All For Animals: Tips And Inspiration For Living A More Compassionate Life by Karen Lee Stevens (founder of All For Animals, a pro-animal organization based in Santa Barbara, California) is a straightforward, detailed, "pet owner friendly" guide to living a life kind to animals. Stevens' informed advice ranges from purchasing household products and cosmetics that have not been animal tested, to spaying and neutering to curb pet overpopulation, to making healthier food choices. All For Animals is a must-read guide and reference for every animal lover, and a very useful consumer information resource for the shopper who wants to know which brand-name companies have a cruelty-free track record.

This book truly has a "sleeper" effect. It comes off as unassuming and just generally pleasant, and when I finished reading it I sort of shrugged and thought, "Well, what a nice little book."

Ha! The truth is, this book is quietly but steadily reshaping my life. I guard against being strident towards others and generally despise "confrontation," but All for Animals has helped me learn that in the past I've been completely silent where this wasn't necessary. This book has suggested to me a peaceable yet strong way to express myself to others in the context of hurt toward animals. I suspect this is because it has given me a whole new way to talk to myself on the subject.

For instance: this week at work I found myself getting up and walking around my cubicle and engaging myself in a conversation with a fellow who was talking about killing chickens for research and tossing off casual remarks like "Well, if you have to kill an animal, why not a chicken?"

We had a spirited yet amicable discussion. In the end, the fact that I've been a mostly a vegetarian since I was a teenager wasn't sufficient ammunition against the fact I was wearing leather shoes. But because the discussion was kept at a friendly level, what I took away from it wasn't animosity against this other person, but self-examination about those leather shoes. Had I not read this "nice little book," I know I would have overheard my coworker and thought, momentarily, "Gosh, that's not right," but brushed it off and not got up and talked with him. And was I beating myself over the head about wearing leather? No, not at all: I was just calmly (but steadily) wondering about it.

Karen Lee Stevens has something special to offer in a world that stampedes to become polarized and politicized around animals as an "issue." The deep beauty of this book is its ability to reach out to the human species with warmth and subtle depth and say: I understand that you can't do everything all at once, just try this one little thing and see if you like it. I am eager to see Ms. Stevens continue and expand upon the gifts she has to offer, and I challenge savvy booksellers to place this title not just among the animal-related offerings but in the (human)self-improvement category as well.

Wondering how you can help animals? The new book "All for Animals: Tips and Inspiration for Living a More Compassionate Life" by Karen Lee Stevens helps answer that question. This book is full of simple, easy ways to adopt a cruelty-free lifestyle. For example, buy household and personal care products that haven't been tested on animals, have a meat-free meal, attend an animal-free circus, voice your opinions against dissection of animals in the classroom and show your support for animal protection legislation."All for Animals" includes interesting animal rescue stories written by people who share what they learned from these encounters and the profound emotional rewards they received. In all these instances, the animals were saved from lonely, painful lives and introduced into environments where they were loved and well cared for. "All for Animals" also includes a reading list for those interested in learning more about animal issues, a list of on-line resources, and a list of companies that don't test their products on animals. "All for Animals" isn't preachy, overly sentimental, or graphic to shock you to into living a more humane, compassionate life. It simply offers information on how to be more animal-friendly in ways that makes sense. You'll learn to love and appreciate your companion animals more deeply as well as respect the rights of all animals to a peaceful existence.

I picked up this book at my library on a lark. I've always been interested in what really happened to Amelia Earhart, but always just assumed that her plane crashed into the ocean. This book, however, completely opened my eyes to a new hypothosis: that Amelia and her navigator managed to land on an island and send out radio signals for help. The information presented in this book isn't just wild guesses and conspiracy theories - the authors make a point of backing up their thoughts with cold, hard evidence. I was hooked from the first page and got so engrossed that I ended up not doing my work at my job just so that I could finish a few more chapters. The book also has a wicked sense of humor and debunks the myth that scientists are just stodgy old guys. I'd reccomend this book to anyone with even an ounce of curosity. I'm holding my breath until Dr. Tom King and the other authors put out another book on Amelia. I can't wait to see what they find!

I had the opportunity to meet the primary author of this book (Tom King) recently and was impressed with his fact-based approach to the Earhart mystery. This book describes the search for artifacts from Earhart's last flight. The book presents evidence, analyzes its value and develops a hypothesis concerning the events of July, 1937. The author is primarily a archeologist, and while no "[fool]-proof" evidence is presented, what is known is presented and explained in scientific, but easy to read prose. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. My only nits with it are the reproductions of many of the photographs are poor, however, they can all be found at the TIGHAR web site.

