W Books

Excellent book for around the holidays. I know it is a kids book, but it is an all around family book.

This book is a wonderful keepsake. I feel it should be made a "classic". I want all my family to have it. I have started getting it for everyone special in my family as a keepsake for their children. It is a beautifully illustrated story about creation and will be loved by all ages. We display it in our home every year during the Christmas season. A must have for new babies!!!

I found my way to this book by accident in the form of a box of Christmas cards. I was shopping one Christmas season in a Christian bookstore I believe and came upon the most beautiful Christmas card I had ever seen in my life. The illustration was done by Richard Jesse Watson, and it happened to be of a shepherd boy bathed in the moonlight gazing at the sky. (entitled "O Holy Night") The detail was so realistic that it seemed as if I could reach out feel the roughness of his woven garments or pet the little lambs gathered around his bare feet. I felt as if I was there with him and all I had to do was look over my shoulder to actually see what he was looking at. It to this day takes my breath away. I bought the box with the intention of giving them to only the most special people in my life and saving a couple just to look at every Christmas.

After purchasing the cards and getting ready to send them out I noticed the caption on it saying that it was an illustration from this very book. I immediately headed back out the door to find it. I'm not sure what I expected the storyline to be of (not that it made a difference) because the cover art was so different from the card I'd bought, but once I saw it was written by Ruth Graham I knew I couldn't pass it up. The story about a boy who ended up having to stay at an elderly lady's home after getting stranded by a blizzard was sweet and endearing and I read most of it there in the store. The book, which depicts stories from the bible, meshes with the lush illustrations to turn out this highly acclaimed, award winning book.

I ended up purchasing at least 4 of them to give as Christmas gifts with strict orders to open immediately once the house is decorated for the season. All of the nativity (along with the other) illustrations make this book a pure slice of heaven. The richness and striking mood of every single picture is wondrous and fills me with more Christmas spirit than my heart can hold sometimes. I guess that's why I bought so many copies of it so I can share it with everyone I care about. Almost every Christmas I scan some of the illustrations to create my own Christmas cards for my friends making sure I tell them where the artwork comes from so they can pass this Christmas treasure on as well to their loved ones.

This is a great Christmas read that gives an overview of the gospel, from creation to Christ's resurrection. A boy is injured and must seek refuge with an older widow during a snowstorm. As he recuperates and waits for the storm to settle down, she tells him the story of man's fall and redemption through Christ Jesus.

This book does a good job of sticking to the true facts of the Bible without a lot of added fluff. I've read this aloud to my children a couple of times. It takes us a few sittings as it is fairly lengthy but it keeps them engaged.

The best part of the book is the illustrations. They are gorgeous! These are some of the most believable Biblical portrayals I have seen - not the stylized Italian sort or the comical characters which abound in Christian books for children. For instance, Adam and Eve are not lily white but look as if they could truly be the father and mother of us all. The portrait of Goliath is my favorite as he looks like a giant warrior might. His thighs are massive! And David is a young man, not a child, as Scripture would suppport.

I would only take issue with the picture of the angel guarding the garden of Eden. First, according to Genesis, there are angels (plural) placed at the gate. Secondly, although the American Indian woman is lovely, angels are only described as men and never as women in the Bible. Moreover, they always seem to invite dread (first words from angels are typically, "Don't be afraid") so I think a pretty angel lady is somewhat unlikely.

I highly recommend this book as a lavish picture book to be read at Christmas, or any time of the year. It helps children understand why the birth of Christ matters to them.

This charming Christmas story will warm your heart -- Ruth Bell Graham teams with Richard Jesse Watson to tell the story of a young boy away from home at Christmas. I love this book.

