Signs Books

All three of the Zodiac books are great, but I really couldn't put Book 3 down at all, especially toward the end. Very creative and fun. The books pull you in and don't let you go. I hope the author will continue the series.

This is a series i picked whilst tavelling and it just gets better, The sex isnt overdone (unlike Laurell K Hamilton), and the plot is solid. If you havent read the series from the start you should. Cant wait for the next installment

This is the third book in Pettersson's 'Signs of the Zodiac' series. I haven't read either of the previous books and right from the outset that was a significant problem. The backstory given was dribbled out piecemeal and I was often confused by events and situations. Pettersson has clearly built a complex world in the previous two novels and as a new reader dropped into the middle of it I found it all too much and was tempted many times to stop reading.

Joanne Archer is a strange mix of Light and Shadow - her father is the dark lord of Shadow and yet she works on the side of the Light. Set in Las Vegas the story has good action and a varied cast of characters, including a Doppelgänger for Joanne who is with her boyfriend Ben. Joanne's an interesting character, a mix of strength and vulnerability, and someone who has had her life turned upside down in the last year as she's discovered she is one of a group of people who have to battle against the shadow side. There are parts of the book that drag interspersed with good action, Joanne can come across as a bit of a whiner who's spending far too much time on the men in her life and not enough on saving the world, but overall it's an interesting urban fantasy book - but definitely rewards knowledge of the previous books in the series!

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008

For a super hero, Joanna 'Olivia' Archer sure does a whole lot of nothing. I found myself skipping paragraphs of exposition about the myriad of wrongs the charcater has suffered hoping to get to the points where she and the others actually DO something. When things 'happen' the book reads well, but all the inbetween times result in a frustrating read. Just not that good. Read Daughter of the Blood (The Black Jewels Trilogy, Book 1) if you want a fantastic dark fantasy.

Joanna Archer has had a difficult life, for sure. She also makes a point to mention it every chance she gets. I love this series, but it's becoming dangerously close to one where you want to take the heroine, or superheroine in this case, and shake her. Very little is accomplished here and what little is accomplished happens in the last few chapters. She focuses entirely too much on revenge she thinks she deserves, totally ignoring things like responsibility to her troop and a little girl she has essentially broken.
The book is not a complete loss. Facts are unearthed about her childhood home, alternate planes, the power of thought, and why some people are the way they are. She finally makes a decision about her love life, takes the initiative in Olivia's life, and discovers some intrigue within her stepfather's life. The book is also a great resource for some of the trivialities: what exactly is a tulpa, how does a conduit come into existence, how much license does the author grant for the supernatural, what car does Hunter drive?
Ultimately, it's a worthwhile read, especially if you're already into the series. It helps tie some things together, creates some interesting venues for the future, and furthers a few interpersonal bonds within the troop. I just really hope this isn't a sign of things to come as the first two books were a much easier, enjoyable read.

Don't use this book to cast the horoscope - use a computer program like "Astrolog" which you can easily download for free off the net (it's freeware). Use that or one of the other books (like Parkers) to do the actual casting then USE THIS FOR INTERPRETATION! If you have an accurately cast horoscope this book is extremely scary in it's accuracy. The sun/moon profiles are absolutely spot on (not one person I have met is wrong and that is saying something.) I've been studying astrology for about 30 years now and use this and Parkers for most of my interpretations (there are a couple of other books I use as well). What is good about this is Lewi gives you a base profile and layers all the modifications based on an individuals chart. So it's best to write the sun/moon combination and then all the aspects and interlink them together to get a full profile - that is the real power of this book - interlinking all the aspects with the sun/moon to get a full profile, which soon becomes individual as the person you are studying. Ascendants and houses are not covered and is really the only weakness, as that is the final layer on what is a complex subject. However (remember this is for begginners) and if you know someone 80% then that is pretty good. Hint: go for the later editions as they also cover aspects to Pluto.

This book bored me. I really can't say much else. I think you will have to go with the average of great reviews vs not so great reviews and make your decision based on that since this book is out of print and not readily available to thrumb through at your local bookstore or metaphysical bookstore.

