This is the story of Chip Ward awakening to deadly environmental pollution in his community, and what he and others were able to do about it. A must read for anybody who wishes to live a happy, healthy life, without dioxin-laden air or nuclear-irradiated ground water - because your community is not that different from Ward's. A well-written and humorous book that will reconnect you with the land and give you a better understanding of active community life. You won't be able to put it down. Absolutely great, from cover to cover.

This book is a remarkable achievement that describes remarkable achievements. First, although this is Chip Ward's first published work, the book is well written and easy to read. It is by turns lyrical, witty, informative, wise, sensitive, and, yes, angry. It describes how the author raised awareness in his community and made a difference despite overwhelming odds. I found it inspiring and uplifting despite the grim topic of toxic pollution. That Ward can keep his sense of humor in the midst of such adversity is amazing. It is a shame this book has not found a much bigger audience.

I loved the book! And Mr. Ward should be commended highly for taking the actions he did, and writing the book to make other people aware of these terrible problems in Utah. It's outrageous! I feel sorry for the people of Utah, and wonder when we will come to our senses.Whatever the answers are to these terrible environmental problems, I think you can depend that each of us will be unpleasantly surprised by some more of these issues in the future, no matter where we live.

This is an excellent book with allot of detail. Every page is full of valuable information and a great resource. It is worth reading this book at least twice. It also covers some tcp/ip issues as well as routers issues that were a little fuzzy in the past.

I was pleasantly surprised by the content and format of this book, having quickly bought it after a few minutes perusal. This is an excellent primer covering most relevant design and security issues relevant to getting a network interconnected/Internetted. The most salient point about this book is that it is one of the true consultant-friendly offerings I have seen and provides terrific overview of necessary issues for bona-fide consulting gigs, particularly with issues of design, security, laying an infrastructure from scratch, and the sort of qualitative design questions you will expected to answer from companies seeking someone who really knows their stuff. By no means is it thoroughly comprehensive, and that's not the point. Use this for a launching point, then utilize in tandem with other offerings such as Chris Brenton's books ("Mastering Network Security," "Multiprotocol Network Design"). Also, this book is NOT for the day-to-day sys admin/contractor/tech in an enterprise environment with extensive infrastructure already in place performing routine maintenance. On a final note, if you're one of the few and brave setting up shop and venturing out as an independent (despite the overwhelming aggregation of the networking services market towards the big corporate/ultra-airhead cattle-call contract/temporary agencies the past several years), you'll want this in your briefcase for additional armor...

Very pragmatic and focused. Ward has done an excellent job covering the important aspects of successfully connecting to the Internet.

As a long time fan of the mystery novel, I found that Resurrection Angel both followed some of the general rules of the genre, but also bent a few of those rules and took its own path.

I enjoyed the character development of the two main characters of the book, Denton Ward and Monty Crocetti. By allowing both to have all to human flaws and weaknesses, Mr. Mize creates characters who are multi dimensional, and therefore more interesting than your average, 'hard boiled' private [eye]. As a woman, I especially enjoyed that the character of Monty was intelligent and tough, and not in the book as a plot device with the entire function of making the male character seem more macho.

The secondary characters are also well realized, and well written - there are no cardboard cutter 'bad guys' in this novel.

The plot of the novel is also somewhat different than your average mystery; including such aspects as as psychic abilities and alien abductions, and also has some unexpected twists and turns as it leads towards a very satisfactory ending.

I enjoyed the book very much, and look forward to the next installment in the adventures of Denton Ward and Monty Crocetti

I originally got this book because I've had the pleasure of interacting with the author online and have always appreciated his creativity, wit and writing style in that forum. To read over 400 pages of his fiction was an extension of that pleasure. I don't usually read mystery novels because I get tired of the same old gumshoe approach to storytelling. Knowing Will's sense of humor and unique take on life in general, it didn't surprise me to discover that there's not one piece of gum on this mystery's shoes. Denton and Monty are unique characters that I found refreshingly different from the run-of-the-mill sleuths ~ they remind me of a punk rock/pyschic version of a cross between The Thin Man and The Bickersons. I enjoyed barreling through each chapter as I followed a case that took me out of this world and back to again. I highly recommend "Resurrection Angel" to anyone who likes a good new-fashioned page-turner with heart.

