This book has taught me about what i need for my worm farm that im getting in a week or two....Only problem is there are almost absoloutly no wormdealers here

Well i rate this book a five because it explains the book clearly and doesnt have mumbojumbo throughout the book I read this book in one day i ate it up

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This was a fun book about the little creepy crawlers! It gives a very solid scientific introduction to the little critters and answers most of your basic questions about worms. The focus of the book has to with vermiculture--the use of worms for developing super-rich compost material for organic gardens. Vermicompost is without a doubt the best composting material available for organic gardeners, and setting up your own vermicomposting bin is the best way to get yourself some of this richly organic fertilizer.

The book details how you can set up your own vermicompost bin, either by making it yourself or by purchasing a commercial worm bin. It also even describes how some school systems have saved themselves bundles of money by having worms eat the schoolkids' lunch scraps rather than pay for commercial garbagemen to haul the stuff away!

I would most strongly recommend this book for anybody interested in either worms, vermicomposting or organic gardening. It's a very fun read!

Worms Eat My Garbage is an informative and fun guide to worm composting (vermicomposting). It is no wonder this book has been accepted as The Guide by worm composters- it is a complete guide to planning, setting up, and using a worm composting system either indoors or outdoors. Different end goals are discussed (more worms, versus more compost) in view of the maintenance required to achieve the goals. A happy medium is recommended. A list of organic kitchen waste that can be composted is included. The author does not shy away from composting small amounts of meat, which the worms will gladly eat, though it may smell.

The amount of information about the life of worms is just right. The reproduction of worms is described at a layperson level, as well as other interesting worm facts, like the cut a worm in half myth.

The book is very easy reading, written at a 5th grade level, making it appropriate for classroom use or science projects. The illustrators' drawings make the book fun as well as aiding visual learners.

The author recommends commercial bins as well as homemade designs, with pictures of each. Plans for some homemade bins are included.

I enjoyed the section on a zero-waste society. With standard glass, metal and paper recycling, and the worms to recycle organic waste, the only items in my trash are plastics. This means I can go much longer between emptying my trash, mostly because it doesn't smell but also because the volume is reduced.

I was disappointed that the book, although it is very comprehensive, does not discuss composting items rather than kitchen waste and paper for worm bedding. For instance, animal waste can be composted using red worms, as long as the compost is not placed on plants or trees used for human consumption. Also, the book didn't mention that scrap organic cloth, such as cotton, wool, and linen, can be composted.

Your astrology book collection will not be complete without this book on the 13th sign. The book changes astrology completly around, it updates the way you interpert charts and do readings. Abbamonte, so simply puts it, "Your only choice is that of participating in these changes knowingly or unknowingly. Astrology has always been the roadmap, for what in happing above in the sky - is also occuring below on Earth." Come December the sun will be in the 13th Sign. Something you may want to look into! After you read this book, how could you not consider using 13 different signs?

"The 13th Sign" is excellent and is a significant contribution to astrology. Ms.Abbamonte boldly and clearly shows a flaw in most of todays astrological readings that cannot be ignored!

As a Reiki Healer, I found this book very useful.
It is filled with revolutionary and ancient
information on health and healing, as well as
astrology, masterfully woven together.
Very interesting, there is a lot of information
here and easily understood too.

I'm a grandmother and I would recommend this book to anybody who loves Christmas and what it stands for. A treasured keepsake. Wonderful stories to read your children, Poems, food for thought, a few stories could be used for programs in church etc. It's an enjoyable read and I wouldn't part with it.The pictures are beautiful and I can't say enough. It was even nicer than I had expected. Love it!

This book's gilt-edged pages, charming colorful illustrations and classic Christmas treats including among many, O. Henry's "Gift of the Magi" and the nostalgic holiday song, "Over the River and Through the Woods" make for merry family holiday pleasure. Splendid! This book is called a treasury for good reason.

