Sachs Books

I read this book some 25 years ago. I loved it so much that I loaned it to a friend, who never returned it. I am going to purchased it today for my niece, who is almost 10, because I just can't hold out any longer. I wish to share with her the story that made me cry, made me laugh and helped made me fall in love with reading. To say that I recommend this book is a great understatement.

I read this book as a young teen and loved it so much that I never forgot the name. Now I have teen daughters and I have been looking for it to get for them. It is a great book, you will want to read it more then once!

This is a wonderful book! I read Class Pictures when I was a teenager and kept the book because I thought it was so good. It is a book I have reread a few times and I still find myself loving it. And the older I get the more understandable their relationship is. This is a great tale about best friends and how although they have grown and changed their friendship remains intact. This is definately a book for girls and I believe most girls will be able to relate to this novel.

I got this book in 7th grade, and read it so many times that it just about fell apart. It's still sitting on my bookshelf, with some of the pages just barely hanging on.

This is a story about friendship and growing up. Any young girl who has had a best friend can relate to this story. I shared this book with my junior-high best friend and she also loved it. I highly recommend this book to any pre-teen or teenage girls.

I read this book for a class report and it was awesome. I highly recommend it.

My daughter, too is enthralled by Geraldine McCaughrean's retelling of Greek myths. Her selections are the same stories I was told at a similar age and which I think whetted my taste for narrative and helped turn me into a lifelong reader. McCaughrean manages to get across the failings of her human and divine characters in a way that a child can understand, so the stories have wit and moral resonance in addition to plot. This book has us racing through the bedtime routine so we can read the next story together; I don't know of a better endorsement than that!

A great introduction to Greek Mythology for adults and 4+ yearolds that flows nicely from one story to the other incorporatingrecurring characters. Well arranged but stories are kept succinct without oversimplification. Cheerful illustrations avoid the gore from cutting heads off multitudinous mythical creatures. A worthwhile book for any complete children's library!

I read this book to my 4 year-old daughter when she became interested in Greek mythology, and it quickly became her favorite. The stories are lively and interesting, the pictures colorful and engaging, and each one is just long enough to engage without becoming boring.

I bought this book for my 5 year old daughter and we have read it all in just two sittings. She is begging for me to read it again tomorrow! That's an endorsement if I ever heard one. It's lots of fun to read too because each story is only a couple of pages long and the illustrations are very nice.

Ancient Greece is part of our 6th grade Social Studies curriculum. My students looked forward to hearing a myth a day and were disappointed when I finished the book.

This book is great for short, easy-to-understand, fun, read alouds.

This book is about a little boy who finds a box full of old toy dinosaurs in the attic. He carefully fixes and cleans them, puts them in a bucket, and then carries them with him wherever he goes. He knows all of their names, and he is the only one who knows that they have their own personalities. When he leaves them on a train one day, his nan tries to replace them with a video, but that won't do. He and his mother eventually find them in the lost property office at the train station, and he gets them back when he names them all.

My son just got this book as a present for his 4th birthday. He absolutely loves it and asks me to read it every day. He relates to Harry better than any other character he's read about so far, because he carries around a bucketful of cars with him wherever he goes. After we read the part where Harry's dinosaurs tell him he is definitely their Harry, he told me, "Mommy, my cars tell me the same thing." Harry is a character any little one who loves a toy can relate to.

I bought this for my 2 year old and he loves the book! We enjoy sitting down and reading all about Harry and his dinosaurs. We even have our own bucket of plastic dinosaurs that my son now carries around - just like Harry.

We checked this book at from the library awhile ago and read it about one million times before we had to return it! My 3 1/2 year old son loves Harry! We have read all the books and we just discovered the new TV series based on the books.

They o a great job of introducing dinosaurs to small kids in a friendly, non-threatening way, I hope they keep coming!

i love this book.... the author has done a super job of introducing dinosaurs and indirectly teaches children the role of libraries and the importance of books..... furthermore it can help children foster the feeling of appreciation of what they have....

