Bell Books

In order to understand the deep sea of Lewis' thinking and opinions, it is necessary to explore the many streams and rivers of thought, experience and philosophy that contributed to that great ocean of erudition. Lewis was a scholar who read an incredible amount of material in the course of his life. Throughout his writings one finds continuous references to ideas and observations that he picked up from the great writers of the ancient and medieval world, as well as his own great contemporaries. Lewis debts to these writers inevitably leads one to seek out and explore them as well.
In my own case, I discovered two of my favorite writer/thinkers, G. K. Chesterton and George MacDonald, through my reading of C. S. Lewis. The book under review gives one an expanded opportunity to discover and enjoy the reading heritage that was so important to Lewis and to the development of his theology and philosophy. Even more, it allows children of a desicated age to experience and drink in some of the great thinkers and writers of our Western heritage. Writers who, alas, are no longer shared with students as a part of what we used to call a higher education.
Therefore, if you love C. S. Lewis, Western Civilization, or just reading, get this book, read it, think it and treasure it. It will be one of the best investments that you have ever made.

C.S. Lewis is one of this centuries most influential writers/thinkers. This book does an excellent job of giving us deep insight into the writings which had a profound influence on Lewis' own spiritual pilgrimage. Even if you have only a remote interest in his writings or thought, get this book. If I could give higher than 5 stars I would. Great!!

As possibly the most popular and influential Christian intellectual of the 20th century, Lewis has generated great interest in his literary and spiritual influences. As one looks further and further into the subject, there is an impossible desire to read every book that Lewis loved. This book (the most fascinating "Lewis-related" book I've seen) collects short excerpts (most are a single page) from writers who influenced Lewis, thus giving the reader a taste of many fascinating writers and making it possible for one to focus in on a few avenues for further exploration in the future. Looking through the book, it's just hard to believe that no one ever thought of doing this before.

"An emerging global being is forming in our midst. This Gaian entity contains countless diverse species and life forms. Just as differentiated cells organize to form a complex body, myriad individual aspects of Gaia are coalescing into a new kind of planetary unity. This is happening electronically through the Internet but it is also happening at profound levels of biological and spiritual identity. A familiar yet uplifted Earth is emerging: luminous, self-aware, awake as many-in-one. This is a turned-on world: the GaiaStar.

"The GaiaStar Codex is both a vision of the reborn planet and a technology for co-creating it. The Codex's images, reproduced on sixty-four cards, are mesmerizing and renewing. Each card was created by taking a photograph of a natural element (a leaf or a feather, for example) and digitally arranging and layering its shape, colors, and components. As you spend time with each image, some patterns and elements are readily seen; others emerge over time; some transform into new shapes. The cards will lead you to embrace the living world in a new way, understanding that you are in kinship with every animal, plant, and rock in the Gaiasphere.

"There are countless ways to explore the GaiaStar cards--for guidance, meditation, healing, and empowerment--but the accompanying book suggests several paths for your journey. Introductory text explains the concept and creation of the Codex; each image is discussed individually, and specific configurations of cards are proposed to encourage exploration. Additionally, the full-color GaiaStar Map (click on the small picture above to see it. The actual size is 16 x 20") is provided as an organizational tool, arranging the Codex images in a five-phase alchemical journey.

"The GaiaStar Codex box contains:
* 64 full-color 3 3/4 X 4 3/4" cards: MegaSource Cards, Tribe Cards, Essence Cards and Power Cards.
* 104-page paperbound book, 4 3/4 X 7 5/8." Explanation of the five-part structure of the Codex, commentaries on the cards, suggestions for using the Codex for guidance and empowerment.
* The GaiaStar Map, 16 x 20": full-color guide to a five-phrase alchemical journey."--© Pomegranate

I first bought a copy of the Gaiastar Mandala book and after lending it to an artist friend who so loved it, I was reluctant to ask for it back. So I replaced it with the Codex cards and found the mandala like images were also wonderful in this smaller card format. I so loved the images that I took them with me to writer's conference and shared them with friends. I bought a second set and have decided to put them in my holiday cards this year as a small gift of beauty and healing from the earth, Bonnie Bell and David Todd the cards' creators, and me. Put one or two where you can see them daily; they do awesome things to your mood.

