Resources Books

If you are just beginning the quest for the deaconate or you want to know the role of the deacon in the Catholic Church, this book is for you. It answered every question I had and then some. I found it very informative and an "easy read". Since it's in a question and answer format, I could stop and start at any point without feeling I had to finish a chapter. It is very helpful in distinguishing how the roles of bishop, deacon and priest are related and how they are regarded in the Church hierarchy.

This book is written so that you are able to understand clearly what the Diaconate is all about. I received a lot of insight from reading these questions and answers. I belong to the American Catholic Church and being a woman that will become a permanent Deacon in our Faith Community this book has helped me to understand more fully the responsibilities and the background of this position. I urge anyone who is called by God to be ordained as a priest or a permanent Deacon to read this book.

I purcased this book for some indepth details about Deacons, this book met my expectations fully. It was just what I was expecting. Was fully satisfied.

I am applying for the diaconate program in our diocese, and this fast-reading book was an excellent introduction to the role of the deacon in the Catholic Church. Despite the renewed emphasis on deacons since Vatican II, there is still a lot of ignorance about the deacons' responsibilities and the nature of their sacrament of ordination. This book explains how deacons are different from priests and bishops, and yet how they are similar, as well. I have found it invaluable in my discernment about being called to the diaconate.

With the restoration of the vocational diaconate in several denominations has come a broad based lack of understanding of what and who deacons are. This is true of both laity and clergy. This little volume goes a long way towards addressing that lack of understanding.

It is written by a Roman Catholic for Roman Catholics with Roman deacons in mind. On this subject and for this audience it is a superb book on the subject. Even so, it has some information that may be of use to Episcopal and United Methodist people as well. Some of the theology presented is distinctly Roman. Other, such as the theology of service and the ministry of all the baptized has wider use.

The book is presented in a question and answer format. Typical questions about the diaconate are posed. The author then answers them in a logical and complete manner. The book is divided into eight general categories. A look at the category headings should give any reader an idea where to look to see if a particular question is examined. For example, one of the sections is on the liturgical ministry of the diaconate; readers would therefore know to look in that section to see about deacons presiding over baptism.

This is a great explanatory book and is easy to understand.

As the Director of Operations for a Silicon Valley company from the Boomer generation, understanding the Millennials can be a challenge! The book is a great resource with helpful tips on communicating effectively with the youngest crop of professionals. Short and filled with valuable to-the-point information.

This is a great book to help understand the new generation, what makes them tick and how to manage them. This is the kind of information that a VP of Human Resources would love and I've already recommended this to several HR executives to help them with current recruitment efforts!

I've been waiting for this book...
I had the benefit of early business advice at the onset of my company (from the author's ad company. Smart people, great info, I highly recommend anything that Orrell has to say about business.

Just when I think I understand the new generation, a book like this comes out and proves me wrong. Good reading for anyone involved with HR, any Managers over 30, and/or anyone who owns their own business and needs to hire the new young professionals. This book has practical advice that will change the way I do everything from hiring to incentive programs. Good stuff!

I review and promote a lot of business books on my community website for business professionals. I have not found one current book that discusses who the Millennials (Generation Y) are and how to best deal with these 20-somethings now entering the professional workforce. This is a very hot topic and something that has companies throughout the country concerned and baffled. Lisa's book is a personable quick-read packed with good info that any HR exec or Boomer/GenX manager will benefit from.

-- Gillian Parrillo, Founder and Publisher of [...], and retired Senior Executive of a Fortune 1000 Corporation.

300 Incredible Things to Learn on the Internet quenched my thirst for learning and left me wanting more! I want to know when 300 MORE Incredible Things to Learn on the Internet will be available. This book is a valuable resource for all ages. Parents, teachers, students and just about anyone will enjoy these interesting and incredible sites. Whether you need help on a tricky homework question or can't remember the capital of North Dakota, 300 Incredible Things to Learn on the Internet will help! There are sites on every topic imaginable! I never knew surfing the Net could be so fun! Hats off to these INCREDIBLE authors!

