V Books

One of the most informative and moving books I have ever read about Jesus. I have two copies because one is worn and tattered. Lots of facts and references about the original meaning of Biblical words and explanations of culture during the time Christ walked the earth. Details Christ's life from Mary's conception to His death on the cross. Truly a moving personal experience reading this book. If you don't already know Jesus, you won't want to go another day without Him. If you already know him, you will enter into a more intimate relationship with Him than you ever imagined. Many times I read a page and had to stop reading and digest the magnitude of what I had just read and it's meaning for me and my personal relationship with Jesus. I will reread and reread and reread......

Fantastic! Beth Moore has a wonderful way of breaking down the life of Jesus in a simple, yet personal way. She weaves in historical Jewish customs and traditions, cross-references Old Testament verses and asks thought-provoking questions to make this two-thousand-year-old story come alive. Jesus was God in human form--the epitome of perfection and holiness but that didn't shelter him from living a normal childhood in a very average, working-class home or from encountering the same problems and temptations that we face. "Jesus, the One and Only" will help you understand the full character of Christ. Who he was. What he did. And how much he gave of himself to draw us into a relationship with God. This Bible study is perfect for women on any level, whether you've been a Christian for decades or days. Don't underestimate the power of this book. This isn't your average Sunday school Jesus story!

The information provided in the study book is very good reading, especially for women's bible study groups. We currently are using this
for our church's circle group. We also purchased the study guide. I recommend it to anyone who hasn't read any of Beth Moore's books.

This book is great. It has really helped me focus on Jesus life here on earth. It has made me dig deeper to discover and wonder about the details. Beth Moore's applications of the passages have brought it to life.

So far this is my favorite Beth Moore book. I've already read it twice and am sure to read it again. She tackles a very familiar story with fresh insights just about every chapter. It's not a "preachy" book. Rather she makes you feel like you're a fellow learner with a good friend. Unlike some of her other books, this does not require looking up many references which makes it ideal to read when you're reading somewhere other than your desk at home.

As I read this book I had tears in my eyes. I am also a young widow and I have two children (the last was born 3 months after her father passed away while on a business trip in California the rental car he had been driving was hit by a semi. Being a widow I didn't care for the comments made by Deborah Reece, I thought them to be insensitive and hurtful. saying "be thankful for what you have" is just like saying the pain lessens with time. For me it hasn't. It doesn't appear to me she has read the book (kind of like the other book she "read") but for some reason she had an opinion about it. Finding true love is not hard (once upon a time I thought it was) its just about not settling for second best. We should feel sorry for Tammy as she has been through alot. Yes alot of women go through it but that doesn't make it less painful. Also the book I feel was a testamony I don't think she wrote it to make people feel sorry for her. Trent was an amazing man and I was deeply touched by the book (I lead it out alot sometimes to unbelievers one of whom I believe has come to Christ from being inspired by Tammy's book. I love the title as I too thought I couldn't breathe after Dan's crash, everytime I would take a deep breathe I felt as if I couldn't take another breath.Deborah, If you want a wonderful man just pray about it and try to show that you have a wonderful personality, I think guys like positive girls not ones who have negative things to say where they shouldn't be.

Tammy is an engaging writer with the gift of turning her nightmare into a positive, spiritual gift to all who read her story. Both her family and Trent's are amazing.

This is the best book I have read in years! I think everybody that can should read this book and not take LIFE for granted!!!

Tammy did a wonderful work in describing a pain that many of us face and have to go through. At times I felt like she was describing my own thoughts and feelings when I lost my only child in a car accident. While you are learning to draw breath again, our Lord and Savior truly does literally carry you through the pain until you can begin to see hope again. Life doesn't stop just because a life that means more to you than your own, has stopped. In telling her own story, Tammy helps us to tell ours.

I recently lost my husband suddenly, I have felt all the emotions that Tammy expressed in her book. At 24 I have lost my husband, my father (at 16) and two sisters. Last year my husband and I were expecting a little girl and he was so excited to becoming a father. We had been married for 3 years and just bought a house and another car. Unexpectedly my husband was killed a snowmobiling accident, while on a vacation with his brothers. The area that they were on was about 66 acres and he had gone out alone (this was unusual for him) and hadn't returned after three hours they became worried and went to search for him. There were alot of snowmobile tracks and they weren't sure which ones to follow, so they had formed a search party to look for him. As night fell still no sign of my wonderful husband. The next morning they found my husband who had hit a tree, he was wearing a helmet but somehow it had come off of his head upon the snowmobile hitting the tree sending him flying into the tree, he was gone taking my heart with him. I totally understand why she choose the title "Learning to breathe again: choosing life and finding hope after a shattering loss" because thats just what you have to do, when you lose your husband like that, and being so young you think you have your whole life ahead of you and you make so many plans, When you lose it all like that you feel like you have to learn how to breathe again (Im still learning to breathe again)

