Sheridan Books

I used this book as a reference for a om line Marine Electrical course I am taking and it was excellent.

The author's suggestion that the lightning grounding system and the electrical grounding system be separated from each-other is very surprising considering that this practice is in direct contradiction with the American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC) and research regarding lightning protection in boats. To the authors credit, the fact that his recommendation contradicts the ABYC recommendations is clearly noted in the book.

One good place to start for the theory and practice of lightning protection for boats is the work done by Ewen M. Thomson, much of which is available on the internet.

This was the only book I found that mentions Raymarine Seatalk, was looking for troubleshooting tips and ideas on how it should be best installed. I will have to wait for the Sailboat Electrical and Electronics Manual due out in 2007 to hopefully find a reference to Seatalk electronics. This book does not really cover Seatalk as I had hoped.

I just spent my weekend propped up in the wheelhouse reading this book. It's a big read too. I have always had lots of problems on my motorboat and already this has solved two problems since starting it. At this rate I should have my boat fixed by spring. Its not too technical that a doctor cannot understand it(I fix people not boats), but it does cover all the practical information well. Kudos to Payne for writing a practical manual style book, layed out well and easily accessible information. The context is great too, I know how to relate my electrics to my engine, (and there is great engine information in this book) as well as water and every other system. He is welcome on my boat anytime and I cannot recommend this book too highly to any motor and power boat owner.

John Payne has really got this right. His last book was great but this is just superb. Unlike the many self proclaimed and unqualified electrical guru's such as Calder and others around Payne is a genuine qualified professional marine electrical engineer, who knows power and motor boats and this book proves that. I have tried to find something on my boat that is not covered by this book and so far it's all there. It's written in true reference manual style and the information is easy to access, even my wife understands it, which is scary! It is also up to date, all the new technologies are covered, radio frequencies are up to date and it is above all very, very practical. Payne has thankfully refrained from delving into theory and stuck to the essentials we all need. A book, or should I call encylopedia, for motor and powerboat folk was long overdue, now we have something that is not based on sailboats. My recommendation is don't leave port without this book, it's definitely going to save you money and problems.

Excelent small book for an introduction.
Easy to read, it gives a good overview of the main topics involved in the physics of sailing.

This is better read at your desk with a pad and paper nearby. There are a few areas where you will need to run a few math problems to really 'get' this book. This is more of a college upper classman read than a warm winter night read.
Once past the math and the tougher parts, you might start to look for more subjects like blocks and running rigging and the physics involved with them. Additionally, I'd like to see more about the why of some of the design trade offs in some of the faster racing boats (Americas Cup, Volvo Ocean, etc.). Also a good discussion of the tradeoffs in hull design for different purposes would be nice.

This is a unique book somewhat bridging the qualitative and quantitative.

Organization is good, starting with the hull, then keel, sails and lastly weather. My fellow sailors snuck it away when they could, and I think we did learn some things.

Good was the hull speed derivation and shallow water wave speed derivation, and the discussions of scaling factors for the other technical parameters. Disappointing was that there were no other derivations and also that some of the figures are not well labeled (for instance, is cord length on Figures 3.8 a horizontal or vertical dimension?).

Hopefully in a year or two there may be another edition, putting in somewhat more physics.

Get this if you want a quick read to start to bridge the gap between the coffee table sailing books and proper yacht engineering tomes.

The book doesn't go into alot of detail, but for the novice sailor it's more than sufficient for a good starting point.

Clear and easy to understand words. I've found it very useful. The book covers the main physical phenomenas of sailing without complicated mathematical derivations and with interesting real life examples.
I really enjoyed reading it.

David Papp - Turbine Blade Designer

Teman, who's 12, is attracted to the exciting world of magic and mystery. He discovers he has the gift of magic, and on his quests meets many thrilling characters, starting with Velachaz the wizard. This is young adult fantasy available hard copy and as an Ebook. You'll find humor, suspense and characters who are believable. It's a fast-moving, positive story of adventure and friendship. Teman is a character in whom teens can see themselves. This is a story sharing the value of teamwork and the importance of belonging and believing.

Hurray for the Dragon!
"Ye Olde Quest is alive and well in this exciting and sometimes humorous story. But it is a quest with a twist! What if the dangerous fire-breathing dragon turns out to be a sensitive she-dragon (pre-dating Shrek 1) who has lost her hatchlings to a careless ill-spirited knight? Why talk to it, of course.

