Kaplan GRE Exam 2009 Premier Program
Kaplan Publishing is one of the nation's top publishers of academic and professional development resources. We publish titles on topics such as test preparation, college and graduate school admissions, academic and career development in the legal, medical, education, and general business fields. Kaplan Publishing is the leading provider of test prep materials for a variety of standardized tests, including the GRE, GMAT, LSAT, SAT, PSAT, MCAT, TOEFL, and more.
Test prep seems fairly good, albeit the CD-ROM seems dated
I have only had this product for a few weeks, but I have already discovered some criticisms. One major criticism is the CD-ROM seems dated. The disc lists "version 1.0" and you can tell that the disc is 1.0. The copyright on the program is 2004! While the sample tests appear to simulate the test environment very well they don't contain the any of the fill in the blank questions that have been added to the GRE. While they aren't a big part of the exam you would figure that if this is the "2009" edition of this book that the CD would fully prepare you for the test that students taking the exam in 2008 might take. Needless to say this disc doesn't seem to work properly under Windows Vista much like the feedback I read on last years' edition. I bought the 2009 edition figuring that they would have updated the CD for this years' book, but apparently not. Having neither a Mac version nor a Windows version that works in Vista seems pretty pathetic. I have been using the inside of a virtual machine(VMware) and it seems to run OK. I will give an update if I discover any means by which the software will run under Vista properly. After you remove the background information on the GRE, and the chapter on applying to grad school, and the advertising for Kaplan's courses the number of pages of actual prep drops below 400 pages, albeit most competing books are approximately the same length. There are entire books written on applying to grad school if I really wanted a book for that, but nevertheless I will admit that the book seems incredibly informative. As far as I can tell there is no compelling improvements in this book over the previous edition. The book could obviously have more problem sets, but so far I haven't seen any obvious mistakes in the book like I have seen in test prep books for the SAT or other exams. The book could be better, but I don't see any clear flaws in the book so far.
Test prep seems fairly good, albeit the CD-ROM seems dated
I have only had this product for a few weeks, but I have already discovered some criticisms. One major criticism is the CD-ROM seems dated. The disc lists "version 1.0" and you can tell that the disc is 1.0. The copyright on the program is 2004! While the sample tests appear to simulate the test environment very well they don't contain the any of the fill in the blank questions that have been added to the GRE. While they aren't a big part of the exam you would figure that if this is the "2009" edition of this book that the CD would fully prepare you for the test that students taking the exam in 2008 might take. Needless to say this disc doesn't seem to work properly under Windows Vista much like the feedback I read on last years' edition. I bought the 2009 edition figuring that they would have updated the CD for this years' book, but apparently not. Having neither a Mac version nor a Windows version that works in Vista seems pretty pathetic. I have been using the inside of a virtual machine(VMware) and it seems to run OK. I will give an update if I discover any means by which the software will run under Vista properly. After you remove the background information on the GRE, and the chapter on applying to grad school, and the advertising for Kaplan's courses the number of pages of actual prep drops below 400 pages, albeit most competing books are approximately the same length. There are entire books written on applying to grad school if I really wanted a book for that, but nevertheless I will admit that the book seems incredibly informative. As far as I can tell there is no compelling improvements in this book over the previous edition. The book could obviously have more problem sets, but so far I haven't seen any obvious mistakes in the book like I have seen in test prep books for the SAT or other exams. The book could be better, but I don't see any clear flaws in the book so far.
Rome 1960: The Olympics That Changed the WorldTerrific Reading about the World at a Crossroads - and Glimpses of Sports Superstars, too!
The world is changing so fast right now that most of us can barely keep up with the daily news that affects our lives, jobs and future. So, it's a rare and wonderful treat when a book comes along that carries us back to a time and place when the world changed more slowly - to show us one of those events that truly did change our global culture. When such books come along, they're usually about wars - but not this new gem by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer David Maraniss.
Given my own background as a journalist, I'll confess that I was puzzled by Maraniss' decision in selecting "Rome 1960" for a thick new book of nearly 500 pages (that's counting all the extras at the end). As I picked up the book, I kept asking myself: Why did he call this particular meet -- "The Olympics that Changed the World"?
As a specialist in religion and culture, I've immersed myself in histories of other Olympics: the 1924 "Chariots of Fire" Olympics, the 1936 Nazi-dominated Olympics, the 1972 Olympics when terrorists killed 11 Israeli athletes - and even the 1964 Tokyo Olympics that were a milestone in global culture in part because of Kon Ichikawa's historic documentary film.
But having read Maraniss' new book, I've got to agree - Rome in 1960 ranks right up there as a milestone in world culture.
I had not considered the roles of the major players who all collided in Rome that year - including the now-infamous anti-Semite and pro-Nazi American czar of the Olympics movement: Avery Brundage. If you don't find yourself drawn to "Sports" - but you are fascinated by 20th-Century history, especially the 1930s, Fascism and the Holocaust - this is a "must read" book for you. Think of it as a "sequel" to books about the controversial Nazi Olympics in which Hitler, Goebbels and Riefenstahl essentially pulled a fast one on Brundage in convincing him to help them celebrate their glorious new Reich.
As a journalist, I'm a longtime follower of new research into that earlier era - and Maraniss picks up the Brundage story in 1960 and pretty much nails the man and his many levels of hypocrisy - and lets us see how this antique figure collided with many of the realities of later-20th-Century culture. Among the key details Maraniss adds to our understanding of Brundage are personal jottings he made during the Rome Olympics that, among other things, complained of the emergence of "Jews ... demanding restitution for everything lost and lot more." (Of course, Brundage somehow managed to continue at the helm through 1972 in Munich, where controversy continued to surround his decisions.)
What's great about this new book is that everything I've said about the Brundage sub-plot is just one of many compelling storylines that Maraniss explores in these 500 pages. Among other things: These were the Olympics in which Cassius Clay exploded onto the global stage, later to transform himself into Muhammad Ali. These were the games of Wilma Rudolph. These were the games in which commercial interests were knocking down old-school barriers that claimed to be preserving an "amateur" tradition. Doping became an issue at Rome. Two Chinas and two Germanys jostled at these games.
This is summer reading at its best. The next Olympic games are looming. The world is no longer merely tilting on its axis. No, global culture now is spinning at a topsy-turvy rate, it seems.
Pick up "Rome 1960." If you're like me, you won't stop until you've read the whole thing - and you'll come away understanding just a little more about how we all got to this place we're standing in this strange new century.
Given my own background as a journalist, I'll confess that I was puzzled by Maraniss' decision in selecting "Rome 1960" for a thick new book of nearly 500 pages (that's counting all the extras at the end). As I picked up the book, I kept asking myself: Why did he call this particular meet -- "The Olympics that Changed the World"?
As a specialist in religion and culture, I've immersed myself in histories of other Olympics: the 1924 "Chariots of Fire" Olympics, the 1936 Nazi-dominated Olympics, the 1972 Olympics when terrorists killed 11 Israeli athletes - and even the 1964 Tokyo Olympics that were a milestone in global culture in part because of Kon Ichikawa's historic documentary film.
But having read Maraniss' new book, I've got to agree - Rome in 1960 ranks right up there as a milestone in world culture.
I had not considered the roles of the major players who all collided in Rome that year - including the now-infamous anti-Semite and pro-Nazi American czar of the Olympics movement: Avery Brundage. If you don't find yourself drawn to "Sports" - but you are fascinated by 20th-Century history, especially the 1930s, Fascism and the Holocaust - this is a "must read" book for you. Think of it as a "sequel" to books about the controversial Nazi Olympics in which Hitler, Goebbels and Riefenstahl essentially pulled a fast one on Brundage in convincing him to help them celebrate their glorious new Reich.
