Thomas Books

i havent read it yet but i have a feeling that this will be an excellent novel

I have almost 80 DL novrls and Ive never heard of thes

I've already read the original chronicles and I noticed some differences, but this book is still great! The illustrations are wonderfully drawn and it really gets the point across. I highly recommend this book to all!

I started reading DL in the mid-90's, but I started by being given one of these as a gift. They're hard to find, but well worth it if you can find them. They're based on the books, but even if you've already read the chronicles trilogy, it's well worth it. Recommend these with the highest regards.

This book is an adeptation of the last half of Dragons of Winter Night. It is a very thick comic book that was written in 1985 after the original chronicles came out. I have only books 1,2,3, and 4 and all of them are pretty acurate in there interpretation of the original.

This wonderful book is much more than a collection of hunting and fishing stories. The author has the rare ability to take his readers with him on both his physical adventures and his philisophical journeys. These journeys delve into the heart and soul of a particular location.

The stories told here take us from familiar ground to the far corners of the planet. Each account includes well-researched observations on the local natural and cultural histories. McIntyre's interpretations of wilderness values and hunting ethics are thought-provoking and profound.

I highly recommend this book to everyone, even those who have no interest in hunting or fishing. If you enjoy visiting truly wild places, or are simply grateful that such wild places and wild beasts still exist, this book will provide much satisfaction.

Tom McIntyre is one of the last great storytellers. His gift with a pen places the reader right in the middle of all the action. The subject matter within the pages of this book is broad. It ranges from an account of a fantastic woodcock hunt in Ireland to the pursuit of the most dangerous African cape buffalo but never once will you loose interest. Be it his candid views of the cultures surrounding the hunt or the excitement of the actual hunt, you will leave each chapter with a better understanding and respect for both the hunter and his prey.

"Dreaming The Lion" is far from the traditional "hook and bullet" prose found in most of today's hunting publications. Rather it is perhaps more of a modern day Hemmingway approach. It is factual, adventurous and all with just the right touch of humor. All of which I found quite refreshing.

If you are a hunter "Dreaming The Lion" belongs in your library.

Ed Noonan
Member of the Outdoor Writers Assn. of American and
New York State Outdoor Writers Assn.

Tom McIntyre is a writer with a distinctive voice and an exceptional talent. His style has pith and elegance -and humor and intelligence. For a couple of decades now (maybe a little more) he has written some of the best prose we have on hunting. "Dreaming The Lion" is a treasury of his finest work, and will prove a delight for every literate hunter.

This is by no means a somber book, but it is a thoughtful one. Reflecting on the prospect of hunting in his native California, McIntyre writes, "The best thing would be to hunt the country you were born into, to make it even more your home. But what if your native country is not only a place, but a time, and what if that time is past?" Not exactly the kind of bang-and- brag drivel so common to lesser hunting writers, and to an unfortunately increasing number of "sporting" publications.

"Dreaming The Lion" is a collection of choice pieces, (mostly about hunting, especially but not exclusively about big game,) connected by one-page, inter-chapter selections from an ongoing African diary. In this safari narrative McIntrye appears more as protagonist than hero; he screws up sometimes, misses badly on occasion, has his ups and downs just like we, the readers, probably would. The book's final section, the title essay in three parts, recounts another African adventure and by any fair standard must be judged one of the finest pieces of hunting writing in our time. Comparisons to Hemingway and Ruark and Capstick or anyone else are as unnecessary as they are trite. McIntyre is his own writer, speaking with his own voice in his own (for a hunting writer, not entirely fortunate) time. Enjoy him.

When a writer conveys an experience he conveys something of himself. Thirty years after reading him, when I think of Robert Ruark in Africa, I remember his honesty in writing about fear and booze and his struggle to live up to his own image of what he wanted to be, as much as his insightful observations of a safari. When I think of Hemingway, the exquisite craftsmanship of "The Green Hills of Africa" is overshadowed by his chest-thumping competitiveness and dishonest self-aggrandisement.

In "Dreaming the Lion," Tom McIntyre brings all the unabashed, unapologetic masculinity you would expect in a book about hunting, but he tempers it with the thoughtful intelligence of someone who thinks about his actions and their consequences, who thinks about the world around him and his place in it. And more: he brings a refreshing mastery of the English language and a wit as quick and sharp as a skinning knife. This is a book about ideas as much as actions, written by a man who doesn't suffer fools gladly, and who sees the world he loves slowly and irrevocably vanishing. Read it and dream of Africa.

