This book was fantastic! It outlined the basic concepts of statistics in a way that didn't completely confuse the student. I was able to pass all my tests and actually UNDERSTAND my coursework. Kudos to the author--I HIGHLY recommend this book to the beginning statistics student.

This has to be the most "gentle" book about statistics on the market. I can actually say that I now understand the basic statistical methods! Too often, statistics books give you too much information all at once, which can be confusing to beginners. This book gradually lays it out step by step and gives clear examples of almost every possible variation. Authors of statistics texts often confuse the reader in their attempts to impress them with technical language. This book is written in language understandable to beginners and proceeds at a digestable pace. Plus, it includes brief glimpses of historical information to give the reader a broader understanding of the subject. I highly recommend this as a text for introductory statistics classes or as a refresher for anyone!

This book introduced all areas of statistics with a story or an explanation that made learning statistics enjoyable. In addition, this book contained many detailed examples that I used over and over again throughtout the course as a way of ensuring myself that I truly understood the concept that I was currently being taught. Statistics: A Gentle Introduction is a book that will remian in my personal library for many years.

Previous: Very Good, Jeeves

The first of the Jeeves novels, Thank You, Jeeves is outstanding in every way, and it is a terrible shame that this brilliant book appears to be out of print. This is, in fact, one of my three favorite Jeeves books. The story is deliciously different, and eccentric at every turn. I think what is most noticeable about this book is the exquisite relationship between Bertie and Jeeves. We are wounded along with Bertie in the opening pages when Jeeves gives notice, although what follows makes their relationship more interesting than ever and, if I may say so, charming. This is the only book in which we "see" the servant's quarters (where Bertie spends much of his time seeking out Jeeves's advice), and the first in which we see how utterly devoted Jeeves is to the "golden-hearted" Bertie (Jeeves's words), although for the vast majority of the book he doesn't even work for him. Full of hilarious sequences such as Bertie's getting awakened every few minutes by the police constable, and getting chased by a drunk Brinkley (the new valet) with a carving knife (an event which is alluded to more than once in later novels). A wonderful, sweet, and zany book that tops the list of must-reads for Jeeves and Bertie fans.

I could be wrong, but I believe the reason for this book's being out of print is Mr. Wodehouse's repeated use of the word "nigger." In context, it is perfectly obvious that while the word is slang, it is never meant to be the extremely offensive and derogatory word that it is to my generation. In fact, Bertie has nothing but respect for the "nigger minstrels" and only wants to learn some banjolele-playing tips from them. The use of the word is simply a reflection of the times in which Wodehouse wrote-after all, this book was written more than seventy years ago, and times, and words, change.

Next: Right Ho, Jeeves

a terrific funny novel by Wodehouse. i enjoyed this tremendously.. hope u too

This is a must read for anybody interested in Wodehouse's work. Set in Chuffnell Regis as a result of Bertie's suddenly found passion for Banjolele, the plot thickens with hiliarious twists. I read this book 4 times just for the character of Sir Roderick. What a book!

Susan was my neighbor growing up so that made this book especially exciting. It has great ideas for volunteers or workers as we call them. We've used almost every suggestion in there for all sorts of activities... Sunday school, Sunday evening discipleship, VBS.. and lots more. Kids love to get them as well! Highly recommend this book.

This clever book has 70 pages to reproduce, add a treat, and give to a teacher or volunteer to express appreciation. As an example, a message might be "You were MINT to be here", to be given to a volunteer along with an Andes mint, or "We can tell your students love learning about Jesus by their Snickers", to be given along with a Snickers bar. A very cute way to say "thank you"!

This clever book contains 70 pages to reproduce, add a treat, and give to volunteers or teachers to show your appreciation. The messages relate to a specific candy, such as "You were MINT to be here", to be given to a volunteer, along with an Andes Mint, or "We can tell how much your students enjoy learning about Jesus by their Snickers", to be given along with a Snickers candy bar. A very cute and inexpensive way to say "thank you"!

susan can make formica disquieting. Many photographers have been on the road, few have taken a picture and left it hanging, lighter than air and about to break and drop to the floor under the weight of a trip, like Ms Lipper has. And there is a book of these wonderful, thoughtful photographs.

Do not buy this book looking for familiar signs of travel or a destination. The "trip" you, the viewer, embark upon is not the sort which gets you "there". Rather it is an experience akin to the wakening one might have following a long, vacant stare and realizing that, despite your own logic or familiarity with the world, the most common object has the potential for revealing puzzling, but significant, meaning.

Through the use of her camera's frame and lens Lipper evokes/creates/invents realities that force unanswered questions and pose mystery. Frederick Barthelme's fiction hauntingly echoes the quality of dislocation permeated in the photographs. Together the text and photographs create an ambitious concept of contemporary existence.

"Trip" is a beautiful, smart, funny and disturbing book.

Susan Lipper has taken a bold leap in presenting a body of work which touches on the real, imagined, mundane and the bizarre. A lonely trip of images which are echoed by the strange and brilliant narrative by Frederick Barthelme. Trip is a provocative voyage, part fictional, part reality through a maze of back roads, bayous, motels and various unidentified locales. The resultant work is one which alternately confuses and enlightens. Is this work theater, documentary, fantasy, dream, nightmare or some sad reality? Probably a little of each. Trip is a huge departure from Lipper's previous book "Grapevine" and I applaud her courageous step towards the new and unknown. I recommend this unique book.

Flavio F. Lima - ( livifla@bol.com.br ) - The only thing that I don't liked was the little words of the Old Testament in it. However, this famous Dictionary is my guide when I need to understand the true meaning of the greek words. Yes every Bible student must have it in your personal library. It is an excellent reference work !

An Excellent work which is if Aid to all Bible Students. The Paper is not of as nice quality as I would like, but Durable non the less. However the content and description should make this book one of the top of the list for any serious student.

