This book is for one thing only - inspiration! But what inspiration! I'm an actually on my second copy of this book as my first became so worn from my paging and drooling.

The pieces are shown alphabetically by artisan with a two line biography, then a brief desciption of the piece and a listing of techniques used - I love the fact that the dimensions are given with each piece! There is also included an artisan's statement giving you insight into how the artisan sees his/her work.

As this was originally published in 1992 some of the resources are out of date but a web search will remedy that. Also, don't buy this book for instructions on how to do the beadwork, this is strictly eye-candy and how sweet it is! This is the book I pull from my shelf often to remind me of how much I love this medium, how far I have to go in my explorations, and how much fun getting there will be!

Sadly this book is out of print, but if you are a serious beadworker or someone who wants to see the best that beadwork can be - spend the time and money to get a copy of this treasure.

Inspirational...helps get your own creative ideas going when you see some of the incredible stuff other bead artists are doing. Has a small how-to section which is not very helpful, but the photographs are wonderful.

You can't be a serious bead artist if you don't own this book, that's all there is to it. The introduction itself--with its cogent and encompassing trace of the contemporary groundswell in bead art--is worth its price. As a source for the work of the most well-known and emerging artists this book is a museum in itself. Ms. Withers is to be commended for the beauty of her presentations as well as for her sensitivity to the deeply spiritual and downright funky satisfaction both the bead artist and the bead art owner derive from the humble bead.Diamonds may be a girl's best friend, but women prefer beads. And yes, real men do make bead art!

I live in a desert climate, so farming is something that interests me in this desolate place I live in. I really enjoyed this book because of the success story and the farming aspect of the book. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes farms.

This book was an inspiration to read. It gives me hope that urban sprawl might be contained in some small parts of the world. It's also a good guide to organic farming and living, and getting past the "hippie" stereotype that organics still have. I'd highly recommend this book.

Reading Michael Ableman's book was like stumbling upon his personal journal. I could imagine it's dirt-stained, hand-written pages - the miscellaneous seed or wind-blown earthen particles stuck deep in the creases of the binding. This book is filled with earnest, intimate tales - the everyday woes and triumphs of a gentle farmer, side-by-side with the battle stories of a true community activist. It is his journey that I found so fascinating, so inspiring. Ableman's story is compelling because he has been on the good path and done the good work for a long time - more than 17 years. From the early days of setting up the produce stand on weekends at a local farmer's market, to lamenting a killing winter frost, he draws the reader into the drama. Ableman's intensely close relationship with the land is his reward for paying close attention to its needs. His goals were clear - to grow healthy food for local people in a way that respected the land's ability to sustain itself. He learned by doing, followed his intuition, and made tough decisions based on what was right, or what he believed to be right at the moment. This book offers its readers as much "food for thought" about life, as it does about farming!

Heinrich has a way of writing that makes a person understand the relations between people and animals. He makes me laugh at some of the interactions. I very much enjoyed this book.

BERND HEINRICH IS ONE OF THE BEST AUTHORS IN THE LIFE SCIENCE FIELD. HIS WONDERFULY DISCRIPTIVE NARATIVES ARE REMINISSENT OF KONRAD LORENZ AND GERALD DURREL . ONE MAN'S OWL WILL EDUCATE YOU AND PULL YOUR HEART STRINGS. BUY THIS BOOK!!

I like to think of Bernd Heinrich as a forest sleuth. Nothing delights him more than prowling, or jogging, through miles and miles of his favorite Maine woods identifying and describing such things as the songs of birds, the cocoons of caterpillars, the smells of beetles and the droppings of moose. In this case, his interests lead him to examine the contents of the stomachs of owls - in particular the stomachs of Great Horned Owls. Owls it seems, eat their prey whole, separate the digestable from the indigestable portions in their stomachs, and when all is said and done regurgitate the inedible stuff as "owl pellets." More than you ever wanted to know about owls? That's what I thought too at first, but it gets better - really.

Not long after discovering a nest of Great Horned Owls on his property, a storm destroys part of the nest and one of the chicks falls to the ground. Heinrich, who can never resist an opportunity to study wild things up close, scoops the little fellow up, christens him Bubo and takes him home to raise. What ensues is a delightful, often revealing account of how an owl and a man struggle to cross the divide between species.

That both are determined is obvious. Heinrich puts up with all sorts of destructive and rude behavior from his childish guest. Bubo chews up, eats and regurgitates washcloths, favorite t-shirts and socks. He holds staring matches with the family cat, terrorizes guests, whom he considers competitors for Heindrich's attention, and rearranges Heindrich's eating and sleeping schedule. In return, Heindrich gets to study everything about the owl - from his eyelids and feather patterns to the mechanical workings of the owl's talons and the meanings of his various hoots and hisses. It is an uneasy if affectionate relationship.

However Heinrich, who works as a university professor, must eventually return to his job and Bubo is sent to a wildlife rehabilitation center. There, all attempts at rehabilitation fail and Bubo is pronounced incorrigable. It is also clear that Bubo is miserable. Heinrich, who feels this is a waste of Bubo's life, eventuallly reclaims the bird, takes him back to Maine and spends another summer helping the bird find his adult wings.

