Mostly Michael is a book about a boy who is eleven-years-old. He recieved a diary for his birthday and felt it was a stupid gift. Everyday he tries to write in it telling all of his thoughts and feelings. He goes through some very rough times. He dad works a lot and he has to help his pregnant mom with the housework and a little sister who can be a pain. Michael is pretty close with his grandma. He loves it when she comes to visit. She teaches him all sorts of way to make Mindy, his sister, behave. When the time comes for his mom to have the baby, his dad is out of town and it is Michael's responsibility to help his mom. How will he do it? Read to find out what he does for her.

Mostly Micheal is so good. I would recomend it to peoplefromfifth grade and older because some parts kids would be very imbarassedabout.(I'm age 11)

This is the best day by day account of a young boy that I have laid my hands on. We learn about the daily events that shape eleven-year-old Michael's life, from the trite stuff like weather and what was for dinner, to the wonderful, heartwarming events like welcoming in a new sibling. By the end of the book, you will feel like you have gotten to not only know Michael very well, but will also have become his friend. A must read for children of the junior high school age.

This book is an essential edition to the small publisher's library. Smith teaches self-publishing at the University of New Orleans and practices what he preaches. This book is best read before embarking on a small publishing project, then referred to as specific issues come up, such as dealing with postal authorities or manuscript prep for electronic publication. Highly recommended.

Now available in an updated second edition, Gary Smith's Publishing For Small Press Runs: How To Print And Market From 20 To 200 Copies Of Your Book is a hard, candid, practical look at the serious obstacles to the economic viability of small press publishers. The most profound problem confronting the independent publisher or self-published author, is that small presses lack economy of scale, i.e. they are publishing fewer numbers of their book(s) for with a higher per unit cost. Informative and insightful chapters specifically address how to make the best of small press economic realities and still turn a healthy profit by carefully controlling costs. Publishing For Small Press Runs is an absolute "must" for self-publishers or executives of small presses who seek to profit from tens to hundreds of books, rather than the more traditional tens of thousands of copies traditionally produced by the large corporate publishing houses.

Publishing for Small Press Runs is all about writing,producing, selling and promoting your book. The really excitingrevelations are about the new electronic pre-press procedure, PDF formatting and digital printing. Gary takes you through the growth of independent publishing (there are 55,000 of us out here), how to set up your publishing business, how to get a copyright and otherwise protect your work, how to build your manuscript and, finally, ways to market your finished book. The book has lots of resources with Web URLs. END

The Secret is an unusual book. It looks at the relationship between God and man from a standpoint that most people have never considered. The computer editing could have been a lot better and this is why it is a 4-srar rather than 5-star book.
It is only about a three hour read , and WELL WORTH THE TIME .
I AM GLAD I HAD THE CHANCE TO READ IT.

The Secret by Michael Smith is a wonderful true story of courage, family and faith.The author takes us on a ride to a place where few have been, and lived to tell about it...the brink of death. Although scarey at times, it is is heartwarming and funning at times. I hope every physician in the world reads this book and learns from it! This is an amazing story of a true miracle...and I think anyone who reads this will believe in them from now on! It gives the reader the hope that we all need, and proves that there is no such thing as impossible!

This book takes a very unique approach to the idea that God is among us today and working miracles. It is a true story about a man who was faced with certain death after being comatose gor a long time and being sent home to die under the watchful eye of hospice. It is an amazingly entertaining book about how God saved his life and his soul.

Tom Crean's life deserves to be told, but may never get fleshed out fully. There is just not enough material available for a good in-depth biography. Crean wrote few letters and left no interviews or diaries for a biographer to use. He was mostly uneducated in the sense of a few years of schooling. The author of this book has admitted in a past interview that due to these limitations, as well as until recently the forgotten Shackleton & Endurance saga, Crean didn't warrant a biography! The information about Crean and his polar experiences with Scott & Shackleton have been covered before in many books. A few years after the Endurance expedition ended in 1917, Crean retired from the seas, got married, and opened a pub in Ireland, the South Pole Inn. He apparently never spoke much of his polar days. I was mildly disappointed with this book, expecting more than I received. It's worth a read- the story of that heroic age of polar exploration is amazing and absorbing no matter how many times you read it, and you are left with much respect for Crean and his fellow explorers who lived through such incredible experiences.

