J Books

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2W8JTJRNU1GWM Living on Love: "The Messenger" book by Klaus Joehle is both very interesting reading and a great self-help book.

I found it in 1998 when author was emailing it to anyone who wanted to read it and in return asked for $5 -- but only if the reader loved the book. I got my hands on the book -- and found that it's hard to step away from reading this fascinating story about the Power of Love.

I loved the book and felt extremely happy that there's a way to show the author my gratitude not just with words but also by sending him $5. It was the first time I paid for anything I got from the internet! And I'm still very happy with that transacion - it was the best money I every spent!

From the book I learned how to send love and I'm using it ever since to transfrom my life into a dream that comes true.

Until they begin teaching sending love in schools, buy the book and teach your kids sending love. You too will benefit from learning to do it. It's as easy as "imagine as if Love is radiating from the center of your chest". Do you feel a smile forming on your face? That's the power of love that Klaus Joehle shares in his books!

In this video review I also mention other books by Klaus Joehle: Living on Love: "The Shameful Secret" (The Rest of The Story) and "Money is Love - Some things are worth believing in"

...when I used the information in it, even not yet fully knowing how to do it. An amazing tool is disclosed to you, one that you'll probably use - to your own joy and for the joy of your loved ones, - for the rest of your life.

A beautiful book, with great power.

Read this book and it will dawn on you that you choose the events that occurs in your life.

Once you are convinced that you are in 'the drivers' seat, go to Klaus's website and read 'Money is love' it will give you instructions on 'how to drive'.

My life had changed tremendously from reading the books that Klaus had written so far and I hope others will benefit from them was well.

Ang

I have really enjoyed this book and have ordered 3 more for people that I think will enjoy it. This book caused me to really look at my feelings and work with loving myself and others. Doing this has helped me to be much happier and to be able to respond in a much more positive way. I feel that life is getting better because of it. In fact, I know that it is.

You must read this book, think about it a few weeks, and read it again. It solves the mystery of what love really is and it changed my life.

When one reads "Lizzie" it is difficult to fatham that this delightful story of a young girl is J. Robert Whittle's first novel. His style possesses the genius of Dickens and the sensitivity of a Bronte. He brilliantly captures the essence of this precocious former street waif as she begins to make her mark on eastside London. I can't wait to read the next three books in the series! A true delight!

These wonderful books by J. Robert Whittle may not appear to be available on this site, but believe me they are available -- and you don't want to miss them!! The first book quietly became a Canadian bestseller through sales only near his own town in BC. Now they are working with a distributor at last and these gems will be easier to find in 2004.

All Mr. Whittle's novels (he has 5 now) are read by readers of all ages. I know, because everyone from my grandparents to my kids, and nieces and nephews, have enjoyed them. Why? Because they're like an English Anne of Green Gables ... wholesome and lots of fun. Lizzie is some spunky girl and her best friend is a boy, so great for guys too. I can't wait till Book Four comes out in 2004! Have a look at the author's website for more info. Thanks Mr. Whittle, please keep writing!!

Lizzie reminded me a great deal of Dickens. It is set in the same time and era as many of his classic tales, amidst the same tapestry of sights and sounds... and ever present, foggy, London. I love stories about little girls with a punch, and this is definitely the story of a little girl with a punch. Dickens couldn't have written it... too politcally incorrect.

I'd consider this book a hidden gem, and only "hidden" because Whittle is a new author, and still relatively unknown. I couldn't set it down the whole time I was reading it. I greatly enjoyed it and recommend it to anyone.

This is the first book in the Series. Mr. Whittle has a great imagination and does a great job of keeping you guessing what Lizzie and her friends will do next. I recommend this book for readers and non-readers...for the young and young-at-heart. Everyone will love Lizzie!

This book is just the first of the Lizzie series. It is a wonderful book and is even good for teens. I got the privelege of meeting the author, Robert Whittle while on vacation in his home town of Victoria. He is absolutely endearing and is a wonderful writer. I can't wait to read all of the rest of his books. Lizzie is such a warm and exciting character and this story just makes you feel good! Very vivid....just takes you right there to where it all happened. I highly recommend it to all!

An interesting book. What happened in the military and the result of experiences before and after. An insight into the life of someone with PTSD.

