Future Books

The perfect antidote to a mindset of vengeance. In this incredibly sexy take on the human condition, writer Scott A. Hunt takes readers down the noble and seemingly enigmatic road to peace. Insightful anecdotes paired with brilliant insights make for a fascinating read. Equally as spiritual as it is documentary; a must read for every contemporary thinking man's library.

Scott successfully took on a monumental task of understanding the view points of peace makers and people who are caught in today's wars. The book is a journey into the most challenging edges of 21st century human psyche. In this journey, there are seemingly real people who are actors compelled to living out scripts that they don't even know they are living them. But there are some people who are aware. These people come across clear and sound as Scott vividly presents his interactions in most captivating manners - simple but graceful. Scott's intentions come across pure. The information he gathered are eye-opening. The stories he tells are startling.

Scott outstandingly weaves the history of humanists' thoughts. His account of nations' events makes social and science fictions pale in novelty. Facts indeed beget fiction. Can super powers not be aware of their own action? Are peace makers and Nobel Peace laureates simply instruments of time - when the human spirit can no longer endure the incredible injustice?

If you have often asked yourself why people, businesses, and government today have drag the world into the lowest of any moral standards and darkest moments of the human race, this book will be useful to you. It doesn't offers academic answers. It shows you the conditions around the world in a continuity of thought I have not seen. The conversation with the Dalai Lama on non-violence is both amazingly clear and inspiring. It is an account of risk management and decision analysis with enormous grace and solemnity. Expect a team consisting of a journalist, a philosopher, a historian, and a humanist to accomplish anything close to this book. As I put the book down in the stillness of the nights, I am moved beyond the power of my imaginations. - Tom Tuduc

Scott Hunt has written a very moving and almost lyrical book in the way in which he blends some of the the worst horrors committed by humans against fellow beings with the compassion and kindliness of the peacemakers. It gives you a deep sense of hope and conviction that the spirit of humanity will tirumph eventually and inspires you to try hard as it may be to embrace the vices of those who still believe in commiting these violent acts.
Marvelouslly,it is also a political eye-opener into the true motivation of the actions taken in the name of peace by the political leaders...

This book is excellent in so many ways. Scott Hunt has given us an inspiring book. I learned so much in historical background and in the work of heroic people of our time.
I would urge anyone who wants an understanding of the problems in the world today to buy this book. Once you open it, you will be compelled to read it from cover to cover.
If you believe that the answer to all the issues of the world are simple, and that all the world except the US is bad, than I ask you to open your mind and take a look at the world described in these pages. If you believe that killing only creates more killing and there must be a better way, than allow these stories to provoke your mind.
The most compelling part of this book to me was the discussion of Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge. I ask you to please try and understand how it can be that such a monstrous people can be created, and how such horrible things can be done to human beings. This chapter will leave you wondering how you can ever again accept on the surface the "information" we are given. You will realize the consequences of violence. You will search your mind for answers that are not on the news.

This book is not perfect. I was left wondering more about the history of Costa Rica than I was given, for example. And there are times when Scott explains things more than I would like. I think he could leave his conclusions to the people he interviews. Others may find that that part of the book helps tie things together.
Still, overall the book was outstanding and deserves every bit of 5 stars.

The "Future of Peace" is perhaps the most compelling book I have ever read. I was very deeply moved by it. Scott A. Hunt is an outstanding writer and interviewer. He asks insightful questions of prominent peacemakers and receives soul searching, thought provoking answers, with overall themes of hope, forgiveness and perseverance. The interviews are more like informal discussions and I almost felt I was right there. He also gives excellent background information on the various areas of conflict where the peacemakers reside, with facts one doesn't learn in school or read/see often in mainstream news. I kept trying to put it down, so as to absorb each chapter, but had to continue to the end, almost nonstop. It is definately a book to read again and again. If all students, political leaders and citizens of the world read it and took the messages to heart, perhaps we could obtain a more peaceful world. In these troubled and treacherous times, Mr. Hunt and the peacemakers give a message that should be spread throughout the world, both heartbreaking and soul inspiring at the same time. If you are wondering whether to buy "The Future of Peace", just do it! You will be so glad you did!

