Partner

My favorite Christmas gift -- the cover is Red, the stock feels great to the touch, and there's plenty of white space. It's a book and an exhibition in one. It's filled with people who love their work. Work, Life, Tools qualifies as great design. (Hats off Milton Glaser, and to Steelecase for being enlightened enough to fund the exhibition.) This book cum exhibition guide ranks high on the visual, aesthetic and conceptual pleasure scale. My favorite aspect: the way the bios portray the multiple talents and the "I don't just do one thing" truth about their subjects. It's filled with lots of practical ah-has. You get to peek into people's work spaces. It represents a fascinating spectrum of thinking about work. And, it's amazing to me how loyal people are to their fountain pens (as one who's committed to Deluxe Uni-balls.) I loved it!

Used for 1St semester Anatomy. This is a must Have and saves you money by buying the set. Very detailed and should be used alondside the Netter Atlas of Human Anatomy.

This is a great book on one of the top architecture firms in North America. The book features some of their best buildings in gorgeous photos and wonderful text. This is a must own for any architect or for anyone who enjoys beautiful architecture. I highly reccomend it.

That's what Barlow writes about in this read-in-a-day work. A popular science account of evolutionary biology, mostly in Quaternary North America, it explores the co-evolution of plants and animals. She points to traits like large size, seed retention, digestion tolerance, and abrasion tolerance as indicative of megafaunal dispersion and thus identifies megafaunal fruits -- pawpaw, avocado, guava, papaya, passion fruit, cherimoya, desert gourd, honey locust, and Kentucky coffee. Next the author considers the various recently extinct North American species (horses, mastodons, tapirs, sloths, camels, giant tortoise) and which might have been interested in the various fruits. An interesting background discussion compares and contrasts foregut (ruminants like cattle, deer and sheep) and hindgut (like horses and elephants) feeders.

"Ghosts" reinforces the sense I've had since visiting Africa that North America is empty of some large and important creatures that should be here. I can now better visualize what plants they were eating, and what their preferred habitats were like. I can also better visualize the cascade of extinction, past and present, from animal extirpations to the plants that evolved with and depended upon them.

As is often the case in my morning carpool to Kansas City, passions ran high when I raised the topic of megafaunal dispersal. George was at the wheel, I was riding shotgun, and Bob and Stan were scrunched up in the back of George's old Honda Accord. I was, to the best of my ability, explaining the arguments in Connie Barlow's new book about extinct seed dispersal partners: The Ghosts of Evolution. Connie asserts (along with veteran paleobiolists Paul Martin and Dan Janzen), that certain largish animals had big enough gullets to swallow fruits like Osage oranges whole and then poop out the seeds several miles away, thus expanding the plant's territory in the next generation. Unfortunately, nobody provides this service for Osage oranges anymore, which is why they all lie around rotting within a few yards of the mother tree every autumn.

In an attempt to confirm that a creature like a mastodon would willingly eat Osage oranges, Martin and Barlow persuaded the director of the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago to offer the fruit (scientific name maclura pomifera) to three of the zoo's elephants. "Affie, the matriarch of the Brookfield elephants, did eat maclura--but just the first fruit she was offered. After that, she showed no interest in any more. The reactions of the other elephants were strongly negative. One wasn't even willing to smell the fruit when the offer was first made. Finally, she took it from her keeper and hurled it down the hall. The second elephant did the same thing but aimed for the public area." I can't say that I blame them. As a child, I was under the impression that Osage oranges (or hedge apples) were poisonous.

Zoo elephants' finickiness notwithstanding, the book argues that some species are obviously "overbuilt" for the ecological niche they inhabit today. Why would natural selection lead to such an outcome? For example, pronghorns can run not just a little faster but way the hell faster than any of their nearest predators (wolves and coyotes). This speed is apparently a relic of days when something faster than wolves or coyotes were chasing pronghorns, possibly a New World cheetah that became extinct thirteen thousand years ago. Well, you may ask, why haven't the pronghorns slowed down and devoted their evolutionary energy to something more productive, like jumping barbwire fences? More generally, what is a believable schedule on which a species reacts to changes in its environment?