The authors falsely advertise this book when they say 300 INCREDIBLE THINGS TO LEARN ON THE INTERNET. Instead, they provide 300 classifications with several URLs included in each classification. An estimate based on an unscientific sampling of the 300 classifications, the book provides gateways to over 1000 incredible things.

I tested a few in areas of personal interest like Astronomy and Election, and asked my family members to do likewise (their choices). The sites that each one of us entered we agreed were informative and in some cases very entertaining. We felt some of the URLs were too slow. However, generally, we all agreed this book is a great gift for the newcomer (are there any left?) and the youngster to use for fun and reference...

Harriet Klausner

This book is full of wonderful web sites for all ages and interests. As the teacher for adults and teens new to the internet, I found this book to be an invaluable resource. A variety of subjects, listed alphabetically make the format very easy to follow. I want to spend my afternoons...cruising the 'net using these "incredible" suggestions!

To be honest I wasn't really expecting much when I was given this book as a gift. Still the book proved my wrong, proposing 300 really interesting things to do online! I was amazed at such sites as fun-with-words.com or vazelos.com which really bring the internet experience to a new level. Highly recommended. You 'll keep coming back to it when you are bored surfing!

Your book blew me away from page one! This book is more entertaining than any other educational guide to Internet sites and the best thing about it is that it's fun. Every person of every age needs this book. The topics covered are so numerous, this book proves itself incredible for all!

I picked up a copy of this book at the 2007 Hawai'i Conservation Conference, where author David Helvarg was a keynote speaker. Helvarg is president of the Blue Frontier Campaign, an ocean advocacy group.

50 Ways to Save the Ocean is a book with a mission. That mission is to convince the reader that:

1. The oceans are in trouble and need your help.

2. There are things each person can do to assist in the conservation of our oceanic resources, even if you live in Kansas.

Most of the ideas are good, and I appreciate that Helvarg went beyond the "donate money to..." strategies that most Americans get in their weekly mail solicitations (although he encourages you to donate money to a variety of causes and organizations). He promotes activism: volunteering, writing, and lobbying. He notes the power of consumerism in affecting how the ocean's resources are exploited ("follow the money").

I found that I do about 3/4 of the actions he recommends. The question is, how does this information get into the hands of those who are not already involved in ocean protection issues?

This is an excellent book to help teach your family about caring for our oceans! The ideas and illustrations are fantastic to read with kids. Almost all of the suggestions can be accomplished as a family, too. Going to the beach, going on a whale-watching trip, visiting tide pools, eating healthy and sustainable seafood, etc., are all great family activities! This book makes it easy to get your whole family together and interested in saving our oceans. Also really helpful in giving extra meaning to family activities, as everything can be prefaced with an interesting suggestion from this book. It will certainly also improve your kids' self-esteem, knowing they are helping the environment. On top of that, it is a great read!

If you saw An Inconvenient Truth and are wondering what you and your family can do about global warming, take a look at 50 Ways to Save the Ocean. It will help you through the thicket with lots of practical and yes, simple, ways each of us can participate in saving our planet.

Fifty Ways To Save The Ocean by environmental activist David Helvarg (founder of Blue Frontier) is an informed introduction to the innovative ways anyone can use to help preserve Earth's oceans and aquatic-life. Expertly guiding readers through diverse ways to effectively contribute to bettering the condition the great oceans, Fifty Ways To Save The Ocean provides a keen understanding of which fish should not be eaten and which species are endangered or could impact adversely human health; how to save energy and how that might help out the seas; proper diving, surfing, and tide pool equipment; support for local marine education; and keeping an ocean-friendly aquarium. Fifty Ways To Save The Ocean is enthusiastically recommended reading, especially for environmentalists hoping to do their part in contributing to the best health of Mother Earth's oceanic environments.

