I just received my copy of Chicken Soup for the Prisoners Soul. What a beautiful book! I am the leader of Prison Fellowship Ministries at my church, and I am often questioned on this ministry I choose to serve. People don't question other ministries. If you help the elderly or people of poverty everyone pats you on the back. Our ministry is not as easily accepted. Many are baffled as to why anyone would bother.

I'm going to order a box of books for my volunteer group. It is a must for prison ministry volunteers! Plus I will keep a copy on hand at work. For now on when I am asked, "Why," I will loan out your book. Thank you so much for caring about the forgotten ones. It is actually a loved one in prison who told me about your book. He said it's helping him cope with doing his time."

Antonette Flamenco

Thank you! Finally someone has addressed the possibility that there are real people in prison! Kudos on your collection of wonderful stories. Even though one can make a mistake, I believe there can be forgivness and good in all. This book gives us a glimpse of the hearts of many prisoners that are forgotten. God can and does work through them. We outside can learn much by way of theses short poignant tales. I have used a number of them in class. Great cartoons! Is there a second book in the works?

Teacher in PA

As an educator in a state correctional facility, I am always looking for reading material that can interest and inspire. As a human being struggling with the difficulties of my own little life, working with human being beings who for many reasons are going through the very difficult life experience of incarceration has assisted me in my own soul growth and the awareness of the one soul by which we are all connected.
Reading "Chicken Soup for the Prisoner's Soul" before I read it in class with my adult incarcerated students aided that development. I bought copies of the book for my students to read in class. Each student practiced his story. Then read it to the class. We have had many soul-stirring discussions.
I have never been the victim of a violent crime. I feel very much for victims and their families. The sections of the book that moved me to reflect on forgiveness were the ones telling about the forgiveness of the victim's family member for the perpetrator. I have trouble forgiving small slights. To read about the forgiveness of a violent crime that led to a taken life...well, I am still working on that. We live. We think. We change. This book encourages new thoughts to enter my mind and new changes in awareness of the soul.

For years I have wanted to read the Chicken Soup series, but finances being limited, I had to wait until my mother bought me Chicken Soup for the Mothers Soul. What a tremendous delight.....I fully intended to only read a story a day so that it would last a while, but within 24 hours I had consumed every story in the book. My heart feels lighter and my thoughts began to look on my life as a mother and how my children percieve me. It makes you want to strive for the ultimate goal....to be a mother remembered with love and admiration. I am a fan of Chicken Soup for life.

I had heard about the books from a friend at work, and got three for Christmas (Woman's soul, Woman's soul II, and Mother's soul). I don't normally enjoy reading but could not put the books down, in a matter of a week, I read two of them. They are absolutely wonderful. The Chicken Soup for the Mother's soul, WOW, what a book! It's awesome, and the stories touch the heart. Some of them even bring tears to my eyes. I recommend these books to anyone and am forwarding the Mother's soul book onto my mother.

This book is GREAT...As a mother of an 10 & 12 yr olds, this book makes me realize how thankful I am to have kids. Any Mom will understand & enjoy these stories. They made me laugh and they made me cry. This is my 1st Chicken Soup book, my daughter has one also, now we have started a " book collection " that our family will enjoy reading together for years to come. Take the time to enjoy a GREAT selection of books.

my mom bought me this a few christmas's ago. I wasnt really a diary type person so I figured I wouldnt like it. But one day when I was bored, I opened it up and looked and realized what I had been missing. this is definitly a great book for teenagers. Its not just a blank journal, it gives you lots of interesting ideas to write about and asks questions that make you think. I love writing in it if I'm bored. And it's big so it wont get used up fast. Also, even though there are sections, you dont have to do each one in order, you can just skip around if you want. the sections are similar to the ones in the chicken soup for the teenage soul books. and for some of the questions, they give alot of space to just write whatever you want. I especially liked the section where your friends, boyfriend, etc. could write to you and the part where you can put your pictures. I highly recommend this journal! its great! I hope they come out with a second one

Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul: Journal, was one of the most moving books I have read. It is directed towards adolescents, and deals with issues every adolescent girl faces. It's a blend of stories, quotes, poems, and spaces to write your thoughts. This book has many different sections such as: family, learning lessons, love and kindness, and tough stuff. My favorite section, however, is "loving yourself". This book gave me a chance to deal with issues and see that I am not the only girl whom faces such issues. Chicken Soup is a book that I am able to pick up and at any time if I need some inspiration, help, or reassurance. Other issues helpful to me were on drinking, self-esteem, eating disorders, and how to deal with my past. Another good part about this book is that a lot of it is compiled with texts written by teenage authors. There are spaces for friends to write about you, and spaces for you to express how you feel on certain issues. Chicken Soup allowed me to realize I was not the only girl who had experienced some of the feelings I did. After reading this book I knew I wasn't alone! I do highly recommend this book to any teenage girl. Adolescence is a hard time to get through, and many girls need inspiration. You do not have to read the book cover to cover; you can pick it up any time and read whatever section you desire.

Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul: Journal, was one of the most moving books I have read. It's directed towards adolescents, and deals with issues every adolescent girl faces. It's a blend of stories, quotes, poems, and spaces to write your thoughts. This book has many different sections such as: family, love and kindness, learning lessons, and though stuff. My favorite section, however, is "loving yourself". This book gave me a chance to deal with issues and see that I'm not the only girl whom faces such issues. Chicken Soup is a book that I am able to pick up at any time if I need some inspiration on a situation, or some reassurance. Other issues helpful to me were on drinking, self-esteem, eating disorders, and how to deal with my past. The best part about this book is that a lot of it is compiled with texts written by teenage authors. There are spaces for friends to write about you, and spaces for you to express how you feel about certain things. Chicken Soup allowed me to realize I was not the only girl who had experienced some of the feelings that I did. After reading this book I knew I wasn't alone! I do highly reccomend this book to any teenage girl. Adolescence is a hard time to get through, and many girls need inspiration. You do not have to read the book cover to cover; you can pick it up any time and read whatever section you desire.

An excellent, easy to read and understand book about asking for what you want. A little instruction coupled with very many samples of real life stories shared by readers who got what they want out of life by doing something that anybody can do - ask! A real eye opener to how simple it can be to unleash the power that lies within us all. I highly recommend this book to anybody and everybody

If you just have time to read two books this year, please be sure to include this one (and the Richest Man in Babylon). Both are wonderful! You will learn how to ask for your life. You will be surprised, how we used to ask in the past. This is the kind of book that is able to change your mind and your life. Don't miss it !

Somebody stop me! I am in the midst of further changing my life for the better and found a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow in the book The Aladdin Factor by the New York Times bestselling authors of Chicken Soup for the Soul - Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. Life is great people and we each have a specific task to fulfill during our lifetime! If you need a jump-start in awaking, finding or rededicating yourself to your purpose in life then this is the book and a great tool to utilize!

Be forewarned, you will need to read this book several times in order to absorb all the wonderful, practical, and life altering information presented within it's pages! Who knows, maybe you'll follow suit and find a partner to work with you through the book the second time you read it. A friend of mine and I have each read the book and plan on starting our New Year off right by doing the exercises and sharing our self-discoveries with each other - chapter by chapter week by week. If you are serious about applying the information in this book, YOU will not be sorry! However, this book is so rich and so informative that if you read it at least once, you will see changes in your life if you apply the material AND you will learn how to ask for and receive the things that life holds for you!

Now on to the content of the book, throughout the first two sections of the book the authors creatively include their wisdom and the lessons they wish to bestow upon the reader hidden in the story of Aladdin and the magic lamp with the genie. This approach is both entertaining and enlightening, and keeps the reader's attention focused on the overall theme of the story, but also leaves the reader subconsciously taking mental notes of the information presented for personal use once the book has been completed.

