Smith Books

Excellent! I've been waiting for the last installment in Maureen's "Affair" series and it was well worth it. So much passion between Dane and Solange. Theirs was a cute love story bcz neither was looking to fall in love. But . . . BAM . . . They took the risk and it paid off.

Kinda felt a little sorry for Crandall because he'd spent so many years with so many regrets and huge heartache, but even he deserved a little happiness, right?

Solange and Dane shared a HOT passion for one another that was out of control from the first moment they met. My favorite part is the night of the storm after her ex-boyfriend resurfaced. WOW!!

Maureen Smith . . . Encore, Encore . . .

P.S. Still waiting for the sequel to "Taming a Wolf".

This was a really great book a real page turner. All I can say is that I'm looking for my Risky Affair. Thanks Ms. Smith for another great book.

This story is wothy of the purchase! When you begin reading about Crandall and Tessa love affair it captures your interest through and through. However, the plot thickens as the intelligent "Solange Washington" spies the sexy PI "Dane Roarke" and becomes enchanted by his sizzling charm!! The affair blossoms into more than just a lustful meet and greet!! Solange finds closure to heal and pursue new beginnings. It's a delicious romance that will capture your attention.

From the moment Dane and Solange met, it's an instant attraction, one that Crandall Throne tries so hard to discourage. Dane and Crandall remind me of Will and Uncle Phill's relationship on the Fresh Prince. They had me laughing. Those two can go at it. Solange is one tough girl after all she's been through, she still managed to follow her dreams and not get weary. Solange and Dane could not deny their obvious attraction towards each other and it was fun to see them try especially for Solange. I loved Ms. Rita; she knew how to handle Crandall. I liked the scene between Dane and Solange with the polygraph test, it was a classic. Their journey to love and the secrets about Solange parentage made this book a riveting read. I could not put this book down because I had to know how this story would play out and I was not disappointed. I hope Ms. Smith revisit the Roarke and Throne families like she hinted at in her readers note.

Crandall Thorne and Tessa had a affair and an illegitimate daughter years ago and secretly gave her up for adoption. Crandall later finds out that she had a daughter who was adopted and decides to hire her to be his personal assistant. Solange has no idea that he is her grandfather when she takes the job. She accepted it because her adoptive parents had died and her fiance broke up with her and she needed a clean break away from it all. She falls in love with Dane Roarke the private investigater that Crandall hired to do a backgroud check on her. He in turn finds out the truth after Crandall tries to keep him away from Solange and then all hell breaks loose. This story is a prime example to old saying 'That what happens in the dark always come to light'! Great story and a page turner from the beginning to the end.

The authors of `Road to Eleusis' - they include Albert Hofmann, the discoverer of LSD, and Gordon Wasson, the white man who in 1957 revealed the continued existence of the pre-Columbian sacred-mushroom rite to the non-Mexican Indian world - argue that a water-soluble alkaloid contained in ergot, a tiny fungus which attacks grains and grasses, was the principal psychoactive ingredient of the `kykeon', the sacred potion drunk before the celebration of the Mysteries of Eleusis by those awaiting initiation. The philological and psycho-pharmacological argument of `Road to Eleusis' is compelling but to get the most from the book, read it in combination with `Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter' by Karl Kerenyi, a disciple of Carl Jung, which provides an introduction to the history of Eleusis and contains a psychological study of the Mysteries.

In pre-Classical times, it is likely that almost the entire population of Athens walked the fifteen-mile distance to Eleusis at harvest time every year in order to drink the `kykeon' and experience the sense of the mythic reunion of Persephone, the Daughter, with Demeter, the Mother who taught men how to plant seeds and reap the fruit. The Christ, the draw in the psychological game of chess between the Hellenised Middle East and Israel, speaks distantly but clearly of Eleusis in John 12: 20-24 and Cicero, the Roman philosopher, author and statesman who coined the phrase `bread and circuses' to damn the spectacular politics of his time, was an initiate.

Iktinos, architect of the Parthenon, also designed the Telesterion, the classical-period temple of the Mysteries of which only broken columns survive. However, scattered throughout `Eleusis' by Kerenyi are bits and pieces of the psychological vocabulary of the Mysteries which with the help of ancient Greek and Indo-European comparative etymological dictionaries allow a reconstruction of the mind of the initiate. For example, `tele', from `telos', the full circle, the crown - today, we hear it many times every day in connection with technology; however, at Eleusis `tele' had a sacral meaning.

Eleusis was to religion in Athens what democracy was to Athenian politics: essential.

`Road to Eleusis' and `Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter' - read both; and when in Greece, don't miss Eleusis, 20 miles south of Athens on the mainland across the water from the island of Salamis, open every day from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. except Monday when the site is closed.

