Shaw Books

My wife and I read this book because of our concern for our daughter entering Junior High School. We know things are much different today than when we went to school. We wanted information that would help us better understand this generation, maybe more as a precaution than anything else. It captured our exact situation and is helping us to avoid unnecessary mistakes in communication. We both wholeheartedly recommend this book for any parent wanting insight into the minds of today's kids and their world.

"Enter at your own Risk" is extremely informative and entertaining. Very easy and enjoyable reading. It keeps you interested and provides excellent stories that stick with you and makes it easy to remember the wise teachings throughout the book. Although this book is specifically designed for the middle-school aged children, it should be read by parents of every age group, the younger the child, the better. The book contains important and vital tips that you can never start learning too soon. The sooner you read this book, the sooner you will begin to have a healthier family and healthier children. A "must read book" for every family.

Mrs. Roth has provided a usable guide for middle school parents in dealing with the problems that arise with their young teens. Some of her suggestions will also apply to other age groups--even to spouses. She writes from a Christian viewpoint but is not preachy. Her book recommends a light touch and a good sense of humor in teaching young adults to respect themselves and others.

In order to understand the deep sea of Lewis' thinking and opinions, it is necessary to explore the many streams and rivers of thought, experience and philosophy that contributed to that great ocean of erudition. Lewis was a scholar who read an incredible amount of material in the course of his life. Throughout his writings one finds continuous references to ideas and observations that he picked up from the great writers of the ancient and medieval world, as well as his own great contemporaries. Lewis debts to these writers inevitably leads one to seek out and explore them as well.
In my own case, I discovered two of my favorite writer/thinkers, G. K. Chesterton and George MacDonald, through my reading of C. S. Lewis. The book under review gives one an expanded opportunity to discover and enjoy the reading heritage that was so important to Lewis and to the development of his theology and philosophy. Even more, it allows children of a desicated age to experience and drink in some of the great thinkers and writers of our Western heritage. Writers who, alas, are no longer shared with students as a part of what we used to call a higher education.
Therefore, if you love C. S. Lewis, Western Civilization, or just reading, get this book, read it, think it and treasure it. It will be one of the best investments that you have ever made.

C.S. Lewis is one of this centuries most influential writers/thinkers. This book does an excellent job of giving us deep insight into the writings which had a profound influence on Lewis' own spiritual pilgrimage. Even if you have only a remote interest in his writings or thought, get this book. If I could give higher than 5 stars I would. Great!!

As possibly the most popular and influential Christian intellectual of the 20th century, Lewis has generated great interest in his literary and spiritual influences. As one looks further and further into the subject, there is an impossible desire to read every book that Lewis loved. This book (the most fascinating "Lewis-related" book I've seen) collects short excerpts (most are a single page) from writers who influenced Lewis, thus giving the reader a taste of many fascinating writers and making it possible for one to focus in on a few avenues for further exploration in the future. Looking through the book, it's just hard to believe that no one ever thought of doing this before.

This book can provide plenty of help and guide for anyone traveling to Pakistan, foreigners in particular (she mentioned a few things in Lahore, my hometown, which even I did not know). I picked the book from my father's bookshelf to kill my time and ended up reading all of it. She explains most things about the local culture extremely well, without the usual negative tone that most other authors unconsciously get into (no offence for anyone please).

For me if a book gives you the information that you need and makes you read more than what you initially planned, is a five star, so is this one!

We visited North Pakistan, looking at the archaeology, and this guidebook was excellent- it covered virtually everything.
We ordered it from London, and it arrived very promptly - and cheaper than the price quoted by amazon.co.uk!

