This book was recommended to me and I'm very glad I picked it up. It gives a thorough accounting of Tarot NOT being used for divination but for prodding the unconscious to awaken the sleeper in all of us.

If you are open-minded and are more than a little interested in learning about the 'mysteries' of Christianity, then this is a book which should interest you.

In NEVER CROSS A PALM WITH SILVER, author Jacqueline Lichtenberg looks at the Tarot from the viewpoint of Christianity and the Qabalah (Jewish mystery school), with a little bit of ancient Greek philosophers and Wicca thrown in for good measure. She begins with a discussion of the Biblical prohibition against divination, then describes 'divination' in this connotation as connected with fortunetelling, or predicting the future, which is prohibited because it contradicts the Biblical belief in the free will of man. She further explains that the act of reading Tarot is not predicting the future, but divining the truth of an issue, getting at the subconscious motivations and issues that make us the way we are. The Tarot doesn't predict the future, but rather it shows some possible outcomes of the current situation, based on the questioner's choices in life, habits, experiences, etc. The author goes on to discuss such topics as the dangers of using the Tarot, why you might not wish to charge for Tarot readings, and how to find a Tarot reader appropriate for you. All the topics are discussed in a philosophical fashion and are explained at great length, making the author's viewpoint easy to understand. She doesn't say 'this is how it is,' merely 'this is what I believe, you can make your own decision,' which is refreshing. All in all, a very interesting, enlightening and different look at the Tarot as a potent tool for self discovery.

At first, I thought that this book began a little slowly, over explaining what I thought should be easy to grasp ideas from philosophy and theology, but as I continued reading, I realized that the author was merely using these ideas as stepping stones, which grew larger and larger as the work became more complex. This book presents a new and unique view of how we should consider Tarot cards and their place in the world and our lives. It is a logical philosophy well versed in the history of the tarot, the occult in general, theology of different denominations, culture, and even science. This book is a must have for anyone interested in reading or having a reading done of the Tarot cards, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in religion, philosophy, or the occult. I read this book in one evening, and I will read it again in years to come. This book is a book of many answers, but it is also a book of even more and more complex questions. I am in great anticipation of the next books in this series.

When I first received my copy of Lion women's Legacy, I was very judgmental. Would this be another book about some woman's memoir talking endlessly about her nice childhood in a nice Armenian community, her family, her bright future, ideal marriage, great kids and a happy loving ending as is the case in most Armenian women's memoirs? But I was delighted to read the first few pages; this was something different, something fresh most of all something real. The author was talking about real people, real emotions. The story is about the coming of age of a young Armenian-American woman in New York in the sixties, seventies. Born to Armenian immigrant parents, Arlene V. Avakian retraces with vivid images, charming stories of her childhood, bringing to life different family figures (mother, grandmother, aunts, and father...). The cultural elements included by the author give an exotic aspect to the book; we could easily smell the food cooking in the kitchen, the spices, hear the laughter of the women, the music, the language, etc. It is about the conflict lived by the young girl between the old country's traditions and customs still alive in the Armenian family and in a way imposed upon her and her desire to be completely American and assimilated to the new culture she adopted. It is also about the difficult road she took to play an active role in determining her future as a young emancipated woman in a society where women's issues were just starting to shake the institutions. And it is most of all a quest to find her true identity as a woman, as an Armenian and as an American. Her straightforwardness stands out throughout the book and touched my soul. Very inspiring and real!

a very powerful book! It left me hungry - throughout the whole reading - all the food for soul!!! I am very glad I read it - this intricate metamorphosis of an Armenian woman. It answered many questions of fitting in and breaking the rules of set roles.

I enjoyed patterns in the book. They are easy to do and quick to stitch up plus the colors are good and they have great pictures of the finished product.

This is a true treasure full of beautiful designs large and small. The color pictures and color charts will be a help to all cross stitchers. Something for everyone.

One of the best western genre historical novels I've ever read. Evolves into a first rate thriller. Delves into the dark fringes of frontier life. Well researched and written. The author really knows his subject and how to engage the reader.

This book had me hooked from page 1. The writing style is descriptive, poetic, and thoroughly engaging. This historical novel is based on the real-life adventures of Doc Shores, a Colorado lawman. The story also describes the country and characters of the late nineteenth-century west in vivid detail.

