This is simply a beautiful book. Early this morning, I gave
it one star and was a bit mean. It didn't get through the submission process. I said words to the effect that the Dali Lama was dictatorial about religious freedom. And that he suppressed religious freedom in 1977 in regards to the Dorje Shugden controversy. I talked to a NKT Buddhist nun this afternoon. And she told me that if you are devoted to the Dali Lama as your teacher, then your practice is pure and you are practicing the dharma fully. This is such a wonderful book. With essays written by different authors. And the pictures are almost breath-taking. The layout of the pages is stunning.
And it just fabulous to read. I know that you will enjoy it. It
is a real gem. And perhaps we should leave politics behind.

A Simple Monk presents Robert Thurman's gathering of writings on the Dalai Lama, presenting such writings and reflections in a new visual biography which adds full-color images by photojournalist Alison Wright. The result is much more than your usual collection of quotes: a fine, rich gift edition.

The "a reader from Yellow River" inspired me to order this book and the corresponding video, as a message of compassion and peace, which is what we - and most of all me - needs in our world, at all times and right now.

It's a message that in particular, we as Amercians, after the "events of September 11" - now and in the present - need to hear, listen and LEARN. This review was so thoughtful, comprehensive and detailed that I can't wait to get the book and read it "through and through." The "reader from Yellow River" made the money sound more than worth it, and I'm sure it will be!

"What price peace?"

What price is peace worth? "It's worth it's weight in gold."

The question is, "how do we achieve this?"

I hope the answer (or part of "the answer") can be found in this book. Will let you know what I learn.

The Sojourner, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings 1953.
Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. 313 pp.

Ase Linden, is a small farmer who adores his wife, loves and fears his lunatic mother and yearns for the return of a brother who fled the confines of an overly affectionate mother to never look back again. Over the course of the story, Ase is confronted with trials set upon him by family members. The story is surrounded by the theme of Ase recognizing his failures with his children, mother, and wife. He desperately wants to share with them his thoughts and feelings, but is unable to effectively articulate what he wants to communicate. This literary effort greatly contrasts with Marjorie Rawlings' earlier Florida writings. Critics tend to be hard on The Sojourner, probably due the enormous success of her previous Florida based novels. This criticism is unfounded. This story, though unlike her Florida novels is an impressive book. The readers will find themselves siding with Ase Linden and cheering him on in his pursuit of simple pleasures and joy through personal connections.

What a wonderful book! The characters are vivid and captivating. Asahel Lindon is the type of warm, decent, honest human being we may all aspire to be. The author's simple, direct prose is enlivened by her appreciation of the central character's love for the land he tended for over sixty years. There is also much of the author's love for good food in evidence, with many country home-cooked meals described in mouth-watering detail.
But it is the caring, gentle nature of Lindon which is the real drawing point of the novel. I was sincerely saddened when I came to the end of the book. In leaving Asahel, I felt that I had left a very good friend whom I shall not soon forget.

Although Asahel Linden would not have cared whether others considered him successful or not, it is a great encouragement to watch the protagonist of this book live with such an integrity and a highly developed ability to perceive beauty and wonder and delight and excellence that all with the capacity to recognize such qualities see in him a great man. Marjorie Rawlings writes honestly and well; her novel encourages us to live in the same way.

WOW! When I first read "Spelling Through Phonics," my whole attitude towards teaching spelling was radically changed. The McCrackens clearly and concisely lay out a spelling program that can work for anyone in any school-- no matter what! I have used it from the inner city school, to the county school, to the private "college prep" type school. It works. Rather than teach a child to "hear" the sounds for spelling, the McCrackens advocate using how a sound "feels" to write. We can actually feel more sounds than we hear. But not only does the book lay our a plan, but it also gives you everything you need to run the plan-- including word lists, sample lessons, and hand outs to go with the lessons! What an incredible program!

