New Books

I'll be brief. My mom told me about this book years and years ago. I finally read it a few years ago.

Style-wise, I thought it was a bit melodramatic and I thought the author was stretching for words for emotional impact. Thus, I deduct a star for that.

What this guy's been through and what he's accomplished? Five stars isn't enough. I'd give him a million if I could on this site.

His journalistic travels to the middle east, especially his ride up the mountain on the back of a donkey, leaving his wheelchair behind - intense and beautiful.

I look up to John Hockenberry. I have a travel site, Wheel Adventure, and I am a paraplegic in a wheelchair. I think about this guy when I travel alone. If he can do it, I can travel solo as well. And I have and continue to do so.

Glad mom suggested this. One of the best reads ever and I was an English major and have read a slew of books.

I bought this book immediately after a close relative was injured in a car accident. It seemed different than the others (Although some of the others have been a great help in other ways). I know NPR and I had seen Hockenberry on NBC. The book was over the top better than I could have hoped. It is unique because it is written with such a clear voice in language that really grips you and takes you for a ride, it is funny--even laugh out loud funny and I'm a cynical person, it is witty, it has a political edge (which is why he and I would have some loud arguments at the dinner table), and it is not sugar-coated so while you are interested and amused you do get an education about what it's like to be a "crip." The best part is that when it was done, and I read it pretty passionately, I knew for a fact that I probably would not like him as a person, but I do respect him. Interesting take on "crips" for a newbie to that world. Thank you so much for this and I do hope that my dear cousin will be up to reading it one day.

John Hockenberry has a declaration to make, and he does it in an incredibly moving and entertaining manner. I highly recommend this book. It is poignant, very funny, and educational--about Middle Eastern geography and politics and about life from the perspective of those in a wheelchair.

From buying it (i think) 2 days early and reading over a very nice summer weekend in june 1995, i knew this book was - just- different. Amazing use of the language, probably the best crip biography to date (and it's well over a decade now. Based my Honors Thesis in College on what Hockenberry wrote in this book, traveled miles and miles to see his off broadway play, speaking dates across the country, and even got to know myself - and him, better as well, he ain't on nbc anymore, but this still stands as probably one of the must reads in disability studies or crip liberation.

I want to keep my review short because, if you have not read this book, reading my review will take up some of the time in which you could be reading the real book. When "Moving Violations" was first published, I heard a review of it on NPR. John Hockenberry is an NPR alum so I expected the book to be almost as good as the review led me to believe. I ordered it from Amazon and devoured it in almost no time. It was actually better than the radio review had led me to expect. A month later, I got a call from Seattle that delivered horrific news. My 21-year-old son had been in a contest with gravity and gravity had won. Although he had just had 18 hours of surgery, there was no way to know if he would ever walk again. Through the years since that time, I have read "Moving Violations" many times. It initially gave me entrance to a new world and was much more helpful to both my son and I than all the rehab publications combined. I knew, from the moment I answered that phone call that both my son and I had crossed into the Twilight Zone and nothing would ever be the same again. The Twilight Zone, however, had at least one map. My son's journey was, and continues to be, unique (as all such journeys are). I did feel, from the very beginning, that we had a preview of some of the directional signposts and even some of the scenic overlooks. I cannot help but think that our family has been living and learning about this new life in a richer way than would never have been possible if we had not read this book. As soon as my son came home from rehab it became clear that he had lost his will to live. I had a captive audience and started reading "M V" aloud. It is well written and mirrors many of the dilemmas in the life of a young male with spinal cord damage. I think it only took two days for my son to get interested enough that he started reading it himself. This book was truly one of the first things that helped him recover his will to live. Living with a catastrophic spinal cord injury is not even at the bottom of the list of interesting travel sites, and while I cannot believe that anyone would take that path voluntarily, "M V" is proof that, along with the horror, there can be adventure and possibilities in life; possibilities that could be so easily missed. So...READ IT! While spinal cord injury may never be a part of your personal life, sooner or later something awful could be. As the Eagles remind us, "The wolf is always at the door." In whatever guise the wolf presents itself, you will have learned something useful about what to do when or if the wolf appears.

