R Books

There are two editions. The newer revised edition is available on Amazon in both paperback (ISBN 0795379348) and hardcover (ISBN 097537933X). 100% of the net proceeds from the NEW editions are donated to animal rescue groups. (Unfortunately there are no donations from this old edition).
You can see the new editions at
The Canine Commandments (paperback)
The Canine Commandments (hardcover)

Artful and well-written, The Canine Commandments uncovers the true wisdom behind a dog's life. The lessons that W.R. Pursche delivers via our canine friends translate perfectly into our daily relationships with other humans, most notably friends and family. At the heart of it all is loyalty and unconditional love.

Although it will resonate especially strongly for pet lovers, Lessons to Live By: The Canine Commandments is a self-help book intended for readers of all backgrounds, regardless of pet ownership, that draws upon what humans can learn from their canine companions. Timeless wisdom, from the importance of living for the moment to loyalty to the treasure that is friendship and the power of everlasting faith and more - all these are virtues embodied within man's best friend, of which man (and woman) should take heed. "The next time you are with a group of people, count how often their 'conversation' is really nothing more than telling other people how they should behave. 'Don't do that!' 'Put on a sweater, it's cold.' 'Change the station.' Sometimes what passes for conversation is nothing more than a subtle - or not so subtle - series of comments trying to get each other to change - to do what they want, to be like them... Dogs just accept others for what they are, and love them as they are." 100% of the net proceeds of Lessons to Live By: The Canine Commandments will be used for the saving and care of dogs and other animals through the efforts of humane organizations. Highly recommended as an inspirational gift, especially for dog owners but sure to add a ray of cheer for anyone with fond memories of a beloved four-footed friend.

I just loved this book! It is really well-written book and the lessons are very inspiring. There is also a great story at the end where a dog 'tells' his story about being adopted and living with his people.

I can't wait to see if the author writes another book!

While I really love dogs, Pursche's book is really about life and living.

Real simple, fast to read, not too many big words or complicated concepts to digest!

Take an hour or two to read and gain a new perspective on daily living.

The male character in this book is too real! The love he is searching for is at his fingertips. I could not put this book down. As a male reader I could certainly identify with the main character Moses. Thanks for giving him such strong morals. I thoroughly enjoy reading your books in particular because the male characters are men we can look up to from Cousins, to Thems Eves Daughters and now Letters. You have a loyal fan!

This book took me by surprise. I was capitivated from the very beginning. I like the way you write about social issues very tasteful. The ghost scene threw me for a curve, but I quickly recovered. I could not put this book down. The dialogue flows so well. Glad I ordered it you have a loyal fan. Will order the next book. I'm sure they are just as rich.

Letters is one of the best books I've read this year. As a matter of fact, my husband and I read it together and it was a wonderful experience. We can't wait to read the other two books! This book is the bomb!

This book is wonderful! I was extremely intrigued from beginning to end! This book kept me capitivated. There are no dull spots any where. Excellent piece of work!

This book was absolutely wonderful! I met the author in Greensboro, North Carolina at her book signing and she is absolutely beautiful inside and out! Once I spoke with her I could identify with the passion I felt jumping off the pages of her books. Letters is full of excitement. It's a wonderful read. There are no dull spots in this book. Anyone would love it. I appreciated meeting Ms. Dick in person so much I bought Cousins and Thems Eves Daughters. I don't know which one I love the best. Anybody can get into these books.

I would give this book more than 5 stars if possible. Wisconsin high school teacher James R. Ebert does a masterful job as he combines interviews and printed primary sources in this remarkable telling of the infantryman's experience during the Vietnam War. Ebert tells the story of the US Army and a few US Marine infantrymen during the Vietnam War. He takes their story from induction into the service through basic and advanced individual training, arrival in Vietnam, their first combat experiences, the first killed in action they experience, in some cases the soldier's death, and the freedom birds that take them back to the world. Ebert points out while infantryman accounted for less than 10% of the American troops in Vietnam, the infantry suffered more than 80% of the losses.

Ebert uses an interesting technique starting every chapter with a letter by Leonard Dutcher to his parents. Dutcher just wanted to do his part for God and country and go home at the end of his tour. In the last chapter, we find out that Dutcher was killed. It caught me off guard and really added to the impact of the book. Ebert takes many of the soldiers and Marines experiences word for word from the individual himself through interviews or letters. It is a collective look at similarities of the many infantry soldiers and Marines in the war. It is a very personal account from many points of view.

