Read this book and then read Douglas Layton's My Father's Kingdom.
These two books go hand in hand with one another.
Rice Broocks presents a compelling argument on why and how
the saints should go into places that no one has ever gone
before. Rice presents a modern *Acts* story of how nations
are being changed today and thus provides a sort of a telescopic view
of what has happened where Acts closes and
what has been continuing to happen NOW. Although this is book
concentrates on the movement that Rice is involved in, it still
presents a great challenge to those would like to follow in
the footsteps of the Apostle Paul. Considering what Apostle
Paul accomplished in an era without satellites, email or jet
travel, Rice provides an answer (and also possibilities) to the question
at the back of peoples' minds : "What would the Apostle Paul accomplish
if he was living today". The last paragraph sums it all up for the would-be
reader - the end-time army is not going to be composed of wannabe
spiritual superstars but a multitude of faceless
unknowns who are anointed and apointed.
Read this at your own risk.
This could ruin your life for the better.
Readers of Rice first book "Change the Campus, Change the World"
will be familiar with his thesis : the campus is where it's at!
This books is a good summary of what has happened since he wrote
the first book and how valid his original thesis was.
Every CP should have this as a handy reference of what can be
possible.

Rice Brooks lays out what all generations of Christians have been mandated to do. His challenge will we do in this generation, what past generations have not? It is my prayer that if you read this entry you would catch the vision of what has been wrote in this book.

Rice Broocks lays out a theological, but also very practical, strategy for the church to reach today's generation and transform society for generations to come. Having years of campus ministry experience and a apostolic vision, Rice Broocks is uniquely qualified to address the issues that will move the church dramatically forward in the 21st century.
I highly recommend this future classic.

I wish this author would put pen to paper again - this book was a joy to read; succinct, apposite and conversational in tone. Brilliant!

Books give idia opn core technology on exchange. I am happy that this book will not for paper passing orientation

I am a Microsoft Certified Trainer and had the pleasure of sitting in on one of the authors presentaions. I expect the technical content of the book will be first rate. This should also be an easy read if half of her sense of humor translates well into print.

I am looking forward to the release of the book.

The older generation of Chicano writers have mostly written about California, Arizona, New Mexico, and west Texas. However, a little-known area of Texas, the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, has been virtually ignored. David Rice helps to fill this void. In his collection of short stories, Give the Pig a Chance & Other Stories, Rice breaks "el Valle" wide open. Like the Valley he writes about, these stories have such a wonderful variety. In "Lucía's Last Curse," my favorite of them all, the reformed bruja, witch-woman, Lucía tries to atone for her past of curses and evil by healing a young man from some mysterious ailment. The outcome is a complete surprise. While the magical realism in this story is reminiscent of the fiction of Gabriel García Márquez or Kathleen Alcalá, the setting of the Valley makes it wholly unique. Another story, "In the Canal," reads like Rodriguez's independent film, El Mariachi, not to be confused with Desperado, the outrageous follow-up starring Antonio Banderas. Both Rodriguez's film and Rice's story capture the border violence and senseless death that Mexican-Americans living along the border are so familiar with. However, Rice improves upon the theme by making his "drogistas," drug-dealers very human, and uncomfortably familiar. Like Raymond Carver or Dagoberto Gilb, this author's greatest strength is his ability to capture the profound in the mundane. In the ambiguously titled "Give the Pig a Chance," a character named Carlos accidentally runs over his cousin's pet pot-bellied pig. Carlos's effort to win his cousin's forgiveness takes on a deeper meaning as he pleads, "Just give me a chance." Thankfully, Bilingual Press gave this young Tejano writer a chance. This is the first book in what will be a long and brilliant literary career. I am glad I saw it happen, and eagerly await his next book.

If you want to get a real taste of the Rio Grande Valley, you must read this book. It would fit just as well in the cultural anthropology section of a bookstore. I, too, lived in the Valley (La Blanca, Texas to be exact - just 2 miles from Edcouch.) and I can relate to everything Mr. Rice writes. He captures the culturally laden thinking processes that we all learned so well early in our lives. He effectively exposes the innocent, yet seemingly bizarre world that many of us felt shame over or simply chose to push out of our identity. Rice courageously relives these experiences. Quite an achievement. His work will undoubtedly inspire more writings from the imaginative minds coming out of "el valle" and begin to uncover the untapped treasure that is the Rio Grande Valley. Much credit goes to the author for giving the reader a unique and rare glimpse into a place and culture that is much written about by non-Valleyites and often misrepresented or misunderstood. I could not help but think of Steinbeck's work as I read through this book. Rice has an exceptional ability to draw the reader into his world.

