Creativity Books

While the layouts are very dated (circa 1998), the text and ideas in this book are phenomenal!! There are literally tons of creative ideas about how to tell your stories clearly, concisely, and interestingly!

This should be viewed as a book specifically about journaling!

Love this book!

Joanna Campbell Slan is apparently one of the most popular scrapbook writers on the market today, and with good reason. She writes clearly and warmly, has a winning style full of humor and a down-to-earth point of view. Her books are informative and knowledgeable; they also fill many gaps in the scrapbooking industry.

Scrapbook Storytelling is a great example of the author's early scrapbook offerings. Here, the reader is gently encouraged to take stock of their photos, plan pages and journal with an eye toward one's ultimate purpose - brag book, heritage, wedding, travel, etc? All aspects of the art of using photos and journaling, design and color, accents and gimmicks are explored as a means to tell whatever story you are trying to tell through your album. The author never assumes that you already know about a technique, page style or trick: there's even a major section dedicated to a glossary of common scrapbooking terms. An entire section is devoted to taking better pictures. If I were an absolute beginner to scrapbooking, this book would be a lifesaver in many ways.

I had to subtract one star because four years after the first printing, Scrapbook Storytelling is starting to look a bit dated. For instance, Joanna Campbell Slan lists stickers, die cuts and odd bits of memorabilia as the main accents and page decorations to consider in a layout. Since 1999 there have been an explosion of products and new techniques that came too late to make it into this book (for example, quilling, chalking, tags, eyelets...I could go on and on). Then, too, new styles and looks for the patterned papers and colors are currently replacing the ones used by the author. For those scrappaholics who purchase scrapping books to get ideas for their layouts, these will already seem very passé.

The other reason I subtracted a star is the glaring lack of information on computer-related techniques, equipment and software. Digital cameras are not even mentioned. Although many scrapbookers get by just fine without ever going near a computer, photo editing programs, computer fonts, home photo printing and even whole page layout software are increasingly important to the scrapbooker and should have more focus in a book like this. I hope there's an updated version in the works, because a good low-pressure, basic scrapbooking guide like this is invaluable to newbies.
-Andrea, aka Merribelle

This is the most comprehensive book I can imagine on the subject. My creative juices were inspired with the turn of every page.

I have decided to take an understated approach to my scrapbooking. The only fault I find with many of the scrapbook pages that I see in magazines and such is that they are so overdone that you can barely see the photographs. This book offered many alternatives. I particularly enjoyed the spread on the house near Joanna's friend's office (page 22). So simple, so elegant.

The journaling is what is important to me and I tend to write full accounts of events, so I am always looking for ways to incorporate pockets, envelopes and hidden layers. Scrapbook Storytelling offers some fresh ideas in this area.

Thanks for producing a wonderful resource that I am sure will satisfy all kinds of scrapbookers.

This book is not just a book of great layouts, though it certainly has those! And it's not just tips on journaling either. Joanna Campbell Slan does an outstanding job of teaching you how to tell the stories behind your pictures.

The layouts are wonderful, and not as impossible-looking as so many layouts are in other books! But what's important is that she shows how scrapbooking can be used for SO many situations. It's not just a hobby for moms with young children.

I really enjoyed reading this book, and looking at her layouts. She shares a lot of her own scrapbook pages and by the end of the book, we get to know her son Michael and we feel better equipped to scrapbook the stories of OUR lives.

There was a poignant section about scrapbooking the not-so-good memories. Joanna uses her photos and journaling to create a memorial page for her nephew Josh who was killed just before his 5th birthday.

Probably the most helpful part of the book is all the journaling/storytelling tips! The author even includes questionnaires to fill out as you interview your family members. I enjoyed the fact that the layouts are graded by how easy/difficult they are. You can look that up in the index and also see what materials are necessary.

By the end of the book, I really feel that I had gotten to know Joanna quite well - and isn't that the goal of our scrapbooks, to share ourselves with future generations?

Also, Joanna has a website ... where you can download templates, access helpful hints, and link to other scrapbooking websites.

Happy Scrappin'!

