If you're 50 or about to turn 50 or once were 50, you'll enjoy this book. It's inspirational. Wu collected a remarkable bunch of people to interview. Did these 50 people have great birthdays, or are they just the sort of people who live interesting lives, period? It's interesting to reflect that baby boomers, who have broken all kinds of records, continue to redefine the word "lifestyle." The values of the 60's generation come through clearly in the group Wu has found to interview. The book focuses on the depth of meaning and life philosophy that can come with the word "celebration". These people are celebrating not only a half century of living, but life itself. The intro, by Depak Chopra, is worth the price of the book alone.

Olivia Wu has done a masterful job of pulling together the stories of baby boomers who found creative ways of celebrating their milestone fiftieth birthdays. Her book is also a celebration of the spirit of a remarkable generation.

Tom Brokaw's book, The Greatest Generation, is about people who selflessly did what they had to do to survive a depression, win a world war, and raise a family. By contrast, Turning 50 is about the children of that generation who went their own way and did what they wanted to do. The way each individual or couple in Ms. Wu's book chose to celebrate half a century of being alive was unique and fascinating.

I found the book thoroughly enjoyable and uplifting. It also made me feel proud to be a member of that generation. No matter how old or young you are, reading these stories will be a joyful experience.

At a point in my life when I don't know if I'm young or old, it's great to read these short stories of people who are not only quite alive, but are succeeding at their lives and striking out in new areas. This book is a kick in the hind quarters to not take aging sitting down. Those who are interviewed (I was one of the earlier ones) tell some amazing tales of survival; a few of course are simply trying some new things... but they all add up to the fact that turning 50 doesn't mean things have to stop. Just the opposite, actually, it's an age to begin doing those things you always wanted to do but "life" may have gotten in the way.

If you're about to turn 50, read this book! Then get off your duff and live.

I've been waiting for this book for about 10 years or so... that's how long it's been since Penn & Teller deified Mac in their book "How to Play With Your Food". The title changed slightly (originally, they said to look for "Playing With Your Head"), and in that time, I had the opportunity to see Mac perform on a few "World's greatest magicians" type specials. Thus, I thought I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. And for the most part, I was right.

The star rating I used above is an average of ratings... if you've never read a book on goofy tricks like these, add a star. The originality will make you snort beverages through your nose when you think about poking your eyeball out with a fork. Gruesome as it sounds, I've done it before, and it's a great gag. Mac even suggests two different outcomes for you to try, depending on how far you want to string the audience along. The novelty of it all will also make you a little more forgiving for certain tricks like sticking a french fry up your nose (to keep more beverages from coming out, of course).

On the downside, if you have read books like this before, deduct a star. There is enough original material here to make up for gags that seem like old chestnuts, and the writing is entertaining and instructive. Regardless, you'll still feel like you've seen a bunch of this already, and odds are you will have.

Mac King is one of the funniest magicians in the world today....his book is a creative addition to the magic world and is very practical. This is a must for your home library! Buy it NOW, and let the fun begin!

I was completely surprised at how hilarious this is book is to read. I thought it might simply be a 'how-to' book for learning funny magic tricks, but I read the whole thing through at one sitting just because the writing style is so entertaining. I don't mean to dismiss the tricks, they too are really wonderful. And surprisingly easy to do. My favorites are 'The Headless Wonder' (it looks like your head is gone), 'Smack' (you get to hit your friend in the face only to have them laugh about it), and 'The Wonderful Telephone Trick.' Actually 'The Wondeful Telephone Trick' is the reason I bought this book in the first place. I heard Mac King demonstrate it on a local radio show. I have now bought 3 more copies of this book as gifts for my niece and nephews, and they all loved it (they're 17, 12, and 9 years old). But it's not just for kids (I'm 32 years old myself). If you like fooling your family and friends or just playing goofy practical jokes I think you'll find many great things in this book.

