Powell Books

This is a great reference book for gardeners who are interested in starting plants from seed rather than buying the same old stuff from their local garden centers each year. This best thing about this book is that it rates each plant on its degree of difficulty when it comes to growing that plant from seed. Unlike the seed catalogs which imply that all plants are easy to grow from seed, this book breaks it down into detailed instructions as to how to get the seeds to germinate and what conditions they require once germination takes place. It is a great reference when browsing through the seed catalogs as to which plants are worth trying to start from seed and those whose needs may be way too much time, money or environmentally demanding to even bother with.

I have been planting flowers from seed in my home for almost 5 years now. Last year I had over 1400 seedlings on multi-level shelves under flourescent and natural light in my dining room. (Boy do I need a greenhouse!) So this book was not a lot of new information to me. A lot of what is listed can be found on the back of a seed packet, but it's not practical to sit on the floor of my favorite garden supply store and read every seed package for suggestions before I buy it. (This is important, because I'm not interested in refrigerating my seeds 3 weeks before I plant them or doing other such preparations required for some seeds.) One major thing missing from this book was photography. There were drawings, but I'm sorry to say that they were mostly a way of breaking up the monotony of the text rather than a reference tool. On the good side, this book did an excellent job of providing the proper germination environment, and each plant had a quick reference in a shaded box that listed the type of plant (annual, perennial, etc), its hardiness zone, and its flowering season. This allowed me to quickly eliminate the plants that were inappropriate for my zone. The regular index wasn't very useful, but one wonderful addition was an index of the common & latin names. I refer to this when looking at some of my books that include the full color photography I was missing. (Almost makes up for it....almost!) Of course, there is the standard hardiness zone map, but they also added a map each for the probable first and last frost dates. (Nice!) Also included was a directory of seed companies and their addresses. All in all, this book does a good job of covering the seed part, but a poor job of covering the bloom part.

This is an indispensable book for the home seed-starter. I teach plant propagation classes in addition to starting a thousand seedlings in my basement every year and this is the book I recommend. An encyclopedic format with plant-by-plant listings of both indoor and outdoor sowing requirements, transplanting and care information, plus line drawings of each plant make this an invaluable reference guide!

Do not purchase this book if you are looking for advice on starting vegetables, because even though veggies are annuals that bloom, they are not covered in this guide. If you prefer to reference your plants by the common names (e.g. Lilly of the Valley - not Convallaria) or a color photo, then this book will be hard to use, because the plants are ordered by their taxanomic/latin names and all of the drawings are black and white sketches.

If you are able to find the plant that you are looking for, then the propogation/seed starting information is pretty good.

Bottomline, probably not the best book if you are just beginnig to experiment with the hobby of growing your annuals from seed.

I am a plant propagator, both at work and at home, and I have access to all the seed starting handbooks. This is the one I turn to the most often. It's comprehensive and easy to use. In fact, if it included vegetables, it could pretty much stand alone. The only thing that would make it a little better would be illustrations of the seedlings.

to see whether it would be helpful. I determined very quickly that this was an excellent source for helping me control my hypoglycemia. It has a very good variety of foods listed for quick search and it goes into very specific detail of how the body uses things like omega 3 and 6 and refined carbohydrates and many other things. It is an excellent diet that has really helped me to feel better.

The basic information here is very helpful and could change your life for the better. That said, I was still disappointed with this book. It suffers from the same problem that so many nonfiction books seem to. It's got enough interesting and important information to fill a really good article, but that's about all. There's a lot of padding. The book also tells you a lot of stuff you've probably already heard, if you're at all interested in diet and health or if you have had blood sugar or candidiasis problems. I, personally, didn't find the cooking and eating suggestions all that revolutionary.

i never realized how important it is for people of all dietary needs to maintain control over their sugar levels. i am not diabetic but my wife is, and as soon as she finished the book she insisted that i read it! i'm glad she did, because i've learned plenty about easy corners to cut in making my diet painlessly more healthy (and i am not the type to willingly cut out my favorite foods). this book is a solution for a diverse range of diet-related problems....

In The Glucose Revolution Life Plan, Jennie Brand-Miller, Johanna Burni, and Kaye Foster-Powell effectively collaborate to show the reader how to make a glycemic index -- one of the truly landmark advances for healthy eating. Included are fifty delicious, easy-to-prepare recipes with complete nutritional information (enhanced with beautiful color photos of a dozen of these dishes). Also presented are the benefits of Mediterranean and Asian style cuisines and cooking methods, including omega-3 fatty acids; key facts and myths about fats; the pros and cons of high-protein diets and how they compare to a low-G.I. carbohydrate approach; as well as the most up-to-date and comprehensive table of glycemic index values available to the general reading public. The Glucose Revolution Life Plan is enthusiastically recommended for anyone seeking to create a practical and successful lifetime approach to healthy eating.

The light of understanding has finally begun to shine. I have found it to be a valuable tool in helping me to manage my weight and keep my glucose levels consistantly normal.

Anyone who needs to create templates for InDesign documents should memorize this book. Gabriel Powell explains why and how a well-made template can be an absolutely essential production tool for the creation of a publication. Instant InDesign is an exhaustive guide to the art and engineering involved in the process of developing a template. It covers everything from the overall approach one should take, through the minute details that can exert a large effect for good or ill. By following Mr. Powell's instructions, the reader can produce templates that will increase the quality and consistency of publications, facilitate production through the automation of many functions, be free of impediments to efficient production, and make it easier to share production tasks among members of a team. In addition, the book serves as an excellent tutorial for the use and mastery of InDesign CS3. The language is a model of clarity; the tone is serious; and the book is both fascinating and enjoyable to read.

