Subjects:  1. Action & Adventure    2. Cussler, Clive - Prose & Criticism    3. Fiction    4. Fiction - Espionage / Thriller    5. Oceanographers    6. Oil industry    7. Pitt, Dirk (Fictitious character)    8. Thrillers    9. Fiction / Thrillers   

Reviews (36)

Okay While On Pain Killers
I had a few days at home recovering from minor surgery. I was slugging my way through the latest Woodward book on Bush and decided I needed a lighter read so I picked up Book of Fate. I read it in 2 days and it kept my interest.In thinking about it afterwards neither the premise or the execution made any sense.The whole issue concerning Jefferson and the Code was never part of the story.Characters were introduced and never followed through.
Waste of Time and Money
Previous Meltzer books were good reads.This one sucks. Don't waste your money buying a book that has no business anywhere near the bestsellers list.Even one of those formulaic books from Patterson and whoever would be a better use of your time and money.

garbage
I have read all of Meltzers books and have to say that I am shocked at just how bad Book Of Fate is. Meltzer has a lot of talent. Its apparent if you read his earlier books. Sadly it is greatly mis-spent here.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - Espionage / Thriller    3. Political    4. Political fiction    5. Suspense fiction    6. Thrillers    7. Fiction / Thrillers   

Reviews (181)

terrific lampooning of the genre
THE ZOMBIE SURVIVAL GUIDE is a terrific lampooning of the genre as Max Brooks (with illustrator Max Werner) warns people to take these attacks seriously or else within twenty-three hours be dead and reanimated as a slow limping creature (that is why they instinctively hunt in packs).Mr. Brooks provides a historical perspective over the millenniums of documented Zombie attacks and what to do and more important not to do when the real judgment day occurs as the dead rise to increase their ranks.Filled with tips on combat (if a choice flight rather than fight), key supplies (two pairs of socks), and how not to lose loved ones to a Zombie.Readers will find this an amusing satire on survival, horror movies and books, and George Romero as obviously Max squared have insider information that a zombie traitor must have leaked, but the humor holds up better by reading small bites over time.
F**KING BRILLIANT!!!
I expected to be disappointed with this book . . . but it is destined to be a classic!And when I read the section on "zombie outbreaks throughout history," it was written so convincingly that I actually did a series of Google searches to see what came up!Apparently, the guvmint has suppressed all mention of these events . . . .
Great Read.
This book is a wonderful piece of fiction. I hesitate to really call it "humor", because while I find it amusing that the book is presented as deathly serious, it doesn't really make me laugh while reading it. Rather, I think this book is just well-designed as a no-nonsense guide to living through a Zombie attack. Perhaps the best thing about the book is that it advises you NOT to be a hero, it warns against trying to take on hordes of undead. It tells you to be reasonable; avoid confrontation unless necessary. It treats its reader as an average suburbanite.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Form - Parodies    2. General    3. Humor    4. Monsters    5. Zombies    6. Humor / General   

Editorial Review

In Read more

Reviews (1150)

The politically correct shall inherit the earth
Mr. Bradbury's prophetic work has come to pass in the politically correct world of thought controlled by political expediency and special interests.
Thought provoking, but not amazing
What made me pick up this book in the first place was everyone's fixation on how "thought-provoking" and "different" it was. I read it, and found myself agreeing with some aspects, confused by others, and downright bored by some.
read me
Fahrenheit 451 is a read rich with a delicious story and social commentary.Guy Montag lives in a world made ironic because of the stark contrast to the way we wish our society was today.Firemen don't keep people safe from fires, they bust into houses starting fires.Scholars and professors live on the outside of society because of their love for books, philosophy, and sociology where in our world professors are on the inside and the ignorant majority are on the outside because of their lack of interest for the said disciplines.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Literature - Classics / Criticism    3. Science Fiction    4. Science Fiction - General    5. Book burning    6. Censorship    7. Fantasy    8. Fiction    9. Fiction / Science Fiction / General    10. Science fiction, American   

Reviews (33)

You're kidding me, right?
Not insightful, not even humorous. I am willing to admit that maybe I just don't get his writing style, whatever that might be. I hope Mr. Rakoff gets into a new line of work

Well Written, but Non-Productive
This is some brilliant writing.It moves right along, it keeps you interested, and it has a very clear voice and strong point of view.I defintely think it's worth reading, but it's like a bucket of KFC -- delicious, satisfying, but probably bad for you.

