When you read Janet McHenry's books, it is like she is sitting in the room with you sharing her journey. I know, because (disclosure!) I have sat and talked with her: she is my cousin. But don't let that put you off: if her book wasn't any good, I would just ignore it. But this book is good. She knows of what she writes. She doesn't just 'talk the talk' - she 'walks the walk' [pun intended]. I found the 'prayer starters' especially helpful: they hit the mark, they make you think, they bring you closer to our living God. Each day the meditations are an inspiration both to a deeper prayer life and a healthier body. Janet is like having a spiritual director and a walking buddy with you every day. She is very real, very human and very much in touch with what it is to be a woman on a faith journey: all the struggles, joys and hopes.

If you are searching for a deeper prayer life, or wanting to put your faith into action, Daily Prayerwalk is a great devotional for getting your day started on the right foot!! Daily Prayerwalk contains daily scripture readings that challenge you to be in God's word and focus on His desires for your prayer life. The meditations that accompany each day's scripture challenge the reader to get more out of their daily prayer time, and the testimonies of answers to prayer will increase your faith and encourage you to get out and try prayerwalking for yourself. The fitness tips for each day also provide practical helps for using prayerwalking to become physically fit as well.

I was looking for a devotional that would encourage me daily to not just read the meditations, but really dig into the Bible, and I found that in Daily Prayerwalk.

Janet has written a wonderful, practical book that has initial appeal because it instructs us how to combine things in our life that we want to do (in this case exercise and praying). The book goes far beyond the how to get more things done in your day. The book is a journey that shows how daily praying can affect Christian growth, attitude and strength. The book needs to be read slowly to allow the reader time to meditate over what is being said. Janet allows the reader into her and her family's everyday life to show that everyday people are capable of great communication with God and the affect that it can have on our lives.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It starts of as what appears to be a breezy summer read with plenty of romance and some hot and heavy sex scenes thrown in for good measure. However, the denouement reveals that the book is much more than this. All the loose ends are tied together beautifully in the thought-provoking ending. The spirituality of the book really gets one thinking about the relationships in one's life. Why are we drawn to the people in our lives? What purpose do we serve in the lives of others? Do the choices we make in life have a greater cosmic significance than we know? Read this book. Laugh, cry, fantasize, enjoy, and reflect on your own place in the universe and the effect your actions have on others in this world and in the greater cosmic realm.

Knights in Shining Armor Sometimes Play Guitars is a
contemporary romance that refuses to be categorized by
normal standards. It is romance, it is how to be a
great lover, it is suspense, most of all it is a love
story. You will fall in love with Johanna, a brilliant
mid-management executive and Ian, a rock star from the
sixties who is enjoying continual fame and revival, as
they fall in love with each other. The fact that
Johanna has followed his career and had a secret crush
on him for the past 25 years plays a part in their
co-incidental meeting. D.P. McHenry draws the
characters so fully formed you set aside the knowledge
that you are reading fiction. The warmth of the
characters, the realistic trials, tribulations and
triumphs will have you laughing as they appreciate
life, crying as they miss each other through
circumstances out of their control and cheering as
everything seems to be winding down to a satisfactory
conclusion. Sensual love scenes tastefully done are a
great plus for this wonderful read.

Suddenly, you realize that Johanna and Ian's love
story has come full circle they are together. Then
your heart sinks because fate has to drop kick the
hero, heroine, or both, into some horrendous trial
because you are only at the halfway point in the book.
D.P. McHenry throws in her first twist here. The first
part of the book aptly titled 'Lady Slippers and Fairy
Dust' is over. Kate's Story part 2- the woman who the
book is really about, has just begun. DP McHenry has
created every woman's fantasy the perfect romance with
the perfect man in the Fairy Dust part 1. Which is
also the book Kate wrote we discover in part 2. The
book she has written to encompass her fantasy begins
to create eerie similarities to her real life. A book
signing and television appearance signal a start of
events that rival a King or Koontz novel for suspense.
This is no ordinary romance story told in the normal
order. It is not easy to tell you how the two parts
connect, but connect perfectly they do. The author has
skill fully manipulated the plot to ensure continuity
and an engaging read.
First, the reader becomes entangled -happily and
willingly - in Kate's life, but now it's hard to
separate her life from Johanna and Simon's life from
Ian's. The author is not through with us yet she
isn't about to tell us a sweet love story we thought
we were reading in the beginning. Hero meets heroine,
they fall in love, they sleep together, they live
happily every after, sorry this is not Knights in
Shining Armor... D.P. McHenry mimics real life with a few
more twists and turns that catapult the story into
high gear as we race toward the end. We cry for Kate,
we want to shake her for not seeing what we see. Our
hearts ache for Simon, because he can't see the
anguish Kate is going through that matches his own.
The final twist terror squeezing our hearts as we
follow the people we have grown to love and we find

ourselves praying for the happy endings that all love
stories have, though we are never sure. We are hanging
on by the skillful thread D.P. McHenry tethers us with
to the story.

