G Books

I probably would have liked this book a little more if I had read it before I read Ravished; it just seemed like a rehash of that book, only in a medieval setting instead of nineteenth century.

Also, the purple prose bordered on the silly side at times, making it hard to read with a straight face.

this book is fun to read. one of the only medeival books written by amanda quick.high in action.

This is definitely my favorite AQ novel. I won't go into a breakdown of the book, but I will say that besides enjoying the story, I learned more about how life was during that time.

A great read for any Medival novel or Amanda Quick fan!

I love these 1-title books from Amanda Quick. I know they are not a series, but each book has some similarities, but she always keeps it fresh!

I cannot believe all of the 5 and 4 star ratings for this book! I couldn't wait for it to end. Very formula and hoaky dialogue. If this is any indication of how Amanda Quick writes her best-selling novels, I think I'll pass up the next opportunity to read another. The purple prose was forced and ridiculous. If this was supposed to be a satire or comedy, it missed the mark and just came across as incredibly stupid.

"He found the valley that divided the luscious hillocks and followed its course to the hot spring that awaited him." (The words of Hugh the Relentless.)--Even though this is a medievil romance--way too hoaky.

"A cold, ghostly wind wafted from the dark corridor. It carried before it the promise of doom." (this is describing Hugh entering a dark cave and Alice, the heroine senses his presence by mental telepathy or something. OH PLEASE!

"Hugh was vengeance incarnate, a dark wind that would sweep all before it."

And these ridiculous passages were easy to find--they're everywhere in this book.

I say don't bother with this one.

I sent it to my son when he was in Afghanistan. It's a classic story

This book is one of the best books about the fire service I have ever read. I hung onto each and every word. It was though I was there sometimes.

During the tumultuous period of the 60s when author Dennis Smith wrote Report From Engine Company 82, the book was a cry for help from exhausted, frustrated men. Men who cleaned up in the aftermath of other exhausted and frustrated inhabitants of a society stretched to the breaking point.

As I type this, a younger firefighter in a comfortable, air-conditioned fire station among a population that by-and-large respects my profession, it's easy to forget the sacrifice of our past brothers who unceasingly fought fires, city hall and the population they served, until they had forged the modern fire service.

It's an important book for new firefighters to learn how the iron men of old did the job. And for the general reader it's a testament to both a volatile period in our nation's history, and to the timeless strength and courage by which good men have always worked to keep back the chaos of barbarism and destruction.

I spent 10 years in the fire service in both engine and truck companys. While I have many memories and stories to tell, the author, Dennis Smith, sums up the life of a fire fighter in an urban environment about as well as can be possibly told. Trying to balance the unpleasantries and sadness against the satisfaction of saving a life or helping a family overcome one of life's most agonizing moments is very well portrayed in this book. This is what a fire fighter's life is about folks. There is no other book that I can remember that tells it any better than this. If you're thinking of a career in a big city fire department or for that matter, if you're even thinking of becoming a volunteer fire fighter this book is a must!

I first read this book 20+ years ago, when I was under 20 years of age myself but streetwise from being the "wheels" (with a driver's license and a car) for various escapades all over Chicago in my raucous, hard-partying and utterly politically incorrect youth. Many aspects of "Report From Engine Co. 82" stuck with me through the years, and I've re-read it several times. Now I'm 40 and an ER RN in a Chicago hospital where we see more than our share of the extraordinarily dysfunctional lives of the people who live in poverty in the neighborhoods that surround our hospital -- the type of job and environment Smith portrays so well in "Report From Engine Co. 82."

"Report From Engine Co. 82." tells truths about the nearly inescapable poverty and illiteracy of people scraping by in lives that are marginalized in every possible way because they don't -- can't -- really care for themselves appropriately because they don't even know how. Poverty isn't what it used to be -- but it's still as screwed up as it was in Smith's first book. Most of our ER visits aren't really emergencies, just as most of the calls Company 82 responded to weren't emergencies, either. Nowadays, people call 911; when "Report" was written, that 911 system didn't exist yet. But not much has changed since then, in terms of what the firefighters/paramedics respond to and bring to the ER.

Most of the "emergencies" he sees are not emergencies. The non-emergencies, combined with the real emergencies, portray the dangerous and unthinking way poor people live through a combination of lack of resources, lack of experience with the "straight" world, lack of common sense, and minute-by-minute survival thinking. Most of these emergencies and non-emergencies are easily prevented -- if people had common sense, proper parenting, and a normal instinct for self-preservation.

These qualities, however, are surprisingly hard to come by in poverty, and this is what Smith dramatizes. The heroin overdoses. The stupid kids doing stupid things because they are constantly left unattended and to their own devices. Kids who shoot themselves in the thigh or foot -- or worse -- "playing" with guns. Fires that kill children because space heaters provide the heat slumlords refuse to provide in their code-violating buildings. The incipient hatred and distrust poor minority neighborhoods have of the white emergency personnel and firefighters who respond to their calls. The huge cultural gaps that make true communication and understanding so difficult -- even when you're both the same race and both speaking English.

What Smith accurately portrays is the way poverty-stricken people "live in the now" -- people whose entire lives are spent with no real financial or material stability or security. These are people for whom the concept of saving money for the future is impossible, either as a concept or a reality. People for whom making an appointment days or weeks in the future, and actually remembering to get to the appointment, is nearly impossible. Their main mode of thought is: what do I need to do now, what do I want to do now, what do I need or want to do in the next five minutes. This inability to think about and plan for the future is endemic, as is the inability to prioritize that which really matters -- one suspects because most of these people realize on some level they have no future that truly matters to the rest of society, and they're incapable of living as the rest of the "straight" world lives because they never have, didn't grow up with it, and don't know the language of living that life, let alone the mindset.

These are the people and children who have no insurance, no health care, no glasses when their vision is bad, no braces or dental care when their teeth are bad; who never use birth control (to prevent pregnancy OR to prevent disease transmission). People who don't understand why it's inappropriate to come to the ER with an upper respiratory infection and get pissed off when they wait hours for care while higher priority, higher-acuity patients (in respiratory distress, cardiac arrest, heart attacks, asthma attacks, and overdose, etc.) are taken before they are.

