Regarding Ducks and Universes Review

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(More customer reviews)Quantum mechanics is one of the most successful theories of modern physics. It works, but nobody quite knows what it means in a fundamental sense. One popular current hypothesis of its meaning is Parallel Worlds - every time two possible outcomes exist (such as a coin flip - heads or tails), the universe splits and each possibility comes true in one of the resultant universes. With time, the two universes will begin to differ as many choices end up being made differently between the two universes.
This is Ms. Maslakovic's first novel, and she has a PhD in electrical engineering which helps her with the scientific side of the story. She bases her book on a parallel universe splitting off, but in this case a scientist has somehow succeeded in maintaining a connection between the two parallel universes. People can even travel between the universes and meet their alternate self who slowly begins to differ over time, becoming more like a fraternal twin. Our hero, Felix Sayers, is considering writing a mystery novel and becomes obsessed that his Alternate will beat him to the punch, so he decides to travel to universe B. While there, someone seems to be trying to kill him. Is someone, and if so, could it be his alternate?
Hmm. This is not the strongest concept to base a novel, but the book turns out to be interesting, lighthearted and it reads quickly. In fact, perhaps it reads too quickly? It does not seem to me that Ms. Maslakovic has included much character development, and there are not complete enough scene descriptions. I recently listened to the audio version of Masques by Patricia Briggs. In the introduction, Ms. Briggs notes that this was her very first book (and it had not done well), but she is now successful and had been given a chance to rewrite it. Ms. Briggs says ruefully about the rewrite, "Why didn't anyone tell me I needed a few descriptions?" I think that Ms. Maslakovic also could have done quite a bit more description-wise. Finally, there is a romantic entanglement story line that could have been better fleshed out giving emotional depth to the character, but has been neglected by the author. However, is Regarding Ducks and Universes a good book despite all this? Yes. It just means it is 4 stars rather than 5 stars. I look forward to reading her next novel, but more descriptions please!

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Day Stripper Review

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(More customer reviews)There's a stripper in high heels running down a dirty street in the crusty San Francisco Tenderloin. Wearing little more than a layer of pancake makeup, she is hell bent on catching the john that just snatched a hundred dollars out of her bra. Reader; meet Aubrey Lyle, the character who's about to change the face of women's detective fiction. Day Stripper, written by newcomer Jenny Scholten and released October, 2000, by New Victoria Press, introduces the pragmatic Lyle, a young woman just trying to make a living stripping in San Francisco. When Lyle discovers one of her coworkers strangled with her own pink leather bikini top, she decides she had better investigate before the police try to pin it on her. In a rich narrative voice that describes San Francisco and its strip joint neighborhoods with authority, Scholten lets us perch on Lyle's shoulder as she digs her way deeper and deeper into the complex tale of a corrupt union boss, a zealous union organizer and S&M queen, and a supporting cast of disinterested sex workers, not to mention a flat full of angst-ridden house-mates. Unlike other popular detectives, Aubrey Lyle lives far beyond the fringes of the mainstream. She is almost entirely unsentimental, makes no apologies for her lifestyle, and has no grand ambitions to become something `better' some day. Her life suits her well enough just as it is, assuming she can solve the murder before she becomes the next victim. Day Stripper, based very loosely in part on Scholten's experiences as a dancer in one of the first strip clubs ever to unionize in San Francisco, is above all believable. The language is lush,the denouement is plausible and the build-up is satisfyingly suspenseful. Aubrey Lyle, while not sympathetic exactly, is likeable and real.
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In the First Aubrey Lyle mystery by Jenny Scholten, Aubrey finds out taking it all off leaves a lot covered up when one of the Live Nude Girls ends up dead and she must investigate. With her lively housemates as sidekicks and confidants, Aubrey uncovers a sordid network of self-serving politicians, smarmy club owners and corrupt union organizers.

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The Best Bay Area Sports Arguments: The 100 Most Controversial, Debatable Questions for Die-Hard Fans (Best Sports Arguments) Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this book as a gift and ended up reading the entire thing. A very well written and fun book that covers all aspects of Sports in the Bay Area. I am going to buy some more as Xmas presents for all my friends and family from the Bay Area. Highly recommended!

