Johnston Books

Another Great book to visit the Patterson's with. "For Better / For Worse" has to be one of the best comic strips of all time. It really makes you think, "They are just like my family", and if you do not have kids, read the books so you know what to prepare for.

For Better or For Worse is like a fine wine, it has gotten better in time! This book was hiliarious, but the drawing style was very rough compared to Johnston's current style. I thought it was a good book, and would recommend it highly to die hard fans.

This book is a collection of strips from the syndicated "For Better or For Worse" comic strip. It highlights the trials and tribulations of the modern couple trying to raise children. The father is a dentist, there are two children, a boy and a girl and the main character is an overextended mother. As a single parent, I found many of the overworked parent situations to be overdone, but they were still amusing. Examples are the student teacher conferences, planning a vacation, keeping school supplies safe until school starts and whether or not you have a pet.
If you are married and think that your life is atypical, read this book and smile. Although the specifics may differ, all couples with children must deal with nearly all of the circumstances this couple copes with.

This delightful, reality based strip has set new standards in cartoons. The Patterson bunch contend with every day issues that all readers can identify with, such as a new pet, making time for romantic interludes and running interference for the children. It is a wonderful strip that has brought many smiles to many faces for many years and we hope, many more. Let's keep up more of those days.

I've allways caonsidered "For Better or For worse my favorite cartoon, and this book is one of my favorites. The sibling rivalry, chaotic family reunions and the crazieness of getting a puppy are just some of the things that make this collection a good book. I would recomend it. Sincerely, Jessica Holz

This is basically peanut butter and egg salad sandwiches. Not very imaginative. Not worth it in my opinion.

This is an easy to use, easy to read book packed with lots of good info and helpful tips. Janice Johnston has done a fine job at bringing to light some very good ways to healthful eating for kids.

Diana Taylor
Top Dog
Pug At The Beach
Pug at the Beach: An Island Dog's Reflections on Life

I got this book a little over three months ago and I've used it every week since. It's probably the easiest way to plan a diet and the most cost effective. I've lost 28 lbs so far and I'm not slowing down. This is a must have!!

With childhood obesity becoming an epidemic across the continent, it's more important than ever to teach children the importance of eating healthy and balanced meals. Children these days are bombarded by images of candy, fast food and other unhealthy snacks which makes it difficult for them to make the right choice when it comes to mealtime. "Lunch Box Menus For You" by Janice A. Johnston, teaches you and your children how to create a variety of fun, nutritious and tasty lunches. The convenient grocery lists that she has included in the book make it very easy for you to shop for all of the items you will need for your child's lunch for the week. There is such a variety of different food types in the book that even the pickiest eater will be satisfied.

I highly recommend this book to any parent who wants to ensure that their child learns good nutrition habits that they can practice for the rest of their life!

I ran across this book and thought I would give it a try to aid in making my kids' lunches. After several weeks of following the menus provided in this book my kids were eating more healthy and had become interested in grocery shopping each week to get the ingredients for their school lunches. By following this guide, our family eats much healthier, we buy much less junk at the grocery store, and are eating foods that we had never tried before.
The author is a Registered Dietitan, so you can count on the information in this book being healthy and well prepared. I would recommend this book to any family with children who want to ensure that their children eat well. We've all heard that people create their eating habits for life as children. This book can help any family wishing to correct poor eating habits and ensure that their children eat healthy at school. Lastly, for families already eating healthy but looking for new eating ideas, this book is a home run!

I had to buy this book for a course in Physics. It really explains things clearly and helps with understanding.

A superior and engaging account of how progress in the physical sciences is intertwined with the development of music theory and the evolution of musical instruments. The conversational tone of the text is never dry, and is liberally sprinkled with illustrations. There is music, science and history a-plenty here. You do not have to be "scientifically minded" to derive a great deal of pleasure and edification from the book, it has definitely been thoughtfully shaped by a professional educator. I first read this in 1990 and return to it time and again for reference, only to find myself absorbed in re-reading sections. Obviously a labor of love, "Measured Tones" deserves a wide audience. I wish Prof Johnston had written more!

I've been trying to understand why music works like it does for several years, and stumbled onto this book by accident. It's exactly what I needed! It explains why musical scales are like they are, and how they got that way (which is important for understanding why it used to be significant which key some symphony was written in). It explains how harmony works, and melody too. And, how musical instruments work. And on top of that, it includes a very interesting history of science and of music, a very enjoyable read.

