Bradley Books

What a cute discovery! Here is a book that shows how and why the Rabbis of old tell parables - to enlighten the understanding of the reader using examples of course! Reading Jesus' cryptic parables no more than 50 or 60 in all and many which are of a limited thematic nature, is a very different experience from this selection of 100 parables from the 1000s listed from the early Jewish writings. This book and the NT parables of course brings interesting comparisons, but shows how telling stories is a very Jewish way to get a point across.

It is a great way to get in touch with the thinking of the early rabbis and Jewish ethical teaching. The parable details are reflective of real people and the tales are embellished with the banter of the rabbis. They are stylistically very different than in the NT. I recommend this delightful book to both Jews and Christians who are interested in the Jewish moral perspective.

This is a lovely little book. I have started giving it to bar and bat mitzvahs (along with a more substantial or "cool" gift), and the kids have all really enjoyed it. Each parable is a 1 or 2 page mini-story, and then comes a very brief interpretation. All provide insight and wisdom that is applicable in today's world, although they may require thought. Even those that are transparent engender thought. It is the sort of book that a 10 year old can read and benefit from, as well as an adult. Rereading brings more insights.

This is one of my favorite books. It's ancient wisdom which serves as a map to how to live a good life. But it doesn't tell you what to do. It leads you there. Short commentaries after each little story from the rabbi/author make the book even better. There's something about this little book that I just find satisfying, like a good, home-cooked meal. The book is a snapshot of what Judaism can do for people. Judaism is not just about ritual. It's not just about using an occasional Yiddish word or eating a bagel and lox. Judaism can also teach us lessons for better living, and this book is a great way to get started with that aspect of the faith. I've never met Rabbi Bleefeld but I'd like to take this opportunity to thank him for the book. Thank you, rabbi.

The annual Otter Calendar by Georgienne Bradley and Jay Ireland puts you right "where the action is". I have dove in Northern California with sea otters in the oast and these images bring back all those memories of the playful otters. The photography, of course, is awesome. This calendar graces my wall every year. And it depicts just one of the many offerings the oceans have in store for us. You are missing a lot if you don;t have these cute creatures greeting you "Good morning" every day!

This is a wonderful calendar and shows the little critters to their best advantages.

Never could understand why coalas are considered the cutest animals around. Obviously, those who said so never saw sea otters. Another otter's advantage is that their IQ (compared to that of a coala) is about 200+.
Great photos, funny and cute animals - every page makes you smile when you look at it and want to know more about those wonderful creatures.
I had a sea otter calendare several years ago and was glad when I found this one so I could put them on the wall again.

I agree with Jeffrey - Shawn Bradley is a rare jewel in the history of tall NBA players. Read all about him.

like Bradley himself, perhaps the biggest waste of space this side of George Mureshan...but second to none for the conversation starting/jokes

Come on people, we're talkin' about Shawn Bradley here. I don't think I need to say much more than that.

Larken Bradley has won national recognition for the local obituaries she pens for the Point Reyes Light, a small-market weekly newspaper that serves an area north of San Francisco. For "Stories of West Marin," a collection of short stories about an eclectic group of people from her neck of the woods, Bradley had the opportunity to write about folks, who were still breathing and able to share their life stories firsthand.

The oldest among them died before the book went to print. Bradley writes: "Just before his death in the spring of 2004 at age 101, the community's most influential centenarian granted a visit to one more soul eager to hear about life in West Marin in the good old days."

Bradley listened to the recollections of 22 West Mariners - those whose roots run deep and those who are transplants from such places as Michigan, Mexico, Philadelphia and London. She interviewed ranchers, entrepreneurs, artists, educators and eccentrics, most of whom are environmentalists and free-thinkers.

I especially liked the story of Barbara Keady, a hairdresser who runs the Village Snipper salon, and her "emotional, spiritual and psychic bond" with Tootsie, "a 2,200-pound Holstein - one busty, bodacious, big-boned bovine." Bradley writes: "It was almost as if she and Tootsie knew each other before."

Anastacio Gonzalez introduced barbecued oysters at local restaurants. Bradley lists all the ingredients - except for the secret one - in Gonzalez's special sauce.

Xerxes Whitney, an athlete, physical education teacher and poet, was born with cerebral palsy. Bradley inserts Whitney's profound poem, "What's Your Name?"

Her stories reveal the history of the area. Some show that these are the good old days. Collectively, the book leaves at least one more soul eager to hear more about life in West Marin.

