John Books

If we can say that Zen is direct pointing to Reality, then we can also say that Huang-Po's teaching is direct Zen, without dilution. Anyone may read this book, but it will only make sense to those who already have a taste for the One that IS. This is not a beginner's book on how to meditate. It is rather a book that serves up the essential truth of spiritual practice straight up. Most highly recommended!

I recenlty read this book and I must say it may be one of my new favorites.

I've read quite a few books written on the subject of Zen from many different authors, old and new, translated and in original English. This one was probably the most enjoyable and clearest for me. This was very amazing since the original text was written over 1000 yrs ago. The foot notes and introduction are interesting because they gave me an idea of what the translator was thinking as he was translating. This book would also be of interest to anyone exploring Adviata Vendanta, Taoism, or other mystical non-duel traditions.

Huang-Po was the teacher of Lin-chi (Rinzai) and one of the most revered Zen masters of all time.

John Blofeld a great Buddhist text translater picked this text to translate first because he felt it represented the most essential teachings of Zen Buddhism. One read and you will understand why...

However, one-hundred reads and you will still be coming back for more. Huang-po, said to have been a 7 foot tall austere Zen master offers some of the most profound teachings on "The Void" (Emptiness, Sunya) in the Zen cannon.

With humor, wisdom, and compassion, Huang-po delivers the essential teaching of Zen in a manner and style that will make you laugh, cry, and spur you to new insights into the mystery of life, death, and the Way of Zen.

The introduction to this book is a good overview and introduction to Zen for beginners.

The notes provided by the translator are very erudite and helpful.

This is an awsome text from a very enlightened Master. He continually refutes ceremony and intellectualism, pointing instead to the ineffable nature of Zen. Avoiding dualism and concentrating on immediacy, the Master says, reveals the path to follow the Way. This approach to "Reality" will be very foreign to the uninitiated Western mind. The book deserves to be read several times to allow its meaning to unfold.

Indeed, All We Are Saying: The Last Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono pulls out the punches. The book shows how far former Beatle, John Lennon, had come and where he was headed. David Sheff's "Playboy" interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono is the most fascinating piece of oral history about Lennon's life as well as the story behind every Beatle song. Sheff intimately takes reader through the studio, John and Yoko's Dakota apartment, and down the neighborhood coffeeshop sharing a cappuccino. All We Are Saying presents an extremely candid and frank interview that was held two months prior to Lennon's passing. Sheff reveals Lennon's growth and new beginning that would unfortunately be cut short.

All We Are Saying does not lack in humor and seriousness. This was the man, not the Sixties icon who sang against a "Revolution," who still had dreams and aspirations to accomplish at the time the interview was conducted. For fans of Lennon as well as the Beatles, this was Lennon stripped down and open for questions, and he merely tells it like it is or was. He expresses the breakup of the Beatles, and emphasizes that they were great, but they were in the past. He talks about the ups and downs of his individual experience from being a heroin addict to a househusband. He was living in the here and now, and the music that he was making at the time reflected that mantra. Though the references he made about the music scene now appear dated, Lennon was ahead of his game and kept up with bands, such as the Clash, Pretenders, and the B-52's. He even raves how the B-52's rip-off Yoko's style of music.

Sheff writes the interview in clear and picturesque narrative. For every new chapter, he introduces the reader to where the interview is going. However, the concluding portions of the book appear too rushed. Sheff appears to have wanted to discuss or at least learn about every tidbit about each Beatles song, which almost portrayed a to-do list, and at times it appears as if he did not want to run out of tape. From the transcript of the interview, Lennon appears too tired to talk about each and every Beatle song as he answers with yes and no answers. For the most part, Lennon wanted to speak about his new album at the time, "Double Fantasy", and new projects he was planning.

All We Are Saying is an important document of the life of John Lennon. For Beatle and Lennon fans, the book is quite ironic and sad due to the circumstance, but that should not stop any one from learning more about one of the most legendary artists of the twentieth century.

This for me is better than any other book because it is reading the acutual words that John said. He gives his own first hand comments on each song (no guessing what each song was about -- he tells you). When he can't remember (it was the 60's after all) John will say so. The most important thing he says is "get interested in your own life" meant in the very kindest way John wants to remind us that we can identify with him, we can love him, but to please NOT make him to focus of your life -- YOU should be the focus of YOUR life. His insights to life can help you acchieve insights of your own. John rules! But I am thankful that he reminds us it is not important to memorize his height and weight or other "facts" but rather to LIVE the life we have -- as I wish he had the option to do. American must stop naming cruel people and making them famous if we do not want more useful people to be killed by those who have little human value -- of course that is only my take -- I can't rule YOUR thoughts (and for that you should be glad ha, ha).

Get the book if you are a Beatles or John Lennon fan... ;-)

INCLUDES AN AMAZING SERIES OF QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSIONS, THAT YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PUT IT DOWN! I WAS SURPRISED AT SOME OF JOHN'S ANSWERS; BUT IT DID MAKE SENSE COMING FROM HIM. I WON'T SPOIL IT FOR EVERYONE....SO EVEN IF YOU'RE NOT A DIE HARD LENNON FAN, YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED BY THIS FUNNY AND TOUCHING PIECE OF WORK...JUST BEAUTIFUL!

