"Big Cicadas" is a pleasant surprise that stays with you long after you finish it. It reveals its story through short vignettes that capture the feel of a life lived in a small Pennsylvania community in its many facets and through subtle imagery that allows the reader to see the characters both as they see themselves and as others see them. Nothing ponderous here! Just a great read.

Gregory Miller's first novel is an easy, entertaining, and thought provoking read that examines life in smalltown Pennsylvania. As a resident of the state, he captures the nuance of life here with precise brush strokes, while managing to examine larger themes of friendship, growing up, gossip in small communities, and a host of other issues. This book is very layered and a huge accomplishment for a first time author. Big Cicadas is to Pennsylvania what Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" is to the state of New Jersey.

Big Cicadas is enjoyable on many levels. The story begins with Jay Jarvis, a middle school teacher in the small town of Still Creek, living his comfortable life. But the teacher's life starts to crumble when he doesn't conform to his community's wishes. This novel successfully investigates the journey Jarvis takes to remain an individual mind in a community of conformers. When Jarvis looks to his past for help, his character's depth is amplified. The writing style is intelligent and effective. Also, Miller infuses feeling into his characters. One conversation in Big Cicadas comes to mind that had a powerful emotional impact on me. I especially enjoyed the conclusion where I felt everything just fell into place. This novel was an excellent read. I've already recommended it to many of my friends.

The Christy Miller Series are the Best! Robin Jones Gunn is a genius. I loved the characters and the way they related to moments in my life. The characters are like real people that you just want to be part of that world that Christy, Todd, and all the rest of their group live in. Every book tells a part of Christy's life and the more you read the book the more you fall into every aspect of her life. I recommend this series to anyone who enjoys books about love, life, friendship, and mystery....

Hi, I just recently read the 2nd book of the college series of The Christy Miller series...I have read all 12 of the ones before it, and I commend the author TREMENDOUSLY! These books are so awesome. I couldn't put them down. I read the 2nd book in a day, and I have been raving about how great they are! I started reading them when I was about 13 and I loved them all. Christy's character related to me so much. These college books have helped me in so many ways. They have taught me more lessons than I ever thought possible in one book. I fell in Love with them. Todd is also a great character and he has the exact qualities every guy should have. I fell in love with him. Every Character in the book was great, I laughed at the things they said, and I cried at things They said. The books really helped me and I loved how they related to every area in my life. These books were so well written I felt like I was right there with the characters and I had become their friends, like I was apart of their group. It was just a great book and I know I'll read them all over again. They helped me also become stronger with God, lessons and bible verses showed me so many things! I will be sad when the series ends. Thank you to the author!

The Christy Miller series was a Christmas present for me when I was, oh, about 11... I read all 12 of them in just a few days, I just couldn't put them down. They dealt with issues that I had never even thought about, and so I didn't get the "deeper" meanings at times, but since then, I have reread them all at least 5 times each, if not more, esp. the last couple (oh, I am 16 now) and recently the Christy and Todd college series came out and they continue the story of these amazing people. I am completely in love with Todd (lol), but seriously, I have developed major standards for my future boyfriends and husband after reading these books. They definately had a great influence on my life and I would recommend them to anyone, any age, cuz my mom read them and loved them too. I feel like I know Christy and TOdd and my friends laugh at me and call them my "book friends" cuz after the college series came out (just a few weeks ago) I talked about them and was so excited for them just like they were real people. Anyways, I hope there are guys like Todd like that!!!! JUST READ THESE BOOKS, and go on to the Sierra Jensen series and then the college series!!! They couldn't have higher ratings from my point of view!

Foaling horses is definetly a very long process especially if you intend on being there for the whole delivery. This book explains what to look for and what will happen during the foaling process. It also tells what to expect and the musts for after delivery. It was very easy to read and understand by real people. I drag it out for each foaling I attend even though I have read and re-read it more than once.

When my mare was near term this was the one book that I had with me at all times. Where other authors of foaling books tend to emphasize foaling horrors and disasters, Theresa Jones emphasizes what is normal. She makes you very aware of what can go wrong, and gives ample instruction on how to recognize an emergency or abnormal situation, but she does it in a way that helps you remain confident rather than helpless.

