Book Worm Blog

Sunshine's always there.
I don't have the slimmest idea of what a bipolar disorder can be. So, when I picked up "Hurry Down Sunshine", I wasn't anticipating too much. I even doubted whether I would be interested enough to finish reading this book.

I did finish the book.

Greenberg wrote this book with such a frank, sincere and delicate style that I became immediately engrossed after turning over the first page.

Sally's schizophrenia may haunt her for the rest of her life. But Hurry Down Sunshine shows the reader what a loving and caring family she enjoys. Courage and dedication are just the sunshine for anybody suffering from psychosis.

Good luck to Sally, and her great father, Greenberg.

Reality
This is an excellent narrative account of the author walking alongside his 15 year old daughter as she has her initial manic psychotic episode and proceeds through the mental health system. It lends perspective to those who may have heard of bipolar or manic-depressive illness but don't really know how it fleshes out. I imagine it would provide knowledge and comfort to families suddenly finding themselves helping a loved one under similar circumstances. Greenberg clearly and accurately portrays his experience how it played out chronologically, including interactions and relationships with other family members. Highly recommended!

Interesting Story
This is an interesting story about Michael Greenberg's daughter, Sally, who one day out of the blue just goes crazy. It tells how he and his wife, Pat, his ex-wife and his family and friends dealt with it. Primarily it is about Sally and her story. I found it interesting how different people dealt with this. I got into this book right away and enjoyed it. I recommend it and think you will enjoy it too. Thanks for sharing, Mr. Greenberg.

Wonderfully Written
"Hurry Down Sunshine", written by a father about his 15-year-old daughter's first bought with mania, is as much about his and his family's reactions to her struggle as it is about the condition itself. Told in a prosaic style, Michael Greenberg deals with the subject with utter honesty and absolute authenticity, sharing his confusion and pain as a father side-by-side with the anguish of someone whose darkest nightmare is coming true. Event though Greenberg is caring for his mentally ill brother, who is going through some difficulties of his own around this time, he was still completely unprepared for his daughter's illness.

Greenberg's writing is superb; although dealing with a poignant subject, the book never falls into self-pity, self-justification or sentimentality. The work leaves the reader with a great deal to think about as well as a hunger for more from Michael Greenberg.

I would recommend this to any reader interested in understanding what mental illness extracts from a caregiver or those close to the sufferer.

This was a great book!
This was a great book! I highly recommend it! Have fun!
http://www.lwsfreedom.com/id/greentitan
Merry Christmas!!!

VERY Enlightening
I purchased this book shortly after getting married b/c we wanted to start a family. I bought this book in August, and was prego by mid-Sept. I only completed 1 full cycle of charting b/c I was pregnant my next cycle! Her methods work.
This book contains amazing information about a womens body (unless you are a biology major) and alot of it was new to me. I always felt I was very in tune with my body, but now everything relating to my cycle is explained and makes sense! This book truly lets you take charge of when/if you want to get pregnant. Full of great information - a must have for all women!!

Great Book !
Lots of info all under one book. You can find a lot of thoses info online but it's incredibly convenient to have it all under one book. I use the website fertilityfriend to chart my cycle and it's of great use. Loads of info there too, charting forum etc...
I would definitely recommend this book for the one curious enough to know what's going on with their own body.

Extremely Helpful!
There are not words to describe how great this book is. It is not only for women (or men) trying to concieve, but it also points out how to use natural birth control. I used this book to conceive my second child and it worked like a charm. I did not have fertility issues, but I found that I was not getting pregnant as quickly as I wanted to, and I got pregant the month that I read the book and implemented some of the suggestions. I cannot recommend this book enough!!

Got pregnant the first month!
This book is amazing. My husband and I had decided to start trying for a baby in October. A friend at work had recommended the book "How to Choose the Sex of your Baby." When I looked it up on Amazon this book was also recommended. I decided to buy it instead. The book goes into detail about how to chart your basal temperature and cervical fluid and how to notice the changes in your body throughout your monthly cycle. I had talked to many women who told me that I needed to start trying around day 14 of my cycle. However my cycle is 44 days long instead of 28. Because I was charting I knew that my body wasn't ovulating around day 14. In fact, I didn't ovulate until around day 28! Once again, because of charting I knew when I was ovulating and was able to plan accordingly. Eighteen days later (18 high temps) I found out I was having a baby! This book gives you the tools you need to help you succeed in getting pregnant. I'm convinced that had I not read this book I would not be pregnant yet because I would be ignorant as to what my body's signs were. What a blessing to not have to worry and wonder about what I was doing wrong or having to wait month after month to get pregnant. This book was the key.

