Companies Books

How to be a Pirate


How to be a Pirate is one book you have to read sometime in your life! This book from Cressida Cowell is about pirates dragons and thieves! I recommend this book to people the like adventure and dangerous books. A boy named Hiccup his dad is the chief of the Harry Hooligans Hiccup must become the heir. He must go to the island of the scullions and get the treasure of Grimbeard the Ghastly. But there are a few problems they come acrossed a guy named Alvin the Treacherous. He wants in on the treasure so he says he is "Alvin the poor but honest farmer". They sail to the island of the skullions on the Lucky 13. Alvin stays in the boat Snout Lout finds the fake treasure but Grimbeard booby-trapped it. They almost get killed. Will Hiccup find the treasure first and become the heir? Find out in the book How to be a Pirate.

How to be a Pirate
By Cressida Cowel

Have you ever been with Vikings? Now you can. This book is very funny and imaginative, recommended for all ages.

The book's point of view is from Hiccup, the main character. The action begins on a pirate ship named the Lucky Thirteen where Hiccup and the Hairy Hooligans are practicing to be pirates. Each boy has a dragon for a pet. They find a coffin floating in the water. They open it and out pops a character named Alvin, the poor but honest farmer. This is an example of this wild, wonderful, heartwarming fiction. Toothless is the name of Hiccups dragon. Although Toothless is very lazy he is also very funny. An example of a funny quote is "He leapt forward and bit that wobbling rear end as hard as he could".

I liked this book because its funny and adventurous. The characters have hilarious names, like Dogs Breath the Duh Brain, Snotlout, Baggy Bum. Hiccup and his best friend, Fish legs are both wimps. This book will show that even wimps can save the day. Don't read this book without reading How to Train Your Dragon, the first book in the series of three. You will find yourself going on an adventure and laughing hysterically.

My 9 year old read all three of these books within a few days and giggled his whole way through. Highly recommend!

My Name is Jack and I'm 8 years old and I love to read. I read this book in three days because I just couldn't stop reading. I loved it because it was funny, surprising, and one of the best books I've read. My favorite part was when the boat sinks and Hiccup ends up in an underwater cave and finds the treasure of Grimbeard the Gastly. It's all about Pirates, Vikings and Dragons which I love. Now I am gong to find the other books in the series too!

I read this book and "How to Train Your Dragon" to my fifth grade class. When I finished they begged me to go on Amazon and look up the next book - which we discovered will be published in May. I ordered it right then and they have circled the anticipated delivery date. The characters are amusing, the writing is fresh, the vocabulary (especially the character's names) is right up an adolescent's alley - and they loved having a grown up having to pronounce names like Snotlout and Baggybum. Practically every one of the kids (average to above average readers) have read both of the books on their own, also.

I have so enjoyed reading this book - and Ms. Levine is right on target! It's a MUST READ for parents - and a wonderful gift for anyone celebrating happy occasions as well as for someone going through difficult times You can read it in snippets - or all at once - and it helps to put your world in perspective! A+ (I plan to give this as teacher gifts this year!!)

This wise, warm-hearted and witty primer is a great mood-booster and moral-supporter for anyone whose outlook on life could use a little freshening. I recommend it for both a few quick takes in the morning and longer doses of beach-reading.

As a consummate good girl my whole life, I felt liberated by Leslie's simple yet profound ways to step out of that tired role and go against the grain.....so, I'll trade my oatmeal for some Godiva Dark Belgian Chocolate ice cream any day!

Leslie Levine has given us a reason to cheer: we don't have to follow the rules and do exactly what we're supposed to all the time. When you're running around, doing errands, keeping track of jobs and kids and house and pets, driving back and forth to the dentist, the post office, and the cleaners--you NEED this book to make you smile and remember what life is really all about!

Ice Cream for Breakfast is the book that women have been waiting for. It gives readers permission to be themselves and to go beyond the silly rules that inhibit well-deserved joy. Leslie Levine is an advocate for all of us good girls who need permission to circumvent the rules we feel bound by even when they no longer serve us. Her book is liberating in that she gives us permission to do and feel what our gut has told us all along. Bravo for Ice Cream for Breakfast!!!

