The world embraced Charles A. Lindbergh as its hero in 1927 when he piloted his single-engine Ryan Monoplane, The Spirit of St. Louis, across dark waters, completing the first nonstop flight from New York to Paris.

THE SPIRIT OF SAINT LOUIS is an extremely well written book by an American icon. It not only chronicles Lindbergh's famous flight, but also faithfully tells the story of his early life as well. The book provides insight into the early history of American aviation and does so in an entertaining yet compelling format.

A few years ago, Scott M. Berg's biography of Lindbergh chronicled the life of the famed American figure. That book delves into the entire life of the aviator, including his darker days when he was accused of being a Nazi sympathizer. THE SPIRIT OF SAINT LOUIS offers a different, more exuberant vision into the author's more youthful soul. I would recommend reading both books for a complete portrait of the man.

I first read this book as a high school student, and remembered well the hour by hour description of the flight over the Atlantic. On my second reading as an adult, I discovered an additional story within the story that can apply to everyone who has a desire to accomplish something great in their life.

Lindbergh traces how the very wisp of an idea, that an aircraft with enough fuel, powered by a reliable engine, and held on course, could fly 3,600 miles from New York to Paris. Once he realized that he had enough qualifications to make the flight by himself, and could see himself doing it, he was a changed man, he was a man who was going to Paris by air! Now he faced the problem of obtaining support, a task that filled him with more anxiety than the flying itself.

He nurtured his idea, protecting it from the naysayers, carefully confiding in those who could accept his reasoning that a single engine plane made more sense than the trimotor aircraft others were planning to use in that era. He fretted about obtaining an engine, and then an airplane, and met almost continuous obstacles in his path. Yet again and again, to his surprise, financial and technical support was provided, often from totally unexpected quarters.

This book is not only an aviation classic, it is a classic on project management, on turning a vision into goals, and goals into tasks, knowing where the milestones of success can be measured, and when the go/nogo decisions can be made.

If you are a pilot, or want to become one, then this book belongs in your library, and you should consider buying a second copy to give to your CFI. Our instructors represent an unbroken lineage of aviators back to the era described in the story.

But it would be a shame to limit this story to the aviation community. Everyone who has a burning desire to achieve something beyond themselves will gain new insight into how ideas change our lives. If you have read "The Path" by Laurie Beth Jones, then you will most certainly enjoy this book, too.

I had wanted to read this book to gain an understanding of why Lindbergh's flight was so important. After reading this book, I found that out....and a whole lot more!

The book is highly readable and brings to life the Golden Era of aviation -- canvas dope-covered wings, dead-reckoning navigation, and seat-of-the-pants flying, and delivering the mail by airplane like the pony express. This was quite an exciting time, and the book brings this era to life.

The book is also significant in other respect -- setting goals and achieving them. Even this seemingly impossible task can be achieved with hard work, careful planning, and determination. If Lindbergh can do this, then you will get the feeling that you can achieve your own goals, however difficult they may seem.

In the flight across the Atlantic you get to know Lindbergh in the various stories he tells. The book's afterward tells much about his landing in France, the accolades he received, and actual technical flight and test data, as well as log book entries.

In the book's foreward his daughter says Lindbergh often said 2 things: 1) that he wrote the book to "Set the record straight". He achieves that, and a whole lot more, the book won the Pulitzer Prize in 1954. 2) that he often said to people who asked about his flight "Read the book". He spent something like 20 years writing this meticulously researched account. And who besides him would know more about this flight.

All I can say is to reiterate Lindbergh's own words -- read his book. It's fantastic!

Were Charles Conlon still alive, I would track him down and kiss his feet for capturing in such vivid detail the historic giants of baseball. The book features remarkable photos of the greatest baseball players of most of the first half of this century. Suitable for framing, the photos typically depict individual players and small groups, often in game action. The well preserved photographs provide an important window on a truly beautiful game and its players in an era when outfield fences were optional, and a "baseball club" was just that. My favorite of Conlon's gems shows Hall of Fame shortstop Honus Wagner gripping his bat. Under his fingernails is Pennsylvania coal dust. His chipped, oversized piece of lumber looks unwieldy by today's standards. And his sinuous forearms are testament to the power that we remember him by. Other photos are paired to show the dramatic impact of age and the outfield sun on players of yesterday. Picture Wes Chandler spunky at 25 and then battle weary at about 50 and you'll understand why so many players strive so hard for a moment in the sun: they want to enjoy it before it's all gone.

