Society Books

I read this book to my daughter and I cried. It felt like this book was our family story. We lost Rebel after 14 years and rescued Sneakers from the SPCA soon after. My daughter asked a lot of the same questions as the boy in the book. I highly recommend this story to everyone.

I loved every bit of this book - the illustrations are great and the story is told in a way that any child or adult can understand.

"Before you were mine," by Maribeth Boelts was a "stumble upon" that touched me with it's voice and authenticity. I think it will allow readers and their young listeners to explore the difficult topic of abandonment with hope and humor. Boelts doesn't pull any punches, which makes the happy ending all the more pleasing. This is great storytime material for pre-schoolers to pre-teens.

This book was so sweet and innocent. I cried. I used this at "Story Time" at our local Animal Shelter, it was a big hit. It showed the shelter in a positive light. It is a very nice book to share with children, gives them a lot to think about. I definately recommend it.

Reviewed by Conner Aguren (age 3) and Mom for Reader Reviews (12/07)

A boy wonders about the life of his dog before he adopted him from the animal shelter. "Before You Were Mine," explores many possibilities of a dog's life before coming to a new owner: showing reasons such as intolerance for dog behaviors, neglect, becoming lost, and/or not being welcomed at a new home.

"Did you like the book?"
"Yes. It was all about a puppy. It had a happy ending."
"Do you think the dog had a rough life before coming to the animal shelter?"
"I don't know. Lot's of things could have happened."
"Would you adopt a dog from the animal shelter?"
"What does adopt mean? I want all the animals!"

Parent's comments:

The watercolor illustrations set the nostalgic tone of this heartwarming book. A lot of pages are dedicated to hypothetical situations, most negative (otherwise the dog probably wouldn't be in a shelter), that I felt more could have been shown about the joy of the dog being rescued from a shelter. I feel it's the author's epilogue in "Before You Were Mine" that explains the message of giving shelter dog a second chance best.

Although this book doesn't get into the depth that a book such as H.C. Trumbull's "The Blood Covenant" does, it is quite adequate to handle the needs of the average reader as opppopsed to the scholar doing research. This is typical Kenyon and any one who has read after him realizes the nuggets of wisdom and knowledge so prevalent in his books. Those nuggets are also in this book. Highly recommended to those who are just learning about the Blood Covenant in Jesus we enter into at our salvation.

The best thing to do if sickness should strike is fill up with the Word and every faith building book out there! this is the classic and a must. Also, I'd get my foundation strong with a lot of Derek prince's teachings. I like a book by a pastor out in Georgia named Henry Wright. "A More Excellent Way" really dives into the spiritual roots of disease. They also teach courses. Also invest in any CD of healing scriptures and let them play all night. Helps me sleep! Get everyone you know to pray for you. Pray for yourself. Talk to God. Bend His ear.

Most Christians fail to receive from God because they do not know that they are in covenant with Him through Jesus Christ.

A lack of knowledge has seen people begging and pleading with God to do things for them that He has already promised through the covenant to do and yearns to do for us.

This little booklet goes into detail about the covenant: its background, how it was carried out in days of old and its significance today.

Highly recommended reading because if you do not know your covenant with God--or even what a covenant is--it can cost you your blessings and in some cases, where healing is concerned, your life.

Oh how a generation of powerless preachers need to read the Scriptural truths in this anointed book, and get back to evangelising Jesus' way. If the lame are not leaping, the blind seeing, and the mute speaking after you proclaim Christ's Message this book will show you why, and how to get back to God's method of reaching the lost. When you embrace the revelation outlined here, you'll have no time for arguing silly doctrines, you'll be too busy saving sinners and healing the sick in Jesus' Name.

This is the BEST Book on the Blood Covenant I've read and I've read lots on it! You know what you have rights to in the Word after reading this book.

The book is EXCELLENT by Catedra which analyzes the 'obra' in detail. Excellent book and great story by Rojas and his crtizers.

A classic Spanish literature story written in the Old Style Spanish by fernando De Rojas. Excellent reading and an excellent story with modern applications.

Celestina is amusing, ironic, and while the prose and dialogue is long and descriptive, it is never boring- I really enjoyed this play. A note to the person who claims to be the author: Celestina was written in 1499, and it is widely assumed the author lived circa the same time. So, congratultions on your 500th birthday. :)

Celestina is amusing, ironic, and while the prose and dialogue is long and descriptive, it is never boring- I really enjoyed this play.

