Personal Books

What an incredible book!!!! WOW!!!! I admire the man behind this book, Les Brown. He is real! He asks you questions to get you to think of where you are and where you want to go. IF you have not found success, regardless of the "excuse", this is a must read!!!! It is Powerful!!!!Les Brown really makes you figure out where your place is in this world. You have one, you just have to find it. Thank you Les Brown. God Bless you!!!!! My husband is suppose to read this book next.....I think I might have to get him his own copy. :)

I purchased Les Brown's "Live Your Dreams" when it first came out and it made a great difference in my life. I started having more confidence in who I was and it helped my reach beyond anything I previously thought I could accomplish. Since then I met a young man who I feel could benefit from "Live Your Dreams" and absolutely had to buy it for his birthday. I hope that this title will eventually be brought back as a CD. I feel anyone could find peace and confidence in themselves after listening to Les Brown. He offers hope and possibilities.

I bought this book as a result of the fact that for two days in a row, I had the privileged to be at a seminar given by Les Brown at Jesus House DC, Live and uncensored. After listening to him, I purchased most of material including this book. Reading the material simply brings him back live to my mind. It is as if he was right there next to you talking to you; showing how and why you CAN DO THIS! You have potential. You can make it; here is how. Then he explains the steps to achieve your greatness. This book is a must to any one who wants to make it to the top. My heartfelt Gratitude to both Les Brown and Pastor Ghandi of Jesus House DC for exposing us to such priceless and tremendous knowledge.
Dr. Israel King,Ph.D. Author of How To Keep A Man

Les Brown is phenomenal and very motivating. I love this book and would recommend it to anyone.

I first saw Les Brown on PBS television while he was giving a motivational seminar. I couldn't change the channel. He was so good. So motivating and fun to listen to, I just had to hear every word he had to say.
When I saw his book, "Live your Dreams" in the bookstore, I knew I had to buy it. It was a great investment.
The book is entertaining, honest, extremely enlightening and of course, motivational. I enjoy this book so much that I can't recommend it enough. Anyone who wants to go against the odds and be successful in life will need the right motivation and attitude. Les Brown's "Live your Dreams" gives you that much needed boost in moral support.

Probably the best book I've seen on asset allocation, though the author might be trying to make it overly complicated in order to direct you to a financial advisor, which he is. You can diversify with only four or five funds, as opposed to the ten or more categories he recommends.

This was a good, quick read. As a person interested in investing in my future with little knowledge to go on, it introduced me to terms and ideas I hadn't previously known. He throws out some common sense about the market. I definitely recommend the book as a good primer to getting started.

I'm a Certified Financial Planner(tm) practitioner who is always looking for good financial books to recommend to friends and people who come to my educational seminars. This one really hits the mark beautifully and says exactly what almost all successful financial advisors tell their clients. The secret to smart investing is investing in line with your risk tolerance, doing good asset allocation across all investment categories, choosing good mutual funds, then monitoring and adjusting the portfolio once a year.



Get rich schemes don't work and they make you crazy in the bargain. Low stress investing is the way to go -- forget market timing, picking hot stocks and following the "hot" advice from all the financial pornography on TV. Follow Millard's advice and you can have a worry-free portfolio.



A nice bonus with this book is the list of other good financial books in Appendix 2. I have read many of the ones he recommends and they are some of the best ones out there.



Get this book. You'll be glad you did and your stress level will improve.



Jan Dahlin Geiger, Certified Financial Planner(tm), author of "Get Your Assets in Gear! Smart Money Strategies," scheduled for release in April, 2007 and available on amazon.com.

"What an irony that so many rich people are miserable while so many of limited means are carefree and happy." ~C. Andrew Millard

Do you worry about your investments?
Has the unpredictability of the stock market paralyzed you with indecision?

C. Andrew Millard was a junior high drama teacher who became a high school principal and then an independent financial advisor. His advice is based on real-life experience and he delves into helpful information on:

Keeping Money in Perspective - can having too much money make you more stressed?
Myths of Traditional Investing
Stuck on Stocks
Gardener or a Produce Buyer?
Ownership Assets
The Beauty of Mutual Funds
Planning Your Portfolio
Building and Maintaining Your Portfolio
The Mind of the Low-Stress Investor

C. Andrew Millard explains how many investors don't buy low and sell high and why Americans love the stock market. He discusses diversification, managing your own portfolio, paying more attention to spending habits and setting goals.

