King Books

I had the wonderful experience of apprenticing for Peter and finished soon after we did the photoshoot for the book. I have to say, Peter and his brother John both went through great lengths to make sure the book would have as much practical information in it as possible. The only thing better than the book is one of Peter's workshops. But with the book, all of the information that Peter gives is easy to look over time and time again. The pictures are great! As soon as you start making and install a floor, sink, fireplace and so on I'm sure that you'll be hooked. You'll realize that it is possible to do on your own or with a friend. You'll also see and understand how much farther you can push clay than you had ever expected. Plus, above all, it's alot of fun!

The pictures are fantastic! For those of you who are tired of tiny pots, this is the book.

I'm a student and as such I'm very new to the game. This book gave me not only inspiration but enough detailed information to allow me to plan my bathroom sink. The plans include the sink, tile, and following the example in the book, the plans for the forms I need to make so that the pieces will be shaped correctly. I hope to create and fire the pieces early next year.

For those of you who have been searching for a book on the contemporary art of handmade ceramic tile, your search is over. Peter King has twenty five years of experience in architectural ceramics. His attention to detail and design help new and experienced ceramists alike in producing their final product. He even discusses designs for inexpensive tools that can be made by the artist. I have seen the author's proof of this book and it is nothing short of spectacular. If you are interested in this medium, no other book will give you this wealth of information. I highly recommend this book and the workshops Peter gives several times a year. He is clearly a pioneer in his field.

I usually do small works; handbuilt and wheelthrown pieces and tiles. It was quite eye-opening to read this book on large scale projects. It is written in a very clear manner, with wonderful pictures.

I only fault him on his tile making techniques, which could be better, but hey, who cares? His expertise lies elsewhere. He has obviously worked out the best techniques for large ceramic projects.

I like the way the book is organized. The chapters are very sequentially logical (to me).
Chapter 1: Tools and Equipment
Chapter 2: Building and Decorating Techniques
Chapter 3: Sectioning, Drying, Glazing and Firing
Chapter 4: Installation
Chapter 5: The Projects
Chapter 6: Gallery

The Projects chapter reiterates some of the information in previous chapters, but this time applied to a particular project. This is fine with me, since reiteration is a good teaching technique. The Gallery chapter is quite inspirational! There are lots of pictures of installations done not only by Peter, but also other artists.

Makes me want to try some architectural ceramics!

I think that Arianna Kelt and the Renegades of Time is a very great story. Ever since I read the first book, I wondered what about Digorence and the other wizarding worlds. I'm glad that J R King decided to let him have a bigger role in this book. One of my favorite chapters is The Butterfly Effect because his antics are so hilarious and fun to read about. I like the characters of Arianna and Ranth as well. I'm sure that other people will enjoy this book. This series is e a must-have for a family library. Like the Harry Potter series they are very imaginative and addicting for readers of every age. Books like this make readers out of non-readers and offer hours of family conversation.

Arianna Kelt, the brilliant former-thief turned wizard created by author J R King, returns for another adventure in Arianna Kelt and the Renegades of Time, Book Two of this exciting new series. King's magical world features an entire universe and alternate dimensions populated by humans, wizard beings, gnomes, and other fairie folk who frequently find themselves at odds with demons, warlocks, trolls, golems and other beings from dark dimensions.

This book, like the first one, offers a perfect blend of magic, fantasy, conflict, and humor. Readers are sure to enjoy the fast-paced adventures of Arianna and her friends. Digorence the gnome is hilarious! As soon as you turn the last page of this book, you'll be hungering for the next one. I sure was.

My kids and I couldn't wait to get this second book in the Wizards series and it is excellent just as good or better than the first one! My son read Arianna Kelt and the Wizards of Skyhall over and over again, but once the other kids discovered the book he had to share it. The action and humor are what they loved about the book and I did too. This book has action and humor aplenty too!

Arianna Kelt and the Renegades of Time is the second book in the Wizards of Skyhall. The book continues the story of Arianna and her friends and others from Skyhall as they try to protect the universe from evil warlocks and dark creatures.

