Those who are dying are often the best equipped to teach us about the mysteries of death and the wonder of living. This is no exception with animals. Rita Reynolds has worked with sick and dying animals for over 20 years at her animal sanctuary in Virginia. Not only has she comforted a wide variety of animals in their final hours, helping them to die with peace, grace and dignity, but she has listened to them and learned.

The day before Rita's beloved dog Oliver died, he communicated to her the importance of sharing such moments rather than drowning in grief. "Everything is as it is meant to be," reassured Oliver. "And if you let me, I will guide you for all the moments to come." As Rita was to learn in all matters of life and death, there is only the moment - and, "love given and received, moment by moment, is all that really matters."

Reynolds' book is both a spiritual and practical guide. Including her personal story of creating a hospice as well as the stories of many animals who have shared their wisdom and insights, Rita also suggests a variety of tools for helping sick, old or dying animals - from prayers and flower essences to massage, chants and healing music. As we help our animals to be comfortable, to lose fear and transition effortlessly, gracefully (or, as each body needs to do - sometimes with noise and fanfare) across the bridge called death, we lessen the fear within ourselves.

Rita covers some difficult topics as well: how to know when euthanasia is appropriate; how to let go of a beloved animal companion; what to do once an animal has passed; and how to open to the larger understanding that death can be beautiful and that each being, human and animal alike, brings us a unique gift. In all cases, Rita offers many ways to deepen our connection, not only with the dying but with the living, and with the deeper aspects of ourselves.

This is an amazing book! I personally appreciated the author's reverence for all life forms. To be able to look deeply and appreciate the lives of everything from the largest life forms, those creatures that we all are used to having share our lives, to those less common ones or those we often ignore or distance ourselves from, is something I truly honor and respect. I could relate to the author's childhood experience of feeling that she was "different" because she felt so connected to nature and animals, even more so than to many humans sometimes. I, too, felt the same connection as a child - a feeling that continues still. Each individual story is touching in its own way. Each story brought tears to my eyes as I felt the depth of love flowing between the author and each life form as well as the love flowing from one animal to another. Death is difficult whether it is an animal or a human. However, to be able to be there and honor the soul as it makes its transition, is an experience I've had many times and one that I cherish as does Rita. Read the book and experience the love between two ducks, or the wonderful interactions between the author and a spider, or the story of a lady bug, or the strength of a little mouse! Stories that are real and touching and yet most people don't even let the experience happen. It is very sad that they therefore miss out on experiencing a special joy and connection. Rita is a gift to this world in her ability to share her feelings of compassion, to give love and comfort and to be able to love enough to release, to let go, and to set free when the time has come. This book isn't just for animal lovers, it's for anyone who honors life. The stories and lessons contained in the book apply to life in general. The book is a strong reminder to everyone that "kindness uplifts the world."

Blessing the Bridge not only explores what animals teach us about dying, it celebrates the life of many beings--from a spider who appreciates good music to a duck who teaches a powerful lesson in letting go. Sandwiched inbetween are tales of beloved dogs and other companion animals--each bears a gift the author accepts and shares with the readers of this book. Blessing the Bridge will fill your heart with joy and your brain with practical ways to cross that bridge when you come to it. I highly recommend this book!

I've never played anything but 1920's Call of Cthulhu, and have never been to keen on the idea on modern-day CoC. But I must admit, the Delta Green campaign setting is really impressive. After having taken a look at it and purchasing it, I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a change of pace in their CoC game. The best comparison I can think of is this: If CoC 1920's is the movie "Alien," Delta Green is the movie "Aliens." Both are cool, both have the same creatures as the adversaries, but they both have different moods and different types of protagonists. The background info in this book is so realistic, if I were a bit more mentally unbalanced :), I could easily believe every bit of it as gospel truth, not just a game setting.