The most unique and fundamental information is presented prior to the start of the story. Chapter One is entitled "The Five Barriers To Asking: The Main Reasons We Don't Ask for What We Want". How about that? They are going to dispel any preconceived notions that you and I have AND they are going to lay it on the line by telling us why we don't ask and therefore don't receive. By this point in the book the reader can sense serious life changing information is being presented, which is a great sign since it is only the beginning of the book!

According to the authors, the five reasons why we don't ask for what we want are:

(1)Ignorance - we don't know what to ask for, we don't know what is available and possible, we don't know what we really need/want, and we don't know how to ask.
(2)Limiting and Inaccurate Beliefs - we are programmed by our parents, schools, major media, religious training, etc. One of the greatest examples used that has stuck in my mind ever since I read the book was the following - Many people who are in relationships fall into this trap - "If you really loved me, I wouldn't have to ask". If you think about it, that statement is just plain silly! We are all human and we cannot read minds. I've used this one myself on many occasions and Canfield and Hansen made me stop and really think about what I was expecting from others in my life. If I cannot read their minds, how can I realistically expect them to read mine? Do you know how much heartache and hurt feelings we could completely avoid if we would learn that this notion is not true? We all need to learn how to develop our communication skills more and this book is a great place to start!
(3)Fear - fear of rejection, fear of looking stupid, fear of being powerless, fear of humiliation, and fear of abandonment.
(4)Low Self-Esteem - feeling of unworthiness and the feeling of "my needs" are not important.
(5)Pride - afraid to appear weak and needy, fear of other's judgment, and the notion that we are supposed to be able to figure things out for ourselves.

After the authors lead the reader through Aladdin's journey and lessons learned, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen tie up the book nicely with the third part entitled "How to Ask, Who to Ask and What to Ask for". Not only do they tell you how to ask, they tell you how to ask at home, how to ask at school, how to ask at work, how to ask the world, how to ask yourself and how to ask a Higher Power.

The authors also skillfully teach you how to give of yourself, how to strengthen your relationships (in all areas of your life), how to turn rejection into acceptance, how to be diplomatic, how to be a person of excellent character, how to persevere - and that is only naming a few! I couldn't possibly list all the things you will learn from these fine authors, or else I would end up rewriting their book word for word!

If you have read any of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, which I am guessing about 99.9% of you have, you will find the same content and style that has made Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen both famous and bestsellers. They include stories of the lives, trials, successes, and lessons learned by many different people. They also include their well-known and awe-inspiring quotes as found in their Chicken Soup series, which drive the lessons home effectively! I just love their use of quotes.

The Aladdin Factor by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen is a "must have" in the personal home library of any individual who seeks to become a well rounded and a successful person in all areas of their life. Happy Reading!

Lisa Vaden

I got the book as a Christmas gift and found myself transported to warm memories of pets, past, present and future. I found the book to be like looking in someone's emotional diary; sharing their most intimate, special moments of sharing their lives fully with a beloved pet. I bought ten copies of the book and gave it as a new millennium gift to all the pet lover's in my life and I'm prould to report that the praises, thank you's and high-fives keep coming my way. If you love your pets like family, and are tired of fiction or stories of gloom and doom, add this book to your shopping cart!

I loved this book, the stories truly captured the special bond and joy that animals bring to peope's life.I laughed,cried and will never look at my cats the same way again.For those people who ae owned by their pets we are truly blessed and this book contain stories that will remind us of this. For the many people without a four-legged friend in their life they should read this book and find out what they ar missing.

If you love your pet, you'll love this book. The stories capture how important pets are in our lives. My whole family has read it. I'm writing stories about my own pet with the help of a journaling book, THE BOOK OF MY PET. It's helping me capture my endearing animal's life in the way the Chicken Soup authors did.

Robert Strassler has done a remarkable editing job with Thucydides' Peloponnesian War. He has included three key features which provide the reader much luxury:

One, he has provided maps throughout the text, to the extent of repetition, to ensure that textual geographic references are always accompanied, in close proximity, cartographically.

