Original Books

This book is a classic for me because it starts the learning with someone who knows nothing of the culture and barely any of the language...so no preconceptions.

For me it is the signature work that sets the tone for his subsequent books.

Ifa is presented as accurately as possible from the perspective of its elder practitioners.

Being from Nigeria, I can picture the setting, reading it was like an journey for me as well. an overview of yoruba history, the odu ifa, and key concepts in the tradition are given

I am currently going round giving acknowledgement to my 5 star collection of books...I really love this one

This wonderful little book is still in print, still 'bangin" with great information and still one the best books to begin with when deciding to learn a form of simple, but traditional divination.

But, I would update my last entry by saying it is NO LONG OUT OF PRINT. Anyone charging more than $20 is purposefully trying to defraud you!

There are lots of books that explore Orisa'Ifa, lots of books that broach the topic of obi/4 cowry divination, but this one stands out on a very short list of classic/must have's.

Find it through used book vendors and then guard it! lol Matter fact, make xerox copies as loaners. lol Seriously, the book is introspective and free of the biases, ironically afrophobias present in other books and its inspirational to boot. Scholars, devotees, priests - go get it.

This book requires some work on the readers part. Baba Fatunmbi's writing is highly literate and expressive. His grasp of the scientific nature of Ifa is extremely deep so you will have to read this book many times to appreciate its depth. It is well worth the effort. Buy it if you can find it.

It is really to bad that most of Awo Fa'lokun Fatunmbi's books are out of print, or hard to find. His books are truly a great wealth of resource and information, useful both to the Ifa and Orisha Community. His works are written in an intelligent manner that is very expressive and literate, so it will take an average person, "such as myself" a few reads to grasp the wealth of wisdom. But it is well worth the read. He has written some of my favorite books on the various orisha Religions. Other books to look for if you can are. "Iba'se Orisa, Ifa proverbs, Folktales, Sacred History, and Prayers."
Also "Iwa-Pele: Ifa Quest the Search for the Source of Santeria and Lucumi" He also has a very hard to find booklet collection and some are found in Amazon.com, on various Orisa energies that are well worth the read. Highly Recommended, check out "Awo Study Center" Where you will find a wealth of his works.

Hilarious look at a game we all take way too seriously. This could be the birth of a movement. Please tell me there are more on the way.

The Muldooney Revisions is a funny and relaxing read that reminds us that golf is supposed to be fun. The USGA, which takes itself so seriously you'd think they were in charge of curing cancer or safeguarding nuclear technology, has deserved this kind of goosing for a long time.

I wonder who is next on Montgomery Williams' hit list. Here's a suggestion: the IOC.

Funny! Mr. Williams hit the nail on the head (or the ball on the tee) with this one! A MUST for every golfer!

The first golf book I have read in a longtime that lowered my golf score in every round played. Montgomery Williams had the courage to describe the USGA in the same way that most of us recreational golfers have talked about them under our breath for years. Read this book and laugh with the author in how silly the current rules of golf can be. My main wish was that this book could be found in non-fiction rather than fiction. Top notch!!!

Between laughing out loud and muttering "exactly" under my breath, The Muldooney Revisions have given me a newfound joy for my recreational golf game. "Thank you Montgomery Williams!!"

I have carried the Pedi-Wheel in my fanny pack for a few years. The few times I have used it have earned high marks for its compactness, readibility, and ease of use. The most important feature for me is the "weight to age" reference. It allows me to calculate dosages when only an age of the patient is known. Estimating weights of small children is obviously more critical than adults.

The Fire agency that I work for has placed a Pedi-Wheel in all of the drug boxes.

Pediatric emergencies are stressful and difficult, Mr. Rose has put together a tool (Pedi-wheel) that is easy to use and contains accurate information.

By far, a product no Engine company can do without. No guess work! The Pedi-Wheel has improved our "on scene" proficiency by leaps and bounds! Buy it! Cut down on scene time! That's what we're here for people!

Time is always critical for us with any patient. However, critical peds always kicks us up a notch or two. This tool is a god send for us when we need to make snap decisions accurately. I highly recommend this product to all healthcare professionals who deal with peds.

