Publishers Books

This book is absolutely amazing! I've read it twice and could hardly put it down both times. Stormie lays it all out, and this book is so honest and real. Thank you Stormie, for being willing to share your story with the world. It helped me tremendously!

Stormie's story is truly a story of what a great Redeemer and Savior we have in Jesus Christ!! The bible says that where sin abounds, grace abounds even more. AMEN!! Thank you for writing this story. I have read the other books of Stormie ... the power of a praying woman, wife, parent, the prayer that changes everything: Stormie's story gives the rest of her books a little more hope. Because who she was, wasn't who she remained. There is complete and 150% hope in the Lord. Thank you STormie, from the bottom of my heart. Thank you.

One of the best, authentic Christian biographies on how God delivers us from evil into the light of His Son, Jesus. A truly inspiring story of forgiveness and healing. I could not put this book down until I finished it! This is absolutely a "must read" for all Christians who need to understand the power of God and the process of sanctification.

Even for those who have been brought up in a loving family, this book will be deeply moving. To those who have experienced an unhappy childhood, lacking love and perhaps experiencing abuse, this book will surely encourage one to believe that Jesus is indeed the one who is anointed to heal the broken hearted and bring hope, healing and wholeness to any who turn to him.

Stormie tells her story with amazing frankness and honesty. Truly this is a book that cannot be put down. The pain, trauma and emotion flow from each page with heart rending effect. In the final chapter where she tells of sharing her story in a women's prison, its impact on the inmates reflects its moving power as she relates how Jesus Christ took the broken pieces of her life and made her whole. If you know anybody who has suffered abuse and broken relationships this book is a must read for them, but it is highly recommended to all readers whatever their background.

I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to have a look into Stormie Omartian's life and heart. It was easy to relate to the open way she told her story, through pain and loss, through mistakes and fear, through faith and triumph. She got real, more real than I even expected, and she truly touched my heart. As I read, I felt the grace of God covering her writing and allowing her to express the truth of her faith and her experiences in a way that could heal and bless others. When you read this book, no doubt, your heart will connect with Stormie's story and feel just as blessed as mine did. God bless you, Stormie. And thank you for your courage...

Martin Luther King Jr. uses very apt exegesis in his Sermon about the Good Samaritan. The greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, with your Soul and with all your mind. The second is like unto it to love your neighbor as yourself. Sum of the Law and prophets hang on these two commandments. This truth taught by Christ was demonstrated through the telling of the story about the Good Samaritan. Martin Luther King JR's sermon on this story is an excellent analysis what it takes to be a loving neighbor. Dr. King tells how the Samaritan overcame prejudice, fear of physical danger, expenditure of money, along with inconvenience; time and effort.

In the sermon titled: Death of Evil on the Seashore, Dr. King acknowledges the existence of evil in all men's heart. The theme of this sermon is how a Christian should overcome evil acting upon oneself and respond with love. One should overcome evil with good. In this sermon, Dr. King states Jesus never made a theological statement about the origin of evil. He does state man's evil does not come forth out of mistake or misguidance. Man should be held culpable to his evil. Love is truly made manifest when in response to which one knows wishes harm or ill towards. This type of love does not come naturally to any man.

Martin Luther King Jr. was taught in his youth to hold the truths taught in the Bible are inerrant. In the final chapter, Dr. King says he entered seminary as a fundamentalist. In his senior year he introduced himself to various theological theories and critical thought when he read various books. Dr. King says at one time he became enamored and held liberal theological uncritically including the belief that man is generally good. Objective appraisal and critical analysis are terms Dr. King acquaints with liberalism. Dr. King says liberalism taught him to have an open and critical mind. In reading the `works of Richard Niebuhr made me aware of the complexity of human motives and the reality of sin on every level of man's existence.' Pg. 136 I would think Martin Luther King Jr. would have been taught about Total Depravity in his years going to church. Dr. King rejects the concept of God being Holy other: hidden and unknown. Dr. King states the influence Walter Rauschenbusch's book: Christianity and the Social Gospel had on him. Then student King searched other philosophers who were not theologians about how to bring social change. Student King was in despaired until he discovered and learned about how Mahatma Gandhi brought social justice to India through nonviolence and the term Satyagraha. Satya means truth which equals love. Graha means force.

Paul's letter to American Christians is a sermon by Dr. King in which he attempts to use the voice Paul's letter to instruct the Christian Church in the United States about disunity in the Body of Christ and unchristian thinking among its members. Cultural, political, and the state of Christendom are the focus of the sermon. I think Martin Luther King Jr. tries to invoke the sentiment of Ephesians 4:1-3:

As a prisoner of the Lord, I urge you to live the life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. In this letter Dr. King criticizes the multiplication of denomination of churches in the United States. He praises the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches. He argues for unity with the Roman Catholic Church with no note that there are some things Christians cannot compromise about. Racism and disunity is the only sin taken to task. I do believe racism is an unfruitful of darkness and Paul did address this in his letters-it is not the only unfruitful works of Darkness:

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but reprove them.
. Ephesians 5:11

A quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:
Pg. 3 "The historic- philological criticism of the Bible is considered by the soft minded as blasphemous and reason is often looked upon as the exercise of a corrupt faculty. Soft minded persons have revised the Beatitudes to read, blessed are the pure in ignorance: for they shall see God."

