Burns Books

I found this book to be fascinating - the diary format is very matter of fact and tell the true story of the day-to-day life of a WWII dive bomb fighter pilot from training through the closing days of the war.

I have also been fortunate to know and speak with the author and found the book and his stories to be eye opening considering that he flew over 100 missions and saw quite a bit at the age of 23!

An excellent read for anyone interested in WWII history.

The quaintly punctuated title of Cardinal Newman's first novel, LOSS AND GAIN; OR, THE STORY OF A CONVERT says much. Nineteenth Century England abounded in conversion novels and Newman's stands head and shoulders above all the rest. That, at least, was the opinion of Harvard history professor Robert Lee Wolff in his monumental 1977 GAINS AND LOSSES: NOVELS OF FAITH AND DOUBT IN VICTORIAN ENGLAND.
...
John Henry Newman (1801-1890) deserves a far wider non-specialist readership than he now enjoys. Once England hung on his every word: whether sermon, philosophy, church history, poetry, apologetics, satire or controversy. He does not lack for professional readers who take up formidable masterpieces such as APOLOGIA PRO VITA SUA, THE IDEA OF A UNIVERSITY, ARIANS OF THE FOURTH CENTURY or A GRAMMAR OF ASSENT.
...
LOSS AND GAIN may well be the easiest and best place for non-specialists to begin with myriad-minded John Henry Newman. It is a novel about Oxford and fleshes out Newman's belief that students form their deepest convictions from their discussions with one another and not from teachers. It is also a novel very much like a Platonic dialog that presents and wrestles with various theories of why intelligent young men are either content to stay with their inherited personal faith or are moved to seek another.
...
LOSS AND GAIN covers six years in the life of Charles Reding (pronounced READing) and his interactions with family, teachers, tutors and fellow students of various Oxford University colleges about which of the Christian denominations and trends in England of the 1840s had greatest claim to be taken seriously and to teach the truth. Problems debated are perennial since the Reformation: is there a visible church? Does it have authority to teach definitively? What is faith? What is reason's role in reaching faith? Who needs a Pope?
...
A tutor's systematic lectures on the 39 Articles of the established Church of England, interpreted by the hero as mere 16th Century "articles of peace," a doctrinal hodgepodge of Roman Catholicism, Zwingli, Luther and Calvin, leaves an increasingly troubled Reding shaken in his inherited trust in his clergyman father's simple faith in the Church of England. Some of his Anglo-Catholic friends play at re-establishing Catholic practices without the Roman Catholic beliefs behind them. Others move towards rationalism and Unitarianism. Others yet are caught up in the emotional but action-oriented and society-transforming Evangelicalism of the age.
...
In the end Charles (like Newman after a 12 year struggle) opted to become Roman Catholic, thereby losing his right to take an Oxford degree, and alienating friends and family alike. He gained, he judged, truth and peace.
...
The debates of Oxford in the 1840s go on today in America and elsewhere. Recently converted himself to the Church of Rome, Newman pokes fun at the frequent shallowness and selfish career seeking that an Establishment of (the wrong) religion inevitably promotes. He also lovingly enlivens a bygone time at Oxford University where until very recently he had himself been the foremost leader of the Oxford Movement to reform the Church of England in a Catholic but non-Papal direction. Had he persuaded in TRACTS FOR THE TIMES # 90 even one Anglican bishop of the correctness of his Catholic interpretation of the 39 Articles, very likely neither Newman nor hundreds of others would have so suddenly gone over to Rome.
...
The book has color, humor, religious insight and respect for individual consciences. Charles Reding exemplifies Newman's belief that God leads each person of good will at an individual, unforced, respectful pace from his or her inherited religion toward ever closer union with Himself. He who first tastes Newman through reading LOSS AND GAIN will not be disappointed and will reach out for more and more of his works, both verse and prose.

Lucky Dog Lottery is an entertaining and engaging mystery, drawing you in from the first page. The story is clever, keeping you guessing, and making it hard to put the book down. While set in San Francisco, what's great is that it's not set in all the usual places, rather it is set in a actual neighborhood giving one a feel for the real San Francisco. Dog lovers will definitely have fun, but it's not all about the dogs so it will appeal to all mystery fans. It also has a high-tech angle adding to the enjoyment. The characters are easy to relate to, and I definitely want to get to know them more (I can't wait for the next in the series).

This is an excelent piece of litterature. It delves deep into the persecution of the african-american population during the Jim-Crow south. This is an excelent piece of litterature. Do not hestitate to purchase this fine book.

In The Magnet Effect, popular speaker Barry St. Clair teams with three other veteran youth workers to help youth leaders create events designed to draw unchurched kids to Christ. Barry and the contributors to this book believe that a powerful spiritual youth movement is just around the corner. Youth leaders need to be ready and able with a strategy to bring kids to Christ. The Magnet Effect gives step-by-step plans for helping you reach kids through outreach events. Special attention is given to selecting and preparing adult volunteers and student teams, developing a publicity plan, preparing a realistic budget, hosting the event, and doing effective follow-up. Included also is an outreach event planner that walks you through the entire process.

The Magnet Effect is divided into two main sections. The first part is designed to help youth workers plan their weekly meetings with an outreach emphasis. The second part shows how to plan a cooperative, citywide event with other youth eaders. Both plans will enable any youth leader to motivate and mobilize students to reach their friends through a culturally and relationally relevant meeting.
--- from book's back cover

I can't believe no one has rated this yet. This is the book that got me started in quilting about 17 years ago. A local sewing machine store offered a class in this and this was the book we used. It was so easy and the experience was such a positive one that I went on to make a number of quilts and bought a number of Eleanor's other books. They're all great for beginners and for getting you started on the right foot as a quilter. Clear and concise, they're absolutely non-threatening. I recommend this for any starting quilter.

This is the first quilting book i bought. I've heard for years that quilting was hard and a lot of work and exacting and all that stuff. Well I decided to do something about my fabric addiction and decided once and for all I'd make a quilt. I thought the log cabin looked masculine so I bought Eleanor's book. The book describes Eleanors QUICK quilting technique and I must say it is! I don't know that this is called SPEED quilting, but it seems to be! All I had to do was make strips, sew, cut, sew, cut, sew, cut, ... I have 16 beautiful squares that I am trying to figure out what to do with now. :-) If you want to learn piecing, this is a great book to start from. If you want speed techniques, this is also a great book! I'm very pleased with my purchase.

A fictional story, it starts with a summer job as fire lookout for Phil Mallory, who is fresh out of high school. The lookout tower is boring as he stares with binoculars at mountainsides hour after agonizing hour for weeks looking for a puff of smoke. Other areas of the forest have plenty of action and he is dying to join the crew fighting a regional fire, but nothing seems to happen for Phil. He longs for a fire to start in his area so he can be a hero and put it out himself. When a fire starts, forgets much of what he learned about fire fighting. After his inexperiance makes things worse, he realizes you should be careful what you wish for. In the long run he has rewarding experiances and learns valuable lessons about following the rules and sticking to training. The very enjoyable live action Disney movie, "Fire on Kelly Mountain" was adapted from this book.

I am in grad school and this is one of my required texts. I will say that after having had it for a couple of months now, the information is relevant to the class and easy to read. The price for all my textbooks were better on Amazon. I just searched using the ISBN number to make sure I had the right one.

The sequel to "Mystery on Rampart Hill", Manitou Art Caper by Emily Burns is the next involving installment in this on-going series for young readers about the Thompson kids, teen detectives who become involved in tracking down the thief behind a number of art gallery robberies. The Manitou Art Caper is enthusiastically recommended as a charming and enjoyably entertaining story.