This is an excellent first astrology book. The in depth coverage and ease of use of the star charts enable the beginner to do accurate natal readings. You will be amazed at how close the book is to the people you know well.
Beware of the charts of people you don't know well, like new boyfriends. Mistakes can be devastating, because the time of day matters. The moon and planets sometimes swing in and out of a sign in a single day making the exact time of day of birth necessary for the serious new astrologer. Time and experience makes the more advanced astrologer weary of these little got-you foibles. Soon you to will become more exact in your work, and develop a sixth sense for a chart that just isn't right. You will also start to recognize people for what they are, not what you want them to be.

You will find a lot of delineations in this book: all aspects and sun-moon combinations are reviewed. But Lewi Grant goes further. He modifies his delineations according to other aspects that can be found in the natal chart. A venus-jupiter conjunction in your radix will differ if your chart has a venus-mars trine as well or a venus-mars conjunction. This is just not a textbook about two planets in aspect, but about different planets in aspect. That's the way delineations should be handled: all aspects are to be seen and interpreted as a chain. Only Lewi Grant seems to understand this....

Astrology is a hard science to master,which is why this book is so brilliant. Grant Lewi takes a number of complex astrological concepts and converts them into something which is usable by, and useful to, the layman.Even if you know nothing about astrology, you could construct your own chart in less than 30 minutes . This book is not 100% accurate as it only takes into consideration major aspects such as the trine,sextile, opposition. square or conjunction .Also ,the moon positions might not be completely accurate.For eg. 23 january 1985 says moon in aquarius while a person born on that day might have a moon in pisces owing to latitude differences .However, the fact remains that this is an excellent start for those who want to know more about astrology considering it has tables from the year 1870 to 2050 as well as 277 aspects.

Mr. Pine's Purple House was my favorite book growing up and when I found it on Amazon it also recommended this one. I didn't have it growing up but I did get it from the library so I bought this one too. My kids love them both and we read them often.

Mr. Pine loses his glasses and gets the town's signs all mixed up! Funny!

Of all the stories we hear/read as a kid, some we remember more than others. When I was a kid, I didn't understand why this book would remain so vividly in my memory for more than 30 years, but now I know.

The rhythm of the book is upbeat and enjoyable. While the graphics lack lustre, looking deeply in them reveals a whole layer of humor that is best understand as an adult. For example, The mixed up sign over the mayor's office said this way to the zoo, and the mixed up sign over the bank read bread.

I use this book to read to my 8th grade students to promote critical thinking and deeper understanding. I read it to my 4 year old daughter for the light and entertaining story. I'm glad the story is still around for the next generation to benefit from.

I am so glad that I found this book and now get a chance to share it with my sons. It was my favorite growing up.

This was one of my favorite books from childood (late 60s/early 70s)! What a blast from the past! I'm so glad that it is now available for a new generation of kids.

I did not realize until recently that the humor is not lost on adults.

I highly recommend this book for all children! It's so innocent and would be a welcome change of pace from all the grown-up stuff that kids have to deal with at earlier and earlier ages.

I'm glad this book is available again for me to share with my children. As an adult it is still my favorite. I have been looking for this book for years and today I received it as a Birthday gift. I highly recommend Mr Pine's Mixed Up Sign's for everyone. IT'S A MUST HAVE. Buy it and you (the adult) and your children will enjoy for mnany years.

I don't know which was more disturbing... The travails of this innocent animal, or the thinking that motivated the "science" of raising chimps as retarded children.

This is a well-written book, and the story will stay with (haunt?) you long after you've put it back on the shelf.

The reader shouldn't leave the subject without knowing that at least one of the scientists involved in teaching ASL to chimps now regrets his role in the experiment. Roger Fouts wrote in Great Apes and Humans: The Ethics of Coexistence, a collection of essays by Benjamin Beck, about Washoe, one of Nim's contemporaries:

"It was a project, in its ignorance, that condemned a young girl to a life where she could never fully reach the potential for which she was born, and would always be out of place, and would always be considered inferior... It was a project that condemned her to life in prison, even though she never committed a crime. It is for these reasons that I have publicly stated that I would never again support or be a part of a project that necessitates the taking of an infant chimpanzee from her or his mother or his or her species... Projects that do this today cannot hide behind the ignorance that existed before the 1970s... Because the five chimpanzees for whom I am responsible are marooned in this prison for life, I insist that their interests and well-being be our first priority."

