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Most books on using presentation software seem to start with the assumption that the software makes sense and that organizing content is the secret to a good presentation. Here, Garr Reynolds strips away those assumptions and asks you to think of presentations as they truly are--visual stories. They're more like movies than books and Garr opens up the possibilities through a radically different approach to designing slides.

The book offers many beautiful examples and an engaging and reflective style that inspires you to create truly impactful presentations. These principles are particularly important for government communicators.

This book will change the way you use PowerPoint. It is a must for developing a great presentation. Excellent examples, great writing, and easy to employ ideas. It has opened my eyes and I will forever be changed in my use of PowerPoint slides. My presentations will be just plain better for the audience.

This book will revolutionize the way you present. It includes invaluable tips on how to plan your presentation, simplify your ideas, tell interesting stories, and put together a presentation that will hook your audience. A must read!

I can't add a great deal to the praise already stated for this great little book. It is a quick, easy read, but you have to read it -carefully-. This is about changing how you think about a presentation, not a checklist or a template for giving presentations.

At work, I cringe through many, many "Death b Powerpoint" presentations, and I get compliments from colleagues on mine. They grasp that there is something different about how I present, but they don't understand the philosophy enough to duplicate it. Get this book and all will be clear.

If you present highly technical information, you will have to modify some of the ideas in the book, because it is essential to make some of the slide more substantial, for instance with graphs prepared from a good graphing program (Something like Igor, NOT Excel). However, this is a minor modification, and the backbone of your presentation can follow the philosophy so clearly expressed in this book.

Very highly recommended.

This book is a must. If you are a Power Point serious user, and recognize that you (and the people in the auditorium) are tired with the "standard" way you do your presentations, you must buy and read this beautiful book. You will read it in hours - it is marvelous. I strongly recommend this one.

This book is enticing, exciting and sad, all on one page. Usually when a book is a sequel, it is necessary to have read the first book in order to fully enjoy it. That's not the case with this novel. The author has succeeded in giving you just enough insight to the previous book that you don't feel lost if you haven't read it, without reiterating everything in case you have. Bernice McFadden is quickly becoming one of my favorite novelists

Wow, What a book and I was thinking sugar was good, they are both good reads.Sugar comes back to bigelow for a reason, and now we know why.Jude send her back in her dreams to let her know what happen to her, and bring the family together with the true who sugar dad is.I see why mercy was put in her life the way she was to see that lappy have done to alot of people in that town.This was a great book IM sorry it taking so long to read it.

The group felt many of the unanswered questions from McFadden's novel "Sugar" were answered in "This Bitter Earth."

Overall the group felt that each character kept too many secrets. Everyone felt that the secrets were the source of the problems. Joe kept secrets about being Sugar's father and learning the details of Jude's murder. The Lacey sisters held secrets about Sugar's family including Shirley being her great-grandmother. Sugar's life would have been drastically different, if most of these secrets had been revealed earlier.

I just love this author work, her books are so heart felt. thank you bernice mcfadden.

YES, A SEQUEL THAT CAN STAND UP TO THE FIRST BOOK. THIS BITTER EARTH WAS JUST AS GOOD AS SUGAR. SHE MADE SURE SHE KEPT US IN THE BOOK AND IN THE MIND OF ALL THE CHARACTERS. MANY OF TIMES I HAD TO SAY "COCOA, YOU ARE NOT SUGAR, COME BACK TO REALITY" I FELT THAT CHARACTER LIKE I FEEL THE MY HEART BEATING INSIDE OF ME. ONCE AGAIN A WELL WRITTEN NOVEL BY BERNICE MCFADDEN

First MacArthur book I read, which changed my life. Well studied and saturated in The Word of God. Thank you, Sir!

I was looking for books that would explain some of the criticisms aimed at CGM churches, such as Willow Creek and Saddleback. This book, published in 1993 doesn't name either of these by name and I thought it would give a relatively objective view having been written earlier than most others of this type.

MacArther takes aim at CGM churches and may be one of the first authors to do so. Of special interest to me is the appendix that gives some insight into Charles Spurgeon and the Downgrade Controversy. This is probably the best part of the entire book, and takes up a substantial portion of it. This is a good commentary and brief biographical treatment of Spurgeon for those of us who are not very familiar with him but only through some very good quotations.

However, MacArther's treatment of CGM churches begins to wear thin about midway through the second chapter. Some of his arguments start to make him sound more like a pharisee than someone bringing in the light. He objects to the forms of worship, the subject of worship, the absence of substance, the user-friendly message, the seeker-friendly concept...and these are all well and fine, but most of these arguments can be found for free all over the internet. He seems to go on a bit long in order to flesh out chapters that could be shorter, but of course this is sort of par for the course with most preachers!

