Canada Books

Excellent cookbook with easy to follow recipes, accompanied by wonderful, funny anecdotes!

'Food That Really Schnmecks' and 'More Food That Really Schmecks' are both wonderful books. Story books with recipes. I received Edna Staebler's 'Food that Really Schmecks' as a gift from my Grandmother. It's very special to me not only because of whom it's from but because my entire family uses these recipes - they're handed down from generation to generation. I'm from Kitchener - the same area as Edna - she and her recipes are very popular there and I am now 'spreading' them in the US.

Edna's recipes are so easy to follow and prepare and the food really does "schmeck"! Wonderful books from a very friendly, wonderful woman. I wish she had time to publish more "schmeck's". These books are worth buying.

Written by award-winning journalist Edna Staebler, Food that Really Schmecks: Mennonite Country Cooking is the commemorative edition of a classic cookbook originally published in 1968, now featuring a new foreword by award-winning author Wayson Choy and a new introduction by food writer Rose Murray. Interspersed with Staebler's true stories and anecdotes about cooking, Mennonites, her own family, and daily life in the Waterloo region, recipes in Food That Really Schmecks range from Crusty Chicken Potpie to Beet and Red Cabbage Salad to Porridge Bread, Maple Custard, Emanuel's Dandelion Wine, and much more. A mouth-watering medley of country home cooking recipes that pass the test of time with flying colors.

If I could only have 2 or 3 cookbooks, this would be one of them. I have been using this and "More Food that Really Schmecks" for years. The recipes are easy, interesting and taste great! There's a no-nonsense, comforting quality to them. The short stories add interest. I have over 400 cookbooks and keep going back to this favorite.

I'm not a big cook, but this is one cookbook that I have added to my library. Edna Staebler, now 97 years of age, was a native of the Waterloo region of Ontario, which is really the heart of Canada's German community, and is where many Mennonites and Amish settled. Although she worked as a journalist for some time, she eventually put together this cookbook based on recipies that she had gathered primarily from fiends and family. Many of the recipies are Mennonite or influenced by Mennonite and German cooking. This book also consists of a number of anecdotes, so not only is it a great cookbook, but an entertaining read as well.

I bought this book at a discount outlet on a whim -- years later, I find myself suggesting it for class reading in graduate school. While the stories are playful, inventive, strange, the important thing to note is that the writing is beautiful, simply beautiful. I especially love her story, "How to Write a Serious Novel About Love," which will make you look at a teacup in a completely different way.

FORMS OF DEVOTION IS A WONDERFUL BOOK. DIANNE SCHOEMPERLEN TAKES THE SIMPLEST TOPICS AND MAKES THEM INTERESTING AND BEAUTIFUL. I WOULD DEFINITELY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK.

After reading Schoemperlen's Language of Love I couldn't wait to read her new book. I was NOT disappointed. All of the magic and insight and wonder and irony is there. Later when I took a walk on the beach, everything seemed magnified. The sun and a grain of sand were suddenly about the same size and equally amazing.

Diane Schoemperlen said she found inspiration for this book when her young son asked her how come her books never have any pictures. She then had the brilliant idea to wrap short stories around antique drawings, 100 year old catalogue pictures and illustrations from the original Gray's Anatomy. The results are stories that are compelling on their own but are perfectly enhanced by the pictures put in them. A great gift or coffee table book to be flipped through again and again.

It seems the earned province of Canadian women writers to cut to the heart of gender, race, and class privilege. In the title piece (I would not call it a story in the traditional character/plot sense) Schoemperlen explores a series of intangibles, among them faith, prayer, and hope, and very subtly weaves them into an indictment of middle class privilege. In a later story, "Count Your Blessings (a Fairy Tale)" Schoemperlen, in a twist reminiscent of the best Roald Dahl stories, cuts the heart out of the woman who has everything and is still unhappy. These stories are well-written, and are accompanied by clever old woodcut clip art. But unlike many short story collections, this is not an "easy" book, for the reader, and I suspect, for the author as well. The book jacket describes her work as "electric"--the prospective reader would do well to remember that electricity can shock as well as enlighten.

This is the third book of Parkman's that I've read. Previously, I read Pioneers of France in the New World and The Jesuits in North America. About all three I would say a) they are absolutely amazing works of brilliant, inspired scholarship, b) Parkman's measured, objective, caring approach to the topics -- and the beauty and tone of his writing -- is extremely compelling, and c) my grade school, high school, and college education did not provide me with the gritty, fascinating facts about what REALLY happened back in the 17th Century in North America.

This is not James Michener (as much as I have enjoyed his works) packaging and making sense of history -- or the dry, intellectualized expert texts I had to read in school -- or the politically correct wholesome simplified upbeat teachings of my youth, with for example the perfect Puritans and the friendly Indians sharing Thanksgiving.

This is what really happened, detail by detail, based on exhaustive research of original texts -- letters, reports, maps, government documents, earlier histories, etc. Fortunately for Parkman, the early adventurers did a lot of writing, including many of the members of religious orders who accompanied or in some cases led the explorations.