The story is a wonderful blend of futuristic scifi and fantasy with plenty of action, mystery and humor. I enjoyed reading the book and was especially surprised by the growth of this young author's unique voice. His writing in the first book, Arianna Kelt and the Wizards of Skyhall, was strong and showed he was highly creative. In this one, King shows he has true talent as a writer.

The best parts of the story feature Digorence, the onery, flatulent gnome. The sharp wit and humor throughout is refreshing, and the book itself is on par with anything written by adults in the genre. Kudos to the young author on a job well done!

Most of the books on the Arthur legends are steeped in battle glory and mythical images, though Bergers imagery is good, what you'll take away from Arthur Rex is the emotions.Berger has a tremendous way of making you feel for characters while being able to see their funny side at the same time. They feel like real people who happened to live extraordinary lives nearly a thousand years ago. It's not all Arthur and Lancelot either, you'll get to know Gawaiyne and Gareth. the stor about Tristram and Isolde with melt the iciest of hearts. This book is a treat for anyone who loves Arthurian stories or satires. With vicious wit and strong characterization, how could you go wrong?

Berger has selected and arranged a great many of the tales of the Round Table in a particularly harmonious and agreeable book--all the most beloved knights and the bravest quests and the noblest love affairs are here included. He writes with a high-tongued humor that revitalizes the telling of the familiar stories; through a beautifully (and mildly) archaic style and voice, he manages to wed a modern sense of metaphysics and ethics (moral and political) to the age-old celebration of chivalry, adventure, and love. A wonderful read, masterfully crafted and deliciously entertaining.

One of the best King Arthur stories. Definately the funniest. I don't know what else to say. Just read this book.

The irreverent Thomas Berger, author of Little Big Man as well as Arthur Rex, takes on the Arthurian legends and tells them as they ought to have been lived. Setting aside the facts of history that stubbornly refuse to conform to the superiority of legend, Berger gives us 5th century Britain landscaped with towering castles, peopled with knights clad in full plate armor of a thousand years hence, and filled to brimming with villains, heroes, worthy quests, and enough glory, sadness and good cheer to burst the covers of five novels this size. Every one of the popular legends is here, along with a few new ones. Tristan and Isolde fill a chapter, as does Sir Gwain and the Green Knight. The tortured, heroic Lancelot and his faithless queen factor into the novel, as does the evil Mordred, the scheming Morgan Le Fey, and the wise, time-traveling Merlin. This is great stuff, people, and easily my all-time favorite of any of the tales of Camelot and its residents I've ever read!

Christopher Bruce's encyclopaedic work is a magnificent compendium of all of the major 6th to 19th century Arthurian sources.

As a publisher of books and games based on the original Arthurian sources, I have turned to this book not as my 'Bible', but as a sort of 'Bible Concordance'. Which stories can I find Percival (or his many alternative names) occurring in?

I found this book to be worth ten, if not a hundred times its cover price in terms of compiling years of research into a single treasury of Arthurian knowledge.

I was amazed to discover how young this first time author is. He has produced a profoundly complete and thoroughly researched scholarly work that is a "must read" for any student of the Aurthurian Legends. Mr. Bruce has researched even the most obscure references and stories of Arthur and the other characters associated with the legend. Thank you for your excellent work.

Mr. Bruce has certainly done a wonderful job compiling volumes of information into one comprehensive work. It would be difficult to find a more complete reference. A must-have guide for any Arthurian-lover's library, as well as an interesting book for any reader to peruse.

As an avid Arthurian reader, I am amazed at the completeness of this wonderful reference. Nowhere have I ever seen such a valid and thorough resource. My son has loaned me his copy but I am looking forward to adding one of my own to my library. It is hard to believe that anyone could compile such a great volume so masterfully! Bravo, Mr. Bruce!

It is a must read for any person seeking the truth and for those of us who are ORthodox Christians.

This is a book that should be read and studied by all believers in God. It should also be studied by people who are interested in a career in political science or people who eventually want to become a prime minister. And, it should be read by national leaders who still believe that Plato's 'philosopher king' can lead the people of a democratic nation. As President Putin of Russia continues to say correctly that there are many different forms of democracy that will work properly.

