Hill Books

I love the Mitford series and was disappointed when I finished the last book. I have been looking forward to this book and it was as expected.

I enjoy reading a book where I come away feeling good about life and inspired to live better. Karon deals with real-life problems like children with no caregivers and terminal illness in a positive, uplifting way that's true to life. Father Tim's thought processes are normal responses instead of picture-perfect "priestly" rhetoric. The dialogue of characters like Dooley and Puny is funny and rings delightfully true. The townspeople are so alive I feel I know them and would love to sit and chat.

These books were purchased for my son who reads them every semester. They are his stress relief and he has just about worn out my copies. I got him these so I could have mine to read. Jan Karon has a wonderful way with characters - you know some of the people she writes about. The books are wonderful reading. Light but filled with the sorrows of life as well. Through these books you are encouraged to deepen your walk with God as He is portrayed so accurately.

Upon recommendation of the a church librarian, we gave these books to my aunt in Texas. She has enjoyed reading them and appreciated their humor and the real life presentation. She thought they were great and is interested in others from the Mitford series.

The Mitford books are the most wonderful heart-felt adventures in small town living. The characters are real, their real-life problems and victories speak to all of us, and the feel of goodness and Christian faith stay with you long after the books are finished. Unforgettable! I wish Father Tim were the rector in our parish...

This series of books is great. Just wish they would come out closer together. I will continue to read them as they do get published. I like them as well as Sue Grafton stories.

The thing that J.A. Konrath does exceptionally well is move a story right along. And he does it with wit and style in 'Dirty Martini.' Danger lurks on nearly every page, as a maniac is poisoning grocery stores and restaurants in and around Chicago, which has the police department stumped.

Yet another in his 'Jack' Daniels mysteries series, 'Dirty Martini' is a short, quick read, reminiscent of Carl Hiaasen in many ways. Konrath, like I've said, knows how to get to the meat of the story and doesn't waste time with a great deal of internal monologue or explanation of character motives.

Which is great but can, at times, leave you wondering why they would do things that are so brash. It almost makes you wonder if it's to do the dreaded move-the-plot-along thing. I don't think it works to the detriment of the novel, on the whole, however. Most, if not all, of the characters, are brash and headstrong and so their actions fit well into the story.

Overall, Dirty Martini is a wonderfully entertaining genre novel.

J.A. does it once again with Dirty Martini! I have yet to even finish the book and this is surely one of his best to date. Funny. Surprising. Vicious. Scary. I defy you to go out and eat at a chain buffet after getting halfway through this book.

Oh, and you could say I have so much faith in this book that I'm comfortable making an appearance in it. That's right, you'll find me on pages 108-114. I'm the police officer with the motor scooter who gets into an unfortunate (and stinky) accident.

Buy this! Buy this! Buy this!

Lieutenant Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels of the Chicago police is given command of a task force to deal with the Chemist, a deranged individual who is poisoning food in grocery stores and restaurants. He is demanding two million dollars from the city, but his real mission may be something else. Nobody is safe. Deaths seem to be occurring randomly, but are they really random.

The case winds forward to a conclusion as "Jack" searches for the identity of the killer and deals with personal attacks on herself. A family matter is added in along the way.

The novel is light reading and a somewhat quick read. It is 282 pages at 32 lines to a page, divided into a prologue, 47 short chapters, and an epilogue. Some zany characters are added in along the way, and some scenes are a bit far out, like the police helicopter at the end. Fans of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series will probably like this novel. Readers looking for more serious literature will probably find it a bit lightweight.

Over the last year or so J.A. Konrath has become one of my favorite authors to read. He has a great way of making his characters stand out, and adds a great mix of humor, horror, and thrill to all his novels. I really enjoy reading the Jack Daniels series and have read all four so far, and look forward to reading all the future titles. This in my opinion is the best book of the series to date. I can definitely tell that JA is getting better at the writers craft the more work he produces. You will definitely want to check this title out! Happy Reading!

This series of books is great. Just wish they would come out closer together. I will continue to read them as they do get published. I like them as well as Sue Grafton stories.

