Book Corner

F.N.G

2011-12-31T12:40:00.000-08:00

Donald Bodey’s war novel F.N.G (new revised edition from Modern History Press, 2008) tells a story of a Vietnam War veteran in his words. The book depicts the psychological impact of traumatic war experiences on a young soldier, or F.N.G—the military slang for ‘Fucking New Guy’.

The protagonist of the novel Gabriel Sauers, after accidentally shooting his grandson in the foot while hunting in the wild, remembers his arrival in Vietnam as a draftee. Through his eyes, the readers see the miserable living condition of the soldiers in a land that is far from home in every sense. With time, the uncertainty of life in the war zone accumulates as Sauers witnesses many a trauma including the death of his fellow soldiers and the ugliness of the world’s most dangerous and senseless situation—kill or be killed.

The narration is raw and imparts the closeness of the misery, physical and psychological, that a newcomer experienced fighting in Nam. Bodey’s writing skill is concentrated in the imagery of the places, people, and situations that constituted the frightening experiences of its leading character. In this book, you not only read about the Vietnam War, but you see the war, smell the rotting life affected by it, and hear the silent cries of the souls thrown into a pit of horror. And by the time you get to the novel’s end, the suspicion of whether Sauers really shot his grandson accidentally makes you think twice about the deepest scars war leaves on those who “fight” it.

There’s quite a bit of military slang in F.N.G, reflected in the title, and the author has made available an online glossary on his website. While may not be an enjoyable book for many female audiences, for all people interested in serious war fiction, this novel is worth reading.

ISBN: 978-1932690590

Availability: http://www.amazon.com/F-N-G-Revised-Donald-Bodey/dp/193269059X

Author Website: http://donbodey.com/

American Elegies

2011-12-19T22:37:00.000-08:00

“Hype over substance” is the new American motto as readers are told in the prolegomenon of American Elegies (World Audience Publishers, 2008). The poet, Louis Phillips, has mourned this degradation in a unique, America-centric verse.

Phillips’ view takes for its reference Johnny Inkslinger (Paul Bunyan’s smart chef), implying a sharp eye and good consideration for the subject adopted into verse. Johnny Inkslinger engages in virtual travels, rendezvous, and memories of people, places, things, and events—all American—that left a mark on American thought. Battles, Native American land and animals, Hollywood, sports, politics, art and literature, and more—Johnny Inkslinger makes sure not to miss on anything.

The mood of these poems is mostly contemplative, and not plaintive in the more traditional, classic elegiac style. Some poems read much more critically, a few even getting satirical. But the imagery, mostly from memories of past American events, things, and places, dilutes the mood sufficiently to impart the feel of an adventurous, slightly nostalgic travel in what America has been; in what it has seen.

What makes it difficult for an average, and in particular non-American, reader is that these poems are full of allusions (not unexpectedly) to American history, icons, culture, and literature. A well-read reader, however, with sound knowledge of Americana will surely find it a treasure of thoughts connecting America’s past and its present. The ending of the books is more overtly plaintive: disappointment in America’s lack of morals.

ISBN: 0982054009

Availability: http://www.amazon.com/American-Elegies-Louis-Phillips/dp/0982054009

Wisdom to Wellness

2011-12-01T10:56:00.000-08:00

The traditional medical system treats only the symptoms of our health issues and for this, we spend a lot of our income/savings, without getting to the root cause of the problem and fixing it for good. In this book, alternative-holistic therapist Maureen Minnehan Jones shares with her readers the essence of her successful healing techniques as well as the theoretical framework for addressing the root cause of disease. Jones educates readers on the often-ignored side of all disease—our emotional self and its deep relation with our life energy, which manifest in our physical condition.

Maureen Jones’ work shows that disease is not something reducible to an external biological agent (the generally believed germ theory of disease); rather it is an expression of the deeper inner needs which have been left unattended and, quite often, suppressed. We often fail to nurture our souls with the love and trust we require each moment, leading our bodies as well as minds to a condition where they lose their natural, healthy state. How to get them in order with simple, yet vital attitude and practices is what Jones’ book achieves.

In separate chapters, Wisdom to Wellness explains the nature of a number of the most common and dreaded diseases—cancer, heart disease, HIV/AIDS, arthritis, Alzheimer’s, and Hepatitis etc—and what needs to be done to prevent and/or treat them. Each chapter on disease has one or more case studies giving an account of what it means to suffer from that condition and what it takes to get over it. The author’s writing is very organized and smooth, and it involves the reader deeply in the book’s chapters. Each chapter starts with a memorable, wise quote. The effect of the book is uplifting and its message is assuring, i.e. we can be take control of our lives if we want.

Wisdom to Wellness deserves recommendation for anyone who cares about their health, wellbeing, and quality of life.

Availability: http://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Wellness-Emotional-Sufferings-Physical/dp/184694399X

Ideas and Jellyfish

2011-10-15T12:12:00.000-07:00

Professor Askin Ozcan has named this collection of his stories and reflections Ideas and Jellyfish (Prakash Books, 2011), after one of the creative nonfiction pieces in the book—the comparison being that ideas are elusive, just like jellyfish, slipping away the moment you touch them.

The items in this book are full of wit, humor, and adventure, though not all chapters are equally exciting; some are rich in creativity and thought; some are rather plain, like usual observations. Many stories are based on the author’s adventures in different countries and cultures (Professor Ozcan being a widely-traveled person). Interesting coincidences also make some of the real-life stories more attractive. At the end of the book are some fresh jokes.

The best story, which is also the longest in the book, is undoubtedly Please, No Serious Business! Full of humor, fantasy, and gentle satire, it describes the formation of a political party consisting of comedians, who win the national elections while sticking to their motto of making people laugh. In imagination, humor, and mood, it emulates the author’s previous gem The Second Venice. This story alone makes good reason for all lovers of amusing fiction to get the book and see how far the author’s imagination can take them.

Call it the work of wit, Professor Ozcan’s amusing ideas presented in this collection aren’t so shy as jellyfish. They are likely to remain with the readers for quite a while after they have finished reading the book.

ISBN-13: 9788172343736

Availability: http://www.egully.com/products/Ideas-%26-Jellyfish-by-Askin-Ozcan.html

Skive: The Short Story Quarterly—December 2006

2011-09-29T01:04:00.000-07:00

Skive magazine by the Mockfrog Design Press (Australia) was a quarterly of short fiction presenting the work of writers from around the world. The second issue of the print version, published December 2006, includes 28 short stories from as many writers. The anthology covers a broad range of themes, styles, and moods, making a kind of a literary map of the world’s voices in storytelling.

Most of the stories in this collection are quite interesting—some, like Pankaj Challa’s Padma, inspiring compassion; some sketching a case of critique of art (e.g. The Finished Symphony: A Fable); while a few, like Hidden Monsters by Donna Johnson, showing the not-so-invisible dreads of human life that are not scary, to surprise all. There is some great, refined humor in a few stories, J. R. Salling’s Bird is the Word being the best of them. Of course, there are quite a few outright crazy ones too, like M. Wilkinson’s The Eclipse.

This Skive anthology is lovable for its diversity, literary taste, and storytelling skills in various genres. The magazine has been publishing online, and later in print, for a number of years. This issue is available online at Lulu. Editor Matthew Ward is now starting a new unique magazine called No Printer Zone wherein he means to include hand-written work—stories, poems, and visual art.

ISBN: 978-1-934209-13-4

Availability: http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/skive-magazine-quarterly---issue-2-december-2006/604629

The Death of Pan

2011-09-27T06:14:00.000-07:00

Our existence in the world as humans having bodies and minds is defined by a perpetual quest for making sense of life—through expressing and concealing, as well as interacting with various elements, both internally and outwardly. More than anything else, we are instinctively drawn to defend our ‘self’—that which is considered and felt as the valuable and, in a more metaphysical sense, the sacred. Tom Petsinis’ The Death of Pan (Penguin Books Australia, 2001) engages readers in 16 compelling tales of the characteristic human anxiety, which makes the base of the continuum connecting the biological instinct of self-preservation with the learned aspects of living in society.

These stories grab your attention since the very first page of the book in that the author takes you, the reader, as his protagonist—the tales all narrated in second person. The nameless main character “you” becomes an everyman in different geographical and social settings and experiencing various situations with a heightened consciousness, mostly getting increasingly anxious as the veneers around the protected self peel one by one with the unfolding of the events in each story. Comparing the human sense, or spirit, of protection with the Greek god Pan, Petsinis subtly strips his readers of their illusion of the human being the advanced species—traditionally perceived as reflecting the image of god—with a touch of irony. Man’s story starts out well, with hope and passion, but not for long. The illusion dies, as does Pan (the only Greek god who really dies, as the mythology goes), and what follows is beyond description—just the end of the story, as in Petsinis’ tales.

Though Petsinis’ themes and characters are more generic, his characters—or “you”—are men with a passion for the artistic, intellectual, the exceptional; they are mostly aspiring geniuses and masters of a craft or skill—individuals more than willing to shoulder the heavens. Whether they are really up to it and how they will soon worry about saving themselves from the fierce force of life make the element of interest in the plot of each narrative. In some of these stories, Anorexia for example, the causal or thematic connection between events is rather obscure; in others, it shows in each line. Stories like The Ultimate Prime and The Lion Tamer are sharply focused gems of meaningful narrative wherein readers are taken right on to the thin line between achievement and doom. One story, The Predator, instantiates the art of good story-telling and the value it holds for the storyteller—literarily and commercially.

The only thing that may bother the reader of The Death of Pan is the monotonous narration in second person. A voice, not yours, telling that you did this and went through that feels imposing at times. On the whole, however, Petsinis’ stories are not to be missed. It is a literary treasure, timeless and invaluable.

ISBN: 014100424X

Dark Side of the Universe

2011-07-21T08:46:00.000-07:00

The origin and evolution of the universe has been the subject of many a publication since Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time became a bestseller. For the most part, these books—written for the general educated reader—have remained informative on popular concepts discussed in Hawking’s book: elementary particles, black holes, expansion of the universe, and fate of the universe etc. But few have zoomed in on the invisible, or dark, components of the universe and the kind of research being conducted to discover its nature. Here is a book that takes its readers on an interesting trip around the hidden side of the universe—Iain Nicolson’s Dark Side of the Universe (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007).

The author of the book starts with basic concepts of cosmology—like stars, elementary particles, black holes, and the basic physical forces of nature—and then skillfully moves on, deeper and deeper into discussing the less known realms of the universe. Each chapter details important research studies and experiments, answering questions that arise naturally from the discussion while new questions surface for the following chapters. The most important and interesting of the topics is that of dark energy. We learn from the book that, just like dark matter, the new standard cosmological model of the universe also includes dark energy as a major component of the universe. In fact, it is now considered the largest component, followed by dark matter, and finally the visibly matter and luminous energy.

Since the ultimate fate of the universe depends on the relative abundance of its various components, Ian Nicholson’s discussion of dark energy is relevant to the big question of why our universe will end one way or the other. This aside, detail of the scientific method applied in research on cosmological concepts is a prominent and attractive quality of this book, which informs us on what significant research projects are currently underway and what kind of knowledge they are expected to bring in the coming years. Nicholson remembers to trace various developments to their discoverers or key researchers.

And of course, the glossy print and high-quality, colored illustrations make the book an eye charmer.

For any reader interested in science, particularly cosmology and physics, Dark Side of the Universe is highly recommended.

ISBN: 978-0801885921

Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Side-Universe-Matter-Energy/dp/0801885922/

Whose Cries are Not Music

2011-05-31T02:02:00.000-07:00

Nature, emotions, and life – all define Linda Benninghoff’s poetry, which has the immediacy of observation as well as constant invitation to thought and consideration. Of her latest poetry collection Whose Cries are Not Music (Lummox Press, California, 2011), Jim Knowles writes so aptly in his introduction to the book: “Linda is direct and earnest with her entertainment of the natural world to speak for her life.” This book of poems has more to say than her earlier, shorter works, like Departures wherein she has been more thematic.

Benninghoff’s involvement with nature shows in almost every poem of hers, even if she is showing us a scene from human life in the city. Whether it’s an animal or a tree, a sound or a ray of light, for this poet of nature, it’s a mirror reflecting our lives, making us conscious of it. We see barren and cold grounds in The Poem (p. 66) trodden by deer that are full of life, their energies stirring the inner, dormant music in our spirit. In The Sea (p. 70), nature comes as a living and life-hosting whole. In yet other poems, like The Seal (p. 32) and This Cat (p. 77), we learn valuable lessons in independence and endurance from animals smaller and weaker than us in the physical sense.

Memories are a key component of Benninghoff’s poetry, more so in this book, which is laden with nostalgic scenes relived in the poet’s verse. Memories of friends, family members, natural scenes, and dreams – things that meant in and for life – all render the poet’s scenes of emotional experiences come alive with the sense of a living self, still moving through time consciously, albeit precariously. Some of the memories are depressing, of dying and/or dead friends and family members. But the special quality of memory is that each one is distinct – having an identity of its own within the mind bearing it.

The eponymous poem Whose Cries are Not Music (p. 51) is one the most painful poems in this collection. Pain born with life has been depicted in a gloomy mood by the poet, conveyed in the cries of geese that have traveled miles and can make only one sound, like “a child who has no words and will cry without stopping”. Constant motion through life and nonstop change make life less certain, but, paradoxically, give it the meaning it has.

The final section of the book, called “After Death”, combines nature, life, and dreams poetically in a rather metaphysical mood. It is here that the staring look of a deer gives us a glimpse of life’s frailty. The poem Dance (p. 99) literally equates death with the attempt to reach a dream that is no longer here (on earth). The last poem In Dying (p. 100) goes on to ask, “Don’t we reveal in dying who we are?”, including the remarkable analogy of husk coming from seed.

Throughout her poetry, Linda Benninghoff maintains the sense of life and our neglected treasure of consciousness of nature. Her imagist portrayal of life’s wild and tame aspects neatly assimilate the spirit of romanticism without losing the stark realism of the modern times that presses itself poignantly on the minds of writers who value life and stand for peace. Whose Cries are Not Music is the book for lovers of poetry of, and for, life.

ISBN: 978-1929878956

Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/Whose-Cries-Are-Not-Music/dp/1929878958

Harmony – Celebrate Age (February 2011)

2011-03-11T22:06:00.000-08:00

By good chance, I happened to search for Tina Ambhani, former Bollywood star (known as Tina Munim then), and found this wonderful magazine she has been editing. Titled Harmony: Celebrate Age, it is all-things-silver, a complete gift for the senior citizens and those interested in issues relating seniors – or ‘silvers’ as they are called.

The February 2011 issue of Harmony includes many inspiring stories about the great work silvers in Indian have been doing ranging from art and green living to activism and humanitarian initiatives. The content is diverse and engaging, and it does away with the ingrained stereotype of aging as something that takes the life out of you; through these stories, you realize what potential silvers enjoy in living positively and harmoniously with the gift of life.

Beside the feature stories, the magazine includes news, reviews, tips, and essays that are informative and practically helpful. Even the ads look fresh and purposeful (one in this issue tells silvers of a hip cell phone customized toward silvers’ special needs). Here we have a complete silver potpourri that is perfectly capable of emulating any high-quality international publication. A must read for any and everyone!

Browse the magazine’s issues at http://www.harmonyindia.org/.

Omm: A Collection of Plays and Monologues

2011-03-04T01:07:00.000-08:00

As a literary form, plays have long enjoyed the supremacy of the uniqueness in which they combine the artistic, literary, and visual elements of creative expression for portraying the human condition. Creating mature, thought-inviting plays is the legacy of gifted writers, including our playwright here – Hugh Fox – whose collection of plays and monologues Ommm (World Audience Publishers, 2007) presents the passions, confusions, illusions, and disillusionments of the modern human.

Hugh’s plays – making the first, and larger, part of the book – are pithy, often themed on age, aging, and related thought transformation in people of different cultural backgrounds and diverse sensibilities – mostly Americans and others of the white race – in relation to their self-image and associated adjustments or reactions to changes that time sanctions with universal authority. Several of Hugh’s characters are aging men and women who are realizing and still exploring the physical limitations of their being, leading often to increased rumination and often increased acceptance. At the same time, they get lessons against taking things for granted. The characters Bert and Dolores of First Corinthians speak it out most expressively: “Every day is a miracle of survival for me.”

Although milder than one would expect (especially a young reader), the anxiety of aging shows in most of these plays. Hugh’s aging characters are aware that the count up the scale of time is inevitably a count down the slope of life where the final landing is death. But few of the characters tend to panic; instead, the advanced years imply for them more time for pondering, reminiscing, and resolving internal conflicts and reassessing personal values, albeit experiencing increased dependence on physical aids combined with the emptiness of being. Thus, the Hopi saying “No one ever has enough to retire,” is applied in one of the monologues (No. 13) in the context of old age as a time when you need lots of strength to cope with the emptiness of a life where you sleep less and have little to do whatever you are capable of doing at that age.

It is more in the monologues of Hugh’s collection that we feel the aging characters resorting to religion and spirituality (mostly depicted with the traditional superficiality), particularly in thought. But above that, these voices ask some really interesting questions: “How could anything begin from nothingness?” “Do animals think a lot about death?”, and others like these. The final monologue concludes the work at once convincingly and cathartically as the sole character of an aging man, after expressing his wish to have a sudden death, free of long suffering by illness, steps down to walk down among the audience, saying “… the real me walking by real people.” For Hugh, as long as you feel life, it is life and not death that is real. This is what the divine sound ‘ommm’ means to us.

Ommm is one of those literary gems that lovers of literature and humanities wouldn’t like to miss. Coming from the pen of a gifted writer, these plays and monologues are your food for thought and the light for your soul.

ISBN: 978-1934209264

Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/OMMM-Other-Plays-Hugh-Fox/dp/1934209260/

God Soul Mind Brain: A Neuroscientist's Reflections on the Spirit World

2011-02-26T08:18:00.000-08:00

Consciousness is the perhaps the most important common ground for psychology and philosophy, explored best through writing, to say. The traditional belief of a soul – an immaterial, conscious entity responsible for all observable behavior and subjective thinking processes – has long been rejected by adherents of reductionist approaches in science. Some, however, had the guts to actually relate the immaterial concepts to their material origins inside the body, and specifically in the brain, for psychological phenomena. Michael S.A. Graziano puts his expertise in neuroscience and his art of writing to work together in explaining how our immaterial, social, or spiritual concepts are created by our nervous system as explained in his latest book God Soul Mind Brain: A Neuroscientist's Reflections on the Spirit World (Leapfrog Press 2010).

In easy, clear language, and with helpful examples, Graziano allows the reader to understand the basic mechanisms at work in our nervous system while we experience the reality around and inside of us. He shows how particular areas in the brain function as a system to create perception, including social perception of immaterial entities – god, soul, and morality – which to our understanding are as real as anything. This doesn’t discredit any beliefs as nonsensical or intrinsically false; rather, it shows how all of us own the unique gift of perception that is capable of creating and sustaining the realities that we all need and live (even die) for. Best of all, our realities are essentially alike on the perceptual level; none is more scientific than the other, which is why we would respect science, or neuroscience specifically, as an egalitarian platform.

God Soul Mind Brain is a relatively short book which gets straight to its topic. The way Michael proceeds to let his readers explore the connection between brain, perception, reality, and culture speaks for his enviable teaching skills and clarity as an author. Provided with a list of recommended readings, this book will be worth reading for anyone interested in psychology and philosophy, especially the mind-brain discussion. And it will be a good pick for readers who like informative, interesting topics in science.

ISBN-13: 978-1935248118

Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/God-Soul-Mind-Brain-Neuroscientists/dp/1935248111

Rabies Mom

2011-01-09T23:31:00.000-08:00

Being a good parent has been a popular topic in countless publications and, more recently, on blogs and in e-zines. In contrast to the title cover’s spooky image, Rabies Mom (Rabies Mom LLC, 2008) by Pat Carroll and Jack McGowan begins like a man’s pile of complaints against his wife, unloading suddenly on your attention. But as you read on, the story of his suffering shows the set of important messages in the book.

Pat Carroll tells about his family life, with a wife and six kids, which started falling apart when his wife decided to divorce him in order to seek “happiness”. Pat’s immediate concern was the well-being of his kids who were given into his wife’s custody by the court while he was made to leave the house and pay for the children’s expenses. Then, in October 2006, Pat’s worst nightmare came to plague his life when he received a call informing him that his 10-year-old daughter Shannon was in hospital because of some serious illness. The latter very shockingly turned out to be rabies – Shannon had been bitten by a bat while living with her mom. But was it only the wild bird that caused the threat to Pat’s child?

While Shannon struggled in the hospital’s intensive care for her life, Pat tried to discover what actually happened to Shannon while she was at her mom’s and how the mother’s criminal neglect could be proved before the judicial system in order to save the lives of the younger kids that were still in her custody. The important message in the book, therefore, draws the reader’s attention to the role of a passively (?) abusive parent not only in breaking the family apart but pushing a child of one’s own into the jaws of mortality.

Pat’s story also criticizes the US judicial system that is so blindly prejudiced in favor of women as to assume without reason (and persist in doing so) that mothers can take better care of their children. Carroll’s story is powerful, poignant, and, above all, important for all parents to read carefully. In his author’s note at the end of the book, Carroll tells that this book’s purpose, beside telling Shannon’s story, is to “open people’s eyes to the injustices in the US legal system”, especially in matters of custody of children by their fathers.

Rabies Mom is an important book and every parent and would-be parent must give it a reading, particularly those who suspect or have observed signs of psychological disturbance in their spouse/partner.

ISBN: 0980110602

Availability: http://www.amazon.com/Rabies-Mom-Jack-McGowan/dp/0980110602

Chinese Blackbird

2010-12-12T12:16:00.000-08:00

Sherry Quan Lee’s poetry is mainly focused on ethnic experience as an Asian/African-American living in America. Her poetry book Chinese Blackbird (Modern History Press, 2008) bears close similarity in theme and modes, to her other poetry book How to Write a Suicide Note (Modern History Press, 2008). One perceptible difference is that of tone. How to Write a Suicide Note sounded more poignant and exuding the feeling of ethnic discrimination and identity crisis to the extent of leading one to suicide attempts. But Chinese Blackbird sounds more involved in self-expression and story-telling. Some pieces in this collection are in fact written in prose with the poetic feel coming through loosely maintained rhythm.

After a very warm, inviting preface by David Mura, Sherry Quan Lee’s very first line, “I’m pregnant with myself”, speaks her inner urge of having another birth, a sort of inner rebirth by conscious choice. There come poems then which question the arbitrariness of blackness, the biases gearing the judgmental process, and the deceptive standards of identity (based mainly on skin color). Some of the questions are quite broad and would challenge the intellect as a whole: “Is it too late to break silence?” “Am I the woman I’m in love with?” There is enough in this collection to spark some meaningful discussions.

Chinese Blackbird also tells more about the author’s family and her experience of family life as well as relationships. And at more than one place, it rejects men on different grounds. This is not to say that the poet sounds phobic of men without reason. But her interior self seems to express a greater trust of women, epitomized in the poem “Naming” where her tribute to her mother shows why she ultimately can trust a woman, and with good reason. Maybe, men would like to question her position, but they have to beat the poet’s inner voice with stronger reason and at least equal poetic talent.

If How to Write a Suicide Note was an uplifting book standing for the value of life against adversity, Chinese Blackbird is a poetic picture of the strengths of one’s interior and the possibility that one might find success with living by being true to one’s inner self, even if it implies looking at one’s face in the mirror with no social makeup on. These poems are important in addressing both personal and social aspects of life in a multi-ethnic society.

ISBN: 978-1932690682

Availability: http://www.amazon.com/Chinese-Blackbird-Reflections-America-Sherry/dp/1932690689

Ticket to Ride

2010-12-08T14:02:00.000-08:00

This book is interesting and important in many of its qualities. Primarily, the author Philip Scott Wikel, shows that back in the 60s, with things turning upside down and inside out in individual and social lives in the developed west, two young people didn’t let their sanity detach from the normal and traditional, while also moving ahead with a new spirit of the age. Morgan and Livy – the main characters – are thus simultaneously conventional and unconventional youth of a time when breaking the convention was becoming a rash convention in itself.