This updated (1999) version of The Annapolis Book of Seamanship is a wonderful volume for both the new and more experienced sailor. With clear, lucid text and wonderful illustrations, Mr. Rousmaniere and Mr. Smith have created a truly useful guide. In particular, I found the section dealing with the "physics" of the boat to be very enlightening. I also was pleased with the strong emphasis on safety throughout the book. All around, one of the best books available on the topic, and highly recommended.

Have you forgotten some of the terminology or manovers you learned in a sailing course last year? Are you an experienced sailor but would like more detailed information on a subject?This book has all the answers to the questions many novice sailors have; from parts of the boat, commands, moanovering in a harbour to sailor terminology. Themes also go into great detail on the subject matter accompanied with excellent illustrations to re-enforce your learning of a subject. It doesn't matter if your are a seasoned salt or new to the world of cruising. It belongs on every sailors book shelf.

John Rousmaniere has created a comprehensive text on the sport of sailing and seamanship which is enjoyable to read and very authoritative. By their nature, sailors have strongly held opinions on most subjects, but virtually every sailor I know of who has read John's book holds it in very high regard. The illustrations are clear and not too busy to get in the way of showing the frequently complicated topics which are inherent in the sport. I also find that Seamanship is not just a repeat of tired old sailing methods of 30 years ago, but rather integrates the classic techniques (storm tactics, navigation) with the modern (Crew Overboard Recovery, modern anchors and electronics).

I highly recommend this book, and encourage anyone to buy it if they want to improve their sailing skills.

This book was a real eye-opener for me. As someone who has a great interest in usability issues, I was surpirsed how little I knew about accessibility. To be honest, I suspect the most web designers/programmers are in the same boat. How often do we construct sites taking into account users with visual deficiencies? Not very often I suspect. And shame on us, because as this book shows it's not difficult.

It may even be a legal requirement, as we see from the chapters that explain the legal issues in not provide an accessible site - it could be very expensive. These legal issues may scare some site designers, but in reality it's the moral issue that's at stake. We should be ashamed for excluding, or making it difficult for, people access to sites when they can't use the standard browsers.

Buy this book now - it's enlightening.

I came into this book with some experience of commercial web programming and a knowledge of H.C.I, so I realised that it is important to make information on the web accessible to all, but had little idea on where to start. In the first pages I learnt something new about alt text for images, and realised that this book was going to teach me a lot of essential things about making web sites accessible!

It starts with an insight into the legal area of accessibility and moves on to look at common myths such as having a text only alternative to a site. Then it shows you how you can present your content, navigation and data input in the most assessable way, and then shows you ways on how you test your site, making sure everyone can enjoy your online efforts!

What I love about this book is the explanation behind it. Not only does it show you the practices, it backs them up with clear and concise reasons on why these techniques can make your web site easy to use for anyone, including those who may have disabilities. It is a major eye opener and it will be a book that sits on my desk day in, day out, whilst I program web sites. I can't recommend it highly enough, and it is an absolute must read for all those who program on the web and those who use the web to display and gather information."

Web usability has become a big [and important] topic in web design these days. Thankfully, its lesser-known sibling, web accessibility for disabled users, is now coming into its own right as a necessary design skill.

Constructing Accessible Web Sites will be extremely useful to the nuts-and-bolts people who actually design and code sites, but, as importantly (if not moreso), it gives an excellent overview of current laws and standards for the higher-ups who authorize and budget for site design. The chapter on organizational strategies for accessibility is a must-read for anyone who has any responsibilities regarding web design, implementation, or retrofitting sites to meet legal (and moral) obligations for accessibility.

The book is loaded with code samples, screen shots, and useful commentary on why things don't work for those with disabilites, and how to fix them so they work better for everyone. Particularly useful is a scorecard comparing authoring and design tools' accessibility authoring functionality and compliance with standards (Section 508, WCAG).

If you are involved in the design, creation, or maintenance of web sites, and you have clients -- and that would be just about every site, whether your site is an intranet, extranet, or public Internet site -- you really need this book. You owe it to yourself to own this book and make your life -- and the lives of web users with disabilities -- much, much easier. Highly recommended.

