IMPRESSIONS:
This book was a wonderful story that touched your heart and showed you the true beauty of the human spirit. The characters are wonderful and lovable and they literally come alive for you; you care for them and about them. The story is a wonderful tale of family, love, death, life, war, racism, and every other aspect that you can imagine. It will appeal to all different ages and types.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
The race aspect of the book is very interesting and eye-opening. Due to the fact that it starts in the 1920s and spans until present day (or around there) it can really appeal to everyone and can also be very educational. I would recommend this book for anyone who wants to read a book which will make them laugh, cry, and most of all, love.

Ann Elizabeth and Rob are a young newly married couple tryin too make it doing the racial times of the 40's, and 50's. Rob's dream is to be a pilot, but prejudice always get's in the way. The couple had to face so many trials, in there marriage. I was so hurt when Rob cheated on Ann, I wanted to cry with her. This book give you a look at a young married couple, and their family trying to overcome turblent times.

So much of our history is either robbed from us or never brought to light. NO CRYSTAL STAIR provides readers, through the saga of Ann Elizabeth Carter and Army Air Corps pilot Robert Metcalf, a brief glimpse into the world of the black privileged class as well as the determined, black working poor. Without apology or excuse, Ms. Rutland allows her readers to plunge themselves into over sixty years of love, passion, sadness, and laughter in the families represented in this book. Readers get to see that yes, there was high society in the African American race, and like with any "moneyed" group, they had their problems, but when the chips were down, they pulled together with the larger group for equality and justice for all. The story takes us through the World War where brave young black men stood proud and soared high among the clouds. It also lands us squarely into the age of consciousness where black folk redefined themselves through their movements and their leaders. But through it all, we see the unity that exists among a people that are both different and the same. After reading the final page, I could not help but to smile and reflect on the fact that yes, life has not been "no crystal stair," but, like Langston says,"We're still climbin.'" Thank you for sharing this story, Ms. Rutland.

After meeting James in Sedona, I received a wonderful reading with his AORA Cards! It has renewed my interest in Crystal Healing! This is a tool for personal transformation I recommend to many people!

Love & Light,
Shirley MacLaine

Without a doubt the most visually pleasing oracle! This deck uses a combination of computer graphic art & stones. The unique stones (5) are: agate, picture jasper, opal, pearl, & unakite. Melody (Love Is In The Earth) wrote a letter praising this deck which is posted on the publisher's website.

One of the easiest to use of any divination cards I've come across. The areas of crystal healing and meditation were clearly explained in the book that accompanies the cards. The artwork for each gemstone is truly beautiful! Bravo! Can't wait to see what's next. I would recommend this to anyone interested in gemstones and crystals.

Yes! Crystal Lutton hits the spot here! I began spanking with my second child (strong-willed girl!), backing up my decision with bible verses that talk about using a "rod" for discipline, but it just never felt...right. Crystal's book goes into GREAT detail about how the Bible isn't literally commanding that we "beat" our kids with a "rod" (spank), but that we are to be a constant presence of authority in their lives. She also explains how with infants, ALL needs/wants should be met; with toddlers, you teach; with a "child" you correct, and then as they get even older you work up to allowing natural consequences to occur (within a safe limit). Her creative tools (ideas) for this concept are excellent, and I look forward to implementing them with my three blessings.

Pastor Lutton presents a clear, concise, and obviously well-researched volume of incredibly helpful, truly Biblically-based discipline techniques that will honestly change your family's life. This is not a pick-and-choose, permissive guide to raising your child; rather, it's a well documented, easy-to-read and comprehensive manual for what the author beautifully terms "Grace Based Discipline".

Biblical Parenting offers firm yet loving discipline tools with the Scripture to back them up and help you in your own personal relationship with the Holy Spirit.

If you have been looking for a Biblically sound way to restore your relationship with your child, if you just want to gain more effective parenting tools, if you need concrete evidence and Scripture to quote to others who are questioning your parenting style...this is the book you've been searching for.

Pastor Lutton has a wonderfully relaxed style of writing - I found myself reading the slim 144 pages of text within one evening and feeling like I'd just had a warm chat with a good Christian friend and mentor. Her tools are immediately effective, easy to remember, and most important of all - Biblically based.

