Ron Gladis and David Stone have nailed it! The FIRST book I've seen on this emerging hobby that effectively describes how to combine artistic and usable photographic techniques in a digital camera. The topics are well-laid out and in-depth (while not being overly "techie"). The discussions about how to take better photographs are particularly good. These sections will help any camera user take much better photographs (with or weithout a digital camera!).

But what is unique in this book is how it teaches the user how to combine the best photographic techniques with the power of the computer! These sections, written in understandable terms (but not oversimplified language like in most other books on digital photography), really bring home how BEST to use the technology to make better images - a VERY powerful combination.

If you have, or plan to buy or receive as a gift, a digital camera -- GET THIS BOOK! It will also make a great gift for a Friend or Family member who has a digital camera.

If you want to read detailed information about Union Pacific locomotives and trains, then this book is not for you.

If on the other hand you want to see some magnificent photographs of Union Pacific trains running down California's Feather River Canyon (surely one of the most beautiful stretches of railroad in the USA), then this book is a "must read". Photo captions indicate where and when the photographs were taken, but do not go in to details of the locomotives or the "technical side" of railroading.

This is undoubtedly one of the best railroad books I own.

Oliver Stone is my favorite filmmaker, the man's a genius! All his films are powerful works that leave you impacted and thinking. "JFK" is a masterpiece of modern cinema, a study of power. "Natural Born Killers" is also a great, great film that studies today's culture. Of all the filmmakers, Oliver Stone remains the best, the smartest, most creative and important filmmaker of our time.

A marvelous little book written with wisdom and grace. The author speaks about love, pain, joy, suffering and weaves these threads together beautifully into an intricate tapestry depicting the journey of life.

I use this book during our friendship week. It's a great story with many themes that help build our "community" in my classroom. This is one of my favorite books.

Three women meet at a spa resort and quickly become the best of friends. Meg, Zoe, and Alissa make a pact to find their first loves. Can they find the magic they had with their first loves? There are some happy and some sad endings. This is the second book I've read by my favorite author, Jean Stone. I read this a few years ago, but Ms. Stone continues to write terrific books about women and their feelings, and this one of my favorites by her. Her stories truly come from the heart. A great book and I highly recommend this.

Eugene Peterson is my mentor's mentor, and has become mine as well. His insight and mastery at the art of crafting words makes all of his books easy, enjoyable and highly challanging resources for spiritual formation, especially for the pastor.

In Five Smooth Stones, Peterson challanges us as pastors to lead our people through five somewhat obsure books of the Old Testament. These five books, Song of Solomon, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Ruth and Esther are wonderful tools for discovering some of the most important elements of Christian community.

In Song of Solomon, Peterson illuminates the challanges for us to seek intimacy in our personal relationships - but most of all intimacy with our God through prayer. In Lamentations, we are led to give validity to suffering. We are challenged to live out the full scope of suffering with each other in the midst of community, ultimatly being fully dependant upon the God who sustains us.

In Ecclesiastes, everything under the sun/Son is given meaning and time.

In Ruth, our commitments to community and to each other are emphasised. The power of going beyond what is required or expected are powerful tools that God uses to build true community, and even bring forth Messiah.

Esther is the call to community through taking risks for the sake of God's people, realizing that God would raise up another, if we choose not to not be a part of God's plan.

I have used this book as a primary resource for preaching these texts. As a pastor of a small rural church, and having worked in large suburban churches, I highly recomend this powerful resource to all who want to grow in spiritual depth and Christian community.

For those who are interested and curious about where our modern habits attitudes about our bodies and its interactions in urban space this is the book for you. Easy to read, and informative, yet very poignant and it is a book that is able to be read on many different levels.

Richard Sennett takes us from ancient Athens and its fixation with voice, logos, and democracy. Why sitting in the theatre is weakness and brings man to a passive posture. With pit-stops in Imperial Rome, Venice, Revelutionary Paris, and other cities, Sennett layers his logic and builds from the ground up a forceful argument to the reader. The last stop is modern New York City, a multi-cultural center full of dissonace and passivity. This chapter is especially powerful, because it strikes a chord in our psyche.

Each chapter is a pit-stop in history displaying the condition of the flesh in response to the stone of the city. Sennett's thesis is that the continual acceleration of life due to, in part by forces of capitolism, have made man a passive player in life. He discusses this against the backdrop of christianity and its change and flux due to forces of the state and commerce. A very interseting thesis that forces you to challenge your beliefs in the world, and maybe your own religion. It may irk some that this book has such a Christian-oriented slant, but Sennett comes right out and states why he is doing in in the beginning.

This book deals also with the philosophy of Phenomenology. Other readings by Howard Kunstler, Derrida and Heidigger are also recomended, but not necessary. Overall, a very suberb book.

This is an outstanding effort in explaining and documenting the science involved in mineral fluorescence. It fills a void in the literature, bridging the gap between technical treatises and gem hunters' field notes. Robbins presents what is known about the causes of fluorescence in minerals, relating it to atomic structure and behavior in a clear fashion for the non-technical reader.

The next chapters detail some of the classic localities and types of fluorescent minerals, with comprehensive summaries of their characteristics. A final chapter describes ideas for investigations into the nature of fluorescence that are easy enough to be carried out with simple equipment. This may be a valuable resource to secondary school Earth Science teachers.

The book is written in an engaging fashion. It reveals many issues that are still unresolved. I wanted to grab my UV light and go collecting as soon as possible!

Steve Crouch is that rarest of photographers: a true artist in the medium of photography whose writing skills are equally gifted. You may need a dictionary at times to keep up with his lyrical flow of English, but, after all, isn't reading supposed to be a learning experience? Don't be intimidated. Crouch's precise English adds much to his description of one of the most beautiful places on the planet: the Monterey Coast and Big Sur of California.

Crouch became a resident of Carmel years ago, and begins his tale of the region with how that decision took place. This delightful anecdote is followed by others equally evocative. Mr. Crouch reviews the place itself, the human communities and their history, and closes with a fine, thoughtful epilogue.

The photography is in color, and absolutely outstanding. In addition to the usual brilliant seascapes, forest and mountain vistas, etc, the author also offers a beautiful panoply of microphotography about local plants, houses, and the way of life in this Eden. Here is an artist with a purpose.

I bought this book a while back. I have since vacationed in the area four times. One of the delights is to attempt to catch things in the same photographic light as Mr. Crouch did. Not an easy task, but, surely, the enjoyment lies in the attempt.

You will love this book from the moment you first see it. Do yourself a favor and get it now.