Wild Flowers: Beauty and the Beasts

Book Description

Michael Runtz takes readers on a remarkable journey inside the hidden world of wildflowers. Runtz uses special photographic techniques to bring readers sights normally unseen by the human eye.

Customer Reviews:

Highly recommend.......1999-09-21

As an avid canoeist I'm in the backcountry a lot. More than a few times I've wondered what I've been looking at regarding all the beautiful colours I've encountered. This book is well presented in text and photos and will help those interested in discovering books on plants and flowers difficult to find elsewhere.

Customer Reviews:

Read if you want to hear the stories others won't tell you........2005-06-01

Of course, the reason others won't tell you those stories may be because the stories are patently false. I was looking for a book that would be a good read after "Collapse" -- something that would tell me about fallen civilizations. This isn't that book -- at least not from a rigorous, scientific approach. The author, for example, asserts that pterodactyls live in today's Arizona.

The author believes that traditional academics are dismissing the truth because it doesn't fit in with their preconceived notions. The only reason I didn't rate this book lower is that it is clearly a great source for others who feel the same way. The rest of us, however, need to look elsewhere for scientifically grounded speculation into North American prehistory.

A Travelogue of Archaeology.......2003-01-26

Much of this book is pleasant escape reading, and some of the things discussed are intriguing, such as tunnel systems associated with some ruins. The book was spoiled for me, however, when I came to chapters dealing with things I knew of firsthand. One major Northwest petroglyph site is placed in the wrong state. There are just enough wrongo facts to make me wonder how many others masquerade as reality in the text. I will reread the book in the future and enjoy the mysteries of past cultures south of the border, while keeping a salt block handy for the rest of it. His books certainly hold true to the basic instructions for finding lost cities - ask the locals. Few lost cities are truly lost to those who live in the area. They're just forgotten. Enjoy this as a tale told by a traveler, and a collection of some of the more interesting legends of American mystery archaeology. I don't really think there are Egyptian treasures in the Grand Canyon, but I would be delighted if they were real. The same holds true for the treasure-laden tunnels of Death Valley...

How to read Childress.......2003-01-06

There are two ways to read Childress. If you want to live in a button-down, straight laced world of academic archeologists, then every time Childress asks a question, just answer (to yourself) No! Then go about with your boring life.

But if you want to live a little wild, to peel back the layers & pierce the veil, then answer (again, to yourself) Yes! to every one of his questions. Should you do that, you will have a gay old time figuring out how the world all fits together!

Honestly, DHC's speculations are full of BS, but it sure is fun suspending your disbelief & reading these books. Someone mentioned that DHC really seems like a great guy, and you get that sense reading this book. Sounds like he would be a really cool guy to travel & chat with. His travel writing is straighforward, but exciting.

Unfortunately, the book is full of typos & poorly done photographs. After reading 5+ of the Lost Cities series, I don't even notice anymore, but it will bug some beginners.

Interesting and Thought Provoking.......2002-05-02

This book is very interesting and thought provoking. I enjoyed reading it.

Rather than a book that explains what places you can visit, how to get there and what to see when you go- this is more of a journal of the authors travels. In here he tells you what he sees, what he thinks and the things he learns.

The author covers a wide range of thoughts from pteradactyles still living to Asians visiting Mexico to Romans in Arizona.

I rated this a four instead of a five for two reasons. At times the writing seems stiff and it makes it hard to wade through some sections of this book. Also, the proofreading leads a lot to be desired. Words are left out, typos and spelling errors are plenty. Enough to be a distraction at times.

Otherwise, it's an interesting book and well worth reading.

Enjoy.

Lost Cities of North & Central America.......2002-02-14

I could not put the book down, until I had consumed over half the material. It make for a great read and a must for the curious traveler. This book will really make you reconsider some of the things you were taught in school.

Book Description

Inspiring African American Women of Virginia was written to provide readers with a variety of ethic women from various eras in our countries history.

It captivates the reader and pulls them into the lives of women who were not just faced with the obstacle of race but gender. It also reveals how they overcame their obstacles to achieve international acclaim.

From Missy Elliott and Roberta Flack to Maggie Walker and Nannie Boroughs, you be surprised at how each of these women are connected to Virginia.

Enjoy!!

Download Description

Inspiring African American Women of Virginia was written to provide readers with a variety of ethic women from various eras in our countries history.

From Missy Elliott and Roberta Flack to Maggie Walker and Nannie Boroughs, you be surprised at how each of these women are connected to Virginia.

Enjoy!!

