O Books

I read this book several times when I was young. I loved it then and my son has read this a couple times in recent years. I have all four books in the series. The description of his life on the trail, taking care of the sled dogs, and even the food he ate while on the trail were all exciting to me. The book starts out about Silver Chief's mother, before the Chief was born. I had forgotten about that part. This is a great book. Another book I liked regarding the outdoors, which also had great detail, was My Side of the Mountain.

I read this book as a young girl and now at the age of 60 I enjoyed it just as much. I read it to my four kids when they were in the 5th grade and they loved it as well. Now my daughter who is a high school teacher is using a copy of the book in her classroom for her students to read.

My dad read this book as a boy in the 1950s. He introduced the Silver Chief books to me and I read and reread them as a young preteen. I have since read them to several children who also couldn't get enough of them. Silver Chief is a beautiful silver animal part dog and part wolf. A Royal Candian Mounted Policeman named Sar. Thornton heads north to track a murderer. While waiting to track down the murderer, Thornton captures and tames Silver Chief training him into a loving companion and loyal friend. When the Murderer wounds Thornton in the leg, it is up to Silver Chief to see that they arrive safely back to civilization.

I read this book in elementary school, after stumbling across it while browsing through the school library. It's such a great story and even though it's for youngsters, I wouldn't mind re-reading it now as an adult, just for the memories of the brave wild dog's adventures.

I read the Silver Chief stories as a grade school kid back in the 50's and even today just hearing the name conjurs up memories and pictures in my head of "the Great White North," the Canadian Mounties and the moving story of the bond between a man and a wild dog. I had a heck of a time finding a copy to read to my three boys -- the [Local] Public Library had relegated it to storage in a warehouse. How unfortunate that so many wonderful children's titles have been lost or forgotten. I'm glad to see this one is still available to another generation of readers -- the romance, adventure and genuine feeling of this story remain timeless!

If you want to learn to build a card castle, this is the book for you. It has all the information you'll need. Excellent book.

I purchased this book for my daughter. She had a school assignment to build a weight bearing structure out of playing cards. She got some good ideas by reading stacking the Deck.

This young man is amazing. I booked him for an event I planned at a science center several years ago and his talent is incredible. Then, after all his meticulous work, he took a leaf blower and destoyed his creation only to let the children collect all the cards!

What I found amazing about this book is that within the first few pages, you will learn the basic technique to stack cards and start building some phenomenal structures. And, even if you are clumsy, your structures will still attract admiring comments. My daughter, who is 6, has started building and enjoys it more than lego.

This is very sad that everything that is recorded about cardstacking is merely this one book. Building Houses of Cards is more than child's play. This is a sport; just like Football, Basketball, or Tennis. I wish there was a Cardstacking Club or something like this... Here is what I hope will grow up and become the first Cardstacking Club: myspace.com/cardstacker

As a marriage and family therapist for forty years I have heard the switching hour event described over and over from the point of view of divorced or divorcing parents. Flesberg's book describes it from the child's point of view. This allowed me to feel and understand the pain of divorce from a different and more striking perspective--one that both therapists and toubled families need to know more about. Flesberg's section on what can be done to reduce the child's stress during the switching hour is particularly helpful.

Dr. Flesberg has produced a book which meets the needs of working professionals, parents, and parents who are working professionals! It is well written and researched. I have already begun using this in the parish. I heartily recommend this book to anyone who loves kids, loves parents, or both.

The Rev. Lewis A. Groce
Trinity Church
Tullahoma TN

Dr Flesberg has condensed many years of pastoral experience and academic research into this small, practical, accessibly written book which can be confidently placed in the hands of busy parents, pastors, and anyone else who cares about children. A skilled teacher, she guides the reader into empathetic understanding of the experience of children of divorced parents, and provides clear, wise suggestions for how to help. I have already recommended The Switching Hour to a number of friends and relatives, and will continue to do so.

I found The Switching Hour to be very informative concerning the different issues that children face after their parents divorce. I particularly liked the blessings for the children on page 100 and 101. We have begun using them as we see our grandchildren go with their biological father for visits. I would recommend this book to anyone needing advise in dealing with divorce.
Rick Otey

Found the book interesting, and it identified some points I had not thought of; therefore, helpful in our work with couples.