John Lennon and wife Yoko Ono give an excellent interview by pulling out all stops. Sheff's interview in "Playboy" with the pair is a vital oral history about the former Beatle's life and his insight on each Beatle song. Sheff takes readers on a Magical Mystery Tour through the recording studio; the Dakota and in and around the neighborhood. The interview is candid and direct; readers are given a clear look of and at John and Yoko.

John is shown, warts and all in real, living color. He is not glamorized nor vilified; he is presented as the man that he was. John Lennon was many things to many people; Sixties icon; musician extraordinaire; artist; spouse; father; author; actor; joker; interviewee; "militant pacifist," an oxymoronic term. John was a very complex man and this Rubik's cube of a book puts the pieces together in such a way that readers can readily assemble their image of John Lennon.

John makes no bones abut the Beatles being part of his past; he appears to want to move further down the Long & Winding Road without further Hard Day's Nights in re his Beatle history. It was also interesting to learn what groups and artists John liked and how he felt they influenced him.

Hats off to Sheff for introducing readers to each person in the interview. If there is one literary pitfall to avoid, it is never, repeat, never spring characters or real people onto readers without introducing them. That weakens a work and Sheff is quite adept at dodging this trap.

John appeared to be moving at a quicker pace in this interview; whereas Sheff wanted to discuss the Beatles more in depth, John gave one word answers to Beatle related questions and seemed eager to discuss his 1980 album, "Double Fantasy" as well as works he was planning after that.

This is a bittersweet book for Beatle and Lennon fans because of John's untimely death in late 1980. Even so, the book remains an excellent source of information about the man who founded the World's Number One Band, the Beatles and the man who made the world listen.

Listen to John Lennon.

My favorite Lennon quote comes not from this book, but from the Beatle's set during the Royal Variety Performance for the British Royal Family in 1963: "Will the people in the cheaper seats clap your hands? And the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewelry." I love that, though I've been told you need to be raised in the British class-consciousness to fully appreciate the insolence of that.


I grabbed this book just out of curiosity, as a Beatles fan and a Lennon fan in particular. I read in a review that Lennon goes through the whole catalog of Beatles songs and comments on them. I thought that would be interesting to read. Yoko Ono was the least of my concerns, but they were and are a package deal. I bought into the popular cultural conception of Yoko as the villainess who broke up the Beatles. So the first thing that struck me, reading these interviews, is what an intelligent, sympathetic, and likeable figure she is, when heard in her own words, in the comforts of her home base. And the two of them together actually seem like a nice, well-matched couple, decent people who- against the odds- had found contentment amid the surreal circumstances of their lives. No doubt that they are eccentric in some ways, and some of their philosophizing has that post-Hippie, flaky, dated feel, as you might expect. They are artists after all. But at the same time, they surprised me at times at how level-headed they came off. Despite the near deification of the Beatles, it is John who continuously reminds us that they were just a rock and roll band that was in the right place at the right time and wrote some good songs. And they are able to honestly talk about the strain on their relationship caused by their celebrity. With all the typical defiant talk about letting people think whatever they are going to think, Yoko admits to the heartache of bad press: "It's a very strange thing that society can do that much to a relationship, but it does because we're social animals. We're social beings. A relationship is not isolated from society." "Society can break an individual. That is what happened." John, too, often displays the vulnerability buried within the armor of the iconoclast: "We're both sensitive people and we were both hurt by a lot of it." Enough time has passed for them to analyze the hostility garnered by Yoko, as a woman, when she began managing John's business affairs. John talks about the attitude towards Yoko at these meetings where she was the only woman, "They're all male, you know, just big and fat, vodka lunch, shouting males, like trained dogs, trained to attack all the time." Yoko is wonderful, chiming in with "I was emasculated." Then launching into her formulation of male aggressiveness, "you must have the womb-envy thing," she speculates. Men are aggressive to mask their intimidation and jealousy. After all, she notes, "we give life."

The most valuable part of this book, in which John systematically goes through almost every Beatles and solo Lennon song, is a concession John granted after blowing Playboy's scoop by giving an interview to Newsweek magazine. We get John's feelings about each of the songs as well as the memories triggered by them, what was going on in that period of his life and how they were written. Though John continues with the superficial model of `John songs' and `Paul songs,' we see that the truth is more complicated, they wrote the best of the Beatles "one-on-one, eyeball to eyeball... both playing into each other's noses." We see why they were great together (and why George and Ringo are two very lucky men to have been along for the ride) and why neither of them, as solo musicians, could produce songs that measure up well to the Beatles. There are several examples of the two of them contributing little touches to each others songs, the little shadings that profoundly deepen the work. Without Paul, John was mostly a writer of catchy tunes, superficial fluff with great hooks. Some of Paul's solo works come close to the best of the Beatles, but for the most part, he was missing the nuances- the melodies and tenderness- of Paul's sound. A song like "Michele" is a perfect example. Paul wrote a pretty little love ballad. John heard it shortly after hearing Nina Simone sing the blues, and he suggested the bluesy "I love you, I love you, I love you," bridge. Paul writes "It's getting better all the time," and John adds "it couldn't get much worse." Paul writes "We can work it out" and John adds "Life is very short..." Or conversely, John writes about "A Day in the Life," about a man violently killing himself, and Paul adds the sweetest little lick to ever float into a song from nowhere: "I'd love to turn you on." And so on. I particularly recommend this section as a morning commute read, riding the train with Ipod in hand, keeping the songs in your ears as you read John's analysis of them.