My journey home to Pakistan started a little over five years ago when I married a Pakistani national who had immigrated to the United States in the early nineties. The decision to visit my family back home in Lahore City was one that took nearly five years to make. After securing my flight at the height of the summer travel season and I might add the hottest time of year in that part of the Indian subcontinent I desparately sought out the most comprehensive travel guide I could find. Isobel Shaw's book is informative and a godsend to a novice traveller to the Indian subcontinent such as my self. From her descriptions of famous landmarks to the locations of hotels and hospices she gives an accurate account of what to expect. The index of Urdu phrases came in handy on several occasions as I do not speak or read the language and was often dependent on my husband's translating capability. The maps and descriptions of the different regions allowed us to the luxury of travelling to areas of Pakistan I might never have seen otherwise. My only regret is that we were unable to see more of Kashmir than the border checkpoint. Due to my blonde hair and western features the border guards were relunctant to let us in. Perhaps next time I shall be allowed to travel in that region. I would not hesitate to recommend Ms. Shaw's guidebook to anyone travelling in Pakistan. It is an informative and enjoyable book on the people and the country of Pakistan.

There are not to many writers that write from the heart. Msshaw truly has that gift. As I read each poem I was touched by the emotion within each. I could see myself throughout the book The Heart Within. i would recommend this book to everyone.

The Heart Within is one of the best books I have read in a long
time. Each poem is filled with emotion and inspiration. A page turner. It will bring tears of sadness and joy and really make you realize what is important in life. I would recommend this book to all.

Denise is a great poetry writer, it all comes from the heart.. she's my sister in law and i know that she worked hard on this book.. i hope to see more out of her later on :) Good job denise! i would recommend this to anyone who loves poetry!

"The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism" was published in 1927, when George Bernard Shaw was at the very pinnacle of his success as a playwright. (He had been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for "St Joan" two years earlier.)

It purported to be a political primer for the "intelligent woman" who knew little or nothing of politics. This literary device of addressing an imaginary, ignorant audience allowed Shaw to start from the beginning. Clear your mind of all preconceptions, he said, and let us first look at the facts. What are the conditions under which the mass of mankind lives in the industrialized world? What is "politics"? What is the real meaning of the words "capitalism" and "socialism" and "communism"? What is the present state of society if examined without any of these labels? Why is it like this?

Having cleared the ground, Shaw then addressed that most fundamental of all social questions, the question to which his entire adult life had been devoted. How is the wealth of the world to be divided up?

Shaw was (to put it mildly) a committed socialist. And The Guide pulled no punches in asserting that socialism is the only sane answer to that question. However, he played scrupulously fair in his presentation of the facts. He described with absolute clarity the causes, conditions and present (1927) state of private property, political parties, banking, revolutions, facism, the stock market, credit, the national debt, universal adult suffrage, investment, strikes and poverty.

In short, the primary value of this extraordinary work was its conceptual clarity. Whether or not readers shared Shaw's opinions, merely by reading the book they could not help but greatly - and usefully - increase their understanding of their world.

The question for modern readers, seventy-five years later, is whether The Guide can help us to understand the modern world.

The answer is Yes.

As a test, borrow a copy of the book and read the chapter entitled "Banking". Just that one chapter. If you do not understand at least twice as much about what a bank is, and does, than you did before, then you need not bother with anything else in the book and you can return it with thanks. Otherwise, as a clincher, read the chapter entitled "Revolutions". I will be very surprised if you do not then buy your own copy.

That said, there are a couple of traps. Firstly, Shaw's English is now somewhat dated. He often uses very much longer sentences, with more subordinate clauses, than we commonly do today. This is ultimately helpful in conveying his meaning, but not immediately so to the modern reader. The Guide is therefore somewhat wearing to read for any length of time. It is not an easy book to skim.

Secondly, since Shaw does have a definite polemical intention (he wants us to become socialists), and since few writers have ever been more skilful at delivering a message while appearing not to, the reader has to be permanently on guard against taking Shaw's statements as facts. He is expert at the art of covertly leading readers to his own conclusions. The effort required to resist all this is also rather exhausting.

These shortcomings aside, and they are significant, The Guide stands as one of the great literary political works of the twentieth century. It is also one of the few genuinely hopeful contributions to the discipline we now call sociology. This reflects neither an earlier, cheerier worldview (in 1927 in England there was every reason to despair), nor a utopian naïveté (Shaw had a clearer sense than most of the horrors of which mankind is capable). No, the sense of hope that suffuses The Guide derives from Shaw's own inextinguishable, strangely realistic generosity of spirit.