I purchased this book after many people highly recommended it to me! I have to agree with them!! This is the best money I have spent on scrapbooking!!! I love the ideas she gives to help us remember the stuff we thought we forgot!! I have 20+ years of pics to journal about & her book has made it simple for me to do!!! She also shares tips on how to take notes now! I also love the attitude that there is no rush to finish- enjoy the process!! Which I do because of this book!! I LOVE this book!!!

As Visionary of The Blessing Project I'm always looking for new ideas for our gift products. When I got this magical book I immediately sat down and went through it page by page until the wee hours of the morning--I couldn't put it down. Her ideas are not only creative and beautiful but extensive. I was so impressed by her work that our Creative Director and I went to her next workshop and look forward to continuing work with her. Sherrill is very generous with her ideas and we were delighted to be able to show her how we have used her Angels in our art products. Now we still have the detailed instructions in the book to refer to back at home. Many blessings, Debra Aaron, CEO of The Blessing Project

Very well written, descriptive, and illustrated. Each subject has it's one descriptions and "gallery" so that you can see various applications and results. Plan on using many of the techniques, now that I have the visuals.

I received this book in record time; before it was due! Absolutely in excellent condition; I LOVE it!

I love the book and the colors! There are organized chapters on Tools, Supplies, Techniques, Embellishments etc. Beautiful, wonderful pictures and galleries; Great instructions.
I would recommend this book to all levels of expertise. There are so many of the techniques I can't wait to try.

I bought this book on the recommendation of a friend, and I was not disappointed. I have worked on mixed media backgrounds, but this book took me to another level of using embellishments with my backgrounds.

I really enjoyed this book. It applies the principles of innovation to an industry that most people don't have familiar "inside" knowledge of. The book is useful not only for business purposes but also for personal development. I loved the sections on the Japanese concept of "hansei." The only criticism I have of the material is that at times it can be a bit dry. Probably to be expected when writing about the automotive industry.

Unbelievably bad. Ironically, for a book about innovation, the concepts are trite and the prose consists of one lazy cliche after another.

Watch -- I'm going to open the book to a random page and list the cliches: "secret sauce," "blow the doors off," "boil the ocean," "where the action is," "ivory tower," "marching instructions."

The book is an insult to the intelligence of anyone who might conceivably want to read it.

Because of my early influences from Japanese management culture during the eighties, I had bought the above book.

In fact, during the nineties, I had also owned & read '40 Years 20 Million Ideas: The Toyota Suggestion System' by Yugo Yasuda (a translated work by Productivity Press, Inc.).

From my personal standpoint, I would consider it as a precursor to 'Elegant Solution', as it was the first book to reveal the idea revolution in Toyota, which had its implementation origins since the eighties.

I had enjoyed reading both books. In a nutshell, both books were about the nuts & bolts of creating innovation at the workplace, mostly from the team point of view, even though they were practices at Toyota.

I found 'Elegant Solution' to be a much more fun book to read because of the myriad of fascinating stories & insightful anecdotes, which the author had artfully used to clarify many of the current tools & practices at Toyota.

Frankly, my personal favourite chapters were the first three touching on the 3 core principles of the Toyota Way, followed by 'Chapter 4: Let Learning Lead' (particularly the art & science of reflection); 'Chapter 4: Learn to See', 'Chapter 7: Think in Pictures', & the last two chapters, which more or less summed up the entire book.

For me, the crux of the Toyota Way was actually epitomised in the simple reframing exercise illustrated on page 152 of the book. I never knew that there could be such an elegant solution to the simple problem.

In my end analysis, I wish to say that 'Elegant Solution' is a tactical field guide for everyone looking out for elegant solutions to their life pursuits, as innovation is everybody's job.

I marked probably 30 pages in this book as "Must Know" pages that contain principles that could change the thinking of any business for the better - or more specifically, to be more like Toyota.

This book is a very easy read that made it hard to put it down. The little success stories are very inspiring and great conversation starters.
"The Elegant Solution" is written by Matthew E. May an educator on innovation at Toyota's university. I think that Matthew did a really good job of explaining his procedures to making any company run elegantly with examples of his procedures in little side notes and quotes of related stories.
This book will not only help you find an elegant solution for your company but for your every day life as well. Be prepared to look at your word with your eyes wide open.

