R Books

Riding With Reagan: From the White House to the Ranch: From the White House to the RanchThis is an excellent book and I enjoyed reading it. It was very well written and interesting reading. Very good book.

I had personal reason to buy this after seeing the author on C-span Book TV since I knew people close to one of those mentioned in the book. Can't say who or how it got to her, but after reading it got a nod and wink. Think you'll do the same.

Barietta lets us into the inner circle outside Reagan's 'kitchen cabinet'. He paints a picture of Reagan that allows one to understand the essence of the man; his connection with the individual, and as such, the people. The author's allegiance to the President does not cloud the reality of the relationship between these two men. Despite the professional connection, Reagan had a way, I summize, to bridge that barrier and maintain a bond that is clear through the author's typewritten words.

This was a wonderful look, and the personal side of a great man. These are truly memorable moments from John Barletta, written in an honest, detailed and interesting manner. Well worth the read.

John Barletta, through his insight and understanding, with a rock-solid foundation of character and integrity, has connected with President Reagan as few others ever have. Reagan's inner-core and genuine goodness, plus our personal contact with him and the guidelines and special bonds we forged with this uncommon man were granted to a few of us who were privileged to spend those rare moments at his side while his core values transferred, as if by osmosis, to our minds and our hearts.

Barletta's view and understanding of Reagan is exceptional and true. His pleasant,easy-to-read, conversational style of writing is reader-friendly and gives the reader a "you are there" "eyewitness" feeling. The author had to come away from each experience with RR feeling more and more as if he were part of Reagan's extended family; an almost brotherly connection for the two of them.

It sure did for a few of us who were there at the beginning of RR's political career, like Edwin Meese III, Wm.P. Clark, Lyn Nofziger and Tom Reed.
What a pleasure NOT having to wade though pages of footnotes and notes to get to the meaning of this remarkable book. Not necessary when the author is intimately aware of his subject, as Barletta is. No nonsense, fabrications or embellishments in this book; just the facts--- beautifully explained. Thanks! Curtis Patrick, author, REAGAN: WHAT WAS HE REALLY LIKE?

For a native San Franciscian, this was a thrilling read. I was shocked on what I learned and it is interesting to see how things change. Strongly recommended.

Some very interesting tidbits here, but as a San Francisco resident I kept asking "what's there now?" It would have been great to include more (brief) history on what happened to the properties after these places were no more, or at least the addresses of the buildings that are there now. Some of this info is there, but it's hit or miss. Also, poor editing is a distraction throughout.

I've got an obsession (of sorts) with obscure San Francisco lore...all the different incarnations of the Cliff House, the rise of "hoodlum" culture in the 1800s, the ups and downs of the Barbary Coast, you name it. That said, "San Francisco's Lost Landmarks" is loaded with stories I've never heard before (waterslides in the Upper Haight? Who'd have thought!), mostly related in a prim, rosy-tinted manner by Mr. Smith. The chapter on the 1939 World's Fair, for instance, is mostly a list of who, what and where with no attempt to convey the excitement and novelty of the event. There's plenty here for any student of SF history to enjoy, but it lacks the seductive you-are-there storytelling of a Herbert Asbury or Luc Sante.

I am a fan of the 1960's coffee table, giant picture book histories of urban America distroyed. Lost New York, Lost Chicago, Lost Boston, and the now hard-to find pre hurricane Katrina, Lost New Orleans had a part in urban historic preservation awareness. Lost San Francisco never existed. And that's too bad. James Smith's book, Lost San Francisco Landmarks is a fine, well written work of local history. It explains San Francisco better than anything I've read. The why of Treasure Island, the tolleration of "civic sexuality" and the over use of quake prone land-fill engineering all get aired. It's A great read. RW Los Angeles.

So many books appear yearly on San Francisco that it's easy to miss one - and San Francisco's Lost Landmarks is not one to miss; it holds riches like few others. Where competitors offer listings of dates and facts, San Francisco's Lost Landmarks uses vintage pictures to blend with history to tell of lost pieces of the past. From the Tivoli Opera House and Gardens to Ralston's failed Grand Hotel, San Francisco's Lost Landmarks is history at its best.

