Not in my 13 years of reading antique related reading have I enjoyed a book as much as Judith Katz-Schwartz's Protecting Your Collectible Treasures: Secrets of a Collecting Diva. In addition to smart, inexpensive ways to clean, store, repair and care for all your treasures from paper to metal and glass to lace, the book is loaded with hysterical antedotes that make it a delightful as well as informative read.

I purchased this book as I use to watch Judith Katz-Schwartz on the FX Collectibles Show. She would show how to clean up items with normal household items and that fascinated me. I have had the book for awhile but just recently got the chance to test out a technique. Someone gave me an old brass fan and her simple method for cleaning it up works! Sure there is some time involved and some elbow grease, but hey, the fan was free! Buy this book. It is a great read and a great reference book. Your treasures will look better than before. Thanks for sharing your tips Judith!

I have been a Serious Antiques-Dabbler With Sense of Humor for five years, and this book carried me over the top! Couldn't put Katz-Schwartz's labor-of-love down, and, to boot, I learned why I should freeze my TeddyBear...(Whaat?!) She educated me, and she's easy to listen to!

This book is SERIOUS; this book is FUNNY! Just gaze into the eyes of Ms. K-S on the cover. This is the countenance of an educated, puckish Forest Sprite, eager to FILL you with her secrets!

With a Grandmother like Ms. Katz-Schwartz's (Grandma marches in and out of anecdote after hilarious anecdote, filling page after page with not only sweetly aggressive love, but random bits of familial horror!), how could the author NOT grow up to be a person adept at "how-to-love/protect/cleanse-your-prized-stuff"-- efficiently, economically, and constantly!?

Had Old Queen Victoria, ensconced in her castles bulging with dusty, grimy antiques, been lucky enough to read this treasure-filled treasure of a book, Her Royalness would surely have snorted: "WE WERE AMUSED!" ...And, I would add, Dear Vickie: "Enlightened", too.

Readers, dear: The Holidays are galloping toward us ... GET your own copy of this book, and a stack of them as gifts for anyone you love who truly cherishes their wonderful Collected Stuff. Thanks, Ms. Judith; Grandma would be proud of you!

My girlfriend and I had the good fortune of meeting Mr. Faber at a recent book signing. Seconds after introducing himself, he is ready to pull up his shirt sleeve to show you a grim reminder of his past. His arm still bears the numbers, forcibly tattooed on him by the Nazi regime. He then pulls open his book, lovingly pointing to his mother and sisters. With a soft break in his voice, he then describes the moment he found them lifeless, piled on top of one another. We bought several copies... and have come back to purchase more.

The book does not disappoint, written in a narrative format that is easy to follow and gripping to read. His work leads you down the path of brutal history, following his family as they are forced into slave labor, rounded up into Ghettos, and then ritualistically hunted by the Nazis. He makes a pact with his mother to survive the horrors, and through it all, he somehow does. Reading the book, you realize that he had a higher purpose in life, educating future generations about the atrocities that no man or woman should have to endure.

After meeting the man and understanding his past, one can only thank God Mr. Faber lived to tell his story. It will change you forever.

I have a had the privilege of not only reading Mr. Faber's book, "Because of Romek", I also had the great privilege of meeting him in person and discussing his heart wrenching experiences. Once you start reading his book you won't want to put in down! On several occasions, I had to stop and remind myself THIS IS A TRUE story! To read what it was like first hand from Mr. Faber, a Holocaust survivor, was to say at the very least, enlightning! It is so very hard to believe that another human being could treat another human in such a horrible way.

As a police officer, I have experienced some terrible things in my 20+ years, but I don't believe any of them could come close to comparison with Mr. Faber's experiences. My deepest respect and admiration go to you, Mr. Faber!

I thank you for sharing these very personal thoughts and experiences with us! You have definately given me a new perspective on life and how fragile life can be!

Young David Faber survived the horrors of the Holocaust because of Romek and because of a vow he made. Romek was his older brother, a Resister whom David watched tortured and murdered by the Nazis. That was at the beginning of the persecution of the Jews. The vow David made to his mother was simply that he would live. The true experiences related in this memoir left this reader first breathless, then chilled, then nearly numb. To say more would lessen the impact for the next reader. Just order it and read it now! The story of David's survival in the Ghetto, in flight and in hiding, in the Partisan band, and in the concentration camp is simply-written but powerful. These days Mr. Faber is a sought-after speaker at San Diego middle-schools and high-schools. Students rarely fail to be moved by the courage and endurance of a 15-year-old child of the Holocaust. This book really should be required reading, alongside Anne Frank's "Diary of a Young Girl" and Inna Konstantinova's journal in "Defending Leningrad".

