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D Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

D
The Course of Empire
Published in Mass Market Paperback by Baen (2005-03-01)
Authors: Eric Flint and K.D. Wentworth
List price: $7.99
New price: $1.99
Used price: $0.11

Average review score:

Prepare for the journey.....
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-27
Probably one of the most realistic alien invasion books ever and I'll be looking for the next in the series, if any. The aliens are TRULY ALIEN and therefore more scarey. The invasion is told in retrospect, but reads like what would really happen--a few cities wiped off the map, but most retained for "use."

Based on my reading of other books by these authors, the guts of COURSE appear to be by Wentworth. The thoroughly delicious inner monologues of the Jao and the descriptive passages of their physique are in that same supple style as seen in STARS ON STARS.

But the first chapter seems to lack pizzaz and most importantly, it lacks a hook to impell the reader foward to the next chapters. Still, once you get past that, you're in for a ride. So strap yourself in tight. Enjoy.

emminently readable
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-03-14
Excellent attempt at reconciling disjoint culture and thought processes. The main antagonist was displayed early with a bit too much emotional anthropomorphism. As the story evolves, other aliens follow suit. Has some valid earth historical contrast and comparison.

Could have been an earth based war story. Read for fun!

One of the 10 best sci-fi books I've read
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-07
I won't go into details of the plot, since others have done that. Suffice it to say that this story seems so real you could almost believe it really happened in an alternate universe. I'm not one of those New Age groupies that feel all ETs are our space brothers, so I found the idea that our world was invaded by force quite believable. As was the fact that the aliens had different factions that fought amongst themselves. Why should ET be any different than humans?

For a very realistic take on an extraterrestrial intervention check out the Allies of Humanity.

Gripping alien political intrigue on Terra
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-08-09
I'm constantly on the prowl for sci-fi portraying convincing scenarios of human/alien contact. "Empire" is one of the best of such. The Jao are a fascinating species who come alive because of the level of imagined detail the authors have devoted to them, and because there is potential for "association" between them and humans. With the other aliens, the Ekhat, no bridge of understanding is possible, and these weirdly "musical" monsters provide a common enemy for humans and their Jao conquerers to unite against. But the question is whether the threat of annihilation will be enough to overcome the rivalries in the complex Jao organizational system and the bitter determination of earth's indigenous peoples to resist their fierce occupiers from the stars....

"Empire" does take its time establishing the main characters and the situation in which they all find themselves. But the investment in that steady build-up rewards the patient reader as the action revs up to a blazing fire fight in the sun. Don't stop there though. Then comes the Jao Naukra (enquiry/trial/calling-to-account) where consequences including death are risked by the leaders who exceeded the usual boundaries of authority. The forwarding of a "third way" at those proceedings reminds the reader that thinking outside the box may solve seemingly insoluble political/social/species conflicts. And although a courageous young Jao male and human female spearhead the push for groundbreaking changes, "Empire" does not forget that great revisions are often planned for by "elders," sometimes very Machiavellian ones.

This novel meets the very highest sci-fi standards. A sequel of some type would be wonderful -- perhaps set forty or fifty years in the future, permitting Aille and Caitlin to mature in wisdom and power in the reality they help create and their offspring to be the radical thinkers and doers....just a suggestion.

Machiavellian Machinations
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2005-12-26
This one was intriguing, exciting, maddening and fun right from the beginning. It was also hard to put down.

The venue is Earth, at about our present level of technology. The time is about 20 years after an alien invasion. Humanity was conquered by the alien Jao and now lives a precarious existence. The existence is precarious because humans don't really understand their conqueror and the conquerors don't really understand humans. Any infraction is punished mercilessly but there is no rancor in the punishment. There is no rancor except from the alien who commands earth. He hates humanity. That makes the situation tense.

There is a reason for the conquest beyond mere imperial desires. The Jao are at war with the Ekhat. So is everyone else in the galaxy who is not Ekhat. This is for the simple reason that the Ekhat regard all other life as an abomination and wish to cleanse it from the universe. This is not a healthy situation for anyone who is not Ekhat. Unfortunately, humanity does not understand the extent of the problem and many of them do not even believe in the existence of the Ekhat. Many regard them as some sort of Bogeyman used by the conqueror to keep the subject races in line.

The Jao themselves are not completely unified. They are organized into great clans and political alliances and often let those ties overshadow the common good. So it is that the ruler of earth is of one clan and the Jao sent to serve as one of his top deputies is of the clan most at odds with his. This leads to even more clashes of will and ultimate goals.