While this book covers all the significant technology in the area, it is a much better read for all those things you wondered about in Sci Fi Could they really do that? Also the policy issues are critical to our privacy rights and conversly national security.

Anyone who uses a mobile phone, relies upon oversees Internet connectivity, or worries about personal security should get acquainted with this book. Mr. Vacca has once again produced a very accessible yet easily readable tome on the dangers and promise of satellite encryption. Pick it up and you'll learn about or government policies regarding satellite communications management and security. By the time you put it down, you'll understand everything from pagers to the electronic battlefield. It's a must-read!

Great book - detailed and technical, but still a good read

As always, John Vacca provides an incredible level of detail in a readable manner. The Internet implications are particularly applicable to almost any reader. In our case, where the line-of-sight constraints of radio transmission in our wireless WANs are forcing us to look at satellite options, this book is an invaluable resource. And the tales told herein about encryption break-ins and techniques make fascinating reading in their own right.

Technical from orbit to chip, and immensely readable as well!

I think that the tittle of this book is a bit misleading. If one reads through all the enthusiastic reviews of the book one can actually get a clear picture of what it is about. It is a general overview of politics of encryption with some technical information included in between. I cannot understand the reason for more than one hundred pages of information about different types of military equipment. Yes, this book is interesting but it is not about cryptography and encryption. These subjects are only a small part of the book. I returned Satellite Encryption after very thorough consideration.

When I was a boy my mother and father were told I would never be able to learn how to read or write. The accidental discovery of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit may have been the moment which saved my life. After reading Tolkien I was seldom without a book. What a joy it was for me to discover, as an adult, two short stories I hadn't yet read by Tolkien. The book is aptly titled after the names of the two short stories, "Smith of Wootton Major" and "Farmer Giles of Ham." Both of the stories are delightful gems. Farmer Giles of Ham is my favorite of the two. Farmer Giles of Ham is a comedic tale about a clever farmer named Giles who out-wits both the king, and a dragon named Chrysophylax. Chrysophylax is that rarest of dragons, one who refuses to fight. Farmer Giles, having recently run a nearly blind giant off of his land, is roped into going after the dragon by the greedy king. The story also includes a talking dog. There are enough twists and turns in the plot to keep the reader turning the pages. Tolkien's descriptive prose sparkles with wit and charm. You'll be delighted with this little known short story by Tolkien. Smith of Wotton Major is an altogether different tale. The story is set in a village named Wootton Major. Smith is, in the beginning of the story, a little boy who receives a fay-star during the Twenty Four Feast. The star has been placed in a cake made for the children attending the feast by the king of the fairies. The king of the fairies, known only to the villagers as Prentice, has disguised himself as the head cook's apprentice. Smith unknowingly swallows the fay-star. The next morning Smith coughs the star up. For the rest of Smith's life the fay-star brings him all manner of wonderment and joy. As all things must come to an end, a time comes when the star must be passed on to another child. Smith's decision as to whether he should give up the star freely, along with whom the star will go to next, makes Smith of Wootton Major a wonderful parable about the nature of fantasy and what it means to the man who is lucky enough to receive it. Tolkien was after all a bit of a Prentice himself. Smith of Wootton Major is a beautifully rendered tale...

Even though "Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" are what J.R.R. Tolkien was best known for writing, they were by no means his only works of fantasy. Two relatively little-known books he wrote are the novellas "Farmer Giles of Ham" and "Smith of Wootton Major," cute little fantasy stories now in one book.

"Farmer Giles of Ham" (or, in the non-vulgar tongue, Agidius de Hammo) is a pleasant and unheroic farmer who unexpectedly becomes a legend when he shoots a giant with his blunderbuss (Tolkien provided the explanation for what a blunderbuss was). And when the rather non-threatening dragon Chrysophylax arrives and starts eating people and livestock, it's up to Farmer Giles to vanquish him.

"Smith of Wootton Major" is more serious and ethereal than "Giles." In the town of Wootton Major, a cake is baked with a bunch of little charms inside -- including a little faery star, which a boy swallows, accidently exhales, and then slaps onto his forehead. It gives him the ability to wander into the Faery Realm, where he is known as Starbrow, and where he learns that the Faery King is missing.

