S Books

Excellent guide on connecting with the audience. My presentations are generally information driven (Medical field) and there is very little room to change and create a connection with the audience, or so I thought. After reading this book (a very quick, entertaining and easy read) I presented a topic that was rather dry; I had more peoplle come up to me with positive remarks and feedback then I ever had. I highly recommend this book.

This book was a great help - read most of it one day, and used the techniques the very next weekend. A great book!

An excellent introduction to public presentation. Clear, pithy, few wasted words -- it models what it preaches. Unlike many of its competitors on the presentation shelf, S.O.S. doesn't ramble on and on, like a speaker who just can't shut up. Instead, it gets in, gets out, and leaves the reader a better presenter.

The downside of this book is that it has no visuals, no pictures, no fancy color printing inside, and it is printed in expensively; no bells & whistles - just meat & potatos.

Recently, wanting to move my presentation skills to the next level, I spent $1,500 on books & audio. Without a doubt THIS BOOK IS THE BEST resource for advanced presenters. Of all the trainings in my career I've had in presentaiton, negotiation, media & crisis communication, I recommend this as 'the golden little book' to connect with an audience.

I applied the ideas now 3 times to big presentations and each time with "knock-out" success & unsolicited feedback from the audience afterwards. Practice makes perfect !

In addition to the positives mentioned in the other reviews, I have to highlight a great chapter on the often misused PowerPoint ("PowerPoint Doesn't Bore Audiences, Lousy Speakers Do") By emphasizing the importance of a good presentation and clear, simple and direct PowerPoint slides, Wiskup shows how to get the most from this tool without getting bogged down by the its technicalities. As a former training director I've seen lots of bad PowerPoint and this book provides a simple antidote.

Ralph Carr has so far been an unsung hero of the 20th century. His courage during a time of great tragedy in American history is nothing less than inspiring. Still, his story has gone mostly unheard as we have reached a time of similar uncertainty in the 21st century. Thanks to Adam Schrager, Carr's story can be more widely seen, heard, and understood.

Carr's story is enriching and Schrager's style fits the bill. The author does not just recount the life and most important moments in Carr's contribution to history, he tells Carr's story. Schrager puts us in the Colorado State Capitol where Carr made important decisions about the state, the country, and the American people; the author also brings us to the Governor's mansion and his piles of mail, as well as the Brown Palace during meetings that decided Carr's political life. Schrager does well to paint a descriptive picture of who Carr was and what he was like during his time as a leader, both physically and emotionally.

What's more is that Schrager impacts why the former Colorado governor's story is so important and what it means to so many Coloradans and Americans still today. It's made clear that Carr is a political leader and human being that shouldn't have been forgotten to begin with. Governor Carr is somebody everybody should know with steadfast principles, strong patriotism, and a sense of compassion everybody should live by. At least, that's what I walked away from the book feeling; and it's a feeling I won't soon forget. Hopefully more of our leaders gain the same guidance from this book and its hero, Ralph Carr.

Adam Schrager has brought a piece of history to life that everyone needs to read. Ralph Carr was an amazing man who stood tall on his principles. The book is a very nice read and you don't won't to put it down. There is a lesson in this book for everyone.

Colorado's governors beyond the past quarter-century occupy a nearly anonymous place in the state's history. Most served for short times, leading the 21st-Century resident to wonder if any truly made a mark. Even Ralph Carr is honored in the Capitol by just a small plaque outside the governor's office, and few state officials know much about him. Until now.

What Adam Schrager has done is crack open a previously sealed historical vault and reanimate a man whose principled stand brings to mind the fate of Christian martyrs, American revolutionaries and anyone who has lost their lives for a cause. What Carr lost by standing up for American citizens of Japanese ancestry during World War II was his political life, and Schrager is able to point out just how shocking that was by taking the reader on a concise but detailed look at the rise of someone who may have been the most popular governor in state history at the time.

The book shines in bringing forth Carr's character through well-placed anecdotes - including the story of him shouting down a fellow motorist while leaving a football game - and thoroughly researched details of his life. It also paints for the reader a picture of the age, when hatred toward one nationality of people is far more savage than anything we witness from Americans today. Its only slight downfall is that it goes into such enormous detail to describe the hostile racism in the letters that Carr received on his stand that it sometimes veers too far from the character himself who makes you care about this episode. But Schrager always brings you back in ways that are neither sentimental nor slanted but a lively historical retelling of Carr's career as governor.

