Brian Books

The book, In the Time of the Drums, by Kim L. Siegelson, is a story about the relationship between an island-born slave boy named Mentu and his grandmother, Twi, a woman who had grown up in Africa before she was captured and sent away to work on the island where the story takes place on the east coast of America. It is through her stories, secrets, and teachings of the songs played on the drums that Mentu finally understands what it means to be strong in the face of despair.
If I could come up with a word that could describe this book, it would be "descriptive." All of the words seemed to leap out at me with tons of imagery. I could actually see Mentu, Twi, and the island where they lived from my dorm room. The image of the island and its people that Brian Pinkney, the illustrator, drew also matched up perfectly with the life I envisioned Twi and Mentu having, from the look of the island and thatched roof huts to the clothes that they wore and the goat-skin drums that they played. All of these elements contributed greatly to the descriptive nature of this book and made it one that is a must-read for all young readers ages 8 and up.
I also liked the fact that this book focused on the theme of keeping one's heritage and culture alive at all costs. In a society where students of different cultures become "Americanized," it is important for young readers to value the differences they see among themselves along with their similarities. While similarities can bring all types of people together, it is our differences that make each individual unique and important in a multicultural society.

This book is rich in illustration and in story. The book resonates like a powerful drum beat. The author tells a tale that seems passed from generation to generation. This is a great read for Black History Month. This is a book you will read again and again to your children. The suggested age for readers of 4 to 8 is really too limiting. Children of all ages will enjoy and be moved by this book.

Siegelson writes lyrically and gives a lovely sense of Georgia's coastal islands. The mix of history and folk tale presents well to children, and seems to capture their interest and imagination. The book is a pleasure to read aloud and held the attention of both my ten year old and my six year old.

In the Time of the Drums is an excellent story of the Gullah heritage. It tells of a people who have not forgotten. Young Mentu is told of a time by his grandmother Twi, when he will be "strong-strong." Twi, a wise, respected elder of the community, leads her people home. Mentu is "strong-strong" as he passes the heart-felt beats, and stories that can't be forgotten to descendents, and to us.

Siegelson has a mastery of words that is incredible. The rhythm of the words becomes immediately apparent as you read and it is definitely something you'll want to share right away. Brian Pinkey does a wonderful job, as usual, and the lines of his drawings echo the rhythm and lyricism of the story. I think it is interesting and appropriate to the story (you'll understand after you read it) that althought the story is based in historical fact, it is not limited by it. If you are an african-american parent, buy this book. If you are not an african-american parent, buy this book. I will be watching for the next by Kim Siegelson. Signed, a Children's Librarian in Oklahoma.

This was one of the most life changing books I have ever read.
Highly recommend it.

Dan Millman pulls valuable concepts from a variety of disciplines. This book does not delve into specific training methods, but rather expounds a philosophy of training. The author integrates concepts from sports psychology, physiology, and the martial arts. The Inner Athlete contains several enlightening perspectives on different aspects of athletic training. I have been following his suggested modifications for stretching exercises for about two weeks, with excellent results. This book will be valuable for any athlete, regardless of level of attainment.

What a great book...I am interested in all kinds of sports and have always believed that sport should be more than just physical training and with this book I found someone who shares my thoughts....

From the book: Dedicate your training to your life and not your life to your training...

When you read this book you will realize that the truth has always been in you, you just did not see it. Learn to see and let your heart lead the way. I love this book.

I finished the book and instantly wanted to start reading it again. Dan has helped me with my own nemisis by reminding me that being stuck on a skill is a result of not having developed the requisite skills and strengths. But the concept that I love the most and has been that of building strength by relaxing the opposing muscles so you spend less time fighting yourself. As we all learn about life through sport (well, many of us anyway) I have discovered that it is not just in athletics that I tense all the wrong muscles. I have begun seeing how in my life I fight myself and by just relaxing the right areas of my life I have been able to handle much greater degrees of stress with a peace and equanimity this book helped me to realize.

This is one of those books I'll read over and over again and gain something new from each and every time. And my poor friends are all sick to death of having me quote it to them as they come to me with their struggles.

This book is an easy read, as are all of Dan Millman's books. I read the first edition of The Inner Athlete 6 years ago at the age of 20. It inspired me to enrol in a beginner's gymnastics class for adults, probably because I wanted to be just like Dan. It proved to be a life-changing decision. I had retained some of Dan's advice, such as the Law of Accommodation - how our body more readily produces results when we don't place demands or set goals. I stuck to practicing the fundamentals, and was satisfied with doing handstands and simple drills that I understood were the foundations of talent. Those who had started the class at the same time as I had began practicing handsprings after only a few weeks.

After a year, my classmates were still struggling with their handsprings. It didn't look like much fun, as they were sprawling on their butts half the time. Those who felt discouraged moved on to working on back-flips. In the meantime, I was getting better at handstands and my muscles were growing more supple. I would watch my classmates intently during practice. I paid close attention to the instructors who tried to help them, but I stayed on the sidelines and flirted with girls. When I wasn't doing that I stuck to my drills, stretching, and handstands, which I also incorporated into my morning exercise routine at home.

Then one day a guest instructor from Russia who was impressed with my ability to do handstands insisted that I do a handspring. I declined at first, but he insisted. Not wanting to be rude, I went through the motions for about 10 minutes with him. Finally, he sent me flying in a handspring that had me airborne for what seemed like an eternity. I was astonished and after a few tries I managed to do it without help. Within a week I was turning handsprings as well as the instructors. I was utterly amazed. My classmates were less enthused. Two of them quit shortly afterward. I bumped into one of them a few months later. She said she was "too busy" to come to practice. She had worked really hard, and I felt bad because I think my sudden improvement had discouraged her. Little did she know that my new-found ability was a natural result to having applied Dan's advice on Developing Talent.

