Ford Books

There are a number of hiking guides relating to Santa Barbara and Raymond Ford has produced one of the best. It's small enough to carry in your back, but meaty enough to read in your Lazy Boy in front of the fire. I've traveled all over the world and the most beautiful natural setting I've seen is Santa Barbara. The ocean, the mountains, the vegetation, flowers and incomparable climate make this a unique paradise. Hiking here is a sublime experience and its possible to do it year-round since the temperatures rarely dip below 50 degrees. If you're a dedicated hiker and have missed Santa Barbara, please try and remedy this. You'll spend some of the best hours of your life hiking in this incredible place.

This book is one of the best hiking guides I've found for the Santa Barbara area. If you're a beginner, there are plenty of short treks for you, mostly clustered around the beach or city. There are also a dozen moderate hikes and quite a few trail descriptions for streunous jaunts, all of these in the mountain areas. The descriptions of each trail is quite good and the driving desriptions to the trailheads is adequate (I haven't gotten lost yet from following their directions). I recommend this guide for everyone fortunate to hike in this beautiful locale.

Shh....don't tell anyone I'm a mom who reads her daughter's bookclub lists! This is a fun book with a twist on Santa. Instead of being replaced by the next person to put on the suit the right to be Santa is passed to the oldest boy in the family. But what happens when you are allergic to reindeer and your sister drives the sleigh because you get airsick? Read and find out.

Wow is right. This book really does tell it like it is and they arent afraid to call a scam a scam. Can you spot a scam auction or a hijacked account on ebay? You can after reading this book. It lists maybe 100 or so common scams and tells you how to spot and avoid them. Did you know ebay has a category for scam auctions? It's called Mystery Boxes. I never thought about it until this book explained how these auctions actually work. I wouldnt be suprised if ebay puts a stop to this entire category.

If you want some hardcore advice about how to use ebay safely, scams and scoundrels is the place to go.

I live in Lubbock, Texas, where much of this story takes place, and I happen to know some of the people Dr. Ford mentions. But that was hardly the only reason I wanted to read this compassionate biography. Dr. Ford shows how her brother bravely faced AIDS and the bigotry related to it.

Despite its subject matter, this book is never depressing. Instead, Dr. Ford captures the inspirational aspects of her brother's life and how it touched the lives of people around him. I found her poems about his struggle especially touching and hope she'll share more of those in another book.

Duane Simolke .....

Seattle Job Source is a professional job hunter's guide to careers int he Seattle area, featuring listings and contacts for over 3,000 employers in just about every field imaginable. The majority of this guide is simply a cover-to-cover listing of addresses, phone numbers, and websites. Seattle Job Source is a very nicely organized, "user friendly", and highly recommended reference for any Seattle-area job-hunter.

John Keats was one of the great Romantic poets. Unlike Wordsworth, he was another of those Romantics who dies much younger than he should have (tuberculosis). I bought this many years ago, with a collection of other Romantic poetry. The price tag is still on this volume; it cost 50 cents from the Bradley University Book Store (so I probably bought it in 1968 or 1969)!

There is a very brief introductory essay that provides some context on the poet's works. Then, the remainder of this volume focuses on Keats' poetry. The brevity of his life and his productivity within those confines is worth noting. According to the timeline at the start of this volume, we see that he was born in 1795. His first volume appeared in 1817, when he would have been about 22. His last major work was published in 1820, shortly before his death. In that short time frame, much quality work appeared. If I read the dates right, some of his poetry was not published until considerably later.

The book begins with selected poems--long and short--and concludes with a set of the artist's sonnets. Among the poems are excerpts from "Endymion," "Hyperion," "Lamia." Other poems included here include "The Eve of Saint Agnes," "La Belle Dame sans Merci," Ode on a Grecian Urn," "Ode on Melancholy," and "Ode to a Nightingale." Among the sonnets: "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer," "On Sitting down to Read King Lear Once Again," "When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be," "On Fame," and more.

I always like a sampling of an artist's work. A few of my favorite lines from various poems:

"La Belle Dams sans Merci"
"I saw pale kings and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried `La Belle Dame sans Merci
Hath thee in thrall!'"

"Ode on a Grecian Urn"

"Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter still; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on. . . .
. . . .
`Beauty is truth, truth beauty,'--that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."

And on the poetry goes. For a brief introduction to Keats, this does a fine job. I still enjoy this book so many years after having purchased it.

Selected Spiritual Writings of Anne Dutton: Eighteenth-Century, British-Baptist, Woman Theologian by Anne Dutton, compiled and edited by Joann Ford Watson (Mercer) Women theologians in the eighteenth century were a rarity. Were there no other reason, this alone would make the literary legacy of the Baptist Anne (Williams) Dutton (1692-1765) significant.
In 1731, Anne and her minister husband, Benjamin Dutton, settled in Great Gransden, Huntingdonshire. After Benjamin's death, Anne became known on both sides of the Atlantic primarily through her extensive writings, including tracts, treatises, poems, hymns, and letters.
Among her many correspondents were Howel Harris, Selina Hastings, William Seward, Phillip Doddridge, John Wesley, and George Whitefield. Harris believed God had entrusted her "with a Talent of writing for Him." Whitefield, who helped promote and publish Anne's writings, commented upon meeting her that "her conversation is as weighty as her letters?'
She wrestled with the question of whether it was "biblical" for a woman to be a writer of theological matters. But in a tract entitled "A Letter to such of the Servants of Christ, who may have any scruple about the Lawfulness of Printing any thing written by a Woman" (1743), she stated that she wrote not for herself but "only the glory of God and the good of souls."
Dutton's writings impacted evangelical revival in England and America. Not since 1884 have any of her writings been readily available. Now extensive portions of her letters, her tracts and booklets, and her poetry and hymns are once again available.

