Akers Books

this book is wonderful! the characters are likable and the story grabs your attention from page one. Ms. Richards-Akers is a winner.

The reader follows Lucy, an orphaned student attending boarding school, as she befriends a young lord during three summer holidays. She is a child at the time and quite enchanted with him. Although fond of her, he disappears from her life one day. She grows up and goes to London for a season, sponsored by a less than friendly woman. While there and in distress a young man, almost the exact image of the young lord from her childhood, comforts her. He courts her and the two become betrothed. He takes her home to meet his family, which consists of two younger sisters, the dowager Countess of Harrow, and his Uncle, the Earl of Harrow. When she arrives Lucy realizes that her betrothed takes after the Earl in looks and the Earl is, in actual fact, the young lord she remembers, although he has since been wounded in war. Poor Lucy has no idea what to do when torn by her affection for the Earl and her betrothal to his nephew. Nor is she certain that the Earl remembers her. Add to this a secret the nephew's been keeping from her, issues of national security and spies, and the possibility that Lucy just migh find out who her parents were.

It's an engaging book. Lucy is sympathetic and the Earl is a likable person. You come away from the book with the sense that everyone has gotten what they deserved.

_Never Buy Anything New_ was my shopping bible for several years in the mid-90s. It was starting to show its age (as such guides generally do) even then; I can't begin to imagine how many of the stores included therein have moved or gone out of business by now, 12 years after it was published(...)

This book sits in my car's center console because it offers a thorough listing of the many thrift, antique and consignment shops in the California Bay Area.

For those of us who enjoy this type of shopping/spending - this guide makes it possible to locate the often hard-to-find secret stores in unfamilar towns (or perhaps right under your nose?!).

Akers divides the book by counties, and within each county she notes the name of each shop, their address and phone number, plus information regarding any organization affiliation (such as salvation army.)

Underneath each shop heading is a comprehensive account of what the store specializes in - prices you can expect - and specials or events to watch for...
In other words, if you are looking for furniture while driving past Hayward - you might want to check out the thrift store on Suchandsuch St.

Your second-hand shopping will never be the same with so much out there to explore.

I enjoyed this book. It was a very refreshing look at Jesus, and early Christianity. The early Christians were quite different from the face of Christianity today. How often it is neglected and forgotten that Jesus spoke strongly for non-violence. Was he really a vegetarian? This is hard to prove or disprove. Maybe he eschewed red meat but not fish. Anyway, the vegetarian aspect of the book was interesting. Overall a very good read.

Please do not pursue this book as a source of Ebionite thought. The book is worth reading with a certain understanding. Firstly, it is an apologetic book for vegetarianism with a religious "seal of approval" applied. Secondly, it has a very useful bibliography (yet, Keith fails to heed the sources he cites). And thirdly, he does understand some pivotal subjects concerning early Christianity (as opposed to the Yeshuine movement(s)). Last, it ignores Ebionite belief and replaces it with what some late heresiologist (Epiphanius, and subsequent) labelled as "ebionite."

Yet the author's previous loyalty to vegetarianism and non-violence (not bad things in themselves which need no biblical coercion) makes him jump at questionable sources identified as "Jewish-Christian" which he lumps all together as "ebionite."

What he fails to understand is that over a period of 300 odd years the Pauline Christian Fathers did the same thing, progressively throwing any non-Pauline, Yeshuine Jewish group into a heretic stew they came to call Ebionite. To go into this stew one only had to be anti-Pauline, believe something positive about Yahshua bar Yosef (Jesus), maintain biblical ("Jewish") observances such as dietary prohibitions and covenantal circumcision, and resist the high christology of the gentile church.

In contrast, the actual Ebionites, also as reflected in earlier Pauline church fathers, were simply Jews following Yahshua's call for a spiritual and socio-economic reform as he interpreted Yahwistic justice in the Torah. He was an Isaiah or Amos of his day. Engaging in that reform would bring about the Reign of Yahweh. None of this required Hellenistic god-men, blood atonements (based on a bizarre gentile re-interpretation of the sacrifice system), virginal origins, or other mythological trappings, but simply doing what he asked his comrades to do.

But inevitably things change with new ingredients. There were gentiles throughout the Roman World (and the East) who had some contact and interest with Judaism. There were almost as many "christianities" as there were regions or cities each with unique ideas and histories. This often included a syncretististic combining of Judaism with paganism which created dozens of Christian and gnostic Christian cults. Pauline Christianity simply became the dominant form while competing views were declared heretics and summarily dispatched. Pagans and Jews were either absorbed or demonized. The anti-Judaism is still part of this ongoing demonization.