The thing that J.A. Konrath does exceptionally well is move a story right along. And he does it with wit and style in 'Dirty Martini.' Danger lurks on nearly every page, as a maniac is poisoning grocery stores and restaurants in and around Chicago, which has the police department stumped.

Yet another in his 'Jack' Daniels mysteries series, 'Dirty Martini' is a short, quick read, reminiscent of Carl Hiaasen in many ways. Konrath, like I've said, knows how to get to the meat of the story and doesn't waste time with a great deal of internal monologue or explanation of character motives.

Which is great but can, at times, leave you wondering why they would do things that are so brash. It almost makes you wonder if it's to do the dreaded move-the-plot-along thing. I don't think it works to the detriment of the novel, on the whole, however. Most, if not all, of the characters, are brash and headstrong and so their actions fit well into the story.

Overall, Dirty Martini is a wonderfully entertaining genre novel.

J.A. does it once again with Dirty Martini! I have yet to even finish the book and this is surely one of his best to date. Funny. Surprising. Vicious. Scary. I defy you to go out and eat at a chain buffet after getting halfway through this book.

Oh, and you could say I have so much faith in this book that I'm comfortable making an appearance in it. That's right, you'll find me on pages 108-114. I'm the police officer with the motor scooter who gets into an unfortunate (and stinky) accident.

Buy this! Buy this! Buy this!

Lieutenant Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels of the Chicago police is given command of a task force to deal with the Chemist, a deranged individual who is poisoning food in grocery stores and restaurants. He is demanding two million dollars from the city, but his real mission may be something else. Nobody is safe. Deaths seem to be occurring randomly, but are they really random.

The case winds forward to a conclusion as "Jack" searches for the identity of the killer and deals with personal attacks on herself. A family matter is added in along the way.

The novel is light reading and a somewhat quick read. It is 282 pages at 32 lines to a page, divided into a prologue, 47 short chapters, and an epilogue. Some zany characters are added in along the way, and some scenes are a bit far out, like the police helicopter at the end. Fans of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series will probably like this novel. Readers looking for more serious literature will probably find it a bit lightweight.

Over the last year or so J.A. Konrath has become one of my favorite authors to read. He has a great way of making his characters stand out, and adds a great mix of humor, horror, and thrill to all his novels. I really enjoy reading the Jack Daniels series and have read all four so far, and look forward to reading all the future titles. This in my opinion is the best book of the series to date. I can definitely tell that JA is getting better at the writers craft the more work he produces. You will definitely want to check this title out! Happy Reading!

This book is great if your looking for discipline ideas rather than a strict guideline that you must follow each part in order for the concept to work. This is the 2nd book that I've read by Elizabeth Pantley and have enjoyed reading both of them. I would recommend this book to anyone who doesn't believe in spanking.

I'm only slightly more than half-way through this book. However, in the last three days I have used techiniques from this book (on my three year old) and all three times successively. In my opinion, books of this nature are really psychology books (how to deal with another person, in this case a toddler/child, and how to put things into perspective for ourselves). Most everything here we already know, but in the heat of the moment will virtually never have the ability to bring it into action. BUT this book makes you think AND act. That's because the written word is very powerful. Also, some of the ideas will not only help you have a better relationship with your child, but with other adults as well.

I don't agree with everything in the book and some of the solutions are not right for me, but the book certainly got me thinking and to be more creative in my parenting.

I can only say good things about this book. Before you conclude that it is just another attachment parenting book with obvious advice or a too-soft approach, I urge you to read it in its entirety. Particularly, I urge you to read this one with an open mind regarding your own behavior and your pre-existing parenting beliefs. Pantley manages to help the parent via validation of parental feelings and reactions while providing sound, behaviorally-based, sensitive strategies for raising a happy, kind, thinking individual - which is what we all want, isn't it? This one's a keeper for reference too, as there are wonderful summary pages that can help at a glance later. Pantley's approach is perfect for those of us with one of the 15-20% of children that are emotionally sensitive (Also see Elaine Aron's book, "The Highly Sensitive Child").

