Green Books

Profound science combined with wit and the subtlety of Dickinson. Not to be missed..Nature loves this book!

"Dazzle gradually" is another great book by Margulis and Sagan. It engages your intellect and emotions in bringing together and taking apart myriads of the living world's dazzling puzzles, or (quoting the famous Russian poet Nikolay Gumilev) "as if not all stars are yet counted, as if our world is not yet all discovered".

Let me add to one of those dazzles by commenting on kefir, the Caucasian drink and a wonderful symbiotic consortium of yeast and bacteria.

There indeed is a Caucasian legend about "Muhammad pellets" (or "Prophet's grain") but it talks about the Prophet bringing it (in his hollowed staff) to Muslim people of Caucasus - definitely not to the Christians!

The legend comes from the Karachay, a Sunni Muslim people still inhabiting the valleys of northern Caucasus north of the (Orthodox Christian) Georgia, indeed near Mt Elbrus.
In fact, the legend said explicitly that the secret of kefir has to be hidden from the infidels, and its disclosure will bring Allah's anger and the destruction of Karachay people.
The kefir secret was held so tightly that it became known outside of Caucasus only in early 20th century through Russian dairy producers.

We even know exactly how this happened: Ten pounds of kefir culture were given by a Karachay nobleman Bekmurza Baichorov to a young Russian dairy researcher Irina Sakharova in 1906. The story of their love can be now read on every packet of kefir in Russia!

The entire Karachay people (80,000), along with a number of other ethnic groups, were exiled by Stalin to Central Asia in 1943. Out of 28,000 exiled children, 22,000 died. The Karachay were allowed to return to the Caucasus in 1957. The world never noticed.

Victor Fet,
Marshall University,
Huntington, West Virginia

After reading this book, I've started reading more in the series -- this book is kind of in the middle of what Green has written in the Kate Kinsella series.

Kate is kind of a Kinsey Milhone in Britain detective. She is living above a funeral home in this book, and her unusual buddy is an older man -- Hubert, the undertaker who is her landlord. They have a dog that's technically his, but when she's walking the dog one rainy night, she -- or rather the dog -- finds a young girl under a bush. The girl isn't making a lot of sense, but Kate takes her home to dry off. This girl has a strange story to tell about a half-remembered childbirth and a baby she never saw -- born dead, she was told. The conception of this child is even less remembered that the birth -- and it sounds very fishy to Kate, who believes the girl's story. She sets off to find a man who might be behind all of this -- a man who is with the police.

Green is great at plotting, and Kate and her friends are likeable and interesting. I look forward to the rest of the series.

It looked like a load of rags and Private Investigator Kate Kinsella tried to pull her dog away from it--but then it moved. The rags turned out to be a young woman, recently pregnant, and close to suicide. Kate drags her back to her apartment but Megan appears nearly frozen with fear. Surely her story of date rape, a kidnapped child, and drugs is the crazed imagination of a woman with no life but her television. Except Kate hears the very real death threats over Megan's phone.

Against her will, Kate is dragged into an investigation of a crime that might not have happened. If it did happen, the criminal is a senior London police officer--someone who appears beyond Kate's reach. Kate's client is easily confused, never made a report of the rape, and is the type that would be confused on the witness stand. And the threatening caller seems willing to do anything to stop Megan--and Kate.

English author Christine Green has written a fascinating and compelling story. Kate Kinsella makes a wonderful character. She is just incompetent enough to be human, with a mother who would embarass anyone and a love life that wouldn't even fill a short story, but she is also plucky, brave, and a good sport (most of the time). As Kate lurches from danger to danger, hoping to find evidence before her suspect can find her, I found myself nearly holding my breath waiting to see what disaster would hapen next.

DEADLY ECHO is a top-notch mystery with a fine private investigator lead character.

Here is the deal, this book is very much like the 1997 printing (with out the insanely hard time finding the 1997 printing or the extreamly rare 2000 countdown version). It is updated with the post 9/11 stuff, which makes cretin things a little easier. Also there are D20 and BRP stats.

This game is like a non-fluffy version of the X-Files.

This game is my personal favorite. I have read/played many other systems in my 5 years of gaming. (I attend Origins, GenCon and smaller conventions.) This has both D20 and BRP stats. The D20 stats were an after thought but this book has more content for the read. I personally dislike D&D and most d20 systems as they lend well to power gaming. Delta Green is highly lethal, but that is really needed to get the mood right. I love this system and setting, but this is not for everyone. This is Modern-Horror-Sci-Fi gaming at it's best, and if you're not into those genres this may not be the game for you.

