F Books

Amongst all the books on Shackleton's voyage, this one provides the best insight into Shackleton as a man and as a leader. Due to his sense of humility and perhaps focus on the task at hand, Shackleton's own account of the voyage tends to dwell on the daily details of the group's struggles. Worsley's account on the other hand provides great insight into group dynamics and Shackleton's skill at maintaining unity under trying conditions. Shackleton's story needed someone other than Shackleton himself to tell it, Worsley being the expeditions captain and Shackleton's right-hand man, not to mention a masterful writer, is just the person. This book should be mandatory reading for anyone studying leadership and team building.

Now those were some tough adventurers back then...just solid outdoorsman and really strong willed and strong physically. This was outstanding to read and imagine what the human spirit can endure.

I have read every book about Shackleton's epic voyage to Antarctica, and this book is by far the best. It is written by the captain, so it is first hand info, written from his personal diary. The details are magnificent; you are there, alternately shivering or tasting the caribou fur in your mouth. This book makes Lansing's book look like toast; and Lansing's book is good!

I read this after "South" and I think it is the right way to go. Worsley not only recounts the difficulties of the journey, but makes no effort to hide his admiration for his great leader and friend. The way Shackleton manages to motivate his crew in an unimaginably hostile environment is an example of true, effective leadership. Adventurers and business men, children and adults should all read this book.

I read this book because I had a passing interest in the story of the doomed ship. What I found was a great tale of will and courage in the face of overwhelming odds. This book sparked my interest in polar exploration and the explorers. Shackleton's story is a great one that should be read by anyone with an interest in Man's triumph over nature.

Note, the reader should have some prior background of the Endurance, since the book starts with the ships destruction.

I met Karen Ford at a book signing in Knoxville, TN. Her enthusiasm and confidence inspired me to read her book. This book follows through... Karen and Tina don't just throw ideas out there, they gave me practical usable techniques that are changing my life!
Great book, I recommend it!

Free to Be Beautiful is a great gift book for any woman. It will help to inspire and bring out the beauty in any woman. The authors write from their hearts, and that comes out in the book. You feel like they are writing it for you. What a great way to honor all women.

Karen & Tina did such a great job writing this book, and being so honest and upfront. It makes you feel so good about who you are and to help you realize just how special you are, because God made you and we His daughters - WOW - why wouldn't you feel special!! Karen & Tina also help you to realize you can achieve your dreams and goals. I also loved their stories they shared - what a great addition to the book. I highly recommend this book to everyone - it is easy to read and will be one that you will want to highlight those special thoughts and read it again.

I loved this book because of the simple, no nonsense approach to how we should look at life. Karen and Tina's stories mixed in with their awesome advice made this a book that you could really relate too. You actually got to know them as people and authors and could laugh as much at the stories as you do relating yourself to the situations. I recommend this book to anybody!!!

I am a busy, now single, stay at home mom, who owns her own business. Initially I fell in love with this book because the chapters are "snippets"--I can easily read and grab enough to go on for the day simply reading for 10 minutes while waiting in carpool! I enjoy making the most of my time, and this book affords that luxury!

On a more inimate level, over the past couple of years my self confidence has grown in leaps and bounds because of my accomplishments and the accomplishments of those I work with. However I found that many times I have avoided dealing with "life's complications" by staying busy. Through their book God has used Karen and Tina to very gently peel away the proverbial bandaids from the wounds, and allow the healing process to begin. I am learning not to ignore the hurts and disappointments of life, not to pretend there are no struggles, but to face them head on--actually embrace them, and find myself and my children more empowered for it! As difficult as it can be to do this, it is worth the effort...I am loving who I am becoming, and what I can offer to others--especially my daughters!

I highly recommend this book to any woman, as it speaks to females at any age or time in life...teaching us to take an honest look at our lives and our thinking, and challenging us to become who God intends us to be. Karen and Tina have given us the tools to define the core of feminity--and it's a beautiful place to be!

This little book arrived timely, was in excellent condition and is a must for anyone working a 12 step program.

Besides the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, this neat little book also contains the New King James Version of the New Testament, including Psalms and Proverbs. The purpose of this compact paperback is to combine the spiritual teachings of The 12 Steps of A.A.'s Big Book, with the religious texts of Jesus, the disciples, and Paul. New Testament verses appropriate to each Step are highlighted for easy cross reference to show how they intertwine.
However, in some instances, I found the cross referenced verses difficult to associate with the corresponding Step.
This does not take away from the meticulous way the authors have put together their comparisons.
I would recommend this book to anyone who still has difficulty in seeing the differences between religion and spirituality, and who wish to live a life according to God's Will.