"Through dark forests, fairie rings and castles in the snow...it's a full-blown fantasy quest-adventure. And it's a worthwhile quest for the reader, too, replete with lots of magic, but also a lot of heartwarming and endearing characters who magically make their way into our hearts.

"Oh. And hurray for the dragon!"

-- Allan Serafino, Author of Blood Jaguar, an Alberta Writer's Award Nominee and Seven Words for Sand, a Golden Eagle Award and EPPIE award nominee for young adult fiction

Rie Sheridan sets the stage for what could be a series of fun adventures spinning off virtually any character in her book, The Right Hand of Velachaz. Sheridan's story was a great introduction for beginning fantasy readers and I look forward to future stories from this author.

by Kassandra Washington

Rie Sheridan's The Right Hand of Velachaz is a charming fantastical tale that will be enjoyed by young readers and adults interested in reading short fiction. The format is difficult to handle on Palm Pilots and pocket PCs since the word wrap feature is not part of the format. Readers will find it easier to view the document on a full-size computer screen, laptop or printed copy. The action is fast-paced and the author provides a sufficient amount of details without slowing the reader.

The tale begins with Teman, a young boy, who finds himself fending for himself on the streets after the death of his mother and he runs away from an abusive father. His wandering brings him across the path of the evil wizard, Velachaz. Initially, terrified and apprehensive; Teman accepts Velachaz's offer of shelter and food. Teman quickly earns the nickname Tay and learns that the wizard is not as terrible as the rumors suggest. Tay finds himself an apprentice to the mage and soon he is off on his first quest to slay the evil dragon. He realizes that things are not as they appear... figuratively and literally speaking. Along the way Tay learns that this will not be the same old generic quest for him. With a little consideration and care for others, Tay a child, changes the ways of elders; among them a wizard and a would be knight, Galen.

Galen, the youngest of seven sons, was an unexpected arrival with his next eldest brother nearly twice his age. By the time of his birth, his family's inheritances were mostly decided, so his arrival threw his family's plans askew. Thanks to a curse foretold by a fortuneteller, he must slay a dragon before he comes of age or his life will come to a horrible end. He has but one last hope for an inheritance and long life; the king has charged him the duty of slaying a ferocious dragon that has been tormenting villagers. If Galen succeeds, the king will give him knighthood and a small holding of his own; thereby alleviating the need for his brothers to share their inheritance. If he fails his quest, his father's lands will be forfeit.

At Tay's insistence, the mighty Velachaz agrees to accompany him on his quest. As Tay realizes the extent of his natural magic, he meets new acquaintances and friends along the way, including a talking dragonfly and fairy people. Gifts given to him by strangers, for his good deeds, aid him in times of trouble. Despite the ups and downs, and the lucky additional traveling companion, Sally; the rumors about the dragon prove to be inaccurate at best. Apparently, there are always two sides to every story and this quest is no exception.

The Right Hand of Velachaz is riddled with plot twists, coincidences, and circumstantial evidence. It takes a young boy with good integrity and strength to stand his ground against a knight, a mage, and the odds; to set matters straight. When readers come to the end of this tale, they will be saddened to say goodbye to the delightful characters and will wait anxiously for Tay's next adventure.

Teman did his best to survive on the streets ever since his mother died and he was forced out of his home. He was only twelve, though, so he had to be careful to avoid all of the bullies as well as try and find somewhere decent to sleep at night where he wouldn't freeze. When the wizard Velachaz approached him one evening, Teman couldn't pass up the powerful man's offer for a bed and a full belly. Everyone knew that Velachaz was a powerful dark wizard, of course, but Teman was almost too desperate to care. So Teman was surprised when they arrived at Velachaz's home to discover that the man whose name was only spoken of in whispers throughout the kingdom was actually crippled on his right side. Velachaz had to spend a lot of energy and effort to keep up the illusion of his invincibility and was looking for a bright lad to help him out and Teman seemed to fit the bill perfectly. They were both pleasantly surprised to discover that Teman had a natural affinity for magic and Teman quickly became Velachaz's apprentice as well as errand boy.

While Teman was gathering some supplies for his master, he ran into the gallant knight, Galen, who narrowly avoided killing Teman and himself for Galen was truly the clumsiest person that Teman had ever met. However, Galen was a knight, clumsy or not, and was off to slay a dragon laying waste to a corner of the kingdom. Galen's family had more or less forced him to try to slay the dreadful dragon because they would lose all of their land if he did not. Teman decided that if anyone needed help on his quest, it was Galen. Luckily, Galen turns out to be Velachaz's nephew and so Teman is off on his first grand adventure. Along the way, he will meet the fairie folk, learn new magic spells, have a cat-woman ensorcell him, and confront the dragon itself...