This is an important book in Vietnam War literature. This is what the grunts really went through. I was left with somewhat of feeling of guilt from reading the book. Why? I graduated high school in 1971. Some of my high classmates went to Vietnam and fought. My classmate Everett Maxwell was killed in action. I went to college and was ultimately commissioned a second lieutenant in the infantry, went through airborne school and served three years active duty. My becoming an officer deferred my entry on active duty from 1971 to 1975. This is the reason for my reflective thoughts.

Read and reviewed by Jimmie A. Kepler.

This is the best book by far. You get to "meet" these boys from the very beginning of their military life all the way through their hell in Vietnam. You can't help but get attached and you're cheering them on in the most horrible of circumstances. I watched the war on TV every night back then and didn't realize how much more brutal it really was. This book will open your eyes and give you a newfound respect for these teenagers caught up in one of America's worst & bloodiest wars. These are the heros that were never given a "Welcome Home". It's a must read...it will change your life.

Do you want to understand what a grunt went through in vietnam?
Then read this book. By far the best book that I have read on the Vietnam War. After reading this book, every American should thank the Vietnam Veteran for their service to our Nation.

When I first started researching the Vietman war, I happened to come across this book at the library--exactly what I was looking for since I wanted to understand the individual experience of the infantryman. I had been warned by veterans that a lot of inaccurate books were out there, and since the writer's credentials were simply that he was a high school teacher, I first read it with a somewhat skeptical eye. As I continued to read memoirs and histories and speak with veterans, though, I also kept coming back to this book. Finally I just broke down and bought it. Though I've only spot read various passages throughout the book, it is even-handed, always rings true, is consistent with other information I've gotten, and offers factual information to set things in context (I wish there were a little more of that). Ebert has done a great job getting vets to talk--not always easy--now maybe he should create an updated edition to flesh out the coming home aspects. I hope this author still teaches high school.

When I first started researching the Vietman war, I happened to come across this book at the library--exactly what I was looking for since I wanted to understand the individual experience of the infantryman. I had been warned by veterans that a lot of inaccurate books were out there, and since the writer's credentials were simply that he was a high school teacher, I first read it with a somewhat skeptical eye. As I continued to read memoirs and histories and speak with veterans, though, I also kept coming back to this book. Finally I just broke down and bought it. Though I've only spot read various passages throughout the book, it is even-handed, always rings true, is consistent with other information I've gotten, and offers factual information to set things in context (I wish there was a little more of that). Ebert has done a great job getting vets to talk--not always easy--now maybe he should create an updated edition to flesh out the coming home aspects. I hope this author still teaches high school.

I first decided to read this book after reading J.R. Salamanca's masterpiece 'Southern Light' - which is one of the best books that I ever read.
The writing and grammar in 'Lilith' is almost too good; I'm that most English Teachers would agree that it is well written; however, the plot left me yawning. I lost interested half way through the book. I thought at least that it would give me an insight into a similar tale ('I Never Promised You A Rose Garden' true life story of Joanne Greenberg) or slowly take me down the path of mysterious madness a la H.P. Lovecraft, but alas, I lost patience with it. But, I guess it might be a bit unfair to compare 'Lilith' to 'Southern Light' after all, they were written almost thirty years apart.

If Goethe had written *Faust* in prose in the 20th century, it might have been something like Salamanca's *Lilith*. You don't want to carelessly compare an author with Goethe any more than you want to carelessly compare a physicist with Einstein, but Salamanca's *Lilith* makes you feel that you are reading a 381 page poem on the search for knowledge, the longing for love, and the relief of despair. Waiting for my copy of the book to arrive, I thought the reviewer who owned five copies had maybe gone a bit far, but now that I have read the book and am waiting for my second copy to arrive, I am wondering whether two copies are enough. :-) The only authors who have possibly touched me more are Goethe and Bertrand Russell, but I cannot understand why this author was ever out of print, or by what strange fare it was that he never got the nod for the Nobel Prize for literature.

I have one minor complaint with this novel, and it centers around the somewhat misleading cover of the book, which describes the story as "one woman's electrifying obsession." There certainly is an obsession in this book, but that belongs to the narrator, Vincent Bruce, not to Lilith, as the cover would have you believe. After finishing the novel, I blacked out the "wo" which just left "man's obsession," which seemed to me to be a more accurate description of the story within.

