Road Books

This Book is a must read for the seekers. It is a page turner as well.Highly recommended.
-Kumar Saravanan

To those who are searching for ultimate truth, this is book is highly recommended. This is beautifully written in simple language describing direct experience of an american lady with Yogi and mystic of our times. If you want to know the amazing possibilities of being human, if you want to understand the cycle of life and death, if you want to understand the importance of leading blisfull and fulfilling life and if you have varied doubts and questions about God or the Ultimate...then this is the book you must read.....

It was a good read but not in the traditional sense. It was more like an insight into Sadguru and his poignant view of life as it really is. His words reflect clearly the human dilemma we all face in our quest for enlightenment.
Cheryl's account of her experience with Sadguru is amazing. Her description of her own experiences seem honest.

I found the book easy to get into and I identified with the author and her search for self realization and feelings of doubt. I would recommend this to any seeker of Truth.

Before you read this book, keep in mind that Sadhguru is the leader of Isha Foundation. This "yoga" group charges significant fees for its services and yet has many non-paid full time volunteers. Be sure to do background research on the group.

I read this book around '84. In 1988, my uncle Rich, a retired college dean and my fabulous Aunt Cecilia went off to London for a year, American College, I think. I went on a road trip to the UK...England, Scotland, Wales, spent a few days with them, brought my aunt a copy of 84 Charing Cross Road. My uncle didn't get the concept, economist that he was. Letters? Who wants to read someone else's letters? Lurch forward about a month. The end of my road trip, both had read and loved this book. I gave the vid to them when it came out, it's a wonderful movie. They came home, at any gathering my Aunt Cecilia always asked...what are you reading?

84, Charing Cross Road is a delightful collection of letters chronicling the 20-plus years' correspondence between screenwriter Helene Hanff and Frank Doel, bookseller of Marks & Co. It begins with a request in which Helene inquires after a series of books she wants to buy, saying that Barnes & Nobles's sells "marked up, grimy schoolboy" copies of the books she wants (my, how things have changed!), and continues through a friendship between Hanff and Doel in which the two never meet. As their lives grow and change, Hanff and Doel's friendship remains the one constant.

It's a special friendship, and Hanff is sharp-tongued and witty, making her a delightful narrator. I have a feeling that not all of the letters are preserved here in their entirety, but they're reprinted word-for-word, including Hanff's idiosyncratic punctuation--no doubt due to the fact that she typewrote all of her letters, but nonetheless, the letters show Hanff's personality and her rather abrupt way of corresponding.

It's a short book (just about 100 pages), but it's a special book, nonetheless, about a shared love of books. 84, Charing Cross Road is a must-read for any bibliophile. It's too bad that a woman on the subway accidentally tipped soda into my bag and all over my copy of this wonderful book...

I discovered this book on a dusty HS library shelf and as in Ms. Hanff's words, devoured it "all at once" not coming up for air or cigarettes. I also bought the VHS many years ago as soon as it came available. Since then, I've gone on to go out of head for Donne, Quiller-Couch, Austen, and Blake (though not anywhere near Donne!).

What a great movie this story made. I have watched the movie many, many times and have loved it every time. Now, I just had to read the book. The strange thing is that since I know what is going to occur at the end, my eyes become teared which makes the book difficult to read. Of course, that happens at certain moments in the movie as well. What a powerful story!

In less than one hundred pages, Helene Hanff has given her readers a rare and special gift. Here in this delightful little book are the notes she exchanged with the employees of Marks & Co., a used-book store in England. Being fond of the old-fashioned yet still highly personal act of letter writing, and being equally fond of old books and used-book stores, Hanff seemed to have compiled these letters just for me. I doubt there is anyone who can read this book without experiencing a wide range of emotions complete with laughter and tears.

A lifelong letter writer, Helene Hanff studied playwriting at the Theatre Guild. She has written scripts for "The Hallmark Hall of Fame" and for "Ellery Queen." Her other writings include several children's books as well as articles for Harpers and New Yorker magazines.

Living and writing in New York City, Hanff finds herself unsuccessful in finding certain rare or out-of-print editions of books.