Reading this book is like journeying to the most exciting "school of life" imaginable -- to learn painlessly, thoroughly, and once and for all, about making love work.

Understanding the five stages of love, as explained by Doctors Sherven and Sniechowski, will help you more in your daily life than anything you've ever read, seen or experienced. This time you're going to get what you need. It's thrilling. And it works.

I've read this book so many times, that my mind automatically goes back to it whenever I get to a troubled point in my marriage. But don't troubled times in a marriage vanish after reading this book? Uh uh. This book is about human beings, not ethereal spiritual creatures. The point is, though, that being troubled about inevitable differences between two people DOES vanish. And that frees you up to actually work on your differences and find a way to turn them into greater intimacy.

Be Loved for Who You Really Are is so different from anything else I've read. It's lively as hell and anything but pedantic. The authors are people first, doctors second. They put themselves into the book. That means, right from the outset, you aren't alone. They're right there with you -- sympathizing, empathizing, encouraging, supporting -- and most important -- guiding and informing.

I love the underlying theme of this book; you can't fail at love. That isn't hype. The book lets you see how, if you put yourself out there in a real and clear way, you might not always get the results you want, but you won't fail. You won't let yourself down.

Read this book if greater intimacy is one of your most important goals. This is a brilliant, simple and wondrous roadmap to how to give yourself the greatest gift of all -- being loved for who you are.

This book is a refreshing alternative if you are worn out from trying to change, mold, or manipulate yourself or someone else into being what you want in order to fit your romantic picture. The four part model takes the reader through the stages to help learn to embrace rather than resist differences between people in intimate relationships. Jim and Judith, a married couple, use examples from their own marriage as well as cases from their practice to teach us how to discuss and appreciate differences. A couple who really walks their talk emphasizes getting back to the basics of fun and love so your partnership can grow and flourish.

This is not your run of the mill "how to" book on love, but a book that guides you through the spiritual journey of how to love and to be loved. The authors share personal anectodes, and stories of other couples, which helps brings the book to a real personal level. They send the message that, if you honor your self and others, you can never really fail at love...what a beautiful thing!

I am using this book to teach accounting fundamentals to my accounting staff. It is filled with important accounting concepts and terms that are explained with easy to understand examples. The book actually teaches itself. However, my students read a chapter and complete the related transactions before each class. We then go over the chapter together and apply what we learned to our daily accounting responsibilities.

I have been a certified public accountant for almost 25 years and I have personally benefited from the review of accounting concepts presented in this book.

Don't let this book title fool you. It is not an oversimplification of accounting and financial principles. It is, however, a serious and very effective examination of a very small but progressively complex business. There are not many books available on the market that make a complex and dry subject understandable and even fun. This book successfully does just that. The authors help the reader understand the principles without getting caught up in large numbers to confuse matters.

This book is a brilliant analysis of the original small business --a lemonade stand. This business starts off simple and progresses into a more and more complex financial entity over the course of several weeks. While it is so well explained that even the average teen could undertsand it, this book is a serious learning tool for anyone and does not in any way take on a condescending tone. The authors have fun, but offer meaty information. Ever wonder what the difference and advantages are between the accural and cash methods or why the statement of cashflows is so important or how depreciation effects the bottom line or how the decision to use LIFO or FIFO effects the income statement? All those answers and many more are nicely illustrated in this wonderful book.

Darrell Mullis and Judith Orloff have created an easy to read and simple introduction to practically every accounting concept you will need to run a small business. Their method is simple: you are a kid with a lemonade stand. You need to handle cash, inventory, assets, liabilities, and so on while you run your business. Through this very simple approach they succeed in teaching some of the most critical accounting concepts. And they make it fun!

(c)1999, VentureConsult.com

Nightfeeder is an excellent continuation of the Chronicles of Galen Sword. I can certainly relate with the reviewer in NZ. I found the first book (Shifter) fairly soon after it came out. It took 6 years and one of my favourite bookshops (Bookworm in Kingslynn Norfolk UK) to get Nightfeeder. It is a compliment to the authors that I remembered reading Shifter and bought the second book. As an avid roleplayer (sad I know) I have based a whole world around this genre. Excellent and I look forward to may and at last getting my hands on the 3rd volume. My comment would be to the Reeeves-Stevens combo is continue. Maybe this will be the next great dark fantasy series, because it certainly has the potential.