A visual treat for armchair travelers, this book takes you on the exciting and sometimes frustrating search for the answer to the Amelia Earhart question. Thoroughly researched and well edited, the story does not slow down for the facts. Highly recommeded.

This book was the best book I have ever read!! I couldn't put it down. Besides the fact that I could completely identify with the character, she does everything I'm scared to do in life. It is a must read!!!

hope this book does "The Nanny Diaries" thing in terms of sales...but I'm always worried when a book I discover from a new author has too much success -- I kind of like to keep the author "mine" for awhile.

Karen Brichoux has a light touch in her first work of fiction, and her sense of humor is outstanding. But neither can hide the extraordinary uniqueness of her voice, and the way she can turn a phrase. She makes pictures with her words, makes thoughts come alive. She's a talent that I hope will not get caught up in a wave of "single girl fiction", and will turn her literary sights on different points of view, different settings, so that others can explore her way with words.

Brichoux's got a single girl story, this one set in Boston, but Nicci, her heroine, is there in body alone. In mind she is flight, touching down on childhood, on life in the Phillipines, on Hong Kong, on loneliness. She defines herself as a "fringe person", but the depth of her is shown in the way others draw to her. She has a triangle in the book, and is forthright and knowing of the difference between who she makes love to and who she loves.

Her relationship with her grandfather is crisp and genuine, and his personification of "shoes" with people is a generational version of her own "kung fu movies" with people's reaction to them. I thought for awhile I might be one of the few women to understand the difference between the meaning of Jackie Chan movies made in the Far East, in Chinese, and the slapdash kung fu movies he does for American audiences. Not so...and if you read "Coffee and Kung Fu", you will find it out for yourself.

Brichoux's dialogue is believable, and scattered throughout the first person narrative in just the right amounts, and some of her literary comparisons will stay with you a long time, whether humorous:

"Maybe it's because November drew Thanksgiving in the holiday lottery.....November got ripped off. What kind of holiday is it when you're supposed to celebrate genocide by stuffing yourself??"

or poetic:

"She's had the moment. A moment isn't a piece of time, it's a question. A realization. A trauma. The moment comes when you look up and see your life stretching out for seventy more years....Is this life good enough for the next seventy years?"

Brichoux - she's a keeper! Read it, enjoy!!!

This is one of the most smartly-written books I've come across. It's a great first novel, and I'm already watching out for her next book.

I was impressed by Brichoux's humor and wit, as well as the insightful details she brings to her characters.

Karen Kingsbury is one of my favorite author. I've read every one of her books! I recommend everybody to read her books!

I read this book in two days... I just could not stop! It was awesome. Ms. Kingsbury really has a gift from God on writing this. I can not wait to read more of her books.
I could relate in a way to this book... my cousin was killed by a guy falling asleep at the wheel. He walked away and she died. Then he got a few hundred dollar fine, a month or so in jail and that was it. It just wasn't fair for what all my whole family had to go through because of that. I just pray more people pass this book on and read it...

This book was awesome. Karen Kingsbury is the best Christian Author I have read in a long time!!!

I bought this book about a month ago and followed everything the book said.It will take awhile but I believe I will be prepared for Y2K.I took all of my husbands money to buy a power generator.I have been burying food in the backyard.I bought 30 sf freezer and have filled it with Bird Pies.I plan on going out and buying 6 months supply of drinking water next week.I know we are facing armaggedon but with the help of this great book,I think we will be one of the few survivors.

Whether or not the Y2K Millenium Bug turns out to be a frightening fact or fabulous fizzle, emergency preparedness is a topic that everyone should investigate -- especially families with children at home. You never know when sudden financial down turns could make food purchasing difficult, or a severe winter storm could keep your family confined to home for an extended period of time, or even an earthquake could cause the need for emergency essentials on hand. While I'm not sure what I personally feel about the outcome of the Y2K computer problem, I do see the common sense idea of family preparedness to be a good approach for anyone to seriously consider. Having a well-stocked rotating pantry that's replenished from items purchased in bulk and on sale is also a great way to save money on your family's regular expenses (Y2K or not!). I appreciated the author's detailed list of suggestions for items to store ahead (whether you're planning a storage system to last for one week, six months, or a full year+).

Thank you, thank you for a "woman's perspective on Y2K. It was such an encouragement to learn that there are lots of other women who are frustrated by their husband's cavalier attitude at what could be a significant problem. Fortunately, my husband has started reading it and says that "maybe she has a point . . ." He really is taking it serious now since "60 Minutes" said it could be bad. The recent segment they ran solidified what Karen and other Y2K writers have been saying about this impending crisis.

Thank you for a well-written and helpful resource.

