Great Book - Highly recommended

I bought this for my 14 year old but my 10 year old intercepted! We've had it for a few months now and she still plays with it most days. The book is brilliant, lots of templates and really cool (material) paper and accessories like tiny beads, thread etc. Even pretend lace! What's really good is that it produces very good results, even from children with no help from adults. Highly recommended - and I paid a lot more than the price on Amazon in a book shop.

Don't go

Recently Natsuki Takaya has dealt with the relationships of some of the supporting characters... and now it's back to the main trio.<br /><br />And the nineteenth volume of"Fruits Basket" focuses on Tohru's growing feelings for Kyo, even as she struggles to free him from his curse -- and the scorn of the other zodiac members. Though there are some funny moments (mostly from the wonderfully wacky Ayame) growing romantic feelings and past regrets are littered all through these chapters.<br /><br />Heartfelt talks take up a lot of space -- when Shigure tells Tohru about the approaching"last banquet" and the cat's place, she is left struggling with her torn feelings. Kyo has a chat with her kindly grandfather about Tohru, and remembers his own talk with her dead mother. And Shigure has a soul-baring talk with Hatori about the increasingly reclusive Akito, and just what he wants from her.<br /><br />But the romantic tension growing between Kyo and Tohru are stifling Yuki, so he goes shopping out on the town, and eventually ends up visiting his brother. While the brothers talk, Yuki stirs up memories of the first time Ayame realized that his careless words could hurt people. But he isn't the only one -- amid the usual school council hijinks, Yuki finds out about a past conflict between Kakeru and Tohru...<br /><br />In the grand scheme of things, not much actually happens in this volume -- it's mostly about the characters and their feelings.<br /><br />Don't worry. It's not boring, especially since Takaya continues to weave in some darker threads about Kyo's bleak past and future, and his half-hidden regrets about Kyoko. And she lets readers have a look at how the characters are changing as they approach adulthood (Momiji has become the new"prince"). There's a bittersweet flavour even to the lighter chapters, since everything around them is changing so quickly.<br /><br />But don't worry -- despite the darker moments, we still get lots of comic relief like Kyo bashing his head against the wall in exaggerated shame. And there are some deeply romantic moments, like a beautiful flashback to the start of Ayame's relationship with Mine. These moments are exquisitely beautiful without having to be too obvious, and Takaya's delicate artwork only adds to the feeling.<br /><br />But the biggest romantic moments come for Tohru and Kyo. Tohru's inner struggles are further revealed, since she turns out to have some conflicting feelings about her parents and Kyo. And Kyo shows that he's grown out of the angry, self-loathing cat-boy he used to be, while Yuki has become more patient with his brother, and very sweet and loving toward his new girlfriend.<br /><br />And Takaya doesn't neglect the other characters -- Kakeru turns out to be a romantic, Ayame definitely isn't gay, and Momiji has some secret romantic feelings. And Shigure's darker side casts a shadow over the first half of this manga.<br /><br />The nineteenth volume of"Fruits Basket" explores the changing feelings of the characters, even as it inches toward the end. A really stellar, polished little manga.

Moves along like the others

More of the same really. The pace moves along quite quickly and this passes the time when one wants a less demanding read. But Uthred is for me as unsympathetic a character as ever, going around the country slaughtering everyone who stands in his way. The broad historical backdrop and background to Alfred and the Vikings are what keep me reading and what will undoubtedly make me read Sword Song when it comes out in paperback.

Caesar Salad

A really good read. I was in fact addicted to it!<br />Only issue was it seemed to go on a little too long for me; but that could just be personal preference. I felt weary having to read beyond the start of the rebellion.<br />I would advise however to read this on holiday or, if you're a fast reader, to read it during the weekend.

Hours of fun

Both my children (aged 10 and 8) and I loved the original paper fashions book but this latest one is superb. It arrived yesterday and we spent the whole evening making glitzy outfits. The book has loads of ideas, the"fabrics" are shimmery and glamorous and the templates are sturdy and easy to use. We highly recommend it.

truly awful

I have read and enjoyed previous Tracy Chevalier books but I was beginning to think I was reading a Dan Brown, the writing was that poor ..or a childrens book. After seeing the other reviews i'm not going to feel so guilty about giving up on it.

so cute!

This book, as well as Black on White, are the cutest books. My girl just loves them! They are great for visual stimulation in the youngest of babies.

