T Books

This book is highly recommended for those individuals who are seeking their true identity.

The Author who herself has had an aristocratic bearing also explores and sheds light onto one of the pasts most important and intriguing European dynasties: The Ottomans

Albeit, currently she is plainly refered to as Ms. Kenize Mourad, the authors full name is Her Imperial Highness, Princess Kenize Mourad, Princess of the Ottoman Empire. Thus, shes is in the best position to reflect on such empire.

She is the daughter of His Imperial Majesty, The Grand Sultan, Mourad V, whose titles included: Sovereign of the Imperial House of Osman, Sultan of Sultans, Khan of Khans, Commander (Caliph) of the Faithful and Successor of the Prophet of the Lord of the Universe, Custodian of the Holy Cities of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem, Caesar of the Roman Empire, Emperor of The Three Cities of Constantinople, Adrianople and Bursa, and of the Cities of Damascus and Cairo, of all Azerbaijan, of the Magris, of Barka, of Kairouan, of Aleppo, of Arabic Iraq and of Acem, of Basra, of Al-Hasa, of Dilen, of Ar Raqqah, of Mosul, of Parthia, of Diyarbakýr, of Cilicia, of the Vilayets of Erzurum, of Sivas, of Adana, of Karaman, Van, of Barbary, of Abyssinia, of Tunisia, of Tripoli, of Damascus, of Cyprus, of Rhodes, of Candia, of the Vilayet of the Morea, of the Marmara Sea, the Black Sea and also its coasts, of Anatolia, of Rumelia, Baghdad, Kurdistan, Greece, Turkistan, Tartary, Circassia, of the two regions of Kabarda, of Georgia, of the plain of Kypchak, of the whole country of the Tartars, of Kefe and of all the neighboring countries, of Bosnia and its dependencies, of the City and Fort of Belgrade, of the Vilayet of Serbia, with all the castles, forts and cities, of all Albania, of all Eflak and Bogdania, as well as all the dependencies and borders, and many others countries and cities.

Despite de jure claim to the aformentioned titles, she insistingly prefers to be refered to as simply Ms. Kenize Mourad.

Suave and sagacious she is a true symbol of magnanimity.

A book definately worthy of reading, from an individual whose life could be an inspiration for others.

I guess I was the only one who was not fond of this book (I read it in English, so maybe it's a bad translation).

I found the main character, her mother, to be a worthless human being who never did find her role in life. Her life was depressing to the max... no matter what she did, seems like she made things worse instead of better.

There were a lot of little mentions that never got followed up, which I found annoying (in particular, several hints at lesbianism, but then the characters involved either disappeared or were married off).

The history and perspective were interesting (justifications for slavery and creating eunuchs!), but I found it to be a bit of a slog through her trying to justify her existence.

The story is so intense and gripping that it carries the reader past whatever difficulties there may be in style. Since reading this several years ago, I have haunted the library waiting and looking for the promised second book. I don't know if that was ever translated from the French to English or not. Anyone interested in history or biography will find this book goes over the top in interest.

I had seen Regards From the Dead Princess for a number of years on the shelves at my town's public library. I never read it until after I travelled to Turkey as a tourist in 2003. I could barely put the book down. I came to admire Ms. Mourad's quest for her identity, the truth about her mother, and the origins of her family and how with the bits and pieces she was able to gather over the years she was able to write this wonderfully tragic tale. When I went back to Turkey in 2004 to teach English, I told my intermediate level students about this novel. Several expressed an interest in reading it.

Since the 8th grade, I have read about and studied the demise of the European dynasties after War World I, especially the Russian imperial family, but I had never seen anything about what happened to the Ottoman (Osmanli) family once Turkey became a republic. It was not until after my trip to Turkey that I decided to make Turkish and Ottoman history a part of my knowledge. This book was the beginning of my studies.

Regards From the Dead Princess is the story of Selma, a granddaughter of the last Ottoman Turkish sultan (padishah). Selma grows up happy, but cloistered in the family's palace in Istanbul. She dreams of marrying General Mustapha Kemal, a celebrated Turkish general who helps saves the Turkish mainland from being partitioned by the victors of World War I. She and others call him the "Golden Rose" because of his unusual blonde hair. Selma says that when she grows up, she will marry the "Golden Rose." Little does she know that once this same war hero comes to power as the first president of Turkey that her family will be sent into exile. This is one of the earliest betrayals and disappointments which Selma will face in her short and tragic life.

Selma is a victim of history. Her family had ruled Turkey for 500 years. She and her family must learn to live as near penniless exiles whereever they are accepted in the world. Selma finds that she never quite belongs anywhere. That is her ultimate tragedy. Selma's beauty, depression, and loneliness could not be more beautifully told.

This intense novel was written by a journalist, Kenize Mourad, and it makes the reader travel through different historic periods.
It is the true story of a granddaughter of the last Sultan of Turkey, Mourad V .The Turkish Princess was exiled from Turkey during the stablishment of the Turkish Republic in 1918, spent her chilhood in Beirut during the French occupation and married to an Indian, Rajad, in the last years of the British Empire in India. She ended up in Paris during the Nazi occupation.
It was one of the most complete books I've read. I really recommend it to lovers of historical novels from teens to adults.

