Book 4 of the Dark Tower series... This installment of the saga gives us Roland's back story. It gives us how he ended up as a Gun Slinger, shows us his relationship with his three best friends, his father's influence and his real first love. Roland wasn't a shoot-first-ask-later type, which according to his father was what it took to be really great Gun-Slinger. That attitude is actually what saves him and what makes his choices and his actions toward Eddie and Suzanna so heart rending.

A lovely book, perfect for the traveler, or history or architecture buff. 2 pages is dedicated to each church; entries include color picture with quick potted histories and a sketch of present uses. This reviewer wishes she had read this before her last trip to London.

The word "chilling" is much overused in our culture, usually in reviews such as this, where every second-rate thriller is labeled with the adjective. But this reviewer swears that the room actually grew colder around her as she read this sobering take on humans' possible embrace of inhumaneness.

For, it appears, there are some humans out there who work to destroy others through purely emotional and mental means, not caring about, or sometimes even not noticing, their own lack of proper human emotions. This book shows their usual M.O., and their usual methods for hiding that M.O. In short, a prophylactic, somewhat effective, against such abuse.

It is a mystery, not universally acknowledged, that some fiction lives, vibrates and dances off the page, while other bits just lie there, worthily inert, waiting for an emergency transfusion from the reader. No one has ever definitivly explained what differentiates one from the other, so this reviewer will offer no leangthy explication either. Just a recommendation. Here be life.

How did a serious religious matter degenerate into buffoonish, crowd-pleasing entertainment? Author Cooper traces what he sees as the history of religious revival in America from his hero, Jonathan Edwards, to populist Billy Sunday and the theatrical Aimee Semple McPherson. This is a well written, well researched study, well worth reading by anyone interested in the topic. This reviewers only caveat is that the author's valorizing of Calvinistic double predestination as a religious test for seriousness limits the books appeal and causes the author to unfairly undervalue Charles Finney. Nevertheless, as stated, well worth reading.

This is a visually-enticing guide through the four subjects which made up Medieval higher education: Number, Geometry, Music and Cosmology. Sound boring? Au contraire.

For this fat little volume will wisk you into the most delightful melange of unusual(to us,)facts and ideas, which, taken together, make for a worldview frothy with insight and wisdom. By making this worldview so accessible, by charming us with beautiful, illuminating and easy-to-understand graphics, by tickling our fancy to prod the spot where imagination meets possibility, these authors have done readers a real service. Therefore, read this book so that you too can feel grateful!

Not for the faint of heart! This monga has been around and underground for some time. To own a Death note is to have the ability to wish a person to death - any person, friend, enemy, stranger, anyone. Light Yagami holds a 4.0 grade avarage, a 10.6 cool factor and a deathnote. Unlike other note holders he's trying to be responsible and act normal ... but it's hard to control what you wish for!

Tolkien lovers will enjoy reading the early history of the Dunedain rangers, life in Valinor and the coming of man into Middle Earth. Written in prose and told as the legends of the Eldar and folk of the Valar. If you have read the Silmarillion then this book is for you.

I saw the movie years ago (well, I guess not that long ago) and was fascinated by the idea: what happens if humans stop reproducing....

I have to say this novel differs from the movie in drastic ways, yet I found them both quite enjoyable. By matter of fact, the book is better because you can make your own interpretation reading the passages, whereas the movie was well acted and had some great action scenes.

The novel follows Theo, a history professor as he describes his thoughts and feelings living in a world with mass infertility (the last baby was born 25 years ago). Theo at times appears to just be going through the motions of living (which I can only assume is common, when you know humanity will end in 80 years), until he meets a woman who solicits his help trying to change the government, run by his cousin.

To avoid spoilers I won't say much more but this novel was more of a cerebral view of this world (future), than an action packed adventure depicted in the film. If you've seen the movie first, no worries, it won't spoil you for the novel.

I enjoyed this crime fiction, not only because almost the entire plot takes place within a square mile from my place of residence - so there was definitely that cool recognition factor - but also because it is a pretty good story, complete with the obligatory car chase in the last chapter where the bad guy gets what he deserves. I just want to add that I really really hope that the fundamental city government corruption described in this book is highly exaggerated, otherwise we are all kind of doomed.

Another excellent book from this Roman Catholic monk who specializes in books on how to deepen one's faith. Rohr presents the idea that it is more important to help people with learning -how- to know God, than with telling them -what- to know about God. He grounds his good news in the Gospels while showing how Eastern ideas of nonduality can help us become more responsive to God's reality. Recommended for Christian and other religious seekers, and those who wish to become more inwardly alive.

