For year's my family has gone without traditions and celebrations of any kind. Everytime we gather as a family it is a disaster! This book has brought me hope that there can be a time in my life where we can gather together as a happy family and enjoy ourselves. If I don't have a copy of this book for my very own library, my family and I will suffer for all eternity. Please reprint this beautiful book!

This book is without a doubt a must have. I already have one but would love to have a couple more for my children for when they have children.It is jammed pack of family fun and lots of old victorian traditions. It's a precious book and every mother I think should have one. It goes through each month and celebrates every day. We Love it. Please Ms. Ban Breathnach if you read this, please reprint this book.

I have greatly enjoyed reading this book. The local public library has the only copy I know of. I would buy this book if it were available. Please reprint this wonderful source of ideas to bring families back to a wonderful way of sharing and spending time together.

Five stars doesn't even begin to describe the wisdom of Mr. Sharp's way.

For many of us on a spiritual journey, we can often look back on our path and note benchmarks of wise words that seemed to have advanced and enhanced our progress. Joseph Sharp's incredibly insightful book, "Spiritual Maturity, Stories and Reflections for the Ongoing Journey of the Spirit" promises to endure as a marker and guide for transformation and clarity to any spiritual seeker.

Wise beyond his years and certainly our times, Sharp's clear and steady voice is, at once, comforting and illuminating. Throughout the book he engages a remarkable wisdom that asks the reader to honor the truth of the spiritual process. "Remember, we have been given a sacred individuality by God so we might express our inner brilliance within this mortal coil. The message from within is: You can be grand.", he begins. Sharp "promotes a way of courageous self-honesty - especially when social or religious pressures to 'keep up appearances' encourage us to pretend otherwise. Sacred individuality asks us to cultivate open-mindedness, tolerance, and a sense of grand permission in our lives and seeking."

This book serves as a common-sense guide to spirituality and Sharp creates an "atmosphere of permission" that invites the reader to better understand the wisdom within and among us. He reminds us that "authentic spiritual maturity has much more to do with acceptance, recognition and exploration, and less to do with avoidance, denial and escape" and he encourages us to find our own individual path. "The individualistic imagination of the brilliant soul usually annoys the rather dull, hallowed halls of 'The Established Way'", Sharp says. He challenges the reader to always be different, distinct, courageous and outrageously individualistic on the journey.

This book endeavors to teach us that our life's lessons are present in every moment. Every encounter, every thought, every experience in each minute of the day is a sacred spiritual act designed to help us discover our truth, our path, and ourselves.

With incredible insight and clarity, Sharp asks us to embrace our own dark moments as pathways to spiritual learning and growth. "For the seeker, the question is not whether we can successfully shield our spirituality from life's grit. We can't. The real question is: Do we cultivate a vision that gives us permission to acknowledge and include all our life experiences, especially those darker moments within the boundaries of what is considered appropriate territory for spirituality?", he asks. "When we encounter life's painful and unpleasant experiences, do we pause to consider the possible wisdom beneath the suffering?"

Sharp delivers countless brilliant moments throughout the book and exacts points of wisdom from other friends on the path such as Anne Lammot, Rumi, Rainer Maria Rilke, Chogyam Trungpa, Natalie Goldberg and Robert Arpin.

In this book, he embraces all religions but encourages us to find our own truth and personal experience outside the confines of any religious doctrine. Sharp reminds us that we must travel our own path and avoid accepting religious doctrine blindly without spiritual exploration - "we are asked to seek the spirit of the teaching, to get to the heart of the matter with self-honesty and awareness -- to find the inner truth of that information."

Throughout the book, Sharp offers a tender voice of reason to guide us on our journey and perhaps his greatest gift to us is an abundance of courage, "An honest soft courage. A courage that opens the heart, reveals vulnerability, and trusts in a larger process at work. Make no mistake about it, being true to yourself and your unique individuality demands the quality of soft courage," he writes. "It takes courage to step out of the safe, convenient, and comfortable boundaries we've established for our lives: courage to give ourselves a wider landscape in which to seek and explore; courage to give up the illusion that we will one day get 'everything right', and courage to honor and appreciate the divine human mystery that is ultimately beyond our conceptual understanding altogether. It takes courage to kiss our scars figuratively as well as literally."

