Services Books

I am happy with amazon's fast accurate service. The book is interesting and easy to read. Would reccomend to anyone interested in history and development of modern substance abuse education and treatment. Mrs. Mann was a truly remarkable woman. I don't believe her contributions can be over estimated.

I enjoyed Marty's story so much. She was such an intelligent, attractive, successful woman, and yet alcohol brought her to a point of utter despair and poverty. I could truly relate to how it feels to have so much and yet not be able to save yourself from alocholism. With the help of AA I have found my life again, and continue to grow in all areas of my life. Reading Marty's story was so good for my self esteem and confidence. It truly emphasizes that alcoholism is a disease and not a moral issue. I enjoyed this book so much I stayed up until 2am the first night I started reading it. This has been a good read for me! I would recommend it to females in AA especially.

Riveting and educational! A page turner! Marty Mann was an incredible woman and we finally get to read about her life in detail. This is a must read for those who are recovering from alcoholism, those affected by alcoholism, social service and public health providers and legislatures. We have much to learn from Marty Mann and we must continue her mission today.

This was written with the language of the heart... and was informative, fascinating, and well done in every way. I enjoyed the pictures too. I felt privileged to see inside this fabulous woman's life.

I loved this book. It is well-written, expertly researched and completly honest.As a recovered person myself, I thoroughly enjoyed the the weaving of historical accounts of the early days of AA and NCA. Even without that, the story of Marty Mann was impressive and powerful. The account of the founding, growth, growing pains and success of NCA was a primer on how to get an impossible job done. Many other historical facts that were intertwined throughout the book provided a sense of reality about developments in our country that are rarely discussed.

My thanks to the authors for writing a book I will treasure it and make it a permamnent part of my personal library.

Bride starts the saga of the Christopher family which Mr. McCarry has written about in his other novels. If you like a book about adventure, family and love, this book is the book for you!! It takes you back in time and deposits you there where the sheer beauty and explosiveness of Mr. McCarry's writting will keep you for many hours!! You will miss these characters when the book is over and if you are like me, that is how you measure how good a book is!! Read this book, you will not be let down!!

This book is one that will consume you. It is a haunting tale, amazingly well researched, and with a very uncommon story line. Follow the wealth of characters and their almost dickensian development, each more vivid than the last. Fanny, although the central character, is merely the path to carry the reader through one experience to the next. This book has many dark angles ,often inherent with this level of tangibility. The contrast to your more typical novel only amplifies the life that literally courses through this book. It is well worth the time. But be warned ,it sticks with you, for better or for worse.

. . . to take to a desert island, this would be the one. Bride starts the saga of the Christopher family and if you like adventure, espionage AND a story of faithful love rewarded, this book will surprise and please you on every page. You will be stunned by the sheer beauty and power of the writing and when you turn the last page, you will wish there was that much more.

McCarry was able to bring actual events of late 17th century English and American history to vivid life and his research into the time period is thorough. For example, I believe that he used actual events like the cold and snowy February 1690 night attack by French and Indians on present day Schenectady and the extraordinary escape of Mrs Hannah Dustin from her Abenaki captors, for the fictional attack on Alamoth and the manner of Rose Barebones escape from the Abenakis. His dreamy writing style lends itself to the way Fanny, his main character, sleep-walks through life, as if she and the virgin forests of America are waiting to be awoken to reality. This book is something which one seldom sees on the shelves of bookstores these days: it is exciting, thrilling, romantic in the grand manner of true romance (the worth of true patient love), as well as giving the average reader a taste of what life in America once was, a land filled with enormous trees, wild strawberries so abundant that walking through them was like walking through strawberry preserves, filled with danger and Indians who lived by a code of morals that only the French tried to understand. I highly recommend this book!

I nearly didn't read this book because I thought it was a romance and didn't feel in the mood for that particular genre.

Despite my intentions of passing it on to a friend, I opened it up and decided to just read a few pages -- I'm SO glad I did! Once I started reading, I couldn't stop.

