Diana Dell has a talent for transporting the mind back in time and place - to the times that us baby boomers still remember with fondness. Her look backwards is also her way of dealing with the loss of her brother - without reminding us of that fact all the time. She has loving respect for her roots - her family and her neighborhood. She has captured those times and people and given us a snap shot of her heart as she grew up. The reader will find that they will get involved in all these people's lives that she introduces in the book. It is a book for both men and women to read. It makes a nice weekend reading journey as I have done this weekend.

Memories Are Like Clouds is a beautiful, evocative memory of the bucolic and misty 1950s in a small town in Pennsylvania. Diana Dell's love of Kenny, her younger brother, her family and her 'place' screams off the page. I found myself chuckling often and when not chuckling, a twinkle nestled in my eye side-to-side to a stray tear or a chill.
This is a story about a boy, a family, a town, and a time that comes alive in the present and says something meaningful to us.
Memories Are Like Clouds is a celebration of Kenny Dell, an All-American boy, a poignant toast to Kenny, the soldier and hero, and a song to the sacrifices of American soldiers heeding their country's call. We can pray their country exercises their love with wisdom.
Memories, like clouds, stir and churn. This book is a must-read that places history in context to the present. Bob Lupo, author, A Buffalo's Revenge; Extremities-4.

I enjoyed this book. The title is perfect for a work that snapshots growing up in a Polish community. My grandparents were Russian Jews (both sets) who came to America about 1912. Both my parents were born here. So much of the anecdotal tales of local characters, mom and pop shops, numbers running, close communities, mirrored so much of what I remember as a child. Overlaying the story and presented initially is the loss of a loved one in Viet Nam. This book relates how immigrant families sacrificed for their children encouraging their education that resulted in 2nd generation Doctors, Lawyers, Accountants etc. Its a wonderful book to read and struck many chords for me.

I'm able to find something I heartily disagree with in every childcare or child discipline book I read. Even in my favorites. But I thought my head was going to fall off I nodded so hard while reading this book. I used to hedge daily on discipline worrying I was "hurting" my kids too much when I had to enforce loss of privileges. This book made me see that all consequences are painful...they are supposed to be. But painful and harmful are not the same thing. Just because my child is temporarily unhappy, that doesn't mean she is permanently scarred. All growth is painful. The flip side to the advice is you should balance your enforcement of consequences with empathy, affection, and support. You are neither your child's enemy nor his friend. You are his parent.

I was able to immediately put the good advice to use right away and my family is so much more peaceful! Boundaries really are good for building character, increasing empathy, and as converse as it may sound, strengthening the relationship between you and your children. The authors are both psychotherapists and devout Christians. I thought the Christian bent might annoy me but the scriptures quoted were used sparingly and only enhanced the eloquence and relevance of the text.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to friends and relatives, Christian and secular. Buy this book and you will walk around thinking "I know which boundaries HIS/HER parents didn't enforce as a child." What an enlightening book!

This is the book you wish your parents had! But you can start today, with your own children. The authors first Boundaries book is my "best" book. It helped me tremenoudly with my own life. And from quality people, here is another book to help you help your kids set the best boundaries for their own life. We can't to it for them, they will make their own mistakes. But we can show them what good decision-making does and allow them to have consequences for their decisions. I can't say enough about this book. I wish I had found it years ago when my oldest two sons were children. You will really equip yourself with this book to be a loving, effective parent.

This book has helped my husband and I to not only be on the same page with our dicipline methods but also to really focus on how our 3 kids behaviors right now in the present will affect their future when they are on their own. It has helped us to set boundaries for them and is also teaching our kids to learn to set firm boundaries on their own with their lives. I had yet to find a book on raising children that is so clear and effective and really guides you through how to be an effective parent for the good of your kids future. I also highly recommend the book "Raising Great Kids" which is by the same authors.