My son (just turned 2) refused to leave school without this book. We've had it now for a week and I've read it to him now approx 1.8 billion times, and I now have to return the book, so I'm getting his own copy. I don't know if this is a boy thing or just a kid thing, but he is absolutly fascinated by dinosaurs now and can even point out where tyrannosaurus is or stegmalopohopanopalisaurus (he actually knows the names better than I do). The book itself is not any kind of dino expert book, its just a very simple sweet storry about a boy and his toy dinos, but somehow it really struck a chord with my son.

I keep this book as a reference in my personal library. The invoice formulas are very helpful.
I walked into the Mercedes-Benz dealership knowing the maximum amount I was going to spend for a C230 Kompressor in July 2000, that's empowerment.
I want to sell this car and get a 2003, E320 or E500. I checked the Kelly's Blue Book and my car's valuation is $1800 higher (before taxes) than what I paid for it 2 years ago! I expect to just about break even when I sell my current car in August.
A negative note: The author is very repetative and (in every chapter) he constantly reminds you that all car salesmen are the lowest form of theives. I can put up with that, though, because the book worked for me. It's better than walking into a showroom naïve and unprepared.

This book was excellent. I saved several thousand dollars on my purchase of a new car, and had much insight and saved money when I purchased a used car. The Dealer used all of the tactics he mentioned, and instead of dreading going to the dealership, I felt empowered and confident.

This book was excellent. It was very easy to read in a short amount of time. I was able to save over $2000 on the price of the car I purchased, and have saved thousands for friends who bought cars after me. There are many books that have good information about auto sales tactics... but this book is the best... and all for only $4.79! Buy the book... save some money, it's that easy.

The advice given in this book helped me save thousands on my new car purchase. Dr. Sachs gives readers the inside information to sucessfully navigate the dangerous and stressfull world of car buying. For the first time, I don't feel like I was ripped off by a dealer. Don't buy a car without reading this book.

I purchased a car where the saleman made $4 on the car. I used this same strategy to purchase a used car. About a month after I brought the car, it was totaled. I received about $300 more from the insurance company than I paid for the car! This book is excellent. This is probably the 5th or 6th time I've purchased this book. Everytime I hear someone is buying a car, I have to lend it to them (although I'm obviously not good at following up to get my book back). However, I don't regret one dime I've spent on this book. I'm about to buy it again because I'm getting ready to purchase another car and want to refresh! Take my advice -- DON'T BUY A CAR WITHOUT THIS BOOK.

I read my copy until the cover tore off. Lots of fun summer adventures!!! Very realistic even though it's a bit dated (it takes place in the 1940's)- bunk bully, homesickness, friendships, trials and tribulations of a first time camper. I highly recommend it.

THis book is different from the other two books in the series in that it takes place in the country at a camp instead of the Bronx. Sisters Amy and Laura, following a terrible accident and a family emergency, wind up at summer camp (for like, ALL SUMMER! 8 weeks! WHOOA! Good Lord: what a nightmare!) I had a sad camping experience as a kid and like Laura, i was a quiet bookworm who was close to my folks and hated summer camp. It freaked me out to think of being sent to camp for that long since i could not even handle 1 week when i went! I read this book at age 11 when my social life spun out of control. I became very insecure about a lot of things and could relate to Laura. However, i think Laura was, well, sort of a crybaby. I didn't like the way she was always down on herself (then again, i guess i did the same thing to myself at that age) and i didn't like the way she complained about her braces; I mean, she should be thankful for what she's got. Braces are expensive and I wanted them bad at her age and was happy to get them; they are worth the money and pain. Also, my dad says when he was a kid in the 1940's they didn't normally put braces on kids. I think Laura should have considered herself lucky that she was on the way to having straight pretty teeth and not gripe about it, but I guess braces in the 40's were retched-looking compared to now so I don't know. There are a few parts in this book that irritated me. I thought that Laura and her other bunkmates let that chick Betty (an annoying character) push them around too much. I would'nt have. But it shows you how peer pressure works among kids, and all in all it's a neat book and I really would'nt change a thing about it, and in the end the author ties up all the loose ends and Laura is a more confident young lady who made a true friend, Anne, and some other friends. Interesting thing to note: the Apple Paperback copies of these books have no illustrations but when I was in grade school the school library carried hardback copies of the three Amy and Laura books and they were illustrated!

