B Books

"It seems that there are too many drumers whose work is of a rough-and-ready variety and whose technical proficiency suffers in comparison with that of the players of other instruments.

Of course, TECHNICAL PROFICIENCY CAN COME ONLY THROUGH CONTINUED, WELL-DIRECTED PRACTISE.
The more practise one does the more proficiency he acquires.

Many concert pianists practise hours and hours every day.
They continue practising after they graduate from the student period and enter into the professional field.
Violinists, cornetists and the players of other instruments do likewise.
Through regular and systematic practise they "keep in shape".....

"Stick Control" is a highly specialized practise-book, dealing with just one branch of the art of drumming....."
[from the book of the preface by George Lawrence Stone]

A wonderful book to study and learn from. If you wish to improve your stick control, or challenge yourself in rudiment training, then get this book.

First off: initially this book just looks like a purge of random Right and Left hand patterns. If that were the case, Stone could have easily listed 250-65,000 examples. However, Stone chose the most practical patterns from this large number of possibilities. Awesome :)

I used this book to teach my hands to work with my LEFT foot doing the 2-3 rhuma clave rhythm. (naturally, just from practicing like that, i am able to do the other claves). before working with this book, i could BARELY do the clave and with any other hand rhythms. Now, not only can practically solo around the kit with the clave -- yay! :D -- but now I have come up with so many ways to practice the book, that I should have plenty of practice material for years to come.

AWESOME book. if you're going to practice it with ONLY the hand patterns, you might just get bored and discouraged. mix it up! make sure you have a steady pattern going on with the foot while you play the patterns with the hands. practice all of the exercises on the first 2-3 pages... then move the hand from the snare to other places on the drumset (if you're using this book for drumset). or try playing the right foot with the right hand..... this book is limitless.

I'm a beginner, unfortunately without hours a day to dedicate to practice. I do like to sit down with my pad and some sticks whenever I get a chance though. That being said, this book is very easy to understand, with no super-technical text or music notation. It's something anyone can pick up and start using right away.

Coupled with my Korg MA-30 metronome, this book has helped me improve so much that I decided to keep a log of metronome speeds over the last few weeks. Every time I sit down to practice, I write down the metronome speed for each exercise that I can play at with no mistakes. I have gone up 10 beats per minute (as high as 14 on some simpler ones) over a few weeks, in just a few minutes a day! Well, it's a lot for me :)

The funny thing is, I haven't even made it past the first page of exercises yet. For a beginner like me, they are difficult enough for now. When I get good enough at the first page, I'll move on to the second, and so forth. This further cements the book's value, there is enough material in here for a lifetime of learning, and if you're already a pro, enough material to keep you conditioned.

I'm still very slow but I can see benefit every day in both speed and timing. If you get this book and stay with it, I bet you will too. I recommend keeping a log so you can track your progress! Positive reinforcement will only make you want to practice more!

I was told that this was the best book for drums, by my drum teacher, a drumming student, and by a drummer friend. I read it, and I bought it, and I worked through it. I now think this is the best book I had ever seen on drums. Of course I can not say drumS, but Drum. It is specifically about the snare but it can really help you see beats, and stick control. If you do not know exactly how to read the music here then this is not the book for you. If you have a person who may be able to help you, or you have experience reading drum notation (which is not hard to begin with) then you are all set. Buy this book and learn how to control your drumming.

This is a great book for anyone to read. Very practical and easy to understand for any age group or financial income. Everyone should read this book!

To be clear, I am not a friend or relative of the author, nor am I associated with his publishing house or anything. I am giving this a five-star review because it deserves it.

The author is great at disseminating the identities that people take on regarding finance- such as the Scrooge, the Traveler, etc. He makes it abundantly clear why we think and feel the way we do about money. He encourages us to go into our earliest memories regarding money(if they're anything like mine, that's not so pleasent). I was really impressed with this book. I just finished reading "Conscious Finance", and this was far better. It ezplores the belief systems behind our actions, and then tells us how to actually change those beliefs.

Finally, a financial advisor with the courage to tell us that financial magazines are nuts for telling us to switch around our portfolios every time there's a full moon! I always intuitively knew this, but I was grateful to have back-up from an expert.