The Part-Time Real Estate Investor: How to Generate Huge Profits While Keeping Your Day Job, by Dan W. Blacharski, is a wonderful and inspiring book that is presented with humor, information and insight for the average American that is struggling, but that dreams of something better for their life. Blacharski begins the work by focusing on his own credit-worthy shortcomings in an entertaining method that millions of people can relate to and that serves to lay a foundation for the belief that anyone with the commitment to changing their life can do so through knowledge. That knowledge, in Blacharski's book, relates to the real estate market and how the acquisition of property can progressively provide a source of income for people that will lead to financial security and stability. This is not a guide that suggests that the reader will be rich overnight, but instead a guide that uses facts to support all of the information that is provided and that offers a step-by-step manner of approaching the topic. The writing is not only filled with the first hand knowledge of the author, it is engaging and inspiring. In a world in which most people are told that they have to accept whatever socioeconomic barriers that confront them, Blacharski is capable of opening his reader's eyes to the possibility that there is another path that can be taken and that, with a little determination and knowledge, anyone can do it.

You gotta love a guy who opens a book about part-time real estate investing with the information that he hasn't "had a real job in 15 years." Dan W. Blacharski then proceeds to explain in exhaustive detail how you, in 15 years (perhaps less), can write the same sentence.

Among the many things you'll learn from reading The Part-Time Real Estate Investor: How to Generate Huge Profits While Keeping Your Day Job is the fact that while the shortest distance between the two points (idea and success) isn't really all that long, the actual path can be long and winding and you should, first and foremost, prepare yourself for a less than instantaneous journey.

"There may well come a point when you will be working only a few hours a day and taking in millions," he writes, "but that point is not today. It will take a lot of hard work to get there."

You will also learn that in many ways, bankers and real estate agents are not going to be your best friends in this investment endeavor of yours. In fact, Blacharski will explain, they will often be at odds with your goals. Real estate agents earn commissions from the sale of a home and are likely, therefore, to view alternative methods of purchasing real estate with considerable skepticism. Banks are in business to make money. They are not in the business of making you money, so like the real estate agents, they will tend to view any creative financing ideas with the same sort of skepticism. Alternative methods of purchasing real estate and creative financing ideas are the backbone of the method(s) that Blacharski details in the book.

He walks you through it all, clearly and concisely, detailing all of the alternatives and creative financing arrangements that are available and desirable to the potential, part-time real estate investor. What seems clear is that many of the people who've trod this path (i.e., those who've made initial investments and parlayed the profits into millions) did so by using some combination of the techniques outlined in this book.

What is not so clear is whether you, dear reader, will be able to do the same thing, especially if the plan actually entails maintaining a full-time `day job' while you explore the possibilities inherent in real estate investment. To his credit, Blacharski makes no claim, offers no guarantee and doesn't climb on a media soapbox claiming that you're going to be a success through the simple application of the principles he outlines. He tells you upfront that it's going to be hard work and in many cases, will involve failure. He recommends that you absorb such failure and soldier on, using each instance of failure as a lesson learned, not to be repeated.

If there's a concern about how this information is laid out for you, it's that it has a tendency to come at you like a comfortable shower, which is all well and good, as long as you don't have to pay strict attention to and retain a specific memory for each drop of water that lands on you. It's just a lot to absorb in a single setting, or two even, or even the amount of time it would normally take you to read a book. Without a photogenic memory, you're going to have to go back and re-visit the concepts and specific details of each situation in order to effectively utilize the strategies and tactics that Blacharski has outlined in this book. Some of it, of course, will come with experience, but even initial experiences with this investment route will need to be supported by a strong knowledge base that can't realistically be learned simply by reading the book.

This is not necessarily a bad thing. The devil, as we all know, is in the details, which, no matter how clearly Blacharski outlines them (and he does do that), will still be your responsibility to execute. Bearing this in mind and being aware that this book is a blueprint, not the finished `building' of wealth that you, as a potential part-time real estate investor, are seeking, the 290 pages of clearly articulated and well-written information are well worth your time.

I've read and reviewed a number of "how to make millions investing in real estate" type of books, and I didn't think I'd ever need to read another one, since they are mostly the same (in varying degrees of quality). However, I was attracted to the Part-Time Real Estate Investor precisely because of the humility of its title -- it seeks to help real people achieve real income from real estate while keeping their feet planted solidly on the ground. Since I know the realities of the current real-estate market precludes the possibility of doing it full time (at least from my starting position), I decided to take a gamble on this book, and I wasn't disappointed.

