Green Books

This cookbook is great--not only allowing one to enjoy the taste and the benefits of green tea, but also to experience healthy and delicious foods! I must admit, I always thought of Asian food as a difficult cuisine to prepare at home--but these recipes are easy to follow, and I had great results!

I've been a fan of green tea for a long time, but I had no idea what a difference it can make in cooking! These recipes are simple, and there's a lot of variety -- everything from sauces and appetizers to entrees and desserts. The ones I've tried so far have worked out great. The author's commentary puts each dish in an interesting and useful context (health, cultural, etc.) If you're looking for a fun, interesting, and accessible collection of new dishes to try, I recommend this book!

I have tried cooking with many different teas - its like having little seasonings in a convient packet. I was pleased to find a book that focused on Green Tea - especially because of Green Teas health benefits. The receipes are easy and fast, and most of all extremely tastey! I did try the 3-day green tea diet/cleansing & found it very easy as well as refreshing! I had a lot of entergy afterwards. The Green Tea vegetable soup is one of my favorites! I highly recommend the spring rolls and cold noodles in peanut sauce. Easy recipes with great taste that are good for you! [...]

Just today, Ying Chang Compestine came to our Health class (a class of 20 students) to speak to us upclose and personal about her books, her work, and a little bit of background on how she she got started.

Not once did my mind wander off when she spoke. She spoke with such excitement and passion about her work, that it didn't even occur to me to how she was able to come up with 100+ recipies all including green tea, when it was true that you can see she just loved food!

During her talk, Mrs. Compestine showed us her cooking books, a slideshow of her life as well as the video of her incorporating green tea into one of her recipes in Discovery Channel's HOMEMATTERS. Let me just say that I didn't think twice on purchasing her book.

Therefore I strongly recommend this book! You will not just be motivated to lose weight but it would also prove to you that becoming healthy through eating your favorite food is key! Oh, and for those who are really looking into losing weight. The book also included a 3-day-eating plan, using her recipies which according to her, would let you loose 3-7 lbs. :D

Professor Walker's book is a solidly researched, comprehensive history of the environmental movement in the Bay Area. Written in a clear, accessible style, the book covers a century of landsaving, from the early days of the Sierra Club to the exciting years from 1965-75 when most of our environmental protection laws were passed, to the recent use of land trusts , conservation easements, and urban growth boundaries to safeguard the Bay Area's precious green heritage. This book will stand, along with John Hart's "Legacy" and Amy Meyer's "New Guardians for the Golden Gate" as the canonical texts in the environmental history of California for years to come.

THE COUNTRY IN THE CITY: THE GREENING OF THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA should be a 'most' for any San Francisco Bay Area or comprehensive California library, whether it be a college-level or public lending collection. Students of California history and geography alike will appreciate this story of how the Bay Area's greenbelt was planned into an urban environment - and how each piece of it was fought for. From environmental battles which spread out to affect urban policies across the country to the involvement of businesses and individuals like, THE COUNTRY IN THE CITY is packed with insights on how early conservation affects today's urban environment, making it a fine pick for any collection interested in urban planning, ecology, or Bay Area history alike.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This book really helped me understand the world I was born into--Berkeley in the late 1950s. As Richard Walker points out, that world reflected the work of countless Bay Area activists reaching back to John Muir. Many were civic-minded and dedicated women, and some started or built environmental organizations with national impact. This book describes it all: the people, the organizations, the issues, the victories (always temporary), the challenges, and the movement's shortcomings and unintended consequences.

Always attuned to class issues, Walker acknowledges that these movements were mostly led by upper-class folks and ultimately turned parts of the Bay Area (e.g., Marin) into lightly populated enclaves for the well off. Working families in the Bay Area have had great access to public parks and the coast, but activists so far have done little to impede the siting of toxic nastiness in low-income neighborhoods. Walker questions the link between efforts to slow or stop growth and the Bay Area's high housing prices, but he notes that the growth that has occurred--in the eastern part of Contra Costa County and the San Joaquin Valley, for example--isn't very smart and may be linked to the inner Bay Area's aversion to virtually any growth at all. At the end of the day, though, it's hard to resist Walker's conclusion that Bay Area residents have plenty to be thankful for. Highly recommended.