Of course, one can't read these interviews without being constantly reminded that John was assassinated just months afterwards. It gave me chills to read some of John's philosophizing in that light, "Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King are great examples of fantastic nonviolents who died violently. I can never work that out. We're pacifists, but I'm not sure what it means when you're such a pacifist that you get shot."

And the heartbreak is palpable when reading of the pride John took in stepping out of the action and becoming a full time father to Sean. "Here we are: I'm going to be forty, Sean's going to be five. Isn't it great! We survived!"

Most books that claim to be "easy readers" require a first-second grade reading level. Bob Books start out at a much lower level. To read book 1 the child must know only "m" "a" "t" and "s." I have seen no other readers that start at such a basic level.

My children love the characters and feel so good about their reading ability. Only Bob Books afford them the feeling of accomplishment that comes from finishing a whole book. When I first purchased them I was a bit surprised at how "homemade" they seemed, but now I see how perfect they really are for new readers.

I bought lots of phonics books for my pre-schooler, and these were the WINNERS! I recommend them to all my friends with young children and agree with the other reviewers who say these books are "IT!" You will be glad you bought them!

The Bob books should be available to all young children. They are age appropriate through about age 7. Children love their size, charming line drawings, and simple stories. I teach first grade in a public school and feel that this type of book is invaluable for beginning readers. All the children I have ever taught have gravitated to the Bob books. They will literally "toss" aside the high quality literature books that are deemed most appropriate for children by leading educators today. The reason is because the Bob books are truly appropriate for young children. Get Bob! Get Reading! Get Success!

I LOVE these books. I looked everywhere for books to jump start my 5 year old into reading. These are perfect. Almost all the words can be sounded out using the "short" vowel sounds. Untill now every book I found was either too long, or too dificult, or epxected the child to know too many "sight" words and my daughter didn't even want to start. But with the BOB books, she can read a whole book by herself. After working with two of these sets I can truly say she is reading! No need to memorize dozens of sight words before getting started. No understanding complicated "rules". I would recommend these books to all begining readers. They are well worth the money, I wish I found them earlier!

My daughters used Bob Books in 1980 to learn to read. They loved the stories and took great pride in reading to their pre-school class. It is no wonder that I return to buy a set for my Granddaughter . . . I know she will love Sam, Max and all the others as much as her mom and aunties did! Your child's esteem will soar as they progress through the books. This is a 5 star buy for your child.

I was diagnosed in October 2006 and began treatment one month later. The time between diagnosis and treatment was fast-paced, confusing and sometimes overwhelming. I had exceptional care, but I was not as proactively informed as I would have liked. Dr. Chan's book is exactly what I needed then, and it has been tremendously helpful now,over a year later, in understanding what all that took place between surgery, chemo and hormonal therapy. I have recommended this book to all my girlfriends who in one way or another are affected by breast cancer. I can't recommend this book more strongly to you or your loved one who is now facing breast cancer or trying to make sense of the breast cancer they have already been fighting.

This is one of 2 books I purchased when I was first diagnosed. Terrific and I still use it as a reference. Helped me when I was deciding on treatment (very borderline for chemo) Very detailed but easy to understand. I'd recommend this to anyone going through breast cancer.
There is so much written out there that is out of date or incorrect. If you have to buy one book, this is the one.

My wife and I have been on an emotional and psychological roller coaster since she was diagnosed with breast cancer. This book has really helped us to sort through and make sense of the terms, options, decisions and implications for treatment. It is well-written, clear, organized and cross-referenced. The case-study vignettes are particularly helpful.

In his humble, hopeful and helpful style, the author directly addresses about 285 of the most commonly-asked questions from patients seeking specifics to help address individual circumstances. He addressed all of our concerns, to the extent that we better understand the complete picture so we can chart a course of treatment with our medical team that's right for us. Thank you, Dr. Chan.

When I was first diagnosed with early stage breast cancer, my friends gave me this wonderful resource. Reading that book gave me a tremendous peace of mind. Dr. Chan had answers to questions that I didn't even know to ask. I felt relieved when I read that there has been much advancement in recent years and many options to consider in treatment.

