Adams Books

I have perused several college prowler books. I feel as though Mr. Zang has accomplished a rare task of illustrating the comprehensive literature and arts programs while not making life in Minnesota seem a bore. Since reading this book, I have visited Carleton. It is a wonderful campus with a small quaint town nearby. If you enjoy small town college life (and some snow!), Carleton is for you!

Last year I got the job to write a guidebook about my school for College Prowler. I was excited because it was a chance to add to my resume--afterall, how many college students can actually say they've written a book?

I believe that this book provides a completely realistic view on what Carleton life is really like. This goes far beyond statistical comparisons such as academic rank and other such pie charts--this book takes words directly from the students' mouths and puts them on the page. There aren't any adminstrators sugar-coating the college, but only students that either love or hate their school, (or maybe both) giving their honest opinion about Carleton.

Right now, I'm a senior at Carleton about to graduate in ten weeks, and coould not have had a more enjoyable four years. I hope that this book will be able to give you insight as to what Carleton is really like--with all its quirks and eccentricities that you would not otherwise know about.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at zanga@carleton.edu.

These days, celebrity authors earn thousands of dollars for a speech, but back in the 1880s, Ralph Waldo Emerson, the first American author known to receive payment for delivering a talk, was paid $5 and oats for his horse.

Some quotations from Adam Starchild's wonderful afterword to this book are appropriate:

"Children today are starved for the image of real heroes. Celebrities are not the same thing as heroes. Heroes existed way before celebrities ever did, even though celebrities now outshine heroes in children's consciousness."

"Worshiping celebrities leaves children with a distinctly empty feeling -- it doesn't teach that they'll have to make sacrifices if they want to achieve anything worthwhile. No- talents become celebrities all the time. The result is that people don't seem to care about achievement or talent -- fame is the only objective."

"... Despite immense differences in cultures, heroes around the world generally share a number of traits that instruct and inspire people. A hero does something worth talking about, but a hero goes beyond mere fame or celebrity. The hero lives a life worthy of imitation. If they serve only their own fame, they may be celebrities but not heroes. Heroes are catalysts for change. They create new possibilities. They have a vision, and the skill and charm to implement their vision."

"Heroes may also be fictional. Children may identify with a character because of the values projected. People tend to grow to be like the people that they admire, but if a child never has any heroes what images will he copy? Adults need heroes too, but the need is even more urgent for children because they don't know how to think abstractly. But they can imagine what their hero would do in the circumstances, and it gives them a useful reference point to build abstract thinking skills."

Up to now I have deferred from rating chess books. This book is so good I feel it unjust to the author not to rate it.
I find most chess bookks usually get 5 star ratings when I would give them three or sometimes less. I point this out to let you know this book truly stands out. I'm only rated in the 1400's so if your in that grade consider getting this book. The book is in the Chess Explained series and the author hits his target audience head on. You can read just a chapter and feel comfortable playing this variation as black.

Vera covers the Semi-Slav (1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6) from White's point of view after 5. e3. Especially the Meran variation (5...Nbd7 6. Bd3 d×c4 7. B×c4 b5) is covered in chapters 1 to 4 (without black deviations on the sixth move) but also modern Anti-Meran systems after 5...Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 in chapters 5 and 6 got analysed (incl. the Shirov-Shabalov-Attack). In addition chapter 7 covers 5...a6. A very nice chapter is chapter 8 where Vera discusses several move order problems.
Analysis looks honest to me and although it's not an encyclopaedic work all important ideas are explained sufficiently. I can recommend this book for everyone you want to learn the Meran (like me who want to understand the queen's pawn openings).
Have fun
Ulrich (FIDE master)

The authors have created real characters out of the chess pieces. Through the characters' stories young readers learn how to play chess and build strategies to win. Chess helps improve kids' math skills so parents who want to introduce chess to their kids will benefit from the tips and hints that will make the game fun and engaging. Overall, this is a great teaching set.

