Richardson Books

This book is an easy read and set in the forties. It has a old-folksy theme, a little corny, and predictable as boys-will-be-boys topic. The author could do better.

Don Richardson's attractively printed second book Rails to Light is attentively written for teenagers. The story is a glance backward to the difficult 1930s. It describes riding on freight trains and tells how a fifteen-year-old boy at that time may have felt, thought, and acted when confronted by conflict.
Spenser, the young hero, could be a son of the family Richardson created for his first book Dust in the Wind. After the terrible drought in Kansas, in the author's interesting second book, the Williams family faces the hard times of the Depression. It is darkest reality through which the boy begins to reason. This time, in Rails to Light, it is not rabbits which are killed but the innocence of a teenager.
Spenser is running away from the repulsive hands of Father Mulcahey, and he is also looking for a job because his father has lost his. Spenser will be a tramp-not a hobo or worse, a bum-the difference is well explained. Spenser leaves the apparently clean community in which he served as an altar boy kneeling between white-garmented priests and listening to sermons about chastity to find himself sitting among stinking people "in the jungle," eating "slumgulion" cooked by Old Dan, a black man whose decency, despite his unwashed body, is a light in the boy's new world.
Spenser learns that there is not one "sir" resting around the campfires; all men are equally waiting for the next train. He copes with death when his friend Hank misses "catching out" and falls under the train. He experiences the rejection of organized religion when his dusty tramp clothes offend an usher at the church door. The adventure Spenser has read about and hoped for-riding the rails toward romance-changes to a risky undertaking. Yes, there is beauty, too, looking at sunsets and listening the "click of the wheels on the rails" but, he ponders, would a college degree not give more confidence? The terrible loneliness on the road allows him to observe others and reflect that to share with each other-to "lighten each other's load"--must be a way of combating loneliness.
After of months of searching for jobs and food, weary from jumping on and off trains, Spenser has suppressed his thoughts about Father Mulcahey. But one day, sitting inside a boxcar and forced to watch the business of "makin' love" for money, he revisits his disgust about the situation in the rectory. In an ill-lighted boxcar, among bums and tramps, he has his epiphany: not that he behaves sinfully when he enjoys changes in his aroused body, but that somebody made him feel guilty. Suddenly there is Light inside him, and he knows that he must do something to keep it there.
Don Richardson combines fiction with the truth behind many contemporary photographs in his excellently researched story. The authentic photos give his book a place beside historical novels. The story is suitable to be read to younger teenagers, or in youth groups to initiate discussions. The author writes for our teenagers with clear and carefully chosen sentences and tastefully chosen words.
Rails to Light is a call to all the Grants, Rubens, Annes, and Dougs, and a reminder to all readers to appreciate the help they receive from government, parents, and friends. One hopes that they will find strength in their own character when their moment arrives and they realize that life is not a romantic train ride but a challenging enterprise.

Ursula Maria Wolf, Phoenix

The History of Sir Charles Grandison is a sweet, old-fashioned romance and "classic hero" story. This version shows emphasises Lady G and banter, and makes Grandison less anguished.

I am assuming anyone who reads this is somewhat familiar with the original. It is a fun, easy read, but to a grad student researching Richardson, I would recommend reading all of the editions.

Harriet Byron has been one of my favorite literary characters since I read The History of Charles Grandison in college. I enjoy reading these books because the reader is provided insights into human nature that are simply lost on today's readers due to movie going and televison. This is a good version, it is much shorter and it is an easy read. I think more people should become familiar with classic literature.

In today's culture it seems in vogue to disregard tradtional staples and ideas and pursue modern thought, which isn't about modern thought at all. It is all a recycling of ideas, isn't it. Yet people feel locked into to modernity, and no one wants to go to our past and see our building blocks, so to speak.

Sir Charles Grandison is one of those building blocks, IMHO. I don't know that it ever could become a movie or broadway musical, and I know that those are important cultural elements, but the story is important. It is about decency and kindess and taking care of situations in the past without rushing foward into commitments like getting married to someone who expects you to have no past.