If Lovecraft was alive today this sourcebook would make him green with envy! This takes the Call of Cthulhu game to the contemporary level. There's more than enough plots and characters to juice up a modern (postmodern?) Call of Cthulhu game. I especially like how the creators have made so many versatile options. You can make this supplement as intricate or as simple as you want. I definitely recommend this as a sourcebook to all Call of Cthulhu role playing fans.

Many have commented that DELTA GREEN is where X-Files meets the Cthulhu Mythos. They are correct, but it goes beyond that. Delta Green presents a satisfying and believable context for mythos roleplaying in the modern era. This supplement for CALL OF CTHULHU, a game which has a history of great supplements, raises the standard by which future works will be measured. This is quite possibly the best role-playing supplement ever. I have been into RPGs for nearly 20 years now, and I have seen most of what is out there. Believe me, it does not get better than this.

I met Mary prior to my shipping out to the Gulf War, she told me that she was working on a book about her experiences in the Vietnam War, and also interviewing those that she served with. When the book finally came out I bought the book right away. Upon doing this, I could'nt put it down, I completed it in 2 days. The book had me laughing and on the verge of tears. Many books have been written from the eyes of a men serving in war, but too few have been written about a womens experience in that same war. I have to say her book was easy to read and understand, but at the same time conveys her feelings and alot of the frustration she felt durin her tour in Vietnam. I have to highly recommend this book to anyone that wants to see the war thru the eyes of a Vietnam nurse, or any women serving in a war zone. To all that served with honor in all wars including the one we are now engaged in, May God Bless you all and keep you safe, and also your loved ones.

A World of Hurt by Mary Reynolds Powell helps ease the pain I have felt for the past 29 years. I served at the 24th Evac Hospital as an Internist on the medical wards (5-10)in 1971-72. I spent a total of 5 years in the army before I could face leaving the haunting memories of that "war" behind me. The book brings back so much to me and has helped me realize that I am not alone in these feelings. She writes from the heart and you feel what she felt, and you know the hurt that lasts a life time. I thank her for writing this book and recommend it to anyone who was in Vietnam and to all those who want to understand the horror of war and the helpless feeling and anguish of youthful death. This book is therapeutic to so many of us who served and have kept the pain internally and have cried in silence and in the darkness. I thank you for this book for it is a gift to all eho suffered. I can no longer remain anonymous.

Mary Reynals Powell's book, A World of Hurt, allows you to experience the Vietnam War without having to really go there. She recounts the tragedy of Vietnam and the ludicrousness of the military. The book speaks about the personal experiences of seven individuals. After reading this book, the reader will have a greater understanding of the individuals that were there and the setting they were placed in. Read it.

Ariosto was one of the giants of Renaissance literature, and this was his footprint. Grand, touching, funny, witty, stirring -- as Dryden said of Chaucer, here is the world's plenty. Some of the greatest poets of the next two centuries (Tasso, Spenser, Milton) explicitly attempted to overdo him, and only sometimes succeeded; Byron took as much from Ariosto as he did from Pulci.

But don't read this on that account. Read it because it's a delight from start to finish. War, love, and chivalry are the poet's themes, and they're here in all their forms.

I don't know Italian, but everyone I've asked who would know assures me Reynolds's translation captures not just the essence but the spirit of the original.

(Ignore the reviews that claim that this is a prose translation -- they are from another translation.)

