Canada Books

"A jolly, laughing lady," those are the opening words of the biography.
The closing words are:
"To be able to share what I have learned with others is a privilege and a joy. Has not this journey been an enviable inheritance in itself?"

In between those personal words, I got the chance to intimately share the life of Winnifred Eaton. Birchall opens the family vaults, secrets and intimacies; shares her deductions and her thoughts about Winnifred with me as reader; and writes in a zesty, tangy language that kept seducing me to read on and on.
The things I learned about the early filmindustry in Hollywood and the look behind the screens, are as fascinating as all the facts about the working conditions for women in the first half of the century in the USA

This biography by Birchall leads me to wonder and think about Winnifred as a human being and also about the culture and times that Winnifred went through in her life and tackled straight on, in her own inimitable style.
What more can a biography do?

Normally I am none too fond of biographies as genre. This one had me enthralled, qua content and style of writing.

Birchall's fascinating and beautifully written account of her grandmother's life is an important work for scholars in women's studies, Asian-American or American studies, Canlit, and the movie industry, and for the general reader seeking a compelling biography.

Other reviewers have mentioned Eaton/Watanna's background. I will stress instead the absorbing interest of Winnifred's successive reinventions of herself in societies that had no ready place for her. Like a brilliant slackrope walker with an increasingly awkward load, Winnifred managed to shift her balance not only to survive, but pulled off one tour de force after another. Her performances as a Japanese-American novelist, as a screenwriter and as a rancher doyenne would win applause from Daniel Defoe.

Eaton/Watanna has become a focal interest of American scholars in recent years. As her granddaughter, Birchall had informaitonal advantages in writing on her. Her graceful, well-considered book shows how glad we should be for Birchall's advantages.

I didn't mean to like Winnifred Eaton. After all, she was a bit of a fanfaronade and very much of a poseur, not at all the sort I wanted in my circle of intimates.

But Diana Birchall's sparkling biography changed my mind. Writing with unblinking honesty, Birchall describes the many lives that her chameleon grandmother lived, from journalist and novelist to story editor and screenwriter. Of most interest to me were the stories of her career as wife in two unconventional marriages and mother to four children. Birchall's graceful use of language is enhanced by her wit and intelligently ironic style. She concludes this delightful biography with the acknowledgment that sharing what she has learned about her grandmother has been a privilege and a joy. Surely it is no less a privilege and a joy for the reader.

In my library I have dozens of books inherited from my parents and my grandparents. We have been readers for several generations, and I grew up with many of these books. One of these books was a novel called "The Heart of Hyacinth" by an author mysteriously named Onoto Watanna. The author was unknown to me, but I thought the book was one of the most beautiful of all the books I'd inherited, with lovely Japanese-style illustrations and drawings.

But now I've had a chance to learn about the woman who lurked behind that exotic nom de plume. I learn she was not Japanese at all, but half Chinese and half English. Yet her true story seems to be as fully exotic as any of the character's lives from her books.

Diana Birchall has done a wonderful job of bringing her fascinating grandmother to life. The book give a wonderful look at a most unusual woman, and what life was like for young women at the turn of the last century. At least what life was like when the young women were as self-confident and gutsy as the young Winnifred Eaton.

"A jolly, laughing lady" are the first words of the bigraphy; the last ones are: "To be able to share what I have learned with others has been a privilege and a joy. Has not this journey been an enviable inheritance in itself?"

Inbetween these words Birchall indeed shares with the reader the life of Winnifred, in personal and intimate detail. Birchall also seduces the reader into not just reading, but thinking about the culture and times Winnifred faced in her own inimitable style, from her life in Canada as young girl down to the years of Hollywood.

Normally I am none too fond of biographies but this one enchanted me, by the content and by the style of Birchall's writing. Full of zest, lifely images and easy to read on and on. As non native reader I appreciated this very much; it was a joy and a privilege to share. Would that all biographies were such a good read!

