and it perfectly compliments Berger's and Smith's description of the determination needed to thru-hike the Pacific Crest Trail. I frequently find myself pulling the book from the shelf as the wonderful photography by Bart Smith provides the perfect escape from the "big city" life in Northern Virginia.

I anxiously await Bart's upcoming book, "The Appalachian Trail: Calling Me Back to the Hills" to see what he can do with the the natural beauty in the East!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book ! Bart Smith explains that he hiked the PCT intending to photograph it along the way, and soon discovered that Thru-hiking and serious photography are simply incompatible. Bart returned to the trail over a period of 6 years to capture outstanding images of the spectacular backcountry, and then asked Karen Berger to write the accompanying narrative from her own Thru-hike experience. Karen's story blends humor, science, insight, and an obvious love for the trail. I thought her level of detail was perfect, telling the story meaningfully without getting bogged down. If you enjoy mountain hiking and share my facination with the PCT you are certain to love this book.

Although the pictures are excellent and show all the different areas the trail crosses, what I really enjoyed most about this book is the story. It brilliantly mixes a description of the trail, a little history about some places it crosses, the contrast between multiple-use and protected areas, and an inside view of the thru-hiking adventure. This is not a trail guide and it is not supposed to be; it is a story that makes you feel you are actually hiking the trail, specially if you are familiar with the geography, weather and environmental problems of the area.

I got this book from the library, and after reading it, decided to buy it. This is a book you should own if you like to hike. I had never considered the idea of long distance hiking, but I'm starting to think different after reading this book.

Although the included map contains most of the places the book refers to, I would have made it a little bit more detailed representing the different mountain ranges and ecosystems the trail crosses.

This book is a great help for anyone suffering from or anyone who thinks they may be suffering from postpartum depression. Get it right away!!

I suffered from PPD/OCD 2 years ago...This is the wonderful book that helped me through a very difficult time in my life. This book is so informative from recognizing your symptoms to coping strategies to finding the right help. The list of medications and possible side effects were more helpful then any information I recieved from my own physician. The individual stories give you comfort in letting you know that you are not alone in this illness. The book makes you realize that this is a very treatable condition and the way you are feeling is temporary...It helped me jump in the shower, get dressed and put makeup on even if I was staying in all day...it make me feel better about myself....I was able to explain to my husband what I was going thru from the understanding I recieved from reading this book... I would recommend it to anyone out there...Thank you for writing this wonderful book and for understanding this condition..

I love this book! It gave me so much insight on PPD and all the different ways I could help myself and get the professional help I needed. It also helped regain my relationship with my husband! I would reccommend this book to every woman who is pregnant. It's good to know what to look for as far as symptoms go, that way you can get help sooner. I was in denial for several months thinking I would "snap out of it". This IS an illness, and can be treated!! I still have bad days, but they are fewer and farther between. On the bad days I just pick up this book and go to one of the earmarked pages on self help therapy and within a few minutes (instead of hours of crying) I'm feeling better. If you even THINK you might have PPD this is the book to read! It's also great to give to someone who is in denial...they might not appreciate it at the time, but will love you for it later! Good luck to all those women out there going through PPD right now!!!!

I got this book for my older son when he was just a few months old. He is 2 now and this is one of his all-time favorite books. It's fun to read and what child doesn't love getting kissed?? His baby brother also enjoys it when we read this book. My parents visited from out of state recently and I videotaped them reading a few books, this one included. My toddler asks me to fast forward so that he can hear his grandpa read this story and watch them on TV. We give this book often as a gift because it is such a favorite.

"My tired little baby, do you need a kiss?" A cranky, crying, sleepy little one is about to go to bed. But first she needs "ten little kisses on teeny tiny toes" and "nine laughing kisses on busy, wriggly feet" from Mommy. Daddy's ready with "eight squishy kisses on chubby, yummy knees." Grandma plants "seven loud kisses on a pretty belly button." And so on... Baby is passed from one member of the family to the next for her good night kisses, and even the dog and cat get into the act..... Karen Katz's minimal text is engaging and filled with lots of love and charming descriptive words. Her bright and playful illustrations are large and inviting, rich in bold color and eye-catching shapes and patterns. Together word and art offer gentle, fun-filled opportunities to practice counting and to identify different body parts. Perfect for preschoolers as young as one, Counting Kisses is a sweet and heartwarming little book youngsters will beg to add to their bedtime ritual. "...two gentle kisses on tired closing eyes, one last kiss on your sleepy, dreamy head, and now it's time for baby's bed."

