Donaldson is always worth the time investment
929423
The ninth book in Donaldson's ten-book sword and sorcery fantasy epic opens with the resurrection of Thomas Covenant, our hero. But was this a good idea? Normally, one would think so, but considering what has gone before in the previous eight volumes, perhaps not, since it has also awakened the Worm of the World's End. Kind of a drag before your first cup of coffee after returning from the dead.

In Against All Things Ending, the focal point of the story is no longer Thomas Covenant, but rather his lover and savior, Linden Avery, who is searching for her missing son, the mysterious Jeremiah, whose secrets may carry with them the salvation of all. As a matter of fact, Covenant is surprisingly weak and passive in this book.

The foundation of the complex plot that defines Donaldson's style is constructed with the sturdy building blocks of choices and their consequences. In our present day and age of helpless victim-hood, it is most refreshing to read of consequences that protagonists actually have the moral fiber and strength of character to accept and deal with.

There was a long gap between this book and the previous one in this series, and Donaldson bridges that with a detailed summary of each of the earlier tomes at the front of Against All Things Ending. Reading it over will undoubtedly bring those who have read his previous works up to speed nicely; however, if you haven't read the series up to this point, and are attempting to begin with this book, it will be tough going. Some authors, when writing a series, craft them so that each book is able to stand on its own. This is not one of them. Readers must begin at the beginning.

That being said, Donaldson is always worth the time investment and after reading the first volume, you will be eager to collect the entire set. You'll want to catch up before the story concludes in The Last Dark, Book Four of The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant and the tenth book in the series.

So what are you waiting for?
3147172
It took joining a local chess club and repeatedly getting clobbered right out of the opening to realize that in order to stand much of a chance I needed to invest more time in the study of opening theory. I already have a copy of MCO but it is heavy on spewing out moves, light on explanation and has more than a few typos that sometimes make following the variations difficult. I researched books on opening theory and finally settled on Watson's Mastering the Chess Openings series. This is a somewhat more costly resource than many of the others available (four volumes instead of a single book) but it's a worthwhile investment.

Volume 1 of the series deals with the majority of king pawn openings, 1. e4. It is certainly not exhaustive in that it does not cover every single variation of every king's pawn opening, but it has the large majority of what most chess players will encounter over the board. The openings covered include:

- Giuoco Piano
- Two Knights Defense
- Philidor's Defense
- Ruy Lopez
- King's Gambit
- Sicilian Defense
- Caro-Kann Defense
- French Defense
- Pirc Defense

Watson does a great job of explaining all of these opening systems (or opening defenses as appropriate). That is, rather than give a summary blurb about the opening and then just prattling on with move after move, he walks the reader through the opening, explaining the purpose behind each move. Then, once finished with the main sequence of moves, he includes one or more instructive games with relevant analysis and variations. This is so much more helpful than a cold and clinical presentation of silent moves.

Watson's writing style is very clear and approachable. He neither talks down to his readership nor does he assume that everyone has a doctorate in chess.

This is a superb series on chess openings which will leave the reader with a much clearer understanding of not just the moves involved in the openings but also an understanding of the purpose and goals of any given opening and variation covered. Although the cost of the series is more than that of a single volume it is well worth it.
1742260
Roger Angell has been writing essays in The New Yorker since 1960 and originally was a fiction essayist extraordinaire.  He first started writing about baseball in The New Yorker in about 1962.
 This compilation of essays tells the complete story from many different entities and factions of modern day baseball.  The Author weaves specific tales from eclectic viewpoints.  Some of these viewpoints are from the memories of people such as Smokey Joe Wood in "The Web of the Game" to Bob Gibson in "Distance".
 Also specific teams are a mainstay of Mr. Angell such as the New York Giants, New York Yankees, New York Mets, and Boston Red Sox and yes even the Cleveland Indians.  All these stories dwell on the people and the personalities of the game of baseball.  It's as if Mr. Angell is probing into the heart of the game as if we were there asking the questions and trying to find out the finer nuances of the game.
 Angell possesses the platinum pen of the best baseball writer of all.  His stories are timeless, so much so that I could read them over and over.  They cover the entire modern day era of baseball as we know it today.  Truly priceless!  9 Stars, it's that good!!!
524222
I remember watching Homer Bush when he was on what was arguably the greatest Major League Baseball team of all time, the 1998 New York Yankees. That team was dominant on all ends of the field, and won 125 games including the postseason, more than any team in history to date.

The team did it as a team, with a different hero every night, and people who followed that team will remember Homer Bush, the author of this book.

Homer had the difficult job of being someone who didn't play every day, yet despite not being a part of the daily lineup, he hit very well that season putting up an impressive .380 batting average in 78 plate appearances.

After he was traded to the Blue Jays the following year, where he earned the starting job, he hit .320.

He has since served as a hitting coach in the Padres organization, and basically, he knows hitting.

This book is written well, and goes into a detailed explanation about many facets of hitting, arguing that hitters should look for pitches low in the zone, as a means of upping their numbers. He talks about how sabremetrics can be overrated and why, and gives some thoughts on the shift that is hurting so many lefty batters today. He also gives some hitting tips as well.

The book is short, and definitely worth the time it takes because of the discussion it will generate.

