I have this book and have read it. I think it's wonderful how Lilith McLelland explains the finer points in magick. She makes it easier to understand then any other book I have read. I hope she comes out with another more advanced one.

This book is a must-read for beginners and non-beginners alike. The lessons and techniques found in the book are easy with great results. Its a very sensible piece of work and the spells are very easy to follow. I highly recommend this book to all practitioners :)

I bought this book with the intention of giving it to my 9yr old daughter in a few years, but this book is written so well that I'm ready to give it to her now. The information contained in this book is extremely well thought out and contains a wealth of easy to read information. Good for young readers and people at all levels of magickal knowledge!

You might think that the title of my review refers to this man's life changing experience, but in fact I'm speaking of the life changing experience that has been reading this book. Dan Shapiro truly is a brilliant man and he wrote a complex, insightful book. I think the title is misleading, but the story more than makes up for it. It's almost as if the book is interactive; it makes you think back about many things, and can be very humorous at times. When he said he knew his daughter wouldn't be alive today if it weren't for his mother's talking to a stranger, it took me a while to realize he was talking about the woman in that first waiting room telling his mother to save sperm. I like that, that way that Daniel Shapiro has about writing this book. It was one of my favorite books, if not my favorite book, that I have ever read, and I would absolutely love to see a sequel of some sort. (This is the kind of book that once you're finished reading you feel like you've known the author all your life and you wish to meet him.)

If you know someone that is or has suffered through cancer treatment, you owe it to yourself to read this well-written first-hand autobographical portrayal of Dan's personal story. Even if you don't know someone that has gone through the experience, this book is a must read.

At times I laughed out loud at Dan's Woody Allen-like wit, other times I found myself in a dazed stupor wondering how anyone could go through what he went through. His characterizations are heart-warming, his attention to detail is splendid, I am amazed at how vividly he was able to tell his story.

Mom's Marijuana is a fast read with many short chapters (similar to the many Chicken Soup books). However, all of these short chapters weave an intricate trail in chronological order (for the most part) from Dan's breif discussions of his youth through the finer details of cancer treatment.

This book educated and inspired me. It also raised my understanding of a terrible disease to new heights. Do yourself a favor, stop reading this review and just buy the darned book. You will not regret it. You da money man, Dan.

I picked this book up in the biography section of my library.
I was about to have my knee operated on and wondered if I could find a good book to read during the days in bed not moving. Well, I was moved by this book.
It is one of the best books I have ever read.
You almost feel like you know Dan through his setbacks and triumphs.
You'll laugh. You'll cry. You will fall in love with this wonderful book.

Mr. Don Chaon's work, "Among The Missing", lost out to, "The Corrections", for the best work of fiction for The National Book Awards, I have not read the winning novel, however it must have been very good to share company with these dozen tales. Many of these stories while not mainstream America are all too familiar. Mr. Chaon takes some very common events and makes them noteworthy with their conclusions.

The stories are not narrow variations on a theme, some center on an event, others on a group, and still others on individuals. The opening story, "Safety Man", would seem to belong in the category of the surreal from the comments on the book jacket. It is an altogether serious look at how loss is mitigated, and how solutions/substitutions that are not readily apparent can be legitimate. "Among The Missing", that also titles the book will bring memories from the real world to mind at once. A family outing in their car could not be a more normal event. The final locale continues to include the entire family much as they started out, however with a great mystery and tragedy as the destination.

One of the stories that stood out in my reading was, "Passengers, Remain Calm". This story veers away from its title immediately and barely makes it back, or not, depending on your interpretation. A carnival again is an event that is familiar to the majority of readers, however Mr. Chaon sees this event through a relationship, and does so through his unique view. In this and others stories that struggle to rise above melancholy, or worse, even here the spin leaves the reader feeling ambivalent.

This is the first time I have read this man's work, and I will certainly pursue more. This is not a book that will lift your spirits, but I don't believe that was his goal. He offers a grim view that is all too familiar.

