Quite honestly dessert recipes from the people at Cooks Illustrated are my flat out favorite. What ever they do, I believe they are some of the best that you will try. Their chocolate chip cookies are delicious and about as close as to a wonderful bakery as you are going to get. This series of books disappoints me. Think the size of a large postcard, that is going to be the size of this book, its not thick either. The Dessert Bible would be a better choice many more recipes than what this has at not a great increse in price. I am disappointed at the lack of content in this boo. Great recipes, but not a great price.

If you love peanut butter cookies and want to make them, then buy this book for that recipe alone -- they are heavenly. I plan to bake my way through this little book over the next few months. As usual the Cook's Illustrated team provides excellent recipes and explain the how's and why
s of their testing in order to achieve this excellence. My one disappointment is the brevity of the book, but I would still recommend it because the recipes are wonderful.

When I was growing up, my mom made the BEST chocolate chip cookies. Yes, every adult thinks that his mom's recipe was the best, but I've now found a recipe that tops even my mom's. I loved hers because they came out really thick and chewy. I'm not a fan of the traditional tollhouse cookies which I find are too flat and boring. Mom said she makes hers with vegetable shortening because butter spreads too much. But butter DOES taste better, and in this book is a recipe that uses butter AND results in a thick, chewy, gorgeous cookie. Sorry Ma, but they got you beat! The book is worth it for this recipe alone. But the Sugar Cookie recipe is also a winner. I ate half the batch as soon as they were cool. YUM! My one criticism is rather ungenerous number of recipes. But I'll take quality over quantity any day.

I mostly agreed with Eric Ma. There are some areas that Wrox needs to review the whole process of publishing Java-related books. Here are some drawbacks that I can draw from reading recent Java-related books:

(1) Repeated Contents: Materials about Servlet, JSP, EJB, JNDI, JDBC, XML, etc are repeated over and over many books. This could waste time, money, and papers for both Wrox and readers.

(2)Books or Articles?: I asked myself: is Wrox publishing books or articles? Each book is written by many authors and the book's flow is inconsistent. The assessment that it is not a book but a collection of articles may partially true. It is true that a book if written by a team of authors could speed up the process of releasing it, but if Wrox editors and coordinators have to do their better jobs.

I suggest that Wrox should review its strategy of publishing books to avoid the repeating of materials over and over and thus bring down the cost associated with publishing the books. The final result is: readers and publisher will both save time and money. Otherwise, readers will loose their belief with Wrox.

For the past 2 years Wrox has been publishing books dedicated to Windows-based data access (ADO etc.), but the same cannot be said about their Java/database collection. Although you find chapters on JDBC scattered all-over almost all server-side Java related books by Wrox, there was no single volume from them that teaches JDBC first, and then show how it is used by the newer dependent technologies, until this book arrived. After looking through this book, I must say the authors and editors have done a rather commendable job.

Why do I make the above conclusion? Let me give you my general impression of the book first. A theme repeated in several of my recent reviews on books from Wrox is about the problem in coherence associated with multi-author books. Well, having more than a dozen of authors for a single book seems to be a fact of life (for books from Wrox at least) now, as the publication cycle gets shorter. I was rather surprised to find out that the organization and coherence is very good in this book, i.e., there is very little overlap among chapters. Also, this books uses JDBC cleverly to tie other pieces of J2EE together, making smooth transitions from one chapter to another. If you want to know, this factor alone prompted me to add an extra star to the overall rating of the book.

