E Books

This is the best book on marketing I have ever read. Since the first time I picked it up more than 9 years ago (it was published in 1997 but I found it on clearance at a Book Warehouse about a year after that), I have re-read it every year. I've also bought about a dozen copies, which I've lent out. Sadly, as I was looking at my bookshelf today, 10 of those have not come back. That's okay. I'll buy more. In fact, I'm giving away copy #11 tomorrow to the new athletic director at my alma mater. No matter WHAT you sell (but especially if you're in sports marketing), this book (and it's sequel, Marketing Outrageously!) are well worth your time and money.

Jon Spoelstra has come out with a marketing guide that will help every marketer become more successful. From his rubber chicken tactic to his ideas on hiring - this simple, yet effective course in marketing will take your business to the next level. Even though most of this book describes sports marketing - every business can benefit from Jon's strategies.

It is an excellent book. If you are new to marketing technique, you'd have a very good lesson by reading this. If you have been working in marketing for years, still, READ IT coz the author not only shares his real-life experience with you, but also REMIND you with something you have missed and not thinked of.

Marketing, Employee mentoring, Management...you can find everything from this book...

I would recommend this book to ALL people. Because it is helpful if one day, you were the product that needs jump-start marketing technique. (I am applying them to my job profile now)

trust me...this book is a MUST for everyone.

Spoelstra's sub-title, "How to Market a Product Nobody Wants," is a bit of a misnomer. For me, that conjers up the negative stereotype of the salesman/marketer tricking you into buying something you don't want. Inside the book, Spoelstra's concept clearly is the polar opposite of that. He should have called the book, "Making Your Product into Something People Really do Want: a Broader Definition of Marketing."

Once you're inside the book, Spoelstra presents a litiny of ideas that are obvious once presented to you, but often seem counter-inuitive without some assistance seeing them. As a marketer in a larger firm, I've run into a lot of the same resistance as Spoelstra and have found that if you can break down the resistance, his ideas really do work.

Overall this is a practical guide, not just for marketers, but for anyone who runs a business. Highly recommended.

Eskimos have all the ice they need and presumably don't perceive the need to get any more, let alone buy it. Joe Spoelestra illustrates how to take that ice and turn it into something desirable (a Slurpee) for example, or bundle it with something that makes it desirable - a sled and a lift to create an experience to sell.

Joe details his experiences, primarily in sports marketing. They are especially applicable to those in the entertainment and service industries but can be applied in virtually any industry. The book is full of new ideas, fresh insights, and ways to repackage that which nobody wants in such a way as to change the customers' perception of value and create a compelling value proposition.

The book is much better than this review. :-) Pick it up, read it, enjoy it and act on it. "Ice to the Eskimos" will give you fast easy ideas that can be used to jump start your business!

I read this over a period of about 6 months, a few pages a day. Most of us have been over the material in this book one way or another during our lives. The thing is -- this text puts the facts and data together in a way that makes history make sense. So much of history seems like it was acted out by crazy people. It's so hard to understand why people do what they do. Watson makes the connections between what and why. And he does it in such a way that anyone can read it.

You should know though, Watson has a strong bias against all things religious. A main sub-theme in this book is "How we threw off the yoke of religion and superstition." Machts nichts to me but some find it annoying. I gave it 5 stars even so.

This book is the best single volume of the history of ideas that I have ever encountered. It has rich content, plenty of bibliographic detail for following up specific ideas, and is beautifully written.

Do you want to know everything about history but just don't have the time to read all the classics and the right "must read" novels and written works from Plato to Darwin (or perhaps like me you dont have the trained intellect to digest a lot of these works)? This book is the solution. It satisfied my massive curiousity of all ideas of man from the hunter gatherers through to Freud, and the best part was that it was an absolute joy to read. A two fold joy in that it is not overtly taxing due to Watson's ability to put ideas (and their context) forward in the most succinct fashion, and secondly the sheer scope of this book consistently amazed me. So many things I didn't know which have had such an important effect on mankind, and so many of the myths now explained. I read this book over the space of about 8 months. As I work full time and with a small child I dont get all the reading time I would like, but I found I also needed some time after reading a few chapters to absorb the enormity of some of the information contained therein. I was compelled to write this review after reading one of the final chapters (on Darwin's evolution) and I had the sensation of my mind literally expanding!! If you have a thirst for knowledge of the history of mankind and its ideas I can offer you no better reading, and as a supremely added bonus it is an absolute pleasure. I have only three chapters to go and I am already worrying myself as to what will take its place once I have finished it! Thank you Mr Watson you have increased my understanding of man exponentially. I look forward to your next publication.

To read history as an evolution of ideas and inventions instead of a series of battles/wars or moving from one political machination to the next was most satisfying. Even more refreshing was to read a history that includes eastern as well as western innovation with many interesting asides and anecdotes. I've sent copies to my children and brother-in-law!