The author of "Nim Chimpsky" did primates a great service. Her inside look at the Nim's experience should lead us all to Fouts conclusion.

A thought-provoking, moving account of Columbia professor Herbert Terrace's attempt to teach a chimpanzee, Nim Chimpsky, American Sign Language. Among other things, this compellingly written account illustrates humanity's casual cruelty toward animals, even when the animal is as human-like as the chimpanzee. Lovingly raised as a human child for purposes of the research, Nim was cast aside once the experiment was deemed a failure. Even the most intelligent of Nim's human handlers had failed to think through the ethical implications of raising an intelligent, wild creature as a human being, or thought much about Nim's intense emotional life and connections to human beings. I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone with an interest in primates, human linguistics, animal rights, or, especially, our responsibilities toward the "dumb" animals that share the planet with us.

This was an interesting and informative read but I agree with the reviewer who wanted more about Nim and less about his handlers. This was very gossipy, as much about the very fallible human beings who worked with Nim - their rivalries, their romances, their sex lives, as it was about Nim and his chimpanzee companions. That, in its way was fascinating, albeit somewhat depressing as human ambition & passions seemed so often to trump thoughtful consideration of the chimpanzees' feelings and well being. Although I enjoyed the book and learned a great deal from it I preferred NEXT OF KIN by Roger Fouts and I recommend it to all readers interested in the subject.

This book was a disappointment. I was hoping for a lot more about who Nim was and what he was like. Instead, the book was mostly about the politics of his life and the people around him. Many references were made to how much everybody loved him, but the few vignettes about his "doings" were such that he seemed rather an awful, destructive animal. I imagine there was much that was loveable about him; that's why I bought the book. But he was presented almost exclusively as an out-of-control, manipulative, extremely strong and destructive beast. I'm sure he was much, much more than that, and I was disappointed not to get to read about his other attributes.

The psychological question of whether or not chimpanzees can communicate, while highly important, runs a clear second to the story of the "person" of Nim Chimsky in this insightful book -- including the insight of raising the question as to whether or not that word "person" ultimately should be left in scare quotes or not.

Actually, the issue of Nim learning American Sign Language is probably the third or fourth story line in this book.

Elizabeth Hess also shows how Nim's upbringing fit squarely into an emerging animal rights movement, which itself grew out of other turmoil of the late 1960s and 1970s. In fact, Nim's whole upbringing fits there, including his beer drinking and pot toking.

Yet another storyline is how Nim served as a mirror to the different humans who interacted with him -- a mirror of their preconceptions, their emotions toward him, and more. This includes not just "laypeople," but "experts" like psychologist Herbert Terrace, who was going to try to prove Noam Chompsky wrong with Nim. (Rather, it might be best to say that primate language studies today have shown that Noam was a good launching pad for refuting naïve "naturist" ideas of Skinnerians like Terrace, but that Chompsky's work has needed a lot of development.)

Yet, if Nim is a person in some way, it's not as a human being, as Hess also illustrates in yet another story line. While Nim clearly has a personality, and was early Exhibit A in refuting the idea that animals don't have emotions, he still is not a more hairy member of Homo sapiens. Nim's antics, which people like Jane Goodall showed also happened in the wild, including chimps as murderers, showed that Nim had nothing to offer to do-gooders in the way of a "greater angel" counterweight to humanness.

The book is a masterpiece. However, it is extremely hard to read since it is in need of a re-translation.

I read this book over and over again for nearly ten years before I understood it fully. As I got older, its truth became more and more obvious. Now it stands as a testament against the present order of things, and how truly abnormal our modern world is. This book is the Holy Grail of books dealing with Tradition. I highly recommend it to those that are more than just "curious" about finding truth in a world that is quickly dissolving.

