An excellent, rich book to use for devotion/meditation. I am going to use it as a tool with a spiritual growth group in my church. One time through is not enough, you will want to use it again and again. This is a book that invites you to tarry, to hear God's soft whisper.

I first read this book on a professor's recommendation in 1985. Disciplines uses a weekly format, including a 2-part reading schedule (1 part for use, and 1 for reading through the Bible in a year), and writings from classic Christian writers through the centuries. Like others, I have started reading many authors after reading their words in Disciplines. The heart is grabbed, the brain is engaged, and God speaks to you every day. My only negative is that there is no sequel, although it is similar to a Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants, an excellent book from the Upper Room.

Lots of books have been written on the "spiritual disciplines." But very few, if any, have been written with the breadth, depth, and intellectual stimulation as well as personal/spiritual edification that "Disciplines for the Inner Life" contains. The late Dr Bob Benson Sr, along with his son, Michael W. Benson, offer english-speaking Christians a volume which is bound to become a classic.

All the bases are covered in this volume: Section One deals with Disciplines for the Inner Journey, covering such topics as "Addressing God," "Solitude" "Making Moments" "Silence" "Petition" "Journaling" and thirteen other disciplines in this section alone.

Section Two, "Obstacles to the Inner Life" speaks poignantly and clearly to the "every day-ness" of our existence. We encounter such issues as "Guidance" "Time Management" "Distractions" "Doubts", "Place" and "God's Absence", plus several others.

Section Three clearly guides us through "Patterns for Living Inwardly." The authors help us discover the riches of "The Lord's Prayer" "The Lord's Supper" "The Beatitudes" "The Parables" "The Jesus Prayer." The richness of this section is well worth the price of the book all by itself.

SEction four, "Inward Graces of the Centered Life" calls us to a place of discovering just how we can "center" our lives on the things that really have eternal importance. Eight inward graces are addressed in this chapter, and when you buy the book, you will find out what they are!

Section Five provides the perfect climax to a volume of this magnitude. The Christian's "Outward Fruit of the Inner Life" is covered and explained in a beautiful, yet gripping manner. We understand more clearly the meaning of "Service" "Growth" "Liberty" "Priority" "Awareness" and "Celebration" plus three other graces.

If you are looking for a volume that offers a simple, this is "how-to-do" for the Spiritual life, then this volume is not for you. If you sincerely want to discover the Spiritual Disciplines from their aesthetic, historical, and reflective angles, this get this book, by all means.

Every Christian should have a copy of this book!

I think Gold Buckle Dreams is fantastic. Chris LeDoux represents what is great about our country about rodeo, and about country music. Gold Buckle Dreams lets us see some of the stories of the life of an American rodeo legend. It is great to find someone with such talent, also being someone of such dignity, and heart. Chris LeDoux's music brings to life these stories from his life. Buy the music, then read the book! Chris' songs had pieced together a story of his life in my mind , and Gold Buckle Dreams opened the door to see even more of the life of a champion.

This book is by David Brown as told to him by Chris LeDoux. It starts when Chris was a child learning to ride horses and living in Texas, later moving to Cheyenne as a teenager, and follows his life through attainment of his dream of becoming a World Champion bareback bronc rider. It was written before he became world famous for his musical talent but describes the beginnings of his musical career as well. Chris describes one special memory of standing in the empty, quiet arena at Cheyenne Frontier Park as a teenager dreaming of being able to ride in the Frontier Days Rodeo. I can just feel the emptiness of the big arena and hear the Wyoming wind whistling through it. When Chris performs in Cheyenne, it is always very special to him. With all that Chris has attained since this book was written, there is definitely a need for a sequel. I don't think Chris ever even dreamed he would be a World Champion western singer too

This was the best book i have ever read i couldn't put it down! If you a re a true Chris Ledoux fan then you must read Gold Buckle Dreams!!

This book was of those I wanted to read slowly to enjoy. The description of the betting business was a real eye opener. These guys really understand the betting world, both the legal and illegal. They opened up a world to me that was not on my radar screen. You really get the sense that they have been involved with characters that are part of this world.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants to get inside the world of gambling or just wants a great read.

If you love to love the Bad Boys, you have to read this book. A great story with characters so real you'll wonder if it's fact instead of fiction.

A rare comination of fact coupled with fiction. Finally an accurate book in relating the inner workings of the criminal justice system from the viewpoints of the Judges,defendant,prosecutor and the cops. Combined with great characters and a great suspense thriller, it's tough to beat. Very enjoyable.