The book is call "IN SWEET COMPANY" by Margaret Wolff. She talks to women about Spiritual Life and More. There were two things in this book that really touch me. The first one can be found on page 201 the talk was with Rabbi Laura Geller she said "Though I'm now happily married, I'm divorced from the father of my children. We share joint custody and work very cooperatively as co-parents but the children spend a lot of time with their father in his home, I missed out on the parts of their lives that occurred when they were with him. It's the one aspect of my life I feel sad about." Wow I thought to myself she hit what I feel with my own children. I am a single parent and every time my children go off with their father and his new family I feel that pain she talk about and this has help me to understand even more about myself. The second person who said something that touch me was on page 232-233 by Sri Daya Mata, "Men and women are meant to be helpmates, working together as divine friends, as companions, to help each other become more balanced within themselves. This is part of the divine purpose of marriage, of every relationship between man and women. Neither should try to control or dominate the other." Wow very powerful words. I am sure you will find this book very entertaining and more so do get your copy of "IN SWEET COMPANY" soon and find someones words that will touch you.

In Sweet Company is a thoughtful well-written book which will inspire any reader. It is a collection of interviews with 14 incredible women. My favorite is Sr. Helen Prejean's answer to "Is there a Golden Rule that guides you?" This book makes a wonderful gift to a friend as well as an annual read.

Margaret Wolf's interviews with these accomplished and insightful women about spiritual life demonstrate the many ways women have found both connections and comfort through their spritual journeys. Through mainstream religions, personal issues, cultural traditions and thoughtul meditations, these women share with Margaret their own pathways to spiritual places and to finding greater meaning in their lives. Inspirational, comforting, compelling, interesting, delightful and connecting, this is a book for anyone who is on his or her own journey. Margaret's gentle and respectful tone of writing and interviewing made me feel I was right there, listening to them talk to me. I highly recommend it!

I read In Sweet Company as part of a summer reading group two years ago sponsored by a friend's church. There were usually 10-15 women plus the leader,a young female minister. We met in a coffee shop. As we progressed, reading two chapters a week, I realized that I was reading a life-changing book. The spiritual journeys of each woman were so different and so much the same. Age, religion, and ethnic backgrounds were really not the most important factors in their spiritual experiences.As we discussed the chapters each week we each found something important to use in our lives.In my case, it was the discussion of meditation labyrinths. Not all of the authors were well-known names to me, such as Olympa Dukakis and Sister Helen Prejean; however, each of the women has made a tremendous impact on those around them.I will reread this book at least once a year. The result of our reading group two summers ago was to invite author Margaret Wolff to our city for a women's retreat called "Embrace" that allowed women from all backgrounds,religions and races to learn more about spirituality. The retreat was a great success. We have talked about repeating it.I believe that Margaret has compiled interviews with women whose life experiences strike a chord with other women of all ages. She is an amazing woman herself.

There are many extraordinary aspects to this book. The first is that I felt like I was right in the company of these remarkable women as they talked about their lives. Much more than interviews, they are true conversations, and I felt I had been invited to sit in on them, able to see and hear on many levels the depth of what was being shared. Wolff is a master at what she does! Each one of the fourteen women came alive as she generously shared her spirituality with a groundedness that has no room for pretense. Their stories are not about dogma and doctrine; it is about their innermost lives--real and touching.
I was also captivated by the story behind the story: The author determined to write the book following a serious car accident which left her with profound, permanent brain damage, unable even to construct a sentence. By refusing to accept that fate, and working relentlessly to regain brain function, she ended up not only with an insightful book about others' lives, she recreated her own brain from the rubble, re-grooving and rewiring it to superb capacity.
Incidentally, it was a man who first told me about the book. I knew he did not have time for fluff, so I bought the book, and after reading it, bought four more copies to give to both men and women friends. It is an extraordinary treasure on many levels!
Catherine Light, Encinitas, CA

I traveled this same B.C. wilderness area as a child in 1967 with my family. So sad to say people like Eugene Charley were the rule more than the exception. Greg was isolated in his incredible knowledge of the wolf; he was also gifted by the friendship of many wolves. He put himself at great risk of freezing or injury, living through unforgiving winter and traveling unmapped territory, all to understand and honor Nahani and her pack. This book is one of a kind, sharing a spiritual bond like no other. Nahani is still here, every time I see a rainbow I feel her spirit. I was deeply sad to read in one of the reviews about people who killed a wolf because they believed it was stalking them. What they did was kill a lonely wolf who probably saw them as a pack and followed them because it wanted them to welcome it into their pack. If you like wolves and their cousins, you will enjoy: Wolves at Our Door : The Extraordinary Story of the Couple Who Lived with Wolves and James Herriot's Dog Stories: Warm And Wonderful Stories About The Animals Herriot Loves Best

Excellent book. Made me have my own opinion when someone told me she was being stalked by a wolf. I felt very bad that they shot it. Might not have had the same feelings before reading this book.