I have worked with many divination systems, but this one is truly special! The quality and content of the cards are exceptionally beautiful. I love the use of natural objects in the making of the card mandalas and images. The content and organization of the book clearly demonstrates the authors' knowledge and love of our sacred planet Earth. It is both thought provoking and beyond the thinking mind. If you like nature photography, mandalas, and meditation, you'll love this set.

The book DOES NOT tell you how to operate the software that comes with it, it's more of a bible for ANY type astrophotography which happens to include the best darn software for image processing you could find. Just don't confuse the two. Even if you have image processing software now you NEED this book!

As others have mentioned, this is not a manual for the well-regarded AIP4WIN software. It is much more than that. It explains the theory behind the software in terms of the processing of astronomical images. In that respect you are going to run into much of the same material you would encounter in Gonzales and Woods' Digital Image Processing, just from a different perspective. It would probably be good if you already know the basics of image processing from a book like Gonzalez and Woods before reading this one. This book's primary aim is not explaining DIP, but explaining how it is used to perform the processing of astronomical images. The following is the table of contents of the book and each chapter's summary.

Basic imaging: How the light that falls on your CCD becomes an image. Covers image formation, cameras, telescopes, detectors, sensor geometry, image capture, field of view, and angluar coverage.

Counting Photons: "Astronomy is about counting photons...." Covers signal, noise, the signal-to-noise ratio, the Poisson and Gaussian distributions and why they matter, making better pictures by summing images, and how dark frames and flat frames effect the signal and noise in your images.

Digital Image Formats: Covers the file formats that astronomers use, including FITS, TIFF, BMP, and JPEG. Learn file format basics, how your image data is arranged inside the file on your computer's hard disk.

Imaging Tools: All about sensors, optics, cameras, and telescopes. Explains how to calculate the field of view and resolution of your system, telescope optics for imagers, auxiliary optics, mounts, drives, tracking, filters, and how to recognize and correct common equipment problems.

Imaging Techniques: Good equipment is just part of the story. Covers the techniques that experienced imagers use to obtain high-quality images. Includes polar alignment, good guiding, critical focus, correct exposure, darks and flats, light boxes, and special considerations for DSLR cameras.

Image Calibration: Examines the details of image calibration. All about bias, dark noise, flat-fielding, standard and scalable darks, cosmic rays, making master dark frames, flats, standard calibration protocols, and defect mapping and correction.

Image Analysis: Locked within the numerical values that make up a calibrated CCD image is a staggering amount of information. Covers pixel coordinates, pixel value, image statistics, the image histogram, feature analysis, the centroid, distances, and image profiles.

Measuring CCD Performance: How to measure the performance of your CCD camera. Discusses goals in measuring CCD performance, how to shoot test images, and the determination of bias level, dark current, gain, linearity, and readout noise.

Astrometry: Asteroid hunters measure the postions of new-found objects using astrometry. Covers the theory behind finding right ascension and declination from a CCD image, practical astrometry, and the uses of astrometry.

Photometry: Amateur observers now work side by side with professional astronomers to measure the variations of variable stars, supernovae, asteroids, and comets using the CCD to capture precise measures of brightness.

Spectroscopy: An emerging area for amateus astronomers brought to you by the CCD camera. Covers spectra and spectrographs, gratings, prisms, slit- and slitless systems, and the properties and meaning of stellar spectra.

Geometric Transforms: Covers translation, rotation, scaling, flipping, cropping, floating, and resampling. Demystifies the basic geometric operations used in astronomical image processing.

Point Operations: Learn how software converts the pixel values your CCD camera captures into the sparkling images you see in popular magazines and amateur websites. Remapping, transfer functions, linear, log, and exponential scalings explained. Covers endpoint specification and histogram specification.

Linear Operators: All about one of the most useful tools in the amateur astronomer's digital toolbox. Describes how digital convolution performs crispening, sharpening, smoothing. Learn about low-pass and high-pass kernels, Sobel, Kirsch, and Prewitt operators, and that most useful of linear tools: the unsharp mask.

Non-Linear Operators: Non-linear operators perform useful services like cleaning up noisy images. Cover rank-order processes, the median filter, local adaptive sharpening, noise filters, and morphological operators.

Image Operations: Multi-image operations are the basic tool for making superior astro-images. Covers image math, median-combine stacking, image registration, blinking, and track-and-stack image summing.