As a journalist, I'm a longtime follower of new research into that earlier era - and Maraniss picks up the Brundage story in 1960 and pretty much nails the man and his many levels of hypocrisy - and lets us see how this antique figure collided with many of the realities of later-20th-Century culture. Among the key details Maraniss adds to our understanding of Brundage are personal jottings he made during the Rome Olympics that, among other things, complained of the emergence of "Jews ... demanding restitution for everything lost and lot more." (Of course, Brundage somehow managed to continue at the helm through 1972 in Munich, where controversy continued to surround his decisions.)
What's great about this new book is that everything I've said about the Brundage sub-plot is just one of many compelling storylines that Maraniss explores in these 500 pages. Among other things: These were the Olympics in which Cassius Clay exploded onto the global stage, later to transform himself into Muhammad Ali. These were the games of Wilma Rudolph. These were the games in which commercial interests were knocking down old-school barriers that claimed to be preserving an "amateur" tradition. Doping became an issue at Rome. Two Chinas and two Germanys jostled at these games.
This is summer reading at its best. The next Olympic games are looming. The world is no longer merely tilting on its axis. No, global culture now is spinning at a topsy-turvy rate, it seems.
Pick up "Rome 1960." If you're like me, you won't stop until you've read the whole thing - and you'll come away understanding just a little more about how we all got to this place we're standing in this strange new century.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
by Michael Chabon
The Real Wonder Boys
"A faster read than a Grisham book. More powerful than an Oprah pick. Able to win Pulitzer Prizes in a single bound edition. Look! Up on the bookshelf! It's pulp fiction! It's serious literature! It's `The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay'! Yes it's `The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay', written by a strange visitor from Pittsburgh who came to the literary world with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. 'The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay', a book that can change the course of mighty literary trends, bend public discourse in its bare hands, and which, disguised as Michael Chabon's latest novel, a mild-mannered bestseller for a great metropolitan readership, fights a never-ending battle for Truth! Justice! and the American Way!"
"A faster read than a Grisham book. More powerful than an Oprah pick. Able to win Pulitzer Prizes in a single bound edition. Look! Up on the bookshelf! It's pulp fiction! It's serious literature! It's `The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay'! Yes it's `The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay', written by a strange visitor from Pittsburgh who came to the literary world with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. 'The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay', a book that can change the course of mighty literary trends, bend public discourse in its bare hands, and which, disguised as Michael Chabon's latest novel, a mild-mannered bestseller for a great metropolitan readership, fights a never-ending battle for Truth! Justice! and the American Way!"
Pretty cheesy, that. But good cheese, no? Actually, the above is just a thinly veiled attempt to usher you into the world of super-hero comic books that Michael Chabon has created for this book. It is a world of convenient coincidences, of nick-of-time rescues, of unbelievable happenstance, and hyper-romanticism. It's a world whose characters are drawn in two tones (black or white), where good and evil combat in epic struggles, and little boys pay ten cents an issue to read about it. It's an entirely made up world, embracing its own fictionality, but one that the reader can easily get lost in. Chabon has written a book that takes the conventions of the comic book and exploits them. If you encounter a situation here that tests the boundaries of reality, try reading it as if spread over six cheerily drawn panels. It'll make much more sense that way.
The reason for this technique, if I may be so bold as to articulate it, is quite simple: Escapism. Joe Kavalier at one point lists the reasons why he loves his comic books: "for their inferior color separation, their poorly trimmed paper stock, their ads for air rifles and dance courses and acne creams..." But most importantly, for this young man newly escaped from occupied Prague, for the way they allowed young boys to escape from reality and dream their dreams. It's a pretty moving message. Joe and his cousin Sammy Clay (nee Clayman) create a comic book superhero to exploit this theme, named appropriately enough "The Escapist". It's popularity ends up rivaling Superman and Batman. I'm not going to tell you what Sammy is escaping from, for that would ruin one of the book's best and most tastefully portrayed surprises.
However, all is not painted in comic book artificiality. In fact, much of the book's sub-text is quite poignant and real. I mean, the book's title, which looks very comic-esque, is actually quite ironic. The boys' adventures aren't really that amazing together (it's run-of-the-mill, everyday stuff, except for a huge joint success). Joe has some topsy-turvy times himself, and Sammy's are more internal and domestic than anything. Even their names are ironic. Joe is certainly not cavalier about the cause he finds himself obsessed with. Sammy's clay (his "fundamental nature or spirit") remains hidden for the majority of the book, only drawn out against his will. Chabon only uses the comic book template as an easy entry point into this world. After that, he creates some complex human situations. And the book is set in and around a very real New York City, during its golden era. Not only are the city's alleyways and seedy apartments and subways represented, but so are some of its most famous landmarks. It's no coincidence that the Empire State Building stands tall and proud on the cover of the book's first paperback edition. It plays a major role in many of the boys' "adventures". As does the recent World's Fair, in a minor but crucial way.
The knock here is that Chabon's prose is a little too purple, a little too flowery, with a vocabulary that may stymie the majority of his readers. Frankly, I've read prose infinitely more difficult. Chabon, by comparison, is actually quite an easy, straightforward read. And for a 600+ page book with little in the way of narrative thrust, it's quite a page-turner. He has a sly little sense of humour, littering the text with some very silly, sarcastic moments (e.g., a brainstorming session almost ends with Kavalier & Clay's super hero being called `The Mandrill', with his "multicolored wonder ass that he used to bedazzle opponents"). But for the most part the book has a very somber tone. Before you begin, though, do yourself a favour and read up on the legend of the Golem (and not just in the Tolkien sense of the world). It'll help you to better understand many of the book's themes.
Chabon has done a wonderful job mixing a lot of research on comic book history (and I mean a lot), with a fake comic book history (perfectly believable in this context), with a story about two young men trying to live the American Dream. Don't be afraid by the book's heft; it's an exciting read, filled with suspense and cliffhanger endings, just like a real comic would be.
The ShackTime to Rain on this Parade
I am certain that there is no other book I've been asked to review more times than William P. Young's The Shack, a book that is currently well within the top-100 best-selling titles at Amazon. The book, it seems, is becoming a hit and especially so among students and among those who are part of the Emergent Church. In the past few weeks many concerned readers have written to ask if I would be willing to read it and to provide a review. Because I am always interested in books that are popular among Christians, I was glad to comply.
First, a word about the book as it is written. William Young shows himself to be a capable writer, though I would not have believed it through the first couple of chapters. The book began with far too many awkward sentences and awkward sentence constructs (e.g. "One can almost hear a unified sigh rise from the nearby city and surrounding countryside where Nature has intervened to give respite to the weary humans slogging it out within her purview"). But as it went on and as the story took over the book became easier to read. The story itself is interesting enough, though certainly it lacks originality. The last chapter should have been left on the editing room floor and the final paragraph (before the "After Words") was a ridiculously terse attempt to provide closure to remaining plot lines. But on the whole the book is readable and enjoyable. Never does it become boring, even after long pages of nothing but dialog.
But Young did not write this book for the story. This book is all about the content and about the teaching it contains. The book's reviews focus not on the quality of the story but on its spiritual or emotional impact. Eugene Peterson grasps this, saying in his glowing endorsement, "When the imagination of a writer and the passion of a theologian cross-fertilize the result is a novel on the order of "The Shack." This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" did for his. It's that good!" Could it really be that good? Is it good enough to warrant positive comparison to the English-language book that has been read more widely than any other save the Bible? Let's turn to the book's content and find out.