This book was first given to me at a funeral home YES... a funeral home not just any funeral home it was the funeral home where my mother in law laid to rest after a year long struggle with cancer. I felt hopeless asking myself how would I'd be able to support my husband when I indeed was a mess myself. I took the book and did not loose sight of it waited 5 months after her death to finally open it and read it. The best thing I could have done to find the answer to grievence and acceptance. I cried every night as I read it and since then have passed it one to others who find themselves lost of answers when a loved one crosses over...

I bought this book for my wife, who lost her mother to Alzheimer's a year ago. Too often, as Americans, we seem to want to move on past the loss of a loved one quickly. We've learned over the years that grief lasts for a long time. The book is loving and healing for this process.

I was given this book just after we lost our 22 year old son. It was one of two that helped me the most. It tells you to keep looking for the roses through all that you are having to endure.
"God is continually keeping His promise by providing roses, sometimes with actual flowers, sometimes through friends, and often in the form of memories as a reminder He is caring for me, and when I hurt, He hurts."
The book is about the many kinds of "roses" that God sends us. I now send it to those parents that lose children, no matter the age or circumstance; but I have also sent it to those that have lost a spouse. It is a wonderful "rose" for anyone grieving a loss.

This book is the tender, bittersweat story of a grieving mother working through her sorrow after losing her teenage son. As I read it, tears flowed down my cheeks as I found I could relate to the many emotions the author experienced. With every heartbreak, she looks for and finally discovers a "rose" - a person, a gesture, a memoery which gives her a sense of peace, and meaning and strength to carry on with life.

Grief has a life of its own. You don't know this until you are faced with it. Unless you are able to talk with someone who has experienced it or read a book such as this one, no one can understand what you are feeling. I appreciated Marilyn's candidness of all she was feeling and how she came through it. It was a comfort to find that I was feeling some of the same things she was feeling. That brings healing in itself.

I recommend this book highly to anyone who has lost someone and is grieving. You will find yourself connecting with Marilyn and it will help you know that what you are feeling is normal. I would also like to add that her Christian perspective is vital. Because it's times like this when we see our need for the Lord; his grace, strength, and presence in our lives. Many would ask: "How could God let this happen?" Well, it happens to all of us at one time or another...that is reality. The question should be: "How can God help me?" And He will.

This book is remarquable.
The author is an excellent writer. The book is well written and of great historical value for people interested in the battle of the low Vosges.
The book describes the battle of Wingen sur Moder from the point of view of a very young German officer leading a whole battalion.
In January 1945, Wingen was 2 miles behind a stabilized front line. It was the hardest Winter of the century in Alsace. The aim of the Germans was to seize a valley in order to send 2 tank divisions to take Strasbourg. The 6th SS mountain division which has been fighting the Russians for 4 years were sent to take Wingen. They slipped through the main front line and took half of Wingen.

The memoirs available on line of the veterans of the 70th infantry division describe the battle seen from the US side. Wolf Zoepf gives us a stunning description from the German side, from a battalion commander view.

Leaving a few miles from Wingen, I was truelly impressed by the precision of the description of the battlefield.

Although the emphasis that this book gives to the "technical" aspects of the operation "Nordwind" and the fine accuracy of the terminology may cause some readers to avoid it, it is a very interesting and thought provoking analysis of the battles that the famous 6th SS Mountain Division fought in Alsace. The first 56 pages are devoted to that division's operations in Finland where, in late 1944, it was forced to retreat under attrocious conditions. Transferred to the Western Front, it participated in the operation "Nordwind" fighting excellently against the US 70th and 45h Infantry Division and causing many days of alarm and consternation to its opponents. Unfortunately for the 6th SS Mountain Division, the success it achieved outflanking the US positions and capturing Wingin-sur-Moder, proved to be just another "lost victory" since the other German divisions didn't advance in the same depth. The author was a junior officer in the Division "Nord" and he wrote this book with the help of many German and US first hand accounts, presenting a complete picture of the battle, from both sides of the hill. The book contains dozens of excellent three dimension maps, some two dimension maps and a few black and white photos. There is also an appendix with the German and US equivalent ranks. The book is higly recommended to the serious students of military history, since it is not only a battle story but a very critical and professional analysis of the operational and tactical factors that led the battle to its outcome.

It would take a German to give credit where credit is due.
Nordwind was a German offensive made at the same time as the more famous Ardennes offensive. It was of a slightly smaller scale, but no less fiercly fought and could potentially have had devastating consequences had it succeeeded.
Wolf Zoepf was a veteran from the war with Soviet Union north of the Arctic cirlce and gives a clear and concise description of the development of the Sixth Waffen SS Mountain Division, of its tactics and organisation, and of its heroic part in the failed Nordwind offensive.
The book not only describes in detail the course of the battle, but also - which is even more important - the strengths and weaknesses of the opposing military organisations.
It is not enough to say that the US army had superior manpower and superior firepower - history is full of examples where the inferior side carries the day, take for example the early German and Japanese victories in the second world war, or the Macedonian victories against the Persians.
The German strengths lay in superior tacical skill, initiative, off-road mobility, and tactical organisation (up to, say, regimental level). Usually, these factors would be enough to carry the day in any battle, but the US army had a superior organisation on the army level: not only did they have the manpower and the firepower, they could see to it that it got where it was needed! What played a role was also the superior US communications technology, and that they had one sole Commander who knew how to utilise his advantages and whose orders were obeyed. I get the impression that by this stage of the war the US army had developed a military organisation that was almost fool-proof; even mediocre army or divisional commanders could succeed by just following the rules. The German commander had to co-operate with other army commanders, including Himmler! and had cope with meddling superiors, including Hitler! He could not give orders to other units than the ones under his direct command, and then the communications were often so faulty that orders were not always received.
This book gives the reader so much more than just a first-hand account of the battle (which is interesting enough), and it is a valuable addition to any second world war or military history collection.
Let us not forget that the blood on the snow and the unmarked graves are no less real just becuase they are written on paper and happened over sixty years ago. This kind of madness continues, and shows no will to stop.