Conversely, these are also the people who shun health care until they are so sick they can no longer avoid it, and discover they have cancer... Cancer that could have been prevented or at least treated, often saving their lives, had they ever had regular health care -- but who are now consigned to an inevitable death they will blame on the healthcare providers who couldn't save them because they were at a stage beyond saving or treating in any way other than palliative.

Smith's New York is NOT the New York of Sex And The City. This is the New York of the infants whose welfare mothers don't immunize them, but have the latest, most expensive coats and boots because conspicuous consumption is how they live: you show how much money you have by wearing all that your money has bought you (rather than doing the far less glamorous but sensible things more responsible people, whose children were WANTED rather than accidental, do). The New York of the kids having kids who have kids, all of whom have never known proper parenting, nutrition, or health care. The overdoses. The children who come in with accidental poisonings or burns from household chemicals because no one was watching them. The attempted suicides with anything and everything -- cold medicine, knives, guns, illegal drugs. The kids raised by siblings because the parent is completely incapable, if they're even around, with or without the additional problems of substance use/abuse, addiction, or domestic abuse. The families which are largely single-parent families -- and where the parental figure may be an elder sibling, aunt or cousin who cares more for the children than their biological parent(s) does or is capable of doing.

This is also the world of the terrified illegal immigrants who wait so long to call for help because they're afraid of INS (now ICE) and deportation; by the time they do, they're often too sick to save. The penniless old people whose pensions don't cover their living expenses and who don't call for help because they're terrified of being discharged from the hospital to a nursing home and losing what little autonomy and material security they have left. The fractured families (with utterly dysfunctional dynamics) who interfere with the paramedics' jobs -- as well as the tight-knit families who are rich only in love for one another. The people who refuse help they desperately need because they fear and distrust the paramedics and firemen trying to help them, and because their healthcare illiteracy is such that they have no idea what is necessary to save their lives, and so refuse or avoid medical treatment that could stop problems in stages when they're still treatable. The mothers who speak no English, who superstitiously fear that emergency treatment will kill their children, yet who are so desperate to save their babies, they don't know what else to do, because all home remedies have now failed. The endless numbers of people who let their prescriptions run out or try to save money by taking less than the prescribed doses and then have severe health problems that wouldn't happen if they bought and took their meds as prescribed -- but who, for multiple reasons, can't and/or don't. The people who beg not to be brought to the hospital because "people DIE in the hospital" -- people who don't understand that their neighbors and family members who died in the hospital, died because they waited far too long to call for help, and were therefore were beyond saving when they finally got to a hospital.

Anyone who works in public service as a fireman, cop, nurse, social worker, or psych intake worker in a big city -- and in poverty-stricken, crime- and drug-infested suburbs and rural communities -- can relate to Smith's book. For everyone who majored in something else, this book opens a door and exposes the lives of people you don't even know exist, people you don't acknowledge when you're forced to share a bus or train with them during rush hour (or who you intentionally avoid by driving in your own car, despite the expense of gas, insurance, and time spent on the commute): the people who don't work, or the people who work wage-slave jobs like janitor, maid, fast-food worker, security guard, who can barely pay their bills or care for their children with what little they make -- or who blow it all on liquor and/or drugs and/or gambling (or all three) to escape the miserable hopelessness of their lives. The kids who have the latest "stuff" -- whether it's the shiny ten speed bicycles Smith writes about, or today's video games and cell phone/mp3 player/cameras -- but whose parents can't or won't give them what they really need: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a stable environment from which to emerge every day to deal with the life-endangering risks of walking to and attending public schools that do little more than babysit and warehouse kids whose futures include teen pregnancy (and the late-term, life-threatening miscarriages that go with total lack of prenatal care, with or without drug use), repeated incarceration, and shorter-than-average lifespans due to the daily likelihood of violence in their communities and their lives.

Smith's portrayal of this kind of poverty is not pretty but it is not unsympathetic -- there are glimpses of beauty and hope, mostly in the young women and children who haven't yet been ruined by their surroundings. Smith tempers it all with a matter-of-fact acceptance that although it is his job to care for these people, he may never really understand them because he's now too removed from that life, and he takes on faith that they possess human qualities they often fail to demonstrate. But some do show their humanity, and those are the people he does it for.

Smith does an excellent job of portraying the paradox that the job of these firefighters and paramedics is to help and save these people, which by its nature includes finding them WORTH helping and saving, at the same time as they move and live as far away from these neighborhoods and the associated poverty, crime and drug problems as they possibly can. This is not merely a racial difference. There are plenty of black and Latino paramedics, cops, firefighters, nurses and doctors who straddle the gulf (some might say 'minefield') between their class and the class of the people they help, in circumstances that are at best trying and at worst nearly impossible to help them transcend for any sustained length of time.

Smith portrays the sympathetic detachment required to know that this is what you do, all day, every day you work, with only the hope that one or two out of ten people will actually genuinely and sincerely thank you for what you do or have done for them -- which is that elusive reward you get, one that can make it all seem worth it when it happens -- and to hope that when you show up and give this of yourself on every shift, there might be one kid or teen who sees what you're doing, who still has enough time ahead of them to see this glimpse into another world... A world it is just *barely* possible for them to enter given enough determination, education, mentoring and drive, and sadly also given enough instinct to discard much of what they learn in their families about how they THINK the world works, versus how the world REALLY works for the more educated and better-off people who run it.

The fact that Smith can show all this without denigrating an entire class of people -- does, in fact, portray them with humanity and the grace one occasionally sees in these circumstances -- is because he also recognizes that he is not that far removed from the kind of poverty he sees on the job (he grew up poor, too). He recognizes and accepts that he is that kid who admired firemen as a boy and saw a different world -- he is that kid who made the leap to the next class up, to the working class and blue collar as opposed to poverty-stricken. He understands the dysfunction -- the drinking, the drugs, the abuse -- that occurs in the neighborhoods Co. 82 responds to because it occurred in his neighborhood, his family, his poverty, while he was growing up.

This understanding that few "get out" -- and that he was one of the lucky few -- underscores with sympathy his otherwise stark portrayal of the job of a NYC fireman in the 70s when NYC was not a desirable place to live and people did their best to escape "the city" as soon as their financial circumstances permitted it.