I have used this book as the secondary text for a college course in the physics of music. There are a number of textbooks out there for courses of this sort (Rossing, Backus, Rigden, etc.) but this book takes a very different, historical approach, with a strong emphasis on scales and intonation. The mathematical level and level of detail are quite low--I found it hard to devise test questions to see whether the students had read the book. But it is written in a quirky, engaging style, and the students in the course found it a more enjoyable read than the main textbook by Rossing. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the relationship of history, physics, and music--no science background is required!

this book covered more ground than i had hoped and features lucid explanations of topics traditionally belonging to a whole variety of fields, as well as substantial biographical content and historical references. at many points while reading it i found myself entraced with descriptions of clear and important aspects of music and musical instruments which i had never known about before.

i was especially interested in a book more abstract than the western musical paradigm, and it scored fairly. enough generalized explanations were included that i felt comfortable. johnston described a lot of musical instruments, but they are mostly western ones.

my only beef is with johnston's informal writing. he glosses over some details (admitting as much) and generally avoids mathematical equations. for a book which includes, for example, generalized descriptions of the movement of masses of air in adjoined chambers of varying size, it would not have been unreasonable to have more math - imho, the principal field connecting physics and music.

This is an excellent and comprehensive overview of the subject of mystical theology. It is also an excellent introduction to the relationship between Christian mysticism and the mysticism of the world religions, especially those of the East.

This book is an excellent resource for anyone interested in the topic of "mysticism." Although I don't agree with some views, I believe the book makes for good reading.

Since Vatican II and the 1960's, there has been a massively renewed interest in mysticism and interior forms of spirituality.

William Johnston, a Jesuit missionary living in Japan, has extensive knowledge both of Western spirituality and mysticism and also through his experiences in Japan, of Eastern spirituality and mysticism, especially Zen Buddhism.

Johnston is able to expound the insights of both traditions in a non-sectarian way on the basis of love; Christian agape and Buddhist compassion. He feels both traditions can enrich each other, provided both respect their appropriate boundaries.

I am inclined to agree, being a student both of Christian spirituality and also Eastern religion as well. There is no need for the two traditions to try and 'convert' each other, rather, a dialogue will be more profitable in the longer term.

I studied Pascal's Pensees at Notre Dame in 1989, and my life changed. A few years later I discovered Simone Weil's works at Emory University. A few years ago I was given Johnston's book, and am still working thru it. I'm a layman, not a genius, and for me the things in this book, tied to Pascal, Weil, and the Gospel of John, surely make a lot of sense. I'd like nothing more than to study this book at a seminar taught by William Johnston. For the layman who is seeking to make sense of this world, while developing a deeper relationship with God, this is the book to read.

Johnston's Book "Mystical Theology" explains in a succinct and readable way the history of Western Christian mysticism and correlates it with Eastern mysticism and modern Western psychological understandings. It is well-written and answers questions that the average student of mysticism would understand in a coherent way. It is good for spiritual directors and pastoral leaders who are trying to understand the spiritual life of those entrusted to their care. It is NOT a book for beginners. It will be best understood by those who have some working knowledge of Christian, but especially Catholic Western or Eastern Mysticism. A knowledge of the works of St. John of the Cross or Teresa of Avila is most helpful.

Johnston's primary contribution to this field is his updating the understandings of centuries and placing them in a modern context. For example, he takes the three traditional ways of spiritual growth, purgative, illuminative and unitive ways and correlates his experience of Eastern mysticism, the call to non-violence, and modern psychology with them. The language is clear, the meanings precise, and the index is thorough. You can use this book as a basic research tool for mysticism or contemplation. I wished I had had this book before I wrote a published article last year. It would have formed a backbone to my article that other resources do not have.

Johnston's book is broad-based and has great depth. It could easily become the "Bible" and the "dictionary, if not encyclopedia" in its field. Its only weakness (and probably because it would have made it overly long)is that it does not trace the history of Western or Eastern Christian mysticism in great depth. However, its theological underpinnings are very strong. I highly reccommend this book not only to scholars but to all those seeking a greater understanding of mystical theology as well as those guiding our contemporary mystics.

This was an invaluable reference for my science thriller, Neitherworld, about an Ojibwe girl and her family and ancestors Neitherworld Book One Akiiwan (CreateSpace Version). Johnston is perhaps the greatest living authority on Ojibwe culture and this book will teach you about their customs and ceremonies. There is a helpful appendix containing the ojibwe version of one of their ceremonies as well. I only wish Johnston had inlcluded a biliography.