Although this book deals with conflicts on many levels, it is mostly about indirect manipulations. Human factions try to manipulate each other to their desired goals. Jao factions do the same thing. Humanity tries to manipulate the Jao and the reverse is also true. When larger, even great schemes are laid on top of this cauldron of scheming, things get really complex. It is said that Byzantine court intrigues maid Prince Machiavelli look like an amateur. The machinations in this book put the Byzantines into the same category. It is all wonderfully intriguing.

D
The Five Love Languages of Teenagers
Published in Hardcover by Northfield Pub (2000-04)
Author: Gary D. Chapman
List price: $19.99
New price: $3.75
Used price: $3.98

Average review score:

Teenagers love language
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-04
This is such a positive book. If you are struggling with your teen you should learn their language. This book is very rewarding to parents and teens. Love it !!!!

five love languages for teenagers
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-27
Great resource for parents on how to help your children feel loved and appreciated. Helps to build their self confidence and show them that they are valuable and special. The book has many insights into the teens thoughts and needs at this stage in their lives. I will listen to it over and over.

AWESOME
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-18
WOW! Puts a twist on parenting! I love his insights to raising a teen.

Adapting Your Love
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-05-09
Your relationship with your children changes as they grow, and this CD will help you figure out how to adapt your love to your growing child.

This book is very worthwhile reading
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-03-17
As your kids grow, how they want to receive love and affection changes and if you don't change along with them you risk the chance of damaging your relationship with them. This book will help you develop a more meaningful, adult relationship that will bring more joy to both of you. Buy it, read it and pass it around.

D
From the Mississippi Delta: A Memoir
Published in Paperback by Lawrence Hill Books (1999-03-01)
Author: Ph.D., Endesha Ida Mae Holland
List price: $19.95
New price: $5.00
Used price: $4.98

Average review score:

Awesome
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-07
Great! Book was received in perfect condition and in a timely manner. Thanks you!

Ida Mae Holland
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-08
Harrowing, at times bleak, but a superbly written memoir of a very special lady and the historical times she helped create.

A MAGNIFICENT READ!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2000-02-03
Aside from being a celebration of the human spirit, Ms. Holland's Memoir offers a fresh, interesting, and unique glimpse into the early days of the Civil Rights Movement. This focus alone, I believe, renders the book meritorious.

Ms. Holland tells the civil rights story from the perspective of individuals born and raised in the muck and mire of Mississippi's lethal brand of white supremacy and racial hatred. Through her eyes, we get a close-up view of what had to be overcome; and, what was required of ordinary folk brave enough to get involved in a situation that could and DID, literally, cost them their lives and the lives of their loved ones.

These unsung heroes deserve national attention and recognition if the story of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States of America is to be told in its entirety. But, if this isn't reason enough to add Ms. Holland's book to your 'must read' list, I believe the author's superior craftsmanship will certainly convince you her work is worthy of the acclaim she is sure to receive once her book gains a wider readership. And, above all, the Memoir is a magnificent read!

Usually, I find it awkward and sometimes unnerving to read books written in a black, southern, vernacular. However, as in the case of Zora Neale Hurston, Endesha Ida Mae Holland writes with such a pure and authentic voice, I found myself falling effortlessly into her rhythm.

I'm a voracious reader and the authors I most enjoy are great storytellers. My current favorite is Barbara Kingsolver, and my all time favorite is Zora Neale Hurston. Endesha Ida Mae Holland 'puts me in the mind of' both these writers.

She also reminds me of Frank McCourt (Angela's Ashes & 'Tis). Like McCourt, Ms. Holland transports you back to her childhood and growing up years with such seamless ease, you find yourself sharing her heartbeat through every single experience she lives to tell about. Almost immediately, I found myself caring deeply about her; I grew to love her mother, her child, her neighbors, her friends; and, I found no strangers among those who populate her world.

What an exquisite gift of storytelling she has! I certainly hope she plans to write more 'from the Mississippi Delta,' because her talent is as rich and fertile as her source.

Obviously, I've become a devoted fan of Ms. Holland and her work ~ a designation I'm hoping you and I will soon share. Who knows, your reading experience with Ms. Holland may inspire you to join me in asking Oprah Winfrey to feature the author and her book on the Oprah Show, as well as making 'From The Mississippi Delta,' an Oprah Book Club selection.

I was moved to make this appeal to Ms. Winfrey because I believe we all benefit from an increased national and international exposure to brave and talented women like Ms.Holland. These women are profoundly inspirational and deserving of our applause and recognition.

Reflections
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2000-03-10
Endesha's story, rich in its southern dialect is a remarkable story of triumph, and a testimony that affirms regardless of our past, our pain, our short-comings that within each of us is a tiny seed waiting to blossom. Her ability to surmount the many obstacles growing up in the Mississippi Delta (a black girl) in the 60's serves as a beacon of light for African Americans who are today experiencing the pitfalls of poverty and injustice. Endesha has shown us how a committed spirit can burst forward to claim all that the Almighty has in store for us. Dr. Lady, thank you for pioneering the way. Keep writing!