Just finished reading this and it is truly the most powerful factual story I have ever read. It has a similar thread to a fiction novel by another Native American author, Ghost in the Rainbow. There is a ghost wolf Indian spirit in that story, and I couldn't read this story without referring back to that one. The Native Americans know something about wolves, and this book touches upon that something...are wolves spirit creatures? I am of the opinion, because of these two books, to believe wolves are a lot more than animals. I can only encourage people to read this story. You will never be the same.

There are three non-religious books I read and re-read constantly. "In the Shadow of a Rainbow" is one of them. Man and wolf become alive before our eyes, with unexpected depth and dimension, as does the land of BC itself - and my life has become the richer.

I despair of ever seeing this story done properly on film, but there is one person who could do it justice - Hayao Miyazaki, master storyteller from Japan, known the US for "Totoro," "Kiki's Delivery Service," and "Princess Mononoke." (He could also do a worthy animated "Diary of Anne Frank." With the eye and heart of a spiritual magician, and artist's touch to match, I wait for him to bring Nahani alive on the screen. In the meantime, I'll just have to keep reading the book itself...

I have read many wolf books, but this one brings a feeling of bondage between Man and Wolf. But the story is not goody-goody. There are bounty hunters and trappers as there are in real life. This book refers to a map in the beginning of the book a lot, but you can manage to do without it, its not vital. Though this is a slightly shorter book it still has all the action and emotions as if you were really there. It is a really good buy and would recomend it to any wolf or animal lover.

I must say that I was initially put off by the title of this book. I assumed from the title that this must be another one of "those" Christian arguments for vegetarianism--you know, the ones that use out of context prooftexts to argue that Jesus really was a vegetarian. However, one of my colleagues did his Ph.D. work with Richard Alan Young, and he told me that Young was not only an excellent scholar, but a person who lived his convictions. So I decided to give the book a try, in spite of the title.

I am so glad I did. Young deals with the major issues and texts which arise when the question of vegetarianism is posed. Each chapter heading is a question which leads the author into a discussion of the relevant texts and historical background. He addresses questions like "Was Jesus a Vegetarian?" "Didn't God Permit Us to Eat Meat?" and "Didn't Paul Condemn Vegetarianism as Heresy?" with honesty and theological integrity. He does not try to force intepretations out of the texts, but lets them speak for themselves, offering a balanced and evenhanded treatment.

Most importantly, Young offers one of the best arguments for Christian vegetarianism I've read to date. He does not resort to prooftexting or spurious arguments based on scant biblical evidence. Instead he builds the case for vegetarianism upon a much broader biblical perspective--the peaceable kingdom. In sum, Genesis 1 and 2 offer the ideal view of human existence: humans and animals are vegetarians, humans are the caregivers of God's creation, the world and all creation are at peace. Unfortunately, all that is shattered in Genesis 3. However, the biblical material looks forward to a reinstatement of that original harmony. Examining the prophets vision of the peaceable kingdom, Young concludes that the role of Christians is to do God's will on earth as it is in heaven. In other words, Jesus' vision of the kingdom of heaven is a here and now concept, not a concept that will occur only in heaven. "The peaceable kingdom encompasses the full range of human moral aspirations, depicts peaceful coexistence between humans and nonhumans, and represents the goal toward which God is guiding history" (150).

Our job as Christians is to envision the peaceable kingdom and work to bring it about. Christ's act on the cross was an act of restoration, not just between humans and God, but between humans and other humans, and humans and all creation. Thus, Christians are to be actively involved in that restorative vision. If the peaceable kingdom is to be established, one fundamental step toward that outcome is refraining from eating meat. There can be no peace between animals and humans if we continue consuming animals.

Additional touches set this book apart as well: each chapter concludes with a wholesome vegetarian recipe; the last chapter offers a basic discussion of how to "go vegetarian;" and Young provides a bibliography for further reading.