Larken Bradley's eloquent Stories of West Marin portray a people who have left the stereotypes of peacock feathering hot tubbers far behind. Interviews with locals from all walks of life, up and down the economic and social scales, find Bradley drawing out the humor, beauty, richness and occasional magic of folks you would love to have for neighbors. These glimpses leave the reader chortling, tearing up or simply happy to know there are such folks in the world. With Bradley as your guide, you feel as though you've stopped in for a cup of brew and a cozy chat and found a treasure trove of life stories. Like Oliver, you will be left wanting "more, please."

I purchased this book while visiting the POint Reyes National Seashore. The book is a collection of short stories about real people who live in the area. They aren't celebrities, but actual people who have relevant, humorous, and touching stories to tell. The beautiful black-and-white photographs accompanying each piece make the book feel like an art book, or one to leave out on a coffee table for friends to flip through. If you know someone traveling to this area of Northern California, or fans of the region, it would make an absolute perfect gift!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book about Sugarloaf Mountain. As a hike leader with a local trail club, it was most helpful before leading a recent hike on the mountain. But more than that, I just loved reading it. The history, especially, was interesting to me, but the rest was very good as well. If you have ever been to (or wish to visit) this wonderful little slice of nature amidst all the suburban sprawl, you should read this book.

Choukas-Bradley and Brown's book is superbly written and provides a wealth of compelling information. Perhaps even more importantly, it reminds us of the value of our connection to sacred places in nature, something so threatened in our modern culture. This book has really increased my appreciation and enjoyment of Sugarlaf Mountain and all the natural beauty that surrounds it.

As a regular visitor to Sugarloaf Mountain, I was pleased to learn so much more about it from reading this book. I normally shy away from nature and history books but the writing in "Sugarloaf: The Mountain's History, Geology and Natural Lore" is so good that it just drew me in. I literally couldn't put the book down!

I especially loved the chapter describing each season on Sugarloaf. With such obvious love for and knowledge of the mountain, the author vividly describes the different aspects of each season in exquisite detail.

I highly recommend this book!

This is a great book filled with short stories showing the weakness and strengths of women. These women are not your usual women - some are soldiers, some sorceress and others just plain ole women who are thrown into an extraordinary situation and prevail, or do they? They don't all end with the typical fairy tale ending. This book is the first in a series of 21 books. My favorite story is the Thorn and Frostflower involving travel to other worlds by Phyllis Karr.

Sword and Sorceress is the original. This book has given rise to a series spanning 15 other books, and set the precedent for all future books in the series. All the stories in S&S I are about stong female characters, but the stories are diverse. Some are written by men, some by women. Some have only a female protagonist, others have male and female protagonists working together. The protagonist's talents range from shapeshifting, to magic, to swordsmanship. Or should I say swordswomanship? All in all, Bradley has put together a collection of stories that will entertain every fantasy reader. I was especially pleased to find so much variety and quality in one anthology. I like Bradley's novels, and as an editor she is no less disapointing. I highly reccommend any books in the S&S series!

Women read fantasy too. Beloved author/editor Marion Zimmer Bradley created this anthology in 1984 to address just that issue. At a time when women's fantasy was just beginning to make its mark, MZB created an anthology to define the emerging female protagonist. In her introduction, MZB makes it clear that she wanted to avoid the stereotypical Amazon-type heroine who ultimately gave up her freedom to win love. She didn't simply want recreate the old cliché turned upside down-where the men are subservient to women. She wanted stories that gave women new myths to identify with, powerful stories that could be worth consideration by the men and women who read them. This collection is not your average "feminist literature", these are stories that feature warriors, magic-users, healers and thieves-the women of fantasy, the kind of women to give a new generation of fantasy readers characters to see parts of themselves in, and ultimately make readers think.

MZB must have been onto a good thing. In the nearly twenty years since the first publication, there have been 19 Sword and Sorceress anthologies to date. Having read all of these anthologies, I can honestly say that this remains one of the best. The originality of the stories, the quality, the variety; all of these elements make this particular shine out from the group. Out of the fifteen stories, four are written by men, including well-recognized authors Glen Cook and Charles de Lint. MZB prefaces each story with a short blurb about the author and a few comments of her own. These paragraphs, along with her introduction, enable readers to catch the glimpse of MZB's personality and some insight into why she chose the particular stories she's included in this anthology. It becomes clear that each story was selected with care, polished and set in place to augment this anthology. There are no "filler" stories here.

