A delight for any young child, this wonderful book is filled with bright and cheerful illustrations , as well as fun rhyming.
It is full of life and action in only 29 pages.
It teaches small children, the meaning of words, as they are taught to the dog.

Finally it teaches the meaning of procrastination, as the owner of the dog, with all his big dreams for his pet, on the last page says:
'I think I'll start next year'

This is a hilarious book to read. Have you ever seen someone try to teach their dog to "kiss the goose" and "mop the moose"! It has such a great flow of words and kids will love it and parents will too! You will find your self reading this over and over. The illistrations are so cute and show the actions of the dog as you read. How would you teach a dog one-hundred words? Well read this book and find out!

Beginning with "The first six words I'll teach my pup are 'dig a hole' and 'fill it up.'" this book is absolutely hilarious. I had never heard of it before my son came along, but it is one of his favorites and mine. It is whimiscal, clever, and just plain fun: "have a care, don't paint the mayor." The cadence and flow of the words are masterful.

This nugget will surprise you. I hope you enjoy it.

Note: This review refers to an additional book, "Fearfully and Wonderfully Made" by the same author that I consider a "companion" to this one.

In both these books the authors take us into the world of medicine as seen through spiritual eyes. The parallels between our own bodies and the Body of Christ are fascinating to say the least. Read, for example, how when one area of our physical body is injured an urgent call goes out and hundreds of thousands of cells respond by plugging the holes in the walls, protecting the weak, cleansing the area and rebuilding itself. Read also how the body responds when there is rebellion loose within it. The list includes the workings of: (Fearfully and Wonderfully Made) cells, bones, skin, motion, (In His Image) image, blood, head, spirit and pain.

The reading style is very relaxed and everything is explained simply so that you don't need a degree in chemistry to understand what's going on. A special bonus is Dr. Brand's focus on his life's work with lepers which is interwoven throughout both books. If you've got an interest in how the physical body works and how it relates to biblical concepts, get these books - you won't be disappointed. -- Moza

Paul Brand succeeds in getting the reader to more clearly understand the spiritual metaphor of the Body of Christ--the church. His illumination of the design and function of our body's organs, features, and specialized intricacies both inspire awe in the body as the work of a masterful Creator and bring new meaning to Biblical concepts, such as blood, breath, head, and suffering.

I have enjoyed reading and re-reading this book over the last decade. As a surgeon, I can appreciate Dr. Brand's sense of wonder for the human body, and as a Christian, I appreciate the parallels Brand and Yancey have drawn between the human body and the body of Christ. I enthusiastically recommend this book (and its companion volume FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE).

While I was in Seminary school, the book was used for a class about Jesus and who He really is. This guide helped me tremendously. In the future, I plan to get the entire teaching package, including the videos.

This is a wonderful, life changing book. All my preconceptions of who Jesus is was changed by this book. I plan to use this book in a future Bible Study class.

A great book to cut through all the ideas of one group or church. It is above all the preconceptions of Jesus, and presents a person that is very mesterious and difficult to pigeon hole. A great book for anyone upset with the state of the christian church or christianity as a whole. It ponders questions like why christians are so condesending of those who are in most need of help. Again, a must read for all.

This book takes upon itself to critically reflect American society and its relationship to the difficulty of cultivating the fruits of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church. In each of the fruits of the Spirit -love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control- Kenneson shows how bearing each fruit will not be without difficulty, as each fruit has something that is trying to choke it out in American culture.

The book as great as it is, has some short comings. Kenneson doesn't really like the term "self-control," and akwardly struggles to define it and look for a better word in the English language. He prefers to call the last of Paul's fruits of the Spirit "continence" instead of "self-control." Kenneson's find's the word "self" a little too bitter for his tasting, thinking it takes away from the work of Christ in some fashion.