MacArther makes his point but as a champion of institutional churchianity, he must draw up short of pointing out that these megachurches are merely the next logical steps for an institution where the clergy is always more exhalted, more revered and more siognificant than the laity "sheep." So while the reader may be freed from a downgraded institution, the person will still be in bondage to MacArther's brand of institution which puts them in a pew, staring at the back of the heads of others and viewing things going on at the front. As long as the preacher and the Sunday preaching remain the staple diet of people who call themselves Christians, it will continue to be a movement that is in decline, no matter the size or flavor.

I find this to be one of MacArthur's more compelling book. His awareness of the threats to the pure gospel is sharp; his use of Scripture to expose the dangers is on target; his exegesis is truly admirable; the relevancy of this book speaks volume.

I told a pastor friend of mine that he MUST read this book. Everyone who is in ministry or getting ready to answer God's call to ministry ought to read this book. It will safeguard you from a lot of dangers that lurk, wearing the robe of evangelicalism or falsely so-called.

I especiall like the last few chapters that emphasize the sovereignty of God in salvation and the building of his church. The church belongs to the Lord. He purchased it with his own blood. He is its rightful head. He knows how to build it and what it should look like. He has commissioned us to preach the pure gospel. Thank Lord, for the likes of Spurgeon and MacArthur.

The brilliance of John MacArthur's book, "Ashamed of the Gospel" is that it was written long before Rick Warren and Bill Hybels were household names. MacArthur, like Spurgeon a century ago, is one of our generation's leading apologist for defending the faith and the intregrity of biblical doctrines.

The evangelical church that I knew (until about 1995) was a place where the gospel was upheld and the bible was looked at as the infallible, inspired Word of God. This evangelical church largely arose because of the apostasy that invaded the mainline denominations some 80-100 years ago. Now that same apostasy has invaded Evangelicalism and the term "evangelical" no longer has any firm meaning in my mind.

Blame it on many factors. One key factor are pastors who figured out they could obtain larger churches, prominence, and prestige by preaching a "partial Christianity" that contains bits and pieces of the truth, and downplays or ignores the other doctrines that don't appeal to the masses. Rick Warren is especially dangerous as he surveyed his potential audience to discover what they wanted preached. Of course, that model works in today's consumer mentality. Rick has placed man's needs above God's words.

Another blame is on people themselves. They don't want to hear truth and the marketplace has rewarded pastors who placate people's needs to be "churched" but not taught anything controversial or difficult to believe. Mixed together, [heathen pagans plus limp-willed pastors] and you get a pretty good understanding of what evangelicalism has become.

God will never be denied a witness in any generation and John MacArthur is one of a diminishing number of sound bible teachers today who dares to take an unpopular and difficult stand when communicating God's message.

Especially powerful in this book was beginning on page 121 and Paul's exposition of the gospel in the Book of Romans. Paul's approach to the gospel begins with the bad news of man's sin and God's wrath. It is hard to appreciate the good news of the gospel unless one fully understands just how wicked and needing of a savior we are. The seeker-sensitive movement always ignores this point and immediately jumps to the good news. Consequently we have many people in today's seeker-sensitive church who are getting "saved", but they have no idea from what.

Another chapter of note is Chapter 7 on Paul preaching on Mars Hill in Acts Ch. 17. MacArthur makes the case that many church leaders read more into the text about pragmatism than is there. Paul did not compromise his message while preaching in the open marketplace of the day; today's preachers are compromising right and left. Paul was direct; he didn't win many converts. Look at the seeker-sensitive movement today attracting millions. One thing we know about biblical truth is that if the masses are running to some book or teaching, be cautious. That is a flashing warning sign that deception is nearby.

I can't wait to read MacArthur's new book, "The Truth War."

John MacArthur deals with the subject of Pragmatism in such a powerful way.

The following is a condensed version of what this book revealed to me:

Pragmatism is the view that meaning or worth is determined by practical consequences.
The error of pragmatism simply put: "if it works, it must be right"!

The pragmatic approach to doing church is to determine what attracts people and makes the church grow. We are far too human. We are limited in our perception and understanding. We are prone to believe that good results are necessarily indicative of faithfulness to Scripture. This is not true. A man centered gospel is always full of error and compromise and "good ideas." A man centered church is a glorified country club and although a man centered government seems good, it will always make its decisions based on what is good instead of what is right.

Get this book and read it over and over, if need be. This is a message that can not be overlooked, as many of our "modern" day churches would have to be considered "pragmatic". This book warns of the danger of pragmatism! Heed the warning.