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. quotes from Matthew 10:16 - Behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as Doves.

Later Dr. King equates science as reality and religion as values. He sees the tough minded as those who incorporate their faith to fit science. Dr. King does not believe the Bible is to be taken at face value but be interpreted trough the lens of science and other philosophical thought. Theological thought is used and the Bible is quoted to make the argument, but only when facts are determined elsewhere. Values are not defined through God's written word but to collaborate outside sources. Values are determined and thought processes are discovered with the Bible as the secondary source.

In 1983 I entered teaching in West Virginia and received this book as a present from one of my teachers. In two years I moved to South Central to teach at 93rd Street School then into the Salinas valley and now in Oxnard.It has proved itself to be of great use to a teacher. I say this by way of explaining that as an elementary teacher, one working with a variety of settings, children, cultures, families, many kinds of educational issues I've come to believe that the book King wrote, this book, is a true helpmate to anyone trying to deal with inequity and injustice.Teaching is an act that requires a very deep understanding of who you are, your strengths, purpose, and this volume supports the evolution of your social conscious. For me the text allowed me to solidify who I am as a teacher and why I do what I do. One example might be the difficult job it is to teach in schools under assault for doing poorly, seemingly being de-constructed by politics without enough valid insight into ways to guide real improvement and coming up against ignorance in many forms-including the disparity in economic means permitted in America. It's not easy to teach children with vast dental decay, families out of work and watch a nation laud this as positive "welfare reform" when stranding these children in worse fixes. Sometimes I find it infinitely difficult to love my neighbor,well, my voucher loving neighbor, or even find commonality with those in million dollar homes feeling botox might make them both more appealing and more interesting.The child as a commodity construct which is now prevalent in educational dialog, among many other kinds of views, I find difficult to separate from the individuals telling me( in often rude and hurtful ways) that my efforts educationally are a failure and that schools don't work. In my world it's a constant Lou Dobbs immigration rant that somehow is hiding vaguely words that really seem to be saying something else. I tire of watching the reality of racism, class ism acted out in the lives of children-and this is a fatigue that easily becomes anger-King speaks to this.... I find myself lacking the strength to love positions taken by those that really don't know what they are talking about, and don't care other than for personal advantaging anyway.... There is something truly fascinating about having a book that describes both your situation and your feelings as well as frames this into affective forward action-King can give you individual empowerment quite readily.And he can help you address your mindset. And that in this world of mine is a beautiful thing. I frame my work with principles that are able to outweigh the personal likes and dislikes levels...so I bring to school dealings my thoughts that I am there to help Anthony be the best Anthony he can be...not to condemn Anthony to my judgment about him. Let us say then King's is an active lexicon and this volume is insightful for someone wishing to everyday face injustice and difficulty with positive reaction and action. For me as a person I find the book more helpful than any I ever had.

If anyone underestimates MLK's true intellectual ability, or simply wants to revisit the kind of person he was, a read of this book should serve to illustrate that America has had a prophet in my lifetime. Truly this should be required reading in high school and college programs for the young persons of our country to become acquainted with and use in working on social issues.

Let's not just sit in silence on *Martin Luther King Day* - - We must ask ourselves how WE can carry forward Dr. King's message & become agents for change. Reading his words in "STRENGTH TO LOVE" makes an excellent beginning.

Remember those words from the Bible that challenged us "to love justice"? King's sermons (collected mostly from the time of the bus boycott) prod us today to carry forth "the Power of One" and make this particular holiday a statement of our own acts of Love. To love takes courage as well as strength.

Since the Gulf state hurricanes, we have witnessed injustice toward blacks as blatant as any experienced in the 40's. To summon up the hope and optimism that kept Martin Luther King's message alive is an absolute necessity today. To exercise King's principles, to work for justice, to not allow ourselves to sit in silence - - that's where our beliefs must take us. " . . . the day we become silent about things that matter" IS THE DAY "OUR LIVES BEGIN TO END."

Love is where non-violent action begins. In his sermons King expanded on how the tactics of Gandhi can & do work a mighty force for change. For "Strength to Love" the cover art, a wood cut by Stephen Alcorn, makes another strong statement. Dr. King's words most forceful to me are about *love* and *redemption* - - (the latter is an under-used word these days) - - and the last chapter in which he shared his amazing *PILGRIMAGE* through philosophy and experience. Reviewer mcHAIKU echoes the hope of many: that we act responsibly, energetically and courageously to speak truth to Power. "I ain't gonna study war not more." (Martin Luther King Day, 1-16-06)

Timeless. As relevant now as what it was when it was written. Addresses the issues of hate and indifference and argues that the solution is love. Love does sound all too simplistic but it is one of the hardest things to face but its rewards are beyond words.

"Strength to Love" woke me up.

