Running Press

What can I say about this lovely little Christmas book? Every detail has been crafted to delight. First of all, I am impressed at the selection of hymns, which includes many perennial favorites, and which gives multiple verses to several. It's all too common for books like this to list just the first verse, so that was nice. I also like the design of this small book; the ornamental borders on the pages lend a festive air, and the whole style seems delightfully old-fashioned. My only show more criticism would be that it doesn't give the musical notation, but that's a rare practice anyway, and I'm grateful for the amount of information that is included. A solid five stars. show less

Charlie Brown and the Peanuts Gang discover the true meaning of Christmas, with help from Linus and a scraggly little tree. Charlie is depressed by the commercialism of the season, and selfishness of the kids, but all that is swept away when Linus recites the beginning lines of Luke's story of the birth of Jesus Christ, adding, "This is what Christmas is all about."
The text is almost a direct transcription from the script of the original TV special.
The pop-ups are very elaborate, with show more fold-out pages and other activites that can keep small children interested and adults enchanted. show less

For some reason I had the mistaken impression that it was going to be a coffee table book, i.e., the perfect thing to ask my wife for my birthday, but Breaking Bad: I Am The Danger turns out to be more of an expensive stocking stuffer. It's really the sort of gift "book" they keep next to the register with those pocket-sized collections of Zen proverbs or blank books or LOLCat photos.

Breaking Bad: I Am The Danger is nothing more than a series of quotations -- some meaningful, most not, and show more all findable on IMDB or any Breaking Bad wiki -- combined with a photo of the character. That's it. No behind-the-scenes photos (I think there's one of Aaron Paul looking at the camera), no interviews, no insights from the writing team, nothing. Most of the time the quotations aren't even paired with the scene in which they were said. The famous "I am the danger" speech is sadly abbreviated; there are unofficial T-shirts out there that reproduce the whole thing.

So why the three stars, instead of just one? Out of goodwill, I guess, though this publication really tested mine. Like many people -- regular viewers like me and television critics alike -- we thrilled to the plot twists and applauded the depth and complexity of the acting and writing; Breaking Bad will surely remain in my Top 5 Television list of all time, and shoddy cash-ins like these won't mar that. show less

This contained less first aid than I was expecting from a 'field manual', and I must admit, the diagnostic techniques were a bit difficult to follow with my very minimal grasp of traditional chinese medicine. It did, however, give some pretty detailed instructions on how to perform a vasectomy in the field, which may or may not ever come in handy. It also informed me that the revolutionary optimism of the proletariat is the best medicine, which I'm sure is very reassuring to the guy who has show more just received an emergency field vasectomy. show less