In the substantial introductory section, the book provides a well-drawn theory of the ways in which templates function in relation to design. It addresses topics such as how to decide if a project requires a highly defined structure or one that allows for more variation. Powell points out the factors that distinguish the kinds of projects that benefit from templates from those for which templates are unnecessary. He gives an overview of the features of InDesign that should be utilized in the construction of a template and explains how to use them wisely. The importance of pre-planning is emphasized in all things, and especially in relation to certain advanced features of InDesign that can reduce hours of work to a few clicks. He tells how to begin the whole enterprise of creating a template, and describes exactly the sequence of steps in which the work should proceed in order to avoid any wasted effort and unnecessary backtracking. The final section of the introduction lets the reader try on some training wheels by showing how to evaluate and revise an existing template using the predesigned templates that come with the program. The chances are, however, that if the user wishes to upgrade a pre-existing template of any complexity, he is probably far better off starting from scratch--unless that template was originally created using the precepts set forth in this book. One is quite likely to spend more time analyzing it and tracking down the bugs than it would take to begin anew and do it right. One quick indicator of whether or not an existing template is worth revising: the creator did (or did not) furnish a comprehensive style guide for the users, a step which Powell describes at length later in the book. After having read this book, one may wish to reconceive a publication anyway, in order to take advantage of the many possibilities that InDesign CS3 offers.

The second section of the book teaches the workings of InDesign with particular emphasis on how its capabilities pertain to building templates. Since the author's first principle is to "Know Your Tools" the information provided is broad and deep--considerably more than one might expect in a book about a specialty topic. Even if the reader discovers that his projects do not really need to be templated, he will not regret having bought this most conprehensive book. It will enable the reader to do any kind of work in the program more efficiently.

Powell begins with detailed descriptions of the types of frames and all their parts, and reviews the numerous ways in which they and their content can be modified. With an eye to template construction, he gives tips such as presetting the fitting options, rounding off measurements to figures that are easy to remember, and anchoring one object to another to keep them together when material reflows.

He describes how to analyze the design requirements of a publication and prepare a framework to accommodate them. He offers practical wisdom about the structure of page layout along with tidbits such as the need to deal with situations involving the use of multiple languages, by taking into account that different translations of the same text will run to different lengths. The utility of the baseline grid feature for controlling vertical placement of type in copy-heavy publications is reviewed at length.

Powell shows practical ways to use guides and grids, with tips such as putting guides that need to be saved on a separate layer. He explains layout adjustment and notes that it allows for flexibility when developing a design if the trim size, margins, or column measures have not been decided upon.

Powell addresses the all-important backbone of templates--the master pages. He explains their functions and the ways in which they operate. He shows how to figure out how many different masters are needed, and suggests a strategy for using parent/child masters. He delves into the utilization of masters in conjunction with saved styles and with the powerful feature--new to CS3--text variables. He reminds us of the importance of taking the time to set up these functions for the specific requirements of a template in order to automate various processes. The opportunities for saving time and increasing accuracy that these tools provide is enormous. A template in which the master pages are not well set up, or, worse, a template without any master pages, is close to useless, and as sure as ants at a picnic, will necessitate extra work every single time it is used.

The operation of Libraries is described, and advice about how to organize them is given along with guidance about what kinds of objects should be put in a Library rather than in the template itself. Powell shows how pre-made layers can help to ficilitate the construction of a publication. He describes how attention to stacking order can minimize problems such as rasterized text.

Powell does not go into color theory, but he does focus on those aspects of color that are significant in template construction. He explains that the use of defined color swatches rather than the mixing of colors on the fly enables universal color changes and other benefits. He reiterates here, as he does in regard to many other functions, that a descriptive naming strategy for swatches is important, especially in team situations. He reviews the creation of the various kinds of swatches: tint, gradient, and spot color, and also mixed ink and mixed ink groups--and he enumerates the situations for which each type is appropriate. The transferring of colors between documents and among Adobe applications is covered, along with a discussion of the reasons why such transfers are helpful. There are tips about how to get a rough idea of what your document will look like when printed on color stock, how to organize and edit the swatches panel, and even how to connect to the kuler page on the Adobe site to create and download harmonious sets of color swatches.

The chapter on typography is invaluable. InDesign affords enormously powerful and subtle ways to control the appearance of type and Powell shows how multiple typographic refinements can be built into the template so that they will automatically be applied to copy that is placed in the document, thereby greatly reducing the need for tweaking. He prompts the reader to use the full power of Paragraph, Character, and also Object styles and he demonstrates a good way to organize styles by means of the new CS3 Group function.

Tables and the new ability to create table styles are covered, and strategies for incorporating table creation into the workflow are outlined. Just as InDesign's introduction of easily producible drop shadows induced their use to near ubiquity, the effortlessness with which a table can be completely formatted is sure to have designers thinking more in terms of presenting information in that form.

InDesign has several features geared to assist in long document construction that can be pre built in a template. If a publication contains a series of figures for example, the running lists function can automatically number them consecutively and update all the numbers if anything is added or removed. This can even be done across a group of separate documents if they are assigned to a book (.indb) file. Similarly, a multilevel numbered list can be created and edited without requiring manual renumbering. Formatting for footnotes can be set up to be automatically applied, with several different schemes available for numbering them.

One of the most dramatic feats of automation is the Table of Contents function. Advance planning allows a TOC to be automatically generated in a fully formatted state. When specific paragraph styles are applied to the elements in the document that should appear in the contents list (for example, chapter names), the program detects instances of copy in those styles, notes the page numbers on which each appears, and then reformats the text and page numbers into a TOC style. If copy reflows, the TOC can be regenerated with the page numbers automatically updated.

Somewhat understandably, InDesign's indexing function is not covered in this book. Indexing is a specialty task more related to an editorial function than to document construction, and can go awry if begun before the publication is in its final form, or at least close to it. For purposes of making a template, the creation of the relevant character and paragraph styles would probably be the extent of the template creator's responsibility.