A college education is a really valuable tool in today's world, and I think everyone should get one and read the original versions of classic books. Some people simply do not have the opportunity or drive to attend college or university, and they don't have the time or money to pursue a love of classic literature. At that point, I think people should start investing in shorter versions that stay true to the meanings of the classics, and this book is appropriate for the person interested in classic literature but who is indeed too lazy or too uneducated or too without-opportunity to go ahead and read a full version.

Some people suffer from eye-strain, and that is another reason why they might prefer a shorter version of a classic book, but again, I urge people to read classics. You don't know what will speak to you. You don't know what will make you want to change your lifestyle and become a better person.

In a world dominated by psychiatry and hocus-pocus fixer-up ideas, reading books has lost it's thrill. Charles Grandison is a God-fearing man, and one aspect of this story that is never mentioned is that he chooses to STAY with his church and not change over to someone merely for love. I hope I am not ruining the story for anyone. I just think that true love doesn't ask you to become Catholic.

Another part of this story line is respect. Harriet respects her uncle and her grandmother, something that is lacking in today's world, altough prayer in school might make a difference. My kids were respectful until day one of public school, and then it was like I didn't know them. Why? Because they are introduced to books like Harry Potter, not the classics!

I don't know if someone looking for easy humor or bad language would read this book. It takes Thought with a CAPITAL T. I wish girls would read books like this in school, they are more thought provoking than Caddie Woodlawn and books that bore kids, but then they read Lord of the Flies It's all about blood and subconsious sexual acts.

One book I enjoyed, and believed in, was the Scarlet Letter, and I think that people who understood and appreciated that book will understnad this book, even though the lessons are lighter and the storyline doesn't show consquences realistically.

I tried to avoid reading Pamela, but after reading Joseph Andrews & Tom Jones by Henry Fielding (not to mention slowly through most of Tristram Shandy) I felt compelled to read Pamela. It truly was a sensation in its day, and reading this edition- with the original text restored- it's easy to see why. Like other 18th century classics, it's far more ribald then many later english novels and the tense sexual politics ultimately outweighs the at-times tedious verbiage.

I normally love all of the classics and have read dozens, but I just could not finish this book. I started reading it because Henry Fielding (a great author, one of the most entertaining books I've ever read is his "Tom Jones") wrote a parody of it called "Shamela" so I thought I should read the original before I read the parody; before I was 50 pages in I understood why Fielding wrote his book. The heroine is completely unbelievable and almost nauseatingly saintly, the "villian" has an unrealistic turnaround, and there is absolutely no plot to speak of. 70 pages can go by without a single interesting event happening. As Samuel Johnson said "If you were to read Richardson for the story your impatience would be so much fretted you would hang yourself."

Samuel Johnson considered the plot of this book to be dreadful; rather, he thought one should read it for the sentiment. Unfortunately, that sentiment does not and should not play well in the 21th century. What's more interesting is that it didn't necessarily play well in the 18th century, either. Both Henry Fielding (SHAMELA--brilliant) and Eliza Heywood(ANTI-PAMELA) took it to task. The publication of this novel divided literary society into two camps--the Pamelists and the Anti-Pamelists.

Why all the fuss and feathers? It's a fairly straight-forward story wherein a young servant girl of great virtue overcomes the lascivious and debauched designs of her employer to tame his passions and to convert him to virtue and marriage. At that point, Society, as represented by his sister, shows its violent disapproval of Pamela's sinning above her station. However, Pamela's virtue and her Christian faith overcome even this object and she and her husband go on to live happily ever after.

As a plot, it's simple, but melodramatic; frankly, the Victorians would blush. Furthermore, the characters are never fully rounded, but too often stick-figure representations of specific virtues and/or vices. For about the first 160 pages, one has a pretty good description of the power relationship between master and servant, but after that, to the modern reader, it turns into a sado-masochistic relationship wherein Pamela comes to identify with her abuser--and Mr. B does abuse her, even by the standards of the 18th century. Also, there's the technical execution--even by the standards of the 18th century, the narrative becomes repetitive and self-circling in a fashion one does not see in Fielding or Heywood or even Defoe. All-in-all, one reads this really only to understand what Fielding and Heywood are rightly mocking.

