This book is the most useful book on John G. Lake on the market. However, it is NOT the Complete Collection of Lake's Teachings. There are many, many sermons, prophecies, etc. that are not included in this volume. It is very valuable to the Lake researcher, primarily because it does have so much under one cover. As General Overseer of Lake's organization, The International Apostolic Council, we are the official authorities on Lake's life and ministry. Liardon, while very knowledgable, has deliberately ommitted many references and materials that might have made some of the religious "powers-that-be" angry. ....

What an awsome addition this work has made to my personal library. Although it makes a marvelous reference for topical Bible study, I found it equally as rewarding reading it straight through. My one complaint is that it didn't have nearly enough biographical material for my taste (only 15 out of nearly 1000 pages). Otherwise, this compilation is priceless.

Liardon recieved the support and assistance of many members of the Lake family. Lake's Grandson, John G. Lake III wrote the forward to this book.

John Lake's teaching will hit you between the eyes. It will also seriously challenge our modern day church thinking, particularly on the topic of healing. If one should be judged by their fruit then it would be hard to argue against Lake's teaching. Testimony after testimony of God's power through Lake's ministry has caused faith to rise in me. Don't think that this book is outdated because it was written in the early 1900s. His teaching is some of the most profound I have heard. Lake makes the joy and victory of true christian living completely accessible. We truly can do ANYTHING through Christ - read it!

This series keeps getting better and better. I enjoyed reading about Pa's family, and the members that were around for the Big Dance, grown up, in The Big Woods.

I guess my only complaint for this book and other books in the series is the lack of quality illustrations. Who can mimic Garth Williams exactly, but I the missing illustrations hurt visualizing some things that would be foriegn to readers 150 years later.

This is an excellent book that, if you don't have any plans for the next few hours, I'd sit down and read! You can't put this book down for a second, not even to answer the phone! I want to see more books about Caroline out on the market soon, I've been waiting for over a year now since this book came out!

After reading the first four "Caroline years" books by Maria D. Wilkes, I was surprised to find a new Caroline book by a different author. But, if it weren't for the name on the cover, I wouldn't have noticed, as her writing style seems exactly the same. The books are not exactly suspenseful, but they're lively and pleasant. In this fun addition, Caroline meets her new neighbors across the river, including Charles Ingalls, the boy she would eventually marry. (In real life, Caroline's brother Henry married Charles' sister Polly, and Caroline's sister Eliza married Charles' brother Peter, so the two families were well-acquainted indeed!) If you've enjoyed other Caroline books, or just the little house series, you'll enjoy this one too.

What most do not realize if they are not from this area, is the creole/mullato are much more french than they are black & most do not consider themselves as black. I do not mean this to be demeaning to the African Americans of this country, but they are not familiar with many Creole/Mullatos that I know personally, as I grew up in that area of Grant/Natchitoches parish.

Cane River has not only captured an era gone by, but has resurrected a legacy. The Metoyer family has multiplied beyond believe and the book has given them a tool to link together their roots and acknowledge their heritage. it also disspells any rumors of their true ethnic background

Books such as THE FORGOTTEN PEOPLE: CANE RIVER'S CREOLES OF COLOR and BLACK MASTERS: A FREE FAMILY OF COLOR IN THE OLD SOUTH go a long way toward correcting the over-simplified views we have of the gens de couleur (people of color) in American history. A slave (the daughter of two black persons brought to the United States as slaves) woman, Marie Thereze Coincoin develops a long-term relationship with the wealthy Claude Thomas Pierre Metoyer. She eventually becomes free and gains property (including slaves). Once Metoyer and Marie Thereze go their separate ways (or at least end their intimate, if not their business assocation), Marie Thereze continues to add to her property. Her oldest son, the mulatto, (Nicolas) Augustin Metoyer buys property on Brevel Isle and is soon followed by his siblings, their children, and various other free people of color, forming a colony, which includes some of the wealthies people in the very wealthy surrounding community, including, of course, Augustin Metoyer. Many live in very fine mansions, such as Melrose. The colonists live as well off as the wealthiest whites even when economic stagnation sets in. They side with the Confederacy and, after the war, the community begins to crumble.

The book also offers us a tantalizing look at the placeage system, which also has its less official counter-parts in places such as Charleston.

I personally enjoyed Halfway Man immensly. The style Drew used by telling the story in circles with no specific order was intriguing. The author is descriptive to a point that readers truely feel like they know the chacters and breath the same northern air. Overall I'm glad I got the chance to read this novel in English class and would recommend it to others. Drew is an amazing author and I am proud to say he is Canadian.

