Stone Books

This is a wonderful book and a very quick read; I would highly recommend this book for people of all ages. G.L. Gregg did an excellent job in his development of the characters and the adventures created by the sporran. I would rank this book right up there with the classic stories created by Tolkien and Lewis. I am enthusiastically looking forward to the continuation of Jacobs adventures in the next book.

My wife and I very much enjoyed the story -- it is an action-packed fantasy-adventure, which also draws a lot of great background from Dr. Gregg's knowledge of folklore and of real history.

But this isn't a dry academic lesson -- it's as colorful as a children's book should be: There's an eccentric erudite professor who shares a motorcycle with his pet dragon-pug, the boy-hero who is sent on a mission to recover one of the lost mystical treasures of Celtic heritage, and a close encounter with one of the Loch Ness Monster's cousins.

This book is a sure pick for anybody with a taste for fantasy, or for those particularly interested in Scottish lore.

And of course it's a good kids' book, too: One of the junior high students at the school where my wife teaches got a copy and she loved it, saying (and I quote) "It's brilliant!"

Gregg's inspiring and captivating epic of destiny spins a tale of high adventure, humor, and serious moral purpose. Young readers will breathlessly follow the hero's perils and triumphs among the ancient ruins and landmarks of Scotland -- and also learn along the way that life presents us with inescapable duties beyond the strength and courage that any one of us alone possesses. The novel affirms friendship and family and cultivates the moral imagination. If the first installment of The Remnant Chronicles is any indication, this new fantasy series will belong on the same shelf with Tolkien and Lewis.

The Sporran is a wonderful book for all ages. I am a teacher and I just finished reading this to my reading class. My students range in age from 7-10 yrs. old and they LOVED it. It is a great read aloud book that allows discussion to happen naturally about actual places in other countries, other cultures, and allows children to work on making predictions. The book is filled with danger, humor, and lessons to be learned. This is a good book for any age from 7-100yrs old. My students can't wait for the next book in the series. As they would say "Dragon Pugs rule! Kelpies drool!"

Thank you so much for getting me the book in such a timely matter I really appreciate it, also it is in great condition.

Need to learn the basics of statistics? B Michael Thorne and J Martin Giesen's book is a very well written, fundamentally sound textbook that will give the reader a well-structured taste how statistics are applied to the behavioral sciences.

The book expounds well on the language of statistics. Chapters 2-6 are dedicated to Discriptive Statistics wherein the student will learn the basics of scaling, frequency distribution, and graphing of data. Following are appropriately placed and well written lessons on Measures of Central Tendency, Measures of Dispersion finishing with the functions and dynamics of Standard Scores.

Generally speaking, the book systematically advances some very neat step-by-step lessons involving statistical formulas for finding the variance et al. It teaches the student the importance of graphs and helps them to develop a deep appreciation for the various kinds of graphs available to express ones data.

The intent of the authors seems to be an effort to delivers a text where every chapter builds perfectly on the next. The student may find himself or herself submerged in learning about the measures of the central tendency and before they know it, they will be calculating t scores, the average deviation, the standard deviation and the variances for given data.

This book also teaches about the importance of the power of a statistical test while helping the student to appreciate the difference between a parametric from a non-parametric test and coaches the student of which test to use when.

This book offers fine systematic lessons in appreciating such tests as one and two-way ANOVA design and makes correlation and regression principles easy to understand.

The book also offers nice easy to comprehend tutorials in Chi-Square goodness to fitness test as well as the Chi square test of independence. The text concludes with a solid lesson in alternatives to the t and F tests and features manageable lessons for the Mann-Whitney U Test, The Wilcoxon Matched-Pairs Signed- Ranks Test, and the Kruskal-Wallice-One-Way ANOVA.

The appendix is loaded with a nice review of the formulas for quick reference and glossary definitions that make understanding statistical symbols an easy and pleasant task. It is adequately furnished as well with statistical tables, albeit limited, for locating areas in a z score, and for finding critical values for t, f, q, r, x2 et al. given of course the degrees of freedom.

B Michael Thorne and J Martin Giesen's book on statistics for the behavioral sciences was such a fine and well organize book that it gave me confidence and today I look forward to the day when I will test my own Null Hypothesis.

