Howard Books

This book changed my life in a matter of minutes. I am a 23 year old mother of a 9 month old baby boy that has down syndrome. I have come to realize that my son was an absolute gift. He was meant to be ours and we were meant to be his...this book gave me the extra inspiration that I sometimes need. When I get discouraged, I just read a few pages of this book and I instantly feel refreshed! This is a must have for parents of children with down syndrome-the sooner you read it and listen to the beautiful song, the better!

As the mother of a special child, this book touched the depths of my soul. How heartwarming it is to realize that other parents view themselves as blessed by God to have the opportunity to experience the "hidden miracles," even if for a short period. I recommend this book to anyone who is struggling for understanding.

Wonderful book and CD! He captures all the feelings and emotions we feel inside when we discover we have a special needs child. Our daughter has Down syndrome and we were so frightened when we found out...this song reminds us that God creates all of us in His Image! We are so blessed... our daughter brings us nothing but JOY! I would reccomend it to all who have found out they have a special child coming into their lives!

Please keep in mind that this book is most appropriate for parents of children with Down Syndrome. I had bought it, hoping it was applicable to various disabilities, but with a few exceptions, Down Syndrome was the primary disability, as well as anencephaly.
In any case, a disability is a disability, and this book is perfect to give as a gift to someone who recently discovered that their child is "special". That is always a traumatic discovery, and coping is so difficult. This book will bring many tears of sadness, but when you finish reading it - - you will find that God has indeed blessed you, and that you have plenty of the two most important things you will need: love, and hope. Terrific buy!

To read this book is like sitting around a table of your peers and to finally realize that your feelings of love mixed with grief are not unusual or wrong. What a wonderful way to teach you that your special child was chosen to be yours, because you too are special or why else would God allow you to care for such a special gift with such a sweet spirit. We love our Anna and this book helped us to see what a very special gift she is and how lucky her dad, her twin sister and I are to have her in our lives.

"Three Weeks Last Spring is an enticing read that is romantic and suspenseful."

"Skye Dunbar decides to take a vacation in the San Juan Islands with hopes of regaining some perspective on her life after a devastating breakup of a previous relationship."

"While on vacation at a remote location she meets ands falls head over heals in love with Jedediah Walker. He is a marine biologist who is in the middle of investigating a crime."

"Walker falls deep for Skye, however he becomes suspicious of her and comes to believe that she is directly connected to his investigation. Needless to say, his suspicions take a toll on their relationship and Skye decides that she wants nothing to do with him. However, she agrees to assist Walker in finding the computer hacker that has tapped into his company's files utilizing the software she developed with her partner Ridge."

"When Walker goes after the culprits, his life is endangered. He's left for dead, yet survives after a difficult recovery, determined more than ever to capture the heart of the woman he loves."

"This is an entertaining read that is descriptive and takes readers on a journey towards love that crosses two countries."

I can say in all honesty that Victoria Howard has written a page turner with her debut novel. While reading Three Weeks Last Spring you are not only reading about what is happening to Skye at the present time, but piece by piece you also find out what happened with her before she went to Seattle, about her troubled relationship. This makes your understanding of her sharpen more and more by every piece. So much happens in this wonderful book, too much to write all down in a review. But if it would be possible to rate this book 6 stars, I would do it immediately. This book is filled with so much suspense and of course romance, it deserves more than the maximum score!
- reviewed by Annick for Euro-Reviews

Genre: Fiction

Title: Three Weeks Last Spring

AUTHOR: Victoria Howard

Skye Dunbar is a lovely, auburn haired young woman with a broken heart. In order to avoid being hurt by another man, she has thrown herself into her career. With partner, John Ridge, the two have perfected computer software that will bring them world- wide recognition and great wealth. After months of hard work, Skye takes a vacation to Seattle, Washington but will it put the ghosts of the past to rest, or cause a new more intense set of problems for our heroine?
Mystery, intrigue, environmental disaster and love, await Skye as she settles in the secluded cabin in the San Juan Islands. Meanwhile, marine biologist, Jedediah Walker has problems of his own. Victoria Howard brings her characters and their emotional baggage to life in Three Weeks Last Spring. Her vivid descriptions of the landscape enable readers to experience the beauty of the north- west United States. Readers are drawn to Skye and Walker as their relationship goes from bad to good and back again. Is it true love or simply sexual attraction?
Author Victoria Howard lives in South Yorkshire, where she enjoys writing, travel and gardening. This is her first novel.
An excellent read for a quiet afternoon. Just enough suspense to keep readers interested, as well as a tantalizing romance. Recommended by Reviewer: Shirley Roe, Allbooks Reviews.

Victoria Howard has written a fascinating romantic novel set in Washington State's San Juan Islands. Despite a former, disastrous love affair with a US naval officer, London-based Skye Dunbar decides to rent a cabin on one of the islands in an attempt to face her inner demons and lay the past to rest.

But she doesn't bargain on meeting Jedediah Walker, a marine biologist, who reawakens feelings she had thought she would never experience again.

From the first time they meet, it is hate at first sight, undermined by the sizzling chemistry that neither Walker nor Skye can suppress.

