Thomas Books

A great book for guiding a young child to the wonder of God's magnificient plan. I enjoyed it and look forward to sharing it with my six year old granddaughter. Highly recommended!

This book is wonderful. My 4 year old and I both enjoy it. It is written well. It sparked questions from my child as well as teaching her the gospel in simple terms. This is a good purchase.

I purchased this book for my two grandchildren, ages 1 year, and 3 years. I had it sent to my address so I could read it before mailing it to them. It is truthful, easy to understand, even for the very young, and exquisetly illustrated. It tells of the love of Jesus Christ for us. My daughter-in-law wrote to me, that my grandchildren love it, and she reads it to them before bed, and during the day when the 1 year old naps, the 3 year old trys to read it to my daughter-in-law. I recommend this book highly for those who want to teach their children about our blessed Savior. The book is truly outstanding, and a treasure for years to come.

This book helped me teach my children about Jesus and the wonderful gift of Salvation. The pictures are simple and they grabbed the attention of my two boys. John MacArthur did a wonderful job of descibing in words how kids need the gift that only Jesus can give.

This beautiful little book is a great tool for a parent who wants to give a young child an understanding of who God is, why Jesus came to the world, and what one needs to do to receive Him into his or her heart. Small words are used, but the concepts seem to be straight on and orthodox, with each page ending with a Bible verse. Also, I must say that Pam Rossi's large and colorful illustrations add just the right touch to the book!

This book is a great gift for parents and their children. I sat down with my two little ones, and we went through it together. I really love this book, and so do they. I highly recommend this book to anyone with some children or grandchildren!

This book is great! I have read lots of relationship books looking for help with my relationship and none of them really helped. The Five Love Languages just made me want to tell my boyfriend everything he was doing wrong. And all other relationship books just seem to have this list of things that will be a miracle cure for problems in a relationship, but they never are! I worried about that with this book but it definitely proved me wrong!

I absolutely loved this book! It points out five basic ways that help you fix things. My boyfriend and I have been together for 3 1/2 years and had been going through a tough last year constantly talking about breaking up. Finally it came to the point where it was going to be totally over. We took some time apart and I bought this book. It made a huge differnce for me! I realized all the things that I was doing wrong to hurt the relationship. I was always focusing on the negative and pointing out things that my boyfriend would do wrong. I love how the book really reminds you to look at yourself and fix your faults before going and trying to fix your significant others. All of the points are brought back to God, and I love that! It just makes it so much easier to follow than advice from some person. When your focus is brought to God and what God wants for you it makes it so much easier to fix your relationship or keep it going strong! There is not much scripture reference, but it is definitely God centered!

I absolutely loved this book and it definitely saved our relationship. If you are the person in a relationship having doubts and always looking at the negative and complaining, I would highly recommend this book. Chances are the relationship isn't as negative as you think and your significant other is not as bad as you make them seem! Read this book! Or if you are the one in the relationship opposite the complainer, this book is also great because it is really written from that person's point of view I felt. I think girls can tend to be the complainers and the book is written by a man so I think that is why. But all the points can help someone whose significant other is complaining and finding fault. It helps them remember to give them respect and understand where they are coming from. Don't waste your time with other relationship books! They never got me anywhere! This one did! Or if your relationship is fine, buy this book over other relationship books too! It keeps you focused on God and with that your relationship will always be great!

This is a wonderful book on CD for any couple or single person who wants to lead a Christ like relationship. It makes you think about how you can better yourself as you go through your relationships.

My husband and I went to the "I Promise" seminar because we were struggling. We bought this book there and took it home and we both devoured it. This seminar and book completely turned our life around. We have BOTH been actively using these principles from the book for about 9 months now and are truly changed for life. We've never been closer to God or eachother because of this. We have since bought the DVD as well. We've also bought 9 more books since we bought our first one, just to hand out to friends and family that were struggling. Everyone we've given the book to have had similar experiences. This is the BEST marriage book I have ever read!

I have read this book with the soul purpopse of furthering my knowledge of relationships, and Dr. Gary Smalley is the "Guru" when defining and directing anyone interested in improving, or salvaging a relationship. It written in the simplest of chapters, with some very personal and poignant dialogue straight from his own marriage.

What's more important in a marriage than learning a partner's love language, being proficient in conflict resolution or having great sex? According to popular author and speaker Dr. Gary Smalley in I PROMISE: How 5 Commitments Determine the Destiny of Your Marriage, the answer may be "security."

