W Books

I made this book a required read for my MBA Business Research Method class. It addresses some of the key falacies in thinking about the research for decision making. I have a more detailed review on [...].

Measuring seeming intangibles can be a very tricky task, and Hubbard does a masterful job walking the reader through the process of moving from a position of limiting their applicability of measurement to a position where they can essentially quantify anything. This text is very well written and only basic math skills are needed to apply the content. In a few isolated instances, the author walks the reader through some calculations that require knowledge of statistics beyond basic math, and even limits his discussion to Microsoft Excel functions in at least one case where he feels the math might be a little too inaccessible to the reader, although even in this scenario the math is by no means very advanced. In this reviewer's opinion, this feat is rather incredible, because the resources typically available on this subject matter are typically saturated with statistics, and the method of problem solving the author presents should make most readers very comfortable regardless of background. While this book can help measure tangibles, the intent here is to guide the reader to a point where they can measure what are typically viewed as intangibles, such as risk, quality, performance, value, demand, etc. While the background of the author is technology, and much of the discussion can be applied to nonfunctional architectural qualities, the book demonstrates that there really is no limit to measuring traditional intangibles. As Hubbard indicates in his first chapter, "anything can be measured. If a thing can be observed in any way at all, it lends itself to some type of measurement method. No matter how 'fuzzy' the measurement is, it's still a measurement if it told you more than you knew before. And those very things most likely to be seen as immeasurable are, virtually always, solved by relatively simple measurement methods". The author is careful to point out that this work is not intended to cover every single subject matter, but "focus on measurements that are relevant - even critical - to major organizational decisions and yet don't seem to lend themselves to an obvious and practical measurement solution. The book addresses some common misconceptions about intangibles, describes a 'universal approach' to show how to go about measuring an 'intangible', and backs it up with some interesting methods for particular problems". The author explains that the key obstacle to overcome in this space is the very definition of measurement itself: "a set of observations that reduce uncertainty where the result is expressed as a quantity". Measurement does not need to be exact. In fact, it is often the case in many fields of work that exact measurement is not even possible, and in other cases the cost is too high or time is too short to arrive at exact measurements. Probability calibration is one of the tools presented in the early chapters of this book to prepare the reader for what follows. Essentially, the goal of this tool is to help the reader assign levels of confidence to numeric estimates of quantifiable items in order to help move to estimates of the seemingly immeasurable. Many practical examples are discussed throughout the book. Diagrams and sidebars are extremely well placed. Very well recommended.

A fantastic introduction into probabalistic way of thinking about what you know or think, and how you can develop this into usefull objective measurement frameworks for those things your previously thought were "intangible" or "unknowable"

One of the primary challenges with managing and governing IT effectively is that many of the questions that we need to answer are difficult to measure. What is the expected value of a new software project? What is the chance of success? How long will the project take? What architectural strategy is best? How effective is a development technique? What is our level of quality? How good is our production data? And so on.


Although these questions are hard to answer, luckily this book provides some proven advice for easily taking measures that enable us to improve our decision making. To understand the value, and ease of, taking presumably difficult measures, in Chapter 2 Hubbard works through examples from past of great thinkers who didn't give up in the face of the "impossible". For example, around 200 BC Eratothenes estimated the circumference of the Earth by observing the lengths of shadows, Enrico Fermi estimated the power of the first atomic bomb by observing the distance that it blew confetti, and at the age of nine Emily Rosa (who became the youngest person to publish in a scientific journal at the age of 11) measured the ability (or more accurately lack there of) of people claiming to have the ability of therapeutic touch. Chapter 3 goes on to discuss the illusion of intangibles, motivating you to abandon the self-defeating belief that some things are just too hard to measure. Chapter 4 clarifies the measurement problem, focusing on uncertainty and risk, putting you in a better position to effectively reduce business risk through relatively simple measurement.


Chapters 5 through 7 describe more of the fundamentals behind measurements and the value of improved information, and chapters 8 through 10 describe strategies for doing measurements. Being a firm believer in strategies which reflect human behavior, I was particularly interested in chapters 11 through 14 which cover the human issues around measurement, making a hard science soft again.


If you're tasked with improving your internal metrics program, improving your governance strategy, or simply want to learn about strategies to find out what the heck is actually going on within your organization or industry then this book will prove to be a good idea. Hubbard uses straightforward, easy to understand examples throughout the book, thereby simplifying many complex ideas for the reader.