The most difficult part of golf is the mental game. Though cliched, that statement is incontrovertible. For most golfers, the tendency to view the swing as a mechanized process dominates their swing thoughts. "Keep my left arm straight," "Swing through to the target," "Don't reverse pivot," "Cock/load my wrists," "Put the ball back/up in your stance," "Shorten your backswing. . ." All of these ideas, though fundamentally sound in their physical advice, tend to prevent the golfer from optimizing his/her performance because they force the golfer to consciously force a complex physical activity that should really be driven by the subconscious and feeling.

Bob Toski and Davis Love III have written a book that truly fosters golf as an athletic expression. Rather than burdening ourselves with overly precise mechanical thoughts, we must allow our natural athleticism to shine through and carry our game. The golf swing is a beautiful, fluid motion. To mechanize it detracts from its efficiency and power and renders it less graceful and effective. "How to Feel a Real Golf Swing" provides invaluable drills and advice that will allow you to understand and develop the feeling a good swing creates. It fosters the notion of allowing the arms and club to do the work of turning the body and shifting your weight.

As a serious golf addict and student of the game, this book, more than any other I've read, allowed me to understand my swing and improve my game. We all know the sweet feeling of hitting the ball on the sweet spot, this book devotes itself to the sweet feeling of the entire swing. I give it the highest rating I can.

This book really does what it says. I have books and tapes galore about golf, and I have never seen real results in my score. This book gave me the feel of a nice, easy, smooth swing that gave me better results than my usual grip it and rip it attempts. The drills here are some of the best I've ever tried. After the first two chapters alone, I went out and shot an 85! (I'm usually in the high 90's). Get this book, do the drills, and you'll stop thinking about every detail of your swing when your standing over the ball. (This will also save your money since you'll stop buying all those tapes and junk from t.v.)

As a new student of golf, I've read over a dozen books to improve my swing and this book is by far the best! It helps the reader develop a real feel for the golf swing in the most natural, developmental way I can imagine. Starting with hands and arms and then moving through each part of the body, it describes how the swing should feel. Best of all, the authors have designed numerous drills and exercises for the reader to actually FEEL the swing in each part of the body. While this description sounds mechanical, it produces a swing that is anything but. Not only has my swing become more fluid, controlled and consistent, my golf scores have improved significantly as well. I highly recommend this book for both beginning golfers and teachers of the game.

Reiss' book gives ideas you can use obviously gleaned from his personal experiences "where the rubber meets the road."My sons are buying my business and I've given them the book as assigned reading; particularly the chapter"Numeracy".I personally used his ideas from the chapter "Building the Company" about how to get free publicity instead of paying for advertising. I'm building a condo project and received 8 newspaper articles, with photos- some front page- in three different newspapers! The articles generated 16 inquiries and 1 sale so far.Bob's 16 common attributes of entrepreneurs in Chapter 1 are fascinating. I teach literacy to a foreigner who is keenly interested in business and I used this chapter with him.If you own a business, want to or deal with entrepreneurs, get this book and study it!

In today's world with women fleeing corporations to start their own businesses coupled with mature executives forced out of corporations due to mergers or downsizing, Bob Reiss' book is a life raft. Frankly, I think risk management is the least important lesson Reiss offers. His real gifts are how to get started, how to build the company, and how to create, build, and sell products not only to the buyer but to the consumer. For those with a great idea who may be financially challenged, he also offers info on how to create a cash flow, a product cost analysis, a break-even analysis, and a business plan that will help get money. If ever a book were written for the fledgling entrepreneur or entrepreneur wanna-be, this is it.

I first learned about Bob Reiss through a very famous Harvard Business School case study about one of his companies. The book expands upon the key lessons of the case, and addresses many of the issues that could not be addressed in the short case study format. This book is a "must read" for first-time entrepreneurs.

Captain Ted Lawson is a good writer in addition to being a heroic man. Just two years after piloting one of the B-25 Mitchells in a bombing raid over Tokyo -- a mission that wreaked some damage and served as a rallying point for America -- he has crafted a fine book.

I had read this book many years ago when I as 12. I was motivated to reread this book after seeing the blockbuster movie "Pearl Harbor" which goes on from that day of infamy to also include this counterstrike. And I am glad I did reread the book. The book covers the training and the mission in great detail, as well as his escape from China which covers about half the book. The book was written and published between 1942-1943 and there is a great deal of heart-felt emotion in the book about the war and the Japanese.

Also significant I thought is the context in which Lawson places this mission and the amputation of his leg -- they are events, albeit very significant events, that are stepping stones to his true purposes of family life and career.

The mission was great, and had a great effect of America at the time. There is probably no better account of this part of history than this book by Lawson.

