I'm not so sold on concept mapping and v-diagrams (everyone's got their own angle) but Novak's analysis of the shortcomings of education this century is excellent. There have been enormous and important innovations in educational theory this century, but very little of it has been put into practice because of the nature of the institutions.
Never mind - if you read this book, you're bound to gather some really important insights into the nature of learning, creating and using knowledge, and if you're in education or training, you'll come away not only with a higher awareness of learning theory, but some exciting ideas to try in your own practice.

If you've read Professor Novak's "Learning How to Learn" and "Theory of Education", this book offers updated examples and his insights into how corporations, not just schools, can use his theory.

However, for those unfamiliar with Novak's past work, this book is revolutionary. He shows how the theories of behaviorism and positivism have led to an education system that, despite increasing expenditures, fail to teach children and instead encourages learning by rote. He goes on to show that knowledge is created by the learner, not caused by the teacher, not "poured into people's heads". He also addresses the emotional aspects of the educational "context" (his word).

This book is not just for educators. Anyone unfamiliar with Novak's work with Concept Maps, Knowledge Vees or the Constructivist philosophy will have a lot to gain from reading this book.

One annoyance: there are quite a number of passages that are repeated! I blame this on the editor, not the author. It doesn't take away from the message of the book, but it gives me the feeling that something else might have been missed.

Marking the culmination of Novak's 40-year career in science education, learning theory and epistemology, this book offers a remarkably insightful, theoretically powerful, and eminently readable volume on knowledge making in schools, corporations and healthcare agencies. The focus of Novak's work is on ways of empowering people to take charge of their own learning and knowledge creation. In this effort he succeeds most powerfully in integrating current ideas from the cognitive sciences, philosophy, psychology, neurophysiology, and educational practice.

But this book is not simply for professors and other members of the "intellectual elite." It is first and foremost a helpful guide to teachers, students, business managers and healthcare workers who want to succeed in the competitive arena of the "knowledge age."

Perhaps the most important contribution Novak makes is his careful description [and multiple examples] of concept mapping and V diagramming as tools for facilitating learning, understanding and knowledge creation. Unlike many "recipes" and "panaceas" offered by others, Novak cites numerous studies that provide very strong support for the use of these powerful "metacognitive" tools.

This book is an extraordinarily important contribution to efforts that seek to empower people to become meaningful learners and knowledge makers. It should be read by every college student, every teacher, and by all those charged with managing knowledge professionals.

Fifteen years ago in Mendocino, California, Jenna and Adam were high school sweethearts until they graduated and he demanded his freedom. After their split, Jenna turned to Adam's best friend Dennis ,whom she married and had a child with. Six months ago, Jenna divorced the abusive alcoholic Dennis who has threatened to kill her. Now she manages a bed and breakfast owned by Adam's grandparents.

San Francisco attorney Adam pays his grandparents a surprise visit only to have Jenna karate chop him and kick him because she thought he was an intruder. Jenna learns she is pregnant from an incident when she just gave in rather than fight Dennis in front of their son. Meanwhile, Adam's partner pressures him to perform an illegal act in defense of a client. As both struggle with various pressures, their love for one another explodes into the open. However, Adam and Jenna believe they can never go back and start a new relationship.

EXPECTATIONS is an entertaining contemporary romance that fans will enjoy. The story line centers on two former lovers seeking more from life than they have gotten to date. The lead couple is an interesting duo whose love never ebbed. Though a bit stereotyped, Dennis provides an apt lesson on the dangers of alcohol abuse leading to other forms of abuse. In her first contemporary romance, Brenda Novak shows talent that will make her a popular author.

Harriet Klausner

This is an excellent book. Once you start reading it you can't put it down. I would reccommend it to anyone that likes to read love stories.

Since at least the 1982 publication of his book, The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism, Michael Novak has been the leading voice in the effort to reconcile Catholicism and capitalism, an effort which bore spectacular fruit with the 1991 papal encyclical, Centisimus Annus. The tension between the two -isms, though partially a function of the fact that Capitalism is associated with Protestantism, was for the most part a fairly natural result of capitalism's dependence on individualism and self-interest, as opposed to Catholicism's hierarchical and authoritarian structure and Christianity's requirement of selflessness and charity.