As Connie Barlow analyzes the results of experiments with the exotic fruits and seeds in her New York apartment kitchen, she writes with delight and authority. She teaches us technical and colorful terms such as seed predator and pulp thief. The former destroys seeds by eating them rather than by defecating them intact. The latter eats the flesh around the seed and discards the seed without transporting it to a promising new sprouting site. We humans are guilty of both depredations, although with our compost heaps we have introduced a modest new dispersal path for domesticated fruits. Barlow's story is certainly not bereft of poetic lyric, as in the "paucity of pawpaw pollinators"--or of Conan Doyle-ian suspense: "Perhaps the most compelling evidence that Mrs. Foxie defecated persimmon seeds intact can be found in my collection of fox feces."

In her final chapter, Barlow preaches the gospel of "the great work:" the purposeful and painstaking reversal of the appalling history of extinction for which our species has, knowingly and unknowingly, been responsible. If the dedication to and passion for nature that is evident in this book can infect an emerging generation of professional and amateur naturalists, we may within our lifetimes see the beginning of this work.

As is often the case in my morning carpool to Kansas City, passions ran high when I raised the topic of megafaunal dispersal. George was at the wheel, I was riding shotgun, and Bob and Stan were scrunched up in the back of George's old Honda Accord. I was, to the best of my ability, explaining the arguments in Connie Barlow's new book about extinct seed dispersal partners: The Ghosts of Evolution. Connie asserts (along with veteran paleobiolists Paul Martin and Dan Janzen), that certain largish animals had big enough gullets to swallow fruits like Osage oranges whole and then poop out the seeds several miles away, thus expanding the plant's territory in the next generation. Unfortunately, nobody provides this service for Osage oranges anymore, which is why they all lie around rotting within a few yards of the mother tree every autumn.

In an attempt to confirm that a creature like a mastodon would willingly eat Osage oranges, Martin and Barlow persuaded the director of the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago to offer the fruit (scientific name maclura pomifera) to three of the zoo's elephants. "Affie, the matriarch of the Brookfield elephants, did eat maclura--but just the first fruit she was offered. After that, she showed no interest in any more. The reactions of the other elephants were strongly negative. One wasn't even willing to smell the fruit when the offer was first made. Finally, she took it from her keeper and hurled it down the hall. The second elephant did the same thing but aimed for the public area." I can't say that I blame them. As a child, I was under the impression that Osage oranges (or hedge apples) were poisonous.

Zoo elephants' finickiness notwithstanding, the book argues that some species are obviously "overbuilt" for the ecological niche they inhabit today. Why would natural selection lead to such an outcome? For example, pronghorns can run not just a little faster but way the hell faster than any of their nearest predators (wolves and coyotes). This speed is apparently a relic of days when something faster than wolves or coyotes were chasing pronghorns, possibly a New World cheetah that became extinct thirteen thousand years ago. Well, you may ask, why haven't the pronghorns slowed down and devoted their evolutionary energy to something more productive, like jumping barbwire fences? More generally, what is a believable schedule on which a species reacts to changes in its environment?

As Connie Barlow analyzes the results of experiments with the exotic fruits and seeds in her New York apartment kitchen, she writes with delight and authority. She teaches us technical and colorful terms such as seed predator and pulp thief. The former destroys seeds by eating them rather than by defecating them intact. The latter eats the flesh around the seed and discards the seed without transporting it to a promising new sprouting site. We humans are guilty of both depredations, although with our compost heaps we have introduced a modest new dispersal path for domesticated fruits. Barlow's story is certainly not bereft of poetic lyric, as in the "paucity of pawpaw pollinators"--or of Conan Doyle-ian suspense: "Perhaps the most compelling evidence that Mrs. Foxie defecated persimmon seeds intact can be found in my collection of fox feces."