The quality of the chapters varies by author, but the material by classicist Carl Ruck alone is worth the price of admission. And yet mainstream classicism, and political philosophy, continue to remain ignorant of these ancient practices or, worse, deliberately distort and misrepresent - so as to delegitimize - arguments such as those found in this work. This book is, quite simply, essential reading for anyone interested in ancient Greece.

If other books are dynamite, this is nuclear. It documents how the Mystai at Eleusis became Epoptes, a standard rite of passage for all the famous Greek minds we seek to understand. Full understanding is not possible without initiation such as is outlined in this volume. Eleusis is at the end of a line of mystical experience that goes back to 5000 BCE. Is is not so much that the Mystery of Eleusis is revealed, as that it points the sacred way how to unravel the mystery of our own existence. The Greeks knew, and if you do as they did, you can. Wasson tells us what the Greeks did.

This is an inspiring collaboration between a passionate amateur scholar and his professional scholar friends. How delightful to read something that isn't dumbed down. The analysis and induction is nicely supplemented by the "Hymn to Demeter." Much for the brain to chew on!

Wasson et al's revelations of the complexity of the myths that surrounded the Eleusian mysteries are fodder for hours upon hours of thought play about the foundations of our culture today.

The authors of `Road to Eleusis' - they include Albert Hofmann, the discoverer of LSD, and Gordon Wasson, the white man who in 1957 revealed the continued existence of the pre-Columbian sacred-mushroom rite to the non-Mexican Indian world - argue that a water-soluble alkaloid contained in ergot, a tiny fungus which attacks grains and grasses, was the principal psychoactive ingredient of the `kykeon', the sacred potion drunk before the celebration of the Mysteries of Eleusis by those awaiting initiation. The philological and psycho-pharmacological argument of `Road to Eleusis' is compelling but to get the most from the book, read it in combination with `Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter' by Karl Kerenyi, a disciple of Carl Jung, which provides an introduction to the history of Eleusis and contains a psychological study of the Mysteries.

In pre-Classical times, it is likely that almost the entire population of Athens walked the fifteen-mile distance to Eleusis at harvest time every year in order to drink the `kykeon' and experience the sense of the mythic reunion of Persephone, the Daughter, with Demeter, the Mother who taught men how to plant seeds and reap the fruit. The Christ, the draw in the psychological game of chess between the Hellenised Middle East and Israel, speaks distantly but clearly of Eleusis in John 12: 20-24 and Cicero, the Roman philosopher, author and statesman who coined the phrase `bread and circuses' to damn the spectacular politics of his time, was an initiate.

Iktinos, architect of the Parthenon, also designed the Telesterion, the classical-period temple of the Mysteries of which only broken columns survive. However, scattered throughout `Eleusis' by Kerenyi are bits and pieces of the psychological vocabulary of the Mysteries which with the help of ancient Greek and Indo-European comparative etymological dictionaries allow a reconstruction of the mind of the initiate. For example, `tele', from `telos', the full circle, the crown - today, we hear it many times every day in connection with technology; however, at Eleusis `tele' had a sacral meaning.

Eleusis was to religion in Athens what democracy was to Athenian politics: essential.

`Road to Eleusis' and `Eleusis: Archetypal Image of Mother and Daughter' - read both; and when in Greece, don't miss Eleusis, 20 miles south of Athens on the mainland across the water from the island of Salamis, open every day from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. except Monday when the site is closed.

Who ever reads a cookbook? I used my cookbooks to find recipes and skip through all the fluff. This is the first cookbook I've actually read and thats because it a celebration of life. light a candle, grab a good bottle of wine and cook.

This book is an absolute treat! It's not just another cookbook -the delicious tales that go with the recepies are food for the imagination and for the soul, while fabulous and pretty simple recepies are wonderfully surprising treats for the tastebuds. I especially love the Cowboy Cookies which were a huge hit at my Christmas potluck party.

This book is chock-full of luscious, easy to prepare recipes that delight all the senses. It transformed me from a one dish wonder to a gourmet gal! Margie Lapanja makes cooking a pleasure. The stories, trivia, folklore, and facts on food are astounding, quirky, amusing, and always interesting. I find it so wonderful to whip up a recipe and read an engaging tale while I wait for it to cook up in the oven or on the stove. This book helped me unleash my creative culinary skills and to discover the power of great food, lovingly prepared. I especially appreciate that this cookbook is just as appropriate for a skilled chef as well as the "can't boil water" set. It makes a great gift.