Ticket to Ride is a work of great creative and artistic merit, especially when you consider the different styles of narration so flexibly and with perfect literary ease blended together such that various stories set in different times and places are read as self-standing events, and yet are expanded upon later to arrive at a complete end without expressly answering the questions that arise in the reader’s mind. The stories are mostly showing than telling, something highly desirable in literary fiction.

The lead characters hold life and warmth of living it as a dream. A few are unique or quirky, like Psalm, until you actually see what led them there. There is lots of imagery in the book, and the experience of reading really emulates a ticket to ride in the literal sense with descriptions of travel presented in the style of literary journalism, beside journal entries by the main characters. Morgan and Livy also love to fantasize, so much so that Morgan finally has a brief conversation with Herman Melville along a beach. Imagination and love for wisdom at its peak!

Also enjoyable are many snippets, excerpts, and quotes from celebrated works of literature and most popular songs (Beatles remain alive throughout the book). If one must name any weakness of the book here, it must be the typos that are spotted here and there. But the charm of the book is not in the least shadowed by them. From page one to the last line, Ticket to Ride is a treat for the reader with the taste.

ISBN: 1450588271

Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/Ticket-Ride-Just-Another-Day/dp/1450588271

Abramo’s Gift

2010-11-14T00:18:00.000-08:00

Donald Greco’s novel Abramo’s Gift (Bridgeway Books, 2008) tells the story of a young Italian Abramo Cardone who moves to America after losing his wife and infant child in a brutal crime incident committed by soldiers in his home country. Arriving in Ohio in 1918, he finds a new place to work and live, not knowing what destiny has in stock for him. As the story proceeds, Abramo suffers another trauma but recovers to a fuller life that has love, belongingness, and even more money than he could think of.

The story on the whole makes an uplifting book with a high value placed on love, respect, and care among the many characters involved. However, the lack of balance is excessively felt throughout the book. Characters, which seem far more in number than needed for a complete story, are not developed well as the story proceeds. There is little real conflict, no climax, and a pretty fulsome ending that annoyingly zooms in on making everybody feel happy and look nice and safe. There is virtually no humor in the nearly 300 pages, making the story feel quite dry. Above all, the novel’s hero – Abramo – feels like a passive, ignored character that is hardly shown doing anything at all (not even speaking).

Chapters in this novel are usually short and there is a lot of telling than showing throughout the plot, resulting in the undesirable ease with which one can guess what’s coming. The only significance of the novel, apparent to me, is a picture of multi-ethnic social setting in early 20th Century America, mostly comprising Italians and Irish immigrants in the area where the story takes place. Though not thoroughly explored, what they did and how they lived may be of interest to readers having a liking for society and history. Personally, I would recommend Abramo’s Gift only to those who loved reading fairytales, and continue to do so.

ISBN: 978-1934454299

Availability: http://www.amazon.com/Abramos-Gift-Donald-Greco/dp/193445429X

Google Bomb

2010-10-21T10:55:00.000-07:00

Sue Scheff and John W. Dozier Jr. have taken up a very important, as well as interesting, topic in this book, i.e. defamation via the Internet. The wonder of computer technology, aka the Internet, especially the most popular search engine Google, never seems to stop amazing its admirers but it also has emerged as one of the most dangerous weapons used for character assassination. In a matter of minutes, it can be used to present you to the world as a villain and, no matter how innocent you are, the dark shadow of a tarnished image haunts you to death. And, if you are in a business, you can certainly expect being ruined financially, at the least.

All these things happened to Google Bomb’s author Sue Scheff as she tells her story with the purpose to create awareness about the issue of cyber-slamming and what one can do about it. Defamation specialist attorney John W. Dozier Jr., the book’s co-author, tells about the legal aspects to online defamation, also referring to Sue’s case as an example. Sue’s story evokes the need for caution and action in the reader’s mind against the malice of cyber-stalkers. It inspires us to stand up against bullying inflicted by using web postings and emails, usually under the cover of anonymity. John’s advice on legal action that victims of cyber defamation can take in defense sounds very helpful and important for everyone to remember. John also guides on other sources that can be used for barricading against online defamation.

The book has been written in chapters and topics alternating between Sue’s story and John’s discussion of the subject. At first, readers may feel bit of confusion about who is talking now, or next, but later, the pattern becomes familiar and easy to follow. The ending is particularly impressive with a compassionate human message written in form of two emails (one by each author) that complement the book’s theme. Google Bomb is an important book for everyone to read and to keep with them in their “first aid” box.

ISBN: 0757314155

Book Website: http://www.googlebombbook.com/

Returning to My Mother’s House

2010-10-02T02:16:00.000-07:00

House to Lighthouse; that is what Virginia Woolf would idealize for the feminine ideal; Gail Straub takes the same path, but only back home as she returns to her mother’s house to enliven and liberate the spirit of the feminine in its natural, creative, sustainable, and vibrant state. In her heart-winning memoir Returning to My Mother’s House (High Point Books, 2008), the pioneering empowerment expert takes her readers on a personal, spiritual journey around the world, coming full circle back to her childhood house to embrace the feminine spirit of her artist mother, thus continuing the sacred tradition of balancing the undying life forces up to the most wholesome level.

The metaphor of house is not a new one. It has been extensively used in fiction, poetry, and non-fiction, usually to symbolize the human sense and need of belongingness. E.M. Forster’s classic Howards End is perhaps the best-known work on extending the metaphor of house to imply ‘legacy’. Gail Straub’s concept of ‘house’ is closely similar to the popular use of ‘house’ as ‘belongingness’, though she customizes its boundaries to include the entire concept of feminine wisdom. Gail’s story starts like any other life story: a girl moving into a new house with her family and gradually coming to enjoying the innocent joys in artistic activity and play. Her mother, intrinsically an artist, taught her painting and creating puppets. Growing up in the joy of creativity and tomboy adventures, Gail gradually brook loose from the feminine and delved deeper into the masculine ideal of overachieving and mastering. Things changed however when she came to learn that her mother had not got long in this world. It was then that she would realize the vitality of the feminine, returning gradually to her feminine roots, and hence, her mother’s house. As her inner self evolves, her story becomes more distinct and so does her narrative tone.

Empowerment, inner empowerment of the creative and free spirit, is the motif in Gail’s story. Her travel around the world for organizing feminine spiritual awareness events, personal decision not to have children, and exchange of learning with other women of spiritual radiance, all culminate in the steady, self-conscious return to values of hope, wisdom, and balance in a life that is always clouded by the unpredictable shadow of death. In the last chapter, Completing the Circle, Gail would leave her readers emotionally transfixed as she narrates the scene of receiving the news of her brother’s sudden death while she has been going through a series of death experiences among her friends. How a woman who empowers others responds to this moment of trial shows the true healing potential of her work. Beyond doubt, Returning to My Mother’s House is an empowering book that will be loved by its readers.

ISBN: 978-0963032751

Book Website: http://www.returningtomymothershouse.com

Mothers and Others: The Evolutionary Origins of Mutual Understanding

2010-08-25T22:16:00.001-07:00

Since reading her interview in Reinventing the Future (Thomas A. Bass, 1994) about a decade ago, Sarah Hrdy’s research on primate behavior reserved a place in my memory. Dr. Hrdy, one of the world’s leading anthropologists, has now published her evolutionary study of something that we have long taken for granted – shared care of infants, or “alloparental care” as termed in her recent book Mothers and Others: The Evolutionary Origins of Mutual Understanding (Belknap/Harvard University Press, 2009). The book ventures into accounting for, in evolutionary terms, the unique trait of primates, especially humans, of cooperative breeding.

The core concept of Mothers and Others is that higher primates have a unique capacity for empathizing with others, allowing greater physical and social proximity that provided the genus, and particularly again, the human species, such evolutionary succor as to ensure their survival in otherwise fatally inclement circumstances in the past. Not only that, but this special trait of letting alloparents care for a distantly related, or even entirely unrelated, infants of their kind made them the dominant species with advanced cognitive and emotional abilities. One is naturally then curious in the question how such breeding arose and what caused it to originate? Dr. Hrdy attempts to answer these questions by counting on the scientific evidence available so far on this topic.

As the book’s title reflects, the author’s research points primarily to maternal (mothers) care as well as her biological/social equivalents (others) in rearing offspring, though male alloparental care The book’s chapters take the reader back in historic times when the early hominins were struggling to make it through the ecological challenges of starvation, predation, and disease. Mothers, no matter how committed, would not be enough to ensure proper infant care, or even survival, in such times. Alloparental care from females, especially elder females in the family, would be a necessity to keep life going. Showing how alloparental care prevails in different species, Dr. Hrdy also files a case for greater evolutionary relatedness of humans to bonobos rather than the common chimpanzees. And there are many more interesting and informative concepts in anthropology, evolution, biology, and sociology in this book – all related to the uniqueness of life shaped by millions of years of evolutionary influences.

Mothers and Others also takes many psychological facts and observations, particularly in social psychology, for discussion, such that social interactions are not only seen as matter-of-course but actually evolving entities under natural selection in response to specific needs and dynamic ecological-genetic factors. Thus, we come to learn about, and appreciate, the role nature plays in our moods, preferences, and aversions. And all these are ultimately related to better enabling us in living on this planet. With Mothers and Others, Dr. Hrdy has set the stage for renewed understanding of the connections between our past and present, and she leaves us with the question whether the humans of the future will retain the traits of empathy and caring for others’ emotions.

One striking feature of this book is the quality of the images included in each chapter to complement a topic’s explanation. Each image captures the essence of the related topic and stands on its own as a real story without words. As characterizes any worthy scientific undertaking, Mothers and Others has helpful end notes and a treasure of relevant references for the scientific studies and findings cited in the book. It is one of the landmark publications that bring us closer to know what we are and how we came to be so.

ISBN: 978-0674032996

Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/Mothers-Others-Evolutionary-Origins-Understanding/dp/0674032993

Food Fray: Inside the Controversy over Genetically Modified Food

2010-08-17T21:06:00.000-07:00

Genetic engineering might have emerged as the magnet of hope for humans but its flip side couldn’t remain unturned for long. Since as early as 1970s, speculations had started about the manipulative potential of genetic modification of natural life and its consequent horrors. Entering different spheres of life, genetic engineering technologies did not leave aside the core human need – food. And at least some of those who lived by eating voiced their concerns over the genetic modification of food. This book, Food Fray: Inside the Controversy over Genetically Modified Food (AMACOM Books, 2009) by Lisa H. Weasal, PH.D, presents a most interesting, concise, and balanced account of the history of genetically modified (GM) food and the opposition its pioneers and proponents faced as they marched ahead to create what was termed ‘Frankenfood’.

Dr. Weasel’s research into the topic is thoroughgoing, not missing any of the scientific, corporate, consumer, ethical, and regional aspects to the genetic modification of food species by the pioneers and proponents of the GM technology. All along, the reader also gets informed on the role of the media in addressing the issue of how and who is modifying food and at what cost. The author’s coverage of the GM movement and the resistance it aroused in different parts of the world opens a window in perspective to the reader’s understanding: the corporate biotech groups in the US and the health/environment-conscious opposition that stood up against GM food production, mainly in Europe and later in other parts of the world. This compact history of the GM food fray doesn’t fail to offer a look inside the political winds blowing between the developed and developing world.

With increased consumer awareness and steadfast anti-GM activism, the biotech giants have increasingly been pushed back from the frontiers of food production as they advanced with the slogan of eliminating hunger. Even within the United States, the stronghold of world’s biotech leads, consumers’ demand forced sellers to remove genetically manipulated food items off their store shelves. The entire conflict symbolizes nature’s violation by self-satisfied technocrats and human defense of their natural food. While Dr. Weasel’s professional tone does not leak any partiality, the general reader has a good idea where to stand in this US-vs-Them scenario.

Indexed and provided with helpful endnotes, Food Fray is the book for every reader who eats.

ISBN: 978-0814401644

Book Website: http://www.foodfray.com

The Stories of Devil-Girl

2010-07-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

Anya Achtenberg’s The Stories of Devil-Girl (Modern History Press, 2008) is one of the books that cannot be confidently placed in a single category/genre. We may look at it as fiction, semi-autobiographical non-fiction, experimental prose, memoir, and even rhetoric mixed with narrative. Though not very long, this book is rich in variety of themes and styles adopted to tell multiple stories that would serve as chapters of a single modern tale about contemporary urban life, especially in America.

Most of the situations in these short stories blend the disturbing images of exploitation and abuse with a narrative’s voice – the Devil-Girl – who speaks sometimes in first person, referring to her own life, and sometimes as a commentator on the observations made in her current surroundings or past life. Motifs of sexual abuse, homelessness, and neglect in urban living recur throughout the book. Devil-Girl thus becomes a character and a voice in one, serving a lens that focuses thoughts and feelings of the reader on the poignant images created via words. The mood prevailing in these stories is dominantly resistive but provocatively helpless, calling for human attention.

Despite the feeling of gender-sensitive care searing out of the writer’s heart though her words, Achtenberg’s Devil-Girl remains a child who looks at the exploitative world with redemptive innocence. The situations and character responses in themselves are very critical of the world and of the existence itself, so much that one feels the surrealistic style adopted in many stories is a means of negating existence on the terms of a mad society. Nevertheless, by refusing to act out the true obedience the world expects of her, the Devil-Girl gives us hope in the form of human strength that stands the trails of oppression and is born afresh to see a better day.

If you love reading experimental fiction/non-fiction and new forms of literary approaches to social observation and critique, The Stories of Devil-Girl is just the book for you.

ISBN: 9781932690620

Author Website: http://anyaachtenberg.com/

Public Schools Are Archaic

2010-06-16T21:13:00.000-07:00

A short book from M.R. Ussery, we are told herein that public schools do not meet the range of educational demands of our children in the 21st century. Public schools are archaic, by which the author is referring to processes and the system only (not meaning thereby to hurt any human agents). The essential learning focus of public school learning is on memorizing and not “doing” besides ignoring the range of the required timeframe among different students for successfully accomplishing the same educational tasks. The book tells us that we need a modern, more flexible, and updated system of education.

To M.R. Ussery, this proposed system comes in the form of learning modules developed for students after assessment of their learning needs and incorporating modern multimedia and digital technologies. There are special learning advantages to gain from schools operating on these modules including a broader range of learning that is not rigidly time-bound and takes into consideration the aspects of a student’s practical achievements. The author proposes a pilot program for developing such a system.

What you will like in this book is that it does not attempt at any kind of negative criticism of public schools. Instead, it proceeds in a very positive tone toward the book’s point, inviting all educated professionals to contribute their own ideas for the potential development of a better educational system. This book is a good read for parents, educators, and policymakers but also for thoughtful individuals from any walk of life.

ISBN: 978-1432758059

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/Public-Schools-Are-Archaic-Ussery/dp/1432758055

Laura Ann Bradbury (Missing) – A Father's Search

2010-06-13T20:51:00.000-07:00

This one is a disturbing, empowering, and thought-provoking book by Mike Bradbury who, along with his father-in-law Dana Scott Winters, has shared his story of 25 years of a hope-and-disappointment cycle experienced during the search for his kidnapped daughter Laura. The little girl, only three-and-a-half then, was abducted from a site of camping in Joshua Tree National Monument, California, in October 1984. Since then, Mike spared no effort in trying to find his daughter, including facing armed criminals and partaking of private investigation. His challenges grew as he discovered the unexpected.

Finding an abducted girl may have been much harder back in the 80s but what made Laura’s case particularly cumbersome were the seams in the efficiency, and even intentionality, of the concerned sheriff’s department. Not responding properly to reports of sightings and exhibiting slackness in investigating suspects as well as handling evidence, the local police soon lost its reliability with Mike and his family, leading to Mike’s personal quest in collaboration with private investigators to find a trace of Laura. This led to an adventure full of risk, desperation, and hope for the Bradburys.

Above all, Mike’s search for Laura was accompanied by the establishment of the Bradbury’s own center for finding the child, attaining organized, collective effort that world serve as an example of self-help for everyone facing loss and/or trauma. Every phone call, every sighting, and each bit of help from volunteers/philanthropists reinforced the belief that good does not prostrate before evil. Mike’s loss became a symbol of threat for the entire community. Criminals existed, were active, and were getting away; they could harm anyone, anytime; and protecting one’s family was no more solely the burden of the law enforcement agencies – it was also one’s own. The way Mike pursued his mission of finding Laura is a winning story with a lesson Never Give In!

Laura Ann Bradbury (Missing) is truly a father’s search. It tells the story from Mike’s side. In one sense, it is more of a man’s book as Patty (Laura’s mother) is not allowed much to tell therein. Yet, it is a book that everyone needs to read, especially the parents and would-be parents, to learn from Mike’s experience and to help their own children grow safer. Laura may still be out there, and Mike’s hope is alive! It is hard to read this book without developing the crushing feeling of somehow reuniting Laura with her family. Mike’s story speaks to the human soul in all of us.

ISBN: 978-1-60264-535-6

Availability
http://www.virtualbookworm.com/bookstore/product/Laura_Ann_Bradbury_A_Fathers_Search.html

In the Footsteps of Dracula

2010-05-25T08:41:00.000-07:00

The first vampire in literature, Count Dracula, has fascinated millions of people around the world for well over a century. The subject of books, movies, animated films, festivals, and all things gothic – Dracula is omnipresent in the world of darkness. For all those who are curious to learn about the source of Bram Stoker’s timeless character, travel writer Steven P. Unger has recently published In the Footsteps of Dracula: A Personal Journey and Travel Guide (World Audience Publishers, 2010). The book includes Count Dracula’s history, a travel guide to the sites of his origin, and an abundance of photographs of remarkable scenes and places relating to Dracula, all based on the writer’s own travels to Romania and parts of Britain.

Historically, as Unger tells us, Count Dracula’s character is based on the Transylvanian Prince Vlad Tepes – or Vlad The Impaler – who is generally remembered for the torturous practice of impaling thousands of people to death during his rule over part of Transylvania (modern-day Romania) in the 15th Century. After reading this book, one comes to know the history of Vlad Dracula (as he was also called), particularly the difference between legends and facts, which have merged in the cult literature woven around Prince Dracula’s character over the past six centuries.

It is interesting to learn from Unger’s book that Bram Stoker himself never visited Transylvania. Instead, the gothic settings in Dracula (the novel) are modeled on British architecture of the time, blended, in his imagination, with descriptions of Transylvania as recorded by a British diplomat in 1820. Most of the novel was written in Whitby (England), and Unger shows the relevant sites in original pictures that impart the sensation of being present in the authentic world of horror history.

The latter part of the book is a concise travel guide to Romania and to a few places in Britain relating to Count Dracula, Prince Vlad the Impaler, and Bram Stoker. Steven P. Unger has taken care to include important guidelines for the independent traveler on topics including modes of transportation, money, health and security, lodging, restaurants, and more. In the Footsteps of Dracula is a portable guide to one of the darkest characters in the world of gothic literature and to his historical counterpart, Prince Vad Dracula the Impaler. Anyone thinking of traveling to Europe should not miss taking along this absorbing, helpful book.

ISBN: 9781935444534

Availability: http://www.amazon.com/Footsteps-Dracula-Personal-Journey-Travel/dp/1935444530

The Perfect Formula Diet

2010-05-06T07:53:00.000-07:00

(Reviewed for TCM Reviews)

Unlike most other books on diet and health, Janice Stanger’s The Perfect Formula Diet can be called a complete health guide, showing the health threats of bad food choices as well as explaining, in an easy yet impressive manner, why we need to return to our natural diet – whole foods from plants sources.

What is particularly interesting and important about this book is that the author has thoroughly researched facts, drawing on over a thousand research studies. These include eye-opening findings about some very popular animal food hypes that are not usually heeded in most health/diet books. For example, the general belief that fish and dairy are health-friendly foods and should be regularly taken has been convincingly refuted by the author. Also, that plants do not provide enough calcium to strengthen bones has been shown as a myth rather than a fact. And many more concealed facts about diet and health have been brought to attention in Janice Stanger’s book.

Showing how animal foods and other unhealthy choices mar our natural, perfect physical and mental health, The Perfect Formula Diet tells about the six types of perfect foods that are not only the ultimate solution to our health problems, but also to most of our environmental problems and certainly to the sufferings inflicted on animals. The Perfect Foods recommended in this book are also a natural recipe for the perfect weight we can attain without much aimless, self-defeating effort that so many of us indulge in with heavy costs. And yet, the author shows, we blindly follow foods that never were meant for us.

I was also very impressed by the author’s environment-friendly spirit as she tells in her book about not including the one thousand references in the book, so as to save paper, instead posting them online. With a valuable list of resources for getting started with the perfect formula diet, this book is recommended as a must-read for everyone.

Book Website: http://perfectformuladiet.com/

Confessions of a Former Child: A Therapist's Mem

2010-02-20T09:34:00.000-08:00

In his childhood, Daniel Tomasulo had a recurring dream in which he kept struggling to complete a large jigsaw puzzle lying over a source of light, but the moment he fitted the final piece in place to complete the puzzle, the light source lying beneath the puzzle was entirely covered and darkness resulted, making Daniel so uncomfortable that he’d remove the piece again to let the light out. The trade-off between a solved puzzle and light remained for decades in Daniel’s real life as he grew up to be a professional psychologist who helped children, including the one living inside him, to stay connected to the light in their lives. His memoir Confessions of a Former Child lights select scenes of growth from his past.

Childhood and family relationships take center stage in Daniel’s memoir. Far from being a gloom-and-doom journey, his childhood underscores the uniqueness of child-like curiosity which made him stop foods with seeds after he was told that conception starts with a seed. This innocence seems never to have left his life as the adventures from his childhood are paralleled in his later life where he responds in unusual ways to challenging life situations – the upcoming birth of his first child, for example – and works with unusual patients with psychological problems. Both happy and gloomy sides of life are instantiated in the author’s memories of his family and profession, making his book and enthralling experience.

It takes more than wisdom alone to make a memoir a complete life story that vibrates to an average reader; it takes skill and creative thought. Daniel Tomasulo exhibits both the latter in his book whose chapters connect memorable parts of his childhood and later years meaningfully, just like the letters in the word ‘Life’. What passed in his past returned in his future, albeit in a different form and with different characters; and that he grew in understanding through learning is put cogently in each chapter. His memoir is thus not only his story but a complete story of human life in our times.

As a writer, Daniel stands out from the crowd. His narrative skills are incredibly engaging and his passages truly memorable. His words speak to the instincts and emotions of the reader. He also employs humor, especially the hyperbole, to freshen up the reader, never letting them wanting to put the book down. One of his most impressive skills shows in his dialogues, especially when he practices role-taking – something that, perhaps, comes natural to him as a psychodrama trainer.

Confessions of a Former Child also has some important information on healing, particularly on relief from anxiety and depression through group therapy and energy healing through Reiki. It is a complete book that ends with the author’s arrival at the solution of his childhood’s puzzling dream. He leaves the puzzle and chooses over it the light that is hiding underneath – an ending that is a potential beginning of eternal light in the lives of his readers.

ISBN: 978-1555974992

Cats Creep the Fire To Art

2009-12-26T11:00:00.000-08:00

In his latest book of collected poems Cats Creep the Fire to Art (World Audience Publishers, New York, 2008), Mathew Ward has strummed a personal note on various aspects of human life ranging from religion, art, and history to death, depression, women, and self. And there is a separate section Australia that shows glimpses of life in Australia as the author has experienced, especially in his younger years.

Ward’s mode remains nearly the same throughout the six sections of the book, having a feel of a kind of detachment and distance from the scenes or situations in the poems. He does dare talk about the ‘personal’ when he writes about more personal aspects of life, like that of aging in the poem A Valediction: On Approaching Thirty in the Final Days (page 119). What he also does frequently in many of the poems is using allusions, Dickens’ Magwitch for example in the aforementioned poem, which demands a well-read reader to better grasp the message(s) in his poems. This is more the case when he writes about religion and history. To understand Ward, therefore, one has to have basic background knowledge of these subjects.

