This book about vegetarianism is the most informative and easy to understand book for teens and with teens imput. I enjoyed this book emensly because I'm a teen myself and after reading this book with all it's info on nutrition, how to deal with parents, friends and how it helps the world. The author does a lot to get REAL teen's opinon on why they became vegetarians. The book was so good I read it in 3 hours (my record). I would highly recommend this book to teens or adults wanting to explore the options and information on becoming a vegetarian and why you can help the world by not eating meat. I now am a vegetarian it is fun and kinda special to tell people 'yes I'm a vegetarian I don't eat meat ' read the book you'll be very interested . Happy reading and happy meatless meals.

When I was becoming vegetarian in 6th grade, I read a lot of books, but none delt with it from the teenagers viewpoint. They discussed what to shop for and how to plan large elaborate meals,and lots of other things that were of no use to me at that time.

That's this books strong point. It is written clearly for teenagers, dealing with the issues they need to know about. It covers nutrition and the likes wonderfly, in a way that can be easily understood, but also deals with uniquely teenage concerns such as how to discuss this with your parents and how to deal with going out with friends, school meals, etc. In addition, it covers the basic reasons for become a vegetarian, and the different types of vegetarians there are. It's a great resource for any teenage considering vegetarianism.

This is a great book for teen vegetarians, or teens thinking about becoming vegetarians. This book has 13 chapters, each full of information.
1. What is a vegetarian, anyways?- This gives straight forward answers, and describes different kinds of vegetarians and why people are vegetarians.
2.For The Planet- About how being a vegetarian benifits the planet.
3. For The Animals- You guessed it, all about how being a vegetarian helps animals.
4. For Your Health- About how being veggie helps you. This part also dispels many myths not-vegetarians have about a vegetarian diet.
5.Making The Switch- About going from meat-eater to vegetarian.
6.What will your parents say?- I think this is one of the best chapters, as it gives lots of information about what parents may be thinking and how to convince them without being rebelious.
7. What will your fiends say?- Yet another concern to teens, this chapter deals with dealing with friends.
8. Sticky Situations- This is another great chapter for teens, that answers all those nagging questions. What about at friends houses? How about when I'm traveling?
9. Surviving at School- All about cafeteria blues, science class diesection, and ways to make changes in your school.
10. Some Nutrition Basics- Another great chapter. All the nutrition you need to know, written in a clear way for teens to understand.
11. Fabulous Vegetarian Foods- All about vegetarian foods to try.
12. The Makings Of A Meal- About what to include in yummy and healthy meals.
13. Some Recipies To Get You Started- I'll be honest, I haven't tried any of the recipies yet, but they sound great. They are written in a ay great for beggining cooks.
This book is written in a non-judgmental, just facts way, but after reading it you will probably want to be vegetarian, if not vegan. I love the way the author talked to real teens, and included their quotes, knowledge, and tidbits of information about being vegetarian. This book includes a good concrete basis on all information nessecary to a teenage vegetarian, and is written in a engaging, interesting, funny, and informative way. I wish I could give this book 10 stars, it is such a great reference for the teenage vegetarian.

This book is EXCELLENT. It is so good in fact that it showed me why a retreat is not for us. Instead, I am using the activities it describes to create a series of training sessions for our senior and middle managers, or what you might call a series of mini-retreats, a couple of hours each once a week over several weeks. The activities contained in this book are intelligent and fun, unlike several others I've read. I highly recommend this book for the activities section alone -- and if you do want to do a full retreat, it will prove even more valuable. Also, the sections on pre-interviewing participants and retreat design components were very helpful, and I am putting them to good use.

I also like "101 Games for Trainers" by Bob Pike, and "Games That Teach Teams" by Steve Sugar. I think these three books together are the best place to start -- there are a lot of other titles out there that are, in a word, garbage, and should be avoided.

I just finished reading "Retreats That Work." Great timing! My HR director gave me a copy just after I brought up at a staff meeting the idea of holding an off-site retreat to revise our company's strategic plan, and I got a lot of great ideas from what Campbell and Liteman wrote.

Most retreats I've been to were long on talk and short on results. Others in my company have had the same experience, so there wasn't much enthusiasm for the idea of having one.