"Do you feel secure enough to open up and share who you really are, including your deepest thoughts, hopes and dreams without those uneasy feelings creeping in --- feelings that maybe you'll be blamed, criticized, condemned, judged, or ridiculed?" This is the sort of intimacy Smalley believes is necessary for the best marriages.

Security, he says, means keeping your promise to love your husband or your wife no matter what. "It doesn't matter if either of you loses your attractiveness, turns grumpy, sour, or uncommunicative, gets a debilitating illness, or falls into deep depression. You will love him. You will cherish her. You promised. And that promise gives your marriage security." The more secure each partner feels, the more their feelings of affection toward each other grow, Smalley writes. But if partners don't feel emotionally safe with each other, he believes it will put the marriage in jeopardy.

Smalley, the author of more than 40 marriage and parenting books (MAKING LOVE LAST FOREVER, THE BLESSING) makes his points with a winning combination of personal, sometimes vulnerable, anecdotes about his own marriage of 41 years. Particularly impressive is his willingness to share his own serious marital mistakes in the early years of his marriage, and a sweet testimonial to his wife Norma toward the end of the book. Smalley's anecdotes are often delivered with a good helping of humor and an ability to poke fun at his own marital misdeeds. He includes practical take-aways ("Becoming a student of your mate," "List your mate's positive qualities") so that his ideas can be easily understood and applied.

Some of his advice will feel familiar: "Make eye contact when you talk. Don't try and change your spouse, change yourself. Men need to be good communicators with their wives." Other ideas might be new to the reader: "Quit being a victim. Take responsibility for your own happiness." Each chapter ends with a teaser that gives the reader a taste of the next chapter.

Five of the chapters unpack five promises that Smalley says create security in marriage. Conform your beliefs to God's truths. Be filled with God. Find God's best in every trial. Listen and communicate with love. Serve your spouse. At the end of the book is an "I Promise Constitution," which both spouses are invited to sign.

Readers will find some stereotypes ("Women want to be attractive, men want to be strong" or "Girls, he loves it when you send out his clothes for cleaning, cook his favorite steak, or watch a ball game with him"). When talking about sticking by a spouse and letting difficult circumstances become "God's hammer strokes" to form in you the character of Christ, Smalley sidesteps the issues of what happens when a spouse is abused or repeatedly cheated on. Sometimes the tone becomes a little over the top: "The principle in the next chapter...offers a promise of fulfillment beyond your wildest dreams!" And far too much research cited ("Intimate talk increases a man's chances of staying healthy 500 percent") is not footnoted or part of the skimpy endnotes, so the reader has no idea specifically where the statistics or information came from.

But this book's core message about affirming commitment and establishing a secure marriage is a welcome one. Engaged couples, newlyweds and longtime married spouses will find ideas for creating deeper intimacy in this accessible book; pastors and marriage counselors will also pick up some tips to pass along to their parishioners and clients.

--- Reviewed by Cindy Crosby

This book is one of my most treasured possessions. I have three different editions of the Imitation, but this one is my favorite. The language is simple and yet filled with timeless reverence. Some of its counsels may appear to be difficult, but the teachings contained within its pages yield peace of heart. It shows us how to live a holy life, and thus how to be at rest even in the midst of hardships; it reminds us that earthly sorrows are passing and cannot be compared with the joy of communion with Christ. The passages I treasure the most have to do with humility, the virtue that shields us from all manners of suffering. "Watch your own step; be slow to criticize the doings of other people." Serenity is within our grasp, if only we remember that the Lord is above all things. The Imitation is definitely a book that calls for absolute surrender: a radical proposition nowadays. However, absolute surrender bestows absolute freedom, fearlessness and serenity.

~Logospilgrim, author of 'Just a thistle'

What a great, timeless classic. This has become a fabulous guide for our family to help us become more Christ-like! Check out "The Imitation of Christ for Children" by Elizabeth Ficocelli for the children, too!

"For the path to Life is narrow and few there be that find it." This little book will help you to keep on the straight and narrow...no tickling the ears here. True inspiration to living a Christian life. I can see why some feel that this and the Bible is all you need.

"Want to know the best advice I ever heard?" asked Larry King, in an interview published today in Canada's National Post newspaper: "I never learned ANYTHING while I was talking." 50 years experience at the interviewer's microphone and Larry's best advice comes down to one word. "Listen!"