The uncensored version of this book (which is the one I've read multiple times) also shows the bizarre split someone who works as a fireman/paramedic, nurse, or doctor must negotiate within themselves -- the intimate knowledge you have of the bodies of the people you must save, which is merely part of your job but which you can't really talk about to any family member or lover who isn't in one of these fields. I don't mean merely intimacy with people's genitals -- though there is that, such as the way the Smith describes heroin overdoses getting icebags put under their testicles (negative stimulus, designed to bring unresponsive, unconscious people back to responsiveness and consciousness). I mean the intimacy of seeing people stripped of their modesty and dignity, voluntarily (prostitutes) or involuntarily (the terribly sick), whose personal space and body integrity you must necessarily invade, often in less-than-respectful or diplomatic ways because there is no time for those niceties when someone is dying and you're trying to save them. People who don't work in these fields can never really understand how you can be unaffected by the nudity, exposure and/or intimate knowledge you have of these total strangers, and the disinterest or casual attitude with which you greet what would shock most everyone else.

And, of course, you're not unaffected by this knowledge. Sometimes you're disturbed, or someone or something sticks in your mind -- the things you've seen or had to do -- and is recalled in inappropriate moments with your loved ones. You're not unaffected, you're just emotionally calloused or you compartmentalize it, in order to repeatedly perpetrate and endure this violation of the boundaries between strangers and its inherent power imbalance: you, as the emergency personnel, never have to reveal any of these intimacies to your patients... but they must necessarily, willingly or not, reveal them to you. This includes the mentally ill and the hopelessly drug-addled or dopesick (or both, combined) -- sometimes the most disturbing intimacy of all: the insides of their heads and their distorted, sometimes frighteningly unhinged, perceptions of the world around them.

Exellent book on snowflakes. Great photos and educational info on the formation , etc. This book makes a great gift.

I have read this book quite many years ago, or just two, and I can honestly say it's beautiful in the most breath-taking way. The photographs are seriously impressive and I don't think you've ever seen snowflakes quite like that. The text is great as well and you get to learn a lot of things about snowflakes.

Don't think this book would "steal" the mystery of snowflakes, as with everything in life, the more questions are answered, the more questions. So with this book.

I recommend it to anyone interested in snow and snowflakes in particular. It would make a wonderful gift, also. I can't recommend this book enough.

This handsome book should motivate the reader to appreciate -- perhaps even delight in -- every snowfall. The photos are superb; they are often curiously interesting and always a visual feast. Libbrecht provides an easy to understand description of the formation of snow crystals (not all of them are flakes, he points out.) The book will encourage some readers to want more, and Libbrecht provides a companion volume -- a Field Guide -- for that purpose. This is more than a mere coffee-table volume. Libbrecht makes the physics behind the snow crystals not only understandable, but charming. Libbrecht uses clear prose without "dumbing down" the science. Now, if Libbrecht will only produce another volume with 3D or stereo views...!

The photos in this book are breathtaking! This makes a great gift for a hard to buy for person. I bought it for my father and he loves it!

Well written, with unparalleled photos of snow crystals. The book contains accurate physics, nice insights into snow crystal morphology and growth and is at a level that will engage almost everyone. Enough information here for a physicist to enjoy the book, but presented in a way that will not intimidate the layman. Just gazing at the pictures of the snowflakes will inspire wonder at the beauty of these little ephemeral creations, and is an antidote for frazzled nerves any time of the day, in any season. I've bought several to give away and one for myself, and it probably won't be the last one.

The reviewer below who thought the author doesn't give enough credit to God for the amazing design of the snowflake, may be a little too demanding. Perhaps the author thought the little crystals speak for themselves, and lets the reader draw his own conclusions. I can't look at these beautiful pictures without marveling at a God who is so creative He doesn't "know when to quit"!

This is my favourite Jeeves & Wooster story yet. The story had me laughing out loud; a bit annoying for my wife trying to work nearby. This is a great story and a handsomely bound, affordable book from Overlook.

This has to be among the best of Wodehouse. As so many other reviewers have remarked, the novel has a fluid feel to it; total and complete chaos. Starting with an ominous phone call from Aunt Dahlia, Bertie jumps from bowl to bowl constantly in the soup.

I loved the quotes from this book, on things being gruntled and what not. The characters are also amazing. Sir Watkyn Bassett, the treacly Madeleine, with Spode running after Bertie wanting to break his bones, the dog Bartholomew (this was perhaps one place where I almost laughed out loud) which terrorizes Bertie and Jeeves when (I think) they have to take shelter on top of the cupboard-Bertie goes to great lengths introducing this terrier. The moment is when they throw a candle at Bartholomew and it eats it.

The cow creamer plays no small part in the plot. It is a hideous silver jug that uncle Tom collects. Aunt Dahlia wants Bertie to 'sneer' at it by saying that its modern dutch, which might lower its value, apparently.

There is also Stephanie Byng and stinker Pinker who constantly trips over things. And constable dobbs, Aunt Dahlia herself, and Gussie Fink Nottle. There couldn't have been a more ridiculous set of characters than here.

This,and perhaps some of the Pig books (Pigs have wings, and Summer Lightning come readily to mind). I wish the world were as nice as that depicted by Wodehouse.

Believe it or not, I am 74 years old and had never read
about the trials and tribulations Jeeves put up with
Bertie Wooster. I have never laughed so much in my life.
I am now going to get my hands on every word P.G. Wodehouse
ever wrote. I truly would have loved to meet the man.

The Code of the Woosters, by the inimitable P. G. Wodehouse, is a fun and enjoyable romp with Bertie Wooster and his Man Jeeves. This novel features numerous plotlines, including but not limited to, the battle over a cow creamer, a lost notebook, romantic entanglements, the theft of a policeman's helmet, a potential jail sentence for Bertie, a dictator, and more romantic entanglements. Each plotline is brought to a conclusion by the brilliance of "Plum" the excellent English humorist. The book is full of hilarious one liners and brilliant wit. Amazingly, this novel was first published in 1938, yet it is still full of timely situations.

This novel of classic comedy introduces us to Totleigh Towers and its owner, Sir Watkin Bassett. Several memorable mainstay characters are in this book including Gussie Fink-Nottle, Aunt Dahlia, Madeline Bassett, and Stiffy Bing. Any journey taken with Wooster and Jeeves is time well spent. This classic series endures because the characters are wonderful and memorable. A 5 star fun-filled romp.

