Reed Books

I enjoyed reading this book. My work involves costing and seeking ways to cut costs across various departments. The book explains in a very logical, practical and straightforward way how costs can be cut without adversely affecting the operations of the organisation.

This is an excellent reference book that is understandable to both accounting and non-accounting managers. I refer the book often in cost accounting situations as the concepts are very useful and practical.

This is recommended reading for senior executives that have the responsibility for the prosperity of their organisations.

I found the approach to cost reduction to be far beyond a simple "puchasing" tactic. The authors proposed a 21st century approach that brings the entire enterprise together (engineering, manufacturing, finance, supply chain) in a systematic approach to achieving cost savings. Our company has struggled with global sourcing and outsourcing and this book provides the first alternative that still gets the required cost reduction, but allows us to keep our existing supply base and manufacturing in the US.

Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for Reader Views (12/06)

"Jackson Choice" is a novel concerning life's decisions. Casey Borlen makes decisions based on outside events and on turmoil from within. When Casey Borlen moves to a small town called Jackson to open a restaurant he faces challenges and struggles that he didn't expect. He struggles to run a restaurant and direct the employees and to deal with personal changes in his life.

Casey likes waking up next to Sarah. He can't help but think how beautiful she is. Sarah is a bright spot in his life and with her around life is easier.

Employees are not always easy to motivate. Eddie didn't like having a new boss. He liked the way the former owner ran the business. "Casey resorted to telling Eddie to "Just do it!" Eventually the two came to an understanding and began to work together.

Life seemed good, Sarah was there for him, and the restaurant was going well and then came the River Club. Things got bad after that. River Club was a golf resort. The resort has an expensive restaurant that threatens Casey's business. Soon Casey is caught up in the drinking, gambling and lifestyle that the new club promotes. The price Casey pays is high.

Having been a former business owner I can relate to the stress Casey is under. Every new business that comes to town will be checked out by the locals and will take a slice out of your business. The stress affects all parts of your life from financial, mental, physical, emotional and home life. Casey handles the situation different than most. Most owners would not make friends with their competition, nor would they begin to patronize that establishment.

"Jackson Choice" by Gerard Murrin is a good read. The characters are realistic, especially Casey and Sarah. The plot flows along smoothly taking you places you don't expect to go. Gerard is a talented writer. The cover is interesting and hints that Casey is looking back, pondering his past decisions. I recommend this book to those that enjoy good fiction.

Jackson Choice is a human issues novel of crisis, challenge, and temptation. A small-town restaurant manager find love in his marriage, but not contentment, when an upscale golf club competes with his business and draws him into its allure of excessive drinking, gambling and debauchery. With his marriage and his future precariously on the line, he must choose which lifestyle he will follow, but tragedy inevitably strikes one of his employees drawn too deep into the club's allure, suffering a nervous breakdown due to gambling problems and internal demons. Meanwhile the FBI converges upon the River Club like an ominous vulture, running a investigation that will unearth shocking truths. A compelling tale of hard decisions and cold consequences.

WHO INVENTED THE MARINE JET? Controversy has raged for years over this question.A New Zealand sheep farmer, Bill Hamilton, has been said to be its inventor, but he himself never made such a claim. He said "I do not claim to have invented marine jet propulsion." was his response to a critic in 1962. The honour probably belongs to a gentleman named Archimedes. This book outlines the development from the 1950's thru to the 1200HP racing boats used today in the sport of JETSPRINT.

A must have.

This is a great book. Les Bloxham and Anne Stark do a very good job of covering jetboating from the very begining. It's an amazing journey and covers racing, sport and just the general evolution of the jetboat. Very entertaining and informative!

Dr. Lessing's commentary on Jonah is a wonderful blend of scholarly research presented with a pastor's compassion for the lost. He skillfully shows us how the narrator of Jonah draws the reader into God's heart with the goal the we, like Jonah, will share God's mercy and seek to share the Gospel with a fallen world. But this is no "fluffy" devotional book. Dr. Lessing guides us through intense scholarship and a detailed exposition of the original Hebrew text, with the joyful result that we can see clearer the "Gospel" intentions of the narrator of Jonah. Yes, I know the Gospel is the message of Jesus Christ, hundreds of years after Jonah but, Dr. Lessing shows so clearly how God is calling Jonah to the same compassion for humanity that impelled Christ's sacrifice at the cross that the reader sees the same Divine hand working salvation throughout both the Old and New Testament.

I highly recommend this commentary for those looking for a scholarly and pastoral look at Jonah coming from a theologian with a high regard for scripture.