I picked up this book about 1 week ago. It is a very easy read and moves quickly. The reader should not be intimidated by its 500+ pages because it moves very quickly. Being a Mahayana Buddhist, I was a little disappointed that it spoke very little of the Mahayana traditions, but it does give a wonderful overview of all schools of Buddhism. In short, I would reccomend the beautifully written book for anyone starting their Buddhist training. It provides from what I have been told a very accurate history of the Buddha and his teachings. The novel idea of having the story told from a follower who tends water buffalo's makes the book feel like a novel. YOU HAVE TO READ THIS BOOK!!!

If you are just begining to learn about Buddhism, this book will teach you a lot about the Buddha, his teachings, and his philosophy in a very straightforward, enjoyable, easy to read manner. It reads like a novel while being both scholarly and informative. I have also heard from Buddhist scholars that this book is a very accurate and reliable account of the life of the historical Buddha.

The authors used five sources (carefully annotated) to assemble a meaningful story line of the Buddha's life and teaching career. (The more abstruse philosophical discourses are mercifully omitted.) Buddha's biography is intelligently related from the standpoint of a relatively ordinary monk who first met the Buddha shortly after his enlightenment, has occasional contact with him throughout his monkhood, and is present at his death.

This is none of your "spiritual fiction" stuff. You can find all of these incidents in the Majjhima Nikaya, Digha Nikaya, and the Chinese Agamas, but Hanh's account is a heck of a lot more readable!. However, Hanh clearly puts his own interpretive spin on the circumstances of some of the stories (like monks fulfilling their responsibilities to others, before "homeleaving"). As you would expect from a zen author's perspective, the Buddha is NOT treated as a supernatural figure. Talented, kind, and wise, yes, but not supernatural.

Some of the grittier episodes are omitted, but Hanh makes clear that the Buddha's life was not free of practical difficulties that were human, so human.

I was surprised to find that this book is also a wonderful technical reference for meditation practice. My copy is full of marks to go back to again.

Remember when you were young and first discovered a favorite author or book? I remember I was nine and it was Agatha Christie. I read every single installment, and then I longed for the time when I hadn't discovered her, just to have that first-time pleasure all over again. I recall actually feeling a gritted-stomach jealousy of people who still had the chance to uncork the bottle and have that first delicious taste.

I feel that way again now about those of you who have yet to read Lisa Borders' Cloud Cuckoo Land. Miri (short for Miriam) Ortiz has everything you'd ever want in a protagonist. She's lovable, smart, flawed, authentic, and layered as an onion. Experiencing the twisting road she traverses, starting with her less-than- perfect childhood in Prairie Rose, Texas, means not only the discovery of unknown and resonant worlds (foster homes of varying degrees of heartbreak; street life, at turns shadowy and joyful; the Philadelphia music scene in the 1980s) but also an opportunity to know these worlds through Miri's compelling and wholly original viewpoint.

And then there's Borders' language. Oh. So often we read books that feel affected, too self-aware, "workshopped" to death. Borders' prose, on the other hand, is at turns skippingly light and hauntingly fragile. There are turns of phrase in these pages that make you have to run and tell somebody.

Maybe I should stop being jealous, though, because the best thing about Cloud Cuckoo Land might be the feeling the author leaves you with after the book is done. Even in the face of Miri's upheavals, Borders manages to uplift with a non-saccharine kind of hope. In scenes that hover and drift back into the mind long after the cover is closed, Borders restores one's faith in in the power of human connections -- wherever and however one finds them.

Cloud Cuckoo Land begins life as an engaging coming of age story, told in a fresh and authentic adolescent voice. It's impossible not to be drawn into young Miri's world as she describes her chaotic childhood, nonexistent father, irresponsible mother, and frequent moves. We're there with Miri as she finds a sane refuge with her grandmother in Texas, and there with her as that refuge is taken away. Unlike some coming of age novels, however, Cloud Cuckoo Land doesn't run out of steam as its heroine grows up. As Miri moves from child to homeless teenager to young woman finding her way as a musician, her voice stays strong and her journeys and struggles are painted just as vividly.

Some books seem to evoke their own soundtrack, and this is one of them, from an old Patsy Cline song heard from a passing Cadillac on a flat Texas highway to early REM drifting out of a diner at 5 a.m. on a grey, haunted Philadelphia morning.