Future Prospect provides immense insights on the shape of the future of e-business that will be of great value to technologists and business leaders seeking to understand and take advantage of the mega strategies taking place in the market space. Books like Future Prospect come along too infrequently, but when they do, the power of human creation is unleashed, transforming our business landscape. Future Prospect is the most talked about book in the current era.

Future Prospect raises the bar for any professional involved in business performance and development. This book clearly explains the core concepts and strategies underlying in any business and advances the business activities and processes to world-class level. And it provides how-here-and-now you can make enormous impact on your business results.

The first book to explore the impact of ebusiness in any business for any one aspiring to reach world-class status by guiding the readers to the changes that are taking place now, and an intriguing look into the future of business.

Future Prospect has served us as an irreplaceable map to chart our ebusiness visions and strategies and to drive our company to be number one.

Penetrating through the swirling mist of high-tech business scenarios with vision and simplicity, Future Prospect offers the vital tools to configure your business for tomorrow's prospects. It offers executives and analysts with a roadmap and agenda they need to advance their carriers.

This book is exactly what I was looking for-- a workout routine designed for young athletes. I had always been involved in weight training, but routines adults used would not work for me, even if I modified them. This book was perfect in that it gave a workout that hit power and endurance. If you want a routine that will work and hit all necessary points, this is your book.

P.S. If they had a four and a half star rating, I would have chosen that because more attention could have been paid to nutrition.

Here's the deal: you can let life be something that happens to you, or you can take control of your own destiny, starting with your head and moving onto your body. Nobody has a better plan for that than Jake Steinfeld. The guy is a phenomenon, and in this book, you learn that he started out as a pudgy guy who had trouble speaking and had the self-confidence of a beaten puppy. I've got 3 sons who think Jake is tops -- not just because he's a monster physically, but because he's created a great life for himself and his family, pretty much from scratch. It all started for him as a teenager, and this book is more than his life story: it's a step-by-step way of thinking about what you want, and then methodically making it happen. It's got great ways to make muscles and gain the flexibility to use them, but it's a whole lot more. And it's a book that's clearly written from Jake's heart, and in his own unique style - straight to the point, as clear as can be, and often funny as all get out. My kids love this book, and you will too! A book that proves that now's the time to "Get Strong".

Last week I saw Jake at Barnes and Noble. He was standing in front of a crowd talking about this book. I wasn�t very interested, him and I have nothing in common. I like hanging with my friends and playing with my Play Station II, he talks about exercise � something I definitely didn�t care about. I could hear him in the next aisle, and the more I heard, the more I listened. This time he was talking about something I could relate to, being a fat kid, not being popular, being invisible. I slowly started to walk over. He was talking about Get Strong. Finally it clicked. My brother has been an athlete all his life � the exact opposite of me. I always wondered why he got the good grades, the girls and had tons of friends. Jake said that all guys needed was a little physical fitness to get confident. I thought about it all the way home and asked my mom to get the book. I expected my brother to give me a hard time about it, but he thought it was cool. I have read the whole book twice and have begun exercising. My brother is a terrific coach and my family is really proud of me. I�ve only had the book a little over a week and it has changed my life. For one thing, I didn�t know that I was so strong. I plan on following this program until I am where I want to be � and Ashley Martin starts to notice me. I will keep you posted.

This book is great. I read it and I did all of the extersizes in it. The book is wonderful. Its the only book that I read that looked back into it (only for the extersizes inside it). I would recoment it to every teen.

This is the best book about fitness for teenage boys out on the market. I have experienced great results through it. It is an excellent book for building physically and mentally fit bodies. I recommend it to anyone who would like to take full advantage of life.

John Renesch has generously shared his tracing of the path of self-examination of thought and life that many of us long to do. He helps you begin the process yourself, seeing that the need for change that we see in the world today begins with personal change in each of us. He points out that we often stay an arms-length away from really making our personal contribution, looking outside ourselves or waiting for someone else to deliver, before we move into action. Meanwhile, we continue to blame, complain, hide behind our fears or those thrust upon us. He gives a compelling call to action for each of us to answer the call of what he terms our "ultimate responsibility". Inspiring new vision. Great stories. This book gives NEW HOPE for a promising future at a time when we need it most. Great read!

