I decided to do as much learning as I could about the LC lifestyle -- it gets a lot of criticism in the medical community, and with my wife and several friends in the medical field, I figured I better get as many medical perspectives as I could in order to dialog intelligently on the subject.

The gold mine was struck when I came across Laura Richard's book. Laura Richard is a registered nurse -- that's the 4-year degree-type -- and she also holds a master's degree in healthcare administration. She no dummy when it comes to the medical field. This is what impressed me first: Her Credibility.

I bought the book for what seemed like too low a price (it's way inexpensive), and dug in. I was immediately impressed with Richard's organization of the subject matter. Not much rambling in this book, but it's not a dry read in any way. Quite the contrary. What makes this book so appealing is a genuine, down-to-earth writing style. It captures you and you want to keep reading. She uses easy-to-understand analogies to explain difficult concepts. I don't see how anyone could not understand the material she presents.

As has been previously posted in reviews of this book, Laura Richard does a fine job of consolidating what was no doubt hundreds of hours participating on Internet message boards and discussion groups. She includes a "voice of low carb experience" section at the end of most topical discussions. In other words, not only does she do a great job of outlining various "expert" opinions with a fair and balanced approach, she ties it all together with a dose of reality expressed by hundreds of others from her experience participating in discussion groups.

This book is both a primer and a bible for low carbers (and for those who want to support their LC family and friends). In addition to the well-organized contrast and compare section on all the LC diet philosophies and all the great tips and education throughout the book, Richard includes a fairly comprehensive resource section at the back of the book -- which I've found quite helpful. Even as good as this book is, it obviously can't cover everything, so joining a low carb forum online is helping to "fill in a few gaps" in my learning. I probably wouldn't have joined such a group on my own, but as Richard has shown, "the voice of low carb experience" can be quite helpful at times.

In essence, this book is not only informational, it's transformational. If you could only have one book to explain the whys and wherefores of the LC lifestyle, this should be it. I've read it twice, and it's one of the few that's going onto my "read it every year" bookshelf. I'd pay ten times the cover price for the wealth of information this book presents.

Five Stars. Excellent. Highly Recommended. Easy Read. You won't want to put it down.

In the first part of the book Laura Carlson discusses the five stages of grief, the five stages of healing, memorial services and memorializing your pet. Throughout the book one thing stands out, that it is okay to grieve over the loss of a pet and there are ways to work through the grief.

The second part of the book contains many letters from pet owners who have lost a pet. The letters are written to the pets and show the deep emotions involved with the loss of a loyal companion. Reading the many letters one comes to realize the strength of the bond between many pet owners and their pets and the depth of grief that many go through. Recommended for those going through such a loss as it offers constructive methods of working through the loss and validation of their feelings.

I just re-read ORDINARY RESURRECTIONS and wanted to update my review....the book is just wonderful....and full of such hope!

Like other reviewers, I heard Mr. Kozol's interview on National Public Radio during my commute home and was completely enchanted by his stories of Pineapple and her friends in Mott Haven.

I ordered the book from amamzon.com and devoured it in two sittings.

I cannot remember when a book moved me as much as this one. I'm not sure what gifts God gave Jonathan Kozol, but one of them is true compassion and insight without judgment or pretense.

I was continually amazed, as was Kozol, at these children's tenderness, kindness, their incredible gift of insight and their wide-eyed innocence.

At the back of the book, there is an address for St. Ann's Church. I will be sending them a check...for St. Ann's Scholars...for Pineapple and Elio and Mother Martha and all the children and caretakers who perform miracles day in and day out.

This should be required reading for not only present/future teachers, it should be required reading for the human race.

I hope Kozol and his kids win the Pulitzer/Nobel/and any other available award!

Read this book...you will be richer for it.

It's the dead of winter, and Juliana Smythe is alone in her summer house, an 1899 Victorian, overlooking Lake Bonticou. Juliana, an actress in cinematic thrillers she collectively calls FemJep (translated as "women in peril"), is separated from her husband Matt after an incident of volcanic domestic violence on New Year's Eve for which Juliana was granted a protection order by the court. Now it's February, and there are to be additional hearings. Juliana's trepidation is almost palpable. Does she have enough money to pay the lawyers? Will the court discontinue the protection order? Will Matt return to the house, protection order or not, and again visit his rage on his wife?

Juliana shares with the reader memories of her marriage, from her first date with Matt seventeen years previous, through the spring, summer and fall of the relationship to the present, the agonizing winter. At one point, Juliana muses:

"How long does it take an eighteen-year-old girl to fall in love? About ten minutes." (That's about nine minutes longer than a testosterone-fueled, eighteen-year-old boy brought to a halt by a whiff of perfume and a view of bare skin.)

As an actress that sees her life as an extended movie script, Juliana DREAMS OF RESCUE - by the kindly lawyer or psychologist or next-door neighbor who'll sweep her into his arms and protect and love her. But reality isn't like that, is it? What's High Drama on the Silver Screen reduces to the mundane in the day-to-day drudge. This is to be Juliana's learning curve.

I was immediately intrigued as to the nature of the "Thing in the Box", a piece of evidence Juliana is to present at the next court hearing that will surely convince the judge of Matt's psychological instability. What a clever tease for the reader!

I'm one of the author's biggest fans, having given five stars to all of her previous works. This time, however, I'm bereft to report something less. By the time the nature of the "Thing in the Box" is revealed, the main plot thread has been frayed by tangential events. What's with the creepy vacuum repairman, who, on a housecall to service Juliana's Supralux 699, may have committed the sin of Onan on her mohair shawl? Or the mysterious neighbor across the lake who watches her with a telescope? Or the pervert who breathes heavily over the phone on late night calls? And what about those seven young girls found naked and frozen to death on the lake's ice back in the late 1890s? Was it murder most foul? Indeed, with all the other enigmas resolving themselves, the final court confrontation with Matt is anticlimactic. The storyline, while not becoming uninteresting, just lost its focus, and I finished the book feeling vaguely unsatisfied.

I suspect that there's a lot of Laura in Juliana, especially evident when the latter remembers the loss of her mother at an early age (as the author recalls in SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS). In any case, Cunningham's forte in all her books has been describing her protagonist's feelings. And this reader was immediately absorbed into Juliana's emotional life. I cared about her throughout. For that reason alone, I'm awarding four stars, and hope Laura will understand.

Laura Lippman has surrounded Tess with a charming assortment of friends and family members. Their obvious affection for Tess makes her more compelling to the reader. As Tess steps more and more deeply into danger, you'll find yourself turning the pages faster and faster. The mystery is well crafted and Lippman dangles clues, one by one, leaving the reader like Tess certain that there is a way of connecting them without actually able to do it.

This book is especially popular in Maryland which is great--as a longtime resident of Maryland I felt at home reading it--but it is far to good to be missed out on by the rest of us.

THE SUGAR HOUSE may be the best mystery you read this year.

I purchased this book as an informational companion to my role as a coaching client. As someone in the midst of many personal and professional decisions, I found the client success examples illustrating each idea to be energizing and inspiring. Fortgang's perspective is a breath of fresh air in a world that tells you to push for your goals. Fortgang supports allowing your innate wisdom to pull you toward your passion and purpose.

"Living Your Best Life" is not about making lists, or even making plans. It is about knowing what you really want in life, instead of what you think you can have. It is about being who you are so you can do what you are meant to do in order to live your best life.

Strategies, tools and techniques for creating success (in your own terms) and living a life that is passionate and purposeful, are also provided in this brilliant book. Laura is truly a guru in the world of coaching, and she shares her considerable wisdom and coaching experience in this wonderful book.