Let's now run down the chapters of this book quickly. The first 115 pages deals object-oriented and database modeling, and can be skipped by any "Professional" developer. Then after your obligatory intro to JDBC API, the next chapter covers the JDBC 2.0 optional package. This is the best treatment of this topic I have seen. Then another chapter is all about SQLJ, another first. The effort of having a chapter on database performance should be lauded, where connection pooling, prepared statements and stored procedures usage are demoed. The reminder of the book is about applying JDBC in various J2EE components, such as JSP, servlets, EJB, JMS, and XML. For this part of the book, even though I accept the fact the proper stage has to be set for each one of them, I still don't believe the book found the right balance between focusing on JDBC and showing what these other technologies are about. A large number of pages are used to teach basic JNDI, servlets, JSP's, and EJB's stuff (remember there is already a book on J2EE from Wrox!). Therefore, it is up to the reader to discover the real nuggets of gold hidden in this pile, which are far and in between in places. I found that some critical issues are not highlighted or details are lacking, such as how to use connection pooling/data sources in servlets, JSP's, and EJB's, the threading issues related to sharing database connections, and good database practices in BMP EJB's. However, the one thing I cannot complain about is that the book did not forget to teach the transaction aspect of EJB with a good depth (there is a short ans sweet chapter on using JTA/JTS inside EJB). There is also a chapter on the brand-new JDO framework, even though the spec is still in a state of flux. Finally, there are 4 case study chapters in the book - although the design and implementation are limited in scope and as a whole those samples do not teach all you need to do know about enterprise scale J2EE system development, they do provide a flavor of how JDBC is used in real world, together with setting up Tomcat, JRun, Orion, and WebLogic to access MS SQL Server and Oracle databases.

Now my overall take of this book. For VB/SQL and pure back-end PL/SQL developers who are eager to jump on the Java express train and need a suitable platform (especially for the ones who learn best from playing with actual code), I recommend this book as one of several you should own. Compared to other JDBC books from say O'Reilly and Sun's JDBC Tutorial, this book is the most up-to-date, contains the most source code, and has the broadest coverage of related topics. But keep in mind some of the advanced topics such as EJB and JMS can be intimidating for new-comers. On the other side of the coin, people who are advanced in various server-side Java technologies are unlikely to benefit a great deal from this book and should look elsewhere for info (for example Wrox's J2EE and upcoming EJB titles).

I have read this wonderful book, written by a friend and neighbor - I chanced on this link while looking up Phillips Brooks, who was quoted on my home page this morning. In the selection, Brooks said there will be hard times, but now, in the quiet time, is when we cultivate character, so that we will be always ready when we meet temptation or grievous adversity. Woolverton - a very energetic, witty, funny man - and his writing are exemplars of this quiet, which we all need desperately.

The information provided gives a great deal of insite into the ancient Hawaiian culture, and helps appreciate the historical value of the heiau still remaining on the Big Island. Tours of the various sites would not be nearly as meaningful without the depth of information provided by the on site surveys and historical data provided in the text. A definite good buy for those interested in understanding the historical value of the heiau of Hawaii.

i love this book becase i has the best guide lines on how to make the best pies i made a great pie the best i had in my life. it is a great cook book and i think that it sould be more of a cook book than a book ...i may sound like i am pojest with cook books but i like to cook!

This book brought back memories of family viewing as a child. We were all fascinated by the imposing and commanding Bishop Sheehan. Lynch has written a thorough analysis of the Bishop's programs in great detail, including his anecdotes and jokes. What looked effortless on Sheen's part was in reality a skilled, measured, and effective use of the TV media to inform Americans about a minority religion that was little known to most at that time. An excellent book that's well-written and interesting.

This book isn't as accurate as The Day Lincoln Was Shot. Jim Bishop, is accurate for most of the events that took place on November 22, 1963, except the facts about Lee Harvey Oswald. His statements about Oswald waiting for Kennedy on the 6th floor of the School Book Depository is flying in the face of all the eyewitnesses. No one saw Oswald on the 6th floor. He was seen on the 2nd floor five minutes before and 90 seconds after the assassination. Many people ran to the Grassy Knoll and not the School Book Depository after the assassination.

Bishop's statements about Oswald's mother trying to cash in on her son's death is wrong. She proclaimed her son's innocence to the day she died. If you watch the films of Oswald's funeral service, she's crying. Bishop tries to make you believe that she was a bad woman who raised a bad son.

If you want to find out the facts of the Kennedy assassination, this book isn't the one for you. It condemns a man who was "just a patsy", as he said the day before he himself was murdered.

