Reviews (8)

Nice enough for the price
On first inspection, this is a very nice looking book.It has an elegant cover and the pages are gold on the edges and tissue-ish.It's a heavy book that will remain open to the page you are reading without having to hold it down.However, after a few weeks of being read and carried around, it's durability is not quite as impressive.The spine is beginning to break and the pages warp easily.Quite a few typos too if that sort of thing distracts you.For the price though, it's nice enough and I would buy it again.

Beware other versions - this is the one to get!
I made the mistake of purchasing the paperback 8-in-1 Jane Austen book -what a mistake!It was sloppy and cheap-looking, with its unattractive, clumsy two-column format that didn't seem to show due respect to the material.I found it too depressing and unpleasant to read, so I ordered this version, and I am so happy I did!What a gorgeous book, classy and elegant, with lovely illustrations, nice typeset, padded leather cover and gilt edges.And for only a few dollars more, it's a no-brainer decision to choose this version over the paperback.Even if you go with a used copy, it's still a far better bargain than the other one, and something you'll enjoy reading with pleasure for years to come. I will definitely look into the other classics in this series.

Beautiful Book!
I'm so glad I waited for this edition of Austen's novels to become available again.It's a beautiful volume, and I finally have all of the novels in less shelf space.Along with the embossed leather cover, readers will find gilt-edged pages and a ribbon bookmark. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Literary Criticism    3. Sale Adult - Literature - Classics & Contemporary    4. 19th century fiction    5. Fiction / Classics    6. Fiction anthologies & collections    7. Sale Books   

Editorial Review

Elizabeth Bennet is the perfect Austen heroine: intelligent, generous, sensible, incapable of jealousy or any other major sin. That makes her sound like an insufferable goody-goody, but the truth is she's a completely hip character, who if provoked is not above skewering her antagonist with a piece of her exceptionally sharp -- but always polite -- 18th century wit. The point is, you spend the whole book absolutely fixated on the critical question: will Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy hook up? ... Read more

Reviews (728)

Wry & Insightful Romantic Writing
Considering 'pulp romance' is the top selling genre, one could do a lot worse than Pride & Prejudice. This perceptive classic of English society plays out like a 19th century "Sex In The City."Miscommunications abound. Just as you're about to scream, another dangle of hope transpires. Will the young lovers EVER end up on the same page?I'm not telling you if you've missed this classic.You'll have to read it.

girly chick lit
god forbid i be so bold as to trash a classic.and yes, maybe because of all the raving reviews from my friends and from the book's great reputation, i entered it with high expectations. - which the book however did not satisfy.yes, it is a good comedic parody of the upper class of the time, a lampoon of the courtship ritual, and of course oh so witty, blah blah blah, but it just wasn't my cup of tea.the main character was likeable, but that aside, i found it completely insufferable to read through, and absolutely painfully boring.every subsequent event from the very beginning could be predicted, let alone the ending.not that anything really ever happens - the entire book could be summed up with, "then they walked and talked and had tea and walked and talked and had tea, walked and talked and had more tea, then got married and lived happily ever after."the entire novel was a headache of girly gossip and mental drama.it would save more time just to watch a chick flick.so if you're interested in the relationship fiascos of fictious characters, witnessing the agony over who's going to marry who (even though the reader could already predict the happily-ever-after match-making light-years in advance), then this is the book for you!!if not, then i suggest picking up some dan brown.

A True Classic
There is no other story told and re-told as much as P&P.This book transcends many generations with a true and tested story.The characters and story line are so similiar to this day and age.Austen's poetic writing gives readers a sense of the social times as well as insight to each character's thoughts.I read this book every year and see all the movies based on it.Love it, love it, love it! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Literature - Classics / Criticism    3. Literature: Classics    4. 19th century fiction    5. Fiction / Classics   

Editorial Review

Since the beginning of the school year, high school freshman Melinda has found that it's been getting harder and harder for her to speak out loud: "My throat is always sore, my lips raw.... Every time I try to talk to my parents or a teacher, I sputter or freeze.... It's like I have some kind of spastic laryngitis." What could have caused Melinda to suddenly fall mute? Could it be due to the fact that no one at school is speaking to her because she called the cops and got everyone busted at the seniors' big end-of-summer party? Or maybe it's because her parents' only form of communication is Post-It notes written on their way out the door to their nine-to-whenever jobs. While Melinda is bothered by these things, deep down she knows the real reason why she's been struck mute...Read more