While this book was a bit academic and long on details, I found it a pleasant and easy read. I am a Bay Area resident and a NYC transplant and have marveled at the accessibility of the Bay Area's natural beauty and recreation.

I love the SF Bay Area for its beauty and outdoors and I wanted to know how it happened and who to thank. Now I know.

Another book worth considering, which is much more specific to the creation of one area is New Guardians for the Golden Gate: How America Got a Great National Park

This book truly gets down to the nuts and bolts of the question: What does it mean to be a Christian? These foundational messages are truly challenging and encourage us to a deeper, more fulfilling and more intimate life with God. Reading this book helped shape my theology about 15 years ago and set me on fire for the Lord.. through which, God truly changed my life.

Keith Green was a man who clearly heard the voice of God and followed it. This book attacks the issues of true repentance, zealousness, suffering, and spiritual coldness, all in a manner that spurs one into action and soul-searching.

Keith Green is really a good example of a follower of Christ. Besides that he had a very interesting story and made wonderful music. I was so blessed to borrow this book of a friend, not knowing Keith Green. The book is very strong and tells many basic truths. It's scaring to read truths about the gospel that he wrote long time ago and then see that christians today are blinded by the exact problem. This book belongs to every christian's shelve in my opinion.

It's my hope that it one day will be reprinted.

The teaching in this book is extremely basic and important, especially because it's so little teaching on this truths these days. It's about the heart of the gospel, and should be read by everyone who wants to take God seriously.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a wonderful diversion from some of my more esoteric readings. If you want to pontificate with some interesting tales at your next dinner party, regale them with any that you find in this fascinating tome and you will be the center of attention. A fun read!

As a budding Folklorist at the Memorial University of Newfoundland, I have derived great pleasure from, and relied heavily upon "Curious Myths of the Middle Ages." It supurbly outlines the basic myths themselves, while providing a highly rational and non-biased discussion upon their origins, relevance, and truthfullness.

It is highly entertaining, and to anyone who loves folklore and mythology, is like being let loose in a candy shop!

The chapter on The man in the moon inspired my website. Some real gems. In one chapter, the author proves convincingly that William Tell never existed, and then uses the same logic to prove that Napoleon was entirely mythical. More than just a collection of stories, this book shows how history and myth, reality and imagination are frequently interchangeable

_Curious Myths of the Middle Ages_ by Sabine Baring-Gould offers a fascinating account of various myths and legends from the Middle Ages. Baring-Gould was an interesting character who was a member of the Anglican clergy. He is perhaps most famous for writing the hymn "Onward, Christian Soldiers" but is also known for his works on folklore and myth (in addition to this work he also wrote on werewolves). This book reveals his learning and scholarship when dealing with various accounts from the beliefs of the Middle Ages. The book is based extensively on the lives of the saints, including such famous works as the _Legenda Aurea_ of Jacques de Voragine, the writings of Jacob Grimm on Germanic folklore, but also many legends and beliefs issuing from the Orient, including Jewish, Islamic, but also Hindu beliefs. This book contains brief chapters on each of the following legends, each featured with a corresponding woodcut from the work of Albrecht Durer:

The Wandering Jew - a Jew cursed to wander the earth till the end of time for his refusal to give rest to Christ as he carried the cross,
Prester John - a Christian king rumored to rule in the Orient (or perhaps in Africa),
The Divining Rod - a rod used to aid in the discovery of hidden treasures or perhaps the location of murderers,
The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus - seven Christians persecuted by the emperor who rested in the earth for three hundred and seventy-seven years,
William Tell - an archer who shot an apple off the head of his child,
The Dog Gellert - a loyal dog (or other beast) who faithfully guarded an infant yet was accidentally killed by his master who believed the dog had killed the infant,
Tailed Men - the rumor of the homo caudatus,
Antichrist and Pope Joan - the legend of the Man of Sin who will reign before the end of the world and the Second Coming of Christ as well as the spurious legend of a female pope,
The Man in the Moon - a man who gathered wood on the Sabbath and was thus cursed to appear on the surface of the moon,
The Mountain of Venus - a mountain under which lived the pagan goddess Venus and the legend concerning the debauches there,
St. Patrick's Purgatory - an underground region leading to purgatory,
The Terrestrial Paradise - rumors of the Oriental location of the Garden of Eden,
St. George - the famous saint who underwent seven martyrdoms yet continued to live and slew a dragon in another legend,
St. Ursula and the Eleven Thousand Virgins - a virginal saint who asked that eleven thousand virgins be made to sail the world for three years before she offered herself up for marriage,
The Legend of the Cross - the legend of the cross in pagan myth as well as the legend of the Cross of Christ,
Schamir - a stone used by Solomon to build the temple in lieu of iron,
The Piper of Hameln - a piper who led the rats out of the city but who later cursed the city and led the children away,
Bishop Hatto - the story of an evil bishop who was eaten by rats,
Melusina - a mysterious wife who was half sea serpent,
The Fortunate Isles - a legend of an earthly paradise across the sea,
Swan-Maidens - the legend of maidens who appear in the form of a swan,
The Knight of the Swan - a knight who took the form of a swan and had six brothers,
The Sangreal - the legend of the Holy Grail, the vessel used to catch the blood of Christ as he died upon the Cross in both Celtic and Christian myth,
Theophilus - a priest who made a pact with the devil.

These legends provide a fascinating look into the mind of the Middle Ages. Baring-Gould's expert learning and understanding of their historical origins is revealed throughout. This book is an excellent source for these medieval myths and legends.

I met Sharony at a Barnes & Noble booksigning in Grosse Pointe Woods, MI. She is as sweet as her book is pink! (I love her book's hot cover!) I can't wait for my daughters to read this fun, fun book...then I'll tell them about a few of the MAE'S in our family! I think one afternoon we'll see Sharony on Oprah! Keep up the goood work, Sharony! Terry Stellini

I'm a Mae, both of my grandmothers are my Mae's, and several of my 10 aunts. This book made me feel part of an even larger legacy of Black women than just the ones in my family. I have a niece on the way and she's going to be a Mae. I'm handing this book down to her to help her out just like its helped me through college (The University of Pennsylvania)...where there weren't too many black women and especially not alot of "Mae's."

Thanks, Sharony ;-)

This book makes you think of home, family, comfort, etc... The stories are warm and heartfelt. You can just open it and read a story and feel better, or just relate to that particular Mae. The art is wonderful also.

Cuttin' the Rug Under the Moonlit Sky by Sharony Andrews Green is a joy to read and to view. Ms. Green captures the dialect that she heard as a child, the women who touched her life, and the feelings of hope, joy, renewal, and dispair that are so very universal. Each story stands by itself as a tribute or a lesson to anyone wise enough to take the time to read it. Whether one be rich or poor, young or old, black, white red, or blue, whether one hails from city or most rural country, these are stories and people that you will recognize. Ms. Green has discovered the voices of the common and the eccentric, with equal ease and style. Her folk art alone makes the book worth the purchase. It is a great gift for a thoughtful person, and just as wonderful to keep in your own library.

Michael Green's 1983 Unicornis is one of those magical books that actually makes you believe.

Presented as a fascimile of an ancient Medieval manuscript, the journal of one Magnalucius, member of a mystical fifteenth century order of philosophers and mystics, the Collegium Gnosticum (College of Knowledge), located near Ravenna, Italy, this book is simply magical.

Green presents it as his translation of the ancient Codex Unicornis, entrusted into his safekeeping by one Frater Iamblicus, a member of the Order. The book consists of the fascimile manuscript pages, done up in very authentic-looking Medieval style, and Green's translation of the Latin text. The illuminations and paintings are spectacular! So cleverly crafted and enchanting is this book that, even though I knew it was fiction, I still kept asking myself, Is it possible this could be for real? I even found myself carefully studying the illuminations and paintings in the book, trying to ascertain whether they were authentically Medieval or not. The book is THAT GOOD.