One must give Peter Watson credit where credit is due; he is not shy when it comes to examining topics of enormous scope, or at the very least craft titles that imply that this is his aim. Unfortunately, far from examining thought "from fire to Freud" Watson's work is of far more limited dimension, instead examining European cultural evolution from the early Middle Ages forward. His text examines several topics to understand their influence and development on civilization. His examination, however, proves too often limited, failing to look far enough to embrace the full range of his field. Most disappointing is his tendency to bifurcate ideas into two competing camps, and ignore the vast nuance in the middle.

For example, Watson divides thought into two opposing spheres : the physical (scientific or natural) world and the spiritual (religious). While it is true that this dichotomy exists in the West -- interestingly forced on the physical camp by the Church - far from inevitable, the division is a historical artifact created by social context. Those enchanted by Watson, and they are legion, will retort that his is not interested in the possible, but the actual, and even then only what occurred in (western) Europe. Yet even here, Watson ignores alternatives. Judaism, which Watson gives only so much attention as suits his goals, long embraced a notion of the co-existance and even integration of these two concepts. Many rabbis examined the physical world and sacred texts and sought reinterpretation of the former when they conflicted with the latter (two prime examples being Nachmanidies of Spain and Maimonidies of Egypt, two of the most significant sages of Jewish history). Watson might likewise have considered the ancient Greeks like Aristotle who sought to understand the spiritual through they physical.

When it comes to certain concepts Watson plainly tortures his topic to reach desired conclusions. Thus he imagines Freud's examination of the unconscious as on the continuum of the notion of the soul, yet this is at best forced. While it is true that Freud postulated a division between mind and body - not surprising given the technology available to him - but far from a notion of rote ritual, he developed a theory based on observation and imagined it being refined over time by experimentation. Even a cursory comparison of this with religion reveals the extreme limits of the comparison.

This brings us to the place where Watson succeeds, and in my opinion shines. His examination of the notion of the controlled experiment, that instead of being limited to observations as they occur people can create things to observe in order to test hypothesis, is nothing short of brilliant. This concept may be the driving force of the creation of modern science, a concept that allowed humanity to tame the atom and journey to the stars. Despite its other short comings, this makes Watson's book worth reading and presents an idea worthy of further consideration.

It has been my good fortune to read this book. This could free you as you leap into the world of real estate in cyberspace. As a provider of internet related services to realtors, I found this book to be practical and well written to focus on creation of your web site, getting found - which normally means it's easier to pay per click. Get started and sending effective emails. As a self promoted internet optimization junkie, it's easy to understand and explains how things work, really there is no mystery to search engines, keywords, and meta-tags. Even the sales-focused agent who leaves the details to his marketing people and technical assistants will want this book - to give to them to read.

I have seen no other book devoted to the internet and real estate. This book is loaded with good information on setting up a web site for your real estate interests or business. The book is written that even a person unfamilar with the technical aspects of the internet can benefit from this book. This book written in 2001 is up to date in the ever changing world of the internet. There are tons of web sites listed in the book, which if that was all there was in this book would be valuable. Ideas on the content of your web site is provided, as well as a chapter on email. Conventions with email, and even email etiquette. Anybody involved in real estate, whether an agent, broker, investor, or an individual buyer and seller of real estate will want to read this book. And don't forget about landlords and property manager, who should also have a web site. One advice given in the book is that everywhere that your phone number is printed so should your email address. I would only add to that also your web site URL.

I have seen no other book devoted to the internet and real estate. This book is loaded with good information on setting up a web site for your real estate interests or business. The book is written that even a person unfamilar with the technical aspects of the internet can benefit from this book. This book written in 2001 is up to date in the ever changing world of the internet. There are tons of web sites listed in the book, which if that was all there was in this book would be valuable. Ideas on the content of your web site is provided, as well as a chapter on email. Conventions with email, and even email etiquette. Anybody involved in real estate, whether an agent, broker, investor, or an individual buyer and seller of real estate will want to read this book. And don't forget about landlords and property manager, who should also have a web site. Personally I have 2 web sites and of course email; and there will come a time if it has not already happened where, you will not be able to operate in this business without either. One advice given in the book is that everywhere that your phone number is printed so should your email address. I would only add to that also your web site URL.

I am a Realtor in South Florida who has just taken my buisness online.I was interrested in doing some reading on the subject and read many,many book reviews.I have to tell you I ordered this book"Internet Marketing in Real Estate"this book is unbelievable not only are they insightfull but they give you the address's to the sites with the information that they are discussing.If you you are even thinking about bringing your buisness into the year 2000 this book is a must have!Laura Pearlman

Attention Realtors, Buy This Book: "Internet Marketing in Real Estate," by Barbara Cox and William Koelzer. Don't just buy it, read it. It could help your business immensely. It also could help you overcome your apprehension about all that World Wide Web mumbo-jumbo.

Finally, it could help to free you from the intimidation of all those salespersons clad in guru's clothing who conduct seminars and office meetings, touting the latest product or service that is claimed to be "essential" for your survival in the wild-and-wooly world of real estate in cyberspace.

It has been my good fortune to have an early look at this book published by Prentice-Hall. The authors, not real estate practitioners themselves, are both spouses of web-enhanced Realtors in South Orange County.