Really good Read

This book is great if you don't want EXACT historical fact, but after all it IS a novel.<br />The research is excellent and Iggulden's descriptions of gladiatorial combat and what the streets of Rome were actually like ( filthy, unwholesome, etc.) despite the glorious buildings is extremely good. This is the first of his books which I have read and I shall certainly read the rest of this series and maybe his other works too.<br /><br />Read it - I'm sure you will enjoy it.

Who doesn’t enjoy ole Macdonald?

A familiar story that everyone can sing along to!

Its reasonable..but not in the same league as Sabriel

I think its a decent premise, but it feels rushed at times and lacking depth. Also, I found it hard to feel empathy with the characters. Hopefully book 2 will beef things up a bit!

Cato and Macro ride the waves

Whenever I pick up the eagle books I find I just cannot put them down and this is no exception Macro is one of the best characters since Sharpe

Fifth in a Sparkling Series

<br />The author, Simon Scarrow teaches at a leading Sixth Form College. He has run a Roman History programme taking parties of students to a number of ruins and museums across Britain. This is the first in a series of books about Quintus Licinius Cato, Optio (second in command) to Macro a centurion and veteran of more than one campaign in the Roman legions.<br /><br />In this, the fifth book in the series Cato has recently been appointed as a centurion as reward for the services he and Macro have given to both the legate of their Legion and also the Emperor Cludius himself. It is Ad44 and Claudius is eager for Britain to be pacified and is commander in Britain, Plautius is clearly feeling the strain of trying to bring peace to the British tribes . . .

Essential reading,

A beautiful and tradtional story of magic, freindship & growing up. Adored by my children, loved by me.<br />Every school shelf should be stocked with this classic and every home shelf too. <br />When the trend for books is to 'gross out' young readers, this story reminds us that there is and always will be space for beautifully written well told enchanting stories.

One of my favorite books, 2nd best of the Potter books

For my money, though I like the first two Potter books, this is where Rowling struck gold. I started reading the series in late 1999 or early 2000, well before GOBLET came out, and when I finished the three books that at that time were out, I thought AZKABAN was not only easily the best of three, but one of the best books I had read in a long time. The storyline is easily the strongest of the first three installments, and for once Voldemort is not the main villain driving the plot, but, so it is thought, a renegade supporter of his who murdered 13 people with a single curse.<br /><br />In AZKABAN, we learn an escaped criminal from the wizard prison Azkaban by the name of Sirius Black is out on the lam looking for Potter. Black was once a vehement supporter for Voldemort, and now Black is gunning to finish off the job by murdering Potter, a task he had tried to do several years ago. Not only that, Potter learns during the course of the plot that Black was James' best friend, along with the new defense against the dark arts teacher, Remus Lupin. We get to learn who Scabbers really is (another instant of an character mentioned in passing on the first two novels who is hugely important here). Black is Potter's godfather, and yet he betrayed the Potters!<br /><br />What makes Azkaban so interesting is you really get to learn about the relationships between James Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Severus Snape. These five characters, and their relationships with one another, are huge portions of the foundation on which Rowling built her series. You need a clear understanding of these characters to fully experience Rowling's series, and it is thru these characters that this book, and the series itself, is as rich as it is. The fact no one knew that the three characters were unregistered animagus to help Remus cope with his condition was pretty cool. <br /><br />For once, Rowling introduces a new magical artifiact called the Marauder's Map, which she uncharacteristically fully explains by the end of the novel. It was made by Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail, and Prongs, which are the nicknames of James and his crew. The map shows you the location of every one on the Hogwarts grounds, a tremendously useful item, supplied, appropriately enough, by those masters of mischief, Fred and George.<br /><br />Another great new bit of magic in the book is the Patronus, a magical spell that will help fight back the dementors and fear, a very advanced piece of magic for third years. It is also very touching to know why Harry's patronus is a stag, as that is what his father transformed into.<br /><br />There are also other memorable scenes and events. You get Hermione and the Time Turners, Buckbeak the Hippogriff, Professor Trelawney, the Dementors, the Maurader's Map, etc. The climax of the novel is great, but for me, it's that time when Remus, Sirus, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Snape are all in that Shreiking Shack, and you finally get to learn a lot of key information about Harry's past. <br /><br />Ironically enough, though I have long held the opinion this is the best Potter book of them all (not including Book 7), this book has the worst movie adaptation, BECAUSE they don't fully establish all the different relationships between the four, or even explain the Marauder's Map.<br /><br />For myself, this is easily my favorite of the Potter novels, or was until DEATHLY HALLOWS came out. Still, I have had a great history with this book, and probably reread this more than all the other Potter books. This is the second best Potter book.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />These are my order of Potter books by preference:<br />Deathly Hallows<br />Prisoner of Azkaban<br />Order of the Phoenix<br />Philosopher's Stone/Chamber of Secrets (I rank them both the same)<br />Half-Blood Prince<br />Goblet of Fire.<br />

My Potty Book For Boys

I was given this book a few months ago for my 20mth old grandson Noah. He visits regularly and this is the only book he looks at (anything up to twenty times a visit). He chats away to the boys, pretends to feed them and shares his toys with them. Although not using his potty yet, I'm sure this will come soon.

