Scott Books

Several years ago I heard Susan Sutton speak on the pilgrim nature of the Christian life. The teaching, taken from Psalm 84, was a blessing. So, too, was Susan herself. She was totally genuine, without pretense or put-on. In her own quiet way, she radiated the kind of peace that many of us long for. A QUIET CENTER is not a theoretical theological study, it is the fruit of life lived out and challenges walked through. It is also a testimony to the faithfulness of God toward those who faithfully seek Him. Susan doesn't live in monastic seclusion. She has a busy and fruitful life, filled with marriage, family, ministry, and friends. What she shares about finding and building intimacy with God is real, practical, and do-able.

All working mothers should read this. It doesn't take much time but offers time for peaceful thoughts. A must read for the busy mother.

This is a great book and a short read. Perfect for busy women who need "time out." I encourage all working mothers to read it.

Ever feel like your life is just a series of connected, sometimes unrelated moments that leave you drained at the end of the day and wondering what you accomplished?

This easy-to-read inspirational volume is not a book full of oft-quoted truths that are easier said than lived by. It's principles were forged in the dailies of life and shared in simple, heartfelt, and straightforward encouragements that will leave you anxious to buy a copy for everyone you know.

At the end of each chapter there are guidelines for spending time alone with God. Susan acknowledges that we live through seasons in our lives where we are unable to spend as much time with the Lord as we would like. She has learned, and continues to learn the key to getting beyond this is the reality of God's presence in our lives.

A personal note...I had the opportunity to interview Susan for publication, so I obtained a copy of the book and began to read it. I couldn't put it down. And, it was just what I needed personally. I was in tears and had to gather my composure before I could call her to begin discussing the book. I would recommend it to any person, male or female, whose lifestyle is hurried, stressful or filled with anxious moments.

This will make an excellent holiday gift for any woman feeling harried and needing a spiritual uplift!

THE RAGTIME KID is a historical mystery based on actual people and events surrounding Scott Joplin's composition and publication of The Maple Leaf Rag in Sedalia, Missouri in 1899. The story is told through the eyes of Brun Campbell, a young white piano player who hears Scott Joplin's "colored" Ragtime music and becomes obsessed with it and the composer. He leaves his home to study piano with Joplin in Sedalia and becomes involved in a murder case and an interracial struggle for control of the black composer's music.

Until I read this book, I knew little about Joplin or Ragtime music, but I found this book fascinating. Karp has done a wonderful job of bringing to life a time and place that seems very distant to many us now. Karp's Sedalia is a turbulent mixture of blacks and whites with strongly held feelings about the desired relations of the races - former Union and Confederate soldiers, freed slaves, freeborn blacks, abolitionists, and KKK members all live in this small town. And when Scott Joplin, a talented, educated black man, refuses to sell the rights to his music cheaply to a white man, it is like putting a match to a powder keg.

The thing I found so interesting about this book was the amount of historical fact that Karp has used in the story. He has basically created the mystery to suit and explain the fantastic and unprecedented events of 1899. While he did create several fictional characters for the story, Karp populated Sedalia with many of its actual inhabitants and businesses. Those of you who know more about Ragtime than I did may already know that Brun Campbell isn't a fictional character, that he did study with Joplin in 1899, and was a professional musician for much of his life. Me? I was surprised.

While the resolution of the mystery is a little too sensational to ring true, Karp's exploration of the motivations of the different historical characters is a delightful study of conflict and compromise. Frankly, I couldn't put the book down because I wanted to find out how these real-life people from long ago turned out.

Favorite character? Dr. Walter Overstreet. Did I guess it? Mostly. Will I read another? This is the first book of a Ragtime trilogy and the quality of Karp's writing and the ability to draw in the reader makes this a definite yes. I have to know how it ends!

We already knew that Larry Karp was a talented mystery writer, thanks to his previous novels. This latest work shows that he can write historical fiction and make it fascinating. Even though I started the book knowing nothing about ragtime music, by the end I wanted to learn more!

His other strength is his ability to create characters that are so real, and so endearing, that the reader quickly begins to identify with and root for the protagonist(s). This makes the book a real page-turner, because you can't wait to read more about what "your" characters are doing!

If you haven't read anything by Larry Karp yet, you're in for a treat!

