Medstar II: Jedi Healer (Star Wars: Clone Wars Novel)

Book Description

While the Clone Wars wreak havoc throughout the galaxy, the situation on the far world of Drongar is desperate, as Republic forces engage in a fierce fight with the Separatists. . . .

The threatened enemy offensive begins as the Separatists employ legions of droids into their attack. Even with reinforcements, the flesh and blood of the Republic forces are just no match for battle droids’ durasteel. Nowhere is this point more painfully clear than in the steaming Jasserak jungle, where the doctors and nurses of a small med unit face an impossible situation. As the dead and wounded start to pile up, surgeons Jos Vandar and Kornell “Uli” Divini know that time is running out.

Even the Jedi abilities of Padawan Barriss Offee have been stretched to the limit. Ahead lies a test for Barriss that could very well lead to her death–and that of countless others. For the conflict is growing–and for this obscure mobile med unit, there’s only one resolution. Shocking, bold, unprecedented, it’s the only option Jos and his colleagues really have. The unthinkable has become the inevitable. Whether it kills them or not remains to be seen.

Customer Reviews:

Clone Wars MASH Unit - Part 2.......2006-11-14

Jedi Healer is the continued story of the Clone Wars MASH unit on the Planet Drongar. The Republic medical team of surgeons, nurses, and droids is still headed by Dr. Jos Vondar, but his close friend Dr. Zan Yant did not survive Medstar I. The wounded clone troopers continue to be brought in by medlift, and the doctors continue to exert every possible effort to save lives.

Much of this tale deals with the efforts of the Separatist spy to create chaos on Drongar and the efforts of the Black Sun operative to obtain as much of the miracle plant bota as possible. At the same time we are treated to the ongoing love affair between Dr. Vondar and his chief nurse Tolk le Trene as they try to overcome cultural prejudices stemming from Vondar's upbringing. The droid I-5 and the reported Den Dhur are still with us and have significant roles as the story unfolds.

Much of the book deals with Jedi Padawan Barris Offee and her experiences with the Force. She discovers that an injection of the miracle plant bota opens up areas of the Force that she never dreamed existed. She would be able to perform miraculous feats by using the bota. However, could this be a direct path to the power of the dark side? Offee struggles with this situation and finally manages to reach a conclusion.

This book, along with Medstar I, gives us an extremely interesting look at the world of the medical teams serving in the Clone Wars.

Solid conclusion to the duology.......2006-11-08

The Medstar Duology is the only multi-book series in the prequel era published to date. Medstar II: Jedi Healer picks up the story one week after the events of the first novel and brings the tale to a satisfying conclusion. I'm not clear why this story in particular was chosen to be split into two books, when a slightly edited version could have been condensed to a single volume, but this is a curiosity rather than a complaint. The extra breathing room permits a story that features some slices-of-life a tighter focus likely would have precluded.

Uli Divini, a barely out of school but highly skilled doctor, arrives at the Rimsoo early in this book to replace the main character lost at the end of book one. Uli adds youthful energy and naivete to the mix, as well as providing Barriss Offee with some insight on her personal inward journey to Jedi Knighthood. The other major new character, Admiral Erel Kersos, brings turmoil to our hero doctor Jos Vondar and complicates his burgeoning relationship with nurse Tolk Le Trene.

Den Dhur, the scrappy Sullustan reporter, is tiring of his nomadic life and faces temptation to abandon his career and settle down when an attractive entertainer is stranded on Drongar and makes him an unexpected offer. I-Five has continued his journey to reclaim his memories (wiped at the climax of Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter), as well as his exploration of self. Michael Reaves and Steve Perry have done a good job of interweaving many main characters' soul-searching explorations and logically connecting most of them together in believable and entertaining ways. Additionally, as authors they are strong with realistic and often funny dialogue, something some of the Star Wars EU can be a little weak on.

The unexpected weather change mid-book in the Rimsoo was a great idea, fleshing out the "force dome" concept and some of the possible side effects of shielding a facility in this way. I enjoyed the visit from the galactic entertainment troupe and the frequent visits to the cantina. Barriss Offee's path to Knighthood is continued well and the form her hardest trial takes, in the form of organically-fueled limitless power, is unexpected.

I'm still a bit cold on the Column/Lens spy story - it simply feels rather forced. Early in the first book, there's a sentence that uses a male pronoun for the spy, so the suspense of who it was when the candidates are reduced to two was non-existent for me. The reasons the spy has for his actions are solid, but the storyline could have been re-written to give you his point of view early on and then explored from a more engaging angle. Black Sun agent Kaird and his two henchmen are decent antagonists, but the real star of this show is the focus on the lives of the heroes and their incredible struggles against the nature of war itself, rather than any personal direct confrontations with the book's villains.

