Excellent food for thought with so much more to offer, the simple interpretations and observations found within this little book are perfectly presented for challenging your growth in spiritual understanding, personal relationships and interactions. It's a great collection of insight to fuel self-improvement by encouraging prayer and deep thinking in your quiet moments of silence.

The book has a very fitting introduction to the author, but the real gem of it all is the author's messages and motivational reflections. Broken down into short, poignant captions or stories, one found under each day of the month, [excluding a leap year] and range from a simple sentence to a couple of paragraphs in length. Most are direct and straight forward in design, others are more complex for pondering, but all will provoke the mind. It's a wonderful source that does not become exhaustible, remains timeless year after year. Repeat through the book annually and the words will become embedded in your thoughts, and with it, will come a new generation of discoveries in how the knowledge can be applied to your own life all over again.

Instead of just strictly reading one by one on a daily basis, I'll sometimes keep reading through a whole month's worth of passages until I come across a statement that stands out in my mind, persuading me to meditate on it. Either way you choose to use it, the book is fairly easy to relate to and the concepts are just right for contemplation. Keep them in the back of your mind for inspiration and share with others.

If you're familiar with Matthew Kelly or not, anyone interested can plant these seeds of wisdom in their life and gain from them. The book is a very recommendable buy.

I can't change anybody, except for that person looking back at me in the mirror. And, prayer is the key to help me change. Matthew Kelly has given me wonderful insights; ones that challenge me to change, to grow. For that and for this book I am profoundly thankful.

Matthew has an incredible ability to get you thinking differently. He makes me think of a lyric from a U2 song: "we thought that we had the answers but it was the questions we had wrong."

I know that Matthew is young but his grasp of Christian ideals and how they should challenge us to better ourselves inspires those of all ages. Make the pages of this book part of your daily ritual. They will ground you and make your walk more effective and real.

I was at the edge of my seat from start to finish. I can't believe this author isn't as well known as Dean Koontz or Stephen King. Is there an address or an e-mail for this author?

I LOVED this book. I read the entire novel in less than three days and wasn't disappointed by the finish. I can't believe this author is not as well known as Dean Koontz or Stephen King. Is their an address or an e-mail available so I can let the author know my opinion?

I couldn't put this book down! I read the entire novel in two days and was sad to finish it. I can't believe this particular author isn't as well known as Dean Koontz or Stephen King. Is there an address or an e-mail where I can write to this author.

Matthew Rohrer and Joshua Beckman are, separately, two of my favorite poets. Put together, they are three of my favorite poets. The awareness and playfulness of "Nice Hat. Thanks." makes for great poetry and great fun. I give it my highest recommendation, along with all their other books.

Matthew Rohrer and Joshua Beckman are, separately, two of my favorite poets. Put together, they are three of my favorite poets. The awareness and playfulness of "Nice Hat. Thanks." makes for great poetry and great fun. I give it my highest recommendation, along with all their other books.

These guys are lifting the face of American poetry with their word by word improvised collaborations ... funny, direct, mysterious, imaginative, unpredictable yet somehow always just right, these poems (from two-liners all the way up to two-pagers) will help you remember why poetry is necessary, not to mention fun. Plus to see them write new collaborations live (they're in the middle of a cross-country tour right now) is to see the pleasure of writing poetry -- letting language loose and watching it out of the corner of your ear until it finds you -- revealed ... anyone can do it, and everyone will. Pure generous poetry for everyone.

I give this book as a gift to every 1 year old I know. It gets great reviews from both the parent and the child!
When my niece was 2 1/2 she love to "read" the book to me! My newphew took it to preschool on his 'show and tell' day... he wanted to show everyone he knew how to read.
It is a simple book... colors, counting, and animals (the illustrations are great).

Our baby is so active and squirmy now that it's hard to coax him to sit still for books. This book is so entertaining that he cuddles in and pays attention. Every time we say "One yellow..." and then flip open the flap to say "LION!" he roars with laughter. A clever and well-illustrated book.

This is the only book our son will sit through (time after time). He loves to open the flaps and the illustrations are bright and funny. I had to order another because our first one is almost worn out. Highly recommended.