One of my favorite features of Instant InDesign is Powell's checklist for finalizing a template. Once a template is built, it is like a newly constructed house--everything is there, but there is a lot of construction debris, the water may not be turned on, and the welcome mat is not yet in place. If the reader has ever opened a template and been greeted by a missing font message, or a view zoomed in at 400% on a minor detail, or the logo is not linked, or there are frames on the pages for unknown purposes, or the paragraph styles pane is disorganized, then he is sure to appreciate this guide. These annoying, time-wasting problems and quite a few others are addressed, and solutions are given for their resolution. There is practical advice for testing a template, with tips such as making sure to use representative content to test for fit. Depending on the IT set-up and/or protocols within a workgroup, it may be necessary to package a template along with its satellite items--a library, swatch collection, print presets, links, and so forth. Unless a workgroup is very small (I would say 2 or under) a style guide should also be included. Powell provides a list of considerations in creating a style guide, and a sample is shown.

Powell includes an overview of the Bridge application, including instructions on creating and utilizing metadata. Without opening a template, Bridge can show previews of all its document pages, though, unfortunately, it does not show previews of the master pages. For regular documents (.indd), Bridge shows a preview of only the first page.

Depending on the data source, it may be possible to make use of InDesign's XML function for publications of certain types. Powell gives a beginner's tutorial in this coding language, and walks through each step required to set up an XML workflow for a template.

Data Merge is covered in the online chapter, available when the user registers his copy of Instant InDesign on the Peachpit Website. Data Merge utilizes a process similar to XML; and it can be very helpful in highly structured designs, such as business cards. For more flexible and sophisticated requirements, Powell provides a list of plug-ins that can work wonders.

The creation of a template is a very exacting process. It is not a project for beginners or for anyone who is not thoroughly adept with the technical aspects of the program, or is lacking in a drive for perfection. It is a rare individual who is both a capable designer and a technical whiz. Instant InDesign is a brilliant guide to both aspects of template creation. It is the ideal reference for all members of a template development team.

monagood(at)mac.com

Instant InDesign is a testament to thoughtful planning and consistency. It is a comprehensive guide to simplify your day. If you do something repetitive inside Adobe InDesign, this book will help you work faster and more efficiently.

Good , I expected more about this book, is not that explicit on their tutorials.

A few years ago I started producing a monthly newsletter for a nonprofit while getting my feet wet with Adobe InDesign. Although I had a rough idea of what I wanted to do, and refined certain elements over time, this was a very inefficient way to produce the newsletter and took much more time than I anticipated. So much so that at times I wanted to back out of the project.

If I had a copy of Instant InDesign back then and followed its guidance to the letter, it would have saved me a tremendous amount of time. And because I was receiving a flat-fee, my per-hour compensation would have increased greatly by virtue of how much quicker I could have completed the task.

This well-organized book takes the reader through the step-by-step process of creating templates. This is a great way to learn InDesign and reinforce earlier training. With this method, you can see how all the elements--style sheets, grids, object styles, etc.--fit into the whole process of creating a publication. With standard instruction books, the various elements of InDesign seem disjointed, so it's tempting to skip or gloss over some of them. Yes, it can be tedious to create a template, but the payoff is well worth it and a good return on your time investment.

While the book makes mention of InDesign CS3, the underlying concepts apply to all versions of InDesign. Bonus chapters and tutorials from the publisher's website make this book even more compelling. The bonus files are in CS3 format, so you can't open them with earlier versions of InDesign. However, if you can get someone with CS3 to convert the files to the INX format, you can open them in earlier versions such as InDesign CS2. Considering the overall value of the book, this is a minor inconvenience.

In short, this is easily one of the top three books on InDesign that I've seen. If you want to save time, boost productivity and produce more professional publications, this book is for you.

Just received this book and I can't believe how well-structured this is. There is a lot to say for how information is presented and this looks and feels like a professional trainer put this together. Wait! The author IS a professional trainer! The examples and text are clear and what's so cool is that he actually used InDesign CS3 to create this.

So - buy this book and don't forget to retrieve the goodies by registering the purchase on the publisher's web site.

A beautiful selection of images that trace how the Canyon has been viewed through a lens over the past cnetury and how that view has evolved. You can begin to appreciate how the Canyon got to be grand (to paraphrase the title of a book on the history of the Canyon). It was also nice to have included images of the types of cameras that were used to make the images.

I bought this as a present for my wife. We had just returned from a trip that included a visit to the Grand Canyon, and I wanted to get her a memento of the visit. This book sounded good, but was not the one that included the beautiful vistas that we wanted. There are some photos too dark to really discern why they are included. There are some photos of a boat on the bank of the river. That could be from anywhere.
Although I suppose others may find it interesting, we didn't want a book of prose, we just wanted amazing photos. This was not that book.

Yes, you would expect truly astounding photography here, and you get exactly that, in lots of different flavors too, but the stories are deft and revealing -- far more than in a book of photos alone of a place that you couldn't take a bad photo if you tried. Trimble himself is a master craftsman with the camera, but his service here is to gather some really remarkable work and voices into a tome that anyone who has gaped and prayed there will want to paw through before you get major brownie points for giving it to someone else. Terrific work.

Lasting Light is a treasure, a compilation of photographs taken of the Crand Ganyon over a broad stretch of time. The viewer/reader may gain a sense of history, passing from the old to the new. The book is an experience in images of the vast wonder of the Canyon and the smallest, most discreet detail. Because the text is direct and not-technical, anyone interested in what is grand and lit by extraordinary light, the Grand Canyon itself, will find this work a delight.

This book is so awesome, and of such high quality, that its Amazon price seems surreal...I have two copies and am ordering a third, for posterity or whatever.

Intensely beautiful photographic prints, at the very leading edge of Canyon photos....almost beyond description!

If you buy one copy of this book, you'll then want another for a gift, and another for your own collection.....etc.