It made Dr. King so much more real. It contains some of the most powerful teachings on how to love in situations where it is difficult to. Not love -in the romantic sense - but rather, in a much deeper way - as in love of humankind. Of Christ-love. Just read his sermon on "Loving your enemies": he starts with the difficulty of reconciling this commandment, and finishes with a flury of passion exhorting us to make this commandment real when he starts with the words "To our most bitter opponents, we say...". It's not just the banter and broad strokes which he uses so magnificently to generate his passion. He also gathers support from folks such as Emerson, Napolean, Plato, Aristotle, Nietzsche and the Bible of course. All of this to convey a sense of urgency to show how low we all have come, and at the same time to inspire us to a place where we can go.

While you may not agree with what he says, you must admire and respect what he says. Dr. King's messages aren't easy to digest- but he says the right thing - which is not always, the easy thing. Even though these teachings were written over 40 years ago now, his messages in "Strength" are no less relevant and more important than ever.

This book is great. I loved how it just picked up after the 1st. It was like the first just kept going. page turner the 1st was great but this was better. Again i didn't like the religousness and enough with the flash backs.

SWEET BOUNDLESS picks up where THE ROSE LEGACY left off. With the town of Crystal now free from the evil that had held it captive, Carina DeGratia Shepard takes hold of the house that had once been promised to her. Though Quillian refuses to acknowledge their marriage, Carina refuses to let him go. With grit and determination, Carina creates for herself a small restaurant, bringing her Italian charm to a bustling town. Carina continues to learn more about Quillian's past, a past that has made him the closed-off person that he is. Carina is determined to break down those walls and love Quillian like he deserves to be loved.

At times SWEET BOUNDLESS is difficult to read because of the distance between Carina and Quillian. You want so badly for them to be together it's hard to read as they continue to go their separates ways. Knowing THE TENDER VINE will pick up where SWEET BOUNDLESS left off, I'm off to read the final book in series

This is such a great series! I was hooked from the first series and could not put them down. The second is my favorite, I love the change she shows in each of the characters because of their change of heart towards Christ. What a GREAT example of how God's love changes us and allows us to love others.

This book was just as promising as it's prequel! I couldn't put it down! The plot wasn't as thrilling, but Hietzmann did pick up on the unanswered questions that nagged at you in the first book. Well, as you know if you've read the first book(if you haven't you are VERY NAUGHTY), Quillan is having trouble allowing himself to love his wife, Carina. Meanwhile, she is suffering while he is away...heartbroken that he "doesn't" love her. Well, when a new man comes to take care of the New Boundless(the deceased Cain's mine, now left in Quillan's hands), his budding love for Carina threatens to lure her away from her love for Quillan. When disaster strikes, will Carina's husband comes home to her? Can he ever make peace with his dreadful past? The ending was wonderful, although Quillan's doubts about Carina's feelings for him were somewhat dissappointing. Anyway, I loved this and highly reccommend it!!

Carina is now married in name only. Quillan is fulfilling his duty to "take care of her material needs" but that is all. However, one real fact draws her attention to the validity of this hurried wedding...she is expecting. Problem is, she really does not have a "husband" in the truest sense of the word.

Determined to make it on her own, Carina occupies her original little house and becomes the darling of the mine and professional men by cooking her original Italian dishes and starting her own restaurant. We are introduced to Alex, the man brought in to oversee and perhaps run the mine owned now by Quillan and D.C. He plays a huge role in this book and the reader cannot quite decide if he is terribly good or terrible cunning. Obviously, Carina and Alex have mutual respect for each other, or is it more?

The cave of Quillan's parents still haunts and draws Carina and she discovers Wolf's "own diary" and now owns both his Mother's and his Dad's stories.

A horrible accident at the mine and a subsequent humanitarian act by Carina causes a major uproar, ending up with a savage beating and the reader is brought to tears.

Definitely a page turner and I am already a good ways into book three. Thanks Kristen, for a great series.

My 83 year old neighbor, a Prayer Warrior, was so impressed with this book, she asked to read my copy of Pilgrim's Progress, of which she had only heard and had never read. She will recommend The Tinker's Daughter to her great-grandchildren.

WENDY LAWTON BRINGS HER READERS INTO THE LIVES OF THE YOUNG GIRLS SHE WRITES ABOUT. AS YOU READ ABOUT THESE GIRLS, IT IS AS IF YOU ARE THERE WITH THEM SEEING WHAT THEY GO THROUGH, ASKING GOD WHAT DO I DO NEXT, WHAT HAPPENS TO ME NOW, THE SAME QUESTIONS THAT A LOT OF US ASK NOW. WE DON'T KNOW OUR OUTCOME, BUT WE CAN SEE THERES AND MAYBE SEEING THERES IT CAN HELP US UNDERSTAND AND KNOW WHAT GOD WANTS US TO DO IN OUR LIVES.

The Tinker's Daughter started a bit slow; built up speed; and finished with a flurry. By the end of the book I wanted more to read on Mary Bunyan. Easy reading. Vocabulary section in back of book allows young readers a chance to easily become familiar with terms used in Mrs. Lawton's writing.

