M.R.Sellars books are irresistable
350204
M.R. SELLARS creates theses amazing  stories that will have
 you on an emotional roller coaster. One minute you are laughin hysterically and the next you are crying. Then just like a true roller coaster junkie you want to grab the next one and start the ride all over again.
 So come and meet Felicity and her husband Rowan, for a ride of a lifetime.
571228
This, more than any of the other M books to date, is for the hardcore followers of M and Thomas. There is no foreplay, its straight into the next installment with assumptions set to kill. Which is good. Series which try to make each installment stand on their own can become tedious to the addicted fan who is going to read each and every book as it comes out. If that is you, this one is definitely going to scratch that itch. M is one of the more fascinating literary characters I've come across. I'd describe him, hopefully fairly, as a self effacing narcissist with a profoundly warped sense of humor and a kind of laid back attitude about taking out the trash. The array of equally disturbed and disturbing army of characters both with and against him are becoming like family by book five. Fear not, it is a dysfunctional family despite the warm fuzzy feelings the warped reader either attains by book two or drops out before book three. Not for the faint of heart or fair haired beauties of readership, it rambles through a strange mixture of mythological realms, steam-punkesque gadgets, and fantasy magic rolled together loosely in what can only be another Chronicle of M.
4583443
I first encountered The Belgariad during my senior year of high school.  Without giving away my age in specifics, let me just say that was a very long time ago.  I was hooked a few chapters into the first book, and I happily remain so today.  Typically, I read through the entire Belgariad and Mallorean series every few years.  To each his or her own of course, but personally I adore Eddings' writing style, and his ability to create believable, multi-dimensional characters is beyond outstanding.  I heartily give a full five stars to these magnificent books.

Unfortunately, I need to revoke a few of those stars for the Kindle version.  I'm not sure who's in charge of editing and proofreading these things, but for heaven's sake someone has to do a better job.  I encountered numerous typos in both Pawn of Prophecy and Queen of Sorcery.  To be fair, I haven't yet got into Magician's Gambit so I cannot speak for that book.  One particularly glaring example is the mistaken use of the word "throe" in place of what most likely should have been "thy."  The problem is, it doesn't just show up once; it happens numerous times in both Pawn and Queen.  Obviously someone majorly messed up a "find and replace" function during the editing process.  Another error that happens more than once (although not nearly as much as the "throe" debacle) is the number 1 being tacked onto the character Durnik's name.  So what should be "Durnik" is instead "Durnik1".  Okay, maybe it's just me but I actually laughed at that one because I couldn't help but imagine Durnik having a Yahoo screen name or some such.

In the end, the typos aren't nearly enough to ruin the experience of being able to bring these books along with you in one convenient, easy to read format.  But it definitely is something I hope the publisher takes care of soon.

Lastly, I certainly hope the final two books of the series are eventually added to Kindle.  It would really be annoying to have to switch out to my old paperbacks after being able to take the first of these old classics in on my shiny new Paperwhite.
2344422
The books are great to look at, well bound and attractive, slip case is great as well.  The notes inside give a great deal of history but are easy to digest and really add to our knowledge of the young mouse and his newspaper creator.  The strips are not as great as the dailies, most are Sunday laugh a day style but some have more and some have less story arc to them.  But this is the mouse people fell in love with in the 30's  They only saw him in theatres every few months, here you have his weekly appearances.
Some nice later Floyd G work is here as well, a 7 Dwarfs v. the Witch, 1001 Dalmatians and good old Lambert!  See him rise to the occasion on the printed page.
These pages might be great to read to a youngster at those early years.  Art and pictures work well together.
953065
The overlap between excellent scholarship and exceptional readability in today's history writing is exceedingly slim.  Schama's History of Britain is as good an example as the market holds today.  While it obviously doesn't treat the subject area in the same depth as his his texts on Dutch and French subjects or on Art history, the area covered here is immense.  From my standpoint, Prof. Schama performs a herculean task simply to distill the material into such a usable and enjoyable work.  I am quite hard pressed to think of a another such work of excellent writing on a large subject area other than Shelby Foote's Civil War volumes, which seem somewhat comparable in every positive respect.  Additionally, one can open A History of Britain and read with enjoyment at almost any point and for any period of time.  The characterization of key players matches that of the best novels and Schama's writing compares favorably to a somewhat similar work, Winston Churchill's History of the English Speaking Peoples.  I recommend disregarding the less favorable reviews following as unfair in perspective.  The combination of a powerful scholar of Simon Schama's caliber with such graceful writing is almost unheard of and the alternative of tedious fact recitation is no choice at all. This is a book to purchase twice, once for yourself and again as a gift for a good friend.
4074283
Let me start with the caveat that I am a huge Michael Lewis fan.  Liar's Poker and The Big Short are two of my favorite books.  So I was disappointed when I bought this book and learned that it was nothing more than a second printing of his previous work for Vanity Fair.  A better title for this work would be "Boomerang:The Second Time Around for Prior Printed Vanity Fair Articles."  Literally every chapter in this book has been previously printed in Vanity Fair.  Indeed, the last chapter, "Too Fat to Fly," is currently running in this month's Vanity Fair, under the title "California and Bust."

