G Books

This book is such a great read. I read it before and rarely do I read the same book more then once. This got me emotionally invested now as it did the first time around. I am reading book two of the series and I highly recomend these books.

This series is a fast page turner .you should read the first which is

In My Fathers House
A Thousand Shall fall
Say Tt To This Mountain
Shiloh Autumn.
The stories are so clear, you become a part of the story.You will fall in love and dislike some, just as the ones you are reading about. Thoene is a wonderful writer.It is history at its best.I learned more than I have ever known of how bad it was in the pass.Because of the wall street crash and the very hard times that followed.Each book should be read in turn .They are outstanding for young and old.It is a very good knowledge of our pass, that a lot of kids today have no idea.Boys will love the Shiloh Autumn. It is packed with fun .I laughted so hard I was crying. Great Books!

I read numerous books by numerous authors, and Theone is by far the best I have ever read. I have read her Zion Chronicles and Galway Chronicles and Shiloh Autumn. But the Shiloh Legacy is definantly the best one. Theone defines hisorical fiction and makes it real to life. She is a master in descriptive writting. Her characters come alive and you find yourself becoming a part of them and their joys and struggles. After reading one of her novels I learn and understand so much more the events and places in history that she is writting about. I haven't read the second book in this series but I know that it will be just as good as the first book or even better.

In My Father's House got me started on Thoene books. Then I read the whole series of Shiloh Legacy. After thatI read Shiloh Autumn (which I think is the best book I ever read.) I have kept going on Thoene books and never regretted buying one of their books. Anything the authors write is a cut above. No wonder they dominate all the awards for Christian writing.

The Shiloh series is the best of the Thoene's work, but all of it is excellent. What really stood out to me, reading this book, was the experience of the black soldier. He served many more hours on the front lines, fighting in the most dangerous positions. He was honored while overseas for his service. Then he went home, proudly wearing the uniform in which he served his country, and was condemned for being uppity. Who did he think he was?

These black men were beaten, accused of crimes they didn't commit, and lynched.

As a white woman, I could never live that experience. But I lived it vicariously along with Jefferson Canfield.

The characters are real, with strengths and flaws, just as the people we meet every day. They experience good things, but they also experience horrible, awful things too. That's life.

It isn't light reading, but it IS riviting. And it is educational, because you experience things along with the people in the books, things that really happened at the time. I loved the love story between Birch and Trudy and the biding friendship that developed between Jeff and Birch.

This ties in with the Zion books, too, because Max Meyer and Ellis Warne were the fathers of two of the main characters in the Zion Chronicles, I believe, David Meyer and Ellie Warne.

They are worth reading. The only drawback is that once you've read the first, you HAVE to read them all, and they are LONG books!

I found this an intriguing premise, and also found the answers plausible and well thought out. Many of the questions posed are ones that I had raised in my own reading. All in all a very interesting book.

As a practicing psychiatrist, Dr. Hodges intimitely knows the inner workings of the human mind. With this book he applies that knowledge to present the thoughts and refections of a very human Jesus Christ. In so doing, the author paints us a vivid portrait of the Savior that is unlike any we've ever seen before.
We hear Jesus speak in his own words as he explains his struggles, the reasons for his actions and his bittersweet feelings about how he was received (or rejected) by the men and women he encountered during his 33 years opn this planet.
Like most people, this Jesus has doubts about the hard decisions he must make. Like most people, he suffers betrayal and death. Unlike most people, he has a secure knowledge of his Father's kingdom.
His reaction to his humiliating and painful path to Calvary stands a as one of the book's most dramatic moments.
As Jesus lingers on the cross dying, he recalls, "It became blacker and blacker for me. I was squirming like a worm on the end of a hook with all of my enemies watching me squirm and enjoying it. I was totally alone and now my Father was gone, too. I was nude, dangling there disfigured."
Whether you're a Christian, a Jew or even an athiest, this book's vibrant characterization of one of the world's most influential thinkers will speak directly to you.
Jesus may be a diety, but on every page here, Hodges reminds us that he is also a man.