Coincidentally (or maybe not!) I picked up this just-received book, sent to me by a dear friend who recalled my reviewing an earlier published edition of this same "Ronald Knox translation." And it literally it fell open to these words,

"By all means ask questions, but LISTEN to what holy writers have to tell you . . . often enough, (when we hear) Holy Scripture, we are distracted by mere curiosity; we want to seize upon some point and argue about it, when we ought to (listen) and move on."

I flipped open "The Imitation" just now and my eyes (lately fixated on my newest pride and joy were these: (p 32 under the heading, "ABOUT SELF-CONFIDENCE, AND HOW TO GET RID OF SELF-CONCEIT")

"It is nonsense to depend for your happiness on created things (and) why all this self-importance? Do not boast of riches, if you happen to possess them . . . nor about the important friends you have; boast rather of God's friendship.

"Do not give yourself airs, if you have physical strength or beauty; it only takes a spell of illness to waste the one, or mar the other. Do not be self-satisfied about your own skill or cleverness; God is hard to satisfy, and it is from him that they come, all these gifts of nature.

"He reads our thoughts, and will only think the worse of you, if you think yourself better than other people. Even your good actions must not be a source of pride to you: If you have any good qualities to show for yourself, credit your neighbor with even better qualities: that is the way to be humble.

"To be humble is to enjoy undisturbed peace of mind, while the proud heart is swept with gusts of envy and resentment."

----

Seven years ago (on my birthday actually) I wrote my very first review for Amazon.com -- for an earlier re-print of this same translation. This latest version, from Ignatius Press of San Francisco, is far-and-away the most beautiful and features cover art by Andrea Solario (1480-1540) from the "Galleria Borghese, Rome" -- painted about a century after Thomas a Kempis produced his "Imitation." Inside artwork includes some marvelous, same-period woodcuts by Albrecht Durer.

----

In his (2005) FOREWARD to this new edition, psychologist and priest Benedict Groeschel (seen by millions on his "Sunday Night Live" TV show on EWTN) recalls stealing his first copy of the "Imitation" from the public library in his Caldwell NJ hometown - slipping it into his schoolbag intending to return it "to its rightful place on the shelf, in two weeks time, the ordinary period for a book loan in those days."

"The title suggested to my 12-year-old mind that this must be a story about someone who pretended to be Jesus. I went and sat by a window . . . the spring sun (shining) on the oak table, I can still see my blue-sweatered arm around the book as I began to read:

"'Vanity of Vanities - all is vanity except to love God and serve him alone.' At that moment I was electrified, and I sat there reading page after page . . . . for two hours, mesmerized by the book!"

----

As for the translation? Is it really the best-ever? I stand by my thoughts of seven years ago:

"I have several translations of the Imitation but I keep coming back to this one. I believe many readers will find this translation 'flows' better than the others, written as it is in a warm, gentle and accessible style by a master translator and communicator, Monsignor Ronald Knox. A convert to Catholicism who produced an acclaimed Latin-to-English translation of the Bible, Knox completed the first 30 or so chapters of the Imitation before his death in 1957. He wrote to Michael Oakley, two months before his passing: "If I die without finishing my translation, please tell my executors that you are to finish it." The younger Latin scholar did a splendid, seamless job of completing Knox's superb translation of what was--until this century--the second most widely read book in the world. What a delight that this version is once again available, [50 years] after its first publication. If you purchase only one copy of the Imitation in your lifetime, make it this one."

Going into the details of questions of authorship (did Thomas a Kempis actually write this, or did he translate it, et cetera) is not quite as important to me as the import of the message and how it is phrased.

The Imitation of Christ is essentially a minor treatise, but a better and more helpful description might be personal record and observance, on how to realize the Christ within. It has the conversational style, rendered in lovely prose by Knox (and for the sections left uncompleted after his death, Oakley), which can successfully draw the reader into a conversation with the author about his own spiritual and personal development.

It is not like reading the Beattitudes or the Ten Commandments, where instructions or broad pronouncements are supposed to be self-evidently obvious to the reader, who is assumed to be earnest in his quest for understanding. Instead, it is like discussing one's personal life, one's very serious doubts and concerns about one's conduct and inner life with an ardent, energetic and thoughtful monk.

