Bennett Books

This book provided an excellent introduction to understanding animal body language. I feel like I have a much more interactive relationship with my dog which has really helped to supercharge his training!

This is a really great book which suggests ways of managing off leash play, including assessing dogs, and when play is "green", "red" or "yellow"... The big problem is that canine body language is not always blatant and often occurs in subtle sequences within varying contexts... The book offers pictures and explanations of behaviors, but I don't think small B&W photos suffice to get the point across in demonstrating the behaviors so well to the uninitiated -- you can't really freeze frame most dog behaviors... I think you really need good videographer as well as many breed examples to really train a person about the behaviors... For this reason, I think the book is very good for people who work and deal with dogs all the time and are already familiar with the signals, and are looking for a system to manage and assess situations... but if your goal is to learn how to read a dog's body language and you're very new at it, the book probably wouldn't be my first choice. - - In contrast, I'd suggested viewing Sarah Kalnajs "Language of Dogs" and "Am I Safe" DVD first, videos for those seriously fascinated with the topic - - but not for individuals who don't want to sit through a formal lecture on the subject.

All in all... I think this book offers a GREAT outline of the subject, but I really hope it might be expanded into an instructional video one day. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there are any DVDs out yet that capture and analyze dog/dog and human/dog interaction at a dog park and go into analyzing situations. If there was, I'd get it in an instant! (Please give me credit if you decide to make one of course!)

I am the Senior Manager for a Doggie Daycare and I thought this book was was great! Several things I like about it:
*A quick read. It only took me about 2 hours to get through it. Granted, I read very fast, but it is something that people can read entirely in a short amount of time.
*Plenty of pictures to illustrate what you are talking about.
*Covering not only what to look for in the dogs, but what to look for in yourself. LOVE the chapter about being a good leader, ESPECIALLY the section "Your leadership skills need improving if you..."
*What I like the most, and what I was the most concerned about prior to reading it, is the fact that what is stated in the book does not say "This is the way you should do things" so it complements the training program I already have for my staff instead of ever contradicting it. I suppose with daycares that are less focused on improving the quality of experience for their dog and human clients might disagree, but I think this will be a great addition to our training program. It's like it is a nice overview of how things should work in an ideal situation, and then I get to fill in the gaps and give the finer details of what to actually do to make it all come together.
It is completely synced up with what we do in our daycare that it easily could have been written specifically for my business. I found myself nodding along with what I was reading a number of times.
I intend to make this required reading for my staff. Thank you so much for getting this out there! It is really going to be an asset to the doggie daycare world!

I've been offering interactive daycare for dogs for 14 years. This book is filled with what we've learned over the years, presented in a clear-cut, easy to reference format. It is a must read for anyone who runs a doggie daycare, is thinking about opening one, for dog owners who want to know what their daycare operator should know, or who take their dogs to a public dog park. I wish I had written this book.

This book wants me to visit Delaware, and I live in Houston.

Having read Hayes' other Arcadia pictorial histories, I bought this one, too. It makes me want to travel to this resort and live there.

Hayes and Bennett have done an excellent job in putting this book together. You can tell that they researched a lot, and talked to a good number of people and businesses. I like how they gathered family photos that weren't available otherwise. Will we see a sequel?

This neat book reminded of how much I missed the East Coast. I visited the Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia coasts as a child, with my parents, and I still have fond memories. This is a great book, with outstanding photos and a sweet, brief history.

This book is the real deal - it's based on multiple conversations with real Scottish people, who shared their most intimate life stories as well as the stories of their parents, grandparents and earlier ancestors. Anyone who wants to truly "get" Scottish culture (which has changed, of course, but still reflects its history), needs to add this book to the library.

Scottish Customs: From The Cradle To The Grave

The best book for my needs.