These two stories are very different. "Farmer Giles" is a more openly comedic tale, with young dragons saying that knights are just myths, language in-jokes (Tolkien archly telling us what various Latin names meant in "vulgar" translation), Chrysophylax the rather innoffensive dragon, the excitable dog Garm, and the likable Farmer Giles himself. (He's a bit like Tolkien's Barliman Butterbur, a likeable but somewhat thick "ordinary" person) This might be the first real comic fantasy story ever. "Smith," on the other hand, has a slightly melancholy tone to it, with its haunting prose and the theme of the little star, which bestows a beautiful voice and light to anyone who has it. The idea of it being passed to a child as the older grows up is exquisite.

Fans of Tolkien's work will definitely want to get "Smith of Wootton Major" and "Farmer Giles of Ham." Though they're not as textured or complex as "Lord of the Rings," these stories are sweet, funny, and extremely well-written.

I have long been familiar with J.R.R. Tolkein's famous books - The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings - but, this cute little book shows that just about everything that he put his hand to he did beautifully! It contains two of Prof. Tolkein's novellas - Smith of Wootton Major and Farmer Giles of Ham. The stories are sure to charm anyone who believes in beauty and wonder...and maybe hopes just a little that that land of Faery is a real place after all!

Smith of Wootton Major tells the story of a little town that has a wonderful tradition where a special cake is baked every twenty four years, and eaten by twenty four good children. But, when a magical Faery star is slipped into this year's cake, it is eaten by the local smith's son. And so the life of the younger smith is changed beyond anyone's imagination - he is marked by beauty of face and voice, and (unbeknownst to anyone) he can even visit the land of Faery whenever he likes. It is a life of magic and giving.

Farmer Giles of Ham tells the story of a farmer by the name of Aegidius Ahenobarbus Julius Agricola de Hammo - or in the vulgar form, Farmer Giles of Ham. A no-nonsense man was Farmer Giles, and when someone steps onto his property, he is there to meet him with his blunderbuss. However, when the next person to set foot on his property is a giant, Farmer Giles soon finds himself dealing with kings and knights and legendary swords and, worst of all, dragons!

This edition is for those who truly love Fairy Tale. It is amazing to witness first hand Tolkien's breathtaking ability to weave the tales of Faerie. Any reader who enjoyed The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, or The Silmarillion will be greatly pleased.

J. R. R. Tolkien, known almost exclusively for the Middle-Earth tales, has a more humorous side. In his short story, "Farmer Giles of Ham", Tolkien displays a superb sense of irony, and a gentle wit. A satirical mock epic of almost Alexander Pope or Voltaire proportions, "Farmer Giles of Ham" is a lesser known, but intriguing part of Tolkien's body of work.

Farmer Giles (of the village known as Ham in the "vulgar tongue") lives a quiet life with his wife and dog, who possesses the power of speech. Alas! To unsettle his provençial habits, a giant stumbles upon the village of Ham, and it is Giles who reluctantly takes up his blunderbus to clumsily sting the giant in the eye. The irony is, when Giles (who came out of the trial almost as badly as the giant himself) is celebrated as a hero and reknowned in the village and beyond, the giant himself thinks that the hit of the primative gun was nought but the sting of a rather large insect.

And so, Giles, who was the last person in the land to become a hero (very much like other Tolkien heros the likes of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins) must take out a dangerous (but delightfully polite) dragon whose fire and claws have ravaged the country for some time. This he accomplishes in a suit of poorly made chainmail, and an ancient helmet.

As a climax, the farmer-turned-warrior must make battle with the high king of the land so that he may claim the dragon's hoard as his own, instead of trying to slake the king's thirst for wealth. With the help of this same dragon, Giles defeats the avaricious monarch and becomes a king in his own right.

Tolkien's knowledge of Medæval culture and lore make this story an enchanting and amusing tale of the best and worst of humankind. He spares no one in his satire, even condemning the chivalrous knights of the king. With a smile and a pen that stings, Tokien creates here a fantasy story of the deliciously unexpected. Charming and intelligent, "Farmer Giles of Ham" has a light sense of wit and humor that one rarely finds in modern literature.

