Owen Books

Like most everything sold by Owen Magic Supreme, this is a beautiful volume that has been painstakingly produced. It's full of interesting stories and history and has many period photographs. Of special interest to illusionists is the repropduction of all the plans and blueprints originally drawn by Carl Owen. All the classic illusions are here in detail that is not to be easily found elsewhere.

And, the book is still easily available direct from its publisher: Owen Magic Supreme in Azusa, CA (USA).

I had a short assignment in school; for an extra credit we were to write a short paper about a serial killer. The trick was, that the killer had to be in some way connected to Florida. After long deliberations I choose Paul John Knowles, largely due to the fact that he had kidnapped and killed a Florida State Trooper.

The sources on the Internet were enough to finish my school paper, however, after reading a little bit about this "monster" I became interested in the WHOLE story. I know that the book is a bit expensive (here comes the... but) it is worth every penny. If you like true crime stories, or are fascinated with the serial killer genre, you really need to read this book.

"Killing time" is an easy and most importantly an informative read. Containing a lot of information on Paul John Knowles, not found anywhere else.
Trust me I did the research.

I must admit that I started the Owen Archer series in mid-stream and was immediately hooked! I hunted down the first three books and set about devouring them over the Christmas holidays. The King's Bishop, book 3 in the series, struck a chord with me. Ned Townley has lost his lady love and is driven fairly mad. Candace keeps you wondering through out the book as to whether or not Ned was capable of killing the young page he thought was flirting with his beloved Mary. And did he kill those he felt were responsible for her death? Ned leads Owen on quite the chase as Owen searches for the truth. As the body count grows, so do the suspicions that Ned is the murderer. Even Owen doubts his close friend. True to form, Ms. Robb keeps you going until the end when Owen returns to his soulmate, Lucie. Defintely two very enthusiastic thumbs up and five very well deserved stars!

Immortal Emerald La Roe has been alive for 300 years. She is currently operating her own paranormal agency under an alias with the help of her dear friend Katherine. Emerald knows she has been cursed and once a year loses her powers. Emerald's life soon turns upside down when Katherine is murdered and the dreams of a goddess named Morrigan begin. Her lover, Maxwell Howard, a werewolf, is also under the same curse as Emerald after a blood sharing experience.

When Emerald's dead husband Stefan O'Duff reappears as a cursed immortal after so many years, Emerald swears revenge on the man who long ago abandoned her and cursed her to the fate she now endures. Stefan now offers a possible solution that may end their terrible curse, but it involves an intimacy with the man Emerald has sworn to kill.

La Roe's is an absorbing, well crafted first novel for Dee Owen's. Ms. Owen's takes her reader into the lives, past and current, of her many unique characters who readers will come to care for. La Roe's, told in first person from Emerald's point of view that gives the story a more intimate feel, and offers not only a magical story but a lovely romance element as well.

Lactate Lift-Off by Owen Anderson, former Runner's World columnist and current editor of Running Research News, is arguably the best book available on the subject of lactate threshold (LT) training as it applies to distance running. Clear, direct, and occasionally funny, Lactate Lift-Off covers a lot of ground for a slim volume of only 138 pages.

Anderson begins by offering the standard definition of LT and its relationship to running speed. He correctly reports that LT is the point at which lactate begins to accumulate in the blood in an amount greater than resting levels. This happens at a running speed that corresponds approximately to 15km pace. In other words, all running speeds slower than 15km pace are below LT. As your speed increases above 15km pace oxygen becomes increasing scarce, lactic acid is produced in your muscles and is removed to the bloodstream as lactate. (Note: Lactic acid and lactate are very similar, but not the same. However, in most scientific literature regarding LT, the two are considered synonymous.)

But what exactly is lactate? Anderson answers the question by first telling us what lactate is not: "Lactic acid doesn't produce burning sensations, it does not induce soreness, and it's not a form of metabolic garbage...." He further explains that "...lactic acid is produced by your body all the time, around the clock, even when you're at rest...." Then we're told what the compound really is: "During exercise, lactate is also an irreplaceable source of immediate energy for muscles and other tissues, so much so that enhancing your ability to process lactate can improve you race times rather dramatically." In other words, lactate is produced in the muscles, removed to the blood, and reused by other tissues in the body or returned to working muscles. This process of creation, removal, and reuse is known as the lactate shuttle. Hence, raising LT isn't just a matter of delaying lactate production, it's also a matter of clearing lactate from the blood when it appears.