Low Stress Investing helps you to plan for the future and is a good introduction to investing.

~The Rebecca Review

I haven't actually read this book, but this C. Andrew Millard, he's great, except when he grounds me, and even then he's doing it for a good reason.

Thank You Fergal, for a "steady pen" in writing "Microsoft .NET for Programmers". The use of a FUN case study (Poker client-server) to synergize understanding of .NET principles in a "real-life" application is a boon to communicating such a vast subject.

Though this book seems geared to other than beginners (in both C# and .NET), starting at page 1, reading and doing the examples, and maintaining a steady course until the last page, is sure to "enlighten" the .NET inquiring mind. A more global perspective and understanding of this large subject is pretty much guaranteed.

One foot in front of the other, put yourself through the paces: Buy the book, download the files, read the prolific and responsive author participation list on Manning, read and practice from cover to cover. Your programming skills in .NET will be enhanced enjoyably for all future .NET ventures. As a bonus, you'll go to sleep at night without that large and uneasy .NET question mark look on your face.

Cover all the what and how-to about .NET in a simple and clear way. Can't believe the author does that so nicely in 300 pages. Great for experience programmer get started with .NET

Ok, this book means business. 2 chapters intro about .NET then right into the code. The problem is that IF you don't have a background in C, C++ or C# you are hosed. I had my geeky .NET Microsoft head brother help me with it. Otherwise, excellent book. For 4GL, COBOL and VB programmers like me not familiar with any of the C flavors, I recommend Microsoft Visual C# .Net step-by-step from Microsoft Press written John Sharp and Jon Jagger.

This is one of the best technical books I have read. It takes a very large subject and distills it down to a concise and manageable text.
Each chapter takes you further into .Net in a fast paced yet very well-explained way. The poker game developed in the book is also fun to play with and enhance.
This is a must-read text. However, read an introductory book first.

I've been through many of the C# books, some from Microsoft Press, and some from O'Reilly, and on and on.
For beginners there is no clear winner. However, for experienced programmers looking to expand their knowledge into many of the more advanced areas of C#, I recommended Grimes book, Microsoft .NET for Programmers.

It's for intermediate to advanced, and it's quite a bit of fun working through the example that builds and builds upon an engine, adding many interfaces, where each interface exploits a particular area of .Net. Plus he throws in his years of programming expertise to add in lots of programming tricks that also highlight .Net's flexibility and ease of programming.

Do svidanija - moi tovarischi!

I had begun this book and put it down--to pick it up again was a very good idea. This author has a very readable style. A great book to read if you want
to know about the Holocaust and beyond--just like the title says--it says it all.

"Motherland" by Fern Schumer Chapman centers around an intriguing premise, that of a mother and daughter returning to Germany to discover what happened to the family left behind during the war, in an effort to let go of the war that plagues their relationship. The author's mother was sent as a refuge to America a year after her older sister, leaving her grandma and parents to endure the wrath of the Nazis. Feeling abandoned and unloved, the author's mother never returned until the early 1990s, still hesitant to encounter the past.

For Germans, it seems as if WWII and its legacy is always close to the surface; a feeling a guilt pervades their interactions with those from other places due to the constant association with evil they must endure. Mother and daughter certainly encounter that on their journey to the small town where her mother lived her first 12 years of life. The town, while greatly changed, is still home to many former classmates. Escorted around town by a man eager to make amends for his past actions, the two discover that the past is always present, no matter how hard one tries to forget.

Overall, "Motherland" is a quick-paced read, an accounting of the author's attempt to understand her mother. Yet at times the narrative reads as if the author is trying to hard; she was five months pregnant when the journey was made, and perhaps her emotional swings show through too much. The flow is often interrupted by liteary efforts at similes, comparisons which aren't necessary and do not add to the story. However, the story is one that the author needed to discover and one that she needed to tell. It is an interesting look at how someone who wouldn't necessarily qualify as a 'survivor' did survive, but still passed on that legacy of loss and war to her daughter.

