Michael Ryan Books

This book is for anybody who wants to teach important skills to children, whether you're a grandparent, teacher or parent. I bought Lesson One: The ABC's of Life for my daughter who is raising three children but I decided to read it first. I found the book so pertinent, not just for my daughter and my grandchildren, but for me as well. The book helped me reflect on my life and to see the importance of such themes as unconditional love and passing on skills through sharing life experiences. By the way... my daughter found the book invaluable as well!

LESSON ONE:THE ABCs OF LIFE is a wonderfully readable, sensitive approach to teaching children of ALL ages how to live in a world so in need of compassion, understanding, cooperation, and mutual respect and love. Until reading this wise book I was unaware that LESSON ONE is a widely used educational adjunct created and fostered by the writer Jon Oliver. With the assistance of Michael Ryan Maestro Oliver reveals his learned life lessons on how to instill in children the ability to not only co-habit universally, but how to find happiness within themselves. Sound simplistic? Well, then you need to read this book. Some ideas we all pay lip service to are reiterated in a concise teaching technique that applies to adults equally strongly as to children. The sections are powerfully titled: The Pledge for Success, dealing with Golden Rule elements, respect for diversity, self-motivation to be the best you can be; Self Control with mega-important periods of Self-Control Time out; Self Confidence building; Responsibility for one's own actions and consequences; Cooperation. Each of these helpful categories is presented with stories from the author's experiences as well as examples that are global. The result is a stimulating book intellectually, a resource for self improvement, and a joyous addition to the lesson plans of teachers, parents, all children and all adults. The possibilities of a world changed by the incorporation of these vital lessons is a dream of joy, not only to the authors, but to all those who take the time to read and practice the teachings in this valuable book.

this book is very fundemental&brings so many great things out from start to finish. it makes you reflect on so many things&teaches so many lessons along the way.I really enjoyed this book a great deal.

this book help my hole family get along better. I think this book help so meny people if they take small amont time out of there day to read it.

writen a 13year old boy

Jon Oliver's Lesson One is a must read for not only educators and parents but for anyone looking for a concrete guide to promote human development. As a therapist his ideas of self-control, and personal responsibility are most relevant. What I like most are his suggested activities, which I have already utilized in several of my therapy groups, not only with children but adults. Sharing stories and even using television as an opportunity for important discussions are just a few of the book's practical suggestions. Lesson One is easy to understand and made even more interesting as the author describes his own "Non Lessioned "childhood. (...)

"The Best of Pif Magazine Off-Line" offers a refreshing assortment of new stories and new voices. A standout among them is Mimi Carmen's "Love Birds". Ms. Carmen's tale of an aging mother and conflicted daughter resonates with idiosyncratic vision and gritty passion. The bird imagery is breathtaking. I also very much enjoyed "23 Johnson Avenue, 1985" by Diann Blakely. If writers were race horses, and I had money, I'd bet my wad on these two.

A wonderful collection - refreshingly different, but solid. My favorite is "Love Birds" by Mimi Carmen. I'd like to read more of her work.

This is easily the greatest work in the world, the new wave of writing. So fresh, so new, so off the page. This is where the future lies, and I mean it.

I am bored with many print magazines nowadays. The same things, the same things. Ho-hum. I've been following this zine for a while now, open it every month with relish. They've definitely picked a lot of their best, and Camille Renshaw's intro says a lot about WHY I don't like other magazines. Here is something worth a read, something that will make you want to get everything the magazine has put out since the beginning. There's even a rationale for professional wrestling, something that wants me to buy a tape of the event with the Undertaker/Mankind Hell in the Cell match, and I NEVER watch that stuff! You should definitely have this on your shelf--impress your friends with how in the know you are.

Finally! A magazine that will put a foot in each world - print and electronic.

Collection includes Rick Moody, Richard Weems, Ricki Garni, David Ryan, Aimee Bender, Ken Kalfus, Rachel Barenblat, Tami Haaland - both old and new writers are outstanding! Includes fiction, essays, poetry, and interviews. I first read about Pif in Yahoo!'s print magazine - its Web site got a great write-up - and I'm thrilled to have found them.

Although the first sentence of the intro reads, "I hate everything in print," it's clear Pif's out to make it in both worlds.

