D Books

except for the Bible, this is the best.
It is the full and undiluted version from the first english translation.
read it, learn it,live it.
j

The book is excelent reading but please get a different version.
This version only has 580 or so pages where as other versions have over 1,300 pages. That means that this version is only half the story.
So much gets lost in translation already don't cheat yourself even more.

Although the story is well known to me, the editing of this audio book was so confusing. I absolutely could not follow it. Too much is cut out.

Story has good twists, but there are too many French places and people which makes the audio confusing.

This book is long out of copyright and so is available free for your Kindle elsewhere on the net.

(Great book though!)

Excellent story plot for both the young and old.... A story to be passed down from generation to generation

This book is a childhood favorite and even to this day at the age of 21 I absolutely love this book. The adventure and writing style is absolutely irresistible.

One thing I wanted to mention about this particular book is that although it alternates between worlds (earth and Fantasia) and might seem difficult for young readers to handle...the print color changes depending on which world Bastian is in. Makes it easier for kids to handle...not to mention we adults!

I have been looking for this book for years and finally I have it!

Its a wonderful and enchanting story, you get to meet many charming characters along the way, discovering the fantasy world of Fantastica.

A beautifully written story tale for both young and old.

This is perhaps the greatest - certainly one of the most well-known - works of German juvenile literature in the last century. And it is so much more than simply a fantasy adventure, although it certainly doesn't lack in entertainment value.

The book is actually imaginative literature that makes the imagination itself its main subject. It is about the proper handling of one's imagination and how to SAVE the imagination as an essential part of being human. The English reader might not immediately notice this, but the German reader will. In the German original, Fantastica/Fantasia is called "Phantasien," which is derived from the German word for "imagination." Thus, Fantastica could be called "The Realm of One's Imagination."

For a full appreciation of the book, it is important to recognize this. When Bastian, the main character, steals The Neverending Story from an antique book store and starts reading it, he doesn't enter (within the fictitious world of the story) a real place such as Narnia or Hogwarts. Rather, he enters his own imagination and needs to learn to handle his imagination well.

Being an outsider in school, Bastian is tempted to use his imagination in a bad way, namely for egoistical daydreams in which he imagines himself doing whatever he likes and taking revenge on others. Slowly, he learns that this is not the proper way of handling his imagination - that self-absorbed daydreaming is harmful.

So he learns to save his imagination from the threat of "Nothing," which is eating up Fantastica.

The intended parallel isn't hard to find. Michael Ende was a man deeply concerned about the loss of people's imagination in modern culture (about the "nothingness" eating it up), and both his novel "Momo" and "The Neverending Story" deal with this.

Whether you are young or old, whether you intend this book for yourself or your children, it is ideal for growing one's imagination as well as reflecting on its precious realm.

- Jacob Schriftman, Author of The Crack Beneath the Worlds and Other Books

I gave this book 2 stars. I am half-way thru it and am about ready to pitch it. I truly wish Carolyn Jessup the best, and a happy life, but I just don't want to read anymore. The wives in the household she married into acted worse than kindergarten kids. Bickering, tattling, sulking, pouting, making scenes in public. It got tiresome to read. And I found the complaints becoming too repetitious after awhile. And- although I didn't finish the book, I am puzzled. This is supposed to be a religious cult, yet in the half that I read, there was no mention of church, prayer, sermons. They were put here on earth to do good works, but all they did was worry about their standing in the community. That was the women. There was no mention of good works which the men did. The men were cruel--- but then, so were the women. I am going to keep the book and I might finish it sometime in the future. But after reading about their trip to Hawaii, I got so disgusted I didn't want to read anymore.

As I read 'Escape' I kept having to remind myself that I wasn't reading a work of fiction. I had such a hard time comprehending that the life Carolyn Jessop lived actually took place. Bravo to her for not only escaping the FLDS life but flourishing.