However, I think the word "self-control" works just fine if the Christian realizes that "you are not your own." So, if we say "self-control" as a Christian, we simply must understand that it's not that we control ourselves, but rather, we yield control of ourselves over to Christ. Kenneson's alternative translation of "continence" in place of "self-control" I don't believe is warranted, and is too close of a synonym to hardly be considred better replacement.

Also, a somewhat minor beef I have with this book is that while it tries to refrain from being overly academic, it is still academic enough to be "over the heads" of many readers. I admit that as a Jr in Bible college, I had some difficulty reading the book at times because of Kenneson's superior command of the english language (even though I did read the book in about half a week). I had to use the dictionary enough to be minorly annoyed (maybe I should go read again the chapter on patience!). I fear that this book will not have the impact that it could because many people will not be able to read it.

However, this book could still be a useful tool for any church bible study on the fruit of the Spirit, and I would highly recommend it. This is the second book I've read by Kenneson (previously read the must-read "Selling out the Church"), and am amazingly refreshed to see that there are still good Christian reads out there. I look forward to reading this book again.

I used this book as the text for a lesson plan I developed on the fruit of the Spirit. While I had preconceived notions about the nature of each fruit, I was unsure of what they 'looked like' in everyday life. Although Kenneson has been castigated by some Evangelicals for his pragmatic tendencies, I found his insights and practical applications to be VERY insightful and well within the pale of orthodoxy (although my Reformed brothers and sisters may take issue with his synergistic view of sanctification, but even Reformed Christians need a healthy dose of human responsibility now and then 8). This book helped me realize that cultivation of Spiritual fruit is not merely a Pauline concept to be deciphered by exegetes, but is meant to be a lifestyle. Kenneson's applications of each fruit serve to give cues for further application and cultivation of each fruit for our time. As with every book, it's best to eat the meat and spit out the bones. Here, the meat is so tasty, you won't mind feeling for a few minor bones. This book would be an ideal text for any retreat, Sunday school class, or small group that wants to study the application and cultivation of the fruit of the Spirit in contemporary life.

Among the many church growth specialists who want us to rethink the purpose of the church, the many theologians who want us to rethink the purpose of the Christian life, and the many Christian activists who want us to rethink Christians' relationship with American culture, this book stands alone. It brings us back to the basics: Our purpose as Christians is to live out and cultivate the fruit of the Spirit, a task which (the author is careful to tell us) only God can do, but which we can help or hinder. If you want to know why it's hard to have love, joy, peace, patience, etc.; if you want to know what things in your culture might be blocking these fruit; and if you want to know what a normal Christian church can do about it, read this book. The book, while more insightful than how-to, should give enough hints for practical Christians to start changing our Christian communities into places where the fruit of the Spirit is not just a memory verse, but a way of life.

Wow. At first having noted the author's vita on the cover, I wasn't certain that an individual trained "only" in chemistry and physics could adequately write a book that was "obviously" about geology. As I read on, however, I realized that Phillip Ball's intention really was to write a "biography of water" as the subtitle suggested. The book in fact contains information about water from almost every perspective: from the origins of its constituent elements oxygen and hydrogen in cosmological processes to it's social and political effects in the modern world. The book covers it all. Because I have almost a complete degree in geology, I enjoyed most particularly the geological effects of water including its effects on geomorphology, its impact on glacial formation, its effect on climate and ocean physics, etc. The author lost me a little in his discussion of the chemistry and physics of the substance, but I still found what I understood of it very instructive. Water's function in the evolution of life and in the biochemistry of cellular metabolism was also interesting to me since I enjoy studying evolution-paleontolgoy and earth history were my major focus in studying geology--and I also am a nurse caring for patients whose fluid and electrolyte status arises from the cellular effects of water.

Probably the most important messages in the book, however, are those regarding conservation and utilization of water resources. Certainly the information about the disparity of water availability and quality between the western and 3rd world countries, between urban and rural use, and between countries and states that have competing interests in a particular watershed were very enlightening. It was surprising to learn that part of the problems of the Middle East revolve around water availability and use. These issues certainly provide previews to future problems that will almost certainly arise globally in the not too distant future!

