Spencer Books

Awesome story - be sure to clear time on your calendar because you won't want to stop reading 'til you get to the end ... and make a space on your keeper shelf because there's no doubt you'll want to read this one again. I've read it three times now and each time I enjoyed it as much as I did the first time!

Description from the book back cover:

Can he find the baby? Life has led Mac Sullivan to promise himself two things: never get involved with other people's problems - or with women. He's stuck to his guns until now, when Linda Carr begs him to find her baby niece. As an ex-police detective he has the skills to help her ... But what about the prospect of an emotional search in the company of a beautiful, vulnerable woman whom he's wanted since the moment he laid eyes on her? Mac knows there's no contest when it comes to one of his vows: a child is missing and he will track her down. But can he stick to his other promise - and keep Linda at arm's length?

Catherine Spencer just keeps getting better and better. In the field of category romance, she stands out for her superb characterizations and original plots, not to mention elegant, vivid writing. MacKenzie's Promise has witty dialogue, complex characters, including the secondary ones, realistic relationships, and a nifty mystery sub-plot. In other words, everything to make it an outstanding story, perfect for a winter evening.

Catherine Spencer's newest novel, MacKenzie's Promise, is more than a romance. The story starts with a mystery to be solved ASAP, the kidnapping of Linda's newborn niece, Angela. Linda's ingenuity leads her to Mac, the former police detective who can find the baby if anyone can.

The characters are superbly described. Linda is so caring and passionate, Mac so tough yet so tuned-in. Linda's parents are key characters, a vulnerable yet strong mother and a father who has strayed but returned to help his family.

This romance is both about the exciting rocky path to romance Linda and Mac follow and a realistic story of Linda's parents who overcome estrangement and find their love anew.

The of tale of finding baby Angela showcases yet another of Catherine Spencer's incredible writing talents, her skill the telling a suspenseful mystery. Once you start reading this novel, you will want to finish it before you put it down. Like Catherine Spencer's earlier novels you will be so engrossed in the story and so satisfied with the book's resolution. Once again you will marvel at the compassion she has for her so-real characters.

This is a book you will want to read more than once!

In Marching Band Arranging William Spencer-Pierce presents a concise and practical guide to arranging. For the young teacher or college student, there are sections covering basic theory, instruments, and formal considerations. Experienced teachers will benefit from Spencer-Pierce's suggestions on scoring, voicings, and stylistic issues (such as scoring for jazz charts). Spencer-Pierce explains each lesson clearly, and reinforces them with numerous examples and lists for further listening and reading. The book concludes with three complete scores representing different styles and instrumentations.

I highly recommend Marching Band Arranging to anyone interested in arranging or composing. Spencer-Pierce has written a valuable guide appropriate for all teachers and musicians.

I used William Spencer-Pierce's marching band arrangements in my high school marching band for many years. They were always well received by the audience and judging community. My students and I were never dissapointed.
I recognize many of the techniques in the book because Bill explained many of the " hows and whys " of his philosophy when I was his client. This book is full of these great nuggets of information on marching band arranging.
I especially like the book because it is practical rather than purely theoretical. The widespread use of musical examples really does a nice job of illustrating the text.
The book belongs in the personal library of every high school marching band director. It would also be a valuable resource for high school or college students considering a career in instrumental music education.
Experienced band directors can also benefit because arrangements might need to be tweaked during during the marching season to adapt to personnel changes or judges' suggestions.
Based on forty years of teaching marching band, I hardily recommend this book!

Marching Band Arranging has all the basics of the "for dummies" series of books, but it takes several giant steps beyond those basics. This is a great "how to" manual not only for those that want to learn the art of arranging, but gives any band director some great ideas and short-cuts to "tweak" either stock or custom arrangements. If I'd had this earlier in my career I could have saved a lot of time and money for my students and myself. If used for only a quick reference of transpositions, instrument ranges and basic music theory, it is well worth the price.
Bill Spencer-Pierce has done a great job of presenting this subject in a clear, easy-to-understand format. It would be equally valuable for the experienced director or even those special students that we've all had that want to try their hand at musical composition. Spencer-Pierce covers the entire spectrum of musical arranging for the genre of marching/pep band and has included many samples to illustrate his points. Of special interest is the treatment of the percussion instruments, all-too-often neglected by some arrangers. Many times I've had to get my percussion parts written by someone other than the arranger that wrote for the horn line. This book solves that problem.
For those who have no intention of arranging on their own, this book will be a great asset in helping communicate your needs to your arranger. I suspect Mr. Spencer-Pierce has wished his clients had a bit more savvy in this area during his tenure as an arranger! It will also help to solve those problems that often show up in rehearsals as the marching show develops. There are always those glitches that are caused by unexpected instrumentation and personnel changes. The ability to make these "fixes" is a great stress reliever for both directors and students.
In short, this book has something for everyone involved in marching band. Seasoned directors, new directors and even students will find many pearls that will make your band experience much more enjoyable.