Excellent and informative book
This book is great. I used this to get pregnant and it worked in less than two months! If you are seeking pregnancy achievement read this book.

disappointed
I have loved her past books, but was disappointed in these short
stories. They just left me hanging.

Every Bit As Exquisitely Written And Enjoyable As Past Works - But Different
Annie Proulx continues her mastery of the short story.

In Fine Just the Way It Is: Wyoming Stories 3, Proulx once again gives us stories primarily taking place in or associated with Wyoming. Her characters are terribly human--warts and all--and her stories are typically blunt, to the point, and full of (sometimes brief) life.

But, as straightforward as her stories are with their plainspoken characters, Proulx also delivers stunningly beautiful narrative language when detailing landscapes, flora, and animal life. Some of her imagery literally astounded me it was so well crafted and provocative.

However, unlike previous Wyoming volumes, this addition to the series is far more brutal to its characters. Now Proulx has never occurred to me as a woman who gets overly sentimental about her creations, but I was surprised at the tragedies she forced her men and women to endure. That being said, she certainly did not cross the line into sensationalism; everything she threw at her characters was well within reality's parameters.

Well, for the most part.

I was especially happy that in three stories in particular, Proulx exits her normally grounded repertoire and gives us something bordering fantasy. Now, because it's Proulx, we're not talking Tolkien here, but two of her stories hilariously focus on the devil and the other, well, I don't want to spoil anything, but it features a sagebrush where mysterious disappearances persist. I think that with her particular style and sensibilities, calling them tall tales may be more appropriate than fantasy.

Consequently, I sensed a real sense of dark humor in these stories, and I loved it! While most of the stories were very serious in terms of subject matter, they all utilized a morose fun that--unless happening to us--demanded a chuckle or two.

All in all, this collection was a bit of a break from Proulx in terms of style, especially when read between the lines, but every bit as exquisitely written and enjoyable as past works.

Proulx's talent is unrelenting with each new work she releases.

~Scott William Foley, author of The Imagination's Provocation: Volume II

proofreading
I really love reading books by Annie Proulx. The words she uses and the structure of her sentences are so wonderful that, unlike most books, I actually read every word, apparently, unlike her editor. In the first paragraph, page 8 of Family Man we find RAY Forkenbrock "squinting against the slanting ice" - nice sentence. However, in the last paragraph of the same page I guess either Annie has decided to use the nickname ROY for RAY or someone didn't bother proofreading the segment. Nitpicking for sure, but when a book costs .00 you'd think some kind of care might be taken in getting the words right.

Great Book
Most of the complaints come from the author allegedly using left wing examples. This is not necessarily true. If you are giving an important speech in front of a large audience you must be politically correct. You don't won't to end up like Trent Lott do you? An example is given like this: You're giving a speech on Veterans Day about the sacrifices of service members. You start off by saying you would like to thank all the spouses for supporting the veterans during war time. That would be inclusive language. Today it would be better to thank all the spouses AND partners for coming out to the ceremony(covering the gay community and bf's/gf's). I do agree that the book could have been condensed from 18 chapters to about 10. The language is simplistic because it is usually taken within the first semester or two of college.

Grossly overpriced, soon outdated, but thorough
I resent having to buy yet another super-expensive college textbook with basic information, expanded to four times what it needs to be, and packaged with useless CD's (0 plus). While the written material is thorough, it could be condensed to 100-150 pages. Does public speaking really change so much that an "updated" edition is warranted within two years?

To me, it's another distasteful example of college textbook publishers gouging students, and the colleges going along with it. Thanks.

Purchase
I was very satisfied with this purchase. The shipping was so quick!! I didn't even expect it to be that fast. The item itself was good.

Entertaining Books
Grandson has read all the books but doesn't have copies of them, so I purchased them for him.

Great series for beginning readers
First off, ignore the people giving one or two stars or criticizing the grammar. They are full of it. Only the types of English teachers that made you spend hours diagramming sentences in high school would have an issue, and they would probably give "Huckleberry Finn" one star for the atrocious grammar too, if they dared.