As with any "how-to" real-estate investment book, the Part-Time Real Estate Investor covers a lot of ground, and thus is skimpy on the details in some areas. Fortunately though, this book focuses on some areas that are ignored by the pie-in-the-sky type of investment books. For example, it spends ample time on subjects like "Buying Your First Home," buying a home with bad credit, "Land Contract and Lease Purchases," etc. The bad credit chapter was particularly informative, I thought, as it examines whether or not you should buy a home with below-average credit, given the higher interest rates you'll incur. Most books are simply rah-rah for homebuying (and selling), but this one is more sensitive to individual's situations.

There is no ONE book that will tell you everything you need to know about being a real-estate investor, but this one is a good place to start, particularly for people with realistic and modest goals. Others, like those from the Rich Dad series or by author William Bronchick, are also helpful, especially from a psychological perspective. But this book contains some of the best pure information of any I've read. I would advise others in my shoes to grab this book as well as two others I recently reviewed, Inspect Before You Buy (by Charlie Rose) and Your Real Estate Closing Explained Simply (by Michelle Blain), which go into those two areas in greater depth than this book is able to. No ONE book will teach you all you need to know, but these three books as a set come pretty close!

It is always easy to write a review on a book that appeals to you right from the beginning. And these words are heartfelt. Of course, to see whether this book is good or bad, in any sense, we have to read it. So pluck up your spirits and open it! Once you have done it, it is almost impossible to put the book down.
To better understand how the money world works you do not have to spend years of research and live your life in secret labs. Simply go out for it. Money world is around you, maybe even in your neighborhood. That is what Dan W. Blacharski, the author of the book, tries to explain. But do not get discouraged thinking that the author is going to give a lecture -- one of the many on `How to Get Rich in a Fortnight' we can attend any time in any city of the country. That is quite another story.

Holding in mind that there are still lots of things to learn, we are free to choose between seminars, real estate programs and the books on the corresponding topic. I am not sure of whether these seminars are useful, but I am pretty certain of the fact that Part-Time Real Estate Investor really inspires. I am not a real estate guru in terms of buying and selling, but I devoured this book within a single day. Moreover, next morning my first purchase was a newspaper with lots of real estate related materials. Am I going to be an investor? I am sure I am going to try.

The majority of people out there think starting their own business is a risk and even a waste of time. Let them think so. I am sure we are not this kind of men. Yes, there are some obstacles on your way to good money and even wealth. But they are nothing comparing with what you will get. Dan W. Blacharski gives compact and precise information on how the whole business works. Unlike the lecturers and tutors in a college, the author opens you the doors to the core of real estate business and quite clearly states that `there really are no secrets in real estate wealth building'.

The book is perfectly designed. The chapters consist of subtitles, which give you direct information on how this or that method/trick works or does not work. Then there are lots of myths of the trade that help you escape the reefs of the business. PART-TIME REAL ESTATE INVESTOR TIP is a common insertion where the author either summarizes the ideas of the chapter or provides examples of real estate routine work. Such notions as creative financing, REIT, tax deduction, promotion of homeownership are not just labels -- they are thoroughly explored and clearly explained by the author. A friend of mine, who is a teacher, said when she finished the book, "Well, this book sounds like Zero Conditional!" I could not have expressed myself better.

You know, after the first reading of Part-Time Real Estate Investor I was not satisfied. I realized I need a second reading. I was so much overwhelmed by the book having finished the last chapter that I was thinking of it the whole night. The whole business turns out to be quite a nice deal to try and there are no limitations! Real estate investors get to be rich by learning from their mistakes, and by not giving up after the first failure. Paraphrasing Margaret Thatcher's famous words, I want to say that you have to sell/buy a house more than one to get rich. And frankly, that seems not a very hard work to do...