Then I went through biopsy, lumpectomy, follow-up radiation, and then started Arimidex; my treatment went exactly as he described. I re-read those sections that pertained to me; they were informative and technical, with supporting studies and statistics. Most importantly, there was always a positive, warm tone. Dr. Chan was my guide through an anxious period. This book should be everyone's companion through a scary process.

I have purchased this book for my friends who have breast cancer and for their families to understand what's going on.

I highly recommend this excellent information-packed book for anyone diagnosed with breast cancer! In the first ten minutes of reading it, I found more reassurance here than I have found from anywhere else! I trust the knowledge of Dr. Chan to help with questions of the mind and of the heart, while presenting solid facts and statistics, as well as the two most important factors for recovery: comfort and hope.

It is excellently written. A true story. You do not want to let go.

I met Howard Blum at a book signing at the JCC in West Bloomfield, Michigan. He was there for his book "The Eve of Destruction". He is an amazing story teller and has a powerful story to tell. This story is told thru the eye's of three men and a woman, Israel Carmi, Johanan Peltz, and Arie Pinchuk, Leah Pinchuk. The British in almost a regretfully way allow a Jewish Brigade to be raised from voluteer's from Palestine. A brigade of 5000 troops who fought the Nazi's in the Italian campaign. These brave men then take on another mission. Their most important mission in their lifes, rescueing Jewish orphan children. These troops stationed in Europe after the conflict were privately hunting down war crinimal's when almost by accident they rescued a ophan Jewish girl. Darkness had almost consumed these men in the never ending spiral of death when God stepped in and handed them the orphan girl.
"The more he killed in cold blood, the more he ensured that the horror the Nazis had let loose would continue to triumph. His only hope was to make a movement away from this ruinous faith. And now he knew what he had to do. For the first time he started to envision the beginnings of a plan, an active strategy, that brought with it the possibility of a world beyond all the evil."
Now you would think this would not be such a difficult problem, however the British were determined not to allow any more Jewish refugee's into Palestine!
A thrilling true story that will keep you in suspense till then end! This was a little known unit that contributed so much to humanity.

How this book went under the radar is beyond me! Steven Spielberg should make a movie out of this, and it could be better than "Saving Private Ryan"! This is a true story, of the first official Jewish military fighting unit. It was formed, when the British government, agreed to send 5,000 Jewish volunteers to fight in Europe, during World War II. Let your heart, mind and soul, be put in the place of a Jewish soldier: Millions of Jews being exterminated in the concentration camps, and you aren't allowed to fight back, as a recognized official unit or brigade. Now your chance comes! This book, first delves into the different types of men in this group. The feeling of helplessness, even after being approved and organized, because they're kept away from the main fighting. I was deeply impacted, as I was told, that no on, had ever worn the Star Of David, on a military uniform before. What a wonderful contrast, to the Star Of David being put on all the Holocaust victims sleeves, as a means of humiliation. When the war ends, this Jewish Brigade, decides not to stop! They continue to go after Nazi officers in hiding, and people who stole Jewish citizen's artwork and valuables. Two individual scenes, brought pride to my chest, and tears to my eyes. One was when, two of the Brigade, finally tracked down one of the Germans, who had performed various atrocities against the Jews, and one member of the Brigade, said to the war criminal: "In the name of the Jewish people, I sentence you to death!" The other scene, was when members of the Brigade, came to the gates of a concentration camp, and the skeletal survivor's in pajamas, stood looking at them, and did not speak. One soldier said, "Don't be afraid" in Yiddish. "The survivors still did not speak" "The soldier felt guilty-of his health, his strength, his good fortune, to have been spared." "He tried again, "We're Jews," he said. "Confused, a man pointed to the Star Of David on the soldier's sleeve, and asked hesitantly, "You're Jewish angels?" I could not put this book down, and have tried to think of a million different reasons, why no one has made this into a movie. I bought the book for my son, who, with starting a new family, and a new job, doesn't have time to read. But after starting this book, he read it every morning before work, and at lunch, and finished it in a week. I bought a copy and sent it to my brother, who is the busiest guy I know. He never has time to read. He read it in a week, and then passed it on to an older gentleman where he works. I sent a copy to one of my best friends; he finished it in a week. We all still discuss, and quote this book today, and I read it over three years ago!

Howard Blum has written a compelling true narrative of a small group of Jewish soldiers who fought the Nazis along side the British Army in WWII. This little known slice of history is conveyed persuasively in The Brigade.

Blum discovered this small piece of history by accident when visiting the US Holocaust Museum. After he pulled together scores of interviews, he chose to tell the story through the eyes of three soldiers and one survivor, the sister of one of the soldiers. This telling is what gives this book its potency.

The strength of The Brigade is that it reads as a novel, and the reader cannot turn the pages fast enough to find out what happens next. Blum's accurate portrayal and attention to details is what keeps us focused on the reality of this amazing story of courage and perserverance. He reminds us through his excellent storytelling that this did happen.

The book is not another war novel that expounds on the accounts of military victories. It shows the sacrifices and the souls of these men who risked their lives to save their people. It reveals their struggles and their doubts as well as their triumphant spirits.

