Sometimes it is difficult to write an appropriate review for a book, such is the case here. It would be impossible in a brief review to convey the depth of understanding and clear vision of God and spirituality that this book conveys. If you are a Christian and in your Mary Poppins world think yourself to be practically perfect in every way, then this is not the book for you. For everyone else, including those who need to deal with perfect Christians, this is one of the best books that I have ever read on the subject of Christianity and spirituality. The focus of the text is to challenge one of the most insidious practices of the church, the expectation of perfection among its members, rituals and procedures. Through personal examples Michael Yaconelli illustrates the true grace of God and how it should show through in all the ways we interact with others. If you have been taught to berate yourself because you are less than a perfect Christian, this book is a breath of fresh air that truly frees you from those chains of what you "should" be. I have read many books on Christianity, theology, Bible Studies, etc. and many of them have been excellent, but if there were one book that I would recommend above all others this is the one that should be in every Christian's hands.

So frequently Christian books tell you what to do and how to be a better Christian. Not so with Messy Spirituality! This book tells it how it is, how Christians suffer and have stress and pain and life happens to us just like everyone else. However, Mike Yaconelli pulls it around to a place of awe and wonder by making it all worthwhile and meaningful in God's context. The language and stories he used filled me with wonder in our awesome, amazing, beyond understanding God.

Amazing book. Yaconelli writes some of the best stuff, I would reccommend reading "Yak Yak Yak- Mike Yaconelli's Guide to Jerk-Free Christianity", if you can get your hands on this out of print gem. This book always brings me back to what the Bible really teaches- that God loves me no matter what. I attend a Christian College, and see some people who, in the name of acting "Christian", are missing the whole point of our vital, living faith. I wish I could buy copies of this book for all!

I really enjoyed this series. Each book made me eager to read the next and then start all over again. I have each of the six books and read them at least once a year. Great series.

This has got to be the best series I have ever read! At first you really hate Eleanor Caskey and what she does to rule the rest of the Caskey's family. Eleanor gets married has a daughter but what are in store for the family is beyond what they could ever imagine.
I would love to have this on audio or have a movie made of this! The book is very well written it brings you there and with the maps of where every body lives is an extra touch.
At the end of the book what happens to you is awesome because you find you have falling in love with her and will miss her terribly. This is a horror story and has some parts in it that will set you up in the chair and have you looking around the room.

Read this series in 1983...still think about it often...unlike anything ever read before or since...???? what is the difference in BLACKWATER 1: THE FLOOD , Michael McDowell/Publ 1911 and Michael Mcdowell's Blackwater:I;The Flood, Publ 1983

This is a great book for beginning riders and for people who teach them. Common sense, clear and full of answers to questions riders are often afraid to ask. Every chapter one or more school horses get introduced, each with their own quirks and special skills to make the life of a novice rider even harder than it already is. The book explains how to deal with different types of horses and provides clear strategies in 'what if' scenarios.(What if my horse won't move?)

What I don't like about the book, though, is that riders wear spurs in the pictures illustrating the novice's first lessons. A novice rider shouldn't even think about needing that kind of stuff!

and here is why! When I took lessons as a kid, I frequently didn't understand what the instructor was trying to get me to do. I faked my way through the extended trot for years without ever really knowing what it really meant (other than just "faster"). If I had had this book then, that wouldn't have happened. As a returning adult rider I do ask my instructor questions, but sometimes we learn so much in a lesson that I can't remember everything afterwards. This book clearly lays out exactly what all those aids were that I did in my lesson, so I can visualize them more clearly. The author also provides very realistic "what if this happens" situations with answers, which are very reassuring. He also tells you what to do if this doesn't work, and what to do next. His school horse portrayals are very accurate to the types of horses a novice rider will encounter, and helps one understand that while no horse is perfect, every one of them will contribute to one's becoming a better horseman. This book is very similar to the Cliffs Notes for riding lessons. Although not a substitute for qualified instruction (and it isn't trying to be either) the wealth of knowledge contained in it will enhance and reinforce all the things you will learn at the barn. Super!