I had a wonderful time reading Bonnie's book. Call me biased I had the privilege of serving in the Air Force as an airman under Captain (then Caceres)command while we were both stationed at Blytheville Air Force Base in Arkansas. I read this book with great excitement quickly cover- to-cover and I laughed, cried, sobbed, and lastly "cheered". I loved all the stories Captain Bonnie shares with the reader all entertaining and enlightening. She tells candidly about the horror of the Marines she cared for to the myriad of her painful struggles with her sexuality, the disolution of her marriage, and her hopes for Jason her son currently serving in Iraq. What I read only confirmes what I already knew about "Captain" Bonnie when I was in the Air Force. She is plucky, she is gutsy, she is courageous, has a heart of gold, and last but not least she is a "SURVIVOR." This is a phenominal testimony of the patriotic, brave, women in the Armed Forces that have served and are serving. The reader will not be disapointed in purchasing this gem of a book! I salute Captain Bonnie one more time with all my heart and all my everlasting gratituted for all that she has accomplished, what she has given me, and with hope for those Armed Service Memebers who are suffering from PTSD will find in this book words for healing.

I met Bonnie Tierney on October 4th, 1973. Air Force Basic Training was the first step on a journey that would change our lives forever. Bonnie and I quickly grew into the role of military women. She became the "Guide" for our Flight--the person marching alone at the front who sets the pace and keeps us on course--as we marched through the streets of Lackland. Fast-forward, 34 years later, and Bonnie is still proudly stepping out in front, leading the way for those of us with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Her book is a must read for anyone suffering with this disorder, for the people who love us, for those who attempt to heal us, and for those who follow in our footsteps.

A path crosses and a light goes on. This is the way I felt when my path crossed Bonnie Tierney's, and I was given a chance to read her work. She has opened my mind with her enlightening experiences and persistent truth as she has delved into the recedes of her past. No bars are held on this one, rather she has opened her reader up to more than just her experiences as the Casualty Officer, but instead has taken us all to the root of her very being. She has given us all an opportunity to view it as it was then, and feel it as she does now so deeply. Whether you agree with war or do not, this is a must read. For inasmuch as this is a true account of the aftermath of such an atrocity, and perhaps because of this honest endeavor to convey Ms. Tierney's feelings, we are all called to the reality of it's depths and the psychological torment of the families of the victims and those brave men and women who lay down their lives as well as their memories. I urge you to read this book and convey this urgency to your friends....For this reason I state this case and remind you that it is only.....Every now and then a path crosses......

It's time that Americans and the rest of the world understand how devestating war is to those who participate - on either side. Our soldiers, men and women, go to battle as innocent patriots - they leave scarred for life. I am a woman veteran who witnessed the results from a distance. It is not a pretty site. I did not serve in a war zone but met with the results by interacting with soldiers who returned to different stations after fighting in Vietnam. That alone was traumatic for me. I witnessed the horror of their lives.

Bonnie Tierney has done a great service by describing her experience. I know it must have been a painful process for her to relive by writing. Hopefully it will bring more compassion to our soldiers and the tragedy they face as a result of doing their job. Hopefully it will bring understanding of why soldiers are "different" when they return home. Hopefully it will help people understand the psychological distress of any person who suffers from PTSD by any cause. Hopefully readers will come to understand how fragile we humans are and how fragile life itself is.

Regardless of your personal position on war, or the current war, this is a must read. I'd like our politicians to read this also. It's time to wake up to the human factor and forget oil, power, money, and all of the things that seem to affect the decisions regarding modern war. I think this book is eye opening.

The author has a way of griping your attention through the ancient teachings of the Buddha all wrapped up in a wonderful story. While you follow the characters you are not only learning new teachings but also uncovering new truths of old teachings. Beyond expectations.

The Lost Key has proven to be well worth the wait. Like the Harry Potter books, Dewey's books just keep getting better and better. This book is a must read for all seekers. The key that is revealed is a major surprise, as the word sometimes carries a negative meaning. But JJ explains in very clear and vivid words why and how this key is crucial to our spiritual development, and why it is NOT negative. Truths are presented within such an exciting storyline, it is difficult to put it down. Buy it!! You will not be disappointed.

Note: Please see my review off JJ Deweys first book (Immortal I & II).

