Independent Books

I ordered this book with the expectation that this would be a step-by-step guide to small scale farming (similiar to the book Five Acres and Independence). The book is a historical account about a Philadelphia businessman who left the city in the late 1800s after 15 years of renting and failing as business owner in order to attempt a life of self-sufficiency on a ten acre farm he purchased. The book was such an interesting account of history that I read the first half of the day it arrived. However, once you get past how he purchased the farm and the first three or four years of trials and tribuluations, the author repeats himself for the later third of the book (make your own liquid manure, apply it to everything, attack the weeds with a hoe, work hard, pay cash, yadda, yadda, yadda). There are many instances where the book reads as if the author is speaking of the present times and economy (bank failures, people losing their jobs and homes, and how through all of this, people will still buy fresh fruits). I recommend this book for the small farmer or gardener who plans on starting up from scratch with little capital. I also recommend this book for those who are interested in the 19th century U.S. history. You will learn a lot of interesting facts that you did not learn in school and will be able to draw parrallels to the current state of the economy.

Ah, truly a book to inspire. I wanted to dash right out and dig up the old potato patch!
Although this is an American book and therfore I did not understand a lot of the geographical references, this in no way detracted from the enjoyment I got from this book. I felt a bit smug when thinking about the success I have had with my chickens, but quite wilted when comparing his raspberries and strawberries with mine! Next season, I'm going to get me a lawtonberry or two.
I found it a bit tedious towards the end but that was when he was no longer writing about his own little farm and I think many of his comments there are quite dated and of no practical value now.
This book was well written and entertaining, though some comments I feel should rather be taken with a pinch of salt.
Rather sorry that I have finished reading this book and heartily recommend it to anyone who has fancied getting a small-holding or even those who just want to grow something well in their own backyard. Many of his tips and comments are as valid today as they were 140 years ago.

This is one of my favorites. Since it was written during the mid-1860's, the writing style is perhaps a bit different from what we are used to nowadays, but not distractingly so. This farmer knows how to tell a story. He starts with his longing to leave the city, leads us through his search for an affordable property and then lets us follow him as he chooses his crops -- among them, 804 peach trees at 7 cents a piece, all dutifully "tarred" to prevent worms -- and markets the produce for the first few years on the farm. Along the way, he scatters fascinating tidbits about his life. One of my favorites is the story of his blackberry plants. While living in town, he had read of a new kind of blackberry that intrigued him, and though it was a very unheard of thing to do at the time, he orderd six of the plants by mail, at the princely sum of five dollars. When the plants arrived, he was shocked at their size and appearance. "They looked like long white worms, with here and there a bud or an eye" and was too embarassed to admit to his wife that he paid so much for them. But he planted them and tended them, and the next year had a magnificent crop of berries, and so finally admitted to the cost. He and his wife agreed it was a bargain at that, and since they loved the berries so much, they dug up the plants and took them along to their new farm. There, the berries attracted the attention of neighbors and nurserymen, and by being one of the first suppliers in the area, he was able to sell $460 worth of blackberry plants that first year on the farm -- quite a return on his initial five dollar investment.

There's more, and he catalogs it all: the cow that worked out well and the chickens that didn't, the way his neighbors thought him insane for battling the never-ending weeds, the value he saw in small birds, the money spent on load after load of manure, and mostly, the satisfaction of it all. There really is no substitute for farming done this way, where taking care of the land itself is still a priority, and the crops a source of pride. So if you are even the slightest bit interested in coming to the country in search of something better, I encourage you to read this book. Initially, I hesitated to buy it, figuring that it would be too irrelevant and dated, but no, it's not. It's absorbing. And though I can't find peach trees for 7 cents a piece today, the story is the same. And if you don't find yourself living in the country soon enough to suit you, you'll at least have had the pleasure of sharing Edmund Morris's farm for awhile.

Great read. I bought this book looking for some ideas on how to better enjoy the farm life I now have. This book tells about a man who is tried of the hustle and bustle of city life. (And mind you this was in the late 1800's). He writes in detail how to locate a small piece of property and live a much fulfilled life. I highly recommend this book. I have already loaned it out twice.

P.S. see if you can find the small reference about The Civil War.

This is a real page-turner, not just for its great narrative drive but also as a real education in all sorts of things, from morality to institutional politics to the poetics of journalistic
writing--smart, insightful and well written.

Set during one of the most important geopolitical situations of our time, this profound book identifies the depth of insanity of a man and the control of his regime but how one magazine emplemified that although physical structures can be torn down...the spirit can prevail. A true story that grassroots change is just as powerful as high-political movements.

Not only important for understanding Indonesia today but a typology for the region.