Images in Frequency Space: Unlocks the mysteries of the Fourier Transform and image processing in the spatial frequency domain. These powerful techniques used by profession astronomers are now accessible to amateurs

Wavelets: Explores the hottest new image processing and restoration techniques. Covers the wavelet transform, the inverse wavelet transform, spatial filtering, the wavelet noise filter, and iterative filtering techniques.

Deconvolution: Deconvolution attempts to restore images degraded by a turbulent atmosphere, poor telescope optics, and tracking errors. Discusses algorithms used to sharpen Hubble Space Telescope images, how they work, and how amateurs can use them.

Building Color Images: You've seen fantastic astro-images on the web and in popular magazines and books. Learn how astronomers capture and build color images from multiple exposures through different color filters. Covers the colors of astronomical objects, luminace, chrominance, color space, white balance, G2V stars, RGB and LRGB color image capture.

Processing Color Images: The digital SLR camera has done much to bring color imaging to the average amateur astronomer. Explains the Bayer array, color image bit depth, noise, dark current, vignetting, calibration, image stacking, and luminace enhancement techniques

I participated in a beta test of the photometry software program and proof-read a draft of this excellent book. The book alone is worth the price, but the amazing value is the powerful software package included, AIP4WIN. It does so many image processing tasks- photometry, astrometry, spectroscopy, color pictures, image sharpening - with several deconvolution routines. This is much more than a toy (but you certainly can have fun with it) as it supports routine image processing of hundreds of images per night. The software alone is worth several times the price of the book. Anyone interested in putting a CCD camera to serious work - or serious fun - will certainly get their money's worth with this package! Berry and Burnell have a really excellent effort here.

I say, Ms Thirkell is sound on logarithms(page 185

Angela Thirkell's books are about famalies living in England during World War 2.She uses fictional characters, set in a fictional country named Barsetshire, to give a realistic account of the conditions people were living under in England during the war. The Headmistress tells about refugees, rationing and shortages, the banner use of uncover bright lights after dark and work parties to make clothing and other necessities for the soldiers and refugees. The main characters are mainly wealthy and/or titled citizens. Although all class are represented through the book. The Headmistress focuses on an old family who, while trying to retain their land and upper class status, have become relaively common financially. This state is referred to as "reduced circumstances." They have rented their estate to a girls' school and moved to the village. This book is like a mild soap opera with a happy ending. It is filled with philosophy and almost entirely composed of conversation about etiquette. It is very British, so if you like that kind of stuff, you will be in heaven.

THE HEADMISTRESS...When Miss Sparling, a headmistress from a recently evacuated girl's school, moves into the village, she encounters all the problems of village life in wartime Britain. The upper crust Beltons, themselves newly dislocated from the family stately home, must accomodate not only Miss Sparling but the serious problems of the 1940s. Although perhaps the funniest of Thirkell's many funny books, World War II dominates this novel, giving it a greater depth perhaps, than some of Ms Thirkell's other delightful books.

A Navy wife's 7 year journey and enduring struggle to learn the unknown fate of her POW husband, Jim Griffin. Bound by faith, the love and support of the military community, family and friends, Dora and her two children emerge to face a husband's and father's supreme sacrifice.

Undefeated, Dora and her 2nd husband, former POW Jim Bell, courageously find a new happiness they so justly deserve. Hopes and dreams once dashed take on a whole new meaning of survival and personal commitment.

To all those who have walked this walk, remained steadfast and never gave up, thank you for reminding us that freedom is never free.

WARNING; DO NOT ATTEMPT TO READ THIS BOOK WHILE LISTENING TO "ARE YOU LONESOME TONIGHT".

This is a personal story of three people sharing many years of their life during a period in which our country was involved in military conflict with Vietnam. Reading this will help one to understand what commitment it took in survival and coping with life. The endurance of people in the book is remarkable and leaves one to better understand that love and devotion to the military members and their families does not go without great sacrifices.

Dora Griffin Bell tells the love story of being married to two Vietnam POW heroes but after reading "The Heroes' Wife", you realize Dora is also a hero. Her strength and courage during the worst of times makes her a role model for all military wives.

The book is written in such a way, that after completing it, I felt like Dora and I spent the weekend together as she told me about her experiences waiting 6 years for the return of her husband who was shot down in Vietnam and the joy of meeting Jim Bell (a returning POW) who has been her love (and husband) for the past 30 + years.