I had read this book back around in '92 finding it among a popular book store. What totally amazes me with this is the fact that if you just believe heresay and superstitions about who so and so heard and just go to church once a week or just once a year, this opens your eyes to a REAL God who actually desires you to talk with Him! Your hidden hatred toward the Jews will be minimized as your little knowledge of their culture is blossomed in Jesus' spoken love toward His people. You have a different view of Satan as being a master of deception as you "observe" him popping up on Jesus in the wilderness. "Oh! Hi there!" You hear behind His words the pain and sorrow He experienced when losing His stepfather, Joseph's passing away. You want to cry when He tells us how the children His age made fun of Him as well as the town drunks taunting "He doesn't know who his real father is!" You feel the responsibility He takes on as the new head of household while taking care of His brothers and sisters with His mother. I can go on and on! This is a great book for those who don't "get" the Bible. This will inspire them to open His Word: the Holy Bible and search the treasures inside for eternal life.
Sincerely, U.S. Marine Corporal Tracy J. Hicks

I first read this book some years ago and really liked it. Now, after seeing Mel Gibson's PASSION OF THE CHRIST, I have read it again. As I didn't always agree with Mel's interpretation, I don't always with Dr. Hodges' version of JESUS, either. However, I loved the book, especially as Jesus is presented as discovering the Father's will for him through studying the Scriptures. (I am a Franciscan, and St. Francis of Assisi guided his life largely by the Scriptures, too!) That expression,"According to the Scriptures" had fascinated me all my life, and now it makes real sense. The book also gave me a greater understanding of our relationship with God as Father. Especially at this time in history, I'd urge everyone to read this book for a greater appreciation of how God loves us. We can place all our trust in Him! Thanks for your sharing, Dr. Hodges!

In this time of "How To" materials for Christians, and a galaxy of Christian superstars, it is immensely refreshing to read a book that deals with the central figure. Namely, Jesus Christ. Forget the prattle about how to experience God and similar fixes for your faith. Learn as much as you can about Jesus. Think about it. How can you worship someone you know very little about.

Dr. Hodges has "interviews" with Jesus taken from the Bible. A rock solid Christian, Dr. Hodges takes faith out of the realm of fiction and gives a good look at the reality of Jesus.

If you long for Jesus, you wont go wrong with this book.

Everything runs smoothly in the Carraclough household when Lassie, their wonderful Collie, is around. But when desperate times takes desperate measures... it minuses Lassie out of the family. While everything is going hay-wire in the Carraclough home, the Collie is on a thousand-mile trek to get back with her family again. Lassie will come across many unbearable situations and obstacles, but the calling to get home overrides anything she may run into.

I loved everything about this book! The dedication of the homebound dog, to the quaint villages of England and Scotland, and all the characters within... I savored every word! It is one of my all time favorite books, and I'd recommend it to any dog or book lover!

Other than the language being like in ancient times, "Thy, thee" this book was excellent and a good savory book. It is not a fast read though.

Why has it taken me so long to read this excellent book! It is not just a "children's" book. One of the best books I have read in a long time!

Still an interesting, emotion-provoking and relevant read for the 21st century's jaded youth. It's about the most basic kind of friendship and loyalty, where an animal exhibits more of both than do the humans. Some of the Depression-era references and rigid class distinctions probably aren't as relevant today, but the core of the book, the love of and for an animal, remains. Highly recommended.

This is a wonderful reproduction of the original World War II edition of the classic Eric Knight story. I find it appalling that many Americans do not know that the original Lassie of the story was British because I read the original "Lassie Come Home" short story (published in the December 1938 issue of the Saturday Evening Post) in school. This original story is a well-written, haunting tale of a poor Yorkshire family forced by economic times to sell their son's beloved collie (a tricolor dog, not a sable as portrayed in the movies and on TV) and of the dog's long torturous journey home during which she meets kind people--a couple who nurse her after she swims the river Tweed, a kindly peddler--and cruel--callous dogcatchers, bullying boys--as well as farmers protecting their livestock. A classic in every sense of the word.