Tim was my life, my forever love. I know that when I had our daughter Grace Katheryne (it seemed to fit her she was God's Grace to me in such a rough time in my life and it was also the name Tim picked) I felt his presence as I gave birth to her 6 months ago (just 6 weeks after the accident) I know I will see him again in another time and Another place. As I look at her she looks more and more like her daddy each day she has his dark hair nose mouth and chin and my eyes. I know I have had some days when Ive said "I can't do this alone Lord" but then Im reminded that Im not alone God is with me each day and he will never leave me or forsake me. Tammy did such a beautiful job on this book I share it with other widows I know. No doubt it reached an unbeliever and has made them commit their lives to Christ
From the bottom of my heart thank you so much Tammy

Scott Weidensaul writes precisely and eloquently about bird migration in "Living on the Wind", which was a nominated finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2000. In what is "perhaps the most compelling drama in all of natural history", an estimated 5 billion birds migrate annually, across continents and oceans, some without stopping to rest or eat for thousands of miles. Weidensaul tells us why birds migrate and how. He paints a picture of these extraordinary journeys and the birds that make them in North, Central, and South America. As some migrating birds are in crisis due to loss of habitat and disturbances in their breeding, stopover, and wintering grounds, the author examines the current threats to migrants and the controversies over their nature and significance.

In three parts -Southbound, Hiatus, and Northbound- "Living on the Wind" examines the journeys of migratory birds, regales us with incredible stories of a variety of species, and tells us where they go and how they live in their wintering grounds. Weidensaul has endured the cold of Monterey Bay, tromped through Jamaica's acacia forests, counted the massive migration through Veracruz with blistered thumb, banded hawks in Argentina, stood in the midst of a "fallout" near the Gulf coast, and generally traversed North and South America to see and understand migrants. He recounts his experiences with a wonder and drama that made me long to visit some of these places myself.

We also learn of birds that stay in their frigid climates, irruptive species that migrate only occasionally, birds who migrate south to wintry Vermont, and some species for whom habitat transformation has meant overpopulation, such as snow geese and Canada geese. I found especially fascinating the discussions of how migratory birds navigate, differences in the needs and fates of neotropical migrants and resident birds that co-exist in the same habitats, and the very preventable threats to migrants, such as feral cats. I was struck by how much has been learned about migrants in the past couple of decades through new technologies and broader study, but also by how difficult it is to pin down definitive data about these itinerant creatures. "Living on the Wind" is a treasure trove of information for birdlovers and thoroughly enjoyable for a general audience as well.

_Living on the Wind_ by Scott Weidensaul is a very ambitious book, one in which the author tried to convey both the science and the drama of bird migration in the Western Hemisphere, traveling for six years from Alaska to Argentina and speaking to experts as well as viewing close up an amazing variety of birds from the Arctic tundra to Central American rain forests.

The book is divided into three sections. "Southbound" focused on the fall migration as well as topics on migration in general.

Weidensaul stressed that one shouldn't view migration as moving away from something unpleasant, such as the cold, but rather as moving towards something beneficial, mainly an area where food is plentiful. Viewing migration as a simply north-south issue clearly shows a North American bias; birds in southern South America fly north to their wintering grounds, tropical birds fly relatively short distances but on migrations nonetheless in response to among other things the ripening of fruits or the blossoming of flowers, and many ocean birds undergo complex and intricate perambulations of entire oceans on an annual basis (the greater shearwater breeds in the South Atlantic but covers a 13,000 mile route every nine months, a route that includes going up past South America to Canada, then over to Europe in autumn, and then returning down the coast of Africa). Not all North American birds winter in the Americas; the bristle-thighed curlew nests in western Alaska but winters as much as 5,000 miles away in such Pacific islands as Tahiti, while the bar-tailed godwit winters 6,800 miles away from its Alaskan home in New Zealand (flying nonstop for up to five days).

The reader learns some birds are "complete migrants" (they entirely vacate their breeding grounds at the end of nesting season) and some are "partial migrants" (a portion of the population remains year-round). Most birds other than hawks migrate at night, partially to avoid predators (like hawks), to free up daytime hours for finding food, because the atmosphere is less turbulent at night, and because the chillier and damper night air can help cool overheated migrating birds and work to stem moisture loss. Thanks to human activity, many birds winter farther north than they once did, whether due to backyard birdfeeders in the case of finches or specially maintained refuges for waterfowl; this phenomenon is known as "shortstopping."

