If you have realistic expectations and enjoy Crown Firecoach fire engines, this book will be a good addition to your library. The text is well written, though I must confess I bought it primarily for the pictures. No other book has as many pictures of Crowns (to my knowledge this is the only book devoted entirely to Crowns). Most of the pictures are front 3/4 shots of Static rigs rather than action photos(as it should be in an apparatus buff book) One niggling point, Most of the pictures were taken by amateur photographers, often several years ago, and sometimes it shows. If you're expecting glorious full color spreads like the glossy fire truck books, you'll be disappointed. That having been said, there are almost no BAD photos and I would gladly have paid more to get even more of these photos. The other downer is the organization of the book. The chapters often overlap or repeat material. If you're looking for that 1970 Crown you saw, you'll have to check a lot of places. Both of these are really minor complaints and the book is a very complete reference on Crown Firecoach fire engines. Crowns are a rare breed and there probably won't be another book devoted to them so I would recommend picking up this book while it is in print.

Written by Ed Hass (a highly experienced specialist historian of firefighting apparatus who has five books and more than 100 published articles to his credit), Crown Firecoach History is a unique, remarkable, informative study of a special line of fire engines first created in 1953. Black-and-white as well as gorgeous color photographs of these historical vehicles, enhance this in-depth history of their service fill this amazing and memorable high-quality hardbound book from beginning to end. Printed on glossy paper, Crown Firecoach History is a superb gift for fire engine enthusiasts and automotive history buffs.

This book is alternatingly heart-warming and frustrating, but isn't that life? Bella is a beautiful earth mother to whom Eddie is attracted like no other. Her drug-induced behaviors lead them to split, but he carries a torch for her. The book has some interesting levels to it. Eddie is raised with an insensitive father who refers to him a "numb nuts," gets spirituality from a New Age conquest, and then rejects God altogether. Bella goes through a series of relationships, and eventually pulls her life together. This is a wonderful episodic adventure. The book gives you the feeling that we are on a life path whether or not we are aware of it. It is a great tale recognizing that sometimes it takes time to pull your life together. Enjoy this one. It's a fast fun read!

Eddie & Bella is a remarkable book featuring two extraordinary characters whose lives are inextricably linked, whether they like it or not. Eddie is a guy to whom things came easy at first, but inconveniently, as he grows older, the life he thought he was heading toward shows up further and further away in his rearview mirror. Things never came so easy to Eddie's former girlfriend Bella, which is maybe why she's not as astonished by life's peaks and valleys. Bella could be the perfect example of a "cool mom," and if you asked her daughters Darshon and Sage, they might agree, but only if Bella could manage to tie the flailing ends of her life into a loose knot, ie. stable home, steady boyfriend, and/or a reasonably steady job. In Bella's case, two out of three ain't bad, and the missing component is never as far away as she might think.
This story is well-plotted, fast-paced and filled with terrific details and diamond sharp insights into character. Wayne Wilson's ability to transform the achy and awkward moments of life into moments of epiphany makes Eddie & Bella a soul-shaking read.

The Energy Management Handook was purchased in order to review for the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) Certified Energy Manager (CEM) exam. Having read the entire 700 page book during the review I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in energy auditing/management techniques. Covers boilers, steam systems, heat recovery, building envelope, electrical systems, controls, etc.

William Wilcox / Mechanical Electrical Systems Coordinator / Dana Corporation / Toledo, OH

I was a Certified Energy Manager (CEM) and practiced energy management professionally in the 1990's. Dr. Turner's book is a excellent reference in this area, covering all the major aspects of energy management. I highly recommend it to anyone who is going to practice energy management seriously.

A follow-up to the author's FIELD GUIDE TO GERMS, this is an introduction to all the unseen entities lurking in our environment and how we know what we know about them. The discussion of various chemical pollutants and disease organisms could have gotten really depressing if not for Biddle's quirky sense of humor. The alphabetical listing even includes such unquantifiable invisibles as God and Zeigeist. A surprising lot of science in an easy to swallow package. What more do you want?

Wayne Biddle deserves tremendous credit for this fun little book. In a highly readable and often highly amusing format he catalogues a "who's who" of "invisible" objects, organisms, ideas, and forces at work in every day life from allergens to burps, from carbon monoxide to dust, from gravity to mites, ozone to pheromones, quarks to wind.

