The entire time I was reading this book I could sense the presence of the Holy Spirit. It was like a journey in time to a place nearly one hundred years old, but very much alive today. In "part 2" of the book, the author, Mario Hoover, shares wonderful childhood memories and stories of life while living with his loving grandpa, Dr. Willis Collins Hoover. This glimpse into Dr. Hoover's family life, along with his personal writings are carefully woven into the first part of the book. This personal touch provides the reader with an insiders perspective of this great man of God, as well as the Pentecostal revival that was sovereignly bestowed upon him, his church, and the nation he so dearly loved.

I was reminded that our endeavors are always tested by time, and time has been gracious to Dr. Willis Collins Hoover, his family, and the Spirit led movement of 1909. His legacy is one of genuine leadership, humility, steadfastness, and an unwavering respect for The Lord and his work. It is amazing how the 1909 revival in Chile reflects the Azusa Street, and Welsh revivals of the early 20th century. Interestingly, they are the mirror image of today's Pentecostal outpourings that are taking place in cities like Brownsville Florida, and Toronto Canada. The names, dates, and locations are all different, but the Holy Spirit continues to function in the same manner as he has since the days of Pentecost some 2000 years ago, truly amazing, profoundly insightful.

"The History of the Pentecostal Revival in Chile" has encouraged and deepened my personal commitment to the Lord. It has renewed the realization in me that the Holy Spirit of yesterday is still on the move today. His desire to soak mankind in His Spirit continues throughout history, and his methods and mode of operation remains the same: foolish and bizarre to some, while exciting and sweet to others.

History continues to prove that revivals are messy, and the 1909 Chilean revival was no different. Outwardly, it would appear there's a price to be paid for involving ones self in such matters. But to those involved in the Chilean revival it was no sacrifice at all. Instead, the revival became a movement to facilitate the empowering of the Holy Spirit to hungary individuals whose ardent desire was to simply reach the lost. Their obedience in this matter was far more important than the discomforts associated with persecution, and the seeds sown in those days continue to grow and flourish today.

This book is a book of history, fashioned in the form of an amazing story. It's style and content is interesting for the casual reader as well as the scholar. A must read for those interested in the history of 20th century Pentecostal revivals. It serves as a reminder that God is interested in all people, of all nationalities, and his precious Holy Spirit moves among them in the same form and fashion, both yesterday and today.

Throughout time, civilizations rise and fall, while cultures ebb and flood, but the Holy Spirit remains constant and true, which is the very nature of God and his unchanging hand. The physical hardships Pastor Hoover and his family faced in order to fulfill the call to the people of Chile, along with the dedication to never insult, or capitalize on the move of the Holy Spirit was truly inspiring.

As a future teacher in an ethnically diverse society, I am very concerned about presenting positive views of other cultures. I stress "positive" because too many books present a negative, stereotyped view of others who fill our world. My search for the perfect "good" book to present a positive message about a black child who did not speak English incorrectly was not easy. I finally did find a book which turned out to be better than I expected.

Hold Fast to Dreams, by Andrea Pinkney, is about a 12-year-old black girl and her family; her sister, mother and father. The family moves from an all black neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland, to an all white neighborhood in Wexford, Connecticut. Deirdre, the main character, is very nervous about going to a school where she will be the only black person in the entire school. She is a very smart girl and loves photography and the poetry of Langston Hughes, a poet whom no white student knows anything about. The book focuses on the dreams of each character and how those dreams were affected by changes in life's situations. The book touches on racism, blind prejudices, and stereotyping while teaching acceptance, friendship, trust, and recognition.

Here is a brief synopsis of the book, Hold Fast to Dreams. Deirdre Willis, the main character, seems to want to remain resistant to the strangeness of her new situation. Her sister, Lindsay, chooses to force her acceptance by the white students by "acting white." She is a good athlete and so tries to prove herself the best at the new game of lacrosse, which neither of the girls knew how to play; in fact, they had never heard of lacrosse. The girls' father's dream was to provide the very best for his family. His promotion to vice president of the new company was the beginning of his dream. Their mother actually gave up her dream of being a second grade teacher in support of her husband's dream. Deirdre, Lindsay and their father all come up against some serious racism issues. Everyone at Deirdre's school is afraid of Deirdre because she is black. One very popular girl, Stacy Sneed, is especially afraid of her. One girl, whose nickname is Web, however, sought out Deirdre's friendship. Web always felt different from the other girls in her school because she is a redhead. Lindsay, because of trying to "act white," came up against a group of girls who challenged her in an unfriendly manner. This challenge, in which Lindsay was completely embarrassed, forced her to lie to her mother. She did not want to go back to school and she lied and pretended to be "sick." Mr. Willis had to deal with a racist guard at his company who forced Mr. Willis into a corner and demanded to see his company id. The guard knew that Mr. Willis worked for the company. He was simply showing his racism. Mr. Willis told his daughters that it felt like that guard had taken a piece of his integrity. (This is an obvious deep rupture of emotion that a thoughtless act of prejudice can cause.) I liked the book because it presented these very serious issues and then worked each issue out in a realistic manner. In the end, Deirdre won second place in a school contest and she realized that she only needed to please herself. Her sister, Lindsay, also realized that she did not have to change her behavior in order to be accepted. Mr. Willis was no longer challenged by the guard. Mrs. Willis relaxed a little each day knowing her family would be okay.