What a beautiful book - and a great gift idea! I saw this at the bookstore a few weeks ago and loved it. I ordered it as a gift for a friend out of state off of amazon.com and was pleasantly surprised when 2nd day air and the book came to less than the cost of the book at the bookstore. Add this book to your Christmas collection!

When 19-year-old Phoebe Desmond finds out she's pregnant--and is subsequently dumped by Tyrus, the middle-aged "emotionally disturbed" father of the child--she travels to Paris to have her baby in the company of a friend, Marlys Hightower. During her six-month stay in France, Phoebe falls in love with Ben Reuben (a rich artist friend of Marlys' who lets Phoebe board with him), and she exposes some shocking secrets along the way.

It's been years since I've read this book (sometime during my junior or senior year of high school), but this is still one of my favorite books. Phoebe's first person narrative and wit is wickedly amusing and honest. If you like adult books by Judy Blume, then you might like "The Book of Phoebe." Highly recommended.

Goodbye, tongue-tied! hello saucy! I just memorized all the great lines from this way too much fun book, and now I can mow them down at parties when the talk turns snappy. I only wish Phoebe had come into my life sooner! I can't wait for the author's next book!

The Book of Phoebe is one of those books that you h ate to see end. Phoebe Desmond is a heroine who is both irreverent and spiritual in the best sense of both words. When Phoebe finds she's pregnant as the result of her first love affair, she takes off for Paris determined to have her baby without having to tell the baby's father that he is a father. In Phoebe's opinion he doesn't deserve to know. While she thinks of Paris as an escape, it turns out to be more of a learning experience than Yale ever was , teaching her more about herself than she sometimes wanted to know. She's funny, gutsy, courageous and all those good things you want the people you read about to be. This is a story that begins with a girl coming to grips with some major events in her life, events, which might have traumatized someone else. What they did for Phoebe was turn her from a girl I liked very much, into a woman I liked even more. The writing is first rate, the laughs and the tears nicely interspersed. It's the kind of book that makes you feel a lot better for having read it.

If you're only going to read five books on the Civil War - which is like saying, only eat one french fry - make this one of them. Grant's autobiography, written under excruciating conditions of financial pressure and failing health in the late 1880's, is one of the most unforgettable reads available about the American Civil War.
Terse, simple, and almost painfully modest, Grant takes us through his life - the schooling at West Point (he was too retiring to point out they'd got his middle name wrong at registration, and was mistakenly given the name Ulysses SIMPSON Grant which he used for the rest of his life). The bravery and initiative of the Mexican War. The long, lonely postings in the early '50's to California, a continent away from his wife and beloved young children. The depression, leaving the Army, trying to make it in civilian life, failing at almost everything he tried. Then the war begins in 1861 when Lincoln calls for volunteers. It's typical of Grant that he goes to a little midwest recruiting post and modestly says he might take command of something very small - a company, perhaps? This, for a West Point graduate. From then on the book ceases being merely very interesting and starts becoming a can't-put-down.
The simple and good-hearted soul of the man just shines through his words, and he doesn't get caught up badly in the mid-century Victorian fustery of so much Civil War writing. He tells you what happened and what he thought about it; I remember about Lee at Appomatox, he said that he felt like anything in world after Lee's surrender except gloating over so brave an army as Lee's who had fought so nobly for a cause - even though he also thought it was one of the worst causes for which men had ever fought. His prose just flows through the extraordinary events he helped channel - Shiloh, Vicksburg, The Battle of the Wilderness, the surrender, and all points in between. It's an irreplaceable and wonderful resource and you end up falling big-time for Ulysses S. Grant. Don't miss it.

I first read U.S. Grant's memoirs when I was a college student during the Vietnam War. It helped me a great deal to appreciate how horrific war was and still is and that it should only be suffered when the cause is truly worthwhile. It was in the American Civil War and World War II. It was not in the Vietnam War. It was not our finest hour.

But this book also got me hooked on the history of the American Civil War. It is in my judgment, after more than fifty years and reading perhaps a thousand volumes about this watershed event in our nation's history, the single best written and brutally honest work on that event. Especially so in that it was written first-hand by one of the principal characters in that national and human tragedy.

