Book III in the series. Elena has recovered from her injuries and takes her place among the angels of New York, but that right will be challenged. Lijuan, thought the oldest of the Archangels may be the lest of the Cadre's problems as a Sleeper may be awakening. Neha, Queen of Snakes has sent angelic assassins to take reveneng for the death of her daughter while Elena must confront the truth about the father who turned her out into the streets as young girl. To survive, she will need to train hard and fast with some of the most deadly fighters among the Seven. Will that be enough to go up against an Ancient capable of distroying the world with a thought?

Must Read for Feist Fans. Something or Somebeing is scarring the wits out of Demons and forcing them to seek escape in another reality -any other plane but the one where a nameless Darkness is devouring everything they know. Pug and the Conclave must stand agains yet another alien invasion, but at what cost this time? Dearest blood will be shed, portals will open and the Darkness spill out into all Midkamia.

What a beauty of a book! For those who learn best graphically, this once over easy of (mostly) Western Christendom’s greatest religious structures and art will be welcome. For those who are more attracted by the book's title and subtitle, there may be some puzzlement. For some of what this book achieves from visual wows it loses in intellectual rigor. Why are the specific items covered chosen, while other important ones excluded? Why are some aspects of symbolism explored, and not others? Why are the various subjects explored arranged in this particular order?

What this book really is then, is a palette wetter. It offers tastes of wonder and wonderful tastes to a far greater feast, of which this is not even yet the introduction -- but an inducement to an introduction. And since the author includes the section "Further Reading," it is hard to hold the book's haphazardness against it. This reviewer pretty much stifled her inner critic and was therefore able to enjoy the sheer exuberance, beauty and fun of the offering.

A harrowing story about a family's forced relocation by the Soviets from Lithuania to a labor camp in Siberia during World War II. The main characters suffer similar fates to people sent to Nazi concentration camps. I'm sure many people have heard the phrase "sent to Siberia," but I definitely learned how horrifying that was for Stalin's victims. Well worth reading!

For every writer or artist who leads a turbulent life with lots of inherent drama, there is always at least one counterpart whose drama is internal, and whose biography is therefore more difficult to write. E.B. White thrived by living a quite life -- even though it was one pretty much at the center of the New York cultural world. He and his wife were at the heart of "The New Yorker," from its early days under Harold Ross to its later flourishing under Wallace Shawn. White's gift for gently witty observation and low-keyed irony helped set the tone for the Talk of the Town section of the magazine, much because White could be pretty much garenteed never to be the talk of the town himself. What made him a good writer made and makes him an elusive subject.

Yet, for the patient reader this book delivers. It gives most of its coverage to the childhood idyll that formed White and the farm home of his middle and later years that substained him. From these two worlds comes White's most famous creation, "Charlotte's Web," a classic of American children's literature that adults are always happy to read. This biography is especially good at explaining a world gone by to contemporary readers, making it a useful YA read for older children.

I throughly enjoyed this humours tale of the initiation of the apocalypse, yes, the world ending, all is lost, apocalyse - but with jazz hands! This was my first Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett book and if this book is a good representation of their story telling abilities two words come to mind - British and Funny. As a fan of British humor, which I don't think many American always get (its just so dry and subtle) I was very entertained, I didn't necessarily laugh out loud, but I did (often) chuckle in my head. The story flowed well with the anticipation of how the world would end building with each chapter. The ending was... well, it was okay. I won't say too much to reveal what happened but I was neither disatisfied or overly satisfied with it. Oh yeah, I hear that the book is in the works to be a TV miniseries and well, that would be utterly fun. One last thing - I loved the character Crowley and wanted more of him... perhaps a prequel about his time through history or something.

Being chased thru the Capital to discover America’s secrets: Conspiracies from our founders and leaders? Who can be trusted? What does the CIA want from the Professor and what is he really hiding? Exciting like the Da Vinci Code, but the ending will leave you wondering because it won’t be what you expect. And maybe that’s good.

Sequel to Archangel's Blood. How do you make an Angel? Ask Elena, the newly Made addition to Rapheal's territory. One big bad down, but it looks like another is on the rise. Will Elena and Rapheal be strong enough together to face one of the oldest Archangels to turn demonic?

Some hunters have all the luck. Some get fame, some get rich and most don't live long enough to spend it. When Elena takes a job to track down an Archangel gone demented in the heart of NYC she gets in way over her head. The pay is great -crazy money actually- and she seems to have caught the romantic eye of the boss/Archangel of her city. Elena also ends up with more than she signs on for.