Melody Beattie tells of her exeperience of great human tragedy with integrity and brutal honesty. Her book ends with a greater understanding of the human heart and with a message of hope.

Melody Beattie has great infornation in this book to help you help yourself

This book has been the most helpful book that I have read since my 15 year old son died of suicide in May 2006. She knows exactly how we who have lost children feel. It gave me hope. She made me feel more "normal". I have read Melody Beattie for years and was deeply touched by this book. I would highly recommend it to all bereaved parents.

Melody Beattie's book is a profoundly poignant, honest, courageous, heartfelt, and inspiring journey from being shattered at the loss of her precious 12 year old son, to learning how to embrace life again, and how to love and live fully.

It is not an easy journey, and takes time to adjust, and plunge wholeheartedly into the life circumstances you are facing NOW, so that you can re-claim the love in your heart that you can give both to yourself, and others who do need you.

I was deeply touched at how Melody shares generously with depth, and inspiration that anyone who is suffering from loss will gain tremendous benefit from reading this beautiful gift to humanity.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who is in grief, as well as to grief support groups, so you can re-gain your life set by Melody's example. It is a beautiful and genuine one.
Barbara Rose, author of "Stop Being the String Along: A Relationship Guide to Being THE ONE" and 'If God Was Like Man'
Editor of inspire! magazine

Melody Beattie's book is a profoundly poignant, honest, courageous, heartfelt, and inspiring journey from being shattered at the loss of her precious 12 year old son, to learning how to embrace life again, and how to love and live fully.

It is not an easy journey, and takes time to adjust, and plunge wholeheartedly into the life circumstances you are facing NOW, so that you can re-claim the love in your heart that you can give both to yourself, and others who do need you.

I was deeply touched at how Melody shares generously with depth, and inspiration that anyone who is suffering from loss will gain tremendous benefit from reading this beautiful gift to humanity.

I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who is in grief, as well as to grief support groups, so you can re-gain your life set by Melody's example. It is a beautiful and genuine one.

Highly recommended! Barbara Rose, author of, `Individual Power' and `If God Was Like Man'

Master "helper" Travis keeps coming up with frightened damsels. And thankfully, Meyer is frequently there to offer advice and consent.

Before reading The Long Lavender Look, I would have argued that Bright Orange for the Shroud was the best Travis McGee book. After careful consideration, I have to admit that The Long Lavender Look steals the crown, even though they both remain extremely entertaining. Since MacDonald sets a high standard for hard-boiled detection, this should tell you that I liked this book very much indeed.

McGee swerves to avoid a nearly naked girl running across the road, and ends up in a swamp of more than one kind. In order to clear his name, he has to find his way to the center of a secret at the heart of a small town Florida police department.

Smart. Fair. Entertaining. Easy to find at used book stores for a small bit of change. What's not to like?

While I still find "Flash of Green" to be my favorite John D. MacDonald book, there's something so appealing about the Travis McGee series that it keeps me coming back to them. And "The Long Lavender Look" is just another addition to the spectrum of colors that his novels get their titles from. Also "The Long Lavender Look" has such a gripping opening sequence of events, and such an array of fascinating characters, that you cannot put this mystery down.

And while I know that MacDonald enjoyed popularity in his time, it seems that his popularity is running out of gas. I hope I am wrong because he is horribly overlooked.

Travis McGee and his friend Meyer are driving home on an abandoned road when a nude young woman races in front of their car. McGee and Meyer end up going off the road and rolling the car, but that's just the beginning of their troubles. Before long, they're shot at by someone in a beat-up pickup truck. As a final welcome to the area, they're arrested for murder and accused of being involved in a robbery some years earlier. Needless to say, McGee digs in and tries to get to the bottom of things.

