Those Mighty Canyons. Some of the most beautiful photography you will ever see anywhere hits your eye with a soft and magnificent touch in "Canyons of the Southwest" by John Annerino. The book covers some of the most rugged terrain on the face of the earth: the combined American Southwest and the Mexican Northwest. The photographs show a real grasp of what the camera can do under the hands of a skilled photographer with these mighty places on the North American continent. The book is approximately half text and half pictures. A telling blend, showing not only how these massive canyons were formed, but also gives an interesting treatise on the plant and animal life of the region. "Canyons of the Southwest" is a memorable record of one of the world's most spectacular regions. It is cited as a tale of living history and well it should be. -Neshoba Democrat

Everyone knows about the Grand Canyon, but what many of us don't know is that the Southwest is laced with canyons less traveled but no less spectacular. Lucky for us, Annerino spills a few secrets in this book, describing in words and fine photographs such places...an encticement to visit or revisit, in person, this stunning terrain. -Outside Magazine

John Annerino's pictorial celebration of the canyons of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico is a handsome momento for those who have heard the wind whistling in these haunting canyons, and a beckoning invitation for those who have not yet made the journey. Annerino has spent much of his adult life exploring this territory -- as a wilderness runner, adventurer, and photojournalist -- and here combines his firsthand knowledge with his expertise as a nature photographer and author to create an intimate portrait of some of the most dramatic landscapes in the world. Scores of stunning full-color photographs make plain the basis for the region's appeal. From the centuries-old Anasazi ruins to the breathtaking buttes of Monument Valley, from the Narrows of Zion National Park to the barrancas (canyons) of the frontier of Mexico, CANYONS OF THE SOUTHWEST is a memorable record of one of the earth's most spectacular bioregions.

This was the first marriage book I was able to read without becoming angry about all the things my husband WASN'T doing. Instead, for the first time ever, I suddenly saw the things I WAS doing to push my husband away from me, to crush his spirit. God truly used this book to show me His amazing and perfect plan and order for marriage, and my life hasn't been the same since. And when I changed, made the decision to honor my husband, he became everything I had hoped for without even trying or realizing. We are best friends now, not antagonists to one another. I never dreamed marriage could be as wonderful as mine is right now.

O.K. Guys,

If you're married, you've probably discovered by now that there is no "happily ever after." Right? This marriage thing is hard work. And for some it might've turned into misery. Or maybe you've parted company.

But there was a reason you "fell in love" with the woman you married in the first place. Right? Well, in this book you hear from one of us guys. Someone who readily admits to making many mistakes. And he's figured out something really important: love isn't a feeling, it's a decision.

I didn't want to read another marriage manual. I had read so many over the past 30 years, and most of them didn't do any good. Sure, I'd heard of Gary Smalley, but I just figured his book would be like the rest. But then another guy recommended it to me. (It didn't matter that my wife had wanted me to read it, I wasn't about to listen to her!)

So, anyway, after reading a few chapters alone, and having my wife read those chapters alone, we started talking about the book. It wasn't easy. But Smalley made sense. We also tried discussing the book with some other couples, which was enlightening, but the group sort of fizzled out. So, my wife and I decided to try reading it ALOUD together. Fortunately, my wife did most of the reading.

Anyway, what I can tell you, is that after reading and discussing this book together, our marriage is doing better than it has in years. We have found some common language to share. We've learned to be more sensitive (ooops, there's that unmacho word) to each other. We've learned to discuss our differences more civilly.

Hey, you'll learn about the incredible worth of a woman. Did you know that she came with a built-in marriage manual? And then there's the thing about how to energize your mate in sixty seconds. Listen, she learns how to energize you at the same time you learn how to energize her. This door swings both ways!

Then there's a chapter about keeping courtship alive in your marriage. Admit it. Courting your wife was fun! It could be fun again. Really!

If that doesn't get your attention, you might zero in on the chapter about sex. He calls it "Sex is much more than sexual intimacy." If you're like me, you'll probably admit that you got your priorities out of whack on that one. Smalley helps put it back in perspective. He even quotes some pretty exciting verses out of the Bible. That's the truth!