This is an action-packed fantasy for younger readers. The tale is well written, but it is almost too full of adventures. Any one of the things that Teman does or any of the people that he encounters could have been a book all by itself so it was a little bit too relentless of a pace to have them all in one. Still, younger readers will enjoy the book because Teman does dabble in almost every aspect of traditional fantasy so it is a good introduction to that. Due to the involved plot, however, there is little if any character development and, while the characters are likeable, they are definitely 2-dimensional and you don't really feel anything for them. Still, it is a short, fun read for those looking for something in between Harry Potter books.

Ah, these books one receives as Christmas presents, no doubt the benefactors mean well....How dearly I would have loved to have settled down to a mystery about that many-storied beast, the wyvern. And, since there is a very well-depicted wyvern on the cover, and the title rather leads one to expect it, surely I was not amiss in expecting such a lark. But, alas, no wyvern - just an old family who possess the surname. And alack, no mystery - the plot and characters are as stale as ergoted rye, but without even the supernatural or hallucinogenic to excite one. Wading through this mostly banal novel was rather like touching upon several poorly copied parts of Dickens' novels with a touch of the Brontes thrown in for good measure.

The only thing that surprised me, from time to time, was the discovery that Le Fanu could be a dashed good writer when he put his mind and heart into it. He is particularly good at detailed landscapes, human psychology and lines of poetic insight. Unfortunately, these passages are too few, too far between, too often over-the-top to redeem the novel. But, as an example, one occasionally comes across a passage like the following:

"Future-present-past. The future - mist, a tint, a shadow. The cloud on which fear and hope project their airy phantoms, living in imagination, and peopled by romance - a dream of dreams. The present only we possess, man's momentary dominion, plastic under his hand as the clay under the potter's - always a moment of the present in our absolute power - always that fleeting, plastic moment speeding into the past - immutable, eternal. The metal flows molten by, and then chills and fixes for ever."p.222

But such passages are rare indeed. They pop out - if I may be permitted the trope - like audacious wyverns amidst tired, overworked prosaic basset-hounds. Altogether, more than a letdown. ---Good title though.
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J. Sheridan LeFanu is not as difficult to get into as other Gothic fiction authors are. I would definitely recommend the 'Wyvern Mystery' to anyone looking at beginning to read Gothic fiction. I would recommend to anyone, however, as a very well-rounded book. The storyline takes many exciting twists and turns, though LeFanu's slow and detailed style may find little friendliness from modern readers. Those who appreciate detail will find his intricate portraits both refreshing and beautiful. Many times I found myself smiling at the believable and realistic depictions of emotion or character traits. LeFanu definitely shows that he is not an amatuer and demands attention from modern readers. He is widely unread, but his great talents at storytelling deserve attention. The 'mystery' of the Wyvern Mystery centers around a young couple's troubles due to elopement, financial problems, and the hero's dark past that comes back to haunt them both. All this and a happy ending. I implore you to resurrect this wonderful old mystery.

LeFanu's "Wyvern Mystery" is a classic example of a Gothic mystery. During the 1860's, Gothic mysteries and horror novels were popular. Although LeFanu is not as "up there " as such notable Gothic novelists as Bram Stroker or Mary Shelley, LeFanu creates a chilling and suspenseful thriller. The tale has the typical features one finds in Gothic novels- a beautiful heroine who is in danger, a mysterious family secret, a haunted mansion, prophetic dreams, appropriate dark atmosphere and as added bonus LeFanu created a "sub-human " character who has been damaged in her past and has now become a monster out for revenge. At time reminiscent of Jane Eyre, Wyvern mystery is a must have for mystery fans of the genre. PBS broadcasted a screen adaptation on their Mystery Series. Also I recommend all other LeFanu novels and also the Gothic mystery "Lady Audley's Secret ". Enjoy.

Poor Alice! Why is her new husband so secretive? Why is the housekeeper so cool toward her? What does her brother-in-law know that he isn't telling? And what is that strange scratching noise in her bedroom at midnight?

