5 comments about The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax, By Dorothy Gilman, Unabridged 5 Audio Cassettes, Narrated By Barbara Rosenblat.

1. I go back a couple of books in the series now to this one, the third. Fortunately there are no significant references to prior books this time around.

   Anyhow, this time Mrs. Pollifax finds her way to Bulgaria. Supposedly she is only taking passports to the underground there, but her boss Carstairs is strongarmed into having her taking other items, sewn into her coat, along with her without her knowing it. Complications, unsurprisingly, ensue. She falls in with a group of travelling college students (and one in particular), and leaps in to help when one of them is held by the secret police.

   She leads both friends and foes on a merry chase as she travels around Bulgaria. It's got to be one of the more complex plots of any of the books I've read so far, and as a result one of the most gripping.

   Rosenblat again does a superb job with the voices.




2. I just recently discovered the Mrs. Pollifax books and I have been enjoying them immensely. This one is a great favorite of mine because not only are the many characters and the complex plot skillfully handled, but the characterization is wonderful. The author employs the great writer's rule of "Show, don't tell" to give the reader a more detailed picture of who Mrs. Pollifax is. Her character is drawn with more depth in this novel than in either of the two preceding. In addition, the story is exciting and told with a gentle humor that certainly kept me reading.



3. The 3rd book written by Dorothy Gilman is another book filled with intrigue and heroism. Mrs. Pollifax, a widow who enjoys teas and garden clubs, sets out on her third courier job for the CIA, a mission which starts in Bulgaria. Mrs. Pollifax is a CIA agent assigned to smuggle forged passports into the country, for the use of some agents that have found themselves in need of escape. However, as in her previous two cases, no simple courier job ends up that way, and she also works to assist a group of college kids that find themselves in trouble.

   I was enthralled with the third assignment of Mrs. Pollifax, and enjoyed every moment spent with her on this adventure. Mrs. Pollifax is not a person that you would initially feel would make a good CIA agent. She is elderly, loves to wear outlandish hats, and finds a way to talk and get to know everyone around her. But it is just these qualities that make her so invisible in the world of spies, and even the most cynical of agents falls under her spell. I loved the fact that Mrs. Pollifax is learning karate (since she hates guns I worried about how she could plausibly protect herself) and that she was just as lovable yet determined as she was in the previous books. If you have not tried this series, pick up a copy of this book and the previous books, and join the millions of others who are charmed by this beloved character!

   The first book in the series is "The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax". Enjoy!

   A Cozy Mystery Lover




4. Very enjoyable for Mrs. Pollifax fans. Just complex enough to make it interesting.



5. When a CIA agent barely gets out of Bulgaria, he arrives in America with a message. There is an underground movement and they need passports. Carstairs is quick to get the wheels rolling. Despite the reminders from his assistant, Bishop, he heads to New Brunswick, New Jersey to ask Mrs. Pollifax if she will smuggle them into the country in a new hat.
   
   Mrs. Pollifax is only too delighted to help and soon she's off to Eastern Europe. Things will be hard since she will be under the watchful eye of Bulgaria's tourist board at all times. But why did someone break into her room in the middle of the night? What happened to the young American Mrs. Pollifax met in the airport? And will she deliver the passports?
   
   When I read through this book the first time around, I was disappointed. I'm not sure what my problem was originally because I loved it this time. The adventure is as wild as always. I was alternately turning pages or laughing at people's reactions to Mrs. Pollifax. And the new friends she makes along the way are wonderful. True, the book is ruled by coincidence and isn't believable if you think about it. Trust me, you won't be thinking about those things. You'll have too much fun enjoying the ride.
   
   Since the book was written and set in 1971 Eastern Europe, it is historical now. If you keep that in mind, you'll get a good picture of just how bad life was during that period of time.
   
   While the adventures are dated now, they are still tons of fun. If you want to enjoy some escapist fiction, look no further then this series.

No comments about A Man of Contradictions: A life of A. L. Rowse.

5 comments about God's Smuggler.

1. This book by Brother Andrew was Excellent. The story of a European Christian and his attempts to smuggle Bibles behind the Iron Curtain. Plenty of action and suspense, combined with a motivating personal story. Since its the story of a mans life its also a fairly easy read.