This book saved me so much grief. The Sonar manual is just O.K. Scott's book fills in all the minute details in a simple, easy to read reference.

I always like the way Scott Garrigus presents his information and how he covers what Sonar missed and this book is no exception. I keep it close by when working in Sonar and even thumb through it when sitting in the living room. Excellent buy!

This is the second book of Scott's I've used to help get familiar with Sonar. Scott's approach to the subject is laid out in a clear and concise manner. I've found this book to be indispensable in learning the ins and outs of my DAW, and my recordings have improved a great deal in the process. Thanks, Scott!

Classify me as expert in PC's but complete beginner in PC audio/MIDI recording. I got Sonar 6 Home figuring I could learn it myself. No way. Too tedious and just not fun. So I got this book. Learning Sonar became enjoyable. Great book, well-written. Sonar is confusing to the beginner because there are so many different ways to do the same thing. This book is thorough and explains each of the different ways, so you get the confidence that you are not missing anything.

This product is simply great. It goes over everything you need to know about in Sonar 6 and isn't as boring of a read as I thought. To my surprise, it was very interesting to read and taught me so much about the DAW. I recommend this to anyone and everyone using Sonar 6.

This is the Whole Story

Robert Wallace is a good friend and a former colleague.

Cold War intelligence operations and those who managed and ran them were always highly compartmentalized so that only a handful knew the whole story.

Now, with access to former Soviet intelligence files, many things have become more clear. Still, it is for writer/practitioners like Wallace to give us a fascinating and until-now-unknown view of the long U.S. - Soviet standoff.

This book is a great read, hard to set aide. It should be must reading for anyone who wants facts about how technology supported (and sometimes failed) American (and Soviet) intelligence operations during those long and expensive years. Interested college students and their teachers can rely on this text. It is painstakingly researched and noted.

The Agency understandably has a tough pre-publication review process and I am pleasantly surprised to see how much of Wallace's material has been allowed to see print. Although I often knew only a little of the many specifics he writes about, there is no doubt that this is the whole story, satisfying and often surprising even to the Old Timers who were involved.

This is the best book I have ever read! You won't believe what you'll read in this book! They got to make this book into a movie! It is better than James Bond!

The tools of the spy trade are fascinating for their role throughout history, and SPYCRAFT tops the list as the most comprehensive account of their creation and implementation. H. Keith Melton and Robert Wallace are the wolrd's leading authorities on the subject. As one of the producers of the SPIES series for A&E, I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

I grew up in the 60's and 70's watching "Get Smart" on TV and James Bond movies in theatres. I loved the gadgets and often wondered how many actually existed in the real "spy world." Now that I live in DC and work in biometrics, I'm still fascinated by surveillance technology, but since reading "Spycraft," I don't have to wonder anymore. This book is fascinating -- not just because it details the gadgets, but because it looks at the people, politics and tactics behind the technology used by the CIA in recent decades. Forget James Bond -- the real spy heroes are in this book. I have a new appreciation for spytechs and their role in the intelligence game, and I was surprised how quickly I got through the 500+ pages. Loved the photos! Well done to Bob Wallace and Keith Melton!

From the perspective of a person who is apathetic toward science fiction stories and avoids who-done-it spy books, I am surprised how interested I became in reading SPYCRAFT. Robert Wallace won me over! I hated the acronyms (IHTA) even though the authors graciously defined them in the Glossary. The book is well documented throughout. My only question is: Can we completely believe the authenticity of CIA history through the experiences of people who made their living by deception, obfuscation, and counterfeiting? Oh well, buy the book any way!

This is the best New! Fear Street book ever. It's about a girl name Sondra who been hypnotized by her best friend and then it get's deadly. I highly recommend this book, ya'll.

The book had a very interesting twist to it.It's about a girl named Sondra who gets hypnotized and begins getting flashes of her past life,such as,answering to her name in the other life,and remembering certain places.This book just proves you never know who you can really trust.I really enjoyed it because I am very into past lives and the such.I recommend this book to any Fear Street fan--You'll be pleased.