All good questions, but don't expect answers for a few hundred pages. Le Fanu is the master of dragged-out suspense, but he really drags it out in this one, then skips 12 years, then begins what appears to be a new plot needing another few hundred pages, until he recollects that he needs to finish the book and ends everything at breakneck speed in the last few pages. You wouldn't mind so much if you cared about Alice's problems, but she's the typical innocent and passive young heroine who needs squads of people on hand to help her while she's bedridden with grief. What makes this book enjoyable is not her but the other characters: there's old Squire Fairfield; he didn't like Alice's father, but when Alice was orphaned as a child, he raised her himself. His feelings toward her seem gruff but paternal.... or are they? Mildred the housekeeper has an endless supply of proverbs and sayings; she isn't loyal or even nice... or is she? Harry the brother-in-law seems to be a simple horse trader who's happy to let his elder brother inherit Wyvern, the family estate, but he may not be as simple as he seems. And what about the mysterious, tall, opium-smoking "Dutchwoman" ....? Le Fanu excels at ambiguous motivations, only in this book, the motives are especially nebulous. I would have appreciated an afterword explaining the laws of inheritance and primogeniture in a way that would make the baby plot a little clearer.

Unfortunately, I read Le Fanu's Uncle Silas before picking up The Wyvern Mystery. Although I enjoyed The Wyvern Mystery, I felt it was not as well written and plotted as Uncle Silas. At one point, you seem to reach the climax as 'the old soldier' becomes very nasty indeed; but then she all but disappears from the book. The ending was predictable - you could see it coming from a mile off. Overall, the book was entertaining, but I would recommend Uncle Silas over this story any day.

I loved Belly Laughs and high recommed it to anyone who has ever experienced the fun and foibles of parenthood. It makes a great gift for a new parent, especially if given after they have experieced those sleepness nights and need a few laughs. The variety of chuckles, heartfelt smiles and OhmyGod-how-awful anecdotes are sure to lighten a harried heart.

Mary Sheridan has put together a collection of truly humorous stories from parents in the pregnancy and newborn stages of making a family. You will see your husband, your child, or yourself in at least one of these stories (at least I did). You will really laugh at the more outrageous things some people have done and you will have a smile on your face several times as you think to yourself, been there, done that! If you know anyone who has those frazzled days of pregnancy when she just wants the baby to arrive so she can get a decent nights sleep again or someone who worries too much about the childbirthing compentency of the man she chose to share parenting with, this is just the book to lighten the load, bring a smile to her face, and renew her faith in the father to be. Surely he wouldn't do that (and if he does anything that outrageous, just send the story to Mary for the next edition!).

I would give this book 1/2 of a star or a 1/4 of a single star... One customer's review said she "laughed till her sides hurt" which is why I bought the book. I for one did NOT laugh at the book, it really wasn't even funny. The stories are VERY dry and dated. I am 40 pages into the book and its awful. I can't believe the copy write is 1997 because the stories all seem to come from the 1930's and 50's. What was the author thinking? Couldn't she find some 80's or 90's women to share their child birthing stories? I couldn't at all relate to the women in the book. Very disapointing read, save your money on this one and put it towards your baby's nursery room. If your interested in a better book I highly recommend, "From Here to Maternity" by Allan Zullo with John McGran, very funny outrageous but true pregnancy stories.

Belly Laughs and Babies is simply delightful! It brought tears and laughter and evoked a great many memories about my own experiences with pregnancy, childbirth, and baby days. It was very easy to read and I finished it in one sitting, eager to read more and to share my own stories. Any mother/father, young or old will recognize themselves in some of the stories or recall thier own as they delight in this collection. A fun read!!

Great book. Takes you through the process and all the thoughts and tricks of doing it right. Not rocket science, but very helpful and confirming of your ability to do this. Good pictures and examples.

I highly recommend this book for anyone considering either or both of these construction methods. The author's experience shows in breath and depth of the subjects addressed in this book. I enjoyed the knowledgable way he writes of determining scantings, deck-to-hull details, and the laminating process itself. The detailed text is accompanied by excellent drawings and illustrations of the author's points. The author's Continental orientation is evident from the boats selected for illustration. The author goes into all facets of building using these methods, including mold building and backbone setup. If you wish to learn about the details and practical issues of using these methods, this is an excellent addition to your library.

The basic information on technique is helpful; however the author uses some odd language for the american reader. It takes some getting used to. For example he uses the word rebate instead of the wood working term rabbet and he says cramps for/or clamps for no apparent reason. He also barely hides his distain for strip planked hulls.

This book is really about cold-molded boatbuilding. There is little useful information about strip-planked methods. He pays cursory attention to it in some chapters, and always at the end, as an afterthought. I am still looking for a good book on strip-planking.