The redefinition of inspiration
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2000-03-07
'Inspirational' has become one of those watered-down adjectives like 'brilliant'. Though we know certain words might signal something monumental, perhaps our frequent usage of them has lost some of the grandeur in their meaning. We no longer arch our backs or allow a goose bump to rise. Behold, along comes a work like From the Mississippi Delta: A Memoir. Dr. Endesha Ida Mae Holland turns the term, 'inspirational' on its ear. What is most remarkable about 'Delta'? Is it the phenomenal story itself or is it Holland's gift for unrelenting and witty story-telling? Holland never abandons humor even at the crux of tragedy. Her pen is as brazen as it is impeccably descriptive. She writes with an immediacy to jar the reader's sense of time so that we relive her most defining moments with bated breath. From Emmett Till's death to Dr. Martin Luther King's visit, Holland's simplest daily encounters mark turning points in American history.

Notably, 'Delta' celebrates the tenacious spirit of a true woman-child. Holland narrates from a clever perspective that never quite chooses between the wise narrator looking back and the rambunctious girl reaching forward. This devise is poignant. Arguably, young girls (in particular, young, black girls) are some of society's most disenfranchised members. When Holland employs that voice, the reader is humbled. One is reminded of Anne Frank's influence. When the worst aspects of humanity are articulated through the voice of a little girl, we see ourselves so clearly--vulnerable, restless, but especially hopeful. Thank you, Doc. Your struggle is instructional. Your literary prowess is an inspiration.

D
Godric
Published in Hardcover by Atheneum (1980-10)
Author: Frederick Buechner
List price: $10.95
Used price: $13.85
Collectible price: $250.00

Average review score:

A book to treasure
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-07
Beautiful, profound book. Buechner is one of those rare authors that seem to "get" spirituality and his prose is better than anybody.

saintliness & poetry hiding in plain sight
Helpful Votes: 11 out of 11 total.
Review Date: 2002-10-14
Two thirds of my first time through Frederic Beuchner's re-imagining of the story of Godric, I realized that I had been reading blank verse for page after beautiful page. The beauty, earthy comedy, and plain-spokenness of the tale were so far uppermost in my mind that my ear didn't even calculate the music it was enjoying at first. Godric-Deric-Godericus-Drick-Godric bawls his story with such epic wrathfulness and lullabies it with such unearthly tenderness that we take it for the beating of our own blood, and not the mostly iambic measure. In the same way, Godric's self-knowledge, his all-too-human grief and shame at the imperfect acts of an imperfect life, and his savage irony at the biographer sent to him by his friend, serve to cast his saintliness into the shadows of a life lived ever in the presence of his own shadow self. But if we read with the eye of an open heart, the gentle, courteous irony is that Godric emerges for us much as the saint his medieval hagiographer, Reginald, would have had us believe him to be. Indeed, perhaps more the saint, because Godric makes us party to all the darker details of his struggle toward God. This is not an expose of the unseemly details behind the gilded sweetness of a medieval golden legend. It is an exigesis of a human heart. We are made, by singing Godric's song with him, raging his rages, freezing with him in the River Wear, to understand things at some level that no 20th century mind easily understands--punishing the flesh in freezing water and chafing irons, immuring oneself in a wood with not but a pair of serpents for companions, leaving off a life of prosperity for a life of privation, setting God above any mental, spiritual, or heart's ease, seeing visions, dreaming dreams, groveling in prayer until one's knees are callused, believing to the very depths of self there is a God and that God shows himself to us as the Blessed Virgin, or as a face made of leaves. The Godric of history is said to have been born about the time of William the Conquerer and to have lived a hundred years or more. The time, then, includes some of the same years readers of the popular Brother Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters will have encountered. It's a holy side trip from the cozy monastic whodunits to explore the isolated woodlands near Durham, and enter more fully the lives of the poor and dispossessed of those hard times. I have just finished reading this brief book a second time. I'm sure I'll read it many more, for love and pity's sake, for God visiting Godric, and for the music.

Excellent read.
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-10-11
In Godric, Buechner brings to life a twelfth century hermit, a topic I had previously considered dry and uninteresting. Through beautiful, often poetic language and a first person account of the man's life, Beuchner effectively humanizes the ascetic holy man and manages to interpret quite an interesting tale. The novel is separated into very short chapters of stylized first person narrative, many of which I read multiple times for the sheer music of the author's words. Godric is a quick, fairly easy read, but certainly a thought provoking novel that you may choose to read an extra time or two.