So, anyway. There's some good stuff in here. Gary Smalley also knows how to tell stories. And he's got a great sense of humor. And quite often he's laughing at himself. Kind of refreshing isn't it?

So whether your marriage is good, bad or just about over, there's hope to be found in these pages. You don't have to share what you read with your woman, but in my case, I'm glad I did. We're actually looking forward to spending the rest of our lives together...again.

In closing, let me add: If your marriage is tearing you apart, you may want to check out an organization called Retrouvaille (that's French for "rediscovery")...

I've been to a couple of Gary Smalley's seminars and have read most of his books. Some can be redundant but this was has a lot of love and wisdom that just gushes forth. Definitely worth reading and re-reading. I'd recommend just about any relationship book from Gary Smalley, Michael Webb and John Trent -- my three favorite Christian authors.

Sometimes Christians (like me) begin adding things onto the gospel message. We believe that God can work only if He follows our guide lines. That souls can be saved only by following our steps to salvation. We tack these rules we make up onto other areas of the Christian life as well. In "12 Steps for the Recovering Pharisee (like me)", John Fischer offers both help and hope for those of us inclined to behave in the same fashion as the Pharisees in Jesus' day. This is a MUST read book! It has made a tremendous impact and difference in my life!

In a day when many Christians are so concerned with the moral state of the world around them, John Fischer provides us a wakeup call: the problem isn't others, it is each of us. He speaks about the dangers of spiritual pride, when we hold others (as well as ourselves) to impossible spiritual and moral standards--and when we condemn those who fail to measure up. The examples Fischer uses range from in-depth examination of biblical stories to the sometimes painful reality of his personal experiences. For this book is, in the end, not about something about which he wishes to convict us; rather, it is about something the Lord has been busy dealing with in the life of John Fischer. As I read, I also saw myself here--recognizing how far I, as a "recovering Pharisee," have come in certain areas, and being humbled to see how little progress I have made in many others. This is a necessary book for today, much in the same urgent vein as Dietrich Bonhoeffer's THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP. It breaks apart our carefully constructed spiritual masks and opens us to the truth about ourselves. And that truth--which is indeed God's perspective on our lives--will set us free. . . .

If you are serious about making a postive impact for Jesus in the world today, "12 Steps for the Recovering Pharisee (like me) must be read. This book is not about the latest in vogue idea to reach the church. It is a call to become what I believe Jesus asks us to be if we call ourselves Christians. That is, real, without the pretence of behavior that we think others or even God expects of us. If we all could as John Fischer shares in this book 'learn to see ourselves through other peoples eyes to see ourselves as we really are.' we could then truly impact the world with the reality of Jesus. Thanks John for causing me to look at myself to see what I am really telling the world about Jesus.

Hope Clearwater sits on Brazzaville Beach, contemplates her past, and narrates the events of this novel. One strain of the story concerns her failed marriage to a mathematician whose unquenched thirst for revolutionary discoveries and their attendant fame drove him to madness. The second strain concerns the animal research that Hope had fled to Africa to participate in. Grosso Arvore Research Center is run by the renowned chimpanzee expert Eugene Mallabar, who was just putting the finishing touches on his master work, describing the peaceful ways of our close animal relatives, when Hope's own observations seemed to indicate that all was not quite as idyllic as had previously been supposed among these primates. But the evidence of aggression that she finds between two competing colonies of chimps threatens the carefully constructed image that Mallabar has built up over the years, and, most importantly, threatens to make the animals less attractive to charitable organizations which fund the project. Meanwhile, thrumming in the background is a guerilla war which threatens to swamp this African nation at any moment.

William Boyd takes these various threads and weaves them together, along with a variety of brief comments on scientific and mathematical ideas and issues, into an exciting and intellectually compelling novel. With its Edenic setting and themes of Man's search for knowledge--and the madness the search can bring--the book taps into our primordial myths and some of the core questions of our existence. If it sometimes seems to be almost too consciously striving to be a serious novel of ideas, that ambition is justified, if not always realized, and the philosophical failures are more than offset by the good old-fashioned African adventure story that unfolds simultaneously.