As someone of Scottish descent and a student of Anthropology and History, I really appreciated this text. There are a myriad of books available that purport to tell about Scottish customs, or focus on some narrow aspect of Scottish life, such as clan associations. This book, however, addresses the whole gamet of life of the Scottish folk, from motherhood and child-rearing, through the rites of passage into adulthood, and finally the passage from life into eternal life. Bennett draws upon a wide selection of historical sources, disparite in both locale and time period. Relying not only upon the historical record, but utilizing her expertise as a folklorist, Bennett elicits ethnogrpahic data which she presents and uses to draw her conclusions. She paints a vivid picture of life in Scotland that offers new and insightful ways in which to look at Scottish cultural practices. I highly recommend this lucid, yet academic and well-researched book regarding Scottish customs to anyone wishing to get beyond the surface aspects of the fascinating and vibrant traditional Scottish cultural patterns.

I'd say the previous reviewer covered this one pretty well. This is a well-written guide to the customs and culture of Scotland literally from the cradle to the grave, looking at motherhood, childhood, courting and youthful romance, some recent and modern marital traditions, real 'Highland Weddings', the Scottish attitudes towards death, burial rites, and the associated bodies of spirituality and folklore for all of these topics. The bulk of the book's text is the writings of Scots (or foreign observers of their customs), mostly in the 19th and 20th Centuries, though some of the book's content goes back as far as the later Middle Ages. This means that most of it is the memories and first-hand experiences of people who have lived the unique customs of Scotland. I greatly enjoyed this book, and anyone interested in the culture of recent-modern Scotland will as well.

I say "could be" because most of the book features the Comanches interacting with one another. It is possible the author captured them accurately, of course, he could be way off. Who knows? For the most part, I felt a sense of realism. But that's just my perception. It's a matter of taste. As far as the story goes, some parts drag and some parts were very exciting. But by the end though, I realized that this is just like real life.

One complaint is that Douglas neglects to explain how the white captive feels living among a people who killed her father, whose scalp she sees hanging from her captor's lance. And when her captor gives her away to his father later in the book, Jones once again neglects to explain how Chosen (the white captive) feels about this.

Despite this, by the end of the book, I felt that I had been on a journey with these people. Also, it should be noted that Jones is very fair to both cultures. The atrocities were a two-way street.

In closing, I highly recommend this book. I believe the follow up to this book is called Gone the Dreams and Dancing. I look forward to reading this book, too.

I knew for a long time that Douglas C. Jones was a well-liked author, as I worked in a public library and I shelved books for a living. One day, though, "Season of Yellow Leaf" happened to get into my hands, probably by someone else checking it out. I read the flyleaf and held onto it.

"Yellow Leaf" is the fictionalized story of a young girl in a remote Texas settlement who is captured by the Comanche tribespeople, adopted and named "Chosen." When "returned" to white culture as a married mother, she pines for the family she has been torn away from.

Loosely based on the story of Cynthia Ann Parker, it is a well-written story of the trials of the culture clash that has been going on for 500 years on this continent. The story is only repeated and repeated, families torn apart, then torn apart again.

Like so many tales involving native people, there is a "golden" time to Chosen's life, as there seems to have been to the lives of the tribes as well, that is to say, just before white culture influenced every circumstance.

I never read another book by this author, but I cherish this book for Chosen's viewpoint, albeit fictionalized.

I also do not know if this represents the Comanche viewpoint well, or is total supposition, but it's a very good read.

In the two existing reviews the date is off by 100 years. It should read 1830!

It would be hard to discuss one of Douglas C. Jones' books without mentioning the others. I have read all of his novels and found them to be well-researched, historically relevant and entertaining. Season of Yellow Leaf is one of my favorites, but Jones is at his best when writing about historical life in his native Arkansas (Weedy Rough, Winding Stair, others). I would recommend his books to anyone. He really knows how to bring history to life.

I'm serious - you should get this book just so you can read the forward by - get this - GARY NORTH himself! He did a mean-spirited thing (grin): he quoted Senator Bennett's 1998 statements verbatim. That these do not match the toned-down report is obvious to anyone who reads both... and now you can read both.