I ABSOLUTELY ADORE THIS BOOK. IT IS A MUST HAVE FOR EVERY KITCHEN. I LOVE THE WAY SHE MAKES COOKING FUN, EXCITING AND PLAYFUL. THERE ARE SOME VERY INTERESTING TWISTS TO SOME COMMON RECEIPES AND LOTS OF INSIGHT ON WISHES AND HOW TO ACHEIVE THEM! I AM VERY ANXIOUSLY AWAITING HER NEXT CREATION (BOOK)! THE COWBOY COOKIE RECEIPE ALONE WILL PAY FOR THE BOOK AND MAKE GREAT GIFTS FOR BIRTHDAYS, HOLIDAYS, OR JUST BECAUSE! CONGRATULATIONS MARGIE YOU'VE DONE A TERRIFIC JOB! JK

I wouldn't of believed it...but it's true. Putting these dishes together brought a lovely spirit into our home. I actually had all the ingredients in my pantry for most of the recipes and they were easy to prepare and my family thought I was a goddess. DREAM PUFFS are a must when you want to show your kids just how much you love them in the kitchen. When I have to work a long day and need to get back in touch with the family, GODDESS IN THE KITCHEN is the cookbook I pull out first. Let the spirits in.

This is a perfectly wonderful book to give to not only those that already have a great relationship with their dog and want to further their knowledge of canine-human communication, but also to those that would like to know how to develop one. I've always wanted to find "just the right book" I could share with people I've come across that have very little or no idea how to properly relate to their dog(s)- WITHOUT offending or boring them. This book is it! It has a catchy title that doesn't scream "ho-hum instruction manual", and it's written in a unique style that is a natural page turner, packed with interesting anecdotes as well as well-researched information that gives rise to amazing insights. Thousands of dogs will be healthier and happier for their owners to have read this gem of a book.

This was a superb book. It confirmed so many things I knew about dogs...the very same things I had a difficult time convincing "expert" trainers about! It also taught me quite a few things by clarifying the subtle differences between several canine messages, by explaining the different behaviors of certain breeds of dogs, and by clearing up the issues of common misinformation.

This is a beautifully structured book. I was comfortable enough to read straight through it in two sittings. The sidebar exercises were fun and informative. The gentle training methods used in this book work with the dog's natural behaviors, easing stress on both species. Not to be forgotten, the book was a lot of fun, too.

Included in the index is a nice resource section packed with websites, mailing addresses, and telephone numbers of noteworthy organizations. There are even sections in the book that touch briefly on canine massage techniques and the possibility of telepathic communication with dogs. Chapter 12 deals solely with various events and competitions dogs can enter and enjoy.

This is a great book for anyone interested in strengthening the bond they share with their canine companion(s).

The Rosetta Bone is the best dog training, dog communication, human/pet love stories book I have ever read (and I have a shelf full to which I often refer). Learning to read my dogs' body language and gaining an awareness of how they read mine, has opened a new dimension of fun and sharing in our relationship. They and I are more responsive to each other and take more joy in the time we spend together each day. This book is a must read for the person acquiring their first dog, experiencing behavior problems with a current animal, or wanting to communicate with their dog on a deeper level. Cheryl Smith's insights into how dogs communicate (top dogs give a disdainful look--they don't jerk misbehavig subordinates or roll them on their back) turns training into play time and enhances the dog's life with its people. Thanks to the Rosetta Bone the time I spend with my dogs is more relaxed and joyful. Thanks Cheryl Smith--you've done the dog loving world a great favor with this great book!

This book raised my consciousness about the two way communication between dog and owner. It doesn't give many step by step directions about training but that can be found in reference books at the end of the book. Perhaps understanding the relatiionship with our pets is a bigger step before attempting specific training. I found myself much more sensitive to my dog after reading this.

It's an awesome book. Very interesting and informational.

We finally have a book that pulls several different IOS security strategies together. So many references prior to this one touch on these topics sporadically but I have yet to find a better resource that covers all the bases as does this one.

The things I like about this book:

So many authors tend to try to spread their subject matter out too wide and take too broad of an approach when writing about network security. Schudel and Smith didn't do that. Instead they focused on specific areas and worked diligently to stay on target. It was very refreshing to read a book that actually didn't wander off on tangential subjects on a regular basis.

As for actual subject matter I was very pleased to find a book that discussed the various "planes" within Cisco IOS. In my opinion Cisco has not been very good about documenting this subject and so this book has cleared up several knowledge gaps I had prior to reading it. All of the bits of information I've heard or read about in the past were pulled together in a clear and concise manner. It was also pleasing to see just the right amount of configuration "shows" rather than pages and pages of them.

I also was very happy that this book was not full of fluff. The authors used just enough background info to convey their message but did not go overboard in non-essential detail. As with any technical reference I prefer thorough and correct information but many times there is just too much description that just gets in the way.

Some reviewers stated that the authors repeated themselves within this book. For me this was not a negative. There are certain topics that I very much need repeated in order to retain it thoroughly and so this was not a problem for me. The repetitious content was neither significant nor time consuming so I consider it to be a positive rather than a negative.

The things I do not like about this book:

This is trivial but I would have much preferred a hardback book rather than a paperback. This is a personal preference of course but hardbacks tend to last longer for me.