The author spent a good deal of time discussing how birds find their way on migrations. A fascinating discussion, migration involves a genetic program, a time of migratory restlessness when the daylight diminishes to a certain point and the urge to fly in a certain direction sets in, coupled in some species with a innate time-distance or time-and-direction (or vector navigation) program, a set of genetic instructions that instruct the bird to fly a certain direction for a specific length of time, change heading, and then precede on another for a preset period of time. Those directions are determined mainly by celestial and magnetic orientation but research has shown that infrasound (extremely low-frequency waves of the sort generated by ocean surf, which can travel for thousands of miles) may play a role as well.

Modifying this program though are a "hierarchy of orientation clues," which serve to refine a bird's navigation on subsequent flights, often enabling a bird to find specific breeding and wintering grounds with stunning accuracy. Clues such as learning geographic landmarks, olfactory, infrasound, and local magnetic clues help the migrating bird.

The second section, "Hiatus," focused on birds and their wintering grounds, from stay-at-home year-round resident birds alongside frozen Hudson Bay to birds of steamy rainforests and the Argentine pampas. Many birds like warblers and tanagers really are tropical birds to begin with; an oriole might spend four months in its temperate breeding range but seven months in the tropics, while some Canadian warblers spend less than three months there. Some birds migrate only as far south as southern Canada or the northern U.S. to winter. Others, such as the northern finches, follow an erratic and very unpredictable pattern of migration known as an irruption, a pattern tied to seed production in their normal range that in bad years may send birds as far south as the Gulf Coast.

The author discussed research on how faithful birds are to their wintering sites, debates over whether or not they are benefited by disturbed habitat, how flexible they are on their wintering grounds with regards to food and habitat, and how some species have completely different diets and habits on their wintering grounds (in some species the males and females will winter in different areas).

Threats to wintering birds were well discussed, covering such topics as the use of pesticides in Latin American countries (tens of thousands of Swainson's hawks have died from pesticides in Argentina), habitat destruction, changes in coffee-growing practices (shade-grown coffee plantations still have a great deal of habitat for birds but sun-coffee or technified farms are "biological deserts"), and disease (wetland destruction has forced waterfowl and shorebirds into overloaded federal and state refuges, what one researcher called "bird ghettos").

The third section, "Northbound," tracked the surge of migrants through the American Southwest, Great Plains, and the Gulf Coast. Topics of discussion often center on threats to migrating birds, including loss of hardwood forests along the Gulf Coast, a vital source of nutrients for migrating birds (increasingly usurped by industrialized pine plantations and beach homes), the loss of native grassland (a trend that is "nearly apocalyptic;" Iowa only has one-tenth of one percent left, while Minnesota has one percent left) which has caused grassland birds to decline faster, longer, and over a wider area than any other type, and the tremendous threats to breeding woodland birds due to forest fragmentation, opening up formerly deep woods to predators such as cats and also cowbirds, which are rapidly expanding their ranges and numbers and are a huge threat to eastern birds with no experience with brood parasites.

The detail and fluidity of this book amazes me. The author's passion for his love of birds shines through on every page. It's a work of love.

I didn't begin to "bird" until my days in New Jersey (2000-2004) when I'd drive to the beautiful Jersey Shore and watch water fowl and migratory eagles, falcons and osprey nest along the banks of the braggish waters. I've been fascinated by raptors ever since, and the chapter "River of Hawks" had me longing for more.

The author traveled all over North and South America, mixing in some travelogue with his more scientific paragraphs. His descriptions of Patagonia, AZ (p. 59) and Monterey, CA (p. 93) were right on target even for the non-birder.

The time he spent researching, traveling, meeting with locals is astounding. He traveled to Mexico, Argentinia, Alaska, Canada, Jamaica and various places within the United States to watch the birds himself.

The book ends on a melancholy note, citing the need to preserve and conserve what natural habitat we have left in the world, not just for our feathered friends, but for fish and humans. No work on nature would be complete without a passage of hope that natural nesting areas and a habitat free of toxins will prevail.

This book is a must-read. Like a few other reviewers have stated, my only recommendation would be perhaps a picture, even a black-white picture, of the many birds mentioned in this book.