Fabulous message and important concepts. My main complaint is that the message was 'restricted' in how it is applied. The issues raised and the corresponding solutions are applicable to all aspects of designing human interactions with business...and not just considering customers (who are often engaged in roles for which the term 'user' is inappropriate... a term I abhor because of its lack of 'universality').

To follow the model given in the introduction, by considering the strategic implications of the customer and the business anyone could easily come up with solutions that fly in the face of the abilities and values of the employees as human beings. All stakeholder factors have to be put in balance with those of the business.

In addition, the concepts apply outside the typical business model and/or products. A good example is home design (not decor) which typically doesn't consider many 'functions' that occur within its walls other than sleeping, washing, bathing, and eating. Many of the concepts presented here can/should be applied in other problem/solution settings. I contend that every business project that involves some human interaction is subject to these principles.

The models/recommendations within this book, with a few tweaks, can and should be applied to designing human interaction in many yet-untapped areas/markets (leaving tremendous business potential lying all around). The recommendations given specifically as to better 'online' design can and should be applied to all points of interaction a business has with all stakeholders.

I highly recommend this book with the caveat that you take its potential application beyond the dimensions within which it is presented. The word 'customer' can often be replaced with 'stakeholder'. When encountering the term 'user experience' drop the term 'user' and focus on the 'experience' (since most individuals measure the value of their experience with a business based on all points of interaction, not just online).

Built for Use, by user experience strategist Karen Donoghue, is a compendium of knowledge that anyone hoping to build a truly usable user interface should possess. Donoghue draws on her many years of experience as an industry consultant to present analyses of how websites and other human-machine interfaces succeed and fail. She also channels her extensive contacts in industry and academia to present sage advice and best practices for achieving usability. With a post-bubble eye sharply focused on the bottom line, Donoghue emphasizes that experiences users love don't necessarily coincide with the experiences they will pay for, and that revenue must be the ultimate driver of design choices.

Reading Built for Use, it's hard not to picture oneself as one of Donoghue's clients, and the book as the voice of Donoghue. The book has the pragmatic tone of a consultant who is aware of the fact that your time (and hers) is valuable. She emphasizes the points that need emphasizing, and doesn't spend a lot of time considering ultimately rejected alternatives. You hire Ms. Donoghue, or read her book, because you need to know how to create the best -- and most profitable -- user interfaces right now, and you can't afford to make costly mistakes. From her war stories and references, it's pretty clear that she knows how, and she won't beat around the bush very much before telling you.

One also gets the impression that Donoghue's clients span a broad range of knowledge and experience. In Part I, I counted, I believe, five different occurrences of a variant of "Don't put a tripwire at the checkout counter!" -- in other words, don't put an obstacle in front of a customer who's already been convinced to buy something, has taken out their credit card, and is trying to complete a transaction. "Don't make your first page impossible to get through!" is another oft-repeated dictum. Evidently more than a few of Donoghue's clients insisted on making those mistakes. On the other hand, her detailed accounts of best-practice project planning for usability will be of interest to seasoned veterans of successful projects. Along with her pragmatic tone, Donoghue endeavors to formulate general principles and practices that underlie the best, most-usable interfaces. It was revealing to me to read about the meticulous and principled planning behind one of my personal favorites, the Fidelity Brokerage website, that distinguishes it from similar, but less usable competitors.

Donoghue takes a more speculative point of view in Part III, which discusses future developments. There, she expresses confidence that we will soon be designing for systems that cross the "wet-dry interface" - in other words, parts of the system will be composed of traditional electronic circuits, and other parts will consist of biological components such as neurons in a human body.

Donoghue's clients, and the readers of this book, are a demanding audience. They need to know in practical terms what to do right now to compete in a confusing, rapidly developing arena. They also need an awareness of a future where user experiences that today sound like science fiction will be commonplace. Fortunately Donoghue, with her combination of down-to-earth advice and insight into the fundamental principles that will influence future trends, meets both requirements.

This is the book to read and pass along to Marketing, R&D, Sales, etc. It will help you know the words to say to justify spending time and money on user experience research and design. I read it before starting a new job in Human Factors and passed it up the management chain to widen the perception of what it's all about. It gives you and "them" a common language.

In "Don't Gift Wrap the Garbage", Karen Stroup gives us daily reminders of what is important and what is not. So buy the book. Read It Slowly. Let the thoughts ignite some memories and fuel some fantaties for the future. Deal with the challenges the thoughts offer. Then learn how to live with the memories and challenges in creative and challenging way. How we begin the day sets the tone for the day. These meditations set the tone for the day. They are readly friendly, emotionally engaging, and theologically insightful.