I've just re-read Larry Karp's The Ragtime Kid, and just as you shouldn't play ragtime too fast, you shouldn't read Karp's book too fast, either, lest you miss the music of his prose and the nuances of the stories he tells.
In this, his latest book, it's 1899, and young piano player Brun Campbell has run away from his rural home in Oklahoma to Sedalia, Missouri. He's only just heard ragtime for the first time, and hopes to learn this new music from the master himself, Scott Joplin. Arriving in Sedalia, and looking for a room for the night, he stumbles, literally, upon the body of a woman, and picks up two objects that will become vital to the solution of her murder. He finds employment at a music store, and begins studying with Joplin, but when a man he knows is innocent is arrested, Brun is, however unwillingly, drawn into the search for the real murderer.
Though Sedalia is a town filled with music, it is only 30 years since the end of the War Between the States, and racism is very much a part of this story. Joplin insists on being taken seriously as a musician, and receiving royalties on the sheet music which will bear his name as composer, an unprecedented demand for the times. Thus, another plot line develops, as Joplin pursues his ambitions despite some unprincipled and amoral adversaries.
The characters here are a mixture of real, from Joplin and Campbell and other musical figures, and fictional, to some of the townspeople. In skin color, they are black and they are white, and in character they are black and white, as well, but the two categories do not necessarily overlap. Brun himself is a fifteen-year-old, a musical Huck Finn in some ways, coming of age in a world more complex than he ever imagined, and he's learning, at first hand, what black and white are all about. As events unfold, Karp vividly captures the sheer awfulness of racial (and other) bias as it was then.
Just as there are two plot lines, there are two narrative voices here, speaking in a gentle counterpoint. One voice is someone who knows Brun and tells his part of the story, occasionally noting that "Brun once told [him]" about one event or another. The other voice is an omniscient third-person narrator, who recounts Joplin's story, and the ongoing search for the murderer of the woman whose body Brun found. As Brun's music lessons commence, his plot and Joplin's intertwine, connected by some unscrupulous music promoters, and by his own efforts to absolve the innocent man.
All the characters, and some of them are surprising, are vividly realized, and they all speak very much in their own voices. Those voices, moreover, are often eloquent. Early in the book, Joplin tells Brun that ragtime is like "a bright sunny day, just a perfect day, but . . . sooner or later, the lovely day will have to end." Even more moving is a grieving father's lament for the brutal death of his son, which he knows will not be investigated: "[We] was born slaves, and now we been set free, but I don't see the leas' difference. White men kill us on the plantation, they kill us now, an' it's no matter."
From the geography of Sedalia to its weather, the sense of place in the novel is intense. It's a book that takes place in a hot Missouri summer, when the air is "close to drinkable," and we breathe in that heat and humidity as we follow Brun through the city. More characters appear, his life becomes more complicated, and as he puzzles out the solution to the murder, the action leads up to a triple denouement. First there's a violent confrontation with some brutal men, followed by an even more suspenseful encounter which culminates in the unmasking of a murderer. Then, in a shocking turnaround, Brun's own "lovely day" is over, and his life moves in a new direction.
The Ragtime Kid is a scrupulously researched look at a time in America's musical and social past, a fiction that can, as Karp notes in the concluding pages of his book, tell "a truth more striking and wondrous than any historical reality." It's a book written with humor (and not a little irony), with occasional pathos, and always with generosity . Listen to some Joplin while you read it

Larry Karp writes books. He doesn't just write genre fiction; he writes each work as an individual, well-crafted, offbeat narration. Even in his Music Box series, published by the now-defunct Write Way, all three novels were entirely singular, and unique. So, too, is *The Ragtime Kid*, an outstanding piece of historical intrigue that focuses on the origins of ragtime music and is written within the murder mystery/crime literature category of fiction.

Dr. Karp is a particularly fine writer, and his prose shines, but here, the story itself--and the characters--truly dominate.

The protagonist of the book, young Brun Campbell, is so drawn by the allure of the new music craze, ragtime, that he runs away from home to study with the great Scott Joplin in Sedalia, Missouri. Just off the train, Brun stumbles over the body of a woman, Then, not long after, he has himself a job and becomes a student of the elegant black composer, Joplin, who very well might be a homicide suspect.

Another great theme of the book is American racism. Although the Civil War has been over for a good long time, those who fought in the war--and many in Sedalia did--haven't forgotten--from one side of the great divide, or the other.

Racism, ragtime, and murder are his topics, and Karp intertwines the three adroitly for the novel's readers, then throws in a little romance as a sort of seasoning. Male/female relationships are as complex in The Ragtime Kid as they are in real life.