Just great all around!!! This was one of my favorite childhood books. I will now give this one to my goddaughter to enjoy.

I am currently running a girls book club for 4th grade girls and I decided to use this book because of the positive attitude of the children in the book. I am trying to teach the girls in the book club how to analyze a book, discuss a book and to learn from a book. This book had everything I was looking for. The analysis leads to talking about attitude, taking responsibility and using your creativity!

This book is so good. It is where 12 year-old Mary, and her 10-year old sister, Jean are on a ship, and one day the ship starts to sink, and as quick as they can, the take all the babies that they had babysat while on the ship, and get into a lifeboat, but then, right before the boat sinks, their lifeboat gets accidentally thrown into the water, it is just them and 4 babies, all alone in a lifeboat with only a few odds and ends, like a tarp, jerky, canned milk, a jug of water, and some sfety pins. After 5 days of sailing in their little lifeboat, theese corageous little girls land on an island. They make shelter and look all over for food. There are ALOT more twists in the book............ but I don't want to spoil the surprises for you. you wil just have to buy it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did a book report on this book as a kid and really enjoyed the story. This will delight young babysitters and little girls with younger siblings! I have a sis five years younger and could relate to the hardships of these two girls who get stranded on an island with four babies. This book has a good balance of good and bad events and a great ending. The characters seem very realistic but parts of the plot are a little far-fetched and seem fictional. Either way, it's a very fun story with nothing too gross or scary. It also has a fair amount of cute, clean humor. I would say this is a good story for younger readers and those who like a lighthearted story.

Great fun!

As a young girl, I read this book over and over. Loved it! Magical. Shipwrecked on an Island with babies in their care - the girls in this story have an adventure. I was so jealous! I loved babies, still do! This book was dreamy fun.

The author, Carol R. Brink, also wrote "The Pink Motel," my other fav in the 5th grade. Have them both, and will treasure them forever. All my daughters read this, and liked it, as every little girl would.

Delightful! Buy it! thanks, Gramma Sally

"Beautiful Joe" is a wonderful story. It was given to me in the late 50's when I was about 10 years old, and I think I read it three times. It's always amazed me that so few others know of it. But it is a beautiful and enriching story especially suitable for a 9-12 year old child who loves dogs. It is very sad (and distrubing) in the beginning, however, so I would never recommend it for a young child.

I read this book countless times when I was a child in the 1950s; I was delighted to find it still in print and even more delighted to find that it is as moving and meaningful as ever. Today's children may find the language somewhat formal and will need to broaden their vocabularies, but they and their parents will find the small effort well worth it.

I love this book. Everyone should read it young or old. Beautiful Joe and the rest of the animals will touch your heart. I have never read this book without crying at the end.

I am not reviewing the edition but rather the book...and it is...of utmost excellence. Although written for its time period, it is something one can read now and enjoy...Beautiful Joe captures your heart, makes you share his opinions, memories and feelings...then leaves you wanting more.

Just thought I should say something. =)

I first read this story as a Whitman abridged edition when I was about eight years old. It was hard for me to believe that some people were so cruel to animals, but I loved the book's old-fashioned narration and of the adventures of and lessons learned by Miss Laura and her family in raising Joe. The moment I learned what the word "abridged" meant, I went looking for the complete story; it took me a long time to find this Applewood Books edition that included three of the farm chapters that were missing from the supposedly complete version I later purchased, and oddly, the Applewood edition is missing the chapter about the crow that is in some other editions. (I believe this is because the Applewood volume is a reprint of the original story and the chapter about the crow was added in a revised edition.) The story is full of memorable characters, both animal--Joe, Jim the spaniel, Billy the fox-terrier, Bella the parrot--and human--Miss Laura, Ned, Willie, Jack, and Cousin Harry. If you are tender of heart, you may find many scenes heart-rending, but it reminds us too that we have much to still work on in the area of animal cruelty.

The Buddha in Your Mirror is a beautifully written book outlying not only a philosophy, but a practical means to imporve your life. Buddhism is no longer for shaved headed monks who retreat into the mountains, but a practice which allows every single person to become happy while maintaining their normal daily life. Reading this book is a perfect start to changing one's life for the better.

This book is an excellent primer for those who are curious about Buddhism
It reminds us that we all have the ability to reach buddhahood. It also talks about the importance of the mantra "Nam Myoho Renge Kyo" which volumes have written about.I love this book and invite all beginners to buddhist thought to check it out. May I also encourage you to try -The Lotus Sutra- and -The Dhammapada- two major Buddhist works. Be happy.