I've read almost every book I can find on Antarctic exploration and without a doubt, this is one of the finest. Tom Crean is always mentioned in books about early Antarctic epics but we've never really got to know him and what kind of a man he was. Michael Smith has done a fine job in tracing Crean's life from his early days in the Navy, his subsequent trips with Scott and Shackleton right up to his final days as a Pub owner is his home in Ireland. This is the kind of man you'd want whatever your expedition might be. He was brave, strong, honest, trustworthy and humorus, no matter what the circumstances. A great story about a real hero!

Tom Crean survived several famous Antarctic adventures of the Edwardian Era, and yet is hardly mentioned in most of the popular Antarctic Exploration books. Michael Smith does a fantastic job telling Crean's personal history with humor and understanding, while giving insight into the expeditions, the explorers and Antarctic History as a whole. This is a must-have for polar enthusasts (or shall we say, PolarGeeks?).

This was a myth-busters book, at least for me. I thought American individualism, and the emphasis on personal choice, undermined the strength of churches. After all, if people don't like what their getting, they can just hop over to another church. Smith says no: because people in modern America choose their communities, they tend to be more committed to them.

I thought corporate and bureaucratic, mass culture, which trains people to be distant and driven, undermined their ability to be in community. Not so, says Smith. It only makes people more hungry for personalized, intimate, community like the church.

I thought, a la Dean Kelly's classic _Why Conservative Churches Are Growing_, that evangelicalism thrived because it gave people an alternative world to live in. No way, says Smith:

"American evangelicalism ... is strong not because it is shielded against, but because it is--or at least perceives itself to be--embattled with forces that seem to oppose or threaten it. Indeed, evangelicalism ... thrives on distinction, engagement, conflict and threat. Without these, evangelicalism would lose its identity and purpose and grow languid and aimless. Thus ... the evangelical's movement's vitality is not a product of its protected isolation from, but of its vigorous engagement with pluralistic modernity."

As in the beginning, Smith argues, mainliners are engaged in society but do not see themselves as distinct from it, and fundamentalists know they're distinct, but they never meaningfully engage culture. Evangelicals thrive in the in between place: embattled AND thriving.

Smith offers many more insights on evangelicalism today. (One more I though fascinating: in abandoning its strictures on card playing and going to movies evangelicalism hasn't been co-opted by culture, as some critics argue. Instead, new evangelical boundaries have been drawn that help define the "real" evangelical--listening to Christian rock, not observing Halloween, and the like).

There's enough to argue with, as well. Smith, for example, doesn't think the dominant evangelical social strategy (changed lives will change society) is very effective. I agree that many people are called to do more than change individual lives. But I'm not sure a sociologist can measure the impact of this strategy one way or another. And anecdotes to the contrary abound: the preacher who converted Billy Graham made a huge impact on American culture.

Quibbles aside, Smith is to be credited with getting this historian to do something I steadfastly avoid: commit sociology. If you want to get fresh insights into modern evangelicalism, you may want to do the same.

--Mark Galli, editor, Christian History

Chris Smith's book challenges the stereotypes that many people hold about Christians, particularly evangelical Protestants. I was, frankly, surprised by the sheer ambivalence of evangelicals that Dr. Smith interviewed; these people are clearly not the tyrannical demagogues that many believe them to be! Journalists, academics, people who are truly committed to tolerance and open-mindedness, and serious religious thinkers should read it--period--just to have a deeper understanding of a vast segment of the American population. Dr. Smith presents an information-packed, refreshingly nuanced picture of American evangelicals. It is a book that deserves attention, particularly for those who are interested in religious anthropological questions, but also for those who are serious about having their stereotypes challenged. Mine were.

This is a good book that can help young kids with thier problem sovling skills. its is about Blue not knowing where his bookbag is so he must go through the house and find "clues" that will help him find his backpack. my little brother could listen to the book over and over it never gets boring for kids of that age. on the tv show it gets kids involved in it so they dont get board watching it

the book is great i found it exciteing and wonderful and i love all the cplorful pages.