This is a compelling book for assassination buffs such as myself, full of rich detail. I have lived in Fort Worth and Dallas, where Kennedy spent his last day, and the torrent of detail that spills out of this narrative animates the sites which I have visited so many times. There is this terrible mounting suspense as the main characters chitchat because you know what is going to happen. When Jack turns to Jackie and tells her to take her sunglasses off as they cross Turtle Creek in Dallas, a spot I've driven across many times, you fairly want to jump up and shout, "SCREW THE GLASSES! STOP THE CAR AND GET OUT! THERE'S A MAN WITH A RIFLE AROUND THE CORNER WHO IS GOING TO KILL YOU!" But they keep on going and there is no stopping them from driving on or you from reading through to the bitter end.

What separates Bishop's account of the day from Manchester's account of the day is the Kennedy family's support of Manchester and their lack of support of Bishop. Consequently, Bishop is more apt to relate events that would be buffed out of any account edited by the Kennedys. You get much more of a raw look at the events. For example, Kennedy viciously chews out an Air Force general because the weather forecast was wrong, leading Jackie to dress too warmly in her pink wool outfit. The Kennedys would have edited out this petty bullying.

Bishop also has a good feel for Oswald's mother, Marquerite, and Jack Ruby, both of whom were flaky to the point of insanity. Bishop could have delved a little deeper into Marquerite, a thoroughly annoying character. Once you understand Marquerite, you see where the madness began with Lee Harvey. Bishop also gives good insight into Jack Ruby, a major flake, by simply following him around as he weasels his way into the local action at fires, radio stations, and police stations with packages of sandwiches.

My only criticism is that Bishop did not pay as careful attention to getting the details correct as I would have liked. For example, he calls a KC-135 aircraft that flew a fragment of Kennedy's skull from Fort Worth to DC a "K-135." He says that the gun that Jack Ruby used to shoot Oswald was chrome plated. I've seen it on display in Dallas. It has a dull black finish like most handguns.

However, even with those types of errors, this is the second best book on JFK's assassination, right behind Gerald Posner's account. I could not put it down. It pulled me along until I finished and then I wished it had gone on further.

Jim Bishop is an outstanding writer and his format using hours of the day (i.e., 7:00 am, 8:00 am, etc.) took you to where everyone was at that time--Lee, JFK, the FBI Agent responsibile for Oswald, Jackie, the football, Ruby, etc,. His research was in-depth and made you never question its validity. I lived in Dallas when this event took place, but was too young to know what was happening. Jim Bishop took back to Dallas on that day and gave me more than I ever expected to receive from the book. This book will make you feel like a history buff. His excellent writing ability led me to purchase another of his books--"The Day Lincoln was Shot"--This one is "Ditto".

I was truly amazed at this book. I gave it two stars only because it was written well. However, the content is a joke, a sad and ironic twist to the most hypocritical worldview imaginable.

Spong is a member of the Episcipal Church, STILL! This fact alone renders all opinion stated here as relevent to only this particular branch of religion. It is ironic that a bishop in a church which stands for nothing, writes a book that says Christianity is false and yet remains a Christian. Amazing. Another reviewer here stated "It is rare to see this level of hypocrisy, rarer still to see it boasted about". Truer words than anything Spong writes in this book.

In summary, Spong states that everything that is Christian about christianity is in fact false. He tries to start a new religion, which will appeal to the masses, by coming up with his own version of Christianity which is devoid of anything "difficult" or offensive, and which requires nothing from those who believe. There is ironically no value whatsoever, as he states it, in his new religion, because his Jesus does not save, as there is nothing to be saved from. Calling this tripe platitude from a hypocritical old man "Christianity" is as far a literary stretch as I have seen. If you buy into this, you are gullible, or desparate, but you are in the end a fool.

Bishop Spong presents a compelling case for looking at the Jesus experience through the eyes of a twenty-first century inhabitant rather than as a denizen of the third or fourth century. Those of us with less than a doctorate in theology will find his history of the "invention" (my term) of Christianity (by St. Paul, the four Evangelists and the constructors of the Apostle's and Nicene Creeds) interesting at the very least, and possibly enlightening. A true believer in the Christian religion will say that this invention is God-inspired, others of lesser faith may look at it as the good bishop does; as the only way the early Christians could explain the experience through the prism of their world. The atheist or non-Christian will point to the development of Christianity as proof that it is a fraud.