Vincent, the main character, uses the telling of his story as a way to absolve and purge himself of his experiences with Lilith, a patient he cares for at the mental center where he works. He not only falls in love, but becomes "obsessed" with her. The second half of this novel mostly centers on his attraction to her, and how he compromises his duties as Lilith's caretaker with his feelings of love for her, a woman she herself describes as "mad."

I don't want to give away too much of the story, but the prose in which it is told is both excellent and sensitive. I can't tell you how this book got under my skin! This novel succeeds in disturbing the reader, such is the brilliance of the text. It is seldom that a book really affects me as this one did. Salamanca portrays the story as if it really happened, as if it is a work of truth rather than fiction.

It's a sad story, but one conveyed through beautiful language. Indeed, there were many passages where I felt like crying while reading them. As much as a reader can, you care for Vincent, and you care about what happens to him, and worry (as he does) about his ultimate destiny. He's a directionless figure, who just wants to succeed at something, and make a good life for himself filled with meaning, as his absent mother wished him to do.

I urge you to read this book. And I ask, as another reviewer here does, "Why is this book neglected?" Perhaps you will read it and ask yourself the same question.

"Lilith"

Simply put, this is one of the finest novels I have ever read and I have wondered, as have others before me, why this book is not recognized as superlative, right up there with any other novel (by any novelist) that one cares to name.

I first read it is a teenager in the 1960's. It has stayed with me ever since and from time to time I come back to it. As an artist I've drawn much inspiration from this work. It is at once disheartening and yet uplifting, full of dark underpinnings and at the same time it is full of light, exhausting and inspirational. It also stands as functional poetry.

I once had a chance to see the movie but declined. I could see no point to trying to capture such perfection of prose and such insight to emotion via the medium of film. The book is one of those rare works where, indeed, the words are worth more than pictures.

It was out of print for a while and during that time I scrounged around used book stores and at garage sales, and periodically I would find a copy. These I presented to several friends over the years. I have been thanked repeatedly ever since by those who received the book and, to the very person, each claims it to be indispensable.

Spread the word. Then or now, this work deserves far more recognition than it receives.

My (lengthy) title says it all. Yes, I love this book. Yes, I think everyone should read this book. Yes, I think many people will love this book. Everything the other reviewers have said about it (to date, at least) is true.

But. (You knew a but was coming.) But *Lilith* is Salamanca's second novel. It was originally published in 1961. It partakes of a tradition which Anne Williams, in her really excellent study *Art of Darkness*, has called Male Gothic. The woman, Lilith, is beautiful, desirable, clever, all in a rather unearthly way, and the author clearly loves her; but the *narrator*, who's rather a different being, is destroyed by her. That is, like her namesake, she's sublime in proportion to the degree to which she is also diabolical. Masculine principle destroyed by contact with diabolical femininity, which is associated with landscape, language, beauty: that's Male Gothic, and that's also the pattern of this book. Those evil/desirable women do in those hapless men again.

Let me hasten to remind you that a) I still love the book, in part because the AUTHOR is kinder to Lilith than the NARRATOR can be, and b) that this book was published 30 years ago. Do I blame the author for following a pattern which isn't very kind to the idea of womanhood? No, positively not. And one very good reason not to, if you need one, is because, yes, he got better. In his later works, the women become more earthly, less diabolical, more human, less like muses. In a way that only good authors do, Salamanca has deconstructed his own patterns and called them into question.

Critics, by and large, loved *Lilith* where they scourged *Southern Light* and the recent *That Summer's Trance.* Admittedly *Lilith* is easier reading, and perhaps a better book for those who don't know Salamanca's work to begin on. (Among other qualities, *Lilith* is much shorter.) But I wonder too whether those critics weren't more comfortable with demonized women than with more complicated ones, and whether the devastation that ended *Lilith* didn't strike them as a more suitable punishment for abandon than the very different situation which ended *Southern Light.* In *Southern Light* the author declines to destroy those who have worked horrors; he even allows them (dare we say it) to be redeemed. In *That Summer's Trance*, devastation once again ends the book, but not as punishment for abandon, but for (sorry) abandoning abandon, for selling out. Now let's take a wild guess here: why, do you suppose, might readers in a consumer society prefer to be told that abandon, rapture and passion end in destruction than to be told that selling out ends in destruction? Any thoughts?

