After hearing that The Encyclopedia of Alzheimer's Disease was honored as one of the top 25 reference books for 2002 by the New York Public Library Association, I immediately went out and bought this book. Now, when I talk to my mother's doctor, I quickly look up the unfamiliar terms and understand everything that he is saving. My husband's father also has Alzheimer's Disease and lives in another state which was making things difficult in finding the proper care for him. The Nursing Home Directory in the book helped us locate a good home for him who works closely with us even from a distance. Having 2 family members with Alzheimers is difficult to say the least, buying this book made it so much easier for us to understand what is going on and what we can expect in the future.
I was fortunate in meeting the authors at the Library's award ceremony. The authors' backgrounds in pharmacology, immunology and public housing provided them the necessary background to thoroughly investigate all of the aspects of Alzheimer's Disease and its care. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about Alzheimer's disease. It's also a must for anyone who needs to arrange for the care of a loved one afflicted with Alzheimer's Disease or a related disorder.

This comprehensive tome touches on risk factors, brain chemistry, current research, therapies, diagnostic tests, disease course, alternative medical options, genetic concerns, biochemical changes, disease stages, support groups, nutrition, insurance concerns, caregiver issues, housing options, daycare, innovative and traditional nursing homes and both quality and end of life issues. The encyclopedia is followed by a comprehensive list of research facilities, resources and nursing homes that specialize in the treatment of AD patients. A much-needed reference for anyone involved with AD.

I am a 4th year medical student and found this book to be an excellent review of preclinical basic science material. It is concise but detailed enough. It can be used as a quick reference when you don't have time to read a larger source. Highly recommended to add to your library. Just wish there was a new edition.

I am a surgeon and found this book lucid and very readable, and at the same time containing more than enough information for principles of surgery examinations for residents. Its critical mode of writing will also serve the surgeon well throughout his/her surgical career and will inculcate a certain critical ability in its reader. My only suggestion for improvement would be a more upto date edition and a slightly better written chapter on biostatistics. Good work Savage et al! Thumbs up all the way!

Ethnic Notions is a catalog of images exploring racist memorabilia from the collection of Jan Faulkner, examining racial stereotypes in commercial imagery from toys to sheet music. Over 200 items are examples of how the black image has been distorted over the years. The black and white images provide powerful testimony.

Ethnic Notions: Black Images In The White Mind explores American racial stereotypes in commercial imagery, including toys, household items, postcards, sheet music, and advertisements. More than two hundred items showcased in these pages accurately depict the ways in which the black image was distorted and black people misrepresented in the broader American culture from 1847 to the present day in order to establish and reinforce the existing social discrepancies, justify discrimination, and perpetuate traditional majority/minority relationships in the county. Ethnic Notions is very highly recommended reading for Black Studies, social issues, and American cultural history reading lists and library reference collections.

No parent wants their child to be noticed as different from the norm. You want a healthy, happy child who fits in and makes you proud. But what do you do when your child is different? Speaking for myself, I had a hard time when my son was diagnosed with autism many years ago. I walked around looking out of the corner of my eye ready to pounce upon people for their reactions. Actually it was more my perceptions of their reactions. Not to mention the perpetual knot in the pit of my stomach. Like many parents whose children are different, it felt to me that I was battling the whole world.

I wish we had Everybody's Different, the new book by Nancy Miller and Catherine Sammons, much sooner. Life is definitely easier when you understand your own reactions as well as those of others while realizing that you are not alone--not by a long stretch. Everybody's Different: Understanding and Changing Our Reactions to Disabilities is an enlightened and enlightening look at the many differences that exist amongst people in every walk of life and which need not divide us socially. The authors patiently and thoroughly help the reader to understand our internal emotional reactions to disabilities and the differences that result from those conditions. They teach us strategies to build our lives and our families and our communities in a way that is inclusive and respectful of our differences.