If you are interested in cold-molding or double-diagonal type applications, this book is technical and thorough. Useful as a reference. Buy it thinking of the title as "Cold-Moulded Wood Boat Building, With an Afterword on Strip-Planked Methods"

I first heard of this book when our priest read from it during Mass. I loved the reading and it prompted me to ask him about the book; thus, I bought a copy for myself. I can highly recommend this book as a lovely set of prayers, diverse in their content and origins. I especially love the readings and prayers for the animals. Dostoyevsky has a particularly beautiful prayer in here for the animals and all creation. A book like this teaches us to be kindler and gentler in a society that isn't always that way. Highly recommended reading.

If you are among the half of Americans under 30 and the third of Americans over 70 purported to believe that the best religion is one that borrows from all religions, this is your prayer book. And even if you don't fit that description but long for more meaningful prayers or find yourself in interfaith gatherings calling for prayer, you will value this a useful resource. The author opens with brief descriptions of common prayer practices from lectio divina to walking meditation, and prayerware from beads to cymbals, chimes, and bells. Twelve chapters are devoted to separate types of prayer, such as prayers for the earth and the animals, blessings, litanies and mantras. Each prayer is labeled according to tradition/path (as Catholic/Christian; Interfaith; and Christian Feminism) and accompanied by a brief explanation of its origin and options for use.

Throughout the ages, most humans have considered their religious worldview the one true Way. This has led to three different modes of thinking: Those who believe that the truest way is to serve all gods and include all religious thoughts, those who believe only one god -their own- should be served, and those who thought all religions too confusing, contradictory or fraught with error to be a reliable guide to understanding the world.

Frances Sheridan Goulart's "God Has No Religion: Blending Traditions for Prayer," falls securely in the first category. This is the way of Hinduism and those who are inclined to mixing religious traditions without regard to the moorings of those traditions will certainly like this book. This volume tackles an important but sensitive question: How to pray, what to pray, and how to pray in a way that is real and satisfying to the individual, and how to apply those practices one values from another tradition. "God has no religion" builds on such books as the Oxford Book of Prayer by containing traditional and modern prayers from other traditions, but Goulart goes further in that she does not make Christianity the primary focus of her collection, and she crafts exercises to challenge participants to step out of their own spiritual tradition. After three introductory chapters which deal with prayer practices, she gets down to the core of the book which are a collection of prayers. Each prayer comes from a specific tradition and is accompanied by a brief Origin note and Options which aid the seeker to flex spiritual muscles. Often the prayers contain italicized sections which the author suggests can be changed to another tradition or removed.

The book's intention seems to be to help the religious seeker better capture the infinite varieties of human worship.

In the first chapter, "Prayers and Praying in the Twenty-first Century" Goulart states, "twenty-first century seekers revere the past but aren't held hostage by it. Almost half of all Americans under thirty, and one-third of those over seventy, think the best religion is one that borrows from all religions." Such statements will make the analytical reader suspicious. Goulart deftly manages not to name the study. Furthermore, while only one sentence specifies "Americans," that specification is so closely linked to "twenty-first century seekers" that a subtle mismanagement of statistics becomes immediately apparent. Although evangelical Christianity and fundamentalist Islam are rising in many non-western culture, it is clear that to Goulart only American societal development that matters. Americans who can distance themselves from the American tendency to believe that "where America goes, the world follows" will be offended at Goulart's apparent western solipsism. Later when Goulart's imprecise writing melds with the American solipsism, we encounter this "Holier-than-thou" spiritual comparison: "21 percent of us think we are more spiritual than our elders." Presumably a book about spiritual diversity should avoid spiritual comparisons. By the time I finished the preface, and read Goulart's definition of "Blessed be" as "A Feminist way of blessing what has passed and what's to come" I had grown so wary about the author's, imprecise writing, lack of directness, and casually-tossed off statistics that only advertising executives, journalists, fact-checkers, and teachers reading term papers would understand my annoyance. Certainly, it would have been more honest to state that "Blessed Be" is of wiccan or neo-pagan origin. I found myself researching almost every prayer or commentary in Goulart's book. Never had I dreamed I would thumb through Vine's Expository Dictionary, the Book of Common Prayer, Greek Dictionaries, and the Oxford Book of Prayer while reviewing a book.

Goulart abridges several prayers and gives adaptations of others. Comparing the wording of prayers in God Has No Religion with the same prayers in the primary sources, I noticed that Goulart made some interesting changes. For instance, Goulart's version of one prayer --"For Today" reads thusly: "O God: Give me strength to live another day; Let me not turn coward before its difficulties."
But in the Book of Common prayer, it actually reads: "O God: Give me strength to live another day; Let me not turn coward before its difficulties or prove recreant to its duties." It's a small change but a telling one.