I bough this book after the news of the raid in El dorado, Texas, I never heard before about this kind of cult neither that there is so many people living in polygamy in the US. The book is amazing because it describes so many horrible things that could happen to a person and that you never imagined that could happen in a society like ours. Raised with the idea that your only job in this live is to obey your husband eventhough he is forcing you to do things against your will (like getting married to a man that you've never seen before, 20, 30 or 40 years older than you, you can't take your sick children to the doctor without his permission, allow another woman to constantly abuse your children's because she is your husband favorite wife, having sex to a man whenever he wants like you are a piece of meat that he bought in the supermarket, living a life of abuse that includes hunger for you and your children's) and your second purpose in life is to have babies.

This book will break your heart in so many ways; the love of this mother for her children's is amazing and her determination of having a better live for her and her babies is amazing.

You will also see in the book that she mentions a lot of things that are happening right now, she mentions about a place called Zion (Yearning for Zion is the name of the compound in el Dorado Texas) and she mentions in her book that she was scared that she was going to get separated of her children's if she stayed, actually the head person in the compound in Texas is her Ex-husband.

The book was a fascinating peek into the polygamous marriage of the author. While the book did provide great insight, it was slow in parts, and hard to believe that the author was always in the right during the many squabbles between the wives in the home. All in all, a good read, but I could not finish the book, and by the end was too worn out from the all monotonous recollections of the infighting in the home to continue to the end.

Especially in view of recent events in Texas, this book is a should-read for everyone. I was a mainstream Mormom for 10 years, and THAT society is patriarchal enough, but what I found utterly chilling is that fundamentalist Mormonism is extraordinarily similar to many aspects of ISLAM. I wish everyone who feels inclined to accept 'freedom of religion' excuses, or who feels sorry for sect mothers in Texas crying for their children, would read this book, and Irene Spenser's "Shattered Dreams" and Susan Ray Schmidt's "His Favorite Wife". Fundamentalist Mormonism takes freedom of religion WAY beyond individual rights, and mothers have a duty to protect their children from all kinds of abuse, and these three books just rip the lid off what really goes on (one of the books also makes clear that among other things, there is rampant, officially-sanctioned cruelty to animals going on for which there should be NO excuse). No great literary style but a great source of information. A Can't-Put-Downer book.

Sharon Kay Penman is incredible, again. I really liked this book. Probably not quite as good as Sunne in Splendour, but a fantastic story about real historical figures that prior to this book I had never even heard of. I empathize with some of the reviewers who indicate the book drags a little in the middle, which it does, but I think the ending makes up for it! Ultimately, this book is a great story and I highly recommend it.

Good book but too long. Begins to be more of a task to finish than an enjoyable adventure about half way through the book.

The mark of a great novelist is their ability to make you feel for the characters - their pain becomes your pain, their happiness becomes your happiness. Here Be Dragons drew me into a world of kings, princes, warriors and maidens - and made me feel for the characters, deeply. Rarely have I had such a profound experience.

The story of Here Be Dragons takes place in 13th century England and Wales, sprinkled with a colourful cast - Llewellyn the Great, King John of England, Joanna Plantagenet, King Philip of France, the fiery Eleanor of Aquitaine, to name just a few. It's not necessary to be familiar with the political context of the time, as the novel does a good job of setting the scene. The heart of the story, however, lies in the characters.

Penman is a master of believable characterization - even though we know very little of this period, she manages to create characters that are fresh, complex, endearing and truly multi-dimensional. While many a novelist would have resorted to historical clichés - John, the "evil" king, Joanna, the alienated wife - Penman casts history in a fresh light, creating personas with shortcomings and virtues, joys and tribulations.

By the time the novel ends, it's hard to rip yourself away from the people you've come to know so well. Luckily, there are two sequels in the series - Falls the Shadow and The Reckoning, both equally as brilliant.

After reading Katherine by Anya Seton I was in search of a novel in the same tradition, historical fiction, well researched and gripping.

With Here Be Dragons Sharon Kay Penman accomplishes just that.