In this and his other books, Basil Johnston does an outstanding job of expressing the spirit of Ojibway culture and spirituality. "Ojibway Ceremonies" particularly focuses on the cycle of ceremonies which marked the major events of life in Ojibway Society, beginning with the Naming Ceremony, proceeding through the Vision Quest and Marriage Ceremonies, and finally ending with the Ritual of the Dead. In addition, Johnston outlines some of the rituals of the secret societies, the Midewewin (Grand Medicine Society) and Wabunowin (Society of the Dawn). In traditional native fashion, the ceremonies are introduced and explained through story, rather than as dry anthropological information. Ojibway Ceremonies is an enjoyable read, and a fascinating look into one of the most resilient, if not most outspoken of Native American cultures.

This is the first book of its kind that I've ever read (specific ceremonies throughout the life of the Ojibway), so I don't really have a point of reference. But I thought it was a great idea how it was written almost like a novel, in that the life of an individual was followed from birth, and all the ceremonies and events described throughout his life. It didn't have the emotion that a novel has, though, and does pretty much stick to describing circumstances, rather than understanding the people from the level of the heart. It is well written, and an enjoyable read. It left me wanting to read something more in-depth on the subjects.

This book was very helpful to me in planning funerals and weddings for my family members. This book has a lot of ojibwe language and stories in it and is overall excellent.

Really good book. Being a member of an Ojibway Tribe I found the book well written and full of information on my ancestors sprituality and way of life. Reminded me of the stories and experiences I had as a child. Anyone wanting "dry facts" about Ojibway heritage and spirituality will not find it in this book. It's through storytelling, one of the Ojibway's primary means of teaching children, that the ceremonies are taught. Because readers are at different levels of mentality and spirituality, what you get from this book will differ for each reader. As you grow, and if you read the book again, each time you read the book some new information will become apparent on how the Anishinabek lived. You will also become more aware of their traditional beliefs and values.

The good news about "Roman Law in Context" is that it's short, clear, and gives a good overview of Roman law in core areas like family law, sales, property, and litigation. The bad news is that the book stays narrowly focused on technical legal doctrines, only sketching the law's social and political context. Bottomline: this is a great book for someone, perhaps a law student or non-legal historian of Rome, who wants a quick guide to Roman legal rules. But it's not such a great book for laymen who are interested in learning more about life in ancient Rome.

It is hard to imagine a better introduction to the grand world of Roman law and legal history. This is a scholarly and also beautifully written essay on the most interesting cultural creation of the Romans, their law. Recommended most highly.

Johnston's book is basically organized into three sections, thought there is no mention of this structure in the table of contents. The first section introduces the reader to the sources of Roman law (how the law was made, and who made it). The second section discusses the substantive law of family, property, and contracts. The third section discusses litigation (or how the laws discussed in section two worked in practice). At the end of the book, there is a very good glossary of Roman legal terms, followed by an extremely helpful discussion of the Roman legal literature for the serious student of Roman Law to pursue.

Johnston's book does a great job of packing a lot of information into very few pages, but often at the expense of several rereads by the reader. The information is accurate and well-researched, thought it could have been presented better (see next paragraph). However, whether you're new to Roman law, or have studied the subject in depth, you will come away with a better grasp of Rome's legal system, her institutions, and her laws.

Now, for the criticism. I believe that Johnston's book would have been much better if he would have followed his discussion of the sources of Roman law (section I) with the section on litigation (section III, which discusses how the law operated in practice), followed then by a discussion of the substantive law. Johnston's organization, by not doing this, presented the reader with an entire book of disparate and seemingly disjunctive technical material without a mechanism for synthesizing it until the reader reached Johnston's last chapter on litigation. This was the chapter that tied everything together, and it should have been discussed earlier. Only upon reading this last chapter did I finally understood why everything Johnston had told me before was important, and because of this, it looks like I'll be reading this book again to fully appreciate the impact of the previous chapters.

Therefore, I would recommend reading chapter one, then the last chapter, and then the material on the substantive law following the first chapter. Doing so, I guarantee, will save you a lot of head scratching and will enable you to appreciate this book, which is otherwise very good.