The intense physical attraction felt by the feuding couple is not the only chemical reaction occurring on the island. Dead fish with high levels of toxic chemicals are turning up on the island's beaches.

Walker's computer contains important data about the rising level of chemicals in and around the bay. When a hacker breaks into the computer, he suspects that Skye might be involved, especially when he finds out that she is a computer software designer.

Their relationship worsens considerably, exacerbated by the arrival on the island of Skye's business partner John Ridge, who has been in love with Skye since the first day they met. Eventually, Skye is forced to make a choice between the two men. But whom will she choose?

"Three Weeks Last Spring" is an absorbing story that will be loved by all romantic novel readers.

-- Shelagh Watkins

Victoria Howard's THREE WEEKS LAST SPRING is a fast moving, exceptionally well crafted Romantic Suspense where hot physical attraction duals with the professional skills of the hero and heroine... whose rapid-fire tempers interferes with their scorching romance.

There are dead fish in the bay and Walker is determined to ferret out the culprit, and he thinks the lady renting his cabin knows more about it than she is letting on. Skye Dunbar, a brilliant computer program designer on vacation, and co-owner of the world renown `Dunbar and Ridge Computer Associates' is so busy running away from herself that she nearly overlooks the love of her life. While Jedediah Walker, owner of `Walker Environmental Research' is so convinced Skye is the mysterious hacker who is bent on destroying his company that he roughs her up, in spite of the sizzling chemistry between them.

Dr. John Ridge, computer geek extraordinaire, who has loved his business partner since high school, is Skye's business partner and co-owner. Like the cavalry, he's always arriving just in time to rescue her. The question is does she really want to be saved this time?

Reviewed by: JoEllen

Tracings is an exceptional collection of poetry. Each poem is elegantly written expressing the experiences and feelings of the writer in a way that few poets truly ever really achieve. The kind of works we all wish we had the ability to write and express ourselves. Moreover, almost all of the situations that the author expresses directly relate to real life experiences that we all face in our relationships with our families, while trying to belong, and as we start looking for truth and validation within ourselves.

In This Place My Heart Lies, the author looks at the subtle and not so subtle faces of racism. At the same time, this poem also illustrates another common issue: in-law issues. For many people, trying to please the in-laws is an exercise in futility as they will always find a reason that you don't belong or that you don't fit in.

Recognising Denial expresses the raw hidden feelings of a parent of a troubled child. The raw emotion and honesty of this piece touched me. Many parents will remember and relate to these deeply hidden feelings of love, guilt, and lost dreams that they thought they could never admit to anyone.

They Lied To Make Me Happy takes a look at white lies from the perspective of a child. The voice and tone of this poems is really rather unique as it contains a childlike innocence that immediately takes the reader back to childhood. As a parent, it really makes you rethink some of those white lies.

I had this book for months before I picked it up. What a stupid thing -- to put off reading this lovely little tome for so long is like putting off eating a fresh dish of tiramisu.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson is a natural talent honed to a bright polish by years of practice and exploration. "Tracings" is an example of her work at the height of her poetic expertise and passion. Poems like "Perfectly Flawed" start out with fiery word paintings and end up in a memory of childhood that moves us to our own memories -- the lovely ones scarred by reality -- but still lovely. Then there is "Earliest Remembered Sound" which also harkens back to childhood memories of World War II images, traumas and gallantry. And then there is "Mother in December" -- an ode to loss that is gradual and inevitable and all the more heartbreaking for it's seemingly endless duration.

This book is like gentle whiffs of Chanel #5 -- a perfect gift for mothers to give daughters, girlfriends to give other girlfriends, men to give lovers...poets to share with other poets.

I am an author, but anyone who has seen my feeble attempts at poetry will quickly agree that I can't write poetry. Not so with Carolyn Howard-Johnson.
Carolyn has a unique ability to take the mundane things of life and turn them into words that echo with love, joy, peace, harmony until they become almost an inspirational experience.
But then you come to one of her poems that makes you laugh out loud!
I don't write poetry, but I enjoy good poetry, and Tracings presents some of the best I've read in years!

Janet Elaine Smith, author of the new Old Habits Die Hard (the 3rd Patrick and Grace Mystery) and Bank Roll (the 1st Max Stryker Mystery)

/Tracings/ written by Carolyn Howard-Johnson is a collection of poetry written from the heart. Whether you enjoy poetry or not, you will find this collection a worthwhile read. Ms. Howard-Johnson tells the story of not only her life, but of growing up in a society where it hurts to be different. A woman dedicated to teaching diversity, Ms. Howard-Johnson's writing clearly reflects who she is and how she got there.Although I've never met her, after reading this thought-provoking collection of twenty-three poems, I feel like she's an old friend. I enjoyed reading /Tracings/ and will be recommending it to my friends.
Penny Lockwood

Author/Poet Carolyn Howard-Johnson displays a different side of her talented self through an unusual look at life and feelings in "Tracings" a collection of poetry that reflects a non-traditional structure, timing, wording and even personal outlook. This poetry does not fit neatly into most poetic styling formats. She is not afraid to hang a phrase or a feeling out there bare naked for others to ponder and absorb.

