Superb read!! The book is an excellent resource for men and women with fibromyalgia syndrome and FINALLY, this doctor takes it seriously. Not only does the book evaluate the best medications for FMS, but it gives complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies that can ease pain and fatigue without the debilitating side effects of pain meds. I was doubtful at first--as to whether one more book could answer my questions--and ease my symptoms. But once I began the 7-step program--which is basically a lifestyle program--my symptoms subsided greatly. I've read four other books on FMS--this book far surpasses the others and gives new hope to sufferers. The suggestions for alleviating fibro-fog were incredible!! And--I esp. liked the ways to de-stress BEFORE symptoms became unbearable (as my FMS symptoms often coincide with chronic stress).
Buy this book!! If you know of someone with FMS, buy it for them. It's truly a gift of love and hope.

An excellent book on the mysterious fibromyalgia syndrome. Unless you've felt the deep muscle pain and unending fatigue, you have no idea how FMS can rob you of life. This book addresses the symptoms you might feel, possible causes (there are no "proven" causes), medical tests that can help your doctor narrow down the diagnosis (there are no medical tests to determine FMS), and a 7-step program to get relief. The program consists of a combination of therapies including complementary and alternative medical (CAM) therapies, medications, stress management, exercise, ways to increase healing sleep and more.

Having FMS for seven years, I'm always skeptical of the latest health books, but The Fibromyalgia Handbook is scientifically substantiated and extremely practical and rational--the program is something you can implement in your daily life without adding to your stress load.

Buy the book. Give it to a friend with FMS. It is a superb read that can increase relief of pain, fatigue, anxiety and other annoying symptoms.

I just got used to sleepless nights, always feeling fatigued, waking up every hour and watching the clock. NOT ANY MORE -- Dr. McIlwain makes it clear that obtaining restful sleep is crucial with Fibromyalgia. His tips on encouraging sleep are very helpful and have changed my life. I am working full time again and can't say enough about his 7-Step Program.

If you have any form of arthritis--you MUST read this book. It tells about the REAL cure--the one that is backed by science. COX-2 Inhibitors are the answer to pain, stiffness, and inflammation. Buy this book. Read it. Show it to your doctor. Then try the SUPER ASPIRINS. You will NOT BELIEVE THE CHANGE IN YOUR LIFE!!! Amazing.

An excellent review of the new SUPER ASPIRINS. This book tells what you need to know about the COX-2 Inhibitors--and how they end pain and stiffness of arthritis, end headache and menstrual cramp pains, and how these miraculous drugs may even prevent some cancers and Alzheimer's disease. Buy this book--inexpensive, quick read and could save your life.

Excellent and well-written book on the new SUPER ASPIRINS that end arthritis pain and stiffness. Tells all you need to know about the makeup of the COX-2 Inhibitors and gives a workable program to end pain and regain strength for those with all types of arthritis. BUY IT! READ IT! FOLLOW IT! You will feel better quickly as SUPER ASPIRIN DOES cure arthritis pain.

I was first introduced to this book in a children's literature class taught by Jack Gantos. I must confess The Mysteries of Harris Burdick has never left me since. Is there a story? Not really. I think this is precisely why The Mysteries of Harris Burdick is able to take such a profound hold of your imagination. Each of the 14 haunting black & white illustrations are accompanied by a caption. Nothing more. We as the readers are left to ponder the meaning of each picture and make up our own stories to go along them. The Mysteries of Harris Burdick is the perfect way to introduce a child to the joys of reading and writing.

Preston McClear, author The Boy Under the Bed

I am 21 years old and could not be more excited to find this book again! My uncle read to me and my cousins all the time when we were children. This book along with The Polar Express, The Wreck of the Zephyr, and Jumanji became one of our favorites! I had no idea until now that they were all the same author. The Mysteries of Harris Burdick was especially fascinating. Because only pictures with captions are provided we gazed at this book for hours, imagining all the possibilities. I strongly urge parents to buy this book and others by Van Allsburg. I feel that they all encourage reading, and this book in particular encourages the imagination. Though I haven't seen or read his books in years, I still remember them as if I read them yesterday.

Chris Van Allsburg tells an intriguing story of finding fourteen inspiring drawings from a children's book publisher. A gentleman named Harris Burdick brought the drawings to the publisher. He was supposed to return the following day with the stories that went along with these drawings, but he never came back. All that accompanies the drawings are a title and one sentence caption.

You cannot help but look at the drawings and start wondering what they are about. Some look like they are the start to an adventure and some end long journeys. Some are even a (little) bit scary. This is the magic of the book. As soon as you look at the drawings, you start to imagine and think of other worlds and adventures.