Generally, I don't take the time to add a review on [...] if mine is merely a repeat of what others have written. In this case it is warranted. As (yet another) adult novice, I quickly found that riding is far more art than science, given the variables involving rider and horse AND instructor. What I found is that riding is a very complex art whose complexity becomes apparent only as one (hopefully) progresses in skill. Having waited a year before writing this review, I now feel competent to write a review about a book intending to assist fledgling riders figure out what they are doing, what the instructor is doing, and how they can improve. That is the market for which this book was intended. That is the intention in which the book succeeds and deserves the five-star rating. Having said that, here are the caveats.

As one becomes serious about riding, one finds that the communication relationships (horse, rider, instructor) are what keep riding instructors employed. You will continue to find that there are differences between what your instructor tells you, what you are feeling while on the horse, and what Mike Smith (the author) writes. For example, take the canter depart--making a transition into the canter gait.

A particular horse is going to respond differently to the various aids (signals) one uses--right leg, left leg, right rein, left rein, and your seat and torso. Mike--correctly I think--has to simplify that for novices. He writes, "5. Squeeze with your outside leg." This, to him, is the "signal" to the horse to start the canter. In fact, one can discover that three out of seven "experts" agree with him. Four out of seven write that it is the inside (driving) leg that is the signal. MOST importantly, the rider will find that horses differ in their opinions. What is the fledgling rider to do?

Buy and read this book. Try to listen to your instructor while you are struggling to learn. Periodically, re-read this book. (I made the mistake of confusing the trot depart and the canter depart in my fourth week of training--a wild riding experience both the horse and I will never forget!) As you progess, get another book, so you can begin to compare and appreciate the subtleties of riding. I guarantee that you will begin to figure out what Mike is saying when, for example, he says "When you can distinguish these differences in how your hips move, you're starting to learn to really feel the horse--a definite indication of YOUR progress." (My emphasis.)

Finally, don't fall into an early trap of riding the same horse every week ("Charlie is sooo nice.")or failing to occasionally compare your instructor with another (Every instructor has their personal riding vocabulary with which they communicate; sometimes, a different phrase will produce an "Aha!". The more horses with whom you try to communicate, the more proficient you will become.

Good riding.

I believe this is one of the top 5 battletech books I've read and I've read alot. A great book with an equally amazing sequel although the name escapes me.

What can I say. This is the best battletech book I ever read. This book gives deep insight into the most honored of clan ritutals. To The biggest battle in btech universe the battle of tukkyiad. This books sets up all of the following books :)

This is the final book of the trilogy, has lots of action lots of the clans. Comstar finaly shows who the will support and romanno finaly gets whats coming,hehehe. this is an awsome book that everyone will enjoy.

I thought only cats were supposed to have nine lives, but this donkey has at least that many. This book is great fun, I couldn't put it down for too long, and it is incredible that something written so long ago (18 centuries?) can be so accessible, captivating, and hilarious to a modern reader. The events in The Golden Ass resemble the ribald, bawdy exuberance of the Decameron, and no doubt Boccaccio was somewhat inspired by the writings of Apuleius. According to the introduction, the adjective "golden" in the title implies "the ass par excellence" or "the best of all stories about an ass." The story follows the misadventures of Lucius, an enterprising young man who gets far too close to the world of magic, is transformed into a donkey and is constantly thwarted in his attempt to procure the antidote to his assness. It's human mind trapped in donkey bawdy! Totally imaginative, classically written, hilarious fun. As a writer, Apuleius was MILLENNIUMS ahead of his time! (Note: my review is based on the Robert Graves translation, rather than the William Adlington).

I consider myself a connosieur of the classics, so when I heard of an ancient novel concerned with sex, illicit sex, and illicit donkey sex, I decided to take a closer look.