In a just world, Thomas McIntyre's Dreaming the Lion would be considered a classic. While it is definitely a "hunting book" it is also literature in every sense, and superior to such curiosities as Hemingway's True at First Light.

McIntyre has hunted everywhere from the Rockies to the Arctic to Africa, not to mention his native California, whose degradation he describes movingly in the essay "Blade Hunter": "...no matter how Californian the armature of my soul may be, in the end it is insufficiently rigid to keep me here until it's all barricaded away and I am reduced to stalking Norway rats in the storm drains with the broken-off shaft of a nine-iron tipped witha fluted point knapped from a glass insulator, til all that's fit to live here is cockroaches and Keith Richards."

McIntyre's essays range from the dark to the humorous to the moving, though always free of the easy sentimentality common to lesser "hook and bullet" writers. He has not only been just about everywhere; he has read just about everything, from novels to history to biology, and thought long and hard about it all. He would never scorn the meat or trophies produced by his hunts, but his real quest is for meaning, experience , and the wild within and without.

If you are a hunter who has not read him, you will find things here that you will find nowhere else. If you are a nonhunter or even an anti-hunter who wants to understand the soul of the hunter, start here. As McIntyre says, "Welcome to the wild."

I loved the Thomas Flanagan trilogy.
By chance, I believe I came across the primary source books for each of the three.
The Year of the French seems quite obviously informed and inspired by Thomas Pakenham's Year of Liberty, a novelistic but dense nonfiction recounting of the western uprising in 1798.
The End of the Hunt takes much of its feel from "The Big Fellow", Frank O'Connor's beautiful account of Michael Collins' revolutionary career.
If these two are obvious the third is less so:
The Tenants of Time builds very effectively upon the foundations of Micheal Davitt's book, "The Fall of Feudalism in Ireland." This book, by an 1867 Fenian who became a leader of the Land League movement and an obstructionist member of the British parliament, is rich in detail about the Land League and the parliamentary struggle of the late 1800's that shows up in the Flanagan book.
I recommend these books to readers who have finished the trilogy, just as I would recommend the trilogy to all.

If you had to read one book about Ireland 1916-1922, this would definitely be it! It starts in the aftermath of 1916 and proceeds through the end of the Civil War. Flanagan does so well in bringing the history, the players - actual and fictional - and the atmosphere to life that I can't believe he wasn't there. (Don't think so, though...) Michael Collins, Ernie O'Malley, DeValera -- they're all here. Finally, this is quite simply an absolutely beautifully written book, even if you're not interested in Ireland, the time period, or the people involved.

The thrird novel, after "Year of the French" & "The Tenants of Time", in Flanagan's magnificent historical novels of Irish history.

"End of the Hunt" paints an exquisite, compelling portrait of Michael Collins Ireland with all the complexity and personal tragedy of the Irish Civil War in tact. Told with bold narrative strokes and page turning action that belies the deep characters and big ideas in a book as beautiful as Ireland herself. Flanagan is no Joyce, he is Ireland's Tolstoy. Characters that breath and a book you won't want to leave.

This is a part of Irish history that most Americans, including many Irish-Americans, don't know well if at all. Thomas Flanagan's story of Irish independence, centering on the figure of Michael Collins (the Big Fella)is a story of historical significance and personal tragedy. While this is not a full rounded history of the time, since it focuses on Collins and ignores for the most part the other Irish leaders, it is still a grand adventure and captures perfectly the tone of time and place. Flanagan is a writer of significant skill and his handling of character and story - not to mention his skill with language - make this book a memorable and moving reading experience.

Thomas Flanagans' The End of the Hunt follows The Tenants of Time as an engrossing novel about Ireland's fight for independence. His most recent novel centers on Michael Collins, but, like previous Flanagan efforts, is told through the eyes of a collection of characters. These individual insights give the reader a well-rounded view of events as they occur and allow us to peer from different angles at the tactics, strategies, subterfuges, and idiosyncracies of the warring parties. From the Easter Rising of 1916 to the edge of Irish civil war, Flanagan weaves a taut web of intrigue, conflict, and tragedy with a "behind-the-scenes" access which affords the reader an extremely suspenseful experience.