This book showed me that Germany's Hitler and Italy's Mussolini were very ugly and inhumane. It also shows that religions can be ungodly when they force a religion onto free people. It shows the origin of today's terrorism.

Emperor Haile Sellassie I was a great developer of the human spirit and Nature's resources. Everything he did was for the benefit of the people of Ethiopia and those nations that joined the League of Nations. His work to unify science and theology was new and should become a 'development' model for all nations today.

The whole work of the book is very inspirational, historically it is educational and legendary. The new generations of Ethiopian or the Eritrean will learn from it what they have not been told correctly. History never chnages. The book has it all. It is compiled very well, charismatic and the writer is to be admired for his great work. Everyone must read this book for self uplifting or for your edification.

It is of the highest inspiration for I to read the words of His Majesty. Such humbleness, reverence, and clarity in His pure personality. Cast aside all doctrines and dogmas they tell you about HIM and Empress Menen. Find out for yourself, straight up from the source. I and I father is truly devoted to the Most High, to his people, yes I, to his children of all generations. Through trial and tribulation. But don't take it from another. Hear for your self Idren.
His Words Live
His Spirit Lives
Emperor Sellassie I Lives to Infinity

So nice to come across a book that inspires and informs in this way. The personal examples were especially helpful to me and I'll be recommending this book to certain of my clients who will surely benefit from its wisdom. Well done and worth reading. Pamela D. Blair, Author The Next Fifty Years: A Guide for Women at Mid-Life And Beyond

If you are like me, you've often wondered where you could find someone wise who could shed light on this journey called life. You'd like to know someone who could help you along in this world so full of pain and joy, heartache and wonder, beauty and mystery and violence.
Perhaps such wisdom can only be found in the later years of life. Perhaps a lifetime's experiences need to be harvested before one can recognize wisdom. Whatever the constellation that brings wisdom about and causes one to recognize it, this book by Elizabeth M. King and Robert H. King contains it.
If we allow them they will take each of us by the hand and lead us to wisdom, too. Their method is the contemplative path, the way of centering prayer as taught by Thomas Keating, the way of Zen meditation as taught by many teachers.
You will find in this slim book many things to treasure, including a story about:
* the growth of a mature, loving couple-relationship;
* the discovery of meaning in the retirement years;
* a path that goes beyond the commercialism of the material
world;
* a continuing of personal growth in the "elder" years;
* the healing of earlier traumas and pain;
* the wondrous rewards to those who meditate/contemplate;
* the finding of something beyond what our culture and its
institutions typically offer;
* hope for those dreading our culture's marginalizing of
those in the later years of life.
This book is a grace to us, a sharing of deeply personal experiences. It is an invitation to make something more of our lives in the Autumn Years. I have found it a pearl of great price, an infinite rose. May you come to treasure it, too.

AUTUMN YEARS: TAKING THE CONTEMPLATIVE PATH by Robert H. and Elizabeth M. King is a treasure of a read! The book is an easy and thoughtful combination of autobiographical, spiritual and practical ways of looking at aging. By reading the chapters they had written alternately, I felt as if I had tuned into an intimate conversation between Robert and Elizabeth. They talk of their individual transitions down through the years and how they now work together to deepen their spiritual path as a couple and as elders.
Both authors have many publications behind them and are skillful in sharing their life experience. Gems of information about meditation practice, prayer, and exercise inspired me to revisit long forgotten meditation poses and to explore alternate forms of daily prayer practice.
Because this gentle book gave me a positive look at my own aging process, I plan to use it in discussion groups with others seeking meaningful growth for their senior years. I highly recommend it.

The book, AUTUMN YEARS, by the Kings is a keeper. In my practice, as a psychotherapist. I see more often people who are at retirement age and would like to withdraw from their work. Then they ask, "Retire to what?" The Kings suggest the most important journey of all could be taken at this time, the journey is within, to know ourselves. The Kings give us road maps for the journey. This inward journey is one that we are never too young or too old to start.
Ramona J. Schroeder, L.C.S.W., L.M.P.H.