My mom got me this book a few years ago, and no matter how many times I read it, I still love it!! Its about the sisters Laura and Amy and their first year at a summer camp. At first Laura hates it, but as soon as she makes a new friend, Anna, things start looking up! There are a few suprises in store for the reader, but I'm not gonna tell, read this book for yourself and find out!

The trilogy of Amy and Laura books were my absolute favorite when I was a kid. I read and reread them until my copies were destroyed and falling apart. Whenever I want to revisit my childhood and escape into a simpler and better time, I pull out my copies I have bought as an adult and read them again. I can not explain why these books created such an impression but you just have to read them to know. I recommend all mothers of pre-teen girls to go out and buy these wonderful books that are back in print.

Give me a beach chair, blue sky, calm rushing waves and - most importantly - the exact book fair gray Apple paperback bearing "Laura's Luck" and an illustration of girls around a campfire except for two just talking (one Laura, no doubt)-and I am TOTALLY free. This book was my absolute "fave" back in elementary school and junior high. Who needs hard books when you've got Marilyn Sachs's story of a girl struggling to like Camp Tiorati, THE camp for city children in the 40s'? While most kids now reading Marilyn Sachs will never hear of this book plainly because of the fact (sadly) it's out-of-print, I LOVED LOVED LOVED this book and unfortunately as soon as I bought it: it would soon be out of print. Don't ask me how: I just had a thing for this book. I would loan it to my friend, who would in turn loan it to someone else. My entire 5B year I worried who could have my book at the moment. I got it back. Since then I promised "I'll never loan you, Laura" (I told you I loved it too much! ) But all in all I still I have that book fair copy. Too good to be true!

To all who are interested in Ayurvedic medicine and who want to find out where true beauty comes from....read this book. It contains very important information as far as health and how it relates to beauty. A masterpiece!!!!

JFE

An amazing, wonderful book, one of the most informative I have ever read on beauty care or ayurveda, it's packed full of information from cover to cover. Very extensive, talks about all the different aspects of health and beauty care. Lots and lots of recipes to make at home and which do work. Never again will I need to throw away good money on useless, expensive face creams that don't do the job and put me at risk for cancer. Only drawback, perhaps, is that some of the recipes have too many ingredients for modest pocketbooks. Otherwise a great buy and a great book, if you don't like creepy, strange-sounding unreliable chemicals in the products you put on your skin or in your hair, this is the book for you. It's better than just a simple make-your-own-cosmetics type of book because the recipes are tailored precisely to YOUR particular skin type.

As an Ayurvedic esthetician, not only was this the perfect text book, but as a wonderful reference book, too. It is well written, easy to read, informative and the cover is especially telling. The woman balancing the three doshas is the perfect picture of what we try to do with our lives. Sandra

I'm new to Ayurveda and ordered this book. It has a lot of good info in it. I didn't try any of the techniques though... as I realized Ayurveda is not really my style. But some good information here.

(4.75 Stars)

It was in chapter 1 on page 3 that I was struck: "The teaching of Buddha lead us to the practice of a truthful life." - I thought that was put so well and it really spoke to me - hey I'm only 3 pages in and I'm this impressed - page 3 sets up some pretty high expectations for the rest of this book - and I was not disappointed.

First - this is an introduction type book. So for the beginner it is great. There are lots of areas covered and lots of issues, practices, schools of thought and miscellaneous things addressed. Like the book itself says - Learn the ancient traditions and apply them to modern life.

For the more advanced practitioner/student this is a wonderful review and different perspective on some of the fundamentals of Buddhism.

I'm a huge fan of introduction type of books to Buddhism - each author has their own perspective on certain things. So you never really read the same thing twice in any of these books.

I did think there would be a little more information on some of the traditions. I would have liked more in-depth explanations on how some events are dealt with - specifically births and funerals. Regarding death and funerals I know how Christians and Jews formally handle them - with a wake or sitting Shiva, but I wanted to know how Buddhist do it too.

This really is a fantastic book, fun and easy to read. I highly recommend it. Also I recommend Buddhism For Dummies either before or after this one - either way you'll get a great vision and introduction to Buddhism.