This is a wonderful and touching story. It is a good read, and I recommend it to anyone who has ever had a pet. I especially like that it has a jack russell in the story.

This book is the story of Willie Morris' childhood companion, a dog named Skip. Willie recounts his adolescent years and all the fond memories of his dog and friends as they grew up together in small town Mississippi. The story is heartwarming and the author paints a very clear picture of all the shenanigans, good times and bad that he and his dog had together over the years. I liked this book; but I think a male reader would appreciate the bond between a boy and his dog more than I can.

This was a great book! It was so touching and heartfelt. I love dogs and this book is an example of someone who loves dogs like me so I can connect! Greatly recomended!

Willie Morris was a truly great author! This story of his childhood with his dog was really heartwarming. It is so simple and warm and humorous, you will just love it. Warning: you will cry your eyes out at the end, but it's worth the pain. One of the best animal stories ever, I hope many kids read this in school. If you loved the movie "A Christmas Story" you will love this book. The movie version of "My Dog Skip" is also quite good, though it is kind of upsetting that in order to create drama the wonderful father of the book is kind of nasty in the movie. Willie Morris was a great author who also wrote a cat book entitled "My Cat Spit McGee" and several books about his life that remind me a little of Russel Baker's memoirs. One is entitled "North Toward Home", another "Good Old Boy" and one is about life in New York City.

Willie Morris has recounted the life of not just a boyhood pet, but a dear and close friend.
The Story of Skip's life as told by his owner is full of mythic adventures of childhood. Where every new day was full of joy and wonder. Morris' storytelling brings the dog, his family and the lush southern landscape into full and brilliant view.
When you read My Dog Skip you can just feel how much this young man loved and revered his dog.
Any of us who have had a much loved pet know that the bond between animal and human can reach so much further than just "pet and owner". Willie Morris makes the statement that Skip wasn't just his dog, but his brother... that is a beautiful thing. Morris grew up an only child but did not feel alone by any stretch of the imagination. He was loved deeply by and deeply loved his dog Skip.
Another great point made in this book is how Willie Morris learned so much from his dog Skip. He clearly states that the most lasting lessons he has learned about love and loyalty came from knowing his dog.
This book captures so well the love a boy or any human being can have for a pet... I loved the story and highly recommend it!

I am new to large format photography. This book is extremly informative and focuses just on negative construction, manipulation and b&w processing. An excellent and timeless resource! Excellent for all formats!

If film shooting is interesting to you (and you should; I'm 26 and grew up with cameras, then I move to digital, and recentlly, I discovered the wonders of a darkroom and BW prints) then this book is a MUST Well, the whole series)!!! there aren't enough words to emphasize my feelings over the 3 books of Ansel Adams (camera, negative & print)

If you don't believe me, then please take a deep look at Ansel's master BW work... that should convince you!!!

This is an excellent book that will help experienced and newcomers in photography. Pay attention to the Zone system that Adams has devised. It will realy help you take total control over your pictures with a helpfull and very creative perspective. The last part of the book (developing negatives) might be ommited by the person who is into digital, although it helped me comprehend a lot about the various Adobe Photoshop features and relate them to classic photography.

One little remark I have to make is for the publisher. The book is printed into gloss paper (all the three books in the series) with a high reflectance index. This results in dificulty reading the book at certain angles.

Concisely written in Adams' own scholarly style, "The Negative" is a valuable resource for photographers learning the foundation of technically correct (as opposed to generally good) base exposure in a variety of scenes, both pedestrian and those that are more conflicting. One must, however, consider that more than 4 decades have passed since the techniques were founded and the technology described can be viewed, in many cases, with a quaint tug at nostalgia. Today's evaluative and matrix metering systems, programmed along the Zone System, do a remarkable job where once exposure was tedious and error prone, and this is where learning the Zone System to competently handle difficult scenes is a useful addition to a photographer's "book of tricks". But despite the clarity of explanation and steps, Adams' Zone System remains a complex, intertwining system to understand (theory) and apply (field application); it never was and never will be a five-minute task. For B&W fine art photographers, "The Negative" holds a timeless reference quality with many techniques remaining the solid benchmarks for fine art production. In summary, a tremendously good read and a most valuable addition to any learned photographer's library.

