03-23

Shakespeare's Lily Bard is uncomfortable again, and she doesn't like it. The small town has become her home, her comfort zone, and now there are people disturbing that equilibrium. Two people have been murdered. One, a black teenager, was almost certainly racially motivated. The other may or may not have been in response to the first killing. The latest victim, Del Packard, seems an unlikely candidate: he's a weight lifter trying to win a competition. Whoever killed him let 300 pounds sit on his neck. Not pretty.

Lily does eventually figure out who is behind the white supremacy group, but not before more people die and some of her good friends are seriously injured. In CHAMPION, Lily finds herself having to choose between staying out of the limelight, which she abhors, or confronting evil. Being the strong woman that she is, Lily does not walk away from the fight. Anyone who has read the first in the series, SHAKESPEARE'S LANDLORD, will not be surprised. Ms. Bard doesn't go looking for fights, but she doesn't back down worth a damn.

Great as all of Ms. Harris's books.......2007-02-13

I loved this book - the small town characters ring true, and Lily is a very complex and interesting character. The character development from one book to the next in this series is fascinating. I usually tend more towards "cozy" mysteries, but I rather enjoyed some of the darker aspects of this book.

Shakespeare at its best..........2005-05-27

Its a day like any other. Lily Bard wakes and heads to Body Time to get in her daily workout, but as a favor to her friend Marshall(who is sick with the flu)Lily arrives early with the Gyms key to open for the day....when she walks in she is shocked to find a dead man. The 3rd dead man in Shakespeare in as many months....who was stalking the people of Shakespeare??

Coming to the conclusion of this mytery was wild fun and filled with twists and turns all over the place..not to mention more of your fave characters and a steamy hot new one :o)
I liked this installment even better than the first and I intend to devour the 3rd the moment it hits my mailbox. Charlaine Harris can write. Her dialogue flows fresh and natural and she has a real knack for mixing the serious and the scandalous with the fun and the flirty. I just adore her work. If you have not yet read this series, I wholeheartedly recommend it. It is soooo entertaining!

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