The report should be in every home and be read .This book is actually an official document reprinted word for word .An objective , honest analysis of this material would cause a sea change in public opinion reguarding this subject.This bipartisian effort is to be commended.As an engineer and a serious investigator of this subject for over two years I could not recommend this book more highly.This is not a laborious read.It presents the material in a well organised and cogent manner and many readers will have trouble putting this down.Get this book.

After a year of study and hearings, this report by US Senate is the most authoritative statement of the Y2k issue available. These Senators have nothing to gain by overstating the issue, and risk looking silly in a few months if they have overstated it. This report shows where we stood as of February 1999. The informed facts present a far different picture than most expect. This is very worth reading, especially the beginning and end. (Some of the summaries of witness testimony can perhaps be skipped.) The report covers Y2k in utilities, transportation, medicine, etc. Determining why this information was not reported more widely by the media will occupy historians for years, if any of the risks presented by Y2k come to fruition.

Everyone should read this document. It explains why the Year 2000 problem will impact everyone. It is heartening to see Democrats and Republicans working together on the Senate Y2K Committee for a common cause. Be sure and read the whole thing! If you only read one book about Y2K, read this one.

Fern Michaels writes great stories, not just books. Enjoy all her books. This one is how a woman holds her family together when her husband is MIA. Very interesting how our government protects itself rather than our families.

To Have and to Hold was really a great book. The characters were all so fantastic. You just love Kate & Della. What a great ending too.

'To Have and to Hold' was the best fiction book I have read thus far. It describes every key event in detail so that you feel like you are there living it with the main character, Kate. She becomes your friend quickly as you see her not only survive a terrible event, but come out on top with the aid of two incredible friends.

True to the deepest of human emotions do not be surprised if you cry and feel various emotions as Kate ages. Her feelings directly match those of people in her situation and maturing character. For example, she feels mixed emotions as her daughter leaves home for the first time to get a degree. I enjoyed the placement of this story in history (Vietnam War). It enabled me to live through the event and understand what it meant to real people. The novel is also full of surprises and unexpected twists in the plot. Be prepared for a thrilling ride.

Women will find Kate to be a positive role model, but not in any simplistic manner. She truly earns our respect by picking up her life from the most desperate situation of pity to personal control and achievement. Her deep commitment to her loved ones is admirable and a tribute to love at its best. The story will teach you essential things you need to live a successful life, such as perseverence, loving oneself, faithfulness, and learning to let go of the past as you forge your future.

I did find a small part of the book 'a bit much' when the character meets a new man. Sharing every interest from thoughts to favorite drinks seems almost too much at times. I felt we had departed reality for a brief time and was disappointed that an author who had just built up such a true, tragic story made meeting someone to be a 'Cinderella Experience.' This relationship had no difficulties; it was like 'floating on a cloud.'

However, enough said. The thrust of my review only can praise the wonderful writings of a masterful author. She must have great depth of character and experience to write with such accuracy and beauty. I appl! aud her. A must read!!

A splendid book. The plot is intricate. The characters are well developed and believable. This book is an interesting study of the changes in the role of family in American society from the '70s to the '90s. Patrick, Kate, Gus, Della, Donald, Ellie and Betsy have all won a place in my heart.

At the begining of the book the husband Patrick, who in my opinion is a "male chauvanist pig" goes off to war(Viet Nam). Patrick is excited to be doing what he loves best --flying. He has felt trapped in his marriage and has little respect for his wife. As an Air Force pilot, he sees freedom and adventure. He wants to be a hero. Kate,stays home to be the perfect military wife and the perfect mother to thier daughters Betsy & Ellie. She is not happy that Patrick is leaving. She is devastated. What will she do with out her childhood sweetheart and her "lord of the castle"? He has promised her that he will come back to her. She believes him. For twenty years she believes him..... she is left to raise her daughters by herself with little financial support . Finally,she is able to symbolically bury him and look to the future with hope and Patrick comes back into her life. He the tragically different but expects her to be the same a woman of the '70s not a woman of the '90s

The pictures are beautiful. The story thoughtfully written. More importantly, the book's message of hope, hard work, and loyalty comes through loud and clear. As a business woman, Sarah (Madame CC) was not only supportive to her sisters "of color" she was loyal to the community in which she lived. We all have "brothers and sisters" we can reach out to and help. It's a message needed in today's world.

