May Books

The illustrations in this book are excellent. As I looked at them I found myself going back to my childhood days and reliving them all over again. The artist really had a feel for what the author was trying to portray. Too bad i cannot find any more work by this artist. She is Great!

I found these two books to be inspirational as well as a loving message from parent to child. It reminds us all of the importance of keeping the promises we make our children and grandchildren. This set of books is a perfect gift for new parents as a keepsake and once they complete their own letter of promise it can be passed down to their children. I highly recommend these books.

The author seems to have real insight into what our children need to grow up secure, happy and ready for the world. The picture book is a soothing "feel good" read for the children, but the meat and potatoes is in the small accompanying book written in the perspective of child to parent. Every parent should read this and return to it periodically for a reminder (I know we all need it from time to time).

I just finished reading A Reckoning, which I discovered accidentally while reading another book, The Feminine Side of God. (May Sarton's book was mentioned.) What a joy to read/to discover her and her writing!!!! Sarton has tremendous insight, not only into women's inner thoughts/life, but into the mind and heart of a woman who has been told she does not have long to live. Her choice is to live in her dying. To her it is an unknown experience, similar to being born. No one knows what the journey will be like. It is a poignant experience the reader shares with the protagonist. On another level, a mother who reflects on her relationships with her grown children can relate perfectly.

I intend to read her other novels, but for now I am recommending it to all my elderly women friends.

May Sarton has a way of explaining what life is all about through her fiction. When I read any of her work I make notations of sentences I want to refer to again after I am done reading the book. She has a powerful voice in her writing. A Reckoning is another one of my favorite books by this author.

Laura is dying of terminal cancer. From the moment her doctor tells her she has less than 2 years to live, Laura is determined so see her death as a journey, and she intends to make the journey on her own terms. She quickly realizes that she must come to some sort of "reckoning" with her past, her relationship with her mother, her relationship with her own children, and more curiously, her relationship with a childhood friend, Ella. Although she and Ella have not seen each other in over 40 years, memories of Ella haunt her, and fill her with a sense of peace.

Laura is determined to die her way, with her animals, her memories, her thoughts, her music, her books, and a dear old aunt to read to her in the winter afternoons. These are what she believes to be the "real connections" in life. She does not want to engage in conversation with people who cause her stress (such as her sisters and her children). Laura learns during her journey, that it is through these last conversations and moments with the persons she least wanted to see, that she gains her most valuable insights.

The book has a happy ending. But beware! Sarton's writing is witty, passionate and sophisticated. She uses her psychological knowledge of the human psyche with poignant accuracy.

I thought this book was humorous and interesting. It was great to read a true story about a real life cowboy that was not "Hollywoodized". I felt that I was actually reading an untouched look at American history. I have recommended this book to several of my friends. Unfortunately they have been unable to find this book around this area (San Francisco Bay) so they have had to borrow my book which I originally borrowed from a friend. Please make this book more readily available. END

I thought the autobiography was very good. I liked the book especially because the author is my cousin and I have not been able to really know him as we live several miles apart. After reading this autobiography I now feel that I have really gotten to know him and his years of growing up in the same era as I was also growing up. I learned alot about the rodeo and the way it was run back then. The book goes into a great deal of explanation about traveling the rodeo circuit that I was unaware of. I would recommend this autobiographical book to anyone even if you have never been to a rodeo.

I enjoyed this book for several reasons. It is humorous, easily-read, and personally revealing in a way that might not be expected of a Western or rodeo author. The author gives his views and opinions of the development of modern rodeo while telling his personal history against a backdrop of the middle 20th century - depression era thru the Korean conflict. This book is good for one transcontinental flight. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys earthy humor and light reading, and especially to lovers of Western lore.

The Conclusion which crowns this, the most perfect book in the English language should be memorised and chanted sutra-like on a daily basis.