...perhaps he'll do it again. I'm a friend of the author, but have only recently read the book. I was amazed. Bill's writing style is magnificent. I would recommend this book to anyone. I'm not going to bother with telling the story over in my review, because everyone else's reviews have already told you. Instead, I'll focus on the author. Even when he's not hard at work on the sequel to Resurrection Angel, his genius shows. In his personal journal, and in his conversations with friends, his writing style is still amazing. I think he does it without even trying. If you're into mysteries, definitely buy this book. Even if you're not a fan of mysteries, I still recommend this book for its style. Act fast, folks, because Resurrection Angel is slated to go out-of-print in August!

If you are interesting in Extreme Programming or need to evaluate it, I recommend this book. It is a very readable book but does have some drawbacks:

1. It is way overpriced. Too thin, not enough info for [price], even if Amazon discounts it. Ideas are repeated over and over again.

2. These authors (and others who review their buddies' books on Amazon and give biased reviews) are making a living off you buying into XP. It is funny how they say the last thing you want to do is adopt XP only partially.

3. So don't waste your money on more than one book from this group of XP diciples who are rehashing the same info over and over in about a dozen different books.

4. You can adopt only some of the principles provided in XP without adopting the whole practice. I've seen it done successfully in many places. These principles existed before XP and they can exist without it.

This is the most practical book among all the XP books ever published. You do only need to read Kent Beck's XP manifesto "Extreme Programming Explaining" before studying this book. Then you may skip all other books from the "Extreme Programming Series" and start to interpret written material about individual XP practices:

- Design Improvement: " Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code " by Martin Fowler;
- Test-Driven Development: "Test Driven Development: By Example " by Kent Beck;
- Sustainable Pace: "Slack: Getting Past Burnout, Busywork, and the Myth of Total Efficiency" by Tom DeMarco;
- Pair Programming: "Pair Programming Illuminated" by Laurie Williams and Robert Kessler;
- Whole Team: "Agile Software Development" by Alistair Cockburn;
- Planning Game: "Planning Extreme Programming" by Kent Beck, Martin Fowler;
- Small Releases: "Software Project Survival Guide" by Steve C McConnell.

This book covers most of the XP practices at a glance, but with sufficient level of details. It tells in practice:

- How to introduce XP, how to overcome managers' and developers' resistance, how to set the right attitude (Part One);
- How to remember XP core values, how to handle exceptions if something has broken, e.g. the customer won't write stories or the number of developers is odd, how to do pair programming or stand-up meetings, how to steer and how to plan the whole project and the individual iterations, how to write tests, to create the pair-friendly space, how to refactor, and how to reduce the risk (Part Two);
- How do design the simple, what collective ownership means, how to automate acceptance tests and not get distracted by the code, why the overtime is not the answer and how to coach and keep the score (Part Three);
-How to "sell XP" (commercial aspects of XP projects, e.g. how to bill the customer), how to "scale XP", and how to "measure XP" (Part Four).

Enough said, this is the most practical book among all the XP books ever published.

As a complete newcomer to XP I bought this book based on the review by Peter Lindberg (see below) and I agree with his comments.

Some parts of the book assume that you know a little about XP at the start and you have to wait for a fuller description further on in the text to gain understanding. I didn't find this too much of an issue but you may want to buy one other introductory XP book to help.

I enjoyed the authors writing style and liked the use of guest experts in reinforcing the methodology.

Well worth the cost as you only need to buy this book and perhaps one other to get the XP story.

