BY

E. C. Alft writes about Elgin, Illinois with such great clarity and vision that even the most casual reader obtains a salient understanding of the history of this town. While this is a talent, he also writes with such great passion and tenderdess that he makes even the casual reader fall in love with this midwestern river city - and that is an art!

Anyone who ever wanted to "be from a quaint little town" should read this book, because when you are through, you will feel as though you are.

This is a must-read book for all Elginites. City Council should declare Mr. Alft Elgin's "living treasure." Nice pics! Makes you proud be an Elginite.

This book is a "must read" for those interested in the Elgin area or midwest life in general. The author engages the reader in a most interesting walk through the past with important and sometimes humorous views of Elgin. It is obvious that Alft has a great affection for his subject. This was a wonderful book!

It's so easy to get focused on what is wrong with the world. I just love opening up this book and reading what wonderful uplifting advice, inspiration & guidance she has to say. I keep sneaking ahead and reading days ahead. And then reading them again when it's their day. I guess I need lots of reminders to remember!

I owe a lot of the positive things in my life to Betty Eadie. I own all her books and the ones by her publishing company. She knows how to make the most of our life. Through her advice, I was able to learn to love above all else. It has been able to help me have a better relationship with relatives and people who don't live in a way I might approve of. And that has made an amazing difference in my life, these past ten years since reading "Embraced".

Today I read a quote from the Ripple Effect in this devotions book. No, "Ripple" is not as good as "Embraced," but each book contains invaluable advice that can help us live a happier, more fulfilled life. From the Ripple Effect, I learned to change the behaviors that I picked up from my family as a child. Her words empowered me to create my own history...to stop negative ripples and create positive ones. Can you put a price on that?

I recommend all her books, including Maniilaq and Souls Remembrance (by her publishing company), to remind us of why we are here and to make positive changes in our lives for the best. When you read the books, try not to think so much in your head as your heart. How do you feel when you read them? Does it give you a sense of peace and joy? Apply them to your lives. If you read them with an open heart, you will have this peace. Even if you have some doubts of the veracity of these peoples' experiences, the advice within can change your life.

Betty's latest is a daily devotional guide. Each page represents a new day and begins with an excerpt from one of her three books (Embraced by the Light, The Awakening Heart, or The Ripple Effect). This is followed by an appropriate inspirational bible verse and then cleverly she continues with a prayer in her own words that interacts with the message from her book and the bible passage. I can't think of a better way to start each morning with a prayer to our heavenly Father. I have found that the daily readings provide me with a fresh outlook and presents my daily routine tasks or problems in a whole new light. Not only that, but her excerpts highlight what the author had experienced during her near death experience without having to go back and read each book. I highly recommend this book to everyone. It would make an excellent gift for friends or family members.

I am so glad that Betty wrote a daily devotional. I read it every morning and it just start me off on the right path. My wife and I use it to open dialog on spiritual matters and it has brought us together spiritually more than we ever have been. I highly recomend this book to anyone that is in need of a daily pick-me-up.

Have you ever been in a good mood only to blow up at your spouse or child the moment they walked in the door after not seeing them all day; then blame yourself for the way you've acted? Have you ever driven past another car and gotten an instant headache? If you've experienced any similar circumstances, you need to read this book. The author will tell to you that you are normal...for being an empath. She will explain in very easy to understand terms why you feel and act the way you do and how to get relief from feeling like you may be crazy. Her terms like Emotional Oneness and Physical Oneness will help you understand yourself and how and why you do seemingly strange things and act strange ways. She explains the various kinds of empaths in such a way that you can pinpoint yourself through her text. You will learn how to control your wonderful gifts for understanding and helping mankind while making your life so much more comfortable. The way she writes makes you feel like she's sitting in front of you and personally teaching you about yourself as if she was you! Thank you Rose!!!!

We are all animals by nature our gut instincts have been dulled by technology. Empowered by Empathy awakens your instincts to help find personal peace and guide others. Grounding is one of many techniques Rosetree shares with you for empowerment.