Great book for the christian recoverying addict. Perfect to understand how the 12 step program was wrote by the word of god.

We facilitate a 12-day educational program on the disease of addiction and we often use this book for morning devotionals. Twelve days of devotionals for the 12 steps of recovery.

If you are interested in moving forward without addictions,....the Serenity Bible explains how the original A.A. program started with Bill Wilson & the Oxford Group. It also explains the 12 Steps of Recovery and recognizes what must be done, to obtain a better way of thinking and living without addiction. The empowerment that is received, will change ones life. It will fill the void, offer direction and give purpose to life in a healthy way. Highly recommended. 5 S*T*A*R*S*

Great for people who once explored Emergent and Emerging type theology and ministry and found it to be hollow. Probably not so great for people still in it.

This is an excellent and much-needed assessment of the emerging church movement. While D.A. Carson and R. Scott Smith both offered very helpful critiques of this movement in 2005, this new book is really quite superb in giving us a balanced appraisal of, and serious warning about, the emergent movement.

Consistent with postmodernism, the emerging church folk have a strong dislike of rationality, theology, and propositional truth. They look down on dogma, rules, teaching, preaching, boundaries and doctrine. While they reject some things we should reject - legalism, unloving judgmentalism, head over heart, and so on - they have a tendency of throwing the baby out with the bath water. In reacting to one extreme, they go way over to another extreme. What is needed is biblical balance, not wild pendulum swings.

Consider the issue of our knowledge of God. The emergent crowd generally argues that we should be content with mystery, wonder and questions. We cannot pin down God and he is too big to be put in a theological box. That all may be true, but they go to unnecessary extremes here. Emergent leaders "are allowing the immensity of God to swallow up His knowability. In good postmodern fashion, they are questioning whether we can have any real knowledge about God in the first place."

But God is a God who reveals himself, who speaks, who acts, and discloses truths about himself to finite mankind. If God does not have a problem with this, why do the emergent leaders? Sure, we only have partial knowledge of God, but we can still have true truth about God.

Many emergent leaders argue that we can know God personally, but we cannot know him propositionally. We can have a relationship with God, but we cannot really know too much about him. But this is just plain silly, as well as unbiblical. How can a man love his wife, for example, while knowing little about her? Knowledge about others is necessary in order for us to have a relationship with them.

Similarly, the emergent crowd makes much of relationship over against rules and regulations. Do's and don'ts and laws just don't cut it anymore. Instead, Christianity is all about love and relationship. But as the authors rightly remind us, relationships must be guarded and preserved by rules: "Try telling your wife after you've had an affair, `Come on, I thought our marriage was about the relationship, not all these do's and don'ts'."

Emergent leaders also buy the whole postmodern idea that we are only left with interpretation. The emphasis of the deconstructionists is that we can never really know what the author intended. All we have is our own subjective understanding.

The emergent infatuation with deconstructionism is dangerous business indeed. By abandoning any sure word, by saying we are only left with interpretation - not final truth - the emergent crowd is leaving us all in a sea of relativism and uncertainty. But God is quite able to communicate to us and to use words in such a way that are understandable and meaningful.

Of course we all misinterpret things, because we are fallen and finite. But Scripture throughout insists that there is real meaning in the text, that is can be communicated to us, and that we can have some genuine understanding of it, albeit in a limited and not exhaustive fashion.

But if we can never be sure about anything, why do the emerging leaders seem so certain about what they are trying to tell us? The authors remind us that the emergent leaders want to tell us that our traditional understandings (for example, about hell, exclusivism, the nature of the atonement, etc.) are faulty, yet they somehow seem certain about this, and that their alternative understandings are the ones to adopt.

They say traditional evangelicals have been misinterpreting the Bible, all the while saying we can never really know that any interpretation is true. Sorry, but you can't have it both ways. If anything goes in interpretation, then why should we heed the emergent leaders any more than, say, Paris Hilton?

The authors point out that the emergent writers confuse humility with uncertainty. They think it is a good thing that we are not dogmatic, but instead live with ambiguity, mystery, doubt and questions. Indeed, many of them equate faith with doubt. They dislike hard and fast theological systems, and they dislike those who claim to have some solid handle on the truth, equating that with pride and intolerance.