I'm a retired first grade teacher (27 years in K-1) and was always heavy with phonics when teaching reading. I didn't discover this book until close to my retirement and so much wish I'd found it sooner. It is pure phonics, but done is such a way that my children had a lot of fun with the program. With a half an hour a day of Spelling Through Phonics, by the end of the year they were spelling beautifully and more importantly, mostly reading on level. An example: My last year, out of 21 students, 7 did not speak English. But I made sure we did the spelling lesson before any of them left for their ESL classes. They worked every day with the McCracken spelling program along with all the other students. By the time they'd finished first grade all had some reading skills and were conversing in English with great understanding. ... By using the phonics attack skills they'd learned, they'd tell me how a word should be spelled as I wrote it on a transparency. Confidence in their own reading skills grew by leaps and bounds because I'd remind them every day that if they could spell a word, they could certainly read it..... and most other words by attacking them in the same way. I highly recommend this book for any teacher!

I have used this book in the classroom, tutoring, and homeschool settings for more than 10 years. There have been no children left behind. This is truely the best way to teach both reading and spelling! It is simple, fun and quick!

Any one interested in Stone Circles should read this book! It is just not another coffee table edition. This is an excellent study in circles, their meaning and how they were constructed.

There are detailed accounts of travelling to many stone circles around the world - new and old, with even chapters on how to build a stone circle and the alignments.

An excellent new, fresh look at the stone giants that haunts us today and their relationship with our lives.

I can hardly wait to start laying out my own little "stone henge" and with this book I now know how! I always wondered how they did it, now thanks to Rob Roy, not only do I know how they did it, but now I know how I can do it too! Rob provides history, lore, safety tips, labor saving "secrets" of the ancients, great anecdotes and practical and technical instruction on site selection and preparation, stone selection and preparation, constuction of safe and durable megalithic structures, and even a human and spiritual side of the subject that can be quite energizing. With this book anyone can find their own connection to our ancient ancestors! In addition to all the information provided, this book also harbors some very phenominal photographs of both ancient and modern megalithic structures around the world. If you buy only one book this year, buy this one...if your disapointed then you have no soul!

Rob Roy's book, Stone Circles, is perhaps the most comprehensive and masterful work on the topic of stone circles by a living author today. There is much more to megalithic stone circles than just the movement and placement of massive dormant objects. When properly placed, they become permanent monuments to a timeless spiritual perspective. Considering our fragile and tenuous hold on life, we humans, especially in modern times, would do well to learn about and understand these marvels of engineering, determination, and dedication. Rob Roy's book gives us all a good place to start.

This book should be required reading for anyone that takes public policy issues seriously. It explains the various techniques and ploys by which emotionally loaded words and various debating tricks can transform an intellectually honest debate into a propaganda campaign, and gives techniques to counter these ploys. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

This is one of the most useful books that I have ever read. The author points out how debates are often lead away from the main issues by using arguments that appeal to emotion rather than to facts.He clearly describes how it is done and how to avoid being lead away from the issues by such devices. Important reading for anyone who has been in a debate and wonders why the opponent didn't sound convincing and yet you were unable to answer him/her!

This book was the single most valuable book which I ever read, since it explains how people distort agruments through emotions. The book clearly explains what is happening and then teaches you how to handle the situation.

This folk story is retold with all the spice of a Cajun jambalaya. San Souci, interweaving several variants of the funny tale, places his characters in the bayou country of Louisiana, where they set out to catch fish for their gumbo. Their comical misadventures reach a climax when the mathematically challenged fisherman decide to count each other "to be sure we all safe." Whoever does the counting always comes up with five, forgetting to count himself, leading the men to conclude that one of them must be dead. Kennedy's cartoon-style illustrations, created with acrylic on velum, are a perfect accompaniment to the story. A short, helpful glossary, as well as an author's note directing readers to more information on Cajun culture, can be found at the end. Suited for ages 5 and up, this book would make a fun read-aloud. A word of caution, however: It's peppered with Cajun dialect, so be sure to practice first!

One day six brothers decide to go fishing. When it was time to go home they all counted to see if they had six brothers.The first brother counted five and the second brother counted five.All of the brothers counted five,and those foolish fishermen thought they had a lost brother.Read this book to find out how they became six foolish fishermen all over again.

My daughter LOVES this book! We sat up in her bed the other night ROARING with laughter over these 6 Foolish Fishermen. She's only 7 but she understood their silly, foolish mistakes. (. . .)