John Renesch takes a stand for the greatness of the human being. He sees a better future that is possible but needs to be worked for. He points to the possibility of a more sane and mature world through humanity's embracing its destiny for a more conscious evolution.

This book is neither a complaint about our situation nor a grandiose scheme for changing it. It calls us all to turn old habits -- like being passive and perpetuating the status quo -- into more productive ways of living and working. It gives us many realistic action items that any person, anywhere can take to help build a better future.

I found this book to be encouraging.There is a way to treat others in a more human way. John makes an excellent case for why and how it can happen. I was downsized 2 times in the last 3 years. The problem I have with corporations is HOW they do the downsizing( ouch!). John's open style of writing allowed me to see what I was holding onto from these past experiences and let go of it...move on. Someone must hold the bright light for others to follow.

Highly recommended reading for business leaders! Everybody still in possession of a certain degree of open-mindedness and hope for a better future will acknowledge that this book provides more than food for thought. It's a blueprint for action. The French writer, philosopher, and Nobel laureate (literature) Andre Gide (1869-1951) once said: "I do not know whether it will be better when it changes but I know it must be different in order to be good". John's Book helps all of us to shape the system to become good! Peter Sorg Head Group Relations Member of Senior Management Ciba Specialty Chemicals Inc., Basel, Switzerland

Great tools and ideas for those who feel like helping to improve our present reality and to start building one that works for all. Let's enjoy and use it!

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Marya Mann, Ph. D., earned her B. A. in English from Boston University. After studying with Joseph Campbell and Jean Houston, she received her doctorate from the Union Graduate School in 1986. In her 30-year career in Dance, Yoga, and Theater, she not only pioneered research in the Psychology of Creativity but invented practical applications of the arts in sustaining social harmony. She has taught more than 20,000 students from Sydney to St. Louis, was a founding member of the Holy Cow! Theater Co. in Colorado, and conducted anthropological research on Pacific Arts and Cultures in Bali, Indonesia, where she performed and taught at the "Center for Art and the Future" with Takdir Alisjhabana.

While on the field faculty of Regis University, she developed the highly successful Renaissance Arts Project for youth-at-risk which was funded by the Colorado Council on the Arts and Humanities and the Boulder Arts Council. She founded the Lotus Living Arts Center in Illinois to help solve societal problems through cross-cultural arts in the heartland of the United States. The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers sponsored her Environmental Arts programs with thousands of children for Earth Day activities in the 1990's at Carlyle Lake. Co-Author of Healing Our Planet, Healing Our Selves with the Dalai Lama, Barbara Marx Hubbard, and Deepak Chopra, she currently writes, consults, and teaches on the Big Island in Kailua Kona, Hawaii.

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this is one of those books that i keep coming back to. there are so many perspectives and ideas, things to consider and realy life ideas to be implimented. i appreciated some chapters more than othes, but htey all seemed to have something to contribute to the way i look at and interact with my world.
somwhow we need shift the momentum on the planet, and i agree with the general consensus in this book that it happens one person at a time. if every person were to read a book like this, i can only imagine the personal and global shifts that we would see. good work!

Here is an opportunity to keep company with the good. By allowing their ideas and Knowledge to work upon us, we become the people the world needs now.

This is a book for everyone who intends to grow to meet the challenge of our present, and future. It is well worth spending our life's time on!

A series of very insightful essays from many perspectives. I found this book very thought provoking. It is a "must read" for all who are concerned about the health of our civilization, our species and our planet.

In this rich and rewarding book which focuses on the how growth inside of ourselves can change the world, I found many practical and brilliant solutions for living a healthy and whole life, while doing good at the same time. It gives, in compact form, the essence of the teaching of many famous authors--and saves you having to read their entire book! It's a book about consciousness in the world on a daily basis. This purposeful compilation of today's planetary leaders inspires one to make a difference in the world by accessing and prioritizing one's essential needs. It shows that far from an either or, personal growth is an essential part of planetary healing, and vice versa. Some of the women voices are brilliant, this is some of their finest work.

This truly is the best nutrition book I've ever read. It just makes sense. It isn't dogmatic and it recognizes the beauty in each individual person, and provides information on how to make dietary changes based on a more individualized approach. I refer to this book frequently.