Readers skimming the contents will quickly recognize quite a few of the author names; Glen Cook, Emma Bull, Charles de Lint, Jennifer Roberson and Diana Paxson to name a few. For Emma Bull and some of the other authors listed, this is their first sale. That is an additional bit of delight in these earliest Sword and Sorceress anthologies. So many writers made their first sale, or were just beginning their careers at the time. As to the stories themselves, they are as varied as the authors. For sword and sorcery duos, "The Garnet and the Glory" by Phyllis Ann Karr and "The Rending Dark" by Emma Bull are good examples. For darker, emotionally charged reads, try "Severed Heads" by Glen Cook, or "Sword of Yraine" by Diana L. Paxson. On the lighter side there is "Taking Heart" by Stephen L. Burns, "Daton and the Dead Things" by Michael Ward, and the finale of the anthology, a short-short story by Dorothy J. Heydt, "Things Come in Threes". My particular favorite story-although I admit it is hard to choose just one, all of them have had a powerful impact-is "With Four Lean Hounds" by Pat Murphy. This is a beautiful, fairy-tale-esque story that is as powerful in its message as in its unfolding adventure.

Any reader who loves good fantasy, particularly short stories will likely enjoy this. Women readers especially-but in no way exclusively will appreciate the chance to read about women as protagonists of the epic fantasy story. When this was first published, there were much fewer female fantasy writers and stories available. This has changed dramatically over the intervening two decades. Despite that, it does not diminish the quality of this first anthology-and the stories remain as strong today as they were when published. On a side note-these are all fantasy reads-MZB as a rule does not include science fiction stories in any of her anthologies, although the right story can make her break the rule just a bit. If you can find this anthology, buy it-read it and treasure it.

Happy Reading!

This is a book for any one who enjoys a good time or a punny ending. The bios that Marion writes are witty and charming. The series is for both men and women and can be enjoyed by all.

I'm not quite done reading this book, but I can tell you now that it is very good. It's well worth the money. It is about brave women who are either sorceress or sword-weilder. You really should read this book! I know you will like it

I've got every single Sword and Sorceress anthology printed. I never have to think about IF I'm going to buy one because it's a given.

These anthologies are so much fun because it's possible to read an entire story in one sitting. It's great if you're short on time. Some of the stories I particularly enjoyed in S&S XIV are: The Hand of A Lady, The Stone-Weaver's Tale, White Elephants, and Traveler's Aide. The last few stories in these anthologies are always interesting. MZB likes to end things well.

The other great part of this series is the chance to read the introductions by Marion Zimmer Bradley. She's so entertaining and (sometimes) crotchety. She shares a lot about what it's like to try to make a living as a writer.

And the last thing I like about the series is that it has introduced me to most of the authors I read: Mercedes Lackey, Jennifer Roberson, Charles De Lint, Diana Paxson, Lisa Waters - and of course MZB's other books.

So buy any of the S&S books you see! You'll find a lot of them in second hand bookstores (or maybe Amazon?

Despite not having been updated since 1944, this is still by far the best Thai-English dictionary in print in terms of the number and depth of the entries.

I also like the fact that McFarland correctly discerns six tones in spoken Thai. Although the Thai education system uses a teaching method that claims spoken Thai has five tones, and that's the system everyone learns from, in actual daily life the Thais use six. If nothing else, McFarland is worth owning for any Thai language learner who wants to become acquainted with this idea.

It's next to Thai-English Student's Dictionary by Mary R Haas the second best dictionary and I recomend all who are really serious to learn Thai to buy it (if you already have bought M. R. Haas'). It has more explaination than Haas' and many words that Haas' don't have. I strongly disliked the very complicated method to do transcription of Thai and to show the tones of the words by McFarland.

But it is essential for the serious student to have both McFarland and Haas. One is not enough, even when backed up by the large Thai-Thai dictionaries. It is also worth remembering that these two excellent dictionaries are now quite old - don't expect modern technical vocabulary.

Dr Bradley's book, with Blood & Fire is excellent and was purchased as a gift for a civil war buff.

Hey, at $10 you can't go wrong! The previous review hit the nail on the head, as this is an oft overlooked campaign in Middle Tennessee. Volumes have been written on Stones River, but save for a volume or so on Hoover's Gap, how often do you read anything about the Tullahoma Campaign the helped determine the control of Middle Tennessee. Relic hunters are well aware of it, as it is a relic paradise, or at least in its hay day. I attended college and relic hunted in Middle Tennessee, and I found the book an education. I would preferred to have seen the text set differently, or at least the paragraphs spaced. Guess it is an old age/eye thing, and as always I would like to have seen more pictures, i.e. lesser known troops who fought there, the sites today, a few relics tossed in. On the plus side of that coin, I enjoyed the maps that broke down positons to a regimental level. Never-the-less, it is a valuable addition to your library. I would also recommend the author's "Nathan Bedford Forrest's Staff and Escort".

