The nuts-and-bolts of running a parish in a hospitable manner is of little interest to me; hence, the "boring". However, Kollar gives very concrete, practical suggestions which are available to all parishes regardless of financial status; hence, the "highly recommended".

Kollar presents her material in short chapters with a "think and reflect" summary for each chapter. This makes the text very usable in a small leadership group setting. The concreteness of her suggestions show how to identify the problem areas while recognizing that the particulars of a parish will determine the implementation.

What is considered? Landscape, signs, lighting, voice mail, job titles, comittees ... all those little details that determine first impressions. Buy yourself a copy - then copies for each of the parish leaders.

Judith Kollar's awareness-heightening book reflects her years of experience with Catholic parishes, encouraging small changes that will reap large benefits. Her suggestion that parish staffers should know what it's like to sit on the congregation's side of the altar is just one example of her thoughtfulness. "Explain, explain, and explain, again!" likewise encourages parish personnel to help the parishioners to understand changes in liturgies and in the parishes' heightened social / societal responses. Certainly, this little book with the big heart should be read by all parish personnel. It's a delightful User-Friendly book!

I know this book by heart. The best thing about it is the great, colorful pictures. Parents will be able to go above and beyond the simple story line to get their child involved in what's happening in the picture, as Elmo and Grover's grandad go for ice cream, listen to musicians, go to the zoo, etc. One caveat: Elmo doesn't ask his parents if it's okay to go somewhere with Grover's grandpa. Not a big deal, but not something to be glossed over in this day and age...

My 2 year old relates so much to this sorry. She really understands Elmos pain when he falls down and hurts his knee. It is a MUST read, requested daily by my little Elmo lover

Excellant material for the Pre-Catechumenate phase of RCIA. Just enough information to provide the "overview" encouraged by the Rite.

Fr. Champlin provides an excellent "beginners" overview of the important aspects of Catholic faith. While this is not intended to be a theology text book and does not address any issue in depth, our parish has found it to be the perfect resource for persons in the Pre-Catechumenate stage of Christian Initiation. The colorful illustrations and very readable text are attractive and inviting. The articles lend themselves well to discussion questions that draw on the life experience of the participants. It provides the Inquirers enough background to introduce them to the church and stimulate questions without overwhelming those without previous instruction with excessive theological jargon.

For use in the Pre-Catechumenate - this book is PERFECT.

Starting with tire tracks in the mud, this book engages the reader with many adventures in mathematical explorations. Selected from the Problem of the Week collection at Macalester College that spans over twenty-five years, these 191 pearls are truly special. With an undergraduate population as the target, all problems can be understood by the sophisticated mathematics student. Most are within the proof set of undergraduates, although everyone from student to professor will find them challenging.
The subject matter is generally restricted to topics that are encountered in high school. For example, calculus is essentially unused. The main categories are: plane geometry, number theory, algebra, combinatorics, and graph theory, and three-dimensional geometry. A chapter of miscellaneous problems rounds out the collection. Solutions to all problems are included and the authors took great care to choose the proof that was most elegant or unusual.
If you are looking for that special problem to challenge your students or have an urge to be intrigued, then you should find what you want in this book.

Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission.

The book has many intriguing problems that are sure to capture the minds of any mathematician. It also contains a very nice answer section. The only throwback is that most of the problems take significant thought and require some time to solve completely. However, the nice answer section takes care of the problem should you become obsessed with a problem you can't quickly solve, and the overall quality of the problems warrant a 5-star rating.

This series has a wonderful idea at its heart: After beingfaced with a difficult problem, 10-year-old Whitney travels back intime to ancient Israel with the help of her grandmother's magical Bible. There she ends up playing a key part in the world's best-loved Bible stories. When Whitney returns to the present time, she finds she knows how to better handle her own problems. What makes this book and the other one I've read so far (Whitney Rides the Whale with Jonah) is that Whitney is very active in both time periods -- she deals with her problem in the present, and she makes a real contribution to solving the Biblical problem when she goes back in time. All that plus humor and a character kids will identify with. I can't wait for the rest of the series.

How imaginative, a little girl goes back in time to be a part of a great Bible story! I can't wait to read the other books in the series.