Her themes are as varied and diverse as her wandering thoughts allow. She does not self censor her feelings but allows them to reflect her inner voice. Her life observations are sometimes simply "photographed in words" or emotionally "painted" with many brush strokes across the canvas of the pages. Each poem stands alone and speaks for itself. Her individual words are not what matters but the magic of how she strings them together to create this visual concept of what she is sensing and feeling or remembering is boldly articulated and leaves the reader totally in tuned with what she was trying to convey.

Carolyn is a masterful and creative writer and this small collection of her poetry certainly proves that to be true beyond any doubts! There is a fire of feminine spiritual energy burning in her writings but also a powerful and steady hand of control that gives these poems a special kind of feeling. You too will notice that these simple poems are much more than what they appear to be.

This book receives the MWSA's top book rating of FIVE STARS!

This book does a great job of delving into the text of revelation and trying to understand it through a similar framework of the first readers. The first time I read it, I thought they spent two much time talking in the first chapter about alien encounters and such. Then one of my friends led a bible study on revelation and the first comment was that it was an alien encounter/out of body experience. The authors were thinking ahead. Great book.

Wes Howard-Brook and Anthony Gwyther have written an excellent commentary on Revelation. Like most mainstream scholars they believe that John of Patmos was writing about the Roman empire of his day. What I found especially unique about this book, was its very fascinating account of the imperial court and imperial worship. The authors make a very good case that Revelation's message to its Asian Minor audience was not to compromise with the deadly - both to soul and body - Roman imperial culture.

Furthermore, the authors also discuss applications of Revelation to current social justice issues. I really learned a lot form this book. I also used Unveiling Empire to teach an adult education class at my church. The class seemed fairly well received, and part of the reason was due to this book.

This is a thematic rather than verse-by-verse commentary. An underlying premise is that the churches of Asia Minor who originally received this letter were not under the severe persecution from Rome that has long been assumed. The authors assert that it was in fact a time of peace and affluence, and the churches in Asia Minor were succumbing to assimilation. The parallels with churches in the West are therefore more exact and evocative than previous interpreters have understood. The authors are not shy about drawing out the similarities between Babylon (as depicted in Revelation) and contemporary global capitalism (the incarnation of Babylon that surrounds us today). Drawing inspiration from Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker movement, as well as the interpretive and prophetic work of Daniel Berrigan and William Stringfellow, this is a provocative reading of a consistently neuralgic but unavoidable part of the canon. The political implications are drawn out in a final chapter dialogue between the authors.

Howard-Brook and Gwyther unpack what Revelation really means. Studying the book in its original context - remember, Revelation was written for the first century, not for us! - the authors still connect the concerns of John of Patmos' day to our own. They see Revelation's message of faithful resistance to the surrounding patriotic culture and how John warned the early Christians to resist it and preach the good news instead. And they uncover what the "beast" really is in modern society. A thoughtful and passionate understanding of this fantastic book's true message to both its time and our own.

Every truly great read has an exciting ending. The last chapter is where it all comes together.

Yet most who daily read the most popular book in the world, have never comprehended the last chapter, the Book of Revelation.

"Becoming Empire" identifies hundreds of 'hyper-links' in the text of Revelation to the preceding books of holy scriptures. The veil lifts, and the reader begins to see and hear not fictions of starwars, but God moving through history and pointing to the here and now.

Today is the battle, and God's children are in the front lines. The whole Bible, understood, is their map to victory.

The pictures in this book are astounding. I read in the book that the pictures were taken within a few miles of Chicago; I so wish he had gone further to get more pictures. These may be weeds, but they are beautiful photographs of them. I recommend it for anyone interested in photography and flowers.

I plan to give this book to lots and lots of people for Christmas this year. Yes, it's exquisite art, yes, it enriches the reader by connecting her or him to the Earth beneath us, but it's also simply a GORGEOUS book to look through over and over again. The photos here on Amazon, as pretty as they are, simply don't do the book justice. The photographs in the book have a depth and richness that evoke such a mood... A really nice mood. I've given coffee table art books as gifts before, but this'll be the first art book I've given as a gift when I actually have it on my coffee table.

When is Mr. Bjornson going to do another book? Very soon, I hope.

Good art always makes me see the world in a different way. Great art has stopped me dead in my tracks by making the ususal unusual...Chuck Close and Ansel Adams to name a few photographers. Mr. Bjornson has photographically brought what was deeply discounted and made it into something ethereal and precious. This is a great life lesson as well as true art (all for (...)

Boy do I like this book! From the front cover with its striking portrait of nodding wild onion (Allium cernuum) to the alien looking bur sedge (Carex grayi var. hispidula) on the back cover and everything in between its luxurious vellum pages. Yes ma’am, yes sir, I like this book. Weeds is a superb collection of some very common weeds cast in an uncommonly flattering light. Sure, it’s apparent that Bjornson occasionally utilizes some special effects magic to enhance their beauty. So what? Even super models need a little touch up treatment from the ole airbrush now and then. These sixty-four outstanding photographs make a clear aesthetic statement: weeds can be beautiful. We all know weeds can be downright ugly. But through the appreciative eye of Bjornson their hidden beauty is revealed. He has made a silk purse out of a sows-thistle, so to speak.