Theresa Jones has created a wonderful, easy to read and understand manual that is a must for the first time or experienced horse breeder. The book is accurate, written so it is very understandable by the layman, yet full of good medical advice and knowledge. To supplement the book Theresa Jones provides an advice column online to answer specific problems encountered in foaling.

Fathering Words portrays the grief and loss one man feels when his father and brother suddenly die within two years of each other. Their deaths cause Miller to recall how seldom he and his father spoke, and yet, he always knows his father loves the family. That singular way one person cares for and remembers another is at the spiritual core of this book. What does a son inherit from the men in his family when there are few conversations? Miller compares his life and his dreams to that of his older brother, and maps out the goals for his own future as he marries, has his own children, and embarks on his career as a poet. He punctuates the story with the gracious voice of his older sister, Marie, as he imagines how the family might have looked to her. Marie carries the secrets and stories that filter down to the younger son as rumors and tales. She becomes a source of information and verification of the family history. Using a network of subtle references to religion, classical and jazz music, basketball and baseball, as well as motifs from literary works, Miller provides a number of avenues by which a broad spectrum of readers will be able to enter and inhabit his poignant text.

For those who want to write about their own lives, the book provides a model for creating scenes in small vignettes that become interconnected by the end of the chapter, as opposed to providing a direct narrative path from the beginning of a life to the present. For writers who aspire to become published, and perhaps even famous, Miller chronicles the encounters he has with a number of writers, revealing the history of African American literature in the past thirty years.

I teach Fathering Words in a senior-level college course on autobiography at the University of Southern Indiana. Readers who want more information about the author might start with his website ....

If I had received this book five years ago, it would have saved me five years of pain and confusion. Fathering Words is the tangible witness of a man's journey into and through his writing life. Unlike many writing memoirs, it is not a how to, or even a how, but a detatched narrative of his life as a poet. He is eerily objective about the mistakes and choices he has made, and uses occasional passages from his sister to broaden the view he gives the reader.

I learned more about the writing process, more about the yearning that true writers feel, and more about the lack of understanding that non-artists have about the whys and wherefores. If you know an African-American man who yearns to "father words", buying this book for him will be the best show of support you can give him.

Fathering Words is a deeply moving memoir. Ethelbert Miller's description of his father will remain with the reader for a very long time. His decision to write the book using both his and his sister's voice is unique and it works.It's definitely a keeper.

"The Art of Chesley Bonestell" is an extremely high quality Science Fiction art collection that comes around once in a decade or two. The last Chesley Bonestell collection of this calibere, "Worlds Beyond: The Art of Chesley Bonestell", was published in 1983. Chesley Bonestell's art goes back to the golden age of Science Fiction of the late 1940's, 1950's and 1960's. His work was displayed on the covers of SF periodical magazines, SF paperback books, and Space Science books of that era. His style is realistic and his work is breathtaking! His concepts of other-worldly-visions are naturally realistic and have a Zen-like feeling of mystery to them. The color plates in this book are of awesome quality. I guarantee this book will increase in price, as the 1983 collection has. The 1983, "Worlds Beyond: The Art of Chesley Bonestell", sells for around $100 or more. Buy this 2001 book, "The Art of Chesley Bonestell" now, because it will only cost MUCH more after it goes out of print.

I bought this book for the space art but found out there are many other excellent paintings to go along with them. Bonestell's art makes you want to be at the places he's painted except for places like New York under nuclear attack and ancient Egypt being bombarded by comets. The space art is incredible. I only wish I could get large prints of some of the pictures to frame them. I'm even considering buying another book and cutting out some of the pictures that are barely large enough to frame.

I am among the hundreds of thousands -- perhaps millions -- of people who owe their lifelong interest in matters of astronomy and space science to a childhood discovery of the art of Chesley Bonestell. I remember vividly pawing through the pages of The Conquest of Space at the age of about ten, my mouth open as I saw the marvels of the universe displayed.

It was thus actually rather nerve-racking when I opened this new book for the first time. Could the reality of his art possibly match my childhood memories? Could all of that vividness and excitement have been magnified in my mind's eye over the succeeding decades? Was I in for a disappointment?

I most certainly was not. If anything, the fabulous art inspired and excited me even more than it had way back then.

