An excellent intorduction to the politics surrounding the problem of Palestine vs. Israel, this book is very straightforward and easy to read, profusely annotated and suffers from few biases. The author obviously leans much more towards the Palestinian side, but does not treat the Israeli side unfarily. He goes to pains to show how the conflict in the Middle East is not due to "age old struggles" as so many people have it, but are a direct resault of 19th and 20th century plotics. Zionism is painted as an oppressive colonial force, and the Palestinians are seen as the underdogs . . . whether this is due to bias as opposed to reality I doubt. He does not really empahsise the rolls of religions in the conflict, but of land ownership and goes a long way to dispelling popular myths about this conflict in Palestine. A very interesting book.

This is a beautiful collection of photographs of multiracial families of every ilk and shade. Each chapter is devoted to one family and each member gets a little space to say what they feel about being in a multiracial family. As one would expect, there are virtually no negative comments about it, but all seem to have been made better, even more completer people by the experience, and above all they tend to see themselves as members of a human family as opposed to members of one "race" or ethnic background. The children seem less confused than most of the rest of us. A wonderful book. I only give it four stars because for all it's beauty, it does not get into much depth (although that is inevitable in any photo essay). Still, a heartwarming collection of photographs and shared experiences.

This dictionary contains most of the terms that are related to Sikhism. Although not really an introductory course, by reading the definitions of so many words in the Sikh vocabulary, one gets an idea of what the religion is all about, including its relation to Islam and Hinduism, the two related faiths of India. The book lists the major figures in Sikhism, an outline of the history of the religion, a list of the sacred books, theology and a general overview of the philosophy, both in the introduction and in the definitions itself. A great aid for those interested in the faith.

There are certain problems with this book. I loved the first novel in this series, "Interview With The Vampire", but Rice made a mistake I think, in making this book a continuation of her previous one. I think it would have been a much, much better book if she had started clean. For example, a great deal of what one had to believe about Louis and Lestat in the first book had to be not only suspended, but actually reversed in this one for the story to make any sense. In "Interview" Lestat is portrayed as a childish, vengeful, sadistic man with no feeling or depth whatsoever. Here he is shown as the "vampire's vampire" -- a man of unusual depth (which unfortunately doesn't stop his constant immaturity from getting the better of him), and Louis is shown to be a weak, vacillating, pathrtic creature -- far removed from the tragic figure that he was in the first novel. The series sort of loses its integrity after this. Also, many of the characterisations are hard to believe . . . Lestat (pre-vampiric) and his friend get drunk and spend the night in some sort of existential angst moaning about philosophy. Trust me, this is NOT what drunk teenage males think of! The vampire is also nearly elevated to the status of a god, being able to fly and being virtually indestructable, but still beins concerned with the pettiest of human problems. Lestat simply seems to waste his immortality. The invulnerability of the characters makes all of the shenannigans that they go through seem rather pointless. Instead of using his dark gift to elevate himself and understand life, Lestat prefers to waste his time in childish pursuits that are curiously pointless. So why the four stars? Well, Rice IS an excellent writer. The book does captivate one and draws a person into the drama. She writes with a lushness that any romantic writer would envy. The story is great, but the near hero-worship of Lestat seems absurd, and the inconsistencies with the first novel really did take away from the book's value.

If you're looking for something special, keep looking, because you won't find it here. I suppose most people come to this book nowadays with Michael Crawford, Lon Chaney or Claude Rains in mind, the but story here is completely different. What it is is a fairly dull detective story, with no love story in it at all, and flatly unconvincing characters and a highly improbable plot. If you love the Lloyd-Weber opera like I do, don't expect to find anything sublte or beautiful here. This is one of the few cases when the films and musicals FAR outdo the original that they were based on.

Although in general, Jazz is one of my most unfavourite types of music, I was captivated by the story. I couldn't get up once I had started watching it. Donna Reed and Steve Allen really brought the story (partly fictional by the way) of Benny Goodman out and intrigued me enough to want to learn more about his life and the sort of music he played. The musical numbers in the film are among Goodman's best, and really liven the film up. A great film.

The first song on the CD I liked . . . Chandra has a wonderful voice, but the songs for the most part are just kind of dull. A little music in the background rather than only her voice would have made been nice. I wasn't much impressed.

I was very much dissapointed by the Koran. I had heard much about it and as one of the most important religious scriptures of the world, I decided that it was something that I should read first-hand. Since I don't know classical Arabic, I thought the best that I could do was to get a translation made by a practicing Muslim, rather than a scholar who would (perhaps unintentionally) distort the faith or give only an academician's point of view. most of what I have heard about Islam was very negative and so I tried to keep an open mind while reading this book. Still, I was much disappointed. I found the book to have very little subtlety in it. It seems to be a very simple, direct, tribal-oriented tome that will undobubtedly aid one in understanding Arabian culture to a substantial degree, but which all the same, will probably do little to help anyone understand life or their place in it. It has often been said that when Christianity and Islam encounter one another, the majority of the people tend to gravitate toward Islam. I can see why this is true -- the theology is much simpler than the muddled trinitarianism of the Bible and the means of expression is much more direct and less confusing than the Hebrew writings, but even so, this book seems to show the route to a completely external faith -- one where obedience and submission is much more imprortant than understanding. The morality that the book encourages was an improvement over the traditional Arabian morality (pre-Muslim era), but it is abysmal for a modern human being. Although Islam raised the status of women when it was first conceived of by Mohammed, a following of this book today gives one an excuse for discrimination and even violence. I once thought that the talk of jihad was all just anti-Muslim propaganda, but this book seems much like the Bible in that it shows a petty, vengeful little god who rather than uplifiting humanity, simply keeps it down in a deep ravine. If you have an open mind, Islam as Pickthall conceives it is not for you. The "Conference of the Birds" is a much better treatise in every way.

I was recommended this book by a friend and I was pleasantly pleased by it, although not unduly impressed. the stories about a burglar who plays detective is rather improbable, but a fairly effective technique for solving goo old-fashioned mysteries. It won't knock the masters of the genre out of their places, but it's a great book for mystery fans. Funny too.

This book is really something of a romance novel -- it is definitely not horror. An amusing tale that shows Rice's writing at it's best and most sensual, the story is set in Egypt and centers around a man (the mummy) who has tasted the elixir of life -- a draught which although making one immortal, dooms one to perennial frustration, as one's desires can never be sated. As an adventure and romance book, it is excellent, but do not be fooled by the title -- there is nothing here that is really dark or unpleasant, but it still makes for a wonderful way to kill a weekend.