1863 is considered by many to be the turning point of the Civil War, with Vicksburg splitting the Confederacy in half & Gettysburg halting Gen. Lee's advance into Penn. But few history buffs know about the decisive Tullahoma campaign that pushed the (Confederate) Army of Tennessee out of Middle Tennessee following the bloody battle of Stones River. Yes, the Tullahoma campaign was relatively bloodless, with only a few hundred casualties suffered by each side. But, Union Gen. Rosecrans' army won a decisive victory by bold tactics that caught the exausted Confederates off-guard. The Tullahoma campaign was also the turning point for the Union cavalry in Tennessee. Rosecrans re-equipped his troopers with the latest repeating rifles & for the first time in the war they had the Confederate cavalry on the run. Twice during skirmishes around Tullahoma the Union cavalry successfully charged the Confederate cavalry with sabers! One of the main reasons the Army of Tennessee was defeated in this campaign was the bickering & lack of communication among the Confederate leadership. Gen. Braxton Bragg deserves a lot of the blame for this although the bickering even existed among their field officers! Although this book only has about 90 pages of text, it is a very detailed & fast-paced account of this important campaign. There are several maps that are very helpful in visualizing the road networks as well as the positions of regiments in the battles. This book is an absolute must-have for any Civil War buff studying the war in Tennessee.

Universal Remote is one of the best books that I have read. The book is full of layers, and deep with plot and subplot. Hartnett offers what seem to be distractions or sidebars in the form of "channels"--chapters for a tech era. I am almost hesitant to compare a new writer with these names, but if the author can turn out work as good as this consistently, he will be mentioned with Orwell, Vonnegut and the other great fiction writers of recent times.

Michael Hartnett has struck literary brilliance with Universal Remote. In a satirical manner of candor and wit, so uncommon in today's trite novels, Hartnett has defied modern principle and created a brilliant work. To second Ken Darr's review, this is a book which I recommened without reservation.

A New Voice in Post-Modern Suburbia Universal Remote by Michael Hartnett Reviewed by Ken Darr, York College

True to the digitized consumerized world presented in the novel, Michael Hartnett's Universal Remote has something for everybody. It is a postmodern journey through suburbia arresting the reader with its visions of misunderstood, misapplied and misinterpreted technology. Universal Remote is all at once a mystery, comedy, satire and personal manifesto in which the author deftly intertwines the elements of a technologically starved society which knows not what it craves for. The novel also achieves something rarely, if ever, found in postmodern literature: it is a page turner. Hartnett successfully blends the elements of his story into what becomes a satirized mosaic manifesto of suburban culture. No, this is not another novel which simply highlights false values, hollow lifestyles and empty existence ala suburban styling; rather, Universal Remote uses suburban Long Island as its setting to allow a larger loftier vision to seep through like the toxic waste responsible for killing the rather philosophical Satan, who has several cameos (mainly he shows up dead). During a series of sharp opening scenes that include a science teacher lopping off his pinkie at a lecture, reporter Russell Pines joins Prometheus Labs to write PR for the messiah of technological gadgetry, a Universal Remote that has the ability to allow the owner to control all his devices and equipment from wherever he is. While the idea has been done before, Hartnett's treatment and plot orbiting around the device make the novel a truly original work. From his exposure to the device, Russell Pines is finally inspired into writing a long desired column series on what his life would be like if he immersed himself for a year in the artificial and technological elements of our existence. That means Rus as "Technoman" must eat only unnatural foods, interact through machines, sleep only with women who have had plastic surgery, etc. In the midst, Pines unwittingly meanders into technological sabotage, in and out of his fragmented relationship with his son, becomes completely wired to everything from his car to his physical nourishment, chases the story of Satan's final days, is visited by his past, throws himself into one of the funniest and outrageously politically incorrect sex scenes written to date, and becomes a target/hunter for a counter technoculture terrorist who may or may not exist, Paddy Dangus. The world Hartnett creates and examines is skillfully satirized. Upon it completion, the novel remains on the mind of the reader and beckons for continuance and reexamination. It is Hartnett's first novel, a bold and successful attempt which creates another welcome original voice to postmodern literature.