D Books

Freedom summer is a story of 2 little boys one black one white who are friends during the desegregation movement. They really do not understand that skin color was supposed to make a difference in their friendship. An excellent book for the classroom showing that color doesn't matter.

An emotionally charged story for all readers, Freedom Summer is not a book to soon be forgotten. While its focus is on segregation, students of the current time can relate it to issues of bullying and prejudice. The painted pictures match the text and convey deep emotion through the use of color and texture. While the text is criticized for being overly contrived and romanticized in places, it often matches the message and mood of the pages. As a story for younger readers, it conveys a depth of emotion during a difficult time in history without overwhelming the reader with facts and information.

The story is told with a variety of colorful expressions and analogies. Illustrations are simply beautiful. The story was one that touched my heart and flooded me with memories of my own childhood, when this could have been my own town. I immediately shared the book with my own 9-year old granddaughter. Wonderful, powerful!!

This book won the Coretta Scott King award and the Ezra Jack Keats Book award. It is easy to understand why. Gorgeous illustrations belong in a museum; what appears to be oil or acrylic is rendered in a naturalistic, painterly style.

At the beginning of the book there is a historical note on the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which forms the basis for the action in the story. Two boys, one white and one black, are best friends in the deep South. They enjoy playing together in the summer in the river and on the fields. The black child's mother works as a domestic for the white child's family.

The summer of 1964 brings changes that some white people resent. The Act makes it illegal to bar blacks from businesses, public pools, and other places where they had been unable to go freely. Initially the boys were elated because that meant they could both swim in the public pool. But the pool is being filled in with asphalt when they arrive.

The level of hatred towards African Americans is palpable when reading Freedom Summer. It succeeds on all levels; a beautiful, educational, moving book. White attitudes are depicted honestly, but there are also open-minded whites who help the Civil Rights Act succeed. At the end of the story the two boys are entering a store together to buy ice pops. The reader is left rooting for them.

Have you ever felt bad because of how people treat you because of your color? Well if you have, you can make a connection with this book "Freedom Summer". "Freedom Summer" is about how two friends, no matter what people say, they continue being friends. That's how people treat one of them just because of his color black. If you want to know more about the book "Freedom Summer" just read it.

... then try this book! There are no cheesy gimmicks here, just simple and sound advice on how to bring people you meet into your fold by asking, "What can I do for this person?" rather than "What can they do for me?".

Even experienced networkers could learn something valuable from this book.

Thank you Darcy, Judy and Gayle for this wonderful book. With the tips & best practices you laid out so clearly, I have gained substancial confidence this past year with my "Tribal Introduction". Your abundance message rings true with the dramatic increase in my personal network within my community and business organization. As a recruiter and President of my district's Netwroking Association, your book has inspired me to 'work my pond' with ever increasing success.

This book was a disappointement for me, yes, I does give some useful insights into networking and what it is all about. However, most of the chapters are based on common sense that you would do anyway (I hope!!) such as being polite and striking up conservations with people and being nice to everybody regardless of class.

It doesn't give much insight either how to approach contacts at later dates once you have established informal relationships.

If i had to say the one thing i learned the most from this book was to carry business cards where ever i go, they are the golden key to networking.

I loved this book - I see so many people either not giving themselves permission to network and/or not allowing others permission to network at events everyday. Coming to events without business cards and not being ready to introduce yourself is such a loss for all involved - Top it off with showing up but only wanting to speak with the party you came with is so limiting - I love this book and the concept of "Permission to Network" as a focal point was fantastic to see. Everyone needs to read this and then apply the practice at every networking function they attend as well as apply this in general life skills. Good things can only come to those open to recieve them! ;)

I considered giving this book only 4 stars, because it occurred to me that the authors don't live in my world, instead they live in a world where people don't do anything else but jet around the world and network with each other - whereas the furthest I've travelled in my job is Chatswood, a few stops further along the railway line.

But then I thought, that possibly a reflection of differences between Australian culture and the field of work that I'm in (I.T., where people are notoriously insular). I also thought that if they can manage to create relationships like that and have so much fun, then best of luck to them... who am I to hold it against them? Plus, they would obviously know what they're talking about in regard to networking.

So I gave it 5 stars on the basis that the authors have put together a witty and fun book that somehow did wonders for my networking *confidence* - and lets face it, the only person whose attitude you can change is yourselves. And somehow this book managed to do this.

From Sea To Shining Sea is an excellent account of the Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Pacific Northwest It also describes most interestingly the participants and how they related to each other.