They know whereof they speak, as both are active providers of Internet related services to Realtors, and they have both had the combat photographer's up-close view of real estate in the trenches. Their target audience will find the book both practical and appropriately written.

"Internet Marketing in Real Estate" consists of five parts:

"Creating and Building Your Internet Presence: Your Web Site"

"Getting Found" (the all-important section)

"Effective E-mail"

"Time to Get Started" (developing tasks, time-lines, and a budget)

Appendices

No technical expertise is presumed on the part of the reader. Each part that deals with Internet and marketing related concepts begins with a friendly "learning the language" section. A great deal of effort is made to explain to the reader, in plain language aided with illustrations, how things work in the initially mysterious world of Web sites, search engines, keywords, and meta-tags.

Textbook-like, "Internet Marketing in Real Estate" starts its sections with "the basics" and then develops the concepts that have been introduced. Sections end with exercises that encourage the reader to put his/her new knowledge to work.

The book also integrates related topics that are not Internet specific. Chapter 1 of Part 1 could be titled "Real Estate Marketing 101." It is important toward understanding Internet marketing concepts but that is because it is basic to marketing per se. Parts of the effective e-mail" section are straight out of basic composition. They are highly relevant.

"Internet Marketing in Real Estate" doesn't deal with all the issues that bear discussing. No book does. For example, the authors do not engage the serious questions that can be asked vis-à-vis the relative effectiveness of dollars and time spent on Internet marketing as opposed to other kinds of marketing. That is not their purpose.

When confronted with a new marketing medium, a businessperson (real estate or otherwise) must always ask the question, "If I adopt this, what will I stop doing that I am doing now?" (If the task - or the dollars - represents an addition to present efforts, rather than a replacement, then presumably it replaces something we were doing or spending in our non-business lives.)

To the credit of Cox and Koelzer, they present with great clarity the tasks and range of costs associated with various levels of involvement in Internet marketing. They provide the real estate businessperson with the information that will enable him or her to make an informed decision about this medium.

For those who have already decided that they want to make an effort at Internet marketing, the Cox and Koelzer book will provide an invaluable tool. Even the sales-focused agent who leaves the details to his marketing people and technical assistants will want this book - to give to them to read.

This book has an ingenious plot, and grips the reader's attention. The geopolitical situation is all too believable, and the characters are reasonably well fleshed out. The technology isn't as well presented as, say Tom Clancy's, but few authors can do what Clancy does. The weakest link in the chain is the dialog: several of the characters are given the same cliches to repeat again and again. So the admiral tells us, not once but a hundred times, that he doesn't consider unmanned aerial vehicles to be true airplanes, nor their operators to be pilots. One of those operators is a smartmouth young woman who can't stop her puerile sexual wisecracking even when combat discipline would have any real military officer paying serious attention. The admiral and his chief of staff, and the besieged, retired general and his retired sergeant major, repeat the same banter again and again. It doesn't detract from the fun of the book, but it is irritating and does break the mood, just a bit.

David Meadows is a fine emerging author of action-military stories with interesting twists. His books are useful to stretch your mind and connect events and ideas that you would not automatically have put in the same category.

In this volume from his Joint Task Force series, a group of Americans have spent the last few years building a settlement in Liberia and are trying to retire to a community that would help their ancestral land while allowing them to enjoy life when a group of Islamic fanatics begin taking over Liberia and killing all the Americans. Among the retired Americans is an African American General with strong combat experience and his top sergeant.

Meanwhile, off the American coast, a Navy-Marine Joint Task Force is experimenting with a new generation of experimental unmanned fighter aircraft (think predators but much more agile) when it is assigned the immediate challenge of rescuing the Americans in Liberia before the marauding Islamists massacre them. Additionally, the French have decided to intervene with a stronger Naval force and since no American aircraft carrier is in the area, think they will have the dominant force necessary to humiliate the Americans.

The interspersing of Americans trying to survive in Liberia, fighter experimentation at the cutting edge, a tense standoff with an 'ally' and the Navy-Marine determination to save their fellow citizens makes for a consistently interesting read.

Simply stated, Meadows will have you turning pages and thinking new thoughts.

A friend loaned me her copies of this writer's first four book series set and I enjoyed it so much I had to try this writer's next book. WOW, what a compelling writer! I quickly became a fan of David Meadows. I can hardly wait until his next book comes out in September. I ordered my copy early as you might imagine. You won't go wrong with this man's stories!

Captain David E. Meadows rises to the top of the military thriller with Joint Task Force: Liberia. His growing mastery of suspense and characterization captures the reader with his opening sentence: "Ullma pulled the children closer." From here, he delves into the terror of ordinary citizens and children suddenly pitched into the lap of rebel extremists without a lifeline in Liberia. He not only paints the resulting American military rescue scenes with realism and true-to-life dialogue, he presents an interesting political scenario that nails the hidden agenda of a so-called ally: France. This is an author who knows the insides-out of his subject and gives us a fly-on-the-wall view of real possibilities in a world that now rocks with anti-Americanism. For this reason he stands apart from Tom Clancy and is building his own throne in military fiction. Kudos for the first of his Joint Task Force series. Can't wait to read the rest.