But weeds are not just another pretty face to him. Learning about weeds revealed a cosmic truth to Bjornson. The truth that “one needn’t travel the world to find untamed natural beauty.” These enchanting photographic portraits are gently interspersed with some thought provoking ‘weed’ haiku such as, “Wherever weeds won’t grow let man beware to go” and “Weeds are the strong and persistent creatures who live in weak circumstances”. Bjornson also cheerily refers to these “persistent creatures” as the “free spirits of the natural world”. Free spirits! This is great stuff. Who in their right mind would ever refer to velvet leaf (Abutilon theophrasti), as a free spirit? I dare say not a single Weed Science professor in recent memory.

And speaking of velvet leaf, Bjornson’s picture of this oh so common character is dazzling. One can almost feel the densely hairy stems. The detail is remarkable. This attention to detail is true of each and every picture. I don’t know how Bjornson achieves his effects but the realism of the photos is gently juxtaposed against his artistic interpretation in a way which conveys their beauty without distortion. His technique lovingly captures their color, form, and texture. Truly, these dramatic and beautiful portraits are almost mystical. But as he says in the intro, “It is a matter of perspective”. Do I rave? Yes, because I really like this book and I would suggest you peruse it with a glass of your favorite beverage, some Bach and a big cushy chair.

Those of you looking for an ID challenge won’t be disappointed. None of the pictures in the main portion of the book are labeled. They are identified in the back of the book by a smaller version of the same picture. The scientific name does accompany the picture. Since Bjornson gathered all of his plants within a few miles of his Chicago studio there are a few that may be unfamiliar to those living in Central Ohio.

This is a unique art book of extraordinary caliber. It is marvelously conceived and executed. Production values are high. It is a first class piece of work in every sense of the word. Brjonson demonstrates that he knows his subject thoroughly and personally. A subject of which he says, “One man sees a weed the same weed to another may be a flower.” You can preview this book by logging on to Bjornson’s website .... I know you won’t be disappointed. By the way, did I say how much like this book?

I have lived my whole life in the area where Bjornson collected the ignoble subjects of his book and have walked right over there beauty.

In this book Bjornson has transformed the lowly weed to the hight of zen-like visual beauty. He makes it look so simple...so simple that only hard work and great talent could produce such a work.

Many years ago when I was taking botany in college the professor told us that a weed was only a plant that nobody wanted...Well that may be true but it dose not apply to this beautiful book which I am sure you will want.

It's a very good book, however it's more like a textbook and reading it requires a lot of diligence. But the effort is worth spending.

This book presents research findings on how people make decisions. Each chapter discusses how decisions are made, presents a sample scenario, and details how that scenario can be improved. Although the research is helpful, the book is more scientific and no so reader-friendly.

Both editors are Professor at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, which is one of the highest-ranked business schools in the world. Stephen J. Hoch is Professor of Marketing, while Howard C. Kunreuther is Professor of Decision Sciences and Public Policy and Management. Robert E. Gunther serves as coordinating writer. The book is split up in 4 parts, with each part consisting 3-to-5 standalone chapters.

Chapter 1 - A Complex Web of Decisions serves as an introduction to the book, explaining that we make a wide range of decisions every day. It starts with a very strong point: "Most of us do not make great decisions, and few of us are aware of this fact." However, through the different chapters in this book the editors hope to improve our awareness of the intricacies of the decision-making process. "We examine how people should make decisions according to the models, how they actually behave, and how they can improve their decision making."

The set-up of the book is that we look at decision making from various levels, from an individual/detailed level to a very broad level. In Part I - Personal Decision Making, consisting of 3 chapters, the authors look at individual decision making. These decisions are often influenced by emotions, intuitions, and a focus on present versus future consequences. "How do these factors influence decision making? How can we use these personal assets and foibles to make better decisions?" Understanding these factors should allow us to improve our personal decision making.

The second part, Managerial Decision Making, consisting of 4 chapters, focuses on the managerial decision-making process. "We may be more concerned in this role with using models to set up decision processes in our organization, balancing speed and reflection, dealing with complexity and reframing questions to break out of traditional mind-sets." This part provides us with a variety of tools and perspectives that can help our decision making with an interesting chapter on the differences in Eastern and Western decision making, but also a very strong one on framing of decisions.

Part III - Multiparty Decision Making moves from a single manager to the next level of complexity - interactions among several managers in negotiations across multiple periods. It discusses critical issues at this level. This part, in particular, shines new light on a number of decision making issues. It provides a link with game theory (the field of strategy making), reputation, negotiations, and the impact of modern communications technologies on negotiations.

The final and broadest perspective is discussed in Part IV - Impact of Decision Making on Society. Decisions on this level involve a mix of personal and collective values and reflect quirks in how we prepare for high-impact, low-risk events. And there are some amazing conclusions in this part, whereby we sometimes follow the crowd in the wrong direction and the different approaches between our public and private decisions.

