C Books

This is in my opinion C.S. Lewis's best nonfiction work. The premise has been done before, but rarely with the sort of insight given here. His overviews of Affection and Friendship are much too often overlooked and glossed over as unimportant, but here they're given a status they really deserve.

The section on friendship, and the idea that people are bonded through mutual passions, and his grim statement that people who are just looking for a friend will never find one, was spot on. Friendships are formed as an extension of a passion for something bigger than the individual. A mutual cause drives people, whether they be sports fanatics, a tribe pining for survival, or art critics.

The pitfalls he explains for the loves such as lust, bigotry, elitism, etc. are self explanatory, but it's also practical. Friendships are exclusive by their very nature, and there's nothing intrinsically wrong with such a thing. Eros is most certainly exclusive. He emphasizes that we can't be friends with everyone, love everyone with Eros, but we can love everyone with Charity, the final section of the book.

One could write a book three times longer and not come close to the depth portrayed in this little book. Strongly recommended.

CS Lewis does a wonderful job defining the four Greek words for Love. I would recommend this book most highly to the man (women are less likely to make this error) who thinks he needs no friends. Lewis shows the importance of friendship to a good life.

This Is One of those books that should be sitting on a coffee table. It defines the various types of pure love: agape, venus, and storge to name some. It truly defines where the 'heart' is and perhaps defining the brotherly love, the parental love, or the true love...



Susan Saige

I think most of the people who purchase Lewis' non-fiction do so because they are interested in his take on Christianity. One of the odd things about this book is that Lewis doesn't make it clear how he decided on these four Greek words. It turns out that the New Testament doesn't use the word eros or storge. This means that the New Testament usage is actually closer to colloquial English usage that you might guess from this book. I assume he chose these words because classical Greek philosophers classified love in this four-fold way.

When Lewis discusses friendship in this book, he gives it a rather odd definition that no longer seems appropriate in today's world, and probably even in his time almost no one except a university professor have. Lewis' concept is that a friend is someone with whom you share an arcane interest. It is an interest so rare that when you meet someone with a similar interest, your reaction is "What? You too?" Now that most people live in large cities and many have access to the internet, finding someone with an interest in say Wagnerian Opera isn't nearly so hard as it might have been for Lewis, who hated London and large cities. I think for most urban dwellers today, the people whom we consider friends are not so much those with whom we share a rare hobby, but people whose company we like and whose lives we are interested in hearing about.

If you are a hard core Lewis fan, you will probably enjoy this book, but if you are new to Lewis, you might have more fun reading something else like Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, or The Great Divorce.

Within this work, Mr. Lewis is quick to point out the inherent difficulty with regard to the concept of love facing individuals whose native tongue is English. That is, it is easily recognized that there exists an extreme deficit when one applies the same word to describe the sentiment shared with one's spouse, as well as their favorite food. In such extreme cases of difference in terms of the word's application, clarification is hardly needed and might be written off as an embellishment about that which one feels about, say, strawberries or chocolate. However, other instances are more difficult to write off as a poor choice of words; such as, love for friends, family, a spouse, and God. One must surely agree that the sentiment in each of these instances of love can exist and be experienced in significantly different ways. While love is the umbrella under which all of these sentiments rest, they are, as far as most people can tell, very different things. That being said, it is lucky for the reader that Mr. Lewis, almost immediately, circumvents the language barrier and begins to illustrate the foundational understanding which must be apparent for further exploration of the concepts of love to proceed. For those who have struggled with this, even the simplest concept of love's significance, as this reviewer has, the first chapter alone is worth the price of this work's purchase.

Building upon a necessary base of knowledge, Lewis begins to explore the nature of love beginning with that love which might be the gray area between the words love and like, or either of the two, as spoken in the English language. Lewis continues his endeavor by tackling what people often consider the more significant forms of love such as friendship, erotic love, and the love of and for God. While no attempt will be made here to convey the significance of the final chapter regarding actual Love in fear of diluting a brilliant message, each of the chapters leading up to that point share common threads. That is, Mr. Lewis illustrates the difficulty which can be had with love in any form if left to our own devices. This illustration is achieved in the author's typical fashion of profound analogies and appeals to common experiences. One can be certain that while this recognition of the volatility of human love is of extreme importance, it is the overriding concept that only by surrendering these loves to Love that one can achieve happiness, solace, and purity in Love which makes this work unquestionably valuable to those that are fortunate enough to read it.