The section Australia will presumably be enjoyed better by Australian readers, those who have witnessed the ever-bright sun which Ward mentions (sometimes with repugnance) or the shore and Newcastle Show which linger in the poet’s memory. A more enjoyable section for this reviewer is Art and the Metaphysical. Here, the poems sound more musical and have a broader meaning for all readers; for example, the poems Regeneration (page 63) and Spider (page 65); and this makes the section more appealing for any creative soul as the poems’ rhythm resonates with their message(s). The poems in the section Women relate to the section’s theme very indirectly.

At quite a few places, Ward uses stylistics, like shape poetry of a few lines within in a poem, making eye-catchers. The variety of themes prevents building up of monotony and only a few poems are long enough to be divided into cantos. On the whole, Cats Creep the Fire to Art suits the taste of readers who don’t mind thinking awhile over a poem or even give the latter a second read to grasp the message(s) therein.

ISBN: 9781934209226

Book Link: http://www.worldaudience.org/pubs_bks/Cats_Creep.html

Zone Tennis

2009-12-08T23:07:00.000-08:00

Whether you are out on clay or green, playing tennis involves a lot of mental energy and control, besides physical strength and stamina. Jay P. Granat’s Zone Tennis (World Audience Publishers, New York, 2009) is a rather short but enjoyable book with valuable information, tips, and advice for tennis players – beginners especially – on developing the skills to play in the ‘zone’, i.e. a state of mind that allows playing with optimum calmness, concentration, and control. In its two divisions, the book imparts information on two main kinds of game: ‘Inner mental Game’ and ‘External Mental Game’.

The first part of the book, telling about inner mental game, concerns psychological aspects like motivation, confidence, relaxation, thinking, emotional states, optimism, and even less thought-of factors like ‘wonderful dreaming’. The author gives brief guidelines on inner psychological states and their desirable form/level for playing tennis in the zone. The second section takes practical performance on the court and gives useful advice on what to consider and how to practice important factors. Here, Dr. Granat also mentions a few top ranked tennis stars, pointing to their main strengths or qualities. Most part of the book treats single game but the end has a few important guidelines about doubles and issues like selecting the right coach and communicating with your game partner.

Zone Tennis is an enjoyable work about the psychology of tennis in particular but can also be read with interest by any sports enthusiast as Dr. Granat tells how tennis has so much common with other sports, chess, baseball, and boxing to name a few. It is certainly an important book to read for beginner tennis players or those who have been playing tennis for a while and need to get a better grip of the game’s less conspicuous nuts and bolts. Dr. Granat also shares his website and article links that will help tennis players and enthusiasts in playing and/or understanding the sport of tennis better.

ISBN: 978-0-9820540-9-3

Buy at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Zone-Tennis-Jay-P-Granat/dp/0982054092/ref=sr_11_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1220989769&sr=11-1

Not Just Spirited: A Mom’s Sensational Journey With Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) by Chynna T. Laird

2009-11-28T06:55:00.000-08:00

LOVING, HEALING PRESS INTRODUCES

Not Just Spirited: A Mom’s Sensational Journey With Sensory Processing Disorder(SPD) by Chynna T. Laird
With a moving and insightful Foreword written
by Dr. Shane Steadman

A powerful story of a mother’s determination to find the right diagnosis and the right treatment for her daughter.

An inspiration for families, teachers and professionals everywhere!

”Chynna's memoir is sure to encourage other parents
to advocate with the same determination
for their sensational children.”

~ Carol Stock Kranowitz, author of The Out Of Sync Child

Offers encouragement and insight to any parent, caregiver, teacher or therapist who cares about, or cares for, a child with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD).

AVAILABLE: November 1, 2009

What would you do if your child suffered with something so severe it affected every aspect of her life?

And what if your cries for help fell on deaf ears at every turn? You'd follow your gut and fight until someone listened. And that's what Chynna Laird did. When she was just three months old, Jaimie's reactions to people and situations seemed odd. She refused any form of touch, she gagged at smells, she was clutzy and threw herself around and spent most of her day screaming with her hands over her ears and eyes.

By the time she turned two, Jaimie was so fearful of her world they spent most days inside. What was wrong with Chynna's miracle girl? Why wouldn't anyone help her figure it out? Jaimie wasn't "just spirited" as her physician suggested nor did she lack discipline at home. When Jaimie was diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) at two-and-a-half, Chynna thought she had "the answer," but that was just the start of a three-year quest for the right treatments to bring the Jaimie she loved so much out for others to see. With the right diagnosis and treatment suited to Jaimie, this family finally felt hope. Not Just Spirited is one mother's journey to finding peace for her daughter, Jaimie. As Chynna says often, "Knowledge breeds understanding. And that's so powerful."

CHYNNA TAMARA LAIRD – is a psychology student, freelance writer, and author living in Edmonton, Alberta, with her three daughters [Jaimie (almost seven), Jordhan (five), and baby Sophie (seventeen months)] and baby boy, Xander (three). Her passion is helping children and families living with Sensory Processing Disorder and other special needs. You’ll find her work in many online and in-print parenting, inspirational, Christian and writing publications in Canada, United States, Australia, and Britain. In addition, she’s authored a children’s book, and a reference book about the Sensory Diet coming in early 2011.

Please visit Chynna’s website at www.lilywolfwords.ca to get a feel for her work and what inspires her.

Now available at fine e-tailers including Amazon.com, BarnesAndNoble.com, and BooksAMillion.com. Ask your local bookseller!

Loving Healing Press books are distributed by Ingram, New Leaf, Quality Books and other wholesalers.

For review copies or to interview the author, please contact Loving Healing Press, Inc. info@LovingHealing.com or Tollfree 888-761-6268 USA/CAN.

Press Release: Ring of Fire by Noelle M. Kalipetis

2009-11-20T09:08:00.000-08:00

AVAILABLE IN PRINT/DOWNLOAD

Contact Noelle M. Kalipetis: kalipetisn@student.wpunj.edu
http://stores.lulu.com/thedarkmyth

Ring of Fire by Noelle M. Kalipetis
http://stores.lulu.com/thedarkmyth

Immediately Available via Web

VAMPIRES AMONG US

Noelle Kalipetis’s novel, Ring of Fire (Lulu.com, $16 print/$7 download), follows the trials of Lana Williams, a young girl whose dismal life is set aflame with the discovery of her own fantastic powers. From smoky visions in mirrors to fighting back against the school bully, Lana’s magical abilities seem unreal, a dream come true.

But then truths start creeping out of the shadows: Lana and her new friend Mike are not the only ones with these intriguing talents. The Light Ones, human beings who also possess supernatural powers, want to use Lana to battle the Dark Ones, a race similar to humans with one glaring exception: they need to drink blood, anyone’s blood, but most especially the blood of a Light One. Neither side is what it appears to be, though; unwilling to be used in some sinister ploy, Lana gives up her powers and returns to obscurity.

The flames of the past, however, will not let her walk away so easily. After ten years, Lana’s shut-in life is ripped wide open, throwing her back into the conflict that has raged for more than two millennia. Aided by Lunetta, the quirky yet noble ancestor with a penchant for Bon Jovi tunes and matchmaking, Lana finds love in unexpected places and comes closer to achieving a destiny sewn into her bloodline since the time of Pompeii. But the questions remains: will she survive?

READERS’ RESPONSES

“I read this novel in about a day on spring break because I just could not put it down. The author truly creates a captivating and exciting world full lovable and intriguing characters. The plot is enticing and keeps you guessing[;] it develops so that the outcomes are surprising but not ridiculous. Bringing my two favorite genres together, magic and vampires, Kalipetis grabbed my attention and held it.”

--“pellegrinis” on Lulu.com

“Pick up this book! Kalipetis creates a world unlike anything I've ever read. It combines the mystery of ancient magic and the tempting lust amongst vampires which works so well together. I thought I would have gotten confused by the two different worlds, but it was perfect…I just kept turning page after page because I was desperate to know what happened. I have already re-read it & can't wait for the series to be complete.”

--“Valerie Saggau” on Amazon.com

The 5-Second Inventor

2009-11-11T01:39:00.000-08:00

Attractive design, durability, affordability, and marketing are all important features of a commercially successful product. But above all of them comes the creative idea – the birth of a product in one’s mind. Ideas are the most precious asset of people; we all have great ideas, but not many of us pursue them to make them become real products – those sold in markets. Ken Chuah’s recent book The 5-Second Inventor tells readers how to benefit from your potentially successful ideas by turning them into commercially viable products – your very own inventions.

Ken’s book points to the commercial success achieved by “inventpreneurs”, people who invent, manufacture, and distribute their products without taking the traditional routes to success in business. Ken gives examples of famous inventpreneurs who earned both profit and reputation by developing their ideas. He also tells his own success story while showing the core elements of successful business using modern inexpensive channels of promotion. The book is particularly meant for helping people with a limited budget to start and promote their own businesses.

The 5-Second Inventor also extends the topic of developing ideas into products and promoting them to doing business overseas. The author himself travels to China off and on and considers China as the business center of the world. Thus he gives practically useful advice on cultural differences, emotional intelligence, and consideration of a number of other factors that determine how far you succeed in cashing your ideas. The book includes a glossary of terms related to the business world and an index of key concepts in the chapters. For anyone, interested in setting up his/her own business, starting with a single idea, and going all the way to a big name and income, The 5-Second Inventor is a recommended read.

ISBN: 978-160844-064-1

Website: http://www.5sinventor.com/

The Meaning of Life

2009-09-28T22:02:00.000-07:00

Here is a book that has taken a grand question and makes sure to possess the attention of its readers for a topic that has been central to humanity for ages – the meaning of life. Professor Terry Eagleton, an acclaimed British literary critic of our time, discusses whether it makes a good question to inquire about the meaning of life. Critically looking at language’s own limitations and the reifying character of the mind-language-tradition interface, Eagleton warily attempts to present a perspective on the meaning of ‘meaning’ and how it might lead to meanings of life – ‘meanings’ because stamping a single meaning onto the somewhat misleading singular term ‘life’, in itself, is a potentially erroneous approach.

Given the transitory nature of the experience of life, Eagleton allows the validity of multiplicity as well as elusiveness of meanings while acknowledging the importance of well-thought and rational views, whether in philosophy, literature, or other systems of meanings. A point worth-noting (and appreciating) is Eagleton’s ‘floating’ position on the topic he writes about; while we know the author as a Marxist critic, his personal viewpoint doesn’t show in his commentary on the nature of meaning and its alleged inherent versus derived characters in human language. Still, he does not leave his readers disorientated as he finishes his book with a chapter on the core values that stand as best candidates for life’s dominant meanings.

The Meaning of Life comes as a work of serious thought, one which puts the question of life in the background of its ethical significance. In an age of terrorist violence and nuclear weapons, carrying the force of destroying the planet and wiping out its life forms, we do need to consider what life means for us – not as a group of people but as a species on the whole. It is Eagleton’s aesthetic cum ethical venture to remind humans about the question for their species while they are encircled in the web of technological advance and commercial enterprise. It is a fresh start for human thought and hopefully will be carried farther to a meaningful conclusion.

ISBN: 978-0199210701

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/Meaning-Life-Terry-Eagleton/dp/0199210705

How to Teach English

2009-08-28T22:56:00.000-07:00

Jeremy Harmer’s How to Teach English is an invaluable guide for English teachers, particularly for those who have not undergone any special training in English teaching. This book covers all the important topics that relate English teaching classes at various levels as well as the main elements of English grammar and some effective methods teaching them to students.

Harmer’s attention to the extra-linguistic features that help in engaging students’ interest is the most appreciable aspect of his book. Teachers can gain some truly valuable tips here on, for example, how their dress and voice influence the attention of their students; how to plan lessons; the pros and cons of different English teaching approaches, and much more. The exercises included with the text to illustrate the topics are simple and easy to use in any English teaching class.

How to Teach English also includes a special chapter What If? to guide teachers on how to handle the commonly experienced difficulties with students in a class. What, for example, can a teacher do if the students are uncooperative or if the students keep using their native language(s) in the class instead of speaking English. The author has also provided a brief list of helpful resources for teachers of English. For all the latter, Jeremy Harmer’s How to Teach English is strongly recommended.

ISBN: 0582297966

Availability

http://www.alibris.com/booksearch.detail?invid=9957856604&browse=1&qwork=3030985&qsort=&page=1

The Labyrinth

2009-08-28T07:52:00.000-07:00

Shackled in a dreary room in one of Chicago’s mental hospitals, a schizophrenic child’s life had crossed the way of eternal darkness. Wounded and nearly abandoned, this kid couldn’t foretell then that he was to attain freedom from the dismal scene of the mental hospital, get back to school, go to fight in a war for his country, get married and sire kids, and found his own publishing company in the heart of the world’s publishing center. This child was Mike Stefan Strozier and The Labyrinth (World Audience Publishers, 2006) is his memoir.

Reading the book’s subtitle – schizophrenia, homelessness, war, alcoholism, and divorce – did at first induce some apprehension: was it going to be another gloom-and-doom story? But it was amazing to find the episodes of Mike’s troubled past free of self-pity. Instead, you find the writer’s success in stepping aside from the negativity so frequently associated with the bitter memories of trauma. With time, the account of his life’s most challenging phases show Mike as a man growing in strength while his trial changed its guise. There was pain, a lot of it, but there also was a characteristically human tenacity that took the throes one after the other, without cringing. The Labyrinth goes to show how tolerant the human spirit is!

Something worth-noticing in the book is that Mike has chosen not to causally or – for some part – chronologically connect the choices he made in his adult life; one reason perhaps being that he didn’t have many of them. But this is also how he proves his writing talent, i.e. by engaging the readers’ interest in the immediacy of his episodic narrative. And it works in preventing The Labyrinth from sounding too egotistical.

There is some limitation, however, with respect to the book’s audience. This reviewer feels that The Labyrinth is about the phases of a man’s life, which would be of little interest to many women. The interesting question that strikes the mind, therefore, is ‘who is Mike’s Ariadne?’ Or did his magical thread come out of the blue?

ISBN: 978-0978808662

Availability
http://www.amazon.com/Labyrinth-M-Stefan-Strozier/dp/0978808665/ref=sr_11_1/105-0654095-5530023?ie=UTF8&qid=1189857871&sr=11-1

How to Write a Suicide Note

2009-06-17T07:40:00.000-07:00

In an exceptionally daring work of cultural criticism and probe into multicultural identity, Sherry Quan Lee takes her readers to the roots of emotional trauma experienced by a woman of color who has attempted suicide more than once. How to Write a Suicide Note (Modern History Press, Michigan, 2008) is a work of prose-cum-poetry exploring the role of cultural background in inhibiting one’s true self from expression, leading to suppression and trauma – the beginning of suicide. As the book’s subtitle serial essays that saved a woman’s life connotes, Lee’s verse becomes the medium through which she reclaims her right and will to live. Her book is, therefore, a life-loving book, and not a collection of ‘suicide-recipes’ (as the title may seem to suggest).

Lee’s remarks and questions about the experience of a Black-Chinese woman, impelled into following the white American values and lifestyle, come in a poignant tone. But, somewhat unexpectedly, there is no sickness as such, which leaves the reader depressed or queasy. One may get a bit confused at first up on making sense of the desultorily-written lines, blending surrealism with self-consciousness. However, the multiple messages on the same page get connected as you move forward through the book. Five divisions of the book present suicide notes – writings that ask question about life, ethnicity, cultural values, and the trauma associated with one’s identity as a minority member of a lower social rank.

More than anything, How to Write a Suicide Note places high value on the written word and the process of writing as pertains the expression of one’s real self. It is through this activity that lost lives and dejected spirits can return to confidence and a revived will to exist. Writing, to Lee, is just a form of life, or sometimes, even greater than life. Here is how she culminates the meaning of writing for her readers:

‘When you can, write
When you can’t, live
When you can’t live, write.’

While seriously concerned with cultural critique and emotional pain, How to Write a Suicide Note is not simply gloom-and-doom. Judging the process of writing as a form of therapy, Lee shows the intimate connection between identity and passion for art. For Lee, writing counters the darkness of social life; for other readers, it may be another activity that gives greater meaning to their lives. What is important to learn and remember from How to Write a Suicide Note is ‘don’t die by your weaknesses; live by your passion.’ It is one of those books that show you why living is greater than suicide.

ISBN: 978-1-932690-63-7

Treasure Hunt

2009-03-27T21:42:00.000-07:00

Treasure Hunt (Booklocker.com, 2008) is a delightful book, truly entertaining in the light-heartedness of its party-centered clues for family and/or friends. Nancy Kruse has shared over 100 clues in different categories – all serving to heighten party celebration at home and outside. Here you learn to add fun to parties by giving clues that would lead to gifts as well as a spark for using your creativity and wit to write amusing verse for celebrations.

Though some may think of clues as rather trivial, the author tells about the significance of clues beyond that of adding amusement to gift-giving in parties; clues allow participation by most/all participants and also initiate conversations, thus playing an important social role. There are also some important considerations that must be kept in view while creating party clues: proper timing, adequate space, and the personality of the seeker – to name a few. And as the author proceeds to share the clues she uses, you come to know how giving clues enhances our interaction with people, objects, and places. Some of the funny clues also give you a good laugh!

There is one thing that that this reader felt missing in the book, namely illustrations. With some simple sketches, Treasure Hunt could have been made even more exciting a book for party lovers. For another volume, and we can’t wait to see one, the author may consider adding pictorial fun to go with the clues.

ISBN: 978-1601455659

Availability: http://www.amazon.com/TREASURE-HUNT-Book-Clues-Parties/dp/1601455658

Deadly Decisions: How False Knowledge Sank the Titanic, Blew Up the Shuttle, and Led America into War

2009-03-27T21:35:00.000-07:00

Information has occupied the center of decision-making in human societies since ancient times. In the modern world, the political and social structure have gained immense complexity while the biological mechanism for information-processing in the human nervous system has remained more or less in place – liable to distortion, deletion, improvisation, and other errors that transform the original information in different ways, thus giving rise to what Christopher Burns terms as ‘false knowledge’. In Deadly Decisions (Prometheus Books 2008), Burns unveils and explains in detail the mismanagement of information that led to historical disasters like the sinking of Titanic, the destruction of the space shuttle Challenger, and – more recently – the 9/11 terrorist attacks followed by Iraq War.

In addition to the meticulous research of the book’s author, revealing the inside story of the widely known disasters, this book explains the biological basis of false knowledge and the nature of truth systems. The latter covers the philosophical concepts of truth and its role in society as discussed by renowned thinkers and writers – Kant, Voltaire, Rousseau, Struass, and Durkheim. Burns shows the relation between information handling/mishandling, human understanding/confusion, and the combined impact of both these on human existence.

With the horrors of a potential pandemic – the avian flu – hanging like the Damocles’ Sword on humanity, receiving, processing, and presenting information with maximum accuracy has become equivalent to the very survival of our species on this planet. The need to improve our information processing systems is thus the cry of the hour and the author of Deadly Decisions daringly appears with the case file for revising our attitude toward information handling in order to avoid making disastrous decisions. The Internet is one global network of information sharing in our time and Christopher Burns is hopeful that the World Wide Web can prove a satisfactory solution for ironing out the seams in information management.

Deadly Decisions is fully referenced, highly critical, and shockingly revealing. It blows the whistle and warns humanity of future catastrophes that can be prevented by ensuring the efficiency of information handling systems. There is much to learn from this book, and a lot to discuss.

ISBN: 978-1591026600

Book Webiste: http://www.deadly-decisions.com/

Furnace of Creation, Cradle of Destruction: A Journey to the Birthplace of Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Tsunamis

2009-02-22T22:45:00.000-08:00

Volcanism, earthquakes, and tsunamis – together they make the great trinity of natural disasters; that is how we know these violent natural phenomena, while our collective understanding of their origin has been plodding its way across time and tradition. At length, there seems to be a scientific theory that convincingly explains the nature, origin, and dynamics of the three greatest natural disasters – the theory of Plate Tectonics. British professor of oceanography Dr. Roy Chester, author of the classic title Marine Geochemistry, covers the progress of human understanding of earth’s most destructive natural hazards from ancient mythological traditions to modern scientific findings in his latest book Furnace of Creation, Cradle of Destruction (AMACOM Books, New York, 2008).

Ancient mythological/religious traditions themselves remain rather less known and scarcely discussed in our age of scientific education, except for history buffs and the most avid readers. Not surprisingly, old beliefs about volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis regarded them as acts of the gods or supernatural forces/creatures. Even in the recorded history of academic thought, there was a general domination of religious dogma and traditional beliefs till the Renaissance. Roy Chester traces the path of human thought and understanding, over the centuries, leading to the new era in studies about earth, its age, and evolution. It is insightful as well as entertaining to read how the scientific explanations of earth’s internal forces and their manifest effects have come in a series of episodes – like a mystery novel in which missing pieces of evidence are sought after the initial investigation narrows down the range of possibilities. In the chapter New Battles, the author discusses the two main schools of thought – Uniformatarianism and Catastrophism – that contended for authority on gearing the direction of future research over earth’s structure and evolution. From thence, the really significant story of the theory of plate tectonics comes into play.

Describing some of the most notable/forceful natural events on earth, Roy Chester shows how a number of theories about earth’s interior and internal forces were conceived by different researchers. The reader is taken to high mountains and deep down into the depth of oceans for structural observation as the author unfolds the plot of the plate tectonics phenomenon, moving back and forth in time. Through Dr. Chester’s showing-and- telling, we ultimately get the complete idea of how the seemingly rigid continents ride on a more plastic layer of molten rock material underneath and the relation between tectonic activity and natural disasters. There certainly is a lot more to learn about earth in Furnace of Creation, Cradle of Destruction: the formation and destruction of ocean floor; hot spots and hydrothermal venting systems; tectonic activity and global climate; and even the very origin of life on earth. Primarily, it is the story of the earth here that we read, also learning how earth’s matter, environment, and life are broadly related.

Thorough understanding of natural disasters clears the confusions about natural havoc wreaked on our lives and property. What is more important for the general reader is the possibility of predicting earthquakes, volcanism, and/or tsunamis in time to avoid/mitigate the damages associated with the disasters. As Roy Chester shows, it is still very hard to accurately predict future disasters; yet, extensive research has identified the more dangerous places on earth and a number of safety measures can be taken to minimize loss during a disastrous event. The final chapter of the book details the important concepts based on decades of research relating the prediction of earthquakes, volcanism, and tsunamis. It is here that the reader finds the human species face to face with nature; and gladly, we are not completely helpless here. Roy Chester makes a case for the unique human quality of scientific investigation and capitalizing on research for a safer and better future.

Furnace of Creation, Cradle of Destruction is a complete course in the basic concepts of earth’s structure, composition, activity, and evolution. With many awesome cases f natural disasters and helpful illustrations, this is the book that will make readers better understand how physical nature works on our home planet.

ISBN: 9780814409206

Availability: http://www.amanet.org/books/book.cfm?isbn=9780814409206

An Insomniac’s Dream

2009-01-01T01:32:00.000-08:00

Kelly Moran’s An Insomniac’s Dream (Publish America, December 2005) is just the kind of book that matches its title throughout its content and style – a half-dreamy mode of story-telling, one which makes you question the meaning of the word ‘real’. A collection of 30 poems and 7 short stories, the book explores the paranormal phenomena by palpable characters in the stories and a number of uneasy feelings in the poetry.

In an important sense, most of Kelly’s poems are ‘versified’ flash stories, each of which ends with a twist in the last two lines. While they do vary in the themes of the stories they tell, the mode mainly remains dreamily observational. In the first few poems, the author does not use the first-person narrative and hence a distinctive kind of detachment from the scene depicted in the poem; but it’s not long that she pays her personal tribute to her near and dear ones in poems like Pink, Blue, and Yellow.