The two Medstar books were a fun read and I'd be delighted to link back up with Den Dhur and I-Five on Coruscant in a future novel.

An Enjoyable Read.......2006-03-08

I enjoy how these authors write. The characters really come to life after the first book. It's still not the most exciting Star Wars book I've read, but it sure isn't the worst one either. Not too much to say...overall I think that the Medstar books are worth reading.

Excellent conclusion to the Medstar series.......2005-12-25

Jedi Healer was every bit as good as Battle Surgeons. The story of life in a Republic Mobile Surgical Unit (known as a Rimsoo) on Drongar continues. This book starts off on a sad note since Zan Yant, Jos Vondar's best friend, died in the last chapter of Battle Surgeons. Also, the identity of the spy from book 1 is still unsolved. The story keeps getting better and better as "accidents" start occuring. The Rimsoo's climate systems begin malfunctioning, causing snow when it's normally hot and humid, a bota shuttle blows up, a portion of the Medstar in orbit explodes, etc. Only Barriss Offee believes these weren't accidents. In a chapter near the end she begins suspecting people of causing it. Finally, the Seperatists launch an attack and the spy is discovered. Despite the Medstar books feeling far too short, Jedi Healer was a great ending to a great series.

Conclusion of Medstar duology will leave you empty.......2005-10-28

I never thought I'd see the day when I gave a Star Wars novel three stars. Yet, the rating is truly deserved. After reading Medstar I, you start feeling a connection to the characters, seeing how they struggle with issues that are true to life, perhaps even some you can relate to on a personal level. The second installment, however, misses the mark. Here's why:

The title is misleading. Barriss Offee, Padawan learner, has been sent to the mobile surgical unit on Drongar to use her Jedi healing skills on the sick and injured. You definitely see more of her in action in the first installment. Not so much in Medstar II.

Nothing really happens that has any substance. News reporter Den Dhur meets an attractive female of his species, they get together, she basically "proposes" to him, she leaves and tells him to come back to their home planet ASAP, and then he gets cold feet. The romance between Jos Vondar and Tolk la Trene gets up and running in the first book, runs somewhat awry in this one, just to get back on track again by the end. These stories just didn't go anywhere.

Although Barriss is still a Padawan, her stay on Drongar is essentially her trial to become a Jedi Knight. In my mind, that means the she should already be skilled, controlled, intelligent, patient, and very strong in the Force (especially since she's a healer). When she accidentally gets injected with bota, the adaptogenic drug found on Drongar, she, in lack of better terms, had an "acid trip" experience where she became one with the Force and all of a sudden the whole galaxy made sense. Couldn't she figure out that the bota had a hallucinogenic effect on her? I would think she would have known better. Instead, she takes it again, but this time on purpose?! I think the author was trying to illustrate how easy it is to start down the path of the dark side, but the attempt fell flat.

On a positive note, the human-like droid I-5 kept things going in the right direction. And, the part of the book where he gets drunk (yes, drunk), is quite entertaining. Also, the double agent who was working for the Separatists and the Black Sun criminal organization was identified. At the end of the first installment, I had a pretty good idea who it was, but I was glad to see that the author didn't forget to wrap that part of the story up.

All in all, Medstar II is worth reading, if anything, just to complete the duology. Just don't expect any exciting action sequences or any radical changes in character. If that's what you're looking for, read Republic Commando: Hard Contact. I really do not like to give three stars, but compared to books like the one above, Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter, and the Cestus Deception, it just doesn't pass muster.

May the force be with you!

Star Wars: Clone Wars: Medstar II: Jedi Healer

Average customer rating:

Star Wars: Clone Wars: Medstar II: Jedi Healer
Michael, Steve Reaves
Manufacturer: audible.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Download
ASIN: B000NJXFE6

Book Description

Following the national bestseller Selected Stories, this fall brings the republication of a gripping Highsmith classic.

In This Sweet Sickness, David Kelsey has an unyielding conviction that life will turn out all right for him; he just has to fix The Situation: he is in love with a married woman. Obsessed with Annabelle and the life he has imagined for them, David prepares to win her over, whatever it takes.