Each entry gets a few paragraph to a few pages, often with intersting quotations from famous people on the subject, the history of the subject, and lots of other useful and often amusing information, though sometimes disquieting too. Did you know that some foods are "hot," that they are naturally more radioactive than others (Brazil nuts, thanks to the gamma-ray rich soil they are grown in, are 14,000 times more radioactive than most other fruits)? Did you know that 10% of our body weight is made up of bacteria? That cigarette smoke contains 1% carbon monoxide by volume (10,000 parts per million)? That a single transatlantic flight will expose a person to so much cosmic rays as to equal a whole-mouth dental X-ray series? That prions, small subviral "germs"," "can withstand boiling temperatures, X-rays, ultraviolet radiation, and sundry chemcial insults, like ten years in formaldehyde?" Oh yeah. What a wonderful world.

Not all of it is scary stuff though, and much of the invisible world, including such subjects as quarks, neutrinos, photons, water vapor, comet tails, and krypton are quite harmless to humans. Learn such interesting facts that the pheromones of the silkworm's moth is so powerful that a male moth can detect as little as one trillionth of a millionth of a gram per one thousandth of a liter! That quarks, the most basic bit of matter that can exist, are "point-particles," meaning they have no volume, and have a kind of charge, but negative or positive obut called "color" and having nothing to do with light! That of the four fundamental forces - electromagnetic force, strong nuclear force, weak nuclear force, and gravity - gravity is arguably the weakest, yet unlike the others perhaps there is no known way to switch it off, shield from its effects, reverse, release it, or otherwise mess with it! Neat stuff. Maybe it IS a wonderful world after all.

All in all a fun and informative book, highly recommended.

Shaye Cohen has written an interesting book covering a turbulent period of Jewish history. He discusses the sects of Judaism that existed during this time, beginning with the Maccabean revolt, and working through the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Essenes, the Christian movement, and Jewish people scattered throughout the Mediterranean world. He shows how Judaism was always a religion that emphasized practice and tradition over doctrine, while not denying that Judaism had a theology. Sometimes, the reader will want to argue strenuously with Cohen's conclusions, such as his contention that circumcision did not play an important role in the Torah, or that Job, Daniel, Esther, and many of the Psalms were written just a couple of hundred years before the common era. One may also question his conclusion that the dialogues betwen Jesus and the Pharisees reflected more of a post 70AD situation than something that really happened in the life of Jesus.

Despite these and other contentious points, the book is well written, engaging, and refreshing in the sense that you get to look at these years of Jewish history from a Jewish perspective.

A good read, a jewish history that is not written to justify christianity, nor, zionism. A must read for those with a penchant for Jewish history....

This is really a very thorough book -- it's got large, academic sections on religion, art, forensics, prehistory, archaeology, etc, and these sections are all written by some of the creme de la creme of the field. If you're interested in a brief on Northwest Coast Indian life, this is a reasonably good (if rather scholarly) place to start.

However, I feel the book loses points because of the following reasons: it has precious few Native writers, and therefore lacks the Native perspective; it spends an awful lot of time focusing on the past, forcing Northwest tribes into an "ethnogrpahic present;" it needs desperately to be updated; and its illustrations are entirely in grainy black and white. Finally, Native readers may find themselves uncomfortable with both the sections devoted to forensics and shamanism.

This is almost certainly the best available encyclopedia about the NW American Native Americans. It is compiled and published by the Smithsonian Institution, with input from a number of scholars. Make no mistake about it - this is a serious, scholarly book - this is not the Inidna equivalent of "Funk & Wagnal's" gh for the scholar. This is a must-have for schools, libraries, and serious students and laypeople!

AS A PRACTISING HOMEOPATHIC DOCTOR THE BOOK IS HELPFUL FOR HOMEOPATHIC STUDENTS AND OTHERS

This is the best review of homeopathy written. It is balance and practical with a clear summary of homeopathy, what it can and cannot do and a practical section on how to use it for common problems.

I should say first that I am the author's brother-in-law, so very likely I am biased. But I have still been fascinated by what Wayne Schneider has achieved with this book. Mr. Schneider has combined 3 stories into one in an integrated way that pleases. And at least 1 or 2 of the 3 stories will appeal to everyone!