This book is truly an excellent resource for those of us that are concerned about the well-being of our environment but feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of the world's enviromental issues. Here is a book that gives us all really practical, realistic, and fantastic ways to help save our oceans! I absolutely loved this book, and had so much fun doing many of the suggestions (especially going to an aquarium, eating organic foods, going surfing with my kids, and maintaining an ocean-friendly driveway). All of the suggestions are not only informative but also very easy to do and fun!

As an educator I found this book to be a "must read" for students of all
ages. The reader gains a better understanding of what positive business
gains can be made when hiring within the disabled community. Further, the
author writes the book in a manner that allows you to know the "heroes"
within the company and gain a personal appreciation for what each one brings
to the work place, ultimately allowing a better understanding of the talents
a truly diverse workforce brings to enhancing the business and the lives of
each individual.

I hope this is only the beginning of Nancy Henderson Wurst's career in book
writing. Her ability to help the reader know and understand the lives of
the people she writes about is a true gift to the reader. This book is for
everyone willing to learn.

This book inspires people of all abilities to appreciate one another's differences. There are many interesting stories related throughout the book. It's a must read for all organizations.

I am lucky enough to know David Morris personally, he is an inspiration in my life. Nancy Henderson Wurst captures in this book what David brings to the world, and we all need to know that compassion CAN live in the successful business world. I've also been lucky enough to meet some of those who David hired, persons who were "unhirable" by traditional standards. Wow, what a thing it is to see ABLE where others see "disabled". Just imagine what that does for that person. David brings compassion, harmony and ease into the bigtime corporate world and into the lives of everyone around him. Seeing David live his life, run his business and accept others is a major catalyst for the creation of a new business venture I am bringing to the world. Just last night I figured out how to also involve ABLED persons into the mix! It took 2 months of brainstorming but now I get to also try to make a little difference in the world, and I feel great ..thanks to David! No kidding, if you are a business person who has a yearning to also contribute to the world AS you do business then you should read this little book, I bet you WILL find some possibilities in there that will bring beauty to your life ..and to others. Have a good day.

I've worked with the disabled for many years and I am in fact able myself after having suffered a broken neck seven years ago.
Nancy Henderson Wurst has captured the essence of compassion and understanding in this population as she introduces you to a man who has totally embraced our differently abled friends to his advantage as well as to their own.
David Morris at great risk and with tremendous courage creates a workforce consisting mainly of disabled people and turns his business into a gold mine.
Hiring people that no one else would have is a story that touches the soul and will enrich, enlighten and change the way you think of these precious souls you once thought DIS - Abled.

This book should be read by every C.E.O. who cares about his employees and wants to improve his company profitability; and should be required reading in every H. R. Department and business School. Mr. Morris has shown great courage and vision. He and Ms. Henderson-Wurst deserve to be given as much prime time publicity as possible to showcase the people in their book. I am 53 years old, born with Cerebral Palsy, trained as an Attorney, in London. I have never met an employer, with the vision of Mr Morris.

This job hunt system is designed to make for a speedy job search which narrows the field and locates the best position in a minimum amount of time. From using lead sources and creating master applications to networking and creating a job where none may exist, this provides important guidelines for serious job-seekers.

This is the book I've been waiting for. No hype, no cheerleading, just a book that shows you how to find your job very quickly. Unemployment is very expensive, and Dr. Ford shows you how to minimize it. I highly recommend this book to anyone who needs that next job yesterday.

This is an excellent job search manual for anyone who wants to get it done right. It takes years of experiences and nets it down to simple, directed steps. If you are looking for a book that is "fluff reduced" this is the book for you. Highly recommend it!!