This durably jacketed guide to all known cetaceans contains easy to use identification information and illustrations. This is THE take-along field guide to use if you are going whale watching or traveling anywhere you want to know about the whales, dolphins/ porpoises you are seeing, as well as some explanation of behaviors and how they live. We used it in Antarctica; it's field tested. José Kirchner

My title sums it up. This is the ultimate book to bring on a field trip to watch whales and dolphins. The illustrations are clear and crisp and would aid anyone (even an expert would have a need for such a book) in the identification of any species (and it covers all the known ceteceans).

This is a great book if you want just a field guide with information on the different species of cetaceans. This would be a great book to take "whale watching".

Lessons from the Hawk is an insightful and practical look at the challenges which face teachers. The author, Mark Kennedy, begins the book by looking at the unique perspective of a hawk. From its vantage point above, a hawk sees the panorama below, yet it is capable of distinguishing every detail. Further, the hawk can change its position and consequently its perspective. Kennedy extends the idea of the hawks changing perspective by applying it to teaching in todays classroom.

With a deft blend of theory and practical application, Kennedy examines the complexity and diversity of the students in our classrooms. He identifies four perspectives for learning and illustrates how both teachers and students have a natural affinity for one of these perspectives. Then, Kennedy suggests that teachers adopt the multiple perspectives of the hawk so that they might better engage the multiple perspectives of their students.

Kennedy not only presents atheory of learning and teaching but also provides tools to implement his ideas. The book includes an assessment survey along with outlines for curriculum plans, unit plans, and individual lesson plans as well as many other useful forms and charts. In addition, Kennedy outlines methods for creating more participative classrooms where students can learn more cooperatively.

Lessons from the Hawk is an optimal blend of theory and practical application for helping students become sucessful.

Mark Kennedy gives educators a perspective of what to expect in the field of education. There are many practical ideas for classroom management, as well as suggestions that teachers can implement in their classrooms to help with situations that may arise on a daily basis.

Kennedy uses the four learning perspectives to help teachers idenify their own specific learning style, as well as many useful ways for teachers to incorporate every one of thier student's learning styles into daily lessons. There are very user-friendly outlines of plans that can help plan a unit of study that hit all four of the learning perspectives.

Kennedy has given his personal experiences as a way to help educators in their classrooms today. He tells it like it is and educators need to know it like it is, from the trenches!

Mark Kennedy's educational text Lessons from the Hawk is an asset for every teacher regardless of grade level and years of teaching experience. Build upon the belief that every child is capable of learning, Kennedy's approach to education reaches every student. His lessons for identifying how children learn differently center on how teachers acknowledge their students' diverse learning styles. His ideas and suggestions for understanding these learning perspectives are accompanied with charts and graphs, which really allow his teaching about the democratic teacher and classroom to come to life. This text is much more than educational theory; it is a wonderful tool that teacher's have to learn more about their own learning style, and then accept and incorporate the other three types into their teaching. The goal, as Kennedy explains, is really simple, and yet needs understanding and ultimately implementing in our schools: to focus teaching methods and lessons to meet the needs of all types of students. Thus, in doing so the teacher celebrates the student's individuality and learning is successful because it is personally meaningful and rewarding.

The book talks about general aspects of daily life, relationships with persons and situations and how they affect and condition our atittude towards life. The author gives some simple advice on how to see reality as it really is and not to let anger and hate, that frequently affect ourselves in the stressed world of today, generate. It also describes the practice of dream yoga for the those most interested. The dream Yoga is a very interesting issue and the author also explains the diference of the dream meaning between eastearn and weastern views. I recommend this book for everyone interested in understanding theirselves, in bringuing positiveness, concentration, awareness into their lives and relations. The autor uses a very simple and sincere language and I can tell by his writting he is a very kind and humble beeing. This is not the "101 secrects of whatever book". This is a ver true book which I belive you'll enjoy and consult for several times.