Ante todo resulta incómodo ver valoradas con estrellitas (de 1 a 5) las obras maestras de la literatura universal.
La Celestina forma parte de esa veintena de obras maestras que forman lo más destacado de la literatura en cualquier idioma y de cualquier época. Sin lugar a dudas, la más fascinante, moderna, entretenida y asequible de su época. Una auténtica novela (dialogada) moderna.

Entre sus mejores momentos: la comida en casa de Celestina con los criados y prostitutas, el primer encuentro de Celestina y Melibea, Melibea esperando a Calixto en el jardín, y un final que te deja un nudo en la garganta. Ah!, y por supuesto la sabiduría popular de Celestina.

La comparación con Romeo and Juliet de Shakespeare no tiene sentido. Las dos obras son opuestas. Por otra parte no cabe duda de que La Celestina es muy superior (más compleja, densa, apasionada, humana, personajes más solidos y destacados...)

Cito a Riquer en su extraordinaria Historia de La Literatura Universal:

Cuando Calixto llega al jardín de Melibea por vez primera persiguiendo un halcón y queda herido por la belleza de la joven (escena de caza frecuente en las novelas cortesanas medievales, por ejemplo en el Cliges de Troyes), se levanta un vendaval que lo arrasará todo, lo bajo y lo elevado, el afecto más gratuito y la codicia más interesada. Y el lector tras tanta belleza, tantos primores, tanta poesía, tanto realismo y tras una tan bien conducida historia de unas almas en desasosiego, ve que la tragicomedia de Rojas, a pesar de su declarada intencion moralizadora, cae en el vacío, como Melibea al arrojarse de la torre, porque después de la muerte de los dos jóvenes Rojas sólo deja entrever un "infierno de enamorados"

I work with troubled Juveniles. These troubled teenagers (and younger) really don't realize the realities of prison life. Now, "A Chained Society" will be required reading for them. It is a harsh look at prison life, but I feel this is as close as they can get to the real deal without actually visiting the prisons. I want to thank you and the inmates that contributed for this book!

D.C. Maxwell's first person accounts of prison life are
stirring and kept me riveted throughout the entire narrative.
I'd recommend this book to anyone who is interested in books
of the "true crime" genre and anyone interested in or studying
criminology in general. I was especially impressed with the fictional chapter prefaces. This was an intriguing technique that
left me eagerly awaiting each new chapter until i was finished with the book. I certainly hope the author has future projects planned regarding this subject. I give a very hearty 5 stars!

I've read "In the Belly of the Beast" and "A Chained Society." If you read one; then read them both. "In the Belly of the Beast," is from one inmate's view and "A Chained Society" takes you on a tour of America's prisons. Highly Recommended!

I've read all the prison books and this one is by far the best. It's a look inside without the author's own opinions. D. C. Maxwell interviews the inmates, steps back and lets the inmates tell their story. If you read Ted Conover's book, "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing," then read, "A Chained Society" to hear the story from the other side of the iron bars!

Wow! Fascinating -- finally a book that doesn't sugar-coat things and tells it like it really is. An honest look at life in our country's prisons -- not the Hollywood and TV stuff. I hope people will read this book -- it shows why our prison system is failing us. For years politicians have been pushing to spend billions of dollars to build more prisons and to put more criminals behind bars. But instead of rehabilitating people, we are just making criminals worse! We put young kids into prison where they are beaten, raped, tortured, and otherwise treated worse than we'd treat animals. And they come out 10 times worse than when they went in! Not very smart! Please read this book and forward a copy to your local Congressman.

In this book Cardinal Ratzinger studies the tension that arises when a split occurs between the state and religion. He tackles modern secularist notions, discusses abortion, and also addresses the notion that if not atheism, then perhaps agnosticism is the best position that man can hope for. The discussion he provides is well thought out and easy to grasp. You may not agree with everything he says, but the beauty and brilliance of the arguments put forth are undeniable.

A must read if you are interested in the recent and ongoing decline of western civilization. The causative factors are clearly delineated from many points of view, but always from the starting point of the pope's awesome faith and love for God and His Creation.

-Jeremy

Along with such classics as 'clash of civilizations' and 'rage and the pride' this book is a must read for anyone interested in the least bit in preserving their culture and faith in the face of the assault on the west by various non-western and supra-western cultures. For those who are pro partial-birth abortions, probably this book will be offensive because the Pope takes the Catholic church's view that abortion is immoral.

