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Book Reviews
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The Lord of the Rings - 3 book boxset (hardbacks)
Harvinder Singh Billing12 October 2009
A very good book from J.R.R tolkien, the first best fantasy book made in the whole history of Mankind.The tale of dwarfs and elfs orginated from here, for example "Warhammer". the Cover of the book is just awe inspiring. This book will make you think that how the world of elfs,dwarfs, hobbits and orcs would realy look like. Tolkiens imagery depicts good and evil, other authors have been inspired to make other fantasy books on this book, as the Lord of the Rings is the foundation of what others are trying to make.
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Cosmic Ordering Guide: Where Dreams Can Become Reality
Sophie N. Byrne07 October 2009
When I started reading this Cosmic Ordering Guide I felt as if I was drawn into a relationship with it, so profound is it. I used this book, and author's CDs, to turn my life around, and they have worked for me. There is zilch psycho babble and no religious sermons, just straight forward new age. Whereas some books do expect a degree of spirituality about the reader for them to take it all in, this book does not.
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Cosmic Ordering Connection: Change Your Life Within Minutes!
Patrick Doyle05 October 2009
This is an extraordinary insight into the world of cosmic ordering. Written in snappy style, this book will appeal to everyone with its themes that lead you to the revelations on how to order from the cosmos.
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Carlisle United: The Complete Record
Mandy Doyle05 October 2009
Having purchased a number of the 'Complete Record' series I was pleasantly surprised by this volume. Unfashionable Carlisle united are depicted throughout this book with a passion and love that one seldom finds in football club histories. Harrison penned a previous club history - The Lads in Blue (Yore 1995) which was a great read but spoiled by the unprofessional publishing quality of the product, that book has achieved cult status. This tome will no doubt follow suit, excellent quality, wonderful anecdotes and memories in what I believe is the 'ultimate' book on the history of Carlisle united. Highly recommended, even if you don't follow Carlisle!
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Neelam Patel30 September 2009
A very good book with excellent exercises to compete with answers given at the back. The explanations are all clear to follow and to understand and also contain examples with full working out. Exam questions also included for practice. An excellent book for revision use although not all answers are provided at the back.
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Adrian Stevens28 September 2009
The Batman series is on an all time high due to the releases of two incredible blockbuster movies, a fantastic videogame and a great animated series, yet Batman graphic novels have not been properly recognised in the recent years. "The Joker" sees to put an end to that. This graphic novel is an incredibly dark, disturbing and entertaining insight into the mind of Batman's arch nemesis, The Joker. Incredible story and astounding artwork simply make this a work of art and it rightly deserves a place in any Batman fans collection.
"The Joker" is written by Brian Azzarello, (acclaimed writer of '100 Bullets') and Lee Bermejo who has created all of the incredibly detailed artwork within the novel. The story is from the perspective of a loyal yet naive henchman of The Joker called Jonny. Throughout the progress of this crime novel his "relationship" with The Joker develops and grows in trust, beginning as a typical thug, Jonny develops into The Jokers top man helping him doing his dirty business throughout Gotham City, leading to a shocking and thrilling climax to the novel. Brian Azzarello has done fantastically well in showing Jonny's feelings throughout, it gives the reader a new perspective on The Joker and how he would operate, in fact it really helps create tension throughout the storyline as you are always aware of how unpredictable and wild The Joker would be if ever placed in real life situations. "The Joker" is by no means a child's book; it has a very dark, gritty and violent storyline that takes the reader to some of the darkest places in and around Gotham City. It is also refreshing to see a novel based in the Batman universe without Batman taking a leading role; in fact Batman is far more of a side character in this novel, hardly featured at all during "The Joker". This novel does a fantastic job of making you realise how violent and depressing areas of Gotham really are, this is due to the realistic artwork featured in "The Joker". From incredible views across Gotham City to brutal murder scenes, the visuals in "The Joker" are astounding and the Lee Bermejo truly deserves recognition on this achievement. Each piece of art is expertly crafted and you can really see that Lee Bermejo has put real care into this work, with each scene having subtle details hidden within for the examining reader to discover. All of these small yet incredibly important details help raise "The Joker" to a level that is rarely seen within many modern day graphic novels on the market.
I cannot recommend "The Joker" highly enough to any fan of The Batman series or of crime novels, it is full of fantastic graphic novel writing and stunning artwork which both blend together to create a modern masterpiece of intelligent and adult comic book story telling. -
Andrea Chettle28 September 2009
This book is excellent - that is all!
I know, I know you've come here for a review and you want details, but right now all that's going through my head is "This book is excellent" and I finished reading The Demons Lexicon over a week ago!
Okay details....