Wonderful illustrations and a book that will not bore an adult. Great learning tool for young readers.

This book was recommended to me on a recent sailing trip thru the Great Lakes. I bought it for my hometown library as it was a wonderful geography lesson. Truely a dateless book and a lovely present for a child or library.

I couldn't say enough good things about this book and the series.

I have used this book as a child, with my children, as a teacher, and now with my grandchildren.
The book offers many educational experiences, entwined within a fine story.

I read Paddle-to-the-Sea as a child (I was born in 1942), and its story, illustrations and maps have left lasting impresssions on me. It blends social studies, geography, 20th Century American history and wonderful artwork into a gentle, loving tale. It ought to be required reading for all American youths.

I LOVE all of Holling Clancy Holling's books, but I have to admit that Paddle to the Sea is my favorite. The story of a little boy who carved a little man in a wooden canoe, and the adventures encounterd by the little man just captured my imagination. I never knew the Great Lakes until after feeling as though I had been there with Paddle to the Sea. H.C. Holling books are works of art packed with wonderful facts from science and geography. Any teacher's dream curriculum because you'll have the children enrapt attention! My sons love them as much as I do, and even now, they remember reading them as great memories.

As a freshman in college, the concept of religion can be a very distant one. A man who is a leader of a spiritual organization on campus highly recommended CS Lewis, beyond the Chronicles of Narnia, and finally I decided I would see what the interest was about. I cannot believe I waited so long to experience such a fantastic author and truly wonderful books. If you are a life-long Christian, someone open to the concept of religion and looking to explore, or just someone who wants several great stories to read, this collection is unbeatable. Over 750 pages and seven stories that will challenge the reader, both spiritually and intellectually. I highly, highly recommend this book.

While it seems that many of C.S. Lewis' works have been compiled into collections since their initial publications, this particular collection might be one of the best available at the moment. That is, this collection might offer a comparatively larger bang for one's buck. Each of the titles contained within this single volume are more than worth their weight in gold, making the collection as a whole priceless. One should realize, however, that if the collective work is approached as one large, continuous reading, it might be seen as a tremendous undertaking. As large as the actual book might be, one should not be intimidated by its size, and feel comfortable tackling each of the separate texts as if it were independent from the larger collection if not only to avoid rushing in an attempt to reach its end.

To avoid an unnecessarily long review, one might be best served, if at all interested, to examine the reviews available for each of the individual titles contained within this compilation. Beyond this it should be mentioned that while these are appropriately dubbed Lewis' signature classics, much of his work is omitted from this collection. A few additional suggestions if one is interested in this author are The Four Loves, Surprised by Joy, Letters to Malcolm, and God in the Dock among many, many others. Again, this collection is a legitimate bargain considering the wealth of knowledge it contains and the comparative price of purchasing each separately...or never inquiring at all.

This is truly a life changing book. What an incredible mind C S Lewis had. It has been an honor to have the opportunity to read this collection. I won't stop until I have read everything I can find about, or by C S Lewis.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in C.S. Lewis!! Very handy to have all of these classics in one volume. Easy to read print also makes it hard to put down!! If you've long enjoyed the works of C.S. Lewis, or if you are new to him (like me!), you will not be disappointed with this purchase!!

C. S. Lewis held such a brilliant God-given imagination, that ALL his works tickle the mind in places that one didn't even know existed! His writings will have you laughing until you hurt one minute, and the next minute so full of spiritual sobriety that the on-going, unseen (yet very "felt") battle raging around us becomes crystal clear.

It is far and few between when a book will call me back to it when I walk away. It is not often that I find such joy and delight when I can finally pick it up again--almost feeling a guilty pleasure when there are so many chores to do and work to be done!

What a brilliant mind this author had. What a blessing he was to our planet! My children love his works.

Carrie Lynn Jones
Author of: It All Began... When Jesus Gave Me Sneakers

This is one of the best books I've ever read. It's a slow read, but not difficult - there's so much packed into these 280 pages that you'll have to take your time to get it all.