2. This book is gripping. I started reading it one night and finished it the next afternoon. This is a great story and testimony.



3. This is the true story of Brother Andrew and his work in smuggling Bibles to those Christians oppressed by communism. There are many moments of miraculous interventions by God and Brother Andrew's touchingly transparent story will bring a tear to your eye and inspire you to appreaciate the freedoms we have and to help those who do not, even if only in prayer. This is one book that will not dissappoint!



4. This book was hard to put down. I first learned of Brother Andrew by listening to a CD of the life of Corrie TenBoom. He was a friend of hers and introduced the CD.
   
   The book God's Smuggler is, (and I hate to use this word loosely as it is overused) awesome in the respect that God answered him so many times directly. His answers were direct miracles from God. It is also amazing to read how he managed to get in and out of Russia so many times unscathed. Great reading.



5. I read this book atleast once a year. It is the most exciting and inspirational book in my library.

5 comments about The Demon-Haunted World.

1. I'm not a scientist, per say, but I do know that I enjoy any author who is willing to go out of his/her way to appeal to their readers sensibilities and/or reason, before, they launch into the body of the book. This allows the reader to feel some level of comfort that they are reading from the passages of a sane individual and not one who isn't going to pay the reader the courtisy of being upfront and honest.
   
   I think Carl Sagan has done a great job at capturing my interest ... so far, and I can't wait to read on. Good day sir!



2. I believe I have come from a scientific background. I will try to express my views as plainly as possible. First of all, in science there is no emotion. There are just consequences. There is nothing like a good consequence or a bad consequence, all you have is a consequence!
   
   Author argues, that science has made lives of many people better, solved problems, uplifted human race leading to "better" quality of life. Hence he says you should acccept science and use that for the "better of man kind". However from a scientific point of view there is nothing called "better of mankind". If there is a nuclear explosion and everybody on earth dies, scientifically nothing has happened. Life may originate in some distant galaxy couple of million years from now. There is no reason why our life is any great to be preserved. In doing so, he consistently(unknowingly) over-emphasizes the importance of our lives(Then makes arguments that people who thought earth in the center of universe where stupid).
   
   Also, he ridicules the saying "Ignorance is a bliss". Scientifcially there is no reason why he should? Atleast not that I know of!
   
   Some how the author is placing too much importance on human life(unlike sciences). The book is an emotional appeal of a weak mind for scientic thought process. The book is NOT a Scientific appeal for Scientific thought process.



3. Fantastic book on the the nature of Scientific research and on the natural gullibility of people, the lure of pseudoscience and charletons.



4. Taking a broad and accurate swipe at superstition and pseudo-science, Carl Sagan makes a compelling case for scientific thinking. Though Sagan was clearly preaching to the choir in my own case, I found his insights very valuable. Sagan obviously had done alot of thinking about the subject and first sought to understand why people believe implausible and unfalsifiable ideas, but also tries to explain science in the context of our every day lives.
   
   Sagan asks the question of whether humans are simply not proned towards scientific thinking and to the belief in the supernatural. He then goes on to explain hunter-gatherer behavior from the perspective of science. He points out that the careful and learned observations made by bush hunters of game in Africa, utilize a scientific perspective, carefully examining tracks, understanding from past experiences when and where game are likely to be, etc. Science as Sagan explains it is reasoned thinking that results in success as a species. A scientific mind is what has led humans to dominate the planet.
   
   Sagan also examines the nature of superstition and how easy it is for individuals to be sucked into this line of thinking. Dealing with the scary uncertainties in a dark, daunting, demon-haunted world, science is the candle which illuminates. To superstition, criticism is the enemy, but to science, it is the engine by which progress is made. Science is about asking the hard questions, not accepting explanations at face value.
   
   I think any high school science teacher worth his/her salt, would require the reading of this great book and also require a book report on it. Sagan makes a strong case, that our very survival and prosperity are riding on the rejection of superstition and bringing scientific thinking back from the abyss our nation seems to be moving into. I wholeheartedly agree with his assessment.



5. When I started reading this book, it seemed to go slow and I thought about giving up. But, as I went on, the relevance of what he wrote made more and more sense. When I was through, I was pleased that I had read it all the way through and now I am a much more critical thinker.

