Brian Books

Luke has been writing, teaching and helping people touch deep within themselve for many years. A "James Taylor" look a like, his words are just as powerful as James Taylor songs.

In my cancer center setting I have used the concepts offered in The Art of Calm to help employees and patients step away for just a little and bring calm into their lives. This past year I was diagnosed with prostate cancer and my mediation practice has been strengthened by Lukes concept of finding calm in the things around us.

I now teach a workshop at M. D. Anderson called the Art of Calm, using this book as a guide. My recommendation - if you are looking for touching deeper.........you can't beat Luke Seawards work! This is a great book to start with.

William B. Baun, EPD, FAWHP

Need help to pause more often and savor the moment? Keep this idea book on your desk, breakfast table, or nightstand and open to any entry. You'll find 130 ways to begin.

Brian Luke Seward presents relaxation as a reclaimable art for people living warp-speed lives. Sure, the advice is often predictable, but it works. The book's five sections -- one for each sense -- feature upbeat observations, followed by a relevant, doable invitation. Imagine a pep talk from a good friend. Seward's goal is to redirect the body to homeostasis, physical calm, through adequate stimulation. Too much, he warns, and body and brain return to overdrive.

Personable and well-versed in mind/body/spirit wholeness, Seward projects friendly concern for his readers' welfare. His blueprint for inner peace calls for simplicity and beauty combined with moments of stillness. Or spontaneity.

Appendices list related books and music conducive to tranquility, thoughtfully categorized by instrument.

I keep a copy of The Art of Calm on a corner of my desk in clear view. I put it there for me but now find that my associates appreciate it too! During particularly hectic, stressful times someone will reach for the Art of Calm, flip open to any page and find something that is helpful for getting through that moment! It is usually shared.

Those words from my favorite Girl Scout song ran through my mind as the pages of this book flipped past. In words and actions that most would call "common sense", Dr. Seaward reminds us of countless ways to bring Peace and Calm back in our lives. A pretty little book on the outside ... And, on the inside it reveals to us simple magic ways to breathe "Calm" into our hectic lives. Give yourself a "gift" of "Calm"!

While the ORID method is reviewed here, it's presented in an easy to follow, pratical approach. Great sample conversations and questions are included in appendicies, bibliograpy is rich with great additional reading references.

Brian Stanfield and colleagues have written a meaningful book that provides a profound, yet simple method to help groups effectively grapple and address any kind of issue.

In the book, they say, "For whole systems to operate effectively, information must flow in every direction, up, down, sideways, and diagonally." They go on to describe leaders as askers of questions and state that "the participatory principle requires the art of asking questions."

Canada's Institute of Cultural Affairs developed the focused conversation method as part of its Technology of Participation, which leads people through certain phases of reflection, enabling them to process their experiences as a group. A leader/facilitator asks a series of questions to elicit responses that take a group from the "surface of a topic to a topic to its depth implications for their life and work."

The focused conversation uses questions at four levels:

1. The Objective Level- questions about facts and external reality. 2. The Reflective Level - questions to call forth immediate personal reaction to the data, an internal response, sometimes emotions or feelings, hidden images and associations with the facts, when we encounter an external reality (data/objective) we experience an internal response. 3. The Interpretive Level - questions to draw out meaning, values, significance, and implications. 4. The Decisional Level - questions to elicit resolution, bring the conversation to close, and enable the group to resolve about the future.

The first third portion of the book provides an understanding of the concept of focused conversation and is followed by 100 meeting topics with specific examples of questions at the four levels that would be appropriate.

The book has helped me to re-think the types and the order of questions that I address to a group.

Ultimately conversations are the working process of most leadership. This book expands upon the conversation techniques presented in "Winning Through Participation". The model is simple and useful. When distilled down, a focused conversation proceeds through four stages:
- objective / data
- reactional / feeling
- interpretive / meaning and
- decisional / action.