The three essays in this collection, originally delivered as the Pfizer Lectures at the American Enterprise Institute, address the future of the corporation, intellectual property rights, and corporate governance. They are unified by the way in which Novak treats business and the corporation as institutions which have important moral roles to play in society. First he discusses the fact that corporations are voluntary associations, which allow individuals to work together in ways that make them more powerful and effective than they could ever be on their own and which serve important social ends :

From the point of view of civil society, the business enterprise is an important social good for four reasons. First, it creates jobs. Second, it provides desirable goods and services. Third, through its profits, it creates wealth that did not exist before. And fourth, it is a private social instrument, independent of the state, for the moral and material support of other activities of civil society.

In fact, he argues, the effectiveness of corporations in providing goods and services, in creating wealth, jobs, and opportunities, and in providing a counterweight to the power of central government, makes them second in importance only to religious organizations in terms of the role they have played in creating and guaranteeing democracy.

In this section he makes the really intriguing point that some of the earliest capitalist corporations were born out of the Catholic monasteries of the Middle Ages. He quotes the great modern Tory historian Paul Johnson to the effect that :

A great and increasing part of the arable land of Europe passed into the hands of highly disciplined men committed to a doctrine of hard work. They were literate. They knew how to keep accounts. Above all, perhaps, they worked to a daily timetable and an accurate annual calendar--something quite alien to the farmers and landowners they replaced. Thus their cultivation of the land was organized, systematic, persistent. And, as owners, they escaped the accidents of deaths, minorities, administration by hapless widows, enforced sales, or transfer of ownership by crime, treason and folly. They brought continuity of exploitation. They produced surpluses and invested them in the form of drainage, clearances, livestock and seed...they determined the whole future of Europe; they were the foundation of world primacy.

This is ingenious both for the insight that the great innovation that these first corporate entities offered was continuity, of a type that was not available to individuals or even to families, and for the way in which it implicates the Church in the creation of capitalism. Novak's writing is characterized by this unique combination of perceptive analysis on general issues combined with more subtle demonstrations that capitalism and Christianity are and have been compatible.

The second section, on intellectual property, is so compelling that it actually made me rethink my position on Napster. Most of us have been tape recording albums, videotaping shows, "borrowing" computer programs, and now burning cd's, for so long that we've become inured to the idea that the underlying products are ours to exploit and that this will have little or no effect on the artists who create this product. Novak draws upon Abraham Lincoln's 1850 Lecture on Discoveries and Inventions in order to make the case that protection for patents and copyrights is one of the central innovations of the American system, one that deserves to be defended. He points out, for instance, that the right of inventors and authors to receive royalties is the only "right" mentioned in the body of the Constitution. It can hardly be a coincidence that the country which affords such creative activity the greatest protection has been the most creative nation. Novak discusses the ways in which these protections, which reward those who are willing to share their ideas and to take risks to develop them into products, have served to benefit not merely the innovators themselves but the society at large, and concludes :

Patent regimes recognize the right of inventors and authors to the fruit of their own labors as a right in common law. They do so because this right serves the common good by stimulating useful inventions and creative works from which a grateful public benefits. Far from protecting private interests at the expense of the common good, patent protection advances the common good by means of private interest. The common good is the end, private interest is the means.

Here again, we see that although it is often blithely assumed that capitalism serves only individual interests, it is in fact the most effective way for society in general to achieve progress.

In the final section, Novak discusses the various threats to the corporation presented by the various efforts to change how they are governed. He cites Michael Oakeshott's differentiation between the "civic association" and the "enterprise association" :

The civic association aims at something larger than any particular end, interest, or good: the protection of a body of general rules and a whole way of life; in other words, the larger framework within which, and only within which, the pursuit of particular ends becomes possible, peaceable, and fruitful. Given such a framework, individuals are free to choose myriad activities. The state is a civic association, he thought, or at least should be; so is the church; and so are many kinds of clubs, charitable organizations, and associations for self-improvement.

... By contrast, Oakeshott noted, the enterprise association is built to attain quite particular purposes... Enterprise associations are focused, purposive, instrumental, and executive: they fix a purpose and execute it.