Your child will be able to verbalize or write the stories to go along with the drawings. These sketches allow you to go in hundreds of different directions, allowing the stories to change each time you visit them. My five-year-old daughter was even imagining what could have happened to Harris Burdick to keep him from returning with the stories. She had no trouble at all with the book's unique concept and immediately went to work on helping solve the mysteries of the book's drawings.

This book is wonderfully unique and will open doors to places in your child's imagination and mind that are too seldom challenged by most children's books. Find a place for this book in your family's time.

When I actually read the book, I was amazed. Being a 20 year old male, I don't typically read this type of book nor do I know much about them, but this one really was fun to read. The story is very easy to read, but never loses its fun. I would recommend this book to any person with kids or to any cat lover (like myself). Great book, great author, you just can't go wrong. 5 stars.

For the past 3 weeks this has been my three kids book of choice before bedtime! They love the idea of eating what a cat could cook for them. So while Mom & Dad may be ready for another book to read at bedtime, the kids definetly are not! A great story to be read over & over & over & over & over &.................

I loved this book! I read this during my night class and I couldn't help but laugh. It is very funny yet simple. I am not an animal lover but I liked this cat. Children will love the idea of a cat making their lunch. The illustrations are great and really go with the story. Great book!

This is my first ever deck. I love it! the pictures are beautiful and it even comes with an instruction booklet. It is a great deck for beginners. If you want some more depth on the cards you should get the actual thoth book. I reccomend this deck to anyone interested in tarot. As i said the pictures are exquisite and very nice. They bend and are relativly small great for a carry around deck. This selection is beautiful!!!

I have worked with this deck on-and-off, for almost four years, and I must say that it gives very accurate results. I do not think it is a great Beginner's Deck (try Rider-Waite for that)--however, the woman who created this deck infused a wealth of information into the Artwork. Many people are leary of this Tarot deck, due to the fact that Crowley had a less than reputable persona. Yet, from all the research my Wiccan Wife has done, it seems Frieda Harris had a tremendous amount of influence in the project. I believe each person should judge for themselves. Some of the cards do, in fact, have a dark, brooding feeling to them, yet for some of these cards it is deservingly so. The Major Arcana are quite Beautiful and the Esoteric Symbolism worked into the Deck, throughout, is a Wealth of Knowledge. The placement of two Major Arcana cards are different than most standard decks, but comparable with a set of Egyptian Tarot Cards, from another Mystery school.

Previously, I was not willing to review Crowley's works, due to his reputation. However, I discovered that the reputations of the founders of an org. I learned-from were just as impugnable. I must give Crowely respect for at-least being Honest about his nature and not deceiving his students.

As with all things in life, it is best to investigate many different branches of this field of study, but I know that Most of the Tarot Readers I have met use The Thoth Deck more than any other deck in their collection. The Wonderful Artwork and Fascinating Symbolism give the Reader a vast-array of information to draw-from. My Wife is a locally renowned Tarot Reader and she swears by this deck, for accuracy....and, ALL of her friends swear by her Accuracy!

The Thoth Deck has some Great Companion Books, such as: "The Tarot Handbook : Practical Applications of Ancient Visual Symbols" -- by Angeles Arrien <&, of course, "The Book of Thoth" by Aleister Crowley, Frieda Harris (Illustrator)>

I suggest buying the hand-sized Deck, because Large Decks are usually very cumbersome and it is hard to get a good psychokenetic feel for the cards. It is always best to have a deck that can be easily manipulated in the hands, for better accuracy in readings.

In my opinion, this deck is one of Crowley's greatest Contributions to those involved with The Mysteries.

I also strongly suggest studying Jungian Psychology, in conjunction with Tarot studies.

Thousands of people believe this is the best deck on the market.

This is by far my favorite Tarot deck, and I have tried many. Each card is colorfull and well drawn, not to mention packed with symbolism. This assists in interpreting each card, as there is always someplace else on each card to study and gain enlightenment from. It is usefull for beginners and masters, altough the Book of Thoth, the book of explanations for the deck, is really a little too complicated for beginners. There are lots of other books explaining the Thoth deck out there that aren't quite so complicated. If you are used to reading the traditional Rider Waite deck, you might have a difficult time, because the symbolism of each card is far different than Waites, and the minors are strictly symbolic, instead of having a scene depicted on them like the Rider-Waite deck does. Furthermore, you do not have to be a Thelemite or a practitioner of ceremonial magic to use this deck comfortably. I am a Pagan, and still find this deck effective.