"Gentlemen:
Your ad in the Saturday Review of Literature says that you specialize in out-of-print books. The phrase 'antiquarian booksellers' scares me somewhat, as I equate 'antique' with expensive. I am a poor writer with an antiquarian taste in books and all the things I want are impossible to get over here except in very expensive rare editions, or in Barnes & Noble's grimy, marked-up schoolboy copies."

So begins the opening letter dated October 5, 1949, and addressed to Marks & Co. at 84, Charing Cross Road in London. What follows on the pages of this book are the letters Hanff wrote to Marks & Co., and specifically to Frank P. Dole. Also included are the responses to her requests, mostly from Frank P. Dole. Through their twenty-year relationship, the two strangers become in some ways like family. Frank introduces his family to Helene in letters. She corresponds with the family as if they are her own. Knowing that in a time of rationing, certain items are not readily available to the residents of London, she takes great care to ship Christmas and Easter gifts to the store with plenty of eggs and meat for everyone there.

The final entry, dated 1969, brings the relationship between the bookstore, Frank Dole and Hanff full circle. The twenty years between the first and last notes are fondly recalled on the pages of this book.

These short notes, her requests for specific books, the monetary transactions that took place, and the solid relationships that developed allow the present day reader to glimpse a bit of the nostalgic... a gentler time when costs were lower, trust was higher, and people were more willing to be compassionate to complete strangers.

This is a truly delightful little book that has captured my heart. And, by the way, the fact that I discovered it while browsing through my own favorite little used-book store lends a special sort of appeal to it. I treasure the gifts within these pages--the gifts of self, of the written word, and the appreciation for the simpler things in life.

by Lee Ambrose
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

Seung Heun was reminded at the end of this book on p.85 of a story from Lao Tzu:

Lao Tze "had a bright student who trained for 10 years in order to be able to control the flow of Ki energy to such an extent that he could form an energy bridge over a nearby river. One day, he showed Lao Tse what he could do...Expeting high praise, the student was flabbergasted when Lao Tse turned purple with anger and shouted at him at the top of his voice, "YOU STUPID IDIOT. You spent 10 years to a stupid trick, all this time, there was a cheap ferry to get accross the river at any time you wished!

Being an incarnation of Lao Tze, let me lead by example from the only letter i gave personally to Jimmy Carter & Rosalynn:

dearest peaceMaker Jimmy and mother Rosalynn,

First I do thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you have done for humankind so far and for who you are. This letter may reach your heart(s) on George Washington's birthday and is a wake up call for both of you to forgive ourselves even more.
I have asked around 200 adults the following question: IS REAL LOVE CONDITIONAL or UNCONDITIONAL?

More than 95% do choose unconditional, out of that less than 5% can declare they are being it, while the rest say that they know that it is unconditional but can't do it (in China.)

I have asked around the following question: in almost EVERY NATION on earth there are AT LEAST 2 SLAVE CLASSES or caste, my definition of slavery is when we force another human to do what we ourselves don't even want to be. I haven't yet found a person who can tell me who they are?

This is not a test, simply an observation of what is. The answer is SOLDIERS and CHILDREN.

The only reason to have soldiers is to force them to kill fellow human beings using any available weapons, we are the ones TRAINING MURDERERS. The only reason we are forcing children to get educated is for them to compete like GLADIATORS by first using mental weaponry. To DISALLOW that we are ONE HUMANKIND and to enforce the notion that some humans are superior to others and any inferior humans deserve to be at least exploited, if not disposed, by the superior ones. No wonder the US is the first country with incidence of children happily shooting and disposing of fellow humans and showing us how clearly insane we all are for allowing such forceful enslavement, and our children are using exactly the same behavior we taught them with our own blindly learned prejudice and acquiescence.

