I finished reading Ina May's Guide to Childbirth about a week and a half before the due date of my second child. I was motivated to have a different, more natural birth experience than with my first child. The birth stories told in the book were so inspirational, and the medical information so helpful. I referred to the book throughout the end of my pregnancy, for advice when confronted with an "overdue" baby, and when contractions started but did not form a pattern for more than 24 hours. More importantly, the advice in the book was at my fingertips and in my heart during labor,allowing me to have the birth experience I was hoping for. Ina May's belief that "your body is not a lemon" is evident in the birth stories told, and the research she shares serves to justify that stand. I credit this book for giving me the information I needed to make wise decisions during my pregnancy, and for inspiring me throughout labor. This book is a treasure,and the information within essential for women to know! It is also beautifully written and enjoyable to read.

As a childbirth educator(Bradley Method) I am adding this book to my required reading list. Ina May Gaskin has shed new light on our understanding of the birth process. Clear explainations for the little known psychological and physiological aspects of birth combine with pratical labor techinques and healthy pregnancy information. She is one of few authors to include Dr. Tom Brewer's pregnancy nutrition research, and other ways for women to take control of their own choices for birth. A must read for any woman who is pregnant, or thinking about becoming pregnant!

Anyone associated with the childbirth genre knows of Ina May, and her many devotees have been waiting a long time for this book. It couldn't have come at a better time, as legions of today's women voluntarily turn to the tricks of modern obstetrics, notably epidemic epidurals.
I'm a retired midwife (and author of Baby Catcher, a modern midwifery memoir), and feel I learned a good bit of my craft by listening to Gaskin speak, visiting The Farm a bazillion years ago, and reading and rereading and rereading Spiritual Midwifery. But much in obstetrics has changed since Spir. Mid. was published; at that time, natural childbirth was all the vogue, and Ina May was sort of preaching to the choir. Now, oh lordy, now things are very, very different. Cesarean rates hover around 25-30% in some hospitals, and the epidural rate is twice that. What are these women thinking??
It was by studying Ina May's 'style' that I realized the power of teaching by parable: the power of story-telling. Women's eyes glaze over when they're lectured to, but their attention is rivited by birth stories. In this Guide to Childbirth, Gaskin deals with the changes in modern OB and offers ways to get around the routines. But she once again relies on her story-telling techniques for getting across her central message: If you're surrounded by people who believe you can do it and who support your own belief that you can do it, then guess what? You can do it.

I just couldnt pass up the opportunity to review this book. It is probably one of the cheapest books of it's kind and yet it is the best of it's kind. I am not kidding when I say that with this book and a good dictionary and phrase or text book you could become fluent in spanish. It covers Verbs so simply and efficiently that you learn the most important conjugations for each type of verb all at once in just a few pages. (Which means you are not trapped in the present tense because your class or text hasnt yet discussed preterite or imperfect or future).I must also add that it has an excellent review of idioms in the back and the best coverage of Articels el, lo, la that I have ever seen, and I have many books on spanish. Now before I go you must trust me when I say that I am being completely objective and that I am well acquanted with language study and learning (Japanese, Chinese, French, Korean) because this is the best book available on the subject, and spending more money will not get you anything superior to the coverage in this book. If you are thinking about buying it DO IT! You wont regret it (Oh by the way I am the only child in a spanish speaking family who didnt learn spanish growing up but I now speak it more than well enough to get by, in large part because of this little yellow book!)

This excellent little book provides the reader with brief but thorough coverage of grammar and verb conjugation. It is the only book in my collection that covers the proper use of 'Santo, Santa, San.' It also provides very clear explantions of the different verb tenses and moods. The explanation of gramatical rules is very clear and each is provided with an example.

This book is a reference manual, and provides no exercises. However, it covers several rules and topics that I have not found in any other work. It even has brief sections on correnspondence.

This little text provided all the necessary basics to start from scratch and get to a fluency sufficient for simple but not overly simple conversation. I found this little book more useful than a 'phrase book' for learning to get along in Latin American countries. It makes it possible for someone who has not studied the language in any depth at all to converse in the past, present, and future, rather than just in the present, as many tourists tend to do. This book provides the basic framework to the language that, along with a small dictionary and some practice, may be all you need for learning at least a rudimentary spanish.