This simple and miracle book arrive to my hands last year when I was with 40 pound more that I have now. I follow the simple instructions and practical exercises and got great results. I reduced 40 pounds but that is only the begining. Through his book Joshua change my life, I understand the concept of primary and secondary food. I also learn that only eating brocoli I will not reduce weight ... but facing issues like carrer, spiritual practise, exercise, relationship can help more than only be on diet. THis is not a diet book .. these is a changing life Bible.

Brilliant! This is an incredible work book, to help you on you way to health and happiness, simple and to the point. Helps you to get in touch with yourself and learn what your body needs! A must have for anyone that wants to live a healthy life!

This book was really different from other "diet books" I've read. Instead of explaining some new fad diet, the author explains all the different diets I've been reading about for years and shows the upside and downside of each and explains why it's not possible for one diet to work for everybody. Because everybody is different! I loved that! It was great to read a book about food and diet and not feel like there was something wrong with me for not being able to stick to a diet. This book is also like a workbook - there are lots of exercises and common sense recommendations for getting healthier. I definitely recommend it for anyone who has been around the dieting block too many times or who wants some clear and simple guidance about how to eat better.

This book is a reflection of an amazing shift that is happening in health and wellbeing. No longer do you have to follow a regimen that is based on one theory alone. No longer do you have to read and buy all the fad books on Nutrition!

I am a holistic health practitioner and I give a copy to all of my clients. It supports them on their journey to wellness and gives them a fresh and simple point of view. It is truly the Future of Nutrition...But it is practical..right now!

With love and good health,
Vanessa Tricoche, CHHC, AADP
www.alivetolove.com

Take the ultra-researched science of a Michael Crichton novel (with only a slightly milder level of paranoia), the challenging futuristic conceptual philosophy of a Philip K. Dick novel, mix in the self-evolving computer premise of David Gerrold's superb novel, "When Harley Was One," and what do you have? You have "Julia and the Dream Maker," the brilliant science fiction debut of P.J. Fischer. Fischer combines computer technology, cellular biology and the angst of three post-doc college students in a very near future to bring us the story of a prank experiment gone rogue, and the aftermath that leads to a unique possible future for humankind. With believable characters, a compelling premise and a natural story-telling style, Fischer's debut is a must-read not just for science fiction aficionados, but for anyone who likes excellent, page-turning fiction.

Set in the near future and opening with a courtroom drama, Julia And The Dream Maker is the story of graduate students who find themselves caught up in lives of ambition combined with rapid advances in technology compelling them into "a seminal moment with evolution". Steven his friends are preparing for academic careers in the field of biology. These gifted students feel that there is nothing they cannot do or accomplish. But a science project they become involved with sets of an unexpected chain reaction dramatically altering the very pattern of human evolution, and do so, create a doorway to Julia's world and an uncertain future for them all. P. J. Fischer has a true storyteller's talent for creating very real characters and catching them up in a series of plausible events and fascinating dilemmas. Highly recommended and entertaining reading for science fiction fans, Julia And The Dream Maker will leave the reader looking eagerly forward to the next book in Fischer's deftly crafted series, Julia And The Song Of The Soul.

I am a science fiction fan and computer scientist, my wife (very proudly) is not. Rarely do our paths cross on books. When my wife suggested the book to me after her book club enjoyed it, I was a bit hesitant, the cover suggests something a little too squishy for my tastes. I was pleased to find that it blended a compelling story with sound science. The science is not overpowering, but when it is used, it is appropriate and correct. The author did a very nice job of predicting the advantages and pitfalls of technology we might find in the near future. Highly recommended to nerds and non-nerds alike.

Science Fiction/Fantasy books generally hold no interest for me, and to label this book a part of that genre alone diminishes it as it is so much more! It is part literary thriller, part mystery, part romance. It is educational and provocative. It's funny and poignant. Left breahtless from page-turning to find that the end is only the beginning, I can't wait for the sequels!

Talk about "integrated curriculum"! This is a book that weaves science, computer technology, social studies, literature and the one thing that always grabs students - romance, into a page-turner that I know will leave my students begging to know "what happens next!?!" I am not usually a sci-fi fan myself, but found this book so relevant to today's headlines about scientific discoveries that will change the very way we live and view the world, that it was not hard for me to get engrossed in it. I highly recommend it for high school teachers looking to integrate science into their literature curriculum, or literature into their computer technology curriculum, among others. And, like the students, I can't wait for the sequel!