This truly is a welcome addition to the growing commentary series published by CPH, this being the first of the Minor Prophets. Easily, as the author relates, Jonah stands out in its dissimilarities with the other prophets, so this is vital contribution.

Lessing sees Jonah as valid, inspired Word of God. He sees it as a clear example of factual, narrative history. This makes it unique among prophetical writings, loaded as it is with irony and satire. Lessing believes this is its strength and usefulness to us if mined with correct exegesis: "the better our understanding is of the artistic workings of Jonah, the better will be our grasp of the historical subjects it depicts."

What does Lessing make of the "great fish?" He provides pertinent commentary of the great fish and the qiqayon plant as Yahweh's grace to bring Jonah and Ninevites to salvation. This usage of God of plants and animals is a theme of OT texts, showing obedience of such and service to God, e.g. Is. 1:3; Numb. 22; Dan.6. Believing that factually this happened, the author provides much for the consideration of this, with a wonderful Excursus on the Sign of Jonah and its relevant typology to Jesus and the NT church.

While some would want only to focus on the Great Fish Story or on Yahweh's soverign power, Lessing rather sees the theology of this Biblical book as: "the greatness of Yahweh's grace ... Throughout the narrative, Yahweh is the God who delivers. ... In summary, although strict justice would demand that the idolatrous sailors, the evil Ninevites, and even the prodigal Jonah should perish, over and over Yahweh's mercy prevails and grants new life. "Salvation belongs to Yahweh." Indeed, 'Mercy and forgiveness belong to the Lord our God (Dan 9:9), and not to Jonah or anyone else to dispense or to withhold according to their whim and will."

Thoroughly engaged in the philogy and other related fields, this is a most engaging, energized expose of this vital Biblical book. For most it will provide significant new exposure to this book's historical usage and understanding of the text, e.g. the Midrash Jonah explaining the switch of masculine and feminine terms for the fish in 2:1 is new and fascinating.

Well done! A blessing to read and use for the life of the church!

William Reed has tried to define and teach the meaning of KI so that we in the west can learn. The first part of the text helps us undersatnd KI, develop KI and pratcie KI. There are a series of excericses and a section on KI meditation. The second part of the text goes into KI development in the Japanese Arts (Shodo, Aikido, Kiatsu, Go, Noh and the Tea Ceremony). And the third part, Ki in our ever changing world. A must have book.

Like William Reed, I spent over 10 years in the Orient learning martials arts from men who had dedicated their life to the practice. This book ranks among the best written concerning ki. The ideas put forth are universal, and can be assimilated by a broad minded and discerning person. Enjoy this book, I certainly did and continue to do so everytime I pick up my copy.

Book in excellent condition, shipped on time. Would recommend to anyone!

You will never want to go to a nursing clinical withouth this book! I found the material to be easily understood and found exactly what I was looking for with it's excellent glossery and index. It is similiar to having a palm pilot in my hands! I was able to impress my instructors and my colleagues with information on diagnosis and labs. What an amazing book!

So far this is the only VRML book I have found that is written at a level which is useful to serious graphics programmers. If you've programmed graphics applications using some other API and would like to learn VRML, I would strongly suggest buying this book. The topics range from the incredibly simple (here's what VRML is) to topics like subdivision curves and procedural modeling (they have some neat Lindenmayer / fractal plant demos). I actually lost my copy, and am somewhat upset that the book is now out of print.

This was the best book to get me started writing VRML and Java. If you know Java and want to integrate it with VRML, then this is the book for you.

My grandmother read this book over, and over, and over again to me when I was a small child. I now read it to my children and enjoy it just as much. It is a fun wonderful book to be cherished.

Many many many books have tried to tell a story using only a very few words, so that children could easily understand them. This technique usually results in books so boring that they ought to be taken out and burned en masse -- except for this one. With a vocab. of not more than 70 or 80 words, this tells a hilarious tale of two bunny brothers trying desperately (and failing) to keep quiet while their papa sleeps. I just love it when Mama says, "Why is this here, and this here, and this here?" Then: "Chip and Pip were very quiet. Chip and Pip made no noise." Find this book and hang on to it.

Reviewed by Danelle Drake for Reader Views (10/08)

With great will Liberty Kovacs lives her own epic tale. Never has life been easy, never has she succumbed to a challenge, never has she shown anything by incredible courage and grit.

