This book does indeed have a "meditation" for each day, accompanied by a religious referenece, reading or psalm. I was not aware when I ordered the book that it had such a religious foundation.

This book helped me to understand that Alan my son is growing up and I need to give him more space so his spiritual being may grow. He now realises his flower inside him can expand. Thankyou

I ordered this pregnancy journal along with another pregnancy record book for my sister who is expecting her first child. There was no description for this book, so I wasn't sure what it was like. I was looking for something for her to record special events, thoughts and feelings, pictures, doctor appointments, etc. This book is definitely a 'journal'. It has three sections - one for each trimester - with plenty of lined pages, but no specially designated places for specific information. It's just a spiral-bound, hardcover 'notebook' designed to keep a diary during your pregnancy.

I didn't look at the excerpts before I bought it (I know...) and every single page has a Bible verse. That's fine and lovely unless you are not a Christian. I am not trying to criticize Christianity, I just want others to notice this before they buy it, especially if they practice other religions. I feel a little funny using it, but it's the only pregnancy journal I could find with blank pages. The quality seems to be fairly high and the spiral binding seems pretty sturdy.

With my first child- I had a journal that just had pregnany journal on the front...and I had the hardest time finding that with our second child, until this book! I didn't want 'prompts' or facts, or little scriptures- I wanted my husband and I to be able to write with freedom and not feel guilty if we missed a page or blank. This journal was perfect!

I've enjoyed Crosby's books in the past. I tried to read this one on an airplane, and just couldn't get past the first 50 pages. It was, however, the only book I had with me, so rather than read the in-flight magazine, I tried again after my peanuts. Still, I couldn't get past the bad dialogue and the rather immature characters. Pass on this one.

I've just finished reading Tanya Anne Cosby's,"ON BENDED KNEE".First of all,i have to say that after my initial reservations,i did fall in love with the characters.Colin Mac Brodie did not pretend to be anything other then he was.Colin was a womans man!Seana(gorgeous name)was such a sweetheart.I just wanted to hug her and tell her that everything would turn out o.k. in the end.At times during the book i did laugh out loud and at times i cried.So why the three stars instead of five?The storyline seemed to be more prominant then the characters!There was not enough tension between the characters.Their relationship was not consumated until the last few pages!There could have been alot more jealousy and misunderstanding thrown in to the story.After reading"PERFECT IN MY SIGHT" and "HAPPILY EVER AFTER",i know for a fact that Tanya is talented.I just think that for all of it's potential,"ON BENDED KNEE" did not deliver all that it could have!

Ms. Crosby's books always leave me smiling, and this one is no exception! I give it four stars and not five, only because the dialect is a little thick in this one. But it's still a great story, with heart warming characters. Ms. Crosby, if you're reading this, give us Broc's story now!

At the end of the excellent 400 page text/program, "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons," twenty books are recommended for children who now (according to the text) read at a second-grade level. This is the 18th book on the list of twenty. In this book, "Mine's the Best," two boys argue over who's beach toy is the best, and eventually attempt to emotionally and physically harm each other. Page 21: "Yours is sick." 22: "Yours is too." 24: "Yours is dead." 25: "Yours is dead too." 26: "It's all your fault." 27: "No, it's all YOUR fault." 28: "Let go of my pants." 29: "Let go of my hat." 30: (A girl walks by with a nicer beach toy.) 31: (Both Boys together) "I hate her." If you are looking for books to help your child learn to read, there are better ones out there that do not come with this unnecessary nonsense.

I agree with the review that talks about how bad this book is for kids. The boys fight over which balloon is best, they say they "hate" a girl who gets in the middle, they kill their balloons until they are "dead." It's really inappropriate for the young audience it's aimed at. My husband read the book to my daughters first and couldn't believe I had bought it. I took a look and threw it away. That's what you do with (garbage). Trust me, don't buy this.

Rose, age 7, says this book is funny and filled with excitement. It is a great book for kids. I love it. Especially when the boy says Let go of my pants!
Her mom, age 43, says that she thinks it's great to read all kinds of books with your kids. That's often what keeps alive a child's interest in reading - to have a sense that there's always something new out there to dive into. Also, it can be great to read with your children a book that really gives you a chance to talk to them about how they might deal with a situation. Still not sure this is worth your money? Check it out at the library first!
A p.s. from Rose : IT ROCKS!

This book was a total waste of time... I could barely force myself to finish it. Nothing but a big sob story from Gary Crosby who, at the time when he came up with this stuff, was out of a job and needed money (so he cashed in on dragging his dad's name through the dirt). I mean, you can dig up dirt on anyone----- no human being is perfect----- but tell me, which do you think is worse---- a man who wasn't the perfect father (and never claimed to be, in fact said the exact opposite), or a man who has to take the imperfections of someone else, exaggerate them, and blow em way out of proportion in order to get back into the spotlight himself. The whole book was just disgusting and a total waste of time. I suggest you read Bing's autobiography "Call Me Lucky" where he talks openly about how he raised his kids and his reasoning behind it (not to mention some hilarious stories of him, Bob Hope, and other hollywood greats). So, I highly recommend NOT getting this book unless you want to waste your time, or unless you need some good material to burn in order to keep warm this winter.