For those of you really interested in becoming a student of the American Civil War, I recommend it highly, after you read the American Heritage History of the Civil War and before you read Lee's Lieutenants by Douglas Southhall Freeman and the four book series by Bruce Catton.

If by that time you're not hooked and become a Civil War junkie, you never will be.

Written more as a military memoir than a personal, Grant proves to be an outstanding author as well as a General. Reading this set me off to find more about the General's personal life. I highly recommend to anyone interested in the Civil War, you won't be disappointed.

I had a dream the other day, that I was in the livingroom of Mary Wilson, the
book's author. She served tea and Stella Dora breakfast cookies, as we sat
on her couch looking through her family picture album. I've never met
Mary's family, so I occasionally asked, "Who is this?" and "Oh, is this you
as a baby?" And with each reply, Mary reminisced on the scene in the
photo, and cheerfully told me a little bit of her family's history.

This dream occurred while reading Ms. Wilson's book, "Colorless Soul." Told in
conversation style and sewn with pictures along the way, the
background of Mary's relatives, unfolds the remnants of her past and present. The stories
heard as a child about the grandparents she knew, and those who are a
mystery, cross stitch through the chapters. We learn how her family mended
the frayed edges of racial tension and economic status with their loving
support. She seamlessly weaves the small delicate details of the 50s
and 60s, which could have easily been taken for granted, into the tapestry
of her life. And, thoughts of snow on an old grave embroider the finishing touch.

Mary Wilson transcribes the expressions of a griot into the written word. She should
be commended on creatively combining 80+ years of ancestors and events in
such a well organized and concise manuscript. Mary displays her black pride in the variety of family hues, from near white, and medium brown to ebony black. I recommend this book for all
born in this melting pot called America. Let's not let our dream of unity go to the grave. Let's live in the present as colorless souls.

Description: Expressions of a griot into the written word

I had a dream the other day, that I was in the livingroom of Mary Wilson, the
book's author. She served tea and Stella Dora breakfast cookies, as we sat
on her couch looking through her family picture album. I've never met
Mary's family, so I occasionally asked, "Who is this?" and "Oh, is this you
as a baby?" And with each reply, Mary reminisced on the scene in the
photo, and cheerfully told me a little bit of her family's history.

This dream occurred while reading Ms. Wilson's book, "Colorless Soul." Told in
conversation style and sewn with pictures along the way, the
background of Mary's relatives, unfolds the remnants of her past and present. The stories
heard as a child about the grandparents she knew, and those who are a
mystery, cross stitch through the chapters. We learn how her family mended
the frayed edges of racial tension and economic status with their loving
support. She seamlessly weaves the small delicate details of the 50s
and 60s, which could have easily been taken for granted, into the tapestry
of her life. And, thoughts of snow on a warm grave embroider the finishing touch.

Mary Wilson transcribes the expressions of a griot into the written word. She should
be commended on creatively combining 80+ years of ancestors and events in
such a well organized and concise manuscript. Mary displays her black pride in the variety of family hues, from near white, and medium brown to ebony black. I recommend this book for all
born in this melting pot called America. Let's not let our dream of unity go to the grave. Let's live in the present as colorless souls.

Reviewed by: Judine Slaughter
Express Yourself Books

I loved this story. It was engaging and very well written. At times it was almost like being a fly on the wall or growing up as one of Mary's sisters as the author made your privy to so much private family information. It appears that the author had alot of questions and was quite inquisitive as a child (who isn't!) And although there were specific names that the author couldn't mention in her book I believe that Colorless Soul is a wonderful piece of documented history that can easily be passed on to children and great grands regardless as to whether or not you are related to this author. It is wonderful to be able to get information from as far back as the author did. Color/shade/complexsion aside this book is a true testiment to ancestry! Simply thrilling.

