I read this book as a young child, and absolutely fell in love with it. I checked it out of my home town library many, many, many times. I truly wish it was still in print--I would buy it for my home and the libray I am director of. The characters are charming, funny, scary, loveable, and very imaginative. The story draws you in, and makes you wish there was a sequel so you could read some more. Would highly recommend to someone else.

I wish this book was back in print. I am now in my mid thirties and I remember it very fondly. It introduced me to the world of mythology. I would love for my own children to be able to read it so they can be transported to a wonder. Could we not convince someone to republish it?

The first book my dad ever bought me ( I was seven years old and have read it at least once a year since - and I'm now thirty!) If you want to teach your children how to use their imaginations - get your hands on this book - by hook, by crook or by any means necessary!

A blaze of colour, a masterpiece of imagination and a real bloody shame it's out of print. If ANYONE knows a cartoonist - PLEASE get them to animate this story!

Although this might be passed off by people who think that it is just another writing from the "christian" introverts that don't know what it is like in the "real world", it would be their mistake. Yes, this it a christian book, but it is also an enthralling story. From the Vivid descriptions one the very first page to the ending, it grabs you in to its complex and dark plot. It is more on the lines of a Secular fantasy than it is a Christian "happy tale". Its plot is dark and at points may be disturbing to those that are the feint of heart. I Got this book on a monday and by tuesday evening, I had finished it. I rarley read a story strait through, but I was so enthralled with the plot that I lost track of time, my mind wandering to the fantasy realm that he told in detail. I enjoyed it so much that i read it again the same week.

If you are looking for a story that will keep you turning the pages, and one that has an equally gripping meaning, read this book.

I just finished reading this novel, and I must say I was quite impressed. I can vouch for the author, as anyone that has actually read the book can, concerning the main character. He does not represent Jesus. Read the back cover for the information the author wanted to present to you, and check out some of the excerpts. In The Last Guardian, I must say that Shane Johnson's descriptive talent and vivid imagination was underpinned with a lot of Biblical truth. It made this novel a joy to read. I feel a kinship with him, and was surprised that some of the themes I wrote independently in my own novel were touched on by him. The Biblical concepts weaved into the fictional elements of the story are right on the money, and the fictional elements are well thought out and presented. After reading this book, especially the author's commentary at the end, I am sure that Shane Johnson is a true, Biblical Christian, and I whole-heartedly recommend this book to all Christians. The gory scenes some have mentioned are done in a manner that magnifies the depravity of certain people, and are not overdone, but are there for a reason. This is a powerful, uplifting read that I passionately recommend. 5 stars.

D. Shane Burton, author of Black Storm Rising.

The Last Guardian was my first venture into the Christian fiction genre, so I didn't know what to expect. I was very pleasantly surprised by what I read. Shane Johnson is an amazing writer. His imagery is vivid; I could very easily visualize the characters, settings, and situations in the book. Some of the scenes were literally chilling! If movies weren't so often made by committee, I would love to see a filmed version of this novel. I couldn't help but try to read The Last Guardian in one sitting. Johnson does a remarkable job weaving scripture, spirituality, and discovery into a compelling story whose every paragraph compels you to dive into the next. At the same time, the story makes you think. The main character, T. G. Shass, undergoes a spiritual rebirth, and along the way he asks questions that we face ourselves: Who am I? Why am I? What is my purpose? As Shass finds his answers through faith, we come to feel that, if we haven't already found our own answers, we can. I highly recommend The Last Guardian, and I thank Shane Johnson for sharing his talent and inspiration with his readers.

Inside the Pike Place Market lives up to its title. It delivers a "day in the life" of the Market village, plus color pushed photos from angles never before seen. And, 20 recipes as a bonus. I collect Market books, photos, and printed ephemera but nothing since Victor Steinbruecks Market Sketch Book brings the reader so close to the people and activity of the Market as Rex-Johnson's Inside.....

Braiden Rex-Johnson has written a foodies delight. Sumptuously decorated with the photographs of Paul Soders, Rex-Johnson's exploration of Pike Place Market is candy for all the senses. This is NOT a cookbook. There are just 20 recipes (all very good). Rather, this is a delightful narrative of the history of the market, the people and products that inhabit it, and the terrific food that emerges from it. Braiden-Rex is deeply in love with her market, and it shows in her wonderful book. When you finish the book, you'll be hungry, but very, very satisfied.