The centerpiece of all baseball photography books. You read about them. You marvel at their feats and accomplishments. So few photographs exist about them. What do they look like? Charles Conlon did history a service by just following his hobby. Truly a magnificent masterpiece. Not just photo's...History! We are all so very lucky to be blessed with such a collection. For those interested, there is a collection of hundreds of baseball cards featuring the photographic genius of Conlon. They are out of print now, but can still be found. The Conlon Collection from the Sporting News. You owe it to yourself to check it out. You owe it to yourself to own this book.

I have been a reader of baseball history for most of my 45 years, and I never heard of George S. Conlon. I know him now. This book is nothing less than fascinating. The photos are marvelous, but every printed word is interesting, starting with the preface. I could not put it down.

La noción de disclosive spaces y estilo nos produce una mayor apertura a otros mundos. Nos permite desarrollar sensibilidad a la manera de ser de cada uno y de los otros. La observación sistemática de anomalías pone más a la mano la posibilidad de innovación, le quita la connotación "mágica" que acarrea para nosotros. El estilo como esencia del ser histórico, y como juega con los disclosive spaces es una noción muy potente para impulsar cambios. Vivir cada cosa como momento único, para lo cual hay que darse tiempo para andar más lento por la vida.

En la Introducción "Historia o el Fin de la Historia?", los autores declaran querer ayudar al lector a desarrollar una habilidad considerada esencial para ser un emprendedor, un virtuoso ciudadano y un cultivador de la solidaridad: " la de mirarse personalmente y ver al mundo, en forma regular y como cosa natural, de un modo nuevo. El propósito es desafiante para alguien que suscriba el pensamiento de G.K. Chesterton según el cual "cada vez que me proponen algo nuevo leo a San Pablo..." Prosiguen los escribientes diciendo que lo hacen "para apoyar las prácticas de los emprendedores en las economías capitalistas de mercado, de los grupos de acción ciudadana en las modernas democracias representativas y de las figuras de la cultura que cultivan la solidaridad entre los diversos pueblos de las naciones modernas". Creen, además que "esas prácticas deben ser preservadas. Spinosa y sus colegas divisan una destreza que subyace en los tres ámbitos de actividad descritos y la denominan "hacedora-de-la-historia". Describen el "feminismo" y la "carrera del espacio" impulsada por J.F. Kennedy como destrezas "hacedoras de historia". Luego de ensalzar las contribuciones de Galileo y Descartes a los hábitos de razonamiento, destacan como una prominente contribución de este último "el desapego" (o "la distancia") para interpretarse a si mismo y a las cosas. No obstante, resaltan quee -si bien- las prácticas cartesianas producen triunfos científicos, ellas nublan la adaptación a los cambios. Y un cambio mayor en nuestra época, descrito como "histórico", es la aparición de INTERNET que, penetrando en nuestras vidas se muestra como una habilidad occidental "hacedora de la historia" denominada "reconfiguración". Se reproduce,luego, un agudo análisis de Sherry Turkle sobre la inmensa influencia de INTERNET: "ha llegado a ser un importante laboratorio social para experimentar con la construcción y reconstrucción de si mismos, que caracteriza la vida moderna...estamos en transición en la manera de entendernos nosotros mismos... el NET funciona para facilitar el conocimiento de si mismo y el crecimiento personal". Deducen los autores que, en la era del NET(si ella llega), tendremos muchas destrezas diferentes para la construcción de identidad y nos moveremos alrededor de espacios virtuales y reales buscando maneras de exhibir estas destrezas, poderes y pasiones lo mejor posible. Al término de la Introducción se hace un recuerdo de nuestra relación personal con la generación a que pertenecemos y se insta a desarrollar una sensibilidad para decidir el camino de nuestras vidas en vez de seguir simplemente las tendencias imperantes. La intención del libro es, pues, "llamar la atención a que todos podemos hacer historia, tanto en nuestras vidas personales como cuando actuamos como emprendedores, ciudadanos virtuosos o cultivadores de la solidaridad". Creemos que los capítulos siguientes de este texto denso y desafiante ayudarán a los lectores a transitar por las vías que abren la profundas reflexiones de Spinosa, Flores y Dreyfus para encarar el mundo de la incertidumbre, el mundo del tercer milenio.