Reviews (1086)

review for speak
Anderson has a very interesting writing style in Speak. She sets her book up to be like a report card, each section signified by the marking periods of a school year--starting with first marking period to forth marking period. Each of the four sections is a chronological explanation for why Melinda is the way she is. Within the "marking periods" the sections are indicated with a title telling the reader what she will be talking about. The passages are written much like a play format. Anderson is very descriptive in her text. With each dialog is a bracket explaining what the person talking is doing, wearing, or gesturing, much like she is directing a play and the actors need to know how to stand or move. Her language is sophisticated yet simple. She writes to an older audience. She uses pronouns like "IT," talking about Andy and "Them," to address her parents. Her usage of the pronouns allows the reader to feel the separation from the characters. By calling Andy "IT," she is letting the reader know that he is a character she would like to forget and could care less about. Calling her parents Them, excludes her from feeling like she is a part of them. Anderson spells words wrong so it seems as if it could be a diary and the narrator, Melinda, is reflecting upon what happened but cannot spell. It allows the reader to connect to Melinda better.

a haunting, painful read
This book is painful, but then again, so is teenage life for many young people.Those who have felt alone, scared, confused and without a voice will not only feel Melinda's pain, but her triumph as she finally finds her voice. However, it is the people who never felt like her at all who need to read this book most of all.Maybe it will help them understand the trials that many of our young ones are going through so that we can find ways to show them that they are not alone.

It'll Shake You Up and Set You Down Again
When I began this book, I didn't like it.It was so negative, and absolutely depressing.There's a reason for that.It's about a girl who is suffering through depression over something that happened.It's written in first person, so you feel everything she feels.Her depression really gets into your head.You go through everything--from the depression to the recovery--yourself.At the end, things start getting lighter, freer, and after the rest of the book, it's such a release.I do recommend this book, for people who are going through depression themselves.It has mature content--probably not suited for the average 12- or 13-year-old--but I recommend it to people--even young people--who have gone through or are going through the same things.The ending makes up for all the negativity throughout the book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Children's 12-Up - Fiction - General    2. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12)    3. Emotional problems    4. Fiction    5. General    6. High schools    7. Juvenile Fiction    8. Rape    9. Schools    10. Social Issues - Adolescence    11. Social Issues - Physical & Emotional Abuse    12. Juvenile Fiction / General   

Editorial Review

Anne Elliot, heroine of Austen's last novel, did something we can all relate to: Long ago, she let the love of her life get away. In this case, she had allowed herself to be persuaded by a trusted family friend that the young man she loved wasn't an adequate match, social stationwise, and that Anne could do better. The novel opens some seven years after Anne sent her beau packing, and she's still alone. But then the guy she never stopped loving comes back from the sea. As always, Austen's storytelling is so confident, you can't help but allow yourself to be taken on the enjoyable journey. ... Read more

Reviews (100)

"Pesuasion" Can Refer To The Heart As Well As The Head
Those who read PERSUASION by Jane Austen tend to view it as a book primarily concerned with marriage in the typical Austen romantic comedy sense of young ladies seeking to marry upward and young men also seeking partners--but not necessarily to each other.While much of Austen's novel deals with precisely that, to view this solitary strand of thought as Austen's most telling point is surely to miss that point totally.In PERSUASION, Austen took her earlier PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and sought to show that her view on how single women relate to their families, their friends, their proposed husbands and to society at large underwent a significant change from the latter to the former.
If only she had lived and written more like this one!
Jane Austen's *Persuasion* was her last book before she suddenly, unfairly died, and it is profoundly different than her earlier works.
A Good Summer Read
I have read all of Austen's novels except Northanger Abbey, and I found this one to be in the top three, along with EMMA and PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (my personal favorite).This book is very unique compared to her other masterpieces.
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Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Literature - Classics / Criticism    3. Literature: Classics    4. Fiction / Classics   

Reviews (362)