Perhaps one of the more interesting parts of this book, I thought, was the introspective view of the world situation as voiced by Pugh to Bronwen. Keeping in mind this was originally published in 1952 that would mean some of what was at issue for O'Brian was the Cold War and the nuclear threat, but it is fairly easy to interpret the concerns as equally applicable to today. The threat is different but the results on the human psyche are the same, as are Bronwen's curious response asking how that relates to the idea that a person has a soul.
Other interesting tidbits include Pugh's description of characters such as Lloyd, Ellis, and Skinner. Loved this bit on Skinner: "The stuff he adduced was such an intolerable farrago of rubbish that I was shocked that it should have imposed upon a man of education and some reading. It was such an incoherent, verbose mumbo-jumbo, with esoteric twaddle jostling Gnosticism, scholarship of the lucus a non lucendo order that I could not refrain (burning with my private fire) from saying some sharp things about his authors." (p. 124)
I had no issue with the person playing "Q" assuming it was just a rhetorical device.

This is the sort of book that, when you finish the last page, compels you to sit in silence for at least half an hour, contemplating it. It doesn't allow you to pick up another book right away because you don't want to break the spell that's been cast over you, and the spell lingers for hours and days.
I already knew, from the Aubrey-Maturin books, that O'Brian was a master of characterization and of plot and action, but here, with the sailing and the battles removed, I could see even more clearly how masterful his prose is. It is hauntingly beautiful.
Like some other reviewers, I was confused and unsure what to think of the ending. There was a part of me that thought O'Brian was pulling a fast one, which I didn't like, but the other part of me was so enamored of the characters and the writing that I just didn't care. Especially when you consider that this was his first novel, you simply can't ask for better. It has echoes of Hardy, or even (if you remove all the melodramatic passion--just my opinion) of Wuthering Heights, with the harsh but beautiful landscape mirroring the harsh but beautiful people.
Highly recommended.

Patrick O'Brian is more than a writer. He's a publishing phenomenon via his superb Aubrey-Maturin series.
But TESTIMONIES was his first novel, originally published in 1952. It tells of an English professor of Welsh origins, Joseph Pugh, who abandons teaching at Oxford and moves to a cottage in Wales. There he explores the primal mountain back country and tries to understand the farming culture of his ancestral land. A lonely, middle-aged bachelor, Pugh can hardly keep house, even to basics--cooking, cleaning, maintaining his clothes. He has never known intimacy, let alone close friendship, but he falls fatally in love with the wife of his sheep-farmer neighbor Emyr Vaughan, a violent man . . . He pines for months, keeping his love sickness to himself, but when he becomes gravely ill he is taken into the Vaughan house, where he and Bronwen discover each others' feelings, with tender reserve. The denouement is poignant, inevitable, yet O'Brian handles this difficult material deftly, without over-writing. For a beginning writer in his 20s this is masterful work at the pinnacle of writing.
An acute recorder of time and place, human behavior and motivation, action and reaction, O'Brian uses words persuasively, passionately, a craftsman to the core. He captures country, culture and character with Hardy's lyrical affection, idiosyncratic ethnicity, thoughtfully observed. His meticulous work is reminiscent of the great American writers Faulkner, Steinbeck and Capote, or O'Brian's fellow Brits John Fowles and William Golding.
Back in 1952 O'Brian anticipated with TESTIMONIES the struggle for relationships, understanding and love in an era--the last half of the 20th century--in which men and women judge and choose first from ethnic or cultural biases or appearances or political/social correctness and only later, maybe, start to understand each other and become acquainted. Or is xenophobia genetic, eternal?
Fast forward to Norton's republishing of TESTIMONIES in 1983. We see that beyond Aubrey-Maturin, O'Brian had the chops in 1952, though few knew and it took many years for many of us to find him. Doris Lessing in the '90s offered two books under assumed names to test the market for unknowns. Result: rejection (she couldn't even get the books read!). So how many others like O'Brian flower unknown, unappreciated? What is their 'testimony?'
Napoleon allegedly remarked that ability is useless without opportunity. O'Brian won his opportunity, finally, and made the most of it. We are the beneficiaries and TESTIMONIES is the proof--res ipsa loquitur.
This book is one of those few that is unforgettable and will remain in the mind and heart for the rest of the reader's life.