The Principled Politician is a fairly quick and enveloping read.

I found this book to be an inspriring story of a man standing by his principles despite great opposition. After the attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II, while many were calling for Japanese-Americans to be moved from the west coast and put into camps, Colorado Governor Ralph Carr said often, and with conviction, that no American-born citizen should lose their constitutional rights. In this time of fear and outrage, many citizens from Colorado and across the country strongly disagreed with the Governor and frequently told him so.

Weaving together such letters to the Governor, along with newspaper clippings, and Governor Carr's own writing, Adam Schrager brings us a detailed account of one man who stuck to his convictions despite the personal and political costs. Some of the letters and articles were difficult to read. I often said to myself, "How could people think that way?" But at other times, after reading Schrager's account of media reports of the time, I had to also ask myself, "In that environment, in that time, what would I have thought?"

Governor Carr knew what he felt and what he believed in. I only wish more of today's politicians put the welfare of citizens over their own political aspirations.

I recommend this book to anyone who would enjoy reading about a unique aspect of World War II. More broadly, I recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading about people of conviction and principle.

In June/08, I was privileged to hear a speech presented to our family by Adam Schrager. The topic was his book: The Principled Politician - The Ralph Carr Story. Mr. Schrager's resonant voice would hold one's interest on any topic, but his presentation and his words were most important and captivating. He began his speech by quoting Gov. Carr:
"Never speak beyond the bladder capacity of your audience." The hour long talk extended to a question and answer period. None would admit that bladders were about to burst, but none would leave before the presentation was ended.

We bought all the books available to us that day.

The Principled Politician is a thoroughly researched, objectively written, long overdue book. Often, insincere plaudits are heaped upon deceased persons, most especially on noted politicians, but Schrager tells a different story. "Principled" is an accurate description of Ralph Carr, Governor of CO from 1939 to 1943. His entire life and political career were guided by sound moral principles from which he never backed down. Mr. Schrager convinces the reader of the truth behind the character label by revealing hundreds of facts, incidents, and quotations seldom or never before stated in complete form.

We learn about Mr. Carr's early life in the mining villages of CO and his days studying law at the Univ of CO, but the emphasis of the book is on the years he served as CO's Gov - the WW2 years when most all politicians and most of the country denounced "yellow bellied Japs" in the US. Carr stood virtually alone in voicing the rights and the honor of the Japanese in America. When evacuation and incarceration of all Japanese - non-citizens and native born US citizens alike - living on the west coast, were ordered, Carr did not "invite" the Japanese to CO, but he "welcomed" them, unlike any other politician in all the states. Concentration camps were not welcomed in any state or neighborhood even though decreed by the US gov't and guarded behind barbed wire. Carr listened to his inner voice, heeded his principles and followed gov't rules and demands with a sincere welcome to the "dirty Japs."

Carr's vociferous opponents and the anti-Carr press were overwhelmingly in the majority. His civil rights stance and friendliness to the Japanese in America assured his defeat for a run in the US senate. Nevertheless, he never caved in.

Japanese Americans owe much to this incredible man. In reality, all Americans benefited by his courage and stubborn defiance of what he knew was wrong. Some say we need politicians like him today. The truth is, we ALWAYS need politicians like Ralph Carr.

Thanks to Mr. Adam Schrager to whom we also owe much. I believe, he, like Mr. Carr, is a principled man. Six years of his life were devoted to the research and writing of this book.

Kishor's book is one of the few highly readable books on queueing
and stochastic processes. The abundant examples and discussions
of reliability also aid in understanding the material.
I would recommend this book to undergraduates and beginning
graduate students.

Second edition of "Probability and Statistics with Reliability, Queuing and Computer Science Applications" by Kishor S. Trivedi is a highly recommendable book. The concepts provided for probability theory and stochastic processes are excellent for students of communication, networking and computer science. It provides a good understanding of stochastic processes and Markov chains which are very relevant for students and teachers especially working in the speech processing area. I found the book and its contents very relevant and the examples provided could be very well related to networking and computer science, a unique aspect of this book. The students grasped the concepts well and found the problems very challenging and helpful in building up their concepts and knowledge. I had previously taught a number of other books and introduced this book last year at my University, I feel very satisfied and content with the decision of choosing this book for my students. All eleven chapters are equipped with excellent examples, problems and exercises broadening the reader's mind. The first 5 chapters constitute the probability theory while the rest of the chapters emphasize on stochastic processes very relevant to students of advanced networking and speech processing. Other books on probability and statistics usually lack an important aspect specially when used for computer science and telecommunication students. The examples and exercises not only make students learn and understand and probability and statistics concepts but also create its relevance to their very fields, therefore the book is an extremely precious gift from Prof. Trivedi specially for the students of computer science and telecommunication. An inexpensive Asian edition (paperback), a solution manual and powerpoint slides of each chapter are now available.