If you enjoy nature reading you will love this book. I am not a birder, but nevertheless found this book to be an eloquent and fascinating read. Weidensaul introduces and explores a world that occurs around us every day but that few of us know anything about. He writes extremely well. Overall, a wonderful book.

The information on bird migration is absolutely engrossing. However, the language Weidensaul uses is even more enjoyable. I kept the computer dictionary next to me while reading the book to check the beautiful language used to describe bird behavior and their habitats. This book is inspiring and thought provoking even for non-birders like me (I am likely classified as a computer geek).

My Outreach Librarian picked this book for me to read and I'm SO glad she did. I learned a lot about dogs and cat behavior when they go missing. Kat Albrecht, an ex-police Dispatcher, trains her pet Weimaraner, Rachel and her two bloodhounds, A.J. and Chase, to find lost dogs and cats. When Kat and her dogs get called to find a lost boa constrictor from a California Zoo, it causes chaos. In this book, we learn how these rescue dogs find lost pets, with some ending out with happy endings and some not too happy. When Kat supposedly finds the man of her dreams, she finds they don't agree on the care of her pets. It was nice to hear about the different ways a lost pet can be found. What I found very interesting was when one of Kat's dogs was able to find a certain cat out of several cats in one household. I was able to learn from this is that all cats have their own distinctive scent. At the end of this remarkable book, Kat gives a lot of good pointers on what to do when we lose a pet. There are a lot of resources to choose from. I highly recommend this book for all animal lovers and keep some Kleenex handy.

Kat's book broke my previous record. I read this book in 1 day. I am a pet store manager in Simi Valley. I post missing pet flyers every day in the window at my store. These pet owners agonize over the disappearance of their beloved pets. I wish this book was around for me to read 10 years ago. I am now telling everybody to read her book whether they have lost a pet or not. I can't wait for her next book. The inside scoop is it will be more of a guide how to find your lost pets. But nothing beats the real thing and that is Kat Albrecht "Pet Detective" Email her at Missing Pet Partnership.

I enjoyed reading this book very much. Kathy Albrecht stories were nice to read-I read it front to back in 3 days, however i originally ordered this book to help in finding my lost cat and expected it to be a large reference on ideas on how to find a lost cat. But that wasnt the case there is only 5 pages out of the whole book on this topic. The rest is kathy's adventures in police work, canines, the loss of her pets and how she become a lost pet detective. She does speak of her searches for a few lost pets.

If you want a good read this is a good book. But if you are looking for a lost pet better to go to her website and read the information there.

I was at the library searching for something to read, and the beautiful dog on the cover caught my eye. I had no idea that this book would help me deal with the loss of my cat Ruffles, who had been my companion and friend for 14 years. This book speaks to all pet lovers. A great read.

Jeri
Ashburn, VA

The Lost Chronicles by Kat Albrecht is a great book for dog lovers or people that love mysteries. I absolutely love this book! I don't really like to read but I have eleven dogs and this book is definetly my type of book. I especially like how Kat did a wonderful job writing this book using imagery; it makes the book seem as if I was there watching it. It has so many great stories about her dogs, life, adventures, and mysteries. One of the things I like alot about this book is the pictures of her and her dogs. After seeing the pictures, You can picture all the things she's talking about so easily. Another great quality about this book is the supsense and different emotions. While she is telling a story the details she uses makes you have to know whats going happen: you'll find that this isn't a book you can put down. She describes her emotions and dog's emotions very well.This non-fictin book is great for all ages and you'll never have to worry about getting bored while reading. I reccomend this book to anyone especially if your a animal or mystery fan.

This was a gift to a southern couple who've moved to the Heartland, a place that's never heard of "sweet tea" and vinegar-based barbeque! The book has many southern stories that can be retold and embellished to win over their midwestern friends in both mind and belly! All regions have their own special foods and they're usually very tasty, but an entire cookbook of southern specialties is a must-have! It's well-written and mouth-watering.

This book is incredible.
Well written and entertaining.
The recipes are fantastic and many are easy to do.
The only thing you need when reading this is a napkin because everything you read will make your mouth water!

Extremely well researched and written about Southern cooking. The style is easy to read and enjoyable. While I generally prefer a lot of color photos, this book doesn't need them to keep my interest. Well done.

This is a fantastic cookbook for those who want to know how to cook "Southern-style." I bought this book because I was trying to duplicate some of the recipes my mother and grandmother cooked (and which I failed to get from them and now its too late). This cookbook did not disappoint. I've bought other Old South cookbooks, but none of them compared to the comprehensive nature of this book. Also, the history behind the recipes and foods was an added bonus. Since buying my copy, I have purchased other copies of this book as gifts for friends. To a person, they have indicated that they were sure it would become one of their most cherished cookbooks.