Some gentiles who were attracted first to Judaism and later Yeshuine reform veered toward gnosticism by the third century (just as most Christians did) while retaining some Ebionite "Judaic" ideas like the rejection of virgin birth, and a condemnation of Paul of Tarsus while embracing dualistic ideas of gnosticism. Among these ideas are included vegetarianism, and a dim view of anything physical like reproduction (which made its way into Pauline Christianity), and dueling deities (a God versus a Devil as in Zoroastrianism and related Mithraism). The most notorious among these Judaic groups were the Elchasites. Earlier scholars like Lipsius differentiate Ebionites from "Essene-like" Ebionite-Elchasites.

The gnostic Essenic Ebionites, or Elchasites, are fleshed out by Epiphanius and the Pseudo-Clementine literature. This is the source of Mr. Akers' vegetarian, anti-Temple, anti-sacrifice, gnostic, so called Ebionite "Lost Religion" of Jesus. It is from such a fabric that he cuts a very "new age" garment he hangs on "Jesus." In fact, Akers piles up evidence for this religion in an appendix full of quotes from Epiphanius. Yet his own scholarly sources, including the dissertation by Glen Alan Koch (A Critical Investigation of Epiphanius' Knowledge of the Ebionites, 1976), contends that Epiphanius was, to put it mildly, confused, overgeneralizing and borrowing information he did not understand.

Is Akers book worth reading? Perhaps, as long as one does not take it authoritative concerning Ebionites. Akers continues the misled loose categorization of centuries of Judaic, anti-Pauline, Yeshuine groups and thought into a convenient almalgam of "Ebionite" just as Epiphanius incorrectly did.

If one considers that the so-called "lost religion" he describes is a gnostic form of a group of people with some characteristics similar to Ebionites, and how it promoted gnostic vegetarianism, non-violence, non-sacrificial Judaism (a moot point in that post-destruction era), and even its relationship to the rise of Islam, then the book makes some interesting points. An understanding of Evyonut as a Jewish Yeshuine sect is best sought at ebionite.org.

Clearly Akers is no great scholar and has his personal biases, but I think his effort is mainly refreshing and helpful. Concerning the Bible, Akers emphasizes that Jesus presented himself as a Jewish reformer, who viewed the Bible critically. For Jesus, real faith required discerning a primary message among the Bible's diverse accounts of wars, visions, laws and traditions. He made selective judgements of what to emphasize or ignore, which made him so highly controversial to the Pharisaical legalists or defenders of scriptural inerrancy in his time.

Akers also claims that Jesus was a vegetarian. I was not convinced either that this was true, or that it was important to the early Jewish Chrisitans. But related to this, Akers points out something which does seem important: Jesus opposition to animal sacrifice. And here, Akers emphasizes a side of the Gospel accounts that might shock many later Christians -- that Jesus was almost violently opposed to making his religion a cult of sacrifice for sin. Like John the Baptist he believed in baptism as a rite of repentance and renewal, but not in sacrifice or killing to buy freedom from guilt.

For his well presented arguments on how Jesus took the Bible, and how he viewed the whole notion of sacrifice, I think Akers' book would be stimulating for any Christian study or discussion group.

--author of "Different Visions of Love"

The Lost Religion of Jesus was quite a disappointment. The subject of religion in the era between Hillel and Marcion has been of interest to me for many years. When I saw this book advertised I hoped it would give me new insights into this fascinating time. Halfway through the second chapter I could predict where the entire book was leading: to a poorly supported argument for becoming a vegetarian.

So why did I give it two stars instead of one? The author did make some interesting points about Jesus' opposition to animal sacrifice. His argument that the Sadducees were threatened by Jesus' assault on their 'cash cow' were valid. However, to then attack Paul because he supported eating meat, and disguising it by rehashing some tired, overanalyzed differences between Paul and the disciples was lame. So was most of the book.

This was an excellent book. I gave it 4 stars for only one reason...the author kept harping on the vegetarian aspect of Jesus and his followers. What's wrong with that? The author has already published another book on vegetarianism...he isn't objective. He used the word "vegetarian" so many times, it was beginning to irritate. If you're position is strong, there is no need to beat someone over the head with it, and that's the feeling I had while reading this book.

In his defense, he makes a very compelling argument for Jesus and his followers being vegetarian. You are going to have to decide for yourself whether you take that as "gospel" or not, no pun intended.