Not only was this an enjoyable read, but also intriguing. I have always wondered how it would be to dabble in real estate. The Part-Time Real Estate Investor lets you see into this world, and actually see yourself in it. Mr. Blacharski gives all the detail a reader needs to jump in and invest in that first property. He outlines how to proceed slowly at first and become knowledgeable about your properties. Then take it to the next level to build a real estate portfolio. The information in this book will give you the confidence to delve into investing for yourself.

This book not only gives you solid advice and strategy, but also discusses and dispels many of the get rich quick schemes that have been so popular of late. You can not get something for nothing and the author explains exactly how the "no money down" schemes work. There are lots of easy to follow financial examples that demonstrate how to figure profits, expenses, closing costs and the like. When he talks about doing things that are risky, because nothing in this world is secure, it really hit's the mark with me. This book goes into detail about the confusing real estate world. It's really a no nonsense guide to real estate investing.


I would recommend this book to anyone - really! This may very well change your life.

Very interesting and great recipes

Every recipe I've tried from this cookbook has gotten raves, and considering the source, many of these recipes are terrifically easy (no specialized knowledge or equipment required). O'Connell has no fear of cream, butter, and salt, so this isn't everyday fare, but for special occasions, holidays, birthdays, and nights when you really want to impress, this book is indispensable. The Amazon price is excellent too, and the book's worth every penny. Definitely destined to become one of my favorite cookbooks (it's coffee-table pretty, but my copy is already smeared with butter and dusted with flour).

This beautifully photographed book was a vivid reminder of the unique dining experience we had at the Inn. Recipes are easy to follow and results have been great. I especially liked the "pantry" section at the back of the book. Thank You!

Not only gorgeous, but absolutley oen of the mouth taste titillating cookbooks I've ever seen (along with their first book, Inn at Little Washington Cookbook)... and everything is do-able!!

I've bought this book a few weeks ago. Prior to start selecting the recipes I usually read any cooking book like any other book. I just found out that I was putting marks in all of the pages, so I stopped doing it and instead, I started cooking each one of the recipes, choosing whether I wanted fish or meat.
Even if you replace or adjust some of the ingredients, the result it's absolutely amazing.
Try the recipe that has a picture in the cover, and you will see what you get from your family, friends, or even for your self. Don't skip the decoration, it's easy to prepare and looks stunning.
This book was for sure a very important addition to my small library of cooking books. I have slightly more than 200 cooking books.
MT-Japan

OK- it's Perry's! Standard Perry's... there no phenomenal extra features... the packing is fairly nice though.. BUT the CD.. I cannot get the CD to self run- I can't get it to work period!!

If you are a Chem-E and don't own this book then you might as well kill yourself, or switch to mechanical.

The platinum edition is perfect - CD and hardcopy. While the CD doesn't replace the hardcopy it is very handy for it's portability and the accuracy of the 'active charts'.

The book is much more user friendly than the CD and if you can only afford one or the other then I'd recommend buying the book.

It can be quite difficult to find things on the CD version and it is slower than it needs to be as it always works off the CD drive (copying the CD onto the hard drive isn't an option).

great deal!
i recommend it for anyone

The hardcopy Perry's is a fun bedside table read for chemical engineers, and makes an excellent review manual. But it is bulky and heavy to lug around to labs or study rooms, and so the CD's that are part of this edition are first rate tools to load on your laptop so that Perry's tables and measurements in searchable format( the next thing to 'The Force' that there is a for chemical engineers) is aways with you. Excellent item, and fortunately Amazon had it at an attractive price. It is a bonus to also have the hard copy. Good item to have for your 3d year forward, and essential for grad students or working engineers.

This is not a review on pragmatics of human communication, it is a review on a book. This might be an imperative read when you're working with human beings and/or when you're a pragmatist, but you'd probably already knew everything in it. This is no book for the communication specialist: it will be too disturbing. There is no 'sender', 'no channel' and 'no reciever' in the bbok. It also has no 'message'. It is also not recommended for people who do not want to change. Finally, it is not for lay people, because it is better to live in ignorance than know that a conversation in basically about nothing.