The Negative (Ansel Adams Photography, Book 2)

Ansel Adams was a master of photography but not the most exciting storyteller , in my opinion.

This book is one that you should read as part of a complete education in photography, but there are some long sections in it. The parts of the book explaining Adams' zone system are very worthwhile and great stuff. Much of the rest of the book is only interesting if you are shooting film (not digital), as it deals specifically with darkroom processing.

Read about the zone system here or somewhere else, but learn it. If you are a film photog, read this whole book. For digital shooters, you might want to read only the sections of interest.

You CAN let your kids read it TOO! I'm an engineer and this book is full of stuff I now use at work - really. My eight year old doesn't have the attention span to get through a section, YET.

My husband loves to learn about how things work. The title of the book told me this was just the book for him.

*Keep It Short and Simple.

If you doubt that technical information can be short and simple, read this book. It was written for anyone old enough to read well, and especially designed for those who find technology intimidating. It not only provides comprehensive descriptions of the way hundreds of machines and devices work, but also gives explanations of the scientific principles behind each. The book makes liberal, effective use of graphic diagrams, and describes most of the machines and devices in 200 to 300 words on 1 or 2 pages.

This is a great book. It breaks down complicated concepts into simple principles that a child can understand. A good start for budding engineers.

Put these four things together--ingenuity, imagination, depictions, diagrams-- and you have a double ID toward understanding how things work. David Macaulay and Neil Ardley put together a magnificent volume for children and children at heart containing a way of understanding the laws of physics and mechanics.

The first illustration even shows God busy creating the rotation of the earth. Then they go to the earth where wooly mammoths lived and pick up one to take us through the history of mechanics, machines, and the like. Dozens of movements in five sections: waves, electricity, automation, digital domain, and machines show us just how easy these things are to understand done in drawerings.

Just as in child's play, there is no seeming order to the arrangement of items in the book. For example here are a few pages next to each other: vacuum cleaners, aqualungs or oxygen tanks, the toilet tank, the water meter, dishwasher, spray nozzle, fire extinguisher. Are you seeing an order? Yes, so am I.

Flipping over a hundred pages, I find the jet engine, rocket engines, nuclear power, nuclear weapons, fallout, nuclear reactor. OK, a definite pattern. Another hundred pages show these topics: movie camera, movie projector, printing, paper making, printing plate, printing press, bookbinding. More discernible order and logical arrangement.

One last check: scanner, bits and bytes, flash memory, magnetic storage, microchip, processor, software. We know where we are and recognize the order--a computer and its parts.

This reviewer has a suggestion for the reader. Once you have this book in hand, take it home, take it out every night and read a comfortable number of pages. If you have a child, read one page, discuss it, put this one away and take out a night-night book to read. If this is just your book, read several pages. By the time you have finished the book, you will have added dozens of operating systems to the computer banks in your own brain, making your child and/or yourself an expert in the way things work.

I read the book from cover to cover. I have all of Leo Laporte's books, listen to his podcast This Week in Tech (TWiT), and watch his cable TV show.

Poor Leo's 2002 Computer Almaqnac is a must read, there is so much information. Just the little things make a big difference. This book has taught me alot, and I still pick it up and thumb through it and find something new. I cannot wait for the 2003 edition, as I have heard it will be bigger, and better. Leo keep up the GREAT work, think geek!

Finally a book on computers that everyone can understand and appreciate. This is my favorite reference book. It has tons of tips and tricks that will keep you informed on all subjects dealing with computers and the internet. Leo Laporte is brilliant and his common sense tips are invalubale. Thanks Leo for making it easy and fun to learn computers.

I bought this book solely based on the fact that Leo wrote it. Leo has got to be the coolest geek in the world. I like this book because the structure is unique. Each day of the calendar year Leo gives a new tidbit of information so you can start your day with something new for the whole year. Keep in mind this book is mainly for beginning computer users. Most advanced users will not get much out of this book. I liked it though because it's Leo and he's funny and writes like he runs his shows. I did learn a thing or two as well. Definitely a must have for the Leo fan and the beginning to intermediate computer enthusiast.

