Anus Mundi--1500 Days in Auschwitz/Birkenau is a detailed and shattering view of life in the death camps of the Holocaust. Unlike the writing of Elie Wiesel, Jean Amery, and to a lesser extent, Primo Levi, which is deeply and movingly introspective, Wieslaw Kielar details the brutalities of life in the camps with a simple objectivity that is unsparing in its directness. In this narrative, we learn nothing about Kielar prior to June 1940 and nothing about him after his liberation of the camps four years later. We do know he is Polish Catholic who occasionally prays, but other than that the book is devoid of religious, philosophical or political overtones.

The dozens of camp vignettes that the author has accumulated in this book are as sharp as the eye of a camera: brilliant, detailed, focused and memorable. The closest comparison in style would be Borowski, Kielar's tragic countryman. In each case, the strict lack of sentiment and intellectual elaboration serve only to heighten the horror and leave us with no doubt as to the authenticity of the recollections and their attendant suffering.

Although Kielar's misery was unrelieved, for all its deprivations, his fate was slightly easier that that of the Jewish prisoners. This is in no way meant to be disparaging. Kielar suffered more than his share of harsh blows, severe winters, starvation and infestation with lice and fleas. Although not a Jew, for Kielar, too, the brutalities of the sadistic Kapos were never far away. His memoir records a long season in hell that would have destroyed a lesser man.

Amidst this suffering and degradation, however, Kielar reveals that contacts with the civilian world outside of the camp were still possible for him, that he was entitled to receive packages from home, that correspondence with his family took place with a certain amount of regularity and most of all, that he did not live each day in fear of the ovens and gas chambers which were reserved for the arriving Jews. Those Jews whose lives were spared suffered a fate that proved, ultimately, to be harsher than that suffered by Kielar and the other Polish political prisoners.

This is an intimate and extremely well-written book about the horrors of the Holocaust and it contains a wealth of information. One must though, when reading, remember that there were qualitatively different orders of experience among the various inmates of the camps. Kielar could, at least, count on the fact that he had a chance of outlasting and overcoming the wretchedness. The Jews, however, were from the moment of their arrival, marked for certain death. If not immediately dispatched to the gas chamber, they were worked until death mercifully overtook them.

The acknowledgment of this distinction among the prisoners in no way detracts from the vividness or the pathos of Kielar's memoir of his 1500 days in hell. We must read and remember each survivor's story for its own unique reasons. In Kielar's case, the reasons are compelling enough to make this a first-class memoir in the annals of Holocaust literature.

If you only read one book about the holocaust, this should be it. Mr. Kielars memoir is the difinitive book on Auschwitz/Birkenau. This book is moveing, horrific and full of feeling. It goes beyond the documentation of events to the dreams, fears, and struggles of a human being in the face of one of the worst events in history. Anus Mundi gives a personal view of the people and events that shaped the concentration camp from those that helped ease suffering, to those who created it. Mr. Kielar shares not only the persecution of the Jews, but also the Gypsies, political prisoners, homosexuals, and more. This book is a beautifully detailed, extremely personal look at life and death in Auschwitz.

I am glad someone had finally put together a collection of true horse stories. The stories in this book are not all amazing, but most are only subtly enchanting. They will warm your heart, sometimes bring you to tears. There are, of course, a few astounding tales told in this book. To state an example: the boy who had never spoken before until he saw a pony and said 'Oh! pony!'

Some stories have been contributed by popular equestrian personalities and some others have been written about famous equines. You will find stories of courage, kindness, survival, friendship, and success. I am sure it was a great effort from Kimberly Gatto to put together a book like this. The horse world needed this generous contribution as it helps soften the hearts of those who deal with horses. Truly an inspiration.

This book was really great! It touched my heart in so many ways. I was interesting reading about all of the heros this book had in store. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves horses.