Story 1 is basically the vivid narrative of his own heritage -- how his poor ancestors lived in Germany, how one of them came to the U.S. for a better future, and how he (Wayne) over time became who he is today. (Professional, electrical and electronic engineer, husband, father, sportsman, and more.)

Story 2 is the saga of his son Shawn's athletic abilities -- Shawn's desire to achieve the highest level of skill in high school and college sports. In Wayne's youth, he had hopes of becoming a sports star, but his slight stature precluded that, in spite of the obvious athletic talents he possessed. But as his son, Shawn, grew up, Shawn demonstrated the same passionate desire to excel at athletics. So Wayne helped Shawn develop his athletic skills -- especially his football skills. These first 2 stories will warmly appeal to any family-oriented person.

Story 3 is quite different. In it, Wayne outlines his discovery, over time, of how the body uses electrical impulses to regulate heart-beat. (Even heart experts have not previously agreed or understood exactly HOW the heart is regulated -- for example, how it "knows" to speed-up when oxygen levels in the blood get low, but this theory explains that -- and a dozen other areas of heart function -- in a way that has not been previously known.)

Obviously, this subject could have been very technical and dry and boring -- but it is not. The technical reader will appreciate the author's extensive formulas and graphs proving his heart theory. But the novice can skip the hard part, and the formulas -- and can still understand and appreciate this fascinating medical breakthrough. Because Wayne's gradual realization and development of his unique theory of heart regulation makes for fascinating reading. I stress that even a layman can understand and appreciate not just the theory, but the drive and persistent committment that the author harnessed to prove that theory.

This book would make an excellent gift for a family-oriented person, for anyone who is "into" sports; or for an engineer, doctor, or professional person. I have enjoyed reading and re-reading it.

An awesome scientific discovery unfolds in "In Search of a Commendable Legacy". A research scientist wrote this book for the lay public. It is an inspiring example of the life of a scientist who pulled himself up by the bootstraps. This author's ultimate discovery answers questions asked by the medical profession around the world for the last 500 years. Medical technology will take off from here.

Simple and engaging, yet very informative. I recommend this book to any Christian counselor who feels the Bible alone is not fully equipped for counseling. MacArthur makes a very strong argument for its adequacy and confronts all doubters head on. A great introductory resource for new pastors and counselors.

Introduction to Biblical Counseling authors MacArthur and Mack develop an easy to read and understandable text that conveys to the reader the importance of nouthetic (biblical) counseling. I strongly recommed it as a must for any minister's library or anyone in the counseling field. It controdicts all main-stream psychological theories, while revealing the power and truth that the Bible holds. From cover to cover, I found myself fully embracing the simplistic yet accurate method of nouthetic counseling the writers desired to convey.

Joanna Wayne's latest, "Jodie's Little Secrets," isn't as good as her last one, "Family Ties," but it is still a good story. Jodie Gahagen does have two little secrets: her year-old twin sons Blake and Blair, which their father knows nothing about. She and Ray Kostner had a passionate affair in New York, but when she tried to get in contact with him about her pregnancy, he never returned her calls, not wanting to make a commitment. Jodie decided to forge a life for herself as a single mother, a plan that comes to an abrupt end when a stalker singles her out. When she discovers that the stalker has been in her house--in her sons' room--while she was sleeping, she knows she has to get out of there. She heads back to Louisiana to stay with the grandmother who raised her. There are only two problems: Ray is there, and her stalker seems to have followed her as well...

Wayne tells a good tale with some chilling moments (loved when they discovered whose credit card was used to send her a sinister bouquet) and a strong heroine who never loses our interest. Although there weren't that many suspects, the author still managed to keep the killer's identity a secret until the end. My main problem with the book (besides the fact that it is YET ANOTHER secret baby book) is the hero's reactions to two pivotal events. I absolutely HATED the way he reacted when she told him he was the twins' father, and his action when he finally accepted the news fell terribly flat, not sparking any kind of emotional release that usually comes from such a moment. Basically, the guy just didn't work for me at all, though the rest of the story was pretty good. Personally, I would choose "Family Ties" (which never lets up on the emotion, suspense, or romance), but this book is still a well-told mystery with a nice emphasis on family.

This wonderful story manages to present a realistic family, a well-crafted mystery and a thrilling romance. Ms. Wayne has truly shown herself to be a masterful storyteller!