This book is an excellent source that covers system, component and architectures of memory systems and how the total computer memory system is put together into a working system. The coverage of the material is up to date and addresses the critical issues that are facing the present and next generation memory systems being implemented and designed today. The book was well written and is a great source for engineering students and even to a degree non-engineering people. For me, a seasoned engineer, that is relatively new to memory systems, is has been a great source in helping me understand the overall system and how it all works. It also addresses some of the major engineering issues facing todays design that I am presently working on and covers the details of the components to give a good overall understanding of how it all fits together. An excellent overall source to have on hand for any engineer working on memory systems

Based on what I have read through so far, it is superb. I can see it very easily becoming the industry's new reference standard for memory system design. Very well done!

Anyone who has built a computer or measured its performance recently knows that all but the slowest CPUs spend roughly 90% of their time twiddling their thumbs, checking their wristwatches, waiting on the memory system. The memory system today defines computer-system performance, yet very little is written about it (how does it work? what are the parameters? how to optimize it? etc.). So we wrote this book to address that -- it covers all facets of memory-systems design. Paraphrasing Richard Sites, one of the lead architects of the DEC Alpha processor over a decade ago, memory systems design is the only thing worth focusing on right now ... all else is a waste of time. Hopefully this will help you to build something that rocks; that was our goal.

Minor correction: the book is hardcover, not paperback.

If you are interested in how to get teams to embrace creativity and perform more productively, this book is for you. Eckert and Vehar have packed in the equivalent of a two-year MBA program on team building and creative problem solving. And they've done it in an entertaining, accessible way. My business is working with Fortune 500 companies on innovation strategies, and I can say without reservation that this is one of the most useful books around. Buy it, keep it handy, benefit.

This little book is BIG on content. An excellent tool to keep me on track with my working relationships AND my personal relationships. A corporate, culture changing must-have, especially for those on the path for advancement. Far superior to those 'cheesy' books on the market today.

I LOVED this book and recommend it highly! Bob Eckert and Jonathan Vehar have created an illuminating gem in this amusing, well constructed handbook, designed to energize innovation teams where creativity and productivity are paramount. But you don't have to be a member of an innovation team to reap copious benefits from "More Lightning Less Thunder." Anyone with co workers, staff meetings or the occasional community bake sale will learn valuable lessons on how to be an effective team member and lead a more fulfilling life. If you liked "Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway" or "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" this book is for you. The title refers to a Mark Twain quote, "Thunder is good, thunder is impressive, but it is the lighting that does the work." It's appropriate that Eckert and Vehar quote Twain because they evoke the irreverent charm of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer as they lead the reader through seven enriching chapters: 1. Surrender to Humanity 2. Understand Responsibility 3. Conscious Listening, Clear Speaking, 4. Cultivate Risk Taking 5. Expect Win-Win 6. Strive for Constant Improvement. 7. Start, Finish, Start Again. It come as no surprise that Eckert was formerly an "Outward Bound" instructor for incarcerated juveniles. Reading "More Lightning Less Thunder" is like hanging out with that cool 8th grade teacher who chose to believe the dog really ate your homework because he understood you were having a bad day. In their introduction, Eckert and Vehar set out "to help you establish behaviors that lead to people working together productively to create innovative and successful results." With great humor and humanity, they deliver this in spades, giving the reader the confidence and practical tools to implement positive, lasting changes in one's life.