I really enjoyed sharing this book with my class. I am a primary teacher and I thought that the storyline and facts given were appropriate to share with young children. She is a person in african american history who all should admire for her courage and tenacity.

This is a partially fictionalized account of Sarah Breedlove, a young impoverished girl born free just after slavery who grew up and became inventor of hair-care products for Black women. She owned and operated her own business and became financially successful. She renamed herself and her business Madame C.J. Walker. With her business acumen she soon became one of the richest women of her time. Though she lived lavishly, she was a great philanthropher of her people, giving of her time and money to charities for the betterment of the African-American race.

She employed a large number of Black women to promote and sell her products, thereby giving women an opportunity to have a profession that gave them pride and economic freedom.

The author grasps the blatant racism of the times without being depressing about it. She also captures the spirit of Madame Walker, an uneducated sharecropper who had a dream and achieved it.

The text is well illustrated with watercolor and pencil drawings in soft colors. This book would be a good addition to a school library collection for browsers and report writers alike.

Summary: This is a real life story of a young freed slave girl named Sarah Breedlove who feels inferior to white women because she is not as beautiful. She soon discovers a way to use herbs and oils to create hair products that will provide "colored" women with healthy hair. To advertise, she relies on ads that show colored women with healthy hair and a confident demeanor. As her company continues to grow, she employs other colored women who are willing to go into women's kitchens to show them the proper procedures for creating healthy hair. She also supports colored women in their fight for equality. She even stands up to Booker T. Washington when he implies that only colored men can fight for equality in the business world. Madame Walker (as she calls herself--Walker being her married name) becomes one of the wealthiest people in the country, yet she still fights for social justice.

Critical Review: In this picture book, Lasky creates an exciting story of a woman who overcomes the odds without forgetting her past and how she got to where she is. Lasky is able to do this by portraying Madame Walker as a real character with issues and struggles with which many readers may be able to relate. The illustrations by Bennett are beautiful and add to the story by capturing the essence of Madame Walker and her product line. Bennett's pictures are realistic and enchanting. In the author's letter, Lasky admits that she had to "fill in" some of the gaps left by her research. She does this exceedingly well in that the entire story seems possible. Though there were some gaps, Lasky based as much of the story as possible on research, some of which was from a first hand account by Walker's great-granddaughter. This book is about a minority group which is not stereo-typed by either the author or the illustrator. Overall, this book is very enjoyable and brings out some really great points. It will be surprising if the book does not win an award such as the Coretta Scott King, Caldecott, or Newbery.

Curriculum Connections: The possible curriculum connections in this book are numerous. One obvious connection is history. Lasky points out the racial and gender discrimination of the time. Connections can be made both to the Civil Rights Movement and the Women's Suffrage Movement. Another connection is in the field of science. Walker uses herbs and oils in her hair products. Students can examine the qualities of such herbs and check out how many are used in different types of products today. A third connection is climate. Lasky points out the different types of weather that Walker experiences as she moves from region to region around the US. Students can check out weather patterns that exist in different areas of the world. A final connection can be made in geography because Walker moves around the country so much.

Colette has an unusual gift and talent for conveying her thoughts and insights into actionable steps that "normal" people can use. Constantly programmed by society to be "normal" and to fit certain molds, Colette explains how damaging and limiting this is, and why we must break out of this to accomplish greatness - not just for ourselves and our own personal successes, but for the betterment of mankind in general. Her words will inspire you and make you think about things in a new light. This book is nothing short of revolutionary! Buy a copy and read it, and then buy multiple copies to give as birthday and holiday gifts for everyone you know! Spread the word: this book is worth its weight in gold.

This is an incredible Book. Colette Gaceta has been given the gift of Acceptance & Awareness, & in turn she shares the ability to find it in ourselves. Reading & understanding this book (in my opinion) is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself. You won't want to put it down.