This is not a get-rich-quick book. Hardly. I'd say it was refreshingly conservative and reaffirming- the author doesn't demand that you never take on student debt, assume that everybody reading his book must already make $100,000+ a year, or tell you that paying your kid's college tuition payment is your no. 1 priority in life. No. He speaks to those that don't make a fortune, don't have a degree in finance, and don't always have their s*** together. Finally! I can read a book on finance and not feel guilty!

That said, he makes great points about saving and consumer debt- nothing really new, but without a bunch of complicated, left-brained, holier-than-thou nonsense. I felt encouraged after reading his book. That is a new one for me. For anyone who reads Money magazine or the like and feels like a failure because they don't have $10,000 to invest in some new stock or mutual fund every month, may I respectfully suggest reading this book. It will be an eye-opener.

Is it me or are all these "reviews" obviously endorsements from the author's large network of friends and contacts? I can't find a single "review" in the 25+ here that gives even a single sentence of detail about the book -- not one! These are all generic "terrific finance book for everyone - 5 stars!" Plus, nearly all these reviews were posted within the first 6 days of the release and each gave 5 stars. Not plausible.

I don't blame the author for asking friends to put reviews up, but then have them actually read the book and put together a real REVIEW, not a vacuous endorsement. This is especially important since there is no "See Inside" capability with this book. I depend on Amazon reviews when making decisions on products I'm buying here. I don't appreciate an obvious attempt to subvert the process.

This is one book that I'll keep on my shelf and re-read, and refer to as reference. The author's 35 years of experience really shows in his analysis on financial personality types and risk tolerance. He had me pegged! Based on a short self-test, he predicted the kind of spender and investor I am with accuracy. The book does go into pretty good detail for the beginning investor; it can make your brain hurt. But, that's what's great about it- the amount of information packed into this short book makes it well worth buying and keeping on hand.
The reason I only gave 4 stars: I disagree with him about not paying your mortgage off as quickly as possible. He uses calculations to show that by getting tax breaks for mortgage interest, you'll come out ahead if you invest the extra money instead. There's one thing he, and other authors who advocate this, have never addressed- the Standard Deduction. If you have unusually high deductions such as medical bills that puts your itemized deductions above the standard, then his system make sense. But, if all of your deductions, including the mortgage interest, comes beneath the standard deduction the government gives to everyone, then you would take the standard. So, you wouldn't be getting any additional deduction for the interest than you would without it. This makes it highly impractical to pay three times the value of your mortagage, if you have the extra money to pay it off more quickly.
No, I'm not a financial expert; I'm actually a complete novice when it comes to investing. But I have worked as a tax preparer, and in my own returns, I've always taken the standard deduction, since I didn't have enough itemized to top it. So, for me his recommendation makes no sense at all. You would have to evaluate your own deductions, and if you itemize, your tax savings, to make an informed choice as to whether you'd be better off investing the money, instead of making additional payments on your house. But, I think it's irresponsible for him to make a blanket statement that no one should try to pay off their house early.
That's the only thing I found wrong with the book. Other than that it taught me alot, and is well worth the read.

I have to agree with Lapis' assertion that most of the reviews appear to be fraudulent. Click on "see my other reviews" and most of them have only one review...for this book. I'm sure most amazon.com users don't post only one review. It's difficult enough to not carried away reviewing books and other consumer goods. It is extremely suspicious and I agree with Lapis that I often make purchasing decisions based on user reviews.

This is a very easy to understand book. It can be used by the novice or experienced person.