This work by Walter Pater, published in 1873, as
a volume of collected (previously published) essays
along with an essay on "Winckelmann", a Preface, and
a Conclusion was [and perhaps still is] an extremely
influential work of aesthetic criticism. The volume
helped shape [influence] the perceptions, the
attitudes, and the approaches of many youthful readers
in the late 1880's and 1890's. It is very interesting
to read, immensely engaging to consider and muse about,
but also offers cautions to the overenthusiastic,
easily influenced [or persuaded] disciple.
This volume consists of an Introduction [by the
editor, Adam Philips], a Preface [by Pater], 9 chapters,
and a Conclusion (in this particular edition
by Oxford Classics there is also a chronology, a
Selective Bibliography, an Appendix titled "Diaphaneite,"
and Explanatory Notes in the back. The chapter titles
(after Pater's Preface) are: Two Early French Stories;
Pico Della Mirandola; Sandro Botticelli; Luca Della
Robbia; The Poetry of Michelangelo; Leonardo da Vinci;
The School of Giorgione, Joachim Du Bellay; Winckelmann;
and Conclusion.
* * * * * * * * * *
What's the problem here? Well, unfortunately, Pater
is not completely reliable as an objective perceiver
or critic. He tends to be a bit eccentric in his
individualistic perceptions and interpretations of
the art works, but he goes ahead and defends this
approach in a very "modern" sounding fashion --
which seems to include a bit of "situational perceptions,"
subjective impressions of perception and response,
and subjective criticism. Which makes for extremely
engaging [sometimes irritating] reading, but leaves
something to be desired as far as objective and
judicious thoughtfulness and truthfulness. Pater
seems to believe that it is acceptable to "bend"
or even create facts to further his own it-pleases-
me-to-think-that-this-is-or-should-be-so desires.
We know that we are on a slippery critical slope
[though it will sound all too familiar to modern
ears and modern apologetics] when the editor Phillips
informs us: "In Pater's first published writing, his
essay on Coleridge of 1866, he had suggested that --
'Modern thought is distinguished from ancient by its
cultivation of the "relative" spirit in place of the
"absolute" ... To the modern spirit nothing is, or
can be rightly known, except relatively and under
conditions." It doesn't take much time to realize
that such a critical position is going to lead to
an end-position of aesthetic, critical, and moral
relativism ("You can't tell me I'm wrong, because
there is no one set way of seeing, analyzing,
believing, or evaluating."-- the spoiled, indulged child's
self-justification for the validity of its own
ego supremacy and authority against that of any
parental or adult restrictions. Such a position usually
means a lack of any meaningful in-depth self questioning
or objective evaluating of personal motives, and a
welcoming of lack of restraints in the pursuit of
pleasure and non-self discipline. And this, of course,
is the critical negative refrain that often comes
against the decadent followers of Pater's credo.]
The second fall-out effect of Pater's evaluations
and pronouncements is that some of his disciples
[self-styled] went farther than even he was willing
to approve with their hedonism and purposefully
shocking lifestyles and "decadent" behaviors and
aesthetic appetites.
But it came from statements like this, which Pater
may have meant one way, but which their subjective,
individualistic perceptions took another way: "The
aesthetic critic, then, regards all the objects with
which he has to do, all works of art, and the fairer
forms of nature and human life, as powers or forces
producing PLEASURABLE SENSATIONS [caps are mine], each
of a more or less peculiar or unique kind. [We value
them --he says] for the property each has of affecting
one with a special, a unique, impression of pleasure.
Our education becomes complete in proportion as our
SUSCEPTIBILITY to these impressions increases -- in
depth and VARIETY."
Let the perceiver and the critic -- and the
experiencer -- proceed with extreme caution and good
judgment.
* * * * * * * * *

This book has changed many lives in a very
peculiar way: although its evaluations are
quite wrong at times, particularly the chapter
on the School of Giorgione(if you care, check
out the edition with an introduction by
Kenneth Clark), Pater's Renaissance still
shines with the very same light that made it a
cult among Victorian youngmen.

The "gemstone flame", the pervasive feelings
of which Pater invited us to share have not
vanished (in spite of the attempts of the
so-called modern art), and the book's
invaluable lesson is that you simply
do not need a fancy objet d'art to see
what true beauty is all about.

So basically this is what I have to say: if
you have ever derived aesthetic pleasure from
anything at all in life, you should read this
little book tomorrow. If you never felt any
such pleasure, you must read The Renaissance
right now, or you'll simply let the good
things pass you by. I mean it.

I enjoyed reading this book shortly before I left Japan for the United States in 1973. I was around 30, and the book was a very good introduction (for me) to both RFK and American dream. In 2008, after 35 years later, another man from a quite different background is trying to realize the same dream that RFK had in 1968, but could not realize, due to a unfortunate tragedy shortly after the Convention in California. Barack Obama and RFK share the most attractive character, honesty and courage to change the world.

I do hope Obama will win the November election against John McCain, a very old conventional Republican man, to change both US and the rest of this world with the spirit of RFK which is described in this book.

Robert F. Kennedy was my hero when I was 13 and he still is to this day . I read this book when I was in middle school, it was in the library at school. RFK is my hero because I feel I identify with him.

I loved this book as a child, although it was rather young for me at the time I got it. I loved it because it was an excellent introduction to Senator Robert Kennedy.

The book is beautifully illustrated with very realistic looking drawings. The drawings of the Senator as a boy makes him a child other children can relate to. One can laugh with the little Bobby, watching his friend making a crash landing with a homemade parachute. (Luckily HE didn't try this stunt! Good thing he used a stunt man for this one)! One can cheer for the grown man, the Senator who reached the top of a Canadian mountain in 1965 after a lifetime of acrophobia.