What child (and parent) doesn't love kisses! This is a wonderful book that is fun to act out as you read it. It's one of my daughter's favorites.

My beloved cat, Bentley, died too young (10 years) of kidney disease. However, a year before he was the sickest, I spent two days reading this book - like many who love to read...curled up on the couch, fresh coffee in hand, afghan over my lap. Bentley close by. Idyllic. It's a wonderful memory. Let me tell you, the text in this book grabbed me from the beginning. I thought I knew my cat. After finishing the book, I laid it down, looked at Bentley and simply said, "Wow." I understood my precious pet in a whole new way. From his point of view. I am so glad I took the time to read every page while he was still living. It just added new dimension to an already very special part of my life that can't be replaced.

I purchased this book for my toddler, Thomas, who has a great love for kitties. I sat down and started reading and looking at all the wonderful pictures and really fell in love with this book. Karen Anderson has included all sorts of fascinating info about cats and what makes them tick. This would make a great gift for someone acquiring their first kitty or someone who has been a friend of kitties for life.

Purrfect cat coffee table book. One purrecious cat basking in the sun after another, another at play, another at hunt

...it would make a great wonderful gift with beautiful cat pictures in majestic scenic backgrounds and great useful verses on how to treat a cat and how a cat treats you."

..take it from me, my friend's cat passed away and so i gifted her with the book and she felt 1000 TIMES BETTER! she's thinking of now getting another cat!

Truth is stranger than fiction, for these stories are totally absorbing. The Day I Met God causes the reader to re-evaluate his own life. In my case, it made a profound impression upon me. I hadn't yet finished it, when I realized that it was time for me to follow the examples in this book. It's about time--I am 81 years old.

THE DAY I MET GOD is filled with inspiring and amazing stories of people who had an encounter with God....even the most unlikely of individuals. There's a story for everyone in this book. It will reach anyone and soften the hardest heart! If you have a friend who is need of God's healing power or truth, this is the book for them. These stories will lead them to God! I particularly was moved by the story of the young man was robbing a man who agreed to give him his money, but told the burglar that he needed to give his heart to the Lord. There's is no doubt in mind that this victim must have prayed for the man who robbed him, because he was later led to the Lord. The criminal was really haunted by the man's words until he gave his life to the Lord. I won't spoil the surprise of how he turned his life around! A great evangelical tool, this is a book that Christians can give to their non-Christian friends without fear of offending them. This book''s gentle stories speak loudly of everyone's need for God and also it shows how we are all individuals and how God meets us not just where we are but in such a special way that it validates how well he knows his children.

Bought the book last week and we are passing it around the house-everyone wants to read The Day I Met God, we have nearly worn it out! Theis collection of stories will touch your heart and move you as you see God's faithfulness. Get an extra copy for a friend!

I am a teacher in a 3/4 combo class of English Language Learners (native Spanish speakers). I also have 5 year old triplet girls at home. I was fortunate enough to see Matthew Gollub speaking at a teacher's convention and was really enthralled with his animated way of getting the audience in. I ended up buying three of his books. The Jazz Fly was a big hit with my own children. They loved the version I read (although I can't do it justice) and the version on the CD by Mr. Gollub. I can't wait to use this book in my classroom for my music unit!

This book includes an audio CD tucked into the front cover -- the story accompanied by music. My kids (ages 6 and 2) encountered the audio version before they saw the book, and loved it. It's got an excitement and rhythm that makes them both dance. The words are fun and easy to memorize, although the kids remain tickled that Dad can't get the scat lines straight. Za baza boo zaba . . . The book adds really fun visuals to the mix. Like the jazz-drumming fly in this book, the CD and book combo "put it all together and served it out hot."