Ms. Sam Grabelle
Providence, RI

Many, if not most, corporations try to utilize scenario planning in their strategy process. All too frequently, these efforts become routine: what if we increase (decrease) marketing budgets by 10%? What if raw material prices go up (down)? It's all pretty warm beer given the pace of business change every company faces.

This book shows how to do it right. The editors have shaped the contributions of 24 experts iinto a thorough, rigorous book covering all the vital aspects of scenarios. The reader will find clear discussions of what scenarios should be and how organizations can use them to "learn from the future." There are chapters on tools and techniques (like simulation models), advice on implementation, and case studies from both the private and public sector. The last chapter, "Twenty Common Pitfalls in Scenario Planning" is especially valuable.

Forewarned is forearmed. Any manager who does not want to go into the future blind and defenseless must read this book.

If you talk to someone about using scenarios to think about the future, chances are that the other person will nod her/his head in agreement with whatever you have to say. That surface agreement, however, will be misleading because the other person is probably thinking about a totally different kind of scenario thinking than you are.

Learning from the Future helps overcome that misunderstanding by explaining a large number of ways that scenarios can be used. The book contains 25 chapters which each look at a different aspect of scenario development and subsequent thinking.

Three chapters look at what scenario learning is. Seven chapters explore basic approaches to constructing scenarios. Eight chapters describe how to apply scenarios in different contexts, like competitor evaluations, technology investing, making public policy decisions, and considering customers. The final section looks at how to create the right organizational environment for making and using scenarios for learning.

You will benefit from reading the thoughts of many of the world's top experts and users of scenario learning including Peter Schwartz, Kees van der Keijden, Ian Wilson, Liam Fahey and Robert Randall. It is a great line-up, and what they have to say is good food for thought.

If you would like a good introduction to scenario learning, this is an excellent place to start because the perspectives that are captured are unusually broad and appropriate.

This book belongs in the business library of every business decision-maker. When an important question arises, you can use this book as a resource to think through how you might best use scenarios to create a better result. Enjoy!

Learning From the Future, by Fahey and Randall, is a very comprehensive how-to manual for creating foresight scenarios and turning them into action. The use of scenarios to formulate a vision of the future and how best to be prepared for it has been a major strategy tool since the RAND Corporation, the military think tank, started using this methodology in the 50's to plan for "unthinkable" contingencies.

The collection of authors recounts the steps vital to a good scenario: identify key current forces affecting the organization, involve all levels of management (so they "own" the scenario results), assure the scenarios are linked to crucial decision processes, do not slip into trying to forecast the "most likely" future, tell a story, link the scenario elements logically (perhaps graphically) together. Chapter 4 is especially good at describing how to create matrices of outcomes with sliding scales of driving forces such as the price of gas or protectionist versus open markets. Both "future forward" (present day forward, or inductive) and "future backward" (working from the future backwards, deductive) scenario types are explored, as are computer-assisted methods.

Every conceivable element that could be factored into a scenario is covered and categorized in the book, including political trends, natural disasters, pricing and cultural trends, as well as the classic SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats). If there is one fault to the book, it is that the case studies could be more poignant - instead of distinct organizations with palpable products and threats, these tend to be generic (e.g., a "high tech" company producing "electronics"); this exsanguination of content leads to some bland examples and occasional lapses into platitudes (e.g., "leave enough time for evaluation"). In contrast, another scenario book, The Sixth Sense, by van der Heijden, glows with colorful case studies. When I created and played in scenarios at RAND, we found that adding color and story helped the process immeasurably: we created posters and put them on the wall, we got into character like actors do, we generated future headlines and stories - not just generically, but for a specific date and paper (the Washington Post was a favorite) - to make the process seem more relevant and the results more richly detailed. The book could also have more precise examples of insights and corporate changes that resulted from scenarios as evidence for their worth - this text is clearly meant for the already converted. That said, the very extent and thoroughness of the material, its coverage of elements often left out of other texts, and its provision of checklists for novice scenario builders, make it a must-read. The use of scenarios has a long track record of success, even in decades past when the rate of change and pace of market forces was more leisurely. In this day and age, when markets can evolve every six months, the use of scenarios to enable an organization to be proactive rather than reactive is more important than ever, and this text is one of the most exhaustive that exists on this important topic.