The lyrics Ian/Simon write for Johanna/Kate are the
thread tying the two stories into a book you'll stay
up nights to read. You will want to set the book aside
after each chapter to savor the romantic renderings of
each. Until nearly the end, you will not be in a big
hurry to read forward as it is so much fun to loll in the
forever romantic of McHenry's portrayal of the woman
we all wish we were. For this reason, towards the
end, McHenry pulls out all the stops, drops a bomb on
the reader and then you need to race through the book
to the satisfying - you hope - conclusion.

Mc Henry knows what keeps a reader reading -
believable characters with a believable story. I would
highly recommend this book to the romantic in all of
us, but also for those who want an engaging story told
with the skill of a master. Don't think women only.
Men who are interested in becoming every woman's
fantasy, learn how. Read Knights in Shinning Armor
Sometimes Play Guitars and I guarantee you, you will
not have to play the guitar to snare a mate.

Admit it - what woman hasn't dreamt of actually meeting the rock star she's idolized? And what if he then falls in love with her? "Knights in Shining Armor" explores this theme, and much else, in such a believable style that you are quickly caught up in the dilemma. The work is actually a "book within a book" with two very aproachable and likable heroines, well drawn, even glamourous male characters (both heroes and villians),and warm and sensous love scenes. This is romance for the woman who is not afraid to grapple with the moral and spiritual issues of who and how to love, who is willing to work hard to suceed both in love and in life, and never lose the willingness to laugh at the world or herself. A delightful take on "It could happen to you!"

Definitely worth the money. Very good paper back for seeing Yosemite

Yosemite National Park is full of interesting and amazing stops along the road. With the help of roadside markers, this book opens a wealth of information reguarding the geology, history and nature of Yosemite. Any person who goes through Yosemite with out this book, will leave Yosemite with only a small portion of the amazement that Yosemite gives.

This is an excellent book, detailing this group (Food Not Bombs, which grew from a small anti-nuke collective into a decentralised international organization, with autonomous chapters throughout the world. This book is an indispensable resource for challenging capitalism, through the direct redistribution of food. Includes stories of specific actions, recipes, and clip art. Try to find this book through a small independent bookstore, not a ultra capitalistic dot-com. Don't buy into consumerism, get involved! "The Revolution Will Be Catered!"

Over the past couple years, many people have gone out of their way to comment to me that Inside A Freight Train is one of their children's favorite books. The children get very excited when they see real cars that look like the ones in their book. The best review I've ever had, however, was from my two youngest children. Each of them discovered the book on their own (at about the age of two) while going through the books on their shelf. I'll never forget the look on my son's face as he proudly brought the book to me, wanting me to read it to him. Of course, he had no idea that I had written and illustrated it. Ever since that day, the train book has been his number one favorite book and he still has no idea that his mother had anything to do with it. (The only problem is that he finds brand new copies sometimes (waiting to be mailed out to someone) and thinks that these are his books,too!) The artwork is very straighforward because I have found that that is what young children prefer. All of the backgrounds are real places. Some of these places are here in central Pennsylvania. I actually climbed down into a tank car at a train junk yard to get pictures of the heating pipes. The lack of variety in composition (cars are all seen from the side) was due to the preference of the editor.

Excellent story of how to conserve land and create parks.

I have an older edition of this book. Let me tell you, it is a life-saver. Seriously, every street is in here. I don't care how lost you are, you will be able to figure out how to get where you want to be. And if you use it ahead of time, you won't get lost in the first place.

This book is amazing! Every Christian woman who wants a more vibrant prayer life and a healthier body should read this book!

The first thing that impressed me when I started reading PrayerWalk was that the author was very honest and made herself very vulnerable in telling about how she was feeling about herself and about life before she started prayerwalking. That really helped me to identify with her. She wasn't one of those women who have their act together in every area of their lives.

And for those of you who think that the weather in your area isn't conducive to walking outside, you can read about the weather conditions in Janet's northern California mountain valley community. The temperatures there are below freezing from September through April!

For those of you who don't think you have time to prayerwalk, consider that the author has a full-time job as a high-school English teacher as well as her responsibilities of being wife and mother. Janet walks at 5am every weekday, and it's usually dark.

She's had some interesting encounters - from a mountain lion to drug dealers. Janet had planned on praying for her own spiritual growth and for her family members and friends. As she walked, she expanded her prayer list to include many others in the town in which she lives - she prays for businesses she walks by, government buildings and what goes on inside, and so much more. I found this both humbling and exciting to see how God can lead you when you embark on this new endeavor of prayerwalking!

I read this book in 24 hours. After I read the first 70 pages or so, I put the book down, grabbed my jacket and went for a 30 minute PrayerWalk! Using the author's formula, I figured that my target heart rate is between 85 and 129. I enjoy contemporary Christian music, so I took my DiscMan along and the words of the music helped me form my prayers. Does anyone else do this?

