Collins Books

The knowledge the authors have on Christmas collectibles is massive. They are historical,and humorous. I bought the first book when I started collecting pixies and learned so much more from them about trim, authenticity and why people started decorating the way they did from the early 1900's through the 60's. This book is lovely, but their other book is better. I hope they write a third.

This is a such a fun little book! Warm holiday memories, lots of humor and beautiful photography. I thoroughly enjoyed every page! The best gift book you will ever find for a vintage/antique ornament collector.

Charming and nostalgic, giving us a glimpse into the history of holiday adornment. A great stocking stuffer!

Debbie Elliott

Even if you're not particularly sentimental about Christmas, the images and recollections of the authors are a delightful experience. The photos and graphics are charming and magical, obviously done by people who truely love the Christmas season. Anyone can appreciate the vintage flavor of this little gem.

This book brings back so many great memories of Christmas and decorating the tree. It was so much fun reading and looking through every page for ornaments that we might have had on our trees over the years and seeing the many different kinds of ornaments. It is a book that I will spend much time reading and viewing for many, many years.

As a long-time family law practitioner, I believe that the Collaborative approach to divorce and separation offers the best chance for couples to divorce each other without destroying the complex network of family and friends that is a part of every marriage. Pauline Tesler's highly readable book clearly explains Collaborative practice and how it can accomplish the preservation of a peaceful reformation of a family contemplating divorce. This is a must read for anyone, attorney or private party, who has anything to do with divorce Please read it--if not for yourself, for a friend, a neighbor, a family member.

Many divorce lawyers (including me) are jumping on the band wagon for this much more respectful way to divorce. Pauline Tesler is one of the top trainers in the industry and has a huge following among divorce professionals. This is not a how-to-do-it-yourself book but helps you make more intelligent decisions about how to handle your divorce.

Buy one for yourself and one for your to-be ex spouse.

This book was very informative and is an excellent resource for anyone who is interested in the collaborative process. I highly recommend it!

As the matriarch in a very large extended family, where there is much love but conflict may be unavoidable, I read Collaborative Divorce with great interest. I hope my family will not need to use it, but just in case, I bought a copy for each couple around me. Bitter divorces are expensive, painful, they create long-term resentment, and make it difficult to raise healthy children. The damaging effects of failed or thwarted love can and should be avoided. That is the point of this book. According to the authors, when there is a commitment to integrity, ethical
behavior, clear communications, and constructive problem-solving, a divorce should be a solution and not a cause for more entrenched conflict. Collaborative Divorce shows there are smarter and kinder ways for a couple to part.
ISABEL ALLENDE

The authors have succeeded in creating an easily accessible and remarkably complete guide to thinking about and managing this difficult process. The combination of legal and emotional insight will resonate strongly with anyone who has participated in divorce and goes on to skillfully guide the reader through the alternative. Clearly there is a better way and this work hits on all the different aspects, how to approach them and the high value of avoiding the legal process. This is a must read for anyone contemplating divorce. The outcome will be a dramatically better experience, better settlement and an easier path to the rest of one's life. Top rating.

Anything where Mr. Collins is involved it number one with me. End of discussion.

When attaching ones self to a celebrities persona, (i.e. actor) one tends to critique only the physical contributions. Stephen Collins is not just an actor. He is an intellectual literary artist capturing your interest from beginning to end in this book. The character, "Nicolette Stallings" embraces your fantasies and simultaneously engages you in a plethera of empathy. Her erotic behavior is stimulating, believable, and before long, desirable to any red blooded American woman. Stephen Collins? A Minister?
(Eric Camden) not in this book.............he's too delicious for words.

I actually read `Eye Contact' a few years ago. It was the first erotic thriller that I'd ever read and it still stands out in my mind as on of the best.