Bookstall 99 is proud to add "The Accelerated Job Search" to our list of recommended business and professional books. We look at many books, recommend very few, and our reviewers must be in total agreement before we issue our approvals. This book we felt was exceptional in it's use of resources, in-depth research, timliness, and ease of reading. It is the only book on job search we are recommending. Dr. Wayne Ford has done an excellent job in producing a complete text for the job hunter, regardless of the level of experience. He logically lays out a sequential approach to getting organized, setting up an effective strategy, and following proven methods in achieving success. A particularly well thought out book with the reader in mind.

The system and techniques laid out in this book really work. The proof is that it helped me find a very good job in a short amount of time. It gives you the best techniques available step by step. I admit I bought 7 books when I started looking for a job. This is by far the best one. Everything I did improved, from my resume to time management to organizing. I am enthusiastically recommending this book to any and all job hunters.

I bought this for my husband - a definate "chocoholic". It is a great book and the pictures make your mouth water. It tells you so much interesting information about chocolate. If you love chocolate, you will enjoy this book - even if you can't eat the book.

Wow, all my Internet research seems to be right here in one book!
Thanks!

This book has something for everyone about the world of chocolate. If you want to know more about chocolate history or how chocolate is made, it's here. If you want to know where to find the best chocolate in the world, it's also here. This book makes a great travel guide for chocolate afficionados. You can find where to learn more about chocolate and where the nearest chocolate festival or museum is. This book makes a great gift for your chocolate-loving friends and family, as well as a great gift for yourself. All the information and fun facts about chocolate are located in an easy-to-manage paperback book at a great price.

I read my friend's copy of this book. Covers history of chocolate, chocolate around the world, locations of chocolate festivals and events in the USA, explains the different kinds of chocolate, chocolate terms (like bloom, tempering, etc...), chocolate recipes, and even shows listings on the web of where you can find chocolate information. I think it's an interesting book for this sort of general information

Carole Bloom knows all about chocolate and is willing to share it. A compendium of fact and highly educated opinion about the world of chocolate. Dependable and indispensable. It even includes a chapter on other books about chocolate, including fiction, which is the only thing this book is not. In that realm, Bloom and I recommend BITTERSWEET JOURNEY, A Modestly Erotic Novel of Love, Longing & Chocolate.

This book provides practical answers and ideas for helping children with sensory integration challenges to be succesful in the classroom.

People on the autism/Asperger's (a/A) spectrum contend with a wide array of sensory issues, one of which is sensory integration. For many people on the spectrum, sorting out relevant stimuli from the extraneous can be difficult. Imagine being in a classroom and being distracted by the odors in the room, such as those from people and materials. Imagine having heightened sensory modes so that fire drills and alarms, as unpleasant as they are, are amplified. Dr. Temple Grandin equated fire drills to "dental drills in the ear," which is a very apt and accurate description.

Many people on the a/A spectrum often have trouble using multi-sensory modes, e.g. looking at someone while listening to them speak. The multitude of sensory input can be overwhelming, which in turn can lead to melt downs. This book does an extraordinary job of explaining these things and providing tips and resources for responding to sensory issues. The book also has some good information about how sensory distraction affects learning and strategies and techniques in working around this.

Former Beatle George Harrison unwittingly described the a/A experience with his stellar gem, "It's All Too Much." The lyric "it's all too much for me to see...it's all too much for me to take..." aptly describe sensory overload. It is not uncommon for people on the spectrum to close their eyes or go someplace private to come even after being bombarded with sensory input.

Be sure to read "The Out of Sync Child" and "The Out of Sync Child Has Fun" by Carol Stock Kranowitz. Those books are excellent companions to this one in exploring this further.

I highly recommend all books by Carol Stock Kranowitz on this topic. This book is another winner. Some of her books have been translated into Spanish as well.

I purchased a copy of this book to give to my SID kids teacher. There are good descriptions of the types of behaviors that many SID kids experience. In addition there are many fun activities that a teacher can use with all types of children in their classes that benefit all of the kids. My son's teacher appreciated getting this guide.