Prof. Trivedi has done a tremendous job in introducing topics of advanced research not found before; the students gained knowledge about the modern research environment and felt confident too. This book is not only recommended for beginners but also for professionals and engineers.

This book from Prof. K. Trivedi is another great guide for the novice student and the expert researcher for modeling tools and techniques. It builds upon neatly explained concepts of probability, queuing and stochastic processes to provide a variety of examples of applications. It is definitely a book that one has to keep at hand, as it contains recipes for a huge number of performance and dependability evaluation needs. Besides the rich content, the structure and the presentation are great: a bit of theory and soon one example from practical life, the reader never gets lost but he is rather brought step by step to a comprehensive understanding of the topics.

The "Probability and Statistics with Reliability, Queuing and Computer Science Applications - 2nd edition " by Kishor S. Trivedi is a valuable reference for students and professionals. Didactically organized the eleven chapters presents the core concepts of probability theory and stochastic processes in an accessible easy-to-understand approach. The rich set of examples and exercises, based on numerous computer science and engineering real world applications, allow the readers to build their knowledge gradually.
I would like to highlight the system reliability fundamentals covered and articulate with the remains topics.

A very useful book. A good choice for somebody who is just starting to get a feel of the subject, or someone who is looking to build a strong foundation in the area. The best feature of this book is its lucid language. There are many books in the market, which cover a lot of material but, for the average reader, are very difficult to understand. The example-based approach coupled with a comprehensive material coverage are additional selling points. I would highly recommend this book

My 11-yo daughter and I are doing a study on the Westward Expansion and Pioneers. We read this aloud to each other yesterday afternoon within a period of a couple of hours and both thoroughly enjoyed it. It is written in journal format by a 10-yo making the journey from Illinois to California with her family. Wonderful read!

A student asked me to buy this particular book and she has been pouring over it since it arrived.

I like the book because ,it is writer in letters. Rachels likes to writter in like 12 day. I will read more of other book like it .

Though this book is meant to be an aid in the classroom, I found it highly enjoyable even for the casual reader. It informs while entertaining. By using the medium of a girl's diary, the author is able to show facets of pioneer life not often brought out. This book is well worth the price, both as a fun read and as a useful reference.

Just like Marissa Moss' "Amelia" books, this was a hand-written, journal-style book, with lots of pictures. It is the journal of ten-year-old Rachel, who travels with her family of pioneers from Illinois to California in search of a better place to live. In her journal, she records the trip and there are many details! It has humor thrown in, great pictures, and a nice journal format. I've enjoyed reading this book, and I can't wait to read all of Marissa Moss' other historical journals.

The recipient of the book ordered expressed gratitude in the quality of the book received.

I was particularly impressed with the Random House dictionary. I have looked through many other dictionaries that claim to be comprehensive, but none compare with the amount and type of words defined in your product. I based my purchase on a comparison with my husband's "old" Random House College Dictionary that he received in 1968 before enrolling in college. It has been the best reference work over the years, and this new one is even more comprehensive, yet in a reasonable size. I would recommend it for anyone heading to college or with an interest in words!!

My dictionary was 12 yrs. old and didn't contain some of the modern words in use today. So I figured that a new dictionary was in order. My old one was the same as this one and was perfectly satisfactory, so I stayed with the same kind. This dictionary would be good for students or for anyone out of school.
Remember: Update your dictionary occasionally!!!!! Many words are added every year so stay modern.

I wanted to give my niece, newly graduated from high school and on her way to college, a present, and decided on a college size dictionary. I found about 6 or 7 at the bookstore and spent some time reading each of them. I ended up choosing the Random House Webster College Dictionary. There were several features of this dictionary that I liked. It was easy on the eye: there was a little space between entries, which made words easier to find, and there was a minimum of abbreviations and symbols. Etymologies are placed at the end of an entry, rather than at the beginning. That means that what you see first are the definitions, not a line or two of technical information that most people don't read anyway. When a word has more than one meaning, the different senses are numbered 1,2,3...etc. I found this clearer and less confusing to the eye than 1a,b,c or circles and squares to categorize the various senses. I also liked that Random House lists the most common meanings first. Finally, and maybe most important, people look up words in a dictionary most often to find out what they mean. So any dictionary rises or falls on the quality of its definitions. With Random House, I found the definitions clear, straight forward and easy to read.
I would have given this dictionary five stars, but I found the paper quality, which looks a little like newsprint, to be less than top quality and likely to turn color with age. All in all, however, this was the one I liked the best.
As an added tip, you might want to check out the Random House thesausus, which I also gave my niece to complement the dictionary. It was an even clearer winner over its competition, in my mind, than the dictionary.