Rita has shared a true life story. It is a brave revelation of the many twists of life. There are many lesson one picks up througout the book. To look at life with a broad, unselfish view while valuing every drop in the ocean of time is one. Every life event has a purpose, and one must have faith in the way life unfolds itself. Her presentation is truly pictureque --from Rajasthan in India to Africa and multi-cultural Canada.

Hi! I am Rita Nayar.
I am writing a message here to provide an email address to those of you who wish to get in touch with me!
It is rita_nayar@hotmail.com
Please do write as I would love to get your thoughts, comments, feedback or simply an acknowledgement of my book.

Rita's book is about her journey; an idyillic child hood living in
exotic locations, her horrific first few months of marriage, her attempt
to escape, her immigration to Canada, her constant quest to placate her
violent and unstable husband, her carrer success, her wonderful children
and the most unimaginable tragedy anyone can ever experience.

Her story has a universal appeal which crosses cultural and economic
boundaries. My admiration for her has no bounds, because she has
survived and is willing to share her story to celebrate her son and to
reach out to women.

This is a true story of love, abuse, suffering, tragedy, forgiveness, redemption and closure. When I began reading this book, I was not able to put it down until I had finished it.

This is a memoir. If you are living through, or have lived through, family violence, or simply know someone in that situation, then this book may be very helpful. It grew out of Rita's own need to come to terms with these horrific events in her life. She has since also become active in providing support and counseling to others who are suffering or have suffered domestic abuse.

Be warned: the violence that the author and her family endured is graphically described. But it is not gratuitous violence. The violence was real, personal and even fatal for some members of Rita's family. That it occurred in a middle class family in a middle class neighborhood in a major North American city provides a hint of the pain that may be only one friend or family away from each of us.

Wow! An amazing story of survival and sacrifice. This extraordinarily personal story is written in a simple yet eloquent style that provides a window directly into the heart of a woman dealing with unbearable emotional confines in her life.

It is both an awful story of an oppressive and controlling man and awesome story of a woman's struggle for emotional and spiritual freedom for herself and her children. And it is the story of an Indian woman's struggle to reconcile her own identity within traditional Indian culture and with family expectations about her role in marriage and in life.

Read this book if you want to be astounded...and then inspired!

Pamuk's autobiographical OTHER COLORS is an enjoyable book. These fragments or essays, sometimes a short story, an interview, or his Nobel lecture, show different sides of Pamuk's interests and introduce the reader to his previous novels and to the writer himself. If you have the time, you will want to delve further into Pamuk's oeuvre. An especially heart-rending chapter was the experience and the aftermath of the Istanbul Earthquake of August 1999, which may rival in desperation and detail Gaius Pliny's description of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79 (Letters 6.20). If you enjoy classic literature, Pamuk writes several chapters of literary criticsm about Western and Russian authors (Sterne, Dostoevsky, Nabakov, Camus, Bernhard, Vargas Llosa, and Rushdie) and writes about a selection of their novels. His love for Istanbul and Turkey come through in the essay "Black Pen", a style of dark-ink drawing of which there are illustrations (this miniature is from the Topkapi Palace Library); speaking through the storyteller figure riding a donkey beside two companions, the tale is depicted in black and lavished with luminous colors. A different illustration shows a scene from the traditional story of Khrusraw and Sirin.
From where his title OTHER COLORS derives is a guess, but the answer is hinted at in the beginning, and has to do with the panorama of his creativity. His words in these fragments are as colors to paintings, an offshoot of his early affinity for oil painting and architectural design. At twenty-two, he turned to literature, and in these fragments one can quote what literature must mean to him. On p. 155, literature is "a deep logic governing the world [...that] we can only appreciate through great literature." Again, "writing -- if you're happy with it -- undoes all sorrows."

Not a moment or detail of life and living appears to pass Orhan Pamuk by without notice. This collection is breathtaking, both in terms of the wide range of topics he tackles and how easily he transitions between what might otherwise be considered mundane vs. majestic moments. The glue here is that Pamuk brings an incredible eye and humanity to everything he touches, leaving little to get lost in translation. Few writers that I have come across over the years capture the texture and tone of those often simple daily scenes more sparingly, vividly and memorably. Fewer still write as though literally every single word on every page matters. Here, they do, in the hands of someone who clearly loves everything about putting pen to paper. You can't help but read a book like this and savor the experience. What a joy--I finished it only a few days ago and I'm already looking forward to re-reading.

