I love this set, I kept my cards a secret to myself for the first few weeks I had them, but the identification of the reading and the situtaion I was questioning was eerie - so I asked various people who visited if they would not mind having a "Go" with the cards, well now my friends, family and acquaintences beleive I am a Shaman Sacred Card reader, this may be so but I believe it is the book and card set that are the true hero, as long as the person giving the reading has respect for the essense of the set the truth will Out. A teriffic gift to give someone interested in the subject of Native American Wisdom, it is so much fun to see a friends face change into the "Oh my god how did you know that" look. All readings are positive (I don't mean polite I mean give positive guidance for good news or bad) but one would have to be dim not to understand the significance of every card reading. If I can make sense of the set anybody can - The cards are Beautiful and the book print size is big enough for my bad eyesight, for late night reading with a bedside lamp.

Sad to realize how, in the name of Christianity and Civilization, our native north american tribes were almost buried with their truth, customs, and gifts. This book offers seekers, answers, finders, affirmations, religious, higher logic, and the lost, a purposeful roadmap. What more could be asked of Jamie, Linda, or any of those consulted to accomplish this work. I would like to see further decks based upon idian children's drawings, and also I would like to see a colloboration with musical talents the likes of Patti Smith, who broke through the Disco infernos of the mid seventies with her alternative masterpiece, "Horses", which was selected as a full seven minute insert into the Fox TV series finale of Millenium last May, and Link Wray, full blooded native american rocker who gave us the tasty guitar rendition of Rumble back in the sixties. Add Roger McGuinn, and the Traveling Wilburys would have a great rival. Music, particularly that of drum circles, should be produced to complement these and other cards. Then again, silence can be a symphonic background for the spiritual elements as well as sound. ......freebiebird '98

This is a deck that I was able to apply to my life right away. I asked for my animal totems and from the cards, I was able to understand aspects of myself that I was aware of but never really examined. For example, one of my totems was the coyote - the joker animal and it explained alot of my self sabotaging behavior! I love these cards because I was able to learn from the spirits embodied by each creature and as a result, I feel much closer to them in my daily life. I used to take animals and creatures around me for granted, but now I have learned a greater appreciation of them.

Having taken over 10 years of French lessons through elementary and secondary school, I learned the grammar and had a decent vocabulary. However, after 5 years off of French lessons while attending university, I found myself struggling to form even simple sentences.

I bought this book because of its many (many!) exercises and complete "answer key" for instant feedback. It is organized almost exactly the way I learned it in school which I find very helpful. This book would be very difficult, however, for people with absolutely no background in French. It truly is for the intermediate level.

The book does not have much help for people with poor vocabulary skills in French, but it will drill the grammar into you, if you're diligent about regularly doing the exercises. That being said, if you own a dictionary and a verb conjugation book, the combination of those plus "The Ultimate French Review and Practice" would be a ***** combination.

And easy to follow--I've been away from the formal study of French for several years, and this book really has helped me to dust off my grammar. Great for someone who already knows some French, and refreshing not to have to start with level one, as in most books. The exercises have lots of repetition but don't get dull.

I bought this book to relearn all the grammar I used to know. Having had six years of French (last class was ten years ago), I needed something that would take me through grammar lessons fairly quickly. This book does that.

This is a handbook on grammar and conjugations. It follows a simple pattern for presenting material--it provides short lessons with examples, and then gives 8-12 practice exercises (with answers in the back of book), and so on.

This book emphasizes grammar over vocabulary, but translations are provided for the words that are used in examples and exercises. Translations also appear for idiomatic phrases.

I learned of this book by researching the materials used in upper level French composition classes at various universities. This one came up several times as a companion to the literature that students were required to obtain.

Here are the contents of Ultimate French Review and Practice:

Part I, Verbs--Basic Forms and Uses: 1. Present tense, 2. Present tense of irregular verbs, 3. Negative sentences, 4. Interrogative sentences, 5. Imperative, 6. Passe compose, 7. Imperfect; imperfect versus passe compose, 8. Reflexive verbs, 9. Future and conditional; conditional sentences, 10. Pluperperfect, future perfect, and past conditional; conditional sentences, 11. Passe simple, 12. Present participles; uses of the infinitive.

Part II, Nouns and Their Modifiers Pronouns: 13. Nouns: gender, number, and articles; uses of articles, 14. Stress pronouns; subject-verb agreement, 15. Possessive and demonstrative adjectives and pronouns, 16. Interrogative adjectives and pronouns, 17. Adjectives; comparative and superlative, 18. Object pronouns.