Kelly’s poetry, in part, sounds dreamy because of the ease with which she waves two contrasting impressions in a single concept. In Every Petal Falls, for instance, we read of a daisy’s ‘frail petals, and its whisper that is ‘strong as the wind’ – when the daisy speaks. Same quality repeats in the very next poem Candles Wishes where the evanescent tears and smiles in a moment of time are contrasted against the memories ‘etched in stone’. Only a few poems lack the fluidity of poetic beauty and sound rather monotonous – Keeper of Secrets, for example – and one or two are less expressive in conveying the message, like Nothing. Most of the poems in this book, however, do touch your feelings and the sensation lasts for quite a while.

The true charm of Kelly’s writing, however, is best seen in her short fiction. Each story in An Insomniac’s Dream stands as an attention-grabber, a mystery of the literary quality of good creative writing. Communicating with the dead is the main motif in most of these stories, a spooky air, hence, envelops the reader while keeping him/her glued to the sense of its words. The tale that stands out from the collection as a real gem is The Man Named Fred in which the ghost of the deceased wife of a mystery writer communicates with him and shakes him down to his last nerve. The story sparkles as a critical view on the sincerity of one’s belief in what he/she writes – an interesting challenge to all writers of paranormal fiction.

Looking at the title and cover image of An Insomniac’s Dream, if you feel attracted to take a look at the content, it is surely recommended that you do since there is much inside this short book to amuse, intrigue, puzzle, and (sometimes) haunt you with its dreamy situations.

ISBN: 1413773443

Author Website

http://www.authorkellymoran.com/

Show Me: Marketing with Video on the Internet

2008-11-04T21:21:00.000-08:00

Online marketing is becoming an integral component, many a time the leading one, of an effective marketing plan in our age of cyber technology. With popular social networking websites, like MySpace and Facebook, and video-sharing sites, like Youtube, videos have become the most favorite media for publicity about one’s products, services, and/or talent. Hence, a large number of people are turning to videography for marketing on the Internet. Award-winning videographer Jessica Kizorek’s latest book Show Me: Marketing with Video on the Internet (PSI Publications, Illinois, 2008) is a practical guide to the basics of online video marketing that address the important considerations in video-making for enhancing one’s web presence.

As specified in the disclaimer, Kizorek’s book is not a commercial offer of services but only a useful guide that educates aspiring and professional business owners on the most important facts about video marketing. In 12 chapters, the author covers her topic well from various angles including the reasons for choosing video marketing; different barriers to video marketing; knowing the audience and gauging success of a video; producing and distributing videos online; and so on. There are two very important chapters on legal entanglements relating video marketing, and on the perils and pitfalls involved in international video production. Also included in the book is an appendix summarizing the basics of video marketing online along with endnotes with important references. The information in Kizorek’s book makes it a crash course in video marketing on the Internet.

The glossy pages and attractive images in the book add richness to Kizorek’s conversational style of writing. There are very few typos in the entire publication and the only thing that may interfere with the reader’s enjoyment is the slew of quotes about video ads and marketing – something that fills virtually every second page of the book. However, one may easily skip them by concentrating on the interesting text of the chapters. Show Me: Marketing with Video on the Internet is the book for all Internet users, business owners, and individuals/groups who want to know about video marketing on the Internet.

Book Website

http://www.showmethebook.com/

Author Wesbite

http://www.jessicakizorek.com/

Theaters and Theater Companies of New York

2008-10-19T08:54:00.000-07:00

For theater goers and drama lovers, the World Audience Publishers (New York) has published a brief guide to important theaters and theater companies in New York. Authored by Mike Stefan Strozier and Anthony Rubino Jr., Theaters and Theater Companies of New York (January 2008) carries a wealth of guidance on important drama production centers in New York along with full page photos of theater buildings.

Strozier and Rubino’s book inform the readers on the difference between different kinds of theater companies, working in New York; the background of their origin; and the profiles of more important theaters and production companies including their contact details and expert rating of their overall performance. Such an evaluation may help the readers decide what theater to go on their coming weekend. In addition, the authors of the book have also touched on the good and not-so-good critics and publications concerned with the quality of theater in New York. The book also warns against some places for security reasons – information, particularly helpful to strangers/tourists who want to enjoy nighttime theater in New York.

Despite the somewhat out-of-proportion abundance of theater images, Theaters and Theater Companies of New York does not lack in amusing substance. You learn about the story of the first actor, the story of the Tony Award, financial facts about theaters, the longest running plays, and more. This guide offers a snapshot of the art of theatrical production in New York, its past and present, and the business and pleasure of theater in the heart of America.

Availability
http://www.amazon.com/Theaters-Theater-Companies-York-2008/dp/193420983X/ref=sr_11_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1200718025&sr=11-1

The Last Cowgirl

2008-10-17T08:40:00.000-07:00

Dickie Sinfield, the 52-year old Salk Lake City journalist, ignored the call of her ‘cowgirl instincts’ for years in order to mix up in the more delicate and nifty urban lifestyle. But now, when her only brother is dead in suspicious circumstances, Dickie has little choice but to return to the ranch in Clayton, Utah, where she spent a childhood full of internal psychological conflict. The storyline of Jana Richman’s latest novel The Last Cowgirl (William Morrow Books, January 2008) points to the strong sense of connectedness to a place – in Dickie’s case, the country farmhouse where she had her first practical lessons in living a life.

The story of The Last Cowgirl proceeds as a first-person narrative, taking turns between Dickie’s voice as the 52-year old reporter in Salt Lake City and the child Dickie growing up on a farm. Unlike her elder sister Annie, Dickie’s characterization follows the view of her mother: ‘playing it safe is a shitty way to live a life.’ This holds for both the girl child on the ranch who would get lost in the hills at night and rescued by the ranchers as well as for the still-single, investigative reporter who would go politically incorrect in the face of crooked authorities. Strength, courage, stamina, and the spirit of adventure speak it for the west; Dickie Sinfield being an instance.

Jana Richman’s novel is a balanced work of inspiring literary merit. The language is fresh; the conversations are engaging; and all the main characters are memorably created. In a sense, The Last Cowgirl is a book of heroes chosen from apparently common people. Dickie’s conflict is both natural and vital for the expression of her real self – one that has escaped the lash of time by her half-conscious choice of shifting places. The motivation for returning to Clayton is gradually explored in the combination of the two subplots that fit into each other like mirror images to make a single, shining whole. Readers are cogently led to show how Dickie’s life is about keeping the legacy of courage and commitment that has been the pride of living in the openness of the American west.

The Last Cowgirl also critically brings up some burning issues, e.g. care for animals versus their abuse for vested-interests; passion for natural versus artificial life; speaking the disturbing truth about war as against a conciliatory silence; and finding the true love in contrast to mere companionship for the sake of a social life. With absorbing dialogues, captivating imagery, and delightful humor Jana Richman has scribed a heart-winning saga of exquisite western beauty.

ISBN: 978-0061257186

Availability

http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780061257186/The_Last_Cowgirl/index.aspx

Author Page

http://www.randomhouse.com/author/results.pperl?authorid=36360

The GenoType Diet

2008-09-13T23:45:00.000-07:00

Since William Sheldon’s seminal work on somatotyping, a number of scientific endeavors have been made to correlate behavioral traits with biological constitution. Dr. Peter J. D’Adamo’s latest book The GenoType Diet (Broadway Books, December 2007) discovers new connections between human morphology, genetic makeup, and blood types. He then theorizes a division of people into six main groups, the GenoTypes, on the basis of these characteristics and relates them to a person’s health, proposing a diet plan that best fits the nutritional needs of each category. After Dr. D’Adamo’s Eat Right 4 Your Type series, this book adds a new perspective to the diet-centered approach of naturopathic treatment.

Dr. D’Adamo devotes individual sections of his book to explain the science, mostly epigenetics, underlying the role of diet in an individual’s overall health. How and why it differs for different GenoTypes is the hook in this publication. Most interestingly, though not very fully, the author relates diet and Genotype in an evolutionary context. Combined with the author’s storytelling skills, it makes the research work a kind of test for self-discovery. As one reads more, he/she is tempted to discover him/herself in the right category of GenoTypes.

While the The GenoType Diet remains an interesting read for most part of it, there is a good deal of repetition in more than one chapter – sometimes seen in replication of whole passages. This is the main weakness that actually starts boring you at the beginning, and/or end, of some chapters. There also remains some confusion about how the author places historical figures, like Julius Caesar and Elizabeth 1 etc, in a particular GenoType without having any possibility to know their morphological measures, blood types, and other variables. This is more of a problem when he categorizes religious figures – like Abraham – characters whose very historicity is in question.

Dr. D’Adamo’s books is not strictly confined to healthy diet only but he also suggests some easy-to-do exercises for people of the six GenoTypes in order to ensure optimal fitness. The book also contains a list of useful resources on the subject and a glossary of important terms. Recommended for health-conscious readers.

ISBN-13: 978-0767925242

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/GenoType-Diet-Genetic-healthiest-possible/dp/0767925246

Author Website
http://www.genotypediet.com/

Alive!

2008-08-12T08:37:00.000-07:00

Substance abuse continues to be a disastrous consequence of stress and pain, especially those experienced in the early years of one’s life. In her recent book Alive (Infinity Publishing, 2008), Eileen P. DeClemente has revealed intriguing connections between childhood traumas, familial stress, and addiction to alcohol and drugs. Starting with her collapse in her mid 30s, Eileen tells an aching tale of her journey through several years of alcohol and drug abuse. After surviving a number of near-death situations, she decided to put an end to her sufferings by seeking professional treatment. Her narrative keeps the reader glued to the pages of her book, till the very end.

Eileen’s depiction of the alcoholic’s angst carries the reader away not only by its openness and poignant honesty, but more so by her analysis of familial relationships and their interplay with substance abuse. An alcoholic/druggie not only loses control of his/her freedom of choice but is also robbed of his/her social life. For Eileen, it was not less than a miracle to come out of the extremes of substance abuse (over 90 pills a day) and live a normal life again.

Alive is an exemplary work of personal encounter with alcoholism and drug abuse. Eileen’s life story is alarming, mesmerizing, and didactic; at the same time inspirational, motivating, and full of hope for all people who are suffering from some form of debilitating stress in their lives. There are some typos in the book – the only thing that may be regarded as the book’s weakness (and one can point to the publisher only). However, the author’s magic hardly allows one’s attention to be distracted. Alive is just what the doctor ordered; a book for everyone including the teenage population.

ISBN: 0-7414-4578-6

Book Website: http://eileenisalive.com/

The Genie in Your Genes

2008-08-12T02:09:00.000-07:00

To counter the invasive nature of allopathic therapeutic techniques, currently forming the bulk of mainstream treatment, alternate healing experts are knuckling down on scientific research that validates non-invasive, simpler, safer, and less expensive treatment methods. Part of the groundbreaking work in this direction comes from Dawson Church, founder of the Soul Medicine Institute (SMI) – a nonprofit education and research institute that focuses on consciousness and energy as primary modalities. In his recent book The Genie in Your Genes: Epigenetic Medicine and the New Biology of Intention (Elite Books, California, 2007), Dawson Church probes into the complex processes that switch on, or turn off, the genes in our bodies, a process that determines whether or not certain healing responses will be triggered. The pages of the book are filled with some of the most amazing findings on genes and illnesses, and their connection with the flow of electromagnetic energy in the body.

To date, mainstream science and popular media have convinced every second person that our biochemistry is mostly determined at birth and that allopathic treatment therapies are the most reliable and effective means of coping with diseases. The Genie in Your Genes challenges this view in a radical manner and underscores the importance of our beliefs and emotions as the dominant factors in determining our physiochemical as well as genetic framework. A simplified version of the author’s view can be created by thinking of psychological states – beliefs, emotions, and intentions etc – as directly affecting the flow of electromagnetic energy in our bodies. This energy has the ability to switch on (or off) particular genes as well as trigger the release of biochemical substances in the body that are important for quick and long-term relief from diseased symptoms. Such changes that start outside the DNA (i.e. epigenetic changes) are even heritable and, if adequately manipulated, have the potential of producing a healthier and peaceful generation of human beings. An amazing implication of epigenetic medicine!

Dawson Church is certainly not excessively critical of allopathic medicine. He acknowledges the use of such treatment in bringing relief from painful symptoms of certain conditions. But given the many adverse effects of allopathic treatments, their invasiveness and low effectiveness in many cases, and their high costs and many risks, he proposes that allopathic treatment should be the last resort of patients, not the priority. Explaining the simple, easy, and cost-free techniques of energy healing, Dawson Church equips the readers with some effective, quick-healing techniques that provide instance relief from stress and associated physical symptoms. The exciting research studies discussed in the book are fully referenced and a list of useful sources of information on energy healing is there for interested readers to consult. The Genie in Your Genes is yet another landmark publication on the subject of epigenetic processes, energy healing, and the biological changes resulting from non-physical stimuli.

ISBN: 978-1-60070-022-4

Availability

http://www.genieinyourgenes.com/

Succession

2008-08-12T01:39:00.000-07:00

Award-winning author Herbert Lobsenz has returned to the publishing world with his latest novel Succession (Zumaya Publications, 2008), the story of an aspiring writer, Jake Garrison, who finds himself in the alienating corporate world of the 1960s’ America. While Jake struggles to hold on to his sanity amidst the materialistic pressures of his workplace, the inner conflict with his doubts over his wife’s fidelity and his own integrity silently push him to the darkness of distrust. Only later would he realize that his response to the antagonist forces was overly fueled by his deep-seated fears.

Lobsenz creates an intriguing story for his book. His construction of the plot is compact and somewhat intricate; more poised on the side of the corporate mania rather than the main character’s personal development. There are some weaknesses in the book that may distract an average reader from getting the most of its pleasure and gist. The story takes a sharp start with a captivating hook but soon looses the balance of Jake’s character and, at times, Jake becomes almost non-existent in the plot. Lack of continuity in the story and a rushed conclusion interfere with the novel’s impact as something enjoyable with a clear meaningful message.

On the positive side, Succession opens up a window of thought against the senseless world of business where one has to tread one’s kind, even one’s own friends and family, for making profit. Jake’s watchword ‘never show pain’ is a manifestation of the fears associated with the race for survival in the ever-tightening capitalist society. On the whole, Succession is a poignant and disturbing book, recommended only for a limited audience i.e. men who can enjoy a tale of the business world back in the 1960s.

ISBN: 978-1-934135-81-5

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/Succession-Herbert-Lobsenz/dp/193413581X

The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing

2008-06-27T23:35:00.000-07:00

Book reviewing has been the hobby, profession, and passion of many practicing and potential writers as well as ardent book readers. Still, there had been no book length publication until now that may have served as a guide for reviewing books. Now we finally have one under the title The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing by Mayra Calvani and Anne K. Edwards, editors of the free monthly review ezine Voice in the Dark. Published by Twilight Times Books (2008), Mayra and Anne’s book covers all the basic elements involved in the art/hobby/profession of book reviewing.

As the title hints, book reviewing is a slippery art with a number of influences acting on the potential reviewers, hindering their objectivity and partiality in writing the review. The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing points out those slippery sides of the book reviewing art so as to enable the reviewer to write fair, objective, and reader-friendly reviews. Failing to do so not only betrays the trust a reader puts in the reviewer but also endangers the reviewer’s own reputation and integrity as a pen-holder. This is the most important aspect of The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing.

Mayra and Anne’s book also educates on the basics of reviewing like what a review is; what are the various types of reviews; how to write different types of reviews; and the relation between the review, reviewer, reader, author, and publisher. The examples of reviews and a simple step-by-step guide to review writing included in the book are certainly a great source of information for beginner reviewers. Also, a valuable list of publishing and reviewing sources, online and in print, at the end of the book will be of great interest and practical assistance to reviewers at all levels.

ISBN: 1933353228

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/Slippery-Art-Book-Reviewing/dp/1933353228

Authors’ Websites

Mayra Calvani: http://mayracalvani.com/
Anne K. Edwards: http://www.mysteryfiction.net/

The Human Antenna

2008-06-24T06:20:00.000-07:00

Acupuncture and other methods of alternate healing have been in use for centuries and have repeatedly been criticized by hard-shelled scientists and medical professionals as devoid of any solid scientific base. But Dr. Robin Kelly’s recent book The Human Antenna (Elite Books, California, 2007) brings up a whole new face of human existence in the light of some really fascinating research studies. Mainstream science has always attempted to attribute all bodily and mental functions to the material base of our existence. Here, Dr. Kelly presents evidence that we are essentially ‘energy beings’ down to our very last atom. A stunning theory of life!

Working as a medical doctor, Dr. Kelly tells how he found scientific and rational wisdom in ancient Chinese traditions of healing, particularly acupuncture. Not only did he become an acupuncture therapist but also pursued research on the healing aspects of universal energy. What Dr. Kelly learnt was radically different from the ruling concepts of ‘life’ in science; we turn out to be intimately connected to the universal energy that affects each and every cell of us, every passing moment. This universal energy is a major resource of healing various types of illnesses more effectively and almost free of cost. All we need to do is understand it better along scientific lines of research. The Human Antenna is a seminal work in that direction.

Including several accounts of the most exciting and revealing research in various scientific disciplines across the globe, The Human Antenna surprises the reader with its wonderful, little-known facts about life and its interaction with the universe. At the same time, Dr. Kelly narrates his own life experiences that inspired him to seek the truth of existence out of the dark realms of obscurity. His skills of story-telling and refined sense of humor make The Human Antenna a page turner, converting intricate scientific concepts into amusing tales for all his readers.

ISBN: 978-1-60415-014-8

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/Human-Antenna-Reading-Language-Universe/dp/1604150149/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214146569&sr=8-1

Author Website
http://www.humanantenna.com/

AIDS Orphans Rising

2008-06-02T23:45:00.000-07:00

AIDS is one of the worst threats that have thwarted humanity. In human knowledge, it has a short history; though its origin is possibly as old as humanity itself. Now in the 21st century, AIDS has become ever more terrifying in a different way than a medical condition: it is prowling on the lives of children. In her latest book AIDS Orphans Rising What You Should Know and What You Can Do To Help Them Succeed (Loving Healing Press, December 2007), Sister Mary Elizabeth Lloyd alarms the readers with the frightening figures of the world’s minor population that is left orphan as AIDS continues to take their parents down. Every 14 seconds, such a tragedy occurs in some part of the world!

In many developing and poor countries, the death of both parents leaves the surviving children on their own. Thus a child headed household (CHH) is formed where the orphans, many of them under 9 years of age, have to work for their survival. Those who are not left a house by their parents have to live on the streets, beg for food, and are prone to falling into crime and prostitution in order to survive. The situation is assuming the status of a crisis in African countries, particularly in South Africa and Zambia, where the governments are economically too weak to support AIDS orphans. What do these helpless children do?

As Sister Mary Elizabeth explains in her book, viewing these children as totally helpless will not be so correct a view since these orphan kids have developed coping strategies of their own to ensure their survival. These range from menial labor to selling grains and nuts, and learning technical skills while continuing to go to school full time. Still, they are very much in need of help from grownups not only to live better but also for emotional support and the development of positive and fully functional personalities as they move into adulthood. Without help, they remain at a high risk of becoming a prey to exploitation and abuse.

How can the lives of these AIDS orphans be salvaged? Sister Mary Elizabeth provides a complete resource guide in AIDS Orphans Rising for the readers to help them play their role in helping the poor kids who have been left on their own in the struggle for survival. The Sister ad her team are working in various parts of the world to support AIDS orphans and their efforts make an instance of inspiration for all those who care to save human children from the claws of poverty and potential abuse. AIDS Orphans Rising is a major step in this direction.

ISBN: 978-1932690477

Availibility

http://aidsorphansrising.org/book.html

AIDS Orphans Website

http://aidsorphansrising.org/

The Book of Life

2008-05-30T00:56:00.000-07:00

The Book of Life by Chinese poet and philosopher Ronnie Lee is the first among a series of books that the author has scribed on the subject of existential philosophy and its role in explaining life. Published by Outskirt Press (December 2006), The Book of Life is a voluminous collection of Lee’s poems on existentialism, logic, and the reality of our existence. The aim of Lee’s work is attaining a greater understanding of truth and the core realities of life. The merit of his work is contained not only in his philosophical quest for discovering the meaning of existence but mainly in his use of poetry as a medium of explaining the otherwise mind-boggling views on issues that may not interest the general reader. But Lee makes his views both easy to grasp and enjoyable to read in poetic form.

The Book of Life is divided in five main sections: The Truth of Logic, Wills, Philosophy, World Science, and My World Experience. The first three parts deal with philosophical concepts and the role of logic and reason in understanding various phenomena of existence. World Science is a more mathematical part of Lee’s book, explaining the reality of life by applying existential logic to many mathematical expressions of our mainstream science. In the last part of the book, called My World Experience, Lee shares the many questions he asked himself for attaining a greater understanding of the reality of existence. His own curiosity for getting knowledge serves as a model of wisdom for his readers.

Lee’s The Book of Life is a founding work of philosophical poetry that is a rare genre in our times. Poetic composition makes philosophy easier and interesting. It is an invitation to discover grand realities in an enjoyable, artistic mode. We all have got our own ‘book’ of life; why not explore it in depth like Lee?

ISBN: 978-1432700096

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/Book-Life-Existentialism-Wisdom Philosophy/dp/143270009X/ref=tag_prf_item_edpp_ttl

Strategies

2008-05-07T02:14:00.000-07:00

As Tami Brady suffered from the painful and peace-haunting symptoms of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, she lost control of her life. To mask her fears, she pressed harder on herself in her field work as an archeology student, trying to convey that she was strong as ever. But one day, when she collapsed in the field and was raised to her feet by her friends, she heard the most important thing from one of the students; that she was human just like them. In her latest book Strategies: A Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia Journey (Loving Healing Press, Michigan, 2008), Tami Brady tells the story of transformation as a person after her painful experience of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. In a very important sense, Dr. Brady found herself a more confident and wiser person even to the point of thanking the two diseases for visiting her and making this shift in personality possible.

Fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome are quite prevalent with no exact cause or cure known so far and often being wrongly diagnosed as one or more of several other disorders with similar symptoms. Strategies explores the nature of these two debilitating diseases via the author’s personal journey through them. Realizing the hazards of passively receiving treatment with prescribed medicine, Tami started to formulate her own treatment strategies, targeting both specific symptoms and general well-being. Thus we learn about three main strategies that every patient of these diseases can benefit from: physical support, stress management, and natural medication. Tami’s book is a valuable resource of various means of coping with fibromyalgia and stress that leads to exhaustion.

Strategies also includes a complete treatment plan in form of the many pages to be used by readers who are patients of fibromyalgia and/or chronic fatigue syndrome. By presenting her own treatment plan as a model, the book makes self-treatment easy and simple enough to be used with confidence by any and all readers. For every health conscious individual, and particularly for those who want to win their battle over stress and fatigue, Tami Brady’s book is highly recommended.

ISBN: 1-932690-48-4

Availability

http://lovinghealing.com/strategies-chronic-fatigue-syndrome-fibromyalgia/

Author Website

http://www.tami-brady.com/

The Case Against ‘Jesus’

2008-04-30T23:01:00.000-07:00

For nearly two thousand years, billions of people have believed in Jesus Christ of the New Testament as a historical figure who lived on this earth and performed miracles. But did Jesus really exist or is he an invented character, no more than a rewrite of the various mythical traditions predating the New Testament? This defying question has been raised before by more than one scholar in the past and now it comes with a shockingly greater force out of the pen of Burton H. Wolfe. In his fourth (revised) edition of The Case Against ‘Jesus’ (World Audience Inc, New York, 2007), Burton Wolfe launches a meticulous probe into the validity of Christian faith that stands on the belief that Jesus Christ existed as a living, breathing person; performed miracles; and was crucified. Digging up the most intriguing historical evidence against the very existence of Christ, Wolfe exposes organized religion as a hoax that serves to satiate the vested interests of more than one group of people.

