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Skinny Bitch: A No-Nonsense, Tough-Love Guide for Savvy Girls Who Want to Stop Eating Crap and Start Looking Fabulous

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Literature and Fiction
by: Rory Freedman; Kim Barnouin

August 22, 2007
"Skinny B*tch" is Kim Barnouin and Rory Freedman's bestselling vegan rant. It's one thing to extol a healthy lifestyle and provide commonsense advice--it's another to have loooong,profanity filled rants and name-calling of the reader. Did these women ever graduate from high school? Or do they consider Lindsay Lohan in Mean Girls their role model?

"Skinny B*tch" makes some good points. People do overdo it on meat,dairy,and eggs. Those are leading causes of obesity. Caffeine,alcohol,and sugar are indulgences that shouldn't be had in excess. Laziness leads to obesity. Processed food can be bad for you. We should care about the humane treatment of animals. After all,how many people avoided beef after seeing the cruel treatment of cattle ... Read More:

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The Bodies Left Behind

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Literature and Fiction
by: Jeffery Deaver

November 11, 2008
The Bodies Left Behind is the new stand alone thriller by Jeffrey Deaver. The plot is simple. Off duty deputy Brynn McKenzie gets a 911 call to a Wisconsin vacation home. The caller hung up without reporting an emergency, so Brynn goes just to check it out. Little does she know, two killers named Hart and Lewis are at the house and have assinated its owners. The killers would have gotten away with it if it hadn't been for the house guest they'd brought along with them. The house guest, a spoiled wanna be actress named Michelle, wounds one of the killers before escaping into the woods. Brynn shows up and is almost killed before also escaping. She encounters Michelle, and together they must try and figure out how to evade the killers and signal for ... Read More:

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Rough Weather

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Literature and Fiction
by: Robert B. Parker

October 07, 2008
This is a "status plus" entry in Mr. Parker's long-running series. The "status" part is the usual reliable detective plot involving a violent crime or two, an inquisitive Spenser, lots of character banter, and the resolution of the crime or crimes involving a dark family secret or deep character flaw on someone's part (and often both). That's all here, and if it's all a bit familiar, it's still as compelling as always in the author's capable hands.

The "plus" part comes into play in the opening chapters, where we see something new: a huge multi-chapter murder/kidnapping scene set amid a huge hurricane. Spenser is doing some security work at a wedding being held on some rich folks' private island when the hurricane hits, and it's quite something ... Read More:

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Son of a Witch: A Novel

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Literature and Fiction
by: Gregory Maguire

September 26, 2006
I truly enjoyed Gregory Maguire's "Wicked" and I was thrilled to find out that he had continued on the story of Oz. Son of a Witch was even more exciting to me, because I felt like the action had been tripled, the suspense intensified, and you honestly felt an attachment to the people of Oz.

Some people think it is crazy to get caught up in a fantasy world, but it is hard not to when you read stories like this one. Oz isn't just some fanciful world of lollipop guild children and dancing scarecrows that you remember. Gregory Maguire created a very real, very dark, very honest world that reflects the world that we live in today...

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Shadow Country (Modern Library Paperbacks)

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Literature and Fiction
by: Peter Matthiessen

December 02, 2008
I am amazed to read others say the could not get into "Shadow Country", and having read the trilogy there is no need for another treatment. However, the brilliance of the author and the immediacy of this treatment is so powerful, I want to say it may be the best book by an American writer I have ever read.
The protagonists voices seem to have spoekn directly to the author, who has offered it all up to us, his readers. I feel as though I understand some of the mysteries surrounding the early south Florida - and U.S.) history (such as how could they have knowling nearly wiped out dozens of species of wildlife) were illuminated for me. Long the book took me a month to read, especially as parts inspired rereading.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in ... Read More:

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The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Literature and Fiction
by: Annette Gordon-Reed

October 01, 2008
Thoughtful best describes Gordon-Reed's treatment of the Thomas Jefferson-Sally Hemings relationship. The most important aspect of this work is her research of the attitudes and behaviors prevalent after the Revolutionary War. It is very easy for one not familiar with that timeframe (and how could we be, as it was two hundred years ago) to assign "Victorian" bias to an inter-racial relationship. The author's thoroughness in explaining and identifying morals and ideas of the post-revolutionary era, as well as European/French laws and philosophies, allows the reader to understand the basis of how this relationship was created and endured for 38 years. She is not critical of either party, even Jefferson, who ensured his career was not jeopardized by never formally acknowledging his ... Read More:

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Magic Tree House #40: Eve of the Emperor Penguin (A Stepping Stone Book(TM))

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Literature and Fiction
by: Mary Pope Osborne

September 23, 2008
I ordered this book for my Grandson. He loves MagicTree House Books. The price was good and it came very fast.

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Angels & Demons

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Literature and Fiction
by: Dan Brown

May 24, 2004
The story is better and faster paced than his second book (DaVinci), plus better locals. Front to back one of the best books I have ever read.

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Anathem

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Literature and Fiction
by: Neal Stephenson

September 09, 2008
Huge chunks of boredom, punctuated by moments of interest. Stephenson has unfortunately gone the way of Stephen King, and gotten sufficiently popular to think he doesn't need a good editor anymore. If he had someone competent enough to stand up to him, this book would probably just be a pamphlet.

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I Hate Your Guts

Childrens Toy Shop > Books > Literature and Fiction
by: Jim Norton

November 04, 2008
Yimmy Norton follows up his first literary masterpiece (Happy Endings) with this fantastic piece of work. Everything now a days has to be so politically correct and I am thankful there are still people like little Yimmy out there who has no second thoughts about tearing into the phony people who pollute the world in which we live. This book takes on everyone from Al Roker to Benjamin Bornstein who is NAAAHHHHHHHT FUNNY. I hope his next literary adventure goes through experiences of a cuckold and how he goes about prepping the bull.