And I'm glad that I did. At the back end of the classical Western literary tradition of silliness, which includes such hallowed humorists as Chaucer, Bocaccio, Rabelais, Cervantes, and, in its divine form, Shakespeare, we find the one tale that may have excited them all--Lucius Apuleius's Golden Ass.

The Golden Ass is filled with adventure, suspense, humor, and nonsense. I had a grin on my face most of the way through, and I got the feeling that the author did too. Tip o' the hat to Robert Graves for delivering an authentic translation that brings us Apuleius in his bawdy best.

The only thing I found occasionally irritating was that, like Cervantes, Apuleius has a tendency to digress. Big time. He inserts the entire myth of Cupid and Psyche right into the middle of the narrative, for example. Does this add to the mythological message of the whole? Probably, but it subtracts from the fantastic flow of the story. My urgent plea to Apuleius, were he alive today, would be, "Stick to the ass!"

There are a number of reasons that traditionally bring people to this book: to study Classical Rome, classic literature, mythology, psychology... maybe you're curious about the intimate lives of donkeys. Whatever has brought you to this novel, now that you're going to read it, perhaps the best thing to do is to take the advice of the author himself, who says, "Read on and enjoy yourself!"

I read The Golden Ass for a Classic art course I took while at university I loved it! It is fun, entertaining and comical- not your typical dry Roman read. It is a great story and a great look into history.I highly recommend this tale to anyone who not wants to laugh but is interested in an important text from antiquity.

Being an adaptation by and with the great Martin Jarvis, I thought it would be absolutely excellent, as I have found his audio efforts to be always. But in his performance there is something lacking, Sir Robert Chiltern should be played with a bit more pathos. Jacqueline Bisset is formidable, and Alfred Molina also as Lord Goring.

As to being a live recording, this is a mixed blessing. This public seems to misunderstand some lines, and there are misplaced laughs, for example when Robert Chiltern says: "I did not sell myself for money. I bought success at a great price. That is all". I'm sure Wilde didn't intend this to be a joke. Chiltern is not bought, he is not changed, it is he who buys something, therefore his character, his person, is not altered. The public dismisses this important nuance and bursts into a hearty fit of laughter.

There are three o four more like that. But on the whole, this recording by L.A. Theater Works is highly enjoyable.

Wilde, in part, attempts to portray the relativity of truth, power, and character, things we often take as absolutes, while also entertaining his audience with witty dialogue and comical mishaps.

Oscar Wilde gives us here one of his best plays. He explores the political world in London and how a young ambitious but poor man can commit a crime, which is a mistake, to start his good fortune. But he builds his political career on ethical principles. Sooner or later someone will come into the picture to blackmail him into supporting an unacceptable scheme, by producing a document that could ruin his career if revealed. His past mistake may come back heavily onto him. But he resists and sticks to his moral reputation. He prefers doing what is right to yielding to some menace. He may lose though his political ambition and career and his wife's love. But love is saved by forgiveness and the man's career is also saved by the work of a real friend who recaptures the dubious document and destroys it. In other words love and an ethical career are saved by the burrying of the old mistake into oblivion. In other words love and friendship are stronger than the scheming action of a blackmailer. This is a terrible criticism of victorian society which is based more on appearances than principles and yet able to destroy a man's absolutely ethical present life with a mistake from his youth, throwing the baby along with the water of the bath. It is also a criticism of the victorian political world where you cannot have a career if you are not rich, money appearing as the only way to succeed, at least to succeed fast. But it is a hopeful play because love and friendship are beyond such considerations and only consider the best interest of men and women, in the long run and in the name of absolute purity. Better be a sinner and be forgiven when you have reformed than see a reformed sinner destroyed by the lack of forgiveness. Oscar Wilde advocates here a vision of humanity that necessitates forgiveness as the essential fuel of any rational approach. Real morality is not the everlasting guilt of a sinner without any possible reform. Real morality is the recognition that forgiveness is necessary when reform has taken place. Otherwise society would be unlivable and based on hypocrisy and the death or rejection of the best people in the name of (reformed) mistakes. One must not be that sectarian, because man can learn from his mistakes and improve along the road : one can learn how to avoid mistakes and repair those oen has committed. If condemnation is absolute, no progress is possible. A very fascinating play, a very modern play. And yet when can one be considered as reformed, when can we consider one has really corrected one's mistakes and improved ? And who can deem such elements ? The very core of political and ethical rectitude is concerned here and Oscar Wilde embraces a generous approach.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University of Perpignan