But that does not square with the Biblical writers, especially the early apostles. They claimed to have the truth, to know the truth, and to proclaim the truth. They proclaimed the gospel as certain truth, and were willing to die for their strong convictions. But the emergent crowd wants us to hold onto things so loosely and so tentatively that one must ask, what gospel are they in fact offering to people?

"The apostles never preached with the double-talk and ambiguity you find in so many emergent books" the authors state. And the idea of a non-doctrinal Christianity - the no-creed-but-Jesus mentality - is simply the stuff of old-fashioned theological liberalism. It is weak and wishy washy, and converts no one.

The emergent gospel leaves a lot to be desired. Many in the movement have real trouble with saying Jesus is the only way to salvation; are squeamish about propitiation; dislike talk of hell; and have a very low view of Scripture. It is really quite identical to the old theological liberalism. "The only difference is that the old liberalism accommodated modernity and the new liberalism accommodates postmodernism."

The books of McLaren, Bell, Pagitt, Kimball, Jones and others will undoubtedly continue to sell well, and their conferences will probably still be sell-outs. But it is a movement that is in urgent need of balance. And this book is an excellent resource in helping to bring about that balance. It has a message that desperately needs to be heard.

I enjoyed reading "Why We're Not Emergent." It was an engaging and informative read. It is a welcome addition to the "conversation." The tag-team authors are complementary in style, providing both substance and connection with the reader. I would caution those, however, who have an interest in the emerging church to not "throw the baby out with the bathwater." DeYoung and Kluck deal almost exclusively with the popular leaders of the "movement," especially Bell and McLaren. They rightly point out concerns conservative evangelicals should have regarding the theology of these persuasive leaders. But the authors of "Why We're Not Emergent" rarely deal with the real theologians who, while not leading the conversation, have certainly contributed to evangelical engagement with post-modernism. Stan Grenz, Scot McKnight, and Robert Webber are mentioned only in passing, and then generally in a positive light.

There is another side of the emergent church that has something to say to the modern evangelical church. The authors mention Dan Kimball a few times - a popular and recognized leader in the "conversation" - but don't really criticize him because he is theologically conservative. Before the reader determines that the emerging conversation is something to be shut down, I encourage reading Grenz, McKnight, and Webber - all generally respected within conservative Christian circles. Do yourself a big favor and google "a call to an Ancient Evangelical Future" and check out the AEF Call. While not technically a part of the emergent "movement" there are many common points of resonance. Upon reflection, I think you might find real meat for renewal in the church.

I consider myself an emergent sympathizer and supporter even though I agreed with most everything that DeYoung and Kluck wrote. The conversation is broader and deeper than Bell and McLaren. Dig deeper. There's hope for the evangelical church to be found in the conversation. Nevertheless, I welcome this book. It is a positive contribution that may serve to clarify renewal efforts that are sorely needed in the Church today

Every page and every paragraph of this 256-page book was thoughtful and salient.

The authors unwrap the emerged package of the postmodern-Christian religion using the very words of the movement's de facto leaders: Brian McLaren, Rob Bell, Don Miller, Erwin McManus, Stan Grez, Doug Padgitt, and others.

But the best part of the book is the Epilogue. Diverging from the central theme of analyzing the emergent movement, the Epilogue is a short treatise on the seven churches of Revelation 2-3.

This is an inexpensive book; you need to read it. It will help you trim your wick and develop a deeper love for Christ & His Church and will, at the same time, challenge you to lovingly discern what is true and false in the professing Church today.

The book is tag-team written by two very different authors. Deyoung (a 30-something pastor) and Kluck (a 30-something writer) both generally feel the same frustration that the emergent church has embodied, but without chucking the theology and epistemology that make the church possible. Kluck brings a casual, cynical style that tries a little too hard to be cool, but that's the attitude that started this "conversation" in the first place so what the heck. Deyoung brings the big guns of research and clear thinking. He exposes several alarming trends among the influential people in the emergent conversation (particularly Brian McLaren, Doug Pagitt, Peter Rollins, Spencer Burke, David Tomlinson, Leonard Sweet, Rob Bell, and Tony Jones). This book is so well-written and well-researched that it is the first of its kind that I feel comfortable recommending to both laypersons and academics. I hated chapter 10 where Kluck interviewed a pastor with whom I agreed, but the guy was inarticulate and a little grumpy. Lots of other pastors (like Deyoung) could have presented the same argument without coming across as exactly the kind of pastor that most emergents can't stand. My favorite chapter was Deyoung's Epilogue which is honestly worth the price of the book. He explores the 7 Letters to the Churches in Revelation to affirm that the emergent church has indeed identified serious issues of concern in modern evangelicalism, while at the same time they have not remained faithful to other essentials.

