Books like "Dreaming Me" are gifts or treasures that we rarely have the good fortune to discover. Ms Willis' journey is at times painful yet ultimately joyful. She shares this pain and joy in a compelling writing style that is filled with anecdotes and drama. No matter what your life experiences may be you are quickly drawn into the universal themes that every human being shares. As a white male living in the Northeast during the sixties I was on the other side of the world from a person like Ms Willis. Yet she made her experiences part of me. And like two parts of a greater experience I felt whole after reading this book. I highly recommend it. Thank you Ms Willis for putting your experiences into such a beautifully written book.

This book was read in one marathon session that flew by all too quickly. It spoke to the very core of my being. Having this story told in such a personal way deftly teaches the reader at every level. It's well written and one could easily be fooled that they are simply being entertained with a good read. There were many moments where I felt stunned with deep recognition of a life experience that mirrors a good portion of my own. I connected with this book deeply at the heart level. Most touching were the moments with her teacher, Lama Yeshe. His extraordinary heart helped her heal deep societal and personal pains which have traveled across generations influencing and shaping our culture in difficult ways. Thank goodness Dr. Willis chose to develop the good heart, rather than fight the good fight. One does not need to be in a culturally specific group or religion to recognize and feel Dr. Willis' experience. She reached into the depths of spirit and wrote in a way that touches universally. This lady has a heart that totally outsizes her brilliant, immeasurable intellect and her story will benefit countless numbers. I'm one unabashedly grateful reader.

Since I have met Jan Willis a few times through my own work at Naropa University, I emailed her after I finished reading Dreaming Me. Here's part of what I wrote to her: "I just wanted to let you know how engrossing I found your book. It was like talking to you, hanging out with you, to read it. I had put it at the bottom of my pile of "books I want to read" but somehow it jumped right up to the top, and I couldn't put it down until I finished it. Please take that as a resounding compliment! Thanks so much for writing it, and for revealing so much of your big heart.

I love Edward Lear's story and James Marshall's illustrations are magical. I don't like the version with Jan Brett's illustrations. I've never liked Jan Brett's illustrations. I've spent hundreds of hours looking at children's books and I always pass over Jan Brett's books. Her illustrations just don't appeal to me. Her illustrations are distinctive and I can always recognize her work but I don't like them. There is just something missing--they don't have any life to them or something. I can't explain it. I have always loved James Marshall. His genius transcends understanding. His illustrations complement Ed Lear's beautiful tale perfectly.

A very good illustrated version of the classic poem- the pictures are beautiful with a distinctly exotic flavour, great for all ages!

This book is just so cool. Longing for a trip to the tropics? Read this version of the book to your little one and you can at least feel like you are there. The illustrations are really sweet. They have a lot of details so that kids kind find new things with each reading. My two-year old loves this book. It is a great twist on an old tale

As a descendant of Captain Henry Fleete. I found this book to be fascinating. While the accout of what Fleete experienced while he was held in captivity by the Indians is fictional, it is based on an historical event and gives a great insight into the Indian culture in early America. I will be sure to see that my children and grandchildren read it!

It,s a great book for my children ,grandchildren. My gr gr gr gr grandmother was Judith Fleet married to Daniel haynie. Judith Fleet was the greatgrandaughter of Capt Henry Fleet. I have been giving the book to all my neice and nephew (and I have lot)went they do family genealogy in school. the also help me with my tracing my virginia family,s research. Thank you Jan FleetUmhau Dan Connelly.

I read Potomac Captive to my sixth grade Humanities class this year and my students couldn't wait for each new chapter. We used the book to complement our study of colonial America. The book gives a clear and vivid account of life in Jamestown and the surrounding areas. It also allows students to see the struggle that existed between the Native Americans and the English from both sides. I highly recommend it to students from fourth through seventh grade.

I had not even heard of Enid Blyton until an aunt in Australia sent me a copy of 'Five Go Down To The Sea'. That would have been about 1955 and I was immediately captivated by Enid's pure sense of mood and adventure.
I must have re-read the book a half-dozen times in just a few weeks and got to know farmer Penruthlan, Yan, The Barnies and Clopper the horse as if they were real friends of my very own.
I relived that adventure again when I got to read a chapter or two aloud each night to my two sons when they were toddlers. They, too, were enthralled with the story. And I truly believe that the noble actions of Julian, Dick, George, Anne and Timmy helped to mould my sons' lives, as they did mine.
Even now, at the 'grand old age' of 57, I am not ashamed to admit that, seeking escape from this troubled world, I have read Five Go Down To The Sea again, by myself.
Now, I can't wait to have grandchildren, so I can read the book to them at bed-time...unless my sons beat me to it, of course!

when i was a kid of 7 or 8 my mom got me interested in books by Enid Blyton, like Famous Five, Secret Seven, and those Adventure series. I just loved famous five and in fact have read all 21 of their regular books. In addition to that i also read their special editions, around 10 . These books are so addictive, once my father even told me u shouldnt read that much , u're studies might get affected, or i'll weaken my eyesight! haha! but in reality these really capture the imagination of a young kid and i highly recommend them to any kids new to reading novels

I could not put it down once I started reading it. After I finished reading the book, I felt sad. I have read the book two times in two days!

