Back Cover description: "You have no family, no home and no prospect of marrying." That might be true, but Venetia Forbes didn't see her situation as any reason to accept Professor Duert ter Laan-Luitinga's prosaic proposal! But after tasting champagne for the first time in her life, Venetia was astounded to hear herself saying yes. "My ward needs an example of a contented, harmonious marriage." Without love Venetia was convinced their marriage might be anything but harmonious by the time young Anneta went to her aunt in America! And what would happen to their marriage then?

This is another typical Betty Neels story-doctor and nurse, but I liked the way the plot moved, and the love grew between them. Though at times Duert's character could be annoying. Why a wife, why not a governess? Venetia's character was quiet and shy, but not a doormat. And the ending was slightly different--the doctor gets jealous.

This was the book that started me on the Betty Neelscollection. I enjoyed it very much.

BACK COVER: The professor made it very clear.... "You have no family, no home and no prospect of marrying," Duert ter Laan-Luitinga told Venetia, as if she wasn't fully aware of her precarious position.
His solution to the problem took her by surprise. Marriage - to him ! Not a love match, of course, but a marriage of convenience.
Venetia should have rejected him but strangely found herself agreeing - hoping with all her heart that the stranger she was marrying would one day grow to care for her - as much as she loved him.

This is another of Neels' wonderful stories about a lovely, compassionate woman making her way in the world all alone. She loses the last of her family and faces little prospect of sharing her vast reserves of compassion and kindness with anyone other than her patients. Though she considers herself plain and unremarkable, the doctor has better instincts. It may take him a while to admit all of what he has gained, and how deeply he cares, but he takes care of her and protects her from the first moment they meet. He finally proves his ability to judge true beauty and character from an ordinary pair of loving gray eyes !
This is a true Betty Neels staple romance and will greatly satisfy loyal readers as well as indoctrinating and enslaving new readers of her work.

I was expecting so much more from this book, and I was disappointed with what I got. The photographs are beautifully done, but the contents of the pictures were so safe and conservative and devoid of personality. Not what I would expect from a book dealing with French taste -- which appeals to me usually for it's bravery and panache in it's interior design. About the only thing the rooms in this book shout to me was money. More money than style. More desire to impress than true chic. I want to see personality in interiors, and this book presents a heartless, soul-deadening succession of very expensive, very uninteresting rooms.

While a little "Dallas" in style. This book captures a mixture of French styles. Betty Lou's books are well illustrated. Most importantly, she lists the sources of the items & fabrics. I find it insulting when designers are secretive regarding sources. Keep it up Betty Lou, I wish more coffee table books on decorative arts & design were like yours. I recommend this if it fits your style.

I place this books among my top favorites in the decorating category (and I own many). Each time I flip through this book I see some new ideas that I didn't notice before. The are many beautiful pictures but the text is fun to read as well. The book helps to give you a feel for the way the French live and feel about their homes. Betty Lou Phillips also wrote French by Design which I also enjoyed, but of the two books French Influences is my favorite.

Ames and Harber explore this livley energized challenging time in a child's life and provide insights for parents to guide them through this rollar coaster ride between seven and nine years old. The authors aim to offer parents insight on everything from relationships and family life to routines and birthday parties. Each chapter is rich with observation and empirical and anecdotal data. While you may not always agree with the conclusions the authors reach, credit is easily given to the skill with which they are able to articulate their observations. Your Eight Year Old: Lively and Outgoing is a practical systematic guide to better understanding eight year old behavior.

Having bought "Your 6-Year-Old" and found it terrific, we purchased this book when we were going through some problems with our then 8-year-old. "Your 6-year-old" was extremely helpful to us at the time, giving us lots of tools to deal with the changes our daughter was going through. However, "Your 8-Year-Old" didn't seem to go into as much depth as the 6-year-old one did. The descriptions of various personality traits and development phases seemed more general in this book than in the 6-year-old book. Although it was helpful, we felt that it could have gone into more detail.

