Nelson Books

This book is a must for anyone who is a fan of Mama's Family and The Carol Burnett Show. Very clever and well done. I'm going to buy a few more as gifts for my friends who are fans as well.

I love this book because I loved the show, "Mama'Family" in which Vicki Lawrence Schultz would put on her wig and act as Mama Thelma Crowley Harper to be exact. Since one of the stations has pulled her show from reruns, I am glad to turn to this book for some laughs. Mama Harper's wit and good sense of humor can teach the old dogs in Washington D.C. a trick or two about running a campaign to win American hearts. Mama's Family was canceled simply from network because it didn't get the right audience. The audiences were blue collar middle class Americans in all parts of the country. When syndication picked it up about 2 years later, it was one of the highest ranking shows in syndication along with Charles in Charge, It's A Living and Too Close for Comfort. Although with cast changes, the show managed to maintain and keep following so much that Mama Harper is in demand when Vicki Lawrence plays her on stage to sold out crowds. Why does the audiences love and demand Mama Harper? She's never totally right nor is she totally wrong. She is part of American culture. In syndication, she was allowed to be a senior citizen who still made a difference to society without being vulgar or profane. She was constantly devoted to her family despite their faults. Mama's Family was the first time in television that I can remember that nobody was perfect or Hollywood beautiful. Mama's Family will always have a special place in my heart as far as I am concerned. Thelma Harper was more than just a widowed grandmother, mother, and mother-in-law, she was President of the Church Ladies League and even Mayor of Raytown (possibly Missouri since there is no other Raytown). I would love to see Mama Harper and the gang. Unfortunately and sadly, Harvey Korman who played her bungling son-in-law Ed Higgins had just passed away. He will be missed greatly. This book is a great legacy to a show that still lives in the hearts of it's fans.

How much fun is this book? I found myself reading it on the NY subway laughing out loud. To ride the subway in the summer heat and have a large grin on my face makes this book worth every penny. You can actually hear "Mama's" voice when you read it (which made me look for the audiobook version, would be even funnier).

If you want some good laughs, an easy "beach" read, this is the book for you. It's witty, non offensive and just plain fun. Pick it up. (but don't read it in the bookstore or Mama will chastise you several times in the book for doing so).

"Mama for President: Good Lord Why Not?" is written by Vicki Lawrence in the character of Mama Thelma Harper. Like the Mama people have come to love from the show "Mama's Family," she is still as grumpy as ever in this hilarious book.

Her wisecracking remarks hit on topics people think about with regards to politics but never seem to get answers to. Each chapter is broken up into subjects pertaining to her campaign (though Mama sometimes runs off topic for brief moments). This book is wildly hilarious and I would definitely recommend it to any fan of Mama Thelma Harper/ Vicki Lawrence.

Matt Dudney is not only the son of legendary entertainer Barbara Mandrell, but also a well-trained gourmet chef. This is a great addition to any cookbook collection, with great recipes and insightful behind-the-scenes tales of the Mandrell family. I highly recommend this cookbook!!!

Matthew Dudney did an excellent job with this book. It has lots of great recipes that are easy to follow. It is also a great read. Matthew has included many family stories and pictures about his famous Mandrell family. It has a little bit of everything. I highly recommend this book to everyone whether you are a Mandrell fan or not. Try out some great recipes as well as learn some things about the family and see some great pictures!

MR. DUDNEY HAS COMPILED DELICIOUS RECIPES ALONG WITH HEARTWARMING AND HUMOROUS STORIES ABOUT HIS FAMOUS FAMILY. SO MANY PEOPLE ARE VERY INTERESTED IN READING ABOUT THE MANDRELL FAMILY, BECAUSE OF THE WHOLESOME REPUTATION THEY HAVE ALWAYS HAD. THIS BOOK PORTRAYS THE CLOSENESS OF THE FAMILY THAT HAS ALWAYS BEEN APPARENT TO ALL THEIR MANY FANS.THE AUTHOR OBVIOUSLY PUT MUCH THOUGHT, TIME, AND EFFORT INTO PRODUCING SUCH A FINE COOKBOOK. IT WILL MAKE A BEAUTIFUL WEDDING OR SHOWER GIFT. I CONSIDER THIS AN OUTSTANDING AND MOST UNIQUE COOKBOOK.

I have enjoyed reading the book as well as all the terrific recipes. I think it was a great idea to put a story in with the recipes. It seems more personable than just a regular cookbook.

I gave this book to my son who is graduating from college. I think it's good advice to have early in your financial decision making life.

My husband and I worked through this book together. It is straight forward and really makes you think through the concepts of managing your money and resources. The book challenged us to take a step of faith and follow the biblical principles of money management. By applying those principles we were debt free (except for our house!) within one year - plus we actually saved money. We opened a general savings account, repair account and a Christmas account. I encourage anyone struggling with debt, or poor money management to read this book.