Thank you very much for your excellent service.This product was very good and useful to me and my children as well as my friends.It reach me in a excellent condition due to well packed packet with clear address.There is no dislike in the service so I have no comment. It future I and my family plannnig to purchase more things from Amazon.

God bless your company and give strenght to serve the people in other countries.I highly recommend others to use this service.

Best wishes,
Ezna Stephna
Fiji

As a diver at Marine World/Africa USA it was part of Don Reed's job to swim with sharks. He fed them and cleaned their tank. At first he was afraid when he felt a scratchy stomach brush past him or saw an approaching pair of jaws. Soon, however, he grew used to the sharks. He was even comfortable with them, admiring their strength and agility. He especially cared for Sevengill, a massive brown shark with black spots and golden eyes.

Sevengill did not scare Don Reed. He began to trust her...Until the terifying day he felt her teeth. Then he realized his mistake. A shark can never be someone's pet.

From the back cover of the book.

This book was written at the request of George Carey, the previous Archbishop of Canterbury, as a Lenten study. The shape of the book matches that purpose -- there are six chapters to match the six weeks of the Lenten season, and a seventh chapter that matches in theme the joy of the Easter miracle. The shape of this book in many ways parallels the scripture readings and ideas of many Lenten series. Carey provides a nice introduction (and has perhaps the longest sentence fragment I've ever read as part of that introduction, so small marks against the editing), commending the book not only to Anglican readers, but readers of all persuasions seeking greater insight into the shaping of spiritual life.

Throughout the history of human existence, life has had the potential for being overwhelming. However, this potential has never been greater than in the modern Western society - despite all of our 'labour-saving' devices and a veritable explosion of courses, books, and strategies for coping and managing stress, there is more to overwhelm us than ever. We look back with nostalgia to 'simpler times' or look forward to an easier future, not realising that neither is true. Into the mix of the rough and tumble of everyday life, sometimes we are presented with an even greater overwhelming - God calls us to do something, to be something. Talk about the ultimate overwhelming!

David Ford, a noted theologian on the faculty at Cambridge University, has written a practical book aimed at those who look for a spiritual dimension in their busy lives, particularly for those who feel a call to some kind of spiritual or ministerial vocation, but also generally accessible to all who have a sense of being called and being overwhelmed at the same time. Ford, in his introduction, makes clear his general Christian orientation, but does a good job throughout of being general enough that adherents of any religious faith would find value in the text - it is not a dogmatic one by any means.

Ford begins from the standpoint of community and people - our lives might not seem so overwhelming if they were lived alone and in isolation (although some who have tried this tactic of 'getting away from it all' have had their own overwhelmings). These can be our families, friends and neighbours, as well as people in the past - those we carry with us in our interior being.

Ford addresses the call in our lives in the second chapter - what satisfies our deepest longings? What are we truly called to do in our lives? The process of discernment can be a formal process for some, and an informal process for others, but it is always there in some form if we open ourselves up to it. Ford looks at vocation in the broadest sense - our callings are not just to career and profession, but to life as a whole.

In subsequent chapters, Ford looks at overwhelmings that are good and bad, the idea of goodness generally, and various issues of how we spend our time, energy, and even information about ourselves. Can secrecy be part of this process of dealing with overwhelming? There are various disciplines discussed here.

Ford uses biblical stories as well as the poetry of Micheal O'Siadhail as primary texts, and weaves in his own experiences as well as those of others into the mix. For example, he uses the story of Noah and the ark as one way of dealing with overwhelming circumstances; he then writes that there have been many ark builders in history. Ford also explains that overwhelmings are a natural part of life - again, the example of Noah is presented here; after having survived the flood, he went on to plant a vineyard that grew grapes, which fermented, and Noah was overwhelmed by the alcohol. We may not have global, catastrophic floods with any regularity, but drunkenness is still high on the list of overwhelming issues in the world.

However, do not get the wrong impression about this book. This is not a book about morality as much as it is a book about guiding one's life in the midst of such overwhelming things in a productive and spiritually-satisfying way. This is not a 'God's little rulebook' kind of text, but rather a wide-ranging theological discussion with some practical examples and suggestions accompanying the main essay.

We use this book in the first course required of most students at my seminary - seminary is an overwhelming experience. It is worthwhile reading for each year, for students in any graduate or professional school, for students starting college, for people beginning new jobs or careers, for people beginning families, and for people generally living their lives wondering how to cope and make life spiritually more fulfilling.