I think anyone who applies the wisdom in Dan's book will develop wonderful results over time. Some people attribute such success to patience and persistence. That may be true, but that is to oversimplify. You need knowledge of how the process of skill-learning works and you need a good teacher. The Inner Athlete provides you with helpful keys that you can apply to almost any endeavour that involves skill training.

Thanks to the simple logic in this book, I have unlocked a world that had been closed to me for so long. I cherish the memories of the times when I moved like a total spaz. If only you had seen me at my first piano-lesson, my introduction to jazz-ballet or on my first day at swim school. I now enjoy a high level of skill in these areas, and to me the process seemed effortless.

With a back injury I incurred in an accident 2 years ago I am now confined to swimming, but that is no obstacle. The Inner Athlete deals beautifully with how to cope with setbacks. I work on the areas that I can, and have recently become a valued member of a swim team. So far, no medals, but the coach doesn't have to drag me out of the pool anymore.

My friends and I (all women) just recently started an investment club and this book was just great. It provided useful forms, guidelines and warnings on how to setup your club and who should be in your club. A lot seems like common sense and lot isn't. We took this book with it's nice forms, etc. and ran with it. Today we have a bonafide investment club, filed our taxes and have been making investments that make us happy (not necessarily rich).

Like some of the others I bought other investment club books but you really don't need them. This one will do just as well and it's entertaining to boot.

My friends and I at my work place were interested in starting an investment club but we were not sure how to do it until one of the women said: "Aha, Motley Fool has put out a book about it!" So, we ordered the books, highlighted everything, and got excited about starting a club. And we did it all because of this book.

My sister and I were looking for info on starting an investment club for our family and we turned to the Motley Fool book. It was great for everyone in our family as we are all novices to the investing game. It was easy to read and everybody got through it before our first meeting. A big, big help!!!!

In starting an investment club it's important that everyone involved has a good idea of what to expect from a club. In signing agreements and feeling as though you are going to be bound to a group for a long term endeavour, this book helps to ease the anxiety that goes along with the club forming experience.

As with any other Motley Fool book this one has a reasonable balance of good, clear concise information, and foolish humor.

As a primer for beginners, this book is the best I've seen. It has lots of samples of forms and the agreements and by-laws. It is written at a level that any investor should understand what is going on.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in starting an investment club.

I have read both Starting and Running a Profitable Investment Club: The Official Guide from the National Association of Investment Clubs and The Investment Club Book in addition to this book.

While the other two books are very thorough and very well done, this one is the easist to read and understand.

I recommend all new Investment Club members to try this book.

If you are looking for a reasonably thorough explanation and defense of imputation (of Christ's righteousness), you can't do much better than Vickers. If Piper's book left you wanting a more detail about the issues and scriptures in question, this book is just the thing you need. Very readable, too!

Perhaps you have heard the word justification defined this way: justification is God's treating me just as if I had never sinned. But is this true? Does justification merely equal forgiveness of sins--as amazing as that is--or is there something more? Do we need an external righteousness that is not our own?

These are questions of eternal significance. In Jesus' Blood and Righteousness: Paul's Theology of Imputation, Brian Vickers argues that the question of whether Scripture teaches the imputation of Christ's righteousness to the believer is not a mere academic debate but a matter that concerns the heart of the gospel and salvation (p. 15). Vickers states his argument on page 18: "The contention of this book is that the imputation of Christ's righteousness is a legitimate and necessary synthesis of Paul's teaching." He has produced a persuasive and rewarding book defending this Scriptural doctrine.

Vickers desires to avoid the twin extremes of seeing too much in a particular text by importing ideas into it (eisegesis) and seeing too little in the text by failing to see the big picture (ignoring the interpretation of Scripture by Scripture). As a corollary goal, he hopes to show that "Protestant theology, particularly the Reformed tradition, has not been dominated only by systematicians who cared little for exegesis" (p. 18, footnote 4).

Vickers states that the book does not thoroughly examine all of the concepts related to imputation. Topics such as righteousness and union with Christ are not given an exhaustive treatment but are dealt with in light of their implications for imputation. He also informs readers that the book overlooks much important historical material to focus on the matters of exegesis related to imputation. Finally, this book does not contain a section devoted to a study of the New Perspective on Paul, although Vickers gives extensive bibliographical listings and interacts with proponents of New Perspective views in various sections as these ideas relate to imputation.

To give context and frame to the discussion, chapter one sketches the history of the doctrine of imputation, beginning with the Reformation and continuing to the present. The chapters that follow are an examination of key texts relevant to imputation and contain rigorous exegesis, technical language, and copious footnotes. Vickers concludes with a synthesis of Paul's teaching and a final chapter on the importance of the doctrine of imputation. Each chapter closes with a helpful summary.

Vickers demonstrates that the doctrine of imputation was not fully developed by the Reformers but was refined by their followers in writings and church creeds. He argues that imputation, though often associated with covenant theology, is not restricted to a covenantal framework (p. 34, footnote 36). He shows that modern theologians can be found across the spectrum, including those who embrace traditional views and those who deny imputation but finds that the traditional view is a neglected doctrine in modern times (p. 44). Vickers notes that "the inductive and descriptive nature of biblical theology" can provide "a guard against unfounded deductions" from particular texts, but it can also pose a danger by preventing any kind of synthesis of various texts (p. 69). He argues for the legitimacy of systematic theology, particularly in regard to imputation.

