I requested this book from Early Reviewers because we have watched two different neighbors go through the process of caring for their loved one, stricken with this disease, at home. There was so much we didn't know and, since both of us are in our late sixties, it seemed that it was time to start thinking and learning about Alzheimer's Disease and other dementias.

My very first impression was that the book was well made. The pages stay open and lie flat without needing to be held open. The text is easy to read with my aging eyes.

Regarding the content, the book defines Alzheimers and dementia and then gives an overview of all aspects of dealing with this disease, from the care of the caregiver, to common medical issues of the patient, to what to expect from health care systems. There are suggestions on how to keep organized and even a blank template to aid in the gathering of the patient's important medical information, in case of hospitalization.

The book itself is well organized and easy to use. Possible health care challenges are arranged A-Z, making them easy to locate if you are faced with a situation you need to quickly evaluate. I really appreciated that in Chapter Six there is reference to on-line videos, that illustrate the tips for measuring vital signs that are summarized in that chapter.

This book covers a lot and I found it an easy to use primer for what to expect when dealing with this disease.

It took me more than a few pages to really get the author's fragmented, writing style but then I couldn't stop reading. It was perfect. Watching Hig live, day to day, in his post-apocalyptic world was so exquisitely painful at times. I'd feel a glimmer of hope but I would tamp it down, and try to stay slightly apart from the story, for fear that, in this world, things were unlikely to end well and it was going to hurt to get too involved. My emotions were rung out by the end. Heller's descriptions of Hig's love of nature were gorgeous and in total opposition to the burned out, gutted world in which he had survived against every single odd. I loved this book and hated it, too, at times. What a great book.

A beautiful book for any dog lover. The photos are pretty much all action shots and they are wonderful. I especially love all the photos of dogs shaking it off. Ruby the poodle with the falling leaves is my personal favorite.

A beautiful book, with inspirational photos. I like that the book is organized by seasons and offers suggestions for easy to find flowers, but then also includes the authors favorite varieties of each. There are comprehensive "what you need" lists that make it easy to get started. My one small complaint is that the font is very tiny, for my aging eyes, in the descriptions of the plants.

I loved this book. I can't stop thinking about it. The writing was absolutely lyrical. My surprise is that the author did not actually live this life. It felt so authentic to me, brought back so many memories - the ideals, the love of the natural world, life in a chosen community, when it is at its best. For me, the novel captured the magic of that time, the grand experiment, whatever its eventual failings. I especially appreciated the contrast with the nearby Amish Community.

I recently read The Lace Reader and enjoyed it, especially the descriptions of Salem and lace-making. I was a little dissapointed with The Fifth Petal. I like the way the author takes the reader to particular locations and so I continued to enjoy the place descriptions and I was also interested in the descriptions of music therapy. Other then that, I felt that the story fell apart about two thirds through. To me, the last chapters seemed choppy, ending story lines without gracefully weaving them through to the end. In one case, a new story line, that seemed unnecessary for this book was thrown in towards the end. To be fair, I didn't read the author's 2nd book so perhaps this concluded a story line from that book.

This book wasn't what I expected, from the description, and not the type of book I usually read, so my review should not influence your decision to read it, if you like romances. I also think it might be more suited to a younger adult audience, rather than a crusty old lady like me. The romance is what the book centers on and the story-line is predictable. Don't let the publisher's description and the cover fool you into thinking that the dog and/or pig play a major part in the story. There were errors and character mix-ups, which hopefully will be corrected in the final version.

The main character's efforts to cope with her mother's Alzheimer's seemed the most authentic part of the book to me and the poignancy of that will endear the book to a reader who enjoys this genre.

I didn't know about the different types of dogs trained for service before I read this book. Susannah Charleson writes about service dogs, therapy dogs, guide dogs, and the types of dog personalities that are happiest in each particular line of work. I loved the details of the training of her rescue dog, Jake, as he learned the ropes of partnering with a human with PTSD. Best of all, the book details her work identifying dogs in shelter and then training them to provide the skills necessary to partner with a human in desperate need of such a dog. Win Win. The book was well written and hard for me to put down. I learned quite a lot.

Very interesting, well written, memoir about scent dogs (especially cadaver dogs), their history, training, capabilities. Awesome endnotes. I liked this book and I learned a lot.

A pretty little book that would make the perfect stocking stuffer for that cat lover in your life. Francesco Marciuliano clearly knows cats and the poems are right on and funny. Although some were so true to life that I began to wonder why I actually have such a contrary creature, who is, even now, trying to sit on the keyboard while I write this review.

I found this book difficult to finish. I agree with some of the authors opinions about purebred dogs and the way some are unethically bred. I didn't, however, enjoy the way he made his arguments. I think a more balanced approach would convince more readers.