This is a fascinating report on TEMPO, a Time-like magazine founded in Jakarta, Indonesia in 1971. The book, by an American journalism professor and historian who has spend considerable time in Jakarta, some as a Fulbright lecturer and researcher (she learned the difficult language to better understand her subject) reviews the key people and events behind an elite news magazine in a developing nation. Along with a number of other journals, TEMPO was closed down in mid-1994 by the Soeharto regime. Publication resumed four years later after the regime fell. Steele was able to closely observe the revived journal's editorial process--a very useful window to how the process works within a developing nation which is the world's largest Muslim country. This is thus an insightful study--and a well written one, at that--into a magazine as important for the four years it did not appear (and its journalists worked elsewhere) as for the years before and after when it did and does. Steel places TEMPO in the context of its place and time, as well as its readers--the movers and shakers within Indonesian society. Recommended!

If you're a teacher, you need this book! What a great tool. I've taught both intermediate elementary grades and middle school, and I can tell you that this book gives so many useful tips and strategies to help those struggling readers we all have in our classrooms. ALL of Janet Allen's books are worth buying and reading. I have all of them and constantly refer to them for ideas or reminders. I do not joke when I say that several of the pages in her book are folded down, as a way to remind me that there is something incredible to remember on that page. Her book recommendations are great too.

Another reason this book is so amazing is that Janet Allen is honest. Not all of her strategies work every year. We all know that we don't get carbon-copy classrooms every year and have to modify and tweak our instructional strategies to reach our students. That's the beauty of Allen's books, you can adapt them to how they fit best with your class.

If you like this book, buy "Words, Words, Words" and "There's Room for me Here" as companion-pieces to "Yellow Brick Roads." Great reading, and worth your while!!!!

Janet Allen's book is a wonderful resource for any middle or high school teachers of literacy - especially those teachers involved with at risk learners. Allen's work is also always uplifting and motivational. She reminds all of us who work with kids that all kids truly can learn, as long as we are willing to meet them where they are. Allen does not just offer a philosophical perpective, hower. Yellow Brick Road is also filled with practical and "do"able activities and strategies to implement in a classroom teacher's instruction. The book is an easy and enjoyable read.

Yellow Brick Roads is a must read for the reading teacher who is deluged with new books each year. It will tie up many loose ends for you, rejuvenate you, and validate your gut feelings about the teaching of reading.

Janet Allen's greatest gift is really to the struggling readers themselves. She has total respect for her students, and that respect shines through her writing. She reminds us that our students are our greatest teachers, and that we must observe and listen to them carefully in order to support their literacy growth. Teacher as researcher is the guiding princeple here. She will also help you convince the schedule makers that you need more time for the teaching of reading. I am ready to reread it the third time this summer!

I agree, this is the best yoga book on my shelf. It is very easy to follow the poses and the plan. I would recommend this book for any yoga beginner.

I thought it was going to be a little hard to follow a Yoga book, but this one makes it easy for the anyone to understand the postures and the mental state behind them. In an easy to do 12 month program, this book introduces the reader to the oldest form of spiritual and physical training. Suitable for young or old people, Yoga made easy has been a great daily program in my life and has balanced my energies for good.

This is one great Yoga book. I've looked at them all. No question this tops the others. It color photography is excellent, showing each move in detail. Easy to read text and well designed pages makes this easily the most informative and helpful guide I've used. Bravo

I just drafted a royalty agreement. What a breeze!

Ok if you are thinking about starting your own record label, putting out your own independent music then this is just the thing for you. It will save me thousands of dollars in lawyer fees and i'll tell you I have never been able to find all these forms without having to run all over town. So please get these if you are in the record business or just starting out. You won't be disappointed.

Peter Cahn offers thought-provoking and insightful views on religious diversity and the role of local community. His descriptive verse conveys the true essence and vibrance of Tzintzuntzan and its people. I look forward to Peter Cahn's next book!

Peter Cahn's All Religions Are Good in Tzintzuntzan is a heartbreaking work of staggering genius. Peter describes a living history of the people of his study with empathy and depth. A truly majestic study, told with the highest standards of academic rigor and in beautifully crafted language. A masterpiece of the first class.

This nearly 700-page book is quite simply THE definitive collection on free-market anarchism. Its forty chapters include contributions from Randy Barnett, Bruce Benson, Bryan Caplan, Roy Childs, Anthony de Jasay, David Friedman, John Hasnas, Hans Hoppe, Jeff Hummel, Don Lavoie, Murray Rothbard, the Tannehills, and many more. (Full disclosure: it also contains a chapter by me.) In addition, it features historical classics by Voltairine de Cleyre, Gustave de Molinari, Lysander Spooner, and Benjamin Tucker, among others. It covers both moral arguments and economic ones; it ranges over both abstract theory and historical examples. It even includes important criticisms of market anarchism, like Tyler Cowen's and Robert Nozick's, along with anarchist replies.

Are there any regrettable omissions? Well, of course. Any self-respecting anarchist geek could easily cite another thousand pages' worth of "absolutely essential" additional material, additional authors, additional perspectives. But never mind: this, here and now, is it. Wonder no more what is the market anarchist book to recommend to the anarcho-curious or wave menacingly at the statist heathen; it's this one.