But after I shared with them some of the authors' ideas, they were convinced, as I was, that we could follow Campbell and Liteman's guidelines and actually hold a retreat that would help the company become more focused and improve our operations.

The book is full of engaging stories about what can go wrong when a retreat is poorly planned or facilitated, and, in contrast, how to go about planing and leading a retreat that will succeed and make things better.

I found the book well-written and easy to read, and I learned how details ranging from whom you invite to the kind of facility you use and how key executives -- including me -- behave before, during, and after the retreat can affect its success. The authors made me aware of many things I hadn't thought about that now I'll keep in mind.

You may think that a book about retreats is just for your HR folks. Not so for this book. The parts addressed to executives are to the point, very useful, and actually enjoyable to read, and I'm glad my HR director passed the book along to me (though I've marked it up so much she'll have to order another copy for her office).

"Retreats That Work" could be subtitled "Everything you ever wanted to know about retreats." Just a look at the table of contents told me that there was going to be an answer to any question I might have -- from the basic who, what, when, where and why, to the types of specialized retreats.

I am in a related, but quite different, field. As a qualitative research moderator, I am often asked to facilitate meetings or retreats by clients who are unaware of the differences -- hence, my interest in this book. But, whether you are working for a small or large company and want to hold a retreat, or you are someone needing to actually facilitate such an event, this book is a wealth of information. And for anyone thinking of facilitating a retreat or just understanding what a facilitator must be able to do, they would be advised to read the "definition" or role of the facilitator on page 116!

I found this book very well-written, easy to read and follow. It's filled with lots of practical information and tips, valuable time estimates for the various activities, and additional resources given.

The creative thinking section was particularly interesting to me. As a "left brain" person, I am usually skeptical of these kinds of activities. But the authors' examples and explanations of each exercise gave me a new appreciation for the value of this type of retreat.

I also visited the authors' or book web site, which is a nice accompaniment to the book, including additional resources.

The next fitness revolution is here, and it's Synergy Fitness! I was finishing my master's in Exercise Science when Aerobics fired the shot that started the world running, and ushered in the "cardio" revolution. Synergy Fitness is destined to change fitness training as we know it today.

This is a great program, and doesn't take a lot of time to get a good work out. My wife and I do this program together. Not only do we get a great workout, but we spend quality time together, talking and organizing our time-crunched lives. We each work at our own pace and don't compete with each other since we are at different levels of fitness.

Campbell's book teaches how to get our bodies back to working like their supposed to. Growth Hormone is an important key to burning fat and regaining energy. He has a balenced to fitness.

If you're a fitness buff, or just someone trying to lose a few pounds or get in shape, you've got to try this program!

The interesting argument in this attractive and thorough (and well-researched, by the way) fitness training book is the idea that anaerobic exercise will promote the release of the Human Growth Hormone in our bodies and thereby lead to weight control and a reversal of the metabolic slow down associated with aging beginning in our middle years.

Anaerobic exercise (as contrasted with aerobic exercise) is sprint training, not endurance training. When we sprint we use muscle fibers that Campbell identifies as "fast type IIx" as opposed to "slow type I" used in long distance running. The use of these "fast twitch" muscles leads to the increased production and release of the growth hormone. Since it is all the rage in some circles (e.g., Hollywood) to take injections of the growth hormone at a cost of about $12,000 a year (it is not effective taken orally), a program that allows us to produce the growth hormone naturally would be a godsend. Our bodies as we grow older produce less and less of the growth hormone and this has been linked to what Campbell calls "somatopause," the well-known phenomenon leading to weight gain, middle-age spread and a slower metabolism.

I have little doubt that if my body would produce more growth hormone I would be able to control my weight and perhaps look and feel better. I feel pretty good as I am, but since I gave up playing basketball five years ago, I have gained about 12 pounds. It's worse than that, however, because I have lost probably about ten or 15 pounds of muscle mass, so in fact I am now carrying around 25 to 30 more pounds of pure fat! I was able to control my weight with the sort of ease that Campbell describes in this book when I was playing basketball (which is sprinting and more) three times a week. I could (as Campbell claims he can) eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, and never had to worry about my weight. I realized in a flash while reading this book that indeed what I had been doing playing basketball was anaerobic exercise.