Personally, while this book is accessible to the beginner, I would recommend that a reader unfamiliar with Roman law begin with Nicholas' "An Introduction to Roman Law" or Crook's "Law and Life of Rome," both of which are excellent and will better prepare you for Johnston's book.

It is hard to imagine a better introduction to the grand world of Roman law and legal history. This is a scholarly and also beautifully written essay on the most interesting cultural creation of the Romans, their law. Recommended most highly.

Though this book is intended primarily for historians who want to learn about Roman law, it will also be of great benefit to law students who first approach the subject. The bad news is that it won't do as a reliable replacement for all the other books you're asked to consult and read, at least in part, for your examinations, but the good news is that, with Johnston's initial guidance as well as essential help at the revision stage, you'll get a much firmer grasp of Roman law as a whole than you would if you started from these other, sometimes no less excellent books. Predictably enough for a short book, Johnston focuses largely on the classical period and discusses only private law (family, property and commerce), but there are also illuminating chapters on sources and litigation. Apart from its provision of reliable and up-to-date knowledge on the substance of Roman law and its social context, Johnston's book also deserves praise for its two other virtues: it is one of these rare books that simply don't seem to contain a single wasted sentence, and it offers informed comparisons between our own legal culture and that of ancient Rome. I was particularly impressed by his remark that getting the best people to litigate for you (both jurists and advocates) was a matter of entering a complex network of patron and client relationships, and that it is in principle much easier to know what counts as legal excellence if securing it for yourself is merely a question of paying a certain amount of money. Speaking of which, since this is not a legal textbook, it is also a good deal cheaper than you might expect.

I already have many books on the acoustic guitar, describing technical information, history or concentrating on just one brand.
This book is the most detailed technical book as meant for acoustic guitar owners so far. Each and every part of the guitar is described. Things like fretboard radius or different lacquer types, maintenance, storage, wood with all their aspects. Too many things to mention.

Even a specialist will find some new interesting info.

There are a few color photo's to brighten up the book. I would have preferred a bigger size book (the pages are a little small), but the text is very well written and a pleasure to read. A bigger size plus hard cover and a few more pictures would make it a ***** book for me.

This book is a comprehensive look at the anatomy of a guitar. It does not give enough details to use as a guide to building your own guitar. The color pictures are limited to 12 pages inside center of the book. The rest of the pictures are black and white. There is plenty of discussion of the dreadnaught style, but after reading everything I still didn't have a good idea how it differed from the standard guitar. This book's strong point is the history discussion. If you are looking to build a guitar I recommend "Classical Guitar Making: A Modern Approach to Traditional Design" by John S. Bogdanovich.

There isn't much that the authors don't cover about what goes into a guitar, except for the actual methods of construction (for which you have to go to the Kinkead or Cumpiano books). In this book, you'll learn more than you'll ever need to know about woods, strings, and microphones, and the basics of how to optimize the adjustable bits for your style of playing. The authors know their stuff cold, and it shows.

To get the sort of knowldege this book offers, you have two choices. You could hang around guitar shops for years and years talking with salesmen, customers, repair people, and performers, and learning from them what they consider important in a guitar. Or, if you have a real job, you could read this book instead.

For me, this has been one of the best books i've read in a long time.. It is hard for me to put down.. I have been interested in music as long as I can remember and have played guitar and been interested in the dynamics of sound structure as long.. I know alot of laymen things about the guitar but this book has broken down this incredible instrument and went through each part, step by step in easy to read and understand writing. I am now getting into the art of being a Luthier and this book is full of helpful ideas and terminology.

This book is really good. I think it has won an award. The story was really cute. I enjoyed reading about Sara. An excellent read. Get this book now!

P.S-I'm not a kid- I don't have a login

Being both foster and adoptive parents, this is real stuff with real personalities and feelings portrayed. Wished I had read it in one sitting to get the full effect of the emotions.

The book is great for me. I only started reading this afternoon and I already love it! It's about this great Sara Moone a very interesting character whom many people will be able to relate to. Once you start this book...you won't be able to put it down. Go get it!

This book was a great read! I especially enjoyed it because I'm interested in adopting in the future, and this gave me an insight into the foster care system, albeit in Canada. The writing was great, although it's definitely a young adult book and not an adult book! The plot line would be a bit too easy for adults, but I don't think this would be a problem with younger readers (high school would be fine with it).

All in all, I really enjoyed this! I hope to read more of this author's books!