That's just yet another great title from Cisco Press!. This book does a great job of logically dividing the overall router security into each logical context by way of describing the router's planes. I also found very elaborate and diverse "Further Reading" towards the end of each chapter very useful. I particularly liked the idea of overall structure and quality of contents in the book which relate to both a casual and an advanced reader!

Book is structured into four Parts;

Part I focuses on laying the foundation for the rest of the book. It achieves this purpose by talking about the Enterprise and SP network fundamentals. This also includes day-in-the-life-of-a-packet through various router switching mechanisms. Chapter 2 re-hashes the network security/threat models but does a nice job of dividing it into various aspects of architectures including various IP VPNs scenarios.

For an advanced reader, this should serve as a nice refresher!

Part II introduces you to real meat of router security, i.e., securing the router planes in both IP and MPLS networks. Authors do a good job of describing the details of each component. Chapters in this section contain working details and IOS configuration snippets to enhance the understanding of various concepts discussed. An advanced user will find all the details given here very useful, and prefer read them cover to cover.

Part III walks you through various case studies to further the concepts explained in the prior chapters. I particularly like the idea of covering both Enterprise and SP case studies. It provides use cases, application examples, and best practices guidelines for the key concepts discussed in the whole book

In Part IV, I very much like the idea of not just copying pasting the headers as-is, rather adding the security implications of each and putting them into its context. Cisco IOS to IOS-XR Security transition is also useful although to mostly SP audience.

This book discusses security as in Router planes for both IP and MPLS VPNs Security. A few times you can notice that authors are repeating themselves.

Overall, I strongly recommend this book to all network security engineers as MPLS (due to its inherent advantages and applications) is gaining momentum not only in the service provider space but also in the enterprise market segment.

Router Security Strategies is a book about protecting ip networks by dividing them into different segments. Network engineers for service providers and larger enterprise networks will benefit most from this manual.

Chapters 1 through 7 are not a cookbook that you can look up sample configurations, but a broad coverage of security concerns. The authors spend these chapters leading the reader to an understanding of how ip traffic can be broken down into different categories, and how to define them as well as the particular vulnerabilities each has.

Schudel and Smith describe a three dimensional way of looking at security. Whereas we may have previously thought of securing each interface in a path, this book explodes this view into a multi-dimensional paradigm of data, control, management, and services. Like parallel universes each must be addressed separately while maintaining a big picture of how each plane can affect the other. The data plane is the actual payload for applications. The control plane indicates protocols that keep the traffic flowing to their destination. The management plane concerns the network administrator's access to the equipment. Special features such as Virtual Private Networks and Quality of Service constitute the services plane.
Chapters 8 and 9 give case studies that include diagrams, numbered line configurations, with documentation.

Appendix B details of each section of IP, TCP, and other protocol packets with vulnerabilities for each part. This is the first time I have seen this type of break down and found it made several aspects of attacks clearer to me. There are several other appendices that cover the IOS XR image and an excellent section on security incident handling that one could use as an outline for their company to use. I give Router Security Strategy 5 stars.

Gregg Schudel's and David Smith's book, "Sec Router Security Strategies: Securing IP Network Traffic Planes (Networking Technology: Security)", provided some of the best layering of security technologies I've read to date. It provides the needed understanding of security concerns and the methods to control them, from the bottom of the stack within the box to the top, deep into the application layers. Because it includes both IT and SP network considerations, I'm able to recommend this to all my consulting engineers.

D. Stewart, Engineering Manager
DeBrick Consulting

Router Security Strategies (RSS) is the sort of Cisco security book I like to read. Some of you were surprised by my three star review of another recent Cisco security book -- LAN Switch Security (LSS). I suggest the authors of that book take a look at RSS as a model for writing a second edition of LSS. RSS is well-organized, very clear, and backed by plenty of actionable command syntax. Were it not for a tendency to unnecessarily repeat and summarize material, I would have rated RSS five stars. Nevertheless, anyone operating Cisco routers would do well to consider how RSS approaches the network security problem.

RSS focuses on ways to protect transit, receive, and exception IP traffic in the data, control, management, and service planes of Enterprise and Service Provider (SP) networks. That one sentence almost summarizes the entire table of contents, where Chs 4-7 cover the four planes, Chs 8 and 9 provide case studies for Enterprise and SP networks, respectively, and Chs 1-3 provide introductory and conceptual material. This is how to write a technical book! Tangential material appears in four appendices, and the authors keep the reader on track through the entire text.