The essence of Campbell's program--or at least the part that interests me--calls for no high fat foods one hour before anaerobic training and no sugar foods for two hours afterward. This will stimulate fat-burning. I know from personal experience that this is true. When you're doing some serious anaerobics three or four times a week, you just naturally eat less, and less often. I always thought this was because my system made me less hungry because it didn't want to divert its energies to the digestion of any more food than was necessary. But perhaps it is the release of the growth hormone that leads to the desire to eat less.

Regardless of how this works, it does work. But the problem for someone older than Campbell (he's fifty) is that it is very, very difficult to engage in a training program that involves sprinting because it too easy to pull, tear or strain muscles which take a relatively long time to heal. This is the "catch-22" of growing older. It's hard to exercise enough to get into and stay in shape because you're always coming up lame. However, Campbell presents a carefully balanced and well-thought out program that just may allow those over fifty to get into shape and exercise anaerobically on a regular basis. (This program will definitely work for those younger who are in good health.)

He uses the trendy word "synergy" in the title because he believes it is the synergistic effect of the total program, including weight training, proper diet and the combination of anaerobic and aerobic exercise that leads to fitness and an increase in the production of the growth hormone.

Bottom-line question: Will this work? Quick answer: I don't know. Campbell himself is the very picture of health with the well-muscled, but lean body of a decathlon champion. When I was fifty I too was in great shape (although I was not as strong as Campbell), and looking back I can say that it was playing basketball on a regular basis that did it. I can no longer play basketball but perhaps I can sprint and weight train. I'm going to give it a try.

I finished this book, cover to cover in two days. I'm a fanatic about backing up what you say with research and this book does just that.

I did the Sprint 8 workout this morning. It's the
best workout I've ever had... I don't know what the heck
I was doing before this... but I feel GREAT...

This book has brought my workout up to the next level of intensity that I needed.

This highly evolved masterpiece is a reader's digest condensed version of radical honesty.

Imagine a highly evolved human being who has dedicated her entire adult life to what it means to be an evolved human being.

Imagine investing thousands of hours, countless hours, studying and practicing psychology, sociology, philosophy, cognition, transactional analysis, gestalt therapy, neurolinguistic programming, eastern spirituality, therapy and coaching.

Now imagine this person recently finished elegantly capturing the most powerful insights from this life dedicated to action research in these areas.

This is obviously someone whose life's work is to heal the planet.

Finally, imagine visiting with this Goddess, and engaging in an exchange where these insights are transfused into your consciousness instantly, easily and effortlessly.

Susan's insights are so powerful, simply reading this book is life altering. It is impossible to not be automatically evolved simply by being exposed to the truth skills Susan shares, such as noticing whether your intent is to relate or control, or attachment to being right, or being able to hold different viewpoints simultaneously.

It isn't just the skills Susan shares that make a difference, though that would be powerful in itself. It is the heartfelt way she shares them, and the examples and exercises she shares, that really make these profound yet simple ideas come to life for the reader.

Even more powerfully dramatic, however, is the transformation the reader experiences as one begins to apply the skills and the philosophy to interactions with others. The reader's filters and lenses are forever adjusted, enhanced, expanded, tuned up and refined, resulting in a new experience of life, understanding more fully what is meant by "being present in the moment".

So often we are run by our stories, our interpretations, our beliefs, our assumptions and our habits. Susan shares in language that is easy to understand and apply, how we can take being human to a more evolved place.

I strongly recommend this book as mandatory reading for anyone who is passionately committed to living an authentic life.

After reading Radical Honesty I quite accidentally came across this book in the library! And while I found Radical Honesty compelling and challenging, I also felt uncertain of my ability to truly practice the skills Brad Blantoon proposed.
Susan Campbell presents many of the same challenges to her readers, but gives such powerful concrete examples that I found it easier to understand and begin to apply in my own life.
The Truth Skills are clear, very comprehendable, and while simple in that way, for me living them will be a challenge.
I scored high on all of her self-assessment quizzes - and yet I did not read the book and come away feeling like I am some sort of failure as a person, just that I am indeed like most of the people roaming this earth. What makes me different is my desire to change and grow. Where I see myself failing most significantly in my life is in the area of communicating and relating in healthy ways. Learning to live in "what IS" and not what I imagine, learning to relate and not control, and to listen closely to my self-talk, to feel free to communicate and to be ABLE to communicate and to be real, for example, for me will be life changing.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough!