According to Wolfe, there are many strong reasons for doubting the historicity of Jesus: the absence of any authentic historical evidence of Jesus extrinsic to the New Testament; the startling resemblance of pre-Christian traditions, especially of the Hebraic origins, to the Biblical accounts of the Christ; the contradictions in the Bible regarding the story of Jesus and his crucifixion; various frauds perpetrated by the Church and media to perpetuate the story of Jesus as an authentic fact; and the direct historical evidence proving Jesus as fiction rather than a historical fact. The author’s attention to detail and his vigorous criticism of irrational beliefs pose a serious problem to the world’s dominant religion as well as to organized religion as a whole.

The Case Against ‘Jesus’ is not only a hard blow to religion but also to different media that side with religion in furthering its deceptions. Wolfe is a relentless pursuer of truth who does not hesitate clawing at the fraudulent excesses of some of the most celebrated media channels and publications for their repeated misrepresentations of reality. He names the popular TV channels, newspapers, and magazines that have played with the ignorance and credulity of millions, singling out a few cases of their deception and presenting them as examples of their partiality. These revelations about the most trusted sources of information demand a revision of our very standards of credibility and truth.

Burton Wolfe writes his case against the historicity of Jesus with the knowledge of a scholar, the logic of a philosopher, and the fiery spirit of a nonconformist. At a few places in the book, his tome assumes a certain degree of anger, sounding harsh, but he counters this impression by arousing a good deal of laughter as he encourages making fun of lies disguised as truth. His book is a challenging read for all audiences concerned with truth, history, logic, and of course, with the Judeo-Christian religions.

ISBN: 978-1-934209-55-4

Availability

http://www.worldaudience.org/pubs_bks/pubs_bks_Wolfe_Jesus.html

Burton H. Wolfe’s Page at Authors Den

http://www.authorsden.com/visit/author.asp?authorid=41094

The Bunko Babes

2008-04-19T00:01:00.000-07:00

There are three Fs in this heart-warming debut novel from Leah Starr Baker that make the book rich with all the fullness of life: Friendship, Family, and Faith. This trinity lies at the core of a complete life of a woman as we are shown by thirty-seven years old Rebecca Thornton who tells the story of her encounter with a life-threatening illness and a heap of other problems within the circle of her close friends-the ‘Bunko Babes’. By mutual support, trust, and faith in divine intervention, Rebecca gets the most in her life and emerges as a woman better prepared for living the life to the lees.

The story of Rebecca Thornton is, in every sense, the story of a modern American woman who has a family to care for and who is burdened with the responsibility of keeping things in place while the surrounding circumstances push her to anxiety and lack of direction. All the Bunko Babes have their own problems and insecurities but they all share the most valuable resource of support-good friendship and mutual trust. These two things alone suffice to let a woman’s spirits stand up to their responsibilities. Adding to the meaning of one’s difficult experiences is the element of faith which, though may be lacking in good times, serves to balm the inner soars and makes healing complete when some physical and/or psychological trauma batters one’s integrity.

Like many other good works of women’s fiction, Leah Baker’s first novel takes a critical look at the nature of various problems that plague families and relationships, ranging from problems with growing kids to infidelities of husbands and issues related to aging. Many women usually have to bear the brunt of the aftermath of these problems and it takes a long time and good deal of effort to pull the boat of life out of the troubled waters. With trusting friends, honesty, and faith, these trials of life can be dealt with most effectively, gaining in the process instead of coming to a loss. Mrs. Baker’s novel instantiates the practice of writing purposeful fiction that has the potential of making a difference in the reader’s own life.

The Bunko Babes is a special treat for women-entertaining, inspiring, and educating- but it will also make a touching read for men who value family, friendship, and faith.

ISBN: 0978513754

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/Bunko-Babes-Leah-Starr-Baker/dp/0978513754

Author Website

http://web.mac.com/leahstarrbaker/iWeb/LeahStarrBaker/Welcome.html

The Spaces Between Things

2008-04-15T04:34:00.000-07:00

The latest collection of Linda Benninghoff’s poems is here under the title The Spaces Between Things (erbacce-press, Liverpool, 2008). Like her previous chapbook departures, this collection brings memories of childhood, friends, family, and experiences of natural elements (animals, trees, water, and weather) to life. The 34 poems in this short book deal with the experience of feeling the space between things and how it relates to our definition of life as a conscious individual. Language and compassion transcend the physical barriers while the unstoppable arrow of time marks the position of our individual existence as a being apart from all the rest. Benninghoff certainly writes more with her brains while making room for the beat of her heart in her unrhymed verse.

The Spaces Between Things is intimately involved with the theme of ‘change’. As we move through time, a sense of sameness remains as the essential core of our self but a lot of scenes change on the canvas of life. The two states are often reconciled by the silence of the memory of our past. But there are times when our mind considers things in a questioning mood. Thus Benninghoff asks why her father would not give her the same degree of support as he did when she was a child (Hyannisport). What has changed in the process of becoming an independent individual? Even things that we consider our ‘own’ may not be so when viewed in the context of this constant flux. In Butterflies, for example, we read:

‘I know I have never owned anything
not my hands, my thoughts
nor even the butterflies’

The Spaces Between Things comes without any prelude or formal introduction. Linda Benninghoff does not choose to interpose her presence between her poetic work and its audience. The effect is immediacy of getting to see the scenes she paints with her words. The world of her observation and imagination is peaceful, natural, and beautiful with birds, trees, family, friends, and more.

ISBN: 978-1-906588-12-0

Availability

http://www.erbacce-press.com/#/lindabenninghoff/4527889939

Proceedings of the 6th Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Conference

2008-03-30T22:36:00.000-07:00

George W. Doherty, an LPC in Wyoming and the president of the Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Institute, has put together the most important papers on managing the impact of disasters on the mental health and behavior of people, especially those who provide emergency services during and shortly after disasters. Published by the Rocky Mountain DMH Institute Press (March, 2008), this edition serves the important purpose of exploring the hazardous effects of disasters on human behavior and on family and society at large.

The papers printed in George Doherty’s book deal with the main issue of disaster impact on mental/behavioral health from different angles and with respect to different groups of population. First responders, emergency workers, and soldiers are always at a higher risk of developing mental/behavioral abnormalities that would endanger their individual and family life. But many other categories of people are at a higher risk of suffering from disasters, tourists, for example, who need special measures of security on account of both natural hazards and terrorist traumas. Then there are the senior citizens for whom old age, illness, abusive treatment, and neglect form a constant trauma without any manifest disastrous situation to be noted by mental health institutes. Managing the stress of all these people is inevitable for the definition of a healthy society.

The target audience of George Doherty’s publication is broad: all mental health professionals, disaster management officers, and local policy makers who have anything to do with a better quality of life for the citizens. Some papers would be of great interest to all readers like Jamie Egolf’s Flyboy’s Daughter and John G. Jones’ The Forgotten Trauma Victims: America’s Elderly. Generally, any educated person caring about an improved quality of life can benefit from this publication of the Rocky Mountain Region Disaster Mental Health Institute.

ISBN: 978-1932690569

Book Details

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1932690565/ccusersgroup

Website of the Institute:

http://www.rmrinstitute.org/rocky.html

Never Better

2008-03-26T01:42:00.002-07:00

After the death of her husband Eugene F. Connolly, school counselor and teacher Sally A. Connolly sensed the need to reorganize her life around positive activity and resetting the parameters of life. Her experience of a new life as a woman after the loss of spouse has been chronicled in her latest book Never Better: All Things Considered (Connolly Associates, Massachusetts, 2007). The book is a collection of her short, first-person entries that record her transition from wife to widow and to a single senior. ‘Everything’ considered in Never Better serves to make people, particularly of families and community, educate on potential threats to their health, safety, and the overall quality of life.

Mrs. Connolly’s approach to life as a single senior citizen is very mature. She places high importance on family, education, and belongingness to a peace-loving community. In her usual life, she sees so many things that guarantee a happy and satisfied life; things that are accessible to everyone and the only reason they are not cherished with great enthusiasm is our way of looking at them as ‘routine’. By stepping inside the day-to-day matters as a person belonging to a place and people, life can be filled with joy and positive activity. Never Better radiates that inspiration to make our thinking blend into the fullness of our lives.

Sally Connolly’s fondness for the written word filters through the passages of her book not only in her own writing but in the pearls of wisdom, coming from eminent figures in literature, included in the book. The book’s cover and vignettes reflect a pleasing liveliness that transcends the values of a society obsessed with money-making and self-seeking individualism. The author’s individual voice instead carries all the flair of living usefully and serving a noble purpose. While not offering any expressly stated guidelines, Never Better is more like a picture that shows the beauty of living a good life and sharing it with others.

ISBN: 978-0977265329

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/Never-Better-All-Things-Considered/dp/0977265323

Author Website

http://aboyfromlawrence.webs.com/

Random Thoughts

2008-03-25T22:09:00.000-07:00

Letting one’s thoughts ramble is sometimes a delightful venture. Meaning and order may arise from the apparent randomness, like the Brownian motion of particles that determine the temperature of an object. Howard Wu’s anthology Random Thoughts (Trafford Publishing, British Columbia, 2008) is an instance of creating meaning through randomness of thought and content.

The eight entries chosen for Random Thoughts vary in genres and subject mater, hence the complier’s choice of the word ‘random’. The structure of all pieces, except one however, is fairly consistent. The mode is inquisitive and disposed toward criticism, though situations vary widely from the exploration of identity (Deep Thoughts) to an adventurous quest (The World After) and the authoritative control of behavior against innovation (im in punctuation prison).

What makes Random Thoughts unique is the fact that all the entries have been published nearly unedited. The typos and grammatical errors are there and they speak for the book’s gist: the need for sense precedes that of formal accuracy in linguistic expression. Lloyd Hudson Frye’s im in punctuation prison expressly calls for a refinement of thought that would aim at the greater purpose of meaning. Howard Wu is to be credited for putting together a nice collection of thoughts, all random but well worth considering.

ISBN: 9781425162382

Availability

http://www.trafford.com/07-2847

Lifeliner

2008-03-18T21:59:00.000-07:00

One thing a good inspirational book achieves is making its readers realize the worth of life and the state of living just in normal good health-something we often take for granted. Canadian author Shireen Jeejeebhoy’s biographical account of Judy Taylor, titled Lifeliner: The Judy Taylor Story (iUniverse Inc, Nebraska, 2007), is a recent instance of personal inspiration with the life and courage of a woman whose medical treatment for severe gastroenterological damage was about to revolutionize the medical technique of intravenous feeding.

Being the daughter of Dr. Khursheed Jeejeebhoy, Shireen Jeejeebhoy met Judy Taylor while still a young girl. Back then, in the early 1970s, Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN) was a medical strategy in its infancy, used diffidently by physicians for keeping seriously ill people alive only for a short time. Gastroenterologist Dr. Khursheed Jeejeebhoy decided to use TPN as the alternative mode of nutrition to sustain Judy Taylor-the woman who suddenly had become a victim to a horrible blood clot that destroyed her innards, making eating impossible and inviting death in the form of infection and starvation. Lifeliner is the true story of what happened in Judy’s life as she fought death with the help of Dr. Jeejeebhoy. By staying alive and functional on TPN for over twenty years, Judy became the first successful ‘lifeliner’, a source of hope for more patients like her, and Dr. Jeejeebhoy practically became the father of Total Parenteral Nutrition.

Lifeliner is more than an inspiring biography; it’s a book about the developmental course of TPN as well as a case study of the emotional aftermath of seriously ill people, like Judy, to their families and relationships. Shireen’s pen has all the force of a great storyteller and the artistic skills of reviving a past scene in its most original form. She shows us the situation, taking us to the time and place of the event without throwing in a single unnecessary word. Choosing the present tense for telling Judy’s story, the book gets over the sense of temporal gap that so often interposes between the reader and the events.

There are many medical terms in Lifeliner which the lay reader may have to grapple with and so the author has taken care to add a glossary of the difficult terms at the end of the book. All material is well-researched and a bibliography of relevant works makes the book a complete guide to TPN for interested readers. Lifeliner is for all audiences, and especially a must read for people whose lives have been touched by serious illness. This book will give them hope and courage, helping them to appreciate life better.

ISBN: 9780595445448

Author/Book Website

http://jeejeebhoy.ca/

Judy Taylor Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kn8WWoml2I

Geochemistry of Marine Sediments

2008-03-13T01:45:00.000-07:00

David J. Burdige’s Geochemistry of Marine Sediments (Princeton Univeristy Press, New Jersey/Oxfordshire, 2006) is a comprehensive publication on all the components of marine sediments and every significant process involved in their derivation, transport, lithification, and diagenesis. The book cruises through the marine environment with the eyes of a detail-oriented observer, revealing the surface and pelagic (deep sea) geochemical processes and the mechanisms by which they contribute to the prospective shape, composition, and other properties of marine sediments.

Of particular interest and importance in Professor Burdige’s book is his treatment of the role of organic geochemical components throughout the sedimentation and post-depositional (diagenetic) alteration of marine sediments. In a broader sense, this approach bridges the gap between the inanimate (inorganic) elements of our planet and the animate (organic) components of the earth. Marine organisms, fluid media, and sediments forming/settling in oceans are seen, perhaps for the first time, in a detailed continuum of physiochemical interaction. Not only does this probe into the marine geochemical environment build an invaluable basis of fundamental knowledge about the subject but the book also comes as a guide for the explorers of fossil fuels (the matured products of organic matter).

Geochemistry of Marine Sediments is exhaustively illustrated with figures, tables, mathematical equations, schematic representations of the relation between various components and processes operating in the marine realm, and many profile diagrams for depicting the relation of factors s involved in the processes relating to the sedimentation and diagenesis of marine sediments. Most impressive is Professor Burdige’s complete list of references at the end of the book-a great resource for the research-oriented reader in the relevant field(s) of study-geology, chemistry, and biology. For all graduate students, and above, this book is a self-contained course in both basic and advance marine geochemistry.

ISBN: 978-0-691-09506-6

Availability

http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8339.html

Author Website

http://sci.odu.edu/oceanography/directory/faculty/dburdige/index.shtml

Humanizing Madness

2008-03-12T02:35:00.000-07:00

The 21st century is frequently experiencing intellectual challenges to several established theories in science. Lately, seasoned Australian psychiatrist Dr. Niall McLaren has put the practice of psychiatry to a hard challenge by showing its lack of any sound theory of mind. In his book Humanizing Madness (Future Psychiatry Press, Michigan, 2007), Dr. McLaren criticizes the arbitrariness of psychiatrc treatments based on a crude reductionist view that fails to satisfy the criteria of scientific accuracy and exists more of a convention than a scientifically legitimate practice. He also attempts to fill the void of understanding that surrounds mental activity, its biologic overlap, and its relation to psychiatric problems, by proposing his biocognitive theory of mind.

The need for sound theoretical foundations in psychiatry has been around since the very start of psychiatric practice. The main problem has not only been the absence of a reliable model of how the mind works but also of a reification of personal beliefs that closed the doors of progress in psychiatry by authoritatively dictating whatever felt like intellectually (and personally) rewarding; a case of easing off at the expense of the self-correcting approach in science. Thus Watson’s behaviorist approach in explaining all human behavior is as immune to objective analysis as a zealot’s fideism. Dr. McLaren raises serious doubts about any/all hardwired demarcations of scientific concepts, illustrating through his autopsy of the psychiatric system with the lancet of logic.

Humanizing Madness covers more than one aspect of the psychological and philosophical underpinnings of psychiatry. It is a brief history of the evolution of psychiatry, a critique of the mainstream psychiatric practice and its social/philosophical implications, a critical assessment of the treatment approaches toward mental disorders, and also a thought-provoking analysis of the possibilities that lie in the way of mental health’s future as a genuine science. Dr. McLaren’s genius shows in his out-of-the box approach to redefine scientific concepts more flexibly without compromising major scientific paradigms, rules of logic, and common sense all at once. As he proceeds with his analysis of mental theories, some of the presumably well-defined concepts like consciousness, self, and (above all) mind appear to be no more than loosely nucleated layers around a mere void.

Dr. McLaren’s writing is clear, nearly free of jargon, and easy-to-understand. Nevertheless, Humanizing Madness is not likely to amuse the lay reader. It is a work of scholarly caliber, particularly focused on psychiatry and befitting the reading interest of those interested in psychiatry in particular and in the philosophy of science at large.

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/Humanizing-Madness-Psychiatry-Cognitive-Neurosciences/dp/1932690395

Author Website

http://futurepsychiatry.com/

ISBN: 1932690395

Last Call

2008-02-26T23:00:00.000-08:00

By way of common experience, we don’t usually tend to stay motionless in a seat or else we may feel numb. Discomfort causes motion and only when we start shifting sides within the confines of a seat do we realize that arriving at a balance of ease is not a promised lot. Similar is the case of the protagonists of Blair Oliver’s book Last Call (World Audience Inc., New York, 2007) who are all men, mostly in their thirties, shifting ‘sides’ in the ‘seat of relationship’. The nine short stories included in Blair’s book picture a movement in the psychosocial co-ordinates of relationship, self-image, and responsibility.

Last Call intelligently portrays the disappointments and disillusionments that characterize the dynamics of social life and, particularly in Blair’s stories, family life. The book’s representative hero is a man with a troubled marriage, who must seek the least unacceptable way of losing himself to familial obligations, past grievances, and the fragility of circumstances. Movement is his necessity while caution serves as a learned signal of security against the odds of messing things up for himself but also for his ‘extended self’. The point of the matter is that you can’t be sure what the attempt of movement toward comfort will bring-a little ease or a debilitating fall.

The situations in Last Call pertain well to our modern urban culture where, as Michael Gilbert put it in his recent book The Disposable Male, man is increasingly being cornered as something good for a short-term use. There were times when women would give their soul to save their marriages but things have moved on since then. It is men’s turn now to resume the balance of family life by giving part of their authority and thus-paradoxically-gain control of their lives. Fatherhood and spousehood need to be reconsidered in a new social context. This is a challenge one can hardly obviate and the first thought of it may be the last call that can save our men from ultimate disposability.

Blair Oliver’s stories are fresh, concentrated in mood and feel, subtly revealing, and genuinely correcting. There is humor at places where the situations spontaneously call for it. Last Call is a book for all lovers of literary fiction, a must read for all men, and only the first in a potentially long list of quality fiction from this talented American teacher and writer.

ISBN: 978-1934209745

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/Last-Call-Blair-Oliver/dp/1934209740

http://www.worldaudience.org/pubs_bks/pubs_bks_Oliver_Last_Call.html

Introductory Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMPQwNLWxIY&eurl=http://www.worldaudience.org/pubs_bks/pubs_bks_Oliver_Last_Call.html

Let Us Share

2008-02-23T01:03:00.000-08:00

Reading Lou Dunn Diekemper’s latest book Let Us Share: A Conversation on Growing Older (Synergy Books, Texas, 2007) rolls your fear of aging one-eighty degrees to bring the bright side of aging to the attention of your thought. And thinking is what her viewpoint underscores: ‘introspection can increase our victories.’ Admit it or not, we are in constant fear of aging and death, suppressed consciously or unconsciously to some dark corner of our mind whence it pokes at our ease off and on. But Let Us Share is a book, by a 78 year old lady, that shows us how we can easily transform our fear of old age into enjoyment and peace.

Diekemper’s book is very different from the many self-help books where an author assumes authority over a particular sphere of life and starts casting pearls of wisdom. Let Us Share is what its name reveals: sharing with a senior friend whose number of years of life has not marred her love and enjoyment of it. By simply thinking over our life’s experiences in a new optimistic light, we can take pride and happiness in each day added to our age. In 180 pages of Let Us Share, Lou Dunn Diekemper shows us the beauty of aging and you realize, for the first time perhaps, how evanescent and unnecessary was our fear of getting older.

ISBN: 1-933538-76-7

Availability

http://www.shop.com/+-a-let+us+share+book-p68706932-k36-st.shtml

Good-bye, Baby Max

2008-02-15T21:54:00.000-08:00

Many children books are printed each month to amuse kids of varying ages. This colorful, hardcover children’s title Good-bye, Baby Max (Bridgeway Books, Texas, 2007) by Diane Cantrell & Heather Castles is special in its purpose of teaching an invaluable lesson: that of properly saying the final farewell to a loved one who is no more. The book tells the story of the unfortunate baby chick Max who doesn’t make it into life while his twins Dora and Spiderman appear healthy out of their shells. The kids, eagerly awaiting the birth of the chicks, are heartbroken over the death of Baby Max and so their teacher uses her wisdom and care to lead them toward the appropriate way of showing their love and expressing their grief.

The importance of involving children in mourning is increasingly being acknowledged by developmental psychologists since children do sense the loss no matter how much they are coaxed into believing that ‘everything is ok.’ By being left out with the ‘mystery’, their wee minds are inclined to conclude that something terribly wrong has happened; something that is not worth speaking. This sows the seeds of fear and detachment in their mental development. Being a Licensed Professional Counselor and former KG teacher, Diane Cantrell has created a very purposeful book for children-one that is at once a story, a poem, and a healthy course of helping children get over grief. The book’s illustrations by Heather Castles are very appealing to a child’s imagination. There is a good deal here in Good-bye, Baby Max to learn for children ages 4 to 8 years and the 32-pages book is a must read for all kids of this age category.

ISBN-10: 1933538953
ISBN-13: 978-1933538952

Book Details and Availability
http://goodbyebabymax.com/

Literal Translations: Issue 8

2008-02-14T04:26:00.000-08:00

Litmocracy’s quarterly literary supplement Literal Translations’ 8th issue is out with the 13 finest entries to the site printed in a mini paperback form. Including mostly short stories and poems, Literal Translations gives voice to the ‘personal’ in the world of amateur literary expression. From the provocative to inspirational and nostalgic to inquisitive, these literary tidbits make a great reading for a couple of hours.

This latest issue of Literal Translations includes vibrant shorts like Maureen Wilkinson’s Recreational Sex, Brian Brown’s Dinner Alone, Dave Scotese’s Befriending Dead Uncle Joe, Les Dalgliesh’s The Farmer Cut the Rye, Robin Reed’s The Ultimate Cell Phone, and more. Each page is a unique experience with thoughtfully created characters and questions that tend to stay with the reader after he/she is through the edition’s 50 pages. Brief bios of the author are included at the issue’s end.

Availability

http://www.litmocracy.com/weblog/purchase/

Litmocracy’s Homepage

http://www.litmocracy.com/

The Disposable Male

2008-02-12T21:02:00.000-08:00

Compared with medieval, Victorian, and early-20th-century times, women today enjoy an awesome degree of freedom with work, relationship, and individual life choices. Or is it an awful and undue burdening of the female members of society at the expense of men? In the context of evolutionary biology, Michael Gilbert, of the University of Southern California, presents some seriously challenging questions to modern men and women of urban societies. In his book The Disposable Male: Sex, Love, and Money (The Hunter Press, Atlanta, 2006), he defies the prevailing hard-shelled feminist attitudes that are confusing gender roles and subjecting both sexes, especially the male, to a dysfunctional status in both individual and social lives.

Michael Gilbert is concerned with the imbalance of gender-based responsibilities for which both sexes are biologically and socially yet unprepared: women suffering from multiple duties at work and family while most men having little to do while biologically though equipped for doing a lot. Adding to this is the Second Wave’s feminist aggression that has supported an invasion of the formerly male spheres of activity by women while providing no alternative to positively channelize the masculine energy. Hence the disposable male!

Mr. Gilbert’s writing style is hip and absorbing; making an enjoyable story of the early beginnings of life on our planet and its evolution to the modern human form. At times, while touching on feminist attitudes, the author’s tone does assume a slightly bitter feel. The book also challenges the rooted beliefs of a divine origin of life and the various conventions that attribute existence to supernatural forces. To the author, life and humanity are natural, not divine, and in their naturalness lies their great appeal to respect and conservation.