RSS makes a compelling case for network security in a world where applications and Web 2.0 are all the rage. I believe many people who scoff at network security have no real idea of the complexities inherent in modern network infrastructure. Too many application-centric people take it for granted that they can reach whatever Web victim they're attacking; perhaps that is a credit to network engineers who've made their creations just work and not be the center of attention. Should attackers decide to focus on network infrastructure, RSS provides plenty of techniques for defending routers and even some switches. I enjoyed learning more about several uRPF techniques, Flexible Pattern Matching (FPM), Selective Packet Discard, Receive ACLS, Control Plane Policing, Dynamic APR Inspection (DAI), and CLI Views. Many of these methods exist to protect the network itself, not necessarily the endpoints. While the authors do mention a desire to protect hosts, I liked seeing such a focus on defending infrastructure. Perhaps "network security" should be a term transitioned to solely mean protecting network platforms?

I thought Appendix B would be the standard catalog of TCP/IP header diagrams, but I was pleasantly described to see a different approach. App B did depict IP, TCP, UDP, ICMP, IEEE 802.3, and 802.1Q headers, but the authors provide a security implication for each field in these headers. I found that to be original and informative.

I subtracted one star for two aspects of the book which bothered me. First, the authors tend to use the term "threat" in a manner which is not consistent with real threat terminology. For example, p 87 speaks of "the potential threat and impact of a given vulnerability". Threat, impact, and vulnerability are all separate concepts. Ch 2, where such terminology appears, is titled "Threat Models for IP Networks." If you read the chapter it is a catalog of attacks, which sections titled "Resource Exhaustion Attacks", "Spoofing Attacks", and so on. Clearly Ch 2 is "Attack Models for IP Networks".

Second, although the material in RSS is excellent, the authors' tendency to repeat concepts wore me down. It's usually acceptable to begin a section by referencing and/or rephrasing material from an earlier chapter, or at worst farther back in the same chapter. It's simply annoying to be told the same material that appeared in the last paragraph. Any time the reader encounters "as stated in the last section" or similar, the authors should reconsider discussing the concept again. Edits like these wouldn't necessarily shrink the book that much, but the text would not treat the reader as if he or she has too short an attention span to remember what he or she just read.

Despite those two concerns, I still very much enjoyed reading RSS. You will probably get more out of the book if you have MPLS experience, but the authors provide plenty of background anyway. One of the best aspects of RSS is the presentation of extensive IOS syntax for all of the major concepts in the book. The authors do not talk about a technique and then leave it as an exercise for the reader to determine how that idea should be implemented in IOS. Those trying to protect data, control, management, and service IP traffic will be well-served by reading RSS.

I read this book and The Ark 3 or 4 times each nearly 30 years ago when I was middle-school age. Ultimately books about the triumph of the human spirit,the author beautifully portrays the sacrifices, terrors, and love of a close family and their beloved animals during and immediately following WWII. Few adolescent books are as poignant as these. I'm so glad to see that at least one of them is still available. I hope that Amazon will find and start carrying The Ark as well.

If you are reading this you probably stumbled here by accident; not many people know about ROWAN FARM or the other books by Margot Benery-Isbert. If you don't I pity you for you are missing some of the greatest literature ever written.

ROWAN FARM is the sequel to THE ARK, which is also an incredible, powerful book. These books are the story of a German refugee family in West Germany after the second World War. One of the boys was killed when the Russians came to their home and the father is just recently back from a Russian prison camp. The family has found a place on a farm with a dog breeder and her son also recently from war. The family of seven live in a transformed railroad car called the Ark.

The story encompasses the troubles for refugees, veteren soldiers who have no homes to come home to, and the lives of the young people on the farm trying to make a place for themselves in a broken country. It is a powerful book that makes you laugh at the undaunted seven year-old boys as they practice to join the circus and it makes you cry when one of the farmhands finally finds his three year-old son after years of searching. After the desolation of the war, this is a story of hope that simply makes you glow all over as you read. You share the joy of seeing a lamb born with the very real people in the story. You can feel the spark that gives it a very special vitality.

Beautiful is the only word that comes close to describing ROWAN FARM. Simply Beautiful.

"Rowan Farm" is a direct sequel to "The Ark" (which you'll need to read first to understand what's going on), and equally as good. We pick up the Lechow family in January, 1948. They've settled in at Mrs. Almut's farm in a converted railway carriage, and been reunited with their father and husband, who is at last home from the Siberian POW camp. Though things are getting better, there are still personal and political tests ahead of them. Matthias, now almost 17, finds himself involved in a rivalry with Mrs. Almut's son Bernd over a pretty visitor. 11-year-old Andrea campaigns quietly but grimly against her father's resolve to send her to college, when her only dream is to be an actress. Joey and newly adopted "twin" Hans Ulrich (now called Ull by the family) get involved in their schoolmaster's plan to build a home for returning veterans. Dr. Lechow struggles to establish a practice with nothing but his medical bag and the herbal remedies taught to him by old Marri, the neighborhood "bee-witch." Everyone worries about the coming currency reform and what it will do to their savings (if any) and their plans for the future. And Margret suffers the pangs of first love, rescues an abused Shetland pony, and meets an American Quaker relief worker who offers to take her to the United States. Like its predecessor, this excellent YA novel, which can be enjoyed just as well by adult readers, begs to be brought back in print. Let's all e-mail Scholastic and the other major publishers of kiddie books until they agree to do so!