For any horror role-playing affectionado, this is where it's at

It's a conspiracy oriented Call of Cthulhu RPG game. The D20 addition gives you the opportunity to create much more action oriented encounters than the BRP. Imagine having a character from the x-files in a Call of Cthulhu game uncovering secret plots by alien Gods and monsters. You get the picture. Throw in man made political schemes into the mix and your in for one hell of a ride with the players. The book goes over various secretive organizations and how to make a plausible character. There are helpful templates and ideas of how to get players involved. The scenarios are really good and thought out. Infact the whole book is very well thought out. Keep in mind when reading it that they wrote the Call of Cthulhu version with the BRP system first and overlayed the D20 features afterwards. So the D20 stats will always follow the BRP stats. This is especially true for the gun section
I would aso like to add that the book goes over various designations of top secret very well and will add to the flavor and play of the game

Its About Time!!!

Finally, a book that treats a delicate subject with Godly insight, accurate scriptural reference, and personal understanding. Mike Green has hit a home run with this excellent treatment of a all too often misunderstood subject. This is a "must have" for any Christians Library.

Demons....not a subject most people like to think about, but ignoring the subject is definitely not in our best interest. I am midway through my second reading of this book, and it is a keeper. It's the type of book you will want to refer to again and again throughout life. Mike Green's treatment of the subject is extremely perceptive, instructive and gives tremendous insight into demonic strategies, ways we unknowingly invite their activity into our lives, and the God-given authority we have as believers. However, this book is not just about demons! I came away with a deeper understanding of the heart of the battle, a greater love for the Kingdom of God, and practical instruction on experiencing more intimate fellowship with the Lord. As a Christian author, I'm not sure this would be the easiest subject to tackle, but Mike Green has done it in such a way that it removed the discomfort of the subject of demons and instead taught me that many things I attribute to trials, emotions, or my own thought life are symptoms of demonic activity. By recognizing this and by applying what I've learned through Demons and You, I am experiencing greater freedom and peace. I believe this is a book every believer should have in their possession!

Chuck has done it again. His series of books are THE best design books on the market and this one on newsletters is the best of the best. Even if you just look at the examples you will become a better designer--but I recommend reading this book cover to cover. Wow! What a great book.

DIY: Newsletters is another Chuck Green gem of great clarity and simple beauty. Good, thorough review of the design process in part one. But it's the 13 newsletter recipes in part two that I craved. Some stylish and arty, some plain and practical -- all uncluttered and appealing. With his step-by-step specifications, you just choose and use. Mix compelling content with any of these handsome templates and your readers will appreciate you. Even if you don't do a newsletter, Chuck's lucid explanations, sample palettes and effective use of clip art will improve all your print communication. Buy this book. Buy two...one to use and one to loan out. It's a bargain.

The Graphic Workshop book has been a lifesaver for me in my InDesign class! As a beginner in the Graphic Arts program, this book has guided me through the steps needed to create letterheads and the logos on them. It has been so helpful to have this book along with my InDesign workbook. It was delivered in a very timely fashion and in excellent condition. Thank you so much!

Very useful and illustrative book that guides you to the entire design process. This is for both, designers and non-designers. I recommend it so much.

The book was a little pricey for my budget - but turned out to be well worth the expense! The range of school designs and locales provide great examples and were extremely helpful to me as I am working on a dissertation about school design. Finding up to date school design information - especially high performance school design, is quite difficult. This book made that so much easier. I also recommend the Prakash Nair Design Patterns for schools book.

Good for architects and for clients.

1)Architects:
This book is an excellent resource for sustainable architecture in general in addition to sustainable school design. It looks at 40+ buildings from around the world and in various architectural styles, discussing natural lighting, innovative HVAC systems, rainwater capturing and re-use, siting, natural ventilation, solar heating and cooling and many other systems. The buildings range from a community built clay brick building in rural Africa to modern high design.
A great resource when designing your own project (house, school, whatever building type) in terms of brainstorming how to incorporate sustainable design systems. Also excellent for taking the next research step of comparing a variety of approaches to each individual system, and the book ends with a list of websites for further info. A valuable and inspiring find!

2) Clients:
A very helpful review of a wide variety of sustainable systems, it covers buildings of all budgets and styles. There is a list of the architects of each of the buildings, but the book can also be used for getting some useful background to help in working with an architect of your choosing.