I became a fan of this author when I read the fourth book in this series. It was intriguing, exciting ... a book I could not put down. (It helped that there were so many fine, young military men in the book too. I adore men in uniform.)

So, of course, I had to go back and read the other three in this fantastic military thriller, starting with JTF:Liberia. Now I've read them all and each was as good as the previous.

Retired Captain David E. Meadows is a fantastic author who really knows his subject. Realistic, well fleshed-out characters and dialogue, plus an exciting plot--what more could a reader want?

Now, for me, it's back to read his first series: THE SIXTH FLEET. Anyone care to join me? You will have the "reads" of your life. I kid you not!

I bought the book after seeing it profiled in Newsweek, more out of curiosity than out of some deep seated problems with my kids. I have a 5 yr. old, and she's pretty easy going, the 2yr. old is also mellow. However, I had the usual battles over showers, bedtime, brushing teeth etc. that make parenting so frustrating and that suck the joy out of every day family dynamics. I started implementing the ideas as I read them, and I have to say that applying the method just once a week has worked amazingly well. The rules set for one day a week spill over to the rest of the week, and it has really made parenting a lot more enjoyable. Before, I thought that my interactions with my children were limited to hammering them about things they needed to do, and now, it's almost as if there's more time to do fun things because their responsibilities are accomplished without struggles. In a nutshell, my daughter has become aware that the better she behaves, the more rewards she gets, in little material rewards, and more importantly, positive attention. I'm a believer. I enthusiastically recommend it.

This is a wonderfully helpful book on behavior modification in children and, for that matter adolescents, teens and adults, All new parents should read this before their child is at the stage when behavior has to be modified !

There are three things that parents need to know about this book.

1) the methods described here have been extensively researched for several decades by one of the world's very best and most dedicated scientists. When Kazdin talks about the value of punishment versus rewards, for example, or how to make punishment more effective, there is deep knowledge and science behind his suggestions.

2) the book is for parents - not teachers, therapists, or academics - it is directly relevant for everyday parenting.

3) it works. Use the methods and techniques in this book and your child's behavior will improve ... and just as important, your relationship with him or her will improve.

And finally, the book is quite comprehensive. It covers the typical situations such as refusing to do homework, the the less common ones of how to deal with joint custody. Or how to deal with pre-adolescents differently from adolescents, etc. Or how to enlist teachers, babysitters and others so that you are all giving your child the same message.

Buy this book, but more importantly ... use it. It will make a real difference.

This book would be excellent for teachers as well as parents who want to help children develop the habit of good behavior. The method spells out how exactly to institute a positive-reinforcement rewards program to turn around a child's behavior. Kazdin gives specific scenarios, graphics to show how to make a chart, and even gives you a kind of script of what to say (which is really great for those of us who are not naturals). He says the research shows that it really only takes a few weeks of intensive work to create a good behavior habit.

parts of his method (like a rewards chart) will sound familiar to anyone who's worked with kids, but he says the key is in following the method to the tee. It's based on years of behavioral research. How can you knock it?

I really wish he'd published this book a few years ago when I was teaching very badly behaved and underprivileged kids in a bad neighborhood. I think it could make a big difference in such schools if teachers had this tool.

(Hey, Dr. Kazdin! How about giving your book to all teachers in schools that are failing the No Child Left Behind standards? It'd be a godsend.)

This book has turned around our three and four year old children. I wake up now to happy kids who want to get up and get ready for the day and go places. We have gone from feeling like we are on a parental battleground for tasks just to get out the door to having mutually rewarding relationships and conversations with our kids. Mom and Dad are happier and feel more in control of our lives. The book teaches PROVEN research how to get the behaviors we need and want in our kids. It works. If only the court systems, social services, lawyers, and judges would read it and recommend it!

I love the selections from Ovid in this book! I like the slow start, using words very similar to their English equivalents, and the series of exercises that follow the selection. I even enjoy the discussion of etymology at the ends of the chapters.
My only complaint is the lack of answers at the back for the exercises. I'm trying to learn Latin on my own, and having the help of seeing answers would make my task somewhat less daunting. Still, taking enough care, and looking back at the examples and reading excerpt, I think I'll learn Latin well enough to read it on my own. Eventually.

I learned Latin using Wheelock's textbook, studying with an engaging instructor. That is an excellent text but, as many have noted, it is very dry. This book is more entertaining: less philosophy and more blood, sex, and other agreeable topics. Can't recommend it highly enough.

This is a great book to learn latin at your own pace. I have been studying it for almost a month now. The explanations are clear, and the examples meaningful. I highly recommended it for anyone who wants to learn some latin.

I found this book very useful and, if I were learning Latin from scratch as a youngster I expect it would have proved more interesting than the volumes I did work with. Of course, being American, the declensions are in the "wrong order" but this is a minor nuisance. Interesting exercises and additional information on Roman life and mores, mythology and magic.