Part III, Other Elements of the Sentence: 19. Numbers; time; dates, 20. Adverbs, 21. Negative and indefinites, 22. Prepositions; prepositions with geographical names.

Part IV, Verbs in Two-Clause Sentences: 23. Relative clauses, 24. The present subjunctive, 25. The past subjunctive; literary subjunctives, 26. The subjunctive (continued).

Part V, Idiomatic Usage: 27. The passive voice and substitutes for the passive, 28. Important idioms and proverbs.

Don't be fooled by the price. This is a great resource.

This is a very good help especially for those going through any kind of recovery. The 12 Step Devotionals are all linked to the Biblical truth they came from, and are explained for application right now today. It is awesome and lifechanging to discover that Jesus Christ is our "higher power", and that by His death He paid for our sins, and by His resurrection from the dead He gives us new life. In Him we can be forgiven, delivered from addictions, and harmful habits, and healed from longstanding life pains. The Life Recovery Bible is a great compliment to the Celebrate Recovery Program put out by Saddleback Church in California. My only criticism is that the New Living Translation is not always as accurate to the original languages as I would prefer, but it is very well done, and extremely easy to read and understand.

I am a regular listener to Steven Arterburn on the radio--and have read several of his books. He frequently gives this Bible outrecommends it to listeners, so I couldn't resist the urge to check it out for myself.

The primary reason I purchased it was to read the study helps, as I know that he has some tremendous insights into the recovery process from a biblical perspective. I was not disappointed. I received a bonus though when I began reading the text of the Bible. The New Living Translation is without a doubt one of the most readable (without sacrificing accuracy) translations that I have read. It is like reading one of those good novels that you cannot put down. Within a week of purchasing it, I had read the books of Acts, Romans, Ephesians, I and II Timothy, and am halfway through the book of Matthew. It is that good.

One of the problems with older translations (i.e. the KJV) is that you have to mentally translate what is being said into language that you are familiar with. Its like a person who's first language is Spanish, but speaks English fluently as a second language. Unconsciously, they have to filter an English conversation through their natural Spanish proclivity. When they communicate in Spanish, that process is not necessary. That's the way that I found reading the NLT. It freed my mind of a distraction so that I was more free to hear the Holy Spirit. Doing so gave me some insight into one passage in particular that I had never received reading other versions.

I would highly recommend this Bible to new believers. I would also recommend it (especially for devotional reading) to seasoned bible students.

As has been said in several other reviews, the study aids are helpful to ANY Christian. We are all in recovery. Some of our addictions are just more socially acceptable than others. I give this Bible 5 stars!

I started reading bibles in depth 3 years ago, and I have purchased just about every translation and study bible in print. I was looking for God, for healing, for insights into what it really means to be a Christian, how to find release from the bondage of addictions and idolatry of any sort, and how to grow spiritually.

I purchased this bible in August 2002. Since then, I have found answers in it that no amount of personal or group bible study using other bibles, Christian radio, professional counseling by therapists or pastors, church attendance, or prayer have given me.

Almost every page has foot-notes, devotionals, in-depth comments, which teach about addictions and how to gain freedom, details about the road to recovery, all within a Christ-centered framework using the 12 Alcoholics Anonymous steps.

You can look up just about any life-experience topic in the excellently organized index/concordance in the back of the Bible, to focus on passages which help you understand who you are, what you do, why you do it, and ways to gain release from whatever plagues you, and get closer to God in order to gain peace and restoration.

I have abandoned all my other bibles in favor of this one. I would urge anyone who needs help in self-control, discipline, overcoming compulsive/obsessive behaviors, to dig into the Life Recovery Bible. You will be blessed abundantly.

If you simply want to grow spiritually, and you have no addictions, this bible is also for you.

Every day I can look forward to new insights and teachings in this bible, which I can apply immediately to my life.

The text is easy to read for such a large Bible, the NLT translation is easy to understand, and the footnotes and other devotionals do not interfere with my enjoyment of every page.

There is another Life Recovery Bible in the NIV (New International Version), which in my opinion is not nearly as good as this one.