The Reign of Quantity and the Signs of the Times is a masterpiece by the enlightened perennial intellectual René Guénon, and is considered by many of those who can comprehend it to be his magnum opus. That having been said, beware of reading this for the wrong reasons, or with the wrong grounding.

I cannot stress the latter point any further than it has been, but I must say this: If you have never read René Guénon before, do not read this book! To those without proper grounding in Guénon's other works, such as 'East and West' or 'The Crisis of the Modern World', this book will seem full of strange enigmas and asides, and things that may not, on the surface, appear to be related to the topic at hand. However, for those who have read and properly comprehended one or both of those, particularly 'Crisis', what is said here will make far more sense, a great many enigmas will be cleared up, and many things that may have seemed to be off-topic and/or useless information will be put in their proper place in the reader's mind.

I can say little that hasn't been said by other reviewers (or that Guénon didn't say himself!), so instead I would like to devote a few moments to do what they didn't, and clear up any doubts that may've been put in your mind by the two reviewers who didn't recommend 'The Reign of Quantity'.

To answer the one-star review, one person's inability to comprehend something does not make it a waste of your time and money if you can, and no, Guénon's references to the Indian and other revealed traditions are not at all out of place; he points to one unified Truth through all of them (and if you wonder how, when there are so many apparent contradictions between them, keep reading; they're not as contradictory as you might think), and understanding them all in this light is the key to everything Guénon teaches (one might leave it at 'the key to everything'), for he relates everything, as it should be related, back to the one universal Truth that guides all things. In fact, to have omitted the references he made to those revealed traditions would have been irresponsible: The real confusion would come by separating those revealed traditions which point to the Truth from the very Truth by which he makes his arguments; they are all interconnected, and must all be understood.

And as for the three-star review, René Guénon is not relentlessly negative. As other reviewers have stated, he is purely intellectual and not the least bit sentimental, and he is also describing the crisis and downfall of the modern world; the end of a Manvantara. The former may not sit well with many modern readers, since sentimentalism is so prevalent, but as another reviewer stated, "sentimentalism is nothing more than a transpose of a catatonic and truculent rationalism in which the Western man has been drowning since the tide of senility began in 14th century under the guise of 'Renaissance'", and to do the latter, that is, describe the downfall of the modern world, one can do little not to sound 'negative', although he actually does that very well: He describes it in a purely intellectual light, which may come out sounding 'negative' to some, but in the end stresses that the end of the cycle and the very 'malefic' influences he speaks of are nonetheless part of the universal Order.

As for his 'tortured prose', yes, his style of writing is rather unorthodox and can be difficult to get one's head around, but as a reviewer of 'Crisis' put it: "Guenon is probably one of the few authors who uses semicolons and colons more frequently than periods in his ultra-dense prose. His train of thought is difficult to follow but once concentrated upon closely it is apparent how insightful Guenon is explaining his subject." I would add first that part, but by no means all, of it has something to do with the translation. Even with that said, I must say that it is actually, while unorthodox, a wonderful style of writing that has influenced my own greatly. While there are many asides and the basic 'gist' may be made harder to grasp, his preference for stating things in full over 'cutting corners' to reduce wordiness help to explain his point with crystal clarity; to put it another way, he does not sacrifice content or meaning to simplicity (remember his words when he says that he's not trying to make his work accessible to the majority of readers, but to the Elect, and he compromises nothing in that regard; also, to those who've read 'Reign', recall his comments about simplification and modernity).

Also, his 'meaningless' asides are not so at all, unless you lack, as I've said before, a proper understanding of Guénon (read 'Crisis' first!). They serve to give a greater, fuller understanding of the subject, as opposed to the narrow, metaphysically-deprived critique that it would be without them. They also 'connect the dots', if you will, between his various works (in fact, many of them can be seen as a preparation for reading his other works, so if you don't plan to do that, yes, I suppose those of them are literally meaningless for you), and at any rate they enlighten those of us who care to understand his work beyond the topic at hand; they are, to those who understand him, actually a vast treasure-trove of information. His asides are by no means reduced in worth simply because one person cannot understand the author's reason for putting them there, and I hope that new readers of his don't take that comment about them to heart during their reading experience.