The author was the adjutant of a German SS mountain infantry battalion that successfully infiltrated through the mountains and American lines before seizing its objective, a small village where most of these highly trained and well led soldiers were surrounded and killed in action while awaiting a relief force to link up with them that never came. The combat performance of this superb unit, and its strict adherence to the rules that govern modern warfare, so impressed their American opponents that both sides routinely met at annual reunions after the war. Parts of the book read like poetry, particularly the all too brief description of the German retreat across Finland and into Norway where the soldiers embarked on rusty transport ships that would transport these doomed soldiers to the shrinking perimeter of the Thousand Year Reich where they would be sacrificed on the fields of Mars during the last operational level German counteroffensive in the west.

At the tender age of 22, the author was the senior staff officer and second in command of the 3d Battalion, SS-Mountain Infantry Regiment 12, 6th SS-Mountain Division NORD. This book is his story.

It begins with an amazing account of how he was captured hiding in a foxhole with two American soldiers that he declared were his prisoners of war. One of the soldiers in the foxhole had shot at the author, hitting him from about 30 meters away. The author instinctively charged right at the foxhole. The surprised soldier got off one more round before the author jumped in the foxhole, hit the soldier on the head with his fist, and declared him to be his prisoner as he unbuckled his pistol. He then discovered that there was yet another soldier in the foxhole who had slept through all this. The author declared him to be his prisoner too. The author was eventually captured when a GI sergeant became upset that one of the men would not leave the foxhole and grabbed the soldier's blanket, uncovering the author as well.

The author then recounts in a very absorbing way his introduction to life as a German soldier where he became a member of the division of German mountain troops that eventually (in 1943, when Waffen-SS Divisions were officially numbered, based on seniority) became the sixth Waffen-SS division, the 6th SS-Mountain Division NORD. In so doing, he also provides a fascinating history of the training, experience, and development of this division, which, after an inauspicious beginning, obtained a well-deserved reputation for being a skilled and respected fighting force. This division spent almost the entire war fighting in the rugged, mountainous terrain of Finland with the Finns against the Soviets until the Finns and Soviets achieved an rapprochement, part of which included that the Finns capture, disarm, and turn over to the Soviets any German soldiers left in Finland after a 10-day allowance for their withdrawal. (The German wihdrawal was designated Operation BIRKE ("Birch").)

After the division's withdrawal from Finland, at the end of 1944, the Germans decided to utilize it (as well as other troops) in Operation NORDWIND ("Northwind"), an adjunct to Operation WACHT AM RHEIN ("Watch on the Rhein"), the offensive launched in Decermber 1944 through the Ardennes forest, better known in the West as the Battle of the Bulge.

The vast majority of the book describes in great detail, not only day by day, but hour by hour, the 7 days of fighting by the author's battalion and other elements of the 6th SS Division ("Combat Group Wingen") in January 1945 in and around the mountain town of Wingen-sur-Moder, in the Low Vosges in Northeastern France, primarily against forces of the U.S. 70th Infantry Division.

Drawing upon a wide array of sources from both sides of the battle, American and German, including numerous personal recollections by participants on both sides, the author not only describes what happened in an engaging writing style but objectively analyzes and criticizes the strategies and tactics of each side, giving credit where credit is due, during each stage of the fighting. The book is an invaluable addition to the history of this battle, mountain fighting, World War II, and warfare in general.

The entire book is enhanced by the use of about 3 dozen well-drawn and clearly stated maps of the fighting in Finland, the withdrawal, and Operation NORDWIND, including the daily battles around Winger-sur-Moden. There are no photos to speak of (the cover photo is not that of the author).

The work of Hakim Bey is well-known in that other american world, the "underground" society, the one of subculture, silent resistance and anarchy. But slowly it has been bubbling to the surface, often in unexpected places. The novel and film Fight Club, surely shows an affection for poetic terrorism, an idea rooted in Bey's ontological anarchism and closely related to the situationist tactic of detornement. T.A.Z. is not the property of any philosophy but chaos and elegant disorder. Sure, there are aspects of anarchism, chaos thinking, situationist leanings, but that is just a symptom of the spectacle and is such precisely because of it. These essays all point to a way out of this spectacular society, but the first step comes with the mere recognition of it. This is harder than it sounds, or perhaps easier. TV and the media are always easy components to recognize, the real challenge is to recognize how the spectacle, i.e., the prefabricated, artificial, consumerist milieu penetrates, influences and shapes even our most intimate thoughts--which we often mistake for our own desires, wants and needs. In T.A.Z. Bey offers suggestions on how we can extricate ourselves from this structure and start creating our own temporary autonomous zones, within this system of economic, social and cultural oppression. Immediatism, Poetic Terrorism, and the embrace of Chaos are just a few of the strategies that he advises, all of which presuppose a new dialectic with reality.

