Let me share a short story about why this book made such good sense to me.

I have two friends, who I'll call Candace and Mary. Candace is the kind of mom who jumps every time her daughter says boo, no matter how demanding or rude the request. Mary, on the other hand, was less 'conscientious.' Her husband was, at times, downright gruff with their kids when they got obnoxious. I always assumed that Candace, because she worked so much harder, was the better mother. Then one day it hit me like a bolt of lightning: Candace's daughter was a whiny, unhappy little girl, whereas Mary's were much happier.

For some reason, many parents of my generation feel we must give our children our constant, undivided attention, must protect them from all forms of disappointment, and never, ever be angry with them. Doherty shows why that's a recipe for disaster. He looks at these misconceptions and gives good, sensible guidance. Probably one of the best parenting books I've ever read.

Some of the topics discussed in this book

The Consumer Culture of Childhood
Being a Confident Parent in an Insecure World
Activvating Necessary Skills for Effective Parenting
Strategies for Expecting and Getting Respect
Family Time and a Child's Own Life
What's So Important About Gamily Rituals
The Importance of Family Work
Why Anger-Free Parenting Does Not Work
How to Express Anger Constructively
Responsibilities to a Religious Congregation
How to Work as a Team Raising Responsible Children
Father as Consultant on Morals and Social Behavior
How to be an Influential Father
Guidelines and Strategies for Single Parents
Achieving Confident Parenting in Stepfamilies
Unplugging Your Kids: Media & Child Rearing
Resisting the Peer Cultures of Children and Parents

This book should be required reading for anyone who thinks he or she wants children. As a parent who feels like she's struggling upstream against a tide of other, more permissive parents, it was a relief to read a book that validates my own approach. As parents struggle to provide a multitude of opportunities for their children, we often lose sight of what our children really need to develop into responsible, caring adults. Dr. Doherty's book quickly sets out what our priorities should be and how we should accomplish them.

"The Color of Nature" is a very good book. The photography is wonderful, and there is nice text to go along with it.

Paul Dogerty makes learning the "whys" and "hows" of colors fun. He presents the scientific principles of how we see what we see in an easy-to-grasp manner that is both interesting and comprehensible. In addition, the photographs that accompany the text, which alone are worth the price of the book, serve to admirably highlight the processes Dogerty seeks verbally to illustrate. Together, art and words combine to emphasize the wonder and beauty of the world in which we live

Two very good friends of mine bought me this book last November and I can't get tired of it at all!

The book is systematically grouped into categories such as Desert landscapes, ancient landscapes etc which necessarily makes it an easy read for a light reader or those who love pictures.

Most of the pictures depict natural features in the U.S.A. and some from Canada and islands in the Indian Ocean. Even though many, such as the Delicate Arch, are very well-photographed, the lively colors seem to want you to pay attention to the pictures again. For example, Delicate Arch was taken with a backdrop of a brewing thunderstorm. Due to the presence of other comparable features behind or near the main focus, one will be kept intrigued, truly appreciating the sheer size of each of the features and marveling at the wonderful hand of God.

The captions are informative, and I would say, rather detailed - so much so they can pass for simple Geographic text. Some even add a sense of humor, describing huge corestones on the Bowling Balls Beach to have "roll[ed] over to join its companion".

My only complaint is that there are too few photos. There should be more on Grand Canyon, and other beautiful features not covered such as Big Horn Canyon, Gates of the Mountains, Yosemite Falls, Crater Lake, Shoshone in Wyoming and Niagara Falls, whose histories can be equally alluring.

The Earth has many lessons to teach us. These lessons are written on the ground at your feet, on the mountains across the river from my house, in the rocks of a riverbed, in the trees all around us. Once you learn to read them, you'll see them everywhere.

This inspired collaboration between Photographer William Neill and the Staff of San Francisco's acclaimed science museum, the Exploratorium, Traces of Time, beautifully illustrates the effects of time on our natural surroundings.

The Exploratorium was the one place in the Bay Area where I could take my chickadees for an entire day & know we would all be learning things that were both strange & curious about everyday objects & events. It is the only hands-on museum where you never hear a discouraging word & are invited to play. There are now over 650 exhibits which people can investigate with impunity.

This is a gloriously illustrated, thoughtfully written introduction to how the passing of time can be seen in the moment - rushing rivers captured in the camera's lens & over the eons - geology explained.

Traces of Time will make an excellent gift that will keep on giving. For my full review do check out: [my website].

I found this book ot be an excellent asset to my collection of modern british art. I thought that the large amount of content was covered thouroghly, but not drawn out to get stale(just like the artwork itself, discussed). This is a very important book because it recaps all of what is happening with the yBa movement in the artworld. This book is for anyone who wants to be on top of the world of modern art.

I have used this dictionary for over 25 years and have worn out my copy. It is well organized, easy to research, and has the answers.

What are the social, legal, medical and psychological implications of the fact that marriage is good for you? This collection of essays seeks to answer that question.