"Pamuk has two enduring loves: books and Istanbul. Often they converge as his journeys through his hometown come to resemble excursions through memory itself." Pico Iyer

I had the extraordinary good fortune to see and hear Orhan Pamuk speak at Dartmouth College about his life, his writing, his family and his books, on the first anniversary of his Noble Prize for Literature. Orhan Pamuk elicited total attention as he brought us from his education as an architect to a realization that his life was in writing. His life was not complete without books, paper and pen, and he spoke emotionally about his writing life. "It keeps me sane", he said. There you have it. In this day and age of stress and strain, as he said "I feel as if I have two souls, sort of schizophrenic". I understand this completely after reading his book 'Other Colors'. Like his country, Turkey, he is caught between two continents Asia and Europe. He sits at his desk looking out towards the Bosphorus Sea and writes about the land and the people he loves.

After Pamuk won the Nobel he was badgered by the press for new stories. He was used to writing slowly, a couple hundred pages a year, but now he needed to have 4 pages in two hours every week. These stories in 'Many Colors' are the accumulation of that time. He was also asked over and over why all his books had the titles of colors, 'The White Castle', 'The Black Book', and 'My Name Is Red'- thus, to satisfy his urge to put one over on the media, he titled this book, 'Many Colors'. This book contains so many fascinating stories. One of my favorites is that of the Ferries of the Bosphorous. When Pamuk was a boy, his father and his friends all chose one ferry that they could identify as theirs. As the ferries would come down the sea towards Istanbul, they could make out their ferry by one characteristic, usually the shape and size of the smokestack. They could then place their ferry, and it seemed their world was a little smaller. Those large ferries are gone now replaced by motorized, faster versions. And, Pamuk speaks lovingly of his daughter, Ruya. One year she did not like school and would spend hours giving her father reasons why she should not attend. He wrote down these daily messages verbatim, and into a story we can all relate to, we have been there. Pamuk tells us about his favorite authors. Dostoevsky, Nabokov, Camus, Bernhard and each author has a place in his heart. He reads them every day and it is because of them he became a writer. He relates his personal experience in an earthquake that took the lives of many of his countrymen. His books are his life, and he writes about book covers, his library, his to be read lists, the Freedom of the writer. Pamuk's guide to the Mediterranean, to the European bank, and the Views from the Capital of the World, New York City. His Interview by Paris Match is a must read, as is his PEN Arthur Miller Speech. And, of course his arrest for his speaking out about the Armenian tragedy. So much to read and to discover about this man.

"In "Other Colors," his first big assemblage of nonfiction, Pamuk gives us several of his many selves inta centrifugal gathering of memory-pieces, sketches, interviews and unexpected flights. The result is a gallery of Pamuks: here is the author of the haunted, half-lit inquiry into melancholy and neglect, "Istanbul: Memories and the City," with further glimpses of the "forest of secret stairways" that is his home; here is the man who so loves books that he wrote a whole novel." Pico Iyer

Orhan Pamuk is a fascinating man who is a writer of the extraordinary. He has taken the extraordinary of life and turned it into a 'resurrection of the ordinary',Marilynne Robinson's novel "Housekeeping" by way of Pico Iyer's"
so that we can better understand the day to day existence of his world. It is easy to fall under Pamuk's spell when he is talking about his writing and his country. I found this book so illuminating. Pamuk has a wonderful sense of humor and irony. He gives photographers 5 minutes to take pictures at the beginning of his lecture, he finds the flashes interfere with his concentration. At the end of his lecture when the question and answer period started, Pamuk would take a flash picture of each questioner. A roar of approval from the audience! Bravo, Pamuk!