This book is amazing if you know nothing about Buddhism. Its full of facts and history, but the only thing it was lacking (or maybe it just didn't answer my question) was the actual practice or discipline. It briefly touched on the subject of meditation and how to do it, but thats about it. Otherwise this book is excellent!

This book is perfect. It gives you everything you could ever need to know about Buddhism. It gives you the principles, history, story of the Buddha, and everything you need to practice Buddhism. If you recently became interested in Buddhism, then buy this book. Peace and go to www.lp.org. It's the only way to freedom.

I was given this book as a gift from an individual who is part of my sangha. I was delighted to uncover all the riches and wisdom bestowed within. It covers all grounds except a few more esoteric subjects (which I think readers should get other more advanced/specific books for). This book is great to establish a fundamental foundation of all the basic principles of Buddhism.

This book is extremely easy to read. The structure and flow of the text is in a very proper and orderly way. The first few pages is good enough to capture any audience. I was inspired from the moment I started reading. The book also offers some techniques and practices which are also very helpful. I tried a session of meditation after reading some of the recommendations and it had a great impact on my session. Overall, a must buy if you're hoping to get acqainted or learn more about Buddhism.

This book is a great stepping stone to further more intensive study and research on the various topics discussed in the book. Don't expect it to be the final or only book about Buddhism you should buy. Rather, think of it as a entry way to more comprehensive and precise study.

The reviews state that if you read "one book about parenting, make it this one." High praise, but worth it. Without oversimplifying, or being overly reassuring, the author helps parents understand the conscious and subconscious narratives that they bring to parenthood, and enables them to see their children, and their interactions with their children, in a new light.

The five-stage framework (Uncovering, Acknowledging, Understanding, Forgiving, Changing) is an accessible and thoughtful one, as are the chapters on marriage and divorce, and the ways in which our perceptions of our children are also filtered through our partner's lens.

Highly readable, thought-provoking, realistic, and good-natured, THE GOOD ENOUGH CHILD was a wonderful book on a daunting topic.

How did Dr. Sachs know what goes on inside my head so much of the time while raising my two children? Continuing the thoughtful, good-natured, but telling approach of his first book, THINGS JUST HAVEN'T BEEN THE SAME: MAKING THE TRANSITION FROM MARRIAGE TO PARENTHOOD, the author follows parents along the developmental continuum, and helps us to adjust now that our children have gotten past infancy and toddlerhood.

Taking on the most common, but vexing, parental dilemmas, Dr. Sachs guides the reader along a compassionate but firm childrearing path that, ultimately, asks us to look within ourselves and distinguish between "what we want for our children and what we want from our children."

Eschewing a quickie, instant-gratification approach, readers are encouraged to examine the expectations that the bring both to their children and to themselves, and to bein to make a distinction between the realistic and unrealistic ones.

The exercises at the end of each chapter are quite helpful in making the theoretical more practical, and the stories from his practice are truly inspirational: ordinary individuals taking extraordinary steps in the direction of true acceptance and love.

This is certainly one of the five best parenting books I've ever read (I'd include his first one in the list!), and one that I can imagine re-reading several years down the road, just to get a refresher course.

Get it and read it--you, and your children, will be grateful!

Brad Sachs, Ph.D., is a family psychologist, founder and director of the Father Center and author of numerous articles and books. His website is .... His book is well-written and accessible with a very thorough index and table of contents. However, he does not provide a list of resources or recommended books, which can often be a useful addition to a book like this.

I think the premiere concept in this book--it is completely brilliant and for itself alone is worth the price of admission--is the section on forgiving. In it, the author states, "In a balanced partnership between two people, there will be an ebb and flow between giving and getting that evens out over time and creates a sense of relationship balance." He labels this the "process of constructive entitlement," a normal and healthy expectation in relationships that when you give you get something back. Unfortunately, our search for relationship balance can become destructive when we unconsciously insist our children "redress imbalances that =did not= originate with them and may not even have anything to do with them." The author lists multiple categories of unspoken, unconscious expectations parents frequently have which can prevent us from seeing out child as "good enough." These include the following:

(1) Having a child as a kind of "offering" to our own parents, "as if the child were a gift or repayment on a loan." Love and respect for the grandparents is forced on our child, rather than allowing it to happen naturally. Because this rarely works, it can cause pain to all involved. (2) Having a child to replace someone very close to us who died, including another child of our own or a close family member. Since "no person can every truly replace another," this dumps an enormous burden on the replacement child, often leaving him/her feeling inadequate and unloved for the very one he or she is. (3) Having a child as a way of reliving a wonderful childhood or vicariously experiencing through our child the wonderful childhood we did not have. Unfortunately, giving our child what we had or wished we could have had may not be well received by our child. His/her personality may be very different from ours, and our "meat" may be his/her "poison." (4) Having a child to make up for our past failures. Sadly, in this case, the child is often expected to live up to a far higher standard than the parent ever managed, including in the present, and the talents and desires of the child are ignored or scorned in favor of the parent's agenda. (5) Having a child to heal a failing marriage. Too often the reality of the intense demands of parenting puts the final nail in the coffin of a weak marriage rather than healing it. (6) Having a child to purify or decontaminate ourselves. Whatever part of us we have hated and disowned, including our very human need to be loved and nurtured--which makes us frighteningly vulnerable--we often hate and disown in our child.

Once we figure out what category we fall into (most of us fall into at least one, sometimes more), we are then instructed how to forgive our child for not being the "desirable fantasy child" that we expected to have, and instead accept the "undesirable reality child" who has often "disrupted" the "equilibrium" of our lives. We can then stop forcing our child to live up to agreements he or she never made (agreements to fulfill any or all of the above fantasy expectations).

Throughout the book, the author provides concrete exercises to help the reader implement his suggestions. Some of these include relaxing breathing, visualizing, making tapes to listen to, and thinking or writing about specific concerns. All of these exercises are provided to allow us to become aware of what we are actually thinking and feeling in relation to our children, rather than relating to them in an automatic, unthinking, mutually painful ways.

Dr. Sachs's THE GOOD ENOUGH CHILD: HOW TO HAVE AN IMPERFECT FAMILY AND BE PERFECTLY SATISFIED, was a wonderful book to read. This is not because it excused me from the responsibilities of parenthood, but because it helped me to think carefully about how much responsibility is my own, and how much is my child's.

I found the exercises at the end of each chapter particularly helpful when it came to putting into practice what Dr. Sachs recommended--by the end of the book, I was not only able to see my children in a more positive light, I was able to see myself and my husband in a more positive light, as well.

THE GOOD ENOUGH CHILD doesn't profess to provide a simplistic answer to every childrearing question. What it does do is help parents to trust themselves and their own instincts, to make a distinction between "what they want for their child and what they want from their from child", and to release themselves from the burden of unrealistic expectations for family life.

For these reasons, I found THE GOOD ENOUGH CHILD to be both a fascinating and liberating look at the challenge of contemporary parenting.

Simenon's Chief Inspector Maigret never fails to take me to Paris, to enfold me into the city's daily life and the problems of solving a crime. This is accomplished by an economy of language that somehow includes all the details necessary to create a lucid scene.

This novel begins on a rainy night when Maigret accompanies his doctor friend on an amergency call: a man has been stabbed on a nearby sidewalk. It is no ordinary victim. He is the young son of a wealthy perfume manufacturer. The victim's hobby is secretly taping conversations wherever he goes. It is a pastime that proved fatal--or did it?

Maigret's investigation takes him to cafes and brasseries, from the wealthy to the poor, and piece by piece he solves the crime. Or, perhaps, it should be said that Maigret lets the killer play out and solve the case on his own. In either case it is the journey, not the solution, that ntrigues. There are the sights, and sounds, and smells of Paris. As usual, Maigret chats with his wife, goes to movies, and pauses often to have a beer or wine and to reflect on what he has uncovered to date.

Any lover of crime fiction who has not yet discovered Georges Simenon should do so immediately. Like Arthur Conan Doyle, he is one of the best, not just of crime fiction but of fiction writing in general.

The Maigrets ate on a monthly basis with Dr. Pardon and his wife. Dr. Pardon complained that medical doctors were being changed into clerks because of all of the paperwork required of them. Superintendent Maigret and Dr. Pardon went out to see a young man lying in the street, a victim of stabbing. Maigret had become involved in the case involuntarily.