It's an ironclad law of physiology that the further above LT you go, the sooner your exercise session will end. The obvious question, of course, is how do you improve LT. Anderson provides us with a bevy of workouts verified by recent research from exercise physiology labs around the world. Too numerous to list here (you'll have to read the book), most involve running at, above, or well above LT. This will be unwelcome news the junk-mileage crowd, who steadfastly cling to the notion that plodding endless miles will somehow make them faster. For the rest of us, the avalanche of scientific research produced since the late 1980s is clear and convincing. Intensity trumps volume. Speed matters at all distances. Maximal aerobic capacity (VO2max) is nearly impossible to improve in experienced endurance athletes. LT, on the other hand, can be improved in almost everyone, sometimes dramatically. These are the sound scientific principles that animate the pen of Anderson and make Lactate Lift-Off truly valuable resource.

If you are a Southerner with South Carolina roots, you will find this book an enlightening, amazing, amusing,sometimes astounding look into your ancestors's world in the early 1900's.Owen Wister explained much to me about southerners who weren't the rednecks we are so often considered to be.I found Wister's descriptions vivid. They put me there on the streets of King's Point, in the churchyard cemetery with the hero and in his friend,with him at the boarding house dinner table, and with him on the bottom of a boat moored on a woodland stream. I could all but feel the humidity and smell the smells he so evokes in all his scenes.His many tongue in cheek observations gave me belly laughs as I recalled people from long ago.

Who tells a tale so well that you begin to feel as if you are watching a motion picture? The renowned Betty Thomason Owens, that's who. This literary classic, is live and in living color. Within the first lines of this story, I found myself lost in the mystery of the opening scene that Owens so magically describes. Lady Jael, along with the rest of the fictional cast are far from believable. They were so realistic in fact, that in some way I supposed that such dynamic figures went on living life beyond the binding. I recommend this reading for every level reader. This book is no "chic flick" though the story line does include romance. There is very much a sense of adventure and suspense, enough to satisfy every preference. Overall, I say a job well done! A tale well spun!

Rebecca Fish Ewan's A Land Between is an engaging, informative, scholarly, and highly recommended title which examines the idea of how people's preconceptions of California's Owens Valley influenced their decisions about managing the land. Primary sources, oral histories and research provide a perspective on the land and residents of Owens Valley, examining its natural history, human occupation, and use over the decades. A unique and intriguing study.

Perhaps the biggest challenge facing speech language pathologists when working with their clients is getting them to generalize the newly-learned language targets to novel contexts. After all, what good is speech-language therapy if the client does not use the skills outside of the therapy room?

Dr. Owens' book, Language Disorders: A Functional Approach to Assessment and Intervention, addresses this issue in great depth. The book shows how a conversationally-based, client-centered approach to assessment and intervention will greatly increase the likelihood of generalization. It also shows how the traditional approach of teaching language targets separately and out of context may not be the best method to achieve generalization. The book stresses, rather, to assess and train language where it will be used: in conversation. Owens also discusses at length the assessment and intervention of culturally and linguistically diverse children.

One major point made in the book early-on regarding intervention is the idea of making a plan for generalization when picking language targets, before therapy begins. So often SLPs make the mistake of addressing generalization toward the end of intervention, resulting in the SLP choosing inappropriate targets and/or the client showing a lack of carryover to novel contexts.

Owens also includes numerous guidelines and procedures that could be especially helpful for the school-based clinician. The appendices in the book are exceptional. Most impressive is Owens' extensive index of preschool literature, complete with suggested targets for remediation for each story. Also, a detailed table of language targets accompanied by functional activities for each is provided. This book is a valuable tool for anyone who works with individuals with language disorders or language differences.

This book is simple but very useful. Nothing new maybe, but after all, "wise men say the same things ever since"... the problem is that too often we forget about them! In this case nevertheless, the author has gathered here some of the most useful hints a coach can give, but in a way that you can easily recall them when necessary. He writes somewhere that leaders usually don't learn leadership from books or training, but from good managers. He must be wright about that, but I have learned much more from his book than from all the managers I had before. Not only because good managers are rare stuff, but because you may "apprehend" (etymologically speaking) only what you can pick up and take with you: and this book is particularly successful in that, that you can pick everything up so fast and so easily. A best buy, absolutely.