It is a book to ponder over and indeed, non-Christians and Christians, the areligious and religious, alike can benefit from actively thinking about some of the arguments Kempis makes about, say, criticizing others when so much work still needs to be done on oneself (nothing less than a pithy expatiation on casting the first stone!). Indeed, the first great modern proponent of Vedanta, Yoga, and Hinduism, Swami Vivekananda, said that while he loved and read many different works from all sorts of cultures, the two he always carried with him were the Bhagavad Gita and The Imitation of Christ. Quite an endorsement, considering that Protestants and Catholics alike have gained so much from it from all these centuries.

Great book I would definitely recommend it to anyone trying to improve themselves and there walks with the lord.

Incredible that the same principles taught by Jesus Christ became the passion of Robert Greenleaf, Chuck Swindoll, Peter Drucker, Ken Blanchard and numerous others.

Chuck Swindoll is a great story teller. Probably would have been a great television personality like Cronkite, but chose to follow the real call on his life.

If you want to be challenged to face your pride/ego, pick up this book and read it cover-to-cover. Ouch!

Once again, Swindoll has written an excellent book addressing a problem in the Christian community: this one focuses on the challenge of refusing to live like the world and serving others in Jesus' name.

Among the important points covered in the book include:

1. Two tests of true humility.
2. A great proof of true servanthood is giving anonymously.
3. Servants who refuse to be bogged down in the past are seldom petty people.
4. Humility, a character trait greatly cherished by God, is sadly lacking in today's world.
5. The dangers of being a servant.
6. Jesus described Himself as a servant and 3 aspects of obedient service.
7. God's servants will be attacked and abused - nothing we experience has not first gone through God.
8. An eternal perspective of the servant's rewards.

Unfortunately, the church all too often copies the world - lording it over others instead of serving others, expecting to be served instead of serving, and not wishing to serve unless we receive recognition.

Swindoll's book is an excellent challenge to serve in Jesus' name. Read and be encouraged and challenged!

I read this book a few years ago, and it radically changed my life. The first book that I ready written by Chuck was The Grace Awakening, and my eyes truly were opened and my mind enlightened, as to how very easy it is to be legalistic and judgmental. In reading Improving Your Serve, I felt smaller and smaller, and realized how Big God really is and what it really means to "be like Jesus." Thanks Chuck, your books The Grace Awakening, and Improving Your Serve, have done for me what being at church Sunday after Sunday was not able to accomplish. In reading these two books in particular, I realized that being a writer is a powerful tool to use as a witness to the truth of Jesus Christ. Continue to operate in this ministry wisely. May God's blessings continue to be on your ministry.

Let me begin by saying that this book has truly shown me the inside of my heart. Before reading Improving Your Serve,by Charles Swindoll, my "serve" was more for me than it was for God or for anyone else. I had considered myself to be loving and caring of others, but after reading this book I realized how much more I could be doing. I love the many stories that are put together to teach lessons on humility, forgiveness, giving, influences...etc. I have truly learned where my heart needed to improve and I am really working toward serving others and loving others no matter what. I am beginning to get the heart that Christ would want me to have, and not so much the heart that the world expects of me. If anyone longs to get out of the selfish world that we live in, and would enjoy the pleasure of giving back to their community and the people they love, I suggest reading this book. Chuck has truly shown me to see the good in all people and to love and forgive others as Christ has forgiven me.

Norman Vincent Peale is a true desciple of our Christian faith. Dr. Peale understands not only people but he understands the meaning of God. Dr. Peale is a remarkable man. I wish I had met him. Dr. Peale's book, "In God We Trust" has a truly special place in my small personal library of great literature. Thank you Sir, for your insight and help.

Before I read this book I thought that I was going to loose my mind. This book taught me to believe what I have forgotten. That through faith you can conquer all. I needed something that was straight to the point and powerful. Loved this book immenesely; it truely gave me a peace of mind.

I have read 95% of his books and they have all been wonderful. This one is no exception. Although this one is more updated than many of his older works thereby making it easier to relate to. Dr. Peale was a very inspiring preacher/author and any book you can get your hands on with his name on it is worth every effort.

This book will inspire and uplift you. It doesn't contain complicated theological jargon, but clear cut principles that everyone can relate to.

Not a hard read by any means.