My main takeaway from these true histories is how incredibly dangerous, unsuccessful, and unpredictable the courses of events were in these times (and probably in our time as well). In a way they are like anti-stories, or anti-history. Good often does not prevail over evil; heroes do scandalous things; scoundrels act heroic; no one is assuredly, consistently good or evil; when you least expect it there is a generous caring act; and when you least expect it, when all is going well, there is a foolish, unfortunate, destructive act that ruins all that has been accomplished, etc.

That is, while there may be certain patterns in events, these patterns themselves are constantly shifting, and the most logical and predictable outcomes almost never happen. In other words, Parkman has truly captured life in all its shades of grey and inconsistencies.

His treatment of the Indians is a perfect example. By modern day standards, it is egregiously politically incorrect. But he reveals them in all of their savagery, helpfulness, childish immaturity, wisdom, thievery, generosity, deceit, and unpredictable kindness. The commonplace cannibalism and similarly common extreme forms of repulsive torture done by Indians are carefully documented and reported throughout his texts, as well as the way their easily given friendship essentially saved the lives of most of the key European adventurers at one time or another.

These books are definitely not for the faint of heart or people who want a simplistic "Dummies Guide" to history!

While there is a new Introduction, this is the historic account of Robert LaSalle's exploration of the Louisiana territory in the 1680s. Parkman first published this treatise in 1869; it has since been reprinted numerous times. An excellent, thoroughly engrossing recounting of the exploration of the territory which LaSalle claimed for France in 1682, through which the reader not only learns of the daily travails of the little band of explorers, but also, the human frailties of the man, Robert Cavelier, known as LaSalle. This book gives life to a name from history, and exemplifies the methodical research done by Parkman in the days before telephones, faxes, and copiers. I was thoroughly impressed by the subject and the writer. Excellent; informative, totally enthralling reading-writers of today should take note! Kudos to the publishers (and Krakauer) for bringing this series (back) to life!

Parkman is that unusual combination of great scholar and wonderful writer. His books depicting the history of French exploration of North America and the conflict between the French and the British for control of North America remain the basic narratives of these events. Parkman's writing, combining narrative, psychological insight into major historical actors, and use of rhetoric that seamlessly reflects his narrative, is often superb. This particular book is almost entirely devoted to the career of the Sieur De La Salle, the French explorer obsessed with establishing French control over the Mississippi valley. Parkman provides vivid portraits of the almost incredible hardships of travel in North America, the character of politics in the French colonies, and an insightful treatment of La Salle and his associates. Parkman's powerful but restrained language often recalls the style of Tacitus.

I picked this up on a lark and found I couldn't put it down. A fascinating story, extremely well written and a pure pleasure to read. I travel extensively and found it amazing how many places I go to regularly have a direct link to La Salle. Couldn't recommend it more.

Frances Parkman was a man who lived and breathed his history. He not only researched his subjects thoroughly, but seems to have crawled inside their heads as well.

Parkman's gift for bringing people alive is nowhere more evident than in this complex story of Robert Cavalier de la Salle's attempt to realize his dream of making France a leader in the new world. Parkman's skillful examination of the man behind the story lets the reader understand why LaSalle and his ideas were the cause of such controversy. At the same time, Parkman paints a vivid picture of the new world frontier as it existed in LaSalle's time. This is a book that can be savored on many levels: as an entertaining adventure story, a psychological thriller, and a historical reference.

Parkman's prose is rich and full of details you will need to understand the complexity of the charcters and the consciousness of the times. Therefore, you should be prepared to spend time working your way through this book. Whenever I tried to hurry through a section, I found that I missed something important that was needed later on. In other words, patience is needed, but well worth it. Parkman was a true lover of history and the people who shaped it and it shows.

From inside book jacket:

On July 23, 1983, Captain Bob Pearson climbed into the cockpit of a twin-engine Boeing 767, one of the most sophisticated airliners in the world. Preparing to guide Air Canada flight 143 from Montreal to Ottawa and then on to Edmonton, he checked his systems and entered into the computers the information he received from the ground crew. One of the maintenance men, in charge of fueling the craft, experienced a bit of difficulty with his math. The 767's computers utilized only metric calculations, and the maintenance man struggled to convert conventional measures into the unfamiliar numbers. He informed Pearson that the plane was fully fueled when, in fact, it was 26,000 pounds short.

The stopover in Ottawa was brief. They had no plans for refueling and now there was no apparent need.

Then, with no warning, 41,000 feet and westbound over Red Lake, Ontario, the portside engine failed. Seconds later, Pearson and Quintal, his copilot, realized that the starboard engine also had failed, terminating all electrical power. An eerie silence shrouded the plane as flight crew and passengers attempted to deny reality. They were now floating silently at 41,000 feet. The nose of the plane dipped precipitously; the gliding craft lost airspeed and altitude. They had a maximum of twenty-nine minutes to prepare for their certain death.

Freefall is the story of Flight 143. A brilliant recreation in which we relive the terror of those twenty-nine minutes through the eyes of those who experienced it. You will never look at flying in exactly the same way again.

Bill and Marilyn H offer, freelance journalists, together have produced over one thousand magazine articles and nine books, including the international bestseller Midnight Express, and Not Without My Daughter. They live in Virginia.



From back of book jacket:

Maurice Quintal gripped his cockpit microphone.
"Winnipeg Center, Air Canada 143," he called.
"Air Canada 143, go ahead," came the reply.
"Yes, sir," Quintal said. Then he spoke the four words that would carry, not only to Winnipeg ATC, but to aircraft cruising over a wide radius. Pilots throughout the skies of central Canada now picked up their ears. Gone was the droning routine of the early Saturday evening. Crew members in other cockpits turned to look at one another, as they heard Quintal's voice crackle over the radio: "We have a problem."

Suddenly, at 22 seconds past 0121 GMT, the cockpit was plunged into darkness. The bright, color-coded, easy-to-read data units provided by the flight management computer, the bank of digital displays that reported airspeed, altitude, compass direction, navigational data, engine speed, temperature, and the RPMs, fuel flow, oil quantity-- even the clock and the cabin thermometer--the entire array of "gee-whiz" electronic gadgetry in the cockpit of the world's most sophisticated airliner--vanished in an instant.
The glow of the late afternoon sun illuminated the faces of the three men in ghastly relief.

"How come I have no instruments?" Pearson asked, incredulous.

The answer was as simple as it was terrifying. The Space Age technology of the 767 cockpit feeds upon electricity supplied by generators run by the two massive engines. The engines, in turn, are powered by type Jet A-1 fuel. It had never happened before--in fact, neither Boeing, nor Air Canada, nor Pearson, nor Quintal, nor Dion had ever contemplated the scenario--but if a 767 runs out of fuel, a diabolical domino effect takes place. The engines quit. In turn, this stops the generators, halts the production of electricity, and transforms the computerized cockpit displays into darkened, totally useless cathode ray tubes. To Pearson it seemed as if the cockpit had become the darkest place in the world.

Incredible as it seemed, they had run out of fuel.

--from Freefall



This is an excellent book, especially recommended for pilots, who will understand better than most how difficult the job of the flight crew in saving this plane and its passengers and how amazing their survival was.

How can so much fictional garbage sell for $20.00 or so, while a grippingly-well-narrated TRUE story like this goes for $0.25 used - itsa bargain !

This book is like glue. Once you put it into your hands you can't put it down. This is a story based on factual events that could not have a better ending. Great analysis of the chain of events that led to this incident. I strongly recommend it.

Hey, my name is chris, i happend to be on flight 143, the flight this book is wriiten about. when it happend, i was only 3, although i still remeber it. I read this book when i was 12, and from my memories of the flight, it was dead on, great book.

I read this book while on a recent 10 hour trans-Atlantic flight to pass the time and kind of spice things up (e.g. turn my long flight into a Disneyesque "Roller Coaster of Death" ride, where you really know you're going to step off perfectly intact at the end).

This great non-fiction book gives a detailed recounting of Air Canada flight 143, which in 1983 ran flat out of fuel while at 41,000 feet over Middle of Nowhere, Manitoba. Yes, TRUE STORY! (Don't let the 41,000 feet scare you -- altitude is your friend when out of fuel).

The writers give a little biography of some of the key crew members and passengers, which was only somewhat interesting to me (however, I was very interested in the flying history/experience of the cockpit crew). The star of the story however, is the fuel-less Boeing 767 and the frantic efforts of the Air Canada team to get the plane on the ground safely.

Authors William and Marilyn Hoffer did an excellent job of providing the technical aspects of the aircraft and industry without ever going over my head. I felt like I understood at each stage of the story, why something had happened to the aircraft, and what the impact was. Ditto for the sequence of actions by the entire flight crew.

I'm assuming the reader has figured out that this wasn't a mass loss of life disaster (duh, there is even a previous Review by a person that claims to have been on the flight). Not wanting to give too much away, I'll merely add that many fortuitous "coincidences" in the tale were not lost on me. Such as: Captain Bob Pearson was a hobby glider pilot (767s are not designed to "glide", but when in such straits, every bit helps), and, another occupant on the plane "vaguely recalled" a possible landing sight. There were many such bits and pieces which fit together and kept this from become a huge disaster. I was AMAZED at how many things were outside of the pilots scope of training and flight manual contingencies (This was 1983. Things are better now.?).

Plenty of white-knuckle moments. There were even some injuries . . . the source of those is a bit of irony. A few slow parts to the book, but then back to the cockpit and the excitement. The suspense becomes literally heart-pounding as the plane sinks ever closer to the ground.

It's an easy, quick, and rather educational read. Pick up a copy for your next long flight.

Have you ever worked for an organization that held a launch meeting for an important new program? If so, you've probably had a hard time getting too worked up over making the shareholders richer or outselling a competitor you don't really think much of. There must be more to life and work! If you've had that thought, Going Deep is a good choice for you.

Ian Percy describes the individual and organizational journeys that can lead to creating a spiritual center for your life and that of an organization you lead. By reading about those way stations, you'll be able to better understand where you and your organization are today . . . and what's next!

The strength of this book comes in Mr. Percy's extraordinary emotional and spiritual intelligence which allow him to make interior journeys as easy to read about and understand as any travelogue about going to California for the first time. He is a natural story teller (either that or he hides his deliberations better than most) who makes reading about spiritual progress a joy.

My own experience has been that all organizations have an unstated spiritual purpose that motivates everyone to accomplish more of what matters. But this purpose is usually treated like it doesn't exist . . . or possibly even is a taboo subject. Bring that inspiration out into the open, and an emotional catharsis follows that encourages more explicit pursuit of spiritually inspired accomplishments. It's a lovely human experience to unleash all that caring and effectiveness. A lot of good things happen as well . . . both in individual lives and for the organization's stakeholders. With this book, I believe that these fundamental and essential impulses will have a better chance to move from the implicit to the explicit.

Bravo, Mr. Percy!

Powerful and compelling. It's about time someone reveals the true secrets to success in business. Highly recommended.

Beyond "When Bad Things Happen to Good People," this work is a must read for anyone seeking a perspective on how to leave the myth of "security" behind, especially when sailing into unchartered waters. Percy's shared experiences and inspiring insights are like a salve for those wounded and lost souls, who are both driven and tossed about by the uncertain currents of today's world of work. "Going Deep" compels readers to do just that, by examining their own lives for meaning and direction.

Who would have thought "Soul & Business" could be used in relationship with each other? What a visionary masterpiece "Going Deep" is.

Had the pleasure of being in attendance at one of Mr. Percy's speaking engagements and picked up the book. His 11 Commandments of business are truly inspired.

Going Deep is the "Power of Positive Thinking" for the new age of business.

Buy this book!

Going Deep, offers a thought-provoking exploration of how we create meaning and soul in our workplaces. I was privileged to review a pre-press manuscript. Highlighter in hand, I found myself circling thoughts on many pages, laughing, pondering, nodding and relishing the most sensitive yet practical leadership I've read in years. Through Ian, a provocative international consultant and facilitator, you'll get first-hand insight into what happens when individuals move through "the great shuddering" into an engagement with life through work.

I love, love, LOVE this play.

It is wrought with the same care and cleverness of the Bard Himself. It is a Cinderella story with a feminist twist, with oodles of authentic Shakespeare woven right in. It borrows from the best of Shakespeare's comedy, complete with a breeches role.

Every single character is absolutely hilarious and drawn with a deft hand.

Fabulous.

I love this play! I would love to have my students perform it, but alas there are one or two pages that are a little too suggestive for the innocents in our cohort.
I actually enjoyed this play more than I enjoyed Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. It is witty and clever with just enough tongue-in-cheek.

Two reviewers from HS drama clubs, and one comparison to Japanese anime. Don't let that mislead you into thinking this is some lightweight juvenile fluff. It is more in the line of Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead. As someone who has loved reading and watching Shakespeare's plays for over 35 years, I am delighted to see Ann-Marie MacDonald not only play with Shakespeare but do it intelligently. Amidst the linguistic and theatric whimsey there are some true and serious observations and the best explanation yet of why some characters in Shakespeare's tragedys are such idiots. Who says learning can't be great fun?

Just finished a production of this at our school - absolutely halarious. Very, very much recommended for high school theater. Absolutely great

"Goodnight, Desdemona (Good Morning, Juliet)" is the funniest play I have ever read or seen. I am currently playing Constance in a high school production of the play, and the more we go along, the more we discover about the play. Upon first reading, it is an absolutely hilarious twist of Shakespeare's "Othello" and "Romeo and Juliet." But reading it a second, and even a third time will reveal subtle innuendos and wordings (warning: LOTS of sexual innuendos in this play!) that contain so much wit and humour that your respect for Anne-Marie MacDonald will grow with every scene. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. If you can familiarize yourself with the plots of both "Othello" and "Romeo and Juliet" before reading or seeing the play, then your enjoyment will increase, because you will have a basic understanding of how the characters have been re-interpreted. OH MY GOODNESS -- READ THIS PLAY!

The Head Trip is an excellent survey of consciousness exploration, and it reads well as both thoughtful introduction and detailed analysis. Jeff Warren approaches these interrelated subjects with a carefully balanced blend of engaging subjectivity, open scientific inquiry, honest skepticism and playful humor. The book has much to offer both to those who are new to thinking about the nature of the mind, and to those long experienced in investigating the various states of consciousness available to all of us. With roots in a long literary tradition and continuous reference to current scientific study, Warren embarks on an admirable attempt to get his head around his own head, and his thoroughly researched journeys are rich with insight and provocative potential.

The book's trajectory extends through hypnagogia, circadian rhythms, sleep and dreams, trance, hypnosis, biofeedback and meditation. Warren entertains many of the tangled philosophical quandaries that naturally arise without ever drifting into the new age fru-fru with which these subjects are so often embraced. In fact he is distinctly aware of this tendency and circumvents it by consistently introducing fresh approaches to thinking, yet at one point still manages to have an engaging conversation with an imaginary Rastafarian Buddha in the process. This book is like a user's manual for your mind, and it's a lot of fun to read. Warren writes of his own experiences with the self-effacing candor of a skilled journalist, and his personal successes and failures will be immediately and empathetically recognizable to anyone who's ever attempted to explore the mind, which, in one way or another, is all of us.

The chapters on sleep and circadian rhythms are unexpectedly insightful. The later chapters on biofeedback and meditative absorption are more technical and demand the attention of the reader, but The Head Trip is well organized, consistently grounded and totally readable from start to finish. Warren's journey carries him eventually to a confrontation with his own suffering --perhaps the deepest motivation for consciousness exploration afterall-- and one hopes that his trials are ultimately as beneficial for him as they promise to be for the reader. As the Buddha, speaking in a tranquil Rastafarian droll, might encourage, Take this trip, mon. `Tis a mighty good one, jah yes...

The concepts here may not be new for those who've gone of the way to get experienced with their consciousness, but the level of detail (dig that bibliography!) and attention to recent developments in various fields -- sleep science, neurofeedback, even hypnosis -- is enough to inspire all sorts of new inquiry.

For the "layperson," however, or "non-freak," this condenses what it took your average freak ten years of living to explore and confirm on his own. Read it and save yourself the time!

This one was fun; and it really changed the way I think about consciousness. The author is very entertaining, and the style and delivery of the content is unique. The fact that he did all of these things himself (experimentally) added a whole new level to this book's importance. If it had just been a dry documentary, it wouldn't have been the same.

I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who's willing to take a wild journey into themselves, and who isn't afraid to change the way they see the world around them (or dream it!).

Books on dreams and dreaming seem to fall into one of two types. Either it's an academic study with white-coated researchers measuring brain waves and chemistry, or it's personal accounts with perhaps a bit of counselling thrown in to establish credibility. Jeff Warren has made a sincere effort to combine these two methods. He's interviewed a number of brain/consciousness researchers as well as undergoing their testing procedures. The result is a highly personalised account of dreaming research as it stands today.

Don't be put off by the "pop-psych" title. Warren makes a serious attempt to bring to the lay reader some of the issues in consciousness studies. Except that much of this work involves the periods when we're not "conscious". His mechanism is to provide readers with a breakdown of consciousness, which he depicts as a wheel. A neat dozen segments are portrayed representing the chapter subjects to follow. The topics are enhanced with images of "passports" to explain where you are going and something of what you will learn. The passport gives the name of the topic, how to go there, what you might find and a personal example. "Passport" may be misleading - it's not a trip to a physical segment of the brain you are undertaking, but a tour of a condition.

The conditions have been the subject of many studies in recent years. Although much of the narrative is a list of Warren's personal experiences, those events have been done with the assistance of brain scientists. Warren carefully recounts the various theses proposed about what the brain is doing during sleep, dreaming, in "trance" state and other periods when it's more-or-less operating on automatic pilot. Many researchers are delving into these conditions from various perspectives, offering fresh insights and conclusions, although definitive theories remain elusive. It takes a book such as this to begin synthesizing the wide spectrum of ideas and proposals to begin formulating meaningful answers.

Active conscious states are a different topic, well covered, as Warren notes, elsewhere. There is also the issue of recording "events" or impressions gained during the various sleep or semi-conscious states. "Subjective science" becomes the knee-jerk response by some, who are generally attempting to dismiss this sort of research. As Warren reminds us, however, "subjective" accounts of what goes on in the brain during sleep is all we have. Measuring brain waves and neurochemistry tells us something of where in the brain changes occur and how intense those changes are, but only the subject can tell us what they perceive. Inadequate or not, we must use the tools available, and the subject of the experiment is the best one we have.

Warren, in order to demonstrate that fact, puts himself as the subject of many experiments related here. It is hoped the reader can at least identify with his concerns and disappointments, but clearly not all of the "tests" are likely to be repeated by a single individual. It's also apparent that the "ground state" of each reader will differ from every other, something Warren touches on too lightly to suit this reviewer. One topic that eludes him entirely is the non-dreamer. As one who has had no more than a dozen remembered dreams since childhood, much of this book remained elusive. I simply had no idea what the author, or even many of his scientific contributors were talking about. The chapter on "lucid dreaming" - dreams in which you are conscious of dreaming - seemed the height of fantasy. What is the state of research into brains that don't appear to dream, or fail to remember any that take place?

In a couple of chapters in the book, Warren delves into a "mind-body problem". However, the "problem" is one of his own devising - how do unconscious but impressionable states cause physiological changes in the body? The chapter on hypnosis is one of these, in which the author claims that women in the US have enlarged their breasts by a "group average of 1.37 inches [3.47 centimetres]". While there have been many researchers looking into brain-body interactive pathways, Warren either ignores them or hasn't heard of them [i.e., Antonio Damasio is mentioned because one of Warren's interviewees had a copy on a shelf, but V.S. Ramachandran isn't present anywhere here]. Nonetheless, like so many works on related topics available today, Warren's book raises many issues that demand attention. Neither his book nor the work of those he relates can be ignored nor dismissed as "soft science". These are the plans and bricks needed to build the edifice we call the "mind". Understanding that is essential to our comprehension of what we are as a species. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

There has over the past few decades been an increasing interest in something which we all take for granted: consciousness. Just how the inert molecules in the brain manage to make us conscious, or just what consciousness is, or what the different states of consciousness are, hits on huge questions within philosophy and neurology, questions that remain mysterious. To heck with all the mystery; let's just have some fun! That seems to be the attitude of Jeff Warren, a writer and broadcaster who specializes in science themes, in _The Head Trip: Adventures on the Wheel of Consciousness_ (Random House). Not to be too grandiose: in the illustrations in the book, that's the "Wheel O' Consciousness". Warren sets out to pursue consciousness, not just the waking, sleeping, and dreaming that we all go through (although his nocturnal adventures are among the most interesting), but also hypnosis and meditation and more. He does have fun throughout, and doesn't mind telling us about it in jocular, enthusiastic prose (and his own cartoon illustrations), although anyone who thinks about consciousness for a long time will wind up, well, thinking about it for a long time. There is thus a lot here to chuckle over and to contemplate.

Just dreaming is not enough. Warren has to pursue different types of dreaming, like hypnagogic dreams, the ones that last a few minutes just as you are falling into sleep. Warren writes about how to use hypnagogia for problem solving, and it produced the idea of this book, but some of the ideas he had were real lemons ("... this isn't magic, it's still your fallible human brain operating.") In a lucid dream, you know you are dreaming and you can play around in the dream world, pushing it to do what you want. But Warren himself has some difficulty with manipulating a character in a specific dream; conjuring up a dream meeting with a long-ago crush, he scoops her into his arms to find, "It was like kissing a zombie. Her head lolled to the side and her eyes were blank. Man, my characters were terrible, what the hell was wrong with me? I was disgusted with myself. No wonder I wrote nonfiction." Warren goes to investigate "The Watch", a period of wakefulness in the middle of the night that might be the natural pattern of sleeping given to us by our tribal days. He tries hypnosis, he investigates daydreaming (yes, some scientific research has been done on daydreaming), and of course he gets hooked up to a biofeedback (or more specifically neurofeedback) machine. He goes to a seven-day Buddhist meditation retreat, and reports on all the paradoxes he finds in "the experience of no experience".

Warren doesn't do drugs. Or at least none of the chapters here is devoted to any sort of illicit experimentation, but during his neurofeedback phase, "One friend remarked that I seemed more relaxed, but that may have been because I was drunk at the time." Almost all the conscious states here are available to anyone, although like Warren you might have to invest time and money to find the particular expert to bring the state on. The appeal of this funny and informative book is best when it throws light on states like sleep and dreams and daydreams, states which all of us go though and to which few of us pay as much obsessive attention as Warren has. "We can learn to direct our own states of consciousness," he insists, and he has demonstrated the truth of this astonishing fact in his researches. We might not all learn to do so, but we would be wise to attend and celebrate states with the jubilation and delight that Warren presents to us.

This is a nice read for history books. A lot of information. This is also good for someone who is studying American Literature because it is a good background source.

I was required to read this book for a seminary class and instead of being intimidated or turned off by its over 500 pages, I found the book to be an extremely enjoyable read.

Noll describes the spread of Christianity from the Roman Catholicism of the 1500s to today's pluralism. Particulary enjoyable were the chapters on: the Puritans, The Great Awakenings, Churches in the American Revolution, Evangelical America during the Civil War, Intellectual Challenges to the Christian Faith in the Early 1900s, certain personalities (Billy Graham, Martin Luther King, Fulton Sheen), and the Southern Baptist Convention.

A very interesting read, I highly recommend the book to anyone interested in the history of Christianity in America!

Read and enjoy and do not be turned off by the size of the book!

This is a very good book for Church History. It is a single volume that is written on a fairly east-to-read level. If you've not read a Church History reference before, this would be a good choice with which to start.

Mark Noll's works are always good.

This book helps us to remember the Christian Heritage of our country. By studying the Christian Heritage of our country we can see how the secular history has played out too and how they go hand in hand. This book by Mark A. Noll helps to bring this rich history in an easy to read format. This book is also a great resource for research and to help with illustrations for sermons and Sunday School lessons.

This excellent, detailed history shows what was new about Christianity in the New World. It portrays the dramatic contrasts between official colonial churches and various refugee sects, with their different visions of how they might relate to each other. Where the first colonies, provinces or states usually had official state churches, Noll documents the issues of church relations on the borders or frontiers between these domains. Into these zones, dissidents of all stripes fled from state-backed religion. And in areas where no religious group had a majority, Noll records how people learned to meet their community needs and get along: "The result was a degree of interdenominational tolerance probably unknown anywhere else in the world at that time". (p. 89) Noll's statement may overlook the religious diversity of India or China, but for the Christian world it applied.

Of course Noll's book holds far more, and is of interest to people of every denomination in Canada and the USA. I was just most impressed by the explanation of how religion in North America escaped state control.

--author of "Different Visions of Love"

Dorling Kindersley's Home Herbal is a lovely book containing information on 60 commonly used herbs and how to use them in health remedies. The book outlines common health problems encountered at various stages of the life cycle from babies to teenagers to pregnant women to old age. The herbs are presented with beautiful photos and easy-to-understand instructions how to prepare remedies such as decoctions and poultices. There is also an alphabetical list of health problems, including what herbs to use and how to treat those problems. Another winning book from DK.

This is a very good book for beginers and people who want to make their own herbal remedies. The pictures are clear and beautifuly done. The instructions make it very understandable for everyone. Also included are treatments for a mixture of common ailments and a good "How To" instruction on the preparation of remedies. There is alot of very helpful info. in this book.

From babies to the elderly Penelope Ody addresses the seven stages of life and how to care for ourselves at each one. Her emphasis is on taking charge of one's own day to day health. She teaches us how to make and use syrups, infusions, decoctions, tinctures, tonic wines, capsules, compresses, poultices, hot and cold infused oils, massage oils, ointments, creams, lotions, emulsions, eyewashes, mouthwashes and more. There are full color photos of how she makes these as well as of the plants she uses. There is a remedies for common aliments section that lists the herbs used for specific problems and which way of using it is preferable. I am sure when Shakespeare wrote of the seven ages of man he had no idea how stressful life would be in the 21st century and how necessary health maintenance would be. Penelope Ody has it figured out though. Thank Goodness.

This was a very practical, down to earth guide to preparing and using herbal medicines. Seldom do you find such a straightforward easy to follow handbook on the proper preparation, storage and usage of both homegrown and purchased herbs. An extremely valuable tool to minister to the health of the whole family, young and old. Attractive full color photos and easy to follow descriptions make for a very pleasant reading experience. Fun and interesting, Ms. Ody includes instructions and cautions to ensure correct usage of these herbs, and avoid unpleasant side effects or complications of existing health conditions. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in herbal medicine for the home.

The highlight of this book for me was the wonderful section on making herbal remedies: full color descriptions for crafting syrups, infusions, decoctions, tinctures, tonic wines, capsules, pessaries, compresses, poultices, infused oils, massage oils, ointments, creams, lotions, emulsions, and washes ... the beginning herbalist can feel comfortable knowing she is crafting safely and correctly ... and the A-Z of herbs helps make sure you're using the right plant!

This very funny take on fatherhood by Mr. Eddy should have a place of honour on every new parent's bookshelf-right alongside whichever overly earnest new authority is the current guru on childrearing.Dead-on in its insights into parenting and family life,it's the perfect antidote to the notion that marriage and babies is the end to life as we know it.

Housebroken is a book about parenting for people who arenýt interested in books about parenting. Finally, a witty, playful AND philosophical take on the biggest decision of your life, by one of the funniest authors of our day.

Eddieýs new book is a fresh break from the slightly bitter, bleary eyed assessments of this ancient art: You donýt get any sleep? You donýt say! Instead of whining about scraping applesauce off the walls for 10 pages, Housebroken explores new ground with the kind of details youýve always want to know, especially for lads: Is it possible to still be cool as a Dad? What happens to your mojo? Your sex life? What REALLY changes? What do you actually need to know to be a Dad?

Itýs all here in Housebroken for the anxious Dad-to-be. Think About A Boy meets Bukowski and youýre getting warm. Eddieýs transition from Cad to Dad is the story for every man who is taking the leap or even just thinking about it. That mysterious gap between the single life and fatherhood is traversed with enough insight and original humor to give the nervous newcomer a very clear idea of what to expect.

Still, itýs not a dude book exclusively. For all those girls out there wondering about that tormented clown expression on your manýs face whenever the subject of children comes up ý read this!

Whether youýre a parent in waiting, just flirting with the idea or sure youýre not going to breed, Housebroken is a hilarious and inspiring read, the first of itýs kind on the topic of domestic Dads.

Housebroken is a book about parenting for people who arenýt interested in books about parenting. Finally, a witty, playful AND philosophical take on the biggest decision of your life, by one of the funniest authors of our day.

Eddieýs new book is a fresh break from the slightly bitter, bleary eyed assessments of this ancient art: You donýt get any sleep? You donýt say! Instead of whining about scraping applesauce off the walls for 10 pages, Housebroken explores new ground with the kind of details youýve always want to know, especially for lads: Is it possible to still be cool as a Dad? What happens to your mojo? Your sex life? What REALLY changes? What do you actually need to know to be a Dad?

Itýs all here in Housebroken for the anxious Dad-to-be. Think About A Boy meets Bukowski and youýre getting warm. Eddieýs transition from Cad to Dad is the story for every man who is taking the leap or even just thinking about it. That mysterious gap between the single life and fatherhood is traversed with enough insight and original humor to give the nervous newcomer a very clear idea of what to expect.

Still, itýs not a dude book exclusively. For all those girls out there wondering about that tormented clown expression on your manýs face whenever the subject of children comes up ý read this!

Whether youýre a parent in waiting, just flirting with the idea or sure youýre not going to breed, Housebroken is a hilarious and inspiring read, the first of itýs kind on the topic of domestic Dads.

Start with one part humorous self-criticism, add two rounds of the battle of the sexes, season with sleeplessness, stir-in references to unsuccessful careers and the writing process, baste with challenging child care, season with memorable one-liners and smooth writing, wrap in love, and cover with household chores and frustrations. That's the recipe for Housebroken, a survival manual for any man who's about to become a stay-at-home in-charge-of-it-all Dad of a little one and humorous relief for Moms everywhere.

Mr. Eddie's writing and perspective remind me very much of Erma Bombek and her descriptions of how your children drive you crazy. The main differences are that Mr. Eddie is a better writer and uses fewer one-liners. The ones he does use are priceless though: "Dressing small children is not as easy as you might think. First buy an octopus and a string bag . . . ."

Here are the chapter titles:

1. A Square Peg

2. "She's Perfect"

3. A Cad's Fear of Kids

4. "I'm a Househusband."

5. The Advent of Nicholas

6. Our Horrible Honeymoon

7. The Hong Kong Handover

8. The Politics of Drudgery

9. How to Cook

10. Towards a Possible Redefinition of Machismo

11. "What Do You Do All Day?"

12. How to Dad

The book recounts how Mr. Eddie transitioned from being adrift in his own urban world of freelance writing, messy digs and chasing available women to fathering a son, marrying, and becoming the primary care-giver for that child in the suburbs while his "perfect" wife returned to her high-paying career in television news. In the process, he steals a few moments to nap and reflect (and occasionally to write). All writers will love and appreciate his fascination with old, cheap typewriters (so there's always one nearby where he can peck out notes for a writing idea no matter where he is in the house). He's certainly not Super Dad . . . more like Improving, Loving Dad.

Although the book is played primarily for laughs, it switches somewhere midway through into a mostly reflective book on sexual roles and the love and care that a Father is capable of providing for his children. The reflection part played well with me because I've had several friends who have operated as single, stay-at-home fathers. Interestingly, each of them is a writer and has an outstanding sense of humor. I felt like deja vu as I read this fine book, from that perspective. Mr. Eddie's reflections exactly matched those of my friends.

Does being a writer create your destiny as a father? I hope not. The only male writer I knew when I was growing up was a hopeless alcoholic who passed out soon after finishing his writing quota for the day. His family walked around quietly until the next morning lest he be roused in an angry mood. But then again, Mr. Eddie does suggest that liquor makes the whole process more bearable. Hmmm. There's drink for reflection . . . er, I mean, food for thought.

The book made me delighted that my hard-working wife put me in charge of the outdoors while she does the heavy lifting indoors and with our wonderful teenage daughter. They're both napping now while I'm writing.

After you finish having fun with Housebroken, think about where your ideas of what Moms and Dads do is getting in the way of you and your children having a better relationship. Then, change what you do accordingly (after warning all involved so they don't think you're starting a new mid-life crisis). That's the ultimate reward from this book. Enjoy your parenting!

This book is absolutely hilarious! It is warm, funny, smart, and should be read by dads AND moms alike. Ladies, don't let the title sway you from picking this up.
David Eddie details his days as a bachelor wonderfully, complete with descriptions of his apartment such as putting food out on his "trunk/coffee table in his living/dining/bedroom/study area". He leaves this swinging lifestyle for Pam, "Ms.Right", and they purchase a home across from a mental health center. The irony of raising a child, (a job that can be mentally stressful at times as any parent knows), across from an actual mental health center was just too funny for me!
David Eddie and Pam married when she was 5 months pregnant with their son, and due to several lay offs for David and Pam's growing career, he ultimately becomes the stay-at-home parent to their little boy Nicholas. He talks about middle of the night wake ups, people making unsolicited comments on his parenting in public, and finding adventure in his neighborhood. He gives advice on methods of child rearing that have come to work for him, and commiserates on topics that any parent can appreciate, such as "Nap Time: Your Window to Sanity".
I love this book because it's a real life account of a 'househusband', but it's just as touching and funny for me as a woman and mother. I was touched and amused by a father's point of view on his child coming into the world; as he put it, "he felt anxiety and protectiveness toward him and hoped he would always be warm and dry in the world and find happiness". His stories about the birth experience, his relationship with Pam before and after baby, vacationing, all ring true and made me laugh out loud. It's great that he takes over what is usually considered a 'mother/female role', and keeps his masculinity in tact. He manages to be nuturing and 'just one of the guys' at the same time.
Kudos to David Eddie, personally AND professionally!!