I really enjoyed the book. I felt connected to the characters- as if Christine had dropped into my life-pond as well. I regret that the book had to end - but one of the few books that I did finish before starting a new one!

Leo Booth was truly inspired when he wrote this delightful book. I read it 2 1/2 years ago at a time when I needed to see what a difference negative thoughts and attitudes can make in our lives. Difficulties, disappointments, heartaches, etc. can be overcome. I love this little book. I've read it twice and it has a permanent place in my library. I also read Zukav, Redfield, Gray, Williamson, Morrissey, Weiss, Orloff, Jampolsky, Walsh, Myss, Ford, Hartmann, etc. Although I usually prefer non-fiction, this is delightful.

I truly went through some hard times before I read this. Both at school and at home. But this book sure did help me. I beleive that the gifts that the angel, the frog, the mule, the fox, the Bermese cats, the sheepdog, the hedgehog, the snail and the pig gave to each other the main spirtule gifts life always offers. Perseverance, Forgiveness, Integrity, Joy, Commitment, Patience, Acceptance, Courage, Trust and Change. The Gift that I would give to Mr. Wogglebug would be Love. There's a power in the Gift of Love when it's Love that you least expect. I think I like Cedric the frog best of all. I just love froggies. How they leap and hop and the sounds that they make. RIBBET! Ever since I learned to love the Frogman I loved froggies. I have even decided that when my puppy dies I am going to get a pet frog. And the Frogman NEEDS to read this book!

I read this book to learn more about Dr. Galland's style, medical practice, and his recommendations for those with inflammatory bowel disease. Dr. Galland has done some research with positive findings as to the success of diet (especially the SCDiet) and IBD, and lists Elaine Gottschall's book, Breaking The Vicious Cycle, as a self-help resource.

Dr. Galland's book provides valuable insight into modern medicine and the need for patient-centric health care. He describes the evolution of medical history and how we arrived at the current dilemma. Through today's science of reductionism, reinforced by medical specialists, the connections between symptoms, underlying problems, and root causes are often lost. Galland's goal is to work to heal the patient, not just the disease. I agree with Galland's four pillars (positive, worthwhile relationships; diet and exercise; one's environment; detoxification). The reader is presented with many patient case scenarios, how they were treated by other doctors, and the benefits they received upon seeking Dr. Galland's patient-centric integrative medical care. Anyone who is looking for more answers and wants to take a more active role in their healing will be well served to read this book.

I am a healthcare worker, and am familiar with the problems in the way people view their health and expecting their doctor to "make them better". This book helps to outline what is needed in your life to truely improve general health, along with some of the pitfalls that we all encounter. I am ordering another copy for my local library, because I lend mine out more than want to.

Leo Galland's book is a must have. It is the best owners manual for the human body. I started reading the book two years ago during my chemo treatments at the oncologist office. His information on nutritions has lead me to eat my fruits and vegetables daily. I exercise 3 time a week and keep my stress to a minimum. This book is a crash course on preventitive medicine. He has the best advice on how to stay healthy and make sure that your doctor doesn't kill you with meds.

This is a wonderful book for any little train lover. However, the subtle correlations between the "bedroom" train and the "country" train are lost on my 3 year old right now. I love how Brown mirrors the toy train set-up in the household with the real train travelling through the countryside on the opposite page. The artwork is lovely, and the story is clear and simple. It's a nice, calming book, perfect for the end of the day.

My son is a train fanatic and enjoys this book very much. The comparisons between the real train and the toy train stimulate a lot of conversation and get him thinking about similarities and differences.

MY GRANDSON AGE 7 LOVES THIS BOOK HE HAS NOT PUT IT DOWN SINCE HE
RECEIVED IT AND WHAT ELSE IS NICE HE IS ABLE TO READ THE BOOOK TO
ME INSTEAD OF ME READING TO HIM

A prior reviewer (see below) questioned the value of calling John Leo a 'conservative' thinker, but, let's face it, it's an appropriate label. The subject areas he tackles reads like Neal Boortz's program notes: abortion, feminism, victimology, postmodernism, welfare, Bill Clinton, Rigoberta Menchu, and some former low-level government temporary employee named Monica. Even George Lucas and Kate Moss get ladled a helping of Leo's unparalleled common sense. And the authors he quotes without referencing their political tilt (Heather MacDonald, David Horowitz, William Raspberry...) becomes almost a running joke.

Grouped into seven parts ('Media', 'Education', 'Family and Gender', 'Race and Minorities', 'Politics and Law', 'Culture and Language', and 'Society and Social Behavior'), the body of the book consists of reprints of Leo's columns from U.S. News & World Report, each only about a page long. Unfortunately, this makes the reading feel like riding with someone who's learning to drive stick, just as he gets rolling, he stops and starts again.