Together the authors have over 50 years of experience as practitioners who have worked with children and adults with disabilities and their families. They begin by helping the reader understand how and why we react to the broad spectrum of differences. All too often we are limited by our assumptions about how people look, move, communicate, behave, and learn. (Each of these categories of difference has a thorough chapter devoted to it.) When people are different we tend to stare and compare, so learning how our brains are actually "wired" to notice differences that seem unfamiliar or unsettling is very useful. From there we can move forward and develop better understanding and increased skills for interacting with people who have disability differences.

The authors present a useful model which they call "The 4D Approach." The steps involve: first, detecting the difference; second, deciding or evaluating the situation; third, doing or taking action; and finally, debriefing to make it better the next time. This approach can be used in classrooms, communities, and work places by teachers, therapists, and trainers, as well as by parents, relatives, and friends of people who have differences caused by their disabilities.
Many of the chapters apply specifically to children and adults with autism. Perhaps the most obvious difference is that of behavior. When my son who is now almost twenty starts "stimming," I automatically want him to stop and act "normal." Internally my reaction can be rather desperate for I don't want him AND me to be noticed as different. I also still find myself trying to avoid taking photographs when he is not behaving "normally." There is a certain image I prefer of him in my head, as much as I hate to admit that. But his behaviors are, after all, a part of him.

Even though I would consider myself a veteran, Everybody's Different helped me understand and own up to these reactions. It has taken me some time, but eventually I am learning to love my son, Tariq, not despite his differences--but rather because of them. The knot in my gut is long gone. Now for the most part I can look comfortably around me. I can notice what must have been there before--the friendly faces and kind eyes of compassionate folks.

Everybody's Different provides a rare blend of compassion, scholarship, and practical guidance in a style readable by a broad audience. At times as the reader, I found myself wishing for more passion from the authors. By the end, however, I realized that it was precisely the authors' very balanced approach that is so useful. For those of us who are parents of children with autism, the journey involves understanding and changing our reactions to this very perplexing difference in our children. With Everybody's Different, Dr. Miller and Dr. Sammons can help us get there a little sooner.

Anyone who reads this book will come away with a better understanding and ability to deal with others. It's a fun read, full of useful information and excellent resources. A must read not only for those professionals working in health care, but for the general public. My 14 year old son read this and came away with some valuable insights.

If you want to understand how to do life, read this book at the perfect time for you to take next steps. If you are curious about the Enneagram, read this book. If you want to know how the universe of the human mind works read this book.

As someone who has read and is familiar with nearly all the references in the Miller-Redfield book, I suggest you begin your journey at the end by reading Appendix 2, entitled "The Perfect Twosome Continued." Here you will find the positive possibilities for taking this "Beyond the Zone" journey.

I read this book in my 58th year and learned more about the Laws of Three and Seven than I had learned in all the other books that mentioned them, including Ouspensky's Gurdjieff teachings books.

Miller and Redfield have a unique way of taking complex subjects and concepts and making them mind-friendly.

if you read the celestine prophecy, you must read this book!

In preparation for a trip, I checked out several book and tape courses in Greek. The Hugo course struck the right balance between total immersion on the one hand, and just learning select phrases on the other. This series will give you a quick grounding in the language though it is not as complete as the Barron Foreign Service Institute tape set. The Hugo audio quality is much better than Barron's, and the speakers are quite a bit friendlier. (The Barron series sounded like it was recorded in a garage and the speaker was about as friendly as a police interrogator).

After working with these tapes for about two months I went to Athens. I'm pleased to say they worked. People could understand me without trouble. However, one gentleman asked me where I learned Greek. I sounded like I was stuck in the 1950s. Perhaps it is the difference between Katheravousa ("official") and Demotic ("popular") Greek. So, I may have sounded a little stiff, but most everyone understood me.

The bottom line: this is the best Greek tape and book course I found for someone looking to learn a lot of useful Greek in a short time. Highly recommended.

I have searched for a book/audio course that would teach me the language rather than help me memorize phrases. All the packages at the library were for travelers so they could make sure they "get a room with a bathroom." I wanted to learn the language to be fluent. This book/audio teaches you the language! It includes exercises, both written and oral, as well as an essential grammar section. The four accompanying tapes are very well done, easy to understand, and follow the 290+ page book. If you're looking to learn the language, you can't beat this course for the price!

