Butterflies & Botanicals Address Book

Book Description

Put your earphones on and let the Sound Travel Audio Guides do the talking, while you do the walking, through some of the most historic and enchanting cities in Europe.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful, and sadly out of print.......2005-08-17

This is quite possibly my favorite guidebook for any city in the world. It will take you on detailed walks through the hidden streets of Venice to places you'd never find on your own, such as the only remaining doorway of Marco Polo's childhood home.

Now, make no mistake--this should not be the only guidebook you bring to Italy. For one thing, it's been out of print for 20 years, so any copy you buy will be out-of-date when it comes to restaurants, opening times, etc. (That's why I give it only 4 stars.)

For another thing, this book's greatest strength is also it's major weakness: it doesn't try to tell you everything about the city; instead, it focuses on fascinating detail on a handful of blocks.

For both those reasons, you'll want a more recent and more conventional guidebook to supplement this one.

But do take this guide as well--it's like having a private tour of the city with somebody who knows the fascinating story behind every secret corner.

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Venicewalks
Giannatasio, Chas, Alessandro Carner
Manufacturer: audible.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Download
ASIN: B0001I1L6S

Amazon.com

Odysseus took the long way home from the Trojan War--20 years of wandering and adventuring through the islands of the Aegean Sea. The story of his voyage is one of the great tales of Western civilization--but meanwhile, what about the women who loved and yearned for this handsome, crafty hero? Homer has very little to say about how these women felt about being at the mercy of Odysseus's wanderlust. To even the score, Clemence McClaren follows her award-winning Inside the Walls of Troy with a novel that offers a backstage perspective of Odysseus's life and adventures from the voices of the four women who cared most.

First, of course, is the spectacularly faithful Penelope, who was struck with love for Odysseus at first sight, and plotted to win him from her cousin, the beautiful Helen. And then there is the sensuous witch Circe, who turns men into swine and lures Odysseus to stay, only to be caught in the trap of love herself. The virgin goddess Pallas Athene watches over her favorite with fond amusement, and his ancient nurse Eurycleia grumbles and hopes through the long years, raising Odysseus's son Telemachus and helping Penelope fend off a bevy of suitors. As any woman might expect, when the hero finally does return there is emotional baggage to be cleared away before the longed-for happy ending. An extra treat for mythology buffs, especially girls, to accompany a first reading of The Odyssey, or simply to be enjoyed as an exotic love story. (Ages 12 and older) --Patty Campbell

Book Description

Four women.

Four stories.

One man's journey.

Odysseus. His epic tale has been told countless times, but rarely is it heard through the voices of the women who loved and served him. Penelope, Circe, Athena, Eurycleia: Theirs are the silent voices, the voices of longing, waiting, strength. They are the women who moved him and motivated him. And now they shed new light on his age-old journey.

Customer Reviews:

Prelude to "The Odyssey".......2007-07-03

My daughter was assigned "The Odyssey" as a summer reading assignment for her high school freshman IB English class. The instructor recommended reading "Waiting for Odysseus" first to get a better understanding of the characters (especially the female characters) in "The Odyssey". My daughter really enjoyed McLaren's book and she refers back to it frequently as she makes her way through "The Odyssey." I would recommend this book to anyone who gets assigned "The Odyssey."

The women speak.......2007-04-24

I am a high school teacher, and the Odyssey is required reading for all freshmen English students. This unit is usually one of the most popular--it seems both male and female alike love the story of the Trojan War and the adventures of the flawed hero Odysseus. However, part 1 of the Odyssey is primarily focused on Odysseus and his wanderings, and the family waiting patiently for him back on Ithaca tend to get lost. This book is a great complement for students to read at home while they are reading the Odyssey in class. Yes, it does skim over most of the gore, but what's more important is that this book gives the women a voice. The reader knows that faithful Penelope is pining away at home; the reader knows all about the relationship betweeen Odysseus and Circe and Calypso. But what the average reader does NOT get from the Odyssey is the female perspective. This book gives the reader just that--from the women who loved Odysseus the most. Highly recommended for just about any age, mythology lover, or novice.

