Relationships Books

I am physician and in all of my years of training, I was never taught the valuable information I found in this book. Please don't expect your pediatricians to know about this either- it is not taught to us although it NEEDS to be.

This book is a resource guide on all the things you need to know about creating a healthy environment for your family. There are many things I never knew about- like the dangers of chemicals we are exposed to on a regular basis. I just assumed that if it was sold in the US it was safe- unforunately, this is far from true.
Similarly, I used to think that ORGANIC was just better for the environment but it is so much better for US by decreasing the amount of exposure we have to chemicals used in growing and processing things like cotton. Although I am not revamping my life, this book has taught me to make simple changes that directly effect my daughter's health and well being... Like keeping the windows open for some part of every day, using safe cleaning supplies, using organic mattress pads and linens, and eating only organic chicken, eggs and milk. I have a ways to go but this book has taught me HOW IMPORTANT it is for me to be conscious of what my daughter is exposed to and what she eats.

Christopher Gavigan does an excellent job of breaking down the science so that is clear to the reader. SO that we understand WHY it is important to make the changes to a cleaner, healthier life.

I am making these changes not only for my daugher, but for my husband and I, and I encourage you to do the same.

This is an excellent book that has changed my life- and it could do the same for you. Buy it, read it- and educate your family on how to live a cleaner, healthier life.
(And maybe you can teach YOUR doctor some of these things too!)

Natalia Rodriguez Goldman, MD

I have read several books and articles on "green living" over the past couple of years and I think this is one of the best. It discusses so many aspects of living a healthier, safer life and gives many practical solutions to cleaning up our own environments to benefit us and the earth. It has inspired to me to take further steps beyond what I've already done to make a greener, safer home for my family.
One thing I did not like about this book was the personal stories added in each chapter. While it's nice to learn that some of our Hollywood elite are concerned with ecology issues, it frustrated me to read their stories. They make it sound so easy and practical to just trash everything you own and start from scratch with organic mattresses, flooring, furniture, etc. It's hard enough for me to budget for all the organic food and natural health products I buy; there is no way I could feasibly do everything the contributing celebrities are able to do.
Overall though, I thought this book was well-written, very interesting, well-researched.

great book with tons of practical tips on living green. even if you don't have kids, this book is a good resource for simply living a healthier lifestyle while doing your part to protect the environment. would make a GREAT gift for new parents.

I feel like I am well read on this topic. I learned alot and many useful, pratical tips. Its also written very well for those new to the topic. I made many notes and made a to-do list. I highly recommend!

While the target audience for this book is people living with or expecting children, anyone who wants to minimize their exposure to environmental toxins or pollutants would find it very useful. I am expecting my first child in the fall and before reading this book, I considered myself fairly knowledgeable about what's in the world around us but I have learned so much!

The approach is not preachy but rather educational, and in fact early on in the book is the statement "No one can do everything. Everyone can do something." So even if small changes are made in one's household, health will be improved.

After an introductory chapter, the book covers limiting exposures to toxins in the following settings: while pregnant, cleaning the home, choosing foods, beauty and hygiene, kid's toys, gardening, air and water, pet care, home renovation, and lastly, putting it all together. Information is presented in each chapter as a series of steps, and readers can make the changes suggested in one or all steps.

Within each chapter are several sidebars written by either celebrities or others knowledgeable on the subject. Personally, I like these stories because they show how people (albeit rich people...) can incorporate the suggestions. Many times, the writers of the stories will discuss making a few major changes, but pointing out that another area hasn't been changed for certain reasons. It made me realize that I don't have to do everything to improve the living conditions in my home.

I highly recommend this book. It's an interesting read and websites are given for those who want even more in-depth information.

Great book. Good intro for those city dwellers among us thinking about farm life.

The worst part of this book is that it ends. I'm not a farmer, nor will I ever be interested in becoming one, but this book is about far more than farming.

Friend manages to convey the lessons of relationship--with her partner, with their animals, with their property, and most importantly, with herself--in a way that is at once humorous and insightful. Nothing gets tied up with a neat little bow, but the book also manages to neglect the angst-filled memoir genre. She combines the humor of David Sedaris and Bill Bryson with the poignancy of Mitch Ablom, while skipping sentimentality and predictability along the way.