I'm sure you all know the answer to that as well as I do. So that's my final word: by all means buy *Lilith*, read *Lilith*, love Lilith. But if you do love it, be brave: have a try at the newer, longer, scarier books too, the ones whose message, despite the changed medium, is really much more radical.

Learning to live past the death of a child is the hardest moment in ones life. This book helped us! Read it and let it help you! This book is good for ANY Crisis not just the death of a loved one. Any life crisis is covered. Read it and get better!

This book saved my life. If you are going through grief caused by a death, a divorce, a job change, a major move, the loss of a child, or the grief of losing someone or something you love, you will be GREATLY BLESSED by this book! It will validate your feelings and give you sense of normalcy in the midst of your pain. It will give you the hope to go on knowing that you are not alone, that everything is going to be ok, you will be ok.

When my mother faced a battle with cancer over 20 years ago, she sent me this book to comfort me when the inevitable time came. What wisdom. I've given away so many copies to grieving friends that I can't keep my own. I've been told by many of them that it helped them so much that they too gave copies to others. Just knowing you're not alone in your feelings of grief, and that there are ways to work through it, provide such comfort and hope. Buy it now for when you need it later.

This book is great for both people who are experiencing loss (it could be losing your house in a tornado) and for people who want to know how to be a friend to those who are grieving.

I keep giving my copy away and ordering more. This is not a "take a warm bubble bath and it'll be all better" book. The book makes several important points; you go through a whole range of emotions, it takes at a long time, you should take it easy on yourself, not expect too much of yourself, and you shouldn't make any life-changing decisions for at least a year.

But even more significant is that the book gives you permission to grieve in your own way and time -- there is no right or wrong way to grieve. This should also be required reading for well-meaning friends and family and co-workers and the book gives them permission to be tolerant and understanding of the person who is grieving.

It is a quick read, liberally sprinkled with case histories and examples.

I have a slightly older addition, which is why I'm not giving this book five stars. Some of the references are a little out of date.

Overall, this is a really useful book. Dr. Stearns clearly understands the grieving process. She provides a balanced exploration of what happens to to people during times of crisis, and helps readers to cope. I say balanced in that this isn't a typical 'self-help' book, lacking in depth, yet it isn't an overly technical, dry psychology book. The case histories and the overall writing style make the book very read friendly. Her arguments make sense and are backed up by good research. Readers who've read other work on the subject of grief, death, loss, crisis, etc., will find they may be familiar with some of the ideas already, but the presentation is fresh enough to keep this from being a big drawback. If you've gone through a major loss, or if you are personally or professionally trying to support someone who has, this is a great book to pick up.

This book is amazing. It has helped me realize what this world would be like without the catholic church, the inherent dangers of secularism, and the path to rectify the evil of modernism. By doing this, it has helped bring me back to the catholic church. This author is on par with Aldous Huxley and George Orwell in both his ability to visualize alternate worlds with precise understanding and his ability to write in a eloquent yet succinct manner. It is a short book and I highly recommend it.

R.H. Benson wrote two mystical visions of the future. _The Dawn of All_ is an extremely romantic and improbable 1911 parable of a 1971 world mostly Catholic and at peace, ready for the Second Coming. _The Lord of the World_ came first, in 1907, and was a darker vision. A world of flying craft, major scientific advances, and comfort has become a place of materialist despair. Euthanasia is routine, for the desperately ill and the terminally bored. Oliver and Mabel Brand, a rising young couple, are the golden ones -- Oliver becomes a major political figure, but Mabel chooses the cool despairing end of legal euthanasia. Father Percy Franklin is one of the last Catholic priests in a world hostile to freedom, church, university, and history. Eventually elected the last Pope, he is restricted to the dusty forgotten village of Nazareth. Julian Felsenburgh is a charismatic American adventurer who means to and does become Lord of the World, anti-Christ. Details are less important than the very modern mood. Believing in progress as the only good, people are swept into any movement that promises it. The past is ruthlessly exterminated. The quest for one world government that begins with Esperanto ends with one world dictatorship.

Robert Hugh Benson grew up at the end of the nineteenth century, when it looked like Socialism would sweep over the world and make religious worship outmoded. His father was Archbishop of Canterbury; and he joined the Church of England but later converted to Catholicism. In his introduction to this book he wrote that he took the idea of Man (not the Son of Man) becoming the ideal and 'took it where it would go'.