And with that, I end this review with an iteration of my dismay that I couldn't give this work 10+/5 stars for the author's brilliant insight and critique of the modern age that has stood fast against the quickly-changing tide of the modern world. René Guénon is quite possibly the most enlightened man to have lived since at least the dawn of the 'modern age' (by his reckoning; c. 1400), alongside other great thinkers such as A. K. Coomaraswamy, and his works shall until the end of our present Manvantara be a bonanza of wonderful information and metaphysics that have their base in the revealed traditional doctrines which, as Guénon spent his life doing, all point to the one universal Truth.

Because it is the most incomprehensible book I have ever tried to read.

I was originally triggered by the title, hoping this book would offer me insights from French philosophy relevant to Weberian issues around rationalization etc. It may be the case that someone in human history is able to establish whether this is the case or not.

For me this book has proven to be completely inaccessible twice now. It contains essays of app. 5 pages each, that usually are unclear, contain irrelevant and distracting references to unrelated issues (e.g. Indian mythology) and proceeds with pointless texts. A complete waste of time and money!

I must admit, it's taken me several tries to work my way through this. Guenon's use of quotes and semicolons to extend the length of phrases ranks here at an all time high. Many sentences here stretch for half a page.

That said, I'm convinced that may be the fault of the translator, as not all of Guenon's works are quite so bad in that regard.

Regardless, I won't dwell much in this short review on the topics of the book itself, for one reason alone: either you are already familiar with Guenon and his definition of Tradition, in which case you don't need my introduction to his ideas and thought streams, or else you are new to Guenon and to the Traditional.

If you fall into the former category, by all means charge ahead into this work and digest it. It will pay off. Quite a few of the chapters - Time Changed Into Space, The Fissures in the Great Wall, and Psychic Residues, to count several - are downright illuminating and thought proviking, provided you've had the proper grounding in Guenonian thought necessary to assimilate the contents of this book.

If you fall into the later category, do not start here. I cannot stress this enough. Between the enormous phrase structure and the complexity of the ideas here presented, you will be turned off. Start instead with the easier-to-digest 'Crisis of the Modern World' or perhaps 'East and West', and then come back to absorb 'Reign.' Your efforts will pay off in your ability to actually comprehend this book.

Laid out well, so you don't have to do a lot of flipping to compare your Sun sign with that of someone else. However, the author didn't waste any space being original with the comparisons. The text, for example, for a male Taurus with a female Capricorn is simply reversed with the pronouns when you look at the compatibility between a female Cappy and a male Taurus.

Although I beleive the study of Sun signs simply scracthes the surface of a serious study of astrology, this is one of the better Sun sign books.

Basicly, this book is for entertainment purposes more than anything. It breifly discusses what cusps are and what the planets and zodiac houses mean, but there is no mention of rising signs and even though birth charts are mentioned, there are no charts or information about caculating your birth chart. In other words, this is one of those strictly sun sign books.

But with that being said, it's quite a good one at that. It doesn't just give you a small summarization of your sign, you get analysis of the favorable and unfavorable qualities of both a man AND a woman of a particular sign. Most books simply group everyone under their sun sign and ask us to assume that it applies to everyone. Each sign is even split up into 3 decans where you can get an even more specific summary of your charactoristics( Decans refer to different ruling planets that influence a sun sign personality depending on exactly what part of the month they were born. i.e: For Capricorn, The Saturn decan refers to people born between 12/22-1/1, The Venus decan for those born between 1/2 and 1/11, and the Mercury decan for those born between 1/12 and 1/20 ).