In reporting the death to the family, Maigret learned that the young man's parents were very rich. The father was a perfume manufacturer. The young man had had few friends. He had an unusual hobby, recording conversations. The tape recorder was recovered.

Maigret called in Janvier. The importance given to the case by the press was surprising to both police officers. A description of the assailant was obtained. Maigret called upon his other two favorites, Lucas and Lapointe, to help with the case.

The young man had identified the places where he had made recordings. The police officers followed in his footsteps. Maigret had known professional criminals well, but he had never been that interested in them. It had all seemed like a game somehow.

On a stakeout four men, presumed art thieves, are arrested. Seemingly the young man doing the recording had stumbled upon a criminal plot. The killer called Maigret. He was a man who had crossed a barrier. It was a matter of diminished responsiblity. The tale is taut, lucid.

When Maigret meets a serial killer, it's a dramatic face to face and, as usually, Maigret can understand why the killer acts in such an horrible way. Maigret don't excuse the killer but can understand. Like said Simenon : "Understand but not judge".

This is one of my very favorite Simenon novels; superbly paced and brilliant characterizations.

This simple and old-fashioned mystery was a pleasant surprise. There was nothing flashy, or garish, or over-the top about it - a straightforward police whodunit. Some readers might find this a trifle boring - we've gotten so used to multiple storylines and side-stories that it's a little hard to switch gears and wind down to something so basic, but it's worth it. Reminds one of simpler times, and harkens back to the days of Agatha Christie (Poirot, though, not Marple).

It's not precisely a solve-it-yourself, but it does give you plenty of food for thought. Even though it's a very short book, the characters are well-written and interesting, giving you even more incentive to at least try to decipher the ending. It's possible, but I think it's more luck than skill if you figure it out. Granted, there are none of the dizzying twists and turns of more 'modern' mysteries, no technology or romance, but it's still very much worth reading for any true mystery fan.

This is one of those rare detective novels with an excellent plot, well-defined characters, great atmosphere, and in a language without a wasted word. Only Ed McBain, among American detective fiction in the police procedural sub-genre, is a rival.

Chief Inspector Maigret is not hard boiled, no tough talking cop, nor is he exceptionally perceptive or brilliant. He just attaches himself to the case and plods relentlessly. Here a tiny, 86-year old widow is murdered, after complaining to the police that her apartment has been very slightly disturbed several times while she was shopping or sitting in the park. No one in authority pays much attention to her until after she is strangled. Why would someone kill such a harmless person? She has no valuable jewelry, no cache of money. Maigret must find the motive and the killer with meager clues.

Perhaps the most impressive element of this and other Simenon novels is the economy of language, albeit in translation from the French. There is plenty of detail but without wasting a word. The Simenon books should be studied by crime writers for the narrative technique alone.

This is a thoughtful well-plotted mystery. The author does a fine job portrayng Maigret, the other detectives, the victim (an elderly lady), her niece and her niece's son. The writing is simple and easy to understand. Simemon does not waste words but he brings the characters to life. The reader will be kept guessing until the end of the book.

Imagine drinking a glass of Calvados. The title is ambiguous. She was a tiny woman insisting upon seeing Chief Inspector Maigret personally. Madame Antoine, aged, having lived in her apartment for a long time, reported that her things had been moved. There is only the key she keeps in her bag. A niece and her son are her only relatives. She is pefectly aware that a young person might consider her mad. The concierge says she is very much like any other old person living by herself. Her clear gray eyes make an impression on Maigret. Then she is murdered, suffocated, and an investigation ensues. The police search and question, after all this is a police procedural. Maigret discovers that the victim had practiced twenty five years of thrift. A character named Le Grand Marcel is brought into the picture.

The fineness of the writing (translated?) transcends the genre. Picking up a Maigret novel is a matter of dealing in a brand name consumer good. One is never disappointed. The storytelling is simple, classical, felicitous. Simenon used masterful economy in his art. The short bursts of information create an almost Raymond Carverish style. One is transported to Paris in the Spring. Time spent in the company of Maigret and his gifted inspectors Lapointe, Lucas, and Janvier is a pleasure.