The problem that corporations (enterprise associations) now face is that politicians and political activists are trying to blur these lines and turn them into civic institutions, with responsibilities for meeting all kinds of political and social purposes. This diffusion of aims, unwise as it may be, is perhaps appropriate for government organizations : if affirmative action and the like are going to be implemented somewhere, better that it be in government which is already moribund. But one need only look at the havoc such social experiments have wreaked on the military [as Stephanie Guttman has done in her excellent book : The Kinder, Gentler Military: Can America's Gender-Neutral Fighting Force Still Win Wars? (2000)(Stephanie Gutmann) (Grade: B+)] in order to see the disastrous effects of making an organization with a single purpose (being prepared to fight and win) try to satisfy a multitude of political purposes (gender neutrality, acceptance of homosexuals, etc.). Such fiddling by the political class has rendered our once mighty fighting forces politically correct, but much less formidable.

Corporate America now finds itself prey to these same pressures. Already overregulated on the environmental, labor, and other fronts, business finds itself under attack for not being sufficiently socially conscious. They are being asked to ignore the bottom line, to eschew profits, and to instead focus on their role in local communities. It is supposed that society would be better off if corporations were governed so as to "benefit" their employees and their neighbors, and governed in the way that government thinks fashionable at the moment, rather than being run with mere efficiency and profits in mind. One would have thought that the long and disastrous European experiment with Socialism and the spectacular failure of Japan's once vaunted economic planning would have put this argument to rest, but, alas, such is not the case. There will apparently always be a class of activists, politicians, and bureaucrats who believe that they, if given the opportunity, could run the economy. But having seen how inefficiently they run our governments, we should resist them at all costs.

In this book, Michael Novak is really trying to steel business people, to whom the initial lectures were addressed, for this fight. He seeks to warn them that they must not give up the freedom from government interference which has made American industry so uniquely creative an

... and the rest of the western world. This is an incredible book, successfully debunking every anti-corporate myth. Far more than the usual abstract pro-capitalist treatise; it focuses on the single institution that underpins the success of capitalism, AND that is the sole salvation of the Civil Society - the corporation.

MAN OF THE HOUSE reads more like a conversation with a favourite grandparent than the memoirs of someone with fifty years of experience in politics and the book is the better for it. The book is vaguely set up in chronological order starting from his childhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts and ending with his retirement from his position as Speaker of the House. But Tip (one feels to be on a first-name basis after the familiar tone of the book) sprinkles many anecdotes and jokes throughout the text, giving it a conversational flavour instead of reading like a straight history.

O'Neill does not try to hide the fact that he is a Democrat and an extremely partisan one at that. However, he does not let his philosophies blind him to what people really are. He remembers the flaws that were present in some of his Democratic colleagues and speaks about the good qualities in the Republicans in Congress. Partisanship never gets in the way of friendship and he recalls many stories of socializing with members of both parties after a day spent fighting legislative battles.

It's fascinating to read about (what is now) history through the eyes of someone who was witnessing first-hand so much of it. An entire chapter is dedicated to the Watergate scandal of the Nixon years and we can see it unfolding as he saw it. Nixon can be seen through the eyes of someone who was not a part of his close inner-circle, but who was closer than the general public. He offers his thoughts on the pardon given by President Ford and his mixed feelings on the subject.

All the Presidents that he worked with are given a chapter of their own where O'Neill offers praise, criticism and a few humourous anecdotes. As expected, fellow Bostonian Jack Kennedy receives the most attention, having one chapter dedicated to him and another to his family. O'Neill describes a man who surrounded himself by a team of people that were the best in the business when it came to getting someone elected, but who really did not have the first clue in how to deal with legislators.

O'Neill describes many of the battles he had with Kennedy's successor, President Johnson, on the subject of Vietnam. O'Neill broke from the President's position and was quite vocal in his condemnation of the war. The deep division in the Congress and the conversations he had with the President are given a lot of attention. O'Neill details how, while agreeing with the sentiments of the protestors, he felt that they were distracting from the message. Every time someone would smash a window in anger during a gathering, instead of reports of general unrest, the story in the press would be that this was another action supported by Tip.