To ABOLISH THIS kind of SLAVERY, ONE simple UNCONDITIONAL LOVE ANSWER is-Start telling all politicians and generals and any humans that their army and weapons can either be offered to the United Nations or to the temporary leadership of a massing group of unconditional lovers for all life under the temporary leadership of a triumvirate. If this joint-chief-command ever choose to send this volunteer global army to even mediate dispute between warring factions or to forcefully remove some confirmed dictator or to prevent possible genocide, then they will automatically resign their post and leave the function to another triumvirate, preferably one who disagreed with them. This is missing in every constitution as a check and balance. Start telling all humans that firearms and explosive cannot be bought at any price and that all firearms and explosive are for use by this global army only. For the few humans who enjoy the sound of firearms they can only practice shooting in shooting ranges at dead targets. In the long run this standing army can simply become a corps of engineers specializing in explosive and dangerous situation and helping in emergency disaster cases, such as evacuation and re-building.

For the first elected triumvirate I would love to be able to choose from such unconditional lovers for whole humankind as Jimmy Carter or House Rep. Barbara Lee of California (hers was the sole vote in either the House or Senate opposing a resolution authorizing military action against the terrorists ... The House vote was 420 to 1. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/16/national/16LEE.html) or Nelson Mandela or Boris Yeltsin or Mikhail Gorbachev or the first lady president of the Philippines Aquino, etc.

As for liberating the unconditional love that is present in all children before the age of 5, education after 5 will be modified to only include self-paced-study available via Internet with guidance counselors in each different subject. The core curriculum will be based on first-person confirmable examples of unconditional love and that fear is its only opposite. Schools and churches and libraries will be re-opened as places where more people can enjoy one another face-to-face or hug-to-hug, etc.

Needless to say, the side benefit of the above solution is that global disarmament will be in effect immediately at both the national and individual level and unconditional love will start to flourish beginning with all new born. The natural dignity inherent in treating everyone as equal is reclaimed by every living human being. A world will indeed be born anew as long as we don't deny that absolute power corrupts absolutely, as Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong, etc. have demonstrated dictatorship and with Bush and Hollywood stars and private schools, etc. demonstrating nepotism and most of us not doing anything when dearest Jimmy declared from his heart in his Nobel speech:

`I decided that the most serious and universal problem is the growing chasm between the richest and poorest people on earth'.

The great prophets and holy men in all of the major religious traditions have conveyed the insight that all men and women are "One". The eastern traditions note that this phenomena is reflected by the energy called "Ki" and is the common bond directly connecting body, mind and spirit. In Healing Society: A Prescription For Global Enlightenment, Seung Heun Lee reveals how we can draw upon this energy to strengthen our spiritual bodies, actually experience a direct connection to ultimate oneness down to the center of our very being. Seung Heun Lee clearly explains how this "noble enlightenment" is meant for everyone, and that by getting into contact with this sense of oneness men and women can illuminate the world and secure their children's future in a transformed world. Healing Society is a very highly recommended addition to Eastern tradition, spirituality, metaphysics, and self-help reading lists and reference collections.

The writer says he is enlightened. Is he sane? I don't know. I don't want to ask him whether he is enlightened or not. Because when I ask so, he will answer me he is enlightened because he realized that there is nothing to "realize." So, I don't need another teacher who want me to surrender before him. Dalai-lama said "spy on your spiritual teacher before you surrender yourself before him." Dalai-lama himself never says he is enlightened. But we know lama himself is a very trustworthy teacher for humankind. Be careful, people. I'm from the same country where this writer came from.

Dr. Seung Heun Lee wrote Healing Society: A Prescription for Global Enlightenment because he wanted "to call upon the world to embark on an Enlightenment Revolution" and "to let everyone know of their own right to enlightenment." Dr. Lee has written sixteen previous books and lectures extensively. He also founded "Dahn Hak Movement," which is designed to help in spiritual awakening, and helped establish the New Millennium Peace Foundation with Neale Donald Walsch. The United Nations has recognized Dr. Lee as a preeminent spiritual leader of the world.

He emphasizes throughout the book that enlightenment is not just for a select few, but available to everyone. He defines enlightenment as "a simple choice that you make to live your life for the betterment and benefit of all those around you." One needs only to make that choice, and then develop the discipline to live out that choice.