This is got to be one of the best guide books I have ever seen featuring over 350 different species of parrots on our planet. Being the bird lover that I am, and that includes domestic as well as wild birds, I own almost every book out there on birds, and I really love this edition by Tony Juniper & Mike Parr. It should really be called an encyclopedia because there is just so much information in these almost 600 pages. The 88 superb color illustrations of all the species by 5 different artists are so beautiful & true to life. As you already know by reading the editorial & other reviews, this book includes range maps of the species locations, their vocalizations, life expectancies, and much more fascinating information.

Remember, this is not a book about parrots in captivity, its information about birds in the wild. If you don't own a parrot and are thinking about one, this book is a definite help in learning about all the different species that are out there. The more knowledge you have the better it will be when you do decide to pick out that perfect companion parrot for yourself & family. Owning a companion parrot is a lifetime commitment that shouldn't be taken lightly. I know I researched many months before I found the perfect parrot for us. The love you receive in return from your parrot will amaze you. I wish I could give this book more than 5 stars. Highly recommended!

This book belongs in the library of any naturalist or bird lover. The plates are wonderful with vivid colors that serve to identify the various species. The text provides concise information on natural history, a map of each species' range in the wild, its conservation status and other information. This book could be used in the field or as a comprehensive reference book on these remarkable birds. The authors must have poured a phenomenal amount of work into researching and writing this book. Buy one for yourself and another for a friend.

I own parrots, I have friends who own parrots, and I have a brother who breeds parrots. I feel I can knowledgably say that this is not a good guide to parrots. It is full of mistakes both in the text and in the illustrations. I was very disappointed when I went through this book and, fortunately, I did not buy it but got it through the library. If you want info about this group of birds buy the standard, Forshaw's Parrots of the World, and just realize that the information about ranges and scientific names might be out-of-date but overall this is the better book by far. It deserves no stars.

I was long wondering whether to buy this book or not, but it was well worth getting.
The species accounts are incredibly detailed and it must have been hard work to collect all that data.
I have field experience regarding parrots in Eastern Indonesia, and found this book to be amazingly up to date about the status of species occuring there - so I trust it is similarly accurate about parrots in the rest of the world, too!

This is the first book I bought on Parrots and it is the only I would ever need to learn about the different types of Parrots in the world. It contains information and pictures on every type of Parrot from the African Grey to the rare Kakapo. I only wish they had an indication on the price range of each bird on the market for those who breed and sell. I would definitely recommend this book to the serious Parrot collector. A definite must on a Parrot lover's bookshelf and worth every dollar.

Helpful in understanding the concept of diminished hunger using Glycemic Index as a dietary guide.

This book is very helpful and is a straight forward approach to better understanding the GI and how it affects your body. I previoulsly read the Glycemic Revolution and was deeply disappointed by the info, and the lack of everyday application.

I do like that there is a glossary of the questions in the front so you immediately know where to skip.
From questions about prickly pear cactus and more, this book covers a lot of corners, and it explains things very well- breaking down the GI book stigma.

this book is a must for the diabetic. it helps you literally with what to and not to eat and WHY! it explains the GI and GL system. this is a easy to read and understand book. get this book and it will help lower the (tryg) numbers.

Read it in 2 hours. I have got more than 25 books on Diabetes, but this book is THE BEST. It is the best investment. Please buy this book, if you have diabetes, you will not need any information after that.

Eat lots of green peppers and cucumbers.

This was a great book for my mom who thumbs through the book and finds excellent information about her diabetes. If you have to take your blood readings on a daily basis, this book is a must have.

A bleak city in a bleaker setting, Aum is known as the 'City of Gates'. Surrounded by perpetual mist and deprived a view of the sun and stars by a jealous, forgotten god, Aum is a threshold for travel between worlds, and perhaps eras. At any time of day metaphysical gates in the city are opening and closing, bringing strange travelers with desperate quests into a city where one can buy anything. The point to remember here is that nothing in Aum is freely given; even the smallest favors come with a price, usually paid in pain and suffering.

Throughout the excellent tales in this book, Aum is the constant and most compelling character. A city rendered in beautiful sepia writing, Aum is a place of shadow and desperation. The stories are best described as dark fantasy or horror, but the book conjours up movements of bleak beauty all the more delightful for their fragility.

Houarner writes with simplicity. His characters are very rarely nice people, but the reader understands the motives of each. It is the bleak settings and tangible sense of emptiness and loss throughout that makes this book soar. A decaying boatman riding a river of death and decay or a beautiful princess determined to usurp her father's throne at any cost might not strike the reader as original characters, but trust me, you don't know where these stories are headed.

Read this book. It certainly made a lasting impression on me. If you enjoy this sort of dark horror/fantasy sort of setting, where the city itself seems to be the most important character, also check out "The Trial of Flowers" by Jay Lake.

Mr. Houarner can write fairly well, but I didn't enjoy this book as much as I expected to enjoy it. I expected a 4-star book.

The last two stories about Jeloc were fine and I might have given the book that rating if all were like them. However, the rest of the book just seemed to incarnate "life sucks and then you die." Some books are grim but the power of the writing keeps you enthralled. Some are grim but you have a sense of moral satisfaction or completeness. Some are grim in part, but are relieved by the other side of the coin in places. This was just grim.

by TT reviewer Anita Jo Stafford [full review on our website]

The Black Orchid from Aum is an anthology of stories by Gerard Houarner. "In the City of Aum anything can be bought. But you must always pay the price." All of the stories focus on the inhabitants and travelers through Aum, the reason they have journeyed to Aum and the price they pay for their desires.

All travelers must pay for Aum's tongue, a parasitic bug that works as a universal translator. Without the translator the travelers to Aum cannot communicate and are destined to become less than the human population. People can only travel to Aum when their planets are aligned. When the convergence occurs, travelers can leave Aum for the planet that is aligned with the gateway. The city is dark, violent, decadent and in many ways beautiful. It is a multifaceted world in which danger lurks on every corner.

