Burke Books

Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for Reader Views (5/07)

Sometimes life takes over; we no longer feel we have any control. H. Dale Burke addresses this condition in his latest book "Take Back Your Life!" We set goals for ourselves and when we successful reach those goals suddenly they take over. One example the author gives is the desire for a family. He gets his wish, then his ministry takes off and suddenly he becomes "busier and busier." Life becomes overwhelming, you are being pulled in all directions; suddenly you have no time for yourself or God. But Burke offers hope. "The monster can be tamed!" Burke explains that "Life is too fast, Life is too complex, Life is out of control, Life is too overloaded, Life is actually underutilized, Life tells me to climb higher of the ladder of success. Burke explains that we need to slow life down, simplify it, recapture it, do less, in Christ we can accomplish more, true success is not up the ladder, but down it!" The key is to submit to God and let Him be God

This book offers 10 choices. The end of each chapter offers an encouraging word that will guide you into making the changes you need to make to lead a healthier, happier life.

Like most people there have been times when life has become overwhelming. Children, grandchildren, work; meetings, etc. have pulled me in opposite directions; ballgames, school plays, committee meetings, all at the same time and different places have left me harassed. Throwing up my hands and hollering "STOP!" did not help. I finally realized that I had to prioritize. Submitting to God came first and all other things fell into place. This is the message H. Dale Burke is offering in his book "Take Back Your Life!" His book is well written and easy to follow. If we would all listen to his advice we would be much happier and less stressed out. The cover is eye-catching and the print is a nice size. It is with pleasure that I recommend this book to all harried adults.

Occasionally a children's book is more than a children's book and that is the case with the sensational baseball song, Take Me Out to the Ball Game. The lyrics are by Jack Norworth and the illustrations are by Jim Burke.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game is a tribute to the game of baseball. In New York City, 1908, entertainer Jack Norworth had never seen a baseball game. But riding the elevated subway overlooking the Giants' field, he found himself inspired and jotted the lyrics to the great American song "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." Later composer Albert Von Tilzer created the melody for the hit song. With this introduction, we experience the words of the song and fascinating facts about the game of baseball.

What a book! It is magnificent! The illustrations are nostalgic. Truly they are works of art, begging to be touched.

Follow the song (with Katie Casey) and the match-up between the New York Giants and the reigning World Series Champion Chicago Cubs. No matter who you are, where you live, or who you support in baseball, you'll be able to "Root Root Root for the home team. If they don't win it's a shame...."

Armchair Interviews says: For Ages 4-8 per the publishing house but adults will love it also.

This is the only book ever written that provides an insider's view on the CEO-level leadership groups that work in communities around the nation, mobilizing resources needed to build convention centers, re-energize downtown business districts, or tackle tough economic or environmental issues.

Race is far more than just the color of one's skin. "A Tale of Two Worlds: My Life as a Proud Black Woman With White Skin" is Emily Juana Burke Orr's story of her life with 'vitiligo', a skin condition that the epidermis lose its pigmentation, turning dark colored skin white. Her stories of how people perceive her in matters of race, sometimes identified as black, sometimes identified as white - including being able to attend a Ku Klux Klan meeting and evading victimization in a race riot. An eye opening and intriguing look at race, "A Tale of Two Worlds" is a fascinating read and a highly recommended addition to academic and community library collections race relations and social issues reference collections.

His editorship of Burke's Peerage and his long list of scholarly publications notwithstanding, Pine's greatest contribution to the peerage may be his skill at sheer storytelling. Strictly a non-reference book, this delightful volume discourses ingenuously on the ups and downs of a dozen impeccable British families, from the Howards (who rose from obscurity to the rank of senior peers of the realm, the dukes of Norfolk, in only a couple of centuries) and the Grosvenors (who took more than twice as long to become the fabulously wealthy dukes of Westminster) to the Nelsons (whose earls have no blood connection whatever with the naval genius of the Nile, Copenhagen, and Trafalgar) and the Wellesleys (whose progenitor, the "Iron Duke," spent more years as a politician than as a military man). Then there are the De Courcys, who descend from a proven Companion of the Conqueror but have seldom risen above obscurity, and the Wavells, a family that frequently produced talented civil and military servants of the Crown (and were also involved in the colonization of Texas, in which they got shafted by Stephen F. Austin). Filling his work with anecdotes from both his own researches and personal experiences and with the results of the work of his many correspondents, Pine is very entertaining but still careful and accurate.

No other book in my undergraduate studies better prepared me for the real world of teaching. Time and again I refer to this book to pull out an idea, reassure myself as to what I am doing in my classroom or guide myself through the tangled web of a secondary classroom. Its insight into the everyday world of teaching and how best to prepare our young people for the challenges of the real world has helped me to be a better educator. I recommend this book to anyone teaching in a secondary classroom. It is empowering to the real teachers of the real curriculum in America showing the reader that powerful decisions rest with the teacher in the trenches and not the curriculum guru at the publishing house.

I was assigned to this book for my college tennis class and I found it to be very helpful. It has everything for the beginner and everything for someone who just wants to get the techniques down right.

I thought that this a was an excellent, easy to read book on Theodore Roosevelt. I read this aloud to middle school students who are learning English. They really were interested in the his story and I think he'll remember some things about Roosevelt too.

All of these little books are a joy to share with any child.
Always colorful with their illustrations, these books bring the stories we have all grown-up with to life. This one is no exception. The shoe in this book is great. A really nice work.
Shirley Johnson

This is a wonderful biography of Thomas Jefferson for kids. It is really interesting and the kids did not mind it as a read aloud. My students are middle school students who are learning English.