Interesting
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2005-09-05
Godric is a historical novel based on the life of a real person. What makes this book unusual as historical fiction is its written as if Godric himself wrote it 1000 years ago, as if we are reading a historical document, including period grammer and sentence structure (although not scholarly or difficult for the modern reader to read and understand). This made Buechner's job difficult considering nothing of this type of literary work exists from the period, thus it is fundamentally anachronistic. Further, while we know broad brushstrokes of Godrics life, Buechner filled in many details from the period we simply dont know about.

If you can see past the obvious anachronisms (which I had trouble) there are some valuable descriptions, such as a blood libel, that are imaginative and help to better understand the Middle Ages and how people thought and why.

Moving, Funny, Poignant, Poetic
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2003-05-18
Everyone points out that this little novel is graceful and poetic, and they couldn't be more correct. Throughout the novel, I marveled at the simple beauty of the words and the way they are put together, and it wasn't until later that I realized why. This novel is so meticulously put together that each sentence is written in iambs. I think that fact kind of holds within how wonderful this novel it is. It is a carefully constructed and beautiful portrait of a life persevering, persisting toward sainthood.

Everything about this novel is perfect. Of course, each sentence is perfect, and at times, I would go back a read and reread certain chapters which strike me so profoundly. The relationships held herein, such as Godric's loving relationship with Burcwen, with Mouse, and with Reginald, are subtle complex and really touching. And of course, Godric's own characterization is the biggest strength of the novel, as he moves from the worst of sinners to a godly, compassionate, and humble man.

I can't say enough for this perfect novel. I am sure that I will return again and again to its pages for the humor and warmth and beauty held therein.

D
I'd Rather Have a Root Canal Than Do Cold Calling
Published in Paperback by Success Works Pub (1999-08-12)
Author: Shawn A Greene
List price: $17.95
Used price: $12.99

Average review score:

Wake Up Corporate America
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-11
OK. Here's a news bulletin. Women and men think differently, including business stuff. So this book was more helpful to me than other books I've read on the same topic written by men. Why? Because this one's actually funny, and she tells the truth why she's calling (a lot of men try to "sneak" their way into an appointment....and if you're too dumb to know when someone's trying to sell you something, then you shouldn't talk to anyone calling you).

To any women (no, I'm not a feminatzi)who have to do some cold calling for their job, this is good starter. And I don't believe most of that crap about people who "love" to cold call. Balony. It's not fun, even if it can mean more money.

Good Book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-29
I believe this book covers the basics well, however it does not get into how to generate the leads in the first place (i.e., the list of phone numbers and contacts to call).

Help for the Telemarketing Blues!
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-04
In I'D RATHER HAVE A ROOT CANAL THAN DO COLD CALLING! Shawn Greene captures the dread that most people who don't sell for a living feel about cold calling. They'd rather do just about anything else.

I'D RATHER HAVE A ROOT CANAL THAN DO COLD CALLING outlines a step-by-step method of approaching telemarketing. It is full of encouraging examples and provides tips and techniques to improve your chances of success. The exercises provide a chance to practice the techniques. By the end of I'D RATHER HAVE A ROOT CANAL THAN DO COLD CALLING! confidence improves, you have scripts you can use and a method to track results. The conversational tone and overall supportive attitude is just what a beginner in telemarketing needs!

This is the best, and only, book you'll need on cold calling.
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2006-08-30
I actually purchased "I'd rather have a root canal than do cold calling!" in April 2005, when I changed jobs and careers. There are many authors who've written books on cold calling, telemarketing, and telesales; I've purchased, and given away, more than twenty. However, no other author I've read provides the essential essence of cold calling as elegantly as Shawn Greene. Shawn's techniques are powerfully sophisticated in their simplicity and effectiveness.

This is an amazing tool - buy it, use it
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2006-06-24
This is a great way to delve into why you're having cold calling reluctance, and a source for dealing with your issues head-on. I am SO glad I bought this book, and worked with the author, Shawn Greene.

Sometimes I say I give a book one star because I can't give it zero stars. With "I'd Rather Have a Root Canal Than Do Cold Calling", I only gave it Five Stars because I can't give it an even higher rating.

This is the real deal!

D
Mediterranean Summer: A Season on France's Cote d'Azur and Italy's Costa Bella
Published in Hardcover by Broadway (2007-05-22)
Authors: David Shalleck and Erol Munuz
List price: $23.95
New price: $11.95
Used price: $11.44

Average review score:

I love this book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-02
I have been to most of the places David mentions in the book. Last year in Portofino I watched a yacht like the Serenity dock and noticed the activity that took place in order for the owners and guests to come ashore for their lunch. They were seated next to me at the restaurant and, eavesdropping, I wondered what life on that yacht would be like.