This is an incredibly wise book written with a kind and clear brilliance that should illuminate even the darkest path and send us on our journey with God-speed.

Joseph Sharp's new book, Spiritual Maturity, sets his readers on a wide road, "[a] road extending far beyond what we think we see now, far beyond any preconceived ideas of spiritual correctness we could possibly imagine." He recognizes the messiness of life--the impulses to anger, jealousy, fear, the reluctance to forgive ourselves and others--and sees these not as obstacles to spiritual maturity but as part of the road. In a series of lovely and sad stories, taken from his experiences as a chaplain at Parkland Memorial Hospital and his personal relationships with the dying and terminally ill, he suggests that personal and emotional honesty are more important to spiritual maturity than any sort of formulaic positivism. At the same time, his is an inclusive work, referencng the Bible, Buddha, Zen masters, Rilke, Anne Lamott and Martin Luther King, Jr., among others. For Joseph Sharp, exploring spiritual maturity means exploring life in all of its complexities. I strongly recommend this intimate, thoughtful book, full of subtle insights and small blessings.

This is a great book to learn C# from. I have previous C/C++ experience so a lot of the early stuff was pretty simple and straight forward. Having said that, I did not feel that the early pieces were in any way condescending, which is what I have found large portions of other books on this subject to be. I'm not [unintelligent] and I don't like an introductory book to treat me as if I am. In other words, don't read this book if you are looking for a "complete idiots guide" or a "C# for dummies" style book.

You should also not be misled into thinking that this book covers much of .NET. It doesn't. It touches on some of the basics, but there is a lot more that you will need to get by reading the book that I regard as part 2 - "Application Development using C# and .NET". Although the two books have a certain amount of overlap, I believe that it is worth owning both.

I am adding these comments following further work with the book. I had several extra questions that I needed to ask of the author. Dr Oberg was absolutely terrific with his personal responses. Not only that, he pointed me at the exercises that are available off the Object Innovations web-site. These definitely add a lot of value to this book so I would encourage anyone using this book to get hold of that additional material.

In every sense, this book is the Kernighan and Ritchie for C#.

The book is best one I have read about C#. Its logic very nice and explanation very clear. Reading it is an enjoyment for me. It will give you a solid foundation of object oriented programming.

I purchased 3 books in order to learn C# and learn it fast (this book, Jesse Liberty's "Learning C#", and Klaus Nichelsen's "C# Primer Plus"). Although this book was based on the Beta, this is the best of the three books. Don't get me wrong, I highly recommend all three books for the developer who is coming from Visual Basic 6 or another language. The illustrations in this book are excellent and the author has done a great job writing this book. I did NOT find very many errors, but I have not read any books that did not have any errors. A few errors is expected. This book is one of several 5-star books that Robert Oberg has written and the editing is very good. This book was so very good that I plan to purchase other Robert Oberg books dealing advanced Visual Basic.Net and C# programming. Please note, this is very large book but the reading is easy and won't put you to sleep. The chapters have been divided up nicely. Not to long or not to short.

This book is full of wonderful theorems and other facts about geometry. But don't miss an equally wonderful book of his - The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Numbers. When I semi-retired several years ago, I gave away many of my math books, but I would not part with these two.

This is my favorite David Wells book. Scads of illustrations motivate hundreds of interesting branches of Geometry. Much of the information in the book was new to me, such as the 14th tiling pentagon. This well-researched book is top-notch.

I was asked to enrich a school geometry course. Not much came off the top of my head. After discovering this book, I had so many leads I can enrich for years! It gave an insight into every topic covered in the standard course. It adds so much for those who want to teach more than just a method to get an answer.

