S Books

Thank you MR. Simens... I have read many a film production book. None of them compare to this one. This book is clear and the most organized piece of work I have yet to come across. He speaks in terms that is easy to follow and understand, with a large dose of reality. Reality that can get your movie made. He wants you to do it. He has made your production list for you. No need for other books (money saved). Please, if you have read thus far and have not purchased this book, do so now. You will not be dissapointed... And for the expert(s) (with the three stars or less) Get real. Swallow your pride. This book is perfect. Mr. Simens knows what he is talking/writing about. EVERYTHING you need to succeed is right here. Get your first movie off of the ground, then go from there. Again, Thank you Mr. Simens.

I reference this book all the time. From Reel to Deal cuts to the chase and offers no bull. It is an easy read and loaded full of practical and useful information. I have produced eight short films in four years and currently preparing for my first feature-film. Dov's book it geared for those making a feature-film but useful for shorts as well. I always recommend From Reel to Deal to any filmmaker who has not read it already. Do yourself a favor and buy or borrow this book. It is a must-read for filmmakers, or as Dov's says PRODUCERS.

I've wanted to take one of Dov's workshops but they're never close to where I live so I bought this book which I like. However, with a copyright of 2005 I would have thought it would have more web information (urls, etc) in it. I suspect most of the information was compiled before the web got popular which has been a while. Oh well. I emailed Dov last year too and nobody bothered to reply. Still, for the price, very good info.

One of the best books I've read on the motion picture industry.
You could not learn more spending 4 years at UCLA Film School.
Now I watch movies with a different perspective.

I've read every book on Independent Filmmaking that I can get my hands on and this one book has more useful information than all of the others combined. I'm now shooting my forth feature length film and if I'd had this book before shooting the first three I'd be a lot better off today!

Mr. Nerd is apparently illiterate; though Simens does use a million dollar budget as an example of how to allocate your funds as he goes through all of the steps, this book absolutely does address budgets of every size from ten million dollars right down to your five thousand dollar digital feature for the Direct To Video market. I really don't see how anybody who had actually read the book could possibly miss this as the various budget constraints are addressed in almost every chapter as he takes you through the steps. In fact, he even outlines a method for shooting a feature length, 35 millimeter film on a five thousand dollar budget.

The two chapters on screenplay writing have more useful information than any book that I've read on screenplay writing and applying these techniques to my latest screenplay has resulted in the best work that I've ever done! That's one of the beautiful things about this book; Simens is not an egocentric, long winded babbler. He gives you just what you need to know and how to go about it.

This is the first book I've read that actually has useful information on things like fund raising and distribution options and how you might avoid getting ripped off... something that happens to so many of us aspiring filmmakers all the time.

I could probably write twenty pages about why this is the best filmmaking book ever written, but I will just say that every single page is packed with valuable, useful, practical information that actually makes sense.

Anyone who is seriously considering producing or directing a feature film, or even a short for that matter, needs to read this book three times, then use it as a reference when you start filming.

Excellent reading of this wonderful adventure for "children" of all ages (I'm a grey-haired one).

Having read and listened to the Harry Potter septology (brilliantly performed by Jim Dale) so many times to be embarrassing, I decided to check out what other fondly recalled tales I could have read to me in clever British accents. I was intrigued by the idea of having some of the great actors of stage and screen - Kenneth Branagh (Gilderoy Lockhart!), Patrick Stewart (Dr. Xavier), Lynn Redgrave, Micheal York, Alex Jennings, Derek Jacobi, and Jeremy Northam - read the Narnia story, which my husband and I tried reading to my daughter at bedtime over 15 years ago. Admittedly, I recalled that we had lost interest somewhere in the Silver Chair, but thought that was just our lack of dramatic reading talent.

Nope, turns out these stories are just not that great, even when great actors perform them. And the readings are truly excellent - all the actors do a fine job of changing accents, interpreting voices and accelerating the pace in the appropriate moments. It's just that these stories are a) childish, and b) racist.