Edith Westerfield Schumer left Germany in 1938 as a twelve-year-old. She left alone. Her parents sent her to America, removing her from the threat of the Nazis in her German homeland. Her Jewish father mistakenly believed that Hitler would acknowledge his service to Germany in World War I. However, most of her family did not survive the persecution or the death camps. Edith never saw her parents again.

She rarely spoke of her childhood. Perhaps so much loss could not be expressed in words. Perhaps she didn't know how to convey to her family what was ripped apart in her past. Her daughter Fern knew little of her heritage.

"Motherland" tells their story through her daughter Fern's perspective. When her mother finally agrees to return to Germany, Fern accompanies her-hoping to learn about her grandparents, hoping to see aspects of her mother's childhood, hoping to better understand how the Holocaust stole her past when it stole her mother's.

Through their journey Fern and Edith learn much more about each other and about the quest to reconcile the past than they expected, significantly deepening their mother-daughter bond. Fern relates with poignancy how moments from her mother's childhood are revealed during their visit. For the first time she realizes that her mother's inability to speak German without an American accent parallels her inability to speak English without German pronunciations creeping in. Her speech identifies her as different from other Americans-and other Germans. Fern learns her mother's favorite German food only to realize that Edith never learned to cook it before she was sent away. For the first time she hears of her mother's insecurities about leaving her home.

They encounter people from Edith's childhood who through their silence aligned themselves with the Nazis. Their lives still echo with hidden guilt. The mother and daughter speak with others who have never overcome their anger at the Nazis and what they suffered when they tried to help and protect the Jews. The women are struck by how people's lives have never returned to normal.

Their story provides insight into mother-daughter relationships and the role of roots in those relationships. The memoir was named a finalist in 2000 in the National Jewish Book Awards by the Jewish Book Council and a number of schools use Motherland to teach about moral choices.

Edith and Fern acknowledge that the Holocaust has now affected three generations of their family. Somehow those who carry on must remember history and honor those cut down by cruelty, yet let go of the past moving ahead with the new generations into healing.

This book covers the return of a Jewess, at 12 years old separated from her parents from the Rheinland on a Kindertransport, to her small hometown, Stockstadt-am-Rhein in 1990. Her daughter, pregnant, goes with her, although unable to speak German, and writes from her younger, American Jewish perspective on this whole process of reclaiming her mother's past, her Heimat (homeland), her Motherland so to speak.

As you can read, most reviewers rave about this book. It is well-written, if a bit too introspective at times (these parts a reader can skip, such as the daughter's thoughts dwelling on herself and her own children). I'd like to make these criticisms for the author, that she may rewrite it perhaps, or if it should be done in a film version, some negative feedback could also perhaps be useful in making a tighter story:

1. The mother's verbatim words should be used in the text, with footnotes underneath for translation into English. Many who read this book know German and do not want to read about the daughter's struggle to make out this or that trival word. Dare I say it, the daughter might have made a better effort to know her mother's language? How else to understand her own roots, her own mother's culture, her longing for her childhood?

2. Don't introduce side issues that remain unresolved. For example, a very intriguing juicy bit is thrown in, that her older sister was sent a year ahead of her to America, adopted by another set of relatives, and now that the two sisters (her mother and her aunt) are now in their late 60's, they still don't get along. This isn't worth delving into, or at least explaining a little bit? WHy leave it hanging? Why bring it up if not to grab the reader's attention? WHy not go and interview the aunt, find out her own bitter memories or reasons for spurning her younger sister an entire lifetime?

2. Why no mention of this author's father? Who was he? How did he influence the family with his own traditions, career or job, attitudes and hobbies, personality? Reading this book, one could think that there was no father in the author's life. If we are to understand her pain as a daughter in not grasping her parents' lives, then surely some mention should be made.