Travis is loved by a legion of fans and he's at his best here. The supporting cast is interesting as we meet characters like Betsy Kapp, a waitress turned part-time call girl. King Sturnevan is a former boxing contender who is now a sheriff's deputy and befriends Travis. And Lilo Perris is a psycho who mixes freakish strength, extreme sadism, and raw sexuality to keep McGee on his toes. These few and more form a rich stew for Travis to work with as he tries to unravel the mystery of robbery and murder.

The mystery is interesting, and certainly had me guessing for a good while. My only complaint is that it dragged on for a bit too long. There is a climactic scene 50 pages before the book ends where MacDonald could have easily wrapped up the story. Instead, he went for another twist and the actual ending felt a bit anti-climactic and stretched out. It's not like it completely ruined the book, but it does keep it from being as tight as it might have been.

The Long Lavender Look is a solid entry in the Travis McGee series. Long time fans will probably appreciate that the story is a bit of a change of pace from the norm since it doesn't involve McGee performing one of his standard "salvage" operations for a reward. It's not a bad choice for first time readers either. While I did think the ending was a bit sub par, the book is certainly an entertaining read overall.

John D. MacDonald's mysteries are as tasty as the hamburgers of the same name! I love all the Magee books!

I will not belabored this point, I have read all the previous reviews and I can say with total certainty that they are pretty much on the mark. This book will definitely give you a greater understanding of Lord of the Rings and the author's intentions. I would have to say that its just about mandatory supplemental reading material in truly understanding Tolkien's work. It will amazed any reader how much, how far and from within, Tolkien gathered his materials to write his masterpiece. It will also surprised any reader how Lord of the Rings had been altered bit here and bit there over the various publications. So please read many of the reviews written before me, some of them are quite insightful and informative. Then if you are truly interested in Lord of the Rings as a literature, buy this book.
(This book probably could be read side by side while reading Lord of the Rings but reading the book as a whole could be bit difficult. After all, there are hundreds upon hundreds of pages, nit-picking and explaining Tolkien's words, phases and all that. Nice place might be your bathroom if you take my meaning.)

This comprehensive work consists of bits of information derived from everything that ever had anything to do with Tolkien, his manuscripts, letters, and works, and it is astounding. Every annotation is explained in depth and with accuracy.

I just got the book but am thoroughly impressed with this work. Each book is broken down pretty much by paragraph and the relevant information and background, and history is given. I look forward to exploring more with this book, and would definitely recommend this to any fan of LOTR.

As the authors point out in their own introduction, publishing an annotated edition of The Lord of the Rings, complete with the text, was a practical impossibility. Thus was this "Reader's Companion" brought into being. Perhaps not so intuitive and casual to use (as is, say, Douglas Anderson's "Annotated Hobbit") with a separate copy of LOTR, but at nearly 1200 pages, and with this Companion running over 900 pages, you can easily see why Hammond and Scull and their publishers chose to go this route. As a single volume such a thing might be used to stun a Warg!

As a guide, index, and explicatory text, LOTR: A Reader's Companion excels and exceeds expectations. It is very nearly exhaustive, without being exhausting (as such a book might easily have been). Rigorous and of real use to the serious scholar and academic, but readiy accessible and fun to read for the general Tolkien reader who takes pleasure in going deeper into the story, the backstory, and the life of Tolkien and his greatest tale.

LOTR: A Reader's Companion is as well a clear and well organized accesory volume. Much easier to use than most supplemental guides, it is keyed chapter-by-chapter, and page-by-page to the main text (I have 7 editions of LOTR, paper and hardcover, single-volume and sets, and finding the passage referred to in this Reader's Companion is quick and easy in most cases, as is finding appropriate entries in the RC while reading LOTR and coming across an item you want to know more about). I strongly recommend this book to any reader who has or will read LOTR more than once. It is addictive and fun to read all by itself, and deeply informing when read side-by-side with its source.