Part of becoming enlightened involves training your life energy, or Ki. Dr. Lee explains exactly how to do this. He has also developed a technique called "Brain Respiration" as a "realistic and everyday form of spiritual training" for all those people who don't have the time or inclination to go live on a mountain top or join a monastery.

Once people achieve personal enlightenment, the next step is global enlightenment. Dr. Lee says that we once all lived together as enlightened beings in harmony, and that we have deep spiritual longings to regain this world. In order to do that, "we need to recover the sense of Oneness and harmony that we have lost." That requires making both a personal and a collective choice to be enlightened. He wants at least one hundred million people to be spiritually enlightened by the end of this decade. "The healing vibration of their choices and determination will cure the Earth of the ills we have caused," he says.

Most people have forgotten that we are all part of One. Forgetting that has led to the state of affairs that exists today. If you'd like to meet your Creator Within and become a part of the solution rather than continue as part of the problem, then I highly recommend reading Healing Society.

This book has a bit too much self-promotion for me. Over and over and over and over and over again the author claims that through his program 'Brain Respiration' one may become truly enlightened. His message is encouraging and I like that he says enlightenment is nothing if it doesn't help somebody else. However... this book is simply laced with too many references to his 'Brain Respiration'. If I wanted to read a book on Brain Respiration I would have bought it. Now I won't thanks to this author's rampant self-promotion. This book seems to be merely a lengthy advertisement.

I have just finnished reading The Long Road Home and must commend Martha Raddatz on her brilliant book. I have been a friend of the Weibleys(Trysha)for years and decided that it was past due for me to read. It was not political or opinionated in any way, it was factual and desctiptive like nothing I have ever read.Since There is one part of this book where Seth gets out to clean a windshild..knowing him the way I do, I HAD to laugh through the tears. It was just soooo something he would do.
Thank you for writing this amazing book for the world to read. It is integral to all Americans to know what REALLY happend that day. I know that the Weibleys apreciate it as do I and all that I will be passing this on to.

I saw Martha Raddatz speak at the Pritzker Military Library last week (June 2008) and bought the book there on the spot. I have read it straight through in a couple of days and wish that every American would read this book or one with a similar story. It seems that Iraq has become background noise in light of the energy crisis and the country's economic woes.

It's easy to forget that we are at war and that American servicemen are losing their lives. This book brings that reality home. It's not a fun read - it's a distinctly uncomfortable and sometimes depressing one. But reading stories like this might go some ways towards breaking through this desensitization we seem to have as a country when it comes to the war in Iraq.

I think that the portions of the book written from the view of the soldiers are solid and really brought me into the action of that awful battle. I won't ever know what it is like to be a soldier who engages in battle and is wounded or sees friends wounded or, worse, killed in action. But this book at least makes me really think about it and gives a good description of how these soldiers felt.

On the other hand, I did not think that the parts of the book written from the perspective of the families was as strong. I am not sure if this is the result of Ms. Raddatz respecting the wives of the killed soldiers and not interviewing them directly or just because her passion lies with the stories that these men have to tell more than with the stories of their families. Either way, it made the book feel a little unbalanced to me.

All that being said, I think that this book is important. The story that it tells is important not only because the battle it details was a turning point in the war but because it reminds us that our fellow countrymen are going through unspeakable things. This war remains relevant and I applaud the efforts of Ms. Raddatz and others like her for fighting to keep it in the media.

Excellent read about the war in Iraq. I bought this book after I found parts contained action my son was involved in. Found my son's name and picture of truck he was in. He was trying to save Cindy Sheenan's son Casey. He was ambushed also and was hit in his foot. They lost eight good soliders that day. I hope they make a movie someday. My son is a IV and he was shot on 4-4-4 in Sadr City Iraq. He now has PTSD and is divorced from the woman he loves. Where is Cindy Sheenan now?