I am buying this book because I already own "Your two year old" through "Your six year old" written by the same author. The books I have read by this author are succinct and written in a conversational tone. The insight that I've gained into the developmental/behavioral stages of a child in this series have been great.

The book has lots of good design. Unfortunately, as an adult, I do not think I would wear the work instructed in the book.

An interesting little workbook, designed to be used with something called the Olympus WigJig, a transparent wire bending jig. If, like me, you have never heard of this device, the book gives no information on how to obtain or make the jig. Fortunately, the designs can be made without the jig. The designs, while interesting, are copyrighted. Why does the author give us copyrighted designs for a mass-production jig? The book is strictly for beginners who are interested in simple wire bending without using soldering or any advanced techniques.

The reviewer above obviously didn't even read the book, as it gives (in several places) the website and 800 number of where to order the jig used. Also, the Wig Jig is not a mass production jig, it and the designs in the book are intended for personal use.

The book is an excellent start for beginners - It gives specific step by step instructions. The jig is not required for any of the designs, but it does make things easier & quicker.

This would have been an outstanding environment to have a great discussion over this "Beginnings" of Scripture. I say this because what is missing is a clear "conservative" voice. Certainly there are several whom one might label as providing this side's views. There are many such Old Testament stalwarts who could have did this admirably, e.g. Walter Kaiser to mention but one.

Thus, this book is very unbalanced as the liberal element is so prone to do: ignore the traditional, conservative opinion as well. You find it in all their works. While the conservative side most always reacts and interacts with the liberals, you rarely see it in the reverse. Thus, the poor unknowing layperson sees this as the total picture. Or hopefully not.

"Oh, Lord, open thou our eyes."

Perhaps if you haven't read these since childhood Sunday school, you still think these are simple stories. These compact stories all have deep issues about life and what it means to be human. I was surprised by the feeling that God may be wresting with what it means to be God and allow humans freedom. There almost seems to be a trial and error approach to creation. The people in Genesis are all exposed as being very human, with fractured families. The people on the video are also very human, and at time the discussions are very personal, like sitting in with an old friend. This book and videos offered an amazing number of views, and one shouldn't view them as dogma. I was particularly surprised by feminist and Koran views. I hope to read further by Burton Visotzky who was a participant. For an example of unique reading of Abraham and Isaac see Kierkegaard's "Fear and Trembling".

I don't agree...I found this book exciting. Most books today considering the question of Genesis are generally written by conservative believers and marketed to the faithful. We've been fed the conservative point of view fairly consistantly since the founding of this country. In my experience, I find that the conservative rarely reach out to conduct this kind of inquiry, instead focusing on "spreading the word" they personally endorse with very little time for others' interpretations of the bible's message. They rarely reccomend such books as this to their peers, for fear of the questions which may arise from the text. (this is, as I've said, based upon my own experiences, and doesn't apply to conservatives as a whole, I should hope.) I read and consider both camps, but have always seen the field as unbalanced in the conservative direction, especially here in the south. Welcome this book, read this book, and consider this book. It's a rare thing thoughtfully constructed.

This second book about the abduction experiences of Betty Andreasson Luca and her husband Bob Luca proves much more fascinating than the initial book. In a sense, this book is a prequel to its predecessor because it deals with alleged abductions experienced during Betty's childhood. What continues to set the Andreasson Affair apart from other abduction stories is the pervasive religious connotation placed by Betty on her experiences. Her story remains rather unique in this respect in the abduction literature in general. It is perhaps for this reason that her story is rarely mentioned by other researchers. One cannot say whether the events Betty recalls actually happened, although the bulk of evidence indicates that something indeed happened, and it remains virtually impossible to determine if her own feelings that the UFO occupants are angelic emissaries from God are correct or whether her own fundamentalist faith has worked its way into her mental processes as a way of making the unbelievable more acceptable and easier for her to deal with.