The book itself is a sturdy, handsome, well put together piece of publishing. A nicely utilitarian, simple, but still elegant cloth binding, with bright foil stamped spine, and a jacket with a plasticized lining, which will make it stand many more hours and years of handing and reading than most paper backed jackets. The paper is excellent stock, of moderate weight in a very pale cream tone. The print is crisp, dark, and thoroughly consistent throughout (which is becoming something rare even in quality hardcovers recently), and the type is a pleasing traditional serif face of good size, and easy to read. Not certainly a self-consciously "fine" or "collector's" edition, but as definately a book that will last and put up with use, and nonetheless has been designed with care and concern for the craft of book-making.

I own it, and I recommend this "Companion" to all interested readers and their libraries, small and large. With Foster's "Complete Guide to Middle-earth" and Christopher Tolkien's "History of Middle-earth", Wayne Hammond and Christina Scull shall have an equal position (to say: even somewhat superior as regards LOTR in particular, where the other two authors' work is more widely focused on the entire legendarium and body of JRRT's work). My only cavil, and I think it slight, is the absence of photos, drawings, publishing ephemera, and other graphicals, which were so prominent and vital in Anderson's "Annotated Hobbit". But: Buy it! Read it! You'll delight in it! It will enlarge your understanding and pleasure each time you read LOTR, whole or part.

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"...has left the path of wisdom." -- Gandalf

If you'd like to ruin Tolkien's beautiful and exciting story for yourself, I can't think of a better way than this excessive scholarship.

Lest "ruin" seem an extreme term, it means, in this context: remove the LotR from the realm of great story-telling, and enter it needlessly into the superfluous arena of pedantic academia.

I admit that I only got through a few pages before disposing of it, and that I fail utterly to understand what's meant to be gained from turning a tale that's merely meant to be enjoyed (for reference to this, I highly recommend The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien) into "study."

The only reason I'm writing a review in the first place -- I can't be bothered to add one for every volume of the baffling collection of rough drafts called the History of Middle-Earth -- is to counter, for curious minds, the other reviews that call this book "indispensable." It is not. By all means, dispense with it, and retain your sense of wonder for the story itself.

Those who would argue in favor of literary critics (and the like) accepting the LotR as worthy of "merit" because of publications like this should ask themselves: "Who cares? Do I enjoy Tolkien's stories or not? What does the approval of my tastes by others matter?" Seems a rather superficial aim to me.

I offer four stars nonetheless, because anything less strikes me as needlessly rude, in light of the sheer effort. The labor must have been massive.

But Tolkien would have been horrified.

I bought this book for my mom. She's a big fan of missionary stories and she loved this one! I recently bought her Peace Child by the same author. She enjoyed it as well.

This book is incredible. Sad and at the same time so incredibly uplifting. It shows how God's plans are so much bigger than ours, and His hand works in ways we cannot comprehend.

Lords of the Earth (International Adventures) (International Adventures)

My boss recommended this book to me, and I'm so glad he did. It was not an easy read as many of the things in it are difficult to hear. It is an incredible story though, and worth reading.

My heart was torn apart as I read the story of the Yali people. This is one of those 'I can't put it down' books. I'm still somewhat smitten in my heart over the price these missionaries paid and the intense need for the gospel these people so desperately demonstrated. God help us to heed the call to go into all the world.

"Lords of the Earth" is the term the Yali warriors use to describe themselves. They live in the Heluk valley in Irian Jaya, and the only knowledge of them to reach the outside world are the dark rumors of the cannibals beyond the mountains. The first section of the book is about them, their customs, and the awful fear and darkness they lived in. Don Richardson does a great job portraying a people bound by chains of sin, and longing for release. The horror of their pain is graphic, and not suitable to be read to younger children.

The second part of the book describes the early life of Stan Dale, his conversion, and his burden for those in darkness. He is drawn as a determined man, physically strong and fit, with firm convictions.

The book goes on to tell of Stan's coming to the Yali people. How a strange story begins over his identity, protecting his life. How the first few Yali Christians were killed, and later Stan and a fellow missionary were brutally murdered. How another missionary family died in a plane crash, except for the nine-year-old son, whose friendship with the Yali paves the way for them to turn to Christ.