It's very hard to listen to The Last Battle and The Horse and His Boy without thinking that CS Lewis would never have gotten away with publishing this now. If Christian groups are worried that JK Rowling is promoting Wiccan, imagine how non-christians (and there really are a lot of them) would feel about the images of Tashban and the Calormen people.

Anyhow, if you like listening to great British voices, it's ok as background noise, but if you want a great set of stories, stick with JK Rowling.

The product came quickly. It was exactly as advetised and met expectations. Thank You. I enjoyed the stories very much they exceded my expectation.

For those who don't have time to read you can't beat a good CD Box Set. It's the whole story and fun to listen to as you drive or work around the house. Perfect gift.

Like many I live in one town and my parents live in another. So I travel a lot of holidays or weekends. A good audio book is a treasure. The miles past faster and you can tolerate the traffic better. We listemed to the 'Magician's Nephew' narrated by Kenneth Brannagh and he was so good, that we sat in the car an extra 15 minutes to finish the CD we were on. Thanks for the wide variety and prompt delivery of many hours happy traveling.

Here is a standout presentation of the ins and outs of contemporary Spanish. Examples of idiomatic usage are generously supplied, but fine points do not get in the way of the basics. Altogether an exemplary text--well-orgnized, lucid, and thorough.

When a Spanish teacher reccommended this book to me, I was reluctant to purchase yet another grammar book. However, this book is extremely detailed and is great for the advanced student. It is more than any college textbook. Keep in mind it is a book of explanations and not a book of exercises, but it does answer a lot of questions that an advanced undergraduate, or first-year grad student has.

If you are beyond the beginners level, then this is the equivalent to a Grammar bible. everything you need is in this book. Contrary to the opinion of a previous reviewer, I HIGHLY recommend that any SERIOUS student read this book in its entirety. I did it and probably will do so again.

This book about Spanish grammar is very comprehensive, but I don't recommend it to beginners. This book is aimed at advanced students. The explanations are a bit technical, but the author provides "real world" examples on how each piece of grammar is used. When I say "real wordl," I refer to the newspaper articles or the speeches the author cites.

I especially like the chapter on the subjunctive. This book provides an entire chapter to it, very important. Although, I don't like how the information is organized.

For beginning Spanish students, I don't recommend this book at all. It is too advanced. I recommend "Side by Side English & Spanish Grammar." I used it when I started studying Spanish, and it taught me a great deal of Spanish grammar.

Brandon Simpson

If you were stuck on a desert island teaching Spanish for the next year, this would be the one book to have with you. There is no close second. Even if you are not the geeky, I-love-grammar type, this is the kind of book that you open to check one little detail and 45 minutes later you find yourself still poring over other bits of information. The authors' style is completely professional, but unlike so many other volumes of Spanish grammar they manage to keep explanations interesting and clear.

I found this unique book of coincidences to be remarkable. While the authors relate it to Jewish principles, giving a moral or rule at the end of each 'episode,' their statements are applicable to those of all faiths.
There were short, short stories, short stories and those a few pages long. But all showed the positive human spirit that exists in everyone of us if we give ourselves a chance and don't close our minds. Sometimea a bad choice becomes a great move. An ordinary act becomes heroic to those on both sides. And, almost always, WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND. There are no stories of coincidences that backfired, although one can be sure scores of these exist too. But the purpose is to bring joy, hope,
confidence and more open-mindedness to the readers, with the desire that they will share this with many more. A brilliant person with a promising
future suddenly gets terminal lung cancer. But the person telling it mentions some small act that was done, often out of common courtesy. And in this case, one of the six items the dying person wanted in his casket was a letter of encouragement from the teacher.

This is a book for teachers, educators and all who desire to be educated.
I acquired it for $.50 at a flea market booth, after just noticing the
colorful (but also bland) yellow cover. This is the best $5.00 expenditure
I've ever made. I'll share my copy with others and have ordered another
version. Whether you are in the dumps or feeling great, the stories will
heighten your consciousness and create more appreciation for your present lot. I am fortunate to have found it. Please consider my words. Advice
is worthless. Words from the heart can be meaningful. My heart speaks.