If you want a truly enchanting book that will make you believe in unicorns you simply MUST locate a copy of this book. Medievalists and lovers of fantasy will delight in this book.

Of all the unicorn books that I've read, this is the book I believed in the most. It leaves the reader with awe and wonder. A great cure for doubt and loss of innocence.

This is a wonderous achievment! De Historia et Veritate Unicornis is a book that really a translated version of a 'book' or just some writing/notes (with drawings) about the Unicorn. I am an avid fantasy reader and this book was a great find! Unfortunately, this is out of print, but if you ever find it, make sure to buy it and enjoy its beauty and let yourself believe!

I have been a believer of Unicorns since 13yrs old (I am now 27), and had no material to assist in my understandings. I first found this book in Adelaide (1989), and found it's information to be not just easy to understand but enjoyable too. The beauty of this book, if you can get a copy, is its magnificent pictures, in full color, and its overall feel. The context of the message is allorgerical fiction, but I have found it blends "heresay" and old lore to produce a book on unicorns that informs and entertains. I have owned and given this book away five times so far, it's that good. The information held within it's pages covers the birth of Unicorns, their habits and life-style, and their exit from our world. I have found the more I read this book, the more I get out of it. Definitely recommended to those who already believe and like the imagery and faith of the Unicorn. GOOD READING:Almtree."2000

This is a great book to introduce young readers to the kaleidiscopic world of Benjmain Franklin because it follows his many discoveries to their present day outcomes. The writing style is clear but adult and readers familiar with the Franklin story will enjoy the author's ability to put his achievements into the context of his time and ours. No mean feat.
James Srodes, Author
Franklin: The Essential Founding Father

As is the case with Sigmund Freud, Charles Darwin, and a select few other notables, a thriving cottage industry exists for publications on Benjamin Franklin. And with so many books on Franklin, we can legitimately ask whether we really need another one, and whether even known things about this Founding Father can even be presented in a new way. Happily, the answer to these two questions is "yes," as shown by physician Stuart Green in new book, "Dear Doctor Franklin."

The subtitle of this book pretty much describes its novelty: "E-mails to a Founding Father about Science, Medicine, and Technology." Green's e-mails back and forth to the resurrected multidimensional Franklin cleverly allow us to see some of the scientific and medical issues that he dealt with during the long eighteenth century, and conversely how well his knowledge and ideas have withstood the test of time. As for the scope of his knowledge, while much has been written about what Franklin did to help us understand the nature of electricity, surprisingly little has been written about his many medical contributions and various ventures into sciences, such as chemistry, geology, meteorology and psychology.

With his training in medicine and obvious love of Franklin and his chosen subject matter, Green's book really is different from the myriad of other books on Franklin. Additionally, with the comments from Franklin and this author, we are provided with an enjoyable way to appreciate important dimensions of Franklin that are often omitted or glossed over by his many general biographers. For a very different and pleasurable take on one of the most fascinating men who ever lived, and one that will at the same time educate the uninitiated, this book is well worth reading.

Dr. Stanley Finger
Author of "Doctor Franklin's Medicine"

Some of us are lucky in life to master one discipline. And probably content to do so. Clearly that was not the agenda of Benjamin Franklin, arguably the closest thing to a Renaissance Man since well, the Renaissance. Author, printer, politician, satirist, statesman, diplomat, educator, musician, bon vivant and most assuredly, scientist, Ben has rightfully earned his epithet of "Founding Father." It seems if there was something to find back in the 18th century, he found it.

What's so utterly charming about this Franklin book by Stuart Green (who happens to be a fellow doctor, scientist, globetrotter, photographer and Franklinophile) is it's sheer originality. Certainly the inventor of the lightning rod, bifocals, the eponymous Franklin stove, flexible urinary catheter, et al, would be just as conversant in today's web-based e-communications. After all, what Renaissance Man would be caught dead without email? Of course, given Old Ben's predilection for eternal entombment in a cask of madeira wine, one can speculate on whether he's not among us in the first place.