ShoppersParadise
If you're like a man like me, you hate to shop. But my wife is a shopaholic, that's why I've found this book to be so delightful, I didn't actually have to leave the house, to go shopping. Too bad it doesn't really count with my wife, I'm going to the mall where I'll sit on anything stationary this afternoon
Read more

Subjects:  1. American - General    2. American Satire And Humor    3. Essays    4. Form - Essays    5. Humor    6. Social Science    7. Sociology    8. Social Science / Essays   

Subjects:  1. Anthologies (multiple authors)    2. Fiction - General    3. General    4. Literary Collections    5. Literature: Classics    6. Middle Eastern    7. Literary Collections / General   

Reviews (5)

A Fish Out Of Water

BEWARE Lynley & Havers fans -they aren't in this book! Don't buy it!
How could Elizabeth George even think of letting her fans down like this? I've never before been moved to write a review but this book is a literary crime that cannot go unpunished!(Wish it had gone unpublished though.) Ever since I read George's first Lynley mystery, I've bought each subsequent new one as it was released. I've never been disappointed - until now. That's not to say I don't have some gripes with George; I do. For one, she's long-winded and seems to get more so with every passing book. Readers don't need a description of every locale on a given London road to believe that the author, self-consciously and insurmountably American, has been there. More irritatingly though, and no doubt stemming from the same self-consciousness, her overuse of Brit vernacular and colloquialisms is forced and rings false compared with true British writers, who have no need to prove where they are from. But to her credit, she has created a cast of winning characters and I tune in every time to see what has happened in Lynley's and Havers' worlds. Especially after the last book shockingly killed off a major character, we deserved to be rewarded for waiting and plunking down our money. I want to know how Lynley is coping with the death of his wife, and what is happening with emotionally-scarred Deborah, who was first on the crime scene? And what about Barbara Havers, the character with whose creation George struck pure gold? Both Havers' professional and private lives are utterly engaging ongoing sagas (when will she get together with that neighbor of hers?) and I feel completely ROBBED not to have received the next installment. Worse yet is the book itself, which I dumped after a tedious first chapter (and after I flipped through the rest of it thinking I could find the parts with Lynley et al. Trust me, they aren't there).George's attempt to write completely outside her milieu and misleadingly foist it on her loyal mystery-reading public strikes me as pretentious and patronizing - towards both the subject and the audience.She is off my "authors to trust for a good read" list. True British mystery lovers, wondering what to read now, might try Kate Atkinson's "Case Histories" and "One Good Turn" for superb writing and storytelling. The latter, her newly published sequel about detective Jackson Brodie, kept me up all night, entertained and awed. If only Ms. George's latest had done the same.

What Came Before He Shot Her
What a let down when I started reading this book, I had been waiting months for the new Elizabeth George novel with Inspector Lynley and all his sidekicks. What do I get? A lesson in class and race and why the disenfranchised have a reason to kill. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - Mystery/ Detective    3. Mystery & Detective - General    4. Mystery & Detective - Women Sleuths    5. Mystery fiction    6. Mystery/Suspense    7. Fiction / Mystery & Detective / General   

Editorial Review

Since his debut in 1951 as Read more

Features

• Unabridged

Reviews (2665)

Nothing incredible
This book rather disappointed me. It wasn't able to catch my attention, and didn't really have a point. There wasn't really a plot, and the character was a rather flat, bland young man. The writing style was interesting, certainly, but it got extremely annoying and repetitive after a while. Too many things were used again and again, which didn't help this story one bit.
American Classic
This coming of age story should be read by everyone. However, smart young people will gain more from it than less observant (or more stupid) young people. Take the test, if you like the book, then chances are you are smart. If you didn't like the book, or you didn't read the book, then you are probably stupid.

