There are no words to describe what an amazing book this is. I read this book when I began my journey down the road of grief and healing over my dad's death. I wept. I laughed. Sometimes at the same time,but God ministered to me through the openeness of this family. They allow you into such a private, intimate time and let you see that you can grieve with hope. There is no doubt that you will be blessed by their courage, strength, faith, and unending devotion to the Lord. May God bless them for their willingness to be used by him in such a vulnerable way.

Gregory Floyd writes from the heart - and what he has to share is compelling not just from the perspective that he is sharing the depths of his grief - and how his faith in God helped him to deal with that grief. His insights are for ALL Christians, and will benefit the non-Christian as well. Gregory shares poignantly about the world - wanting to provide only worldly comfort, some Christians who only wanted to offer "spiritual" consolation, and how the most precious who reached out to him and his family were those who BLENDED the heavenly and earthly realities. He gained insights into how all Christians are called, albeit in different ways, to bear their share of the suffering of Christ to ultimately experience the true JOY of Jesus. I can't say enough how every Christian will benefit from reading this book: it will help men to see the need to not be afraid to show their feelings (after all - "Jesus wept"), and will enable them (through reading of Gregory's many examples with helping his wife and children deal with the death of John Paul) better husbands, fathers, and spiritual heads of their households; it will speak to all of how to deal better with catastophic personal suffering, or improve their consolation and compassion on those around them who are in the throes of some form of suffering. Don't think twice about getting this book!

In High Schools, the students watch "Schindler's List", a difficult but important film, in order to learn from the tragedy. This book is the "Schindler's List" for marriage prep. Without it, "For better or for worse" is a glib statement, by two egotists who are unprepared when that "worse" (whatever it may be) inevitably rears its head. Because I'm reading it before my wedding, I have a firmer grasp (like cement) of the importance of the commitment, the experience of a family (albeit a large family), and confirmation of that ever-present presence of grace, God's grace, still flickering while nearly everything else is in shambles.

While the story is agonizing to tell, Gregory Floyd handles such impossible material with grace. There's great potential for the book to be a dual threat: to be emotionally draining, and repetitive. Granted, it's both, but it's never boring. The book grabs you by the jugular and causes personal introspection to take over. I was reminded of how a child can have a dual personality, angelic wonder intermixed with a carnal longing for playtime and candy, all within a half-hour. I was encouraged by his friends and large family, and reminded of the blessings of what a family could mean. I was floored by the powerful words of wisdom of Fr. Philip Merdinger at the funeral mass, the stunning reassurance that where Johnny-Paul was, he would never want to leave. All this and I'm still not halfway through.

Most people wouldn't consider getting a book like this until (God forbid) this sort of tragedy strikes home. Don't wait until then... you will not have the strength to read this. Don't be intimidated by the material... it's easy to read, it flows, it goes down easy (if easy is the best word). Though it all, my hope in families are invigorated, and my faith in God is reassured (like fire).

This is an amazing story and a scary one. For anyone who's been in an American courtroom and been dismayed by the Judge, it reads like a true story. The historical background is realistic and very interesting - a can't put it down kind of book.

My friend told me this was like Grisham, but I found it even better than his best books. Author shows what kind of damage a psychotic judge can do. Edge of your seat legal thriller that builds to a shocking climax.

I could not put this book down. 'The Judgment of Thomas' is so many things -- courtroom drama, war epic, psychological thriller. What's amazing is that author Howard Stern is clearly a master of each genre. All of the characters are memorable, especially the title character Thomas, who is one of the most compelling creations I've read in recent fiction. Stern takes you deep inside this fascinating, maniacal character's head and you won't be able to put the book down until you see just what he is ultimately capable of. This is a completely fresh take on the legal thriller. Stern immediately proves he's worthy of comparisons to Grisham and Turow. Highly recommended.

Also recommended: Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow, LA Confidential by James Ellroy, The Cider House Rules by John Irving, The Alienist by Caleb Carr

There may be no better individual to explain the workings of liturgy to curious Evangelicals than Thomas Howard. Raised in a notable Evangelical/Fundamentalist family and with a gift of literary expression, Howard has written numerous books on the spirituality of his new homes in the historic Churches - initially Anglicanism, then later Roman Catholicism. The Liturgy Explained, a little booklet of less than 50 pages written during his Anglican period, is a wonderful introduction to Christian liturgy to those searching for more reverent worship but unsure of what is happening in traditional liturgical services. It is not meant to be comprehensive but as is noted in the book, you have to start somewhere.