This book kept my interest the intire time. Not once did i put it down. It really makes you picture everything

For a person who is not extremely fond of war stories, I found, to my surprise, that I could not set the book aside. The stories are truly moving, and I felt as if I were in the shoes of the author. The author does a beautiful job of balancing the intense, emotional aspects of war and the more enjoyable personal experiences of traveling and forming new relationships. This delicate balance gives the book an honest and realistic feel, while giving the reader an interesting representation of what Vietnam was really like. I wish all such books were as candidly and genuinely written as this one.

While apologetic about his "accented" writing, the author smoothly and simultaneously blend the clinical with the emotional. Perspectives and comments are incisive and his familiarity with American history surprising. While observing the progressive transformation of an immigrant into an American citizen I also sensed rebellious knuckles in smooth surgical gloves. Riveting, upfront, entretaining, sad, funny. You may not agree with the politics but the facts are irrefutable. An excellent read.

In order of publication, this is the 5th book in the Richard Sharpe series , but the 11th in a "timeline". As such , the author Bernard Cornwell has smoothed out his writing style to give Sharpe a lot more depth of character and a three dimensional aspect lacking in some of the earlier adventures.

In addition to Richard Sharpe ,Major Hogan , Wellington , and Patrick Harper , there are many interesting new characters introduced--La Marquesa (Helena) , Lord Jack Spears , "El Mirador" , and of course a vile villian , Colonel Laroux. All of these characters are artfully blended to achieve an exciting military adventure in which our hero Sharpe is gravely wounded ,and is rescued by his friend Patrick Harper. After being nursed back to health , Sharpe seeks his vengance against the man who wounded him.

The plot of this story involves a possible comprimise of the intelligence network of Major Michael Hogan and the possible exposure of his top agent , the mysterious El Mirador. Colonel Laroux , sent by Napoleon Bonaparte himself to destroy El Mirador , proves to be a ruthless enemy devoid of any honor. To reveal any more than this would indeed compromise the book's enjoyment for the reader , so I'll stop right here.

This volume seems to have it all--excitement,intrigue,romance,and of course the inevitable battle action! Of the 11 volumes I have read in timeline order , this one is right at the top of "my list" along with "Sharpe's Tiger" and "Sharpe's Triumph" for sheer entertainment value and excitement! Five stars and highly recommended.

I have been reading the Sharpe series "mostly in order". Sharpe's Sword, to my taste, was the best so far. Cornwell had really matured as a writer by this time. I would not have expected a description of a near-fatal wound and its effects on a character we absolutely KNOW is going to survive to be so riveting and stirring. As always, Cornwell's closing historical note is like dessert after a fine meal, or perhaps more correctly like the moment where a magician steps back to reveal his secrets -- and you're left more in awe than ever, wondering, "How does he do it?"

I keep lists of the 20 to 40 books I read each year (anal, eh?), and this is the first in years I've given a full 5 stars. (I even forgive Mr. Cornwell now for the only regrettable book in the series so far, "Sharpe's Battle".) Highly recommended.

Why did I like this book?
*Excellent adventure
*Thrilling intrigue
*Exciting military strategies
*Extraordinary camaraderie
*Vicious villains

I don't know pick one...I enjoyed Bernard Cornwell's "Sharpe's Sword". The year is 1812, the location is Salamanca Spain. It is here that General Wellington must battle the French forces for the Western portion of the peninsula. Wellington's goal is to defeat the French, Sharpe's goal is to survive and be with his men. Captain Sharpe finds himself surrounded by spies and treachery, friends become enemies and enemies become friends. Sharpe can only place his trust in his faithful chosen men or in the doughty Major Hogan. Everyone else is suspect. Unlike the other Sharpe books, "Sword" doesn't spend a lot of time with the battles. Sharpe is drawn into a different battle field... the battle field of palace intrigue. Before long Sharpe is sharing the company of the beautiful... and mysterious La Marquesa. He battles the evil Colonel Leroux. Leroux's claim to fame is his usage of torture and cruelty. Along the way Sharpe is shot, lied to and very nearly stabbed by the same sword he covets.