Brilliant cover! The prologue was beautifully written and quite compelling. I was eager to read the book, but when I turned the page to begin the first chapter I realized the entire book is written in prose poetry. I just couldn't get into that. Too bad. I think the author is a strong writer, but the format limits my willingness to continue.

I'm giving it two stars because I made it past the halfway mark before I became so annoyed that I gave it up. First of all, I hate when "historical" characters speak in quasi-modern slang. Dialogue doesn't have to be completely authentic. However, I find it grating to have someone in a 17th century novel use a 19th century term such as "knocked up." But the final straw for The Hangman's Daughter came when both the hangman and the young physician left the hangman's daughter/physician's sweetheart, Magdalena, alone in a barn in order to hurry off to investigate the latest child murder. There is a scary "devil" on the loose who has already threatened the young physician and is, I suppose, responsible for the murders. I couldn't stretch my imagination any further to allow for the abandonment of Magdalena in a remote area by two people who supposedly love her very much.

An overly romanticized portrayal of the relationship between the catholic Maria Fitzherbert and King George VI(whom he illegally married while he was still the Prince of Wales). The author clearly has a lot of sympathy for George (who wasn't all that sympathetic) and gives him way too much credit for having a noble character - while history clearly shows us he was not so noble after all. If you want a more realistic fictionalized depiction of Mrs Fitzherbert and her relationship with the sixth George, I would recommend "The Sweet Lass from Richmond Hill" by Jean Plaidy.

Get inside the head of adjunct English instructor Cyrus Duffleman as he runs himself ragged to make ends meet in this Philadelphia based, day-in-the-life satire where personal and political issues are closely intertwined. Part early Woody Allen, part Don Quixote, "Duffy’s" self-perception and observations are hilarious! Anyone who has worked at or attended one of the thinly disguised local universities will respond to this behind the scenes look at the world of adjunct teaching. Provocative, wonderfully written and very, very funny.

For any old movie buff, this is a fascinating picture of Hitchcock in mid-career, just hitting his stride, and Selznick towards the end of his best work, marginally but still somewhat functional.

The four movies Hitchcock made for Selznick include one of his best, plus two darn good ones, ("Notorious" is nearly perfect, while "Spellbound" and "Rebecca" are well, well worth watching.) Selznick, along with his drug-fueled, crazed grandiosity, brought to the table things Hitchcock needed in order to develop. Leff argues that without Selznick, Hitchcock would not have had (or perhaps even wanted,) positives like access to top stars, a smooth-running and sophisticated production company, plus, most importantly, the command to co-write with great screenwriters like Ben Hetch, who brought character depth, plot development and plain old humanity to Hitchcock's fascination with "tricks and business." In short, as onerous and penny-pinching as Hitchcock’s contract may have seemed to Hitchcock, and as obnoxious as Selznick's megalomania and obsessive memo-writing may have seemed to all concerned, their collaboration did bear good fruit.

While the author's thesis is a good corrective to the once hallowed auteur theory of film, what this reader enjoyed the most was the author's step by step description of how the 4 movies were put together. He shows all the ins and outs of the deal making, describes the various shooting scripts and how they changed through their many drafts, and illuminates Hitchcock's use of those tricks and business he is famous for. In short, a well-written, well-researched look at a fascinating topic.

A friend recommended this book to me when I mentioned that I was looking for a good non-fiction read. Steve Luxenberg and his family had always believed that Steve's mother was an only child. Shortly before her death, his mother revealed that she had once had a sister named Annie. With almost no information about Annie's life or death, but armed with his experience as a journalist, Luxenberg set out to find out as much as he could about his mysterious aunt and the reason why his mother had kept her a secret for so long. What starts as a simple investigation becomes a complex tale of Holocaust survivors, immigrants struggling to get by in America, mental illness and institutionalization, and family secrets. Luxenberg does an excellent job of guiding the reader through his family's story. Unfortunately, despite Luxenberg's best efforts, there was so little documentation about Annie's life that the reader will still know very little about her by the end of the book. However, the investigation is fascinating, and much of the focus is on Luxenberg's mother and her reasons for keeping Annie a secret even from her own husband and children.

Stephen Huneck knows dogs. His love for our wonderful canine companions shines through in these classic Huneck illustrations. They will make you smile and say, "Yes, my dog does that!"