The first story involving the debt collector draws the reader into the heart of Aum. It is an excellent way to introduce the reader to the realities of Aum. Cray's story shows the reader the first of several stories that provide the reader an excellent view of life in Aum. As collector, Cray settles unpaid debts. After suffering through an abusive marriage, she no longer desires love. While she collects debts for others she is accruing one of her own. As the debt collected from Cray is revealed, the reader is drawn deeper into the book just as travelers are drawn to Aum. Kings, Princesses, rulers of all shapes and form pay for their desires in Aum. The title story, Black Orchids from Aum is riveting. Like the rest of the stories the Princess gets what she desires most. However, the price that Aum takes as payment again has a profound impact.

The Black Orchid from Aum is an excellent anthology and an insightful look into the human condition. The stories are well written with excellent imagery and plotting. This book is a good one to start with as a sampling of the work of Gerard Houarner. It catches the reader's attention. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Aum is a place where anything within the imagination is possible for a price. The price that the inhabitants pay is often everything. This book is unique and ingenious. Depending on what the reader wants to take from the stories, they can be anything from dark fantasies to warnings of what could be in a world with too much excess. This book is highly recommended.

This was recommended to me as an introduction to Gerard Houarner's noir fantasy. I found it an extremely interesting example of of what I think of as 'city of adventure' fiction. This has been around for some time - the first use of the form that I encountered was Moorcock's Tanelorn, which weaves in and out of his stories. Other efforts in this sub-genre include Lynn Abbey and Mary Gentle. And, more recently, Mieville's New Crobuzon and Simon Green's Nightside have appeared. The themes are wide ranging, the only requirement being that the city and its culture be just as important as the story itself.

Aum is one of the bleaker metropolis's in in what is usually a dark landscape. Condemned for some unknown since to exist separate from everywhere else under permanently dark skies, Aum is a dangerous waystation for interdimensional trade and barter. Countless gates to elsewhere open in the city, watched over by the gate mothers and their attendants. Even to enter Aum requires bartering - the traveler must acquire a parasite that serves as a language translator. To be without language or livelihood in Aum is an invitation to disaster lost in a city where you can buy anything - if you have the price.

And the price in Aum is never something as simple as wealth. In this collection every story presents a grim sort of justice - those that abuse love have it torn from them, those that bargain for kingdoms skirt empty thrones, Gods die and leave two edged artifacts. Rarely is there even a glimmer of hope, and every tiny victory contains the seeds of its defeat. This is Aum's curse and the bane of those who chose to come to it.

Houarner's style is straightforward narrative with little embellishment. With the exception of the final tale, each story stands by itself with no shared cast. Whch is only to be expected from a collections drawn from a a number of trade publications and written over nearly a decade. I would have liked to see more details of Aum and its workings. Houarner, a minimalist, introduces only what he needs to further his story. This works well for each story, but leaves the reader feeling there is something lacking when trying to read the tales as a body of work. There is enough here to whet one's interest, but not enough to completely satisfy.

I liked this book so much I even thought about starting out my review by saying a few trite and cliche phrases like, "Couldn't put it down!" and "Mind bogglingly intense!", but I...oh wait...I just did.

Seriously, if I could give this book 10 stars I would. Houarner has created one of the creepiest and most despairing worlds I have ever visited in my lifetime of perusing the written word.

Aum is a city banished into isolation even from its own world, as punishment for offending its Gods long ago. Surrounded by a high wall and covered by perpetual mists, those who dwell here never see sun or stars or moon. Only the swirling, cold mists.

Houarner's descriptions of Aum, with its polluted canals, continual gloom, dank temple cellars, tight and shady streets, and hopeless futility amongst both the locals and the traveler's is the centerpiece of this collection.

Aum is also known as the "City of Gates", for Aum is the center nexus of many portals to uncountable universes. When a world "aligns" with Aum, a gate will open and you may pass in or out of the city. Many different worlds align each day at every Gate in the city, and only the Gate Mothers and the GateKeepers know their schedules. The Gate Mother's are needed to sell you "Aum's Tongue", a parasite that is swallowed and lodged into your throat in order that you can speak the language of Aum. Without it, you cannot bargain. Without bargaining, you cannot live.

Aum the city is the constant here, with just the characters changing from chapter to chapter and adventure to adventure; a city painted in such marvelously vivid shades of pale that when Houarner writes of his mists, you can actually feel the sting on your flesh and taste the vaporous tendrils as they float by. The greed and the despair of its visitors and citizens is so palpable that you can feel your teeth sinking into their very flesh.

In the stories we will see a Collector of Delinquent Accounts who must pay the price of her own transgressions, a plague ridden girl bargain for the life of her homeworld with a discontented God, a homeless member of the Bridge-Folk despairingly cast himself at the feet of Gohul The Gondolier, a King from another world finding that his greed will make him powerless, a father suffer from the consequences of abusing his daughter, watch ambition destroy a predatory race, visit a whorehouse, see a tragic play, and most of all...strike a bargain.

For in Aum, anything can be bought; love, power, dreams, revenge, or even hope. But be ready to pay the price, for once your bargain is struck, you are bound to honor it; and the price must always be paid.

My favorites of the chapters are the title chapter, Black Orchids From Aum, Shing Of The Bridge Folk, Cure For The Plague, The Collector of Delinquent Accounts, and The Face Of The Messenger.

This is truly one of the most chillingly eerie books I have ever come across; not the grossest or the strangest, but one that left an aftertaste in my mouth both delicious and disturbing. If your taste buds are craving a sample of something creepy and slimy-cold, pick this book up and read. Enjoy!

I know first hand the remarkable place that Northridge Church is and the remarkable changes that occurred due to Brad's vision and leadership. I never really felt at home in church until I attended Northridge and truly realized that God could be revelant to my life and the way I live it. If you care about growing your church and making it relevant to the masses you MUST read this book.

Are you in a church with a 175 year history? Traditions that are blocking the spread of God's word. Is your church in decline or simply not growing? This book builds on Rick Warren's concept of purpose driven. Our church is currently going through some major transitions. Pastor Powell's book has been a great encouragement.