We live (as western Europeans or Americans) in a culture where “war” is something far away, usually on the other side of a TV screen. Our kids are living sheltered lives – and often we would like to see them even more protected. So, if it’s always difficult to understand the motivations behind a soldier’s will to fight, it’s even more difficult when the soldier is a 18th years old girl. Born and bred in a cultured family, she could have easily avoided being involved, and instead escaped to choose the worst kind of war – partisan duty behind German lines on the Eastern Front, paying the ultimate price for this choice. There could be a strong potential for the worst rhetoric on the “beauty” of patriotism and self-immolation, but “Defending Leningrad” (another entry on prof. K.J. Cottam series of books on Soviet women’s role during WWII) avoid these simplifications, giving us an invaluable insight on a teenage mind reacting to the reality of conflict.

“Defending Leningrad” is actually a collection of writings. The emotional core is the diary and letters of Ina Konstantinova, the above mentioned teenage, who volunteered to join a partisan brigade stationed behind German lines on the Leningrad front from 1942 to 1944. She worked as a scout collecting intelligence on German troop movement, was arrested several times (always escaping fortuitously), and finally was killed while covering her comrades retreat when her unit was surrounded by German security troops. It’s a remarkable document in its sparseness, its simple, almost banal candour.

Before the war, we see Ina being emotional after reading Victor Hugo “The Miserables” (typically, she idolised Jean Valjean but despised Cosette) and Jack London “Martin Eden”; daydreaming on her future; getting romantic – all summed up, being a very ordinary teenager of her time. The was comes as a big shock, but in her heart Ina seems to be unchanged, at least until her boyfriend is KIA on the front. This event, plus a confused desire to “do something more” – and a not-so-vague longing for independence and adventure – precipitate her choice. The letters to her mother and sister and her diary’s entries from the front reveal a mix of emotions: fear, homesickness, pride for her role but also horror for what she’s seeing – and not always confined to Nazi’s actions, see her reaction to the execution of a collaborationist. She does what she can to reassure her mother that after all everything is OK, that her dad (actually, the Intelligence Chief of her brigade) is protecting her. She’s hardening (at one point she remarks matter-of-factly that her “bodycount” amount to 15 Germans killed), but even if she tries to hide it, the war hardships are progressively taking a toll on her resolve. She never doubt that what she’s fighting for is right, but her unexpressed desire to find again the pre-war serenity is highlighted but the banality of most of what seems important to her – her family well being, getting food and clothes, her young sister’s studies. The abrupt ending of the document seems only to highlight this loss.

Ina’s diary (originally published as “The Girl From Kashin”), is not a literary masterpiece, and you’ll not find the harrowing passages of Anne Frank’s famous book. But this – in my opinion – just add to its sincerity. And compared to it, “Defending Leningrad” other sections are more problematic. The first is Ina’s father tale on his daughter predicament. It’s an interesting counterpoint, but raises more questions that it solves: was he right? Torture and a painful death were the usual fate of captured female partisans - doubters can look the pictures a page 71-72 of Erickson’s “Eastern Front In Photographs”, and remember that such horrors happened even on the Western Front. How could a father rationally send his daughter to face such risks, even for a cause that he sees as good? Ina’s dad never answers, and this silence is revealing: but truth is that we don’t have an answer as well.

The last two pieces are straightforward narratives dealing with the fate of two of Ina’s comrades-in-armes. “Masha’s Birch Trees” is a short story on the life – and death – of Masha Pryvayeva, another partisan scout that was captured and gruesomely executed by German troops in summer 1942. It’s a sad piece, and seems to underscore the problems I mentioned before (Ina, sent in mission together with Masha, barely escaped the same fate). The last, "The Secret Of Zoya Zuglova”, tells us of a girl who did spywork for the Soviet “socialising” with German officers, just to be tortured and executed when caught.

Prof. Cottam’s translation is impeccable, as impeccable are the notes punctuating and explaining the text, giving us the correct historical perspective to evaluate a book that is, without doubt, an exceptional document on the history of partisan warfare on the Eastern Front.

K. J. Cottam's books are invaluable. This topic has been so neglected by historians in the West, and Cottam's books have done much to rectify the situation. They are a must read.

"Defending Leningrad", formerly published as "The Girl from Kashin", ought to be required reading for Holocaust History, right alongside "Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl" and "Because of Romek". Ina's journal, and her father's post-humous tribute are extraordinary -- precisely because the Partisans were, in fact, very ordinary Soviet citizens. Ina's diary in her own words is heart-breakingly intimate and a very powerful account of one young Lenigrader's resistance against the blockade.

Charming and personal stories, a great antidote to stress. The perfect book to dip into at bedtime as a guarantee of sweet dreams.

Insightful, captivating glimpses of life. Once I began reading"Pawprints," I found it hard to stop. A respite from an increasingly cold and technocratic world.