Although this book is named 'Wharton on Making Decisions', there are various chapters by specialists from other academic institutions. Each chapter is an excellent piece of work and can be read on a stand-alone basis. However, as a collection it enables us to improve our understanding of the decision making process on different levels, which should enable us to make better decisions, which, in turn, should result in outstanding outcomes. The insights are based on the latest research in this field (this book was initially published in 2001). Please note that the book is written in somewhat academical language.

This is one of the volumes which comprise a series published by John Wiley & Sons. It was edited by Stephen J. Hoch and Howard C. Kunreuther with Robert E. Gunther. In the first chapter which serves as an introduction, Hoch and Kunreuther examine what they characterize as a "complex web of decisions." As they observe, "We need to make the decision making process conscious, to be aware that we are cutting corners and when we need more thorough analysis. Building this awareness of the process - especially given the new complexities of decision making in our modern age - is crucial to successful management....The goal of this book is to build this awareness of the intricacies of the decision-making process." Collectively, the 16 contributors explore decision making on four separate but related levels: as an individual, in our role as a manager, in the context of negotiations and other multiparty interactions, and at the broadest level, in terms of how societal decisions can be managed.

Appropriately, the material is organized within Four Parts:

"Personal Decision Making" (Chapters 2-4): Issues addressed include the challenges of personal decisions, the role the emotions play in managerial decisions - for good or ill, how humans make "surprisingly effective decisions" even when using short cuts, and the same approaches can lead to serious errors...and consequences.

"Managerial Decision Making" (Chapters5-8): Issues addressed include how to combine analytical models with intuition and other approaches during the managerial decision-making process, the significant differences between "the expedient Western approach" and the "reflective Eastern strategy" of decision making, and why managers must be able to "manage their own frames, or they will be blinded by their own successes and the limits of their world views."

"Multiparty Decision Making" (Chapters 9-12): Issues addressed include the nature and extent of interactions between and among managers across multiple periods, what Game Theory suggests about how people learn from experience, how reputations affect the way partners and opponents approach negotiations, how these reputations can best be used and shaped, common deceptions in negotiations and how to recognize them, how decision-support systems and resources can help improve negotiation results.

"Impact of Decision Making on Society" (Chapters 13-17): Subjects covered include various uses of medical tests based on analytical models, the impact of personal (Protected") values on societal decisions, what "protected decisions" are and how they are made, the nature of "information cascades" which involve either "learners" or "lemmings," and how and why inconsistencies in private and public decisions suggest a "split personality."

The 16 contributors are to be commended on their collective examination of how people should make decisions, how they actually do so, and how they can improve their decision making. I especially appreciate the generous provision of real-world examples (e.g. Nick Leeson and Barings Securities), as well as reader-friendly check-lists (e.g. lessons for managers based on the Leeson/Barings scandal), charts and graphs which illustrate core concepts, and use of italics and bold face to expedite periodic review of key points.

My guess (only a guess) is that those in greatest need of what this book offers are least likely to invest the time and effort required to absorb and digest the material, much less act upon it. If you are among them, if you have by now concluded not to read this book, reconsider that decision. Odds are, it's a bad one.

Informative---covers just about every area of decision sciences.
Very readable with solid examples and great insight into the theory as well as the the subtleties and nuances of making better decisions. Academically oriented, but with strong practical applications.

Very enlightening book.

This is a wonderful book. Steve Brown is a very gifted communicator and he does a wonderful job of providing an encouraging vision of the grace of God in this book.

I have read several of Steve Brown's books and have always enjoyed them. This one though really exceeded my expectations. He asks himself many of the same questions I have found myself asking after I passed the AARP age. His forthrightness and honesty was like a fresh drink of water. I have since purchased and given away several more copies to my friends and family.

Steve's book is the most honest appraisal of the Christian life that I have seen - short of the Bible itself. He writes in an entertaining manner, and the book is easily read and understood, even aloud. In one word, 'awesome' comes to mind as a description.

If you've ever heard the "Key Life" radio program, then you've probably heard the rich, authoritative, made-for-radio voice of Steve Brown, who is also a professor at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, where his rich, authoritative, made-for-seminary voice has dispensed wisdom and knowledge to students for a number of years now --- and to his own congregation and countless audiences at seminars and conferences

Or has it? Well, yes and no. Yes, a great deal of what his voice has dispensed could be described as "wisdom and knowledge." But a lot of what he dispensed was, as he puts it, "irrelevant God words." An older and wiser Brown admits: "I was wrong. I got the words right, but I missed the tune...if we get the words right but can't sing the tune, we miss the grandeur of the song." He's singing a new song these days, one based on a faith that is "far more radical and far less cerebral" than he once thought it was.

That's good news for the reading public, because Brown felt compelled to set the record straight about his skewed way of thinking in print. Ever the entertaining author, Brown is at his best when he's vulnerable and self-deprecating, and with a title like WHAT WAS I THINKING? you can be assured that he is, indeed, at his best here.

