I've just received a copy of "A Christmas Cup of Tea" (on a chilly April day!) and have read it over six times. With each reading, this beautifully understated story of rediscovered joy in reaching out and connecting with others seems to reveal a little more insight. This is truly the "Heart Sutra" of Christmas theme books! An absolute must as a gift for anyone who has ever felt overwhelmed by the hubbub of the holiday rush!

Mr. Hegg has written an incredible Christmas story. In this small book he has captured the true meaning of Christmas, without being too sappy. There is no Santa in a red suit, no miracle sent from Heaven above, no old Scrouge turned to generosity --- just a man going to visit his great aunt. Although it is a very simple story, it is very heartwarming. Hegg did an excellent job of capturing the simple pleasure of sitting down with a member of your family. The magic in this book is self discovery and love for one's family. Finally, a Christmas story that I can relate to at Christmas time.

This is a wonderful book to give as Christmas gifts. Try sending this along with some homemade mix for your favorite tea and a cup. It makes a great yet inexpensive and heart-warming gift.

"The Craft of the Japanese Sword" is a fine example of what a book can accomplish with the collaberation of an enthusiast who does his homework and artisans of the craft. The inclusion of the technical aspects of metal composition and blade formation, all the way to the polishing techniques was brilliant. On the down side, There could have been more information on Handle manufacture and wrapping. All in all, a fine book geared to the beginner and enthusiast

This is a terrific overview of what it takes to make japanese swords. The book followes the production of the sword from the begining to the final product, starting with the type of steel all the way to the special fittings. Althoug not into the depth some are looking for, it does explain the general steps for making the entire sword through the dialoge of experts working in Japan

This book goes into the details of the making of a Japanese sword.

I own Sato's "The Japanese Sword : A Comprehensive Guide" as well as Yumoto's "Samurai Sword a Handbook", and they are clearly not as complete as that one (esp. Sato's.)

"The Craft of the Japanese Sword" is amazing in that it has a large number of extremely clear B&W pictures. Those are clear enough to show examples of the steel's grain, of what an utsuri looks like, of what makes nie different from nioi, of the appearance of the hamon at each stage of the polishing, etc. The clarity & quantity of the pictures is the main asset of this book to the katana enthusiast, be they interested in modern or antique swords, made in Japan or not.

The book is also great because of the info it provides on all the stages before the blade is forged (i.e., how to obtain the necessary steel ingot, or tamahagane) and after it is forged (polishing, of course, but also the craft of the scabbard, of the fittings, etc...)

This is a super dense book, packed with info, where not a single line is wasted. I cannot recommend it enough to anyone interested in the Japanese swords, be they swordsmiths, martial artists, or collectors. The book is geared toward the swordsmiths but provide so much info that a martial artist or collector planning to invest into a fine blade should absolutely read that book. This will prevent many a disappointment...

This is one of the most amazing books I've ever read!! Robin Jarvis does an excellent job of writing a gripping story about a small group of mice confronting an evil band of rats in the sewers under Deptford. It may also please you to know that the main character (and the hero) is a girl. It has lots of action and the climax is genuinely scary! If you like animal fantasy you will LOVE this book (though I should warn you that it gets near-impossible to put down!)

In the time when the earth was green and blessed by the lord of the mice- the green mouse, a young mouse called audrey is shocked at the dissapearence of her father. On what supposed to be the most important day for a mouse, turned into a quest to find her father- and the truth. In her way stands the thing all mice fear most- the Grail and the lord of rats, a half god, half demon that is held within it. The Dark Portal is definitley a book I would reccomend all people to read. This book is not only superbly written, but it also has a great story line. This story portrays a mouse who shows true bravery, and burning desire for loved ones, in the face of uncertainty and danger lurking benind every corner. This story has adventure, fantasy and a lot of emotions in it, blending together to make a masterpiece and I think is destined to be a definite classic.

This book is great! It all starts when the dark magic lures innocent mouse Arthur into the sewers. In the sewers you will find rats with mousepeelers instead of hands, rats wearing mouse coats as a trophy of slaughtering an innocent mouse, and a dark rat god. It will keep you on the edge of your seat in suspense.

This is an awesome book about the awesome task of an awesome God.

Piper relates missions to the supremacy of God by insisting that missions is not the chief end of the church, worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't. Worship therefore is the goal of missions. But even more than that, the impetus behind true missionary zeal is a heart that is satisfied in the glory of God above all things. Therefore, worship is also the fuel of missions.