This is only an outline, a mere review, I leave discerning and interpreting the details to you...Get this book today (also available in spoken word from axiom records).

TAZ is an amazing book. I personally see it as a philosophy and a self-improvement book. Hakim Bey presents his ideas about how the universe should be, chaotic. If you are into chaos magic or discordianism you will find this book very appealing and its a book that must be in your collection.

TAZ is a virus, it spreads through all the self-created walls that hold you down with the promise of true freedom. Suddenly you will become chaos.

Assume nothing.

I am surprised that the sort of people attracted to such a work--to guess from previous reviews--are still apparently apt to want to swallow the thing wholly, assertions that "they lied to you, sold you ideas" and all. Personally i reckon that we are in the midst of a conspiracy, yes...but most likely an unconscious one--the aggregate of fear & complacency & ignorance & such things, that is, resulting insidiously in the effects of a sort of conspiracy. What sort of result, for example, would one really expect from blowing up a transmission tower? A sudden enlightenment of the populace? No: most people would likely become even more reactionary when faced with causes for alarm.

Essentially this book, in spite of its claims to the contrary, seems to me a variety of art movement and not the "ultimate" anything, but as with anything so incendiary and beautiful its value can still hardly be overestimated. Who can resist Poetic Terrorism or Bey's felicity with language (eg. Chaote art)? The language and imagery are colourful and bursting full. Imagine a feast laid out on a table with barely enough room for the feasters' plates--and certainly not enough for their elbows--and everyone seated around it wearing purple plumage or velvet saris or nothing at all & laughing with food in their mouths.

I'll take what i need and leave the rest, as it goes. Implicit in most of the writing is criticism of those who would reject any part of the "freedom" described, but who's afraid of Hakim Bey? I'm glad he wrote even if i won't be taking all of what he wrote to heart.

Have a couple of dictionaries standing by, or be sure to have a few dozen bookmarked online while reading this, for if you're to appreciate Bey's prose, you're likely to need 'em. He writes in a strange way, obviously highly intelligent, but rambling, and if you're not quite sure what he's on about, it's just going to seem worse.

There are a lot of ideas in here, based on things I'm not very familiar with, such as Sufism and dadism - some of which are at least partially explained, but this is one of those books you need to read, and then come back to later and see how it compares. Certainly on the first go struggling somewhat to get a feel for how his mind works on paper.

It's a very inspiring work, which he may loathe to hear, but I intend to do something about it. I recommend reading it to anyone interested in expanding their interests and testing the limits of one's mind. Agreeing with everything he presents isn't necessary, but thinking about it is - doing even better. Highly recommended reading.

This is one of those pieces of literature that you simply cannot afford to miss. It's like discovering Marge Piercy at the tender, malleable age of 12, or finding Clarissa Pinkola Estes' book, worn and well-loved, after a ten-year marriage filled with abuse. Except, TAZ doesn't require you to be at any particular phase of your life to change it. It just does. Sometimes, it's not immediate. Sometimes it sits quietly in the back of your mind, bubbling up curt replies to oppressive corporate and societal forces that occasionally - tragically infrequently, to begin with - with issue forth from your mouth and cause bank tellers to go pale with shock.

Temporary Autonomous Zones are nets of co-conspirators, ready to take the mass of over-bearing government and the thin veneer of so-called civilization down, not through bloody revolution, but rather through obsolescence. If we do not respect the right to control us, if we have our own power back to do our own work, only then are we our own people. And moreover, in "Ontological Anarchism", we find the suggestion that we do not have to define ourselves by ANYTHING other than what WE feel we are. We are "supposed" to be productive, civilized, friendly, codependent, well-dressed, well-paid, well-fed and easily coddled. But humans are NOT that - we are animals, base creatures of a triple nature, as gods are, as goddesses are. And in each as our own deity, we cannot be truly shaped by anyone else but our own ineffable nature.

And that's just the beginning....

Diet Eman was a young dutch woman during WWII in Holland. Her and her fiance were involved in the Dutch resistance movement. They helped Jews find homes/families to hide with in the Dutch countryside. This was a huge undertaking that required much teamwork. (For instance, the families that took in Jews would need extra ration cards to buy more food. Extra ration cards would have to be obtained and delivered to these families.) Diet literally rode hundreds (probably thousands!!) of miles on bicycles during the war coordinating this effort to keep Jews hidden in the countryside.

As Diet tells her story, there are frequent excerpts from the personal diary she kept during the war. And excerpts from postal letters she either sent or received during the war. This helped give the book a very "real" feel...You experience her first hand emotions and thoughts as these events were actually taking place.

Diet had a strong Christian faith. Her spiritual insights are deep and powerful. Her faith sustained her during this troubling time in history.

Diet was eventually caught by the Nazis and spent time in a jail and a concentration camp. She was briefly at the same camp as Corrie TenBoom, author of The Hiding Place. Diet survived, but her beloved fiance died in a concentration camp.