This book should be read by all people who treasure truth, peace and freedom. It is enlightening and inspiring. Thank God there are still some smart academic pieces being made. Thomas Jefferson would be proud. Keep it up Stringham!

This is an absolutely essential guide to anyone interested in alternative press publications, especially ones with a political or cultural bent. Where books like Writer's Market and their associated writing magazines do a pretty good job rounding up all the mainstream culture magazines in North America, their sections on publications like these are usually on the slim side, and would suggest that there are now more plumbing magazines in the U.S. than left wing political publications.
A quick flip through these pages, though, reveals that the independent publisher is still alive and well in North America and the world beyond. There are listings for modern Marxist publications, alternative education and parenting journals, controversial history publications, radical environmental journals, and lots of "watchdog" publications created for the sole purpose of keeping an eye on local and worldwide political figures and military installations. Really, it's a great comfort to know that while the independent press isn't as widespread and strong as it was in the 1970s and 1980s, it is still out there, making its presence felt.

More than just being a simple roundup of various publications, though, this book is reading material in itself. So much detail is packed into each page regarding each journal that one finds themselves reaching for the ol' checkbook to begin lifelong subscriptions to certain publications--which is about the only way to get many of these magazines, since they're not carried by any of the distributors that work with the usual suspect chain bookstores. Publication focus, issue summaries and themes, and even quality of writing is discussed in these lengthy reviews--and, for those out there who cruise books like this looking for work, editorial contact information, Web sites, and email addresses are included with each summary. There's also a lengthy section on which publications sell ad space and at what cost, readership numbers, and which magazines publish product reviews (music, books, etc.). There's even an alphabetical roundup of notable columnists and contributors from some of the bigger cultural and political magazines, and where their work appears.

This directory does a terrific job exploring and exposing the diverse choices that exist outside of the mainstream magazine and newspaper world. The book seems to have been designed to appeal to a number of serious "professional" researchers -- librarians, booksellers, editors, writers, activists, even philanthropists. At the same time, its simple and elegant design makes Annotations an enjoyable, accessible way to learn about new independent voices. Sadly, it's one of the few resources the public can turn to for non-corporate opinion. But that just makes it all the more valuable....

I've read the script and seen the video. Fascinating, well-written examination of behavior, race, and social standards. Should be more well recognized as a great black writer.

Autobiographies, even by poets, rarely reach the depths of honest self-examination one finds in their poems. One has only to think of Kenneth Rexroth's tall stories or William Carlos Williams' evasions.

But Mr. Baraka's is different. His has been a journey from a middle class background in Newark (keeping in mind that it was not a white middle class), through Howard University's elitist social structure, the racism of the Air Force; his beginnings as a poet & his drift into Charles Olson's powerful gravity. Many of America's best white poets were among his friends & he did much to promote their careers along with his own. Then his turn toward leadership of the great Black Awakening of the Sixties, his move "uptown," his embrace of socialism & subsequent return to Newark where he continues to influence young writers & activists of all colors & ethnic backgrounds.

There are also his controversial plays, his feuds, marriages & arrests. Also his witnessing of the Newark Rebellion (the full deadly story never accurately reported in the press), his deep understanding of American culture & respect for authentic expression.

That's a lot to cover, but Baraka does so with frankness, humor, self-examination & an occasional willingness to admit error without loading up on pointless regrets.

A fine account of a fallible man who, even in his most angry moments, gives the world beautiful things. & that anger is usually over our failure to see the beauty of justice.

Bob Rixon, WFMU-FM

Amanda Smith began her life as a slave. She later became a very successful evangelist, preaching to both black and white audiences all over the United States, as well as in England, Liberia and Africa. Fame on that scale in that field would, of course, be rare for an African-American woman even in today's society. In the face of the social obstacles she faced in the late 19th century it was surely nothing short of miraculous.

Her autobiography is, of course a real autobiography. They didn't often have "ghostwriters" in those days. Her style of writing is easy to read but intelligent, articulate and piercingly insightful.

She writes about encounters with racism, sexism and class distinctions among African-Americans with a rare combination of uncompromising integrity, wisdom, humor, tact and graciousness. She writes about holiness and theological issues within the context of her own personal experience with God in a way that is compelling and inspirational.

The autobiography of Amanda Smith is a remarkable telling of a remarkable life. She is an undiscovered American treasure. Her book ought to be a perennial bestseller.

I just finished reading the biography of Amanda Smith. I found this book to be a faith building testimony of God's faithfulness and sufficiency, to all who will only trust Him both for spiritual and temporal provision. In today's complicated secular society and even in the organized church, Amanda Smith's testimony rises up in a refreshing way to glorify the Lord and teaches us that God's ways are still pure and simple, easy for anyone to understand and full of goodness and mercy, if only we would humble ourselves to hear what the Lord is saying to us, in His Word, the Bible. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a closer walk with Jesus.