Not even a "man of God" can watch his very much loved mother (who was once very much in charge of her life) slip off into this very cruel disease without a sense of loss and heartache, but Houston was able to see the benefit of sharing his mother's life at this time, as well. There's a lot of love and compassion here, along with the frustration and sadness. This book should be on the shelf of every adult child who finds himself in this "role-reversal" situation with an aged parent.

The book touched me with its honest and thoughtful reflection of the joyful challenges of caring for an aged parent slipping into another reality. Houston shares his frustrations, his coping or lack of it, and his small victories in a honest yet upbeat and faithful way. Anyone coping with taking care of an aged parent who is slipping away slowly will find an encouraging friend in this book.

I've known the author through many of the years covered in the book. Reading his journal of those experience gave me the feeling of returning home again, seeing familiar landmarks and sharing joint memories. That feeling reverberates as I watch my parents go through many of the same experiences witht their parents. Circle of Years should find a similar home of warmth in the hearts of other readers facing the aging of their parents or grandparents.

Even if fishing is not your thing, you will enjoy this latest by Victoria Houston. Retired dentist Paul Osborne doesn't really enjoy finding dead bodies in the water, but at least it keeps him in contact with the attractive, fiftyish Police Chief Lew Ferris. When the two bodies of young women show up with similiar bite marks on them, Lew asks Paul to help her as a temporary Medical Examiner. Paul is usually accompanied by his young friend Ray Pradt, a man-of-the-woods who this time is occupied by the sudden appearance of a son he knew nothing about.

The arrival of one of the dead woman's friends and the long-lost "goth" son bring a great mix to the small town of Big Creek characters. As Paul and Lew focus on a con man who may have targeted the dead women the two become suspicious of newcomers and find themselves not knowing who to trust.

This is a character driven series that will not fail to entertain and will introduce fish-phobes to the pleasures of fishing.

I read Victoria Houston's first book because she was an area author and she hooked me! She pens the words my husband trys to express about his fishing passion. Doc, Lew and Ray were old friends by the third book and I can't wait for their next adventure. A just right mystery that I can stay up reading into the night, just a hint of sweet older romance.

Victoria Houston's Loon Lake Fishing Mystery Series has me hooked. The wait for the release of DEAD WATER has been worth every minute. Once again I'm drawn in, hook, line and sinker, into the lives of Doc Osborne, Lew Ferris and the unforgettable Ray Pradt. When you add murder, suspense, plenty of fishing and just the right touch of romance, this series is a keeper. DEAD WATER is definitely the must read of the summer.

I'm a minister of music at an evangelical church. Almost every week, I have the conversation with someone "what are the role of emotions in our services and in the Christian's life in general?" (Nobody really asks it THAT way, but you get the idea.)

I've come to the point where I won't even begin the conversation without having them read this book. Seriously! Edwards covers ALL the issues in a thurough and practical way.

Strap on your thinking cap, but know it's worth it! I read this book every year and God never fails in using it to refocus my heart on Him.

Houston's abridgement and editing have led to this one effect among others: Reading the book itself becomes a spiritual experience. We become examined, humbled, then excited and inspired. These are the questions Edwards' explores: What are the roles of the affections (i.e., emotions) for a Christian? How do we know they are genuinely from God's grace? In answering this he points to the beauty of God's holiness itself--a concept rarely seen in Protestant literature and rarely seen at all between the Middle Ages and von Balthasar. Another important concept is that the presence of the Holy Spirit within a believer provides a "new sense" to add to the 5 senses. Edwards' elucidation of the scripture's view on the affections/emotions is worth the price of the book alone.

no wonder many consider edwards north america's greatest thinker. like his other works, this volume is priceless. he brilliantly delves into the human psyche, exposing man's emotional needs and their fulfilment in God.

Wow! The best book I have read in some time. I started this book and had to start over, this time armed with a yellow highlighter. The author's incredible insight makes this book a keeper. I know I'll read it more than once!

Klaus Issler is professor of Christian educationa and theology at the evangelical Talbot School of Theology (Biola University) in La Mirada CA. The title "Wasting Time with God" is an irony: what people consummed with busy-ness and materialism consider "lost" time is, in fact, the very center of life. The book has broad appeal, drawing from an immense diversity of Christian sources.

Tracing his own pilgrimage, the author begins with "The Quest" to know God. The work then divides into two major sections: (1) "Making Room for God" through developing friendship, humility and faith; and (2) "Deepening Our Friendship with God" by way of personal commitment, communication, "apprenticeship" and "partnership." Extensive endnotes (249-82) and indexes of authors, subjects and biblical texts enrich the work for those who desire to explore further.

"Wasting Time with God" is a theology of Christian spirituality. And yet the theological concerns lie subtly underneath a work very readable and relevant to everyone yearning for authentic relationship with God. The work is full of practical illustrations and applications that make every chapter come alive for the teenager as well as the pastor.