Goldman's text is wonderful for someone desiring to learn Latin on their own. From the second chapter onwards, all the readings consist of revised excerpts from Ovid's Metamorphoses. As you are taught more grammar and vocabulary, she gradually introduces more and more of the original into the readings until you are reading what Ovid actually wrote. And although there is no answer key, the excercises (of which there are plenty) are usually of just the right difficulty: just hard enough to help you in learning Latin, but not so hard that you can't figure them out on your own.
I would also recommend the accompanying workbook, which is a little more difficult, but does include an answer key.

The Law Of Thinking gives you the Master Keys to unlock your doors for living. Once you enter the doorways, they are rules, spiritual laws and guidelines you have to follow that leads you through the pathways which will take you through your goals and developmental stages of your journey.

The Journey of Life which is purpose, fulfillment, fulfeelment and destiny; the ultimate destiny of finding your Truest God Self.

Thank You Grand Master Prophet E. Bernard Jordan for sharing God's principles, the principles that are in you and in each one of us and for giving us the permission to honor ourselves while feeling guiltless, but DESERVED.

I am one of those people who, actually, taught that I was a thinking until I read the book "The Laws of Thinking 20 secrets to using the Divine power of your mind to manifest prosperity" This book made me realize that nothing exists unless the mind creates it, and everything that is taking place in my life....I created it at one point, or another. My thinking process has changed, and I am now creating my own reality from a conscious state of mind. I am now self-employed because I have learned how to used these principles, and I am applying them to my life. Thank you Master Prophet E. Bernard Jordan for writing such a stellar work of art!!!!!!

Bishop E. Bernard Jordan's book brings three words immediately to mind: BRILLIANT, POWERFUL, AND INSPIRING. This wonderful book is all three of those things and I should actually add, eye opening and insightful, to that list of adjectives. This book is a MUST READ for anyone wanting to manifest prosperity into his or her life. I can't urge you enough to read this book AND to seek out other books/videos by Bishop E. Bernard Jordan. His teachings are influencing huge corporations and world leaders and after you read this book I'm sure you will understand why. Stop wasting time reading the reviews and get the book. Your return on investment from absorbing the principles in this book will pay for itself many, many times over! In "The Laws of Thinking" Bishop Jordan teaches 20 secrets to manifest prosperity in your life. If you're a Christian the book will renew your spirit and bring you closer to God as well. If you're not a Christian then this book will give you some valuable deeper insights and may open your eyes to some important things that you hadn't considered or experienced before. Really, it doesn't cost much and what you will surely gain from absorbing the principles taught in "The Laws of Thinking" make it an easy choice - GET THE BOOK AND READ IT TWICE!

WOW.......... This book has changed the way I think totally. Now I edit my thoughts from not good to good. This is one of the most important books i am proud to own and share. You cannot go wrong with this book in your library.

