Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML, by Eric Freeman and Elisabeth Freeman
Filed under: International bestseller, Non-fiction, book review, web design
This is currently the #1 book on the amazon bestseller list for computer and 
Head First HTML with CSS & XHTM breaks down elements of HTML, XHTML, and CSS so that it beomes possible figure out what is going on and what needs to be done in web page design using these technologies. Also, this is a great choice for a textbook if you need to upgrade your skills!
This book covers the basics of HTML, putting your webpage on the Internet and linking to other web resources. It also tackles XHTML. Next, it introduces CSS along with the properties that can be controlled via CSS. And it does it all in a plain, nice way with lots of illustrations.
The authors show you how to do pretty advanced layouts using the tools available to you without you even noticing that you’ve been “studying”.
The book’s final chapter is appropriately entitled “The Top Ten Topics We Didn’t Cover”, and thus acknowledges that this is not an advanced book on webpage design.
The Baltic Gambit, by Dewey Lambdin
Filed under: Alan Lewrie, Dewey Lambdin, book review, historical fiction, naval fiction
In The Baltic Gambit, Alan Lewrie is faced with a courtroom showdown with the odious Beauman family and the lawsuit that has provided so much trouble for him. The first part of the book finds him on shore fighting this battle. And, of course, there are ladies on shore, and Alan Lewrie was 
Even so, the book is somewhat slow in picking up. Lewrie stays on land for the first 200 pages. In the Admiralty, when asking for a ship, he is even told in no uncertain terms that he shouldn’t count on ever commanding a ship again. Life is not very good to Lewrie! But finally, after a change of leadership in the Admiralty, he gets his ship, the frigate HMS Thermopylae. And now action soon moves to the Baltic area. As so many times before, the naval mission is yet again combined with a diplomatic task, and once again set up by his shadowy mentor, Zachariah Twigg.
The mission assigned to him is to transport two Russian noblemen from England to Russia. The purpose of the mission is to try to convince the Russian Czar to not enter into a state of armed neutrality aimed at Britain. As well, Alan Lewrie gets to meet Admiral Nelson and take part in the Copenhagen battle!
The Baltic Gambit is a new great book from Lambdin – very interesting!
Read more reviews of Alan Lewrie’s adventures at Leserglede!
. Link to amazon US: Dewey Lambdin
. Link to amazon CAN: Dewey Lambdin
.Nothing to Lose, by Lee Child
It was a coincidence that I picked up this book. I was at the library to pick up some books. While I was waiting, I saw it lying there. So I picked it up. Looked at it and borrowed it. And later I read all the other books I had waiting for me. Finally I started on Lee Child’s book with the boring cover.
And reading it, at first I thought it was simply odd. 
But I continued to read, curious as I am. And gradually the book grew on me. Partly because I wanted to find out what was going on – thinking there had to be something more. Partly because this represented to me a kind of new genre of thriller. A bare bones, no frills thriller if you want. No spying, no agents, no super duper huge or advanced or whatever organization. Just a guy. And, admittedly, a somewhat strange guy. Named Jack Reacher.
Later I have read up on the book, the author and the series. I have noted that a book reviewer in New York Times, Janet Maslin, calls Jack Reacher a “minimalist character”. I think that is an apt description. He is minimalist. The thriller is minimalist!
But Child’s Reacher is actually, when you get to know him, an utterly addictive hero. He is a 6 feet 5 inches ex-military cop that excels in unarmed combat, and he is as cool as a cucumber. He may get a little worried when he is up against six guys in a bar, and start to ponder their combined body weight relative to his and such things. But he delivers the goods. And, as well, his powers of deduction are second to none and a joy to observe!
So, yeah, I liked this guy. I liked the way Reacher dealt with power abuse, crime and corruption. And I liked the way he dealt with a disgusting born-again businessman impatient for apocalypse.
I don’t actually think this is the best book in the series, having now read several of them. But it is more than good enough, and quite spectacular in it minimalism. Nothing to Lose is a book I recommend!
Band of Brothers, by Alexander Kent
Filed under: Alexander Kent, Main character, Richard Bolitho, book review, historical fiction
Band of Brothers, which deals with events taking place in 1774, was written fairly late in the sequence (see above), and was probably written to fill in more background about Richard Bolitho. Here, Bolitho 
The book may also be viewed as an answer to the question of “What happened to Midshipman Martyn Dancer?” This is a question his readers have nagged him for 30 years to solve. And here we are, indeed, told of Dancer’s fate.