Each chapter title betrays Brown's former faulty way of thinking. In "The Holy Spirit Is Working in a Lot More Places Than I Thought He Was," for example, he encourages Christians to quit limiting their lives to involvement in "religious" activities and entertainment and to instead engage the wider culture around them. The activity of the Holy Spirit, he writes, is not limited to Christians and the church. "It isn't where we go, what we see, and what we hear that determines what is appropriate and right for the believer. It's what we bring to where we go, to what we see, and to what we hear that determines what is appropriate and right for us as believers," Brown believes.

Individual chapters address Brown's once-misguided views of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, supernatural warfare, people ("a lot worse than I thought they were"), people again ("a lot better than I thought they were"), self-righteousness, obedience, love and the world; the chapter on self-righteousness alone is worth the price of the book, and then you get all those other wonderful chapters as a bonus. He concludes with this chapter: "Things Will Work Out a Lot Better Than I Thought They Would."

Throughout, Brown reveals his special brand of humor. This is a guy with a doctorate who teaches seminarians things like "how to develop a Christian mean streak" and "how not to be a weenie"; who obsesses over his hybrid Honda Accord and whether it's symbolic of his judgmentalism; who comes right out and says he likes to sin; and who admits that Monday morning is depressing because that's when he has to pray. You just have to keep reading when a well-known, well-respected Christian leader writes stuff like that.

"Keep reading" is what you'll likely do once you start, because Brown has this charming way of captivating his readers and holding them hostage. Before you realize what just happened to you, you've finished reading --- and of all things, you're thanking your captor.

--- Reviewed by Marcia Ford.

I'm saddened to see far too many people pigeon-hole Howard Frank Mosher as a 'writer of regional interest' -- maybe only those who live along the Mississippi should read Mark Twain, then. True, Mosher's books all take place in Vermont -- but these are such well-written, absorbing stories, the characters so unforgettable, that any one who appreciates fine literature can thoroughly enjoy them.

This volume collects 6 of Mosher's short stories along with the title novella -- the latter being possibly his most well-known work, having been made into an exceptional film with the amazingly-talented Rip Torn in the role of a lifetime as Noel Lord, Mosher's cantankerous ex-lumberjack. Lord is mentioned in some of the other stories, as well as in some of Mosher's novels -- and other characters make appearances in more than one work as well.

Set in 1927 Vermont, 'Where the rivers flow north' takes the familiar theme of the rugged individualist going up against the evil, unfeeling corporation, and breathes new life into it. Mosher's flowing style, combined with his incredible ability to bring to the printed page all the nuances of his characters' personalities -- warts and all -- give this and all of his works the finishing touches that only a fine craftsman can give. Noel Lord's Native American housekeeper/wife, Bangor, is one of the most memorable characters you'll ever run across. She and Lord have a classic yin-yang relationship that, most likely, neither one would acknowledge. A reader from any part of the nation can get inside these people, can feel and experience everything that happens to them -- and any time we can do that, we can learn and we can grow.

The characters in all of the stories here are, as in all of Mosher's works, vividly drawn -- Alabama Jones, the innocent-but-worldly aspiring carnival performer -- Burl, an old woman lying in a nursing home waiting to die, looking back at her life with a combination of bitterness and longing -- Eban and Walter, brothers, neighbors, at odds in their life over things large and small, but brothers -- a man dying, clinging to life through a kept peacock -- a boy passes through a coming-of-age event, a flood, which changes forever the way he views both his brother and his father -- another man, Henry Coville, makes some painful recollections and decisions as he feels the end of his life approach. Mosher paints them all with the deft brush strokes of an artist who intimately knows his subjects and the landscape in which their lives are played out.

Howard Frank Mosher is an immensely talented, always entertaining writer -- he deserves to be widely read, and what a treat is awaiting those who read him for the first time...!

I made my way to Howard Frank Mosher via Edward Hoagland, another Vermonter and writer of considerable talent. Hoagland mentioned Howard in a few of his essays on Kingdom Country and apparently the two were friends and competitors. Since I find Hoagland so good, I figured any writer he considers a peer must be worth a gander. After having read Where the Rivers Flow North I see that the two are peers and competitors. This book consists of six short stories and one novella of just over a hundred pages.

Starting with the short stories. They are quiet salient, well-crafted works that succeed universally, as literary stories about men and women grappling with the weighty issues of life, and as quasi-historical vignettes that pull back the veil on an interesting region of our country. None of them exceeds fifteen pages, but within that short space Mosher packs a lot of action, intrigue, humor, and drama. Nearly all of the characters are of a low social economic class, men and women struggling to eek out a living in the north woods, either as farmers, bootleggers, gas station attendants, loggers, aspiring race?car drivers, prostitutes, deer hunters, wardens, or what have you. Mosher knows his world well - and it's a harrowing world at that. Nature - the woods, the mountains, the snow and cold -becomes almost another character in these stories; but it's not just beautiful. Any tourist could write about the beauty of a landscape. Mosher is so talented because he takes you, with his well-crafted characters, into the heart of the landscape, to learn what it feels like to wrestle with it from inside. The nature of Kingdom Country that Mosher conjures up is vengeful - there is no surface level sentimentality here - this is the real deal. Nowhere is this felt more than in the novella Where the Rivers Flow North. This story perfectly brings together Mosher's strengths - intimate knowledge of nature, memorable and nuanced characters, local history, and a compelling story line rife with metaphors.

