Audio Books

Philip Gulley gets it. He understands so much of what has gone from our lives, where society has fallen off the path. And though he is a Quaker Preacher, he doesn't force feed it down your throat. This book doesn't come off as preaching, but rather as Gulley allowing you a glimpse into his life.

He shows us by examples rather than telling us. His stories of neighbors and family are as heartwarming as the front cover of a porch with rocking chairs promises. He references Bible passages but not in every story, and in a manner that is easy to relate to. His humor and wit are evident throughout and gives the reader the feeling that Gulley would be just the person to sit next to in those rockers and listen to for hours on a summer night.

If you are in the need for a pick-me-up, quick and easy read, I highly recommend this book.

This book's title gives an excellent description of the book. It is a book that I will keep and read over and over. I recently gave a copy to my pastor and have also given copies to a couple of friends. The stories help me to be a better person.

I purchase this book for my elderly parents and listened to them read every night until completed. They thoroughly enjoyed the book and the large-print edition is a bonus.

Book arrived as advertised BUT shipping via USPS very slow, took almost a month for book to arrive.

Philip Gulley serves as the pastor of a small Quaker church. He was asked to write something for the church newsletter which he did, little suspecting that some of his writing would end up in the hands of Paul Harvey who read it on his radio show. This book is a compilation of the essays that Gulley wrote for his church newsletter. They contain his observations of life summed up in chapters such as "My Cup Runneth Over, and So Does My Toilet" which I'm sure many readers can identify with. His wry humor is evident throughout the book as is the genuine compassion he has for other people.

I loved this book as a child and now my 2 year old loves it too. This book tells the story of Harry, who hates baths. He hates them so much that he buries his brush and (temporarily) runs away from home. He plays and gets so dirty that his family thinks he is a different dog entirely. The story is sweet and simple enough for my 2 year old to enjoy, but not so simple that it's boring or babyish.

This book was my Daughter's favorite when she was a toddler, I must have read it a thousand times! She just had a Daughter of her own and I thought she might like it to read to her little girl.
Ben

I absolutely adored this book when I was little, so of course I was pleased when one of my first graders picked it up at the school library and beged me to read it for our class read-aloud this afternoon. Since we have recently discussed thinking about characters' emotions as we read, this was a perfect exercise--the text never actually says just what the cute little dog Harry is feeling during his adventure of getting dirty. And if you think about it, his tale is quite poignant. Anway, comprehension lessons aside, my kids were glued to the story and we had a great discussion afterwards. The writing is brisk and fun and subtle, leaving plenty to the readers' assumptions. The black and white pictures are adorable, detailed, and full of expression. Really, not many people write like this anymore.

Harry the Dirty Dog was undoubtedly a favorite of my children 25 years ago. I read it over and over. Despite the repitition, I also love this book. There is a rhythmn to the prose that makes it as fun to read as it is to listen to. I'm thrilled to see it again so that I may purchase it for my grandchild.

Our household has the whole series of the Harry books and I wouldn't have it any other way! I found an old copy at the local library and the first night I read it my daughter didn't make a PEEP she was utterly captivated and shes 2 and a half for 3 months she'd call "Harry Harry Harry" just like in "Harry by the Sea". If you love dogs, you'll love Harry!

yeas the most popular book on sir winston but mistakes are in it and volume three will appear after a 20 years break .

The finest biography of Churchill (and one of the best biographies of anyone else) ever written. Manchester is unequaled in providing a balanced, thorough and readable product. Only down side is that he died before completing the third and final book on Churchill.

William Manchester is a tremendous writer. A man like Churchill deserved to have his biography writted by a writer as gifted as him.
I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting, not only to learn much about the great man Churchill, but also to have their mind expanded and stretched by excellent literature like this. There are not many people writing like this today, sadly enough.
This is not an easy read, in fact most people will do well to have a dictionary near by - but it is worth it. Drink deeply and you will learn so much more than you would have thought possible about the world from the late 19th century up through WWII.
Drink it up! 6 stars.