Heartily Recommended. prisrob 11-01-07

Other Colors contains a series of stories by the author
and Nobelist-Orhan Pamuk. He was born in 1952 in Istanbul.
The family worked in railroad construction. The presentation
has a number of interesting stories which provide a window
into life in Istanbul.

As an American, this interests me because
I have never visited Istanbul. There is a moving story
about a visit to the seashore with Ruya, as well as
a home with a lonely man. The book has a very detailed
description of an earthquake during August of 1999.
The ground shook in Sedef near Buyukada and nearly 30,000
people perished. The author describes memorable scenes
on the Istanbul Ferry in places like the Golden Horn,
Bosphorus Sea and Marmara. A strength of the work is
that the author makes the scenery come alive like a
multi-dimensional movie.

The work combines a biography with short stories.
Toward the end, the author describes how a building's
hominess issues from the dreams and aspirations of
the occupants. I enjoyed the presentation due to the
variety of stories and themes enunciated.
The style of writing is simple and conversational.

This work should be on a high school or college
required reading list due to the unique multi-cultural
perspective.

"Other Colors," is a delicious, thoughtful read and a further opening of the writerly shell that insulates Mr. Pamuk from a world wanting badly for a bit order and deliberation. Perhaps this explains the scrutiny the author received as Turkey's author-on-trial-for-thinking-out-loud and Nobel laureate.

Orhan Pamuk is brilliantly able to bring that bit of order and deliberation to the fore writing handsomely from his interior. He describes his writing life with great insight and candor while discussing deliciously, authors he admires. I especially enjoyed the essays in the book about Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Nabokov among others).

Having set aside a rainy, grey Sunday to read "Other Colors," I felt a lovely, lonely empathy for the passages on book-mania. In one essay he describes dead-on, the odd reassurances that a book elicits, not merely as an escape mechanism but also as physical totem.

For those who read Orhan Pamuk, this essay collection is food for a book lover's soul. One story in the book is an evocation of his childhood memories of life with his abandoned mother. It stands out poignantly among the essays as he admits elsewhere in the book that she no longer speaks to him.

How curiously private yet opague is this important, gifted author. Hats off, Mr.Pamuk. As one of your "implied readers" I await anything your pen may put to paper.

Bill Mason and son Paul really get down to basics in canoe and paddling technique in this revised soft-cover paddling manual. This book is geared to those who want to learn everything there is about flat-water and white-water travelling. It's the most definitive guidebook on the market.

This is an almost perfect book - Bill Mason's love of the craft shines through homey but well-written prose, while his descriptions of canoe technique and rivercraft are generally clear and easy to follow. He obviously writes from a wealth of experience, which translates into solid advice without becoming needlessly dogmatic. As a technique book, I much prefer this to Jacobson's series of canoe texts (although those are reasonable in their own right); I especially appreciated his series of river scenarios and discussions of how to handle them.

I would really liked to have rated this 5-stars. However, the production could have been much improved. The b/w pictures accompanying the text are often poorly reproduced, with insufficient greyscale to allow them to be clearly interpretted. Additionally, a bit more editting might have spotted some inconsistent terms as well as other undefined terms. But all in all, this is one of my favorite canoe books. It certainly should have a place on the shelf of every serious paddler.

Path of the Paddle provides more than an instructional text, it introduces the reader to the art of canoeing. Mason infuses the practicality of the subject with a respectful dose of philosophic underpinnings that anyone who has ever slid a canoe onto the water's surface and experienced the joyful dance of boat, paddle and water will appreciate. There are many "how to" canoe books, covering the basic stokes and safety concerns, but this book conveys that information in a form that demonstrates the author's love for his craft.
If you want to become a canoeist, not only do I recommend this book, I recommend finding and getting the video of the same title.

Best canoeing book on the market. Not only is it a great how to guide on canoe handling, it is an excellent read for those long winter nights for the canoe enthusiast. The book imparts Bill Mason's love of the canoe. Written by a true legend in canoeing and wilderness film making.