I've owned and restored 9 DS models and have been around a hundred or so more. As much as I know about the models, this book has doubled my knowledge with one purchase. If you are a serious Citroeniste, you absolutely must have this book on your shelf.

The book includes good photos, many details and is inspirational to look through. Every single development of the car through it's lifetime appears to be covered. A must for the DS/ID owner setting out to restore a specimen of these highly individual and sophisticated vehicles. Written in a language understandable even for a non-technical mind as Yours truly.

You need look no further for an outstanding guide to the history, mechanics, and pedigree of what must surely be the most original car ever engineered - the Citroen DS. I would recommend this guide without hesitation to anyone either interested in the car in the abstract, or actually intending to undertake a restoration. The illustrations are thoughtful, helpful, and (in the case of exterior shots) almost romantically posed; the language is clear throughout; Reynolds does an impeccable job of making the book useful to the non-gearhead enthusiast. My only complaint is that the book is such drool-inducing & lethally glossy DS porn that I fear it will make the experience of non-ownership all but unbearable for fans, and so further increase the competition for those few magnificent cars still available.

Jan's Rainbow combines inspirational words of comfort and wonder with pragmatic advise to survive major changes as a result of the death of a loved one. Lindsay Collier brings tears to the eye and hope to the soul as he recounts the events following Jan's death - his own emotions as well as the mysterious appearance of rainbows. He also provides sound wisdom based on his own experience of surviving loss. A moving and informative book.

The signs that our loved ones send us just reinforce that they are still around us. Although their physical bodies are gone, their spirit lives on.

If you have a love one, if one of your love ones has passed away then this book will be a beautiful and touching read for you. It is filled with the stories of many people.

Lindsay honored me when he was writing it by asking me to share some of my stories about rainbows in my life. With his guidance I combined a few of them into a single story that he included about rainbows and my beautiful wife Merry.

After reading this book my hope for you is that you will never be able to look at rainbows the same way ever again.

Buy this book. Read it. And then from then on share the wonder and beauty of rainbows for the rest of your life.

If you're looking for a nice synopsis of places in the bay area - this is the book for you. Just don't expect more than you'd find in the Phone book if you're in the South Bay.

I absolutely dreaded planning my wedding and this book was the only thing that saved my fiance and I from spiraling into madness. We are both from the East Coast, relatively new to the Bay area, and had no family here to help us. Neither one of us had ever been married before or helped plan a wedding. Here Comes the Guide was the single most useful tool for planning our wedding, and is reliable enough that we didn't feel the need to interview a ridiculous number of vendors for each service before choosing one. If a vendor we liked was recommended by the book then we knew they had to be good. Here Comes the Guide is concise, recommends cool traditional and non-traditional reception sites, and provides all of the information you need to plan your own wedding without the help of a wedding planner. The only area which was lacking was limousines and transportation. Pretty much everything else, including bands, calligraphy, invitations, cakes, vendors, tuxedos, reception sites, and florists, was there in abundance.

I was given this book as a gift soon after my engagement. At the time, I hadn't given much thought to where I wanted to hold the event. This book was a great help in finding several locations that were ideal. As the wedding market in Northern CA is rather busy, it was very nice to have several choices so that we could find a venue that was availible on our desired date.

This book contains accurate descriptions of venues, with information pertianing to the size, cost, and other key factors. It also contains less important but still useful information on catering options at each venue, music limitations, and other factors which can help a bride and groom say yea or nea to a location that is still site unseen.

I called over 20 phone numbers in this book and all were up to date and correct. I also found the pricing information almost dead on. The black and white pictures also gave an accurate impression of the venues.

This book was essential to my planning of a wine country wedding and I highly recommend it to anyone that is arranging a wedding in the bay area.

One hilarious book! Tells about a monster who sure loves to eat food. Has pretty funny rhymes and quotes in the story. Has a ton of laughs in it! Just a good book for someone who loves to eat food! One of the funniest books I have ever read!

This book is absolutely the best childrens book. I have had my name on a list at another book store for two years and they kept telling me it was out of print. I decided to look here and voila I see it. I am ordering eight copies to give to each of my grown children (and one for grandpa to keep for when the grandchildren come to visit) so they can read it to their children.

This is a very funny book about a big animal who keeps making people mad because he always wants food, and they keep getting upset with him. This has a lot of funny rhymes about food in th story, and there are some great pictures. Awesome and funny book. For anyone who loves to eat.