The language of the book is beautiful. The author uses a plethora of figurative language which clearly paints a picture in your mind of the scene. She spoke of "the half-circle moon glowing into the kitchen, casting a creamy haze over the room" (1). "The rickety noise was part of my room's rhythm, along with the steady ticking of my alarm clock" (27). "The sun's glare lighted the dew on the leaves, making the trees in the distance twinkle like a forest of crystal-drop chandeliers" (63). "The moon hung high and full in the blue-black sky. Its pearly, glistening light followed us along the road" (106). Simply exquisite language from the beginning of the book until the very end!

I read this book years ago and find myself chuckling even now when I recall some of the stories. I am a professional speaker, whenever I need true-to-life humor on parenting I gravitate back to this little book. It's guaranteed to make any parent laugh out loud, while also lifting the burden of guilt so many busy parents feel today. Too bad it's out of print!

I have been using fake books for 30+ years and Ann Collins gives just about the best I've seen in showing new users the ropes.

I have over a thousand dollars worth of fake books and despite the fact the I have been using them for so long already - Ann still gave insights that were new to me!

Don't miss out - snag this book!

Palmer's third book in this "series" continues to capture Victorian England; he is able to evoke the landscape and atmosphere of the time, of the place, and of the characters. Most don't. Aside from Anne Perry and Michael Crichton's "Great Train Robbery," I have not read such convincing Victoriana and the accompanying hypocrisy. Palmer is able to sustain the reader's interest throughout, particularly with his use of other "real" characters such as Florence Nightingale. He is able to make Dickens quite the human character!

Good overview for the general reader how cosmological observational data is obtained, in this reference in the context of the cutting-edge Hubble space telescope.

To the average person like myself it is simple uncomprehensable that way out here is all of this energy, peacefully and sometimes horrifically looming around us. Reading this book, and particularly looking intensely at the wonderful colour photographs, I cannot feel anything else but awe for the sheer original beauty of our universe, and the great bridges that we need to cross scientifically to even make an inch of sense of it. The text is easy enough for the pure enthusiast to understand the concepts, but for those with a thirst for knowledge, these pages reveal centuries of human time devoted to exploring milleniums and milleniums of universal time. It really does make you feel as though the only thing between us and the secret of everything is our humble mortality, not our need to know. Hubble Vision gives you a snapshot of the heavens, and beyond, something we'll never experince first hand in our life-time at least!

If you, like me, still have a wonderful friendship with one or more ex partners, this is a beautiful gift. It was sent to me by my ex wife shortly after we split up.

Even though it produced many tears, it's a sweet book which reminds me of the best parts of our marriage. I still love her deeply, and friendship seems to be working far better than marriage ever did!

Why would I want to stop loving such a marvellous woman just because we no longer share our lives?

I'm incredibly lucky that I have such wonderful ex partners :)

Ed

The History of Boxing by Fleischer and Andre is so riveting that I stayed up all night reading this book! From "Pugilisms First Heroes" to the last chapter update, the content is superb. There are so many priceless photos and illustrations pre-dating photographic equipment, from the British origins to Las Vegas!

As a kid, I remember Hurricane Carter winning a televised Friday Night at the Fights brawl by knocking his opponent out of the ring. And the local Houston, TX heavyweights like Cassius Clay and Cleveland Big Cat Williams. Well, this book chronicles the champions.

If I were to make a complaint, only the champions and their opponents are covered. So spectacular non-title fights are not covered here. I reckon that's the nature of the beast on a "best of" book like this that covers such a long period of time. But for what it is, it is all that and more!

It takes a lot for a book to make me laugh out loud the way this one did. I finished reading Julie Kistler's half of this Duet several days ago and can't get the story out of my head. It was that good. The heroine is someone you would want for a best friend, smart, clever, fun, impulsive, and funny. The hero is sexy, caring, a little rough around the edges, and more than a match for the heroine. The story is about a woman bored out of her mind with her very ordinary life as a tax lawyer and status as blind-date queen of the world. She's determined to put some adventure in her life and starts by having lunch--a banana split--in a seedy restaurant, a big step in her uptight world. She overhears some characters even seedier than the restaurant talking about a stash of money hidden in San Francisco and it's one wild adventure after another from that moment on. This is a book I will keep and read again. Probably even a third time. When it comes to escape fiction, the kind you simply want to entertain you, this is the best of the best.