Though admirably fast-paced throughout, the story quickens as Collins and crew reluctantly sign a treaty with Great Britain which runs counter to the oaths of their IRA brethren. Creating the Irish Free State, Collins finds himself and his fellow free staters caught between the unconditional IRA demands of full independence and the British who continue to hold Northern Ireland with iron fist and require the rest of the country to ultimately submit to their sovereignty. The balancing act is exciting to behold as Collins continues to abet IRA action whilst holding an ever-demanding Great Britain at bay.

Ireland's struggle to be free of Britain's imperial grasp is a story that, to this day, continues to make headlines. Thomas Flanagan has again provided a ground zero view fraught with peril, passion, and seemingly insurmountable odds. I recommend this book highly as I do his earlier effort, The Tenants of Time.

For the term "technology" I understand the theoretical knowledge applied to the practical world in order to produce a useful tool. In this case, this book is to be considered a technological one. Great.

if your a student of hypnotherapy, nlp or wanting to know more, this book is a must. it explains things well and in simple language.

This manual is truly a Master work... the book touches on everything from early history of hypnosis, NLP language patterns, metaphor, inductions, etc. The book is written in language very easy to read and understand. The ideas are brought forward very clearly, and one gets a sense of the personality and substance of the authors themselves. There are many books out there about Erickson, his work and techniques... This one should be at the top of any list and a must have for the library of every practitioner of the art.

Ericksonian Approaches is a hands-on manual that includes an overview of the field of hypnosis from its history, myths, and misconcpetions to Erickson's contributions.

You will discover the NLP techniques and interventions that emerged from Erickson's mastery.

You will learn hypnotic language patterns and a variety of induction processes. The book concludes with a whole spectrum of utilization methodologies designed to alleviate various mental and physical traumas and discomforts.

I paid £39.99 for this book, I'm a total novice having been studying NLP and hypnosis over 14hrs a day for the last two months (yeah I redirected a compulsive behaviour ;) ).

I've read a lot of excellent hypnosis books by now, and this one is certainly a must. Thorough coverage of language patterns was the key thing when I first looked through it, plus in that chapter an interesting discussion on "torpedo" therapy.

Various NLP tools are documented yet this is not an NLP focussed book, so excellent for those that aren't necessarily taken with the NLP approach to this work in general.

Also there are a variety of scripts and techniques from traditional to more flexible types al a Ericksonian.

There's many more things covered in this book that I've left out-lazy reviewer I guess :-). Ideomotor responses and hypnosis without trance to mention but two. A serious student of hypnosis wouldn't want to be without this one.

Lisa Haynes has a way of luring readers with refreshingly intense language, and endings that offer subtle and veridical power. Enhancing her imagery through a skillful play of metaphors, the psychological complexities behind her poetry are as haunting as they are bracing. Another key characteristic of Haynes' poetry is lyrical honesty as she maps-out the vast landscape of human loss, not forgetting that she herself is woven into its scenery. In Lisa Haynes, we witness an astonishing writer who knows intimately the power of human language. This Seattle-based poet comes with my highest recommendation.

The subjects covered in this book are innumerable. Loss, grief, love, love affairs, anger, suicide, dreams, hope, amnesia, racism, sexuality, divorce, caregiving, illness, politics, online relationships and so on. This is a good book to get if you are one of the hundreds of thousands of people who are looking at aging parents and wondering how caring for them is going to change your life. If you are already in that situation you would benefit from this book. It will reassure you that you are not alone. It is a powerful book. One poem will leave you feeling raw and then the next one will leave you feeling full of life. Sometimes I felt like crying, sometimes laughing, and sometimes I just sat quietly nodding to myself. GET THIS BOOK!!