Written by Barb Bancroft, a health care professional who has been offering informative seminars since 1980, An Apple A Day: The ABC's Of Diet & Disease is a solid, understandable, easy-to-read reference written expressly to be understandable to non-professional general reader. Organized in encyclopedia-format A through Z, An Apple A Day offers solid, practical information on everything from Apples and Anorexia to the scam of Yam-based creams and a recipe for cold Zucchini Soup. Witty, heavily researched, and packed with so much information the reader is guaranteed to expand his or her knowledge on the good, the bad, and the ugly of foods and nutrition. Of special note are the entries dealing with food-borne illnesses. An Apple A Day is highly recommended for personal and community library health care reading lists and reference collections.

If you want to find out why you may be taking aspirin without knowing it, or why you shouldn't down your Viagra with grapefruit juice, this is a must-read! Whether you're a medical professional, trivia buff, or looking for topics of conversation that will surely enthrall your friends and colleagues, Barb will take you on a roller-coaster ride through the entire alphabet of diet and disease. This is serious stuff, done in an amazingly humerous tongue-in-cheek style. You simply won't want to put it down, and I would recommend it as a great gift for any occasion...

This was one of the first machine applique books I ever bought. We get Eleanor Burns TV show "Quilt in a Day" on Saturday mornings on a local PBS station. After watching some of the episodes relating to the "Applique in a Day" book I decided I just had to try it. If you are a hand appliquer and have never tried machine applique, buy this book. If you have never done any applique and the thought scares you to death, you really need to buy this book. Eleanor makes it so fast and simple that you will be wondering why you hesitated.

This book gives you lots of fun and easy to do techniques in the "lessons". It goes into detail about making simple dimensional flowers and machine embroidered stems with pearl cotton. (Tip: Besides embroidery floss and pearl cotton you can try thin ribbon for that stem technique. All of her instructions are step by step as if she were sitting right next to you.

She also shows you lots of ideas for making the finished appliqued quilt blocks into things other than quilts. Some of the things you can use the blocks for are: single and multiple block wall hangings, wedding gifts, tote bags, table runners, and pillow covers. The single block projects are great for those of us who like to finish a project quickly and go on to the next.

Even if you have never done any type of quilting or applique in your life this book will have you making and more importantly FINISHING projects in no time at all. Her directions are clear, with lots of charts, diagrams and pictures. Although the larger, multi-block projects will take longer than "a day" you will still be pleased to see how fast the blocks can be finished.

The highest rating that Amazon.com lists is a five but if I could, I'd have given this book a ten.

Eleanor Burns is my favorite author/teacher for quilting. I love each of her books that I own, but especially this one. Most of her sewing techniques are simple, but they are real time savers that I would never have thought of myself. Being a mother of seven, I'm always interested in saving time. "Applique in a Day" is different from many of her earlier books, so I was excited to buy it.

I have made three blocks from "Applique in a Day". The first one I chose to make was the grape vine wreath. I love purple, but the main reason I chose this block was the dimension. The grapes are made of yo-yo's, so they stick out from the background block. I also had fun with the twisty embroidered vines. I used to have a grape vine in my backyard and this block really reminds me of the fun we had picking, eating, and making jam from the grapes.

The next block I chose to make was the flower basket. Again, the dimension of the basket and flowers both give such interest to the block. The basket is shaped by making pleats and the small flowers are made from yo-yo's. The large flowers are rouched. This was my first attempt at this technique, so I wasn't sure if I would like it. Eleanor's instructions in the book make it very simple to do; she provides great directions, and helpful pictures. I was so pleased and the flowers look great!

The third block I chose to make was the Distlefink. I love this block for its European look. The tulips are very unusual, and the bird is beautiful. I especially like Eleanor's suggestion to use a pearl for the bird's eye. There is little embroidery, but it gives the picture just the right finish. In the book there are instructions for sewing the embroidery on the sewing machine.

The remaining blocks in this book are as striking as the three I have completed. Some of my other favorite blocks are the fruit basket and the holly wreath. I am eager to finish the entire quilt.