"I wrote this book to correct a myth that permeates many organizations today: that certain things can't be measured." Douglas Hubbard goes on to note that he has made a career out of measuring the sorts of things many thought were immeasurable. Intangibles, for example, "that appear to be completely intractable to be measured...in a way that is economically justified." Hubbard notes that there are several common misconceptions about intangibles. He offers what he characterizes as a "universal approach," Applied Information Economics (AIE), to measure an intangible, providing with that explanation some "interesting methods for particular problems."

He duly recognizes that only what is most important (tangible or intangible) should be measured; also, that what is currently most important may not retain that importance; and, that information needs change, sometimes significantly and unexpectedly. That said, basic questions must constantly be asked and answered:

1. What are our most important information needs? Why?

2. How best to obtain and then verify that information?

3. What will we then do with that information?

4. How can we then measure (accurately, consistently, and sufficiently) the impact of actions taken based on that information?

To his credit, Hubbard makes every effort to provide information, explanations, and recommendations that are (in his words) as "simple as can be"; nonetheless, some of the material may prove daunting, at least it did to me. I appreciate the inclusion of dozens of real-world examples that illustrate key points. Hubbard also makes effective use of other reader-friendly devices, such as checklists inserted throughout his narrative. In his own words, here is how he organizes his material:

In Section One (Chapters 1-3), he "makes the case that everything is measurable and offers some examples that should inspire readers to attempt measurements even when it seems impossible."

In Section Two (Chapters 4-7), he "begins to get into more specific substance about how to measure things - specifically uncertainty, risk - and the value of information."

In Section Three (Chapters 8-10), he "deals with how to reduce uncertainty by various methods of observation including random sampling and controlled experiments."

And then in Section Four (Chapters 11-14), Hubbard offers "an eclectic collection of interesting measurement solutions and case examples."

Many readers will appreciate having the Appendix (Pages 269-278) which provides both the questions and answers for various calibration tests, including "Calibration Survey for Binary: B" that also includes percentages to indicate degree of confidence that the respondent is correct.

Earlier, I suggested that this is by no means an "easy read." It isn't. Nor will this book respond directly to every executive's immediate needs and objectives. However, it will generously reward those who need assistance with finding and measuring the intangibles in business if they absorb and digest the material with appropriate care. To those about to begin reading this book, Douglas Hubbard offers this recommendation: Write down those things they believe are immeasurable or, at least they are not sure to how to measure. "After reading this book, my goal is that you are able to identify methods for measuring each and every one of them." I presume to add another recommendation: Highlights key passages and titles of checklists. By doing so, you will be able to facilitate, indeed expedite frequent review of key concepts and insights later.

this is a very heart felt book i like how close they were as father and son and know how far to go with each other as friend

I love eddie levert as well as gerald levert I enjoyed the read and realize they shared a special relationship I will proudly add this book to my biography collection

I just received this book on Monday, December 17, 2007 and I finished it today. This is a lovely book to give to anyone as a gift. Regardless of how famous Eddie & Gerald Levert became as music artist. The family bond is powerful. The relationship of father and son is awesome. The mother of Eddie's children is given the utmost respect of how she held this family together with her love and strength. I'm a single mom and I learned so much about my own relationship that I had with my father when he was alive and the relationship I'm developing with my daughter.

I thought this was a very poignant novel it's goes through the ups and downs of their relationship and also what it's like to be in the music business. Although Gerald Levert will be missed his memory will carry on thru. Put it on your miss read list.

This is a MUST READ for everyone. It is so compelling that once you start reading, you can't put it down. I was deeply moved by lessons learned by Eddie Levert, and I was enlightened by Gerald Levert. This sheds a positive light on the black male figure in the household. Through all of this, Eddie always continuously puts his first wife on a pedestal. There was no ill feelings in this book directed against anyone. This book told the history of the O'Jays, and life on the road. It also displayed that Gerald was still looking for his future Mrs. Gerald Levert. All I can say is the Gerald died too young, but the Levert legacy lives on. The comments made by others regarding the O'Jays, Eddie and Gerald Levert are worth savoring.

Living is easy when you follow Jane Brody's advice to health eating. The recipes are easy to follow and have ingredients common to most kitchens. Some of the recipes are a bit bland but can easily be spiced up with a little help from a kitchen herb garden or spice rack.

I have used Jane Brody's book so much that the pages were yellow and torn. I was glad Amazon could supply me with a crisp, clean copy.
I put the old one in our high-rise book exchange area. It was gone the next day.