In summary: concise, intelligent, helpful, kind, worth the price of admission.

I HAVE READ JUST BOUT EVERY WINGMAN BOOK WRITTEN AND AFTER I ORDER THESE MY QUEST WILL BE COMPLETE. MACK MALONEY IS A TRUE AMERICAN AND HIS BOOKS PROVE IT. HIS BOOKS WILL MAKE YOUR IMAGINATION SOAR. THANKS MACK.

The whole Wingman series is great, but Sky Ghost and Return of the Sky Ghost really put a new twist into the story line. I am dying for the next installment to come out to find out how it ends!

maloneys books keep getting wearder and wearder. also hunter didnt show up in the book untell page 120. other than that it was great.

Read this book as fast as I read all the others. I'm trying to collect them all again after my parents threw out all my books. But as a fan to a good book, I'm continuing on reading and collecting. Still waiting for Hawk to make it back to the real world. Keep'em coming!!!!!

I STARTED THIS SERIES WHEN IT FIRST CAME OUT AND WAS HOOKED ON IT EVER SINCE.MACK MALONEY PUTS MOST AMERICAN'S VIEWS INTO HAWK HUNTER.AMERICAN' WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT AMERICA STAYS FREE, AND MY VIEW IS THIS"YOU CAN HAVE MY FLAG WHEN YOU PRY IT FROM MY COLD DEAD FINGERS"

Latin is in baby! This book is basically"The Wit and Wisdom of Ancient Rome" presented in English and Latin. It's full of short snappy quotes that you can drop whenever a line from Shakespeare might seem trite. It's not a text or manual but it can be used in classrooms to mix things up a bit. The ancient Romans were funny at times and students can appreciate this. Let your students go over this book and then have them translate current phrases into Latin.I recommend this to anyone who likes or teaches ancient history or the latin language.

That quote, from this book, was developed for me personally: I know everything worth knowing, and more!

This book can be used for many things. I like to e-mail people at work and finish with a Latin phrase, which makes them think 'he's smart'! (or a smart ar#e!)
There are many books on Latin, but this one is just full of phrase's that 'Stiff' text books would take a week to work out, like 'Patris est filius' or 'A chip off the old block' (literally - 'he is his father's son'). Just as good for a quick flick or end to end reading!
p.s. Another good book is 'Veni, Vidi, Vici' ISBN 0-06-273365-6 also by Eugene Ehrlich (the better of the 2, i think).

Eugene Ehrlich's 'Amo, Amas, Amat and More' is a wonderful shorthand guide to Latin literacy for those who are struggling with Latin, or those of us who had a lot of Latin but little use since our last conjugation, er, um, examination.

Gives new meaning to 'conjugal visit' now, doesn't it? (Well, look it up for the distinctions.)

There is a very interesting introduction by William F. Buckley, Jr., who has been known to drop the odd Latinate phrase here or there in writing or speech. 'I suppose I am asked [to write this introduction] because the few Latin phrases I am comfortable with I tend to use without apology,' Buckley writes. He uses Latin phrases, he says, 'that cling to life because they seem to perform useful duties without any challenger rising up to take their place in English.' But, Buckley states, 'Probably the principal Latin-killer this side of the Huns was Vatican II.' With the end of use of Latin by Roman Catholic church, Latin became an almost exclusively academic pursuit, and then most often in 'useful' segments--i.e., legal Latin, medical Latin, etc.

This book is arranged as an encyclopedic dictionary of sorts -- there is an entry, including pronunciation (do you know if Latin uses a hard c or hard g, for instance, without looking?). Ehrlich also puts in literary examples of how the Latin phrase has come to be known in English (which is sometimes something apart from its original Latin meaning).