The last part, covering the Senator's assassination is handled delicately, since the book targets a young audience. I enjoyed it as a child. It is not a comprehensive book, but a good introduction to Robert Kennedy is really all it is. It's just a nice little starter book.

I sought out this book after losing much of my hearing to both genetics and noise. I was impressed with Seidman's credentials, and bought the book.

It's terrific. Not only is it a book about saving your hearing, but it's a comprehensive 'how to stay healthy' book. But be warned, if you do not lead a healthy lifestyle, you will have to make changes.

Because my hearing is somewhat impaired, I eagerly read "Save Your Hearing Now: The Revolutionary Program That Can Prevent and May Even Reverse Hearing Loss" by Michael D. Seidman, M.D. and Marie Moneysmith.

Nearly half of 76 million baby boomers say they are dealing with some degree of hearing loss. That's a 238 percent increase since 1990 when hearing problems affected only 20 percent of this group.

That means that if you are at midlife or even younger, you need to read "Save Your Hearing Now."

This unique book is more than just about how to save your hearing. It is a comprehensive total health "how to." Everything you need to know to protect your health and hearing, from exercise to diet -- what's new, what works, how to do it, where to get it - it's is all there.

The amount of research that went into this work to give the reader the absolute best information and help is outstanding. It's a meticulous blueprint for achieving a better quality of life.

Unlike other books on hearing loss that I have read, the authors provide a detailed one-of-a kind action program that will help you achieve a level of overall vibrant good health and hearing you might not think possible. The program is a systematic, easy to follow, step-by-step plan that makes it possible to successfully protect and improve health and hearing. If you now have hearing loss, you can learn how it may be possible to reverse it. The authors explain how others have done it.

Because diet is key to health, and certain dietary supplements play a pivotal role in maintaining and repairing health and hearing, the authors tell not only what to take, but why you should take it and how much to take. This is critically important. Advice to take supplements is useless unless you are told how much to take and why.

I am particularly impressed that the authors stress the importance and role of potent antioxidants in preventing hearing loss, particularly alpha lipoic acid and acetyl l-carnitine. Other major supplements scientifically shown to support good health and hearing are covered in detail.

You won't be confused or overwhelmed with scientific jargon because there isn't any. Even if you know nothing about supplements, presentation of information is so clear and "user friendly" that you will "get it."

The quality of resource material and supporting documentation reveals the ultimate usefulness and credibility of any health book. "Save Your Hearing Now" provides many excellent resources with phone numbers, names and addresses for readers to use for additional help and guidance. As a pharmacist, I particularly appreciate the extensive documentation that supports the authors' findings and recommendations.

Suggestion: If a midlife or younger friend has a birthday coming up, this is the most loving and life changing gift you can give.

Excellent read. Helpful information to keep your hearing into old age. Steps to do now. Information on how we hear and tips to keep on hearing.

Even though Miss Alcott didn't have as much writing experience when she wrote these short stories, they are still a wonderful read. The first two stories are from 'Hospital Sketches'and are wonderful. "A Night" is a gripping acount based on her experience as a Civil War nurse. In the story a nurse is staying up all night with a dying soldier. The story is beautiful. "My Contraband" is a sad tale of how the war and slavery tore apart families. The last two stories are an enjoyable read also. Hey, for 90 cents this book is more than worth the price. If you like Louisa May Alcott, you won't be dissapointed with these stories, so give this book a try.

The Dover Thrift Edition of "Short Stories" by Louisa May Alcott contains 5 pieces: "Obtaining Supplies," "A Night," "My Contraband," "Happy Women," and "How I Went Out to Service." The book includes a brief introductory note on the life and career of Alcott.

The first two stories are from Alcott's "Hospital Sketches"; together with the third story, they deal with protagonists who work as nurses for Civil War soldiers. "My Contraband" has as a key theme the legacy of slavery. "Happy Women" is more of a sketch celebrating single women, and the final piece tells the "serio-comico experience" of a young woman who goes to work as a domestic companion.

I read this book shortly after reading Alcott's novel "The Inheritance," written when she was only 17; that simple but charming work makes for a fascinating contrast with the polished maturity of the pieces in this volume. Overall, this collection shows Alcott's wit, humor, compassion for humanity, attentive eye, and particular concern for women's issues. This short (55 + vii pages) book is a wonderful collection by one of the most remarkable figures in American literature.

Many of these brief but captivating stories are lovely, but one in particular captured my interest, and that was about the secret lives of silverware. There are other nonsensical but entertaining stories in this volume, all of which are perfect to read aloud to young children. The fact that these are lesser known makes it an all the more intriguing addition to your library. Simply enchanting!