I have a 20-year-old softbound copy of this cookbook that is in tatters, so I am very happy finally to find a fresh copy. I have made many of the recipes in this book and my family has a couple of all-time favorites, especially the pork with green beans and the vegetarian lasagne. While the basic recipes are wonderful, I frequently find them to be bland. My cookbook is filled with margin notes about what herbs and spices I have tried over the years to enhance the recipes. Nonetheless, this is a treasured part of my cookbook library.

The first part of the book is lots of info about nutrition and so on, very interesting and informative (like talking about how potatoes have gotten a bum rap, there really healthy, she mentions one guy who lived healthily for 300 days on nothing but potatoes (and a little margarin). The second part is a few hundred recipes, which are great - easy, delicious, pretty fast, a lot of them with ingredients we keep around the house. Some of our favorites - the chili recipes, the spaghetti pancakes, multigrain pancakes (good with soy flour and blueberries), etc. This (along with books from Moosewood, Tara Duggan, and the Quick Vegetarian Pleasures book) is one of primary cookbooks; we use it all the time. Highly recommended.

I bought this cookbook back around 1992 and the tattered paperback is the most used cookbook in my kitchen.

I live with a vegetarian, so most of what I've cooked has been the meatless recipes, and without exception, they have all been wonderful! Some of these recipes are also my potluck dinner staples (esp the Tri-Color Chickpea Salad). The Quick Lasanga with Bean Sauce has been the hit of every party I've taken it to, and the Lentil soup is to die for.

At one point, I went through a heavy-duty baking phase, and tried many of the muffin and quick bread recipes in this book. Again, there wasn't a dud in the bunch - everything I baked was excellent and won praise from all who partook.

Most of the recipes in this book are very good "as is" (they don't need much futzing with). There is some prep work involved (lots of chopping of veggies and the like), so many of the recipes do take some time. Almost half of the book consists of information about food, nutrition, cooking hints and techniques, which I've found to be very useful. Personally, if you have to have one main cookbook, I'd say that this should be it!

This is an excellent book. It really shows you how being a Christian makes sense.

Mr. Colson gives an excellent argument on his experience with the Watergate scandal. He illustrates how if Jesus Christ were just a scandal, then Christianity would have caved-in with the apostles and the first believers long ago.

Neat book.

It is a must for christian reader. Very moving and crystal clear message of what constitute Christian message.

Inspirational writer, Chuck Colson, delivers a heartfelt and moving book about loving God. He refers to R.C. Sprouls "Holiness of God" dvd series, which is a class I'm taking at my church right now. I couldn't put the book down & read it in two days.

This is a wonderful book whether you are Christian or not. It really depicts what Loving God really is. This book has helped me make my decision for Christ. There are many stories inside that really depicts the foundations for loving God. Chuck Colson has incorporated many wonderful testimonies that truly depicts how wonderful this God is.

I appreciate Colson's heart and where he has been in his life. This book is chock-full of stories of his life and ways we can learn to love God. There were a few chapters that seemed to bog down, but overall it's a good read and worth the time.

"Lucky" by Jackie Collins was a terrific book!! It arrived to me in new, perfect condition courtesy of Amazon! I give a thumbs up to this book and suggest reading it, as well as the others in her "Lucky Santangelo" series!! - Danielle

This is the story that got it all started. If you haven't read this book then you are in for a treat, and before you finish this book make sure you have chances, lady boss, dangerous kiss on hand because you are going to need to know what happen next. I assure you.

In an earlier review, I said Collins wrote trashy reads; I regret that now. "Trash" is sexist as it often only refers to light fiction written by women and there's LOTS of pop fiction by men that is hardly prize-worthy. I also think calling her work "trashy" was a way for me to act as though I was above it and just reading it ironically. The truth is, Collins is great at what she does and that's writing compelling, "can't put them down" novels that can make you turn off the phone so you won't be disturbed.

"Lucky" is Collins at her best. Don't worry if you haven't read "Chances": Collins summarizes the previous book in the opening chapters. Also, don't be turned off because there is a Mob element if that's not your thing because the Mob barely figures into this tale. What we get instead is a sprawling, multi-character tale full of coincidences, surprising developments (at least once a book, Collins springs something on me that I didn't see coming) and the usual doses of sex and money.

"Lucky" is an insanely fun read. Despite the fact that it was published in 1985, the novel is as enjoyable as ever and is my highest recommendation for a fun summer read of 2007.