I wish the authors would PLEASE finish the series. I've been waiting serveral years for another book in the series. I'm not much of a fantasy fan but this series was really great. I recommend it very highly.

The author(s) started writing Star Trek books after the last "Galen Sword" book and have seemed to have forgotten this series. :(

So many question left unanswered here.

I encourage everyone who wants another book in this series to write to the authors, via the publisher. And express your desire for another book in this series.

I had searched for 2 years for the Nightfeeder volume and eventually found it in a Bookstore in Portland, OR. I live in Auckland New Zealand. So you can see that this book has really captured my imagination with it's great characters and excellent plot lines. If it is any incentive to the Author's this is mondo Blockbuster movie material, in the same vein as Terminator and Blade. Even moreso as it has better developed characters and more intriguing entities, such as near invincible vampires and bad ass arkady shifters, who take all shapes. You mustn't forget the elemental creatures like the Lights and wizards, need I say more. PLEEEEEASE finish the series. Star Trek is great but this is definitely a cult classic that would lead people back into more earthly adventures.

I have the 1996 hardcover edition of this book and do not know what revisions have been made to this latest addition, however I imagine the text and content will be very similar.
I have found this book to be an excellent source of information on skyscapers in general and the buildings featured in particular.
It has a very easy to read format, witch follows the developement of the skyscraper, with two pages at a time dedicated to one building. This makes it ideal for flicking through and just reading here and there at what ever catches your eye. There are also small gerneral interest and overviews pages troughout the book that help to explain the developement of these buildings.
Not a lot of technical details also make this an easy read and ideal for younger readers.
This is one of the best books I have seen on the subject and I have no reservations recomending this book to anyone even remotely interested in these large buildings.

By Jeffrey K. Herzer -- The jacket notes accurately describe the author's work as exploring "the interaction of text and image on the printed page". This book is wonderfully presented, a collage of big pictures and little treasures -- like under construction photos, sketches and diagrams, or other "trivia bits". You will find some new and precious treat every time you crack the cover. "Skyscrapers" is primarily a history of fifty important and world-famous skyscrapers, beginning with the Washington Monument and the Eiffel Tower & finishing with the Petronas Towers (Malaysia), the Jin Mao Building (Shanghai), and the planned Kuningan Persada Tower (Jakarta, Indonesia). A book about tall buildings should have tall pages...and this book is 18 inches tall and 7-1/2 inches wide. The format is entirely black & white, but most enjoyable. Ms. Dupre's text is short and direct and a perfect complement; it illuminates without getting bogged down in technicalities. Whether you're a skyscraper fanatic, an architect or engineer, or just plain fascinated with tall buildings, it matters not...this is a book everyone can enjoy.

When I first saw this book, I knew that it had to be on my Christmas "wish list." Upon receiving it, my excitement knew no bounds for this is an exquisitely produced homage to the skyscrapers of the past, present, and future. All the famous are here, from the cover featuring the oft-photographed Chrysler Building in New York to The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center to The IBM Tower of San Francisco. Included are many less known mammoth structures from foreign lands, such as Malaysia's Petronas Towers, touted presently as the tallest of all, and the uniquely designed Bank of China in Hong Kong.

When one says, "The sky is the limit," the pages of this book showcase the adage perfectly.

As a brand-new teacher (first grade), I thought this would be a great icebreaker and nerve-soother to read to my kids on the first day of school. None of them expected the surprise ending. The book helped both my criers and the rest of the class -- I talked to the criers about jitters, and how I had them, and how most everyone has them on the first day of school. I was able to use the book as an example to those better-adjusted kids, explaining that some people have worse first-day jitters than others. It was a great book to ease the kids into school again!

How would you manage a whole new class every year? In First Day Jitters, by Julie Dannenberg it happens. It's about a person who doesn't want to go to school. She wonders "Will they like me?" You find out. I liked this because it was a surprising book. I also liked it because it wasn't obvious what the surprise was. You know its not only kids that are scared. Find out the surprising ending, you never know what you might discover.

I recently read this book at a teacher training class that I attended. This book really helped to put me at ease for the first day of school, as I am sure it will for children of all ages. Who doesn't get first day jitters? Children do (even if they say they don't), but why not read this book to show them that teachers get jitters too?