In her final chapter, Barlow preaches the gospel of "the great work:" the purposeful and painstaking reversal of the appalling history of extinction for which our species has, knowingly and unknowingly, been responsible. If the dedication to and passion for nature that is evident in this book can infect an emerging generation of professional and amateur naturalists, we may within our lifetimes see the beginning of this work.

I am a CPA and my wife is a full-time education student. I enjoy reading about accounting and finance. She does not. I like to pay the bills and do the household bookkeeping. She does not. However, my point is, we BOTH agree that this book is the one to have if you want to learn about saving and investing, building a nest egg for retirement, and having the financial independence to realize dreams, AS A COUPLE. I found this book very easy-to-read and informative, and I know I will use it often for future reference. As a CPA, I am accustomed to reading finance books and articles that are loaded with technical finance jargon. However, David Bach presents this information in a much more refreshing manner, and in a way that is easy for those unfamiliar with financial terminology, to understand. It gives you a wealth of information about 401(k)s, life insurance, trusts, wills, mutual funds, DRIPs, and much more. Most importantly, Smart Couples Finish Rich emphasizes personal financial planning and management as practically a lifestyle, not just an exercise or process. It shows you how to determine, as individuals and as a couple, what values you hold dear and how your view of money, investing, consumption, etc., should be aligned with your values. It really helps the reader to see that everything that one does in his or her life is a reflection of their values, including how one plans and manages his/her financial future. I highly recommend this book to those couples who are looking for an effective tool to learn more about personal finance and how to provide for their rich future together.

Investing for your future is sound, strong advice at any age. As a teacher of business management and having counselled an overwhelming number of people in the area of finance, I believe investing is particularly critical for young people today. I am so happy to read that previous reviewers, in their twenties, have learned from this book and are planning for their future. If you are starting your career and in your twenties, now is the time for financial planning, even though you might not be able to put a lot of money aside, "every penny saved, is a penny earned."

There are many books on the market today on investing and financial planning. Some I would highly recommend, others are not worth the time it takes to read the book - save the money you would spend on those "guaranteed get rich quick books" and invest the money where it will guarantee a return. "Smart Couples Finish Rich" is filled with a wealth of information on money management, retirement accounts, living trusts, types of insurance and investing in general. After reading it, you will be better equiped to manage your money and save for the future. That not only makes "smart cents," it makes smart sense. Hopefully, with some financial peace of mind and stability, couples will not only finish rich, they will finish rich... together!

There were three things I especially liked about this book.

The first was the way the author presented the fact that small things do add up. In the beginning of the book, he states that most people overestimate (financially) what they can accomplish in a year and underestimate what they can accomplish over many years. He includes graphs that illustrate this dramatically.

The second was the chapter on values. This chapter had a number of exercises for each partner to complete independently. Then, together, they can begin to draft a plan for their finances that embraces the values they each hold most closely. If the financial plan is customized to fit the values of the particular couple, taken together, it makes all the sense in the world that it will be easier and more satisfying to LIVE with that plan and carry it out over time (without either of the partners sabotaging the plan).

The third is somewhat tied into the first point I mentioned. It is a chapter called "The Couples Latte Factor." This chapter discusses "small," daily expenses and how, if a couple decides to eliminate or reduce even one or two of these daily expenses and invest that money instead, it can result in a lot of money, over time. This and most of the other chapters include real-life examples of couples whose experiences illustrate the principles being discussed.

I recognized the value of all of this advice right away as I was reading it, but initially felt a bit overwhelmed, thinking: "This is great, but how am I going to do it ALL?" Because I imagine that other people may have the same feelings, I will share the answer we ended up coming up with. A little at a time. I still haven't gotten up to investing 10% of my income in my company's 401(k), but as a couple, we ARE very near to reaching our goal of setting aside a year's worth of expenses in an emergency account and we HAVE adjusted the amount of life insurance we carry and had estate documents drafted by an attorney. Once we do have the complete year's worth of expenses set aside, I'll change my 401(k) investment to 10%.