I have worked in the Fire Department for the past 3 years and never found a tool that is so easy to use for calculating a drug dosage. I personally like it's variety of information in such a small package. The Pedi-Wheel is the ideal reference tool when seconds count.

This was my favorite book as a child, right up there with "But No Elephants", also from the Parents Magazine Press. I had the entire book memorized and now, at 25, I still remember quite a bit of it and think of it often.

I've saved my copy and I can't wait to share it with my children some day. It's a fun rhyming story with wonderfully entertaining pictures.

This book arrived at my home about 20 years ago. My two children absolutely loved it. It has traveled to preschool and school, accompanied us on road trips, and been shared via the babysitting bag and when my daughter worked at a day care. All of us can still recite almost the entire book from memory. The rhyming text helps with prereading skills, and the illustrations are wonderful. This book is one of my family's classics.

My four year old daughter loves this book so much that she can recite the story word for word. The rhymes are fun to read and the illustrations are hilarious. The pig's are so expressive that we often add our own comments about what they are thinking while reading the story. I would highly recommend this story!

My mum read this to me as a child and I still remember it almost word for word. I am now buying for my children 5 yrs and 1 yr and i hope they like it as much. I love this book

My children are 12 and 10 now, but, they still think this book is an awesome book! When I talk of possibly giving it to another younger child in our family, their answer is "No Way"! I have to keep it for their children!

This book goes a long way in explaining why there was so much written about the Wild West and why so much embellishment took place.Throughout history there has been all kinds of spins put on the people involved and what really occurred.Why would anyone expect anything different during the expansion of the West,particularly after the Civil War? In dramatic times of history,be it the Wild West,WW2,Crime in Chicago etc.people are craving for an understanding of events as well entertainment,and that is what we are given by the writers and the media.
Personally,I enjoy both the factual as well as the fictional
aspect of these times.
One character who often appears in books is Ned Buntline.He was a real person by the name of Edward Zane Carroll Judson,and this book does a pretty good job of telling us who he was and some of the things he did.Somebody must have written a book on him;it would be a good read.

This book was a welcome source of information on the Carson & Miller families whose genealogy I have been researching. Michael Wallace did an excellent job of getting his historical facts straight and offered some additional resources for my search for family history.

The easy style presented an engrossing story of a family moving through history from the 1850's to the 1930's and adjusting (not always easily) to the changing moores of society.

My father was a cousin of the Miller Bros. and told us children stories of his childhood in Oklahoma and attending the shows at the 101. My sister & I recently visited the old 101 ranch site and were sad to see that little is left. The Miller house in Winfield, Kansas is still standing in beautiful condition and is a private residence.

Michael Wallace is an excellent storyteller. The book gave life to my genealogy and made me feel in touch with the characters and the times. Anyone with an interest in western history would enjoy this story of a dynamic family who helped shape our images of the old west.

One terrific book -- a majestic recreation of the figures that helped define the old west and western entertainment.

Readers lacking a sense of irony may be dismayed to discover that the Real Wild West was only loosely hitched to reality. Spurred by the imaginations of Charles Miller and his three sons, our perception of what is the west sports the distinct brand of the 101. Take heart, though, because on the Miller Brothers' 101, the west was most certainly wild.

Possibly outlaws and certainly mavericks, the Millers rounded up some legendary talent to work their ranch and perform in their touring shows. The 101 herd of entertainers included Geronimo, Will Rogers, champion cowgirl Lucille Mulhall, Annie Oakley rival Princess Wenona, and such film legends as Tom Mix, Buck Jones, Ken Maynard, Yakima Canutt and Hoot Gibson. Black cowboy, Bill Pickett, famed for inventing the rodeo event steer wrestling spent a long career at the 101, and Buffalo Bill Cody spent his final year with the outfit.

While tooling a longstanding image of the west with their Wild West productions, the Millers also saddled up to motion pictures, oil production and an outstanding crop and livestock operation. Their story is a rodeo itself, made all the more interesting by the hints that white hats did not cover the heads of all of the 101 cowboys and cowgirls.

When the last little doggie was wrangled on the 101, the Miller Brothers' legacy did not ride off into the sunset, but continues to stampede through the dreams of would-be cowpokes everywhere. I'm not a regular patron of movie theatres, but I cannot wait until this saga makes it to the big screen!