But perhaps the element that tickled me most about the book is the fine detailing of the time and place. Karp, a longstanding ragtime enthusiast, took the Scott Joplin biography and that of the real-life Brun Campbell, and without distorting the documented facts, wove a tale of what might have occurred. Behind that marvelous foreground though lies a backdrop lending the intoxicating particulars of the time: memories of the Chicago's World Fair in 1893, a young woman eager to perform in vaudeville, a spring-powered fan to drive away the heat, and yellow streetcars providing the Sedalia citizens their transportation.

In short, Karp has created a darn good read, a compelling and literate story that entertains on many levels--as a novel, as a mystery, and as a chronicle of one stage in our national history--a tale peopled by very real and believable characters.

*The Ragtime Kid* proves itself to be both a fun and an enlightening pastime.

G. Miki Hayden, author of *Writing the Mystery* and *The Naked Writer*.

Brun Campbell loves to hear and play music. In Oklahoma city he listens to some musicians in a music store playing a tune by Scott Joplin and knows instantly that is what he wants to learn how to play. He runs away from home at fifteen and hops a train for Sedelia, Missouri in the hopes that he can get Mr. Joplin to give him lessons. On the way into town he runs across the body of a woman strangled to death and he takes a musical money clip that is nearby and a locket on her neck.

In town he meets businessman Mr. Fitzgerald who stakes him to a room at the YMCA and money to buy food while he looks for work. Someone who hears him playing music recommends he ask music store owner Mr. Stark for a job. Mr. Stark listens to him play and offers him a job on the spot. He also auditions for Joplin who agrees to give him lessons. When Mr. Fitzgerald is arrested for the murder of the woman Brun saw the first day he was in town; he knows the man didn't do it. The money clip which belonged to Joplin could implicate him and Brun in the murder. Brun decides to find the killer with the unwitting help of the townsfolk as he maneuvers them in the direction he wants them to go for information relating to the murder.

As historical mysteries go, THE RAGTIME KID is one of the better ones. The author doesn't only write a good who done it, he shows the readers how the plight of the black man had changed very little since Emancipation back three decades earlier. Scott Joplin takes a big risk to be paid in royalties with his name as the arranger of the music, something unheard of in the 1890's. The protagonist has a touch of larceny in him that helps him get what he wants but he is so adorable, readers will root for him in spite of his faults.

Harriet Klausner

I'm 8 and I love this book. We have it in my class and it's my favorite book in school.

My son (5 years old) loves this book. He likes for me to show him where on the maps we are and where we have been. He also likes to know where his extended family is located. (You have to love anything you can "sneak" some education in on.) It has excellent illustrations and interesting facts that will make this an enjoyable book for many years to come as my kids develope and expand their understanding capabilities.

This book is excellent for teaching your children geography and world culture. It is very reader friendly and extremely interesting. It touches on all parts of the world with the most relevant information. We bought it for our 6 year old son for Christmas and now find it to be a fabulous birthday gift for other children. Unlike a toy that gets played with for a month and then thrown into the toy box graveyard, this book will be a favorite for many years both as general interest reading and as a reference for school projects. Don't miss this one...at a great price too!

Don't be fooled by the word "atlas" - this lovely children's book contains much more than just maps! Facts, figures, "fun" information connected to the part of the world you are perusing. Beautifully illustrated, extremely readable. Interesting even for the adults in this family. Its oversized (coffee-table) dimensions make you want to plop down on the floor with the book spread out before you, and just look for an hour or so. Or you can simply turn to the area of the world that you're interested in (or doing a school report on) and get a few quick facts.

As soon as we got home, I ordered the newest version for my son. He is 11 and very much into maps and geography. I don't understand the review from the School Journal that called this book "superficial." My son pours over the facts, pictures, and maps. Yes, it is a "pretty" book but it is also filled with much information for children. The Maps and Mapmaking sections were of particular interest to my son. We are planning to try a few of the projects as part of our homeschool this coming school year. All in all, this a good addition to a child's own library!

This book is a grand attempt to bridge many devisive issues within the Christian community. I read the book, hoping to gain some insight on how to bridge a fracture relationship due to the issues espoused i.e, women in ministry. Although the book gives food for thought, it generally leaves you where you started in the beginning. Both women have well thought out views and use many of the same scriptures to support their beliefs. They are able to "agree to disagree" because of their understanding of who they are in Christ. The book does not, however, help bridge the gap... it plainly discusses two main channels of thought. Unless the individuals reading the book are open to change there are no compelling arguments one way or the other to draw you together only to give evidence that what you thought you believed is still true, for all sides. It is a worthwhile read if only to see what issues are being discussed within the christian community and to attempt to understand why the issues are out there in the first place.