Cloud Cuckoo Land is realistic fiction that isn't mundane. Like the mythical place recalled by its title, this beautifully written novel has a strange magic that can't really be defined; it's hard to categorize and just as hard to forget.

Author Lisa Borders' novel, CLOUD CUCKOO LAND, the winner of the prestigious Fred Bonnie Memorial Award for Best First Novel, will introduce its readers to a talented writer with a gift for portraying the depth of emotions stored in Miri's tumultuous journey through life. Miri,the protagonist,who s abandoned by her mother, makes her way from childhood through adolescence using her amazing singing voice as her tool for survival. Miri is a paradox in the roles she plays; sometimes passionately in love with Juan and making out on the beach, sometimes a mistress for Ian a fading Rock star, and finally sharing a life with Jamie, a Gay musician. CLOUD CUCKOO LAND will take you on an emotional Roller Coaster ride. I heartily recommend this book as a must read . . . it is in fact a "page turner."

The core plot of this book is a fun, entertaining romance. Seth is an understandably troubled hero and Pippa has some very real demons. I enjoyed the growing romantic chemistry between them.

The side plots are where this book stumbles. The story about his son works quite well and keeps this from being just another cookie-cutter book about a trouble boss saved by a charming assistant. What I found to be utterly gratuitous was the whole evil threats/bombing aspects. This seems to be a real trend in 1990's romances. It seems to be something of a cop-out when the really tough thing to write about is the growth of the relationship.

Bottom-line: A pleasant read but not a book I'll be keeping or lending to friends.

This was my first book by this author and I will definitley be going to pick up more.

Pippa had a positive outlook on everything even with all the demons she was fighting in her life. Her mother died of cancer, she lost her job, and she had an abusive boyfriend. Even with all that, she came out on top. She was humorous and loveable at the same time. Her relationship with Chad was heartwarming and I loved how she dealt with Seth!

Seth was a total recluse who didn't know what to make of this whirlwind that blew through his life and ruined his routine. He definitley desired her but he wasn't sure what else he felt for her.

The end of the book was thoroughly enjoyable and very satisfying. Do not miss this book!!

I loved this story. The characters are very believable with idiosyncrasies that make them just a little different from the mainstream story. I liked the humor that Pippa displays in almost every circumstance, yet her underlying distrust of men (with good reason) is seen in her relationship with Seth. With her unfailing humor she changes the attitude of almost all of the people who live in this little town especially Seth and his son Chad.

I can't wait to get my hands on more of her contempory stories.

This book was about a girl named Abby Hayes. She doesn't feel as good as her two perfect sisters and her genius brother. She feels left out and wishes she could change. Her many struggles make her a stonger person each day. She collects calanders and loves to write. She also wants to be a professional soccer player, but everyone is telling her different ways to play while she wants to learn on her own. It is very hard for her and she wants everyone to leave her alone. In her diary you can find out how everything goes in her new fifth grade year as she comes upon new challenges.

Abby Hayes feels alone and different in her perfect family. Her mother and father both have really hard jobs that Abby doesn't understnd, her 6 year-old brother is a genius, and her "Super Sibs" are twins who always fight and are exact opposites: one's athletic, one's academicly top of her class. And she is a "frizzy red-haired nobody." She strongly believs she is adopted.
As the book flashes back in and out of Abby's journal you learn that she loves to write, her best friends are Jessica and Natalie, she HATES Brianna and Bethany, who are best friends and big pests. You also find that Abby desperatly wants to become a soccer star so she can be in the "Hayes Book Of World Records." Plus her super sib Eva (the athletic one) has never played soccer. Will Abby make it through as a soccer champ? You'll just have to read to find out! ;)

I would give the book The Amazing Days of Abby Hayes #1 five stars. My favorite part in the book is when Abby writes in her diary and talks about her life. In her diary she says that she wants to be a soccer player and how her brother is a genius. Anne Mazer the author of the book is a very good writer. She makes the story interesting. When she talks about the characters she makes it sound like they are real people. I love to read her books and I hope you will to.