A suprising twist!
When the reader starts Chapter 1, they think this is going to be another, long, dull pirate ship with lame "adventures." (Trust me, that is what I thought)
Absolutely Delightful!!
I first heard about this book when my son was in 3rd grade back in 1994 and the teacher was reading it aloud to the class. I then, this year (2006) remembered it and took it out of the library. I was mesmerized by the story (even as an adult) because I am a sailor! I could just imagine Charlotte donning her sailor's garb and climbing the rigging!I love how she started out prim and proper, then she became Captain of the ship! I too am a Captain, and this story (although fiction) is a great role model for young girls today. I especially loved the ending where she leaves her stuffy life behind, arrives at the dock and the boat "sails with the morning tide". I imagined the boat pulling out of port at first light and watching the sun rise over the horizon.The writing is so vivid, and the story is so alive, that I could almost smell the salt air!I loved the book!

Great Story
I loved this book because it drew you into the 19th century lifestyle at sea.
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Subjects:  1. Action & Adventure    2. Action & Adventure - General    3. Children's 9-12 - Fiction - General    4. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    5. Children: Grades 4-6    6. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    7. Girls & Women    8. Historical - Other    9. Juvenile Fiction    10. Sea stories    11. Juvenile Fiction / Historical / General   

Editorial Review

Collected together in one volume, Read more

Reviews (31)

Jane Austen, The Complete Novels
If you love Jane Austen, you will love every story in this book. I have the hardback, and while I love it, the print is very small.

I love everything by Jane Austen!
As the title suggests this book contains the complete novels of Jane Austen, but also the unfinished novels The Watsons and Sanditon.
There's a different edition that's better value
There's a new edition of Jane Austen's complete novels that's better value than this one, you might want to take a look at it - the ISBN number is:
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Subjects:  1. Bargain Books    2. Classics    3. England    4. Fiction    5. Love stories, English    6. Sale Adult - Literature - Classics & Contemporary    7. Social life and customs    8. 19th century fiction    9. Classic fiction    10. Fiction / Classics    11. Fiction anthologies & collections    12. Sale Books   

Reviews (1)

One of the best of the complete editions
Not long ago (once upon a time), one might correctly havedeclared Chapman's edition of Jane's complete works as 'the definitive collection.'
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Subjects:  1. 19th Century English Novel And Short Story    2. Classics    3. Fiction    4. Literature - Classics / Criticism    5. Literature: Classics    6. 19th century fiction    7. English    8. Fiction / Classics    9. Literature/English | British Literature    10. Novels, other prose & writers: 19th century    11. Other prose: 19th century   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (300)

The Messianic Era
I first read these books when I was in high school and although
Good idea competently realised, but...
Not surprisingly this is a second reading - I first enjoyed this classic about twenty years ago.
Romans in Space
I like Foundation because it's a solid piece of sci-fi from olden days.(George Lucas's stealing of Asimov's city-planet for his Coruscant - tsk tsk, Georgie - amazed me most.) Foundation does have peculiarities.People hundreds of thousands of years in the future speak like us.They use phrases like us. They also have the same atomic technology as people did in the 1950s.Asimov got a bit lazy here; he could've imagined something cooler than nukes.The galaxy is a metaphor for a crumbling Roman empire.Perhaps Terminus is Ireland.As for A's style, I found his use of long adverbs rather funny.In sum, a good book if you can ignore this stuff. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction - Science Fiction    2. Science Fiction    3. Science Fiction - High Tech    4. Science Fiction - Series    5. Fiction / Science Fiction / High Tech   

Editorial Review

On the heels of her acclaimed contemporary teen novel Read more

Reviews (259)

Fever 1793
Fever 1793
Fever 1793
Fever 1793
Wonderful.
This is wonderful and is historically acurate it is set at the time of the fever in philidalphia and goes through robbers, deaths, and life in the 1700's.
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Subjects:  1. Action & Adventure - General    2. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    3. Children: Grades 4-6    4. Epidemics    5. Fiction    6. Health & Daily Living - Diseases    7. Historical - United States - Colonial    8. Juvenile Nonfiction    9. Pennsylvania    10. Philadelphia    11. Survival    12. Yellow fever    13. Juvenile Nonfiction / Health / Diseases   

Editorial Review

Ed Abbey called Read more

Reviews (96)