3. Why not explain her mother's cowardice in not giving her own daughter Jewish names? She says she is named Fern (for a relative, Frieda) and Brenda (for another one, Brondl). This is strange to me, for the names "Fern Brenda" certainly don't indicate the great Jewish heritage that the mother wants kept.
Meanwhile, we hear that the German families are naming their kids Joshua and Sara, with no shame or hiding. Strange indeed.

4. Why not look at Germans more as people? Her impression of a silly clerk called the immigrations controller is that of a nasty Nazi, simply because he is German with blue eyes and blonde hair, and stamps their documents with authority. Don't ALL immigration people behave this way in every airport of the world? They're SUPPOSED to be abrupt, to give people unease. Does she call the ones down in Israel with their "brown eyes and dark hair" typical Mossad types? Nasty because they're Jews? I should think not, it's lame stereotyping at best.


Overall, this book needs editting by a non-Jewish, non-German hating professional editor, who can guide Fern into a more balanced presentation of her mother's beloved homeland. Otherwise, the hatred comes through with the stereotypical slights, and weakens the story's validity.

The best angle, if a movie were to be made - hopefully in Germany's Babelsberg and not here in Hollywood, God forbid - the theme of Mini, her childhood friend. Now there's a morality play full of contradictions! Wilhelmine (Mini for short), a child six years older from a dreadfully poor family of seven kids, is sent to be a servant/maid to the well-off Jews, and becomes best friends with the daughter she is meant to serve. Then her friend is sent to America, making Mini 18 and Tiddy 12 when they separate. Mini is so enraged to have lost her adopted sister and family that she spends the rest of her life documenting the Nazis, and whether they're all prosecuted. Her own grown son, nearing 50, feels himself deprived of a proper childhood or mothering because Mini devotes herself to fighting the evils of the past rather than living in the present. She is a living testament to the folly of grudges, which the author's own mother avoiding doing - she purposefully shunned nostalgia for her lost homeland and family, until her 60's.

In many respects, this daughter and her emotions, this author, is the problem in the story. She should rewrite it from the participants' point of view, either her mother's or Mini's, in the third person, and take her own petulant self out of it.

Now THAT would be a mature and interesting novel.

Hey, also, put in some of these pictures that she dwells on!

I recently purchased your book and happened to glance at the back cover. From that point on I could not put your book down until I had read it from cover to cover. I was memorized! I AM YOUR MOTHER!
I'm a Vietnam combat veteran and used the same ploy as your mother - denial and never talk about it. My wife and three sons bore the brunt of my walled memories. And, unfortunately, in order to bury Vietnam I also buried most of my youth.
I recently retired and the unexpected free time has caused my walls to crumble and my nights are filled with nightmares. Part of my counseling is to write about my trauma. You have inspired me to take these outpourings, organize them and get them published. I intend to "look fear in the face" and share my burden with others who may face the same hardships I do. Like your mom, I want to "be here now."

Ever wonder what kind of person takes such an interest in every form of flora or fauna there is? One who is hyperobservant, apparently. And when Gerald Durrell turns that eye on the eccentric characters in his family and around him on the island of Corfu, you'll absolutely love reading his words.

This book is very funny and enjoyable. It tells of the author's years as a boy spent on the Greek island Corfu. I love the stories of his adventures raising and studying the wildlife on the island. It is also funny because he recounts tales of his strange family. At some parts I found myself laughing out loud. You should read this book along with Birds, Beasts, and Other Relatives.

All of Gerald Durell's writings are terrific, but the ones about his family are truly laugh-out-loud wonderful! This is a book I have enjoyed over and over, and have given as a gift many times.

This book, ironically, was on one of those horrible "summer reading" lists so many of us are forced to do in high school. It's the only one I was ever forced to read that I truly, genuinely loved. I laughed out loud literally every two or three pages, and though I have no natural interest in animals (especially insects), Durell makes his descriptions of the nature on Corfu as gripping and as touching as his descriptions of his family.

It's been ten years since I first read this book, and when I get together with my old friends, we STILL argue about our favorite scenes, the best character, the most troublesome pet. This is a book you won't be able to put down the first time you read it, and will want to re-read the moment you finish it.