The Laws Of Thinking / The Book


The laws of thinking as I finished this book the fourth time I then begin to dissect it one chapter at a time four additional times. I then acquired the tongues of fire and the contents of the book began to resonate a sound of new beginnings. Then after all of this I found myself in a place where if anything at all started to give me discomfort the chapters in this book bring to mind the instant solution. As a case in point lets take money for instance everybody likes to talk about money and in most case's it's the lack of money. The reason why that is- is because we hold money in the wrong perspective. If you lack money you lack the power to think a premise at ZOE is that if you can think it up you can think it down. As we read in the laws of thinking we began to find out that we put money in the place of God. Often times we allow money to dictate our decisions rather than taking God at his word. The bible says my God shall supply all of my needs according to his riches in glory Philippians 4:19. We also began to realize that the bills that we have in our pockets is not money-, money real money is the currency of the mind. For years we were driven into a position that made us believe that if we had money we couldn't be close to God, and for a long time I bought into that as if being broke made me more holy. 1st John 3:10 tells us that God wants us to be prosperous - beloved I desire that you prosper and be in health even as your soul has prospered. When we read our bibles we find out that it was Jesus himself who put money on the same level as God Mathew 6:24 you can not serve two master. Until I read the laws of thinking I could have never looked at money like this and now I will never look at money the same way again. Bishop Jordan writes on page 202 of the book you must conquer your love of money to conquer the evil in your life. I like how Mother Jordan says it if your saying money is evil, money is not gonna come to you because your saying it's evil. For we all know that it is the love of money that makes it evil, even as we think a little deeper, even though the bile says that the love of money is the root of all evil. Father God in me can I express this,?-( Speak Son) it's not the love money, it's the lust of the individual. It's not the money it's what we do with the money. I f you are in a place where you have run out of reasoning away the fact that what they teach you at your local church has a question mark the laws of thinking will dispel many many of the myths. The laws of thinking will give you the clarity of purpose and keenness of direction, just like the resolution on your plasma screen the higher the pixels the greater the quality of the picture. For instance the bible says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made that's in the book of Psalms 139:14 well in the book of the laws we find out just how we are made when we begin to learn about the seven chakras, and the seven other bodies that where born with us we realize just how fearfully and wonderfully we are made. And on the sixth day God said lets us make man then on the seventh day he rested from all that he had made and we begin to know that the number seven is the number of completion, or perfection peering in the book of Genesis. Well as we dig deeper we see that this book is the perfect explanation to and for all the misconceptions of the past if it does not stir your spirit it will anger your intellect. I and my father are one this in the past was reason enough to be crucified John 10:30-33 for your works we stone you not, but because you being a man make your self equal with God. The law of oneness will put to rest all these myths because the book says that without oneness there can be no atonement when you look at this you see at-one-ness. I firmly believe that the laws of thinking affectionately referred to as the book is an explanation, clarification, exhortation, and revelation that will change a region a nation, a world. This book uncovers the lies that enslaved a people, that stole a civilization, that raped many generations, and killed a culture as there are many remnants ah, but it's just not the same. This book ,the book does what the children of Israel where afraid of when they herd the thundering of God at Mt. Sinai Exodus 20:18-19 it shows us God in the raw in other words it uncovers the nakedness of God. This, the book is not an aid this, the book is not a supplement it is what Eve was to Adam it is a rib a companion, a help meet. I know there are many Theologians who will take that statement and run with it , yeah and look what happened in the garden well just as it was then as it is now God is in control. This laws of thinking, the book will prosper you it is a law; This the book will let you be you and let me be me it is a law, this book the book will lift your spirit it is a law. The laws of thinking, the book will give you the desires of your heart attraction it is a law. This laws of thinking, the book will show you how to bring things from the spiritual world into the natural world it is a law; write the vision and make it plain upon tables that he may run that reads it Habakkuk 2:2. Often times God will ask us to do something that in the natural just does not make sense sometimes in this life we are going to have to take some risk the book The Laws Of Thinking will make sense of the risk you take in the name of the spirit. This Laws Of thinking the book will produce in you right divine habits, oh yeah it is a law. When we work from the sweat of our brows we remain under the curse ah, but the book teaches us to work from our passion, it is written that when you work from your passion you will never work a day in your life. Often times we say things with our mouth do we not remember that the power of life and death are in the power of the tongue Proverbs 18:21. If you say it you better pay it ah the book tells the truth about the vow it is a law. The Laws Of Thinking book is so powerful it will either draw you our it will drive. When you take heed to the truths that are contain their in it will draw you into a level of consciousness that will cause you to walk through life seemingly un-scathed. There are many believers who still think that the kingdom of God is treating everybody right, going to church and then you can enter into the kingdom. Ah, but the book The Laws Of Thinking teaches us that you have got to get into the right system oh yes it is --- a law. The truths laws ,and principles that the Master Prophet teaches are going to take back an identity of a people I believe that right divine order will rivet through every person who sincerely embraces this book. I believe that imprisonment will be an experience that if it even continues to exist, will cause rehabilitation to become a certainty. The only way to really rehabilitate a person is to change his/her mind, and a change of mind is what repentance. As we begin to let go of the worn out traditions of the past then we can walk in the consciousness of the eternal now. I am reminded of a passage of scripture that says 2nd Chronicles 7:14 if my people which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. This book The Laws Of Thinking if you try to reject it, if you try to dispute it, if you disrespect it - it will drive you out of your mind.


Prophet Dennis L. Green
Copy write c 2008

For most of us the best indicator of what tomorrow or next year will be like is to look at yesterday or last year and just project it out. More of mostly the same. We let our responses to the normal events of the day define our experience. Many hopes and wishes just remain hopes and wishes. These two decided very purposefully that they wanted something different. They decided this at the beginning of their eighth decade of life, and produced a written plan of just they wanted from their next five years and how they would do it.

Their goal was to experience the daily life and the culture of several locations in Europe The path to that goal included selling a home, disposing of years of accumulated stuff, renting an apartment, making the travel plans, and dealing with health issues along the way.

It is a story written from each of their perspectives giving some history of their families, what brought them to this decision, the challenges they faced and a description of their stays in European. Their descriptions are personal and delightful. Those who have traveled even briefly in similar style will be reminded of their own frustrating mishaps that then became fond and some of the best recollected memories.

You'll likely end the reading of their story wondering about your own next few years and maybe even getting out a pencil and paper.

Ron Skrabut, Harrisburg, PA

Most people shudder at the thought of relocating anywhere and International moves are known to be fraught with more complications than most. Not considered so by Don & Dana Manges, a couple who, at age 72, spontaneously agreed to eschew the classic retirement life of napping and rocking precious days away but instead to sample living for a time in four major European cities.

Don & Dana record their impressions of the cultural offerings of each sojourn, the places and events savored and the pleasure of forming new friendships. They've described frustrations encountered with language whilst settling into each place but even those hiccups were viewed as amusing episodes .