Hit By A Farm manages to weave her thematic concern--boundaries and how they can be formed in the context of partnership and self fulfillment--throughout the book without clobbering the reader with her message. Best of all, this book is shake-the-bed-and-wake-up-your-partner funny. It's hard to make a reader cry--but it's a gift to make a reader laugh.

I'm recommending this book to everyone I know, and now, through the magic of the world wide interweb, I can recommend it to people I don't know. After you've finished reading it, don't forget to tell Oprah. She'll thank you for it.

Writer/bookworm Catherine Friend takes us along as she transforms into a REAL farmer (and still keeps writing and reading). Her writing style is engaging and easy to read, pulling you along for the ride from start to finish. I couldn't put it down.

Real humor, real struggles, real "back to the land" mentality without the moral pontificating of some authors. The dream of farming wasn't hers to begin with (it was her partner's), but she has made peace with it and maintained her sense of self while maintaining a long term relationship. Farming is a stressful business, and she addresses this aspect of it very well while sharing how she managed to work through her concerns and evolve into a better person.

The author's sense of humor was my favorite part. I will never look at soft serve the same way again after reading about the peacocks leaving "grayish swirls of poop the size of a Dairy Queen ice cream cone" which, well, you'll have to read the book to find out what happened, but the result had me rolling with laughter. Definitely a five star read.

No one was more surprised than Catherine Friend when her long-time partner informed her that she'd always dreamed of being a farmer. Early on in this hilarious memoir, the author writes, "Farming had never been my dream. My dream was to grow my writing career into something I could call 'successful,' whatever that was. I'd already sold two children's books and a handful of magazine stories. I was hungry for more" (p. 6).

But Melissa's dream had merit, and Catherine believed she could help the dream come true. And so, "The classic face of farming in Grant Wood's American Gothic was about to get a facelift: two thirty-something women in bib overalls holding pitchforks" (p. 6).

Devoting a great deal of time, energy, and work to their project, the two women researched farming, bought land in southern Minnesota, built a house, and settled in to raise sheep, chickens, and grapes for wine. Apparently that was the easy part. From auspicious beginnings, the road they embark upon is filled with a learning curve so steep that shoveling manure and mucking horse stalls might have been easier. While Melissa's dream ascended, the livestock, crops, and natural disasters seem to conspire to make Catherine's life miserable. Living off the land wasn't at all the romantic idyll so often put forth.

By turns hilarious and sobering, touching and surprising, Catherine Friend's memoir tells the tale of two thirty-somethings who not only have to learn to love the barn, but also to find their way back to one another after such a huge life-change nearly sideswipes them for good. It's a terrific story, very well-told, and is cram-packed full of humor, insight, and a zest for life that can't be vanquished. If you only read one memoir this year, make this be the one. I give it my highest recommendation.

I read this book to my partner this summer as we took three day trips from the Twin Cities to small towns in Minnesota - first to Buffalo and St. Cloud; second to Mankato; third to Rochester. It was a fitting book to read as we rode through Minnesota farm country - the setting of this story. Every time we saw sheep or llamas, we laughed and contemplated whether the farmers had experienced any of the trials and tribulations in the book.

This is a great memoir from a skillful author. Not only is she committed to her partner, she also has a great sense of humor and knows how to laugh at herself. The book description, itself, is comical. However, nothing prepares the reader for the emotional highs and lows between the front and back covers. Each chapter is a story in itself. From sheep to chickens, goats, llamas, geese, grapes and writer's block, this is certainly a don't-miss book. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention - the book is full of tragedy (i.e., all living things eventually die), childlike elation (i.e., the sheep actually did have sex and we have lambs!), and very elaborate descriptions of some pretty gross stuff (i.e., sheep placenta and things stuck to the bottoms of shoes). If you're soft of heart or stomach, get prepared for a roller-coaster ride.

Extremely well written by a very likable author, I highly recommend this wonderful book to everyone. It's a book that can be enjoyed by all - gay or straight, farmer or not - and should be on every bookshelf.