I read some of his work for my English 4 CP class, I enjoyed it. It depicted Valley life - its beauty and innocence. I liked this book alot because it described the home I have lived in for about 6 years. I also met this author after reading this book, he showed an eccentric side to him. a very open and intelligence person. I give this book 5 stars mainly because it is the only book that I've read that truly shows the Valley and all its splendors. From Sapos to Tortillas.

Master the Grill the Lazy Way?? How can you grill in any manner other than the hard, hot, messy way? By reading this book!! Grilling is made as simple and clear as possible and is interspersed with humor, quick timely tips, do's and don'ts - It's the best cookbook I have had in my hands (and I have a TON of them) in a long time - you can actually sit down and read it - not just skim thru it. Worth EVERY PENNY!!!!

I'm 19 years old, I have to say that Laziness has become a true way of life for me. I got my copy of "Master the Grill the Lazy Way" yesterday afternoon, and it's already become my cooking bible. The book itself is absolutely histerical, and the recipes are remarkable -- both tastey and easy. The writers are truely fantastic people, and I aspire to be as Lazy as they are some day.

I was fortunate to read the introduction to this book - its funnier than hell! The recipes have to be good, too - read it, I'm sure you will be glad you did!

I have found nearly every book in the "Little Colonel" series, some being first editions. I prefer the older editions, despite the numerous "racial slurs," because they are the product that the author intended to present. I have heard from various sources that the later editions have been revised, removing the colloquiallisms and unifying Lloyd's speech patterns and mannerisms with those of the other characters. I call this a shame. Obviously, no harm was meant by the author when she portrayed the African-American servants as she did, and reading Lloyd say, "...honah," rather than "honor" paints a lot more colorful picture of her character. In rating this series, I must declare it a "must read" for both boys and girls. The morals and lessons are invaluable, and would be a refreshing balm for the wounds today's youth are suffering from, even at the youngest age. I do believe if I had read the tale of "The Three Weavers," as told in "The Little Colonel At Boarding School," MY life would have been touched, sparing me much grief in later years. So, parents, grandparents, caring adults, find these literary jewels and READ them with a child. Their lives and yours will be the richer for it.

My mother was born in 1896, She read all the Little Colonel books and read them to me. I read them to my children and grandchildren and now have a greatgranddaughter who will get my old old and dearly loved copies.These books teach a love of classics as well as good moral values, plus,providing interesting stories.

I have a complete set of the Little Colonel books that my mother accumulated for me over a period of years in the 1940's, when they were already long out of print. A classic Shirley Temple movie of the late 1930's (I think) was based on the first book, but I enjoyed the later ones even more. I am delighted to see them reissued after all these years. Lloyd Sherman and the other characters introduced in the later books (The Little Colonel's House Party and succeeding titles) were almost as real to me, when I was 8 to 12 years old, as my own friends. My favorite character was not Lloyd herself, who seemed overprivileged and a little too perfect, but Elizabeth Lloyd Lewis (Betty), the daughter of one of Lloyd's mother's girlhood friends. The stories also provide fascinating insights into post-Civil War Southern society.

This book is about the events leading to the Battle of Gonzales, which was the first conflict in the Texas war of independence from Mexico (October 2, 1835).

I started reading this book to my daughters (ages 7 and 9) after dinner one evening, and we didn't put it down until bedtime more than 50 pages later. They didn't want me to stop reading, and I didn't want to stop either. The characters felt like real people, the story was involving, and just like the people of the times, we didn't know what would happen next.

Melinda Rice gives the reader a Texan's-eye-view of the looming war with Mexico by putting us in the perspective of an 11-year-old girl whose older brothers sympathize with different sides in the conflict. The characters and story have an authentic feel throughout -- I've been to the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum many times, and I found myself reading this book using the same breathy accent used by the historical speakers in their video exhibits. Rice did an excellent job of bringing the reader into history as it happens and making past events feel like they're unfolding around us.

At the end of the book there is a short historical section that gives additional information about the Battle of Gonzales.

The book should be a comfortable read for fourth graders, except for some place and people names.

The unique and historically accurate Lone Star Heroines trilogy by Melinda Rice brings real events in Texas history to life as it shows young readers how girls living at different eras experienced and contributed to dramatic events. In Messenger On The Battlefield (1556227884, [price]) is set in 1835 when 11-year-old Isabelina Montoya is happy to hear that her older sister has accepted the marriage proposal of a handsome Mexican solder. But when Texas goes to war against Mexico, dividing Isabelina's family, a decision must be made as to whether they should remain true to their Mexican heritage or fight for their new Texas homeland! Fire On The Hillside (1556227892, [price]) is set in the spring of 1847 and finds 13-year-old Katherine Haufmann arriving from Fredericksburg, Texas with her family as immigrants from Germany. As she struggles to get used to her new home, Katherine becomes intrigued by the mysterious fires that start appearing in the nearby hills. While the rest of the townsfolk focus on peace talks with the Comanche, Katherine decides to discover the cause of those mysterious fires. Secrets In The Sky (1556227876, [price]) is set in 1943 as World War Two is raging overseas. 12-year-old Bethany Parker lives in Sweetwater, Texas, when the Women Air Force Service Pilots come to town. When one of the women dies during a training flight, Bethany is convinced the mysterious crash was the work of a Nazi spy -- and sets out to prove it! The Lone Star Heroines is an outstanding and very highly recommended series of historical novels for young readers that are each enhanced with a "Sources" bibliography for the further study and more detailed study of Texas history.