This is an inspiring story of love, courage and patriotism but you do not have be associated with the military to enjoy reading it. It is a reminder of the sacrifice our service people and their families make everyday. Something we all need to remember!

Brent Graham, High School Principal, Grand Rapids, December 3, 2002,
HG21C is Long Overdue
When I was introduced to HG21C, I thought it was just another marriage guide. However, as I read it for the third time, the only thing I can say is, "For the veteran husband searching for answers, HG21C is long overdue". I salute Bell for his marital wisdom.

Brent Graham, High School Principal, Grand Rapids, December 3, 2002,
HG21C is Long Overdue
When I was introduced to HG21C, I thought it was just another marriage guide. However, as I read it for the third time, the only thing I can say is, "For the veteran husband searching for answers, HG21C is long overdue". I salute Bell for his marital wisdom.

A friend of mine called me and said "Man, you-gotta-get this book!" So I purchased HG21C and could not put it down. As a "veteran husband" I was amazed how Bell was able to find the loophole in the feminist movement by reminding husbands that our wives have ignored their responsibilities as wives. And what's really great about HG21C is that it's funny, funny, funny.

I will admit, my wife was not happy when I told her that HG21C is a "Husband's Guide for the 21st Century" and that I would not let her read my copy. It's Top Secret.

As Bell say's "Never in history, have husbands had any reason to question what we should expect from our wives". - Until now.

I say Pulitzer.

Roland McIntosh
St. Louis, Mo.

Horror Classics is a graphic novel anthology that brings to vivid life those great tales of terror by Edgar Allan Poe, H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and others. Each individual story is skillfully rendered into comic book format by a different artist, who uses black-and-white imagery to perfectly capture moments of terror. An engrossing introduction to the classics of horror for those new to the literary experience, and an exciting fresh take on great stories for those who have read them a hundred times before.

This fun little graphic novel is a collection of some twelve short stories and poems that were all written by the greats of modern horror literature - H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Saki (pen name of Hector Hugh Munro), Jack London, and others. Just as heterogeneous as the authors are the illustrators. Each of the stories was illustrated by a different artist, who drew the story as he or she saw fit, each different from the others and each excellent.

Overall, I thought that this was an excellent book, with great stories and wonderful illustration work. I think that my favorites were Lovecraft's The Thing on the Doorstep, W.W. Jacobs' Monkey's Paw, and Clark Ashton Smith's The Beast of Averoigne, with Bret Harte's Selina Sedilia being too funny to miss. Yep, this is a great book, one that my fourteen-year-old daughter and I both enjoyed and both highly recommend!

Horror has done well for the modern incarnation of the Graphic Classics, whose series has seen such luminaries as Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe and HP Lovecraft brought to life by some extremely talented cartoonists. Whether it is the short-story nature, or the ready-made visually splendid imagery, there is something in the classic horror tales thats makes them well suited to the Graphic Classics treatment. Here, in the 10th volume, they have wisely continued this tradition, and assembled an anthology of classic horror stories to chill and delight.

"Horror Classics" brings together 12 authors, some of which, like HP Lovecraft , Jack London and Ambrose Bierce, have been previously honored with their own Graphic Classics collections. Others, like Clark Ashton Smith and Honre de Balzac, appear for the first time. All of the stories are well-chosen, and the artists's styles are well-matched.

This collection contains:

"The Mummy" - Ambrose Bierce - A short and witty poem, with a sharp illustration to match it.

"The Thing at the Doorstep" - HP Lovecraft - A brilliant take on one of my favorite Lovecraft stories. The artist manages to capture the "Innsmouth look" perfectly, and uses the author's original text combined with illustrations to great effect. "glub..glub...glub-glub..." You know what I mean.

"Some Words with a Mummy" - Edgar Allan Poe - A clever and light adaptation of a resurrected mummy bantering with a few scientists over which has the superior society.

"In a Far Off World" - Oliver Schreiner - An excellent, melancholy tale. One I have never read before, but am glad to be introduced to.

"The Thing at Ghent" - Honre de Balzac - Entirely dialog free, I am at a bit of a loss as to the actual story. Unfortunately, it is not such a familiar tale as to be able to divine the story from illustrations alone. The only disappointment in the lot.

"The Monkey's Paw" - WW Jacobs - Any fan of "The Simpsons" will recognize this one, although they may have never seen the original. The artist JW Pierard maintains the full weight of the original cautionary tale. Be careful what you wish for, and don't mess with unfamiliar magiks.