Edith Hope Fine's Under the Lemon Moon is a book with a big heart. Readers of all ages will enjoy this modern day folk tale. There is much to be learned, and even more to be felt from the pages of this book. The beautifully rendered illustrations are a lovely compliment to the book's poetic text. Under the Lemon Moon is a touching, beautiful and memorable read. This book would be a great addition to your library- and a great gift for kids of all ages.

AFter hearing "Under the Lemon Moon" read aloud to a group of 15 kindergarten students, I knew my original assessment was correct - kids will love this story! The illustrations so enhance the author's tale that it is hard to imagine one without the other. The glossary is vital, and helped the children recognize the Spanish words in context. The librarian/reader fielded such comments as: "That girl is really nice",and "the old man shouldn't have stolen the lemons, but he wasn't bad". Then they discussed how many of the class liked to eat lemons without sugar. Several asked if they could check the book out - always the clincher!

This engaging book is a wonderful tool to help young children gain brief insight into Mexican culture. With basic Spanish included in a glossary, reading Under the Lemon Moon to your children may be the perfect way to stimulate interest in and discussion of foreign language. Perhaps more significant than exposure to other cultures, this entertaining tale teaches initiative, principles, and respect. The harmonious blend of captivating artwork and thoughtful plot make this story a must for all children over the age of three.

I have been reading "Under The Lemon Moon" to four-year-old twins before bed every night this week. When we read, they become entranced by the story. They also enjoy searching for the characters in the beautiful illustrations. There are many lessons to be learned from this story, including forgiveness. I highly recommend this book!

It is 5 BC. Terentius is a Celt living in Tarsus in Cilicia. A bard at heart, yet lacking the poetic talent to be so named, Terentius made his living as a musician. His life was rather uncomplicated, quiet, and lonely. He made beautiful music on his harp. Sometimes people listened and even gave him a few coins for his efforts.

Destiny it would seem had other plans for Terentius. A Jew by the name of Matthias came to the musician one day asking for lute lessons. Terentius agreed to do so as he secretly hoped that the man would teach him the psalms, beautiful and powerful works.

Another important chance meeting was also in store for Terentius. A Celtic woman by the name of Bridicia. Bridicia was a fish peddler in Tarsus. Soon, she was also mate to Terentius.

Unfortunately, this joy was not meant to last. Terentius soon found himself on the wrong side of a powerful Druid Corvus. Corvus had cursed Bridicia to be barren when she refused his affections. This situation only got worse when Corvus murdered Matthias, thinking that his victim is Terentius.

The Bard of Bethlehem is a fresh look at the political and cultural environment in the days just before the birth of Christ. The interactions are quite true to life without any sort of sugar coating or modifications to appease modern political correctness. Well written.

Trapp's novel takes you back to 5 B.C. where the Celts, Jews, and Greeks all live under Roman rule by Julius Caesar. This is a time of political turmoil, where Maximus, the Governor of Cilicia, is asked to step down because he hasn't been performing his duties, due to what is called "the black melancholy." Maximus lost his wife and could be in the throes of depression, because after being relieved of his governing duties he attempts suicide.

The Druids, even in placid times, had to hide their practices, but one Druid stands out, Corvus, who states that the Britons trained him although he now lives in Tarsus. Corvus buys and sells various items: linen, cotton, and herbs. He is wise in the way of Celts, but is an angry, vengeful man who cursed a young Celtic woman who would not sleep with him during the feast of Samhain, the Celtic New Year. Even though Caesar executed Druids and outlawed their beliefs, Corvus and others still practice the old ways.

The young cursed beauty, Bridicia, who is a fish peddler, meets the harpist Terentius. He immediately falls in love with her. She refuses his offer of marriage since she cannot bear children. Terentius, who, though Celtic, maneuvers through the Jewish, Greek and predominately Roman parts of town without impunity, loves her and doesn't care that she is barren.

The storyline is woven tightly around political scandals, Caesar's mandatory census and taxation of all males, while Bridicia and Terentius's relationship blooms along with a star that is seen in the heavens. The star amazes everyone of all races and religions, "What could it mean as it fails to weaken or disappear but only increases in size and strength?"