In an age of all kinds of self-help books, this one is simple and it SHINES. Written from a (subtle, non-infringing) Christian perspective, it is loaded with information about how anyone can immediately improve not only their relationships with their children (and therefore their child's well-being) but can also apply this information to all relationships. I think it would work wonders for teachers as well!

You know when you hear truth because it's so simple, and makes so much sense, that you think, "Of course that's the way it is! Why didn't I figure that out myself??" That's the feeling this book has all the way through. An unforgettable message that could change the way you live!!

I have three children of my own, I was a school teacher, now I am a Pastor of Family Ministries and this is the first book I give expectant parents. I have read dozens of books on raising children, secular and Christian, this is the best. Let me explain.

It is simple.
Dr. Campbell does not get bogged down in the minutia of emotionally charged details. He doesn't preach about spanking, breast feeding, dating v. courting, negative and positive reinforcement, and the like. He tells you what is going on in a child's heart and allows you to determine the details.

It is foundational.
The principles he shares are so obvious that you are almost embarrassed that you didn't think of it. I found that not only did it help me be a better parent, it helped me deal with many of the issues that I had from my own childhood.

It is easy to remember.
I have read this book at least four times, but even after the first reading I could remember the major principles easily. They just make sense. The emotional tank; the difference between discipline and punishment; the fact that saying, "I love you," to your children does not make it real to them; these principles never leave you.

It is flexible.
These principles are not tied to one reading of Scripture or a single body of research. Also, they are adaptable to many different parenting styles.

It is powerful.
Every time I council a teenager, I ask them if they believe that their parents love them. They almost always say, "Not really. They only love me because I'm their kid. But they don't really love me." It astounds me because Dr. Campbell quotes teenagers in this book and they are almost verbatim what I consistently hear. The reason is that kids do not feel loved just because you put a roof over their heads and gave them the latest iPod. They need so much more. When the realization of the truths contained in this book hit many parents, they simply sob. They realize that they missed it and their children are paying the price.

Most parents are doing their best and simply do not know. No matter what the circumstances, it is not too late. Our God is a God of miracles and he can move powerfully in our lives. Read this book, believe God for his grace, and learn how to really love your children.

Tons of books out there on child raising. I have been counseling military men and women for almost thirty years. Would that most, if not all, parents would sit down and read this. This would be a different world. Oh, and it also greatly helped me understanding how to make movement toward my children in love and not in anger and shame.

I think this is an excellent book because it steers away from the external performace-orientation of some Christian books. These books sometimes almost view raising a child like training a dog. The whole focus is on getting the child to do the right thing, to obey. This title also steers away from the other extreme forms of parenting--the child is a delicate, fragile piece of glass that must be coddled, never contradicted or criticized, given whatever he or she wants, and praised for each and every thing they do.

Campbell moves to a more biblical focus. He shows that if you build a healthy love relationship, you can exercise appropriate discipline in love and children will actually appreciate it and come to view it as what it is--the most loving thing you could do for them.
-Dennis McCallum, author Organic Disciplemaking: How to promote Christian leadership development through personal relationships, biblical discipleship, mentoring, and Christian community

this is a book with old-fashioned values - discipline, politeness, etc.. modern parenting theory could use a look back to some of these values. i am as modern a woman as anyone - but to think through how unloving it is for me to let my kids do whatever they want was really good. we have to be parents, not just friends.
however, in most traditional models (i.e. our grandparents generation) there was a cold distance between parents and children. this book also confronts that shortcomming - making it a well-balanced book.
it's hard for me to get through or respect many parenting books - but i zoomed through this one and drank it all up! i recommend it to all of my friends with young children - even babies!