Otherwise, the book is wonderful. I am deep into the study of Jesus from a Jewish perspective, and this book illustrated that side very well. For those of you that study Jewish Christianity, it espouses an Ebionite position.

Overall, I highly recommend this book.

Most of the games in this book are difficult for even me. The directions are not the clearest and sometimes I think you'd need more hands but over all the ones we are able to use are very fun!

I love the cultural variety, photos and stories of these string games. If your child has already done string games, or is older, this would be terrific! I bought this for my 6 year old, who is both very bright and very well-coordinated with her hands, but these require so many steps and are complicated enough to be quite overwhelming for her. Don't buy this for a young child!

This book in right in line with the Klutz tradition. Makes things simple and fun. It is clear and gives you good directions and a little background on each figure. They are pretty simple figures. I think it is relatively expensive if you compute the price per figure. The binding is particularly durable and the pages are heavy duty. The type of binding lets the pages lie flat which is very nice when your fingers are entwined in a figure. Other books in my collection have the regular glue binding and keeping them open can be a challenge.

My daughter loves this along with the first one that was published. Hours of fun!

This book is a sequel to Johnson's "Cat's Cradle", which contained five string figures. This book has seven more, from around the world--Paraguay, Australia, Ghana, the U.S. (a Navajo string figure), New Guinea, Alaska, and Ireland. Each is accompanied by photographs of the children who taught Johnson the figures, and good detailed diagrams of how to make the figures.

The presentation is more spectacular than in "Cat's Cradle", but when you get down to it the figures are what counts, and these are no more fun than the first book. In fact, they're a little more difficult to learn. We bought this for our five year old daughter, who'd enjoyed the first book (despite one of the patterns being too difficult for her); she found this one much less interesting. I think an older child would like the extra details about the children in the different countries, however.

I'd recommend that you buy "Cat's Cradle" first. If you or the child you buy it for enjoys it, this is a good follow up gift, but it doesn't have anything as easy to learn and fun as Cup and Saucer or Witch's Broom, from the first book.

John Carter Lite, of Rann?


Or, you get the idea. Dray Prescott is your 19th century manly man who gets snatched by the Star Lords (hence the Adam Strange, bit) and ends up on another planet.

Cue astoundingly beautiful woman, the need to show the local warriors he can handle his rapier rather well thank you. Add in some capture, some slave girls, and a lustful Princess who will give the gorgeous Delia a run for her money and you have a somewhat entertaining sword and planet romp that is pretty much exactly as you would expect it.

For more reviews (well OK ,including mine), look at the other Amazon entry, the one that mistakenly has the author as Dray Prescot, with the red cover. Dray Prescot is the narrator and central character, not the author.

My full review is at http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/AJBFQP2JXBX6Q?ie=UTF8&display=public&sort%5Fby=MostRecentReview&page=8

This book is the start of the Dray Prescot adventure series by Ken Bulmer writing as Alan Burt Akers, which is presently at 37 books in English and more in German. The hero is a sailor of Horatio Nelson's wooden navy transported by Higher Powers to the wonderful world of Kregen under the double sun Antares. This book gives the reader the essentials to the hero, planet and Higher Powers. It is a action packed adventure to adventure quest, where the hero must survive to attain his desires. It is a must read for anyone desiring adventure, sword play, monsters, aliens or in need of material for role playing games. This book is reprinted in ([ASIN:1843195534 The Saga of Dray Prescot:The Delian Cycle]) along with the next four in the series, Suns of Scorpio, Warrior of Scorpio, Swordships of Scorpio and Prince of Scorpio. It also is available in various computer formats. Hi Jikai!

Like "TEX", I read a ton of those back in the 70's, and enjoyed the sheer escapism: I just re-read #10, "Avenger of Antares." The action always moves right along - never a dull moment.

I don't think Bulmer has had enough credit for sheer inventiveness. The far world of Kregen is most richly populated, with not just a piky little three or four species, but so many I haven't bothered to count. They are in two broad classifications: apim (human-like) and diffs (definitely not so). You have your lion-men, your fish-men, your many-armed, the fellows with the prehensile tail with a weapon-holding hand on the end, the flying "men" (these tales have a deliberately old-fashioned outlook where feminist issues are concerned. Not that the women are helpless or weak - far from it). Prescott, the hero, is basically doing good ol' knight-errantry in a vast world that comes with multiple civilizations, races, and religions - oh, and it has two suns, red and green, just for good measure.