In the Options section of each page, Goulart gives the reader the opportunity to pick and choose what aspect of a certain prayer to remove. It is probably understandable to many seekers that Goulart should "adapt" The Lorica of St Patrick - a prayer soaked in Christian symbols- but her adaptation so frees the prayer from its moorings that the reader wonders if perhaps Goulart hasn't gone too far. There is so much heavy-duty tampering that her "abridgment" of the Lorica that St Patrick seems more of a worshiper of Gaia than a Christian. And the fact that she doesn't acknowledge that the portion of the prayer she chose is so unlike the major heart of the prayer, makes the reader cringe. Here was censorship by misdirection. Oftentimes, the abridgement and adaptations not only gut the traditional heart of a prayer but they soft-soap the worshipers' duty towards the Supreme Being. For instance, when Goulart abridges Michelle Balek's interreligious prayer "A Prayer For Global Restoration," the hard-hitting aspect of the prayer is removed. Certainly a modern interreligious prayer is already so inclusive, Goulart doesn't need to further strip it.

The author's choice of modern prayers can also be suspect. In describing the origin of a prayer entitled Heart of Compassion, Goulart writes "This prayer is inspired by the belief that Jesus' position as a son of Mary rather than of Joseph in Jewish Palestine suggest that Jesus was perceived as illegitimate and suffered with Mary the rejection of society. His compassion for women and children may have stemmed from this experience." Even if we ignore the Biblical fact that neither enemies nor apostles ever hinted that Jesus was illegitimate (quite the contrary- the people in his hometown called him The Carpenter's Son) the scrutinizing reader is left wondering what exactly does Goulart mean by "the belief" ? Whose belief? The belief of the people in Mary's day? The belief of the one who wrote the modern prayer? And how are we to understand the phrases, "The belief suggests" or "may have stemmed" Suggests to who?

Another moment of suspicion arises in the Origin section of "Forgive Us Our Debts," where Goulart writes "A translation from the original Aramaic by Neil Douglas-Klotz" of the line "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" from the Our Father. What was translated from the Greek as debts or offenses can actually be understood as "hidden past" "secret debt" and `inner fruit.'" While I'm open to finding the therapeutic in the Lord's Prayer, Douglas-Klotz' mistranslation of a word which means "a debt owed but unpaid" as "secret debt" is clearly at odds with the meaning found in every Greek Bible dictionary. It's not that Goulart has considered a modern prayer as traditional, it's that she often bypasses those aspects of a prayer she considers inconvenient and often uses the idiosyncratic beliefs of untraditional clerics and contributors.

The organization of the materials, and the resources will make this book much loved by the uncynical searcher, but those who understand that we live in an age of generalized truthiness, an age of almost-true memoirs, and scripted reality shows will find themselves like the Berean synagogue searching the Scriptures to see if those things are so. The prayers listed in the book do indeed have a form of godliness and are of the sort the comfortable healthy westerner would admire: but they do not speak to those who live oppressed by sickness, poverty, disease, sin. One wishes Goulart had had the moral courage to not use words so slickly and to leave the many prayers as she found them. Why hide the origin of "Blessed Be" for instance? In her attempt to market the idea of blending traditions together, she has created a collection which is not only clearly suspect but a book of prayers spoken to a vague, undemanding, filtered and stripped-down God.

Not recommended.

God Has No Religion: Blending Traditions for Prayer is a collection of prayers from diverse religious sources, from Mother Teresa to the Holy Qur'an to Gandhi, Native American traditions, and more. Each individual prayer is represented with options for when it is most applicable, suggested non-theistic versions, recommendations for focus, reflection, and closing, and a great deal more. An introduction offers a brief overview of prayer practices across various faiths, and the "prayerware" such as the Catholic rosary that go along with them. A deeply spiritual book written for individuals of all beliefs, written in the passionate conviction that the meaning and spirit of the prayer itself and the sincerity behind the sentiment uttered is what truly matters far more than the denomination to which the original prayer is attributed.

I have used this textbook at a for upper-division undergraduate quantum mechanics for 2 years.

This book covers the basics and discusses more physics than mathematical tricks. At approximately 100 pages, it still provides excellent discussions on scattering, perturbation theory and symmetry. I would hope that such a text as this one marks the beginning of a shift in physics textbooks - from the overly verbose with reams of algebra and calculus to the essentials - to one which concentraits on physics.