The shelves fairly groan beneath the weight of books warning that when a little of the veneer of civilization gets stripped away in the jungle, Man must face the fact that he has a dark heart. And there are elements of that here, particularly in the way that Mallabar treats Hope and her discovery, but Boyd has much more to say besides just this. Perhaps the most exciting message of the book lies in the contrarian stance it takes to the modern age's tendency to romanticize Nature. It is always well to recall Thomas Hobbes's famous description of Nature as "red in tooth and claw." The reader of this book will not soon forget it.

GRADE : A

I adored this book from start to finish. Hope Clearwater is in worn-torn Africa observing chimpanzee behavior when she notices a startling trend that conflicts with everything her boss and mentor believes. Her integrity - and perhaps much more - is threatened when everyone at the camp seems to turn against her. Interwoven with flashbacks to her previous life in England with her bizarre but brilliant mathematician husband and the story of her Egyptian mercenary lover who flies a Mig for one side of the civil war, the story draws powerful parallels between the two primate societies, human and chimp.

How can a novel that discusses the difference between turbulence and topology in mathematics be a page turner? You'll have to read this book to believe it. Other than the name of Hope Clearwater - a bit too much in this otherwise subtle tale - Boyd writes deftly and passionately, sometimes with horrifying precision as he describes what is happening among the chimps.

This suspenseful and intelligent novel deserves a wide readership. I only wish I had learned of it sooner!

Hope Clearwater sits on Brazzaville Beach, contemplates her past, and narrates the events of this novel. One strain of the story concerns her failed marriage to a mathematician whose unquenched thirst for revolutionary discoveries and their attendant fame drove him to madness. The second strain concerns the animal research that Hope had fled to Africa to participate in. Grosso Arvore Research Center is run by the renowned chimpanzee expert Eugene Mallabar, who was just putting the finishing touches on his master work, describing the peaceful ways of our close animal relatives, when Hope's own observations seemed to indicate that all was not quite as idyllic as had previously been supposed among these primates. But the evidence of aggression that she finds between two competing colonies of chimps threatens the carefully constructed image that Mallabar has built up over the years, and, most importantly, threatens to make the animals less attractive to charitable organizations which fund the project. Meanwhile, thrumming in the background is a guerilla war which threatens to swamp this African nation at any moment.

William Boyd takes these various threads and weaves them together, along with a variety of brief comments on scientific and mathematical ideas and issues, into an exciting and intellectually compelling novel. With its Edenic setting and themes of Man's search for knowledge--and the madness the search can bring--the book taps into our primordial myths and some of the core questions of our existence. If it sometimes seems to be almost too consciously striving to be a serious novel of ideas, that ambition is justified, if not always realized, and the philosophical failures are more than offset by the good old-fashioned African adventure story that unfolds simultaneously.

The shelves fairly groan beneath the weight of books warning that when a little of the veneer of civilization gets stripped away in the jungle, Man must face the fact that he has a dark heart. And there are elements of that here, particularly in the way that Mallabar treats Hope and her discovery, but Boyd has much more to say besides just this. Perhaps the most exciting message of the book lies in the contrarian stance it takes to the modern age's tendency to romanticize Nature. It is always well to recall Thomas Hobbes's famous description of Nature as "red in tooth and claw." The reader of this book will not soon forget it.

GRADE : A

This is a book is a book I will never forget. In fact, it is still something I think about everynight. How Marsden puts this young girls feelings and thoughts and all that good stuff into a book I would never be able to do. I have read it at least 3 times and I still can't put it down, even though I know every little thing that happens. The haunting ending to the story broke my heart. So anyone interested in this book, get it. I highly suggest it.