This is a revealing and touching story that goes way beyond the scientific study that Heinrich originally planned. As Heinrich himself acknowledges it became a very personal thing, a relationship between one man and one owl. A wonderful read.

I really can't believe how truly inspired and inspiring this book and its companion book (Adventures on the Quest) is. If you want to be on a spiritual path or if you are on one and want to be more tuned into your spiritual side, this is the book for you. The authors make it clear that spirituality and religion are separate things. It's not a short book but it's worth every minute I spent on it. It has truly changed my life for the better.

Simply the finest book on personal spirituality in existence. It's not a short book but if you begin reading it you won't be able to put it down. It will take you step by gentle step into a world within. I just can't believe that anyone could have written such a magnificent book! And if you purchase this book, be sure to buy the companion workbook, Adventures on the Quest. They are made to be read together. Do yourself a favor, if you are at all interested in finding peace within yourself, buy these books.

This is flat out the best book on spirituality I have ever read. It is NOT religious in any way but it is spiritual. The JaFollas have a way of making complex ideas extremely clear. The book is a pleasure to read. From the opening words in the Prologue, "Hello, Friend" to the very end I was captivated. The Quest really is a journey and if you follow that journey you will indeed re-discover a spirituality as deep as the ocean. This is truly, truly a GREAT book. It has impacted my life more than any other book I have ever read.

Mr. Dollar does a great job tracing the lineage, training, and technique of this powerful but little known school of Okinawan karate. The flow is good and steady and the material found in here is first-rate. Investigate and documented by a real practioner trained by the real masters this book is worth every penny, so check it out!

Uechi-ryu is not a well know style in many parts of the country. As such if you looking for a book that covers not only the history of the style but also the some of the history of the island that developed it, and does so in depth, this is the book for you. Its a huge book and its packed full of info both on Okinawa and on the history and development of Uechi-ryu.

If you study Uechi-Ryu this book is a must for you.
The Incredable lenghts that Sensei Dollar went to give us this
History should not be taken Lightly. The great way that he
gives the acuurate details without takeing sides on any fractions
of the Art are to be admired. This is a must have Book.

I read Darkness Peering after reading about it in the New York Times (one of that year's best mysteries). Her stunning writing in that novel led me to buy her short story collection. I must say that this collection really drew me in. They are the type of stories that lingered in my mind long after I'd read them. When I've experienced that before, I know the stories have affected me greatly. Will we be hearing more from Miss Blanchard in future? I hope so.

I bought this on a whim over a year ago and finally got around to reading it. I must say I was impressed. Blanchard uses words as a painter uses colors and the result is often a strikingly vivid portrait, be it the overview of the environment we are entering or a wafer-thin slice of life. I found most of her characters to be refreshingly brash, usually fighting for their independence yet always under-equipped (whether they realize it or not). This is an excellent collection of short stories, right up there with Raymond Carver. Actually, her writing reminds me more of Thom Jones and Susan Minot. But Blanchard certainly has her own distinct voice, which I hope to be hearing more of.

I bought this after reading Blanchard's novel, "Darkness Peering," and it is a fantastic collection of short, often disturbing, always challenging stories. I have no doubt in my mind that Alice Blanchard is a writer of great talent who will soon be a fixture among the great American writers of our time.

Alice Pero's work weaves its way around the psyche like so many vines gone "liberated." It is ephemeral at times, while rock solid at others; allowing for the ebb and flow that is life. There are many possible "reads" of this book~none (thank goodness) will be the same...neither will the reader, upon being freed up from too much gravity, finding him/herself reaching contentedly ever closer to the stars.

Alice Pero writes lean, twisty, surprising lines. She's not afraid of abstractions or even of old-fashioned soaring, but even her flightiest poems ambush us with bits of kitchenware and other earthly trinkets, always, somehow, appropriate. Her ability to move like lightning between familiar and esoteric reminds me of Emily Dickinson, except that in Alice's poems, death is no masterful gentleman, just a bratty kid throwing a tantrum because no one in Alice's world quite believes in him. She's often funny and occasionally (e.g., in her poem "With Very Good Reason", dedicated to the New Yorker) gloriously snide (and spot-on). I found that the book improved as I read, and even on rereading (which the book demanded), I found the first section less compelling than what followed, so I urge browsing readers to sample the later chapters as well as Chapter 1 before making up their minds. I think if you do, you'll find she'd speaking to you and that she speaks VERY well.

Her work is highly readable,simple in its rhythms, wonderfully rich in its content. She has obviously put in the hours and effort to hone each of these poems to completeness. Even poems tinged with loss are kept from becoming maudlin or overly wrought. Everything is clean as can be.