Sensory integration is well worth understanding because it is estimated that 20% of all students in the U.S. are affected by sensory integration issues. There is little offered to teachers who might have to work with children whose ability to learn is often clouded by affects of stimuli. Carol Stock Kranowitz is the author of one of the best books on the topic called "The Out of Sync Child." Stacey Szklut, occupational therapist, discusses practical advice on how to assist learning for children with sensory integration problems.

The book outlines how problems in sensory integration can adversely effect learning and how to develop useful strategies to help struggling students focus and absorb. The book also includes simple advice on how to improve educational and social success for kids with this particular LD and how to network with other teachers who have used various techniques to help their students engage. The book is geared toward preschool through high school teachers of all subjects.

This is a great book on hydrology, the author is very famous in both hydrology and hydraulics area.

This is a well-written and fairly comprehensive textbook for the science and engineering of hydrology, suitable for undergraduate and graduate courses. I used it for a class taught by one of the authors (David Maidment), so it was a natural fit for the class, but I believe that any competent teacher could make good use of it. The example problems are useful and the explanations are clear.

I took a hydrology course taught by one of the authors (Larry Mays) using this book. Advantages of this book lies in (1) the arrangement of the contents is very logic-oriented, you don't feel aburpt jump from one chapter to another one, (2) the theory addressed in the text is concise, easy to read and understand, (3) the examples used to illustrate the theories are very correlated. Other books may be good too, however, in terms of "hydrology" alone, I haven't seen a better one. It is a useful reference for your understanding of hydrologic design manual, creteria.

A must have reference for those of you guys in the field of Applied Hydrology. If you are tackling the task of modeling some particular hydrologic process, you will find the detailed descriptions and flow charts very handy. Step by step derivations of equations, excellent referencing and convenient chapter setup makes this book a first-to-look reference. Although it is a 1988 print, you will hardly feel it unless you really dig into details like flow routing in meandering rivers.

I believe you will enjoy reading this book...

I use this text to teach a first-semester graduate class for civil engineers who are targeting a graduate degree with emphasis on hydrology. I've been using the text for nearly ten years. It might be a little advanced for undergraduates, but certainly is in the grasp of advanced undergraduate students.

Applied Hydrology is the text I wanted way back when I was in graduate school. Chow was still alive but had not finished the book. I was introduced to his writing in his open-channel hydraulics text, which I thought (and still think) is the best. Applied Hydrology was assembled posthumously by Maidment and Mays, who did a good job putting together whatever remained of Chow's work. I'm very glad they undertook the process and published the work. It's an important text for my discipline specialty.

Part 1 of the text covers the basics and does it well. This material is timeless and will not change much as new research comes available. Part 2 covers analysis and shows its age, just a bit. Unit hydrographs and lumped-flow routing are old technologies and while updates are inevitable, the basic technologies will not change. Chapters 9 and 10 are a bit dated as substantial work has been done over the last 15 years. They're still good, but require supplementation. Chapters 11 and 12 again contain great fundamentals but the technology is changing. The theory of linear moments (L-moments) is working its way into hydrologic statistics for fitting distributions to datasets. Furthermore, there is a trend toward using resistant statistics (median, inter-quartile range, and others) for description of the statistics of hydrologic datasets. Part 3 on hydrologic design is still good, but is also showing its age just a little. Again, the basics are great and well-explained. However, as new data become available and new analyses of those data are accomplished, new interpretations also become available. This is true especially with precipitation atlases and the estimation of n-year precipitation events, and hence n-year hydrologic events.

My observations are not an indictment of Applied Hydrology; it remains my favorite engineering hydrology textbook and I will continue to use it to teach engineers about hydrology. In my opinion, this is the best upper-undergrauate/graduate engineering hydrology text available. Like all textbooks, it is beginning to show its age because technology is not stagnant. But its descriptions of core concepts and the application thereof remains top notch.