Knowing that this book was written in 1904, before the Great War and the dissolution of the European Empires, and the nascent beginning of flight, it is interesting to read his views of what the world would look like in 100 years (or about now). He saw the end of poverty and hunger, and the raising of HUMANITY to the paramount position. His views on woman are arcane, as one of his characters dismissed his wife as 'just a woman', and that they make no strides of independence. He talks about inter-city flight at the amazing speed of 150mph, one year after Kitty Hawk.

The stories bottom line is that once Man begins to worship himself (in the guise of Julian Felsenburg), he not only has no need for idealized religion, but that the persecution of anyone who disagrees will become an act of Sedition and punishable by death. Religion is represented in this story by Roman Catholicism (all others having given in and disbanded, except for a few 'elderly jews wandering in Palestine) which fights a peaceable rear guard action against the forces of HUMANITY.

The language is a little difficult and flowery, while the ideas are interesting but sometimes the catholicism is hard to comprehend, but all in all it's worth reading.

Robert Hugh Benson (born November 18, 1871; died October 19, 1914) was the youngest son of Edward White Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury, and younger brother of Edward Frederic Benson. Benson studied Classics and Theology at Trinity College, Cambridge, from 1890 to 1893. In 1895, he was ordained a priest in the Church of England by his father.

His father died suddenly in 1896, and Benson was sent on a trip to the Middle East to recover his own health. While there, he began to question the status of the Church of England and to consider the claims of the Roman Catholic Church. His own piety began to tend toward the High Church variety, and he started exploring religious life in various Anglican communities, eventually obtaining permission to join the Community of the Resurrection.

Benson made his profession as a member of the community in 1901, at which time he had no thoughts of leaving the Church of England. But as he continued his studies and began writing, he became more and more uneasy with his own doctrinal position, and on September 11, 1903, he was received into the Roman Catholic Church.

He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1904 and sent to Cambridge. He continued his writing career along with the usual elements of priestly ministry. He was named a monsignor in 1911.

Lord of the World is one of his more exemplary works and well worth reading.

"A Century before Left Behind there was Lord of the World," reads the cover blurb in the striking Wildside Press edition. But while both books deal with end times, that's where the similarities end. In Benson's vision, Catholics are the last remaining Christians. The Left Behind books, named for a line in Larry Norman's song, "I Wish We'd All Been Ready," on the other hand, follow the idea of the rapture popularized in Hal Lindsey's bestselling book, The Late Great Planet Earth.

I ordered this book from Amazon after reading Gwen Watkins' essay in Charles Williams: A Celebration (also available from Amazon) comparing Benson and Williams as writers. Williams being my favorite author, I was very excited to come upon a similarly gifted novelist. Benson wrote Lord of the World in 1907; it takes place in a future about a century later (around now). That's also around the time that Chesterton wrote his novels. Both he and Benson write so colorfully that it's sometimes hard to know what's going on. Whether people were more imaginative then or that was the style at the turn of the century I don't know. But having read GKC helps one read Benson, and vice versa.

Williams is often held to be obscure for his descriptions of supernatural and occultic ritual. Benson's obscurity lies in his pre-Vatican II Catholic vocabulary and bits of the Latin Mass, which will not be familiar to many readers. That aside, this is an absolutely gripping story. Having once started, I couldn't put the book down. Uncannily, in this 1907 novel, Benson prophesied a dark future that became reality, first in Germany and then in the USSR. Writing in the then new genre of science fiction, he envisioned a technologically advanced world nevertheless rushing headlong to destruction. It's amazing how contemporary he sounds as he looks forward in time to our present and his future.

I had this book for sometime, it was a gift. I didn't really know what a great book I had until I actually read it. Looking at the pictures was great, until I lost my own Chocolate Lab, "Roxie". The memories she and I made, were flushed out as I read the happiness of other inspired Lab Lovers. I though no one else can love a dog as much as I loved mine. There are so many people blessed with Labs that don't realize what a gift a Lab is. They are the best all around dog, that I fell in love with at the age of 18 or so. Now 33 I'm searching for another Lab puppy to love again. This book allowed me to see the other stories, people shared and flushed stories from my own heart that had been forgotten as time has a way of covering the memories that are made in the life of a Lab, if only for a short while I have the memories of my Lab and others, uncovered.