The French say "electricite de la fission," fission electricity! Never say "nuclear power" again! Spencer explains how that political phrase commands a veritable anti-fission electric inquistion in the US. The Evil "Environmental" Inquistion in the US was opposed on this issue by all the countries at the 1997 U.N. global warming conference in Kyoto, Japan. Network with me, Joady Guthrie at jguthrie@lmi.net, San Francisoco, California, to overthrow the Environmental Establishment in the US today; you and I can win this war on warming together. - JG

Weart's Nuclear Fear offers a history of nuclear energy viewed through the lens of popular mythology, discussing how images, fears, and fantasies as old as humanity have shaped both public and expert perceptions of the atomic age. The history of nuclear energy is charged with strongly-held convictions and value-laden analyses. Amid this conflagration, it's reassuring to find an account that not only approaches the issue from a unique and fascinating perspective, but does so in an even-handed way. Weart delivers on both these counts, staying the course of reasoned analyses, dispassionate as can be demanded of any account which must necessarily dive elbow deep into the discussion of subjective human values.

I have a specific fascination with representations of nuclear technology in popular culture. In that capacity this book is everything I could have hoped for in a secondary source. Nuclear history has precious few scholarly discussions of the avenues by which such a powerful psychological image is manifested in a wider cultural context, and as a definitive account, one could ask for no better than Weart's.

This book's only shortcoming is one for which the author can't be blamed: the publication date. The end of the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union add yet another dimension to the discussion. Nuclear fear is alive and well today; and it has no doubt taken some interesting twists and turns since the late 80s.

This is a must-read for any student of nuclear energy or weaponry, if only because if offers such a fresh perspective. The histories of the subject's political and scientific components are well-explored, but Weart makes a compelling case that these avenues are by no means exhaustive.

If you are like me, you have a pile of books that you keep meaning to get around to, and, due to time constraints, rarely do. This book is the exception-read it now. It is quite possibly one of the most original books of this past quarter century. Weart is the first historian I know of who directs his attention to the pervasiveness of nuclear imagery in our lives. If you ever did the 'under your desks dears, an atom bomb might be coming' drill in grade school. you need to read this. If you have kids, you must read this. Not an easy book, but all the more rewarding. Very powerful stuff, indeed.

I know this is late in the month but I just found this book. It was fabulous. The charachters were witty and believeable. You have to go out and buy the book. A must read! Lorraine Nelson

Passion's Baby is an intriguing story of two people, wounded and disillusioned. Seeking solitude and replenishment, their lives intertwine on a westcoast island during a warm, languid summer. The characters are skillfully unravelled to the reader, as their lives become more inevitably enmeshed. As with all summers, languid days can quickly turn into stormy interludes.

Catherine Spencer captures the reader's fascination in the way she reveals the beauty and emotional turmoil meant to evolve into a lasting love.

Catherine Spencer's new book, Passion's Baby , delivers all its title suggests and more. The heroine has gone through so much losing her husband but has not stopped feeling. She truly cares intensely for others despite all her suffering.

The setting of the story, grandfather's cottage on Desolation Sound, seemed to Jane like just the setting where she could renew herself in isolation. But all too soon Jane discovers her neighbor, Liam. He is so direct and equally intense as she but about his own concerns. I could feel his passion for independence and his frustration. Jane showed such great understanding.

From Jane and Liam's first meeting, I knew they would be drawn together, she the so feminine yet strong woman. He the so frustratingly completely a man's man. The scene with soft moonlight shining down on their first tryst is charged with their complementary passions. This changes to a morning after of Liam's anger and Jane new aswareness of her unruly passionate longing. Who could blame her, Liam is frustratingly irresistible. He is handsome, accomplished and so sexy.

Jane shows her unrelenting strenghth when confronted with the tough choices resulting from thye passion she shared with Liam.

The setting is so deftly described that I smelled the salt air and wild strawberrries. I felt the sumer sun and especially the passion Jane & Liam discovered for each other. This book is definitely a five-star novel.

I found this book very enjoyable to read. Although the underlying theme of the book is to demonstrate examples of proofs of existence of a property of a finite structure by showing the structure must have the property with positive probabiltiy, the book goes beyond this to cover areas such as circuit complexity and discrepancy theory that rely heavily on probabilistic arguments. A must read for anyone who wants to add probablistic tools to their toolbox for proving things about discrete structures.

This book shows you how to approach problems in discrete mathematics that don't seem to be probabilistic at all, and nonetheless to apply probabilistic methods to find extremely sharp results. The book is full of beautifully chosen examples worked out by the authors, who are world class researchers in this subject area. Should be on the bookshelf of everyone who uses discrete mathematics.

I happen to love studying probability theory and the probabilistic method and this is the book I come to time and time again. It is well organized and provides great, straightforward, insightful explanations. However, its main strength is its wealth of beautiful (fairly recently) results (in varied fields) which show the method coming to life. Can't recommend this enough...