A very thorough, interesting and multifaceted book.

We live on the planet called Earth. That just shows our chauvinism and inability to see the larger picture. The planet ought to be called Water. As Philip Ball points out in _Life's Matrix: A Biography of Water_ (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux), water covers two thirds of the globe, and seen from space, water in its three different states is what determines what Earth looks like. It also determines that every other heavenly body we have been able to see looks to us like a lifeless orb. It is water that defines life for us, and when we go poking our noses into other planets, one of the first things we try to find is water. So no wonder that Ball has called this a biography.

And like a good biography, the book covers all the aspects of his subject. He goes into the origins of water back to the big bang. He shows how we found it on the moon and Mars, and of all places, our Sun. Since he is a doctor of physics, it is not really surprising that he looks at the chemistry and physics of his subject, detailing why ice expands, and why you can ski on solid water but not on asphalt. He tells how its currents run the oceans, and how we don't completely understand the molecular happenings in water flow, or in the formation of snowflakes. He tells us about the dire problems we could have if we don't start handling this most precious and most taken-for-granted resource with more wisdom. He reports at length on the foolishness of cold fusion of heavy water, or of polywater.

In short, this book wonderfully covers every aspect of water you could think of. Ball writes with humor and excellent analogies, and even when the science gets complicated, he is an excellent guide.

We live on the planet called Earth. That just shows our chauvinism and inability to see the larger picture. The planet ought to be called Water. As Philip Ball points out in _Life's Matrix: A Biography of Water_ (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux), water covers two thirds of the globe, and seen from space, water in its three different states is what determines what Earth looks like. It also determines that every other heavenly body we have been able to see looks to us like a lifeless orb. It is water that defines life for us, and when we go poking our noses into other planets, one of the first things we try to find is water. So no wonder that Ball has called this a biography.

And like a good biography, the book covers all the aspects of his subject. He goes into the origins of water back to the big bang. He shows how we found it on the moon and Mars, and of all places, our Sun. Since he is a doctor of physics, it is not really surprising that he looks at the chemistry and physics of his subject, detailing why ice expands, and why you can ski on solid water but not on asphalt. He tells how its currents run the oceans, and how we don't completely understand the molecular happenings in water flow, or in the formation of snowflakes. He tells us about the dire problems we could have if we don't start handling this most precious and most taken-for-granted resource with more wisdom. He reports at length on the foolishness of cold fusion of heavy water, or of polywater.

In short, this book wonderfully covers every aspect of water you could think of. Ball writes with humor and excellent analogies, and even when the science gets complicated, he is an excellent guide.

When "Girl Crazy," the musical that introduced such endurable songs as "I Got Rhythm," "Embraceable You," and "But Not for Me," opened in month, 1932, composer George presented lyricist Ira with a bracelet inscribed "George, the Music; Ira, the Words." The collaboration of the two brothers' collaboration produced some of the best standards and the starting point of much of the best jazz in years to come.

This book tells the musical history of Ira, Nicknamed "the Jeweler" because of his meticulous fitting of words to music, or as he put it, the construction of a music/word mosaic, the sometimes under-appreciated Gershwin wrote the clever, ironic, and always intelligent word to Gershwin tunes as well as collaborations with (Harburg, Kern, Arlen, Weill, Wodehouse, Bolton, and Duke).

As in his brilliant "Poets of Tin Pan Alley," Furia's masterfully dissects the lyricist's craft, explaining such techniques as pseudo rhymes, internal rhymes, alliteration and assonance, allusions and tone. He examines the importance of a song's "singability." Furia, as in 'Poets' traces the history of the theatre song as a stand-alone number (a la Ziegfried Follies) to its height as an integral "character" that advances the show's plot (first accomplished in "Showboat" and "Oklahoma." Finally, he shows how Ira Gershwin's style (and often his skill) was different from other lyricists of the Golden Age.