This was my first astrology book and even now, I come back to this one. I'm still quite taken aback at the accuracy of the text, even knowing that this book was copywritten originally in 1979 and has no mention of the rising sign. It's so fun to read about other things for each sign, such as love, marriage, health, friends, and even home( where it gives you decorating pointers on which type of decorating scheme would best suit your sign ).
And yes,there's also the compatibilty guide, which I find to be right on the money in a most uncanny way. Again, the author stresses the differences bewtween a man and a woman and offers comatibilty for not just Gemini and Taurus, but A Taurus man with a Gemini woman, or a Taurus woman with a Gemini man. The book also offers all the other interesting little facts and details that you enjoy in an astrology book such as famous people born under the sign, the sign's element, flower, gemstone, day, archangel, magical number, mode, qualities, primal desire, and planteary priciple.

It's not comprehensive for the serious astrologer, but for novices looking for a little fun, yet accurate insight about themselves and their partner, this book will be a great investment for next to nothing in price. To get more out of it, I suggest finding out your rising sign by getting your birth chart calculated for free on www.astro.com so that you can also read the info on whatever your rising sign is too, since your sun sign is supposed to reflect who you are inside, while your rising sign describes the type of person you convey and how you are perceived by others.

Good book to read, use and learn from.
I own it and I do recommend this book for
those interested in learning about self,
others and relationships astrologically
speaking. Good resource book to have.

I'll never forget the First time I meant the beautiful blonde, what a joy to have such a talent enter my life. A great soul, spirit, and always full of laughter. I'll miss you terribly my friend and I'll never forget all the great times, along with all the knowledge and wisdom you taught me. You gave me the best gift in the world.

In December of 2005 author Robin McNaughton passed away. I recommend her books to all so we can feel her spirit, through her writing.

Much love,
Dennis J. Schleicher
Glastonbury, Connecticut

Forbidden Love with a Married Man: E-mail Diaries

I believe in astrology. I have enjoyed books by authors such as Grant Lewi, Marion D. March, Joan McEvers, Robert Pelletier, and others. But Robin McNaughton is way off the mark. She claims that Libra women are hopelessly dependent on men and can be mistreated and still stay with a man. WRONG! My sister and I are both Libras, neither of us has ever been in a relationship just to be in a relationship, in fact I don't even believe in finding another half or someone to complete me. I found this description of Libra women a huge insult. And I would rather be alone than with a mean person, or even someone who just didn't thrill me.

This book was astoundingly, and sometimes embarassingly, accurate. Her research is phenominal and original, the organization of the chapters could have been a touch better, but all-in-all, I think that every person into astrology, or married to someone who is, should own this book.

If you like this book, you might also like: Linda Goodman's Love Signs: A New Approach to the Human Heart (a classic!), or Ex Files: A Zodiac Guide to His Former Flames (a wonderful new find).

This book was dead on for my sign which is Gemini. I read things about me that I sorta knew was true but in denial. A true gem!

This book describes how I feel so accurately it's scary!! Judith Bennett obviously knew exactly what she was talking about when she wrote this book. Bennett goes into meticulous detail and is usually right on!! This book answers a lot of questions you may have about yourself and reveals things about yourself you may have not even thought about or you've felt you couldn't put into words--a must for all women! I have given it to all my friends and they all agree this book tells the truth in detail. This should be required reading for men if they want to truly understand their women.

This book is so good I have already brought 4 copies for various friends and relatives! It is so accurate that my sister swear it is a woman's bible to understanding herself. It is truly a interesting read and I read it every 4 to 5 months to reinforce my own understanding about myself. Read it if you are open minded.

I enjoyed Ms. Bennett's writing style and I was very impressed with her ability to concisely describe the behaviors of each sign. Truthfully, I found the book very difficult to put down. However, her brand of psychology was less than inspiring.

I was also extremely disappointed when she wrote, "the Leo woman is almost always divorced as a result of failed expectations or of an incomplete awareness of her own behavior and needs. A seperation or divorce can teach her most of what she needs to know in order to build another, happier relationship." I found that to be a great example of what goes wrong when astrology is mixed with psychology. The perpective ends up being that if the female is just readjusted her relationships will work out. If she had replaced Leo with people she would have ended up with a statement that was just as likely to be true as most people are divorced because of a lack of self knownledge an inability to get their needs met with their partner.