Reconcilable Differences is a wonderful book that will challenge your stance on gender issues prevalent in our Christian environment. Nancy and Alice did a fabulous job of gracefully explaining their individual and often opposing positions on men and women's roles. The authors' commitment to unity in Christ allowed for a loving and safe environment for discussion of such a hot topic. This book is a great read and an excellent tool for Book Club dialogue!

Any discussion of women's roles often generates more heat than light, but this book provides a pathway through the contentious debate. The authors' disagreements about women's roles are striking, but their respectful exchanges give me hope that the differences we face are indeed reconcilable. The format and study questions are useful for discussion - I am currently using the book in a mentoring relationship with a young woman entering Christian ministry.

Great book! I highly recommend it!

Reconcilable Differences challenges Christian women to think about what they believe concerning gender issues, and why it matters. Brummett and Scott-Ferguson both write from experience and heart-felt conviction. They aren't extremists and their views on such topics as motherhood and careers don't seem very far apart. But when they discuss the topics of a woman's role in marriage and in the church, it's a good thing they're tempered by love because otherwise sparks could surely fly. The controversy seems rooted in basic beliefs about God and his Word. Coming from a Wesleyan background myself and a denomination that ordains women, I found myself agreeing more with the egalitarian view of Scott-Ferguson that mutual submission to Christ and each other is the way of freedom and joy and honors God. The idea of using the Trinity as a foundation to the belief of the headship of husbands over their wives was new to me. It seems to take away from the truth that Jesus willingly gave His life for us. I believe God wants willing submission from every person and that He can change our hearts and make them willing by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. On the other hand, Brummett comments, "...it's impossible to be a submissive wife without a firm belief in and reliance on the sovereignty of God." So, are women always to submit to our husbands and church leaders as they (hopefully) submit to God? Or are all of us -- children of the Father -- to submit to Him together? One sure thing comes through in this book: All our differences can be reconciled in Christ.

In a touching and personal back-and-forth style, Nancy Parker Brummett and Alice Scott-Ferguson examine faith issues. They approach life from different views and reveal the wide range of views for people of faith.

I appreciated what these authors wrote in their introduction:

"Regardless of where you are on your journey, we trust that the unity of Christ we both know and enjoy will be yours as well. It is our prayer that the words of this book will reflect the plea of Saint Augustine who wrote, "In essentials, unity, in nonessentials liberty, and in all things, love." (p. 12)

With the excellent reader's guide included in this book, it is ideal for personal study or a group study. I recommend it.

I discovered Scott Waldie from a fly shop owner in Nashville one Saturday when I stepped in to buy some flies. He told me that Travers Corners was one of the best book that he'd ever read. Then he told me that Return to Travers Corners was even better. I was skeptical because Travers Corners was amazing. The second book in this series lives up to the first and surpasses it in some ways.

It is not a series of fishing essays that only an angler would pick up but a series of deeply moving stories about small town life in rural Montana. The stories are loosely based on a real town and people. However, fly fishing and the laid-back philosophy that often accompanies it find their way into every story in an unobtrusive way. One of them will move any reader, regardless of his or her feelings on fishing.

This book reads quick and if you want to read it, you should get all three of Scott Waldie's books because you want to read them one after the other.

This book makes you want to pack up and move to Travers Corners. The small town, closeness with the characters is what makes this book. Like a Norman Rockwell painting this book brings to the reader what most want, a slowed down, easy going pace in a hectic world.

What a fantastic book. Didn't know wether to laugh or to cry most of the time. Being from Montana it makes me long to be back it the little town i came from. Waldie is able to truly capture the small town feel and make you feel like you are right there in the middle. Congrats again to Mr. Waldie

the book being short stories I can pick it up and read a great tale before going to bed. The charactors in this book are so real you can't help but love them!