The problem is that there is a dearth of original research, especially about Ira's latter non-writing years. I wonder why the author did not interview Michael Feinstein, who befriended Gershwin in the latter year, and here receives a one paragraph cite on the next to the last page. Most of the references on the latter years come from two books alone. Furthermore, while not the life of the party like George, we don't get much of a clue as Ira's personality or personal life. Some original research into Gershwin's personal life and post-writing years would have added greatly to the book. Finally, his use of phrases such as "saying I love you in 32 bars" and "singability" is so repetitive that it becomes grating.

Still, this is an excellent book for students of songwriting and Gershwin fans in particular. There are some excellent behind-the-scenes details about how songs are written (and sometimes ruined) and it's mostly an enjoyable read. For a better overview of the best lyricists of the era, I highly recommend his earlier "The Poets of Tin Pan Alley."

I've not felt strongly enough about a book or author to submit a review before, but as a songwriter myself, I can not praise Mr. Furia's books enough. He follows the development of the lyrist or songwriter as an artist first, before their celebrity, etc. He shows how their styles changed with time and experience. I have read two of his books. I'm starting a third, and I've bought copies for my friends. I will endeavor to read every songwriter book he produces. He lets you look inside the art of the artist, yet it still reads like a story. I'd give all of his books ten stars. Thank you Mr. Furia, for a wonderful read.

A wonderful look at a most talented man. Finally someone writes about Ira rather than George. The book is informative, well written and charming. I highly recommend it. I loved every word!

This books introduces the more advanced Java topics, wich are mentioned in other books but never explained. This book explains these topics in clear and easy to understand way. If i see a Sybex book i mostly leave it in the bookstore, but this book is ok to pick up!

This is definitely one of the better (a lot better!) books on Java I've bought so far(I've got about 10 others). Explains difficult topics well. I use a more general book on Java for a general view of the language/classes and I use this one for more difficult topics which a lot of books only mention but do not explain. The use of diagrams and figures together with easy to follow explanations gives a better understanding of Java topics like streams, threads and networking.

After taking a class from Phil, I went ahead and bought his book. I have found it to be one of the best resources for general Java matter, as well as in depth discussions on advanced technologies. A+ Phil.

An accomplished book which starts with the specific manifestation of the authors kundalini symptoms and works toward embedding it in a larger and essentially new framework of spiritual maturation. The description of symptoms are accurate, detailed and very useful for comparative purposes of telling whether you are undergoing the process. The impersonal speculations about physical mechanisms that drive kundalini are interesting. St. Romain treats the entire episode with reverence, respect and awe. It was and remains a valuable appraisal of Grace for a (western) world desperately in need of new models for consciousness and aging.

I have read about 200 books related to Kundalini. This one is serious, goes to the core of the subject, and shows clarity of mind.

I have been reading books about Kundalini for over 30 years--starting with my own Kundalini experience--and Philip St Romain's book is one of the best I have had the pleasure to read. It is particularly helpful to bewildered people who were not seeking Kundalini, or did not know what it was until it awakened in them. And that it is from a Christian perspective gives it even greater weight, making it literally a godsend to Christians experiencing this spiritual phenomenon found in all spiritual traditions, but not always understood within the Christian world.

Philip St Romain's humility throughout the book gives it greater credibility and lets the reader vicariously enjoy the experience. This is one of the most helpful Kundalini books I have ever read. I would recommend it to anyone undergoing a Kundalini awakening, and anyone interested in this evolutionary energy that is often misdiagnosed and misunderstood.

This is a masterpiece in self development work.He graphically narrates the importance of travel and education.The advice to his son Phillip is both practical and scholarly. Though at times one may get the feeling of "over kill", Chesterfield has embellished and tempered the book with sound practical knowledge.
Foremost, in the steps for acquisition of knowledge, was the advice given for taking up the study of various languages, especially Latin. The book makes for compulsive reading and must adorn every library.