Not many adults ever reminisce about their childhood dreams. Those who do, generally label these as wishful thinking and sigh them away. Rarer are those who live lives of fulfilled dreams. Gerald Durrell, an eminent author, naturalist and expeditionist, was one of those uncommon individuals whose life's entirety was one long childhood dream come true. "My Family & Other Animals" is his most famous work, and is the first of his Corfu Trilogy.

The kid Gerald Durrell, or Gerry, was eight years old when his family moved from England to the Greek island of Corfu. Through the eyes of the young, fauna-loving and ever-inquisitive Gerry, Corfu seems to be the strangest place on Earth, and all humans, whether inhabitants of Corfu or not, appear to be strange people. The book describes Gerry's meticulous observations and detailed experiences in Corfu amongst dogs, cats, toads, snakes, scorpions, owls, magpies, gulls and other creatures he keeps as pets in his house, and his family members who are bemused as well as troubled by Gerry's love for these animals and insects. Young Gerry's mother and siblings stay engrossed in their own worlds, leaving Gerry alone to spend his days as he wishes, free from burdens such as going to school and being nagged by elders. Thus begins Gerry's exploration of Corfu, starting with the garden in his villa, and eventually his domain of knowledge crosses over to the neighboring islands.

The book will make you roar with laughter right from the preface itself. Descriptions of animals are unconventionally funny. Humans also are not spared. Imagine an entire family changing residence from one villa to another, just because one of them foolishly invited his friends so many that they would not fit in the current villa. After animals and humans, the third elaborately portrayed element is nature. Detailed descriptions of fig trees and setting suns create a Wordsworthian aura. Once Gerry sets on describing some of these, he can be drawn back only by some exquisitely crafted squirrel or a raucously howling dog.

The best way to savor the book is to read it over several sittings, by allowing the excessive laughter to brighten many a dull day. An enlightening perspective of the work can be seen through Gerry's eyes. Animals, unlike humans, know exactly what they want. They are easier to please and easier to be understood. Most importantly, animals are easily befriended and are almost always loyal. When the book ends, it feels as if an intimate and jocular friend has left you forever.

"My Family & Other Animals" is a beautiful comedy, and is highly recommendable for reading by people of all ages.

http://readsafe.blogspot.com

I happened to pick up this book on my way to the airport. The title caught my eye. I have a 16 year old son that shares my love for dogs and I thought
maybe he would also read it and we would have something to talk about
during our trip. We were on the way to Hawaii and I finished the book
before we landed. I couldn't put it down. It was so much fun to read.
The lady sitting next to me said "You are truly enjoying that book. I have
seen you laugh, sigh, giggle and even cry while reading it. I am going to
buy it as soon as I get home.".
My son now wants to become a vet his grades are good, especially science and math, and we live near
"The Ohio State University", so he may even attend the same Vet school as
Dr. Sharp!I have sent a copy to my parents and two neighbors.

I think this book is adorable and well-written. I'm enjoying it!

On the surface this book describes the days of a small-town vet. But it goes well beyond that to illustrate the ambiance of this country when people and times were more personal, more gracious, and much more in tune with those things that still really matter no matter how "global" we are claimed to have become by the talking heads of the media and government.
It will convince the reader that those "better times and people" really haven't disappeared, and that is tremendously Good News.

This is wonderful! I could not stop reading! I smiled, laughed & wept. I thought this book was so wonderful I purchased 2 copies as gifts. Wonderful!

This is a must have book for anyone who has pets. Some of his experiences are quite comical and others are heart touching. Very well written. You will want to share it with your friends. I highly recommend!

...if you're still trying to come to grips with whether or not you want to have only one child. I was sure until I read this book, and it depressed the hell out of me! The first chapter is about desperately lonely-to- psycholigically ruined social misfits with neglectful parents. So you think, well, ok, the parents were terrible, but I'm not. Then you go to overly-doting parents who create self-centered, depressed social misfits who turn to alchohol and abusive relationships as screwed-up adults. And then my personal favorite, if you decide to be a "liberal" parent who thinks it's amusing to find your under-age daughter in your bed with a man old enough to be arrested for it, well, then, you should be OK. GAH!!!!
I have to admit, I haven't read the whole thing yet, and to be honest I don't know if I can take anymore. This book is not helping and I sure as hell won't lend it to a friend who is still on the fence about raising an only.
This book was the exact opposite of what I was hoping for, and obviously did not make me feel better about my child being an only. I give it 3 stars because I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt that it will turn around, and because some of the stories were well-written (and others were not).