Don't be put off by the title of the book--I found out that the publisher insisted upon it to make the book more "provocative." This book is a must read for any Christian who desires to investigate Christianity's relationship to animal rights and vegetarianism. It is well written, thoroughly researched, and easily accessible to anyone interested in the subject.

A very thoughtful friend (who is a vegetarian) recommended this book to me. Though a meat-eater for nearly 30 years, I decided to give this book a try. I was pleasantly surprised.

First, Young writes in a cool, level-headed fashion that doesn't come across as angry or accusatory. Unlike other books on the subject, this feels more scholarly and balanced.

Second, Young takes you through the Bible with remarkable insight. It is a deeply Christian work throughout. His arguments mainly depend on understanding the whole story, and what he calls "directional markers." This is a very powerful idea that I think really illuminates many modern ethical issues. To his credit, he does not try to argue that Jesus and the apostles were vegetarians, and that this message was somehow corrupted later on. He brilliantly argues that the situations of modern slaughterhouses did not exist in biblical times, and that the fundamental values of Christianity are in opposition to them. He does point out that human history in the bible is bracketed by vegetarian behavior (cf Genesis 1-2 and the Isaiah description of the "peaceable kingdom"). Why then should we not move toward this goal?

My one cavil with the book is that it is not written for the evangelical Christian (which I am). His view of Scripture would certainly make many evangelicals uncomfortable (for example his understanding of several authors writing the Pentateuch, his sometimes fuzzy statements on the nature of Jesus ministry, etc.). Occassionally I thought he cited verses out of context such that their true meaning was obscured by his intentions. Despite these flaws, I think overall his biblical exegesis is sound (Professor Young is a professor of New Testament, so this is no surprise).

I do appreciate his numerous statements along the lines of "I'm not saying everyone must stopping eating all meat in all circumstances." Instead, he thoughtfully and gently tries to challenge the reader to reconsider their own practices. I know that my own meat consumption has gone way down and am contemplating becoming a vegetarian. He encourages the reader to make slow changes, such as finding one meatless main dish per week to add into your diet. Who cannot do that? I also think much more deeply about the conditions that animals are kept in today and how they should live. Would you eat that piece of chicken or beef if you could see the animal's death? What is gluttony if not eating on more than you need? These and more questions are powerful thoughts that will challenge you throughout the book.

Young's purpose in "Is God a Vegetarian?" is simple: to explore the biblical foundations for Christian vegetarianism. Young chooses to listen to "the entire story" of Scripture to make a case for Christian vegetarianism rather than relying on certain "proof-texts".

The core of Young's argument is that the story of Scripture reveals that God is moving humans and animals towards a "peaceable kingdom" where they live together in harmony. Considering this, Christians should structure their lives and daily practices (including their diet) in such a way that it reflects this ultimate destiny.

As a Christian who is exploring the theological and ethical issues of vegetarianism, I found this book to be extremely helpful and informative. Young manages to be balanced, and not biased; simple, and yet not simplistic.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is searching for more information on the biblical basis for Christian vegetarianism.

The title of this book scared me. I thought it would be one of those fanatic books about how Jesus could possibly be a vegetarian, etc. However once I started reading this book I found myself laughing at the chapter titles: "Was God the First Tanner", "will there be slaughterhouses in heaven."

Young thoroughly answers questions that vegetarians and nonvegetarians alike grapple with in using the Bible as guide for life. While at times I felt he took passages out of context, the overall meaning behind his words seemed to speak the biblical truth. Young concludes that vegetarianism cannot be a universal moral truth, yet it is closer to God's vision. I highly reccomend this book for those questioning how Christians are to respond to todays treatment of animals.

I agree with the author's overarching view of biblical hermeneutics -- searching for "directional markers" that build an internally consistent perspective, rather than (non-contextual) "proof texting," a generally paroxysmal and frivolous approach to scriptural study and application. But it seems unfortunate that, given this broadly impacting issue of meat production and consumption, Young has 'hung his hat' so specifically on the concept of 'cruelty' against animals, and of their 'rights', as these issues are, at best, an aside to the far larger moral/ethical, logical, economic, ecological, health related, theological, and human stewardship considerations attached to flesh-foundering. The real ethical questions cannot be reduced sloppily to 'was Jesus a vegetarian?' or 'did Noah eat meat?' (Young sees this much). The deeper ethical issues of today relate to the 21st century world we live in, and should not be reduced to 'muskrat love', they are larger than that, and ask to be considered with 'the wisdom of serpents' (Matt 10:16).