I also recommend that you read The Immortal I & II (one book) first before reading The Lost Key of the Buddha.

Final recommendation: Purchase both and read the Immortal I & II first! (grin), as Book 4 is in the process of being written!

All the foregoing recommendations aside, The Lost Key of the Buddha (Book 3) is no less full of the drama, intrique and knowledge than JJ Dewey's The Immortal I & II. It is both a continuation of the story, the quest, *and* the continued offering of additional "keys of knowledge" which can be practically and reasonably applied to a variety of situations encountered on a day-to-day basis.

It is simply more light shed along the path. So, if you are looking for more light to be shed on you as you journey along your path, then I suspect that you'll find The Lost Key of the Buddha a necessary source of that light.

This 3rd book in the Immortal Series is in a word, wonderful. It was recently given to me as a Christmas gift, as I have read the first 2 books. I am still quite new on the path of spiritual learning, and the concepts and ideas concerning the Middle Way are eye opening and make complete sense for life in today's world. Before these books I was pretty much in a spiritual void, but this book has changed that for good. The teachings presented here are profound and yet easily understood. I understand there are to be 12 books in this series...if the first 3 are any indication of what's to come, we are in for something very special indeed!

In a similar fashion of his earlier Books I&II of The Immortal series, author J.J. Dewey continues this "fictional" story of characters Joseph and Elizabeth's search for truth through the discovery and understanding of the Keys of Knowledge. As a testament to Mr. Dewey's great writing style and skills, a reader is easily left wondering whether this story could actually be non-fiction. Hmmm...I know I have!

Well, fictional or not (...and no need to get caught up in that aspect of it), what I found VERY REAL is that The Lost Key of the Buddha is a truly wonderful book that artfully brings together key Eastern (Buddhaic) and Western (Christian) thought, simply and beautifully. Have you ever wondered if the Buddha taught salvation, or if Jesus taught about Nirvana? In this Aquarian Age - the age of Disclosure, Awareness, and Understanding - this book lights the way like no other in a manner that anyone can easily understand. It's messages and teachings are timely, powerful, practical, and applicable truths for enriching the joy and happiness in our daily lives.

The bonus is that all this is wrapped by an engaging and entertaining story that's pretty hard to put down once started. Thank you J.J. Dewey for The Lost Key. I've recommended this to all my friends, and greatly look forward to your future installments of this series.

Mary Lore's book is a must read for anyone who is interested in the power and energy that their thoughts and intentions can create along with the change that positive beliefs can make in our world. Simply by following the guidelines of this book, we are able to manage our thoughts to bring about a positive shift in the energies that surround us.

Mary's book inspired me to think about how I process my desirable outcome in my life and what changes were to be made to achieve the most powerful results. This book has helped me immensely in not only bringing awareness and clarity to what those desires are but also in how to achieve them.

Great easy read for generations to come!

Managing Thought is already changing my families lives and 3 of my clients as well. The book is clear, focused and simple to understand with great exercises. It's got me examining all the areas of my life and creating a powerful intention for each. Already I am choosing my life and I can't wait to see what happens in 6 months, a year and beyond. I was also impressed that Dr. Maoshing Ni endorsed it for he is one of the most highly rated acupuncturists from the Tao of Wellness Acupuncture Clinic in Santa Monica, Ca. and a great author himself.
Edward Sullivan
Qigong Healing Center
San Fernando Valley California

This book, although geared toward the professional, to ease one toward professional success, was the best psychological self-help book I have every experienced. It cut through all my arguments, my mental blocks, my denial and set me on my personal path.
I don't need to figure out the meaning and impact of my past events in order to achieve the level of joy and awareness I have wanted. A quick check and adjustment of my mental focus is all that it takes to put me instantly into a state of open readiness for life's adventures. Mary showed me the simple tools required to work toward my goals. And they weren't the tools that I had ever been taught before!
Life has been a much more pleasant affair since I started managing my thoughts. It's the way we were meant to use our brain. We just didn't know.