I have always loved Star Wars. I was a little ifish about reading the books thinking it wouldn't be as good. How wrong was I. It was cool how Jacen fell off of Cloud City. A very nice touch.his return was also interesting. It was nice how Tenel Ka can be so different when in mourning over her thought to be dead friend. It made her seem more real. If you don't like this book you must be crazy! And that is a fact!

In this one, Anja and the Jedi go to Cloud City, and something happens to Lando's friend and partner, Cojahn. The book is about how the young Jedi goabout solving it. It was completely suspenseful. I really thought Jacen was going to die. And it's about time that they admit Tenel Ka is in love with Jacen and vice versa. That's one of the main things I read the book for. Anyway , if you haven't readthis yet, then you're missing out on something REALLY great!

Trouble on cloud city is an awesome continuation of the young Jedi Knights books. The way Kevin and Rebecca describe the character's feelings is what truly makes this book come alive. It brings out all of the subtle emotions that Tenel Ka feels towards Jacen and lets us know that deep down she really cares for him. This book is a must have and an excellent action packed read.

The author, William Elliot is someone you might know, the boy living next door, who went away to the University, whose parents died when he was young, someone who was raised by loving parents, that is, until they died when he was a teen. He keeps alive the values and love his parents showed him but he is searching for something. He is looking for meaning - meaning to their death and his loss. He was a psychology major at the University of Wisconsin when he conceived of interviewing the "wise and spiritual" people who are alive today. His method was deceptively simple ... he sought answers to 25 - 30 questions that might unlock the secrets to his dilemma. Questions such as, "What is the meaning or purpose of life?" "Do you believe in G-d or Ulitmate Reality?" "Why is there suffering, evil in the world? and What is its cause?" "What is important to you?" "What are the three most important problems in life?" He was dissuaded from pursuing this endeavor, to write a book about his conversation with the "wise and spiritual" people whom he interviewed. He overcame challenges and obstacles to interview the people on his list, all the while holding firmly to his goal. He met and interviewed: His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Ram Dass, Norman Vincent Peale, Robert Schuller, Jean Houston, Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, Rabbi Harold Kushner, psychologist Albert Ellis, psychologist B.F. Skinner, Pir Vilayat Khan, Frances Vaughn, Stephen Levine and even Mother Theresa. He interviewed a total of 21 high-profile persons deemed 'wise and spiritual' by modern standards. The author does not interpret the answers for us, instead he writes out the answers given to him by each person interviewed. In some cases, he writes an introduction prior to the interview, letting the reader know how he managed to get an appointment or interview with the "important" person or else he describes some interesting event or circumstance concerning the interview. He seldom makes a judgement about the person or what they said ... his writing style is matter-of-fact and straight forward. This style of writing makes the book a valuable and worthwile reading experience. It is as if, you, yourself, decided what questions to ask and took the time to write out the answers, sometimes, in utter amazement, that you snagged the interview with his or her eminence ... The author also made a trek to Nepal to meditate and visit one of the most spiritual climates and areas of the world. We learn of his experiences and interactions with people he met there. This book is recommended for anyone who has any interest in spirituality or has read any book by the persons whom the author interviewed. It can be said the author found the truth which he was seeking ... Erika B. (erikab93)

William Elliot is a brave soul who had the naive courage to approach some of the greatest philosophers and spiritual leaders of our times to gain their perspective on the meaning of life. Remarkably, he gained access to a number of these prophets, who answered his questions in a thoughtful and decidedly heartfelt manner. There is much to provoke thought and inspire action in these pages. As drawn as I was to the book, eager to move from interview to interview, I found I needed to pace myself to better absorb what I was reading. Sometimes I felt my heart sing with the joy of hearing the expression of a kindred spirit. Other times, my desire to be compassionate and respect the beliefs of all felt challenged by the expressions of people with a greatly divergent perspective. Both experiences were of great benefit to me. The wonder of this book, outside the fact that it even came to be, is the engaging narrative Elliott weaves through the interviews. In his unabashedly honest, touching, and humorous, style, Elliott wryly observes that the path to "knowing" can be a twisted and never ending journey of delightful surprises. Travel along with him, you won't be disappointed.