It is true that Bing Crosby was an absent father for much of the upbringing of his first family. It is true that he compinsated for this with strict rules, regulations, and whippings. However, Gary Crosby, (who if you read through the lines comes off as a son of much greater privledge and opportunity than others in this huge world) is a bit of a sob-story sissy, who never could quite live with his station in life. It's not greatly written with any particularly interesting style; but rather it is a series of misfortunes, usually beginning at the end of a chapter with a catch-line like "Everything was fine until...happened", spilling over to the next chapter which begins the cycle of woe all over again.
Misguided, misinterpreted, and misused, poor Gary Crosby. So?

I liked this book a lot. I read it about six years ago and I just ordered it. It uses laughable language that was popular in the 1950s, like "licking", "hip", and others I can't think of right now. It makes me mad to read that Gary's father beat him with belts, etc., but I don't feel too bad because Gary just TOOK IT! Until he finally grabbed the cane away and broke it. So you wont accept a beating. Fine, what's he gonna do? Send you away to school? He did that anyway. Leave you there? You liked it there better than home. The book read like Bing adopted children just to punish them. Stand up for yourself to "the old man" (oh yes, that was another one that got real annoying).

The only thing I thought was tacky was using Christina Crawford's best seller "Mommie Dearest" on his own book cover to promote this book (the paperback). He writes something like "Joan Crawford was a Mary Poppins compared to Bing". I thought it was in bad taste. Everyone's got to do an upmanship: "You think so-and-so had it bad, wait until you hear MY story..." And for the record I think Christina had it WORSE than Gary. But this was still an enjoyable book and I'm sad that Gary's not around anymore.

This book is a joke. It's not even a good joke. This book is insulting to workers everywhere. It's a poor man's "Who Moved My Cheese" with Merlin, who is the manager's conscience, instead of mice. If Merlin goes "Pffft!" one more time, I'm going to have some good back-up at the house in case I run out of T.P.

If you are unfortunate enough to buy this book, make sure that you read at least a few chapters of the book, if you need a good laugh.

I was assigned this book as part of a leadership class and really enjoyed it. It provided a perspective on leadership that I had not found in other books: the importance of authenticity in leadership. Crosby does a good job of discussing how authority and consensus work together when leadership is expressed clearly, truly, and authentically. I wouldn't say that it is a "must read" but I do think that those interested in leadership would gain from his unique perspective.

I am an internal consultant and use this book as a guide in my practice. This book is a must if you are a manager of a business and want to create lasting change. It is easy to read and gives practical ways to go about making changes in your work place. I also like that the book is in story form which helps to illustrate how to do an incredibly difficult task. The author is a practitioner rather than simply a theorist so the book is grounded in experience. I highly recommend this book.

Do not, repeat DO NOT, trust any information found in this book if the correctness of the information is important to your safety or the successful completion of your travel. We trusted the statement on page 9 under ENTRY REQUIREMENTS, where it states that " Americans, British, Irish, Australians, New Zealand, and now Canadian citizens need only passports (no visas) for stays under 30 days." My wife, an Australian, was "disembarked" at the Zurich airport because she did not have a visa. The Czechs require Australians to obtain visas in their country of origin (the US in our case) and THEY MAKE NO EXCEPTIONS! Needless to say, our trip was ruined. There is absolutely no excuse for this kind of incompetent reporting of critical data, the edition we purchased was published in 2000, and so was our trip. The Czech visa policy has been in effect for years.

Use this book with caution. Restaurant reviews are very helpful and the walking tours get you into the tourist parts of town. But don't trust the telephone/fax numbers. Of the three I tried, all were wrong. Overall, worth using though.

Just returned from Prague, and this guidebook was by far the most valuable resource we had. Walking tours and restaurant reviews particularly valuable.

I knew there was a reason I tend to avoid anthologies; this one has reminded me of it with a vengeance. Basically, most anthologies aren't worth the paper they're printed on: you get a selection of authors, some of whom may not be very good, and shorter stories than usual, some of which - if they are at all good - don't benefit from being compressed into under 100 pages.

This book is very definitely a case in point. We have novellas from Jo Beverley (normally excellent), Tanya Anne Crosby, Samantha James and Kathleen Woodiwiss - three authors I'd never come across before and whose work therefore I know nothing about. After reading this anthology, I know to avoid their work in future.

The Beverley novella, The Determined Bride, was interesting, but I kept feeling that I'd come in halfway through the story. Told by her soldier husband that their marriage hadn't been genuine, Kate desperately wants her baby to be legitimate. Unfortunately, her 'husband' has just been killed in battle. His commanding officer offers to marry her to give the baby a name. Afterwards, Kate returns to England with her son - but what of Captain Charles Tennant, the man she's just married? Does she want him? Does he want her? How does he really feel about having a legal son who is not his biological child?

An intriguing premise, written with something close to Beverley's usual style; but too rushed. Perhaps three stars.