The one weakness in this book is that it indulges in equations. There are lots and lots of equations in this book. However, in order to organize the material of quantum mechanics in such a terse way, within 192 pages, requires that one substitute equations for discussion. For those who have not had the opportunity to pursue discussion of the why and wherefores of these equations, happily, there is an excellent resource available.

The Transnational College of Lex, of Japan, has an excellent book entitled "What is Quantum Mechanics? A Physics Adventure" which provides the whys and wherefores of these equations. This book is intelligible for anyone without any mathematics or physics background. And it is an excellent supplement to Davies' great book. Although both books belong to different authorship, they were made for each other. I personally did not appreciate Davies' book until I read the aforementioned Japanese book. The mathematics isn't hard. You simply need to be initiated into the hidden tricks and conventions the mathematics community guards the way the fraternity of magicians guard their tricks. There is an excellent analogue between mathematics and magic tricks. Once a trick is explained, its simplicity and trivial nature dawns on you. Similarly, if mathematicians would condescend to the unitiated, and abandon the childish mentality of the fraternal caste, it would be a charming departure from convention to communicate with nonmathematicians. The paucity of solutions in books that provide "answers to selected exercises" does not serve an educational motive, but has an obvious ulterior motive. The Japanese disregard the snobbery and unload all the details. I think that explains their advance beyond Western technological education. Western European culture is degenerating in its educational methods because of the status its Ivy League colleges place on education. "Titles," not "content" seems to be the only significance for obtaining an education today.

To sum up, Paul Davies' book should not be read so much for its lucidity (which it is in parts) but for the aesthetic way in which he organized the material of quantum mechanics and the value this has for posterity.

This is the best QM I have. I would recommend it to any undergraduate student studying this subject. The book is very small and pleasant to read. It's great to use as a complement to a more comercial book like Gasiorowicz's one which I also recommend. It's the most compact book on the subject and the author looses no time with numerical examples. A must have.

I reviewed the manuscript for the first edition of Davies's book for Routledge & Kegan Paul and recommended it fairly enthusiastically. The book was limited, but what it did it did relatively well. It was brief but clear, well-written, did not introduce too much of the usual mythology in discussing 'wave-particle duality' (I liked the discussion of the two-slit experiment), and went on to present the introductory ideas and mathematics of quantum mechanics in an attractive way. I used it in the spring of 1998 to prepare several lectures for my junior-level modern physics class, and recommended that my students read sections of it.

I can not recommend this new edition. At $42.95 the cost is probably about four times that of the original edition. For a book of this size and limitation, a bargain at $10, $40 is ridiculously overpriced. At $42.95 there are too many attractive alternatives.

This book had a very intriguing opening. A vampire and a ghoul meet over a couple of dead bodies in an alley in San Francisco. They part and I wanted to know what happened to lead up to this meeting and what was going to come of it. Instead the authors take me back to mid 19th century Japan. Ok still interesting. A drunken nearly out of work actor hiding from something in his past leaves a tavern excoriating the saki he has just drank. He is not particularly likeable as a character but apparently the vampire sees something to like about him because it isn't took long before they are engaging in graphic sex.

I couldn't believe in the sudden lust though. I couldn't see what the vampire saw in the nearly out of work actor. Although we are told he is graceful and previously a good actor he seems to show not even the hint of those qualities. And surprisingly, the descriptions of the act did not ring true to me as m/m sex. The language was so vague that it could have been het sex if the authors hadn't been told me it was two guys.

M/m roamnces can be incredibly sweet, the sex can be incredibly hot. But this book just did not work for me at all on either a story level or an erotic level.

I did like the cover although I'm not a manga fan. (I kept wondering if there was something about the manga conventions that I was not getting that was keeping me from giving myself to the story but in that case I would still have to rate it at 2 stars for being inaccesible.)

Kiyoshi is a three century years old vampire who lives alone. He has not allowed to his demon nature to overwhelm his human behaviour and feed from human only when it's strictly necessary and most of the time from dying human.

But one night he meets Ryuhei, a spoilt actor, full of himself and with all the bad manners of a dethroned kabuki star. But he is also handsome and passionate, and his blood is so sweet. Kiyoshi is inesorably attracted from this man and will do everything to stay with him. Maybe he has found someone to share his life.