This is a little treasure chest of wonderful stories that truly are uplifting. I really did enjoy reading this book!

I read SMALL MIRACLES, some years ago. This seems to be the same book, exactly, although, when I ordered it, I thought it was a sequel. I liked it better the first time around, when the anecdotes sounded more "golly-gee-wiz" than they do the second.

Miracles happen every day. Yitta Halberstam and Judith Leventhal are angels themselves, bringing these fantastic stories to millions of people. Buy and read every single one of their books. Not only are they hard to put down, you won't be able to look at your life with the same eyes ever again!

A really lovely little book that helps even the worst days.

This is just a great book. Being born and raised in a Coal Camp in McDowell County, West Virginia really made me appreciate the descriptive style of writing which captures the true spirit of the "holler." When I finished the book I celebrated by cooking up a big pot of pinto beans and baked a big ol' pan of cornbread. Thank you for such a wonderful book.

"Over the course of my life, I have been lucky in that I have seldom managed to get exactly what I wanted; instead, I have most often been able to grow to appreciate what I got." You find out all the things the author strove for during her youth that never seemed to materialize...except for her studies when she always did well except for a very short period of time.

Linda Scott has told about her life that is most revealing and about a place in Appalachia in Eastern Kentucky that is so well explained that you know exactly what her hometown area looks like and how everyone lived. The twists and turns in her life are like a corkscrew where changes are constant, but purpose remains strong. The author is the most down-to-earth academician I have ever known including my brother who is a retired professor. If you want a marvelous reading experience, then get this book. I guarantee it!

I loved this book. It really tells the story of my people.

I was born in Paintsville (home of Loretta Lynn) and had to move away when I was 4. Reading this book took me back to my Grandma's front porch and the well outside. It reminded me of church outhouses and dinner on the ground. Made me want to throw rocks in the creek off the bridge at Grandma's and walk up to the family graveyard to wonder about my ancestor's lives. If you are from Eastern Kentucky, this book will make you proud to say "warsh" and "tard." If you aren't from there, read it anyway. It might make you appreciate us "hillbillies" a little more.

As a long-time enthusiast of Appalachian literature, I was eagerly aniticipating reading 'Creeker'. Though I didn't care much for the stereotypical title, I thought I would be able to make it past it to enjoy a unique brand of literature.

Boy, was I wrong!

This book typifies the apologist mentality that premeates Appalachia and keeps the ignorant serfs on the proverbial feudal land.

If you're a true fan of Appalachian literature, stick with the true masters, Bobbie Ann Mason and Lee Smith.

If you are a relatively new and inexperienced reader of American history, especially of the 20th century, this is the one book you should read as a foundation. The book's contents are accurate, the style is readable and entertaining, the perspective is unusually unbiased compared to current history writers. It's what a good history book should be.

Most compelling to me as someone born in the 1950s is the incredible sense of context the book delivers. Born after World War II, I was living through events in the 1960s and 1970s that seemed crazy until I read this book and found how much of that present flowed out of the past described in Manchester's book. For a young reader of today (circa 2000), the book still provides a strong foundation for current events. While history doesn't repeat itself, as Mark Twain is alleged to have noted, history rhymes. With this book, younger or inexperienced readers will begin to hear the rhymes and perhaps draw the reasons for why things are happening as they are today.

This is one of the best history books I've read in a 50 year reading life (so far!). It is impeccable in its scholarship, but accessible and enjoyable in its style. Everyone living today should read this book. It would give us a common ground to disagree from!