The model takes about 50 pages to explain and is followed by about 150 pages of examples of its application. Many will find that the 10 pages in "Winning Through Participation" had enough information to get going.

I like books that are practical and have real-world application. This book does that. You get 48 pages of enough explanation that you can learn how to use the Focused Conversation model. Then, you get the skeleton of 100 conversations that you can adapt and use. If you want to know more, read on.

In the 21st century, those workplaces that share information to create value for themselves and their customers have a competitive advantage. On page 14 Stanfield writes "These days most people are tired of blaiming and demanding; they want to solve problems. They want to go beyond input to push an innovation through and take responsibility for making the desired change." The focused conversation model is a technique for capturing the wisdom of a group and helping it become accountable for doing more than complaining or "giving input."

The model's four parts consist of asking and answering questions. The questions at the "objective" level begin to uncover facts about the topic being discussed. The "reflective" questions uncover how the group is relating to the facts discussed in the objective level. The "interpretive" level allows the groups to discuss implications and options. The "decisional" level then creates action based on the discussion. This book also contains hints and guidelines for leading focused conversations: what to do when someone gives a long answer, or when people start arguing, or when someone dominates teh conversation...and more.

I've used several dozen of the 100 conversations in various work settings. I have gotten especially good value from the conversations on evaluating a seminar, planning a study group, coaching a colleague, mediating a difficult situation, reflecting on a choatic meeting...well, you get the idea.

If you're interested in moving toward gathering, processing, and taking advantage of group wisdom, this book provides excellent tools. Its straight-forward, gentle manner and high practical value earn it five stars.

Why is this is a great book ? Because you can understand it and you can find yourself in it.
Dr. Hainline has put together a comprehensive book dealing with back pain that educates the reader on the basic understanding of what is back pain and why people suffer from it. His approach merges both the traditional medical approach to pain and the not so traditional approach including the psychological impact of pain on the mind and soul. The book has helpful illustrations and reviews all available treatments for back pain patients. This book is not only an excellent source of information for people with back pain but for health related personnel such as physical therapist,nurses and psychologist caring for these patients. I highly recommend this book.

Dr. Hainline's book is a gift to anyone who suffers from pain, actually any type of pain. The connections that he makes between our minds and bodies reveal how we can help ourselves heal. He shows how the patient is an active partitipant in their own recovery. I felt, while reading, he wrote this book to me personally. I still continue to pick up the book to refresh myself on how I can continue to help myself. Thank you, Dr. Hainline, for a wonderful book.

Extremely well-written, informative and thoughtful approach to a common problem. Dr Hainline's extensive experience in caring for individuals with back pain shines through in this very approachable review. The figures are outstanding and the common sense approach to many problems makes this the best overall guidebook for patients to better understand why they have pain and how to get better. In addition to many of the standard ("white bread") books that summarize the diagnosis and treatment of different back pain syndromes, this book offers truly new insights that can really help people.

This book is a great resource not only for patients, but also for physicians and clinicians who need to better understand the complexities of back pain. The illustrations are outstanding, and the discussions about anatomy, the meaning of pain, treatment approaches and the different back syndromes are interesting, informative and easy to follow. Dr. Hainline's insight into the mind-body is eye opening, and the many patient case reports remind us of how difficult and gratifying it can be to take a journey through pain.

A wonderfully rich book on batik, including valuable contributions by Indonesians. This will become a classic. Lively, sophisticated, and informative, as well as gorgeous in its imagery. This is the kind of writing we need on textile arts! A splendid addition to my library!

As a batik lover...this is a great book. Ever since I travelled to Jogjakarta in Java and saw my first batik mask hanging on the wall in a restaurant I was hooked. I'm traveling back to Yogya this month and plan to take a batik class. As a result of my travels to Indonesia, I decided to start my own business importing batik and other items. So 7 years later, I have manufactured and import tons of batik to the U.S. and love it all. Especially the traditional batiks. Warning...shameless promotion to follow: check out our site 1 World Sarongs for our beautiful collection from Java and Bali or you can even find us here on Amazon Market. Anyway, this is a great book with loads of beautiful pictures and articles. I'm still reading it but so far it's very good. I'm biased because I fell in love with batik.