Halfway Man has changed my perspective of nature and shown me that there is hope for the world. It made me realize the good and evil that are prevalent in all of us, and how to bring out the good more often than the evil. If I have learned nothing else throughout my highschool career, I have been taught patience, acceptance and spirituality by Wayland Drew. Thank you for your hard work and dedication to the Earth Mr. Drew.

I enjoyed this book immensly. It was an insightful look into the native culture. It changed my life because I now know how much nature is loved by natives and how much they respect it.

A very quick read. Somewhat entertaining, but not much substance for prospective travelers to Nicarauga or elsewhere. The cover, or dust cover, of this book I bought via Amazon in May of 2000 looks nothing like the artwork on the Amazon web page I bought it from. Recommend you get this book in the library, read it and put it back on the shelf, as this is easily accomplished in a short library visit.

-John

I've read all 3 of his "Outside" compilations. They all are, in my mind, great. Reading these books allows you to get lost, while you are in your living room. I wish there were more of them. If there is wanderlust in your heart, then you should read these stories. Some are better than others, some are more interesting to me than others, but that's why they make different flavors of ice cream too.

Randy Wayne White is an authentic character. I suspected as much from reading his fiction efforts, usually involving Doc Ford. But in this collection of essays about his travels, you can see that he does not subscribe to Travel & Leisure or Conde Nast Traveler. He picks the damndest places to go, the damndest things to do when he gets there and writes about his experiences in a completely entertaining and very informative fashion. These are not your traditional outings and Mr. White would have it no other way. Hunting crocs with some authentic, although somewhat legal poachers, chasing pigs through cathedrals, exploring the seldom traveled parts of Australia, or fishing for fresh water sharks in Nicaragua (legend has it they exist), he is seldom far from disaster and you perversely kind of wish you were there..but not totally. He shows another side of himself with the gifts he brings to share with unknown Nicaraguan youngsters. I won't spoil the fun of finding out what it is...but it shows a softer side of the author, which is as welcome as his normal personna.

This is only my second Judge Dee mystery, and although I can't compare it to others by the same author, I am definitely hooked on the series. Robert van Gulik offers a unique avenue into thinking about Tang dynasty China (7th century A.D.) and serves up wonderful escapist fiction at the same time. Judge Dee is a conscientious and clever magistrate faced with the brutal murder of a beautiful courtesan who has complicated political and economic connections. As Judge Dee goes about solving the crime, we learn about pleasure boats, prostitution, what people wore (and didn't wear), insurgencies against the empire, and the necessity of a pot of hot tea whenever the going gets rough. The author was a Dutch diplomat and scholar of Chinese jurisprudence whose mysteries are tailor-made for the historically and culturally curious.

I usually read mysteries set in the 20s-40s with a female heroine. I picked this up randomly and LOVED it! My copy is not the one shown here, but it is the 1960 version. My copy has illustrations of the town and the boat which were very helpful. This story taught me a lot about ancient China - fascinating - without being didactic at all! There were several mysteries wound into this one little book so there was plenty to keep you entertained. It was very suspenseful. I also learned some life lessons from Judge Dee. :)

The third novel in Robert Van Gulik's historical mystery series about a crime-solving Imperial District Magistrate in seventh-century China, sees Judge Dee transferred to the small town of Han-Yuan, along with his family and assistants - Sergeant Hoong, Ma Joong and Chiao Tai. Han-Yuan is only sixty miles from the imperial capital; however it is a small town cut off from most of the world as it surrounded by mountains. The town lies on the shore of a mountain lake which town locals whisper, holds mysterious, even supernatural forces. The novel opens with Judge Dee attending a banquet in his honor on a flower-boat - a floating house of prostitution. At the end of the evening, the judge discovers a famous local courtesan lying dead in the lake water! The suspects are many, since all of Han-Yuan's prominent citizens were attending the party and most of them had a plausible reason for wishing this courtesan dead. Judge Dee has to sort through confusing clues and his task is made more complicated by the sudden disappearance of a new bride and her husband, the violent death of a local carpenter and the suspicions that Han-Yuan may be a center for political unrest! The judge is able to sort through all the confusion and the realization that these multiple crimes are all inter-connected, with his usual blend of wisdom and sagacity. Judge Dee is a very interesting character and the novel itself paints a wonderfully evocative picture of ancient China with its complicated rituals of love and marriage and precise social order that governed everyone's life. The mystery itself is interesting, though perhaps a little too twisty; however, the ending is genuinely powerful and completely plausible. A must-read for fans of the series!