I read the whole 3rd edition of this book and I did not have many complains, other than the chapter on 2 way ANOVA was too brief. I tried to look inside this book, but such info is not available here at this moment. At least I know the former edition was really good. Everything else than 2 way ANOVA was explained in narrative ways that definitively help to understand this topics much better than so many other book filled of junk equations. However, I'm not so sure if you should use this book if you're currently taking a statistic related course because you may need immediate answers, just equations and repetitive solutions. The proper and deeper knowledge that will be useful in real life when doing research takes much longer time to learn and you shold take it at some time later on. I am not a psychology major, but a chemistry one and the book is just as helpful to me as to the aimed audience, it's math after all, 1 + 1 is 2 no matter which one is your major.

this book is better than the previous book for the course... this one explains things in better detail as if you are just learning the stuff rather than to assume you already know what the authors are talking about

I know Mark Cole. He is a great teacher and now author. He is also a part time body builder. This book is well written and well researched! I love the pictures! The authors certainly have put a great deal of time into making their book a superb work of art!

I new the Coles from when I was a kid growing up in Stone Harbor.
We lived across the street. I miss it too! I was a tight nieghborhood back then. I stumbled across this book by accident and loved it Very well done.

A well written and well researched book! I love the pictures! The authors certainly have put a great deal of time into making their book a superb work of art!

This is one of the best books I've read on the subject. It proves to be well-researched and very well written. The pictures are outstanding and well done. It brought back fond memories of fun times with family and friends. I hope Mark follows up with another.

The perfect combination of wonderful pictures and superb story-telling. After having seen and read more than 15 books of the Southwest/Glen Canyon area, this is definitely one of the best. Jack Dykinga and Charles Bowden have done a wonderful job. Also, in the end of the book the raise the very necessary topic of how to (better) preserve the Colorado Plateau.

The number of photographic works exploring the nuances of the Colorado Plateau is seemingly endless. Many can be browsed once and left behind. This book is the scintillating exception.

Jack Dykinga's photographic work is simply exceptional, and beyond the pale. Each color photograph appears as exquisitely crafted as a piece of fine crystal, beginning with very cover of the paperback edition. One can only envy his great patience and expertise in composing each work.

Much of the photography comes from the Paria Wilderness, an area of the Plateau not usually treated to any degree in most works, and the novelty is refreshing. A particularly enjoyable facet of the book is that use of a telephoto lens has been largely eschewed, leaving a series of scenes that the enterprising tourist can find and view with his or her own eyes, just as depicted by the book.

Charles Bowden's accompanying text is evocative and hearkens a wild diffusion of images and memories of the fascinating region.
It is an apt companion to Dykinga's superb work.

If you are limited to five or less books about the Colorado plateau, let this be one of them. I enjoy it more every time I read it.

An hymn to the nature and it's landscapes, whose pictures are superb in both the technical and artistic plans.

In 1998 I'd seen a photo on a calendar of the Vermillion Cliffs in Utah, but had no idea where exactly it was located. I teach photography and my students and I had done some research to find it, but discovered it was a very large area. When I found Mr. Dykinga's book I was even more determined for my students to see and photograph the area. Needless to say, the book is truly inspirational thanks to Jack's remarkabe work.!
If you know a photographer or a traveller - this is the book for them! Enjoy the treat yourself as well.

Jeff Grimm
Bedford, TX

Everyone needs something to hold on to, in order to brace themselves against the oncoming storm that is life. "Stone Crossings: Finding Grace in Hard and Hidden Places" is L.L. Barkat's reflections on her journey through this terrible storm, finding her comfort in the words of other writers, stories of the people alongside her, and in God. A charming and inspirational story all the way through, "Stone Crossings: Finding Grace in Hard and Hidden Places" is a top pick for community library memoir collections and for anyone who also needs something to hold on to.

If L.L. Barkat wrote fiction, surely a Pulitzer would be awarded. Not only will you find Grace abounding in these pages, connecting her/our hard memories to larger spiritual truths, but you'll find writing that soars far above anything you've read lately, maybe ever. A very excellent read.

Stone Crossings shimmers with grace: experienced, reflected, and expressed. Writing with great self-awareness (but without self-absorbtion), L. L. Barkat confronts pain and evil with truth-telling and grace-extending realism and hope. She weaves life's threads -- abandonment and abuse, poetry and panic, family and fear -- into a tapestry shaped by faith (without losing the texture of reality.)