This book is essential for anyone interested in batik and its history in the Indonesian island of Java. It also provides Java's religious background and how batik was affected by Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. The pictures are outstanding, showing to the reader the complexity of batik and the great talent of Indonesian batik artists. I would recommend this for anyone, especially those interested in art or Indonesian culture.

This book is eye candy. The fabrics shown in this book have amazing detail, sophisticated designs, and the colors are beautiful. The fabrics are lovingly photographed. I would recommend this book for anyone who is interested in design, patterns, or textiles. And the book itself is beautifully produced.

A compendium of strips, biographical material, and smart analysis and commentary by smart analyzers and commmentators. Why can't more reprints be like this -- combine some historical and aesthetic perspectives with the original work?

You want post-modernism? I got your post modernism right here!

I consult the works of the great Bushmiller almost daily. This jumbo volume serves as an I CHING for me. WWND (What Would Nancy Do?) Random consultations of this tome's pages can solve all of life's vexing problems. Three rocks=universal symbol of balance and calm. Zen gags and images an industrial lathe could have fashioned make Bushmiller's NANCY ever-important, ever-comforting and ever-inscrutable. Turn to Nancy and Sluggo for your pressing questions!

This book shows Nancy and Sluggo in their cutest moments! Any aged reader will love the antics and mischief of Nancy.

My dad bought me this over 10 years ago, and I've read it countless times. Bushmiller's art personifies a Platonic space stretching through the mind's suburbia, and this thick tomb has lots of strips from Nancy's many eras, giving you a good picture of the strip's evolution. Also some great historical material and some of the weird spinoffs of Nancy (the MAD magazine parodies and some abstract art stuff). If you've never read this essential strip, this is the book to get. If someone would just bother to reprint it...

This is an excellent book for a young hockey fan who wants to learn about the colorful past of the NHL and the other leagues that formed around it. It's not a history book per se, and doesn't offer any organized history of hockey, but rather is a scattered collection of short anecdotes from all eras of hockey up until the early 90's. You are sure to laugh at some of the stories and grimace at others. The book is a light read and the anecdotes are just the right length for picking up the book and reading a dozen or so at a time. It only makes me wish they will put out an updated version in the next few years to cover the most recent decade of hockey. My only complaint is that the stories didn't consistently include the dates they were set in (though the majority of the time they did). Sometimes this made it a guessing game when the events took place. But other than that this is a delightful book for all hockey fans, old and young.

This book ranks at the top of my list so far as hockey books are concerned. Unlike many books, this one does not contain a single complete story, but a collection of amusing anecdotes ranging from the late nineteenth century to the recent years of NHL hockey. Since there are differnt stories in this book, my interest was rejuvenated every time I would start a new one-page anecdote. I would recommend this book to any hockey fan of any callibre, from the new kid watching his first hockey season, to those older hardcore fans who remember Howie Morenz's style of play.

From a person who loves the game of hockey, past and present,this book is excellent. Even if you know every stat around I guaranteetheres something interesting in this book that you didnt know. Do want to know about the fight that John Ferguson waited 10 years for? Well its in here along with tons of other hockey stories than any true fan can certainly appreciate.

The Best of it Happened in Hockey is a great collection of stories that span more than 150 years of the history of the game. I was very impressed with the variety of stories and I thought that McFarlane did a great job in making it a very well balanced book. There are some classic stories as well as rarely heard tales from all eras.

The book itself was laid out nicely and was very easy to read. This is a great book for anyone who is interested in some of the finer details of hockey history such as myself. McFarlane doesn't have the world's finest story telling abilities, but he's still a guy you want on your bookshelf. Though he doesn't produce a story with as much color as a Don Cherry or a Stan Fischler, his collection of data more than makes up for his shortcomings.