I liked the book because i can remember the first valentine that i received from a girl. I was happy like Arthur was, but didn't want everyone to know about it. In the story, Arthur gets a valentine from his secret admirer. He didn't know yet who it exactly was. He gets another one from the same person. The second one says for him to meet her at the movies. If you read this story, you will find out who sent him the valentine.

When people tease you about things, it is best to ignore them and keep focused on your goal. I enjoyed this book very much.

Dr. Noah W. Hutchings is a prolific author of easy-to-read volumes written about history and prophecy who saw no reason to write an autobiography. He thought no one would want to read about him. Happily, I, along with several of his friends persuaded him to put part of his globe-trotting, hair-raising adventure-filled life to paper. The result is one of his best selling books ever. I was privileged to read the manuscript before the book went to press. I read through it twice before I could put it down. His humor is evident and the real life stories are amazing, enlightening, educational, and inspirational. This is a must read for any student of history or for anyone who enjoys a good story. Dr. Noah Webster Hutchings is now 80 and it is about time for a sequel! Great book!

If you have any knowledge of Noah Hutchings this book was only increase your respect for him. It was a very honest and heartwarming story of his life. But it does not end there, if you would like to fill in all of those missing pieces in American history of the last 75 years, this book is a perfect tool to use to get you well on your way to understanding not only when events took place but also how they all interconnect with each other. A very honest look at peoples views and opinion of each other during those times in history. As an added bonus Noah keeps you laughing thoughout this great book!

My two-and-a-half-year-old son loves this book! The text is refreshing--simple, yet joyful and instructional--a rare feat. The paintings of Teddy Bear's first day at preschool are colorful but not cartoonish, detailed but not pretentious. I highly recommend this book.

Our two year old son will be starting preschool in September and this book was a perfect introduction to what happens at school. It covered making new friends, building blocks, snack time and story time. It's been our bedtime story every night this week!

Fabry is a funny guy, and the book IS funny, but it's also deep. He is a teacher and as a reader I do learn important lessons, but school was never as much fun as this! Weaving stories about his own family into the book, Fabry reminds me to focus on what is important-friends, family and most of all faith. Don't miss this book.

of seeing God in everyday life! I wish that title section was longer!

Anyway, I've kept coming back to this title on Amazon and I'm very surprised no one has written a review for this book yet! I read it back in October and was waiting for someone else to write that first review. But they haven't and it's time for all you Amazon browsers to know about this wonderful book!

Chris Fabry and his wife Andrea have a large family in the suburbs of Chicago. Chris used to be the co-host of "Mornings with Greg and Chris" on WMBI in Chicago (great Christian radio station - both teaching and music). Even though he hasn't been on the air for close to a year now, I still miss him and was thrilled to hear that he would be writing more books!

This book is the kind of book that you can pick up and read a chapter and put it down for a day, a week or a month, and pick it back up and you won't have lost anything because these short vignettes are complete unto themselves.

Having said that, however, I believe I read the book in 2 sittings! Chris's style in his book is warm and friendly - his way of telling about his wife and children (and other family members) really makes you feel like you know them.

But this book is not just a book of warm fuzzy stories. Chris has shared some of his experiences of seeing God in the everyday, mundane situations of life we all have. Just be reading the book, you will be better able to see the hand of the Lord of the universe in *your* life!

Some of the stories really hit me hard. Chris writes very honestly about his own feelings and makes himself vulnerable, which is a very very brave thing to do. I must add that when Chris was on WMBI and his wife Andrea was hosting the best Christian syndicated call-in show in the country, they actually were on MidDay Connection together talking about their marriage, including a real close hard look at some difficult times in their marriage. I really admired them for that.

Back to the book... Most of the stories had my laughing and crying within the same 2-minute period. Not everyone can write like that! Parents especially will enjoy this book. My own children are older now, and this book reminded me of some of the similar times we had when they were little.