If you enjoy epistolary books this is quite enjoyable with less maddening characters than in Clarissa. I would suggest reading this prior to Clarissa.

As always, Richardson brings out the worst in people and makes each fault larger than life. Do not use this as a what I want to be when I grow up primer.

I am generally a huge fan of 18th century Literature (even if I have not had any formal education in it), but I couldn't STAND this book! Pamela herself is a complete Mary Sue, to use the fanfiction term- she is a picture of perfection in every way, and is so insistent about how good and chaste she is that some times I just wanted to smack her! Her would-be seducer, on the other hand, is so inconsistent in his behavior that I sometimes wondered if he was the same person. Here is a man who will go to ridiculous lengths to get what he wants (He even gets his housekeeper to hold Pamela down so he can forcibly rape her!) and then drones on and on about how she is the best, most beautiful, most virtuous of women, etc. You would think that after their marriage he would be reformed, but he soon starts making silly arbitrary rules that his new wife must follow, as if apparently her only purpose was to please him- and she begs for even more of these "wise injunctions"! Some of the other characters display the same illogicality: the neighboring gentry in Lincolnshire do nothing to help her when they know she is being held against her will, and then turn around and give more of the same speeches on Pamela's perfection as if nothing had happened! The fact that Pamela is "rewarded" with marriage to the same man who spent so much of his time trying to ruin her, and that she goes on as if he were the most honorable man in the world is alone cause for complaint. I think my only consolation for having wasted so much of my free time on reading this will be being able to understand Shamela and Anti-Pamela.

Awesome!!! Too many career books for people starting out are out of touch or patronizing, but JobSmarts tells it exactly like it is. I used it to help me get a job during my senior year, and now that I'm working I still rely on it to get me through things at work. Get it.

As a recent college graduate with a degree in communications I felt confident that I would find a job immediately upon graduation. Unfortunately with today's economy I was told again and again by companies that they were on a temporary hiring freeze but would "keep me in mind". A friend of mine recommended this book to me. Upon reading it I was inspired to keep trying and to work hard to make myself stand out among the other applicants so my resume didn't fall through the cracks. I think this book is a great resource for any recent graduate entering the job market.

This book has helped me quite a bit. It reinforced conventional career wisdom like "treat everyone well" and "accept any position to get in the door." The book also gave me new ideas. I began reading more than the local newspaper because of Bradley and this has made me a much more educated worker. He recommends reading the Wall Street Journal and USA Today everyday. He also gives lots of credit to those who came before him and I really like his reading list at the back of the book. I read many of those books which also turned out to be terrific for me and my career. Scratch that - it has been terrific for my entire life! Get this book now. It is well worth the price.

Bradley Richardson is the career guru of a generation. This book is the most helpful guide to careers ever written. It should be a required text for every college student. I can't even express how this book helped to give me direction during one of the most confusing and overwhelming times in life. I have actually been upset that it is not found on every "bestsellers" list of career books.

If I could give this book zero stars, I would (but the Amazon system goes from 1-5 stars). The book is written with a smug "I-know-it-all" attitude that doesn't convey anything to the reader other than that the author thinks very highly of himself. There is little if anything in the way of practical information I was able to use. Most of it consisted of "this-is-how-I-got-a-job-and-you-can-too!" Very petty and poor writing style. I bought the book and wished I handn't--I won't even waste space on my bookshelf for this one, lest I later forget the awful content and waste any more time reading it. Save your money.

Not the best work on JKD. Padded with pictures this book does convey the essence of JKD Concepts but I was looking for more of a techniques oriented text. Try Entering to Trapping to Grappling by Hartsell if you're like me and want to see some techniques you can add to your repetoire.

Usually Richardson is a bit more eloquent in his monthly writings in IKF but this is one of the worst books on "Concepts" ever conceived.

The text is rather pointless and shallow while most of the book is pictures of techniques that IMHO only work on a still training partner.

Save your money. I bought this used and feel cheated.