Good, engrossing read on the events surrounding the capture of Leonard Lake and Charles Ng, and the discovery of the house of horrors of the Wilseyville Ranch. The book is well laid out and easy to follow and for that I give it high marks. However, I found it lacking in any true background information on Lake and Ng. There's no insight as to who they were, just what they did. Part of the reason I read such novels as this is to find out what happened to shape people into the beasts they become. There was none of that here. Also, the character of Tomasina Boyd Clancy, the reporter and the only fictional character in the book, just rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe it was because I knew she didn't exist, and knowing that the authors discription of her being a knock out red head, and the unusual name made it all so obvious. She completely unnecessary and her thoughts during the hearings at the end just got in the way of the otherwise riviting speech of the lawyers. Finally, I was somewhat surprised in the Author's Note at the end the calls for the retirement of the Death Penalty not because it was inhumane, but because the fight to avoid it by the accused usually ends up in a long and costly trial. While the points certainly have their validity, reading them at the end of such a tale is almost unbelieveable. I had to reread the last paragraph several times to make sure I had read what I had read. And for those final points I had to mark down this book.

My sympathies go out to Mr. Bond and his family. I hope they can rest a little easier knowing that Ng has finally gone to trial.

Just as David Bond explained, I was also very surprised on the amount of information the authors had since even family members were "left in the dark". We found out that in 1995 the State of California had 95% identified the remains of my sister Sheryl Lynn Okoro but did not receive that news or her remains until after the trial started in November of 1999. And only then did we find out from a reporter who had been sitting in on the trial! She was finally brought home and laid to rest in December 1999, 14 years after her death. The book answered alot of the questions our family had and it shed some light on the monsters who took the lives of our loved ones. Once I started reading I could not put it down. Very engrossing. My heart extends to all families who have yet to endure our nightmare.

The jury just found Ng guilty on 11 counts of murder and are now hearing evidence for the penalty phase -- death or life without parole -- this is in response to prior reviewer's request for more current info. I prepared transcripts for the court reporter during four years Ng was in Calaveras County, and it is chilling to read the case in this format -- adds the drama that is not always evident from a transcript. Publisher needs to reprint, especially since it is back as front-page news and the saga of the appeals is about to start.

This is indeed an ecyclopedic view of Buddhism in America, but I feel the author is a bit too uncritical in drawing from some of his sources. Or to put it another way, he's not drawing from enough sources.

There's a long section on Ms. Blavatsky. There's alot to be said here, but I can't help but get the feeling that the whole Spiritualist movement needs more criticism than he gives it.

Another, IMO, glaring deficiency is Field's introjected re-rendering of why Philip Kapleau came to break with Yasutani-roshi. It CAN'T be purely over "sutras in English or Japanese," and no doubt is much deeper culturally than merely an attempt to "Westernize" certain forms of services. What Fields doesn't quite come out and say - probably because he doesn't really know- is that the Chinese versions of sutras & dharanis are themselves translitterated from Sanskrit! (He does get it straight that the Japanse/Korean ones are translitterated from Chinese). What this all means is basically summed up by what my Chinese wife told me when we saw a video of Chinese monks chanting and I asked what they were chanting: she said "I don't know!"

Kapleau must have known this- or should have.

More stuff I'd like to know: why Sambokyodan broke from the Soto sect, and more up to date stuff. I will admit as of this time I haven't found out the stuff about Richard Baker.

My preference, as an American Buddhist, is to present the history of Buddhism in America warts and all. That might clash with more Eastern notions of Buddhism, but I do think more accuracy is needed in a history.

I've been interested in the history of Buddhism and zen in the west for a number of years and was fortunate to pick out "How the Swans Came to the Lake" from the library at Mt. Baldy Zen Center in March.

I found the work to be a well told story. The detail of the common threads and relationships is fascinating. I really think this book is an important piece for anyone interested in how this wonderful flowering of the Dharma in the West was planted and fed.

Though this book is currently out of print, I recommend it to all Buddhists; it is the best history book I've read about the Western Sangha and fills in alot of gaps between the centuries--Gassho All Beings!

Wow. This is the devastating portrayal of the break-up of a marriage and the collapse of a family. I read this on a flight from NY to LA and was near tears for part of the trip. The author has uncanny insight into human nature and an astonishing ability to translate emotions into words.