Chekers tells the story of a wealthy Australian teenage girl. Although her personality and story and well-defined, her name is never given. Told through memories and flashbacks, the story illustrates the girl's plummet from the utmost joy, like getting a puppy checkers and living in a lush home, to her arrival in the phsyc ward that she is currently living in. Told as any true aussie teen would, the story is in fact realistic and chilling. John Marsden carefully reveals that even a wealthy business family can be torn apart by corruption.

Told in first-person flashbacks and set in the mental hospital where the nameless protagonist recovers from a nervous breakdown, this story's message is: "The higher you climb, the harder you fall." Wealth and privilege cannot save your family from scandal, our protagonist learns, especially when your father is involved in dishonest business practices a la Enron.

The only honest relationship the girl has is with her mongrel dog, Checkers. She seeks comfort in his company as the media circles like vultures around her house, looking for a way to connect the girl's father to the stock market scandal that's brewing. She would never have thought that the connection they were looking for was sleeping on the rug in front of her fire.

I really liked this novel, and would have loved it if it wasn't about the fortieth book I've read that's set in a mental hospital. Mental hospitals have become way too clichéd in young adult literature. Other than that, though, it was a terrific story.

If you are looking for a book to give you general knowledge on better known trout fishing streams in Pennsylvania, then this book will meet your needs. Unfortunately, the author does not do a good job of covering remote streams in many parts of the state that are excellent producing streams and beautiful places to fish. I was especially disappointed in his lack of coverage of streams in McKean and Warren County. I would not recommend this book to an avid Pennsylvania fisherman. The book is adequate for an out-of-state fisherman who is looking to fish some of the more popular streams in PA.

Book covered all of fundamentals of Pennsylvania fly fishing.Good for novices and out of town people. Gives needed information regarding lodging and services. The book does fall short in the amount of streams visited. Many wild trout and stocked streams went unmentioned. This was a big miss.

"Over the years, a number of books have been written offering insight to the best places where (fishing) opportunity can be found. However, none is as complete as recently released, Dave Wolf's, Flyfishers Guide to Pennsylvania. This book is complete and provides tidbits of information overlooked in the past, but not in this book. The book can not only serve as a fishing guide, but for travel as well, covering where to stay, restaurants, fly shops and much more."

It feels like forever between one Bannerman book and the next, but they're well worth the wait! Once again, John Maxim has done a superb job of bringing these characters to life in Bannerman's Ghosts. It kept me turning the pages to see what would happen next! The subject (bio terrorism) is timely -- and scarey -- but leaves the reader with a sense of hope for tomorrow. Mr. Maxim never disappoints!

That's what the sticker says on my jacket cover, quoting Iris Johansen, who is another of my favorites. And, wow, has she nailed it with just those eight words. My only complaint with Bannerman's Ghosts is that I waited too long for it and devoured it too quickly. I can't remember when I felt so many emotions in the course of reading a single book. It had me laughing out loud and then crying real tears, sometimes within the same page. It had me horrified, scared and wanting to cheer. It made me fall in love with three different characters.

I hesitate, in fact, to refer to them as characters because they seem so utterly real and so human. It had me in awe of the research that Maxim must have done and wondering how he got his sources to talk to him. It made me wonder how Maxim knows Bannerman and his people so well. Especially Carla and Elizabeth Stride and my personal favorite, John Waldo. So, you know what I think? I think they are real. And I think that Maxim must be one of them.

The definition of "neighborhood watch" takes on an entirely new meaning in this latest Bannerman thriller by John R. Maxim IV. Long time fans and first time readers will be pleased to see favorite characters from his early novels and those from recent endeavors gather together to wreck havoc and just a touch of personal vengeance on the villains so aptly created by Maxim.

As with other Bannerman novels, GHOSTS is impossible to lay aside until the highly emotional final chapter and epilogue leaves you wishfully hoping Bannerman's Prophecy is already on its way to the publisher.

A recommendation for Hollywood: Beat a path to John Maxim's door for the Bannerman movie rights!

The book systematically describes the principles and mechanics of hemodialysis as well as peritoneal dialysis .Complications and common problems encountered in these patients are well described with ample references cited for each addressed problem.