Wow, it's been so long since i last read this book (I rented it from the library or else i'd read it again.) I reccomend this book to anyone who enjoys a good thriller. You don't have to be 13-15 years of age to enjoy R.L Stine's fearstreet series. In fact, i'm 18 and i absolutely love him. I'll admit his writting is'nt as elaborate and detailed as other writers but that's what's so great about him. He gets to the point and in the process gives us a great story. The Step Brother is an absolute shocker. You'll be hooked from beginning to end. Especially the end. This book has got one of the best surprise endings ever (although with R.L Stine you usually come to expect surprises).

THE STEPBROTHER IS ABOUT A GIRL NAMED SONDRA WHO GETS HYPNOTIZED AND HAS A STRANGE VISION. LATER ON IN THE BOOK SHE GOES TO A HYPNOTIST AND FINDS OUT SHE IS REMEMBERING EVENTS FROM A PAST LIFE. IN HER PAST LIFE SONDRA LIVED AS PENNY HANSON BUT WAS MURDERED. REALLY THE ENDING DIDN'T SURPRISE ME BECAUSE I READ A LOT OF MYSTERY BOOK BUT IT WILL SURPRISE A LOT OF PEOPLE. R.L. STINE REALLY OUTDID HISSELF WITH THIS BOOK.

Ever since Sondra's stepbrother moved in, she's been having these nightmares. Nightmares about her death. But what she doesn't know is that the events Sondra is remembering is from a past life. And now she believes, with help from her friends and a psychic, that the person from the past is after her in this life. All fingers are pointing towards her stepbrother ... could it be him?

With a great plot and an ending that will surprise you, The Stepbrother is one of R.L. Stine's best novels in the Fear Street series.

Even though I'm 22 years old, I love the Fear Street series. There are even some that scare me to the bone (honestly). Hey, I know you're laughing at me! There are adults out there who do read the Fear Street books. Honest to god!!!

Can't go wrong with Spurgeon. I bought these volumes for a deeper study of the Psalms, and so far they have been amazing. There's more for each psalm that I can really get in to, but that which I do has been all that I could hope for: reinforcing lower view of self next to high view of God; the only kind of perspective that brings any real sense of hope and encouragement.

Spurgeon is still the best. This 3 volume set is essential for a deep and meaningful study of the Psalms. Great for teaching and preaching research. I'm happy to have purchased it and I recommend it highly.

While Spurgeon's magnum opus is neither technical nor devotional it can meet either of those needs. It is inconceivable that anyone would have an interest in the Psalms and not have these volumes on the shelves.

This writing has really opened the book of Psalms. The teaching of Spurgeon is just beyond words.

This is a great commentary series on the Psalms and has the same feel as Spurgeon's sermons. Great resource for any teacher and pastor to prepare in study for the Psalms. Very detailed, which I can't say the same for other commentaries done during this same time period.

The price once again shows how many people have lost interest in both commentaries and our past church saints.

If you are going to be going through the Psalms in your own study or teaching you should definitely have this at your disposal.

Dr. Misner does a good job of seperating fact from myth for those who use networking as a means to grow their business. While any business can benefit from networking the application is especially helpful for small companies and entrepreneurs. No one is a greater authority than Dr. Misner on the subject of networking. Whether you are an experienced networker or are just starting to build your network this book is an excellent guide to maximizing your efforts.

The authors of this book are experts in the field of Network Marketing. This is a short read full of information that you can refer to over and over. If you are a network marketer you owe it to yourself to purchase this book for your library.

Plenty of business books unilaterally promote networking as a key to business success: but how many delve into the basics of cultivating a networking relationship for maximum gains? TRUTH OR DELUSION? BUSTING NETWORKING'S BIGGEST MYTHS is key to understanding the pros and cons of networking capabilities - and is also the key to a well-rounded business library. Its chapters different networking truths from delusions, from fallacies in the concept of the Golden Rule to developing the right kind of information networks - which can even include parents. An important key to understanding exactly how and why the networking relationship works - or doesn't.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This is a book for relationship marketing or networking for sales. However if you're looking for a broader book on networking in a professional arena then this is not the book for you. I purchased this book thinking the content would cover the later but I was sadly disappointed. Perhaps the term `networking' has other connotations in the US where many of the other reviews were written.