This is the story of actress Nicolette Stallings who only feels powerful when seducing someone of the opposite sex. However, her sexual game of cat and mouse soon turns deadly when she propositions a man she meets in a restaurant who she playfully dubs as "Wally Wall Street". After their one night encounter at a high class hotel Nick finds it hard to get rid of "Wally" who now blames her for the break up of his marriage. After an unsuccessful attempt on his own life "Wally" otherwise known as Jeffery White, finally does succeed in killing himself but not before he manages to frame Nick for his murder! As Nick becomes the center of the medias attention and hunted by the police she tries to find a way to prove her innocence not without having a few sexual encounters along the way.

`Eye Contact" is an excellent erotic thriller not for the timid and will keep you at the edge of your seat trying to figure out how everything will play out in the end. Who would have though that the minister for 7th Heaven could write like this?

This novel really does stand the test of time. I read this book many years ago and it still sets well in my memory to this day. It has just about everything in it that one can imagine. Reading this novel is quick and doesn't drag on and on like some novels that I've completed. The long of the short of it, "If this book stands out in my mind today, even though it has been many years since I've read it, then it has to be good reading."

If you don't believe me - buy it and read it yourself.

I actually read 'Eye Contact' a few years ago. It was the first erotic thriller that I'd ever read and it still stands out in my mind as one of the best.

This is the story of actress Nicolette Stallings who only feels powerful when seducing someone of the opposite sex. The sexual game of cat and mouse soon turns deadly when she propositions a man she meets in a restaurant who she playfully dubs as "Wally Wall Street". After their one night encounter at a high class hotel Nick finds it hard to get rid of "Wally" who now blames her for the break up of his marriage. After an unsuccessful attempt on his own life "Wally" otherwise known as Jeffery White, finally does succeed in killing himself but not before he manages to frame Nick for his murder! As Nick becomes the center of the medias attention and hunted by the police she tries to find a way to prove her innocence not without having a few sexual encounters along the way.

'Eye Contact" is an excellent erotic thriller not for the timid and will keep you at the edge of your seat trying to figure out how everything will play out in the end. Who would have though that the minister from 7th Heaven could write like this?

Lorie Conway takes readers into one the of most historic landmarks in US history, Ellis Island. FORGOTTEN ELLIS ISLAND: THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF AMERICA'S IMMIGRANT HOSPITAL peruses history, and revisits an important relic from America's immigrant past, which is also the epitome and constant reminder of the history of the United States and its people. The book examines the building that housed, nursed, and recorded/documented the many immigrants who passed through its halls.

With its impressive narrative and an array of photographs dating back to the early twentieth century during the height of immigration, Conway writes about one of the most defining moments in the American Dream story. But there also entailed the dark moments of immigration that involved the "other" or non-American born peoples, and how they had to endure painstaking and excruciating steps after walking off the ships in which they came from afar, which involved medical examinations and quarantines. Furthermore, immigrants were scrutinized, and many believed that they hindered the social make-up of American society; their reactions came in the form of discrimination and partisanship that was sociological, medical, and political in nature. For example, jingoist political cartoons show the depictions, such as one cartoon of Uncle Sam "rocking the boat" or shaking his fist in defiance towards newly arrived immigrants.

FORGOTTEN ELLIS ISLAND is an important part of American history. This story is an eye-opening narrative filled with retrospection. For those who may have visited the main building of Ellis Island, which is now a museum, this book may enhance their understanding of the immigration history and experience. But most importantly, it also delves into the issue of American identity, and how the United States was shaped and built by immigrants.

This was a great book to read. It never dawned on me that immigrants were medically screened before coming into the US. The pictures were great and the documentary was very informative.

The staff at the hospital were caring and willing to help when no one else was.

I plan to read more on this.

This was an interesting part of the Ellis Island story I had never before heard. The book was fascinating and enjoyable. However I dropped the last star because of a two things - most photos were not labeled and I felt that the stories of those who worked there, with the exception of the doctors, were ignored. I was left with the desire for more information, but I recognize that resources are apparently difficult to get find and access.