I have read many books about the impact of our thoughts and emotions on the world that we experience. Mary Lore has obviously read many of these same books. She has taken the best elements of these teachings and added wisdom of her own to bring us a very practical guide to living the life we choose to live. Her approach breaks down the complexity of dealing with life's many problems into a single step that we can take right now. Mary guides us through exercises designed to help us put these teachings into practice in our daily lives. I enjoyed her stories about the successful experiences of her clients who have followed the advice in her book. I have used many of these teachings to enjoy a life of love and purpose. Mary has given me a way to share this wisdom with others in a single book that can be read over and over again. With each reading, our lives will be greatly enriched. I'm looking forward to giving away many copies of her book as holiday gifts this year.

"Managing Thought: How Do Your Thoughts Rule Your World", by Mary J. Lore, is an insightful, practical, "life manual" that gets to the heart of discovering what's truly important to you -- and how to get it. The written exercises in the book, plus the free online tools (managingthought.com), allow you to put the author's concepts into practice. She teaches you how to think and communicate in a positive way, and to avoid limiting thoughts and language. (I have banished the word "but" from my vocabulary!). This is a book that I will revisit again and again.

This is my favorite storyteller and her short stories are wonderful. They transport you to another time and place. The thing I love best about this book is the little life lessons she puts in it not preachy just real things you can relate to and learn from.

I have heard for years what a great writer J. California Cooper is and how people love just about anything she produces. Despite hearing all of the accolades and praises for this author, life happened and I never got around to reading one of her works. I could slap myself for all of the years I missed out on the tales from this adroit storyteller. Her dialogue brings Hurston to mind, and her characters in THE MATTER IS LIFE are just as strong as any of the greats. In fact, I am adding Cooper to my list of greats after reading this collection of beautifully human stories about how people can get in their own ways and how life is life.

My favorite story in this collection happened to be the longest. Could it be that I was able to savor even more of Cooper's wisdom in "The Doras?" It's possible, but more than that, this was a story that had me hanging on to every word about a woman with a dream for her daughters. The narrators in all the stories seem to be sages of sorts; the narrator isn't always a central character in the piece, but she seems to know all the goings on of the people of whom she speaks. This was refreshing and different, and I felt as though she and I were having an all-out gossip session. Don't get me wrong; the stories in this compilation are deep and to the point. There is a lesson to be learned within each tale's contributory pages.

I just can't say enough about how much I enjoyed this reading journey. My only complaint is that it was over too soon. Luckily for me, there are numerous other Cooper releases for me to enjoy.

Reviewed by CandaceK
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers

I need more stars.

J. California Cooper is one of the best authors of our time who doesn't receive the praise due to her. Her short stories are filled with colorful characters that keep you turning the pages. I'll read anything she releases. Ms. Cooper is in a class by herself. Much love and support to you. I can't wait for your next release.

J. California Cooper has a way of crafting a story that makes you feel as if you are sitting in the room with the characters as they go about their daily lives.

These stories make you actually FEEL what the characters are going through, and when the stories end, you feel like a friend has walked away.

I definitely recommend this book and any others by this author.

This book is a wonderful mosaic of characters, perspectives, and lifestyles. I've always seen Cooper's books in the store, but didn't pick one up until "The Matter is Life." I haven't been able to put the book down and am looking forward to picking up more of her short story collections.

On the whole, I found this book to quite informative with many detailed descriptions of medieval European castles and cities. On some specific castles the data can be fairly general. I found this to be most obvious on castles that I have been fortunate enough to visit in the past and purchase a guide brochure or booklet from which I naturally compared the data.
I found the section on eastern European fortifications and their developement over the centuries to be very interesting as this was a subject I previously knew very little about.
But I do have one major 'gripe' or dissatisfaction with the book. The detailed and extensive floor plans provided throughout the book all suffer from some serious 'under labelling'. For example, a specific castle floor plan might have 20 itemised (numbered) points or features of interest on it. But when one refers to the "legend' or 'key' to find out what a certain feature is, it becomes painfully obvious that not all 20 features are actually clarified or described in the key. This is a fault that is not isolated and is unfortunately prevalent on the vast majority of floor plans in the book.
I'm not sure whether this problem is peculiar to the published edition I purchased or is in fact inherent throughout the whole published run. In any case it appears to be a large oversite in the 'quality control' department of the book's publication process. Other than these faults, I thought this book to be a good 'read'.

The version I got had a red cover, different from the one shown here on amazon. As soon as I opened the book I was already amazed by the first details I saw. There are so many drawings and detials in this book it will make you leap for joy, especially if you are a technically minded drafter like I am. This book isn't just all about pictures though, there is so much more! Plenty of information to keep a guy chewing on this info for a long time. Just get it... you will not regret it.

