Dr. Losoncy is one of the nation's best writers on leadership and motivation. He informs readers how to get people to do things without using power, fear, humiliation and expendability. It is clear that leadership is lacking in America and those in leadership positions in the 21st century will need to know ways to provide inspirational leadership. The now questioned top-down form of management is killing American productivity and allowing the rest of the world to make tremendous inroads into our success. Dr. Losoncy delivers a strong message regarding how to become an inspirational, encouraging manager so much needed in our businesses, schools and families. This book should be kept alive for years to come and will be on my book shelf forever.

Dr. Norman Jones-Author of Performance Management in the 21st Century: Solutions for Business, Education and Family.

Each year, with each new edition, this tax guide becomes more helpful. It's an excellent reference guide for most any tax question that you might have. It's written clearly and is easily understandable (and it is even humorous).

This is one of the CUTEST preschool books I've ever read! 10 Little Mosters is an exceptional read for little ones--with amazing pictures and cute lyrics, it completely keeps the child's attention all the way through... I definitely think this short book is a keeper for any preschooler! :)

Jack & Krysta are childhood friends who both work for Rainier Paper. She's in the contracts department; he's in shipping. She likes lecturing him on how to improve himself; he likes writing, period. When Jack unexpectedly won in the Valentine Romance Contest by an unpublished author, he panicked! Fearful that his chance of being published would disappear if it was known that a *guy* wrote it (& of what the other guys in shipping would say if they every found out he was writing *romances*), he asks Krysta to masquerade as Ms. Valentine. When Krysta reads Jack's *steamy* novel, she begins to wonder if he's a good a lover for real as he is on paper. Touchingly tender & funny.

Bernard Lewis is probably the West's foremost scholar on Islam and the Middle East; I have enjoyed several of his books on these topics. Even so, I was surprised to find a volume of poetry, translated by Lewis, at my bookstore, and I bought it immediately, reasoning that if it remotely approached his other works, it would be well worth the money. I was not disappointed. With little or no knowledge of Near Eastern poetry to my credit, Music of a Distant Drum won me over. I read the entire volume of poems, about 130, in the first evening.

Music of a Distant Drum is divided into four sections of approximately equal lengths, each providing poems, translated by Lewis, from four distinct (although sometimes contemporaneous) cultures: Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Hebrew. While I?m qualified to critique neither the poetry nor its translation, I can say that I found them all beautiful. Not knowing what to expect, I was surprised by the brevity of many of the works. The Persians and Arabs in particular seem to be fond of short works in tight stanzas. Too, I found the worldliness and circumspection of the Persians unexpected, even though they, among all four cultures, seemed most fond of metaphor.

If you are a student of the East, I think you might be interested in, and surprised by, the topics these poems: war, love, aging, politics, drinking (!). Some scholars note that drinking (or drunkenness), as a topic in this poetry, is a metaphor for an all-encompassing love of God. Lewis seems to suggest that the drinking references may not be as metaphorical as others maintain it is. Either way, the poetry is agile and moving, and I enjoyed it very much. Poetry lovers may appreciate that some of these works have probably never appeared in print in the West, and I was impressed by the very number of poets represented: there are an astonishing 54 mini-biographies (about a paragraph, each) in the back of the book.

Buy this book and read it. I believe you will find it as powerful and enjoyable as I did.

"My Friend Harry" is a favorite of my grade 1 and 2 special education students. With each re-reading, the friendship between James and his stuffed animal friend, Harry, becomes more special and real. Although Harry says no words, he is personified beautifully by Kim Lewis. It's a wonderful, warm tale to help bridge the transition between home and school and all the emotions, happy and sad, that that entails. James wants to bring Harry to school until he adjusts to James' being gone but one suspects the separation is equally traumatic for both. "My Friend Harry" is a great vehicle for classroom (and home) discussion regarding feelings, love and friendship!

It was a romantic book about relationships from a teenaged perspective. I highly reccommend this book to anyone who has ever been young and in love!

This book is so beautifully illustrated and written. The story line of saving money for a desired purchase (a red and blue bike), took me back to my own childhood. Readers can feel the child's disappointment over not having enough money. As a wonderful addition, the child wants to save for a bike in order to help his mother carry her heavy loads. This was a truly enjoyable read.

I greatly enjoyed this book. What I liked most about it is that the things that Spence talks about here, connecting ancient Britain to North African religious practices and migrations seem to be supported by modern genetic analysis(see http://www.oxfordancestors.com ).

Spence had a rather interesting career and was also the founder of the Scottish Nationalist Party.

The best thing about this book is the *style*. It presents history and mythology -- it presents facts -- in a wonderful style I could only describe as "Lovecraftian".

Look at this:
"To our fathers until well-nigh a century ago Babylon was no more than a mighty name -- a gigantic skeleton whose ribs protruded here and there from the sands of Syria in colossal ruin of tower and temple. But now the gray shroud which hid from view the remains of the glow and glitter of their ancient splendour has to some extent been withdrawn," -- "The name 'Babylon' carries with it the sound of a deep, mysterious spell, such a conjuration as might be uttered in the recesses of secret temples."

This is like reading the *original* works that Lovecraft sought to imitate. "colossal ruin of tower and temple"! such poetry in a book that's supposed to be scholarly, that's supposed to teach and enlighten, strives to do so with such a style! This book is full of names of places and kings that are not boring because they have the same ancient and mysterious sound that Lovecraft strove to give his creatures -- Cthulhu and such. Tiglath-pileser, Assur-nazir-pal. nice!

lol, look at this, talking about cuneiform: "the literature which this peculiar and individual script has brought down to us is chiefly religious, magical, epical, and legendary." What a *marvelous* description of cuneiform! the "peculiar and individual" is down-right Lovecraftian in *style*, while the listing of what this language was used for is, although true, worthy of Lovecraft's *fiction*.

makes me almost want to live in Babylon.