Patrick O'Brian wrote the most beautiful prose in English literature. On top of that, he was a master story teller.
The story of Pugh and Bronwen is deeply moving. It stays with you. The development of the plot is brillant. O'Brian makes perfect use of the technique of having different people tell the "same" story. He is also a master at omission, not spelling certain things out, but requiring you to intrapolate. He was also a great landscape artist: his mountains are as real as his oceans.
I have not liked many books better.
So why am I still complaining?
The book suffers from the same flaw as Susanna Moore's "In the Cut": who is Bronwen talking to, when she tells her part of the story? Who interviews her? When does this happen? Or has a perfectly realistic story, though not a "naturalistic" one, turned into a ghost story behind my back? Nothing against ghost stories, by the way...

Having been so affected by this book, it is so pleasing to see the unanimity of readers. I finished the book last evening and have been engrossed all of today without waning; it just won't go away. What a mavelous love story where passion is never enjoined except in the spirit. What a painful tragedy that leaves one stunned and wishing himself dead. What a range of humanity. What a blessing on us all that there are writers of the power and imagination of Patrick O'Brian.

Ewing's mystery is very easy to read - chapters are short enough to fit into even the busiest schedule. However, by two-thirds of the way through, the story is so intirguing and moving so quickly that it is very difficult to put the book down. How soon can I get the next Marlow O'Kelley mystery?

IT ONLY TOOK ME A DAY TO READ THIS BOOK, WHY? I COULD'NT PUT IT DOWN. I JUST HAD TO FIND OUT WHAT WAS ON THE NEXT PAGE AND IN THE NEXT CHAPTER. AS I AM FROM THE HOUSTON AREA IT WAS NICE TO BE ABLE TO PUT LOCATIONS WITH THE STORY. WAY TO GO BARBARA, WHEN'S MARLOW COMING BACK?

Ewing, Barbara. Till Murder Do Us Part. Philadelphia, PA. Xlibris, 2001. 268 pp. Galley. HB- ISBN 0-7388-9968-2. PB- ISBN 0-7388-9969-0

Intrigue At NASA

With a sure sense of place, Barbara Ewing immediately immerses the reader in interesting details of Johnson Space Center. The plot revolves around Marlow O'Kelley, a structural engineer, who has been married only six months when her beloved Pete, an astronaut, is killed in a motorcycle accident. Or was it an accident?

Pete's boss, Harry, reveals to Marlow his suspicions that Pete could have been murdered. The next day Harry is murdered.

When bodies with connections to the space center begin to turn up on picnic tables and in training pools. Everyone offers Marlow a different perception of Pete and to her utter confusion, Marlow feels her trust in Pete slipping away.

Subplots and red herrings abound as the reader tries to untangle the cast of characters that seem bent on leading everyone astray. While Marlowe analyzes three murders, the reader goes along for the ride.

Rich in sensory detail from the fishy, salty air of the bays to the tangy gumbo - even the spicy politics of the Clear Lake area, the settings give the reader the illusion of being there.

Fast-paced Till Murder Do Us Part teases our brain and pulls us into the mystery, revealing no answers until the end.

It definitely was a page turner and Ewing is as good if not better than Sue Grafton. Looking forward to more Marlow O'Kelley mysteries.

Through the cool inner sanctum of the Johnson Space Center and the steamy summer streets of Houston -- on a bumper-car ride of a plot we go! Think you know that person you married? Maybe...
not.

Two new names I hope to see more of at the scene of the crime: Barbara Ewing and Marlow O'Kelley.

Why hasn't America heard about this man? He's written one of the most powerful books on the accomplishments of prayer in our life time. It has sold more copies than "60 Minutes" Andy Rooney's book. College and professional football players (some of them All-Americans) have it. Tattered and wore copies of it are circulated by hand on Lagos Island, Nigeria, where one of the greatest revivals and Holy Ghost outpourings in the world today is occurring. I'd say all these people have found something valuable in a book God dealt with a man to write for three years before he gave in to the His will. I'm glad he did.