Vine's Expository Dictionary gives excellent word pictures and meanings of the original languages found in the Word of God. It is a resource book that every preacher should have for preparing sermons for their local body of believers. Nothing helps make the Scripture come alive for listeners like a clearer understanding of what the writers of the books of the Bible were trying to present through their choice of certain words in the Greek and Hebrew languages. This book opens the door of understanding of the original languages of the Bible.

I picked this book up remembering my childhood vacations on Nantucket and was really glad I did. I can recall as a child learning something about whaling and wondering what life was really like on one of the ships, and now here's a story to answer that question. I'm planning to share this book with all the 10-year-old girls I know.

Patience captured my interest as an adult, and I enjoyed it because of the accuracy of the whaling and sailing history and technology, and the easy flow of descriptive writing. This is the kind of book which children from 8 to 13 can get lost in and not want to put down. The plot is exciting and after all is said and done, one wonders where Patience will go next?

This author made a whole world come alive, and even though I wasn't sure I would like a story that had whaling in it, it was really fun to read. I couldn't put the book down until Patience was safe again.

World War I, the event that changed everything in European and American history, left Japan little touched -- or so it had long been thought. Frederick Dickinson's book stands many accepted truths on their heads. But it is not a book of wooly revisionist speculation. All of his arguments and interpretations are carefully drawn and meticulously documented. All are thought-provoking and plausible, and most seem to me entirely convincing.

As realist theory would predict, there were few prominent leaders who failed to support Japanese expansion in the favorable circumstances offered by the European conflict. But there was a very crucial divide between those who looked to British-model expansionism of a primarily economic sort and those seeking military-led territorial expansion on the model of Wilhelmine Germany. The struggle for power among (and within) these camps is one major theme of the book. The other is the response of Japanese elites to the wholesale change in the structure of international relations brought by the War, and its domestic correlates. As it shifted from a European power struggle to a world crusade against totalitarianism and the use of force to change the international order, World War I attacked the very foundations of the Meiji state.

I hope that those who (like me) have only slight knowledge of Japanese history will not be put off this book. It is inevitably somewhat dense, but Dickinson avoids academic obscurity, introduces his characters carefully, and pauses frequently for reflection and summary. His concluding chapter ties all his strands together and places the story in a larger context. His contention that it is a vital key to understanding everything in modern Japanese history rings true to me. The book does not require great effort to read, and what effort there is will be well repaid.

There is a wonderful bonus in the book's rich trove of Japanese political cartoons from the period. These speak in a mordant voice that was, tragically, to fall silent as democracy was smothered in the 1930s. They add a great deal to the book.

No doubt many will look at the subtitle, "Japan in the Great War," and conclude that this is too specialized a topic to engage them. In doing so, however, they will miss an important book whose interest extends far beyond the specifics of its subject.

In a field where hardly anyone seems to bring the threads together, this is perhaps the building block to better and more thorough understanding of japanese history during the war. A sound well researched piece which never forgets to be reaable to the average postgraduate and with plenty of resources noted in bibiography for further study.

Politics and international relations of japan pre-1945 require a thoroughgoing understanding of the period before 1931. thisbook offers a great portion of this for the serious scholar beginning or reviewing that quest.

This is a wonderful book that offers many insights into the development of Japanese politics in the first half of this century. Dickenson carefully and convincingly shoots down much of the conventional wisdom about who were supposed to be the cautious elder statesmen in the early 20th century. This debate has important implications for properly understanding Japans expansionist policies in the 1930s. Many people who have been hailed as supposed cautionary leaders are shown to be (soemtimes extraordinary) expansionist. As Dickenson shows, these foreign policies can all clearly be traced back to domestic politics and a clash over the direction the state between the genro and the Kato Takaaki, where the latter aimed for parliamentary overnment. The book is alo very well written with many fascinating quotes and clever and funny illustrations from the Tokyo and Osaka Puck. Political scientists who have read Jack Snyder's "Myths of Empire," should find this a particularly fascinating and elucidating book.

The third and final installment in Buechner's lexicon-style expositions, Whistling in the Dark looks at words that might not be considered "religious" but that deal with the topic nonetheless. Hitting topics such as abortion, this book hits a bit more into politics than the previous two. Be forewarned that some of the entries are somewhat darker and even a little depressing. Although not as good as "Wishful Thinking", it is on par with "Peculiar Treasures" and superior to most "religious" books available today. This is another one to read and ponder again and again.

A great starting place if you want to explore Buechner's non-fiction. He has a way of making the deep attainable and the mundane deep. His way with words is remarkable and moving.

In this and other writings, Buechner shares with us his own fallibility in a way that is both touching and disarming and in doing so helps us to deal with our own foibles in a remarkable new way. He never condescends or assumes the spiritual state of the reader.

Start with this wonderful volume, go on to read some of his fiction like 'Godric' or 'On The Road WIth The Archangel', move on to the Bebb Quadrology (?) and then come back to his autobiogrphical books.... heck, then get everything else you've missed.

Buechner is quoted in John Irving's 'A Prayer For Owen Meany' as saying 'Not the least of my problems is that I can hardly even imagine what kind of an experience a genuine, self-authenticating religious experience would be. Without somehow destroying me in the process, how could God reveal himself in a way that would leave no room for doubt? If there were no room for doubt, there would be no room for me." Indeed. This Frederick Buechner is a man who gets us as close to that religious experience as possible without being destroyed.

Buechner is one of the great theological minds of our time, but his writing is accessible without being condescending. In this classic lexicon, he captures the dichotomy of faith and doubt in God. If you enjoy C.S. Lewis' work but have a sometimes irreverent sense of humor, you are sure to want your own copy of Whistling in the Dark!