Linda Dominique Grosvenor

The four authors present five epistemologies compiled from a detailed analysis of interviews conducted with 135 women over the course of several years. The interview subjects varied in their educational experience, age, ethnicity, and economic background. The authors present their findings in succinct chapters with numerous subheadings for easy reading. Citations include works by Jean Piaget, Carol Gilligan, William Perry, L. Kohlberg and many other well-known names in educational research.

Starting from the awareness that much of the way education (both formal and informal) is carried out in society is very male-dominated and the voice and experience of women is largely absent, Belenky and her co-authors make a case for examining ways of knowing and learning that is unique to women. The authors recognise early differences in studies that have included women as a primary or central focus, such as those of Carol Gilligan. One strong tendency of women's ways of knowing in these early studies is the presence of responsibility and connectedness that significantly exceeds those of men. After exploring different aspects of knowledge and how women come to acquire, use, produce, and disseminate this knowledge, the authors work to put these insights in context for the family and academia. The authors work largely in the area of developing for women a means of gaining a greater sense of self (also see Howard Gardner's section on personal intelligence in his book, Frames of Mind). This sense of self enables women to construct meaning for themselves, and find their own voices for both teaching and learning.

Perhaps one criticism I would hold is that, while this work looks at women's experience, it still seems to remain very Euro-centric. I am reminded of the arguments of black women against feminist theological processes, which led to the development of womanist theological discourse.

Recently I received an email from a friend with a link to an on-line quiz, which was attempting in a Turing-machine sort of way to be able to determine one's gender from the answers given to a set of questions. As I was taking the test, I thought about it in the context of women's ways of knowing and learning, and realised that this test was very objective, non-connected, largely non-feeling, and very masculine in approach. Certainly this test did not have the kind of objectivity called for in the text. 'Objectivity in connected teaching, as in connected knowing, means seeing the other, the student, in the student's own terms.' (p. 224) This test was seeing everyone in terms of a standard model, a model derived from male-dominant considerations.

For the sake of liturgy and learning, which is my particular field of study, and the purpose behind reading this book, the kinds of issues raised here are important. The authors begin with the idea of silence. This is not a silence like monastic silence or the silence between prayers, hymns and readings, but rather a silence of voices from the shaping and practice of the community. Too often liturgy is viewed, by laity and clergy, as something handed to them from 'authority' with little or no room for adaptation or adjustment to context. When liturgical practice becomes this rigid or this 'unlistening', it can cease to have any many or validity for the community of worshippers.

The authors also develop ideas of received, subjective and procedural knowledge, all of which can be used in liturgical practice. There can be, particularly in my prayer-book-heavy tradition, a tendency to emphasise received knowledge and some aspects of procedural knowledge, while confining other types of knowledge to secondary or tertiary roles in the liturgy. Dialogue sermons and opening up the participation to others can enhance the service, broadening it to other forms of learning styles.

Applying the principles of connected teaching to liturgy can have important results. 'Connected teachers try to discern the truth inside the students.' (p. 223) Perhaps this same kind of constructed style of shaping the liturgy to be more inclusive, more sensitive to the voices of the members of the community while still paying respect to the overall shape and intention of the community, can lead to greater connectivity of the community amongst itself, and of the community members to the experience of the liturgy.

Overall, this book can yield insights into many types of practices, learning, and knowledge. While it does not constitute the final word on intelligence by any means, it is a valuable conversation partner.

As a grad student exploring women and adult education, this book provided a great jumping off point!It does not compare and contrast male and female learning, which would suggest one is superior. Rather, it thoroughly explores different styles in which women acquire knowledge, and the value they place on learning. It also gives adult educators of women many ideas for enhancing the learning environment, whether single or mixed gender.I recommend Hayes & Flannery's Women as Learners as follow-up reading!

This is a beautifully illustrated book. We purchased this book to build the library of our soon to be adopted daughter from China.

This book has a moral to the story, however young children may have a difficult time capturing the essence. The story in itself is wonderful and will captivate a young audience.

