Burns Books

I am a huge fan of fitness books and have begun looking for decent books on walking. Unfortunately, most of them are rather cheesy in my opinion. I really wanted a book that was not boring and would encourage me to continue (progress) my own walking program. This book is exactly what I was looking for!

Stephanie Oakes is a busy mother of two as well as a fitness and health expert. Like me, she has a hectic schedule, which often leaves little time for exercise. Oakes has designed a very sound and easy to follow exercise program that anyone can do, regardless of health or time constraints. This simple four month program has many different walking routines - spread out in such a way that you are not doing the same old same old, day after day. You can even customize the program based on your fitness level - beginning routines as well as intermediate and advanced are featured here.

Her ideas leave little room for excuses: there is a baby stroller workout (great for new moms who are often time crunched); Mall walks (my shopaholic daughter will like this one); treadmill walking (no more cold weather excuses); outdoor walks and more. My favorite so far is the "Now and Later" routine, where you divide your walking routine into three separate 'mini walks' of ten minutes each. The catch - you do it on a treadmill at 4mph and a 6 incline. My legs surely felt this and I burned a ton of calories.

The beauty of a walking routine is that it is convenient, cheap, and easy on the joints (I have hip and knee issues).
I've started this a few weeks ago and have already lost a few pounds! I only have about 5 more to lose and this will certainly assist me in my goals.

This is the best weight management book on the market.

The book gets right to the most important parts of losing and maintaining a healthy weight without wasting the reader's time. It also does not make the topic more complicated than it needs to be.

Key theme: Calories are still king and small substitutions in your diet will add up over time. Miracle cures and one dimensional programs (low carb, low fat, etc.) only work if calories are reduced.

The book has a lot more to say but it really respects the reader's time by presenting just the facts in a way that is straight forward and up to date. The authors present what proven science says about the topic instead of yet another cleverly designed theory created only to sell the next "Ahaa!!" miracle cure.

The book clears up a lot of confusion associated with the current diet debates (low fat or low carb).

What I liked best:
1. "to the point" format .... most books waste my time with too much verbiage and blah blah. You can read the whole thing in 1 hour.
2. hits all the essentials .... you really do have a solid grounding and plan to follow when you're done with the book.
3. up to date info that is based on research conclusions from major studies - not fads or wild extrapolation from one data point.

Since reading, I've lost about 10 pounds following the suggestions from the book and I've bought extra copies for interested friends and family.

I highly recommend it.

I have been a fan of the American Civil War for over five years, and I have read many books on the subject and especially on Stonewall Jackson. I have never found a book more thorough about both subjects in my life. The author dives into several contravercies like: Why did the Civil War started, Did Stonewall fall asleep at the Seven day Battle? He also doesn't just stick to Stonewall, he also talks about other important figures in the Civil War. So if you are interested, kinda like, or a fanatic about Civil War and Stonewall Jackson like I am, I would recammend this book to every one!

This antique book is a miniature size of about 2 inches by about 4 inches, plaid cover, with gilt edges and many black and white plates of Burns and his land. Several poems or parts of poems by Burns are also quoted in the book. It is amazing in detail and the author wrote in great detail about the birth, growing up, and interesting facts about Robert Burns. The only difficulty with the book is it is somewhat difficult to follow in places because of the old style of writing.

As Lawton Robert Burns explains so well in the Foreword, "This book provides the first systematic treatment of [the] `thorny issue' of managing the supplies that medical professionals such as physicians and nurses order and use in treating patients], covering both external and internal management of the hospital's supply chain. Appropriate, the book focuses on the managerial processes that need to be managed: sourcing, purchasing, distribution, value analysis, and standardization. The book not only provides a rich conceptual framework for managing these processes, but also supplements the authors' conceptual work with rich studies of hospitals and health systems that have implemented process improvements in these areas."

Eugene Schneller and Larry Smeltzer carefully organize their material within eight chapters which begin with "Framing the Repositioning Management of the Health Care Supply Chain" and conclude with "Building Supply Chain Leadership and Resources for the Future." I mention these "book-end" chapter titles because they correctly indicate that (a) Schneller and Smeltzer see all manner of significant insufficiencies in the strategic management of most health care supply chains but that (b) what they recommend in this volume should not be viewed as a "silver bullet"; on the contrary, any supply chain must be constantly and rigorously evaluated and, when necessary, re-framed and perhaps even re-positioned. Although supply chains such as those in health care inevitably have a "weak link" (if not several), that will not necessarily result in a total breakdown system wide. However, if links are viewed as business relationships, it is highly desirable to have strong ones...especially during difficult times as when sudden and substantial cost increases occur.