I won't try to rehash the plot as other reviews have covered it nicely, but I will add my thoughts as it's an amazingly realistic and engaging read full of adventure with extraordinary writing that pulls you in where you find yourself holding your breath, at turns horrified or astonished. I found myself pulled into another world, and I highly recommend this book.

Don't make my initial mistake of dismissing it lightly -- this is literature to be read and savored.

My son is 19 months old and really enjoys pointing to the different objects on each page. It a great book to learn how to recognize objects in a picture.

These are great books. I plan on keeping all of them even though my son is 6 years old. He still likes to read them. Keep them for your grandkids!

This is a great book for a pre-reader, up to age 4 or so. It teaches rhymes, shapes, colors and numbers, all in a sturdy board book illustrated with funny colorful pictures. Very cute!

My son has loved this book from the start. I thought he was just fascinated by the vibrant colors and pictures, but evidently it is also a valuable learning tool. He knew all the shapes by 12 months. He is 18 months now, and we still read this book, making up stories about the pictures. He still likes being 'tested' on the shapes at the end, though of course he knows it by heart by now.

I have this book as a board book, which is good because it's appropriate as a "baby's first" type of book. I just love it and my one year old just loves the bright pictures. When I put it down to get another one, he points to it again. The rhyming text is wonderful and the pictures are really cool and artsy and bright. My 3-year old also likes it because she understands how to find and count the shapes. I really recommend this one - perfect for a baby gift or first birthday!

CAMP X IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS. IT IS WAY BETTER THAN ALL OF THE OTHER BOOKS I HAVE READ. IT IS AN AMAZING STORY ABOUT TWO KIDS AND WHAT THEY GO THROUGH. IT REALLY ISN'T THAT SAD BUT SOME PARTS ARE. SO I HOPE YOU CHOSE TO READ IT.I KNOW EVERYONE WHILE ENJOY IT

Once I started reading this book it was hard to stop. Two boys were pretending to play war on a road where one was Canadian and the other was a Nazi. They were trying to go home but get stopped by a Jeep. That is how they find the spy camp. They have no idea what is going on in the camp, so they try to find out more and get caught. They get taken to the leader. They think they're in a lot of trouble but end up helping the camp do a few "jobs." They end up finding out one of they're friends is a Nazi spy. They get kidnapped by him and interrogated. Then the other Nazi spies come in and hit them. They end up telling them everything. I can't tell you anymore because then that would ruin the book, and you would probably get mad at me. It is a great book if you like action mysteries. This book has great entertainment and excitement. The details in Camp X are very specific, so you can almost feel what is going on in the story. This book is full of great action. I'd give this book five stars.

Camp X is a great book! Two kids stumble upon a Canadian spy camp and are brought into the service. They are good at infiltrating an allied munitions plant as a test. Then they infiltrate their own camp! One of their friends turns out to be a Nazi spy. I am not going tell any more because that would spoil the book!

My 11-year old son read the entire book today (at school). He loved the story. It showed him how young boys could be useful to the Canadian Army during World War II.

Camo X was very interesting from the begining of the book. I never wanted to put the book down. When I was reading this book I really felt like I was one of the charachters, and was watching them. On a scale of 1-10 I would rate this book a 10 for it's over all entertainment, detail and excitement. I think this is a very good book.

When I was diagnosed with lung cancer, I read countless books searching for valuable information, insight and support. Cancer Talk was far and away the best book that I read. Cancer Talk addresses the cancer experience comprehensively from the perspectives of patients, family members/loved ones, and health care professionals. The voices that are heard in this book are inspiring and life-affirming. I cannot say enough good things about this wonderful book. Reading Cancer Talk will make your cancer experience easier to bear - you will find hope and the wisdom of survivors in its pages.

Recently diagnosed with Non Hodgkins Lymphoma, I felt very isolated as most women's cancer support groups focus on breast cancer. This book let me know that I was not alone- and that what I was feeling was not only normal, but healthy. It reinforced my belief that positive thought and support are crucial elements to being a survivor. Highly recommended!

Having spent almost 4 years in the cancer treatment process with my wife, I highly recommend this book. Its wealth of stories, resources, and insights will be invaluable to anyone who finds themselves trying to understand treatment alternatives and make good decisions for themselves or a loved one. I wish this book had been available to provide guidance and hope to my wife and I. I highly recommend that you buy a copy, use it yourself, or give it to someone who needs it. I have given copies to friends going through the cancer experience, and they have all expressed great appreciation for the knowledge, hope, and inspiration they received from "Cancer Talk".

I happened to be reading "Cancer Talk" just prior to undergoing a biopsy for prostate cancer. The book offered me a special balance of comfort and knowledge from both clinical and personal perspectives. It helped prepare me emotionally for the procedure and the anxiety I felt awaiting the test results. Fortunately the biopsy turned out negative, but reading "Cancer Talk" was a very positive experience. I recommend this book to everyone who needs to understand more about this disease and how it affects patients, survivors, caregivers, friends and family-and I can't think of anyone who would be excluded from this list.

This isn't just a book for people who have been touched by cancer, but, for their loved ones as well.

It will get you informed on every aspect of cancer. Help you deal with the emotions of your diagnosis, helps you cope with the physical and sexual issues. Help you to learn your options in your treatment process, and in the legal work place issues and what your insurance will and will not cover; most of all, how important it is to be in a cancer support group. This is a very important book for those who want to be well informed about this illness.

I've yet to deal with this in my family, knock wood, I was sincerely impressed and informed. Very well done.

This book, and the other mystery books by Robert Newman, are great reads. They are well written and interesting. They don't have too high vocabulary for kids, but they are still interesting and have enough plot to satisfy anybody who enjoys mysteries.

I first read this book 17 years ago...when I was in 6th grade. It is one of 2 books I can remember reading during elementary school; it made that much of an impact. The perfect mystery, and a good introduction to the Sherlock Holmes character for younger readers. A great light read for adults also. Suggested for all any child ages 11 and up...

I love this book! It's perfect for smart 10-11 yearolds-that's when I read it. It's a good beginner Sherlock Holmes, but not like a "My First Sherlock Holmes" book. THIS IS A GREAT BOOK! Andrew Craigie thinks somthing's up when he discovers that his gaurdian is kidnapped. Then someone attempts to kidnapp him! THe case then goes to the great Sherlock Holmes! Take my word for it, this is a great book.

I really love good books, especially mysteries. My favorite male characters are Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poiroit, Brother Cadfael, and, of course, Andrew Craigie/Tillet. Even an adult can read this book and enjoy it. I'd recommend it to anyone, since it's clean, well-written and interesting. Use the little gray-cells, read this book.

I think that this book was a good introduction to children starting to read the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. It showed how he thought, and was a good children's book.

I cherish this book. I am the mother of a wonderful little boy with special needs who is also terminal. I could never put into words all my thoughts and feelings. Ms. Buck did that beautifully and with heart. I reread it often and share it with other parents needing the encouragement that she bestows with her wonderful writing. Thank you!

"The Child Who Never Grew," by Pearl S. Buck, is the true story of the struggle of the author after learning that her daughter Carol, born in 1920, was mentally handicapped. The 1992 Woodbine House edition contains a foreword by James Michener, an introduction by Martha M. Jablow, and an afterword by Janice C. Walsh, who was Pearl's daughter and Carol's's sister.

Jablow notes in her intro that "Child" first appeared as an article in "Ladies Home Journal" in 1950 and was shortly thereafter published in book form. Jablow notes that the book is "a landmark in the literature about disabilities." As such, I consider "Child" a fitting companion text to a book like Helen Keller's "The Story of My Life." Jablow notes that mental retardation "carried a shameful stigma" when Buck first had this story published; Jablow provides further useful historical context for the main text.

Buck writes very movingly of her heartache at the discovery of her child's plight. She documents her awareness of the stigma against people like Carol, and also tells of her search for an institution where Carol's special needs might be met. Buck passionately defends the humanity and worth of the mentally retarded, and tells what her experiences with Carol taught her: "I learned respect and reverence for every human mind. It was my child who taught me to understand so clearly that all people are equal in their humanity and that all have the same human rights."

Walsh's afterword continues the story of Carol. She fills in some of the very obvious gaps in Buck's story. Walsh's contribution to this book is very moving, and includes photos of Carol.

In addition to being a work of historical and sociological importance, I found "The Child Who Never Grew" to be a moving and very personal piece of American literature. For another good companion text, try William Styron's "Darkness Visible," in which the distinguished writer tells of his battle against clinical depression. Also, try "On the Way Home," by Laura Ingalls Wilder; this book has additional material by Laura's daughter, Rose Wilder Lane, and like "The Child Who Never Grew" is thus a sort of mother-daughter literary collaboration.

This old book was first published in 1950 by Pearl Buck (1892-1973), a 1938 Nobel laureate, but originally drafted by her in the much earlier days. Her first daughter Carol was born as a LD child in 1920, due to a delivery accident in a remote village of China. The cause is now known as PKU, a disorder in phenylalanine metablism (and PKU can be fully cured now), but then nobody knew either cause or therapy. That was a beginning of this tragedy of both Carol and her mother Pearl. But that is not the whole story. Pearl's first husband, a scholar, kept ignoring his own LD child, and did not give any special finacial support to this daughter. So when Pearl, then just a house wife, realized that Carol had to be taken care of by the best special school for LD children in the United States for the rest of her own long life (till Carol's death in 1992), she started writing a novel on Chinese farmers, The Good Earth, hoping to earn some money as royality for the sake of Carol's life-long welfare. In 1932, to her great surprise, this book becames the world best seller, and even filmed in 1937 with a great success, and eventually awarded her the big prize the followig year. In other words, this LD child Carol transformed her mother's life and career so dramatically, in a better sense.

Having met so many other mothers who also have LD children, eventually after the end of WW II, Pearl decided to publish her true story on Carol, which turned out to be her first and sole real daughter, in order to share her own difficult experience with these mothers. Meanwhile she adopted several orphan children including Janice Walsh with her second husband Richard Walsh, a talented editor who published "The Good Earth" very successfully.

In the early days of Carol's youth, Pearl had a great difficulty in being willing to admit that Carol's brain had been permanentally damaged. One day, however, at a small hospital in the United States, an old German doctor privately approached her and explained, though in his broken English, to convince her that her daughter would never grow further. To me, that particular scene was the most moving and unforgettable in this book. For I am a retired molecular oncologist who has been trying to develop, particular during my stay in Germany, the first effective therapeutics for a genetic disease called NF1 (neurofibromatosis type 1) which causes not only tumors but also frequently LD in many young children.

It was fascinating to read the account from such an "open-minded" individual as Pearl Buck as having had such difficulty dealing with/ accepting her disabled daughter. Although she clearly loved her daughter she hid her from the rest of her family and the rest of the world almost until the end of her life. Ms Buck was an advocate for the disabled but could not deal with society's prejudices with regard to her own child.

A very moving book. The book was written 50 years ago, and it sounds as current as if it had been written today. A mother's feelings are timeless.

August Aquila and Bruce Marcus reward readers of Client at the Core with an imaginative map for the perilous journey through the twists and turns of marketing and managing today's professional services firm. It is creative and thorough.

August Aquila and Bruce Marcus have written a clear and comprehensive view of what every accounting or law marketer needs to know about this new, unprecedented professional services environment. Their book not only explains the new environment, but it's also a rich primer of practical "how-to" advice on all the marketing tools available to the professional services marketer. Strategy is fine, but I find that few books get down to the step-by-step implementation tactics involved in winning new business like this book does - that's one of its best points of differentiation. After reading it, I bought copies for every one of my regional, industry, service line and national marketing leaders.

"Meaty and rich with texture. The authors understand the application of marketing concepts to the CPA profession at a very deep level, and communicate clearly and concisely."

"Every page was another 'Yes!' when reading about the application of marketing principles to the CPA world. The authors nailed it."

This book should burnish the authors' already high reputations for having cogent, jargon-free, and street-smart things to say about what it's really like to try to market professional services. An unusual blend of (clear and lucidly stated) theory about marketing, and real-world insights into obstacles clients can throw up--not to mention the high barrier of internal resistance that "professionals" instinctively erect when asked to be marketers--this should be your starting point if you're facing the complexities of marketing in this environment.

Think that "marketing is just common sense?" Think again; it's both a discipline and an art. Aquila and Marcus will guide your hand at both.

In "Client at the Core: Marketing and Managing Today's Professional Services Firm," (Wiley, 2004) August J. Aquila, based in Minnetonka, Minn., and Bruce W. Marcus, in Easton, Conn., a pair of veteran consultants, combine their considerable experience, skill and insight into a veritable strategic planning operator's manual for today's consulting firm.

From the outset, they acknowledge "the professional world doesn't need another book on how to write a press release or write a brochure or run a seminar."

Instead, they provide a new perspective on the crucial subject of how to keep firms relevant to the needs of the marketplace -- mainly, creating clients and building a marketing culture.

They don't get tied up in ideas like "vision," or "mission."

Instead they talk about the new realities of the 21st Century and professions in turmoil: dot-coms gone bust, a stock market meltdown, and a rash of frauds, defalcations, misuse of corporate funds; and then a reformist reaction, still unfolding, that the authors term "a helter-skelter regulatory rush that was at least as punitive as it was appropriate. It would seem that the regulatory garment was cut to fit all, when all don't wear the same size."

"The time is past when just the presence of the professional was its own comfort factor. It's long been believed that the concept of the professional was so exalted, and so trusting, that people accepted advice unquestioningly. No more. The scandals of 2002 and 2003 seem to have bred a diminished - if unwarranted -- respect for professionals," they say.

"Traditionally, professional services have been a seller's market," according to Aquila and Marcus. But now the tables are turned. "It is now a buyer's market."

For today's professionals, here are six lessons you can take to the bank according to the authors:

1. Clients are more sophisticated. They no longer accept advice without questioning, challenging, demanding more reasoning and detail.

2. Because of the complexity of business today, clients demand that their professionals know more about the client's business and industry than ever before.

3. Professional services always function best when trust is at the heart of the relationship, but the corporate scandals of recent years have eroded that trust. That trust must now be regenerated. And the workings of trust are more important in the new economy than in the old.

4. Once the narrow structures of a profession were sufficient to serve clients. But clients now demand a broader spectrum of capabilities. The more broadly educated and well-rounded professional is the one with the greater advantage in meeting the needs of today's client. Clients demand that accountants know more than the basic skills of accounting.

5. Competition is now a fact of life. Clients know they have a choice.

Clients know the difference between marketing promises and professional services delivery. Today's client demands more real service and solutions -- not just a warm personal relationship.
To Aquila and Marcus, the new paradigm of professional services requires a new demand for partnership with the client and new participatory skills.

As they say: It's a buyers' market. Get used to it.

(...)

This book gives you a detailed plan in how to construct your own laundromat, how negotiate with the landlord, chart analysis and even technical plumbing techniques to analyze and evaluate a laundromat based on location, equipment age as well as pricing a laundromat correctly.

This book is indispensible for anyone interested in owning or operating a coin laundry. In fact I highly recommend it to anyone interested in starting any small business.

I decided to buy this book after finding not much else in this business field. I am well impressed. This book has answered questions that nobody else will answer. More importantly, it's doing so from an unbiased opinion. Information, charts, evaluation methods, that are detailed in the book. Its like from an insider's perspective. This book is like a mentor with years of experience, showing you the ropes and holes to avoid. A must buy for anyone thinking about getting into this business. Especially a new comer to this industry.