The two biggest downsides to the book are not Leo's fault: first, the articles aren't dated, which would have helped put some of his comments (like those on O.J. and Amy Fisher) a little more into perspective, and second, inexplicably, there's no index, which would have saved you much frustration the many times in the future you will likely refer back to these articles again.

A good, interesting read. It's full of bite-sized articles, catagorized into various groupings. My only (real) problem is that reading article-after-article on the craziness of it all, there's never any suggested course of action. Of course, that's not necessarily his 'brief', but it would have made various topics come 'full circle'. However, that's just my opinion. I would recommend this book...and you don't have to be a screaming conservative to appreciate it either!

John Leo is frequently categorized as a conservative thinker, but such a label these days does little to indicate the actual freshness and vitality of his thought. He most resembles in this collection of occasional pieces a contemporary Dr. Johnson, for he applies a similar overwhelming good sense to a host of issues of the day. Perhaps he should be called a classical thinker. No knee jerker when commenting on contemporary matters, he is acutely aware of the claims both of the head and the heart . Underlying his treatment of the media, the educational system, etc., though, is the insistence that the head must balance the feelings in conflicts. Hence, in multiplying instances of its dismissal of facts, logic, or evidence, he exposes our age as one in which grotesque emotion seeks to, and often succeeds in, trumping reason. One leaves this collection not with a resolve to always vote Republican but instead with a determination to push for justice, but without succumbing to the forces of arrant propaganda which solicit on all sides.

I first read this book over 25 years ago. Leo saw it all, from the '27 Yankees, through Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier, to the dawn of the new era of baseball. I can never forget his description of The Miracle of Coogan's Bluff. If you are a baseball history fan, this is great reading.

Usually considered to be one of the best baseball autobiographies ever written (by that small subset of us who actually consider the quality of such books), "Nice Guys Finish Last" is a terrific window onto 50 years of baseball history.

Leo Durocher began his career riding the bench in the shadow of Babe Ruth, and ended it as the manager of the glorious 1973 Houston Astros, led by their star outfielder Cesar Cedeno (and we all know what happened to him...). In between such humble beginnings and endings, however, Durocher was there for just about every pivotal moment in baseball history. Rest assured he has opinions on all of them. And he wants to set the record straight.

"Nice Guys Finish Last" is densely packed, full of satisfying venom, and leaves no stone -- or vendetta -- unturned. Whether or not the reader believes all of what Leo is saying is less important than the fact that this is a must read for anyone interested in baseball's previous generations.

They don't make managers like Durocher anymore, and, sad to say, there will be very few baseball autobiographies quite like this in the years to come.

Leo Durocher was one of those characters people either love or hate. A win-at-all-costs player and manager, he never really developed much tact, and he was definitely a product of his era. But I've never heard anyone say that he, or his teams, were boring.

What the Amazon entry for this book doesn't tell you is that it was written with Ed Linn, who sadly passed away not long ago. Linn had the unique gift of preserving the subject's style so perfectly that you'd be hard pressed to tell that there had been a co-author at all. What this means for the reader is that the book is much better than it would otherwise seem: you get treated to Leo's pungent, egotistical and judgmental style as though he was talking to you in person telling old stories. That's what makes it so much fun.

If you are a baseball fan, this belongs in your library and is well worth the search.

I enjoyed this Systematic Theology a lot. My main complaint is that there are too many people discussed and it tends to read like a telephone book.

I have the priveledge of being one of Dr. Garrett's many students. He is simply the most learned and gentle man I know. This book is one the most used reference works I own. It is not as readable as some, but is a great source for biblical and historical background on all doctrines. I have used both volumes for research for sermons, teaching notes, research papers, and my dissertation. Well worth your money. (And mine is signed by Dr. Garrett!!)

Garrett's book is not only valuable for the theologian. Students of Christian History should make it a priority to own this book. James Leo Garrett is at least as much an historian as a theologian. Where else can one discover the particulars of Martinism, a 20th century movement in Texas that advocated a peculiar perspective on Christian assurance? This is historical theology at its best.