Chapter two focuses on Paul's quotation of Genesis 15:6: "Abraham believed in God and it was reckoned to him for righteousness" (Rom. 4:3, English Standard Version). Vickers shows that Paul's understanding of Abraham is at odds with Jewish tradition that sees Abraham's works as the ground of his justification. By studying the context of Romans, Vickers concludes that Abraham is ungodly, and he receives imputed righteousness through faith apart from works. Vickers sums up his conclusion on imputation in Romans 4:

Romans 4:1-8 is about the appropriation of righteousness, and that righteousness, as a status declared by God, is most clearly linked in this text with the non-imputation of sin, i.e., forgiveness. This status is brought about by the reckoning of faith as righteousness. Faith is not itself the righteousness, but as is made clear in the context, faith is the instrument that unites the believer to the object of faith. The object is thus the source of the righteousness that is reckoned to the believer (p. 111).

Chapter three discusses Romans 5:19 ("For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous," ESV), as well as its immediate context of 5:12-21 and other sections of Romans. Adam and Christ, as representatives of the human race, determine by their actions the status of those they represent. Vickers concludes that this passage presents the basis for the counting of the believer as righteous in Romans 4. He writes:

The righteous status, made possible by Christ's obedience, is applied to the believer when he puts his faith in God. Christ's obedience "counts" for the status that is secured at the cross, and appropriated by faith, through which comes the declaration of the actual status, "righteous" (p. 157).

Second Corinthians 5:21 ("For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God," ESV) is the focus of chapter four. Vickers argues that Paul draws heavily on the "Servant Songs" in Isaiah (such as chapter 53), which prophesy of Christ's sufferings while placing them in a sacrificial context. This shapes the meaning of the phrase "made sin." Furthermore, he says:

From first to last this is an act of God, who made Christ a sacrifice for sin by causing the sins of others to be counted to him. The twin statements, "a new creation" and "become the righteousness of God," both centered in the phrase "in Christ" and dependent on his representative death, indicate that just as sin was reckoned to Christ, so too is Christ's sacrificial death counted for righteousness to those "in him." God counts them as righteous because they have Christ's righteousness, they have Christ himself, and he has them (p. 190).

In chapter five, Vickers offers a synthesis of imputation taken from the texts examined in chapters two, three, and four. His position is strengthened by looking at the relation of other texts to imputation: 1 Corinthians 1:30, Philippians 3:9, and Romans 9:30-10:4. He finds that Paul teaches that Christ's righteousness is imputed to believers, His obedience having counted for those united to Him by faith. God has acted "through Christ on behalf of sinners, who though undeserving are forgiven and declared righteous as a free gift from God on the basis of Christ's substitutionary death" (p. 232).

Vickers concludes that the imputation of Christ's righteousness is a doctrine derived from a biblical-theological study of Paul's writings and, therefore, is the teaching of the Scriptures.

Jesus' Blood and Righteousness will challenge many readers, particularly those not acquainted with Hebrew and Greek words and grammar. The book is highly technical in some places, and the footnotes may become wearisome. However, Vickers has done his homework. He has produced an in-depth biblical-theological study that is well worth the effort to mine its gold. Educated readers, particularly pastors and seminarians, should obtain this book and study it.

Jesus' Blood and Righteousness effectively bridges the unnecessary gap many try to create between biblical and systematic theology, revealing the need for both and the legitimacy of a synthesis of the various pieces of the puzzle, based on proper exegesis. Vickers admits that there is no single text that explicitly states that Christ's righteousness is imputed to the believer, but, with thorough exegesis, consideration of objections, and interaction with other scholars, he convincingly demonstrates that the doctrine of imputation is nonetheless a scriptural teaching that Christians cannot afford to discard.

In the end, Vickers accomplishes his goal to show the legitimacy of imputation as a synthesis of Paul's teaching, demonstrating that good systematic theology is based on proper exegesis. The book has reinforced for me the need to study the Bible carefully and to interpret Scripture with Scripture, so I neither read too much into a text nor miss the forest for the trees. It has also spurred renewed gratitude to God for the gift of Christ's righteousness imputed to us through faith that unites us to Him. What grace that God counts Christ's obedience as ours! What good news we have to share! Truly, as Edward Mote penned, our "hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness."

Towards the end of his book, Brian Vickers writes, "The present work relies on a mixture of exegesis and synthesis to argue for imputation. Hopefully this synthesis is based on exegesis, because the goal has never been to argue for imputation on purely `theological' or traditional grounds, though the question derives from traditional Protestant, particularly Lutheran and Reformed, categories" (p. 225). After coming to the end of this densely written tome, one agrees heartily with Vickers that his work blends exegesis and theological synthesis to defend more than sufficiently the traditional doctrine of the imputation of Christ's righteousness to the believer in justification. Though not exactly traditional, i.e., lining up at every point with the classic Reformed model of imputation, Vickers' conclusions about this crucial doctrine is thoroughly biblical, grounded in a deep study of the Hebrew and especially Greek of the pertinent texts, and Christ-honoring to say the least.

Vickers' book is divided into five main sections, and a conclusion. He begins aptly by tracing the "loose trajectories" of the discourse on imputation "through theological traditions." He begins with Luther and traces the arc of discussion to 20th century German liberal theology, the New Perspective on Paul, and those who are solidly Reformed in their soteriology but for various reasons do not hold explicitly to the doctrine of the imputation, to the believer, of Christ's righteousness in perfectly obeying the Law. In fact, one criticism against this book would be the lack of space devoted to the idea of Christ's perfect obedience counting for the believer.

Aside from that minor criticism, the book more than ably wades its way through the deep waters of rich "justification texts," namely three: Rom 4:3-8, Rom 5:12-21, and 2 Cor 5:21. He begins with Abraham and the reckoning of righteousness. His main points here are (1) that "faith is not itself the righteousness" but rather the instrument that "unites the believer to the object of faith," and that object is the only source of righteousness (p. 111), and (2) forgiveness is one aspect of Paul's doctrine of justification, not synonymous with it. This is a point that he emphasizes as he seeks to unfold the comprehensive nature of the biblical doctrine of justification. In the section on the foundation of righteousness, he concludes that "the ground for the status `righteous' had to be attained before it could be applied" (p. 157). Easily the longest chapter in the book, it goes into great detail on Rom 5:12-21, dissecting the Adam-Christ complex and confirming the word for "being made" in the Greek refers to "status, not personal actions (p. 156). This status is conferred upon a believer because of the representational nature of Christ for all those who are one with Him.