Far from an illiterate mess, the stories are well put together and very entertaining for my 4 and 5 year old children. The tie-ins to historical events and people are interesting and lead to lots of asides and explanations (I'm a history buff). The main focus has to do with the two protagonists learning leadership, courage, patience, honesty, commitment, and all the other virtues. And there is just enough magic and fantasy to make it all lively and interesting for children.

I highly recommend this series for ages 4 through 6. Older than that, and the stories may seem a little simple and the vocabulary rather plain, depending on the child.

The non-fiction books that accompany many of these titles (focusing on the time period of that paticular book and what really happened) are also a treat, and much more in the line of the austere educational materials sought by dour school-marms. :)

I love these books
I have spent many hours with Jack and Annie.These books are so interesting and my favorite one is number 14.I have almost completed the whole series.I have been reading them for 2 years.I wish I could live in the magic tree house too.I love Magic tree house.

Solid cookbook
I have the 1997 edition of Joy of Cooking and have been using it since 2000 or so. All the recipes that I have tried have worked well the first time around -- something I can't say of most other cookbooks. The book is very comprehensive and covers vegetarian, foreign/ethnic dishes, etc. It is not as colorful and richly illustrated as many other cookbooks, but the directions are clear enough. It delivers when you want to prepare classic meals from around the world. Highly recommended.

The Joy Of Cooking
This book is a must have for just about everybody, whether you are an experienced cook, or a beginner, or a person who is looking to vary the "same old same old" dishes on which we all can get "stuck."

This book was advertised as "USED" and arrived quickly, well packaged and protected. I cannot tell the difference
in this particular copy from one that is BRAND NEW.

Speedy delivery to the Seattle area, considering we are seemingly at "the other end of the world." A great seller, who delivers what he advertises.

The "Gold Standard" In Cookbooks! Highly Recommended!
The "Gold Standard" In Cookbooks! Highly Recommended!

We own several versions of "The Joy of Cooking", all of which are well broken in and show signs of heavy usage in our kitchen. My wife has a huge collection of cookbooks, but this is the most turned to. As my middle daughter is getting ready to head out to collage, we are getting her a copy of this excellent cookbook to take with her (mostly so she doesn't take ours :-)

The 4,500 recipes are great, and several have been updated in this new edition. The book does more than just present step-by-step instructions, it actually has detailed explanations for why things are done a certain way and how to get the best results using your ingredients.

One of our favorites is the strudel recipe. Be sure to check it out.

Highly recommended! You might also like Mennonite Community Cookbook: Favorite Family Recipes, it is also fantastic!

Joy of Cooking, 75th anniversary
I've had three or four Joys of Cooking before this one, all were stained,
written on, dogeared before I bought another one. I have bought many for gifts.
I really like this edition best of all--- why? Because of the index.

Cookbooks have always been notoriuosly difficult to index, according to my niece, the indexer.

In fact I enjoy reading the index, actually.

This is the "Kitchen Bible'
The Joy of Cooking was the first cookbook I had ever found that was so complete on every aspect of cooking. The recipes are delicious and easy to read. This book became my kitchen bible as a young wife. Over the years it has been by my side on a daily basis. Somehow it just disappeared from my kitchen not too long ago. I was very upset. My husband told me to get another one. So I ordered a new one. My children who are all grown and gone now have seen the new cook book, and told their spouses that "That is the best Cookbook EVER". So, I went back online and bought 5 more, one for each of children for Christmas this year. I'm sure they are going to be not only surprized, but more than happy to get their own. I'm sure the Joy of Cooking will become their "Kitchen Bible" also.

Well thought out and solid arguments
Certainly no doubt about the author's viewpoint and solid facts. Would love to read a book about where the exceptions of supply and demand do not apply.

The false use of statistics
This book is not exactly an easy read but it is absolutely worth reading. In fact anyone who votes should be required to read it before they do so.

Classic Sowell. Excellent insight, excellent book.
Sowell offers invaluable insight into what we know or, more importantly, what we think we know about economics. Things aren't always as they seem and certainly aren't always as we are led to believe.

Anyone who has ever read Sowell (books or columns) knows that he is a talented writer and cuts quickly to the point while methodically supporting it with overwhelming evidence. The larger purpose of this book is to help readers become more critical thinkers rather than mindless consumers of information and ultimately to have the courage to turn inward when seeking solutions.

I particularly enjoyed the Income & Third World chapters. Either alone makes the book well worth your time.