Great book for young and old readers. Good historical accuracy and action packed. Read it 15 years ago and have recommeneded it to others and now my 19 year old son is totally engrossed in it

I found this book in my mom's book shelf when I was 16 and never gave it back. The cover has fallen off and I lost most of the last page! It is exciting, colorful, sometimes funny, sometimes frightful but a great step into the history of the US through the eyes of a proud mother of 10!

This is truly a treasure. Even if you don't like history, you will find yourself wanting to know more after reading this book. It would be a great read, side by side, in an American history class. Students reading about the lives of people and how they were affected by each of those early events in our history would surely enjoy the class a lot more.

I wish it was printed in hardcover or large print.

This is an remarkable view of the early history of the forming and then growing United States through the experiences of several generations of the extraordinary Clark family. The story weaves together the real life experiences of this family showing the trials, challenges and rugged life in our western frontier as it moved from western Virginia into the the Ohio river valley and on to the vast region west of the Mississippi river that culminates in the Rogers & Clark expedition. If one enjoys early american history or an intense novel packed with drama, this is a book that will hold your attention.

It's a wonderful story that explores what makes a man "good" or "bad." However, it is not an easy read and requires some patience. The narrative shifts in and out of 1st and 3rd person for no apparent reason, and the writing frequently becomes prose/poetry that leaves the story behind. Some people really enjoy this style of writing but I find that it distracts from the story (which should be the focus of a novel, right?). Thankfully, after the first few chapters the story does become the main focus and most of my complaints become moot. Despite the issues I find with it, I'd still recommend this as a great and worthy novel.

Beautiful, profound book. Buechner is one of those rare authors that seem to "get" spirituality and his prose is better than anybody.

In Godric, Buechner brings to life a twelfth century hermit, a topic I had previously considered dry and uninteresting. Through beautiful, often poetic language and a first person account of the man's life, Beuchner effectively humanizes the ascetic holy man and manages to interpret quite an interesting tale. The novel is separated into very short chapters of stylized first person narrative, many of which I read multiple times for the sheer music of the author's words. Godric is a quick, fairly easy read, but certainly a thought provoking novel that you may choose to read an extra time or two.

Godric is a historical novel based on the life of a real person. What makes this book unusual as historical fiction is its written as if Godric himself wrote it 1000 years ago, as if we are reading a historical document, including period grammer and sentence structure (although not scholarly or difficult for the modern reader to read and understand). This made Buechner's job difficult considering nothing of this type of literary work exists from the period, thus it is fundamentally anachronistic. Further, while we know broad brushstrokes of Godrics life, Buechner filled in many details from the period we simply dont know about.

If you can see past the obvious anachronisms (which I had trouble) there are some valuable descriptions, such as a blood libel, that are imaginative and help to better understand the Middle Ages and how people thought and why.

Everyone points out that this little novel is graceful and poetic, and they couldn't be more correct. Throughout the novel, I marveled at the simple beauty of the words and the way they are put together, and it wasn't until later that I realized why. This novel is so meticulously put together that each sentence is written in iambs. I think that fact kind of holds within how wonderful this novel it is. It is a carefully constructed and beautiful portrait of a life persevering, persisting toward sainthood.

Everything about this novel is perfect. Of course, each sentence is perfect, and at times, I would go back a read and reread certain chapters which strike me so profoundly. The relationships held herein, such as Godric's loving relationship with Burcwen, with Mouse, and with Reginald, are subtle complex and really touching. And of course, Godric's own characterization is the biggest strength of the novel, as he moves from the worst of sinners to a godly, compassionate, and humble man.

I can't say enough for this perfect novel. I am sure that I will return again and again to its pages for the humor and warmth and beauty held therein.

This review is more on a personal note, than an explanation of what the book entails (the other reviews have got that covered!). As a newly natural black beauty - I was still struggling with others perecptions of me and my "new" (e.g. natural hair). And of course - I was struggling with my own perceptions of beauty as well. This book allowed me to finally see that our hair is a unique source of pride that needs to be flaunted - not "fixed". Something shifted for me when I read this book, and I finally was able to own not only my new hairstyle (a budding 'fro) but to love my hair in its natural, uninhibited glory. Black women, regardless of our hair texture - straight, wavy, curly, kinky, nappy - we are all so wonderfully beautiful! Hallelujah - I FEEL SO FREE TO BE ME! This book is a must read - share it with every black woman you know - and encourage them to teach our children and our men how to live a life that says "black is beautiful". Spread the knowledge to people of other cultures as well! God bless!

Excellent book about black hair and black culture. Would recommend it to anyone wanting to know more about both and how they relate to the "American" ideal.

This book is great begining for people that are redescovering themselfes aftermaking the decision or are trying to decide wheter go natural or not. It helps you to understand how we got here , how black beauty is not well accepted and why. It make you wonder, questionning yourself and others, and in my case keep learning.