I was just looking through the book again trying to pick out highlights. It's really hard - the whole book is great, but here's the topics of a few: Chris taking his daughter on her first date, a trip to the pediatrician (boy, could I identify with that one - we wanted them to install a drive-through window whereby you could stick the child's head out the window and the doctor could check ears and throats, at the next window you'd pay and get your prescription for the inevitable amoxicillin that Chris talks about in his book).

Another wonderful story was one of the first ones in which Chris and Andrea were going for a walk and Chris was... er... hmmm... not really paying attention. And there's a classic where daughter Kristin (who used to say "Jofuss" instead of Joseph when telling the Christmas story from Luke 2) got "God bless you" in her Rice Krispies and that raised the question - what do *we* do when something comes and messes up our day, our week, our life?

And one of the most touching stories is called "I Didn't Even Know Her Name" which was about an apparently homeless woman who hung around the office building where the radio station had their offices. The story talks about how we tend to hang around with people like us. We tend to avoid people who are different, whether their clothes tattered, or they're smelly, or their conversation is somewhat fragmented. Didn't Jesus come to minister to those people too? Chris is very honest about his feelings in this story and they changed at the end. Really makes you think.

Thanks Chris, for letting us into your life and your home, and your thoughts. When is the next book coming out?

As for people reading this review, order several copies! It would make a great gift to have on hand!

This book is the polished version of Elder B. H. Robert's autobiographical notes that he hastily dictated in his waning years. He had enough sense of history to realize that he himself was a hot historical item.

The polished version is in first person, and was obviously dictated, which is an asset. B. H. Roberts was one of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint's greatest orators, apologists, and scrappers, so the autobiography has the same rhetorical punchy-ness that that makes reading this book pure eye candy.

It is written in the first person, and Elder Roberts exposes his soul as he tells of his early childhood in Dickens's England, his emigration and journey to Salt Lake City, his hardpan life in the west, and his eventual embracing of the Mormonism. This man had one wild life, from rescuing the bodies of two missionaries that had been killed by a mob in the south, to running for the House of Representatives, and being denied a seat because he was a polygamist.

I confess that reading the life of the man is only half the story. Roberts had a very keen and grabby intellect, so you need to read his philosophical and theological works in addition to studying his life. He is considered the best intellectual among the Latter-day Saints. This is a very high honor, considering that he had a bare-minimum education, and was illiterate for the first eight years of his life. He was a self-made intellectual. Why do we, who have so much, do so little?

The only drawback is that Elder Roberts relied on memory as he was dictating, so some of the dates aren't accurate. Dr. Truman G. Madsen has written the definitive, and so far the only biography of B. H. Roberts called "Defender of the Faith: The B. H. Roberts Story," which is a better book, since it fills in the gaps, rounds out the edges, and gets deeper into his philosophy.

I was reading this on an airplane and told some of the stories in the book to the fellow sitting next to me. He was so interested that I just gave him the book so he could read it for himself.

This is the story of a 9 year old boy who comes to America from England with his 11 year old sister. The year is about 1867. The two of them cross the ocean, then they cross the country to the Salt Lake Valley in a covered wagon company. It is just amazing how he could survive such an ordeal. He has no shoes for most of the trip, and no coat or change of clothes. His shrit and pants are made from a policeman's coat in England. His sister gives him her slip to cover him at night and then he gives it back to her to wear in the morning. One night he climbs in a barrel to sleep. It has molasses in the bottem. He is too tired to climb our and so sleeps in it anyway. The next morning he is covered with the sticky surup. The only clothes he has are so covered with dust by the end of the day that they are no longer sticky. There are many touching stories in this book. His sister is so tender hearted that her tears drop on his feet as she picks the thorns from his bear feet each evening.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I couldn't put it down.

This is one of the funniest books, I've ever read. It brings back memories of MANY of the weddings I have attended.

The authors certainly seem to have a lot of fun writing. Their second book is even more fun than the first. Both are must-haves for any book case.

A perfect little add-on to any wedding gift.