I give you the example used in my title as an sample entry:

carpe diem
KAHR-peh DEE-em
enjoy, enjoy

This famous advice, literally 'seize the day', is from Horace's Odes. The full thought is carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero (kwahm MIH-nih-muum KRAY-duu-lah PAW-ster-oh), which may be translated as 'enjoy today, trusting little in tomorrow'. Thus, carpe diem from ancient times until the present has been advice often and variously expressed: Enjoy yourself while you have the chance; eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; make hay while the sun shines; enjoy yourself, it's later than you think. In another century carpe diem was also an exhortation to maidens to give up their virginity and enjoy all the pleasures of life.

Robert Herrick (1591-1674)
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying,
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.

So, if your motto is omne ignotum pro magnifico est a la Tacitus, and you'd like a little less unknown in your life, or simply wish to amaze your friends, this book is for you. I'm not the advocatus diaboli here, and I certainly won't give this book the pollice verso, so rush to your nearest scriptorium now and find this scroll, er, um, book.

This is an excellent book! It is a great way to build vocabulary and learn those pesky endings. It also conatins many words of wisdom and wit. Using these phrases in writitng and speech will give you a flair of sophistication. This book taught me my favourite quote, from Horace "Dulce et decorem est pro patria mori" "There is no greater honour than to die for ones country" Being a die-hard Americo-Unian, I believe that! I reccomend this book to all lovers of Latin

This book is amazing!!! My 5yr old found a book at the library about greek myths and loved them so much that I ordered this book. We have now finished it and she is still asking for more.
The nice thing about this book is it is broken up by ages so you can do what your child is ready for, our 5yr old just loved all the stories soooo much we finished the entire thing.

I bought this book when my daughter's class was teaching Greek Mythology. She was happy to see this book and finished it very soon, now she can relate most of them to me. And the best part is it has explanation and spelling hint. It makes our reading aloud very easily. I am going to buy the other two read aloud series. I think this opens the door for my kids to the classic literature.

Purchased as a gift for Christmas. We did not read this book ourselves, so can't review the quality of the composition. However, the book was well made and arrived on time from Amazon.

I purchased this book for two reasons: 1. So I could provide myself with an easy, quick, review of the Classical Myths long forgotten since grade school and 2. to read to my grandchildren so they will have a better foundation of Classical Myths, which will help them to understand and enjoy the arts. I am very pleased with this text, especially the sytax as it does not 'dumb down' the stories for comprehension, but actually increases vocabulary and proper grammatical structure. This was an excellent purchase.

I read four books of Greek myths to determine which to use for my 7-year-olds. I will use this and the d'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths. I like that this book has the pronuciation of the names right in the story (I hate flipping to the end of the book). Most of the stories are between 5 and 10 minutes long so you can read one to three a day fairly easily. This book does not contain any pictures - it is merely to be used for reading aloud.

The author did a wonderful job telling these stories to a younger audience. The language is rich and full and not dumbed down. He also doesn't go into inappropriate detail.

He tells the story of the Iliad and the Odyssey. I didn't want to go into that this year- I'll wait until they're a bit older - so we used the Trojan Horse by Emily Little. While he does a great job, I'll be using Rosemary Sutcliff's books when they're older (Black Ships Before Troy and The Wanderings of Odysseus), so for me, about a third of the book wasn't necessary.

I have purchased book for a cousin as I've had tremendous success with
many recipes in this book and value it.

This was the first cookbook my parents bought me when I moved out. It's the cookbook I turn to when entertaining. Favorites include the mustard chicken in phyllo and maroon bell cheese spread. Guests always ask for the recipes.

This cookbook is one of the best all around cookbooks ever.
I use this one for so many dinners and I love how it gives
you suggestions on what to serve with the entries.

Likely you too have scanned or even invested in those recipe collections to fund a worthy effort, either not expecting to use the recipes or had to search through to find those that one even would want to attempt. Not the case with this collection of the Jr. League of Denver! And over half-a-million in print to date! You'll want one before it goes out of print!

This is large, rich colleciton that is well thought out, organized and bursts forth with uniqueness, creativity and breadth.

Some unique features are its individual sections on Colorado Wild, Mexican and HealthMark Modifications. For example, the game section using Colorado abundance of wildlife is buy a doctor who is in to this, who gives recommendations on preparing to remove gaminess and to improve flavor and maintain health.
How about Wild Pheasant Stroganoff! Indicative of the stuff you'll love finding here and trying.

