Who can ask for more?

This book is an excellent example of scholarship and excellent workmanship. From cover to cover, it is informative, entertaining and authoratative. KUDOS!!

THIS BOOK IS WRITTEN IN SIMPLE AND CONCISE LANGUAGE IS A FAVORITE OF ALL MY FELLOW OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS. IT IS DIFFICULT TO PUT DOWN AND HAS BECOME A WELL WORN REFERENCE IN MY LIBRARY. --ANNE

This is the best mnemonic vocabulary book I've come across. Most vocabulary books expect the reader to simply memorize dozens of words from a definition, an etymology and a sentence, then use fill-in-the-blank and multiple choice to reinforce and test you. As most know, it quickly becomes overwhelming. Vocabulatoons visual representations are truly memorable and I still remember the picture for the word for fjord (tourists looking at Ford cars in a Fjord).

The words are definitely geared toward high-school vocabulary and the SAT (as the book cover suggests) so I found myself already knowing about 75% of the words (e.g. gloat, legacy, phobia, vocation, ajar, aftermath).

I'm hoping the sequel to this book will have more advanced words, however, it never hurts to reinforce what words you *think* you already know.

Like many of you, I have used lots of other methods in memorizing vocabularies, and only found that it is totally useless. Even though you have learned those new words one day, you forgot them the next day. It is because we do not make the best use of our brain in memorization. If you know psychology, you know that human memorize by association, that is, you link up a new fact with the old information already contained in your mind. The success of this book is to help you to form association with other English words that you have already known. For example, according the book, the word "Giddy" is associated with an easier word "City", because they have similar pronounciation. Then a picture showing a village farmer getting dizzy with all the complicated roads in the city remind you the meaning of "giddy": dizzy, frivolous. The mnemonic method are based on psychological research, and that is why it is a good source in learning new words. I have tried Princeton Review Word Smart Cassette Programme before, and found that I forgot those learned words within a few days. This book has better methods, and the cartoon makes the whole learning experience less stressful.

This book offers a much easier, funner, faster, and better way to learn and to *REMEMBER* vocabulary than most other vocabulary books (including those by Kaplan, Princeton Review, *for Dummies, Arco, and Barrons). What makes this book an excellent buy is the unique method that is employed in teaching vocabulary: humorous CARTOONS that serve as visual mnemonics! You will rarely find this strategy utilized anywhere else! Verbal mnemonics for each word are also incorportated into the book. This ensures that you will not forget the words you've learned!

The words used in this resource emphasize focus on attaining a better score on the verbal section of the SAT I. I have come across most of the 300 words in this book on sample SAT Is. I would recommend this title to those who would like to effectively increase their vocabulary in a short amount of time, especially to those with weak vocabularies.

A sample word used in this book is "ubiquitous". The verbal mnemonic is "as big as us". The visual mnemonic is a cartoon that features two extremely heavyset people who claim: When you're "as big as us" you feel "ubiquitous". (Ubiquitous, by the way, refers to the quality of being everywhere at once.)

Martin Luther King was a man of BIG words. When others said "hate", Martin said "love." When others said "separate", he said "together." And when he heard others say "war", Martin said "peace." "Sooner or later, all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together." Martin always went where he was needed in the struggle for equality. He shared his dreams and filled people with hope. "He walked with them and talked with them and sang with them and prayed with them." Doreen Rappaport has written a simple and inspirational picture-book biography that combines her quiet, yet powerful prose, with Dr King's own "big words." Her text emphasises his courage and strong committment to non-violence, equal rights, and the civil rights movement. "White ministers told them to stop. Mayors and governors and police chiefs and judges ordered them to stop. But they kept on marching." Bryan Collier's watercolor and cut paper collage illustrations are stunning and evocative, and together word and art create a passionate and powerful tribute to a great man of peace. Perfect for youngsters 4-8, Martin's Big Words is an engaging and elegant introduction to a man who stood up and struggled to change America and the world, and includes a marvelous timeline of important dates and additional books and web sites to explore. "His big words are alive for us today."

...I was very impressed with how the book was written. I was able to learn something myself that I didn't know. I think the pictures bring out the picture of Martin standing tall as an activist in those days. i enjoyd reading things that Martin said himself, things that was quoted in the book.

A mavelous book. Well written and beautiful art work. With simple words and simple style, will bring you to tears by the end. A wonderful way to introduce teachings of peace, justice, and a belief in God that leads to change to children. We read this book every year on MLK Day and my young sons talk about MLK all the time.

This artbook art does an admirable job of recapturing the spontaneity, dark humor and angst of a little known American DIY music scene: the punk rock underground of the late 70's and early 80's. For those unfamiliar with this type of free form art/social commentary/teen angst, this book will be a real eye opener. For those who eagerly awaited the next flier to appear on their local telephone pole directing them to the next Black Flag gig, this is one wickedly twisted stroll down memory lane.