I read this book in two days because it was so captavating! This book is great for sixth grade and up. I loved it because it kept you wanting to read more and more to find out how died and if Ava would ever get over the loss of her boyfriend, Jackson. I really recomend this book to anyone who like books filled with drama and sadness. If you read this have a box of tissue next to you.

the story is about a girl named ava, who just lost her boyfriend, jackson in a trajic way. after jackson dies she keeps seeing him everywhere...she doesnt know the reason that he keeps haunting her, and belives he is doing it because he is mad at her for the way he dies. when she finds the reason for why he is haunting her she is overcome with his true love for her and finally lets him go.

this is one of the most beautiful and saddest books i have ever read. the good thing about this book is that its so short you can read quickly. i cried so hard when i read this. it touched my heart and made me feel ava's love for jackson and made me sad that she will never see him again.

i recommend this to anyone. its a great book and one you wont regret reading.

This book was very coherently and beautifully written. It was focused and poetic, magical and real, all at once.
Ava really touches readers as she is so human-- she wants to be more of something, she wishes she were something, and she both loved and lost, and let go.
The author conveyed the essence of true love very effectively-- emphasizing that Ava loved her boyfriend not only because of what he was, but because of what she was when he was with her. The book also explores the question of letting go and when to do it and how to know when you are ready to do it. And anyone of any age is capable of love, for there are so many types of love.
I highly recommend this touching, tear-evoking novel!

Ava's boyfriend was perfect, he understood her. But when their game of dares goes to far and he is killed, Ava is guilty.
She misses him and stays home all the time, she won't talk to anyone, but then one night when she is finally starting to get better Jackson appears to her (in his own way).
He can't leave the house, so she stays home too.
He can't touch her or talk to her, but he's there and he still loves her.
But will Ava become a prisoner of her lost love or be set free by his presences?
I thought it was a great haunting read. The free verse really adds to it and it is the kind of book you can read over and over.
I really can't think of any negative feedback for the book. It is a beautiful, haunting book.
Warning: keep tissues near by.

Ava can't see him or touch him, unless she's dreaming. She can't hear his voice, except for the faint whispers in her mind. Most would think she's crazy, but she knows he's here.

Jackson. The boy Ava thought she'd spend the rest of her life with. He's back from the dead, as proof that love truly knows no bounds.

This is a touching story, written in free verse, about a teenage girl whose boyfriend dies, and we see her go through all the different phases of this loss. She's grieving and feels she is to blame for his death. But Jackson starts to appear to her in her home, as a ghost. This book is a wonderful read for teenagers who have lost someone close to them, and even those who have not. It's all about healing, and moving forward with your life after a tragedy.

It is recommended for grades 9 and up. There are mild references to sex, but I don't think it's something an 8th grader should be kept from reading. Its beautiful poetry, and a easy read.

Cute book. Very funny and insightful. Helped me figure out that my neighbor was gay. I shared it with him. We both had a good laugh.

The best thing you can do with this book is to give this as a gift to a friend who is dating a gay man, and who thinks that she isn't.

The best thing about this book is that it walks through the steps of a gay man/straight woman relationship, and talks about it from the woman's point of view. It has a section: "What the woman is telling herself," that is very informative.

I don't think there are any gay men who match up 100% to the checklist that this book ends up being, but like I said, I think that this book is more a tool for coping than for anything else.

Technical stuff: This book is written in a comic book format--mostly pictures. I finished this book in about 10 minutes. It's pretty small, too. Only 80 pages.

Overall, an excellent buy, especially since they are selling so cheap used on amazon now.

I bought this for a female friend who doesn't know I'm gay after we debated whether someone else was or not. (She assumes that all effiminate men are gay and that all gay men are effiminate, - I had to laugh to myself as she said this and I butched myself up even more than normal!)

The book has some annoying stereo-types, like all gay men are great dancers (I'm not), but since it's clearly tongue-in-cheek and a quick read, it's great for a few good chuckles to any one, gay, straight, male or female.

This book is a witty, entertaining, enlightening look at a quandary faced by so many young women who are plagued with wonderful guy friends that just don't seem to date ANYone. One of my best friends referred this to me who is a closeted gay man. This book not only made me laugh, but I didn't feel as dumb as I used to. Sometimes, gay men seem to be the answer to all of your problems; but then again, there is one thing that a gay man just CAN'T do for a woman...so we have to love them for what they can do for us...