To me the most interesting part of WWII was the battle for the Pacific Ocean. I had read many books about the Battle of Midway and Iwo Jima. They all told you about the war and the battles. The book Thirty Seconds over Tokyo tells you not only of the battles, but also the months of preperation for the surprise riad on Japan, it told you about the long month afterward in which the Chinese helped them recover and hide them from the Japanese. It tells of the crash landing on the Chinese coast and the horrible nights that followed, not knowing if they were going to turned over to the enemy or not. The book Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo is a great read for anyone who likes WWII becuase it not only tells of the battles, it gives the account of the emotional expenses a group of people were forced to go through. I liked this book and I hope you will too.

As a junior high school student and avaition/WWII buff, 33yrs ago, this was just the kind of book for me. I used this book for numberous book reports through out my school career. I recommend this book for all young people to read and remind them what their grandparents went through to help keep this country free of tyrannny I will always remember, April 18,1942, the "Ruptured Duck" and "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo".

Since I was a child I have always gravitated to books and true stories of animals and their encounters with man. This book is so well written that as a reader I felt I had truly gotten to know Amy. Though this story is not as exciting and eventful as "Modoc," it is better written. I'm going to buy several copies now and get my Christmas shopping out of the way in July!

Grab your reading glasses and a big box of Kleenex. I finished this slim book in a few hours and simultaneously wiped out a box of tissues, too. (I am a 200 pound 52-year-old grandpa, and not used to snuffling and blowing because of a book!)

Once you start reading the story of baby elephant Amy and the bond all female elephants have with each other, and her subsequent separation from the herd due to merciless "culling" of the adults, your heart will break with the fate of the poor orphaned calf.

Only through the warm heart of the "Marlboro Man" cowboy does Amy become adopted and brought onto his Colorado ranch to grow up and learn how to be an elephant. Cowboy Bob gives her a little goat as her playmate, and little by little draws her out of her fear of everything and turns her into a mischievous, intelligent and loving creature.

Of course, nature takes its predestined course and Amy grows to quite a bit of tonnage and can't remain the cowboy's pet forever. The cowboy's decision to part with his "large love" is heart-wrenching on himself, the elephant, and the reader.

The book is written in a flowing style rich with elephant facts and wild west allusions to fence mending and cattle driving. There's not a reader alive who wouldn't succumb to this touching story.

Highly recommended....buy it, read it, and pass it around.

Only rarely does a story like this come along, staying with you long after you read the final page. The love that develops between rancher Bob Norris and Amy, the orphaned elephant, is both haunting and beautiful. Even the most cynical will find their jaws dropping at the emotional bond between an animal-loving cowboy and a wild animal.

When Bob adopts Amy, who has been yanked from her African home at a pitifully young age, neither can imagine the closeness they will soon feel toward one another; Amy becomes a member of the family, plain and simple, bringing a joy to Bob's life that is overwhelming. But the most compelling aspect, perhaps, of this book is its honesty: life with Amy is joyous but not always easy. She is, after all, essentially a wild animal, even if she does ride the range with Bob and adopt other farm animals as her own. Bob comes to realize that Amy has needs even his great love cannot provide for her. Bob finds the courage, and loves Amy enough, to give her the life she needs, the life she deserves. But it is not the end of their story, and it is only the beginning of Amy's incredible journey.

Bob Norris and his family were given a rare chance to experience something most people will never have: a true melding of man and nature. Their story is a great gift, one that readers will keep always in their heart.

This contains a whole bunch of case studies -- some of pros you've heard of and some of amateurs -- who have consistenly played a higher level of golf because of self-confidence. Okay, great. But once I'm convinced of that (after the first chapter) this book is pretty short on things to do to improve your self-confidence. Save your money and spend it on his audio tape, "Putting Out of Your Mind". At least it has some advice on how to improve your game, rather than point out the obvious: success breeds success, and self-doubt is a real killer of your golf swing.

Golf is a Game of Confidence is another great success from Bob Rotella. He has again written a book to help people play better golf by changing their mental game./This is a book of insights that he has told to PGA tour professionals such as Brad Faxon. It is a wonderful book with many great tips for average, great, and even beggining golfers./ I would suggest this book to anyone who plays golf or wants to learn how to. Rotella has put another book of helpful information into the hands of the public. I recommend that if you want to improve your golf game you go out and buy this book.