Don't be misled by the title; this book is not for everyone. Unless you are very comfortable with calculus and have more than a nodding acquaintance with differential equations this book isn't for you. The author does a good job of providing solutions to interesting problems through applied mathematics. However, he does something that mathematics professors always did that used to drive me crazy and it still does. He sets up a model, develops some defining equations and then makes a leap with something like "using these relationships, it can be established that ..." or "With this information, we easily determine that ..." Some intermediate steps would have been helpful.

The book is interesting and entertaining but without a background in calculus and an understanding of ordinary differential equations, you won't like it.

The charm and attraction of most of the problems in this book comes from their unusual nature. I for one probably would have never thought to ask what the relative areas of the colors are in the flag of the United States. Another fascinating computation deals with how many times the world's water has been consumed (ingested) by humans. Not surprisingly, it is on the order of one part per million. An interesting supplemental problem would be the rate of change of this ratio. Given the high current population, the rate of increase is the highest in history. While the problems are extremely interesting, one is often hard pressed to find a practical application for the results.
My favorite problem is the computation of the length of the seam of a baseball. The problem fits in well with the mindset of baseball aficionados, who adore obscure statistics concerning the sport they love so passionately. When the weather turns bad, there is not one person among us who has not stood in a shelter and asked the question, "Will I get more rain on me if I run as fast as I can or if I just walk?" The answer here is thorough, as the author even considers the amount of water that splashes on you when your feet hit the ground. To learn the answer to this pressing question, you will have to read it for yourself.
If you ever wish to complete my childhood fantasy of going to China by the direct route through the Earth, then you will want to read chapter 11 before you make the attempt. Assuming you can iron out all the minor engineering details concerning the molten core of the Earth, you will need to understand what will happen to an object at one end of the shaft if it is dropped. The journey to the other side of the Earth would also be a surprisingly short one, roughly forty two minutes in duration.
Learning and teaching mathematics requires that certain problems be presented and solved. However, once the core is covered, consider taking a sideways trip and explore these delightful oddities. It is well worth the effort.

This book, together with the author's earlier title "Towing Icebergs, Falling Dominoes" belong to the bookshelf of everyone who loves applied mathematics. They contain some of the best examples I have ever seen on "applied" math (versus many other great titles on "pure" math), represented by numerous fun and funny cases. Read the preface and be intrigued by the questions addressed in them. As all good scientists and engineers know, the key to problem solving is really not math, but how to apply them, how to "model" or "approximate" real world cases. That's what these 2 books are all about.

To fully appreciate these problem-solving skills, you need to be comfortable with advanced calculus or basic differential equations (probably at the halfway point of these courses). On the other hand, students who are taking these courses should read Banks' books just to see what they are really learning. Math really comes to alive through these pages. I had a great time.

The problem with this darn book is that once you pick it up, you're going to find yourself going on a CD buying binge well before you're half way through the book. - - Let's face it... Stax and Memphis Shoals = memories... and this is definitely a pretty funky strut down memory lane... the whole story, from the label's humble beginings in the mid '50s, an old movie theatre and record store, the golden era of Otis Redding, The Bar -Kays and M.G.s, to the superstar meglomaniacical rise of Hot Buttered Soul - - the Wattstax movie... and eventually, the infighting and financial woes that left the great soul machine screwed and in bankruptcy('circa '75). This isn't just a cute tabletop book with pictures of your favorite stars and cute trivial snippets (come to think of it, there's no big discography in the back !)- - its a well researched book that tells a great American/Afro-American story... (think of it, a racially integrated record label in the South circa the early '60s and moving on into the militant '70s that managed to turn the Northern recording establishment on its side !) It really gives you a glimpse of what was going on behind the scenes, how the sound evolved and the various personalities entered into the sphere and did their thing... the conflicts, the struggles, the accomplishments and the whole scene, bottom up... very tough to put down. Heck, they ought to turn it into a movie. - - If you consider yourself a STAX nut now... trust me, by the time you finish this book, you'll be a madman... spare yourself the wait... you might as well get the box sets while you still have the cash... this book is going to set you on a Stax jones... and well written enough that its definitely a keeper !

It has been sometime since I read this, but I found it excellent complement to Peter Guralnick's Sweet Soul Music. Does a fine job in capturing the label's history and shows its impact. Book reads well too. Recommended to soul and rock fans

great stuff, well worth the price of admission. But not as good as Frank Zappa. Mediocre blues based jamming my foot.