In comparing Shaw with his famous fellow-socialist author H.G.Wells, C.P.Snow commented that "Shaw was a kinder, but colder man". He was. And both his kindness and his coldness inform The Guide: matchless detachment, combined with the utmost charity and reasonableness.

"The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism and Capitalism" was George Bernard Shaw's political magnum opus. He had spent much of the previous forty years writing about politics and society, often in the guise of drama, musical criticism or "prefaces" to his published plays. And he continued to do so for the remainder of his life, the last major political work appearing only a few years before his death in 1950.

But this book is It. "The Intelligent Woman's Guide" summarizes all his thinking, all his reading, all his public speaking, all his experience, all his hopes and all his fears for the future. It is the culmination of a lifetime dedicated to the betterment of mankind by political means. In his twenty more years of work - including "The Apple Cart", "Too True to be Good", and "Everybody's Political What's What" - Shaw never wrote anything as good again. There was nothing more he needed to say.

this guy shaw looks at a seemingly complicated matter the most convincing way i have ever encountered. from the very first page this is fascinating business written with clarity and in an easy-to-understand way.
read this book - it will explain much of the world we live in!
and in addition it will give you an excellent idea of how to approach any problem from a very practical and day-to-day point of view.

Absolute genius. Shaw gives a understandable and accurate explantion of socialism and capitalism. It seems particularly revelvant in today's societal struggles with class, race, and politics. A book everyone who is interested in social justice should read.

What a pleasure to read the entire story of Kaya in one hardcover book. ABSOLUTELY worth the money! You should know, however, that the historal sections at the end of each of the original six books are NOT included. There is one large section on the history, but by no means as comprehensive as the six sections found in the entire series. Still worth buying...Now I have all of these new HC books AND the six book series! :-)

It'd be hard for me to overstate how much my daughter (seven) and I have enjoyed reading these six books. We just finished, and we're going to re-read them. My six year year old son, who initially was not interested, became an avid fan through the course of listening to Kaya develop and mature. I think the highest praise I could offer is that the kids would want to go upstairs to read books with out the usual resistance so they could get in more reading time.

This book is interesting reading. It was a gift for our granddaughter who just received Kaya. The American Girl stories are a great way for young girls to learn history! To combine the interest in reading with learning is a good combination.

What a wonderful, refreshing book! I learned simple, insightful ways to de-stress my days that really help, plus the book is sprinkled with humor and anecdotes. The author speaks to you, not at you, and you know that she understands how easy we can let stress overcome our joy. An added bonus is the book contains short stories and vignettes from others who have "been there," each offering insight and hope. Out of the enormous selection of self-help books available, I put this one at the very top!

This easy-to-read book provides great insight and advice to all of us whose stressful moments sometimes make us forget about the good times. Her "destressors" are simple to follow and practical. The personal accounts make us feel we're not alone in our "down" times and that if these people can overcome, so can the rest of us. Teresa writes with such humor that even though the issues are serious, the heaviness doesn't burden us. This is a must read for all women and some men could use it too!

The layout of "Knot" is teaching basic life skills by example. For every problem you face there is a solution. These are real life people who have real life problems, some staggering, but they deal. I guess if they can do it, so can I. This is the theme of Teresa B. Kindred's "The Knot at the End of Your Rope" which is laced with faith promoting answers. My thanks to the author.

Take one part Toni Morrison, one part Van Morrison, a dash of California history, sprinkle with a challenging dose of everything you don't know about race and you get a little something like Locke 1928.

I loved the book so much that I visited the town of Locke. I really apprecaited all the thinking, interviewing, researching, and writing that went into this beautiful historical novel. A wonderful way to get in a little history of the Chinese farm workers during that period and the true story of how a small town came into being. A rich set of characters, eros, hot sticky days, hard work, ghosts, the preacher's daughter, it was all so wonderful. I'm not a good writer so this review doesn't do justice to this book. Congratulations to the author.

