Associations Books

The book is par excellent for practical application. If you like Edgar Cayce's way to spirituality this is a must book.

As always, Dr. Thurston's clearly articulated insights come to the heart of what practical spirituality is about. This book has been an extremely helpful tool to myself (and countless other seekers) for many years. I'm surprised that I'm the first one to give it the credit it's due.

Exploring Phenomenology is the best work that I have seen on the market for a general introduction to pure and applied phenomenology. I have authored two technical works in phenomenology, and referred to this book time and again for general reference though it is for the general reader. I highly recommend it for everyone. I look forward to additional works by the co-authors for both general and scholarly readers.
Michael Kazanjian
Phenomenology and Education (1998)
Learning Values Lifelong (Forthcoming)

This is the best text out there for an introduction to Husserl, Heidegger, and the various strands of phenomenology through the first half of the 20th century. Very readable with excellent bibliographies (at least until 1990). Highly recommended for college and graduate students, or anyone interested in continental philosophy.

This book was very informative about of all the aspects of sport psychology and becoming a sport psychologist. It had great examples with real athletes to prove points. It kept me interested and motivated me to learn more about the subject.

This book provides a practical aspect to sport psychology. I will use this as a resource when I teach sport psychology courses in the future.

This incredibly provocative book is now much easier to read compared to the awkward first translation, called "Divine Principle." Though it still can be dense in parts, it presents a beautiful picture of God, His ideal and the real meaning behind events recorded in the Bible and even the present world situation. This challenges many assumptions of traditional Christianity, Islam, Judaism and all the other world religions, yet at the same time it fulfills their hopes and highlights their strengths. The Divine Principle is unlike any other teaching on earth, though it contains many familiar ideas. This presents no easy answers or cheap salvation but it does offer the way home. Many have been brought to faith in God through it while others have felt that it matured their pre-existing faith.

This is latest evolution of Rev. Sun Myung Moon's revelation received initially from the period of 1936-45. Easily the most organized, concise and refined version yet. For myself, I have found in this volume clear and lucid explanations of seemingly intractable problems of religion, history, and morality. No matter what one may think of Rev. Moon, The Divine Principle, and the Unification Church--all three will no doubt be a major players in the religious/theological world in the years to come. The historical precedent is there, for example, in Joseph Smith, The Book of Mormon, and the Mormon Church--which all rose from obscurity, persecution and misunderstanding to be a global force to be reckoned with in the span of a century. I would say that if you have a sincere interest in thought-provoking, challenging theology, this is surely your cup of tea. Prerequisite: an aggressive, fearless desire to wrestle the truth to the ground, and prevail.

Every word Whitford writes is a marvel. Not too late to put this under your Christmas tree!

David Whitford captures the second spring of these aging ballplayers with his excellent eye for story and ear for dialogue. The man (Whitford) is a national treasure.

Parenting doesn't have to be a battle. It can be enjoyable. As a single mom, this book has been a great tool to help me create a better environment to raise my children in. A very good read, easy to apply - I highly recommend to all parents; traditional or non-traditional, Christian and non-Christian alike.

The authors compare the fragrance of the home to the atmosphere that is created by the parents. It revolves around the acrostic "A-R-O-M-A" which stands for Affection, Respect, Order, Merriment, and Affirmation. The foundation for each word in the acrostic is first set up in the chapter, then practical guidelines are suggested and each chapter ends with a plethora of practical tips.

Many family books come across judgmental. This book does not. It points out some errors found in every home, and helps the reader find solutions.

It is one book in the line of many books produced by Heritage Builders Association, a network of families intent on passing a healthy legacy to the next generation.