I highly recommend this book. Not only is it an exceptional historical account of life during WWII, but the spiritual (Christian) thoughts in it are very profound. While Diet was living through this horrific time period, the spiritual thoughts she recorded in her diary are incredibly mature. She was so young (early 20's) but was advanced beyond her years with spiritual perception. Her faith influenced her every thought.

The true story of true Christians, and Dutch patriots, Diet Eman and Hein Sietsma, and their courageous risk of everything to resist Nazi tyranny and hide thousands of Dutch Jews.
True Christians always love the Jewish people and Israel, and true nationalists are opposed to both Communism and Nazism, both the antithesis of national self-determination.
Diet recounts her own life, and experiences and what she saw and heard, as well as her deep faith in G-D, that guided her in all she did and thought.
Diet recounts her experiences in Scheveningen prison, where she describes how Jewish families, who were caught in hiding, were hauled into the prison, mothers, fathers and children: 'On the nights the guards brought Jews in, we always heard the children crying all through that place. It was bad enough for us to have to suffer through a place, like Scheveningen, but it was terrible to hear those poor innocent children crying.'
It is up to true Christians and righteous gentiles to stand by the State of Israel today, in the struggle for her survival and that of her children, against the monstrous Islamic-extreme leftist hate machine.

Excellent book. The book is fast paced, exciting and touching.

The risks and sacrifices that the author and her fiance went through for their beliefs and for unkwown people amazed and inspired me. Highly recommended.

The account of the author and her experiences fighting the German occupation of Holland during WWII is harrowing. It is hard to imagine that any human being can display so mush courage at such a young age.

I have read more than 75 books of this genre depicting this period of history. "What would I have done under the same circumstances?" That is the question I am always asking of myself whilst reading these stories. This is the story of a group of people with the courage of their convictions...Diet's story is inspiring and touching. It illustrates perfectly that the power of prayer is undeniable and when 'all one can do is pray' one has done everything.

Rabbi Harold Kushner is best known for his book When Bad Things Happen to Good People, but this work is in my judgment his greatest contribution to the philosophy of the spiritual life, Kushner's pièce de résistance. Using my favorite Hebrew Bible text, Ecclesiastes, as a springboard, Rabbi Kushner writes about the "ultimate thirst of our souls": the need for "meaning," for "the sense that we have figured out how to live so that our lives matter." Rabbi Kushner offers readers his wisdom -- born out of years of study, struggle and life experience -- about how to live a life that matters.

READ this BOOK! Rabbi Kushner hits on so many relevant and pertinent topics that you will be amazed how you see yourself in the anedotes and examples used to illustrate Kushner's point. Rabbi Kushner uses the Old Testament story of Ecclesiastes to illustrate how man's search for happiness is eternal and not unique. I could not believe how similar Ecclesiaste's view on life and search for happiness are so similar to my own. I found myself stopping on many occasions and telling my wife "READ THIS!"
I have been on a self-help book crusade for the past several months. Reading a bunch of these books have helped in finding some understanding to the search for happiness I have been after. After each book, I can say one or two of the points explained in the book have made sense and have some good practical applications to dealing with everyday situations that arise in my life. Kushner's book is by the far the best. He gives you straightforward and understandable examples of the negative behavior that conflict in man's search for happiness.
From the opening pages Kushner had me! He hits the nail on the head when he says the lines "If you ask anybody what is more imporant - work or family? - without a doubt they answer family. But then ask them how much time they spend away from family by putting work ahead of family and making work more important than family obligations." (paraphrased) He has many of these observations that help the reader get some insight into how destructive these behaviors are towards our supposed goal of happiness. I highly, highly recommend this book - READ this BOOK!

A great book and one the everyone should read at some time in their lives!

Thanks again for getting me the book so fast and in such good condition!

Gary

A thoughtful, spiritual examination of why fame and fortune do not produce happiness, and why "average" and "successful" people often feel emptiness in their lives. Many brief anecdotes are used to illustrate the author's observations, which are linked to the book of Ecclesiastes.
Read by the author. You will read (or listen to) this more than once!

Kushner is a sage and this book is a classic. As always Kushner's knits together wonderful stories, quotes, and historical observations that are always on the mark and move his thoughts forward. The disease that plagues our age is overconsumption and Kushner invites the reader to step away from the table of materialism and instead search out the things that really matter.

Well, I know my Presidents now, that's for sure! I had great fun learning them, too, sitting on the couch with my husband one afternoon. The two of us went through the book, working through it and giggling at the references all the while. It was a lot of fun and we learned every president during the read. I planned to buy it, learn them, and then relist the item. But, I decided to instead hold onto it for when my nieces come over. I am always hunting for new ways to entertain them and this will keep them busy for sure! :) Lots of fun for all ages.
I highly recommend that you buy it and have as much fun as we did, and learn a little something, too! 5 stars!

This book was ordered for my son, who is a teacher, for Christmas and it came in plenty of time. Thanks so much.

This book is the best and most fun ways to learn about the American Presidents that I have ever seen. For each president from Washington through Clinton, there is a brief caption regarding his life and accomplishments. There is also a drawing taken from a photo or portrait, a cartoon style drawing and associated play on words to aid in remembering the name and whom they succeeded. For example, the cartoon for Dwight Eisenhower shows the Eiffel Tower with eyes on it being held by a tree with eyes. The caption is "The tree-man is crawling up the side of a huge tower that has eyes on it. It must be the eyes-on-tower!" The cartoon for Harry Truman, who preceded Eisenhower, shows the tree-man.
One of the best books for learning history and social studies, I strongly recommend this book. If my children were of a suitable age, I would buy it for them.