I spent the better part of 2004 reading books by Dr. Peale. I had gone through a difficult time in my marriage, as well as switching jobs. Dr. Peale may have passed on to heaven, but his influence and insights go unmatched. His ability to meld Christianity, psychology, populism and common sense is fascinating and inspiring. He was largely influenced by the likes of William James, Calvinism and the American Dream. Peale's optimism is sometimes simplistic, but that's mainly due to our own iniability to accept simple Biblical counsel. This work finds Dr. Peale being a realist. The early 90's gave him a taste of all the social ills that snowballed to new proportions during his lifetime. Peale urges us to stay the course. He talks about how he and his wife Ruth did it. Many of today's conservatives portray Norman Vincent Peale as some pop psychologist, who called himself a minister. This is as far from the truth as you can possibly imagine. Peale's genius is in his application of the Christian faith and cloaking it in the widely acceptable term, "positive thinking". We now have a Christian book on the market called the "The Purpose Driven Life". Dr. Peale's influence no doubt put wheels on Rick Warren's masterpiece. I would highly recommend "In God We Trust", Dr. Peale's last love letter to us all.

Dr. Peale's gift of encouragement is a powerful one which never grows stale. He knows just how to repeat truths in such a way that the repetition is never boring, but always interesting and pertinent to one's situation in life. Take the first chapter of this excellent book for example. It's about persistence and is appropriately entitled "Keep on Keeping On." While the theme is familiar, the way he brings the truth out is fresh and creative. In the second chapter he tells us "Positive thinking is realistic thinking" (p. 17). He goes on the say he is basing his information on "the most reliable document ever written," the Bible. William James is cited, reminding us "Believe and your belief will in time create the fact" (p. 19). Dr. Peale tells us to tap into two awesome powers within us: creative imagination and will. He goes on to tell us that what we believe in our hearts determines what we can or cannot do.
The theme of chapter three is love and it is powerfully insightful and practical. We're told "There is not circumstance in your life where God will not stand with you and help you, no matter what it is" (p. 35).
The remaining chapters also contain enorously helpful words of wisdom.
This is a wonderful book. I highly recommend it.

...within a short time period. Mr. Duck nailed the characters in this flowing story. I particularly liked the insight into not mentioning a person's name while talking to them, as the homewrecker did. As I was reading, I could picture the same characters I have run into during my lifetime. A life lesson to everyone about the dangers of jumping (or not) to conclusions.

This was my first purchase of an Amazon Short. This was a great way to start. I like the way Duck writes. It was a relaxing easy read that just flowed till the end. I'm hooked on shorts now. Thank you Phillip Duck for making my morning coffee more enjoyable.

Imagine putting your baby down for a nap, turning on the baby monitor and BAM, you are listening to something so juicy that you have left your laundry for another day. In the Dark captures you from beginning to end.

Strictly for the Grown and Sexy.

Lay the baby down, toss a load in the washer, and click on the baby monitor while you're deciding on dinner and reflecting on life, the phone rings alerting you to a forbidden illicit affair.

Life was perfect moments ago and now uncertainty has consumed you.

Phillip Thomas Duck had me open from the title to the ending, I can't wait to read Grown & Sexy!

In the Dark is a awesome short story that from the very first line had me. Normally I don't like short stories, but this one is a winner.

You put your baby down for a nap, check the monitor and proceed to the kitchen. You hear a phone ringing and can't believe someone's line is crossing with your monitor.

You listen not sure who it is or what is going on. There happens to be a lot of details that remind you of your husband. All along you think you have the perfect marriage. Do you or don't you, you ask yourself the whole time.

Will the sun continue to shine on your marriage or did it set?

Reviewed by: Angie

This is one of those books that takes you from one world and brings you into another, in this case southeast Asia. Usually, I have found this quality in certain novels, but not often in short story collections, so I was glad I came upon this group of stories. I particularly liked the stories 'Fingertips Pointing to the Sky' and 'The Hotel Bombay'.

This collection of stories was a very enjoyable read and affected me on many levels. The stories encompassed a wide spectrum of emotions. I read the book in one sitting and then found myself going back a few weeks later and re-reading some of the stories for a second time. While all of the stories were sensitive to the area of southeast Asia they worked as a comment on the human condition regardless of geographic area.

I came across this book quite by accident after returning from an extensive business trip in southeast Asia. I liked the author's attention to detail and wished there were more than fourteen stories included here.

In fourteen stories the author has captured the feel of the area of the South China Sea. Asia is so vast with so many beautiful countries and where better to learn about different cultures than through literature. By reading, one is rewarded with a further understanding of the world we live in. I especially enjoyed this collection of short stories and would recommend it to anyone interested in either the atmosphere of southeast Asia or simply in well written stories.