If you've been looking for a complete book on medieval castles, you have found the book for you. Although it touches lightly on such on such areas as medieval food, hygene, and battles, the bulk of this book is an in-depth study of castles. The writing is a bit dry, but very informative, covering fortresses from England, France, Itally, and even eastern Europe. I doubt there is much about castles unsaid in this book.

This book starts from the first few pages with an in depth study of the fortified positions of the middle ages - i.e. castles, keeps, etc. Despite a level of detail that may be too in depth for a beginner, the book itself provides a very readable style and is absolutely full of useful information (krunchy bits) for authors or others wishing to make an in depth study of medieval fortifications (ATTENTION GAMERS!). It has hundreds of high quality, albeit sometimes confusing, line art portraits that show each and every aspect of castle or its related cousins (where is #67 again - its sometimes like Where is Waldo finding the numbers referenced in the subtext). The book also has a great deal of information regarding siege techniques and the weapons used therein - and this information is fantastic in its level of detail and the included line art! The included photos are all in B&W, and some are rather grainy, but by far, they all serve the purpose they were intended to - they show the true grandeur of the castle as it was.

Within the text, the authors do have a habit of referencing other authors, which, if your looking for more on the subject, is good. However, by page 80, they have referenced at least 30 other authors and works (is that not what the bibliography is for).

Outside of this one complaint, the book is absolutely invaluable to anyone interested in the subject!

NOTE: This review references the soft-cover red front edition of the book, which I could not find the link for on Amazon (it may be an out of print edition or not, I am not sure - however, the TOC of the this edition appears identical to mine, so I am assuming that the contents have only been repackaged for the HB binding).

This incredibly detailed book shows you every type of castle made. From ancient times to concentric castles. It also describes how castles were defended and how they built the different types of bridges, walls, gatehouses and moats, defenses, drawbridges. The Illustrator is incredible and brings to life very clear depictions of the subject matter. This book is a must have for historians and fantasy writers and artists. This was well worth 20.00 I paid for it. I wish I would have bought the hardback.

Beign the son of an Ironworker I really found this book entertaining and educational. I learned a lot about the east coast gangs and read a lot of similarity with the mid-west union. Anyone interested in knowing more about the men building cities in the sky will want to add this to their reading list.

This book brings the reader into the world of an aspiring family, the Koch family. It begins with a beautiful story of an immigrant family trying to fulfill the American dream by creating a great empire of steel. But with their greatest task of all you witness the family's division and the fall of a great enterprise. This book is allows you to see what went on behind the scenes of the World Trade Center, the problems it had and the problems it caused. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a better understanding of how much one building meant to one man, Karl Koch III. Not because of it's beauty but because of how it changed him forever.

Very easy to read, You are easily caught up in a family's struggle to survive a new life in a new world. It is easy to admire their spirit and determination to make it as they build their company from the ground up.
They consistently remain true to the values of hard work and honesty while truly living the American Dream. It makes the World Trade Center even more of an american symbol.
The facts regarding how they built the trade center and how they even received the job are fascinating in of themselves. The author's personal family struggle only make it more amazing that it ever happened at all.

As a contractor/developer in the Baltimore area who shares the same last name and German heritage, but is no relation, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and could not put it down. It was as much an education of the New York contracting industry as it was a history of one family's trials and tribulations.
I enjoyed this book so much that I bought 15 copies and gave them to family and friends as Christmas presents. Each review from the recipients mirrored my enjoyment. I would highly recommend this book to anyone even if they have no conception of the contracting industry.

Subtitles that promise more than the book delivers are far more common than they ought to be. This book is a refreshing exception to that pattern. It's subtitled "the story of the family that built the World Trade Center," and that's *exactly* what you get. _Men of Steel_ is the story of the rise and fall of a family construction company and the stormy relationships among the men who built it. Koch treats both sides of the story--family and business--honestly and in detail, and the results are gripping. It hits many of the same notes as John Steinbeck's _East of Eden_, Arthur Miller's _Death of a Salesman_, or Ken Kesey's _Sometimes a Great Notion_... but in _Men of Steel_ you know that the narrator's pain (both physical and emotional) is real.