Jackie Collins' Lucky, is a novel about power, love, lust, sex and crime. Daughter of a powerful man, Lucky Santangelo, an erotic and wild beauty, plans on continuing the family tradition with honor. Hungry for power, success and pleasure Lucky sets out seeking for her desires. Before she knows it, Lucky embarks herself on an adventure full of glory, passion, trouble, sex, vengeance and suspense. From Vegas to New York after her father's unexpected and undesirable wedding. Pregnant by the world's richest man, Dimitri Stanislopoulos, a passionate lover, Lucky lives her life between her East Hampton home in New York and her son's father's private Greek Islands. Off on business in Atlantic City, Lucky hits the road with power, money, glory and love. Her glory is cut short, when her dangerous past catches her back leading her to court.

This novel is extraordinary. This novel kept me reading, I couldn't take my eyes or mind off the book. Jackie Collins gets deep into descriptions making you feel the characters emotions and desires. As you read on and learn more about each one, you feel that you know these people. You can just imagine each scenario in your head, and feel that you are part of the scene but that no one can see you.

What more can I say? All of the money in the world could not get me to pry my fingers off of this book. In Collins' sophomore release of the Santangelo saga we get reaquainted with the awe-inspiring, business savy and headstrong Lucky Santangelo, daughter of the notorious Gino "The Ram" Santagelo -- former mob boss.

Not one iota of what Collins' writes in this book comes off as being unrealistic, boring or repeptitive. Writing a book like this takes pure, unadulturated talent!! How she manages to come up with new and exciting characters, keep us thouroughly updated on old ones, intertwine all of their storylines FLAWLESSLY and leave her fans begging for more is harder to comprehend then learning Chinese Arithmatic in Latin!

Lucky comes back geared and ready for a whole new peril. I don't know if there is much I can say about this book without giving too much away... It's just all so JUICY and addictive! I will say that we are introduced to some new characters -- Lennie Golden being the main one. As well as reuniniting with some characters some of us may have thought wouldn't come back -- Olympia and Dimirti Stanislopolous ... These three characters will influenece Lucky's life in a MAJOR way... You will just have to read to find out. This is yet another 10 star read from Ms. Collins.

Esta edición de la Biblia hebrea es fabulosamente hermosa: el tipo de letra es claro y suficientemente grande, la encuadernación inmejorable, por lo que puedo ver. - Tengo casi 50 años leyendo la Biblia en hebreo; pero nunca sabe uno de memoria todo el vocabulario. Por eso, el tener el significado de las palabra al pie de la página es una gran ayuda.
¡Muchas gracias!

A Reader's Hebrew Bible is produced by A. Philip Brown II (PhD, Bob Jones University) and Bryan W. Smith (PhD, Bob Jones University) with Zondervan. Its designed purpose is "to facilitate the regular reading of the Scriptures in Hebrew and Aramaic." The reader assists students of the Bible by lessening invested time browsing through a lexicon, while improving and maximizing students' previous acquired skills in the target languages .RHB also "allows students to focus on learning Hebrew and Aramaic vocabulary in its literary context rather than in isolated word lists." The reader is also useful for teachers of Hebrew and Aramaic intending to "remove the necessity of creating new gloss lists when one wants to have students read different sections of the OT" (xiii). RHB provides necessary help to students to become more familiar with the Hebrew and Aramaic Texts; as well as improving (their) reading proficiency respectively.

The Book includes the authors' prefaces, a quick user's guide on how to access the Text. An informative introduction recounting the genesis of this edition is included. A section summarizing the Hebrew and Aramaic Verb Stem Abbreviations (e.g. hif = hifil, nif = nifal, pal = palal; af = afel, hishtaf= hishtafel, itpa= itpael, shaf=shafel) & Sigla (`marks words where WLC and RHB read L differently than BHS) substantiates the usefulness of RHB.

The Quick User's Guide aims to provide a quick reference to readers on how to navigate through the texts of the Jewish Bible both in its original tongues (Hebrew and Aramaic respectively). The A Reader's Hebrew Bible uses the Westminster Leningrad Codex 4.4. All words, excluding proper nouns occurring less than 100 times, are footnoted. The Glossary includes all Hebrew words, excluding proper nouns, occurring 100 times or more; whereas Aramaic words, excluding proper nouns, and those that occur less than 25 times are also footnoted. An Aramaic glossary is not preserved.

The reader contains significant glosses which are taken primarily from HALOT (Koehler, Baumgartner and Stamm's The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament) and BDB (Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon) . For example, Appendix A includes a glossary of all Hebrew words occurring 100 times or more; and all Aramaic vocabulary occurring less than 25 times.