That human relationships are something mysterious and intriguing is hardly a question. But whether an account of them that is limited by scientific standards can do justice to their complexity and nature is quite another. However, I'm convinced that in this case the subject not only survives the operation - the methodology and presentation don't kill their subject or explain it away - but benefits from it to a rather surprising extent. That is, it achieves the difficult task of being both accurate and rigourous on the one hand and sheading light on the parts of us that have to do with us being human on the other - the thoughts and feelings in our behaviour. This is not only in stark contrast to the behaviorist paradigm dominant at the time this work was written, but marks an equally important departure from the intrapsychic focus of psychoanalysis. Thus the introduction of models based on cybernetic principles, systems theory, game theory, mathematics etc allowed for a completely new dimension in human relations to appear.

The new approaches that made it possible and which found so excellent synthesis in "Pragmatics.." are to a considerable extent traceable back to the works of Gregory Bateson. Indeed, it wasn't untill reading his "Steps to the Ecology of Mind" that I came to realize this. However, the relative lack of originality is compensated by the degree of integration and condensation achieved in "Pragmatics" - perhaps higher than any other single writing in "the Palo Alto framework" before or after has (intended) - which naturally exceeds that of "Steps..." - which is a collection of Bateson's articles dating from 1930s to 1970s. So above anything else, the two make an excellent complementary reading.

The last chapter of this book, which I read over 30 years ago, and still remember to this day, is a true stunner, especially the last sentence. The truth therein is timeless. When I finished it, I remained seated and awestruck for a long time, contemplating a cosmic truth which has never left me to this very day. The specific memory is carved in stone, so to speak.

Ever heard of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert Pirsig? Well, POHC goes even further - towards a mathematical truth about our very existence. This book is far more than its title suggests. Quite simply it is the second most important book I've EVER read... and Pirsig's is not the first, either.

If you have the intelligence to absorb it, this book will probably change the very foundation of what you call "me"... it will fundamentally challenge your mind. Read it if you have confidence in your OWN intellect.

BTW - for a reference point, I was the only student in my class at Western Michigan University who apparently understood the implications of this book. It was a 400 level Communications course with 28 students, and the course was "built" around the book.

A very intresting book. After I have got this book, I acquired all the other books by the author and found that this book is probably his best one. A must read for those who are interested in knowing the interactions between communication and paradoxical psychotherapy.

I bought the book wanting to know something more about the world of communication and was delighted to find references to my youth interests: logics and mathematic and to my more recent one: spirituality. What was of a particular interest, even if it might be considered a bit partial, was the importance the authors put on paradoxes both as the root for patology and cure. In this latter respect references are given to zen sayings and their relationships to actual therapeuthical episodes.
A problem stemming for the emphasis put on the interrelated cause of neurosis is that individuals tend to be quite neglected: so giving the feeling that people having no stable relationships with other people must be either totally healty or... incurable.
Already bought two other books from the same author.

Dr. Nathan Stotzfus' "Resistance of the Heart" is one of the most authentic studies of the persecution of Jews during W.W.II by the younger generation of American scholars. It reminds me of Toland's book on Hitler and the Nazi movement in its insistance on direct sources to come as close to the "reality" of history as possible.

Dr. Nathan Stotzfus' "Resistance of the Heart" is one of the most authentic studies of the persecution of Jews during W.W.II by the younger generation of American scholars. It reminds me of Toland's book on Hitler and the Nazi movement in its insistance on direct sources to come as close to the "reality" of history as possible and avoid the deplorable illusions of "Hindsight Histiography". See my review on Marchione's "Consensus".
Rainulf A. Stelzmann, Pofessor emeritus, Univ. of South Florida