My sons love this book. Every page has something for kids to figure out. They can find where everyone is hiding and figure out what close up picture belongs to which person. It's good book for any fan of blues clues.

My sons love Blue's Clues and everything to do with it. Theylove this book too. We have read it many times. Not many stories haveMagneta in them so I think that is one reason why they like this book.

Over-all this was an easy to read and understand book. The special teams aspect of the book lack 5-3's on the power plays and penality killing.

This book is laid out in a well organized easy to read format that explains and describes systems and special teams options for every zone on the ice.

I was dissappointed that 5 on 3's were not spoken of from a power play and a penalty killing perspective. These can win and lose you hockey games. Overall though, it is and will be a good referance book for coaching.

My son is the head coach of a Tier 1 girls hockey team. This manual has been invaluable for developing plays, systems and a players manual. I highly recommend this to any serious coach.

The book's subtitle, "Tradition and the Historical Record," sums it all up very well.

The authors take an amazingly detailed look at the traditional history of the Mormon Church (pre 1830 for the most part), and compare it closely with contemporary documents. (i.e. property deeds, census, etc.)

In order to really understand this book, you may consider using a whiteboard to draw out the timelines. This should help you to understand the contradictions between what the traditional record is, and what historical records reveal. Otherwise, you will probably have a potpourri of dates shuffling around your head.

Very detailed and difficult to get into.
It belabors chronological events to the point of boredom. This said, it is a necessary exercise to determine the timing of events such as the First Vision of Joseph Smith, the visit of Moroni, etc.

Just don't read it passively. It's insightful and mostly balanced.
Though it does rely heavily on Eber Howe's biased affidavits regarding Joseph Smith's involvement in treasure digging. I remain unconvinced of their inherent historical value.

An in-depth look at Joseph Smith's world and how it shaped the founder of the LDS. An interesting read for those interested in Mormon history.

Good labor and a hard sweat aer earmarks of a good book. You must credit Wesley for the detailed footnotes that pepper this book, and make it firm in all things.

Things change, and I guess that is the essence of Mormonism. All is not what it was, but we can live with that since we know it is wrong.

This book is totally on the mark, since ther eis transion, change, and evolution, and Mormonism's progess is evidecne of its falsity. Good cannot get better.

On page 27, the page number is missing, and the word "Moroni" should be "Alma." The index was rather weak for my staste, but the binding held up as is cross-refernced the informatiopn with my otehr books. YOu can never have too good of a binding in a book.

This tape is well done. The sound effects create an atmosphere that draws in the listener. The actors are dramatic, but not overly so. The short stories themselves are well written, delivering edge-of-the-chair suspense (or knee-slapping comedy, as the case may be).

As most net surfers are aware the Sci-Fi Channel's web site has included a section devoted to science fiction radio drama...Seeing Ear Theatre. One aspect of which includes originally produced productions cerated especially for the site and which has featured performances by many well-known SF actors as Micheal O'Hare,Mark Hamill,Marina Sirtis,and others. With a few exceptions, a lot of the dramas are based on recent short stories by SF writers such as Terry Bisson, Allen Steele, John Kessel and Gergory Benford. With the release of this audiobook editon(which includes introductions by SF's resident angry young{sic}man Harlan Ellison)now one can listen to these stories anytime you want. The best stories(IMO)are the Three Odd Comedies and The Death of Captain Future (which despite the pulpish-sounding title is a darkly humorous tale set in the future history of Steele's previous works such as Orbital Decay and Clarke County,Space). If you like audio drama-- especially newly produced audio drama...you'll love this collection and you may also want to check out Vol. 2 which should be on sale soon(I know I can't wait).

WOW what a story! Brian Smith could sell this as a short story by itself it is so good IMO. I just wish they sold a hard copy of these writings--not just audio! I have been reading Sci Fi for a long time. This guy is great! Reminds me of 2001, a space odyssey a bit. Worth the price just for this one folks! I noticed there are no other books by Brian Smith for sale on Amazon. What's up with that? He needs to write books, and Amazon needs to sell them--geez, do I make myself clear?