After reading Sogyal Rinpoche's "Tibetan Book of Living and Dying", I was intrigued by the practice of "Dream Yoga", which, although mentioned and discussed several times in Sogyal's book, was never covered in any depth. "Living and Dying" didn't include any instructions in the practice of this exercise either, so I decided to look elsewhere. While glancing through the Eastern Religion section of a local bookstore, I stumbled upon this fine little volume.

Wangyal Rinpoche delivers more than a guide to the practice of Dream Yoga- he delivers a guide to a complete nondual practice. The book includes meditation instructions, Guru Yoga and Dakini practices, breathing instructions, a guide to basic Tibetan bioenergetics, a little history of the Bon tradition, a brief introduction to Tantra and Dzogchen, and even a glossary filled with Tibetan and Sanskrit terms used throughout the book. There is enough here to begin a spiritual practice beyond dream yoga.

To the seeker looking for a guide to Tibetan mysticism, look no further- "The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep" is the perfect introduction.

Even for a seasoned lucid dreamer like myself, this book was highly useful in offering traditional Tibetan practices for lucid dream induction, as well as various suggestions for activities to attempt within a fully lucid dream. However, what is most amazing about this book is its instructions for abiding as the pure, empty Awareness (rigpa) that is our true Self. As a Zen Buddhist, I am quite familiar with maintaining this "mirror-mind," but I usually cannot maintain it for very long, and I've never held it past the dream stage, into deep dreamless sleep. The practices in this book are helping me to change all that. Maintaining meditation practice during sleep--literally 24 hours a day--accelerates things profoundly. When the gross, manifest world of spacetime has dissolved into the subtle realm of souls and dreaming, and when even that realm has dissolved into Emptiness, your truest self shines forth clearly as the one and only Mind behind all illusory manifestation. Truly, the awareness within you that is right now reading these words is the Buddha. Your true nature is absolutely vast, silent, empty, blissful, and timeless Consciousness as Such--the source and substance of all that seems to exist. When you become identified with this Consciousness, your true Self, and not merely with the deluded, individual mind (or ego), you find yourself in a state of constant consciousness--never blinking, never fading, 24 hours a day--remaining completely "awake" even during dreaming and deep sleep. You'll have discovered your true Home--the Home you've never left, the Home you couldn't possibly leave, but a Home that you refused to admit you were in while you suffered for lifetimes in this silly dream.

It only took me 30 seconds to buy the book after I scan the titles of the chapters in a fantasitic bookstore in middle Taiwan...all matter to me even if I am a Taiwanese who's so different from those who are supposed to read it.The subject is so universal that,after wandering among the shelves for hours with limited budgets, I decided to take it. The book provides us with so many tips and give us so many substantial thoughts and agendas that a man has to take to make himself rich, materially and spiritually. I am so amazed that,even books about the same subjects in the books are countless,this is a real DIFFERENT book which is written on basis of the authurs' financial expertise and their ideas of helping people, withour meaningless preach and crabbs. This book is a real life bible. I am so glad that I have it.

Need help on the job, at home, and with your finances? Then this book is for you. The book is a comprehensive guide for saving money and becoming a better person in the process. The book offers six secrets like determining what you want in a career, investing in intangibles like family and friends; paying off debts and getting into a 401(k); keep learning new skills; managing your own money and owning a business of your own. The book goes on to tell you how to negotiate to get the best price on just about anything, including motel rooms and used cars, and gives the lowdown on turning your kids into savers and investors, controlling college bills, cutting home buying costs and planning for retirement. This book will show you the way to make a difference in the way you approach money, work and life in general. In relation to life and financing I found this entire reading very inspiring. The book provides the only road map you'll ever need. Enjoy it.

FinancialNeeds.com

"Our goal for Invest in Yourself is to motivate you to take charge of your life and make the most out of your time, energy, and money." That's a novel and valuable perspective that's worth five stars for this book.