An early critic of P.G. Wodehouse complained that his second book was identical to his first, only the character names had changed. In response, Wodehouse resolved to continue writing identical stories, but to keep his character names the same. And so, The Code of the Woosters is nearly identical to all other Jeeves and Wooster novels; Bertie gets into a sticky situation, inadvertently makes things worse, and is ultimately rescued by Jeeves. Could any one of them possibly be any good if they are all so unoriginal? Yes. In fact, they are all excellent. How? Wodehouse was a genius; reading any one of his books will prove it to you. His characters are unforgettable. His narrative is brilliant. Above all, his books are hilarious, and The Code of the Woosters is one of his finest.

Betram (Bertie) Wooster, a lazy, bumbling (but well meaning!) gentleman living in Britain during the early 1900's, is pressured by his aunt Dahlia to steal a cow-shaped milk creamer from Sir Watkyn Bassett, a magistrate who once fined Bertie five `quid' for `pinching' a policeman's helmet. The task is made complicated by the presence of Roderick Spode, the amateur dictator who founded `the black shorts' and who is a friend of Sir Watkyn; Spode is watching Bertie like a hawk and threatens to break his neck if he sees Bertie so much as glance at the cow-creamer. Things go downhill when Gussie Fink-Nottle (a newt fancying friend of Bertie's) suffers a snag with his engagement to Madeline Basset (a dreamy girl who holds opinions like `the stars are God's daisy chain,' and who thinks that Bertie is madly in love with her). Bertie rushes to patch things up between them, but nearly becomes engaged to Madeline himself. In the end, only Jeeves, Bertie's brilliant, (almost) all-knowing manservant, can guide Bertie out of these troubled waters.

If you aren't familiar with P.G. Wodehouse's dynamic duo, you owe it to yourself to read this book. I guarantee you won't be able to stop laughing. Nearly every line is comical. The narration itself (the story is told by Bertie) is positively hilarious. And so, I give The Code of the Woosters the highest marks I can!

You know what ? This is a great book !
Being a french reader, I waited that I'd improved my english in order that I could really appreciate such good novels.
Ian Fleming is excellent at slowly revealing the psychology of his main character. And Fleming write with a skill and sureness of touch that go straight to the essential, without any "fioritures".
I do recommend this book to anyone who simply want to be appealed by good stories.

This is the best by Fleming. A real treat to read! Danger is what Bond gets into.

I've always ranked the first Bond book, "Casino Royale", as the best of the series. "On Her Majesty's..." is also one of the best -- perhaps because it has much in common with "Casino". Bond returns to the gambling tables of Royale; he enjoys various foods and drinks; he falls very hard for a girl, with potentially tragic results; and he comes across as very human, rather than the Superman of the movies (contrast the effortless skiing ending in a parachute jump or some other stunt in a typical Bond movie with Bond's desperate, exhausting downhill escape run that is a highlight of this book).

One of the best Bonds.

In Ian Fleming's On Her Majesty's Secret Service, James Bond is chasing Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the villain from Thunderball. Bond has to do a bit of role-playing in this classic Bond thriller, and he plays the part of a professional from the College of Arms (an organization dealing with genealogies and family trees) with panache. The novel begins with a terrific display of suspense, as Bond is in eminent danger. This feeling also lasts through most of the novel.

This novel is set mostly in the Swiss Alps at a sort of combination ski facility/ scientific lab. Bond is posing as a man from the College of Arms because Blofeld has expressed interest in his heritage. The novel continues as Bond attempts to find out all that he can about Blofeld's strange facility on this Alp.

The first part of the book was not quite as exciting as I had been expecting, but it provided enough humor for me to be satisfied until it got to the more action-filled sections. However, this book provided more than humor and action. The plot was excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The skiing scenes were especially suspense-filled and exciting, Bond's romantic interests complemented the plot, and the characters were full and vibrant.

I decided to read a Bond novel after having watched several of the movies (you know how they all come on tv at once,) and I am glad I did. This novel was surprisingly good even though my expectations were high. This book is better than the movies because instead of mere sound-byte-intensive humor, it provides a real humor that I found to be much more affable than the movies. Also, Bond is portrayed somewhat differently than in the movies. I found that the action scenes were just as vivid as they are in the movies, something that is not often successfully managed by authors. I believe that any Bond fan should read the books, not just watch the movies. Trust me, they are at least equally enjoyable.

I think that this book is at least comparable to today's suspense novels, and my only complaint is that I was not around in the 60's to read it when it was a new and, I suspect, rather progressive novel.

One of the last of the original Bond Books, On Her Majesty's Secret Service is also one of the best. Picking up a year after the end of Thunderball, this book finds James Bond again battling the nefarious schemes of Ernest Stavro Blofeld and SPECTRE and, most importantly, falling in love with the beautiful, resourceful, and ultimately tragic Tracy. Though the usual intrigue is well-presented by Fleming, he also makes it clear that Blofeld's plan is hardly meant to be taken all that seriously. (Without ruining it for those who might never have read the book or seen the surprisingly faithful film adaption, it all comes down to Blofeld hidden away in Switzerland, pretending to be an allergist, and brainwashing English farm girls. No, it doesn't make a lot of sense but Fleming obviously had so much fun presenting it that most readers won't take offense.) The heart of this book -- and this Fleming treats with an admirable seriousness that should take his critics by surprise -- is the love story between Bond and Tracy. In Tracy, Fleming has created perhaps his most fully realized "Bond girl." Vulnerable yet resourseful and more than capable of taking care of herself (and, at times, perhaps even more so than Bond himself), its hard not to fall in love with this character and when Bond finally does decide to reject all others for her, its impossible to disagree with his logic. Its a compelling, rather touching love story and, even though most Bond films know how its going to end, the ending still packs a heavy impact.

As for Bond himself, after being a rather predictable presence in Thunderball, he's back in full form as a full realized, interesting character in this novel. On Her Majesty's Secret Service was written after the release of Dr. No (Ursula Andress even makes a cameo appearance at the time) and one can sense that, with this book, Fleming is reestablishing his claim on the character. From the intentionally ludicrous evil scheme to the frequent excursions into Bond's head (revealing him hardly to be the ruthless, unflappable killer that filmgoers though him to be), Fleming comes across as a reenergized writer in this book -- determind to let all the new Bond fans out there know who is really in charge of their favorite secret agent's destiny. The result is one of the best of the original Bond books and one of the best spy thrillers I've read in a long time.