1. Life can heal itself. There exists a regenerative ability, force, and intelligence. There is a larger energetic template that directs cells to grow and differentiate. Colors of chi: red (boost overall energy, energizing no delicate organs, increase blood flow), yellow (promoting tissue growth, wound repair), Orange (remove constipation), Green (cleansing), Blue (stopping or reducing bleeding, pain relief, stabilizing), green-blue( relieving pain), Violet (cleansing and energizing), electric violet (cleansing and energizing - emotional disturbances). You can use your crown to project violet and electric violet chi. Throat to project green, blue, and green-blue. Tailbone to create red, yellow and orange (earth).
2. Meditation on Twin hearts a. sit with bowed head b. raise arms palms out c. Press heart energy point with finger to activate d. Feel feelings of love and compassion swell up. This can be done by bring up happy events. E. Activate crown by pressing with finger. Smile inwardly at crown. F. Palms facing outward in front of the body. G. Image the earth in front of you in the size of a small ball. Bless the earth with energy and goodwill . Feel divine peace within your heart flow to your hands and outward to the earth. H. See a beautiful golden light flow from your crown and your heart to hands and through your hands to the earth. I. Put your hands on your lap, palms up. Visualize a brilliant golden light just above your crown. J. Release excess energy to avoid congestion. K. Ground L. Give thanks.
3. Pre-surgery, general sweep with light whitish-green and light whitish violet, ten times with each color. Area to be operated on sweep with light whitish-green and light whitish violet, 10 times. Energize with light whitish green then light whitish violet for 5 minutes. Tailbone sweep with light whitish green and light whitish violet, 10 times each color. Energize with light whitish red for at least 5 minutes.
4. Post-surgery (2XPre-surgery) , general sweep with light whitish-green and light whitish violet, ten times with each color. Area operated on sweep with light whitish-green and light whitish violet, 50 times. Energize with light whitish green then light whitish violet for 10 minutes. Tailbone sweep with light whitish green and light whitish violet, 10 times each color. Energize with light whitish red for at least 10 minutes. Solar Plexus sweep with whitish green and light whitish violet, 100 times each color. Energize with white chi for 10 minutes.
5. Irritable Bowel Syndrome, solar plexus sweep with light whitish green. Energize with light whitish green, then light whitish blue, then light whitish violet.. Repeat process on navel.
6. Stress Relief, cord-cutting negative chi connection, sweep seven times with light whitish green then seven times with electric violet. Form a clear intent to sweep away any negative thoughts and emotions lodge in the solar plexus, front and back, for five minutes. Focus on between eyebrow, fronthead, and crown with energy color patterns. Optional perform Mediation on Twin hearts.
7. Clear, crisp pictures of your healing are helpful.
8. Establish clear intent.
9. Become sensitive to chi energy.
10. Energy aura has four principals: a. to absorb, distribute, and energize the physical body. B. a template for the physical body c. to control through energy centers d. to serve as protective shield against energetic contamination.
11. The unconscious mind controls the flow of chi throughout the body. The mind absorbs, assimilates, and distributes chi through out the body.
12. Functional boundary occurs when some emotional disturbance creates and energy disturbance. Energetic congestion can occur and health problems arise. All negative emotions are short lived if you don't resist them. We can feel the affects of fear in our body, racing heart, dry mouth, and tight stomach. Only after negative emotions have built to such intensity do they burst through.. If your mind clamps down on the smooth muscles of your intestinal tract, this can cause irritable bowel syndrome, vague abdominal pain, bleeding, diarrhea, or constipation. Denying or suppressing negative emotion gives it greater power.
13. Clearing, sweeping, energizing, and energy hygiene clear negative emotion energy.
14. You can clear negative energy with higher level thinking. Questions and answers will lead you to emotional root cause. Place light, nonjudgmental awareness on the uncovered emotion, trauma, or memory for a while.
15. Disposing dirty energy properly by visualizing you have a green fire burning in a bucket at your side, throw your dirty energy into it. When you are finished sweeping, extinguish the flame by visualizing a buck of water pouring on it. Or you can use a bowl of salt water.
16. Local Self sweeping : From a standing position, tap your throat, project green through fingertips, turn the dominant hand in slight cupped sweeping position, fingers pointing to the solar plexus, 4 to 6 inches away. Sweep with a tight counterclockwise motion, one per second, visualize green beams extending from your fingertips and penetrating several inches into the skin to scrape out grayish-brown dirty energy. Dispose the dirty energy.
17. Always project a pastel ring of color with a white center. Project a white disk with a pastel ring of colored chi. Dark colored chi are very strong energy and difficult to control.
18. Don't mix violet or electric violet with red, yellow, or orange. Both violet and violet electric are magnifying effects. Don't mix red and yellow. Dirty red and dirty yellow are the energy colors of cancer.