After a thorough discussion of the gender-based problem, very little of which is uninteresting, the book lists some remedial measures for a more peaceable and stable social life in modern urban settings. This calls for a greater understanding between both sexes, a careful consideration of the existing needs and sources of living, and mutual cooperation of both genders for meeting the inescapable demands of their evolutionary heritage.

The Disposable Male is targeted at any educated reader who likes to appreciate the flip side of gender issues and for all those who are interested in human sociobiology, current events, and relationships at large.

ISBN-10: 0977655237
ISBN-13: 978-0977655236

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/Disposable-Male-Money-Your-Through-Darwins/dp/0977655237

Book Details and Discussion

http://www.thedisposablemale.com/

Temples, Tombs, & Hieroglyphs

2008-01-20T21:42:00.000-08:00

In her revised and updated second edition of Temples, Tombs, and Hieroglyphs (HarperCollins, New York, 2007), Egyptologist Barbara Mertz (also known variously as Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels) takes us back to antiquity on a new journey through the ancient Egyptian civilization. This publication on Egyptian history is written with all the objectivity of a scholar combined with the story-telling skills of an author and the orderliness of an organizer. It is to the latter of these that the book owes its success of completeness while covering thirty-one dynasties and reaching the Roman conquest of Egypt by Julius Caesar.

Egyptology is a vast subject-a whole field of knowledge within the broad realm of history. It may be approached as a science or art, always in danger of biases, nescience, pedantic exaggeration, or even political partiality. Barbara Mertz accomplishes a balanced roundup of the genealogical, political, cultural, intellectual, and archaeological history of Egypt through 5000 years. She speaks to her readers through the pages of the book and maintains her personal voice-much like a learned commentator does in a documentary video.

While Mertz’s imagery is concise, her book carries a number of sketches, some maps of ancient Egypt, and some high-quality colored photographs-all illumining the important archaeological details of the ancient Egyptian civilization. For the interested reader, the book includes a list of useful readings on related topics along with an index to the book’s key topics at the end.

Temples, Tombs, and Hieroglyphs also deconstructs some popular myths about the Egyptian history and civilization. This is one good reason why the speculating mind should go through this book. By her explanatory, easy-to-grasp style of writing, Barbara Mertz makes Egyptology easy and interesting with this latest, hard-cover edition of Temples, Tombs, and Hieroglyphs.

ISBN: 9780061252761

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/Temples-Tombs-and-Hieroglyphs/dp/B000XUAD1I/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200746741&sr=1-2

Author Website

http://www.mpmbooks.com/

And Then It Was Teatime

2007-12-28T21:16:00.000-08:00

Tea, reading, and conversation go so perfectly well together in literature and real life that teatime has become just another term for get together. And if that sounds a contrivance, take an enjoyable walk across the sundry scenes of teatime depicted in some of the much celebrated works of English literature, as compiled by Laurie Nienhaus in her latest book And Then It Was Teatime (Gilded Lily Publishing, Florida, 2007).

And Then It Was Teatime includes a collection of choice excerpts from literary works along with several sketches, illustrations, and vignettes that produce the ambience of timeless classicism. The scenes painted in the words of famous authors relate to tea-its making, serving, effect, taste, aroma, and its place in one’s very sensibilities. Through the common flair of this universal drink, the author connects her readers to the history of ideas and the view and norms of our past. A remarkable job of its own kind!

In the pages of this book, one finds an appeal to a more peaceful demeanor: teatime had and still has its set of manners to be observed by men and women. It is a social platform for conversation and, as one writer points out, teatime signifies a time of peace. The cup of beverage cherished by millions of people around the world is a powerful therapeutic means for dissipating their worries, anxieties, apprehensions, and bitterness. And Then It Was Teatime instantiates this quality of tea in only 100 pages.

Laurie Nienhaus’s book renovates the passion for two fine things in its readers: a nice cup of tea and fine literature.

Availability

http://www.glily.com/andthenitwasteatime.htm

Author Website

http://www.glily.com/

Bullets

2007-11-07T19:45:00.000-08:00

Physical and emotional traumas inhibit the normal psychological development of many victims. However, some people emerge more confident and beautiful after the hardest of physical and emotional crises; the latter include individuals like Kat Hibbard, author of the recent autobiographical book Bullets: Growing Up in the Crossfire (Bridgeway Books, Texas, 2007). In her short but brilliant book, she relives the traumatic experiences of growing up as an abused child who does not lose her path to a normal life despite every chance of being led astray by the troubled waters of her existence.

Born of and living with an abusive father, Kat tells the story of her life from an accidental birth to the helpless web of threads that she fumbled at in the hope of seeing a better day. Drugs, sexual harassment and abuse, and juvenile delinquency, all occupied the center of her life’s stage while she kept looking for the innocent joys of trust and friendship that her situation denied her as a child. After years of coping with fear and stress, Kat gradually came out of the horrible environment of her family house and devoted time to share her story with other people, aiming at preventing future traumas to children.

Bullets is a poignant account of the author’s life story, though she attains a prodigious way of narrating the painful memories in a way that absorbs much of the emotional shock of those unbearable events. At the same time, it is a book that performs an autopsy of drug abuse and delinquency to unmask the factors responsible for unhealthy behavior among children and teens of our modern societies. The inference is so cogent and heart winning: the bad ways will not be there for a child if he/she is loved and cared for in a proper way.

Most insightful, perhaps, is Kat’s experience of having ‘no personality’ when it came to her choice of things; abuse and trauma can kill the real person in you and let your remains wandering around for putting on some face. Still, those remains have the power to grow into a more beautiful and more mature form of life and the author demonstrates this fact by her own example. As she ultimately got over the fears of her earlier life, pursued education, brought up two kids of her own very lovingly and caringly; she grew once again along with her kids and is now an inspirational figure for all people, especially women, whose lives have been touched by abuse and trauma. Her book Bullets is a gift to every individual who cares about love, trust, and peace in life.

ISBN: 978-1-933538-82-2

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/Bullets-Growing-Crossfire-Kat-Hibbard/dp/1933538821/ref=tag_stp_st_edpp_url/102-1355476-8916132

Author Website

www.kathibbard.com

departures

2007-10-29T22:40:00.000-07:00

Linda Benninghoff’s departures (March Street Press, North Carolina, 2004) is a chapbook of 19 poems, along with some images, that are themed on the feelings connected with the act of ‘leaving’. Some of the poems address those who are no more but whose memories still ache in the heart and mind of the poet. Other poems focus on people, places, things, and animals that have been part of a lasting memory but that have left the author behind, or have been left behind the by author, and are now being missed since life has moved on.

The most inspiring quality of all the poems in departures is the respect with which the poet treats her referents. Not only people but also pets, places, and simple and seemingly unimportant objects are held as something worth loving. Since one has to move on as a necessity of life, holding things and people in respect allows leaving with good memories. This positive way of looking at things is a great attribute that we need to improve in our lives; departures achieves it in only 39 pages.

The smooth and unaffected poetic style of departures carries well-known eternal codes of hope, fear, memories, family, love, friendship, and above all-respect. The mode is dominantly nostalgic and an aching sweetness caresses the reader’s heart in several sets of lines. In There Is No Stillness, we read:

‘You said then
you once made
A vow to be silent
till the world changed
and only broke it,
When you came up with a better idea.’

ISBN: 1-59661-011-5

Availability:

http://www.amazon.com/Departures-Linda-Benninghoff/dp/1596610115

Author Bio
http://www.electrato.com/art/poetry/dialogue/benninghoff/index.html

E-Mails From Hell

2007-10-19T21:34:00.000-07:00

The Internet is our day’s most precious technological gift, both for communication and for wasting our precious time. David Earthman’s latest humor book E-Mails From Hell (Synergy Book, Texas, 2007) takes up the latter aspect of online communication via e-mail. Through a series of biting e-mails and their replies, Earthman’s book makes a light-hearted spoof on the abuse of Internet correspondence for commercial purposes.

The subtitle of Earthman’s book ‘The Wrath of William Wyndell’ points to the book’s central e-mail bugger William Wyndell whose first messages start with greetings and final ones with abuse. This guy is a nutty Internet user who has nothing better to do than pestering others of his kind. So this craziness turns out to be fun!

The language of the E-Mails From Hell goes adult at a few places but doesn’t reach extremes of obscenity. Not all the 11 chapters sound equally witty; a few are really hilarious and some rather dull. The book as a whole is not very disappointing and for fans of humor books with a satirical tone, E-Mails From Hell can be an enjoyable read.

ISBN: 1-933538-45-7

Availability
http://www.amazon.com/E-mails-Hell-Wrath-William-Wyndell/dp/1933538457

Sleep Before Evening

2007-10-07T07:14:00.000-07:00

In her debut novel Sleep Before Evening (Bewrite Books, United Kingdom, 2007), Magdalena Ball probes into the psychic maze of teenage delinquency. The book shows the angst of the heroine Marianne Cotton, a 17-year old girl of artistic aptitude, who grapples with the emptiness of life by resorting to drugs and ends up close to death. From the death of her affectionate grandfather to the nearly fatal drug overdose, Marianne’s life instantiates the pattern of disrupted attachment that underlies most (if not all) cases of juvenile delinquency. It is a fictional but thoroughly investigative case study of the tenderest age of life and the elements that render its disintegration.

Set in the year 1982, Sleep Before Evening is a an engaging character-driven narrative, focusing on the images, speech, feelings, and dreams of Marianne, turning the inside of her mind out for the readers to explore. The emerging talent of her artistic spirit is checked by the death of her mentor-her grandfather-and her mother’s failure to provide the necessary love and care. Soon Marianne’s quest for peace and human attachment begins, carrying her astray like a detached leaf in a wild wind. The author’s control of the story is masterly; her insight combining with her exceptional narrative skills to write a story that presents the case of millions of young drug addicts, right here amidst us.

Sleep Before Evening is certainly more than a novel. It is an honest piece of commentary on familial and societal elements that tear apart the tender fabric of innocence off youngsters’ lives. Marianne comes to the readers as the true picture of loneliness, her survival resting on the development of a human connection. Yet, her failure to find one in a crowded city because people are insecurely and frantically looking for career, fame, and money, is a thought-provoking tragedy. Whether or not she comes out these tempestuous waters is a separate issue; the need to understand her, look for her in our homes and lives, and help her out of her throes is crucial to our own survival as humans on this planet.

ISBN-10: 1904492967
ISBN-13: 978-1904492962

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/Sleep-Before-Evening-Magdalena-Ball/dp/1904492967

Author Website: http://www.compulsivereader.com/

Mindful of Madness

2007-10-03T06:02:00.000-07:00

Ida-Rose Mead’s humorous fantasy Mindful of Madness (Outskirts Press, Colorado, 2007) has all the idiosyncrasies of a literary work that results from out-of-the-box thinking of a creative writer. In both language and thought, Mead exhibits her highly developed creative imagination.

Mindful of Madness is the unusual story of Conrad Buncombe whose continual dream about a sapphire-eyed beauty leads him into an egoistic quest for finding the means to master his desire. While he takes to tapping and encounters a number of fantastic characters, his desire for tapping turns out to be a self-defeating quirk. The author’s fancy is on high grounds here!

With all its novelty of thought and freshness of language, Mindful of Madness does not have a grand plot to offer and will best suit readers who enjoy ‘the moment’ in humorous readings. It is a different sort of comedy, very unconventional, with a heavy bent on figurative characterization. Mead’s book is for the readers who are ready to experiment with reading. For one quality, though, it is highly recommended: thinking beyond the usual limits of imagination.

ISBN-10: 1598001590
ISBN-13: 978-1598001594

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/Mindful-Madness-Ida-Rose-Mead/dp/1598001590

Langenscheidt Pocket Phrasebook of Italian

2007-02-24T23:11:00.000-08:00

If you are planning a trip to Italy for the first or perhaps second time, one thing you’d need is a good guide. In the form of Langenscheidt Pocket Phrasebook of Italian, accompanied by an audio cassette that runs an hour, Langenscheidt Publishers (New York) provide you with the best companion you may carry in your pocket on your trip to Italy. The glossy phrasebook of Italian, over 250 pages, teaches you how to communicate in Italian by including essential words and phrases for you to travel in Italy without any problem of basic verbal interaction. You can introduce yourself at the airport, find yourself a suitable accommodation, travel through the county and shop, dine, and get back to your residence-all without any snag by taking along your Langenscheidt’s Jiffy Travel Pack. The colorful illustrations and short dialogues let you have a fun-to-learn practice of Italian language.

The phrasebook has an English-to-Italian dictionary of all the important words and phrases at the end of the book. The really wonderful feature of this phrasebook is that it carries transliteration of all the important words you’d need to use in communicating with someone who speaks this language. Listening to the cassette will reinforce the sound patterns you learn from the book. So there is no problem of correct pronunciation. If you know English, Langenscheidt’s Jiffy Travel Pack will readily teach you Italian. The phrasebook includes an alphabetic index of important words. A guide to Italian grammar and conversion charts check your mistakes. So you go perfect with your Italian!

ISBN: 1-58573-509-4

Availability

http://www.langenscheidt.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=3044

http://www.amazon.com/Langenscheidt-Pocket-Phrasebook-Italian-Dictionary/dp/1585735094

Berlitz Scandinavian Phrase Book and Dictionary

2006-12-16T21:42:00.000-08:00

Berlitz is a landmark organization in teaching foreign languages. It publishes glossy, easy to follow, and easy to carry language course books and phrase books, all carrying the Berlitz motto 'Helping the World Communicate'. This is met with full promise as far as the pocket size Scandinavian Phrase Book and Dictionary shows us. While the small size is in itself a great convenience, this publication is attractively designed and made special with several unique features. Words and phrases of daily use from 5 related languages have been included along with a guide to pronunciation and a brief English-Scandinavian dictionary at the end.

The languages selected are: Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Icelandic, and Norwegian. A map of the region where these languages are spoken is the guiding page at the book's end. Various sections are categorized and guiding boxes within the pages instruct on making sentences with important words/phrases. A special feature of the book is the color coding scheme that makes words and phrases easy to find. Seek the Danish in purple, Finnish in orange, Icelandic in green, Norwegian in yellow, and Swedish in red. It is the expertise of Berlitz to wrap the most important cultural tools of five of the world's most beautiful countries in a sleek gift of 192 pages. A wonderful gift for travel and learning!

ISBN: 2831577381

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/2831577381/ref=nosim/porfessionalp5-20

http://www.powells.com/biblio?isbn=2831577381

Your Boy

2006-11-17T18:52:00.000-08:00

Vicki Courtney's Your Boy (B&H Publishing Group, Tennessee, 2006) is one of the books that have a specified target audience: Christian mothers. The book aims at educating moms on raising a godly son in an ungodly world. Mrs. Courtney combines advice on ways to develop godly qualities in their sons with accounts of personal views and experiences on the topic.

A large part of Your Boy is directed towards personal refinement and conscious effort in the direction of a virtuous life. The author has a heartwarming sense of family sanctity and righteous conduct. Her effort in writing this book sparkles to the reader's attention by its keenness about the subject of spiritual education and her courage to stand and speak in the face of a culture that has gone amok under the rubric of 'freedom'.

With its lively humor, the introduction and ending acknowledgement of the book, Mrs. Courtney transmits a live, charming aroma of motherhood. She makes nice spoof on the aspirations of becoming a super mom and moms wanting perfect kids. Her own experience with her family gives her the confidence to tell how to win the heart of your kids and help your son become a real man; how to share and soothe the aches of your children and how to avoid getting on their nerves.

What makes the admiring readership of Your Boy limited is the book's later part where the author adopts a highly conventional stance against forms of excessive freedom, especially sexual freedom, criticizing feminists in particular. A proponent of the ethical absolutism, Vicki Courtney rejects moral relativism, pre- and extra-marital sex, negative uses of the Internet technology, and the general waywardness of today's youth. These points certainly are going to be of interest to feminists and other non-conventional thinkers who may frown at the book's frequent resort to religious appeals and personal views. But one thing that makes the book special is that it will make one think either way. Like all good books, this one from Mrs. Courtney tends to bring things up for a serious debate.

ISBN: 0805430555

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/Your-Boy-Raising-Godly-Ungodly/dp/0805430555/sr=8-1/qid=1163770719/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-6024235-7268167?ie=UTF8&s=books

Author Website: http://vickicourtney.com/

Dinner with Da Vinci: The Road Royale Through Rebirth

2006-11-06T08:18:00.000-08:00

The name of da Vinci has reached an acme of attention with Dan Brown's pop buster The Da Vinci Code. Now used in a radically different mode, it shows up in Leslie J. Mcclinton's snazzy title Dinner With Da Vinci (Great Reading Books, Texas, 2006). Combining autobiographical nonfiction with science, history, anthropology, journalism, and spiritual quests, Mcclinton has strummed the thread of rebirth and its conscious experience.

The core significance of Dinner With Da Vinci lies in the uniqueness with which the work has been designed. The author's interdisciplinary approach dissolves epistemological boundaries in a way rarely seen before. This is a book like no other books. Mcclinton has depersonalized the names of icons like Cicero, da Vinci, Hitler, Yeats, John F. Kennedy, Shakespeare and several others to weave a tapestry of mystique that borders on personal belief and anthropological universals. The essential idea is more than one human form for the same person. The message is simple: look around you and find out who it is that you are again living with.

Of particular interest to many readers will be Mcclinton's intriguing concept of alternate sexual forms for the same person that reappears in human form. The soul or (for the hard shelled anthropologist) the set of core features of one human being appears in a different sexual identity in the next episode of existence. But this is exactly where the book demands too much of a reader: deep knowledge of the life of historical figures. For a layman, not a single chapter of this book will be an enjoyable read. The other thing that makes Dinner With Da Vinci a hard to swallow work is the peripatetic style of narrating events and inculcating implications of personal observations. At times, we find it hard to adjust our relation to the book's content.

While spurious correlations and quasi-fideistic assumptions appear to the skeptic reader, there is no denying that the book is rich in matter for the lover of knowledge. There is a passionate account of several people who had a cause in their lives and who were self-motivated to pursue it. The inspiration of loving knowledge of esoteric topics filters through the author's writing.

ISBN: 1933538554

Availability
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1933538554/theosophicsoc-20?creative=0&camp=0&adid=0A9RW502YJWXG389QAW0&link_code=as1

Pacifist Chicken And Other Largely Humorous Stories of small Hopes

2006-10-21T09:54:00.000-07:00

Andrea Kampic has extended the title of her debutant book of humor Pacifist Chicken (Blue Agave Press, California, 2006) to specify that the stories are largely humorous but also include pieces that fall into the genre of monologues bordering on the line of cynicism. This book by Andrea Kampic is an enjoyable addition to humorous-satirical literature of our time on account of the many individual oddities and collective madness that we are all living with.

The individual stories of the book vary in mood and tone from the lambent My Dream Dog to pure maniacal ranting like Don't Make Me Hate You. The two things that connect the pieces are character driven nature of the situations and the intensity of consciousness to the lag between an idealized perfect life and the many holes in the shroud of perfection. The author has touched on a number of social issues and personal discontent in a light mood. Marital problems, parental relationships, artistic inspiration, narcissistic needs, pets, politics, meditation, and the ways in which modern urban society affects the inner world of its members are the sundry themes presented in Pacifist Chicken.

Andrea Kampic's book is made livelier by the addition of simple photos at the start of each new story. The stories themselves are short enough not to bore the reader. The author, or anyone, did not include a preface or introduction. Perhaps none was needed since Andrea Kampic has worked in Hollywood as a photographer and this first book of hers shows the insightful lens of her observation penetrating the habits of living our kind of life. It’s a book worth reading.

ISBN: 0976790939

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/Pacifist-Chicken-Largely-Humorous-Stories/dp/0976790939

Author Website

http://kampictures.com/

A Boy From Lawrence: The Collected Writings of Eugene F. Connolly

2006-09-27T08:43:00.000-07:00

Sally A. Connolly has collected and edited the writings of her late husband Dr. Eugene F. Connolly in the form of a book titled A Boy From Lawrence (TypeStyles Desktop Publishing Services, USA, 2006), copyrighted 2005 but now available afresh as a second edition. The book carries entries from Dr. Connolly's journal: short passages of memoir, poems, recollections, letters, family photographs, and quotes of wisdom by icons of literature.

Two motifs of A Boy From Lawrence account for its value as a worthwhile read: love and education. The nucleus of Eugene's involvement with love is family, especially the sanctity of marriage. He lovingly writes about his children, wife, parents, and other kin. However he remembers to include his feelings of deep love for his friends, colleagues, students, and other figures in his life and those preceding it. For education, Dr. Connolly's quest of learning is aimed at the 'mystery of man', the reality and nature of existing as humans. Having served thirty years as an English Professor at a Massachusetts community college, Dr. Connolly had a passion for spiritual growth and had an intuitive sense of the God's eternal presence.

Mrs. Connolly has included some very touching memories of her husband's life in his own words. The winsome look of the professor, as adorns the cover title, is a reflection of the innocent pleasures of his childhood and the benevolent inspirations of his life as a grown-up, responsible individual. And of course, he was the man with a hunch. He taught an English class while acting dumb on account of throat problem. Even as a teacher, we feel the professor's role as more of a father who considers all students as God's children. Eugene Connolly was an inspirational teacher.

Letters of this 'Boy from Lawrence' come at the end of the book. The last two letters are of eulogy, written by his daughter and his friend, and they pay an enviable tribute to this wonderful man who lived a good life both for himself and for those who knew him.

A Boy From Lawrence comes off as an inspirational gift of wisdom and feelings that furbish the life in this world and promises a blissful life ahead. By Mrs. Connolly's book we meet a good man, something not very easy to find in our time.

ISBN: 0977265315

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/BOY-LAWRENCE-Collected-Writings-Connolly/dp/0977265315

Admit It, You’re Crazy!

2006-08-15T07:13:00.001-07:00

Ever heard of someone who makes holes in her socks? A person who irons his newspaper? What about a cat who runs a treadmill? These and many other quirks are now available in one book to tickle your sane nerve. Author Judy Reiser brings to public notice the many quirks and idiosyncrasies of people in her recent book Admit It, You’re Crazy! (Andrew McMeel Publishing, Missouri, 2005).

Judy Reiser’s book is a collage of interview clips of numerous individuals, all adults, in first person. These run the gamut of humor from real crackers to slightly off-the-track peculiarities of living. Obsessive thinking and resulting compulsion is the recurring motif in most of the instances included. At times, the behavior will not seem so irrational as some of the persons relate it to their early experiences and some of them definitely reflect the reader’s own quirks.

As far as goes the fun part of the book, it will depend on the reader’s own rationality whether the instances scribed elicit a guffaw or a sigh out him/her. More matter-of-course response from the reader, more reason to suspect one’s normality. Grins! But the book is certainly unique in that the author’s absence is nearly fixed (except in occasional questions); in some ways a short coming because after reading over fifty pages you feel lost in a deluge of voices popping in and out incessantly.

One beautifying feature of the book is the adornment with colored headings, fun figures, and vignettes that go in perfect accord with the business of going bananas. Money, eating habits, bathroom behavior, travel, and germ-response stories are presented with the profession, gender, and age of the people involved. Judy Reiser has done a nice job in letting people put on the make-up of self-critical smile before they stand under their shower. Wink!

PS: Judy Reiser is open to receiving more quirks and idiosyncrasies from people. She can be reached by e-mail given at the end of her book.

ISBN: 0740751093

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0740751093/sr=8-1/qid=1155650412/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-0041724-3788727?ie=UTF8

http://product.ebay.com/Admit-It-Youre-Crazy_ISBN_0740751093_W0QQfvcsZ1388QQpdqueryZAdmitQ20ItQ2cQ20YouQ27reQ20CrazyQ21QQsoprZ43826068

Author Website: http://www.katalinmedia.com/

Admit It, You’re Crazy!

2006-08-15T07:13:00.000-07:00

Dying to Be Free: A Healing Guide for Families after a Suicide

2006-08-04T06:51:00.000-07:00

Mental health nurse Beverly Cobain and crisis intervention specialist Jean Larch have authored a short but inspiring paperback book Dying to Be Free (Hazelden Foundation, Minnesota, 2006) that will serve as a healing guide for suicide surviving families and friends.