Don't be deceived. Susan Campbell's latest book is easy to understand, but practicing her wisdom will be one of your most difficult undertakings. Simple, but not easy. How can we reach out and reach within simultaneously? Staying connected with yourself and with whomever you happen to be interacting with in the moment requires awareness and intention, two aspects of the human experience that are clouded by our conditioned selves. Ms. Cambell helps us know how to do this by getting real, and practice makes perfect. This is the ultimate spiritual practice that requires a commitment to stay with yourself without giving "you" up as you engage with others. Filled with wonderful insights, this jewel takes you beyond the commercial self-help books into a space of knowing how to do what you always wanted to do: be connected and stay there by accepting what is. By using Susan's guidance perhaps we can stop intellectualizing and let our hearts tell us how to proceed. Feeling good is our way of knowing that our last thought was Truth, that our last word was Wisdom, and that our last action was Love. Proceed with Love in your heart and read this book.

I first read this book about 15 years ago, and fell totally in love with it. It may be considered too syrupy for some by today's standards, but the story of Mrs. Muir, the Captain and Gull Cottage has the kind of everlasting love that lingers in the memory long after the book is closed. I have searched for many years for a copy of my own, and was thrilled to find it here at Amazon. The movie was okay, but the book, as usual, surpasses it.

This book spawned both a feature movie (Rex Harrison played the dashing Captain)and a television show in the 70's. Finally, after many years of wanting to read the book, I found it on Amazon.com. It was well worth the wait!!

Although the romance is tame by today's standards, it is a sweet love story about a young widow (Lucy) who finds a ghostly companion (Capt Gregg) in a sea-side cottage.

They begin as friends and as the years pass, grow to love each other, but both know it is a hopeless relationship.

The Captain helps Lucy maintain her freedom from a domineering mother-in-law, by helping her write a book about his life. It's rousing success! However, because of the book Lucy meets another man--a living man, and the Captain begins to realize that he must allow Lucy to fall in love and get on with her life.

The romance proves to be a disaster for Lucy, and the Captain, feeling responsible, fades out of her life--but not forever...

After you read the book--go rent the movie. This is one story I wish they would update and do a remake!

I really enjoyed this book, and have read it twice already. It's a very touching love story. A widow moves into and old Sea Captain's house and she is confronted my his ghost. It is a very beautiful and tender love story. Captain Daniel Gregg is a real commanding as well as romantic ghost. Lucy Muir, the young widow grows to love him instead of fear him. I sincerly think it is one of the best love stories ever written.

This is a must read. It's a decent romance story, at the same time full of passion. There's never a dull moment and it is alwsy each page, captivating, romantic, and interesting.

The Beader's Companion is everything it's title suggests.

The Beader's Companion covers beading terminology, how-to bead, what materials are needed for beading. Clear concise directions are included for just about every method of beading, with each method listed on small, sturdy pages. Included with the directions are easy to understand diagrams. And for each method of beading covered, there is a blank beading pattern template.

Frankly, it doesn't get any better than this. Not only is this book a perfect gift for yourself and/or anyone with even the slightest interest in beading, it is also a great travel companion. I take the book with me whenever I know I will have time to bead, while on the road. It is the perfect size, construction, and help to finish any beading project I might be working on.

I recommend this book to anyone who beads, and anyone who would like to learn how to bead. This book is THE Beader's Companion.

lunartic.cindy@gte.net

If you're just getting started in beading, and have been browsing stores, feeling overwhelmed not knowing what you need to get started, or how to get started, you definitely can use this book! The Companion covers an introduction to EVERYTHING from types of beads and the differences between their finishes, sizing, threads and other equipment, both looming and off loom stitching, stringing, even working with embroidery, wire....and some blank graphs to plan projects drawn according to the stitch (Peyote, brick, square, etc). The book teaches the basic stitches close up and step by step, and each one I have tried has worked out! It comes in a cute size also, and spiral bound so it won't slam shut on you when you're stitching. Keep in mind it does not have any patterns for any projects, but gets you the skills to be able to work with project books, and to go to the bead store and know what to ask for.