The other neat thing about these tales is the word-coinage. Only Gene Wolfe is as good at this. Look at the terms of contempt that can be slung at low-lifes: rast, kramph, kleesh. The names of military ranks - deldar, ob-deldar, jiktar, hikdar, are loosely based on the Indian Army's old jemadar and subadar/subedar, that's why they sound so right (at least if you've read Kipling or John Masters.) And similarly with the names for social ranks, riding animals, coins, foodstuffs, weapons: you could usually guess what category of thing the name refers to, just by the nature of the word.

To do such a good job of naming indicates a fine sensitivity to the overtones of language, and adds pleasure to the sense of not-too-serious (I'm almost saying guilty) indulgence that makes these books such a relaxing read. I'd like to give 5 stars, but feel that's too much for such lightweight material!

This series along with the Lensman series started me on Scifi and Fantasy back in the 70's. They are truely escapist and should be viewed that way. I still have both series boxed up at home in my mothers garage. I think when I retire from the military I will pull them out and read them once again. Recommended for those that like something different and I suppose old school would be a good term.

Cute little book, ok recipes, a great spatula, but I wouldn't buy it again.

We love smoothies in my house, and after I bought this book, I made a trip to the grocery store to stock up on fruits and juices. I spent a couple of hours that evening peeling and chopping fruit for the freezer, and then I was ready to go! We have since enjoyed yummy Mango and Pineapple-Papaya Smoothies, and are looking forward to Strawberry-Mango and Strawberry-Banana Smoothies, as well as a host of others. Although I have a couple of other books on smoothies, this one contains the easiest recipes by far. In fact, I sent a copy to a young friend (age 11) to help introduce her to the kitchen, and she loves it, too!

WARNING: This "cookbook" does not have "recipes." All it does is list some fruits and juices under generic smoothie names. It gives you some measurements and leaves the rest for you to do. There is a page or two showing you the generalized smoothie making process at the beginning, but there is NO substantial "cookbook" fare. But I mean... what else can you expect from a smoothie book? Nonetheless I was very disappointed with it.

This book is one of the best I have seen for simplicity matched with ultimate flavor. Using ingredients that I can find in the VERY small town I live in, I can make treats that please everyone in the family, including a very picky 3 year old who won't eat fruit otherwise. His favorite is the Peanut Butter Banana and after tasting it, it's very hard to believe there are only 3 ingredients. The most exotic item in the book is coconut milk and that's even available here in the middle of nowhere. Enjoy this book with or without kids. I am buying my second copy today to give to a friend!

I love the book " Smoothies" by Anne Akers Johnson. Smoothies are the new "craze" in our town . They are so expensive to buy at the smoothie "cafe's", so I decided I wanted to make my own.. This book has 22 recipes that are all absolutely delicious! I recomend that you buy it, now!

This is a very cute and funny book but there's a serious message too. Women are responsible for their own happiness so if you don't want to be a perpetual victim make wise choices about the men you fall in love with.

I got this on a whim one day b4 I drop-kicked my ex, and WOOO was it a shot in the arm!!!! this book is like talking to a reassuring mother/sister/girlfriend about why Brotherman was a dog (and 12 "breeds" to choose from/learn about), ways to get over him and myths about how you won't be able to get another one if you don't turn him loose (HAH!!!)....it even refutes the excuses we give (in expl: "he'll grow to love me." "if he's over 3 feet tall, it's too late.", "but he has potential....", etc.), along with what to say and do once we decide to drop the bomb, plus how to determine if he's worth keeping or giving a second chance. If you or a woman you know is stuck in the middle or ready to kick him to the curb but just need encouragement, this book is a MUST!! (look for ways to break up: "e-mail, even if he doesn't have a computer," and what to say if he tells you he can't find a job: "can he find his way home?" ha-ha-ha!!! I love this book!!!)

Yes this is a 'Sistah girl' book, meaning a healthy dose of male bashing takes place, but the bashing is so good-natured that no offense can be taken. I felt like I was in the kitchen with my favorite Aunts listening to their loving critiques on the romantic exploits of various female family members. You know, those women who 'lose their minds' over men. I can see the raised eyebrows and hear the sympathetic clucking as Auntie fires off another salvo in the direction of the foolish girl. Definitely a fun commuter read!

First, I am a non-denominational Christian. I am not a Mormon who goes to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Therefore, I am not writing to defend LDS' doctrine. Don't be misled. I am just writing to point out some error in this book.