The one thing all fourteen stories have in common is a link to the South China Sea. Some of the stories are humorous, others deal with serious subjects such as trafficking in women, extreme poverty, a sweatshop owner who's also a rapist, revenge, the Khmer Rouge, and attempts to escape from Vietnam. Some of the stories are predictable and one has a tragic irony. This collection was highly enjoyable and I read it in one sitting.

It needs to be mentioned that in order to really love this collection, you should already have a true love of poetry as well. That's really what makes this work as well as it does. Yes, the poems are explicit, physically sensual celebrations (and afterglows) of sexual pleasure. But the medium is SO often misused. It's either simply diving into smut, or even worse burying sex in some transcendental fugue that not even Don Juan could wade through.
This book however, touches all the right places. Between physical pleasure, intellectual lust, and emotional connections: The most satisfying and enjoyable sex is experienced in long-term relationships based on respect, trust, and love. If you love great poetry, AND great sex, this is for you.

I am very pleased with the quality of the poetry in this anthology. It is very sensual, and sexual without being vulgar. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it's something you can pick up when the mood strikes, and can even inspire you to write some love poems of your own.

"Sex within a context of real love, commitment, and safety is expansive and deeply pleasurable." ~Wendy Maltz

Until I started writing my own poetry; there was no way to realize the depth of emotion present in intimate poems. How do you even remember everything that happens when almost unaware of time itself and captured in a mystery or moment of breathless wonder?

Do poets hover above themselves in some dreamlike state observing this ecstatic union awaiting its birth in words? Does the soul watch the body's pleasure, silently? It seems it does because when poems arrive often they spill out onto the page in line after line of meaningful remembrance without much effort or thought. These types of poems seem born of longing, fantasy, dreams and the ancient desires all humans share. There is also humor in some of the rhymes or a casual elegance.

Nikki Giovanni brings an amusing style to her poetry in "That Day." The poem dances with the pleasure of the rhyme.

if you've got the key
then i've got the door
let's do what we did
when we did it before

Peeling an Orange by Virginia Hamilton Adair also shows the playfulness of love as two lovers play with oranges and the spicy scent of orange oil fills the air.

There are poems that are more direct and sensual and they explore the depths of the human experience and often express our desire to feel loved until our bodies vibrate at a higher frequency. This subtle purr or contentment after a loving experience can actually be felt in the body, but it is often difficult to describe. Some of the lovers wish to die in this blissful state after union. Wendy Lee expresses this desire in "Seamless Beauty" where she wishes to "fall into a deep sleep and never wake up."

Many of the poems contain nature images, especially water, the moon and surprisingly...many images of moths. What more could I wish for? There are swarms of luminous moths or ecstasy in a desert sea. A few of the poems have culinary themes. Jay Farbstein remembers a scene in the kitchen and how the pleasure of tastes turns into a worshipful experience.

Mostly, this is beautiful creative writing with a sensual theme. There are poems reflecting on past loves, poems about intense sensual encounters (Making Love by Walt Farran) and others where the poet wishes for future fulfillment. Like in Thirst by Linda Alexander:

Like a blade of summer grass
turning towards a fragrance
of rain caught in the air's
cooling, I come back to you

Wendy Maltz has created a sensitive and sacred sanctuary of healthy sexual experience in which lovers give sexuality a unique voice filled with imagination and metaphor. This is beyond romance, but never abusive or degrading. There is still a subtle mystery present in most of the poems. I loved the images in On Entering the Sea where Nizar Qabbani speaks of his experience as a "sliding under the skin of water...like writing with jasmine water."

The poems are divided into five chapters: Anticipation & Desire, Self-Awareness & Discovery, Admiration & Appreciation, Union & Ecstasy and Afterglow & Remembrance.

The poets featured: Marge Piercy, Emily Dickinson, Patti Tana, Robert Browning, Robin Jacobson, Linda Alexander, Floyd Skloot, George Keithley, David Meuel, Debra Pennington Davis, Penny Harter, Nikki Giovanni, Rumi, Trudi Paraha, Vigrinia Hamilton Adair, Stephen Dunn, Abigail Albrecht, Sharon Olds, Octavio Paz, Nizar Qabbani, Anon, Cummings, Kenneth Rexroth, June Sylvester Saraceno and Penny Harter.