I received this book as a gift from my best friend, who happens to be a gay man. This book tells you all the signs (which are just general, but mostly true) to look for in a guy, and has some of the cutest illustrations. I would recommend this book to any woman out there who thinks she might have picked up a gay best friend instead of a boyfriend.

Though I'm one of the lucky who haven't yet suffered the loss of anyone close, I know that inevitably, I will.

In this book, through Edie's eyes, I can see what the journey through grief to find a new place in the world is like after such a loss.

This book is a must-read for everyone.

What a lovely, spare set of koan-like wisdoms Edie Hartshorne has shared in her poetic memoir of grief, Light in Blue Shadows. The writing, so vivid and fluent, moves through a story rhythm that elicits the page turn. I found it so clear and lyrical, a spiritual epiphany worthy of widespread reading. I am sure this book will be gifted to many families and individuals needing music and light in the midst of grieving.

Loss is the shadow twin of love. When we give birth to a child this inevitable separation is already written into the narrative of connection that begins with the first breath. And yet, who among us imagines the shape of this parting as we go about the uneventful day-to-day routines of family life. The shared hours we spend together are precious, fleeting and ordinary. We both know and don't know that life is transitory, that each moment we share with our children is potentially our last. "Light in Blue Shadows" is a rare record of one mother's passage through the stations of pain that accompany the sudden loss of a child. Edie Hartshorne's book begins with the absolute horror of the first phone call -- the one we all dread -- the one from which there is no escape. We share with her the chasm that separates her simple three word question -- "Is Jonathan okay?" -- from its unimaginable answer -- "No. He's not."

We follow the author through the days, weeks, and ultimately years where the loss of her son slowly became integrated into the marrow of her life. We share the intimate lyrical letters she writes to her beloved first-born:

Dear Jonathan,
I'm looking at your baby pictures. So vividly, I remember that moment you transformed our lives, falling like a sapphire star into my heart. Dear Jonathan, imagine--I've been writing to you ever since you were born. I just found this song I wrote for you in my old Kyoto journal. You were four days old. Of course, I never would have shown it to you while you were alive. But now everything's different.

There is a moment late in the book where Edie begins to comprehend the wholeness that can exist along side the irreversible truth of physical death. She writes that "In the shower this morning, I suddenly realize: We are a `blended family' both living and dead, combining two cultures. It is just that Alan and Yoko and Jonathan are on the other side, and we are here. I was touched by this passage because at this point in the narrative I felt included in Edie's large circle of caring friends. There is such intimate truthfulness in this book that the barrier between author and reader begins to seem illusory. We are all part of the human blended family.

"Light in Blue Shadows" unflinchingly chronicles a sorrowful subject in a way that allows the reader a glimpse into the grace that ultimately transcends sorrow. Edie Hartshorne's moving memoir reinforces the truth of both/and that is well captured by Rumi's famous lines:

We are the mirror as well as the face in it.
We are tasting the taste this minute
of eternity. We are
pain and what cures pain, both. We are
the sweet cold water and the jar that pours.

Ms. Hartshorne's book both feeds the soul and nourishes the heart. It is a welcome addition to the library of wisdom literature that offers solace in times of great need.

Edie Hartschorne has presented new questions about the mysteries of love, life and death. How does a mother survive the death of her beloved son?
How does her heart heal? Does time heal all wounds? Or are we blessed with a source of healing that patiently awaits our calling? And finally, how does the deepest grief break open our heart and gently breath us back to life? WIth a lyrical soul and a generous spirit, Edie's journey is a bright beacon for others who grieve and mourn.

An exquisite rendering of the unbearable pain of losing a child, this account of the sudden death of a 'perfect' son at the age of 20 could be too hard to read. But given the 15 plus years that pain flourished and subsided and became internalized has tempered the mother's ability to tell the story. Written in short, simple sentences, and with the greatest restraint possible from a mother's burned insides comes a lucid, detailed account of how a computer whiz kid, working for a company on the usual "rush" schedule, inhaled nitrous oxide to stay awake through the night and accidentally killed himself.
As a mother whose daughter died earlier than she ought to I find the writer's blend of the overwhelming grief and the lucid rendering of those waves of pain just the right balance for the narrative. Neither sentimental nor distanced from the loss, Edie Hartshorne's intellectual, emotional, maternal instincts are woven together in a perfect tapestry of shock and awe at what humans are capable of absorbing.
This book is a balm and a beacon of courage.