Being the parent of a child with PDD, I have been procuring a lot of books and materials on autism. Many of them turned out to be highly specialized and some downright negative. This book turned out to be one of the best buys which gives practical solutions to all sorts of problems faced by an autistic parent and the solutions are suggested by a child who was autistic. Also, the book is highly positive, as the child it seems, has now been fully mainstreamed and therefore this is another success story like that of Catherine Maurice which gives us parents a lot to learn and practise.
PS. The books was bought in the US and sent to me by a friend.

A lot of adults have written about their experiences with autism, but very few children have enough language to do so. This book shows you that even kids have insights into themselves.

I wish every parent of an autistic (or AS or PDD or SID or ADHD) child would read this book. I find myself constantly trying to explain to people how/why my son behaves the way he does. I've understood to some degree right from the beginning (having shadow AS dx myself), but this just brings it all into unbelievable focus. Especially for all those parents who pointlessly physically punish their children for behaviors that are neurologically-based, not attitude-based, this book is/would be a real eye-opener.

Having studied the two other books of M.Sadler, just a fast look in this one and seeing the same structure convinced me that it is of the same quality than the others. I mean great learning quality.

Matthew Sadler does an excellent job of covering the material he covers in his books, and this one is no different. He does a lot of his explaining in a sort of "Question and Answer", or "Frequently Asked Questions" format, which appears to be unique to him (I have yet to see another author use this format). There is a massive amount of material that is squeezed into this 160-page book, including 128 annotated games.

The one downfall to this book is that it leaves out a few of the most critical lines in all of the Semi-Slav. An example here would be the 18...d4 line in the Main Line of the Botvinnik Variation with 17...a3. This is a line that was seen in 1994 (about 4 years before the writing of the book). It is an interesting and sharp line that leads to a Rook Sacrifice on move 22 (22...Rh5, which is the ONLY MOVE), the sacrifice of yet another rook, and eventually a position considered roughly equal after going through a sequence of moves where White is up 2 rooks, but Black has pawns on b4, b2, and c3.

Another loop-hole is the lacking of Black's options other than 6...Bd6 in the 6.Qc2 lines of the 5.e3 Semi-Slav. An important alternative for Black would be 6...b6, for example.

If there was such a rating as "4 and a half stars", that's what I'd give this book, but I had to round it off to 5. 4 would be a bit too harsh. However, while I would highly recommend reading this book, I would also recommend "The Botvinnik Semi-Slav" and "The Meran System", both by Steffen Pederson, as these appear to be more complete in coverage, though also deeper into the theory, and hence I would recommend reading Sadler's book first before trying dive into the others.

A MUST READ for "First-Time" Semi-Slav Players!!!

Matthew Sadler has put together a real masterpiece here. The book is like no other opening book I have seen (except other books by the same author).

If you want to skip to the most important reason why this is as an excellent book, skip the next three paragraphs.

There are several types of opening books out there. Some are "repetoire" books attempting to put forth a single, unified approach, or maybe two separate unified approaches, for the benefit of those without a lot of time on their hands. Others are little more than compilations of lines with sparse commentary and tons of games. These can be helpful as a reference, but are not as helpful in terms of actually learning an opening.

Still other opening books concentrate on explanation and stand motifs, with a few games for example purposes. These are better for learning, but are still not in the same league as _The Semi-Slav_ by Sadler.

The thing that separates this book is as much the _type_ of commentary as the format, but more on that later. The format is excellent: the book is broken into two main sections: the Bot. and Moscow systems. Then several lines are each analyzed, using sample games with excellent commentary.

Now, I get to my major point: the type of comments, especially in the very first chapter of each main section is extraordinarily insightful. The Semi-Slav can be pretty sharp, so many moves are forced, but Sadler does an A1 job of explaining what is going on. Not simply tactically, but on a more heurestic setting.

His commentary is invaluable because it highlights the key issues of the formation, so you know the reasons why what you should do is good. It goes one step further and often uses the _present_ situation on the board to give reasons why certain moves are good, rather than simply saying "Do this because in the future it will help achieve a this common theme."