We all have very busy lives and to have a book that will clear up the BIGGEST MYTHS in networking in just 49 points....IT'S GREAT! Taking the quiz and scoring it before you read the book is a MUST! One thing I have learned directly from Dr. Misner is that "you don't know what you don't know!" Do any of us want to be out there networking incorrectly? NO....but what if we dont know if we are doing it right or not? This book is the solution! We can all learn something new, and this book wont let you down! Being involved in BNI and the Referral Institute, it has been great learning from Dr. Misner, Mike Macedonio, and Mike Garrison. This book is a collaboration on items that they teach all the time! It is a GOTTA HAVE IT, GOTTA LIVE IT, GOTTA GIVE IT TO MY NETWORK MEMBERS so they can do the same...type of book. Order it now, and dont forget some for your network too!

A quote from Isaiah sums this book up the best. "If you go the wrong way - to the right or to the left - you will hear a voice behind you saying. 'This is the right way. You should go this way.'" Isaiah 30:21

Integrity and Character are two of the milestones you will pass as you follow McManus' journey through "The Gauntlet". In this age of immediate gratification, McManus reminds us that our faith takes time. One of the biggest takeaways I got from the book, was how we view poverty and sufferring. Character and Integrity are forged in the furnace of suffering and trial. Yet it is not our suffering and trials that define us, it is that which is forged from them.

I recommend this book highly.

If you've attended church and read the Bible, you've heard all these ideas before. Uprising makes all the pieces fit nicely together to make all the religous concepts make sense as God intended, not as many churches have taught.

"In this daring book Erwin Raphael McManus points the way to a life overflowing with passion, freedom, destiny and human creativity-" (from the inside book cover).

So just what is this "way" that McManus points us to? And just how Biblical is his (and the publisher's) attempt to cash in on "The Purpose Driven Life" bonanza? After all, the book's inside flap begins with "...a life of passion and purpose is the cry of every human heart."

From my reading of the book (and from his own words), McManus' bottom line, in a sentence, is this: If we will seek to develop the qualities of honor, nobility and enlightenment (following the pattern set by Jesus), our lives will be changed from "imitation and mediocrity into [lives] of passion and character...that will forever change the world!"

Quite a tall order and quite a promised outcome!

In my opinion, Mr. McManus has simply given us another Christian self-help volume-in addition to the hundreds, if not thousands, already available on the Christian bookshelves of the world.

Please allow me to quote extensively from the book before commenting upon its shortcomings. I want to present an accurate picture of the author's thesis.

(From the book cover flap:) "...reach your fullest potential as a human being" "What would we look like if we became like Him?" "This is the ultimate destination to become the person God dreams of."

"God formed us in His image and then breathed life into us. His life in us is sustained by His character. When we lose the character of God, we lose the life of God in us. But to have His character, we must first die to ourselves, because to become like Him is what it means to really live." p 6

"...this book is a quest for life...a quest to regain what was lost in the fall." p 6

"Our quest is to have God's character formed in us..." p 9

"...course set before us offers the freedom that comes from a discipline of the soul." p 16

"...the pursuit of character." p 16

"...the cry of our own soul screaming, `I want to change!' " p 18

"What do you do when you can't stand the sight of yourself?...you can't escape who you are. ... But you can become someone else. ... One thing is certain-you need to change. ... Change into what? From who you are to who you can become only with Christ." p 19

"To want godly character is one thing; to know how to acquire it is quite another." ... This journey's course is set by none other than Jesus Christ. The path is unveiled by His footprints. To choose His way is to engage in three quests that will not leave us unchanged-a quest for honor, a quest for nobility, and a quest for enlightenment." p 20

"...you alone have to desire to change." p 29

"He (Jesus) promises that if you and I follow Him, we will become like Him at journey's end." p 34

"In the pages ahead we will walk a path marked by the footprints of Jesus." p 36

"You now stand before a gauntlet. The destination you seek requires that you pass through treacherous terrain...three quests: a quest for honor, a quest for nobility, and a quest for enlightenment." p 39

And so forty pages into his book, McManus sets about to convince us of the virtues of godly character development to attain our "fullest potential as a human being."