Poor Scott Waldie. He is one of the gifted writers of our time but he has been relegated to the backwater of fly fishing stories. Not a huge potential audience there. Especially, not a large feminine audience (i.e., the ones who actually buy books). Furthermore, he doesn't compete well with Gerach and Holt in terms of, "and then I caught a 26 inch brown but Jack caught a 27 inch rainbow," which appeal to the guys who buy these books.
BUT
Waldie is alone in being able to weave together stories about a semi-fictional town with its visitors, part-timers, and residents that truly capture the good and bad about the popularization of the Northwest.
His stories would lose no relevance if he would write them using tennis, polo, or canasta as the common thread because they are really about people and how they interact. They expose the good and the bad and how they intersect in a delightful and thoughtful manner and in the process his writing flows with more memorable lines than you can count.
Hopefully, he will soon find an agent or publisher who will market him for the gifted writer that he is, rather than pushing him into an eddy that he cannot row out of (pardon the dangling participle).

To call this novel "compelling" would certainly not do it justice. As a veteran Writers Guild member it is sometimes difficult to suspend disbelief and venture on that magic literary carpet ride without seeing the man behind the curtain -- the writer. This was not the case when experiencing this M. Scott Byrnes genius adventure. Notice I did not say "when reading," but used the word "experiencing." I started reading and then that metaphysical miracle occured and I was on a journey like no other. Remarkably, I rarely gravitate to stories of this genre, yet this gem transcends all expectations and launches you into the stratesphere both litterally and figuratively. I have no idea what the author's initial "M." stands for, but I'd bet it has something to do with "M"astery. This is a brilliant story and a must for anyone who wishes to experience an out of this world adventure like no other.

"Revelations' by Scott Byrnes is a SF novel that holds your attention throughout its 279 pages.

The story keeps shifting between the exploration of Mars and the unearthly attempts on planet earth to keep the secrets being revealed. The story is well knit and is a good mix of space science, religion and evolution/creation. Readers of Erich Von Daniken's books such as "Gods from Outer Space" and "Chariots of Gods" will find some similarity to the ideas described therein in the present book.

Though earth and its civilisations have seen several religions, the author sticks to Christianity only. So, readers of other
denominations may find the story stretching their credulity rather too thin. However, if one keeps in mind that it is just a story, one can certainly enjoy the same.

The book is well written and well edited, well printed. Certainly a good read.

Note: This book reached me when I was in hospital and thus was one of the couple that were available for reading. So, my apologies to other authors whose books stayed unread.

Cold fusion, a source of clean energy, has been discovered but for it to have wide use, it must interact with barrettazine, an element that is scarce on earth. Congress has spent billions of dollars getting mankind to land on Mars not for research purposes but because it is thought that barrettazine is found in abundance on the red planet. When NASA geologist Kathy Palmer finds a vast deposit below the surface of Mars she also finds a perfectly preserved city.

They find a repository where scrolls are kept and on earth a think tank is formed. Included is Tim Redmond, whose IQ is off the charts though he fears he is going insane since he began having a secret conversation with a person named Peter who pushes him into remembering who he really is. The scrolls have a word that is the name is of Jesus Christ and using that they decipher one of the scroll that have bible verses on it. They also find on Mars a solid sphere, one that is also found in the Sea of Galilee where the Nazarene was born. Tim is the key to finding out the answer of the messiah & God and how the Christ appeared on two separate planets several million years apart. Finding the answers could save the Earth from the Armageddon that is coming.

REVELATIONS is an exciting science fiction thriller that is loaded with revelations about the origin of humanity, the existence of Christ, and extraterrestrial beings. The story unfolds slowly so the reader has a chance to absorb all the information that is revealed simultaneously on Mars and Earth. Tim is an interesting character who doesn't understand his true destiny until he meets Peter face to face. M. Scott Byrnes creates an entire new mythos for the origins of Earth and the desolation of Mars.

Harriet Klausner

A surprising page-turner, successfully treading a delicate line between entertaining speculation and religious insensitivity. If Marcion wrote sci fi thrillers, they might look a lot like this. Put this on your shelf next to VALIS, then join me in asking "so then what happened?"

This book grabbed me from the very beginning and would not let go. The intrigue is wonderful. Mystery builds upon mystery as additional clues are uncovered by the members of the first manned mission to Mars and by a NASA-sponsored think-tank on Earth. Just when I thought my brain could be stretched no further, another permutation would unfold, beautifully crafted into a mind blowing conclusion. Byrnes has thrown a lot into his cauldron: hard science (physics, geology, biology, anthropology, neurology, etc.), multiple genres (mystery, thriller, techno-thriller, science fiction, speculative fiction), various religious allusions (Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism) and diverse venues (Mars, Ghana, Israel, NYC, Washington DC). What emerges is a very creative and extremely entertaining book.