This is a must have for anyone who works with technology - by choice or by force. You'll actually have fun while learning new things, tips and tricks, shortcuts, etc. The one-a-day format keeps the concepts from overwhelming even novice users. Keep this one by your computer, you'll want to try out the tips right away. And if you're tempted, go on and read ahead - we won't tell! ;-)

I was impressed by this book- written well with incredible clarity and concepts that opened my mind to what it was about us that created the tensions, the disappointments and the frustrations in our love/romantic relationships. A couple of questions I am taking away from this book: What is my essence? What am I trying to hide or protect about myself from my partner that gets in the way of intimacy? What am I trying to get from my partner that I feel I'm not getting or have on my own and how is that getting in the way of transparency, love and intimacy with my partner? This is a must read for any one who wants to improve relationships with others---especially in the area of romantic love.

I consider myself someone who is fairly thoughtful and has already made an effort around being spiritually grounded, self-aware and having healthy relationships. This book, however, sets up a pretty profound framework around these things and asks deep questions. It helped me get to a new level of thought about my relationship with myself as well as my romantic relationships. I got an immense amount of good out of this book. It helps peel back the layers and digs deep! After reading it, I bought several copies and handed them out to my closeset friends.

I work as a marriage & family therapist, and only happened upon this book after a few colleagues recommended it. This isn't a clinical book, rather it's far more accessible to anyone who's wanting more than a typical self-help book. "Undefended Love" goes far beyond the helpful observations about how human personalities are based on attachment, security, protection, and strategies to compensate for wounds. It goes beyond healthy,non-reactive closeness between a couple. It shows a path for couples to find deeper resources within themselves individually that can create a truer foundation for growth and vitality in all their relationships. It's not a quick-fix or easy path, but it does feel quite true and in sync with the newest findings in neuroscience and other psycho-spiritual paradigms. This is a wonderful book I can easily recommend.

This is an insightful and thought-provoking book. Great for a therapist, but also very accessible to the layperson. Takes you through some self-review that gets to the root of what triggers us when we have conflict in a relationship, and how to move past those triggers to real "undefended" love.

If you're looking to unravel a twisted up, convoluted, complicated, and painful relationship this is the book for you. It saved my 25+ year old marriage and has enhanced many other relationships as well. My friends got so tired of hearing me rave about the book that they bought their own copies and found their lives transformed as well. It ain't easy work dismantling a lifetime of armour--and don't let anyone tell you it is. But it's welllll worth the effort!!! And really, if you get just ONE thang from the book it will be worth the purchase price...and there's LOTS of thangs to get from the book. This is one you can read over and over again over the years and get something new from it each time. If you're looking for ONE book that hits all the nails on their heads THIS is the one...I've read soooo many books about following your bliss, passionate pursuit of one's dreams, making the impossible possible etc etc and this book is at the core of all of them. You dive into the work of this book and you too will see your life transformed--it's truly amazing. Go for it! peace love & joy Coco

This book was a joy to read. My daughter read it to her 3 oldest daughter's, a chapter at a time. They could hardly wait for "reading time" and begged for more at the end of each chapter. The life lesson in this book is so valuable. I am pleased that I have my own personal copy.

I loved this book when I was a girl. Now, reading it to my four children, I get quite emotional when I realize how much I was impacted by this story. It really did partially make me into the mother and home-educator I am today. It amazes me how deeply the wisdom of this book sunk into me. Everyone who homeschools their children should read this - for themselves and for their children.

This is a wonderful story for girls. Read it aloud, savor it, laugh and even cry over it.Whatever you do, though, just get it! You'll be glad you did.

I had never heard of this book until it was listed in the AmblesideOnline curriculum. We checked it out and my girls fell in love with it. I finally bought them their own copy and they treasure it. We read it again, and now they argue over who owns it, and who gets to keep it for their own children.
Great read!

Understood Betsy" was one of my favorite books from childhood and I was happy to see that it was available from Amazon. Even though it was first published in 1917, it is very contemporary in it's message about the importance of gaining self-esteem through accomplishment. In this day and age when parents tend to hover and worry over every small concern, this book show how Betsy, when sent to a farm to live, became a very confident and happy child due to the adults in her life who let her stretch her wings. Many of the ways in which these adults gave her a new life are very subtle but moving. Highly recommended for mid-elementary girls.