The story of Samarkand is woven around the history of the manuscript of the Rubaiyaat of Omar Khayyam, from its creation by the poet and sage in eleventh-century Persia to its loss when the Titanic sank in 1912. Unwittingly involved in a brawl on the streets of Samarkand, Omar Khayyam is brought before a local judge who recognizes his genius as a poet and gives him a blank book in which to inscribe his verses. Thus the head of a great poet is saved and the Rubaiyaat of Omar Khayyam is born. The threads of his life become interwoven with the designs of the vizier, Nizam al Mulk, and of Hassan Sabbah, the founder of the Order of the Assassins who later hides the precious manuscript in his famous mountain fortress. At the end of the nineteenth century the poems fire the imagination of the West in Edward Fitzgerald's evocative translation. An American scholar learns of the manuscript's survival and recovers it with the help of a Persian princess. Together they take it on the fateful voyage of the Titanic.

A friend of mine recommended this book to me and I am so pleased that he did - the story covers a vast region in the Middle East and informs the reader of the geography, history, politics, and poetry of Iran and what is now called Turkmenistan. I not only learned more about Omar Khayyam, arguably one of the finest poets and philosophers of Persia, but I was entertained from the love stories, friendships, deceit, revenge - all the ingredients for a great novel. I highly recomment this novel - it takes you to another world and makes you realize how art and culture play such integral roles in our lives, and how the poetry and philosophy written ten centuries ago are still present and relevant today!

Once again Amin Maalouf has applied his prodigious story-telling ability to illuminate a slice of history with details hitherto unknown to this reader. Samarkand is a richly textured novel with all the right elements to capture and hold the reader's attention: Plot, adventure, romance, poetry, sex, cloak and dagger assassination, and international intrigue. But one should not be fooled by the genre, for, barely concealed behind the search for the manuscript of the famous Rubbaiyat of Omar Khayyam, purported to have gone down with the Titanic, is a well-researched chronicle that does justice to its author. It is a scholarly work that thrills like a mystery, tingles like a romance, tickles like a children's story, and educates better than those dry and boring books they handed out in school!

Samarkand takes you to 11th and 12th Century Persia where one learns that the word assassin, though Arabic in Origin, became the symbol for the most feared underground terrorist group then known to man. They were the vanguards of today's desperados who willingly suffer martyrdom for a cause.

The account of events chronicled by Maalouf opens a window into a world so exotic that we can hardly imagine its influence would reach across space and time to affect our own lives now in the 20th Century.

I could hardly put it down and was very sorry to see it end. But I do not despair; three more of Mr. Maalouf's books are stacked on my nightstand!

This book is excellent. The author has put together an intriguing and well-written Christmas story that has a wonderful and touching ending. I would recommend this book as a must read this holiday season.

If you're tired of all the murder, the violence, the anti-heros, "The Christmas Wish" is just the book for you. It starts out as a very simple story, but soon begins to blossom into an uplifting message, without being preachy. I cried so much reading the last two pages I could barely focus on the words. Richard Siddoway makes his characters seem very human and real. This book is a must-read for the Christmas season or any other time. Truly a "feel good" book!

I love reading small Christmas books in December, just to put me in the "Christmas" frame of mind. I usually read classics (A Christmas Carol, The Christmas Box) but each year, I also buy a few new Christmas books. This year, I read The Christmas Wish, a very nice, very touching and very entertaining story of love, forgiving and self-discovery.

Will comes home after his grandfather's death to take control of the family business. While there, he discovers something awful; his grandfather was probably having an affair with a woman named Lillian. For Christmas, his grandmother asks Will to find this Lillian so that they can make things straight and discover the truth. Will goes on a quest to find the mystery woman, but the quest also turns into a discovery of himself as he will learn how to enjoy life and how to really love again.

The book has some very touching moments and the story is quite engaging; it still was able to surprise me in the end. This is the perfect book to read around Christmas time; it will lift your spirits and put you in the mood for the most wonderful time of the year... Guaranteed!

This book is a great way to give kids sex education. It covers all subjects clearly and in an interesting fashion. However, I disagree with the age range it is recommended for. It is recommended for ages 8-10, and, while most of the material is appropriate for this age group, some is not. Children should receive sex education in stages. A child who takes the book and begins to read will learn about body changes and babies being born, but many in the age 8-10 age group are not ready to learn about intercourse. I know this because I have a 7 year old and a 10 year old. My 10 year old read the book "Growing Up, It's a Girl Thing" and was quite thrown by some of the information on periods and body changes. But all of that information was perfect for the stage she's at -- it was the information she needed, but nothing that would worry or overwhelm her. (It is the book I'd recommend for the first step in a girl's sex education.) My daughter is very well read, but not ready for "It's So Amazing." I will hold on to the book until she is.