Before anything else is said, it should be known that this edition is a prose translation, which does not retain most poetic characteristics of the original poem although for a modern English reader this is probably the best edition yet: fairly clear and still interesting in its own way. Orlando Furioso is a 16th century epic poem dealing with Charlamgne's wars against the "Saracens" who had (if we are to take the poem as historical fact) even reached the point of besieging the city of Paris. Of course,the book was not meant by its author to be historically accurate in any way, merely a parody of chivalric court legends as the book description says. Whoever reads this book and fails to sense irony on every page, even crude jokes in some parts clearly does not understand what he is reading in the least. But Orlando Furioso is not a parody of just chivalric court legends; it also pokes fun at the Illiad, popular tales and even common peasant stories. The heads (complete with helmets) sliced in two by a single sword blow are taken from The Illiad, in which Greek champions perform similar feats, although in Orlando Furioso, literally hundreds of men meet their end in this manner to the point of becoming amusing in a way. And I found it strange to notice a very clear similarity between the story told by an innkeeper in the book and the prologue to a translation of a 13th century version of the Arabian Nights (translated by Hussain Haddawy). Ariosto had no possible way to know of the existence of the Nights, but still it is interesting to see how truly close the two incidents are: In Orlando, two men who have given up on the possibility of women being chaste, take one woman and watch her day and night, yet she still deceives them in their own bed. In the Nights, a demon has locked his wife inside an impenetrable castle, yet she still deceives him as he sleeps right next to her in bed. The two events are described similarly, with the same irony (being meant as a joke which the author denies believing in in the least). The book is funny only in the way reading Candide is funny. This is simply another example of what makes the book enjoyable. During the reading of Orlando, somewhere about 3/4 of the way into the book, the reader may wish that it would end right there and that two characters; Bradamant and Ruggiero should get married and finish the story. But the continuation of their separation and further adventures is just another parody of common legends, exaggerated out of proportion. In the end, with all its jokes and its surprisingly individualistic narrative technique, its more serious scenes (the most touching of which is when a woman named Isabel is killed) forms into a large picture, with a great deal of good atmosphere, such that when it ends (although the reader may not have been touched very much during its reading) will want it to go on.

Easy enough to refer to a prose translation as "appropriate for the masses," but the fact remains that when a translator is freed from the necessity of forcing a poem to conform to rhyme and meter in a second language, he has access to a broader range of vocabulary and is therefore more able to remain true to the spirit of the original (as Waldman deftly explains in his introduction). Is it any wonder that this work has received so little attention in America when past translations have been so hidebound and pedagogical? Orlando Furioso is anything but a sing-songy, staid old verse.

In Waldman's translation are to be found both the idealised virtues of chivalry and sometimes startlingly lowbrow humor, all wrapped up in an epic tale of adventure, romance and magic. By providing an unabridged translation (another shortcoming of more traditional editions), and by attempting to capture the true flavor of the work rather than slavishly abiding by the dictates of classical poetic rules, he has presented to English readers for the first time a tale that rivals the epics of Homer in its scope and aspiration. And for sheer entertainment value (coupled with the elitism of Ariosto's sly jabs at the very people for whom the work was composed), this work is all but impossible to beat-- his original audience, after all, was not the literati, but the idle rich.

Alice in Between is my favorite book in the Alice series, of 12 books. It tells about Alice McKinley, who has just turned 13 at the end of seventh grade, and expects it to be wonderful. However, being a teenager and at an "in between" age is harder than she thinks, though she and her friends still have some great, often hilarious times together. A fancy date, taking the "pencil test", and going on a train trip to Chicago are a few of the things that happen. This is a book that all girls 11 and up can relate to, I'm sure! I've never read a book that is so true to life - Phyllis Naylor is amazing! If you liked this book, be sure to read the others in the series.

Sorry, that was me freaking out at how good this book was! I found it even more realistic and even more popping! I now feel I am one of the characters in this book. I also think that the part of the story where Pamela dressed up to be nineteen, got a date with a guy, flirted with him all night, kissed him, went into her compartment, the guy followed her in and if it hadn't been for Alice and Elizabeth throwing themselves at the door and screaming, she would've been raped very cautionary! Take this story to heart, no grain of salt needed and you may be surprised at how feel when this story is over.