Customer Reviews:

Case History of Abnormal Psychology.......2006-02-23

This is not my favourite Highsmith novel. It does not reach, for me, the brilliance of The Talented Mister Ripley or The Cry of the Owl. But none of her novels, as far as I know them, is a waste of time.
I have chosen as my title, above, a quote from the book itself. It is what Dave, the "hero", thinks, when he reads the newspaper article about himself after his story has been completely exposed, before he gets caught.
What disappoints a little in the story is its one track aspect. There are no real surprises. You know right away that Dave is not getting anywhere with his girl, that he will be found out with his double life and that he can not forever dodge the obstacles that rush at him like video game fiends.
One can not sympathize with him, nor can one quite see what he sees in Annabelle. But then, that's the point of course. Only, is doesn't always carry interest very well, not to talk about suspense.
The novel has quite a few "standard themes" of PH's work.
There is double identity, here bordering on schizzophrenia. There is the love chain, not triangle: man 1 loves girl 1, who loves man 2, who loves girl 2, who in turn may not love man 3 so much, but mainly seems to run away from man 2.
There is stalking as a key theme of course. Dave's stalking is frightening. Annabelle's weakness in her reaction to it is maybe the best single portrait in the book.
In the end, Dave is plain crazy. The build up to that stage is entirely plausible, more so than the initial milder crazyness.
If you are no Highsmith admirer yet, do not try starting with this one.

Very Good, but much like others by Highsmith........2005-07-15

If you like the Ripley series, this one is very similar, though the oddball chemical engineer obsessed in an unrequited affair is not nearly as sick as Ripley, and in fact may not really be a criminal at all, except for his posing under a fictitious name, another Ripley trait. Set in late 1950's Hudson Valley, NY, with short scenes in Hartford and LaJolla,Ca., one is still amazed at the incredible deviousness which this author specialized in. Also, the slow deterioration of a near genius, very successful young engineer absolutely obsessed by his ex girlfriend, who politely rejects him, but who won't give up his obsessive pursuit. Well worth reading, though maybe not Highsmith at her absolute pathological best.

Interesting Tale of Unrequited Love.......2005-04-30

David is an engineer in his late twenties, living and working in a small town. During the week he stays in a boarding house, but on the weekends he drives to his house in the country, which he bought under an assumed name. Apparently back in the 50's you didn't need social security numbers or anything like that to get a loan. David is in love with Annabelle, a girl he met two years previously in California, where they both lived. They had a relationship, and Annabelle told him that she loved him. He moved to New York to earn enough money to marry Annabelle, unfortunately, one month later, Annabelle had married someone else (strangely enough, they move to New York, close to David's town). David makes excuses for this action, and doesn't let it deter him from trying to make Annabelle his wife. He writes her letters, which she sometimes answers, because he's sure that some certain phrase or word, which he may not even be aware of himself, will win her over.

After living in this town close to two years, Effie, age 24, moves into the same boarding house and begins making eyes at Dave. Dave also has a friend named Wes, who works at the same place he does. Wes has his own marital difficulties, and tends to drink quite a bit. Both Effie and Wes are a bit too curious about David's weekend trips - they don't buy the sick mother in the nursing home story that he tells everyone. In reality, both of Dave's parents passed away many years ago, and he goes to his weekend house to pretend that he lives there with Annabelle.

What's so great about this Annabelle? Well, she has blue-gray eyes, brown hair, a long face, she used to play the piano, and she told Dave she had an idea for writing a book about a couple of composers. She seems to have married only to get out of the home where she took care of her lazy unemployed brothers, disabled mother, and abusive father. That's Dave's opinion anyway, although Effie is twenty-four, and managed to move out, get a job and her own place, so why did Annabelle have to marry the first loser who came along? Question not answered. But it does make me come to this conclusion: Annabelle has low self-esteem, and at bottom thinks she's not good enough for Dave (what his relatives in CA who know Annabelle keep telling him: Water seeks its own level. But Dave wants to pull Annabelle up, and she doesn't want to rise). Although if Dave had stayed in California in some low-paying job, Annabelle probably would have married him. That's why this story is so aggravating.

In any case, Dave continues with his affair of the mind, contacts Annabelle, sometimes she sees him, leads him on, and he ends up confronting her husband, the wide-hipped, fat-lipped Gerald. Gerald tells him to stop writing his wife. Dave doesn't stop, and Gerald comes to the boarding house to confront him. Big-mouth Effie gives him Dave's address in the country (she and Wes nosily followed him one weekend). Gerald goes, and boy is he sorry. He's accidentally killed, and then Dave is really in a pickle, since he bought the house under a different name.

Dave tries to lie and figure his way out of everything. Overall, he's not really too concerned. Then he drinks too much and makes a big boo-boo. Meantime, Annabelle quickly marries another loser.

The ending of the story is the usual cop-out. But the novel is worth reading for the body of the story. Dave's unrelenting obsession, his single-minded search for his objective, the emotions of the realistic, yet persistent Effie and the infuriatingly noncomittal Annabelle, make the interaction between characters memorable.

One irritating error: at the end of the story both Annabelle and Effie end up 26 years old, although Annabelle should be 24, and Effie, at the most 25.