When the narrator says, "The man of my dreams is a man I've never met ...", I thought to myself - its all coming together now. Jameson Currier's latest collection of fiction seeks out to exploit that very indecisive and fickle nature of men. DESIRE LUST PASSION SEX is an extremely well written, entertaining and poignant collection of short fiction in which the male ego is placed under a literary microscope and dissected right before the reader's eyes. The book features nineteen short stories, many of which have been previously published in erotica anthologies and gay men's fiction journals.

Jameson Currier's stories are diverse and enigmatic as he treats all his topics with genuine expertise: the frustration of surviving the AIDS epidemic, getting romantically involved with married or "unavailable" men, the fears of getting older and the fears of still being too young and/or inexperienced. Altogether, the stories deal with real characters trying to survive in an overly sexual world. His first story, "Lessons", involves a man who has re-emerging from sexual hibernation after the peak of AIDS and answers a personal ad for a sexual trainer. To his complete disgust, he finds that the teacher is a 300 pound late 50's man named Joey. Though completely disgusted by his host, the narrator feels almost obligated to stay and have sex with him. Somehow, a strange bond forms between both men and the experience ends on a good note. If only all of Currier's characters could be so lucky. A later story, "Expatriates" involves a romance between two men at a flea market. Dru is a small-town working-class boy, who is engaged to his girlfriend of several years and Rusty, an ex-model, helps his sister run a booth at the flea market. Dru's and Rusty's friendship centers around them hooking up in Rusty's van, while Dru contemplates choosing between his girlfriend and Rusty. Ultimately, the friendship is doomed and Dru re-closets himself.

One of Currier's gifts is his ability to take very specific moments and unleash some form of hidden erotica. He turns a boy's near drowning during lifeguard lessons into a picturesque scene of man-boy love, unleashes the sullen intellect of a man snowed in with his escort and gives the personal account of wild sex with the modern day Tarzan. Gay Men will love this for this collection for its all-too-true scenarios and brisk erotic qualities. Women will love this for a sneak peak into a gay men's mind and the personal struggles between romance and sex which is worth re-reading over and over again.

An original and brilliant collection of literary gay erotica, crammed full of wit and sex. The art behind Currier's stories lies in his ability to first snare the reader's attention and then weave in all the details. Take "First Shave," for example, a terrific and arousing story about a younger gay man shaving his older boyfriend. Or "Lessons" -- which takes what appears to be a man's initial disappointment while answering a hardcore personal ad -- Butt Play 101 -- and turns it into a surprisingly touching encounter between two completely different men. Currier can be romantic ("Impromptu," about an unexpected encounter during a vacation in Venice), poignant ("Buddies," a lushly written, insightful ode about a sex buddy), and comic ("A Date with Dracula, a Trick with Tarzan," a laugh out-loud tale about one man's misadventures while on two blind dates). There are several short fiction masterpieces in this book, too: "Fearless" reveals the dating scenario between two New York men, one HIV-negative, the other HIV-positive. "What You Learn," one of the several short stories in this book written in the second person point of view, finds a 28-year-old gay man confronting the fantasy of his former swim teacher -- a man who saved him from drowning at age 15. "Snow" has a businessman trapped in a hotel room with a hustler during a blizzard. "Alibis" links a sequence of tricks through a distinctive tattoo. "Grownups" discloses sexual politics and permutations in and out of the office. And the title story delightfully catalogs the introspections and interactions between two gay couples who meet during vacations in Las Vegas -- one, mature and argumentative; the other, young and dauntless.

The book arrived in a timely manner and was in great condition. I would do business with this seller again.

The fourth volume, "Discipleship" in the Bonhoeffer works series is an outstanding representation of not just Bonhoeffer the theologian, but Bonhoeffer the man as well. The fresh translation brings back to life the passion with which this man of God lived his life. Bonhoeffer viewed the church of his day as falling away from the teachings of Jesus, but within the pages of, "Discipleship", he writes of what is necessary of the Christian, in order that he or she may be true disciples of Christ.

Joe R is one of a kind. His writing is at once streetwise and refined. His language is stripped of all pretention and this book (a novel that reads like an epic poem) is a hard hit to your gut. Very cool.

I've been a Joe R. fan for around 5 years now and I must say he takes his writing a step further in this collection. Joe always uses the right mix of language, empathy and emotion in his work. I recommend it highly.