Blessed be!!

this book is really great. it's about alice turning 13 and she, Pamela, and Elizabeth going to Chicago over the summer for a week. To visit Aunt Sally because that was her b-day present to Alice.
At the end of the year, a teacher retires and Miss Summers gives everyone an assignment about poetry that is true. I like this book because the author indicates about friendships, going through changes when you're 13, and learning about sad things that had happened back in the past.
Like the fact Alice had accidentally memorized her wrong poem in class. The poem she had said was about her mother. It was sentimental and really sad.
So on the train to Chicago, Pamela meets a guy who is disrepectful. So read it for yourself. It explains about REAL teenage life and friendships. And Pamela gets gum in her hair and getting it cut really short.
Elizabeth tells Alice and Pamela about God. Like refusing to forgive someone is an unforgiveable sin and what God looks like in her opinion.
Alice's dad and Miss Summers go at a music conference together in Michigan when Alice gets back. So for the second time, read this if you're curious with REAL teenage life as 13.

Reynolds has published in other genres and his command of the art of writing fiction makes his first crime novel competitive with the best works of the best crime novelists. The dialogue, descriptive passages, realistic violence and comic breaks give the book the sort of rhythym you want to dance to, if you could only put the book down, which you'll find you can't. Reynolds' well-established reputation as a literary novelist will not suffer in the least from this delightful jump into genre. He brings his keen-eyed, unsentimental compassion to each of his characters in Players. Even minor characters will stay in your mind for weeks after reading the book. Especially if you pride yourself on being up on crime fiction, you need to read this book now so you can brag about "discovering" it later. And if you've never read crime fiction, but feel like a dash into neon, this is exactly the place to start--a book that sacrifices none of the grit, scorns the glitter, yet offers a deep humanity as well. Of course, you don't ever have to read Players; but then again, you don't have to watch your favorite sport or drink your favorite beer ever again either. It's just that life is too short to deny yourself such wonderful pleasures

Players has got be one of the best books written in years. Reynolds ability to keep you thinking shines in this work. The plot is so well done and involved. It is one you will not be able to put down. A 10 without doubt!!!

If you're looking for sentiment then forget this book--it's peopled with the strangest assortment of people since Charles Dickens' London eccentrics. No one can be trusted; few are as they seem. "Pulp Fiction" springs to mind as a comparison--it reads like a good film--vivid scenes--cars pumped full of bullets and left in stock tanks, heads mailed FedEx, two of the strongest, spunkiest women in recent fiction, a character who looks like a shrub--I don't usually read mystery or crime fiction, but I couldn't put this one down--too much happens and waaayy too fast. Great read--great escape and, as a native Texan, I can vouch for the authenticity of the settings (if I could vouch for the authenticity of the characters I would probably not be around to read--no one lasts long in a "Players" world)

The "If They Mated" book by Conan O'Brien and staff is a colorful and humorous look at the answer to the question we've all been wondering "What if they mated?" Couples in the news, or even those rumored to be going out, and their "child", a morphed creature with the worst characteristics of the two, is shown. This book is a must!

Conan O'Brien is one of the funniest men alieve and this book proves that!This book evolved from a sketch on the show(one of the best, other than Pimpbot 5000). He and the Late Night Writers are amazing,they come up with so many diffrent sketches that its not even funny. If you have ever wondered what celebrities babies looked like this book is a must have.
HAIL CONAN!

heart,
ivy the barbarian

This is definately a must have for any Conan O'Brien fan. Late Night with Conan O'Brien is simply the best show ever. Conan O'Brien is the funniest man alive and he along with the Late Night writers have only shown that with this hillarious book. I can't wait until In the Year 2000 comes out. Conan O'Brien is truly a genius when it comes to truly hysterical, unique and orginal comedy, I give this book Five Stars. Read over and over again.

Why is AppleWorks 6 popular in classrooms and small businesses?

AppleWorks 6 has a word processing, graphics, database, web design, spreadsheet, and slide-show functions in a single, integrated application. Plus, it comes free with your iMac and eMac computers.