Eco-Terrorists as anti-heroes
I was familiar with this book several years before I chose to read it.I knew that it was about a bunch of "lawbreakers" who, in a spirit of environmental idealism, set about to ruin what they considered myriad evidence of massive anti-environmentalism.Their activities included the destruction of highway billboard advertisements, burning and exploding bridges that carried hugh oil tankers across them, as well as sabotaging the oil tankers themselves, and blowing up government built dams that resulted in the drying up of some of nation's most majestic rivers.The four members of the "Monkey Wrench Gang," Doc A.K. Sarvis, his feminist girlfriend Bonnie Abbzug, Joseph "Seldom Seen" Smith, a polygamist Mormon, and George W. Hayduke, also wanted some payback for massive deforestation and for the forced death of thousands of cattle and other animals who were fenced in by barbed wire, thereby prevented from escaping from fierce winter snows and related frigid weather conditions.
Edward Abbey's Legacy...Great Literature and a Greater Appreciation for the American Southwest...And the Glen Canyon Dam
The name Edward Abbey is a foul couple of words for some, and is followed by foul language off the tongue of the same people. But, it shouldn't...both for his great body writings and for his fierce appreciation for everything that makes the American West great. "The Monkey Wrench Gang" and its sequel "Hayduke Lives" are classic American Literature as well as important social commentary on who we are and what should matter to us as a society and a country. (This review is for both books so might be a bit longer than usual.)
Not fine literature, just a story for fun
Edward Abbey's writings tend to attract a love `em or hate `em response."It changed my life.""I've found a hero." "The guy's an idiot.""Monkey wrenchers are criminals."
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Subjects:  1. Environmental protection    2. Environmentalists    3. Fiction    4. Fiction - General    5. General    6. Humorous fiction    7. Southwestern States    8. Fiction / General    9. Modern fiction   

Editorial Review

With language as colorful as a Canyonlands sunset and a perspective as pointed as a pricklypear, Cactus Ed captures the heat, mystery, and surprising bounty of desert life. Read more

Reviews (104)

I try to imagine a ride along the river...
Edward Abbey is a contradiction. A poet when describing the wonders of the desert and the joys of solitude; then he becomes a strident critic ofhis fellow man if they have the audacity to disagree with him. There is a definite will and intelligence driving the prose, but it is partially spoiled by the rants that Abbey goes on. The book has a split personality; celebrating the wilderness, but using a voice that often becomes so disagreeable that you might want to take asphalt to the park yourself. Finally though the poet wins out and you go along for the ride. I try to think of this book as rafting down the river, enjoying the wonders and trying to avoid the jagged rocks. A little white water is fine; just don't hold me underwater forhours at a time.

A yawn as big as the Grand Canyon
When this book first came out, it started a nationwide cult, primarily of college-aged students, who suddenly became entranced with nature and began to rally against the forces trying to contain it.Although he had written three prior books, this was Abbey's first major success as he relates stories from his two summers as a Park Ranger in the Arches National Monument in southeast Utah.There is no straight narrative here, just bits and pieces from his experiences in this desert land.He also finds time to boat down the Colorado River through the Glen Canyon before it is forever flooded by another massive dam. Although I stuck with this book to the end, I found it more sleep inducing than inspiring.Although written well, Abbey seems to find it necessary to include the names, bothEnglish and Latin, of every single plant and bush that grows in this desert.He even endlessly names the rocks. Then he goes on to the stars! And that trip down the river was mostly repetitive glimpses down side canyons.However, this is a forerunner to one of my favorite books, Abbey's "The Monkey Wrench Gang," as he gives us glimpses into the beginnings of eco-terrorism with the pulling up of surveyors' stakes and the destruction of billboards.I have read the "Gang" many times, "Solitaire" will just be once.