Hence, this book. Doctor Green to Doctor Franklin in an assortment of edifying, humorous, satirical email observations about the state of the scientific state over the past couple of hundred years is eye-opening, smile-inducing and just plain readable fun. It's like HG Wells' time-machine all over again. Only the machine is a laptop (one can only assume that Ben had an early design for this device as well; my hunch is it would have been a Mac).

It's science for both scientist and layman (count me in the latter) with a wonderful twist. Pull up a chair, pour yourself some madeira and dig in. It'll make you healthy, wealthy and wise.

There have been only a few people throughout history whose accomplishments were both very broad and very deep. One person that is rarely given the credit for the height and width of his achievements is Benjamin Franklin, he is generally well known only for his accomplishments as a statesman and diplomat. His negotiations with the French that led to their aid in the American war of independence turned what had been a stalemate into a colonial victory. However, beyond the story of his flying a kite in a thunderstorm, little about his scientific work is common knowledge. This is unfortunate, as Franklin was one of the most accomplished scientists of the eighteenth century.
The premise of this book is an unusual one. Franklin had noted that flies that drowned in Madeira wine could be revived later. Franklin had written, "I should prefer to any ordinary death, being immersed in a cask of Madeira wine . . . to be later recalled to life by the solar warmth of my dear country." Green opens with the supposition that Franklin was indeed entombed in a cask of such wine and has been successfully revived. The book is a collection of e-mails sent by the author to Franklin that are designed to bring him up to date with the scientific accomplishments since his "death."
Green does an excellent job of taking a statement made by Franklin and using it as the base for a description of the changes in scientific and medical thought since his death. Franklin was an extraordinarily broad thinker and in many cases he expressed skepticism about the medical practices and scientific theories of his time. In this way, Green is also demonstrating the breadth of Franklin's scientific curiosity and knowledge.
Green is on the Board of Directors of Friends of Franklin Inc., "An organization dedicated to promoting fellowship, learning and the spirit of Benjamin Franklin." This book certainly achieves that aim.

Georgette Heyer's "Death in the Stocks" has all the elements of a classic Heyer "whodunit." The dialogue is brusque, the characters off-the-wall, as a cousin treads his way between his wayward cousins and a growing friendship with the Inspector assigned to discover who murdered Arnold Vereker. Then placed his body on public display, dressed in evening clothes, in the stocks on Ashleigh Green. Every person has a motive without an alibi, outside the fact the deceased was heartly disliked and avoided by his step-relatives.
Brother and sister try to protect each other and lead Scotland Yard astray, as each suspects the other. Then they turn detective and examine the clues with some of the finest dialogue in mystery fiction. To the very last the murder remains a puzzle. First published in 1935, it remains a tale to prop your feet up and enjoy.
Nash Black, author of "Qualifying Laps" and "Sins of the Fathers."

Heyer wrote mysteries to read more for the fun of watching the various suspects run around than to admire the structure of the puzzle. Here we have a dead man found in the stocks on a quiet village green but the solution isn't found due to forensic work or a careful checking of alibis or schedules, but a sort of bumbling around until the murderer is impelled to strike again and again. Even so, I found the story entertaining and even plausible.

Wealthy Arnold Vereker had a family full of enemies. We're plunged into their lives, starting with his half-sister Antonia who had come down to the same town to argue with him about the forbidding of her marriage to an embezzler, and who soon brings in her attorney, cousin, and potential love interest Giles Carrington. We proceed through half-brother Kenneth, heir apparent, his girlfriend Violet and the female friend-of-the-family Leslie. Then we add on missing-and-presumed dead brother Roger who pops up to claim the fortune, throwing turmoil into everyone's schemes.

On the whole I think this would have worked better if the suspects had been snowed in somewhere but I still enjoyed watching the antics of this socially outrageous family and the poor villains they tempt to try to get their wealth one way or another.