The first time I saw the cover of Master Your Money (in Nairobi, Kenya, at my fiancee's place of work), my heart went cold. Financial management was a topic that scared me. I skimmed through the book and, for some reason, I started reading the first chapter. Before I knew it I had borrowed the book, read and reread it, made notes and outlined my financial present and future.

I presume the three key questions did the trick: Will I have enough money? How much is enough? Or possibly the graphic on the overall financial goals gave me a simple and clear picture on personal financial management. These clarified the issue on managing money in such a simple, easy way that I saw myself achieving my financial and non-financial goals. I had determined early in life to keep out of debt and the lessons I learned in MYM reinforced my resolution.

Needless to say, I recommended the book to friends, nay, I bought the remaining copies from the local bookstore that had them and ordered for some ten more to distribute to friends. They were excited and agreed with me that this was the book! I want more copies from friends. Five stars did you say? I would say it's a 6-Star book. It is excellent.

Many books on financial planning focus on "how to do it." But for most people, those "how to" stuff remain as dreams that are not implemented. Ron Blue and Chuck Swindoll explain the inner problem why we get stuck in financial hole, dealing with the roots of financial problems that are true to human beings. Then they lead their readers to a series of life-transforming actions that are applicable immediately. These heart-and-mind actions will translate into powerful, inner motivations that will energize you to apply the practical, well-researched, up-to-date, realistic "how tos" they provide in this book. I use this book in my work as a leadership development consultant. My wife, an investment funds adviser, includes this book in her seminars and personal financial counselling.

I bought this book for a gift when my grandsons were baptized. My seven-year-old grandson reads it himself and really likes all four stories. This is a great way to share some of Max Lucado's best stories.

The Stories in this book are well thought out and creatively written. My granddaughter really enjoys it. I recommend this as good reading to children of all ages...

Great stories by a great writer. I want my grandson to get to know his writing at an early age. Wonderful pictures go with each story.

I purchased this book for a 3 year old. As always, Max Lucado does a superb job conveying his message whether to an older adult or a young child. I was very satisfied with this product both from the written portion to the pictoral illustrations.

I was most impressed by the characters in this story. Unlike so many novels where characters seem so fake or perfect or just unreal, these characters felt very real. They felt like people we all know. Their realism really pulled me into the novel and gave it impact. When the characters acted, you felt there was reality in those actions, and any of these characters could be your friend or your next-door neighbor. The author did a wonderful job of making me care about these characters, which made me want to continue reading and get to the next development. I couldn't put this book down. A fantastic novel! I look forward to subsequent efforts from Nelson.

I've just finished reading Meinong's Jungle and enjoyed every minute of it. It was suspensful until the very end. Just when you
thought you knew how something was going to end or what would follow next, it changed. The author brings you right in with their descriptions with everything from weather, food, wine. I hope
they have another book which follows from this one. Bravo!!!

A great read that weaves subplots and story lines that keeps the reader interested and thirsting for more. Theo and Jeff are believable characters that evoke empathy and you want to read more to find out what twist or turn Nelson will throw their way. As I feel with all good books that I read, when I finished the book and closed the cover I felt a bit hollow that Theo and Jeff weren't a part of my world any more but I look forward to another exciting story from this awesome new author.

R.D. Nelson's first published novel grabbed me from the opening pages and took me on a wild rollercoaster ride. The deeper into the novel I got, the faster I read. Along the way, she took the time to fully flesh out the complexities of each of her main characters, especially the heroine, Theo, and the hero, Jeff the psychiatrist. Her abillity to describe a room, a setting, a persons motivation, and internal psychological conflicts is right up there with the best of suspense writers. Nelson bravely gets into the dark side of the human psyche, and put onto paper thoughts that we all have, but wish no one knew about. She also seems to have an insiders view of the subtleties and dynamics of psychotherapy - brillaint descriptions of the patient/doctor relationship. Further, she "gets" the mindset of military folks. While she weaves several plots and sub-plots into the story, Nelson never leaves the reader stranded in a literary cul-de-sac. No fillers here - all of her plot lines have a point, and a conclusion. I must say, as the book was drawing to a close, I correctly predicted one of the outcomes, but the second major resolution took me totally by surprise. It was that last dip of the ride, even when you can see the station house, that no one saw coming. Brilliant! I eagerly await R.D. Nelson's next work.

We have really enjoyed The Memory Bible. It comes with 2 CDs each containing 26 songs (one for each letter of the alphabet). Lots of the songs are upbeat and have fun tunes that even I catch myself singing. Great purchase!