If you are on the fence about this writer, I urge you to take a chance. If you like Stienbeck and his California, you'll like Mosher and his northern Vermont.

I am a hypercritcal reader and I love it when I pick up a book I cannot stop reading. I have subsequently ordered all of Mosher's books and cannot wait to read them. Mosher is not a good writer he is a great American writer. He builds character and place like the master he is. Thank you Mr. Mosher.

After I found out that former my in-laws knew Howard Mosher personally and my ex-husband had him as a teacher and coach in school and hung out with Howard's kids in high school I HAD to read a book written by him. This is the first book I read by Howard and I can't wait to read more. What a great illustration of Vermont in the early 1900's!

I read this every November, when the days start to get short and the first snow flies. This collection portrays a lost and disappearing Vermont, a way of life on the verge of extinction.

This book is the best kept secret regarding Dr. Howard Thurman, a little known household name. If you ever wondered who inspired great leaders such as Dr. Martin L. King, Jr., Jesse Jackson, and the list goes on...read With Head and Heart. It is truly a story worth reading; one of sacrifice, perseverance, and success.

I recently returned to Thurman's autobiography after 15 years. I am developing a course in Composition/African-American Literature. Thurman's words will be the springboard. His prose is elegant and concise; his sensitivity to nature, a poetic model; his expansive spirit, inspirational. Many chapters will serve as exercises for writing; e.g.: his instruction for the preparation of sermons. In fine, his response to life is a guidline for good writing and holy living.

In becoming better acquainted, through reading, with a man some of my friends have encouraged me to become familiar with, I have found an incredible gift in the form of Hward Thurman, whose message is not only inspiring, but timely, interfaith, intercultural and, most of all one, thatif taken to heart and put into practice, could change the world. I often wonder why such messages are read, spoken from various platforms and then passed over and and remembered only as inspirational words as we forge ahead in the world doing things the same way over and over again.

I recommend the message in this book to everyone who will care enough to not only learn about an incredible human being who was with us for a while, left us with a vision, and challenged us to see things in a new light. I invite us to see the wisdom he shared and put it into action.

It is an autobiography and so we must accept it as written, staying free f rom judgement as to style, etc. It is a man's heart, gifted to those who will read and those whom he has influenced and those who could gain so much from sharing in the vision.

Thurman stands on his own as a giant. The only weakness of the book is that often the compilers feel the need to tell us what Thurman is going to say.

Not sure so much from Disciplines of the Spirit needed to be reprinted.

I read much of the book during a 12 hour Prayer Vigil and found it very enriching and satisfying.

Howard Thurman's autobiography is a defining, powerful collection of one man's life-stories that inspire family, schools, churches, nations and gives timely revelations into the transforming power of God's grace that spans the many gulfs that we call racial, economic, religious, political lines. This is a must read text.

This book tells the story of my wife's cousin, William Swain. Swain witnessed over a hundred cholera victims, alive a day earlier, now buried in the sand banks of the Mississippi River. Bodies strewn along the Nevada trail, he viewed the tragedy. Ships, valued in the millions, he viewed abandoned in San Francisco bay.

As family members, we have John Holliday to thank. Moreover, I was thrilled with each page of Holliday's book. The 1849 Gold Rush extracted more from its participants, due to gold fever, than they got in return from the California mines. That's exactly what happened to William, who, in May of 1848, left his lovely wife, Sabrina, a newborn daughter, his brother George, and his farm residence in Youngstown, NY. William, in his heart, knew he would make it big in California country. At least he must try. And, Sabrina, not knowing the hardships and penniless outcome, gave her loving agreement. Along the way William witnessed death and deprivation, loneliness and hunger. He arrived hopeful in gold country, plied his efforts, and came away luckily with the skin on his back. He differed from most in one important way: William kept a journal. And, Sabrina and William wrote and saved their letters, from which Holliday made one of America's finest narratives. William, weighted with introspective highlight, wrote to George, "If you're thinking of coming out here, for [Gosh] sakes, do not!" William pleaded. Prospectors and miners everywhere, food scarce, prices high, California gold fields deluded nearly all. "And no one I know has gotten rich," William offered. William, beaten in his quest, longed to be with Sabrina and brother George. Ready to return, he had saved $400. He longed to bring it all home, to hand to Sabrina. But, think of it, did you ever try to get from Sacramento to Niagara Falls in 1850, while tired and broke? Yikes. No train. William would have to walk the same way home he came, over that horrible trail. He couldn't face that prospect. So, William scraped his pockets clean, and purchased passage on a ship, via Panama. Just one catch: There was no Panama Canal. That happened 60 years later. William made his way to San Francisco bay. He boarded ship. He endured sea sickness. He ate crummy food. He arrived at Panama, shaken. Next, he and all passengers traversed the 50 mile overland eastward trek with a guide. Threatened with abandonment in the jungle, he paid double. Weak, he arrived at the east side of the Isthmus, broke. William struggled on board ship. It traveled north, taking forever, to arrive at New York City. There, George, who knew to meet him from William's earlier letter, stood waiting at the gangplank. William, broke and sick, 25 pounds skinnier, staggered into his brother's arms. George helped William toward home, finally past beloved Niagara Falls, north to Youngstown. There, adoring, relieved, Sabrina faithfully nursed William back to health. Asked late in life if it was worth it, William avoided answering. He merely declared he loved his Youngstown. Can you read between the lines on that one? 'Nuff said.