I am rather ambivalent when it comes to Andreasson's experiences, largely because this book betrays to me several weaknesses in the case. For example, the author only personally attended one hypnotic regression session described here, relying mainly on tapes and videos along with the information provided by his associate investigator. Distance accounts for his inability to attend the sessions, but it presents a problem to me. Most importantly, the hypnotist, while a learned behavioral psychologist, had no experience with the hypnosis of alien abductees; many times, I felt he did ask leading questions and sometimes raced ahead of his subject, leaving his own trail of information for her to follow. The absence of Fowler at the sessions left the hypnotist out on his own too often, and this accounted for most of the problems I have with the regression sessions.

Fowler also seems to be of two minds when making his points. He stresses the unique importance of this case of high strangeness, but he often rushes through other UFO materials to find anything at all that sounds similar to something Betty reported. He does attempt to place the Andreasson Affair in the context of abduction literature in general toward the end of the book, but he seems to go off on tangents that have little to do with the case at hand. He also cites sources that are questionable at best (such as an article from the Weekly World News tabloid). This does not mean the story is not true, of course. If Andreasson's revelations are accurate, this is an extraordinarily important case. For now, all of this information is greatly intriguing and invokes more questions than it answers, but there is just not enough evidence for the reader to come to a definite conclusion as to the truth of this matter.

Well the book says it all itself - within the very pages it asks whether this book is the result of drugs, hallucination, make-believe or just plane truth. How can such a complex story be invented by one mind and adhered to under such scrutiny? The story is just as incredible as Phase One and as such is a must for all UFOlogists. Still reeling from the incredible images conjured up, I can't wait to read Watchers (phase 3) and Watchers 2, followed by The Andreasson Legacy

I first read the Andreasson Affair, and the Andreasson Affair Phase Two about 20 years ago.
I have yet to read any 'abduction' books that even come close to the detail of Mr. Fowler's investigation.
The mix of religious overtones has always struck me as the most fascinating aspect of the story. I beleive this is one reason these books are not as well circulated or referenced in public libraries as others of this type. (At Least This Has Been My Experience when trying to locate them at my local library).
Still these books have stood the test of time through debunkers, sceptics, and the like who have yet to explain away this account.
Whether you believe in the possibility of alien abductions or not, these books make for very exciting reading.....and I for one "Want To Believe".

I didn't realize when I ordered this book that it was so biased towards humantities. While they have some tips that are relevant to any educator, some of the topics which are crucial for the humanities (such as essays and hour-long class discussions) are less useful for an adjunct teaching intro chemistry!

What I'd really like to see are tips for science educators -- how to run a lab, how to teach problem solving skills, how to involve students in active learning when you have so many FACTS to cover.

This book has a lot of common sense information that we all like to hear. It starts with information about how to plan for your class and prepare a complete syllabus that spells out your expectations and decreases the chances of arguments with students later. There are also some great tips for writing good test questions to demonstrate what the students know rather than what they don't know.

Most of the information is geared towards classes that do a lot of literature reading and include lots of class discussions and essay writing. Class discussions are often hard to sustain and this book advises how to keep people from dominating the discussion and how to involve everyone and lessen students' fears of being wrong. This book did not include many concrete ideas for how to improve teaching or new things to try in the classroom rather it gave advice for how to make the old, common ways of teaching, such as lecturing and discussion, work.

Although this book has six authors, I still felt like I was only getting one point of view. I think this would be a more inclusive general guide to college teaching if there were viewpoints from people working in different disciplines.

Every college professor, and would-be college professor, will want to add this important book to his or her professional library. It is brimming with practical advice for achieving success in the classroom. The co-authors, themselves affiliated with a range of institutions (from liberal arts college to university research center), bring their own practical experiences to the fore. Moreover, they provide superb advice about key issues related to teaching (e.g., office hours, construction of exams, and professional conduct.) Whether one is at the beginning of his or her career or a veteran professor, this book will prove itself most beneficial.