This is a very good analysis of Churchill, a thorough and colorfull portrait of a man I consider to be the greatest man of the 20th century. I have only two complaints, first I would have liked to have known more about his life with his wife and children. I also would have liked to have known what he thought of the Lusitania sinking. Not only does Manchester say nothing about Churchill's role in this business but the word Lusitania is not mentioned at all in nearly 2000 pages. Very strange. The letters of Churchill point out the chivalrousness and romantic nature that the public has not seen. All in all - very good and well worth a good read.

This fully lives up to its reputation as perhaps the best biography ever written. Manchester does a peerless, masterful job filling in the background colors and giving a complete picture of Churchill from a young man into his early fifties. As Manchester emphasizes, this background was essentially the decline and fall of the British Empire and the aristocracy who ran it. Manchester's main point, that Churchill was a Victorian who also lived in the twentieth century, is brilliantly made. Churchill himself is presented in all his perplexing, influriating splendor: an impetuous, charming, ambitious genius who all too often jumped out of the plane without a parachute. If you wish to know why he was rejected by the British people at the polls just after his greatest triumph (and job done) this fascinating volume of his early triumphs and memorable failures is indispensible (answer: they needed his boistrous energy in war but they didn't trust him in peace

I believe there are many books that will haunt our lives. They stand out amongst the piles of tomes we have read, our memories of them weighted with joy and longing. Sometimes we want to read them again for the first time.

Les Miserables is such a book. It is vast, intimidating in scope but the pages are alive, they breathe with passion, sympathy and philosophy. The characters are alive and remain so long after one finishes reading it. Hugo was a master poet/playwright/novelist. He saw all sides of the political spectrum. He was a Romantic in the greatest sense and he loved women, bedding, some might argue, half the female population of Paris.

In his old age, he was still grandiose, words flowed from him and he stood up for his beliefs, putting them into ink, irritating the ruling class and his fellow literary peers. Les Miserables was his ode to the common man, a love letter to his former selves and to the dignity of humankind. His work is medicinal, setting out to offer cures for the ailments of society.

I read this book when I was sixteen and I still carry it with me, twelve years later. Someday I'll learn French and read the original.

I believe this translation by Normany Denny to be one of the best. It is a bit of an abridgement but only in respect to the modern reader. Hugo had the "superlative" knack, everything was big and meaningful to him. His sentences and paragraphs sprawl out, his focus becomes erratic. Denny lets Hugo span out within reason. He is a translator aware of his duties, his obligations to both the author and the reader. The reading is less of a challenge with Denny reigning in the master.

This is a great read and worth all the effort and devotion. It will haunt you.

Reading Les Miserable takes you back to the 19th century, not just in the content, but as a reader. You can't enjoy the book unless you allow yourself to amble along with Victor Hugo as he digresses from his plot and then digresses from his digressions. It's hard to imagine this book being published today, as marvelous as it truly is.

That's more a reflection on the nature of publishing in 2007, and our impatient reading habits, than Hugo's writing, which is superb. His descriptions of places and characters are all masterful.

Nevertheless, I find that I'm by-passing huge sections where Hugo takes a wide tangent that has nothing to do with the story, even though these are well written - actually, very well written. The section on Waterloo, for instance, is something I plan to return to when I'm reading French history, but it has nothing to do with the travails of Jean Valjean and Cosette, and I've skipped it for now.

When Hugo remembers he is telling a story, the writing is exciting, dramatic, full of unlikely coincidences that you just accept because it's fun. It's a 19th century soap opera for readers who had little else to read and far fewer distractions than a modern reader, and his perceptively drawn characters entertain us even today.

But be prepared to enjoy Les Miserable over an extended period of time, like you do "The Young and the Restless," with a multitude of story lines, often unconnected.

By the way, in contrast to other readers, I'm enjoying Norman Denny's translation, although not having read the other versions, I can't make comparisons.

Having now published two novels --- A Good Conviction, a NYC-based legal thriller which tells the story of a young man wrongly imprisoned in Sing Sing for a murder he did not commit by a Manhattan ADA who may have known he was innocent ... and The Heretic (Library of American Fiction), a historical novel describing the persecution of a family of secret Jews by the Catholic Church on the eve of the Spanish Inquisition --- I have devised a self-education project to help me learn the techniques and styles of other authors, and thus (hopefully) become a better novelist myself.

"Les Miserable" is one of the novels I've read as part of this self-education project.