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WHO'S THE BEST? WHO'S THE WORST?

Every Bay Area fan knows that the only thing better than watching sports is arguing about the - picking the best, the worst, and who will come out on top. And no region tears its sports teams apart like we do in Northern California.

Veteran sportswriter Cam Inman takes you inside the 100 best debates in Bay Area sports. Covering the 49ers, Raiders, Giants, A's, Sharks, Warriors, and beyond, every question you want to debate is here - as well as a few surprises.

Joe vs. Steve: Who deserved to start for the 49ers?
Which Raiders season was the best?
What's theWarriors' all-time starting five?
Is Barry Bonds a first-ballot Hall of Famer?
Was the A's best home run hit by a Bash Brother?
Were Cal's five laterals legal in The Play?

Also included is a foreword by John Madden.

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Leadership and Self Deception: Getting Out of the Box Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a most unusual book on leadership. The premise here is not about leadership approaches, methodologies for managing employees in the workplace, or other business strategy, but is instead a close and powerful look at how we view others and how that view impacts our ability to lead them.
The first unusual aspect of this book is the manner in which it is written. It is basically a novel. It starts with contextual story written in first person, of a man who has recently joined a successful company as an executive and is called in to meet personally with the Company senior leader. From the first few pages I was anticipating and wanting to know what would happen next. It is within this method that the leadership principles are revealed. This is an extremely important way to deliver a message. I know a few people who do not read novels, but stick to non-fiction types of books. This is a tremendous loss, as truth is most eloquently and powerfully conveyed within the context of a story. In the New Testament for example, Jesus taught most powerfully in parables, weaving truth into a common story people could relate to. In that manner this book weaves some powerful messages about leadership into a modern day parable of a business executive.
The concept presented in this book of what leadership is, is also a more unusual one in that the focus is not on "what" we do behaviorally to others, our outward leadership style, as most leadership books focus on, but rather our inward view of these individuals as people. The foundational question is whether we are "in the box" or not. "In the box" refers generally to viewing others as objects through our own biased lens, which often without our knowledge inflates our self-importance while diminishing theirs. When reading this story I couldn't help but draw parallels to companies I have worked for, like GE, where the culture of leadership was in place, but despite all the tools most managers were not effective delivering them. This book will give one explanation on why.
This book is personally challenging, in that the focus is not on how we act in that compartment of our lives called work, but rather who we are in relation to others in our family, our workplace, and strangers in our society. I think that the message here should be experienced, so I will not lay out all the components of the book, but rather encourage you to read to be likewise challenged about your own leadership and approach to others.
One other review here I noticed was titled "could be life changing". I agree. While the basic concept is not new, the packaging of this idea is so eloquently and powerfully done, that I would guess you may also experience some awareness bursts as I did while reading it. I found myself re-examining many aspects of how I lead my team at work, how I interact with peers and co-workers, and how I related to my wife. Simply put, a great book on leadership that would benefit anyone who reads it. Well done.

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Willem De Kooning: The Late Paintings, the 1980s Review

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(More customer reviews)Thanks to the efforts of his former wife Elaine, Willem de Kooning was able to enter his last productive period with growing confidence and originality. As a result his late work, in which his unique and beautiful touch and vision come into full flower, may be the best work he ever did. Some critics are dismayed or even offended by the late work, thinking it the result of manipulations by his dealer, assistants and Elaine, but the beauty and originality of these late canvases offer the best testimony against such views. This book is superb in it's organization, layout and printing, and the essays are convincing, eloquent and first-rate. Any lover of abstract art cannot dispense with owning this superb volume.