Many in wealthy western culture, uneducated in the science and ethics of meat, think most easily of vegetarians as being equally soft hearted and soft headed; that vegetarians are teary-eyed cow huggers. But the 'animal rights' approach to the meat market culture is the least relevant and persuasive tack toward dealing with the truer, larger picture. In terms of Christian ethics urging the world toward a proactive "peaceable kingdom" (I have no argument against this), the 'animal rights' focus is rather like 'the tail wagging the dog.' More significant moral/ethical issues, relative to vegetarianism, are:

1.) Environmental degradation concomitant to the modern animal-based diet may be the most significant (and popularly overlooked) global assault on nature; an assault featuring deforestation for the production of commercial livestock, loss of biodiversity (plant and animal, terrestrial and aquatic), unnecessary burning of fossil fuels, air and water pollution, loss of topsoil and arable land, desertification, the list goes on. A single east coast factory hog farm constantly produces more raw sewage than the city of Los Angeles, sewage containing harmful bacteria and disease that is simply introduced to ground water (the related ecological and public health problems were briefly presented on the television news magazine 60 Minutes). Neither laws demanding nicer treatment of little piggies nor regulations on the treatment of pig pee are going to alleviate the problem. The only solution is for Americans to rethink their diet of bacon double cheeseburgers and pork sausage. The ecological issues of modern meat are far too large to discuss adequately here, they stretch from the factory farm to the open ocean to the upper atmosphere.

2.) The moral/ethical problems of meat eating are not only environmental, they are economic. Pandering to the palette of the wealthy beefeater demands [anti-human] misdirection of economic assets. Generally speaking, it takes 16 pounds of vegetable protein to produce 1 pound of animal protein. With that comes much more than 16 times the water and fuel! At the height of the 1984-85 Ethiopian famine, while more than a million people were dying of hunger, European meat producers were buying feed grains from -- Ethiopia! Will humanity's natural, agricultural, and economic assets serve humanity, or will they serve the gluttony of the wealthy? Along these same lines, the respected Christian author Richard J Foster touched very briefly on important aspects of the meat focused diet in his book Freedom of Simplicity (1981): "A million hogs in Indiana have superior housing to a billion humans on this planet." And those "million hogs" are degrading ground water, proliferating disease and ultimately creating cancers and premature human deaths (see below). Lest you think there'd be a net deficit of jobs if we eliminated meat packers and cowboys' livelihoods in favor of a plant based diet, assuredly that is not the case. No industry provides fewer jobs per unit of land used than does cattle ranching; a nation with a vegetable based diet would have the potential to create more net jobs while actually reducing costs for the consumer. That may sound contradictory, but federal meat industry subsidies prop up this meat-mad system. Here's one maddening example of these subsidies: If I go for a hike in nearby Cleveland National Forest, I won't see any of the once native pronghorn antelope, instead I'll probably see cows, ranching long ago extirpated the antelope. And guess who pays for these cattle grazing on public lands. As an American taxpayer, I do! The US government builds access roads, digs wells, pipes water, and provides other products and services for the cattle industry that uses public lands. Ranchers theoretically "lease" these land accesses, but the "leases" are laughable, do not cover the public expenditure that underwrites them, and amount to government giveaways. I may not eat beef, but as a US taxpayer, I pay for wealthy beefeaters to eat beef!

3.) The animal based diet is finally a disease and death centered diet. Billions of Chinese have a long tradition of a vegetable based diet, and they have virtually no incidence of obesity, heart disease, GI tract cancers, osteoporosis, or scores of other meat-related maladies -- UNLESS they move to the west and take up the animal based diet. Several excellent medical studies make the point clearly, meat kills (not just cute little lambs, meat kills people!). The health-related issues of the animal based diet are obviously bound to the economic issues as well (for example, health care asset allocation). Will we feed starving people or spend our economic assets first supplementing, and then trying to wrestle with, the self-inflicted meat-based sicknesses of the blissfully foolish? The human health issue looms as large as the ecological and economic issues, and is too great to be treated adequately here. These are all highly moral and ethical Christian stewardship questions. How can Christians turn a blind eye?