When she says "no-cry" I think this time she is talking about the parents not crying, my twins would bring me to tears of anger and frustration. This book really should be called the "No-Angry Parent book" she really helps you, the parent, understand how you could love your children so unconditionally and still get SO angry by thier behaviors!! She has helped me understand "why" they behave the way they do and gives actual tools/skills to use to help cope with many different situations. My 3 yr old twins really respond to the "Talking Mommy hand" when I need to get thier attention. A must read for any parent of a toddler (or 2!)

The book has good information to use at all ages; but, it did not provide the understanding behind childrens behavior that I hoped for. It did provide thoughtful solutions and reasons why we must control our own behavior. I recommend it as a useful tool; but, more as common sense rather than an eye opening experience. I was also hoping for more information regarding sibling rivalry.

I have the book for almost two years and use it
quite often. Devraj explains not only database, but the whole system. It is crucial for any good DBA to understands systems and software architecture. This book explains it all. Great explanation about mirroring. The best book on Oracle Database ever.

This is an excellent book and I learned a lot. The only problem of this book is the papers continue drop down after I read it for three month. I have to say the writer and knowledge are excellent, but manufacture bound quality of this book is low.

I haven't been a DBA for very long and although this book has everything in it explained very well, I'm not sure that I would recommend it for beginners. Beginners need more detail, which understandbly you can't fit into any one book. But this is definetely excellent as reference material to start you off in the right direction. I wouldn't dare do standby without it!

While this comprehensive book is a definitive and complete reference for Oracle DBAs who need to support mission-critical databases, it is also a key reference for developing a comprehensive high-availability posture in Oracle-centric enterprises.

This book focuses on making Oracle highly available and resilient, but also touches on related aspects, such as hardware, operating systems and networks. What I particularly liked is the way the book begins, with an exceptionally well-written chapter on identifying your uptime requirements. All of the material here applies to availability and reliability of enterprise-wide systems, not just Oracle. In fact, Parts I and II of this book should be read by anyone who is responsible for implementing and managing a 24x7 enterprise regardless of whether they are a DBA because the information in the first two parts of this eight-part book will have the whole team (SAs, DBAs, network analysts and service delivery/support staff) using a common framework.

The remaining six parts span chapters 7 through 20 and are specific to Oracle. There is an overwhelming amount of information here. What makes getting through these chapters so hard is the fact that nearly every page has some important tip, fact or technique. The sheer number of these, all of which are important, will consume two or three highlighters before you get to the end of the book

Overall, this book is essential for Oracle DBAs, and deserves a place in the library of every architect and operations manager in large 24x7 enterprises that use Oracle .

This is the only book I've read that refers to multiplexing and mirring the control file in words you can actually understand! I now understand the impact of both techniques, and I can make a quick decision on how best to use the features. You'll want this book after being exposed to all the other material on Oracle, because then you can appreciate the subject matter. There tends to be a "confusion zone" surrounding Oracle learning because the Oracle database tends to be so over-engineered in some areas. I'm sure the information in this book will apply to version 9i as well. Good job on what I've read so far.

This guide is the definitive guide to advantage. No where else on the planet can you get the information detailed in this book.
If you use advantage, you must have this book!

I was a beginner at database usage, but I was able to pick up the nuances of ADS through the use of this book. It is my main source of reference for questions concerning ADS, and has helped solve many of my problems. ADS is a great resource, and this book is the ultimate companion.

Our company (Hudson Medical Systems) has been using the Advantage Database Server in our medical transcription and dictation products for over 3 years now and we could not be more satisfied with its ease-of-use, performance, and cost. I was pleased to see a new book devoted to this remarkable product that explains the unique features of ADS in such a logical and straight-forward manner. We especially liked the dicussion of the new features in version 7.0 that we are interested in. I would recommend this book to any database developer, regardless of their familiarity with ADS, as a great resource when developing applications.