Both my 5 year old son and I wanted to learn how to play chess. My wife bought this chess set and book combination and it has been fantastic. We have had this for about a year now and we play regularly. The book makes learning strategy and the moves of each piece easy to learn. It reads like a story book. My son was into it and now asks me if I want to play even after having it a year! The board has a cheat sheet right on it telling you how each piece can move. Personally, I would much rather learn this game at a children's level than a grand master's and would encourage any novice to pick up this package. Incidentally, the book/chess board combo says for ages 8 and up but if my 5 year old can pick this up I think your fine in going to a younger age than 8.

I loved this book! The author comes from a Christian perspective, but he isn't self-righteous and he doesn't cram his religon down your throat. Mr. Adams thoroughly documents his sources and cites mainstream scientific studies to support his assertions. He looks at the influences of peers, media, education, and parents and most importantly, he discusses solutions for all types of families (stay at home, working, public and private schooled, etc.). Any parent concerned about raising a child in our society will enjoy and benefit from this book. Buy it!

Dan Adams does a great job focusing on the needs of our children and how we as parents can and should meet those needs. It is not the responsibility of the church, YMCA, day-care center, or public school to meet those needs. As parents, we need to take seriously the God given responsibility we have been given and determine to be the main influence in our children's lives. The result of our efforts can either be rewards for a job well done, or grief from a rebellious child that was not properly guided. This book contains many insights on how to spend quantity time, not just quality time, with our children and gives many ideas on how to turn the TV set off and get our children to enjoy reading alone as well as reading together as a family, and build memories as a family that will be the root system that the child will need to withstand the "winds" later in life.

This book has greatly affected my view of what my role as a father really is. John Angel James understands the heart of man and has written this book specifically for fathers pushing one main agenda: the importance of training their children in godliness. I found this quote helpful and convicting: 'Religion, by every Christian parent, is theoretically acknowledged to be the most important thing in the world; but if in practice the father appears a thousand times more anxious for the son to be a good scholar than a real Christian, and the mother more solicitous for the daughter to be a good dancer or musician, than a child of God, they may teach what they like in the way of good doctrine, but they are not to look for genuine piety as the result: this can only be expected where it is really taught and inculcated as the one thing needful.'
The father's own understanding of spiritual truths will be challenged as well as our own hearts thoroughly examined. We owe our children as well as the next generation of the Church our undivided attention and prayers en route to teaching them the ways of God. Fathers, we need to lead that charge!

A facimile copy of the 1828 fifth edition, it is absolutely brilliant; a must read for any and all Christians that truly carry a heartfelt desire for holiness in their families and themselves. James' soundness of doctine and eloquent style of writing make each page a veritable treasure. A most timely reprint in these most wicked days.

Currently on a Fuentes kick, I picked up Christopher Unborn. Although written in the 1980's about 1992, Fuentes is completely on target in his subject matter, and his Makesicko of 1992 looks a lot like today.
You will read this and recognize american liberals and conservatives, southern mexican secessionist sympathizers, leftist ideaologues, mall shoppers and reality tv "celebrities" all captured and satirized perfectly. I read this book with a sardonic smile not thinking of the past, but of today.
The man's a genius, and any book of his is worth a good read, but underneath the narrative is a lot of fun. Of the 3 novels I have read, I get the greatest sense that Fuentes truly loved his characters, flawed and cracked as they are.
Some of it is challenging, but Fuentes always is, and usually working through the challenges is highly rewarding.