I read this book and have attended Northridge dozens of times. I grew up in Temple Baptist and spent 3-4 days there until 1982. My parents met at Temple Baptist in the early '60's. My grandmother attended in the 1940's. Needless to say, I know a lot about the history of Temple Baptist.

It was indeed culturally irrelevant by the time I left in 1982 as it was stifling and ultra conservative. Northridge is now transformed into a place where new Christians and seekers of God, Christ & the Spirit will be able to connect and find God, healing & worship. It is definitely a place to launch into Christianity although the waters can be shallow.

There are only two items I do not like about the book. One is that it is poorly written. It reads as if Brad dictated it. It needed better editing.

The other item I do not like is the information that the membership declined since 1955. This "fact" has been picked up all over the web. Although this is true, the contextual information that is left out is that this was partly intentional by Temple Baptist.

In 1955 Detroit had virtually no suburbs. As the suburbs began to spring up, Temple Baptist financially launched and encouraged dozens of suburban churches to support neighborhoods. It was understood that their membership numbers would decline due to losing members to the new churches that Temple launched. This was the primary reason for losing membership from 1955 - mid 1970's and not cultural irrelevance. I think that this was important information which was left out of the book.

Otherwise, this book is an important guide for how churches can attract people seeking or needing Christ that would otherwise never set foot in a church. They can't find Christ if churches don't try to reach them by connecting with our modern culture.

I just finished reading this book and highly recommend it to anyone that cares about their church, and the mission of THE CHURCH. God, through Brad, changed a dying and irrelevant church into Metro Detroit's most dynamic and effective church body. This was only possible because the members caught his vision for reaching the lost, and offering them the hope and healing that can only be found in Jesus Christ. For those that know of NorthRidge, it is an opportunity to see what happened behind the scenes in those turbulent years of transition, and to see the spiritual and emotional struggles that Brad and his leadership team endured. For those that are new to the story, it is an opportunity to learn from their struggles to move your church to where it should be. If we are not reaching the lost, we are not obeying Jesus' command. To reduce the book to a few sentences: most churches are ruled more by tradition and customs than by the Word of God., are directed more by illogical fears and selfish motives than by Christ's Command to "Go into the World", and are more focused on insiders than on the outsiders, erecting walls to hold out the "undesirables" rather than trying to desperately pull them from the flames. The book is a solid Eye openener that will have you re-evaluating everything your church does to see if it is done because it makes us feel comfortable, or if it is done to pull in as many of the lost as possible "without compromising God's Word." People are hurting everywhere. No one is exempt, and the Church needs to be the one offering the "One" that provides true healing. Brad and NorthRidge are getting it right, that is why I now go there, and why so many thousand others go each week. If every church had the heart and drive of NorthRidge, this world would be a much better place.

Brad Powell, Senior Pastor of North Ridge Church in Plymouth, Michigan has written a new book about how to take your tired, old church and make it new again. Change Your Church for Good: The Art of Sacred Cow Tipping (W Publishing Group, February 2007) is 316 pages of church transition strategy illustrated by Brad's own success at transitioning the historic Temple Baptist Church of Detroit, Michigan into North Ridge Church of Plymouth, Michigan.

The principles Brad articulates for team building, vision casting, and making progress toward change are positive and valuable. They aren't necessarily biblical, however. But that isn't to say they are necessarily unbiblical either. Except maybe for the rather bizzare story of God almost speaking audibly to Brad and telling him to transition the church to fit himself and then to relocate the church from Redford to Plymouth, "a community that will then be a perfect fit for both of you [Brad and Temple]." I haven't been able to locate a verse for that one.

The formative years of my spiritual life were spent at the Temple Baptist Church of Detroit. In his book Brad variously characterizes the church that formed my spiritual life as "irrelevant," "bound by tradition," "declining," "unhealthy," "dying," "Southern-cultured," "defensive," and possessed of "a lot of anger and conflict."

From 1976 when I first began riding the bus to Temple, to 1989 when I left to take my first pastorate in northern Michigan, this irrelevant, bound by tradition, declining, unhealthy, dying, Southern-cultured, defensive church with a lot of pent up anger and conflict faithfully proclaimed the word of God from its pulpit and in its Sunday School classes, faithfully trained teenagers and young adults in soul-winning visitation, and remained committed to the timeless truth of God's word in the midst of a changing culture and declining city. I owe my spiritual life to a church Brad Powell dismisses as "irrelevant." Temple Baptist Church was certainly relevant to me. And history bears out that prior to 1991 Temple was significantly relevant to many who owe their spiritual lives to its ministry.

Brad has always dismissed the history of Temple Baptist Church as irrelevant, which is surprising since his own success at North Ridge is due in large measure to the foundation laid by others throughout Temple's long history. For 40 years Dr. G. B. Vick labored as the faithful pastor of Temple, yet Brad can only say of this great leader and pastor that "he managed the ministry with consistent excellence and relative success," (italics mine) even though, as Brad characterizes Dr. Vick, he was not the communicator or innovator the previous pastor was. Brad has spent his entire ministry at North Ridge building on the foundation other men laid, especially those of this mediocre leader, Dr. G. B. Vick.

There is no question that Temple was in decline and dying when Brad arrived in the early 90s. Brad and I fundamentally disagree as to why. He points to "banjos playing in the basement" to illustrate the church's cultural irrelevance. I would point to the failure of the church's leadership to biblically deal with sin, both among themselves and the members of the congregation. Temple died because the Spirit abandoned it, not because the culture found it irrelevant.