The central theme of this book is that the West is threatened by the new immorality of western moral relativism and that it is additioanlly partially threatened by the non-western immigrants who invade the west, however the greater danger is internal, the abandonment of religion and faith, and the denial of the fact that Christian roots are indigenous to Europe.

Many wont be able to stumach this book, and even some protestants will find the catholic overtones problematic. However it is an essential and important work.

Seth J. Frantzman

Pope Benedict has been a keen and precise critic of the cultural clashes that have been shaking the West over the last half a century. He doesn't kowtow to the latest politically correct fad, nor does he mince words to state the truth. In this book he clearly outlines the what the greatest threats are to the Christian culture and the civilization which is based upon it. This is a must read for anyone who wants to understand better the position of the Catholic Church in the ongoing global culture wars.

Non-Catholics and those of nominal faith might be more comfortable reading
"Without Roots: The West, Relativism, Christianity, Islam"
by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger and Marcello Pera first. The analysis is much the same but correctives, in the form of a return to a pan-European shared faith (by Pena--the head of the Italian Senate) and/or individual action (Benedict)will find a wider audience.

Either book is a must read for anyone commenting upon or interested in the current geopolitical scene. At the end of the 19th century, Dostoyevsky in "Notes from the Underground" and Pope Leo XIII in "On Socialism" (Quod Apostolici Muneris) warned where conflicts within Western Civilization were headed. 1917 and the horrors of communist and fascist totalitarianism were not adverted. Pera and Benedict are raising the same warning flags today. Is the problem as critical as they believe? Can a tragedy be averted? No one knows of course. But that there is a problem is irrefutable and these two book should not be ignored.

Recently purchased "America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It" by Mark Steyn. Rated it three stars and that was being charitable as Steyn not only provides little hope but the witty prose his newspaper columns are, rightly, admired for is flat and tendentious when spead out over 256 pages.

Benedict and Pera, in contrast, explain why the west is unable to condemn evil and what can be done to ameloriate that failing.

I am so enthusiastic about collections of complete works. The probability of hating all the works of one certain writer is so small that it is negligible. So when I bought this book I knew deep in my mind that I would at least like about a hundred pages of the book. I did not. I enjoyed all the book except for possibly 40-50 pages which is more than impressive.

When I say I like all of the book, I mean to say all of the prose section. I hate poetry, sorry for that but I cannot help it. This review here is concerned with the prose section.

The book begins with the only novel Poe wrote, namely "Narrative of A Gordon Pym." (For a complete review of the novel, please click on the blue "a_mathematician" to view it in the proper place). The novel takes one fifth of the prose section, and is followed by a subsection called "Tales of Deduction."

The first short story of that section is "The Gold Bug," an interesting story. As a matter of fact, Doyle based "The adventure of the Dancing Men," a Sherlock Holmes's short story, on it. Then it goes into introducing Dupin the French, the first unofficial detective ever. (For a complete review of the novel please click on the blue "a_mathematician" to view it in the proper place).

Then comes "Tales of Horror," and, oh my, this part is the most wonderful of the whole collection. Even though Poe was the first to write in this genre, there still no one superior to him. I am not sure about HP Lovecraft, but I am sure King is not up to him. Poe can bring the chill to your heart. I heard he used to eat much on dinner just to bring nightmares to his night sleep, and when he wakes up in the morning he would record every single detail of his dreams to use it in his short stories.

The stories I prefer are: "The Black Cat," which ruined the life of a very wretched man; "The Pit and the Pendulum," which speaks about the pains of one prisoner of the Spanish Inquisition; "The Masque of the Red Death," whose story I would not have actually liked if not for the marvelous description, Poe provides, for every single bit of occurrence. "The Fall of the House of Usher," which speaks about the life of a very singular person and his sister (This one is considered by many to be the best short story Poe has every written); and "The Oblong Box," which is exactly what Doyle would have written had he got the idea first.

Then comes "Tales of Imagination." This section was the one I did not like that much. He started with a few very descriptive emotional stories (I would only consider them nonsensical, no offense).

The stories I liked here were: "Manuscript Found in A Bottle," which is a pretty funny story about someone being in a foreign ship without people feeling his presence; and "The Unparalleled Adventures of One Hans Pfall," which explores the reasons behind Pfall's wanting to forsake the earth for the moon on his balloon. The latter is more of a novella than a short story.