The Shack revolves around Mack (Mackenzie) Philips. Four years before this story begins, Mack's young daughter, Missy, was abducted during a family vacation. Though her body was never found, the police did find evidence in an abandoned shack to prove that she had been brutally murdered by a notorious serial killer who preyed on young girls. As the story begins, Mack, who has been living in the shadow of his Great Sadness, receives a strange note that is apparently from God. God invites Mack to return to this shack for a get together. Though uncertain, Mack visits the scene of the crime and there has a weekend-long encounter with God, or, more properly, with the godhead.
Young covers a wide variety of theological topics in this book, each of which is relevant to the theme of Mack's suffering and his inability to trust in a God who could let his daughter be treated in such a horrifying way. The author is unafraid to tackle subjects of deep theological import--a courageous thing to do in so difficult a genre as fiction. The reader will find himself diving into deep waters as he reads this book. Unfortunately much of this theology is simply inconsistent with the Bible. Young shares strange ideas on the Trinity, the way God reveals Himself to us, forgiveness and a variety of other topics.
Despite the great amount of poor theology, my greatest concern is probably this one: the book has a quietly subversive quality to it. Young seems set on undermining orthodoxy Christianity. For example, at one point Mack states that, despite years of seminary and years of being a Christian, most of the things taught to him at the shack have never occurred to him before. Later he says, "I understand what you're saying. I did that for years after seminary. I had the right answers, sometimes, but I didn't know you. This weekend, sharing life with you has been far more illuminating than any of those answers."
Throughout the book there is this kind of subversive strain teaching that new and fresh revelation is much more relevant and important than the kind of knowledge we gain in sermons or seminaries or Scripture. Young's readers seem to be picking up on this. Read this brief Amazon review as an example: "Wish I could take back all the years in seminary! The years the locusts ate???? Systematic theology was never this good. Shack will be read again and again. With relish. Shared with friends, family, and strangers. I can fly! It's a gift. `Discipleship' will never be lessons again." Another reviewer warns that many Christians will find the book difficult to read because of their "modern" mindsets. "If one is coming from a strong, propositional and, perhaps, fundamentalist perspective to the Bible, this book certainly will be threatening." Still another says "This book was so shocking to my "staid" Christianity but it was eye opening to my own thoughts about who I think God is." At several points I felt as if the author was encouraging the reader to doubt what they know of Christianity--to deconstruct what they know of Christian theology--and to embrace something new. But the faith Young reconstructs is simply not the faith of the Bible.
Because of the sheer volume of error and because of the importance of the doctrines reinvented by the author, I would encourage Christians, and especially young Christians, to decline this invitation to meet with God in The Shack. It is not worth reading for the story and certainly not worth reading for the theology.
I am certain that there is no other book I've been asked to review more times than William P. Young's The Shack, a book that is currently well within the top-100 best-selling titles at Amazon. The book, it seems, is becoming a hit and especially so among students and among those who are part of the Emergent Church. In the past few weeks many concerned readers have written to ask if I would be willing to read it and to provide a review. Because I am always interested in books that are popular among Christians, I was glad to comply.
First, a word about the book as it is written. William Young shows himself to be a capable writer, though I would not have believed it through the first couple of chapters. The book began with far too many awkward sentences and awkward sentence constructs (e.g. "One can almost hear a unified sigh rise from the nearby city and surrounding countryside where Nature has intervened to give respite to the weary humans slogging it out within her purview"). But as it went on and as the story took over the book became easier to read. The story itself is interesting enough, though certainly it lacks originality. The last chapter should have been left on the editing room floor and the final paragraph (before the "After Words") was a ridiculously terse attempt to provide closure to remaining plot lines. But on the whole the book is readable and enjoyable. Never does it become boring, even after long pages of nothing but dialog.
But Young did not write this book for the story. This book is all about the content and about the teaching it contains. The book's reviews focus not on the quality of the story but on its spiritual or emotional impact. Eugene Peterson grasps this, saying in his glowing endorsement, "When the imagination of a writer and the passion of a theologian cross-fertilize the result is a novel on the order of "The Shack." This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" did for his. It's that good!" Could it really be that good? Is it good enough to warrant positive comparison to the English-language book that has been read more widely than any other save the Bible? Let's turn to the book's content and find out.
The Shack revolves around Mack (Mackenzie) Philips. Four years before this story begins, Mack's young daughter, Missy, was abducted during a family vacation. Though her body was never found, the police did find evidence in an abandoned shack to prove that she had been brutally murdered by a notorious serial killer who preyed on young girls. As the story begins, Mack, who has been living in the shadow of his Great Sadness, receives a strange note that is apparently from God. God invites Mack to return to this shack for a get together. Though uncertain, Mack visits the scene of the crime and there has a weekend-long encounter with God, or, more properly, with the godhead.
Young covers a wide variety of theological topics in this book, each of which is relevant to the theme of Mack's suffering and his inability to trust in a God who could let his daughter be treated in such a horrifying way. The author is unafraid to tackle subjects of deep theological import--a courageous thing to do in so difficult a genre as fiction. The reader will find himself diving into deep waters as he reads this book. Unfortunately much of this theology is simply inconsistent with the Bible. Young shares strange ideas on the Trinity, the way God reveals Himself to us, forgiveness and a variety of other topics.
Despite the great amount of poor theology, my greatest concern is probably this one: the book has a quietly subversive quality to it. Young seems set on undermining orthodoxy Christianity. For example, at one point Mack states that, despite years of seminary and years of being a Christian, most of the things taught to him at the shack have never occurred to him before. Later he says, "I understand what you're saying. I did that for years after seminary. I had the right answers, sometimes, but I didn't know you. This weekend, sharing life with you has been far more illuminating than any of those answers."
Throughout the book there is this kind of subversive strain teaching that new and fresh revelation is much more relevant and important than the kind of knowledge we gain in sermons or seminaries or Scripture. Young's readers seem to be picking up on this. Read this brief Amazon review as an example: "Wish I could take back all the years in seminary! The years the locusts ate???? Systematic theology was never this good. Shack will be read again and again. With relish. Shared with friends, family, and strangers. I can fly! It's a gift. `Discipleship' will never be lessons again." Another reviewer warns that many Christians will find the book difficult to read because of their "modern" mindsets. "If one is coming from a strong, propositional and, perhaps, fundamentalist perspective to the Bible, this book certainly will be threatening." Still another says "This book was so shocking to my "staid" Christianity but it was eye opening to my own thoughts about who I think God is." At several points I felt as if the author was encouraging the reader to doubt what they know of Christianity--to deconstruct what they know of Christian theology--and to embrace something new. But the faith Young reconstructs is simply not the faith of the Bible.
Because of the sheer volume of error and because of the importance of the doctrines reinvented by the author, I would encourage Christians, and especially young Christians, to decline this invitation to meet with God in The Shack. It is not worth reading for the story and certainly not worth reading for the theology.
The Official Guide for GMAT Review, 11th Edition (Paperback)by Graduate Management Admission Council
New Guide vs 10th Edition (Little Difference)
The previous comment about all questions in RC and CR being the same is incorrect. There are definitely new questions in both the Reading Comp and Critical Reasoning sections (I would say at least half the RC passages are new whe compared to the 10th edition). That said, there are a few things for any person preparing for the GMAT to consider.
Do you already have the 10th Edition?
If you do, this might not be necessary. There are less questions in the 11th Edition than the 10th Edition overall. One reason for you to HAVE to take the new version over the 10th is that you have used up all the questions in the old book.
Price.
Its way more expensive than the older version. Originally the 11th edition guide was set for $32.95 retail (pre-release stated price)but now, the website and everywhere else is pricing it at $36.95. Again, unless you have done all the questions in the 10th edition, or can't get your hands on the 10th edition anywhere, you might want to consider the 10th rather than the new.