I'm organizing my thoughts into various categories relevant to writing, such as ... "beginnings" ... "conflict" ... "characters" ... and others, and I'm posting my observations as a blog, which turns out to be a wonderful way for me to organize and retrieve my notes.

This also puts my thinking in the public domain. So if you'd like to see my evolving comments about writing novels, I invite you to take a look at my "Education of a Novelist" blog.

You can reach my blog by searching the web for "weinstein education of a novelist."

LEW WEINSTEIN

Hugo weaves his tale for the ages in and around his personal, social and political history of 19th-Century France. His accomplishment is stunning to the extent that he keeps the reader interested during the long, seemingly-disconnected framing passages and intently riveted when the connections come together and the reader is enriched and the story enveloped in Hugo's masterwork. For example a 50-page aside on the Battle of Waterloo has no bearing on the story--until the last few pages when a dying soldier on the battlefield forms a connection that provides a strong driving element of the action hundreds of pages later. The passage not only informs the reader of the historical and political context of Waterloo, but frames the intense action following later fully within the context so that it means more at the macro-historical level and is more meaningful at the personal level. It left me crying tears of joy and sorrow at story's end.

The translator, in his introduction, makes much of efforts of many past translations to abridge these long passages, and explains his reasoning for leaving them intact except for two, which amount to only 32 pages of the 1232-page edition. Seems like unnecessary--and harmful--twaddling. For example, I wrote this review before finishing the two appended sections, in which I found this statement by Hugo exactly confirming my review:

"One cannot be a good historian of the outward, visible world without giving some thought to the hidden, private life of ordinary people; and on the other hand one cannot be a good historian of this inner life without taking into account outward events when these are relevant. They are two orders of fact which reflect each other, which are always linked and which sometimes provoke each other. All the features traced by providence on the surface of a nation have their sombre but distinct counterpart in the depths, and every stirring in the depths produces a tremor on the surface. True history being a composite of all things, the true historian must concern himself with all things."

The first time that I read this book I was about 18 years old. This is the only book in my life that I have ever read where I can say that "I couldn't put it down". I read this book and I balled like a baby. I remember that I had to go and get a handkerchief and blow my nose while wiping the tears away so that I could continue reading. When I finished the book - and I only read the abridged edition, I said to myself; "If I could ever write a book that could cause the reaction that this book has put onto me, my life will have not been spent in vain. I am still trying to write that book. I have since read the book two or three more times and I'm about to read it again. How a man with just words on a page could create such a reaction is really beyond my wildest estimations.

Les Miserables is justifiably known as a great literary masterpiece. However, I had hitherto neither read the book nor seen the show. I am now so pleased that I have read the book before seeing the show and I am sure that I will enjoy the latter so much more through having enjoyed so greatly the former. This edition, translated by Norman Denny, runs to more than 1,200 pages and Mr Denny makes the point in his introduction that Victor Hugo's original contains 'digressions,' meaning that, to some readers at least, certain sections of the book, maybe some 100 pages or more in total, may appear to 'digress' from the principal 'plot.' But even the 'digressions' are valuable, for they give to the less knowledgeable - such as myself - a fine lesson in French history, as does the 'plot' itself. Victor Hugo takes the reader through some of France's most turbulent times, from before the Revolution of 1789, through the Empire of the first Napoleon, and to and beyond the further Revolution of 1848. If one were wanting to be flippant, it would appear that the French were for ever revolting and for ever at the barricades. I do not wish to be flippant, however, and this great tome charts the progress or otherwise of French affairs through the late eighteenth and early to mid-nineteenth centuries with inimitable flair and profound knowledge, for the author lived through most of it, even suffering temporary exile from France when he crossed the authorities of Napoleon III. It is against the background of such ongoing turbulence (which explains so much of later French history) that the immensely moving and complicated tales of Jean Valjean and Cosette and Marius and all of the other larger-than-life characters are told. To those readers with the willingness to spend more than the average time on a tremendous and unforgettable work, this is for you. Read it and then see the show!

Helen Lester's books all combine sweet stories with terrific humor that both children and adults can enjoy. The stories are just the right length and have a nice hidden message as well--you may be different but that can be a plus! The whole Tacky series is wonderful.