RHB is similar to the text of Biblia Hebraicai Stuttgartensia (BHS) and Biblia Hebraica Quinta (BHQ) with minor changes. Textual criticism decision is not a priority of RHB.

What A Reader's Greek New Testament (Zondervan, 2007) does for students of NT and Greek is what A Reader's Hebrew Bible will do for students of the OT and Hebrew and Aramaic. Together students of the Bible have two enduring "twin resources" to study the Word of God in its original written texts.

A Reader's Hebrew Bible is a tool that will not disappoint you." Bible students and pastors cannot afford not to own a copy of A Reader's Hebrew Bible. RHB is user friendly, elegant, leather bound, convenient, and eye-catching.

Purchased this as a gift for my husband and found it to be a beautiful bible and very closly accurate to the original hebrew. He Loves It !

The Reader's Hebrew Bible has been on the market for only a few months and looks set to become a "must" for everyone who has covered the basics of the language and wishes to progress to "real" Hebrew. You need, though, to have a good working vocabulary for it to enable you to read in extenso with fluency. The grey-scale shading of proper names is a good idea. The price is also exceptionally cheap for a product of this quality.
What would be really helpful is a Grammatical Analysis of the Old Testament similar to "Max and Mary" for the New.

I've got both the first and second editions of the Reader's GNT companion volume. Either is a great value for the money, but neither comes close to the quality and usefulness of the Reader's GNT published by UBS -- the real deal. So I was a bit hesitant to purchase Zondervan's Reader's Hebrew Bible.

My hesitation was overcome by the fact that I use my UBS RGNT on a daily basis for devotional use, but don't read the Hebrew text in the same way as frequently because of the need for a lexicon nearby. A reader's lexicon helps, but it's still a clunky way to read, and because Hebrew vocabulary is so much larger than NT Greek, there are few of us who will ever be able to simply read with no lexicon around. So seeing what a reader's GNT did for me, I ordered this.

I'm very pleased. It hast the same cheap binding and paper as the companion RGNT, but the fact that it's duo-tone (basically PVC plastic) does mean that despite being flimsy, it should hold up for a long time. They seem to have overcome the typeface problems present in both editions of the RGNT. This font is very easy to read. I have not found the proper names being in gray instead of black to be a problem -- they're not that light and the purpose is to make proper names used less than 100 times stand out so that the newbie doesn't waste time trying to parse them. That's the whole point: to gloss the words so the reader doesn't have to. The more you read, the more you learn, and the more often you read and learn the more Hebrew sticks in your mind.

The fact that this text is that of the Westminster edition of Leningradensis is great. They essentially cut and pasted from Bibleworks 4. There are minor variants between this and BHS/BHQ, but nothing significant and all differences are listed in the appendix. I also like the way they've dealt with Kethib-Qere readings -- something that should serve good training for the student just learning his way around the Hebrew Old Testament.

If Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft ever prints a readers edition of BHS or BHQ it will probably leave this in the dust just as the UBS RGNT leaves the Zondervan RGNT in the dust, but until then this is a great tool.

Very good, tightly-scripted entry in the series. The last few, O'Brian has run out of historical events to fictionalize, and his plotting freed from the constraints of mapping to historical markers is really good. He has learned how to leave at least one unresolved conflict that keeps the reader on edge for the next entry, and those conflicts aren't always resolved for the good guys! Plus, he has learned how to quickly refresh the story from the previous entry in the readers mind at the beginning of the current one without long-winded exposition.

One of the best of the series. The only drawback is the rapidly approaching end.

Twelfth in the series: The Letter of Marque

This book, which by all means should be read before "The Letter of Marque" is a wonderful, if sad installment in the series. In the midst of the unfortunate treatment of Aubrey however, is a real powerful moment towards the end of the novel. Again, a real testament to the themes of honor and friendship that abound in this series.

This is the 11th novel in the Aubrey-Maturin seagoing series. This book is all about honor and reputation, how easy they are to lose, and how hard they are to get back. The story takes place mostly on land and finds Captain Jack Aubrey an easy mark for some stock swindlers who lure him into a confidence game, with terrible consequences. Doctor Stephen Maturin finds that he has been dumped by his flighty wife, who ran off with a Swedish officer. The book ends with the men in an unaccustomed circumstance, with Aubrey reliant on Maturin to salvage his own future.

It was nice to see the series back in good form after the silliness of "The Far Side of the World." However, some of the on-going international intrigue that spans several books has gotten so complicated that I can't remember what it was about, and I find myself not caring, either.