There are still other ethical issues tied to the animal based diet, and "animal rights" MAY be one of them. But this is not so clear. Is it rational or meaningful to suggest that because animals sense pain that they have any sense of "cruelty"? That they have any sense of their "rights" being violated or of some "injustice" being imposed on them? These are surly sentient concepts well beyond the ken of the animal mind, whatever it may be. The "animal rights" approach to the question of meat appeals to 'warm fuzzy' ideas but what is needed is a serious, hardheaded treatment (by the way, if we begin to do the right things, for the right reasons, the "animal rights" question will begin to go away!). Most Christians--there are and have been exceptions--have been sadly silent on the matter of meat-mongering (some have even embarrassed themselves with goofy "proof texting" attempts to define vegetarianism as a biblical heresy!).

Young's thesis aspires to a robust view of biblical hermeneutics, which is a good thing. It aspires to treat an important topic. But the "animal rights" focus is misplaced. An outstanding book on the moral/ethical and health issues surrounding the animal based diet is Howard F. Lyman's 'Mad Cowboy'. Christians should have been publishing books like Lyman's decades ago; being shining beacons of conscience in the material darkness, not hiding in that darkness in blissful ignorance and self-indulgence. It's not too late to start doing the right thing.

Mad Cowboy: Plain Truth from the Cattle Rancher Who Won't Eat Meat

Yesterday I was having one of those "I need to have an attitude adjustment sort of days". My parents are both deceased, my mother having been buried the week of Christmas in 1988. I get sort of melancholy this time of year, and without meaning to, can slide into a "funk". Anyway, it was that kind of a day. I was looking for something in the bottom, deep drawer of my desk when I came upon Tim Richardson's book, JUMP STARTS. I had actually forgotten I had it. I read the table of contents and knew IMMEDIATELY the place I was to begin reading: Part Seven: Life Teaches Us Lessons in Attitude Adjustment! Yesterday I read "The Sun". This morning I read "Music in the Morning". Thank you, Tim, for the gift of your book. Thank you for writing it for people like me. And I thank God, who always in His timing, knows who or what to put in my path. It was no coincidence that I came across your book yesterday.

Inspirational and thought provoking vignettes. There's no reason NOT to read this book.

It was fun reading Tim Richarson's book, JUMP STARTS. I'm glad Tim has such insight and glad the proceeds go to such a worthy cause. Amazon.com is wise to carry this book. I know it will be a big seller. Businesses would be helped by including this book in their training program.

Tim Richardson displays insightful and inspiring stories in his book, Jump Starts: Wit and Wisdom to Jump Start Your Day. Tim captivates the essence of what it's all about.

Yesterday I was having one of those "I need to have an attitude adjustment sort of days". My parents are both deceased, my mother having been buried the week of Christmas in 1988. I get sort of melancholy this time of year, and without meaning to, can slide into a "funk". Anyway, it was that kind of a day. I was looking for something in the bottom, deep drawer of my desk when I came upon Tim Richardson's book, JUMP STARTS. I had actually forgotten I had it. I read the table of contents and knew IMMEDIATELY the place I was to begin reading: Part Seven: Life Teaches Us Lessons in Attitude Adjustment! Yesterday I read "The Sun". This morning I read "Music in the Morning". Thank you, Tim, for the gift of your book. Thank you for writing it for people like me. And I thank God, who always in His timing, knows who or what to put in my path. It was no coincidence that I came across your book yesterday.

"Just One of Those Things" has a typo. It says B-flat minor 7 flat 5 -- "crazy" in "crazy flings." But it should be B minor 7 flat 5, or perhaps B diminished, as it is later in the song. I guess it's a measure of how good this book is that I was dismayed that my ear couldn't make musical sense out of the original chord notation. I am posting this review just in case someone else runs into the same thing. It's the first one I have found.

I bought this book after using the 'New Real Book' for a while.
I quickly started building a sizable repitoire of standards at my performances. I play solo piano, but singers and bassists could follow it as well. There are E flat versions too for horn players. I especially liked the Cole Porter and George Gershwin selections.

This is exactly what I wanted. One page for each song. Chords large so the piano player can see. And the words included for the singer.