If Pablo Neruda is "the people's poet" then Haynes' may well be the "poet of the human heart." This first collection of her work is a comprehensive journey into the deepest pools of loss, love, sorrow and honesty. She is fluent in the language of Emotion. One poem, entitled "What You Didn't Know, N'ser" is startling in its heartwrenching language. It is the story of a lonely woman who longs to be kissed and escapes into the magic and ultimate heartbreak of a short-lived affair. I continued to be amazed through the intensity of poems like "Shooting At Demons" (about a young man's suicide) and "Loud and Surly Ghosts" (when love turns to homicide) only to be caught up in the wonder of good love to be found in such poems as "Afraid of the Dying" (about losing someone to illness) and "Weather In The Bones" (the fond recounting of an ex-lover). There is a wide range of poems in this collection, all of them acutely sensual. While I don't know if the poems are autobiographical, one can certainly imagine them so. It is a a wonder to follow along as the poet grows from a sensitive young woman whom you want to protect from the brutal world to a mature, confident woman who has drank the bittersweet wines of love and loss and emerged on the other side, whole. I feel like I know her. I know that I would like to know her.

The stereotypic poetry review discusses the poet's craft, and the masterful way in which the poet deals with issues of loss and lack. This "language of poetry review", well hackneyed, renders a meaningful review of a skillful book about loss and lack difficult to write. Lisa Haynes' "Ex-Lovers and other More Important Losses" addresses a wide range of themes and emotions, grouped in related sets of poems. Whether she writes about a police pursuit, a fading relative, life on a native American reservation, or love relationships, she brings to each poem a wonderful ear, and a way of drawing vivid imagery in straightforward language. Her work lacks the pretension that give some works a "poetry workshop" quality, but neither does she try to write a "know nothing" feel-good "emotion of the week" type of poetry. She brings a sure sense of how to write poetry to a set of ideas worthy of a poet's voice.

The works here largely are written in free verse, although she does play with other formats in some effective ways. Although the poems are entirely contemporary, they have a timeless quality about them, a sort of well-formed stateliness. The poet does not mince words here, but neither does she fail to appreciate their power. Instead of elaborately constructed rocketships incapable of ascending Heaven, she builds instead more earthbound and serviceable pieces, capable of transporting.

This is a book for people who like their poems straightforward, real, and yet filled with satisfying imagery. Lisa Haynes has done a good thing here, and I hope more people will discover her work.

There are poems in this volume that will make you laugh, more that will break your heart, still more that will make you gasp in amazement, and still more that will make you recognize you've just made a huge discovery in Lisa Haynes.

The poems each carry an individual power, but their collective effect is exponentially more intense. It's been a while since I've read a book of poetry that really feels like a book, a whole, an entity. This one is its own complete experience.

Lovers of American poetry in particular will enjoy this book, and recognize antecedents in William Carlos Williams and others. Even without that categorization, though, the sensuality, compassion, forthright honesty and unsparing language here is refreshing and often astonishing.

Fathering Words portrays the grief and loss one man feels when his father and brother suddenly die within two years of each other. Their deaths cause Miller to recall how seldom he and his father spoke, and yet, he always knows his father loves the family. That singular way one person cares for and remembers another is at the spiritual core of this book. What does a son inherit from the men in his family when there are few conversations? Miller compares his life and his dreams to that of his older brother, and maps out the goals for his own future as he marries, has his own children, and embarks on his career as a poet. He punctuates the story with the gracious voice of his older sister, Marie, as he imagines how the family might have looked to her. Marie carries the secrets and stories that filter down to the younger son as rumors and tales. She becomes a source of information and verification of the family history. Using a network of subtle references to religion, classical and jazz music, basketball and baseball, as well as motifs from literary works, Miller provides a number of avenues by which a broad spectrum of readers will be able to enter and inhabit his poignant text.

For those who want to write about their own lives, the book provides a model for creating scenes in small vignettes that become interconnected by the end of the chapter, as opposed to providing a direct narrative path from the beginning of a life to the present. For writers who aspire to become published, and perhaps even famous, Miller chronicles the encounters he has with a number of writers, revealing the history of African American literature in the past thirty years.

I teach Fathering Words in a senior-level college course on autobiography at the University of Southern Indiana. Readers who want more information about the author might start with his website ....

If I had received this book five years ago, it would have saved me five years of pain and confusion. Fathering Words is the tangible witness of a man's journey into and through his writing life. Unlike many writing memoirs, it is not a how to, or even a how, but a detatched narrative of his life as a poet. He is eerily objective about the mistakes and choices he has made, and uses occasional passages from his sister to broaden the view he gives the reader.

