good stuff about book: **it covers ALL the indian defenses from white's point of view, including d4,c4,Nc3, and d4,c4,Nf3 openings (no other book does this) **it is organized so that a complete repetoire against the indian defenses is included in the book (the authors did a good job of making sure the the reader will not get lost in a transposition and will not need to gather information from other sources to play the recommended lines) **it covers more than just the indian defenses. it also covers: the dutch (the recommendation is 1.d4 f5 2.Nc3), 1.d4 d6 and 1.d4 g6 (the recommendation against each is 2.e4, leading to the pirc and the modern, respectively), the budapest and fajarowich gambits (1.d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5!? 3.dxe5 Ng4 and 3. ...Ne4, the recommendation is 4.Nh3 for the budapest and 4.a3 for the fajarowich), assorted benonis (including the czech and snake benonis), the old indian defense, the englund gambit (1.d4 e5), the clarendon court (1.d4 c5 2.d5 f5), queen's fianchetto defense (1.d4 b6), and others

bad stuff about book: **it is a repetoire book so some of the lines might not be your style, but you still must play them as no other lines are provided **a lot of information and analysis is presented, which can make it hard to work through

general stuff about book: **the information is presented in game format instead of tree format (which actually why it can be hard to work through) **you must play 1.d4 and 2.c4 in order to stay within the recommended repetoire (i.e., if you play Nf3 on your first or second moves, you might reach positions not covered in this book)

this book is well worth buying if you are looking to play 1.d4. it has really helped a great deal with my chess openings.

(just a note: Burgess and Pederson also have a book in the format of this one but on the queen's gambit instead of the indian defenses, it's called The Queen's Gambit for the Attacking Player, it's worth looking into even though it is a few years old)

Helen Rose Ebaugh began researching this book while a Catholic nun, and ended it as an "ex-nun" and married woman. Don't let that fool you. This fascinating book is not an attack on organized religion, or a defense of it. It is instead an exploration of social "roles" each one of us inhabits, and the curious and usually painful process of leaving one or more of those roles behind. Her contention is that no matter what role we are leaving (anything from a marriage--'husband' or 'wife' being the role left--to leaving a religious group to [even!] sex-change via surgery) there are commonalities in the process that will tell us much about both ourselves and our former and future roles. As an evangelical Christian who is part of an intentional community, I read this book initially to try and understand why former members of our community (Jesus People USA) sometimes became so angry with us, and interpreted their time with us so negatively. Ebaugh's book enlightened me somewhat on that score. But for anyone trying to understand "conversion" TO a role, this book is an interesting corellary. Also, see David Bromley's "The Politics of Religious Apostasy."

Becomings is a book for just about everyone. I first read it straight through, then a chapter at a time, and will read it again and again. I'd never thought about what it felt like to be a rock, or the wind, or a lioness, and especially not a crow. But I do now, and feel closer to nature because of it. Thank you, Ellie King, for allowing me to experience being, and for giving us Becomings.

This is an edited/updated translation by the great Thomas Stapleton, a Catholic theologian who presented this translation to Queen Elizabeth, hoping to win her sympathies amidst the reformation movement that had driven many Catholics into exile. His goal, he writes, was to show her highness "how many pretended reformers of the Church have departed from the sound and Catholic faith ... described truly and sincerely by Venerable Bede." Of course, he failed to persuade Elizabeth, but we nonetheless have this wonderful translation in consequence. King has updated some archaic words and added valuable historical footnotes in this edition.

Volume 2 is a continuation of the same work. Below is my review for volume 1.

This is an edited/updated translation by the great Thomas Stapleton, a Catholic theologian who presented this translation to Queen Elizabeth, hoping to win her sympathies amidst the reformation movement that had driven many Catholics into exile. His goal, he writes, was to show her highness "how many pretended reformers of the Church have departed from the sound and Catholic faith ... described truly and sincerely by Venerable Bede." Of course, he failed to persuade Elizabeth, but we nonetheless have this wonderful translation in consequence. King has updated some archaic words and added valuable historical footnotes in this edition.

This book is not only well written, but it is Life Changing. It made me look at my faith and see if i was really such a good Christian, if i was willing to die for my belief. This book if too awesome to pass by, and i can't say enough praise, he was led by the spirit to write it.

The Beggar King is an allegory that can be understood on several levels. On one level, The Beggar King is an adventure story about a young king who enters a forbidden room in his father's castle where he discovers a portrait of a beautiful and mysterious woman--the Grail Maiden--the one chosen to tend the Holy Grail and heal the human heart. The portrait awakens in the young king a universal longing for the Mystic Female and speaks to him of suffering and grace. So the young king dedicates his life to finding the Grail Maiden and freeing her from the powers that enslave her.
On a symbolic level, the Grail Maiden is the king's anima, his life principle or Soul. The king discovers that the Grail Maiden is enslaved by Patriarchy--the dominance of the masculine archetype, yang, over the feminine archetype, yin, through the institutional powers of family, tribe, and religion. On a psychological level, this dominance is manifest in the cultural preferences we give to extroversion over introversion, thinking over feeling, and the left hemisphere over the right hemisphere.
In order to free the Grail Maiden, the king must defeat three adversaries--a Black Knight, a Red Dwarf, and a three-headed dragon named Holdfast, who represents the Status Quo and the Patriarchy. He must also overcome three temptations and endure the perils of three curses--each of which test his fidelity to the Grail Maiden and, ultimately, his faith in God. In addition, each ordeal reveals a hidden psychological truth.
In the end, the king marries the Grail Maiden, which restores the harmony of the two opposing archetypes--masculine and feminine, yang and yin--giving each its proper place in the Soul and in the Kingdom.
So The Beggar King may be read as a tale of romance, intrigue, and spiritual devotion or as a psycological drama of the Soul's heroic ordeal. In either case, it is an easy read with lots of action and adventure.

Beloved Master Saint Germain is a Glorious Being, Lord of the Seventh Ray and It's Purifying Violet Flame Activities to this earth and mankind. He has brought forth understanding on the creative use of the words "I AM" and the steps to making one's own Ascension. This volume is 15 chapters of recorded QUESTION-ANSWER talks with Ascended Master Saint Germain, to assist us to become Ascended Beings. It is a rare book of precious knowledge, and unique in style to the Saint Germain Series as a whole.

This was one of the best books I have ever read. It is the True story about Ben Snipes. A young man that travels west from Iowa to the Dalles. He then begins in the cattle business, taking out loans at high interest to buy his first cattle, and also making a killing from the miners at sale. Throughtout the story he is a man who never carries a gun, and is know for his love of animals. He ends up having outrageous numbers of cattle and horses, said to be the best around.

My daughter Krys has recently been downloading some swing music, and I couldn't help but notice many of the tracks were from Benny Goodman! The Kwong family is a musically gifted household and eversince little Kryssy-poo has taken up her clarinet lessons, it's been all Benny all day long!

I originally bought "Benny: King of Swing" for her as a Christmas gift, and let me tell you...that little smile of hers just lit up at the sight of good ol' Benny on the front cover. Each page is filled with tiny tidbits and snapshots from the life of who is surely one of the greatest musicians of all time. It makes an interesting read, and some of the pictures are remarkable.

Pick up this book! You'll fall in love with it, and hopefully even gain a better appreciation for the music of Mr. Goodman. CLARINET RULES! ROCK ON, BENNY BABY!