"Death in the Stocks" was a delightful read. I have long been a fan of Georgette Heyer's Regency Novels but only recently discovered her mysteries. The mysteries are light reading - much like Dorothy Sayers - but with the marvelous character developement and amusing dialogue charateristic of Heyer. I found myself laughing out loud whenever two of the main characters (brother and sister) had a chance to analyze the mystery or have any discussions exploring the various characters' possible motives.

I advise reading this title before reading "Behold, Here's Poison" since some characters appear in both stories.

"Death in the Stocks" was a delightful read. I have long been of Georgette Heyer's Regency Novels but only recently discovered her mysteries. The mysteries are light reading - much like Dorothy Sayers - but with the marvelous character developement and amusing dialogue charateristic of Heyer. I found myself laughing out loud whenever two of the main characters (brother and sister) had a chance to analyze the mystery or have any discussions exploring the various characters' possible motives.

I advise reading this title before reading "Behold, Here's Poison" since some characters appear in both stories.

This book helps kids realize the importance of loving friends and serving and helping one another. True principles taught simply and fun. AWESOME!!!

I'm a grandmother of 23 grandchildren so have a great deal of experience reading to childen over many years. I always try to choose something that will deliver a message while grabbing attention, usuallly with splashy illustrations I think no one's too young to start developing a social conscience and this book helps toward that goal. The age range recommended could be upped a little.

Dewey Doo-it Feeds A Friend is a delightful children's story about helping others, collaboratively written by Brahm Wenger and Alan Green in homage of a real-life woman named Bea Gaddy -- who would collect food from small neighborhood grocery stores and used it to feed her family, her neighbors, and others, until she created a chain of helpers to fight hunger on a grand scale. Illustrated by Jean Gillmore, this playful picture book features a courageous and helpful characters that kids can relate as they bring food to a friend in need -- and in doing so, is set an example for civic responsibility. Dewey Doo-it Feeds A Friend is a life-enhancing and compassion-affirming picture book story.

I love the names of the characters in this book - Dewey Doo-it, Howie Doo-it, Kenya Doo-it, Anita Doo-it and the twins, Woody and Willy Doo-it. But even more, I appreciate the way the cast of ingenious "Doo-its" teaches my kids. This clever story teaches them that although we may be surrounded by troubles and social injustice, there are real life heroes who right the wrongs through good works, creativity, and tireless effort. I am so happy to find a book that tells my kids that they can do it - they can make a difference through their life choices. I recommend "Dewey Doo-it Feeds a Friend", and I plan to buy the remaining three books of the series as they are released in the months ahead. Thank you to "The Helpful Doo-its Project."

If you've wondered how old your home is, what it used to look like, if those stories you heard are true, this is the book for you. Start with any chapter that piques your interest -- you're sure to find useful tips and things you never thought of, like using a metal detector in your yard. I found many good strategies and I've been researching homes since 1995. Green explains sources of information and how to access them, nationwide. Her glossary explains in simple language the legal terms you're likely to encounter. An excellent general introduction to the topic.

Everyone can find interest in researching the history of past inhabitants of their house. This book gives step-by-step instructions to identify the names of past inhabitants, how to locate them or their relatives, and learn facts about their lives as well as obtain old photos showing your house in previous incarnations. One can learn about hidden mysteries ranging from hidden rooms to why in the world did they choose THAT interior decoration, etc.

For inspiration I recommend reading "If These Walls Had Ears," written by James Morgan. It is what you might write when you complete research like this.

Discovering The History Of Your House And Your Neighborhood by noted house historian Betsy J. Green is a fun, simple, and "user friendly" step-by-step guide to researching the history of a private home. From surfing the Internet, to following a paper trail, Discovering The History Of Your House is a welcome and highly recommended primer to finding out everything you want or need to know about the architectural history of your own home, but didn't know who or how to ask.

Many people are familiar with the idea of tracing your family roots, and learning what history surrounds you. But, this book tells you how you can trace the history of the house you live in! Providing a great deal of suggestions and courses of action, this book tells you how you can find out all sorts of wonderful information on your house. If you are interested in the history of small things, then I highly recommend that your get this very useful book!