My daughter and I had the pleasure of seeing Matthew Gollub when he visited her school about a year and a half ago. Matthew read the Jazz fly to a gymnasium full of spell bound children who sat quietly and axiously as he read the story his way. To this day, I try to re-capture his level of enthousiam when I read the story to my children. I still end up playing the CD for them, even after we have finished reading, just so they get the same enjoyment as that wonderful day at her school. I purchased this book and another he read (then autographed) the same day he visted her school. I now enjoy sharing his stories with my nieces, nephews and children of our friends.

This book isn't sweet. It isn't cute. And the font isn't easiest on the eyes. But it's full of facts and help - information I haven't found in any of the other breastfeeding books. The information is given straightforwardly (although certainly biased in favor of breastfeeding - although that's what the books' about, isn't it?), with a great deal of scientific research included. If you're in the market for a non-sentimental informationally based book, this is the one for you. The book also includes practical tips for breastfeeding - how to increase milk supply, use a pump, etc. - all found in other books, but without the sentimental goop that's often found in other books. I would have rated this book higher, but the size of the book (small paperback) and the font doesn't make for the best reading experience.

I first read Karen Pryor's book while I was expecting my first child. There were very few books on nursing at that time. There weren't too many of us nursing mothers, either. This book was wonderful - full of info, but also inspirational. I gave it to other moms-to-be who were looking for support to breastfeed back then. Recently, when my daughter became pregnant with her first child, I came to Amazon just to see if was still available, more of a nostalgia trip. Not only did I find it, but I found that Karen's baby, like mine, had grown up and updated the book with precisely the info my daughter would be seeking about breastfeeding and working. Needless to say, I ordered it, re-read it to make sure that it was as wonderful as I had thought it, and gave it to my daughter. Her reaction in 1999 is the same as mine was 33 years ago. Thank you, Karen and Gayle!

... It was read prior to my daughter's birth and constantly referred to while I nursed her.I was no longer unsure of myself due to lack of information and I recommended it to girls who were first time Moms in the hospital when I had my fourth child. My daughter had a baby three years ago with some medical problems and I met Moms and their Moms that were terribly grateful for a reference book so their baby could continue to be nursed and not believe the short interruption would ruin their desire for the baby to be a nursed baby. My daughter needed to relactate and the hospital gave them the machines to make it possible, knowing ,especially babies who have had a rough start need to be nursed even more for their health if the parent is willing to follow the instructions and there is a lot of support for mothers to nurse, knowing what we do today about breastfeeding. For "To Be" Mothers this is a wonderful gift for them to understand and decide if they are going to breastfeed, and to stand up to the bullies who usually have weird reasons why they oppose breast feeding. Instead of being intimidated, you will wonder which category they come from, and you will be a much stronger , confident mother. Mrs Symmington

I don't understand how anyone could intelligently win a matchpoint game without understanding the LAW. This isn't just a way of improving your competitive bidding; the LAW is the whole theory underlying this area of bridge.

The author's presentation of the concepts is illustrated with numerous examples and exercises to allow the reader to quickly absorb the ideas. My advice to my partners: know this book inside out. My request of my opponents: pay no attention!

If your bridge library were extremely small, one MUST item would be The Law of Total Tricks. It's a gem, one that will change the way you think at bridge and one that will help you make those tough part-score and higher competitive decisions which are ordinarily such "guess work". This book will help you evaluate your bidding options with much greater assurance and accuracy.

This is an essential book for any serious player. The only concern is that the intermediate player may come to believe that this is a substitute for judgement. Still this should improve the competitive bidding decisions for any player who is somehow not familiar with "The Law".

Those interested in a somewhat different valuation style should look into losing trick count originally popularized in Britain which has been around for some time.