I love this one too!.......2006-07-11

I read "Aphrodite's Blessings" before and when i ordered it, i decided to give this one a shot. I love this story! I remember reading the Odyessy back in 6th grade and this was such a fresh and more interesting take on it. I really enjoyed reading it... and believe me... that is a complement coming from someone who normally doesn't like to read. I love McLaren's books and hope to read more of them soon.

An interesting take on the Odyssey.......2006-03-26

We've all heard the story of Homer's Oddessey: Greek hero Oddysseus coming back from the Trojan wars spends 10 years fighting his way back to his home on Ithaca. This book takes that story to a whole new level.

This is the Oddessey told through the eyes of the women who knew him best. First Penelope, Oddysseus' wife tells the story of how they met and fell in love. Next Circe, the sorceress who turns men into swine recounts how she fell for the great hero. Greek goddess Athena recounts how she watches after her favorite mortal, and the story ends with the accounts of Eurycleia; Oddysseus' old nurse who has raised his son in his absence and is the first to recognize him when he comes home.

This wasn't the best mythology retelling I've ever read, but it was enough to keep me interested. It is a little more appropriate for female readers (the lack of gory battle scenes may make adventure lovers loose interest), but everyone can enjoy it. Greek society was very male-oriented and women are often neglected or overlooked in many Greek myths. Check out this new version of the Odyssey from the female point of view!

Excellent for young readers new to mythology. .......2004-11-19

I got this book from my local library, and I have reread it many times. This story is faithfully retold, with richer characters compared to those classics you get in school textbooks. Odysseus, although the main character, is rather vague compared to other characters in the story, while Penelope's loyalty to her husband is touching. Expect some divine intervention from the gods as well.

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A compelling, intimate peek into a world of love and loss...
An Emotional Story The Reader Won't Soon Forget!
Praise for Waiting for Odysseus
Odyssesy with a twist
Sad and sensual

Waiting for Odysseus
Janell M. Ramos
Manufacturer: Goddess Guild Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0976519224

Book Description

Waiting for Odysseus is a story inspired by the bond shared by Homer's classic characters Odysseus and Penelope. It doesn't tell of ancient mythological beasts and exotic adventures, but rather the unexpected events and trials of living and loving.and losing love. You will be swept deep into the human heart and soul with a courageous and oftentimes voyeuristic honesty. You will be moved to believe that a "like-minded" love inspired from ancient lore is possible, even in the modern world. The characters Jessica and John were embarking on a new life together. Three months before their long anticipated wedding day, Fate forced a fatal change. Instead of wedding vows, Jessica found herself delivery a eulogy. She would be compelled to live her life with and without her soul mate, her "Odysseus." She vowed to wait for a time when they would be reunited in spirit. But as her aloneness haunted her, and John spoke to her in dream states, she found herself living between life and nowhere. Circumstances forced Jessica to face familiar demons that she would have to conquer to heal and find peace. A brief adulterous affair brought her respite from endless grief only to become a reminder of what she has lost. An epiphany in a mission chapel garden gave her the puzzle piece she was missing all along: the knowledge that life was meant for the living.

Customer Reviews:

A compelling, intimate peek into a world of love and loss..........2006-01-23

John is a college history professor previously married to Sarah for twenty-eight years. He has two children with Sarah and decides to leave her for Jessica because he feels Sarah smothers him too much. John likes his freedom to ride his motorcycle, enjoying the feel of the wind on his face.

Jessica is also divorced with two children. She is a former history student of John's and now she is a sixth grade teacher. Jessica is much younger than John and a free spirit who wants to give John the space he needs. She doesn't want to smother him like Sarah or his mother did.

