As the father of three sons and a daughter, I began to read this little book with mild curiosity which soon developed into keen interest. The "thoughts on living" which it shares should not be viewed as gender-specific, especially today when there are so many single parents who must be both mother and father to their children. Some readers have found this book to be inspirational whereas others have found it thought-provoking. No doubt at least a few have found it "cute" or "simplistic." I am grateful to Smith for sharing his own thoughts (many of them in the form of an aphorism) which he coordinates with thoughts from other sources, notably from the Holy Bible.

After I reading this book for a third time, I had a few thoughts of my own. First, that I wish my father had written down his own thoughts about various subjects (such as those listed in this book's Table of Contents) prior to his death. Also, that I should attempt to do that for my own sons and daughter...or at least audio-record those thoughts. Will they be as inspiring, thought-provoking, etc. as those which Smith assembles in his book? Who cares? That's not the point.

With so many quote books on the market, it's such a treat to find one that has such well thought out meaning and direction. This author didn't just write a book to sell...he wrote a book for sons to read. This is a book for all men.

I just received my copy of "A Father's Thoughts" and it is a great encouragement to me. As a husband, father, veteran, hard working and patriotic American I find Walt Smith's words very uplifting and true. This is a book you could use for daily motivation. My last name is Smith, but we are not related. However, the positive inspiration is something everyone could use and I am glad to share the same name! This is a great gift book!

I can say that I am the only one reader who is worriest to read this book.Oh my God,I got this book in the library first at the begining of 1999.In a week,including day and night,I read this lovest book from first page to the last page for my much hungry.And then,the second time to read it for its deep meaning and interesting history of homeobox gene.I think this book is too short to satisfy the reader like me for waiting it so long time.I hope Dr.Walter J.gehring publish another book on the homeobox gene in the future.Please let him know there is a reader waiting for his new book.This strange reader is a Mongolian( a minority in China) and he is even dreaming to become his student or a volunteer in his lab.I can promise htat this book is the most important one for the developmental genetics and the molecular genetics.Please read it as soon as possible.

One of the most famous scientists on the homeobox genes research on the world:Dr.Gwhring will give us a excellent book on the homeobox genes which will be the second one.I think publishers should publish more and more books like this,because this kind of books are too limit to be used.I am researching how to use this homeobox genes to the improvment of farm animals such as Mongolia sheep and the other animals.THe multivertebrae sheep among the Mongolia sheep is resulted from the mutation of Homeobox genes and this multivertebrae animal can produce more meat than the normal one on the same age and on the same envirenment.The multivtebrae sheep's vertebrae number is more than that of normal animal by one to two for thoracic or lumber,so can produce more ribs and meat and less fat.The book on the homeobox genes will be help us research the priciple of the genetics on this animal and undstand how the genes work on the vertebral animals and how the evolusion processeed.I believe that this book will be wellcome by all the develpmental genetic workers on the world and produce much more homoebox funs like me.

Good luck to this book and good luck to the homeobox genes.

I love this book, I wont let my friends touch it. It's totallyworth the dollars, it tells you about the greatest NFL players ever. For example: Steve Young, the best left-handed Quarterback ever,and Jerry Rice, the greatest all-time wide receiver ever.

As a book for four to eight year olds, I give it a three. As an adult, I give it five stars for an average rating of four. If you`ve never been to Harlem, or even New York, never met an American of African descent, if you`re too young to have heard of the likes of the Cotton Club, the Apollo, people like Sugar Ray, Langston Hughes, Lady Day, or even Malcolm X, your mama has a heck of alot of explaining to do: too much for the brief span of attention only just long enough to look at the pictures and feel the music of the poem. In terms of just words, I suppose this fits in the 4-8 reading level. However, as a work, this is more likely to be understood and therefore appreciated by older people. My kids, five, and seven, were completely mystified by the poem, although they loved the beautiful compositions that make you wish you could touch them. Having lived in Washington Heights, I can explain some basic things to them, but not enough. The ability to understand and appreciate this book is beyond their capacity at this time.

Walter Dean Myers is certainly better-known for his chapter books for children than for poetry. That being said, "Harlem" offers an insight into the place as well as the man. African-American culture has long had a close relationship with poetry and Myers cements that friendship. Kudos for a job well-done!

For teachers, this is a must-read during African-American History Month in February (as well as any other time of the year).