Like a good Swiss Army knife, AppleWorks 6 has a smart interface design and smooth integration with various AppleWorks 6 modules. Plus, it's accompanied by templates, art libraries, and fonts--and no printed instructions. AppleWorks 6: The Missing Manual is the book that should have been in the box.

Pages Worth Bookmarking

Page 279 - Clippings Artist in a Box

Page 310 Replacing the Font Menu with Buttons

Pages 365-366 MacLinkPlus, importance of RTF and Appleworks 6.1 (in Mac OS X, 6.2) You are eligible for the Missing Manual Discount at 60% off the street price for MacLinkPlus.

Page 394 - Properties, Compact filing card.

Page 395 - AppleWorks 6 Macros under Mac OS X cannot be created or played.

Page 397 - Script Menu

Page 441 - Colophon

The authors regret that they did not write their book in AppleWorks 6. The blame goes to the publishing industry staffers and the mistaken premise that Adobe Pagemaker 6.5 accepts nothing but Microsoft Word.

Personal Observation

RTF (Rich Text Format) is the "Rosetta Stone" needed for translating word documents to Mac OS programs and Windows non word applications such as Microsoft Works. Note: Adobe PageMaker 6.5 for the Mac works very well with RTF (Rich Text Format).

Pro Reaction

The authors place emphasis AppleWorks 6 interface, its Internet hooks, the Starting Points window, and the Presentation module.

Part by part coverage. The early chapters delve very deeply into the six core AppleWorks modules, including 85 pages on the word processor alone.

Power tools. Much of AppleWorks's power comes from its macros, templates, assistants, customizable Button bar, and web-based clip-art libraries.

Document exchange. File import and export transfers.

Troubleshooting. The authors freely acknowledge the AppleWorks's program's weaknesses--and offer work around solutions.

Con Reaction

Missing was a Quick Table of Contents. Also, missing was saving files into Microsoft Word documents as RTF (Rich Text Format).

Missing was the mentioning of Spreadsheet Menus on page viii of the Table of Contents Appendixes (should have between Word Processing Menus and Database Menus).

Final Words

AppleWorks 6: The Missing Manual treats AppleWorks as a serious productive tool. AppleWorks 6: The Missing Manual shows the Mac user how to get the most out AppleWorks. The manual has over 250 illustrations, a 2,000-entry index, and a menu-by-menu explanation of every command.

Had to get this book because Appleworks comes on Apple's stuff and you may as well get up the energy to use it instead of spending MEGA-dollars on Microsoft Office for the MAC. Why get a MAC so you can buy Microsoft stuff - get windows and run it there. The book is well written and actually covers the things I needed, for example: label generation, integration of graphics and spreadsheets, etc. Excellent index and table of contents, which are features on which so many books fall short.

Thanks to your book, AppleWorks 6, I am, for the first time ever, understanding how to create a database. Your chapter on that subject is suburb. It is easy to read, takes me carefully through each step, informs me of the quirks I might encounter and offers such a deep look into the program that I can see its application to a lot of my projects. I actually feel successful at setting up the complex database I am creating for my research.

Dear Jean certainly falls in the "gotta have" category. I found the book very informative with excellent (and humorous) advice for real everyday issues in the workplace. Kudos to Jean Kelley!

Jean coaches in a clear, cut-to-the-chase manner that makes this book highly readable & a fabulous reference to return to time & again.

It works brilliantly, whether you are a boss or an employee. Like the best Dear Abby columns, Jean's counsel is packed with humor that makes even the hardest advice easy to understand & implement.

With the boom in new start-ups, I would recommend this as a must read for every new manager confronted with the human factor in the workplace. You'll find Chapter 8 particularly valuable.

This book covered some of the most interesting topics of real human life in the workplace, and not only in the United States. It also applies in places like Spain, where I'm from. Jean's experience in dealing with all these subjects makes the book and her advice very useful and realistic. Also I very much enjoyed reading this book -- it's certainly not boring! I strongly recomend this book to my friends, to people who work in companies or institutions, and also to the general public. I'm sure they will learn from it as well as enjoy it. Thanks, Jean, for this excellent book.