The Glory and the Dream is a two volume set of over 1600 pages. Mr. Manchester calls it a narrative history of America. It covers the years from 1932 to 1972. And I mean "covers". There are 37 chapters, almost one for each year.
These two volumes, as with all history books, contain a wealth of information, but Mr. Manchester's books seem to contain more information, if that is possible, than other history books. He is overwhelming.
Every time I pick up one of his books I end up re-reading the whole thing. And for some reason the man's style is always able to keep my interest. His feelings and intensity come through and not necessarily with his prejudices attached. He is just a good writer, plain and simple.
This set begins in the year 1932 with the Bonus Army marching on Washington D.C. It is a fascinating and tragic tale.
The year 1932 was "rock bottom" for America and the Great Depression.
When I picked up this first volume I thought it was the most radical thing that I had ever read. I thought that the book contained every corruptible thing about America that had ever been written. But now I realize it is, more or less, plain old American History. Since that time I have read more and more corruptible things.
I think reading William Manchester's account of things is what set me off on reading history.
William was a marine and served in the Pacific in W.W.II. He refused to become an officer - which has to say something for his character.
His style makes reading a learning history a pleasure.

William Manchester bookends this sprawling, epic US history with two protests in the heart of Washington. He opens in 1930 at the rise of the Great Depression, with veterans across from the White House coldly shunned by President Herbert Hoover when asking for advance relief from the Great Depression, then brutally attacked by troops and national guardsmen led by Douglas MacArthur. He concludes with President Richard Nixon's second inaugural in 1973 at Watergate's rising, Vietnam demonstrators audible blocks away amidst calls for national unity and self-reliance.

In between, across 1300 pages, (excluding index and exhaustive bibliography) "The Glory and the Dream" chronicles the American Century's meatiest, most eventful years (1932-72). Manchester details a diary for and about what he called the "swing generation" but whom ex-NBC-TV anchorman Tom Brokaw (who cited Manchester as an influence) christened "the Greatest Generation."

These men and women endured and thrived through what, against Manchester's narrative, seemed (except for the relatively tranquil late 1950s) a non-stop whirlwind of hardship. Painting in broad strokes by economic numbers Manchester reveals compelling pictures of the Depression, bank and crop failures, Franklin Roosevelt's election and the New Deal, World War II, and the Korean and Cold Wars. He also includes near month by month chronicles and analysis on America's roots and involvement in the Vietnam War and Watergate, which takes up most of the book's final third. And of course, he addresses the still-shocking days of rage, murder, and decaying social fabric in the late 1960s.

Manchester's storytelling is expertly paced, foreshadowing careers of 20th century icons like Nixon, JFK, Marilyn Monroe and even the Edsel. He traces their steps to the national stage and devotes personal "Portrait of An American" sections to many (including Dr. Benjamin Spock, Edward R Murrow, and Ralph Nader). He does this deftly balancing international, social, and economic views of day to day life, worked, and socialized, even addressing political and social extremists (50s beatniks, 60s hippies, John Birchers). Isolationist vs. internationalist foreign policy views, themes as recent as last month's Iraq election, pops up throughout the book; virulent opposition to FDR's war mobilization leads to the opposition to the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan. Vietnam's civil war slowly creeps across several administrations beginning with Dwight Eisenhower's, reaching the heart of American experience as the decade and book close.

Anyone knowing or having lived through part of the last half-century can reference America's seismic events at a high level. To Manchester's credit he reached deeper into the causes behind pop culture and historical touchstones like Nixon's "Checkers" speech, 1968's Vietnam My Lai massacre, the oft-overlooked 1936 hurricane crushing New England (and ineffective warnings against it), and Japan's 1937 sinking of the USS Panay which foreshadowed Pearl Harbor. He draws dimensional character studies amidst the era's scandals (the fall of Eisenhower right hand man Sherman Adams as one example). He allows you to understand personalities and issues behind history's strongest feuds: President Harry Truman against union leader John Lewis (or MacArthur, or Joseph McCarthy...), between Southern governors and other leadership against Dr. Martin Luther King, the Freedom Riders, the Kennedy administration, and finally against the Black Panthers' vicious 1960s anarchy. Finally, he chronicles the "silent majority" generation gap between Nixon/Agnew's divisive, reactionary leadership team and a generation's angry youth.