Excellent book that will make you think, laugh, cry, think again, and then take action. Excellent in its content and its format too, you will be surprised!

this book changed my life. Colette Gaceta has written an amazing book. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

It is unbelievable that I'm the first person to review this fantastic book. The book itself is also unbelievable in its intelligence, wit, depth, color, interest, and sheer genius. Alan Bennett is one of the rarest minds of the 20th/21st century. If you're a real reader and you don't have this book, you damn well better buy it.

If there is a spark of humanity in you read this book. Alan Bennett was part of the satire boom in early 60's in the UK and when neccessary has a caustic dry wit that can catch you by surprise sometimes. However for me what comes through in this book is his humanity.

The first section of the book where this is highlighted is his address at the funeral of Russell Harty, which only amounts to 7 pages. Harty was a successful TV show host and interviewer in the UK, who was hounded by the press in the 1980's over his sexuality (he was homosexual and never tried to hide that fact). Bennetts address is full of compassion and will either leave you crying or plotting a nasty end to some of the gutter press.

'The Lady in the Van' is a full chapter (45 pages) and a completely true story. At one point it was available to buy as a seperate book and is taken largely from his diaries. In the 1970's and 1980's outside Alan Bennett's own house in Camden, London, an old lady (Miss Shepherd) lived in a Van in the street. After a time the local council decided she could no longer stay on the street. Amazingly Bennett allowed her to move her Van into his garden and there she remained until she died. This is truly a remarkable story. Bennett of course is a marvellous observer of people and there is a side of me that says he only did it so that he could watch her. However read 'The Lady in the Van' in full and you are left in doubt that Alan Bennett couldn't have done it for that reason, because Miss Shephard's living conditions were frankly disgusting and the smell.. well enough said. Its a truly moving and poignant story.

The diaries constitute a major section of the book amounting to 180 pages. These cover the years 1980 to 1995. There is a section of prefaces to plays as well as articles on writers and filming. These other sections of the book are of the same high standard of writing as the two I mention above, if not all on quite the same emotional level.

In this country, I look for the least sign of God. It might be a dawn, the sound of music, laughter of an old person, giggling among my grandchildren, the prospect of the end of Bush's term, the golden silence of tv turned off, my wife's loving voice telling me to take out the garbage, take out the dog, take her out to a movie...and Alan Bennett's "Writing Home". What pleasure there is in this book. If you are literate and do not own it, reflect on what in your life has brought you into your miserable condition.

For those Americans who have never heard of Alan Bennett and are wondering wether or not to get this book...I say go for it. But if you're looking for something exciting you may be disapointed. Mostly subdued, sometimes hillarious stories of a life. Don't miss "The Lady in the Van"!

There are few types of writing that are as personal as writing about one's beliefs or spiritual experiences. Unlike fiction where a writer can hide behind imagination and creativity or technical non-fiction where the author can remain emotionally unavailable, the author of spiritual material must share him or herself fully with their readers in order to give them insight into the literature or an understanding of how this material pertains their life.

Writing Spiritual Books emphasizes a strong author-reader connection. Such a bond is built through the writer being genuine, describing life events that are appropriate to the topic, and writing about what they really know and have experienced fro themselves. Beyond these important aspects, the author of spiritual works, like any other writer, must tailor his or her organized, well written text to suit his or her audience's needs, wants, and desires.

I found the information provided in this book to suit my needs and address my concerns while making me feel like I was having a good conversation with a beloved mentor and friend.

This book was laid out in a wonderful way. I could read from the beginning or look for something in other chapters that was of interest to me. The fun part was the mind mapping. I found that an interesting and useful way to figure out what kind of focus, types of chapters and topics of my potential book. I bought it for the reason I would like to write and publish my own book. This book provided clear and easy ideas for layout, what to write to capture the attention of my potential reader and the joys and pitfalls of writing a book of any kind. My book at the end may or may not be a spiritual one but that doesn't matter- Writing Spiritual Books: A Bestselling Writer's Guide to Successful Publication, provided solid information for any genre a person might consider writing.