This morning, lying on my back, motionless and spreadeagled on the bed in the midst of a series of cataclysmic orgasms I found a small corner of my brain which remained capable of coherent thought hazily mulling over how a $30 CD could have taken an apparently flagging and almost moribund libido (I'm getting on in life) and bring it to the condition where I can now readily call up a practically unlimited sequence of orgasmic events of a kind and intensity I never knew existed.

It was last August when I purchased Jack's audio CD and I've been practicing his Key Sound protocol since then. Although I had some surprising and encouraging success in my first few days of KS practice I had no illusions that I'd arrived at the full potential of the experience because from all accounts considerable investment in training one's body might be required to fully develop the skill. This has turned out to be true for me. But progress has been sustained and each day still brings forth new and surprising events.

I can now start a session at practically any time and easily and quickly get into a sequence of orgasms of a level of intensity which far exceeds anything that I've experienced before in a long life of sexual experimentation and adventuring. Additionally, the orgasms' peaks are interspersed by involuntary surges of what Jack calls "echoes" which render, for me, feelings of ecstatic and unearthly bodily sensations many of which leave me utterly stupefied for a minute or two. The great thing is because ejaculation does not occur there is little expediture of physical energy involved and it is possible for me to effortlessly sustain a session for as long as time permits. The other day I finished an extreme three-hour session feeling as fresh as a daisy and ready to pick up where I left off, at any time.

Jack's CD is well presented and easy to follow. But, as he points out, don't assume that that this skill can be achieved without dedicated practice. However, that was no problem for me because the fun and excitement started from day two and is still getting better each day.

It's hard for me to believe what an unexpected and incredible enhancement the KSMMO has brought to my life. For $30! - It's a giveaway! The CD is now in a picture frame on the wall.

Regarding Jack's Key Sound, I never encountered any need to "roar" it out loud and I don't think that Jack says that it's necessary to do so. In fact, in my early days of practice I would use a quiet breathy version of the sound which was entirely adequate for me. Currently I seem to have progressed beyond the the Key Sound and rarely need to use it. Criticism of the KS protocol as an essentially noisy operation seems to me to be entirely misguided. Like conventional intercourse, you can make it as quiet or as screamingly noisy as you feel inclined to do.

Mog

I am kicking myself since last night. Reason: I bought this cd from amazon 2 years ago. I listened for about 30 minutes. The key sound was too weird and I thought the author was some looney guy (sorry Jack). Then I rechecked all reviews and found that all good reviewers had only one review that for this cd. It helped plant further doubts about this multiple orgasm technique and I threw the cd away.

Yesterday while going through my old cds I came across the MMO cd again. For the heck of it, I listed to it completely. Yesterday evening I lay on my bed and applied the key sound technique. On every sexual energy spike or when I was breathing heavily, I would grasp that moment, do a belly breath and use the key sound. Then on I used the key sound after every 4 - 5 breaths. 30 minutes later my entire body was tingling intensely for about 10 - 20 minutes. It was a very pleasurable feeling. I immediately wrote to Jack and asked him about questions I had. Jack replied immediately and this morning I tried the key sound technique with my girlfriend. Sure enough in about 20 - 25 minutes of using the key sound, I had not ejaculated and instead the intense tingling sensation intensified, but this time I kept going on and sure enough I arrived at the orgasmic point - only this time it was internal. The shocking thing was the orgasmic emotional point (the point of physical ejaculation) lasted not for the traditional/usual 1 millisecond but continued for minutes. The beautiful millisecond which men crave for, which happed at the point of ejaculation actually stayed for 10 - 15 minutes. A state of the highest emotional bliss I have ever experienced.

After a year of trying pc muscle the barbara keesling way or the Mantek Chia way, I had reached nowhere. once or twice I had a slight experience of tingling when I had used the mantek chia's teachings of moving the sexual energy through the microcosmic orbit, but it is beyond an average person's power to control the pc muscle so as not to ejaculate.