I can't believe there aren't more reviews for this book on Amazon. If you are a fan of classic SF from the '40s, '50s, and '60s--in other words, in the era when SF wasn't all hung up on "character development" or on high literary concepts, but instead concentrated on telling fascinating, thought provoking stories filled with wonder, adventure and humor, this is the book for you. I happen to favor the short story idiom for SF--tasty little morsels which go down easily yet leave a lasting impression. I have been reading short form SF (and the longer works too) for about 40 years, and Oliver's short SF is among the very best I have ever read--by anyone, in any genre.

I can't thank NESFA enough for bringing Chad Oliver (and other great classic SF authors!!) back into print. NESFA's books are of the highest quality, hard bound, printed on acid free paper, good type size for easy reading, sturdy dust jackets with cover art by leading SF artists--books which will endure and be the pride of your collection. Check them out--if you like this style of SF, I am sure you will be very pleased.

Far From This Earth continues the omnibus with presentations of his North Wind, Rite of Passage, and Just Like a Man. Oliver focused on travel to other worlds and human struggles for survival: these collections offer a refreshing look at writing styles of the past and an interplanetary focus featuring human endeavor over politics, war, and cyberspace.

This book truly makes you look at the comparison between industrialized farming and industrialized childbirth, and how this country inparticular has handled the surge of both. It also makes you understand more clearly as a midwifery student the impact that industrialized childbirth has on this country; the women, the doctors, the hospitals, and society as a whole. It's a true eye opener.

Possibly Michel Odent's most important book to date, The Farmer & The Obstetrician details how agri-business and the medical MANagement of childbirth were co-arising in the last century and the devastating impact these industries have had upon the Earth. The author suggests what we can do about it by adopting a sustainable model of childbirth care -- at the close of the chapter entitled, "Being a Midwife or an Obstetrician Before 2032", Odent writes, "Understanding the laws of nature and working with them ... is the main characteristic of a biodynamic attitude, whether in plant, cultivation, animal breeding or childbirth. The evolution of antenatal care gave us an opportunity to illustrate and clarify the comcept of a biodynamic attitude."

As an author, speaker, and midwife for the conscious childbirth movement this last generation, I heartily recommend Odent's new book to not only perinatal professionals but anyone who eats and was born. After reading The Farmer and the Obstetrician, your view of food and having babies will be transformed! This is a brilliant and hopefully prophetic contribution to the 21st century -- indeed, it's benestrophic. Read it and share with your friends for the sake of our shared planet's future.

The concepts of community supported agriculture (CSA) grab at the imagination: reconnect with the land and farmer, know exactly where your food is coming from, work toward self-sufficiency. Such a utopian vision clashes gloriously with the disconnected, "cocooning" lifestyle of many people. This textbook for the CSA movement, first published in 1990 and "revisited" in this volume published in 1997, lays out the philosophies and actions that brought CSAs into our awareness today. You might know a CSA farmer, and perhaps even are a CSA member. But unless you're the farmer herself, or on an advisory board for a CSA, you probably have not considered many of the philosophical questions. In half-a-dozen essays comprising a third of the book, questions are explored such as: Should farmers or the CSA own the land? How should farmers' retirement be arranged? Should animals be part of the farm, and should meat be part of the CSA shares? Three basic rules of such holistic farming are offered: 1. Do not work too many hours (leave time for observation, reflection and meditation). 2. Buy for the farm as little as possible from the outside world. 3. Take all the initiative for your actions on the farm out of the realm of the spirit, not out of the realm of money. The book talks of creating an "associative economy" and a "parallel polis" that look at society differently. One premise is that the farm should be supported by the entire community, and the risk shared equally by all consumers. Another is that farmland should not be a market commodity. A third of the book consists of essays by CSA farmers on their own operations; many were written seven years ago and updated last year, so the trials of time can be seen. The final third of the volume contains blueprints for operating a CSA: how to get started, and how to buy and hold land. Samples from farms show budgets, marketing pieces and typical share content. From philosophy to examples, Farms of Tomorrow Revisited shows us where the CSA concept could take society, and the movement's limitations, especially in solving current agriculture issues.