This is a powerful essay. But, by the time an informed reader reaches its crescendo coda on p.81, one...in figurative blare of trumpets, flash of lightning and roar of thunder...submits an exhausted but triumphant AMEN!... Or a thoroughly disgusted and unconvinced BS! Why? Because essentially the essay asserts the primacy of LOGOS as key to true knowledge and understanding within The Western Tradition. I concur because I ally myself with those whom Sir Isaiah Berlin playfully terms the "hedgehogs"...thinkers/seekers who by a metaphysical act of faith (and humility)concede the existence of a Principle of Intelligibility that is guarantor of subsistent Truth and Order. "Foxes"...empirical, physical-science minded folks who deny an Ultimately ORDERING PRINCIPLE, PLAN, or GOD...are posed over against hedgehogs as people who may "know" very much (yet may believe in NADA). Tolstoy is averred to be among the latter...but wanted desperately...like DOSTOYEVSKY...to be among the former. As more, perhaps of a "squirrel" than either of these polar giants, I propose that interest in this essay is a fairly clear (and yes, scholarly but NOT pedantic) exposition of ideas that are important in this era of DECONSTRUCTION. Many thinkers are dabbling in both distortion and denial of fundamental propositions in metaphysics, ethics and epistemology. These are having PRACTICAL consequences in our attitudes toward sexuality, education, law and even language itself. Names like Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Heiddeger, Foucault and Derrida are preeminent among anti-logos "foxes". Names ranging all the way back from Augustine to Einstein and Hawkings rank as preeminent "hedgehogs". "God does not play dice with the Universe," the Main ALBERT once proposed. If I have loaded the dice in this review a bit, it still does not prevent an eager empiricist or deconstructionist from taking-on Berlin's viewpoint as one of the most accomplished philosophical/political essayists of the 20th Century. To wit: Tolstoy...and other seminal deconstructionists-empiricists...tried too hard. But ironically didn't try hard enough! Try this essay; see what you think; it will make you do so: hedgehog, fox or squirrel...

Sir Isaiah Berlin has written a critical acclaim of the historic views of famous Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy as expressed in one of his masterpieces "War and Piece". In 'The Hedgehog and The Fox' (1953), Dr. Berlin compares and contracts the monist and pluralist historical philosophies. According to Archilochus "The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing." This can be interpreted that there is a philosophy of a single undiminished holistic truth or principle governing all history, or there is a myriad little ideas, truths and inclinations which together govern mens historical experience.

Tolstoy, according to Berlin, is a fox (whose talent is by the way in precisely being a fox), who is however convinced in the ways of the hedgehog. Tolstoy is at his greatest when he describes the subtle undertones of human existence, these barely perceptible little differences which makes living so full and colorful, range of emotions and feelings. He does not believe, however, that this is all that is, and insists on some ill-defined fundamental truth. This makes his writing wooden, unhistorical, and simplistic at times.

Berlin makes a perceptive observations on the interest of Tolstoy's in some of the figures of Counter-Enlightenment (such as Maestre and Vico). These proponents of the view of the world which denies all-pervasive powers of reductionist science and allocates the central place to a simple idea (e.g. Christian moral idea) are closer to Tolstoy; and from this point of view and interest Tolstoy's last "religious" period owes its inspiration. Berlin shows Tolstoy as a tragic genius riddled with contradictions and frustrations of misapprehension of his enormous talents in inability to say what he wanted to say the most - paint a true picture of human historical experience.

Style of Berlin's polemic is as always colorful, insightful, supremely observant and scholarly. Essay is no longer then 75 pages and would make for a delightful Sunday afternoon reading. Highly recommended!

I really want to disagree with the reviewer below who said that this book is "overly academic" and "not interesting to someone without a serous research interest in Tolstoy". C'mon.

This is a HIGHLY readable book though probably only one that should be read after having read 'War and Peace'. In combination, the boring sections of 'War and Peace' and this book provide a pretty interesting dialogue and line of thought that can be comprehended by most anyone.....

This is a beautiful book and one that can be appreciated by tons the teeming multitudes and not just self-righteous undergraduates at small colleges in Massachusetts. Berlin is a very readable philosopher, which explains much of the reason WHY he is held in such esteem in the Anglo-American philosophical community....

Finally, who could ever say that this little tiny red book was worth neither the effort nor the expense. A must-buy.

and should be required for married couples to read together. It should make for some fascinating conversation.

Tolstoy adopts a scorched-earth policy in this novel which deflates the "sanctity" of marriage. The protagonist is a man on the edge, and it seems Tolstoy was there with him in the writing of this incandescent novella.

Chris McCandless, the ill-fated Alaskan voyager who died in a hunting shelter while trying to escape the ties of civilization, was reading this novel very close to his death. See the nonfiction "Into the Wild" for information on this...

I'm sure most of you have read the other two selections in this anthology, so I'll limit my comments to Kreutzer. This novel made my pulse race, a physical reaction I haven't had to a novel in quite a long time.