Excellent, well-written, easy way to understand. If you understand the power of energy, or want to understand it, this is your guide to a better life, physically abd emotionally.

easy to read and understand. won't take long before you are practicing on yourself, family and friends

This book was mailed to me in a fast manner. I am enjoying this book. It is about how you can Heal yourself. And it does work. Thank you

The Blue Djinn of Babylon is mouth-watering continuation of the Children of Lamp series. The twins learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of their djinn powers and discover some fascinating facts about their mom. Not to mention twins get separated by the Blue Djinn and have some wild hair-raising adventures trying to find each other. I'd tell you more, but its more fun to read the book! Let your imagination do the walking.

My daughter is a big fan of the series and really enjoyed this book and the first one as well.

this volume and the one after it kept us all involved till the end

The Blue Djinn of Babylon
By: P.B. KERR

The Blue Djinn of Babylon by P. B. Kerr is a story of magic and adventure that I would recommend to children who like fantasy books. The story begins with two unidentical twins John and Philippa Gaunt go practice there Djinn powers on one of the last warm days of the year. John and Philippa have just recently discovered there djinn powers when there Uncle Nimrod told them in a dream. Djinn also known as genies are made of fire so they can't use there powers to its fullest when it is cold. When Philippa enters a Djinnverso tournament (which is an ancient game only played by djinn) she is disqualified when someone takes over her body and says Philippa cheated. During the tournament the Blue Djinn assistant tells John and Uncle Nimrod that Solomon's Grimoire was stolen by himself accidentally! Now they have to arrange a meeting to get the book back. But little do they know it will put the twins in danger!

The Hanging Palace of Babylon is a enormous structure that the Blue Djinn lives and gets to design. The Blue Djinn is the ruler of all djinn good or evil so she must be beyond good or evil to so that it is fair for all djinn. Only women Djinn are allowed inside. The Blue Djinn has invisible maids to clean her house. The Hanging Palace of Babylon is underground in Baghdad. Outside the palace is guarded by terrible creatures. To get to it you must take a boat because it is a underground island. A Giant Bird guards the island and lets no one except the Blue Djinn past. A wish monster guards everything on the island including the Hanging Palace of Babylon.

You should read this book because this book you on the edge from beginning to the end.

Even though I am definitely not a young teen (unless 65 qualifies) I love the Children of the Lamp series. One of my granddaughters bought the first book at a school book fair; I had run out of my own reading material for relaxation; and, as they say, the rest is history.

After I finished The Akhenaten Adventure, I bought the Blue Djinn and Cobra King of Kathmandu. I am awaiting the next three books as much as my granddaughter.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R204LVUJTUQ3KE This is awesome, usable advice, and changed the way I think about business forever. I'm a landscaper, and the advice in this book is easily usable by anyone with a service or other kind of business. Highly recommended.

Although, I am always little pathetic when it comes to Dan Kennedy books - I must say that this one is again a masterpiece, and just do not trust a reviewer who says this one is a commercial for inner circle.
I am fan of Mr. Kennedy books I admit that, but if you will try to read at least any of his books - I started with No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs (No B.S. Series) - you will also become a long term fan of this author.
It's title is exactly what the book does - there is no BS advices, techniques & suggestions.
There is no usual "think outside the box, think positive, do your best and result will come inevitably" book.
There is a CONCRETE steps. There is EXACT advices. There are REAL world examples
Author says it's from his OWN carrier, unlike some new authors, especially in internet marketing topics, who's profession are author, and this is how he earn.
Here is a words from real word entrepreneur, who was selling himself.
If you take just 1 - I repeat only 1 advice what he calls - LET THEM SPEAK FOR YOU, I suppose sales will be lifted a lots and lots of times

I HIGHLY recommend this book to everyone who's mind is open to this fantastic, inspiring, fresh and invaluable book.

If you have never heard of Dan Kennedy and his No BS series of books, then you don't know what you are missing. Dan is a true salesman. Whether in print, copy, informercials or speaking he is always selling. And what's wrong with that? Some reviewers criticize that the books sounds like an informercial. That is what Kennedy does, he sells!

