Vans Books

I started reading this book as I was cooking dinner for my extended family. I almost ruined the day as I couldn't put it down! I gave it to my sister so she could read it and she told me the character was so real to her .... When is the follow up coming???

I just loved this book! It was hard to put down. A bestseller! Can't wait until this author writes another book!!!!

When Evils Converge is one of the best books I've read in a while. Great Story line, several different characters, yet easy to follow! I couldn't put this book down, read it in just two days!

I picked up this book because I loved the illustrations and the author lives in Bucks Co., Pa (as do I). Well, my four year old son and I just loved it. And it made for good conversation after. The author addresses in such a nice, comfortable way what happens to flowers, fish, deer, birds and caterpillars in the winter. The illustrations are just beautiful and cozy. A wonderful winter book--or any time really.

I saw this book in my child's school book order and just had to have it. My son was not so convinced, but reluctantly agreed to order it. Now he loves it! The author has put into words a story that I can share with my son the world that I grew up in. The poetry and pictures just completely draw us in.

I have been reading this book to my daughter for quite some time now and she loves it. So do I. I also read it to a local kindergarten class last year and they too loved it. It is simple,pretty and classic. Great book!!

This book was so generalized, it was of no value. The book is small, but none of the information was worth reading. If someone has even heard of insulin resistance, they know as much as they would get reading this book. Very disappointing.

Wonderful book on insulin resistants for beginners. Well written, and easy to understand. Buy this book if you have pre-diabetes, or diabetes. Very helpful!

A great book about insulin resistance, what causes it and who has it. It's super easy to read and understand - no big medical jargon to deal with. I've bought several copies for friends and family. Everyone has enjoyed it and has gained insight as to what is attributable to their weight gain and how being insulin resistant is at least, partly responsible. Not only does it explain what insulin resistant is but explains what you can do to correct the situation and avoid the inevitable, destructive path ahead of you - a burned out pancreas and a life of diabetes - if you don't make changes in your life. Great book! I applaud the author!

I bought this for a friend who needed the information but was unlikely to read anything overly detailed. This is just what she needed to get the information.

I've gotten hooked on the Judge Dee Mysteries. I was always a fan of the Charlie Chan movies and to find a series of books that are more authentic and set in ancient China is a real treat! Written so well and captivatingly.

Published in 1965, the historical mystery, The Willow Pattern, A Judge Dee Mystery by Robert van Gulik, portrays 7th century AD China and Judge Dee, the Lord Chief Justice in China's Imperial Capital. The author, a Dutch scholar writes in the manner of a traditional 18th century Chinese writer of 7th century Chinese mystery stories. Although historically Judge Dee was a magistrate in the Tang Dynasty, the stories are set in the Ming Dynasty. The antecedents of this popular mystery series is only the first complications the reader meet. Judge Dee (probably based on a real character) is an intelligent and canny Confucian Magistrate who always delivers impartial and fair justice to all. Populist hero Judge Dee and his justice are not always in line with the Imperial Rule justice. But Judge Dee's justice always solved the crimes and sends the evildoers to their doom.

But, justice did depend on Judge Dee and how he alone decided to investigate, interpret the facts, interpret the law, pass judgment and decide the sentence (if any) based on his judgment and knowledge of the case. There was no appeal after Judge Dee declared the verdict. Fair, impartial justice under the old Confucian system in China was solely dependent on the judgment of the magistrate. The mystery story, The Willow Pattern illustrates how arbitrary Chinese justice can be under the old Confucian system. Ordinary citizens of China were regulated differently from the nobility. Women were, of course even lower in status than ordinary citizens. The ability to defend their life with deadly force, a natural law that we take for granted in America, is illustrated in The Willow Pattern, "Women of the underworld sometimes carry an iron ball of about the size of a large egg in the tip of each sleeve. Since the law forbids ordinary citizens to carry daggers or other cutting weapons on their person, on the penalty of a flogging, those women have developed a special art of fighting with loaded sleeves." The "loaded sleeves" were considered deadly weapons. The people accepted their place in life since it was the will of heaven that the rulers had a mandate to rule. When they had a bad master they understood that they were expected to accommodate the situation as their fate. Speaking of a bad man (Yee) who was their master, Cassia explains, "He was a bad man, but he was our master. Heaven willed it so." Justice was also the will of heaven so when it was not arbitrary that was a blessing but not to be counted on.