After one night, I knew all 43 presidents of the United States in order without looking. This book is AWESOME!!! :D

I had to memorize the presidents in the fourth grade. I'm in college now and I can still remember everything from this book. Not only does it work, but it's fun to look at the pictures and learn the presidents. People of all ages can learn from this book.

This is a very, very helpful book on travel! I love the fact that it is so up-to-date with web addresses and information-the athor has really done his work! I lost my Mother recently and before she got sick I tried to get her on a cruise. I could not convince to go. Your book is a Godsend! God Bless You!

With the thousands of Internet travel guidebooks to choose from it is very difficult to separate the good from the mediocre. You can literally devote days trying to figure out which guide will reveal the most useful information pertaining to the best air-fares, hotels, cars, lodging, student travel, medical resources, romantic vacations, unique lodging, National Parks, hideaways, things to do and see, shopping, restaurants, and many other essentials necessary to plan and enjoy your vacation.

The impetus that brought about the publication of the recent Internet travel guidebook, You Are Here Traveling with JohnnyJet.com, was the result of the many emails John E. DiScala had received from viewers of his Internet portal JohnnyJet.com.

Apparently, people were inquiring if there was a companion travel guidebook to compliment the portal.
As a result, DiScala and fellow co-author, Eric Leebow, decided to put together a innovative book that would be the ultimate Internet travel guide for people wanting quick and easy information, and at the same time to be used in conjunction with the web site.

Divided into 34 chapters, the guide effectively points its readers in the right direction in clearly summarizing and highlighting over 3000 travel Internet sites.
These sites provide a wealth of detailed information that makes life much easier for the traveler. Even the arm- chair traveler will find something of interest.

The guidebook not only focuses on the traditional topics as senior travel, restaurants and hotels, but also the non-traditional-where to find the best diving directories, adoption travel or family reunions, travel humor sites, religious travel, archaeological digs, zoos, and other topics you would not normally find in the "run of the mill" Internet guidebooks.

Also included are some interesting sidebars containing useful tidbits of advice.
For example, where is the best place to sit on a plane? We are advised that if you suffer from motion sickness, choose a seat towards the middle of the plane or near the wings.

What I found particularly useful about the book is the user- friendly format with its detailed Table of Contents, appendices and Index.
The reader is not forced to thumb through several pages before he or she can track down what they are seeking. Immediately, a glance to the table of contents or index will clearly point out the way, saving you a great deal of time and frustration.
In addition, you even have comprehensive appendices listing destination sites, automobile rental sites, major hotel and motel chains, US and International airlines, airfreight companies with phone numbers, and where to report stolen credit cards with phone numbers.

You Are Here Traveling with JohnnyJet.com is sure to prove to be an invaluable tool in covering the full range of queries travelers often ask and is a welcome addition to the spate of Internet travel books.

Whether you are surfing about online dreaming about your next vacation or seriously planning your next adventure, "You are Here" is the ultimate online travel portal.

Features:

More than 3,000 carefully researched Websites
Money saving travel bargains
Travel tips that make a difference
34 chapters filled with amazing information

Some of the main chapters:

Steals and Deals on Fares
Lodging
Airport Information
Food on the Road
Traveling with the Family
Seniors: Traveling in the Golden Years
Student Travel
25 Things to Do and See (Everything from Haunted Tours to the London Theatre)
Pets Can Travel Too

You are Here: Traveling with JohnnyJet dot com is encyclopedic and perhaps the most comprehensive book I've seen on online travel resources. If you travel, you need this book.

John E. DiScala's research will make your travel research easier and when you are actually traveling, you can visit the website. When you visit the site you can look up information with the "Jet Codes." For example: Johnny Jet Code: Boat Rides. You will then find links to various sites and can quickly click through and find the information you need. It was super fast and much easier than trying to look up boat rides in a regular search engine. Just look for the Code Index in this book. The regular index is also quite helpful.

So, whether you need a free language translator or want to avoid the world's most dangerous places, it is all here.

Eric Leebow is the founder of Yahbooks Publishing and is the author of various other You Are Here books. John E. DiScala, AKA Johnny Jet is a travel expert and the founder of the travel portal Johnny Jet dot com. He is known for his weekly newsletter and site and from what I can see he is passionate about traveling.

~The Rebecca Review

This incredible book is jam packed with everything you would ever need or want to know with over 3,000 websites, adventures, bed and breakfasts, mountain climbing, resorts and spas, tips on airline fares, hideaway destinations, and cultural ones, this book has it all!

Whether you want a long weekend getaway, a long vacation, or are planning a speaking tour and want to know where to stay, and what you can see and do at your destination, this book will make your life so much easier.
Highly recommended for its incredible resources no matter where you want to go, or what your interests are, it is covered in this fantastic book.

If you want to know how to find all the "insider" secrets to exciting, safe, and inexpensive travel, you can't do better than this great guide.

This book helps you navigate the deepest, darkest corners of the Web so that you can plan the best vacation ever.

Want to go hiking in Scotland, or scuba diving in the Carribean? You'll find where to look for vacation information here.

Need the best selection of luggage, at discount prices? You'll find the best places to shop online.