One of my favorites by Highsmith.......2005-04-12

What is really outstanding here is the creation of the main character - pitiful, disturbing, all too believeable - and who else could have made him sympathetic?

Read this now!

One of the most pathetic characters I've ever encountered........2005-03-13

Patricia Highsmith's genius always seems to lie in her most pathetic and delusional characters. The most amazing thing to me about this novel is the fact that it is so readable and suspenseful even though the protagonist is completely unsympathetic and a horrible snob.

Although I hated the character he was brilliantly realized and Highsmith evokes the upstate New York setting perfectly.

In some ways Anabelle is just as responsible for the tragic events of the novel as David. Her infuriating passivity and wish y washy personality influence the course of the story just as much if not more than David' obsessive pursuit of her.

This Sweet Sickness is up there with Deep Water and Cry of The Owl as not just the best of Highsmith's work but the most definitive of her views towards marriage and the domestic life which, even though they are misguided and abrasive, are extremely entertaining.

If you are a Highsmith fan you will love this book. If you aren't familiar with her though I would say you should read Strangers On A Train or some of the Ripley novels to get a feel for her style or else you won't really be able to appreciate what she does in this work. It does stand alone as a novel but it is so intense that her other novels might dissapoint you if you read this one first.

Average customer rating:

This Sweet Sickness
Patricia Highsmith
Manufacturer: MacFadden
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000IQPEWA

Average customer rating:

This Sweet Sickness
Patricia Highsmith
Manufacturer: Pan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000LJURJY

Average customer rating:

This Sweet Sickness

Manufacturer: BLOOMSBURY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GSD1SE

Average customer rating:

This Sweet Sickness
Patricia Highsmith
Manufacturer: Viking Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OFL014

Average customer rating:

This Sweet Sickness
Patricia Highsmith
Manufacturer: Harper & Brothers, Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NPNVGC

Average customer rating:

This Sweet Sickness
Patricia Highsmith
Manufacturer: Macfadden-Bartell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KU0ZUK

Average customer rating:

This Sweet Sickness
Patricia Highsmith
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OIUQP2

Book Description

It's time to inaugurate President Dad and the position of First Lady is up for grabs. Most people consider Ami to be the First Lady, since her mother died, but Ami's aunt, Bi-Na, wants the job for herself! Aunt Bi-Na will do whatever it takes to stop Ami's ascension, including ruining Ami's life in the process!

- Will appeal to fans of "Princess Diaries"

Average customer rating:

This is an OK one

The Gold's Gym Beginner's Guide to Fitness
David Porter
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Exercise & Fitness | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Bodybuilding & Weight Training | Training | Sports | Subjects | Books
General | Sports | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Gold's Gym Training Encyclopedia

Gold's Gym Workout Journal

The Gold's Gym Guide to Getting Started in Bodybuilding

The Gold's Gym Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding (Gold's Gym Series)

Workouts for Dummies

Accessories:

Tanita BC533 Glass Innerscan Body Composition Monitor

ASIN: 007142282X

Book Description

The top gym in the nation leads the way in fitness programs for every need and physique

Written especially for those with little or no gym experience, The Gold's Gym Beginner's Guide to Fitness is a cutting-edge, balanced, and straightforward guide to total fitness for the novice exerciser. Readers learn about various training methods, the latest fitness technology, and the most modern exercises for developing target muscle groups such as the upper back, lower back, chest, shoulders, arms, abs, legs, and buttocks. And they get:

Expert advice on cardiovascular conditioning, flexibility, aerobics, and nutrition
Alternative workouts for when they can't get to a gym
175 inspiring and instructive photographs, shot on location at Gold's facilities

Download Description

The top gym in the nation leads the way in fitness programs for every need and physique

Written especially for those with little or no gym experience, The Golds Gym Beginner's Guide toFitness is a cutting-edge, balanced, and straightforward guide to total fitness for the noviceexerciser. Readers learn about various training methods, the latest fitness technology, and the mostmodern exercises for developing target muscle groups such as the upper back, lower back, chest,shoulders, arms, abs, legs, and buttocks. And they get:

Expert advice on cardiovascular conditioning, flexibility, aerobics, and nutrition
Alternative workouts for when they can't get to a gym
175 inspiring and instructive photographs, shot on location at Gold's facilities

Customer Reviews:

This is an OK one.......2007-04-01

I like the contents of this. If your getting into shape check it out

Average customer rating:

A Tremendously entertaining and useful cookbook

Restaraunt promotion and alleged cookbook

The most fun cookbook to read and use, in our collection.

Fabulous book; highly recommended for all levels.