This book was written on the eve of the 500th year anniversary marking the fateful encounter between the Spanish Euoropeans and the various indigenous groups of the Americas. Not so coincidently, the prolific, briliant writer Carlos Fuentes sets the circumstances to this novel to coincide with the event. The premise for the book is a contest being held in Mexico with a great prize offered for the first born child on the 500th anniversary of Columbus's arrival. The child is Christopher, the narrator of the novel who makes shrewd observations about the world he will be born into, all from the comfort of inside his mother. This allows Fuentes, the author, to rip into all of the ills of modern Mexico with his usually witty and sharp use of lanuage. A master at manipulation of common laguage, he changes the words to fit his vision. Several examples of how he changes words are Mexico City to Makesicko City, Kafkapulco, Quasimodo City, Samsaville, Huitzilopochtliburg or President Dangerous Dickson before the Watergate Waterloo, blockabulary for vocabulary,Califurnace, PornoCorno, Coca-Culo and Acapukelco(or did I make this last one up?). However this is nothing compared to the daggers Christopher throws at everything from the devastation of the earthquake and the aftermath, the PRI, Mexican history and all it's tragic consequences including the massacre at Tlateloco, the narco-polices ties to the narco traffickers themselves and in short, all is fair game for Fuentes via his narrator Christopher. His observations on popular culture include everything from Lennon to Lenin to Boy George. It is a scathing, passionate view of the world Chistopher will enter. Christopher contends his nine months inside his mother are when his life began and this comfort and fear of what is out there make the narration a brutal, wry, cynical commentary. The satirical view is enhanced by a cast of characters who all are part of the make up of a world Christopher will inherit. The action of the novel is a backdrop for a political campaign and all it's cast of characters both for and against.Some of the names of these politicos and associates are Deng Chopin, Hipi Toltec, Fagoaga, Matamoros Moreno, Robles Chacon and D.C Buckley just to name a few. Coming in at over five hundered pages it is no easy read but totally enjoyable. The literature flows beautifully, creating images as only Carlos Fuentes can. As one of the preeminent writers of our times, Fuentes unleashes a novel for the times that will be reflected upon years from now as a masterpiece marking the collision of worlds that occurred five hundred years ago. This is an excellent book for educators at the AP level in high school or college to use for a literature class or to supplement a history course. Highly recommended for anyone interested in Mexico and it's contemporary literature.

I love this book. That's not because I'm one of the many writers who contributed to this volume but because these are such true to life stories about Christmas that you can't help but be moved by them. The stories range from the bittersweet to the tender and to authentic miracles but there's never a moment when I doubted any of them.

This is a great book to read during the holiday season to boost spirits or to read any time of the year to capture a little bit of the Christmas spirit year round.

What a wonderful book to start the holidays with! The short stories in this book are delicious morsels of Christmas memories that brought back my own personal memories of Christmas time. "Classic Christmas" is a collection of short stories that are easy to read and really fill you with the holiday spirit. The addition of the "spotlight" of the individual towns through out the book really add to the home spun feel of the stories. This book will be added to my list of gifts to family and friends this year for sure!

Highly recommended! The large formate - one puzzle per page makes it visually possible if you have visual organizational problems, and otherwise very pleasant. The authors provide a great support for the learning process in the book and the free link to their web site. They are excellent teachers making it a lot of fun to learn in their 'classroom'. It seems they WANT you to have fun and enjoy logic as much as they do. Refreshing indeed to have FUN and LEARNING at the bottom line.

I have been playing online at Web Sudoku for nearly a year now and their Sudoku puzzles are consistently excellent. Now they've brought out a book which maintains the same high standard and in my opinion beats all the other books on the market. There are 200 puzzles in the book - 50 in each of their 4 levels, mostly 9x9 but with some 12x12 and 16x16 as well. I also find that this paperback sudoku book is the perfect size to carry around in a bag but still has plenty of space around the puzzle.

The Commuter Marriage: Keep Your Relationship Close While You're Far Apart
What the experts are saying about The Commuter Marriage:

"When you get married, you promise to love and cherish 'for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health'...but what about 'for near or far?' When the circumstances of life put a bit of distance between husband and wife, Tina Tessina provides the perfect insights and solutions for keeping close across the miles. Couples who sense a challenge in their long-distance situations will learn how to communicate and keep their equality in their home, handle anxiety and jealousies, get creative and flexible in finding solutions...and then those Welcome Homes are all the sweeter! Whether you travel for work or just keep opposite shifts, the greatest gift you can get for your marriage is this book!" -- Sharon Naylor, author of The Bride's Diplomacy Guide and Love Bets.