No comments about The Long Walk: Library Edition.

No comments about The Autobiography of Santa Claus, Its Better to Give.

No comments about Daniel Boone: Young Hunter and Tracker, Library Edition (Ready Reader).

No comments about Billy.

4 comments about Second Coming: The Strange Odyssey of Michael Jordan-From Courtside to Home Plate and Back Again.

1. There is a type of sports fan endemic to Chicago: guys whose formative years spanned decades of losing seasons, guys who never learned the ups of fandom, just the downs, until the only joy they could take from professional sports was the cynic's pleasure of having their low expectations fulfilled. Guys, I admit it, like me. When a winner does finally appear in a city like Chicago, these fans react like albino fish brought up into the sun from the lightless depths, blinking uncomprehendingly: they know something is happening, but nothing in their experience tellsthem how to react. The good news is that most of us recover from the shock after a year or two, and that most of us don't become professional sportswriters. Then again, there's Sam Smith.

   Smith's "Second Coming" purports to be a hard-nosed examination of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls during Jordan's "retirement" from the NBA following the death of his father, Jordan's travails as a minor-league baseball player and subsequent return to basketball, with (at first) less-than spectacular results. A sequel to "The Jordan Rules", Smith's first uncensored-behind-the-scenes look at the Bulls during their early-'90's title runs, this book is both less shocking -- you only have to open any week's sports pages to realize that today's pro atheletes are not choirboys -- and more mean-spirited than its predecessor.

   If Sam Smith were an NBA player, he'd be Bill Laimbeer: moderately talented, but cursed with a congenital inability to pass up a cheap shot (Smith takes gratuitous aim at everyone from the Bulls' TV announcers to Madonna) and the obnoxious habit of feigning bafflement that anyone would take offense (Smith is shocked, *shocked* that Jordan and others had less-than positive reactions to "The Jordan Rules").

   There's no doubt that many aspects of professional sports are open to criticism, and Michael Jordan is no exception. But "Second Coming" provides little criticism and lots of tabloid-style dirt-dishing. Smith reports the facts of Jordan's gambling sprees (by far the most legitimate fan concern covered), but then sabotages his own credibility by mentioning every scurrilous rumor, most of them proven to be false, that followed those events and the shooting of James Jordan. I held on as Smith hammered away at his theme -- that Jordan was too old, too selfish, and too poor a leader for his comeback to be successful -- waiting for the "bonus chapter" (added to the paperback edition) on the Bulls' historic '95-'96 season. How would Smith explain his remarkable lack of predictive skills? He wouldn't, preferring instead to concentrate on the antics of Dennis Rodman.

   If you want to know more about the dark side of professional sports, and maybe even do something about it, read Mike Lupica's scorching fan manifesto "Mad as Hell". If you want to read about Jordan and the Bulls, buy Bob Greene's sublime "Hang Time" and its sequel "Rebound". Lupica may be a bit overinflated and Greene a little too uncritical of his subject, but at least neither of them have forgotten the reasons why we started watching the game in the first place




2. "Second Coming: The Strange Odyssey of Michael Jordan - from Courtside to Home Plate and Back Again," by Sam Smith, is a biogarphy about Michael Jordan. It starts out a little before he won his first NBA championship with the Chicago Bulls. It tells about the seasons leading up to his retirement in October of 1993. Through that time, the author talks about the next two seasons. It talks about Jordans' personality at the time, and some of the problems he was having to deal with. It profiles Jordans' gambling troubles and the troubles he was having with the media. This book is similar to the book "Tiger Woods: The Makings of a Champion." These two books are very similar because of their genre. They are both biographies about famous sports stars. The only difference between the two is that the Tiger Woods book talks more about his childhood than the Michael Jordan book does. I thought that this book was very good. I liked it because I really liked the structure of it. I thought that it was really easy to read because it goes in a logical order. I think that since it has good order, this serves as a good model for writing. There really is not much imagery in the book because it is a biography. I thought that this book was very good because it tells a lot of good stuff about Michael Jordan's professional career. I think that one thing that this book lacked was information on his personal life. I think that I could have realated better to the story had there been more personal info on him. I think that anybody who likes to follow Michael Jordan would enjoy this book very much. Overall I liked this book a lot and I hope to read more books by this author.