Thank heavens for people like William Swain who took the time to record their personal stories and let it become, in a sense, a first-person history tale to people in the 21st century. Swain goes into great detail about his trials and tribulations and you begin to care so much about him, it almost becomes a novel. It accidentally sets the reader up for disappointment in the end by Swain reaching home and the story suddenly stopping. You'll find yourself asking, how did Eliza greet her papa? What did Swain do with the meager amount of money he made? What was Sabrina and her husband's first words to each other after an almost two-year absence? Of course, it's not Swain's fault for ending his diary at home. He merely kept the journal to update his family on his journey; not give readers 150 years later an autobiography. Holliday can not answer these final questions either and rightfully so, he does not try. You are left to ponder how it ended and hopefully, after reading so many emotional passages from William and Sabrina, you can use your imagination to answer the homecoming questions.

Holliday blends the information together wonderfully by arranging each chapter into three sections:

1. an overall historical account

2. Swain's diary

3. A Back Home section in which letters written to Swain from wife Sabrina and brother George are included.

The format works splendidly for the reader and keeps everything in a proper time frame. Holliday also includes scaled-down regional maps for every chapter which lets the reader follow along on a microcosm/macrocosm scope of the total journey. Holliday has also laboriously researched hundreds of other personal diaries and includes passages from them when Swain leaves gaps or when a quirky story can be added to intrigue the reader further. The World Rushed In is a fast read and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in Western US history or is just looking for a great story.

"The World Rushed In" is a gold rush history must read. Holliday's approach to telling the 49ers tale was a seamless stitching together of William Swain's journal and letters home with other facts and general information surrounding the rush. It is a personal approach. It is an accurate approach to what being a 49er meant to those who chased the elephant.

Holliday's interpretations and prose keep the story flowing, but do not add extraneous information. Nor does Holliday attempt to explain feelings or jump to conclusions. The ease with which this book flows and the personal feelings expressed by William and Sabrina Swain make this book hard to put down. The reader feels the fear of cholera and the aches at the end of the day.
This book describes the rush mentality of the 49ers extremely well. These young, eager, adventurers truly believed they would easily find their fortunes and soon be back home. Swain himself, who was apparently better read and prepared for the trip than many, believed he would be home much sooner than he was. Unlike many others, his decision to return home from California was easier. He had a farm, a family and a life to return to that did not require any wealth. Many of the rushers had nothing to return east to.

As a native upstate New York farmer who has traveled along most of the major westward trails, albeit via car or railroad, I completely understood Swain's descriptions of praise or denigration of the land he passed through. I empathized with his homesickness. There was irony in the travails Swain survived and many of my own one hundred and fifty years later. We both went west to find our fortunes. We both adapted. He was able to return home in twenty- two months. Seven years later, I am still hoping.

My favorite paragraph in the book is a journal entry describing the Black Rock Desert in Northern Nevada. The paragraph ends with "where the hell is California?" I have crisscrossed Nevada in every direction. It is desolate, harsh and will lead even the most proper person to exclaim, "Where the hell is anything!" I can't imagine crossing this state walking beside an ox team.

Holliday artfully tells the big story of the emigration in conjunction with Swain's individual view. Swain had no idea how many people were ahead of or behind him. Swain mentions problems in other companies, but had no idea the extent of discontent among some of the trains. Holliday draws from other sources to compare Swain's adventures with the experiences of others. This approach gives a broader spectrum of the emigration. Swain's crossing was relatively uneventful and trouble free. He was taken ill a few times, but did not die from cholera as so many did. He was fortunate in selecting trustworthy traveling companions. He found decent passage home. Swain made it home.

"The World Rushed In" is a must read for anyone interested in the human side of the gold rush. Other works contain all the facts, figures and dates one could want. This book reveals the personal and social side of 'going to see the elephant.'

This is a superb, gripping and very personal account of one man's experience travelling to and from the California gold rush. The fact that Holliday had access to virtually all the letters sent from him and to him on the trail makes this book even more enticing. It made me feel that I was taking every step with William Swain on his journey, sharing in his joys and sorrows and those of his brother and wife back home. I thoroughly recommend this book, I couldn't put it down.

My wife and I recently visited California for the first time. In a U.S. Forest Service bookstore, I saw this book. Since we planned to return to California and tour the Gold Rush areas, I bought the book. I made a good choice! The use of William Swain's actual diary and letters made me feel almost like I was there, the descriptions were so detailed and vivid. It was an incredible journey that tens of thousands of men, women, and children made across the west. Many of these people thought that they could simply pick up gold nuggets for a few days and be rich. In fact, gold mining was brutally hard work, and few of the 49ers ever got rich. The author does a fantastic job of describing the California Gold Rush in human terms.

If you only read one book about the California Gold Rush, "The World Rushed In" would be a great choice.