Two, he has provided paragraph summaries on the margin throughout the work so that a reader, who has put the edition down for any length of time, may refresh their memories quickly by reading as many of these one to two sentence summaries as necessary.

Three, as Thucydides provides his narrative in chronological order, he must often leave one narrative to begin another. Strassler has provided a thread to follow each narrative through to its' end by way of footnotes.

These editorial enhancements greatly enrich the reading experience and would be a welcome addition to any historical text.

Thucydides, himself, presents the reader with a narrative unromanticized, strictly adhering to the events of the Peloponnesian War. His work possesses many passages that rivet the reader, but also contains areas where the sheer and voluminous recitation of fact can render one foggy. This is not a book for the light-hearted, though Strassler's editorial enhancements make for a pleasurable experience. It is, in short, a classic which has been classically edited.

Robert B. Strassler's edition of the famous Richard Crawley translation of Thucydides is a remarkable work, not only because of its intrinsic merit but also because it is quite simply unique. Mr. Strassler has provided the ultimate in critical apparatus, an exhaustive series of tools with which to understand and appreciate one of the great books of world civilisation. I have never seen anything like it. First of all, there is the index; if an index can be said to be a work of art, the Strassler index is a work of art in the way it organises and informs the text. Next there are the maps - dozens of them - not clumped together in the middle of the book or hidden away at the end, but strategically placed throughout the appropriate points in the text, right at the reader's fingertips when he or she needs them. The footnotes (yes footnotes, not those pesky and inconvenient endnotes!) would fill a small volume of their own and add immeasurably to one's understanding. And as if this were not enough, there are 11 appendices - short essays by prominent classical scholars on different aspects of the Greek world in the time of Thucydides, from "Athenian Government" and "Trireme Warfare" to "Religious Festivals" and "Classical Greek Currency." As far as I am concerned, the only problem with Mr. Strassler's edition is that is has made me greedy for more of the same - a similar edition of the Mahabharata, say, or Gibbon! Any takers?

I bought the Landmark Thucydides because it was the only hardback edition I could find. I was pleasantly surprised because it happens to be the best modern edition available. The editor, Robert Strasser, set out to make the most authoritative book on Thucydides's History of the Peloponnesian War, and I believe he has succeeded brilliantly.

Strasser uses Richard Crawley's translation, apparently revised and updated. In any case the text is very good, though Thucydides syntax is sometimes complex and even a bit confusing. Strasser uses marginal notes besides each paragraph to summarize the events described in the text. The most valuable additions are the maps- there are maps every few pages, illustrating the geography described in the text as needed. Other welcome additions are a timeline, breaking down the events of the book according to date, appendices covering topics such as Athenian and Spartan government, trireme construction, land and naval warfare in ancient times, and even an essay on the monetary units and religious festivals used in the ancient world. There is also an introduction, discussing both the text and the author in detail and in the context of their time. There is also a full and complete index. If you want Thucydides, this is the book to buy!

If your heartstrings don't stretch a bit in response to some story in Chicken Soup for the Gardener's Soul, you need to check your pulse. Then you need to go plant something...

Chicken Soup for the Gardener's Soul is a collection of 101 short stories and vignettes. Each piece is about three pages long, a format that is convenient for those of us who's free-time comes in little snippets. The stories share a common theme: Despair + a Garden + God's Grace = Wisdom and Peace.

Chicken Soup books seem to really polarize readers. A reader either really likes them and buy copies for all their friends, or dislikes them and would not buy one on a bet.

Let me assure the first type of reader that Chicken Soup for the Gardener's Soul is just as good the other Chicken Soup books. One of my concerns was that the quality of the writing would be inferior to the earlier books, that all the good material had already been skimmed. That concern was baseless. Evil is newsworthy because it is rare. Dignity, humanity, honesty and sacrifice ARE the human condition. There is no shortage of inspirational stories, just a shortage of publishers who think they are worthy of the readers' attention. Chicken Soup is still skimming the cream.