I started with the PBS/BBS series, graduated to the audio tapes and now have read most of the novels. I wholeheartedly endorse the Sharpe series. It's great entertainment.

The pictures are great.Alas the binding ruins some great moments in KISStory,too bad because what you can see is great.Perhaps a re-release with better binding so we can what we missed.

This book is the perfect counterpoint to Dale Sherman's "Black Diamond", which provides all the information you need about Kiss but no pictures. "The Kiss Years" gives you exactly the opposite: there are a few "behind the scenes" stories, but it is the pictures that count. This is a definitive collection of photographs of the most photogenic rock band in history. Other books try to provide a balance between pictures and information. Don't compromise: by purchasing this book and Dale Sherman's you'll get the best of both worlds.

I loved this book I must look at it once a day! I think the stories were fun to read and they weren't mean spirited just stoies. I havr been a Kiss fan since 1977 and They always have and always be the most visual band in history. So if you love Kiss or you just love well taken pictures this book is for you!

I was impressed. My girlfriend has been trying to get me to get out of the country for an experience that wasn't available here. I was given an opportunity to go on an archaeological dig in Peru and after fighting the negatives of leaving for 3 months, I was given this book and within 24 hours of finishing it I was in my bosses office with my initial proposal to go. It was great. If you want to know how the Leave went...I will let you know in August.

If polls are to be believed, nearly 70% of people with incomes of $40,000 or more a year (that's tens of millions of people out there) fantasize about taking time off from work (besides the standard 2-week vacation). Well, my wife and I were two of those people just a few years ago, feeling tired and burned out after almost 10 years in our jobs, and just basically in need of a break big-time. Plus, some friends of ours had taken a year off to travel the world, and we thought that would be awesome, since we both loved to travel and wanted to do a lot more of it before we "settled down" or got too much older. But how? I'm not saying it was simple or for everybody, but it CAN be done, and Six Months Off helped show us how.

Actually, my wife and I ended up taking MORE than 6 months off (by 2 months, to be exact). During our time off, we were on "Leave Without Pay" from our jobs, which we negotiated with our employers, but were still covered by health insurance. Mainly, we traveled: around Central and South America, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. We also took immersion Spanish classes and lived with local families in Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Ecuador, took some time to travel the United States (mainly through Kentucky, Tennessee, and down the Mississippi River to New Orleans). We rented out our condo, put our stuff in storage, called the IRS to find out what we needed to do as far as taxes were concerned, and found someone (my father) to handle our finances/personal affairs while we were gone. In all of this, Six Months Off was a great help in planning, as well as in knowing what to expect in terms of expenses and a million other things, including adjusting back into the "real world" when our sabbatical was over! Budgeting (we didn't go broke) is important, of course, as is health care, insurance, and having a job when you get back (although some decide to just wing it and look for a job after -- or more accurately, IF -- they come back).

Basically, we probably could have figured most of what we needed to do on our own, but Six Months Off (and other resources, like friends) were extremely helpful in making things go more smoothly. Many people dream of taking time off to pursue a dream, but very few actually do it. Six Months Off shows you how you CAN do it, and leads you through it step by step. I strongly recommend this book, and I strongly recommend taking Six Months Off if at all possible! What an amazing experience!

I found Six Months Off to be a phenomenal help in planning a sabbatical. The book gave me an an entire, but concise, philosophy or way of thinking about my sabbatical. The book also gave me a concrete and useful strategy for planning the sabbatical, covering ALL the bases from how to tell my boss to how to save money to places to help plan the actual time off and, then, finally for how I could re-enter the work force again. Truly phenomenal. The authors, led by Hope Dlugozima, have hit a home run with me.