I'm not a big fan of biographies, but Pearce does a fine job here. Part of it obviously is due to the wonderful man he is dealing with, a splendidly witty writer who perfected the paradox and dared to insert common sense into politics. The material on the younger Chesterton isn't too interesting, but Pearce succesfully explains Chesterton's views, reviews all his major writings, covers his personal life well and gives fair space to Chesterton's critics as well as his friends (though the two were often one and the same, such as Shaw and Wells, as the book points out). A very good introduction into the life of Chesterton and recommended for anyone interested in him or anyone who doesn't know anything of this great man.

For the first time in all the years I have learnt from G.K. Chesterton, I have found a biographer able to explain the Marconi scandal... Cecil, G.K.'s brother, was attacking insider trading before it became a fashion to do so. Joseph Pearce allows us to understand and value G.K. fidelity towards his brother's memory and social insights. Hat's off to the biographer.

"The Stranger", by Albert Camus, is a much praised and widely read book. It can be said that its focus is greatly connected with the philosophy of existentialism. I have heard it considered as one of the most important existentialist books, a definite must for the reader who considers themselves to subscribe to that philosophy. Even if one is not considering themselves to be existentialist, the books content can be attractive to those who would at least like to explore the issue. The story centers around a man named Mersault, and more than anything explores his behavior, or lack of. Camus offers us a different type of character, one that doesn't express dramatic amounts of emotion, rather, one that expresses almost none at all. For readers who have not yet encountered such a distinguished and different character, this is definitely a book to read if one wishes to explore areas involving possible facets of human behavior. I would recommend this book exclusively for that purpose. Camus uses his character Mersault as a vehicle to express his existentialist ideas and propositions on the meaning of life, peoples actions, and the world in general. "The Stranger" is disturbingly iconoclastic and assaults the worlds conventional morality. For any reader, this book should be compelling as well as unsettling, all the while being completely absorbing. Camus makes striking challenges to conventional thought in such a way that no reader could remain unaffected. For the existential enthusiast, or the lay reader, this book promises to be a rewarding and enriching experience.

The Stranger is as beautiful as any work of art can hope to be.
It is in the latter parts of the book, where Mersault's words have a lyrical power not seen previous, that the English translation achieves the haunting effect that must be even more prevalent in the French. The first thing readily obvious is that the character has no emotional connection to what he experiences; he simply experiences. Thus, Camus utilizes an American style, terse and detached. Some reviewers were off put by this. "How could he not care that his mother died? " Attaching immorality to Mersault merely shows a total misunderstanding of the book.
Camus believed in "absurd freedom," life has no inner value and is futilely cut short, but it is up to us to determine our life in such uncertainty. If one doesn't interpret life, emotion doesn't exist. But the values that society has incriminate you if you don't conform. They make you strange. They take no account of individuality.
That is the peril of the main character after a bizarre series of events on a sun drenched beach.
The power of Camus is that even though he creates such a bleak, hopeless human situation the characters still go on as best they can, perhaps even attaining happiness. "One must imagine Sisyphus happy," to quote The Myth of Sisyphus.
That is also the power and beauty of mankind.

The Stranger (translated from Camus' l'Etranger) is the story of Monsieur Meursault, a Frenchman living in Algeria. He is a normal working-class clerk who enjoys the normal pleasures of life. However, the reader notes his strangely impassive attitude from the opening of the book, where we see his inexplicably detached demeanour in light of news of the death of his mother.

In fact, Meursault is too indifferent to judge any of the events or people that surround him. Accordingly, he does not expect others to judge him either, and the fact that the story focuses on his trial where others examine his life is very ironic.

The trial centres on the events surrounding one of Meursault's trip to the beach at Algiers. Camus has chosen the name Meursault with purpose, with the French for the sun and sea (mer and soleil) which come together here just as they do at the beach where the crucial episode of the story takes place.

Underneath the simple plot, there are many abstract ideas brought forth on prejudice and societal conventions. The most important of these themes is the existentialist philosophy of Camus that is realized by Meursault in the final chapter of the book.