One of the key insights of the book is to never settle for second best, and always look to get the maximum returns for your efforts. You do this by holding yourself, your sales teams and your marketing 100% accountable for results. No ifs, ands, buts or excuses.

The book is broken up into six parts.

1. 15 Strategies for exceptional succes.
2. How to stop prospecting once and for all.
3. A No BS Start-to-Finish structure for the sale.
4. Dumb and Dumber: Things That Sabotage Sales Success.
5. My Biggest Secret To Exceptional Results In Selling.
6. Sales Tools and Technology.

There is also a "Bonus" Kennedy book reprinted in the back, "How To Read Anyone's Mind".

Highly recommended, but if you are not going to try some of the tactics and put them to use, then you may want to look elsewhere for something you are more comfortable with.

Cheers!

If you want the nuts and bolts of creating a deliberate sales process, then make this book a permanent fixture on your desk. Don't put it back on the bookshelf after you read. Use it as an ongoing tool.

Fight The Good FightKennedy is King when it comes to marketing. I own his Magnetic Marketing series. I can't began to tell you the valuable info I've gained from his products.

For quite some time I've been fascinated by essential oils. While they can at times be quite expensive to collect a few high-quality essential oils can go a long way.

This book is divided up into three main sections. In the first section there is a brief history of essential oils and an interesting picture to show steam distillation. There is information on why lavender and neroli stimulate new cell growth and how rosemary encourages healthy hair growth.

The second section is very helpful with ideas on which essential oils to use for a wide variety of common complaints. While it is interesting to note that cardamom and black pepper are good for heartburn, a recipe would be useful. If you want a recipe I can recommend the one for a chai tea in Savoring the Spice Coast of India: Fresh Flavors from Kerala. I made it tonight using soymilk and a rooibos teabag.

Part three in this fascinating book includes information on 165 essential oils. While I've read many books on essential oils there were numerous oils I'd never heard of before. In this section there are a few oils you want to avoid like wormwood that can cause brain damage. You may recognize bergamot if you have ever made Earl Grey tea. Could lemonade be part of a cure for arthritis? This book gives all sorts of new information and also has a helpful glossary.

While this book is comprehensive I think it would have been better to organize the essential oils according to their common name instead of their Latin name. Fortunately there is a good index so you can find your favorite essential oils fast. In the index you can find the common name (frankincense) as well as the Latin or botanical term (Boswellia Carteri).

If you are looking for any additional information I can also recommend anything by Connie Higley: Reference Guide for Essential Oils Tenth Edition, October 2006. I have the 1999 edition but have been considering the new edition to add to my collection.

~The Rebecca Review, currently wearing Aura Cacia Love Potion Essential Oil .5 oz. I love all the Aura Cacia essential oils.

This is the one book I would not be without.
It is very informative and helpful.
I am a soapmaker and use the information re: the essential oils to make aromatheray and therapuetic, skin softening soaps.

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Essential Oils is a wonderful book to add to a collection of knowledge of Aromatherapy. It contains very detailed properties of each essential oil - easy to understand and great for reference for all to read, learn and practice. If you can't find what you are looking for specifically for an essential oil, you will most definately find it in this book.

Gives uses for many plants and the essential oils but no complete details for making the remedies with the oils. Eg. how much of each oil to put into the natural remedies?

If I had to have only two books in my Aromatherapy Library, this would be one of them, along with The Complete Guide to Aromatherapy, by Salvatore Battaglia. I have been an Aromatherapist since 2003, I know - a relatively short time - but a productive time, and I could not have accomplished what I have without this book. It is a very complete list - if not the best list - of essential oils available in book form, with all their properties, chemical breakdown, methods of extraction, history, ancient uses for the plants and oils, modern uses, toxicity and as if this wasn't enough - the photos are marvolous and extremely helpful in identifying plants and the oil colour. Every plant gets a whole page and the format repeats and is so easy to follow. What makes this book stand out among its peers is the ease of use with an excellent index, glossary of terms, botanical index, botanical classification and references (just because a book has these thing doesn't mean they are always good or useful).
The most toxic of essential oils, which are hardly mention in other books , or, we are merely warned to stay away from for aromatherapy use, are also covered in Ms. Lawlwess' book, and I am glad for that because I want to know the "why" of everything. Why is it bad? After all - this is meant as a reference book, not a "how to". It is one of the most important books on essential oils and you are cheating yourself not to have a copy. I don't know if Ms. Julia Lawless is alive, and if she is, when she will come out with an updated version, but I sure hope so.