I love this series. Besides being silly and fun to read, they also point out that it is ok to be different. This is a great message for kids, especially with the terrible shootings that have plagued our country. A message of acceptance is needed for all. Of course, my class just loves Tacky. He is a character everyone must get to know.

Very cute story, very engaging with hilarious illustrations. This is a great book - we travel alot so I tend to purchase a lot of paperback picture books (portable!) and this is one of our favorites.

It's been many, many years since I read this book, the last time being in my childhood. It's been a while, but I still remember Tacky with fondness. In fact, I was just thinking about him earlier today. I loved this book sooo much when I was a child, and highly recommend it for both kids and parents alike.

My son from an early age marched to a beat of a different drummer. We discovered this book when he was 5, and it was a great thing in his life. I was recently asked to name the most influential non-religious book in our lives and believe it or not this was it. Tacky helped our son believed that there was a place in the world for both the straight-laced run-of-the-mill kids and the more creative types. He is leaving to college today, his third year , and I just had to write this review in thanks. Our son has a lot of self-esteem and this book helped him find it. If you have a quirky kid, this book is a must. If you have a 'normal' kid, but they have a quirky friend this is a good book too, because it doesn't put down either sets of people, or penguins as the case may be. We of course have the whole book memorized and can make any of us smile by starting any of the phases in the book. If we save one of the children's books in our library, Tacky would be by FAR it.

This CD set took me from working the night shift at our town's local 7-11 straight to the lofty heights of the music business. Its a downright miracle. Its no coincidence that every single other reviewer gives this CD series 5 stars and as well as heaping on well deserved praise. If I didn't know Ty's work to be the message from God that it is, I would question the veracity of all these testimonials and wonder whether Ty or Ty's mother has a lot of email accounts. But since we know that's not true, we can go on enjoying the veritable gold nuggets of wisdom about today's music business crammed onto these CDs. I only hope that we can get Ty to turn his mighty mental powers to solving some other of the world's great challenges such as poverty and disease. If he does, these calamities won't stand a chance.

Are you tired of getting turned down by music companies? I was. I got this book from a friend for my birthday. So, I figured, `what have I got to lose?' The book surprised me. Cohen gives you everything you need to know about getting a start in the music industry. It has useful contacts and insider tips that give you an edge on the everyday musician. If you're serious about your music and want to get it in the right hands, get this book.

Ty Cohen has done it again. He has made the music industry so easy to understand and anyone can use the strategies that he provides. Cohen is able to show us all that being a musician with your own record label is possible and easy. Through a simplified process, any aspiring musician can implement these plans and put them into action within 21 days. If you are in the music industry, there is no better guide for getting a record label running on a small budget but still be successful and make money. My business is in a better place since "stumbling" across Ty Cohen's resources.

Thank you for putting together this resource for the music business. It certainly has given me some additional contact info and some other little surprises I'll keep secret.

The e book will be on my desktop to compliment some other resource books I have aquired in the last several months.

Thanks Ty for a great resource...

Lou
BackStage Pass

Great resource for any musicians out there that need to get their product into the right hands. Loaded with tons of useful contacts for all aspects of the music business from sales,distribution, legal etc. Easily downloaded and excellent customer service form Ty Cohen and his team at Platinum Millenium!

This is great i mean her dad gets a new job and they have to move Sarah heres a a woman calling for help and she keeps seeing things a little romance in it but this was great and very easy to read but sometimes u get a book and the review always says that you cant put this book down well this is very Very true you cant put it down

This is great i mean her dad gets a new job and they have to move Sarah heres a a woman calling for help and she keeps seeing things a little romance in it but this was great and very easy to read but sometimes u get a book and the review always says that you cant put this book down well this is very Very true you cant put it down

In my english class we had to read a mystery book and make a presentation. I saw that this book was one of the choices that we could choose to read. I had read some of Joans books before and I really liked her writing style. This book was very interesting to read and I could hardly put down the book because of it's suspenseful plot and interesting topics. Joan used very good despriptions and made you feel like you were there with the main character Sarah darnell. I highly reconmend this book as one of the first Joan Lowery nixon books that you would read if you haven't started reading her books and got hooked with her unique writing style.The story gives off a feel of many different feelings and moods that would come natural with the situations that are explained in the writing.This is one of those books that you could be wanting to read later on in the future. I could read this book over and over and not get bored. I hope you decide to read this book if you haven't already and if you have you could probably read it again.