This guy is dead on.
Sowell does not worry about being politically correct. This guy cuts to the chase like no one else.

Have your expectations set correctly - this is a business book about economics, it's not a simple read.

The Book Your Friends Need to Read
Easy to understand, EVERYONE needs to read this book. Once again, Sowell exposes the fallacies (as he calls them) of many social and economic perceptions pushed by the Left. His points are simple and extremely relevant, backed up by several dozen factual references for each chapter. Perfect gift for your friends who refuse to concede the failures of Big Government social policies! This book should be a staple in your library.

Review
Sweetheart is Mrs. Cain's second novel to her debut, Heartsick. Heartsick is where readers were first introduced to the highly volatile and psychological relationship between Detective Archie Sheridan and notorious "Beauty Killer" Gretchen Lowell.

It has been a couple of years now, since the day Archie became one of Gretchen's victims. It will never matter how much time pass as Archie will always think about Gretchen.

Susan Ward, a reporter for the Herald has a big story about to make headlines. It involves Senator Castle and a fourteen year old babysitter. Before the story can release, Senator Castle ends up dead. As if that was bad enough, a body is discovered in the park...the same park where Gretchen's first victim was left.

Archie appears on the scene. He starts having flash backs to his time in captivity as Gretchen's victim. It has been two months since, Archie last paid a visit to Gretchen in prison. Archie receives a phone call, that Gretchen has escaped prison. Archie knows he is the only one that can bring Gretchen in again. It will be like old times as Archie chases after Gretchen.

I guess you could say I have become obsessed myself with Archie and Gretchen's relationship. It is so sick and wrong but oh so good. The way Gretchen toys with Archie is so entertaining, that I found I can't tear myself away, once I start reading. I think I even set a new record by reading this book in only an hour and a half. I do have to admit though that I did think Heartsick was a little better. It was because in the first book, the story mainly focused on Archie and Gretchen; whereas in this latest story there were more characters playing parts. For me it is all about Archie and Gretchen's relationship. I am anxiously awaiting the next book.

The past is the plot...?
I purchased both "Heartsick" & "Sweetheart" at the same time. Heartsick (Cain's First Book in Series) grabbed my attention immediately - this one did not. You get to revisit stories from Heartsick that result in the plot for this book. All the characters are back to assist Archie Sheridan in a (not-so-new) murder plot. Without spoiling the ending - the FEMALE serial killer in this story is not enough to keep Sheridan (I-HATE-MY-LIFE because I was better off dead) interesting. We did get a little background into why Sheridan is SO attached to Lowell. Even though, she kidnapped him, tortured him and killed him However, unlike her other victims she revives him only so she can torture him some more. The past is the plot...you will understand once you read the book - and I do recommend you read it if you liked heartsick.

A Sweetheart, She Ain't!
Once the After-School killer had been revealed....and Gretchen Lowell's part in it, Archie Sheridan promised himself he was done. Done with Gretchen. Done with his visits to the prison to see her. She had controlled every aspect of his life for so many years, he couldn't even count. Now, he wanted it all to be over. Archie had moved back in with his (ex-) wife and kids. He was back on the force working cases. And he was in therapy.

Susan Ward had also moved on since the After-School killer. She moved back in with her mom! She decided that after a brush with a killer and death, a little growing up may be in order. No longer does she have pink hair because apparently turquoise is more professional. And she is serious about her investigation into Senator Castle's life. She knows the man was bad news, and now she has sworn testimony from Molly Palmer, the girl that had the "relationship" with the Senator when she was 14 years old. That is, until the Senator AND Susan's mentor end up dead, when the car they were in crashed over the Freemont Bridge.

All the players are back in this follow-up to HeartSick. And while I was hardly able to put this book down, I didn't like it nearly as well as I did the first. The things that made HeartSick so good was the fact that is was unique. Gretchen Lowell, the female serial killer...and the way she was still in Archie Sheridan's life. THESE were some of the reasons I really liked HeartSick. In Book 2, these reasons aren't unique anymore. In fact, they were a little redundant.

The relationship between Archie and Gretchen is also a big part of this book. Truth be told, it really made me uncomfortable. I find it hard to believe that any person that had been through what Archie went through, could still have feelings for his captor. Was he in love with her? In a really twisted way, he was. And it just made me want to shake him. He does a lot of things that no sane person would do. And if you can actually get over the fact that the woman fed you drain cleaner and tortured you for 10 days, then more power to you. But when said woman threatens your family...and your small kids, then maybe it's time to say enough is enough.