This book is a must read in this election year. Put all else aside, pick up this book and struggle through the reality of what is going on and few of us bother to realize. This is not a pleasant read, this is not a feel good story. This is the truth of what happens when politicians make decisions based on their own legacy in mind. This is how those decisions affect you, me and our neighbors. These kids are in a horrible situation in Iraq. If the evidence to enter the war was real, OK, this is duty. In retrospect, this is a sin. No one should face 10 minutes of what these husbands, boyfirends, sons and daughters are going through. Martha Raddatz did an incredible job of piecing this story together. If 10 % of this is accurate, no one should be subjected to this kind of horror. I can tell you, having had a brother serve in Vietnam in the late 60s, there is nothing you hope to avoid than a taxi, your parish priest or minister, and a stranger dressed in a military uniform in the middle of the night. Soldiers,, families are all suffering, the problem is, they are in the minority. The majority of us simply bitch about high gas prices. We don't have a clue what is going on. Read this book and become informed. When you vote in November, consider what you are doing, seriously. Is this war in the middle east worth it? Is it winnable? Is there an honorable way out. Don't just assume there is, understand what these soldiers are going through and make sure the way you vote is not going to prolong this disaster.

In Iraq right now and had to read this. Wasn't as good as I thought it would be but it gives a perspective.

I don't remember how I came to own this book, maybe through a bookclub, but I read it years ago. I loved it and re-read it several times. It is the sort of book that you can't get out of your mind. I am not a "science fiction" fan at all, but of all the books in this genre I have ever read this is undoubtably the best. ( I have read "1984" "Atlas Shrugged" etc) I have somehow lost my copy and am sorry that I didn't hold onto it. It is interestingt that the copies still around are selling for as much as a new book does these days!

From the first time I read this book in 1974 as an 8th grader, this Utopian type society seemed so far away & unrealistic. Now at 45, I fear it is getting closer. Members getting "treatments"? Think Prozac. People that are compliant, pleasant & "speak no evil"? Think political correctness gone mad. Smoking forbidden? Even closer. Reproduction being controlled with no choice? Sounds like George W. at work here. Hmm... how will the world be when I am 75?

This book should be required reading for High School Literature classes across the country, to open up discussions of personal rights, creativity, freedom & socialism. Think of the ways Levin's masterpiece could be applied to show kids just what "sheep" they are becoming!

I find as I get older & read this book over again, there are more important lessons about individuality, following the crowd & what we expect from ourselves & others as a society. What kind of world stifles creativity & self-expression for the sake of "harmony"? Consider me & my teenagers incurable.

~Cyndi~

At age 58 I cannot remember when I first read this book. It's not that I am losing my mind, but it was that long ago. I have haunted used book stores, flea markets and online, and have bought several hard backs and soft backs so that I am not without a copy of this book (Does this ring of the movie "Conspiracy Theory and the Catcher in the Rye"). I also shared this book with my daughter who is not as much a reader as I am and she loved it too. I cannot understand why this book has not been brought back into print, used as mandatory reading in school and also perhaps made into a movie. Ira Levin has had other books made into movies. I am not going review the story but is there anyone out there who wants it not to end when it does? I have read this book once a year for years and like a small child, keep thinking something will click and I will see whether life on the Island will improve once Chip returns...how will the untreated survive... Also I think that Chip and others due to small differences than the norm are more liable to rebel and this is what the powers that be (Programers, is that what they call themselves...hmmm) were watching for.
As a child I was a science fiction freak and I still love it if I can find a good futuristic society book such as "Beggers In Spain" and now I am a Stephen King/horror/mystery freak. But what can I say, ask me what my favorite book is and it will always be, THIS PERFECT DAY!!!

This is truly such a fine piece or example of his writing skills of the same style according to the from or content of the other novel 1984 too earlier than this one of this authors too as a contrasting view of what the world might well become in the next eon ahead of the writer or reader next to be too, it brings almost tears to my eyes due to how wonderfully it'd so equally been drafted in such a marvelous fashioning of it for our eyes to perceive! It is for this reason most likely that whenever viewed upon any bookstore's shelves, in any extra quantities, I usually buy all the extra copies contained upon its shelves there so as to but pass them around to all I know of who I feel would equally find as enjoyable as I sure did too here, as it truly is for me one of the finest works written too, as I do so believe that so wholeheartedly I even more so often actually would but pay to have others read it alongside me too that way to watch the amused joy while but watching how they did so during the reading stages too ya know what I mean, as I love the finest example of how great it is to see others enjoy it s did myself there too, ya know?