The only criticism is the scarcity of fliers from parts of the country outside the east and west coasts. However, fans of Raymond Pettibone's amazing art will be pleased to revisit his early work. An added bonus is the written commentary by local scenesters and musicians who were there when these fliers first appeared. This is juxtaposed by the merciful lack of pompous art historical/criticism blather. Props to the editors/designers who put the whole thing together: the overall layout and design mirrors the art presented: immediate, spontaneous and in your face.

The author of this book has put together the greatest collection of Punk Rock Photos and quotes ever to hit the Punk movement.....I was very impressed...

The first production from KILL YOUR IDOLS is a jamming book. They are working on a follow-up book to cover those influenced by early Punk Rock including more skate/surf Punk, speed metal and more. I hope it's as great as this.

Mark Bryan has great communication skills, and leads the reader step-by-step by the hand to a much more loving life. Meaning, reconciliation is a key emphasis in this excellent book. It's probably one of the best relationship and family books out there. Another book that goes hand-in-hand with this one as it also has this certain unique blend of a psychological and spiritual approach, and a book that has helped me tremendously to become a more loving and forgiving person as I also learned to appreciate myself and others in a much deeper way, is Dietmar Scherf's "I Love Me: Avoiding and Overcoming Depression" which is also available at Amazon.com

We have all learned how dysfunctional our families are. This book could put Jerry Springer out of business. Instead of adding to our favorite cultural pastime of blame, these intelligent and well researched chapters build one upon the other to evoke compassion, dignity and love. Mark Bryan shares his own very personal story and takes us on a journey of rediscovering the love that shaped and literally sustains us all. Reading this book, I have experienced many wonderful memories I completely forgot about. He provides case studies and exercises that really help reframe things into a whole new meaning. I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to be in a better relationship with someone close to them. Even if it is a loved one no longer around or one so difficult you can't be in contact. Studying this material and applying it to my family has already brought us closer in many ways. The best part is I am seeing how loved and lovable I really am, and that feels good.

Thank you for this wonderful book of reflection aids!

I have spent a great deal of time reviewing my memories, and have thought "shame on me" for some of the narrow minded ideas that I have held so close.

This book has helped me see arguements in my past in a new light. I have already approached and settled some things with others in close pursuit.

I intend to read portions of this book aloud to my children (3 teens), I believe that it will help them start early on the road to healthy adult relationships with family members and elders.

Thank you again,

Teresa Johnson

The point of Garner's book is to write for the reader. This book would be helpful to any lawyer, if only because it forces us to think about how and why we are writing.

Too often, writers treat style manuals as if they were infallible--written on stone tablets by a divine author. Garner's book is not perfect and cannot be applied with a thoughtless rigor. As an appellate lawyer, I generally try to follow Garner's style, but sometimes it doesn't fit.

The corporate lawyer who complained about the book did not read it closely enough. Garner opposes thoughtless attachment to legalese, but he acknowledges that sometimes legal writers have to use terms of art. He also urges writers to be concise. I don't know where the corporate lawyer got the idea that Garner advocates "two pages of easily accessible prose over two sentences of conventional drafting," but it is not from this book.

Accept or reject Garner's advice as you wish, but thinking about clear writing will make you a better lawyer. Most of what Garner writes is common sense, but it's common sense legal writers often lack.

Quit searching -- this is the best book on legal writing that you will find. It is outstanding.

I am an attorney in Texas, and I have attended two of Mr. Garner's legal-writing seminars. He is currently the leading authority on legal writing; he is also an engaging speaker. His approach is to eliminate legalese and to present a powerful and succinct message. This approach has a very practical foundation -- over the years, Mr. Garner has polled judges across the country to see which writing elements they prefer.

This volume distills Mr. Garner's findings into a compact, 227-page format. The book also contains model documents -- a research memorandum, a legal motion, an appellate brief, and a business contract -- which serve as excellent reference tools for the legal practitioner.

Put simply, if you don't subscribe to Mr. Garner's advice, you don't know how to write well. And this book is the best way yet to access to Mr. Garner's valuable insight. This book is an ESSENTIAL reference tool.

I strongly agree with five of the six amazon.com reviews, which are highly favorable and award five stars. This book is beautifully written, well organized, and eminently sound. Garner tackles the difficult job of convincing staid, inflexible lawyers to abandon the age-old practice of using incomprehensible legalese and thus ensuring that their contracts will have to be translated for those whose lives are affected by them and later interpreted in costly litigation.

Most prestigious lawyers, law firms, and judges strongly favor Garner's plain-language approach to drafting. For example, the late Charles Alan Wright, a brilliant Supreme Court lawyer and noted author, called Garner "the world's leading authority on the language of the law." And the Texas Supreme Court enlisted Garner's aid in redrafting the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure. So it's hard to believe that judges would generally prefer "conventional drafting" over the clear, accessible language that Garner advocates.