Thank you, Pastor Lutton, for the book that will be my first baby shower gift when some faraway day, I get to enjoy the blessings of becoming a Grandmother.

This book provides amazing insight into the relationship that exists between God (as a Parent)...parents (as God's child and their child's parent)...and children. With techniques that seem so simple, yet are definitely right on target...Pastor Lutton backs up her ideas with well researched references!

If my wife and I had been fortunate eneough to have this book available when our children were young...it would have made raising our children so much easier and productive. As it was, we struggled like most young parents and kept receiving conflicting guidance depending on who we spoke with.

The Bible is very clear when it instructs women to teach women regarding loving their husbands and children, and even though there are many practical and valuable lessons to be learned from Proverbs...it is important to keep things in perspective as to who is instructing and who is receiving instruction. Without the clarification provided by Pastor Lutton concerning "The Rod" and other seemingly punitive verses it would be easy to use the wrong methods in child raising, much to your sorrow.

This book should be in every home where children (or grandchildren) are being raised. Prospective parents need to make this one of their first priorities when starting their parenting library.

My new favourite cookbook, and I haven't even tried out the recipes yet! Everything about this book seems so fresh even though the graphics are items that are over 50 years old. The copy is vividly written, just reading the recipes makes you want to throw on an apron and get grillin! The titles of recipes are fabulous, such as "Slab o' Fun Barbequed Meat Loaf" and "Cheesy-Drippin, Garlic Fumin' St. Louis Salad" and the recipes are equally creative. I love how they take classics and give them a twist! There is not a single recipe in this book that I expect to find in any other cookbook. Even if the recipes didn't look delicious and interesting I would still want this book. It's a wonderful reference for the 50's kitsch collecter...all kinds of bbq items and pictures illustrate each page, all appropriately chosen. The graphics add so much! This is a gem of a book! I can't wait to display this wonderful conversation peice on my chrome bakers rack in my retro kitchen and have my friends over for a classic patio party!

Being an excellent cook myself, I read cookbooks more for ideas than anything else. This book not only gave me lots of ideas, it brought back memories of my Mother's cooking. Also, it wasn't filled with a lot of endless, useless, chatter.

This book has incredible graphics - 50's style. I've stood it up on my counter and everyone who comes over says, "Patio DaddyO!" Unfortunately, it hasn't inspired my husband to take over the tongs. Ah well. This makes a great gift for any BBQ'er or yourself - especially if you're into the 50's/ early 60's style of anything. Worth the low price and more.

This is such a fun book, plus it has some great summer recipes (easy, too!)! It's even just a "fun" read for us "babyboomers", takes us back to the good old backyard bbq days with the family!

A lengthy, comprehensive, and interestingly detailed look at the evolution and current state of the English language. Such terms and concepts such as Hyponymic Hierarchies, Hypernyms, and semantic changes are given in laymen terms and explained with real-life examples. There is tons and tons of factual information presented, based upon applied linguistic research and the historical growth and transformations of the English language, from its' origins to Old, Middle, and New. There are many charts, colorful pictures, and graphs to present this information. Crystal provides one of the rare mixes of erudition and hipness that is appreciated.

One of the hundreds of interesting tid-bits here are, for example, Top Ten First Names dating from the year 1700.

This book doesn't have to be read front to back, and one can dart to and from different areas that one wants to ingest. Helpful for folks into history, applied linguistics, the English language, TEFL, and those who want to know why we speak the way we do today.

David Crystal impresses me with his combination of elegant erudition, intellectual open-mindedness, and conciseness. In writing this book, he imposed a harsh constraint upon his writing: every topic had to fit into a two-page spread. The result is insidiously like potato chips: it's such an easy read, you can't help but reading "just one more spread".
The breadth of knowledge that he brings to bear on the subject is astounding; his bibiography reads like a catalog of Western intellectual history. Time and again, I found myself marking a point with a note to delve into the matter more deeply.
Intellectual integrity is another impressive component of his writing. He cheerfully acknowledges difficult issues and treats linguistic variation with respect, yet never descends into cover-your-ass academic frippery. The effect is to provoke deeper contemplation in the mind of the reader; language truly is endlessly complex!
A confession is in order here: I did find the last few score pages rather tedious. Perhaps it was merely the fatigue arising from my breathless rush through the first 400 pages; more likely the subject matter does not suit my tastes. But in a grand parade of ideas of this size, I cannot complain if a few floats or marching bands fail to excite me; there's more than enough here to keep anybody dazzled.
The greatest tribute to this book that I can offer is the revelation that I have been too reluctant to shelve this book in my library; it remains on my desk, bedstand, or next to the computer, ready for a quick re-read of some random topic.