This little book contains three short stories: "How much land does a man need?", "The Death of Ivan Ilyich", and "The Kreutzer sonata". Although the stories are widely different, they share a common theme. All three expose the hollowness of modern life, with sometimes explicit, sometimes implicit reference to the Christian alternative Tolstoy espoused.

The first two are rather simple didactic tales, juxtaposing materialism, greed, and vanity with Christian sincerity and humility. I think a person's appreciation of these two stories hinges, to a great extent, on the reader's assessment of Tolstoy's solution to the unbridled greed and nauseating superficiality which he witnessed and we even moreso witness today.

The last story, The Kreutzer Sonata, is surely the best and the one with the most universal appeal. This follows from Tolstoy's uncanny ability to infiltrate human psychology and expose people for the frail and undignified beings we really are. In this story, he strives to reveal the self-deceit of marrying for "love" as opposed to marrying with an understanding of marriage as primarily an obligation to God. It seems that to Tolstoy, a life without repentance and duty to God must amount to a life where one is merely subject to the passions, a life that no one can want, just as described by "Schopenhauer and the Buddhists". Like Nietzsche, he is trying to tackle the problem of absence of meaning (posed by Schopenhauer), but he suggests the opposite of Nietsche's active nihilism. His purpose is to offer a life of sincerity, humility, and repentance; a life in accordance with the teachings of Jesus.

If you are looking to read the classics from a different perspective, this is an interesting story to read from a feminist theoretic perspective. I highly recommend reading "Intercourse" by Andrea Dworkin, as she includes an analysis of "The Kreutzer Sonata" in her book that provides a complex view of this story. Very interesting.

This is an old picture book that won the Caldecott Medal for illustration in 1950. It is a cute tale of a young Mexican-American boy who lives by the Mission San Juan Capistrano. Juan visits the mission coming home from school to visit his friend Julian, the old gentleman who works there.

The colorful drawings evoke San Juan years and years ago and are very touching, especially if you live in that area or have visited. The story of the swallows coming to Capistrano on St. Joseph's Day also shows the qualities of patience and hope little Juan has. He plants a garden to attract the swallows to his adobe home as well. A beautiful and timeless tale.

My 7 year old son reads at least 10 books a week. He most recently completed the original unabridged version of Doctor Dolittle, and he has read many Caldicott winners. Even though it has been months since he read this book, he claims that Song of the Swallows is his all time favorite.

This summer the swallows returned to San Juan Capistrano, but many didn't nest at the mission. Due to restoration work at the mission, many of the swallows decided to nest at a single family home nearby. A family of swallows even decided to nest in the high entranceway to my neighbor's house here in Whittier [about an hour north of SJC]. It reminded me that it was time to get out my copy of Leo Politi's beautiful book Song Of The Swallows and read it again. This excellently illustrated book tells the story of the yearly nesting of the swallows through the story of the relationship between Julian, a bell ringer at the mission, and Juan, a young school boy who lives nearby. Politi's exquisite art tells the story as much or more than his words. This was one of my favorite story books from my childhood and I'm lucky to still have the copy given to me as a young boy. The story still enchants me in my middle ages. Like many older copies of Politi's books, my copy was personalized to me by Politi [he didn't just sign the books, he did a personal watercolor on the front endpaper]. Please make this story a part of your child's personal library.

I admit that I am a grammar geek. I studied this book for hours, and had a blast doing it. The book has a diagnostic test, descriptions of the 3 questions types, essay tips for the 20-minute essay, the obligatory generic test-taking tips, and 6 sample tests with answers. I do wish they had included how to calculate your score for the sample tests, but at least there were explanations of every answer. I timed myself on one of their essay questions to make sure I would be able to complete it when taking the test and did one test-length set of multiple-choice questions. Most of their grammar review was clear. A book like this is essential for this test because the SAT II Writing tests formal English, which has some archaic rules that no one in their right mind actually uses. (Ex: "off of" is incorrect in formal usage). Even a person who speaks good English needs to study for this test. English, writing, and grammar happen to be my strong points, but without this book I'm sure I would have scored lower than the 760 I received.

Outlines all the basic stuff you need to know to score high on the test. Correct grammar, correct writing style, and many other things are discussed. After giving it a cursory glance, I learned a few new things I hadn't known before. My score of 660 will most likely go up to at least 750 after using this book. Still, the book could be better. Like most other books, it is boring, and it does not present the information in a way that will stick with you forever.

This book was great. The insruction was easy to follow. The best part about this book was the examples- they used real sentences instead of "Jack and jill had tea" to prove their points in grammar. The multiple practice tests were just like the real thing! BUY THIS BOOK!