I have fallen in love with this cookbook-I am originally from NC, and this brings back so many special memories-I love the inserts about Coke, Cheerwine, Little Debbie, Lance nabs, etc- and the recipes are super. They taste good, plus the directions given are very clear. ---I have ordered 4 more for gifts-I think friends will really enjoy this special cookbook.

If you like a good, quick paced, murder mystery peppered with humor, "Mad Mouse" is the mystery for you. Set in a normally quiet seaside town on the Jersey Shore, policemen Ceepak and Boyle track a sniper taking pot shots at people right before the big Labor Day weekend. Grabenstein uses descriptions sparingly, giving just enough backstory to allow the reader the opportunity of filling in some character details and ambience on their own... much the way horror writer Stephen King provides just enough detail for you to scare yourself silly. Even with two murders in one summer, I want to live in Sea Haven. Great story line and surprise ending.

Grabenstein is quickly becoming one of my favorites. I only wish he could write his stories faster.

I wrote a review of TILT A WHIRL last year and gave it five stars, and I was anxiously awaiting the new Ceepak mystery with the same anticipation which, as a kid, I used to reserve for the opening of the baseball season, or going back to the boardwalk. So I dove right into MAD MOUSE with an eager enthusiasm.

It's very good, all right, but to say it's better than the first book is just plain wrong. The plot of the book seems, well, I won't say stolen, but certainly it's "reminiscent" of the teen thriller I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER by Lois Duncan, or everyone's seen the movie version and its sequels. You're reading along, and all of a sudden every scene in MAD MOUSE seems familiar, as one by one all the kids who knew each other when they were 16 get targeted. It just seemed forced to me that all of them are still close enough years later so that the killer could find them partying it up at the beach one night, in the book's opening scenes.

And also I can't figure out, waasn't our boy Danny Boyle dating Becca in the last book? And since this one picks up immediately after the end of TILT A WHIRL, when did he ditch her and start mooning over Katie, Becca's best friend? And since Chris G. is great at making his men characters come alive, and yet he doesn't seem real great at writing women, why make the switch since both of them seem sort of interchangeable?

And talk about a ludicrously over-the-top accomplice!

That said, Grabenstein's a terrific writer, his picture of the Jersey shore is a complex, hard-hitting one, and the interplay between Danny and his guru John Ceepak is outstanding, the best of its kind of genre fiction. Just give them something to detect next time.

In the beach town of Sea Haven, the town council is getting ready for the big Labor Day celebration, a guaranteed money maker for the town. They want everything to go smoothly and all the summer visitors to have the time of their life. Nothing can mess this up..........or can it?
When a paintball incident appears to cause a disturbing injury to Danny Boyle's friend during a beach outing, the town fathers want the incident hushed up. When it is discovered that not only paintballs were being fired, but bullets too, the demand to clear it all up and take care of any loose ends is made perfectly clear.
Unfortunately, this does not seem to be possible as repeat incidents occur.
Our heroes enter the picture, John Ceepak, an Iraq war vet who lives by a strict code of honor and Danny Boyle, a care-free guy who lives by the seat of his pants, are partnered in the police force and delve into the case looking for answers, but all they seem to get are more questions. Suddenly it seems that maybe Danny and his friends are in the crosshairs of some deranged individual but the motive for the attacks remains elusive, as does the shooter.
The story is a wild ride, fast paced with unexpected twists and turns that are put together with a deft hand!! Chris Grabenstein is a truly skilled author, creating dialogue that is both clever and sidesplittingly funny!! His characters are witty and entertaining. His story line is unexpected and captivating!!! His cast of characters, while witty and clever, range the gamut from serious cop, care-free kid, mail order brides,goth kids, beach bums to stereotypical town fathers and wealthy overbearing parents. Chris Grabenstein raises the bar to a new standard with Mad Mouse!!

Summer Cop Danny Boyle and his friends have made a tradition of celebrating National Toasted Marshmallow Day. For the last ten years, they have gotten together every year on a beach in their town of Sea Haven, New Jersey to toast marshmallows, drink beer, and hang out.

This year, things turn serious when someone tags them with paintballs. One of the paintballs hits Becca's eye, turning a yearly tradition into a serious night.

Sea Haven is planning a huge bash for Labor Day. Naturally, this incident doesn't sit well with everyone in the business community whose survival during the next nine months rests on the huge business they expect this one weekend of the summer. Danny and his partner, John Ceepak, are assigned the case; with the implication that Danny's application to be a full time cop is riding on a quick solution.