Eleven-year-old Isabel Montoya lives with her family on a ranch near Gonzales, Texas, in 1835. Isabel feels as if everything in her life is changing. Her older sister has left home after marrying a Mexican soldier, and the family is divided over the conflict between Texas and Mexico, with Isabel's two older brother on opposing sides while Isabel and her parents struggle to remain neutral. When her brothers run away from home - Joaquin to join the Texans, and Alonso to join the Mexicans - the family is devastated. And when Isabel's father is shot and may be dying, Isabel knows it is up to her to reunited her fragmented family - before it's too late. This was a wonderful novel about a young girl caught up in the beginnings of the Texas Revolution. I wish, however, that the book had been a little longer, and that the ending was less open.

I have never been a bean lover but am a vegetarian. So when I discovered More Easy Beans and found so many great recipes, especially for appetizers, I was hooked. I truly believe this is the best bean book I have ever used. Some recipes call for meat, but of course, everyone has a friend who likes red meat. What I really found helpful was the recipes all use a can of beans or allow you to make the beans from scratch. All the recipes I have tried are right on with the cooking times. Other books I have used produce bean mush at the end. I highly recommend More Easy Beans.

Who knew beans were so versatile? This lively cookbook also provides a wealth of information on bean nutrition, varieties, preparation and availability. I consult it for exciting potluck appetizer recipes like creamy frijole dip and black bean tarts, exotic salads like white bean crab salad and adzuki fruit salad as well as everyday main courses such as chili (for which there are five variations) and wraps.

The recipes are usually quick, the directions are straightforward and the results are tasty and nutritious. This would be a great gift for the health conscious and vegetarians on your gift list!

This cookbook and its first one EASY BEANS are the 2 best cookbooks that I have ever used!!

My mother bought an old copy of this in the mid-fifties and read it to me as a bedtime story. I think I remember her telling me that her mother did the same thing for her back in the early part of the century after moving here from Vienna, Austria.

[Miss] Rice had remarkable writing skills, and also a fertile (and rather profound) imagination. All this is displayed firstly in her recreations of the poor white southern dialect coming out of the mouths of Mrs. Wiggs and her family - the speech cadences are marvelous, and very musical. But there are also the little snatches of poetry and proverbs she composed for the beginning of each chapter, which truly border on the sublime. And the occasional descriptive passages are full of feeling and artistry, clear-sightedness and wisdom.

There are plentiful little seed thoughts, scattered discretely to instruct young people, and not only consciously. Even if one doesn't understand this or that little gem, a child would tend to embrace it, taking it in on some level - each one serves its young patrons well, beginning to work it's little lifelong magic. This is a very deep, free-flowing child psychology, several years before Freud's more cantankerous "discoveries" became widely known and intellectually fashionable.

Much of this "short" story is about the interaction between the poor and the rich, and how each serves to enrich the life of the other. This is done in a well-rounded fashion, never becoming preachy, often with beauteous touches of humor, tenderness, and sadness. Sure the story is in big print, and it's obviously not Henry James, but there's nothing going on here that could ever be termed 'simplistic'.

I guess you could say that back in the old days when literacy was considered more a gift than somewhat of a burden, they really knew how to instruct, as it were.

Most children were privileged to read about Mrs. Wiggs in grade school but I only recently discovered this delightful little book. Mrs. Wiggs turns lemons into lemonade, finding good in everybody and everything.

I was first introduced to this story some 33 years ago by my fourth grade teacher, Ms. Elsie Sanders, at Kimberly Elementary School. To this day, I vividly remember the values conveyed through Mrs. Wiggs actions. This is a book that should be read aloud to an audience. It inspires young minds to creatively and compassionately respond to life's challenges, as well as inspiring one to get more involved in reading. I give it two thumbs up!

