Hydrotherapy, Massage, Charcoal, and Other Simple Treatments gives a brief history of hydrotherapy, the immune system, anatomy and physiology to explain how and why hydrotherapy works. It then explains step-by-step how to use hot and cold water to treat illnesses. There are a number of hydrotherapy treatments, message techniques, and charcoal therapies listed with illistrations to help the reader visualize how the treatment is done. There is also a section on various diseases with the natural remedies to use to treat the illnesses. I have personally have used hydrotherapy to treat a bad chest cold and know first hand the effectiveness of hydrotherapy. I was suprised to observe that hydrotherapy was better and quicker than taking medicine!

James "the Just", "the brother of the Lord", is remembered in Christian tradition as the first bishop of Jerusalem and the author of a canonical epistle. In the Orthodox Church, his feast day is marked by a special liturgy, celebrated on no other occasion. In short, he holds a place as a Great Man in the early Church. Nevertheless, his theoretical greatness is coupled with practical obscurity. Next to the towering figures of Peter and Paul, James is a shadowy presence. Even the one writing attributed to him, a high point of "Wisdom literature", has suffered neglect, burdened by Martin Luther's contemptuous dismissal of its contents as "straw".

John Painter seeks to restore the portrait of "Just James" to its original brilliance. He considers every ancient text that bears on James: the handful of references in the New Testament, the short but significant testimony of Josephus, the thin line of orthodox remembrance and the much more abundant Gnostic and heretical appropriation of James' image. The available information about James has never before been so carefully and thoroughly assembled. Sadly, though, the pigments on the canvas remain scattered and faded, so that the Painterly picture has in it, in the end, more of the artist than the subject.

On some elements of James' life, Professor Painter is fresh and convincing. He demonstrates the weakness of the evidence underlying the conventional opinions that James and the other "brothers of the Lord" converted to belief in Jesus only after His death and that James did not become the "leader" (whatever leadership may signify at that point in Christian history) of the Jerusalem church until Peter departed from the city. He also offers a clear treatment of the early controversy over mission strategies, though his symmetrical schema of six "positions" in the debate over preaching to non-Jews may be too abstract and tidy to reflect reality.

On the other hand, his discussion of other topics is less satisfactory. On the degree of kinship between Jesus and James, he presents the standard arguments against Jerome's hypothesis (that the two were cousins) but rejects the traditional view of the Eastern Church (that they were half-brothers) without grappling with it. His argument is half well-poisoning (guilt by association with the often-preposterous Protevangelium of James) and half literalism ("adelphos" means "brother", and that's that, as if there were any other natural Greek word to use for a brother by only one parent).

Even worse is his analysis of the motives that led the Jerusalem authorities to put James to death in 62 A.D., an action that the non-Christian Josephus characterizes as a judicial murder. The natural assumption, unanimously supported by Christian accounts, is that James was martyred for professing Christ. Professor Painter, on virtually no evidence, prefers to believe that James was closely associated with economically distressed Temple priests of pharisaic tendencies and was executed for his advocacy of their interests. Such a socioeconomic interpretation may resonate today, but one wonders how James and his small congregation could have genuinely threatened the political power of the High Priesthood and whether Professor Painter is right to presume that Pharisees would not have objected to injustice against someone who was not of their own faction.

Questionable points like these do not, however, undermine the value of this scholarly labor. The limitations of the surviving sources necessarily make the history of early Christianity largely a study of two apostles (or of one and a half, since Pauline material is so much more abundant than Petrine). An effort to fill in some of the rest of the picture is welcome.

Susan Moody has developed the character, Cassandra Swann, much farther than she was able to in her previous work, "Grand Slam". Swann discovers just how much the murder of her beloved father, Handsome Harry Swann, has affected her attitude about everything in life, particularly men. While busy teaching bridge, she juggles solving the murder of an Indian neighbor of her business partner; the apparent dissolution of her affair with handsome police detective Walsh; the intriguing liaison with an appealing young author; and the delightful if heavy-handed romantic forays of Charles Quartermain around the need to discover the truth about her father's death. This is a "can't put it down" book and a giant leap forward in the series

This daily pocket calendar is easy to use with a section in front for monthly apointments at a glance and a section following with daily appointment listings. Each day, a new scripture is listed for your consideration. Contents include a daily scripture reading plan and space for journal notes. This is a concise and user friendly resource.