This book defies the sterotype that romance novels are "fluff." Reynolds writes an intelligent and heart-felt novel about two incredible people. The story of Kate and Mike broke my heart, but I could not help but be inspired by Mike's dedication and enduring love for his Kate. This book can make your stomach drop one moment, and lift your spirit the next. I can't wait for another thrilling novel from Ms. Reynolds!

Annette Reynolods captivated me like no other book in recent memory. My heart went out to the characters in this story, and I felt as if I knew these people, like I was watching this story unfold as if I were a neutral third party.

This is a great, great contemporary romance novel. I really loved this book and know that I will encounter few others in which the leads interact with such tenderness and yet firm determination.

It is the story of three close friends, two men and one woman. Through flashbacks, we see their high school relationship and as it matured through the years. The woman, Kate, marries one of her close friends, Paul, and the flashbacks on their tragic marriage tear your heart out. And one of the primary reasons your heart is tearing apart so much is the third friend, Mike, the second man, has loved the woman from the beginning although his best friend is married to her. Mike continues to be a very close friend to Kate and Paul and is loyal throughout their marriage. He never attempts to come between the two. The story begins when two of the three friends are 35 years old and the third friend, the husband, Paul, is dead.

I cannot think of many - if any - heroes that I felt were dearer than Mike. In the beginning of the book, he is living across the street from Kate and is watching her destroy herself with alcohol and self-recrimination. He is very understanding and a strong shoulder for her. However, he is beginning to believe it is time to let her know of his feelings for her. He has decided to change his life if she is not receptive to these feelings. He is her oldest and dearest friend. His character never seems weak at all but he is subdued as he begins to attempt to bring some life back into Kate. It has been two years since her husband's death and she still stays shut away most of the time. He gently gains a more intimate door into her life. As she is attracted to him, he begins to show a much stronger side. By the end of the book, I think Mike would be described as a mature alpha male.

The hero, Mike, is so - oh I don't want to say this but there is no other word - sexy! He is successful, confident, and has so, so many other great traits. He is definitely Dream Guy!

Kate has remained a dear friend to Mike and has matured though the troubled years of her marriage. She is clinically depressed and sees no way out. All of her attempts to start her life again seem to meet with failure. So, she drinks yet another night and attempts to hide her actions from the world. Beneath all of her pain, we see a beautiful person. But getting Kate to see that about herself is a real challenge. She is very difficult and actually rude to anyone who cares about her. She is a little too obtuse at times. Sometimes I just wanted someone to put her in her place for her rudeness and withdrawal from life. But Mike goes gently with her and slowly begins to draw her out - making her realize she must be accountable for her actions. As their relationship develops further, he increases the pressure for her rehabilitation and places higher expectations on her.

Kate has a few really stupid moments at the turning point of the book. It made me want to throw up my hands at this sudden turn of events. However, it tends to provide Kate with some gumption. She begins to show some maturity and Mike continues to demand her to do so. There are some very tough times during the last half of the book but the writing is superb and there are no big misunderstandings. The plot moves quickly, never losing your interest for a moment, and all the while, we continue to see flashbacks of Kate and Mike's pasts.

There is not a boring page in the book although you do need to become accustomed to the rhythm of the flashbacks. Kate and Mike's relationship is full of emotions and verbal and non-verbal challenges. Their relationship, throughout the book, is vibrant. The sensual relationship between Mike and Kate was beautiful and rates a solid four out of five (see More About Me for rating guidelines).

This is such a great book in so many different ways. As I write this, I am sad that it is over. This is another ALL TIME KEEPER that I will read again. This one, in fact, is a book I could read again right now. Annette Reynolds is a great discovery and I really look forward to her future books.