Before his death last year, Manchester wrote whole volumes on major figures included here (Winston Churchill, MacArthur, JFK). But given the relatively short time each is presented (except for FDR, who dominates the book's first half ), Manchester masterfully retells individual personal style, social time, major accomplishments, blunders, and closure to their lives and histories. "The Glory and the Dream" is filled with protests after violent counter protests (which Manchester respects even when he does not agree), well-drawn, memorable characters more remarkable for being real life characters, and insightful side comments on issues like the role of the vice-presidency and American tolerance of dissent.

At its publication, Manchester himself called "The Glory and the Dream" the culmination of his career, and for once it was not hyperbole. Anyone wishing to understand American character must start here; "The Glory and the Dream" is the finest history-based book I've ever read, and one of the finest in any genre.
Absolutely essential.

This is the book I recommend to people who say that they hate History as a subject. When I was reading Manchester's account in the beginning of the book about the Bonus Marchers in 1932, I could feel the heat and humidity of pre-war and un-airconditioned Washington D.C. And Manchester conveyed the suffering of these veterans and their desperation in clear and concise language. I don't think that any historian has written about the Depression in as moving and compelling a manner as he does. And this is only the begining of the book. There's more great passages in his description of the home front during WWII. He recounts forgotten stories such as the "I want to go home" riots by GI's at the end of the war in Europe.

I disagree with one earlier reviewer who thought that a weakness in the book was Manchester's alleged liberal bias. In fact, his account of the Alger Hiss affair is unabashed in showing Hiss's guilt and in highlighting Nixon's diligence in pursuing the truth.

I completely wore out the copy I bought back in 1980. I first read it in the hospital when I was recovering from elective surgery. I was so ensconsed in it that I finished it during my three day stay.

William Manchester (1922-2004) provides a highly readable look at the USA from 1932-1972. This gripping narrative is written in the style of general history, yet readers come away with a profuond understanding of the times and events. The narrative begins with the nation in the depths of the Great Depression, with millions hungry, homeless, riding the rails, and looking for jobs that didn't exist. Enter Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, which greatly improved conditions. Then what followed was the Second World War, the post war boom, McCarthyism, Civil Rights, Vietnam, etc. The author does more than merely describe events and major personalities; he captures the feel of the various decades, looking at social conventions and changing mores over this 40-year period. Manchester even includes vignettes of major figures like Walter Reuther, Eleanor Roosevelt, Marilyn Monroe, etc. This is a superbly readable and slightly liberal two-volume narrative about the USA from the Depression to the end of Vietnam.

The Jew Store was both charming and telling. The author was insightful, but always kind and her humor was gentle.

This is an exquisitely written memoir that reads like fiction. What a talent to take what is true and create a story! In the 1920's, my grandparents ran a "Jew store" in Lawrenceville, Virgina, but left after a year during which the KKK made it known they were unwelcome. My grandfather became a "Jew peddler" in North Carolina, and much of this story rang true with the tales I was told as a child. Residents looked on the "Jew peddler" with suspicion, but also with awe because he brought the big city with him. He was expected to be sophisticated; his opinions were taken seriously. During the Great Depression, one North Caroina farmer gave his daughter to my grandfather because she was starving. He took her home to Norfolk, Virginia, to raise with his own five children, and a life-long relationship ensued.

My book club enjoyed this book and had a lively discussion.

This was a definite surprise me novel. I picked it up for no other reason than the shocking title. This has become one of my favorite books, and she, a favored writer. I love how she brings the people from her childhood to life in the reader's mind, the language, the sayings, a delightful Southern Yiddish flavor. This book has been passed among friends and allowed us to have an interesting discussion with 3 generations of Southern women.