This is an excellent book. If you want to know how O.J got off or the reasons why it seem that the guilty go free then you have to read this book. Ashley goes above and beyond the call of duty as he gets his clients off the hook.

The book is a tongue-in-cheek romp through a parody of today's legal system. Each chapter deals with a new character whom sleazy lawyer Ashley Blackwood must defend for the nefarious crime he or she has almost certainly committed. And Ashley is very creative in doing just that! In fact, he can twist and turn the law beyond recognition. Sound familiar? It will to anyone today who wonders, at times, what our legal system is coming to.

The author develops each character with meticulous and subtle detail. Although the characters are entirely fictional, the reader will, no doubt, see the resemblance to some very famous (and infamous) defendants.

The writing is modern and sophisticated. A very funny book! The reader will keep turning the pages to see what impossible case the next client will bring to Ashley and how Ashley will get him off! The action is seen through the eyes of Attorney Blackwood's worshipful assistant. At the end of each case, Ashley summarizes his work with a Rule of how to defeat the system is such cases.

Well written, good fun. An ideal gift for any lawye

Canadians served with the RAF from the outset of the war, and were represented in significant numbers in Bomber Command. Midway during the war, Group 6--an all-Canadian formation--was created, and this is it's story. I've read a number of Spencer Dunmore's books, and I'd have to say that this one is the best. Both readable and informative, this book really gives one a sense of what the war was like for members of this formation, and no doubt will be a book that will educate future generations on the role that Canadians played in the air offensive against the Third Reich.

As I have a great interest in the happenings of Bomber Command during W.W.II because my brother flew with 431 Iroquois Sqdn during this time. I have read the book and continue to use it as a reference when I need to know something. It is a "MUST" for anyone interested in the truth of what really went on and who were not there to witness it. I even managed to come accross the name of my brothers Pilot when he reported a run-in with a JU-88 If you are serious about this subject I strongly recomend this book as I have to a number of people already. Full marks to the authors for their research and for puting together something worthwhile to read

`Reap The Whirlwind' is one of the best books I have read in recent years on the men and machines of the Royal Air Force's Bomber Command during World War Two. First published in 1992 by Crecy Books Ltd this title tells the "untold" story of 6 Group, Canada's bomber force of WWII. As the title suggests the story is about the role of the Canadian contribution to the nighttime bomber campaign against occupied Europe during the Second World War.

However the stories within the book reflect the awful war as experienced by all bomber crews during this horrific campaign. I found the personal accounts to be sad, heroic and sometimes funny but the image that remained in my mind after finishing this book was the untold numbers of men who died and never had the chance to tell their stories. How many crews left their bases on a mission never to return and none of their comrades and families ever knew what happened to them?

They were swallowed up in the dark of night and became victims of German night-fighters or flak, their planes never seen again. After reading this book you'll get an understanding of what these men went through, some of the stories are just mind numbing. In particular is the story of Andrew C. Mynarski, 6 Group's sole Victoria Cross winner. This brave 27-year-old Canadian was a mid-upper gunner on a 419 Squadron Lancaster who lost his life during a mission in June 1944 (pages 276-278).

The narrative is fast paced, informative but never boring or dull. The story is well told and is a brilliant account of the harsh realities of an aerial bombing campaign as conducted by the RAF over Germany. The book starts with an introduction to the first bomber offensive in 1917 and finishes with an account of the 1990 reunion of the survivors. The authoritative text has numerous personal accounts of the aircrews woven into the story and overall the book reads well.

The only complaint I have with this book is the standard of the photographs. I would have liked more and of a better quality. Regardless of that this is still a great story and I think that anyone who has an interest in this period or who really wants to understand why these men did what they did and what happened to them then this is the book to read.

This book opens a bright and clear way to resource management for the cyber decade.
It helps us to open our eyes to new environment with it's rapid changes forced by Information technologies and prevent our losts and damages by reengineering our staff .

This book draws on studies conducted by many colleagues from McBer and company, Hay management Consultants as information technology is transfoming HRM.
This book provide us to complete "how to" instructions for reengineering and description including activity-based costing,value analysis and work flow changing.
You can understand how to calculate both the costs and benfits of reengineering.

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Describes how information technology is impacting the human resources function and how to reengineer work processes and retrain staff accordingly. Examines current hardware and software applications. Includes a team readiness questionnaire. Recommended for all human resource executives.