Hasta ahora, ser emprendedor me parecía ajeno a mis dominios. Sin embargo después de leer el primer capítulo y hojear el resto, me queda claro que las prácticas emprendedoras están a la mano y nuestra ceguera impide verlas. Es más, logré ver algunos aspectos de mi vida reflejados en la lectura y apareció frente a mi una conclusión: ¡Cuando joven me encontraba más cerca de ser un emprendedor!¿la razón?, muchos miedos se han apoderado de mí. Por consiguiente, debo no solo comprometerme con una práctica de atisbamiento sino que intentar transformarme en un atisbador y al menos a través de una articulación recuperativa explicitar algunas prácticas olvidadas y adaptar mi estilo. ¿Porqué digo una mirada lateral?, la razón básica radica en que aún leo desde un punto de vista cartesiano y este libro me invita a conversar, a observar y a observarme en mi distintos "disclosive space". Hasta aquí la humanidad se ha preocupado prioritariamente de extender sus sentidos. La cuchara es una extensión de la mano, los binoculares son una extensión de la vista, pero que solo permiten un mayor alcance. ¿Y el ser humano logra cultivarse con estas extensiones?. Es un libro con el cuál debo conversar una y otra vez y que me invita a una espiral de crecimiento personal.

I am an avid mystery reader, and really loved Charles Gershon's book. The pace is fast, the characters are real, and the facts mix with fiction to form a compelling read. This would be a perfect book to take to the beach this summer.

Hopefully, by then, he'll have another I can take with me.

The characters in this book grab your interest from the first page. The plot seems to be simple and you willingly follow it along. However, the intrigue builds rapidly and you soon find out that the past intimately involves the present and the main character is not who he thinks he is. As we read this book we are reminded how insensitive and cruel we can be to our fellow human beings. The reader learns that one's enviroment is just as important as one's genetics . Also,we learn about true friendship and the values important in life.
This book is exciting and hold your interest from start to finish and gives the reader an opportunity to reflect on many aspects of life.

This is the best book I have read in many years - a wonderful story, well developed characters, tight dialogue. A young doctor who grew up in a small Southern town, raised by parents who were Holocaust survivors, is working successfully in a large city and finds himself surrounded by corruption. The author's style is reminiscent of John Grisham, Nelson Demille, and Leon Uris - three of my favorites. I enjoyed this book so much that I have given copies to friends, and everyone who has read it has raved. I impatiently await this talented author's next novel.

Jesus said the greatest commandments are to love God and to love one another. While loving one another is not easy, at least it is somewhat tangible. However, loving a being that you cannot detect with your five physical senses such as God can seem almost impossible. Charles Colson, former Nixon henchman during the Watergate scandal and now current leader of Prison Ministries, writes a wonderful book about what it means to be a Christian and how we can learn to love God. Charles Colson is a gifted story teller who relates beautiful narratives about the truth of Christianity and the power of loving God. This is definitely a book that I highly recommend. It is in the top ten list of many Christians who have had the pleasure of reading it. God bless.

Jesus said the greatest commandments are to love God and to love one another. While loving one another is not easy, at least it is somewhat tangible. However, loving a being that you cannot detect with your five physical senses such as God can seem almost impossible. Charles Colson, former Nixon henchman during the Watergate scandal and now current leader of Prison Ministries, writes a wonderful book about what it means to be a Christian and how we can learn to love God. Charles Colson is a gifted story teller who relates beautiful narratives about the truth of Christianity and the power of loving God. This is definitely a book that I highly recommend. It is in the top ten list of many Christians who have had the pleasure of reading it. God bless.

Jesus said the greatest commandments are to love God and to love one another. While loving one another is not easy, at least it is somewhat tangible. However, loving a being that you cannot detect with your five physical senses such as God can seem almost impossible. Charles Colson, former Nixon henchman during the Watergate scandal and now current leader of Prison Ministries, writes a wonderful book about what it means to be a Christian and how we can learn to love God. Charles Colson is a gifted story teller who relates beautiful narratives about the truth of Christianity and the power of loving God. This is definitely a book that I highly recommend. It is in the top ten list of many Christians who have had the pleasure of reading it. God bless.