This book provides a brief history of evangelist D.L. Moody and the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago.

D.L. Moody was born in 1837 and grew up in Massachusetts. He moved to Chicago in 1856. Before the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln visited Moody's church in Chicago. During the Civil War, Moody was a volunteer chaplain. He preached to Union and Confederate soldiers.

In 1870, Moody met the powerful singer Ira Sankey in Indianapolis, Indiana. Together they formed an effective partnership.

In 1871, the great Chicago fire destroyed Moody's home and church. Besides his work in the U.S., Moody also toured Great Britain and Ireland as an evangelist.

In 1886, Moody founded what would become the Moody Bible Institute. In 1899, the evangelist died and was buried in Massachusetts.

The rest of this book describes the development of the Moody Bible Institute from its inception into the 1980's. Various of the school's leaders are described. Its various ministries and outreaches are listed. The history of the campus and its buildings is given.

The title Mosaic, along with the cover illustration, suggested to me that the book would delve into the culture of Istanbul, but this city is only one of the settings. The mosaic consists of a variety of cities, characters, and clues, all little pieces of a larger mystery. Journalist Fran, while living in Istanbul, falls for a mysterious stranger, who is later discovered murdered. Fran sets off on a quest to find his murderers, but becomes enmeshed in a web of characters all connected to a charitable organization which seems to be a cover for terrorist activities. Although the book was entertaining, I found the circumstances quite unbelievable, that Fran would happen to run into all the characters involved in this web of intrigue, in several different cities. The main character Fran calls it "synchronicity", but one needs to let go of the need for plausibility, because this much synchronicity is just not reasonable. The relationships among the characters was also just too inter-connected, and it was a little difficult remembering who was connected to whom. It was a pleasant read, but not overly exciting.

This anthology is basically a tiny literary journal made up of short stories by young(ish) writers. I enjoyed most of the stories,- it's a really good way to get into some new authors. Rick Moody's contribution was particularly creative and definitely the most fun to read. It takes the form of liner notes to an imaginary boxed set documenting a man's life. You see his life and his tastes evolve,- what stays with him, what goes, what gets added to the mix...

There's also a small photography series.

Anyway, Get it. It won't set you back much and you can read it anywhere.

180 pages of illustrated true grit, with maps. 12 short chapters chronicle the first day's crossing of mail by the Pony Express. 4 more chapters record the danger and greatest rides of actual Pony Express riders. Ralph Moody shows only a slight bias toward his beloved wild mustangs.

This is a very readable scholarly book about Captain James Moody of New Jersey. A man denounced by Washington ( he regularly swiped his mail) and all but forgotten in the parts of Nova Scotia where he was essential in civil development. Being a descendent of his compatriot, Lawrence Marr, I have an axe to grind, but if you have seen the movie "The Patriot" and find yourself distressed at the actions of the Loyalists in America, you owe it to yourself to read this. Moody, being aware of the usages of war at the time, was careful to wear his uniform and carry his commission on his adventures in the Delaware Gap area. His escapes were legendary and he became the subject of children's tales to the "patriot" third that remained behind when he and compatriots fled New York at the end of the Revolution. The first chapters reveal the situation at the beginning of the Revolution and the social web of the time. It is easy to understand his actions given the treatment of his in-laws and associates by the radicals, and one might suspect an element of class warfare motivated acts against the wealthy farmer class to which Moody, the Brittains, and the Marr families belonged. The later half of the book deals with his attempts to acquire a loyalist pension and his role in establishing a community in Nova Scotia. As such, the book is a valuable addition to the "Loyalist Studies" program of Canada's scholars. Nonetheless, it is also of great value to those of us in the States. It demonstrates the complex situation at the time of the Revolution with son against father, brother against brother. As one reads about denunciations and persecutions, one learns not only that "It could happen here" but that "It has happened here."

This volume is glossy, photo-laden, and doesn't contain too many pages, just enough to give you a rough idea of the Pacific War with lots of Associated Press photos backing up the story. - A nice little package with no great detail, just enough to let the reader know in general what the war was about. Not bad, but low scores on depth.