Is this truly what God wants for our lives? Is this God's solution to the sin problem-the sin of greed, self-centeredness, impatience, etc. Will this "quest" for honor, nobility and enlightenment change our lives from lives of "imitation and mediocrity into one of passion and character...that will forever change the world"??

Hogwash.

Let me be clear that this is not a personal attack on Mr. McManus. Instead it is an attack on a false and dead-end approach to the Christian life.

Let's start dissecting this unbiblical path to "the ultimate destination." From the book cover flap: "...reach your fullest potential as a human being" "What would we look like if we became like Him?"

This, dear reader, is the very same proclamation which was used in the garden of Eden to precipitate the fall of man!! "For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God..." (Genesis 3:5). We are NOT to become "like God." We are to be expressers of the life of God through abiding as a branch in Him as the life of the Vine (John 15). This is a RESTING in Him rather than a "quest" for character traits which imitate His life.

On page six McManus says, "God formed us in His image and then breathed life into us. His life in us is sustained by His character. When we lose the character of God, we lose the life of God in us. But to have His character, we must first die to ourselves, because to become like Him is what it means to really live." "...this book is a quest for life...a quest to regain what was lost in the fall."

Hold on here. "His life is sustained by His character"?? I think not. Rather His character is sustained by His life!! His character is the outflowing of His life. There isn't something called "character" which is sustaining God's infinite, omnipresent, omnipotent life. McManus seems to imply that the presence of God's life in us is dependent upon godly character and godly behavior on our part. If we just "die to ourselves"-our ungodly character traits-we shall begin "to really live." McManus thinks that "what was lost in the fall" was godly character traits!! His quest for honor, nobility and enlightenment is a quest to regain what was lost in the fall.

Of course that is not what was fundamentally lost in the fall. It was "spiritual identity" which was lost in the fall. Adam and Eve accepted the belief of an independent selfhood and acted upon that lie. What is needed now is not a quest for godly character traits by fallen or even "saved" humanity, but a dying to the false sense of self (identification in Jesus' crucifixion) and a spiritual re-birth (identification in Jesus' resurrection). This exchanged life produces God's character in our lives-because it's HIS character-filled life rather than our false sense of life. Rather than a "getting" of godly character, it is a realization of the present fact of being "complete in Christ" already. There is a vast difference in these two approaches to true spirituality.

McManus reveals his lack of understanding of what is commonly known as "the exchanged life" in the following quote: "What do you do when you can't stand the sight of yourself?...you can't escape who you are. ... But you can become someone else. ... One thing is certain-you need to change. ... Change into what? From who you are to who you can become only with Christ." p 19

As I read this, McManus wants us to become godly with the help of Christ. But this approach to spirituality denies the new creation and Paul's revelation of "Christ Who is our life" and "I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." Only Christ can live a godly life. The natural man cannot become godly. And "Christ Who is our life" need not go on a "quest" for honor, nobility and enlightenment-they are inherently a part of His life.

We are "complete in Christ" and the path to attaining "honor, nobility and enlightenment" is to be still and come into the realization of our oneness with God the Son and God the Father as the answer to Jesus' prayer recorded in John 17:21-23 "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one;...."

No mention in this prayer of any "quest" in order to "forever change the world." Until Christians understand and experience the difference between the external "quest" for godliness and the inner realization of the truth which sanctifies and makes free, publishers like Thomas Nelson will continue to make money on self-help books like this one.

Every morning I read a chapter in my quiet time with God and was challenged. This book is thought provoking, causing you to look at your faith and who you are as a follower of Christ, and then to embrace that or change direction to gain greater insight.

It's a book that every believer should read. It's a book that every person seeking to know God should read.

T. Suzanne Eller, author and speaker

Erwin McManus is one of the most compelling Christian authors I've read in a long time. He shares his heart and is transparent about his strengths and weaknesses and how God is changing him. He has a vision for the church today, that we assess what it is we are doing, why, and what we could do to better serve Christ. But the church will only change as individual believers catch the vision and are transformed. Read this book if you are ready to grow!