What is especially delicious about this book of poetry is the introduction to a variety of new poets. For many of the poets, this is the first time their poems were published. I fell in love with Trudi Paraha's poetry. Her descriptions of painting love poems over sheets went beyond creative. She plays with words as if they owned her heart.

The erotic human experience is often a place of immense pleasure and most of the poets in this book seem to be writing from a place of relationship, trust and honesty. There is a nurturing quality to the lust, a beautiful connection between souls and an almost spiritual element in the union of lovers in a comforting embrace and heartfelt connection.

David Meuel's poems are especially interesting. He speaks of talking in touches and listening to each other's fingertips. In just a few sentences he can create amazing situations of desire. "What Makes It Good" shows his talent and "Ten Years Together" displays a rare intimacy between souls.

While you may think of erotic poems as poetry to excite passion, I found many of these poems were dipped in pleasure, but still retained an element of comfort. This is the type of book you can read at night before you go to bed and it may even produce beautiful dreams of the person you love. Intimate Kisses is as much a kiss for the mind as for the heart.

Something like my soul slips from me
and goes to you,
without choice or question,
and wraps itself around you
all night, like the breath
of the moon
~Gina Zeitlin

Intimate Kisses is an excellent choice is you have longed to know the experience of poets who can deftly describe the devotional side of desire. If you love this book, you may want to look for Passionate Hearts: The Poetry of Sexual Love. I can highly recommend both selections because they focus on positive images of sexual love.

~The Rebecca Review

Intimate Kisses: The Poetry of Sexual Pleasure is a lovely little book edited by Wendy Maltz, M.S.W. This is her fifth book on sexuality. She's a sex therapist and marriage counselor whose work has appeared in national magazines and on video.

Maltz says that "negative messages about sexual pleasure cause a lot of unnecessary personal suffering." She believes that understanding sexual pleasure will help people incorporate it into their own lives, while recognizing that "there are many different types and intensities of sexual pleasure." People's concept of pleasure also changes as they change.

She divided the book into five sections: anticipation and desire; self-awareness and discovery; admiration and appreciation; union and ecstasy; and afterglow and remembrance. Each section includes twenty or more poems. She includes the poetry of Marge Piercy, Anne Sexton, Sharon Olds, and Elizabeth Barrett-Browning, as well as dozens of lesser-known poets.

Maltz says that "my goal in creating Intimate Kisses is to provide an erotic, yet sensitive, collection of poems that describe sexual pleasure based on intimacy." Readers will enjoy discovering that she met her goal.

I went into the bookstore looking for a book to share with my current lover, and finally after spending an hour staring at the shelves found this little gem. The book is perfect, because it contains a wide variety of enriching language on the subject of love and sex... which is what I was seeking to share with my signfigant other. But it is also perfect because it makes one aware through reading that the common conceptions of sex that we see in mass media are so very dull compared to the variety present in this small volume. I think I'm going to drop a copy of this wrapped up discretely and anonomously on an over-sexed male co-worker's desk. The book is also perfect as a gift to man who hasn't grown out of his teenage (and porn industry soaked) ideas of sex. If he can spend some time reading it, it might blow his mind (and change his life). Why? Because this is a book that profoundly expresses that the best love and sex come out of the kind of intimacy that's pretty tough to find in a one-night stand.

I liked this book. For me it falls somewhere between a 3-star and a 4-star book on Amazon's rating list. It has some good content, it is grammatically correct, and it gives the reader some things to think about. It talks about Intellectual Property from a legal standpoint. But it talks mostly about how to strategically use and protect Intellectual Property in business in the US and globally.

The Intellectual Property world consists of four basic types of risk:

1. Institutional risks
2. Infringement risks
3. Management risks
4. Technology risks

This book tries to explain strategies and tactics that can help company executives protect the ideas their companies depend on for staying competitive and earning profits. Unfortunately the road to success at protecting lucrative ideas is not one well traveled. And it is equally hard to write a book about how to travel that road. The authors have tried to write such a book. But, not surprisingly, I think they fell a little short on achieving their goal of writing a masterpiece. This does not mean this book is not worthy of being read. It is a good book. And any company executive that has a portfolio of Intellectual Property should probably give it a read.