I am not typically a reader of short story collections, there are usually too many mediocre efforts thrown in with the odd good one. What a pleasant surprize to find a collection of superb short stories, no duds in the bunch. These are not happy tales, most of them are odd, unnerving and even disturbing. Something or someone is "missing" in each story. The reader is taken on a sometimes shocking, sometimes subtle ride through the secret thoughts and actions of it's characters. My personal favorites were, I demand to know where you're taking me, Among the missing and Here's a little something to remember me by. If you are a reader of short stories (or not), you will not be disappointed with this effort.

In most "good" short story collections, the "great"-to-"clunker" ratio seems to run about 50-50. Let's face it. It's damn hard to come up with a dozen good-and-different ideas, situations, and/or conflicts; people these situations with compelling and well-drawn characters; and provide some sort of satisfying conclusion in about 20 pages of copy. Many published collections even get by with one or two decent stories (aided by a fluke publication in "The NewYorker"), and the rest are not-ready-for-prime-time "filler." So, turning the pages of Dan Chaon's collection, "Among the Missing," you might feel like you've fallen into some great dream. Story after mind-blowing story, you keep waiting to wake-up to reality, to finally hit a clunker, but it never comes. "Among the Missing" truly deserves the superlative kudos blurbing its book jacket, (and it probably deserved the National Book Award, as well).
There is something or someone "missing" from each of the stories in this perfectly-titled collection. Although not ghost stories, the characters here are plenty haunted - most by a deep sense of absence. "Safety Man" touchingly paints a young widow's dependency on an inflatable version of a man to protect her family and herself, now that her husband is gone. In "Passengers, Remain Calm," another man has abandoned his family, leaving his eight-year-old son fatherless until his conflicted younger brother steps into that role. In the wonderful, "I Demand to Know Where You're Taking Me," a woman is haunted by her imprisoned brother-in-law and the knowledge of his guilt, and takes-out her lonely rage on a nasty-mouthed parrot. And, in my favorite of these great stories - "Here's a Little Something to Remember Me By" - an adult man recalls and relives the disappearance of a teenage friend, and the secrets about the missing boy that he's never told, and never will tell.
It's a great treat to find a short story that dazzles you, shocks you, touches you, makes you laugh and is written with elegance, power and beauty. Finding a dozen of them - as you do in Dan Chaon's "Among the Missing" - is amazing. This collection is an amazing literary accomplishment.

I strolled into EB one day, and upon purchasing Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (great game, by the way), they had this book at the counter. I was really happy and a bit sad as well: my last few bucks just went into Persona 2: EP. But a couple days later, my dad had heard of the book through my constant ramblings and picked it up for me as a gift. Happy like a Moogle with a Kupo Nut, I was. Final Fantasy IX is my favorite game, I loved every second of it. Not since Secret of Mana for the SNES have I loved a game this much. There are drawings of the main characters; non-playable characters; monsters; villages, castles, and dungeons; items and equipment; CG scenes; sketches; air ships and worlds--all of which are rich in both beauty in detail. Final Fantasy IX fans will notice the transformation the characters went through the most when they get a glimpse at their earlier sketches. They early drawings were much more life-like and had a more traditional Japanese look to them (especially Steiner); just try to picture them without their super-deformed look and you'd, for the most part, get the picture (Quina, Vivi and Eiko being the major exceptions). Personally, I think they should have left Amarant with the beanie. Much better than the red weave they gave him in the end. Another bonus is the few drawings you get of parts in the game that were cut. None of what was cut was a serious loss (a house here, a house there), but it would have been nice to have had them in the game. Still, at least we got to see them. Not all the charcters made it into the game (where's Cactrot?!), but they managed to put a good number of them in here. And, well it might be really picky of me, I kinda think the selection for the cinemas could have been better (that scene were Kuja was bleeding would have been nice... heh, not to mention more pictures of Garnet), but what they did put in was good enough. There were a lot of drawings that caught my attention (Garnet on the cover came to mind on that thought), but my favorite was on page 66, there's a picture of a black mage standing at the graveyard in the Black Mage Village. Pretty sad, actually. Anyway, at 159 pages (that might seem like a so-so amount, but when you see how big the book is, you won't think so) of beautiful pictures, you'll definitely love this. Saying this is a must for Final Fantasy IX fans is a bit cliche (not to mention obvious), but it's true, and not only that, but this is a must for fans of just art in general. I love that I can open this book up and relive my favorite Final Fantasy IX moments any time--definitely don't pass this up.

