Services Books

A disabled person suffers from an information asymmetry when dealing with the insurance company the doctor and Social Security when on claim. The people they deal with know all about disability and they know nothing. This book teaches much of what you need to know. Tells you what files to keep, what clauses mean and how to minimize problems when dealing with your disability.

I reluctantly purchased this book at the suggestion of a disability claims examiner on a web forum. The last thing in the world I wanted to do after becoming disabled was to read a book about it. However I am very glad that I did just that. The book is written by a woman who herself became disabled and discovered the hard way - as most do - just how much of your privacy and rights you give up when you are disabled and submit a related insurance claim. No one is there to stand up for you when you need it the most. Quite the contrary; almost every organization that is involved in your disability claim seems to have rejecting your claim at the top of their list. This book explains in great detail just what steps you need to take, along with the documentation you must gather, and how to best protect your own interests if and when you become disabled. This book jump-started me out of what was most likely a depression-induced inertia and got me working to protect my own best interests. Because no one else will, believe me!

"This is much more than a how-to or do-it-yourself book. It is a plain English road map through the thicket of the entire disability process. It is so well written, accurate, and thorough, attorneys and judges will use it as an important desk reference. All organizations, agencies, and individuals involved in the disability benefits decision process, take note: This book now levels the playing field for the newly disabled." - Thomas P. Dovidio, Esquire

This is an excellent resource for my patients that have become disabled from a medical condition. It is a useful tool as 'Persistence is Power' prepares patients to organize medical visits, workplace modifcations, restrictions, and daily life with actual worksheets and guideposts (websites and other resources), so that they can learn how to manage their new role in life.
I find that most patients who have not had a previous work-related injury do not know what to expect or know who to contact when they have different medical, finacncial, or work-related issues. This book allows a peek into those expectations and gives guidance for newly injured workers.
An easy read, and a useful one.

Julie A. Muche', MD
Physical Medicine & Rehabiliation Physician

Having been employed for 30 years by the same aerospace firm, I have personally found that employee benefits has been out-sourced which leaves very little information & assistance to those in need. Sometimes the idea of filing a lawsuit doesn't help TODAY's needs. I have read Jeanne's book and wish I had known many of those resources and how to go about getting results. I surely would not have had to go down so many dead-end streets. I highly recommend this informative book to anyone who needs to know what, how, and where to go in getting the medical assistance that just seems to be no longer there.

Dr. Leary maintains a high ground in his defense of the value of the psychedelic. This is the early work and a must have.

Wow! What a book! Leary is a real psychedelic guru, not in the orthodox sense, but really a man ahead of his time, a Galileo in the charter exploration of the mind and consciousness. He started off as a conservative Harvard professor, yet not so conservative, as he had his own ideas. But after his religious experience, and that's what psychedelics do - the expanding of your consciousness to a religious experience - he became aware of the societal and cultural chessboards - the games - and here became outspoken apart from the Harvard rationalistic mindset which rests on only one static frame of a multi-dimensional, dynamic existence.

I read this book smiling, over and over again. I walked down the street with a smile, mostly for Leary's optimism, then his frank and bold statements, which in most part I agree with. His style sometimes just makes you laugh and smile and say to yourself "I wish I had the guts enough say this." And although his predictions did not come true, you can't help but subjectively comprehend the 60's atmosphere, enveloped with the baby boomers in their youth taking up the majority of the population and their experiential drug use in psychedelics, which in turn, brought forth all the femininity of creativeness, patience, tolerance, peacefulness and artistic development that was permeating the entire American culture and spreading around the world and thus brought on the male dominated aggression of control and police power. So Leary's optimism and predictions were really a good assessment of the time despite their failure to come true. And nothing makes me sadder than to see his predictions fail from the creative mind expanding youth to our current male power, controlling and agressive society.

You can write Leary off as a kook from the conservative's point of view, the rationalist who never "experienced," and that's the KEY here - never experienced a trip under favorable circumstances and environment. Leary is the same as other heretics and kooks of history, a Galileo of mind exploration and conscious expansion, a Guttenberg of exoteric enlightenment, as in this book as well as one who clearly recognizes the need for new symbols that relate the esoteric experience of LSD, of cellular memories, of DNA language outside the mind, of experiential journeys that can only be told under a new language, as the microscope discovered new world had brought forth, as quantum physics brought forth and every other new fields of exploration that can only be described outside the current symbols we currently use.

Leary on page 141: The lesson I have learned from over 300 sessions, and which I have been passing on to others, can be stated in 6 syllables: Turn on, tune in, drop out. "Turn on" means to contact the ancient energies and wisdoms that are built into your nervous system. They provide unspeakable pleasure and revelation. "Tune in" means to harness and communicate these new perspectives in a harmonious dance with the external world. "Drop out' means to detach yourself from the tribal game. Current models of social adjustment - mechanized, computerized, socialized, intellectualized, televised, Sanforized - make no sense to the new LSD generation, who see clearly that American society is becoming an air-conditioned anthill. In every generation of human history, thoughtful men have turned on and dropped out of the tribal game and thus stimulated the larger society to lurch ahead. Every historical advance has resulted from the stern pressure of visionary men who have declared their independence from the game.

On page 196: My philosophy of life has been tremendously influenced by my study of oriental philosophy and religion. Of course, what the American, regardless of his religious belief, doesn't understand is that the aim of oriental religious is to get high, to have an ecstasy, to tune in, to turn on, to contact incredible diversity, beauty, living, pulsating meaning of the sense organs, and the much more complicated and pleasurable and revelatory messages of cellular energy. To a Hindu, the spiritual quest is internal.

Different sects of oriental religion use different methods and different body organs to find God. The Shivites use the senses; the followers of Vishnu are concerned with cellular wisdom, contacting the endless flow of reincarnation wisdom which biochemists would call protein wisdom of the DNA code; Buddhist manuals on consciousness expansion are concerned with the flash, the white light of the void, the ecstatic union that comes when you're completely turned on, beyond the senses, beyond the body.

On page 202-203: What we're doing for the mind is what the microbiologists did for the external science 300 years ago when they discovered the microscope. And they made this incredible discovery that life, health, growth, every form of organic life, is based on the cell, which is invisible.

You've never seen a cell; what do you think of that? Yet it's the key to everything that happens to a living creature. I'm simply saying that same thing from the mental, psychological standpoint, that there are wisdoms, lawful units inside the nervous system, invisible to the symbolic mind, which determine almost everything.

And I don't consider myself that mystical - unless you'd call someone who looks through a microscope a mystic, because he's telling you about something for which you don't have the symbols. Or the astronomer who detects a quasar and speculates about it.

On page 208: Every time you take LSD you completely suspend - you step outside of - the symbolic chessboard which you have built up over the long years of social conditioning. And you whirl through different levels of neurological and cellular energy, continually flowing and changing.

Your symbolic mind is flashing in and out. You never love your mind during and LSD session. It's always there, but it's one of a thousand cameras that are flashing away. Of course, the LSD freak-out, or paranoia, is where the symbolic mind freezes any aspect of the LSD session and defines a new reality, which can be positive or negative.

Read this book.

This is the single most influential book I have ever read. Completely legitmizes and encourages religious experiences through psychedelic means. Anyone currently using psychedelic drugs or interested in them should read this to gain greater understanding of their power. Learn why LSD and other are really illegal, the government knows they free minds!

...if you wish to stay the same because believe me, once you read it, you never will be. I got this book when I was about 26-27 years old when I felt as though I was just passing through life and not really living it. I felt like everything was "ho-hum". All of my senses were set to dull. Inside of me there was just this gnawing ache that there has got to be something more...not just "out there"...but "in here"...in my heart, in my soul, in my mind...

And then along comes Timothy.

Irreverent, Rebellious,Smart-Ass Timothy Leary espousing the Truth that all advancement in life is already in our very DNA. It dwells deep within the very marrow of our bones because we, as a species, were not meant to stand still...we were not meant to live lives of quiet desperation...we were meant to behold a world that burns and sparkles with Light.

People tend to think one is hallucinating when one sees vibrant colors, when everyday things seem to shine with a new brilliance, when even the song from a songbird feels like a musical triumph, but this is how life really is, boys and girls! We are hallucinating when we think that the world is dull and thick and leaden...we are hallucinating when we think that we are just these heavy clods of biodegradble clay that stalk the earth. We are here to discover...or should I say, uncover the paradise that is already within the invisible realms of the ancient mind that dwells within us and we in it.

Does this mean you have to take LSD in order to experience the jewelike radiance that all of life is made in and out of? Not neccessarily and I am not advocating that you do. What I am advocating is that you allow yourself to get enthused about life. Enthusiasm literally means to be filled with God. God wants to know Itself as you...as me...in each and every moment of creation.

Read Timothy Leary. Marvel at his excitement for life, join him in the mind & soul rebellion against flaccid governments and soul controlling religions and their warped politics and dissapointing creeds both of which are more than happy to think and decide for you, laugh in joyful relief that you are not a body with a soul, but you are a soul with a body,and be willing to stray from the pack of lemmings that's headed for the edge of the cliff only to drown in the shallow seas of mediocrity.

Open your eyes.
Open your mind.
Open your soul.
Open your heart.
Open this book and let the tingling in each of your 40 trillion cells remind you are here to do more than exist, you are here to LIVE and to LIVE WELL.

Peace & Blessings to this this place we call the world.

This work is a hallmark for questioning authority, pursuing individual freedom and happiness, and working to build a more enjoyable and enriched world. Lovers of liberty would be well-advised to study this work thoroughly, and then pass it along to the nearest religious extremist. It will surely get a reaction.

the product was new in perfect conditions just like advertised

I really like this book and find it very helpful with school work!!

I like this book very much. It has more information than the other drug guides I have seen. It is in strict alphabetical order by generic name. I work in a busy ER and the other nurses seek out my book, which I buy new every year. I highly recommend this book.

This drug book has everything I need and I have stuck with this brand over the years because of it's ease in looking up various drugs. The online access disc that comes with it is nice, but you have to keep it in your drive in order for it to work. Whatever the computer lingo is: you can't download it to your computer. That would be a whole other program that you can purchase through them online.

Prentice Hall Drug Guide is by far, the BEST authority available for nurses currently. It beats the competition hands down because it simply contains all the pertinent information that nurses seek (and are not included in other drug guides.) For instance, I teach nursing and we were discussing the half-life of Dilantin. We searched through several of the other drug books, but no info.
So, I gave the class a short break, walked out to my car to get the Prentice Hall out of my trunk and in 3 minutes, we were reading the information of the half - life of Dilantin, which incidentally, is 22 hours. This is extremely helpful type of information that Nurses need to know in order to grow their professional backgrounds. I love the organization of the book - it has a very comprehensive list of medications; the pages are neat and easy to read and I noticed that lots of other nursing schools are using it as well as thier resource.
The only draw-back to owning the Prentice Hall book is that is it super - heavy in weight. It adds alot of heaviness to a student's already bursting sachel of books, but the pay-off is a great one.
Get this book and become smarter than anyone else in the classroom,
or if being competitively intelligent doesn't turn you on, then just stick to the lighter weight drug guides.
This is the most excellent one out there - trust me.

I've read a lot of these types of books, being a reformed "I went to law school so I WOULDN'T have to do sales" type. This is one of the most useful practical books on the subject I've ever come across. In fact, I liked it so much that I'm back to buy two additional copies to use as loaners to some other folks in my firm.

The Chapters are all very short, no more than 5 or 6 pages with each addressing a particular real life situation such as "Avoid Random Acts of Lunch (or How to Make Your Business Development Pay Off): How Can I Avoid Wasting My marketing Efforts in Random, Unplanned Actions?" What I liked about this book was that it acknoweldged a deepseated fear many of us have as lawyers when it comes to marketing and suggested alternative ways of looking at the task in a more positive light. Then, in addition to the attitude switch, Maraia dispenses concrete easy suggestions in every chapter that I can definitely see myself implementing immediately and getting results very quickly.

This book is especially good for someone just starting out on the marketing path, but even experienced professionals will find something new they can use.

Maraia is a recognized expert in the field of rainmaking for professionals, and this book is a compilation of tips and advice from his years of consulting with hundreds and hundreds of attorneys and other professionals who hate the thought of asking for business. Maraia disarms the reader's objections and recharacterizes the task of rainmaking in a manner that is both fresh and appealing to professionals. Why ask for business directly when you can simply reconnect with a dormant client or an old college friend? Maraia teaches that rainmaking is all about making relationships, about connecting and reconnecting in ways that demonstrate that you truly care about and want to help others. As Zig Ziglar has said, "You can get anything you want if you just help enough other people get what they want".

There are no platitudes here - only practical and immediately useable advice, organized for easy reference. I'm recommending this book to every professional that I know. Who knows? Maybe I'll get a referral.

There are several excellent marketing books that are specifically aimed at lawyers and professional service firms. I think this is the best. From "Twenty Ideas for Increasing Client Satisfaction" (Chapter 9) to "Using Speaking to Win New Clients" (Chapter 34), and "Avoid Random Acts of Lunch" (Chapter 16) the advice is specific, detailed, and exteremly useful. The 48 short, practical chapters are especially helpful as job aids - read only what you need, exactly when you need it. And if you have any doubts about whether it works, just read the 67 testimonials in the front of the book.

Can rainmaking for lawyers be simple? According to Mark Maraia, it can be--and his book tells attorneys how.

This is one of the best books around on rainmaking for lawyers. It suggests many actions that lawyers can take to develop clients, and breaks down these actions into easily understood steps.

As a coach to lawyers, I particularly appreciate how Maraia stresses this simple maxim: every client communication is a client development opportunity. How true! Every client communication--whether a legal bill, an email or a conversation--should be used to enhance the attorney-client relationship by building trust and communicating value. This can't be emphasized enough.

Maraia also explores topics like cross selling and developing associates' marketing skills. These techniques are too often ignored by lawyers, and Maraia clearly explains why they are effective.

One caveat: my lawyer clients who handle international matters and deal with foreign clients have had to modify some of these rainmaking tactics. Effective cross-cultural communication means communicating with cultural sensitivity and awareness. In a global economy this is critical. A few of Maraia's suggested techniques--while effective with American clients--can be too direct and off-putting for those foreign clients used to an "indirect" communication style. However, Maraia's basic principles are sound and can be easily tweaked for multicultural rainmaking.

Maraia also emphasizes that rainmaking training (through this book or in person) is much more effective with follow-on coaching. In fact, recognizing that lawyers will become more effective rainmakers if they customize and implement the rainmaking techniques with the help of a trained lawyer coach, Maraia explains that he only offers in person training with follow-on coaching. Regardless, this book is a great, straightforward and practical resource.

I started reading Rainmaking Made Simple as just a book and couldn't help jumping around to different topics. It is really more like a desktop reference guide. I bet I've read different sections of it 3 or 4 times. I've found this to be a handbook that you can go back to time and again. I know that's what I've been doing.

Also, I noted right away Maraia has done lots of work with professional service firms that bill themselves or their organization hourly. It took me about one minute to start translating some of his examples into what I do with my company.

Did I like it? Yes! It's a great, down-to-earth reference guide that makes sense to own.

This book of poems is really the best book of poems I have ever read!!! The introduction to this book is very touching but the poem "The Raven" took my breath away! I couldn't believe that such a poem can make me feel this way!!!

With the emphasis so much on his horror writing, the poetry of Edgar Allen Poe is often overlooked. Which is unfortunate, his poetry has many classic lines, and there is no segment better than the opening line of "The Raven."

"One upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,"

The following poems appear in this collection, The Raven, Annabel Lee, Lines on Ale, The City in the Sea, The Sleeper, Eldorado, Alone, The Haunted Place and The Conquerer Worm.
While some traditionalists may decry the "Classics Illustrated" approach to poetry, I have little time for those arguments. Poe is best when served up illustrated, and the illustrations in this book are excellent. My favorites are the caricatures of Poe in his study that accompany `The Raven." The big eyes and oversized cranium give him the appearance of dark despair. In my opinion, anything that presents the classics in a format that will appeal to young people is to be encouraged, which is why I recommend this book.

...while I pondered weak and weary over many a quant and curious volume of forgotten lore..."
Who can't pass up the mystique and somber terror of one Poe's poems? Don't deny yourself this chance at book full of great literature. Poe might have had a troubled life but his life's work was, and still is, incredible.

Many reknown Literary Critics who live in "Intellectual Ivory Towers" consider this collection of poems to be a so called "Classic". I however tend to disagree with them and unless I woke up in Russia or Communist China this morning I believe I have every right to exercise my Freedom Of Speech. My least favourite poem in this book would have to be "The Raven". Perhaps one can understand the erratic meter of this poem when one learns that it was written in one hour in a cocaine induced frenzy. Sadly Writing and Substance Abuse are not a good combination. I give this book 5 stars because so many people are under the impression that Edgar Allen Poe was a genius instead of a drug addled illicit substance abuser.

This is one of the many poems by Edgar Allan Poe. It is a very good poem but at first I didn't really understand it. It took awhile before I fully understood it even after I had been told the main idea. In this poem raven represents death. What I believe that that the man in this poem is going to die and death is tapping at his door. This poem uses lots of figurative speech and it makes it sound very pretty. Such as "Prophet!,' said I, 'Thing of evil! Prophet still if bird or devil! Whether Tempter sent or tossed thee here ashore, Desolate ye tall undaunted, On this home by horror haunted-tell me truly, I implore- Is there balm in Gilead?- tell me- tell me I implore!' Quoth the Raven, 'Nevermore." It would be a good idea to read The Raven.

From the editor of the Hoppin Readin Review on Blogspot

This ia a great book for a new PE teacher. I got transfered from Jr High to Elementary this year and this book has been a life saver.

As a homeschooling mom of three boys I have searched long and hard for a book that would give me ideas for P.E. class. This P.E. series is the answer to my prayers. It includes hundreds of activities, fully explained and illustrated including a list of required equipment. Although some activities are for big groups, there are lots of activities for one or two children. They include lesson plan suggestions and blank lesson plans for making up your own. Some of the lessons involve using equipment not likely to be found in the home but a great deal of the lessons involve very simple materials like hoola hoops, balls, bean bags, etc. I highly recommend this series for homeschoolers!

This is a great book full of ideas to help teach k-2. It is very useful in teaching skills and just little games as well. very well developed for not only intro activities but for fitness and skill related activities as well.

I also think this book is great with a great progression of skills and clear directions and photos. Can easily be adapted for a useful preK motor development guide as well.

This book has an abundance of great PE games and activities for teachers who have little experience or familiarity teaching PE right up to different ways of teaching mandatory skills for the experienced teacher. Many of the activities need few or no equipment which is good for many teachers who work in schools with few resources. I highly recommend this book to any early primary teacher.

I read this book as a young person, loved it, but had a bit of a hard time relating to the generations coming and going. I don't now! I was so pleased to find it for my older sister,and she was thrilled. I also got it for my daughter. Margaret Sandell

Please, can this book be made available by someone who has it. I first read it over 30 years ago but I do need to recapture that divine feeling. I have searched many bookstores just to get another copy. It has rich memories for me.

This is my grandmother's favorite book. She wanted to share it with me, but since she loves this book so and can't part with her copy, she found me a paperback copy at a rummage sale. I admit, I looked at the cover and thought, "well, I'll read it if I have some extra time on my hands." Over New Years, I was quite bored and so I picked the book up. I couldn't put it down! Ms. Turnbull's writing, though the book was written in the 1920's, was captivating. The story of Jeannie could give any current historical fiction writer a run for their money. Absoulutely fascinating and endearing. I will be holding on to my copy for sure!

I first read this book in the 1950's, as a young girl in Western Pennsylvania, and I have read it over again many times since. As I write this, my husband is reading the final pages...and he loves it just as much as I always have. Ms Turnbull's ability to eloquently and palpably convey the sense of place and time just leaves the reader breathless as he or she is transported there.

Further, the author has an intelligent objectivity about the issues addressed, making no value judgments of her own and not leaving the reader with the sense that the author is leading to any ineluctable conclusion.

This is a wonderful story! Read it! (If you can't locate a copy, try the Westmoreland County Historical Society in Greensburg, PA. That's where I purchased the two copies I have.)

This was my mother's favorite book when she was a teenager; she couldn't wait to have children and share the book with them. My sister and I have read this book three or more times apiece, it is that good, that heartfelt. It is timeless in its story of families, family ties, families coping with adversity. What a wonderful book!

I met Dawn Smith Jordan when she came to my church. She talks so lovingly about her sister and family. Her mother, the author of this book, has passed away. You would think the family would be devestated after all these horrible things have happened. Dawn radiates with the love of Jesus and shares that with everyone. Her family I think was very special and her sister in Heaven is now reunited with her moma. God Bless this family!

I heard about this tradgy on court tv's Forensic Files it broke my heart about the letter and how he murdered her it was a bad storie to hear.only 17 not ever getting to have a kid or ever graduate that was not very kind to murder someone for no reason.

The first time I remember reading about this horrific crime was in a Reader's Digest magazine in 1989. I can still remember the shock I felt when I read how something as innocent as checking the mail in your own driveway could turn into such a tragedy. My heart broke as I turned each page and read Hilda's story about the brutal kidnapping and murder of her beautiful daughter. Her courage and faith is an inspirational to anyone that reads this book. I highly recommend it.

I heard about this tradgy on court tv's Forensic Files it broke my heart about the letter and how he murdered her it was a bad storie to hear.only 17 not ever getting to have a kid or ever graduate that was not very kind to murder someone for no reason.

My brother went to school with Shari at Lexington High School. I remember when this terrible tragedy happened. It broke the heart of an entire town. BUT, one thing that helped us all heal was witnessing the faith and courage of the Smith family. This book is a bright example of how, even in the toughest of times, a family followed God's light and overcame their darkest moment. The town of Lexington has never forgotten Shari or the Smith family.

"Provides a detailed step-by-step guide to the tasks and responsibilities librarians are likely to encounter as book-group leaders conducting booktalks both on-site and online. Containing chapters on launching and running successful book-discussion groups; guides to 11 titles selected from the classics, nonfiction, best-sellers, and genre fiction; and lots of sample publicity material as well as helpful resources to lighten a busy librarian's workload (annotated bibliographies, online evaluation tools, professional organizations, and partnership strategies with checklists for getting help from bookstores, schools, and community groups), this is essential reading for anyone who may be considering taking on the role of a book-discussion-group leader and a refresher for the more experienced." (summary by South TX Library System)

Running Book Discussion Groups: A How-To-Do-It Manual by librarian, writer, and book group leader Lauren Zina John is an outstanding introduction and in-depth guide to the ever-popular and effective educational technique and activity of reading in groups. Informing readers of variable approaches to the stylistic presentation of leading such book oriented groups, Running Book Discussion Groups deftly covers such issues as book group organization, recruitment, resources, members, discussions and discussion kits, proper book selection for particular grouping interests, and so much more. Running Book Discussion Groups is very highly recommended for all librarians for their patrons, classroom teachers for the students, and anyone wanting to set up a book discussion group for socializing in their homes, and are searching for a comprehensive and expert "how to" guide for establishing and maintaining book discussion groups.

It has been said that, were the book invented today, people would be amazed by the technology: compact, portable, able to be scanned front and back with the flick of a finger, perfect for storing commentary. And books have a presence and a weight, that other forms of written communication continue to lack, whatever the media in which they appear. Would anyone perceive a lasting need, after all, for "blog discussion groups?"

Lauren Zina John's comprehensive, illuminating and often amusing account of how to bring readers together to share their experiences of a book reimnds us that reading may be solitary in execution, but it is, in the end, communal in its effect. This worthy addition to my reference library reminds me why reading a book alone is like traveling alone: you will appreciate what you see, but how better it is when there are others who, as interested as you, have come along for the journey.

A big thank you to Mrs. John for reminding us all why we read and why it is that we need to bring our experiences of what we read into a room filled with other readers.

Wow! Here's a book that tells you -- in wonderfully comprehensive (and delicious) detail -- everything you could ever hope to know about book discussion groups. Lauren John's "Running Book Discussion Groups (A How-To-Do-It Manual)" is a wellspring of historical data, organizational tips, publicity techniques, content summaries, managerial information, and very practical pointers about group synamics and group management. And at the center are ten unbelievably helpful 10-20 page samples of specific individual group meetings, including book summaries, author biographies, reasons for the choice of book, sources for procuring the book, materials to support discussion, and even intelligent and trenchant discussion questions. All this is presented in a witty package written by a warm, inventive, charismatic book-group-leader and professionaol librarian who could charm the words from the trees -- from her first admonitory anecdote about the book group member who felt she wa being victimized through the final listings of up-to-date references about the topic under discussion. This book is a must for the thousands of book group discussion leaders and would-be leaders as well as a delightful and useful read for the hundreds of thousands of book group members and educators in our midst.
Dr. Alfred Jacobs, Professor Emeritus
Mass Communications Program
Menlo College

This work is immensely practical and useful for book discussion leaders, priceless for anyone trying to start or maintain a group. As a librarian, I think it is indispensable.

It begins with an overview of the history of book discussion groups, beginning as they floated toward America to the present, including the Oprah era. She outlines the elements required for success, such as publicity, recruitment, book selection and overcoming book group anxiety. There are stories from group organizers summarizing their experiences and sample forms to survey potential members to set times, audience and topics. Other information includes suggestions for covering a variety of genres, sample flyers, press releases and group Web pages with author links and other potential resources.

The nuts and bolts of the actual discussion section offers hints on breaking the ice, playing devil's advocate, readers who dominate the conversation or don't talk at all, hosting an author, and online book groups. Perhaps for new leaders the most useful section is the 10 books for which John has prepared the summary, author biography, rationale for selection, publication and access information, support materials - including film versions, and discussion questions. This analysis model can be generalized by book group leaders preparing other titles for their sessions. I strongly recommend this title.

It's about time that a textbook like this was introduced into the world of fire investigation.

Excellent book. John has done the fire investigation community an outstanding service by writing this book.
The sections debunking "arson indicators" are noteworthy, as are the excellent fire cause examples and the great pictures. If you don't have this book go out and buy one.

John Morse, PE

I purchased Mr. Lentini's book as soon as it was released.

The color photographs and diagrams are excellent. The book is laid out in an easy to understand straight to the point format.

The book guides you through a proper investigation while using a scientific method.

I include this book in my suggested reading list for the classes that I teach.

If you would like to add another great text book to your library then this would be the one.

Steve Riggs, PATC

Book Review

Scientific Protocols for FIRE INVESTIGATION

By John J. Lentini, CFEI
Published by CRC Press, 2006

604 pages, full-color photographs, illustrations, and diagrams, $139.95.

This publication is a MUST HAVE and MUST READ for all memebers of the fire investigation community. The document clearly outlines all aspects of the craft in simplistic terms.

I recommend that you buy it and study it. The publication is such that both the rookie and the seasoned fire investigation will learn and learn and learn.

Dennis J. Merkley CFEI, CFII, CVFI
Senior Consultant - Fire and Explosion Analyst
Fire Facts Incorporated
Toronto, Canada

Book Review:
Scientific Protocols for Fire Investigation
by John J. Lentini

Mr. Lentini has produced a book on fire investigations. So, why purchase and read another book on this subject, it has been covered in several texts before. The book should be read to educate the reader [presumably a fire investigator] on the significance of their work. Fire investigations impact people's lives. Aside from the lofty goal of making accurate determinations of causes of fires thereby helping to prevent a repeat of the fire, determinations of the fire cause can impact a person's financial wellbeing for the remainder of their life, affect a person's personal freedom, and in the extreme instance, determine if a person lives or dies. Yet, as Mr. Lentini so notes, a fire investigator is one of the few forensic professions where no scientific education or training is required to offer opinions on complex scientific phenomena. To this reviewer, Mr. Lentini is the first published author to stress the need for improvement in the professional standards for fire investigators.

Mr. Lentini starts out with the basics in the first six chapters. He includes discussions on fire science, chemistry and physics of combustion, fire dynamics and investigative procedures. Given Mr. Lentini's expertise in chemistry, he spends an entire chapter on chemical analyses and ignitable liquid residue aspects of fire investigation. Recognizing the audience for that chapter is limited, he encourages the unrelated reader to "skip over" all but the introduction to this chapter. He also devotes a chapter to ignition sources, possibly the most significant factor in any fire cause determination. Without the investigator being able to adequately address how devices work and fail, the tendency becomes to dismiss the energy sources in residences as not having caused the fire. This lack of consideration of devices that can become ignition sources is the most likely explanation for why fire investigators rely on the "Negative Corpus" determination.

Mr. Lentini devotes the remainder of his book to developing his arguments for recognizing the significance of the fire investigator's work. He gives thirty examples of how or how not to investigate a fire. From that foundation, he moves into the mythology of arson investigation and an excellent discussion on sources of error in fire investigations. The sources of error chapter [my personal favorite] may possibly be the reader's first realization that there truly is an error factor in fire investigations that must be addressed. He finishes up with a chapter on the professional-practice aspect of the profession, including quality assurance programs, consistency in one's work, and expert witness testimony. Although quality assurance programs may never get implemented in many fire investigation offices [both public and private], his discussion sets out for the reader a typical plan that is clear and not overly burdened with jargon.

Throughout the book, Mr. Lentini adds superb artwork including full color photographs, clear and in some cases color charts, graphs and illustrations. He also inserts his "Sidebar" discussions, examples and opportunities to discuss aspects of the chapter that illustrate or explain a concept in a little different light. His choice to push his publisher to make all photographs be in color was unusual, but by doing so he has made his text stand out from the crowd with its artwork.

If someone is just starting out as a fire investigator, other texts may do a better job of discussing the basic aspects of the profession. But, Mr. Lentini's philosophical approach on the responsibility of the fire investigator to conduct a thorough, scientific investigation is an excellent primer for a fire investigator to begin his career. Likewise, those career investigators that have been around a long time can benefit by the much needed reminder of the importance of their work.