We have been making Point Of Sale Applications since the DOS days and have been through several databases over the time. Advantage Database Server has performed far beyond than we ever expected from any Database Server Software. Programming in Delphi, we found the Advantage Database Server to be the most flexible and powerful Database Server and still reasonable priced. I wish we had have this book from the start. We have used Advantage Database Server for over three years and we have learned a lot by reading this book. You, definetly, need this book if you are looking for a new database server or you are already using Advantage Database Server. You don't want to miss out on this book!!!

Whether you're upgrading a BDE app to a client server database or developing a new single-user or scaleable multi-user app, Advantage Database should be at the top of your list of databases to consider. Native Delphi VCL components, ISAM file formats, free local server, easy installation and maintenance-free design make designing and deploying ADS apps a snap.

Now with "Advantage Database Server: The Official Guide", Cary Jensen and Loy Anderson have made life even easier. Although the Advantage help file documentation makes an excellent reference, it's no substitute for Jensen and Anderson's step-by-step guide to creating an Advantage database, connecting your app to it and deploying your end product.

If you've attended one of Cary Jensen's excellent Advantage Workshop seminars you'll recognize that this intuitive, and easy to read book is based on his well developed course book. If you haven't yet had the benefit of Cary Jensen's Advantage Workshop, you probably won't need it after reading "Advantage Database Server: The Official Guide"!

Whether you're an Advantage expert or rookie this book's a keeper as both an introduction and a reference. If you're looking for a low cost, maintenance free, high performance, scaleable database that you can learn to use and deploy in a day, this book and the included companion CD contain everything you need to get started.

Even before starting to read The Lost Teachings I felt the importance it would have in my life. In different ways I had been searching for the truth about what's going on with the Earth and how I'm playing a role in it. It being all to easy to say there's nothing I can do to change the way things will go; let's live on. My view has altered fully.
Reading the book made me eager to go on, since it often made me feel like being there; kind of I've lived this sensations before. This combined with stories of all lifetimes, long ago as well as recently, made it very easy to read and made it have a big impact on my life, an impact I never could forsee when I started it. Feeling back though I do remember the deep feeling about this book being good for me in my search for the truth. Finding this truth has had a big impact on me since. a life of Unselfish Love walking my path following the Universal Law. Starting to give more than ask. Feeling the importance of this impact on my life makes me happy to reread the book over and over, discovering it again and again, rediscovering myself again and again following my path. For everybody who's searching his own path in this roalercoaster world I strongly advise reading this book. I feel sure it will have the same effect on you as it has on me and my life in this loving World.

When reading the book for the first time, I was "blown away" so to speak. Not only because of their amazing ancient history, but because I had an experience I never had before. I had the feeling I already knew their teachings somehow and while reading, I felt it was truth.
For almost a year now, I have been applying their teachings about the simple Universal Laws that govern this Universe and using the self-improvement meditation techniques described in their book. But most importantly, I'm working on manifesting in my life, the very essence of their teachings - Unselfish Love. And my life has already changed in a profoundly positive way.
Loving other people Unselfishly has also been called the Golden Rule. An old concept (and it is often overlooked) but I, as the Children of the Law of One, believe it is the most important spiritual teaching in the world. All good people can agree with me if I say "this world needs a lot more love" and I would recommend anyone who agrees with this and thinks the Golden Rule is a good thing, to read this book.

This book helped me to under stand the Bible better. I loved this book

I have felt the intense experiences of Jon while reading the book and still do after finishing the book and reading in it again and again.
The book is written in a straight and readable way, handing over universal messages that touch the inner being of 'spiritual searchers' or perhaps those who simply read out of interest.
The book is containing the A-Z ("Atlantis to Zen Buddhism") of Real spirituality, and methods to improve one's life via spiritual practice, or how to change one's life and by doing so also have a positive effect on others automaticaly.
Reading the book will have a deep impact on any searcher and person that seeks to live in a sane society, and is truley a revolution in presenting great and yet basic concepts in the most logical and straight forward way.
This book may be just what you were looking for, answering fundamental questions you carry around with you through life.

if you are curious as to the cause, nature and origin of the critical state of disharmony on our planet, The Children of The Law of One & The Lost Teachings of Atlantis by (the now late) Jon Peniel is the most comprehensive, informative and authentically true book i've found on The Matter.