The five five-star reviews of the book on this website came from a law professor, a practicing lawyer, a book reviewer, and two others who appear to be nonlawyers. I wondered if the anonymous New York corporate lawyer who gave the book a meager one star knew something that everyone else didn't. So I checked for reviews from highly respected sources. And I found that Harvard Law Review, the Law Library Journal, and Trial have all published very favorable reviews of this book.

The plain-language drafting recommended in this book is widely viewed as beneficial, not only by nonlawyers, but also by highly skilled lawyers who seek to avoid ambiguity and litigation and who strive to improve the tarnished image of lawyers generally. I believe that Garner's approach would be condemned only by a few rich corporate lawyers who thrive by making themselves indispensable in drafting, translating, and later litigating the long, dense form contracts that they produce.

I'd give this book 3 and a half stars if I could. It's a worthwhile read for any Battletech fan, but there's a number of flaws throughout it to offset it's high points. Here's a list of what I liked, a lot, and why it's worthwhile:

* Takes place at some of the major events in Ghost Bear/Draconis Combine history, and you'll hear about the events here in most other BTech books.

* The Elemental's perspective is something that's not even been hinted at since Jade Pheniox trilogy, and is completely worthwhile.

* Because of the unique aspect to combat, there's very little horribly repeated cliche lines about PPC fire being man-made lightning, and no "waves of heat" nearly causing pilots to fall unconcious (In the boardgame they actually DO fall unconcious - it'd be way more dramatic if this happened in the books more often.)

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Now, the downsides:

* The Clan and elemental culture is messed up. It's true elemntals use contractions way more than Clan MechWarriors, but these people sound like Americans.

* Clan logic is shot - Hell's Horses isn't just unstable, it violates Clan ethics, and Ghost Bear has no Clan reasoning what so ever; they seem to think of everyone as equals with no caste system, showing no disrespect to even scientists. This may annoy some readers familar with the history badly.

* A supposedly symbolic but utterly stupid constant dual between a Draconis special forces soldier and the main character keeps coming back - both cultures would consider not killing a fallen warrior disrespectful, but here, it happens multiple times.

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All in all, it's a worthwhile book, with combat scenes that feature not only the elementals perspective, but some great joint-operations tactics. Ghost Bear is one of the few Clans where an elemental might get in charge of 'mech forces, so that part I have no problem with - despite the fact the main character seems abit too stupid for the job, he does kill things well, and that's enough with the Clans. The fights later in the book with alternate power-armor and heavy lasers are great, too, as well as some Zero-G combat that's fit for a movie.

Not as good as many of the old-school plot-heavy books, but refreshing enough amongst the new action-heavy ones to be a memorable read if you like the subject matter.

John Gardner, the great creative writing instructor, said that once the "spell" is cast it must not be broken. This little novel passes that test! I had read through over half of it without realizing it! The pace is perfect. The characters, lifelike. Everything works. In the "About the Author," Nystul gives clues to his age. I think he is a generation Xer. What amazes me is that he could write so darn well for a "kid." Given, I found probably no more typos and little grammatical goofs than you could count on one hand, but that's forgivable all things considered! He is a natural storyteller, especially if you just want to indulge in macho action, but he even balances that with the kind of chick characters guys love. The worst criticism I might offer is based on my never having read anything in the "Battletech" series before. I had a little trouble keeping all the characters sorted out all the time. It's not a deep story, but it is continuously full of action yet not plodding. If you are a guy and just want a fun diversion, get it!

This is the first book by Bryan Nystul that i have had the pleasure of reading, he cleverly ties the adventures of a young Ghost Bear Elemental by the name of Jake Kabrinsky in with the current near-civil war of the Draconis Combine.
Jake Kabrinsky is a ristar Elemental of clan Ghost Bear, who in his earliest days makes enemies with one of the deadliest warriors in the clans, Khan Malavai Fletcher of clan Hells Horses!!
The fact that the Main story focuses around elementals ((there is only one star of mechs in the star)), just makes it that more action packed.
Well i do not wish to spoil it for you, so i will say nothing more, but if your a B-Tech, and especially a Clan fan, get this book!!

Perhaps many of those who had previously read The Fifth Discipline were not aware (until now) that Peter Senge later co-authored this book with Art Kleiner, Charlotte Roberts, Richard Ross, George Roth, and Bryan Smith. Why read The Dance of Change? Its in Learning Organizations." Yes, there are challenges. Lots of them...and many are indeed formidable. And yes, obviously, without momentum, efforts to energize or re-energize any organization will fail.

My own experience suggests that there will then be at least three whatever was undertaken was doomed to fail; also, therefore, that such efforts should never be undertaken again; finally, defenders of the status quo (whatever it may be) will become even more aggressive in their opposition to change in almost any form.