I FOUND THAT THE BOOK GAVE A LOT OF VERY INTERESTING FACTS ON HISTORY THAT HAS PROMPTED ME TO LOOK INTO EVEN FURTHER ! GREAT BOOK

I really enjoyed this book because I did not know a whole lot about the Ellis island situation and was fascinated at the detail that this book gave about the construction of the hospitals and how patients got placed in them. I also had no idea that the immigrants had so many skin diseases but after reading about the sanitation conditions I was not surprised. It is truly amazing what our ancestors had to go through to live here.

I love this book! Great recipes and information about the country. Glossary is extremely useful.

Instead of purchasing this book here, I recommend looking for it in stores like Waldenbooks or Barnes and Noble in their section of books on sale. These stores always have a section of huge books that have been marked down to very reasonable prices.

This book isn't particularly huge, but it is legitimate in its recipes. I have tried several recipes from this book and they've all come out wonderful and comparable to the "real deals" that I've tasted over in France myself. There was no need to alter any of the ingredients or amounts, as so far I've had no failures/disasters in cooking from this book. It is divided up into sections (poultry, fish, desserts, etc.) and each section opens first to an introduction to a region of France with a little bit of background. The book provides pictures for almost every recipe they list, which I know can be helpful to some readers/cooks to know what it is they're cooking.

I would say, though, that some of the recipes might require you to be a little adventurous, as of course these authentic recipes require foods that Americans do not normally eat very often (like lamb and rabbit, for example). But I've found that other than that, the ingredients were not so exotic that I couldn't find them in the store and was forced to make adjustments.

This book is really packed and pretty. The pictures are great, but I think it could have included more desserts.

I got this book on a closeout at my local bookstore, and at that low price the book is wonderful. I'd be a little less thrilled if I paid full-price... but only a little.

I would guess that most "...The Beautiful" books are probably purchased for their coffee table appeal. This is a large format book (12"x18"), with stunning photos of different areas of France and of the food (there's generally one picture of the finished dish for every two recipes). If you want a book to inspire you to travel to France or to go out to eat at a French restaurant, or if you are searching for an impressive and pretty gift, this is a no-brainer. It's gorgeous.

The recipes are very good, too, but I'm tempted to say that they're almost beside the point. There are 240 recipes, divided in menu-like sections (first courses, fish and shellfish, poultry and game, etc.) rather than regionaly. Each recipe is marked with the region it comes from, so you know that the mussels in cream is from Normandy and the veal rolls (paupiettes) are from Provence. There's also a couple of pages, with photos, describing each region. Nicely done.

I'm not knowledgeable enough about French cooking to speak to the authenticity of the recipes, but none of them were jarring. Most of the dishes are kept on the simple side (I get the feeling that the "real" version might require a few more hours in the kitchen), and they do have interesting, if short, introductions. The intro for cassoulet, for instance, gives a little history of this well-known dish, and mentions regional variations ("Toulouse adds Toulouse sausage, leg of lamb and confit"). You'll find the usual suspects of French cuisine; 240 dishes is a bunch, but far from exhaustive.

Most of the recipes are, as I said, very good. Their recipe for sole meuniere matches the one I use, and I have my eye on their recipe for beef braised with Calvados.

However, the book does show that it was written in 1989, when it was difficult to find some "exotic" ingredients. The recipe for chaoucroute (saurkraut with pork and sausage) calls for, among other things, a smoked kielbasa, and 6 Strasbourg sausages or frankfurters. David Rosengarten's _Taste_ has a whole chapter devoted to charcoute (which led me to spend my sole evening in Paris at a restaurant for which it's the specialty -- maybe I'll send him the bill), and it's obvious that these are gringo subsitutions. Kielbasa, maybe; frankfurters, no way. (Oddly, though, they don't shy away from dishes made with venison or rabbit, which I find much harder to find.)

As someone else mentioned, the desserts chapter feels short; there's about 20 recipes here, and I think most of us would assume that the French pastry section would be far larger.