Also a plus to this delight is notes which accompany most all of the recipes that tell about alternatives, serving suggestions, history where the dish came from, etc. Adds zest for us foodphiles!

One can easily see why so many other reviewers have raved about this -- it enticed me to try it. I think you will enjoy using this collection too!

I have over 200 cookbooks, I often times go to sleep reading cookbooks and I relate to the world in many aspects through my stomach. I love food and cooking. This is definitely my most-used cookbook, I don't know how many times I've looked for a recipe, finally gotten this book out and there it was all the time. I consult this book first. I have several Junior League cookbooks, this is my favorite. Everything I have cooked out of this book has been good. Don't even think about it, just buy this book. You won't be diappointed.

I thought this was a decent overview of the requirements process of a large project. It does not go into great depth but it does cover a wide range of topics and the implications of doing poor requirements.

I work in the defense requirements generation business, and this book really helped me get to some important breakthroughs in working with several programs. The authors bring experience from government and commercial programs - experience that can be applied to any situation. Hooks and Farry present their common sense approach to requirements development and management which should benefit anyone researching requirements.

A thorough and straight forward primer on developing new products. Where it lacks creativity and a wealth of examples, it provides a solid understanding and approach. Recommended reading, but I would check your local library before shelling out money for this book. A good read but not one that I would necessarily keep on my shelf for future reference.

I was looking for a book that efficiently summarized the process of defining requirements. This book begins by establishing a need for requirements, and proceeds to give practical advice on improving the planning process of any project, be it software or manufacturing. The writing is very conversational, and the examples are pertinent to most competitive planning environments. Highly recommended for anyone involved in planning projects!

Ivy F. Hooks and Kristin A. Farry give their audience a clear methodology about how to eliminate rework and unnecessary features rooted in poor requirement definition for making product development or procurement faster and cheaper without sacrificing the better. Good requirement definition is more important than ever to especially fast-paced high-tech companies for which researching, developing, and commercializing products on schedule and within budget is key to be, become, and remain competitive. Interestingly, Hooks and Farry explain to their readers the profound impact that culture, education, and management have on requirement definition. Their critical examination of the "seven cultural forces that define Americans" in chapter 2 helps their (foreign) audience better understand why some (American) marketers have no time to do it right the first time, but endless time and a company bankroll to do it wrong over and over again to quote Kevin J. Clancy and Peter C. Krieg in their excellent Counter-intuitive Marketing. Hooks and Farry remind their audience that nothing can change for the faster, cheaper, and better without a management commitment. Management must make very clear through their entire organization that quality products begin long before design and manufacture. These products find their genesis in quality requirements. To summarize, Customer-Centered Products is a must read for anyone involved/interested in product development or sourcing. The only weakness of the book lies in the concentration of examples from a few industries about which Hooks and Farry are very knowledgeable.

I would recommend this book to anyone who actually wants to go to Japan and be able to speak casually (as opposed to what is taught in college classes) to people at clubs, on the street, etc. Sometimes it's frustrating when you can't learn exactly what you *want* to say, especially if you're wanting to hit on that cute Japanese guy/chick in class and you want to impress them. Even if you're not going to use it, it is very interesting and funny to read. This is for people who already have some knowledge of the Japanese language. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone who isn't familiar with Japanese sentence structure.

I am just beginning to learn Japanese, and decided to pick this up so I could not only learn Formal Japanese, but some of the slang as well. And just glancing through this, this is hilarious. Not sure if I would ever use it on anyone (yeah, why not...lol), but I think you may as well have a fuller appreciation of any language by learning the "high-speak" and "low-speak". At the very least, it's a good read for a laugh.

My daughter got this, who is interested in learning Japanese. Along with being educational, it was hysterically funny, (and dirty in places!). I don't know if I'd use some of these phrases if I were to go to Japan, but it's a fun and interesting read anyway.

I think it's fair to say that the goal of anyone serious about learning a foreign language is to not sound like you're reciting a text book. Get familiar with a few people, start using the lingo included here, and you're golden.

I got this and Making Out In Japanese for my son and his girlfriend, so they could be silly at each other and maybe improve their minds with another language at the same time. I'm told they've since been lent out to a friend who is preparing for a trip to Japan.
Personally, I wish I'd picked them up for myself, too.
I'd recommend these books for anyone trying to learn casual Japanese.
Delivery was about what I expected and the transactions came off without a hitch.