Professional PHP4 Multimedia Programming is a unique book in the midst of all other PHP books. No other book aims to cover the topics that this one does. If you are a PHP developer looking to expand you knowledge and integrate the multimedia capabilities of PHP into your applications, then this is the book for you.

The goal of this book is to introduce the concepts and techniques needed to produce dynamic multimedia content. The extensions covered are Ming, GD, ImageMagick, PDF, and FDF. Each technology is thoroughly explained from installation through example use. A case study is then given to go into further detail on the use of each extension.

I especially enjoyed the fact that they provided installation instructions for these extensions. One of the biggest hurdles people have with using Ming, GD, and the others is the installation process. Once someone gets past that stage they can at least experiment with how the extension works. It can be very frustrating when you can't even get something installed. Hopefully this book will help ease some of that frustration.

The case studies used by the authors are superb. These are real would applications that people want to create every day! They include a headline grabber with Ming, a mobile web coffee shop finder with GD, an image gallery using ImageMagick, and a PDF template system. Each one of these case studies is designed to get you thinking. Sure, they you the code needed for the application, but they also show you how the design process works and detail possible enhancements.

The one thing I found lacking in this text was some type of common problems section. Invariably, people are going to have difficulties when it comes to installation or use of these extensions. A simple google search will show the abundance of problems related to these technologies. A small chapter, or a section in each chapter, detailing some of the most common problems encountered, with their fixes, would have been great.

Overall, this book is great. If you are looking to develop multimedia applications in PHP, it is a must have.

Professional PHP4 Multimedia Programming is an extremely handy book to have on your bookshelf, even if (and possibly especially if) you don't design and implement multimedia applications with PHP all the time. Within hours of getting the book, I realized that I could use PHP as a commandline scripting language to solve several problems. I've used it as a reference several times since, even though I do NOT consider myself a PHP Multimedia Applications developer.

The book is organized nicely. As a "Professional" book, it assumes a decent understanding of PHP. This assumption saves you lots of time and unnecessary hand holding. There is a brief PHP refresher chapter for those who aren't quite as familiar with PHP as necessary, but after that refresher chapter, you're expected to understand things. You bought this book (or will, anyway) because you already know how to program in PHP but are not familiar with the various multimedia extensions.

The next several chapters each dedicate themselves to a specific extension concept: Ming, Ming with ActionScript, GD, ImageMagick, PDFLib, and FDF.

Each chapter gives an overview of the library, it's uses and limitations, and gives lots of example source code giving examples of all the functions in an extension and how they are used together.

The next few chapters are full-fledged application case studies. Though you may not agree with the authors' coding styles, these case studies walk you through (from start to finish) several different applications to show you how the libraries can be used within the scope of a larger PHP application, not just example toy scripts.

Following the case studies are several appendices. Each appendix is a language reference for a multimedia extension. Most of the information in the appendices is found online in the PHP manual, and I, for one, find it more convenient to look it up there, but having it in the book is a nice bonus.

Another wonderful addition is a full-color screenshots gallery index, which shows you what various scripts from within the chapters should look like when run. This is great for two reasons: 1) You can "check your work" as you write the applications and sample code in the book, and 2) You can see the results of functions in the book while reading it away from the computer.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is thinking about writing even just ONE application in PHP that will manipulate any supported multimedia (Shockwave, images, PDF/FDF, etc.) The time you save by having this book as a companion will more than pay for the cost of the book.

Unlike most open souce projects, PHP has been blessed with many good books. Professional PHP4 is another fine book aimed for the serious PHP developer venturing to add multimedia.

There is a short refresher on PHP followed by PHP Multimedia installation. Then it gets into the nitty-gritty stuff of making it work.

I found the case studies towards the end of the book particularly helpful in mapping out a solution action plan.

Please let me know if you find this review helpful. Thanks.

This book Trouble With Trolls is a great book for both readers young and old. It is about a girl named Treva who decides to take a hike over a mountain to see her cousin. On the way up the mountain Treva runs into some trolls who want her dog,but she tricks them by giving them her boots and things like that. In the end she gets away with her dog and all her stuff back. I enjoyed this book alot myself and if you have kids I'm sure they would enjoy it to.

My students just love looking at the pictures and finding out what is going on in the small scenes depicted around the book. The story is entertaining and funny too.

My preschool daughter and I absolutely LOVE this book! The illustrations are gorgeous and there is a second storyline with a mischievous hedgehog raiding the trolls den on the bottom of the page - it is like two stories in one! The story is simple, amusing, well written and the clever protagonist, a Norwegian (?) girl, Treva is very charming. As soon as I discovered Jan Brett's books I started collecting several others - they are such a treat to read and look at!