I actually liked Susan a lot more in this book. She was trying to balance her need to be a journalist and get "the story" and the fact that a lot of journalism feeds off the pain of others. She showed a lot of sass and determination in this book, and I think she might have been my favorite character.

I'm not saying it's a bad book because it's not. Chelsea Cain has created some really memorable characters and she certainly knows how to write some thrilling sequences. Personally, I don't understand Archie. He's a broken man, yes. I know. But one with a family that has looked past a lot of stuff to let him in again. And he is ready to pack it all in for a homicidal psychopath. Makes me think his sanity should be a little more in question!

If you've read HeartSick, you will probably want to read Sweetheart, just to know what happens. Who knows, maybe you'll love it more than I did!!

Truly Rewarding Read
I was voluble in my condemnation of the first book in this series, "HeartSick," and now I stand shamefaced before you to admit: this second book is actually quite good. Perhaps not entirely revolutionary or groundbreaking, but this novel is worth reading.

I criticized "HeartSick" for its slavish devotion to Thomas Harris. And there's no doubt but that Hannibal Lecter continues to lurk behind Gretchen Lowell as a character. But now the author pulls out of that orbit and moves to encompass a broader range of influences, creating a mystery that really kept me guessing and didn't let up.

Many secrets that lingered under the scene-setting in "HeartSick" are now on full display, but only just enough to make the reader think there may still be more to be revealed. The extent of damage to Archie Sheridan's soul, a reality he kept hidden in the previous book, comes up for much greater scrutiny this time around.

When the discovery of one body in a park leads to two more bodies, who can the city call but Archie Sheridan, master of the serial-killer bust. And when those bodies tie into the death of a respected Senator, the problem only multiplies. On top of that, it spoils nothing to say that, at the peak of Act One, Gretchen Lowell, as twisted a soul as ever wore lipstick, busts out of prison and comes for her favorite victim. Archie Sheridan.

This story is full of blindsides that, though surprising, don't feel unearned. It really keeps readers on their toes trying to stay abreast of the intricate, convergent plot. As cliché as it might be to say this, I really didn't want to put this book down.

That's not to say that this novel is radical or innovative. The author is still on a shopping trip through the best of the thriller genre. Though she's not as beholden to The Silence of the Lambs as I expected, when our protagonist pulls variations of stunts I've seen Grissom perform on C.S.I., I'm underwhelmed.

That said, it's no less gripping a read. High art it ain't, but it was a truly rewarding experience, and I expect I'll be back for the third volume of what's purported to be a trilogy.

loved it!
Loved loved loved this book. To deal with the obvious comparisons, I was a bit lukewarm but contemplative about The Life of Pi.

The book's conceit is wonderful. Up front, you know that the narrator Balram has done something bad to get to his current position of relative wealth and prosperity. Balram is sharing what he knows about being an Indian entrepeneur with the Premier of China in an open letter. The whole story (where he sometimes rambles off) is a series of entries in this letter.

We see the drastic differences between the social classes in supposedly modern India, question the difference between a kind master and a master nonetheless, and think about the value of freedom and the grand illusion of society.

The book is tragic, but it's hard not to like Balram. It's funny, at times gross, and often tragic, but rarely actually sad. Balram knows exactly who he is and how he got there, which makes for a good story. It's the kind of book I do think I could read again and still enjoy, which is a rare thing. I highly recommend it!

how to be free? encourage creativity and a sense for beauty!
beautiful insight into the struggle of thecommon people. the story pulls yuo right in. uplifting main character.

3.5 Stars (Good Booker Winner)
Indian society and it's contrast between rich and poor is well documented in fiction. Books such as Midnight's Children and A Fine Balance portray it well.

Adiga refers to the contrast as the darkness and the light. He outlines the progression from the darkness to respectability of Balram. Where Adiga differs from others is that he balances humor and tragedy well.

Balram's perspective is both simple and profound. He tries to be a good man but is not above wickedness as he sees this behaviour from the elite. He portays the elite in a very clownish way.

I enjoyed the novel and especially enjoyed it's direct approach and humor. This is a very good first effort by Adiga.