St. Francis de Sales is one of the greatest of spiritual writers and writers, period. It is easy to be charmed by this guide to the spiritual life. He inspires the reader with a gentle, loving touch which I found delightful. He was also a very learned and experienced adviser when it came to things of the spirit. He seemed to have known about every difficulty that one has in the spiritual life and offers practical and wise solutions that anyone can carry out. If you are interested in reading the great spiritual classics, be certain not to miss this one. It will be well worth your time. I cannot imagine anyone finishing this volume without obtaining some excellent advice from it and also without making progress just from reading it. The only drawback is that it IS several hundreds years old and some of the theology is dated and will seem strange to modern, post Vatican 2 Christians. Do not let that keep you from this book, just keep it in mind when reading it. Highly recommended.

This book will help any one get through hard times, good times, loving times, bad relationships, and will basically help you through every day life. It is so deep and so well written by St. Francis de Sales. In the beggining it might be a little hard to read but after going through it, you feel better as a human being. When I first heard about this book I didn't think it would be great, and I thought it would be St. Francis de Sales lecturing me on how I can become more like Jesus Christ. But as I went through the book page by page I started to realize how much I needed this book in my life. The best part about it is that you dont have to read it cover to cover. You just think about some troubles in your life and then you look them up in the table of contents. You only have to read things you would like to read at that particular moment in your life. As I said before, I love the book and anyone who doesn't own it does not know how much closer you become to God after reading it. So next time you have a chance, do yourself a favor, pick up a copy.

By Jordan Aumann, O.P., Christian Spirituality in the Catholic Tradition (1985)

The doctrine taught by St. Francis de Sales was not new, but he did present spiritual teaching in an original manner and he deserves credit for removing Christian spirituality from the monastic framework in which it had been confined for many centuries....

The Introduction to the Devout Life...was written precisely for the laity and perhaps St. Francis de Sales is the first spiritual writer to compose a treatise of lay spirituality. As he states in his preface, those who have written previously on the spiritual life have done so for the instruction of persons who have given up association with the world or they have taught a spirituality that would lead persons to do so. The intention of St. Francis, however, is to give spiritual instruction to those who remain in the world, in their professions and in their families, and falsely believe that it is impossible for them to strive for the devout life.

What does St. Francis understand by the devout life or true devotion?...

True devotion, which for St. Francis de Sales is the same as Christian perfection, is the fulfillment of the twofold precept of charity enunciated by Christ (Mt. 22:34-40)....

Although he mentions the good works that flow from true devotion, St. Francis is insistent that the devout life is essentially an interior life....

Immediately after stressing the universal call of all Christians to perfection, St. Francis de Sales insists on the need for a spiritual director....

The first task facing the soul is purgation from sin, and here St. Francis follows the teaching of St. Ignatius Loyola, proposing meditation on the last ends and a general confession. Then, there must be a complete renunciation of all attachment to sin, without which there can be no lasting conversion and no progress in perfection....

In the second part of the Introduction St. Francis proposes a daily schedule of spiritual exercises in which the practice of mental prayer holds a central position....

In the third part of the Introduction St. Francis considers the practice of virtue, selecting those which are particularly necessary for the Christian layman. Of all the virtues treated we could say that, after charity, the predominantly Salesian virtue is meekness....Finally, in the last two parts of the Introduction St. Francis treats of temptations, sadness, consolations, and aridity and concludes the work with a series of self-examinations and considerations whereby the soul can judge its progress in true devotion. Thus, in its totality the Introduction to the Devout Life provides a complete program for the spiritual advancement of the laity.

Anyone who even read the first few pages of the book would know what I am talking about in my review title. For years, Rick Reilly has been making me laugh on the last page of Sports Illustrated. Now, with this book, I get to relive some of those hilarious moments.

Rick Reilly is one of the best in the business. His writing is funny, off-the-wall, witty, and always informative, even if his subject is not something you really want to be informed about. He has a knack for making light of any subject, and he has written about almost everything imaginable.

This book compiles his absolute best pieces, and they truly are masterful pieces of writing. He uses a very candid language that allows the reader just to take his article in, usually laughing the whole way through.

The Life of Reilly is a perfect book for anyone who is a fan of the columnist, or even for those of you who are sports' fans. This book will make you laugh out loud, as it truly is just pure non-stop enjoyment. This book really is a "can't miss." Besides, anyone chosing Charles Barkley to write the introduction to his book has to be doing something write, er, right!