The book reminded me Christ's words in John 12:24, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." On earth, Stan Dale never saw the fruit his life and death brought forth, but he will rejoice in heaven with the Yali that are there through his witness.

While no one book is perfect, this revised edition has a lot going for it. It has interesting chapters on Florida's climate and different plant communities, e.g. seaside, interior sections, etc. Then it gives an excellen t and concise description of plants, e.g. DAHOON HOLLY (Ilex cassine)with a GOOD COLOR PHOTO. I have one in my backyard. It gives all the relevant information in a clear and concise way: height, light, bloom,etc. Habitat was extremely helpful, i.e. usually found near streams and swamps. I started making sure it got more water! It is on my shelf next to "Florida Landscaping Plants Revised Edition" by Watkins and Sheehan, and between the two, I think I can usually find some helpful information.

As a fairly new resident of Florida I look forward to Robert Haehle's NGA email each month, with his great advise & tips. This book is a "must have" for anyone new to tropical gardening, as well as, the Southern natives. The information & beautiful photos are especially helpful in identifying what is in my yard & what I would like to add.

I am the co-author of "Native Florida Plants". The new revised edition was printed in early 2004. The new book is not listed on www.amazon.com I think the problem may be the different ISBN number. The new ISBN number is 1-58979-051-0. The book is available from National Books Network at 1-800-462-6420. We hope to see our book on www.amazon.com very soon. This is a great site to get new and used books. I am a customer. Robert Haehle

Great book. Shows many pictures of native plants, trees, shrubs, flowers, vines, etc.
Also talks about how they grow, best areas, etc.
While this book will show you all the native plants in Florida, it does not touch (of course) on plants that WILL grow in Flrodai, of which would be an even bigger book.
Still very useful & will stay on my shelf for many years.

Native Florida Plants is NOT out of print! A new, updated edition was published early this year, and includes additional plants, an updated source list, and a list of family names. Hope it appears on Amazon's website ASAP. (I am the co-author.)

I read one of the stories in a volume of Junior Great Books. Then I went on a hunt for the whole book, after finding it in the library. The stories are wonderful! I really think that the book should be required reading in every school, the lessons are that good.

i really hope this book gets reprinted - I would buy a copy for each of my children, and perhaps a few extra for future grandchildren, too!

I just found a wrapped reprint hardback and reading the first few stories was bringing back memories from way back. I stopped and put it back in it's wrapping, planning on reaading it a little at a time. Ooka was a good judge who used common sense and compassion. My favorite story is "the Stolen Scent" and I realise how much reading the stories when I was a child gave me an idea on how to base my ideas.

This is a must read!! Once I find the second book, More Stories of Solomon, my set will be complete.

I remember reading this book when I was a kid and I absolutely loved it. I was disappointed when I looked it up to buy for my kids and it is out of stock. From the other reviewers comments, I assume it is hard to come by. Isn't there a way to get it re-released?

I got a used paperback copy of all Ooka's stories and still have it. I came online to see if there were any more collections- unfortunately I haven't been able to find any, but I would love to see this book reprinted! I'd really hate to wear out the one copy I own.

I first read this book when I was 10. That would be 40 years ago. I've tried to find a copy of my own ever since. It was one of the best and most memorable children's books I ever read. It's right up there with Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.

For a pastor, or someone who does Christian counseling, this book is a good resource.

This is an excellent resource for everyday life issues. Highly recommended for anyone who counsels others and for those who just want to be able to find scriptures quickly by subject. I absolutely love this book and have purchased it for others.

This quick reference book is a great way to help others when they come to you with questions or even for those who have questions themselves. It has helped me tremendously to find the answers in the bible to the concerns that I have and also a way to further my prayer life.

Handy, superb quick reference to the super passages, Ideal for any counselor. Even excellent for those just to study deeper into the Bible

I like the fact that this book uses scriipture references. The mental health workers in this world all need one of these. It's handy, too. It will be helpful in my bible studies.