Book reviews are supposed to help the reader decide "Do I buy this book?" That is not much of an issue with this book. Chicken Soup addicts will buy this book. The question on the table is: "Do I buy this book for the cynical friend who thinks they are 'sappy', or 'maudlin'?" I think the answer is a qualified "Yes."

These stories do not strike a quick resonance with cynics. It is not because cynics have never felt despair. Rather, it is because cynics are afraid of the pain of revisiting those times. Cynics need to ease into these stories the way you might ease into a hot-tub. So buy them a copy and highlight a few stories like:

*A Veteran's Garden, page 25 "The Marines sent me overseas. But it took gardening to bring me home."

*Girls like Roses, page 109, "...twenty-four bucks! That's a lot of money. Even for a girl named Michelle."

*Brian, page 192, "Brian is seven. He's a dreamer and drives his teacher crazy. She is as stiff as taffy in December."

A truly good book evokes cozy images and sensations from the past. And this is a very good book, one that teaches us to stop and consider how wisely we spend on this earth.

Among my personal favorites was Nona's Garden by Paul Silici. I could almost smell the delectably heavy garlic, beef and tomatoes slowly steaming in my grandmother's kitchen, and felt a tug on my heartstrings when she shared the story of her grandmother's lessions in life. Planting Day filled me with hope for the younger generation when I saw that sixteen-year-old Beth Pollack had written such an insightful essay. It was good to learn in Pat Stone's A Bedside Story that I'm not the only person who talks to their plants.

There's something for everyone in CS for the Gardener's Soul.

This book was not as fascinating as the first volume but on reflection, when one realizes the tremendous risk he took in maintaining this diary, one must be chilled and grateful to Victor Klemperer. The book makes one realize how slow the war dragged on for people suffering under Hitler, and what seemed like fast-moving events to me as a boy living thru the war seemed an eternity to Klemperer. One can endure the awfulness of the life he led only because we know he survived. These volumes by Klemperer should be read by anyone who wants to know what daily life in Germany by a Jew was like.

The second volume of the diaries of Victor Klemperer, a German Jew who lived through the war, starts in 1941. Victor Klemperer is married to an "Aryan" wife, Eva, which means that he is semi-privileged: he has to wear the star but he is not immediately transported to Theresienstad or Auschwitz. A lot of laws against the Jews are already in place (see the first volume), but the situation nevertheless gets worth all the time: Jews are not allowed to keep pets, so their long-time companion pet has to be put down, the rations get less and less, they have to move to smaller and smaller houses constantly and Klemperer is put to work shoveling snow, packing tea, making envelopes.

Klemperer describes the everyday worries in everyday life and that is what makes the book so fascinating and important: nobody can say "they did not know", because Klemperer knew that being sent to Theresienstad or Auschwitz was essentially a death sentence. What is also impressive to follow is that constant fear, tiredness or lack of food slowly numbs a person: when the famine begins, he complains a lot about food shortages and the bad quality of the potatoes, but when this goes on longer, the notes on the subject disappear.

In the beginning of February 1945 the last Jews get a notice to report for transport, but by a miracle they are saved: the same night Dresden is razed to the ground by the (in)famous bombardment, leading to a fascinating first-hand account of the experiences of a civilian in wartime.

Klemperer removes his star and then the 4-month trek by foot, ox-cart, milk bus and train through war-torn Germany starts: from Dresden they travel to an old servant of theirs some 10 kilometers away, then to an old friend in Falkenburg, on to Munich, where they have to travel extensively in the surroundings before they find a place to live. After the capitulation they decide to travel back to Dresden. This whole chapter gives an impressive insight into the life of ordinary Germans in the first half of 1945.

What is also impressive is the love for his wife Eva: he constantly worries about her, tries to protest her and does the little menial jobs in house. When they have to travel back to Dresden through after-war Germany, it is Eva, however, who leads the way and takes the decisions.