Here is another attractive entry by naturalist author Todd Berger, one that takes a truly loving look at America's singular and by far most popular wonder dog, the Labrador Retriever. As Berger points out so well, there are few other animals who draw such love from humans as a dog, and surely the Lab is the most loveable of the breeds. Here he presents the Labrador Retriever in all its wonder and does a yeoman service to the rest of us by enumerating all of the superb qualities the dog has to offer potential human enthusiasts. They are by reputation excellent working dogs, both as field dogs and as guide dogs for the disabled. They are also incredibly loyal, and the news services are often filled with wonderful and heartwarming stories of Labs crawling out on the ice to save their masters, often at considerable danger to themselves. Nonetheless, they stand by our sides.

Therefore, this book, "The Love Of Labs', is the ultimate tribute to the breed, and is chock-full with stories and photos that actively serve to substantiate what might otherwise seem as idle boasts and overethusiastic praise. In fact, for anyone who spends any time around Labs, like me, it is hard nto to use superlatives when describing them. More than one of the stories herein will bring a smile to your face, a tear to your eye, and the idea in your noggin perhaps it is time to consider getting one of these incredible creatures into you rlife, and that of your extended family. they boost the energy level in any room they enter, are incredible chick-magnets, and have been shown to reduce high blood pressure and dissipate depression through their mere presence. This is a wonderful book about what I believe to be the world's most nearly perfect living creature, the Labrador Retriever! Enjoy!

This is a story book. The stories narrated in the book show the really nice characteristics of this excellent dogs. The photographs are beautiful. It's a nice tribute to the Labrador. Only downside is that all, and I do mean all, the stories are hunting stories. I believe these dogs have much more to say in other aspects of life. For all of you who hunt with a Lab, you will really love this book. Those of you who don't hunt but are really fond to this breed, you will like it very much, myself included. For those of you looking for information on the breed, not recomended.

I have only had the priviledge of owning our adopted black lab, Abbott (rescued by Southern California Labrador Retriever Rescue) for about 4 months. I can not tell you how incredible these dogs are!! The family loyalty is palpable. The intense devotion these dogs display to their family is remarkable. The absolute joy this dog has brought to us is a gift that is compounded daily. How can one really describe a lab's love for their family? (and the family for them) I was so happy to see a book that comes close to trying to express this.

Quite simply, the stories and pictures are beautiful. Share this book with anyone that loves these dogs for it is a pure delight just to turn the pages and look at the pictures! We feel so lucky to live with the real thing!

I have only had the priviledge of owning our adopted black lab, Abbott (rescued by Southern California Labrador Retriever Rescue) for about 4 months. I can not tell you how incredible these dogs are!! The family loyalty is palpable. The intense devotion these dogs display to their family is remarkable. The absolute joy this dog has brought to us is a gift that is compounded daily. How can one really describe a lab's love for their family? (and the family for them) I was so happy to see a book that comes close to trying to express this.

Quite simply, the stories and pictures are beautiful. Share this book with anyone that loves these dogs for it is a pure delight just to turn the pages and look at the pictures! We feel so lucky to live with the real thing!

I was given this book when i was very young, and learned how to read from this book. i still have it; it is worn from years of reading it. And to this day when i want to feel like a kid again, i pick it up and read. it will always be a favorite, and I plan on reading it to my children when i am older.

I'm 16 years old now but when I was little my father read "Maia" to me every single day. It is one of my all time favourite books. It's perfect for any kid who loves dinosaurs, just like I did. The pictures are great and the story is wonderful. I still have my copy and keep it in my room so it's always nearby for whenever I want to read it again.

My almost 6 year-old daughter loved Maia and when her teacher read it in school during "Dinosaur Week," she came home asking if we could buy it. It is the story of Maia, the Maiasaur,of her growing up and learning about the world outside the nest. The story tells of the wonder and fright as she discovers she must make it on her own, that she must become independent. It is the story of Maia becoming a mother herself and knowing that while she must nurture her baby dinosaurs, she must also move them toward independence so that they can survive on their own. The illustrations are fabulous and the story teaches children about dinosaurs and about growing up in a caring and thoughtful manner. Beautifully written and illustrated.

My father wrote this book when I was very young and it is just gratifing to know that other people enjoyed it as much as I did growing up. A friend of mine saw a copy in my house and then told me that it was her favortie book as a child. Its nice to know that people love this book. We appreaciate your comments very much. Thank you, Celia Gorman.