As a midshipman in Band of Brothers, the young Bolitho again demonstrates his trademarks as a man are not limited to bravery, leadership, and seamanship. Already here he displays the compassion for those who serve under him that so clearly distinuishes him from many of his contemporaries, and which grows to legendary proportions in later novels as his rank and responsibility grow.
A good – not great – book that plays an important part in the series!
Read more about Richard Bolitho at Leserglede!
Rules of Deception, by Christopher Reich
Filed under: Christopher Reich, Thriller, book review, recommendation
Sometimes even I get lucky. I was when I stumbled across this book. Even 
Then I picked it up and started reading the same evening. And it just sucked me right in. The prologue and the first chapter are masterful, and more or less make it impossible to stop reading beyond that point. I have to admit I was late getting to be the next morning. But the book really did live up to the expectations it initially created.
The prologue is extremely ominous: There is a butterfly flying around above a high-security compound surrounded by a barbed wire in an unknown location. Then it turns out the butterfly a mechanical device carrying a mini-microwave transmitter. Then a guard says: “They have found us.”
Rules of Deception tells the story of a smart, resourceful and courageous doctor named Jonathan Ransom. Dr. Ransom is a surgeon who works for Doctors Without. He is a happily married man with a beautiful English wife, Emma, whom he loves. Life is good. Then Emma dies in an accident.
A few days later, some baggage claim tickets are delivered to his hotel room. They were for his wife. Not knowing what they are for, Ransom goes to claim them. The content of bags makes it clear that his wife was not at all the person he believed her to be. Suddenly Jonathan finds that his has known very little about his wife, and that his life has not at all been what it seems. As a matter of fact, his life is seemingly a big pile of lies. And now he finds himself right in the middle of the pile, trying to make sense and fighting to stay alive. In fact, it seems Jonathan’s only chance at survival lies in uncovering the devastating truth behind his wife’s secret life.
The plot in Rules of Deception is intricate and has multiple layers and the chapters are short and to the point. And the action is fast and often surprising. I found it a great thriller, full of excitement. Most certainly a writer I will read more of and watch out for!
, amazon UK, and amazon CAN (see especially his Numbered Account)Critical Mass, by Whitley Strieber
Filed under: Thriller, Whitley Strieber, book review, technothriller
This is an overheated thriller based on a somewhat unlikely – but still interesting – scenario about nuclear terrorism by bestselling author Whitley Strieber 
Then, while Deutsch is still trying to make his report, Las Vegas is bombed and completely wiped out. As it turns out, the fate of the entire world seems to now be in the hands of an unknown Islamic terror organization, headed by a master-terrorist known only as the Madhi.
U.S. president William Fitzgerald is faced with the choice of launching a devastating counterattack aimed at much of the Muslim world, or surrendering to the Madhi, or trying to find the exact location of the threat. And the clock is running, and the deadline approaching.
Strieber is a good writer and knows very well how to build suspense. So, if you are willing to suspend belief a little, and allow that the scenario of Critical Mass is a possible scenario, then this is an exceedingly exciting thriller!
The author: Whitley Strieber is the author of over 30 novels, including the Wolfen, the Hunger, Warday, Communion, Superstorm, The Grays
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YouTube DirektPromo video of the book
Seaflower, by Julian Stockwin
Filed under: Fiction, Julian Stockwin, naval fiction
This is the third book in Stockwin’s series (it follows Artemis)about Thomas Paine Kydd and his friend Nicholas Renzi. Both Kydd and Renzi are now wiser and more seasoned seadogs than before.
This tale moves quickly from the grim 
Seaflower provides a good and detailed account of shipboard life in the late 18th century from the point of view of the common sailor. It’s all here – the cramped conditions, the disgusting food, the undeserved punishment and cruelty of some of the officers, and unremitting toil – and well described as well!
There is a lot of action in this book – both on land and sea. And there is romance, sea battles, tales of cynical exploitation of seamen as well as a breathless episode set in a wild hurricane. The fast action and a good plot, along with the fact that Stockwin’s writing is improving with each new book, all help to make Seaflower the best Kydd novel yet. Very promising for the series, and a nice and entertaining tale!
Read more reviews of Julian Stockwin‘s books!