I live in an area where there are no beading classes/workshops, bead stores, or beading buddies. It's just me with the urge to start beading, NOW!!

I work from my own ideas and designs, I just needed to learn the basics and what kind of beads might work best for the projects in my head. This book fills the bill, and as previous reviewers mentioned, it is compact enough to keep in your beading supply kit. It may not be the only beading book you'll acquire, but it truly is a companion book! Thank you, Beadwork Magazine, for publishing this no-nonsense book!

Two years ago I read the Global Witness report "Conflict Diamonds" and watched the documentary "Cry Freetown". Both of these were quoted as sources by Greg Campbell in his book "Blood Diamonds". Two years ago I was so deeply shocked by what I read and saw that throught the foreign press I have been following the sitution in many African areas (Sierre Leone, Angola, Liberia, Democratic Republic of the Congo) affected by what are called "Conflict or Blood diamonds". In Sierre Leone, like many other African countires, the conflict was driven by greed and the wanting to control the diamond mines and wealth that these stones bring. Greg Campbell's book is what history is about. How these terrible conflicts devestate the lives of innocent people and devestate countries. As Campbell points out it is important to realise the consequences of these conflicts extend worldwide. It is ironic how a commodity societies view as so precious can produce something so hideous in the humam nature that at first it hurt to much to believe that it could possibly be true. But this is the truth that Glen Campbell recounts in his well researched and heartbreaking book "Blood Diamonds".

I have always questioned the materialism of friends and family after years and years of seeing DeBeers on Tv, magazines, and newspapers senselessly pounding their marketing into my head. I've never been one to go along with the crowd, and I've met some Sierra Leonians and heard their stories of how they'd escaped. I quote this book whenever someone asks me about the jewelry I wear--the ever-present, "Oh, BUT YOU don't have any diamonds." I refuse to give up my political beliefs (enormously illustrated in this book, take a hint Family and Friends!) in order to wear a shiny piece of carbon. A diamond is forever? So is death, mutilation, bloodshed, and amputation. Mr. Campbell, you've done the entire Western world a great service by exposing all in this book. This is a pulverizing read, impossible to put down. You will never look at the words "engagement ring" and feel the same ever after reading this book.

I lived in Sierra Leone for quite a number of years and hence had the opportunity to experience what it was like to live sorrounded by poverty and diamonds (the Kono area). Unfortunately for me and my family, security reasons forced us to leave the country in the nineties.
Nowadays I live in Madrid, Spain. I'm a doctoral student and my research area is the diamond industry of Sierra Leone and its implications on the underdevelopment of Sierra Leone.
Mr. campbell's book has been very valuable to me because of the information it contains (for my disertation) and because it has sadly/happily brought me back to the country that I love most in the world.
Thank you Mr Campbell!
I strongly recommend the reading of this book.

My daughter has loved this book from the very beginning. She was fascinated by the animals revealed when I lifted the flaps, and then had a great time learning how to lift the flaps herself as she grew older. She's a year old now and brings it to me to read to her more than any other book that we have. She gets a kick out of the animal sounds we make when we lift the flaps, too. It's the only lift-the-flap book we have that she hasn't managed to tear off any flaps. I think this book has been instrumental in showing her how much fun books can be - I highly recommend it.

I gave this book to my 1-year-old niece about 6 months ago, and she absolutely loves it! She still has to read it at least once a night. She gets such a kick out of lifting the flaps to see what's hiding underneath. I highly recommend this book.

This is a great early book. My son loves lifting up the flaps and making noises for all the different animals hidden below. I must have read it to him more than 100 times but neither of us are tired of it yet!

If you're not inherently super outgoing but want to invite friends, neighbors, etc. to your home to socialize, this book will give you many, many ideas to choose from on how to create a warm, friendly atmosphere. Most of the icebreaker ideas and party games are practical and fun. This book is also great for school teachers looking for ways to break the ice in their classrooms on those first couple of awkward days. I confidently recommend this book to those of you who want to throw a party or have a get together, but are hesitating out of fear of what to do with your guests. It's truly a fun book and will bring people together.

