Smile And Jump High!: The True Story Of Overcoming A Traumatic Brain Injury is the moving and compelling testimony of Shannon, a young woman who suffered a near-fatal auto accident. A devastating brain injury forces Shannon to embark on a grueling four-year journey of gradually re-learning simple physical skills, walking, talking, and coping with residual effects that drastically impair her problem-solving ability, behavioral temperament, and more. The inclusion of citations from personal journals of close friends and family members bear testimony to a long struggle culminating in triumph and rebuilding one's life from the ground up. Smile And Jump High is very highly recommended reading, especially for anyone having to come to grips with the recovering process necessitated by catastrophic injury or illness.

Shannon's book sparkles with precise and concise readings of a variety of Renaissance texts that deal with the institutions of kingship and friendship and the surprising intersections of the two. It poses serious questions about sexuality, governance, and interpersonal relationships in Renaissance England, provides serious and compelling answers, yet does so without alienating the reader with technical, literary jargon. All readers will become friends with Shannon's book quickly.

An intriguing case: a nearly pathologically archconservative FBI agent, Opus Dei credentials and all, convicted of selling countless top level secrets to the Soviets and their successors. Why?

First, the text was well-structured. It started in Hansen's youth, and examined his relationship with his father. The authors returned to that relationship a few times but they didn't dwell on it. Personally, I get tired of overanalysis, journalists who like to think they're Freud incarnate. I feared a few times that the book was getting into that but, the analysis was brief enough that it could be seen as speculation rather than as psychoanalysis.

The peripheral details of the story were most interesting: the near worship of J. Edgar Hoover, as if anticipating his reincarnation years after he'd died; the uncanny details of Opus Dei (which has interested me more to the point that I plan to read lots more on that bizarre cult!); the stories of the other spies of the era, e.g., Aldrich Ames, and their relationship to that Hansen case, and the number of KGB agents stationed in the US!

But the focus was on Bob Hansen, Opus Dei Catholic, who felt that communism was the earthly manifestation of the Prince of Darkness himself. I mean, God knows, we all have sexual fantasies. I suppose overpopulation would not be a problem if we didn't. But this guy with six kids, who went to 6:30 mass every day and was an FBI agent who argued the inerrancy of the bible, I wouldn't expect porn posting from him on the early Internet. But Hansen didn't let us down.

I tend to shy away from texts that provide too many answers. This did not. The authors returned to the issue that it was apparently NOT money that motivated Hansen. They conclude, without being offensive about it, that much of his drive seems to have been inside, trying, for example, to show up his father who was never satisfied with Bobby's accomplishments; to show up his FBI colleagues who felt he was a snob who did little but lecture to them. When discussing one of Hansen's contracts with the Soviets, the authors suggest that he discussed money "like a flower child with a trust fund," i.e., had it been his major motive, he could have asked for much, much more, and gotten it. They implied that it must have been somewhat of a motive, as he had a flock of kids and they had college tuitions and the like to worry about. But his motives had to have been deeper than just cash.

Oh, and the authors are not easy on the FBI. Hansen took a stripper friend of his on a trip to Hong Kong, a lifestyle contradiction that may have indicated there was something wrong. And no one even noticed. What, one of our FBI brothers? But the book ends with some of the techniques the bureau contemplated to catch potential spies before such a thing happens again. They concluded--wisely--that all the hi-tech devices, polygraphs, or psychological fantasies in the book won?t preclude such a thing. That's the price one pays to be a "free country."

All I will say about the vocal performance is that it was well-done. It holds a second, though, to the story, something the US, the FBI, and probably even the KGB veterans will be pondering for a long time.

Shannon & Torlen have once again written an excellent book on stained glass instruction. They have produced an exceptional, easy to follow instruction manual with high quality photographs on Mosaics. Being a stained glass instructor, I recommend this book to all hobbyists and stained glass artists, as I do to my students. I look forward to the release of the authors third book on sandblasting, leaded glass and copper foil construction!!

This book is breathtaking. It was so hard for me to put down. And I was so happy to find out that there is a book that preludes it. I am excited to read it.

Once I started reading Libby's STORM RUN, I could't put it down! Even though I've lived in Alaska for 33 years, Libby's dog mushing background and Iditerod experience kept me spellbound until the end.

I can't wait to read it to my second graders. It will be a terrific geography lesson as well as learning about dog mushing.

Libby definitely has 'true grit'.

Libby Riddles' Storm Run is a picturebook of the exciting true story of the first woman to win the Iditarod Sled Dog Race in Alaska. Storm Run is the story of fulfilling one's dream, daring freezing treasures and bonding with loyal sled dogs. Wonderfully illustrated by Shannon Cartwright with soft, full-color artwork, Storm Run is an especially recommended giftbook for young girls nurturing their own dreams.

Stress-Related Disorders Sourcebook is a compendium of basic consumer information about stress-related disorders. Ranging from early warning signs of stress based physical and emotional disorders, to stress caused at home and at work and its effects on the body are all revealed in this informative guide. Chapters survey everything from health risks to management techniques and come packed with resources for further reference and study.

What a wonderful book this is!! As I read 'keeping a notebook' in the introduction, I was tempted to go out then and there to buy a journal. Reading "Sudden Spirit" feels like inhaling and filling your lungs with fresh air, or drinking deeply after prolonged thurst. I have decided at least five times that 'this is my favorite poem' to change it just in the next moment to 'no, this one is it'. I finally decided to just admit that this is my all time favorite book. These writers have put in the universe a piece of profound beauty that echoes an invitation to notice what is beautiful and meaningful, or not for that matter. I want to open my eyes wide and notice. This book does more for me than what a thousand sermons could. Thank you, Shawndra and Shannon, for letting the beauty of Truth shine so brightly.

I think this is the first book I have read written by an actual juror. Since the author was a very influential juror, pulling for the winner of the case, his selection of things from the transcript probably is skewed some, but if so it is not obvious. I was fascinated to read how the judge allowed the lawyers, especially the lawyer for Pennzoil, to "run wild" in voir dire, and one cannot but think that the fact the lawyer gave the judge $10,000 for his election campaign may have at least subconciously influenced the judge. This campaign contribution is discussed in the book, but the author apparently does not see the obvious solution: a lawyer who gives money to a judge should be barred from practicing before that judge. This would soon have Texas going to a better method of selecting judges, as many states have. This is a book which anyone who wants to see how a juror reacts to what goes on should read. A fascinating account of a mammoth case.