This book is amazing because it allows us to understand the roots of our frustrations. We live in times of despair: our planet, our families, our loves, everything seems to be melting away on one side - on the other, our quest for a real progress is wider, we want peace and harmony, more than ever in the previous ages of wars and revolutions. The author brings to us a profound, maybe definitive, light on this point, "where our civilization went wrong", be it outwardly, or inside ourselves, with our desires and our values.
Please, don't read it only, but make it be read; don't discuss them, but try those solutions, and, if they do work, let's start it all over again with our lives.

Gregoire De Kalbermatten lays out the spiritual and history perspective of mankind's evolution.

The book is well written and easy to read, provides a truly deep insight into the human condition, and offers practical solutions for the direction of humanity.

The book is for everyone who has ever asked the question "what is this life all about / why am I here"

I've read this book sevaral times and always found new things to chew on ;-). The author clearly describes not only the decadence of the western society but clearly states the zeitgeist of our whole modern world. Everybody who just looks a little bit deeper under the surface, sees that the status and mind of the world isn't in good shape, facing destruction on every level, from global down to personal, effecting every human being in one way or an other.

A possible solution to all this is the way the author explains. It's nothing new of course, basically stating - change the world by changing yourself - but why should truth be something new, it always has been the same and will be. Circumstances are changing, as clearly described in "The Third Advent", relating the "story" back in history as far as 6000 years.

An amazing book altogether

It does not take much intelligence to realize that the current state of affairs are unsustainable. Corporate Scandals, wars, corruption, pornography , economic recessions, environmental damage, genocide- we have all witnessed some impact of atleast one of these in our lives. And things appear to go worse as we go along.

Undoubtedly there are good things to cheer about which make life worth living. But they are declining.

This book takes stock of the current situation in this world and suggests a way to improve. This is not some super philiosphy meant for a few selected ones. Neither its difficult to tread. It can be implemented upon by everyone.

Mahatma Gandhi once said "you must be the change you wish to see in the world" . This book precisely advocates this. Its a book about you a change in human conscisouness can bring about profound changes in humanity. This book recommends the way of Sahaja Yoga - the path suggested by H.H Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi. (for more details go to www.sahajayoga.org).Mataji has written Meta Modern Era which is an excellent guide to know ourselves.

"A great storm is gathering, and hatred is on the rise." This is the entrance of Mr. de Kalbermatten's book The Third Advent. Apparently a man aware of the world's woes, he outlines the sufferings and injustices from time past to current world events. This exposé is intertwined with messages that mankind's hope lies in a shield made of wisdom, love and compassion. He brings to light famous saints and philosophers along with obscure (to the layman) visionaries that have graced this human experience with their divine message. These messages seem to be somehow encoded and he shows us throughout the book the key to understanding them, "Man must wrestle with the letter of the scriptures to pierce through to the inner core of real spiritual understanding of the Spirit".

Mr. de Kalbermatten through many examples enfolds the fruitless search of mankind for outside stimulants that trigger only frustration and disappointment. Instead of looking for reality in our seeking, we delve in escapism created by a suspension of disbelief. This is where alternative realities of perception are created so that we can escape our existence. There is a need to realize that the stimulus of our seeking is spurred by an inner urge that can only be satisfied through introspection. "It would seem a great waste that we could all be walking along a corridor of dreams that leads nowhere." Although with an enlightened perception, the writer tells us, we could see dreams as a gate to a new reality. He states that this urge that drives our seeking, this "gate" to reality, really exists and he proposes that there is a crossing between the worlds. This crossing seems to be an effort that requires synchronicity of a collective action. The key to open this gate appears to be the quest, and this key although very ancient, can be found in our present reality. Curiosity fuels this quest. This quest, he intimates, may be the result of many incarnations. Each life we pick up the trail from the last one. The gate equates to the One, the One who is the gatekeeper that lets us into the true Reality.

The author relates adulthood with the loss of innocence, the innocence of a child's belief in the magic of life. He speaks of his own seeking throughout the world, of life's true meaning. He found disappointment, betrayal, danger and the deadening effects of cynicism, "Looking for reality, we have run further away from it and into magnified delusions." At this low point of his life, in essence representing the disillusioned state of most of his peers, is when he discovered the Key, in the form of a woman. It starts with twilight, where we cannot perceive anymore what is reality. Where certainties evaporate and different options appear. As Meister Eckehart expressed, "It is in darkness that one finds the light."

The author relates that through the feminine power man has been spurred to evolve spiritually. It was the suppression or neglect of this feminine power that mankind focused on the masculine powers. This brought advancement in conquests, discoveries, industrial technology and industrial growth. Although, as Goethe tells us, "Womanhood leads us above". For mankind to realign their path to ascension, to achieve equilibrium and balance, they must raise their awareness of the feminine power.

Throughout the book we find references about the gate. The gate to spiritualism, the gate to the garden of knowledge of good and evil, the gate of man's relationship with his intelligence and spiritual potential and man's search for the key to this gate through signs and symbols. The path to this gate begins with pure desire. Poverty removes temptation of the unattainable, affluence affords the leisure to seek the deeper meanings of life but the temptations cover the scent of the search. Where is the middle way?

The Key, the Gatekeeper that Mr. de Kalbermatten found offers the solution to enter into Reality. He speaks of an inner energy that once awakened raises the consciousness of mankind. Raises from what into what? This is an amazing world that is unfolded. He speaks to the businessman, to the layman from every level of our society, to the most resolute seeker and shows how this is possible at every level. "As we change so does the world." He reveals the importance of the connection of God - man - and the whole collective. The next step of our evolution is from homo sapiens to homo spiritualis. This all begins with self knowledge or knowledge of our spirit.

There are many snippets of truth in literature. There exits exposure of excess unveiled by many people well connected and in the know. But Mr. de Kalbermatten gives us the whole pie. Somehow through reading his book I can envision his description of the Garden of Eden, where the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, the ultimate wisdom, exists. It seems our life is this garden, and the tree the choices that unfold within it. The author describes wisdom as follows, "It's main purpose, at the gate of our brain was to feed the intellect with real knowledge... Wisdom empowers us with inner sight to witness the plays of light and shadow, to absorb the first and reject the latter." It appears that it is in the recognition and acceptance of wisdom that we can progress.