Whispers From the dead is an excellent book. If you like mysteries I'm sure you would like it. Its about a girl named Sara who had a near death expearence. After that she has been feeling that ghosts were watching her. Then her family moves into a new house when she goes into the house she gets an earie feeling. She keeps on seeing werid visions. And hearing a spanish girls cry for help. Can she help the girl? Can she figure out the mystery? Find out for your self by reading the book.

This book is about a girl named Sarah. Her family decides to move to this huge house that was on a beautiful neighbor hood. What Sarah's family didn't know was that someone was murdered in the house before they moved. Sarah found this out first hand when she starts hearing voices and seeing things such as puddles of blood on the floor. When she lived in her old town she almost drowned when she went swimming, Ever since she has been linked to another world. She feels as if a dark shadow was following her and when she moved into the house the Spanish voices whispering to her for help. Sarah finds out that the voice she was hearing in the house was from the girl who was murdered. She from there tries to find out what really happened in the murder.

The things I liked about this book were how the detail of the book helped you see and feel and hear what Sarah did. I liked this because it really gets you into the story and you feel as if it were you, not Sarah. One thing I didn't like about the book was how it was kind of boring. Usually when the beginning is boring the person never wants to read on to find out what happens, but I advice everyone to read on because it is a really good book!

People who would like this book would be someone who likes a little mystery or somewhat scary books, even maybe suspense or thriller novels.

After being frustrated with myself on the golf course during the past few months I was beginning to wonder if I might stop playing.I have a handicap of 19 and was really struggling to play to it.Once I had a bad hole I would get down on myself and the whole thing would snowball.
After reading Zen Golf and putting into practice some of the techniques I have played two lots of 9 hole stableford competitions and had 23+25 points.
I have played 2 rounds of 18 holes in competition.The first round of our club championship at 85-19-66 (par is 69).In our annual men's tournament 83-19-64.During these rounds I have only had one 7 and nothing higher.
Most importantly I have actually been enjoying myself.
I am certain this booked has really helped me and I will continue to use the techniques that I have learnt.I will probably read this book over and over when I need to as there are several more things I want to try.

I am a beginner golfer and this book is helpful for the mental part of golf! I would suggest it to anyone that plays golf. I gave to a friend that throws clubs in frustration and she played a round for the first time with no broken clubs and was relaxed, she says the book is helping her too

I loved this book! I learned more about the art of the mental game of golf in this thin volume than in a half dozen longer times (.e.: The Mental Games of Golf). I would put this up there with "See It Sink It" or "Every Shot Must Have a Purpose".

A must have for any serious golfer. I dare you to read the story about the golden statue and tell me that it didn't affect you!

Finally, a book that puts the mental game into sections that make sense. Told in a down-to-earth way, the examples and insights provided by "Zen Golf" really do pertain to the game we love. Understanding that the results of a swing are not necessarily the be-all and end-all is very powerful knowledge. Learning to breathe will apply to a myriad of endeavor, both athletic and personal. Ostensibly, it is a book about golf, but one that fills many gaps in all kinds of life situations. Dr. Parent is a born teacher.

Bottom Line . It took five strokes off my handicap.
Michael A. Epstein
Member KCC

I remember reading these books years and years ago! I'm in 10th grade and it's been more 5 years since I was in elementary school and yet when I go work at my old school I go back and read them again!

A fun (and funny) book which will delight kids with Amelia's well-intentioned but mistake-laden chores. Kids feel empowered because they are 'smarter' than the character and are able to cheer her on. In the end, Amelia's good deeds overpower any mistakes she makes.

I recommend this book for any child who is beginning to read on their own!

This is surly a kids favorite since I was a little girl! We join Amelia Bedelia as she starts her first day of work for the Rodgers. They rush off shortly after she arrives, but they've left her a list of things to do. Should be a snap, as all the tasks are simple and clearly stated...but that's what you think...Amelia Bedelia begins completing each chore in quite a literal fashion...drawing the drapes and much, much more! Younger kids (1-4) will like the silliness of it and beginner readers and more savvy grade schoolers (5-8) will like that's it's simple and clever/silly too! I recommend it without reservation! I'm sure Amelia will be with us, teaching fine lessons about the words we use and the many means they can have for generations to come!