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The royal Queen Elizabeth Miller: The inspiring true story of a woman who built a kingdom for children whom the world had cast away
Audrey Blackford
Manufacturer: Greenwich Book Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

African-American & Black | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: B0007G1498

Book Description

Indulge your eyes and inspire your inner gardener with a lavish full-color tour of 30 breathtaking gardens. Each of the captivating botanical marvels showcased here was a gold-medal winner at the prestigious and world-famous Chelsea Flower Show. Some of these garden designs are clearly rooted in practicality while others delight with their wit and drama. From an herbalist's garden harking back to a medieval world of turrets and dragons to a romantic rose garden to a chef's roof garden, each is presented with a detailed description and an interview with the designer. With much to offer the armchair enthusiast, this remarkable collection also features ideas that can be adapted by the home gardener to even the smallest of spaces. A Selection of Garden Book Club.

Customer Reviews:

Chelsea Gold.......2000-11-26

This book is awesome! It shows the best of the best gardens put together for the Chelsea Flower Show. I've always wanted to go personally to this magnificent flower show, but this is the next best thing. The photographs are incredible! This is one of the top five garden books I've bought this year, and I buy quite a few.

CHELSEA GOLD Award-Winning Gardens from the Chelsea Flower Show

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CHELSEA GOLD Award-Winning Gardens from the Chelsea Flower Show
John Moreland
Manufacturer: Cassell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OS3OMY

Book Description

This volume presents a biographical register of the 583 members of religious orders licensed in theology at the University of Paris between 1373 and 1500.

The register is preceded by a discussion of the sources used in its preparation and a list of all the clerics—secular as well as religious—licensed at Paris between 1373 and 1500. Appended to the register is list of those licensed arranged chronologically by religious order and an index of all the religious arranged by baptismal name.

The register is offered in service to historians of the medieval university and of religious life in the late middle ages, as well as those interested in the professoriate of the premier theological faculty of its day.

Book Description

Defining success is a difficult task. Most people equate it with wealth, power, and happiness. However, true success is not a thing you acquire or achieve. Rather, it is a journey you take your whole life long.

In a refreshingly straightforward style, John Maxwell shares unique insights into what it means to be successful. And he reveals a definition that puts genuine success within your reach yet motivates you to keep striving for your dreams.

I want to help you discover your personal road map for success, teach you what it means to be on the success journey, answer many of your questions, and equip you with what you'll need to change yourself and keep growing. - John C. Maxwell

Customer Reviews:

Follow the Roadmap and you are bound to succeed.......2005-08-08

The Roadmap to Success is by far the best motivational book I have ever read. It was the first book that I have read by Maxwell, and since then I have read four others. He teaches us a new way to think about success. Clearly stated success is: knowing your purpose, growing to reach your potential, and sowing seeds to help others. It is amazing how much better you perform and how much more you enjoy life when you view success through this framework. If you have been successful so far in your life, this book will help reinforce any doubts you have about your choices and reaffirm the actions you have taken. If you are committed to growth and development then this book is a great start to helping you put aside your fears to get the most out of your life. If you are closed minded, resistant to change and generally a pessimistic person this book is not for you. While those people that continue to make excuses for their failures or the way their life turned out will never succeed, those who have the right mindset and follow Maxwell's advise will surely go far in life and reap the beiefits and joys of success.

John finishes his book with a ? "What did you like best?" .......2005-05-06

The following is what I liked best:

The section on Goals
They MUST be activities that are: written, personal, specific, achievable, measurable, and time sensitive.

The Quotes:
"You can not make any progress when you are facing the wrong way." & the another one by Charles 'Tremendous' Jones who said "The only difference between the person you are today and who you will be in 5 years come from the books you read and the people you associate with."

The Benchmarking idea:
To attain success you should ONLY pick 3 to 5 areas to work on & grow in at one time.

The section on Choices:
In order to make progress it will involve 3 choices: to gain something, to lose something, or to trade something
and when you choose: pick the former rather than latter:
Achievement over affirmation
Excellence over acceptability
Personal growth over pleasure
Future potential over personal gain
Narrow focus over scattered interests
Significance over security

And finally the Laws on Developing others:
Take someone with you: "There is no success without a successor"

Rating: Strong Buy

Flesh on the Bones.......2004-06-27

I am definitely a John Maxwell fan. This man is truly gifted and knows how to communicate so all can understand and benefit.This book was great but even better if read as a sequel. Don't get me wrong this is a stand alone book by itself but I am glad that I first read The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. The 21 Laws is much more dry and technical while this book is personal in its application. You will better understand the process by first knowing the driving principles.There are several excellent lists that are explained in detail but my favorite is entitled, "How to Take Others for a (Life Changing) Ride. #2 states to , "Limit Who You Take Along". This one explanation alone is worth the book. It should prevent burn out and minimize disappointments.Page 177 has a chart on communication styles and the results. He applies this not only to the business world but to the family unit as well.I particulary like the chapter, What Should I Pack in My Suitcase. This will help me redeem my "downtime" as I travel. This guy is a genius.