This book approaches strategy on a company basis, an industry basis, a country basis, and a global basis. There is a need for this book. And most senior executives have either struggled with the material in this book, or they should have before their companies took a turn for the worst. This book is written by a patent attorney and a serial entrepreneur - two people who should (and do) know a great deal about the material covered here. Since innovative ideas are more important in business today than ever before, and this book can help you strategize how you are going to maximize your benefit from taking your innovative ideas to market, you probably should consider getting a copy of this book. 3.8 stars

PS. The authors have provided Amazon with "Search Inside" material for this book. Consider examining the Table of Contents (TOC) that can be found there. It will help you better understand what is in this book. The TOC for this book is quite informative.

This book captures the IP strategy every CTO needs to build the company IP portfolio. Your investors will love you!

Practical advice on how to build a killer IP portfolio is hard to find - this book is it! The authors understand the legal, business, and creative aspects well and provide a thorough and balanced program for attacking this most important of value creation challenges. Own this book, own your future.

A detailed, concise guide that will help you navigate through the process of protecting your innovations.

iProperty is a very important book for any business executive who wants to learn how to best maximize his/her intellectual property portfolio. However, what makes this book stand out over all the others is the ability of the authors to make the subject fun, and the book as a whole incredibly easy to read and comprehend. By providing a comprehensive, yet easy to read background and a detailed blueprint on how to move forward, this book can benefit many other people critical to the success of any intellectual property management program, including intellectual property attorneys and corporate R&D personnel, no matter what level of Intellectual Property management experience. iProperty definitely earns a 5-star rating and is a must-read for anyone who wishes to get the maximum return on their intellectual property investment.

I must make a disclaimer up front. One of the authors of this book was my business partner before I retired in 1999; maybe I am a little prejudiced. On the other hand, besides a spouse, who knows someone better than a partner in business. Let me get the syrupy stuff out of the way--Ron is a great guy, an honest-as-the-day-is-long person in all aspects of his life, AND a master negotiator. The skills he and Tom teach in this book are about winning the right way. They will help any organization improve its chances of winning in today's highly competitive marketplace. But then, good negotiating skills, are important in every relationship, especially those in which we can't afford to get it wrong--with our spouses and children. I have seen the results--and have experienced some personally--that have been obtained following the principles of MY POCKET. So whether you will be trying to help determine how much to pay for a turbine for your power plant or where the family goes on vacation, this book is well worth your time.

Ron Lambert taught a one-day negotiating class that I attended earlier this year, and I purchased this book for a reference. I've used the techniques in this book several times during the last six months for both personal and professional issues and believe they helped me negotiate a better deal each time. (I think my wife is getting tired of me explaining negotiation strategy when we walk into a store or hotel.)

As with any self-help book, you must pick and choose some techniques, practice them, and actually try them. The book is easy to read and review (I read the book in about 5 hours), so you can start applying the techniques rather quickly. The most informative section of the book is arguably the fifth chapter where countertactics are presented to handle sophisticated buyers. The entire book is informative, though, and should be taken as a whole as you will find value in every chapter.

The time and money you will save buying your next car (how to do it is outlined in the last chapter) easiler justifies the purchase of this book, but you will likely obtain significantly more value beyond that.

This book will give you insights that will move you from "sales" to "sales excellence". I purchased the book today and have already read 9 chapters nonstop! Thanks for providing real life scenarios with real life solutions.

I was fortunate enough to have read an advance copy of "Is That Your Hand in My Pocket?". At first, I was apprehensive about reading yet another business book. It seems like they all follow the same mold these days. This book, however, is different. Mr. Lambert and Mr. Parker convey the message in a friendly, conversational tone.

I particularly enjoyed the section dealing with how to read a buyer's body language. Too often we forget to watch for these subtle clues into how the buyer is feeling. The book not only provides pictures of common cues, but also details how to adjust your tactics accordingly.

I have recommended that my company provide this book as a tool to all new hires and as a refresher to our seasoned sales professionals. I have also shared the book with my family who is bound to benefit from it as I have.

Kudos to Mr. Lambert and Mr. Parker for a great book all around.

It is rare that I find a book that teaches me something new and consistently executable. This book will help you move your agenda forward with every contact and build win-win solutions. The author claims he doesn't teach theory - it's real world. He is right and he delivers. I've used two of the techniques in the book over the past two days with staggering success. This books covers everything from non-verbals to planning, tactics, turning confrontation into collaboration, and appropriate taking. My copy is already highlighted and I'll be going back through it prior to big conversations.