"...incredibly attractive breakdown."
Some people really hate this book -- I can see why you think Holden is irritating, but...it's not that he's right about things, or that you're meant to think he's right. Or that you should even BELIEVE half the things he says. He's not going to come out and say,
Read more

Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Fiction    3. Literature - Classics / Criticism    4. Literature: Classics    5. Fiction / Classics    6. Modern fiction   

Editorial Review

In his debut novel, Read more

Reviews (1561)

Moving story...richly envisioned characters
This first novel, from an Afghanistan immigrant, feels like a memoir.I had to wonder how much of it was fiction, and how much came from Hosseni's own life, particulary the early passages.Either way, it is a stirring work and a wonderfully fast and engrossing read.
This book hit the whole gamut of emotions.....wonderful read!
It took me all of two days to read this book.It was one of those ones I couldn't put down once I started it and then when I was done I couldn't stop talking about it.Great book that I would recommend to anyone.

Un-put-downable
Absorbing.I especially appreciated the writer's straightforward, clear style.He follows the golden rule ... show, don't tell... marvellously. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. General    4. Short Stories (single author)    5. Fiction / General   

Reviews (4)

Mix of the fantastic and the mundane
Neil Gaiman weaves the threads of fairy tales, mythology and archetypes throughout his fiction, which, combined with a writing style that's simple and adorned with elegant turns of phrases, has made him one of the leading figures in fantastic fiction. "Fragile Things," his collection of short stories and poems, contains excellent stories about desire and loss, a few wonderful riffs on genre fiction, a bunch of middling stories and poems and a few bones for Gaiman completists and Tori Amos fans.
Wonderful and Entrancing
You could probably spend hours hunting down these various stories online. Why do that when this book collects some of Neil Gaiman's best work in one easy-to-find source? Filled with award-winning shorts this book is awesome to say the least. It is worth it solely for the American God's story involving Shadow, but this book contains many more enchanting, enticing and otherwise delicious stories ready to be devoured. If you haven't read Neil's work - you should. I have yet to find an author who matches his prose style and dreamy quality of writing (no pun intended). Terribly unique as an author, Neil Gaiman continues to delight in this book. You won't be disappointed with Fragile Things.

Great
I just purchased this, so I haven't had the time to read all the stories yet.However, what I have read, was classic Neil Gaiman, by which mean, very good.Every story is amusing or disturbing, in only the way that Gaiman can write.He has an amazing imagination and a distinct voice.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. General    4. Popular English Fiction    5. Short Stories (single author)    6. Fiction / General   

Reviews (9)

Very useful
I needed to order this book for a class. It is well written and easy to read. As a reading teacher I can say that I will keep this book as a reference long after the class has ended. This edition comes with a CD (or DVD) which I have not previewed yet, but the instructor of my class raves about it.

The best reading methods textbook I've found
I teach a course in elementary reading methods for undergraduate education students.This is the third textbook I've tried, and it is excellent! It has what students need to know about the theory and practice of teaching reading, written in a very readable, non-overwhelming way.Plus it has lots of practical teaching ideas.Our lab school saw it and ordered several copies for its teachers also.I highly recommend it.

A must have!!
I was first introduced to this book in one of my graduate literacy courses and I have been hooked every since.The teachers at my school pass it around constantly looking for ideas. My favorite aspect of this book is the fact that there are real teachers giving real examples of what works in their classrooms.There are no strategies that seem too hard implement in your classroom, because the layout is right there!!You know it can be done and it words because the examples in the book are proof!You don't feel like you are reading about some ideal or Utopia of a classroom. You are reading about REAL classrooms. I absolutely love it! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Education / Teaching    2. Elementary    3. Language    4. Language Arts & Disciplines    5. Language arts (Elementary)    6. Literacy    7. Literature    8. Reading (Elementary)    9. Study and teaching (Elementary    10. Study and teaching (Elementary)    11. Teaching Methods & Materials - Reading    12. Education / Teaching Methods & Materials / Reading    13. English    14. English (ie as school subject)    15. Teaching of a specific subject   

Reviews (322)

Excellent book!
Joan Didion is able to capture for the reader what a terrible ordeal losing any loved one is, let alone two within a very short time. She deals with the fast death of her husband and the longer, slow death of her daughter. The writing is excellent, the sadness you feel is unbelievably real. What's true is that in all of our lives, what is one way one minute can change ever so quickly the next.Ms. Didion captures this feeling to a tee.