This well-researched book ventures into the the very current topic of creativity. It is of specific interest to writers and I venture to say, artists and musicians, but also to students of creativity and invention in general. The writing style is smooth, nicely combining descriptions of very technical matters with easy-to-read prose digestible by laypersons. The book probably could be better organized or divided into sections and subsections so that the reader can better use it as a handy reference.

As a writer who also suffers with temporal lobe epilepsy this book is especially close to my heart! Written by a neurologist at Massachusetts General it is written in easy to understand laymen's terms and encourages, as well as empowers, those of us who write, suffer with writer's block (which I do, often...:(), helps us understand our own "creative brains" (as well as helping our loved ones understand us).
Perhaps some of you out there are epileptics and don't even know it! Epilepsy is an extremely "varied" disorder and the common kinds of seizures that everyone knows about are not the only ones that people suffer.
A superb book!! Read it...AND WRITE!!!

This is a very unusual and fascinating book. More than just a book about disordered writing, Dr. Flaherty describes the fragile neurochemical interior of human species in the 21st century. Man in a balance act around his existential need for meaning.

Alice W. Flaherty, a neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and teacher at Harvard Medical School, describes her career's arrival thru the looking glass of applied medicine.

Brain and mind meld as medical knowledge conjoins humanism. She first recognized her ship-comes-in as a disease and sought relief within mainstream medicine. She writes of her life in struggle for a cure from 'hypergraphia', congruent with her human struggle for self.

Aha! I recognize similar life experiences yield similar glint of opportunity!

Her chapter on metaphor, inner voice and the Muse is inspiriational. I switched on to catch her opinions about her writer's muses from her human viewpoint, and all of her writing is refreshingly honest and kind.

I add a note of caution to writer wannabes from my optimistic point of view - I find her analyzing and describing writer's block from her many sources to be a bit underwhelming. I felt better by skipping over entire shovelfulls of that 'can't do' information.

I am greatly encouraged to read of an educated MD/neurologist and a respected member of society who wrote of her career arrival with all its attending babywash in true splender of first love.

This is neither a self-help book nor a neurological treatise; it's a rich and wonderfully stimulating memoir-cum-analysis of a cluster of issues to do with brain and mind and creativity. If you like Kay Redfield Jameson or Oliver Sacks, this is the book for you.

Author is dead-on accurate, as I have tested her stuff on many faces already. Worth the read, even though the book is long-winded. She could have given the necessary information in half as many pages. I also think there is more info out there that she could have included in the book. For example, regarding teeth, she only talks about the two front teeth & the canines. She fails to cover the meaning of crooked vs. straight teeth. (I have been told that crooked bottom teeth means that a person has trouble making decisions.)

I found this book, like all the ones I've read by Rose Rosetree, to be witty, insightful, and very useful. When reading this book, keep in mind that reading faces isn't just a formula, which is a point that Ms. Rosetree makes. The whole face needs to be considered, since it is a reflection of the soul as a whole. I use face reading often, and it's amazing how accurate it is. In addition to the companion book WRINKLES ARE GOD'S MAKEUP, I strongly suggest reading AURA READING THROUGH ALL YOUR SENSES. Combining aura reading with face reading is a very powerful tool and provides a far more complete picture.

After reading The Power of Face Reading, I am shocked by the response from "Almost Useless". In her book Rosetree asserts that we all have various challenges as well as styles with which we excell at, and I think Rosetree does an excellent job of expressing our different styles for work, spending money, communication, etc. with great compassion and depth. This is not a "too positive spin on every negative interpretation"; it's more a realistic way of looking at our strenghts and weaknesses.

I also firmly disagree with "Almost Useless"'s assertion that some of the interpretations are "just inaccurate." I have done many readings after reading the book, for friends and people that I've just met, and everyone remarks how surprisingly accurate they are! Rosetree also points out that the traits of our face reveal our propensity for a certain style of being. We are all human and can choose to behave in other ways as we choose. Knowing what are preferences are can help us use them with more strength, and to also gain understanding for the strengths and propensities of others. Brilliant for relationships!