We begin the journey in the Dodecanese Islands in the Aegean Sea of Greece where although very beautiful dealt Liberty a life full of challenge. The father was master and all other family members were to know their place. Explaining the culture of Greece gives great insight into Liberty's young lifestyle and shows the reason she chose to follow her own heart and astronomical courage it took for her to do so. Liberty heard many, many times growing up the little ditty, "A man may work from daylight to dusk, but a woman's work is never done." She knew the work she was to do would be of her own choosing.

This simple sign showed her the way out:

YOUNG WOMEN WANTED
TO JOIN THE NURSE CADETS.
AFTER TWO AND A HALF YEARS OF TRAINING
IN A NURSING PROGRAM,
THE GRADUATE WOULD CONTRIBUTE
TWO YEARS OF SERVICE
TO THE ARMY NURSE CORPS.

From there we travel with this extraordinary woman thru love, marriage, child-birth and a path of amazing careers.

Never giving up, a fierce spiritual warrior, conquering any and all obstacles thrown her way, Liberty Kovacs is a great life to read in "Liberty's Quest." Family was always greatly important to Liberty and this woman shows us we can have it all!

Paddle on!

"Liberty's Quest" is the amazing memoir of Liberty Kovacs. Her family roots go back to the Dodecanese Islands in the Aegean Sea of Greece.
The book is divided into three parts. Part I includes her early family life which was centered on the customs and beliefs of the Greek Orthodox Church,

Liberty tells of her paternal and maternal roots, their marriage, her birth, and her siblings. She relates stories of family feuds, memories of school, her love for reading and of the impact of WWII on her family.

Part two covers her marriage and the ensuing years as the wife of Poetry Pulitzer Prize winner, James Wright. She brilliantly describes her multi-faceted education in nursing, Jim's family background, his teaching job in Texas, and of their sojourn in Philadelphia. Jim then enrolled for a year at the University of Vienna. With amazing insight and openness Liberty describes the psychological difficulties of their marriage. While in Vienna their first son Franz was born. (Franz also became the winner of the Poetry Pulitzer Prize).

As a result of a contact with a friend in Vienna Jim enrolled in the graduate program in English at the University of Washington in Seattle. Jim excelled in his studies. Liberty found solace in her work. Jobs in Minneapolis and a new son, Marshall did not eliminate the alienation of a broken relationship doomed from the beginning.

Part III tells of Liberty's from Minnesota to California and of how she created a whole new world for herself and her two sons. In her job in San Francisco she was given advanced training ford medical, public heath and psychiatric nursing. In 1965 Liberty married Miklos M. Kovacs. Liberty gave birth to her third son, Michael Kovacs in 1966. The intervening years tell of more unhappiness and despair.

I found Kovac's attention to detail in the historical and cultural perspectives of her family both interesting and engaging. Her insights into relationships and the psychological needs of the individual are profound. Her writing is strong, open, and well organized.

"Liberty's Quest" is an inspiration, courageous and triumphant in spite of unhappiness and despair. An amazing epic of a person's search for personal freedom.

It's odd that many friends of mine that visit D.C., dont bother seeing this spectacular building. This book does a fine job, through vivid, crisp images and historical text, to impress upon the reader the importance of this famous structure, as a fine architectural set piece and as the nations library. I always love the story of how Jefferson sold his book collection to the library for a ridiculous sum, to settle his always present debts, it was hardly a philanthropic jesture, but then with Jefferson it was always about him anyway, great man in many ways, but deep down a cold narcassist..anyway, getting back to the building, its essentially a copy of the paris opera of Napoleon III's Second Empire, with some changes, but definitly the opera house was the inspiration for this building, Garnier's estate should have demanded royalties it was so close, at any rate, very good book on a most deserving subject, I really cant imagine anyone being disappointed in this book, if they have any interest at all in this building.

As the illustrator of the Jefferson building's overview for the book (pp.276-277), I had the rare privilege of walking through many of the areas of the Jefferson building not open to the public. Entering the Great Hall for the first time, I was caught off guard by its extraordinary beauty. Being a native Washingtonian, I was surprised that such a lavishly decorated structure existed here in Washington, D.C. The overall impression of the interior is more that of the Paris Opera House, than a government building. This beautiful book, with its many photographic details of the interior, allows the reader to recreate that sense of awe that I experienced walking through the entrance. With Anne Day's vivid photos, and the Libary's wonderful history, this book should be a welcome addition to anyone's personal library. Once you see the book, I suspect you may modify your itinerary for your next trip to Washington. This gem of a building is definitely worth a visit.

-Doug Stern