A beautiful book, but it's not really intended for other people
I'm trying to think of how to delicately recommend against reading Joan Didion's latest (for which she won a National Book Award). Some disjointed notes:
Two types of Research
More than anything else, I think Didion's latest book shows her truest colorsas a reporter.Though ostensibly a memoir, The Year of Magical Thinking is at its center an in-depth investigative report on the effects of grief, from its onset and onward a year.Didion blends research in the "field" -- hospitals, all the venues of her own experience -- and research with doctors and through print media to give us not only a moving record of her own experiences, but also a critical study into the personal, psychological, physiological toll grief can take on a person.Like her earliest works, thisbook seems effortless, almost spoken, in very measured and easy prose, which seeps into the reader and makes you even more moved by her accounts.An excellent book, both from the stand point of memoir and reportage, and an exceedingly excellent book from the stand point of being both blended into one. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Didion, Joan    7. Didion, Joan - Prose & Criticism    8. Dunne, John Gregory - Prose & Criticism    9. Dunne, John Gregory,    10. Family relationships    11. Journalists    12. Literary    13. Novelists, American    14. Personal Memoirs    15. United States    16. Women    17. Biography & Autobiography / Literary   

Reviews (14)

The Original Erotic Horror Novel
When people mention erotic horror, which is a phrase thrown about continuously nowadays, I immediately think of Ray Garton's "Live Girls". There may have been other books that came before this one to pioneer the new sub-genre of horror but Live Girls was the first I was exposed to. In this regards, I find myself unbelievably lucky.
Unique, gritty, vampy...
Just now finished reading Live Girls. It's been a while since I've read straight horror and I reentered the genre with Ray Garton. I'm glad I did. The book was well-written with solid, realistic, flawed characters. Some of the things in there I hadn't seen before. I applaud Mr. Garton for breaking new ground - and for giving people new reason to avoid peep shows! Seems kind of obvious in hindsight that vampires would frequent the sex clubs - what a great way to shop for food! I'm glad to hear that there's a sequel and will be sure to read it.

I "Hole-Heartedly" Enjoyed Live Girls!
Ray Garton's Live Girls is everything a good horror novel should be: hip, edgy, fast-paced, and entertaining. But it goes one step further. It's everything a good vampire novel should be, leaving behind the Victorian trappings of Bram Stoker's Dracula and moving swiftly into twentieth-century Times Square. Thankfully there are no whining Anne Rice types brooding about the futility of life while sipping absinthe and applying black nail polish. This novel takes a fresh, original look at undead bloodsuckers and is more From Dusk Til Dawn than Interview with a Vampire. In my book, that's a very good thing.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction - Horror    2. Horror    3. Horror - General    4. Fiction / General   

Reviews (1209)

Avid Reader
I usually read one book and then open the next one without a thought. I finished this, sat down and had a good cry (which i never do) and spent some time leafing back through the pages to find out what touched me so much. Turns out it was the whole book and the intricate way the author painted a love story.

MOVING * UNUSUAL * HEARTBREAKING * IT JUST DRAWS YOU IN
I'm not very fond of fiction but after a recommendation from a bookstore employee, I decided to give it a chance and I am just GLAD I did. I totally loved this story. It's so unusual yet touching that you will not want to put it down.
Worthy of Re-Reading Every Now and Then
I've a copy of this one in my bedside table because every now and then I like to get it out and read a few pages, because it makes me feel good.
Read more

Subjects:  1. American First Novelists    2. American Science Fiction And Fantasy    3. Fantasy - General    4. Fiction    5. Fiction - Fantasy    6. Librarians    7. Married people    8. Science Fiction    9. Science Fiction - General    10. Time travel    11. Women art students    12. Fiction / General    13. Reading Group Guide   

Reviews (30)

Need to be a Turk or better to understand!!
The book is not for everyone who lacks imagination and emphaty to understand others. It is all about two personalities in one person; the Modern Turk who is divided between two personalities; Western and Eastern. It is not about the Italian captive and his Turkish master but the legacy of Ataturk, the Turk who has two souls, who is divided between two cultures, two sides of the world. Two personalities , Italian and Turk are the same...Well, it is all about Orhan Pamuk, and his recognition of being a Turk. That is he he got the nobel prize, that is why he is the best writer of this Century. He is not writing about others but "him-selves"...