I ran across this book on another Amazon book search and it looked so interesting that I bought it without knowing anything about the author. David brings the international food scene and the yachting scene to life in a down to earth and warm way. I traveled in my mind right along with him.

It is one of those books that I read slowly towards the end in order to savor the last pages before I finish reading. I highly recommond this book.

I absolutely LOVED this book!!!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-26
I felt like I was right there on the yacht, in the Med and tasting all of the wonderful meals. Once I picked up the book, I couldn't put it down. I have made a couple of the recipes in the back of the book and they were wonderful. A must read, especially if you like traveling, the beach, boating and cooking. Wonderful, Wonderful, Wonderful. I just can't say it enough.

A delightful... (even a little suspenseful) read.
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-30
Excellently written. There's the excitement of how David finds his provisions in each port. There's also the fear of whether of not a particular meal will "work" with the extremely demanding owners of the yacht. And the suspense of how a meal will be prepared (for sometimes over 100 guests!) within the confines of a yacht's galley. Then there's the thrill of some moments of real sailing ! All this along with the purely human adventure in following David's search for mastering his profession.

I particularly enjoyed the map of the journey included on the inside cover, along with the detailed maps preceding each chapter. This added the additional benefit of the adventure being a descriptive travel guide as well ! And top this all off with the included bonus 50 pages of recipes at the end. (And each of these recipes include very specific & detailed instructions for preparation.) Bravo. Bravissimo Davide.

You can taste the food he prepares!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-30
If you like to cook, if you like to travel, this is a great book! He describes his cooking/shopping for ingredients so that you can almost smell the food. Great reading

Almost as Good as a Trip to the Mediterranean
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-05
Here are the totally engrossing true adventures of a young American who is engaged by a very wealthy Italian couple, to be the chef on their newly refitted luxury sailing yacht, 'Serenity'. The sounds, sights, delectable aromas and glamour of this Mediterranean summer leaps from each page. We experience with chef David,(or Daveed as la Signora the mistress of the yacht calls him when angry), the high and low moments of his very demanding job. There are laughs aplenty in this new book and plenty of material for daydreaming after the last page has been read.

D
Monster Fashion
Published in Paperback by Manic D Press, Inc. (2002-02)
Author: Jarret Keene
List price: $13.95
New price: $4.49
Used price: $0.96

Average review score:

Keene delivers Monster of a collection
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2003-12-09
Jarret writes about contemporary pop culture in the tradition of Field, Duhamel, Seibles, and Wojahn. That is, he uplifts the mundane to a higher level, through form, piercing satire, and the riveting raw emotion, this book shows a Gen X poet making aesthetic headway for the future.

Buy this book, and give it to your brother who likes comic books for his birthday, but read it first. Jarret promises to deliver the goods to all audiences.

Amazingly Unique
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2005-04-23
Keene's writing topics are so diverse in this collection. From ex-ray glasses to cancer victims, he has a distinct opinion on just about everything and isn't afraid to express it. His poetic style is very straight forward. It is both easy to read and easy to understand.

Keene's creativity is what impresses me the most though. His ideas for his poems are so so unique. Where does he come up with all of this stuff?? It is incredible! One of my favorites is a poem called "Ventriloquism Made Easy." In this poem, Keene writes from the perspective of the dummy.

I know I said this already, but the diversity and creativity throughout this whole collection are amazing.

Pop culture
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2005-04-15
I know you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but this book immediately jumped out to me. It was one of the brightest and most colorful books i have ever seen. I had to open it right away, and the cover was just a warmup for what's inside. I liked Jarret Keene's collection of poems because it isn't a sad i'm so depressed i want to kill myself kind of poems, i'm so used to reading. It was real. It spoke to me and my generation. It also was really funny and a quick and easy read. One of my favorite things is how ironic he is with every day life things. Reading up on him i found out his father was a tampa firefighter, and i happen to be from tampa and miss it deeply so it made me think of home. The poems he has in there also reminded me of home when i was in high school and all you did was get drunk a go nuts. I guarantee if you are young or young at heart then you will love this book, but don't listen to me read it for yourself.

Great book of debut poems
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2004-06-11
Jarret Keene's debut book of poems, "Monster Fashion," is a book that adds a sense of freshness and excitement in a genre that is often riddled with staunchy, boring and dry verse from the world of academia. All I have to say is..."Thank Goddess for Monster Fashion!" Keene's book is filled with comedic, familial and pop culture verse that most books lack. I like the fact that Keene has the ability to laugh at himself and not take himself so seriously in his work. We need more poets like this poetic holy ghost.