After you get a massage for your body, a cool drink for your thirst, pick up a book that has an upbeat point of view and will delight and relax you as did your massage and lemonade. What a treat to find a book that makes you feel good without guilt provoking how to's, offers some smiles and the point of view of an obvious animal lover without saccharine anthropomorphism.

I have, forever it seems, truly struggled to regulate my weight, engaging in a never ending battle with the scale and my capacity to endure semi-starvation and related forms of deprivation (e.g., grapefruit one day, tomatoes and steak the next). Eating has become over the years I realize, a guilt-laden contest in which I have attempted to outwit my body in a tense match of caloric intake vs. pounds accumulated. In my quest for the downward trend of numbers on my scale, having subjected myself to more than my share of fad diets over the years, I have nevertheless always been aware on some level, of a tiny nagging voice within my consciousness quietly but persistently suggesting that my manner of proceeding has been less than healthy and quite possibly even dangerous in the long run. It seems that I had nearly forgotten, except for that tiny voice, that the purpose of eating is to nourish oneself. I have recently come upon the Denburg's comprehensive, well-researched and enormously sound book, "The Diamond Diet". The book has impacted me greatly, providing the appropriate perspective and direct guidance necessary to feed myself and my family in a realistic and yes, healthy manner. I have responded to the wise counsel presented in the Denburg's book by taking a hard look at my food lifestyle and making some significant changes in how I shop, plan meals, provide snacks and in general think about the entire concept and process of eating. Quick weight loss? No. However I trust this book and the constructs presented about both exercise and eating, and view the contents as a lifestyle plan which feels right, balanced, sane and nurturing. It's about time. Many thanks to the Denburgs.

I discovered this book while searching for natural way to cope with arthritis and several other age related health problems. Costly medications only seemed to exacerbate my condition by adding additional negative side effects. And I dreaded surgery with its promise of a cure, having seen so many disappointments with friends. My unhealthy physical state was making me an unhappy person and affecting all areas of my life. But I knew I couldn't just think the troubles away so I started looking for practical help. I needed some gentle advice and something I could trust, not more harsh medical treatments or another expensive "quick fix." Since I was overweight, I started looking for a diet plan. That's when I hit on The Diamond Diet and it has made all the difference. For the first time, I have found something non-threatening I can work in my own way. And it has become fun believing I can change the entire style of my life for the better as I get healthy. Unlike so many other diet programs, this one gives an honest appraisal of the field up front along with the real scoop on vitamins and food additives, and it combines a number of basic lifestyle activities - healthy eating, exercise, and mindful living. I feel the authors are talking directly to me as a person, providing valuable information, encouragement and support, but allowing me to change my way of living gradually. Their guide offers me a lasting alternative rather than a fast prescription that I know won't last. I now keep the book at my bedside and find something interesting to set my course by each day, one day at a time. When I have a question, I go to their friendly site on the web.

I've been confused for years by all the conflicting claims of what diet is based on reliable science of how humans should eat and the best way to lose weight and keep it off. How can people be expected to understand and decide if they should be embracing or avoiding whole groups of foods; and even if it's true that you can lose weight by eating according to a particular plan, is it healthy in the long run? Is it something you can sustain as a lifestyle change, and not just in short bursts? Is it something you can be proud of, or feel like you've found a loophole in the system? This book is the right balance of education, inspiration, moderation, and calculation. It presents a wealth of information in a friendly way, leads the reader through a very do-able process where you not only lose weight, but understand nutrition simply and clearly. It helps the reader find the common denominator between the protein diets, carbo diets, and so on; de-bunks the misleading claims and uncovers the roots of where diet gurus have been over-enthusiastic, confusing the public in order to claim a truth. The book is a living document, tied into the authors' website, which creates a virtual support community and provides ongoing feedback and encouragement. The whole program is a balance of theory and practical exercises ,building an important intellectual foundation as well as a day to day lifestyle which supports eating sensibly for a lifetime. Disease and being overweight are conquered along the way.

"Ashana" is a beautiful, powerful novel ... this little-remembered clash of cultures and peoples is brought to life with startling precision thanks to Roesch's haunting prose and eye for detail. Buy this book!

Jeg leste boka mens jeg var i Australia. Denne boka er ikke å oppdrive i Norge, det burde den bli. En helt fantastisk opplevelse å lese denne boka.

One of the best resources for historical documentation of native life and folklore in the Kenai/Kasilof area. Historical photographs are included in the book from 1890-1920. A true classic in a special place on my bookshelf. I highly recommend this book to all students of Dena'ina and local history buffs.