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Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stone File: The Ultimate Compendium of Interviews, Articles, Facts and Opinions from the Files of Rolling Stone Review

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(More customer reviews)I got this book for Christmas and I was very hopeful that it would tell me 'The Bruce Story" since I didn't really know it. Well, it did and it didn't. Not knowing much about Springsteen's life or career and knowing only the music, reading this book, which consists of chronological news items, interviews and articles that appeared in ROLLING STONE, I got an interesting overview of his career and the way the public's perception of him has changed. The book is almost as interesting for the things it doesn't say, for instance, it says virtually nothing about the biggest event of Springsteen's career: his bitter two year battle to end his contract with Producer Mike Appel. (that is actually covered better in an out of print book you can try and order here called DOWN THUNDER ROAD) Also, his much publicized extra-marital affair with his band-member and current wife rates about 4 lines. Also, one article starts off telling us in a painfully beautiful reminisence about his early years and drops off just when things were getting interesting, way before he got signed. Overall, this book actually shows what a poor job ROLLING STONE has done over the years on all matters BRUCE. It's a good read - a must-have for completists but NOT where to begin if you have just gotten bit.

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The Rolling Stone Files is the ultimate collection of articles, facts, and opinions spanning Bruce Springsteen's entire history, featuring interviews, thoughts, and reflections from the Boss in his own words. The book is part biography, part autobiography, part insightful rock history--an incredible tribute to the Everyman of rock, one of its most beloved and enduring icons.

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Being With Him Review

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(More customer reviews)Jessica Barksdale Inclán is a new author to me and I was pretty glad when she got in touch with me about being interviewed and having her latest Second Romance series books reviewed by me. I'm a bit late in posting this review but it's better late than never and I really enjoyed reading the first book Being with Him. This is a paranormal romance that I didn't at first really understand completely because the two main characters are from another plant placed on earth for their own survival by their parents. They have a similar species to them who are after them for evil purposes that could kill them in the end because they are the ones who destroyed their planet and parents in the first place. I did really start to get the hero, Garrick, and heroine, Milla, as the novel progressed and the reason for the special abilities became more clearer to them and the reader.Milla is a very creative woman who has the ability to move time forward but she doesn't know what she missed between the time she was in the present and to the time she moved forward. So she missed minutes and hours and maybe days that she can never relive again because she can only move time forward. She also has never told anyone not even her beloved parents about her ability but that all changes for her when she is set up on a blind date with Garrick. Now Garrick is the other half of Milla because he has the ability to move time backwards and so he has relived the past over and over if he wasn't careful. But unlike Milla he told his parents that he kept reliving the past again and again as a child, which really freaked his parents out. Garrick had to spend many days and years of his childhood in mental hospitals with doctors trying to figure out what is wrong with him. Until Garrick final stopped talking about his ability did he finally get on with his life as a semi-normal man but his parents were never the same with him again. Then he met Milla on a blind date that his aunt set up for him and everything changed for him as well because they both felt that deep soul mate connection between them. That is a turning point for both Milla and Garrick in this lovely and creative tale of two halfs of one whole coming together after years of separation. But that is also the turning point where things get really hard for Milla and Garrick because they finally find out what happened to their parents and their people with the special abilities. They find out about the people who want to use them for their own nefarious purposes or they die if they don't comply. By the time I finished reading this novel I had to immediately pick up the second book to find out what happens next with Milla and her brother and sister who she just now discovered she had.

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They are here among us...Far from home, gifted with special abilities, hunted for their powers. And they are desperate to find their other, the one who completes them...before it's too late... Sometimes, Time Really Does Stand StillMila Adams has always known she was different. For as long as she can remember, she has had the ability to shift time, and who would believe that? Certainly not the obnoxious blind dates her mother keeps foisting off on her. But Mila can't help feeling there's someone out there for her, a soul mate who might understand her unique ability. And when she looks into the dark eyes of financial whiz Garrick McClellan, she can't but feel her time has finally come. Any man would lust after a beauty like Mila, but the moment Garrick touches her--feels her shifting time just as he can--he recognizes her as his partner in power. Their connection is immediate, passionate, raw, and beyond anything either has ever experienced. But who are they? What is this gift that joins them so intensely? Are there others like them? And why do they feel that time is running out?