The story here occurs during a time of plague and Judge Dee rules alone in the Imperial City and wears many different hats. He must administer and safeguard the city's food stores, manage the military (normally separate from civilian control) and deal with the disposal of the plague victims. Judge Dee also investigates charges of wrongdoing, conducts inquests concerning suspicious deaths and arbitrates civil affairs. He also prosecutes, defends, adjudicate and oversee sentencing of criminal cases. Judge Dee is also concerned with finding the causes of the plague, the plague sanitation problems and trying to ameliorate the conditions in the Imperial City. Justice in China during a state of martial law is also harsh with no mercy under Judge Dee. Under Judge Dee's rule when the hungry, poor men and women attempt to raid the granary for food, they are slaughtered by the military. Military iron-shafted arrows launched by the soldiers' crossbows are no match for the unarmed civilians. Judge Dee rationalizes that 30 dead men and women saved thousands of people from starving. Judge Dee does not investigate if there was a better way to deal with the hungry crowd. Floggings and beheadings are also considered rational steps for controlling the unruly crowds.

The fact that justice for all was not an ideal realized in old China escaped Judge Dee's discernment. The safeguards built into the Chinese justice system (ring a gong if something's wrong) do not always lend themselves to practical living. The pressures of Chinese life in old china for the poor to conform to the governments mandate to fulfill the will of heaven take their toll. His Confucian training and way of life does not leave room for the possibility of justice not being blind in a society mandated by heaven. "High up here in your palace, my lord, you know very little indeed about the kind of justice meted out by the minions of the law to us, the poor." In the end Judge Dee does mete out fair, impartial and creative justice and just desserts for the evil doers. But, even with Judge Dee heroics, justice in old China is not always assured or just for everyone.

A fun read on any level that you care to take it!

This book is great! I have read it 4 times!

The man's name is Willie Kocurek. If you have never met him, then you have missed out on an opportunity to know a true "Austin Icon". Of his many mantras, "Where there's a Willie, there's a way", speaks volumes of his success. This book is an entertaining glimpse into what has made the man what he is today. I know Willie - and thanks to this book, I now know the way!

A piece of Willie Kocurek's lovable stories to take home with you! I have heard Willie speak and his book comes to life with his wonderful stories! I could actually see him as a child stomping the sauerkraut!

Thanks, Willie, for sharing your life and your wisdom with us. We should all strive to be like you!

The people at the bookstore are probably still talking about the nut who danced around the featured books table last night. I couldn't help it... I was completely caught off guard by the title staring at me: "The Wit and Wisdom of Willie Kocurek."

My little celebration dance concluded, I snatched up the book and ran to the counter, never bothering to look at the price. It wouldn't have mattered.

Too excited to drive home, I read the first several chapters in the parking lot, then drove home and finished it. I'll probably reread it every year or two from now on. In my humble opinion, no library is complete without one of these little beauties in it. Everyone needs to know Willie Kocurek.

The story of the morning that I met Willie by accident has become the favorite chapter of many readers of my own New York Times bestseller, Secret Formulas of The Wizard of Ads. (Chapter 75: A Bright Red Bow Tie)

Willie Kocurek is one of those rare people that you should go out of your way to get to know. Buy this book and you'll carry the pearls of Willie's humor, audacity, wit and wisdom in your heart for the rest of your life... a bargain at any price.

The only thing that disappoints me about this book is that so few people have read it. Van Willard's diaries are very different from most other Civil War accounts. They are extremely well written; I was surprised that he wasn't a well-known writer, considering the engaging text. Willard doesn't go into the minutiae of daily life, but presents an all-around account that is on a completely different level than other soldiers' diaries or letters.

You won't be disappointed with this book!

This isn't just another Civil War soldier's diary; Van Willard wrote 5 complete journals or "books" during his enlistment with the 3rd Wisconsin Infantry. You will discover that Willard was a very insightful and educated fellow, as he offers his thoughts and opinions about the war, the south, slavery, immigrant troops, the Iron Brigade, officers and so forth. Viewing the war from his eyes offers the reader an entirely different perspective than what we are used to finding in other Civil War books and diaries.

I highly recommend this book for any civil war buff or for anyone interested in the finest regiment to ever leave the Badger State, Wisconsin's 3rd Regiment of Infantry Volunteers.!

Fantastic reading! One gets the feeling that you've just discovered a set of dusty old diaries written by your great-great grandfather. The only thing missing is the original quill pen writing and the smell of old paper! There is no mistaking this was written by a man who was there. The author was no ordinary soldier-he was obviously intelligent and well educated by the way he retained and portrayed so vividly the events and topics of the period. This is not a military history, although there is much historical fact recorded. He discusses not only the battles and life as a soldier, but also the current thinking of both the Union supporters and the rebellion supporters. The editors comments are helpful, often providing important relavent information and correcting historical mistakes. Not all of the text was written on the front lines. Much of it was written in recent retrospect, and probably with the help of other soldiers accounts; so it isn't entirely first hand. Nonetheless, it's as close to the original story one can get. The discussion of the battle scenes is detailed enough to evoke real empathy toward all who lived during the war, yet is sparing of any gory detail. I'm not a military buff. I'm a history buff. I enjoyed the reading for its originality. It puts you squarely back to the 1860's.