The Brigade is a must read. It is uplifting and demonstrates the human spirit at its best.

This a compelling true story in which anyone who reads it will be swept up.
It is about three men , Israel Carmi , Jochanan Pelz and Arie Pinchuk, who form the Jewish Brigade , a division of Jewish soldiers from Israel, in the British army-"the first official Jewish fighting force since the fall of the Judea to the Roman legions". At the time when Jews are being victimized and lead like sheep to the slaughter , the Jewish Brigade , with a yellow Star of David emblazoned to their uniform , fighting for the Jewish people , and their homeland of Israel, shows the world that Jews can fight back and win.
It also tells the remarkable story of Arie Pichuk's sister Leah , and her escape from the Nazis , surviving as a fugitive in the Ukraine , before joining the anti-Nazi Partisans.
After the war , the men witness first hand what the Nazis have done to their people, and set off on a course of identifying , finding and killing Nazi officers who have participated in the holocaust.
Their hatred and ferocity threatens to overwhelm them , until a chance encounter with an orphaned Jewish girl sets them on a more constructive course-smuggling Jewish boys and girls into Israel, despite the British blockade which tires to prevent Jews from entering the ancient homelnd from which they where forced out by the Romans two thousand years before.
It is therefore a true narrative about the re-establishment of the State of Israel , where Jewish children can grow up insafety and live as free men and women , in a free homeland of their own.
That is Zionism , which has been so maligned by evil forces , who want the Jews to fall pray to genocide again.
Every descent person , Jew or Gentile , needs to dedicate themselves to ensuring that Israel survives as a Jewish State in which Jews can live freely and safely.
Anything else will guarantee another holocaust.
Israel and the Jewish people are faced with the same genocidal hate today , that the Jews where faced with during World War II
Our heroes play a role in defending Israel after the fledgling state is attacked by five Arab armies , hellbent on genocide.
Am Israel Chai.
The People of Israel live!

She is in a mental hospital, that's all you know till fairly well into the book, you don't know why or how, just that it had something to do with insider trading, and her father, and her dog. That's what it all seems to come back to, her dog Checkers. She tells the story through flashbacks. And at first its very confusing, because she seems to be mostly just telling about her dog, like that's her main priority, sometimes she'll go off into something about her family, or why she's in the hospital, and then she'll break off and say "anyway, I was telling you about Checkers" but in the end you'll get why Checkers is so important. "Checkers" has a fairly surprising, sort of freaky ending but I thought it was very well done, and it has a lot of suspense. Very good, short, sweet read.

Chekers tells the story of a wealthy Australian teenage girl. Although her personality and story and well-defined, her name is never given. Told through memories and flashbacks, the story illustrates the girl's plummet from the utmost joy, like getting a puppy checkers and living in a lush home, to her arrival in the phsyc ward that she is currently living in. Told as any true aussie teen would, the story is in fact realistic and chilling. John Marsden carefully reveals that even a wealthy business family can be torn apart by corruption.

A Review by Robin

An Australian teenage girl lived with her mom, dad and brother in a beautiful home in the suburbs; and she had a dog named Checkers. She suffers from depression and she now lives in a mental hospital. She never had many friends, at school or at the hospital. She and several other teenagers attend a daily meeting called group. She has never said anything in group because she is afraid of what people will think of her. One day, she just couldn't handle it anymore. She had to tell somebody. This is her story of how she got there.

I like how this book tells a story about a teenager's life experiences. I can relate to them, such as depression and social issues. This story is suspenseful. Once I picked it up, I didn't want to put it down. Every chapter ends with a cliffhanger. You just want to keep reading. The author doesn't give away the story of how she got in the hospital until the very end. You can easily follow the book with big font and easy to read words. And if you have any troubles with some "aussie" words, there's a glossary in the front of the book to tell you what they are and what they mean. But the characters were realistic, and seemed alive. They're just like people you would meet in an everyday encounter acquaintance. They were believable.

I would recommend this book to people who like stories about real life conflicts and experiences. It would satisfy your needs if you are the type of person who likes to read other people's diaries or journals. I would especially recommend it to any teenagers who think they have it rough or bad. You think you know, but you have no idea.

Though the book seems to have many flaws at first, once you read in to it all, it makes sense.
The story is of a girl whose family is being corrupted by the media, especially her father. Stories in the paper start to bother the girl, and her interest shoots up.
But among this all, is her "darling dog Checkers", a most important figure in the plot development.
While telling the story, the girl is in a Psychiatric Ward. She tells of the others there, and describes the events as if she were writing in a journal.
I high suggest this book to EVERYONE.
John Marsden did an excellent job with this book, an EXCELLENT read.

Told in first-person flashbacks and set in the mental hospital where the nameless protagonist recovers from a nervous breakdown, this story's message is: "The higher you climb, the harder you fall." Wealth and privilege cannot save your family from scandal, our protagonist learns, especially when your father is involved in dishonest business practices a la Enron.