Her descriptions of King John are incredible. He becomes human, at times a despicable human, but nontheless human, subject to the same jealousies, love, and fears as anyone else....with the added stress of ruling an empire.

The charecters of Joanna and her prince are no less colorful. Their love story was not only a real one, but Penman makes is accessible to the reader...in the same tradition as Seton. Penman likes to depict strong female charecters from history...these are real people, with extraordinary lives.

I love this book, and will return to it many times to read and read again. I'd recommend this to anyone who really wants to escape into what they are reading...and of course learn a few things along the way.

The whole series is well researched and well written!

This is not a war novel and it is not a romance novel. It is, IMO, the perfect blend of historical fiction and romance. Although the novel is centered around the true love story of Joanna, daughter of King John, and Llewellyn, unofficial Prince of Wales, there is so much more to this epic novel. You are caught up in the world Penman creates. The descriptions are so lush and vivid it's like reading a movie. I absolutely love this story and highly recommend it!

I am a divorce attorney. I order ten copies of this book at a time and give copies out to people who are hurting. You can read this book in one night, and I recommend that you read this book over again during the next days as needed.

When my own girlfriend/partner had a sudden stroke, I was devastated. One of my divorce clients who I had given this book to, told me, Gary, there is this book.... I read this book again that night, and found it to be quite helpful as I supported my Marilee with her stroke and then a painful death from cancer that was discovered.

This is an excellent book for anyone who is experiencing a loss, be it due to divorce or separation, or any other loss, such as a sudden illness of a loved one, or even the loss of your own employment, etc. Also, people who initiate a divorce are also suffering from a loss, albeit a less sudden loss. They are faced with the loss of the dream that they had when they committed to their partner.

This book walks through many of the steps involved with loss, and the three mega-stages of surviving, healing and growing.

But this book! Dollar for dollar, it will be one of the very best investments you will ever make. When you are next hurting due to an unexpected loss, read this book that day, and the next day or days as you need to. And buy a second copy of this book to give to friends who are devastated by loss.

THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I HAVE EVER READ!! ITS SO POWERFUL FOR YOUR HEART, BODY, AND SOUL!!

This is one of the best Self-Help books ever written! Even though it is a little corny and uses bad poems, I use it every time I have had a major loss and it has served me well. It defines loss and the stages of grief, and helps you work your way through them.

My younger sister gave this to me 15 years ago when I was going through of very painful divorce. She was reluctant to give a book to me and told me so. However, the type of book it is gives you little bits of stuff to hold onto as you go through the emotional roller coaster of losing someone you love, be it from divorce or death.

I have purchsed several copies of this book over the past years to help others. There were days I didn't know how I was going to get out of bed. So, I'd pick it up and skim through it and it really made a difference.

My latest purchase was form the widower of the sister that first bought it for me. She died of leukemia at only age 50 in April 2007. I thought that perhaps if he knew she had bought this book for me, that it would also help him.

I recommend that one keeps extra copies for those times when we don't know quite what to say to someone who is hurting. This book says it for us.

This is a great book. Although a lot of the book centers around divorce, it is a great help for those who have suffered a death. Although don't get most of the poems it is a great help and makes you realize you are not going through this alone, there are people who feel the same as you.

I bought this for my godsons (5 and 7) based on my own fond memories of this work. I remembered the wonderful drawings and the vividly told stories from Greek Mythology and was happy to have passed this along to another generation. Some of the stories require a bit of editing when used as bedtime storytelling ("Why did he marry his sister?"). I plan on getting the Norse Myths collection for Christmas this year.

I really like the way this book is written because each story blends easily into the next. The pictures really help the younger ones to follow along and it makes the myths more enjoyable to read. I bought this to read to my young daughter and she really enjoyed it.

This book was one of the greatest memories of my childhood. I was in kindergarden and my older brother brought it home from the elementary school library, we devoured every picture and every word. Between my brother and I we checked out and re-checked out this book hundreds of times. I loved it so much that we both bought copies of it when we grew up. I am 41 now and read it to my son, he loves it too. This book was originally published in the early sixties, so it's old but wonderful. The author also did a very similar book on Norse Mythology that is equally great...I own that as well.