I picked this book up from the library as part of my research into my own family planning. I am one of four, my husband is one of two; we have one daughter so far. Although it was an enjoyable read, it did not at all help me in sorting out my feelings regarding having more than one child.

The editors reveal in the introduction that several authors they contacted to contribute to the book "waffled, because the task was difficult: `Hard to separate the only from the childhood,' said one. Many pointed out the irony of this entire book: It's an impossible task to know if you are the way you are because you are without siblings. Or, as one contributor put it, `It's a little bit like a trout saying, "Water: works for me."'".

And that is exactly how I feel about the book. It offers a glimpse into the lives of twenty-one authors, but it does not offer a glimpse into the lives of "only children" because it is impossible to draw any conclusions from such an enormous and varied group. The essays are written by very accomplished authors, and I enjoyed most of them. However, I do not feel the need to keep the book on my shelf.

This was a terrific book. Although I am an only child with many only child friends, I had never thought so much about how much that aspect of my background shaped my life. Reading this book was like reading my own diary - I discovered many things in common with these writers, and found their stories funny, heartwarming and fascinating. I want to give it to everyone I know so that they will understand me better! So glad I found this book.

I first bought a few copies of this book to give to the only "onlies" in my life. (I'm a middle child with an older brother and younger sister, and I never really gave much thought to what life might be like without siblings.) I happened to sneak a peek, though, before giving one of the books away and, after reading just the introduction, decided to go out and get my own copy. I then read one essay each night before bed and loved the variety of voices and experiences captured in this collection. The writing is strong, the stories are poignant - they made me laugh, cry, and think about myself, my family, and other families around me. I absolutely recommend this book; it's a joy to read.

OK, I'm not an only child, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and remembering the times I imagined myself as one. It speaks to those of us with siblings who ever looked to our only friends and thought, just for a minute, that we wished we were (admit it, you've been there). And it offers enormous insight into that intimate world for anyone contemplating having one--and only one. Simply storytelling at its finest.

I laughed, I cried, I remembered. Great book written by someone who knows. I highly recommend this book. Yes, it tells stories about wartime, but it is written in such a way that the whole family could read it together.

Once I started reading Chuck Truitt's book, I found it very hard to put it down. He writes in a down to earth manner just like you were there with him.

The author and I were in Vietnam during approximately the same time period though in very different roles and locations. The book conveys a sense of immediacy and presence that evokes many memories of that unique conflict, and the story is told with genuine irony and humor unusual in books about Vietnam. The reader will find the book rewarding whether they are veterans of that war or not.

Charles Truitt is a gifted writer whose stories are a pleasure to read. Pop A Yellow Smoke is a refreshingly different outlook on life as a Marine during the Vietnam War. Never has a history lesson been so amusing. A pleasant combination of facts, explanations and real life experiences givers the reader a glimpse of the every day lives our men lived. A soldier of the cross, Charles Truitt is still a true Marine at heart and I would highly recommend this book to anybody!

A refreshing glimpse of reality in the "war zone". Very subtly forces you to reconsider your priorities. After over a year since reading the book, I still find myself reflecting on various episodes that brought back wonderful memories of my own experiences in the Corps and in everyday life. I wish the Commandant would make this required reading for all Leathernecks. Great job, Gunny!

Gary "Gunny" Johnson, USMCR '82-'93

A neat book, with lots of woo woo and a mish mosh of religious ideals. A little too mixed up for me.

What a pleasant read. Denise Linn really knows her stuff and is an expert at space clearing. The Feng Shui techniques are wonderful and really make a difference in your space area. Of course there are people who are going to call this woo woo or moosh material - but these are individuals that dont understand energy and how it works. The elemental techniques were specially fascinating - being a Pagan myself, I found this read highly educational and insightful. But dont let that misguide you - you dont have to be a spiritualist or believe in a different religion other than your own to work this stuff - anyone can make use of this book and the techniques described herein.