I really looked forward to reading this book. Unfortunately, it is virtually un-readable. There is little insight into the personality of Walter or the times and places he lived. One may say the book is well-researched, but one may also say the authors are [nitpicky]. The book gets bogged down in minutiae such as documenting each take Walter ever recorded and detials right down when, during a recording he changed harps. Sometimes very interesting, but ulimately this over-load of detail makes the book very dry and difficult to read.

Until Little Walter started blowing, blues harp (harmonica) was little more than a child's toy: a cheap, portable method for making folk music, but more like a kazoo than a serious instrument. Little Walter revolutionized a musicians approach to the harmonica by playing it like a saxophone. Suddenly, this $2 band instrument could play full, rich swinging solos and improvisation. In this very readable text, the authors show that Walter was every bit the innovator on his instrument that Jimi Hendrix and Charlie Parker were to theirs: every single blues harp player since has shown his influence. Unfortunately, the authors also uncovered Walters dark side: his quick temper, his total lack of business sense, and the numerous backstreet brawls that shortened his life. Most important, they guide the reader through his songs as they are recorded, take by take, and show Walters consummate artistry as he continues a neverending search for even newer and more innovative sounds. A must-read for blues fans in general and fans of blues harmonica in particular.

The amount of newly uncovered research (and photos) in this biography of the most important blues harp player ever is astounding. Little Walter, for all of his fame in the blues field, was somewhat of a shadowy figure when it came to the facts of his life. No more. This richly detailed portrait leaves no stone unturned, no aspect of his life unexamined, all without ever falling into the trap of being a gushing fan tribute. An outstanding introduction to the man and his music, and long time fans of Little Walter and the blues in general will find themselves returning to this book over time just to reimmerse in the world of the blues.

Other reviwers have said to put on some Little Walter music while reading this book to hear it in a whole new light. I second the motion!

I enjoyed Jokes from the Internet by Fred Ward, but I have just read better. McFool's Internet Humor has an incomparable collection of Internet jokes and stories. Ward's book is good, but McFool's is better.

I have been enjoying this book immensely. I don't buy much homor, but I find it's a delight to pick up when I want a laugh, or would like to share something with friends or a colleague.

Fred Ward, a serious journalist, has put together a zany,eclectic bunch of Net jokes that's practically impossible to resist.At first glance you're sure you've heard them all before, but stick with it. Many are classics retold, but many are new. Good medicine for what ails us, and a bargain at the price!

I think Ms. Ward would be an excellent therapist. She is deeply caring and undeniably well-intended, and certainly the principles in her book are far more sound than in most marital self-help books. But alas, she is not a good writer: not well-organized, not terribly clear, with some tendency to hop around. Few such books are written really well, but this is exceptionally clunky. Better go to the source: Dr. David Schnarch's extraordinary Passionate Marriage. She credits him in her acknowledgement ("After my first workshop with him in 1992 I felt like I needed to put a 'Closed for Remodeling' sign on my door." ---but not, in my view, nearly enough. The concepts are his. Basically, this is a well-intended, less articulate, somewhat dumbed-down, short-course version of Passionate Marriage. I guess its hominess and lack of sophistication might appeal to some --- didn't do it much for me.

How to not be a wretch though married. And how amazing to discover useful, fresh tools of truth! The book charms with humor woven into mini-stories revealing pearls of wisdom. "How" is an "AH-YES!" blessing to re-read.

The author has a loyal following of fans who know her. We've admired Rebecca's endearing print and dazzling presence. I believe that none of us, except perhaps Rebecca, would be surprised to find her in the company of "Oprah" and all as she becomes the latest rage of the nation.

My fiance recommended this book to me, and boy am I glad she did! Non-threatening in size and easy to read, you will find this book packed full of practical tips that are sure to improve not only your marriage, but any relationship. Mrs. Ward's witty humor is an added treat in this must-have book for anyone desiring a healthy, growing relationship.

I was very dissapointed when I received this book. There are a lot of unusual recipes that kids just would not eat, nor would a meat and potatoes man. As for me, I'd say that I wouldn't even waste my time trying some of the recipes...just a little too "off the wall" for our taste. Many recipes call for expensive or seasonal items, too. I'm returning my copy...