After reading a children's collection of Chesterfield's writings (The Book of Good Manners) I decided to get this Oxford paperback edition of the actual full-length letters themselves. Chesterfield's complete letters fill six volumes, so any one-volume edition is going to be a selection, but it was the subject of manners which made these letters famous, and this subject is mostly written about in his letters to his son and his grandson, and this edition contains 85 such letters. It also has a few letters Chesterfield wrote to various friends and associates and letters having to do with the functions of his various political career. Even if one doesn't much admire Chesterfield's advice to his offspring (for whatever reason) these insights into behaviour and human nature (in the halls of power or not) are not a bad thing to have an understanding of in your overall world-view. Despite the apparently famous and oft-quoted line from Johnson that these letters teach the morals of a dance master or a prostitute (what Johnson was probably saying was these letters describe the 'surface' of society and the insights and advice in that sense tend to come across as shallow, yet I think it's fair to allow Chesterfield to assume the potential character and substance and depth in the human beings who may practice the manners with the artistry that he describes them) some of Chesterfield's insights come out of (without trying to sound dramatic) esoteric teachings and schools, or at least border on the practices taught in higher schools. 'Tact', for instance, is a worldly word for a higher spiritual practice of seeing things from the point-of-view of other people as-well-as being objective enough about yourself that you can know what kind of impression you are making on others. 'Not expressing resentment', as well, is an art of a high order (dealing with emotional energy in general), beyond the obviousness that expressing resentment makes you look like a fool. In fact, Chesterfield paints a cumulative portrait in his letters of a human being who is not just 'going-through-the-correct-motions' but who is actually, potentially, more conscious (and capable of being more conscious) of himself and the world around him than the average human being usually is. Having said that, I'm sure Johnson saw enough trained monkeys (of the human kind) in his day fully capable of practicing these manners that Chesterfield describes, and so it's understandable that he may have cringed a little upon discovering their publication. Yet, hollow men (or mental vacuums) and fools aside these letters are worth the time of anybody interested in increasing their understanding of themselves, human nature in general, and society at any level.

While the prose is definitely that of the neoclassic, this text is filled with insight into the nature of society, relationships, business and leadership. I found a dusty old copy of this text in our university library when I was an undergraduate, and it has stayed with me throughout my life. Imagine that these are letters! Each one as carefully crafted as a published essay, and each with a specific point all aimed at the same goal: providing the author's son w/ the tools (weapons in some cases) necessary for success. Here's an example (a paraphrase, as I do not have the text at hand):

Each man is born with all the passions, but in each there is a governing passion which runs stronger and deeper than the rest. Seek out each man's governing passion, and when you have discovered it, remember never to trust him where that passion is concerned. Play upon it to your own advantage if you wish.

The text is full of wisdom such as this. I'm delighted that Amazon can find it for me.

I was given this and it's not my usual choice, but I must say I did enjoy it a great deal. There are some great moments of humour but the violence is quite offensive in places. I wouldn't say it was over the top but it is powerfully written and a strong stomach is needed.

That said, I enjoyed this very much. There's a great story and the take on vampires is wonderful and effectively chilling. But be careful, it is strong stuff.

I bought this because I've read other books by Caveney, and this is one of his best. I read it in a night and haven't enjoyed a book this much for years. Love Bites is the kind of thriller you can't out down.

I've been very disappointed with horror novels recently, but this is a restoration of faith. There are a number of elements I really love - good violence, fun, some decent heavy breathing sex and plenty of atmosphere. Parts of the book grabbed me especially, but the whole thing is superb. If it was a film, think Evil Dead 2.

Another thriller from a master of his craft. It races along at a cracking pace, and I was hooked (or is that 'drained'?) from the start. Vampires - and their novels - come in lots of forms, and this one has many new twists and lashings of red stuff. For fans of the vampire genre, this is an original, must-read new spin on a familiar theme: spread the word. It's an ebook: that's 'e' for easy to download, 'e' for an exciting read, and 'e' for eeearrghh! look out, it's behind you!