I love well-done graphic novels, and while I'm a much more frequent browser of them than a buyer of them, I had to buy this when I bought the DVD ALEX RIDER: OPERATION STORMBREAKER. Even if this graphic novel had turned out to be average, I think it would've been worth the purchase. As it happens, I think it's top-notch (just as the cover thumbnail intimated to me), and it's the almost-ideal written counterpart to the DVD. The artistic style, while based on manga, still retains more than enough Western characteristics to suit a Western character and a Western literary genre, and the well-written text fills in some details that aren't found in the DVD.

Alex Rider (in the graphic novels even more than in the movie and in the novels) resembles a literary alter ego of my own so uncannily that I sometimes think Anthony Horowitz must've been peeking at my notes. In truth, it's obvious that we've been drawing upon the same archetypes independently, only a generation apart (meaning I was doing it twenty years before he was, when I was Alex's age and even younger).

unfortunatly this graphic novel uses the movie script instead of the book as its inspiration. The drawing is good and easy to follow.

I teach junior high students. I had a lot of kids read the novel version who also liked the graphic novel. Also, this book was good for bridging kids from graphic stories to other kinds of text.

This is a creative re-imagining of the Alex Rider series. This novel closely follows the plot of the first novel. Alex Rider lives with his distant Uncle until his Uncle's sudden and surprising death. Alex soon learns that his Uncle was actually a spy and is recruited to finish his last mission, to find out what secret the rich and reclusive Harold Sayle is hiding. Alex, in the role of teenage James Bond, gets his own gadets and will rely on those, as well as his quick thinking, to save Britain from Sayle's evil plot.

This popular series is actually enhanced by the change into the graphic novel format. The pictures enhance the action and suspense of the story, making an already accessible story even more accessible. Readers who love the series, as well as those who never have read the book, will both enjoy this engaging and well done graphic novel.

This is the second of a 3-book series.

Titus Bass, having departed St. Louis, is making his way west, and he first encounters a widow whom he befriends at a store along his way.

Although his love for women is well-known from the first book, it is surprising that he is now in a position to
help the widow in her grieving by making love to her, which she almost forces on him, but he tenderly helps her to understand she is still a desirable female who surely will find a good man to love her and help raise her children.

Titus eventually sees his buffalo and reaches the mountains.

A side note - in the first book, his older mountain man friend tells Titus about Hugh Glass, and the reader is encouraged to delay picking up this second volume until having read "Lord Grizzly", by Frederick Manfred.

The story of Hugh Glass is a great supplement to this 3-part tale by Johnston.

In the mountains, Titus meets a trio who take him under their collective wings to teach him about the trapping of beaver. Along the way, he becomes a first-rate trapper, eventually giving the most-skilled of the three a close race to see who can trap the most animals.

Toward the end of the book, the three head downstream on two rafts with all the skins to sell or trade for necessary supplies and equipment at a trading post fort. Titus is left with all the animals and the quartet's supplies and equipment with a plan to meet them at a prearranged location upon their anticipated return.

They do not return, and he is eventually attacked by Indians while enroute to rendezvous, the annual trappers' gathering. He is scalped and left for dead, but he survives with the aid of his faithful mule, Hannah. They make their way toward the gathering place, and he encounters a group of trappers who help him to regain his strength and health.

The last book is Carry the Wind, and it is a must-read!

Terry Johnson is not a great writer by any means but if you have an interest in the era of the far west fur trade and the west itself you will enjoy the setting and historical detail.

Wagh, this Child first met up with Ol' Scratch some ten year back when, "Carry the Wind", was published. Each subsequent chapter from, "Borderlords", to "One Eyed Dream", have been read and re-read. After a long wait, Titus Bass joined us once again in, "Dance on the Wind", a wonderful adventure where we see Titus during his youth. In "Buffalo Palace", Terry C. Johnston shares the life of Scratch with his fans once more. This go around takes us through Titus's education from being a tin-horn who wouldn't know slow bull, from fat cow, into a grizzled trapper, minus a little hair. Along the way, Scratch earns his stripes after hardships and a will that won't quit. The adventures that we get to experience through Titus's eyes makes it difficult to wait for the third book in this trilogy. Terry, please hurry!

I enjoy reading Terry C. Johnston frontiersmen saga, actually I am devouring book after book he has written. Reading makes me partecipate in those heroic actions carried out by brave and simple men, living a unique era in a wild and harsh environment that disappeared forever, after some decades, due to the expansion of the so said "civilization" broght West by the white settlers.