I thought this book was great! It's a book that anyone can read. This book not only has beautiful pictures, but seems to teach you a little about Harlem. I think this book should be read by all ages, because it is FANTASTIC!!!!

I found this book as good starting reference. If you just have minimal idea on computer you may try this. I looked for internal view how windows XP system working. This book doesn't do it.
It the first time I disappointed from SAMS publishing.

In the world of outlandish marketing hype, the phrase "significant improvement" is bandied about like news years resolutions among pathological liars. However, in the case of Windows XP it is true. As a user of all previous versions of Windows, I have settled into a standard ritual of morning and afternoon reboots. However, with XP, that ritual is slowly being retired, as I can now go days without a reboot.
There are many other substantial changes in XP, the most pronounced of which is the appearance of the desktop. This, in combination with the additional functionality, means that more effort is necessary if you are to use it efficiently. I had no trouble making the transition from Windows 95 through all other versions up to and including Windows 2000. However, when I purchased Windows XP, I felt the need to consult a reference manual, so I read this book. It was a wise decision.
This is not a book for experts, the focus is on showing experienced users of GUI systems how the presentation style of XP is structured. With it, you can very quickly learn how to use it, what the differences are and if necessary, how to revert back to the classic view. The sections on how to configure the machine for activity on a network and how to troubleshoot the system to avoid failures and increase security should be read by all but expert users of XP. Microsoft has been justifiably bashed for the lax security of their software, but not all the blame is theirs. Users must spend the time configuring their systems so that at least the screen door is latched to restrict entry.
If you have years of experience in the Windows environment, then you can probably use your instincts to learn the nuances of XP. All others should find a quality resource to consult, and this is one you can reach for with confidence.

I am the lead author of this book and would like to disagree with Arie Shenar's review. It seems to me that she is looking for, to quote, an "internal view how windows XP system working." This book is not a book about Windows XP Internals. If you desire that kind of information you can purchase very good books that will give you the programming APIs, etc. You can also visit msdn.microsoft.com (or subscribe to the service) and find a vast amount of online information about all Windows operating systems. While this book does cover how virtual memory addressing and preemptive multitasking work, it is not an internals or programming book. To the best of my knowledge Microsoft does not release the "internals" or code of their operating systems. If so, I'd like Arie to let me know what she finds! Instead, this book is intended to make it easy for the reader to quickly start using the newer features of Windows XP, and also touches on some subjects experienced users will already be familiar with. I don't know what other Sams books that Arie has purchased, but I can say that this book is right up there with previous editions of the Unleashed series devoted to operating systems.

You pay a price when you become a popular writer. What is that price? Simply, it means being ignored by academia as a serious writer of literature regardless of how many awards you have won. Terry McMillan is one of the many writers who has not been taken seriously by the literary establishment because of her popularity.

Terry McMillan:A Critical Companion begins the process of taking a critical look at McMillan's work and shows us that McMillan is not only a popular writer but is the creator of a new genre in romance literature. In the first part of the book we are given biographical information regarding McMillan. From there her life and the context of her literary works are given a detailed overview. Finally, her books MaMa, Disappearing Acts, Wating to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back are analyzed thoroughly.

How refreshing to see a popular author given such close scrutiny. You find out that her books are not just fly by night romances but encompasses social, political and economic issues dealing with relationships. McMillan's popularity gave rise to urban romance, a genre that was never explored. McMillan also opened the door for Black Romance fiction that was never on the scene in mainstream publishing houses. Her impact as a writer and pioneer of a new genre has been underestimated. This critical companion opens the door for discussion, debate and relection about romance literature, the portrayal of Black male and female relationships and the future of a new genre. It is well worth the reading and having in your own personal library as you explore McMillan's works and their significance.

As a student of eastern religions, I found the book to be a little heavy on the mathematical lingo, and a little difficult to fathom as I do not claim to be a mathemetician with a clear understanding of chaotic systems and their behavior. However, the comparison made between the I Ching and DNA is one that is intriging and is gaining wide interest in "eastern" intellectual circles. For more insights into the I Ching/DNA link, I also recommend Terence McKenna's "Invisible Landscape" and also his book "The Archaic Revival".

Katya Walters discusses some very interesting parallels between, Eastern views, art and modern science. I think this allowed me to really understand the rhythm of things in nature including ouselves as humans. You can read an even better and interesting account of rhythm in nature (including human nature) in Rhythm Relationships and Transcendence by Toru Sato. I think his work was influenced by Walters but he has taken it a couple of steps further. Nevertheless, Walters' book is still a very interesting account on the general rhythm of chaos and order and well worth a read!