I love this artbook... I mean LOVE. I'll admit that when I first saw it in my local EB store, I just passed it up for a certain RPG because I thought that it would be chockfull of ONLY Amano's art (no, I'm not a fan of his artwork), but a few weeks later, it started to grate on my mind. I REALLY wanted the book. The cover art was beautiful, that's obvious to see. Garnet looks incredibly GORGEOUS on the front cover. And the beauty of the book does NOT stop there... it continues to get better. Concept art, character art, worldmap art, etc etc. I regret not getting this sooner >^^< Ah well, I have it NOW, and that's all that matters. It does include some Amano art, but I personally think that his character designs for FFIX is the best out of all the other Final Fantasies. And yes, that is saying a lot considering I'm not a fan of his works to begin with. Anyway, digression aside, I'd recommend this artbook to a fan of beauty and of course, of Final Fantasy IX/Final Fantasy in general ^^;

The Art of Final Fantasy IX shows off the artwork from the proclaimed video game. The book contains all types of artwork, from characters designs, transportation designs, backgrounds, enviorments, weapon designs, and 3D renders.

Whether you're a Final Fantasy fan or an artist with interest in seeing great character designs as well as enviorments, this is a great book to look at. It also shows off final renders of the characters in 3D. A must have for any animator's library.

For the title alone, I would read this book since it recognizes that anything that happens to a person, or any experience, affects the heart and soul as well as the attitude and perspective, all of which are required to be reconciled in order to trust another, and to entrust oneself to another. Few recognize the extent to which the heart is so wholly involved in anyone's personal experience. Truly, each person can be thought to have a "purple heart" that thrives from passion, and/or resists pain. This should be on the cardiac book of the year list for an award given the nature of anxiety, its causes, and the probability of physical and emotional disturbances that result from not recognizing the degree to which the heart is involved in healthy living, a design worthy of the soul's honor and need for self help. Because all abuse is, and can be, sexual abuse, or more specifically, human abuse, the book is pertinent to everyone, to heal or to help.

I read The Wounded Heart and its workbook six years ago before I ever became a Christian, never imagining the impact these books would have on my life. Now I conduct Wounded Heart Workbook studies at my church. Dr. Allender understands and is sensitive to the dilemas and pain victims face in adult-hood and offers a sensible real-life approach to healing. While the self discovery always involves pain and grieving, the issues are handled with love and fresh creativity. Each time I go through a study, I uncover deeper levels of understanding my past and greater hope to face the future whole and intact. I've also developed friendships and trust with other victims that I will treasure for all time. We are finding that spouses are now reading the book and joining our studies also, sparking renewed tenderness and communication in stressed marriages. Now I am free to laugh harder, love deeper, and care more. Thank you Dr. Allender!

I must admit I was surprised when I read this book as I had already read 11 other books written on this subject matter. I didn't think I would get anything "new" out of this book but I was blown away by the revelations I received while reading it! I suddenly realized this book described exactly how I was feeling and the conflicts that were raging within my soul about what had happened to me as a child. Excellent book, I would recommend it for child abuse victim's no matter how many years have gone by. It explained things in such a way that I finally knew why I acted and responded to people in the ways that I do today, 36 years after my abuse occurred. I hid behind a self preservation mask because the truth of what happened to me when I was a child (now many years ago)was always carried around with me like unwelcome garbage. That memory "garbage" should have been thrown out for the garbage pickup years ago but I had kept it hidden inside me, concealed from everyone else's view. However, of course these hidden memories still smelled to high heavens hidden inside my soul behind a public mask that really only was fooling myself and no one else after all. Although my family and friends had no idea what the deep problem was in my life, I am positive they all still could tell that I was hiding something too painful to share from them behind my "mask"!