"Tina Tessina's The Commuter Marriage is the guidebook for which so many couples have been longing. Always practical, logical, and extremely sympathetic, Dr. Tessina lays it all out - the points to consider, the do's and don'ts, the potential pitfalls and, yes, even the advantages of this very modern phenomenon. No one should even think about making arrangements for a long distance relationship without her book in hand." - Isadora Alman, MFT Board certified sex therapist and author of Doing It: Real People Having Really Good Sex.

"An inspiring, insightful book for husbands and wives who desire a fuller, more satisfying and healthier relationship. It offers a variety of practical solutions to assist and empower married couples in creating a productive, gratifying and meaningful lifestyle that works best for their family. Every married couple should read it!" -- Hogan Hilling, The Modern Mom's Guide to Dads

"As a public safety psychologist, I work with police and fire fighter families as they struggle with shift work and emergency deployments. Help is on the way. Dr. Tessina's easy-to-read new book, The Commuter Marriage: Keep Your Relationship Close While You're Far Apart is full of sage advice, tips, and skill building exercises for a range of topics from the practicalities of managing time, money and childcare to the emotional challenges of intimacy, communication, and jealousy. Along the way, she shows the reader how real couples cope with a variety of long and short term separations." -- Ellen Kirschman, Ph.D. author of I Love a Cop: What Police Families Need to Know and I Love a Fire Fighter: What the Family Needs to Know

"More and more couples find themselves married (or together) while spending significant amounts of time apart. Problems with childcare, intimacy, emotional support and household management can make "commuter marriages" difficult -- but relationship author, columnist and private-practice therapist Tina Tessina has seen it all.

"In The Commuter Marriage, Dr. Tessina presents practical exercises and commonsense advice for intimacy, parenting, divvying chores, keeping anxiety -- and jealousy -- at bay, and even such small, but important, things as getting used to sleeping alone.

"As the frequently traveling half of a couple, I found terrific techniques here for dealing with the practical aspects of running a household apart from a partner. Not to mention the fellowship that comes from knowing that, in living together-but-sometimes-alone, I am not, in fact, alone." -- C.K. Lowe, journalist and author of Everything Health Guide to OCD

"She's done it again. Like her many other helpful books, this one is just loaded with practical do-able suggestions. Sometimes you just want to say, "Why didn't I/We think of that!!" But in the midst of the issues one doesn't. Other suggestions you may have thought of, but decided they were probably not any good, and Dr. Tessina gives you courage to try. I plan to give this to several friends immediately." Rev. Dr. Mary Ellen Kilsby, Pastor Emeritus, First Congregational Church, Long Beach, CA

"In an age when most of us are separated by long distance and time or apart because of demanding schedules, this book hits a chord. Simple, straight-forward, practical, and compassionate, this book offers just-in-time wonderful advice for our crazy-busy lives. I need it!" -- Eileen McDargh, international speaker and author of Gifts from the Mountain-Simple Truths for Life's Complexities and Work for a Living & Still be Free to
Live.

"With so many couples living apart at least some of the time, Tina has written an enlightening book with lots of tips and insights into keeping a commuter relationship healthy." -- Daylle Deanna Schwartz, self-empowerment counselor and author of 9 books, including All Men Are Jerks Until Proven Otherwise.

"Tina Tessina's advice to commuting couples is thoughtful, direct and smart. She provides a straight-talking but sympathetic roadmap through a situation that can be full of stress." - Maryn McKenna, author, Beating Back the Devil: on the Front Lines with TheDisease Detectives of the Epidemic Intelligence Service

"In today's economy, we sometimes need to go where the jobs are -- even if that means temporarily living far from home. Tessina helps parents keep their marriage, kids and sanity together with solid tips for staying close to your children, and parenting as a couple, while you're apart." -- Kathy Sena "Parent Talk Today" blog [...]