You learn a lot about ironworking in this book: About how the steel frames of buildings are put together, and about how the tools and techniques have changed over time. You also learn a lot about construction management: Estimating costs, writing bids, dealing with suppliers and unions, and keeping things running smoothly on the building site. Koch writes from the manager's perspective more than the workers, but there are other books (say, Mike Cherry's _On High Steel_) to give you that. Even dedicated civil engineering buffs are likely to learn a lot from Koch and Firstman's sure-footed narrative. The chapter (or so) on "kangaroo cranes" alone is worth the price of the book.

Koch and Firstman also give a unique view of *one* aspect of the World Trade Center project: How the framing and flooring was erected and what the process did for (and to) the company. They reveal things about that aspect of the process that no other book does--much of it critically important. This is exactly the right approach to take: ironwork is Koch's (and his family's) business, it's what he knows, and it's what the rest of the book is about. It means, however, that _Men of Steel_ is *not* a book about "the building of the World Trade Center." Rather, it's a book in which the ironwork that went into the World Trade Center is one of several key threads.

The epilogue, dealing with the 9/11 attacks and the collapse of the Twin Towers deserves special notice. It is short, concise, and unflinchingly honest: a model of how we *ought* to learn from the unexpected failures of less-than-perfect structures. If I could figure out how to do it, I'd make those 15 pages required reading for the engineers-in-training that I teach. They could have far, far worse role models than Karl Koch III.

How much you like this book will depend a great deal on what you want to get out of it. If you want THE book on the building of the World Trade Center, you may well be disapprounted. If you want a great family saga, a great business story, or a gripping insider's history of ironworking in America (including the WTC), you may well have a hard time putting _Men of Steel_ down.

Mimosa's real name is Alexandra Hastings. Her spirit is from a mimosa tree blossom and she smells like peaches. She carries a feather from an emu for her wand and her fairy gift has to do with caring and sensitivity. However...we discover that she has a few human gifts that come into play as the story progresses.

Madam Toad, leader of the fairies, makes two kinds of appearances in this story. When Mimosa breaks the fairy rules, Madam Toad meets with Alexandra in regular woman form to counsel her on the rules and consequences. Later in the book, Madam Toad chooses Mimosa to lead the mission to the River of Wisdom to rescue a nymph from the evil Spirit of Ignorance. After the fairy mission, Mimosa makes a fairy move to put a plan into action that will change her life, and her mother's, forever.

This touching story is beautifully written and is a clever mix of real-life and fantasy events. I think this proves there is magic everywhere in the world, even in everyday events and the actions of others, whether we notice these things or not. My kids and I loved this book and will be sharing it with others.

The illustrations in this book are very colorful and are full of exquisite detail. This is appealing to all readers, not just young children.

I know a lot of people who home school in the Houston area, and some of them are using the books of this series. They are good as learning tools because of the nature information in the back and the positive messages about recycling and helping others. They are also good to use as incentives because the books are so much fun to read and contain exciting activities like recipes and patterns for friendship bracelets.

I have read all in this series and they keep getting better and more meaningful. This is truly beautiful, but not much about fairies. It's more about a girl making a tough decision. Her friends struggle with the decision too, after the fact because she keeps it secret from them until it's all over.

This touched my soul and my heart. Most people know someone who has died of lung cancer. While I was reading this I felt an ache for the loss of friends and loved ones who have passed on from that horrible disease.

This is a beautiful fairy tale. I love the way it made me feel. Mimosa has a good heart and finds a way to make a big difference in the world. I liked learning in the end what happens to Alexandra in the future. We get a small preview of some of the events in her life after she gives up her fairy spirit. I think this would be a great book for any child to read. It will let them know they are important to the world and it might help them make good life decisions.

I knew this book was going to have a serious theme. (Along with the fairy mission to save the nymph and the River of Wisdom, Mimosa wants to help her mother quit smoking.)
I thought this was going to be an anti-smoking book but it is not. It is not judgmental of smokers. The writer of this book makes it very clear that Mimosa's mother wants to quit smoking very badly and would probably avail herself of a magical solution if she knew one was available. I am pleased with the tone of this book is not judgmental, but it might have been a good thing for a stronger anti-smoking message to be placed into this book. This is just my opinon.