Leaving Home at 72 details these two years through alternating essays written in Don and Dana's individual, whimsical, thoughtful styles that reveals much about their personalities and enduring interests. It's apparent that both thoroughly enjoyed the going, seeing, doing and laughing at the peculiarities of living abroad. Best of all, they bring to the reader an awareness that life after 70 affords a special opportunity to plunge ahead, to act on a dream and "to boldly go" to parts not yet explored.

What fun to read and reread the story of this wonderful couple's adventures. It should give all of us who are over 65, courage and hope. It fill me with new energy for what lies ahead.

Here exposed are our crushed, red-faced, travel humiliations, misunderstood language blather, and misinformed directions together with quaint chambres, unforgettable meals, and new found friendships. Subtly illustrated and printed in a fun graphic style, the authors' experiences courageously revealed as few of us would ever admit to our mothers.

Leaving Home at 72 is a charming and delightful saga of an imaginative couple's joi de vivre as they explore the beauty of Europe in a fascinating time aboard. A wonderful read for anyone who loves to travel.

The Human Comedy is a saga of 92 novels that Balzac said was written by French society. Legend described him as the night-shirted social recorder working until dawn fueled by liters of coffee. Lost Illusions (1837-1843) is considered to be one of the best of the novels in the series in scope and structure. From the frenetic world of writers and booksellers in Paris to the grueling life of hard work and boredom in villages, Balzac traced the systematic destruction of illusions in his characters. No one could be trusted (friends, foes, or family) when the creative or inventive characters attempted to reach a goal. The flicker of hope and joy related to an artistic or business accomplishment was extinguished within days or hours. The enduring artists and producers were those who lived almost without hope, guided by a strict code of ethics protected only by their ability to keep their accomplishments secret. Ultimately, some of these survivors reached their goals. But by then, they no longer placed high value in them, much of the luster lost with their illusions. Lost Illusions set the standard for many of the wonderful French novels of the subsequent years of the 19th Century. The reader is immersed in French culture in a manner similar to the later writing of Gustav Flaubert.

Lost Illusions by Balzac is one of the most famous novels out of the ninety two he wrote in his lifetime and maybe also among a million his admirers have written in 175 years since his first novel was published.

Balzac choses Lucien as a romantic, good-looking dreamy poet. We are first thrust into his provincial life, with details about his ordinary life and extraordinary ambitions that he has no means of realizing. Except patronage by an older woman! She leads him to Paris, only to abandon him to fight his way into the high society. How Lucien rises and falls in the glamorous, amorous, corrupt and vicious life as a journalist in Paris is picturized through a narrative that is bathed in realism, and yet proceeds through both suspense and wit, in the spirit of the pace at which Balzac could conjure up such novels.

In the provinces, Lucien has a friend, David, who likewise is somewhat lacking in social and economic acumen, and is a hard working inventor. David own father ruins him by extracting an unreasonable price for the printing press that he leaves or sells to his own son. Crafty competitors take advantage of David's credulous character. David endures both provincial small mindedness and economic setbacks suffered to keep Lucien afloat. Balzac displays his knowledge of these disparate characters with remarkable attention to detail. He weaves an undercurrent, of what could have passes as a dissertation, on the art and science of paper making.

Balzac creates in his one book, a saga that unravels friendship, love, jealousy, lust, ambition, vanity, greed and absurdity that lurk in our beings and in our relationships. By using two main pillars, Lucien and David, Balzac erects a bridge into the two worlds of poetry and science. He shuns hint of any romance of either worlds, and shows how much character, how many hardships and set-backs, how much devotion and labor are required for a man to become a known poet or a scientist.

I am quoting an example from this translation (carried out by Katharine Prescott Wormeley):

"No one can be a great man cheaply," said d'Arthez in his gentle voice. "Genius waters her work with tears.Talent is a moral being which, like all other beings, is subject to the maladies of childhood. Society rejects undeveloped talent just as nature removes her feeble or deformed creations. Whoever wishes to rise above his fellows must be prepared to struggle, and not recoil at difficulty. A great writer is a martyr who does not die - that's the whole of it!"

Besides the two pillars, the book has an interesting array of characters. Actresses, society women, editors and publishers, lawyers, struggling writers, dandies - all appear with their human failings and foibles as part of a drama that unfolds with an enrapturing narrative. Be it history, economics, alchemy, or psychology, or any topic under the sun, Balzac ushers in his great knowledge, suspending and supporting the story with able and apt pointers, tresses and metaphors.

Balzac's Lost Illusions is undoubtedly a classic everyone can enjoy and must read at some point in their lives. Highly recommended.

I read this book during my latest visit to my favorite middle east country. I must admit that I didn't enjoy this book as much as others. I felt like it was slow to come around and I thought there was too much detail on (seemingly) unimportant things at times. I'm just a regular person, so that said if you are an accomplished reader you may love this, for neophytes such as myself, other titles are more likely to be properly enjoyed (see my reviews)...and keep me updated!