The last two presidents that Tip served with were the two in office during his tenure as Speaker of the House. President Carter, the Democrat, and President Reagan, the Republican, are seen to Tip as being almost complete opposites. Where every conversation O'Neill had with Carter demonstrated the President's obvious knowledge in on a given subject, virtually all Reagan had to talk about were old movies and baseball. The main difference in their leadership styles, and what Tip found so frustrating, was the difference in which the two men viewed the Congress. Carter took a much more passive role, not really understanding the way that Washington worked. In contrast, Reagan would be constantly on the phone to the members of Congress, sweet-talking them into supporting his bills.

This was a very interesting read and I highly recommend it. O'Neill himself comes across as a very warm and friendly person who, in all his years in government, never forgot where he came from. His fights over various pieces of legislation down the years always came down to a simple desire to help the little guy.

When you are reading this book, you feel like you are in the room as the events are taking place. The insight to the behind the scenes are amazing. Makes you love politics and the good great leaders who truly love this country can acommplish.
Tip, you were a Great Man and are truly missed.

When the colonists first settled on the planet Daleer, there was plenty to support them all. However, as the population increased, Daleer's resources were spread thin. Then a nasty virus spread through the people, killing mostly females who had born children. The women did not want to risk getting pregnant, so they did not have sex with the males. To combat this, the males created men with gorgeous physical beauty and shadra, a psychological talent that could give both exquisite pleasure and excruciating pain. When the population began to rise again, the people of Daleer split into two warring factions. One was led by Gemen, who believed that the men with the shadra formed an important part of life on the planet. The other, led by Arath, believed that all of the men with shadra should be killed to keep women from wanting to have sex. Several hundred years later, these two groups are still at war...

Princess Escallitoni Q'Sadone Arath is the only heir to King Arath, ruler of the Sorisi. She dreads her upcoming marriage to Viceroy Reman, but can see no way of getting out of it. In her culture, women are forced to wear veils and be submissive at all times. Yet Princess Calli's rebellious spirit refuses to be broken, though her father has often tried. On her way to the viceroy's fortress, she playfully trades places with her handmaiden, Solte, to see what it would be like to be a commoner. When the Shadrani, the descendants of Gemen, attack the party, it is Solte who is rescued and Princess Calli falls into the hands of her father's bitter enemies. She does not know what she should do, but she knows that she must keep her identity a secret or they will surely kill her.

Calli soon meets the Prince of Gemen, Erone, and he is the most stunningly beautiful man she has ever met - but he looks at her with such hatred! As Calli travels with the Shadrani to their residence deep in the forest she learns that the Shadrani are people with hopes and fears just like the Sorisi. However, she soon learns that there is one major difference between the two cultures - the Sorisi practice birth control by throwing infant girls to their death from the walls of their fortresses and the Shadrani practice birth control by forbidding intercourse between men and women except by royal command. Instead, the Shadrani live in same-sex relationships where they bond their life to their mate. Calli is equally horrified by both methods and is shocked to discover that the reason she was kidnapped was to mate with the Prince of Gemen and give him an heir! How can she have sex with a man who hates her? What is even worse is, after she has had sex with him, she cannot get enough of him and begins to fall in love with him. Yet what kind of future can they have together when they are living in a society that forbids intercourse between men and women? And what will happen with Erone discovers her real identity?

Novak has created a rich, fully realized world with a history and set traditions that is ready to change. Calli and Erone are but the beginning of the story and I do hope that Novak gives us more in this world. I loved the Shadrani and thought that their culture was fascinating. It was really different to think of male/female relationships being outlawed to control the births on the planet. All of the characters were well drawn and fleshed out, I felt that I knew all of them well and understood their motivations and why they acted the way they did. The reason why I gave the book 4 stars is I felt that the plot line could have been developed a little better - the first half of the book is pretty slow and then there is a lot of action packed into the last half of the book. I would also like to see some better dialogue. Still, Novak has written a great book about an intriguing world with a lot of potential. I am eagerly awaiting another book dealing with these diverse cultures!