As a relatively new sports fan, I have only been reading Reilly's work for about two years. This book is an amazing compilation of his best articles, including his earlier work, which I hadn't been exposed to before. A great combination of Reilly's back page Sports Illustrated columns and his longer feature articles, this book had me both laughing and crying. Reilly has covered such a wide variety of sports, this book can be appreciated by fans of every sport.

Nobody writes about sport like Reilly. This is a great collection of his Sports Illustrated pieces. If you are a fan of sports journalism, this is a must read for you.

Hidden in an underground laboratory the military are conducting experiments on human beings. The military desire to enhance the human's brain capacity and intelligence. Computer chips are used as implants to facilitate this experiment. Unfortunately, the military-prisoners subjects chosen for the experiment are not as carefully thought out. They escape and wreak havoc along their way to global domination. However, one of their members dies and his corpse becomes hard evidence of their evil plot.

That is as much as I should tell of the plot....I don't want to give too much away.

This novel is similar in style and feel to the "X-Files" television series and yet in many ways far superior. Most of the characters are realistic and behave as real people would and the plot is very realistic. You get the feeling that this could have happened (well...sort of) and that's what makes it fun. The whole concept of "one person against a hidden society of criminal geniuses" is always exciting and full of action.

A note on the author's style, I found Wilson to be short on description and visual cues. What you are left with is the plot, which is pretty darn good. Wilson writes this taut thriller very well and leaves it up to you to fill in the gaps. I know he couldn't have told us more about the people involved because some of them are the bad guys...Wilson wants us to figure out which side a person plays on. Overall a good story and fun to read.

Charles Wilson is the man to beat in the techno-thriller category. As good as his work is, he actually grows stronger with each new book. GAME PLAN is his best to date.

Chilling, terrifying, and fast-moving, GAME PLAN is a study in tension from the first page. If you've read all of his books, you will be delighted. If you haven't, this will make you hunger to read every one of his novels.

Do it! You will be hooked for life.

If you have ever read any of Charles Wilson's books you know that he is a master storyteller, and a plotter of extreme talent. And when "DONOR" was released a few months ago, I thought it would be hard to beat. But Charles Wilson has done it once again in creating the page turning suspense thriller "GAME PLAN."

The characters are wonderfully drawn, the storyline has you guessing until the last pages, and there are no loose ends to frustrate even the most critical reader (Me!). This is probably the finest fiction book I have read in a very, very long time. Highly recommended.

Charles de Lint has the most amazing way of weaving magic into everyday life. He has done it again with this novel, drawing elements of reality and blending them with folktale to create a rich story of a woman's journey. It's a hard book to put down

This was the first Charles de Lint book that I read (several years ago) and it is still my favorite. I just finished re-reading it for the umpteenth time, and it never gets old! He is one of the most imaginative writers I've read. (I mean, a fiaina sidhe halfling who plays saxophone in a rock band! )His characters are so vivid and real, that you feel like you've stepped into Faerie yourself! This one's a must!

jack of kinrowen comprises of two books, jack the giant killer and drink down the moon, both of which are really fun and really great reads. this is a book that you will become enchanted with and come back to again and again. de Lint makes ottawa a wonderfuly real city (for those of us who have never been there) with real characters who you might actually be able to meet on the street. while the situation is fantastic, it is never really unbelievable, a wonderful read for all of those who would love a little magic and faerie to enter into their lives. enjoy.

The Drug Information Handbook by Lacy et al is the single best drug guide that I have used. I keep it handy both on my desk and in my bag when I make visits to patients in the field. I advise all of my staff of nurses and hospice physicians to obtain a copy on a regular basis as it is the most concise reference book in the field. I supervise a hospice program and in that context I am speaking with pharmacists, physicians and families on a regular basis. I buy a new copy every year. It was with relief that I disposed of my nursing drug guides a number of years ago and switched to the Lacy guide.

This book is wonderful for a quick reference, or detailed information. The drug information is concise,yet is just what you need when time is a necessity, or even when you've got all day. The appendices and tables in the back contain a wealth of handy guides and algorithms. If you only have one book at your disposal, this should be it.

This is the absolute bible of pharmacy. This is a good reference for generic/brand names, drug class, drug interactions, etc. There are also some very useful drug charts and treatment guidelines in the back of the book. However, it is a little weak on OTC drugs. Overall, this is an excellent portable medical reference.