I have been using the Random House College dictionary since I received it as a gift in 1981. I found these reviews while I was looking for a newer edition. I have my original Random House College Dictionary(that's what it says on the dust jacket and the cover) sitting here on my desk, in its original RED dust jacket, although the rest of the book is falling to pieces from use. I really wonder about all this confusion. I chose this dictionary as a desired gift because of its superior, clear definitions and wonderfully organized entries, which put the etymological references right at the end where we educated folks like to find them. My final decision as to which dictionary to buy rested on the full definition given of the word "megalomania," which all the others merely listed as a psychiatric condition. I am thrilled to hear that the terminology of all the latest technological advances and vernacular language are included in the most recent edition. I will most certainly be picking up a copy.

I remember some of the media coverage about Camille but Bechtel takes the reader inside the storm for a thrilling, if harrowing, ride. I confess I was ignorant of the damage in Virginia and I certainly did not put Woodstock and Camille together before reading this book. For disaster junkies like me, this is a MUST for your top shelf. For anyone interested in those reacting to a disaster, this book introduces you to some unforgettable people. And, for anyone living on the Gulf Coast, it should be required reading. Every week.

review posted in the American Geographical Society newsletter, "Ubique":

The past as prologue: The story of Hurricane Camille, which until recently defined the apex of tropical energy and fearsomeness, as told by Stefan Bechtel in ROAR OF THE HEAVENS.
During the summer of 1969, nature opened her Pandora's box and released Camille. She perhaps took her first steps as a tropical wave of energy out of the Ethiopian Highlands, made a lazy parabolic arc through the southern Atlantic, then hit the cauldron of warm sea air in the Caribbean.
Bechtel follows nimbly on her heels and issues moment-by-moment reports. He provides a skilful, basic understanding of hurricane science -- readers walk away with a firm grasp of orographic effects, the nature of the tropopause and the fluid mechanics of storm surges -- as well as a "disaster culture" that spurs people to take the storm head on, a culture of cataclysmic ignorance.
What drives that point home is the vivid reconstruction of what it was like to be in the storm, fashioned out of interviews with a few principle actors and dozens of bit players. The storm made landfall to the east of New Orleans with winds that at times approached 200 mph and carrying a storm surge three stories in height. Survivors talk of darkness and howling, being raked by flying glass, having their clothes stripped off. Entire communities were obliterated, while farther to the north, the Woodstock Music Festival was being pelted by rain from all the atmospheric disturbance.
Bechtel relates how then the storm started to disintegrate as it moved up the Mississippi Valley, falling off the radar, only to gather itself once more, dropping biblical rains -- perhaps thirty inches in a nightlong deluge -- on a confined area in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains. Once again, Bechtel's storytelling power takes on a terrifying clarity. Scores would die as towns were scoured clean away, the rain so heavy it was nearly impossible to simply breathe. A mountainside sloughed off, writes Bechtel, leaving the eerie "smell of deep time."
Camille was a meterological event of the first order. So is Bechtel's recreation.

Being from Nelson County and having lived in Nelson County during the fate of Camille in 1969 - this is a GREAT BOOK!!! My, how it bought back the memories of that time in a 'story' fashion, I couldn't put it down and I was there during Camille. I wish there had been more pictures that others reading this book could truly understand how devastated our county was and why the good folks from Nelson would cringe at the site of a continuous rain fall for a couple of days and schools would close for years to come. However the author did an excellent job in describing just how bad it was without pictures. We still talk about that time and 'where we were', and remember the families and friends that were lost to 'A LADY CALLED CAMILLE' because there was no warning or opportunity to get to higher grounds.
Thank you Stefan Bechtel helping others to understand what a hurricane can do to a town, community and people for years to come.