In this context, I am reminded of a valuable insight that Patrick Lencioni provides in one of his business narratives, Silos, Politics and Turf Wars. Here's the situation. The main character, Jude Cousins, is a talented, energetic, and ambitious young marketing executive who, with his wife Teresa's support and encouragement, decides to leave his secure job after the company is purchased by a competitor. He establishes an independent consulting practice and almost immediately obtains three clients: The Madison Hotel (San Francisco's oldest, largest, and most prestigious independent hotel), JMJ Fitness Machines (a manufacturer of high-end consumer and institutional exercise equipment), and Children's Hospital of Sacramento. Over time, Cousins struggles without much success to help his clients to improve communication, cooperation, and (especially) collaboration between and among their senior-level executives. Because this is a business narrative, complete with a plot and cast of characters, its storyline builds to a climax that, in this instance, is the valuable insight to which I referred earlier. Cousins has an epiphany: He realizes that the ER at Children's Hospital offers an almost ideal model for efficient, effective, and productive teamwork. Everyone involved must concentrate entirely on the given medical crisis that may have life-or-death implications. There is no time for "silos, politics and turf wars."

It will be interesting to observe the extent to which supply chains in health care change in months and years to come. What will the next paradigm consist of? Schneller and Smeltzer make no predictions, although they correctly suggest that communication, cooperation, and (especially) collaboration will become progressively more important if both the quality and costs of health care are to be managed properly.

Those who share my high regard for this volume are urged to check out two books which Burns and his Wharton colleagues have written: The Business of Healthcare Innovation and The Health Care Value Chain: Producers, Purchasers, and Providers. Also Michael E. Porter and Elizabeth Olmsted Teisberg's Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-Based Competition on Results, Regina E. Herzlinger's Consumer-Driven Health Care: Implications for Providers, Payers, and Policy-Makers, Shoshanah Cohen and Joseph Roussel`s Strategic Supply Chain Management: The 5 Disciplines for Top Performance, and Supply Chain Excellence: A Handbook for Dramatic Improvement Using the SCOR [Supply Chain Operations Reference] Model co-authored by Peter Bolstorff and Robert Rosenbaum.

Stressed? This book is for you! Are you achieving your full potential as an educator? This guide provides you with the resources you need to grow and thrive in your classroom and in your career. Written by an educator for educators!

I found this book wonderfully written and filled with ideas. I give it my highest recommendation - 5 STARS.

John Cooper - Editor THE LAUGHING TEACHER NEWS...

You may have been eleven once, but you were never their age. Thanks to the Internet, graphic images in the media, and their "know-it-all" friends, kids today grow up earlier than ever. They have questions, and as a parent, your responsibility is to clear up the mixed messages and lead them to a healthy, value-centered view of sexuality. Sure, conversations with your kids about sex and their changing bodies can be uncomfortable --- but they don't have to be. Jim Burns gives expert advice on how and when to talk with your children, and he provides answers to the most difficult questions your kids and teens might ask, like:

How far is too far?
If you do "everything but sex," are you still a virgin?
Is self-stimulation wrong?
I think I'm addicted to porn. What can I do to get help?
Is a boy/girl sleepover okay if there's a chaperone?

The world's culture may have cheapened sex, but God's view of sexuality is wonderfully made. Talking with your kids at a young age will help them make more godly decisions along the way, but they'll need conversation with you at every age. This is your opportunity to establish in them a lasting sexual integrity that will extend throughout their lives.

Finally, a book that focuses specifically on elementary music technology. This book features plans that are tied to MENC and Technology Institute for Music Educators standards. Many concepts and plans can be modified for middle/high school classes. The lesson plans are a compilation from other music education technology professionals.

I don't usually write reviews but for this book I thought that I should. I have been interested in Teilhard since I was first exposed to his thought almost fifty years ago. This is the first biography that I have read which takes as one of its themes the roots of his thought in the sciences, and in his gradual exposure to the radical nature of evolution, a view which began to see that evolution is not confined to biology, but includes the developement of elements, molecules, cells, etc., from the stars to the flora and fauna to the human. Only after this insight does it address itself to the extrapolation from past and present events to the future. My faith and understanding have been immeasurably deepened by this book. And as soon as I put it down I began re-reading "The Divine Milieu." Paleontologist, philosopher, theologian, priest: this saintly man is for our time necessary and sufficient. With Teilhard as guide we can believe and reason. Thank you Claude Cuenot. A wonderful book.

The Texas A&M Guidebook is the funniest and most genuine college guidebook I have ever read. It was written by a former student, giving the lowdown on the university--not just the cold facts, but the real personality of the school. It highlights the good, as well as the bad parts in a clever wit that will keep you engaged from cover to cover. I highly recommend this and all other College Prowler books for students deciding on which university to attend.