Dying to Be Free is a book written in the ink of humanistic spirit, featuring stories of survivors of suicide and how they reunited with life while befriending the memories of their loved ones. The author Beverly Cobain tells of her own cousin’s death by suicide and presents a moving picture of what it means to be touched by such a death in family. Of course, the authors do not mean to merely console the survivors but strongly advocate identification of suicidal signs and possible preventive measures.

Suicide is alarming not only in that it brings an insufferable shock to the deceased’s kin and pals but more so due to the fact that suicide can be contagious: guilt, sorrow, and confusion combine to press the survivor(s) to enter the dark tunnel that ends in self-inflicted death. What are the signs of such cases? Can it be prevented? If yes, how to proceed? These questions are all answered clearly by Dying to Be Free and that is where the significance of the work lies.

One important element the authors elaborate in educating about suicide situations is the prevalence of what they call ‘Myths about Suicide’. For example the thought that talking about suicide results in a self-fulfilling prophecy. That these myths can in fact lead indirectly to the killing tunnel is one alarm the authors alert the readers with so as to remind all that ignorance might be an excuse but a fatal one for someone’s life.

Every sensible and caring soul needs to hear the cry of Cobain and Larch and restructure their behavior in order to prevent the deadly pain that drives one we know to death and the pain that follows thereafter.

ISBN: 1592853293

Availability

http://product.ebay.com/Dying-to-Be-Free_ISBN_1592853293_W0QQfvcsZ1392QQsoprZ48629097

http://www.shop.com/op/aprod-p37286578-k24-g4-~dying+to+be+free+book+buy-nover?sourceid=13

The Mentoring Mom: 11 Ways to Model Christ for Your Child

2006-07-31T09:46:00.000-07:00

Over the years, Hollywood movies have stamped on the layman’s mind an image of a typical American family as a rubber band stretched by stressors of self-centeredness and unbridled individualism. This stamp is particularly lasting in case of teen folk. As we read Jackie Kendall’s The Mentoring Mom (New Hope Publishers, Alabama, 2006), the Hollywood’s stamp is washed away and the American family appears in a new light-that of love, care, and trust. Surely you would need a mentoring mom.

Jackie Kendall addresses caring mothers in her book, sharing the eleven images (what she calls stamps) she imprinted on her children’s lives-images that model Christ- to help them grow up in God’s image. Kendall tells simple, true nonfiction stories from her own family life and asks the readers ‘Questions for Reflection’ at the end of each chapter. It is her excellent writing style, lively humor, and prodigy of construing thoughts in the most beautiful sentences that makes her book a wonderful gift to moms and everyone else.

The Mentoring Mom carries invaluable lessons: loving the Lord by way of loving fellow human beings, the difference between mere learning the word ‘God’ and knowing God intimately, and above all, the true spirit of a real family. An indelible lesson of the book, of course, is the vitality of ‘wholesome grief’. In Kendall’s words: tears do not bring back the one who has died, but tears do bring us back to the life that must be lived without the ones who have died.

As an author Jackie Kendall’s words work wonders. The reason is not hard to figure: you can actually feel the persons, she tells of, in their own voices as if the author has a miraculous force by which she transforms herself into the soul of the one she is talking about. You can identify your life’s instances with Kendall family’s history of love and benevolence. This is indeed an achievement.

Jackie Kendall’s book is a must read because we all need Kendall’s wisdom’s light to arrive safely at our destiny of peace.

ISBN: 1596690054

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1596690054/ref=pd_sxp_grid_i_2_0/103-8318986-2752659?ie=UTF8

http://product.ebay.com/The-Mentoring-Mom_ISBN_1596690054_W0QQfvcsZ1388QQsoprZ50863574

Author Website: http://www.jackiekendall.com/

Human Species and Beyond

2006-07-20T08:38:00.000-07:00

The rather effusive start of Rajesh Singh’s Human Species and Beyond (Synergy Books, Texas, 2006) sets the reader on precarious footing while grappling with the metaphysical codes that come riveting at him/her from the very first page. With no preface or foreword, Singh’s book starts brusquely with the assumption that man is suffering in his present stage of existence on account of his ignorance. The author comes a long way off his assertion through an intelligently designed argument to conclude what adherents of metaphysical schools of thought have long been insinuating-the unity of being.

It would be hard to cogently deny the intelligent connections that Sing makes in his discussion of the orders manifest in scientific discoveries in the fields of cosmology, quantum physics, evolutionary biology, and the philosophy of consciousness. A thorough understanding of the hidden order, and the message implied, are vital to guide the human species straight to its destiny. Rajesh Singh urges on humans to bridle their consciousness and steer their efforts towards the noumenal signpost or else suffer the anxiety that is not at all their true lot. The upshot of the book is a more purposeful growth and, for this, the need for redesigning our institutions.

So what leaves the reader at odds while coming to terms with Singh’s reconciliation of Rig Veda and Biblical allusions at the cosmic harmony and man’s current level of consciousness? Perhaps more than one point. First of all is Singh’s use of language, a web of long and intricately crafted sentences that adds to the complexity and associated disorder among the author’s meanings, especially when the book is aiming at presenting a concise view of epistemological concepts. Then the issue of conformism sets in. The concepts of cosmic psyche, cosmic self, cosmic being, cosmic consciousness, supramentalhood, and several others that the author has employed in his argument are more in line with a conformist thinking pattern and the skeptic has in stock at least one deep frown over Singh’s arbitrariness of divisions such as seven fields (and still one Grand Unified Field), seven kingdoms, seven oceans of energy (of which Agni is born), seven oceans of human biology (corresponding to seven plexi), and so on.

Singh’s discussion in Human Species and Beyond is undoubtedly intelligent, interesting, and thought-provoking. The author’s caliber stands on high grounds and his emphasis on the teleological order of existence is meant for salvation and peace. Whether one agrees with him or not is an issue aside; first, Human Species and Beyond is to be read, reread, and understood. For minds of serious and philosophical liking, Human Species and Beyond is commendable plus.

ISBN: 0976498170

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0976498170/sr=8-2/qid=1153398749/ref=sr_1_2/102-7080352-9805722?ie=UTF8
http://www.overstock.com/cgi-bin/d2.cgi?PAGE=PRODUCT&PROD_ID=2012928&cid=64664&fp=F

Miracle of Miracles

2006-06-27T07:50:00.000-07:00

The most effective aspect of Mina Nevisa’s Miracle of Miracles (Long Wood Communications, USA, 2004) is the personal voice of a woman who stood against the forceful captivity of thinking foisted by fundamentalist Muslims. All the pains, this devout Christian woman details, stood in her path of freedom from the reckless talons of Islamic laws hunting for the religious converts in Iran. Mina’s escape is indeed a living miracle that sends shivers through the hearts of many who do not yet know what it means to shun Islam in a fundamentalist Muslim country.

In her quest for freedom of thought and belief, Mina lost her friends to death by torture at the hands of Islamic authorities; her family to shackles of prejudiced hatred, and her first ever child to death before birth. It was a Pyrrhic victory for her, but her faith in Christ redeemed her from the dread of slavishly following something she did not choose. Miracle of Miracles is a touching account of her persistence in pursuit of what she believes the true path of salvation.

Mina’s account of her experiences is followed by an addendum at the end of the book that criticizes sharply the logical flaws of Islam’s basic teachings and tenets. She exposes the darkness incumbent on the developed world by the arrogant ideologies of Islamic fundamentalists and justifies her claims by instances from history.

Two features of the book pose a challenge to the reader’s faculty of reason. First, the account of several miracles that touched Mina’s life and those of her friends, family, and acquaintances, appear either contrived or just another interpretation of reality. For a nonbeliever, this certainly is a serious drawback of Mina’s work. Then there is the last part of the book, which acts counter to the whole mode of reading the author’s realistic account of Islamic barbarism. Mina directly addresses the readers urging on them to convert to Christian faith. Not only does this sound too preachy and unwanted in a book of mature discussion but also tames the bright image of the author’s personality. Perhaps, Mina could not subdue her emotions while thinking of ways to let people out of the claws of fundamentalist Muslims.

ISBN: 188392846X

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/188392846X/qid=1151413324/sr=11-1/ref=sr_11_1/104-8660832-0394306?n=283155

http://www.renewed-life.com/shop/index.cfm?fuseaction=customer.product&product_code=TOCM-188392846X&category_code=M05

Touch of Christ Ministries: http://touchofchrist.net/

Mayday! : A Physician as Patient

2006-06-18T00:45:00.000-07:00

‘Stand tall-think tall’ was the advice of Allan Lohaus’s physical therapist, as Dr. Lohuas was wanting in spirit while having just caught the road to convalescence. Earlier came in Dr. Lohuas’s life course a painful period of intestinal surgeries and dependency on medical aid. As he came out of the nearly helpless anguish, memories of pain and distress became the subject matter of his short book May Day! A Physician as Patient (Synergy Books, Texas, 2006).

Allan Lohuas himself was moved by the agony of his mother, a cancer patient, and he decided to become a doctor. Becoming a gynecologist was sparked by his observation of mothers losing their lives to death in the process of creation. ‘Salvaging infant life’ was the spirit behind the choice. All went well till his late adolescence when abdominal pain struck him. Later a boat accident reserved him a place in hospital for months demanding patience and endurance. No doubt, the doctor’s mettle was down as he witnessed his own decline.

The psychological scars, however, that came with Dr. Lohuas’s condition were deeper. A sudden reversal in social roles brings its shock. In Dr. Lohuas’s case, the shock was stronger since it threw him into a writhing thing looking for someone who he himself was supposed to be. Enduring the pangs of silently watching a doctor operate on you is the crux of Dr. Lohuas’s story. The stages of healing are always looking the patient’s way; only the latter must keep hope: with family, friends, and memories of the good old days.

Physical healing is not the only point in Mayday! As Dr. Lohuas finds during his illness, the spirit needs as much care as the diseased body. The doctor cum patient turned to prayer and feeling a superior being when his courage to cope with the pain started to yield. In the end, we read him drawing parallels between his regaining health and the Resurrection. It’s this walking out of a nearly dead state that makes our patient a voice of hope.

First-hand experience gives Dr. Lohuas’s voice a genuine sound and his autobiographical nonfiction story is moving and strengthening. The great thing is that the convalescent doctor regains his humor. We do hear him calling his stool a ‘bomb’.

ISBN: 0975592297

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0975592297/ref=pd_rhf_p_1/104-0919357-4219163?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&amp;n=283155

http://www.shop.com/op/aprod-p35558709-k24-g4-~Mayday!+:+A+Physician+as+Patient+-nover?sourceid=13

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/bookSearch/isbnInquiry.asp?r=1&isbn=0975592297

Islam Revealed: A Christian Arab’s View of Islam

2006-06-13T08:22:00.000-07:00

When a Muslim scholar Ahmed Deedat claimed before the audience in Birmingham Hall, England, that Jesus promised his followers the coming of his successor, Muhammad, it was Dr. Anis A. Shorrosh who challenged Mr. Deedat to a debate on the divinity of Jesus. Two debates then ensued between the two religious scholars. The second, centered on the topic ‘Is Jesus God?’ resulted in a setback to the Muslim veteran. Dr. Shorrosh’s book Islam Revealed: A Christian Arab’s View of Islam (Thomas Nelson Inc, Tennesse, 1988) is inspired by this experience.

With a foreword by Dr. Adrian Rogers, Islam Revealed is divided into two main parts. The first part presents an overview of Islam as a religion, the life of Muhammad, Islamic convictions on Jesus and crucifixion, and the validity of Quran versus Bible. Dr. Shorrosh brings to light the turbulent life of Islam’s last prophet touching on his polygamy, alleged holy wars, literacy, and strategies adopted to expand his circle of influence. Startling secrets are revealed by the Christian Doctor of Ministries as he refers to some unspoken-of historical happenings. Comparing Muhammad’s life with that of Jesus, the author attempts to prove the divinity of the latter. Interesting connections are revealed between Quran and earlier Arabic texts; connections that challenge the divine claim to Islam’s most revered book.

The second part of the book presents the readers with main points from the arguments of both debaters and rebuttals of both sides. While both show logical slips in their arguments against refuting each other’s position, Dr. Shorrosh maintains his composure and a greater degree of reason against his Muslim contestant. Questions for thought about God, Jesus, and crucifixion add to the flavor of this interesting religious debate.

Islam Revealed carries endnotes, bibliography, and a glossary of Arabic terms with English meanings makes it easy for a Non-Arab to apprehend the points taken up in Dr. Shorrosh’s arguments.

ISBN: 0840730152

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0840730152/ref=pd_rhf_p_1/104-6851046-4483969?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155

http://gallery.bcentral.com/GID4906989P3273607-Closeout-Items/Islam-Books/Islam-Revealed-A-Christian-Arabs-View-of-Islam.aspx

http://www.musichristian.com/sys/product.php?PRODUCT=85920

Pain Free for Life: The 6-Week Cure for Chronic Pain--Without Surgery or Drugs

2006-06-08T20:55:00.000-07:00

Mind-body interaction has long been the topic of arguments in philosophy and science. Psychosomatic approach to painful symptoms is well known among physicians and psychotherapists. Doctor Scott Brady has, for the first time, designed a six-week cure for chronic pain ascribed usually to physical causes but rooted in reality in a patient’s history of repressed negative emotions. He gives an account of it in his book Pian Free for Life: The 6-Week Cure for Chronic Pain--Without Surgery or Drugs (Center Street, New York, 2006), co-authored with William Proctor.

Dr. Brady coins the term Autonomic Overload Syndrome (AOS) to describe the symptoms of physical pain, insomnia, and skin conditions like psoriasis arising from repressed emotions like anger, guilt, shame, frustration, and fear. Physical manifestations of AOS are varied and have been frequently ascribed to herniated disks, fibromyalgia, and other bodily conditions. Dr. Brady relates them to emotional overload of the mind’s unconscious part and advises on how to keep pain away by following his mind-body-spirit healing program. The six-week program includes harnessing a disturbed unconscious by practices of relaxation and fathoming repression of the past, and providing an outlet for this mental monster to flee via techniques like depth journaling and biofeedback.

By describing pain-prone personality types and asking assessment questions, Dr. Brady helps his readers judge their own situation and vulnerability to AOS. His book is encouraging in that it boosts the pain-prone soul’s confidence by asserting the fact that conscious part of our mind is stronger than the unconscious. While this defies the Freudian psychoanalytic approach to illness, a new hope of healing without surgery and chemotherapy is sparkled through Dr. Brady’s research: pain is controllable by will and insight.

The book ends with Dr. Brady’s answers to questions arising in the minds of his readers. He recounts how he recovered from chronic pain by tending to the urges of his mind. Certainly, his work is a landmark in motivating pain-sufferers to step on the path of healing with greater confidence, courage, and independence.

ISBN: 0446577618

Availability:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0446577618/sr=8-2/qid=1149772960/ref=pd_bbs_2/102-5576569-1316164?%5Fencoding=UTF8

http://www.allbookstores.com/book/0446577618/William_Proctor/Pain_Free_For_Life.html

Brady Institute Homepage: http://www.bradyinstitute.com/

Sleeping on Potatoes

2006-06-01T02:59:00.000-07:00

‘Sleeping on Potatoes is the metaphor for the bumpy and lumpy ride I had in my formative years,’ Dr. Carl Nomura explains in the preface to his debut publication Sleeping on Potatoes: A Lumpy Adventure from Manzanar to the Corporate Tower (Erasmus Books, Washington, 2003). Nomura then extends this metaphor into a vivified mosaic of his life’s experiences by bringing them to view through the eyes of a child and all the way up to a person with aspirations.

Starting informally with his mother Mizuko’s story, a Japanese woman who married Nomura’s father because ‘she heard that in America everyone was tall’, Dr. Nomura creates a series of true, non-fictional, real life stories that border on the line between short story and personal essay. Reliving in linguistic light the hardship of poverty, a heartless father, the humiliation of being forced to move into relocation centers during the Second World War, and the travails of disease and bereavement, Nomura throws his readers into a joyous shock with the amazing optimism of his attitude and his lively humor that arises spontaneously from the interaction of situation and language. One instance is from his school days: ‘we thought her name (Sister Perpetual) fitted her because she beat us perpetually’. Certainly not to overlook the fun of fishing and poker, and giving smoking up for good when an angry woman comes inches from your face and calls you a ‘polluting pig.’

Though a doctor of philosophy in Solid State Physics, and an important figure in the corporate world of technology, it is Nomura’s flair of seeing things as matter of course that lures one to appreciate his magnanimity. Not going a braggart, he opens a window to the philosophy of life-contentment, be it a doctorate in physics and excellence in management of small businesses, or using a bathroom 200 feet away from his bed in a trailer. Life is joy if you have your guts tuned to its frequency of vicissitudes.

Marking Sleeping on Potatoes as a book to amuse would be a reader’s pitfall. It is a book enormous in its scope, though not in its volume (250 pages). By no means is this the adventurous story of a single person, reflecting on his past. It is the story of many characters that endured and fought against social injustice and untoward circumstances-from women like Mizuko and Louise, to the sufferers in relocation centers, and the motherless litter of cats who were lucky enough to make it to Nomura’s house. His heart touching memories of Mox, the neighbor’s dog, harbor all the richness and beauty of life. Nomura traces the causes of discontent in marital life, discusses issues associated with terminal illness, and informs on linguistic and the cultural relativism of English and Japanese native speakers.

Now in his eighties, retired and coping with prostate cancer, Nomura’s lumpy ride has not come to a pause. It is bumping all along with new interest in learning and doing things and new ways of adding to the richness of his life. With his new wife, children and grandchildren, pets, garden, books, and the untamed freshness of mind, Dr. Carl Nomura lives as if he is immortal.

ISBN: 0970194730

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0970194730/sr=8-1/qid=1149137311/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-9767278-4152866?%5Fencoding=UTF8

http://www.yuricareport.com/Erasmus%20Books/SleepingOnPotatoes.html

Book Overview: http://www.sleepingonpotatoes.com/

O’Connor’s Federal Rules: Civil Trials 2005

2006-05-24T07:34:00.000-07:00

Michael C. Smith is an attorney with The Roth Law Firm in Marshall, Texas, where he specializes in product liability, and complex commercial and patent litigation in federal and state courts. Smith has served as chairman of the Local Rules Advisory Committee for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas since 2000 and is president of the Eastern District of Texas Bar Association. He has updated O’Connor’s Federal Rules: Civil Trials 2005 published by Jones McClure Publishing, Texas, 2005. It is a bulky tome (1200 pages) whose intended readership comprises lawyers and judges.

Smith’s book is a rulebook on procedure in federal courts, divided into ten main sections, which exhaustively deal with all the aspects of trials in civil courts. Half of the book’s volume details commentaries on the framework of procedures that are to be legally followed in a civil court. The commentaries deal with introduction to the Federal Rules, various considerations on part of attorneys and plaintiffs, proofs and evidences, judgment factors, hearings and pleadings, and all contained within and related to such issues.

The rest of the book deals with MultiDistrict Litigation Rules, Federal Rules (of Civil Procedures, Evidences, and Appellate Procedures), Code and Constitution of the United States, Advisory Committee Notes to Rules, the Hague Convention on Service Abroad, and eventually with Timetables followed in civil court procedures.

The author has taken care to refer district judges as the ‘district court’ and parties as ‘it’, presenting them as corporations (which they often are). This certainly has helped him make a gender-neutral voice.

An index categorizing the major topics with detailed sub-headings, alphabetically, has been added to facilitate topic search.

In sum, Smith’s Civil Trials guide is the law-professional’s complete source for advice and knowledge on every aspect of civil trials in the U.S.

ISBN: 1884554962

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1884554962/ref=pd_rhf_p_1/104-1196110-6435960?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155

Author’s Website: http://mcsmith.blogs.com/about.html

Envy of the Gods: If The Reward Were Right

2006-05-17T07:53:00.000-07:00

Envy of the Gods (Bridgeway Books, Texas, 2006) is the first in Andrea Savitch’s trilogy of fiction. Set in the medieval world of Raalek, the tale gives an account of power-hungry Duke Atan Ishtba whose recklessness could not be checked by any means until the arrival of beautiful and willful Raphela. In 316 pages, Andrea Savitch circumscribes the peak period of the lives of her two main characters with sensuality and power as her motifs.

Savitch’s work has the desirable quality needed for every work of fiction, a smooth and fluent narration. Her use of language is creative and there are no verbal barriers in the reader’s progress with the book. Letting the reader know in the first page that the story of the Duke is told on the first night each spring readily induces the ambience of folklore. The story of the young Duke’s craving for power and Raphela’s passion for conquering him hooks the reader from the first few chapters.

Then the unwieldiness of the novel’s plot starts hovering over the mind. Little description of the Castle Cordan, the characters, and the social world, the emptiness of events and their causal unrelatedness all render the tale incapable of a deeper impact. Accounts of punishment and subsequent compassion are highly incompatible with the outlines of characters. The author’s unending concern with Mahtso’s chain bothers. Before late, the interaction of characters assumes a mechanical air that seems to linger until the meeting of Raphela and Nabus at the end, a scene touching in its unaffectedness.

The transformation of Atan into a man from a beast and Raphela’s victory in standing by her love of knowledge give something of a plot to Savitch’s tale. The title stays unthought of. It is the Absence of Gods that needs to be dealt with. The story of Svaitch’s ‘legends of power’ is not over and in the coming ventures a convincing conclusion can be hoped for.

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1933538112/qid=1147871700/sr=11-1/ref=sr_11_1/104-6228281-5223923?n=283155

Author’s Website http://www.authorsden.com/wwwraalekcom

ISBN: 1933538112

Double Blank

2006-05-05T21:51:00.000-07:00

Double Blank

Drugs, lies, murders, and hunt for the culprit at the root-a typical crime story everyone has been watching for decades. This time Yasmina Khadra sets the scene in Algeria with his (or her, if you would) political thriller Double Blank (Toby Press, Connecticut, 2005). We now know Khadra is the nom de plume of Mohammed Moulessehoul, an Algerian army officer whose books breach the underpinnings of violence in Algeria. It is easy to see where a modern political thriller like Double Blank ends up-at the doorstep of a crooked businessman cum politician. And Khadra gets us way up there.

Double Blank tells of police superintendent, Mr. Llob, who is set to track the hand behind a series of murders involving puppets in the drug market and the red-light district. Things get to a little higher level as clues point to a conspiracy theory living in a diskette. There is little new in the 140 pages of killings and investigation except its Algerian setting. You are watching Law and Order with some added action and subtracted coherence of plot.

Khadra’s book is a prey to many weaknesses. It is supposed to be a novel but the mode of narration is typical of a short story. The voice of the narrator in present has unnaturalness hard to put up with, especially in a story with events that certainly have taken place in the past. There is little true action in the story and the most blatant murders happen in two sentences. Lack of description leaves a very poor mental picture of the scenes. Characters too are extremely ill-defined and character development seems a thing alien to the author’s concern.

The most fatal slump of Double Blank is, perhaps, the quirky employment of humor throughout the telling of events. Superintendent Llob’s voice sounds detached from its inner care for peace by constantly gushing out twisted quips, many of which are too idiosyncratic to be appreciated. Clumsy experimenting it language and slack exaggeration for the sake of humor nullifies the effect of Khadra’s tale. In general, Double Blank falls too very short of a novel. It sounds like a story you try to get involved in as a reader and always find yourself far behind where you started.

ISBN: 1592641199

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1592641199/sr=8-4/qid=1146890579/ref=sr_1_4/104-4299122-1619947?%5Fencoding=UTF8

http://www.smarter.com/books-1/product/double_blank-480167/?source=inktomi_books480167

Your Healing Diet: A Quick Guide to Reversing Psoriasis and Chronic Diseases with Healing Foods

2006-04-30T00:11:00.000-07:00

The impetus for writing a book against psoriasis came from Deirdre Earls’ own long and painful encounter with the skin condition. The dietitian from Texas chose a more natural way of tackling her problem by healing with diet instead of chemotherapy. Her book Your Healing Diet (BookSurge Publishing, South Carolina, 2006) gives dietary advice on coping with problems, including psoriasis, resulting from noxious food.