Of course, Senge understood full well when he wrote The Fifth Discipline that those who attempted to implement an appropriate (emphasis on "appropriate") combination of his ideas and suggestions would encounter all manner of resistance. In my opinion, that is why he then co-authored the Fieldbook. (I strongly suggest that it be read only after reading The Fifth Discipline.) Here is how The Dance of Change Change)

The Challenges of Initiating (Not Enough Time, No Help [Coaching and Support], Not Relevant, Walk the Talk)

The Challenges of Sustaining Transformation (Fear and Anxiety, Assessment and Measurement, True Believers and Nonbelievers)

The Challenges of Redesigning and Rethinking (Governance, Diffusion, Strategies Purpose)

As you can see, Senge and his co-authors provide a cohesive and comprehensive system with which to achieve and then sustain (emphasis on "sustain") "profound change." Once again, I want to stress the importance of carefully selecting what is most appropriate from this wealth of material. The selection process should be unhurried but expeditious. It should include only those who are wholeheartedly committed to achieving "profound change." Moreover, their number should not threaten effective communication and collaboration. My final suggestion (not necessarily Senge's) is to proceed with a "Big Picture" clearly in mind but to focus on the sequential completion of specific tasks according to plan. Like buildings, learning "blueprint," sufficient resources, materials of the highest quietly, inspiring leaders and effective managers, talented associates, and (most important) a shared commitment. Obviously, your organization will need its own "blueprint." Success or failure when implementing it will depend upon its own people. It cannot be otherwise. View The Dance of Change created by Senge and his co-authors, therefore, as an invaluable resource...and proceed accordingly.

You may also wish to consult Isaacs' Dialogue in which he addresses many of the same issues but from somewhat different perspectives. I also recommend Bennis and Biederman's Organizing Genius as well as O'Toole's Leading Change. Their own experiences, insights, and suggestions may also prove helpful to your efforts. I wish you great success!

Of the FIFTH DISCIPLINE SERIES books, THE DANCE OF CHANGE is by far the most important. THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE and THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE FIELDBOOK are wonderful, valuable books, but they largely avoid the tough question of how to sustain a Learning Organization initiative. Based on lots of experiences in different companies, THE DANCE OF CHANGE is the most realistic, thorough, thoughtful work on achieving large-scale organizational change that has ever been my pleasure to read. I immediately found it helpful in overcoming some of my bad habits (including falling in love with my own jargon rather than using common English). Like THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE FIELDBOOK, THE DANCE OF CHANGE allows you to focus on the areas where you need help the most. The beginning is a wonderful systems-dynamic analysis of how successful change occurs, and how it can be derailed. Even if you do not want to have a Learning Organization, you will find THE DANCE OF CHANGE very valuable for giving you direction on how to achieve permanent, valuable changes. On the subject of achieving the strategy you wish to implement, I strongly urge you to also read THE BALANCED SCORECARD. These books are good complements to each other.

Of the FIFTH DISCIPLINE SERIES books, THE DANCE OF CHANGE is by far the most important for you to understand. THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE and THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE FIELDBOOK are wonderful, valuable books, but they largely avoid the tough question of how to sustain a Learning Organization initiative. Based on lots of experiences in different companies, THE DANCE OF CHANGE is the most realistic, thorough, thoughtful work on achieving large-scale organizational change that has ever been my pleasure to read. I immediately found it helpful in overcoming some of my bad habits (including falling in love with my own jargon rather than using common English). Since I first read the book about 9 months ago, I have found it affecting my consulting practice by causing me to focus more on lasting change, than immediate change. That's an important lesson for everyone. Like THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE FIELDBOOK, THE DANCE OF CHANGE allows you to focus on the areas where you need help the most. The beginning is a wonderful systems-dynamic analysis of how successful change occurs, and how it can be derailed. Like THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE FIELDBOOK, you do not need to read THE DANCE OF CHANGE from front to back. I found myself skipping around, and enjoyed the experience. Even if you do not want to have a Learning Organization, you will find THE DANCE OF CHANGE very valuable for giving you direction on how to achieve permanent, valuable changes. On the subject of achieving the strategy you wish to implement, I strongly urge you to also read THE BALANCED SCORECARD. These books are good complements to each other. For picking up on your most important issues, you will find Peter Drucker's MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY to be invaluable.

The pictures are wonderful! Both for kids & adults! Made me laugh, made me cry. Very enjoyable! Sent this one as a gift to a Golden owner & dear friend!

The book does a wonderful job of capturing the spirit and personality of the world's greatest breed.

This is a funny book for any golden owner!! It tells jobs goldens can do around the house that they really can!! Like my favorite is the "minor garment alterations" as my two goldens eat socks, shoes, scrunchies, towels and anything they can find!!! A book to remember and keep!!!