Please check out my reviews of other Christian books and music!

As busy as women's lives are, we often put two very important things on the back burner - praying and doing something to keep ourselves physically fit. In "PrayerWalk" the author shows us how we can combine these two and not just make time for God, but make meeting with Him in prayer a daily priority in our lives. McHenry walks us through her own and others' experiences, presenting a lot of great ideas for taking the concept of prayerwalking and making it ours. She encourages us not to just follow a cookie cutter recipe for fitness and prayer time, but to seek God and His design for those areas of our lives.

This inspiring book would be a wonderful addition to your personal collection or a great gift to a friend or a church library. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND it for anyone wishing to strengthen their walk with the Lord while strengthening their bodies.

Gifted author and speaker, Janet Holm McHenry, takes her "Christian walk" seriously as she literally speed-walks while she prays. I couldn't imagine reading an entire book on the subject. What's the big deal anyway? You just put one foot in front of the other and talk to God. Yet Janet has written a challenging, interesting, and resourceful handbook that not only engages readers mentally, but fully equips them to become spiritually and physically fit, as well. Janet covers miles of ground from her personal struggles and victories with both prayer and exercise, to well-documented health information, to choosing foot gear and prayer partners, to understanding specific aspects of prayer, to mapping out a detailed prayer strategy for one's entire community. Surprisingly, she also includes humor and pathos; and there is sometimes a poetic lyricism to her writing.

Before reading Prayerwalk, I had to muster bootstrap determination to pray. Now I just lace up my tennies, open my heart, hit the road, and talk to God! Though occasionally I run out of breath, thanks to Janet, now I never run out of prayer topics or inspiration!

Lynn D. Morrissey Author & Speaker

Anthony Pitch has written a memorable account of a seminal event in American history. His portrayal of the British burning of our nation's capitol is an exciting, fast-paced description of events which catch and hold the reader's attention from the first to last page. Pitch's suspenseful story captures the essence of what is best in historical nonfiction - the ability to depict events in an accurate and yet dramatic style, painting word pictures in a crisp, authoritative fashion which entrances the reader. This book is a must for the library of every history buff, and for that matter, for every civic-minded citizen. There is no doubt in my mind that it will be made into an intriguing motion picture.

This fast-paced, incredibly well-researched book changed my view of American history. I never appreciated that the War of 1812 was, in fact, our second war of independence, one which we came close to losing. I never knew that the terrified U.S. government, in fleeing Washington, allowed the British Army to literally amble into town virtually unopposed and burn most of the government buildings (yet treat the populace with unimagined civility!). I never knew much about the inspiration and writing of the Star Spangled Banner and the importance of the Battle of Baltimore. And I was fascinated to learn that the Battle of New Orleans, in addition to being one of the worst defeats ever suffered by the mighty British Army (mostly at the hands of Andrew Jackson and a bunch of Kentucky and Tennessee hillbillys, no less), was a battle that never should have been fought. I have generally found history books to be ponderous reading, written more for the benefit of academic historians than for popular consumption -- often only giving me added details about things I already knew about. This book is different. It's crisp, fast-moving and very authoritative. Anthony Pitch has written a focused and important book about a pivotal period of American History about which most Americans, I suspect, know little. And after you read it, when you sing "The Star Spangled Banner", you'll appreciate with greater depth, possibly for the first time, what you're singing about. I loved the book!

Anthony S. Pitch is a first class story teller. From the humiliating defeat of the panic-stricken American troops at Bladensburg, Maryland (north of Washington, D.C.) to their magnificent victory over the British army at New Orleans (under the command of the immortal Andrew Jackson), it's all here. I found it difficult to put this riveting book down. As a native of Baltimore, I particularly enjoyed the author's fact filled account of the important battle at Fort McHenry and the birth of our National Anthem. The heroics of American Generals George Armistead, Samuel Smith, and John Stricker are faithfully retold, along with rich details about many other gallant defenders of the then-young Baltimore City. I grew up during WWII on Locust Point, in south Baltimore, where the Fort still stands as a sentinel, jutting out into the Patapsco River. Pitch's research of the combatants' competing military strategies in that seminal battle is very illuminating, indicative of the author's background as a journalist. The death of British General Robert Ross, just before the start of the decisive land battle at North Point (just east of Fort McHenry) at the hand of two sharp shooting patriotic riflemen, Henry McComas and Daniel Wells, deserves a chapter all to itself. Pitch also describes marvelous anecdotes about the torching of the city of Washington by the British that should be read by every American that cares about his country's history. I never fully realized just how close our nation came to again becoming a province of the British Empire. Pitch relates it was a lot closer then most of us ever imagined. I can't wait for this well-documented book to become a movie. It would make a great sequel to Mel Gibson's splendid film, "The Patriot."