I admit it- I bought this book because I liked the cover art, and man is it great! It reminded me of the film Equilibrium, except it was written about 30 years prior. Everybody thinks or Rosemary's Baby & The Stepford Wives when they think of Levin, but This Perfect Day is his true masterpiece. Why isn't this a movie? The end where the old man's head is on the young athletic body would be so cool to see on the big screen. And many parts are very sexy. Like the organized orgies. And the women who go off the drug getting enhanced sexual desires (among other things), is really something. Just writing this makes me want to read it again...

I really love this book. I read The Bad Girl's Guide to Getting What You Want first, because based on the title it had more to do with my situation than the other books in the series. I enjoyed it, but I have to say this book is better. Even if, like me, you have no real desire to go on a road trip, this book is hilarious inspiring. It quickly had me excited to pee outdoors, lie about my name, and sneak into empty motel rooms to take a free shower (this coming from a girl who normally obeys speedlimits, pays bills promptly, and is always so polite and tragically walked all over by authority figures). If you're looking for something to inspire your inner wild woman burried under layers and layers of social niceties, and rules about ladylikeness, this is the book.

My freshman year of college I took a trip to New Orleans with my roommate. Her mom lent us her minivan and left this book and a bag of marshmallows on the floor of the car. Six hours in a car had never passed so quickly! This book makes long drives of monotonous highway FUN. I wouldn't say it's a cover-to-cover read. Just pack it with your car snacks and flip through the pages to have some fun. Next time, I'll be sure to add a couple squirt guns to my supplies list.

Funny yet practical ideas on making the most of your trip trip when you just want to get away from the everyday stuff. Where to park overnight to sleep if you have to. How to get out of stuff, like speeding tickets. Where to take a shower or clean up while on the road.

Some stuff I would never be brave enough to try, like egging on a policeman by swigging a NA beer in front of them while you're driving! Why take that chance? We can get ourselves in trouble in lots of other ways besides having to interact with the cops on purpose! Good advise on where to bring your car if you're having car trouble. Funny dress up ideas if you want to exhibit a "road persona". Think Thelma and Louise. Now, if only I had that classic muscle car...

My girlfriend and I saw this book at Borders and had to sit down and check it out. We laughed so hard we nearly got kicked out of the cafe. People were staring. The smart ones came up and asked what we were reading and got their own copy. If you have a wacky sense of humor, this is your book!

A friend lent me this small, vinyl-covered pink book, and I read it in about two days. It's a fun, comedic chick guide for the all-American road trip, packing one-liners and humorous drawings in side-by-side with suggestions for trip destinations and crazy traveling advice. The book encourages girls to get out of the ruts in their lives and hit the highway with their favorite tunes. Packing light, eating junk, picking up cute hitchikers, and taking wild friends are must-dos, according to Tuttle. While most of the book's suggestions (such as using marshmallows to plug a muffler hole or jam a parking meter) are totally implausible, they do provide a few laughs. Not on my must-read list, but a nice, quick little book if you need a light pick-me-up.

James Rowe's story is one that makes you appreciate how good we have things in our day to day lives. I love POW tales because I am always hoping the person(s) can find a way to escape to freedom. This story was fine but I would say a little darker & more depressing than most POW tales I have read.

Interesting but written more as a novel and not as an actual recount of his 5 year imprisonment in the hands of the North Vietnamese. The minute detail of his every recollection during his 5 years of captivity makes it difficult to believe that he himself wrote his memoirs. Nevertheless I salute him for his bravery, his will to survive and service to his country.

This book should be on everyone's "must read" list. It should also be on the must read list for evey high school student. This book is very well written and easy to follow. It is also very hard to put down once you start reading it. Being a Vietnam War Veteran myself, I would highly recomend this book to anyone.