Then Piper shows the key role that prayer plays in missionary effort. Prayer is a wartime walkie-talkie given by our Commander-in-Chief so that we can call Him for air cover when we are on the frontlines of the battle. The problem with most of us is that we have turned this wartime walkie-talkie into a domestic intercom by asking for more worldy comforts instead of help for Kingdom work.

A third chapter (in part one) shows the role that suffering plays in missions by expositing texts like Col. 1:24. This is a powerful and insightful section that will inspire and encourage you - as well as make you count the cost of following Jesus down the hard road of love.

The second part of the book deals with theological issues that are essential to a Biblical understanding of missions, such as the eternality of hell, the necessity of the atonement, and the necessity of faith in Christ for salvation. This book is a Calvinistic call to missions that exceeds anything I have ever read elsewhere! I recommend it heartily!

This is the best book I've ever read. Unlike so many books on missions, Piper does not try to cajole his readers into the mission field with tear-jerking stories of how third-world nation children are starving, as if God were in need of missionaries. Instead, Piper unfolds God's great plan to glorify himself through missions--that all nations might turn to Christ. Piper is right on when he wrote -- missions exists because worship doesn't. Soli Deo Gloria

"Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church, worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't." This is the opening line of this book, and it is the foundational premise on which it is written.

Piper writes about a God who is worth serving, worth going to the nations for, and who is worth suffering for. There is no greater cause in all the world than the glory of God and Piper eloquently describes how Missions is intimately connected to that cause.

Perhaps the most striking point in the book is the idea that God is passionate for his own glory. In fact that God is passionately establishing his glory in the nations. It is not that God is in constant need of affirmation, but that He knows that His glory is the "chief end of man"...and of God.

The chapter on Suffering is incredible. Piper's writing is as convicting as it is motivating. The reader is left asking the question "Do I believe in a God like this? Do I serve a God who is worth suffering for?"

God has honored his church with the privelege of joining Him in his work in the world. Piper is a man who understands this privilege, and who invites us to join Him as well.

A Larry Niven novel, especially lately, can be a hit or miss affair but it's clear the man still knows what he's doing and there's no better way to prove that to pick up this hefty book. Not so much a collection of short stories as a retrospective and an introduction just about every piece here has something to recommend it to new and old readers. Niven has some of the best hard science ideas ever put down on paper but sometimes he forgets about the plot when writing his longer works, in short story form all the brilliance shines right through and you can see why millions revere the man as a writer of ideas. By and large the short stories are all excellent, ranging from the really good ("Cloak of Anarchy" "The Fourth Profession") to the merely okay (the story set in the Smoke Ring). For new readers there are even excerpts from his more famous novels, though only a couple highlight the best portions of the book (especially "The Mote in God's Eye" bit, which reminds those of us who have read it why we loved the book so much in the first place), all are interesting. But even better than the stories are the series of essays interspersed throughout the book. Some are Niven just goofing and having a good time (the bit about Superman's attempt at mating is one of the funniest things I've ever read and is worth the price of the book alone) and others are serious pieces on science fiction and writing in general. Rarely do readers get such a peek inside the mind of one of their favorite writers and it's a welcome look. Overall if you have even a passing interest in Niven you can't go wrong, since it focuses on what he's really good at and with so many stories and essays, the chance of a reader getting bored is very slim indeed.

I haven't bought the book from amazon.com. I haven't bought it at all. I borrowed it at my local library, looking for some leftover Niven after I finished everything else.

Now I am determined to buy it, if not here in Israel then through Amazon.com. That book changed my life.

The short stories are fantastic, carrying unlimited ideas and creating countless playgrounds for the mind. "The Fourth Profession" in the lead, along with "Cloak of Anarchy" and others, make up some of the finest short stories I've ever read. The essays are mavellous, making you ponder, wonder, and occasionally laugh. The parts taken from other novels are a nostalgic aroma, reminding the reader once again that reading on Niven novel connects you, inevitably, to the world of ideas that had come to life by this man's writing.

I've read the book AFTER reading most of the important Niven stuff. I believe this is wrong: one should read it once, then read the other stuff, and then return to N-Space for a whole new reading experience.

Buy it. You won't regret it.

N-Space and its Companion Playgrounds of the Mind form a wonderful retrospective of the carrer of one of the best science fiction writers. N-Space provides a selection of short stories, especially ones that have not yet appeared in book form, and have been hard to find. It also provides some of his better stories, and gives essays, gossip, and a view into the world of a Science Fiction writer. You really come away knowing Larry Niven, the man, along with a better understading of his fiction. You get some very interesting factiods (did you know that the Kzinti are in Star Trek? neither did I!), and lots of enjoyment, from never read short stories, to anecdotes about your favorite Niven Novel, an unbeatable bargain. N-Space is a great introduction to the various works of Larry Niven (and sometimes co-author in crime Dr. Jerry Pournelle), as well as a great resourse for those who would like to learn more about what they have read and known for years. I rarely give the 5 out of 5 rating, but I have no hesitations here. Highest Reccomendation.

