You won't believe this, but this collection of sermons is a real page turner. I started it with a plan to read one essay a day for my devotional. Instead, I quit reading the fine fiction book I was halfway through and devoured Bread of Angels, reading long past my bedtime every night. The sermons are funny and touching, challenging yet encouraging. I'm now looking at old Bible stories in a new way, finding deeper meaning and real help for life. I'm going to buy copies to give to family and friends. Pick up a copy of Bread of Angels. It will feed your soul in ways you never expected.

Barbara Brown Taylor is a captivating preacher! This book of sermons gives the reader a new way to think about age-old topics (as with her other books). This is the perfect way to start the day!

Barbara Brown Taylor has an amazing gift which she share freely in this book and her others. I like to think of her as a preachers preacher. Being a preacher myself, I learned to read and listen to sermons with a critical and often unfair ear. So, a sermon must be really, really good to escape criticism. The sermons in this book are that good. What makes them so wonderful. Barbara Brown Taylor has a unique way of looking at the text. She compares the fierey furnace story to a Tom Clancy movie, She compares mana in the wilderness to gritts, and she retells the Christmas story is a beautiful and touching way without being sappy. This book is great for preachers looking for uniques stories and angles. It is also good devotional type reading for those who's preaching is done through living life.

For some odd reason, this has to be one of my favorite editions of Andrew Lang's collection. I'm not sure why. But as always, we get a good, varying dose of excellent fairy tales from different countries, bettered by the fact that these tales are little known. So, yep, I recommend this for all collectors and those who just plain love a good fairy tale.

A Beautifully illustrated collection of fairy tales from different cultures, its refreshing to read tales that aren't just european. When I first bought it I was very disappointed that they weren't the traditional French, German, and English fairy tales but after reading them I found them to be compelling and beautiful. These tales are imaginative, strange, beautiful, wistful, and gorgous. The illustrations are wonderful, they stand in a class of their own. Modern illustrators should use them as inspiration.

It is hard to write reviews for Lang's fairy tale books which are as unique as each collection. The Brown Fairy Book once again has tales from many cultures. Included tales are: How Some Wild Animals Became Tame Ones, Story of the King Who Would Be Stronger Than Fate, The Mermaid and the Boy, The Sister of the Sun, Which Was The Foolishest?, and many others. I always enjoy the illustrations, too, although some children are disappointed they are black and white drawings.

For a toddler's book about shapes, this book packs a lot! There are bright colors, a clever discovery story in which our rabbit hero finds packages inside packages, and words that are fun to say (e.g., "Whoosh" and "Curly-wurly"). There's even some droll humor as Rabbit is described as "rabbit-shaped!" Along the way, kids will see examples of a rectangle, an oval, a circle, a square, as well as a tube and other interesting shapes. Nice bright colors and a warm, soft-looking bunny make this 21-page book a winner!

I bought six of the paperback rabbit books for my 22 month old
daughter and she loves them. The little rabbits are so cute
and the author is very creative in the way he integrates learning
concepts into the plot of the stories. These books are definite
winners at a reasonable price.

A beautiful concept book with a very likable character. The text and illustrations go well together, making the whole book comprehensible for young readers eager to learn.

After reading # 1 and #2, my opinion is that the editor maintained the same level of excellence in her selection of works, which is not always easy to achieve as the example of Suzy Bright's once-great Best American Erotica series has proven recently. It is a delight to read erotica that is fleshed out (no pun intended), and the pieces in this collection truly work as stories even when they are not overly sexual, as do some of the better selections in Maxim Jakubowski's Mammoth Book series (I'm thinking of THE DRESS, CUCKOO, THE NAUGHTY YARD, THE STORY OF NO, and so on). There are some big names in this one, Zane, Nelson George, Tananarive Due, Timmothy B. McCann, Shay Youngblood; and some returning favorites who are even better the second time around, Leone Ross and Preston L. Allen. Leone hinted in BS # 1 that she had a kinky side, but in this one she leaves no doubt that she is a straight up freak. Preston manages again to tell a story that is both captivating and stimulating.

Brown Sugar 2 lives up to the same high standards set by the first Brown Sugar anthology. It's smart and sexy - each story stimulates the mind and body. I especially loved "Sit" for it's unpredictable and delicious ending.

Brown Sugar 2 is an erotic tribute to one night stands. Tales from notable authors, such as Zane, Tananarive Due, Bernice McFadden, Nelson George, and Timmothy McCann, give the reader different views and insights as to why people have one night stands. From loneliness, to loss of a loved one, to just wanting to have sex with "no strings attached", this book has it all and explains the motivations as well as the actual act of one night stands.

Although a work of fiction, the book is so graphic and vivid, the stories and characters come to life. In addition, Brown Sugar 2 is highly erotic and conveys the message that a one night stand can be erotic, therapeutic, and at times necessary. I highly recommend this book to any one who enjoys erotica, as well as any one who is just looking for a good read.