Fahey and Randall have brought together an excellent team of authors who have given numerous suggestions of what to do and what not to do in developing scenario learning in organizations and institutions. From making it unmistakable that top CEOs must be involved in the process, to offering an outline for a scenario learning workshop, suggestions for scenario learning team members and cautions about the pitfalls of using scenarios, the authors have given their insights and visions for successful futures planning for organizations.

The smart leader uses scenarios as an important tool in the executive toolkit. Just as good decision-making is not done in a vacuum, but rather is done in the light of a good deal of research and information gathering, so even scenario planning is prefaced by homework, preparation. Elements of history, traditions, branding, decision-making methodology, personnel, key decision factors and key external forces are all pieces of the background necessary for scenario planning. Scenario Learning is not just one more thing one must do because some higher up says it must be done. It is not just a task. All decision-making of any magnitude needs to cease until the scenario planning sheds light on the decision. This process is the best of strategic planning and should not be set aside while the company chooses its strategy. "Scenarios are most valuable when they are understood to be movies of an evolving story, not a snapshot of a specific point in time" (p. 12).

Several types of scenarios are offered. Scenario learning, in the context of Systems Thinking, is a powerful tool for moving into a changed reality. Systems thinking is the engine of dynamic scenario planning. In any system it must be understood that each element in a system acts or reacts to every other element in the system (elements such as events, patterns of behavior and contextual structure). Seeing the system rather than individual elements when making a decision means making decisions with a greater possibility of successful growth.

"Scenario Learning is a search for an understanding of how the future could change, and how an organization could thrive by adapting to a number of particular changed circumstances." Scenario learning identifies what the indicators of change are, and what decisions and actions must be taken today to be ready to survive and win tomorrow and in the years to come" (p. xi). What follows in the book does indeed make this clear.

This book, written in 1997, is one of the very best works on scenario planning-or scenario learning, as the editors prefer. The 446-page book is a collection of 25 chapters by a variety of authors, each adding a perspective to the scenario learning process. Fahey and Randall explain how scenario learning builds on traditional scenario planning, then follow up with a chapter on integrating scenarios with strategy. Several essays explain basic approaches to constructing scenarios. The next section shows how to apply scenario learning in diverse contexts including industry scenarios, competitive positioning, technology investments, and anticipating new consumer products. The last section details the vital step of managing the organizational context for scenario learning. Included in this section is a contribution by Kees van der Heijden on the business idea, and Paul Schoemaker on common pitfalls in scenario planning. This book is an excellent resource on the practical use of scenarios in business strategy. It mostly avoids overcomplicating the process as some other books have done, and it focuses on practical strategic implementation, not scenarios for their own sake. At a time when the New Economy continually throws up surprises, looking ahead with scenario learning is more timely than ever.

May Bird and Somber Kitty's adventures continue in this worthy successor to May Bird and the Ever After. The story is genuinely suspenseful and continues to display as much depth and originality as the first. Be advised that some younger readers may find the content too disturbing.

A strength of the story is the depiction of May. May is an ordinary child who finds herself in very extraordinary circumstances. Although May is suitably scared as she tries to find a way to escape the Ever After, she also demonstrates amazing courage and heart as she is faced with increasing touch choices.

I think it can be empowering for young readers to see a character in a story who shares their insecurities and self-doubts but ultimately finds inner strength that isn't born of magic or superhuman abilities.

As another character notes, May is small but she is also so much more.

During my first year of teaching 4th grade, I had incidentally bought this book at a "Scholastic Book Fair" at our school. Having read the "teaser" on the back of the book, I began reading this book as a daily "read-a-loud" to my students. We absolutely loved it and they couldn't wait to read each new chapter. My students, both boys and girls related to the colorful characters. My girls especially loved the slow but sure transformation the shy May Bird underwent as she unwittingly explores the "Ever After."
A few of my students transferred to another school during this school year, and I made sure to send them off with their very own (signed by all) copy of May Bird, books one and two.
Word spread around about this book in our small school and soon siblings and friends in other classes were asking about this book. This year my new class of 4th grade students are already familiar with the story and are begging me to start reading it as a daily read-a-loud.
This is truly a well written and creative story that children will enjoy and remember for a long time!