A lovely collection of essays about written by lovers of earth/soil/dirt. The essays remind us of how we often take dirt for granted and touch on so many aspects of why dirt is important both spiritually and scientifically. If you are a person who gardens without gloves because you love the feel of your hands in the dirt or if you often go out to the garden early in the morning and are surprised when you look up hours later and it is almost too dark to see then you will love this book, too.

I liked this short, easy-reading book of essays about the author's pets. The references to popular culture would be recognizable to any one who, like me, was a child in the late 50s, early 60s, and that was half the fun of reading the book. I especially liked the chapter that recounted the day the author's dog escaped. Anyone,who loves a dog knows that awful feeling when you realize your dog has gotten loose. The searching, the worry. It was somehow comforting to share that situation with the author.

My own dog came from a rural, southern shelter, shipped up north, where I adopted her, so I was interested to read this book. Although I knew many perfectly, healthy, adoptable animals were euthanized each year, I had no idea about the actual size of and complexity of the problem. Having read the book, I now have a deeper respect for all those who are involved in rescue. No matter how they believe the problem will be solved, they work selflessly, dog by dog, to save these vulnerable creatures. They are my heros. Jacki Skole's readable, yet thoroughly researched, book needs to be read by everyone who loves dogs.

I pulled this out on a snow day when work was cancelled and the roads were too bad to do anything but hibernate with a fun book and a cup of cocoa. I hadn't read any of the Sister Jane books before but was familiar with Rita Mae Brown's style from her Sneaky Pie Brown books. I enjoyed the characters just as much. And it was interesting to read about the world of the Virginia Hunt. What I especially love about Ms. Brown's writing is that it is easy to lose yourself in the atmosphere of the story. You can feel the fog, see the steam rising off of the hunters, smell the country air. Perfect snow day reading.

I hadn't heard of Momo, the adorable Border Collie, until I received the book through Early Reviewers. I'm a fan. Finding Momo is fun. I realized, after I had gone through the book looking for the dog, that I hadn't really looked at the photos so I had an extra treat going back and slowly examining the photos of the trip around the USA. What weird and wonderful stops the author made and photographed between some of the more traditional tourist sites.

Loved this so much. Quirky, humorous, poignant . If you have a rescued dog you will probably enjoy this a lot. Even if you are not a dog person, if you like quirky novels, you may like it, too.

This book was hard for me to read given the subject matter but it was well researched and reading about the bonds between the 2 and 4 footed soldiers, although not surprising, was moving. I'm happy that the author wrote about and brought attention to these amazing dogs and their handlers..

This book was a pleasant surprise. When I received it, I thought it was going to be the typical, light, entertaining veterinarian success story book. It was not that at all. Dr. Virga is a veterinary behaviorist who treats many kinds of animals, from domestic cats and dogs to exotic zoo animals. Without being overly sentimental, just deeply respectful, he uses his experiences with his animal clients as starting points to his ruminations on certain traits that animals possess that, if we only choose to notice, can offer inspiration to us human caretakers as we strive for more intentional, connected lives.

Bryan Stevenson is the Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative, a non profit organization in Alabama that challenges racial and class discrimination in our criminal justice system. They provide legal representation and advocacy to poor defendants and prisoners who have been unjustly treated and they fight every day to fix a broken system. I had already seen Mr. Stevenson's amazing TED talk (highly recommended). He is a riveting public speaker and I looked forward to reading his book to learn more about EJI. In his TED talk and in the book he states "We have a system of justice in [the US] that treats you much better if you're rich and guilty than if you're poor and innocent. Wealth, not culpability, shapes outcomes." His book details how this is so, as it describes the beginnings of the Equal Justice Initiative and the cruel and frustrating miscarriages of justice faced by its clients. It describes the steadfastness of the advocates who fought and are fighting still for equal justice. And finally, and most important to me, it put faces on the people who were denied their rights, sentenced to death row or life sentences with no hope for parole, for crimes they did not commit, who, even so, struggled on with dignity, bravery and even forgiveness. This is hard, heartbreaking and important reading.

I received the Recorded Books version through Early Reviewers. Unfortunately I am finding it hard to get through in this format. The only other recorded books I've read have been lighter "beach" reading and they have been easy and entertaining as a recorded book. If I lost attention there was nothing really lost. This book, on the other hand, is a serious piece of literature and sometimes I need to reread something or dwell on a passage but that is too difficult to do in this more passive format. I intend to obtain the actual book, which I am sure I will enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed Matthiessen's other works.