What determines a 'great' book
One of the pleasures of reading is the ability to get inside someone else's mind.Especially interesting, for me, are the writings of someone who is from a totally different culture then mine.(The only caveat, of course, is that the translator, has the ability to reproduce the original author's intent and not supersede them with their own.An example of a 'poor' translation would be the first translations of Kafka by the Muirs.)
Early work but still good
This one is not in the same league of Snow and My Names is Red but it is still worth the read.If for nothing else, in reading The White Castle you can see the evolution of a truly great novellist and the man who should have won the Nobel last year instead of that Pinter. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - Historical    3. Historical - General    4. Literary    5. Fiction / Literary   

Editorial Review

"Until one morning in mid-November of 1959, few Americans--in fact, few Kansans--had ever heard of Holcomb. Like the waters of the river, like the motorists on the highway, and like the yellow trains streaking down the Santa Fe tracks, drama, in the shape of exceptional happenings, had never stopped there." If all Truman Capote did was invent a new genre--journalism written with the language and structure of literature--this "nonfiction novel" about the brutal slaying of the Clutter family by two would-be robbers would be remembered as a trail-blazing experiment that has influenced countless writers. But Capote achieved more than that. He wrote a true masterpiece of creative nonfiction. The images of this tale continue to resonate in our minds: 16-year-old Nancy Clutter teaching a friend how to bake a cherry pie, Dick Hickock's black '49 Chevrolet sedan, Perry Smith's Gibson guitar and his dreams of gold in a tropical paradise--the blood on the walls and the final "thud-snap" of the rope-broken necks. ... Read more

Reviews (371)

One of the best I've read.
I had no idea what this book was about when I bought it.It was years ago now, and I was given a list of "Good Books" to read as a present: A deck of cards, each card representing a great work in American Literature that everyone should read.This was one of the books.I liked it a lot. At the time, I had no idea who Capote was (I still don't) and it wasn't until recently when movie after movie keeps coming out about this "Capote" character that I realized he was the author of this book.It's a good book, and a well-told story, but I don't see why Capote has recently been thrown up on a pedestal and worshiped by Hollywood. Regardless, this book is worth your time.

amazing on all levels
Intrigued, I wondered how Capote could manage to write a book about a crime that, while gruesome, at first glance doesn't appear to be the sort to sustain a book. Upon starting it I was hooked, he not only found the story but manages to tell it from many different perspectives while keeping the raw emotion intact, putting you right there throughout. At the same time he comes across as unbiased in his telling. Not only does he create a genre with this book, he defines what it is at it's best. As an aside, to watch the movie Capote after reading this book makes clear the methods he used, unprecedented access to the criminals, etc. in order to create this masterpeice.

Beyond true crime
This is as near perfect as a book can get. Capote gets you inside each person he writes about like no one else. Remarkable. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Case studies    2. Criminology    3. Homicide    4. Kansas    5. Murder    6. Murder - General    7. Social Science    8. Sociology    9. True Crime / Espionage    10. Fiction / Literary   

Reviews (5)

Rick Evans Latest Novel A Winner
Finding Noel grabbed my attention from the very first chapter.As a devoted Evans reader, I found this book one of his best, matching it closely with his first, A Christmas Box.
A Warm Holiday Tale
Finding Noel is a sweet story which harkens back to the roots of the author's past Christmas themes of longing for loved ones and fighting for what's most important in this life... and then holding on tight!His fans are in for a wonderful holiday treat... something to savour and to share.

A sentimental tale for the holidays
Richard Evans has a history of writing touching stories.His first book The Christmas Box left many of our library patrons touched for weeks, most freely admitting to shedding many tears.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Abandoned children    2. Fiction    3. Fiction - General    4. Fiction - Religious    5. General    6. Religious - Romance/Contemporary    7. Romance - General    8. Romance: Modern    9. Sisters    10. Fiction / General   

Reviews (63)

Definitely not Alcott's "Little Women"
I started reading this book expecting to like it - it's historical, related to Little Women, won the Pulitzer, doesn't feel like fluff, etc. However I had a really difficult time getting into the book.
delicious writing
A lovely novel, albeit somewhat depressing.But war is