Although some readers seem to have gotten a great benefit from Ms. Berzon's book, sometimes complicated questions deserve more complicated answers. At one point, she argues that a person very likely is born homosexual. And yet, at another, in disputing the use of the Bible to justify bigotry argues that the Bible never discusses sexual orientation. As she says, nothing was known of such things in the ancient world (apparently despite people having in-bred same-sex attractions). Missing is the extensive scholarship revealing how intimately homophobia relates to the development of modern capitalism.

I agree with all the comments (good and bad) that one reader made under the Amazon review heading "Usually helpful, but sometimes too brusque. March 11, 1999." However, I want to add that I love the way Berzon helps turn arguments around, forcing the attacker to not only examine his/her own words, but also why s/he would say them. Berzon uses her background in psychotherapy to help people search for the roots of bigotry. All gays and lesbians should read this book; their supporters should as well. Berzon offers knowledge, inspiration, and empowerment.

I just finished reading this wonderful book by Dr. Berzon and I must say that it's gay empowerment at its finest! I recommend this book to anyone and everyone who is gay or knows someone who is gay but I recommend it even more to those who are unfamiliar with who and what gay really is. I'm now ordering a copy to be sent to my Christian mother. I wished all of our lawmakers would read this enlightend masterpiece!

Turn Left at the Black Cow offers Fred Astaire fans some wonderful anecdotes, as the legendary dancer visits his daughter and her husband in Ireland. However, author McKenzie's constant name dropping and continuous negative comments about Fred's second wife wear thin. Worth a look, but feel free to skim.

If you read this for tidbits about Fred Astaire, that's all you get are tidbits. If you read it seeking the feeling of Ireland, there are some nice descriptive moments in the book. Mostly it focuses on the author whose life and celebrity contacts did not make up for my disappointment in the skimpiness on Astaire and Ireland.
I recommend instead titles by Niall Williams or reread Frank McCourt.

I stumbled upon this book searching for books about Fred Astaire and was so glad that I found it. Richard McKenzie has such a good eye for people. I loved the stories about his neighbors in Ireland as well as the unique insight into Fred Astaire. I highly recommend this book.

I thought Joyce Christmas foisted a pretty lousy book on her readers with "Going Out in Style," but "A Better Class of Murder" has to take the prize for being one of the most contrived, ridiculous and unbelievable plotlines ever conceived--one in which the murder is almost an afterthought to the list of restaurants, clothes, etc. It's pretty clear that Joyce Christmas has either lost her creative edge, or has found what she considers a good way to sell a few more books to unsuspecting readers...but she--and her publisher--ought to be ashamed! Do yourself a favor and skip this ...!

Two characters created by Joyce Christmas, Lady Margaret Priam and Betty Trenka, meet in this book and join forces to solve a murder. Two young boys find a woman dead on the beach and they retrieve a computer disk near her body. Meanwhile Betty Trenka has been asked by her wheelchair-bound friend, Ted Kelso, to meet with Gerald Toth, a computer businessman, to see if he would be a good person with whom to do business. Toth has offered Kelso a lot of money to test a software program, but Kelso thinks that it is stolen goods. Betty travels to New York, where she meets Lady Margaret and they attempt to discover Gerald Toth's true character and also, who has murdered the woman on the beach. The identity of the murderer is hinted at in the book and there are no big surprises when Betty is finally able to point the finger at the perpetrator. However, it is fun to read about Betty's adventures in New York among the rich and famous.

Having had the great honor of sitting on the same author panel at the recent Left Coast Crime Mystery Convention as the legendary Joyce Christmas, I made it a point of reading A BETTER CLASS OF MURDER. In this mystery, Ms. Christmas brings her two series leads--Lady Margaret Priam and Betty Trenka--together for the first time. By having these ladies join forces, Ms. Christmas creates an adventure that is a thoroughly entertaining read. Each lady remains consistently in character as they solve a murder involving high-tech computing and the New York social elite. I enjoyed this book completely, and I recommend it highly.