This cookbook has a quality not normally associated with pressure cooking: glamour! These are not Grandma's pressure cooking recipes! New techniques, great pictures and graphics made this book a joy to read and use. I haven't had a chance to try many recipes yet, but I'll be using this one a lot. I went straight to the rice pudding, a favorite comfort food of mine. It was done in 11 minutes and tasted great, with no added fat besides milk. I can't wait to try some of the more fancy desserts, like Black Forest Croissant Pudding and Cafe' Con Leche Flan. I need to get a springform pan and try the cheesecake, as well (I noted in my pressure cooker review that it would be great if the manufacturers made custom inserts for this! I may be dreaming...)

I'm giving this book 4 stars simply because no one cookbook can cover it all. For the basics, and for more "family" type meals, you may want another book. This book really does reflect the way my family eats (with a baby and 4-year-old) but we also eat a lot more basic soups, steamed vegies, and grilled seafood (one thing that doesn't work in the PC.) I usually improvise, and in fact I found a few of these recipes were nearly identical to meals I've cooked recently (beet and orange salad, Mexican chicken tacos).

I'll skip the red meat recipes, but the bean recipes are fresh and wonderful, and there are some great chicken recipes as well (Moroccan chicken, Mexican chicken in soft tacos). I recommend taking a class in pressure cooking, but if you can't, this is the next best thing. I'm not surprised that pressure cooking seems to be experiencing a revival, but I am surprised it took this long. I love my pressure cooker (see review) and would be hard-pressed to cook most meals without it!

Bon appetit!

I am relatively new to pressure cooking (about 1 year) and what led me to THIS book was the fact that I'd just purchased the crockpot/slow cooker cookbook written by Rick Rodgers and was truly thrilled to find a book that held crock pots to a "higher standard" - it's a very very good book if you want excellent results from your slow cooker. . . but this review is about THIS book - again written partly by Rick Rodgers -- and once again, I was not disappointed!

Great recipes - above and beyond the bland and ordinary. My kids have eaten everything I've made from this book (they have been introduced to a lot of unusual foods as well so they're not at ALL picky) -- anyway - their favourites so far are spaghetti w/meatballs (incredibly fast to prepare, particularly if you make the meatballs the night before!), beef bourginon (sp?), and the 3-meat bolognese pasta sauce. I usually up the garlic and some of the spices because we like rather highly seasoned food - but the basics here are very sound - not found one recipe yet that we didn't sit down to where we were floored as to how good the result was. I have to say, I am now using my pressure cooker more than my crockpot or any other form of cooking.

Ive read Countess Below Stairs a hundred times and it's one of my favourite books ever, so when I bought this one I thought it would be as good as that one. But it wasnt. It was kind of boring. I enjoyed, it was good to spend the time, but it was not so great.

I am an avid fan of Eva Ibbotson's children's books, whose descriptions are in between JK Rowlings's and Edith Nesbitt's. This book was slightly less enchanting as her children's fantasies, but there was still that wonderful rich description. I do have to argue against the reviewer who said that few could match her warm, lyrical style; Jane Austen's and Charlotte Bronte's comes close. The plot is a fairly straightforward tale of a young woman who goes to work at a boarding school, so it isn't the most gripping tale, but it's still a wonderful beautiful story. Read it if you love Anne of Green Gables, Jane Eyre, or Ms. Ibbotson's fantasy books, or if you love the English language, or just spend a sophisticated, enjoyable few hours with a great book. Email me if you want more info or have a specific question.

This is the first Ibbotson book I had read and it ties with A Countess Below Stairs as my favorite. The author creates such memorable characters that you can't help wanting the story to go on forever. I loaned this book to a friend and we laugh over the characters like Andromeda, the self regulating baby. I could not put it down. I love to tell my friends about Ibbotson, but it seems like all her books are out of print so you have to get them at libraries. I heartily recommend this book to anyone who likes a good story mixed with a little romance.