Having just put this book down, I am still slack-jawed at the richness of Ms. Ryan's descriptions. Her characters can almost be felt with my own hands. I can most certainly smell them, hear their voices whispering in my ear...
I knew nothing of this time and place before I read this book and I now feel like I have a deep understanding of yet another story of how our country was built on the backs of immigrants. (Reference to the brothel workers not intended but makes for an interesting pun I now see...)

"Mountain Rain" is the amazing story of what the Lord can do in the life of one man who is willing to surrender everything and follow Him. In 1906, James O. Fraser was twenty years old, a student with a bright future in engineering and a brilliant pianist about to give his first London recital, when a booklet from a fellow-student challenged the plans he had made for his life. "If our Master returned today to find millions of people unevangelized, and looked, as of course he would look, to us for an explanation, I cannot imagine what explanation we should have to give. Of one thing I am certain--that most of the excuses we are accustomed to make with such good conscience_now_, we shall be wholly ashamed of_then_." Through this booklet and the Lord's leading, Fraser embarked on a course of faith that led him to the remote valley of the Salween River in the western province of Yunnan, China. Here he would spend years at work among the tribal Lisu people, bringing them the message of salvation in the name of Jesus Christ alone. The remarkable story of his work there and in other regions of China is no less striking than the record of God's working in his own heart, and the deep and loving lessons that the Lord taught him along the way. The Lord taught him the power of the prayer offered in faith as he saw and felt the answers to the prayers of Christians for himself and his work, and the vital necessity of resisting the devil and being filled with the Spirit. Much of the book is in Fraser's own words, taken from journals and letters to those praying back home. His absolute determination to follow the Lord_whatever the cost_, the force and clarity of his writing on living a life of faith, forceful and impassioned because it was what he himself was experiencing, his longing to be filled and led by the Holy Spirit, and the depth of his knowledge and his love for the things of God are amazing. It was not that J.O. Fraser was a great man in himself, but that he had surrendered himself to be used by God, and his abilites and accomplishments are not a memorial to the greatness of a man, but to the inexpressible greatness of the God he served.
That same God is ready and willing to use each of us who realize that we have sinned against Him, and who place our only hope of forgiveness and salvation in His Son Jesus Christ, crucified for our sins and raised from the dead that we too might live with Him forever, to do great things if we will only surrrender and follow His leading.

Review by Emily Potter

This book teaches so much about all aspects of missions work. Through letters, antedotes, and short snipets, the missionary's daughter brings his travels to life. The book teaches much about leadership and true surrender to Jesus.

This is an excellent book about a true man of God. The book tells of James Fraser missionary to the Lisu people. It emphasises the power of prayer both by those on the field and supporters at "home". By doing so it also offers a challenge to us all in our responsibilities to pray for those who have gone overseas for the Lord. The book deals honestly with Frasers struggles and doubts. Overall the picture is painted of a man willing to sacrifice everything for God and the spread of the gospel to the people he was so burdened for. This book should inspire us to rise above our mediocrity and be willing to give all for Him who gave all for us.

This is the best science book on the food chain that I have ever found.I fell in love with it and bought it for several people This book tells very gently, using very pleasing language in rhyme, what everything needs to live and why. The illustrations are beautiful and detailed. It has some repetitive language that is so pleasing to read. For example:

"Passing the energy needed to live
is a difficult gift for a creature to give.
but a chain unbroken along the way
links life in the meadow from day to day."

This book would be wonderful in every classroom. A beautiful, must have book.

I enjoyed how the author was able to bring a complicated subject to a level which both educates and interests young readers. Both my nephew and niece greatly enjoyed the book. They also retained the information which is presented in "Pass the Energy Please" because it is presented to the children in a creative way which neither bores nor confuses them. The author has found a great niche in her writing in which children can finally be entertained while at the same time come away with an important environmental concept.

What a book to use with your classroom. I am a fifth grade teacher and use this book as part of a unit on Ecosystems. (Although you could use this with younger or older children) The book shows food webs in a way that any child could understand. The text is a poem with a predictable rhythm that my students LOVE. We use this story for 4 different activities, two are Language arts based, and two are Science.