Reviewer: Liz Clare, co-author of the historical novel "To the Ends of the Earth: The Last Journey of Lewis and Clark"

The twelve books that precede The Reverse of the Medal in the Aubrey-Maturin series together form a coherent, engaging chronicle of naval warfare, intrigue, and romance. Had its thirteenth installment been simply more of the same, the appeal might have begun to pale; however, with a single plot twist, Patrick O'Brian changes the rules of the game completely, handing Aubrey and Maturin a whole new set of challenges.(Note: plot spoilers follow).

Captain Jack Aubrey, ashore and in funds for a change, is induced to invest in the stock market on rumors of peace. When the rumors turn out to be a hoax, Aubrey is falsely accused and convicted of stock fraud and dismissed from the Navy. With his fortunes in ruins and reinstatement to his rank a dim prospect, his only choice is to take up privateering in the newly-decommissioned Surprise.

What sets this book apart from its predecessors is the extent to which we see Aubrey struggling honorably with devious opponents and murky matters quite at odds with his seamanlike competencies, and dealing with the loss of his Naval identity, so much a part of his being. In so doing, it contains some of O'Brian's finest writing - the scene of Aubrey's punishment in the pillory, cheered and protected by a city square full of seamen, is one of his most bitterly triumphant and touching.

The Reverse of the Medal is not the place to start reading this saga. However, the changes that it rings on the previous books' formula ensure a fresh tone and a new perspective that will invigorate even the most jaded veteran of stern-chases and luffing-matches.

Just one of an awesome series focusing on "Lucky" Jack Aubrey and his friend, Dr. Steven Maturin (sp?). Series is a robust and rich historical men-at-sea and -at-war yarn that covers many years in the late 1700 to early 1800s. Ah-HA! (inside joke). Simon Vance's voice is excellent and each character is distinct.

I was introduced to this particular book of poetry back in 1996 when I first moved to Los Angeles. How fitting considering both Benton and Prysock were Los Angelino's of the highest caliber.

My roommate at the time, Pepi, worked as a chef over at the Veteran's Administration and loved to read this on the weekends whenever he had some downtime. I can still see him now reclining in the wicker chair near the window that opened up to the balcony above the street. A large eucalyptus blew like a waving hand outside the window. Pepi smoked cigarillos and had a voice that sounded like gravel across an iron skillet and was easy going. He would sit at the window for the best part of the morning drinking coffee and flipping the pages on the book. The good things of having a roommate are often too few against the many cons.

One Sunday morning when we were both doing our thing, he switched off the am radio that typically wofted out R&B, and put in the Arthur Prysock version of the book, on disc. I had read the book a few times myself over the many months that we were roommates, but he had never mentioned anything about the Prysock recording. When you hear something like that for the first time, it's unlikely that it will be a moment that you would soon forget.

Everything I had thought about Benton's poetry was instantly magnified in my mind from hearing the first few lines uttered by the smooth and immortal voice of Arthur Prysock:

Because hate is legislated
Written into the primer and testament
Shot into our blood
Like vaccine or vitamins

and I didn't snap from that reverie until I heard the next set of words which effected me like no other words of poetry because I knew it had more to do with me than any other thing that was ever directed at me trying to define me, tell me who I was, where I was at, or what I was going to be, or never become.

Each season of each year
I will be forgetting you all over
Each season, every year
I will need to forget you

Most people put a connection with either this book or Prysock's recording with a late spouse or a long lost love. Some even have stated that Benton must have been a 'real lover' and 'smooth' to have written this or 'known about the true beauty of love' and so on and so forth. But let me tell the reader, plainly: Benton was probably none of those things in real life. Walter Benton probably suffered a great deal in his relationships, squandered and wasted the love he was given and watched the love he gave discarded. This is often the case for any man that seeks to understand love, loss and his relationships through verse, song or novel. A happy man in love will tend to that love and not spend the months and years brooding and lost in distracted loneliness, wasting his years on paper over what once was. It's a burden and a punishment to truly love which is why most men often don't.

I read this book from time to time and still listen to Prysock's album regularly.

This Is My Beloved
This exquisite work can be humorous and elegant, although laden with syrup.
Regardless of your age, if you're "young and in love" or have an insatiable "love jones" this book is for you and your loved one.