I've recently made the decision to go natural and as I did, I pondered, "Why do I have to 'decide' to be the way I naturally am?" It was then that I realized how unfortunate it was that black women, more than half, find their "naturalness" to be unattractive. I myself have gone through hair extensions, braids, and the dreaded relaxer that has damaged my hair and scalp for years. Now I wonder what it was all for. I wasn't being true to who I was.

This book helped be to know something that I should have already known: my hair. The history of black hair is one that is very interesting and telling. I learned more about my hair in this book than I have ever learned, even from members of my own family. There is also a sense of confidence one gets from reading books like these. I am letting all of my friends and family read it as well.

You will not be disappointed in your purchase.

If you don't already know, this book is definitely worth the time that it takes to read. The book goes into detail about the history of Black hair. Prior to slavery, Africans took pride in their hair. The intricate braid designs date back to that time. It wasn't until after the slave trade that hair straightening became common. Also, it's a little known black history fact that Annie Tumbo Malone was the first black woman entrepeneur to market black hair products. Madame CJ Walker actually worked for Malone before going into business for herself. This book chronicles so much history about Black hair. After reading this book, I was really encouraged to stop chemically processing my hair.

The story traces the life of Nick Romano from alter boy to cop killer,painting pictures of the disowned people and places in pre war Chicago.
To put it simply, this is a fantastic book. It is so readable;the pace never drops and Motley never loses the readers attention.Anyone from teenager onwards will enjoy reading this all time great novel and it will push them on to searching out and discovering other Chicago greats;Richard Wrights 'Native Son' or Nelson Algrens 'Neon Wilderness' for example.
A great story not only well told, but written how it should be.The original 'unputdownable' read!

This novel is Willard Motley's masterpiece. His subsequent books never approached the impact of "Knock on Any Door." The author set his novel on Chicago's West Side Skid Row. The book contains numerous Chicago street addresses and local references. Motley actually lived on Skid Row while writing the book.

Motley was an African American writer, but it might be difficult to discern this from his writing. As an author, he focuses so much upon his Italian-American characters that he seems to fade completely into the background. Motley once worked for "The Chicago Defender." He has been credited with creating the Bud Biliken character which gave rise to annual Back to School parade which is held in Chicago.

"Knock on Any Door" was adapted for a film with Humphrey Bogart and John Derek, but it had to be carefully revised for the screen. Much of the sexual content had to be removed or muted. Nevertheless, for readers and movie goers in the Forties, the material must have been considered somewhat shocking. The novel addressed several taboo subjects such
as adultery, capital punishment, communism, crime, gambling, homosexuality, illegitimacy and prostitution.

The success of "Knock on Any Door" inspired a sequel, "Let No Man Write My Epitaph." The second novel follows the character of Nick Romano's illegitimate son who may be following in his late father's footsteps.

Much of the Skid Row area along West Madison Street has been cleared due to urban renewal, but this sociological novel is still worthwhile and timely. I am somewhat surprised that Motley is not especially well remembered in his native Chicago. "Knock on Any Door" is a forgotten masterpiece. I had to find a worn copy in a public library to read a few years ago. It is good news, indeed, that the novel has been reissued in a new edition.

Of course there are writers that use their brains, and writers that write with their hearts...Willard Motley spills his guts all over the pages in every one of his four novels.

I first read KNOCK ON ANY DOOR when I was a freshman in high school, and got sent home with a letter to my parents for bringing "unacceptable reading material to school"!!! I have read that book at least three more times, and each time it is a belly punch. The Bogart movie did not do justice to this fine work.

I did not know Motley was African-American, until after I finished his thrid novel.

Willard Motley was not just a great novelist, he was what the heart and soul of this Nation should be.

I'm sorry to offer a counter opinion amongst all the enthusiasm, but if you are interested in this subject you really should read "Never Come Morning," by Nelson Algren. KOAD is an OK novel, neither great nor terrible. And I don't want to disuade you from buying it. However, it pales in comparison to NCM, a FAR superior novel written by a FAR superior writer. Put KOAD in your basket and then RUN, don't walk, to the Nelson Algren section and buy Never Come Morning. Now you have a one good and one GREAT novel in your basket.