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San Bernardino (Postcard History: California) Review

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(More customer reviews)Mr. Shaw's postcard narrative of this historic city underscores the role San Bernardino played in shaping the Inland Empire. Beautiful postcards illustrate the founding, development of a town then showcase the transformation into a metropolitan. Mr. Shaw skillfully uses these photos to tell the story of the city, its building, festivals, and people. I strongly recommend this book.

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Everybody into the Pool: True Tales Review

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(More customer reviews)Some days I resent life as a Midwestern suburban mom. I don't discover trends or talents until they've been around long enough to bore my hipper and more cosmopolitan friends. That feeling was never more acute as I read Everybody Into the Pool: True Tales by Beth Lisick.
Every other paragraph had me laughing out loud, even as I lamented the fact I identified more with her naïve and sincere parents than her. I swear she channeled my own Catholic school girl experience with The Apostles Creed (the solo performance of all the memorized prayers, a bored yet perfectly timed recitation delivered hip thrust out) and those early days as a new mom with all the other mommies so together and their babies so stylish while I considered it a huge accomplishment to get in the shower at some point.
Sure, Everybody Into the Pool isn't for everyone. Readers of a more conservative nature might not appreciate her gung-ho yet futile attempts at bisexuality nor the irony of her temp job selling raffle tickets at a Catholic church fundraiser so she could raise the last $40 she needed to fund an abortion. She writes of life among IV drug user, child drug runners, and a day of sewage raining down upon her boyfriend's illegal warehouse apartment without gloss or angry defiance. It just is, like everything else in Lisick's world: sometimes sad, sometimes a struggle, but always worthy of a good laugh. I look forward to her next book, Help Me Help Myself. This time I'm only a few weeks behind.

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Fatal Truth Review

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(More customer reviews)This is book 2 in the Inspector Kate Gillespie series, and this book is great! The character's are complex, the mystery has more dips and loops than a rollar coaster, and the scenery is fabulous! (Well maybe I am a bit partial- they visit my town ;0). Sexy IA Investigator Torrance is back heating up the pages, and leaving us wishing for more.
In this book Kate finds herself in the middle of corruption in the department (and higher?). She doesn't know which of her fellow officer's she can trust, and which are out to make her a silent witness. Who is on her side? Who is being framed? Who sold out on his badge? At least she can trust Torrance.... or can she?
A fast, enjoyable read, Robin Burcell scores a hit here. She writes from knowledge, as a cop and a woman, and gives us a female star we could all be proud of!

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Hell's Half Acre Review

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(More customer reviews)Writing with the gritty realism of Andrew Vachss, Baer has aptly titled Hell's Half Acre, a descent into darkness that requires a strong constitution, but is worth the effort. In this world, killers appear unannounced and strange men mutilate their bodies for kicks, cash can buy anything, no matter how obscene and death is always a heartbeat away. It takes a fertile imagination to construct the layers of this elaborate, unpredictable nightmare.
Phineas Poe is on a strange trip, part psychological, part real. His first order of business is to track his girlfriend, the very tough Jude, trained by Special Forces and his former partner in crime-cum-romance. Jude and Poe's drug odyssey alone could cure a junkie. A violent act sundered their earlier cohabitation; since then, Poe's only mission is to find Jude. An ex-cop, Phineas Poe is an ambiguous character, following his more bizarre instincts, fueled by drugs but secretly nurturing a hopeful heart. Within the first couple of pages, Poe makes a fateful choice, when he notices the "thin shallow mouth of the alley my possible monster had come running from" and "I walked into that dark mouth". From that point on, the action only accelerates.
Meanwhile, the pathological John Ransom Miller is planning his snuff film, starring Jude, Phineas and assorted others. Jude has revenge on her mind and Phineas wants to be there for her, drug-hazed but willing. To that end they step into some very dark places, assuming an escape route that never quite materializes. Miller has a propensity for life and death games, ratcheting up the danger with the addition of more mayhem to expand the film's appeal, setting the actors up like pawns in a rigged chess game. To say that most of these characters are cynical would be an understatement; however, in a city's netherworld, survival dictates a certain perspective. But Poe doesn't want to play anymore, pushed to the edge of his fragmented integrity.
Reading this novel is like watching a triple X-rated movie, where all the X's are for violent acts. Pop culture seeps through the pages, images jumping out at random moments: Travis Bickle, the white rabbit. The novel is successful because it is never exploitative. Baer's dark journey of the soul, while tinged with excessive violence, is driven by an impressive imagination, as Poe masters the art of walking on the wild side, skirting the edge without tumbling into the abyss or accidentally slitting his own throat. Luan Gaines/2004.