My almost 5 yr old loves this. The music is catchy and repetitive, and the reading is done very well-passionately and makes it interesting for kids. The music isn't filled with base and guitars (as my son prefers of course) but this is more relaxing (for the car and on in the house without the nerve racking twangs,etc) yet still interesting for them. He's trying to sing along as we speak! I'll be using this in my 2-3 yr old class at church as well as the 4-5yr olds. The songs seem to be sung by girls, so I put a 4 as my son prefers to hear other boys and more "jamming out" tunes...but we love it.

At ages 5 & 2, my children will sing & dance along with these CD's. I look at the book with them, as they are not old enough to read all of it yet. I actually just started using it to teach memory Bible verses to them as a part of our kindergarten homeschooling curriculum. I like how the stories/songs correspond to letters of the alphabet, making it easy to use along with a letter of the week. I love it because I find that these scripture songs are fun & easy to remember.

I HIGHLY recommend this excellent book and CD's! Kirk Cameron does a nice job with the narration. The songs are sweet and uplifting! The illustrations are cartoonish but appealing to my children. I love listening to the CD's myself!! Just a wonderful tool to uplift the Lord!

I loved this book as a child, and am about to order it so I can have it as the book equivalent of comfort food! For someone like me who can't remember titles or authors' names to save her life, it says a lot about my love for this book that I can remember the author's name 30 years after I read it -- the only book by Pamela Sykes at my local library. It was one of the first time travel books I read, if not the first, and it helped to hook me on the genre for life.

In Mirror of Danger, by Pamela Skyes, a girl named Lucy finds herself in the wrong era. As the book starts, we find Lucy in the 1970s. Lucy is cursed with a terrible loss, and a new beginning. Lucy's Aunt Olive, who took care of her all of her life, had died. As a result, Lucy moves in with a new family, her Aunt Gwen and Uncle Peter. They also introduce their three rebel children, Patrick, Bill, and Rachel. Once Lucy moves in, she realizes that she is in a terrible state. Lucy, being the renaissance Princess that she is, looks at her 3 cousins as her worst nightmare, unleashed. One day when she is hiding in the attic, she meets someone peculiar named Alice. Oddly, Alice is just like Lucy. Both of them act civil and like they are from the 1800s. The only problem is that Lucy soon finds herself in the 1870s, 100 years in the past!!! Alice slowly digs her claws into Lucy, bringing her into the past more and more, over and over again. How long can Lucy hold out?

When I usually pick out a book, I pick by the book blog. This time, when I looked for a book I picked by the cover. The cover was interesting to me, so I picked it up. When I started to read it, I enjoyed it more and more. The characters were so amazing. There was always more to learn every time I turned the page. The book never got boring either it had many shocks and I was always anxious to turn the page. Even though, the book was great, it wasn't perfect. The book got confusing when it changed settings from the 1870s to the 1970s. It was also confusing on how Lucy made the transitions. If you like exciting stories about the renaissance era, this is for you! But, if you want horror, terrors, and a great sense of thrill, pick up something else!

(...)

I have this novel in it's original form, under the title "Come Back, Lucy". It is quite a lovely story and the author seems to really understand the lonliness and wretchedness felt by Lucy after she is plunged into her new life. The historical facts of Alice's life are well researched, without being dry. If you can get a copy of this book, I can really recommend it!

This is a truly wonderful book. It is a sweet, descriptive tale of the changes in young girl's (Lucy's) life after her aunt dies, and when she is sent to live with her cousins. She feels as though she doesn't fit in there, and only has one friend to keep her company. Lucy is haunted in many ways, and she feels her life spiral away from her new family and towards her new friend, until she has to choose betweent the present and the past. It is a wonderful read, I loved it as a child and I wish I could find it again.

Gives an interesting viewpoint of some of the famous, and not so famous, stories from the Civil War.

While some of the stories about the personalities and events of the American Civil War found in this book are interesting, I found many of them tedious and repetitive. There is a section about people, including U. S. Grant, who changed their names during the course of their lives. Since many people do that in any period of human history, those facts were not in any way significant to the conduct of the war. Other facts concerned which Confederate commander was the last to surrender, commanders on both sides demanding a ransom from a town to save it from being plundered and mundane financial matters such as inflated prices.
As histories of the civil war go, this one does not relate events that satisfy the cover claim of being bizarre. Most fell into the category of events that one would expect in a war between two factions of the same country.

I have three of Garrison's books: The Amazing Civil War, Civil War Curiosities, and More Civil War Curiosities. I would recommend each and every book to anyone! The facts that Garrison writes about are both interesting and captivating and being a high school American History teacher, I plan on using the facts that I have found no where else to captivate my students and give them a perspective on the war that they may have never found otherwise

The unusual and the bizzare are the continual trademarks of this work. The stories are lively, interesting and even thought provoking.