This was one of the books my mom read to me as a bedtime story. The pictures and stories were so memorable I wanted my own copy to read to my daughter.

Written for the younger audience, this book is a great way for teens and under to learn about Greek mythology. There are nice illustrations to go with it. My nine-year-old loves it! He knows more about it now than I do.

Your books are a joy to read. You are a wonderful writer. I couldn't put down each one of your books. I loved all your personal stories and learned so much from you. We have a lot in common. Thank you for being so honest and open.

All your books are up there in my top favorite non-fiction list. The other two super heroes up there with you are Dr. Brian Weiss, "Same Soul, Many Bodies", and Dr. Elizabeth Kubler Ross, "The Wheel of Life", her autobiography and her best book ever. (Also "The Yeast Syndrome" by Dr.John Towbridge is a must read! Candidiasis is the main cause of everything from athletes foot to severe mental illness.)

I've never read or heard other people talk about some of the things you talked about in your books, although I've felt them, like wanting to go home. I also have a very deep rooted sorrow and I thought it was from child abuse, but I think you're right about it being a global consciousness we sensitives tap into.

I love how you make all the things that I thought made me weird, or weak, make me sound enlightened and desirable. Awesome.

I'm so happy to have found you and I'm looking forward to seeing how all this new information frees me and changes my world.

Thanks for all the love, learning and encouragement. You are so much fun, so warm and so charming. I hope I get to meet you someday, even if it's when we finally make it home.

Very enjoyable for knowers & seekers. I grew up in L.A., so it was fun reading for me.

I love this book! It's sound and grounded and keeps its simple enough to follow. Judith Orloff offers a possibility into healing and wholeness as part of a self-care program. Intuition often has answers that the intellect can't find. So when your left and right brain work together ... more healing is possible.

This text gives voice to a near silent wisdom that underlies human evolution in consciousness, i.e., health & wellness, and validates the lives of many intuitives challenged to make sense of a dominant world view. My mindbody, my cells, my emotions all respond to this intelligence in an life-affirming way. This is profoundly healing.

I feel very lucky to have stumbled across this book while browsing through one of my favorite local bookstores. I am a seeker trying each day to develop my intuition, look within myself for answers, and feel the power of our Divine Creator flow through me. I am a strong believer in the mind, body, and soul connection and Dr. Orloff does an excellent job in this book explaining our energy systems, the power of the mind to heal, and our very own connection to Source that has been with us since the time of our birth. We all possess the ability to heal ourselves and it is time we start looking within to heal any emotional wounds that have manifested into physical symptoms in order to catch our attention. Dr. Orloff is an amazing Doctor, healer and writer. This novel is very profound and sure to change your life!

The experience of reading these 3 books by Francine Rivers is not something I will forget in a hurry. I could'nt put them down. My Mother is reading them now and my daughter is waiting in line. A true life changing adventure. Thank you Ms. Rivers.

THE FIRST TIME I PAST THIS BOOK BY IN THE LIBRARY THE TITTLE CAUGHT MY ATTENTION BUT I ENDED UP LETTING THE SIZE INTIMIDATE ME...THE NEXT TIME I WENT IN AGAIN THE BOOK CAUGHT MY ATTENTION ONCE MORE AND ONCE I STARTED READING IT.I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN. THE STORY IS BEAUTIFUL, THE WRITING IS GREAT. IT MOST DEFINITELY HAS BECOME ONE OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS. HADASSAH IS SUCH A GREAT CHARACTER, THE TRIALS SHE IS PUT TROUGH AND HER STRENGTH IN GOD IS AN ABSOLUTE BEAUTY.