And there's a lot of that art here -- a real feast of it, superbly reproduced. And I discovered as I kept turning the pages, hands quite literally trembling as I discovered treasure after treasure. Even more excitingly, I found that Bonestell had worked in areas of art I'd never suspected before: fabulous landscapes, stunning sketches ... I have perused many, many art books, but I've never before reacted quite as strongly as to this one.

And it gets better. There's a long, beautifully written and utterly fascinating illustrated biography of Bonestell written by Ron Miller. It's almost as if one's getting two books in one.

An earlier reviewer (who cannot spell "Chesley") talked of this as if it were an expanded version of The Conquest of Space. He was talking through his hat. This is a completely new book covering the entirety of Bonestell's career both visually and textually; it contains a big selection of illustrations from The Conquest of Space (all the best ones), but they form only a small part of the huge and sumptuous collection on display here.

This is a gorgeous book, and an extremely valuable piece of work -- the authors/compilers deserve the highest praise for having brought this treasure to us.

Benevolent Assimilation is McKinley's phrase for the civilizing mission of America in the Philippines. Miller makes a good case that the Filipinos neither needed civilizing or Christianizing since they had both. What America really wanted was a colonial empire to establish itself as a great power. McKinley did not know what he wanted, but people made him believe in the civilizing mission of the U.S. government.
What Miller demonstrates in this book is that the Philippines wanted independence and not American government. The revolt which followed the Spanish American War was long and devastated the islands. Thousands lost their lives, and American troops showed no mercy in putting down the revolt. The revolt lasted for over three years, and cost the U.S. much in men and treasure.
America won, but lost seventy years later in Vietnam.

An excellent telling of a period that most Americans and Filipinos know little or nothing about. With America's new ownership of the Philippines, we were drawn into a second conflict once the Spanish were routed. The insurrectionist movement against America brought about a bloody and savage war that cost tens of thousands of lives. The third phase was the attempt to subdue the Moros, some of the toughest and most fearless warriors on the planet. The troops involved thought they would only be fighting Spanish regulars and then sent home. Rather, many spent years fighting in jungles and swamps against a clever and determined foe, and many were then shipped off to fight the Boxer's in China in 1900, only to be returned to battle the often fiendish inhabitants of places like Sibago Island, Jolo and Samar. A classic account and ranks with "Muddy Glory" and "Little Brown Brother" to name but a couple. There isn't much written about this conflict, but the information is out there. These lessons should have taught America about getting involved in smaller nations affairs.

Stuart Miller's book is an excellent study in the political turmoil and subterfuges involved in the transition of America into an imperialist power. The book is not really a military history; the military aspects are secondary to Miller's coverage of how Americans justified, reacted to, and lied about our subjugation of the Philippines. It is a very sobering history of the river of lies poured out by the military, especially General Otis, and the administration of William McKinley. This is also a study in racism; how allegedly "superior" Anglo-Saxons needed to "civilize" and "Christianize" the Filipinos, many of whom were Catholic. Overall, this book is a good primer about a shocking and somewhat vile episode in American history. High School history teachers in particular should read this book and include it in their lessons about the outcome of our "splendid little war" with Spain. It is a sad truth that as a result of this conflict, America did not seem to learn anything about the nature of guerilla warfare with a people fighting to be free of foreign control. Our failure to profit from this episode helped propel us into another such quagmire in Vietnam, a nation not too far from the site of our earlier fiasco in the Philippines.

Mr. Miller has done a great job presenting music theory in a way that many people who are not college music students may enjoy and understand the concepts better. There are a few incorrect explanations in atleast one area: rhythms. On p. 59 a commmon mistake of "four quarter note rests" is mentioned. Either you can have four quarter notes OR four quarter rests; not both. The other is on p. 68 where the "Eighth-Note Time Signatures" show 'beats per measure' incorrectly. EX: In 6/8 time, there are 2 beats per bar, not 6. This is a common misconception among some students due to the fact that compound meter is more difficult to grasp, being subdivision of 3 instead of 2. Overall, I feel this is a good book and presented in a friendly and not "so dry" a manner as many texts on the subject are presented. Miller's use of musical examples in popular music and classical are quite nice as well. Great job!