It came as advertised. It came rapidly. The only complaint I have is that I ordered a hardcover and received a paperback.

I love this book. This is a great book to read daily. I do a chapter or two a day and then look up the verses that are referenced. It is really humbling and puts things into perspective. Focus on eternity and not the here and now.

it's like having a mentor talking/converse with you about different important issues in a christian life, heart etc. . get the book!

This is not a review of the book per se (just got it, have not read it yet), but thought I needed to share this. Book arrived with another book (a textbook) in the usual Amazon box, each laying side by side. It was left out in the rain for most of the day by the local carrier until I brought it inside. The entire box was soaked and ruined, tape fallen off and box literally gaping open, all of the paperwork inside was falling apart in pieces and soaked, my textbook was completely ruined (soaked through, wavy wet pages etc - got returned), yet this book was absolutely dry - not a trace of even a microdrop of water - perfect condition. Take away whatever message you want...

As I pastor I'm amazed at how many young children like to have the Bible read to them. As they grow older, you want them to begin to read it for themselves, and the Picture Bible provides a great transition between being "read to" and "reading it themselves." Parents can read it to them like a picture book until the child begins to read on their own.

And kids like to read this edition! It looks like a comic book (what kid doesn't like that!) but it tells many of the major stories found in the scriptures.

I always keep a couple of copies on hand to give to parents when their children reach age 5 or 6. And for the price, how can you beat it.

Pastor Kirk Brantner

I used to carry this around the house as a child and was recently looking for something like it for my daughter. I looked for it and didn't expect to actually find it. I always remembered the stories of the bible the way they were presented in that book. I think this is a very valuable addition to any home library. Of course not as a replacement for the bible, but it really helps relate those stories to children and helps generate interest in the bible. I recommend this to adults and children.

My children and I have worn out 2 hardback copies of this great kid's Bible at our house. I love this book so much that I have also bought literally hundreds of copies of it over the years to give to the new children in our Awana program every year. I just hope this wonderful children's Bible is never out of print because I want to keep buying them and giving them away. It is truly fantastic, both for kids and adults!
Karen George

The comic-book format may be off-putting, but the text is very true to Scripture. I can't believe how much Old Testament my kids know! One copy has already fallen apart - we're going to order another. Well worth it!

A number of reviewers have commented on the remarkable fidelity of this work to the Bible itself. Proof of this may be that I purchased my paperback copy at a Conservative rabbinical seminary bookstore! If it is used as a pedagogical tool at a school for rabbis-to-be, who am I to question its accuracy?

In Iraq right now and had to read this. Wasn't as good as I thought it would be but it gives a perspective.

This was an excellent book. Well written and really made you know the soldiers involved and placed you in the action. It really made it personal. I was expecting the author to point fingers at the rediculous methods employed by the US commanders, but the author just tells the story and lets the reader come up with his or her own opinion. I am in the middle of reading another book about Iraq, "No True Glory", and appreciate this book even more. No True Glory tells the story of a much larger operation, and as a result you lose that personal feeling. You won't be dissapointed with this one.

A very good read! I was a bit hesitant to buy and read this book,since it was written by a person , Martha Raddatz, who works for a liberal and biased ABC news network. I thought it might just be another "Bush Bash" !! It was anything but that. It is well written and very well describes the modern day battlefield that our troops face every day. I would highly recommend reading this book. Thanks Martha !!!! WELL DONE AL

An excellent book that covers not just the view from the troops in Iraq but also an excellent coverage of the folks left at home.