This book gives you easily digestable information of the Iyengar yoga. Very clear instructions and steps how to work into the posture. I have recommended this book to my students since it gives you a solid support for the home practise.

I can totally see why my yoga teacher trainer pick out this book to be required reading. It is very well assembled with great picture of well respected Yogi's. The form of the positions leave nothing to be desired. When reading other Yoga books it isn't uncommon for me to wish I could crawl into the page and help the posture of the people in the photos. In this book I just wanted to be as talented and perfect and the people in the pictures. The descriptions of the positions and the subtleties of what the pose requires was well written. It isn't unusual for me to use the same phrasing as they do in the book because some cues can't be better said. Perhaps I'll out grow this book, but as a beginning teacher, I learned a lot from it. I love the amount of detail that the book gives because there is always more that you can accomplish in any Yoga pose, and you must work at the level of the students you're teaching and remind them of things that may be automatic for you.

A lovely formatted book that has clear photographs. It is useful for the student at home to develop a personal home practice aswell as the teacher for a 'flash card' inspiration for a class. I like the diamond guide that indicates the degree of difficulty of the pose. It is also wonderful to have the asana name in devanagari, sanskrit and english. This is a classic hatha book that is a 'must have'. Camella Nair - author of "Aqua Kriya Yoga".

I purchased this book for teacher training class and I am pleased to say that it is very helpful to me. It would also come in very handy for someone new to Yoga because it has history, philosophy, and examples of every move all in one book. Easy to read and understand.

I've taken yoga classes for a few years but never remember the poses to repeat at home. This book lists most all the poses I've ever done, with pictures and what body parts they affect.

As a concierge at one of the French Quarter hotels, I recommend One Dead in Attic to any guests interested in learning the true story about Katrina. I draw the floodline line on the city map, mention Chris's book and tell them they must go on a city tour that includes the Katrina areas, only 80% of the city. The news media has certainly covered the 9th Ward but visitors need to see the rest of the city.

I tell our guests to buy an extra drink, buy another t-shirt and tip the waiter a little extra. It helps to feed a family. I wish there was a way our guests could write off their trip to New Orleans as a charitable donaton on their federal income tax return. It's better than charity.

Thanks to all the volunteers still coming down to help. We appreciate it!
Anne Brett

In those dark days after Katrina, after having moved 5 times in 10 days, after having finally settled into an environment where 10 people, 5 dogs, 8 cats and no electricity lived. But I had to have my newspaper. I had to have Chris Rose talk to me. I had to be comforted by commiserating with his words. He spoke for our beloved city. He was the comforting word of our disfunctional town that we couldn't abandon. Why, why would we stay, so many asked us. How can you abandon such a great love because she is sick and in danger of dying? Never under such terms could I leave her. Many days passed that had Red Cross food deliveries, CNN helicopters buzzing overhead and I prayed, "please don't let me be on CNN tonight as I rummage through the wreckage of my world." Spare me the humiliation. Where is Chris? Where is his column? I need to cry today, as I do everyday. I need to have his words torment me and comfort me and tuck me into bed in my FEMA trailer (that I was extremely thankful to have) I jumped up and down like a Publishers Clearing House winner when the little white box was delivered. It was the size of my walkin closet in my home, but it was the ability to stay with my city and my people that was delivered. Chris, if you ever left us, I couldn't handle that. His book is LIFE IN NEW ORLEANS after the storm. To read it, is to know our pain and to feel the shock of suddenly leaving America, to land up in a third-world country and to understand what we take for granted every day as Americans. This book describes that journey--from fat and happy American to 3rd world refugee. WE LOVE CHRIS HERE IN NEW ORLEANS. Only those who lived it will know what those newspaper columns that wound up as 1 Dead in Attic did to speak to us and to let those far and away experience our feelings.

Rose, Chris. "One Dead in the Attic", CR Books, 2006.