I just wanted to confirm what everyone else has said: it is a really helpful book. Written in a concise and not overly formal manner, it is the perfect book to help you refresh your German grammar or, in my case, keep going over the rules during the summer between German courses. Of course, it is a grammar book; it's not going to be as exciting as fiction, but for what it is, it is very good.

Easy to understand and thorough explanations along with a clear, well ordered layout make this a stand out among the field of German grammar books. Schaum's is good, if a bit boring, but if you don't mind spending a few dollars more, this one is worth it and will probably serve you better. Since I am studying on my own, the exercises are essential. You can't really understand the grammar point until you apply the rule a few times yourself. This feature gives Essential Grammar an advantage over he pure reference grammar.

I found this book to be exactly what it says it is: essential! I consult it almost everytime that I write something to my penpal, or for my german class, or for myself. I especially like the different colors and typefaces (bold, italicized) to help make sure that you don't miss what the concept in that section is trying to get accross. Another great aspect is that the book doesn't seem to be satified with just one example, it gives you at least two, or three, sometimes even four examples of the way that this concept is implemented. I have many German grammar books, and I find this one to be the best of the collection. This book is a must have for any learner of German.

While an excellent source for German grammar, a student will certainly do better with Schaum's German Outline. To me, EGG seemed to overcomplicate the learning of grammar turning it into a science rather than somthing that should be learned through use.

This book is about double the price of most German grammar books on the market. But it is worth every penny. I have at least 4 other grammar books at home, but they only offer one or two examples to demonstrate the new grammar in use. They are printed in one color, utilize few charts, graphs, and photos and are insanely boring to read. Grammar is not the most exiting subject, so I was thrilled to find this book that utilized multiple fonts, font sizes, colors, graphs, charts, etc. to spice it up a bit. The dual color printing adds to the clarity as well, making is easier to find topics and understand charts. In addition, the book gives you far more than one or two examples per topic. Another bonus is that the book offers both a figurative and literal translation of the German sentences in English. Most grammar books only offer the figurative. For example, the author writes the German sentence, "Ich warte darauf, dass er mich anruft". The figurative translation is, "I'm waiting for him to ring me up" and the literal translation is, "I'm waiting for it that he rings me up". Examples such as this help one understand the German sentence structure better and how it compares to English. The only part of this book that I don't utilize is the section in the back of the book with practice exercises and answer key. I find that this section just adds to the bulk of the book as I pack it back and forth to my class everyday where my teachers give me plenty of exercises to practice with. I guess that this section would add to the value of the book if you were teaching yourself German. Over all, you can't go wrong by adding this book to your collection!

Mike's book is a light-hearted tool for a person to take a good look at themselves and their relationships in order to get more life out of living. I enjoyed it thoroughly!

Half the book is "stuff" I had inside but could not express or bring to life. Mike did that for me. The other half is new stuff: intensely practical (okay I'll say it) advice for guys like I. There are lots of us.

Mike's Tips are thoughtful, introspective and revealing. This book offers valuable insights not only to men, but to the women who love them. It is refreshing to see a man encouraging other men to be good husbands, fathers, and active members of the community. Mike is clearly a man who values honesty and integrity. Mike's Tips is a must read for the man who seeks personal growth.

These days I find it harder and harder to cope with the stresses of the world. As a man who thinks too much and does too little, "Mike's Tips" has provided me with a road map to not just get through the day, but get through it smiling.

Mike is obviously one of those men who walks the walk. The tools he provides come from experience so, while they may seem simple on the surface, they resonate deeply.

I love the insights and the humorous and light way they are presented. I also love how the book is broken up into sections, so I can easily digest a sample a morsel of wisdom whenever I need it, which is often.

If more men read Mike's Tips, the world would be a better place. I recommend this book highly.

Mike's Tips is full of inspirational gems for men and women alike. Ryan's involvement in the 12 step community in evident, as he weaves many of their basic tenets throughout his work. It is chock full of practical advice for living in an increasingly complex world. While his "tips" are practical, they are also inspiring, spiritual and (often) amusing. This is an easy read that is sure to help you find some peace in this chaotic journey we call life.

I found Secret Life reveals many insights about human nature. Michael Ryan models a way to honestly face the worst aspects of oneself--right through adolescence--with humor, compassion, and therefore the capacity to change.