Further, to quote Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, "True and lasting solution to present ills can be found only by inner collective transformation of human beings." The author's allusion to the magic in life can be found in the process of Self Realization. This is the master key to the Gate of Knowledge.

I highly recommend this amazing and truly inspiring book to all seekers of truth - even those amongst us who are not (yet) aware they are seekers.

Herbert Reininger,
International Atomic Energy Agency
Vienna/Austria

"Cotillion" was actually the first Georgette Heyer book I have ever read. I'd heard of Heyer through word-of-mouth and even in other novels (like Bridget Jones's Diary), but just never seemed to get around to reading one of Heyer's novels. I am so happy that I did. It's basically as if I've "discovered" Heyer and now I'm eager to get my hands on every single novel that I can. I've read a lot of regency-inspired romances over the years and I have to say, that when it comes to realistic, this book is the closest I've ever come. The dialogue is full of phrases and slang (like, "it's all the crack") and the mannerisms of the characters feel real and authentic. Occasionally, I couldn't help but think that Freddie was gay. Sorry, but it just kept popping up in my head every time he commented on someone's hat or shawl... -but I let it go. One thing I was surprised about was the actual lack of overt romance. Rather, it was subdued and subtle throughout the book. I really loved this book. Read it. If you don't like regency romance novels, don't read it. But then, I'm not sure why you'd be on this page in the first place if you didn't.

This is my first Georgette Heyer novel. I had a hard time getting into it. The first quarter of the book is rather slow and dull. However, once into the story, I found it very quirky and fun. I did not find it to be a romance though. Freddy and Kitty don't have much spark. And although I realize that this was not the intent of the author, I kept waiting for Freddy to come out of the closet. At the very least he is a metrosexual. I like my heroes a little less interested in female clothing and style.

But if I look past the idea of this book as a romance, I enjoyed it. The banter is great. The characters are hilarious. I would definitely recommend it.

This is classic (and therefore brilliant) Heyer. Not your usual Regency fare in terms of hero & heroine, but that's what makes it so unique and sweet. The cast of characters is full, but doesn't detract from the main plot; rather it helps the two along their sometimes bumbling way.
If you're looking for a keeper, this one is worth the money.

If you loved Friday's Child (my very favorite Heyer book) you'll love Cotillion.

Most Heyer books feature heros who need to grow. In Cotillion, a classic comedy of manners, our innocent heroine (madly in love with a romantic, dashing figure as the book begins) learns to appreciate the real worth of a very average man.

Sweet, gentle humor-- a book that gets better with every read.

Kitty Charing's guardian, the crotchety Mathew Penicuik, has promised that she shall inherit his fortune if she agrees to marry one of his great nephews. Kitty, however, wants none of them. What she does want is a trip to London, a place that she's never been. So she arranges a hoax engagement with great nephew Freddy giving her a good excuse to go to town to meet his family. Once in London she becomes a woman of fashion and gets entangled in all sorts of scrapes and misadventures.

Overall, Cotillion is pleasant historical fiction that while rather loosely plotted is carried along by the strength of a charming cast of characters. These include: the half witted but affectionate Lord Dolphington, foppish Freddy who has immaculate taste on everything from waistcoats to drapes, and the darkly handsome Jack, a notorious gambler and ladies' man.

The story starts with Kitty dealing with multiple marriage proposals and matters of the heart. However, during the entire middle section of the novel her romantic future is put on hold as she plays cupid for others. I felt as though this took too much focus away from Kitty as a heroine. She pales a bit in comparison to the far more interesting couples and situations around her. I got the impression of her as a kind hearted ingénue, but not much more than that.

Also I felt that Kitty and Jack's past and present relationship was rather poorly defined. We are made to understand that they had some kind of involvement in the past, but the exact nature of it eludes us. Was it a simple school girl crush as Kitty insists? Or was it something deeper than that as Jack seems to believe? This is a problem when Heyer attempts a love-triangle conflict at the stories' climax. Because we do not know whether Kitty really feels anything for Jack at all, there is a definite lack of tension, romantic or otherwise.

In the end, Cotillion is more of a feel good story than anything else. Suspense is minimal, and the novel's true strength lies in the journey and not the destination.

On a side note, there is a lot of unusual and (I suppose) period appropriate vernacular. For example,
"Wonder if he's playing a deep game?.. No saying what might be in his head, a curst rum touch Jack! Shouldn't have thought he'd whistle a fortune down the wind though. Rather fancy he counted the old gentleman's rolls of soft his own. Never knew such a fellow for wasting the ready! Played wily beguiled with his own fortune!" Pg 48-49.


Recommended if you love regency stories or light-hearted cozy reads.

Not only did I like the tape, it was so inspiring. The shipping was within alloted times.

I have used Mindfulness techniques with many clients in my private practice, but in the last couple of years have begun working with mentally ill inmates in a maximum security prison. These inmates are often depressed and feel out of control. I was looking for a way to help them understand their feelings and regain a sense of control over their circumstances. They have responded very positively and are applying the principles to their lives. We recently started a meditation time where they meditate at the same time of day even though they are in separate cells and not able to directly communicate with each other. This has been a powerful, positive experience for them. The book has been a hit with a very tough audience.

I was actually led to seek out information on meditation as a treatment for depression through a book called Surviving America's Depression Epidemic by psychologist Bruce E. Levine. That book takes a highly insightful approach to investigating the sociological and personal genesis for depression and I credit it for saving me from succumbing to this condition. Afterwards, I bought "The Mindful Way through Depression" to supplement Levine's more brief explanation of meditation as a therapeutic modality.

Three psychologists - J. Mark G. Williams, John D. Teasdale and Zindel V. Segal began investigating why it was that people who became depressed once would experience constant relapse even after treatment. They eventually were led to the work being done by Jon Kabat-Zinn who had been researching the benefits of meditation at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

The approach they eventually created is called Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (or MBCT), which begins with the understanding of human psychology branching out of the Buddhist contemplative traditions of ancient India. This understanding of reality is then applied to findings of Western cognitive-behavioral therapy. Despite its Buddhist influences, the practice is completely secular. There is no mention of Buddhist concepts such as anatta, dharma or nirvana but the essence of the contemplative traditions is still present. The meditations in the book and on the CD are focused on experiencing the present moment as it unfolds here and now. This is what is meant by mindfulness.