Feeling the Pain

Amos Lassen

I am very surprised that more books were not published about Hurricane Katrina given the literary heritage of New Orleans. There have been a few but there have not been many personal accounts. Chris Rose, a newspaper correspondent in New Orleans, put some of his newspaper columns together and gives a picture of what New Orleans was like after the storm. Reading it is painful and shocking and shows how much that we as Americans take for granted. (Believe me, I know. I was stranded in New Orleans for a little more than a week after Katrina hit).
He writes of what was once my city and the journey many of us took--from living comfortably to roaming around looking for somewhere to live. He brilliantly describes what day-to-day life was like for the citizens of New Orleans after the storm. I am sure many of you have never known what it is like to have to depend upon the kindness of others or to live on a cot in a convention center in a strange place with over 200 roommates who you do not know.
Rose gives us the anger and frustration and the sadness and the joy that we experienced and the beautiful way we were treated by people we did not know,
This is the book to read about Katrina because it is so honest and so well written. Rose accurately describes the sights and sounds of New Orleans and how it feels to see a city almost disappear. I cried and I laughed as I read.
This book is not about the levees that failed or the building that were destroyed or the ineffectiveness of the state and federal government. It is about the people who had to deal with losses which are beyond human comprehension, about loneliness and heartbreak and despair and above all, fear. But it also is compassionate and hopeful and has wicked humor.

Quite simply the best book about the aftermath of Katrina. Rose is a feature writer for the Times-Picayune, and this book is a reprint of the columns he wrote between August 30, 2005, and January, 2006. A must read.

I am a native New Orleanian. Although I evacuated for the storm, I endured all of the ongoing tortures of its aftermath. Chris Rose did an unbelievably wonderful job in this book, conveying the desperate insanity we all seem to have experienced. The two things this book does not convey (and believe me, be very, very glad of this) are the heat and the smells. The heat was constantly, unbearably oppressive. Even after Labor Day, when we usually get some small relief from the skyrocketing humidity, the weather remained like an enormous hot wet blanket weighing one constantly down. The odors best remain undescribed. THANK YOU, Chris Rose.

Wonderful! Age appropiate. My horse loving pre-teen is really enjoying them. She started with the #1 series. We are ordering 5 series at a time.

Bought this for my 15 year old daughter. She loved it and actually read it. Which is always nice to have a teenager read!

Amy has decided to take in a horse named Spartan, which is the horse that they went to save in the big storm. Spartan was in the same car wreck that Amy and her mom were in. Spartan is still scarred from the wreck. When he comes to Heartland he remembers Amy, and he doesn't like her because he remembers her from the wreck. Amy has to start working with Spartan, but it is dangerous because he keeps trying to hurt her because he is scared. At first Amy didn't want to work with Spartan, but then after a couple of weeks she decides that she will work with him. She goes into his stall and he starts kicking and raring up at her, but Amy doesn't get hurt. Amy's sister and grandpa just happened to see it all happen. They don't think that Spartan is a safe horse and they want to put him to sleep. Amy doesn't want that though, because she knows that Spartan will get better. Amy's Grandpa and Amy's sister decide to go to the movies and invite Amy to come. Instead Amy acts like she is sick and stays home so she can join up with Spartan, which means she is going to try to get him to trust her again. When they leave to the movies Amy goes to Spartans stall and takes him out to the round pin. She starts lunging him. Then she takes the lunge line off and Spartan doesn't do anything and he doesn't try to hurt Amy. When her grandpa and sister got home she showed them that Spartan wouldn't hurt her. That changed their mind about putting him to sleep. Amy started working with Spartan more and started taking him to some shows. At one show Amy finds Spartans old owner, Larry Boswell. Larry see's how good Spartan is doing and decides that he would like to buy Spartan for his grandaughter Hannah to show. And he did, and Hannah ended up showing Spartan after he was healed at Heartland by Amy.

Attention all Heartland Lovers! I have made a website dedicated to everything about Heartland. It is filled with info on all the books and the author. You also may review a book and log into the chat room. There is also a weekly poll that changes every week. I also have a little section for Chestnut Hill. The URL is http://www.freewebs.com/horse_lvr13/ . Come check it out.

This book is a very good but I think it could of had a better ending because it would be so sad to see someone read this amazing bookand end not finshing it because it is so sad and such a bad ending. Most people like a ending where the person who really wants something it better when they get it.So if you ever read this book you should finsh it to the end because there is no story better than a sad story because it exspress you r true emotions