I have always looked forward to reading the classic book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. When I finally had time to read it, I wasn't disappointed. The Great Gatsby, written in 1925, is a fictional tale that takes place during the American Jazz Age. The story is set in the eastern U.S. and follows the journey of a young man named Nick. The book trails Nick from his home in the West to his new life in West Egg, New York. Nick becomes involved in the social scene is West Egg, which is mainly centered on the weekly extravagant parties thrown by the incredibly wealthy and strangely mysterious Jay Gatsby. As the book progresses, Gatsby's past is slowly unraveled. Nick witnesses Gatsby's gradual admittance of his significant secret. He discovers that Gatsby is deeply in love with Daisy Buchanan, a beautiful socialite, trapped in a miserable marriage to an unfaithful husband. Though Nick does not want to be involved in any way with the illicit love affair between Daisy and Gatsby, he is gradually takes a larger part in Gatsby and Daisy's dangerous romance. When Jay and Daisy decide to declare their love to one another, it leaves Gatsby in an unforgettable and risky situation that changes the lives of all involved. The Great Gatsby was one of the most interesting books that I have ever read. It included a beautiful love story, danger, suspense, tales of true devotion and friendship, and a wonderful, thought-provoking commentary on the society in post-World War I America, a time of excess and confusion. I have learned several lessons from the novel, whether they are about loyalty or remaining true to oneself. I would recommend this book to anyone above the age of thirteen because of some parts of the novel that might be difficult to grasp. The Great Gatsby is a truly wonderful book, and sure to be enjoyed by many for many years to come.

This novel's best point is Fitzgerald's writing style. Having such a light and lucid pen, Fitzgerald manages to describe scenes in such a way as to make them come to life. He is also very subtle in his use of sarcasm (mostly demonstrated through the narrators remarks on those around him). This ornate style is in contrast to the spare quality of the plot. Basically, the story follows Nick Carraway's involvement in the relationship between Jay Gatsby and his --Gatsby's-- long time love (who is a married woman). It plays out in a way that is very similar to Greek tragedies (imagine Oedipus Rex). However, simple this may sound, it plays out in an interesting way, and is somewhat refreshing when compared to the modern day four-plot-twist-per-book style of writing (not to say that there aren't good modern writers; there are, of course).

Another interesting aspect of this book is the idea of wealth, or the idealization of wealth. All of the characters involved in this story are either bent on gaining, or flaunting money. Gatsby throws lavish parties, and drives around in a distinctive automobile. Nick is looking to earn a fortune in the supposedly limitless city of New York. Fitzgerald even lays down a sort of classist line (through Gatsby's lips, I believe): "The rich get richer, and the poor get children." It follows that within the book there are thin, nearly invisible, lines drawn between all the characters of different classes.

I would recomend this novel for anybody who is interested in clever writing. I'd also recomend this to anyone who's interested in the expatriot writers. For while Fitzgerald is in contrast to Hemingway, they almost seem to compliment each other in defining the time period. I would also recomend this to anybody who's interested in classic american literature, for it is very much a hallmark American story.

Delivering no comforting message or feeling of warmth, The Great Gatsby glitters and dances off the smooth and lively words of F. Scott Fitzgerald. "It is a shocking book," wrote Walter Yust, "one that reveals incredible grossness, thoughtlessness, polite corruption, without leaving the reader with a sense of depression, without being insidiously provocative." The book is captivating; when the story becomes calm and relaxed, the words themselves remain thrilling as they impel the pages to keep turning. Set in the 1920's, The Great Gatsby explores the life of the wealthy and hopeful J. Gatsby as he pursues his love, Mrs. Daisy Buchanan. Through the narrative of the gentle and level-headed Nick Carraway, we learn to love Gatsby and to loathe those who cause his downfall. Money, love, selfishness, infidelity and misdirected passions are woven together to form a net that ensnares the larger part of the book's characters. "Gatsby turned out all right in the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams that temporarily closed out my interest in the abortive sorrows and short-winded elations of men" (pgs. 6,7). Yet, through many understated, despicable acts, there is a light of goodness and hope: Gatsby's hope. It is seen shining brighter than the great and twinkling lights of Gatsby's summer parties. "It was an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found before in any other person and which it is not likely I shall ever find again" (pg. 6). Fitzgerald magnifies the underlying ideas of the novel in each of Daisy's tears and every splashing drop from Gatsby's fountains. When gathered together, the droplets reflect Fitzgerald's own life of money and misfortune as his own wife caused him heartache over an extra-marital affair. Furthermore, Fitzgerald also battled against the troubles of living a lavish life without an incredibly stable income. As the story can be paralleled to Fitzgerald's own life - Gatsby can be paralleled to the ideals of America in the 1920's; a generous visionary with a goal and, also, hopeful enough to pursue his goal. "Gatsby believed [in] the future that year by year recedes before us... So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past" (pg. 189). As time went on, the world around Gatsby changed, and, outwardly, Gatsby changed right along with it. But, inwardly, Gatsby longed for and strived to regain his past, just as so many people of the twenties were torn between the past and the present. The Great Gatsby shows a hero like we have never seen before. A hero who unconsciously battled against an evil force: corruption caused by money. He also, consciously, fought for the sake of his heart as he tried to regain the love of his past. Despite his valiant efforts on both battle fields, Gatsby is trampled over by the effects of the thoughtless, calloused actions of others. With the book thus ending, Gatsby can still be called nothing short of heroic.