"Know how to make a lion nervous? Put him in a den of Daniels."--Dr. Martin Prine. The lions of life come in every shape, form and fashion, and many Christians struggle every day to overcome them. Fort Smith native, Dr. Martin Prine had a calling a few years ago to help others with that struggle, by teaching a way to beat the lions that attack characters, relationships, health and finances.

"God wants everyone to know this, to use it. He wants everyone to have a real, true communion with Him and to know how to keep the glory of God in their lives," he said during a visit where he brought me a copy of his recently published book, "The Treasury of Daniel: Victory Over the Lions of Life." In the book, Dr.Prine, who grew up in Fort Smith, began his ministry in the Navy in 1972 and together with his wife, Dr. Barbara Lange Prine, founded King's Treasury Ministries in Houston, sets forth a prayer plan to teach anyone how to slay lions and succeed in their life.

"Every man, woman and child has the same privilege in prayer before God. This becomes exciting to those who come to Him with their petitions and learn He really hears them and grants their desires," he states in Chapter One. But the book clearly points out that success is not obtained by merely praying. First, you must learn exactly what prayer is. "Prayer then, is one thing...asking. It is seeking and asking for something from God, knocking on the door of His treasure house until it opens...no matter how long it takes, or how many times the petition is asked. It's as simple as that. Asking, and asking alone is prayer." He continues throughout the book to set forth criteria for prayer and explains historical and biblical accounts of it.

Dr. Prine shares how to be informed about the power of prayer. He lays out how large to ask of God, how to pray in His will, what to ask for, the difference between current and memorial prayer and why that principle is important in the success of prayer. He also explains why prayer must be asked in Jesus name and that, at times prayer is not answered merely because God will in his time and in his way.

The book also offers alternative reasons for some unanswered prayers. "Many Christians do not receive what they petition God for because they fail to ask for definite answers when they pray. They ask ordinary prayers He cannot answer, and since they do not ask specifically, they become discouraged and cease to ask at all," Dr. Prine states.

The author also makes it personal. He talks about friends and acquaintances touched by prayer, about learning to pray, being a young Christian and the blessings in his life due to prayer. He gives an interesting account of how he found time to pray in his prayer closet while aboard ship in the Navy, and how many others on the ship came to Christ as well. He tells of learning many years later when he least expected it, how lives were still being touched by the prayers he prayed aboard that ship. He also opens the book with a story of a farmer who came across George Washington deep in prayer in the winter of 1778 in Valley forge. It sets a powerful tone to the book.

"God asked me to write this book. Every chapter, every sentence, every word of this book was given to me by Him," Dr. Prine said during the interview. "The Lord did it. He made it possible. As you can see, it's our heartbeat. We hope it touches the live of others as well." With passion like that, it's hard not to find the book intriguing.

I simply could not put "The Treasury of Daniel" down. Dr. Prine has a wonderful way of explaining scriptural truths from the Bible which I found to be very inspiring. This is a very valuable book--money well spent! I'm telling my friends about it so they may also share in what I've learned. There really are secrets in God's word, and the author must have spent years in learning them. I also throughly enjoyed the life experiences he shares with his readers as he covers each chapter topic. Each one is different, awesome, and a jewel. This is great reading for every Christian. It is a privilege to recommend this exceptional work for God.

This author has touched the essence of the entire Christian experience--Prayer. Without it in the daily life of the Child of God, nothing but a shell is left. With it they can do great exploits. This is why we encounter so much spiritual oppostion when we become devoted to it. With so many addictions in the world today, wouldn't it be splendid if the Church became addicted to the one thing that really matters in life--calling on the one who loves us the most, and having the right relationship with Him?

Bro. Prine has rendered a great Christian service by also including in his book, valuable information concerning the Catholic Church; which I have long been concerned about. His has used solid research material, and makes a compelling case which should be throughly examined by anyone with a sincere desire for truth. I feel it is a worthy topic due to the media exposure given the problems within the Catholic faith at this time.

This book will give strength and understanding to anyone with a hunger for a closer walk with God. Without reservation, I recommend this extraordinary book.

The Treasury of Daniel is a profound and powerful tool that I find myself returning to again and again to get that special gold nugget of inspiration. It truly has been an enormous strength and insight for me both personally and professionally as a minister. Dr. Martin Prine will quickly move to the top as one of the great influencers of this generation.

