Nonstandardized Quests: 500+ Writing Prompts That Matter by highschool English teacher David E. LeCount is an invaluable aide for creative writing teachers. Nonstandardized Quests is packed cover to cover with ideas for unusual writing assignments meant to get young people to think and put effort into expressing themselves. Each topic (such as "a guidebook for horses on how to get along with flies") has a corresponding website for research, and samples of student writings intersperse the abundant ideas. Nonstandardized Quests is also useful and highly recommended for aspiring writers looking to flex their creative muscles via self-administered mini-projects.

This book offers a wonderful assortment of multi-disciplinary writing ideas for the new teacher and the veteran. I found myself saying over and over I wish I had this book when I was a young teacher. With websites at the end, a slight inconvenience, and with remarkable and disturbing student samples, the book provides an alternative to the essay "What I did over my summer vacation."
Many topics are daring but more in line with the students I have in class, and more in touch with their world. The belief that students have untapped imaginations is to say the least refreshing!

Nonstandarized quests is the single greatest item since the wheel. I am love with this book, we're engaged already. This book is the greatest thing to ever happen to me. Even the pages smell nice! Nobody should be alive without this book. This book is God and I bow to it 16 times a day. It will replace the bible. And Mr. Lecount saw that it was good, and the people did rejoice. I..... I would sacrifice my first child if I wasn't allowed to read it again. I would cease to exist without this book. If one of your friends doesn't like this book, destroy them because they are the enemy. They weren't your friends anyway! I now have a reason to live. The whole world... no, UNIVERSE revolves around this book. If this book goes out of print and you don't own a copy, suicide is the ONLY answer. After reading this, i hope you realize the dire importance of getting this book, it just may save you life.
~Ryan

Highly readable for an academic work. A deep and uniquely insightful perspective on one of the last century's most complex writers. Even casual readers of C. S. Lewis will find this book captivating.

Unlike most literary criticism this book is very rich, perceptive and readable. Anyone who likes C. S. Lewis should get their hands on this book. I look forward to more books by this author.

Tha author has read Lewis extensively, and reads the Space Trilogy in the light of Lewis the man. He sheds new light on the sources of inspiration, and comments on the criticism that has been raised against the trilogy. I have read the trilogy several times, and this study deepened my understanding of it. It is well written and highly readable. I could have wished for a deeper assessment of the "pagan" influences of the trilogy. However, the study is well worth reading for anyone who likes reading Lewis, esp. his fiction.

I love this book. I use it as a devotional every morning, along with Praying the Bible for your Marriage and Praying the Bible for your Life. Pray is most powerful when you pray the Word and that's what you will learn how to do with these books. I believe in this book so much that I've given it as gifts to friends of mine.

As a new mother I want to pray for my child and yet found that my prayers were often repetitive and felt "empty." I know God hears all prayers but this book has helped to put new life in my prayers for my child. It has helped me to be focused and specific in my prayers. It also helps me recall and claim the promises of scripture as I pray for my child.

Whether you are familiar with the Bible or not, this book puts into your hands and fills your heart with the words to ask God to surround your children...using the Kopf's paraphrase of His own words given to all of us in the Bible. Whether your heart's concern for your children is for their success or their safety or their salvation or their sanctification, there is a prayer written to surround that desire, and lift it up before the Almighty. I have given this book as a gift many times for many different occassions.

We have a son whom we adopted from Russia three years ago who is the joy of our lives. This book has many prayers relevant to the lives of all children, but was especially touching to us. We have given it almost every year to teachers and school administrators at our son's school as teacher's day gifts, Christma gifts, etc.

For a very reasonable price, it is a very touching a special gift to friends and family and we keep a supply on hand to give at special occasions.

for capturing beautiful images that speak to your heart. I purchased this book for my husband who is also a photographer. We were privileged to hear Mr. Dobson speak while in college at Evangel in Springfield MO. He has a heart for the children of the world. And Praise God! He's using his gift to glorify the Lord! If you love children. . . get this book, if you love photography. . . definitely get this book! If you love Jesus. . . tell someone!

Three times I started this review and had to turn back to try again. My family was introduced to this book by a friend and had to have our own copy. The photographs are lush; a gorgeous chronicle of a myriad of cultures filled with both childish smiles and the harsh remains of life's troubles left on young faces. Three boys mining the garbage in the city dump in the Phillipines offer boyish grins; in a dump in Brazil, no smile appears. Each photo is accompanied by a brief description and a short prayer. My children love this book and so do I!

One of the strongest women writers that lived, she revolutionized theatre and her death was unfortunate robbed theatre of her potential. A Great collection of her complete work at a great price. Cleansed was my favorite in the collection. Her work is so poetic, stark, honest, painful, and brutal.