Relevance.
Supposedly, the explanations for the answer choices have gotten better. I have yet to review the answer choices, but i must say that the answer explanations, in the 10th Ed, in nearly all the Verbal sections were absolutely useless. If you used their methodologies to arrive at the answer, you are more likely to hurt yourself than to help yourself. The explanations in the 10th edition were not systematic, so it always relied on internal logic for each question. More often than not, GMAT questions are similar to one another and I am sure the people at ETS (The people who wrote this book) knew that, but they seem hesitant to reveal the "tricks".
Overall it's not a bad book. Considering I been staring at my green/blue 10th edition for so many years, its nice to see a bright orange cover and nicer paper material inside the new book.
As for actual functionality, if you have a guided instructor, the 10th and 11th edition might not be that big of a difference. If you are working alone, and the rumors are true about better answer explanations, then you might benefit from the 11th Ed.
Irregardless of which one you decide, I really want to emphasize - all GMAT students MUST practice with the Official Guide. There is nothing out there that develops "air-tight" questions free from inconsistencies like the GMAT does. You can always use additional questions from various vendors as supplements, but the Official Guide is a must for your foundational GMAT preparation.
Do you already have the 10th Edition?
If you do, this might not be necessary. There are less questions in the 11th Edition than the 10th Edition overall. One reason for you to HAVE to take the new version over the 10th is that you have used up all the questions in the old book.
Price.
Its way more expensive than the older version. Originally the 11th edition guide was set for $32.95 retail (pre-release stated price)but now, the website and everywhere else is pricing it at $36.95. Again, unless you have done all the questions in the 10th edition, or can't get your hands on the 10th edition anywhere, you might want to consider the 10th rather than the new.
Relevance.
Supposedly, the explanations for the answer choices have gotten better. I have yet to review the answer choices, but i must say that the answer explanations, in the 10th Ed, in nearly all the Verbal sections were absolutely useless. If you used their methodologies to arrive at the answer, you are more likely to hurt yourself than to help yourself. The explanations in the 10th edition were not systematic, so it always relied on internal logic for each question. More often than not, GMAT questions are similar to one another and I am sure the people at ETS (The people who wrote this book) knew that, but they seem hesitant to reveal the "tricks".
Overall it's not a bad book. Considering I been staring at my green/blue 10th edition for so many years, its nice to see a bright orange cover and nicer paper material inside the new book.
As for actual functionality, if you have a guided instructor, the 10th and 11th edition might not be that big of a difference. If you are working alone, and the rumors are true about better answer explanations, then you might benefit from the 11th Ed.
Irregardless of which one you decide, I really want to emphasize - all GMAT students MUST practice with the Official Guide. There is nothing out there that develops "air-tight" questions free from inconsistencies like the GMAT does. You can always use additional questions from various vendors as supplements, but the Official Guide is a must for your foundational GMAT preparation.
Watchmen (Paperback) by Alan Moore
P E R F E C T !
I first read Watchmen issue by issue when it came out back in the mid 80s. In the past 20 years, I have read it more times than I can count and have purchased the trade paperback numerous times. I have lent it out, given it as a gift, and just plain worn it out.
So why buy the Absolute Edition?
Because it is the most gorgeous presentation of the story to date. First off, it's BIG. This edition reminds me of the sheer pleasure I once had as a kid reading oversized editions. Remember the giant-sized reprints of first editions or that humongous "Superman vs. Spider-Man?" It isn't quite that big and unwieldy, but it's big and Dave Gibbons' beautiful artwork and genious panel to panel drama is so much more enjoyable in this format. The panel backgrounds, as any fan knows, are filled with clues and details that are richer than has ever been done before or since in the medium. The backgrounds are so much more enjoyable at this size.
But the real star of this new edition is the amazing John Higgins. John Higgins is the colorist. The comic book medium has always placed the most limitations on the colorist who has had to deal with the realities of the printing process, sacrificing in every panel, trying to make dramatic and reproducible choices.
With this edition, Higgins has been able to do what was not possible when the original series was presented. The colors here are absolutely beautiful to behold. The original color schemes and the drama they invoked are here, but far smoother and more intense.
One of the most popular aspects of the story is the internal comic drama "Tales of the Black Freighter," a pirate comic that comments on the larger story. John Higgins colors these panels in the old school process of the golden age, using those old printing limitations to his advantage and making the Black Freighter panels a nostalgic delight while advancing the story in a new way. Bravo, Mr. Higgins! You have proven your worth and demonstrated why Watchmen is a graphic novel by Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, and John Higgins. It was a delight to see your name on the spine where it has belonged all along.
This Absolute Edition of Watchmen is the most glorious version of this brilliant work. This is the ultimate proof that sequential art stories can be legitimate literature.
The book also offers wonderful material illustrating the fleshing out of the story all those years ago and how the storytellers began with the old Charleton characters only to evolve them into new characters with more depth and dimension than their inspirations.
There are also several pages of script. Anyone who has ever seen a comic book script will be amazed by the density of Alan Moore describing a single panel. One feels like quite the insider to read these pages. Each panel description reads as if an impossibly picky art collector were writing a detailed letter to Dave Gibbons to commission a painting and told him everything he wanted in a great empassioned gush. And Mr. Gibbons delivered time after time, giving far more than even Moore had asked. Wow! This is how it's done, ladies and gentlemen.
This is the greatest version of the greatest story ever told in the history of this beautiful, yet underrated medium. A must for any collector. A must for any lover of great art. A must for any lover of great storytelling.
So why buy the Absolute Edition?
Because it is the most gorgeous presentation of the story to date. First off, it's BIG. This edition reminds me of the sheer pleasure I once had as a kid reading oversized editions. Remember the giant-sized reprints of first editions or that humongous "Superman vs. Spider-Man?" It isn't quite that big and unwieldy, but it's big and Dave Gibbons' beautiful artwork and genious panel to panel drama is so much more enjoyable in this format. The panel backgrounds, as any fan knows, are filled with clues and details that are richer than has ever been done before or since in the medium. The backgrounds are so much more enjoyable at this size.
But the real star of this new edition is the amazing John Higgins. John Higgins is the colorist. The comic book medium has always placed the most limitations on the colorist who has had to deal with the realities of the printing process, sacrificing in every panel, trying to make dramatic and reproducible choices.
With this edition, Higgins has been able to do what was not possible when the original series was presented. The colors here are absolutely beautiful to behold. The original color schemes and the drama they invoked are here, but far smoother and more intense.
One of the most popular aspects of the story is the internal comic drama "Tales of the Black Freighter," a pirate comic that comments on the larger story. John Higgins colors these panels in the old school process of the golden age, using those old printing limitations to his advantage and making the Black Freighter panels a nostalgic delight while advancing the story in a new way. Bravo, Mr. Higgins! You have proven your worth and demonstrated why Watchmen is a graphic novel by Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, and John Higgins. It was a delight to see your name on the spine where it has belonged all along.
This Absolute Edition of Watchmen is the most glorious version of this brilliant work. This is the ultimate proof that sequential art stories can be legitimate literature.
The book also offers wonderful material illustrating the fleshing out of the story all those years ago and how the storytellers began with the old Charleton characters only to evolve them into new characters with more depth and dimension than their inspirations.
There are also several pages of script. Anyone who has ever seen a comic book script will be amazed by the density of Alan Moore describing a single panel. One feels like quite the insider to read these pages. Each panel description reads as if an impossibly picky art collector were writing a detailed letter to Dave Gibbons to commission a painting and told him everything he wanted in a great empassioned gush. And Mr. Gibbons delivered time after time, giving far more than even Moore had asked. Wow! This is how it's done, ladies and gentlemen.