Never have I become so completely enthralled with a piece of fiction. I was mesmerized from cover to cover. Francine Rivers must be the best Christian fiction writer on the market. She has a way with words that makes it seem so easy. This trilogy of books is rich in history, rich in character development, and never lacks in plot. DO: read this book. DO: have the sequel on hand prior to completion. DO: enjoy thoroughly!

This book, by far, is the most captivating book I've ever read. It's one of the very few books that I've ever read multipe times. It had everything... great scene, lots of interesting characters, love, hate, loyalty, deceit, fear, hope, restoration. Once your read this book you MUST read the 2nd book in the series!

Here is an author that proves you don't have to have profanity or sex or even scene after scene of graphic gore to write a very intelligent, vibrant, engaging ADDICTING, amazing epic story! As another review said, "Why did I wait so long?!" I'm a 50 year old woman and I am a writer myself. For most of my life - at least in the past 30 years, I have only read and written non-fiction. A year ago, I began my own first attempt at writing fiction and have begun a series with the first book finished. Even though the first draft was finished, I needed to research other Christian based fiction during my rewrite and thus my hunt began for well written fiction I could learn from.

I'm not in Francine River's league and can only hope I can strive to TRY to be.

My college degree lo those many years ago was in English/British Literature. Who could possibly compare to the greats of British or even early American literature? I didn't even try. Well - yes I did - and I always, always came up disappointed. The most disappointing to me for the longest time was Christian fiction. It was written - in my opinion - on a nice 13 year old's level. Then Ted Dekker came along and now Liparulo (the genre I prefer) and Peretti's first few books (to name some action Christian authors). However - the overall "epic" was missing.

I will compare this series - this first book and the second because they go so intimately together - to "Gone With the Wind." I finished reading GWTW when I was 11 years old, on a Thursday evening. I will never forget that moment. From that time on, I used GWTW as the "standard" for epic fiction. (I have read the "Lord of the Rings" Trilogy and other such fiction but I'm sticking to reviewing here the epic-love-story-for-chicks-or-guys-action-historical-drama fiction). With GWTW I felt like I was in the south during the Civil War, I could smell the smells and hear the sounds and I believed that Scarlett and Rhett and Mellie and Ashley were REAL. They were as if they had really lived and I was reading non-fiction about their lives. Over the course of my lifetime I have reread GWTW at least six times.

Nothing for me has ever come close to GWTW - as far as modern fiction goes as described above - UNTIL "A Voice In the Wind" and the following "An Echo in the Darkness." Again - other than non-fiction stories with real people, no other fictional accounts have ever brought me to tears - the sobbing, choking, coughing kind of tears since GWTW like River's "Mark of the Lion Series." I read "A Voice in the Wind" and then IMMEDIATELY went to Amazon even before finishing and bought the next in the series "An Echo in the Darkness" and read that. Not since GWTW have I EVER (since college) stayed up all night to finish a book as I did with the second in the series. I literally ended up with only one hour sleep because I would NOT skim (which I find I tend to do with a lot of fiction I've been reading lately because I just want to cut to the chase) and I had to find out how all would work out with the characters Rivers introduced us to who I grew to love, care for and who became as real to me as if they truly existed in this historical, Biblical time. I refused to skim even one word because I wanted to soak up the entire experience word by word JUST as Francine Rivers wove her tapesty of fiction.

I am currently just beginning the third in the series "As Sure as the Dawn" and I'm certain I will not be disappointed. She is a prolific author, but I am going to read every single book she has written and I'm only sorry I hadn't discovered her prior to now!

There are two duds in this book, the one about a college in the dessert, that I'm not sure even exists, but whatever, and the one about museums. But after that I think it's an intersting twist on what 'essays' mean. okay

Let me preface this by saying I was a classmate of John's at the Iowa Writers' Workshop in the mid-90's. I remember discussing several of the essays included in this collection, and being incredibly impressed with both the work and the author. The time, imagination, detail, obsession, intelligence, honesty and humble nature of both the essays and the essayist should at the very least inspire a more attentive read than several of the other negative reviewers chose to give.