I own both "Path of the Paddle" and "Song of the Paddle". These are the best books I have seen on canoeing, written by one of the best canoeists ever. They cover all facets of the canoe and how to use them properly. The "step-by-step" photos and the diagrams help teach proper techniques and the text is both informative and entertaining without becoming confusing or boring. Bill Mason and his son Paul have done a splendid piece of work and these books are a cherished addition to my personal library.

I bought Mammals field guide 4th ed. to upgrade from my 3rd. ed. The 4th ed. has 80 plates while the 3rd ed. has only 32 plates. The 4th ed. also has much more text under individual species and genera descriptions. With having more plates and text the 4th ed. is about three times the weight of the previous 3rd ed. The increase of weight makes The Field Guide to Mammals 4th ed. impractical for use in the field. Which is why I give this book 4.5 stars.

A really complete,exact and interesting guide to the observation of the North American Mammals.Very nice.

A thorough guide to North American animals. Lot's of color plates and informative. It even covers animals in their stages like a fox in winter and midsummer and how their coats change color.

To put it simply you won't be disappointed.

Fiona Reid has created a tour-de-force in The new Peterson Field Guide to Mammals of North America, the first update of the Peterson series on mammals in thirty years. This is the best Peterson Field guide ever, the ideal gift or stocking stuffer and a must have for anyone who loves environment, natural history, the outdoors and wildlife, from your budding naturalist eight-year old to your birder grandmother in Wisconsin.

The new guide combines all the best features of recent ground-breaking field guides in a completely new book. It is both encyclopeadic and accessible, beautiful to hold in the hand and, as has always been the case with the Peterson series, the perfect size to take to the field. It will also look very good on your window sill and be handy next time that bear or ermine comes to the feeder.

A revision was of Peterson's Mammal Guide was long overdue and Fiona Reid has gone about it masterfully. In comparing the new and the old guide, one need only look at the new paintings to realize how much we needed this brand new treatment of North American mammals and to see how beautiful a book this is. Our knowledge has advanced tremendously, even for better known groups such as the carnivores; but it is when you spend some time with groups such as the bats and the chipmunks that you begin to realize just how far we have come since the last edition in our understanding of the mammalian diversity we see around us. Brilliant author-biologist-artist Fiona Reid has captured the traditional basics of a field guide with astounding plates and just the right amount of detail on ranges, biology, morphology, and even environmental threats.

This is the new gold-standard of field guides.

This new guide is hands down the best mammal guide for North America currently available. An impressive volume and effort by the author. The artwork is superb, the photography crisp, and the phylogeny and other science accurate and up to date.

This is the original, and, in my opinion, still the best reference book on phase lock loops.

a detailed comprehensive coverage of all aspects of phase-locked loops. The book contains lots of paper references relating to each chapter and has many examples as well.
A recommended book for research students.

Superb book. Essential reading and reference for any serious PLL designer. This updated edition does for DPLLs what the original did for analog. I haven't seen any author come close to Gardner for comprehensive, accurate treatment of these topics.

Este libro contiene todo lo necesario (de lo mas simple, a lo mas avanzado) para poder entender como funciona y como implementar un Lazo de Enganche de Fase (PLL). Ademas está explicado con mucha simpleza y claridad.

I am gladly surprised to see how the author has taken the effort, not just to make a routine revision of the classic book, but to write a completely different book. Non interesting material has been removed, while new up-to-date topics have been added (for instance Charge Pump PLL), based on the own author research, and other published papers.

The approach of some classic analysis has also changed. In particular the approach to the so called Loop Filter as a controller and not as a filter.

In summary, a very valuable addition to PLL literature, worth to buy even by readers that own previous editions.

This book is my constant companion while exploring the outdoors in the Rocky Mountains. Wonderful layout, great pictures, lots of detail so you're sure to get the correct ID... and great facts to add depth to your knowledge of the trees, shrubs, and flowers. I love this book, and highly recommend it to anyone living - or even visiting - the lovely Rocky Mountains.