I would argue that Temple's problem wasn't its inability to connect with the culture. It had succeeded in connecting with the culture for 70 years before Brad arrived. The gospel has always been and always will be foolish to the culture, but that doesn't make the message irrelevant. It's not preaching, or hymns, or traditional Sunday School, or soulwinning visitation, that kill a church. It's sin left unconfronted that kills a church. The pastor who immediately preceded Brad resigned because of a "moral failure." God knows, plenty of others should have hit the altar that day with confessions of failures, moral and otherwise, of their own. But rather than point to spiritual decadence as the source of Temple's decline, Brad blew past that and focused on "banjos in the basement" as the culprit. And, of course, if indeed the decline were due to "banjos playing in the basement" and stern looking "arms crossed ushers," it would be easier to convince the people that the problem was "relevance" rather than sin.

But if the problem is spiritual, well the answer to that problem is a different one altogether. Dealing with a spiritual crisis doesn't require abandoning the historic biblical principles that got you where you are by throwing them into the same pile with banjos playing in the basement. A spiritual crisis requires repentance and confession and a recommitment to those historic principles. But if your goal is to tip sacred cows (like banjos, organs, and arms-crossed ushers) into a Golden Calf, some things that really aren't sacred cows (like expository, evangelistic preaching and worship music with a solid theological foundation) get labled sacred cows so as to faciliate your goal of Golden Calf forming.

Brad diagnosed cultural irrelevance as the disease that killed Temple and he presecribed a heavy dose of cultural capitulation as the remedy. It worked. And in a culture that values quantity more than quality, relevance more than spiritual depth, the fact that it worked is all that matters. For Jesus' attitude toward quantity over quality see Matthew 7:21-23 (note the words `many' and `knew' and you tell me what Jesus values more: what you produce or who you know - numbers or relationship?).

Thanks Ms. Bates for another Alex Powell mystery. I absolutely fell in love with Alex in Plain Brown Wrapper and had to read this one to see if it would be just as good - I was not disappointed! I was glad to see Alex still up to her old tricks, and with her man Paul firmly by her side. Alex is still as smart and no-nonsense as she was in the first novel and you can't help but root for her. As in Plain Brown Wrapper, this book gave a peek inside the upper echelon of Black society that is not always seen. It was nice to see how the other side lives, and easy to see why they don't want everyone to know (as Simp and his 'folks' weren't the nicest people you could meet). Anyway, if you are looking for a good book, and a good mystery, check out Ms. Alexa Powell. You won't be sorry!!!

I couldn't wait for this book to come out after reading Plain Brown Wrapper and I can honestly say I wasn't disappointed. I can't wait to read more about Alexa and crew.

We last met protagonist, Los Angeles Standard columnist, Alex Marshall, using her sleuthing skills to solve a murder at the National Association of Black Journalists in Plain Brown Wrapper. Author Karen Grigsby Grant unleashes Alex's expertise again with her latest release, Chosen People.

Alex, who has her pulse on the black community of Los Angeles, is assigned to write an article about James Simpson Lee Hastings Jr., the self-proclaimed authority on the Black Bourgeois and author of Chosen People, a book that, depending on who you ask, is either uplifting rich black folk or putting down poorer black folk. Alex knew Hastings had enemies but who would slit his throat at an Eso Wan Book Store signing? She finds herself right smack in the middle of another murder case much to the chagrin of Paul Butler, her out-of-town beau, and her landlady, wealthy matron Sally Ferguson, who have continually admonished her to stay out of trouble, but it seems it just ain't going to happen. Why do these things happen to her? When Alex makes the connection of Hastings' murder to that of an alleged suicide of a wealthy white philanthropist and the vicious attack murder by pit bulls of a prominent African American woman, the plot thickens. All of these victims are only separated by the proverbial six degrees of separation.

From the horse country in Norco of San Diego County, to the streets of South Central Los Angeles to swanky homes in Hancock Park and the Los Feliz Hills and the churches of the Black middle-class, Alex searches for answers. The cast of characters include a pro-black, militant activist turned horse trainer, old money black L.A. and a Jewish socialite. Not only is it a "small colored world", it is a small world, period.

Grigsby Bates peppers her book throughout with phrases, some familiar; some newly coined, a sort of insider's secret language. Besides "small colored world", there is her code for white people, "WP", and the Black Bourgeoisie, "Nigwazeez" and other witty terms. The book, Chosen People, featured in the storyline was an excellent parody of Our Kind of People by Lawrence Otis Graham, the controversial account which took the middle/upper class African American community by storm several years ago. Indeed, as in her last book, Grigsby Bates gives you a glimpse into the black elite of Los Angeles; the class schisms in the African American community, the divisions and tension that exist and how they are exploited. I can hardly wait to see what Alex gets into next.

Dera Williams
APOOO BookClub
www.apooo.org

I found the first Alex Powell book by accident, but I immediately liked her. Smart, opinionated, intelligent - this was a Sista I could like reading. And, I liked all the rest of the supporting characters, both Black and White. Having a Sistafriend who was a journalist for many years, Alex and her fellow journalists' travails about the newsroom were not unfamiliar to me. I think I liked this second book better than the first one because I already knew so many of the supporting cast. I hope Ms. Bates writes a third and fourth Alex Powell book. There are so many good Black mystery writers...I totally wish that BET or TVOne would do a series with them. ..

Bates has written another well-paced, well written novel starring Alexa Powell, which I think that many people will like even more than PLAIN BROWN WRAPPER.

CHOSEN PEOPLE is about the upper crust of black society and the african american elite, aptly called the "Chosen People" in some circles. In the book, as in real life, many people think that talking too much about money and class and social status is considered vulgar. Simp, a man who is obsessed with chronicalling the status of the black elite, is unsurprisingly murdered. But no one knows who, among the many people who were clearly disgusted with Simp, could have committed the murder. Alex Powell, reporter turned detective, is trying to write an article about this murder and two others that she intuitively thinks are related.

Perhaps the best thing about this novel is that one of the connections among the characters is their understanding of and committment to improving the black and minority communities and helping those in need. The novel is just as much about political power, cultural identity, ethnic awareness, and community service as it is about social status and violent murders. (After all, there are four murders in the novel!)