Thankful,

If you are sensitive to the moods and feelings of others, do yourself a big favor and read this book! Empathic sensitivity (that is, pulling in emotional energy from people around you and experiencing it as your own) can be a big source of confusion and frustration. But Rose Rosetree helps you understand empathy as the GIFT it truly is. This book is all about learning to manage empathic sensitivity by using it with awareness and grace. When you learn how to turn empathy on and off, it becomes a choice instead of an uncontrolled experience. And when you do choose to "join in spirit" with another person in a skilled, balanced way, your consciousness expands and soars! You get to step outside the box of your own experience and explore the delicious "otherness" of someone else's consciousness, then return safely to a grounded sense of yourself. Rosetree defines numerous categories of empathy, including several that never would have occurred to me. I've always imagined empathy to be an exclusively EMOTIONAL connection. Who knew that a talent for getting in sync with another's THOUGHT process could be a kind of intellectual empathy? There are insights galore here. One of the things I like best about Rosetree's books in her use of Q&A sections. This gives her books an "interactive" feel that I really appreciate. It's the closest thing to a live workshop you can get in book form. If you know, or suspect, that you are a natural empath, don't pass this one up; it could be life-changing.

This book really helped stretch my abilities to make a unique and one of a kind wall hanging and quilt for my collection.
I really recommend it for the directions are easy to follow to help you create your romantic scene.

You'll want to start this project right after you read. This is the same quality as LANDSCAPE QUILTS with Nancy Zieman & co-author- the Best Quilts on earth.

Most beautiful reverse applique gated gardens, clear instructions with pictures, and paper TEMPLATES to help you get started. How to arrange colors for a garden, even mountain-scapes and stain-glass like designs included, and you don't have to include the gates if you don't wish to.
There are pictures to inspire as well as a couple projects to start with. I am keeping this one next to my bedside!

Window views and garden scenes may be created with fabric and thread using Enchanted Views, Dilys Fronks' "user friendly" guide which demonstrates examples of appliqued garden gates, windows, grilles and more. Projects include patterns and instructions for a range of projects and skills levels, and are loaded with photo examples.

I am using this book with 7th and 8th grade remedial students and it is working beautifully. The book is easy to use and the examples are revelant and save time.

I had the good fortune of being seated next to the author on a (normally tedious)5 hour flight from Washington DC to Sacaramento. In conversation, Roger mentioned that he'd written a book on work roots. Instead of a yawn, I sprung to life, asking zillions of questions. Roger scribbled on United Airline napkins for hours, dissecting (dis-away, sect-to cut)words with Latin and Greek origins. After dinner, I thought I should nap, but my brain kept me awake asking..."what about penultimate?", etc.

I can't imaging what an invaluable aid this would be as a reference for any Elementary, Jr. High or High School Student. This should be required reading for any University Med, Law, Lit or Music student. Thanks to United Airlines for seating me next to Mr. Crutchfield and thanks to Amazon for shipping within a day!

I have used this book in my etymology classes at Loudoun County High School in Leesburg, Virginia, for the past two years. I have begun to incorporate it into my ninth grade English classes. The students thoroughly enjoy using this book and now the workbook that can accompany it. Most students have acknowledged a one hundred point increase in SAT scores after using the text. This roots approach allows the students to learn to unlock the meanings of words that they may have never seen. This book generates a thirst for learning new words and also allows them to create neologisms for things that have never been named. Students work enthusiastically with Vocabulary Quick Reference, and that would bring a smile to any educator's face. If you don't have it in your classroom, your students are being cheated. Become Y2K Vocabulary Compliant and put it in your classroom.

This book shows that in a spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ there is really no long term pain in the death of a loved one; but the sacred and divine opportunity of completed healing, for the ones who love them. The perfect book for the Alzheimer patient and their family.

I, too, read the book from cover to cover at one sitting. It is beautifully written, filled with brutal honesty as well as overwhelming love and compassion. It also has some excellent resources and recommendations for those trying to cope with the tragedy of the disease. I couldn't recommend the book more highly.