, Praise for Julian Stockwin’s books:
‘I was soon turning over the pages almost indecently fast … Roll on, the promised adventures of Kydd and Renzi.’ (Independent)
‘The vantage point of the common sailor gives the nautical novel a fresh twist. In Stockwin’s hands the sea story will continue to entrance readers across the world.’ (Guardian)
The Shopkeeper (Paperback)
Review
Steve Dancy is set on experiencing the West. At first glance, he is nothing more than a dilettante Easterner intent on writing a journal about his adventures on the frontier. He’s not running away from a hopeless life. To the contrary, he’s educated and seems to have enough money for his simple needs. Although anxious to avoid trouble, he can be pushed only so far, and when he chances upon some bad men doing unspeakable things to a woman, he feels he must take a hand. It isn’t long before he’s caught up in gunplay, which leads him into taking desperate measures, including buying a bank and a hotel, and influencing the upcoming gubernatorial elections. Dancy is a far different man than these Westerners think he is. Wealthy after selling off his Eastern businesses, maybe he should have told them what kind of goods he sold, because he’s sure not like any other shopkeepers they know. This is a fast paced tale with an interesting hero. In structure, with short chapt (more…)
Beginner books about Python 3
Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner, Second Edition (Paperback), by Mark Sommerfield
Python 3 is used more 
Now, leading Python programmer Mark Summerfield demonstrates how to write code that takes full advantage of Python 3’s features and idioms. The first book written from a completely “Python 3” viewpoint, Programming in Python 3, brings together all the knowledge you need to write any program, use any standard or third-party Python 3 library, and create new library modules of your own.
Summerfield has many years of Python experience. He has deep insights into Python 3 development that you won’t find anywhere else. He begins by the eight key elements of Python you need to write robust, high-performance programs. Building on these core elements, he introduces new topics designed to strengthen your practical expertise–one concept and hands-on example at a time. This book’s coverage includes:
- Developing in Python using procedural, object-oriented, and functional programming paradigms
- Creating custom packages and modules
- Writing and reading binary, text, and XML files, including optional compression, random access, and text and XML parsing
- Leveraging advanced data types, collections, control structures, and functions
- Spreading program workloads across multiple processes and threads
- Programming SQL databases and key-value DBM files
- Utilizing Python’s regular expression mini-language and module
- Building usable, efficient, GUI-based applications
- Advanced programming techniques, including generators, function and class decorators, context managers, descriptors, abstract base classes, metaclasses, and more
It is a great beginning book, loved and recommended by readers. As one reader writes: “This book takes an approach that gives the reader a quick overview of the language that is complete enough to start using Python by page 40! When the book mentions a topic that is covered elsewhere, there is a little box in the margin that tells the page that topic is covered – foward and backward. Great idea! That is very handy.” This is certainly a book I recommend!
Another very good book for people starting with Python is
Python Programming for the Absolute Beginner, Second Edition (Paperback), by Michael Dawson
This is a more basic book, not intended for programmers. So If you are a programmer looking to learn the Python language, this book is not for you. It’s for people who want to learn to program, and for whom Python may well be the weapon of choice. 
The sample programs are realistic. They’re also short enough that someone can type them in as they go along. The author takes the reader all the way from “no experience required” all the way through OOP. Each step is gentle and encouraging. Along the way, the author points out what is a requirement and what is just convention. Computer jargon is explained in comfortable terms for the beginner.
Some of the main points the book touches on, i’m not going by any particular order…
-If, elif, else structures
-While loops
-For loops
-Functions
-Classes
-GUI’s and everything that entitles
The book comes with a cd which has all the source code you need to start programming. I highly recommend it for beginner programmers, as it is very good and very basic! Good luck!
Links to Python at amazon US
Water for Elephants: A Novel (Paperback)
Filed under: Fiction, International bestseller, Prize winning novel, book review
Sura Gruen’s novel is among my absolute favorites. It is a beautiful story, well researched, full of compassion, and deeply touching. It make me cry, it made me laugh, and it made me want to read more of this amazing, highly talented storyteller. Fascinating! Glued me to the chair! And, also, it has, of course, been an international bestseller acros a number of countries ofr a long time. Deservedly so!
Amazon.com Review
Jacob Jankowski says: “I am ninety. Or ninety-three. One or the other.” At the beginning of Water for Elephants, he is living out his days in a nursing home, hating every second of it. His life wasn’t always like this, however, because Jacob ran away and joined the circus when he was twenty-one. It wasn’t a romantic, carefree decision, to be sure. His parents were killed in an auto accident one week before he was to sit for his veterinary medicine exams at Cornell. He buried his parents, learned that they left him nothing because they had mortgaged everything to pay his tuition, returned to school, went to the exams, and didn’t write a single word. He walked out without completing the test and wound up on a circus train. The circus he joins, in Depression-era America, is second-rate at best. With Ringling Brothers as the standard, Benzini Brothers is far down the scale and pale by comparison. Water for Elephants is the story of Jacob’s life (more…)
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