The Fort Cookbook: New Foods of the Old West from the Denver Restaurant
Samuel P. Arnold
Manufacturer: Cookbooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
West | U.S. Regional | Regional & International | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0060175672

Amazon.com

Mix a little theme-park flavor with a taste for the history of the Old West, add a hearty appetite and the yen to cook, and you might come close to The Fort--after 40 years of business, more a Denver institution than a restaurant. It was Samuel P. Arnold who first built his home as a replica of Fort Bent, a Colorado fur-trading post, circa 1840. And it was Sam Arnold who invited the public to share his enthusiasm for a time long gone but not forgotten. The Fort Cookbook tells the whole amazing story, dishing up some of the restaurant's more memorable recipes. The meat recipes (elk, venison, buffalo, lamb, and loads of beef) are alone worth the purchase price, but don't think for a minute that Arnold focuses on historic relics that taste as though they might best be left in a museum. He's a man with a modern palate, an eye on Southwestern cuisine as it has developed over the last 20 years, and the good sense to take any and all modern ingredients into account.

Book Description

1959 when he bought the stunning property that now holds The Fort, Informer advertising executive Sam Arnold was just looking for a place to build a house for his family. Then his eye was caught by a photograph of the fabled Bent's Fort, one of the original trading posts in Colorado. His family home became an adobe-brick replica of Bent's Fort, which then became The Fort, an extraordinary restaurant whose fame has spread far beyond the wide borders of the West even as the city of Denver has expanded toward Arnold's once-rural locale.

The Fort Cookbook: New Foods of the Old West from the Famous Denver Restaurant chronicles the life of this singular eatery by presenting recipes from its earliest days and throughout its near-forty-year history. There are the unforgettable favorites that helped make The Fort beloved, such as White Cheese Shrimp Enchiladas and Rocky Mountain Oysters, as well as new spins on Old West classics, such as Gonzales Steak stuffed with green chiles and Buffalo Burgers, not to mention enough fabulous steak recipes to make a beef lover swoon. Arnold's inventive cuisine ranges from unfamiliar recipes for increasingly available ostrich and elk to such southwestern comfort food as Blue Corn Blueberry Muffins, Lakota Indian Fry Bread, and Chocolate Chile Cake.

Peppered with Arnold's exuberant notes on the history of the Old West and wisdom about food and ingredients, The Fort Cookbook is the result of Arnold's genuine curiosity and hands-on experience. Like the colorful Western characters that people his pages, Sam Arnold-author, raconteur, historian, and keeper of The Fort-is a larger-than-life figure with a generous, twofisted approach to hospitality. For armchair travelers recipe lovers, diners, and cooks, there could be no better scout.

Customer Reviews:

A Tremendously entertaining and useful cookbook.......2001-09-01

While it is true that some ingredients require a little effort to find, the Fort Cookbook is a tremendously entertaining, historically illuminating and just-plain-fun cookbook. I have made several recipes from it, and have encountered good results. BTW, some hard-to-find items may be found at Homebrew stores ("sour salt" aka citric acid, juniper berries, etc.)

Can't wait until my travels bring me back to Denver, so I can try the real McCoy!

Restaraunt promotion and alleged cookbook.......1999-12-29

This book is obviously a restaraunt promotion, and alleged cookbook. The reason I call it an alleged cookbook is because the author mixes hard to find ingredients with directions that are sure to make the home cook fail, thereby ensuring that the cook will have to come to The Fort restaraunt to sample the recipe. Here is the list of some of the hard to find ingredients in his cookbook. Sour salt, buffalo, elk, tamarind, verjuice, malagueta pepper, devils claws,damiana, and guinea hen are among just some of the hard to get ingredients. To be fair the book does have a section on where to get some of these ingredients, and the book does have merit in that it has interesting facts about old Western, and especially Southwestern cooking, and it gives many ideas to an experienced cook. Some of the good recipes are Pittsburgh steaks, Green Chili steak bowl, barbecued steak, Martha Washington's chicken grains of paradise, potted buffalo, and beef with caramelized onion, beet salad, a excellent succotash recipe, numerous flans, a ice cream cake, and chocolate chili cake. Sam Arnold claims to have a library of 5,000 cookbooks, and manuscripts from the old West, and this book sort of annoys me, because I'm sure he could come up with a better cookbook, if he really wanted to. For example, he mentions the ingredients in Washtunkala stew, but does not give an account on how to make it. Self-promotion is more important than useful help for the home cook. I also disagree with Sam Arnold in his preparation of a couple of classic recipes. His Country Captain recipe only has a small fraction of the bell pepper, and onion needed, and leaves out the white pepper, and parsley entirely. His barbecue sauce is good, but when I make his barbecued steak, I'm going to use Stonewall Jackson barbecue sauce, the best barbecuse sauce ever made. Barbecue sauce should not have ketchup, or Worchestshire sauce in it. I really have a pet peeeve with recipes for chili that do not have tomato in them. Do not let Texans tell you that chili con carne does not have tomatoes in it. The original recipe for chile, by Mary Alcedo does include tomatoes. I seriously doubt that 1 cup of chili puree, and 1 teaspoon of Mexican oregeno can make 4 pounds of pork taste anything but bland. His recipe for chili doesn't even have cumin in it. If I was going to go to the trouble of stewing down 4 pounds of pork shoulder than I would much rather make a southern style barbecue, or a Brunswick stew.