In terms of "putting it all together" for doing face readings, I found this to be no problem. Like I said, I started doing readings for friends and new people I met right away. Rosetree also explicity states to set an intention to be of service, and begin with the features that strike you the most, and then notice what you notice next and go from there. This is what I've adhered to and what has made my readings so successful.

Lastly, I would be cautious with the review titled "Gems for Tabliod and Intellectuals." I might chuckle at these having not read the book. Rosetree's book provides much more depth than these quotes reveal. The book shows us that there are many ways to be in the world, and the beauty is that we can choose. I find it powerfully useful to know my style preferences at my very core.

I know this book. I know this author. Rose Rosetree is a woman of the highest integrity and she is a great force. She's been on this path for many years, researching ancient studies and particularly refining the hidden traits found in faces. Each one of her books is a gift. But the wisdom contained in this one, The Power of Face Reading, showers the reader with clues and tips on discovering the very essence of, say, co-workers, first dates, celebrities, politicians -- any person with whom you might come face to face. For those with a sense of wonder and a hunger to know more, this is an easy read.

I ordered three face reading books to try to get as much information as I could. This book by far was the best. She adds a bunch of humor. This book is very well written and easy to read. I recommend this to all who are curious about what the face means. I am very pleased.

Just excellent! And, such a beautiful language too, like a poem! Read it, love it!

If you want to cut to the chase about how to be more creative, this is the book for you. Young breaks the creative act into its basic points in as straighforward a fashion as possible. It is a very short book, which can be digested in probably 20 minutes or less, but leaves you with all you need to know to get started. The book has no creativity activities or exercises like other books of its kind, but focuses instead on the main principles and basic methods for producing creative ideas. This is the book to begin with if you aspire to more creative production in your life.

Don't let this little book fool you. Although it has only 48 pages, the brisk contents are packed with powerful stuff.

According to the publisher, the ideas in the book were first presented to advertising students in 1939 & then published in 1965 - thus having stood the test of time. More importantly, the author, James Webb Young, was a driving force behind the creation of the modern advertising industry, and is one of advertising's most honored educators & practitioners.

As the title suggests, the author outlines a simple, easy-to-use five-step approach to idea generation. He also explores the importance of making idea generation a vital part of everything you do.

What I really like about this book is the author's principal premise: Ideas are just novel combinations of old elements, & we must keep thinking about them, which give order to new experiences!

I strongly recommend you to buy & read it. It will definitely, despite its brevity, coach you to become a better problem solver & a more creative thinker. Best of all, you will also gain a valuable perspective that will enable you to jump start your team's creative juices at work!

I really enjoyed reading this book. Although a bit too short, James Webb Young succeeds in clarifying the creative process with common wisdom. It will be helpful for almost anyone, but especially to those in the creative field.

Personally I have been using the same thought process for a couple of years now, but without paying the appropriate attention to detail in every single step of it.

Overall an easy to digest recommended reading.

Savvas S.

......that's all it takes to learn how to come up with new & creative ideas, time after time. As Young says, the idea & the technique itself are so plain & logically simple that you may even miss it; despite the fact that the book is only some 48 pages long. It's easy to read & in your haste to learn "the secret" you may finish the book too quickly. Some thoughtful reading is required, so please don't dismiss the book because of its apparent brevity.

The fact that the book has survived successfully for over 40 years in print is testament to Young unique (but not new) teaching.

Although Young does not refer to it, I am reminded of many writers & books that go into great detail explaining the "science of the mind" & the wonderful way the brain [or mind] works & how it can be used to spawn new ideas & create solutions to problems. Sometimes referred to Mental Science, its philosophy & teachings go back thousands of years & weren't fully recognised until around the time of the 1900's.

If after reading this you wish to develop & research this technique further, I would highly recommend Emmet Fox's "Power Through Constructive Thinking".

This book changed my life. The underlying theme is conservation- of money and resources. The book is divided into two themes: the author's essays on saving money and tips sent in by readers. The essays are the best, always well thought out and well written. The tips sent in by readers (the "book" was taken from a weekly newsletter), are sometimes very good, and sometimes a bit extreme. It opens your eyes though, to how much we waste. It makes you realized just how little a person or family really needs to get by. We are a very spoiled society, and reading this book makes you understand why, without preaching. If you want to cut your budget a little, this is the book. If you want to rethink your entire lifestyle and become more earth friendly, this is the book. I loved this book and have given it to several friends and family members who are consuming themselves into debt, or just need guidance on how to live more cheaply.