"If he desired to know about automobiles, he would, without question, study diligently about automobiles. If his wife desired to be a gourmet cook, she'd certainly study the art of cooking, perhaps even attending a cooking class. Yet, it never seems as obvious to him that if he wants to live in love, he must spend at least as much time as the auto mechanic or the gourmet in studying love." ~ Leo Buscaglia from "Love"

I smile as I type these words--just having Buscaglia's book, "Love," open in front of me is enough to make me happy. :)

Seriously. This is hands down one of my favorite books. I've purchased at least 250 copies of it. We used to give it away to all of our partners at my last business [...] and I used to bring a copy with me to nearly every business lunch I had. (I'm a little wacky like that. :)

I have no doubt you'll fall in Love with "Love" as well. By the end of reading it, you'll wish you could give Leo Buscaglia--a former Professor of Love at USC--a big ol' hug.

This is an amzing book to read for all time . Regardless of time ,place & seasons - it is amazing . Leo Buscaglia is one of the brilliant author of all time , an amazing poet of love & an instrument of LIVING & GROWING with LOVE . He is exactly right when he said : IF LOVE IS THE ANSWER WHAT IS THE QUESTION? From the beginning , I learned & read all his books , I cannot stop thinking about what the good & important phrases I ahve learned from him . He inspired me to live , to love & to grow with highest respect of LOVING everyone without any expectation in return . He is one of the KEY of my good & honest relationship to all . His book & all his writing are inspiration of my whole being . I will never forget the person who introduced me to read his books since 1987 , from then on She became the greatest inspiration of my life .
Leo B. is amazing . He can moved everyone to understand LOVE as the reason of our existence . I compared him to DALAI LLAMA of Love & Spiritual inspiration of all seasons . Thank you LEO B. for bringing your words & wisdom into my life .

With highest respect to you & your writings ,

Noel F. Cruz
University of Cambridge Teaching Hospital
Cambridge , England

This book is one that everyone who is in a relationship..or has children.. should read and pass on to their friends.

This book has been in my library for years. I have given copies for gifts many times, I wish I knew how many. The information in this book is so very important for everyone and written in such a way that it can be easily read and understood by everyone. Should be required reading in every high school and university.
I have read other Buscaglia books and found them all to be well written and filled with beneficial content.
Thanks for the opportunity to review a winner.

Everyone should read,no make that study Leo's books. This book opened my eyes and softened my heart. Anyone who reads it with an open mind will find themselves transformed. I am someone who grew up VERY ANGRY. My anger caused me problems upon problems and was a contributing factor in the breakup of my first marriage. When I hit rock bottom and knew things had to change, it was then that I came across a worn, slightly abuse copy of a book at a second hand store. The Title on it was simply "LOVE". Don't misunderstand me, I am far from free from my anger. Yet, those who know me will tell you how much I have changed. I feel Leo books, DVD's (I have several), and tapes have been a major factor in that change. I recommend ALL items by Leo Buscaglia.

Leo talks not only about loving others, but loving yourself. Love your face, even if your nose doesn't quite match the rest of your face. Love yourself for who you are, no matter who that may be. It's the funny and odd things about us that sometimes makes us the most loveable. So, buy this book and, if your paying attention to what is said in it, learn to laugh, hug, cry (yes, even grown men can cry), and fall in love with this rollercoster we call life.

Definitivamente estoy muy satisfecho con mi compra. Amazon.com siempre es muy puntual y eficaz en cumplir sus ordenes. Gracias! Cortázar es uno de los mejores escritores de Latinoamérica y el mejor en el género del Surrealismo y el relato del "sueño orínico." Sugiero que todos los buenos conocedores de Literatura Latinoamericana estudien este texto ya que nadie puede componer un laberinto imaginario mejor que Cortázar. También sugiero su libro de cuentos "La autopista del sur y otros cuentos."