Reviewed by Latoya Carter-Qawiyy
The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

While preparing for my licensing exam, I read this book from cover to cover. It addresses every principle of retracement (sequential and simultaneous conveyances), public lands, and riparian issues thoroughly. The highlighted "principle" at the heading of each new topic makes remembering the main points simple. I can honestly say that every question on the NCEES exam that dealt with general principles and practice was answered in this book. I passed on my first sitting, and this book was one of the main reasons why. If you can only study one reference, this is it. Every practicing surveyor should also refer to it regularly.

This is the definitive work on boundary control. Technicians preparing for the SIT and PLS tests should own this book.

This is a must own book for Land Surveyors, or Survey technicians.

The year is 2025 and a Government Plage is let loose that kills Yuppies, well some turn into human flesh eating Zombies. They continue their lives driving their BMW's and of course having Yuppie dinner parties. They are now called Yombies.

The Bubbas aren't infected and it's because of their preference for pork rinds, twinkies, spam, cheap Bar-b-Q sauce with meat cooked outdoors and of course cheap beer. No fancy foreign beer or cheese for these guys and gals just the real stuff.

Hillarious moments and some that are just downright funny if y'all have any bubba bones in your body. A few that have a higher gross factor.

To have taken on the task of outlining the basics of the story and then hand it out to various author to put their own twisted Bubba minds to work. Selina Rosen should be give a big hand, Yombie of course.

You cannot read this book without laughing. The world has come to an end, and the only folks left to look after it are not necessarily the folks who care. Meet Bubbas with an itch to plug aliens. Zombies with a taste for human flesh. A wild and crazy riot of a time.
Definately a cult classic of a collection.

Actually, there should be a four and a half star rating available. The poem didn't work for me and one or two stories just missed being gems. The reader needs to be warned that the humor in this book is not tea-sippin'-dainty-pinky-in-the-air smile but gut laughs about bodily functions and outrageous points of view. The basic premise of the collection is that a plague virus, Yuppie 25, has killed or made zombies of everyone except Bubbas (who were immune because of their frequent ingestion of a generic barbeque sauce). More fun than an SUV full of yuppie zombies.

Based on the "Arthur" episode by the same name, "Buster Baxter, Cat Saver" teaches a lesson, but at the same time includes humor that escalates to greater and greater levels throughout the story. When Buster "rescues" a cat from a tree, he at first denies that it was an act of heroism; he just happened to be in the right place at the right time. As more and more attention starts be heaped on him, he starts to really get into being a hero, even starting a script for his own television series, which he states will be "edutainment." ("It's supposed to be a combination of entertainment and education, but often ends up being the worst of both.") When he starts trying to get the Brain to do his homework and being otherwise pompous, his friends start hatching schemes to try to bring his eager down to size. This is one bunny, though, who isn't so easily swayed.

My class of first graders loved this story. This story hasfunny things happen to the characters. Arthur is upset because Busterthinks he is better than everyone. This story has many plots and mysteries as Buster's friends try to show him that he is not as brave as he thinks. It is easy to read and easy to follow, but NOT BORING!

My 7-year old daughter (2nd grade) loves this entire series of books. When she was younger (up to kindergarten) she loved the "adventure" series of Arthur books. We made the transition to the chapter books because they have so much more story to them. They were perfect at the age where I would just read them to her, and by now we're at the point where she reads them to me. We have LOTS of books, but no others have held her interest as well across these stages. Fantastic value for the money. I automatically buy each new chapter book as they're released.

Rochelle Brown has captured the essence of these chefs and along with the wonderful photography of Michel Arnaud, she has really written an amazing book. It is so great to catch a glimpse of some of the behind the scenes action...This is the perfect gift for the food lover in your life. I bought it for my mom - she loved it!

This book is a must for all serious foodies, working in the food world I thought I knew most of the backgrounds of the great chefs noted here, ah! but I still learned more about them. The recipes are top notch, and must be tried. The beautiful shots of each chef can be framed they are so well done, capturing each personality. This is a book that the reader will go back to again and again if not for the recipes then to reread the stories.

The Chef, The Story and the Dish is one of the most interesting cookbooks I've read (and used!) in a long time. It not only has great recipes by some of my favorite chefs, but there's great background stories and pictures of each of them. I just had a dinner party and made 5 dishes from the book -- it was a huge hit!!!!! And I love the way she writes about the chefs. It's clear she knows them all personally. I'd love to be a fly on the wall for her next book!

I ran across this book when looking for Christmas books to read to my son. This is a wonderful book that tells the story of Christ's birth with vivid illustration that reflect us as African-Americans. Easy read for the young reader and reading aloud (as we did before we opened gifts). With delightful illustration for everyone as well.

My two year old son loves looking at the pictures in this book. The baby looks so real. I was pleased to find a book that is simple enough for a 2 year old to enjoy it and so beautiful that an adult will love reading it as well. My son especially likes the picture of the lovely mother gazing down at her child. Although the art work and Wise's poetry are what make the book enjoyable, the fact that the characters are people of color make this book a must have for our family. Because it seems very unlikely that Jesus was a blonde with blue eyes, I want to present images of a more colorful Jesus to my son. I also appreciate the depiction of many wise men from the East, not just 3.