I just started playing piano for an oldies singer. 90% of the stuff we do comes out of this book. 250 songs can't possibly cover everything, but these songs were chosen VERY well. The chords are "interesting" (not just vanilla major/minor/7th that you get in some books), although a few songs have chords that are clearly wrong, so avoid sight-reading on the job if you can. My singer owns an extra copy of this book to share with his accompanists, but I liked it so much that I bought one for myself. I may even get my rock band to buy some copies so we can play dinner music before the party gets going. There's even Bb and Eb versions for the sax player. It doesn't get much better than that.

The "Just Jazz Real Book" was one of my favorites. Many of the songs include the verses, the chords (including alternates) are well thought out, the song selection is good, and I've found very few errors in notes or chords. I figured I'd love the "Just Standards Real Book" even more. There's a fair amount of overlap between the two books, but this one suits me even better, as it replaces famous Coltrane riffs, etc. with songs I can actually do justice to on the piano. I must have 20 or more fake books, but this one is quickly becoming my favorite.

This is a very detailed book about the life of Kay Francis. The authors present a chronology of Kay Francis' life based on her diaries and other extensive research. Kear & Rossman provide intimate details of her life in an unbiased and thoughtful manner. The authors were able to convey their love of Kay thru the book. We receive a glimpse into the life of a Hollywood actress in the 20s & 30s. This book will appeal to people interested in Kay Francis and Hollywood. I enjoyed it because it shows the individuality of Kay Francis. Her charity work, midwestern values, sexual encounters, and career are all presented in the book. The pictures were great and interesting.
The book left me wanting to know more about Kay Francis and the movies she starred in. I highly recommend this book.

I must admit, I didn't know a lot about Kay Francis going into this book but I had seen her in a couple of films and I went the extra mile to delve deeper into her life and career. I was glad I did! Oh, what a life! Oh, what a career!

This book is the definitive reference to Kay's life, both on and off the screen. Her exciting career, her steamy sex life and the best part...much of this book is based on Kay's own personal diary entries. You can't get better than that!

If you know nothing about Kay and you're intrigued with her life, the way I was, you'll learn everything you want and need to know by reading "Kay Francis: A Passionate Life and Career." If you know everything about Kay Francis, you're wrong. You only THINK you do! Without a doubt you'll learn something new here with the turn of every page!

Great book!

This is one of the best biographies I have ever read. You can tell the authors put a lot of time and effort into this work - it's a true labor of love. Filled with beautiful photos and extensive bibliographical notes, this one is a keeper. Who knew Miss Francis was such a "wild child"? Whether you're a film scholar or a movie buff, Lynn Kear's book deserves a special spot in your bookcase.

This year movie buffs are extremely fortunate because out on the market is not one but two wonderful new biographies of the actress who "couldn't wait to be forgotten"--Kay Francis. Lynn Kear and John Rossman have done a superb job of detailing Kay's life with an especially rich section about her early life--prior to Hollywood stardom. The book also captures the essence of the jazz age of the 1920's when women were coming out of their shells and becoming less uninhibited. In many ways Kay Francis was the epitomization of the free spirited women of the jazz age. The book, as usual for a McFarland product, is lovely to look at and the picture quality is superb. Both books quote from Kay's diaries which were long forgotten at a University archives. The diaries provide much of the dynamic revelations in the narrative--Kay's candid thoughts about her life and (many) lovers. Kay Francis certainly did, as the title says, have a passionate life--and a career which movie buffs and fans can easily appreciate. We are fortunate to have this wonderful book as a reminder of that life and career.

This book had such a slow, uneven start that I almost gave up on it. Kay had a very interesting life, but it was hard to determine that from the way the early chapters of her story were written. Lots of childish exclamation points, and chronological lists that read like "the begats." I adore Kay Francis, and wanted to find out about her life. The authors had the access to her diaries that other biographers were lacking, and her private life was definitely a wild one. That she escaped public, career-ruining scandal is nothing short of a miracle. Once the authors reach her apex year of 1932, and then her war work, the style of the writing really picks up and the story becomes a veritable page-turner. It's definitely worth getting through the first third of the book in order to enjoy the best parts. I respectfully disagree with the reviewer who thinks Kay would have loved this book - she would have hated anyone delving into her private life (she didn't even want anything done with her ashes, she was so private), but speaking as an avid fan of Miss Francis, I'm very glad it was written.

Winicki delivers what he promises. You get lots of usable information on headlines and how to write a small print ad. Most of what's in the book could also apply to direct mail ads. If you are looking for your first advertising book, for your small business, this is it. Easy to read and gets to the point.