I've been thinking in an unstructured way about a number of these issues due to being a recovering member of a housing co-op, a new member of a CSA, and trying to start a group that gets raw milk from a (sort of) local biodynamic farm. And just thinking about farming.

As I see it, the set of issues include: (1) the various natures of CSAs, (2) the modern analogue to the slightly-more-than-subsistance family farm that recognizes that the nature of family has changed radically in the last 50 years for much of "the West", (3) the role(s?) and definition of sustainability as it relates to farming in a number of forms (providing some insight into the current debate about the commercialization of the "organic movement"), (4) how to farm damn well!

Trauger Groh is a very thoughtful and insightful person (and shockingly European to this American. I mean this approvingly. He's an outgrowth of the highly-educated European farmer group that was associated with Steiner) and a farmer that seems to have spent most of his adult life trying to make this stuff work. And he has succeeded. And part of this appears to be a sort of memoir of that success. And another part is his responses to talking about this with a variety of people (note especially the new article about the role of farm animals, much of which is explicitly a response to vegetarian and vegan oriented organic-farmers)

Steven McFadden is a journalist who documents a variety of CSAs and historical movements that have impacted the CSA movement.

Both offer interesting things. This book would be worth buying just for the stuff by Groh

If you've ever seen the magnificent, nationally famous Texas A&M University Band perform during half-time, you will want to own this fine volume. It offers a comprehensive history of the first 100 years of a college organization that has become, literally, a state institution. Being in the Aggie Band is not simply membership in a music outfit; rather, it is a comprehensive, fully consuming Way of Life. Rich with details about how the present-day Band evolved, the Powells' account also grandly illuminates other facets of Texas Aggie history - the Corps of Cadets, A&M athletics, campus development, memorable faculty folks and general local color (in native lingo, "good bull."). Numerous photos trace Aggie traditions from their earliest days to the present. It was startling to this reader how some campus/Corps images are practically ageless. Many of the pictures - fish standing on the wall, Elephant Walk, Ags working on the Bonfire, meals in Duncan Dining Hall - could have been taken in 1930 or 1950 or 1975 OR 1995, since the traditions, and the scenes they propagate, are so firmly embedded at A&M.

This book definitely needs to be made into a movie. Not only would it offer remarkable settings, dramatic events, dynamic characters, stupendous role models, intricate Band drills and tantalizing college-life plots, but it would feature, without a doubt, the very best film soundtrack in the history of the world.

I was the drum major at my little high school in Louisiana a long long time ago, and I never heard anything about the Texas Aggie Band until almost three decades later, when I saw them at a parade in San Antonio. Soon after that, I visited the A&M campus one football weekend and got to see them rehearse their pre-game Saturday morning drill performance. They are absolutely stupendous, the best in the world. No one else compares or even comes close. I found this book at A&M's Memorial Student Center and bought it immediately. You simply MUST go see the Aggie Band.

One of my life's greatest regrets, now, is that I knew nothing about this organization when I was eligible to march in it. Musically, and personally, I can imagine no higher achievement. Everything about this precision machine exudes excellence, from their music, to their marching, to the striking friendly politeness of all the members I was fortunate to meet. These fine kids are motivated beyond belief, and they welcome you into their world -- they know they are a part of something special, and they generously share with you the admiration for their Aggie heritage.

Their drum cadence (I was a drummer) is absolutely captivating. It has five "verses," and is militarily simple but, once you've heard it, the beat stays with you wherever you walk, any time you are walking -- you wish that you were marching with the Fightin Texas Aggie Band, every time you put one foot in front of the other.

I got to see the film, "We've Never Been Licked," a 1943 World War II story, and became a permanent Aggie "groupie." From now forward, I will always be a Texas Aggie in my heart. As Pop Lambert said in the movie, "God bless the Aggies." The Spirit of Aggieland is now an forever. World Without End, A&M.

Gig 'em. And Beat The Hell Outta t.u. !!!