My almost 6 year-old daughter loved Maia and when her teacher read it in school during "Dinosaur Week," she came home asking if we could buy it. It is out of print but available from the Museum of the Rockies by calling 406-994-2252. We were thrilled to get it. It is the story of Maia, the Maiasaur,of her growing up and learning about the world outside the nest. The story tells of the wonder and fright as she discovers she must make it on her own, that she must become independent. It is the story of Maia becoming a mother herself and knowing that while she must nurture her baby dinosaurs, she must also move them toward independence so that they can survive on their own. The illustrations are fabulous and the story teaches children about dinosaurs and about growing up in a caring and thoughtful manner. Beautifully written and illustrated.

This is great book, It has a lots of example and explained really well. Great Work!

The book is good but many solutions are not tested fully so its not that they can be cut and pasted directly out of the book. you may have to troubleshoot many of them. Otherwise a real good book.

As a Developer working predominantly with Oracle Databases for over five years, I'm always looking for books to help me produce better code. I have to say this is one of them. The author has produced a book that explains concepts in a practical manner that is also easy to read. I began reading this book just before starting a major development project and the code insights and examples assisted me greatly in this project.

Probably more a information and guidence book rather than a reference book. I found I read it from cover to cover and used the information as a platform for future developing. Some great code examples which I have used to great effect though!

With 15 years experience in Oracle as DBA and developer, I wrote a lot of packages and found in this book true advices and practical solutions, wich sound good to me. The best feature is that you can experiment all the code found in it and see by yourself the advantage of using the way proposed by McDonald. I like these books where autors breaks some common ideas ans show by "A + B" that the right solution is not the most common. A real useful book written by a true professional.

The book takes a bottom-up approach: the first part shows useful coding and optimizing techniques, while the second one gives real world applications and tips on program design.

I have two minor complaints, however:

Most chapters assume at least a good knowledge of PL/SQL and build on that, which I think is fair for a book titled "Mastering ...". On the other hand, two of the chapters (Triggers especially, and PL/SQL Debugging to a degree) take a different approach and start from the beginning, explaining the basics, too. It may be just me, but I think those pages are wasted.

Furthermore, there is a certain amount of overlap with Tom Kyte's Expert One-on-One Oracle, also from Apress.

This book is great as a resource for anyone who helps victims of abuse. It should be a resource in every church. This book is also a valuable tool for any sufferer of abuse seeking help.

This book is an outstanding resource for understanding what abuse is and the steps required to overcome abuse through faith and forgiveness. I purchased the Mending the Soul Workbook that goes along with this book from the Mending the Soul website.

This book has been and will continue to be, a very helpful resource for me to use on my own road to healing.

I highly recommend this book.

This book is helpful for healing abuse victims of any age, but also is helpful in preventing abuse. Verbal abuse is addressed as well as physical abuse. It describes warning signs of potential abusers and has sample forms to screen future employees that will be around children.

I am a Christian survivor of incest. I have read many books on dealing with and healing incest issues. This is the first book I have read that presents material for Christians, and it has had a profound effect on the issues I have faced. Not only does it address the nature of abuse, it also addresses the aftereffects of abuse: shame and powerlessness. In my opinion, the most important section of the book is The Healing Path. It gave me hope and explained the steps needed for the survivor to know God can indeed heal the soul.Other books address the mental and emotional aftereffects of incest. This book addresses the most important part of abuse: the damage it does to the soul. As a believer in God, it gave me a path to follow to heal my soul. For anyone raised in a church and felt abandoned by God because of incest, this is a must read.

This book really helped me to view forgiveness & reconcilliation from a true biblical perspective. Joe in the previous review states it so clearly & logically, especially in the last paragraph of his review. I think we can unintentionally draw people towards us that continue this cycle of emotional abuse. By abandonment, betrayal, lies or avoidance which can be the most difficult to overcome. With any abuse or negative issue in life, our self-esteem can take quite a hit,it also makes us feel if we are not forgiven or loved by someone & how can God love or forgive us? that's why the recovery is such a challenge & this book deals with this healing process, moving forward & growing in Godly love.A very insightful encouraging positive biblicaly based book that deals directly with many of lifes challenges, especially the very common emotional abuse so many of us have experienced.I highly recommend this book.