I was on my way to a Poetry Festival on a Friday, and
I started reading Roar of the Heavens Thursday night.
Instead of getting rested for the Festival, I was up
until 1:30 am, When I arrived, and pitched my tent, and
got to the Festival grounds, I immediately sat down and
started reading the book. Instead of strolling the village,
breaking into a discussion on Craft with a Poet, I sat
down and kept reading. Friday night was freezing cold,
and I kept reading. In the cold, I kept thinking about
the fascinating dynamics of the structure of a Hurricane,
and Warren Raines freezing as he clung to tree branches.
On Saturday, during a readings break, I climbed into my
car, and finished the book. Finally, I could stop thinking
about what happened to Mary Anne, Buzz, etc, and etc, and
starting absorbing some POETRY. Saturday night it was
raining, and I was terrified driving to the campground,
and hearing the rain on the roof of my tent, and it was
pouring Sunday morning, and I wondered if having been
isolated from Weather forecasts, something was coming of
which I was unaware. And thought of the unidentified bodies
perhaps hiking the trails as Camille roared through.
What a riveting read, and the adrenaline is still pumping!
The scientific explanation of the mechanics of a Hurricane
were so clearly described, and fascinating. And the interweaving
of what was happening in the country and world, with
the life and death dramas of those trying to survive
Camille really put things in time and place that connects
the reader intimately to the events. And the families and people
were so real; their pain and suffering, and the incredible
devastation. I know I was thinking about going to college
that summer, at that's all I remember. I remember going
to Mardi Gras in 1972 and seeing the steps going to no where
on the Coast, Biloxi. And I used to drive Rt. 29 going to
Conn. from N.C. in the seventies. Congratulations on writing
such an intense and absorbing, and well researched book.

The afterward and epilogue of this book resonate very closely with observations made by author Jill Fredston in her book "Snowstruck." Humanity seems to have an enormous capacity to forget disaster and to overestimate it's ability to tame nature. News media covering natural disasters regularly describe them as "unprecedented," a patently inaccurate description which has more to do with our collective memory than with reality.

Stefan Bechtel has done good research and assembled a wealth of first hand narratives and scientific explanation. I appreciated the reflections in his aftermath, epilogue and afterword.

In fact, my only criticism of the book is that it becomes rather repetitive at times, grasping for new superlatives and heaping disaster upon disaster and sorrow upon sorrow. Interspersing more analysis between some of the narrative accounts would have suited my reading tastes better, but that takes nothing away from the fact that this is well done book about a truly horrific natural disaster that most Americans probably have no knowledge of.

This is for anyone who has ever fallen in love with this wonderful city, that is any who has ever, however briefly, been there.

The format is, as it is for all the "Then and Now" series to show vintage photographs paired with modern shots of the same view. The captions describe the scenes, giving short historical backgrounds. Anyone who has ever spent any time in the city will recognize some of the modern views and will probably find themselves interested in the vintage shots giving the history of the scene. Those who are planning a return visit just might want to slip this slim book into their luggage to take sightseeing. It also just might make a welcome reference for anyone reading about the old days in the City or watching an old film set there.

Lovely to look at and reasonably informative. Will be most enjoyed by fans of San Francisco. I can't see midwesterners enjoying this book. But if you live in or have visited the city by the bay this may be the book for you.

I received the book as a gift vut I would gladly paid for it.

This book is wonderful. A must have whether you live in the Bay Area or have visited here. Worth every penny.

These are a great series of books, I own each of my Favorite cities in the US. Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco. It is really cool to see old pictures of the cities compared to current pictures.

I'm not using "conservative" in the current political sense, obviously. Everybody knows that John McCain has less than a snowball's chance in Gomorrah of winning in SF. I using the term conservative in its root meaning, something like "saving what was valued in the past." Preservation and conservation have the same Latin root. San Francisco has conserved more of its past than any western American city, and I could make a case, I think, for its preservation of more old-fashioned city life even than Boston or Savannah.

Except for the tiny downtown financial district, San Francisco "looks" old. The vast majority of houses, churches, and schools were built in late Victorian styles and have been lovingly restored in the same styles. Even the relatively "new" streets of the Sunset are old-fashioned now, predominantly in modest Art Deco style of the 30s and 40s. And it should be no surprise that ATT baseball park is a booking success, since it's strikingly old-style brick in construction, with a street car stop at the front gate.

