Bryan Books

If you're a race fan or if you get nostalgic about the heroes of your youth, this book is for you. I was skeptical at first about how much I would really learn about Jimmy Bryan since this isn't formatted like most biographies. It turns out that I learned more about him as a person than I have ever learned from any biography. Learning about someone through the eyes of a child's experience and relationship with their hero is refreshing and priceless. An incredible story. You couldn't make this up and have it be any better. I was sad to get to the end of the book. This is one book I will read every year.

After having tried to get through Bulfinch's _Mythology_ with little luck, this little book came in very handy! It contains much of the same myths (although not as many), but it comes with a photograph every single time you turn the page. Depicted are paintings, statues, etc. that show various mythological figures. Remembering the myths was hard, and if you're more of a visual person, then these pictures really help you remember. And plus, the paintings are absolutely beautiful, and many of them are in full color. A nice companion to the Bulfinch _Mythology_--but I still haven't gotten to it yet! A delightful way to learn about mythology if you have a hard time with just text and need a little visual to perk things up.

Comic convention afterparties are the stuff of legend: when comic creators get together at the bar, drink until the wee small hours and tell stories about some of the outrageous things they'd done at previous conventions where they got together and drank until the wee smalls. As good as those stories are, you had to be lucky enough to be there at the bar to hear them... until now.

Bryan Talbot, Eisner winner for graphic novels like The Adventures of Luthor Akwright and The Tale of One Bad Rat, turns his hand to prose writing for this entertaining volume collecting dozens of these funny, often outrageous stories. Now if you're expecting some sort of "tell-all" book, this isn't the place to go - Talbot isn't dishing on who slept with who or anything like that. These stories, while funny, are more benign - such as how Dave Gibbons had trouble when airport security found a model skeleton in his luggage or Neil Gaiman had to get past a surly shopkeeper to autograph copies of his own books. He also gives the most succinct explanation I've ever read of the supposed Jeff Smith/Dave Sim feud.

Although there aren't any trash-talking stories, there are a few revealing ones... tales that make the occasional writer or artist appear like less than a nice guy. Other stories, quite simply, show how completely outrageous some creators are willing to get, and a few will make you smile a bit at how sweet and genuinely human a comic celebrity can be. Talbot tells you straight up if the validity of a story is suspect, and in a few cases, tells you not only that a tale is an outright fabrication, but also gives alternate versions or hunts down the real incident from which the story may have sprung. It's like a book of folklore or urban legends - tales that have been told from mouth to mouth, and may have changed in the telling. For the most part, though, the stories are just for fun, just for laughs, and Talbot's easygoing, conversational style works perfectly for the book.

Hunt Emerson joins Talbot with periodic illustrations throughout the book. The cartoons are very funny, although some of them - like some of the stories - are sometimes rather blue or bawdy. This isn't a book for the kiddies - of course, younger readers probably won't be familiar enough with the comic creators as individuals to care to read about them anyway.

This is a fast read, but wonderfully written and well worth checking out for anyone who's curious about some of the behind-the-scenes dirt that our favorite comic creators sometimes get into.

This long awaited book fulfills all of my expectations for a manual to help us create the conversations and collaboration necessary to reclaim our world's health. Over the years there have been quite a few high impact books helping us understand the extent of the challenges we face as we look forward to create a sustainable world. "The Necessary Revolution" steps forward and outlines how to create the partnerships that are needed to unleash the pent up creativity that millions of team members across the world and in all enterprises have been holding back. Peter Senge and team from his organization Society for Organizational Learning come at the subject as world leaders in the austere world of business. It is going to be very difficult for business leaders across the world to read this work and write it off as rantings of an extremist. Peter is one of the top business minds in the world and I do not believe this work can be easily ignored.

For those of us who are disbursed across enterprises and feel like we have little impact on moving our enterprises towards a more sustainable future, this book provides outstanding case studies of work being done across the world by enterprises large and small. Some of the work and the visions of the leaders chronicled in this text are not only enlightening but surprising. After many chapters a "toolbox" is provided to help set the stage for the conversations and collaboration needed to move change forward. And of course, all of this work is set in a framework of systems thinking which is so necessary to be able to see beyond the silos so many are bound by.