This is the greatest version of the greatest story ever told in the history of this beautiful, yet underrated medium. A must for any collector. A must for any lover of great art. A must for any lover of great storytelling.
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (Paperback) by Frank Miller If any comic has a claim to have truly reinvigorated the genre, then The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller--known also for his excellent Sin City series and his superb rendering of the blind superhero Daredevil--is probably the top contender. Batman represented all that was wrong in comics and Miller set himself a tough task taking on the camp crusader and turning this laughable, innocuous children's cartoon character into a hero for our times. The great Alan Moore (V for Vendetta, Swamp Thing, the arguably peerless Watchmen) argued that only someone of Miller's stature could have done this. Batman is a character known well beyond the confines of the comic world (as are his retinue) and so reinventing him, while keeping his limiting core essentials intact, was a huge task.Miller went far beyond the call of duty. The Dark Knight is a success on every level. Firstly it does keep the core elements of the Batman myth intact, with Robin, Alfred the butler, Commissioner Gordon, and the old roster of villains, present yet brilliantly subverted. Secondly the artwork is fantastic--detailed, sometimes claustrophobic, psychotic. Lastly it's a great story: Gotham City is a hell on earth, street gangs roam but there are no heroes. Decay is ubiquitous. Where is a hero to save Gotham? It is 10 years since the last recorded sighting of the Batman. And things have got worse than ever. Bruce Wayne is close to being a broken man but something is keeping him sane: the need to see change and the belief that he can orchestrate some of that change. Batman is back. The Dark Knight has returned. Awesome. --Mark ThwaiteBest "comic" I have ever read
It's amazing how well this story, originally written as a 4-part mini-series in 1986, has held up. This story is responsible for the re-emergence of Batman not just as a superhero, but as a tortured anti-hero with flaws that make him no less obsessed than the supervillains he hunts. Not only do we get heaping servings of the dark, obsessed Batman, we also meet an him as an older man, a true "lion in winter" who must come to grips with his mortality and the unstoppable decline of age.
Miller allows us to use our hero to percieve the world around us, and in doing so The Dark Knight Returns also ends up as a critique of 20th century society (and 21st, for that matter). Batman is just a few public opinion points away from being considered no different than the likes of Two-Face and the Joker.
The relationships between Batman and those he hunts is simply outstanding work by Frank Miller. Generally, there are three types of villains. The first are everyday thugs that are shallow and meaningless both in dialogue and mentality. The second is a savage gang leader. Powerfully built, full of rage and singularly focused hate often seen in the young, this character forces Batman to confront his own mortality and, in an awesome final confrontation, turn to the experience of age for victory. But the most powerful relations come with Batman and his fights with the classic supervillains Two-Face and The Joker. In one really powerful scene, Batman realizes he is equally as tortured as Two-Face, but with one difference: Two-Face feels remorse and despair for what he has once again become (One panel has him actually jumping off a skyscraper, in a possible suicide attempt). He has recieved redemption from society as well as himself, but was unable to maintain it from either. In contreast, Batman, has accepted what he has become, and revels in his darkness. And then of course, there's my favorite, The Joker. We have here an excellent portrayal of a supervillain with no conscience whatsoever, who commits evil deeds not for any agenda or flawed goal, but simply because he enjoys doing them. His ending scene with Batman is another one to remember, and I can't imagine it happening any other way.
The supporting cast in the graphic novel are also superbly detailed. Superman is portrayed as equal parts god, innocent child, tortured soul, government flunky, dumb jock, and a lampoon of the comic industry's idea of superheroes as flawless humans. The interesting point is, Miller creates a Superman that is not to be mocked, but understood and even sympathized with. His contrast with Batman benefits the development of both characters. Other characters, including a naive yet gifted Robin, a Gordon who is more fully fleshed-out as a cop than anything you'll see on NYPD Blue or Law and Order, and Green Arrow, who has become the epitome of grizzled in a novel full of grizzled ornery old men.
By now, I think you can guess I kind of liked it. Frank Miller has published here a brilliant novel. If the Gods of Hollywood are truly kind, perhaps one day this will be converted into a movie. The excessive use of Batman-as-narrator increases the difficulty of writing a screenplay, but the plot is not only flawless, it is still relevant. Miller, in 1986 mind you, points out how America has a love affair with celebrities (including superheroes), public perception, a fascination with criminals, and how modern media loves to praise heroes (and successful people in general) only to aid in their entertaining downfall from public grace.
By the end of the graphic novel, with some of the most original artwork for it's time (notice how good the story is that I didn't even mention how it looks until now?), Miller has us realizing we have experienced a story that explains obsession, public perception, conscience, mortality, and what it truly means to be a hero better than any psychology textbook could, and I am including those textbooks with the pictures.
Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore
Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore The Killing Joke, one of my favorite Batman stories ever, stirred a bit of controversy because the story involves the Joker brutally, pointlessly shooting Commissioner Gordon's daughter in the spine. This is a no-holds-barred take on a truly insane criminal mind, masterfully written by British comics writer Alan Moore. The art by Brian Bolland is so appealing that his depiction of the Joker became a standard and was imitated by many artists to follow.Die Laughing, or: Our World in Greasepaint
*Batman: The Killing Joke*, apart from being Tim Burton's favorite comic book, is Alan Moore's most concentrated achievement (working in a shorter format), and, rare amongst adolescent passions, gives me the same pleasure today as it did when I was a wee boy. It is a dark, visual poem, running the gamut from high episodic drama to an interesting attempt at sentimentalism in its (definitive?) portrayal of the Batman/Joker dichotomy. Sure, Moore often falls back on trite phrases and mechanical epithets, but the book's strengths far outweigh my elitist quibbles, both in conception, writing, and visual delivery.
*Batman: The Killing Joke*, apart from being Tim Burton's favorite comic book, is Alan Moore's most concentrated achievement (working in a shorter format), and, rare amongst adolescent passions, gives me the same pleasure today as it did when I was a wee boy. It is a dark, visual poem, running the gamut from high episodic drama to an interesting attempt at sentimentalism in its (definitive?) portrayal of the Batman/Joker dichotomy. Sure, Moore often falls back on trite phrases and mechanical epithets, but the book's strengths far outweigh my elitist quibbles, both in conception, writing, and visual delivery.
Illustrator Brian Bolland has touched the limits of what can be done in the mainstream comic medium, surpassing even Dave Gibbons in *Watchmen* (that undisputed *Citizen Kane* of graphic novels). I've counted roughly 230 individuated facial expressions in this book's 48 pages, every cameo and minor character penciled, inked, colored, storyboarded into life, the backdrops brimming with nuance and articulated detail, the coloring as lurid and suggestive as Steven Soderbergh's color-coded triple-narrative in *Traffic*. The Joker alone is granted 62 articulated facial expressions (19 during the course of his pre-Joker psychodrama), ranging from bright, sportive lunacy (each facial shot individuated) to an almost genuine grief and sadness towards the end. The spinal-paralytic Barbara Gordon, who appears in only 26 panels, is granted a dramatic reality remarkable given her minor role in the story. The portrait of her staring in bemused horror at the Joker (standing in the hallway with Hawaiian shirt, camera, and revolver), while the scene turns "orange" in anticipation of bloodshed, is the most memorable facial expression I've ever seen rendered in a comic book. As a close runner-up, the Joker's hang-dog look on page 41, as he asks Batman sincerely, "Why aren't you laughing?", is the only *convincing* moment of unfeigned sadness the Joker has ever given us, in any comic book.