One example of this simple yet elegant commentary is about 13 moves down in the Botvinnik variation where the placement of the light bishop and the queen are discussed. The key point is that White's KN has been traded, so it is natural to attack the g2 (which would normally be shielded by this knight) square and those central squares for which the KN and the misplaced QB are natural defenders.

I assert that it would not be overstating things to say the first chapter of each of the two sections of this book will be more helpful by themselves than the majority of opening manuals.

These books are wonderful!.. I am a school teacher, specifically I teach French to the elementary level. The children love these books. I translate everything into French and it really helps the kids to remember their numbers, colors etc.
Thanks for such a wonderful teaching aid.

The snappy little book series is great! My daughter is 2, she absolutely loves these book, they are her favorite. The images are so bright and colorful and they are easy to use for learning colors and counting. The halloween book is no exception. I got this book just before halloween this year and my daughter loved it too. The pictures are fun and put us in the spirit of halloween.

I have started the collection of all the Snappy books! The pictures are so bright that my 1 year old daughter loves them! I am so glad that the authors and illustrators keep them coming, you are doing a great job! The holiday ones are terrific and make great gifts. This is our standard gift for our neice and nephew! Keep up the good work!

If you want a fairly definitive guide to all the disadvantages of suburban sprawl, read this book. I also recommend it as a source guide, because it cites a lot of sources on both sides of the issue.

It does have some imperfections: it is very focused on environmental issues, so I wouldn't pretend that it is the definitive guide on other sprawl related problems (e.g. social justice issues), though it does address such issues to some extent. Also, I think it is a bit more biased towards "big government" solutions to sprawl than I would be if I were writing a book on the subject. But by and large, I recommend it.

"Once There Were Greenfields" is the product of a small team of researchers working for The National Resouces Defense Council (NRDC) and the Surface Transportation Policy Project. The result is a well-researched, balanced and highly readable review of suburban sprawl and its effects on the community, economy and environment. It also suggests ways we might mitigate sprawl by opting for policies that encourage "smart growth", i.e. development that takes a holistic view of the community and its role within the larger society in which we all live.

With thorough documentation, charts and illustrations to support the author's work, one can easily imagine the book serving well as an introductory college textbook on the subject. It should also be welcomed by community activists and concerned citizens alike who may want to prepare themselves for intelligent discussion and engagement when faced with the problem of sprawl in their own local communities.

The authors discuss the numerous reasons why sprawl has become such a big problem in our country. Of course the closely related and interconnected topics of the American love affair with the automobile, the building of the interstate highway system and the dismantling of big city public transportation systems by General Motors are cited as factors that enabled and encouraged the post-WW II mass exodus from most major cities to their surrounding suburban areas. But the authors also point out that uncoordinated local governments generally make it difficult for America to develop comprehensive land use policies, allowing land developers and corporations to run amok and get what they wanted with respect to tax breaks, permits, and so on.

The end result is that businesses have found it only too easy to relocate to cheaper land outside the core cities (if not to foreign countries), setting in motion a cycle of urban decline that pushes even more people to the suburbs and the inexpensive houses available there.

The authors don't blame Americans for desiring the relatively clean air, open spaces, and safe schools and neighborhoods that suburbia purports to offer. But as the boundaries push ever outward, the benefits become ever more difficult to attain and a myriad of new problems emerge. For example, commuting costs -- in terms of both time and money -- can wipe out much of the savings on housing. The problem is compounded by the deleterious effects of stress to the psyche that are associated with driving ever longer distances to work. All of this extra driving also contributes enormously to the problems of both global warming and local air pollution. Significantly, local government budgets quickly become depleted trying to keep up with spiraling highway construction and maintenance costs.

The authors suggest remedies and also allude to success stories in places such as Portland, Oregon, the State of Maryland, and Europe to discuss some of the alternatives that may help contain sprawl. In each case, it seems that revitalizing and creating a truly livable inner city is integral to creating a winning strategy.