The only honest relationship the girl has is with her mongrel dog, Checkers. She seeks comfort in his company as the media circles like vultures around her house, looking for a way to connect the girl's father to the stock market scandal that's brewing. She would never have thought that the connection they were looking for was sleeping on the rug in front of her fire.

I really liked this novel, and would have loved it if it wasn't about the fortieth book I've read that's set in a mental hospital. Mental hospitals have become way too clichéd in young adult literature. Other than that, though, it was a terrific story.

Congratulations to Mira Tweti and Lisa Brady for producing such a delightful children's book. We think it is absolutely wonderful. Of course the magic of it is that it is not only for children, it is important for adults to read it as well. While being wonderfully entertaining and involving, it manages also to be educational and makes the reader aware of the responsibilities that come with owning a pet, particularly one of the parrot family. These are very intelligent birds who deserve better than to be placed in a cage and forgotten.The book also mentions that even parrot poop has its place in the ecological chain. A nice touch! The closing pages were of great interest as well, focusing on the important Parrot Project in Indonesia, and the serious problems many parrots have in captivity. Well done! More like it please!

Barry McKnight & Roger Cowland.
Australia.

MIra Tweti is an award-winning animal welfare journalist whose focus is parrots and this book is based on years of research. It's a "must read" as the OC Register reviewer said and no one should miss this great story. Tweti's in depth research and knowledge about parrots shows! It's accurate down to the backgrounds which are of mountains in New Guinea, to the facts about Lorikeets, to their behavior and to how they and other parrots fare in captivity.

This book is gorgeous and has a nice story. It's fun to read, but remember it's fiction.
As it's intended to be a semi-'educational' book I am bothered by a variety of incorrect information. Everything from the idea of a wild-caught parrot turning up in a New York pet store to the ecological role of parrots in the wild is incorrect in this book.
Rainbow lories are very common birds in the wild, found throughout Indonesia and Australia - common to the point of being serious pests of vineyards and orchards and being common backyard birds visiting birdfeeders in Australia.
While wild caught birds undoubtedly suffered to adjust to captivity - it has been illegal for wild caught parrots to be imported into the US for decades. Though there is a small amount of illegal trade existing in some rare and valuable species, rainbow lories are not one of those, being commonly bred. The very idea of any wild caught rainbow lory making it into the US very highly inplausible.
Parrots (even lories) also are seed predators - meaning they crush and hull seeds they eat, killing them. They have no role in dispersing seeds. I have seen my own birds selectively pick out, crush and eat even tiny seeds from figs, strawberries, raspberries, ect. If you find your parrot has undigested seeds in its droppings, you had better get it to a vet! Parrots absolutely do not have any kind of ecological role in seeding the forest.

In Everyway, this is a beautiful book. The delightful, heartwarming tale illuminates the wild life of this intelligent, highly social family of birds and educates on the tragedies and responsibilities associated with keeping them as pets. Very fun, vibrant illustrations grace the pages. And it doesn't stop at the end of the tale, but goes a step beyond to provide interesting histories of real-life birds and information on how one can help.

I bought Here, There and Everywhere and I love it. The artwork is absolutely stunning and the story is as interesting as it is educational. I will be purchasing a bunch more to give as gifts to all the children I know as well as my parrot loving adult friends.

I definitely recommend buying this book!

As much as I love Major Winters writing and of course the exploits of Babe and Bill, THIS ONE gives you the heart and SOUL of a warrior. Taking you into his world and lets you see the human side of the day to day fear/terror/heartbreak. If you ever watch B.O.B., and think I wonder what was going thru Malark's mind at that moment, wonder no more, he seems to answer all the unasked questions. A++ and thanks Don.

Easy Company Soldier
By Don Malarkey/Bob Welch

This book has it all -- action, loyalty, bravery, sorrow, faith, heroism, fear, hardship, loss, camaraderie, desperation and humor. It's the best and worst of World War II. In his quest to succeed Sgt. Malarkey fought two wars. The first was against the Germans and the second, against himself. Both a gripping human interest and violent war story, this is a must read for everyone.

First off, I'm a comparatively slow reader with a short attention span. I usually read in short bursts of about 30 or 40 minutes, often tire, get bored or lose interest to the point where reading actually becomes a chore. Rarely, does a book come along that I just cannot put down. Easy Company Soldier is one of the very few.

I started reading Easy Company Soldier at about 7:30 pm, six hours and seven chapters later I went to bed, got up an hour later and read for another two hours. The next day I finished the book. For me, that's a record only equaled once before.

The story begins with Don Malarkey growing up in Astoria, a city on the North Oregon coast during the Great Depression (not an easy life). His college life at the University of Oregon abruptly came to a halt in 1942 when he joined the army. Malarkey volunteered to be part of what he considered the toughest, most challenging unit in the American Army, the 101st Screaming Eagles Airborne Division. On June 6th 1944 D-Day, they jumped into Normandy, France.