San Francisco is a bastion of old-fashioned independent mom 'n pop businesses. There are thriving corner groceries and open-air once-a-week markets: independent restaurants ranging from very cheap to ultra expensive, but hardly any chain restaurants in the neighborhoods. The big chain grocery stores like Albertson's struggle to stay open in competition with locally owned stores like Andronico's, which has six stores around the whole Bay Area. There are more independent fitness centers and gyms in the neighborhoods; 24-hour fat farms are not the norm in SF. There are no malls that would be recognizable to most Americans in downtown or neighborhood San Francisco. The only malls - and very small they are by US norms - are on the suburban fringes.

Even Boston is cut up by freeways today, though the traffic is no better managed than when I lived there in the early '60s. Seattle is sliced in half by its ineeffective central freeway. San Francisco is the place that blocked freeway construction in the late '60s. Several freeways have been demolished in SF in the last ten years! Streets in SF are narrow and parking is tough, but a measure to build more parking lots was recently defeated at the polls, and any attempt to chop wider streets through SF would meet with armed resistance.

Baseball is the number one sport in SF. The fans of the football team pour in from the 'burbs to the hideous modernistic but crumbling stadium just at the edge of the city. The basketball team plays in Oakland. Any town where baseball rules has got to be considered conservative!

People in SF are conservative dressers, especially by California standards. I know women who live in LA, who carry clothes they consider drab to SF when they visit, so that they will not stick out like the inflamed rear view of a peacock's tail. One never sees "his and hers" outfits on the streets, especially not pastels. Men wear less bling per capita in SF than in Omaha. A neck chain and an open shirt would get you sneered out of polite society in SF.

Sweet old-fashioned window boxes are everywhere in SF. Street tree plantings are lovingly maintained. Open space is all-important to San Franciscans, and it's by stubborn resistance to development than SF has preserved more open space (finangling the take-over of decommissioned army, coast guard, and navy bases) than any comparably populated region of the USA. Nature is inherently conservative.

The half-mile strip of upper Haight Street, which gets the attention of the "screaming heads" on TV and radio, is not populated by San Franciscans. It's the runaway and stumble-away refuge of the discontented - the "poor abused confused missused" - of all the dysfunctional "conservative" families and communities from Modesto to Miami. They come to SF to enjoy the true conservative values of privacy, tolerance, and neighborhood friendliness.

I ordered all 3 Sara books. After finishing this one, I'm so glad that I did.

This is a wonderful book for all ages! It teaches children the much needed skill of creating their reality using the Laws of Attraction!

What better review can you give a book than simply to say that every time you picked it up you were happier for it?

And that is what 'Sara and the Foreverness of Friends of a Feather' is all about. This book is beautifully written and contains wonderful truths. There is no gripping plot from cover to cover, but rather an enriching journey in episodes. The book answers many questions for people who are on their spiritual paths and who want to knwo how to apply wisdom - here and now, in every situation. It is written from the point of view of a young girl , and so it is easily accessible to children of all ages. It is most definitely a book everyone (who wishes to life a joyful life) wishes they had had the chance to read while growing up - and would enjoy reading, and re-reading, and re-re-reading now ...

I also highly recommend the 2 sequels to this book. If you have children (ages 3-15), let them read this book. If you don't, let you inner child read this book all the same! :)

I thought this was a great book. The book taught me many thing I can do to be happier and more thankful. In this book, Sara is the main character who likes to be alone. Sara likes to look around and see all the new things that are around her. Sara lives with her Mom, Dad, and her out going brother.

One day Jason and his friend, Billy, found an animal that was bigger than they have ever seen. They come running up to Sara and they wanted her to see this amazing animal. Sara usually is never interested in what they have found, but this time she had this weird feeling about what they had found. Sara agreed to go and see what they had found. Sara felt very curious about this animal. When she saw the animal, she was so amazed! The next day, Sara had a large urge to go back to Thacker's trail, where Jason had found the animal. That day when she had gone back, she saw it again! She was so excited. Before anything else happened, it started talking to her! Through out the book, the animal gives her helpful tips and shows her many ways to be thankful. Sara makes a daily route to the animal, who she has named Solomon. She and Solomon become best friends. Solomon teaches her new things everyday to work on and to be thankful for. She learned so much from Solomon than she has ever learned from anyone.

Then one day, bad news happened. Jason and Billy came running up to Sara to tell her what happened. Come to find out, the news is horrible. Jason and Billy had found Solomon and shot him! Sara was so depressed. She felt a little better after her Dad had cared enough and taken the time to bury Solomon. Sara found out that she and Solomon were mental friends and that their friendship will still continue forever.