I learned more about the writing process, more about the yearning that true writers feel, and more about the lack of understanding that non-artists have about the whys and wherefores. If you know an African-American man who yearns to "father words", buying this book for him will be the best show of support you can give him.

Fathering Words is a deeply moving memoir. Ethelbert Miller's description of his father will remain with the reader for a very long time. His decision to write the book using both his and his sister's voice is unique and it works.It's definitely a keeper.

Fathering Words portrays the grief and loss one man feels when his father and brother suddenly die within two years of each other. Their deaths cause Miller to recall how seldom he and his father spoke, and yet, he always knows his father loves the family. That singular way one person cares for and remembers another is at the spiritual core of this book. What does a son inherit from the men in his family when there are few conversations? Miller compares his life and his dreams to that of his older brother, and maps out the goals for his own future as he marries, has his own children, and embarks on his career as a poet. He punctuates the story with the gracious voice of his older sister, Marie, as he imagines how the family might have looked to her. Marie carries the secrets and stories that filter down to the younger son as rumors and tales. She becomes a source of information and verification of the family history. Using a network of subtle references to religion, classical and jazz music, basketball and baseball, as well as motifs from literary works, Miller provides a number of avenues by which a broad spectrum of readers will be able to enter and inhabit his poignant text.

For those who want to write about their own lives, the book provides a model for creating scenes in small vignettes that become interconnected by the end of the chapter, as opposed to providing a direct narrative path from the beginning of a life to the present. For writers who aspire to become published, and perhaps even famous, Miller chronicles the encounters he has with a number of writers, revealing the history of African American literature in the past thirty years.

I teach Fathering Words in a senior-level college course on autobiography at the University of Southern Indiana. ...

This book is so beautifully written, so touchingly direct that I called Howard University to search out the author and tell him what a compelling book he had written. Anyone who is a father, about to be a father or contemplating being a father (whether African-American or not) will find this book touching in what it says about the frequently mute love between fathers and their sons. African-Americans families are often love mutes like Mr. Miller's-- too busy working, too focused on the quotidien to express love outside provision of food and shelter. Out of such silent, seemingly fallow ground, E. Ethelbert Miller heaps up words of love and power, fathering not only his own father, but his whole family in some of the most poetic prose you will ever read.

This is the best collection/selection of Emily Dickinson's poems I have ever found. They're selected from a complete collection. What's special about this book is that none of the poems are edited, as is done in many other collections of her works - and excellent choices are made for which poems to include. Emily often used simple dashes at the ends of her lines, and this selection is true to her originals - and she never put titles on her poems, or indented lines - as many other collections of her poems have the audacity to do - as if the editors of those works knew better than this greatest poet the English language has ever known.

Everyone who aims for the ultimate, the elusive, and the exquisite, ought to pack. The edition is affordable, durable, well-organized, comprehensive . . . and produced with care NOT to alter the form or format of the poems . . . which for some dreadful reason a lot of folks seem to feel compelled to do . . .

more importantly . . . all that white witchcraft still dazzles

For those whose aquiantance with the Belle of Amherst is limited to the classroom edition - i.e., There is no Frigate Like a Book, et al., look again. Dickenson really is the epitome of the rugged individualist - a free spirit - in ways surprisingly opposed to her contemporary, Whitman, she arrives at similar conclusions going no further than her garden. She is the inward sojourner - at home in the harshest tensions and conflicts of the psyche - where her distinctly feminine sensitivity speaks truth in "slant" - as she qualifies her enormous insight.

Most haunting: 'Success is counted sweetest', 'To learn the Transport by the Pain', 'My life closed twice before its close', and, "My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun -". Dickenson laments our sovereign anguish, our exile from the immediate truth or the comprehensive immediacy of truth, the quest for which her poems articulate an urgent hunger enveloped in alternately the most naturistically ambient references or stonily direct terms.

There are Emily Dickinson's greatest poems, most of which my guess is , have in one way or another been anthologized. There is her complete oeuvre of 1775 poems, a large volume indeed. I am not a Dickinson scholar and I found myself a bit lost with such a large number of poems to search through for new gems.
This present volume edited by the dean of Dickinson scholars purports to choose of the total oeuvre the very best of her work.
I truly appreciate this as a volume of this kind can extend my knowledge and appreciation of her poetry in a way which is most economical and helpful to me.