Written in 1878, the rural setting of this English novel would not seem to have anything modern about it. However, as you are brought into the world of the characters, you can detect modern sensibilities in them. Clym Yeobright, having had monetary success in Paris, has returned to his native England. He is willing to foresake what money can buy if he can find some meaning in life. Eustacia Vye, the lovely temptress, only wants to escape her current setting and aspires to a life in society. Diggory Venn tries to better his lot in life by working hard in the hopes of winning the woman he has loved for years. As these lives intertwine, everyone must endure hardships.

This novel is told in three distinct parts, all with the same protagonist. In each case he is travelling or wandering, mainly throughout Africa and India. These are journeys of the mind and body. The exotic settings give it an air of otherworldliness. Also adding to the elusiveness is the use of both first and third person tenses by the author, i.e. "This is the first time they've been alone together. Now that the moment is upon him so unexpectedly, he doesn't know what to do with it. He is sitting on the stairs, facing the guard, while Jerome moves up and down the darkened vestibule, looking uneasy. Then he turns and very quickly comes over to sit next to me on the step." At first, this is somewhat off-putting, and even as it becomes more normal, it still confers a certain distancing effect overall. There are also some intriguing homoerotic overtones.

Are you a thoughtful Episcopalian and/or Anglican who is curious as to how the Via Media plays out in terms of approaches to Scripture? If so, this is an excellent guide that makes no claim to being definitive, and is much the better for it. By honoring the complexities of Anglican history (sometimes almost Reformed, sometimes almost Roman Catholic, sometimes almost unusual and at all times nonfanatical,) Greer demonstrates the blessings of such a heritage. He covers from the Elizabethean settlement to the present in a fair and open-minded way. His willingness to highlight the unjustly neglected Coleridge adds a nice creative touch.

This is an amusing ramshackle through some of the lovelier bits of our cultural pleasures. From "Silence" to "Tempest," from "Red Lipstick" to "Whistling" and beyond, the author takes us on a tour through everyday wonders. The author's style makes each short essay's approach appear to be lackadaisicsl (since rushing would be inexquisite,) yet still land right on the mark with a graceful flourish. A good book to read when you've got the glums.

How did the early Christian Church settle on the heart of the Bible, the 4 gospels? Hill takes us on a tour thru all we know and do not know about the establishing of the canon. He writes in such an open-ended way that only at the end, when all the evidence has been noted and piled up, do we realize the full extent of his argument. This is an engagingly written, short but not too dumbed down, accessible introduction to the subject.

This book is about so much more than its snappy title suggests that one wishes someone had slapped a sticker on the cover that reads—“One of the most important books… ever.”

What this book does is to offer --- 1) a history of the human mind, 2) a history of human tools, 3) a history of brain research, 4) a survey of current tool use that also posits likely future developments, and 5) a synthesis of all the above, showing by both subtle and blatant connections, how our every activity forms and deforms us.

Rarely is so much serious information offered in such pleasing form. The book is only 200 pages long, a morning’s read, and when you are done you will emerge, gape-mouthed, about how much more you now understand about your own behavior and that of others.

Does the following argument work for you? --That Shakespeare, because he was a humanist, could not write a great tragedy, because humanists can not write great tragadies? If you think this is a proper argument, both in its logic and in its cultural judgement, then you will love this book.

Yes-- that is a tad snarky, and for that, this bewildered reviewer apologizes. But the problem is that this reviewer wanted to like this book--it is a tale that bears enough possible truth to be worth telling, but it needs to be told in a more accessible way. The author throws in such wild, red, unexplained herrings (i.e.,Burke and Austens' worths came from their having Puritain, not Anglican temperments, something that would undoubtedly have suprised Burke's Catholic mother,) that they undercut the author's better points.

So--if perhaps the reader is ardent enough about the Reformed tradition,(for the book is very much about a highly heroic take on that,) they will overlook the author's weaknesses,and enjoy his strengths.

Yes--it is. Yes--you should.

First, I want to say that I really liked the writing style, it is simple and yet rather elegant. The story is engaging and definitely keeps you reading. So why did I only give it 3 stars? Well, my reasons are somewhat complicated. Throughout the book, I couldn't shake the nagging feeling that I am being psychologically manipulated and set up for something, in some way. I mean, pretty early on you catch on as to exactly where this is going, and while it doesn't really take away from the story, you still feel a little cheated. Towards the end, I even started to feel that the book was nothing but a long sermon about science gone of out of control and unethical medical professionals... and the evils of cloning or any other scientific progress. I can almost see various protest groups jumping on the bandwagon and screaming "you see, we told you so!" and go one to proclaim the evils of abortion and stem cell research. In any case, I would not discourage anyone from reading this book, I would just encourage them to take some things with a grain of salt... And remember, scientific and medical progress are a good thing, and it is extremely unlikely that things will come down to what is described in this book.