This is an excellent guidebook to the flowers, shrubs, trees and plants of the entire Rocky Mountain chain. I tested this book in the meadows and streambeds near my home in Wyoming and discovered that the photos are clear, colorful, and aid in identification of species. Each listing features a general description as well as data on the leaves, flowers, fruits, and range. If you read the description closely and match it with your subject it's difficult to misidentify the species. Not every wildflower is included here but 95% of what you might find in Yellowstone or RMNP is here. Also, there's a brief bit of lore on most of the more common plants and flowers to help the reader understand the historical medicinal uses, as well as which ones make a refreshing tea and which ones can leave you paralyzed and impotent if ingested at toxic levels.

Not to be underestimated is the sturdy construction of this book - I carried it on a 2 week backpack earlier this summer and found the cover virtually indestructible and waterproof.

I do lots of "belly botany" -- always on my elbows looking at, and photographing, tiny alpine plants in the Rockies -- and I have a vast collection of plant keys and guides. I tell everyone, though, that if they want just one book on all the plant life in the Rockies of Montana, Alberta, Wyoming, and adjacent areas, this is it. Plentiful and clear photos, good "keys" for identifying plants, and just enough detail. This book contains trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants, grasses, ferns, lichens, rushes, sedges, bryophytes, -- everything you need in one low-price volume. I bought two and tore one apart so I could save weight carrying just the flower section when I go backpacking.

"Plants of the Rocky Mountains" is by far the best all-around field guide for Rocky Mountain trees, shrubs and flowers (with some grasses) that I've yet seen, and ranks right up there with classics like Newcomb's Wildflower guide for the northeast. Kershaw et al. provide simple, easy-to-use keys and organize plants by growth form (trees, shrubs, flowers), family, and color, so that both beginners and botanists can navigate with ease. Photographs are typically small, but the entire plant is shown, usually in its native habitat. Descriptions typically include relatives, uses, and occasionally an amusing anecdote.

As a cautionary note, "Plants of the Rocky Mountains" is intended to be used in the mountains, and is less useful in deserts, basins, or canyon country. That said, this is the ONE book that I take with me on weekend jaunts in the high country. -William Adair, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Utah State University

Indispensible for beginners and experts alike!

The book begins with an itroduction that includes info on different zones such as: foothills, montane, subalpine, alpine, disturbed areas, basic maps, wildlife, fires, and more.

It then is divided and color coded for example: Trees-brown, shrubs-brown, wild flowers-yellow, grasses-green, ferns and Allies-reddish brown, Bryophytes-light green, lichens-light purple, and glossary-dark purple.

Within each section, it is further divided by family. For example the tree section is divided into pine family, willow family, and birch family. At the beginning of this section is a key to help you identify the different families. The flower section includes a photo key, so that you can find the flower you are seeking at a glance, and then go to the correct page.

Each plant includes info including common and latin name, description, where found and notes. The notes vary, but include much interesting information on the history of the plant. Some info on edible and medicinal plants is offered as well though the authors state, "This guide is not meant to be a 'how-to' reference for consuming wild plants." It also includes information on other plants in the "family within the family"...for example it discusses 3 different types of Tragopogon (Goat's beard or Salsify). It often gives pictures of more than one plant in the family-within-the family. It has a color photo for each plant, and many of them also include illustrations.

I am a beginner, and my purpose in using this book is to study edible wild plants. One thing drew me to this book was that it includes mcuh info on grasses, trees and shrubs. For learning edible wild plants, I also recommend Edible Wild Plants: A North American Field Guide by Elias and Dykeman. This book offers info about poisonous look alikes.

Another wonderful aspect of Plants of the Rocky Mountains is its sturdy construction. It is well made, and appears that it will able handle many hiking and camping trips.

In summary, I think everyone interested in wild plants could benefit from this wonderful book, particulary at such a great price!

When I first read this book, I didn't have much experience in life and had a very short memory. As I grew in experience I realized that many of the positive changes in my thinking were seeded by ideas I gained reading this when I was relatively barren emotionally and intellectually. The person I was when I first read this book is now but a memory. But the amount and the kind of guidance I got along the way or continue to get from various sources is regulated by my own readiness to understand and eventually accept. I credit this work for giving me a place to start.