I don't want to give away any more of the plot, because I was so surprised and intrigued about the way that the murders were and were not related. I didn't anticipate it at all. Although I am not especially fascinated about this particular segment of black society (I actually find it a little annoying), I honestly think that this angle will make the book more interesting to a lot of people, because most people can only read about the Chosen People, and generally enjoy doing so. I really enjoy reading about Alex, although I got tired of reading about what she was wearing, and I like her. I relate to her, and I look forward to reading about her again.

This is a great summer read, I finished it in about 3 days or so. I really hope it goes to the top of the Essence bestseller list and stays there!

Author Lisa H. Farber-Silk bares her life and soul in her book "Giving My Heart: love in a Military Family". She shares her very personal tale of love, frustration, pain and rejection by her lover - a PTSD veteran - for whom she gave up her long-standing marriage and home for. She truly made one of those life choices that follows the heart but leaves so many unfilled emotional and spiritual needs. This book does not have a lived happily ever after ending, or really any ending at all - much like real life for all of us.

Lisa allows the readers to fully view her self-admitted flaws and shortcomings in an effort to promote the understanding of a much bigger issue and problem - that of PTSD veterans. She reaches out to the public to give their loving support not only in the book but in her personal life as well. She opens the door to the kind of problem that families of returning veterans are finding. There is much to learn from her book as it presents a different view of the PTSD problem to a public that little understands, or even knows, how huge of a concern it has become.

I have been helping PTSD veterans for over 30 years and have seen how it can and has destroyed so many families. The problem is only growing worse. This book calls attention to those destructive behaviors and hopefully, will become a catalyst for some families to seek out help.

If you are a military family (or have a relationship with a PTSD veteran) this book might be a good insider look at what you might not even be aware of. The book is a sincere attempt to build a bridge of understanding between the returning veterans and those who are trying to love and help them.

Reviewed by Sylvia Del Toro for RebeccasReads (4/08)

Having been part of military life in my married years I can relate to many of the inferences that are made, as well as the heart-wrenching losses that the family endures during challenging times.

Military life is hard enough without having to endure the painful loss of your partner. I don't necessarily mean physically, like death, but emotionally. Death may be better to some people because of the emotional stress that PTSD causes. PTSD, if not handled properly and professionally, will escalate to a whole new level.

My ex-husband was in the military and part of the whole Desert Storm thing. It was difficult for him to readjust to normal life after what he saw and had to do. He did two short tours; the second tour was harder than the first. He had many sleepless nights and times of emotional outbursts and anger. He never talked about it and eventually broke up our marriage.

I have had a few family members, a couple of acquaintances, and a couple of friends that died in Iraq and a couple that came back. It is not the same for them and they, too, have had a hard time adjusting. However now, we know more about PTSD and how we can work with them.

The author is very descriptive and touches the heart of the reader in "Giving My Heart." She brings the book to life and you almost feel as if you are there living it through her eyes.

This book does not have a happy ending yet so if you want one it may disappoint you ,but for families and friends having problems with the people they love ,it shows you never never to give up in what you believe in even if it costs you . I think it is a powerful message of the book ,what if you let it go . What happens when soilders are taking it out on the people they love and how you as a loved one has to be strong and stop at nothing to get help , get information .
I have seen Lisa get the word out about PTSD .I have seen her do good helping and doing for the military for the last 25 years .She is blunt and honest and honest to a fault even if it cost her which it has been alot .But everyone loves and respects her .
For her to open up her feelings and share them with you so you can find the help you need ,the strength ,the courage ,this woman is remarkable ,not only that all the proceeds goes to Vermont Vet to Vet which is a Non -profit that help Veterans have their weekly meetings to talk about with other vets who are having issues .
I hope that if you have a service member that you and love and care about you will pick up the book , and realize you are not alone ........ this can happen to anyone .

As a military wife and mom for almost 25 years, Lisa has seen it all from Desert Shield to Desert Storm and back again. In 2007, she organized the Vermont Veterans Combat Stress Symposium to bring information and help for soldiers and their families. With this book, she lays it all on the line -- including personal failures and the whole nine yards. You can judge her by what she does but you do not have the right judge her by who she loves. This book is for anyone who has a loved one returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who is not the same person as who left.

Reviewed by Vicki Landes for Reader Views (12/07)

First-time author Lisa H. Farber-Silk releases her autobiography "Giving My Heart: Love in a Military Family." Open, honest, and full of details, the book gives a glimpse into one woman's connection to the armed forces.

"Giving My Heart: Love in a Military Family" details Farber-Silk's personal journey from childhood to marriage and motherhood, then on through businesswoman, mistress, and divorcee. The three men in her life - her husband, his friend, and eventually her son - are all in the military. As her story progresses, she describes how it felt to see them off to war and how it felt to transition them back. She concludes with her unsuccessful attempt at helping her lover adjust and deal with his Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

"Giving My Heart: Love in a Military Family" isn't your typical `military wife perspective' book. Instead, the story is an autobiographical account of Farber-Silk's love affair with two military men. Further, the book ends on a rather sad note as she never did get through to her second love as he struggled with PTSD. The book seems to be a last attempt to get him to see what he's put her through and how he can help himself.

As a military wife myself, I expected to read more of her activities on the home front and less of her background or affair with another man (something obviously frowned on by the US Army). I also expected to read about more PTSD experiences. Farber-Silk doesn't note the first hints of PTSD behavior from her lover until page 62; her entire story is only 89 pages. Further, the story has a bit of a juvenile tone; phrases such as "NOT!" and "I was so pissed" really don't read well in a book meant for mature adults dealing with post-war trauma. "Giving My Heart" is not for those looking to read the more traditional `triumph over PTSD'-type book.

Farber-Silk does write from her heart. She lives and loves from deep within and her book serves as a historical account of her life and her experiences as a military family member. She holds a strong devotion to her country as well as her fellow spouses enduring the separation of loved ones deployed to war zones. "Giving My Heart" is simply Lisa Farber-Silk's life story.