"The Necessary Revolution" should be required reading for community leaders of all types, NGO, religious, Government, and corporate alike. As we start to create these critical partnerships and conversations focused on sustainability, I believe that we can quickly change the course that we are on. A must for every person who wants to see a change in our direction. Thank you Peter, Bryan, Nina, Joe, and Sara for this extraordinary work.

Bryan Salminen approaches what it means to be a Godly man from a very unique perspective. By using the characters from The Wizard of Oz, he challenges the reader to step back and consider whether they are the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, The Cowardly Lion or the Wizard. While many Christian writers have advanced degrees in theology, Dr. Salminen also holds a PhD. in psychology, which adds depth to the subject not typically found. This book would make a great gift for young men as a graduation gift from either high school or college as they struggle to understand what it means to be a Godly man.

Bryan delivers a great book with easy to understand strategies that still work. With practice, the money spent on this book will be priceless compared to what a skilled player can make at the casinos.

This book is one of the earliest works of it's type. It led the way in recreational planning in the 1970's.

I would recommend it to ANYONE.

Reading this book has brought back some awsome memorys. Having spent some time in the militery & being well acquainted with tunnel rats & so on ,i
was able to get right into the book & identify with
Emmit the main character in the book.This book is as
nationalistic as you can get. You dont see that to
often today.This book is worthwhile reading.I salute
the young man that wrote it.

I highly recommend this book to all home buyers who are interested in knowing about the different components of a house and how to get a sense of the condition of those components relatively easily.
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Pluses
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I am a first time home buyer and have been trying to gather general information on how to get a sense of the condition of a house while looking at them. The books uses pictures and describes in detail different components of a house and how to get a sense of what is right or wrong with them. The book also introduces different construction materials and how that can impact the condition of the house. The author does a terrific job of giving useful information. I think the book has given me sufficient knowledge to have meaningful conversations with the home inspector. Most importantly I have the confidence that i wont unknowingly get stuck with a house that will require expensive "surpirse repairs".

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Minus
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As a person who did not know anything on this subject, i had to read the book twice and look at pictures multiple times to fully comprehend infomation. This could be partly due to the writing style of the author and how terms are introduced (or just my complete ignorance of the subject). However, I found the pluses to far outweigh the minuses.

This book is truly a treasure trove of inspiration.

Having read a remarkable biography of William Osler, William Osler: A Life in Medicine by Michael Bliss, late last year, the author seemed to capture the almost magical charisma that Osler possessed according to the hundreds of testimonies from colleagues, students and friends.

This biography is an inspiration, and it is without doubt that William Osler is the most influential and famous physician of the early twentieth century. But what was it about the man and his habits that inspired so many other famous physicians and scholars including his first biographer, Dr. Harvey Cushing, the icon and international pioneer of brain surgery? (see another Bliss biography on the great brain surgeon, Harvey Cushing: A Life in Surgery) Osler left only one scholarly text, THE PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF MEDICINE., however, for its time, the text became the most important reference for physicians across the world. (Currently a collectors piece) This terrifically constructed text by physician Charles S. Bryan is a labour of gratitude to its subject, gleaning from Osler's many speeches, diaries, biographies and the thousands of articles which the old doctor published, to pass on William Osler's successful habits, attitude of mind where,

"His unique blend of clinical competence, easy familiarity with the liberal arts, energy, charisma, and idealism made him something of a symbol of humanism in medicine for physicians and laypersons alike."

Dr. Bryan has organized these inspirations under specific headings, for example:

Manage Time Well

Find a Calling

Find Mentors

Care Carefully

Learn and Teach

For me, really, the most inspiring chapters are Communicate "Secrets of the Heart" and Learn and Teach "Driving Plato's Horses". It is in these chapters that Osler emphasised the importance of learning to write well, learning to speak well and that necessary skill for the physician, learning to listen.

William Osler, similar to other men in history of mammoth achievement, managed his time well, sometimes to the minute. Osler called this habit "day-time-compartments", flawless organization and the love of work.

This book is a "personal development" text like no other, practical skills to learn and the creation of positive habits that can lead to a more meaningful, productive and successful life.

Highly recommended for students of the medicos and anyone wanting to learn the values and successful habits of one of the great physicians of the twentieth century.