Next, there is Tanya Anne Crosby's A Kiss After Midnight. Two children brought up together are separated when Victoria's father, a duke, becomes concerned about her friendship with the gardener's son. Can their love survive? What happens when Victoria needs to marry to save her estates? To begin with, I thought her hero, Thomas, was American; his internal narrative in the first few pages is entirely American in dialect and vocabulary. Too many things didn't ring true in this story for me to take it seriously. For instance, apparently Thomas and Victoria drove to Gretna Green in under five hours. So where were they? North of the Lake District and in the middle of nowhere fifty miles south of the border? Unlikely. And did Victoria really not recognise Thomas??

Oh, and *what* is "a'tall" supposed to mean? That simply isn't a word. It's not an expression used anywhere in the UK (or in Ireland, in case Crosby thinks it is). If she means 'at all', then she should say so. Terrible. One star.

The next story is Samantha James' Scandal's Bride. It was readable, more or less, though Victoria seemed to me to behave like a spoilt brat. I can't understand what Miles saw in her; he should have refused to marry her and insisted that her father sent her back to the country until she grew up. Two stars, maybe.

And finally, Kathleen Woodiwiss's Beyond The Kiss. This, I gather, is the sequel to another book by Woodiwiss. She spends the first dozen pages summarising Raelynn and Jeff's story to date (tedious exposition of an overly melodramatic tale) before launching into this story. The language is extremely overblown -talk about purple prose! The dialogue is stilted: I couldn't believe some of Jeff's speeches. Take this:

"In my lengthy quest for the woman of my dreams, I cannot deny that I've tested my heart with others, but they never assuaged that unsettled feeling gnawing at my vitals. I tell you no lie, madam, when I say that of those maidens I've courted, I favoured none with a plea to be my wife. Whatever enticements inspired me to seek their company were ephemeral, as fleeting as the morning dew." Ewwwww!!!!! I couldn't take this guy seriously at all.

In fact, I couldn't even finish this story. After 30 pages of it I'd had enough, and it's definitely put me off reading any more by Woodiwiss. I can't believe she's considered to be a top historical fiction writer! Zero stars.

Don't waste your money on this one.

It's not easy to rate four stories with one mark, so I do it one by one:

„The determined bride" - I give it 3 stars. It's not a bad story, but I found something missing there.

„A kiss after midnight" - nice, but just a little bit unbelievable. How Victoria couldn't recognize her best friend? I don't believe a man can change so much! And that marriage ceremony ... oh, it was sooo long, I became unpatient! 3 stars.

„Scandal's bride" - a bit cliche. I read so many books about London high society of 19th century I became tired of them. Why always London and 19th century? Why not France during 100 years war for example? 3 stars.

„Beyond the kiss" - out of question the best of „Married at midnight". I just love Woodiwiss and Birminghams. 5 stars.

And at the end - romance authors, keep writting. We need your stories to warm our hearts and make our lives easier.

i chanced to stumble upon this in a library, and sat down to read it. it was much more than i had been expecting of a jumble of romance stories strung together. The stories had nothing to do with each other. One of the stories was about a soldier who married a woman in labor to give her child a name. One was of an heiress who had to be married by midnight of a certain day in order to keep her inheritance. unfortunately, I didn't read to the other story. The first two were very intersting. The one about the heiress was done mainly from the prospective of the hero, a different approach, andn had childhood sweethearts reunite. it was touching and heart-warming to read of their childish delights and the bond which held them together. The first one was an interesting tale, which could probably be turned into a novel if the circumstances were stretched somewhat and the problems more dramatized. The ending was happy, though. This was a refreshing collection of stories 9three in all, i think). Read and find out for yourself.

This book has one redeeming quality: the volume contains many unusual and telling 'pieces' descriptive of American history.
However,the volume is flawed in two fatal and fundamental ways. 1) There is no bibliography, thus the reader has no way to determine where the editors located their material. For example, the first piece in the volume ("How the World was Made") is simply attributed to 'The Cherokee Nation'. 2) The editing of the material is suspect at best. The Rev. Dr. King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" has been redacted from its original fifty pargraphs to a mere 18 without wxplanation. Don't buy this book.

This is a credible source, don't get me wrong, however history, in the form of documents, quotations, etc., can be very misleading. While, I'm certain, the editor selected the articles and quotes with some discretion, you need to stay objective and remind yourself that quotes alone are not always representative of a sinle person or time. Use this book, but read Howard Zinn's A Peoples History of the United States first, to get a good foundation of American History. History has always been told from a biased viewpoint from persons capable of being heard (Usually because of a higher position in a social-economic/political system). Use your mind to discriminate information from propaghanda.

A unique look at america through our documets including the govermental papers, first hand accounts of key events, songs, poems, speaches and prose of many kinds that define out nation. A great resource for the home or classroom and fun to read. A true learning experience.

This book insulted my Intellegence. I read to my cat over the last months, However she and myother 12 cats will not meow. I adviuce no self respecting 53 year old read this book!

This book, along with other books by Crosby Bonsall, is a great way to start your children reading their first mystery book. Bonsall creates characters that are both true to life and very friendly. My second graders have taken off with reading using these funny and at time puzzling books. The characters have become their friends. The children eagerly await the next adventures of the Wizard Gang. A must for early readers ready for a challenge.