Jackson's essay in this book, "From Salvation to Self-Realization," gives us an honest look at the remapping of economic morality in secular rather than religious terms. What could be more important to a consumer society like our own than when we stopped holding back and "gave in," as it were, to our desires? As Lears explains, "....... consumer culture of the late nineteenth century,.... encouraged to express themselves not through accomplishments but through the ownership of things." I find this profound I also understand that Professor Lears is now concentrating his energies on the cultural signfifance and attitudes regarding gambling. Has anyone else notice that Nevada is the fast-growing state in the U.S. and that the taboo associated with gambling has been removed? When are we going to be brave enough as a society to listen to Professor Lears?

This is a really nicely laid out book. I've used other guides to the internet for kids before, but this was the first that was really made for the child to use instead of for the parent to then go and help the child. My kids really love getting out there own their own. With the guidlines the book tells them about stuff like talking to stangers and giving out names and address, I don't have to worry about them at all.

Dani Stewart has known heartbreak in her life. Her first was when the boy she loved left town and never returned for her. The second was when she found she was pregnant and was forced to give up her baby. And then ten years later her marriage ended after a few short years. Suddenly Dani realizes that she has nothing in her life that brings her happiness and peace. Even though it had been eleven years since she gave her son away, Dani had to find out what happened to him. She didn't want to interfere in his life, all she wanted to do was make sure he was safe and happy. Then her long lost love comes back to town and everything gets turned upside down.

Brand Scarlotti always wanted to prove to the town he grew up in that he was something. When he set out to California, leaving the girl he loved behind, he knew it was for the best. Not once did he look back, or regret his decision. Then a job brings him back to Rimrock and he is suddenly face to face with Dani. As the days go by, Brand feels the same attraction flare to life and knows that he will settle for nothing less than forever this time around.

In D is for Dani's Baby, Brand and Dani come together to rekindle the love and desire that never died, even though they were apart for twelve years. However, the secret that Dani has kept in her heart for all these years threatens to destroy the fragile love that they have rebuilt. Secrets are revealed in this final book in the Love Letters that will shock the reader, but are not unexpected.

This book is part of the Trailblazer Series, in which young people of the period (and as such your young reader) meet Christian heroes of the past. In this book, fourteen-year-old Casey Watkins grows tired of living under the thumb of his self-righteous uncle, and finds jobs for himself and his widowed mother with Forepaugh's Circus. While the circus tours the country, headed for Chicago and the Columbia Exposition of 1893, Casey is able to join the trapeze act. Arriving in Chicago, Casey meets that dynamic evangelist, Dwight Lyman Moody. Casey is fascinated by Moody, and when he panics during a trapeze act, and loses his confidence, he finds himself turning to Moody, and God.

This is a very nice book. I was fascinated by the Jacksons' characterization of D.L. Moody, and enjoyed the story immensely. My nine-year-old son also enjoyed the book, and we both highly recommend it to you!

Jon Jackson always delivers the goods...never predictable wordsmithing that often reads like a musical score...

This entry in the Fang Mulheisen series came as a surprise. It was closer to something by Elmore Leonard or even Carl Hiaassen. Great, engaging characters, funny dialogue and an excellent plot.

This is a great book for children ages 9-12. The book talks about the Ku Klux Klan - and the terrible way they treated people in the early 1900's. The story focuses on Mary McLeod Bethune, a African-American that believed that all people were created equal. She refused to be intimitated by the Klan! What a neat story of a woman that portrayed strength and courage through those hard times! I highly recommend this book!

I once had the fortune to be one of Dr. Jackson's students when at Middlesex Univ. I bought this book whilst a student there, because many of the books of Marxist criticism available took a rather pro-Marxist view, of sorts. They mostly viewed Marxism as something about 'revolutions in the head' rather than as the rational project it was when written. Len Jackson shows how Marx has been 'dematerialized' in the mid to late 20th century by philosophers reducing Marxism to an ideology stripped of its most convincing doctrine - that of economic infrastructure determining social superstructure. Jackson is not a Marxist, and not being so deals very evenly with his subject in a way that does not assume prior knowledge of the subject.

DEVIL IN BLUE JEANS...
When sexy-as-sin Zane Sheridan walked into her life with an attractive offer for her ailing horse farm, Tiffany Rhodes hoped he was the answer to her prayers. And though she wasn't sure she trusted Zane, she couldn't deny the primal attraction between them. But then Zane claimed that Devil's Gambit - the last great horse he had bred, and which she thought to be dead - was actually still alive!

What did this mysterious man with smoky gray eyes want from her... and why was he playing a high-stakes game with her heart?

Jackson is a real find, and this is where to start. These novels, mostly police procedurals, are concisely and wittily written, and as the books continue, we really get to know Fang Mulheisen and his city, Detroit. Later, in books like "Hit on the House" and "Deadman," we meet recurring characters such as likeable assassin Joe Service and his on-again off-again love interest (and Mafia princess) Helen Sedlacek. These are "real" people with foibles and weaknesses-- some are unapologetic killers, but we get to know them and, yes, like them. Fang tracks them down, and sometimes even catches them. If you like Elmore Leonard, if you like Carl Hiaasen, if you like Thomas Perry-- read these too. You'll become a fan, I guarantee it.