Opening lines: "The Old Man's been dead a long time, nearly thirty years. Now I am old, nearly as old as the Old Man when I first met him. He died alone. Alone I serve his legacy. If stories improve with age, he and I have seasoned his to near perfection."

A great read!

This book explores the ways in which manhood is defined. It does so by investigating a series of fascinating case studies. To take but two of these, we see that the Truk of Micronesia have a pattern of adolescent drinking and brawling that can be seen as both a holdover of a more bellicose past and a stage through which to pass into marital and parental life; furthermore, we find that Tahitian manhood is subdued, probably reflecting the relative ease and cooperative nature of their subsistence basis (fishing and agriculture) as well as an absence of intergroup aggression. The ways by which males achieve status across cultural contexts vary with respect to the social and ecological conditions faced by a given society. Where warfare prevails, for example, a society's warriors earn high status, and are typically favored by women as mates. Common to many societies, men must "impregnate women, protect dependents from danger, and provision kith and kin (p. 223)." Such provocative conclusions, attention to ethnographic detail and clear writing make this a book difficult to put down. The main drawback rests with some of the interpretation of the cultural and universal patterns of manhood. The Freudian interpretations commonly make little sense and the group selection arguments need re-couching in terms of individual selection; otherwise, most interpretations seem sensible. Overall, this book does a great job of addressing manhood in the making.

Here, an anthropologist looks at the way masculinity is defined and created in various ways and various cultures around the globe. What we find is that just about every trait now vilified in America is highly valued around the world, in both "primitive" and "advanced" societies. This book seems to be about what our country has forgotten (or is in serious denial about), at its own peril -- that men are constructive, generous, sacrificing, loving, supportive of their families, hard working, etc... Why they are that way is what the book explains.

Unlike women, who automatically get to go from being girls to being women when they first menstruate, men face a much less definite transition in going from boys to men -- a state which has to be earned and is constantly tested. Femininity is a biological fact; masculinity is largely a cultural construct. This is why we have the term "real man", while it would be ludicrous to say someone was not a "real" woman or implore her to be one. Being a man is provisional, not permanent. It's something which is always in question.

This book is a definite tonic for anyone who thinks men's lives are some walk down a flower-strewn path. Also a good complement or counter-balance to all the deterministic evolutionary socio-biology out recently. The bibliography goes on for pages (thus satisfying the other experts in the field), yet the book is for the most part quite readable to the motivated layperson. Sure to provide one with new perspectives on familiar aspects of everyday life even if it's not an analysis of modern industrial life.

I really liked this book - I did find the large designs rather "busy" but very striking never the less. A nice varity of design complexities and sizes. Well worth owning.

I live in Cape Town, South Africa and my husband and I travelled to london for a holiday in July, 1999. I saw this book at Harrods while I was there and promptly bought two copies, one for my youngest sister, and one for a very good friend. It is amazing that an English designer of the stature of Julie Hasler, who has published many other fine cross stitch books, has been able to, so perfectly, portray the wonders of the Native Americans and their culture, both ancient and modern through this medium. The two people I have bought this book for have been stitching non stop from the more than 40 patterns featured in this high quality book. The picture of the Nes Pearce woman featured on the cover is but a small taste of the wonders to be found under it. I would recommend this book to anybody who loves the art of Cross Stitching and who loves the culture of the Native Americans. For cross stitchers who hate back-stitching, this book is ideal as Julie has managed to portray her subjects poignantly, using mainly whole cross stitches and using little or no back stitch. A fabulous buy. Stunningly easy patterns to follow, and the colours are amazing. I have found myself totally inspired by the contents of this book and have, as a result, started to read up as much as I can on the Native American culture. If you have the money and you like this type of work....buy it...you won't regret it! :)

I read "Never Cross a Vampire" almost ten years ago and I enjoyed the endearing portrait of Bela Lugosi. The book also features a cameo by Boris Karloff and does not shrink from his rivalry with Lugosi. It is fun to read how a "B-Movie Star Villain" can save the day.

Also, the Asian Professor's account on the myth of internation vampires deserves special mention.