I read this book back when I was 18 and besides all its other values, I was completely cured of procrastination after reading it!

I recommend this book on finding your identity and strengthening it. Very interesting the chapter about healthy separateness in marriage!The Art of Loving

Read this book as it has the ability to allow you to transform your life.

I first read M. Scott Peck's 'The Road Less Travelled' over 20 years ago, but it is a text to which I return again and again, as Peck's insights and observations remain a constant source of inspiration and guidance in my life. It still finds a ready home in the hands of therapists, counselors, ministers, teachers, career planners, and others as part of their resources, and is not out of place in the home of anyone who cares about the directions of her or his life.

Peck was a clinical psychiatrist - the material for this book came largely from his experiences with clients and others, seeing what worked and what didn't, what was missing and what was mis-understood. Often cases involved psychotherapy (talk therapy), but the processes here are not confined to therapists' offices. The same kinds of problem solving, processing and relationship building that takes place in psychotherapy can be used as life-long tools.

Peck resists labels such as Freudian and Jungian; he doesn't look for, nor does he offer, quick fixes or the psychotherapeutic variety of the get-rich-quick schemes. This book is not a therapy manual, but rather a guide to spiritual growth that incorporates therapeutic and psychological principles. Peck echoes the sentiments of many spiritual directors and leaders through the millennia that spiritual and personal growth are long journeys, not short leaps. It involves dedication and intention, and a willingness to accept risk and change.

Perhaps it is ironic that, given this, the first topic Peck focuses upon is Discipline. However, without discipline, change can go unchecked and uncharted, growth can become problematic, and the human soul becomes susceptible to a host of difficulties. Dedication and application to problem-solving and long-term building (whether it be of retirement funds or of one's own spirit) requires a disciplined approach that recognises that life is difficulty (the first of Buddha's Four Noble Truths, cited by Peck), gratification sometimes needs to be delayed for greater goods, and reality needs to be approached and dealt with responsibly.

Peck calls here for a life to be totally dedicated to the truth. This is hard, because we as human beings are so accustomed to rationalisation and reinterpretation. This kind of dedication also requires a balance in life, and an ability to be flexible as the truths of our lives change - few of us are in possession of timeless and eternal truths governing every aspect of our lives, and often those who feel they are end up disappointed in the end. The continuing creativity of God in our lives requires flexibility, but this is best achieved in a disciplined and balanced context.

Peck then turns to love, a mysterious thing even in the best of times. He identifies some of the myths of `falling in love' and romantic love that our culture through various means idealises, leading to great dissatisfaction when we do not achieve the desired feelings or situations. Peck makes the assertion that love is not really a feeling, but rather an action or activity, that involves a lot of risk-taking (Peck talks about risks of independence, of commitment, of confrontation, and of loss). True love requires discipline and recognition of the needs of the self and others.

The final two sections of the text deal with aspects of religion on the spiritual and psychological development of persons. The first section looks at religion and growth processes. He does a short survey of some attitudes toward religions and denominations, as well as a look at how the modern scientific mindset colours the worldview of modern people, particularly with ideas of verification and skepticism. Some psychologists and theorists have wondered if religion were mass delusions, mass psychosis, or some other kind of sickness. Peck uses interesting extended case studies here to examine the role of various aspects of religion in the developmental lives of several people. Peck asks the question, `Is belief in God a psychopathology?' In some aspects, and for some people, the way they approach and `use' religion, the answer may well be yes. However, Peck also takes the psychotherapeutic community to task for often being too narrow or too dismissive of the value of religious sentiment and institutions in the lives of their charges.

The final section looks at the role of grace in the spiritual growth process. Grace is another mysterious force, like love, that is difficult to pin down and explain. It is also something uncontrollable. Why do some with artistic talent end up being successful and celebrated, and others not? Why do some use their talent, when others don't? In cases of ultimate despair, Peck makes the observation that while it is often clear why some people commit suicide, it is not often clear why others in the same situations don't. Some of this has to do with the unconscious mind that guides us, and some of it has to do with the miracle of serendipity, as Peck describes it.