Best book I ever read.......2003-12-26

We all know this: the choice of our "favorite" book is a difficult one. Perhaps the "most influencial" one is easier, at least in my case it proved to be so. This book has shaped my way of thinking like no one, perhaps just "The power of positive thinking in business" by Scott Ventrella came close to it, but one step below.
As an IT consultant I use to read mostly technical books, which of course become outdated pretty soon and their value diminishes with time without discussion. The value that "Your road map to success" provides is enormous because has not timeframe, I can't see it outdated anytime and provides guidance which can be life-long followed and reintepreted.
I am finding myself to recommend this book to just aybody I care for. Chances are you'll do the same after you read it.
Absolutely recommended.

Great For any Age.......2003-09-11

I did this book for my college age sunday school and it was great. Very practical information and i loved the quotes. It was written in an easy to read format and easy to do lessons on. I know a lot of what he says is common sense knowledge but sometimes we forget how important stuff like attitude is. He reminds us with example and practical principals. Maxwell is great i did his leadership series at work and he really has a great insight into success.

You Can't Get There from Here: A Year on the Fringes of a Shrinking World

Average customer rating:

Exciting read
Eight stories of personal encounters among world groups
Entertaining and you learn something!
You can get there from here
Better Gayle than I

You Can't Get There from Here: A Year on the Fringes of a Shrinking World
Gayle Forman
Manufacturer: Rodale Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1594865515
Release Date: 2006-11-14

Book Description

In this extraordinary memoirnow issued in paperbackGayle Forman takes us with her to the mountain hideaways of Kazakhstans Tolkien fanatics and inside the townships of South Africas lost tribe of Israel. She introduces us to a wild assortment of characters: lovelorn Tongan transvestites, charismatic Tanzanian rap stars, precocious Cambodian street kids, out-of-work Dutch prostitutes. In the artful interplay of these eight lively, thoughtful stories, she reveals how all of these diverse livesas well as our ownare being inextricably altered by the ever-shrinking world that we share. Because, she writes, To forget the humanity in others is to risk forgetting ones own.

Customer Reviews:

Exciting read.......2007-06-09

you can get there from here.....it is just how you do it that is so exciting. enjoy

Eight stories of personal encounters among world groups.......2005-07-04

Global cultures clash daily, but none so personally as in Gayle Forman's You Can't Get There From Here: A Year On The Fringes Of A Shrinking World. Forman's trip around the world covers the cultures and differences in eight stories of personal encounters among world groups, from a group of transvestites on Tonga to an odd group of Lord of Rings fans acting out fantasy games in Kazakhstan in an effort to reclaim their European roots. The planet is shrinking as cultures overlap traditional and modern in strange, new ways: that's the underlying message of You Can't Get There From Here.

Entertaining and you learn something!.......2005-05-31

I love to be entertained by books that also teach you something along the way. Gayle did a great job of finding and exploring the obscure in every country she visited, grabbing you with her writing and taking you on her adventure.
Gayle takes you on a ride geographically and emotionally as she and her husband traverse the far corners of the world AND their relationship. I ended the book feeling like I knew the world a little better and was a little smarter about relationships as well!

You can get there from here.......2005-05-19

Globalization is one of the most common words used these days and the very same word has been addressed by Gayle Forman in this brilliant piece of work. But Forman has provided the world with a perspective on globalization not many tend to consider and reach out to. That perspective is that although globalization is changing the material scenario of the world and is aiming largely at the world market economy and its impact on our now 'tiny' globe, it must move forward and end with accomplishing a compassionate connection between its inhabitants.

You Can't Get There From Here is a book with a writer who is sometimes blatantly honest yet is totally empathetic towards everything and everyone she encounters along her path. It's open (with the writer sharing her most personal thoughts and events)yet sweet and gentle in a modest manner. Very witty yet non-judgemental.

The most powerful message conveyed in the book is that every place and person on earth has a unique value and most of the time all that is required to realize that value and learn something meaningful from it is to look beyond oneself and beyond what the exterior seems to be.

Everything about Forman's book is human and universal because her words are truthful and from the heart.It is a complete narration that leaves the reader satiated because there is nothing missing it its content.