John and Jessica have been blessed with a second chance at love and are excited about their upcoming marriage when tragedy strikes. Now Jessica is left to pick up the pieces of her shattered life and come to terms with the loss of her soul mate. Can she move on with her life? This is her journey to find peace within her heart-to find her way home again. Jessica tries to come to terms with why John had to leave her and struggles with guilt for not trying to stop him from taking the fateful motorcycle trip. She also has to deal with John's cold ex-wife who is still bitter about their divorce. Ms. Ramos draws the reader into Jessica's grief-stricken world with a journal style format, using flashbacks and old letters to convey the overpowering emotions that engulf Jessica. This is very effective in giving the reader an intimate peek into her despair of losing a loved one.

Waiting for Odysseus is an intimate peek into the relationship of John and Jessica, and an engrossing, poignant journey from the darkness of a sudden loss. I feel this story is a lesson for all of us who take the small things for granted not realizing that those we cherish can be taken from us in an instant. Waiting for Odysseus is not about the Greek hero, but about the intimate bonds that link two people together. The correlation between John, Jessica and the Greek hero Odysseus and his wife, Penelope adds a nice touch to the story without overshadowing what Jessica is going through. I think Ms. Ramos uses this as a healing tool to help Jessica cope with her own losses as Penelope coped with losing Odysseus, which I think is key to Jessica's healing process. For example, she compares John to a fallen warrior and travels to the place he died to connect with his spirit, and she visits his body in the morgue, bravely viewing his savage "battle" wounds. These are very moving scenes in the book.

I highly recommend this book for its raw emotion in dealing with such powerful mortal issues as love, loss and healing.

An Emotional Story The Reader Won't Soon Forget!.......2006-01-19

Ms. Ramos debut effort will leave the reader breathless with her interpretation of the Odyssey theme. Her characters search for a home and place to find love and belonging is one that almost every reader can relate to.

Johnny needs to live down his past before he can move on with his future. A controlling mother keeps him from living his life the way he would like...wishing he could have a close relationship with his father he is wounded to the soul when his father dies leaving him behind. Years later John is divorced from his first wife and engaged to his soulmate, Jessica. But before they can wed he tragically dies and leaves Jessica searching for the reason and meaning for what has happened.

The reader will then follow Jessica through her journey of grieving and dealing with what fate has dealt her. Jessica now has to live her life without her other half. This is a story about how she deals with her sorrow and demons in order to continue living.

This is a very emotional read that is beautifully told through the use of flashbacks, and journal entries with each little entry giving the reader a larger picture of who John and Jessica really were. This is a story that proves there is life after death and that it is worth the journey to find it that the strength of a person can be found in the least likely of places.

Praise for Waiting for Odysseus.......2005-11-30

A soulful look into the passion of one woman's life and how amazing and painful the search for belonging can be. Janell Ramos passionately tells the story of our greatest journey...the journey home. Drawing inspiration from real life and Homer's Odyssey, she weaves the ancient theme of love and longing for home into a modern tapestry. It was written with an honesty and truth that could ony be possible by one who has actually tasted the sweet beauty and exquisite sorrow of this universal quest. It is an affirmation of our existence. A must read.

Odyssesy with a twist.......2004-03-07

My book group read this book after we saw it in the New York Review of Books. We were intrigued by the Odyssey theme. I must say it wasn't about the Odyssey so much as it was about the idea that people want and need love, and that without love there is no home. Odysseus maintained a love for his wife because she represented home. She embodied the world that he was trying to get back to. As Ramos stated, "Penelope was his home-without her he would have been incomplete."

The main characters, Jessica and John, find in each other a love that completes them. John's odyssey is spurred by a mid-life crisis that forces him to confront the standard, but relevant issues, "What do I want in life? What is the purpose of my life?" Rather than monsters and fantasy goddesses to escape from, John had to conquer his past to move forward. In doing that, he discovered Jessica, a younger woman trying to sort out her own life. It is obvious that these two characters meet on many levels, truly soulmates. Ramos refers to it as "likeminded." He understands all about her--her struggles, her vulnerabilities, her strengths. He can literally see into her soul. And she was able to peel away the layers of his past hurt to help John find the man that he was meant to be.