In the introduction, Howard focuses on the true purpose of worship, the use of ritual and ceremony, and the nature of Sacraments. The true focus should always be what God has called us to do and not what we experience.

Howard divides the main part of the booklet into two sections corresponding to the two parts of the Lord's Day services of the Church. The first covers the Liturgy of the Word. This initial phase of the service begins with an opening acclamation and a collect (prayer) for purity of heart. The congregation then sings two hymns: the first asking for mercy (Kyrie Eleison) and the second a hymn of praise (Gloria in Excelsis Deo). This is followed by a collect for the day (corresponding to the appropriate day in the Church calendar). Then come lessons from the Old Testament and New Testament Epistles followed by a reading from the Gospels and a sermon. The people then respond by stating their beliefs (The Nicene Creed), offering prayers (Prayers of the People), asking God for forgiveness (Confession) and having their sins declared forgiven (Absolution). The close of the Liturgy of the Word is the passing of the Peace of Christ. Howard manages to offer clear outlines of each step - not only explaining the practice, but also demonstrating why it is in its proper place in the service.

Howard then moves to the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Beginning with the collection of gifts (Offertory) and hymns of adoration (Sanctus, Benedictus), to the prayer of consecration, and the Holy Communion, and ending with the Benediction and dismissal, Howard paints a picture of a great mystical drama where Christ feeds His Church by faith by the means He ordained. A fine line is walked here as the Anglican understanding of the Eucharist affirms the Real Presence but allows for differing opinions of the mode of that presence. Howard stays neutral on this and other thorny subjects - thus admirably submitting his personal opinion to his Church in areas of public teaching (this booklet was intended as catechetical material - in other works intended as personal opinion, Howard affirmed his more "high church" beliefs). As in the earlier section, the explanations of liturgical practice are clearly presented.

Howard finishes with an appendix on certain liturgical practices and customs that may be used in some parishes and not others. Such items as Saints' Days and incense are far more common in high church Anglicanism. Howard explains why the rationale for allowing - though they are left optional.

The Liturgy Explained is a straightforward tool for catechesis of those confused by liturgical practice. There is often a need in parishes for a "Liturgy 101" course and for that purpose this little booklet should be required reading.

Anyone participating in the liturgical Christian traditions, especially Episcopalian, will find this book to be an invaluable guide. Howard clearly explains the whys and wherefores of the liturgical service.

You'll feel quite comfortable in a liturgical church after reading this.

I have found no other book to be so helpful in both understanding the liturgy and explaining it to others. I had many epiphany moments, saying (often aloud) 'Oh, that's why we do that!' This is a must not only for Anglicans, but for anyone from the historic Christian liturgical traditions. An easy, quick read. Suitable for Confirmation classes!

Tom is a gem. He's one of the few people who has written of Coast Guard Aviation who knows that of which he speaks, having been there and done it. This is not to disparage the various historians and popular authors such as Sebastian Junger who have tried to get a handle on what it is we do, but we Pterodactyls are a tight-lipped bunch to outsiders. But Tom is one of us, and we're glad he blabbed. He has done a meticulous study of Frank Erickson and the evolution of the search & rescue helicopter and the mundane, but necessary innovations such as the rescue hoist. Without the machinations that Frank went through, rescue at sea would be a very different business today. Many people do not understand that the United States Coast Guard INVENTED hoisting people from the water. Frank was brilliant, uncredited, and unknown, outside of CG Aviation. He was disdained by the seaplane community in the CG during his lifetime. The passage of time has proven Frank right. In his book, Tom grasped and articulated the struggle that Frank went through proving his theories and nicely packaged Igor Sikorsky's vision for the helicopter as a tool for humanitarian service. Even my non-flying friends enjoyed the book...which I recommend when they ask what the heck it is that I do for a living.

This book kept me interested thru out. The story of LT Frank Erickson is one of persistance and will. I felt the books ending is what really made it all come together "The Sum of All dreams". The story of Michael Odom is a book within itself. This autor really did his home work and left me understanding the importance of helicopters and the U.S. Coast Guard.