In my own experiance I have not seen this as a the cause for the Leo females relationship problems. In fact, I know many examples of Leo women (and no I am not a Leo) who suffered or are suffering badly in their relationships because they are uncomfortable expressing their own qualities for fear that are unacceptable in a woman. I can think of one case of a Sun/Moon/Ascendent in Leo female who refuses to leave her husband after his repeated beatings because she thinks it is too selfish.

I think in the end she makes certain types of women feel guilty for expressing their own characterists. Leo women have a vivaciousness that is extremely attractive, and they are not more at fault for failures in their marriage than the females of any other sign whom Ms. Bennett seems to have had more compassion for. I would recommend A Knot In Time along with this book because by itself it does not suffice as a good source of female psychology.

Another problem with this book is that the author's explaination for all female sexual problems is that they are repressing their anger. Women maybe experiancing an inablity to orgasm for any number of reasons least of all repressed anger. Many medical conditions can cause problems with orgasming, not to mention that many women enjoy sex thoroughly and never orgasm. They are not all angry.

An insightful yet humorous look at existence and how to use your intuition to enhance aspects of life. A PLUS

This book is a great inspiration for people wishing to connect more closely with their guidance. The author has helped me tremendously.

this book is wondeful for people that are interested in a mediums life, who's so down to earth , when you read each sentence you hear her beautiful voice, shes funny, interesting,. she teaches you things that not everyone would know, she so acurate, and such a darling. I would definetly recommend this book to everyone with an open heart.
You can also learn alot.

I just finished reading Sign of the Dove and I have to say, it was a little hard to get through. There was some good advice such as the part about not giving up when looking for a job. However, I became so frustrated and depressed looking for signs in this matter. It made me crazy after a while wondering "is this a sign" "is that a sign" and in fact I "thought" I had several signs leading to a job I had applied for. It was located on the name of the same street I grew up on, the morning of the interview I pulled my ring out of my jewelry box and attached to it was an old pair of earings (from the 80's Valley Girl era that I held on to) that said the words "for sure" on them. Seems like quite a sign doesnt it. Also when I was arriving at my interview I kept seeing a yellow and black bird near me. All seem like signs???? Needless to say I did not get the job. I decided to stop making myself crazy looking for signs and just go forward and seek a job. I feel alot less stressed and let down now. Also, it amazed me that she was so shocked about her figurine playing music on it's own. I have had this happen to me a couple of times and even though I myself am not a psychic medium I smiled, thanked the spirit world, then went about my business. Why was this so shocking to her? Otherwise she seems like a nice lady and probably is right, I just can't seem to get the signs for myself. Anyway, I did finish the book so thanks for some good advice.

This is a must-read if you are a fan of Mary's Sirius program or anyone interested in an easy to read, enlightening autobiography.
She writes in a manner that sounds like she is telling a story directly to the reader.
I will read this book again and recommend it to anyone that is interested in the read-life stories of a psychic.

This book is really helpful in learning signs. It is a great tool to have when you are at places where you don't have access to learn by DVD/TV. It has a great index for quick searches. Elaine Costello mastered this piece of work. This book is also nice to have to practice with other people.

This book is not as accurate as other ASL books out there... but it is alright for basic purposes; just be aware that some signs are signed English not ASL-- not a huge deal really.

This is a great book with tons of helpful information inside. I use it to improve my knowledge of ASL.

Thanks.

Great service!!! The order was shipped the same day it was received. This is the book suggested by my ASL teacher as it is the one she refers to while teaching.

"Signing: How to Speak with your Hands" will serve many purposes on your signing bookshelf: it's a jam-packed dictionary, introductory grammar text, thorough guide to the non-manual aspects of signs, plus a little historical background thrown in for good measure.

Each dictionary-style entry not only depicts the sign clearly (both starting and ending handshapes), as most books do, but describes the handshape(s) and actions involved in text. PLUS, there is a written "hint" provided for many of the words defined (wherever possible, ie the more iconic or literal signs).