If you like history and the stories of the old west, buy this book. I really enjoyed it.

I have a strange relationship with my favorite books -- I kiss them all the time! Hell, I never said I was normal! The cover design... the touch... the fresh smell of the paper... the gratitude for what's within... It's a unique physical and emotional experience.

Blain's book it's definitively a book to kiss and tell! Like many lovers, most books cannot stand the test of time... but this one was born to walk with us throughout our life. As we walk this book, we soon become captured by the evocative power and grace of Blain's vision. Yet, there's no fixed path in this journey of discovery, "only" the inspiring guidelines from a shaman's mind...

The book cover reminds me of an exploding white diamond! So, I call this book the "Diamond Book". Then, the invitation is clear and it's my pleasure to quote the Pink Floyd: "Come on you raver, you seer of visions, Come on you painter, you piper, you prisoner, and shine!"

Yep, we don't need to cry to the dark moon anymore. This "crazy" diamond reflects its pure light through 360 suggestive angles of creative thinking that will further enhance our perception of any Astrological chart! In sum: If the Sabian Symbols are the poetry of Astrology, then Mr. Blain Bovee is one of the Sabian's greatest BARDS!"

This updated interpretation of degree-specific Sabian Symbols offers an uncanny insight into chart analysis.

Whether you're new to astrology or a professional astrologer, this powerful, thought-provoking book deserves a place among your most frequently used astrology books.

There have been a few books written in the last 10 years about the Sabian Symbols. Though each, in its own way, has relied on the genius of their creator, Marc Edmund Jones, several have liberally modified, "corrected" or altered the Jones symbol wording.

Enter "The Sabian Symbols & Astrological Analysis: The Original Symbols Fully Revealed" by Blain Bovee, a beautifully written look at the Sabian Symbols and their practical application as an illuminating tool in astrological analysis. Here is a book that brings Sabian symbol research to a new professional level. Bovee has chosen to work with the words of Marc Edmund Jones, noting that "Any alteration whatsoever risks deflecting the original genius of the Sabian Symbols, risks distorting, through interpretive assumptions, the intuitive integrity of how the Sabian Symbols came to be. I have discovered that the Sabian Symbols are richer and more internally consistent when the original wording is honored".

I highly recommend this book for several reasons. It is professional, fully attributed, erudite yet poetically sensitive. It has everything needed for practical application and advancement of understanding of the symbols. Bovee has organized the book in opposing symbol format which invites the reader to experience the interweaving of themes and shared motifs so important to a full illumination of the symbols. He also incorporates the fivefold cycle corresponding to five aspect relationships in astrology into his interpretations noting that through this cycle "one can easily detect an unfolding story, an unfolding of general themes throughout the text of consecutive degree-pairs". And, at last, here is a book that incorporates quick reference guides, one for the symbols themselves and one for useful keywords from both Jones and Bovee, both easily accessible at the back of the book making it very easy to use for practical purposes.

This is the must have book, whether you want to learn more about the Sabian Symbols as a practical tool for chart analysis or you just want to read for the sheer pleasure of enjoying the symbols for their own sake, and far outshines anything else that I have read. Bovee is a gifted writer whose work on the Sabian Symbols will surely stand the test of time. He deftly captures the essence of the symbols while leaving plenty of room for the reader to open to his or her own interpretations. His exploration of the meanings and background of the words held within each of the original symbols and his ability to take us on a journey through these beautiful symbols is unsurpassed. He intelligently, poetically and cogently demonstrates that they need no alteration or changes and are invaluable as presented by their originator. Bovee's book truly honours both the wonderful original symbols and the genius of Mark Edmund Jones.

I recently heard Blain Bovee quote Ralph Waldo Emerson--"Every word was once a poem". Reading Blain's book indulges the mind's need to infuse magic into words--as with poetry. I work as a professional astrologer,and I use this book daily. The language, his exploration of significant words used in each of the Symbol pairs opens up great possibility for the use of the Sabian Symbols. As an example, last week I prepared an electional chart for a weblaunch. When I had gotten it just right, I checked the Ascendant degree for its Sabian Symbol. The words for that particular degree unfolded the chart I had prepared so eloquently It took my breath away! This is a book for every astrologer's library--especially that part of the library that is within an arm's reach!