I thought that Heart of Darkness was an excellent book that everyone should read. I portrays every single persons true self, there sense of darkness and treachery in the world. Not every person you meet shows there sense of darkness, but this book displays how there is a feeling in that amongst all of us. Joseph Conrad shows a lot of feelings that some humans experience, like racism, and insanity. This book takes you for a real roller coaster ride. If you liked Heart of Darkness, you should see the movie Apocalypse Now. This movie is exactly the same thing as this except it's in a different time period. This novella is a story about Marlow and is adventure through the Congo River. As Marlow goes down the river, he encounters several obstacles that make him realize the true threat of the Congo River. The plot and the themes of the story are difficult to understand but eventually it can be grasped. The only attribute I particularly didn't like about the book was the extreme detail that Conrad shows in the book. I thought that he could have summed up most of the stories details to a shorter version. All and all it was a very interesting book.

Heart of Darkness is a novella that really needs to be read more than just once to fully appreciate Conrad's style of writing. The story is an account of one man's simultaneous journey into the darkness of a river as well as into the shadows of a madman's mind. There is a very brilliant flow of foreshadowing that Conrad brings to his writing that provides the reader with accounts of the time period and the horrible events to come. Through Conrad's illuminating writing style we slowly see how the narrator begins to understand the madness or darkness that surrounds him.

I recommend this particular version of the novella because it contains a variety of essays, which discusses some of the main issues in the reading and historical information. Issues like racism and colonialism are discussed throughout many essays. It also contains essays on the movie inspired by the book Apocalypse Now, which is set against the background of the Vietnam War. I recommend reading Heart of Darkness and then viewing Apocalypse Now, especially in DVD format which contains an interesting directors commentary.

There can be long debate about the hidden meanings, etc. in Heart of Darkness. And, of course, if one pays even a scintilla of attention. one's mind will no doubt be provoked by this deep, mysterious and moving tale. For example, there could be (I'm sure there has already been) a century long debate on the exact meaning of the title. However, besides the import of its moral/human/instinctive/spritual teachings, Heart of Darkness is often overlooked for the sheer excitement and anticipation the words cause. This is, to put it bluntly, a terriffic story. I was so anticipating the meeting between Marlow and Kurtz that I could barely stand it. And the visual imagery is astonishing. I will never forget the stakes with heads of savages. One must wonder how familiar Conrad was with the story of Vlad the Impaler (Dracula)!! Of course, it is the importance of the work that has made its immutable mark on literature. Any reader will surely be able to recognize his or her ! own instinctive/unconscious capabilities (desires, perhaps?) when they read this book. Who among us can wholly deny that we would not have behaved like Kurtz when left unrestrained by our society and placed in a position where it was not difficult to make a relatively unchallenged rise to power? Perhaps imperialism, left unchecked, is human nature, and our nature, our instinct is to civilize those different from us by way of any means feasible, which, with "savages" or the "uncivilized", is violence, fear or terror. Do a quick check of history, and you will find this to be true. The Heart of Darkness may in fact be the heart of man, a metaphor for the instinctive nature of man.