For anyone who has ever visited Seattle's famous Pike Place Market, the book is a joy. It captures the hustle, bustle and charm of the market. Braiden Rex-Johnson has culled stories that make the market come alive in words as well as the wonderful pictures of Paul Souders. The 20 recipes spice up the text and serve to bring home the variety and texture of the market. Congratulations to both Braiden and Paul!

114 stunning, full color nature photographs illustrate fifty-three Christian prayers in The Reverend Debora Kaiser-Cross' superbly presented Prayers For The Seasons: An Inspirational Collection Of Christian Prayers And Nature Photography. The beauty of her memorable and inspiring photographs is matched only in the devout sincerity of the accompanying devotionals. Prayers Through The Seasons is meant not just to be read, but to be meditated upon. This is a highly recommended gift book selection for any nature-lover and within a Christian perspective.

This book is the most wonderful collection of prayers and photographs that I have seen in a long time. Rev. Kaiser-Cross's prayers are beautiful and beautifully matched with Mr. Middleton's exceptionally inspirational photos. I would say this is a must have for nature lovers who feel the presence of God in the wonders of our natural world.

Reading and rereading Prayers through the Seasons is like taking long relaxing walks outdoors on beautiful days. Its calming and uplifting prayers are perfectly matched with powerful photographs of God's natural handiwork, and inspire the reader to feel, in the words of one of its prayers, " Alive in this beautiful world, alive on this magnificent day". I use it as part of my daily devotions, and believe it makes a wonderful gift for friends and family.

This is the best book that I have found on weight training. I needed a thorough book to get started and this was it. Other than my very lackluster lifting durig high school I have never seriously lifted, so I am far from an expert on lifting. I must add however that after having looked at many books on weight training I feel like a bit of an expert on the literature. What I found was that most books are geared to those that already know the subject. These books assumed many techniques I did not know, implied that I needed to work out about 3 hours at a time for 8 days a week and rambled on and on and on.

The Idiot's Guide to Weight Training thoroughly introduced me to everything that I needed to get started. After reading this book, I walked into a fitness store, bought the starter equipment I needed and started to lift. As I write this I am bit sore from the first few lifting sesions, but I am excited and looking forward to the future weeks and months. This book helps with equipment, clothing, eating, stretching, excercise instructions, routines and safety. The authors have provided a very thorough, readable and motivating book. In my estimation this book is an extremely valuable addition to the topic, and is indeed as far as I can tell the best book available to the beginner.

Having lifted for years, I was looking for a book to inspire my mother-in-law who has expressed an interested in weight training but seems intimidated by the "foreign-ness" of the gym scene. When I stumbled on this informative and surprisingly amusing book, I knew I'd found what I was looking for. While this book is clearly written for beginners -- picking a gym, basic technique, etc. -- it offers some good routines for experienced lifters and debunks various myths that you constantly hear in the gym like "I don't want to lift heavy weights because it will make me 'too big'." The illustrations are helpful and the prose easy to follow. If you've thought, "I've got to get back to the gym" or know someone who feels the same, check this book out.

Loved to read this book. Covers all aspects of weight training without focusing on pure bodybuilding. Suitable for everyone who wants to get or keep in shape.

Everyone, I'm told, has dreams during sleep whether they are remembered or not. Some people dream in color (I do), others in black and white only. Robert Johnson's book on Inner Work is just that, a book that is a guide to finding and communicating with the inner self - the true you. Our lives are so fragmented today, we are all encouraged to "multi-task" - housewives frequently talk on the phone while doing the dishes, busy executives shave while driving; other people type on laptop computers while flying to a destination. I believe that some of our time-saving measures are cheating us out of living in reality - of enjoying this present moment.

Robert Johnson encourages his readers to take the time to establish communication with the inner self, to find out what obstacles exist to accomplishing life-goals; to discover the steps that must be taken; to deal with underlying fears; to strengthen foundations and build new bridges to deeper levels of the unconscious self,and then release the energy that needs expression. It truly is a journey of Inner Work.

I am still in the process of reading and working through this book. I'm sure it'll take a while longer, but it's been worth every bit of the time I've spent on it. I am changed, I am different, the quality of my life is richer, and I am definitely more in touch with who I am, with my current existence and presence.

This book is a must for anyone whose life has whirled into the outer limits. Take the time and do it properly. You have everything to gain.