These are the most electric scripts to arrive in a long while. Sadly, the source was snuffed in 1999. Kane's writing is at once repellent and seductive. "Blasted" is exceptional, riffing on Beckett blatantly, but still signature of a visionary voice: inyerface, exuberant, filthy, poetic, profound. As a debut, it is truly remarkable. "Phaedra's Love" and "Cleansed" push the envelope past the hyper-real into lightning-bright brilliance, and with thunderous emotional depth. How does one stage this stuff? Kane's challenging work sets the imagination--and ultimately, the soul--on fire.

Sarah Kane's plays present the horrors which characterize the world of the late 20th century. The plays contain scenes of incredible brutality. Ordinarily, I avoid violence in books, plays and films but these plays haunt me with the beauty of their generous humanity. Her last two plays--Crave and 4:48 Psychosis are beautiful poems of hopelessness. If you are interested in contemporary theatre, YOU MUST READ SARAH KANE. The story of her life and death, while unspeakably sad, should not overshadow the extraordinary talent of this gifted writer and remarkable human being.

This is the very finest translation of Chinese poems I have seen. I have over one hundred books of translations of Chinese poets.

Hinton is able to catch the feel of a Zen religous life by a famous civil servant of the late Tang Dynasty. He captures the bitter sweet character of the life many Chinese poets chose where they were two totally different people -- mystics and civil servants. We can find few people in world history on which to model our lifes with more real depth than Po Chi I, Su Tung Po, and Wang Wei.

A Servant Girl Is Missing

From the low walls of our small courtyard to the notice-board outside our district gate,

I've searched and searched, ashamed our love proved meager, wishing I could do it all over.

But a caged bird can't bear a master for long, and the branch means nothing to a blossom

freed on the wind. Where can she be tonight? Only the moon's understanding light knows.

This was written in the 9th century C.E. by the famous Chinese Tang dynasty poet Po Chu-I. Po's beautiful lines are Taoist and Ch'an (Zen) Buddhist in influence, but something about them sings transcendent and is not easily categorized. Consider how much is contained in this poem: worry, a confession of wrongdoing, an admission of love, something about nature and the need for human freedom, and a tiny fragment of intuitive (mystic) insight when he adds: "Only the moon's understanding light knows." Whew! How did he do it, all carefully wrapped in deceptively simple rhyming couplets in the Chinese? I'm awed by this work, as I am by Po's modern English translator, David Hinton. This book is recently available in trade paperback by New Directions Publishing. Any of these Chinese poets (Hinton translates Meng Chiao and my favorite, T'ao Ch'ien, too, as well as others) will radically change your view of life, for theirs was a powerful and elegant civilization when Rome was still fighting off its hordes. These are beautiful, poignant, often sad, but very wise reflections about existence, metaphysics, and how to live a rich life.

I have to commend David Hinton's ability to change translation styles to match the style of the poets he translates. Po Chu-i's poetry is very simple and straightforward, and in response, Hinton sticks very close to the original Chinese in his translation. This works very well most of the time, but at times it is taken too far, and the gammar can seem awkward taken in English. Nevertheless, the essentially beauty of the poetry shines through, and the selection is well chosen. I would have preferred that the original Chinese be included, but this omission is unlikely to bother most readers. All in all, the collection is a credit both to poet and translator. I highly recommend it.

This is a must for those seeking understanding for their daily walk with Yeshua. It is a refreshing light with great insight and a good way to share the Word and the Good News. It is the way that our day starts and the words carry us through with a longing for what is to come the next day. It is a must for the Messianic believer.

This is a little gem of a devotional! Twenty-two contributors (equivalent to the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet), representing a "broad spectrum of the Messianic Jewish community," have shared their insight into various Scripture passages, giving the book a decidedly unique perspective compared to other devotionals I have looked it. Although each day's commentary is only a page long, each devotion is packed with punch, often giving Jewish background or customs to each reading. Key Hebrew words are sprinkled throughout with the English translation included in parentheses. The Jewish calendar is followed, however Western dates, six years worth (beginning in 1998), are included so the reader can easily follow throughout the year. Each page has a side-column that shows the stage of the moon on that particular date. Also listed are any important biblical events that have occurred, as well as the traditional Jewish holy days and observances that are celebrated. A small section in the column is left for personal writing or a "prayer focus." There are three appendices that cover the biblical festivals, the traditional Jewish observances, and a synagogue reading cycle.

As a personal note, I would like to add that the reading cycle is especially insightful each week, and I realized that even more after reading the author's comments when introducing the concept to the reader:

"Do you intercede for Israel's salvation? If not, the synagogue reading cycle, like an alarm clock, can wake you up to this most important responsibility. It will remind you of the seasons when many of our people around the world are turning their hearts to God in prayer, repentance and meditation on his Word. These are the ideal times to pray for our people — marvelous windows of opportunity to send our prayers heavenward. Let us remember that the best time to pray for Israel is when Israel is praying."