Too many self-help books focus on helping you get more money or more out of your money, but ignore the costs in terms of the time, attention, effort and stress involved. Invest in Yourself looks beyond that overly-narrow focus. That's the good news about this book.

The bad news about this book is that it has taken on more than one book can hope to fully deliver on. I hope the authors come out with sequels that expand and magnify what is here.

The six secrets are:

(1) Make your own lifestyle decisions.

(2) Put your family first.

(3) Wherever you work, be in business for yourself.

(4) Make the most of the money you bring home.

(5) Turn your debts into golden investment opportunities.

(6) Map out your financial future.

The three authors have an unusual perspective. They have dropped out of the "get ahead at the office" rat race and "shop until you drop" lifestyles much more than most. As a result, they have lots of money-saving ideas based on their own life experiences. Much of what is in the book, Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge would approve of. If you are like me, you will find money-saving ideas that would never have occurred to you, otherwise. My parents have always shopped are yard sales, but it had never occurred to me to use these routinely for the kind of around-the-house items that I will seldom use like unusual garden tools.

One of the strengths of the book is that it is not a "one size fits all" approach. They realize that each person will have a different set of life goals, and the advice is couched to accommodate that.

I also liked the way that the book challenged the automatic assumptions that many make: Career comes first; job comes first; exciting consumer experiences are a main reward for success; and only the best will do.

By having three authors, the perspectives and ideas were much more varied than I have seen in other, somewhat-similar self-help books. That also was a strength.

The weakest section was the last one on mapping out your financial future. Almost everyone will need more guidance than is here. That's the bad news. The good news is that there are lots of books about creating financial plans that you can use to supplement this one.

On the other hand, those who buy into the traditional American Dream and will happily pay the price for economic success will find less in this book than will those independent souls who listen to their own intuition for guidance. Despite ideas for making penny-pinching fun, it's not going to be fun for everyone. I do applaud pointing out how saving money for essentials is far more valuable than expanding income due to the income tax effects on progressive income. The advice about paying off your expensive debt is pretty standard, but I liked the way it was couched in terms of thinking of it as a high return investment.

I hope you will not only read this book, but apply its lessons. As you do, I encourage you to expand your perspective even more broadly than the book does. What other areas do you have important values in, besides time, money, and energy? How can those values be honored in your tradeoffs? The more you do this, the better life you will have . . . the richer your life will be in terms of its effect on those around you.

Enjoy, live long, and prosper!

The recipes are the best: simple, original, and endlessly variable. Bittman really knows his fish--I've made at least 40 recipes from this book and not a single clunker!

I had always believed that cooking fish was difficult, until I found this book. The recipes are easy and delicious, even for a relative amateur who is easily intimidated.

This cookbook is thorough and accurate in educating anyone on the selecting,buying, and preparing of seafood. I was well prepared after reading this cookbook to visit my seafood shop and intelligently discuss seafood with my fish monger. It allowed me to ask pertinent questions that I would not otherwise have known to ask. I was also able to judge if my fish monger was knowledgable and honest in giving me information regarding my seafood purchases. The recipes were tried and true, allowing the homecook to prepare first time dishes to perfection . I particularly like the common sense issues such as suggesting in each recipe several different types of fish which could be substituted and the author's wonderful approach to presenting the truth about fish consumption. I daresay the health police are valiantly exposed in their misrepresentation of the facts on seafood. This is a excellent book for the person who makes seafood a part of their regular menu.

This book contains a great deal of material; it is in general an easy read, a credit to Swami Durgananda's journalistic ability. The questions I have are: Does it really meet its goal? What is the goal? What is the path? What are the stages on the path? What are the obstacles?

These are questions anyone embarking on a path of meditation needs to know. These questions are left largely unanswered by Swami Durgananda.