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1976: A Bicentennial Novel Review

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(More customer reviews)1976 is a telling and eloquently written first-hand account of a young man's discovery of "true love" during the year of America's Bicentennial. Sensetive, yet undeniably raw in its demeanor, Crystal's account of America's young history combined with the powers of young/(first) love is both mesmerizing and intense as he pines across the country for the woman who persistantly twangs at his heartstrings. His unique political outlook is fascinating and easily-relatable as he elaborates on the post-hippie movement of the 1970's, and the continous, often painful challenge of discovering oneself in the midst of that culture.
An honest decleration of what love really should be, irresistable and turbulent emotional struggles & alluring historical perspectives makes 1976, A Bicentennial Novel a definate must-read for anyone who has ever truly been hurt, or who has wanted to be hurt by the love of another.

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Beauty, Wealth, and Power: Jewels and Ornaments of Asia Review

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(More customer reviews)this was a nice little book from the san francisco asian art museum, well written with nice photos. a little small but all in all a nice addition to my library.

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Almost Perfect Review

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(More customer reviews)Highly recommended for anyone who's ever been mixed up with someone with Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Unfortunately highly realistic and distressing.
I was moved to write a review by the Kirkus Review -- all the dramatic faults noted are not Adams's artistic failure but rather her artistic success, for narcissists are like this: weirdly static, while also alternating between extremes of vainglorious grandiosity and nihilistic emptiness and despair. NPD doesn't make good drama because it doesn't go anywhere.

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The Mystery on the Train (The Boxcar Children Mysteries #51) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is great! You can feel the wheels speeding up and slowing down.I loved this book, and I read it a gazillion times! The mystery is very hard and exiting, but at the last stop the Boxcar children found the person. I strongly recommend this book! Chu! Chu!
Simon Y. 7 Years old.

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Manuel Neri: Artists' Books, the Collaborative Process Review

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(More customer reviews)Six books with Neri artwork in the Reva and David Logan Gallery of Illustrated Books at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco are covered in detail. The text of three of the books is poems by Mary Julia Klimenko. And three books of Neri's planned project of seven books with poems by Pablo Neruda are similarly presented. Each of the six books is shown page by page from title page and content to the colophon at the end. As an introduction, the six books are placed in the tradition beginning in the late 1900s of the "livres d'artists"; an "art form [which] has shown an unanticipated tenacity by remaining an unobtrusive but persistent genre ever since." In addition to Neri's art work in the books, sculptures and drawings of his relating to this are pictured, many of these in full-page color photos. Introductory essays by Bruce Nixon (editor-in-chief of Artweek) to the three Neri-Klimenko limited edition art books focus on the collaboration between writer and artist which is central to such projects; with more limited commentary as well on the roles of printer, calligrapher, and binder also part of a successful collaboration. The numerous clear color photographs capturing details of the visual elements are the next best thing to seeing the art books themselves. While Nixon's introductions and commentary delve into both aesthetic and technical matters involved in producing such distinctive books.

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Bitter Creek Review

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(More customer reviews)Set in the American Dakota territory during the 1886 drought, Carter Swart's Bitter Creek is a compelling novel of escalating tension and blood feud between stockmen and homesteaders, as cattle die and control of the river becomes central to a brutal dispute involving at first fists, then guns. Only one man has the skill in negotiation to prevent all-out war, but he himself has given up the gun! A dramatic and exciting epic of the Old West, Bitter Creek is deftly narrated by Alan Zimmerman and highly recommended, thoroughly entertainting listening. 4 cassettes, 360 minutes.

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