I'm on my second copy--the pages are falling out. Some sections may not be for everyone, but it is an excellent resource. Great book--highly recommended!

As an interior designer and Feng Shui practitioner, Sacred Space is a special addition to my collection of Feng Shui books.

This is one of the best books, I found on this subject. I use it more like a reference and a diary in my day to day life rather than a book. Its filled with lots of useful and simple information which can change your life for good. Considering the prize, its an excellent investment. There are plenty of reviews about the details of this book. Therefore I will just say that if you are considering a book about space clearing or making your surroundings more harmonious, this is one of the best books available. Go, get it.

Oh, my GOD! I can not say it enough when I tell you that this book has transformed my life and relationship with God. I have read the first ten chapters twice before I even went to read the very next chapters in the book.

You will refer back to this book more than you could ever imagine. It is like a BIBLE on how to grow closer to God that you would want to keep around you at all times to reference back too.

This book is anointed and if you read it and you don't get anything out of it, then it has to be that you did not want to get anything out of it because it will absolutely have you craving and hungering to experience what Bob Sorge is talking about. The first step is overcoming your fear of never doing anything like that before. First FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real and you need to get that out of your life. Second, grab a hold of God and be willing to apply the secrets in your own secret place and God will meet you there. Actually, He is waiting for you to join him and what a marvelous journey it will be if you will leap! I did and I am forever longing to be in the secret place all the days of my life because it transformed my life to the point that I can't live with out the secret place. It is Absolutely AWESOME! I highly recommend it. Also, if you would like to experiment with growing closer with God and you are willing to take a trip, go to Hamilton Alabama, THE RAMP, and Karen Wheaton Ministries. That will rock your world! It is life changing for the gloriousness of GOD!!!!

This book was awesome. I higly recommend this book. I have bought several copies of this book and gave them out. Every person that received a copy was blessed and learned a lot. It is a good read for your alone time with God.

I have been using this book as the study for my moms' small group for the past year. From beginning to end it has never gotten dry. Each week we are challenged and inspired to find our own secret place with God. I and the other two leaders use the study guide to help us lead the group, but the book stands very well on its own. The other great thing is that others who join the group can jump in at any point. We only have eight chapters left, and I am still ordering books for new group members. It's that good!

"Secrets of the Secret Place" is the very best book I have read on the keys to an effective prayer life that produces an intimate relationship with the Messiah. For many years I sought God about the keys to experiencing an effective prayer life and was shown a number of the truths presented in Bob Sorge's fantastic book. While reading the book, I discovered several new to me Scripturally sound udeas to enhance my prayer life as well.

In approaching the chapter on meditation, I was concerned that Sorge might promote the centering or breath prayer type of meditation where you repeat a word or phrase or concentrate on your breathing until your mind goes blank. This type of prayer, which is practiced and promoted by many church leaders, including Rick Warren and Chuck Swindoll, is a Christianized form of Transendental Meditation and is estremely dangerous for when your mind is blank demons can enter in. The type of meditation Sorge recommended is where you ponder what the Scriptures are saying and discuss your ideas with God and ask for his wisdom concerning concepts you don't understand. You also use appropriate Bible tools, such as a good dictionary to look up the meaning to any words you don't understand or historical data, a concordance to cross referance any key words, etc.

Sorge also shows you how to use the Scripture in worship and as a most effective prayer tool. When praying the Scriptures you know your requests are in line with the Messiahs. Two thumbs up and five stars for this excellent book. The secrets of the secret place have been concealed for far to long and need to be learned and practiced by all believers in the Messiah.

He talks about fasting in the book, which I have done a number of times and have been blessed by the practice. You need to seek God on if, when and how long to fast and make it a time to "rest" and focus on God. It not a time to run and do business as usual.

This is a life-changing book. It should be required reading for EVERY Christian. Time alone with God is a foundational requisite in our daily walk and Mr. Sorge lays out in exacting detail everything necessary for operating in all the blessings that God has in store for us.