May Bird Among the Stars just might be the best book in the trilogy! With Beatrice finding her mother,Somber Kitty dancing,fighting Evil Bo Cleevil,and going through a portal in the Bogey's closet,there was never a dull moment!! I give this book 2 thumbs up!

I am extremely satisfied with my purchase of this book . My daughter loves this series and its quick arrival has been a wonderful experience!

May Bird-Among the Stars


May Bird- Among the Stars, by Jodi Lynn Anderson, is a fun fantasy fiction. It is also a sequel to the first book, May Bird and the Ever After.
May Bird- Among the Stars is about May Bird, and her journey through the world of ghosts. She is traveling with her friends, Pumpkin, a house ghost, Beatrice, who is looking for her mother, Captain Fabbio, who is looking for his lost crew, and Somber Kitty, May's hairless cat from home. As you might know from the first book, May and Kitty aren't dead, and soon find that they are not alone. There's a secret colony of "un-dead" underground.
I loved this book, because it's filled with adventure. If you liked the first book, you'll love this. Will May save everyone? Will Beatrice be reunited with her mother? Will May and Kitty get back home? Find out here!

I was leary about Modular Homes, but a friend suggested to my wife and I that we look into it as we are going to be building a home soon. Seems like it's a concept who time has come! Seems to me to be a very sturdy way to produce a home and the cost-savings are significant. This book was very helpful in understanding it all.

I have to admit, this is not the type of book that would usually replace David McCollough on my summer reading list. However, with two small children, our family is rapidly outgrowing our condo, and, with single-family homes in Massachusetts being so expensive, my wife and I have begun to look more intently into modular home ownership. If your situation is at all like ours, this book is near-required reading for you.

Michael and Atilla do a fantastic job of giving the "30,000 foot view" of the industry, and they do it in a way that clearly conveys their status as subject-matter experts, without ever lapsing into jargon or insider-speak that would make the message harder to understand.

In many respects, this book reads more like a well-constructed white paper that might appear in the Harvard Business Review, or some other publication of that ilk. It offers both strategic insight and tactical advice that can help you and your family cut through a great deal of the misinformation that exists about modular homes, and allow you to make an informed decision about what is best for you and your family. In an area where a wrong decision can cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars, this $20 book offers a guaranteed return on investment.

I give "Modular Homes" a thumb's up. Here is what I liked about it. It was easy to understand, a quick read, and it explained what modular homes are and what they are about. I thought modular homes were manufactured homes, or mobile homes, until I read the cover. But these are nothing like mobile homes. The book even goes into how modular homes evolved and how they differ from these other homes that seem to be tornado magnets.

Anyway, points well covered included the quality, durability, design, cost savings, time savings and the building process of these homes. If you don't have a great idea about modular homes and how they compare and differ from regular homes after reading this book, I would be amazed. Everything is simplified enough yet gives great details and examples.

I was going to build a new home, but have decided to wait when real estate gets better. When I do I am confident I will build modular unless something new comes along before then.

While researching in preparation for my first home purchase I came across this book and bought it on a whim. Truth be told, it was a huge eye-opener. I was shocked to learn how outdated my perception of "modular" was. After reading & learning the lessons from the authors, who are unquestionably years ahead of the curve on this subject, it is clear modular is the way to go in this market. The superiority over "traditional" production in terms of cost, quality, green technology and efficiency is mind boggling.

The book really targeted the key issues I was looking to address in deciding about a new home. My uncle had told me that he was thinking about a modular home, and I was ready to build a new home as well. I read "Modular Homes" and sent him my copy because it really was great at covering all the bases.

The history section of the book which is in the early part was of little benefit overall for me but was still interesting by providing a perspective in home building. But the most helpful part was the part describing the process and the chapter detailing all the benefits. These helped me understand why modular is doing so well.

I have picked a modular home to build, and my uncle still has to read the book. If you are wanting to know what modular homes are, and why they are better, this book is easy to understand and very thorough. It also was quick to read at the same time. I think someone ready to build would enjoy the stuff described.