I enjoyed reading the first Tightwad Gazette book so when I finally got my hands on the second one I couldn't wait to read it. Amy has thought of uses for things that never would have even crossed my mind to do all in the name of saving money and living happily!

Definately a book worth picking up for people at any stage of their lives. I think we can all stand to save a few bucks here and there.

This book, along with the Tightwad Gazette I and III, serves as a starting point to examining our own expenses, lifestyles, etc. Amy admits that no one is going to adopt ALL her ideas and she further admits that some of her ideas are over the top. (dumpster diving comes to mind) But we, as consumers, make our own choices. Amy has done a wonderful job in helping us become frugal and live on one income. so that we can stay at home with our children. The tips and ideas here in this book- along with her knowledge of figuring out the cheapest way is the best thing you can take out of this.

This is a book full of wonderful ideas but falls short on how to save big bucks by using the Internet. Websites like Amazon. and Tightwadsales offer fantastic savings on everyday items normal people purchase, especially electronics and books. Other than not having a section on saving on the Internet it's a great book.

To the reader who made reference to a reusable tampon, it is NOT a reusable tampon that is spoken of in the book. It is an alternative to the tampon called The Keeper. She's not dogmatic about it either. She suggests using non-disposable pads if you don't want to use a Keeper and she says that if you decide to stick with disposables, pads are generally cheaper than tampons. So, she does leave room for other ideas based on your own personal preference.

If you were grossed out by the review of the person who spoke of a "reusable tampon" don't pass up the book just because of that. There are lots of good ideas even if you don't like every single one of them. I have all 3 of Amy's books and recommend them all. If you have all 3 of the Tightwad Gazette books then you don't need any other books on frugality.

As with any book on writing, whether it works for you depends on your skill level, experience, and what you're looking for. Personally, I found the exercises interesting but a little too vague and disconnected in terms of purpose -- all in all, this would be a perfect book for a beginning writer who wants to write but doesn't know where or how to start. For me, the most helpful section was the chapter on jump-starting a stalled work in progress, but even so I didn't find it worth the book's purchase price.

The exercises in this book really work. I've read other good books designed to stimulate the writer, but this book is different. Even though I didn't fully believe that the simple exercises would work, they did! They worked by getting me (almost tricking me) beyond my critical, logical mind. I was often literally surprised at the words and ideas that came from this deep place within. Not only do I feel like I now have tools for my future writing, I feel like I have gained insight into the creative process; specifically, MY creative process!

While visiting Ghost Ranch in New Mexico last spring, I checked out the workshops offered at the place once the home of artist Georgia O'Keeffe. Among the presenters was Elizabeth Ayres, who also gives writing workshops in the nearby village of Abiquiu. Ayres taught writing at New York University for 25 years and operates her own Centre for Creative Writing in New York City, offering workshops as well as salons for people to gather to listen to one another's work. She suggests that writers' salons are a excellent way for writers to share their work without waiting the years it may take before it makes its way into print.

Evidence of whether or not a book has engaged me is the trail of highlighting, margin notes and post-its after I have read it. This reveals the work has resonated with me or given me food for thought, including ideas for my own writing. My copy of Writing the Wave is full of highlighting and my own notes. At first, I was irritated because you can't just read it--you must DO the exercises. Little foot symbols indicate you must stop and write. Next, a hand symbol tells you not to continue until your have completed the previous exercise. Now that's irritating--especially since my approach when leading a writing circle is to follow a prompt and see where it leads, observing what is uncovered along the way and being amazed at the process. Thus, Ayres became my personal trainer by having me follow the rules when I thought I was too tired to do anything else. I kept going because, according to the author, I was in a workshop. She calls Writing the Wave a workshop in a book. Besides, the water metaphors were just right for me since my writing circles are named "Flying Mermaids."

Ayres says the book exercises "help you connect your own creative impulse with a larger, Divine Source. This non-intrusive spirituality will make you bold enough to reach for the stars with your writing." She got me there. I agree. In fact, my primary aim in writing and life is to tap into my own creativity, which I believe is part of a magnificent spiritual system.