Betcha can't read just one spread!

Crystal's _The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language_ is not really the type of book I would use for reference. There are much more appropriate books when I want to learn about the proper use of a gerund. This is, however, an absolutely fascinating and addictive book! It is the type of book I pick up to read and get so involved I lose track of time. It is also a beautiful book. The color, illustrations, and publishing quality are magnificent!

The focus of this book is not American English. The flavor is cosmopolitan. Questions are answered like how the variations of English in New Zealand and the Caribbean affect road signs. If you ever wanted to know how morphological, lexical, syntactic, and discourse humor compare and contrast, this book is for you. This encyclopedia also features a brilliantly edited collection of poems interspersed in the pages. _The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language_ will remain one of my favorite books.

I found this book at my local library. Picking it up, I initially thought it would be a book with more pictures in it than info about crystals. It just looked too pretty to have much info in it. I signed it out anyway, and Boy!! Was I surprised!
I found it to be a very useful crystal book packed with plenty of uses for crystals. It will keep any crystal lover busy with all the different uses, and info presented. I think it's especially useful for beginners.
Here are some:

- Choosing and cleansing crystals
- Programming crystals
- Attracting a soulmate
- Healing the heart
- Creating positive relationships
- Crystals and chakra work
- Healing physical conditions, emotional
imbalances & mental states
- Gem elixers & remedies
- Protecting your space,your self and
the aura
- Talisman & amulets
- Crystal layouts
- Grounding
- Dispersing negative energy
- Creating peace & relaxation
- Creativity & vitality, self-worth
- Past life recall
- Meditation
and more.........

Also included is a crystal directory for indentifying
your crystals.
With all this in one book, I'm going out, soon, to
purchase my own "Illustarated Guide to Crystals".

This is a beautiful illustrated book that has loads of information. Picures help identify the stones with the ones you have. I would highly recommend this book anyone looking.

Just like the title this book is great ! Im only 13 and just liked looking at my crystals now i can do things with my crystals.
This book shows
1.How to clean an energise your crystals.
2.How to program your crystals to love and heal spritshily and phisiacly .
3.How to make elixirs and with witch crystals to use.
4.How your crystals can protect you and your auricfeald and
your chakras.
5.Crystal divination witch crystals to youse.
6.Crystal astrogly find your birth stone.
7.Yousing your crystals for wisdom.
8.All of the crystals used in the book its name a good pitcher
whear its from and what is does.
All through this book thear are good pitchers in with the words and easy to read.
It is a great book buy it NOW!!!

A great book to learn about healing and channeling your energies in a more positive way. The book has many 'gems' in terms of ideas, thoughts, and basic healthly, positive principles of living -- for the novice to the expert person who is on a spiritual quest to a more fulfilling life. Buy it!

The colors & tones of this deck are SO different from any other products I have purchased/reviewed. A photo of the stone is imposed upon the painted artwork. The 6 stones unique to this set are: Earth Keeper crystal, iolite, apatite, shiva lingam, star quartz, & boulder opal. The division by elements/areas is similar to The Crystal Ally Cards & the Crystal Journey Cards, but is a completely "new" system of association. To my knowledge, there is no other deck so precisely built around a specific discipline. The skandhas are from sacred geometry: cube, icosahedron, (merkabah)star tetrahedron, octahedron & dodecahedron. The lotus blossom on each of the 8 cards per elemental "suit" are that chakra's color: red, orange, yellow, *emerald, *rose, blue, indigo, purple. (note: the heart chakra uses these 2*) There are 10 readings/layouts.

I love this book and card deck! Of all the books I've read about crystals, this is the most comprehensive book I've seen! The card deck is great for readings! This book links crystals to the metaphysical and physical parts of human beings in a way that makes so much sense. Now I really understand why crystals affect us.