Among one of my favorites is "Scoped" where the character takes a dreadful visit to the doctor to find out why he's been 'passing blood'.

"He tells me to turn over
on my side and pull my knees
against my chest.
The glove snaps. And
sure enough, he's got his finger
inside of me, poking around."

Because of the immediate and sensitive description
in this poem, Keene does a superb job of making you feel
that you're there. From the "so-clean-it-smells examination
room," to the terrifying snapping of those smelly latex gloves.

This is the only poem that makes me cross my legs
with phantom pains.

"Monster Fashion" is not a book of poetry with just words sprawled out on the page without a sense of order. Keene proves that he is well-seasoned with some poems written beatifully in couplets and quatrains, which is one of my personal favorite forms.

Other poems such as "Heart, You're a Hospital Now" and "Ventriloquism Made Easy," are two more of my favorites where Keene practically yanks you by the arm and pulls you into his cut-throat psyche.

I love the smidgen of ryhme and alliteration in the beginnings of "Heart, You're a Hospital Now."

"Nothing is worse than a dying patient,
Except the surgeon, who gives your life lease,
Cuts you open, removes a sick piece,
stitches you up and grows impatient
of your bloated face."

Oh, I love the way the second and third line

ends with such emergence.

'gives your life lease,'
'removes a sick piece.'

The way the lines and words carefully entwine
and dance so immediately.

'removes a sick piece.'

Who doesn't want to steal that line and run for the hills?

This poem is crammed delightfuly with similiar, arresting lines
all the way to the end, which hurls the reader back
into reality.

Keene's verse in this book are exciting, entertaining, funny and beautiful. From epic poems such as "Ava Gardner, Queen of Earthquakes," to the short and brutal "Black Revolver," Monster Fashion offers something for the most rabid lover of the poetic word.

Monstrously Good
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2004-05-16
Jarret Keene has mined the underworld of Hollywood scholck to bring us these darkly comic poems, and he's come away with more than you might expect. Here you'll find all manner of monsters and lovelies, of course-Frankenstein and the Wolfman, Janet Leigh and Ava Gardner. You'll find zombies and earthquakes and a lot of prose that's taut and "dark as a blood clot." There's even " The Lovesong on Alfred E. Nueman" (after Elliot, of course) and "The Conversion of Aubrey Beardsley." But what makes these poems rich and worth reading, I think, is Keene's sharp take on the actual world-the way he gets, for example (in the book's opening poem) that only the young can be in love with death. For me, the book's most frightening moments-and its most rewarding-come when the author takes off the mask for a moment and explores the horror of the world we all know too well, when the funhouse comes to resemble the house we live in ("Inside Mystery Funhouse"), or when real friends are lost ("Gifted Students") and we're confronted with the ghosts of their fathers, who come back-with surprising emotional impact-to make us sandwiches. This is a sharp and funny collection. I recommend it even to those with a fear of poetry, though not to those who are afraid of the dark.

D
The OCD Workbook: Your Guide to Breaking Free from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Published in Paperback by New Harbinger Publications (1999-10)
Authors: Bruce M., Ph.D. Hyman, Cherry Pedrick R.N., and Bruce M. Hyman
List price: $19.95
New price: $4.53
Used price: $4.39

Average review score:

A must for everyone with OCD
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-29
This workbook is worth the little money I paid for it. It is a must read over and over.

OCD workbook
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-17
Excellent book and service from Amazon. Book arrived within the week in perfect condition.

Excellent, concrete self-help workbook
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-31
The authors of this book set out to create a clear, understandable, up-to-date guide to assist those with OCD through the process of embarking on behavioral change. They begin by providing an overview of OCD symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment. However, as they themselves state, the "heart" of the book lies in Part II, which outlines a self-help program for OCD called exposure and response prevention (ERP). Based on cognitive behavior therapy, the key components of this program include exposure to feared stimuli combined with response prevention of compulsive behaviors. The authors strongly focus on tailoring the intervention program to the individual. Various worksheets are used to help readers create exposure lists, prepare for response prevention, and maintain daily progress logs; both real life (in vivo) and imaginal ERP techniques are discussed. In addition, many examples are provided in order to address the differing presentations of OCD from one individual to another.

As a clinical psychologist, I believe that The OCD Workbook provides a well thought out, structured, and practical approach to managing Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and its often debilitating symptoms. Ideally, this work would be performed in conjunction with a therapist, but for readers who are self-motivated, this workbook is definitely likely to provide both concrete guidance and real benefits.