I read this book 41 years ago , i was not very well educated my school only taught religion and self preservation, i left at 15 . One day i found this book on a bus and took it home it was on the shelf for a month or two then one night i started reading my first novel i could not put it down i found a new pleasure in life instead of going out every night hanging round with the gang and breaking the law for kicks i changed and i put it down to this book knock on any door, i found the author understood my feelings and it was so easy to understand thank you Willard Mottley

Ce livre est un chef-d'oeuvre que l'on déguste du début à la fin et que l'on apprécie de plus en plus à chaque relecture. J'adore Boris Vian et l'aurait marié sans même y penser après avoir lu ce qui coule de sa plume. Les mondes qu'il crée sont fascinants, et celui-ci est le plus beau de tous.

Ce livre est un chef-d'oeuvre que l'on déguste du début à la fin et que l'on apprécie de plus en plus à chaque relecture. J'adore Boris Vian et l'aurait marié sans même y penser après avoir lu ce qui coule de sa plume. Les mondes qu'il crée sont fascinants, et celui-ci est le plus beau de tous.

L'Ecume des Jours (or, John Sturrock's translation, Foam of the days) tells us a story of Colin and Chloé and their love.
Of love that - however pure, serene and (perhaps) unbelievable it may appear to our everyday eye - is very much innocent. Like the one that, at least some of us, have always wished to experience.
The whole story has, unfortunatelly, a tragical end. But then, it wouldn't be one of the nicest books I have ever read. Only to express myself better through similarity, it is Jamiroquai's "Falling" that makes me think of Collin's falling in love with Chloé - except that Collin's love is 'returned' - they both love each other dearly and very much.
The whole story is divided in two parts - two worlds where love stays the same (even grows!) only the encompassing world undergo (terrible) changes. It's the careless world of Colin's and Chloe's love before they get married, full of warmness that only two suns may produce, and of the world after their wedding. The moment they say final yes at their wedding, Chloe gets ill and the whole preceding atmosphere suddenly changes from "happy" to "gloomy." As I said, the love stays, even gets greater, but the whole story then leads to an inevitable tragical end...
In Vian's own words it's a history that is "...entirely true as I made it up from the beginning to the very end." ["...entierement vraie, puisque je l'ai imaginée d'un bout a l'autre"] I would not quite say it is wholly made up although it's only my opinion. Yes, the story is a bit unreal, perhaps exaggerated, but I think it needs to be in order to let us feel and (hopefully) realize, that as 'panta rei' (as Time flows by) we should pauper our friendships and, when being loved and loving ourselves, then we should love sincerely and happily.

This brilliant work of fiction, akin to a fairy-tale, combines science-fiction, surrealism, absurdism, lyricism...
One of the highlights of post-war French litterature, it has become somewhat of a cult favourite for teenagers, as it relates the lives of yound adults who refuse to accept the responsabilities of adulthood, preferring to live according to principles eerily similar to those held by hippies, refusing to temper idealism with the demands of reality.

It is a pity that Boris Vian has no name recognition in the anglo-saxon world. Much to blame is probably the uniqueness of his language and unconventional writing approach. This refreshing tale encompasses youth, love and the fleeting aspect of all that is precious in life.

From the opening of this new work, I was really intrigued about why something as common as mayonnaise would figure so prominently, and by the time that I got a few pages further into the novel, reading about the chicken magnate, I was hooked. Vailes has created a situation, though seemingly mundane, that would potentially have enormous impact upon our lives. The premise is quite unusual; the characters are well-developed in a few pages, and I can't wait to read the rest of this book. I'll never take mayonnaise for granted again.

The characters in this novel were so enthralling and so well developed that I am hungering to learn more about their lives! This is the kind of novel that hooks you in very early on so that you will not want to put the book down until you're at the end. The story is zany and fun. Looking at how changes in our world impact the lives of certain characters makes you think more deeply about what's going on around us. I highly recommend this novel!

What a find. J.D. Vailes is an original voice, comic with substance. I'll never think of mayonnaise the same way again. Or chickens! Can't wait to read the rest of the novel and more of what this author has to offer.

I got the same kind of dizzying feeling from reading this introductory chunk as I did when I started to read Michael Chabon's, "The Yiddish Policeman's Union": This author has a powerful affection for the power of the language. My kind of writer.

Is this the next Kaye Gibbons with a modernist bent? I believe the author must be a woman to have so clearly captured the two single women here, but he/she could just as easily be a city slicker turned chicken farmer or a businessman writing a confessional, fictional memoir. Very, very convincing voice.

Sentences dazzle and pull me quickly along the grand strand of humor of a world suddenly without mayonnaise and chickens. By the end of this excerpt I was believing big time and some amount worried for our world.

Now that I'm into the story, I have the uneasy feeling I ought to stock up on mayonnaise for my bomb shelter. Maybe keep one jar back so I can learn to like the stuff. Does anybody know if you have to refrigerate mayonnaise?