Fascinating experiment with words, literary structures, feelings and emotions, Rayuela, in the words of its author, gives a chance to the reader to take an active role in the reading process by freeing up his or her own creativity to choose how to go about this game, what pages to jump to, what chapters to skip, in a stream of consciousness in which many will see themselves reflected.

Una novela que marca a todo el que la lee... el lenguaje en su máxima y más hermosa expresión.

La historia con Bèrthe Trépat, la carta de La Maga a Rocamadour, Talita pasando por el tablón y, claro, el capítulo 7 (toco tu boca...). Este libro me deja sin aliento. Nunca, pero NUNCA he leído nada de semejante belleza.

It has taken me years to sit down and finally make a serious commitment to read Julio Cortazar's "Hopscotch/La Rayuela." I cannot think of a better companion to devote a few weeks to, maybe even longer - hey, whatever it takes! It depends on your reading speed and the time you take to truly savor the poetry of the author's language. So, be willing to make a small personal investment in this very special novel, and the reward you reap will be a worthy one. Julio Cortazar will take you to places you have never been before in literature, and may never experience again. I read "Hopscotch" over this past summer, after a thirty year delay. I can be very stubborn about putting off what is good for me!! The author's imagination is boundless, his prose rich and luminous, his wit and sophistication rare, the dialogue brilliant, the plot...I won't attempt to describe that with a few adjectives. Wander through the extraordinary labyrinthine plot on you own - the way is yours to discover. I promise, you won't get lost!

I was introduced to "La Rayuela" about thirty years ago, when a close friend, with similar reading tastes, gave me the book. Enthused after just reading the novel, he told me that I reminded him of one of the characters, La Maga. (What a compliment...I think!). I was living in Latin America at the time. With personal interests at stake and much curiosity, I bought a copy in Spanish, which I read with some fluency back then. After experimenting with which way to approach the novel, and trying both ways, I gave up...and just read the parts about La Maga. I had little patience at that point in my life, and needed to acquire some, and to read slower, with more of a sense of play and participation. Cortazar wants his readers to participate - to make reading his book an interactive experience, not a passive one. I was and still feel touched when I remember my friend's comments regarding La Maga. She is a magnificent character and Cortazer's prose, his language, (Spanish), is exquisite. So, about a year later, I thought I'd give it another try, in English, perhaps with better results. None! I just wasn't ready, I guess. That happens to me with fiction occasionally. I have to be open to the experience. Yet, after all these years, I still thought of Horacio Oliveira and La Maga from time to time. And why not? They are truly unforgettable. As I wrote above, I did make time, at last. For an adventure of a lifetime, I recommend you do the same.

When Julio Cortazar published "La Rayuela" in 1966, he turned the conventional novel upside-down and the literary world on its ear with this experiment in writing fiction. He soon became an important influence on writers everywhere. "Hopscotch" is considered to be one of the best novels written in Spanish. The work is interactive, where readers are invited to rearrange its text and read sections in different sequences. Read in a linear fashion, "Hopscotch" contains 700 pages, 155 chapters in three sections: "From the Other Side," and "From This Side" - the first two sections are sustained by relatively chronological narratives and so contrast greatly with the third section, "From Diverse Sides," (subtitled "Expendable Chapters"), which includes philosophical extrapolation, character study, allusions and quotations, and an entirely different version of the "ending."

The book has no table of contents, but rather a "Table of Instructions." There, we learn that two approved readings are possible: from Chapter 1 through 56 "in a normal fashion", or from Chapter 73 to Chapter 1 to... well, wherever the chapters lead you. The instructions are all in your book and are extremely clear. At the end of each chapter there is a numeric indicator to lead the reader to the next chapter. One never knows where one will be lead. Due to its meandering nature, "Hopscotch" has been called a "Proto-hypertext" novel. Cortázar probably had this work in mind when he stated, "If I had the technical means to print my own books, I think I would keep on producing collage-books."