I read this book in grade school, before I knew much about WW II. I read this book and The Ark rather secretly, because my family and schoolteacher were of the penchant that the "Germans got what they deserved" and that German refugees weren't deserving of sympathy. I loved the book then, but was unable to find anything else that this author had written. Many years later I came across Rowan Farm in a used bookstore. Coincidentally, I ended up married to a German man from Berlin, whose grandparents had suffered terribly during the war and afterwards....I had also become an amateur historian, specializing in the first half of the 20th century. Reading Rowan Farm now was a delight, since I could better understand what was transpiring, and didn't have to read it secretly! It should be required reading of schoolchildren, so they can get a more balanced view of war--that there are no winners or losers, just people who suffer and endure, and in this case, find love no matter what.

In fifth grade, my class had to read this book. My teacher told us that it wasn't very well known but that it was absolutely wonderful. She was right. I don't remember much about the plot because it was so long ago, but I do remember being unable to put the book down. Everyone in my class loved it, and most read The Ark afterwards.

When Robert Ellsberg's All Saints was reviewed on the campus of Adrian Dominican Sisters, book orders flowed from our well-seasoned readers in the spiritual life. Now with The Saints' Guide to Happiness our community was ready for more substance from Ellsberg, and we have it.

This latest work translates the lives of the saints in ways that are helpful, and most importantly, believable to our everyday experience. The eight 'Learning to' chapters offer something for everyone whether we are content with our lives, or living with boredom, or even find ourselves suffering and burdened by doubt.

Half the book is taken up with two chapters-Learning to Suffer and Learning to Die- addressing some of the most urgent questions of today in how to put together happiness with suffering and death. After reading those two chapters, one of our members whose illness once took her to the edge of death said, "After coping with a life-threatening illness ...you get a clarity of vision and you don't waste time on small things.... The Chapters on suffering and dying in The Saints' Guide to Happiness speaks much to me... I love this book and will keep it with me and read it from time to time so that I get some more encouragement in the 'hard parts' of life."

The Saints' Guide heightens our sensitivity "to the way God is present in our lives.... The path to happiness is rooted in the place where we are, and not just some holy place somewhere else." Ellsberg's words have found a warm home here in Adrian as he has preached to the preachers a good word!

Robert Ellsberg's ALL SAINTS was well received by many Catholic readers and deservedly so. The biographies found in the first book are well researched and his selection of famous and not so famous Christians (and in a few cases non-Christians) is interesting. Ellsberg once again turns to the well known figures in Christian history in his newest work THE SAINTS' GUIDE TO HAPPINESS.

In Billy Joel's song "Only the Good Die Young" he has the famous line `I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints; the sinners have much more fun.' Joel's assessment is a somewhat popular misconception of the saints. In many cases we view saints as long suffering men and women who hardly see the joy in life. Ellsberg would not agree with this misconception. Using the writings of many of the traditional saints of Christian history, as well as leading religious figures who are not officially recognized as saints, Ellsberg shows that many of the saints strove to love full and vital lives while on earth and were not simply concerned with enduring life on earth to merit the joys of everlasting life. Ellsberg uses Aristotle's definition of happiness as a springboard, that happiness is not merely a feeling of joy, but rather the fullness of life. Saints lived lives to the full, whether it was through their ministry, their interactions with others, the ways in which they endured hardship and suffering, or the way that they died. Throughout the book the reader sees that Ellsberg has great admiration for his subjects and sees their lives as examples of how we can live our lives.

The book appears to be a self help book, but it is not a book that gives the reader answers. Rather, it presents the significant aspects of our lives: being alive, work, loving others, suffering, and death, and presents the saints as guides who can assist us as we navigate our own lives.

The book is a rather easy read. Ellsberg's writing has a nice flow to it and the book is well organized. Readers can easily sit and read an entire chapter, or read the book slowly in a reflective manner. The hardcover edition of the book has a ribbon which serves as a bookmark, which makes it easy to use as a devotional tool.

I couldn't wait for this one because Robert Ellsberg's "All Saints" has been my favorite daily reading ever since it came out. "The Saints Guide to Happiness" is even better than I expected. It helps that Robert Ellsberg was personal friends with at least two of the stars in this book, Henri Nouwen and Dorothy Day. For those mourning the loss of the great Catholic spiritual writers in these harsh days, they can look to Robert Ellsberg. I want many more books from him. He keeps getting better and better. The positive editorial reviews above have it right. This book will make an incomparable Christmas gift. I am right now rereading it from the beginning. There aren't many books I own which I can read over and over and this is one of them.