In the Tinker's Daughter, I didn't expect the story to relate to my life at all. But as you read further into the book, you discover an independent but also scared little girl who just wants her father back. It is her who takes the journey everyday to visit and feed her father in prison, and her who makes sure the house is running smoothly. But you will learn, as she does, that being independent is good up to a point, but to really survive you need God's help. I would reccomend this book to anyone in the ages of 10-14 who likes historical fiction and is looking for a good story for a rainy day.

The Tinker's Daughter is one of the most incredible books I've ever read. I would give this book a five star rating. It has so much feeling and emotion and such strong faith for God, it makes yhou feel like you're actually standing there on the sidelines watching this story happen.
The story is about a young girl naemd Mary Bunyan who was born blind. The book shows this girls independentcy and such strong faith for God. It also is about how she shows people that just because she's bllind doesn't mean she can't do anything she wants to. The story also shows this amazing love she has for her father and how she helps him out in his time of need. So if your a Christain or somedbodey who is just struggling in life right now I 100 percent recomend this book for you because I gaurantee you, you'll love it!

Marcia Davenpot, a music critic, often chose musical themes as subjects for her novels. That's not the case here in this huge (over 600 pages), ambitious, and vividly written novel that is concerned with a Pittsburgh industrial family over the course of about 70 years. Mary, the "Irish peasant girl from Shantytown" is the main character, and she's wonderfully drawn by Davenport. Her goal in life is to hold the Scott family together: "she was hellbent that nothing should ever happen to reflect on this family," says Paul, the head of the family and the man she's loved (and who has loved her back) but wouldn't marry, feeling his real love was his steel mill. The book spans a very large canvas from Pittsburgh to Eastern Europe and a large cast of characters; Davenport's skill at manipulating events and people is on full display in this novel, and despite its length the book is interesting from cover to cover.

I have a copy of The Valley of Decision dated from the early 40's with a notice that the book was printed in accordance with the laws of rationing of paper during the war. The book originally belonged to my mother and I discovered it when I was in my early teens. If anything, this book teaches that duty comes before self indulgence, a concept foreign to many in this day of instant gratification. That one could deny oneself for the good of all is the main theme of this novel. The descriptions of the family in Eastern Europe was especially interesting to me, as my grandmother had immigrated from that area herself. My family lived in a steel town much like Pgh., in fact, about 90 miles north, so the descriptions of the boarding houses and the changing shifts of the millworkers were very familiar. This is one of the best novels I have read and it is re-read every year. The book has lost it's outer spine, but is in excellent condition considering it was printed over 65 years ago. Too sad that the ideals expressed in the novel have lost some of their outer spines, but life goes on.

I DON'T GO INTO A SYNOPSIS OF A BOOK THAT I HAVE READ IF THERE ARE ALREADY OTHERS WHO HAVE GIVEN ONE. HOWEVER, I MUST SAY THAT IN THIS CASE, I MUST CHALLENGE THE COMMENT THAT THE SON REFUSED TO MARRY THE MAIN CHARACTER BECAUSE HE LOVED THE STEEL MILL MORE. MARY RAFFERTY REFUSED TO MARRY HIM BECAUSE SHE LOVED HIM SO MUCH THAT SHE WAS MORE CONCERNED FOR HIS FAMILY AND CAREER THAN SHE WAS FOR HERSELF.

My father had this on his bookshelf when I was growing up in Pittsburgh. I read it as a teenager in the mid-60s and was bowled over by its storyline and history of my town. When I graduated from college in California in the '70s, I bought my own copy. I still read it from time and time, and the magic of the book hasn't faded; the romance, the immigrants' stories, the underlying power of the mills over the lives of every character, they all still enchant.

I first read this book during final exam week in college over twenty years ago; I've read it about ten times since then. As a history teacher that was reared in a steel mill family just outside Pittsburgh, I find the account of the industry and people who populate the area where I grew up to be accurate and interesting. However, what really captures me each time I read it is the humanity and reality of the characters throughout the chapters. I read it again whenever I need to be reminded of home, whenever I want a good "cry" over a book, or whenever I need to be reminded that there is a bigger purpose to life than just what I want; mostly, I read it just because I consider it to be one of the top five books I've ever read.

If there is a horse crazy youngster in your life, this book will enthrall them for hours. It is the true story of Vivi Malloy, who was shadowed by photographer Jill Krementz, and her show pony Penny. Vivi cares for her own pony at home, so readers get to see what goes into caring for a pony and learning to ride at a show level. When Vivi goes to a show, the reader is there, from the schooling ring to the awarding of ribbons. Vivi also outgrows Penny during this book, and has to move on to a larger pony and say goodbye to Penny. Many people in the horse show world read this book over and over when they were growing up (I was one of them!) and have now passed it on to their own children.

I read this book as a child so often that my copy fell apart. It was out of print for a while, but now it's back and it's wonderful! There is an update on the family and the horses. If you have a child or were a child that loves horses, you must have this book!