John Fulton explores the breakdown of the dysfunctional family so thoroughly and so intimately in this book that while I was reading I often felt the embarrassment of one who is caught snooping. Steven Parker and his sister Jenny are caught in the downward spiral of their parents hopes and regrets about the lives they've chosen. Living in the, primarily Mormon, society of Salt Lake City is making it difficult for Billy Parker, the father, to pass on his strong disbelief in God to his children. Jenny makes friends with a girl on the cheerleading squad and begins memorizing the Ten Commandments, while Steven deals with the after-effects of being bullied by some rich neighborhood brats. Mary Parker carries the financial burden of her husbands lack of work ethics and swears every time Billy goes a little nuts that she's taking the kids and leaving.

What captivated me about this story is the way that Fulton dissects this falling-out so carefully... taking the length of a book to narrate the couple of months it takes for this family's inevitable disintegration. This kind of information gives birth to gossip in the real world, but here we get the whole, messy, painfully honest story. While the ending did leave me feeling slightly depressed, it is also very realistic and, therefore, leaves that small crack of hope open. This is a wonderful story written by an author who truly knows his characters.

This is a lovely first novel which follows a Salt Lake City family as it implodes. My favorite part of the novel is the extended section that takes place over a day, including some hilarious and harrowing forays into a diner and a nursing home. The adolescent protagionist's crack-up is as compelling as Holden Caulfield's--a claim I don't make lightly. I hope this wild and wooly novel finds the wide readership it deserves.

Pond Life is like a general biology introduction to life found in ponds. All types of life are covered, albeit in very brief introductions. Plants and animals (microscopic to mammals to birds) each receive tertiary coverage. The book does not get into specifics on how wetlands function relation to other ecosystems, and such coverage would have been useful, but the overall emphasis is still relevant.

The book is likely not intended to be read from cover to cover, as it is a field guide. Field guides are really meant to be brought along in a pocket for easy reference when making field identifications. In this respect, I am a big fan of other field guides in the series.

This volume and its companions should be readily available at nature centers, but the price is low enough for people to purchase it for their own libraries. What it lacks in detail it makes up for in compactness and readability.

Golden Guides are often described as books for children just discovering the natural world. While the series is eminently usable by young naturalists, Golden Guides are solid introductory field guides. One of the strengths of "Pond Life" is its comprehensive scope covering everything from protozoa to plants to mammals. Indeed, it provides more good basic information on identifying types of water plants than any other source I know complete with measurements and color illustrations. The same applies to its coverage of invertebrates as well, though the minor objection of the previous reviewer concerning its scanty treatment of protozoa is a valid one. I would add to the strength of "Pond Life" its portability, which packs a plethora of information into a small package. Another weakness (of the Golden Guides in general) is its datedness to the 1950's and 60's. This does not affect its basic science in most cases, though it is strange (albeit nostalgic for some) to see the equipment suggested for pond watching.

E.O. Wilson, in his beautiful and brilliant autobiography, has stated that if he could live his life again, he would do so as a microbiologist who would dedicate himself to the study of a single tree and the area immediately surrounding it. He would investigate the organisms and the ecology of that small space, finding enough there to occupy his interest for a lifetime of exploration and research.

Given the same choice, I would choose a pond as my area of study, and this book would be one of the first field guides I would use. It is a basic introduction to the study of small bodies of fresh water: their defining characteristics, the forms they take through the seasons, the cycle of their lives, and the distinct forms they take throughout the United States. It also touches on the physical and chemical characteristics of water, and the importance these have for the organisms that live in or near the pond. The book introduces the concept of food webs and the multiple habitats of lakes and ponds, and also lists and describes some of the basic collecting tools of the limnologist (one who studies bodies of fresh water). The majority of the book is dedicated to the plants and animals which are frequently found near ponds. As one would expect, the emphasis is on how these organisms relate to the others in this environment, whether they are full or part time denizens, and in what types of ponds they can be found. More than merely a book about creatures found in ponds, it presents information about the pond itself and how its many inhabitants and visitors relate to one another there.

The book has two small weaknesses. The first is a slight bias towards organisms found only east of the Mississippi. There is enough information about ponds in general, however, to make this guide useful for any budding limnologist. The second flaw is that the sections on the protozoa and other microscopic organisms are far too short, but as a protozoologist I am perhaps biased. Still, I think that even a few more pages would have added to the value of this section by demonstrating the amazing complexity of these phyla.

As it is, however, the book functions admirably as an introduction to the study of ponds: it will lead beginners into the natural world, and to help them identify what they find there. It is suited for older children and adolescents, and will still be of some use at the college level, if only because it includes a list of more technical reference books. I recommend it for anyone who wants to "take the plunge" into the study of this fascinating environment!