William Elliott's writing style is easily read. The story of years and years of travels focuses on those interviewed and telling their story in such a way as to bring many interviews into a perspective for the reader's appreciation of what Elliott's life has been about -- all a well-woven fabric. His objective stays well-centered. That gave me a real sense in reading this most interesting book about various religous leaders and her/his successful living out their dedication. Elliott has indicated his next one is on experiences of 40 days in the desert in looking at how Jesus did his forty days there two centuries ago. I am excitedly looking for it to show on the market.

Luke Howard was an amateur in the true sense of the word; Luke Howard named the clouds for the love of them. Richard Hamblyn does a fine job telling the story of Luke Howard's life, his naming of the clouds, and Howard's milieu in the book The Invention Of Clouds. Howard, a Quaker and a pharmacist, went from unknown working man to celebrity when he presented his paper "On The Modifications Of Clouds" to the Askesian Society in London on a night in December of 1802. The paper had the right combination of insights, poetry, and luck to insure that the terms cirrus, stratus, cumulus, and nimbus [or derivatives] are still being used by meteorologists today. Hamblyn's weave of biography, history, art, and science was enjoyable to read and held together most of the time [Chapter 10: The Beaufort Scale was not as well connected to book as the rest of the material]. The hardback is such a beautiful and unusual book, I shelved my copy, waited for the paperback to read it, and then donated the paperback to the high school library. I highly recommend The Invention Of Clouds to anyone with an interest in meteorology, history, Quakerism, or biography.

"The Invention of Clouds" is an endearing little book about a generally forgotten moment in the history of science. It seems obvious to us today but until Englishman Luke Howard, a chemist with an interest in the then-young science of meteorology, gave a public lecture on cloud classification in London in 1802, nobody had been able to categorize cloud formations in an easily-understood and consistent manner. The terms we take for granted-cumulus, cirrus, stratus and so forth-were applied by the 30 year-old Howard for the first time. He drew upon his classical education to find suitable Latin names for what he termed "the modifications of clouds." He understood that clouds pass through stages and in his lecture he described the changes they underwent. His audience understood immediately the importance of his lecture and it was published soon afterwards to great acclaim.

Luke Howard became famous throughout the world. It is clear that he must have viewed this with mixed feelings. As a modest Quaker, he did not seek celebrity but as a scientist he was undoubtedly proud of his accomplishment. It is a beautiful achievement. By naming that which was ever-present but unnamed, Luke Howard helped forge the language of meteorology and provided some of the most important tools for weather observation and forecasting. His Latin names speak to the universality of climate and his detractors, who felt that the classifications should have been in English, were soon silenced. The book describes the reaction of artists as well. On the one hand, there were those who believed that clouds, as objects of great natural beauty and a symbol of freedom, would lose something by being systematically classified, as if they were species of beetles, but others, including the painter Constable, used the classification of the clouds as a basis for their art. The great genius of the period, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, completely enchanted by Luke Howard's work and personality, dedicated a series of marvellous poems to him, with each stanza based on one of the new cloud-forms.

But even having poetry dedicated to you by Goethe is not enough to claim enduring fame. Luke Howard seems to have lived a quiet existence, marked by some success in business and a happy family life. He died at the age of 91, remembered fondly by only his relatives. Richard Hamblyn, in writing this book, must have struggled to develop enough material as it appears that the lecture of 1802 was the high point of Luke Howard's scientific life and his attention was then taken up more by commerce and religious issues. Mr. Hamblyn gives us a history of the earlier attempts to define clouds, reaching back to Aristotle. He throws in the story of the Beaufort Wind Scale, which was inspired by but not as readily-accepted as Luke Howard's cloud system. He deals with the subsequent amendments to the cloud classifications and we learn of the International Meterological Conference and its winsomely-named Cloud Committee, which was to produce the International Cloud Atlas.