If you know next to nothing at all about Buddhism but want to learn how and why it might be useful to you, this is the book you should start with. It is NOT rocket science but it hits all the key points you need to know and is readily understandable by almost anyone. Above all, it makes it fundamentally clear that you are in the driver's seat when it comes to your own life. Stand up for yourself, take control of your destiny and read this book.

This is the first book I have read on Buddhism. The book is very informative. There are many, many quotes from SGI President Daisaku Ikeda. If I did not know there were other forms of Nichiren Buddhism I would have thought that Soka Gakkai was it.

This book is easy to digest and is just slightly over 200 pages. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in getting a general view of Nichiren Buddhism.

The Buddha in Your Mirror: Practical Buddhism and the Search for Self This review is from my mother. She is 94, blind, and mostly in a wheelchair after a fall. One day, about a month ago, she announced that she and her husband are becoming buddhists. She read this book twice through Talking Books, the service for the blind (there appears to be no commercial audiobook), and now chants a daily mantra, and feels it has clarified her entire life. She recommended this highly. My sister and her husband are reading it, and when I get it, I will read it too. My mother is very worldly and has traveled and studied her whole life. She studied Asian art, and I am surprised she never studied Buddhism before. It certainly resonated with her.

This deck is truly a joy! The imagery is spiritual, beautiful and visually well adapted to both new and experienced tarot readers. The non-traditional representations of several cards MAY be confusing to those not familiar with Wicca or Druidic entities but once you read the documentation the interpretations make perfect sense.

For those who care about such things, several cards present their concepts using nudity but I recently purchased a deck which has much more gratuitous and unimaginative nakedness!

The book which accompanies the deck is clearly illustrated (sepia rather than full color as the deck is) and the information is presented in an easy to absorb format. The author chose to present the minor arcana first and rather than presenting the information by suit, the courts are grouped by type and pips are grouped by number. The relationships between the major arcana are well explained as well.

The courts represent two entities as male (king-mature and prince-immature) and two as female (queen-mature and princess-immature). Perhaps this is non traditional but the concept touched me as being more in tune with nature.

The cards are very easy to read, one does not even need the book to accompany them. The images are very creative and at the same time very close to the original images. The cards meanings are depicted in Druid theme images and scenes. Some images significantly differ from original Raider-White deck but in the way that the original meaning is preserved. It's hard to explain, one has to see it.
The book is also great. I've been reading tarot cards for years and I found the meanings in the book to be very similar to the meanings I've come to know from practice. Those cards grow on you: since I got this deck I hardly use anymore my other decks.

In addition to the card meanings the book also has a little bit of info on tarot history as well as sample spreads. Both the deck and the book are totally worth it

I ENJOY USING THIS TAROT DECK AND SO DOES MY FUTURE HUSBAND. THIS IS HIS FIRST DECK AND HE FINDS IT VERY EASY TO FOLLOW. THE CARDS ARE BEAUTIFUL AND THE MEANINGS SEEM TO BE MORE DESCRIPTIVE AND EASIER TO UNDERSTAND THAN SEVERAL DECKS OUT THERE. I ALSO LIKED PAIRING THIS WITH THE "POWER TAROT" BOOK. THE DECK IS A LARGER DECK WHICH IS GREAT FOR LARGER HANDS AND FITS A MAN PERFECTLY!

This is an easy to use deck that is a delight to the hand. Beautiful imagery and an easy to use book.

The Druid Tarot is a wonderful imagery of the Celts. It allows any level reader to delve into the images and find the messages that lay beneath their surface. A wonderful addition to any tarot collection and a fabulous deck to help beginners on their own path to divination. The accompanying book provides a wonderful insight into each card and it's depiction of Celtic life as well. If you want to learn how to read the Tarot, this is a good place to start.

I'm not kidding... I did. The juggling balls are a perfect fit to anyone's hand. I bought the kit because I needed to learn how to juggle for a class, and I got an A! Pretty good for a first timer! Besides, it's a great exercise for your arms.. try it for a couple of hours and you'll see the effects!

I bought this book after seeing a few friends juggling and finding the book on sale at my local Borders store. I didn't think it would take me long to get the hang of throwing and catching three beanbags and now, almost 6 months after buying the book, I am quite proficient with a 3 ball cascade, making a few catches with a 4 ball fountain, and I've been bought juggling clubs!

I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to get into juggling, for fun or sport, it's simple to use and fun to follow along with. The only thing I do not like is that the book's format makes you wish it was spiral bound or bound in a way it can easily be laid flat.

This person is a great dealer with fast prompt service. Would buy from again.