Dr. Nathan Stotzfus' "Resistance of the Heart" is one of the most authentic studies of the persecution of Jews during W.W.II by the younger generation of American scholars. It reminds me of Toland's book on Hitler and the Nazi movement in its insistance on direct sources to come as close to the "reality" of history as possible and to avoid the deplorable illusions of "Hindsight Histiography". See my review on Marchione's "Consensus".
Rainulf A. Stelzmann, Pofessor emeritus, Univ. of South Florida

Dr. Nathan Stoltzfus' "Resistance of the Heart" is one of the most authentic studies of the persecution of Jews during W.W.II by the younger generation of American scholars. It reminds me of Toland's book on Hitler and the Nazi movement in its insistance on direct sources to come as close to the "reality" of history as possible and avoid the deplorable illusions of "Hindsight Histiography". See my review on Marchione's "Consensus".
Rainulf A. Stelzmann, Pofessor emeritus, Univ. of South Florida

Resistance of the Heart : Intermarriage and the Rosenstrasse Protest in Nazi Germany by Nathan Stoltzfus is a well written book about the unsuccessful attempt by the Nazi's to exterminate Jews who married Germans of the Christian faith. The fact that the attempt was unsuccessful and that the overwhelming majority of the intermarried Jews were never sent to the death camps and survived the war leaves one with a withering feeling of "what if."

The central thesis of the book is that Hitler and Goebbels worry about the reaction of the Christian spouses led them to refuse to forcibly remove the Jewish spouse. They instead resorted to social pressure to force a divorce, so that the Jewish spouse could then easily be sent to the death camps. The social pressure was unsuccessful not because it was not intense, but because the Nazi's failed to give sufficient consideration to the bond between the spouses and the German antipathy toward divorce.

A central part of the story focuses on the attempt to round up the intermarried Jews in Berlin for transport to the camps. After the round up, but before their transport, they were housed in a building on Rosenstrasse. When word of this got back to the Christian spouses they surrounded the building and refused to leave until their husband or wife was freed. Amazingly, the Nazi's who murdered millions of Jews, Poles, Gypsies and others let thier prisoners go free. Goebbels reasoned that it was better to not force a confrontation with Christian Germans.

What is clear is that the Nazis were extremely concerned about German public opinion and were willing even to ignore their plans for the final solution where it ran counter to the public opinion of even a small part of Germany's populace. The "what if" relates to what would have happened if the greater part of Germany populace had taken the lessons of the Rosenstrasse Protest and attempted to stop the final solution. Certainly the conventional wisdom that they would have been ignored, or worse, must be rethought. In fact, the Rosenstrasse Protest was not an isolated incident, and numerous successful protests altered Nazi behavior. If more Germans, or the Vatican, had learned this simple lesson maybe millions of person would not have perished in the gas chambers of the death camps. It certainly puts to rest the excuse that there was nothing that cold have been done.

The book is very well researched and written. It is well worth reading.

A well-written real life of a Brittany and its owner in the field over the years. Very authentic, very moving.

I dislike books about dogs as a general rule, but The Rufus Chronicle was an unexpected treasure. Gusewelle speaks with a solid yet familiar voice about the joys and the learning curve of raising a dog from a pup with the intent for it to be a hunting dog. I haven't hunted or had a dog for many years, but with every turn of the page I was transported back to a time when my greatest pleasure was taking to the field with my canine companion. This book has the rare quality of speaking to the reader on a basic human level, causing you to not only remember scenes from your past, but also sounds, smells, and feelings. If you hunt, keep dogs, or are simply an animal lover with a big heart, then you must read this book.

This book catches your attention immediately. The author's style makes you want to curl up and read without putting this book down for even a second! I am a Brittany owner but dog owners of all breeds, especially gun dogs, will find themselves smiling, crying, laughing and more as they take an emotional journey with the author and his dog through the seasons of their collective lives! ....a wonderful, heartwarming experience, don't miss it!

This will warm the hearts of all dog lovers. Dog owners will reflect on their own experiences with dogs as they read about Rufus, his yard mate and his Master, Charles. Do not be surprised if you find yourself smiling, crying and even laughing out loud.