This is My Beloved - A story of love found, love lost, and love remembered. This is the only book of love poetry (with the possible exception of Hafiz) I will need for the next 100 years. When Walter fell in love with Lillian he tapped into something amazing. I've had this book for about 10 years and it has never stopped blowing me away. With every reading I discover a new favorite passage. Gentlemen, sit down with a beautiful woman and read her this book...but only if you want to blow her mind. A passage of this book was recited in the movie "Cooley High." About 20 years after this was first published in 1968 the baritone jazz singer Arthur Prysock did an album where he recited select passages of this book. He did a great job, if you like the book check out the Prysock version.

I have just purchased my fourth copy in 30 years of this erotic collection of poems. My first book was given to me in my early twenties by a lover, wrapped in a garland of flowers, along with a book by Rod McKuen. In all these years, I have bought this book for special friends I felt would appreciate and understand the beauty and pain, the joy and dispair in the description of his journey of love and disappointment. My favored lines are those that read, "Your words are born, not spoken. Dimensional, soft-vowelled words, palpable to the eye or to the fingertip..." With imagination and honest desire, Walter Benton writes of his lover, transporting the reader to that place where all those who have loved have been. Buy this one for a lover or a friend...how fortunate you are if they are both the same soul.

I stumbled upon Walter Benton's books years ago, and have read through them many times since (this one, along with his other 'masterpiece' ~ "Never A Greater Need"). What I find so disarming about both of them is the fact that they were written in the 1940's! To think that a man could be so articulately erotic on love and sensuality from that 'era' is astounding to me!

One thing you come away knowing for sure (after reading these books) is that he truly loved his lady, and that she was probably the 'luckiest woman' around in those days! What a lover he must have been, and I feel sure that she was very 'grateful' to have known such love, and to be involved with such an aficionado on the subject! He makes the reader "feel" his deep, sensual love and need for her ~ so, if we [the readers] feel these 'feelings,' we can only imagine how she was able to receive his love and adoration for her!

What beautiful words and descriptions in these pages! So much better than anything around these days! O, that it were 1943 and if I had read these books, I would go searching the world over for Walter Benton myself! I want to 'know' a man like this! Every woman wants to! If you haven't read these aforementioned books, make sure that you include them in your library -- especially if you're a 'romanticist"! They are not to be missed, and you will never forget them!

One more romantic favor you might do for yourself, purchase Herbie Mann's CD called "The Family Of Mann: First Light" it contains the complete words from "This Is My Beloved" read by the late English actor, Laurence Harvey. He puts a beautifully poetic/erotic touch to this masterpiece, and I love reading the words along, as he speaks them!

We have nothing that even compares to these books today, and if you don't own them, you should buy them and place them on a permanent spot on your nightstand, to read and reread many many times over!

Every Asterix rules, doesn't matter which one, it rules!
These things are hilarious, has anyone ever read the French version?

Wonderful. what more can I say. You got to have it.

Thanks to the magic potion of the resident druid, Getafix, Asterix and Obelix triumphantly defend the borders of their village against Caesar's legions, to the legions' great dismay ("I hate those Gauls"). My personal favorite is "Asterix and Cleopatra" where they travel to Egypt to help Getafix's buddy Edifis win an architectural contest between Ceasar and Cleopatra. Oh, and the Sphinx's nose? Obelix did that.

In this graphic novel series there is great storytelling, superb drawing, awful puns, wonderful sound effects (yes, really), and sneakily, insidiously, while you're laughing, you're learning.

Asterix and Obelix are Immortal!!

Miss them and you miss some of the more pleasant, happy moments in your life!

Asterix lives in the Gaulish part of the Roman Empire. Doesn't he? Not quite, his village resists the Romans thanks to a magic potion. The Romans want some of this potion for themselves...

"Asterix the Gaul" was the first Asterix comic, published in 1961. Rene Goscinny made the words and Albert Udzero did the pictures. It's a pretty good way to start the series though the sequel "Asterix and the Golden Sickle" (1962) sets up the vibe the other comics enjoy.

I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Bernstein over the weekend at a book fair, and what a classy and kind woman she seems to be.

Since I am a librarian, I've read all manner of holocaust stories, and this remains the most moving I have experienced. This is the story of one family, in hiding. OK, that's the case for many holocaust stories, so what makes this great?

It's personal, no generalities; it is the simple yet piercing account of only this group of people. It doesn't pretend to speak for the masses, and yet it speaks _to_ me, far away from the sad, horrible experience.

It makes real people out of all the characters. If there's a hero, it's Jozef, who hides them. But he has his flaws, even comical ones. He can do no better than to hide people under his floor. He pretends to be a simpleton to avoid suspician from the Nazis. But his wife knows he is NOT a simpleton and suspects, correctly, that he is hiding something from her. Of course she thinks it's a lover and makes her husband's life miserable and endangers the family with her right-minded mistrust. When her husband comes clean to her, she is unexpectedly kind to the family.