The provision and imputation of righteousness make up the final two chapters. In the former, he examines the OT background of the phrase "made to be sin" in 2 Cor 5:21. He concludes that it refers to a sacrifice for sin because of its relation to the language and concepts concerning sacrifices in the OT (pointing to the LXX translations of Lev 4:3 and 5:6 and how hamartiacan be used for both "sin" and "sin offering"), the greater context of reconciliation (again Leviticus cited as support for the concept of reconciliation in sacrificial contexts), and the context of 2 Cor 5:21 (which focuses on the vicarious nature of Christ's death--"one died for all," v. 14, and "not reckoning their sins to them," v. 19, and the perfection of His sacrifice--"who knew no sin," v. 21). He also tackles the debate over the phrase "the righteousness of God." While examining and overturning various exegetical options, Vickers deals at length with the view that this concept refers to the covenant faithfulness of God. He concludes, "It is more accurate to say that God's covenant faithfulness is an expression of this righteousness, or that it manifests his righteousness, rather than being his righteousness" (p. 182). He also states, "The forensic element of 2 Corinthians 5:21 argues forcefully against the covenant faithfulness view" (ibid). In the final chapter, the author examines, in synthetic fashion, the common threads in the three major imputation texts he has already studied. Upon concluding this examination, he takes up the discussion on the "active" and "passive" obedience of Christ. He states that all obedience contains both elements, and that Christ's obedience was passive in that He voluntarily accepted God's wrath against sin and active in that He willingly bore the just penalty for sin (p. 197). All this to say that the obedience of Christ to God on the Father, supremely demonstrated (or culminating) in His death on the cross includes both "the provision for the forgiveness of sins and a positive standing before God" on the basis of the Lord's perfect obedience, not just in death, but in life as well.

Vickers nicely ends his book tackling several other key objections to the traditional Protestant doctrine of justification. He tackles the arguments that this doctrine amounts to nothing more than a legal fiction, that it is a systematic not a biblical idea, that Christ's positive obedience is nowhere specifically stated as being imputed to the believer, and that imputation leads to antinomianism. In a short space, he ably refutes these objections and defends the traditional understanding of justification. His refutations themselves are noteworthy demonstrations of blending rigorous exegesis with theological synthesis and harmonization of various texts and doctrines.

Overall, Vickers' book has taken the exposition of the doctrine of justification one step forward in our current times where it is being undermined by the New Perspective on Paul. The frightening reality that its eclipse is being ushered in and greeted by conservative evangelical theologians should not draw us out of the battle for truth, but determinedly back into it; armed with the Bible and with volumes such as this one, we are equipped with exegetical and theological insights that appeal not to theology and confessions and creeds but to the Word of God itself in the original languages. It is an academic piece, one that requires patient, methodical reading/engagement. The payoff of being enriched once again by the great justification truths emanating from some crucial portions of Scripture more than validates one's time with the book. - Jason Park, Christian Book [...]

Vickers does an excellent job arguing for Paul's theology of Imputation. What makes this work so great is his interaction with New Perspective and other Protestant views contrary to historical Reformed views. I would suggest this work for anyone who interrested in the subject (which has been an important one in the last 10-15 years).

Anyone who has been paying attention to Evangelical theology in North America knows that the doctrine of Justification has become quite a hot topic. Not only has the "New Perspective" on Paul offered a challenge to the traditional Protestant formulation (e.g. James Dunn, N. T. Wright), but so have some dissenting voices from within the conservative sector of the evangelical fold (e.g. Robert Gundry).

In 1999, when Christianity Today published "The Gospel of Jesus Christ: An Evangelical Celebration," Robert Gundry responded by saying, "the doctrine that Christ's righteousness is imputed to believing sinners needs to be abandoned" and "that doctrine of imputation is not even biblical" (source). The opinion that Gundry expresses has become somewhat of a standard view among scholars of the New Testament, and this departure has caused no little controversy among evangelicals who continue to regard the doctrine of imputation as a crucial biblical teaching (see the exchange between Gundry and Thomas Oden in Books & Culture as well as the essays by Gundry and Carson in Justification: What's at Stake in the Current Debates?).

Brian Vickers enters this fray with Jesus' Blood and Righteousness: Paul's Theology of Imputation. Vickers is a New Testament scholar by training, but he goes against the tide of his guild by defending the traditional Protestant formulation of the imputation of Christ's righteousness, though he does so in a way that interprets key Pauline texts in a non-traditional way.

After a brief introduction, chapter one introduces the reader to the history of interpretation of the key texts--a history that begins with Martin Luther and traces through the modern day. Chapters two through four consist of Vickers' exegesis of three Pauline texts that have had a central place in discussions of imputation: Romans 4, Romans 5:19, and 2 Corinthians 5:21. In each of these texts, Vickers contends that there is a subject, an action, and a result.

........................SUBJECT....ACTION............RESULT
Romans 4:3.........Abraham....Faith................Reckoned Righteousness
Romans 5:19........Christ.......Obedience.........Made Righteous
2 Corinthians 5:21.God..........Made Christ Sin..Became Righteousness

Though the subjects and actions are different, all of these texts result in righteousness to the sinner. Chapter five synthesizes the Pauline teaching with respect to imputation and answers objections to the tradition formulation of the doctrine. Chapter six concludes with a summary of the book's arguments and a recapitulation of the book's thesis that Paul teaches Christ's righteousness is imputed to the believer.