"Golf is a Game of Confidence" is another great book from Bob Rotella. He has again written a book that will help people improve their golf game and in turn have more fun./ This is a book of insights that he has given to top PGA tour professionals like Brad Faxon. It is a wonderful book with many great tips for beginner, average, and great golfers. He writes these books to help all golfers and share the insight he has learned./ I would suggest this book to anyone who plays golf or has the desire to play. I also recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed the book "Golf is not a game of perfect" also written by Bob Rotella. This is a great book that will help anyone who is willing to read.

On January 27, 1991, I scoured the bookstores of Southern California trying to find the following title: "What to Do When You Find Out that Your Baby Doesn't Have a Brain."

I had just left UCLA and I was stunned to learn that after 28-months of painful, infertility treatment that the child we had dreamed of bore such a terrible birth defect.

After I left my fourth bookstore, I realized that no one had ever written a book about the specific situation I was living through. Happily, I did encounter a title called, "Life After Loss" that day.

Life After Loss saved my life. My first copy is dog eared, tea stained, tear stained, filled with momentos, and much loved. In the subsequent eight years, I have bought at least 30 copies of the book to distribute to friends and associates going through grief.

I learned that our society is embarrased by the display of pain. To keep myself sane, I had to learn to express it. In Life After Loss I learned that you can't go around grief, that you have to go through it.

I learned that my sorrow wouldn't engulf me if I understood what to expect from the grief cycle.

I grew to understand and have empathy for the small and large losses each of experience in our daily lives. I learned how courageous it is just to get out of bed in the morning when you're hurting.

Life After Loss is a road map to your new life. I pray that your future will lead you to your dreams, as mine has.

A lifesaver for those left behind. I bought the book after the loss of my parents and continue to buy it as a gift for friends who are going through the same grief.

The book "Life After Loss" by Bob Deits was given to me by one of my friends when my mother died in January of 2000 from cancer. I'll have to admit that when he gave it to me, the last thing I wanted to do was read it. I was interested in nothing,and even if I would have read it at that time, I wouldn't have remembered it. I was numb. After a few months I pulled the book out from under a big pile of my mother's things in my closet. I was going to look at it, but I didn't want to get upset again so I didn't think about it for another 4 months. When I finally sat down to read it, it wasn't a sad book like I was scared of. It actually helped me to cope with my mom's loss and to like myself again. I no longer felt guilty or ashamed. I learned that things happen because "we live in an imperfect world." I know that this isn't the kind of report that you may want, but I just wanted to let people know that this book can help you. Everyone going through a loss of any kind should read this book and refer to it when they get down again about their loss or losses. Believe me, this book helps...even when it is the last thing you may want to see and especially read. I went through it and now I am so glad that I read it.

As a veteran user interface design practitioner and university instructor, I found Bob Baxley's book "Making the Web Work" a valuable addition to my personal reference library, and a practical resource tool for Web design courses.

He organizes the book around the elements of user interface design, which is structure, behavior, and presentation. Simultaneously, Bob leads the reader from conceptually organizing a Web-based user interface to interactive and layout issues. The numerous real-world examples within the book effectively illustrate the described design approaches and techniques, and many are applicable beyond the scope of Web-based user interfaces.

Overall the book is a very readable and comprehensive look at how to design better Web-based applications.

Bob Baxley's book is the best resource I've found about designing web-based applications. He packs in a lot of information, but the book is so well written and organized that it's easy to digest. And, unlike a lot of design books that sound like they were written from a soapbox, there's no preaching or sleight of hand here. Baxley explains things clearly, and then provides real-world examples that crystallize his thinking and seal the deal.

If you're looking for detailed advice, you'll definitely find it here -- from where to place controls on a table to how to write clear labels and explanatory text for the web. But I found the book's core strength to be the higher-level stuff -- it presents a way to think about UI design of complex, large-scale projects, and weaves in a range of topics including product vision, conceptual models, information architecture, and navigation. It's a great blend of high-level process and detailed strategies.

The advice in Baxley's book is on target for anyone charged with designing or creating web applications, but could also apply to complex websites that aren't applications, and to applications that aren't on the web.

This is an excellent survey of the considerations involved in designing interactive Web applications. "Making the Web Work" outlines a sound methodology and process for designing great interactive Web sites, as well as offering specific practical design suggestions and guidelines.

Baxley draws upon proven user interface practices and principles, real-world examples, and case studies to present elegant solutions to common Web application issues. In particular, the chapters on conceptual, structural, and organizational models will benefit anyone who is embarking on designing a Web application.

If you're new to Web application design, "Making the Web Work" is a great introduction to the field; if you're already an experienced designer, you'll find yourself referring to this book again and again for practical suggestions and reminders of what it takes to provide your users with a satisfying and effective Web experience.