The goal of meditation is in the words of Patanjali "Yogas citti vrtti nirodhah" Yoga is controlling the turnings of the mind". In the words of the Dalai Lama, it is controlling one's mind. The reason to control our minds is that is the road to happiness and enlightenment. Meditation itself is single pointed thought. In reading Swami Durgananda's book it is hard to discern not only what meditation is, but also what the goal is and why we meditate and how her exercises lead us to that goal. I would have like her to be more explicit about these relationships.I think this is largely a problem of organization of her material, prioritization, and order of presentation.

Siddha Yoga is a guru based tradition and this book reflects that philosophy. It is also an experience based tradition and this book reflects that. While in the middle of the book Swami Durganada tells us that meditative experiences should only be used as road signs on the path, a great deal of this book is the relating of hers and others' experiences. The reader will have to make his or her own assessment, however, they should be aware that most masters tell their disciples to ignore visions and meditative experiences. The late Lama Yeshe was particularly vehement about that.

Swami Durgananda contends that the shakti will automatically come up with antidotes to negative emotions. Others believe that antidotes must be consciously cultivated that we may learn to control and in the end rid ourselves of negativity. The reader would be benefited by reading Stephan Bodian's MEDITATION FOR DUMMIES (Title forgiven) to see meditations on emotions.

Success on the path is not measured by seeing Blue Pearls or white light, or having great visions, but by attainment of concentrative focus, contentment, compassion, lovingkindness and wisdom.

The Dalai Lama's STAGES OF MEDITATION is helpful for understanding stages of meditation. As Swami Durgananda notes that there is a similarity of paths though there are cultural differences. Another book readers of this book would find helpful is Jack Kornfield's A PATH WITH HEART. Though Kornfield is a Buddhist, the book is written for all traditions.

Many of Swami Durgananda's exercises are very worthwhile. Her chapter on Mantra repetition is lacking. Mantra repetition is an exercise in concentration and later in practice important for diety yoga. Most teachers recommend counting mantras and noting points of distraction. Malas are for counting.

Her opinion that the guru gives the mantra chaitanya (enliving) is not shared by Sir John Woodroofe in A GARLAND OF LETTERS . Woodroofe states that it is in understanding the meaning of the mantra that it comes alive. It appears from Swami Durgananda's discussion of her own experience that this is the case. The Sanskrit language carries it's own power.

Her three week breakthrough program is quite intense for those without a previous meditation practice. Beginners would be advised to forgo the three hours of meditation a day and begin with half an hour. Should they decide to begin with three hours a day, reading Bonnie Greenwell's ENERGIES OF TRANSFORMATION: A GUIDE TO THE KUNDALINI PROCESS would be well advised before hand.

I found the "troubleshooting your meditation" chapter particularly inadequate. Hopefully, it will be improved in the next addition. One is referred to Bodian's, Kornfield's, or Greenwell's books which cover the problems more thoroughly.

The strong points of this book are the "coming out of meditation: contemplation, recollection and journal writing" and "daily life of the meditator" chapters.

I think this book is a valuable adjunct to one's meditation library. It should not be the mainstay of one's practice.

In "Heartof Meditation" Sally Kempton has done an amazing job of covering every aspect of meditation in a clear and easy to relate to way. The book is filled with practical exercises and many different ways of breaking through obstacles for every personality type. It is also well seasoned with beautiful quotes from a variety of saints, poets and authors. I've been meditating for 22 years and have read a lot of books on meditation; this is the first that approaches the topic from a highly creative and playful position. A true gem!

This book takes meditation several steps farther than the usual 'how to', and offers one of the clearest guides I've seen to the subtle practices of kundalini energy-based meditation. As a longtime meditator, I've read many books that tell you how to get into meditation, but this is one of the first I've seen that tells you how to proceed once you're there. People who are used to the vipassana style of meditation or some of the yogic approaches will be surprised by the emphasis on feeling and inner energetic sensations that the author takes here. The chapter on mantra, for instance, goes beyond the usual approach to mantra as a device for thought control, to discuss the energetic aspects of mantra. The chapter on working with thoughts gives a process for accessing the energy behind negative emotions that I found particularly helpful. This is a great book for people who want to expand their meditation experience.