Anyone who doesn't like this book does not understand it. "The answer is simply as your level of understanding makes possible", Star Trek. As a student of physics and the I Ching I could not believe someone else had been that deep in the well of Chaos and the I ching. I applaud Katya and encourage any deeply inquiring mind to check this one out. Thin threads connect great things.

I reread Canticle for L recently and found this book as well on the shelf so read it... definitely not the same style as the first and written in a very different context. It's interesting and led me to read about the author and why this book was published at all... and why his work is so limited. The context of the first was a very real fear of nuclear annihilation during the 50's phase of the Cold War... the context of the second is said by some to be the life of the author. It's a timely read in the context of 2002, with RC church scandals along with people considering the winnability of nuclear war in South Asia. It's also occasionally difficult to read due to some signs of it being a little hacked up over years of writing ... a somewhat confused use of dialects and out-of-context variants of person's names... and the not completely invisible hand of the 'editor'.

First, forget Saint Leibowitz. His only major appearance is on the title page. It's a hundred years or two on from the events in the second section of "A Canticle for Leibowitz." The Nomad hordes of the plains, and the clergy of the captive church in New Rome, have grown restive under the yoke of Texark. Something's got to give.

In this book, we have a large fragment of what would have been a superb novel. It doesn't have the youthful energy or the tight plotting of Miller's earlier masterpiece. And had he survived to complete and polish it, I suspect it would still lack those qualities. SLATWHW is much more a work of realism. If it moves slowly and wanders loosely, well, real life - and especially real history - are like that, too.

As we now have it, the novel breaks a few implicit contracts. First, we expect the on-again, mostly off-again love story between Brother Blacktooth and the mutant AEdrea to reach some climactic reunion or breakup. Despite the transparently tacked-on final chapter, it does no such thing. Second, we expect the forces of unambiguous evil, the Hannegan empire and its lackey churchmen, to be defeated by the forces of ambiguous good. It doesn't work out that way. Third, the Church with its supposed monopoly on miracles, and AEdrea with her secular wild talent for healing, are on an obvious collision course. No showdown comes. Though the book does have its boring stretches, I think it's this cheating of expectations that accounts for many of the one and two star reviews here.

But for all the strands left untied in the personal hopes and fears of the main characters, Miller leaves no loose threads in the four-dimensional world he has imagined. If you want to get the greatest pleasure out of the book, for instance, don't make the mistake of lumping all the "Nomads" together. Each tribe has its own history, customs, leaders - and by the time you're halfway through, you'll realize there *will* be a quiz.

What kept me reading was the density of the imagined cultural and political detail, and the fully rounded portrayals of the two main characters - Blacktooth and the ambitious Cardinal Brownpony - each full of contradictions, each always recognizably himself. The supporting cast, from the (unfortunately ever mysterious) AEdrea, to the mystical headsman Axe, to the holy fool who becomes Pope Amen II ("We should always be ashamed to speak of God in the third person"), may not be as complex, but they are worth getting to know.

Lurking in the crevices of SLATWHW is a five-star work. If only the hermit of Leibowitz Abbey had loaned Miller a few more decades of his longevity! But as it is, I rate it at three and a half stars. The writing is spotty, and too much stays unresolved. Fans will be left peering into the face of this volume, only to pull away saying, respectfully but sadly, "It's still not him."

If you loved the post-apocolyptic world of 'Canticle for Leibowitz', you have to read this. It is too bad Miller did not produce more. I loved 'Canticle' and had to read this sequel. This story takes place about 70 years after the middle section in 'Canticle' (Fiat Lux), and delves deeply into the politics and religion of the fictional future, much more so than its predecessor. Actually, the result reminded me more of 'Dune' than 'Canticle'--the nomadic tribal people rising up against the controlling empire and the religious people moving between the two, stirring up trouble. Where 'Canticle' had the broad view, basically taking us from nuclear devastation to nuclear devastation as history repeats itself, this book focuses very closely on a few compelling characters serving a papacy in exile for a few years during during an era when technology hovered somewhere around that of our 19th century. And Brother Blacktooth is one of the finest characters in literature that I have read in a long time--trying to find love (both God's and woman's) in a crazy and confused time.

I have removed one star for length. I cannot help thinking that if Miller had lived to publish this, it would have been more concise. Still, this book demonstrates what a storyteller Miller was.