I cannot begin to tell you how very much I enjoyed reading this book. Once I began reading,,I just couldn't put it down until I totally completed it. This book has touched me and brought out many emotions of smiles, laughter and tears and I can relate to it as a chronic caregiver.I recommend this book to everyone not only to people who are in caregiving situations for a member of their family having Alzheimers...but for all family sicknesses.

This is the latest book by author Amy Frazier. If you love children, you'll enjoy this story - smooth easy reading, and, as usual, Amy promotes a good cause!

I found this book to be a very heartwarming family situation. I am looking forward to reading future books by Amy.

Amy Frazier's latest book is a winner. It is so wonderful to read about love and caring and family. I'm looking forward to reading all of the books she has published.

The Family Joke Book, by Brad Taylor, and illustrated by Hank Blaustein offers excellent, motivating written material for instructing struggling readers. Its organization into age groups allows for students to read age-appropriate, short jokes while being taught to infer - an often assessed, but rarely taught comprehension strategy. As students learn how an inference involves both reading the text and applying ones background knowledge to "get it," they are given several opportunities per page to become aware of the thinking processes required of an inference. The "ah-ha" is the chuckle or laugh out loud, confirming the inference has been made, and students are able to describe how they made it - i.e. explain why the joke is funny. As an introduction to teaching students to infer in any text, this book is a valuable and motivating teaching tool. Highly recommended by a Title 1 Teacher!

Illustrated with line drawings by Hank Blaustein, Brad Taylor's The Family Joke Book offers the reader a wonderful, highly recommended collection of wholesome stories and clean jokes loosely divided into four broad age groups. Ideal for browsing, reading to family and friends, or as resource material for public speaking, these jokes and humorous short stories are great good fun. For example: People have one thing in common - they're all different.; A day without sunshine is like night.; Can atheists get insurance for Acts of God?; Why is there only one Monopolies Commission?

Jenny (age 7.5) says, "This book should have a Caldecott Medal!" Jen read the draft and the published copy and gave them both five stars. "It really IS a family joke book," she said. Mom likes the "turtle joke" (p. 10). Dad likes "the grammar lesson" (p. 9). And Jenny likes "a tongue twister" (p. 9) and many more (which we hear on a regular basis), remarks Dad. A great collection of jokes you can tell anyone, anywhere (says Mom).

Contents:
Trouble with Water - H. L. Gold
Nothing in the Rules - L. Sprague de Camp
Fruit of Knowledge - C. L. Moore
Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius - Jorge Luis Borges
The Compleat Werewolf - Anthony Boucher
The Small Assassin - Ray Bradbury
The Lottery - Shirley Jackson
Our Fair City - Robert A. Heinlein
There Shall Be No Darkness - James Blish
The Loom of Darkness - Jack Vance
The Man Who Sold Rope to the Gnoles - Margaret St. Clair
The Silken-Swift - Theodore Sturgeon
The Golem - Avram Davidson
Operation Afreet - Poul Anderson
That Hell-Bound Train - Robert Bloch
The Bazaar of the Bizarre - Fritz Leiber
Come Lady Death - Peter S. Beagle
The Drowned Giant - J. G. Ballard
Narrow Valley - R. A. Lafferty
Faith of Our Fathers - Philip K. Dick
The Ghost of a Model T - Clifford D. Simak
The Demoness - Tanith Lee
Jeffty Is Five - Harlan Ellison
The Detective of Dreams - Gene Wolfe
Unicorn Variations - Roger Zelazny
Basileus - Robert Silverberg
The Jaguar Hunter - Lucius Shepard
Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight - Ursula K. Le Guin
Bears Discover Fire - Terry Bisson
Tower of Babylon - Ted Chiang

Most are classics. Some of them are otherwise hard to find. This book has again to be reprinted.
Highlights:
Trouble with Water - H. L. Gold
Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius - Jorge Luis Borges
That Hell-Bound Train - Robert Bloch
The Bazaar of the Bizarre - Fritz Leiber
And many more. Classic writers; the best of these writers.
If you can find it, buy it immediately.
Too bad there is only one story of each writer. I would love to have seen more of Tanith Lee. Her short stories are_very_hard to come by.
I think this is the best F anthology ever printed. These are multi-functional stories; elements of H too. Very good atmosphere. Fritz Leiber story will......you. Leiber is so good!
Happy hunting!