I was never actually a fan of poetry until I encountered Emily Dickinson's poems. It seems as if she has written a poem for everyone. I strongly recomend this book, as my English teacher did to me, not only because of my love for Emily Dickinson, but for the quality of the book. It is obvious that Thomas H. Johnson, the editor, put many long hours of hard work into gathering this collection. Many of her poems were simply scribbled on little pieces of paper, which makes me wonder what kind of literary genius she must have been. With the help of this book, she has become my favorite poet, and I have learned that poetry can be strong medicine for the hurting soul. Final Harvest never leaves my side.

Don't get me wrong, I truly love a large selection of the poems in this volume. However, that is a measure of Emily Dickenson and me, not T. Johnson's collection. What makes this book better than many that are around and about, as has been mentioned, is the lack of editing to her poems--something that has always bothered me. In this regard, the content of the poems is better than many others, however there are other issues of note.

This is, of course, an abridged collection. As such, we are forced to rely on the opinion of another. Granted this is common enough with poetry collections, but that doesn't change the very nature of each person having differing interests. There is no way to know if the ones he leaves out are just as good or even better, from each individuals perspective, without going to more comprehensive texts.

Regardless, I do have one gripe with this book that is unrelated to the above pettiness. The method of dating each poem seems silly to me. The reason is that they are all claimed to be from one of several (if memory serves 3) years separated out over several decades. That and there are two listings of dates for each poem, which I don't recall off hand why they did that, and it may serve some purpose, but it's not useful information if when these poems were written can only be pinned down to plus or minus five-ten years. I can't blame Johnson for this as I imagine that is as close as is known, but, by the same token, the dates could have been left out so that it doesn't detract from the actual poetry.

All in all I would recomend this book, but I might suggest getting a more complete version instead (so long as it is unedited--Emily hated it when people wanted to edit her poems, and I think that we should respect that).

This book is a must-have for anyone looking to improve their current work experience. Even if you're looking for a new job, succeeding at a current job is the BEST step forward to a new one. VERY HELPFUL!

I loved reading about the different varieties of people in the book- how they react and interact. It really helped me to understand the people around me- and not react to exhibitied characteristics that are consistent with their personality type. Great book!

This is a must read for anyone who has had 'one of those days (weeks, months or years!) at the office.'

Up to now, it had been my belief that human interaction and concise, measurable solutions have little or no common ground. These authors have not only found that common ground, they've created a road map of it for us all!

This book provides measurable, quantitative solutions for human issues with regard to individual and team dynamics and it does so in an entertaining, easy-to-understand way.

Bottom Line: The things I learned while reading this book made my work experience much more enjoyable. Many thanks to the authors for the 'Road Map'!

I loved that the book gave useful suggestions that could be implemented right away. In addition to some great team exercises (www.LikeWorkAgain.com), the book also provides exercises that you can do right away by yourself. I also enjoyed the balance that the book struck between helping your current situation and deciding if you need to start looking elsewhere (it actually lives up to its title).

This book gives valuable ways to handle being unhappy with your job. I've also been able to use some of the suggestions in other relationships. I highly recommend this book to anyone with a job, and also to those who have people reporting directly to them. Great book!

Four Steps to Spiritual Freedom is an authentic and beautifully written book. Fr. Ryan's style brings the journey to spiritual freedom within the reader's grasp. One of the concepts that stayed with me is the idea of letting go of what others and the "world" think you should be to find what makes you unique. When you are who you were meant to be and live the life you were meant to live, from integrity and in harmony with the universe, you will feel the presence of God. As daunting as this may seem, Fr. Ryan makes it real by disclosing experiences from his own life and the lives of others who have inspired him on his own spiritual journey. This book resonates with honesty and sincerity as I could relate it to various experiences in my own life. It is a book that I didn't want to end.

Fr. Ryan's book Four Steps to Spiritual Freedom is a beautifully insightful reflection on the challenge to find freedom for our souls as we journey with God. The many stories about himself and others that he incorporates throughout the chapters breathe life into his ideas, resonating deeply and memorably because they are so real. I was particularly struck by the spiritual director's wise counsel: "Learn to be at home in the mud!" I felt that Ryan offered a thoughtful balance between practices such as prayer that strenghten our faith and the sheer grace that is the root and source of our spiritual freedom. Most meaningful and captivating to me was the second step to freedom, "Live Your Calling to the Full." Never before has anyone given me such a strong impression that desire should be a central aspect of the way we seek and answer God's call. Indeed, there is not only freedom but great joy in contemplating that God uses our desires to direct and guide us. I read Ryan's book twice; I am aware that I could easily go back to read it again and still learn from it. My friends are buying the book and discovering the same thing. This is a rich resource for people who want their spiritual lives to grow and be renewed.

