Kansas Books

I've long been a fan of David Swanger's work. I love how the straightforward simplicity of his poems' language and structures releases nuanced emotion. His maturity, as a poet and as a person, results in poems that shimmer with the mysteries of "the big questions," while cloaked in the most ordinary and intimate of interactions.

While thinking about this review, it occurred to me that "Wayne's College of Beauty" can be viewed, in part, as a modern man's journey through the "Seven Stages of Life." Some of the poems reach back to when his children were young, such as "My Daughter's Morning," "her sparkle is as the edge of new/ice on leafed pools, while I/am soggy, tepid; old toast." (This poem, as well as "Patriarch of the Lake," has been featured by Garrison Keillor on "Writer's Almanac.") In "Longer," a teenage daughter struggles with her questions about death as she talks with her father in the middle of the night. "The girl/glistens, a rosy dolphin riding/swells of seamless youth and health,/yet she worries.../If sleep has an opposite, it is/not waking, but the imagination." At the other end of the scale are poems that capture, with equal honesty and perception, the confusion, loss, and tender sweetness of a parent aging. I think of my own mother as I read "The Lessons": "Fathers diminish like fallen snow."

And then there is the voice of "something else" (knowledge? experience? imagination?) present in the very last poem of the book, "What the Wing Says," perhaps Swanger's greatest, and most mysterious. How simply it appears to speak: "Dismiss the grocer of your soul./Nothing important can be weighed." But how far it wants to take us -- I almost said "unimaginably" far, but that's the opposite of what the poem is asking. "Does the future move in only one direction?/Think how roots find their way, how hair spreads/on the pillow, how watercolors give birth to light./Think how dangerous I am, because of what I offer you."

David Swanger may be formally retired from teaching, but his lessons keep coming every time we open his books.

Here is a poet who has not received the acclaim he so deserves. Yes he has some respectable awards... he is, afterall, a professor Emeritus at UCSC ...and a Harvard grad; but why hasnt the poetic community realized his genius and bestowed more honors upon this man; especially when reading this book... I suppose its true that many great poets arent discovered until they die... but if you want to catch him in life... I suggest you read this NOW. Swanger's poems are a gift to us; embrace that gift.

this book has been instrumental in helping me identify six new weed seeds i previously didn't know.this book has been very helpful to me being in the grain export buisness.if you are into weeds this book is for you.

For those of us who are either professionals, amateurs, or curious people. As greater and greater interest grows in discovering and growing native grasses and forbs - this book becomes more valuable. No key is required , and even if you don't know the species, it is possible to get a genus.

Thes book should entice readers to start their own seed identification collection. With a 10 power hand lens one can become an expert in an old but newly emerging area of interest.

I am a fan of business histories and biographies, and I have to say that out of the hundreds of books I've read over the years, "When You Care Enough" is the best of the bunch. I think the folks at Hallmark should make a movie out of this book. This is one story that needs to be told. I read the book in just a couple of days and plan to read it again in the future. This is one book that will have a special place in my library!

Joyce C. Hall's father left home when Hall was just nine. He was raised by his mother living in poverty and lacking any formal education. To help his mother he began selling perfume door-to-door at age nine.
In 1910, Hall dropped out of high school, jumped a train and headed to Kansas City to seek his fortune and make his mark in the business world. He arrived in Kansas City with two shoeboxes full of scenic picture postcards he hoped to sell to dealers throughout the Midwest. And he prospered.

He was a quiet, serious, highly sensitive young man. He went from jobbing postcards as a teenager to manufacturing and selling his own line in six years. A small room at the YMCA was where he lived and was what he used as his office. He had so little cash he couldn't afford to pay a horse-drawn cab to get him there. But, he had his dream and he had plans to make them happen. His plan...launching a mail-order program using the samples he stored under his bed at the Y. He printed invoices, and started mailing packages of a hundred postcards to dealers throughout the Midwest. Some dealers kept the cards and never paid. Some sent back the unsolicited cards with angry notes. But, about a third of the dealers mailed him a check. In just a few short months, the 18-year-old Hall had earned $200, enough to open a checking account for his promising new business.
In a matter of a few years, his postcard business had grown large enough that he asked his older brothers Rollie and Willliam to join him and open a specialty store, the Norfolk Post Card Company, selling both postcards and stationery. Although they were doing well, he worried that postcards were losing there appeal and thought that selling higher end greeting cards, Valentines and Christmas cards with envelopes might be more profitable. He decided to call the company Hallmark, a play on his name and the word for quality which dated back to the 1300's, where gold and silver were "marked" for quality at Goldsmith's Hall in London. Coins and other items of high quality received a "Hall mark."

In 1912 Hall added greeting cards and as business grew moved to larger facilities. In 1915, a fire destroyed the Hall Brothers' offices and all their cards. The company was left in debt. This did not stop Halls dreams. With a new engraving press, the Hall Brothers opened a new shop just down the street and began printing their own cards with the Hall Brothers insignia.
The first Hallmark card appeared in 1916. It featured the greeting "I'd like to be the kind of friend you are to me."
In 1923, Joyce C., and brothers Bill and Rollie Hall, along with their 120 employees, moved from tiny offices and rental space in four separate buildings into a brand new six-story plant. In 1936, Hall introduced display cases that allowed rows of cards to be displayed, that customers could easily browse on their own. Previously, cards were bought by asking a store clerk to choose an appropriate card for you.
The rest is history. Joyce C. Hall died at age 91 on October 29, 1982 leaving Kansas City a legacy of high quality. It is an old-fashioned success story. When Hall died, his company was worth $1.5 billion. Today, more than 10 million Hallmark cards are sold every year! They coined the phrase "when you care enough to send the very best" in greeting cards. They founded a quality television series know as the "Hallmark Hall of Fame."

As there is no table of content here on Amazon, I would like to take the priviledge to type one for you here.

1. The problem of pleasure: And the value of pain
2. A perfect world: The cost of freedom
3. The need to know: Faith beyond reason
4. A question of justice: Mercy, patience and chance
5. The downside up: Learning to embrace pain
6. Just deserts: How we become like God
7. Th needle and the thorn: God's answer to pain
8. What's in your hand? our responsibility for relief
Afterword: To those who suffer

In short, this is a good read for "Christians" in pain and suffering. Well written and organized, supported by good picks of scripture. It helps. Highly recommended! Nevertheless, For those who want to read more of the subject, "Where is God when it hurts? by Philip Yancey" is also an excellent choice.

I am a grief support group facilitator, and the "Why?" questions are always asked. This is the best book on the subject that I have read. The author explains reasons from a Christian point of view, with great everyday examples, as well as Scripture to support his view. When we suffer, we search for answers as to why we have to suffer. This author goes over the value of pain and encourages us to ask the questions, for in doing so, we often find God. There is just too much in this book to go over briefly. However, if you are suffering either physically or emotionally, and you are asking "Why?" consider reading this book. It is most encouraging.

If you like to read about the old west, this is the book. Written using old newspapers and police records of the old cowtowns you can relive the time of the 1880's and what it was like.

This is without a doubt one of my favourite books on the West. It contains biographies of 57 Kansas cowtown personalities, ranging in length from half a page to 130-odd pages (about Bat Masterson). Since the authors quote generously from contemporary newspapers and letters and keep their own text to a minimum this is as close as you will ever get to the truth about these cowtown characters. It is richly illustrated, including a facsimile of Bat Masterson's only effort as a newspaper publisher. Highly recommended. (This review refers to the original edition from 1963.)

I had a good friend of mine say to me once "I don't want to have anything to do with a religion that says unless you believe and follow Jesus Christ that you're not going to go to Heaven." I didn't know how to respond to that. It made sense to me, there are too many "good" people in this world that never even heard of Jesus Christ and it just doesn't seem fair that they should be condemned to hell. I know you don't get to Heaven by being "good" otherwise Jesus death on the cross was unnecessary. But for the billions of people over the years that never even heard of Jesus, not to have a chance to go to Heaven just didn't seem fair. I think it's this kind of thinking that makes people "shop" for a belief system like they're in a religious cafeteria. "With Cords of Love" is a response to religious pluralism that helped me with that question of "unfairness" and I know how to respond to that with a little more confidence now. I'd recommend this book for anyone that has ever had trouble reconciling that subject with themselves or with being able to defend their Christian doctrine when asked to. This is one of those books that I had trouble putting down and was sorry when I got to the end.

wscott0000@aol.com

Al Truesdale has given a great gift in his book, With Cords of Love: A Wesleyan Response to Religious Pluralism (Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City). The book is accessible, and it should secure a wide audience of readers.

Truesdale's gift is presenting the Wesleyan view of God's grace extended to all people whatsoever, while maintaining the Christian conviction that Christ is necessary for salvation. Wesleyans recognize God's activity wherever it appears, says Truesdale, but this does not force Wesleyans to be religious pluralists or believe that salvation comes through good works.

"Prevenient grace goes forth without reference to the historical, cultural, or religious contexts in which persons are born," says Truesdale. "It is the real presence of the Spirit of Christ in a person's soul, working to enlighten and draw him or her to repentance and regeneration and moving him or her toward new creation in the image of Christ."

One of the helpful aspects of the book is Truesdale's distinction between the individuals who affirms nonChristian religions and the nonChristian religions themselves. While not making the distinction too sharp, Truesdale uses real-life illustrations to argue that God reaches out even to those who have not heard the gospel. Truesdale puts human faces on religious pluralism.

With regard to nonChristian religions, Truesdale says that "the value of a non-Christian religion rests upon its ability to serve as an instrument of prevenient grace. To that extent alone can its positive features be recognized, but even then only as a result of God's creativity in diverse cultures - not from some inherent and independent value in the religion itself."

Truesdale reminds his readers that "no religion has saving merit of its own (including Christianity)." Christians should ask, How well does this religion serve the purposes of prevenient grace?

There is much about this book that is helpful. I plan to recommend With Cords of Love to my students and to pastors who puzzle over how to respond in our present age to nonChristians as individuals and nonChristian religions.

Thomas Jay Oord

In their latest book by Kansas City Star, Barb Adams and Alma Allen take you on a tour of the homes of three of their friends who have combined their love of art and nature with their passion for decorating.

The photography is absolutely beautiful so don't even bother trying to read a word until you have feasted your eyes on the pictures. Once that is done, read every last word to see what you may have overlooked. There is just so much to stimulate your senses - eye candy for the soul!

I love to applique so I anxiously await the arrival of their new books. But, I was pleasantly surprised to realize that Barb and Alma did not design everything! They have included projects from four other designers who have their same sense of style, color, and obvious joy for life!

The applique quilts are exquisite. Some of them even include a touch of rickrack. When used as stems, it adds just a touch of whimsey to a beautiful quilt. The cross stitch patterns are also endearing. And, when you see them grouped on walls, you'll want to start a whole collection!

That is the true gift of Barb and Alma - they let us dream. We too can create this perfect home where peace reigns, stitching is always waiting by the fire, and every bed is covered by an heirloom quilt....one project at a time......

The quilts are drop dead gorgeous with that homey, country look I love. The featured quilts have cranberry in them which is my favorite decorating color. The cross stitch is okay. The houses featured are inspiring. This goes in my keep bookcase.

A Precise and complete accounting of the formation and training of the 509th Composite Group which dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Well written and with many pictures, its detail gives the perspective from the soldiers viewpoint.

WELL THE BOOK IS WELL WRITTEN AND I REALLY ENJOY THIS BOOK

This book mixes dating and Christianity, such as "how to find a spirit filled man". I didn't expect to find a mixture of preaching and dating ideas in the same book. I was not looking for a religious book.