Once again author Bob Welch captivates his audience. In his first WW II book, "American Nightingale" published in 2004, he poignantly captures the horror of war in the powerful biography of Frances Slanger and her courageous struggle to become a combat nurse with the 45th Field Hospital.

Easy Company Soldier is the remarkable story of Don Malarkey, who was originally made famous by Stephen Ambrose in Band of Brothers. With every word Bob Welch continues to envelope you in his dramatic story. Welch's unique writing ability enables the reader to hear every sound, to see the action, to smell the cordite and be a part of the general emotion of battle from France into The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, all the way from D-Day to Victory in Europe.

Don Malarkey has beaten all the odds. He survived 177 days of combat and fighting in many of the fiercest battles in Europe. Most of his outfit, Easy Company, were killed or severely wounded, yet Malarkey came through with only minor wounds. Now at 87, he has beaten the odds again and survived the calendar. After reading Easy Company Soldier I think you will agree, Don Malarkey is and always will be part of our "Greatest Generation".

I received Don's book immediately after it was released. He did send me a signed copy.
Don was my guest in Eindhoven for a couple of nights and I enjoyed talking with him very much.
Reading the book now it feels like hearing his voice while he is telling me the stories.
He is a great friend. Not only because he was one of those who liberated us after almost five years of German occupation but most of all as a human being. I sure hope Don will be in Eindhoven again in the nearby future.
My house is his house. Don thank you for sharing your life story with us.
I know for sure your Irene is proud of you, watching you from above together with your buddies.
Peter van de Wal
[...]

I've been a fan of Band of Brothers since it aired, and by extension, a fan of E/506 for about that long. The guys of Easy 506th have been writing a lot of books lately, and I have them all, and love them all, to a greater or lesser extent. But this one beats them all. "Malark" lays it all out, shows all his cards, keeps nothing back, makes himself tell all the things his comrades still try to shield in silence or jargon or laughs. He's opinionated, sometimes shocking, and his observation is surpassed only by his examination of his own self.

If you're looking for just a war memoir, too, you're only going to read half this book. This is a life memoir, and some of the best parts are at the beginning, when he and writer Bob Welch bring to life Astoria, Oregon, and life in the Depression; and the postwar period, when after the ticker-tape and champagne of victory faded, too many young men wondered who they were and what they would do with the horrible memories they kept, and too many young women wondered what happened to the sweethearts they had promised themselves to. The imagery and landscape of the Northwest recur over and over again, throughout the book, even as Malarkey bares his family history and the things you'd think a person would never say. The climax of the book is as emotional as anything I've ever read.

Of all the books written by and about Easy Company, 506th, 101st Abn., this is the one that deserves, and should win, the widest audience. Thanks, Don; you're the one, and you're still here.

Don Malarkey offers yet another heart-felt memoir from those brave Band of Brothers, Easy Company, 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment. Malarkey writes deep from the heart on every page of this gripping account of his life. From humble beginnings growing up in Astoria, Washington to attending the University of Oregon, Malarkey beautifully describes the people, places, and occurrences that had the most influence on his life. Like the memoirs of Winters, Guarnere and Heffron, the bulk of the book's pages are devoted the exploits of Easy Company. Malarkey does not stray far from the chronological events of Stephen Ambrose's book and HBO mini-series; however, he delves deeper into his own emotions and philosophical questions than his predecessors. Rather than explaining events, Malarkey paints a human face on the people who participated in them. As Malarkey clearly explains in the book's final pages, the attention brought upon him and his Easy Company comrades by both the book and film coupled with a string of Easy Company reunions, has been tremendously therapeutic in overcoming over four decades of suppressed post traumatic stress and survivor's guilt. This memoir tells more than just the story of Don Malarkey's life; writing it undoubtedly helped Don Malarkey understand the meaning of his own life, an undertaking better than any high-priced therapist could offer.

Most of us probably know Don Malarkey by the character portrayed by actor Scott Grimes in the popular HBO mini-series. Images of the carefree mischievous red-haired Irish kid from Washington State, who foolishly risked his own life to retrieve a German Lugar, and efforts to keep a stolen motorcycle with side-car hidden from the much hated Captain Sobel, immediately come to mind. These events were true. Yet Malarkey takes his readers into the turbulent emotions of a young man who, on the surface enjoyed English literature, recited poetry from memory, yet inwardly was forever changed by his experiences in combat. The film only scratched the surface of Don Malarkey; the book takes us to the inner depths.

The awkward scene where Grimes goes to pick up his uniforms from the British laundress, and silently pays for all the bundles belonging to his dead comrades killed in Normandy, is what this book is all about. Malarkey took the deaths of all his fellow Easy Company men hard, but none harder that the death of his closest friend, Warren "Skip" Muck. After Skip's death, Malarkey exchanged letters with Skip's fiance promising to visit her after the war, but couldn't bring himself to keep that promise. When she showed up at an Easy Company reunion in the mid-1990s, Malarkey embraced her and allowed fifty years worth of tears to flow.

