I don't quite understand this spooky Halloween book, but my 5-year old loves it. He insisted he was going to get it from the library every week for the rest of his life until I suggested buying it. It has added the words "stupefied," "albatross," and "foolies" to his working vocabulary. The story is a little confusing but it's got a good Halloween spirit and look to it.

Eager Westerners scoop up videos and books on t'ai chi hoping to learn this powerful movement form without a real, live teacher. "Ride the Tiger" is one of the few that can help you do just that! Simple, step-by-step, behaviorally specific instructions with photos and drawings are balanced with equally simple questions to self-check one's progress. The story of how the author, a nuclear physicist, was drawn to learn and then teach t'ai chi provides a unique slant on East meets West. His explanations of how it works based on his scientific understandings are especially intriguing. Qualified teachers are becoming more widely available, but in the meantime, this book is a useful tool.

Keep in mind that while the author claims to be a Christian, he is not a Christian who believes the bible. He does not for example believe that 2 Peter is written by Peter, nor that the pastoral epistles are written by Paul. This is the kind of unbelief that undergirds all the arguments set forth.

And make no mistake, the whole book is an argument in favour of the author's theory. His theory is not so much that there is an open canon, but rather there isn't really a canon at all, books can go in and out of the "canon" as per the community's practices. It's all very wishy-washy thinking.

That's not to say that there is no truth in his viewpoint, nor is it to say that there is not quite a bit of interesting information in the book, but every piece of information is moulded and shaped to fit the author's theory, it is by no means an unbiased approach to the topic. And frankly, the author's unbelief show's through in the conclusions he draws from every piece of evidence. The book is more worthy of an athiest than a Christian. As one reads the book, it seems like the most bold and interesting of his claims are the least well supported. There is a lot of general information that makes it seem like he knows what he is talking about in a scholarly way, but then he slips in these fairly unsupported claims that pretend to rest on the rest of the scaffolding. And when the historical record is silent or incomplete, it really shows through the author's unbelief in what he reads into that silence.

All in all, this is not a book that I can commend to the church.

McDonald's book provides an excellent overview of the topic at hand. Reads a lot like a textbook, which I suppose is how it's often used. He does a very good job of bringing in all appropriate evidence, but staying very methodical in his assessments and in getting his points across. You'll probably wish for more depth in some areas, less in others, but this book should at the very least point you in the right direction toward more in-depth research.

Perspective is always important when you're talking about books on this subject. The field seems to be dominated by highbrow apoligists (like Metzger and Bruce), whose glossing over of problematic (to the orthodoxy) canonical issues makes for limpwristed scholarship, or by the more deconstructionist liberal school of the Jesus Seminar and such. Motives and scholarship often become difficult to differentiate. McDonald, however, is a Baptist minister, and a scholar, and, in my opinion gleaned from this book, he wears both hats with aplomb and distinction. Hard core fundamentalists (like a previous reviewer) may find his conclusions troubling. I'll let McDonald respond in his own words, from the last paragraph of his "Final Thoughts":

"My aim in this study has not been to destroy the church's Bible, as if that could be done, but to bring some light to the often dimly lit corridors that led to the formation of our Bible and, in that process, to remind the reader of the true canon of faith for the church: our Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible is still the church's book without which the Christian faith would be a blur. I believe that a careful study of the biblical message in its historical environment and in the community of faith where it was first acknowledged as scripture and canon will prove invaluable to the church. Lessons learned from this approach will not only free the church from inappropriate loyalties but also will help the church to focus more clearly on the true object and final authority of its faith: Jesus Christ."

This book provides a good overview of the developement of the entire Christian canon - both testaments. While this book does not go deeply into the arguments in favor of its positions, it does provide a general overview of the opinions of various scholars and presents basic but adequate reasons for choosing the positions it does.

This is a good introduction to canonical studies. For lay people like myself it will be enough, but scholars will use this as simply a good starting point for deeper research.

The Hunter game is a nice addition to anyones WoD collection. This book can help one to build better characers. You know onesa that can actually live for past 60 seconds.