Jack Johnston key sound though sounds weird is but the one easy way to multiple orgasms. Just to clarify - Multiple orgasms are not physical ejaculations but whole body orgasms happening in succession.

Two years ago I thought this key sound was so foolish. Since last evening I've realized it was just me who was for not having given this new technique a chance.

In this age of tantra and other things, there is no reason why you and your partner should feel odd about trying this new technique. I am simply blown away by how simple the path to MMO has been made by this key sound technique.

Jack Johnson's MMO audio cd really expands oneself beyond the physical sexual pleasure. The MMO audio CD is not limited to use by men, but also women as well. I am a very satisfied customer and would recommend this easy-to-use audio CD for any man-woman and even couples. This audio CD enhances the sexual pleasure!!
Lynn Sinner

I ordered Jack Johnston's seminar from Amazon.com a couple of months ago and I am already having amazing and life changing results!

This training will take you thru the gate to "dry orgasms" with no ejaculation!(just the orgasm!) This allows you to have many wonderful orgasms in one session! You simply follow the KSMO protocol and the rewards you can reap are out of this world!

Best investment I have ever made in myself!

The seminar disk also allows you to access the members web site, where there is a wealth of resources: real life-changing stories, informative articles, live chat sessions and a wonderful, positive atmosphere where everyone helps each other to achieve their own desired goals. (It has been a kind of on-line family here, actually???)

This is a "must have" for anyone wanting to explore their own sexuality and the exciting world of sexual possibilities...

Later, Hlaser99

P.S. It works as well for men, women or couples!

I don't know about this product... I admit I haven't seen or heard it!

I might have been interested, but when I examined customer reviews I encounter 18 fantastic raveing reviews, almost all written by individuals with no other product reviews! (odd coincidence???)
Then I also noticed that all these reviews were stylistically similar enough that if I was a college English teacher I would suspect at most two or three different authors!

I know that you may believe in your product, but customer reviews are written by CUSTOMERS, otherwise they are misrepresentations, even if their content is factual.

"Mayo Clinic Family Health Book" covers nearly everything that takes place in life from preconception to death. Diagnostic and treatment advice is easy to read and accentuated with diagrams and photos.

FOUND THE GENERAL INFORMATION OF SPECIFIC DISEASES AND ITS POSSIBLE TREATMENTS. VERY GOOD AND PRECISE INFORMATION.

We purchased the Mayo Clinic Eeference guide to serve as a family medical book. We are very pleased with the descriptions and information about comon medical issues. I highly recommend this book for individuals who want more information about common and not so common medical difficulties.

This is a book no household should be without. Very informative and helpfull. The index is great and the information is to the point... Excellent photos and drawings. Only drawback: a bit bulky!

The Mayo Family Health book is a "wealth of information."
My husband recently became ill and was hospitalized. We were able to pinpoint symptoms in the book which helped us along with our health provider get appropriate testing and treatment for his condition.

With healthcare today, we must be "informed consumers".
I have worked nearly 35 years in clinical laboratory medicine and I still learn something new everyday....this book certainly helps.

I've been a fan of Mike Dugan's comedy for a long, long time. This is not ONE of the funniest books on relationships, it's THE funniest book on relationships I've ever read. Loaded with spot-on observations and male humility (yes, there is such a thing) it is also hilarious.

This is an interesting book- often humorous, sometimes serious, and always thought provoking. For any woman who needs a little bit more insight into what drives men. Also for those few men who are sincere about confronting the results of their behavior. This is a rare treasure of a book.

"My brother would get grounded for being 10 minutes late for dinner. By the time they got around to me, it was pretty much 'No heroin in the living room.'" (3)
-Mike Dugan, joking about being the youngest child in a big family and his parent's possible leniency.

By the time I read the sentences above, I had laughed six times already and I was only on page 3. To say this book is some of the best good natured humor anyone can read is an understatement. Mike Dugan delivers his mature and personal message about becoming the "right kind of man" with what is often knee-slapping, belly-rolling, and even telephone-your friends-and-pretend-you-made-it-up-yourself, comedy. (If you're not good at telling jokes I suggest you use text messaging and simply copy these jokes word for word from this book.)