Incredible story of this man and other POW's in Vietnam. This is one of, if not the best, books I've ever read. One of the many points I took away was how the will to live sustained Nick Rowe and so many others. Maybe more so, it gave me an appreciation for the freedoms we take so much for granted. I finihed the book days ago, and can't get it out of my mind. Great book, Great leasons, Great man.

I served with 1st SFG during Vietnam. I knew Nick and the young soldiers knew about his experience as a POW. He was a fine and well respected leader within the SF community. The book is exciting and takes its' place within the accurate historical realm. To set the record straight there were plans in the making and at least one effort to rescue Nick. Also suggest reading "Raider" about CSM Gallen C. Kittleson who had been selected as part of the rescue attempt for Nick. Also suggest reading "Code Name Columbus."

"The House that Love Built" is a testament to what God can do through open and willing minds and hearts. Bettie B. Youngs takes Millard and Linda Fuller from their childhood years through college and huge financial success to a crisis that led eventually to a radical new way of living.

In 1968 the Fullers, working closely with Clarence Jordan, co-founder of the Christian community Koinonia outside Americus, GA, laid the foundations for what would become Habitat for Humanity. The world-wide success of Habitat for Humanity under the Fullers' leadership is legendary, but in 2005 the Fullers were fired by the Board of Habitat for Humanity International, who wanted the organization to look more like big business than a Christian ministry. Youngs is able to relate the facts behind this shameful ouster without bitterness or recrimination--and to tell of the Fullers' faithfulness to God's call to eliminate poverty housing throug the newly organized Fuller Center for Housing. An inspiring story of faith at work and of the power of God to transform lives.

Sweet story of the founders of Habitat for Humanity. I loved how he learned so much in business and was able to walk away from it all to become greater than the norm. They have drive and I'm happy they pulled so many behind to make the world better for everyone. More of this!

Millard and Linda Fuller's life story is an inspirational account of their lives and their calling. It is amazing to read how they gave up so much, created a truly ingenious way to help people help themselves, and overcome all of the obstacles thrown in their path. To be treated so poorly by the organization they created and then move on to start all over again shows what faith and the Holy Spirit can accomplish!
After reading their story I am challenged every day to live up to their example!
The book is well written and easy to read, and I highly recommend it.

From beginning to end this amazing story of unwavering love and faith speaks to anyone who has ever held a dream in their heart. The Fullers are truly fascinating and inspiring people. It was vicious what the Board did to them when they were ousted out of their own agency, but they simply rose from the ashes. As would be expected of these two. Thank you for telling the story, it is well worth the read.

A great read for anyone looking for guidance in the area of what to do with their lives that truly matters. The story of Millard and Linda Fuller and their journey that ultimately built Habitat for Humanity is a story worth telling anyone you can find. This is not just a "feel good" story but one that also points out that doing something good with our lives is not always easy. I appreciated most the willingness of the Fullers to share what really went on without any sugarcoating.

Faith in action is what this book is all about.

This third of Burgett's four books about his experiences in the 101st Airborne during World War II reveals a young man (19 at the time) at what could be easily seen as his finest (or worst) hours. The author gives this book an intense personal touch that is missing in many accounts of this unit during its defense of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. Burgett takes the reader into the hell he lived through, vividly describing the shortages of basic military necessities such as weapons and ammunition, the incredible struggle for Noville in the early days of the battle and the withdrawal back to the main lines, and the difficulties of being ready to fight after coping with the harsh winter of the Ardennes and the lack of sleep, food, and water.

But what really comes through most clearly in this account is death. Burgett sees much of it in just a few weeks. He sees close friends (the "old men" of his company) and replacements die in what seems to be a random pattern. He takes the lives of German troops without a shred of remorse, yet almost shoots a fellow paratrooper who shot a prisoner of war.

Burgett does not portray himself as a hero--only as a man doing his job. He was very good (and I would also say lucky) at what he did. His story is not the nice neat narrative found in many accounts of the Bulge. It is dark, chilling, and brutal. It makes one wonder what men like him endured--both during the war and the many years since. I highly recommend it and the others volumes about his time in the 101st.

Donald Burgett gives a great view of WWII through the eyes of a 101st airborne paratrooper.