The book keeps you spell-bound with the interweaving of numerous plot lines. A great historical novel with the flair of fiction and nonfiction combined. Highly recommended, but Trapp isn't true to the language of the period and uses some words that weren't in existence until the Middle Ages.

Armchair Interviews says: The Bard of Bethlehem gives new meaning to old legends and the co-habitation of many cultures in the Holy Land.

Welcome to the twenty-second year of the reign of Caesar Augustus or 5 B.C.! The Roman world is at the height of its power and corruption at a time when men of all nationalities hope for a better world. The Romans may control half the world but numerous plots and intrigues threaten their power; Greeks, Celts, and Jews proudly cling to their cultural roots while they serve as slaves and servants to their domineering overlords.

Terentius and Bridicia are the main characters, a bard and fish peddler, whose love endures through multiple perils in this riveting, intriguing novel. "Someone betrayed me," becomes the catch-all phrase for them as well as for the a Druid who has set a debilitating curse on Bridicia; for the young Jewish musician threatened because of jealousy and prejudice; and for the governor who has reached the pinnacle of success but whose every action now seems to create more and more enemies.

In the midst of it all, a wondrous star appears that is brighter than all other stars and which carries a mystical aura touching every observer and laying bare the obvious and hidden motives behind every actor and actress. "What could it mean as it fails to weaken or disappear but only increases in size and strength?"

Join Terentius and Bridicia as they elude the looming disasters threatening them in Tarsus in Cilicia and then as they travel to the land below where the star shines and they meet the characters whose destiny will be forever connected to that initial heavenly appearance!

David James Trapp's writing has evolved gracefully and powerfully since his last novel, Dog Days in Bedlam. The Bard of Bethlehem is a novel you will love and remember forever as the work of a master storyteller capable of fully and accurately portraying the known and unknown players of ancient sacred and secular history!!! Wonderful!!!!

Reviewed by Viviane Crystal on January 12, 2007

Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (12/06)

This remarkable story begins in the city of Tarsus in a period of political chaos. It is the story of two young Celts. The book is rich in Celtic background, customs, and Druid folklore. Young Terentius, a harpist, and Bridicia, his bride, are threatened by a Druid's curse and are caught in a web of political corruption. Trapp exhibits great scope and depth in his understanding of the political upheaval in the year 5 B.C.

David James Trapp is a master story teller. He draws the reader back in time, two thousand years, to a time when the Celts, Jews, Romans, and Greeks, were all deeply affected by the appearance of a mysterious new star.

Terentius played music to the star. "...the melody he created was fantastic, complex, impossible to describe...Tenentius always kept is eyes on the mystery star. Such a brilliant sign! He knew beyond any doubt now that all those Druids were wrong to fear this star."

Tenentius, Bridicia, and their Egyptian slave girl fled Tarsus hoping to find safety in Judea. They were pursued by Corvus, a self proclaimed Druid leader seeking revenge.

David James Trapp has the uncanny ability to make you feel you are walking along side his characters. I felt the anguish of Terentius after his release from custody. "Every step was hard. His limbs ached from the bruises, and breathing was difficult...sharp pains pounded through his skull...with every step he scanned the streets looking for his beloved Bridicia."

This is fast paced historical fiction at its best. David has the inherent ability to keep the reader involved in an intricate plot with unexpected twists, and attention-grabbing sub plots. "The Bard of Bethlehem" is an excellent read, noteworthy, and absorbing.

I havent red this book but it souns cool

this was a wonderful collection of interviews of Stephen King. It would be interesting to see another collection done, with some of the more recent interviews and thoughts from him.

In this collection of essays, both new Stephen King fans, and SK'ers alike can enjoy a unique, indepth and personal view into the mind of the world's greatest horror writer. In Bare Bones King does just that -- he Bares his Bones, showing us the reader what really goes on inside his head. You are taken down into a dark cavern that few men have traveled into and survived. (Well, at least literarily -- not literally). As stated above, I was so impressed and intrigued by these works that I bought all three copies available: the 1st edition paperback, the first edition hardcover, and number 588 of 1152 limited handnumbered copies. Truly a "missing link" in any King collection. If nothing else, Bare Bones is a "must-read".