U. S. Coast Guard aviator, Lt. Frank Erickson, on December 7, 1941, saw sailors struggling in the waters of Pearl Harbor. He remembered an article about a small helicopter developed by Igor Sikorsky. Erickson felt here was the ideal rescue tool for the U.S. Coast Guard aviators to help those in distress. From this time forward Erickson worked toward this goal. In the end, it cost him his career. Erickson ran head-long into those officers who felt seaplanes were the ideal rescue device. The book traces the struggle to have the helicopter accepted by the U.S. Coast Guard. One of the interesting currents running through the book is that of strong-willed officers fighting for a cause and willing to sacrifice their careers to advance it. This is one of those rare histories that show the contributions the U.S. Coast Guard has made to naval history. The book is recommended to anyone interested in military and naval history, either in or out of aviation.

I was given the opportunity to catalog Dr. Gentry's herbarium collection at the Desert Botanical Garden in 1987-88. I haven't seen the new edition mentioned here, but read the original work at the time I was cataloging his herbarium specimens. Through it, I was able to share his experience as an explorer in the spirit of John Wesley Powell, someone who knew that the American southwest is best delineated by watersheds, not along false lat/long lines. I met Dr. Gentry a couple of times, and remember the occasions well. Last time I saw him, when I was cataloging his collection, I overheard a conversation between him and a consultant for the Fort McDowell Indian Community. The consultant was asking about desert-adapted crop plants. Dr. Gentry went into great detail describing many desert plants suited to agriculture - tepary beans, jojoba, Lippia (Mexican oregano), agave, chiltepines, gum arabic, etc. I learned a lot just by eavesdropping. The consultant listened, but did not hear the words. He recommended that the Fort McDowell people plant cotton. Not because it was best suited to desert agriculture - far from that. They planted cotton because it needs vast quantities of water. They did not want the best desert-adapted crops. What they wanted, instead, was the best crop for wasting water, so that they could establish valid rights to the water. Worse, I watched them clear off vast acreages of mesquite forests to make room for the water-wasting cotton crop. The Hopi call this koyaanisqatsi. This book should help folks in southwestern north America realize that we have a bounteous resource, if we can only learn to use it.

Located in a transition zone between the Sonoran Desert and the tropics,this region is well known for its biodiversity, thanks to a 1942 study by botanist Howard Scott Gentry. Revision of his classic work began before his death in 1993. For researchers, this is a must-read book. It provides a clear overview of botanical studies of the Rio Mayo, a contemporary view of the vegatation, excerpts from the original text and an annotated list of plants.

I was one of the students that help revise this book, which makes it so much more better to me. I was only one of the students at McGee Middle School that Carroll and Thomas visited to ask us to read the book, which was 80 something photo-copied pages, and make it better. It sure came out Better! It came out the BEST! -Chris Meyer

The best book I've read in a long time. A very exiting book that keeps you on your feet.

This is a popular university textbook. I know this because I called several universities for recommendations before purchasing. I've used this book as a professional reference. It is very current on recent pronouncements. The book is well organized, has good examples and it includes many "real world" examples as well

I work in a museum of history, in southwest Georgia. When recently completing a presentation on local history,I found this atlas to be invaluable. The historical maps showing the Indian trails, and Indian Cessions are excellent. The maps showing the state according to county development and transportation are informative. I would recommend this book to anyone researching Georgia. In fact, two of my colleagues want to purchase individual copies!