This memoir by columnist Gusewelle of the life of his dog Rufus is rich, funny and gives a thorough explication of what it meant to live with the Brittany Rufus. I was not partial to the passages on hunting, as I am not a hunter, but I was still engrossed in the book, because these incidents told a lot about Rufus, and after all, HE loved the hunt. It's a pleasant read, with a not unexpected end that while sad completes the story satisfactorily. If you know someone who loves to read, hunt and loves his dogs, this book is definitely the perfect gift.

I love the way Keith Brown captures the essence of mother-son relationships in the African American family. It portrays the values that are developed between mothers and sons to produce strong black males. Each story is an example of encouraging motivation and hope for future generations of mother-son relationships.

This wonderful collection of stories to read about the bond between mother's and son's.

This book is so moving. Within the first few pages, I was so captivated by the warm feelings that are shared. This mother to son bond is unexplainable. I immediately told my family and friends that they have to read this book if no other.

This is to the response from Gloria Alibaruho dated 25 December 1999.

I just read your review of the book, Sacred Bond: Black Men and Their Mothers. You said in your review. "All of the mothers are acquainted with life as a journey rather than a destination." I think that is a very profound statement - your focus on "journey" implies a continuous activity as opposed to "destination" which is a fixed point in time. Too often, whether we set the stage or someone else does, we focus on a fixed point in our lives, the time when the journey is completed. We forget to celebrate the activities that brought us to our goal. This celebration serves to strengthen us and provides inspiration for the next day. That is why some goals are never reached - the preparations for the journey are not made and then we loose sight of our destination. Metaphorically, it is like taking a hike in a dense forest and forgetting to bring a map or compass.

I have a notebook of quotations that give me inspiration and I have just included your quotation in the book. Thanks for your words of wisdom.

Sincerely,

Susan Lightfeather lightfeather@exotrope.net

As I read this book, I could see myself in every one of the mothers. I laughed, I cried, and I was blessed to be touched by their experiences. As a mother, it was reassuring to read that I am on the right track. Through their trials and tribulations, the bond strengthened. To the authoris: Thank you for capturing these magnificent stories. To the mothers/sons: Thank you for letting us into your life.

Major W. Ian Thomas' book The Saving Life of Christ contains a wealth of insight for living a victorious Christian life. Thomas is right on target with the doctrine of justification, but he is weak in the area of sanctification. He seems to hold a passive view of a Christian's faith as he states, "I sit back in the rest of faith." This is contrary to the teachings of 1 Cor 15.58, Phil 2.12, and Jas 2.14-26. Furthermore, Thomas holds to the concept of a carnal Christian. He states, "If you are a carnal Christian, it means that you have been redeemed by faith ... but you live ... under the subtle influence of a defeated foe, the flesh."p.37. This theory contradicts the teaching of Rom 8.1-9. A Christian does carnal things (1 John 1.8, 10), but the bondage to a carnal way of life has been broken by God's power (1 John 3.9).

Although Thomas gets a lot of mileage out of the false doctrine of the carnal Christian, he offers practical theology relating to the Christian life. Thomas also sites a few well-developed concepts from Biblical characters, including King Saul, Moses, Jacob, and Esau. Although Jacob was a scoundrel, God worked in his life and, in time, transformed him into Israel, the prince of God.These edifying examples make this book well worth reading, but because the other theology noted in the book I can only give it 3 stars.

Thomas has a unique view of how Christ will live in us if we only give Him an invitation. If we do this without reservation, Christ will then take over our lives while we are allowed to go on vacation. Anytime I read a book by Thomas, I invariably feel inspired.

The main theme of this book is that Christ can live through us. After we commit to Christ we receive the Holy Spirit and are reborn. Christ will then live in us if we offer Him child-like acceptance.

Like the Jews who longed for Egypt while travelling in the wilderness, there are carnal Christians who still live in the flesh even though they have been redeemed by faith in Christ. Without the fullness of Christ in us we cannot celebrate completely.