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"Besides guiding us carefully through the etymological backdrop of words, fine-tuning the incredible references that came out of the dark to Elsie Wheeler and Marc Edmund Jones, Bovee shows a style of relating symbolisms to personal awareness ... by following Bovee's lead-in, we learn large gulps of knowledge with every symbolism we study." Noel Tyl on "The Sabian Symbols & Astrological Analysis".

Astrology is the universal language of life and Blain Bovee's masterful work strikes at the very heart of our language, prompting us to spiral to even greater heights in our understanding and interpretation.

As the leaves of this book unfold, like the graceful and delicate petals of a lotus blossom each page leads us to the inner hidden beauty of a symbol's bloom like never before.

This rare, erudite and eminently practical masterpiece sets a whole new standard in current research and literature on the Sabian Symbols - indeed, it is the new classic, an essential "must have" for both aspiring and practicing astrologers, and in fact any individual pursuing a path of enlightenment.

For the first time Mr Bovee fully reveals how the inner dynamics of the symbols relate to one another cohesively within the astrological matrix, offering a practical process for applying the symbols to horoscope interpretation.
An accomplishment achieved only through his clearly demonstrated commitment to presenting the "original symbols" intact and holding to their essential and central truths that express universal themes of human collective thought throughout time - rather than the corrected, expanded, interpretively enhanced versions of others.

Be prepared ... your astrological skills will be rapidly and profoundly accelerated inspiring a newfound appreciation, insight and respect for the horoscope as a whole. Mine were, and this book is now my constant companion in all astrological work.

Drink deeply from this well-spring of wisdom for rarely, if ever, has an opportunity of this magnitude been presented to gain such a depth of perspective within a cohesive context - both practically and spiritually - of the Sabian Symbols in the astrological mandala.

Barbara Noble (Australia)

You couldn't have stories that are more fun to listen to. These are why Superman is the premier Superhero today.

This is theatre of the mind at its best.I like Bud Collyer,the voice of the Man of Steel, better than ANY movie or TV Superman.I love the way he did Clark Kent as a tenor and Superman as a baritone-especially when Clark turns into his alter ego and Collyer would change mid-sentence-"This looks like a job FOR SEPERMAN!"The stories are action-packed and the serial format keeps you on the edge of your seat!Once you start listening,you won't want to stop!If you only know the man from Metropolis from books,movies nad TV you should get this.

I bought a copy of this great audio collection last weekend! I am a big comic book fan, and enjoy listening to and reading the classics. This is a must have for any comic book history collector! The quality is superior, and the great plots have you listening for hours on end. I enjoy having the tapes run in the background while I do my work in the office. I almost feel like I am reporter at the Daily Planet!

These stories are great. Superman is powerful but not so powerful that nothing is a challenge. Clark Kent has a backbone. Lois is not annoying. The stories are not far-fetched space aliens, but actual criminals and gangsters. These radio dramas are well written and will not bore. They are all connected into two large stories which helps. They come with a booklet on the history of the radio dramas and entertainment at the time which is very informative.

I love this CD set. This 5 CD set containing 27 action-packed radio episodes starts off with the explosion of Krypton and works in all of the classic Superman elements. Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen, Clark Kent and the Man of Steel. Did you know Jimmy Olsen appeared in the Radio Series long before his freckled face showed up in the comic?

This box set starts off with Supermans origin. A hero being useless without villians, he quickly faces off against serial style villians like the Yellow Mask and the Wolf. All the sound has been remastered and it comes in a great box set. I love it!

My mom borrowed two of the Olga da Polga books for me from the library when I was a little nine-year-old girl with her very first pet, not surprisingly, a guinea pig. I instantly fell in love with the bragging Olga, who loves to tell tall tales and considers herself quite a celebrity. If only her animal friends would agree with her! We searched in vain to find any purchasable copies in the series for many years. Words can't explain how much I enjoyed these books as a little girl . . . and still do!