This book is not a conventional erotica or romance, but it was very well written touching story. It takes place in a world where couples are same-sexed f/f & m/m. However, there are no f/f sex scenes, a brief m/m caressing scene and the rest are the love scenes between the main characters which are m/f.

This book is not just about sex. It makes you think and see that what is considered normal for one society may not be normal for another yet people are people and are capable of limitless love as well as unbelievable cruelty.

In one kingdom of the story, it is a crime to have sex with the opposite sex and is punishable by death. This is their way of population control. It is an unusual book depicting an opposite society where being straight is not the norm and couples with the same sex are normal. The couples are monogamous however and they love and are very committed to each other. Exception is only when procreation is necessary and that is a one time event under a controlled environment. Yet the children created are all loved and cherished no matter they are female or male. This is where the Prince is from.

Then there is the neighboring kingdom where same sex relationships are frowned upon. The way they control their population is to randomly kill female infants. This is where the Princess is from. There is also much friction and hate between the 2 kingdoms due to their obvious differences and also due to circumstances from their past.

One day, the princess from this kingdom is captured by the neighboring kingdom but she is disguised as a servant. During her captivity she is treated with kindness and respect, and the Princess spends a great deal of effort trying to understand another group of people so different from her own. It also tells of the inner struggle the Prince has to fight his attraction for the Princess despite their strict laws and his hatred of her people. In the end, however, they do manage to come together after overcoming numerous obstacles, defying a king, a Queen, and strict social laws. But by doing so they will also eventually combine the two kingdoms and bring out the best in both. Their love was so touching, this book made a big impression on me and I could not help but literally fall in love with the PRINCE OF GEMEN.

MAN OF THE HOUSE reads more like a conversation with a favourite grandparent than the memoirs of someone with fifty years of experience in politics and the book is the better for it. The book is vaguely set up in chronological order starting from his childhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts and ending with his retirement from his position as Speaker of the House. But Tip (one feels to be on a first-name basis after the familiar tone of the book) sprinkles many anecdotes and jokes throughout the text, giving it a conversational flavour instead of reading like a straight history.

O'Neill does not try to hide the fact that he is a Democrat and an extremely partisan one at that. However, he does not let his philosophies blind him to what people really are. He remembers the flaws that were present in some of his Democratic colleagues and speaks about the good qualities in the Republicans in Congress. Partisanship never gets in the way of friendship and he recalls many stories of socializing with members of both parties after a day spent fighting legislative battles.

It's fascinating to read about (what is now) history through the eyes of someone who was witnessing first-hand so much of it. An entire chapter is dedicated to the Watergate scandal of the Nixon years and we can see it unfolding as he saw it. Nixon can be seen through the eyes of someone who was not a part of his close inner-circle, but who was closer than the general public. He offers his thoughts on the pardon given by President Ford and his mixed feelings on the subject.

All the Presidents that he worked with are given a chapter of their own where O'Neill offers praise, criticism and a few humourous anecdotes. As expected, fellow Bostonian Jack Kennedy receives the most attention, having one chapter dedicated to him and another to his family. O'Neill describes a man who surrounded himself by a team of people that were the best in the business when it came to getting someone elected, but who really did not have the first clue in how to deal with legislators.

O'Neill describes many of the battles he had with Kennedy's successor, President Johnson, on the subject of Vietnam. O'Neill broke from the President's position and was quite vocal in his condemnation of the war. The deep division in the Congress and the conversations he had with the President are given a lot of attention. O'Neill details how, while agreeing with the sentiments of the protestors, he felt that they were distracting from the message. Every time someone would smash a window in anger during a gathering, instead of reports of general unrest, the story in the press would be that this was another action supported by Tip.

The last two presidents that Tip served with were the two in office during his tenure as Speaker of the House. President Carter, the Democrat, and President Reagan, the Republican, are seen to Tip as being almost complete opposites. Where every conversation O'Neill had with Carter demonstrated the President's obvious knowledge in on a given subject, virtually all Reagan had to talk about were old movies and baseball. The main difference in their leadership styles, and what Tip found so frustrating, was the difference in which the two men viewed the Congress. Carter took a much more passive role, not really understanding the way that Washington worked. In contrast, Reagan would be constantly on the phone to the members of Congress, sweet-talking them into supporting his bills.