Want the best ways to stay in touch while on business travel? You got it -- the links are here.

I consider myself pretty Web savvy, and at first I was skeptical that a book could do better than a few minutes with Google. Well it can -- and now, I am a big believer.

Save yourself hours of frustration searching page after page in the search engines, jumping back and forth from site to site, as you try to find what you need among billions of search engine pages. Use that time, instead, enjoying the great vacation you were able to plan.

This book is right up there in the embroidery range of books. As a teacher of embroidery I find the ideas and the instructions are the best.
Have been using The Artful Ribbon since it was first available in Australia and this copy (second hand) was for one of my students. The quality, price and speed of delivery was excellent. Thank you.

This book has got to be one of the best and most comprehensive books out there on ribbonwork. It not only showcases the antique items where the colors have faded to perfect glory, but also incorporates the new and runs the gamut from embroidering with silk ribbon to forming flowers and bows of the ribbons.

This book is a wealth of inspiration and a source of continual referral for most any project using ribbon and will keep it's prominent place on my bookshelf!

This is the best book on ribbonwork. It incorporates many beautiful pictures of vintage and some contemporary work. The entire book is instructional (no silly projects to fill the pages!!!). The instructions are excellent and this is as close to a "beginners" introduction to the subject as I have been able to find. At first I was disappointed that there were very few photographs of instructions. Often the instructions use drawings and often drawings are the only examples of the completed piece. But, what I have come to love is the lack of pictures for instruction. This book achieves something many art/craft books fail to. It requires you to practice, to use a variety materials and to create your own color combinations. It makes the "copying" of another's work no concern, because basically, you cannot. The subject is so well covered you will have an understanding of it: from foliage, to flowers, to stabilizing your work for wear on clothing, hats, and pins, to stems and buds, to flat and dimensional, to texture and how to preserve your work, etc. I haven't found a better book and I do not expect to. I thank the author for covering subjects like the movement, or "dance," of the work and for challenging me with the drawings - to try it and then see how it looks. Last but not least, the author introduces a great way to figure how much ribbon you will need to make any project using any ribbon width! So you can make ANY size flower you want. Ms. Kling makes your journey an unexpectedly easy fall - into a creative medium more satisfying than anything I've dabbled in besides beads - which one can incorporate too, of course.

I've seen most of the ribbon flower books that there are--and this is pretty much the best. It has instructions that are clear and very easy to follow and there are so many different ideas for you to use. Not just a couple of projects--so many for you to combine. I have taken this book out of the library so many times that I wanted to keep it. Then I remembered I could buy it online!!!

In comparison to the other books available, it has more projects and I think the directions are easier.

If you love ribbon flowers (I make them as accessories in a business partnership) you will absolutely love this book!

This book makes you want to try ribbon embroidery! The varieties of applications are well illustrated. Loved just looking at this book! Really improved my roses...

I loved the book. I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happened to the main character, "Sticky." It's not the kind of book you have to use a dictionary all the time. It's written in plain simple language.
The only draw back was the lines that were repeated. Other than that, it was an excelent story. I even got motivated to dig the old basketball out of the closet. Good show!

I liked his book because it was about basketball and I have played basketball for the last nine years. I felt like I understood the book because I know a lot about basketball. It also told of a story about a boy growing up in the foster carte system.
Sticky was the main character of this book. It starts out when he is 16 years old waiting for a chance to play a pick up game at the recreation center. All the guys from the neighborhood like to hang out there. He is the only white player on the court. The other players make fun of his name. It was a nickname his mother gave him so he likes it and gets angry because they wanted him to say his real name or change it.
The book flips back and forth from his rough childhood with his single mother, to his multiple foster parents, to current time. It took him through rough and good experiences with friends and foes.
He meets a girl from high school who he likes and they start dating. They want to go to the same college so Sticky has to try really hard to get a basketball scholarship.
He learned life lessons throughout the book. Most of his lessons were learned on the court at the recreation center. There were lots of fights, laughter, and yelling, homeless people, young and old people.
I give this book a 5 star rating and you should for sure buy Ball don't lie if you don't you'll be missing out.

I'm not usually a big book guy, but I knew I had to read my boy "Cali's" first book. We play ball together at the Prospect YMCA. So I went and bought a copy to show my support. Then I didn;t read it for about six months. Well I just finished it last night. I couldn't believe how good it was. This dude can really write. And I love the story. It's sad, but in the end you feel like the main character is going to be alright. Speaking of the main character. He's from the west coast which usually means he'd be soft, but this kid has got some heart. so get get a copy of this book and support my boy Cali. You'll be happy you did.

This book starts out really slow and boring because you are blinded by all of the basketball details. So you think "here's another boring sports book" and by chapter 3 it is already unraveling into a book you just can't put down. Sticky is a ghetto and rough-around-the-edges white guy that has grown up on the streets, moving from foster pad to foster pad, eventually making it to an area where he is daily playing ball with the regular crew down at Lincoln Rec. He knows that he has to have something special to get out of this life he doesn't want to be stuck with forever. It really does suck you in and has you going through every trial with Sticky from past to present making you feel as if it were you telling the story of Sticky's crazy and hectic life.

