I bought this journal for my reading club and was pleasently surprised by the structure it provided. First of all I never thought of setting a goal of reading and recording one book per month and that was one of the first things among many that I most appreciated. This is a great guide for anyone of any age. I recommend it highly!

a must read for the the romantic at heart

this story is great true follow up to what happened to many of the prisoners of war that built the bridge over the river kwai. it deserves a shot at being made into a movie as it is an exciting true life drama. i should know, my father is 1st. class torpedoman robert bennett of the u.s.s. pampanito

This book is every bit as timely as the original 1975 printing. It began as the author's doctoral thesis on mysticism, ultimately blending a variety of disciplines into a multifaceted jewel of perception. The preface to this reprint is an account of the author's looking back, with bemusement, at having written the book and the deep ramifications that this had in his life (which included his later explorations with his brother that led to the "Ring of Fire" PBS series about Indonesia). For anyone who enjoys a synergistic blend of science and metaphysics, served with scholarly, yet very spellbinding, prose bordering on poetry, this book is a must.

In his instructional manual, The Right Words: The Grace of Writing, author Blair Adams takes basic composition class to a new level. I appreciated the book immensely, as I always had a problem with the dry instruction typical of English Grammar and Comp class. How were we supposed to produce a sensitive, meaningful essay after spending hours dissecting paragraphs and sentences and labeling their parts? The assignment was comperable to being asked to produce a living, breathing frog after slicing it apart in biology class. The Right Words teaches how to use words and structure to make writing live, breathe, and dance off the page into a reader's mind and heart. In short, Adams revives the lost art of true communication. Good writing effectively communicates the writer's self-expression to produce a work that connects with and speaks to others. Adams gives several guidelines that help budding writers to comfortably master the thinking and writing process. The book itself is a model of the principles that it encourages. In distinct contrast to most writing textbooks, The Right Words provides witty, enjoyable instruction. I highly recommend it for anyone, including children.

Few travel books have drawn me in like this one. Insightful prose coupled to splendid photos spark the imagination. The Blair brothers are unique for the sensitivity and spirit with which they immerse themselves in their surroundings. A must-read for Indonesiaphiles. A great read for anyone.

Blair Worden's The Rump Parliament is an exceptionally well researched piece discussing the inception of the Rump, what this body did while in power, and what led to its dissolution by Oliver Cromwell. Dr. Worden discusses the Rump's failures and successes with an insight shared by few of his contemporary historians. This book when read in tandem with Professor David Underdown's Pride's Purge will give the read a full understanding of the political intrigues and infighting which eventually caused this body to be dissolved in favor of the Barebones Parliament

This is the best book available on the problems of sprawl. Preservation Pa.(sponsor of the book) and Hylton recently received a National Trust for Historic Preservation Honor Award for the impact the book has had. The book can be read in 2 hours; the photography is stunning.

As a Japanese living near Osaka, the topic -- comparison between Chicago, Moscow and Osaka is very stimulating. Although written in a highly academic style, this book is easy to read for non-academia, with a lot of historical pictures. The authorfs main concern is to put Moscow (and Russia) in a comparative perspective, but at the same time he succeeded in portraying the dynamic transformation of modern urban society vividly. I recommended this book to many friends in my country. Some day we would like to have translated version of this book for Japanese market. Many of us are fed up with situation Japan tends to be treated as overly unique or exceptional by observers Japanese and foreign alike. Our country and culture may be unique, but it is just as unique as most of the nations in the world. It seems to me that the author likes to say same thing to Russia. He successfully presented an interesting case by putting the three great non-capital cities side by side.

We were lost on how to get started after we purchased a lot and wanted to build our dream home. This book guided us, step-by-step, on what to do and what not to do. It gave us check off lists, product information and guidelines to assist us in designing our home with all the goodies we wanted in it. It also helped us in qualifying a builder and what to look for when we previewed the builder's work. The information we gained by reading this book saved us much time and money. We highly recommend anyone building a custom home to read this book first!