"The Open Window" - Saki - Another familiar tale, one that I have heard told but never knew the origin of. A clever almost-ghost story, well adapted in a simple Victorian style.

"A Day Dream" - Fitz-James O-Brien - Cartoonish musings on murder, and the high class going slumming in the Five Points.

"Keesh Son of Keesh" - Jack London - A dark and powerful tale of barbarian culture and blood-rights amongst the Native American tribes. Ryan Inzana's heavy woodblock illustrations perfectly compliment this heavy story.

"Professor Jonkin's Cannibal Plant" - Howard R. Garis - "Feed me, Seymour!" Another comedic adaptation, featuring a foolish professor and his frightening child.

"The Beast of Averoigne" - Clark Ashton Smith - A contemporary of Lovecraft, this tale of a wild comet, a haunted abbey, and the Ring of Eibon, is adapted with appropriate style.

"Selina Sedilia" - Bret Harte - A humorous look at love ever-after between two base villains. And of course, there is only one way to achieve love "ever-after."

Physically abandoned by his mother, then emotionally abandoned by his father, Ethan thinks he has it all figured out - how not to get hurt. When the tide starts to turn though and he starts to care a little too much - he begins to understand how his parents did what they THOUGHT was best at the time. Luckily there is still time to mend a Father- son relationship and when his mother tries to regain entry to his life - Ethan surprises us all!
I LOVED Righteous Indignation and had a hard time getting to read this without feeling as though I was betraying THAT main man!
Can't wait for the third!

Ethan McBride might be the tragic hero of this novel, but he handles it beautifully. His pseudo-orphaned lifestyle up until the point of the story has created quite a character out of him, a heart-breaker and a talented individual, yet modest and even quite humble. He may be rich, but he proves to us all that money cannot buy happiness, and though he grew up in posh and comfortable surroundings, he was someone I could identify with from the beginning. Virginia Foley hits another home run with this novel, another tear-jerker and powerful book. Buy it today!

After loving Virginia Foley's first book, "Righteous Indignation" I couldn't wait to get the notice that her second book was out. Believe me she didn't disappoint! "I think I hear Sleigh Bells is a great read.

If My Mom Were A Platypus is an entrancing children's book covering all sorts of animal babies-platypus, koala, lion, orangutan, whale, shrew and more. The beautifully-illustrated text pulls in children by pretending they are the baby. If My Mom Were A Platypus describes in detail how different babies eat, learn, grow and mature. This fact-loaded book delights both adults and children and is extraordinarily hard to put down. Even the ending is superb. Includes glossary and index and highlights endangered or threatened species. Activity guides are available at PlatypusMedia.com. Perfect for school or home use. Ages 4-adult.

The book, 'If My Mom Were A Platypus'was written by Dia L. Michels. It provides a nice introduction to 13 animals (including humans), and provides basic information regarding birth, growth, diet, and other interesting scientific facts. Written from the point of view of the newborn animal and it's mother, the book is targeted towards upper elementary and middle school audiences. However, it can be enjoyed by younger children. It makes a good family readaloud and can be used for basic research. The illustrations are realistic and colorful, and the book includes a glossary and index.

My three year old daughter loves this book. The book tells how different mammals are born, nursed, grow, eat, etc. It is really fascinating [I found it very interesting myself]. While the book is long and written for a much older audience, it still held my young daughter's attention [though we read only a few pages at a time]. The book is very educational and would be especially nice for families who breastfeed. It ends with the birth of a human mammal and tells how the baby is born and nursed and grows etc. This is a really neat book!

This book made me very horney. As I read it I looked down my pants. Then I started to do my cat! Suddenly my dog walked in and joined the fun. I loved all the pictures in this discriptive book. I would reomend it to anyone who wants to get a boner

This book made me very horney. As I read it I looked down my pants. Then I started to do my cat! Suddenly my dog walked in and joined the fun. I loved all the pictures in this discriptive book. I would reomend it to anyone who wants to get a boner

The book covers subjects as diverse as (1) human physiology, (2) sexual techniques and performance, (3) the Arts, (4) aberrant sex and deviation, (5) the animal and plant kingdoms, (6) Contraception & Castration, (7) sexology, (8) prudery, superstition, and the Law