3. I have mixed feelings about Michael Jordan. On the one hand, he is a great athlete. I respect his work ethic. He has turned in a number of great performances and is no doubt one of the greatest to have ever played the game of basketball.

   There is a flipside. Michael Jordan got all kinds of special treatment while he was in the NBA. He was the first player I noticed who was granted all kinds of trips to the charity stripe because of unbelievably, ticky tack calls. He scored at least ten points a game at the free throw line from bogus calls. It was great when there was a picture session for 'greats of the game' with Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan. Magic told Larry not to stand too close to Michael or they might call a foul. In front of reporters and television viewers, that was a classic comment by Magic. I believe Mike got 99% of all calls in his favor because he was such a cash cow for the NBA. Dominique Wilkins was robbed of a slam dunk championship when Mike scored a perfect 50 doing the same dunk Dr. J did years before. I doubt Dr. J ever received a perfect 50 for it. Dominique's dunk was much more impressive, and he received a 49.5. Please. Mike got in a fight with Reggie Miller, and only Miller got suspended at first. Only after there was an outcry did Mike get suspended. How are Mike's punches different? Mike elbowed Kevin Johnson to the ground for all to see, and Kevin was called for blocking!

   I am not too impressed that the bulls beat the lakers in the NBA finals. Magic was double teamed every game every minute he was in. On top of that, James Worthy and Byron Scott were injured. Magic and Larry never won three championships in a row because the competition, teams, and players in the 80s were much better than the nineties. Luc Longley, Will Perdue, Bill Cartwright, or Bill Wennington stopping Kareem? Ha!

   Sport Magazine recently had a piece on the ten greatest moments and ten greatest players ever in the NBA. Mike was ranked number one all time player. Kudos to Mike for mentioning in 'For the love of the game' that to pick a "greatest ever" is impossible because of all the different eras and evolutions of basketball. The nineties bulls were given three of the ten greatest moments in NBA history. This is just more Mike bias. Give me a break. There are hundreds of classic and amazing moments in NBA history. One of the moments picked was Mike beating the Jazz in the final minutes of his last game. He put his hand on Bryon Russel's backside and shoved him out of the way. Then Mike made the game winnig shot. All eyes were on Mike, but the ref did not make the obvious call.

   There is also Mike's arrogance. According to him, Wilt Chamberlain was a fluke eventhough Wilt was a great all around player. He made a comment about Magic and Larry reaching a 'certain level of greatness' and that the two were not good on defense. What? Are we talking about the same Larry Bird? Shaquille Oneal is also much better and much improved than Mike gives him credit for. Shaq has turned into a solid defender, passer, and he works hard at both ends of the floor.

   Mike's corporate poster boy behavior is laughable. He did ads for AT&T and then MCI. The Wayans family is also split between the two companies. Mike talked about the enviroment in Rayovac ads and then pitches hot dogs? Mike is not the only athlete who will pitch anything and everything to make millions. I wonder if Mike has checked into Nike's labor practices.

   Players like Mike and Charles Barkley soured me on the NBA. Charles played like a thug and got away with it because he was a star. Plus, Charles insisted on wearing number 34 at Philadelphia eventhough it was retired for NBA great Billy Cunningham. The star treatment and inflated egos has grown old, and that has turned a lot of people off to sports. I miss the Lakers and Celtics match ups of the 1980s.




4. I agree with back and forth. People who slam the book are biased. MJ has a good and bad side, and the people who whine are probably his fans or have shares in his company. The problem is players from different eras can't be compared. How do you compare Oscar Robertson to Earvin Johnson? You can't...but you can compare them relative to the players in their era, to players they played against, and compare their relative greatness to the relative greatness to the players from other eras. Compare Michael to others relative to his contribution of others...don't just compare scoring, or Dominique Wilkins would be surely better than Bill Russell...only a misinformed or ignorant NBA basketball fan would think something as preposterous as that. Kudos for Sam Smith and taking off the kid gloves. If the book is all trash journalism, why didn't Michael sue for slander or defamation of character? There must be some truth to it.

No comments about C.S. Lewis: Memories and Reflections, Library Edition.