with humor and aplomb the CLO & LAT explained everything to me about "life" as we know and experience it in/on the extant (3D five sense reality) incarnated plane of existence we live/operate in/on. the CLO & LAT also caused me see, literally and figuratively, The Light -- especially understanding, appreciating and coming to terms with the fact that we are indeed spiritual beings having a human experience (as opposed to human beings having a spiritual experience or even human beings having a human experience).

if you are wanting to know the origins of our being here, how things "devolved", why things are the way they are in our world/plane of existence today, how they got this way -- the details and history of how the whole "mess" started, who/what is responsible, what's gonna happen next/how the "mess" is going to be "cleaned" up, what needs to be done, how to better yourself and live life so as to be an exemplar for others, etc. -- essentially all of life's mysteries and questions explained -- then this is The Book for you.

an excellent companion book imho, Fallen Angels and the Origins of Evil: Why Church Fathers Suppressed the Book of Enoch and Its Startling Revelations, is Most Congruent and dovetails very well with the CLO & LAT teachings on what Went Wrong and what's gonna happen to Right Things.

This is a good book if you want to learn all about digestion, the areas of the body involved and how different foods, herbs, and minerals can heal (or destroy) the body. It was interesting to discover how many ailments that are not commonly associated with digestion actually were alleviated or reduced by change in diet and supplementation.

I recommend the author consider making the text flow better on a re-write of this text. To me the book was very reference-like. I admit it did state in the beginning that the book was not written to be read from front to back. Nevertheless, I expect books to read this way unless it's specifically labeled as a reference text.

I found this book to be very informative. It is written in easy to understand, plain language. Everything is explained well enough for a lay person to understand.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who would like a deeper understanding of how the digestive process works. Anyone who desires to take control of their health should read this. My doctor told me that the colon controls 90% of the other organs of the body. I had a hard time believing that until I began to do research on the digestive system. I have concluded that he was right.

This is an exceptional book about the digestive system. I would highly recommend it. I also ordered the children's digestive wellness and it too is an exceptional and informative book.

This is a great book, refresher for those medically trained, but fabulous information to help one with problems and to keep others healthy

I usually don't write reviews on Amazon unless I have extreme satisfaction from my purchase. Well this is one of them. I used to get bad heartburn frequently and was taking proton-pump inhibitors, which I felt were not alleviating the problem but maybe making it worse. I bought this book and learned a bit about the digestive system and the bacteria involved in helping us digest. Knowing that I have H. pylori which was the main cause of my heartburn, I decided to take the approach of promoting the good bacteria in my system. Since then I've done this, and barely ever get acid reflux. The only times I will get it is when I deviate to eating bad foods for a prolonged amount of time.

the book will teach basic Oracle things and clear the misconcepts, myths and mis understanding prevailing amongst numerous Oracle users.
I am still to finish this book fully, but so far I am so enlightened by reading the first 3 topics of the book.
I recommend to all who are related to Oracle Database to go through this book, which would be very very helpful in understanding the Oracle Database. Also, it would make Oracle a fun to work with instead of huge and cumbersome tool which is the picture in majority of people's mind.

Tom has done a great job at busting several myths related to performance tuning, SQL, Architechture etc..

I think the entire book can be summarized in 4 words "Dont think just benchmark!"

This book now lives permanently in my laptop bag (despite how heavy it is). Tom really goes out of his way to show you why you should do things certain ways, and he proves what he's saying through every part of the book with actual test cases. Applying some of the concepts from this book gave my application a 4x's performance boost, so my customers are much happier already. The biggest things you learn are to benchmark everything and not to assume anything about Oracle without testing it. The book really opened my eyes and made me realize as an application developer how much I was guessing about Oracle without actually knowing.

This book delivers the clear insight before delving into intricate details on a good selection of topics that are critical to those concerned with deigning and implementating high performance database solutions.

My only wish is that this book covered more ground, especially on newer or perhaps peripheral topics such as RAC, ASM, XMLDB, OCI/OCCI, DataGuard and so on.. but maybe that's asking too much from one book.