— Ronni

This book is really my first taste of a Messianic devotional and I really enjoy the flavor, although I concede that it may be an acquired taste. Like most devotionals, it has short daily readings that help you to think about Godly things and about how you are doing in your spiritual walk with the Lord. What sets it apart is that all 22 authors are leaders in the Messianic movement.

The authors consistently use the Hebrew (or Yiddish, etc.) terms for many words that we have translated into English, thereby losing some of the meaning and "feel" of the chosen word from the original language. But not to worry, they are usually translated for you right there so that you still understand everything that is being said. This constant saturation with the more meaningful proper terms helps you to feel closer to the Jewish people and understand their thought process better. Also, interjected into some of the readings are historical accounts or other information that would only normally be known by persons with a Jewish background, which further helps us to acquire an educated knowledge of their culture.

Other features include the Hebrew calendar date in bold display at the top corners of each page and the corresponding Gregorian calendar dates below, up through the year 2004. The names of the writers do not appear on each page which really helps you to concentrate on the teaching and to give glory to God and not to the man who wrote the particular piece. However, the individual authors' initials do appear in small fine print at the bottom so that you can look them up in the index at the front of the book. The index, by the way, gives a brief profile of each author, which will also help you to get a feel for who is who in the Messianic movement around the world. There is a small sidebar for listing prayer requests and there is also a thought of the day (Today I will...) to make the teaching practical at the bottom of each page. An inspirational, educational, practical, and handsome book.

John Dryden's 1677 tragedy "All For Love" or "The World Well Lost" was based on William Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra." This would be a minority opinion, but I really think this Restoration Drama is comparable to the Shakespeare version in many regards. Of course "borrowing" from Shakespeare cannot be considered much of a crime when the Bard of Avon appropriated so many plots from other dramatists as well. Shakespeare's play covers ten years in settings scattered across the eastern Mediterranean, while Dryden confines all of his events to one day in the Temple of Isis. For me the dramatic highpoint of the Dryden version is the ugly confrontation between Cleopatra and Octavia, Roman wife of Mark Antony, but I also like the final death scenes better than what we find in Shakespeare. Just do not ask me to explain how "All for Love" reflects Restoration sensibilities rather than the Elizabethan values of "Antony and Cleopatra." I first read this play and decided to use it as the final play in a mini-trilogy of one-act that used Shaw's "Caesar and Cleopatra" and Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," and had no problem given Dryden the anchor position. Certainly classes studying English drama can benefit by having students read both the Shakespeare and Dryden versions with an eye out towards better understanding the works of both playwrights. If you are only going to read one play by Dryden, then the only other choices besides this one would be "Aureng-Zebe," his last and best example of the heroic genre or his comedy masterpiece "Marriage a-la-mode." But I would still pick "All For Love."

Dryden's reworking of Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra" is a great read, especially if you didn't fully comprehend Shakespeare's work. Dryden's language is concise, and his portrayal of historical characters is excellent; especially considering that he had to follow Shakespeare's lead.

Save your money and buy some comic books, you'll get more realistic plot development and characters. The writer has evidently never been inside a real police department or embassy or has any knowledge of how the real world works outside of Dublin pubs.

If you like accuracy and reasonable plots -- forget this. If you wander into mystery to totally escape from the real world, then you might enjoy it.

I will also admit that I did not finish it. After the third or fourth female character was introduced, every one of which was a contender for Miss World, I decided to just trash it.

Cheers,

In a crowded Dublin street, a bomb goes off, killing several innocent people. The police investigation is headed up by detective superintendent Blade Macken, whose personal life is as tattered as the bomb area. Blade quickly learns that the deadly blast was detonated beneath the street, making its trail ice cold because the bomb had to have been planted when the street was dug up several months ago.

However, Blade is soon contacted by the deranged Angel, who tells him more bombs have been planted beneath the city's streets. They will all go off to coincide with the American president's visit if he does not receive $25 million very soon. Blade begins to investigate the case from the one clue the killer did leave in his phone call -- he knew Blade. Looking into his past to try an uncover the identify of a crazed murderer, Blade does not particularly like what he sees about himself and his dysfunctional family. Still, he has a bomber to catch with little time remaining so he must stop his nightly drinking and his introspective outlook to seek out the killer.

ANGEL TAPE is a well written, extremely exciting novel, starring a new anti-hero, performing a heroic task. The story line is action packed and, for the most part, moves forward rapidly. However, Blade's personal life, though needed for a motive, tends to drag the tale a bit. Readers, who enjoy thrillers, should skim through those passages, because overall David Keily has written a remarkably exhilarating police procedural.

Harriet Klausner