This was a book that definitely should have been written, and thankfully Dave Thomas did us the favor. Second City was a breeding ground for most of the innovative comedians from the mid 70s on. Its contributions to comedy exceed John Mayall's to music. This book deals with those roots and continues to follow the SCTV show, which is the more ideal sketch comedy offsprings. Saturday Night Live, being on NBC, had its control shifted away from the performers to Lorne Michaels and the programming office, whereas SCTV simply translated their stage improvisation to low budget TV with little such interference. It makes for a fascinating study. Where this book falls short is somewhat obvious after a brief looksee. Dave Thomas is an unashamed packrat. He had, over those years, collected everything from the shows. The exhastive tabulation of every sketch in every episode in the appendix is evidence of that. However, that would also be welcomed by SCTV fans in a book outlining the development of each of the sketch characters and perhaps a sketch-by-sketch description with his recollections. Perhaps that should be his next book. (C'mon Dave, what else are you gonna do with all that crap?) Anyway, it's a good two sittings of reading entertainment.

SCTV is perhaps the best comedy television ever produced or written. If you are at all a fan of the show, you will love this book. Who can forget Johnny Larue, 5 Neat Guys, The Days of the Week, The Great White North, the Sammy Maudlin Show, Bobby and Skip Bittman, and the VJ (before there were VJ's) Gerry Todd. The satire is dead on. The show just nails TV; the horrible vision that was the variety hour shows of the 70's, the newsroom, the "sweeps week", and especially the commercials.

The book itself is a running commentary on the show, it's stars, the writers, and the various ways the show aired. The photos are perhaps the best feature (who can forget Carl's Cuts with the pig-men) or the fact that Rick Moranis does Woody Allen better than Woody. Dave and Rick really do Bob Hope and Woody Allen so well it is scary. The book runs in mostly chronological order, with input from the starts all along the way. However, some of the commentary is WAY behind the scenes, perhaps a bit too far back for the average fan.

Dave Thomas, the author, does an excellent job of capturing the egos, the infighting, and the creative styles of the shows writers and performers. People often forget just how much talent came out of this ensemble: John Candy, Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, Rick Moranis, Catherine O'Hara; all have had major roles in TV and movie comedy since their stint on SCTV.

The best features of this book: The photos and the quizzes at the end of each chapter. The worst feature: too much information on the writers and producers behind the scenes and not enough info on what went in front of the cameras.

Overall, I recommend highly as a great look at the best comedy shows ever made.

SCTV is one of the funniest shows of all time. The show was a sketch comedy show based around a fictional television station. Dave Thomas was one of the stars and writers on the show and most famously known as one half of the McKenzie Brothers which was created on the show. The book takes you from the early pre-TV days of the comedy troupe through to it's end. You get the insider's perspective from Mr. Thomas and it is a very intriguing read. The book is also chock full of great pictures. If you are a big fan of the show, this book is a must read.

This is the book you must have if you are even casually interested in wild mushrooms. I am replacing a copy that some cretin stole from me. It is a reader's digest version of the big book by David Arora that is also indispensable. Great photographs and very good descriptions of the most commonly encountered species. A nice touch of humor to make it more than just a reference. Don't miss this one!

A handy guide that easily fits in a fanny pack or raincoat pocket. Chock full of colorful pictures and interesting anecdotes along with David's easy to use identification key. For the beginning explorer to the veteran who doesn't want to lug the tome Mushrooms Demystified in the field, this book is a great buy.

If anyone wants to learn about wild mushroom hunting/eating, this the best book one can get! After you read it, spend a little extra for mushrooms demystified. It's the answer to the answer.

Halberstam really gets into the minds & hearts and gives names and faces and histories to these traditionally anonymous competitors. Very deep and probing and moving, and the racing/action scenes are well-written. Glad to see a focus on a minor sport, where the athletes aren't stars or icons (unlike Halberstam's latest offering on Jordan).I compete in lifeguard rowing events--much different style of rowing than sculling, but I use an ergometer to help train. While reading this book my 2500 meter erg times dropped by 10 seconds or more, not from any form or style tips but just by recalling the focus, dedication and motivation of Halberstam's rowers.

Reading this book gives one a complete idea on what it is like row and how it can take over one's life. It shows what dedication a rower has to this sport. This book also shows the disappointment and pain that is experienced during the course of one's rowing career.