I'm so pleased that the books are back in print (there are several titles, but it's best to read them in order). If you have never read these books, you're in for a treat, whether you're young or old. For those not familiar with Olga da Polga's inventor, Michael Bond also wrote the Paddington Bear novels. His love of animals is evident in both series, as is his wit.

This is the story of a guinea pig named Olga, told from her perspective. From it you learn what a guinea pig likes. How they want their beds to be made, their fur combed, how to pick them up and all of the other aspects of the day-to-day care of a guinea pig. She is also a bit of a scamp, escaping, starting incredible rumors among the animals, and sometimes being pompous and self-centered. In many ways she is a typical pet.
A combination of being an engaging tale about a lovable small pet and her thoughts on her treatment, this is a book that will help teach young children how to care for small pets. The gentleness that is required and to understand that they are creatures with feelings that need to be considered. I recommend this book for the child approximately nine years old.

This book is a charming story about a sassy, clever, adventurous guinea pig with a style all her own. Bond is imaginative, insightful and succintly well written. Olga is self possesed, somewhat mischievous and weaves a web of characters around her into a colorful tapestry of her own creation. I'm sure by the end you'll agree that her ventures end all too soon.

Olga da Polga was read to me at bedtime by my parents when I was about five. 25+ years later, I still remember Olga's antics and stories. As a child, I even went so far as to name my guinea pig "Olga da Polga". A super book for youngsters!

Olga da Polga is a wonderful book from the creator of Paddington the Bear. It begins at the pet shop where Olga dreams of the world outside, and moves to her "house on legs" in the Sawdust family's garden. Along the way we meet the family she belongs to, her friends from their garden, and are entertained by both the tales about Olga, and the ones she creates for her friends. It's a low-key but charming book for those who love animals, and find humor in the little things they do. Children who favor the WWF,Yugio and Power Rangers will probably find the stories a bit tame, but my seven-year old son enjoyed the series of Olga books as much as I did when I was his age.

No tool reviews, no "how-to" pages: just pictures of beautiful bowls. Some right off the lathe, and some where the lathe was the tool that created the canvas, and then the artist started to create. Many names I recognized, and lots of new names also. Highly recommended if you want to see fresh ideas from both the known and not-yet-known.

Excellent photography throughout.

Bought this for my dad for Christmas. Anyone that picked it up couldn't put it down. I looked through it at least 5 times before leaving for home. Great photography and very inspirational to anyone who turns wood.

Having turned hundreds of bowls over the last five years
I thought I was a competent bowl turner, until I purchased
this book.......... Every page has work that I have never been
able to do.......This material is challenging and life changing.
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After studying this book I took my lathe and threw it off the top
of the tallest mountain In all of Oklahoma. I then came to my senses,
Recovered my lathe, still useable after an 18 inch drop.
I have started turning again....with renewed vision and focus.
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"Oh snail climb mount Fuji"
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I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves to turn bowls
And wants to see really amazing work.

The publisher of this book is also responsible for '400 Wood Boxes,' which I reviewed about a year ago. Both books are juried photographic collections of the work of contemporary woodcrafters. '500 Wood Bowls' is a more eclectic selection composed of almost anything that could be considered a bowl that has some wood in it. This actually is my one complaint about an otherwise very well done collection. In favoring the more modern and experimental work, a great deal of contemporary work that is more traditional, and more focused on the wood got left out.

Don't get me wrong, there's much to admire and wonder at. As a struggling woodturner I find much inspiration here, and a good deal to feel envious about. I've just added a large lathe to my workshop, and bowls continue to elude me. If it wasn't for books like this I would have resigned myself to making very expensive dowels. Here the reader sees possibility and knows that incredibly fine work can be done, whether he be turner, carver, or a collector. Lark books should be congratulated for a very high quality effort at a very reachable price.