Great book for clinicians and clients and non OCD
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-28
As a social worker, I'm working with an OCD client, and this book has been very helpful. We read it together and discussed the chapters. The book is comprehensive, easy to read, and has a healing tone -- not a pathological put down. This book can also be used by people not diagnosed with OCD. There are helpful hints on how to have a less stressful life and be more compassionate. You don't have to have OCD to be working too hard at some task and this books helps all with this dimension of living.

Nice Update
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-05
I've got the 1st edition when I was a Clinical Psychology trainee. And now I got this second edition after years of clinical practice. Changes weren't drastic ones, but they were nice one and vital ones.

User-friendly for practisioner, trainess, patients, or those who wish to get over the hard times with people having OCD.

D
Parents Do Make a Difference: How to Raise Kids with Solid Character, Strong Minds, and Caring Hearts (The Jossey-Bass Psychology Series)
Published in Paperback by Jossey-Bass (1999-05-07)
Authors: Michele, Ed.D. Borba and Michele Borba
List price: $18.00
New price: $5.00
Used price: $4.45

Average review score:

Extremely Important Parenting Book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-15
I consider myself to be a well educated, caring person with a lot of common sense, however this book has been a real eye opener on human nature and how to nurture our children to grow to their greatest potential. I'm only on page 50 but I feel compelled to write a review already!

Excellent 'how to' guide for parents or anyone who cares for children
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-05
This is easy to read, well laid out and is packed with useful tips on how to help kids be their best selves. It's a real 'how to' guide, with lots of examples of actual situations & what to say to help your child overcome specific difficulties & be more successful. I like it so much I've ordered another copy to share with friends (gently & tactfully, of course!) Every parent should read this book - it's not about pushing your kids to achieve & driving them to prove what a great parent you are - this book is about nurturing their strengths & helping them believe in themselves & be more confident in who they are, just so they can be happy & enjoy life more.

Definitely worth the money & time spent reading it & putting it into practice. Does what it says on the cover!

A Must Have
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-26
I have bought tons of books over the years many were good some not so much this is one of the only books I have kept and always go back to for advice and ideas. This book is a must have for all parents

All Diamonds In The Rough Need Polishing
Helpful Votes: 13 out of 23 total.
Review Date: 2001-08-23
This book is one of the gems -- a diamond in the rough -- on parenting. Written in simple language, it's the "basic course" on "HOW TO RAISE KIDS WITH SOLID CHARACTER, STRONG MINDS, AND CARING HEARTS". So read, use, and understand. Hmm. Understand? What do you do when the kids ask, "WHY?"! Hmm. You'll need a book that makes you understand -- in simple language -- the philosophy of WHY character counts, of right and wrong, of good and evil, of moral and immoral, and of ethical and unethical. The school that exists to teach the "advanced course" in "HOW TO RAISE KIDS WITH SOLID CHARACTER, STRONG, MINDS, AND CARING HEARTS" is West Point. The only book that explains the philosophy behind all the "WHYS" -- in simple language -- is the book titled "WEST POINT", by Norman Thomas Remick. It's THE companion book for all how-to books and "courses", basic or advanced, on parenting and character. It will become kind of an encyclopedia that you can refer to for explaining "WHY?" to your kids. And it will give Borba's diamond in the rough its required polish.

All Diamonds In The Rough Need Polishing
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 15 total.
Review Date: 2001-08-23
This book is one of the gems -- a diamond in the rough -- on parenting. Written in simple language, it's the "basic course" on "HOW TO RAISE KIDS WITH SOLID CHARACTER, STRONG MINDS, AND CARING HEARTS". So read, use, and understand. Hmm. Understand? What do you do when the kids ask, "WHY?"! Hmm. You'll need a book that makes you understand -- in simple language -- the philosophy of WHY character counts, of right and wrong, of good and evil, of moral and immoral, and of ethical and unethical. The school that exists to teach the "advanced course" in "HOW TO RAISE KIDS WITH SOLID CHARACTER, STRONG, MINDS, AND CARING HEARTS" is West Point. The only book that explains the philosophy behind all the "WHYS" -- in simple language -- is the book titled "WEST POINT", by Norman Thomas Remick. It's THE companion book for all how-to books and "courses", basic or advanced, on parenting and character. It will become kind of an encyclopedia that you can refer to for explaining "WHY?" to your kids. And it will give Borba's diamond in the rough its required polish.