This book was extremely well written, and being a hockey fan myself, I am always interested in finding new fact, figures, and the like. I was pleased at the way it informed me on everything that has happened in hockey. Everything trival anyone would want to know is in here! Statistics, players, history, you name it, it's in here. I highly recommend this book to anyone with an appreciation of the hockey players in all countries who entertain us everyday and to anyone that's a fan of the coolest game on earth!

Since 1983, the copyright of The Hockey Encyclopedia by Stan and Shirley Ficshler, I have eagerly awaited an updated version of this incredible reference book. Finally-the masterpiece of them all. Comprehensive section on the History of the game and the NHL and tons of stats. The greatest thing that sets this book apart from others is the trades and tracking of each player. Who went to what team for what player or what player was selected for a traded draft choice. The ultimate trivia at the tip of your fingers!!

This book can tell you everything you every wanted to know about hockey and the tradition of hockey. You get to see so many stats about all the teams and the players of the NHL. A must have for all Hockey fans and players of the wonderful game.

In this classic work, John Bunyan paints a detailed picture of the Christian life/walk, giving true-to-life insights and experiences. The despair, sorrows, trials and temptations that a believer may face are depicted in an allegorical manner, as well as the hope, joy, and salvation found in Jesus Christ. The main character Christian (once named Graceless) sets out on a lifelong journey from the City of Destruction, where his family disowned him, and encounters many persons and difficulties along the way to the Celestial City (heaven). The characters he meets are given names that reflect their mindset or what temptation they bring. At times he stumbles and at times he perseveres, but all by the grace of God. The second portion of the book tells of the conversion and subsequent sojourn of the wife (Christiana) and children of Christian. The discussions of Christian in the first part and Christiana and her companions in the second part are very interesting, as they defend their faith and explain their purpose to those they meet along the way. The book is quite different from your ordinary novel, and has many interesting words of wisdom for the Christian life. Readers should be aware that some of the language is antiquated and has unfamiliar usages, so its a little bit of an adjustment to read.

"The Pilgrim's Progress" is a classic Christian text written by John Bunyan. Written in an allegorical format, the two-part story focuses first on "Christian", then on his wife "Christiana" and sons. Convicted of their own sinfulness, the characters set out on the journey to salvation at the Heavenly Gate. Characters such as "Honesty", "Great-Heart", and "Faithful" aid the pilgrims on their journey, whereas they face trials from the Slough of Despond, Vanity Fair, and the Valley of the Shadow of Death.

Getting through the book takes some work, less because of the story and more because of the depth of the allegory. Also, the dialogues between characters regarding salvation and righteousness often require a careful read. However, the story is exceptionally creative and thought-provoking, and the lessons that can be gleaned from it are timeless and worth the effort that needs to be expended. I recommend reading this one at least twice.

A letter to Marvin Minsky about this book:

I urge you tolook at a remarkable book by the English Puritain John Bunyan(1628-1688), "The Pilgrim's Progress", which is one of the great evangelical Christian classics, though clearly that is not why it interests me and should interest you (although I AM interested in the puzzle that is the religious sense, which even the irreligious feel, and this book can give remarkable insight into that as well).

Rather its fascination lies in the pilgrimage it depicts, or in the fact that human traits, vices, virtues, &c are PERSONIFIED as particular individuals who are their living and speaking epitome, and who are encountered along the way in revealing situations.

Bunyan's hero is appropriately named Christian. Someone once wrote that "Christian's journey is timeless as he travels from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City, meeting such characters as Pliable, Talkative, Giant Despair, Evangelist, Worldly-Wiseman, Faithful, Ignorance and Hopeful."

At first this personification is merely amusing, even a bit annoying (as caricatures or truly stereotypical people can be); but after a while I found myself enthralled because I realized that the effect of this odd literary device was to give unmatched insight into the nature of such traits. The force of the whole thing comes from the fact that one journeys about in - literally INSIDE of - what is both a comprehensive and finite moral and psychological landscape (a "psycho-topography"), very much as though one were INSIDE the human mind and your "Society of the Mind" was embodied in the set of actors. This is more or less the opposite or an inversion of the 'real world' of real people, who merely SHARE those attributes or of whom the attributes are merely PIECES; in "Pilgrim's Progress", by contrast, the attributes are confined in their occurrence to the actors who are their entire, unique, pure, and active embodiment, and humanness, to be recognized at all, has to be rederived or mentally reconstructed from the essential types.