And chickens. Wouldn't it make sense for everybody to start keeping chickens, at least a rooster or two and a few hens, enough to keep them from becoming extinct? Chickens as a threatened species -- what an imagination.

What a delightful discovery: this author. Can't wait to find out why he/she has decided to call the book "Moon".

I cannot wait to read the rest of this book! I was intrigued right from the first line. The writer's use of the word pendulum as a description of the earth made me think of time, because I immediately visualized an old grandfather clock with its pendulum barely hanging on as it swung back and forth, and thought how clever the writer was to use that imagery!

The characters are interesting and plausible and their descriptions were so visually vivid that it was uncanny how I automatically got a picture in my mind of the character in the television advertisements that I see for a famous chicken company while I was reading about the character Rufus!

I also liked the humorous style of starting off with the quest to find mayonnaise, because it had me thinking "Why?" and I therefore found myself drawn into each character and each storyline. I enjoyed how instead of starting with the chicken story, and then proceeding to the eggs and then the mayo, the writer chose to lead us backwards in a kind of CSI method. Each subplot introduces the reader to another subplot as the reader backtracks the origin of the crisis as new characters are introduced in each subplot. Each subplot has a clue to the next subplot, and a clue to the next character. It makes your imagination wonder how each new character and event will connect. It is shows a clever usage of connecting events, because the mayo crisis connects to the eggs crisis, which connects to the chicken crisis, which connects to the issue of genetical engineering. What a witty style of presenting and interweaving the story by the writer, which is a refreshing method of avoiding the usual drab plot layouts.

Love love love this little book of end-less information. I have the HUGE regular DiPiro which isn't a joy to lug around. This handbook is the perfect reference for any pharmacy/med student. It covers the same topics as DiPiro 6th edition, but in a much more condensed, straight-forward way, including foundation & therapeutics. Very happy I purchased this book!

much more concise than Depiro; it's like ESPN for therapeutics, all the best highlights... but if you have a very picky professor they might bring up something specific enough that it isn't included in this book.

I bought this book hoping that it would serve as a shorter version of the larger and more detailed textbook. It turned out to do just that. I have used this book on many occasions to review the key things about certain conditions without having to read the lengthy chapters of the textbook.....this is a must have for anyone in the medical field....it provides a concise summary and key points from the bigger version.

Great therapy book to have in your pocket, but doesn't discuss much on etiology of diseases. Basically it's good as a review, but it's not helpful if you are trying to learn the disease for the first time.

gives a detail summary of the book... a must have for all pharmacy students.

Exeptionally good study guide. Has helped raise my son's grade in his AP physcology class.

This is the best textbook I've ever used. It is interesting and engaging. The content is excellent, but the charts, photos, quotes, cartoons, etc. make studying even more enjoyable. If you want to learn the basics of pyschology, but this book!

I finished reading this book about a month ago. I loved it. It covers many aspects of human behavior, albeit much of it rather superficially- but that's to be expected from an introductory Psych text, where a LOT of ground is covered in ~700 pages! Dr. Myers's writing style is very engaging, and the book is a joy to read. Practically every sentence in the book is backed up by at least one scientific study (the References section is downright intimidating... 97 pages!). The book is full of illuminating graphs & illustrations, quotes, captions, even relevant and humorous comic strips. Each section concludes with a "Review and Reflect" section that briefly summarizes the material and tests your understanding (answers are in the back).

I began reading this book in my spare time for my own enjoyment, and to sort of brush up on the introductory material (I'm a Psych major in school). During that time, I transferred schools and was told I would have to retake Intro-Psych because it didn't transfer credit. I sped up my reading so that I finished the book literally 2 nights before the semester started. So far, the class has been a breeze, and looks like it will continue to be. I am more than prepared - I feel like I'm almost as qualified to teach the class as the grad student that they have doing it. Thanks, Dr. Myers, for writing such a great introductory text on Psychology.

It is long and gruelling reading but what else would one expect from a textbook on psychology??? Learned a lot though.

I absolutely love this book. I'm one of those dorks who keeps her college textbooks (some, not all.) This is the one I have turned to the most of all of them, and always with reward.

Most of the reviews here cover everything well, but I want to add one comment. One of my favorite things about this book is a minor one: there are quotes by famous people in the margins, every few pages, that are really humorous and/or insightful. I look forward to coming across of those quotes while I read.

The book reads more like a feature article in a magazine rather than a textbook. I guess that's why it's the only textbook I have that I enjoy reading from.

My comments are based on the 5th edition, which was current during my college freshman year in 1997, so I'm sure the 8th edition has improved greatly. Thanks to the publishers for continuing to publish a quality book. I hope more colleges adopt this one.