This is the collected writings of Peter Kalifornsky, a Dena'ina Athabascan elder who, in order to write the book, first had to study and help create the written version of the Dena'ina language, and then went about writing down all the stories of his cultural language of Dena'ina. Peter wrote the stories in Dena'ina first, and then translated the stories into English. The Dena'ina translation appears on the left pages and the English translation on the right pages. It covers the full spectrum of cosmology of the Dena'ina culture. A great resource for anyone interested in understanding about one of the most successful subsistence cultures ever on Earth.

In this very concise book (only 130 pages), Rubinstein gives the reader a great introduction to the average Palestinian refugee's attachment to the land of Israel. If you want a very easy to read, informative introduction to the attachment of Palestinian refugees to their homes this is the book to read. I highly recommend it!

That this book is out of print is unbelievable to me. It could help so many, today and tomorrow, to understand the Palestinian culture in a way I've never read about in any other book. Mr. Rubinstein is a revered Israeli columnist for Ha'aretz News and acknowledged as the leading Israeli "Arabist". Though his columns are information, this book is truly alive with visual images no where else to be found, with insights so critical for Americans and Israelis. How Random House allowed this timeless book to have only a short shelf life is really astounding and upsetting to me. Try and get it Used and then add your review to mine. You won't be disappointed; this book is a true gem.

This book was a pleasure to read - insightful, interesting and well written. If you enjoy understanding the history of what you are visiting, this book is definitely worth your time. Read it in advance AND take it with you to France to re-read as you visit these wonderful places. My only regret is that her journey (and the history lesson) ends too early. Perhaps Ms Caro's next journey will take us from the French Revolution through World War II.

Mrs. Caro has managed to deliver a plan for a trip to discover the best places in France and yet provides the reader with interesting , formative and delightful insight into French history. The human element is always present , and her trip could be anyone's trip,the author's obvious knowledge of history gives a real feeling for the stones she describes,and yet take on a life to themselves through her decriptions and explanations. Mrs Caro has managed to make the trip interesting, informative and above all respectful of events and the time line is simply fantastic. This book is worth the investment not only for the historical part which is a gem, but as a planning tool for a discovery trip. I speak from experience for I used her book to plan my 7 weeks trip in France last fall.It was a success , and in many ways thanks to the suggestions found in this lovely book.

After traveling through France many times by auto ,this book made a already wonderful experience even more wonderful.Ina Caro made all the wonderful things to see in France valid for me with her insights into there amazing history.Yes you car is your time machine in France let Ina ride with you.

Great book for all levels.
Ina and Allan Marx run a great faux finishing school that has spawned this great book. Complete
and through it a bible for novice to expert painters. Not only do they teach you the technique, but alos
how to "look and see" the item you are painting from nature. They are true professionals and
above all both are excellent teachers. I have taken their classes, and as there is no substituion for
taking one of their classes, this book is a great how to guide if you can't take one.
Excellent. Their knowledge of teaching and superb knowledge of faux painting marry in this books.

I have a library full of books on painting techniques but this and the Finklestein book are the two that I consider "must haves." While most new books on decorative finishings repeat and repeat and repeat . . . the same pedestrian information on faux treatments, these give much more indept information on the techniques involved.

This is a wonderfully thorough book on creating the highest quality specialty painted finishes. It is advanced enough for the serious decorative painter while the instructions are detailed enough to allow the amateur or novice to try these techniques with outstanding results. The interior designer will also find it to be a valuable source book for fresh exciting design ideas.

Overall, the projects are more sophisticated and time-consuming than those in most books. A great deal attention is paid to tiniest details that make these finishes really stand out. The instructions are excellent, showing you how to create each finish step-by-step with a complete text description and demonstrative photos. Complete material and supply lists and recipes accompany each project.

The book starts out with the basics such as materials, safety, surface preparation and finishing coats. The glaze section is next with information on multi-layer glazing, novelty effects and techniques for glazing in small and large areas. There is great chart of problems and solutions and another on how tools affect glazing as well.

The simulation of marble and stone follows. Here the author talks about the formation and replication of stone before going on to the projects, which include fifteen marble and stone types such as malachite, granite, red levanto and French grand antique.

The section on graining is fantastic. It contains the most in-depth information on graining I have found anywhere. There is an analysis of patterns, a discussion of color, techniques for creating knots, troubleshooting section and color swatches of straight gained wood styles. There are over 20 wood types covered. Some include American oak, Brazilian rosewood, orientalwood, burl and birds-eye maple.

The final section of the book talks about setting up a professional practice. It contains financial planning, estimating, sample-making and much more. The appendix gives a great list of sources, lists English and metric equivalents and has a nice glossary of terms. If you want to create truly professional looking finishes, this is the book to get.