The effect, for me, was something like experiencing a multidimensional scaling map that depicts the space of the set of human personality types, by being injected directly - mentally and bodily - into it by means of virtual reality technology.

So Bunyan's book has something of the interest to a psychologist, neuroscientist, or philosopher that Edwin Abbot's "Flatland" has to a mathematician.

I don't mean to overpraise "Pilgrim's Progress", of course; it was written for theological rather than scientific purposes, and has conspicuous limitations for that reason. But its interest to a student of the mind who looks at it at from the right point of view can be profound.

- Patrick Gunkel

Honus & Me By: Dan Gutman Would you like to read a book about Honus Wagner? What about baseball history? Well here it is. The book is Honus & Me. It is a very interesting book with a lot of facts about Honus Wagner. Joe Stoshack loves baseball. One day when cleaning up his next store neighbors basement Joe found a Honus Wagner card, the most valuable card in the world! In the middle of the night Joe wakes up and face to face with him is Honus Wagner. Now they will go to the past with Honus Wagner. They will go on the one of the greatest journeys ever.

Honus and Me is a great book. It's about this little boy named Joe. He loves to collect baseball cards. One day he bought a pack of cards and found a one-of-a-kind Honus Wagner card, What he didn't know was that the card had a special power, ( You need to read the book to find out)

My favorite character was Joe. He was a good kid who loved baseball. I like him a lot because I am a big sports fan also.

My favorite part of the book was when Joe played in the major league game. He got to experience something that no other kid has done before.

I would encourage SPORTS FANS to read this book. Even if you aren't a big sports fan I still think you would really enjoy this book.

The book that I read was really good. it is called Honus and Me by Dan Gutman. If you like baseball,then I think you would like this book. It is about a kid names Stosh who plays baseball, he's also a big baseball card collector. One day, he finds a Honus Wagner card! (these are very rare) Stosh isn't rich but he wouldn't call himself poor. His parents split up when he was younger and his mom doesn't make that much money. The card that he was holding was worth half a million dollars! Stosh goes to bed that night and wishes that he could go back in time and meet Honus himself. He feels a tingling sensation in the tips of his fingers just before he falls asleep. It turns out that he has the ability to go back in time! This adventure continues throughout the book as Stosh and Honus play in the world series and sign autograpghs. This action packed adventure is really good and everyone should read it. Even if you don't like baseball, you should also read other books by Dan Gutman.

To date, I've only read the chapter on Conoco's response to aiding the community in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Allison. I look forward to reading the remainder of the book over the holidays.

Dan Carison has acurately captured what I witnessed first-hand in coordinating the "Weekend of Caring" efforts that Conoco employees undertook with regards to assisting those in time of need. I still have a hard time reading some segments of this story without showing emotion...the author captures details that are forever burned in my memory. I've told many others of Dan's gift in capturing the human elements of the story - the details are an exact duplication of what I felt - the hair on the back of my neck stands out each time I read various segments of the book I'm familiar with. There truly are lessons to be learned regarding tight to impossible deadlines whether that be personally or corporately.

My hat is off to the author for capturing a remarkable story!

All of us have deadlines. Whether in the home, on the golf course or at the office. Thankfully, few have to meet the deadlines Dan Carrison has masterfully profiled in his new book. More than a history of how some well-known industry titans met seemingly impossible deadlines, Dan gives us the inspiration we need to meet our own Deadline!

Dan and I co-authored another book in 1998; he's even better on his own.

...try being the FBI on deadline to save an abducted man from his murderous captor.... Or Boeing to build a next-generation jet. Deadline! by former Marine Dan Carrison shows how top-notch organizations like these surmount seemingly impossible odds to get the job done right and on time. The principles can be applied to any office project. Thank you Dan for giving me my marching orders! This book showed me no matter how challenging the project, it *can* be done -- on deadline.