Readers are advised to forget about genre. The exercise illustrating that point calls for the reader to invent a dream, using a timer set for five minutes. As there are no rules in the dream world, anything goes. Nothing has to make sense. It's a great way to unearth raw material. My dream was about being torn between a boat ride with my father on Lake Louise and sitting down with Georgia O'Keefe to see her pictures and interview her. Ayres suggests devoting five minutes a day to inventing a dream. By the end of a month, you would be "fabulously wealthy, with a panoply of possibilities tucked away in your notebook."

Other exercises in this workshop-in-a-book include circles, a compass, a tree with apples and apple baskets, a coin toss onto a sheet of words, the Southern American Medicine Wheel, a butterfly, and lists of words that rhyme. Another interesting activity included describing your writing space, envisioning a book you have written there. Next, the reader is asked to describe the language of their book and to engage in a dialogue with it, even begin writing it. I realized that my book would blend all the pieces--essays, poems, photos, collages. Rather than viewing all these elements as separate projects, I noted that they could be combined into one "lyrical, humorous, sad, sexy, beautiful" book.

Inspiration, the author says, is a gift to be shared. She has done so profoundly and with heart. Some inspiration arrives unbeckoned like a gift. Other ideas are prompted by books like this. Ayres also shares a personal, poignant story about her adoption and search for her birth mother. Her book is dedicated to a divine mother, Hagia Sophia, who represents holy wisdom "who creates, sustains and inspires us all." She ends this book as a fellow artist sharing her poetry and its relationship to the techniques in the book:

Swimming the River of Stone
This I have learned from the desert:
that to know a thing, you must become that thing,
dip yourself in it like pen in ink,
let it write you in its own words."

I placed several asterisks beside Ayres' statement that "self-knowledge is a writer's greatest resource." No matter what type of writing we want to do, knowing ourselves and our take on our personal experiences, as well as world issues, is invaluable. I'm glad I stuck with it, as I now have lots of grist for the writing mill and new insight for a writing project.

by Mary Ann Moore
for Story Circle Book Reviews
www.storycirclebookreviewsorg
reviewing books by, for, and about women

I have been writing off and on for years and taken writing workshops. The format I am sure is useful to beginning writers, but I found her writing suggestions to be novel and really got the creative juices flowing once again. The great thing about the assignments was that the writing went a totally different direction then what I thought it might do at the beginning. There were even times I thought, 'I can't do this,' but somehow deep within myself I found ideas I didn't know existed with true feelings. I have used several of her techniques to give a rewrite some new oomph. The writing truly took over and you got into a "zone." The only thing better than this book is taking the internet class with Ms. Ayers and getting wonderful insight and feedback from her and classmates. I highly recommend it.

The innovative, creative-friendly, excercises in this book are nothing short of a way to blast the cobwebs out of your writing. This is not a book you read -- it's a course you do. And in the process you tap into deep streams within yourself that, especially if you are an experienced writer, you may have buried away years ago. It's an exploration that can only help.

I thought I knew a little about nutrition before I purchased this book, however I was blown away with the amount of new material I discovered in this gem. I noticed my energy level and concentration ability increase like I never experienced before. Bravo to Jean Carper for the amount of important information that has changed my life for the better!

While there may be a lot of good information here, it is inseperably mixed with a lot of personal opinion and drum-beating. Instead of just compiling reports from qualified MDs, PhDs, etc., Carper regretfully goes one level further and INTERPRETS these studies for us. Unfortunately, she is not qualified to do that. Her background is not in medicine or health, she is just a writer. She wants to sell books, so she becomes super-positive with all her "analyses". Sorry, Ms Carper, your embellished opinions are not objective, are not scientific, are often flat WRONG, are not separated from the factual information, and thereby destroy what might have been an informative book. I suggest Holford's "Optimum Nutrition for the Mind", or Stoll's "Omega 3 Connection" for those interested in more science and less hype.

Let me cut to the chase, there are numerous supplements you can take to keep your mental facilities in top working order, but if you are looking for the ONE thing you can do that will provide the best overall results - take a multivitamin daily.