The blocking and visual narrative is perfectly tuned, each panel calculated for sleek momentum and smooth dramatic economy. *The Killing Joke* is eye-candy from start to finish, and is over before you know it, leaving one to ponder the perfection of its design. As someone who once aspired to write for comics, I've meditated long and hard on how it might be "one-upped," while remaining in a commercial format, resisting the temptation for self-indulgent surrealist excess (i.e. *Arkham Asylum*). Needless to say, I've yet to come up with a solution.
There is no other comic book that's done so much for the Joker, that's made him as "real," as darkly appealing a figure (almost sentimentally so). The difficulty of representing so hyperbolic a personality, and making him seem refreshingly "human," is a testament to Moore's script and Bolland's incredibly articulated visual style. The duality between Batman and the Joker is a psychodrama I'm always eager to see re-rehearsed, but by 1988, in *The Killing Joke*, the leitmotif may have reached its limit. Even *Arkham Asylum* couldn't overtake it. (And let's face it, *The Dark Knight Returns
In the mad bacchanalia of our postmedia funhouse-culture, the Batman has become obsolete, an aging revenant that cannot keep up with the Joker's all-too-knowing take on media pathology and American theme-park culture. As Mark Dery points out, the Joker may be (superficially anyhow) Deleuze-Guattari's ideal schizophrenic, a de-centered whirlwind of morbid indulgence who never records "the same event in the same way." As the Joker confesses over the funhouse P.A. system: "Something like that happened to me, you know. I...I'm not exactly sure what it was. Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another. If I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice! Ha ha ha!" But now I'm just being cheeky. The reader must decide for himself whether I am "overstating" the Joker's case.
Moore's rough draft for the Joker was Edward Blake (a.k.a. the Comedian) in the aforementioned *Watchmen*. But despite the dramatic achievement of that character appearing drunk in Moloch's bedroom, confessing terror and obsolescence to his old enemy, Moore's Joker is far more chilling, far more suggestive, and as I mentioned, dangerously appealing. The duality between this harlequin in toxic greasepaint and that billionaire-criminologist who "dress[es] up like a flying rat" reminds me of a certain line from Cervantes: "Don Quixote is a madman and we are sane, yet he goes away sound and laughing while your Grace is left here, battered and sorrowful. I wish you would tell me now who is the crazier: the one who is so because he cannot help it, or he who turns crazy of his own free will?" Batman turns crazy to put himself on the wavelength of the villains he tracks and combats, and the consequences for him (and those he protects) are real and immediate.
If Moore's thesis is correct, then it would seem that Batman *needs* the Joker, if not to rehabilitate him, well, then, simply to *contain* him, as a talisman held up in uneasy triumph against the impending waves of fin-de-millennial mass dementia. In one scene, the Joker boasts: "I've demonstrated there's no difference between me and everyone else! All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy. That's how far the world is from where I am. Just one bad day." John Wayne Gacy would be proud.
*The Killing Joke
Olympic Dreams by Guoqi Xu is The Chinese government has said over and over in the last few months that the Beijing Olympics should not be politicized. The uproar over Tibet has no place in the Games, officials insist. Nor do humanitarian concerns over Sudan's Darfur region belong in the Olympic spotlight. As for human rights in China itself, well, that's an internal matter.Yet, politics have long been at the heart of China's relations with the modern Olympic movement, as Xu Guoqi, an associate professor at Kalamazoo College, shows in his illuminating history, Olympic Dreams. The first time China participated in the Games, in 1932 at Los Angeles, the goal was to prevent Japan from scoring a propaganda coup. Japanese occupation authorities had planned to dispatch a stocky Chinese sprinter named Liu Changchun to represent the Manchukuo republic, the puppet state Japan had set up in Manchuria and Mongolia. To foil that plan, China's Nationalist government hurriedly scraped together some money and sent Liu as a one-man Chinese delegation. He fared poorly as a sprinter but held high the Chinese flag.
Later on, Mao Zedong saw sports victories as a way to prove the superiority of the socialist way. On advice from the U.S.S.R., China cultivated national teams. But during the first two decades of Communist rule, China kept its athletes out of the Olympics to protest Taiwan's participation. (More recently, both China and Taiwan have sent teams under artful compromises over the island's name.)
When Mao decided the time had come to make friends in the West, he also found sports a handy tool for that purpose. Mao and President Nixon had been exchanging secret messages through intermediaries for months before the Chinese sent a team to the World Table Tennis Championship in Japan in April 1971. As Xu relates, Zhou En-lai, who was in charge of foreign relations, issued detailed instructions to the Chinese players on what to do if they met Americans. "The Chinese were not permitted to exchange team flags," for example, but they "could shake hands," Xu notes. When American player Glenn Cowan jumped on a Chinese bus to greet Chinese star Zhuang Zedong, Zhuang was ready with a silk painting to present as a gift. Mao then gave the order for the Chinese players to invite the U.S. team to China; by the end of the month, the Americans had alighted in Beijing. "The small ping-pong ball, worth only about 25 cents, played a unique and significant role . . . in transforming Sino-U.S. relations," Xu concludes.
Even before Mao, sports had played an eminently political role in China. Chinese nationalists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries saw athletics as a way to create vigorous men who could wage war and change the country's reputation as the "sick man of east Asia." As part of the national revival they hoped to foster, they embraced Western sports to counter the Mandarin paradigm of Chinese men as spindly, sedentary and effete.
Despite the reformers' efforts, to some degree the old paradigm has remained alive. Traditionally, most Chinese have been brought up to think they should be clever, disciplined and able to bear hardship, but not powerful or swift. Because Yao Ming's jousts with fellow NBA giants and Liu Xiang's triumph in the 110-meter hurdles at the 2004 Athens Olympics shattered racial stereotypes, they were hailed as breakthroughs by a new generation of Chinese. The 2008 Beijing Olympics, where China hopes to win more medals than any other nation, also was intended to have a political message.
Since abandoning doctrinaire socialism three decades ago, China has enjoyed an economic explosion that has given its 1.3 billion people a standard of living their parents could hardly imagine, and the government has entered into normal relations with most countries, becoming a diplomatic as well as an economic player in Asia and beyond. By hosting the Games, China was going to celebrate this status. Perhaps more important, it was going to receive international recognition of its achievements and, in some measure, acceptance of the Communist Party's glacial pace toward political change.
Xu's misfortune, and China's, is that this landscape, which he ably paints in his final chapter, shifted not long after the manuscript was sent to the printer. Riots in Tibet and protests along the Olympic Torch relay route created a global audience for questions about China's worthiness to host the Olympics. The atmosphere has soured badly, and no one knows whether it can be repaired before the Games begin in August.
The May 12 earthquake in Sichuan also will affect the Olympics. A country in mourning, China is likely to attract sympathy. But sorrow may change the tone of the event. Xu's history of China's participation in the Olympics remains enlightening, but the unsettled 2008 Games have become the stuff of journalism, changing every day.
Olympic Architecture by Beijing Institute of Architectural Desig is Without a doubt the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will not only attract worldwide attention for the sporting contests, but also for the architectural settings and arenas. The exemplary and prestigious stadiums will remain of interest long after the games are over.Olympic Architecture, Beijing 2008 is a comprehensive survey of all the venues for the 29th Olympic Games. It provides detailed insights into the specialized stadium architecture with an abundance of visual material such as bird s-eye views, illustrations of details, plans/elevations/sections, and rendering drawings.
Part One of the volume is an overview written by Ma Guoxin, architectural master and member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Part Two gives descriptions of the individual Olympic venues, including 15 newly-built ones (e.g. the Main Olympic Project Bird's Nest by Herzog & De Meuron, and the National Aquatics Center Water Cube by the China Construction Design International (Shenzhen) of CSCEC, PTW Architects, Australia, and Arup Australasia), 14 reconstructed buildings (e.g. Olympic Sports Center Stadium, Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium, Workers Stadium) and 6 temporary structures (e.g. Olympic Green Hockey Field, Wukesong Baseball Field).