The next section is "Satirical Tales and Hoaxes." This was the second best section I enjoyed. The best stories were: "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether," which is an insane story, no one could have ever produced such a comedy before; "Some Words with A Mummy," and for those of you who are familiar with the Egyptian novelist Naguib (or Najib) Mahfouz, I may tell you that he had used a similar idea in his first collection of short stories; "The Man that was Used Up," which I can describe with no other word than ABSOLUTELY FUNNY with a very twisted end; "Loss of Breath," is another example for the genius of Poe; "Never Bet the Devil Your Head," HaHa; "The Spectacles," I read this one so long ago and it still possessed its charm with its funny twisted conclusion; "The Literary Life of Thingum Bob, Esq," which was a satirical and wonderful one; and finally "X-ing A Paragraph," which was the best one in the section.

Then come some articles, the best of which were 'Didling' and 'Maelzel's Chess Player.' They were nice to read despite their being out of date.

In the end I would like to apologize for this long review, but you cannot describe - or better yet, review - about a thousand pages in a two liner. I like the book and there is no reason you should not. Poe has affected so many writers, some of whom are: RL Stevenson, AC Doyle, Roald Dahl, HP Lovecraft, Steven King, and so many others, so if you read for any of those you would definitely enjoy this book.

The hardcover book "The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe" is by far one of the greatest, unabridged collections of stories and poems ever to grace the shelf. Though Poe is said to have been cryptically insane in his lifetime, the misunderstood literature recorded in his writings have only recently been acclaimed as opposed to being further reprimanded by his era of supporters, or the lack there of. Such classic stories as; The Pit and the Pendulum, The Tell-Tale Heart, and The Fall of The House of Usher, and such poems as; For Annie, Hymn, The Haunted Place, and of course...The Raven are only some of the milestones contained in this masterpiece. Every fan of the work of Edgar Allan Poe should own this book or at the least a copy. The cover is decorated beautifully in gold upon a rough black surface with an attached, fair-haired, ribbon bookmark and should be the pride of any collection.

...that's what this book makes me. I honestly do not know what there is left to say about one of the greatest horror writers of all times. this book is essential - so if you like reading horror, gothic, etc. stories and you have never read a story by EAP, shame on you.

If you never even heard of EAP, shame on you even more!

But if you don't own this book, "you shalt not be suffered to live"!!!!(sorry for dramatizing, but buy this (*) book!!!!!!!! And read it of course, not only buy it and put it on your shelf because it looks nice and when you show it to people, they all say, wow, you got a great collection - they say this, at least one of them says this, because he knows what proud 'n' lucky son you are to own such a beautiful book -> not beautiful because it is thick hardcover edition bound in leather with golden renderings on the pages on golden imprints on the front and back cover.

Legite: (Amazon does not provide pictures for The Complete Works of EAP, and because there are several books in hardcover bearing this title, I do not know which of these books matches the description of the book's design featured in the end, so do not blame me if you buy THIS book because you liked how it does look - if you care for design, take a look around. There has to be some way to retrieve information about the book's design.)

I first read Poe when I was a little child, in an abridged mini series written for children. To this day, I have my favorites I have since read in full. Horror is the only way to describe what went through this man's writing, while being subdued to his own tragedies. He brang the most awesome literature we will ever read. Read Annabelle Lee, and if you don't cry you must have a heart of stone......

Edgar Allan Poe of Baltimore wrote the memorable poem, "The Raven", and that poem inspired the name of Baltimore's current NFL team. But naming football teams is not all he was good at. Poe wrote science fiction, horror, mystery, and detective stories. He is credited by some with the invention of the modern detective story. It is certain that Dupin, the hero of "Murders in the Rue Morgue", served as a model for Sherlock Holmes, who in turn inspired Hercule Poirot. One of Poe's short stories, "The Murder of Marie Roget", might even be classified as true crime. Although placed in Paris, it was based upon the true-life unsolved murder in New York of Mary Rogers. Poe never went to the scene of the crime, and everything he knew about the murder he got from the newspaper. Nevertheless he wrote a story in which he solved the murder and identified the murderer. His speculation was later confirmed in all major details by two confessions.

I read Poe's works as a pre-teen child, and some of the stories frightened me so badly that I can remember the details to this day. "The Pit and the Pendulum", "The Premature Burial", "The Black Cat", "The Fall of the House of Usher", "The Tell Tale Heart". All these stories and more will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Poe's longest work, "The Narrative of A. Gordon Pym", proved somewhat tedious, and his poetry isn't the best, but the short stories are great.