I recommend it.
1737384
Fred Taylor has offered a highly readable, fast-paced journey through the hitters in baseball from the beginning to most recently.  For a book that is essentially statistical, he makes it easy to understand his thesis and follow his ideas from start to finish.  One secret of his is to describe each player and each era using the same criteria.  Since he doesn't end up comparing apples and oranges, it is easy to follow his logic.  You might disagree with his premise, but that's what baseball aficionados do around the hot stove. Fred has done a masterful job.  For the true baseball fan, I recommend this book highly.  Personally I wish he had found a few more notable Chicago Cub players;  but to be honest, there probably aren't that many.  Oh woe is me!!!  Heck, any team can have a bad century.
2703907
A definite must for any Donaldson reader!  I can't imagine the amount of work that must have went into the construction of this book!  The Land comes to life through meticulously researched and constructed illustrations  and maps.  Virtually all of the places presented in both the Covenant  series are illustrated and scaled.  Maps of Covenant's journey are drawn to  scale and labeled to correspond to events in the series.  A superbly  researched and constructed work. The perfect companion to one of (if not  the greatest) fantasy series of all time.  Excellent excellent excellent!  Since this book is out of print, if Amazon can't get one for you, go to  EBay and bid on one.  You can't fully appreciate the Covenant series  without having read it with Karen's book at your side.
333895
I've been reading this series off and on since i was in high school and it never dissapoints. The stories are always good and sometimes exceptional but never a waste of time. This volume contains the usual year in horror intro which is moderately interesting as well as the necrology, a list of various people involved in the genre who have died recently. The necrology is the one thing in this series i really don't see the point of but anyway if you're interested it's there for you. There is also a list of useful adresses, mostly various horror and genre fan clubs and writer associations. Right at the back is a list of small independent genre publishers which i found really interesting and a good guide for hunting out those hidden gems of books that will never make it into the big corporate book shops.
I have never been let down by this series and i will purchase next year's volume when it comes out. Hopefully this series will continue for many years to come.
4949660
The 1998 baseball season was, indeed, a memorable one, and Tim McCarver does a good job of reviewing it.  The McGuire/Sosa home run battle made it especially so, and their respect for each other and the game added to it.  Tim gives his opinions and analysis of events of the season which add to  the book's interest.  Brief chapters are devoted to such players as Dan  Quisenberry and Eric Davis.  The Yankees show what it takes to make a  winning team by their ability to win in whatever way the other team makes  available to them.  The book was easy to read and I found it interesting,  but I certainly wouldn't call it a classic by any means.
2838604
The whole series is fun. The premise is kept logical, the development is not off the wall, and the characters and structures are always interesting. This book is particularly engrossing, because the way the bad guys develop is entirely in keeping with how it is being done today in very real places. Although each book can stand alone, it is worth the effort to go back and start at the beginning and work your way forward.
3635259
The HBT Annual is packed with insightful, interesting and intelligent commentary on the game.  I can and do get stats, projections and all the info I could want online, but good writing is harder to find and worth having between book covers so I can read and reread it while waiting for Spring Training to start.
1880053
Baseball Mogul has earned my loyalty. Years of enjoyment. This version has some upgrades with the promise of more in a future patch.
3602221
I already have read and love Dreamhunter/Dreamquake - but, having read it and now listened to it, I have to admit that if there isn't some slight editing done to the audio version, this book was made to be a good audio book. There are frequent mini-recaps lasting about 10 seconds of previous events, and considering I have been listening to this on my commute to work over the past 2-3 weeks, these recaps are not only handy, but sometimes essential. I feel like I have a better understanding of the plot, thanks to this.

It takes a couple hours for the actress to hit her stride, and while I tend to prefer lower-pitched readers and noises in general, once she hits that stride she becomes one of my favorite readers. She does slight variations on the different voices that really do differentiate between the characters and add to their characterization - their personalities are caught well. There is a bit of acclimation every time a new character is added, but she does find the character after a short period.

I have never used an mp3 cd before, and I have to say I'm a huge fan of that too - this is a 2-disc set, which means that one can listen to this for a solid week without having to switch discs.

In conclusion: I am happy with the voice acting, I think this book is well-captured in audio format, I already knew I'd enjoy the book, and the mp3 cd format is downright handy. I waffled for a long time before buying this, but it's certainly been a good purchase.
1799080
I re-read this book at the start of every major league baseball season and learn more from it each time.  Throw away "Ball Four" and "The Boys of Summer" if you wish -----If you could keep only one  baseball book, this should be it. It takes us back to a time when life was  much more simple, and we were all closer to the land and the real game of  baseball. And, I might add, a time when pitchers could go more than 6  innings without calling to the bullpen for a set-up man and closer---how  about a thousand or two thousand innings? I fully agree with one of the  other reviewers thaat this would make a wonderful baseball movie ---a fine  follow-up to Field of Dreams. Enjoy! Earl Finkler, Barrow, Alaska
4278253
Some of the best 'inside the clubhouse" baseball writing since Ball Four.  You have Magic, Puig, the McCourt drama, the inside story on how the massive Gonzalez/Beckett deal with Boston went down, more Puig, Greinke, Ned Coletti's fascination with saves, MORE GREINKE.  I mean the hits never end here.  Buy this book.
312106
Even if you can't stand the Yankees, this book is worth reading. The prose is crisp and keeps the story moving without getting bogged down in the details of the entire season, and there are a lot of small details that even students of the game will pick up from reading.

Definitely one of the best baseball books I've read.
989602
This is the closest you'll find to the Baseball Abstracts you may have grown up with. Great analysis of all the players, fun ranking of prospects, enjoyable for those who love sabermetrics as well as by those who don't. I look forward to this book every year!
4108480
Tony La Russa is one of baseball's all-time great managers (with the White Sox, the A's, and the Cardinals) even though he was only mediocre, at best, as a ballplayer himself. He's extremely analytical (he's even got a law degree) and brought those smarts to the ballpark.

In this book, La Russa goes into great detail about the last few months of the 2011 season, as well as the playoffs, in which his Cardinals came back from 10.5 games behind with about a month to play, to go on to win the World Series even though his team was only one strike away from elimination, twice.

His insights into baseball strategy and baseball leadership are fascinating. If you're a baseball fan, you owe it to yourself to give this one a try.