It is difficult to imagine how powerful this small book is. Granted, it is probably most appealing to intuitives and introverts, like myself, but for us, it is like manna from heaven. Johnson has such a gift for putting things simply. The book can be read quickly but may well take a lifetime to permeate your consciousness. As a professional astrologer, VisionCoach and expert Tarot symbolist, one of the most frequent questions I am asked by old and new clients is this: "I had this dream, Nancy. What does it mean?" In spite of ongoing research on my part, personally leading dream groups and reading the new books that come out each year, I always return to Johnson's classic. He's said it all. I think "Inner Work" is, quite simply, the best book ever written about dream interpretation. Each of our dreams is as personal as our fingerprints. If you are an extravert, you may not dream often or you may dream the kind of dreams that are just processing the minute business of the day. At least once in awhile, though, even the most extraverted of us has a Major Dream, a dream that wakes us with a cold sweat or a warm pulse. What does this mean? What is communicating here? Why to you? And why NOW? Johnson's book puts all these questions squarely back on your own shoulders for answerung, for ... inner work!! But don't worry, he doesn't just drop you off in the middle of the nowhere without a map. This book contains all the information you need to become an expert at interpreting your own dreams. This is important because, as the great Swiss transcendental psychologist Carl Jung wrote, "God speaks in dream."

Before "Inner Work" I had read a few other dream interpretation books all of which basically described certain recurring dream images and labelled them with a limited definition: basically they were the "Teacher's Edition" to understanding your dreams with the answers in the back. I never understood how an image, say a snake or falling, could be interpreted in basically the same way by so many different people. Johnson explains why you can't. Images are personal and have to be interpreted by the dreamer and Johnson describes how to use "active imagination" to not only figure out what your dreams mean but how they can help along your life journey. This book really helped me tap into the "invisible" part of my consciousness and make practical, healthy changes in my life and prayer. His comparison of archetypes (universally shared images) and personal symbols was most appreciated. Complex ideas are explained in a way that any neophyte to dream analysis can understand and apply to your own life. Johnson explains how to make practical and physical changes by conversing with your dreams.

In this wonderful biography Keyshawn sayes what really happens in football. It ia a must read for any football fan. He tells it like it is on things like agents, his life, the NFL, and the Jets 1-15 season.

This highly controversial book provides a fascinating glimpse into the thoughts of a future hall of fame receiver. Keyshawn speaks with candor about his rookie season and many of his comments seem prophetic in light of the Jet's recent successes. This is a highly entertaining and engaging read.

This is one of the best books I've ever read. I always liked Keyshawn, but after reading this book I really like him. An excellent biography of his life and his season with the Jets.

As a long-time reader of Beat literature, and as a man, I must say that Joyce Johnson's take on those heady, wine soaked days of poetry and madness is absolutely as good and as necessary as anything Kerouac or Ginsberg or any of the more famous (male) crew ever wrote. For my money it's right up there with On the Road.

I guess I've read this book three or four times now and it never gets old.

I also recommend Ms. Johnson's novel, In the Night Cafe, another skillful invocation of the Beat period.

Joyce Johnson's memoir of emerging from an overprotected childhood and landing at the center of the Beat movement in the 1950's is a delight whether you choose to read it for its portrait of Jack Kerouac, for the world that was, or for the inner journey it reveals. It is a fine literary performance. Johnson plays with tense and perspective as if they form a telescopic lens sliding the past out of a fuzzy black and white still photograph into a vivid, colorful present. There is a suspenseful tension to the book from which flows a novelistic structure, never, though, at the expense of truth. Johnson gets down like no one else how it is to carry around that overprotected childhood, to always feel that you could be missing something, that the center has yet to be achieved. Her inner struggle matches the themes of the Beats who are seeking the pure experience of being through their music, their talk, their drugs and alcohol, their lovemaking, their travels and their poetry. She nails the paradox of a quarry that can never sit still, whether it is a person, like Kerouac, or her friend and guide into the Beat world, Elise Cowen, both of whom eventually disappear into their demons. She captures the loss of balance when counterculture is encroached upon by the mainstream. She manages to convey all this without telling, just through showing the events of her life. Johnson is wry but never bitter, she takes full responsibility for her own choices and actions. This is a book that invites the reader to share the wonder that this was all, indeed, real.

Wow. This book did more for me than I expected it to. I picked it up for the same reason many others probalby did - because of my interest in Kerouac. But Johnson is not telling his story, she is telling hers. And, despite obvious difficulties and social aspects that let us know it is the fifties, it is really a timeless story, something that can be identified with today. She has put into words what every female person who feels like they don't quite belong in the society in which they grew up has difficulties articulating. I found myself talking to the book - "Yes, that's IT! Exactly." I read this book twice this month.

Her unique and fresh writing style should not be overlooked either. She wrote this book at a good time in her life as well, it is reflective and filled with the insight and intelligence of years and experience.