This book is perfect for children to read before entering puberty! Robie Harris explains male and female body parts (inside and out), what changes take place during puberty, how an sperm fertilizes an egg, what sex is, what love is, what happens during pregnancy (including how a baby grows and how one is born), different types of families (gay, straight, adoption, etc), good and bad touches, and even a bit about HIV and AIDS.

The author explains everything very honestly without being judgmental, although he leaves room for a parent to explain his or her own values to a child. For example, while explaining masturbation he writes, "Every family has its own thoughts and feelings about masturbation...Some people and religions think it's wrong to masturbate."

The book covers a lot of information, but presents it in a fun and simple way. The cartoon illustrations are complete without being terribly graphic, and the small bird and bee throughout the book serve as "tour guides". This book will definitely be on my bookshelf when my daughter starts asking questions.

A few months ago, my husband asked if I would have a talk with our two girls about growing up and the birds and bees. As their stepmother (for almost seven years), we are very close, but I was a little nervous about approaching this subject. To my relief, a coworker mentioned the "It's so Amazing" book and then felt compelled to lend me her copy for a few weeks so I could read it with my 9 year old. She'd highly recommended it after using it with her two pre-teenager sons.

Being able to share the experience of reading and talking about this subject together with Maddie (our 9 year old) was actually...a nice experience and now one of my favorite memories. We had quality time together and opened a whole new level of communication based on trust and open communication. I have to admit, I'd made some assumptions about what she may have learned from friends and school, but she knew less than I thought, and I think the timing was great because she was very curious and starting to ask questions like "where do babies really come from?", and "what are (tampons) used for"?

I used the book as a tool for our conversations, following Maddie's interests and curiosities. We read some chapters together, and skipped some others (for now), going at her pace. In our first sitting, she wanted to keep going for almost an hour!

I finally returned the book to my coworker, so am getting around to purchasing our own copy since I know Maddie and her sister will enjoy having it through their pre teen (and teen) years (I know I will).

If you're not a disciplined person, this is a must read. If you consider yourself disciplined, as I do myself, it helps you affirm your methodology of attaining your goals through the discipline model you incorporate in your daily personal and professional life.

For those of you who know Harris, I'm sure that you all will agree that he is by far the most disciplined person you have ever met. This book tells it like Harris lives it. Karen Willi contributes great insights to family disciplines and brings a balance that many of us forget when we are so focused on our careers. This stuff really works, and if you haven't discovered how to set and attain goals by managing your time and efforts then you need to read this book. One of my favorite quotes from the book is where Harris tells his readers to live their lives as if this is your last year on earth.

We all need to take responsibility for our lives and the inspiration you will find in this book will help you do just that. It's not a quick fix or magical formula but a guiding hand to help get you organized and keep your priorities on track. While Harris sets a very high standard of someone who religiously follows Discipline, Karen adds some perspective and a simple message for us poor mortals, "it's going to be a lot harder if I put it off."

If you only pick up one or two points from this book, READ IT, it will change your life. Thank you Harris & Karen ... :-)

What a great read!. I sit here having just returned from another great workout at the local gym. In the past my visits have been 'sporadic'. Now every time I feel an excuse coming on I hear Harris and Karen's voices in my subconscious and know I am only cheating myself if I don't get out there and complete my goals.

Harris and Karen have a wealth of motivational suggestions within this gem of a book that are there for the taking - its just a matter of committing yourself to take action. As someone who thought they had a fairly high degree of discipline I now realise I have a long way to go. But taking it step by step as outlined in the book, the task is not nearly as daunting and already I am noticing changes in my attitudes and activity levels.

Even if you only pick up two or three of the many pertinent points within this book - READ IT - it has the power to change your life if you only open your mind to the possibilities. Harris - Thank You.

This was a very good book to read. The author makes you feel for the characters, whether they are good or bad, and also keeps you involved in the story. I did not want to put this book down, even when I had work to do. This book is an excellent story of the African-American community and the color issues present within the community.

As a struggling writer myself, I always like to buy the works of new authors. Sometimes these books are good, oftentimes they're ok, but in this instance, I was pleasantly surprised. This book was GREAT! Ms. Harris writes as if she's been doing this all her life. I appluad this effort and encourage all of you to get it. I look forward to reading more by Ms. Harris. She'll be around for a long time. You can bet on that!

I read this story and I couldn't put it down. The characters where so real and the plot was intralling. I loved this book and L. Breezee is going to go places. So buy the book. Wonderful!