Some of the reviews on this page mention "curing" depression. Yet, like Dr. Levine, the authors of this book redefine depression - not as some inherent chemical or genetic fault that needs to be eradicated with psychotropic drugs - but as a habitual reaction towards our unpleasant feelings. Taking a poignant insight from Buddhist philosophy, the authors realized that much of our suffering is due to an aversion towards our own unpleasant feelings. (Note: Depression is NOT unpleasant emotions themselves. Negative feelings - sadness, fear, anger, anxiety, etc. - are benign in and of themselves. It is a pattern of reactions towards these feelings that is the depression.)

Feelings - both the pleasant and unpleasant - are important messengers which contain vital information about whowe are and the state of our lives. However, when depressed, we often become paralyzed by our unwillingness to be with our fear, sadness, anger, anxiety, etc. This initial aversion cycles into depression in a complex interplay between our emotions, thoughts and behaviors. This is why we often find ourselves sinking deeper into depression the more we try to "think" our way out or just "snap out of it." At worst, these attempts only serve to further estrange us from our emotions or cause us to start ruminating, cementing our depressed thoughts. At best, they serve only as a cosmetic and temporary solution.

I was happy to discover that MBCT addresses some of the shortcomings of traditional CBT that Levine criticizes in his book. CBT has a preoccupation with thoughts specifically - neglecting the nuanced relationship between our external circumstances, our emotions, thoughts and behaviors. Likewise, I found CBT tends to be exhausting. Who can stand to analyze their thoughts constantly, especially when they don't have an understanding of where those thoughts are coming from to begin with? The mindfulness practices in this book place thoughts in the wider context of life itself and bring us out of our own heads. The "Body Scan" that begins the CD is an excellent way of bringing one into the entirety of the body and opening to the physical, sensory experiences most of us have come to ignore.

Eventually, what these practices serve to do is awaken one to the true nature of living. Depression itself can be seen for what it is - a pattern of thoughts, feelings and behaviors - that we eventually learn to transcend. If you are currently depressed, this may all sound highly dubious. I myself was skeptical at first. But, having nothing to lose, I read through the book, practiced the meditations as described and suspended judgment for the eight weeks recommended by the authors. Within the first two weeks, it started making more sense. I felt I was living more "in the moment." When depressed, our days often feel monochromatic - everything runs together in a big jumble of anxiety, numbness, inaction, etc. Weeks go by and we feel like we haven't actually LIVED through them.

Mindfulness completely transformed this familiar experience for me. My days feel longer and more varied. I started noticing tiny details like where I hold tension in the body, when I needlessly and repetitively feed anxieties with negative thoughts, and started to notice things in the world around me more. Many people construe "curing" depression with banishing all unpleasant emotions. However, this is neither possible nor desirable. These sorts of emotions will always arise. However, the aim is to learn to be open to them instead of becoming overwhelmed by them. I can't really explain exactly how different this feels, but it felt like being a child again: awakening to the newness of each and every moment, as a child experiences the world, is really the heart of mindfulness.

This book and CD would certainly do fine as a stand-alone if you are just interested in feeling better. The insights into the workings of the mind and emotion are remarkable and all supported by the latest research. The CD narrated by Kabat-Zinn is extremely helpful as well in setting up a regimented practice and commitment to yourself to get better. If, however, you are also interested in learning about depression as a cultural, sociological and historical phenomenon, I highly recommend Bruce Levine's "Surviving America's Depression Epidemic" which touches on many topics not dealt with here, including the role of schooling in teen depression, shyness or social phobia, abuse and neglect, the role of depression for artists and musicians and loss of community in modern-day society. Both are excellent books, however, that deal with different aspects of the same topic.

Before I start I just have to say that this book is FANTASTIC and is a really exciting step forward in the treatment of depression. At last - a non-drug approach to one of societies most overwhelming problems: Depression.

As a person who has suffered from depression in the past and as a therapist, I truly enjoyed this book from start to finish. It told me all I needed to know about mindfulness and taught me the process in a very comprehensive yet easy to follow way.

I had read several books on mindfulness by various authors before receiving this book. Compared against the others that I read, I found this one to be the most clear, so even if you do not suffer from depression, but are looking to learn mindfulness, this book could be just what you are looking for. The other bonus with this title is that it is not repetitive like similar titles I have read - it just tells you what you need to know.

Some observations that I would make though are as follows.

1. There were a few spelling and grammar mistakes throughout, however they didn't affect my `reading flow', so this should be an issue.
2. The layout of the separate sections could have been better laid out. It shows you how to follow an 8 week program in the end of the last chapter. I would have liked to seen it laid out so that you read and practice a section at a time rather than learning everything before you start.
3. There is a warning in a couple of places in the book that warn you not to us the program in is entirely now if you are experiencing an episode of clinical depression. This somewhat confused me as the title of the book is `The Mindful Way THROUGH Depression.
4. The book comes with a CD... It was recorded using the voice of one of the authors, Jon Kabat Zinn. The meditation entitled `The Body Scan' seemed a little rushed. As a personal preference, I used an old CD that I had from Jon that was much better quality for me and worked well.

These were the only negative things that I picked up and wanted to include them to make this review as balanced as possible. There were so many things right with this book though that the comments above are small concerns against all the things that you will get out of reading it.

So in conclusion: this book is easy to follow, very inspirational and motivates you to learn mindfulness and overcome your depression. It is simply fantastic.

Warmly,

Richard MacKenzie
Author of Self-Change Hypnosis

I feel very grateful to the authors of this book, having suffered from recurring bouts of depression over the past dozen years or so. For help, I tried several books on cognitive therapy and saw a few therapists who focused on this approach. But, each time, after initial improvement, I ended up in a mental boxing ring fighting with the same old repetitive, negative thoughts. I would try to substitute negative thoughts with more realistic ones, as cognitive therapy encourages, but I soon realized this process would go on endlessly, without any real change. As someone wrote in an earlier review, it was exhausting. It never seemed possible to me that depression could be dealt with at the level of thinking since habitually negative thinking is the main problem in depression!

In "The Mindful Way through Depression," the authors really take the reader to a different level in handling negative, ruminative thoughts and their accompanying difficult feelings. I love the underlying theme of the book: that it's not the content of our thoughts that's important, but rather the present-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, physical sensations and surroundings. Emphasis is also placed on deeply accepting all of these sensations -- not running from them in fear or aversion, but approaching them with gentle awareness and curiosity and allowing them to be there. There's a huge freedom in this, but it takes perseverance.