"Arches" Outshines Abbey's Militant Gibberish
Abbey is the type of person that you will either love or hate.There is no middle ground.Personally, I find few things in this book that do Arches the justice that it deserves and I can't tolerate Abbey's selfish militant eco-hermit gibberish.That being said, I'm a scientist and I realize the importance of preservation of our wild lands and I constantly encourage people to become involved BUT I will never become so selfish as to propose exclusion of these places to handicapped people.Futhermore, I could never place a snake's life in higher regard than a human unless the human is a worthless piece of sh*t.So, you can tell I'm not on the majority's side here...I won't glorify this Abbey's book like others have done in these reviews.Do yourself a favor and VISIT Arches and see these things for yourself.Its the most beautiful place you will likely see out West.For something really enjoyable, read anything by John Wesley Powell...won't be written about Arches but will describe the West in its early, unexplored days. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Arches National Park    2. Biography    3. Desert biology    4. Essays    5. General    6. National parks and reserves    7. Natural Resources    8. Nature    9. Nature/Ecology    10. Park rangers    11. United States    12. Utah    13. Modern fiction    14. Nature / Natural Resources   

Editorial Review

Of all Jane Austen's heroines, Emma Woodhouse is the most flawed, themost infuriating, and, in the end, the most endearing.Read more

Reviews (180)

A Wonderful Novel
Siri Amster- Olszewski
EMMA: A Novel Of Growing Self-Awareness
In the constricted world of Jane Austen's EMMA, there is a general lack of a sense that anything exists beyond that which Emma can see or Austen can relate.Emma, her family, and friends live either in the small town of Hartfield or its equally miniscule environs. The action of the novel is more or less coterminous with the very real events of the Industrial Revolution, the French Revolution, or even just some whooping and hollering of some village bad boys.This smallness of space is matched by a smallness of psychological depth. Austen tacitly assumes that good is ubiquitous, and where good seems to be lacking, its normal contrary is not evil at all. Those who show a deficiency of good either are merely mischievous or are incapable of doing no more than sputtering about their evil. Further, those who sputter do so in isolation and do not seriously disrupt the social order. They are neither punished nor remorseful.In the interactions among the characters, Austen in EMMA makes a marked change in the basic makeup of her cast. In PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, for example, she shows only the landed gentry.But here, Austen presents a definite variation in character.It is this wider cast of type that allows Austen to play the magician and make the reader think that Austen's world is bigger than it is.And at the center of this static world is Emma herself, who, in the canon of Austen, is the heroine only in the broadest sense of the word.
Satisfying Romance
This book was a pretty funny societal review from Jane Austen's point of view, pointing out the hypocrisies of London at the time but not failing to do justice to the integretity of the characters. I loved the book...what more can I say? It's definitely geared towards females, obviously, but anyone can read it for lighthearted, enjoyable reading. It isn't that long of a book, and, after all, its a classic. So read it as soon as possible! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Classics    2. Literature - Classics / Criticism    3. Literature: Classics    4. Fiction / Classics    5. Literature: Texts   

Reviews (11)

a bit disappointed
I have loved everything I have read by Atwater-Rhodes in the past, which is just about everything she has ever written.Unfortunately, I found this book a bit wanting.She did have a great twist on the story, and I am not talking about the romance part, that was pretty obvious.More along the line of the magic.What didn't do it for me was the herione.I found her lacking.She just didn't seem worthy of all that worship, friendship, and love she received from every living soul she encounter.Atwater-Rhodes gave no reason for this blind faith in this character.Just what made her so special?
Good book (INCLUDES SPOILERS)
SPOILER ALERT
Excellent - Quenched My Thrist For More Interesting Shapeshifters to Read About!
I have read all of Amelia's books - Snakecharm, then Hawksong being my favorites. Falcondance dissapointed me only because I got one little taste of the characters I was REALLY interested in - Sive, Salem, and especially Oliza - before I was whisked off to Ahnmik with Nicias, whose character I found less interesting than the others.
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Subjects:  1. Birds    2. Children's 12-Up - Literature - Classics    3. Children's Books - Young Adult Fiction    4. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    5. Fiction    6. Juvenile Fiction    7. Kings, queens, rulers, etc.    8. Legends, Myths, & Fables - General    9. Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic    10. Snakes    11. Juvenile Fiction / Legends, Myths, Fables / General   

Editorial Review

This brilliantly ironic satire is set in a future world where televisionand computers are connected directly into people's brains when they are babies.The result is a chillingly recognizable consumer society where empty-headed kidsare driven by fashion and shopping and the avid pursuit of sillyentertainment--even on trips to Mars and the moon--and by constant customizedmurmurs in their brains of encouragement to buy, buy, buy.