If there was a competition for the greatest Australian novel of the Twentieth Century, Cloudstreet would be in the running for the top prize. It is an indictment of the American publishing industry that it appears to be out of print. Although Winton was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for his later book, The Riders, Cloudstreet is the one that should have won it. Happily, the dramatization of Cloudstreet has endeared it to a new audience, but it it still worth saying: Wake up world, this is a classic novel.

Cloudstreet assumes the classification of a sequential novel and concerns the lives of two importantly different Australian families. On a deeper level however Cloudstreet is an Australian adaption of the universal motif of spiritual evolution. Tim Winton's considerable achievement is to create a narrative depth which not only intimately pilgrimages the journey of Fish but also avails a deeper esoteric view of life events. Evocative and memorable, Cloudstreet will become an Australian classic.

Tim Winton's work was recommended to me by an Australian friend who is an avid reader and it did not disappoint. I was captivated by his freeflowing style and by his excellent character studies. The way he brought to life the characters of Sam and Dolly, Lester and Oriel, Rose and Quick, and Fish was a wonder to behold. I felt I knew exactly how they would react in any of the situations they found themselves. Although being a "Yank" I had to check in everyday with my "Aussie" mate to translate some of the slang words used by Mr. Winton in his marvelous story, I thoroughly enjoyed his tale of two families and the obstacles they had to overcome. The final paragraph of this book was well worth the effort it took to read it. Cloudstreet is a wonderful read and I am so grateful to my Australian friend for sending me this book. I highly recommed this Australian gem to all my fellow Americans!

I must reveal I'm a life long Braves fan. I've rooted for and respected Tommy Glavine since his rookie season pitching for 7,000 people at Fulton County stadium. I enjoyed this book just as I have enjoyed watching Glavine's career.

However, the book doesn't reveal much insight into the Braves or the game of baseball-just Tommy Glavine. It reads like a book rushed to print in order to capitalize on the 1995 World Series MVPship of Glavine; while the marketability of Glavine was high. Its a standard baseball auto/biography. The 3 stars isn't to belittle this book: its an average book getting an average rating.

This book is a must have for any Braves fan. It is the story of a dream and the realization of that dream by one of today's greatest pitchers. In it Tom shares his thoughts on bringing a World Series Championship to Atlanta. Something that the fans of the Braves have wanted for decades. And no one tells it better than the 1995 World Series MVP.

To be honest, when I bought this book I barely knew who Tom Glavine was. Of course I lived in Atlanta, and went to a couple of Braves games but after I read this book my concept of Tommy and the Braves changed. The man who always seems so serious is quite funny. You understand the "man" not just the "pitcher". After I read the book, I actually felt like I knew Tom Glavine. I compare this book to the movie Forrest Gump, which is my favorite movie of all time. Like the movie, this book made me feel all my emotions, but it made me laugh hysterical which I truly appreciated. You will have a whole new perspective on the game and the men behind it.

Enjoy, I certainly did.

Hume is rightfully an important philosopher. Philosophy had been mainly a metaphysical/rationalistic field until Hume (in addition to Locke and Berkeley) came along. His basic philosophy is this: induction is the only principle by which we can have knowledge, but induction is fundamentally flawed. Thus, there is no belief of which we can be totally certain of. Hume even questions whether we can be as sure as Descartes was when he asserted "Cogito Ergo Sum". To Hume, one could consistently maintain that the "self" was just a bunch of thoughts in succession. Hume believed that there were no strict identities in nature, but only resemblences which the mind tends to treat as identities. He also treated ideas as imperfect images of our experiences.

The problem I have with Hume is on resemblence and his treatment of ideas. I agree with him that there are resemblences in nature which humans tend to treat as the same--but then what is this resemblence based on? The nominalists have to account for why resemblence is there in the first place. Perceived identity must have its basis in reality somehow. And his treatment of ideas is just plain wrong--our ideas are not just images, although they can include images.

I obviously can't give a complete criticism of Hume's philosophy in a review, so if anyone wants to discuss this with me just email me. But I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in philosophy--any complete philosophical theory must challenge or incorporate Hume if it is to succeed.