All very interesting, but it is in the sections about Luke Howard and his contemporaries, fascinated by the rapid progress in science at the end of the 18th Century, where the book is most alive. Richard Hamblyn ably paints a picture of London's crowded lecture halls where science was popular culture, of dangerous experiments and fantastic personalities. Men of brilliant and adventurous minds, often denied higher education due to their religion, could look into the future and stake a claim. The author, in sharing Luke Howard's triumph with us, has written an elegant work brimming with enthusiasm.

This oddly shaped (5.5 inches tall by 8 inches long) historical volume deftly captures the societal context and impact of pharmacist Luke Howard's classification of cloud types in the early 1800s. Hamblyn, a British historian of geophysical sciences, superbly limns the self-improving scientific ethos of Howard's Quaker working-class milieu. This portion of the book is excellent history, not just excellent history of science. However, the center of the book does not quite hold: Howard and the invention of his cloud scheme can be covered in far fewer than 403 pages. The last quarter of The Invention of Clouds strays farther and farther from the title, e.g., with a diverting chapter on the Beaufort wind scale. Hamblyn's failure to fully examine Howard's classification scheme in light of modern cloud observations will frustrate meteorologists. Even more frustrating for the general reader is the lack of any cloud photographs--despite the fact that the design of the book is perfect for landscape-oriented plates. Nevertheless, Hamblyn's prose brings Luke Howard, his time, and his clouds to life for the first time, a praiseworthy accomplishment. Suitable for most readers; the meteorology is explained at the introductory level.

Sector Seven

Sector Seven, by David Wiesner, is a story of how a little boy learns to use his creativity to give back to the world his own dreams and fantasies. On one cloudy day, a little boy goes on a school field trip to the Empire State Building. There he meets a fantastic cloud creature who takes him on a wild adventure to a cloud factory in the sky called Sector Seven. While on his adventure, he uses his talent for drawing to inspire the clouds in the sky to make their own perceptions and realities. What the author has done is to tell in a children's story how in our lives we have the power, if we choose, to make an impact on others. He encourages readers take their different talents and ideas and share them with the world to make a change; to learn from the perspectives of others and allow them to learn from ours. Overall, Sector Seven is done very well. Since this book is a wordless picture book, the illustrations have to carry the narrative of the story, which it does nicely. I thought that the illustrations could have used a little more color; the illustrator used mostly shades of gray and blue. However, I would guess that the author wants to give the impression of a "cloudy day," and from this perspective, the colors fit the plot of the story. The illustrations of the factory scenes are a bit confusing because the illustrator places the pictures of the main characters on top of other scenes within the factory. Since the effect produces the sensation of several actions happening simultaneously, the story is sometimes hard to follow. I understood the author's intention of this book much better after reading the introduction within the jacket cover. I would suggest to any person who is reading this book, to look at this introduction before going on to the rest of the story. You will have much clearer perception of the direction in which David Wiesner is trying to take Sector Seven.

This is yet another great book by author/illustrator David Wiesner. This is a story about a boy who goes on a field trip to the Empire State Building. As a result of complete cloud cover the boy makes friends with a unique character, a cloud. The cloud takes the boy to "Sector 7" where all clouds are made by boring, uninspired beings. The boys spices things up by creating factastic shapes for the clouds. The boy is kicked out of Sector 7 by those beings who do not appreciate his artistic ability. After the boy is gone the clouds revolt and what follows is a delight for the eyes! This almost wordless picture book stretches the imagination and keeps you guessing page after page about what you will see next.

David Wiesner's Sector 7 illustrates an artistic young boy's adventure on a school field trip to the Empire State Building, where he meets a "friendly cloud-man." The "friendly cloud-man" takes the boy to "Sector 7," (the place where clouds are formed and placed around the globe). The boy uses his talents to give the unhappy clouds an eye-opening makeover. Wiesner's illustrations create an expressive story. His detailed pictures work together to make the story understandable and interesting. To enhance the mood and atmosphere of the story, Wiesner uses the choice of bold, friendly watercolors and unique frames throughout the book. The frames are presented in chronological order either top to bottom, left to right, or back to front. Sector 7 gives the reader's mind a chance to unwind and expand beyond its imaginable limits. It is definitely a book that will attract those of all ages and test their imagination.