This book was very sweet and taught me a lot of things as well, like to be thankful for everything, and everything that happens is for a reason.

I have read this book 3 times, and when ever I want to feel uplifted I just open it to a page and hear the delicious words and feelings and instantly feel uplifted and more intune with my own desires.

Lots of fun and takes me back to the days I was a little one and so care free!

This is a life altering read about one of the most common and baffling problems. Dr. Josephson's approach to sinus relief is both new and innovative and gives the reader both hope and relief. The answers are so simple when put into use everyday.

After following Dr. Josephson's program and suggestions, my sinus problems improved significantly and I enjoy a new found breath of fresh air! Highly recommended it to my family and friends.

This book is approachable by a layperson and which covers most of what a sinus sufferer should know before seeking treatment. It provides a good overview of the anatomy, a brief description of surgical evaluation and intervention, and detailed descriptions of medications and recommended lifestyle adjustments

I'm a patient of Dr. Josephson and he strongly encourages patients to read this book so I read it. Before reading my review, I recommend you first read the best review I could find, written by Walt Ballenberger who is founder of PostNasalDrip, "a resource web site for sinusitis sufferers like himself". You can find the review at the following links: [..] Ballenberger's review identified a number of questions which were unanswered in his book. By talking with Josephson in person, I was able to get answers for some of them.

LASER
The book doesn't explain the tradeoffs of laser vs. traditional cutting instruments. Before Josephson, I saw an ENT who recommended laser to lightly cauterize the turbinates in order to reduce their tendency to swell when inflamed (the scarification reduces the membrane's elasticity). Dr Josephson is not a proponent of laser except in certain cases. Although a laser is self-cauterizing and therefore reduces bleeding, it causes heat damage to surrounding tissue (more than the damage caused by a cutting instrument) and instrument setup adds time/cost to the procedure. Only where the decrease in bleeding outweighs these costs is use of a laser justified (e.g. when the patient has many small polyps). I didn't ask him but I'd imagine that the thermal heat injury would likely cause more damage to mucus-producing goblet cells and mucus-transporting cilia cells than cutting tools.

SINUPLASTY
This book doesn't explain the tradeoffs of sinuplasty® vs. traditional cutting instruments. Sinuplasty® is a proprietary tool made by Acclarent which uses a thin balloon similar to an angioplasty balloon to open the sinus passages. As in heart vessels, the balloon is placed into position and inflated, then deflated and removed. According to Acclarent's description, this results in permanent widening of the critical areas leading into the sinuses while leaving the nose lining unharmed rather than destructing this lining as occurs in typical sinus surgery. I would have to imagine that if the pressure applied expands bone than it certainly will crush the membranes and must do some damage to them and the cilia which are so necessary to remove the infection and mucus (mucociliary clearance) which is the whole basis by which the sinuses protect you. When I asked Dr. Josephson about what the pressure does to the membranes he said that he knew of no studies that showed what the effect of the balloons on the membranes and cilia were. It turns out that Dr. Josephson is trained in sinuplasty but relies almost exclusively on FESS (endoscopic cutting instruments, as described in his book). He pointed out that unlike angioplasty, which operates on only soft tissue and requires a stent to hold open the expanded tissue, sinuplasty expands a passageway or sinus by dilating bony openings and pathways--widening one passageway by crushing an adjacent sinus cavity. He speculates that such pressure fractured cells could result in a problem later such as mucocele formation--the procedure was too recently developed and long term studies were not available. In addition, while sinuplasty can open up a closed frontal, maxillary, or sphenoid sinus, it cannot open up the labyrinth of the ethmoid sinus. If the ethmoids are closed, functional FESS may be required in conjunction.

FUNCTIONAL ENDOSCOPIC SINUS SURGERY (FESS)
Josephson doesn't much describe his surgical techniques in this book, which makes it difficult to compare FESS with alternative approaches. Dr Josephson says Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery (FESS) uses microcutting instruments to remove bony partitions and to widen openings into the frontal, maxillary and sphenoid sinus when necessary. I asked how he expands the passages to closed sinus cavities. He explained that, in my case, he would remove the wall between the passage to a frontal sinus and an adjacent ethmoid sinus cell (rather than crushing the ethmoid cell as in sinuplasty). This would be more controlled than expanding a balloon (as in sinuplasty) and avoid creating a new closed cell which could become a cyst. While FESS changes the connectivity of the cavities, it avoids potentially closing off the adjacent cells. He claims that research shows that mucus transport from the now-opened frontal sinus to the ostiomeatal complex is preserved with this method. This book should include and expand on these descriptions. I also asked in what cases the membranes grow back which seems important when polyps are removed from sinus cells, leaving bare bone walls. He replied that they quickly grow back. This book should include pointers to research validating this claim.