Olympics (DK Eyewitness Books)by DK Publishing is not what I had in mind when placing the order for this book but, I find it fascinating and useful all the same. Can't wait for the next Olympics to start and will be glued to my TV for those 16 days. I am a fan of the whole Olympic Ideal and try to watch as much as I can. I am also a huge fan of "Chariots of Fire", about the 1924 Olympics and "1896: The First Modern Olympics", about how the U. S. put our team together and got the athletes to Athens in time for the games.
The Official History of the Olympic Games and the IOC: From Athens to Beijing, 1894-2008 (Official History of the Olympic Games & the Ioc)by David Miller Together with the highs and lows of the Games themselves, this illustrated chronicle includes the recreation of the Olympic Games by Pierre de Coubertin and the often tempestuous and controversial fortunes of the governing body—including three successive boycotts and the Salt Lake City scandal of 1998. It also tells the story of the historic competitors—from Spyridon Louis (the inaugural Marathon winner) and such heroes as Jim Thorpe, Paavo Nurmi, Sonja Heine, Jesse Owens, Greg Louganis, and Carl Lewis, to more recent medal winners, including Steve Redgrave and Kathy Freeman. The twin evolutions of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the world's greatest sports festival unfold in alternate chapters, each of which begins with a personal reminiscence by either a famous champion or a notable IOC figure. Detailed background is provided on the many crises—the Nazi Games of 1936, the massacre at Mexico City in 1968, the Israeli slaughter by terrorists in 1972, the boycotts, the new commercialism from 1984 onwards, the advent of professionals from 1988, and the ongoing threat of drug abuse. Included is how the credibility of the Games and of the IOC was rescued by the glory of Sydney 2000, and how the sporting world anticipated the Games' return in 2004 to the country of their ancient origins.
Summer Olympics: The Definitive Guide to the World's Greatest Sports Celebration
by Clive Gifford is From School Library JournalGrade 4-8–A strong, ambitious, and useful title. Each subject is presented on a spread introduced by an enticing paragraph and accompanied by colorful, active photographs and diagrams. Subtopics are handled in lengthy paragraphs dynamically arranged across the pages. A historical introduction is followed by topical arrangements of the significance of the Olympics; track-and-field events; water events; precision, strength, and combat events; and cycling, equestrian, ball, and racket sports. They often include quick facts on past notable athletes, Olympic records, and stop-motion computer illustrations demonstrating how the sport is played. Each entry provides enough information to satisfy most casual readers, but many events are just mentioned in passing. Between these chapters there are features on past Games considered of particular significance such as those held in Berlin, Mexico City, and Sydney, but specific Olympiads are mostly underrepresented. The final section features facts, figures, and Olympic anecdotes. Overall, this is a worthwhile general addition to most collections as its usefulness will extend past this summer's games.–Andrew Medlar, Chicago Public Library, IL
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
This ambitious and current title is a fantastic must-have in order to be prepared for this summer. (School Library Journal )
This companion to the 2004 Olympics compiles background information on athletic events and competitors...and outlines highlights of past Games. (Publishers Weekly )
Product Description
Created by an award-winning author-and-illustrator team, Olympics sets the stage with facts, articles, and essential background information across the complete range of Olympic summer competition. Every aspect of the summer games is covered, including their history, the bidding process, training and qualifying, and life in the Olympic Village. Coverage of the events themselves captures the exhilaration of competing at the pinnacle of world sports—from explosive sprints and the grace of gymnastics to the proving grounds of endurance, the marathon and triathlon, and everything in between.
In addition, special spreads celebrate the great summer Olympics, from Stockholm 1912 to the record-breaking games of Sydney 2000. Olympic achievements are highlighted at the back of the book, bringing to life the great rivalries and honoring those competitors who battled adversity to shine on the world's stage.
About the Author
Clive Gifford is an award-winning author of more than fifty books on the subjects of sports and soccer. His previous titles for Kingfisher include The Kingfisher Soccer Encyclopedia, Soccer Skills, Summer Olympics, and Soccer.
This ambitious and current title is a fantastic must-have in order to be prepared for this summer. (School Library Journal )
This companion to the 2004 Olympics compiles background information on athletic events and competitors...and outlines highlights of past Games. (Publishers Weekly )
Product Description
Created by an award-winning author-and-illustrator team, Olympics sets the stage with facts, articles, and essential background information across the complete range of Olympic summer competition. Every aspect of the summer games is covered, including their history, the bidding process, training and qualifying, and life in the Olympic Village. Coverage of the events themselves captures the exhilaration of competing at the pinnacle of world sports—from explosive sprints and the grace of gymnastics to the proving grounds of endurance, the marathon and triathlon, and everything in between.
In addition, special spreads celebrate the great summer Olympics, from Stockholm 1912 to the record-breaking games of Sydney 2000. Olympic achievements are highlighted at the back of the book, bringing to life the great rivalries and honoring those competitors who battled adversity to shine on the world's stage.
About the Author
Clive Gifford is an award-winning author of more than fifty books on the subjects of sports and soccer. His previous titles for Kingfisher include The Kingfisher Soccer Encyclopedia, Soccer Skills, Summer Olympics, and Soccer.
FracturedI is love, love, LOVE a good mystery. I am an avid watcher of all things CSI & Law & Order. I watch & tivo them religiously.I was thrilled to start reading this book & envisioning it as an episode on Thursday night's CBS line-up.
Abigail is arguing on the phone with her wayward husband when she opens the front door & sees a young man holding a knife standing over the body of her teenage daughter. Abigail instantly goes into "mama bear" mode & the young man ends up dead. At her hands. And the body is not her daughter, but her daughter's best friend.
It is up to Georgia Bureau of Investigations detective, Will Trent, to find Abigail's daughter & the man who kidnapped her daughter & killed her best friend.
In a series of twists & turns, Karin Slaughter knows how to write a great mystery. And if you are familiar with her work, then you are familiar with Will Trent. And once again, the ending will leave you surprised.
Amazing Storyline, Heart Pounding Action, Superb Character Development and Intensity Spread Across the Pages
Karin Slaughter's latest release, Fractured is completely deserving of the acclaim and high praises it has received. Abigail Campano arrives home to discover her door unlocked and shattered glass around her feet. Her first response is fear for the well being of her daughter, Emma. As she rushes upstairs, she comes face to face with the battered and bloody body of her daughter and a man kneeling over her body with a knife in his hand. Pure adrenaline and rage consumes Abigail and she strangles the man to death. Enter Will Trent, member of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Will struggles with the crime scene and determines that the brutalized body upstairs does not belong to Emma Campano, but to her best friend Kayla, and the murdered man Abigail strangled with her bare hands was actually Emma's boyfriend, whose attempt to save Emma and Kayla got him killed. The shift from the murder to the reality of the kidnapping of Emma, forces Will to pair up with Atlanta officer Faith Mitchell. Running against the clock and without any suspects or leads, Will and Faith must work together to find Emma and catch a killer. Fractured is filled with plot twists and heart pounding intensity. Beyond Karin Slaughter's ability to provide her readers with an excellent storyline and superb mystery, she is able to delve into the characters emotions and backgrounds so deeply that readers feel they know these men and women. The return of our favorites like Will and his boss Amanda paired with new intriguing characters like Faith, Abigail and the monstrous villains will surly please its audience. Fractured is by far one of Slaughter's best works, she gives her readers everything and them some more.