One point to note: I think it was wise of the authors to state at the book's outset that a person suffering from fairly severe depression should wait until he or she is on the mend before attempting to use the book. Personally, I think trying to do some of the exercises would be very difficult during a deep depression.

Finally, while the book is completely non-secular and beneficial to anyone, it will probably be particularly appreciated by people already interested in areas such as mindfulness, yoga, meditation, and "Westernized" Buddhism.

This book hit home. One of my best friends gifted me with this book and it has been one of the best gifts ever. I work full time and have a 10 month old daughter. After reading just a chapter I felt relieved to know I am not the only one feeling stressed with all there is to do everyday while maintaining a home, work, relationships,etc. This book gives permission to slow down, and it says it's okay to stop and listen and not do the big birthday parties and attend all the holiday parties and events. Just being and listening and not doing anything together is time well spent.

As others have noted, this book is a series of reflections about motherhood and the importance of slowing down to savor daily life with loved ones.

This book energized me to make several changes in my own life. Part of my motivation for homeschooling this year was a desire to have a more conscious, contemplative, and purposeful life rather than a frantic-mad-dashing here and there life.

In fact, as the holidays approach, many of my friends are feeling "swamped", "overwhelmed", "stressed" - feelings I remember all too well from previous years. While I still have my moments, overall I am much less stressed than last year. The overall tenor of the holidays is much happier and calmer. I have done my best to pare the holidays down to the essentials, to keep things simple and personal, rather than grandly extravagant. Extravagance has its place, but when children are young, I think simplicity makes so much more sense.

I loved this book so much I chose it for my book club of busy suburban SAHMs. I was quite surprised to find only two (out of nine) loved it as I did! Three thought the book had "some good ideas", but they clearly didn't connect with the author.

The other four were quite negative about Mitten Strings. They felt it was too preachy and perfect and Pollyanna-ish, that "real" people couldn't live like the Kenisons without lots of money. But it's not a financial lifestyle she is talking about, it's an internal one, it is simply making a conscious effort to notice, appreciate, prioritize and streamline.

In trying to figure out the mixed response to this book in my book club, I came up with a couple of ideas. I think the crux of liking the book has to do with the following:

First, it depends on whether you are at a point in your life where you actually consider rushing madly to be a negative thing, rather than proof you are productive. Some people feel empowered and energized by rushing and being busy!

Second, it depends on how contemplative you are feeling when you read the book. The more contemplative you feel, the more likely you might enjoy the book.

Finally, it depends on whether you enjoy visual and poetic language. The author writes with a heartfelt, genuine sentimentality that, while I enjoyed it tremendously, can apparently be off-putting to people with more pragmatic sensibilities.

One reviewer said they would not give this book to a parent of an autistic child, or one with Down's Syndrome. I actually think this book has considerable merit for families with special needs children - the key is knowing WHEN to give the book. I have a child who was diagnosed with autism at 3, and when he was younger and we were rushing around madly from therapy to therapy, ransacking our home to make it an engaging learning environment, etc..., I would not have been in the frame of mind to appreciate it.

In fact, according to my three criteria above: the mad rushing was proof I was doing everything I could to help him; who has time to be contemplative when you are trying to save your child from autism; and poetic musings about the wonderful lives of families with typically developing children would have been quite upsetting.

NOW I see things differently. I think the ideas in the book have even MORE relevance for children with special needs, who often thrive in calm, centered environments. I think children with special needs deserve to have their progress, however slow or small, deeply savored and appreciated.

Well anyway. This is not a book that EVERYONE is necessarily going to love, in spite of the steady parade of 5 star reviews. Nevertheless, I join the parade and give this book 5 stars based on my own incredibly positive experience reading it.

I truly enjoyed this book. It is not a religious book (despite the title) nor a parenting guide; it is a deeply spiritual look at what it means to be a family.

Mitten Strings touched me in such a way that I felt like I was reading a letter from a good friend. There was a sense of peace reading it and imagining my family in her book. Her basic premise is to slow down, notice the details of your children's lives and be present with your family. But the book goes so much further than that. We all know to slow down...but to be reminded how magical it can be, with illustrations that are so tender is even better. I highly recommend this book and in fact purchased seven more to give to my friends as a special gift. I'd love to meet the author (Katrina) and sit over a cup of something on the front porch while our children run circles around the house!

It is rare to say but so true. It was given to me by an older woman and it truely changed the way I parent my two boys, see life and helped me create a summer that I will treasure. A must read for those who want to slow down and get off the "treadmill" of life.

This has to be one of the most enchanting romances published for YA literature--ever. I fell in love with it in jr. high and even as an adult I find it oddly appealing. It's labeled a "supernatural romance" and I can think of nothing better by which to call it. It's odd, it's beautiful, and it manages to care for other aspects outside the initial gothic romance.

In fact, what pulled me in was how simple was the idea. A little boy is cursed by a witch--always a good fantasy route--and his big sister wants to help him. And she happens to do this by becoming a witch. However, she is not just a witch. She is a teenage girl in a very real world (not that the reader won't love the supernatural area) who is going through the traditional fight of growing up and finding one's place.

The writing is rich and flowing, the characters are all three-dimenionsonal and engaging, and who doesn't love a bit o fo the psychological? And yet it still maintains a simple fairy tale feeling.

Laura is a normal girl with a sweet younger brother and a frazzled single mother. Her life is ordinary until the day her brother is stamped with the image of a horrible man. Laura turns to Sorry, an older, intriguing boy who she believes to be a witch. Will he be able to help her?

This story is entrancing to read. I first read it as a 13 year old, and I still find it fascinating. It is a great read, especially for those interested in witchcraft stories.

This book is amazing. The writing is so simple and so beautiful that the images stay in your head for days after you've finished it. The story is about change and transformation, seen through the eyes of the two very different main characters. Both of them is different at the end, and has a different place in their lives and their families. The romance between Laura and Sorry really moves you, because they learn to love themselves as they fall in love with each other. Also, the magic and danger feels so real and not stupid or made up at all. The best thing about this book is that when you finish it, you feel transformed too. I love this book.