Deep, profound, complicated and eventually simple, like all truths....I have had this book for several years, I have read parts of many times and I am just about to delve into it yet again. A book to read and digest slowly. The information is so profound it takes time to assimilate and a certain level of previous understanding of metaphysical concepts to grasp at all. Not for the beginner on the path, just as a doctorate level physics text is not enjoyable for someone in secondary school. It takes some patience and dedication but is very much worth the effort. Profound.

In my opinion this book was written for the training of the Soul and not the personality. It has been my opinion that this is a book written in a harmonic that resonates in understanding at a level above the concrete mind and should be read through even if not completely understood at the moment of reading.

I have had others verbally express the same opinion as above to me without my input. In my opinion this is a book that will keep coming back at you for a very long time.

Of the hundreds of books of similar orientation that I have read, I consider this one book to be the most Lucid! Of the approximately 1300 pages, the first 6 to 7 hundred addressing the creation of reality through mind, may change the way you participate with life!

As Buckeroo Banzai said, " No matter where you go, there you are!"

Also worth reading (though not at the level of the above, but still superb!) I. K. Taimni (Science of Occultism, and his other books) Torkom Saraydarian (Especially his Science of Meditation, and Science)

This truly extraordinary book (abbreviated TCF) contains information at several levels. If you read and understand this book you will know and understand the Secret of Life. Matter is energy, as we know from E=mc(squared) but this book talks of all energy and matter as Life! This Life evolves at the atomic level, human level, planetary level, etc.
TCF has succeeded in describing and classifying many types of life inherent to matter/energy. It talks of the sumtotal of Life on the Physical Plane, the Astral Plane, the Mental Plane. Everything ever written about auras in Theosophical or New Age texts can be understood at depth in TCF. It talks about the chakras; not just the human ones, but those of animal/vegetable/mineral, and of the larger Lives such as for a Planetary Being (Logos).
The reader will soon see that TCF is an ambitious book; its words painting the inner bodies of humanity and a description of the Egoic Lotus or the vehicle of the human soul which "sends down" incarnations.
The remarkable thing about TCF is its coherence as a workable theory. Properly understood, it generalizes just about every New Age and Religious belief system, without being sectarian in any way. It accepts the sanctity of the Buddha, the Christ and other World Teachers. If you understand the "14 Rules of White Magic" from TCF you will have no need for Wicca as all of what it represents is subsumed in the knowledge of various devas and elementals. The "14 Rules" were themselves expanded into AAB's book "A Treatise on White Magic", which is written at a more superficial level than TCF.
My first reflective/meditative reading of TCF took me six months of daily 1 to 3 hour sessions in 1986. Even today, I count this time spent in real terms as an asset more valuable than my joy for knowledge which led me to obtain a PhD in mathematics.
My physical lifespan is of course limited. However, the insight I've gained from this book will serve me long after this incarnation is at an end.

If Angela's Ashes and it's clones is your only taste of Ireland during the economic hard times, you're only getting half the story. This best seller speaks of the Ireland our grandparent's held dear to their hearts. It's short vignette structure makes it an excellant read for those using public transportation. Warning: people who feel good writing must be driven by inner turmoil will hate this book. To all others Taylor's work is breath of fresh air!

What a delight this little book is! Within the space of only 151 pages of standard typeface, Alice Taylor has told many a tale, charmed us with her warmhearted stories from her childhood.

I laughed, I cried, I remembered my own childhood in County Ireland as I ran barefoot through the daisies. I especially loved the bit about 'Old Dan'who loves to be near children. I knew a guy JUST like that when I was seven. Alice Taylor's book is a TRIUMPH. It is nothing less. We need more books about the poverty and ignorance of Ireland, written by an ordinary housewife like Alice, in her deceptively accessible style. In these weary times, her book is like three hundred milligrammes of morphine to a man with a headache. She deserves the pulitzer! Well done Alice!!

The author has traveled to Kosova/Kosovo, both before and after the NATO airstrikes there, and is currently active in attempts to release Kosovar Albanian prisoners held by the government in Belgrade. In Adem's Cross, the author attempts to depict rural life in Kosova/Kosovo during Serb rule, from the perspective of a Kosovar Albanian teenager, Adem(Adam). The humanity of individual Serbs and Roma(Gypsies), the ineffectiveness of several policies of the Democratic League of Kosova(LDK), the depictions of the city of Prizren and the nearby border with Albania, the views of Kosovar Albanians toward the then raging war in Bosnia-Hercegovina, and the prediction of future intervention over Kosova/Kosovo by the United States, make this book unique, in that it was published before the open emergence of organized armed resistance in Kosova/Kosovo, let alone the start of involvement by NATO.

Believe me,this book is so beautifully written.As a Kosovar I've found it amazing how Alice could make such a great story which in fact most of it or perhaps all of it is true because these sort of things hapenned very often in Kosova. I would highly recommend this book to all of you - no matter what age you are...Well done Alice and Keep Writing as your books will always have a spare place on my library...The best of luck

Adem's Cross is a wondeful book it's easy to read and very informative. This book makes you want to reach out and help these people. It's captivating and exciting, your always on your toes and it ends very well.A+