Graceling by Kristin Cashore Katsa is a Graceling, blessed (or cursed) with the ability to kill with her bare hands. Since she is the niece of the King, she is used as an enforcer, sent out to torture or kill those who have wronged him in some way. Although she doesn't particularly enjoy her job, she is very, very good at it. What the King doesn't know is that Katsa is also the founder of the Council, a group of nobles and commoners who work together to protect those who are vulnerable to the often cruel and frequently capricious whims of the powerful. When a prince from another kingdom is kidnapped, the Council sets out to rescue him and discover both the person behind the kidnapping, and its purpose.
Enter Prince Po, the kidnapped victim's grandson, whose Grace makes him almost a physical match for Katsa, and whose personality makes him endlessly fascinating to her. After Katsa refuses to carry out one of her uncle's orders, she and Po set out to discover the reason behind his grandfather's kidnapping. On the road, they discover more about their unusual skills, and encounter a King with a Grace so powerful it could literally destroy their universe.
Graceling is, quite simply, one of the best new fantasy books I've read recently. Katsa is a fantastic heroine. Her relationships with family, conspirators, and Po unfold naturally, and her journey from enforcer to protector is well-crafted and believable. The concept of some people having superpowers is not, of course, new, but the Graces in this book are presented in a very unique, original way. One of the things I particularly enjoy is that not all of the Graces mentioned would be useful in any real way, which adds a touch of realism. Graceling will be released in October 2008, and I'm already hoping eagerly for a sequel.
Graceling(Hardcover) by Kristin Cashore
Kaplan GRE Exam 2009 Premier Program
Karin Slaughter's latest release, Fractured is completely deserving of the acclaim and high praises it has received. Abigail Campano arrives home to discover her door unlocked and shattered glass around her feet. Her first response is fear for the well being of her daughter, Emma. As she rushes upstairs, she comes face to face with the battered and bloody body of her daughter and a man kneeling over her body with a knife in his hand. Pure adrenaline and rage consumes Abigail and she strangles the man to death. Enter Will Trent, member of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Will struggles with the crime scene and determines that the brutalized body upstairs does not belong to Emma Campano, but to her best friend Kayla, and the murdered man Abigail strangled with her bare hands was actually Emma's boyfriend, whose attempt to save Emma and Kayla got him killed. The shift from the murder to the reality of the kidnapping of Emma, forces Will to pair up with Atlanta officer Faith Mitchell. Running against the clock and without any suspects or leads, Will and Faith must work together to find Emma and catch a killer. Fractured is filled with plot twists and heart pounding intensity. Beyond Karin Slaughter's ability to provide her readers with an excellent storyline and superb mystery, she is able to delve into the characters emotions and backgrounds so deeply that readers feel they know these men and women. The return of our favorites like Will and his boss Amanda paired with new intriguing characters like Faith, Abigail and the monstrous villains will surly please its audience. Fractured is by far one of Slaughter's best works, she gives her readers everything and them some more.
Graceling by Kristin Cashore Katsa is a Graceling, blessed (or cursed) with the ability to kill with her bare hands. Since she is the niece of the King, she is used as an enforcer, sent out to torture or kill those who have wronged him in some way. Although she doesn't particularly enjoy her job, she is very, very good at it. What the King doesn't know is that Katsa is also the founder of the Council, a group of nobles and commoners who work together to protect those who are vulnerable to the often cruel and frequently capricious whims of the powerful. When a prince from another kingdom is kidnapped, the Council sets out to rescue him and discover both the person behind the kidnapping, and its purpose. Enter Prince Po, the kidnapped victim's grandson, whose Grace makes him almost a physical match for Katsa, and whose personality makes him endlessly fascinating to her. After Katsa refuses to carry out one of her uncle's orders, she and Po set out to discover the reason behind his grandfather's kidnapping. On the road, they discover more about their unusual skills, and encounter a King with a Grace so powerful it could literally destroy their universe.
Graceling is, quite simply, one of the best new fantasy books I've read recently. Katsa is a fantastic heroine. Her relationships with family, conspirators, and Po unfold naturally, and her journey from enforcer to protector is well-crafted and believable. The concept of some people having superpowers is not, of course, new, but the Graces in this book are presented in a very unique, original way. One of the things I particularly enjoy is that not all of the Graces mentioned would be useful in any real way, which adds a touch of realism. Graceling will be released in October 2008, and I'm already hoping eagerly for a sequel.
Graceling(Hardcover) by Kristin Cashore
Kaplan GRE Exam 2009 Premier Program
Kaplan Publishing is one of the nation's top publishers of academic and professional development resources. We publish titles on topics such as test preparation, college and graduate school admissions, academic and career development in the legal, medical, education, and general business fields. Kaplan Publishing is the leading provider of test prep materials for a variety of standardized tests, including the GRE, GMAT, LSAT, SAT, PSAT, MCAT, TOEFL, and more.
Test prep seems fairly good, albeit the CD-ROM seems dated
I have only had this product for a few weeks, but I have already discovered some criticisms. One major criticism is the CD-ROM seems dated. The disc lists "version 1.0" and you can tell that the disc is 1.0. The copyright on the program is 2004! While the sample tests appear to simulate the test environment very well they don't contain the any of the fill in the blank questions that have been added to the GRE. While they aren't a big part of the exam you would figure that if this is the "2009" edition of this book that the CD would fully prepare you for the test that students taking the exam in 2008 might take. Needless to say this disc doesn't seem to work properly under Windows Vista much like the feedback I read on last years' edition. I bought the 2009 edition figuring that they would have updated the CD for this years' book, but apparently not. Having neither a Mac version nor a Windows version that works in Vista seems pretty pathetic. I have been using the inside of a virtual machine(VMware) and it seems to run OK. I will give an update if I discover any means by which the software will run under Vista properly. After you remove the background information on the GRE, and the chapter on applying to grad school, and the advertising for Kaplan's courses the number of pages of actual prep drops below 400 pages, albeit most competing books are approximately the same length. There are entire books written on applying to grad school if I really wanted a book for that, but nevertheless I will admit that the book seems incredibly informative. As far as I can tell there is no compelling improvements in this book over the previous edition. The book could obviously have more problem sets, but so far I haven't seen any obvious mistakes in the book like I have seen in test prep books for the SAT or other exams. The book could be better, but I don't see any clear flaws in the book so far.
Test prep seems fairly good, albeit the CD-ROM seems dated
I have only had this product for a few weeks, but I have already discovered some criticisms. One major criticism is the CD-ROM seems dated. The disc lists "version 1.0" and you can tell that the disc is 1.0. The copyright on the program is 2004! While the sample tests appear to simulate the test environment very well they don't contain the any of the fill in the blank questions that have been added to the GRE. While they aren't a big part of the exam you would figure that if this is the "2009" edition of this book that the CD would fully prepare you for the test that students taking the exam in 2008 might take. Needless to say this disc doesn't seem to work properly under Windows Vista much like the feedback I read on last years' edition. I bought the 2009 edition figuring that they would have updated the CD for this years' book, but apparently not. Having neither a Mac version nor a Windows version that works in Vista seems pretty pathetic. I have been using the inside of a virtual machine(VMware) and it seems to run OK. I will give an update if I discover any means by which the software will run under Vista properly. After you remove the background information on the GRE, and the chapter on applying to grad school, and the advertising for Kaplan's courses the number of pages of actual prep drops below 400 pages, albeit most competing books are approximately the same length. There are entire books written on applying to grad school if I really wanted a book for that, but nevertheless I will admit that the book seems incredibly informative. As far as I can tell there is no compelling improvements in this book over the previous edition. The book could obviously have more problem sets, but so far I haven't seen any obvious mistakes in the book like I have seen in test prep books for the SAT or other exams. The book could be better, but I don't see any clear flaws in the book so far.
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