The computer and natural language is a sub-domain of computer science in which one of the major aims is to imitation of man, focusing on two topics: psychology and linguistics. If we wish the machine to do something, we must tell it what to do and it must be able to understand us. The easiest way to tell a computer what to do is to give it a program to run. "Humans, if they are machines at all, are vastly general-purpose machines and what, is most important, they understand communications couched in natural language." Work must be done for a machine to understand natural language. "Man's capacity to manipulate symbols, his very ability to think, is inextricably interwoven with his linguistic abilities." A machine must be able to extract semantic content from the messages impinged upon it, adopt a syntactic structure of a visual scene and adopt a certain conceptual framework. The question of what comprises a visual symbol is in question. The developer defines the elements of the machines primitive vocabulary. Robert Lindsay said, "high quality translations could be produced by machines supplied with sufficiently detailed syntactic rules, a large dictionary, and sufficient speed to examine the context of ambiguous words for a few word in each direction."

Eliza was a program consisting mainly of general methods for analyzing sentences and sentence fragments, locating so-called keywords in texts, assembling sentences from fragments and so on. Eliza created the remarkable illusion of having understood in the minds of the many people who conversed with it.

In ordinary two person communication, each has a working hypothesis, a conceptual framework, concerning who the person is and what the conversation is about. The hypothesis serves an indicator of what the other person is going to say and what he is going to mean by what he is about to say. Often, the erroneous prediction is falsified before the sentence is completed and the listener makes corrections on the fly and virtually unconsciously. Each brings into mind an image of the other person, the image consists in part of the other's identity, attributes based on evidence derived from independent life experiences of the participant. "Our recognition of another person is thus an act of induction on evidence presented to us partly by him and partly by our reconstruction of the rest of the world; it is a kind of generalization". Eliza starts with the hypothesis that the system does understand.

Rogar C. Shank, based his theory on the central idea that every natural-language utterances is a manifestation, an encoding, of an underlying conceptual structure. Understanding an utterance means encoding it. The theory proposes a formal structure for the conceptual bases for making predictions. The theory creates formal rules for converting utterances into a conceptual base. One difficulty is that every individual's belief is constantly changing mean that an individuals entire base of conceptions is changing. "When a person enters a conversation he bring his belief structure with him as a kind of agenda."

Terry Winograd, of M.I.T, was working with a group were building a computer-controlled "hand-eye" machine; the computer could see its environment and manipulate objects in its environment by means of a computer-controlled mechanical arm. Winograd design and coded the software to enable humans by natural language, too instruct the computer, how to manipulate and explain events with respect to the toy world of blocks, in a natural language. "The robot can manipulate toy blocks on a table containing simple objects like a box." The robot could be ask to manipulate the objects, doing such things as building stacks and putting things in a box. It could be questions about the configuration of blocks on the table, about events that were going during the discussion, and it could be told simple facts about the objects which could be stored and used for reasoning later. The conversation goes on within a dynamic framework - "one in which the computer is an active participant, doing things to change his toy world, and discussing them."

An authority in the field of artificial intelligence and computer science in general, Joseph Weizenbaum provides insight in proceedings in that area but mainly warns about what these developments may lead to. It is very entertaining to read this book some 20 years after original publication and see how many of what we believe are recent developments were actually implemented back then already (on one or two priceless "super" computers).
Very dogmatic and patronizing at times, it still is a good read if only for the thought provoking ideas like: if electronic computers would have been used in the manhattan project, today we would assume that development of the atomic bomb would have been impossible without it.

This book is a basic philosophical treatment of computing. I think that it should be included as a basic part of any Computer Science / Computer Engineer curriculum in respectable universities, along with Roger Penrose book, The Emperor's new mind, it creats a better understanding of what is human and what is mechanic for all those who need to know it.

Should Computer Science / Engineering freshmen/women in universities know? My answer is YES, in their first year !

I read parts of this book, thinking highly of it. I thought one particular passage from it, as quoted in Gates by Stepehen Manes and Paul Andrews, particulary stood amid the limelight: [t]he computer programmer . . . is a creator of universes for which alone is the lawgiver. . . .No playwright, no stage director, no emperor, however powerful, has ever exercised such absolute authority to arrange a stage of field a battle and to command such unswervingly dutiful actors or troops.