At times the diversity of sources is a bit overwhelming. Yet the mosaic of voices through various Christian traditions affirm that what Issler is setting forth is not a novel or peripheral teaching about relationship with God. Rather I found each chapter wonderfully convincing as it leads the reader in the way of life.

I first came across the book at a conference on spiritual formation. The IVP table had a pre-release copy on their table for examination. After taking a peak I ended up reading over half the book between breaks and at lunch. The author encourages a thoughtful passionate spirituality. I liked the chapter on faith where we are challenged to remind ourselves regularly of unseen realities. The chapter on prayer is inspiriing. It actually encouraged me so much that I looked forward to prayer. What more could you ask for? A hearty thanks to the author.

A Texas entrepreneur who produced the most productive singlesite retail furniture store in America, Jim McIngvale is justifably known as 'Mattress Mack'. By promising - and delivering - extraordinary service and thinking big about the future, McIngvale built his empire. Always Think Big incorporates the basics of his approach for those who would think big in their own businesses.

"Always Think Big--How Mattress Mack's Uncompromising Attitude Built the Biggest Single Retail Store in America" provides a fascinating, well-written account of Mattress Mack's rise from penniless salesman to multi-millionaire businessman and philanthropist. Mack's combination of attitude, perseverance, and successful marketing techniques have made him a legend in Houston, but "His "Treat Everyone Like a Movie Star" techniques are valuable in any location or arena: small businesses, large corporations, schools, government, charitable organizations.

-You didn't believe me, did you? Okay, let's say this more accurately; Itzhak Bentov makes the understanding of the The Process of self-realization easy! Just in case you haven't realized that Nirvana defeats our Evolution, that your thoughts Can influence our environment, that the ONLY way is from Will to Love, I highly recommend this book. It's one revelatory ride, and a fun one at that! The tickets are right over there; Enjoy.

Itzhak Bentov's second book after "Stalking the Wild Pendulum", (that was completed/published by his wife after his untimely death). Itzhak bentov was a genius in the area of physics and metaphysics, and reveals to mankind (those with the intelligence, and open/elightened minds) the proverbial secrets of the universe.

Other recommended books are- "KYBALION" by Three Initiates ; "Initiation of the World" by Vera Stanley Alder ; "The Secret Life of Nature" by Peter Tompkins ; "Meditation" by Sri Chinmoy ; "Heaven's Mirror" by Graham Hancock ; "ZELATOR" by Mark Hedsel.

The Tvetens have written the definitive account of butterflies in eastern Texas. John's photos are incredible and show the key field makes needed to identify each species. Most accounts of each species also include a photo of the larval stage. All account include a description of the egg, larva, male and female adult and seasonal variations. I use this book all the time.

This is a beautifully illustrated guidebook. What makes it particularly useful and informative are the outstanding photographs of butterflies in different stages of their life cycle and different color phases, together with the extremely well-written text which thoroughly describes the natural history of each variety.

This first collection of stories by a young writer is a stellar performance of expression and will. Pam Houston's stories are strong, powerful, and fun. She has been compared to Hemingway with her straightforward narrative style and depiction of the outdoors.

Reading her stories is like a breath of fresh mountain air, or riding across the prairie full gallop on a horse, or white water rafting down a perilous spring runoff swollen river. With twelve stories in all, she explores the perils of relationships with men and women, nature, and animals. Her titles, "Highwater", "What Shock Heard", "Symphony", and the like, all explore the complex cacophony of living in America in the nineties. Her sentences are tight and frank. She encapsulates bits of knowledge in one phrase.

Throughout "How to Talk to a Hunter" she masterfully uses fragments to compose a narrative. She uses the course of a relationship portrayed through talks with a best female friend, talks with a best male friend, and talks with herself. Houston uses the interpolative device hailing the reader with the "you" statement. Particularly in the mistakes we all have made and we should have learned from. The narrator reminds herself of things, for instance: "This is what you learned in college: A man desires the satisfaction of his desire; a woman desires the conditions of desiring", or "This is what you learned in graduate school: In every assumption is contained the possibility of its opposite." The men are often clever in their own way and described as such. Here "the hunter will talk about spring in Hawaii, summer in Alaska. The man who says he was always better at math will form the sentences so carefully it will be impossible to tell if you are included in these plans." This same man who claims "he's not so good with words will manage to say eight things about his friend without using a gender-determining pronoun." Houston portrays men who are loveable, yet perhaps not dependable, wild and strong, men who the reader can sympathise with and understand why the narrator is in love with them. She involves her women in the same way.

Her heroines are smart, but sometimes use poor judgement. In "Selway" the narrator is conceding to run a rapid stream with her boyfriend Jack, even through the river has claimed a young life the day before and was up another few feet. She says to herself, and the readers, "I stuck my foot in the water and it went numb in about ten seconds. I've been to four years of college and I should know better, but I lose it when he calls me baby." These heroines, brassy and daring, encompass the new woman, the Nike "Just Do It" group.