I believe this book will remind readers that God is with us in all our activities regardless if they are routine or special events. The author presents us with a reminder each day that all the things we do and the people we touch are part of Gods plan. She adds humor with an insight that will help readers see God more clearly in their daily lives and this too will lift the spirit.

We received this book for Christmas as a gift from our daughter. Karen Stroup is an ordained minister that has written a delightful journal of daily reflections that makes the daily walk with God a delight. This easy to read book of reflections often bring a chuckle or grimace to your daily life challenges of grocery shopping,boring meetings and laundry. Karen tries to see a Christ reflection in all the daily challenges of a woman to lead meaningful life in this somewhat chaotic world. Karen writes with insight, humor and truth. Karen's book would be a wonderful gift for friend or family to be enjoyed every day of the year.

Paula Martin and Karen Tate have created an excellent guide for those transitioning to the role of project manager. This book is well organized, well written, and presents the complicated topics of project management in a straightforward and easy to understand fashion. The CORE Project Methodology (CORE PM) presented in the text differs from most mainstream methodologies in its simplicity, yet it provides all of the key functionality needed to manage the project life cycle.

The authors emphasize four of the five PMI project process (initiation, planning, execution, and closure), and embed the fifth (control) as a thread running throughout the other four. As most project managers would agree, planning is the key process in a successful project, and this is where the authors have focused their attention. Their treatment of the planning process, from identifying scope through building the project schedule, is presented in a step by step manner which is quite easy to understand and follow.

The text presents several tools and techniques that the new project manager can employ to involve the project team in the planning process. These tools and techniques will help develop a sense of ownership in the project by the team.

All in all, this book is an excellent introduction to all aspects of project management, and provides some simple, yet effective, tools and techniques for managing the project life cycle.

Whether you are a project manager, someone who manages project managers or the poor soul picked to "manage" that career-killing, out of control project, this book is for you.

Breaking down the practice of project management into easy to learn steps, Martin and Tate take you through the basics of project management.

Using the principles defined by the Project Management Institute (PMI) and the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) Martin and Tate take you through each step, from assembling your team and assigning roles through to completion (and celebration!).

If you are uneasy about managing projects or simply don't know what is entailed, this book will put you at ease. Once you understand the basic principles of managing a project (any project!) and lay out the steps defined, it is easy to bring your projects under control.

Whether you take the Martin-Tate class on Project Management or not, this book belongs in your library. As with any good reference book, you'll find yourself referring back to it over time.

If I had to recommend just one book for the novice project manager, this would be the book. Nicely designed, easy to read and well organized. This book has a practical orientation so it will not be satisfying to the academically inclined but if you are starting your first project and are looking for help then GET THIS BOOK AND READ IT.

This is a very nice book and doll package containing 'a sweet-talking man-doll and 64-page owner's manual with helpful tips on use and care.' Author Karen Salmansohn is superb. In part of West Africa, people have carved statuettes of their "spirit spouses" -- here is a good contemporary American version. Highly recommended.

Karen Salmansohn is the best -- I love her books !! What a great combination of humor (comic relief) and penetrating insight into contemporary life. This one is for those times when you'd rather laugh than cry. And don't miss her new one about doing absolutely nothing as a way of changing -- improving your life. She just keeps hitting the target in the right creative key in her wonderful series of books.

I got one for Christmas and am going to buy one for every girlfriend I have. The doll is great, but the user manual is even better. We were laughing so hard we cried.

This biography of Rosa Parks presents a very well balanced, fair description of its subject. Regrettably, as with Martin Luther King Jr., social activists and historians have all too often exalted the heroes of the Civil Rights movement beyond the bounds of human existence. This deification is both degrading and unfair, as it not only deprives our heroes of the right to live - and die - as normal human beings, but it also places many of them out of reach - discouraging many to whom them would otherwise serve as excellent role models.

In refreshing contrast to that destructive tendency, this book does an excellent job of peeling back the aura around Rosa Parks and depicting her as the simple, virtuous woman that she is. Brinkley's depiction of her is refreshingly human and honest, and he does a magnificent job of describing her in the simple, straightforward way that so characterizes her.

Also worthy of note is Brinkley's willingness to include so many of Rosa Park's circle of acquaintances in his narrative. From her hard-drinking yet loyal husband to people who have met her only briefly, he touches on their influences on her life, their reaction to her, and what they all mean within the greater scope of her place in our history and society.

Regrettably, whites - with a few notable exceptions - are seen as oppressive, racist boors with a permanent vendetta. Even at that time, that was not true.

Overall, this book is an excellent, enjoyable, and enlightening read - and one that does refreshing justice to the woman and warrior that Rosa Parks is.