My Dad used to teach me that no one is "weird", but that we are all people of different backgrounds and experiences. This book shows that truth in the life story of Michael Ryan. It's a brilliant example of the experiences that shape each individual life, for better or worse or sometimes, eventually, both

This book was tasteful and interesting. I bought and read this book because I saw that my english professor was reading it--I didn't even know what it was about. When I bought it and saw it was about an addiction to sex I felt a little embarrassed--but soon got over it because it's not about sex, it's about a man with an addiction. I reccomend this as a literary read if nothing else. Ryan has true talent.

This is one of the very best books I have ever read about sex addiction. Not only does it present a powerful, gut-wrenching account of what it feels like to be such an addict, it also tells a moving, often tragic, but also inspiring story of growing up in the America of the '50s and '60s.

The author wins you over early as he leads you slowly and painfully through his early childhood and molestation, his memories of his alcoholic father, academic and athletic struggles, peer conflicts, bottoming out in his sex addiction, then seeking recovery through a 12-step program.

Must reading for anyone affiliated in any way at all with any of the nearly half dozen programs dealing with sex/lust addiction. Highly recommended for other 12-step recovery people who might be tempted to snear at sex addiction. Ryan demonstrates that his disease was just as deadly as alcoholism and drug addiction. After reading the book, one realizes it is no laughing matter - regardless of what some sitcoms and commercials say.

Compares well with "Asylum" by Patrick McGrath, also about sex addiction, but, unlike "Secret Life," a novel with the tone of a thriller. Ryan's story is so compelling, one almost feels sorry to put it down but wishes the author well at the end as he embarks on a hopeful journey of recovery.

I never understood sexual addiction until I read this book. Ryan is incredible - he is able to completely convey what horrors this compulsive behavior meant for him. What said it all to me is when he explained he would go into bars and pick up whomever - a man, a woman . . . it didn't seem to matter! (He wasn't bisexual) Another shocker is that he had an incredible position at Princeton, but just couldn't keep his you-know-what away from his students. All that mattered is that he HAD to have sex, the compulsion was so incredibly intense, he just approached whomever was handy. In addition, this book, surprisingly enough, is amazingly funny (it reminds me of another memoir, "Permanent Midnight" in that way). Sometimes I found myself laughing out loud! It seemed that the humor was a great healer for him. My only regret is that he didn't reveal his treatment, which I would have loved to have learned about, as his compulsion was so deeply engrained. Bravo to him for "coming out of the closet" on this issue, writing this book, and showing us what this compulsion took from him.

Talk about a book to get your heart rate up. It makes you think very hard "what would I have done in the same situation?"

The legal and didactic commentaries are excellent. The chapter format is very logical and makes for great and fast reading.

This is a must, I think, for any young ER doc just starting out.

This is a well written book using real life examples all EM docs can learn from. This will always have a place in my library.

Actual cases from a real and very busy suburban ER. As you follow along the timed and dated notes as they came off the chart, you get a sense of what the ED physician was thinking. Meanwhile you know that something is amiss. I agree with the previous reviewer, these are lucid little mystery thrillers. Each takes maybe 10-20 minutes to read and then you end with a well documented best-practices commentary from Greg Henry. Perfect for medical students, primary care physicians and ED professionals. Frankly other non-medical members of my family picked up the book and enjoyed it. Well worthwhile.

This book reads like a mystery novel. It presents actual cases with common presentations but unsuspected serious disorders for which patients "bounced back" to the ED because of initial misdiagnoses. Thorough discussions of the cases and appropriate work-ups follow. This is an excellent book that can help every EM and primary care physician avoid disasters in their patients.

Great book for the "Business of Podcasting"! I like the clear layout with tips and reviews at the end of each chapter. I would also recommend the
Podcasting For Dummies and Podcast Solutions if you want core books and are just starting with the plan of a business podcast show. The one thing they left out mentioning is WaveLab Essential 6 with build in Podcasting for about $99.00 on Amazon. I use it for all my audio production including my podcast and love it!

I liked this book a lot. It is very well outlined. And it is very well written. I found it to be an easy read. But not a particularly quick read since it is pretty thick in page count and page size. The book is broken into four parts and 16 chapters:

I. Podcasting overview: Understanding the medium and its impact on business (Chapters 1-3)
II. Podcasting fundamentals: Planning and development (Chapters 4-6)
III. Producing the podcast: Production, delivery and legal issues (Chapters 7-10)
IV. Podcast distribution: Marketing, measuring and monetizing (Chapters 11-16)

Social media and Web 2.0 is comprised of a few tools that people and businesses can use to be a part of that community. The main one is blogging. And podcasting is a natural extension of blogging. What is said and has been written about blogging can also be said and written about podcasting. And this book does just that. Some people read books to get their information. Others listen to the radio or watch TV. I suspect many more listen to the radio and watch TV than read books.