Loved this book, a true story about a man using every tool that he can think of to crack the mystery of the identity of his birth parents. I love reading about genealogy and family history but many of these kinds of books, although informative, are a little dry. I was surprised to find that this book was a real page turner and I couldn't stop until it was finished. In the retelling of the story of his search for his birth family, the author also demonstrated how family researchers use every clue from interviews, public documents, vital records, meticulous note-taking and analysis, and finally DNA confirmation to build evidence for their family trees. He also showed how family research is not usually a "fast food" kind of project. It takes real dedication, lots of time and money, and also the willingness to go further than family myths and face what the evidence proves. Many thanks to the author and his entire family for sharing their story.

Fun, amusing, a good mystery, engaging characters, an old fashioned bookstore, Google. What's not to love? The power of friendship is what I took away from the story.

I read this book because of LT One Read. It's not a book I would have otherwise picked. I'm so glad I did. Wonderful story. I loved, loved, loved the idea of the gods of the world arriving in the New World with each and every immigrant who believed in them and then, as the generations moved on from their traditional family beliefs, the gods had to get jobs, of some sort or another to support their continued existance. I don't have a background in "god study" so couldn't guess who they were ahead of the reveal but my lack of knowledge did not lessen my enjoyment even one bit. Shadow was a sympathetic character and I quickly jumped in the car with him and went along for the ride and enjoyed every odd, wonderful moment of the journey.

I enjoyed this book quite a lot. I related to June, the shy, different child, who is lucky enough to find a positive, life-changing relationship with a non-parental adult - her uncle and then Toby. I think another reviewer was on to something, though, when he or she mentioned that it would have enhanced the book to include more details about what it was like for those dealing with AIDs during those times. On the other hand, all the secrets about it were realistic. The sidetrack about the sister in the woods did not work for me at all. I kept expecting that something sinister was happening to her and that seemed overly complex given the already complex nature of the themes in the main plot. Worrying about how it didn't fit in took some of my attention away from the story line

I received this book through LT's Early Reviewers program. I enjoyed the first part of this book. The characters were heartbreakingly flawed. They felt real. I "knew" them. It was paced in a way that allowed me to really invest in them and watch how they coped with what was slowly unfolding in their lives. The writer drew me into their story and I couldn't stop reading. It was like watching a car accident in slow motion. I knew it was going to hurt but couldn't stop watching and couldn't stop it from happening. I don't know what happened to the last part of the book though. For me, once the location changed, the pace changed, too, and I felt that the descriptions and situations lost the sense of authenticity I was drawn to in the beginning. I think the author may have been trying to get to gritty but it felt overly sensational to me, unrealistic. But, nevertheless, getting to know the characters at the beginning made the book well worth reading and I look forward to the next effort by this author.

I was excited to receive Personal Archiving: Preserving our Digital Heritage through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program because, as my family's historian, I think about this overwhelming topic quite a lot. I wasn't disappointed. Thankfully experts in the field have been thinking about digital archiving for much longer than I have and the research of many of them is covered in this book. Like another reviewer, I was very interested in the chapter on the Internet Archive. I've used it quite a lot in my research but learned that there is so much more to discover about Archive. For instance, I did not know about their musical archives, a treasure trove of live concerts, submitted, with permission of the musicians, by users. Another chapter that I found personally useful was "Our Technology Heritage," which has me thinking about how to organize my hard drive so that it would make sense to someone after I am gone. This book is a must read for anyone interested in Family History.

This might be my favorite Sue Grafton book of all. It certainly is the one that has stayed in my mind, years after reading it. The story line is interesting but, as in all her books, it is her quirky characters that keep me coming back to the series. The relationship between Kinsey and the two older officers is charming. Loved the Quarter Pounder scene.

I received this book as part of LT’s Early Reviewers program.

The book is essentially the memoir of a love story. The author shares a difficult time in his life as he copes with a late-life divorce and its aftermath of deep loneliness and a panic disorder. Feeling alienated from friends and family, he is drawn to Maria, a kind and gentle soul who is an artist struggling with similar demons. Their developing friendship becomes a catalyst for their individual efforts to discover what will bring them happiness as they move forward with their lives. Threaded through the main story is a subplot of Frieda, Maria’s wildly aggressive but beloved dog, who must be tamed and the author brings up important points about the human/canine bond including the long-term commitment that is necessary to train a dog.

Although I found the passages detailing the attempts to train Frieda moving and the accounts of the creative life interesting, I thought that the frequent repetitions of the protagonists’ emotional struggles were distracting and I wished that the author had trusted his readers to get it the first time around.

I loved the story for the most part. From the first heart-breaking event I was drawn in by each new person who came forward to continue the story by telling another. The stories gave the reader a glimpse into how different we are yet how similar and thoroughly connected we are. Several times I surprised myself when an initial impression of a character or event changed by the end of a sequence and several times I found tears welling up at the close of a chapter as a story rang true to me. I may have preferred it if the final sequence of the last chapter had been omitted. My favorite line "....I should have been more kind. That is something a person will never regret."