Whether the U.S. can truly reverse sprawl before most of its open spaces are consumed remain an open question, of course. One suspects that regional planners acting in the community's interest will have a tougher time reigining in the rugged, individualistic American than his or her European counterpart. But one has to wonder whether continuing to consume every two years over one million acres of open lands -- much of it valuable and irreplacable farmlands and wetlands -- should rightly be called progress, and what the consequences of this unwritten policy of perpetual destruction might hold for us in the long run.

In brief, this excellent book contains much for us to think about. It provides guidance and inspiration to those among us who dare to believe that a stronger community, a better environment, and a higher quality of life may indeed be possible without sprawl. Highly recommended.

I strongly recommend this book for anyone with an interest in the effects of sprawl on our society. It is filled with information from a number of significant research studies. The book focuses on statistics, not opinion, to make its arguments against sprawl

This book explains Excel VBA in a way very easy to understand.However if someone has a programming experience, the book could be boring. The index is excellent and is a very good reference.

Although designed for beginers it goes to more advanced subjects.
Ideally this book should be read first, followed by a more practical book like Walkenbach's Excel 2002 Power Programming with VBA- which by the way is much more pleasant to read.
The title is misleading, it should better be named "Learn Excel Programming in 41 Long Days".

I tried two other books and one on-line source before I found "Sams Teach Yourself Excel 2000 Programming in 21 Days." I wish it had been the first resource I had found. One book I tried, ostensibly labeled "for beginners" was in fact better suited for an intermediate. The other book gave examples of some neat things you can do in VBA, but gave no background or mechanics, i.e. the rationale and assumptions behind visual basic code and procedures.

The Sams book gives you the "meat," from the ground up - not just a bunch of code to copy into the VBE. The learner is given the much needed what, when, where, and why behind VBA.

My only criticism of the book is the title. The book is LARGE. You could complete it in 21 days if you worked through it 12 hours a day for 21 days (not including any review time). The title also seems rather "cheesy" for a tome worthy of a university classroom.

This was a very good book. The book contained excellent explanations for the code examples. There are lots of useful code examples, which are downloadable through the internet. The code examples are 99% error free. The book is pretty cheap considering the size, over a thousand pages. It took me 10 weeks to complete it. More than half of the information provided is useful for all the other implementations of VBA, such as Access, Word, etc. You will really be teaching yourself a great deal though not in 21 days, but more like in 70 days.

Reporter Nell Mathews and her boyfriend Mike Svenson are back in their third mystery, and an outstanding one it is.

Nell Matthew and Mike Svenson are helping out at a Women's Shelter. While there, a man arrives and forces past Nell to see Patsy who runs the Shelter. In an attempt to stab Patsy, Mike is forced to shoot the intruder. This leads to problems for Mike since the person he just shot isn't your ordinary wife abuser and his wife isn't your ordinary abused spouse. Mike is traumatized from the shooting, so Nell takes to sleuthing on her own. This leads her to suspect the shelter director of some shady, extra-curricular business and Mike's mother might be of covering it up.

I know spousal abuse has been used many times in mysteries, but Ms. Sandstrom takes it a step further with some informative information and I found this fascinating. Readers can expect a storyline with a reporter's insight, some interesting facts about women's shelters, and a mystery that will take them in many directions to one superb conclusion.

The third in a series, this book takes a look at the consequences of the shooting by an off duty police officer who is forced to kill to prevent another from being killed. While I enjoyed the mystery of what exactly happened and why the attack occurred, the truly fascinating part of this book was the look at the consequences of the shooting by the off duty officer and how it impacted on him and the people who cared about him. Usually the focus of a mystery is on the capture of the killer. I felt that this book focused on the character of the policeman caught up in the tragedy of another. I could not put this book down and highly recommend it to all.

Nell Matthews and Mike Svenson have a complicated love relationship. Both are adept at trickery in order to survive in their professions. Nell works as a newspaper reporter and Mike is a policeman. Sometimes their quest for information and promises of confidentiality conflict with the natural expectation of honesty within a relationship.

In The Smoking Gun, Sandstrom does a superb job of weaving enough clues to create a page turner that keeps the reader guessing "who done it" until the very end. Issues of old money versus labor, domestic violence committed by law enforcement officers, right versus the law, and the effects of the trauma of killing a person in the line of duty engage the intellectual reader.