Most telling at all, (hinted at in the title) is that they didn't live happily ever after. The symptoms of post-traumatic stress (not diagnosed at the time)led to life-long health and nerve problems even for the survivors. Yet you know, reading the book, that survival is worth the harrowing things that were experienced to get it.

A beautiful, simple, touching book that makes me appreciate my life.

A very powerful story about the Holocaust that is well-written and gives intimate detail. It's marvelous that the mother wrote down her entire story in 1959 and then was able to live to see it published. I also enjoyed the Afterward, written by the daughter, giving her impressions and what she remembered from this utterly tragic period from which almost no Jew escaped. The fact that each town was carefully named, each incident described in detail, made the story come to life for the reader who could well imagine himself/herself there at the time. The copy-editing done on this book was excellent; I only found two tiny errors.

I just finished reading Bitter Memories, and this is a definite for everyone to share with their family. What this family saw and lived through is awe inspiring and will leave you looking at your own lives. It will make you appreciate where we live and gives a new look at what the Holocaust victims went through. There are so many who will deny that the Holocaust ever took place, but Mrs Wallach and her daughter will help you see through their memories just how horrible it truly was.

This is an incredible story which while simply written,
encompasses all of the best and worst of what humans are capable of. The unbelievable love between and mother and her child is the overwhelming power that pervades the narrative. A gift to anyone who needs to understand what that period of history was all about.
Patti Sacher

Bitter Freedom
Jafa Wallach
Paperback: 209 pages
Publisher: Hermitage Publishers; First edition (April 25, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1557791570
ISBN-13: 978-1557791573

Although I have read many first-hand account books written by holocaust survivors, I found Bitter Freedom to be the most compelling story of it's kind since The Diaries of Anne Frank. The book moved me like no other.
Bitter Freedom is written in straight-forward prose by a mother survivor (Jafa Wallach) who shortly after the WWll ended, sat down and wrote the personal history of her family's lucky and often miraculous survival of the Holocaust. In letter form to her daughter- (Rena Wallach Bernstein) too young at the time to know the adult horrors of in which they survived, Mrs. Wallach pens an incredibly honest and poignant memoir.
"The years have gone by and yet the memory of how it all began remains vivid, fearfully close, as though it all happened yesterday. We were at home, apartment #3 Jagielonska Street in the town of Sanok Poland, listening to radio bulletins of Hitler's attack. You, my daughter, were just one year old. You looked up at our anxious faces, your father's and mine, but you could not have understood how deeply frightened we were. You repeated after us, in your baby lisp, "war, war"-the ugliest word in human speech. It wasn't long after that German planes began to pay their deadly visits to our little town of Sanok."

The book transports you back in history allowing you a glimpse of what everyday families were seeing, feeling and experiencing during this horrific time of war. The Jews of conquered Europe were taken by surprise never dreaming that civilized man could do to their fellow human beings what was now being done to them. Terror and mayhem swept Europe, and so swiftly had Hitler come east and so complete was his control of the lands he occupied- there was literally no where to run-no where to hide. Those hunted were now trapped in their own villages.

Escaping the terror was made especially difficult because many people of the Nazi controlled villages were deeply and historically ingrained with hate for certain groups of their fellow countrymen. The Nazis used this hate to their advantage by turning neighbor against neighbor, friend against friend. Christian against Jew. Those of the hated lucky enough to survive, did so only with the help of others who chose to put their own lives, and those of their families at risk to save their friends and neighbors. Very few were willing to take that risk.

Fortunately for the Wallach family One Christian man- a mechanic named Jozef "Jozio" Zwonarz did choose to put his own life and family at risk to save five fellow human beings. As he concealed four adults under the very noses of the Gestapo, he desperately schemed to save the life of the fifth family member, a four year old child. (Rena Wallach)
With parents and daughter now separated, the nightmare for this family was complete. There was nothing left for them to do. Their very lives were now in the hands of God and an auto mechanic named Jozio.

Bitter Freedom is a touching memoir, a suspenseful thriller, and an accurate historical novel all in one. Although the story took place more than 60 years ago, Jafa Wallach's messages to the reader are timeless and wonderfully relevant in today's world where war is in the news every day.

I predict that Bitter Freedom will eventually be on the top of every school's reading list. There are lessons here for all of us.
A must read.