Absolutely fabulous...being the mother of a soldier I was terrifed and yet strangely comforted by Ms. Raddatz's book. I run an FRG for my daughters group and never realized how important it is...Thank you Ms. Raddatz

Everyone should read this book, even if they have no intention or ability to use a humanure composting system. It provides a wealth of information on a subject that has been ignored for too long...human waste - how to dispose of it in a sensible, sustainable, practical, useful manner. We haven't flushed a toilet in this house in eight months, since we got this book and built our own sawdust toilet and composting box out back. We had a serious drought here this summer and our well was REAL low, but we had no problems because we weren't FLUSHING FOUR GALLONS OF CLEAN DRINKING WATER UNDERGROUND each time we went in the bathroom. I always wondered why we eliminate in water, anyway. And it doesn't stink, the compost box doesn't stink, it's simple and straightforward and clean and the humanure toilet's time has come! Everybody who comes in our house gets dragged into the bathroom by my husband to meet our new humanure toilet! Then I drag them outside to meet my wonderful compost box! So far we've had one convert, a couple with a camp who were using a stinking old outhouse, and they are just thrilled with the idea of using a humanure toilet next summer when they move back to camp. As a bonus, our electric bill dropped substantially, just because the water pump doesn't have to kick on every time a toilet is flushed. Buy this book, read it, start using a humanure toilet, tell all your friends, lend the book to your friends, do it now! Then read Joe Jenkins' other book, "Balance Point."

This was our primary source material for building and maintaining our composting toilet. Works great, saves on water, makes for good plant food, and only smells like sawdust inside.

Wonderful book that I wish everyone would read. Great information.

Due to a plumbing fault in the house, my family have been composting in the back garden on a daily basis for over a year. What a bonus to stumble upon this book and find out that our actions have been helping to preserve the future of our planet! A number of residents in our street have complainined that the local environment has been suffering from some kind of unpleasant air pollution of late, so we feel proud to be putting something back.

This book combines humor, biology, humor, facts, humor, and specific instructions. Did I mention humor? ;-)

It is also incredibly thought-provoking. The author points out that we are one of the few countries that defecate in our drinking water.

We now have two composting toilets. The one we spent over a $1000 for before we bought the book and the $50 one we built after we bought the book. Guess which one is easier to deal with?!

This edition lits the hits that most people forgot! I was looking for info on one it wonders and other fun trivia that we could enjoy at work. This book was it!

This is a great book for laying musical artists and song arguments to rest.It is also very informative and fun to read.

For some reason this book is very hard to get in the UK (a bit like a good train or bus service). Hence the need to purchase it from the international site of Amazon. Once obtained it is very useful.
It now also seems difficult to get the UK version, so good luck if you are hunting for either.

An excellent reference for any music enthusiast wishing to narrow his or her research. Well written, informative and accurate. Another typical Whitburn product worth every penny. The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (Billboard Book of Top Forty Hits) 8th Edition

Supplement this one with his Billboard Hot 100 Charts (The Sixties) Billboard Hot 100 Charts - The Sixties. And lastly, while we're still in the 60's music Era, don't forget Whitburn's Bubbling Under The Billboard Hot 100, 1959-2004.Bubbling Under the Billboard Hot 100: 1959-2004: Joel Whitburn Presents

You can't go wrong here. The research he's done in these references to ensure accuracy and simplicity is incredible.

The 8th Edition of "The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits" is another winner. Those familiar with this series already know that this book will be an outstanding research tool for radio stations and music collectors. The 8th Edition, written by Joel Whitburn, is another "must have" for anyone serious about music chart performance. Joel's reputation for compiling and publishing chart data in an interesting and useful format is well recognized, and this edition covers the entire time span of 1955-2003. Whitburn's books can get so much use as valuable reference tools, that it's easy to wear out the binders. Can't wait for the 9th edition!

I read portions of this book aloud to several people and with no exceptions grownups and children alike, it touched their very souls. I found it in an elementary school library but just had to have a copy of my own after I read it. It is a quick read as well as a must read. It will change your entire life view about the importance of reading and writing and learning. I can't say enough about this book. Read it. You will immediately see what I mean.

"Clottee get me food!" Think if you were a house slave how you would feel like a piece of meat always being bossed around and made fun of. If you want to read a book about a slave girl this is the book for you.
A Picture of Freedom is a Dear America story, like you would have never thought. You might think she is always tired and sad. However she works day in and day out just to stay alive. This girl Clotee wants to be like others as free people not a as a slave. She wants freedom. Her friend Spicy and her aunt Tea respect her. Furthermore one day she thinks about running away. Then she thinks if she runs away and gets caught, she might be killed. If she stays here at the plantation her life will be rotting away and working for nothing for the rest of her life. So what would you do if you were a slave?