I savored this book-forcing myself to read only a little bit each day when in effect I didn't want to put it down. Father Ryan writes/instructs with gentleness humility, and great compassion, honestly sharing his own life's experiences and faith processes.

His book is theologically respectful of the teachings of the Church while inviting us to understand how good aspects of other faiths can help us to create a deep, personal and meaningful relationship with God. The anecdotal stories of others' personal "dark nights of the soul" often spoke so directly to me that I was able to work through many of my own hang ups that were interfering with my personal relationship with God and with others.

I have not often had success in centering prayer/meditation but Father Ryan's "Four Steps to Spiritual Freedom" enabled me to meditate and reflect on my life and my connection to God in a way that I have not been able to do before.

This prayerful book, allowed me to achieve a real breakthrough in my life, in my faith and my ability to pray in a more meaningful, deeper and mature level. It brought me through a difficult time in my life. I continue to refer to various passages and to reflect on them.

Some of my most concentrated reading time happens on Metro (subway) as I travel from home to work and back again. I read Four Steps to Spiritual Freedom that way. It was like having a 20-minute retreat every day. I looked forward to each day and the new insights as well as tough questions that could force growth.

This spring I went through an illness that was a new and disturbing experience for me. Reading this book helped me to consider recovery ... and how much of my old schedule and patterns I want to recover and which it is time to let go of. The questions about passion and living as centered in what God wants rather than the more noisesome demands of everyday have been enticing me to take stock. This book is a perfect companion for those seeking renewal, regeneration, or recovery of meaning.

Excellent book for anyone who takes their spiritual development seriously, or for those who desire to develop ongoing spiritual practices. Fr. Tom Ryan's examples from his own life, and those of people he knows, help illustrate the impact serious spiritual reflection and practices can bring to discovering meaning in life. Can also be used for self reflection, or a book club, with the questions Fr. Ryan uses at the end of each section.
As a lay person with a regular spiritual practice for some time, Fr. Ryan's book helped me step back and look at what is essential in my practice. It also gets to the heart of what is important in simple language.
The last chapter provides guidance on specific practices, in the Christian traditions.

I have read this book three times, give away my copies and then want to read it again and have to buy it again (which I just did). I love this story. It tells of God's infinite love and forgiveness to every creature, large and small. I like Tabris because he knows that he has committed a terrible sin against God and feels totally unworthy of any type of second chance or forgiveness. He is like a warrior archangel, dramatic and intense in his love and his protectiveness. I also like that the other angels question why he is even given a second chance. It is a story you can believe happening.

This book is one of my all-time favorites. I liked it so much I lent it out several times to friends and family, and have had to replace my copy twice.
This story brings to life a whole new dimension, in the style of Frank Peretti's spiritual realm, but with more warmth and love. The lesson is an important one- that you must let go of fear in order to truly love.
I highly recommend this one!

This book was wonderful, such absoulutely wonderful . It's easy to see why it is the only book of the author's to receive 5 stars so far. I would love to read more books of such inspirational topics. I would read the book again and have passed it on to three others. Get it and enjoy the reading you'll laugh and cry.

I found a copy of "The Guardian" in a used book store over a year ago, on rainy nights I read it to my then 17 year old daughter. The novel touched both our lives, it helped my daughter renew her path to God and it is on my bookshelf of my favorite all time books. The characters are so real and well thought out. This story left us both with a spritual hunger, seeking more of this style of writing. Jane Hamilton is the best of her genre.

This book transcends its genre to touche something deaply human in all of us. It is an uplifting story of how G-d's love and mercy helps one angel to move through tragedy to life. I reccommend it to readers of any faith.

Jane's angels are witty, fun, and wonderful and her dialog and characterization are lively and thoroughly believable. Jane is a master of creating believable, enjoyable characters and bringing them to life.