This is and excellent book. I was looking for a good book of workflows to use in my work and class like university professor. Out there there are many "empty" books. This one is rare one excellent book deep and simple and the same time. I strongly recommend it.
Bye Martin

This is an excellent book containing principals, patterns and practices of workflow systems. The theory of workflow is covered with terms of Petri nets, the relevant concepts are clearly explained, and a lot of practical examples with thought provoking questions are included. I enjoyed reading/studying it. Workflow practitioners will find this book very useful both for practical and theoretical aspects. Finally a book that connects the practice of workflow with simple but complete theory!

This book has significantly changed my thinking about and approach to workflow management. Prior to reading it I based workflow systems on process chains based on frameworks such as entry-task-validation-exit (ETVX) or plan-do-check-act (PDCA). While process chains are a valid approach, the only level of formality I imposed was cost and value analysis, which I realized after reading this book was not the entire picture of a workflow.

What I learned is how to view workflow as a logical network using Perti Nets, which are both graphical and based on a formal language using Boolean logic (AND and OR joins and splits), programmatic views (iteration) and analytical logic (causality). More importantly, this approach has resolved a misalignment between the design of workflow systems with which I previously used procedures and events and the development approach used by my company's software engineers who were using object-oriented methods. Petri Nets are based on states instead of events, which more naturally aligns object-oriented development of workflow systems to the underlying design. Discovering this is what so significantly changed my thinking and approach to workflow.

Although this book is heavily slanted towards Perti Nets, it also contains a wealth of material about workflow from business process and operations perspectives, and does not obviate process chain approaches. Instead, it provides you with a good grounding in the basics of workflow in general, and provides you with tools, techniques and an approach to developing workflows in a formal manner. If you are involved in process design, workflow development or business process engineering/reengineering this book is an invaluable, thought-provoking resource.

Writing Effective E-mail provides many practical and insightful strategies for writing e-mail messages that get results. The message formulas on pages 28-30 are particularly useful for organizing good-news, bad-news, and persuasive messages.

This book is extremely useful. They have very useful instructions on how to effectively communicate with e-mail. This is something every company needs.

This book is best for someone who is aware that their email (and written) communication could use improvement and is motivated to improve. This book is NOT an instruction on how to use your email program. Rather, this book discusses (and gives well-designed examples of) how to effectively use email in a business setting. The book is compact and laid out nicely, with effective use of examples.

Sections includes:
Section 1: Management Policies. Discussion and examples of policies to implement, and how to manager workers via email (with Do's and Don'ts)

Section 2: The Traits of E-Mail writing.
- Focus Your Ideas
- Improve Your Organization
- Use an Appropriate Voice
- Choose Words with Care (includes technical words and jargon)
- Improve Your Sentences
- Check for Correct Copy
- Design E-mails for Clarity

Section 3: Models and Activities (includes several examples of model emails, and practice activities).

I encountered resistance when trying to buy copies of this book while at a former employer. I was in a technical organization, and "we all know how to use email" was the attitude, with no concern that their emails looked like ransom notes (with a variety of fonts, colors, etc.) and often were ignored due to a lack of clarity. The content of this book is great, trying to implement it may be difficult.

Going to school is a big deal. We can't possibly think of all the things that might come up, but this book will prepare you!

Don't know how to solve a problem, like bully troubles or homework woes? Van Vleet gives practical solutions in easy-to-understand language.

This book is a must read for any parent with a child in K-3rd grade!

This is a great book for those of us with school-aged kids. My first child started school this year and I am so glad to have a book like this. This book covers such a wide range of issues, from riding the bus to not getting along with a teacher, to being afraid to use the bathroom....and issues I have never even thought of. I'm finding this book helpful to me to look forward to potential problems and already have some ideas of how to cope with them. I even got this years teachers' Christmas presents from the last page of the book. I definately reccommend this book to everyone with kids in school.

Yikes! It's Due Tomorrow?!: How to Handle School Snafus is a parent's reference guide to answers of how to handle your grade-school child's "crises" or mishaps that can be done so easily without muddling through an encyclopedia.

After the first school bell rings, what if my friend is in a different classroom or if I don't like my teacher or I get lost at school? Answers are given to these valid grade-school problems by first giving parents an insight into children's thought processes and then following up with Insider tips and creative ways to work out these problems for young children from a former elementary school teacher and parent, Carmella Van Vleet.

For example, Carmella Van Vleet suggests that when a child is having trouble getting lost in the school building to help the child draw a map, depending on the age of your child, and use a variety of games such as "counting" the steps to get to different locations in the building. This will give the child a sense of distance from one classroom to another and diminish their fears and trauma. Another trying problem for children are bullies-those who are or those being bullied. Excellent information on this topic. These are just a couple of issues addressed, among many helpful tips.

Other real life snafus your child may experience:

** being late for school
** classroom situations
** academic issues
** playground problems
** homework issues
** miscellaneous

Excellent common-sense advice for helping your child with problems that arise in growing up in the school environment. It is a refresher course for parents on handling homework issues, friendship questions, common phobias, gifts to give a school teacher, and parent-teacher conferences help. Easy-to-use practical parental tips in a fun and humorous way.

Insomnia is the single most prevalent sleep disorder with an estimated ten percent of the American population having insomnia nightly. Yoga is a recognized exercise technique with established healing effects. Now Yoga has been applied to treating insomnia with a therapeutic regimen made accessible for the non-specialist general reader through the collaborative efforts of practicing primary care physician Peter Van Houten and Rich McCord, the worldwide director of Ananda Yoga, one of the largest schools of yoga in the United States today. Yoga Therapy For Overcoming Insomnia articulately discusses the types, causes, and treatments of insomnia, as well as providing expert instruction on creating good sleep habits. Extensive information is provided on how to use yoga postures as an aid in treating and preventing insomnia, along with useful conventional and alternative treatments to supplement the utilization of yoga in combating insomnia. Enhanced with a variety of additional "tips, techniques, and tools", Yoga Therapy For Overcoming Insomnia requires no prior knowledge of, or expertise with, yoga in order to quickly benefit from the advice and instruction provided. If you or a loved one is grappling with the problem of insomnia, whether chronic or intermittent, then give a careful reading to Yoga Therapy For Overcoming Insomnia.

I have had insomnia for years and have tried many different types of treatments like drugs, exercise, and diet. All have worked to varying degrees of success, but none like the yoga rountines offered in "Yoga Therapy for Overcoming Insomnia". Not only does this book offer a yoga practice for better sleep, but also a comprehensive medical backround of what insomnia is and how you can also make some simple lifestyle adjustments to sleep more soundly. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking to get a better night's sleep and improve their quality of life. -Phil Romano

Yoga Therapy is a revolutionary new approach to working with common physical and mental ailments. ~Peter Van Houten, M.D. & Gyandev Rich McCord, Ph.D.

There are many reasons people experience sleeplessness. The causes could range from emotional stress (anger, jealousy, worry, fear, insecurity, resentment, hurt), watching too much stressful TV before bed, pain in your body from injuries, anxiety, depression or drinking to many cups of coffee during the day. Insomnia can also be an age-related problem and it does seem that the older I get, the more difficult it is to get to sleep. Having a new kitten has taught me a lot about the joys of sleep and Meesa also seems to love sitting on the edge of my yoga mat while I do yoga.

I have noticed a direct correlation between emotional stress and a lack of sleep. When the mind is overly active trying to solve problems, it can be very difficult to fall into a restful sleep. Even answering e-mails later in the evening seems to keep me awake longer.

Yoga can magically alleviate emotional stress and give you a center of calm and a place to relax completely into the moment. It is a way of loving yourself and nurturing your body and soul. Yoga is very much about "time for you." It is a beautiful escape into your own personal power and into a place where you can feel complete peace and a sense of joy.

This book contains excellent advice from an acclaimed professional yoga teacher and an experienced medical doctor.

You will find information on the reasons people can't sleep, what the body does while we sleep, how sunlight and darkness affect sleep patterns, how to create good sleep habits, the secrets of a great night's sleep, relaxing Ananda Yoga Postures and affirmations, breathing exercises to lead you into sleep, what to do when you wake up in the middle of the night and want to go back to sleep and if you should consider a snack before bed and what type of snack?

So, if you are tired of taking sleep medications, give yoga a try. You can incorporate this into your regular exercise routine or daily routine. I like walking first to get the nervous energy out of my body. Walking also seems to make me happier and when I'm happier, I sleep better.

Yoga is a healing therapy that can truly help you to sleep. That is why I generally do relaxing yoga workouts in the evening. There are many different styles of yoga and you may find that one style invigorates your body, while a gentle practice will lead you to a place of complete joy and peaceful sleep. A cup of relaxing herbal tea and a quiet space with candles also seems essential to the process.

Gyandev McCord has also created videos to teach the Ananda Yoga routines. Look for Yoga for Busy People and Yoga to Awaken the Chakras. I found that imagining colors inside your body is actually very healing and relaxing. It might sound different, but it definitely works for me.

~The Rebecca Review

Also recommended:

The Metabolic Plan - Good advice for staying young and balancing your life.

Natural Health Magazine Complete Guide to Safe Herbs - Information on Valerian, Kava Kava and Chamomile.

Ali MacGraw Yoga Mind & Body - Hypnotic musical score.

Crunch Candlelight Yoga - Relaxing candles and soothing stretching poses.

Hemalaya Behl's Yoga for Urban Living - Evening Bath helps you relax completely.

Yoga Zone Flexibility & Stress Release - At the end of this workout I can truly say I enter a state of bliss.