Gerald May is brilliant. Full of soul and wisdom. Simply written, and yet, deeply profound and uplifting.

Most of us are "addicted to perfection". Always trying to become whom we imagine others want us to become. This leads to much anxiety, depression and loneliness.

"To thy own self be true", we have to care and be gentle with our inner being if we want to go out into the world and love and be loved.

Dr. May gives us direction on how to "let go and let be", to get out of our ego, our own way and become the person we were meant to become. At times this might be seen as "selfish" but one has to understand that you can't give to others what you are denying to give yourself, so "charity begins at home".

Simply Sane was a required book for a pastoral integration class. I found its ideas very relevant to my own life and future practice and would recommend it to others in the field.

At heart, this book is about how people see themselves and each other. The form of the story is a first-person journal, written in a deliberately academic tone.

The content, though, is one person's total change of her place in her world. The writer's initial view looks down on the world around her, as filled with inferior beings. After some time and much confusion, she learns to look up towards the higher qualities she might aspire to.

The crucial moment in the book may be the phrase, "They should be treated as they treat others." Of course, the author (at that point) can not say "I should be treated ..." From then on, the author's broadening of view accelerates. Lessing may romanticize personal advancement, but is brutally honest about the costs that it can entail.

Lessing carefully paces the book to end at the highest point of the story. It's a pleasant change from authors who run out of things to say 50 or 100 pages before reaching the back cover. A small accident of history mars the book only slightly. Many years after the book was written, a new sleep medication was put on the market: Ambien, the name Lessing coincidentally assigned her protagonist. This book has a few slow moments, when that accident of name seemed apt. Still, this is an excellent book for unhurried reading.

This was the first Doris Lessing book I ever read. Because the protagonist is a dry technocrat, the writing is written in that style. Nevertheless, I found the book gripping. Lessing gives a fascinating and enlightening perspective of the development of human society as a whole. Of course, the awakening that takes place in the protagonist's mind as she works with the Canopeans has its own gems of wisdom buried in it. Of the five books in Canopus in Argos: Archives, this one is my favorite.

The Empire of Sirius, formerly the enemy of Canopus, has now for some time been its uneasy and mistrustful ally. Though highly advanced technologically, and despite being sophisticated social engineers, the Sirians are suffering some upheaval because of the many members of their population who feel that their life lacks a worthy purpose. Ambien II, a member of the Five who govern the Empire, is befriended by Klorathy, an agent of Canopus, in the course of their mutual dealings upon and around the planet Rohanda. Ambien II's education in the means and motives of Canopus, and her eventual realisation that, doubtless unique in the history of galactic diplomacy, Canopus means what it says and does what it promises, is the major subject of The Sirian Experiments. Doris Lessing has written, "I could like Ambien II better than I do;" which is a pity, for Ambien II, along with Rachel Sherban in Shikasta and the incensed innocent Incent in The Sentimental Agents in the Volyen Empire, is one of the most appealing characters in the quintet. Her growth from efficient, obedient social scientist (who deplores the changing of our planet's name from Rohanda (Fertile) to Shikasta (Wounded) as showing "a mixture of poeticism and pedantry typical of Canopus") into willing pupil, sometime rescuer, and eventually into that amazing paradox, the clear-headed visionary, is a triumph of characterisation. Her report - careful, thorough, just and drily humorous - betters Shikasta in its fusion of the personal with the cosmic, and contains one of the most spectacular set-pieces in the whole series, as well as some of its most poignant personal encounters. The ending is quietly ironic, without the sense of definite progress which was present at the end of the previous two books - the major breakthrough here takes place inside Ambien II herself, though further, exterior victories may just possibly be on the way. This book (not to mention the quintet as a whole) is the kind of thing science fiction was meant to be all about.

In my alternative certification class, we talked about teaching to multiple intelligences and different learners. This book defines these terms AND actually shows you ways to apply these ideas to your classroom. yahooo!!!

'This book is concise and reader-friendly. It is a great tool for determining learning styles and dominant intelligences. I use this book regularly as a classroom teacher; it helps me keep each child's learning in perspective. I would also recommend this book for parents as it will provide insight into their children and will help them in their partnership with their children's teachers. I have found this text very useful in the work I do with parents.

I have been studying learning styles for the past six months, and I have never found a book that was this user-friendly. You could honestly pick up this book with no prior knowledge and start using learning styles and multiple intelligences into your classroom tomorrow. There is a brief overview of Myers-Briggs' learning styles and Gardener's multiple intelligences theories. The authors show how the two theories inter-relate. The remaining three chapters takes you through the process of bringing the theories into practice in your classroom. It is an extrememly easy and exciting read. I have made it through the book in two days of light reading. Also, this will not be a book you read once, and never pick up again; you will want to reread the material over and over again.