This is maybe the most interesting book about Stephen King available. If you want to know something about him, you have to read it, because you won't learn more anywhere else. Not even in his own 'On Writing' by the way.

Maybe it would be interesting too to read more actual interviews, but these one help a lot. Okay, it's not always that interesting, like in the conversation about his radio station and sometimes weird, like in the one about 'Maximum Overdrive' if you have seen it. And of course a lot of things are repeated.

But it's really a must for King-fans.

Shirley Hazzard's exquisite 1970 novel of tragic relationships among expatriates and Italians in Naples takes a great whole for its plot machinery to go fully into action. But the leisurely spell beforehand where she establishes the nature of the bonds among the English narrator Jenny, her Scottish friend Justin, and her new Italian acquaintances Gioconda and Gianni is important so we understand the sense of loss and realignment later in the work. This novel has such a lovely sense of place and atmosphere that its tranquil rhythms in the first two-thirds make it all the more enjoyable, so we too (like Jenny) fall under the spell of Naples and its storied past. (The city itself is an important character in the novel, as is the dormant Vesuvius under which it lies.) Hazzard's writing at times can become so highly polished and lapidary as to become a bit unreal; yet this suits the tone of the work (and is much more firmly under under control) than in her next novel, the more celebrated and ambitious--but less accomplished--THE TRANSIT OF VENUS.

This might almost be read as the memoir of a year's stay in Naples eight or nine years after the end of WW2. Twenty-something Jenny, British, but with a youth spent mostly abroad, comes to work at the large NATO base. Unlike her fellow expatriates, she finds herself living in the city itself, and gets to know its unique combination of crumbled history and squalor, all of which is brilliantly described. She gets to know some of its people too, and the narrative interest of the book centers around her friendship with a slightly older writer Gioconda, her film-director lover Gianni, and Jenny's own occasional suitor Justin. Very little happens until towards the end, but there is a palpable atmosphere of wounded but glamorous people living half lives in a city that is itself wounded but alive. As in Hazzard's much more substantial novel THE TRANSIT OF VENUS, this is a story of a young woman learning lessons for life: partly through romance, but more through her growing understanding of other people and of herself. The specifics of what she learns, though, are only subtly touched in, and the reader is required to fill the gaps. Indeed, the most effective part of the book may be its implied ellipses at the end, which leave the reader guessing just as an older Jenny returns to the changed city . . . .

Shirley Hazzard has an original voice. I am aware from some comments that her prose is challenging to some readers but for many others her words flow beautifully; it is the kind of writing that one loves to speak aloud.

I had previously read a non-fiction book - Greene On Capri - and that led me to The Bay of Noon. The story is a simple one of people relating to each other. Jenny comes to Naples alone to work at an English mission after the Second World War. She has an introduction to Gioconda, a lovely woman who is a writer and her lover, a film director named Gianni. At her place of work she meets a Scotsman named Justin the three of them become more and more involved with Jenny, and how each changes in their relationships.

I must confess that one of the reasons why I selected this book is the setting of Naples. Having visited the city, I particularly enjoyed Ms. Hazzard's descriptions of the streets and buildings of Naples and, of course, the wonderful bay. Chapter seven is particularly evocative of Naples where Jenny relates her growing love of the city. Ms. Hazzard follows the development of Jenny from a girl evacuated to Africa, to a young woman experiencing love for the first time to a mature woman who has acquired wisdom over time. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a writer who weaves a beautiful tapestry of words and delves deeply into the psyche of her characters.

This is a subtle whisper of a book. It is about the eddies and torrents of personal relationships that flow beneath the unreadable surfaces of many people. The Bay of Noon is beautifully observed, wry and sad in equal parts. Set in Naples during the 1960s, it spans love, loss and betrayal but never, ever falls into melodrama. Shirley Hazzard is the most subtle of novelists and I passionately love this slender novel.

I checked this book out of the library simply because Hazzard won the 2003 National Book Award for The Great Fire which I have not read. This is a tightly written short novel with excellent characterization and a complex, slowly evolving plot. The setting, Naples, Italy, in about 1952, is different and mysterious to me. The story said a lot about human nature and the peculiar ways that love and friendship evolve. I recommend it highly.