This is perhaps the best book ever written on issues of computer technology and modern life, in the sense that it says a lot of really important things and is also very readable by both lay persons and technical persons. People like Jacques Ellul, Arnold Gehlen et al. have written very important texts in this area, but are much less "accessible". If the truth only counts when it is absorbed by persons, Weizenbaum's book stands out as being engrossing and a pleasure to read, as well as saying what needs to be said. It is very sad that the second edition which was supposed to be out a year or so ago has not appeared. But in no way has 20 years "dated" the present text. _Computer Power and Human Understanding_ explains why we have such problems as Y2K, etc.

This book is a product of the author's in-depth knowledge of the Intentional Communities Movement. Her intimate experience with successful ecovillage communities makes available key strategies and factors in community building. My only critique of this book is that the most important and useful chapter which should probably be first (choosing who to live with), is placed at the end. Incidently this chapter helped me take an honest look at myself and some of the issues i was carying at the time and made me aware i need to resolve them in order to be a more desireable community member.

Note: Even for those who aren't interested in living in "intentional communities," there's great guidance in this book that is relevant to forming a nonpfrofit housing community.

Christian candidly explains the many ways that a group of people choosing to live as interdependent residents, whether of just one house or several houses on commonly held land, both complicates and facilitates adjusting to the inevitable quirky expectations, needs and requirements of different, even if simpatico, individuals. Although Creating a Life Together is intended for those who want to start something more like a modern-day commune, some of which qualify as ecovillages, the points and principles in this book are relevant to sharing one residence or living in separate dwellings but making a commitment to share co-owned land with multiple homes. Either way, you're sharing your day-to-day lives as an extended family bonded by choice, not by blood.

Only 10% succeed

Christian's guidance and opinions are based on many years of living in intentional communities and serving as editor of Communities magazine. She starts with describing what the 10% of communities that succeed have and in common and what tends to make the other 90% fail, over before they truly get started.

Then she explains how and where to start and what steps to take in what order - and that is not jumping right into looking for the ideal land or property, despite how tempting that is when you're full of dreams and enthusiasm. Before you even get to that stage - or at least before you make an offer on any kind of property - you'll need to learn a lot about zoning, financing, housing and land trusts perhaps, and certainly what kind of legal entity will work best for what your group has in mind and exactly what each of you have in mind, from contributions of money, time and labor to what's acceptable and what's not in day-to-day living. You'll need to decide going in what happens when someone wants out, so you can protect everyone, both legally and emotionally.

First 6 crucial steps

She calls these six elements "crucial" to address in the formative stages:

Identify your community vision and create vision documents.
Choose a fair, participatory decision-making process appropriate for your group. If you choose consensus, get trained in it.
Make clear agreements - in writing. This includes choosing an appropriate legal entity for owning land [or a dwelling] together.
Learn good communication and group process skills. Make clear communication and resolving conflicts a priority.
In choosing cofounders and new members, select for emotional maturity.
Learn the head skills and heart skills you need to know.
Not a dream for dilettantes

Christian also offers fair warning that if you have a burning desire to start a new intentional community, you'll need that kind of passion and more: "It takes enormous amounts of time to pull off a project of this magnitude. Even if you meet weekly, you'll still need people to work on various committees that work and/or meet between scheduled meetings - gathering information, calling officials, crunching the numbers, drafting proposals, and so on - for at least a year, or even two years or longer, " she says. "The larger your group and/or the smaller your assets, the longer it'll take."

Judith Broadhurst
editor, publisher and bag lady doyenne
The Bag Lady Prevention Plan
Realistic Strategies for Secure and Fulfilling Futures
An online community women over 50
www.BagLadyPrevention.com

As a cofounder of an aspiring ecovillage I've found this book to be uniquely invaluable to forming a community. Since November 06, a group of us have been using this book to guide us along the path towards making our dreams of a creating a community come true. At each step along the way, the advice that Diana dispenses in this guide have served as discussion tools, as examples and as warnings on how not to proceed. She offers up numerous examples of success stories and of failures. There are many books on life in cohousing, or general overviews of the community concepts, but as far as I know, this is the only one to tackle the nuts and bolts issues of creating a community from scratch. This book is absolutely essential reading to anybody interested in forming a community or cohousing project. [...]