This book has a lot to say. I don't think it's a simple fairy tale, not that many fairy tales are, but this definitely takes on a serious subject -- that of smoking. The title character takes on a challenge -- that of figuring out what she can do to help her mother quit smoking. Most people would probably agree Mimosa's mother should figure this out on her own. I think kids often feel helpless when they see adults struggle with problems like this. This book doesn't say that kids can solve their parent's problems. I think it more says that they can help in ways they might not have imagined and that they do have a say-so in things like this and that they can and should get involved. I applaud Mimosa for getting involved. Though we can't employ her solution to the problem of smoking addiction, there might be other ways we can help people who struggle with this if we are creative and willing to get involved.

When grief was ready to swallow me alive, this book showed up and turned everything around. It brought me comfort, hope, and validation that was nowhere else to be found. Thank you for writing this book. Thank you for being a miracle in my life.

The author has the great benefit of having put the issues of death and survival
on a more holistic level, paralleling the individual destiny with the one of
planet earth and humanity at large.... The Miracle of Death is about liberation,
love and creativity and will transform all those who have the courage to accept
"inner experiences which have no validation in the outer world."

Evelyn Elsaesser-Valarino
Author of "Talking with Angel about illness, death and survival"
"On the Other Side of Life"
Co-author with Kenneth Ring of "Lessons from the Light"

I found this book helpful in dealing with my 15 year old son's death. Perhaps our life and death is all in the whole of how life is suppose to be. It gave me much to think about concerning life being eternal. I like it. Thanks to Betty Kovacs for telling her story.

Ruth C. Baker

I have never met Betty Kovacs, and I haven't read her book yet either, but I did attend a couple of lectures that were sponsored by the "Claremont Jung Society" in Claremont, California, I placed myself on their mailing list and received a regular mailing of their upcoming lectures and events.

In 1991 I received a mailing from the Claremont Jung Society which at first I thought would be a another list of their upcoming lectures. The brochure was titled "To The Friends Of The Claremont Jung Society." The brochure turned out to be a heartfelt personal dedication to the life and death of her son. This may seem to be a bit depressing, but it turned out to be a very touching celebration of a life, a mothers deep love, and the effect one persons life can have on us all.
I still have this brochure in case I ever forget how short a lifetime can be, and that a love felt, should always be a love expressed.

I'm a man, and I'm not ashamed to say that I cried after reading
her personal revelation of her love for her son. If we could all love each other this deep, I know this world would be much better for it. I know that her story changed me, and this change in me will have an effect on people that I interact with in the future. I may not ever see exactly what exactly my change is, or it's effect on others, but I can feel it in a deep emotional empathy towards people I love, and total strangers I meet.

Death is a very uncomfortable subject for most of us, and we really don't want to think about it much, or deal with it.
But doesn't the same thought hold true for the way we live our lives as well?

Something to think about!

Despite the popularity of shows such as "Crossing Over with John Edwards (no, not Kerry's running mate, who shows no signs of crossing over)," Western society seems to have forgotten Rainer Maria Rilke's belief that the afterlife and the living life interact, and as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote in THE LITTLE PRINCE, "What is essential is invisible to the naked eye."

It took the death of 20-year-old Pisti (Hungarian for Istvan or Steven) Kovács in a car accident for his academic mother Dr. Betty "Kicsi" Kovács and father Istvan to put into perspective Western civilization's rejection of death and the institutions, including organized religion, that cause us to fear "a consummation devoutly to be wished," in Shakespeare's words. Interestingly, Dr. Kovacs argues against a dichotomy of thought that cut off the instinctive and dream knowledge as ruthlessly as Puritans arrested women for being witches. She condemns our society's dismissal of dreams and visions such as the prophetic symbolic dreams Dr. Kovács, Istvan and Pisti's beloved girlfriend Jenny experience before and after his death. The dream imagery guided Dr. Kovács toward stunning insights about the meaning of death. Simply put, Dr. Kovacs argues that there is nothing but life, and that Western civilization's ignorance of that truth has caused a breakdown in our society.

As we begin to search for understanding of the death and horror of September 11, Dr. Kovács loving insights, which offer an alternative to our worldview although not a prescription for transformation, deserve to be heard, so that a new creativity of thought and being can emerge.