This was a very interesting read and I highly recommend it. O'Neill himself comes across as a very warm and friendly person who, in all his years in government, never forgot where he came from. His fights over various pieces of legislation down the years always came down to a simple desire to help the little guy.

Although Tip O'Neill did not represent my views on most issues, this books shows why he was generally respected as a steward of the House of Representatives. Congenial, warm and partisan, O'Neill was a master of the inside game of politics. This book describes his rise in the rough and tumble world of Bay State politics and his battles in the House that successfully elevated him to Speaker (With a little help from Dan Rostenkowski, who embarrassed Carl Albert at the 68 Dem. convention on the orders of Pres. Johnson). People liked O'Neill without always liking where he wanted to take the country. Even he and President Reagan liked and joked with each other while they were locked in mortal political battle over redirecting the United States government.

O'Neill is likeable in this book -- the book is likeable, also.

Tip O'Neill is the definitive old-time politician. A man who still stands by morals and ethics and is resistant to media and other bad things. At least, that's the way his book presents him. In truth he was a very good man who did many good things and the book is an exceptionally interesting look into those events and how he views them.

Sidney Biddle Barrows was groomed to be a people person all her life and, because of it, took the prostitution biz to the next level. She saw what was wrong with the industry and fixed it, big time. As I read through the descriptions of excellent client relations that her service, Cache, provided; I found myself wishing my name was in the little black book.

In addition to reading about an interesting illegal business (which really shouldn't be), the book also fills the reader with vivid imagery of NYC in the early and mid 1980's.

The best book on the interworkings of the flesh-trade I've ever read.

This book provided informative and entertaining values to the flesh trade market as it pertained to the New York area

This book clearly etablishes that prostituion fgr women need not be a degrading profession. As the Madam has suggested women could beenift from being prosituites. They receive a crash course in dealing with the male sex without sacificing their sense of femininity. The book is written without a hint of apology. Plus this book is brilliant in exploring reasons men use prostitutes. This book is a must for any woman who wants to understand men.

If you are looking for a sort of all-in-one overview of the sacred texts for most of the world's major religions including Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Primal Religions (myths and stories from native peoples throughout the world), "The World's Wisdom" is a unique source.

Phillip Novak does a nice job of putting each text into context. He also ends each section with "Grace Notes" which are key sayings or quotes by more contemporary adherents (the section on Christianity includes exerpts from the Gospel of Thomas, St. Francis, Meister Eckhart and Thomas Merton, among others).

Including Zoroastrianism, which was arguably the first monotheistic religion and highly influential many of those that came after it, would have made this book truly complete. Still, "The World's Wisdom" will become every bit as essential as Huston Smith's "World Religions" and is a perfect companion to it.
Highly recomended.

Author really has a good study of texts in many ancient books. These books are considered holy in many religions. The passages are from Bhagavat Geeta, Bible, Koran etc. A more information on the background of books is essentials.
The author selects the passages wisely. There is so material out there that to select a few 'sacred' text can be real difficult. The book does not explain why some texts are chosen over others though. This can be a personal preference and I think the author has done well. But sometimes its not easy to find the hidden meaning behind the scriptures. It means much more than just a plane translations. The author uses effective and easy language for translation. However since I know a little Sanskrit, I can say the translation could have been more accurate.
This book can be helpful to scholars, teachers and public speakers.

Easily the best anthology of religious writings I've seen, and I've seen quite a few. Beautiful and educational; as a teacher, I've found it very useful for religion courses. If you've any interest in religion or spirituality, this book is a must for your collection.

Wanniski first published this work in the throes of the Carter administration's stagflation malaise. For those who never experienced them, they were days of double digit inflation and unemployment, coupled with sky high interest rates. If the "Reagan revolution," undergirded by both Milton Friedman's Moneterism and Jude Wanniski's Supply Side Economics had not occured, a bloodier one may well have...the failed policies of Keynesian styled big government had failed that badly.