I borrowed this book from the public library and found that it took my breath away. Author Margaret Wise Brown has done many of what are now considered classics such as RUNAWAY BUNNY,LITTLE ISLAND and GOODNIGHT MOON has one more to add to her collection. The illustrations by Cooper are amazing. The realistic pictures of the newborn baby (which remind me so much of my own sons when they were that small)in the manger are very moving. Some narrow-minded people may be put off by the fact that the main characters are African American and the book "appears" to be depicting the Holy family, although Brown's text does not actually indicate this. I also find it ironic that two different online bookstores that I went to for this title do not actually have the cover displayed. The illustrations depicting angels are absolutely gorgeous. I took the book to work to share it with my co-workers who would appreciate it and they agreed with me. I was very reluctant to take it back because I knew I would not be able to have it over the Christmas holiday. I just have to have this book for my personal collection to share with my two sons. This book celebrates the miracle of life and the joy of two parents gazing upon their son with hopes for the future. I hope this book wins an ALA (Caldecott or Coretta Scott King) award or awards this year.

The reviewer below gives a pretty good summary of the book's contents, so I'll just add my two bits about its quality. C&WT is well-done, balanced, and readable. The author relates the ideas of leading Christian and non-Christian thinkers in a clear style, interjecting his own thoughtful viewpoint with about the right frequency. He treats readers with respect, but has mercy on those of us who find a lot of philosophical discourse a bit esoteric by explaining terms and concepts. None of the book is boring, (to me) because Brown engages his subjects with respect and interest -- this is not an archeological dig in quaint DWM thought. Nor is the book a long editorial. When the author gives his opinion, he sets it clearly apart, and it is cogent and reasonable. Brown not only shows the awesome breadth of knowledge that such an undertaking requires -- charting the ideas of great and famous thinkers from 500 B. C. to 1800 in a single complex story -- he also demonstrates good taste and judgement in dealing with thinkers of such widely differing views and personalities. I appreciated, for example, his rehabilitation of Descartes, the brackets he puts around Hume, his discussion of Pascal, and so on. It seems to me he deals with them all pretty fairly, though of course this book is no substitute for the originals. I hope volume II is as good.

It would be unfair to complain that the book is too narrow in scope. But it may encourage an attitude among Western Christians that I think is. Brown seems to envision "the West" almost hermetically sealed fomm the rest of the world. (As do so many Christians.) For instance, Brown seems to go along with the convention that the Greeks started philosophy too readily. But weren't the Pythagoreans roughly a school of Advetic thought beamed over from India? And don't the Vedas, the Hundred Schools of Zhou-era China, and so on, also have claims to originating philosophy? Or more pertinently -- how about the Wisdomm literature of the Old Testament? What is needed now that Christianity is no longer primarily a Western religion is to connect Christian thought to its roots in world rather than Western (Greek) tradition alone. Can we hope for a volume three in the series?

author, Jesus and the Religions of Man

Colin Brown covers, in this text, philosophy, philosophical movements, ideas, people, etc. from the Ancient world to the Age of Enlightenment. Brown begins by discussing the pre-Socratics then he moves into the Milesians, Pythagoreans, Heraclitus, Parmenides, and Socrates as well as the Sophists. He then directs his attention toward a more detailed account of Plato and Aristotle. All the usual basic philosophies are covered. For instance, Plato's "Cave" analogy for the theory of forms, Plato's theory on the soul and Immortality, etc. Regarding Aristotle, logic, physics, metaphysics, and the unmoved mover are all delineated. In this first part, the one thing I liked most about this text was the fact that Brown covered Greek philosophy and the Gospel (NT period). Brown discusses Philo, John's Gospel, Hebrews, and Paul in relation to Greek philosophy. He draws a nice sharp distinction between the NT and Greek philosophy. From here Brown covers the Church Fathers of the first three or so centuries, the influences of neo-platonism, and gnosticism, and then describes trends which are occurring in philosophy during this period and on into the Medieval period. All the important philosophers of the Medieval period and on into the Reformation are discussed (at least to some degree). From here, Brown discusses the philosophical trends that lead into the age of enlightenment; Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz, Pascal, Hobbes, Deism, Locke, Berkeley, Hume, Kant, Edwards, Voltaire, Rousseau, and even the quest for the historical Jesus are covered. I must also mention that in the later Reformation period, Brown discusses the philosophies of the Jesus Society (Molina, Suarez) and those who responded to them (Banez, etc.). So, as you can see from this quick description, Brown covers alot in nearly 450 pages. The book is very easy to read, and works as a nice intro text to the history of philosophy during this time frame. In fact, the second volume, is already available (IVP) here at Amazon; it carries the same title but is Volume 2 and is written by Steve Wilkens and Alan Padget. If you are looking for a nice and broad intro to philosophy text written by a Christian philosopher, then this is a good one to add to your collection.

The 19th century is profiled in a sequel to the first volume on the topic: this following the story of interactions between Christianity and philosophy through the changing world of the 1800s. Chapters consider Hegel and Marx, Darwin's influence, and the social and political changes which influenced Christianity's progress. An excellent survey.