This book has a rousing cast of semi-street people, who range from Steven, who is having a spectacular mid-life crisis to his somewhat more grounded live-in lover Molly to Maxie the homeless schizophrenic with impeccable manners (when he's taking his meds), to Igor, son of an affluent Queens businessman and connoisseur of marijuana, hashish, and even more exotic organic products. There is also Igor's sometime business associate Abo the Russian immigrant- and of course Steven's father Ed from rural Louisiana who wants to come for a visit, hoping to take Steven, his anti-war son, to visit the Vietnam Memorial in Washington to honor his other son, who died in Vietnam. These people all spill over the top with emotions and quirks and talk, but they are witty and amusing- and, in the end, deeply lovable. The novel follows several days of Steven's disintegration, trying to keep his love relationship alive, trying to avoid his father, to reach his father, to avoid the responsibilities of life- and to take them on. It is a thoroughly good-humored and entertaining novel.

What a page-turner! A barn-burner of a book! It's 'The Big Lebowski' for recovered redneck urbanites. Oh yeah, there's comedy; then there's the comedic aspect of making peace with an alcoholic parent- laugh so hard you burst into tears. This Ogelsby is a find, a monster writer who tells it all. I recommend this book to anyone who can read Tennessee Williams beyond page two; to anyone who ever lived in the south and the north; in the country and the big city; who ever used drugs, sold drugs or had a druggy parent, which ought to cover most Americans from 18 to 70. My mom loved it and she's Old! (I test all new material on her.) Hell, buy it for the cover alone. It's so 'Haight meets SoHo'. Helene Dolney, wherever you are, thank you for the package. Mr Ogelsby, you need a good agent. If this isn't screen play material, nothing is. What time is it in New York???

This book was a delightful surprise. Filled with wit and wisdom, I felt like I knew these some of these characters from my hippie days and would have liked to know the others. The protagonist's struggle to come to terms with the Vietnam war, his father's shortcomings and his own commitment issues all rang true, yet the author managed to make me laugh through the angst. I was sorry to have the book end.

I loved this book. I was first attracted to the book by its great cover art, but the story line quickly took over and kept me turning pages. Oglesby's characters were quirky yet real. And the writing was so unexpectedly wonderful that I had to stop and read over some of the beautiful passages. It had me laughing and then weeping and then laughing again. This book is a winner.

This is a terrific book. The author has a terrific ear for dialogue and is a master of the art of description. The plot is engaging and full of humor and pathos.It's hard to fathom why tis book was not picked up by a major publisher.

A must read for anyone who wants to understand the "new" Russia. One hopes others will have the courage to take up Ms. Politkovskaya's crusade in exposing the corruption so rampant in Putin's (and now Medvedev's)Russia.

A Russian Diary: A Journalists' Final Account of Life, Corruption and Death in Putin's Russia - By Anna Politkovskaya

It's fashionable these days to describe a book as "important.' While most aren't, Anna Politkovskaya's "A Russian Diary" is. As one of Russia's most influential journalists until her assassination, presumably by the KGB, Politovskaya chronicled dissident protests, suspicious fires and "accidents" and other examples of Putin's heavy-handed regime
.
Some of her most impassioned writing came from Chechnya, which she characterized as "a small corner of hell." She wrote of the tragedy at Beslan, where dozens of school children were murdered. To this day, some of the victims have not been identified, because the tragedy was not a priority of the regime.

And she documents Putin's systematic retrenchment and repeal of many of the reforms enacted by his predecessors, Gorbachev and Yeltsin. Clearly, in the words of chess champion-turned-politician Kasparov, "Russia is a police state."

She writes: "What speed! The President has already signed the law abolishing the election of governors. It has been our fastest ever passage of a law, and all so that from January 1 Putin should not have to discuss matters with the governors or worry that they might be uncooperative. A Tsar should have serfs, not partners."

Like the KGB defector Alexander Litvenko, who was poisoned in London with radioactive polonium (again presumably by the KGB) , Politikovskaya paid a terrible price for her honesty.
She was murdered in Moscow on October 7, 2006-- Vladimir Putin's birthday.

This is a riveting account of a life constantly in peril. The translation is equally outstanding, conveying both the "conversationalism" of a "diary" and the formality of the more essential elements.

Anna Politkovskaya's "Russian Diary" is a gold mine of information and provides unparalleled insights into Putin's Neo-Soviet Russia.