A great, witty book that my 4-year old loved. Made her think about the different meanings of words.

In a language where so many words and phrases have multiple meanings, there's no doubt that the literal-minded Amelia can be kept busy through many a book. The fact that it's funny is just the thing to get young readers hooked.

Amelia, beginning her new job as maid for Mr and Mrs Rogers, makes a pie and then tackles her to-do list. Dust? Well, at her house, they un-dust, but she's going to do as she's told - so she finds sweet smelling dusting powder in the bathroom and spreads it throughout the living room. Draw the drapes? Not much of an artist, Amelia does her best. The pie is done just in time for the return of her employers. Mrs Rogers is surprised at Amelia's interpretation of such simple directions as "trim the fat"... and is about to fire her when Mr Rogers offers her a taste of Amelia's wonderful lemon-meringue pie. Mrs Rogers will just have to learn to say things Amelia's way, because they certainly don't want to lose someone who can make a pie like that!

Very funny, and it exposes young minds to the various meanings of words in English - easily one of the most complicated languages ever, and one that you just don't think about if it's your first language until you read a book like this! The book is rather old (copyright 1963) but is timeless and this is a great time to read it with your kids. As the Spanish-speaking population grows in the U.S., it's a great opportunity for kids today to realize just how hard English can be!

This book is about a rich girl who goes to africa or its about this girl named misty nobody likes read and you decide.

After reading the first book in this series, I couldnt wait to read about Ambers story. I felt a lot like Amber, she doesnt know what she wants to do with her life after high school. I enjoyed the way that she grew throughout the story and know that her future held something bigger then she thought possable. This is a series that all Lurlene fans will want to read. Not only does this book talk about a world that most people never hear about, but it shows young woman that its ok to learn to spread your wings and fly. I truly enjoyed this book and I am looking forward to reading more book by this author.

Angel of Hope, talks about Heather dying. Her sister, Amber has decided to go on her journey and follow her sister`s shadow on her way to Uganda. She meets the most wonderful thing in her life, courage and love. Its an amazing book! Now, it`s been three weeks since I`ve read it, and yet I think about it everyday and keep on thinking about the special quotes Lurlene had put in this dramatic and romantic book. I`m currently reading "How I love thee" and the three stories stored inside, are the ones that you will never forget in your life. :) Lurlene McDaniel is the best author ever!

Angel of Hope by Lurlene McDaniel is a great book if you like a romantic adventure. Lurlene McDaniel has written many books but I personally think this is one of her best. This is a wonderful book. I didn't want to put it down until I was finished reading it. It is a spectacular book about a young girl, Amber, who goes to Africa because her sister Heather became very ill and couldn't go back. She meets the people that Heather talked so greatly about from her trip on the Mercy Ship. Africa isn't at all what amber thought it out to be. She stayed with Paul and Jodene as Heather did on her trip. Amber soon met Boyce Callahan he was there working on a project. They quickly became friends. But is Amber ready for what Africa has in store for her next?

Heather Barlow, the main character in Angel of Mercy, was back from Africa as a missoionary, and was trying to readjust to the big Miami lifestyle she used to be acustomed to. Although she was happy to return home to her family, she could not forget about losing her beloved Ian, or about little baby Alice, the child that she rescued that needed surgery. Heather was so sad to leave, nothing could detour her mind from returning, so she talks her mkom into returning with her, this would help because her mom is a surgeon. Her mother decides to go. A week before they leave Heather becomes ill, Amber her sister found her lying in a pool of blood on their bathroom floor. Heather's plans are then shattered because the doctor orders to stay in bed for at least two weeks. Seeing how upset her siter is about being away from Africa, Amber decides to take her place. When Amber arrives in Africa, she has no clue what to expect or what fate has in store for her.........
I loved this book, I loved the fact that it touched me so much. I cried reading the very end of it. I never expected what happened to happen because until the end it had you guessing. On a scale of 1-5 stars i would give it a 10, it was absoluetly beautiful!