I noted above that Vickers argues for imputation in a "non-traditional" way. What I mean by that is that he comes to his conclusions through an exegesis that is decidedly non-traditional. Vickers writes, "No single text contains or develops all the `ingredients' of imputation . . . Taken alone, not one of the `key' texts that have played such an integral role in the historical discussion [of imputation] argues decisively, or explicitly, for a full-orbed doctrine of imputation" (pp. 18, 235). For Vickers, not even Romans 4 (in which logizomai figures so prominently) teaches the full-blown doctrine of the imputation of Christ's righteousness.

Thus, even though traditionalists may like Vickers' theological conclusion affirming imputation, they may chafe at some of his readings of particular texts. But Vickers' approach to these Pauline texts should not diminish the fact that his argument taken as a whole comprises a thoroughgoing defense of the traditional view. Vickers is showing that even though Christ's righteousness is never explicitly named as that which is imputed (as Gundry charges), the doctrine is the necessary correlation of a synthesis of Paul's teaching.

Traditionalists will continue to debate Vickers' description of the imputation of Christ's active obedience. In traditional formulations, Christ's active obedience refers to the life of obedience to God's law that Christ rendered in His incarnation. Such obedience to God's law is the obligation of every person, but no person ever achieves it. Vickers thinks that Paul does not necessarily have this total obedience to the law in mind when speaking of Christ's obedience in Romans 5:19. Rather, Paul has in mind Christ's obedience to the point of death on the cross. This obedience cannot be neatly separated from Christ's total obedience to God's law, but this singular act of obedience on the cross is nevertheless the focus in Paul. Thus Vickers suggests a redefinition of Christ's active obedience (pp. 196, 198, 226-28) that may not fulfill the so-called "covenant of works" (which is a central feature in covenant theology).

Vickers has done a masterful job in Jesus' Blood and Righteousness. Not only is it an indispensable introduction to the issues at stake in the current debate, it also offers a compelling interpretation of Paul that affirms the traditional formulation of imputation. There are very few books like this one, and anyone who is concerned about having a biblical theology should give this volume careful consideration.

Dan is an individual with a very large history in the detection business...And unlike all other authors...well let me put it this way...how many authors let their readers email him and he actually replies and replies as long as he still has something interesting to say..which is always. THIS is the only book in his series that I do NOT have, but if every other one is any clue, damn, lol. They are the most involving, well written and well linked together books Ive ever read and Ive read ALOT of stuff in my time. Highly recommended by a person who was in the law enforcement business.

I love books that have the same characters whom I like enough to go back to the beginning and read them all. This is my first, and I will find all the others. Great read.

See storyline above.

A good police procedural. Dan Mahoney's story telling seems to be made for the big screen, but in his writing you get a much better idea of a character's true self.
The story moves at a good pace, while the action and drama will keep you going to the very last page.

Recommended.

ONCE AGAIN DAN MAHONEY HAS WRITTEN A GREAT NYPD NOVEL. IF YOU HAVE READ HIS PAST BOOKS YOU WILL THROUGHLY ENJOY JUSTICE. DAN WRITES ABOUT WHAT HE KNOWS WHICH IS THE NYPD AND POLICE WORK. WHY HOLLYWOOD ISNT TURNING HIS BOOKS INTO MOVIES I DONT KNOW. KEEP WRITING DAN.

Justice is the latest, and in my opinion the best of Mahoney's NYPD thrillers. More action this time, a bad guy that you end up rooting for, and two cops fighting against the system and their own department to stop him from killing again. Mahoney nails the details and as always has great "only in New York" characters who weave in and out of the story. Shootouts, chases through the city, a spy in the police department, and a final showdown: Somebody should make a movie of this one!

This is a short book on Management By Objectives (MBO). It covers goal setting, incentives, and follow up in a lot of detail but is still an easy read. If you need help coming up with well defined goals, this book provides a great set of questions that you can use to refine employee and department goals so that they are practical. The questions will speed your creation of goals.
The book doesn't cover any other management topics.

If you're about to become a manager for the first time and don't have a clue about how to get your direct reports to do what you want them to do, use this book as a step-by-step primer. It explains what to say, when to say it and how to follow up. It teaches you why meeting and connecting with employees individually is so important if you want to keep them accountable and get results. Author Brian Cole Miller's advice will help you develop your coaching skills. It will also save you a lot of headaches if you're struggling with problem employees. Miller shows you how to work with difficult employees in a way that is supportive, yet puts the ownership of results squarely on the employee's shoulders - where it belongs. If you've just promoted someone to manager, or if you are a new manager, we suggest that you make this book a part of your on-the-job training and development curriculum.

This is fantastic. Miller (great name!!) uses the same style from his first book (also good-Quick Team-building Activities for Busy Manager) and applies it to something much more important: holding your employees accountable. The book is organized so well for the busy manager, that it's almost more like an outline than a traditional book...it's easy to breeze through it, gleaming the points you need, glossing over stuff you already know (and not fear that you're missing anything). BUT, you can also dive deep into detail whenever you want it, or learn from the many examples provided. The steps here are concrete and logical. The flow makes sense...you learn quickly that this is not rocket science...or is it just that Miller knows how to make things seem simple, so the average manager "gets" it and can do it?

Like he warns in the intro, there's not a whole lot of theory here-just the how-to steps with examples and checklists of how to apply them, and then just enough theory to support them without ever bogging you down. So if you accept that up front, you wont miss the theory (which weighs down most other books on this subject, anyway). You'll just appreciate the simple process (which is cool, since he was able to make his 6 step process fit an acronym SIMPLE). If you need some help on holding your employees accountable, and you just need the quick and dirty "just tell me how to do it!" version, this is the book for you! A quick read, to the point, well organized. Miller packs a lot of punch into very few pages. A great resource for the harried manager who wants some help, but quick.

