"Making Peace: A woman's journey around the world" came to me by pure luck. I was a nurse working night shift, and a patient I was taking care of, explained that her granddaughter had just met the author as she passed through Kentucky. My patient showed me Jan's book and on my patient's discharge from the hospital, left the book by mistake. I found it in a junk drawer months later and felt the book was too special to leave at the hospital. I have read journal entries to many people. It is always a conversation piece. Her photography of third world cultures, capturing their lives and loving their souls truely captured my heart. I happened upon this site trying to find more work by this woman. One of the best books I have read. It's been almost ten years and I can't get it out of my mind.

This book is a delight to read. It is a collection of witty, funny, thought provoking gems gathered at the mall. Ms. Phillips offers us much wit and wisdom that are as good for the heart as a power walk through a mall. While this book can be read in a short time, the thoughts will stay with you for a lifetime. I recommend this book to everyone who likes to have their spirits uplifted from time to time. This is a gem.

"Fudge Ripple Pouchhappy clicked his fingers together again and hopped a little hop for joy. Then he waded out into the ocean. 'Bring me a straw, ' he shouted. 'Bring me a pickle jar. Drive your cars onto the beach. We'll carry the ocean away tonight.'"

I bought this book in the 4th grade from the bookmobile when it stopped at my school. It has remained one of my favorite books, through my college years and beyond.

It is a silly gem of a book, filled with goofy asides and inexpert (but very charming) line drawings by the author. The only negative thing one can say about this book is that it lacks a bit in the political correctness department.

If you happen to run across it in a used book store, pick it up and give it a try. It won't tax your brain. It's a fairly quick read. It'll make you giggle. [That's assuming that you are a giggler. If you are a chuckler or something of that sort, you may also fall victim to this book.]

"The book is very prescriptive and full of lists and tables with which to guide managers in making effective decisions in using computer-assisted clinical trials in pharmaceutical studies." (Technometrics, Vol. 45, No. 1, February 2003)

This book lives up to its advertising! Back cover says it's a page turner... and it was. In their philosophy text, Moore and Bruder say that "most people like philosophy if they understand it." (p. vii) This book, Many Faces of Wisdom, makes philosophy understandable. After a while, it reads like a mystery novel as the reader wonders how the next philosopher will respond to the previous one. Every subject area has its "horizons" of understanding and most college philosophy texts start way past the reader's horizon. This book starts with horizon one and arranges for the reader to develop a passion to discover what's going on at horizons two and three, where college texts begin. As soon as I finished this book, I ordered a set for my college classes. I hope this book is availalbe for many more editions and reprints! A great companion book is Woodhouse, A Preface to Philosophy, which explains to students how to actually DO philosophy, with good concrete examples.

This is absolutely the best book on maps ever produced! It is totally comprehensive yet clear, interesting, and fun to read. I have it on my desk and refer to it often. It's a great reference book with hundreds of illustrations, cartoons, fascinating asides and excerpts from the news. Everyone who loves maps should have this book. And if you don't love maps, you will after reading this book!

Subtitled "The Roads They Took," David Phillips, the author, has created a unique addition to the hundreds of volumes of books available about the Civil War. I was born and raised in New York City, and, unlike many southerners, I had a dearth of education about the Civil War. Of course I've seen movies and TV specials and read "Gone With the Wind," and, more recently, Tony Horwitz's "Confederates in the Attic," but it was this book, "Maps of the Civil War" that made me realize the scope of this awful conflict that ripped our nation apart.

As befits an atlas the book is wide and flat, measuring 9x13" and holding a mere 160 pages. Here, in this slim volume are numerous maps that were actually created during the war as well as photographs, illustrations and paintings in both color and black and white. The copy is clear without any frills, and describes in detail all the actual movements and battles with their great human toll. It's hard to believe how thousands of men would come at each other in close combat with weapons that had very limited range. And it's hard to visualize 20,000 or more men dying on a single day.

I found all this little difficult to follow because, as I mentioned, this is all new to me, and, with the exception of some of the more famous generals, I sometimes had to read a paragraph over a couple of times to sort out which side a particular general was on. I'm also not acquainted with the terrain, and the maps were hard to read especially since they were all hand written and many of them concentrated especially on the troop movements. I loved the illustrations and the photographs though and found I would stare at one for many minutes, letting myself go back to that awful time in history. There are photos of the soldiers on both sides and photos of the land and the dead and the dying. But perhaps the one photo that I remember the most is of the vast quantities supplies to feed all these soldiers in the field.

Wars cannot be compared, of course. Each one is unique for its particular time and place in history. What is unique about the Civil War is that it took place among Americans on American soil. It painfully ripped the country apart and took several generations for its memory to start to fade. This book made it all real to me and for this I thank the author although I do think that seasoned Civil War buffs would appreciate the maps more than I did. Recommended.

As a diver familiar with the Indian Ocean and its marine species I found Coleman's guide fantastic. Not only is it full of quality photgraphs but each section (divided by phyla e.g.Gastropoda, echinoderms etc) begins with a clear layman-friendly introduction to how the animals live and reproduce. There is a wealth of information in this book, and it is one of the few marine guides not to skirt the issue of coral bleaching and just how poor reef health in this part of the Indian Ocean can be. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the region's marine life - not just the Maldives. Wisely, Coleman has not included fish in this volume - an easier subject and covered by many other books.

A masterpiece in marketing technology. It has been very difficult capturing the best insights and rolling out the best ideas in today's technology management. To lead in any industry, you need to have a larger and broader information of the markets that you are in. But it is also critical to take a careful look on industries that are driven by technologies. Tough customers and intense competition--this book reckons it all.

I listen to Jan's tapes during my workout. I feel so much comfort and inspiration from her words I don't want to stop pedalling! But I do stop the tape to quickly jot down a thought or two to spark my own writing practice. She reminded me that where would the world be if no one took the time to do their creative work? I'm glad she took the time to do her creatvie work joyfully. I will too.