They think they are on the right track when another attack happens. Again, Danny and a friend are the target. Only this time, the paintballs are followed by a bullet.

I'm not normally a thriller fan, but I just couldn't pass up the setting of a resort town. I loved the first one, and enjoyed this one even more. The plot starts quickly. It seems to be moving along fine, but when the second attack comes, things pick up into high gear and the pace never slows down. Since Danny is our narrator, this gives us more of a stake in the outcome, and I must admit to cheating ahead to see who lived until the end.

The only real drawback to the story involves Ceepak. Ceepak lives by a code. Actually, I like his code and respect the character because of it. However, it is mentioned so often I got tired of hearing about it. A few mentions to establish the character were fine, but it should have been dropped by the second half of the story.

Still, this is a minor complaint in an otherwise outstanding story. Give yourself plenty of time to read it because you will be hooked.

Simply put: Mad Mouse did not disappoint!!! I can only add to all the other reviews in my gushing praise of the second installment of John Ceepak and Danny Boyle's adventures at the Jersey Shore!! To the author (who I can't seem to reach by email)--cannot wait for the further adventures of the two above characters and am also looking forward to Slay Ride, your next serial....Thank you, thank you and again---keep up with the terrific writing, plot lines and most of all the giggles that just keep happening!!! Susan

The main character in Dale Dauten's magnificent story, The Max Strategy, is Max Elmore, an old man with infectious enthusiasm, insatiable curiosity, and wisdom gained from a lifetime of management consulting to leaders across a spectrum of organizations. Max meets the book's fictional author during an extended delay at O'Hare Airport, and during their ensuing conversation, one of the topics Max discusses is 'becoming a flukologist':

"Burton Malkiel (A Random Walk Down Wall Street) dreamed up an imaginary coin-tossing contest. A thousand contestants in a line; heads was a winner, tails a loser. So the thousand people toss their coins and about five hundred get tails and lose. The five hundred with heads toss again. After seven tosses there are just eight coin tossers left. By this time crowds start to gather to witness the surprising ability of these expert coin tossers. The winners are overwhelmed with adulation. They are celebrated as geniuses in the art of coin tossing - their biographies are written and people urgently seek their advice. After all, there were a thousand contestants and only eight could consistently flip heads."

"Naturally, if you aren't smart and hardworking and all that, you're going to fail ten times out of ten. But if you do all the right things, guess what? You fail nine times out of ten. Think how many great novels you've read that never became best-sellers. Think how many actors you see in local or regional theaters who are as good as those on Broadway. Their problem isn't talent or work ethic; it's that they aren't expert coin tossers."

"Remember this: The coin tosser who gets the most 'heads' is the one who gets the most tosses. Given enough chances, chance is your friend."

"Yes, a fluke is a fluke. But you could use a fluke in your career, no? So maybe we should learn their secrets and become 'flukologists.'"

"If you innovate instead of imitate, and work every day to be different from yesterday, you'll improve your odds: You no longer will fail nine times out of ten. You'll fail eight times out of ten."

"Real achievement is a kind of lottery. You enter by being competent and hardworking. Most people get one shot in the lottery, playing at one-in-ten odds. I'm trying to show you how you can enter again and again, at two-in-ten odds. Here's the logic. Most people try to be like the successful people in their field. The result is that everyone does what everyone else is doing. If a great new idea comes along, sure, they adopt it. So does everyone else. You see what is happening to each of them? Each is trying to be exceptional, but ends up going about it by being just like everyone else. The upshot? They have, at best, a one-in-ten chance of producing results in the top ten percent of their profession."

"If you want to be extraordinary, the first and hardest step is to stop being ordinary."

"People try to conform to success, but to be successful is to be a non-conformist. Let's put it this way: You don't become a Picasso by taking a Picasso print and running it through a Xerox machine."

"You can't get to better without first getting to different. Every blessed day. Believe me, it'll wear you out. No, I'm not suggesting the easy way out: this is the exhausting way out. But it's also the exciting way out, the alive way out."

This week, I'm teaching at the Wow Institute in Henniker, New Hampshire. 75 fundraisers from across North America have come seeking ideas to make them better. If we're successful, participants will learn to become innovative flukologists and expert coin-flippers who reject 'ordinary' and are committed to pursuing 'different' every day. It's the risky path, but it's also the only path to 'better,' the only path to 'extraordinary.'