Overall, a superb book that any devote hockey fan will really fine interesting and entertaining.

I first read Bogmail over 20 years ago and recently picked it up again. Fortunately I didn't recall too much of the plot but what I could recall was that it made me laugh out loud then and sure enough it did again. This is a mystery but it is also an incredibly comical look at life in a small Irish village. It has some of the most amusing dialogue I've read anywhere as the various local characters philosophize over pints of stout at the local pub. The dialogue is witty and would have made a great screenplay so I'm surprised this was never picked up as a film. The people are all real "characters" and the story , set in rural Donegal , digresses enough to include philosophical musings by the local inhabitants as well as an Englishman recently transplanted.

The mystery aspect of this story moves the plot along briskly but the real joy of this book is the interaction between the characters.
A hard book to find but well worth the effort.

I have this one on my "mystery listmania list" (go there for the best mysteries of all time!) with good reason -- it's one of the top (and more humorous) mysteries that I've ever read, a real sleeper! If you're a mystery buff at all, be sure to glean this singular treasure from the heap. I love finding an obscure work like this and being pleasantly surprised as I was in this instance. I originally found it at the library, then I bought a copy so I could read it over and over. I hope, when this fine story is made into a film, that they don't change a single word.

Bogmail is an unclaimed jewel of a book. Why this story has never been snapped up by Hollywood I cannot understand (although BBC Northern Ireland did a TV adaptation in 992, the ridiculously named 'Murder in Eden') The characters are well crafted and believable, particularly the central figure, Roarty the pub landlord. Some of the dialogue had my belly aching with laughter. A thoroughly recommended book for lovers of Ireland and the Irish. Five star excellence.

This is a truly funny, witty and stunningly well-told story of murder in a small Irish village near Donagal. Charming characters, inane but clever conversations abound. Well worth the read!

The book was brand new in perfect condition. Super fast mailing. This seller was excellent. I will buy again! Thank you.

I read this book to my guinea pig and he loved it. He said it was obvious that Ms. Ripper had spent some quality time around guinea pigs because the illustrations were dead on. He also thought that guinea pigs' obsession with I Spy was a secret.
I would recommend Brian And Bob to anyone who is looking for a good guinea pig book. I would, however, suggest waiting until your guinea pig is old enough to deal with the separation issues which are raised in the book as they could be somewhat traumatic for younger cavies (having been a food source for many years, guinea pigs do not normally have a well developed sense of "The Happy Ending").

A wonderful book about two friends no matter what age you are.

This book is fantastic. Brian and Bob are two guinea pigs living in a pet store who are very attatched to one another. One day someone comes to buy a guinea pig, and the two are separated. Best part of the book? The full spread illustration of their reunion. "BRIAN AND BOB!" So cute. this should be a classic children's book, because it's so hard not to love it.

Brian Lumley is one of the best horror/weird fiction writers around. I have read everything he's written, even the hard-to-find and out-of-print stuff. This, along with Vol II, is a must have.

Brian Lumley is one of the best horror/weird fiction writers around. I have read everything he's written, even the hard-to-find and out-of-print stuff. This, along with Vol I, is a must have.

Volume Two has three other novels.

Spawn Of The Winds In The Moons Of Borea Elysia

These books continue following the adventures of Crow and DeMarigny.

Spawn Of The Winds is interesting though. While it still goes with the series, Lumley creates altogether new characters and heroes for this adventure and barely mentions Crow or DeMarginy at all! They do tie in later though, and quite nicely.

This is another great series put together by Lumley, and I'm just so happy they finally rereleased some of his earlier work, and economically too.

A related book of short stories that fits in nicely with this series is The Compleat Crow.

Big tip! If you are like me and want to read virtually all of Lumley's works, then I highly suggest reading the Dreamlands saga after reading Spawn Of The Winds in Mythos Omnibus Volume Two. These books take place before In The Moons Of Borea (Unfortunately I did not know this and well, it blew it a little for me I think).