It has taken me far too long to review this book. But what I should say is, this book was single handedly responsible for sponsoring my adoration of military history books and the history of the Second World War.

It is very well written, easy to read, accurate to the finest detail without ever losing the story. It stands alone as one of the finest examples of a first person account of the war by an American paratrooper of the 506th PIR of the 101st Airborne. It would have been a classic by itself, but it the companion piece to a priceless series of four part series by Burgett.

I really enjoyed the descriptions of battles so clearly written I'm sure you could find the streets today. The story of destroying German tanks in the dead of a fog is gripping as anything that happened during the epic Battle of the Bulge.

The impact of this book was one that made me want to be a paratrooper, helped spawned a life-long (over twelve years at this point) love affair with history, one trip to Europe and lead to my BA in History. My copy has been dog eared, read three times and kept in a place of honor among my over 250 World War Two history books.

My only regret is I haven't met the author.

The real story of how a few ill equipped, but determined Allies held the line and were victorious over one of the greatest war machines ever assembled. This truly was the "Greatest Generation"!

"Seven Roads to Hell" is paratrooper Donald Burgett's memoire of the defense of Bastogne by elements of the 101st Airborne and 9th Armor Divisions during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. Burgett, a member of A Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, has captured the foxhole-level details of the heroic defense of that key Belgian crossroads.

Burgett picks up the story as his unit goes into a rest area after the fierce fighting of Operation Market-Garden in Holland. His unit has been decimated by weeks of combat, and desperately needs rest and refit; instead, the tired and poorly equiped paratroopers are rushed to the front in the Ardennes to help stem a sudden German offensive. The paratroopers lack winter clothing, food, water, and ammunition, but with the elan of the airborne, undertake the defense of Bastogne against German tank and infantry units.

Burgett has provided some commentary on the larger picture, but sticks largely to telling the story as it was visible to him. Burgett is nothing if not honest in his telling and graphic in his details. He and his fellow paratroopers freeze, starve, fight, and strive to make sense of the chaos that is ground-level combat. Burgett's prose is straightforward and he has a terrific eye for details. There is no sense here of the false heroic; Burgett and his mates are fighting for each other.

This book, like Burgett's earlier book on D-Day, is highly recommended to the reader with an interest in the Second World War and especially in infantry combat. Those present and former members of the 506th Infantry may find it an especially inspiring piece of regimental history.

I cannot wait to read this book! Grimaldi captured my attention immediately. To search for one's self is a long and sometimes painful journey. When you do finally find who you are there really is no better joy. I'm looking forward to taking this journey with Kevin!

Born in Freehold, NJ, I became attracted to Kevin Salter's story and experience immediately in the beginning. Mr. Grimaldi captures the reader by colorfully portraying this wedding photographer and his encounter and can easily be related to real life emotions and situations.
I am anxious to continue reading the story to see what the future holds for Kevin and for Grace, as Continental Drift is sure to appeal to all audiences with its clear understanding and interesting characters.

Grimaldi's descriptive narrative of Kevin and the job he was attempting to do made me feel as if I was standing right along side of the main character witnessing his world. I look forward to reading the complete novel as I see America and many of its special types of people through Grimaldi's intense portrayals of Kevin's adventures.

Grimaldi's characters are rich, quirky and interesting. He keeps readers engaged with throughout the piece. Many will be looking forward to reading the novel in it's entirety, especially myself.

"I used to get high on life...but I built up a tolerance." One of the many truthful tidbits that flavors this excerpt of Mr. Grimaldi's novel. Even as we (like Kevin, the photographer protagonist) long for grounded-ness, do we despise the emotional inertia and spiritual complacency of being "settled"? Shall we choose to stay (or to set ourselves) adrift? Or, needing more to cling to, can we find a path that provides the stability we crave? Following this metaphor, the reader may ask:" When/if we do manage to "arrive", is it ever to that destination we thought we were focused on, or even a vague resemblance?" Grimaldi's imagery led me on an exploration of such questions, and made "Continental Drift" a compellingly terrific read. I look forward to the rest of the journey!