The southwest United States is a geomorphologist's dream... There's not a lot of green stuff covering up the beautiful geology! This book details the geologic features of Death and Owens Valley, CA. It gives the geologic history of features while succinctly describing the details of the processes that brought about these features. The Tufa Pinnacles in Searles Valley, the alluvial fans in Death Valley, the interesting history and development of Gower Gulch, the mysterious ascent of desert pavement, the glacial morraines and routes of the Tahoe and Tioga Stade glaciers at Convict Lake, the Mono Craters (Domes), Fossil Falls, the Alabama Hills and more. You'll even get the heebee jeebees when you read about the monstrous explosion of Ubehebe Crater! Certainly one of the most interesting and pleasurable books I've read in ages! Highly recommended for ANYONE who plans a trip to California's awe-inspiring Death Valley and environs! A must have!

Most years we vacation in Mammoth. This book describes a number of convenient and interesting side trips to take with the family. We wander around, sometimes visiting the same features, sometimes visiting a new site. Always appreciating more & more of the world around us. My children have a much better feel for geological processes and their impact on the landscape than do their peers.

The book starts with a five page description of Eastern California's geological history, then jumps into 30 sites of interest, nearly evenly distributed between Death Valley & vicinity and the Eastern Sierra & vicinity. A glossary, "Sources of Supplementary Information," and an index round out the book.

Each site receives its own chapter, replete with photographs, maps, geological diagrams, and even driving directions, as needed. I'm not a serious geologist, but landscape features fascinate me. The explanations that the authors give work well for me: I can understand them well enough to explain them to children.

If you're interested in how the land has been shaped, if you're willing to turn off the tube & make contact with the natural world, then this book is for you. One of the best "field guides" to geology I own. One of my favorites, too. (The companion volume, GEOLOGY UNDERFOOT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, is also an excellent book).

I've always had an interest in geology, but have had only a little formal education in the subject. I've also been to Death Valley and Owens Valley a few dozen times. The accuracy and attention to detail in this book along with the vivid descriptions often made me feel like I was back there as I read. On more than one occasion, I could replay what I had seen when I was out there as I read (in some cases picturing things that I had hardly taken notice of when physically there). The many photographs and diagrams also helped immensely. The occasional touchs of humor made reading fun, and it being a series of vignettes, it's easy to cover a chapter in a short time and not worry about setting it down until later. I highly recommend this to anyone with an interest in geology and how the area got to be what it is today, and you don't have to be an expert to enjoy the book.

It is nice to see new geological tour books come out. This is a good book for both the novice and the professional. It is very hard to present geology to a novice without losing them with the technical end of the profession, and yet the author's pull it off. The trips are great for weekend exploration in southern california.

This book has triggered day-trips & camping expeditions in our family. I've had the pleasure of leading my children and their friends to moments of discovery and learning & shared wonder and beauty with my father--all based on this book.

It starts with a six page description of SoCal's geological history, then jumps into 20 sites of interest. A glossary, "Sources of Supplementary Information," and an index round out the book.

Each site receives its own chapter, replete with photographs, maps, geological diagrams, and even driving directions, as needed. I'm not a serious geologist, but landscape features fascinate me. The explanations that the authors give work well for me: I can understand them well enough to explain them to children.

If you're interested in how the land has been shaped, if you're willing to turn off the tube & make contact with the natural world, then this book is for you. One of the best "field guides" to geology I own. One of my favorites, too. (The companion volume, GEOLOGY UNDERFOOT IN DEATH VALLEY AND OWENS VALLEY, is also an excellent book).

(If you'd like to dialog more about this book or review, click on the "about me" link above & drop me an email. Thanks!)

If you've used the "Roadside Geology of..." series, this is a bit different. It's more of a "sites of interest" type of book. It lists 20 sites in the southern California area, from Mammoth Lakes out to the coast, and south to Needles and San Diego. The sites are wonderfully explained, with aerial photos, illustrations, and maps. This is definitely aimed at the casual tourist, with very little knowledge of geology necessary. As a professional Geologist, it's one of those books I'd give a non-Geologist friend.