I'm getting my Doctor of Ministry degree in preaching, and so I've read lots of books about giving sermons through the years. This is one of the best. Dozens of scholars have written articles divided up into different categories (style, delivery, preparation, application, illustration, introductions, conclusions). Timothy Warren has several articles defending the topical expository sermon. He is strongly committed to expository preaching, but he doesn't necessarily feel that this always has to be from just one passage per Sunday.

Haddon Robinson has a convicting article warning about plagiarism, and he also has a great article about planning your sermons ahead of time.

Rick Warren has a good article about purpose driven titles for your sermons. The title should clearly communicate what the message is about without giving too much away.

John Ortberg discusses the use of illustrations, and there are also articles about outlining and discovering the main point of the scripture passage you are preaching on (frequently referred to as "The Big Idea").

Don Sunukjian has some contributions to the book, and one article warns about using too much alliteration, which is often the result of the preacher forcing his outline on the text.

You could read this book straight through, or you could pick out the articles that interest you at that moment in time. Many of these articles were first made available only to those who had an online membership to a certain website. But now these sterling pieces have been compiled into this thick volume. The book also comes with an mp3 cd. Highly recommended.

This is an A-1, first class book. Very inspiring and worth every bit you pay for it. We need better preachers and this book will for sure help you be one!

this was an excellent book on preaching. it taught me so many things. i do not agree with everything, but most of it was excellent. i would strongly encourage you to buy it.

I recently received a copy of The Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching: A Comprehensive Resource for Today's Communicators, and have been browsing through it from time to time. Whether you're a full- or part-time preacher or even if you spend any time at all speaking in front of others as a Christian attempting to bring others to a better understanding of the Bible, or to bring them to a point of decision, you need this book on your shelf. It is the finest compendium of useful preaching/exhortation articles I have ever seen.

I've only just started to browse through this tome, but every article I've glanced at or read has excited me, filled me with ideas on how to improve my preaching and prep-time, and given me already useful techniques to make my delivery more effective. Many of the articles were repurposed from timeless Leaderhip journal articles, some were culled from the Preaching Today website's "Skill Builder" articles, but there are a ton of new articles written fresh just for this project.

About the two editors: Haddon Robinson is considered by many to be one of the finest preachers alive today. I've always enjoyed the interviews and teaching I've heard from Robinson, and he has a clear, fatherly style of teaching. The blurb from Preaching Today Audio says, about him:

"Dr. Robinson has been named one of the 12 most effective preachers in the English-speaking world. His text, Biblical Preaching: The Development and Delivery of Expository Messages, is used in more than 100 seminaries and Bible colleges in North America. He is also host of Discover the Word which airs on 400 radio stations across the world."

Craig Brian Larson is pastor of Lake Shore Church (Assembly of God) in downtown Chicago, and is the managing editor of Preaching Today. He's well-known in the world of sermon illustrations, having compiled several illustration compendiums (see Movie-Based Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching, volumes one and two, for example), and coauthored a guide for helping preachers add journalistic impact to their messages (see Preaching that Connects).

If you preach or teach at all, you really owe it to your listeners to pick up this book and refer to it from time to time. It will be a resource you refer to for years, and it will challenge you at every turn. This book is truly a gift to the Church!

Rich.

This is a thoroughly exhaustive resource in the toolbag of the pastor. The multitude of author's writing on a variety of topics from one end of the field of homiletics to another adds a fresh view to bringing a Holy Word for God to affect the "Fallen Human Condition."

The reviewer had to read the book for a seminary preaching class. It was somewhat tedious reading this long book cover to cover. This is expected when there is such a vast number of author writing, but this cross-over isn't necessarily bad. It does give weight to techniques that are shown to be pragmatic. None of the authors are claiming that "their-way-is-the-best." They are merely showing what's worked for them and what is tried and true. They are passing their perspective on...because everyone has something to learn.

So from the lay minister to the scholar, this is a worthy resource to be in your homiletical arsenal.