Better Gayle than I.......2005-04-27

Gayle Forman and I occupy the far ends of the Bell Curve of travelers. She goes to Paris and never visits the Louvre; I often head to that glorious depository of art as soon as I've unpacked. But when it comes to travel books, I don't want to read about visits to the Louvre, I want an author who ventures to places I'm NEVER going to go (high on that list: Kazakhastan)and then tells me of adventures there with insight and wit. This is an absolutely marvelous book. I hated to see it end.

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You Can't Get There From Here
Jason
Manufacturer: Fantagraphics Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1560975989

Book Description

A pop interpretation of love, obsession, and betrayal. Norwegian cartoonist Jason's latest graphic novel (his fifth to be released by Fantagraphics) chronicles one of the oldest love triangles in the world: Mad scientist creates monster, mad scientist creates woman for monster, mad scientist...falls in love with the woman he created for the monster!

Working with some classic pop-culture icons, Jason tells a witty and unique story about love, obsession, and betrayal, alternating his trademark pantomime sequences (as the three lovebirds circle each other) with pages of dialogue (as the mad scientist's hunchbacked assistant, during his regular lunches with a fellow hunchbacked mad scientist's assistant, describes and comments on the ongoing events, while pining for a nice quiet retirement—or maybe just a better job).

Customer Reviews:

A Wonderful Book.......2006-11-17

"You Can't Get There From Here" is the story of a youth's daylong search for his father. His search throughout Manhattan becomes a personal odyssey, bringing both tears and laughter. The book's characters and
experiences are poignant scenarios of real life. The reader is carried along from one engaging adventure to the next, and finally to the day's thrilling, heart-pounding conclusion.

"You Can't Get There from Here" is an uplifting, life affirming book by one of America's great storytellers and writers. "(This book) is a hymn to the love of family and community Hamner had known as a boy." *
Highly recommended.

* "Earl Hamner--From Walton's Mountain to Tomorrow" 2005
James E. Person Jr.:

Psychology of Hope: You Can Get Here from There

Average customer rating:

Hope not optimism

Psychology of Hope: You Can Get Here from There
C.R. Snyder
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Emotions | Mental Health | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0743254449

Customer Reviews:

Hope not optimism.......1999-08-11

Dr Snyder differentiates will power and way power in hope. That makes sense. He shows the correlations of hope with many positive factors. I agree with him that hope is more than optimism, which sounds like blaming others. Hope looks forward. Teaching hope is difficult. I like some ideas dr. Snyder presents, but some are bit too easy. A well-eritten book on difficult topic.

Your Road Map for Success: You CAN Get There from Here.

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Your Road Map for Success: You CAN Get There from Here.
John C. Maxwell
Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Product Description

New York Times bestselling author Dr. John C. Maxwell teaches practical principles to prepare you to plan your own success journey.

Average customer rating:

You Can't Get There From Here
Shirley MacLaine
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000KK6COS

Can You Get There from Here?: Stories (Southwest Life and Letters)

Average customer rating:

FINE PROSE FROM START TO FINISH

Can You Get There from Here?: Stories (Southwest Life and Letters)
Donley Watt
Manufacturer: Southern Methodist University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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Customer Reviews:

FINE PROSE FROM START TO FINISH.......2004-08-23

Bet you can't read the opening of one of Donley Watt's Texas based short stories without being hooked.

"While Darryl drives, Maureen practices, sighting with the hood ornament of the pickup, lining up the V between the ram's horns with the cars they meet."

So begins the story of Maureen, she of the exceptional hand/eye coordination, who joins her husband and his unappealing friend for their annual hunting trip.

"My name is Lynn Hendry. I'm sixty-one years old and my life has come down to realizing this: from the time a boy turns thirteen not a day passes that he doesn't think of sex, and when a man reaches sixty not a day passes that he doesn't think of death."

These are the opening lines of "The Man Who Talked To Houses," a brief, beautifully spun reminiscence about reconciliation and hope.

"Okay, I say, but before I begin this story, you need to know the ground rules. You follow them or I show you the door. Is that clear? Julie doesn't say a thing, just puts both thumbs under her hair and lifts it, waves it a minute in the steamy air...."

Then before we know it, we are hearing an older man admit to a young girl that he accidentally killed his best friend who was also her father. Poignant and deeply felt prose.

You don't have to be a Texan to relish these tales because Watt knows how to write, and he's a keen observer of people. Yes, his opening lines are impressive; his debut collection is terrific.

Average customer rating:

what can I say?