This is a very funny story with a surprise ending. A must for every parent and teacher of young children!

Just read ch. 5 and you will be sold. As a person who has worked as a therapist with a variety of people and a variety of problems, I was stunned by the way that this book explains the impact of trauma. You need to read the concept of "complex ptsd," presented in ch. 6. Chs 5 and 6 elegantly present a framework for understanding people who have grown up in the fear of a terroristic household, whether with sexual abuse or not, whether with notable physical abuse or not. This framework acounts for the various problems suffered that are often described by clinicians as "borderline personality disorder," "somatization disorder," and other difficult/lets-ignore-them diagnoses. My feeling is that if you grew up in a scary, terroristic home, if you read chapter five you will believe this author was observing the whole time, and you may gain some insight into your own adult life and personality.

I think Judith Herman's book is terrific for several reasons. First - she playfully, eloquently, and clearly encapsulates some of the relevant history of psychoanalysis and looks at Freud and his contemporaries from a humanist and clinical perspective. Second - she writes with feeling. Third - she provides a useful bibliography and introduction to various studies of trauma in formulating her new diagnosis, to add to the DSM-IV, of complex PTSD, which is very richly descriptive and is clearly aimed at helping therapists and others work with survivors.

I think the psych literature is best understood as a way to achieve some kind of cognitive understanding of trauma and its effects. But it's not predictive, not complete, and not ever going to be equivalent to individual person's unique stories, often told or remembered in fragments. If you are looking for a very succinct self help book, this isn't it. I would suggest something like Trauma a Workbook for Healing, or better yet a support group and/or individualized counseling. If you are having trouble affording counseling, think about taking an adult education/continuing ed course at a university. Campuses have a lot of counseling resources that are free or low cost.

If you can't afford that either, have hope. You will one day. In the meantime, read whatever appeals to you and realize that the ultimate self help book will be one that you write in the way and speed that feels right to you, that feels possible.

This book begins with an in depth history of the study (and understanding) of trauma and related disorders. Judith Lewis Herman provides aspects of feminist history not seen in other "popular" trauma literature. Judith Herman is a passionate and eloquent writer, and the excerpts written by survivors, that she includes throughout the book, are also poetic and beautifully articulated. She addresses that although trauma literature is now in abundance we must be careful not to abandon the continued study and education of psychological trauma. In addition she explains that there is always a backlash when the "unspeakable" is spoken, and she offers encouragement to remain standing against the repeated abuses of offenders and people who need to maintain their sense of a "just" world.

While reading this book I truly felt understood. So many aspects of the trauma that I experienced (and the after effects) are explained in this book. She weaves together common ground for survivors of incest, rape, torture, war, captivity, and the holocaust. I felt that I was part of a greater community of people, and began to understand that I am not alone. This book is particularly valuable to the understanding of the long term and complex after effects of ongoing, repetitive childhood abuse/captivity (one of the best books on this subject). Other trauma books generally do not devote enough time to the complexity of long term childhood trauma. She explained the distinction between trauma-related symptoms and non-trauma related anxiety disorders, depression, psychosomatic disorders, and personality disorders. Often when this distinction is not recognized by health care providers survivors of trauma are misdiagnosed, given the wrong treatment and prescribed ineffective medications instead of dealing with the underlying trauma. On page 188 she says, "Even PTSD as it is currently defined, does not fit accurately enough [for survivors of prolonged trauma]." She has given a new diagnosis called "complex post-traumatic stress disorder". It was a relief to me because, although I have received great help from books on PTSD, a thorough understanding of long term trauma (beginning in childhood) has often been overlooked. Judith says on page 122, "It is an attempt to learn from survivors, who understand, more profoundly than any investigator, the effects of captivity." She took the words right out of my mouth.

Another aspect of complex PTSD that she addresses is how to cope with the desire to withdraw from the world, and other people. She explains that it is a normal stage of recovery, and gives information on how to reconnect with the world and people. She also says that survivors of captivity often respond in this way: "Before taking any action, she will scan the environment, expecting retaliation."(p.91). In this book she goes into much greater depth on this topic.

The chapter on child abuse also devoted considerable information about how incest survivors are often raped again (multiple times) as teenagers/adult. I finally felt that I was not so alone in the multitude of sexual violation that I have endured over my lifetime. This is very important to address, and is often lacking in books on rape.