But Ryuhei is a mortal man, and while years pass he's aging and he fears his eternal young lover will finally leave him. He doesn't know cause Kiyoshi is still so beautiful and young while the beauty of Ryuhei is fading, and now they are in San Francisco, and the ever so gentle and quite Kiyoshi is acting in a strange way.

I absolutely love Ryuhei: he is the classical spoilt characters, egoistic and vain, but so persuaded that his love must be enough for his Kiyoshi: why he has to search someone or something else when he can have him? And even so, you can't not love him back. He is the perfect image of a kabuki actor.

Ryuhei instead is a "real" character: he is a vampire, with the needs and the desires of a blood sucker. He is not a perfect soul who can resist to the inner claims of his body: he loves and fails.

So we have two unperfect characters so perfect for this tale. I can't wait to read the other stories in this enchanting series.

This story left a little to be desired. The story at one point got a pathetic. I only gave it three stars because it was a little sweet. But have you ever read a book that you felt related to a robot, you know no feelings? Well I could not get into the main character on this one. It felt like a robot was telling the story, no feelings at all. It was descriptive enough but leaves you with a feeling of "something was missing but you're not sure what specifically."

Soul of the Night is an outstanding work of yaoi literature produced in the west (and) contains top notch black and white illustrations!

The kabuki troupe's magic depends on the physical transformation of the
eternally youthful vampire, Kiyoshi, into a woman.
Kiyoshi's origins were revealed in BLOOD BROTHERS.
[...].

Both on the stage and in the bedroom, Kiyoshi is loved by Nakamura
Ryuhei a skillful but aging actor. Parallel to Kiyoshi's
metamorphosis from man to woman, with the aid of makeup and costume, is
his descent from a blood drinker in control of his urges to a
ruthless predator thirsting for the essence of Dao Kan Shu, the
Poisoned Dragon.

Kiyoshi has to choose between his loyalty to Ryuhei or the primal
urge to consume the Dragon, Shu, and risk losing his humanity anchored by
love.

Ryuhei's greatest fear is loneliness. Ironically, the infamous and
most desired actor was once surrounded by infinite crowds and
admirers---but all he wants is to have his gentle Kiyoshi back. As the actor's beloved sinks farther into the shadows of San Francisco, Nakamura's resolve may push him to offer more than just his love.

Although my review may seem "serious" Soul of the Night's
greatest charm is its unexpected laugh out loud humor!!! There are
back stage feuds between Nakamura and "that bitch" Hoshi, another
actor. Oh, don't assume that our loveable Nakamura is an angel
either, Akira, Hoshi's partner, calls Nakamura a "fussy dick" for a
reason.

Most importantly, you'll get what you want---hot man sex (^_^)

Tristan's adventures continue on land. After struggling to get Sea Dart across South America--sometimes dragging the boat through the jungle--Tristan is in danger of losing her. He lives on the streets, takes odd jobs and sinks into despair. It all makes the triumph at the end of the book that much sweeter.

A really wonderful book. Not a simple task to write an entire book based on life in a rescue dinghi. Like Anne Frank's Diary, the book seems at times to drag on ad infinitum, but this was it's strength. You truely feel the anticipation of the character. I couldn't put the book down. I recommend it.

The book takes you from a point in Jones' life where just finished hauling his boat up to "naval of the world", lake Titikaka--the highest lake in the world in Peru. Jones wanted to set a record as being the first man to ever sail upon this lake--he at least is the first to make this claim. The book picks up just after this and tells of a time where he eeks out a living in Brazil. He attempts and finally finds success selling a story that finances his return to England. He runs into difficulty with the authorities there and decides to sail to New York City were he manages to "shoe-horn" his diminutive boat "Sea Dart" into the elevator of Waldorf Astoria. He does this by cutting the cabin top off his boat. All this just so he could display it when he speaks of his adventures to the Explorer's Club.

It is not a book about sailing. I was looking to purchase a book about Tristan Jones sailing adventures. I learned very little about sailing when reading this book, because it was about a period of time where Tristan was barely surviving in South America trying to raise money to head to sea again. It is not a bad book, but it is not his best. This should not be your first Tristan Jones book. Don't buy this if you want a book on sailing. DO BUY this book if you want insight in how it is to be poor in South America. He tell of all sorts of horrifible atrocities taking place, like murder and genocide. I enjoyed the book but found some portions disturbing. I have to question it's accuracy, simply because he was a poor and desperate man at the time. Could he have embellished it to make the story easier to sell? My feeling is yes. I took it with a grain of salt, and because of the disturbing images, I doubt I'll re-read it.