As managers, we work at top speed all the time and often we simply assume (and hope!) our employees are getting the job done. This book offers an easy to implement way to ENSURE employees are getting the job done. What a relief to have found this book. THANKS!

Accountability is essential to individual and organizational success, but few leaders know how to make it happen. Consequently, accountability remains at too high a level-far away from the people who really should be accountable for their work. Managers spend far too much of their valuable time chasing after details, progress reports, and hope-it-got-done worries. If there were a way to calculate the value of managerial time wasted because of our accountability deficiency, the cost would be astronomical. If you could calculate the cost to you, personally, it would far exceed the price of this book.

Miller presents his advice in a design that's easy to grasp-complete with anagram. He offers a SIMPLE system: Set expectations, Invite commitment, Measure results, Provide feedback, Link to consequences, and Evaluate effectiveness. Each of these components is explained in its own chapter, following the same format. The principle is presented, followed by an explanation of why it is important, then the how-to. Examples and checklists (good ones at the end of each chapter) strengthen the book's value.

You will gain a considerable amount of worthwhile knowledge, technique, and advice reading this book from cover to cover. However, the strongest benefit will come over time as you use this volume as a reference book, a handbook to return to for refreshers and reinforcement.

Idea: copy relevant items from the end-of-chapter checklists and use them as daily reminders that you're doing what must be done to build and maintain accountability. This is a book you'll want to keep close to your desk as an important companion.

PS-the principles will work in non-business situations, as well.

While reading The Kingdom of Norne by Busta Scam, I couldn't help but see the story from a teacher's perspective, keeping in mind the changes that have occurred in the field over the past decade. With the seeming decay of ethics and morals in our society, and such horrific events like the Columbine massacre, more and more emphasis has been put on changing the social studies curriculum in schools across the nation. Rather than having students memorize dates and bold-faced words from dust-covered textbooks, more teachers and school districts have turned to social studies to help implant a social conscience into students. The task, as with any new method of teaching, is certainly daunting.

One of the reasons why it is difficult to teach social studies in this way, oddly, is because children's literature has not kept up with this new trend. Truly, books are the key to any good lesson in this subject. However, the books out there tend to maintain the old values, more-or-less giving a timeline of famous people's lives or the dates when major historical events occurred. Thankfully The Kingdom of Norne is not one of these types of books! Truly, at its core, is the mission to develop children with a social conscience.

The tale is about The Kingdom of Norne, a place that was built through the hard work and dedication of the Nornians, who were the smartest mice in the land and the best at what they did, be it engineers, pilots, or truck drivers. Because of this, The Kingdom grew and grew until it became one of the most powerful and wealthiest in the world. Then because King Yal and his advisors became too greedy and corrupt, the Kingdom fell apart and all the Nornians lost everything that they had worked for. Sadly, they all had to leave the Kingdom and find work elsewhere, starting their lives over with nothing but the shirts on their back.

Between the pictures and the overall message, it is clear that Busta Scam has developed a wonderful tale and illusion that allow a teacher or parent to discuss the corruption of such companies as Enron and Kmart. I kept thinking to myself as I read the book, what question would I ask my students after reading this page? The possibilities are absolutely endless.

For example, I think the first question to ask students is, "Do you think it's good to work hard?" Of course all those little heads would be nodding, "Yes." Then, imagine their dismay as the Nornians are essentially conned out of everything! "Do you think this made the Nornians happy?" All the little heads would shake, "No." It is after that when the real question would be asked: "What do you think King Yal should have done?"

It is questions like that one that bring a smile to every teacher's face because from it comes so many wonderful lessons. How would I use The Kingdom of Norne to develop a lesson? Well, after getting them to think about the above questions, I would send them back to their seats and tell them to make a different version of The Kingdom of Norne: one where the Nornians aren't swindled and where King Yal does the right thing.

That is the power of Busta Scam's book. Such a lesson, like the one illustrated above (used in conjunction with The Kingdom of Norne), is the first step to developing a new generation of children that, hopefully, won't make the same errors of judgment when they are running the companies of the future. With books like this, and with the kind and gentle guidance of teachers and parents, we could be looking at a brighter day where rats aren't ruling the world!

Thomas Bolme, Jr.
an Independent Professional Book Reviewer

This book has a bunch of Enron specific references throughout and teaches kids about greed. Get it if you worked there, invested or followed the trial but pass on it if you were one of the convicted felons in upper management.

Brian Durbin Enron Investor wrote and illustrated this book as Busta Scam. Busta Scam (Brian Durbin) is an Aggie Electrical Engineer who was motivated in 2002 to start writing this book after the collapse of one of the blue-chip holdings within his family's stock portfolio. He never sold the stock and it remains there, appearing in every statement as a reminder of this unfortunate event. A TONGUE-IN-CHEEK GUIDE FOR CHILDREN AND ADULTS AS TO WHAT HAPPENED TO A SEEMINGLY MAGICAL FINANCIAL KINGDOM
His wife is a CPA who worked for this particular company for a very short time 2 years prior to the collapse. She left the company to raise their young children. Her short stint with the company was a factor in their investment and decision to hold onto the stock even as it fell in value. She gets credit for much moral support through the process of developing the book and she colored most of the illustrations.
Busta Scam lives in the Houston suburbs with his wife and children. He's had a lifelong interest in doodling and sketching. The Kingdom of Norne is his first children's book

It really explained what happened to enron in words I could understand. It also taught me a valuable lesson about greed and right and wrong. I really liked the pictures too!

Book Description:
The Kingdom of Norne tells the sad tale of the Enron collapse in a full-color, illustrated children's book. It begins, Once upon a time, in the land of glass and steel, there was a great kingdom called Norne. Actually, it was the seventh largest out of the kingdoms of the day. Norne was wildly prosperous because all of its subjects were the best mice in their field. They were highly regarded as smart and clever.