The Music Behind The Magic is simply just that...magic! It doesn't matter whether you enjoy 'Disney' music or not; this collection is a must buy for any serious musical composer. By experiencing these tapes, you actually go behind the scenes to the creation of some of the most famous and magical songs ever written. Want to hear 'A Friend Like Me' in its demo version? How about 8 time Academy Award(R) winner Alan Menken playing around the piano trying to think of 'Arabian Nights'? This set not only includes the entire scores and songs to The Little Mermaid, B&B, and Aladdin (although some minor score cues are left out), but it also includes priceless work and demo versions of these beautiful and moving songs. Imagine hearing Alan on the piano humming the theme to a Whole New World before the song even had lyrics! Or what about Howard Ashman singing Poor Unfortunate Souls with lyrics that were cut from the movie. The book is a great addition, providing photos, great behind the scenes info, and the entire lyrics to all the songs in this collection. You'll not only enjoy the superior brillance of Mr. Menken, and the late Mr. Ashman, but you'll also learn some stuff about composing and writing worthy musical material. It took me months to get a hold of this set. Thank God for amazon.com...take advantage of it and purchase a piece of pure sophistication!

Work tapes, demos...don't be deceived, Alan Menken and Howard Ashman produce nothing but pure magic. Marvel at the quality of their 'rough' stuff, and the music that never made it. I had been trying to obtain a copy of this set (CD apparently discontinued) for ages; I was not disappointed. Obviously if you are reading this then you like/love Disney music, and this will only increase your appreciation of the beautiful, timeless lyrics and melodies . The accompanying book is excellent, through it you are given an idea of how work on the music for these three films proceeded. The inclusion of the original score to Aladdin is a real gem, and if you didn't already consider these three men geniuses....

If you adore the music of "The Little Mermaid", "Beauty and the Beast", and "Aladdin", you will love this set. Besides final versions of most songs, it also contains work tapes and demos perfromed by the song writing team of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. The music and the book that comes with it are gems. As a special treat, the origional score for "Aladdin" by Ashman and Menken is included. They paint a whole different feel for the film

Robert Rice's _The Nature of Midnight_, features Postal Inspectors Gillian Loomis and Max Dombrowski and could be the start to a very successful series. When a postal worker and a customer are found dead in a rural Montana post office, the case is given to Loomis, an inspector who travels around the state. Dombrowski, a former pro football player, is flown in from Seattle and is the primary on the case, but he lets Gillian take charge of the investigation. Gillian is a former Seattle policewoman who quit after accidentally killing a young boy while on duty, and, since then, she has refused to carry a weapon, which is a breach of duty for a postal inspector.

The deaths appear to have some connection to a cache of old letters, found when an old safe and other equipment was moved from the old post office to a new one. The letters were written by a man named Sharpless Walker, who was lynched way back in 1918, and appear to have something to do with the sinking of the Lusitania. As Max and Gillian investigate, they begin to uncover a conspiracy that at first appears to reach to the highest levels of both the American and British governments.

This was a great, old-fashioned page turner. Rice does a great job of creating his conspiracy and then doling out the clues bit by bit, ratcheting up the tension and suspense. Max and Gillian are interesting characters and we come to care about them as they are besieged on all sides, by assassins and by higher-ups in both the Postal Inspection Service and the FBI, who may or may not be trustworthy. Rice also does a good job of drawing the scenery of rural Montana, as the two drive from place to place, pursuing the investigation. This was a riveting book and I for one would like to see another book involving these characters. Highly recommended.

I started reading The Nature of Midnight at 5:00 this past Saturday afternoon. At 1:30 Sunday morning, I had to FORCE myself to turn off the light to get some sleep. I have never read for that long a period straight, but I was absolutely enthralled!

The characters are marvelously believable -- each has his own quirks, and that's what makes them so human and real. The plot moves in ways I certainly wouldn't have thought of, but Rice manages to make flow easily and smoothly.

The only thing I might possibly say against it is that it kept me so gripped that I finished it in two days, so NOW what do I read??

I recommend this book highly to anyone who enjoys any kind of mystery or thriller. And if I had to pick one word to describe it, I would say, "MARVELOUS."

Postal Inspectors are the law enforcement branch of the US Post office and have full police powers for cases within their jurisdiction. Max Dombrowski is a Postal Inspector who is forced to work in Internal Affairs by Constance Barton, finding the dirt on people she wants out of the service. He is forced to obey her orders because she has something on him that if revealed could send him to jail.

Connie is sending Max to Norris, Montana for two reasons. A postal worker and a customer were murdered in the rural post office. Max is to serve as the lead investigator on the case but he is also ordered to find some dirt on the resident agent Gillian Loomis so Constance can legally fire her. When Max arrives in Norris, the duo conduct their investigation and find that there is information about the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915 that someone doesn't want to surface. Max and Gillian race against the killers to see who can get their hands on the documents and in the process two more innocents are murdered.

Conspiracy buffs are going to love THE NATURE OF MIDNIGHT a thriller that portrays a realistic scenario on how the Germans knew where the Lusitania was located. Robert Rice has plenty of action and chase scenes but what makes this novel stand out in the crowd are the two protagonists who make a great team despite the demons that are haunting them. It is to be hoped that Mr. Rice will have more novels starring this dynamic duo.

Harriet Klausner