SINUS ANATOMY
This book describes the sinuses as cavities which clean and humidify inhaled air. However, the diagrams show the sinuses as dead-end spaces off the primary airway connected only by tiny passages. Why does air travel through them except a small amt via turbulence? Although I suspect they do indeed clean and humidify inhaled air, it would be helpful to me if the book resolved this seeming contradiction.

CAT SCANS
The book includes a series of diagrams showing an idealized representation of the sinuses and other organs. I found it very difficult to relate my CT scans to these idealized diagrams even though I'm quite good at 3D visualization. It would be helpful if this book included a link to an online series of example CAT scans with annotation explaining what's what, how the structures relate to disease symptoms, and (assuming some patents get post-operative CT scans) what the structures look like after surgery. Josephson told me that he had a CT review in a draft of the book and Penguin Publishers needed to make the book shorter and insisted that he cut it out. Eventually he plans to put it on line.

Overall, an excellent book and highly recommended.

This book is very informative, but a lot of the book deals with how the sinuses work, and how they are subject to irritation. While this is not bad information, it is dealt with too often. I basically wanted this book for relief of my problems, and in that respect, it is quite thorough. However, just skim through the first few chapters to get ideas about correcting your sinus problems.

Sinus Relief mow is the most comprehensive book i have read on the subject. It is the first book that links Sinus Problems,Allergies,ASTHMA,SLeep Apnea,and Gerd (gastroesophageal reflux) i suffer from most of these problems and have been treated for years by many different physicians. And no one has made these connections which Dr Jordan S Josephson makes. He is brilliant and i am living what he describes. I am using his book asc a feference and have been following his five step program. I am already seeing a difference. I like the fact that DR Josephson combines the best from traditional and alternative medicine to bring relief for these problems If you suffer from any of these problems this book would be the best investment that you can make. It has many tips that woll help you with your problems. I am going to actually make an appointment to see DR Josephson. I like the wat he thinks. It makes sense.

In the interests of full disclosure, I should reveal that I am a patient of Dr. Josephson's. In fact, he recently performed a FESS procedure on my sinuses.
It needs to be noted that Dr. Josephson practices what he preaches. Before we arrived at the decision to perform the surgery, I followed each of his recommendations, including a long use of antibiotics, smoking cessation, the use of an air purifier and a humidifier, etc., etc. Only after these actions failed to result in a "cure" for my sinus problems did he recommend surgery. True to his word in the book, post-surgery did not require packing and I hope that the procedure will result in long-term improvement. In the meantime, I constantly refer to Dr. Josephson's clear and coherent book to guide my treatment.

I have heard from many people how wonderful and helpful this book is. I have looked everywhere for it!! I am hoping that somehow we can get this book back into print. Several therapists have mentioned it. Any suggestions? There must be something we can do!

I saw this book on a friend's bookshelf and relived very important moments in my own childhood. I can't believe it's out of print and beg the publisher to reprint this very wonderful and crucial book for children and parents to read together...

the only relevant page in this book now a days is when the kid is balancing on the fence and it explained how when the big person said get off that fence or i'll ..... meant please get off that fence i love you - the rest of it in this modern world could be bunk - but still the only reason i don't have a copy is because it is a hand me down bible - any one got one let me know - anyone remember it lt me knoe - i'm rewriting - modern input apprecciated

I read with interest the comments of several reviewers and see my daughter (who is now 26 and expecting her first child and MY first grandchild) was not the only one to benefit from this book as a child. PLEASE bring it back - I came to Amazon.com hoping to purchase it for my grandson who will be joining us in May.

Going from a teenager to a young adult, I read the book T. A. for Teens. I wished I had learned about transactional analysis throughout my school years.It would have helped me deal and understand my behavior and that of others, as well as be a happier person. Now, I am a mother of a wonderful little girl. I'm looking for T.A. for Tots, to start her out earlier than I did. BUT IT IS OUT OF PRINT!!! Please, please, please bring it back. So the new generation of kids can get an early start on understanding warm fuzzies and cold pricklies, and how to comunicate their feelings in a possitve, constructive way. Looking forward to seeing the book available again. Thanks. Liza