It is not so much the great amount of interesting information about some very special (but also very normal) people that makes this book worthwhile, but rather the slow and patient vision of true happiness that it weaves. The chapters of the book are structured as lessons to be learned not in order to reach some eventual place of happiness but to lay hold of it now: Learning to Be Still; Learning to Relinquish; Learning to Work; Learning to Suffer; Learning to Die... What is so life affirming about this book is the overwhelming assent to happiness and to its pursuit embodied in persons whom we usually take to be super human in their efforts at self-renunciation. Yes, these were disciplined men and women, but they were also driven by and in pursuit of a Joy that they discovered as the true essence of their human lot. I like the way the book slowly and engagingly transforms our usual, narrow, paltry, notion of a happiness dependent on comfort to one founded on that inner certitude (which can exist even amidst suffering) that we are traveling, slowly but surely, on the path we were meant to travel. And along the way we meet some pretty inspiring fellow travelers not as different from you or me as you would first think.

Robert Ellsberg deserves sainthood himself, for putting this wonderful material within easy reach of the lay public -- without losing the depth and nobility of his subject. This is GOOD reading -- inspiring as well as educational. What a delightful surprise to find a book that gives us a new spin on some very old names, and a fresh look at what it means to live a life of depth, devotion, and reverence. I really could NOT put it down until finished it.

It is easy today to get depressed about mankind. Bronowski demonstrates that there is hope for us yet. He also demonstrates that we, perhaps know more and are capable of more than we thought.

Bronowski's "Science & Human Values" should be purchased with A.J. Ayer's "Language, Truth & Logic" --the quintessential explanation of the "verifibility criterion of meaning". Just as the Russell/Whitehead "Principia Mathematica" sought to ground mathematics upon a foundation of pure logic, the "verifibility criterion of meaning" sought to provide an empirical basis for all scientific enquiry. However, the inescapable conclusion is that ethical imperatives (sentences containing the word "ought" or its equivalent) are non-sensical. However logical, this position may be untenable from a practical standpoint. Jacob Bronowski's crtique of the "logical positivist" position in his "Science and Human Values" pointed out an underlying social injunction implied in the positivist and analyst methods. That implied imperative is: "we OUGHT to act in such a way that what IS true can be verified to be so". Ironically, Bronowski's critique may have saved logical positivism from its own inflexible consistency, placing its edifice not upon an unassailable axiom but rather upon an "ought statement" which will not admit of proof by the very method which is its logical offspring.

While Bronowski's book, Science and Human Values is often lauded as a critique of logical positivism, I found it to be much more than just that. Bronowski launches a critique on a more pervasive foundation of western philosophy, that of dualism. Bronowski seeks to reduce the dualistic view that somehow science and technology are antithetical to the human spirit. The book is constructed as an extended essay consisting of three distinct, though closely related arguments:

a) The Creative Mind - an argument that the human mind operates creatively whether engaged in logical constructivist activities or in more subjective expressions of thought. In short, Bronowski argues here that the Poet and the Physicist have much more in common than we allow ourselves to believe.

b) The Habit of Truth - an argument that both the right (creative) and left (analytic) sides of the brain are doing the same thing, seeking truth, in the generative process.

c) The Sense of Human Dignity - an argument that the objective exploration of science and technology are just as "human" as the quest for introspective or subjective understanding of the human condition.

Epilogue) The volume also contains an interesting fictional dialogue titled The Abacus and the Rose, held between a public servant, a scientist and a literary figure regarding the nature of their thought processes.

Bronowski emphasizes the notion that the outcomes of science and technology are mere tools and artifacts, it is the spirit and creative energy behind them form the basis for human values and ideals. For Bronowski human values are what drive scientific discovery just as they drive public policy or artistic creativity. We get into trouble when we try and separate these ventures from human values, and thus confuse means and ends. In this way Bronowski offers a compelling argument that is less a critique of positivism than a call for a more holistic vision of human development and the creative spirit.

The essay is well written and easy to follow and provides some solid insight on the ever more difficult task of linking scientific and technological progress with human value systems.

"Whether our work is art or science or the daily work of society, it is only the form in which we explore our experience which is different; the need to explore remains the same." (Bronowski, 1965, p. 72)

This is a small but profound work. The three chapters" 'The Creative Mind'
'The Habit of Truth' ' The Sense of Human Dignity' taken together constitute an argument against modern positivistic philosophy and logical analysis regarding the absolute separation of 'is' from 'ought'. As Bronowski understands it the sense of values pervades and in a sense brings together the major realms of creative life. The special values of Science itself are for Bronowski 'independence and originality, dissent and freedom and tolerance; such are the first needs of science; and these are the values, which , of itself, it demands and forms."
Yet Bronowski also strongly emphasizes the evidence- based nature of Science in its search for Truth. And he speaks of the process of its development ," the view that our concepts are built up from experience, and have constantly to be tested and corrected in experience." Here is the great distinguishing feature of Science not only its quest for truth but in its power to transform the world.
What Bronowski does in another sense is cut across the 'Two Cultures' divide posited by C.P. Snow. A person of both literary and scientific background himself he finds that ' the exploration of likenesses' through symbolic concepts define creativity both in literary and in scientific realms.
Bronowski is in a very deep sense a humanist who defines and dignity of mankind in its search to understand and transform the world.
There is much to be thought and said about this very important book.