"If you're in a commuter relationship, or considering one, you and your partner should read this book cover to cover. Dr. Tessina anticipates every challenge you're likely to face, and gives a solid perspective and self-help exercises for dealing with each one. Learn how to keep your marriage close when you're apart and re-unite when you're together. The Commuter Marriage stands out because it is up to date - for example, using current technology to share thoughts and photos - and because Dr. Tessina is a world-class expert on making relationships work." - Joan Price, [...], author of Better than I Ever Expected: Straight Talk about Sex after Sixty.
"If more women in commuter marriages read Tina Tessina's book they might not have to read mine. This is a down-to-earth, practical, extremely helpful guide to staying together when circumstances conspire to keep you apart." -- Erica Manfred, author, He's History;
You're Not, the Girlfriends Guide to Mid and Late Live Divorce.

"As a specialist in modern women, I often refer my readers to Tina Tessina and her books. Tina writes in a way that is relevant, interesting and her unique style resonates particularly well with women and the challenges they face in modern relationships." -- Kylie Welsh, journalist and author of Impertinent Women? Women In Pursuit Of The Extraordinary!

"The Commuter Marriage takes a practical and proactive approach to handing the challenges inherent in a commuter marriage. Author Tina Tessina explores the many issues that couples face when living apart--from coping with the financial cost of "distance marriages" to staying close emotionally even when separated by miles. The personal stories provide a valuable insider's viewpoint, highlighting the unique experiences of couples in commuter marriages. By following the recommendations and advice in The Commuter Marriage, couples will not only be able to successfully weather their time apart but will bring a new perspective to their time together." -- Nancy Christie author of The Gifts of Change and creator of [....]

"In The Commuter Marriage, Dr Tina Tessina expertly addresses a 21st century reality -- that more and more couples are in long-distance relationships, because of work, shift differences, or military deployment. The exercises, case histories and guidelines in this book will help any couple negotiate the thorny issues -- including communication from afar, maintaining intimacy, co-parenting at a distance, and re-entry. Any couple facing separation would benefit from this book." -- Lisa Earle McLeod, Author of Finding Grace When You Can't Even Find Clean Underwear

"As a licensed marriage counselor, I appreciate the practical and effective advice in Dr. Tessina's book. These are the major issues for commuting couples, and the exercises and information in these pages will help any couple navigate them." -- Riley K. Smith, M.A., MFT, Author of How to Be A Couple and Still Be Free, and True Partners

"Being far apart doesn't mean you can't be close. -The Commuter Marriage is a good guide for couples who want to stop arguing about finances." Stacie Z. Berg, award-winning journalist and author of several books, including The Unofficial Guide to Managing Your Personal Finances.

"As Dr. Tessina says, commuter marriages are not new. I was married for over 40 years to the late Rudy Bond, an actor who spent much of his time in Hollywood or on the road in plays. Our marriage worked very well, perhaps better than a more conventional one, as we both were people who needed our space. Each coming together was a honeymoon. This intelligent book will help other commuting couples achieve success." -- Dr. Alma H. Bond, psychoanalyst and author of several books, including Who Killed Virginia Woolf? A Psychobiography

Tina has written a book that is accessible and appropriate for a variety of lifestyles. My partner and I are not yet married, but are in a committed, three-year relationship. I will move to his town in about a year, when my last child leaves for college. He lives an hour away and is responsible 50% of the time for his two children, 12 and 15. Our schedules are often hectic and difficult to coordinate. "The Commuter Marriage" provided us with resources and strategies to face our challenges head-on. Through her use of case studies involving couples in different situations, my partner and I were able to find examples that 'spoke' to us, and with which we were able to identify. I believe we will not only survive the next year, but we will thrive! I highly recommend "The Commuter Marriage" to anyone in a long-distance/commuter marriage or committed relationship. Brenda Lange