The work takes you outside the realm of modern textbooks to give you the inside scoop of the Civil War. A truly fascinating read!

This man and this group have done a lot to bring people from all walks of life to help out our neighbors with housing. 5 out of 5 stars.

This book was inspirational to me. The book is full of stories about families and their struggles in life, then they are given a new life it seems when their world is changed and helping hands step in to help. I had to read this for a Sociology course, and I enjoyed it very much.

If you have ever wondered if you could find an activity that would make you much happier and more fulfilled, please read this book and see what becoming involved with Habitat for Humanity International could mean for you.

I thought I knew a lot about Habitat for Humanity International. I've read some of Mr. Fuller's earlier books. I've listened to him and other Habitat leaders speak about the organization and its fine work. One of my sons has worked with Habitat for many years and married a wonderful woman he met while out building a Habitat home. I've even written about Habitat in each the last two books I've co-authored. Despite that background, I really needed to read this book to catch up on so many things I didn't know.

The book's format is to share stories from volunteers, staff member and families who have bought Habitat homes around a few themes: Making dreams come true; better lives for children; improving families; developing better neighborhoods; making healthier lives; launching new careers; inspiring love and marriage; creating friendships; building faith; rehabilitating prisoners; bridging cultural and religious differences; pursuing happiness; and inspiring a new generation to decently house those in want.

As a result, this is not the kind of book that you will praise for its writing, its structure, its choice of similes, or its illustrations. But all will find it to be a book that can be praised and appreciated for its heart, its love and its understanding. My life has been filled with a wonderful glow since I finished reading it. I am very grateful that Mr. Fuller kindly shared it with me.

Habitat for Humanity is a Christian ministry. But it's a ministry that seeks to do good through good works by involving and serving everyone . . . whether Christians or not. It's scope is enormous and growing rapidly. In fact, one reason I write about Habitat is because it has been so much more successful than other organizations in accomplishing its purposes and getting better at doing so.

Here are some of the things I learned that I did not know from this book. When dozens of Habitat homes are built in the same community, the residents often band together to help root out crime in the area. So a good place to build these homes is in high crime neighborhoods, to replace so-called crack houses and other places being used for wrong purposes. Many people live in such substandard conditions before getting Habitat housing that their health measurably improves along with their psychological outlook. Poor people, prisoners, and simply people who want to change their line of work are often able to learn building and management skills that turn into jobs from working as Habitat volunteers. Lonely people find friends . . . including old ones they haven't seen in a while. As I read the pages, I saw several photos of my friends whom I did not know were involved as Habitat volunteers. Many people come to find religious faith through the experience of helping and being helped by Habitat volunteers.

Reading books is a great way to spend your time. Helping others is an even better one. Why don't you read some or all of this book and then volunteer a day with Habitat in the next year and to see how you like it? There's a lot More Than Houses involved!

May God bless you!

This book is a great account of the other aspects of Habitat. Habitat is more than houses because it involves people -- not just physical buildings. Fuller describes how Habitat gives people a sense of pride and a chance to move on in their life. As well, Fuller explains that Habitat gives people the opportunity to meet who never would have met or allow people (i.e. prisoners) the chance to volunteer with Habitat. Habitat for Humanity also can foster romantic relationships, of which Fuller gives accurate accounts. Habitat for Humanity believes that God's love makes everyone equal. Millard Fuller writes a very descriptive account of how Habitat is more than houses, it is a way of life.

I originally bought this book only because of my infatuation with the whole Jim & Tammy/PTL/Heritage USA saga. Being a devoted supporter of the Bakkers, I was somewhat skeptical of "Jim's new wife". However, I must confess that I now have great respect for Lori. Her story is thoughtful and moving and really shows just how powerful the forgiveness and love of Jesus Christ is. Her ministry to post-abortion sufferers is so deperately needed in today's society. She is a woman of great faith and courage and a true inspiration to all who love Christ above all else. This book should be read by all priests and ministers who will ultimately deal with this kind of emotional pain in their ministries.

Lori captures the essence of growing up (too fast) in Phoenix and living life in the fast lane. One chapter leaves you crying, another laughing and yet another pondering. I couldn't put it down!

This book is a must read for any woman who has suffered through a bad marriage, bad men, phyiscal abuse, or had an abortion. Lori offers a rare insight into the pain so many women live with --with some real answers. The book has it all -- it is at times funny, other times heart-breaking, inspiring, and down to earth. Its an easy read ...but leaves the reader with much to consider.

This book makes you laugh and cry in the same chapters. It is a real story that will relate to many, many people. It is a must read for those who like to read about real life romance a fairy tale come true. A story of what happens behind the headlines even down to her wedding night with Jim Bakker. This book will give hope to the hopless.