Currently many more people taking part in Social Media and Web 2.0 are blogging than podcasting. But that statistic very well may change. And by reading this book one will probably understand and realize why. And even better, one will learn how to get involved in podcasting.

This book is specifically written for a business audience. It focuses on how businesses can incorporate podcasting into their marketing mix. It covers planning, content creation, legal considerations, branding, marketing, advertising, monetization, and much more.

I liked the chapter summaries at the end of each chapter called "Lessons Learned." They made it easy to get an overview of the book before I read it page to page. My favorite chapter was the seventh. It went into "Podcast Production." It got into sufficient detail and specifics that I pretty much saw what was involved in creating audio and/or video files. Emphasis was more on audio files.

The bottom line is that businesses should understand the power of podcasting and how to use it in their marketing mix. Podcasting can significantly improve a company's communications efforts with its customers, prospects, and the media. 5 stars!

As a podcasting and new media consultant, I've read just about every podcasting book out there (and authored one myself). This book is now at the top of the short list of books that every business podcaster (or podcaster with business aspirations) needs to read. The authors know there stuff and have done their research. I'll be referring again and again to the case studies and ideas shared in this book.

This book stands head and shoulders above all other podcasting books for teaching you how to make podcasting a go within the enterprise. I haven't read another book that addresses so many of the concerns that businesses have when they want to start podcasting. The other two that I have read focus on the independent podcaster and the issues that they encounter with a small focus on business interests.

What makes this book stand out so much for me is that it is written at a technical level that anyone can understand regardless of their role within a business. Every idiosyncratic element of taking a podcast from the planning stages production, copyright, distribution with rss, ROI and podcasting's role in integrated marketing is addressed in full.

Businesses and "internal champions", as they are called in the book, tasked with creating a new or social media presence through podcasting should pick up a copy. Podcast consultants, you too could learn a thing or two from this book. I did.

Many thanks to the authors!

This fun little graphic novel is a collection of some twelve short stories and poems that were all written by the greats of modern horror literature - H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Saki (pen name of Hector Hugh Munro), Jack London, and others. Just as heterogeneous as the authors are the illustrators. Each of the stories was illustrated by a different artist, who drew the story as he or she saw fit, each different from the others and each excellent.

Overall, I thought that this was an excellent book, with great stories and wonderful illustration work. I think that my favorites were Lovecraft's The Thing on the Doorstep, W.W. Jacobs' Monkey's Paw, and Clark Ashton Smith's The Beast of Averoigne, with Bret Harte's Selina Sedilia being too funny to miss. Yep, this is a great book, one that my fourteen-year-old daughter and I both enjoyed and both highly recommend!

Horror Classics is a graphic novel anthology that brings to vivid life those great tales of terror by Edgar Allan Poe, H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and others. Each individual story is skillfully rendered into comic book format by a different artist, who uses black-and-white imagery to perfectly capture moments of terror. An engrossing introduction to the classics of horror for those new to the literary experience, and an exciting fresh take on great stories for those who have read them a hundred times before.

Horror has done well for the modern incarnation of the Graphic Classics, whose series has seen such luminaries as Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe and HP Lovecraft brought to life by some extremely talented cartoonists. Whether it is the short-story nature, or the ready-made visually splendid imagery, there is something in the classic horror tales thats makes them well suited to the Graphic Classics treatment. Here, in the 10th volume, they have wisely continued this tradition, and assembled an anthology of classic horror stories to chill and delight.

"Horror Classics" brings together 12 authors, some of which, like HP Lovecraft , Jack London and Ambrose Bierce, have been previously honored with their own Graphic Classics collections. Others, like Clark Ashton Smith and Honre de Balzac, appear for the first time. All of the stories are well-chosen, and the artists's styles are well-matched.

This collection contains:

"The Mummy" - Ambrose Bierce - A short and witty poem, with a sharp illustration to match it.

"The Thing at the Doorstep" - HP Lovecraft - A brilliant take on one of my favorite Lovecraft stories. The artist manages to capture the "Innsmouth look" perfectly, and uses the author's original text combined with illustrations to great effect. "glub..glub...glub-glub..." You know what I mean.