In, "Men Fake Foreplay...And Other Lies That Are True", Mike Dugan shares his introspective quest to discover the dynamics involved between men and women in order to develop his own personal philosophy. He begins this quest by asking two simple questions: "What makes a man?" and "What do women want?" He addresses these two insightful questions throughout the book with chapters and headings such as: Communication; Domestic Priorities; Blame; Commitment; Boxing, Bubble Baths, and Big Boys Crying; to name a few.

Mike Dugan is no relationship expert and doesn't claim to be. If anything, he comes across in this book as an average guy with normal thoughts, healthy desires, and realistic expectations and emotions. He is the first to point out his own mistakes, misconceptions, and misadventures in the area of relationships and his interactions with the opposite sex. These misunderstandings have caused him much pain and regret in his own life, and he often displays a more serious side to these issues when they subsequently inflict pain upon the women he's been associated with:

"...if you choose to avoid your own ignorance when it reveals itself to you, it becomes arrogance..." (65)

These are immensely profound words from someone who comes across as an "average guy", but that's why this book is so enjoyable and worthy of reading. From a man's point of view, it reads as though two guys are sitting around having a deep and meaningful conversation about women. Men won't talk without laughing, and they will surely lose interest if it is nothing more than the typical feel-good group therapy session. Mike Dugan is a man's man, and he has done an expert job (as a non-expert) in this book of sharing his experiences and personal philosophy. Men seem to shy away from experts, and men don't even read the books by experts; but men talk to each other and laugh, and realistically most men will listen to reason. Sometimes, men just need to hear the right words from someone like Mike Dugan, who has obviously put a great deal of thought and good intention behind becoming the "right kind of man".

According to Mike Dugan, "the right kind of man" will honestly listen to a woman and nurture her. He will develop his character and create an environment of trust with the actions he takes and the words he uses. "Men Fake Foreplay...And Other Lies That Are True" really isn't about sex, it's about what a man does when he's NOT having sex. With this great little book, Mike Dugan points MANkind to the next level of social evolution. Every man should own a copy of this book, and then he should pass it along to his sons.

Brian Douthit
Author Of Perfectly Said: when words become art

My sense reading this was that the author believed that all men tend to devalue women and treat them badly. I know that not to be the case. The early pages were humorous & fun, but the last half of the book seemed pretty apologetic to me.

This tale is short, sweet, funny, humble, and serious all at the same time. I think men and women equally should read it. The other positive reviews were on target and there's not much more I can add. Enjoy!

Out of the hundreds, if not thousands, of books I read during my childhood (I was a pretty big bookworm!), this is one of the one's I clearly remember reading. It is a very sweet book, which even as an adult brings a tear to my eye to just think about.

This book is an excellent read, not only for kids who can relate to the death of a grandparent or a loved one, but for all children who are just starting to learn about death. It's a great way to introduce the topic. I had it as a kid, and recently bought a new copy. It is one of my most beloved childhood books. The illustrations are great, too--I don't know how kids would feel about them today, considering all the technology we have now in terms of graphics, but I remember being really intrigued by all the little details in the drawings (in the late 1970s/early 1980s).

Tomie dePaola's Nana Upstairs & Nana Downstairs is a tenderly written story about the death of loved ones and the beautiful memories they leave behind. The story is multigenerational seen through the sweet lens of childhood eyes. The illustations are charming and the tale will make you laugh and cry.

We were looking for a book to help prepare our 4-year old daughter for the death of her grandmother from Cancer. This book was recommended to us. We first checked it out from the library and had to renew. It helped us start the discussion of death with our daughter. She related to Tomie being 4 and his love for his Nana's. We bought this book because she did not want to return it to the library. She is so happy to have her very own copy.

I had read this book several years ago so when my 87 yr old mother died last month, I bought a new Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs book for my grandson who is 10 yrs old. He told me that he will keep that book forever because it was so sweet and means everything to him now that his great-Nana is gone to heaven.