I loved the hole pack. I was trying to find a cheap set of juggling balls to to start learning, when I saw this pack i didn't notice that the beanbags weren't balls but cubes and I was a bit worried at first. Anyway they are great, well balanced, with the right weight, and the unusual format is perfect to beginners, since you will drop them a lot they won't roll away from you like the rounds' ones.

Within an hour of getting this book, I was able to juggle ( though not skillfully at all)three balls. Granted, I've had a little bit of prior juggling experience from years and years ago, so I wasn't totally unfamiliar with the motions. The instructions were very clear and so were the illustrations after I used a hi-liter to keep track of the otherwise black and white balls.

Right from the gitgo Ben Hamper's Rivethead grabs you with gritty gusto of passages such as the above; Hamper is an extraordinary writer about life for the ordinary guy... at least the ordinary guy who winds up as an automotive assembly-line worker for General Motors in Flint, Michigan--once considered the Automobile Capital of the World. The author is a natural shop rat, growing up in Flint, with an alcoholic mostly absentee father and a long-suffering, working-three-jobs mother trying to raise the family as practicing Catholics.

...

For my complete review of this book and for other book and movie
reviews, please visit my site [...]

Brian Wright
Copyright 2008

The endless monotony and idiot bosses drive anybody with an IQ above their shoe size to do something to kill the thought that, if they're lucky, they only have 30 more years of mind numbing drudgery to go before they can retire. I'm not saying alcohol abuse is the proper outlet, but it does seem to be the most common and most convenient. Good book, excellent portrayal of what exactly "blue collar America" does for a living.

Ben Hamper shares his life as a worker on the GM assembly line in Flint, MI. Bold, frank, honest and often hilarious. This book was recommended to me years ago and for some reason I never read it until now. Hamper chronicles a part of American history (manufacturing jobs) that seem to be going stateside or as Ross Perot once described in a quip about NAFTA, what's that whoosing noise? manufacturing jobs headed to Mexico. This is prose for the ages. Loved the book.

I didn't really like reading this book because I too work in a (once) major three Auto plant. I didn't feel that it properly portrayed some of the workers. It made it sound like all workers are like the author where they just really don't give a damn about anything except having a joking time on the job. It also made the workers sound like they were underachieving, undereducated, bottom of the barrel workers and I didn't care to have that stigma for all of us. I hold two bachelor degrees, like my job and take it serious!

I grew up with people like Ben Hamper in a place which was much like Flint. For the first couple years of my adult life, I did the kind of work he did. What he describes is the tail end of a lifestyle; the lifestyle of the shop rat. It's dirty, monotonous and smelly. Many of the people you work with are either below average in intelligence or in sanity. Drugs, booze and having no concept of "forethought" are fundamental parts of the culture. It's nihilism with a rivet gun. If you come from a place like that, chances are, your only way out is via a jail cell or a career in the military. Or, you could win a workmans comp suit. Which is presumably how Ben got out.

I miss rust-belt working class america. It's a hard life, and it doesn't have much in the way of rewards, but the people who make it up are genuine in ways that others are not: they have a lot of heart and spirit. Ben's book brought it all back in a great galloping rush of memories. If you've ever wondered what the factory working classes are, or at least were like (back when we had factories); read the book.

I love this book. I had been keeping my room messy to hide my stuff. Only problem was that my brothers always found my stuff and i couldent. Now that i am using the book, my room is clesn. My brothers and even my girlfriend cant find it.

I bought the book about a year ago, when my cousin would sneak into my room and take money. I made a video vault and a hollow book to hide it in. My brother made a decoy with a whole bunch of fake paper bills and a mouse trap under it all. My cousin got that bright lightbulb of an idea and tip-toed into my room. He saw the 'money' ane must have taken two fistfuls when SNAP!!! It wasn't pretty, my cousin broke his finger, but I thought the book was awesome.

I got this book in 4th grade; I now have no less than 11 vaults/stashes in my room. No one knows all of them! I even stumped my sticky - fingered friend (and considering how many people he's hoodwinked, that's saying a lot).

It is a perfect book, with everything you need to know about keeping your private things exactly that. Private!

I have a sister who can't keep her hands off my things. I have really tried hard to be nice but my parents think I'm picking on her if I complain because she is smaller. So when I saw this in the book store I figured it had to be for me. I am so glad I found this book. It is filled with great ideas about hiding what you own and about making great projects too. You will be able to turn any little place into a secret hide out. I wish there was a part about how to hide myself in a game or when my dad is calling me but I guess the writer doesn't know my house anyway! The book even has a great idea by making itself invisible if you use the pretend names of CDS and tape them on the side of the book. That way no one will know if you have a book or a CD on the shelf. This book is really, really, really good.