As a little girl growing up, I lived my life through the pages of this book and wished that I was as lucky as young Vivi Malloy. I would check this book out of the library as much as I could because it was the closest that I got to owning a horse (until my dream came true when I was 13). Despite being out of print, I was so happy when I found a copy of this book on eBay. For those who are still searching for this book, have no worry because it is finally back in print with an update on Vivi, Penny, and a few other people that are mentioned. George Morris lends a hand by writing a foreword to the newest edition. One statement he makes is so true when it comes to today's horse owners: "We also see Vivi grooming and exercising her pony Ready Penny, mucking out Penny's stall, and observing and learning from the pony's veterinarian and farrier. Such hands-on participation was all part of a rider's life in those days (but unfortunately less so today), and this book reminds us that it takes more than winning blue ribbons to become a complete horseman or horsewoman."

Never owned a horse, but got very intersted in horses in my early 20's and read TONS of books. 'A Very Young Rider' was one of my favorites. I own the book and several of the other 'very young' ones. Am amazed these books are out of print! :( Got curious reading these reviews about what happend to Vivi and did an internet search. Here is a wonderful story:
http://www.soresishowstables.com/press/ChronicleOfTheHorse-19May05.pdf

I am 38 years old and got this book for Christmas at about 10 years old. I, too, had a pony that I showed and loved dearly. I even started to wear my long, blonde hair in braids with lucky polkadot ribbons when I showed English. I ran home from school every day, waiting to get close enough to hear her whinny for me...I cried along with Vivi as I outgrew my precious pony, Boots, and moved on to a bigger horse. It still brings bittersweet tears to my eyes when I thumb through it! My dust cover is torn and worn and I was looking for a replacement book when I came upon this thread. This book, and all in the series, were wonderful stories of real-life people with real stories and experiences. With so much garbage thrown at our kids these days, it would be a shame to see this series disappear.

I knew before I read this book that it was going to share wisdom not only for my entire lifetime but a priceless piece of information and knowledge that I needed just at that time to help me understand and live through an excruciatingly painful chapter in my life and move forward with new insight and unimaginable growth. I think this book should be a mandatory piece of the western education tool kit for living a fulfilled and abundant life lived with true purpose. Nice job.....I'm eternaly grateful.

It gives a great perspective as to how we humans experience love. It also gives a good explanation of what is the difference between romatic love and, true and mature love. It talks about expectations, desires, passion, commitment, fears, etc. It helped me to understand why my love parners acted the way they did in our relationships, as well as why I kept fighting for those unfruitful relationships. ¡Trully interesting!

This book is for anyone truly ready to enter a relationship with a clear open mind and heart. In this time when intimate relationships cannot find their way, endless divorces, embittered men and woman, frustrated couples... this book will lead the way to the new paradigm of relationship. I highly recommend it.

If you are a man, and you are deeply suffering because either you are in love, or because you feel you are loosing one, this book is worth a hundred psycho-therapy sessions. It is very likely that it will help you to understand yourself, and therefore you would become much more likely to take control, or at least, to feel wide relief associated to deep understanding!

In this companion volume to Johnson's "He" & "She" books, he analyzes a medieval story (similar to Marie-Louise von Franz & Allan Chinen) in terms of Jungian psychology--but pursuing p. 195: "The task of salvaging love from the swamp of romance." He describes Western misinterpretation & overemphasis on being in love & its projection of the inner human soul (p. 63: "animus is the soul in woman just as anima is the soul in man") onto an external person--leading to later disaster. Interestingly, it closely parallels Trungpa's "Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism" that I read in parallel. I think Trungpa would agree with Johnson that: p. 32: "Many Western people, caught up in misunderstanding of Eastern religions or philosophy, make an ideal of getting rid of the ego. We need to understand that the ego is absolutely necessary; it has a vital role to play in the drama of evolving consciousness" & Johnson (p. 151) provides an enlightening, extraordinary definition of ego "death." Also, they both address the illusions/delusions of incorrect assumptions/preconceptions & the materialization of spiritual matters. Johnson's concluding chapters (an American Indian legend, a dream, & an analysis contrasting romantic love, human love, & friendship) rounded out his view since earlier chapters seemed a bit over-the-top via overgeneralization, over intellectualization (too much Thinker vs. Feeler), & a religious view of romance & spirituality (vs. Jungian individuation, balance, & integration). I'm uneasy with Johnson's "love the one you're with" (p. 129) philosophy & his praise of Eastern marriage. While he demonstrates how romantic love is egocentric vs. altruistic human love, he deemphasizes this in his story analysis. It seems to me that Tristan was a puer (Peter Pan) archetypal hero--not an adult. Much of what Johnson vilifies as romance could be attributed to narcissism instead--could romantic love merely be an implementation of narcissism? Further, archetypes form complexes by combining with human experience; thus, anima & animus are complexes as well as archetypes. An adult could apply archetypal spiritual love to a real person to form a (human) love complex. Thus, rather than an Eastern contractual marriage or Western falling-in-love, one could follow the Middle Way of human love, balancing one's inner & outer worlds without sacrificing personal affinity. Johnson seems to imply this without explicating it. He performs a most valuable service by exposing idealized romantic falling-in-love & facilitating modern understanding of human love & commitment in a society with a dearth of both.

the ultimate guide, including all cetacean species known to mna, even the elusive beaked whales. Even inlcudes a species or two that had only been discovered by skulls. The illustrations for those species are the artist's impressions. The artist is the amazing marc carwardine. Excellent guide for cetacean lovers

Once again, reading the list of photo-credits at the back of this book is like reading the index in a "Who's Who in the world of Underwater Photography." This is an exciting book with colour photographs (though occasionally a map or diagram) on every single page and the standard of reproduction is as good as it gets.