Many believe that Politkovskaya was murdered for her indepth investigative reporting into all aspects of Putin's regime. In this book she makes it clear that Russia is rapidly sliding into a dark and deep abyss.

Politkovskaya reveals the rampant corruption prevalent in the Russian government and its total disregard for the Russian population, human rights, and basic democratic principles.

"Russian Diary" is a first-hand account of the growing power of Russia's criminal community and its alliance with Vladimir Putin, the rampant greed and lawlessness of the new Russian business elite, the unbridled brutality of the Russian security services, and the gross incompetence of the Russian military.

Politkovskaya believed that Russia was headed for another major war in the Caucasus against the mountain peoples it has been terrorizing and murdering for the last decade.

This is a sad and depressing story that is all too familiar to those with firsthand knowledge of the Soviet Union and Russia.

For those who care about Russia, it is hard to put this book down. It is a compelling read. However, one cannot help read "A Russian Diary" without an overwhelming sense of sadness. We know how the story ends. The last entry in the diary was made in August 2006, and soon thereafter Anna Politkovskaya life ends, murdered by unknown assailants in Moscow.

The profound nature of this loss comes across on every page of this book, as Ms. Politkovskaya carefully and without flinching describes contemporary Russian society, warts and all, as perhaps no other journalist left living can. This book brings the reader a first-hand look into the tragedies of Dubrovka Theater and the school siege at Beslan. And also chronicles the seemingly endless war in Chechnya. She asks hard questions of the Russian government and its apparent failure to manage these matters.

As great of a loss as the death of Anna Politkovskaya is, her dairy is a reminder of perhaps the greatest tragedy and missed opportunity in the last quarter of a century. With the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia had the opportunity once and forever to move into the family of democratic states. This book documents that although there are elections, this has not really happened, not even close. What we have now is a tightly controlled state governed by an intelligence oligarchy with a fondness for the Soviet past, which has restricted rather than expanded civil liberties and workers' rights. These restrictions have been justified in the name of protecting national security and the promotion of state controlled capitalism. "A Russian Diary" documents how the Russian people are languishing with a government seemingly disinclined to tackle the serious social welfare problems that are besetting the country.

This book is commentary on the Russian government, but it also asks tough questions of Americans and Western Europeans. What could they have done differently to nudge Russia toward a democratic direction? Is it too late? Are we destined to regress into a more perverse version of the Cold War, with a Russian government mistrusting the West once again, but now empowered by oil and gas revenues?

I hope that is not the case both for Russia and the West. However, without Anna Politkoyskaya alive to point out the deficiencies in the Russian government and the shortcomings of the West, the unthinkable becomes possible.

This is a great book that should be read by everyone, for we all have areas of our life we struggle with, some of them hidden from oursleves. And then we can't understand why life doesn't get better!

Although a bit long for my ADD mind, the concepts are essential in understanding why I do what I don't want to do, and overcoming habits & behavior that are harmful to me and interfere in my relationship with God. The only thing that I think would be more helpful is either a little review section at the end of each chapter, with some questions or possibly an abridged version that includes a study guide for personal use and small groups.

This is an excellent book! It's a must read for every Christian! Finally, a book that perfectly combines human physiology with Christian spirituallity. It is astounding to realize how so much about our personalities that we thought was spiritual, is actually rooted deeply in our flesh. Dr. Gerhart reveals powerful truths that will change how you view yourself and the world around you. Find spiritual victory that LASTS!

Being in the ministry for many years I have read countless Christian self-help books, some are helpful, some are not. I will say from the top,"Say Goodbye To Stubborn Sin," is one of the finest I have ever read.
Dr. Gerhart has dared in this work to go to the core of stubborn sin. You know the kind, you think you have it licked only to find it's ugly head popping up again and again. You are frustrated, embarrassed and at wits-end. You just don't know what to do anymore, nor where to turn. You feel like a failure to yourself, to those you love and worse of all to the one you serve, God.
In this work, the author digs down to the root of these stubborn sins, our flesh, our physical self. The information he gives probably won't be 'flesh pleasing' to you, but it certainly will be an asset to 'sin ceasing.'
A new twist on an old problem, revealing revelation that could well change your spiritual walk forever and finally giving you the freedom you have been longing for. I recommend this for all serious Christians that are seeking to walk in victory.