As a student who wants to work for agencies to prevent crime on the internet, I wasn't sure how much "Family Law and Practice: The Paralegal's Guide" was going to do for me. It turned out to be an incredible resource, not only of how the system works, but also of the workings of families in suboptimal conditions.

I could have done without the "Figures," which were mostly illustrations and seldom court forms; but on the whole, the book was well-written and obviously well-researched.

This book seems to portray very realistically family breakdown AND how the attorney and paralegal fit in. If "Family Law and Practice: The Paralegal's Guide" isn't a part of every business school's paralegal program, it should be. I got a LOT out of the course, and might not have if it hadn't been for the wonderful text.

This is a wonderful book for both students and people interested in family law. It covers everything from the history of family law to current events, such as Roseanne and Tom Arnold's marriage. The cases are more like soap operas than the dry cases one usually associates with law. These cases will inspire great conversation in the classroom and will hold the students' interest from start to finish.

If you want the low down on natural diet and its benefits WITHOUT all the pushy hype that many authors feel is necesary, then this is the book for you. It is down to earth, practical, useful and genuine. There is no "you should do this", but only, "here are some ideas, this worked for me, that for her, and the other for him." It tells you how to discover your own path and put together your own ideal diet at a commitment level YOU feel comfortable with and not the authors' level. Even though it has to be shipped from Britain, it is well worth it.=)

As a living foodist who's read practically ever raw foods book over the past 30 years (eat-sprouts.com), I loved "Feel-Good Food" where the authors' passion is human potential and making this diet workable for everyone, no matter where they're starting from.

The book's focus is on Intuitive Eating--What is it? Why is it so powerful? It shows you how to overcome internal blocks which prevent you from moving forward into all-raw. It's the perfect introduction to the raw food diet and will answer most, if not all, of your early questions on how to transition to raw foods.

Karen reports on her web site: "When you're living this way you really do feel as if you can achieve anything you set your mind to, and sometimes the enormity of what I feel bowls me over! Let it be known that I am not privileged or different or anything 'special.' I am just an everyday woman who wanted excellent health and went after it. It's honestly as simple as that, and it can be YOURS just as easily."

Karen Knowler went slowly from an extreme junk food diet through to all-raw vegan. Karen's history is interesting--including healing herself of borderline cervical cancer at age 22.

This is the book to get if you're into ocean liners! It contains loads of great information about the ocean liners of the past and present, and whets the appetite for more!

I think the "Fifty Famous Liners" series (books 1-3) are the most concise and informational descriptions of the worlds most famous liners a terrific buy for Liner enthusiasts! Andrew Oliva (aoliva@odin.cbu.edu)

Robert Allen has produced an amazing work on the oft-reported saga of the Marine Corps and Iwo Jima, that terrible island. As an amateur military historian (and former Marine who has attempted to reconstruct certain campaigns), I found myself asking over and over again: where and how did he get this information? how long did it take to accurately compile, for instance, the daily "muster rolls" of an entire battalion in the field? The picture that emerges of the Iwo Jima assault is even more horrifying from this perspective of dry military "diaries" and the daily recounting of casualties and replacements. This was island warfare against Japan at its worst, and Allen's microscopic treatment helps to bring it all into focus at the fighting man's level. With the United States Government itself doing little to advance in-depth WWII analysis, writers like Allen are doing a great service for those who do care.

Bob Allen's work represents the best kind of historical narrative-a first hand narrative from the perspective of one who was in motion on Iwo Jima's bloodied sands, and the thoughtful and detailed analysis provided by his focus on the overall picture of the events. Bob's devotion is to telling the story and painting as much of the canvas as he can, while there is time to do so. The memories are 50+ years out there, but they are as clear as though they were this morning. You must read this, and treasure it as a family heirloom of American history. Bob Allen, and his fellow Marines and Sailors, put it all on the line for us, and this is the story of what that really means. Thanks, Bob. Semper fi.