And the cards are great! Whenever I get a cold or feel down about something, I just get out the deck of cards and give myself a reading from the "Jewels of the Lotus." The reading is always right on track - I come away with insights into the situation and then I make progress by using what I learned.

This is a long overdue book and card deck - it is definitely on my gift list for my favorite people!

-Gena Parkhurst Chicago, IL

This covers every aspect of The World of the Dark Crystal.

The beggining of the book has beautiful artwork and explains how the Crystal was broken and how the skeksis came to be. The story itself is pretty short, but the sidenotes are great.

The sidenotes go into detail on the timelines, the meaning of the trines, the suns, the moons, the seoeration of the skeksis, everything. It even has an additional booklet in the back that depicts the origanal story and artwork.

If you love the Dark Crystal, this book should be high up on your list.

I have wanted this book for so long. When it came back into print I was so happy. It lived up to my expectations. The illustrations and creativity are breathtaking. The book is a must for all artist and art lovers!

First of all, I'm fully agreed with what Katie's comments as well as her gut feeling about this reprint version. In fact, overall quality of the book is over my expectation. After studying it you should note that it's definite a great project of the producer to making the movie; many many conceptual artworks and creature design. I'm not sure whether 'The Dark Crystal' is profitable to Jim Henson and Brian Froud, but I believe both of them and the team had bring us a fantasy adventure movie that we never saw. Finally, I hope more books related to Dark Crystal could be published that it is really very demand from the Dark Crystal fans.

Naisha Ashain has combined tremendous ancient wisdom about crystal energies and their ability to help you facilitate your own personal development path. You feel a deep resonance with her words, and they serve you in your quest to collect crystals & choose jewelry. As a feng shui & wellness coach, and as a crystal healer, The Crystal Ally Cards have been an indispensible tool in deepening my understanding of myself, and in suggesting areas for improvement for me & clients.

These cards are wonderful. The pictures are beautiful and they really do magically carry the vibrations of the gemstones. Each cards' description and explanation is very positive and inspiring. I love drawing the perfect message every time! Each card has an affirmation associated with it and I have found these affirmations to be immemsely powerful, especially if they are repeated while looking at the card's image. I work professionally with the healing energies of gemstones and crystals and I use these cards with my clients, with great success. Even my 5 yr-old stepson loves them! Naisha Ahsian has done a great job!

This is the first deck/divination tool I ever bought. Naisha Ahsian uses computer graphics with the stone textures in a symbolic artwork form to aid understanding. The graphics appear a bit rougher in print than on the web, but it is still a gorgeous oracle. The publisher Heaven & Earth also offers a gemstone set as well as its extensive line of specimens & jewelry. There are 10 unique stones: azeztulite, cuprite, danburite, fulgurite, herderite, petrified wood, phenacite, pyrite, rhodonite & seraphinite. Katrina Raphaell (Crystal trilogy) did a write-up in her newsletter calling this oracle "more aligned with my own work than any . . thus far"

Myke Feinman's "The Crystal Skull Files" does something that hasn't been done. He takes all the excitement and adventure of the daily strips of yesterday and turns them into a full length graphic novel. No waiting until tomorrow's paper to find out how his protagonist, Terry Freedom, made it out of the latest jam. Just one long satisfying read from beginning to end. Satisfying is the word for it. Like any writer worth their salt, Myke makes you keep turning the page to find out what happens next. It's not only the writing that works it's the Segar-esque (Popeye) bigfoot style art combined with a Caniff-esque(S. Canyon) action tale. Of course, like Myke's first graphic novel with Terry "The Mask Conspiracy", "The Crystal Skull Files" is ripe with underlying themes such as freedom of speech and basic human rights. None of which is preachy but worked into the story with good results. There is also several other strips by Myke and others in the back of the book so it's definitely worth the price of admission. It's clearly worth more that a subscription to a daily paper.

Upon the second reading of this book, I've found I enjoyed it just as much- if not, more. I noticed a lot more the second time. Nowadays, comic collectors will just bag up their books and never bother to read them. DON'T DO THAT TO THIS BOOK. Read it. And buy two- one to read and one to preserve...

Sci-fi thriller and morality play combine in this comic book that entertains all ages. It's fun for the kiddies, but intelligent enough to engage the adult reader. (Makes a GREAT Christmas gift or stocking stuffer.)