(from www.crawdaddycove.com)

This is a good book, but I'd say it's a bit thin on detail and information. It is basically composed of many feel good success stories.
There's no knowledge here that I found to be of of the ordinary or particularly helpful, but's a good easy read.

A very very good book. The great thing about this book is that once you start reading is, you will not let go... The book tries to reinvent our thinking from the normal rut. Definately a good read. You might not agree with the author at certain junctures, but then he comes up with very good examples.

This book was my introduction to Dale Dauten and remains one of my favorite business books because of the novel way the author finds to make practical advice memorable.

The book is organized as a conversation between a successful entreprenuer and a stranded burned-out businessman at snowed-in O'Hare airport. Max Elmore,our hero, helps his new friend see the nature of innovation and the connection between innovation and business success.

For the person who wants the reputation as an innovator (and ain't that what makes life fun?) this is a little book that can be read and understood in a few short hours.

If you have the courage to devote the additional time to completing the exercises outlined in the book you can expect to uncover some interesting experiments that might lead you to some new methods and new thinking.

If you are interested in innovatation and experimentation as an employee or a business owner, the few hours reading this book will be richly rewarded.

Couldn't put it down. I would recommend this book to anyone that has DARES to dream... It puts success in "simple" terms and not anything like the corporate books I have read in the past- that advises mostly on the "rules" on how you "should" do things....I LOVED IT! I'll probably re-read in about 6 months...

"Mayo Clinic Family Health Book" covers nearly everything that takes place in life from preconception to death. Diagnostic and treatment advice is easy to read and accentuated with diagrams and photos.

FOUND THE GENERAL INFORMATION OF SPECIFIC DISEASES AND ITS POSSIBLE TREATMENTS. VERY GOOD AND PRECISE INFORMATION.

We purchased the Mayo Clinic Eeference guide to serve as a family medical book. We are very pleased with the descriptions and information about comon medical issues. I highly recommend this book for individuals who want more information about common and not so common medical difficulties.

This is a book no household should be without. Very informative and helpfull. The index is great and the information is to the point... Excellent photos and drawings. Only drawback: a bit bulky!

The Mayo Family Health book is a "wealth of information."
My husband recently became ill and was hospitalized. We were able to pinpoint symptoms in the book which helped us along with our health provider get appropriate testing and treatment for his condition.

With healthcare today, we must be "informed consumers".
I have worked nearly 35 years in clinical laboratory medicine and I still learn something new everyday....this book certainly helps.

Thank you Renee. This book deals with everyday people, not some fantasy character all neat and proper and "spiritual". I'm learning more and more how important it is to live life authentically and that to do so is to stop pulling an Adam and Eve. Living authentically really allows one to open and truthul not just with themselves, but with God and others. It allows God to move in and through us so we are not controlling circumstances but trusting that God is in control. Its a healthy lifefstyle; one that I believe Jesus embraced. He's my hero. I wish more christian authors wrote about flawed people instead of just flawed cirsumstances.

Best!

I have just finished reading "My Life as a Doormat" last night (or to be precise, this morning at 3 am!). I couldn't put it down, I kept on turning pages after pages after pages. The book is funny while made you think at the same time, especially readers who had experienced being 'doormats' in their life (like me!). Rene Gutteridge is a wonderful writer and I highly recommend this book.

I liked this book from the first line to the last line! Like Leah, I try to avoid conflict, so it was fun to walk with her through all the happenings of her life. Rene has such a great sense of humor and made me laugh several times throughout the book. I was blessed to be able to meet Rene in person recently and she is so wonderful! If you enjoy reading fun stories with quirky characters and situations, then Rene is the author for you!

This is the first book I've read in this genre, and now I am hooked! Rene Gutteridge's writing spoke to my heart and soul, and had me laughing so much that it was a true relief and blessing. The characters were so real that their struggles and their victories got me thinking about areas of my own life in surprising ways. This unforgettable book is entertaining, inspiring--and healing. You'll be grateful you picked it up, and likely won't want to put it down.

Leah Townsend is a struggling playwright who's trying to regain the momentum from the one hit play she had. She's in a relationship with Dr. Edward Crowse, a physics professor who makes all her decisions for her. Her family always assumes she is the perfect child because she does everything they tell her too. Her best friend thinks that Leah will support her no matter what the situation or what time. Leah has been ok with this until one day she decides to change. This leads to Edward enrolling her into an anger management class. Humiliated and reluctant, Leah goes expecting to blend in. However she soon discovers that being a doormat is not what she really wants to be in life.