My favourite HP book.

This ( in my opinion ) is JK Rowlings greatest book. Despite it being not as exciting as some of it's predecessors it was just as enjoyable ( if not more enjoyable ) and I was very excited to know what happened next. The end of the book had the biggest cliffhanger feeling of any HP book.<br /><br />In this novel Harry and his friends ( and enemies ) return to Hogwarts, and everybody is aware of Voldemorts return to power, and it is really starting to have an effect on the magical world. Aswell as that, last year Harry realised it was his fate to defeat Voldemort, but it is not going to be easy, to defeat him Harry discovers that he must locate and destroy the 7 horcuxes ( parts of Voldemorts soul ) and Dumbledore thinks it will help Harry on his mission if he shows him some memories involving Voldemorts tragic past, I think that that part is fascinating and great to read about. Another great part is the ending, which is exciting, thrilling, and un-put-downable.<br /><br />The book leaves you knowing much more about the magic world than you did at the beginning, but it leaves you feeling like you know less and wanting to understand everything. My favourite Harry Potter book, if you were put off by the its comparitively weak predecessor ( ootp ), don't be, it is 10 times better than that.

Excellent follow up to the show!

I've just finished reading the Buffy Season 8 comic. It's the first one of these I've read and was very impressed. My main reason for reading is was I was due to meet the artist, Georges Jenty (very nice guy indeed).<br /><br />Anyhow, I saw some of the other reviews, I'm surprized some people are so upset. I think it's only natural that things had to change a lot with 100's or 1000's of new slayers. They're need to organase them as you can't really have a watcher for each one. Plus, 50 slayers vs 10 demons would be much better odds, lol! <br /><br />The writing was as great as normal and the scene changes even seemed similar to the show. I agree that some things weren't explained, but being the first volume, I'll forgive that. Over all I'd recommend this to any fan of the show if you miss it as much as I do!

One of the Better Pieces of British Literature

Please note: this review is intended for those who have not yet read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix but it does not make a huge difference if you have.<br /><br />This is my favourite book in the much-praised Harry Potter series. It describes Harry's fifth year in much detail presenting new challenges for Harry to face and some growing up emotionally that he has to do.<br /><br />A new character is introduced with the return of many familiar ones, including for a short spell, Professor Grubbly-Plank. (I'll let the reader of the review who has not yet read this book to form their own conclusions about this piece of information). A character close to Harry's own heart is lost in the struggle against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.<br /><br />Harry feels anger, first crush, despair, loss and amusement in this fast-paced, unputdownable book. I recommend this book to anyone deliberating on buying, it is a fantastic example of J. K. Rowling's writing prowess. I have been nothing but praising of this book in this review, and the reason I have not given it five stars is because nothing is perfect, and somethings, personally, I mildly diskiked on a very small number of occasions. Let this not dissaude you in buying this book, it is fabulous!

A vivid depiction of a historical tragedy

This is one of my favorite books. In addition to being an enjoable read,, one would learn well-researched historical facts about slave trade that deprived Africa of its sons and daughters of talents.<br />Its consequences could be seen even today. This book lends a human dimension to this historical tragedy. We hear the slaves telling their stories around the kitchen table of their masters. We hear their cries, their laughter, their longing for their families and their homeland. The novel also shows the shallow thinking of those slave masters. Even the protagonist of the story, who is supposed to be a sympathetic figure, is superficial in her thinking and even hypocritical.<br />She wanted to have it all: wealth, status, and empty aristocratic titles. Then she sought love and lust from the very people she enslaved and stripped from basic human rights including the right to have non-English names; and she insisted on keeping them slaves up to the very end. The African man is a great personality. He shocked his masters with his intelligence and wisdom and the speed with which he excelled in their language.<br />He drew strength from the memories of his homeland. He drew warmth from the bright sun shining in the sky of his hometown while suffering the dark clouds of his new life.

Fantastic book

I thought my 15 month daughter would be too young for this but she loves it and asks us to read it to her all the time. the rhyming story holds her interest as she follows the story of the night monkey/day monkey. wonderful illustrations especially the burst of colour as the day monkey takes over. Cant recommend it enough.