As with "Sharks & Rays" (a book in the same series), the content is also as good as it gets and, if you only had room to pack a single book on the subject before setting out to discover some of these excellent creatures, then this book will satisfy all your requirements.

Commencing with their customary "Understanding" Whales Dolphins and Porpoises, the reader is then taken on a journey which provides a complete and wide understanding of these incredible creatures - many species of which remain on the brink of extinction. With sections on hunting, captivity, migration and much more plus a page dedicated to each specific species, this book is as complete as it should be and fully lives up to the promise in the title of being an "Ultimate" guide.

Altogether and excellent book and an essential addition to any scuba diver's library.

NM

This book is extremely useful to both the general reader and to those with a serious interest in cetaceans. The book is well organized for quick reference and beautifully illustrated to aid in species identification in the field. Cetaceans are grouped by family and unique characteristics are clearly defined and illustrated. In addition the book is lightweight and easily carried on a boat trip. Highly recommended.

My main objections to this field guide were the illustrations. Artistic renderings are often beautiful, but fail to portray the animal in question with accuracy. Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius)is a case in point. Although I have not observed this animal at sea myself, I spoke with a number of fellow fishery biologists who have spent time at sea as marine mammal observers and no one has ever observed a bright yellow Ziphius in the field. All observed a base color of grey with this genus, at least in the northeastern Pacific. The Tasmacetus rendering is most likely based on the J. Mammalogy (1976) paper by Watkins wherein an unidentified ziphiid whale (probable Tasmacetus) was observed from a bluff overlooking the sea in New Zealand. Useful plates were those showing all similar cetaceans together; eg. all oceanic dolphins without prominent beaks, all oceanic dolphins WITH prominent beaks etc. The ziphidae plates show male Mesoplodon characteristics, but that is to be expected since solitary female ziphiid whales, especially Mesoplodon sp., could be virtually impossible to identify. My own field guide preferences use photographs rather than artistic renderings. Other problems: The distribution maps to not reflect the full distribution (extralimital observations/strandings) of many species. An example: Psuedorca is shown as a species with a distribution much further south than observations/stranding records indicate. The text does suggest that 'numerous records' exist outside of the more tropical distribution shown in the map. Note also that many of the dolphin renderings are positioned so that the dorsal fin is right where the pages meet. We did get a chuckle over the photograph showing what you should wear when watching whales, but that can be explained by our 'silly scientist' bias. One note for potential whale-watchers: do not allow your binocular strap to lie right on the skin of your neck while at sea as you can wear painful wounds into your neck through a day of whale-watching. Make sure your shirt collar or other clothing lies under that silly strap! Voice of experience!

This book clearly deserves more than five stars for the great joy it will make available to you in the future by encouraging you to do more cetacean watching.

One of my pleasures is planning and taking trips to the various whale, dolphin, and porpoise rich areas in the world. When there, I spend as much time as possible on the water enjoying the views. I was particularly delighted to see that this book opens the doors to locales that I did not know about. As a result, I now have three times as many places to visit as I thought I did. Having seen the unusual species that I have missed, I now see the world much differently. That's a great gift to receive from a field guide.

Most people are unaware of the fascinating and beautiful mammal life in the oceans and rivers (yes, some dolphins live in rivers) around them. Although I live near one of the world's best cetacean watching areas, I would estimate that fewer than five percent of the people I meet have ever gone to observe the wonderful sights that are just a few minutes offshore. This guide can help change all that.

With a heightened sense of our aquatic co-species, I think that all people will have more respect for them and interest in preserving their habitats and populations.

Many people have a chance to go boating on the ocean, and see something that interests them. What is it? How should they approach it? I hope that all ocean-going boaters will buy a copy of this book to address those questions.

This is a beautiful book to hold and behold. The drawings are luscious in their subtlety of color and shape.

As a way to identify cetaceans, I cannot imagine a handbook that could be any better. The book is filled with dozens of clues for each type from length, shape, coloration, presence of typical parasites, behavior, breathing patterns, and other physical characteristics (like the shape of the teeth or baleen, blowholes, tails, heads, etc.). With so many observational points to consider, it would be very unusual to make a mistake. So the casual cetacean watcher can quickly be able to perform like an expert.

After you have finished enjoying this wonderful book, I suggest that you plan your next trip to watch cetaceans. If possible, I suggest going to some location that you have never been to before. Even if formal party boats are not available there, you can go out in the least expensive way and rely on your handbook to guide you into a better understanding of what you are seeing.

Appreciate the natural grandeur and beauty of the cetaceans . . . always!