Ms. Carper has provided another fine study of the current research (circa 2000) related to the human brain and the effect of various supplements or lack thereof. If there is one complaint that I have about the book, it is that it is dated, continued research in the field would argue for an updated edition of the book.

The four sections of the book cover the workings of the brain, what to eat, what supplements to take and how to prevent vascular problems from affecting your brain. True to her usual form the author presents the research for each topic, broken up by nutrient or supplement, further broken down by details of the impact on the brain of a shortage and the research data to support claims that the nutrient or supplement may correct the problems, and how much to take for full effect.

The discussions are intriguing in that the author's conclusions require so little action on the reader's part to correct or prevent the stated neurological problems (topics range from depression to aggression to forgetfulness to age related problems like Alzheimer's).

One of the reasons I bought this book was because I was heading back to grad school (in my 40s), and I wasn't quite sure I was up to it. Having completed 13 semester credits in biological and chemical sciences over two 6 week summer sessions with a flawless 4.0 grade average, I can say that I feel at the top of my mental game and ready for admission to grad school. My current set of supplements include: a multivitamin with minerals, coenzyme Q10, Omega 3 fish oil, ginko biloba and grape seed extract.

Getting back to my initial statement, unless you have a perfect diet (be honest), you need a multivitamin with minerals to ensure that you are providing the basic nutrition for a healthy brain, once you are there you can look into the other supplements for further improvement. P-)

A main thesis of this work is that food can impact the brain
either favorably or unfavorably. The author explains that
men have brains that tend to shrink faster than women.
In addition, high blood pressure tends to reduce brain size.
Stress also damages the brain. There are juices which have a
positive impact on brain chemistry; namely, grapefruit,
tomato, orange and blueberries. Cranberry, spinach, kale,
strawberries and plums have maximum ORAC units. Raisins and
prunes are top anti-oxidants. Spinach, beet greens, tomato,
orange juice, cantaloupe, squash, sweet potato and avocado help
to minimize strokes. B vitamins and Vit C help to keep the
brain young and preserve cerebrospinal fluid. Selenium
boosts the brain and a deficiency can upset brain function.
The stone age diet is best for people. It consists of 65%
veggies, fruits, nuts and honey with 35% lean meat, eggs and
fish. DHA is found in seafood and EPA is found in a fish diet.
Linoleic acid is found in leafy green veggies and olive oil.
Brain fat busters are saturated animal fat, whole milk, butter
and cheese. This book will be a good addition to any personal
health library

This is an excellent book. It is a "must have" item for anyone wanting to improve the functioning of their brain. I purchased one copy of his book for myself and another copy for my best friend. I feel certain that I made a vey wise choice in purchasing "The Miracle Brain"

HI, have you read a book about two .different cultures. My class just read a book called `'CREATIVITY'' BY John Stepoe. What I liked was Hector was from PuertoRico. And Charles But you could have told us more about Puerto Rico. No I would not Recommend because I did not like the book. Kashifu K. Grandberry

Have you read the b ook `'Creativity'' ? Our class read a book called `'Creativity'' by John Steptoe. I like when Charles gave Hector his shoes, because it was a nice thing to do. The author should have made the boys do more things together. I would
recommend it to my mom, my dad, and my sister, because they might like it.
Darius Harts, 3rd grade Scribe at CLAS

Our class just read a book Creativity by John Steptoe. I liked it when Charles and Hector gave clothes to each other. I liked it because it showed love. The author should have changed the part about the kids laughing at Hector.
Yaisa Dodd, 3rd grade Scribe at CLAS.

Have you ever read a book called "Creativity"? I had fun reading "Creativity". I like when Charles walked Hector home. Because in this story Charles did not won't his friend to look crazy. The author could have improved the book "Creativity" by making the picture better. I would recommend this book to my brother, my mom, and my dad.
Quentin Collier, 3rd grade Scribe at CLAS.

My class just read a book Creativity by John Steptoe. My favorite part was when they went to P.E. because even though every one was laughing at Hector Charles wasn't. But the author could of told us more about Puerto Rico. I will tell people they should read this book because it is interesting. Brittany Lowe, 3rd grade Scribe at CLAS.