Overall, this is a fine book -- particularly for inspiration purposes. If you can get it at a good price, grab it.

This is easily the greatest French cookbook I've ever seen and one of the best cookbooks overall. I've been to France many times and the same food is in this cookbook as is in France. The recipes are easy to understand, the food is great, and the photographs just make you more and more hungry. I am a 16 year old boy who has a hard time cooking and filling myself, but this cookbook remedies both of these problems. The meals are simple, yet elegant, not to mention delicious, filling, and scrumptious. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys cooking and would like cooking to become a passion.

I thought I never learn all about this crazy language - and now someone makes sense of it for me. Because I come from another country, I want to speak good English. This book helps me when I come to some phrase I do not understand. I now understand more about English then I thought I would ever learn. Thanks to whoever put this together. I thank you!!!

I have used my copy of Grammar For Grownups until it is worn. Now I need a new one. When I went to check it out, I saw that Val Dumond, the author, has a new book out, so I ordered that too! Hey, if you haven't tested your prejudice ratio recently, you have to get this book. Just Words, the Us and Them Thing is all about those ways we separate ourselves from other people with our language. She doesn't preach! She just lays out some ideas for the reader to chew on. And oh my! Have I been chewing!!!

A great book period. It cleared up a lot of questions that I had about grammar. Even though I am young, I pretty much have perfect grammar (for the most part anyway). Well, I want to keep this short so to sum it all up: A GREAT BOOK! A DEFINITE MUST-HAVE.

This is an excellent book! I tried using the Idiot's Guide to Grammer and Style and just wasn't getting "it", so I found a copy of Grammer For Grownups: A Guide to Grammer and Usage for Everyone Who Has to Put Words on Paper Effectively at the library, where I work, and it was a cinch. Very easily written for the average person to understand. A+++

I loved Grammar for Grownups. I must have slept through all my English
classes because I was continually getting things bounced back by my
supervisor or Grammar check. Thanks to this book, I finally feel competent
in my use of grammar and punctuation. For example, I finally understand
where to use a semicolon and the difference between semicolons and colons. I
don't think I'll ever again confuse then with than. The instructions, hints
and practice exercises really worked. The book is practically designed-I'm
able to go through the lessons at my own pace and easily review certain
sections. I keep Grammar for Grownups on my desk as a reference and I have
even torn out certain pages and taped them to my wall.

Even though I got A's on my college essays, I panicked at the thought of
writing a report. I really wanted the new position I was offered, but I
knew that I would be required to write many reports. I was about to turn
down the job when a friend suggested I try Reports and Proposals. By
breaking the process into a few easily understood steps, the authors
provided me with a system for approaching any writing task. The practice
assignments in the book were extremely helpful-and very realistic. The only
comment my new boss had about my first report was "Good Job."

Thanks to Professional Writing Skills, my letters, Emails and memos not only
get the results I want, they get praise. That book taught me how to truly
communicate instead of just recycling empty words, the way so many business
documents do. Thanks to its six-step process for getting started, thinking
about your reader, clarifying your main statement and so on, I don't even
panic when I sit down to write. I just start with the first step. I'm also
grateful for techniques on writing active and concise language, using lists.
and correcting grammar and punctuation errors. One of the best investments
I ever made.

Writing Performance Evaluations was the one part of my job I dreaded. I
never knew what to say, I didn't want to make people mad, I was confused
about objectives-the whole process confused me. But a colleague suggested I
try Writing Performance Documentation and it was as if a curtain had been
lifted. The meaningful examples and helpful feedback showed me what is
meant by objective documentation. I learned what words to stay away from
and the kind of details that are necessary to write helpful observations.
This is one of the few times that I found the examples of how not to do
something as important as those that showed the right way. The section on
writing objectives was equally helpful. Because I now use details and facts
when writing documentation and develop objectives that can be easily
measured or observed, people actually thank me for my evaluations. This book
has made a great deal of different in how I see my job.