I thought my walk with Christ was pretty solid, until I read Dr. Gerhart's book. What an annointed message! The idea that we are responsible for our own actions seems like common sense, but our tendency to blame other causes, from peer pressure to Satan, often causes us to treat the symptoms of sin rather that rip out sin by its roots. Our fallen nature is the root, and, as Dr. Gerhart so succinctly puts it, our flesh is the physial manifestation of this root. By following Dr. Gerhart's methodology, I see my Christian faith reaching a whole new level. Thank you, Dr. Gerhart, for putting into words what I've known all along: It's me, and accepting that responsibility is the start to a whole new relationship with God.

While reading this book, I constantly found myself saying two thing: "So that is why I can't stop that sinful habbit" and "So that's how I can stop it". After reading many books on fighting sin, I was convinced that there was nothing more I could do than simply pray, read the Bible more, and strengthen my will power. But this book changed all that, beginning with a fascinating description of the physical factors in our thinking patterns. This openned up for me a huge window of understanding on biblical teachings on the flesh and how healthy thinking patterns can actually be re-established in a concrete way that harnesses the influence of our physical make-up.

Yep. I get every comic out these days but this was the best comic I think I have ever read. I can't wait for more.

Scott Pilgrim is getting better and better in my opinion. O'Malley seems to amp up his penciling in this volume --- better detail, great action. The story is just o-so-cool.

Can't wait for vol. 4 when Scott gets it together!

Basically, I picked this book up at half price during a closing sale at a store. I leafed through it when I bought it, and thought it looked pretty good. 3~4 reads later, I have to say that this is one of the best manga [though I really hesitate to call it that: it kind of resides in the space between manga, comic, and book] I've read. It's realistic, has really funny jokes, and isn't afraid to be wacky - the thing is that these otherwise completely outlandish moments fit perfectly within the book as it stands. A must-read [I currently have the first two books and Lost at Sea coming to my house from this series]!

I really enjoyed the development of Scott's relationships in this volume. A whole lot happened, and somethings are too random to recall, but overall, it was an enjoyable read. I like how O'Malley takes his time to reveal Scott's relationships with people through a series of flashbacks, where in each one, you get a small piece of the puzzle.

I can still barely believe that the Scott Pilgrim series is as good as it is. Author Bryan Lee O'Malley has taken a relationship drama and infused it with numerous references to video games, indie music, manga, and other niche areas of popular culture to create a world where characters are completely fine with breaking out into a massive, over-the-top fight that involves the battleground imploding at the end.
Scott Pilgrim, for those of you who aren't caught up, is a 23-year-old slacker who lives in a small Canadian town around Toronto. He is in a bad band named Sex Bob-Omb along with the completely cool (so cool he has no emotions) Stephen Stills and the angry Kim Pine (whom he dated in high school). After breaking up with a 17-year-old high school girl named Knives Chau, Scott began dating Ramona Flowers, an American now living in Canada and working as an Amazon.ca delivery girl. However, before Scott can officially date Ramona, he must defeat her seven evil ex-boyfriends. He has already taken out 2, but the next on the list, Todd Ingram, may prove to be more than Scott can handle.
Picking up pretty much exactly where the second volume, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, left off, Scott and Ramona have just learned that Todd is dating Natalie V. "Envy" Adams, Scott's girlfriend before Knives who ripped his heart out. Through flashbacks, we learn how Envy met Scott as a shy anime fan and eventually turned into a rock goddess. If that weren't bad enough, Todd is a vegan, and in Scott's world, vegans attain vast psychic powers that make him a much more formidable opponent than Matthew Patel and Lucas Lee.
As usual, the battles don't take up the whole book; most of the pages are devoted to hilarious character studies. Scott's roommate, Wallace Wells, is just as funny as ever, with his snide comments about Envy and his platonic love of Ramona. Knives is great due to the sheer sadness of her situation (I kind of feel bad for her, but she is responsible for some very funny and heartfelt situations). New characters like Envy and Lynette, Envy's drummer who has a biomechanical arm, are fun as well. But the book is also full of great moments that don't deal with characters. The existence of a save point in the world was one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. And of course, the fights just keep getting better. Ramona shows that she can hold her own and that her little handbag is just full of surprises.
The only thing I have to say that is negative is that I just can't get a good feel for the art. It is (as far as I know) intentionally cheap, but there are times when I can't tell who certain characters are or when the flashbacks end. Still, it isn't too much of a problem.
I don't care what excuses you may have for not reading Scott Pilgrim, get on it now! The story is great and the humor is fantastic.