Most books of this type fail either (a) because they sugar coat reality or (b) because they gloss over Scripture's ambiguities and tensions. L. L. Barkat engages life and Scripture with fearless (and sometimes fearsome) honesty.

If you enjoyed L'Engle's Crosswicks Journals, Lamott's Travelling Mercies, or Robert Benson's Living Prayer, you'll enjoy this book.

L. L. Barkat is a revelation. She possesses an eye for striking detail and a refreshing honesty that draws you in. In "Stone Crossings," she shares a journey marked by early pain and abuse, but one ultimately redeemed by the discovery of irresistible grace.

She is a poet whose words both shock and heal. She is a teacher whose grasp of the Scriptures and personal acquaintance with God's love make her story resonate. At 176 pages, "Stone Crossings" is a fairly quick read; yet it's one that will prompt readers to pause often for long moments of reflection and to savor Barkat's poetic gift.

For anyone who has felt the hurt and rejection of a troubled upbringing, for anyone who now lives with the enduring shame and guilt of abuse, for anyone who longs for healing, Barkat's story is for you. This is a deep and transforming book that manages to be literary, therapeutic, and theological all at the same time.

They were captivated from the very opening when Mary was the only survivor of a lightening strike. The fact that Mary made her first major discovery when she was only twelve demonstrates to children that it is possible for them to achieve great/important things. My girls were so interested in paleontology after reading this book that it has spurred them on to learning more about Mary Anning, fossils and evolution. They have since gone fossil hunting and were thrilled to be just like Stone Girl, Bone Girl!

This book introduces children (and adults like me!) to an inpsirational scientist. The artwork is superb and the story of a 12 year old girl who makes an important scientific discovery is captivating. I recommend this book for any child who is interested in science, paleontology, history, or art (or who just likes a good story!)!

There are a few picture books out about Mary Anning! All of them are good, but this is THE ONE to read to younger kids! The illustrations are vibrant and colorful. The story is punchy and fun! Kids will be amazed by the story of a young girl who gets struck by lightning as an infant, survives, and as a child finds the fossil of one of the world's largest dinosaurs! It's all true! There's even a dog companion! Buy it and read it to your kids, they won't soon forget it!

I can't remember a more beautifully written children's book since my children were born. The way the story was told was so simple and yet so powerful, I have no hesitation in recommending this to anyone with children. I read it to my 3 and 5 year old girls and they ask for it every night. Simply beautiful.

A blistering fast pace takes the reader from the US to Thailand and back, with a fascinating look at the seamy underside of the Asian antiquities market. This is a tale of adventure that is peopled by beautiful women, duplicitous crooks and, of course, an antique dealer with a taste for life. This is a fun read.

The book captured my interest from the start and held it to the end. A phone message from an old friend in Bangkok draws the main character, Harry, from his Asian antiques business in the States into a fantastic adventure with tales of extraordinary and incredible discoveries deep in the jungles of Southeast Asia. Written with humor and just enough detail to make this story fun and believable, the book leads you from the seamy side of Bangkok familiar to expatriots into some very remote and dangerous areas, with forests so thick and deep the only means of movement are on the backs of elephants and by long-tailed boats on a river. An apparently startling discovery has been made and Harry and his friend develop a plot to make themselves rich through an international and illicit network of greed. The plot has enough surprises to make the book difficult to put down. Very enjoyable reading.

Between the covers of these books, the reader will find a little bit of everything that makes up the total package of experiencing Southeast Asia: negotiating the complexities of social relations, colliding with street-level life, peering down the small side streets shrouded in ancient patinas, and stumbling into the riot of everyday adventures, some soft and quiet, others loud and threatening, but all of them worth the price of a return ticket. A great, fun story.

Bob Bergin - author of Stone Gods, Wooden Elephants masterfully sets the plot; and ushers the reader into a world where few authors dare to venture.

This is an exciting book, and I highly recommend it!

Is Jeffery capable of writing a bad novel?

The research is yet again amazing, he talks to the reader instead of over them, and there are tremendous plot twists that take nothing away from the story.

This story of a Chinese immigrant smuggler is both informative and entertaining. It is impossible not to get sucked into the story and care about the characters, which is the sign that you are reading a novel from a polished author.