This is a really fun book, with lots of projects for budding electronic musicians. But it goes beyond that: It's a solid intro to electronics and CMOS components. I went into this book thinking it might be too basic, yet I walked away with a lot of ideas, and some interesting new techniquess.

I wish that more electronics writers would cover the material with this author's style and accuracy. Also, kudos for providing parts sources and for using easy to find and inexpensive components. (I've seen many people, myself included, become frustrated by hard-to-find parts lists or the use of discontinued items. These projects suffer from neither of those problems.)

In the end, you'll be left wanting to know more about the components and techniques you've picked up. (You'll probably want to add Don Lancaster's classic CMOS Cookbook to your shopping cart. It will give you the details about many of these components.) Highly recommended. I'm looking forward to other books by this author.

Ah ! this book is one of the best i bought.
I just love it !!

Great great book - covers a lot of ground and is very accessible for someone with a fairly technical mind. Just enough information to spark some ideas of what could be done with this technology.

Ever since products such as GarageBand took over the low-level tasks of producing electronic music and turned us all into application users, much has been forgotten about making music with low-level electronic components. In the case of younger electronic musicians, this may be an art form they never even knew in the first place. Although there is an advantage is computer musicians speaking a common language through a common application, something fascinating in the realm of experimentation has been largely lost. This book returns to the days of yesteryear with some projects in making your own electronic music with basic devices.

The book starts with some brief information on the tools you'll need plus the author's seven rules for experimentation. Part two is dedicated to listening. He shows you how to use radios and coils to find hidden electronic music, how to use the speaker as a microphone and vice versa, and how to use piezo disks to pick up tiny sounds, among other topics. Part three, on touching, shows you how to transform a portable radio into a synthesizer, change the clock circuit in toys to produce new sounds, and use photocells and pressure pads to "play" the modified toy. Part four, Building, shows the reader how to breadboard up some oscillators along with some controlling circuitry and produce gating, ducking, tremolo and panning effects. Part five, Looking, concerns translating video to audio using commonly found devices. The final section goes into depth on mixing circuits, how to build a good but cheap amplifier, connecting sensors to computers via game controllers, and a section on power supplies.

The book is written such that you should proceed from beginning to end, since the devices in earlier sections are used to assemble the devices in later chapters. By the time you finish you should have entire experimental musical instruments that you have assembled yourself.

This is a great book if you are a electroacoustic composer, you can make cheap sensors and rare instruments... ready - if you want - to plug to Max/MSP or Ethersense...or Teabox... Thanks to Gregory Taylor from Cyclin'74.

this is greate book , not only becouse it was the knock off of the classic lord of the rings trilogy and all other story and legends regarding middle earth. but the story to this book was terrific. i must admit it starts off a little slow when it first intoduces mr baggins, but the story will pick up i promis you.
its hard for me to detail to you how greate it is without giving away the story but its just a never ending journy even for those do not have intrest in midth or legend books. this is a easy to read story about an adventure that all will find entertaining.
not that its at a flat pase or anything but its easy to read due to that its told from third person point of veiw so well, its almost like being told the story in person.
id recommend it to all ages.

I remember when I was seven, I was in bed one evening. My dad brought me this book to read."What is it about?" I ask."A hobbit," he says."What is a hobbit?" I reply. If I was a few years older it would have been 'what the bloody hell is a hobbit?'My first thought was a small creature with furry feet sounded dumb and boring.I was wrong.

"The Hobbit or There and Back Again" is the first story of Middle-Earth that was ever read by the masses. And to this day it remains a beloved favorite due to Tolkien's exceptional writing, realistic and lovable characters, and the fantastic, complicated world with its unlikely hero: a fuzzy-footed hobbit.