When I first started rowing in 1987 I happened across a copy of the Amateurs at a local bookstore. thrilled with the fact I found a book on my new sport and written by one of our best journalists I devoured it in a scant five hours. Even though I was a novice to the sport I found that Habelstram captured the pain, fears, joys, and dissapointments of boat racing perfectly. Later as a coach I would reccomend this book to my rowers so they could see that the feelings they were experiencing are not unique to them, but also shared by even the elite scullers that Halberstram observed. I also reccomended this book to the parents of my rowers so they could better understand the level of commitment it takes to row . Halberstram has done a rare thing, he has written about a subject so precisley that it will not be scoffed at by those who row, and those who do not row will not be lost in the explanation of technique and rowing history.

Presuming that prospective buyers of this book probably saw the movie, this book will not disappoint you. The movie was epic in scope, and although some historical inaccuracies existed, they did not detract at all from the movie, nor the performances of Russell Crowe, Connie Nielsen, Joachim Phoenix, and Richard Harris.

If you like to know the 'nuts and bolts' behind the making of a movie such as this, this is your book. If you are curious how they managed to 'reconstruct' the Coliseum complete with gladiator 'fans', this is your book.

A great gift for Gladiator and Russell Crowe fans alike.

Commodus was in fact Marcus Aurelius' son and the downfall of Rome, while already in progress, hastened when Commodus was made Caesar.

Enjoy! And watch the movie again.

This book is a good complement to one of the greatest movies ever made; although I agree with one reviewer that it's too Russell-oriented (but I don't mind... : ) ). I have one disappointment, though: Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard, the score composers, were not mentioned except in the credit. How could they overlook this? Music is a vital element in movies. And I believe anyone who have seen "Gladiator" would not disagree with me that Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard played very significant roles in this masterpiece. Their music is unbelievably beautiful!

Back to the book, buy it! You won't regret it. Reading this book make you realize the zealous effort they put into making "Gladiator", maybe not unlike how the Romans were 2000 years ago. Like the movie, you would want to see it again, and again, and again! Roma Victa!

Okay, I admit it, I really like the film Gladiator. However, that does not mean I just buy anything related to the film. This book made the list, though.

First of all, the photos are great and plentiful, and the overall production quality is very good. The real treat, though, is in the concept drawings, storyboards, and reference material (the overleaf, 2-page spread, of Pollice Verso, or "Thumbs Down", by Jean-Leon Gerome has always been one of my favorites). I really enjoyed seeing these film-making treasures.

Secondly, the amount of supporting text is awesome. Insightful, informative, and entertaining, the content really lives up to its title: The Making of the Ridley Scott Epic. I was interested in not only learning how some of the visual tricks were done, but also appreciated the information on each of the primary actors, and loved the inclusion of excerpts from the screenplay (although it would have been a huge bonus to have the whole thing included).

Finally, I appreciated the overall value of the book. True, the DVD provides similar insight into many of the "making of" aspects, but there is a lot of information in this book, and the decision to release it in paperback format makes it a pretty good value. Besides, it "travels" better than the DVD, and provides things the DVD doesn't.

Overall, I'm happy with my decision to buy this book! You get a real inside view of the planning and execution of this great film.

Always being "nice" looks so good from the outside, but oh, the pain that is there inside. Duke Robinson's touching book guides you through simple, yet challanging steps to relieve that pain forever.

My first intention was to read this book as a self-help guide in learnng how to deal with my mistakes. I found my "niceness" in many chapters and immediately began trying some of the suggested changes. They do work and I feel better!

Being a believer that continuing education is a lifelong process, I want to share this book with others. Using the author's study guide, I plan to introduce "Good Intentions" to an adult study group at my church.

I have an admission: I can't process Duke Robinson's book as fast as I would like. That's because it contains vast insight into how we would-be nice folk trip over ourselves. So, I'm reading it slowly and taking time for reflection.

But I'm also trying new behaviors that the author suggests. For example, I've started saying "I'll have to get back to you" when my own reactivity kicks in. A simple suggestion, almost common sense. But it helps preserve important relationships and gives me time to come up with a calm, healing response.

If you feel a need to be perfect, if you lose yourself into other people's problems, if you sputter in the face of ambush, if you have trouble saying what you want, this book is for you. It offers practical, down-to-earth, doable ideas that work.

But be warned: the author will help you envision the climb toward more authentic niceness, and he will provide some handholds. But the work will be up to you. If you're like me, you will find his suggestions difficult to pull off. But the effort will be worthwhile.

I write in response to the guy who felt "totally ripped off" by the chapter in this book on dealing with irrational attacks.