This was required reading for me in a required Social Sciences survey course required for my B.Sc. in chemistry over forty years ago (I hold an earned Ph.D. in chemistry in additon to a later acquired law degree). I still regard it as one of the most influential books in my life. I understand the essays in this small book to be a critical examination of various scientific philosophies. However what I found to be most illuminating was Bronowski's study of values in a scientist's search for truth; how the values necessary to enable the search for scientific truth in the cooperative enterprise of science are human values ratified by the great religions of the world. What this meant to me as a callow (at that time) intellectual who was more of an agnostic than an atheist at that point in my life was that many of the value systems espoused and shared by the great religions were independently derivable by the values necessary to succeed in the quest for "truth." This resonanted with me personally more than any thundering proselytizer in a church pulpit and my faith began to grow. This is a small book to have such a large effect and it is worth reading for many reasons - some well elaborated by other reviewers. I think Dr. Bronowski would be pleased with its effect on me.

If you have found this title and taken the time to explore these reviews then your interest in the subject matter is assured, even in the slightest. My only recommendation is to buy this book. Buy it right now. There are few times in life where $40 of your hard earned money is so justly spent.

Incisive, comprehensive and encyclopedic in scope this book is a must have for any serious student or fan of the narrative arts. Sickles work directly lead to the look and expression of generations of artists up to the present.

Joe Mannarino
President
Comic Art Appraisal LLC

it's easier to review bad things, than good, because there's very little to say except: fantastic! this is one of those 'big' books in the world of illustrators and comic book artists, covering many important things. through the work of noel sickles one can learn what matters in picture making. scorchy smith, the strip, has not lost a bit of it's visual impact in the seventy years. while it may not be the best reading, dramatically, visually it still fascinates.

if you're drawing, you should have this book. it's not expensive, and it contains a lifetime of work to explore... which might easily take a lifetime as well!

Have you ever received a book you've been looking forward to and been disappointed? Well, that defintely won't happen when you receive your copy of "Scorchy Smith and the Art of Noel Sickles"!
My first reaction when I opened up the book box was "WOW!" The book is so thick and finely produced (with coated paper and handy ribbon bookmark), that it feels substantial right out of the box.
My next reaction was "I had no idea Noel Sickles had such a body of work". The first half of the book is loaded with rare art, photos and biography, jammed with incredible illustration art you've never seen before. The second half is a (near) complete run of the classic "Scorchy Smith" comic strip, with the best reproduction yet for this amazing narrative.
Easily one of the books books on an illustrator/comic artist yet produced and a "must have" for fans of either genre. Congrats to Dean Mullaney and IDW Books for this terrific volume!

Ever since discovering that Noel Sickles was Milton Caniff's inspirational, groundbreaking partner, I've been longing for someone to publish his story and experiences. I received my wish today with the arrival of Scorchy Smith and the Art of Noel Sickles. This is a massive, deluxe volume, covering almost every facet of Sickle's career. IDW reaches a new pinnacle in their collective works on the classic cartoonists and illustrators with this publication. It's chock full of illustrations from Sickle's career as an illustrator post Scorchy Smith, as well as early work.

I have the two volume set of Kitchen Sink Scorchy strips from the 1980s, and this volume outshines them completely. This is a large book, and absolutely stunning in layout, design and production.

If you have a soul and appreciation of the finest in comic strip art and classical illustration, don't hesitate another moment; order this book today! It's a sterling companion to the Terry and the Pirates series also published by IDW.

I bought this for our Cubmaster - he really appreciated it. He plans to start a tradition and it pass it along to the next who takes his place...

Scoutmaster Minutes is a great resource for scoutmasters to use teaching moments to make scouts aware the scout oath and laws.

I carry this book with me daily and have several that are my favorite. Many of the stories evoke thought on the part of my Scouts, who I read to.

Will there be another?

In the last several months I have been asked to give many a scouter's minute. Usually that is all the warning I have too. This book is a lifesaver in those instances - great little thoughts and great for building blocks to use in a bigger thought too. Wonderful tool for any scouter/scoutmaster because it has so many great thoughts and ideas. I'd recommend it to anyone that has anything to do with scouting - it goes everywhere with me, just like my handbook.

I was looking for good short stories to end scout meetings, and this book has great ones. The concept of the "Scoutmaster's Minute" is not new to Costa Rica, but finding stories is not an easy task. Well, the search has just become easier.