This book practices what it preaches, giving you examples and lots of clarity about how to write a good spiritual book. I particularly like the resources section in the back - gives you lots of orientation about how to get agents, publishers, etc.

"Perhaps the greatest lesson any of us has to teach as an author is to touch our readers in such a way that they can remember their spiritual identity, and we do that as much by the relationship we establish with them as by anything we say about a particular subject. Put simply, the quality of the relationship we establish with our readers may well be our greatest message." - From the book

Have you survived unusual life circumstances and thought, "Boy, I could write a book!" Or perhaps you've written some articles and reviews, and your readers have told you "You need to write a book!" Maybe you've experienced the creative stirrings deep within your soul, feeling "I've got a book in me...*somewhere*."

If any of these scenarios sound familiar, writing coach and author Hal Zina Bennett gives you the tools to make successful publication a reachable goal in his book Writing Spiritual Books. From knowing your mission to finding models to follow, mapping out your book to creating a solid proposal, Bennett inspires potential authors with insider tips, friendly advice, and helpful resources.

Writing Spiritual Books boosts confidence, largely by affirming that there are many approaches--and many formats--for writing New Age, self-help, self-improvement, or "spiritual" book. From biography to memoir, visionary fiction to channeled material, the author gives examples from published books from well-known authors to show readers exactly how--and why--they work.

Bennett emphasizes that "writing a book can never be a waste of time, whether it is ever published or not", and maintains that tenacity and the act of writing itself can be a rich reward.

From identifying your target audience to empathizing with your readers, providing relevant anecdotes to imbuing prose with sensual imagery, the author not only shows writers how to connect with their audience, but also provides practical guidelines for organizing ideas, themes, and chapters. He also encourages would-be authors to value the power of personal experiences. In fact, he points out that journaling, reflection, and "clustering" can help you mine the jewels from your life for inclusion in your book.

As a bibliophile and reviewer, I tend to aggravated with books that tell you "what" you're supposed to be doing--but never provide the tools for HOW to do it. I was thrilled that Bennett pointed out this truth to potential writers by saying, "...we must not only point readers to the mother lode but also supply them with the tools and the light to uncover the treasure."

Some of the other things you will learn from Writing Spiritual Books include:

* How to overcome resistance to writing a spiritual book
* Step-by-step brainstorming exercises
* How to be a storyteller
* Using memorable quotes to articulate difficult concepts
* Writing authentically and responsibly
* Creating experiential exercises that grab the readers' attention
* Anticipating what the reader is thinking and feeling
* Determining how--and why--your book is different from others
* Getting published and what comes afterwards

Bennett also provides a listing of spirit-friendly agents, as well as publishers that seek spiritual books, online writer's resources, books to take your further in your writing journey, and author-friendly bookstores across the U.S. for book signings, promotion, and talks.

I find myself consulting Writing Spiritual Books on a frequent basis these days, and Bennett's engaging tone and hard-won wisdom excites me with possibility.
Even my reviews and articles have benefited from his sage advice. I enjoy conveying information, but this bit of insight on communication has aided me tremendously:

"Communication always includes caring about what's going on for the person you're communicating with...Information focuses, instead, on facts, with little or no concern for human factors that may be involved."

He pairs this great advice with a story about a cross-country trip he took as a college student. A breakdown left him stranded in the middle of nowhere, hundreds of miles from home and with very little money. He shares how the kind, caring voice of the wife of the tow-truck driver on the other end of the payphone made all the difference in the world to him that night as he stood on a busy, noisy highway.

If you're considering writing a book or perhaps creating articles with spiritual themes, Writing Spiritual Books is a must have guide! Bennett serves as a writing coach, cheerleader, and tour guide through the often arduous and daunting terrain of book publication--providing us with a clear map, gentle encouragement, and realistic expectations throughout the writing journey.

Janet Boyer, author of The Back in Time Tarot Book: Picture the Past, Experience the Cards, Understand the Present (coming Fall 2008 from Hampton Roads Publishing)