The authenticity of detail hit me over and again, describing not only how it felt to be Jewish in white anglo-saxon Prodestant Tennessee, but the way everyone was: open armed but not altogether open minded, graciously phrasing back-talk, helpful when you least expected it, back-stabbing the same way, and sugar-coating every topic but money. When it came to money, you didn't pay protection after the fact, like industrial cities; you first worked for permission. Fabulously The Jew Store tells this tale! True to my own memory is the white woman whose lemon merangue pie was acclaimed, only it was her cook's. The cook, called that but doing cleaning, gardening, child rearing, and everyting else. Learning to listen backwards if you wanted to know what someone was actually saying, as in "we're so glad you came over and didn't even call!" The sugar-coated talk from mean, angry men. The social standing that harked to who-knew-where... This was the small mill town I grew up in in NC, too. It produced the fragile sounding Southern-belle diction that was good for date bait 'up north,' as her daughter found out; but that belied the resolve of strong, smart women with wonderful senses of humor, as shown in her characters. Anyone who grew up in a small mill town in the South prior to -- say 1970 --- met plenty of folks just like these. How glorious to have this touching volume of remembrances.

The Jew Store is a wonderful, absorbing memoir, rich with detail about a Jewish family's experiences in a tiny, "dot on the map" southern town. Stella Suberman's vivid descriptions of her Russian immigrant parents' adjustment to this life include unflinching examinations of the prejudices and imperfections of the community they join as well as those the couple bring with them. So much happens to the family in the course of this memoir that the narrative is as compelling as a good novel. The dilemmas the family faces are so convincingly rendered--Where will Joey get the training necessary for his bar mitzvah? Will Miriam marry a gentile?--that I was occasionally moved to tears. By the time you reach the end of the book, you will miss some of these people, as if they have become part of your own story.

My son has been reading this series. He loves the story line - he's 11, but reads on a college level. So, I would say this is appropriate for that age group, and interresting enough to hold the attention of an older reader. The sory line seems interesting enough for an adult reader wanting a quick read too.

This book is really awesome. This book starts when a runt silverwing bat named Shade wants to find his father. His father, Cassiel, disappeared after he wanted to see a human building. So, Shade, Chinnook, Ariel, Freida, and a lot of other bats go to find him. On their trip they get stuck in an indoor forest, where humans put exploding metal bands on bats and birds because they use the explosive bands to blow up building for war. Shade and Chinnook have to escape from exploding and then they run into Goths forest, and then they have to save the world from eternal night. Goth is a vampire bat. One of the coolest things about the bats is their echo-vision. Shade uses his echo-vision and makes himself look like a vulture to the vampire bats. The best part of this book is when Shade and his family and other silverwing bats and some rats enter the bone room. I like when they crawl into the bone room because it is really creepy and full of bones.
My favorite character was Throbb, but he dies in Silverwing. My favorite character in Sunwing is Cassiel because he says things that can be funny. The thing I don't like about this book is how there are too many things to do with forests. In the beginning they run into a human forest and it takes them 6 chapters to get out of that forest. Later in the book they run into Goths forest and it takes them 3 chapters to get out. But sometimes they do interesting stuff in the forests. My least favorite character is Goth because at the end all he does is roar. I want every body to buy this book! But, you must read Silverwing first to understand Sunwing.

This book is as good as the first one, and is as enjoyable as the first as well. But, don't read Firewing, you'll hate it. I did.

Sunwing was one of the BEST books I've EVER read! It has lots of fiction in it but, it also has a large amount of true facts in it also. I truly reomend this book. And it has a bunch of action and adventure in it. And I think people who like animals such as, bats, mice, owls etc. will LOVE this book completley.

Jacob Milette

My daughter is 9 years old and not into traditional girl stuff. She enjoys stories that feature animals. She has firewing and one other in the series qnd has enjoyed them all.

This is a Phenomenal book! It's a great book for all women of color to read. Each chapter alerted all of my emotions and thoughts. I am learning everyday how to attack any negative energy surrounding me and follow the gift of intution. Learning to love yourself in the midst of everything.