All in all a very important diary by a very afraid, but still courageous man.

Is 'extraordinary' a powerful enough word for this book?

On reading it, I almost couldn't believe that it was genuine...but no writer of fiction could have created something as extraordinary,(I've used the word again,) as this.

Klemperer was a Jew, who managed to survive the war living within Nazi Germany because he was married to a Christian woman & 'luckily' for us, he wrote EVERYTHING down. Every. Tiny. Detail.

A superbly intelligent & witty man. Sometimes these kinds of books are just fascinating as eye-witness accounts, but what's unusual about this, is the fact that this man could actually write AND SO well.

SO sad & frustrating that it wasn't published within his lifetime.

I can't say any more. I'll never be able to say enough.

Probably the most extraordinary eye-witness account about life in Nazi Germany available...NO!...that will EVER be available.

Definetely the most extraordinary, (yes, it IS the right word,) book I've personally EVER read.

I'm honoured in being able to recommend this to you.

The farthest-away mountain is an excellent story of a fantasy story that could really happen to someone if they really tried like Dakin (the main character). She is going to try to climb the farthest away mountain which no women or man has ever climbed. She starts to climb and she meets a couple of new friends. she has help on the mountain along the way but not any help her parents. she had lots of help from a frog and three gargoyles, zog, og and vog. she also has a little troll that lives at her house and helps her all the way until he freezes again. If you want to find out what else happens to Dakin then read the book. (Its a really good book.)

i thought that this book was absolutely fantastic! full of enchantment and fantasy! i read it first when i was about 9 and since then i have read it about 20 times! i LOVE it! when i start it i just can't put it down. it was this book that got me too love reading so much.i have read hundreds of books now and still, the farthest away mountain is my faveorite. you can't put an age limit on it. all ages would enjoy it! i highly recommend this book to anyone, of any age. it's the best!

The first chapter book I ever read was Matilda. The second was this one. This book truly got me started on fantasy and I never read anything else. I love to read and this book is still one of my favorites. I read this book when I first got it out of our elementary school library (which wasn't that big) Since most of the books were boring, I would get book out over and over again. That was in 3rd grade. I haven't read it in over 6 years, but the story still stands clearly in my mind and I can still remember what happens. I could never find this book until I found it on amazon, and it is really a great book. Read it!

The Button Men is a fast, fun and exciting read...especially good for the "summer reading list" you might be putting together right now. The characters are memorable...the plot moves along quickly...and there's a great mix of eastern and western cultures. Being an Italian-American and having visited Japan 10 times, the book's story line caught my eye and I was not at all disappointed. Mr. Casale's character development is excellent....there's a good deal of suspense in the plot with just enough humor to carry the reader along. This is an enjoyable book and one that will teach you quite a bit about Japanese and Italian-American culture. Give it a try. You'll have fun.

This is one of those books which you will not be able to put down until you finish the last page. The author has a great hand for fiction while at the same time interlaces background material which helps you understand Japanese customs as it relates to the story. Being a native New Jerseyan and a frequent traveler to Japan I felt like I grew up with many of the characters. The story combines hardcore New York/New Jersey life with the mystery of Japan. Great book which I highly recommend, I hope it becomes a movie.

While reading THE BUTTON MEN I could not help but think of my early years growing up on the upper east side of New York City.I can easily indentify with some of the characters that the author Victor Casale created in his novel. Obviously some research has gone into this exciting story of two cultures. I have known a few Saseeches'and characters such as Vinny Lucente and Fabio in my time.Different personalities but with the same goals to be Mafia people. I particularly liked the mission to Japan to free the Don's niece and their action packed adventure to achieve a successful conclusion. Matsuba, the Yakuza chief comes across quite scary and someone you do not cross up. Yumi the Yakuza "moll" is no slouch either.

It is great reading and you can almost see this in movie form. I'm sure readers will be entertained by the quick dialogue and the action that this novel brings forth