Now in a newly revised and expanded edition, Coin Laundries: Road To Financial Independence by Emerson G. Higdon is a practical, comprehensive, highly recommended guide to starting and operating self-service laundries that will turn a laudable profit. From machinery issues, to dealing with governmental regulations, to meticulously computing financial data and revenue balanced against expenses, Coin Laundries is an absolute "must" for anyone seriously considering a coin-operated laundry business, as well as being a useful and basic perusal for anyone with an interest in any other coin-operated form of commerce.

THis is a must read for anyone who is serious about owning a coin laundry business,full of helpful information

Very fast delivery, and arrived in excellent condition. I was very pleased with how it was packaged.

by don dallas, ddallas10@yahoo.com


"Parents, your job is not over yet, " declared a flier given me at an orientation session for parents of freshmen. The flier warned me that the first eight weeks on campus will be "stressful". It also urged me to talk to my son about alcohol abuse on campus. Until then that college and all others presented themselves as blissful environments of intellectual and human growth. This was the first time it was suggested that college was stressful.

The stress, it turns out, often is longer and deeper. The most authoritative source on campus stress, College of the Overwhelmed, The Mental Health Crisis on Campus and What to Do About it, was published in October, 2004, by Richard Kadison, M. D., a psychiatrist who is chief of Mental Health Services at Harvard University, and Theresa Foy DeGeronimo, a writer specializing in parenting and education. Contrary to the impression many parents have had that it is time to leave the kids on their own, the book urges parents to be aware, informed, and watchful. Parents are the "best hope" , Dr. Kadison and Ms. DeGeronimo say. They must engage their college sons and daughters in open, adult-adult (yet non-intrusive) communications not just for eight weeks, but for all four or more of the college years. The book even advises parents to have a "crisis plan" ready in case their college-based children need emergency help. "It's ironic that just when you feel you are setting your children free they often need your support and attention more than ever before." One out of every two students becomes so depressed they cannot function at some point during their college career, it says. One out of two become binge drinkers. Student mental health challenges too often go uncared for: students suffer silently as their already-besieged emotional health erodes further. Almost 10 percent of college students consider suicide. "Parents should also help their children choose a college that is not woefully deficient in the area of ...campus mental health. How can parents tell? The book offers checklists of symptoms to look for and questions for parents to ask campus staff and administrators. The book aims to "open a dialogue, get us talking, and suggest ways we all can face these facts and do something..." It is a seminal work, a goldmine of research, insights and advice. "Listen, Listen, Listen," the authors shout to parents. The mental health crisis on campus is the "elephant in the room nobody is talking about."

I am a psychologist who works in a college counseling center, and I wish that I could make this book required reading for the parents of every new student entering college. Main author Richard Kadison--Chief of the Mental Health Service at Harvard University Health Services--does an excellent job of outlining the many issues which college students face and the ways in which these issues are potentially hazardous to every student's mental health. He also provides extremely useful suggestions for what parents can do to help their college student as well as practical tips for the college students themselves. The only sections of the book which I found to be less effective were the chapter and appendix which focused on what colleges should be doing to address the mental health crisis on campus; this information seemed out of place in a book largely intended for parents. However, the remaining two appendices were more relevant, providing a summary of data from the 2002 American College Health Association Survey results as well as an overview of common medications used to treat psychological conditions. Overall, this a well-done, tremendously valuable book; highly recommended.

With my fourth college freshman ensconced in college, I am sorry that I didn't have this book for reference with my other three children. Each student is different with different needs, stress indicators, and mechanisims for coping with college. This book clearly illustrates the number of ways kids react to college...both positive and negative. No one goes to college today without some form of stress either academically, socially, or emotionally. With the help of this book, college students and their parents have a chance at predicting the challenges and setting out a plan that is specific to preventing serious mental health issues from being so overwhelming. This is a great guide for coping and surviving these stressful years and perhaps leading to happiness and success.

This book is very timely, and is of importance. There is a crisis out there, and parents and students need to recognize the problems of being depressed, and that there is something that can and should be done to cope with these disorders. The book is very well written, and easy to read. I feel this book should be read by every parent and every student so they can recognize the signs of depression, and get the help they need. It is a wake-up call, and a real contribtion to mental health. Dr.ERK