Waiting for Odysseus is really about two journeys. John's is more obvious. He was waiting for Odysseus--for his own self-discovery, for the return of "himself" for his own sake. But Jessica is waiting as well. She was waiting, as are most women, for her "Odysseus" her knight in shining armour, her soulmate. He found her, but she would carry their mutual journey alone. She would be compelled to live a life all at once with and without "Odysseus." And her journey takes her into familiar territory with familiar demons that she would have to conquer to move forward.

Ramos tells this story in flash backs and diary entries. This made the book feel like I was looking into the window of a real life. I was moved many times by her pain and grief and strength. It is a wake up call to anyone who is starving for a place to belong, and especially love--you can only drive on an empty tank so long. Ramos makes it clear that there is such a thing as "too late" to make these discoveries. Go find your love and find yourself in the process.

Sad and sensual.......2004-03-06

This story took me right into the pit of Jessica's grief. Anyone who has lost someone will appreciate how Ramos tells a story. I especially liked the way she captured the complexities that happen in real life in a real relationship between two people. It is always so much more complicated than "a man meets a woman." I cried and blushed throughout the book.

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Waiting for Odysseus
Clemence McCLAREN
Manufacturer: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KP8KT8

Book Description

The papers in this volume address the state-of-the-art and future directions in applied mathematics in both scattering theory and biomedical technology. A workshop held in Metsovo, Greece during the summer of 1997 brought together some of the world's foremose experts in the field with researchers working in Greece. Sixteen of the contributed papers appear in this volume. All the papers give new directions, and in several cases, the most important scientific contributions in the fields.

Scattering and Biomedical Engineering: Modeling and Applications : Proceedings of the Fifth International Workshop on Mathematical Methods in Scattering Theory and Biomedical Technology

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Scattering and Biomedical Engineering: Modeling and Applications : Proceedings of the Fifth International Workshop on Mathematical Methods in Scattering Theory and Biomedical Technology
Christos Massalas
Manufacturer: World Scientific Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 981238054X

Mathematical Methods in Scattering Theory and Biomedical Technology NT

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Mathematical Methods in Scattering Theory and Biomedical Technology NT
A. F. Al-Assaf
Manufacturer: CRC Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Ring-bound
ASIN: 157444199X

Book Description

The book introduces new ways of using analytic number theory in cryptography and related areas, such as complexity theory and pseudorandom number generation.

Cryptographers and number theorists will find this book useful. The former can learn about new number theoretic techniques which have proved to be invaluable cryptographic tools, the latter about new challenging areas of applications of their skills.

Customer Reviews:

Author's review.......1999-12-14

I wrote VIEWS with Gore Vidal almost twenty years ago. It is a delight to see that it has been a source of information for various scholars throughout these many years. I arranged the book in a new way for doing interviews, putting Vidal into a dramatic setting where he had to answer questions from more than twenty of us engaged in interviewing him. I myself interviewed him off and on for more than three years. Reviewers at the time called my format a new kind of Mega-interview form. I recently included material from VIEWS in a huge 750-page study that will be published by Edwin Mellen Press in 2001, a work to be known as GORE VIDAL: A MENIPPEAN SATIRIST. Vidal is America's greatest satirist--ever! And those people who read VIEWS will see that Vidal spares very few his quick thrusts of ridicule to bring them down to earth for a good laugh--at their expense, of course.

VIEWS FROM A WINDOW : CONVERSATIONS WITH GORE VIDAL

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VIEWS FROM A WINDOW : CONVERSATIONS WITH GORE VIDAL
Robert J. And Gore Vidal (editors) Stanton
Manufacturer: Lyle Stuart
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000KL7GHO

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Views from a Window: Conversations with Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal
Manufacturer: Lyle Stuart
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000KVOPF0

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