Thomas makes his case with readable prose and his arguments are backed up by original thinking.

I read the book after hearing the author speak at a local church and found both experiences to be inspirational.

I have been a Christian for a long time, and grew up in a great Christian home...the authors home to be precise. I was taught many of the principles from the Saving Life Of Christ from a very young age, but to be honest they didn't always sink in. Through high school I went through a very rebelious stage as so many ministry kids do and wasted a lot of time and opportunity to allow Christ to live through me. In fact I became so tired of always feeling like I needed to impress Christians or those around me that I wanted to give up. It wasn't until after high school that I figured it out...that it was never about me in the first place. I needed to just let go and allow God to be God in my life through Christ. It never really connected until I picked up Grandpa's book(very reluctantly I might add) and allowed myself know Christ as he desires to be known...in full dependence. I think this book is a great resource in helping us understand who Jesus came to be for us and the life that He longs to live through us. I also appreciate it because it does not rely on insirational dialogue as the motivating factor for someone to respond but rather on the word of God. It is not just for the spiritually mature but for anyone who desires to know Christ in a more powerful way. I am in no way the cookie cutter Christian...in fact I run a skateboard outreach for youth, and have used it in my Bible studies with kids who hardly have any concept of obeying the law let alone the Savior. I highly recommend it and am grateful that the Lord has used grandpa to reach so many people through The Saving Life Of Christ!

In His Strength,

Ben Thomas
~Pastor of Skatechurch~
Portland, OR
www.skatechurch.net

Thomas' wonderful title is an excellent encouragement to live a life of victory instead of defeat.

Among the important points Thomas covers include:

1. Having a new life in Christ saves us from the futility of self-effort.
2. To be a true disciple, we must realize our own bankruptcy.
3. We are called to commit to Christ, not a cause.
4. What is not of faith is sin.
5. Do not panic and let God be God!
6. The sufficiency of Christ.
7. Remember the sin of Moses that kept him out of the Promised Land.
8. God does not intend to satisfy us in the wilderness.

Read and be encouraged to stop trying to live life in your own strength and instead let Christ's life flow through you!

Everyone should read ee cummings, even non-poetry lovers will love cummings whimsy and clever wordplay. He has also written the most beautiful, most romantic poetry of anyone in the English language.

It really is a great collection of e.e. cummings - certainly everything I wanted.

But what's to review - it's e.e. cummings, it's great

Now I must get back to my toboganning into know

Enjoy.

P.S. e.e. cummings was emphatic about his name being in lower case, so I do have to criticize the Editors of this book for putting his name in caps

One of the great poets of the 20th century gets a nice treatment here. A few of my favorites were not included (disappointed!!), but all in all this is a solid, representative anthology.

This is not a review. It is a complaint about the review I just read critisizing the editors of this fine collection. E.E. Cummings HATED that his publishers put his name in all lower case. He was not emphatic about it. He thought it was gimicky and exploitive of his publishes.
Whoa, when'd this horse get so high. ooop
S.

This review is from a strictly prose guy, as poetry usually goes right over my head. In my efforts to understand poetry, I have discovered that the work of e.e. cummings breaks through the stylistic barriers that make many people shy away from poetry altogether. cummings' use of bizarre spacing, punctuation, and phrasings keeps the reader away from the "sing-song" routine that tends to damage the credibility of many a poem, and cummings uses the art of style to say many things and make many points in just a few words. The most fascinating aspect of cummings' work is letting the small number of words in a poem really sink in until you gain many insights. This book usefully arranges cummings' most noteworthy poems into categories so you can more easily dwell on his major areas of subject matter. cummings did not live the hard life of many noteworthy poets, so a good number of his poems are musings on abstract concepts like life, love, mythology, and mortality. However, his much sharper observations on war, prostitution, politics, and the dark side of urban life can be truly shocking once you delve into their deeper meanings. Contemplating the title of this review, which is also the first line of the poem on page 181 of this book, will help any poetry-fearing reader to dive into cummings' world.