This is a great book i dont like to read books and i love this one the author does a great job wrighting this book and does a great job keeping you hoked. This is the first book i have read in a long time my dad asked if it was good because he hasent seen me ever not put a book down i love this author and i am looking for more books by her. This book is about a young 15 year old girl who wants her dads old puple vw bug that he has put in the there ice house she works on it all summer and gets it up to shape to drive the one day her and her friend billy are driving it and and the find oil all over the ground she finds out later that there is a split in the crank case and it will have to be replaced so for christmas her parents and her buy a new one so now the beetle is all fine. Her friend Billy has graduated and doesnt have a car to drive and is in love with Daisy and wants to marry her but she doesnt know if she feels the same way and as a present the him she gives him the beetle on loan till she is 16 and can drive it, this is how the book ends and i am kinda wanting there to be another book after this one but thats just me.
sincerly Charity Summerlin

this was a great book, this is the first book i have read in a long time my dad asked if it was good and i said yes and he said it must be becuase i never read and i never put this one down. I found this book after asking the librarian what some good books are and he handed me this book i thought it was going to be dumb but it wasnt. This book is about a 15 year old girl who is becoming a freshmen and doesnt have a car everyone in her family are mechanics and she wants to rebuild her dads old puple VW bug and he doesnt think it is a great idea because it had been sitting in their ice house for so long but he gave in and let her take it out and work on it she spent her whole summer working on this car but then when the school year starts she and her friend billy take it out for a spin and something happens and there is oil everywhere and she doesnt know whats wrong and she doesnt want anyhelp from anyone so she finaly lets Billy look at it and he finds out that their is a crack in her crankcase and she will have to get a new one so for christmas her parents buy her a new one and the car is fine and runs so on christmas eve after church Billy comes over and she gives him the bug on loan till she turns 16 because when Billy was little his dad left them and doesnt send money so he cant go to college and works at his moms garden shop for christmas to sell trees. This was a great book and i would like to read more of her books...

Karen Romano Young's novel about 15-year-old Daisy Pandolfi will have you smiling, thinking, wondering, and -- on the last page -- crying. It's about a girl's love for her parents' old VW Beetle, but it's also about life. (I never thought I'd care this much about a book about cars, but then again, I didn't expect to love "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," but it was one of the best books I read in college!) "The Beetle and Me" should be given away by VW dealerships to everyone who test-drives a new Beetle. They'd buy one for sure! Read this book. You'll remember it always.

The focus of this book is not on memory techniques such as the LOCI method and while it does mention them and explain them briefly it does not give a lot of detail about them.
Instead it focuses on memory problems as a normal part of aging, medications and diet. Through out the book it mentions Alzheimers and similar concerns and repeatedly speaks about not being concerned about particular memory lapses as you grow older.
It does have thorough coverage of memory myths and how some of these myths create or contribute memory problems as well as the best coverage of diet, medicine, supplements and similar factors of any of the memory books that I have read.
This is a workbook with many excercises to prove their points as well as show how various techniques work and how storing and retrieving memories works in the mind.
If I were asked who I would recommend this book to then it would have to be people in one of two groups. First would be anyone who is aging and thinks that they are having memory lapses more often and are concerned about them. Second would be those who want to know what drugs, nutritional supplements and dietary factors may increase or harm their mental capacities.

This book is a great self help tool not only in the area of memory - but in using the power of positive thinking.

Right from the start the exercises give you power to enhance your memory by teaching techniques to pay attention, to associate and to accept your own abilities.

For anyone who has a tendancy to forget, you can learn your strengths, boost your weaknesses and even smile at them. If you fear Aging, Alzheimers, Dimentia or Senility - there is an explanation that is understandable. Medication, Depression and other factors that can alter one's memory are also described.

I would recommend this book to anyone who suffers from or knows someone else who has concerns regarding his or her memory.

I'm writing this review because I really liked a lot of aspects of the book. I recommended it to my friends, so I figured I'll recommend it to internet users as well. I've read some other books on memory improvement, but I think this book was more engaging. It includes most of the principles found in the other memory books I've read, but this book seemed to make it more cohesive. I think the other aspect I enjoyed was the emphasis on personal attitudes. It honestly left me with a new perspective on growing old. Also I felt the book spoke well to some of the sometimes-negative feelings I've had about growing old (to be honest I was surprised by just how many negative perceptions I had that this book revealed to me - and corrected, so to speak). Actually, the more I think about it, the more I can say I really liked the book and do highly recommend it. Enjoy