"The Fantasy Hall of Fame" fills an enormous hole in the fantasy world. While many of the best works in the genre are short stories, short stories rarely stay in print for long. This anthology presents the finest tales ever written in the genre; with rare exception, almost any reader's favorites can be found here. Robert Silverberg hasn't done many anthologies in recent years, but he used to put out one every year, and he hasn't lost his touch. Any young reader of fantasy novels looking for a new chunk of his favorite reading material will be ecstatic; any long-time reader will be overjoyed to greet old friends once more. The list of stories included is too long to be included here (which in itself is a good sign!), but my favorites include Robert Bloch's "That Hell-Bound Train" and Anthony Boucher's "Compleat Werewolf." A first-rate collection!

Each and everyone of these stories is a landmark. If you are a fantasy reader, Its the best place to investigate the roots of almost each and everyone of your beloved stories. If you are a beginner, there isnt a better place to start your exploration in this field!

My only exposure to Uncle Remus as a child came, sadly, from the cutsie cartoon by Disney. These are not light fairy stories of a zip-a-dee-doo-dah nature - they are paradigm stories that illuminate the human condition as seen through the clear eyes of a poor but wise old slave. You will not find self-esteem or political correctness here, but instead raw and ancient truth.

The real Uncle Remus of Mr. Harris was one of the most pleasant suprises of my adult intellectual life. These are timeless tales of the human condition that transcend any one place, people group or era. Some goes up, some goes down. Just one 'simmon more. When a big man like me wants a chaw terbacker whar he qwine to spit? Fate, greed, pride. These are themes worthy of a toddler's bedtime story, yet fit for the mature reader to ponder over a glass of beer. I read the three little pigs FOR my children. I would read Remus had I no children at all. The insights of Remus constantly remind me our the sayings of my own father, a white working-class man from upstate New York. The basic plot of "Agin the law" is told in rural Korea as "The man and the Tiger". It matters little if the man becomes brother rabbit and the tiger brother wolf, the insight into sinful human nature remains the same world over in authentic folk tradition before Freud and Darwin. Our age, so enamoured with recent myths like Gaia and a world before patriarchy, desperately needs the old wisdom. You can find it in Uncle Remus.

Yet as one should expect from such tales, the broadest universals are presented in the homey form of the most simple particulars. Read these outloud, and you will feel the pulse of the African-American slave. Feel his realism, his cynicism, his optimism too - but don't miss his healthy relationship with "the boy", who eats the stories eagerly. In a day when ghetto illiteracy is glorified as "ebonics", how ironic that the slave dialect is pushed under the rug. I ran accross a copy of the complete Uncle Remus - retold by some politically correct rapist of art who makes the slave speak proper English. Miss Meadows even becomes "miz", a crass perversion that is no mere update of Uncle Remus' grammar, but a shameless violation of his world-view. In Remus, the Sisters are miss or missus. They keep house while the Brothers garden, hunt, build and bargain. God keep us from ever returning to unjust slavery; but we could use a dose of the realism and stability that allowed old black slaves to speak with authority and wisdom - and allowed white children like Mr. Harris to sit as scholars of the philosopher-slaves.

Since I've had my boys, I've read lots of children's literature. This is the ONE book I wish I had had as a child. Read it often and with relish.

I remember as a child sitting at my grandmother's lap and listening to her read me my father's worn copy of the Uncle Remus Tales and I fell in love with the way Brer Rabit outwits the stronger and faster forest animals: Brer Fox, Brer Wolf, and Brer Bear. I loved it so much that I majored in English emphasising in Southern Literature in general and Joel Chandler Harris (the book's author) specifically. A note of warning however, the dialect in this copy is that of the antebellum slave dialect and it takes a little getting used to. But all in all a great book, which is unfortuantely overlooked in our politcally correct era. Too bad!

A great book! The hilarious adventures of Brer Rabbit and his friends teach children the basics of psychology in a fun way! No kid should be wihtout it.