Yes, I already gave it five stars, because I read one of her other books "Tapping The Power Within...." When I was about 14 or 15 years old, I was in a afterschool class, and the instructor gave us each a copy of "Acts of Faith." The title of the book was very powerful to me, and I tried to read it then, but I was not ready. See, thats the thing about most self help books like these, you must be READY to read them. I actually got "Tapping the Power Within..." last month from my counselor, thats when I realized I still had two of her other books. My aunt also bought me one of her books when I was of the age 14, because I was going through a tough time. The book was called "Don't Give it Away." Which I am now in my THIRD YEAR OF COLLEGE... YAYY ME, and I passed the book down to my sister. (Also, I wanted to leave this portion of my message for a poster on here named Tigress "JD": Do not feel stupid for buying a collection of her books. Actually, I had just did the same thing. I am about to buy more of her books).Its quite hard choosing which books to read. I am currently reading the "Acts fo Faith" day by day, and I have finished reading "Tapping The Power Within" Which is helping me a lot. The following books I already have purchased was already shipped to me is "Faith in the Valley," "Living Through the Meantime," (which I started to read, but I was not sure if I was ready, after reading a couple of pages through)"One Day My Soul Just Opened Up (which I am debating with "Living Through the Meantime"), and "Yesterday I Cried." So I have about seven of her books. I am going to purchase more right now. I hope you all remain strong, and I hope the books will help you all a lot. (sorry for all the typos its 3:12am in the morning in NYC and I could not help it, but to get back online and purchase some more books, plus I cannot fall asleep).

This book is great not only for black women, but for all women. It helps one to understand life better, and to love ones self better.

I am a big fan of motivational and self-help books. I have read many in my lifetime. Mostly good, some so-so. It is important to read a book relevant to what one is going through at that time to get the full scope of things from the book we read I believe. Iyanla's books are one of them and one of my favourite authors. The first book I got from Iyanla's collection was "Yesterday I Cried" and that had helped me through the ditch I was going through at that time. A friend of mine recommended a book of hers "One day My Soul Just Opened Up" which at that time I had already knew about her and went on to search on amazon her other publications and purchased the whole series of her books. Yeh - crazy me! But hey, she's good! I like her approach in the way she writes and conveys her message. It's real. I can relate to her. I have almost the whole collection of her books that she has published and reading them one by one as I go through my life's ups and downs. For the past few months I've been going through many valleys, I started reading "The Value In The Valley" which has given me many insights into my own valleys that I am going through and have gone through and approach life and my valleys in a different light. I have just purchased the Audio CD version of it to listen while I drive or at home. Can't wait to get it and the rest of the motivational goodies I just got from other authors. :) Thumbs up to this book as well as Iyanla's other books. Thank you Iyanla for all the insights your book has given me. :)

I saw a lot of me in reading this book. It really helped me to realize somethings about myself and why I do the things that I do. It was great. I would recommend it to anyone who needs clarity on themselves and their lives.

one word "WOW", I got this book as per my Sensei suggested. I really like it. Very well make with detail illustraions. My book is the 7th edition 2007. Highly recommanded for everyone.

The book shows step-by-step instructions on how to do the katas. If you've learned the katas before, you will love it. If you've never learned them before, you may find a little difficult to do the more advanced ones. A video will help you more in those cases because of the details that even well described are hard to do without watching someone doing it in front of you. I can't think of a better way to teach katas using a book, though and because of that, I think it's still worth buying the book and if you feel that you need, buy a video to help with the harder katas. Good luck!

If nothing else, the kata should be the common factor between schools of the same type. The 25 Shotokan Kata book by Shojiro Sugiyama serves as the guideline for Shotokan karate-ka. Nishiyama sensei gives approval to the forms and explains a few nuances that articulate his concepts of body mechanics. The book is a treasure.

This is an excellent resource to support lessons taught in class. The presentation of the kata in clear and easily understood drawings with supporting text is the best I have found in various books on kata from the Shotokan school. I recommend it to anyone looking for a text to support their study of kata or simply as an addition to your martial arts library.

Master Sugiyama illustrations are easy to follow. I especially like that the transitional hand/foot preparation into each move are shown. The use of compass direction also makes clear which direction you are supposed to be facing at any given point. I often use this book for self-teaching or reviewing upper level black belt katas such as gojushiho sho & dai, unsu etcetera.
It's almost time for me to get a fresh copy of this book. I've taped my current copy one too many times!!

Denise W.
3rd Dan - Instructor
Women's Center Karate Club NYC
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