The social sciences have make it quite clear that marriage confers a number of benefits on those who partake of it. Married people live longer, healthier and fuller lives than those who do not marry. How are the various professions, such as law, medicine and therapy, to respond to these facts?

A number of family experts, theologians, and social scientists here address these questions. The professions, they argue, have tended not to discuss such issues because marriage is often viewed as a strictly private and personal affair. But as we begin to understand the public nature of the institutions of marriage and family, the professions need to look more closely at some of the new findings concerning marriage.

For example, if marriage is indeed good for couples, good for children, and good for society, how should family law reconsider its role? What changes might business leaders make in the light of the new research? How should governments respond to the findings of the social sciences?

The 14 chapters in this book address these issues, and explore a number of related themes. The result is a new examination of marriage and its importance, especially in its social and public setting.

Several of the chapters alone are worth the price of the book. The chapter by David Popenoe and Barbara Dafoe Whitehead on "The Personal and Social Costs of Divorce" is a very fine summary of what the social sciences have been discovering over the past few decades. Their concluding remarks are worth repeating:

"It is clear that children are hurt by divorce, often seriously and much more than many adults seem to believe. And high rates of divorce create a social climate in which the kinds of intact families most likely to help children thrive are in ever shorter supply. Through its gradual corruption of a strong culture of marriage, childbearing, and child rearing, divorce may have negative consequences for society far greater than we now realize."

Equally important is the article, "The Health Benefits of Marriage" by Linda Waite. She provides a helpful overview of the available evidence which tells us that married people do indeed live longer, healthier and happier lives than do non-marrieds. Singleness, cohabitation and other relationships simply do not compare with that of marriage.

The implications of these truths are spelled out in the remainder of the book. Legal changes, for example, seem to be in order if it is true that easy divorce has such bad ramifications for children, adults and the broader community. A return to some kind of concept of fault in divorce laws is one possibility. Covenant marriage is another. But societies must make marriage more secure while making divorce more difficult.

Likewise, in education we need to do more to spread the message that marriage is a valuable social good, as well as a benefit to individuals. And the negative impact of divorce also needs to be made known. Just as society has cut down smoking, drink driving and other harmful behaviours by education campaigns, such an approach is needed here as well.

In the same vein, counselors and therapists need to reassess their approach to marital difficulties. Instead of simply blessing a quick divorce, more work needs to be done on getting couples to work through their difficulties, and reinforcing the ideal of marriage. And marriage educators need to restore the social dimension of marriage, instead of treating it in such a highly individualised manner. Marriage is much more than a private, individual affair, and this needs to be kept at the forefront of any counselling.

Indeed, on every front we need to affirm the goodness and usefulness of marriage and family, while pointing out the negative results of divorce and family breakdown. Individuals and societies both need to hear this message.

As John Witte concludes in his article on the goods and goals of marriage: "Stable marriages and families are essential to the survival, flourishing, and happiness of the greater commonwealths of church, state, and civil society. And a breakdown of marriage and the family will eventually have devastating consequences on these larger social institutions."

We now know this truth conclusively, with a wealth of social science research to back it up. The next step is to act accordingly. This book helps us to do just that.

A thought provoking book that examines how our family life has slipped away from us because of overscheduling of activities, as well as the addiction to tv and computer. Offers excellent guidelines for getting back on track and reconnecting with our family and community. I am putting some of these ideas to practice in my own family, and find that we are becoming much closer. Who should read this? Anyone who wishes to become closer to their loved ones, and is concerned with the hectic pace of their lives.

Plenty of titles provide marital advice; but few so clearly outline the outside forces which tend to drive couples apart as William Doherty's Take Back Your Marriage, which tells how to stick together in a world which pulls people apart. Family therapist Doherty says today's divorces are the result of conflicting demands on time and money - troubles which can be overcome by determined couples. This tells how.

Kieran Doherty is a gifted writer and is able to bring to life whatever subject or person he is writing about. Even in his early days as a reporter for the Clearwater (Florida) Sun, his writing style was clear, crisp and lively. Anyone who purchases Kieran's books is in for a treat and will get their money's worth.

I like Doherety because he seems to write about things we all should know about marriage and family but have forgotten or been lulled to sleep by our fast paced commercial life style. His notion of the Intentional marriage is a home run.

I read this book when it first came out in hard cover. Since then I have used it as a text book in a family resource management class I teach at a university (because family resources are not limited to money and "things").

Doherty has done a super job of translating what he knows as a family professional to the language of typical readers interested in improving family life. I believe every family should read this to reinforce the notion that material possessions don't make a great family. Actively attending to interpersonal relationships is the key to family success!

William Doherty provides an opportunity to reflect on the state of your relationship with your spouse and your children and he provides ideas to bring the family together. He is non-judgemental in his approach and is not an idealist, rather, he knows that people are busy and that it takes work (and some failure) to produce a family of meaning, love and togetherness. We have found this to be a very useful text for conversations with each other and with other couples.