Horacio Oliveira, our protagonist and sometimes narrator, is an Argentinean expatriate, an intellectual and professed writer in 1950's bohemian Paris. He and his close friends, members of "the Club," do lots of partying, drinking, and intellectualizing, discussing art, literature, music and solving the world's problems. Oliveira lives with and loves La Maga, an exotic young woman, somewhat whimsical, at times almost ephemeral, who leaves behind her, like the scent of a light perfume, a feeling of poignancy and inevitable loss. La Maga refuses to plan her encounters with Oliveira in advance, preferring instead to run into each other by chance. Then she and Oliveira celebrate the series of circumstances that reunite them. Eventually, he loses La Maga, who loses her child. With her absence, Oliveira realizes how empty and meaningless his life is and he returns to his native Buenos Aires. There he finds work first as a salesman, then a keeper of a circus cat, and an attendant in an insane asylum.

As Oliveira wends his way through France, Uruguay and Argentina looking for his lost love, "Hopscotch's" narrative takes on an emotionally intense stream of consciousness style, rich in metaphor. Back In Argentina, Oliveira shares his life with his bizarre double, Traveler, and Traveler's wife, Talita, whom Oliveira attempts to remake into a facsimile of La Maga.

The game of hopscotch is only developed as a conceit late in the narrative. It is first used to describe Oliveira's confused love for La Maga as "that crazy hopscotch." The theme develops as a metaphor for reaching Heaven from Earth. "When practically no one has learned how to make the pebble climb into Heaven, childhood is over all of a sudden and you're into novels, into the anguish of the senseless divine trajectory, into the speculation about another Heaven that you have to learn to reach too." The variations on the children's game are described as "spiral hopscotch, rectangular hopscotch, fantasy hopscotch, not played very often." The allusions continue and include some beautiful passages.

"Hopscotch" is much more than a novel. Ultimately, it is best left for each reader to define what it is for himself/herself. Pablo Neruda in a famous quote said, "People who do not read Cortazar are doomed. Not to read him is a serious invisible disease." I don't know whether I would go so far. Remember, I put off the experience for many years. But this is one novel that should be read during one's lifetime. It is brilliant and it is fun!
JANA

My daughter got this within the past 1-3 years. She looked through it recently and enjoyed what she wrote at that particular age. She now is 13 and wants another one to fill out as her views have changed as she has gotten older. At age 13, she still likes Junie B. Jones books!

This is a neat book. Your Junie B. fan can read jounal entries that Junie B. has written about herself, which are very entertaining. Then, there is a space for her to write her own entry on the same topic that Junie B. just wrote. There are some places to draw and others that you just write. My 7 year old got this for Christmas and the first time she picked it up, she worked on it for more than an hour. It will make a great keepsake when completed.

I recently bought this for my daughter, it is supposed to be a Christmas gift however I am SO excited to give it to her that she just might get it early. If you have a child that has bonded with Junie B this is the PERFECT addition to their book collections. It is absolutly ADORABLE!!!

Oh my i go tthis for my birthday last year and as a JBJ book hater i LOVED this diary\book thing it was so cute and creativly written

My daughter loves this book and all the pics in it. She's a little young to write in it herself well (only 5) but she can't wait until she gets to fill it in with her details. Nice hard cover book too!

This is one of my favorite childhood books, so I was thrilled to share it with my daughter. We have both CDB and CDC now, and she loves them (and thinks it's pretty cool that Steig also wrote Shrek!) Besides the fun of sounding out the phrases and the laughs it provides, I think the books are mentally challenging and verbally stimulating for children of all ages. Educational maybe, but so much fun. Who doesn't love the illustrations?

Having enjoyed Steig's first such book as an adult, we sent a copy to a budding linguist at college. Upon ordering I was delighted to find this second enjoyable book available. Steig has such delightful images and twists of humor that I could not pass it up. Great fun in drawings and puzzling out the meanings.

I have always chuckled at this book, ever since I helped in my children's school library 20 years ago. William Steig has such a clever way of putting letters together and illustrating what he is trying to say. It is interesting to children of all ages.

I ordered this since my sister received it and thought it was a great book. Unfortunately, this copy does not come with the answers. Look for the hard cover version, that has the answers in the back.

CDB! (Stories to Go!)

I was very excited to find this book for my grandbaby. We had great fun with it when her aunts were small. Who would have thought back then that William Stieg invented 'text speak'. I even stumped my youngest daughter with NQ!