Bilbo Baggins lives a pleasantly stodgy and dull life in the Shire, in a luxurious hole under a hill. ("It was a hobbit hole, and that means comfort") But his life is completely turned upside-down by the arrival of the wizard Gandalf and thirteen dwarves. The dwarves, led by the exiled king-in-waiting Thorin Oakenshield, want to regain the Lonely Mountain (and a lot of treasure) from the dragon Smaug, who drove out the dwarves long ago. Why do they want Bilbo? Because Gandalf has told them that he'd make a good burglar (even though Bilbo has never burgled in his life).

So before Bilbo is entirely sure what is going on, he is being swept off on a very unrespectable -- and dangerous -- adventure. Bilbo and the Dwarves battle goblins and spiders, are nearly eaten twice, are captured and Bilbo is forced to riddle with the treacherous, withered Gollum, and ends up escaping with a magical Ring. But even after these obstacles, the dragon Smaug is still in the Lonely Mountain, and Bilbo is not entirely sure what to do to deal with this enemy.

Author J.R.R. Tolkien had been crafting his mythos of Elves, Dwarves, Wizards and Men for years before writing "The Hobbit," but "The Hobbit" is the first story that people had the opportunity to read. It began as a line scrawled on a sheet of blank paper, and then into a bedtime story for his children. And even though it's overshadowed by "Lord of the Rings" and "Silmarillion," this book is an essential link. It's definitely sillier and lighter, but it provides the springboard for a lot of the stuff in "Lord of the Rings" -- especially the magical Ring that Bilbo finds in Gollum's cavern.

The concept of hobbits started in this book -- the quintessential peaceful "wee" people, based on British countryfolk, with simple pleasures and unexpected depths of strength and resourcefulness. And, of course, fuzz on their large feet. Tolkien's Elves are a little more ethereal and less dignified, and his dwarves are a bit more comical and less grim. But Elrond hints at the full majesty of the Elves, and Thorin Oakenshield is still the most dignified, proud and impressively flawed dwarf there is. The last chapters of the book hint at the epic majesty of "Lord of the Rings," and some of the same victory/loss themes. And of course, the idea that even little people -- like a hobbit or a bird -- can change the world.

Tolkien's writing is quick and light, while providing sufficient detail to let you picture what's going on. The dialogue is less influenced by Old English, and the pace is a lot faster (not surprising, since it was originally read to his kids before bedtime). Bilbo is a likable little guy -- he seems to be the last person whom you'd expect to be a courageous hero, but he shows incredibly strength and smarts when he's under pressure. Supporting characters like Thorin, Bard the Guardsman-turned-King, the king of the wood-elves, and even Smaug himself are never cookie-cutter, but multidimensional and immensely interesting to read about.

"The Hobbit" was written for children, but adults can appreciate and enjoy it just as much. So read this book, then scoop up "The Fellowship of the Ring" and continue reading. A timeless treasure and classic.

The Hobbit is probably Tolkien's most famous work after The Lord of the Rings, and for a good reason: it's an amazing book! I became an extremely devoted fan of all of Tokien's works after seeing The Lord of the Rings films, and they really opened up the richness of Tolkien's world for me. I read The Hobbit, believe it or not, for the first time only a few months ago but wanted a better looking copy of the book than an old paper back edition I bought second hand that is practically falling apart. I found this edition here and what caught my eye was the front cover and the illustration by David Wyatt. I received the book to be only mildly disappointed because the actual book cover looks a little different than what the picture shows here. However, the book still has David Wyatt's beautiful Smaug illustration, so I'm content. The Hobbit is an amazing book and this is a great edition to have.

The interesting thing about The Hobbit is how close it came to never seeing the light of day. J.R.R. Tolkien's classic children's fantasy book only exists because he was bored while grading his students' papers and accidentally created the mythical creatures known as Hobbits.
But I think The Hobbit in particular came into being because Tolkien loved the old fairy tales and myths and couldn't find any contemporary books like the old ones he enjoyed reading. The Hobbit is such a fun book to read that it's almost sinful to admit it. Treasure-hoarding dragons, greedy song-singing dwarves, a jestful old wizard, and the trickssy Gollum all add up to creating a wonderful classic.
The Hobbit is a throw back to a much older tradition of fantasy stories than what we're used to nowadays. I recommend this book in particular to everyone familiar with The Lord of the Rings, since it will help to fill in the gaps on what happened before the events in that story.