This is one of the best novels by Balzac, which is to say much, since he is still one of the best writers that have ever lived. Here, as in the rest of his work, the reader can appreciate Balzac's knowledge of worldly life, and especially the world of business, so alien to other writers. In this book he elaborates on the printing business as well as on journalism -vastly so-, back when it first began as a mercantilist activity. He contrasts the small life and intrigues of the province with the -no less petty but more gandiose- life and intrigues of the big city, Paris, and in particular of the faubourg Saint-Germain, the paradise of the Parisian jet-set.

David Sechard is a young man who inherits, at great cost, his cold and greedy father's printing business. Lucien Chardon (later "de Rubempre", after taking his impoversihed mother's more aristocratic last name) is his best friend. Both of them share a love for poetry, but it is Lucien who comes to shine as the young genius of province, the promise for whom it is worth it to sacrifice it all. Lucien gets the love of one Louise de Bargeton, the "queen of Angouleme", the most cultivated and refined woman in town. Louise promises to take Lucien to Paris, introduce him into the great society, and make him triumph as a poet. His family gives him all they can to get him started, and off he goes to Paris. But he happens to be arrogant, proud, and insecure, and soon he suffers the despise and insolence of aristocrats and other rich people. After what he believes to be an offense from Louise, he rejects her, earning her eternal hatred.

In the meantime, Lucien has been spending time with two very different circles of friends. The first is composed of a group of young intellectuals, hardworking guys sacrificing money and fun for the sake of science, art, and knowledge. They are there for him in times of need, and encourage him to keep up with his writing. The second group is a bunch of journalists, easy going but corrupt people who convince him to achieve quick fame and money. Lucien gets more and more trapped by this seemingly easy life, and after he conquers the love of the prettiest actress in Paris, his fate is decided. He achieves fame and fortune overnight, and so he jumps completely into the world of parties, frivolity and silly competition for status. At this point in the novel, Balzac introduces us to the sordid, decadent, and disgusting world of journalism understood as an unmerciful network of extortion and constant blackmailing. Lucien slides down that road, getting recognition and fame, oblivious to the growing net of envy that closes in around him every day.

What follows is the sad story of an unlikable character. Lucien has very little redeeming qualities about him, as opposed to some of his early friends, his young lover and his family. He is blind as blind can be, since his extreme selfishness builds a cloud in which he lives. He cares for nobody, except perhaps for the little Coralie, and he goes on leaving too many wounded bodies by the side of the road. Nevertheless, this character is the vehicle that allows Balzac to show us the real world out there. This writer never ever gives up to the temptation of sweetening things for the reader, he's brave and persists on his plan. Balzac is never a moralizing preacher, he is just a skillful painter of life as it is.

Here, as in the rest of his work, you will find characters who also appear in other novels, an ingenious device intended to give us a feeling of reality. This book is never boring and builds up tension rapidly, even for its length. It is an encompassing ride through all the fancies of youth gone wrong, as well as an unrelenting depiction of all the falseness and emptiness of high society. Much recommended.

I love Balzac. At his best he soars above the rest of French literature and here he is definitely at his finest. Easy to see why Proust thought him the best, at his best. Vautrin/Collyn is at his most sinister and attractive. If you haven't read Balzac before, this is the best to start with.

"The Runaway Pancake" has had an impact on the children in my Kindergarten (five-year old) class for a few years now. When I play the cd, they scream and laugh and have a ball. When I read the story, they recite every word, laugh and clap along. I have them draw pictures of their favorite parts and, believe me, they do a bang-up job. Mr. Lithgow is an amazing talent with a Kindergartener's soul. He relates to these children and their fantasies with a charisma one seldom sees. I have enjoyed him for years on television and in the movies, but seeing him one evening reading this story and singing parts of it, well, he simply enchanted me and I ran out and got the book and cd without hesitation. John Lithgow is simply wonderful and the story of the runaway pancake is exceptional in all areas. I truly love it!

We borrowed this book from the library with the CD and played it for the kids in my preschool class (ages 3 & 4). It was requested again and again and again by the entire class. They absolutely loved it! What a fun book. I took it home for my own kids to hear it (ages 8 & 7) and they adored it too. It's so cute to be in the class while the kids are playing and hear them singing "No, no, no, no, no I'm too fast, you're too slow...." while they're building with Legos or playing with puzzles. I can play with CD without the book and it provides the same amusement. John Lithgow is a talented narrator. It was a wonderful discovery.

I picked this book because of an NPR interview with John Lithgow a couple years ago and these favorable reviews. My 4 year old son loves it! He even wanted to take it in for Show and Tell. He likes the book OR the cd version where John L. reads it, but not both at the same time. He has memorized the whole Pancake song and sings it quite jauntily. Now my 2 year old is starting to recite phrases from it!

My 3 year old son absolutely loves this book and CD. He learned about it at preschool, and has been singing us the song at home. We finally bought him a copy for Christmas, and now that we finally heard the true version, we can see why he loves it so much. The CD is great, as are the illustrations. It's based on the gingerbread man, but is very clever in its adaptation, and definitely captures the attention of preschoolers.

She received this book with the CD for her birthday and loved it so much she had to share it with her pre-school class again and again. I ended up donating it to the class and had to purchase another copy for home.