When I purchased this book, I was expecting something along the lines of a a player's guide or such. What I got, on the other hand, was a sourcebook chock full of information on supernaturals around the world. Be careful that you know what this is before you purchase it. It's an excellent book and I liked it very much, but it was not what I had in mind for a survival guide.

I liked this book. Its written from the point of view of the hunters, a different one for each section. The book does not have any game mechanics, its pure story. It begins with a few tips for novice hunters, something you should get your players to read through. Then it goes on to describe each continent. It spends a lot of time discussing the world outside of North America, so if your planning on running a game in a different country then this is the book for you. I liked the fact that since the information is given out by hunters, it is full of various facts that are completely not true, so your players can read through the book and still not have any of the real information. Full of great story potential and well written. A good buy if your going to run a hunter's game.

I have read and re-read the Deb Ralston series. They are wonderful police procedurals (written by an ex-cop), but they are even more wonderful character studies. Deb is a Ft. Worth police detective who possesses an immense amount of empathy and intuitiveness in her crime solving. She is also a wife, mother - with 3 adopted children of mixed ethnicity, as well as one natural child - and is earthmother to a whole tribe of friends, family and, in some cases, suspects. Her intuition often leads her to make leaps in logic, going from point A to point C, but she arrives at the answers sooner, rather than later. The Thursday Club is one of the weaker books in the series, primarily because the continuity is missing. Deb has aged 5 years from the last book, but her children haven't. Some of the colorful friends from previous books are missing, and there is less about her personal life in this book. However, it is well worth the effort. The only thing more frustrating than the breaks in continuity has been waiting more than 3 years for the next Deb Ralston. I hope that this series doesn't go the way of the author's other series, written as Anne Wingate. It ended abruptly and no new book has been forthcoming. Deb is an old friend, and I want to see more of her.

Anne Wingate, writing as Lee Martin, has a little known and much beloved series of police procedurals with one of the most interesting heroines in women's mysteries.

Although the Thursday Club is not one of the top books in the series (it is #13), it holds your interest, keeps you guessing, and leaves off with still another twist & turn in the family life of Deb Ralston.

Please, Lee....bring her back for more!

I've read most of the Deb Ralston series and have really enjoyed them. They make you think. I like the way we can get into Deb's thoughts--even though she's sometimes wrong. The books are quite interesting and fun while you try to figure out who-done-it. I'm looking forward to the next one!

First, I was surprised to find out that the media is as conservative and Republican as it apparently is. One would certainly not guess it from the reporting that is done. And what was really lacking in this book was any kind of even handed approach to bias in the news. I'd grant that there is bias towards the right in some reporting. But by reading this book you'd think that there was only far-right leaning reporting only with nary a lean to the left in any news reports.

One point raised by the authors more than once was the use in news reports of unnamed sources and few hand-picked named "expert" sources. But throughout their diatribe against the right-wing controlled media they used many of these same techniques with many an unnamed source as well as the (over)use of a small number of "expert" sources used to prove their points.

I was truly looking for a book that helped in understanding and, as they say, detecting biases in the news media. What I came away with in this book was that it was written by some far left wing fanatics (should have guessed based on the foreword being written by Ed Asner) who did not want to give a balanced treatment to this topic (who but someone like Asner could have guessed that the NY Times is really a Republican mouthpiece!)

This book carefully in no nonsense language, analyzes the media bias and the institution of the media and how it operates and how the final product gets aired on news televison or in print. This along with Manufacturing Consent by Herman and Chomsky is a must if people want to know the truth about the media

This is one of the single most thought provoking books I've ever read. It provides the reader with a real behind the curtain look at the media and politics. This is a must read for every American!

This book is mainly just worksheets/stationery for writing assignments, alphabetized, like "H is for Hero". Some were useful, yes, but nothing original or innovative, also they weren't as attractive as in similar books. Thumb through it first and see if it suits your needs, but there is better stuff out there.