I really have no problem with Mr. Lewis or the publisher consolidating his articles and running them in book form.  However, they should have some scruples and make it clear that the book is just that, a re-print of his writings from Vanity Fair.  The problem with this book is that the only place you see this advisement is in small print after the acknowledgement at the end.

To be clear, the prose in this book is excellent.  This book is Mr. Lewis at his wittiest, caustic best.  His observations are tight and spot on.  The book is a thoroughly enjoyable read.  Just know you can find the same stories for free by searching the Vanity Fair archives.
3677838
Ever notice how publishers stop editing popular prolific authors? For shame, treating mzb this way. To be fair, I read this trilogy twice before I noticed how many pages I skimmed, because Marguerida is fascinating, Lew is so happily and deeply resurrected, and Mikail the best of all possible princes. Backstory and plot are sublime, and Marguerida's sensory rediscovery of Darkover is some of the best sensual writing since the Shattered Chain books, and far beyond Darkover, for that matter. I recommend these, but don't hesitate to skip the characters' reveries. You will hear it all again.
1328919
I looked at these volumes yesterday at the Minnesota Historical Society.  The plates (50 in two volumes) are beautiful, well worth one's perusing time.  Considering the short time Mr. Alexander had to copy the paintings by Amos Bad Heart Bull, he did a flawless job.  He must have used a 4x5 graphic camera, because the plates are not only perfect, but large--I'd guess around 24 x 18.  There were only 400 copies of the set and printed at a publisher in Poland in 1938. Absolutely beautiful, and the Minnesota copy is in perfect shape, not yet in fragile condition, which I would assume is the nature of all copies.  $3000?  If I had the money...
1249822
I understand why these books are hailed as masterpieces. They remind me of Henry Miller's works. Much credit has to be given to the translator.
3962046
I've pretty much stopped collecting books because they've taken over my house.  The books would be stacked all over the house until I could buy a nice new book shelf.  I would find a suitable book shelf and fill it up almost immediately with the stacks, and then the cycle would begin all over again.  If you are a book lover like I am, you know the routine.  But after completing a court-approved 12-Step Program, I have started to wean myself off of book collecting.  I now only buy spectacularly special books and I stash them in the closet and drape clothing over them so my wife doesn't discover them until after the statute of limitations has expired.

The Taschen XL series is my main source of ongoing addiction.  Taschen does two or three new volumes each year.  These things are just so amazingly ambitious and beautiful they cannot be ignored.  I believe I have them all--except for "Tom of Finland" (I may even buy that one some day; but my wife might be a little concerned when she discovers that one stashed in the closet !!).

If you haven't seen one of the Taschen XL's, you are in for a shock: they really are HUGE.  You'll almost certainly have to display them horizontally on your bookshelf.  But the size gives them a certain majestic gravitas that distinguishes them from other "coffee table"-type books.  These edifices represent a commitment by you to the subject.  They are more akin to a piece of furniture or a small vehicle than a book.  But if the subject matter is of interest to you, or if you merely love spectacular books which are pieces of art in their own right, you will love the Taschen XL's.