Beautifully written, WHERE SHE CAME FROM is also the product of very serious and exhaustive research. It is a magical and haunting book. It brings alive a period of Jewish women's history that is only now being written about in English. Travelling through pre-Holocaust Central Europe with Epstein is an amazing experience: the reader follows both the process of investigation of family history and the emotions this opens up for the writer.

I taught the book several times both in the US and Mexico in classes on Memory and Autobiography. My students loved the book. Many of them bought several copies to give to relatives and friends as gifts. My graduate students (in History and Literature) were impressed by the rigor of Epstein's research, and the skill with which she weaves historical information into her prose.

This is a fascinating chronicle of three generations of the author's female ancestors. It is probably the only book in English that tells the story of Jewish women in Prague in the the first half of the twentieth century. Helen Epstein has a special talent for recreating social history and bringing it alive.

This book was a beautiful personal tribute to the author's ancestors.

I was engrossed in this book from the first page...although it was a slow read for me, because I wanted to grasp the intensity of the generational saga, and grasp the historical facts, correctly. Epstein has more than proved herself in this dramatic memoir of family generations, identity, and history, weaving us through time, each piece of family fabric a part of the final tapestry. The reader is given remnants and squares of fabric in a familial tapestry, of sorts, through history and time, through the horrors of war, and how it affects all the generations, from past to present. From assimilating into society and racial and religous identity, to how one views themselves and what they identify with, Epstein manages to stitch a tapestry of her family, each stitch in time adding to the fabric of her own identity. Bravo for a wonderful read!

In WHERE SHE CAME FROM, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based award-winning author Helen Epstein has penned a meticulously-researched memoir to the four generations of Czech and former Czechoslovak women in her extensive family, from her mother's side of the brood.

While today she associates her public persona to the proud and extensive line of former Czechoslovak Epsteins (see Ms. Epstein's fabulous Amazon Short available off of this site, SWIMMING AGAINST STEREOTYPE: The Story of a Twentieth Century Jewish Athlete), the writer stakes her claim to a noble and illustrious family line which once proudly sported famous Viennese and Prague-based surnames such as Rabinek, Solar, Weigert, Sachsel, Furcht, and Frucht.

Like an experienced batsman for a World Series-winning major-league baseball team, Epstein managed to hang in that old batter's box, waiting for just the right pitch to slug out of the ballpark. In the book world, the analogue was when all the right moments fortuitously transpired to assist Ms. Epstein in securing many essential clues of research which she utilized handily in crafting this excellent book's narrative. Even she'll tell you, the process was far from easy.

Thanks to a dedicated coterie of like-minded collaborators based in points all around the globe as you'll soon read (the former Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic, Israel, South America, and the United States), Ms. Epstein succeeded in cobbling together one of the most comprehensive Czech geneological histories on the public record.

The work is not only emotionally remunerative for Ms. Epstein, to the extent that those missing links in her family chain were finally sewn together, but it's additionally a fine account of several strong women, renowned in their various fields of endeavour, who persevered during the best of times and the absolute horrorific worst of the 20th century.

Starting with Helen's great-grandmother Therese Sachsel, nee Frucht (Furcht), who lived during the reign of Franz-Josef in the last of the Habsburg-ian thrones, passing through her grandmother Pepi's life story during the turbulent First World War and the First Czechoslovak Republic, and finally overlapping the history of her own mother Frances Epstein, Helen pored over hundreds (if not thousands) of archival sources in constructing this cogent tale.

Collectively, these three noble upstanding women belonging to the author's colourful past outlived the worst of the 20th century's ravages, passing fads, and tragic downfalls.

We swoon with Therese Sachsel during the euphoria of Tomas Garrigue Masaryk's (TGM) storied first Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938), when all seemed possible for the Central European remant of the former Austria-Hungarian powerhouses of Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, and Slovakia. Our hopes and dreams are temporarily crushed alongside her grandmother Pepi Rabinek as we witness the invasion and subsequent occupation of Prague by Nazi hordes, who sweep unchallenged through the former Czechoslovakia's borders after the West's perfidy of Munich. We agonize alongside Pepi's daughter, Frances Solar/Rabinek/Epstein, the paragon of the family and Helen's stalwart mother, as she is dispatched to the Teresienstadt (in modern-day Terezin, Czech Republic) concentration camp, or in the colloquial Czech, the "koncentrak." We also rejoice when Frances is extricated from the hellhole of Auschwitz, and tranported the West in wartime Germany as part of a labour brigade, towards the oncoming Allies from the West, liberated in Bergen-Belsen by British forces at the end of WWII. Finally, we are shocked to discover the insensitivity, sheer apathy, and in many instances -- outright hostility -- that Praguers demonstrated towards the surviving returnees from the Nazi camps, to which Frances and her future husband, famous former Czechoslovak Olympian swimmer, Kurt Epstein, counted themselves.

Helen Epstein's lines draw us inexorably into this story, and once you start you'll have a difficult time finding excuses to stop.

What staggered me as I made my way through this read was Ms. Epstein's formidable discipline. The sheer single-mindedness with which she approached the colossal task of the near-vertical climb to reach the bottom of her family's history. I read with awe how solace was found towards the end.