Though Earls’ book is a short one, mere 62 pages, it offers a simple and clear explanation of the anatomy of psoriasis and other diseased conditions in terms of food intake and digestion. Particularly informative and interesting are the author’s description of human body’s acid/alkaline balance, nutritional value of different food species, and comparison of natural versus processed food items. The facts sum up to the uncommon but wholesome principle of ‘healing from the inside out’ rather than ‘healing only the symptoms from the outside in’.

Earls puts forth her three central healing principles: diet, positive outlook, and outdoor activity. The brunt of her dietary commendation stands on fresh vegetarian food, discouraging flesh, fat, and artificial snacks. She shares her own culinary chart with the readers, caring for taste, which, to her, comes after good health.

The real value of her work is latent in the power of motivation her words stir up in the reader. The many side effects of drugs are the horror of a patient. Knowledge of our natural nutritional treasure is essential to each and every person who is having health problems of any sort. Earls’ short book comes close to achieving this aim.

For Americans, or those visiting here, Your healing Diet is of practical guidance in that it has a list of stores where food of value can be purchased. Whether one is home or traveling, Earls’ book is a good guide to better eating.

ISBN: 1419617079

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1419617079/ref=pd_rhf_p_1/102-7375182-1703301?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155

Author Website: http://www.yourhealingdiet.net/pages/1/index.htm

Dakhmeh

2006-04-28T08:14:00.000-07:00

Naveed Nori is an author’s pseudonym now getting to be known for his novel Dakhmeh (Toby Press, USA, 2003). Noori’s work is disturbing, antirevolutionary, and almost deliriously scornful toward Islamic totalitarianism in post revolutionary Iran.

Dakhmeh is the story of a young, irreligious man, Arash whose nostalgic compulsion drives him back to Iran, his home country that his family fled during the war of Islamic Revolution. The misery of post revolutionary Iranian life shatters his idealistic picture of life in his country and he ends up as a political prisoner somewhere between sanity and madness.

From the first page, the text of the book hits the reader as poorly written, egotistical, and sloppy. The story lacks a clear point and character development is null. Narration is mostly incoherent with alternating first person and omniscient modes, both abruptly truncating. Too much of personal pique shows on every page till the end. Even conversation between the vaguely portrayed characters feel like formal interviews, all leading to a prefigured viewpoint.

Certainly the author has plucked a significant string in the history of politics and societal transformation. His (?) criticism of media and cruel treatment of all creatures outside the fundamentalist’s circle are of appeal to the humanistic mind. Still, Noori fails badly as a novelist. The motives of his (?) protagonist are diffused and Arash’s obsession with socio political change is utterly boring. Lack of meaning in the protagonist’s experiences is disappointingly manifest. His vindictive bitterness pours out on leaders and historical figures alike, childishly with little thought or coherence of ideas. The intended audience of the author is also hard to imagine.

In general, Dakhmeh is a frumpy text of sloppily worked political history and social dilapidation. After Arash contracts a prostitute, we read him asking himself ‘Where was I heading?’ A reader’s wish might well be ‘If only the author had asked himself (?) the same question before setting out to write this book.’

ISBN: 190288177X

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/190288177X/ref=sr_11_1/103-3586972-1229420?%5Fencoding=UTF8
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?isbn=190288177X

Chains Around the Grass

2006-04-20T22:09:00.000-07:00

Naomi Ragen is an international bestseller novelist, a writer of and about the core of human life. Chains Around the Grass (The Toby Press, USA, 2003) is the book Ms. Ragen says that she became an author to write. Setting the story of a poor Jewish family in the heart of America, Naomi Ragen calls for a revision of attitudes shaped by the sickness of reckless capitalism and its people who have turned into machines fuelled with business.

The novel’s prologue is captivating. Through the eyes of the moment, little Sara Markowitz is shown sitting in humility in her rich uncle’s house with her mother Ruth and brother Jesse out for the funeral of her father David Markowitz. Pursuing the old American dream of a well-off future, David never realizes the greater need of familial love that is showering him all along and the lives of his family chug along the uncertain paths of the business world. With the loss of David the family slumps into an indefinable channel of struggle against the demands of the society and its own integrity.

Chains Around the Grass is one of the semantically richest works carrying a number of issues. Sick capitalist values are questioned in the suffering of widowed Ruth and her children with several close, rich, relatives. The dilemma of a poor minority’s identity under social pressure speaks in Ruth’s resentment of changing Jesse’s family name to ‘Marks’. What underlies insanity is illustrated cogently in Jesse’s character. Sara’s character embodies the process of personality development under early childhood traumas. The best explored is, perhaps, gender inequality prevailing in the social world, best instantiated in Sara’s feelings of hatred towards her own brother.

Naomi Ragen’s striking symbolism in her novel’s situations is the quality of her work that best complements other merits. The heaven of idealized life is shattered to ‘chips flying away under time’s relentless chisel’. When they were united and beautiful like young lush grass, they were out of reach on account of ‘chains’ around them. One set of ‘ropes’ is replaced with another and the dream of catching your life’s beauty is never actualized until you see your life’s time ending abruptly like a dream. Naomi Ragen is at her best in justice with her characters. Reality comes to them as they finally learn to ‘measure their life with the right yardstick’. Through Ruth’s faith, we all know that a purely humanistic relationship is possible if we know the beauty of our inner self. It is an illustration of Eric Fromm’s humanistic psychoanalysis; a story as real as reading one’s own mind.

With all its beauty of language and elements of realistic fiction, Chains Around the Grass carries a problem as a book. The title and the prologue are suggestive of Sara as being the protagonist. It is through Sara’s eyes that the tenderness of life and monsters of fear are revealed to us but Sara’s character is treated scantily as compared to that of her parents and her brother Jesse. Essentially it is the story of Ruth’s life. Her figure could have given a better illustrative title and prologue.

ISBN: 1902881826

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1902881826/sr=8-1/qid=1145592177/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-8372197-3161517?%5Fencoding=UTF8

http://www.ecampus.com/book/1902881532

Author’s Website: http://naomiragen.com/

Three 1-Act Plays

2006-04-16T00:12:00.000-07:00

The second volume of Tom Anselmo plays Three 1-Act Plays (Red Brindle Press, New York, 2006) is not a series like the first one Gail’s Place by virtue of the same protagonist and unity of place, but by the common motif resolution of self’s internal conflicts. As Anselmo puts it in his preface to the plays ‘I write about people who are on the verge of self-discovery’, the book causes the conflicts in an individual’s mind peep through the voice of the leading characters. As the person in the story discovers his or her own suppressed urges, values of familial love, commitment, and obligation undergo critical scanning.

The plays begin with Matt and Sara, set in a resort, in which the protagonists consciously deny themselves aspects of their personalities that society might find obnoxious. Matt gives up speaking in company to evade any awkwardness on account of his stuttering. Sara is a self-restrainer, ashamed of her aunt’s showy manners practiced for winning men’s affection. Their need and struggle for self-acceptance bring them together on common grounds. The theme of the play symbolically comes out to be the victory of human understanding over flirtatious ostentation in any meaningful relationship.

Getting deeper to the core of the conflict is The Voices, a play in which two different impulses of Cathy, the heroine, are personified characters. The issue at hand is Cathy’s suspicion of Steve in regard to his sincerity to Ellie, Cathy’s friend and Steve’s girlfriend. Cathy has seen Steve with another young woman in way that makes her inner voices contend for keeping or revealing the incident to Ellie. The first voice presses on retaining the secret for the sake of intimacy while the second one is resolved on squaring things at the surface for the sake of making relationships better. Anselmo presented the conflict in Gail’s Place. Only this time both impulses are vis-à-vis, sweeping dust off the true nature of social reality: is social reality there as matter of course, or is it created when one impulse gets over the others to seize the self? The author leaves the question open to the audience, to be taken up by their own inner voices.

Summing up the argument between the inner voices in the third play Penny is again Gail Stanza, heroine of Anselmo’s trilogy of 2-act plays Gail’s Place. Eponymous Penny is Gail’s sister in law who has continued pampering her husband Robby despite his repeated indulgence in gambling. As Penny asks Gail for help with their debt, Gail reacts crossly to Penny’s blind devotion to her husband in the name of love. The dialogue between Gail, Ron, and Penny brings out the issue of familial obligation versus common sense. The underlying question is whether sympathy should be furthered or checked when one’s peace of mind is knuckling under it.

Anselmo’s plays renovate the tradition of serious drama by invoking a debate over the limitations of social norms and individual obligation to follow them. The scope of his discussion is multifold, pertinent to matters of family, sense, obligation, spontaneity of one’s self, and discovery of new ways of existing against the modus vivendi.

Anselmo’s Three 1-Act Plays is the thoughtful mind’s donut.

ISBN: 0977079422

Availability:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0977079422/ref=pd_rhf_p_2/002-3689637-3607238?n=283155&no=%2A&s=books&v=glance

Gail’s Place: A Trilogy of Plays in Two Acts

2006-04-12T22:32:00.000-07:00

Thomas Hardy didactically preserved his Tess, a young woman who attempted to be honest in her intimate relationship by revealing her secret, and thus ended at the gallows. Tom Anselmo takes care to let his Gail clinch a footing in both her inner and social worlds as she unveils the mask of falsity in relationships. Anselmo’s first volume of plays is a trilogy of two-act plays by the title Gail’s Place (Red Brindle Press, New York, 2006). While each plays stands on its own plot, central to all is Gail Stanza’s character, a woman who is bent on reconciling her inner self with that of her social role by cracking secrets that tend to stifle one’s individuality and true identity.

The opening play Secret Burdens centers Gail Stanza at the heart of their party in the honor of their friends’ marriage anniversary. While Lily attributes her marriage’s success to care in keeping secrets from the spouse, as do Mark and Evelyn, Gail is disposed nearly in excess to resurrect past grievances so as to ensure calm in the future. Gail’s character has no hint of sullenness about her and so the audience is likely to appreciate her assertiveness as the moral implications of it unfold.

Clues starts as a detective drama with Evelyn Harper lying in coma in the hospital. Gail’s speculations about Mark are turning into reality and the question of responsibility arises from the depth of Gail’s character. We meet Gail’s inner self, personified, and conversing with Gail over shutting down of vital human sensibilities. Gail’s self-conscious speech makes her a lovable character: ‘I have the distinguished honor of being a big-mouth.’ And her pride in her truthfulness is an impetus to secretive sufferers like Margaret: ‘I’m glad I don’t have the kind of ties that turn us into moral pretzels.’ As Gail scatters the shards of hypocrisy for good, Lily sees her own inner self, clad in a shroud, rising and walking. Anselmo’s genius shows, not tells, how to connect with your being’s center.

The third play The Place moves the argument closer into Gail’s home as her husband Ron finds himself at odds with his inner self against his colleague’s promotion grounded on Ron’s support. Carl is suspected of sexual harassment of one of his students. Again it is Gail who goads her husband to act in harmony with his inner voice. Gail’s personified, abstract, self finds a mate in form of Ron’s resurrected center. Alongside we see the false consciousness of Lynn, Carl’s wife, who accepts compromise as matter of course.

Anselmo has fixed the familiar signboard of serious drama in the history of modern literature. With no foul language, no hip-hop mania, conscientious protagonists, and character-driven situations, Anselmo’s plays speak the truth about the nature of secrets, their implications, and behavioral significance.

The serious subject matter and ease of writing style place Anselmo’s book among lovable reads.

ISBN: 0977079414

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0977079414/qid=1144838070/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-9724660-3863057?s=books&v=glance&n=283155

Author Website: http://www.tomanselmo.com/index.html

Heaven’s Witness

2006-04-08T09:48:00.000-07:00

In the vista are two authors, Joseph Telushkin and Allen Estrin, who have joined heads to chill the breath of mystery nuts with their paranormal psychological thriller Heaven’s Witness (Toby Press, Connecticut, USA, 2004). The prologue of this 462 pages, hardbound, chiller sets one’s curiosity on heels in a second and keeps the reader’s breath stranded for a pretty good while.

To call Heaven’s’ Witness a unique thriller of its kind would be overlooking an overwhelming number of thriller books and movies. Those Indian flick maniacs are long familiar with the ‘transmigration of soul’ belief and even in Hollywood it is not a novel idea. Heaven’s Witnes's specialty is the way it has attempted to reconcile the age-old idea of soul survival with the partially explored realm of paranormal psychology.

In the novel, we meet Robin Norris, a young actress of twenty-five, who is taken in deep hypnotic trance by a psychiatrist Jordan Geller. In a state of regression, Robin assumes the identity of a seventeen-year old girl Beverly Casper and describes a horrifying murder scene of the teenager, a murder that took place seven years prior to Robin’s birth. Who can resist leaping up! The story thus proceeds in the usual suspense movie style with a series of murders of teenage girls, each killing followed by a message to the parents from the Messenger, the serial killer. Suspects get shifting in the reader’s mind and the protagonists run themselves in deeper trouble before finally coming up with the Messenger’s real identity.

Two things undermine the novel’s take over. First, the question killer who? is answered nearly in full by the time we read a little more than half of the book. Second, the curiosity about why is quenched at nearly the same time. What is worse is that the main hook in the story Is Robin’s account an instance of reincarnation or a rationally possible revival of suppressed memory? is left unresolved at the end. The effect is like being cheated.

There are weaknesses that are all too obtrusive. Dr. Geller’s hypnotic skills working on Robin are almost cartoonish. Lack of character development is the book’s Achilles Heel. The element of romance in the story is little more than dead and we look at a passive, talking-only hero. The situations are not effectively experienced from any single character’s eyes and a feeling of detachment from the whole tale prevails through most of the book’s’ length. Perhaps it is what comes off when you try to gather thirty-two years of mystery in two weeks of the narration’s span.

In spite of all the weaknesses, Heaven’s Witness has some convincingly appreciable qualities. Deviant psychiatrist Geoffrey Bolton’s belief things just don’t happen, there’s a reason is a conviction that strengthens Dr. Geller’s case of pursuing his view of reality with genuine force. The need to deviate from the stereotyped and clichéd has found firm footing in the story’s framework. Still more significant is the psychological peep into the depths of some common diseased products of life: the panic-stricken writer whose real disease is the degradation of audience’s taste of comedy, the porn-obsessed young man whose root problem is low self-esteem on account of his homely figure, and the mother-hating young woman who is the victim of her domineering mother’s hard-shelled feminism.

Heaven’s Witness is a nice read but not hypnotically riveting.

ISBN: 1592640915
Availability

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?isbn=1592640915

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1592640915/ref=ase_thetobypress-20/103-2282091-6541424

Slow Dancing at Death’s Door: Helping Your Parent Through the Last Stages of Life

2006-04-01T21:59:00.000-08:00

It is impressive to see that a woman, Amy C. Baker, from the corporate world has stepped forward to show us our deepest human value: the need for serving our departing generation. Her book Slow Dancing at Death’s Door (Life Journey/Cook International, Colorado, 2006) incarnates a healthy form of what has been called ‘Survivor’s Syndrome’. Amy Baker exhausts her experience of anger, frustration, loneliness, and grief, that are the lot of so many aging members of our ‘Sandwich Generation’, and comes out with an enlightening lesson: forgiving for not knowing better.

Losing her mother to cancer and father to Hepatitis C, Amy Baker recounts what it feels like losing your loved ones and how best you can play your role of a caring child, at the same time a spouse, a parent, a responsible employee, and many temporary roles that one is obliged to take in life. That business world has not calcified her human spirit shows in Baker’s account of all she did for her dying parents to claim her success as a humane being. That she is an intelligent writer is evident from the warmth and energy of emotion that saturate her expression throughout the book.

As Amy Baker maturely embellishes her passages with good-hearted humor, the gravity of a subject like death (and that of one’s own parents) has no chance to oppress or offend the reader. However, Baker does more than that. With her faith, she illustrates the falsity of our perfection-seeking attitude towards life, thus showing us the importance to shed our slough of self-centeredness while at the same time not overlooking the need to take care of ourselves in order to be able to care for our parents. The emphasis is on growth not only in flesh and blood but more so in human spirit. On the practical side, we can see advice on hospice, management of ailing parents, and legal matters pertaining to inheritance, estate panning, and wills.

The nonconformist reader might frown over Baker’s frequent resort to biblical quotes, which are seen as the source of inspiration and divine power. This does become a bit obtrusive, especially at end of the book, where the author discusses preserving family history for future generations. Nevertheless, the spontaneity of her account of her parents’ death holds high her attempt to ‘light beacons of hope’ in her reader’s heart. The touching beauty of Amy Baker’s tapestry of words in paying homage to her late parents is heart winning. She is one writer who emerges victorious from her situation as a caring survivor.

ISBN: 0781442621

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0781442621/002-0762099-9752030?v=glance&n=283155

http://www.powells.com/biblio?show=TRADE%20PAPER:NEW:0781442621:13.99#synopses_and_reviews

http://www.allbookstores.com/book/0781442621/Slow_Dancing_At_Death

Author’s Website http://www.amycbaker.com/

Dressed in Fiction

2006-03-26T08:33:00.000-08:00

Starting with a discussion of the centrality of fashion in dress to human behavior, independent scholar Clair Hughes takes a look at the employment of dress in select English fiction in her book Dressed in Fiction (Berg Publishers, Oxford-New York, 2006). Clair’s work is a confluence of literary criticism and critical description of scenes of dress in a group of English fictional texts written over a period of about 200 years, from early eighteenth to the late twentieth century.

As the author admits beforehand, most of her discussion in the book is of fashionable, middle or upper class clothes; the reason being that dress of the underclass varies little until the advent of the mass market. The novels chosen for the bulk of the discussion range from Daniel Defoe’s Roxana to Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth, and the author sums up the topic in a quick glance at fiction from Samuel Richardson’s Pamela to Anita Brookner’s Hotel Du Lac.

While Clair Hughes makes women’s dress the core of her consideration, she does not fail to relate the ideas of gender, color of the dress, technical terms for costumes, and the excess or absence of dress references. Thus an interest in history and society is at once sated through the medium of clothing. Literary criticism shows in the author’s ingenious foray of the exploration of how fiction authors’ employment of dress and its accessories can illuminate the structure of that text. Ultimately, human values of the specific social world that existed at the time of the text’s creation are researched.

Supplementing the book’s discussion are paintings or engravings of nearly the same date as the text in view, imparting a general image of the period and its particular style of dress. This is a merit of the book that counts.

Dressed in Fiction has its shortcomings. Devoting an appreciable amount of space to history and stories of the fictional works, it fails at places to relate strongly the employment of dress with the main frame of the novel’s plot. An intrinsic connection of situations taken up for explanation with the dress described does not always seem valid.

Endnotes, a bibliography, and an index at the end of the book give an academically professional touch to it.

In its entirety, Dressed in Fiction is an experimental work following the lines of Gillian Beer’s 1989 book Arguing with the Past. It opens up a topic for critical discussion to be fathomed by future studies.

ISBN: 1845201728

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1845201728/sr=8-1/qid=1143386870/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-9167745-6114234?%5Fencoding=UTF8

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4229839

http://www.booksamillion.com/ncom/books?pid=1845201728

The Feel the Fear Guide to Lasting Love

2006-03-15T03:14:00.000-08:00

The subject of a successful love relationship has been tried to banality in innumerable publications. While most of them might be out in the print for making bucks, Susan Jeffers’ latest book The Feel the Fear Guide to Lasting Love (Jeffers Press, California, 2005) is one winning endeavor of showing the path to a lasting love life. Jeffers, who has been titled with ‘the Queen of Self-Help’, presents secret lessons of love that make one’s person lovable rather than tiring oneself out in finding an ideal mate. It teaches how to be the ideal mate.

The conversational style of Susan Jeffers befriends the reader since the first page. Her openness inspires when she confesses that her meaningful knowledge of love did not come from her university degrees but from her personal experience of marriage, divorce, dating, and remarrying. Thus she discovered the higher purpose of love, becoming a more loving person, and she generously shares it with her readers.

Jeffers makes the important distinction between ‘selfish love’ and ‘real love’. She peeps into the politics of relationships and redefines power as control over one’s own actions and reactions and not as controlling others. Revealing the vitality of communication to the happiness of a relationship, Jeffers speaks about maintaining a happy sex life well into the advance age. Impact of problems related to children and in-laws, money, and betrayal of trust are taken up and cogently resolved in the light of self-purification.

Perhaps the most significant aspect of Susan Jeffers’ book is her advice on seeing beyond the stereotyped concept of ideal love that permanently blocks our way to happiness. For example the picture of love as carved in the traditional way of thought by characters of long-adored fairy tales and literature of romance. Hence the humbug of love at first sight and other clichés. Shaking us out of the inertia of stereotyped gender roles, the author stresses nurturing essential human qualities of strength, assertiveness, rationality, protection, and so on. Her question ‘Find one reason not to end the war between the sexes’ stuns the rational mind.

Redundancy does show in the book. There is repetition. Nevertheless, The Feel the Fear Guide to Lasting Love does not bore and as a whole remains enjoyable. Words of wisdom from great brains give each chapter a lovely start. No denying that Jeffers’ book is valid in all relationships and not restricted to romance or sexual life. It creates an openness that leads straight to the diseased root of unhealthy relationships. Its audience encircles all who have anything to do with any sort of human relationship.

ISBN: 0974577693

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0974577693/qid=1142416572/sr=11-1/ref=sr_11_1/104-6750870-4307155?n=283155

http://www.ecampus.com/book/0974577693

Author Website: www.susanjeffers.com/

The 4 Realities of Success During and After College

2006-03-11T21:23:00.000-08:00

Here is a self-help/how to book that tells college students about all the things they must take care of in order to be mate with success. Published by Authorhouse, (Indiana, 2005) Bob Roth’s The 4 Realities of Success During and After College is a guide for college students, recent graduates, and young adults, showing how to achieve success by a stepwise pursuit of the four realities of success. These are:

1. You can be more successful in college
2. It takes an effective job search to land the job you want
3. You can be more effective in your job search
4. Going out on your own shouldn’t be a rude awakening

Roth takes the pains to present his readers with 62 chapters, 7 appendices, a bibliography, and an index all that would leave no point practically counting in a successful career. The book offers advice on organizational skills as a student, intelligent job-hunting, fixing a stance in one’s first job, and living as an individual. There is enough information and advice on each point the author lists.

With all the advice and lists of innumerable things to care for, The 4 Realities of Success During and After College underwhelms as a book. A lot of repetition and redundancy is obtrusively thwarting the reader’s attempt to get along with it. Points are given patchy descriptions instead of full-fledged elaboration, resulting in a jumpy feeling. The reader is constantly stuffed with points and steps to follow and no passage is devoted to let him participate in the field being explored. A preachy tone is seen in which a voice constantly haunts you to do or avoid certain things. More importantly, three fourth of the book tells you ‘what to do or avoid’ but not ‘how to bring this about’. Part four (Going out on your own shouldn’t be a rude awakening) is more practicable and wisely construed than the other three realities where countless things are to be done without having any idea how to be motivated in their direction. In any case, the individual has to lose most (if not all) of his self if he follows half of what he is being led to. It’s like ‘be yourself or gain success.’

One thing, perhaps the only one that captures the interest and conveys wisdom is inclusion of quotes from really successful figures like R.W. Emerson, Oscar Wilde, Benjamin Franklin, Frank Tyger, and so on. One such from Albert Schweitzer reads ‘I do not believe that we can put into anyone ideas which are not in him already.’

ISBN: 1420844709

Availability

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1420844709/ref=sr_11_1/102-2041641-8032950?%5Fencoding=UTF8
http://www.authorhouse.com/BookStore/ItemDetail~bookid~30550.aspx