Deaver is a tremendous writer and I am always impressed with each one of his novels. This is highly recommended.

The Stone Monkey by Jeffery Deaver is loaded with suspense from first page until the very end you find yourself trying to figure out who the Ghost is, but this is one that can stump the guys who always figure out who done it by the second chapter. Every time you think you've got it figured out, someone gets killed and it all goes in another direction. This one has a medium pace and is easy to put down and pick back up, but the story is interesting and holds your attention. The villain has real depth and his presence whispers through the story keeping you on the lookout for a character that fits his shadowy presence. Like all Deaver's work, an enjoyable read.

JD did a wonderful job writing this book. Ghost is indeed a very unique character. The suspense was incredible.

Jeffery Deaver never ceases to amaze me with his imagination in creating believable yet intriguing plots. STONE MONKEY is no different.

The Ghost is a smuggler with few morals. He has a ship packed full of Chinese immigrants that he blows up less than a mile off of the US coast. Seems he wanted their cash but didn't really want to fulfill his obligations. A few manage to escape only to be hunted by The Ghost. It appears he doesn't want any witnesses. While they are being pounded by a fierce storm, clutching the life raft, he is shooting at them like sitting ducks. Enter Amelia Sachs. She arrives on the beach in time to help save one of the immigrants, while the others elude the authorities and slip away. Amelia and Lincoln, with the help of their pals, try to find these two families before The Ghost can complete his mission and kill them.

A few side plots keep the reader on the edge of his/her seat and make for an enjoyable expedition. Deaver has a gift that brings the reader into the written word - our hearts pound as one family steals a van to make their getaway; we can smell the tea Dr. Sung gives Amelia to help her with her ailments; we jump at every sound outside of the hideout; we cheer for each member of the Wu and Chang families; we become part of the story.

Character development is excellent. We continue our friendship with Amelia Sachs and Lincoln Rhyme. And like any good friend, we continue to wonder what is in their futures. We're introduced to Sonny Li, a Chinese cop who thinks a bit differently than Lincoln and opens him to the possibility of intuition. I do have to say that he was one of my favorite characters from any of these books - Sonny will make the reader chuckle out loud at his antics, and make you sit back and say, "Ahh..." after he explains things as he sees them. Dr. John Sung is another character that is brought to life. He introduces Amelia to the Chinese homeopathic way of life, becomes her friend, and has the reader guessing if his intentions are platonic or something more.

As is Jeffery Deaver's normal style, STONE MONKEY is fast paced and leaves little time to catch your breath between scenes. Deaver is a master at convincing the reader that he/she knows the identity of The Ghost only to have that belief tossed aside and a new individual chosen. Deaver is one of the few who has fooled me in the past, but not with this one. But I just barely figured it out - and cheered at the end when I was right! Yes, score one for me against the master!

What is it that makes a Christian a Christian? Is it only the profession of Faith in Christ? In this book we see the amazing changes God can make in one when we choose to lay down our lives to Him. I've read and Re-read Robin's books and this has become my favorite because it's amazing tos ee not only how God protects us in trials but how He molds us through them and uses them for amazing good!
This book is amazing.

As usual, Robin Hardy presents the reader with incredible odds. As you read, you'll find yourself on a tummultuous journey, in vivid peaks and valleys. You'll wonder what's going to happen, and why. You'll come up with a conclusion in your mind, only to be sideswiped with what really happens. With heartfelt, "kodak moments" and painful times of asking"WHY? WHY? WHY?", the reader will be immersed in a whirlwind of emotion. As with all Hardy books, the first book is recommended for you to read first. This will make a great bridge from "The Chataine's Guardian" to "The Liberation of Lystra."

Stone Of Help opens with the rejoicing in the aftermath of Lystra's deliverance from invading forces. Deirdre, imprisoned by a treacherous uncle, has been reunited with her soldier husband, Roman, and her father, Galapos-now ruler of Lystra. Deirdre, Galapos, and the entire Lystran army have sworn allegiance to Roman's God, who saved them from the enemy, and Deirdre is joyfully awaiting the birth of her first chilld.