The first half of this book does a pretty good job of scientifically breaking down martial arts and training. The book starts off showing different symbolic jestures in the martial arts, such as bowing, and then explains the meaning of Bruce Lee's JKD symbol, then Richardson's JKDU symbol. Whoopie. Next is a list of the tennets of JKDU's philosophy, as well as it's fighting philosophy/tactics. Interesting that the two should be separate. There's actually some good stuff here, though. Next, the five ways of attack are explained, as well as the three ways of defense; all very scientific, and all are included in any good JKD book elsewhere. Mr. Richardson then gives his seven ranges of combat. There are four empty-hand ranges and three weapons ranges. I've grown out of the whole range concept thanks to "Mastering Jiu-Jitsu" by Renzo Gracie, and I'd recomend that book to any martial artist. Six different postures are then classified; this does little more than make you aware that your body can be in at least six different possitions. Then there's three pages on how there are billions of techniques, and a good bit about techniques as words, and how you learn to write your own sentences. Different methods of training are classified next, including a section on spiritual training. Once again, this is more or less to classify what you are doing. Then, from pages 56-137, there is nothing but crap. Not really crap, just a bunch of techniques to show you how much the author knows, really. There wasn't much here that was related back to JKD principles. If you don't know a lot of techniques, then this section might interest you. Overall, though, I didn't see anything really new on the JKD front, and it seemed like the author just wrote this book to promote himself and his "style", not to help others grow in the martial arts. Nothing at all like the other JKD books out there. It's a shame, because I do like Mr. Richardson's articles in IKF, and I hear that he's a good instructor. Shame none of that showed in this text.

In my opinion no one can express what jeet kune do is really about except the master Bruce Lee himself since he never really got into the hardcore aspects of it before his tragic death. All these people who think they know Jeet Kune Do have no idea that what they do know could be no more then the 2nd class of it. The real tragic part is no one alive knows the full art of Jeet Kune Do since his son passed away. He hadnt taught anyone long enough for anyone alive to know all of Jeet Kune Do.

This book was not designed to be a manual for self defense. It was written to show how martial artist can apply the principals and philosophy of Jeet Kune Do to their art and this book accomplishes this feat perfectly. This book will help martial artists of any style and will hopefully teach them to forget about the limitaions of conforming to one specific style and will encourage them to intergrate all they can into their training to make themselves well rounded fighters who have an answer to every combat situation.

this product should be delisted.

god doesn't spam. he sends armies.

This title is currently being extensively SPAM-advertised, with particular reference to its availability on Amazon.

My view is that if the author/publisher needs to resort to SPAM to drum up interest then that fact in itself speaks volumes for the work. On that basis alone I wouldn't touch it with a pole.

I was amazed that such a thoroughly researched book could be so easy to read. I couldn't put it down. Mr. Richardson reveals the very essence of the primitive Christian faith and shows how it is even more relevant today. He explains why the Hebrew Roots movement is important and how it relates to the restoration of the Davidic kingdom and the coming of Messiah. He also shows how Jewish tradition is the foundation of many of our Christian beliefs and customs. This book not only gives a clear picture of the past, but also shows how rediscovering the roots of our faith is the first step in finding true salvation.

The author states that the book's purpose is to explain the 'phenomenon' of Christians from every denomination being drawn to seek out their religion's origins, stripped of the dressings of modern Christian doctrines. And that is what it proceeds to do.

The book gives wonderfully thought out historical-context useful to both Christians seeking a more Hebraic understanding, and other people trying to understand what's going on, or have an interest in Christianity's Hebraic origins. Rick explains why the phenomenon is happening and backs his beliefs with solid scripture and history, not in an effort to preach, but to share with people what he believes is happening.

Even the more controversial topics (and believe me, they are) are solidly covered and shown in a historical light you may not have known was even possible.

I give this book a five for covering exactly what it claims to in a concise and thorough way.

I was very pleased with the book Origins of Our Faith by Rick Richardson. The book is easy to read, simple to check against Scripture and provides profound insight free of a personal agenda that is not always found in current publications. Origins of Our Faith offers a unique opportunity to explore the very basics of faith. The book is certainly worth the time. Sal

This book provides the average investor with a solid foundation in their pursuit of successful biotech investing.

Most investors invest in biotech stocks based on media exposure and momentum driven markets. There is a glaring lack of any sort of structure to their research or position management. Dr. Duarte's book lays the groundwork for investors to establish a workable system of identifying and managing promising investments. By incorporating risk management techniques (technical analysis), he has provided a dose of reality to balance the inherent optimism the motivates biotech investors. This is crucial as it prevents the blow ups that destroy portfolios as well as investor confidence.

Since I'm not interested in being a PhD this seems like the perfect book for me and more than likely for the average investor. The thing I really like about this book is that it helps me know how to make money from the coming biotech explosion.

I don't care how this stuff works nearly as much as how to build my net worth by investing. On that point, this is THE book. It has just about everything-understandable explanation of the industry, how to tell which companies are likely to be leaders, and even a reference database.

If I had a book this good at the beginning of the 'high tech' explosion I could have retired already. I would have understood enough about Oracle, Cisco, and all that lot to make even more money. I don't intend to be on the back half of the next wave. I give this book five stars. Thanks a million, $$$, to the author.

This book is not just about biotech investing. Duarte, a technical analyst as well as a physician uses biotechs as a model for approaching the market. The book has all the shortcomings other reviewers warn you of: it's painfully redundant, incomplete and simplistic. But it does offer a consistent approach to stock investing IF you supplement it with other material. It also lists some neat web sites.

The book looks great, but it is definitely not worth reading. If you are into technical analysis, you may derive some use from the text. However, I don't see why you need a book devoted to biotech for investing on this basis.

There's a weak chapter on the science (high school level at a stretch); a discussion on investment basics which misses the mark. The markets chapter is fine, but the review of major drug companies is weak. I just found the analysis of the biotech industry to be too weak. There's simply too little analysis and too much opinion.

I have no idea why there's a discussion on mutual funds. Unless the particular vehicle is a sector fund, the manager won't start investing in biotech until the price has appreciated. By then, it's too late.

The MD and CNBC credentials lead me to believe that this book would provide some dynamic insight or a systematic way for cutting through they hype. Sadly, it did neither.

Don't waste your money, very basic and not very informative. Very generic!

I really enjoyed how this book picked up right after the other one left off. I liked it just as much as the first one. There were a few events that were hard to believe, but it was a nice, cozy visit with our 'old friends' from the first book. All the old characters are there, with one or two new ones. It surprised me with a few plot twists as well. And I found two more books to read from their book recommendations!

You couldn't say this book had much of a plot. It's more like a collection of anecdotes. Some were entertaining, some not. I liked the letters from former guests at the B&B. I didn't care much for the sex or the occasional slapstick. I haven't read the first book in the series, so I can't compare. For the owners of a business, the two brothers didn't seem to do much work.

I have stayed at only one B&B, and my husband and I were the only guests at the time. It was a lovely place. The owner sat down and ate breakfast with us and told us about many of the interesting guests she and her husband had housed. They didn't seem to have much life outside the business, which seemed understandable. The bachelor brothers seemed to have too much life outside the B&B.

As a sequel to the first book, The Bachelor Brothers Bed & Breakfast, the Pillow Book provides more stories from our beloved brothers Hector & Virgil. One of the lines from the novel sums up my love & appreciation for the writing: "..They wanted to create a place where people who are oppressed by the notion that there are too many books and too little time to read them might carve out a retreat;where gentle souls who carry the burden of knowing that the world is too much with them can set aside a week or ten days to whittle down their list of 'books to which I must one day get around'"-As a lover of books, this idea sounds like the perfect escapism. That is what Bill Richardson accomplishes in his writing-escapism with the various characters we meet at the Bachelor Brothers Bed & Breakfast, and another peek into the family unit of Hector & Virgil. The book is speckaled with funny little anecdotes throughout. While not quite as good as the first novel, it's still a charmer.

After enjoying the first Bachelor Brothers Bed & Breakfast book, I decided to check out the sequel. In particular, what I had most liked about the original novel was its focus on books and reading, so I was disappointed to discover the that sequel does not have the same emphasis: occasional reading lists are included, but they are interpersed with recipes and a much more eccletic collection of anecdotes. Whereas the first book was genuinely funny and quirky, it seems that in this follow-up work, the author tried TOO hard to be both humorous and unusual, and for the most part, his efforts fall flat. Much of the book centers around a character who was only briefly mentioned in the original story, the eccentric local poet Solomon Solomon; the little that is of interest about the character is stretched way too thin here. The only real bright spot in this book is that towards the end, there are some interesting revalations which provide a bit more information about Hector and Virgil's ancestry. Whether it's worth it to read 172 pages of a mediocre novel for less than 20 pages of slightly more entertaining level is up to you, but I definitely wouldn't recommend this sequel to anyone who hadn't read the first book.

Much of the joy of the first book was that the stories were told with such a light touch and in such different voices that you could almost believe they were true. Virgil and Hector, while iconic, could almost be real, and I loved them for it.

In this second book, the humour is broader but I ceased to believe. The first book has characters, the second caricatures. The difference is disheartening. I laughed, but didn't love.

This book feels a gap between high level tutorials that do not get into any kind of technical details and the actual specification documents that can be overwhelming at first sight.

The first part of the book is an overview of video coding and provide a technical description of important tool used in video coding such as DCT transform, motion estimation, motion compensation etc.

The second part of the book focus on the specifics of MPEG-4 and H.264.
More focus on the H.264 part would have been welcome.

I got this book since it is the only book on H.264 I know of.
There is a single chapter on H.264, chapter 6. The free
on-line papers from Richardson are mostly what is in that chapter.

There are plenty of H.264 overviews on the net for free
which cover the subject in greater depth which are more current.

I almost didn't get this book because some of the other reviews are pretty bad. I'm glad I got it!

This isn't a standard. So you won't find every table that's part of h.264, but you'll find enough that the standard will be accessible after you read this book. And given that the goal is conversational instead of documentary, Richardson has done a terrific job of simultaneously describing a host of relatively difficult concepts, explaining how they fit together, and explaining their places in the MPEG4 and H.264 standards.

This is probably not a first book on video compression; for that, you might try Digital Video Compression (with CD-ROM). If you get that other book, though, only read the first half. (The second half is absurdly dated and not very helpful.) I think it's reasonable to read the first half of that book, then this one, and then jump right into the standard itself (for whatever purposes you want to do that).

The book does not go deep into the H.264 standard.
It seems that it was supposed to be a review of MPEG-4, with H.264 added as an afterthought.
I expected the level of the Mitchell / Pennebaker classic book on MPEG, but was disappointed.

I like the book on overview of H.264 (because it is no worse than most of overview papers, even those in IEEE by H.264 chairs).

It's obvious that the reader with "nothing new here" comment did not read the book, it doesent stress chit chat at all, read this book, apply it, and become respected in the art of selling, not in the art of telling.

If you're a commissioned sales rep calling outbound biz to biz, this book is NOT for you. Nothing new or original here. I suggest you read books by Art Sobczak, Bly or one of the best books ever written on the subject. Telesales Tips From The Trenches by Joe Catal

I first read this book when I entered the tele-sales field in 1995 and consider myself quite fortunate for it. Not only does the book address telephone sales, but it is really geared towards consultative sales. The treatment of sales content and phone techniques is very rudimentary, so it is definitely a lot more appropriate for entry level sales reps. I am sure this book contributed to my own success and I that is why I am recommending it be used as a training guide now that I am in sales management.

There is no better tool for a sales coach than the Richardson series. I am not fond of Guru books in general, but I have used Richardson's books to coach sales teams, and gotten results. Salespeople at every level fail to integrate skills like checking into their presentations, but most think they do. Too much "telling" happens during presentations, e.g. most salespeople see an interruption by a client as rudeness rather than an opportunity, and respond accordingly. Richardson's tools help coaches manage even the most seasoned sales pros to their potentials. If you are looking for motivation, this series is not the ticket; the success stories focus on the sales process, not results. However, I have seen salespeople become better personal communicators after attending Richardson's seminars, while achieving better sales results; I do not think this was just a coincidence.

For anyone selling high ticket items business to business, this book will get you get killed. It's obvious she must sell to consumers. You start out a call with the "how ya doing" routine, and you'll be classified as the typical bimbo headed telemarketer. Top executives don't waste time on chit chat nonsense. when I finished reading this book, I threw it away.