I have read and enjoyed most (if not all) of the Toby Peters mysteries, and this was one of the better ones. Toby represents both Bela Lugosi and William Faulkner at the same time -- Lugosi is being stalked, Faulkner is accused of murder -- and the cases quickly become entwined, with Toby not knowing where one case ends and the other begins. One of the differences to this book (that I don't remember in any other) is that it doesn't begin with the "bad guy" chasing or confronting Toby. There *is* some flashback, but it is expository. As usual, the era references are interesting, and in the re-printed version (that came out in October 2000) there is an good afterword by Kaminsky about the Peters novels and about Bela Lugosi.

This book has simple, up-to-date designs that can be easily customized. It also offers many ideas for using parts of designs for other projects.
I'm ordering it to make a wedding sampler for my son and his fiancee, but will also use it for other gifts.
The samplers incorporate traditional motifs, but with modern color schemes.

This book begins with information about the history of samplers, and each project has an introduction to explain its inspiration. There are a wide range of projects to choose from and lots of helpful advice on how to personalise each one. The colours are well selected and fabric recommendations really enhance each project. The patterns are clear and in colour and are of a good size, although some go over two pages which is always a pain. Some of the samplers have options for adding beads and charms, which gives great variety. The projects are on a range of topics, including seasons and celebrations. I have been delighted with it!

I bought this book when I began my paraglider training. One year later and I am still getting it out every now and again to reference it.

Its a good reference for the beginner and novice paraglider pilot.

The best paragliding book I've ever read. Recommended for all paragliders, but specially for intermediate and advanced pilots.

Great for those who need a reference to a diverse pool of names fitting geographical conditions. Not useful for finding when a name was used or what mutations exist. It is therefore ideal for gaming, but for other applications, may only serve as a rib in your library, not part of the backbone of collection.

... and reference for readers.
Actually has more like 70,000 names.
The book has many special aids for fiction writers who want to name their characters authentically, but is a handy guide to pronunciation and name etiquette for business people going international, teachers with immigrant children in their classes, HR directors, and many others (how about an authentic name for the Current Middle Ages?).
It is not exhaustive in any culture. That would require a volume each, obviously (use the annotated bibliography to find those). This is a sampler and how-to, not a geneaological record. Each chapter has a guide to use in that culture, often with special helpers like titles of nobility, pronunciation, name etiquette, or how to change the root names for all the required versions (some cultures gender family names). All include female, male, and, where applicable, family names or other added names. Names which are variants of one will be grouped together, like English variations on Smith or Charles. There are an assortment of interesting historical and cultural notes.
Writing style is breezy and informal, nicely packaging, for popular consumption, information otherwise found only in horrendously scholarly specialist studies.
Chapters, grouped by historical era, modern to most ancient, then by geographical area, include English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh, Cornish, French, Dutch & Flemish, Frisian, German, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Hispanic, Portuguese, Italian, Finnish, Estonian, Russian, Georgian, Ukrainian, Belarusan, Lithuanian, Latvian, Polish, Hungarian, Romanian, Czech & Slovak, Slovinski, Bulgarian & Macedonian, Albanian, Greek, Turkish, Armenian, Israeli, Lebanese, Arabic, Himalayan, Nepalese, Indian (many subgroups), Sri Lankan, Thai, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Laotian, Burmese/Myanmarese, Malaysian & Indonesian, Other Southeast Asian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Filipino, Micronesian, Aboriginal Australian, Hawai'ian, Tahitian, Samoan, Maori, Malagasy, Assorted African, Swahili, Sesotho, Yoruba, Nigerian, Ethiopian, Tuareg, Assorted North American, Delaware/Lenni Lenape, Cherokee, Sioux/Lakota, Cheyenne, Breton, Yiddish, Victorian American, Renaissance forms of English, German, French, and Italian, Nahuatl/Aztec, Mayan, Quechua/Inca.Medieval forms of French, English, German and Italian, Provencal, Catalan & Aragonese, Basque, Byzantine, Norse, Saxon, British, Gothic & Frankish, Neo-Punic, Gaellic, Latin, Etruscan, Celtic/Gaulish & Britannic, Iranian/Persian/Median/Mitanni, Hellenic, Hebrew, Early Sanskrit, Punic & Phoenician, Ancient Egyptian, Assyrian & Babylonian, Akkadian, Other Semitic, Sumerian AND Names Without Languages, which is a guide to creating consistent-sounding "shadow languages" for original cultures in very free-ranging historicals or F&SF.
Subject index is good, but the book is so dense with names that an index of those would have doubled the size of it. Go exploring and have fun looking for any particular item.