I've found this book quite useful. There are lots of practical tips, tricks and techniques for VB 2005. I've gleaned a multitude of ideas for use in an intermediate VB class that I teach.

'Visual Basic 2005 Cookbook: Solutions for VB 2005 Programmers' by Tim Patrick is a perfect reference and solution manual for any and all Visual Basic 2005 developers. Written in typical great O'Reilly cookbook fashion, this book is chock full of nuts with 700+ pages of goodness.

Chapter Overview

01. VB Basics
02. Development Environment
03. Application Organization
04. Forms, Controls, Other Objects
05. Strings
06. Numbers And Math
07. Dates & Times
08. Arrays & Collections
09. Graphics
10. Multimedia
11. Printing
12. Files & File Systems
13. Databases
14. Programming Techniques
15. Exceptions
16. Cryptography & Compression
17. Web Development

This is simply a fabulous book that any and all VB programmers of today need to pick up. Not only will you save time, you'll enjoy doing it while reading this wonderful guide!!

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

There are various sections in this book that are pretty basic and unnecessary to even an amateur programmer but there are also lots of other sections that are just chock full of great stuff and even advanced programmers would benefit from them. It also suffers from the common tendency to say very simple things using a lot of words in order to take up a lot of space. I think I even found a tip or two which show up twice in different sections. That being said, there's still a whole lot of worthwhile material in this book.

If you're new to programming in Visual Basic .NET, but have programmed in some other langauge before, there is always this barrier that one faces when they know, to a certain degree, the task they want to accomplish, but often fall short trying to figure out the syntax or method to implement it here. That is what this book does. It's an essential cookbook, in the language of choice, that bridges that barrier.

It's also a great side-companion for beginners, mainly because the intro books do a fair job of getting people started, but they also need to figure out specific tasks or methods of doing things that tutorial books won't cover. It does not overstate the obvious, and it serves up pretty clear impressions and explanations on what it delivers.

Very helpful for a casual programmer like myself. Just remember to download the "recipies" to avoid retyping.

Where the Heart Is,is a book about seventeen year old Novalee Nation, who is seven months pregnant. She is headed off to California with her boyfriend. Little does she know, that she will soon be stranded at A Wal-Mart in Oklahoma. With a big adventure Novalee finds love in this small town and learns some life long lessons.Willy Jack was sick of his life, sick of lieing and as drunk as could be. While struggling through the train yard he falls and passes out. As the train comes rushing on the track Willy Jack has no idea of his fate. The terrible pinching pain was throughout his legs, instead of loosing a few fingers he lost both of his legs is my favorite part in this book. I would recommend this book to everyone. The meaning of the story is so bold it shocks you. By reading it you learn lessons and you can enjoy it at the same time. While I was reading this book it caught me never wanting to put it down. Feeling like you are an actual character in this book makes you think about the situations messaged throughout it. The constsnt mystery of what will happen next is why I would recommend this book.

Do you like heart warming, dramatic books well then you sure would like this book. This book has very unike names and wonderful characters. and how Novalee has wondrerful miricles and devistaving tragices.This book has a wonderful story written to it. Billie Letts has a great imagenation. If you read this book then you'll never forget it. Take it from me and I'm only a kid but this book is truley amazing!!!

Billie Letts created a true gift by writing this wonderful little book. I've passed it on to lots of friends who had never heard of it and it became their favorite book too! The warm, real, funny, quirky characters captured my imagination, making me laugh and then cry! The names of the characters themselves were enough to capture my heart!Such a strong name,"Americus", and "Novalee",a wonderful southern invention. Read this book... you will fall in love with it. Billie Letts... please write anoth

I loved this book and have passed it to everyone I know to read
Everyone who returns it to gives a rave review

Wonderful, feel good story of a young woman's triumph

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 1997-10-02

A warm inspiring story of a young woman abandoned tragically at a Wal-Mart. Novalee Nation struggles to build a life in a small town and is given lots of help by people others might consider society's outcasts. Never looking back, Novalee moves on. She is able to, or because of circumstances, is forced to look beyond the surface and she locates exactly Where the Heart Is. A lot of quirkly misfits carving out a community for themselves. I didn't want it to end.