What a nice little gem this was to find. I have a degree from Berklee College Of Music in Music Production & Engineering. For the last 15 years I've been hung up reading equipment manuals and music software manuals. Recently I decided that I wanted to pursue something I've always known I had the ability to do but never took the time to craft; the art of songwriting. This book served as a great refresher! The author hits on all the key concepts that you need to sit down and create an original song from scratch. No book out there can make you a great songwriter, that holy grail does not exist! The only thing a book can do is provide you with the tools you need to get started, and this one does it rather well. To supplement this text I would highly recommend a book on modern arranging. Once you have a song structured out, melody written, and harmonized, the arrangement is the finishing touch that can really set it apart and make it a memorable experience for the listener. I've yet to find a relevant book on the concept of modern song arranging. If anyone has a suggestion, please let me know. This one is a steal for its price!

This is a great book for someone who wants to understand basic music theory. Most books I have looked at assume a fair knowledge to begin with. Not so here. The author assumes that you are starting from scratch and takes you through everything from reading music, to composing melodies, to chord construction and beyond. I have played guitar since high school, but never really understood musically what was behind what I was doing. I have wanted to write songs, but have been intimidated by my lack of knowledge of theory. This book has given me the knowledge I need to get started.

This book was extremely helpful in finding out exactly what the Course is all about.

When someone asked me last week what I thought of "A Course in Miracles", I realzied that although I had heard the name for years I knew *nothing* of what it was, where it came from, or what it taught.

Mr. Miller's book did a good job of explaining what the Course is, and the gist of it's message. In the course of this, he convinced me that Helen Schuckman had a genuine spiritual experience -- something I was prepared to doubt, before.

I am not a "seeker" -- I have an active & fulfilling spiritual life, that does not include the Course. And I have neither the time nor desire to read The Course as a primary text, simply to learn *about* it.

Because of this, I found Mr. Miller's book invaluable.

With this book Mr. Miller has done something for which Course students will be thankful for generations to come, detailed the unusual and complicated history of "A Course In Miracles." He has also interviewed and profiled the key players in Course commentary: Kenneth Wapnick PhD and Gloria Wapnick (founders of "Foundation for A Course In Miracles"), Marianne Williamson (author of "A Return to Love"), Gerald Jampolsky (author of "Love is Letting Go of Fear"), members and former members of Endeavor Academy are interviewed, and Tara Singh (author of "How to Learn From A Course In Miracles") is mentioned. Though not interviewed, the two Course co-scribes, Helen Schucman and William Thetford, are profiled as well (with a picture of them, the only picture in the book, included).

The Course is not easy to classify. It has Christian themes and terminology, but it's not Christianity. It has the compassion of Buddhism, but it's not Buddhist. It has Hindu-like non-duality, but is not Hindu. It has the Freudian analysis of the ego, yet it's not pure psychoanalysis. It was "channeled," but it's not Edgar Cayce. It is currently embraced mostly by those within the "New Age," but it contains no rituals or crystal gazing, no mention of UFOs or planetary alignment, no aura work, no meditations, no chants, no laying-on-of-hands, no directions for group work, no lessons on the development of psychic powers, and none of the "positive thinking" and prosperity consciousness that is the hallmark of most New Age paths. In fact, since the Course's aim is removing the blocks to the awareness of love's presence, Kenneth Wapnick has commented that the Course could even be termed "negativism" because it encourages its readers to look at, and not deny, the mess they have made of their own lives and minds. What category, then, does the Course fit into? None. It will have to define its own genre. This will be a long time coming; but by writing this book, D. Patrick Miller has aided in creating the category the Course must define for itself.

A fascinating thing about D. Patrick Miller is that while he is a student of the Course, he admits that there are aspects of the Course that he is not completely comfortable with - the Christian language of the Course being one, the exclusive use of male terms to refer to the Divine being another. Mr. Miller has even stated that the Course, and its origin, sometimes just seems "too strange" for him to believe. This frankness adds a dimension of honesty that any reader would appreciate. Mr. Miller is a beautiful writer, and this book not only details the interesting history of the Course and how it was scribed, it also gives a brief introduction to Course theory and metaphysics and how it compares to other religions. One of my favorite sections of this book is the "personal stories" section where "students" (to be a student of the Course simply means you read the three books [recently published as a three-in-one volume]) relate how they found the Course, how it has effected their lives, and how much of the Course theory they accept or reject (some students accept the Course theory completely, some accept only aspects of it, some mix the Course with other spiritual teachings).