For years I have observed the characteristics of successful, long-term relationships. The one trait that seems to cut across all of these was the ability to tell a partner your feelings and desires, whether trivial or radical, in a clear and nonthreatening way.

Despite the fact that I've been told professionally that I am an excellent communicator, this book helped me realize that in intimate relationships I still play the "crazymaking" game of confusing coded and conflicting messages.

The book's examples showed how confusing coded and double messages exist in most relationships, why they are there, and what to do about them. It's especially relevant for couples in which one partner is passive-aggressive, though useful for nearly any couple who wants to improve their effectiveness at talking to one another.

The only reason I didn't give this book 5 *s is because there are several places where the authors wander off into theoretical space that won't mean a lot to anyone without a psychology degree. If you skip over those parts to the next example, you'll find this book fast and easy reading.

This is the clearest description of how people (especially couples) get into the tangled web of resentments and withholds so common in a marriage and how to get out of the tangle. It is profusely sprinkled with examples of dialog, which not only makes the book easier to read, but makes the principles crystal clear.

The first part of the book clarifies exactly what the problem is. The second part of the book spells out what you can do about it. I'm the author of the book, Self-Help Stuff That Works, and much of what I've learned that really matters about communication can be traced back to this book. It is a shame it is out of print, but if you can find a copy, buy it!

If you want to find out why you make the statement" he/she is driving me crazy", then read this book and you will have the understanding necessary to finally figure out what is really going on. It truly is an amazing book and gives you what you need to once and for all put a stop to some of the crazy-making going on in your relationship. A must reading for everyone, not just someone in a relationship. It helps you to understand why you do the things you do.

This is a great history book on the great Mongol Empire. It clears up a lot misunderstandings and superstitions about the supposedly horrible Mongol barbarians and gives a reliable account of their rule in this time period. It covers Temujin's (aka Genghis Khan) beginnings to the end of his forebears rule. It has pictures from the past and of re-enactments of Mongol cavalry - you will rarely find this elsewhere. The Mongol Empire was a militaristic nation, so this book lacks on the military strategy and warfare of the Mongols. Only the basics are covered.

I love the occasional suprises in life; you know the very unexpected which enriches you forever.
When I bought this book I really wasn't interested in Ghengis Khan but I thought maybe I could find out more about the group. Well, the book ws written beautifully which madefollowing the sory and timeline very easy.
I found the author had a scholastic approach to the subject which is what I sought and had the ability to incorporate mady other aspects tpo the Khans which gave me the unusual perspective that I always desire. You know the knowledge that lets you lord over others who happen to feel they are experts and expect that noone else knows. Thats my kind of fun.
Anyway, the book incorporates the necessary maps and some beautiful artwork that really enhances the book. Unfortunately, I mark up all of my good book with underlines, exclamation points and many many stars for futile future reference
The only criticism I can offer is that beside his references to many of the major cities that he invaded and then re-constructed there was no mention of the modern names of these places which requers me to search them out on the internet.
If you are a history lover and want a dry but fascinating look at this period, BUY THIS BOOK!
I fmr: Marshall reads this- well thank you for writing this book you have given me the power of knowledge.

This is a great overview of the part of Mongolian history that most intrigues westerners, the years of the great Khans. It is a very accessible book that doesn't require any prior knowledge on the part of the reader, and hopefully inspires them to look deeper into the people and the nation of Mongolia.

In the west we've all heard of Ghengis Khan, and we have our preconceptions of "barbarian" cultures or the terrible hordes of Mongol warriors; the reality behind the myths and legends is well worth knowing. I first encountered the "Storm from the East" video series on TLC and it has since re-played {but rarely} on THC. The film or video is only on offer to educational institutions at a very high price, so the most a layman can hope for is a quality tape from TV -or- this book.

The book follows the video script almost verbatum, with many of the same maps, diagrams and stills from the live footage shot in Mongolia. It's a wonderful substitute, and an easy to digest history lesson.

The relationship of the medieval Mongolian nation to China and the western European nations is fascinating, and thanks to "Storm from the East" it is easily understood. The book is written with a gentle sense of humor, but does not belittle nor aggrandize the Mongolian people or the historical Khans.