I found thought-provoking kernels of wisdom that will help me in my own search for who Jesus was, why he was here, and what his message is to me. This is a very readable book that I recommend to all who have an interest in learning more about how to approach Jesus outside of the constraints of conventional Christian theological thinking.

Finally someone has written a book that shows some hope for a failing and sometimes desperate religion. So many so called "Christians" just don't get it. It's not about sin, guilt and condemnation based on 2000 year old ideas written by MEN not GOD-but it is about love, compassion, understanding and acceptance-qualties shown by a man named JESUS. Bishop Spong deserves credit for standing against the establishment that guilts people into going to church and acting on the ancient scriptures as though they are the literal breath of God himself. Bravo Bishop Spong-I am a better person for reading your book for you articulate what I have known in my heart for many years. A must read for anyone who dares to question more deeply our current system of religious beliefs and seek answers beyond the hell fire and damnation church of today. Fundametalists are destroying Christianity. A message to you, Jesus was a radical, not a Fundamentalist. I believe he would be ashmed of the the way these Fundamentalist attack so called "sinners" with threats of eternal punishment. READ THIS BOOK!

Bishop Spong is one of the guiding lights in the struggle to wrest Christianity from the hands of fundamentalists. This book--perhaps his most provocative--asks the reader to suspend his or her notions of the Bible and to look at it from a new, perhaps disorienting, perspective. He does a superb job of outlining the various theories of how the Old and New Testaments were composed, and offers compelling commentary on the four canonical gospels. I was in awe of his insights much of time, and certainly appreciated his attempts to free the texts from literal interpretations, but occasionally felt that he went too far. His assertion that St. Paul might have been a gay man, for instance, is exciting and relevatory in theory, but ultimately falls flat because he makes the critical error of applying modern-day terminology to a life lived in the earliest decades of the Common Era. Overall, however, I found this book to be a thrilling expedition into territory that must be explored in order to keep Christianity a vital and relevant path in our time and in the future. Read this book--learn from it--but keep an eye out for those pesky gaps in logic and context.

First let me say that Bishop Spong is NOT a television clergyman. He is an ordained bishop within the Episcopal Church.

That said. I found this book, and others by Bishop Spong, to be a refreshing breath of fresh air. I don't necessarily agree with everything he has to say, but I DO agree with his willingness to look at the bible as what it is. For those of us who have a hard time with blind faith and swallowing the bible as literal "truth", the author gives us an acceptable alternative without trashing the whole Judeo-Christian faith.

Read this books with an open mind. If you are easily offended, do NOT pick up this book. Bishop Spong doesn't sugar coat his questions and he doesn't feed you the answers or tell you what to believe. What he does do is allow the reader to ask questions they may not have thought of, or may not have been brave enough to ask, in the past.

John Shelby Spong claims to love the Bible no less than the fundamentalist Christians who insist on its inerrancy. He does, however, have a much different view of the origins and development of the Bible which make it impossible for him to accept the idea that it contains the inerrant word of God.

The writers of the Bible knew nothing about dinosaurs or cave dwellers. They thought that the earth was flat and that it was created in 4000 B.C.E.

Scholars date the earliest written material from the Old Testament back only to the period after David. This means that the stories about Moses were probably written at least three hundred years after the death of Moses.

Several separate strands of Biblical narration have been identified. Scholars have referred to these traditions as J(Y), E, D and P and these were all later merged into one version.

As for the New Testament it should be noted that no gospel had been written by the time Paul died about thirty years after the crucifixion.

The Book of Acts was written about twenty or more years after Paul's death. Paul's conversion on the Road to Damascus was described fully in Acts but never by Paul himself in his letters.

Most of what we know about Jesus comes from the gospels which were written much later. Mark was the earliest gospel and it was produced about twenty-five or thirty years after Christ's crucifixion. John's gospel was the last gospel and it was written about 100 C.E.

Spong believes that words cannot capture Christ. They can only point to Christ. Spong worships the God he meets in Jesus and in worshipping he tries to risk love, dare to live and have the courage to be himself.