It is a shame that this novel hasn't gotten more recognition in the literary world. True it has appeared on a couple very notable best-of lists, but it deserves more. No reviews in any major newspapers, no evaluation in the major literary journals, and no pub in the pedestrian sports books like Sports Illustrated and ESPN. That's a disgrace. It merits prominent attention from the tastemakers. Sports fans consistently beg for prose and films that are faithful and sincere depictions of the world they revere with unbridled, rampant passion. Literary folks, in turn, constantly, and quietly, whisper on college campuses, at book readings and within intellectual circles about the pathos of modern fiction. Yet, here sits on the shelves of Amazon a debut, which should be considered groundbreaking and ingenuous to these two separate sets that could not be on further ends of the flavor spectrum.

A reader can feel simultaneously honored and stupefied by the prose of de la peña. Honored because a stranger is ushered comfortably into a world of truth and stupefied because this same candid world can feel so foreign to our "normal" emotional barometer. Venice, CA is a magical place to anyone who has stepped off the well-treaded boardwalk and into the tangled vines of class, dreams and race on its narrow, overgrown streets. de la peña not only steps, he stomps into these neighborhoods, pulling no punches as he acts as a literary translator to the hieroglyph of Venice culture on the papyrus of constricted beach walk-thrus, unrecognized sandy ghettos and voiceless orators of working-class ethos. This author is a troublemaker.

Venice has always been an eccentric enclave by the sea that attracts and rears troublemakers. Usually these so-called troublemakers are castaways from the mainstream. Aging hippies, counter-culture punk-rock surfers, gangsters, skaters, and visionary "deadbeats" historically have made Venice their home. These folks had no place in Outback Steakhouse Americana, so they found their way to a milieu where they could safely and loudly challenge the status quo. After all, Venice had the first major pocket of African-American owned land in Los Angeles (Ghost Town) and Dogtown essentially birthed the X-Games lifestyle here. Folks come to Venice to find themselves and then let the world know that they are here in the most unique and idiosyncratic of voices.

Sticky is a hoarse foster kid that needs to be heard. On the surface, he is a typical Venice knucklehead, looking to throw down with society because that is what is expected of a troublemaker who's been dealt a foldable hand. But dig deeper with de la peña and find a wounded soul in need of a venue to squeeze out some kind of meaningful expression. Like most Venice residents, he burns to take on the median with defying, counter-culture articulation. To do something meaningful, this kid with literally nothing needs magic and, luckily for him, he resides on the streets of a magical enclave.

Basketball, and more specifically the sports' necessary skills honed on the streets, has long been a barometer of heart. Many have stepped on asphalt or hardwood with sick talent only to find that their heart shrank to the size of a pea when the crowds unnerved them. Fear pumps through blood streams at half-court and great talents evaporate on this hallowed proving ground when bodies surround it. You see one can't hide from a crowd. Crowds are an exposure of truth: You either got it or you don't. Venice is known for its crowds as much as it is for its magic.

Sticky finds magic in the soft touch of worn synthetic leather. Between the fading lines of a rundown court filled with Venice troublemakers, he waves a wand made of magical fingertips and stands out from a crowd of dreaming hoop players. In a world of fast-paced, kinetic movement, Sticky is able to curb a debilitating obsessive-compulsive disorder because he sees a playground game in refined slow motion. He thrives on court vision and instinct. And instinct is the main artery of navigation, just like Lincoln Blvd, that runs the width of Venice. A kid with instinct can survive out here. A kid with instinct can throw it all back in the face of the proverbial man. Alva did it on his skateboard, Dennis Hopper did it on his camera, and Sticky will do it with a beat-up basketball stolen from a group home. The question is, as it was with Alva and Hopper, can he simultaneously do it with meaning and go unscathed.

de la peña deconstructs race and class in this book with a hand gentler than Morrison or Wright. Racism and classism can be cruel and there is a sense of the tragically absurd in the cruel life that is Sticky. Humor eases him into questionable mentoring and pushes him into painful rites of passage. That's always been the genius of special works. Hit us with humor and twist the knife in the gut of our protagonist. Denis Johnson does it, Spike Lee does it, and Joe Strummer did it.

Sticky is a lonely ship navigating the treacherous Venice canals without supervision or necessary guidance. His advice comes at the bottom of a forty proof guttural throat or from the high-pitched nasal whine of an overbearing liberal do-gooder. But, like all of us in this life, advice is only that, advice, and Sticky must make his own way with just the truthful eloquence of a honed skill set to drive him. In this case, that skill set is on a basketball court.

de la peña has put together a powerful memo that puts the powers-that-be on notice: The voiceless will not sit back without voice any longer. There is something daring to this work. It is tangible and magical. Ball Don't Lie will not leave you apathetic.

de la peña should be considered an innovative auteur. He has exposed the ironies of the daily morality, politics and race in this country with a slight of hand that would make the thief in his lead character proud.

Ball Don't Lie is homage to the power of a writer's observation and recollection of environment. It ranks alongside The Bluest Eye as a genuinely groundbreaking first novel. We should all hope that this extraordinary work is the first installation in a powerful chorus of prose to come. It should be a notable book in the New York Times review. It should be mentioned in Sports Illustrated. People are sleeping on this important piece of fiction, but that should be expected. After all, it is about Venice: The land of counter-culture and in-your-face expression. Ball Don't Lie may be overlooked, but it cannot go ignored.