It is a story of morality, similar to Hans Christen Anderson's The Emperor's New Clothes. The plot involves an ever-growing pyramid of cheese, representative of the inflated wealth of the kingdom. The cheese is a metaphor for a pyramid scam in which the subjects and investors are the primary victims.

While children may need assistance with some of the words, they will be able to differentiate between the character's right and wrong behavior. Norne is Enron spelled backwards and the book includes other tie-ins to this current event such as the raptors, the whistle blower, and the trial.

The Kingdom of Norne may provide the most concise memento of one of the biggest corporate scandals in American history.

About the Author:
Busta Scam is an Electrical Engineer who was motivated in 2002 to write this book after the collapse of one of the blue-chip holdings within his family's stock portfolio. He never sold the stock and it remains there, appearing in every statement as a reminder of this unfortunate event.

His wife is a CPA who worked for Enron for a very short time two years prior to the collapse. She left the company not because of any inside knowledge or suspicions but simply to raise their young children. Her short stint with the company was a factor in their investment and determination to hold onto the stock even as it fell in value. Mrs. Scam gets credit for much moral support through the process of developing the book and she colored most of the illustrations.

Busta Scam lives in the Houston suburbs with his wife and children. He has had a lifelong interest in sketching. This is his first children's book.

I loved this book! I couldn't put it down once I started it. It captured me until the very end. I am sure that I will read it again. It brings you in and captures your interest. It makes you realize what you have could be taken away in an instant. It makes you want to live everyday to the fullest. It gives you an outlook on people dealing with an illness like no other. I felt like I was really there with them during their trials. I wanted to be there. I would recommend this book to anyone.

This book is a heart-warming, heart-wrenching book about the Caldwells and their fight with and for their son Brian through cancer. Ms. Steffke-Caldwell fills the pages with her many thoughts and feeling as well as facts. She also attacts the health care system who refused to make referrals for the proper treatments and also questions drugs used, especially the high levels of Tylenol that Brian had taken, convinced that it caused his liver cancer. Ms. Steffke-Caldwell obviously did a lot of research for this book. The medical information is astoundingly easy to understand. But the biggest reward is to understand the love, fight and determination the family had and how it led to the ultimate eternity for Brian-Heaven. Read the book! Brian, some day we'll join you. Will you lead the music?

This book should be read by everyone. It is a story about parents having to watch their son die of cancer. It speaks of medical frustrations, parent/son relationships, husband/wife relationship and of their walk with the Lord. At times I cried at times I felt an overwhelming love. Ms. Steffke-Caldwell does an awesome job. Buy it, read it. You will be rewarded.

This book tells a dramatic, spell-binding true story that will indeed move you. Superior use of dialogue. The story progresses quickly; chapter after chapter moves directly toward the book's memorable conclusion. Highly recommended

As a hospice nurse, I deal with end of life issues on a daily basis. Unfortunately, my perspective as a health care provider can become narrow as I muddle through my day to day routine. The battle to remain fresh and helpful to my patients and their families is ongoing. Ms. Steffke Caldwell's book was a poignant reminder of the family in crisis' perspective. It gave me a glimpse into the hearts of some loved ones who were being battered and bruised by an often impersonal health care system. It reminded me of the confusion, fear and helplessness which accompany families and patients facing terminal illness. Besides being well written, this book gave me fresh incentive to work towards understanding the myriad of emotions experienced by my patients and their families. This is a must read for those of us who are committed to delivering the best to those people placed in our care

I always love Froud's faery artwork. You just can't go wrong. The first time I got this calendar was a few years ago, and I've been hooked since.

lady cottington's pressed fairies are perfect accessories for any fairy lover, not to mention those who find the fairies pesky little gnats that need squishing!

Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy wall calendar is fantastic!
The original book was so intriguing I have to have the calendar eash year!

I don't get this calendar every year because I have to limit the funds I spend on my fairy obsession. However, the cover of this one very much appealed to me, and I am not disappointed with the interior. Like other "Pressed Fairy" collectibles, the art is beautiful, though humorous and quirky, and not for kids. I like to collect many different fairy items. The ones that appeal to me most are the unique ones, like this. I am less prone to go for the very commercial fairy franchise stuff. This is for true fairy lovers because it is true fairy art.
Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Letters Upright Desk Set

As always, this calander brings enchantment to my computer room. I have been purchasing this calander for 5 years. To say the least, I am not disappointed:-) Just love it!

The last of his name, says Charles McGlinchey, who, old and heirless, revisits his life with a local schoolmaster. So long as someone reads his memoirs though, McGlinchey ensures the family name will endure. His book reads with fireside lyricism and so effectively captures a man and his times. It is unique not in subject but in the breadth of history and in the narrator's ease of storytelling. In just over 100 pages, McGlinchey transports us to a misty, nearly forgotten Irish past that, though shadowed beneath modernity, lives in the recess of his mind. He reminisces on all matters, with one memory unfolding into several more and those into yet more. Among the varied subjects, he recollects his family and home life, his job as a weaver, American emigration, local legends, popular spells and cures, and favorite pastimes. It is the arresting quality of local life in a small Irish community that makes this book such an enjoyable one. McGlinchey's ability to reach back generations and decades and to extract from them histories and individual stories not only astounds but more importantly it reveals an intimate portrait that should not be so soon forgotten.

I am in the early stages of writing a book about life in County Donegal during the 19th century. This book is one of a few primary sources that describe what life was like for the people in this county.

The book is superbly produced-- from the book design to its typefaces, it's beautifully executed. Considering how this material was obtained, the book is well edited. To me reading the book is like sitting around a turf fire in Ireland, listening to a very old man lovingly describe a time that was long since past. He mentions many people and places, mostly within the parish of Inishowen. One thing I would have liked to see is an index. Without an index it's difficult to determine if an ancestor is mentioned in the book.