What title could possibly be of more appeal than pin-up art?  It is a pure celebration of the female form--even women will enjoy this tasteful selection.  The printing here is color-true spectacular, and there are countless sophisticated flourishes throughout: cloth-covered hardbound (rare, nowadays); built-in book-marker ribbon; thick-paper sectional dividers with tipped-in plates; several fold-out pages; an informative section of lesser-known artists at the end;  and a nice carry/storage box.  You will not be disappointed.  Taschen does typically print a lot of these books, but once they sell out, the price on this will go stratospheric and you will regret not buying it.  They may do a re-print, but it will be a smaller version that is not nearly as appealing.  You want to get this edition, and you want to get it now.

Yes, there will be overlap with your copy of "The Art of Pin-Up" from a few years ago, and with your Gil Elvgren volume, both from Taschen.  But this massive volume has enough additional content to justify the purchase.  Just think of this as "re-mastered" pin-up art with many additional bonus tracks.  Dian Hanson curated this, and she has an exquisite eye.  She's pretty much the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval on anything she touches in her realm as she keeps it ultra-classy.  You'll flip through the pages of this and it will immediately become a cherished family treasure.

I'm hoping that our next house can be a little bigger--at least big enough to accommodate some additional huge  book shelves to hold these Taschen XL's that they keep coming up with. That way I can take them out of the closet and show them off (except for Tom of Finland !!). These things are gorgeous monstrosities!!  Their size is freakish, their weight unmanageable, their value historic!!
2084385
Some readers suffer from metaliterary disorders: some are still dazzled by another author or book, some just don't build up enough  synapses for absorbing "too many details". Not "everyone" will five it(or any other book), and no one "must" love it, but if you like phantasy you will enjoy it.
4383574
Brandom is one of the most brilliant mind of the current analytic philosophy. his interpretation of Sellars' philosophy is not an exception to this remark. in this book you will see that how surprising is when an engaged intellect tries to understand and make use of a deep and systematic philosopher such as brandom. apart from Sellars treatment of sensation and  and metaphysics of pure processes, all of the Sellars' ideas have been discussed, interpreted (with an amazing originality) and developed in this book; as Brandom has said, this book is the result of his wrestling with Sellars' philosophical system for several decades!
Brandom has written this book in a very readable fashion; he has repeated the main ideas with different phrases and has obviously cared for the clearness of the text. his new ideas about Sellars' nominalism and Sellars' modal thesis ( which was first introduced in his John Locke lecture (2005)) have been developed even more fully in this book.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in Sellars in particular and anyone who wants to see how a systematic philosopher could make use of the ideas of another systematic philosopher.
4500980
Two other books were published the same year as The Lord of the Rings; The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson and Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake. Both are excellent, and they are still read today. I can highyl recommend them. They are even in the same fantasy genre as Lord of the Rings, and both Anderson and Tolkien drew on the same nordic mythology. Why is then Lord of the Rings so outstandingly popular? Especially Gormenghast rivals LOTR in complexity and brilliance. Maybe the answer lies in the fact that Tolkien poured all of his soul in his books. These are not mere books; they *are* Tolkien. I have heard that Tolkien wrote to escape a dreary life - therefore he created the ultimate escape fantasy. I remember how hypnotised I was as a child reading them. Tolkien weaves such a rich tapestry that as in no other fantasy book have I ever felt that the author is describing a real world. The only book I can think about that comes close is Frank Herbert's Dune, but it is also obviously inspired by LOTR.

So, the combination of a will to create a fantasy world to escape to with the imagination and education to do it and a remarkable writing ability has created a literary masterpiece. I think that he created the modern fantasy genre with these books, and all role-playing games up until the mid-eighties were directly modelled on Middle-Earth.