D
A Perversion of Justice: A Southern Tragedy of Murder, Lies and Innocence Betrayed
Published in Mass Market Paperback by Avon (2004-06-01)
Authors: Kathryn Medico and Mollye Barrows
List price: $7.50
New price: $3.52
Used price: $0.02
Collectible price: $10.00

Average review score:

justice gone wrong
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-17
I have read the book twice and feel that anybody who reads this book will find that these two poor souls were wronged and used as an excape goat. There are many people with whom I have spoken about with this case and many feel that the truth will never be know. The story goes to heart and all but it is up the read themself. I believe this two young people did not do this crime I followed this trail and all from the beginning and was shocked when they were found guilty 9this believe I still have). In this book it does leave questions unanswered in some way. I enjoyed the book since it is a page turned and keeps you wanting more and one sees that juice has gone wrong somewhere along the line in this case.

these 2 lil punks deserve death!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 14 total.
Review Date: 2005-01-21
NO WAY WAS JUSTICE DONE! THEY KILLED THEIR OWN FATHER BECAUSE THEY WANTED TOO.. NO IFS ANDS OR BUTS ABOUT IT!SAD THING IS I WORK IN THE CORRECTIONS SYSTEM AND WITH THESE KIDS, AND ONE DAY THEY WILL BE SET FREE TO KILL AGAIN! THEY CAN NOT BE REFORMED!

ENOUGH SAID....

WOW, I couldn't put it down
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2005-07-14
This book was very interesting, it sucked me in from the beginning. After reading the book and watching the documentary on A&E about the King brothers I'd have to say that I still don't think they did it. I think it was all Rick Chaves. I don't think the kids were in the right state of mind either. They were brain washed into thinking they're father (terry) didn't love them and was abusing them. I also dont think it was fair that Rick got off as lightly as he did. I know that were his sentence he wont be getting out anyway, but still I think there was enough evidence to convict him for murder.

I couldn't put it down
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2004-08-13
For three days every time I had a free moment i was reading this book trying to understand just how our justice sytem has sustained for so long when everything that is wrong with it is exposed through the Terry King murder trial. I remember hearing about this case on the news a few years ago and all I ever really got from the media was how distirubed these children must have been to have committed these crimes and what was wrong with the children in the world these days. Little did I know that all the faults in this case were do to people simply not doing their job and just trying to put this case to an end and get a convition the easiest way possible. But even though most of the media just portrayed these kids as uncaring terrible children, Mollye, a news reporter genuinely wanted to find the truth..........something my be our justice system should have been interested in as well. VERY VERY VERY good and thought-provoking book!

A Wake Up Call to America's Juvenile Injustice System
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2004-07-06
A Perversion of Justice hit the nail on the head. Great work Mollye and Kathryn! The book explains through a child's eye the horrors of today's juvenile injustice system. I hope the book is bought by every American family and read by every parent. The tough on juvenile crime political bandwagon parading in this country has been misinterpreted by parents who really have no concept of what they are voting for when they elect politicians with this stance.

This book is a definite wake up call. Parents only find out the terrible reality when their own child gets caught up in the barbed web of the system, and they learn the hard way that their children really aren't under their protection. When prosecutors are given the right to prosecute any age child as an adult, as is the case in Florida, in essence, no child is safe and all children belong to the state instead of their parents.

Ever since a "tough-on-juvenile-crime" political response to a media-hyped juvenile crime wave in the early 90s, the United States Juvenile Justice System has increasingly become a nightmare for America's children. Children caught up in the justice system are no longer recognized as children, yet aren't afforded the rights granted adults. Florida leads the nation in belief that children should be locked away for life.

Society should never respond to children who have committed crimes as though they are somehow equal to adults, fully formed in conscience and fully aware of their actions. Placing children in adult jails is a sign of failure, not a solution. In many instances, such terrible behavior points to societies own negligence in raising children with a respect for life, providing a nurturing and loving environment, or addressing serious mental or emotional illnesses.

Scientific studies have proven that the adolescent brain is not fully formed. Therefore, children should not be held equally culpable as adults. The Legislature needs to come out of the dark ages and listen to experts on child psychiatry and scientific data on human growth and development.

The draconian laws of the past two decades need to be re-evaluated and changed. An easy first step to juvenile justice reform in Florida would be for the Legislature to remove juveniles tried as adults from mandatory sentencing schemes and restore to juvenile judges discretion of deciding whether a child is to be tried in juvenile or adult court, instead of letting prosecutors decide.

There should be defined lines of age distinction drawn between child and adult. If visual difference isn't enough to convince, logic and common sense should recognize that children aren't allowed to drive, sign contracts or vote among other things, because society doesn't believe they are mentally mature enough to do these things competently. Therefore, why is it that if a child commits a crime they are suddenly classified by the courts as an adult?

Any competent adult should know better.

Children are this county's most precious commodity, because they are our future. If a society is judged by how well it treats its most vulnerable, the past two decades of America's juvenile justice system will be recorded as barbaric.

Read this book and you will want to change the juvenile justice system. Laws can be changed, one vote at a time.


Books-Under-Review-->Arts-->Literature-->Authors-->D-->25
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