I picked up this book because I am interested in slavery and Dear America. What a great read! Having to use "thinking squares" for it the first time I read it didn't ruin it for me. Clotee is likable, intelligent, and respectful to older slaves. The ending is not stereotypical (no more details given). My only complaint is its portrayal of slave owners (they are people just like the rest of us), but I see where Clotee would get that negative perception of them. I recommend it to pretty much anyone!

Clotte, a twelve year old slave girl at Belmont Plantation in Virginia, has been reading and writing as long as she was fanning for her Master's son during the hot summer months. She hasn't told anyoone about it, not even her mother figure, Aunt Tee, or father figure, Uncle Heb. A new slave was bought by the Master and to Clotee's suprise she was muscular and pretty at the same time. Hince, Clotte's brother-friend, had feelings for her and they started to court in the cooler and winter months. Hince was a jockey for the Master and he had never failed Master Henley until a team from Richmond bet that thier horse could beat Big Can, Hince's horse. One of them drugged Big Can and Hince lost the race, therefore having to be sold to the Richmond team who was moving to the Deep South where slaves had it even harder than in Virginia. Spicy and Hince couldn't handle being apart and ran away. This made Clotte think she needed to help slaves that were going to be sold to the Deep South or that were going to be sold to anywhere else. Clotte had the aid of Master's son, William's abolitionist tutor mentor. However when he was forced to leave and attempting to shut down the Underground Railroad passage through Belmont Plantation, Clotte felt that she needed to keep it open since it was so important. This book is good for any adventure reader and it helps to understand the way that African American slaves had it back in the 1850's and '60's.

This is a wonderful, heartwarming story that is perfect for introducing the plight of slaves to children without frightening the children to death. Clotee, though a slave, retains power from her masters by learning to read and write and keeping a hidden diary of her observations. Though this is admittedly unrealistic (where is she getting all these writing materials), the power she retains in doing this keeps the situation from ever feeling overwhelming or helpless to the child reader.

This is a great book. I gave the book to a few German friends who lived in Germany during the war. They could identify with the author's experiences.

The author became a U.S citizen and fought in Vietnam. I would have liked to read about the author's experience in this country, and his experience, as a pilot in our Air Force.

A well written book and interesting too.

Wonderful and descriptive first hand account of living through WWII in Germany and the life there afterwards.

The author, who was 10 years old and living in eastern Germany when WWII came to an end, has an amazing memory for telling details and an irresistibly engaging personality. His memoir of that dreadful time is framed as a tribute to his mother, who certainly deserves it, and an unforgettable lesson in history as it is really lived. Once you start reading this book, you will be unable to put it down and you will never forget it.

This harrowing memoir should be required reading for all children. Perhaps, as adults, they will think hard and deeply before embarking on war. The description of life at the end of WWII and postwar Germany are harrowing. The reader cannot help but wonder how he or she would or could cope in the same situation.

I found the comparison among the American, British and Russian zones in postwar Germany to be fascinating. I hope that the friendliness and genorosity which have historically characterized Americans have not been lost in our recent imperialist adventurism and immoral acts.

I learned of this author and his saga through the Berlin Airlift Association. I am WWII vintage, first landed in Berlin during the Pottsdam Conference- July '45. I was later stationed in Germany on three different occasions and flew on the Berlin Airlift in '48 as a pilot. I read and thoroughly enjoyed Wolfgang's story and went through the book in a matter of hours- a rarity for me. It was a compelling story, so well crafted. The author has a real gift for a superb journalistic format and style. I can relete to so much of the trauma he went through, not in his boots, so to speak, but as an observer of the terrible situation confronting the civilian population. I am a WWII history buff & have a large collection of books from that period. German Boy is certainly a keeper in this time frame and setting. I so enjoyed the flow of the story and the easy to read style. His descriptions are vivid, alive and enticing. I immediately bought the sequel, Coming To Colorado and it is equally fine reading. As the author of a book, TOP STICK, I realize the undertakings involved in writing a good story. Wolfgang does a superb job and he is to be congratulated for his fine work. Buy and read this book. You will be most pleased that you did, and I'd wage that you'll buy more of his work. HAROLD A.JACOBS, LT COL. USAF ret.