At last a nice affordable collection of Brian Lumley's Titus Crow novels.

The Mythos Omnibus Volume 1 (Volume two contains the last three novels) contains the following previously released Lumley novels:

The Burrowers Beneath The Transition Of Titus Crow The Clock Of Dreams

If you are a fan of Lumley you know how hard it was to find these novels previously. Now that they are out in this collection you have no excuse! All three are excellent stories in themselves.

My favorite was the Burrowers Beneath. Super scary. The chant Lumley recites throughout the novel still beats in my head. But overall the Burrowers Beneath introduces us to new characters that Lumley uses in quite a few books. Okay, many books to come. Crow and Demarigny. This pair of adventurers are time travelling, monster beating, world saving heroes extraordinaire! Aided with a time clock (previously introduced in an H.P. Lovecraft story, they are able to travel through different dimensions to different worlds! It leads to exciting adventures everywhere!

Cthulhu mythos fans should also get a kick out of these stories, but be warned, it deals more on exciting adventure and action than the H.P. Lovecraft setting. I love it! His best series next to Necroscope!

This is perhaps Tracy's best audio program. It contains 9 hours on 8 CD's. Listen to it as you commute. Listen often--repeat listening anchors the messages in the mind.
I've been reading, listening, and watching Tracy for 10+ years. He's simply the best in his field. You may find that some of the CD's in the set are more applicable to your situation than others--listen to them, find your niche. If you were to purchase a set of audio CD's through Nightingale Conant, you would spend $70+. This is a fantastic deal! If there is a drawback to this program, it would be that Tracy pushes more expensive programs on track 24 of each CD. If that bothers you, just skip that track.
Over all, Awesome!

I've been listening to Brian Tracy for a number of years. I've purchased many of his audio programs and read several of his books. In my opinion, Brian gives you the most information for your money over any other business / motivation speaker out there. There are other good speakers, of course. I also like Tony Robbins, Zig Ziglar, Harvey Mackay, Stephen Covey, and Mark Victor Hansen, as well as classics like Dale Carnegie and Napoleon Hill. But all-in-all, I keep going back and listening to Brian's stuff over-and-over again and find it to be the most practical.

This particular set of "21 Secrets to Success" is kind of a compilation of a number of programs he previously released that you had to buy separately for $20 each. Now you can get them all for pretty much the price of previously buying one. It's a good deal. In fact, I've recommended this program to almost all of the people I work with. The most useful programs in this set are the ones on Productivity, Personal Success and Becoming a Good Manager. Many people might think this is a program just for business people. But really I think this is a great program for helping you get the most out of your life in general. There are some excellent life management skills to be learned here.

The other program of Brian's that I recommend is called "Master Strategies for Higher Achievement". It's available on Amazon also. This program is similar to the "21 Secrets of Success" series but has some different and very useful information. I think they are both worth owning and listening to frequently. I have loaded both programs into my iPod so I can listen to them while jogging. Good stuff. And if you're used to buying Brain's material in other audio formats you know this is a good deal for the amount of information you get.

I recommend this program for anyone who wants to improve their personal and work habits.

The audio of this book is the way to go: For some reason it's not a book that is nearly as interesting to read as to hear. It's valuable material, although much of it you may already know. Still, his good reminders, plus his interesting twists on how to live life each day make this is good purchase.

The information in this series is well founded and easy to understand. For the money, you cannot beat having this available for listening while driving to work, or at home during workouts, etc. As far as I'm concerned, these 8 CD's are worth twice as much (or more) and still worth the price. Just keep listening to them over and over and let the message continually be beaten into your head... especially if your skull is as thick as mine. I've read dozens of positive thinking books in my life, and this is one of the better ones to have around.

The production is excellant, the sound is very clear, and Brian Tracy's voice, while a little "Mr. Rogersish", is smooth and articulate, but not distracting, or annoying. Well done.

I consider this a "must have" for anyone with a car and a CD player that's interested in improving their life, or performance at work.