It's time to give the Iowa Workshop a break. Just let it go. I mean, really, whether it's jealousy, or a rejected application, or just some strange anti-MFA vendetta, there seems to be a pervasive, generic attack on all who spent time at the school. People, it's just a school, good or bad. It's not some factory that automatically frankensteins each poetry student into some Jorie Graham/Michael Palmer avant-guardian. We actually have our own minds, styles, and ideas, and some of us even hold onto them well after we graduate. Imagine that.

I can assure you, there are few labels that would accurately portray all Iowa workshop students across the board, especially in the poetry program. You have no idea what it was like there unless you were there, and it varies from year to year. I would be uncomfortable judging people who've just graduated the program on the same standards, attitudes and practices I found during my '95-'97 term.

I'm not saying you have to like it, but review the work itself as it is given to you, not the Workshop or the writer's personal life. Why do people have to dismiss or attack writers and their works simply because they come out of a specific school, or because they are popular, or because the author has some success at an early age? Good writing has come out of Iowa, bad writing has come out of Iowa, just like every other MFA program, publishing house, school of thought, or geographical area.

This is an incredible work. Truly dazzling.

And to the reviewer who slams John for "plagiarizing" Dave Eggers, I can tell you that John had already written several of these essays, and published at least one of them in a journal (the Martha Graham piece)years before "A Heartbreaking Work..." was even published.

John is an exceptionally gifted writer and person, but even with all of his talent and imagination, I don't think he has the ability to steal work that didn't even exist at the time. To that reviewer, do your homework before you use serious words like "plagiarism" - John has clearly done his.

It seems pretty clear that the world has gone insane, since this is in fact the WORST book ever written in nonfiction, instead of what the insane reviews on here are calling the best. So from now on, every good review that this book gets I am going to counter with a negative one. It seems only fair for a book that is not only unreadable but that has copied better efforts by better writers, which has been camoflaged with lots of "experimental" techniques that are neither experimental nor very technically able. John D'Agata is overrated, untalented, and the least informed writer of his generation. These aren't essays, but just masterbatory effects.

Let me give you the scoop on John D'Agata. I am a student of the Writer's Workshop at the University of Iowa. Before I came I made a point to read everyone's books. I haven't had John D'Agata as a teacher and haven't even seen him yet because he's a freak and a hermit. But this is what I think about his "brilliant" book. Halls of Fame is D'Agata's first book, and you can tell it is. Now that the love fest with him seems to be over, I hope people will be willing to think about this book intelligently. It is a waste of paper. And definitely a waste of money. His "essays" ,if that's what you want to call them, are just hodge podges of bits of information and "observations" that are about as profound as a bowell movement. Just because a guy uses some "experimental" styles while writing in a conventinoal form doesn't make him a "breakthrough!" Get with it people. This is not a good book.

Now that the hype is over, please can we finally agree that John D'Agata is 100% the worst writer this country has ever produced!

This book does a wonderful job of taking the scientific information available regarding nutrition and puts it a format the lay public can easily understand. Very professional.

Glad to find a book that breaks down what I'm eating and what it does or doesn't do for me. Tired of wasting my time eating junk. I want more energy and food, sleep, and exercise are key!

Willett and Skerrett have put it all together in one reader-friendly book. Based on all the solid science out there, their recommendations are what I live by. The thing I really like about this book is that you can see where the big fad diets got their ideas, but you can also see all the other research they neglected in their rush to cash in on the diet book craze.

Finally! A book with some real information I can use to make my diet healthier and remain easy to follow. I only take off a star because a lot of the information was repeated over and over and over. The book could have easily been slimmed down 100 pages without losing any content. I also appreciate the sample menus and recipes in the back. Overall, I think everyone should be forced to read this book- our collective health would be much better!

An evidence based, comprehensive nutrition plan for anyone looking to optimize their diet. It serves as a heart healthy, cancer preventing, wt controlling, all purpose guide to better lifestyle. I recommend it to family, friends and patients. - Thomas G. Smith MD