But there are problems in war-ravaged Lystra. Renegade soldiers and slave traders prey on the citizenry, and there is no money in the treasury to pay for protection. Although Galapos's new laws have given them unprecedented rights, the villagers constantly bicker and complain. And the unrest in the kingdom is matched by a disquiet in Deirdre's heart-a spirit of ingratitude that soons turns to pride and peevishness toward her loving but preoccupied husband and father.

Then the real trouble starts. Lured away from Roman through her own wilfullness, Deirdre is forced to give birth in a hillside cave, then kidnapped by renegades. Soon she finds herself bound in a rough cart, jolting over rutted roads toward slavery in the palace of Sheva, the proud and cruel monarch of George.

Why doesn't God intervene? He will, in a way so heartrending and astonishing Deirdre could never convieve of it. But first she has some growing up to do-with the help of a filthy baby, a hungry field hand, and a feeble old slave named Josef. What she learns, and what happens to her family while she is learning it, form the heart of this grippin tale

Within a trilogy, the middle child has the most to prove: it can neither possess the honor of introducing the reader to the characters and setting; nor can it bring the series to its satisfactory close. It must be the bridge, the keystone, the backdrop against which a story is fully resolved. Authors have two ways of dealing with this: either the second book is merely a continuation of the first and background for the third, or, the stories are nearly unrelated so that each stands on its own, but the sum total is not greater than the parts.

In this case, Stone of Help is the most intricately ornamented keystone this erudite reader has seen yet. Ms. Hardy takes the best of both worlds: she enriches the characterizations as she builds an airtight plot that is satisfactory in and of itself; and all the while she weaves this story with its successor, Liberation of Lystra, and to some extent, the Latter Annals of Lystra.

The basic plot is simple enough: the heroine, Chataine (Princess) Deirdre of Lystra, is abducted shortly after delivering her first child. She eventually finds herself in the most difficult of circumstances imaginable-a slave in a rival, base country. But Deirdre is not without a growing host of unexpected allies, and she learns meekness (in the older sense of the word: a teachable spirit) to temper the royal fire in her blood. In the meantime, the reader is introduced to or reacquainted with the rest of the fine players in this drama.

What is revealing about Ms. Hardy's gift is the parallel from this fantasy world to real life: the plot is natural, uncontrived, and yet, the characters are complex and alive, and both culminate in the most satisfactory of outcomes. Through the story of Stone of Help individually, and the Annals and Latter Annals of Lystra collectively, is communicated that mythical must for timeless tales: the nature of man-for both good and evil-and the unexpected, all-overcoming nature of the Divine.

-The Medieval Chick

A primer by definition is a book of elementary principals; to this end McRaven succeeded in his intent. The book is full of large color photographs of good masonry used to visually aide in making his points. There are several very good sections on tools required for the job, the type of stone to be used, how stone is moved on the jobsite by the lone mason, and how every mason should start by building dry stack structures to teach them the principals of friction, proper fitting, etc. While While he covers a great deal of projects including retaining walls, patios, dry stack walls, and paths, he severely glosses over three things I was the most interested in;designing and building mortared stone columns, mortared arches, and load bearing structural masonry. As stated above this is a primer, but there is virtually no attention paid these topics. There was scarcely more than a page of typed material about one of the most basic structural element: the arch. Compared with the several pages devoted to tool selection and personal stories of other masons I found that to be troublesome and part of the reason this book receives only 4 stars. I would recommend reading this book because it is thought provoking, and makes you want to go lay a dry stack retaining wall in your back yard, but not build an arch.

i now own a handful of books having to do with masonry and stonework, mcraven's 'stone primer' is so far the best. it's well written, his personality comes across nicely providing an enjoyable read. there are also loads of full color pictures of stonework in varying styles and locations. i'll be sure to reference this book often in the future for projects.

Of all of the McCraven books I think this is the best. It offers very solid technical information on the art and craft of stonebuilding as well as inspiring profiles on stone artisans and craftsmen working throughout the US. If you're thinking about or planning a stone project this book will provide both instruction and inspiration.

Stone work adds much to a property, whether it be in the form of a patio, staircase, wall, or fireplace - and stonemason and blacksmith author Charles McRaven here provides all the keys to incorporating stone into projects, from choosing between structures to putting together a stone barbecue, retaining walls, and much more. With color photos throughout, interviews with designers and homeowners, and keys to stoneworking success, STONE PRIMER is a top pick for any homeowner's library, and for general lending collections catering to handymen.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch