S Books

Anyone who has studied languages, particularly difficult ones, knows that repetition, and lots of it, is the key to success. This book and its companions excel in this regard. Vocabulary is chosen carefully and is then used to build graded sentences through example, dialog and narrative which can run to over twenty pages in a single lesson. I wish that I'd had the equivalent when studying Korean and Japanese.
One piece of bad news, however, the text is in traditional characters. This means that at some point you are going to have to make the effort to learn the simplified characters that are used by the bulk of Chinese throughout the world now. However, if you've mastered the texts in this series, that shouldn't be too much of a challenge.

These texts are the seminal series in hanzi erudition. They are great for learning the language, and reading and writing its characters. This one is the second of the first two 'Beginning' texts. I just finished the first. It should be noted that this, the 2nd, is intended to be grouped with the first. The 2nd therefore has the index, dictionary, and other appendices in back. The first only has the first 33 chapters. If considering purchase or already in possession of the first, you might consider ordering this one also.
The book is structured into chapters each presenting 10 base character words, and about 40 compounds derived therefrom. After character and compound presentation, are short example sentances which have english translations. Then there are a few pages of dialogue text, untranslated. Finally are a few pages of narative prose, also untranslated. Then its on to the next chapter with another ten characters. Every sixth chapter is a summary of the last five with some excercises to distinguish similar constructs and prose to excercise reading.
Amazon got the book to me flawlessly of course. Pricewise it was unbeatable, although I bought the first one used for a fraction.

I'm not going to repeat what has already been said but DeFrancis states that this book and volume 2 combined contains 120,000 characters of running text using just 400-500 distinct characters!!! It is this repetition and various presentation of characters in different contexts that I find the most valuable. I am not sure where else you can find such a large number of what is essentially graded readings for beginners.

As many have mentioned before, this is bested used as a supplement to a grammar text.

This book is an excellent means of practicing reading Mandarin chinese in Traditional characters, but has little to no guidance on grammar, pronunciation, or traditional uses. While some self-study types like myself would be tempted to try using just one book at a time, I'd say this would best be used in conjunction with the other books in the series, or one of the software/tape systems for spoken and grammatical chinese.

In the 1960's, while Mr. DeFrancis was working on this series, he wrote an essay called "Why Johnny Can't Read Chinese" (Journal of the Chinese Language Teaching Institute, Volume 1) in which he explains why a book like this is necessary and why he designed it the way he did. The reviews below pretty much restate it - you cannot learn to read Chinese just by memorizing a lot of individual characters.

An example: ben3 means "root" or "self." Lai2 means "come." Di4 means "earth." Ren2 means "man." All simple words. But when combined, could you guess that benlai would mean "originally" or bendi would mean "this country" or benren would mean "myself, yourself, himself"? There are thousands and thousands of combinations of this sort that have to be learned separately from the individual characters or you will have no idea what you're reading.

In addition, I would like to get something off my chest. Everyone tells you Chinese grammar is easy. It isn't! It's just different! Chinese uses word order instead of declensions, tenses, etc., to convey different meanings. If you get the word order wrong, you're saying something completely different from what you wanted to say. People will tell you word order in Chinese is a lot like English, which is true in simple terms, but a very dangerous generalization. "Bu hen hao," for instance, means not very good, but "Hen bu hao" means really bad. "Min2guo2" means republic but "guo2min2" (same characters) means citizen. In any kind of complex sentence (or even in simple ones) you need to be very familiar with common, habitual word order rules. There are too many of them to simply learn by rote. And that's not even mentioning the problem with particles like the infamous "le." You need to read a LOT of Chinese words in context to really learn these grammar rules.

And the DeFrancis Chinese Reader Series has just that. These books are thick! Another reviewer below gave the number of characters in each volume, I think, and you can read above the dimensions of the book, so I won't repeat it here.

The Readers also teach you the cultural significance of a lot of terms, a lot of idiomatic expressions, and a lot of historical and place names. And also I'll make the suggestion that you use these books in combination with his grammar texts, "Beginning Chinese," etc. The audiotapes for the whole series, including the Readers, is available from Seton Hall Language Lab. I don't think you can find any series more thorough.

Some people will tell you these books are out of date because they were written in the late 1960's, but I haven't found that to be a problem at all. Grammar doesn't change much. A few words have changed, but really, you need to know the old words as well as the new. I mean, is anyone saying that English readers can't understand books written 50 years ago? The only form of language that changes that quickly is slang, and you're in trouble if you think that's language learning. Foreign language book publishers are the main culprits here - they want to come out with a new, more expensive edition of their audaciously expensive, well-nigh worthless texts every 5 years. But don't get me started.

The introduction in the beginning of the book makes a lot of good points, but I've used up all my space, so I'll put some quotes in a "Volume 2" review in case you're still wondering if this is the right series for you.

Oh - and do buy Volume 2 along with Volume 1 because, as reviewers have noted below, the index is at the back of Volume 2.

I bought this book and another for my father. He was on the USS Enterprise during his time in the navy and has recently started reading old war books. Great price and arrived very quickly. My dad was happily surprised when he opened this gift. I don't expect he'll ever read the whole book but he's read bits and pieces of it since Christmas.

This is one of the best books ever wrote on WWII. I wish it could have gone more into the actual deck operations but you cannot really fault the auther. What astonishes me most is the number of times pilots understood that they had no fuel and would have to ditch into the ocean but still pushed on watching there friends and squadron mates go down in battle. I recommend to everyone.

Two sections in this book stand out in my mind. One was the section talking about the crew as they enter Pearl Harbor immediately after the attack. You could feel the emotions as you read about them and you could imagine how they felt as they saw the destruction. The other is the ending. It was almost as if the author were writing about the death of a person instead of a ship.

This is a very well writen book about a very important ship in our history. There are not too many ships that have the record of the Enterprise and there probably will not be too many more like her. The book reads like a novel instead of a historical book and it breathes life into the ship and her valiant crew.

If you enjoy WW2 History. Specifically US Navy genre, it can't get any better than a book about a ship whose name will live forever(and deservedly so). Got an old 2nd hand book years ago and it remains my prized book.

I absolutely adore this book, and am on at least the third copy I've owned, having worn the others out.

CDR Staffor has written an absolutely magnificient tome. He covers both the scope of the War in the Pacific, and the exploits of the Enterprise herself very thoroghly and in incredible detail.

I've always been interested in the Enterprise, especially considering that my dad was a pilot in the last Air Group ever assigned to the ship.

Her story is the story of the pacific, and the coming of age years of naval aviation. The early giants of naval aviation commanded her, and the greats of this horrible war flew from her decks, and helped to build her legend.

This book is one of the pillars that must be read in order to develop a thorough understanding and appreciation of the war in the Pacific.

It's just a great shame that the campaign to save her from the scrapper's torch failed. It's ironic that the ship that the enemy could never destroy ended up losing her life to a torch a few hundred miles from her birth place.

Our daughter used this book as a resource when she did her own Search. I read it and was amazed at what a 'complete' book it is. It focuses on every aspect of an adoptee's search. There are chapters for the birthparents, the adoptee, the adoptive parents, etc. There are many, many 'testimonials' included, positive, neutral and negative, from adoptees, adoptive parents, birthparents, regarding searches.
I highly recommend this book to any adoptee who is considering doing their own Search, to any adoptive parent whose child is searching, to any adoptive parent whose child has already done their search, and to any birthparent in that situation.
There truly is something for everyone.
(I gave it 4 out of 5 stars because nothing's perfect.)

I found this book incredibly helpful in helping me deal with searching for and eventually reuniting with my birthmother. I bought it a year and a half ago, and I've referred back to it so many times that it looks like I've had it much longer. It gives very helpful advice for everyone involved in adoption and allows you to see all sides of the issue. Also, the testimonials and Jean Strauss's search and reunion story give the book a very personal feel. Overall, a great book for anyone connected to adoption.

I bought this book after reading "The Girls Who Went Away" by Ann Fessler and I'm glad I did. It really brings the subject of adoption full circle by telling the stories from all sides of the coin. But it also gives A Lot of starting points and next steps for people to use while doing their own search. My brother and I are both adoptees. I found my birth mother over 16 years ago but she had died in a car accident 6 months after I was born. Took me 15 more years to find my birth father. Both finding my birth mother and birth father were purely the grace of God because I had absolutely nothing to go on. My brother recently asked me to help him locate his birth parents and I'm so glad I purchased this book. Not only for the large quantity of resources it lists, but so I can also prepare him for the many different outcomes he may experience. I can also add, that by reading this book, it has been an emotional rollercoaster. Being able to relate to so many feelings, stories, dreams has really been healing in a lot of ways. Knowing there are so many people out there with similar emotions due to being adopted has been comforting in some strange way. I'd have to say one of my favorite parts of the book is when it talks about how society continues to view the adopted child as just that, a child. Society never took into account that we, as adopted children, would grow up to become contributing adults who have every right to know about ourselves, where we came from and everything pertaining to our lives. I guess if I had to pick one word to explain how this book made me feel it would be EMPOWERED.

Being adopted, my interest in finding books relating to my own thoughts and journey was quite a challenge. Interestingly, I found this book after finding my birthmother and two siblings. The book was a confirmation of every step and emotion I felt. I can't reccomend this book enough. It is written in a non-threatning and caring tone. Every adoptee or a parent that has relinguished a child should read it if for no other reason than to educate oneself.

To help someone not only understand why they are searching, but help in getting started in the search. This was a God send for me! I am now sharing my copy with my neighbor who is an adoptive mom. It's just wonderful. Everyone should read it.

If you are a veterinarian and don't have this book, get it! Great client education handouts on cd included.

This book is awesome! Does not go indepth, but has ALL the pertinent information related to specific diseases/clinical signs (definitions, Physiology, symptoms, lab work, treatment, follow up care)all on one page! A VERY useful book so far, especially from a tech's point of view!

Just replaced my 3rd edition, the 4th addition is a bit better has some new information, doseages for new drugs and a CD with Client education handouts.

very helpful in learning details about diseases and drugs we use.Easy to use the book and easy to understand.Thank you for the opportunity for me to receive this book to Turkey.

Whenever I encounter a new disease, or need to refresh my memory about one I haven't seen lately, I reach for this book first. I find it to be concise, informative, and useful. While other medical texts make for good fireside or bedtime reading, this one cuts to the chase, and is useful in the midst of a busy veterinary schedule.
I use this book as my "nerd book", jotting notes in the margins when I learn something new about a disease from reading journals. Overall I am quite impressed at how up-to-date and complete the information is vis-a-vis JAVMA, the Compendium for Continuing Education, etc. I also appreciate that this book comes out in new additions often enough to keep up with the rapid changes in veterinary medicine.

I finished "The Brave" this weekend; I closed the book with a tear in my eye and a lump on my throat. I was deeply moved by the story and it was sad to see a 20 year chapter of your life end on such a sour note with the inappropriate accusations from that Chief. The book did a wonderful job of revealing all of the different emotions, triumphs and defeats that you and many others were faced with on a day-to-day basis. It showed the deep compassion that the fire fighters have for those they could and could not save while enduring the jeers and lack of respect from the very people they were charged to protect.

I, and I am sure the public in general, was truly unaware of how little rest these men really get and how often they are hurt, only to rush back into the fight and be chastised at any point when they failed to be absolutely perfect. I can see where you, the fire fighters would truly be a "Band of Brothers".

"The Brave" would make an excellent movie; in fact you could make a movie out 1/3 rd of the material in the book.

Thanks for enlightening me,

Joey Lee

WOW!! The Brave is full of action from start to finish and would make a great movie! The Brave keeps your attention and makes it hard to set the book down. It gives a great picture to how challenging life is as a NYFD firefighter. The storey is compelling and truthful and I'm sure will be around for a long time. Congratulations to George Pickett on this GREAT book!

A page turning account of life as a New York City firefighter. A little slow at the start, but captivating and exciting by the second chapter. George Pickett does a great job of taking you along on the big red trucks, down the burning halls and into the mindset of the men, who New Yorkers call The Brave. Not only a great story but an important history lesson for anyone who wants a better tomorrow for us all. A Great read! 5 Stars!!! Thanks George!!

Few books have captivated my attention as much as George Pickett's "The Brave: A Story of New York City Firefighters". Both as a native New Yorker growing up in the 60's and 70's in the Bronx, and a volunteer firefighter in Westchester County, NY, I can rerlate to the many references in this action packed book.
Pickett brings the reader into every fire call, every dark smokey hallway and heat searing room. The reader is there, holding the irons, the nozzle or climbing the ladder.
Above all the book is truthful. Clearly, the author;s integrity and honest is eveident during each story-both the flattering and humiliating. George Pickett should be proud of his career, family and work on the compelling effort to document the life of a New York City Firefighter. Bravo!!!
-Michael J. Deegan

The Brave takes you right into the Heart of Firefighting in 70's New York. As a fellow Firefighter who loves to put pen to paper I am always keen to read the experiences of other Firefighters in this vastly underrepresented market.

Every book shelf these days seems to be full of Celebrities, Politicians, Soldiers or sports personalities telling us their stories. It make a refreshing change when a Firefighter, Medic or Policemen puts pen to paper, these people are fighting a never ending war every day on the Streets of our Countries.

The Brave tells the story of Life in a Firehouse on the Lower East Side of New York City in the 1970's, a period now remembered by the Veterans of those days as 'The War Years'. Recession, social unrest, poverty and crime were the catalyst for may Fires in many run down cities in the World. Very Few Cites saw the Fires that New York saw in that period and fewer Still Firemen saw the Fire Duty that the Men of the FDNY saw at this time.

George Pickett has an ability to drag the reader down the stinking burning hallways of the tenements. You can feel the heat searing your skin and the smoke choking your lungs. Time and again you follow page after page wondering will the heroes of the FDNY reach the victim before the room erupts all around them, more often than not they do...frequently with seconds to spare.

I finished this book in 24 hours, such was the draw of the story unfolding before me. I found every possible excuse to pick the book up and start reading again. If action is what you want then give the jungles of South America or the Desert of the Middle East a rest..opt instead for the action in the Blazing sweatshops, tenements and flop houses of New York City in the 70's.

Every leftist political movement has its `high holy days' of remembrance, or it should. The international labor movement has May Day and in the America labor movement today, Labor Day. There are, however, other days worthy of celebration by militants here in America (and internationally) like the anniversaries of Sacco and Vanzetti, the great general strikes of 1934 in Toledo, Minneapolis and San Francisco and the subject of this review the great `Bread and Roses' strike in the textile mills of Lawrence, Massachusetts in 1912. That, until recently, this heroic (and victorious) strike was not remembered officially under any conditions by that very representative working class city and that its continues to remain shrouded in ignorance tells as much about contemporary American labor as any other indicator. That ignorance is something that Professor Bruce Watson has with this effort attempted to remedy. As an important work of labor history Watson has done more than a commendable job. Moreover, because he has done such a scholarly, well-written and easily readable work today's militants can draw many lessons from that seemingly long ago labor struggle.

On completion of this book I was struck by the parallels between the conditions that fostered that 1912 strike, the social composition of that work force and the attitudes of those bosses and today's `globalized' capitalist working conditions. The ethnic and racial groupings today that make up the core of the American working class, for example, are somewhat different from those that fought the 1912 where South and East Europeans predominated. However, the much overused sociological term `melting pot' still applies to the extend that the working class is not heterogeneous in its racial and ethnic makeup, a factor that not only aids the breakdown of class unity but is, a more or less, conscious stratagem of the bosses to divide the working class at the base. Moreover, although we are not talking about fighting for nickel and dime raises like those asked for then today the wage system has created a wider gap between rich and poor that would not be unfamiliar to those strikers long ago. And certainly the bosses have not changed, although they are certainly slicker than in those days of William Woods and the other textile magnates. And they put their money where their mouths are, spending over a billion dollars a years to defeat unionization drives and strike action.

One question, on which there is no comparison, or none worthy of mention, is the difference in labor leadership as the 1912 strike evolved and today's labor leadership. This refers not only to the differences in political perspective of the Bill Haywood and Joseph Ettor-led Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and today's Democratic Party-embedded labor leadership which are striking enough but about the nature of society and politics. Fundamentally the old preamble to the IWW constitution drawn up in 1905 is correct in its assertion that there are two distinct and different class interests in the world and at the end of the day they are irreconcilble. Today's labor leadership acts as if there wasn't a capitalist that it did not like. An interesting sidelight to the IWW-led 1912 struggle was the attempt by the conservative traditional craft unions associated with the AFof L during the strike to break away from the bulk of the unskilled laborers who formed the core of the textile industry. That has happened in later struggles as well.

One thing that was clear then and has been muddied by today's labor bureaucracy (with no little help from social democratic and other leftists) is the role of the state. If any mass struggle in the last one hundred years points out the capitalist class nature of the American state it is Lawrence. At every critical point from the first day of the strike and from the lowest level of government the police and military power of the state was used against the working class and in defense of the interests of the capitalist class. This is the class struggle in the raw, up close and personal, that usually only gets exposed in pre-revolutionary or revolutionary situations.

If nothing else, whatever Professor Watson's personal political sympathies may be, he has performed a great service by placing the Lawrence strike in the context of the development of American capitalism, especially in its post-robber baron period; the development of the multi-ethnic working class; the role of the development of light industry and the Merrimack Valley in the development of American capitalism; the creation and furtherance of a radical response to the primitive capitalist production conditions; and, the role of the state in capitalist society. One may fault Professor Watson with a bit of a `kitchen sink' approach to this work when he brings in every possible event and personality that can reasonably or logically be connected with the Lawrence strike in any way. Even Marxists recognize limits to the interrelatedness of events in any particular situation. However, that is a small price to pay for this important addition to labor history. Kudos.

Bruce Watson's "Bread and Roses" tells the captivating story of the 1912 textile stirke in the mill town of Lawrence, Massachusetts. Now known as the "bread and roses strike", it united dozens of communities of immigrant workers under the leadership of the radical anti-capitalist Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) to win a months-long struggle against all odds. One of the IWW's greatest victories, it also proved to be a short-lived one. In less than a year, the union in Lawrence had been all but exterminated, victim of a violent reaction the likes of which wouldn't be seen again until the jingoistic hysteria of the First World War and subsequent red scare.

Watson's telling of the story is a beautifully written, meticulously detailed and documented account. His fast-moving, journalistic history stretches beyond the strike itself in frequent tangents, to provide a glimpse at labor organizing and class conflict in early twentieth century America, starring Big Bill Haywood, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, "Smiling Joe" Ettor and hometown organizer Angelo Rocco, with cameos from Gene Debs, Joe Hill, Clarence Darrow, "T-Bone Slim", Morris Hillquit, John Reed, Emma Goldman, Teddy Roosevelt, Nicola Sacco, and many others.

My chief criticism of Watson's account is actually that he makes it too much a story. He gets swept up in the romance and legend of the "Wobblies", which leads him to neglect a serious analysis of their program and goals. Watson never really comes to grips with the radical anti-capitalist agenda of the IWW and the strike itself, characterizing it merely as part of the "struggle for the American dream".

Although Watson tries to maintain journalistic neutrality, it becomes clear that his sympathies lie with the strikers, if not their self-proclaimed "historic mission... to do away with capitalism". This is especially the case when he discusses the aftermath of the strike, when the union was violently suppressed and equal violence was done to history. In the sanitized history of the strike that was then established, Lawrence was a peaceful, idyllic town, with no poverty, no slums, no hunger, no low wages, no oppression. Then a handful of outside agitators descended on the town, exploiting flighty and feeble-minded immigrants, to manufacture a labor dispute where none truly existed.

Nonsense, of course, and Watson does a good job of demolishing it, and an even better job of telling a more accurate tale. The story of the Lawrence strike is one we all should know, and even those already familiar with it are not likely to find a more engaging account of it than "Bread and Roses".

I saw this reviewed on one of the public television shows. I read it, then passed it on to my Union to add to their library. Excellent work, very informative.

I was raised in Lawrence. My grandmother was a polish immigrant weaver at the Wood Mill and my grandfather was an Irish plant foreman at the Arlington Mills as was my father. I have been reading and researching Lawrence for some time. In fact in my book about growing up in Lawrence "A Summer with Charlie" now listed on Amazon, I include a short synopsis of the Strike of 1912. When I saw Mr. Watson's book advertised, I had to have it. He did an excellent job as did Mr. Moran on "The Belles of New England". If you really want some fun books about Lawrence get Images of America, Lawrence Massachusetts by Ken Skulski and friends. These are two volumes full of old pictures and descriptions of good old Lawrence. Whenever I get nostalgic and lonely for the old days and the good times I go over and start browsing through one of these volumes.
Bruce Watson's book is much the same - I loved walking with the strikers up and down all those familiar streets and learning about the history of my old hometown. This book should be a required reading at Lawrence High and Central Catholic, that's for sure.

I grew up in Lawrence and had several members of my family work in the woolen mills....

Although the strike was not talked about, I was very aware of how hard the work was and how much sacrifice was made by each family.

Sadly, the history of the strike was not taught in our classrooms - I strongly believe that it is as relevant today..... I urge everyone to read this book and to take it to your heart. Bruce Watson did an extraordinary job presenting this story.

I always was and always will be proud to be a member of one of those hardworking immigrant families.....and continue to be proud to have been raised in Lawrence.

Whether you like President Bush or not, you should read this book. It paints a disturbing picture of the realities of his administration. And it educates the reader how our political process has gone astray. This is another example of the fact that the best non-fiction books rarely make the top seller's lists because mainstream publishers are politically motivated.

This book contains enough history about each candidate to make anyone feel confident with their vote. And, unlike almost any other political book I've read, it is suprisingly non-partisan. Furthermore, it really opens you eyes on the political fund raising system and what the candidates actually have to do before the become president.

After reading this book, it will become much easier to see through the candidates rhetoric, and this book or one like it should be a pre-requisite before voting.

A disturbing book.

It is a terrible thing to contemplate what money has done to prostitute the American political process. People don't support candidates to do better for the country. They're buying influence and -- if you don't pay, you can't play.

The saddest thing is to look at these obscene expenditures on campaigns and consider what some of that money could do in a good way. And then to consider what more all the money that will be stolen as a result could do on top of that.

This book is THE benchmark for investigative journalism done by the people at www.publicintegrity.org. An honest, fair and balanced presentation of the facts surrounding the Democratic candidates for President 2004 (which has since been whitled down to Kerry) and President Gearge W. Bush. You simply cannot say you are an informed voter until you read this book.

Let me start by saying I do not want George W. Bush re-elected, and I don't have any interest in John Kerry running the White House for the next four years either. I left myself open to have my opinions on American government influenced by this book, but I could never have imagined the magnitude in which this book changed my beliefs of our political process. It's no secret to anyone that money rules each and every major player in our political system. But what this book does is demonstrate just how out of control it's gotten. Author Charles Lewis uses indisputable facts and figures to show the shortcomings each of this year's presidential candidates, especially each candidate's willingness to let money and particular groups dictate the policy he feels is best suited to run the country. He hammers Bush in a bad way, but nothing he says can be considered untrue. Lewis uses the Freedom of Information Act to compile a body of evidence that implicates Bush in a dozen shady financial undertakings and also describes the way in which many of Bush's closest advisers landed high-level positions in government. You simply cannot fathom the number of Bush's advisers who were once employees or board members in companies (pharmaceutical, energy, law firms, etc.) that make up Bush's chief campaign donors. That is, at least until you read this book and Lewis starts listing them one after another. Lewis and the Center of Public Integrity maintained their own integrity by taking a completely non-partisan approach to this book, unafraid to tackle Bush and Democratic challengers alike. I cannot wait until 2008 to see what Lewis uncovers next. Hopefully, Bush and his cronies (or Kerry, for that matter) won't further gut our rights as Americans and refuse us the right to read it -- and Lewis' right to write it.

Very addicting! I did not want to put the book down. I can't wait to read his other books.

I thoroughly enjoyed Collateral Damage. Hannibal Jones deeply cared about people. He longed to have a private life, but always gave in to helping people who needed a "trouble shooter". I believe he could have pursued a more profitable career, however, he chose the lesser paying one to help the troubled souls who needed him the most. It was evident that he had a soft spot for women and children. He was soft spoken and easy going, but could get rough when he had too.
His perception was keen. He could read people under the surface. Once he was hired to get to the truth there was no holding him back.
I'm looking forward to reading the other three in the series: Blood and Bones, Damaged Goods, and The Trouble Shooter.

Austin Camacho's Collateral Damage is an entertaining whodunit with a cool detective and an eclectic collection of characters. The story is fast paced with some neat sleight-of-hand twists -and I'll always be a sucker for a PI who listens to Journey in the privacy of his car, and has a healthy obsession with all things barbecued. Bring your appetite for this one.

Collateral Damage is an excellent mystery set in and around Washington DC. It's a good solid story with well developed characters, plot twists and turns and kept me going right to the end. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Within the first few pages of Collateral Damage, I was hooked! I enjoyed the suspense, and how all of the characters were different, and unique. The storyline came together at the end with a bang!

This book should be on every engineer's shelf.

The content is amazing the included software is extremely useful, Haestad Press has hit the mark with this text/software combination.

This book is simply amazing. Evaluation software has been extremely useful. A must have for professionals and students alike. The CEUs are a great bonus!!

This book is perfect for students and civil engineers working in the hydraulics or hydrology field. The software included is great to have a better feel of the theory.

CAIHE is a great learning tool for practicing engineers. I used it to brush up on my StormCAD skills, and learn some new tricks in CulvertMaster.
For the first time I used PondPack, by following the step by step tutorial. I can't believe how easy this software is to use. This is quite an improvement on the spreadsheets I've been using.
Nice job Haestad!

I have read this book and find that it is very helpful. It is very simple and easy to understand, whether for students or experienced engineers. The step by step exercises helped me with the trial software that came along with the book. The book has definetely helped me get a better approach towards applying computers in my work.

Lydia Hiby is a phenomenon. This book about her experiences and process is fascinating. As we have had past and current clients (cats) in our family, this book answers questions that we just never got around to asking...and then some. If you are cynic, this probably won't change you mind (though it should). Highly recommended.

I have used Lydia's communicating services in helping my cats through behaviorial problems and even the death of a cat. I was anxious to read her book and when it arrived in the mail and I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. The stories are heartwarming and inspirational to all who love animals. I strongly recommend this book to every animal lover, who like myself, wishes to talk to animals.

What an awakening Ms Hiby's book provided me. She can help us all regain some basics from our earliest childhood. There's a whole world of communication and thought going on among the animals, and we miss most of it because we've grown up parroting what we were told..."they can't talk", "we don't really hear them". Well, fortunatly for me, Lydia Hiby in her simple, honest, and loving book, has reopened my mind and 'ears'. I DO remember talking with dogs and cats and cows and ducks and pigs when I was a little girl on my folks' farm. It was just part of life. That WAS my first language. Then I went to elementary school and all my focus was shifted to humans and what I now consider my second language...English. So, as I read her book and absorbed each additional example of the compassion, and understanding that the non-human creatures have of our limited and egocentric species, I remembered. The very simple awareness that reopens this 'hidden world' for us was pointed out by this lovely book, and generously shared by this talented author and communicator. I'm thankful and enriched.

I got this book as a gift from a friend who had Lydia do a reading on her horse. I have always been facinated with anyone who can talk to the animals and was thrilled to find a section where I could learn how to do it! I had previously purchased "how to" video tapes and was very dissappointed to find that they had no instructional value and were just testimonials about the communicator. This book was a facinating read and a great guideline! My dog and I are most grateful!

This book is written from the heart! The experiences are insightful and moving. It opens the mind to the potential within us to deepen our bond not only with our own companions, but with all animals on this planet. The techniques outlined are the building blocks to develop the "communicator" inside us all. Lydia and her book have opened a new world for me. She has dedicated her life to her gift and has inspired me to follow in her footsteps. Everyone has their own talent and path and none of us is perfect. It is through our humanity that we learn and grow every day. This book has made a monumental difference in my life and has taught me that all is possible if you come from a loving place in your heart!