During "Jackson is Only One of My Dogs", the heroine remarks that she has broken five major bones in her body. She states that she did drink enough milk as a child, she denies that she has brittle bones or that her boyfriend was the reason. She just reckons that the accidents are a result of her life-style. She believes it is "the sports I push myself into, whitewater rafting and stadium show jumping and backcountry skiing, the kinds of good times broken bones are made of." She tells the reader that "the only list that's longer than the things I've done is the list of things I've yet to do: kayak, hang glide, parachute", and she means to do them all.

In "Blizzard Under Blue Sky", which perhaps is the most poetic and dazzling, the young woman is diagnosed as clinically depressed. She claims it was a result of "work that wasn't getting done, bills that weren't getting paid, and a man I'd given my heart to weekending in the desert with his ex." Instead of drugs and psychotherapy she turns to nature to heal her wounds, to "fix her machine." She takes off with her two dogs and spends the night in a snow cave, she pushes herself to her limits on the cross country skis, she talks to her dogs, and in the end, she finds what she is looking for, Joy.

Each of the short stories in this book found a common link in my life. I am recently divorced from my last "Cowboy Weakness", and her hunting stories really hit home for me. My ex is both a cowboy and a redneck! I also found that Pam knows how to communicate her stories in a way that actually involves the reader, and gives them a sense of participation in it. Definetly a must have book for the library of any lady that has found herself in love with the "Cowboy" type of man!

Deep Sky Wonders is a collection of issues spanning several decades of the late Walter Scott Houston's monthly column in Sky and Telescope magazine. The noted astronomer and author Stephen James O'Meara organized Houston's writings by subject matter and further by month of optimal viewing for better readability. O'Meara also only edited the text for consistency in a couple places, so it remains Houston's work. I think he did an excellent job in the compilation. A section on any given constellation or deep sky object may contain excerpts from many of Houston's articles, yet O'Meara managed to make the transitions seamless and got the flow right.

I read this book over about a month and it was a most enjoyable experience. Houston's writing is superb, which is not surprising considering he held degrees in English. Also, his love and enthusiasm for amateur astronomy comes through better than in any work I've read so far barring perhaps Burnham's wonderful Celestial Handbook. Houston knows the sky and was an active observer right up to his death in 1993.

Both beginning and veteran observers will enjoy using this work to plan observing sessions, to check what interesting or challenging objects are up during a session, or to read in a comfortable setting on a night of no observing. I plan to take this book with me on every observing session. Highly recommended!

Walter Scott "Scotty" Houston is a name many astronomers know well. Author of the Sky & Telescope Deep Sky Wonders column from 1946 until his death in December of 1993. He was a passionate amateur astronomer to the end of his long life. Houston's last column appeared in Sky & Telescope in July 1994 issue, and since that time, amateurs have had to scour back issues to excavate Houston's gold mine of observational knowledge. Enter Stephen James O'Meara. O'Meara has been on the staff of Sky & Telescope magazine since the late 70's, and was editor of Houston's column from 1990 until his death. O'Meara began the compilation by working with photocopies of the nearly 550 individual columns spanning Houston's career. He sorted, organized, and collated each of the works and produced a chapter for each month of the year, into which he inserted Houston's colorful prose, descriptive history, and observational commentary. O'Meara begins each section with some light annotation, but most of the words in this book are Houston's, and as a collection, they jell beautifully into a seasonal observer's guide that challenge Burnham's for the sheer elegance and depth of feeling that emanates from the pages. Upon receiving the book, I quickly turned my attention to a few of my favorite deep sky objects and marveled at the timelessness of Houston's descriptive prose. Before I knew it I had been reading for over an hour and could have spent several more lost in the beauty of Houston's finely knit web of description, quotes from other authorities, and the words of his readers. An example from his description of NGC2403, a little known but beautiful galaxy in Camelopardis:

"My 4-inch Clark refractor shows it as a lovely gem. I logged it as an "ocean of turbulence and detail" as seen with a 10-inch reflector under dark Kansas skies in the 1950's. In 1992 I saw it with a 20-inch telescope from the Florida Keys - a view that transformed it into a hurricane of cosmic chaos." (pp 28-29)

O'Meara's compilation of Houston's works has quickly taken its place as one of my favorite cloudy night books. It is also a valuable resource for planning observing sessions. It's organization by month lends itself well to selecting some prime targets for easy observing, with a generous does of difficult challenges for the more adventurous. This book is destined to be an instant classic.

Loved this book!!! A wonderful addition to my collection! Anyone who loves Barbies will really enjoy this book!!!!

There are collectors' manuals and then there are guides that enthrall both beginners and experts. Beauregard Houston-Montogmery's "Designer Fashion Dolls" is that rarity. The author's knowledge of the doll world--from bisque to vinyl--is all-encompassing. His photos are a joy, and his text provides both insight and wit. Best of all, Houston-Montgomery clearly lives in the real world and demonstrates how each doll is the product of her own culture and times. This book belongs on every doll aficionado's bookshelf beside those heirloom NRFB Barbies.