Like its highly successful predecessor, the Third Edition of Handbook of Dialysis effectively integrates all the essential and clinically relevant information in the dialysis therapy. It is written by the leaders in this field and the layout is in an easy-to-read format. It is easy to locate what you need, whether you are reading for first-time knowledge, for review, or for support during an emergency. I have no reservation to recommend this book for all readers who are interested in dialysis therapy.

It is a very valuable pocket companion for the Nephrology Resident/Fellow in training. It clearly and concisely explains the basic principles of Dialysis and it is a must-own book for everybody in training. It is also an exemplary, quick reference guide for all practicing nephrologists, dialysis nurses, nephrology technicians, social workers and dieticians.

This CD is a collection of hundreds of public domain texts from all over the internet. They are collected, organized, and often reformatted to make them easy to access and use.

The collection seeks to include anything that even remotely qualifies as a sacred text. You will find the works upon which all of the worlds major religions are based, (except perhaps Scientology) as well as books describing or initiating mystical traditions like alchemy and hermetic wisdom.

Very interesting reading. Very well collected and compiled.

I found the website for this listing of books and was amazed at its breadth. I have recently taken to researching various sacred texts and in my GOOGLE search found the website. After perusing the various pages and offering, the idea of owning the CD was overpowering. Today's technology makes it possible to have an entire library in an easy to carry CD and this one is well organized. I highly recommend this to both the professional clergy, and the amateur researcher. It saves the wait for internet connections and web page loads, and provides a broad range of documents.

For those unfamiliar with the "Internet Sacred Text Archive," the site is an enormous compilation of "Sacred Texts" of the world religions. Also included on the site and this wonderful CD-Rom, are various Philosophies, Mysteries, Shakespeare and much more.
Regardless of your Faith; Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Baha'i, Shamanism, Wicca / Witchcraft / Goddess Worship, et al...including Thelema and Zoroastrianism, you will find material on this CD-Rom that applies to your life, or your Research in Religion, Spirituality, Philosophy, and The Mystical.

I have been sharing the site with friends for a long time. I would-have written a review for this CD-Rom sooner, but I assumed it was probably reviewed numerous times, already. Apparently, word has not spread about this amazing Compilation of Documents!

This is a list of the information from the "Internet Sacred Text Archive" (World Religions, Traditions, Mysteries) :

"African, Age of Reason, Alchemy, Americana, Ancient Near East, Atlantis, Australia, Baha'i, Bible, Book of Shadows, Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, DNA, Egyptian, Esoteric & Occult, Evil, Fortean, Goddesses, Gothic, Greek and Roman, Grimoires, Hinduism, I Ching, Islam, Jainism, Journals, Judaism, Legends and Sagas, Mormonism, Native American, Neopaganism/Wicca, Nostradamus, Oahspe, Pacific, Paleolithic, Piri Re'is Map, Sacred Books of the East, Sacred Sexuality, Shamanism, Shinto, Sikhism, Sufi, Tantra, Taoism, Tarot, Thelema, Timeline, Tolkien, UFOs, Utopia, Women, Zoroastrianism"

I just checked-out my new V 1.2 version of the CD-ROM from "Sacred Texts.com" and found nearly every religion / philosophy is covered on the V 1.2 CD, which has new additions, such as the "Thelema" section of the website, Shakespeare, etc. I highly recommend the Sacred Texts CD because;

a) The CD costs (Money) and this CD-Rom could save you hundreds and hundreds of dollars in the future (or inspire you to buy hard-copies of books, after Previewing them on the CD-Rom).

b) The CD Rom is much easier to Navigate, than the website, due to load time, or age of PC and/or Memory issues.

c) You always have access to the documents, even if the web connection is down.

d) Think of all the upgrades you can receive in the future.

e) Purchase of the CD supports the maintenance / preservation of "Internet Sacred Text Archive."

Suffice to say, this is The Best opportunity available for people who are serious about researching Religion, Spirituality, Occult, Mysteries, et al. I am more than thrilled with my purchase of this CD-Rom !