In this compelling, daring work, its young author (for this was originally published in the 60's)tells of his search for God and his initial embracement of, and later his flee from, the exclusionary dogma of his youth. A dogma which made theater-going a sin, made Catholics (and other non-evangelicals) into the "lost" of God, and which tought that only the strictest formalist belief in "Jesus" would be acceptable to God, was what this young man found himself entrenched in upon going of to college. His subsequent fervent attempt to become acceptable to the harsh task-master God of his Puritanesque youth would become reminiscent of the despair which young Martin Luther felt when trying to find his God within the cold, formalist framework in which he had been raised. During the course of the work he becomes exposed to quite an eclectic array of dogmas, all pulling in various and opposite directions, all the while fervently seeking both freedom from the futile dogmatism he had left behind after many honest efforts in college, and, ultimately, seeking knowledge of a God who could not be imprisoned in stale, restrictive regulation but who could truly rule over everyone, regardless of personal tradition or background. Yes, this thoughtful young man gave weighty consideration to achieving his inalienable right to freedom of thought and conscience by simply abandoning the whole theistic idea, finding refuge in atheism. But this would have been to miss the ultiamte truth he was seeking- a real Father of All, and it is this reader's opinion that, even in the darkest of days, he was rather hesitant to quite give up the search altogether for the liberty he would have attained would have been at the cost of his hopes. He was at last able to see, despite the very real bitterness he felt at the straight jacket religion he had been forced to endure, that God can never be defined or restricted into a set of rules and qualifying features, that he is not answerable for the botched and harmful attempts at religion so common to humankind, and that he -the Father of All- will always have somthing to offer us if we can only seperate him from those who would attempt to codify the experience of God. This powerful work takes God out of the hands of humanity in much the same way that theologian Karl Barth's Epistle to the Romans did back in 1919, and leaves him (or Her) in far more capable hands- his own. Thus in this breathtaking journey in Thomas Howard's Christ the Tiger, the reader leaves religous dogmatism in the dust and winds up -not with a hope-destroying loss of God- but with a hope-fulfilling discovery, perhaps for the first time, of an awe-inspiring, church-enraging God who speaks forever for Him(Her)self but is also forever the Sheperd of us all.

I've been reading a lot of heavy theology lately, a lot of patristic sources, a lot of Greek and Hebrew and Latin word studies, and a lot of philosophical arguments for the Catholic Church. This book gets past the technical, and into the experiential.

I'd not been exposed to Howard before this book, but I've since read his *Evangelical is Not Enough* and *Lead, Kindly Light* as well. I love his style. The way he strings his words together, the vocabulary he uses, and the reflective style would lead one to believe that he might very well be British, and that he might very well have been sitting in a big comfy chair with a cup of tea while he wrote this, and that he might even be C.S. Lewis, reincarnated.

If you're not a Catholic, this book will give a quick glimpse into the "family living room," and show you what Catholicism is all about from a practical view. If you are a Catholic, this book will remind you what it's all about, or, will give you a vision of what it all SHOULD be about in your own life if it's not already.

Yes, it's light on theology, in a sense. He DOES address the Mass, the Eucharist, Mary, etc., but not by saying, "Ok, well, let's look at this Greek verb here, conjugate the infinitive participial imperative tense..." Instead, he looks at these issues in light of the Incarnation, and shows how the Catholic Church only follows the logic of the Incarnation perfectly. He doesn't come at you saying, "Look, I'm going to prove something to you here," and so you're not on the defensive. When he explains it, you just sort of say, "Oh... duh, that makes total sense. How could it be any other way?"

Very comfortable book, like a good pair of slippers. You owe yourself a cup of tea, a warm fire, and a chapter of this book.

Having grown up in an evangelical protestant home, I recently began to look into the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church to expand my understanding of christianity. At the outset of this search, I found ON BEING CATHOLIC, a thought provoking and entertaining account of the core doctrines of Catholicism. Thomas Howard's literary style is engaging and at times, actually melodic. He expresses his genuine love for the church in a manner more reminisent of a love poem than a dry elaboration of doctrine and dogma. Having converted to Roman Catholicism from a similar protestant background as myself, his depictions of the rituals and traditions woven throughout the Roman liturgy created a deep hunger to incorporate these elements in my devotional life. It is rare to find a book that stirs the heart as well as feeds the mind as greatly as ON BEING CATHOLIC. In the tradition of CS Lewis and GK Chesterton, Howard has produced a work that makes faith a life encompassing adventure rather than an emotional leap into darkness.I would recommend his book to any person seeking to better understand what it means to believe in a world that has lost its faith.

As a cradle Catholic in the tumultuous and exciting process of re-discovering my own Catholic faith, Thomas Howard's book is an absolute treasure! I read this book with alternating tears of gratitude and tingles of awe, and whenever I put it down I had to pick it up again within minutes to get more. At first I was inclined to scoff at the comparisons of Howard with C.S. Lewis, but I found they are quite accurate. Howard has the passion, elequence and grace of Lewis combined with a love for the Catholic faith (but with no antagonism for non-Catholic questions or (mis)understandings). The review by David Thomas was spot-on when he compared this book to a love poem. I mean it quite sincerely when I say that every Catholic, and every person interested in the Catholic faith, would do themselves a great service by reading this fabulous and inspiring book.