These are a great tool for students grades 1-3! I love that my students create their own Star of the Week posters without going overboard. These are perfect!

I really like using this in my classroom. It's a great way to get to know each student throughout the year. I allow for them to share their poster, and have a mini share with their favorite things that they bring from home.

GREAT for a beginning of the year project with kids... let them use their imagination and their markers!!

I plan to use these personal posters with each student of the week. After the poster is completed and returned, it will be laminated and displayed. The students can take them home at the end of the week to display at home or give as a gift to a relative.

I have my students fill out there poster whenever they are chosen as the Star Student of the week. Each student can present their poster, take a few questions, and then bask in the glory of having their poster hanging in the hall for the week. Also, after the poster has been presented, I have every student write a friendly letter to the Star Student. All letters are made into a booklet that the Star Student receives at the end of their week.

This is our standard Bar and Bat Mitzvah gift, which has come in handy this year since one of our children is at the age where there is a simcha every weekend. It is accessible for the kids at this age, and will offer more as they keep it on the bookshelf for adulthood. The production values are nice, and the whole thing neither looks nor sounds (in tone) "too heavy," though in fact the book is thorough and serious. It also works for recipients of all points along the continuum of observance.

A very interesting to study Gods appointed Holidays and festivels. Good book for understanding to be read by Christians, Jews and anyone who walks as a Son of God in the steps of Yeshua/Jesus the Messiah

I like this book. I use this book. I find that it written very matter-of-factly, with little room for interpretation, so it feels sort of un-Jewish in that aspect to me. But, as long as that is in mind, it does offer a lot of good jumping-off points and good ideas and good references.

As a non-Jew, I found this book very informative, not only about Jewish holidays per se, but also aspects of Jewish history and trends in Jewish thinking. What's more, this book has helpful appendices, including a glossary of Hebrew terms. Interestingly, the author of this book does not feel the need to dispense with BC and AD in favor of BCE and CE.

This book provides information on such things as the Passover Seder meal. We learn that celebration of the New Year (Rosh Hashanah) had a late start owing to the onetime association of New Year celebrations with pagan festivities. The book raises the question of the origins of Hanukah (to what extent a successful military revolt and to what extent a rejection of Hellenizing tendencies), and whether or not this relatively minor holiday has assumed the status of a Jewish answer to Christmas.

History is seen as cyclic and linear, in effect combined into a spiral. Thus, each year's observance should see a person on a higher plane of spirituality than the last such observance.

Theological questions are raised in this book. For instance, at Rosh Hashanah, there is the custom of throwing bread crumbs into a body of water to symbolize the fact that God drowns our sins in the deepest sea. Some rabbis raised concern that people may misuse this ritual as an actual removal of sin in place of genuine repentance (p. 102). (This recounts the fear among Christians of "easy believism".)

New Jewish observances are also discussed, including Yom Ha-Shoah. Some traditional rabbis oppose this holiday. Various Jews believe that the Holocaust represents a defining moment in Jewish history; others feel that it really isn't that different from past persecutions of Jews, or of common inexplicable tragedies such as the death of one's child. Some Jews even feel that the glorification of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising is a tacit acknowledgement of the need to answer the accusations of "Jewish passivity". Yom Ha-Shoah may include silence (a fasting from words rather than fasting from eating), to symbolize the silence of man and the silence of God during the Holocaust.

this is a wonderful book. I cannot reccoment it enough to add to your collections of books. A must purchase to review the Jewish holidays. With lovable excerts on how to build a Sukkah and other important observations can be found in the text. Historical importance is detailed in each chapter for each holiday. Also present are wonderfulo pieces of artwork and commentaries.