The main reason I purchased the book was because I was out of ideas for good party games and activites. This book certainly solved that problem. It has a ton of things for great parties, not lame games either that people throw in just to fill space. This thing is 100% usable. And what else is nice its adaptable, and they show you how. Really great book worth every cent and more. I do have one problem with though. I only have one party to do right now and too many ideas !

Easy to follow hundreds of games with a lot of ideas. The games vary from table games to fun activities, and are suitable for a wide range of audiences. I picked about a dozen games for my New Year's Eve party within an hour! I would highly recommend this book to anybody who is like me - not naturally spontaneous and inventive.

Glenn Tompkins wrote this book from his heart. He told stories of how hard it was to survive in the 1930's and 1940's on Crowley's Ridge in Southeast Missouri. The struggles of that time made the family unit strong there was work to be done and you did it. The family never gave up. After getting the book from Glenn's son and daughter in law I found I could not put it down. The first day I read 95 pages. The true stories make you laugh and then cry and I feel I know the Tompkins family personally. I would recommend this book to anyone and I plan to pass it on to my family members to read. Thanks to Glenn for a job well done.

In the 1930's and 1940's, a young boy named Glenn Tompkins and his family lived in a house on a farm north of Campbell, Mo., on a ridge called "Riddle Hill," so-named because a family named Riddle had once also lived there. Glenn and his family struggled to make ends meet, and lived a life quite similar to most of us farm kids who also lived on or off that ridgeline which is generally known as "Crowley's Ridge."

After Glenn retired, he began to think about writing about some of the events in his life, there on the farm. In 1994, Glenn started writing short stories about his life on Riddle Hill. Dr. Frank Nickell, Director of Regional History at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, read one of the stories and encouraged Glenn to continue recording the stories, for eventual publication as a book.

As Glenn wrote, around 130 of these short stories were published in a local Missouri weekly newspaper, the Campbell Citizen, from December 1994 until August 13, 1997. I was working part-time at the newspaper during that period (until February 1997), and it fell my duty to type most of those stories.

Now I should warn you that Glenn has the powerful capability to interject strong emotions into his writing, both humor and sadness. I am not ashamed to say that many times, as I was typing Glenn's stories, I had to laugh; and sometimes I had to cry, like when his old dog Queenie died, or his faithful horse Prince died -- and, certainly, when Glenn told about how a newfound friend was run over and killed by a truck on a road in front of Glenn's house, before Glenn had known the lad for even an hour.

Living on a farm in those days, we lived with life, as we saw baby calves born into the world. We also lived with death, as we slaughtered hogs and cattle to feed ourselves. That is just the way it was in those days, on a farm.

Well, over the years, Glenn recalled lots of things for us, like how hot it was to have to sleep in the attic of his house at night, during summertime. And he told us about the ghost that his brother thought lived up in the attic, too. And about the fortune-teller who told about the two pots of money which were supposed to be buried on the farm. The fortune-teller also told Glenn's father, Van, that they would be picking money off the trees on that farm. Glenn's father just laughed.

But when Van Tompkins stopped trying to raise cotton on that old red clay soil, and planted a peach orchard, they DID pick money from the trees, and the Tompkins family could live a little better from then on.

Well, I'd better not tell too much about Glenn's stories, but I will say that Glenn has not only created a great historical book which "tells it like it was" back in those days, but he has told the stories of hundreds of boys and girls whose families were just barely able to eke out a living on the little farms around here, in the 1920's through the 1940's.

The stories were published in a soft-cover 274-page book in May of 1997, and Glenn now keeps busy at book-signings, around the St. Louis area (where he lives) and elsewhere.

I am glad Glenn has written those stories, and I am proud to say that these two old farm boys have finally met up, and are now friends! -- Hal Miller

Mr. Tompkins' book is a great read! It was even more special to me, though, because my Grandpa Tot was one of the "O'Neals on the next farm over". Their house is in the background of the photo on page 269. Some of the stories, like the one about the "Wild Man of Crowley's Ridge" I can remember from my childhood. Others, though, are a fresh glimpse into history. I drive by the Old Tompkins Farm every day on my way to work. Now, I can not help but to try to visualize what it was like when Mr. Tompkins was growing up, there in the house on Riddle Hill.