I can't tell whether he's baiting the author to see if he'll follow his own directions, or if he's simply throwing a childish tantrum that illustrates the excessive and irrational attacks people often have to suffer. Either way, he obviously didn't get it, and although he calls himself a "fairly nice, sensitive, compassionate person," his letter makes that difficult to believe. Perhaps if he had read the whole book and used the practical exercises, he would have seen how helpful this book could be.

This book opened my eyes to a lot of important insights into how my "niceness" has undercut my integrity and effectiveness as a person. I'm impressed with the substance and clarity with which it's written, and especially the fact that I couldn't find any "psychobabble." I'm also impressed with the balance of theorhetical understanding and practical information. It's been of tremendous help to me. I cannot recommend it too highly.

I was recently interviewing for a job and was called in for EIGHT interviews. The stress was on! Duke helped me to see the big picture, to focus on what I wanted and needed, and not be bogged down with needless baggage that some of us "nice" people carry with us.

This book has helped me with personal relationships at home and with friends, has refocused my attention to my communication methods so that I use clear and succinct wording, and it has helped me see that nice guys can finish first.

Thanks, Duke. The book is great

Rose and her family have had to move into town because of hard times, and Rose misses Rocky Ridge Farm. All Little House fans will love this book!

This book was an excellant read for children to get a real look at the life and times of pre-twentieth century life in the U.S. Mr. MacBride brings out wonderful details and continues the legendary story of Rose Wilder and her family as they try to better there lives in Mansfield.

I liked this book second favorite.New Dawn On Rocky Ridge was my favorite.In this book,Rose and her parents move into town becuase of tornadoes,fires and droughts on the farm.She meets new friends, and watches her freind Swiney change his name to Nate.

Maybe my expectations were too high. I've never heard Etta James sing a song I didn't love. Not only does she have one of the most breathtaking voices in popular music, but she uses it brilliantly. She sings every song from the depths of her soul, and at the same time she's a very intelligent singer, obviously very much aware of, and in control of, her craft. I was hoping she'd bring the same kind of feeling and intelligence to telling the story of her life.

And it's a great story. Abandoned by her father and growing up in poverty with a difficult mother, Etta James became a juvenile delinquent, and over the course of her life faced down just about every form of addiction you can think of, from food to heroin. She was saved by a gift for music, which other people, thank god, recognized almost as soon as she opened her mouth.

So I began reading, knowing I was digging into a great story written by an intelligent and sensitive woman. But as I read, I found myself growing more and more disappointed. The book has some wonderful anecdotes about the nastiness of the music business and the foibles of a lot of famous people. They're entertaining and sometimes even enlightening - and they're the reason I wouldn't rate this book any lower than three stars.

But something goes wrong when she writes about herself. A lot of reviewers have praised her "honesty" in accepting responsiblity for her mistakes and addictions.That's certainly an admirable quality, but it doesn't necessarily make for interesting writing. Again and again, James tells you the sordid details of her mistakes, says it was her own fault, and then goes on to something else. And every time she does so, I felt cheated of any insight into what led her down the paths she took. She sounds like someone who hasn't really come to terms with her problems, and therefore most of the book seems rather superficial.

The story is inherently interesting and it would probably make a great movie, but its unwillingness to probe below the surface kept it from being a great book.

Loved reading Etta James' story. I didn't know much about her life, but was quickly drawn into the story line. Etta James was very candid and the story was written so well that you felt that she was sitting at a kitchen table telling her story. The Etta James story tells the successes and failures of the music industry. This is one of the best biographies which I have read.

I dont remember when was the last time I read such a honest autobiography - while others would be tempted to describe themselves in the best light,Etta James achieved to be likeable BECAUSE she is honest person.Everything she went through,happy times,bad times,brutal,funny and sad,she tells with such a original style that her talking voice almost leaps out from the pages.I read this book in 2 days without a break,what a original character,never afraid to say it as it is,even if occasionally her story may sound down-right depressing,then she makes it clear that she still have that life-saving sense of humour.Besides making me laugh and cry,Etta also describes music legends from different perspective - Chuck Berry,Jackie Wilson,Sam Cooke,James Brown,Ike & Tina,Aretha,Keith Richards,Mick Jagger,Bo Didley,Ray Charles,Jesse Belvin,Esther Phillips... Etta knew them all and paint the picture as we may never knew it,from the backstage.While Tina Turner's autobiography curiously lacks any personal comments,Etta James book is all about its subject,this is the woman who is not afraid to say what she thinks and what a story she have to tell!