If you have a small business, you don't like to read much and you are clueless about advertising - this is an awesome little book. It will teach you the basics of creating effective ads in about 100 pages. With some practice, your business is bound to improve and this little book will pay for itself many times over.

The author goes straight to the point, without wasting your time and for that I would've given this book 5 stars if it weren't that the lack of proper editing of this book took my mind for a spin several times. At the beginning of the book, there is a lovely headlines "The Noise My Customers Make!", followed by a happy customer testiominial which ends with "Well, you're wrong if you think that ... Mike [the author of this book] can do for your business what he did for mine."

So, if you can overlook this and a couple of other blunders in this book, the book teaches you how to focus on benefits, as opposite to features, of the product or service you are offering, how to create effective headlines, and how to design them. The focus of the book is on creating effective headlines, and briefly mentioning few additional benefits, since there's not much more you can put in a small add. If you want to learn how to write effective (longer) body copy, you'll have to turn to bigger books.

This was a great book! Don't spend one penny on advertising until you read it. It is amazing how many small business owners are literally throwing money away on ads that are terrible. After I finished it, I opened my yellow pages and noticed that easily 90% of the ads are terrible. This book will show anyone how to write an effective ad and give you an edge over your local competitors. Enjoy!

If you are new to creating space ads or writing copy, this is an excellent book to get you started. You will see many concrete examples and you will start to think like a advertising guru. However, if you are an experienced ad designer or copy writer and hoping for some fresh ideas, then you may be disappointed.

I don't remember when I've read a book that was more painful to read than KILLER TECHNIQUES TO SUCCEED WITH NEWSPAPER, MAGAZINE AND YELLOW PAGES ADVERTISING by Michael Winicki. This book was produced sans editor/proofreader. There are errors on virtually every page of the book. The book is barely 100 pages and could have easily been condensed down to a booklet. The book is self-published and is the sort of thing that will give self publishing a bad name. I know from Winicki's reputation, he does not possibly submit ad copy with so many errors. Also, the back cover is so blurred, my 50+ year old eyes can hardly read it.

So right about now you're probably thinking, "Do I really want to spend my hard earned money on this, and why the generous five star rating?" Simple. I have to consider, even with the lack of editing, was the book worth the money I paid for it? Well, let me just say, I believe what I learned from this book will pay the price a hundred times over! There are literally notes and highlights on virtually every page of my copy. This is a book I know I will refer to time and time again.

I learned so much from these error laden pages, I don't know where to begin! So I'm just going to say, buy this book. Struggle through it. It is more than worth the effort.

And to Mr. Winicki, thank you for producing this valuable resource, but before you publish your next book, send me a copy. I will be very happy to edit your work for a reasonable fee. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

As a nursing student I loved this book. It gave a great perspective on some areas of nursing that nursing students may not be exposed to during clinicals. Toward the end of the book it did get into nursing/hospital politics and policy, which slowed things down. I wish that the author had ended with something better and more inspiring.

It's often said that in today's society we have no heroes. If you read this book, you will soon learn otherwise.

I really liked the aspects of this books that dealt with the three nurses performing their jobs in their perspective fields. That was great- but all the talk about nursing jobs getting cut really gets boring after a while. So much so I've been dreading reading the last chapter. Great book, just has some boring parts.

A must read for all those working IN or WITH the profession of nursing. Gordon discusses how the changes in our health care system have affected both the nurses role and quality patient care issues. The essential need for collaboration of all health care personnel is woven throughout the content. I required this book for a senior nursing course I just taught at Wayne State University in Detroit and the students were most impressed with the book and its approach to nursing, medicine and health care. A must read for nurses, physicians, hospital administration, potential students and the general public. Afterall, we are all potential patients and we should be aware of what is happening to the largest population of health care providers, the nurses!

The most under rated people in our society are nurses,this is an introduction to the ever present caregivers in healthcare today.The most varied role and most significant in all aspects of health care is the nurse.This was a wonderful read for all of those who may ever be the receiver of any aspect of their care from nurses in our country, basically everyone,a must have.For those considering the profession as a career,and the family members who would like an overview of "all in a days work", this will invoke serious thought.Yes, I am a nurse and for me to recommend a book written on nursing....kudos to all involved in the creation.