Example:
For EGG, the definition shows a picture of the start and end handshapes for the EGG sign. Text reads: "Begionning with the middle-finger side of the right hand across the index-finger side of the left "h" hand, drop the fingers down and apart from each other." The accompanying hint reads, "Hint: Breaking an egg into a bowl," which this motion resembles.
For SYRUP, the hint is "wiping syrup from the lips"; for FIRE, "shows flames rising."

This book groups words thematically into sections, not alphabetically, but rather in categories, like Health, Food, etc. Each section is a treasure-trove of signs, which may be overwhelming to the beginner, but which means the book will not quickly outlive its usefulness.

Each section begins with a few quick grammar points, and grammar is also integrated into the definitions wherever applicable. Grammar points cover topics like the signing space, symmetrical signs, placement and the nonmanual aspects of signing like repetition, emphasis and facial expression.

This book uses an extremely durable binding, which is perhaps its best feature, as you'll be referring to it again and again. It's built to last and will be a lasting addition to your ASL bookshelf for years to come.

NOTE: A previous reviewer has commented that this book over-emphasizes English grammar. I haven't seen that tendency in the book, however, it does perhaps under-emphasize ASL grammar. There is some discussion of noun-adjective order, and some discussion of use of tenses, but nothing I could find about ASL sentence order. I feel the book sidestepped this issue altogether so as to focus on imparting the basics of sign.

You will learn to speak with your hands, as the title suggests, however, if you're new to ASL, you'll probably need to move on eventually to a book that more comprehensively covers ASL sentence structure and "conversational" ASL.

I recommend that parents read this with their kids (esp younger readers, eg, my daughter is 8yo but loves Jacqueline Wilson books) rather than leaving them to read on their own. It contains a few confronting issues, eg, references to a parent's suicide and drug abuse, that may need a little explaining. Otherwise, i think it is a really valuable book - not only enjoyable for kids but brings up some really pertinent issues for young people, eg, bullying and friendship, the importance of not judging people, dealing with 'uncool' parents etc etc. There are a lot of kids like Tanya and Mandy out there and books like this are helpful in giving a better sense of the complexity of their situations. I also liked the way Mandy's mother was portrayed, ie, her character displayed a level of complexity not normally found in books for this age group.

My favorite part was the drawings! I also thought how the chapters were actually named after Mandy's felt pens was cool. I was on the edge of my seat when Tanya shoplifted.I INSIST YOU READ THIS BOOK!

This is a moving, angry, and sometimes funny tale from Jacqueline Wilson.
The book's about a ten-year old girl called Mandy White who certainly doesn't look 10. She doesn't really like herself and gets bullied at school by mean, bossy Kim and her nasty gang.
One day Kim's behaviour really gets out of control, and Mandy gets knocked down by a bus.
While recovering from the accident, Mandy meets a girl called Tanya who's really cool and dresses like she's 16, not 14, and wears her hair in this ultra-cool style. She immediately befriends Mandy and Mandy's life gets much, much better, even though Kim and her gang of girls still torment her. It doesn't matter that Tanya's not from a very good background and Mandy gets treated like a baby.
Read the book to find out more.

A book about Mandy White, a 10 year old girl that looks like she's 8. She meets Tanya across the street. Tanya has horrible roots but that doesn't effect the girls' friendship. Mandy becomes alarmed when her and Tanya go shopping and Tanya shoplifts. Once Tanya gets caught they try to run away. Tanya and Mandy get caught while Tanya is trying to catch Mandy. Tanya tells the police that Mandy is innocent so they let Mandy go. Tanya ends up going to Juvenile Hall.
This is my all-time favorite book, EVERYONE SHOULD READ IT!!!

A book about Mandy White, a 10 year old girl that looks like she's 8. She meets Tanya across the street. Tanya has horrible roots but that doesn't effect the girls' friendship. Mandy becomes alarmed when her and Tanya go shopping and Tanya shoplifts. Once Tanya gets caught they try to run away. Tanya and Mandy get caught while Tanya is trying to catch Mandy. Tanya tells the police that Mandy is innocent so they let Mandy go. Tanya ends up going to Juvenile Hall.
This is my all-time favorite book, EVERYONE SHOULD READ IT!!!