Peck describes in some detail his concept of what grace is and how it works, in very general terms that relate to no denomination or religion in particular, but has wide applicability. He talks both about resistance to grace and the welcoming of grace. Grace is not easy, and often comes with responsibilities (Bonhoeffer talks about cheap grace; the requirements of grace are noted through scriptures of many religions). Welcoming grace welcomes often more than we bargained for, but also often more than we hoped.

In his afterword, Peck discusses the difficulties of writing in an organised and linear fashion about something so fundamentally disorganised as spiritual growth and therapeutic processes. He also talks about the need for finding competent help when required - ability is not measured by degrees, he states (something true in many professions). This is useful for those seeking a first therapeutic relationship, or needing a change.

I have read all the deryni series and this one is a good one. There is a really good twist in this book that will affect the events in all the other books in the series. It is also action pact with a hint of mystery, magic, and suspence. A good read, should be the 2nd one read in the whole series. Enjoy!

This is a very fast moving, action packed, enjoyable book! A great compliment to the previous Deryni novels. A must read and a gauranteed favorite of all ages.

Suspence, intrigue, mystery, and humor, all packed into one book. This book goes into the Protocol of Orin, a guide to many ancient, complicated Deryni practices. The plot is excellent and this book is guarenteed to keep you on the edge of your seat!

I continue to enjoy this book, just watching Camber getting himself into more trouble.

Camber, the elderly Deryni lord who led a human revolt against his own magic-wielding kind in the land of Gwynedd, begins to cope with the aftermath of the successful coup.

King Cinhil, once a monk, blames Camber for the loss of his vocation and the infinite difficulties of his new life and is not coping with them (or his ertswhile magic-wielding allies) well at all.

If Camber's priestly son Joram knows his father, Camber will do whatever it takes to make sure Cinhil--and Gwynedd--come out right. Even risking death...or worse, his soul!

Camber, in this book and it's sequel (Camber the Heretic), is at his strong-willed, best-intentioned, and soul-searching best. His dilemmas and solutions to them, bad and good, make an impression on the reader as well as the kingdom he serves.

This review is actually directed at all Deryni novels. I havent read them for a few years and have moved several times and only have 5 or 6 of the total deryni series but am going to buy all of them again. They are among the best books I have ever read and I have a large collection of about 150 books. If you are a fan of SciFi/Fantasy you will love this book. Without giving away too much this is one of the most pivotal of all the books by giving away some of the intrigue and a double person?

I had to purchase a Sciensaurus book for a college class and this book was an add on (buy two for less money). This is the book I use!

My 6th grade students were beginning their science fair projects and didn't have access to the internet. This is where I sent them for ideas.

The experiments are simple, the materials are minimal, the "science" is included but not primary, it is truly for those people who want their kids to experience the "hands-on" of science.

The index is set up in a chart so you can choose the topic~ earth, seasons, animals, rocks...across the top and then follow the column down to get all of the experiment options.

This book could keep a science teacher busy with experiments for an entire school year plus some!

I am so glad to discover this book is still available. It's far more comprehensive and intelligent than so many other activity books. Laid out clearly, with activities in various realms of knowledge that offer numerous variations so a parent could conceivably use this one book throughout a child's school years. I can't imagine a child not discovering the joys of science (broadly defined) when a parent introduces him or her to some of these delightful activities. The best thing about the book is that so many of the ideas don't require vast preparation, but can be done spur-of-the-moment.

I used this book for Science Club for years and found it invaluable. I would highly recommend it for any teacher who runs Science Club or needs a supply of demos. Invaluable!

I've used this book for several years as a teacher, and found it gone from my bookshelf. It's great. It has everything. And it's written well and clearly. A very eclectic collection, but sound.

I've used many of the activities. Either as a demo, as a "set" or for students to do. The materials needed for the activities are inexpensive. The ideas presented in the book are creative and allow you to spend more "brain power" on other things. It includes all areas of science, no matter what you teach, it can fit in. I've used it for 9th and 10th and don't feel it is too "elementary". It's worth the money.