This is definitely more accessible than most Booker fare and some have hypothesized that it won the Booker as a compromise choice. That may be so but I definitely recommend The White Tiger.

Intense portrayal of the darker India
This book is simplistically written and takes a reader through the journey of Balram from being a 'servant' to a 'social entrepreneur'. It keeps the reader toying with the ideas of sympathizing with the narrator or be contemptuous of his acts. With a backgroud of the India that exists beyond the current Call Center culture and that I believe, few are aware of, internationally, it brings forth the country's long standing cultural schisms. Its an angry, dark and mad page-turner.

I couldn't put it down
Terrific book! The pace, writing, and story are first class. This is a fast read -- perfect for an airplane.

Goes beyond the surface for a look inside colleges and universities
Useful information for the prospective student that goes beyond the academic and tells what life is like at a given campus.

A Standard Guide to Colleges
The "Fiske Guide to Colleges" is probably the best known college guide in the country. This is the guide you will want to buy when you would like to read descriptions of most of the colleges that you have probably heard of. Most of the colleges and universities that the average high school student would be interested in are included. One feature that will appeal to many high school students is the ratings of a college's academics, social life, and quality of life. The social life opportunities at a college are an important consideration to a lot of today's teens. The guide rates the college's social life possibilities on a scale of 1 to 5 - with 5 being the highest. It has a similar 1 to 5 rating of each college's academic credentials that is based upon the school's reputation, the quality of its faculty, the quality of its facilities, the academic abilities of its students, and the academic seriousness of its students and faculty. There is also a 1 to 5 rating for the quality of life a school offers it students. This rating, however, seems somewhat difficult to pin down in terms of how it would affect any given student.

In some ways, the "Fiske Guide to Colleges" is the antithesis of books like "Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges". Whereas the "Colleges That Change Lives" book extols the advanages of small liberal arts colleges, the Fiske Guide seems to extol Ivy League and Ivy League wannabe schools. In fact, the author actually hints that the real reason some people say liberal arts colleges provide a better undergraduate education than Ivy League schools is due to sour grapes because they were not smart enough to get into the Ivy League schools!

Regardless of the reasons some people think small liberal arts colleges provide a better undergraduate education, there are some legitimate things to consider about the ratings in the Fiske Guide. First, the ratings and descriptions are subjective. They come from questionaires and interviews with those associated with the colleges. Ideally, it would have been nice if there would be some way to objectively consider every aspect of how a college meets the needs of various types of students. Unfortunately, there is no practical way to do that when considering so many colleges. Second, schools that the guide rates the highest academically tend to be the country's most prestigious schools (i.e., Ivy League and Ivy League wannabe schools), while most small private 4-year colleges are mostly rated academically average. However, the ratings cannot capture the value of smaller class sizes, a closer relationship of professors to their students, and a faculty in general more devoted to teaching than to research and publishing. Third, the guide's academic ratings do not prove that a school with world renown professors will give the typical undergraduate student much (if any) opportunity to learn directly from those professors. In fact, most of their classes will probably be taught by teaching assistants rather than the professors themselves. Finally, while reading the views of students at each college provides useful information about that particular college, it does not provide much in the way of comparative information. Most students will say good things about their colleges during interviews that they know will be published. The interviewed students have not attended the other colleges and are not in position to say their college is better than the others.

Despite its shortcomings, the "Fiske Guide to Colleges" is a valuable resource to have when evaluating colleges and universities. It provides College descriptions, and it includes ratings and statistics that most people will find useful.

good book.. but old school
this is a good book, but i can't help but to think that the old school college guidebook is a little outdated in today's tech-savvy world. i'm looking for a searchable tool, somewhere where i can enter in specific criteria that i'm looking for in a college and subsequently find the perfect college for me. i'd realy suggest using a website such as www.campuscompare.com that incorporates the quantitative information available in such a guidebook with the student-reviews and digital media that reveals the personality of the school, all in a searchable database, online format that i am familiar with.

A useful guide!
The Fiske Guide presents thorough information on a remarkable number of schools. In addition to basic enrollment statistics, this book provides up-to-date contact information for admissions departments, enrollment deadlines, a list of the school's strongest programs/departments, a list of similar ("overlap") schools for each college or university, and an in-depth discussion of academic and social life at each school. Well-researched and accurate. I am an academic counselor, and I refer to this book *constantly*. It is far superior to other college guides I have read. A must-have for anyone embarking on the college search process.