This book is for grades 1-3. Being a first grade teacher, I have found a lot of the reproducibles are too hard for my students. This would be a good resource for a second or third grade teacher, but I would not recommend it for first grade.

The book is set up with an activity for each letter of the alphabet. The activities can be used in any order, which works for teachers who want to integrate this into their existing curriculum. The reproducibles are quality learning material, yet still entertaining for primary students.

It is always dangerous to criticize a travel guide to a place you have always lived, but reading this guide once again confronted me with the prevailing prejudice that Holland (the Netherlands) equals Amsterdam. Allow me to let you in on a little secret: it doesn't.
Personally, I don't care for Amsterdam that much: much of it is a noisy, messy, tourist trap filled with people you would prefer to avoid. Outside the capital life is generally much more gentle. However, there is enough hustle and bustle to be found in the nightlife of Rotterdam, Utrecht, or Groningen.
The problem is that you are unlikely to experience those places after having read this guide. Often it reads like an extension of the RG to Amsterdam, showing an unwillingness on the part of the researches to take the long one-hour train journey to Utrecht or Rotterdam and take in those places. Although I generally prefer this series over Lonely Planet, my advice is to take the 'other' guide to the Netherlands if you're really interested in travelling outside Amsterdam

I discovered The Rough Guide series last year when I was dazzled by their guide to Thailand. By comparing the Holland version to that one, however, I'd say TRG has dropped the ball in The Netherlands. Whereas TRG Thailand approaches its subject at a subdued level of wonder, the Holland writers seem to have gone about their itinerary by suppressing their interest in anything outside of Amsterdam or art museums. Forget subdued, it's as if the authors burned out in the capital, and a mummified expedition dragged their feet through the polders out of a need to comply with the terms of their contract. Humbug quotes from famous writers set the tone for chapters on cities they dislike. Many of the towns they cover are evaluated with Amsterdam as their benchmark: Utrecht - "just a half-hour from Amsterdam, all the brashness and vitality of the capital is absent;" The Hague - "[the city's] older buildings are a rather modest collection with little of Amsterdam's flamboyance." A measly six pages are devoted to Rotterdam, none of which mention the city's uppermost nightlife (for the sake of comparison, Michelin's guide gives Rotterdam twenty). Furthermore, parks and recreation get little or no air time. Nothing is mentioned in the way of The Hague's many forests and dune parks. If you obeyed only this guide, you wouldn't know that sky diving, among other sports, is offered in the Frisian Islands.

I do enjoy the voice of the Rough Guides, that of a discerning traveller, and the gray informational sections detailing national custom are usually right on target. As expected, each of these signature features can be found here. But if you want a comprehensive guide to The Netherlands, for recreation & nightlife as well as Amsterdam & museums, you might look elsewhere. I'd start with Michelin.

This is the closest thing out there to my ideal guide. The authors really did their research, and it showed in the copious amounts of background info for each city and region. Listings for lodging, restaurants and attractions were scrupulously accurate. The Rough Guide does not have as much of a budget focus as Let's Go; it does list inexpensive places to stay, but has a little bit of a tendency to sneer at them. The only drawback for me was that the authors' taste is more boyish and more upscale than mine. They like military and shipping museums and dungeons a lot, and are a little too harsh on places they find kitschy or dull. Nevertheless, I'm glad I brought this guide along. It made my trip much more enjoyable and did a lot for my peace of mind.

This book has the most attractive furniture I have seen in any how-to books. However, when I created a garden bench (the back slats of this particular bench are cut to create a diamond shape of open space between the upper two slats and lower two slats) I found errors in the layout, (drawings and measurements) of the center rail. Either the rail must be cut lower, or the mortises must be moved. My bench turned out beautifully despite the required modifications. I will make other furniture from patterns in this book, but I will definitely check the layout measurements before I mark and cut--rather than assume they are correct!

A beginner could enjoy the pictures but would not yet own the requisite tools for all of the projects. Completed projects rival area high-end specialty gardening stores. Contains materials lists, recommended woods and finishes, and easy-to-understand drawings. A pleasure to own.