I read this book July 10, 1993 on a beach in Eastern Michigan and have yet to find its equal. Seven friends also read it and we compaired notes as to if WE would have let Meade in the house, it led to heated discussions. Now in December, '98 we wonder when Michael will thrill us again? Deceptions didn't dissappoint! Have ordered Lies and have hopes for another great thriller. WE LOVE MICHAEL WEAVER!!

I picked this book up on a whim and never put it down until I was through. Simply one of the best thrllers I have ever read and it scared the heck out of me.

This is a great read. Wouldn't recommend it to those are disgusted to read about perversion. But if you don't mind some of that, it's a very good story - classic "hard to put down" book.

More and more people will now take the Jaguar Development with PowerBuilder 7 approach after going through the book. This was precisely needed for serious internet development using PowerBuilder. With this book I was able to develop Java components within no time!

Powersoft/ Sybase should thank Michael Barlotta for presenting this book for experience as well new PowerBuilder developers building web applications. I could easily rate this my best PowerBuilder book in the last 6 years.

Excellent book, at the right time.

The site was going to use PB7 and Jaguar - exciting! I ordered the book, read it, used the many fantastic code bits to get an n-tier PB7 app up and running. Fantastic book.

4 months later, the client decided to use Java, scrap PB development and sacked me without even a day's notice. Oh well. I still think Jaguar and the book and PB7 are tops! But the lesson learned is that Powerbuilder is on the way down and out!

This book can get you started just in the way you would like to. Mike understands what PB developers need to get started with Web development and Jaguar. Although EAS versions have changed, but the basic concepts suc as "stateless/stateful, instance pooling, transaction support, connection, etc" remain the same. This book is not for Java with EAServer - this is PowerBuilder with EAServer - as the name suggests.

This is a wonderful book...very easy to read and quite helpful. If you want to learn how to live the Christian life; read this book and begin your journey.

A gentle compendium on bringing the Franciscan lifestyle into your world, this book will help you express the simplicity and faith of Francis in your personal life. For anyone who has "always loved St. Francis".

This was simply an excellent book. No other way to put it, really. This book got so far down into me that I felt more aware, more present, more spiritually attuned during the entire time I was reading it. It spoke to me in a quiet and humble way...the way I seem to hear the best. Though I'm not Catholic, I am moved and inspired by the life of St. Francis, and his life is worthy of many books. I have to agree with another reviewer, though. I'm somewhat disappointed that this great man is seen mainly as a "Catholic"...I think if we can take the labels off of some things (and people) others might dare to venture into something they wouldn't have ordinarly. I'm a Christian, but I don't hear much about the life of St. Francis or his teachings from the pulpit of my non-denominational church. Yet I can't help but feel that the messages of this book and the lessons of St. Francis (who sought to be like Christ in every way) could seriously benefit today's Christians, if we open our minds and hearts. This is the kind of book that causes us to examine the kind of religion and Christianity we say we are pursuing. We say we don't love money, but I'm convinced that we work overtime trying to balance our love of God with our love of money. I'm not an extremist, and I'm not saying we've got to give up everything. But the kind of Christianity that promotes "believing God for a Lexus" while our brother goes hungry makes no sense to me whatsoever. I think we have a HUGE responsibility as Christians, and this little book really brought that (and so much more) to life for me.