This book is beyond awesome!! What a fine collection of bowls, from the most intricate to the outlandishly uncommon. This book has the most incredible collection of innovative turning, carving, and transforming of wood that I have even seen. From intricate inlays to woodburned accents, including segmented to free form with every unbelievable artistic vision and extra-ordinary form of artwork in between. Many common ordinary available woods along with exotic and worldly woods are shown in so many unthinkable showpieces. Every new page turned brings "I can't believe how incredible" to a new height.
Some leave one wondering just "How could this be done?"
If anyone ever needs a book to inspire, motivate, and capture the drive within to create, this is the book.
Every photo is crisp, clear, in color, and close-up. Each labeled with the dimensions and some with the author, and most all with the type of wood used.
416 pages, many with 2 pictures per page. Very professionaly photographed and displayed in an exceptional book.
Some books show bowls, this book inspires greatness!!
Highly recommended and a book to KEEP!

This edition stands perfectly well on its own in either language for simple enjoyment of the story and prose. It is also a useful learning resource for the intermediate to advanced student of the language. I suggest that you listen to Il Narratore audiolibro tape or CD while you read the text in Italian and then in English. The side by side page format is perfect for this technique. I am on my second iteration and I think I am actually learning. Do not let the 1883 date of original publication bother you. The language seems contemporary and the idioms are thoroughly footnoted. Be ready for a lot of passato remoto in the first and third person singular(this is after all a literary tense) and many very colorful verbs. Forget about Disney or any English language kids' editions. This is real literary fiction. The tranlator's opening essay provides social,linguistic and historical context if you're interested.

Pinocchio is a wooden pupet that wants to be a real boy.He tells everyone that he is real,but he nows that he's not real. Every time he lies his nose grows bigger and bigger.Just as his nose gets bigger a fairy god mother comes and grants his wish about being a real boy. This book is a fiction book and is out standing. Carlo Collodi makes this book a outstanding and wonderful to read. Children should love this book. I've loved this book since I was 4 years old. My parents read it to me all the time.
This book was set in a little town on a hill.Gippito is the carver of pinocchio.I truly think he did I good job at designing him. I LOVE THIS BOOK!!

Since another reviewer has already stated why this edition/transation is the best one to buy, my review will focus on the story, which is a charming allegory for children, no matter what language is used to tell it.

Children identify with Pinocchio because of all his troubles. They understand what it is like to want to and mean to do well, only to fail miserably. They are also very capable of matching his extremes of emotion. Childhood is so full of humiliations that they don't think, "Oh, what an idiot not to have gotten it by now" or "He's overreacting terribly." (In fact, these are things said about _them_.) Instead, they cheer Pinocchio, who commits blunder after blunder--and is rewarded at the end of the book, for finally getting it right.

Also endearing are the puppet's "parents," old woodcarver Geppetto and the "fairy with blue hair." Despite their scapegrace's repeated failures, they forgive him again and again, giving him countless chances to redeem himself. As for the villains who prey on Pinocchio's naivete, they are perfect representations of what children find threatening. Some characters resemble playground bullies; others are more like the monsters under the bed. The talking animals are a little exasperating, but very nice.

"The Adventures of Pinocchio" is as whimsy as Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland": in both novels, anything goes. Unlike Carroll, however, Collodi injected moral lessons into the storyline. Pinocchio does not get into one humiliating episode after another just to amuse young readers; with every mistake he makes, he learns a moral lesson.

The plot structure is "poor"--which works to the book's advantage. This is what-happens-next kind of reading. Children care foremost about what new agonies a protagonist can propel himself into, and so will like the pace.

Accept no abridgements or adaptations. There are wonderful details that are often cut out for economy--or rewritten for somebody's idea of style. For the real Pinocchio, read this book.

Professor Perella's landmark translation is a must for students of Italian. For those who have studied the language in school or on their own it is a wonderful introduction to reading original material as the translation is both literate and rather literal. It is nothing less than a masterpiece. Anyone will benefit from reading it.

The translator, the editor, the designer, everyone involved in this project deserves the highest praise... oh, and the author, of course! Of particularly worthwhile note is Perella's lengthy introduction, an essay on the story in context of Italian culture, and also noteworthy & insightful are his endnotes on his translation. This is so much more than a childrens' story (and SO much more than Disney's version) -- it is a story for all ages, all levels of students of Italian language and culture (a great aid to improve reading skills, incidentally) and all those in love with things Italian. Thank you, Nicolas Perella, for your great effort in bringing this landmark story of Italy to the English reader, in clearest, most straightforward style -- if I could give you an award, I would.