As is my usual custom with books that touch me, I wrote to the author to thank him for his work. Mr. Miller kindly replied to my letter and even aided further in my understanding of Course theory. I am very thankful for the aid he gave me, and I am thankful that he wrote this book. I continue to reference "The Complete Story of the Course" from time to time and I am always amazed to find interesting passages that I seemed to have missed before. I always recommend this book to people interested in the Course, either as potential students or people simply curious about the phenomenon.

My personal word of thanks for D. Patrick Miller's excellent work on the story of the Course. I first read it about three years ago and as a result I have been able to make contact with many Course students and organizations around the world. It also assisted me in dealing with my personal fears of criticism of the Course by allowing me to examine them head on. Mr. Miller is a very professional writer who has done a great job of stepping past his personal thoughts and sharing the thoughts of many (something that not all journalists are known for). I firmly recommend this book to all students of the Course as not only an excellent way to find out about various Course organizations but also as an excellent history book of the Course itself.

May I also mention that I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Miller at the "ACIM Into The New Millennium" conference in San Francisco this past February and I have to say that he is a very approachable, caring, down to earth, humorous man. I fully appreciated the time spent visiting with him personally and attending his workshop. I know that he has an ego just like the rest of us, however, he hides it very well:-).

This book is great for parents. It offers realistic advice! I am the author of The ABC's of College Life, which is a street-smart guide for teens. I consider this book the street-smart guide for the 'rents!

As a very protective parent I wanted to read all I could about my daughters up in coming experience at college. I myself never attend college and this book gave me so much insight. I appreciate the author's candid talk about difficult topics such as alcohol and drugs. I felt at ease after reading it. I recommend this book to everyone I know with kids heading off to college. I also purchased and read Major In Success by Patrick Combs and it was the perfect book for my daughter. Don't Tell Me What To Do Just Send Money was a great book for me and Major In Success was perfect for my daughter. It gave her all the advice she needed to make the most of her college experience.

After reading 4 to 5 various books similar to this topic I wished that I would have read this one first. It covers it all! A very thorough book full of insights into parenting during this questionable time of your childs life. I love the "What to Do" and "What Not to Do" sections and also the "What You Are Thinking" and "What Your Child is Thinking". My daughter is now a freshman at UF and this book was very affirming as I reflected back and found out that YES....this is NORMAL! This would of been the only book I bought and spent my time reading IF only I would have found it sooner. It will truly serve as a reference and I will keep it close at hand so I can flip through the index to find the current "crisis" explained and get insights as to how to handle. I plan on purchasing this book for graduation gifts for the parents of those children graduating from High School. It is a MUST read!

Is there any character in fiction more exasperating than Robin Miller? She has a great relationship going with KT, but she can't seem to keep herself from messing it up. When she should just walk away from temptation or use a simple "No", she seems incapable of doing that. When it comes to her personal relationship, she can always be counted on to make many mistakes that in real life probably would not have a happy ending. And what's wrong with KT that she keeps putting up with this mess? What saves the book is that, as usual, Maiman has included some interesting storylines besides the romance and some hot .... Besides, you have to read the book just to see how Robin redeems herself by the end. Maiman says she's skipping years in the series now, but Robin doesn't seem to be moving forward emotionally at the same rate. If there is another book in the series coming, let's hope that Robin Miller has caught up to the timeline.

Jaye Maiman delivers yet another edge-of-the-seat mystery, keeping me guessing all the way to the end. I'm not talking about the whodunnit part of the book either. As intensely portrayed is the turning point that RObin and KT have reached -- it's settle down or break apart time. It's make a family nest or go their separate ways. I did not know until the very last page what Robin would decide. Robin's doubts and suffering are heartbreaking, as is KT's confusion and helplessness. It made the mystery emotionally rich, which is a rare treat in most mystery novels.

The whodunnit part of the books is as enjoyable as always with Maiman, who just gets better with fast-paced action plots. I recommend this one 100%.

Here's another fast-paced, thrilling entry in the Robin Miller series. Maiman's style gets crisper with each new entry. Here, Maiman chose to really focus on Robin and K.T.'s relationship, of course there's no shortage of action but clearly Maiman is letting her characters mature and reflect more than in her earlier work. I highly recommend this book, especially since Jaye was kind enough to publish one of my poems in this entry! I love you Jaye!