The most fun cookbook to read and use, in our collection........1999-04-30

This is a cookbook that has already become a family treasure and my mom and I have an extensive collection of many different kinds of cookbooks. Needless to say, a cookbook that gives you history of the area that their restaurant is located, plus the history behind all of the fascinating recipes that are in store for the reader/cook is a real gem to own. Two finger lickin' thumbs up.

Fabulous book; highly recommended for all levels........1998-10-10

This book works for food like Claire McCardell worked for American sportswear; mix and match, it all makes you look good, and it's not tough to pull together. Good value, spices up the dinner options easily, will impress your friends and in-laws enormously. It's enhanced by the stories that the author weaves through it, making it so much more than just a cookbook -- more of a picaresque tale of "How I Ended Up Running A Restaurant When All I Really Wanted Was A Good Sportscar." Highly recommended.

The Fort Cookbook: New Foods of the Old West from the Famous Denver Restaurant

Average customer rating:

The Fort Cookbook: New Foods of the Old West from the Famous Denver Restaurant
Samuel P. Arnold
Manufacturer: Cookbooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OEM9YW

Average customer rating:

The Fort Cookbook: New Foods of the Old West from the Famous Denver Restaurant

Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GLNLDQ

Product Description

The enchanting dollhouses, miniature kitchens, and toy shops at the Folk Art Museum are shown in this lovely book. Information from nineteenth-century toy catalogs and experience as a maker of miniatures enabled the author to write about these toys in detail. The attractive photography brings them to life. 86 pp.; 181 color photographs; 18 black-and-white photographs

Customer Reviews:

An Invaluable Research Tool!.......2001-06-27

I consider this book to be one of the best dollhouse references out there. Every page has color photos. Many of the furniture pieces are photographed individually. Each photograph is clear and detailed. The author is careful to note when a piece is original, antique, or modern. Everything in this book is well-researched and documented. You could carve replica furniture pieces from the photographs in here, they are that good!

Needless to say, the houses featured in here are gorgeous in their own right. My favorite part of this book are the great photos of the Grodnertal peg-wooden dolls. This book contains some of the best Grodnertal photos I've ever seen!

Average customer rating:

She Sticks to One Style

Not as good as some of her other books

I do not know if I could actualy do these things myself, but I am getting ideas

I did an incredible floor from this book

Easy instructions and great ideas

Debbie Travis' Decorating Solutions: More Than 65 Paint and Plaster Finishes for Every Room in Your Home
Debbie Travis
Manufacturer: Clarkson Potter
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Decorating | Interior Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Interior Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Painting & Wallpapering | Interior Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Debbie Travis | Expert Advice | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Debbie Travis' Painted House: More than 35 Quick and Easy Finishes for Walls, Floors, and Furniture

Debbie Travis' Painted House Kitchens and Baths: More than 50 Innovative Projects for an Exciting New Look at Any Budget

Debbie Travis' Facelift: Solutions to Revitalize Your Home

Debbie Travis' Painted House Bedrooms: More Than 40 Inspiring Projects for Your Personal Sanctuary

Debbie Travis' Painted House Living & Dining Rooms: 60 Stylish Projects to Transform Your Home

ASIN: 0609602519
Release Date: 1999-08-31

Book Description

Wherever you live, chances are there are a few things about your home you'd like to change. As best-selling author and television host Debbie Travis points out in her introduction, "Decorating is an ongoing process. Each time you change your address, or even if you stay in the same place, the process of adapting your home to suit your changing moods and needs is constant, because, in truth, no room is perfect." But often we look around at a new home with large expanses of white walls, or someone else's color scheme, or an apartment that hasn't been painted in years, and we simply don't know where to start. In Debbie Travis' Decorating Solutions, Travis has gathered together her best ideas for solving the most common decorating dilemmas plaguing homeowners and renters alike.