Classic Tom Kyte. Get it on your bookshelf today if you implement or support Oracle database solutions for a living.

I've been an Oracle developer for 12 years, and this is the best book on Oracle that I've read. No waffle, well laid out and it's packed with information and relevant examples. I found it extremely useful for a complex piece of work I was doing recently - it paid for itself several times over. 5 stars !

Few people, even non-golfers, can escape ever having heard of Ben Hogan. Maybe you don't know exactly who he was, but the name is oddly familiar.

To golfers, Ben Hogan is as close to legend as anything. Other players, even Bobby Jones and Tiger Woods, lack the mystique which has encompassed Hogan, even many years after his death.

What few of us know is just who he was. This information may not be so pertinant to people who play the game, since they are mostly interested in his swing. However, anyone who has touched even in a small way on part of his career realizes the great mysteries that lie in his life and being.

"Hogan" may not answer everything satisfactorily, but it comes as close as any are likely to get. This covers his life in as much informative detail as could be needed, and presents Hogan not so much in a less-than-glamorous light, as is common to biographies, but rather in a "judge for yourself" presentation of evidence for what made the man what he became.

Anyone curious about this modern legend will get more than he bargains for. Where perhaps the book does not go into his game to the extent golfers may want, the story of Hogan's life is engaging enough without it.

In my very large golf library this is clearly the best book on golf
I have read period. For the first time you get an insight into the "wie ice mon" in what reads like a novel.

This book really only confirmed what I had thought for a long time, behind Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan was a tremendous golfer who was way ahead of his time. Hogan nearly won the grand slam, and could not compete in the PGA because of the fact it started almost the same time the British Open was finishing. As we all watch Tiger Woods try for the grand slam, let us not forget Ben Hogan who was as close as anyone has ever come to doing it. The most amazing part of Hogan's story was the fact he won the US Open after almost dying in a car crash.

Sampson does a nice job with this book, telling about Hogan like he was, stearn and driven, and definitely not writing a fluff piece like some biographies can be. Hogan was tough, and I would equate him as the "Ted Williams" of golf, so good it was hard for him to teach anyone because he set such high standards for himself. I recommend this book to golfers and people who want to read about a remarkable man.

Ben Hogan was a no nonsense, focused champion who realized early in life that hard work was the path to success. Curt Sampson does a great job in presenting the real Hogan, not just the golf legend. This book should be required reading for all golf fans.
Especially the goofs who scream "You da man!" everytime Tiger hits a shot. There will never be another Ben Hogan.

When I was growing up the names of Palmer, Nicklaus, Trevino, Player, and their generation were the top competitors. Ben Hogan was a revered name, but one of past glory. His great year of 1953 was in the past. I had heard about his auto accident and his amazing comeback, but this book helped me see the man who "dug it out of the dirt" through hard work, discipline, and ferocious tenacity.

Mr. Hogan started out with less than most. His father's suicide and the family's subsequent poverty didn't leave him with many open paths to success. He found golf and found that it not only matched his physical skills, but was an even better match for his nearly obsessive temperament.

The swing he developed has become the pattern millions of us try to emulate, although he would find our haphazard approach to the game less than useless. Why we love being duffers would be beyond him. He knew how to work and to practice. I still cannot fathom the kind of internal strength it would take to come back from that terrible leg shattering accident when his Cadillac was struck by a bus. He played in great pain for the rest of his life and had four surgeries on his left shoulder. When I realize that his greatest achievements and most of his wins at major tournaments were after the accident I am simply dumbstruck.

Mr. Hogan was a very private and enigmatic figure. Mr. Sampson does a good job in teasing what facts we know into a good story. We get interesting stories from the golf side of his life (mostly stories told about Hogan by others) and those are very enjoyable. However, I like the way Mr. Sampson puts all that in the context of a real person - a real man. Ben Hogan wasn't a fictional character even though the media version of him was a distortion of the actual hard working man who practiced, practiced, and then practiced some more, who loved his wife, Valerie, and built a successful golf equipment business.

Ben Hogan made a long journey through life and I think this book tells the story well.