This book was really difficult to read at first. I really didn't like the way that Leah was being treated by everyone. I couldn't stand that she wouldn't stand up to anybody in her family and friends and how she would just let them walk all over her. I really hated her boyfriend Edward. That guy was such a jerk especially after enrolling her in the anger management class. I mean what type of person does that just because someone tries out something new or disagrees with you? But then as I kept reading, I liked how Leah was changing. She learned to finally deal and resolve conflict instead of just always giving in. I liked how she knew that this could radically change her life and the relationships she was in. She changed her life completely and finally became happy instead of just settling for mediocrity. The anger management classes were fun to read, some of the characters I would have had problems keeping my temper with! I applauded to her decision with Edward. It was funny though to see how he tried to change for her or at least his thinking of what "change" really was. I enjoyed her relationship with Cinco, it was just what she needed. The title of this book really catches your eye as does the cover. It's a great chick lit book and it's one I think a lot of people should read. Don't be afraid to change.

Great book! Great advice! For anyone who is healthy or sick. Miracles can happen and life can be great, examples like Naomi Judd prove it! Try it for yourself and see!

Naomi has such a casual and fluid writing style. She's intelligent, witty, and down-to-earth. She doesn't try to tell you what to do or how to think...she just shares her experiences and insights and invites you to take from her what you will. She's like a big sister telling you stories with all kinds of advice and morals tucked inside but you don't mind because you know she just wants what's best for you.

Keep a pad and pen nearby, because you will want to jot down some thoughts and ideas. Naomi has taken a series of interesting life experiences, and a life threatening illness, and distilled from it, a group of principles which she is now sharing. She has some interesting interesting insights, pointed suggestions, and principles which can bring healing to change lives. I read it a chapter a day, sort of like a devotion or study. Each day gives interesting point, and some suggestions to place into practice. More than worth the price charged.

Naomi Judd's book combines her life stories with wisdom and knowledge she has gained along the way. I found the book very inspiring.
For example, she tells a story of when she first moved to Los Angeles she was so bad off that she lived in a horrible motel. Then as she was on her way to an awards show, she drove passed this same motel while in her limo. She uses stories like these to inspire her readers to strive for a better life.
The book is filled with wisdom, wit and knowlege. It would be great reading material for someone who wants to better their life and move forward.

Naomi's Breakthrough Guide is one of the most engaging, inspirational --and useful -- personal development books I've read in twenty five years. I found it to be one of those rare books that truly is hard to put down. In fact, I ended up reading it in one day (and will be returning to do more of the exercises).

If you value the following, you'll love this book:

· Stories that are both entertaining and full of important lessons. You'll find poignant, inspirational, and amusing stories that make this "how to" book read more like a page turner novel.

·Practical suggestions for creating the life you want, from someone who has done just that.

· Scientific research citations that add credibility and substance to the author's ideas, and offer the reader resources for further exploration into topics that interest them.

· Exercises and questions that provide practical structure for those who want to apply Ms. Judd's ideas in their own lives.

· An encouraging, non-elitist "I'm just a regular person like you" style that doesn't sound like one of the many "experts" who writes from a position of superiority, but instead humbly shares the wisdom they've learned from the School of Hard Knocks.


Even if you've read many personal growth books, Naomi's take on principles and practices you're familiar with can bring you to a deeper recognition of their importance in your life and a more honest appraisal of whether you're applying them. She frames a wide range of issues, including mindfulness, meditation, forgiveness, and risk taking, in such an engaging and supportively challenging way, you'll find yourself thinking about them with a fresh, more personalized perspective. Naomi's thought provoking questions and exercises will challenge anyone serious about living a more fulfilling life to go beyond the "Oh, I know that" perspective to the more life changing stance of asking "Am I doing that?" and "How will I act on that?"

Finally, Naomi Judd's stories of her difficult early years prior to becoming a music superstar offer hope and inspiration to anyone wondering whether they can live the kind of life they dream about - or have long since given up on. They remind the reader that Ms. Judd's success didn't just happen. She wasn't "discovered." She overcame difficult life circumstances that many would have taken as proof their life could never be better. Reading about that part of her life can't help but make you think "If she can overcome those circumstances by doing what she is suggesting in this book, there's no reason why I can't create the kind of life I want." You just can't help being inspired by Naomi's example of courage, determination, and optimism. You'll also find her sense of humor, ability to turn a phrase, and story-telling skill makes this book a delightful reading experience.

Do yourself a favor and get Naomi's Breakthrough Guide. Do the special people in your life a favor and give them a copy. It's a simple way to bring more good into the world and into the lives of the people you love.