The book begins with a valuable outline of the proper steps for preparing a variety of surfaces and gives a complete rundown on paints, glazes, plaster, sealants, and materials, including helpful descriptions of different tools and basic instructions on stenciling, block painting, and plastering. Next, because working with color can be intimidating at first, a section on color will help you choose the right one for your needs. Then, taking the commonsense approach of accentuating the positive and camouflaging the negative, Travis offers imaginative solutions to problems ranging from cracked walls to damaged floors, from outdated kitchen cabinetry to dreary bathroom tiles. Included are ideas and complete step-by-step instructions for more than 65 different paint, plaster, and paper finishes for transforming walls, floors, ceilings, doors, fireplaces, bathrooms, kitchens, hallways, and staircases, all without the fuss of major renovation.

Lavishly illustrated with more than 400 full-color photographs and packed with practical information, Debbie Travis' Decorating Solutions is an inspiration for anyone who wants to bring out the best in a home.

Customer Reviews:

She Sticks to One Style.......2006-03-17

This book is for people who like lots of color, and the shabby chic cottage type of look (painted furniture, painted hardwood floor, etc). I was hoping she would offer paint ideas for a wide array of decorating styles which she does not.
Check it out from your local library instead.

Not as good as some of her other books.......2006-01-27

I Enjoy watching Debbie on Painted Houses and Facelift. She is not afraid of color and seems to be able to decorate in various styles. I bought her Living Rooms book and think it is one of the best. This one is not up to par. Many of the projects use garish wall colors. I am not adverse to color - I have it all through my house, but I think many of her choices don't blend well and don't seem to complement each other.

This book might be okay for you if you like a funky/hip kind of decor, which a lot of the designs seemed to cover. There are some more sedate choices like the "leather walls" and the "colorwashed walls" which are quite beautiful. I would recommend her Facelift book and her Painted House Living and Dining Rooms.

I do not know if I could actualy do these things myself, but I am getting ideas.......2005-09-21

So, anyhow, we are thinking about building a new house and towards that goal we started doing three things this summer. First, we put up three poster boards on the wall in the kitchen where we could jot down ideas for each room of the house. Second, on Sunday afternoon we go looking at open houses in the area. Third, we made HGTV our default television channel; if we are not watching anything else that is what we watch, which means that most days we get a double dose of Debbie Travis. Specifically that would be the half-hour "Debbie Travis' Painted House" and the full-hour "Debbie Travis' Facelift." Now, the second and third points are some of the ways we come up with things to put down on the posters, along with correcting aspects of our current living situation and memories of homes past. But I also have to admit that I got to the point where if I did not hear Debbie Travis each day, my day was not complete. It is not just the accent, but the unique cadence to her way of talking that we call "Debbie speak" around the house.

The first thing you need to know about Debbie Travis is that she wants to paint pretty much everything (but first, you want to put on a good coat of primer). Understand that and you can appreciate "Debbie Travis' Decorating Solutions: More than 65 Paint and Plaster Finishes for Every Room in Your Home," which is co-written with Barbara Dingle with photographs by George Ross. As Travis explains in her introduction, "Just as the windows are the eyes of a house, the walls, floors, and ceilings are the soul." The point of this book is to convince you that it does not take much to make them beautiful and to give you a wide range of options along those lines.

"Part One: Before I Start Painting" is a reminder to do appropriate preparation before you begin decorating. In detailing the preparation and tools of the trade for decorating, Travis provides specific tips and tools for painted finishes, stenciling, plaster finishes, and other techniques covered in the book. There is also a section devoted to choosing color, which along with pattern and texture are the principal elements of any decorating scheme. Here you will learn the basic shades of yellow, blue, green, and red, along with terra cotta, white, neutral colors, brown, and black. You will also pick up tips as to where and how to use each, because the whole point here is to come up with ideas for solving your decorating problems.

The bulk of the book is devoted to "Part Two: Decorating with Paint and Plaster." Within this unit there are five sections, each of which is divided into more specific techniques: (1) Walls offers a wide variety of techniques: color washed walls, graffiti, weathered wallboards, tinted Venetian plaster, leather walls, feathering and parchment. Then Travis moves on to decorative wall panels (strie, faux linen, pastel metallic, and frescoed), an innovative dado that divides a room (brushed steel, fantasy marble, faux denim, country tartan, and anaglypta), and building a border (gesso, French country, Casablanca tile, lincrusta borders along with stenciled silhouettes). The key thing here is that you are going to find something that catches your eye, and then the big question is whether you think you can follow the instructions well enough to actually do some of these yourself. I fully admit that stenciled wall paneling scares me, but I actually think I could do the leather walls and/or the parchment for my study and maybe even the frescoed panels for the master bathroom (where I want to try a warmer style).