"Some Words with a Mummy" - Edgar Allan Poe - A clever and light adaptation of a resurrected mummy bantering with a few scientists over which has the superior society.

"In a Far Off World" - Oliver Schreiner - An excellent, melancholy tale. One I have never read before, but am glad to be introduced to.

"The Thing at Ghent" - Honre de Balzac - Entirely dialog free, I am at a bit of a loss as to the actual story. Unfortunately, it is not such a familiar tale as to be able to divine the story from illustrations alone. The only disappointment in the lot.

"The Monkey's Paw" - WW Jacobs - Any fan of "The Simpsons" will recognize this one, although they may have never seen the original. The artist JW Pierard maintains the full weight of the original cautionary tale. Be careful what you wish for, and don't mess with unfamiliar magiks.

"The Open Window" - Saki - Another familiar tale, one that I have heard told but never knew the origin of. A clever almost-ghost story, well adapted in a simple Victorian style.

"A Day Dream" - Fitz-James O-Brien - Cartoonish musings on murder, and the high class going slumming in the Five Points.

"Keesh Son of Keesh" - Jack London - A dark and powerful tale of barbarian culture and blood-rights amongst the Native American tribes. Ryan Inzana's heavy woodblock illustrations perfectly compliment this heavy story.

"Professor Jonkin's Cannibal Plant" - Howard R. Garis - "Feed me, Seymour!" Another comedic adaptation, featuring a foolish professor and his frightening child.

"The Beast of Averoigne" - Clark Ashton Smith - A contemporary of Lovecraft, this tale of a wild comet, a haunted abbey, and the Ring of Eibon, is adapted with appropriate style.

"Selina Sedilia" - Bret Harte - A humorous look at love ever-after between two base villains. And of course, there is only one way to achieve love "ever-after."

Undisputedly, this is the most comprehensive and accessible text on the subject. David Balaam and Michael Veseth have created a resource that is easy to understand without sacrificing the quality of the content. Introduction to International Political Economy is a thorough analysis of our modern world using the instruments of economics, politics, and sociology. Always engaging and insightful, this overview of our international community provides the reader with a foundation on which to develop their understanding of global current events.

Unfortunately for those of us who teach International Political Economy to undergraduates on a regular basis, most text books on the subject are either better suited to a graduate-level course, or are still mired in the past. I am grateful to David Balaam and Michael Veseth for providing a fresh, up to date, approach. I particularly like the fact that they cover basic theory as well as the modern structures of the international system. Perhaps most important to me (because I expect my students to acutally read their text) is that their book can not only be understood by undergrads, it is far less likely to be used as a sleep aid that any of its competitors.

I read this book during my course of IPE while studying an MBA. These book will really help students, financial advisors, CEO's, politicians and everyone involved in International Management to make better analysis and take better decisions. Some time people believes in a conspiracy and take events like a isolated things, the fact is that everything is related and the three major perspectives of the world are in constant conflict everyday. ¿The three major perspectives? Yes: The liberals and the free trade perspective, the nationalists and the structuralism or modern socialist. It also covers the green perspective (oriented to take care of the environment) . Balaam makes a very clear analysis and he doesn't take sides so you will understand the way thinks happen and the media and politicians will not cheat on you to push you to "take sides on poll's". Enjoy.

I found this biography of Percy Grainger to be very informative and interesting to read. It accurately describes the musician's life and should be read by anyone interested in the man or his works.

In this biography, John Bird masterly tells us about the live, thoughts and 'adventures' of one of the strangest music makers of all times, composer and pianist Percy Aldridge Grainger. A very complete book, which is special, for, as the author stresses in his preface, making an understandable view of the complicated life of Grainger, is not a simple task. Besides all important facts about 'Perks', the book contains lots of interesting backgroud information, letting us know under which circumstances and in what time the composer lived. Also an updated discography and a list of all places where manuscripts etc are to be found are included. The current edition is fully revised, the first print was released in the mid seventies. In one word: brilliant!!!

As with many composers, to understand the man is essential to understanding how to interpret his music. My reserach on "Lincolnshire Posy" would have been incomplete without this book. There is a lot of persistence on the author's part to present an accurate and indepth portrayal of one of the more eccentric figures in music. A shame that all biographies are not constructed with such care.