Nick and his brother Alan live in a world where magicians and demons are real (real and dangerous) but so are school and broken sinks and swords and the Goblin Market. For as long as he can remember, Nick has been running and fighting against the magicians who are want a powerful charm taken by his mother
The Demons Lexicon is a dark book, Nick is not a people person. The only person he likes let alone trusts is Alan. Everyone else (including his mother who can't bring herself to look at him) is only tolerated to keep Alan happy So when brother and sister Mae and Jamie show up asking for the brothers help Nick is not pleased to see them, especially when they put his brother's life at risk. Jamie has been marked by a demon. A fact that will lead to possession and eventually death.
I know it doesn't sound like it but this a funny book. Jamie has some great one-liners and so does Nick (although I don't think he always realises that what he says is funny). The jokes are needed, sometimes, to spark a little light into the book. They are also useful as clues to the characters of the main players. Jamie uses his humour as a sort of shield to hide behind while with Nick and Alan it shows the warmth and (I know this isn't a word but it should be) "brotherliness" between them.
I have to say that the main twist in the book blew me away. Earlier in the story, the idea sprinted randomly across my mind but was quickly chased off by the realisation that it would be impossible to pull off. Sarah Reese Brennan proved me completely wrong and does a spectacular job too. It fits seamlessly into the plot and, together with other twists and turns, had me flicking back through the book for missed clues.
I'm an avid reader of Sarah's blog so I had been looking forward to this book for ages. It does not disappoint. Okay, Nick is a very dark and angry boy and the book could almost drown beneath the weight of his personality alone. However, the lighter aspects of the other characters and bright flashes of humour keeps it from becoming overpowering and by the end of the book you can fully understand Nick's point of view.
I finished reading this, as I said, over a week ago but, even though I'm reading another book now, I still miss it. I miss Nick and Alan and Mae and Jamie and I want to know what happens next. Like the demons Nick's fighting, this book has possessed me. In the world of The Demons Lexicon, only the blood of a magician can break a possession.
Does anyone have Paul Daniels address? -
David Stone27 September 2009
Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol must be one of the most reviewed books on the internet at the moment although, strangely, a good percentage of the reviewers haven't bothered reading the book before posting their views. Despite (or maybe because of) being one of the most popular authors in the world, Dan Brown seems to generate strong opinions in people and masses of readers seem to have decided that they love/loath The Lost Symbol (delete as appropriate) based solely on his reputation. I have to say that I'm a fan of both The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons but I did at least read The Lost Symbol before making up my mind about it. The Lost Symbol is the third outing for Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon in which he agrees to deliver a lecture at the Smithsonian in Washington DC after apparently receiving an invitation from his former mentor, Peter Solomon. As well as being a respected academic, Peter Solomon is also a Mason and, after arriving at the Smithsonian, Langdon discovers that Solomon has been kidnapped by a mysterious figure known as Mal'akh. Mal'akh demands Langdon's help in unlocking the Ancient Mysteries of the Masons in return for sparing Solomon's life and so Langdon is once more forced into a race against time to follow the clues and solve the puzzles that unlock the historical mystery. Teaming up with Solomon's daughter, Katherine, Langdon embarks on a game of cat and mouse across Washington as he pits his wits against Mal'akh, a tattooed, self-castrated and brilliant villain who is in search of an ancient source of power. I suppose it is true that Dan Brown's books are pretty formulaic, but it's also true that it's a formula I enjoy. The story this time is set over only 12 hours so is particularly fast-paced and action-packed and I like the mix of history (although I can't say how accurate the details Brown gives are), mystery and adventure. There are a lot of coincidences and occasionally the characters sound like they are reading from an encyclopaedia but that didn't spoil my overall enjoyment and I still found The Lost Symbol to be an entertaining page-turner.
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Su Taylor24 September 2009
If dissecting poetry doesn't come easy, "Poetry for Dummies" will be perfect for you.
Laid out in easy to follow chapters, you really do learn without even realising it.
Don't be put off or offended by the title, this book is invaluable. -
How to Get Things Really Flat: A Man's Guide to Ironing, Dusting and Other Household Arts
Kevin Ryan21 September 2009
Andrew Martin considers the day he announced he was taking over the ironing to be one of the most significant of his life. Not only did it remove the trump card his wife used to win any argument (Do you know how many hours I've spent ironing for you this week?) But it turned out he actually enjoyed doing it. He set out to discover all he could about the 'household arts' and this amusing book mixes his thoughts on hoovering, cleaning and food shopping with personal anecdotes and brief interviews with various experts. A short book that could be read in a few hours it ultimately falls between two stools - not enough tips and information to be a How-To Guide and not quite funny enough for pure entertainment. But for any woman with a clueless man in their life, who hasn't quite worked out how the bath is always clean or what the special hoover attachments are for, this may be worth a try.