Chin Yu Min And The Ginger Cat, written by Jennifer Armstrong and Illustrated by Mary Grandpre, is yet another fine example of Mary Grandpre's brilliance as an illustrator. Mary Grandpre's paintings linger in the imagination long after the pages have been turned. Jennifer Armstrong does a fine job of adapting a Chinese folktale. Chin Yu Min is the wife of a wealthy man. Chin believes this puts her above everyone in her village. Chin is imperious, haughty and snobbish. When Chin's husband drowns and she runs out of money, Chin refuses the kind offerings of help from the other villagers. One day Chin meets a mysterious cat at the fishing docks who helps return Chin to her previous financial status. It is only when Chin loses the cat that she learns the real value of friendship and humility. Chin Yu Min and the Ginger Cat is delight for children of any age.

Preston McClear...

I am a professional illustrator and got to see Mary Grandpre do a demonstration of her work when in art college. This book is a perfect example of what a very talented artist is capable of. Her use of color and composition make this book a joy to behold!

I had this book for years and then it was stolen. There are recipes in it I absolutely must have so I find myself buying a new one.

These are my home town recipes! Reading this made me feel at home. True Italian flavor. These are real...real..hand-me-down recipes from the old country. Even if your not Italian you can't help but enjoy the tradition presented here. CAIO !

Don't pass up an opportunity to own this book! With love and warmth the author shares recipes that are simple and satisfying. I've cooked half of this book and the results have always been terrific...especially the Farfalle Picante.

I received this book last week and started using it with the readings immediately. The style of writing is clear and precise. Although the book describes the reversed meanings of cards, each card is first described with its upright original meaning. The book is illustrated with Rider Waite deck pictures which might annoy some people but for beginners and those in love with all things medieval this is a plus.

The upright descriptions are really useful but the book will help you in using reversals even if you used them before buying this book, like myself.

I do not agree with some psychological interpretations of the author which is the only reason this book gets 4 stars. Otherwise if you are looking to explore Tarot in depth, besides the usual quick interpretations, get it!

Mary Greer's Tarot for Yourself has always been a favorite of mine; I've only had this one on reversals for a few days but already it's another favorite. She discusses both upright and reversed meanings/connotations of the cards in a clear, thoughtful fashion. Every time I read Greer I make new discoveries and connections. Her spreads are also worth trying. A must for beginners or seasoned Tarot readers!

Mary Greer pioneered the psychological, experiential methods of reading tarot that have now become the norm. Her earlier books, especially Tarot for Your Self, are full of exercises to help beginning readers develop a personal relationship with their cards. I thus expected Tarot Reversals to follow this same pattern...a sort of workbook for getting comfortable interpreting reversed cards.

Although there are some very valuable exercises in this book, nearly 70% of it is devoted to card-by-card interpretation, typically a page or so describing the upright meanings of the card, then a somewhat lengthier description of the reversed meanings. These descriptions are an incredible resource for any tarot reader, especially if you use reversals in your readings. There is nothing even remotely comparable anywhere else. (Other tarot books explain the meaning of the upright card, but limit reversed meanings to a few keywords.) Besides the welcome in-depth look at reversed meanings, these card interpretations are just plain good, reflecting Greer's decades of experience as a tarot reader and teacher. A welcome inclusion is shamanic/magical meanings for each card, and healing/disease implications as well. This section of the book holds its own against any of the card-by-card interpretation guides on the market today. Although this book is part of Llewellyn's series on "advanced topics in tarot", a complete beginner could learn how to interpret cards very well by using this book.

The remainder of the book consists of general advice on using and interpreting reversals. Greer goes far beyond "reversals as opposites", describing twelve different senses a reversed card can have. The book includes a lengthy listing of words that can be used to modify the upright meanings of the cards. This is very useful, especially if your own deck is a little too far removed from conventional meanings to make use of the card-by-card descriptions.

There are a number of excursions into various tarot topics, such as elemental dignities, and some really interesting spreads. I could hardly read a page in this book without coming on something new I wanted to try out.

Although this book is not intended to be a substitute for a basic tarot book, it could probably be used as such without much difficulty. And as a resource for working with reversed cards, it is unique and indispensible.