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Reviews Written By: AYLFKBJHQKVNM

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	The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America
	"Humorous Perspective"	2007-03-26
Bill Bryson was the perfect author for me and may be the perfect author for a lot of people. He has a humorous perspective and always has interesting descriptions of places he visits and can connect to the reader wonderfully. In this book, he travels around America in a car in his journey to find the perfect town, nicknamed "Amalstad." Along the way he meets interesting people and places. Nothing escapes his commentary as he drives all around America discovering quaint, small towns and also sharing with us the story of big cities. Bill Bryson has an uncanny knack for connecting to the reader. His writing is similar to a conversation written down. He relates many of his examples to many things that ordinary people have experienced. This book is a must read for anyone. You will be surprised as you learn new things and also laugh at old, all through the eyes of a funny author.
	The Face on the Milk Carton
	"An Okay Book, It Could've Been Better"	2007-03-26
The Face on the Milk Carton is an okay book, the author (Caroline B. Cooney) does a generally good job on this book. The author uses dialogue very well in order to display emotions, drama, and moving the story on. The story moves on smoothly and the characters each contribute a piece to the plot line. Personally, I am not a fan of fantasy or non-fiction books. This book, the end and surprise climax was extremely unlikely, it was very farfetched and the logic didn't really click with me. It was also a little annoying to me that the author didn't really give the reader a chance to guess why she was stolen. There were useless clues and they didn't specifically contribute to the climax. But, I do have to give it to the author that it was very surprising. If you like emotional books, with drama, family, and a pinch of fantasy, this book is for you, especially if you're in elementary school.
	Reading Smart : Advanced Techniques for Improved Reading (Princeton Review Series)
	"For the Dedicated Reader"	2007-03-26
This book is for people who want to read quicker and at the same time retain more information. The book is somewhat meticulous, but I don't see how the tediousness could be lifted from it in any other way, so I guess the book performed to what was expected. As the exercises goes, if you are very focused and intent at improving your reading, then this book will help you immensely, as it did for me. Now I can read much quicker and my eyes just fly through the page. But, a lot of the stuff that was recommended I already did subconciously, jumping from groups of words. But, this book helps you by giving you sound advice and exercises so that you can plot your improvement. I can now read normally at a pace of 270 wpm, and at a peak of nearly 300 wpm, and my wpm is still improving. Here's my tip: Don't do all the exercises in one day. If you do, then your eyes will be tired and you won't have learned anything really permanently. If you do it over a span of, lets say 5 weeks, then the repetoire that the author suggests will be built into your head and this way, you can really put your skills you've learned to good use. I suggest using the skills they provide on the text of this book too.
	SHURE E2 High Energy In-Ear Earphones
	"Great Headphones"	2007-03-05
These headphones are great, they fit perfectly. Shure is a legendary brand of high quality headphones, and this set proves it. The sound quality is great and they are not hard to put in. The E2s have a balanced sound and you can listen to any type of music and you get a very nice clarity. The music does not sound stale, it just sort of jumps out at you as if you were really in the recording studio with the artists. One common misconception is that these headphones are hard to put in. Not true. All you have to do is find the right headphone top fit for you and then learn how to put them in. I learned how to put them in in 5 minutes. If the manual doesn't really help at all, then you can go to Shure's website, where they have a video showing how to put in the E2. Note: On the shure website, you should look under the Shre E2c's. The Shure E2s are basically the same as the E2c's. I'm not sure why there is a different name on Amazon.
	GRUNDIG G1000A AM/FM and Shortwave Radio
	"Beginner SW Radio and for Fun Listening"	2007-02-03
The Grundig G1000A is a good beginner SW radio. It is relatively cheaper than the other Grundig models, such as the E5, E10, and E100 and the intended demographic is a lightweight, travel, light usage, and/or beginner SW radio. The Grundig G1000A is wonderful overall and simple to figure out. You can just chuck the guide away, except for the shortwave section, and you can figure out all the dials within 10 minutes, the alarm and time switches are just like on any standard alarm clock, use the dial on the right for frequency, the one on the left for volume. There are connections on the left and the on and off switch (which is very tiny) on the right. The dials are well placed and have good grip, making them easy to turn. The on and off switch is easily accessible. It may be a little hard to adapt if you've used a previous radio that has different positions of dials, but it isn't hard to adjust. A helpful alarm clock and sleep option is built in. The sleep option makes it possible so that the radio will automatically turn off within a set amount of time between 1 and 1:59 minutes. The alarm turns the radio on, so you can listen to whatever. IMPORTANT: You must first disable the alarm by pressing the alarm on/off switch and then if you want to turn off the radio, then you can. This is neccesary because the radio will not turn off because the alarm is still "going off." And for people that are just getting the hang of SW radio, there is a guide of helpful SW frequencies per band that it has. From an audiolistic point of view, the speaker on this radio is not so great. If you really wanted to get great sound, you would just have to get some good headphones or better speakers. But remember, you are listening to radio, which is specially fit for programs such as the BBC and NPR, which don't have a lot of music or anything that requires a high quality speaker. I give it a 4/5 because it is not an over the top radio. It works just fine and meets all my expectations, but personally, I use 5/5 for something that totally blew me away.
	Les Miserables a New Unabridged Translation (Signet Classics)
	"Good Book with Some Detriments"	2007-02-03
Let me just say this first of all: I am not going to spare Les Miserables in a critique because it is a famous novel and it is an extremely famous play. I have to say that this is one crazy novel. It's very indescribable. Sometimes you just want to put it down and sometimes you just can't put it down. I have to say that this is a milestone if you read it. It is very boring in some parts because of the rambling of Victor Hugo. Its very unlikely that you will have the same interests as Mr. Hugo (sewer systems in Paris and how Waterloo turned out). So somewhere in this novel you will be extremely and I mean EXTREMELY bored out of your mind, but the reading must go on. But there are moments in the story when it is entirely readible and is actually exciting (!). You have to learn to feast on these moments like it's your last piece of chocolate. At these times, the story is very enjoyable and you will be in a good mood wiht all the drama, action, and emotions. Victor Hugo I have to say was an excellent writer in his time. His stories are timeless due to the fact of their universal emotional appeal. He bases this book on many emotions of different characters, which has lead Les Mis to its survival for a few centuries. Suspense and secrets are great in this novel and you will definitely have fun guessing characters in disguise (I've gotten most of them!). The characters are intertwined in very many ways and Victor Hugo is great at adding little by little information into the story. There are so many characters, but he adds them one at a time and certain chapters and mini "books" only have a few main characters in them, so its not that confusing. So in conclusion, it's close to miraculous if you finish this book, but its also its excitement moves it along a little bit. There is extreme drama, sadness, teary eyed happiness, anger, confusion, the whole emotion in this book. And even if you haven't watched the musical (you're not alone), this is a great book and is indescribable. Victor Hugo is absolutely a fantastic writer, but its inevitable that the book would become a little obselete within so many years.