The book contains many Irish words and common phrases that were in use at the time. The book also contains songs and poems in Irish (with English translations) that perhaps are not recorded anywhere else. Much of what he recounts was part of the Oral Tradition of the countryside.

In some ways reading this book brought sadness to my heart. My great-grandparents were born in Donegal around 1820. This book describes some of the hardships that they had to endure. It chronicles a way of life, and a people that are no more. McGlinchey speaks to this regarding the Irish language, "Down to my young days there was nothing spoken in this parish at fair or chapel or gathering of any kind but Irish.... The English language came in greatly in my own time and in the one generation Irish went away like the snow off the ditches."

Charles McGlinchey's book is wonderful. It manages to convey a sense of the cultural wealth which rural Ireland possessed until so recently. He himself fitted very much into the 'Seanachai' tradition, and we should be thankful that some of his knowledge has been preserved. The delightful thing about the book is the simplicity of the material.

This book was very interesting. It is a closely edited description of an old man's life in a remote rural area of Ireland in the first half of the century. He tells a few stories from his father's and grandfather's days but mostly describes what life was like during his life. The book was first published in the 50's, I think. Without referring directly at all to the major events of the day, we get a look at the changes that were underlying society in his time. From the story about his grandfather being "pressed" to serve in the British Navy during the Napoleonic wars on, I was hooked. The Kirkus reviews are misleading, though. They make it sound like the man was telling fairy tales instead of fairly straightforwardly recounting his life, which involved a fair amount of superstition.

This little book is a fascinating read and a must have for anyone with Irish ancestry. It was narrated by Charles MacGlinchey, whose family moved from the Finn Valley in Donegal to the Inishowen Peninsula and settled in Clonmany parish, where Charles McGlinchey was the last of his family, hence the title of the book. It's chock full of Donegal folklore, including tales of poteen stills, revenue men, men on their banishment, the famine, immigrants to America, landlords and tenants, kidnapped women, hedge schools and fighting sticks. Charles McGlinchey was born in 1861 and died in 1954. His life covered the period when most of our Irish ancestors were crossing the Atlantic in small ships with nothing but the clothes on their backs and a small cask of oaten bread for nourishment.
Don't look for a lot of genealogical information in the book. There is a mention here and there of a handful of families a fortunate few may be able to connect with; but on the whole this book is a living, breathing picture of life in Donegal when almost every Donegal man still spoke and read Irish as his native tongue and the Irish language had yet to melt away under the onslaught of English like the snow on a river bank, to use McGlinchey's phrase.
There are tales in the book of Donegal farmwives walking the thirty miles from Clonmany parish to the market in Derry and back again in time to do more chores before nightfall; of the oldtimers sitting with their backs to the fire at night sharing the ancient exploits of Finn and Cuchulain; of a rapacious Scottish landlord named McNeill from whom no comely lass in the parish was safe; of an Irish schoolmaster overly fond of the drink and of his eager young Latin hedgerow scholars; of a sodden Irish landowner who drank away his inheritance at the local pub; and of the great yearly fair at Pollan, a festive event attended by the entire community with occasional tragic consequences for the unlucky.
Books were almost unknown to the common man in Donegal. The few books McGlinchey mentions were mainly religious tracts, in Irish and Latin. He mentions offhandedly that a man of his acquaintance owned a book by someone named Aristotle. Tragicallly he also relates that many of the old Irish manuscripts were burned to prevent the spreading of disease in the community. Even if they had had books its doubtful anyone could have spent much time reading them. The cabins were dark at night and if anyone entered the cabin after dark the fire had to be stirred to raise enough light to see who it was. Homemade candles flickered in the windows on religious holidays.
Contrary to common misconception, the Irish did not just subsist on potatoes. The farmers made their own oaten and flour bread, which they ate with butter and washed down with fresh milk. They supplemented their diets with what they called "kitchen", which included everything from fresh fish to watercress from the ocean strands. Each family had a measure of corn for the winter, and most had at least a cow, perhaps a pig and a few chickens, although eggs were a cash crop reserved for the market at Derry. Red meat, as we know it today, was a rarity in their diet. Every farm had its rack of potatoes in the fields. The plows were wooden and drawn by horses. McGlinchey mentions a local farmer, one of whose horses took sick one day, and he took its place in the harness pulling the plow alongside the remaining horse for the rest of the day.
The famine did not seem to affect Donegal nearly as badly as it did much of the rest of Ireland. According to McGlinchey, an earlier famine in 1817 was much more devastating. It's not clear whether this condition pertained to Clonmay parish alone, or whether most of Donegal escaped relatively unscathed. But fly off to America nonetheless did the sons and daughters of Donegal and Inishowen, leaving behind forever the two-roomed thatched roofed cabins and the village fairs of their youth. Some of the more primitive living conditions common elsewhere in Ireland did not seem to prevail in Donegal. Sod cabins were almost unknown, except for temporary accommodations in the summer mountain pastures. Nearly every family had a cabin of stone, McGlinchey says, with lime covered walls, although rarely whitewashed, and hard clay or stone flagged floors. Some cabins even had windows. The fireplaces in early years lacked flues and the pall of smoke was ever present.
McGlinchey didn't write this book - he narrated it to a local schoolmaster when over ninety year's old. His often rambling text was edited by Brian Friel, and first published in manuscript form in 1986 in Belfast. The current edition is published by J.S. Sanders and Company, of Nashville, Tennessee.
I was especially struck by the fact that McGlinchey mentioned that the Donegal folk gave their farm animals, mainly cattle, pet names such as Starry and Missy. In our family we have a copy of the will for our immigrant Donegal ancestor, in which all of the family's cattle were so named. The twig, they say, does not fall far from the tree, and if you'd like to really get a feel for the world in which your Irish ancestors lived, then buy a copy of this book.
You won't regret it.