In the very first part of the section on recovery she explains that the trauma occurred in a primary relationship and it is through healthy and healing relationships that the survivor can ultimately heal. I think this is very important to discuss since so many survivors of trauma feel that they can not rely upon anyone in any way (even in a mutual, equal, and healthy interaction).

I highly recommend this book to survivors (and pro-survivors) of all kinds of trauma, and to all health care and mental health workers. If everyone read this book we would live in a very different world. One of the best options I have found for recovery is simply reading about trauma and it's effects upon the nervous system. By understanding which behaviors of mine are trauma related and what "normal" experience is for a person that has not been traumatized I know what my goals and hopes for the future can be. Also, through understanding my own reactions to trauma, I also began to understand the reactions of other survivors that I have encountered when events evoked an experiential memory of the trauma they endured.

The story of little black Sambo is truly a classic from all who remember it from our childhood.Helen Bannerman wrote this story for her two little children while traveling with them by train across India. If people would LOOK AT THE ILLUSTRATIONS they would see that Sambo is a little Indian boy from India, continents away from America and the Cival war and or South. I ran 2 independant bookstores some 12 to 14 years ago and when I finally found THE STORY OF LITTLE BLACK SAMBO in print again I'd order maybe 60 copies a week and could not keep this wonderful little storybook in stock. Almost every buyer were grandparents who could not wait to introduce their grandchildren to a book we all knew and loved. It is a must have for all collectors of wonderful literature!

Wonderful children's book and one I've heard and read over and over when I was young - glad it's back in print.

As a child I marveled at Sambo's ingeniousness in outsmarting the tigers and, in fact, maybe even being smarter than some adults. It never occurred to me that the parents names might be derogatory, if anything the names sounded exotic: Black Jumbo and Black Mumbo. Children are innocent and see things in a clean, clear manner. Whatever is considered "bad" in this book is the manufacture of over-sensitive adults.

This is a great classic and belongs in every library along with Grimm's Fairy Tales and Aesop Fables. One can revisit the magic of childhood through "Little Black Sambo".

When my wife asked me to try and find several classic children's books for her new baby grandson, I smiled at the mention of the titles, recalling with great fondness the stories being read to me by my mother when I was a child. Little Black Sambo was one of those stories. It is, of course, a shame that there arose some time ago individuals who equated the story with "racism". To the intelligent mind, it is truly a pity that some are so intent to find "racism" that they will envision same where none even vaguely exists.Such is the case with this fanciful, harmless classic story for children; a story that has been told to generations of children who have listened in wonder as the tigers melted into butter for (the little Indian boy) Sambo's pancakes!It is a story that returns one to a simpler time, long before child psychologists, political correctness (and who indeed is qualified to judge what is or is not CURRENTLY "correct"? Perhaps we're better off not knowing their identities, God help us!), shootings committed by school children, and all the other wonders of this wonderful Modern Age.Little Black Sambo is an American classic. As for racism: it can be found wherever one desires to find it. And if it exists not where they look, tis easy enough to invent.

Peter Pan is a good adventure/fantasy that kids and adults can enjoy alike. With much exaggeration, it is something kids can enjoy and read into. It's a page-turning book that once you started you can't stop.

Wow! What a great story this is! I picked it up on a whim years ago having enjoyed the Disney cartoon, and when I finally got around to reading it, I couldn't put the darn thing down. This is really exciting stuff! Peter is ten times as irrascible as he is in the toon. One line has always stuck in my head - its where Peter is faced with certain death (I forget exactly what). He thinks to himself that its quite possible he could die, and thinks `That would be the greatest adventure of all!' That line sums of the feel of this book. Imagine being a kid who can never grow up who has the power to fly through a world woven of dreams and fairytales....I learned later that this was probably the sincere wish of the author, James Barrie, who was afflicted with a disease which made it impossible for him to grow. Though an adult in mind, he was the stature and semblance of a child. The warmth of this story has a deep heartfelt resonance in the heart of any boy who has grown up having adventures in his mind. It can't really be described -it has to be read and appreciated. If you love fantasies in the vein of The Never Ending Story and The Wizard of Oz, you will love this book.

Driving with young children in the car quickly convinced me that it was unsafe to not give them something to listen to. After ten years I have collected a large (30+) bag of books-on-tape. I have also loaned them to others and asked for opinions. Peter Pan (read by Wendy Craig) is not only my favorite, but also the favorite of my wife and most of my friends. It is excellent for all ages (4 to 80) and even most hardened teenagers. Humour, presentation, ... a prefect 10.