In "This We Believe" on page 289 in Chapter 11 which titled "The Evangelical Family: Its Blessings and Boundaries", Joseph M. Stowell wrote:

"Sometime ago, a friend was telling me about her Mormon neighbor. She rejoiced in their friendship and said how much she appreciated the times they prayed together. She asked me, "Have you ever prayed with a Mormon?" The inference was that she and her friend were wonderfully one in prayer. While one could cultivate a friendship with Mormons, praying with them would be quite another issue. Because they deny the doctrine that Christ is God, spiritual oneness with them is not only wrong but impossible, according to the Bible. Historically the church has persistently held to the fundamental realities of truth about Christ as a test of faith: his virgin birth, divinity, resurrection, and return."

The phrase "[Mormons] deny the doctrine that Christ is God" is blunt falsehood. LDS affirms that Christ Jesus is God. They might have their Trinity doctrine varied from the one confessed by the mainstream churches but they DO affirm the deity or "Godship" Christ. This is what I'd term "unchristian apology" - affirming the importance of truth on one hand but telling "untruth" on the other (not necessarily lying but by, perhaps, a big careless mistake).

i think the beliefnet review is very useful. i think there are wide diversity within evangelicalism. somehow the american types and the british type are already not exactly the same. and beyond the evangelical tradition, the Christian Church has even more diversity. to me the bottom line being all of us confessing christians who participate in the life of the church share the same faith.

to be honest, i haven't read through the whole book. but as an editor of the publisher who will publish the book's chinese version, i'll rate it 4-star. and i am looking forward to read kevin vanhoozer's piece on jesus. he is a theologian that has depth.

In a world that resisits truth and pays the price in growing irrationality, fragmentation, and evil, Jesus says we are to be "salt" and "light"--- radiating centers of Gospel light amidst a world utterly consumed by darkness.

But how well do we understand the Gospel? A group of prominent church leaders and scholars did more than just ask that question. They drafted a clear, definitive statement of the essentials of the Gospel titled "The Gospel of Jesus Christ: An Evangelical Celebration." Leaders from across the denominational landscape have endorsed it, and the list of names, already impressive, continues to grow. This remarkable show of unity affirms the core beliefs about our salvation that evangelicals hold in common. In the face of our differences, these are what bind us together as the church of Jesus Christ and make Gospel the Good News of Great Joy.

___

OUR OPINION:

Every Christian should read and commit themselves wholly to this profound affirmation of the Biblical Gospel. The fact that the reviewer at BeliefNet takes issue with it simply underscores that organization's committment to "the broad way that leads to destruction."

And that is a great tragedy... one that should move us to tears.

And to pray...

-- The Discerning Reader (@Amazon zShops)

Originally published in 1911 under the pseudonym Floyd Akers, Hungry Tiger press makes this volume in The Boy Fortune Hunters Series by L. Frank Baum available again with a new Foreward by David Maxine and a new cover illustration by Eric Shanower. The author wrote various adventure series under pseudonyms, while publishing his more famous Oz novels under his own name.

In this volume the boy fortune hunters take a job running guns from Australia for wealthy Colombians who are planning a revolution. The guns come in handy when they end up run aground during a typhoon on a tropical island full of hostile natives who worship a Pearl God. They have the richest pearl beds in the world and keep them secret by killing anyone who lands there.

Fortunately the Columbians have a Louis Bleriot Antoinette biplane in crates below deck. Louis Bleriot was famous in Baum's time because in 1909 he was the first person to fly across the English Channel. Using the biplane to fly themselves in and out of trouble with the local islanders, the boys have life-threatening adventures and stuff their pockets with lovely pearls.

The book's leading characters are full of White supremacist attitudes that jar the sensibilities of modern readers. However Baum relates these with an innocence that would be difficult to recreate today. In addition to being an adventure tale for young white boys, the book provides an interesting look into how racial stereotypes were presented at the beginning of the 20th century.

The book is a collection of research chapters on various aspects of protein pharmaceuticals, contributed by authors who are at firms in this industry. The topics are broad.

One topic is how to thermally sterilise the manufacturing. There's some elementary thermodynamics and kinetics covered here, that centres on killing off microbes. A key idea is that sterility is not an absolute, binary concept, but is modelled by a probability distribution. A pragmatic recognition that absolute assurance is often unnecessary and too expensive.

Typically, the chapters contain a mixture of basic chemistry and biology, along with engineering issues and diagrams that are needed in a production environment.