I highly recommend "Arcadia Falls" as a must read first novel by author Rand Johnson. Everyone in my book club agreed that this is a real page-turner. Unpredictable twists of plot, competing love interests and multiple points of view, compel you to read on to find out what will happen next.

Those looking for more will be able to find it. Fans of novelist John Fowles may recognize in Frank, the main character, a post-modern anti-hero, out of step with his times. His relations with the world around him are troubled and disappointing; he finds the women in his life to be distant, baffling and mysterious, if not mystical. The tip-off to the Fowles connection is that "The Magus" is mentioned in "Arcadia Falls". Frank sees his redemption in Nature and begins a one-man environmentalist crusade to stop the suburban sprawl which is about to pave over the last remnant of forest in the hometown of his boyhood. His activism grows more violent until he lashes out in impotent bursts of eco-terrorism against the real estate development corporation. His personal life begins to deteriorate. Meanwhile he meets a mysterious Lady at a cottage in the forest, and the line between reality and imagination begins to blur. Is the Lady as real as Sarah in Fowles' "The French Lieutenant's Woman", or as imaginary as the Muse in "Mantissa"? What happens to Frank - does he ultimately succeed in his quest? You be the judge when you come to the surprise ending.

Johnson's novel strikes my frustrated nerve between preservation and synthetic development. When is it right? When is it necessary? What is the impact tommorrow, and 100 years from now? Arcadia Falls focuses on the psychological struggle of one man's view on "development" It steers away from the legal/political and societal impact, but implies an assumed position of huge developer, big development, and a lot of money to be had.
The main character, Frank, toggles between the middle-class, business lifestyle and the preferred simplicity of being in, and a part of, nature. He seems to balance his environment quite comfortably, until he learns that a tract of land near his home is approved for development. Thus the story begins and Frank moves from a balanced lifestyle to one which evokes extreme denial and frustration towards the destruction of ecological serenity. Franks true love (nature) comes to life in a seductive and intriguing symbolic form; ala the woman in the woods. Barbara, Frank's girlfriend, is the icon character for middle-class practicality. Kelly, the concerned sister that wants "more" for Frank (the greed or materialistic icon). Johnson brings the characters to life; each representing a trait, some more desirable than others. Acceptance versus rebelleous, natural versus material, comfort versus excess. The reader will relate to all, but your individual value system will determine which character you most closely conform to.
The novel is thought-provoking, and challenges the reader to look within for answers to many questions. What is the balance between preservation and development? Does development necessarily = progress? What is necessary, versus evoked by greed?
A great read, and one that I would highly recommend.

This ingenious and captivating story -- part mythic-romance, part eco-politics, part literary thriller -- pays homage to John Fowles, but with an existential twist. Johnson serves up the cautionary tale of Frank Anderson, a man longing for the world of his youth, a world driven by the rhythms and flow of Nature. But Frank is stalled in the every day world of unfulfilling work (a wicked potrayal of the modern law firm), empty romance and insidious suburban sprawl. Then, in one magical pocket of this world, Frank finds his Arcadia -- a cabin deep in the woods of the last unspoiled (but not for long) tract of land near his home town. In the cabin, Frnak discovers his dream woman, in every sense of the word. Johnson moves the plot in a graceful, almost lyrical style, towards its surprising conclusion. He has a dead on ear for dialogue and when he writes of Nature, you know it comes from the heart.

"To appreciate any sport, you must learn about its entire history. And you can't truly appreciate baseball without learning about the Negro Leagues. Begin with this book."

As submitted to Hasting House on Dec. 10, 2001 via e-mail

My personal library collection of baseball books includes several hundred volumes. Only a privileged few of these books sit on a small shelf handy above my word processor. Among the selected few is a newcomer, The Complete Book of Baseball's Negro Leagues: The Other Half of Baseball History by John Holway. This unique book succinctly traces the history of Negro baseball from pre-civil war days to the end of the Negro Major League era in 1948.

Mr. Holway is no stranger to the more than 7,000 members of the Society for American Baseball Research. He has been chronicling Negro baseball history since 1969, and has produced five previous books on the topic. His innumerable newspaper and magazine articles are referenced in the book's laudable bibliography. Well indexed, this book is the culmination of over three decades of dedicated ressearch by the man who knows more about Negro baseball than any writer ever. Royse "Crash" Paarr, co-author, Glory Days of Summer: The History of Baseball in Oklahoma.

"To appreciate any sport, you must learn about its entire histroy. And you can't truly appreciate baseball without learning about the Negro Leagues. Begin with this book."

-Sports Columnist, Kansas City Star