This is a superb edition of one of the basic works in Western philosophy. Designed to be used by both casual and serious students of philosophy, this edition contains the text of Hume's Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (EHU) and a series of other sections that provide background and further directions for studying Hume. Included are an excellent precis of the EHU, a first rate annotated bibliography concerning works by and about Hume, considerable background material on Hume, and excellent notes to the text of the EHU.

The EHU is a concise and charmingly written presentation of Hume's views of the nature and particularly the limitations of human knowledge. The EHU presents Humes basic concepts of human thought, human pattern recognition, and then proceeds to Hume's revolutionary analysis of the problem of induction. Hume exposes our limitations in establishing certain cause and effect relations. Hume's analysis of this problem and its corollaries leads to ultimate skepticism about our ability to know the external world with certainty and undermines much of the basis for religion. Hume presents his ideas in an attractive style that owes much to famous 18th century essayists like Addison.

A fundamental work and very readable work.

This is a good edition of the first but fundamental book published by Hume in 3 volumes (1 and 2 in 1739; 3 in 1740) dedicated to the methodical study of knowledge, passions and moral, through experience and practical observation. It is with Hume that empiricism (following Locke and Berkeley) reaches its complete expression as a "modern" classical system, against previous dogmatic visions of philosophy. According to Kant, Hume awoke him from the dogmatic dream......
With Hume, english illustration comes to a definitive expression. Through his opus, empiricism is systematized and acquires a new dimension that expands its influence on all fields of philosophy. Previous conceptions about the theory of knowledge, ethics, politics, esthetics, and the philosophy of religion, all are transformed or renovated by Hume. In spite of his critics, Hume's system dwelled with different topics of modern interest: positivism, psychology, nominalism, critical skepticism, determinism, agnosticism, moral philosophy, political economy, etc.
No serious philosopher after Hume, has been able to avoid a careful look at his system. So if you are a student or scholar of the subject matter, I highly recommend this edition of Hume's seminal work.

One of the best aspects of M:TA, in my opinion, is the idea that there is no absolute truth. No 'right' or 'wrong'. No good guys or bad guys (well.. except for the Nephandi, of course...) This is the strong point of this book, but unfortunally also the weak point of it. It's important to undestand that the Technocrats are not 'the bad guys'. In fact, they see themselves as 'the good guys', and they have many good reasons to believe so. This is a point that the book explains well, showing the ideology and the ways the union operates. However, it fails, in my opinion, in one point: while in Mage no one view of reality is correct or incorrect, the underlying feeling of this book is that the Traditions view of reality is the correct one. When I read it I got the feeling the author said: "Well, this is how the Technocracy sees it, but we both know they're wrong, right?". If you can ignore that point, though, it's a worthwhile book to read if you play Mage (especially if you want to play a Technocract, of course).

I don't often run campaigns; most of the Mage books I purchase are resources for online gaming. This book, however, made me want to collect all my friends and run a game as soon as possible.

It has been Whitewolf's tendency in the past to present the Mages' enemies as monolithic forces; mindless incarnations of evil. Very two-dimensional. The Technos are the evil government oppressors, the nephandi are all freddy kreuger wannabes.

While this is still the case with the Nephandi, this book added a good dash of flavor and depth to the Technocrats as PCs. This book is Mage: the Ascension for X-files affictionados.

Those who read Guide to the Technocracy will find themselves wondering if.. maybe -- just maybe -- we might be better off if the black hats actually won the war..

When I was first introduced to Mage:TA, I wondered why everyone thought the Technocratic Union were the antagonists. After reading a few of the first convention books I could see why. As much as I loved the group from the beginning, I had to admit they weren't suitable for play.

With the release of Guide to the Technocracy, it seemed as though the whole Union had been reorganized. Not only are the Technocrats more human, their goals are geared more towards the protection of humanity from the horrors of the unknown. White Wolf did a really good job with this book. It succeeded in making a former faceless monolith into a living entity with a feel of humanity. The Technocracy tries to be the good-guys, but like with any group, there are always those who are in the gray areas. The Technocracy is not better or worse than the Traditions. They are just another group of mages who believe in science and reason.

The history of the Union was a fascinating read and the art is alright. The book has all the information you need to create a Technocratic agent along with info on a handful of procedures, cybernetics, and devices. The information on the various conventions is detailed enough so that the previous guides are not really needed, though they can still be helpful.

This book is a must for any fan of the Technocracy. It flows smoothly and really improves on the once monolithic and inhuman Union. It is perfect for players who want to play secret agents, cyborgs, deep space explorers, space marines, or any other modern or sci-fi character.