Is this the order Mr. Bach or another financial planner would advise us to do things in? I don't know. I DO know that doing things the way we have, gradually following more and more of his advice has GOT to be better than being paralyzed and doing nothing...which is what we would have been in danger of doing if we hadn't taken it a little at a time.

A book I would recommend in conjunction with this is The Laws of Money, the Lessons of Life by Suze Orman.

As usual, Phil McGraw is steps ahead of the rest of us in sorting out what is *really* going on in relationships. Refreshingly, he begins the book by questioning the therapeutic standards too often given to the thousands of couples in trouble. "The divorce rate in America refuses to drop below fifty percent, and twenty percent of us will divorce not once but twice in our lifetime. Clearly, pleasant and generic instructions on how to communicate better or theoretical musings that give you great insights about relationships just weren't going to cut it fifteen years ago and won't cut it now. " Obviously (to paraphrase him), couples therapy as we have known it isn't working.

You can watch him often on Oprah, but this book is the next best thing to either watching him there, or having him as your personal therapist.

This book is primarily for relationships 'on the rocks' - the first steps are set up to evaluate and understand what your relationship is, how it got this way (no surprise, it didn't fall apart on its own, or because of your partner). The Seven Steps are not simple or simplistic, but provide structure for thought and more. This book is not about what's wrong with your partner and how to fix him or her. It is about the person reading the book -- you!

This would be a great book for new couples to read together (and for this price, why not order one for you and one for your loved one, and read them first in private, then together), not just before they are in crisis, but before they decide to marry. When the relationship is still strong, new, fresh, it is more likely that both people will be willing to talk openly about what they expect and want, and to be able to use the truly helpful instructions on how to stay together.

For those in a troubled relationship, you might want to read this yourself first, and work on your own issues. Dr. Phil has a directness that can be intimidating to some - but for some of us, we need that extra push. This book is on my must have list for newlyweds as well as those in trouble.

Highly recommended for those who truly want that special relationship to work!

As a physician I have recommended this book to many of my patients whose relationships were in trouble. I feel Dr. Phil's approach is right on: you have to work on yourself first. Most people who feel their relationship is doomed tell me, "Well, my partner won't listen to me...", or "he/she isn't willing to do the work...". He has you look and work on yourself FIRST then involves you in seven steps. The couples I have recommended this book to have found it very helpful. There have been a few cases I have seen where the partner never participated in the process and my patients happily ended up moving on with their lives with the aid of this book.For those people who cannot afford or do not have access to therapy this book/program is wonderful (actually even if you do!). He "tells it like it is", and drills the point home that we are each responsible for the state our relationship and life are in (excepting cases of abuse). As Dr. Phil says you have to "get with the program" and work on yourself and relationship "until". A great self-help book.

My last ray of hope was relationship rescue. My marriage and my soul was/were broken. I was not sure what I was in for-but if you can be brutally honest with the answers to the questions he ask's and follow through with the actions that need to take place-Your life will be brand new. We no longer fight, We no longer mis communicate-Life Rocks! Thanks Dr.Phil!!!

While waiting for the spies from Moscow to show their hand, Tommy and Tuppence, aka Mr & Mrs Beresford, took over a detective agency known to be associated with the Moscow spies and masqueraded as the real owner Mr Blunt and staff. A fair number of legitimate cases unrelated to the spies came their way, and the two played the game by pretending to be famous fictious detectives, including Father Brown (creation of GK Chesterton) and Sherlock Holmes (creation of Arthur Conan Doyle). They solved the cases with more than an element of fun, typical husband-wife oneupmanship, female intuition etc.