However, I must add that I have some caveats: The moral of the books is rather primitve - static rural countryside/good, dynamic industrial society/bad. There is a total dualism; you are either with the good guys or with the bad guys (and gosh, are the bad guys BAD!). There has also been a lot of commercial exploitation of Tolkien; his family has published material that was never supposed to be published, and I fear that it is more driven by money than respect for his legacy.
690811
Linda Grant's essay superbly captures the ambivalence (red-faced shame, excitement, guilt) of the lifelong bibliophile who is forced to do the unthinkable. I, too, am guilty of twice dismembering large bodies of books and succumbing to the enticing shape and moves of an"other" ---- otherwise known as an ereader. As much as I can relate, though, the author one-ups in an act of desperation most of us will never live to experience (but disposing of the fruit of your labor in a recycling bin, Ms. Grant? tsk,tsk).
2569889
Those of us who love books are, I think, always excited when we run across an accomplished author who shares our bibliomania and writes about it in a loving and erudite way.  Larry McMurtry of Lonesome Dove and "Brokeback Mountain" (the screenplay) fame has done precisely this in his wonderful memoir Books.

Books is a memoir that traces McMurtry's life stages through his relationship with books--thousands and thousands of them, those in the library of the university he attended, those in his personal library (upwards of 30,000 volumes), those in his used and antiquarian bookstore Booked Up (300,000 and counting).  Books have enriched his inner life and helped him hone his skills as an author.  But they've also enriched his economic existence too, since he's been in the used book trade for nearly half a century now (something I didn't know until reading this memoir). His first book sale in 1962, for example, paid for his first son's birth.

One of the reasons I so like McMurtry's book is that it reminds me of my own life trajectory.  McMurtry tells us that he was raised in an utterly bookless Texas ranch house.  He never owned a book until 1942, when a guy headed off to war gave him a box of adventure stories.  McMurtry was eight years old, and the minute he got the taste of the printed word in his mouth, he never looked back.  I spent much of my childhood in a similarly bookless wasteland (in the south, not the southwest), and as I read McMurtry's description of his growing excitement, absorption, and sense of liberation in the magic of books once he discovered them, it was as if I was reading about myself.  And, like all good books about books, this one makes me want to read books it mentions.  It also makes me want read the novels of McMurtry's I haven't gotten around to yet and get myself to Texas to browse in Booked Up.

McMurtry's Books uses stories about book-collecting, book-selling, and book-enjoying as milestones for his autobiography.  His memoir not only tells us something about his own life, but also shares a lot of delightful stories about fellow booksellers and bibliophiles.  (My favorite is about the California-based bookseller who kept binoculars in his shop so that customers could read the titles on the top shelves.)  There's a certain nostalgic melancholy in the memoir too, because one senses--and so does McMurtry--that the used bookshop is becoming quaint and endangered in our age of huge chain retailers of books.

McMurtry started out bookless, but he's gone a long way since then.  He brought a huge bookstore to a town (New Archer, Texas) that he says was as utterly bookless as his childhood home, and he's brought several excellent books of his own to the rest of us.  (With typical modesty, he tells us in Books that although a few of his own novels have been "really good," none are great.)  Books:  A Memoir is his latest gift to us all.

Five stars.
4323914
Reading Recluse or Imager books are like reading Louis L'Amour novels; setting varies, and the names change, but the plot remains the same.  I don't think that's a bad thing.
4623449
Don Rosa's creations are a joy to read. His stories about the duck characters are readable, fun stories full of empathy and pathos. Readable by a child, but outrageously rewarding as an adult, the stories' conflicts rise and are resolved by character-driven moments seated in a deep and affectionate understanding of these iconic characters. The second book in this set contains the greater part of Don's masterwork, The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, which up until now was out of print and absurdly expensive. (Life and Times of Scrooge will be completed in volume 5, which may be the only weakness of this set). All of this is bookended by Don's charming creator commentary, which among other things reveals the insane amount of research that he did for many of these stories. His more ambitious stories are historical fiction more than anything, fitting Scrooge and other characters into the historical narrative of the late 1800s and early 20th century. I treasure these books, and plan to buy every volume in the series as they're released (there will be 10 books, of which these are books 3 & 4). If you like Bone, or Pogo, or Carl Barks, you will love these books.