Though the entire book has been updated and revised over its long lifespan, Chapter 13; "Energy in Abundance" is extremely vital today. In it he describes the folly of the "doom & gloom," energy scarcity adherants - "The planet itself is a ball of energy, that rides in a sea of energy." Just how untapped are the earth's energy resources? Even today, over 80% of the oil wells ever drilled, have been drilled on the continental United States! Wanniski notes that, "Indeed, it can be argued that at present, there are more organic hydrocarbons being formed than are being consumed by the entire world population."

Wanniski does the best job of explaining why the Great Depression occured since Murray Rothbard addressed it in his work, "The Great Depression." In both his and Rothbard's view, protectionism (the Smoot-Hawley tariff among other protectionist measures) moved the world into a spiraling depression as international trade virtually dried up.

Wanniski coined the term "Supply Side Economics." A term that has been attacked but not reputed by proponents of Command Economies. Most of the world today operates under some sort of Supply Side structure. Even Russia has adopted a 13% flat tax with no Capital Gains nor "business taxes," which are actually "people taxes, as they're always passed on to the consumer.

"The Way the World Works" is a classic that puts the vagueries of economic theory into every day language and explains why individuals as entrepreneurs do a far better job of supplying the things we need than government bureaucracies do. A must read for anyone intersted in how and why both wealth and poverty are created.

Whether you agree with tax cuts and supply side economics or not, this book is a great read. Using historical example of policy changes and their effect on the economy (and society) Wanniski demonstrates that when it comes to economic policy the people in Washington have failed to learn from history.

Note: if you are one of the people who still thinks a tax cut "costs" money, please read this book!

Jude Wanniski's masterpiece will get its due in years to come. A common sense analysis of the far reaching effects of economic policy decisions. Mr. Wanniski truly understands the way the world works. His analysis and thesis are backed up with detailed historical analysis of the effects of different economic policies on the people of the world. His analysis of the Depression demonstrates his ability to think outside the box. Far from a theory to help only the rich, Mr. Wanniski's model is in fact the formula to lift all boats. Highly recommended.

Although I am not necessarily a huge fan of the gothic, haunted spooky house genre, I very much enjoyed Five Mile House and finished it in just a couple of sittings. It's an engaging page turner, and, if you don't mind the fact that it's narrated by a ghost, you'll probably like it. Five Mile House tells the story of two women, one in the present, one in the past, whose looks are not the only thing that tie them together. In the present, there is Leslie Stone, a former police officer who killed a child murderer in a fit of rage. Her husband moves their family to Wellington, a small New England town where he is to work on the renovations of Five Mile House. Five Mile House is where the other woman, Eleanor Bly apparently murdered all of her children. The ghost of Eleanor Bly "haunts" the house. Leslie, in her recovery, tries to get to the bottom of the mystery of Eleanor Bly, and in her search, discovers current mysteries of Wellington. As I said, this is an engaging pageturner, if you can handle the gothic elements in it.

This is an enthralling combination of ghost story and mystery. I really enjoyed it. Leslie's story is paralleled by the story told by Eleanor, the ghost, of what happened in Five Mile House years ago and how it affects the present. Novak is a good writer who creates interesting characters and has a chilling story to tell.

How far would you go to protect your children? Would you kill for them? That's the question that I was left with after zipping through this intelligent, well-written, spooky, thrill ride of a book. Karen Novak has sent her main character, Leslie Stone, on a hero's quest involving a search for a sacred manuscript. The biggest part of the quest is Leslie's attempt to come to terms with her who she is and what she has done. You see, Leslie Stone is a detective, and, as the book opens, she has been sent to investigate the murder of yet another child, a four-year old girl who reminds her way too much of her own four-year old daughter. Before the end of the day, the suspect in this awful crime will be dead at Leslie's hands. Her life in shambles after serving her sentence, Leslie and her family move out to the country where her husband has gotten a job restoring an old mansion. This mansion, is, of course, haunted. But this is no ordinary ghost; Five Mile House is inhabited by a spirit who is as troubled as Leslie. This spirit, a woman, supposedly killed all of her children and then killed herself. Ever the detective, Leslie wonders if the legend covers up a grisly crime, and she sets out to investigate. There is a ton of stuff to talk about in this book, but I'm afraid I've come close to revealing too much already. I would highly recommend it.