The title's a little misleading. This book is more of a guide through the legal and financial pitfalls involved with creating and sustaining an intentional community. But as such it is unsurpassed. I've also met the author during my permaculture course and found her to be very insightful, intelligent, yet humble and open to new ideas. Even if you're not trying to form your own commune, this book is packed with useful information.

As a longtime member of an intentional community I've made good use of this book in introducing people to the promises and conflicts that surround the concept. Although it's aimed more at founders than at people joining established communities, it provides enough background (and interesting stories, to boot!) for explorers to develop a certain familiarity with the issues that will serve them well as they seek their own special place.

It is beyond my imagination to find such a scripture in such a simple language which contains the total philosophy of all the ancient Indian scriptures and extensively covers all the devotional aspects for a sincere seeker of God. I have no words to explain the beauty of this divine book. In this age finding such a book reminds me the verse of Gita "Yada yada hi dharmasya ...".

Of all the many books I have read on spiritually, religions and philosophies of the world, by far this book is the most profound. I can not say anything meaningful to describe this book, only can I express a deep sence of awe and gratitude. Hinduism is a great and boundless philosophy. For the most part, it is totally misunderstood. H.D. Swami Prakashanand Saraswati expounds on its totality in only 438 pages with a beautiful style and simplicity. This book, however, not for light reading, is extremely easy to read with clear concise sentences. It has a large index and glossary for those wanting to truly study this subject. On a scale of one to ten, this book is simply beyond, beyond.

This book is a jewel. It is a virtual encyclopedia of the Divine world and how to attain it. Every question is answered from the creation and dissolution of the universe to attainment by a soul of the very highest Divine abode, Vrindaban. As a Divine Master, Swamiji speaks authoritatively on the soul, Maya, God and the Divine abodes and their Divine personalities. He describes the Divine Love path to God, Raganuga Bhakti, and supplies guidelines for sincere aspirants. Anyone who absorbs and takes to heart the contents of this book is a very fortunate soul.

In The Divine Vision of Radha Krishn, Swami Prakashanand Saraswati brilliantly provides the entire truths and secrets of devotion to God, in an easy to understand format. His writings, based on the eternal Hindu Holy Scriptures, discuss the practical path to understanding and realizing God. Swami Prakashanand explains the intricate science of the soul, maya (cosmic energies), and God. He reconciles the Hindu philosophies and reveals the path to God: Bhakti devotion. As is explained, Bhakti is simply devotion to a single form of God with a pure desire to realize God's love. Furthermore, Swami Prakashanand describes his American Ashram, Barsana Dham, and the events that have taken place there. He has established the largest Hindu temple in North America to promote love and devotion to God. I highly recommend The Divine Vision of Radha Krishn, not just because it is very clear and concise, but because the knowledge provided is practical for any person desiring God's love--no matter what religion or culture.

This is one of the most incredible books I've ever read! It thoroughly and clearly explains all I wanted to know about the evolution and meaning of life, the world, Saints and Divinity, and how to find God in this lifetime. In fact, it contains so much more than I could have ever imagined - I'm amazed that such extensive knowledge has been clearly given in one book. It helped me to realize how commercialized and distorted most of the Eastern philosophy has become that is expounded in the West. Above all, I really value the simple, sincere devotional knowledge that the author has shared by writing this book.

Stuart's command of his subject matter is immediately apparent. His thoughts and helpful ideas are written in a manner easily digestible with spot-on insight that can only be garnered through life experience. Truly valuable and highly recommended.

Stuart has done a great job of taking different IT concepts and breaking them down into their simplest terms. There are a number of tips for running an IT business that will help make you more successful and profitable. I have thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it for anyone in the IT industry.

Stuart has captured a number of simple yet valuable tips for IT that will make your life simpler. It is a great book to read and is broken down into bite size topics that even non technical readers can absorb and apply. It is well worth the cost - just one idea will easily cover the investment in purchase price. And there are many ideas that will apply to most any reader so it is a bargain at that point. Enjoy and apply - it will make your IT experience much better.

Stuart is obviously a very well read author and combines that depth of knowlege with his practical experience to provide concise bits of wisdom that I was able to immediately put to use in my business. I've read and re-read many sections of the book and keep it by my desk for handy reference. If you run an IT business, this book will help!

I've found this book to have many good ideas and advice for small business IT providers. The format is a collection of articles of just a few pages each, and as such can be read whenever you have a few minutes to fill. Based on the authors own experience running his business, it's well worth the time to read.