Obviously the emphasis in this "Painted House" volume is on walls, but Travis goes on to talk about the other parts of the wall as well: (2) Floors covers (ha-ha) honeycomb floor, clip art border, block painting and cottage floor; (3) Ceilings involves bronze moldings, gold leaf ceiling, distressed stucco ceiling, leopard ceiling, and the one I find most interesting, cloudy sky; (4) Kitchens and Bathrooms involves quick fixes for kitchens when renovating is not an option, such as backsplashes along with fantasy wood graining, crackle finish, and heritage kitchen cabinets. For bathrooms the focus is on eye-catching ways of making the most of a small space; and (5) Stairways, Doors, and Fireplaces, which are just touched on in terms of dressing up doors with easy painted finishes and fast fix-ups for fireplaces.

Those last couple of sections only touch on what all can be done in such areas, and you can track down "Debbie Travis' Kitchens and Baths" or other volumes in the "Painted House" series that go into more detail on those or other rooms of the house. The bottom line here is to show you that you can make your home stylish without spending a whole lot of money. That is why this volume has over 400 photographs and step-by-step instructions for each specific section. After all, when it is your house you do not have to do with some safe shade of white on your walls. Picking a color is only part of your decision and even if you are intimidated by pattern, at the very least you can add texture into the equation.

I did an incredible floor from this book.......2005-09-09

Another great book from Debbie Travis. I followed the directions to the letter and have the most incredible floor. Everyone that sees it is amazed at how beautiful and durable it is!

Easy instructions and great ideas.......2005-08-18

This book is great, especially to those willing to experiment and try new adventures with color. Color can change the entire look and feel and energy of your home and living spaces and Debbie really brings that out with helping you choose color based on the mood you want for a space.

Have fun! Go crazy! and enjoy :)

Book Description

This one-of-a-kind workbook for graphic designers, which may be used independently or in conjunction with Graphic Design Solutions, 2E by Robin Landa, will stimulate your imagination and enable you to flex your creative design muscles. The exercises in this workbook expand upon graphic design applications and each exercise presents a creative problem intended to stimulate visual thinking, encourage sketching and ideas, and, most importantly, prompt you to try new approaches.

Customer Reviews:

very good! -- allows a lot of self critique.......2006-07-24

This book is really helpful for people starting out (like students or novices), or for anyone who really needs to kickstart their "outside-the-box" thinking. It has a lot of drawing excercises, each excercise is pretty quickly done in your spare time, and their is even space on each page for you to sketch. The only thing I don't like is that for a workbook, too many excercises require you to use outside materials (ex: stamp pad?) or the computer (ex: type excercises) I enjoy it though and recommend buying it, but not at full price. :)

a great design workout!.......2001-05-22

tons of great visual exercises that really revive creative juices! Allows you to expand your vision and provides a creative resource.

can't design without it!.......2000-09-22

This book is a must-have for any professor, designer or aspiring design student. The full range of creative problems stimulates and enriches!

Book Description

For two generations of Americans, reading Ann Landers's daily column was as important as eating breakfast and as natural as brushing their teeth. For nearly fifty years an entire nation turned to this quick-witted, worldly-wise counselor for advice on everything from proper dinner etiquette to sex, yet few actually knew the real woman behind the byline.

Award-winning journalist Rick Kogan was Ann Landers's last editor and close friend, and in America's Mom he paints an intimate, affectionate, knowing, and deeply honest portrait of a remarkable woman whose real life story rivaled anything that appeared in the millions of letters she received and responded to during her long career.

Iowa-born Eppie Lederer was first hired by the Chicago Sun-Times to take over the daily advice column in 1955 -- and over the next half-century she helped shape the nation's social and sexual landscape. Already a fiercely independent housewife and political activist, she reinvented herself as "Ann Landers," went on to become America's beloved "surrogate mother," and was one of the country's most influential women. The friend and confidante of celebrities, journalists, and politicians, she composed columns that touched the lives of so many -- even as her own life was shaken by dramatic, often heartbreaking events.

Written with the enthusiastic support and coop-eration of Ann Landers's colleagues, admirers, and friends, Kogan's unforgettable memoir is a fascinating, full-bodied account of the triumphs, the wisdom, the courage, and the many trials of one of the twentieth century's most enduring icons -- her painful lifelong feud with her identical twin sister, "Dear Abby"; her outspokenness and stubborn refusal to shy away from even the most controversial topics; and the tragic breakup of her own thirty-six-year marriage when her husband abandoned her for another woman, an event that she bravely and openly shared with her millions of sympathetic fans. Here, too, is a wealth of touching, enlightening, and remarkable true stories shared by people from all walks of life who were profoundly affected by the good sense and guidance of Ann Landers. America's Mom is a moving tribute to a singular woman who has earned an eternal place in our culture . . . and our hearts.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books