You Can Get There From Here
Shirley Maclaine
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0553261738
Release Date: 1976-02-01

Book Description

Immensely gifted with intelligence, curiosity, sensitivity, warmth, and a profound openness to people and places outside her own experience, Shirley MacLaine beings a very special quality of mind and heart to her acting, to her writing, to her travels. You Can Get There From Here is a remarkable memoir--the exciting and revealing journey of a woman who rediscovers the world an herself.

From an ill-fated television series in the early 1970's that goes against everything she believes in...to her impassioned efforts on behalf of a major presidential candidate...to her emergence as an important voice in the international women's movement...to her life-affirming odyssey to the People's Republic of China--this is the unforgettable story of Shirley MacLaine's road from a crisis of self-doubt to a joyous new stage in her life.

Customer Reviews:

what can I say?.......2003-11-14

I first read this book years ago when it first came out and thought it was so great but after years of mental maturing and becoming more conservative in my thinking and knowledge I find her beliefs and her ideas scary. Not worth the one cent I paid for this copy.

Book Description

The remarkable story of Martin McGuinness, former IRA Chief of Staff and now the lynchpin of the current ceasefire.

Customer Reviews:

A bad-tempered, bleak biography showing the futility of viol.......2005-01-03

Liam Clarke and Kathryn Johnston are journalists who have covered the political conflict in Northern Ireland for many years. This is a biography of one of the central characters in the IRA. The authors give some description of the times - poverty, commercial discrimination, political gerrymandering - which convinced a significant minority of the nationalist population that Northern Ireland had to change radically. They give some coverage to the reasons given by various militant Republicans - McGuinness among them - for taking up arms, mainly that the reaction of the British (and Unionist) state to the struggle for Civil Rights was violent and had to be met with violence.
However it is plain that Clarke and Johnston see the thirty years of IRA violence and the thousands of lives which were lost as purely futile and corrupting. They have no basic tolerance for the reasons given for the continuation of armed struggle and, as such, their opinions become front and centre of this biography. Their basic argument is that the deal which brought about the Good Friday Agreement was little different from the deal on offer twenty five years previously at Sunningdale and that the intervening years had seen thousands of people killed, maimed and jailed. They further point out that the only difference between the two agreements was the participation of Sinn Fein and infer, therefore that the violence was really a struggle for power within the nationist community; which Sinn Fein won, at the price of given up their revolutionary aspirations.

While most or all of this may be true, this belief sets the tone for the book itself, and paints McGuinness as cynical, ruthless, effective mainly in self-preservation. The interviews serve mainly to emphasise these traits, and I think ultimately turns the reader away from the views espoused. I was also not convinced that McGuinness provided the key thinking on the various changes in strategy that the movement took over years, though the authors seem to think McGuinness greatly influenced these moves. I did not find the evidence convincing - indeed it seemed to me that McGuinness is more an executor (pun intended) than a strategist.

The book is extremely effective in highlighting the callous, ruthlessness of most of the IRA operations, the ineffectual nature of the campaign led to more and more civilian deaths, the effectiveness of the British authorities led to a widening of the catagories of IRA `legitimate targets' to encompass anyone who dealt with the authorities, and yet more and more innocents were being killed.
There is a book to be written on whether the Sinn Fein leadership are the ultimate cynical politicians, using violence for publicity for over thirty years , and ultimately using the promise of peace to extort votes and a measure of political power. There is also a view that a movement which started in rage and wanted revolution, moved slowly and painfully towards politics having exhausted every other possibility (and at a fearful price in innocent blood). It also needs to be recognized that that IRA did not possess the only (or even an effective ) veto on political progress in Northern Ireland, however their actions justified a Unionist veto for longer than it might otherwise have lasted.
This book is written from too convinced a political viewpoint to be an effective biography, and as such I am sorry I read it. A much more effective and convincing book on the evolution of Sinn Fein is `The Secret History of the IRA' by Ed Moloney, Read that instead.

Full of Misinformation and Unauthorised Testimony.......2004-05-06

Be aware that this book is entirely compiled of statements and claims that are highly disapproved of by the man himself Martin McGuinness whom highly disapproved of the book's release.

I was misled by a review I'd read of the book and mistook it for a fair coverage of the man McGuinness.

I found this book to be tongue in cheek bias against it's claimed topic and not at all worthy of any attention whatsoever.
Too many references not based in truths to mention.

It is obviously a book to put McGuinness in a certain light and not at all to provide unbiased or balanced info.

More a work of dogma about the figure of the man than anything of historically accurate value.

A huge disappointment.

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