WHERE SHE CAME FROM will stand as one of the foremost examples of the self-researched memoir. If you need any reason at all to read this book, then let it be thanks to the iron-willed determination which the answers gracing its pages were unearthed by Ms. Epstein.

A book like this needs to be savoured for its significance, appreciated for its illumination, and respected for its purity. There isn't a single letter which graces these pages that wasn't typed, written, or transcribed in the absence of a labour which can only be termed love.

I sit back and wish we all had the staying power of Ms. Epstein. The book is laudatory in the extreme.

As if Ms. Epstein's family history were not enough, there are other benefits to this book too. For those with a keen interest in the past two centuries of life in Prague and the experiences of Bohemia's and Moravia's Jews and its Czech peasantry, WHERE SHE CAME FROM is chock-a-block with painstaking factoids and historical tidbits that'll nudge you gently towards further reading. It will also supply its readers with a glimpse towards the increasingly-distant Czechoslovak past, which, with the passing of the years and the keener integration of this country with the rest of the EU, slips further and further away from the grip of Czech youth.

This book is more than just a reminder, it's a testament to a time which no longer exists. In that respect, it is now part of the permanent historical record.

WHERE SHE CAME FROM is written in a language at once accessible and magnetic. For all ages, for all backgrounds. I can't do anything less than award this superb work of history my highest rating of 5-stars.

I know you will too.

-- ADM in Prague

Although this book has a slow start with a lot of historical information, once you get to the Holocaust section, you will not be able to put this book down. I read it while in Vienna and after I visited Prague. I felt so connected to my surroundings and the author that I literally felt like I was in the book. Makes the enormity of the Holocaust personal and understandable. A MUST READ FOR EVERYONE!

i bought this book for my aunt who is a single, middle-aged, jouyful southern woman. she is an exuberant believer in Jesus Christ who unfortunately doesn't know much of his world beyond the USA, and i thought this would be a good way for her to explore it while connecting (a word that is very near to her counselor's heart) with people.
i don't know how much she has read yet, but my sister and i devoured it in the few days that we had it. we came away from it feeling even more curious about life in different places and reminded of our privilege as women to live in a financially independent manner.
all in all, if you need an antidote to self, this book will help.

I read the Material World several years ago and I was excited to see that Peter and Faith had published a "sequel" of sorts for the book. Women in the Material World is fascinating, especially if you can review it side by side to the Material World. I thought the questions regarding love in their marriage and their expectations for their children were so interesting. I am very happy with my purchase of this book and I recommend it to anyone who is considering it.

A sequel to the authors' successful, "Material World: A Global Family Portrait," which interviewed 30 "statistically average" families from around the world and photographed them surrounded by all their worldly goods, "Women In The Material World," by Faith D'Aluisio and Peter Menzel, revisits 21 women from these families.

With interviews conducted by women over a period of days, even weeks, and 375 color photographs of women captured in their daily lives, this is an absorbing look into an overlooked world of marriage, women's work and families. From female circumcision to divorce, from finances to education, gender roles, work, and friends, women discuss every aspect of their lives - seemingly freely.

Two themes repeat through this largely agricultural world - women's work begins before dawn and ends long after dark and most women feel they have enough children - whatever that number may be.

This is a fascinating, captivating and beautiful volume, to be read, not just browsed.

This book is a superlative sequel to the early Material World by Peter Menzel. I have read the earlier book so many times that when this new volume came out, I bought it immediately sight unseen. In this book, Faith D'Aluisio revisits 19 of the 30 families featured in the Material World to find out about the women's lives.

The articles are organized alphabetically, together with short features on marriage, laundry, work, education, childcare, hair, food, water, and friends. At the back of the book, we find statistical charts about women, and a useful statistics glossary. Each article has an extended interview with the mother of the family that reveals parts of her life story as well as her attitudes towards topics such as marriage, child care, education, money, and possessions. The articles are of course filled with numerous color photos, large and small, of the women at work and with other family members.

The Material World itself is a monumental book, but it was hard to go back to it after reading this book, where we find that the details presented in the Material World were so incredibly superficial. For example, family life for Maria dos Anjos Ferrerira in Brazil or Carmen Balderas de Castillo in Mexico isn't nearly as rosy as one might guess from looking at their original smiling photos in the Material World. On the other hand, Zhanna Kapralova from Russia continues to be a survivor. No matter how much you learn from the Material World, it will be far eclipsed by this book with its extended interviews and additional photographs.

A companion to Material World: Portrait of the Global Family, this book is an incredible expose of the lives of typical, average women all over the world. I, as an American woman with everything I could ever possibly dream of, especially appreciate seeing how things may have different for me had God just decided to make me the girl child of a Vietnamese working family vs. my background. It really makes you take stock of your life, appreciate it, and feel blessed no matter what your circumstances may be. America is truly a wealthy and favored nation. Even our poor, compared with most of the countries in the world, are rich! We should all feel compelled to give back, not matter how much (or how little) we have. I've been giving this book to my friends for gifts (thank you, Amazon!) A MUST READ!