Owen Books

This is a very good book for primary grade teachers, but upper-grade teachers can use much of the information provided. This book shows teachers how writers develop, the purposes for writing, and how to make your classroom into a productive writing haven. It is recommended by Learning Network specialists in our district. It is easy to read and easy to implement the strategies taught here. I feel it is a very authentic view of what we as teachers want our students to do in the area of writing.

This hardback expansion to the Dark Heresy roleplay game is just gorgeous. It's 255 pages of pure creativity, adding all kinds of terrific depth to the Dark Heresy game universe, such as:
- Advanced Character Generation
- New "Calixian" Career Paths
- Feral and Feudal World Background
- Hive and Forge World Background
- Frontier World and The Void Background
- War Zones Background
- Holy Ordos Background
and more.

Seriously, the artwork, history, charts, and new rules for Dark Heresy take it up to a 5-star gaming system. This book really fills in the cracks of the already wonderful Dark Heresy core system. With the discount offered here on Amazon at the time of this writing, it's a "must-have" book for Dark Heresy players and game masters. Highly recommended.

The ministry of the permanent diaconate, at least in the Latin West, has been nearly forgotten for almost a thousand years. It's only during the last couple of generations that the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches have remembered and attempted to revitalize it. The problem is that our millennium-long amnesia has left us with a lot of questions about the nature of diaconal ministry. Just what is a deacon? How does the ministry of a deacon differ from baptismal ministry? What's the role of the deacon in today's church? What's the proper relation between deacons and other ordained clergy?

These and many other questions beg to be examined in a systematic and reflective manner, and a necessary condition for doing so is to begin to look at the theology and spirituality of deaconal service. Alas, this hasn't been done too often up to now. Analyses of the diaconate have tended to focus (to use Cummings' distinction) on either the "power" of the diaconate (its function) or the "history" of the diaconate. As a consequence, the Holy Order of deacons still leaves many people in the church confused: many bishops don't know what to do with deacons, priests sometimes see them as nuisances, and parishoners tend to think of them as assistant priests.

Owen Cummings' book is the first to begin to think about the permanent diaconate from a theological perspective. Although written from the vantage point of the Roman Catholic tradition, it is invaluable for other Christian traditions (such as my own, Anglicanism) that ordains deacons. Cummings examines the history of the diaconate and its renewal in the twentieth century. This is pretty standard stuff. Much more importantly, however, is his attempt to sketch out a kenotic spirituality of the diaconate by the wonderful device of interpreting Jesus as a deacon. Also extremely good is his discussion of the "dysfunctional" deacon: the pitfalls (for example, clericalism, ritualism, anti-intellectualism) that deacons can fall into.

All in all, an excellent effort. There's still much prayer and work to be done in reawakening to the full meaning and promise of the permanent diaconate, but Cummings has gotten us off to a good start. Heartily recommended.

I finished the book yesterday and I am just slowly picking up my life
where I left off before I started reading "Deep Beyond the Reef" ...

The sensation I had when reading this book came close to how books by Garcia Marquez or Guenter Grass make me feel: the tremendous truth of the human spirit, naked, un-adorned and yet so poetic and moving.

I know this sounds rather dramatic but I have to admit "Deep Beyond the Reef" did cast a spell on me, and I am sure every reader before and after me will feel the same.

Already in the first chapter I knew I would be drawn into one of the most
compelling reading experiences of the last ten years (and I mastered in literature!) Well done, this book is as timeless as they come and it is just starting to live!!!

As a long time visiter to the Owens Valley I found this book to be excellent. Its great for the first time traveler or the person who has been to the valley many times. Its section on side roads is good for those passing through the area and wanting to explore a bit. The history and geology areas are current and answer those questions that arise when encountering the vast numbers of different geological features. While no one guide does it all this book comes close. A great book for those who want a general guide to the valley, its history,geology,flora and fauna.

This book is simply amazing! Unbelievable spanglish dialect with deep punk political themes. Beauty of the desert and morose individual struggle brings life to the subject matter. A must have for any serious leftist. Folkcommielore at its absolute best!

Very practical. Still timely. Great for anyone who wants to use statistics (especially DOE) on the job.

I've used this book both as a manager, working with individuals and my work team, and also as a consultant and facilitator working with client groups. It is a fantastic resource for the following reasons: 1. it has a very sound foundational model that is built on trust, organisational learning principles and action research; 2. it has an excellent blend of theory and practice, with heaps of case studies, anecdotes and wisdom acquired through experience; 3. it has a lot of really useful tools, reasources, survey instruments and so on - excellent stuff that helps you apply the ideas easily and straight away; 4. it has a lot of humanity, compassion and profound thought about what it means to be an individual working in a complex, dynamic organisation of today; 5. the ideas in it are built on values and ethics, an unusual, but welcome, approach to me; 6. what it advocates is practical, achieveable and realistic - it's not touchy-feely waffle, it is sound advice and tested approaches. Good on you cobbers!

Marvelous, sensuous novel which brings to mind nothing so much as an Italian F. Scott Fitzgerald at the top of his form. Achingly romantic, lushly cinematic and beautiful. One of my favorite writers of this century.

It is a shame that this beautiful series of dialogues between mythological figures is out of print. William Arrowsmith's translation of Pavese's masterpiece is beautiful, allowing the stark and seductive explorations of the human condition to glow with a Nietzschean intensity. Not to be missed.