The film showed Malarkey fidgeting with his coveted Lugar in the frozen woods outside Bastogne, but could not adequately convey that Malarkey was a hare's frozen breath from committing suicide. His undying belief that "a Malarkey never gives up" kept him from putting the pistol to his head and pulling the trigger. "Never give up," clearly provides the underlining message of the book. Another reason Malarkey did not take his own life that night at Bastogne was the memory of a promise he had made to his aging grandmother (who died in her sleep the night of June 6, 1944), that he would return home unharmed. Physically, Malarkey kept his promise to her, yet mentally and emotionally, he carried wounds that would plague him for decades.

Malarkey offers a most important fundamental message: no matter what trials and tribulations life throws at you, never give up! He also underscores the downside of World War II's silent "greatest generation:" keeping the memory of traumatic experiences bottled up inside of you will be your undoing. For those expecting just another Easy Company vet's perspective on events portrayed in the book and movie, this memoir will not disappoint. But Malarkey's underlying message on coping with the memories of war and getting on with your life is the true gift in this beautifully written autobiography. This should be required reading for any returning war veteran!

If you're buying books on chocolate, this one should be in your collection.
Lovely

I have learned a lot about how chocolate is created with this book. I have not tried the recipes yet but I have learnt what going into making chocolate. From selecting the beans to fermentation... I also like how the book give some nice tidbits about the history of chocolate such as how Devil's Food cake got its name and how Hershey started out.

This is an excellent book with great recipes. It is well
worth buying. I loved it. Here are two men who have a
passion that is translated into a well written book that makes
you want to delve into their passion as well and bake.

I would like to rate the book separating the story from the recipes and the artwork. The story is just amazing, how John and Robert started Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker from nothing an how they learned about chocolate.It just leaves you with a really bitter aftertaste when you learn they sold their factory to a huge company that never specialized in fine chocolates. Sad.
As far as the recipes, there is a mix: some very simple and some very sophisticated. The good thing is that, because of the way they are presented, you don't need to be a pastry chef to be able to make them. It's one of those books that make you want to cook, it doesn't scare you.The photos are impressive.

Memoir: minus two stars. Reason: too disappointing they sold it, it just doesn't fit the story, such hard work, why selling it? To Hersheys!!! Unforgivable.

Recipes: 4 stars. Reason: some of them are confusing when it comes to ingredients, and the "Dulce de leche" one is SO sad it's even insulting. They could have done a better job at researching how to make good "Dulce de leche", it is not too hard.

What a beautiful book! I pretty much collect cookbooks and I definitely have my favorites. I had my eye on this one but I stopped myself from making the purchase (well... at least for a while). I am glad I did finally break down and buy it. Besides it being a truly beautiful book, it is filled with the inspiring story of how one can turn a tragedy around and how 2 people could do so much in such a short period of time (in the chocolate world). The recipes and pictures are truly inspiring. A lot of love went into this book!

"It's a comprehensive and exhaustively researched offering and a fine addition to Wolf's career in helping Pennsylvania anglers better know and respect their home waters. With its detailed maps and hatch charts, it also will help traveling anglers find and fish their way around the Keystone State."

"Over the years, a number of books have been written offering insight to the best places where (fishing) opportunity can be found. However, none is as complete as recently released, Dave Wolf's, Flyfishers Guide to Pennsylvania. This book is complete and provides tidbits of information overlooked in the past, but not in this book. The book can not only serve as a fishing guide, but for travel as well, covering where to stay, restaurants, fly shops and much more."

"Wolf, although an ardent trout fisherman, includes in this book information for the ever-growing number of anglers that have taken to fishing for cool and warm-water species using buggy-whip techniques. And it doesn't end there. It is a great reference to the special waters of Pennsylvania even for bait and spinning tackle anglers....

I've had this book for several years and I've found it to be a very useful resource. The hatch charts are extremely helpful, especially for trout anglers. While the author made a better than average attempt to cover the warmwater opportunities in the Keystone State, for the most part only the most well known sites were covered. Certainly Pennsylvania has some world famous trout streams, but the variety and quality of our warmwater fisheries is truly extraordinary. Some of the streams that were covered specifically for the trout they hold probably offer better bass fishing over most of their length. Trout centered thinking is far too prevalent in the fly fishing community and as a result this sort of overemphasis on trout is typical of many fly fishing guides. Indeed, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is guilty of killing thousands of trout annually by stocking them in waters so warm they are almost certain to all die by Memorial Day. I know that Mr. Wolf is a skilled and avid warmwater fly fisher. I hope in the future he will update this guide and give our warmwater fisheries the coverage they deserve.

If you are looking for a book to give you general knowledge on better known trout fishing streams in Pennsylvania, then this book will meet your needs. Unfortunately, the author does not do a good job of covering remote streams in many parts of the state that are excellent producing streams and beautiful places to fish. I was especially disappointed in his lack of coverage of streams in McKean and Warren County. I would not recommend this book to an avid Pennsylvania fisherman. The book is adequate for an out-of-state fisherman who is looking to fish some of the more popular streams in PA.