While entertaining, the backdrop of the detective agency being a Trojan horse for counter-intelligence was rather naive and unrealistic. It presumed the Russians did not know the faces of the English traitors they recruited, and once the trap was exposed, they would prefer to spring it rather than leave it alone.

Tommy and Tuppence are what one would get if Poirot and Marple married...(and then knocked off 30 years)... These charactes are a bored couple who desire to give up the doldrums of normal life to go fight crime. The husband is a bit of a straight man and the wife is a witty hellcat. They often attempt to solve crimes using the M.O. (method of opperation) of famous litereary detectives...with varrying degrees of sucess... However, even when they dont solve the crime its still a delightful romp...

this book is set up into about 17 short stories...each one a new adventure that will leave you satisfied...

Well Done Ms. Christie.

This is one of Christie's best efforts. Every story moves smoothly and is satisfying throughout til their expert conclusions. I really like her Tommy and Tuppence books. It's too bad she only wrote 5 of them, but this one I think is her finest. The 2 meld well together and even argue delightfully. A must addition to any Agatha collection. You will not be disappointed.

As the daughter of a mentally ill mother, I found this book incredibly helpful in understanding the effect my mother's illness has had -- and continues to have -- on my family and on myself. I'd recommend this book especially if you find that even as an adult, you're still not at peace with your relative and your past, you can't bear to revisit your childhood, or you feel isolated, emotionally numb, and frightened for what the mental illness may mean for you and your own children.

_When Madness Comes Home_ shows how all these things are common patterns among the children and siblings of the mentally ill. Many of the same feelings, patterns of behavior and unresolved issues are shared by the children and siblings; yet most have never received any attention or guidance in coping. It's shocking that as far as the mental health system has progressed in treating the mentally ill, it has utterly failed to provide help for their *families*. This book may be the first step on the long, painful road to acceptance.

This book and _How to Cope with Mental Illness in Your Family_ by Diane T. Marsh, Ph.D. and Rex Dickens both offer good reading lists (the latter also has suggested reading for adolescents and children currently trying to cope with a mentally ill relative)...

I have been frustrated in my attempts to find help for my teenage daughter in understanding my mental illness. I found information for spouses and parents of the mentally ill but nothing for the children being raised by people like me. When I found this book I started reading to see if I thought it might be helpful to my daughter, it wasn't long however until I started seeing my own childhood in it and gained much insight for myself. One way that was helpful was to take away some of the guilt I carried about the kind of mother I had been. There are two areas in particular that I feel this book addressed very well that I were just the kind of help I was seeking for my daughter. First was to help relieve some of her fears about "turning out crazy" because mom did. Second was to get across the point to her that she is not responsible for me. That she has every right to go forward with her own life and let me attend to mine. That alone has helped our relationship immensely. I did not realize how much anger and resentment she was feeling about feeling that she had to be so careful with me. I was abusive to her when she was a small child and as I worked on stopping the abuse, I always stressed to her that the abuse was my fault. That she was a good little girl, that mommy had problems that I had to take care myself. I think that now she understands better what made me the way I am and that I am responsible for myself. I am extremely grateful for this book, not only for my daughter, but for the understanding I gained.

I needed to find a book that had situations that I could relate to, and I found it! A sibling of mine was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder 5 weeks before I finished the book. It was very helpful just to know that other people (including Victoria herself) knew excatly what I felt and was going through. Being the main caregiver to a person with a neurobiological disorder can be sad, traumatizing, stressful and it can wear the caregiver down,physically and emotionally. This book covers all of these issues plus important medical issues. Wonderful book, well written, and most importantly, Victoria knows...shes been there.

Think how much fun it would be if Grafton's Kinsey Millhone went to visit Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski and they solved a crime together. Jance has done it with her two leading characters! After 15 Seattle-based (Jance's home) Detective-extraordinaire J.P Beaumont stories, and 9 Arizona-based (Jance's former home) feisty Sheriff Joanna Brady stories, our author has brought the two crime solvers together in a suspenseful and complex plot spanning both locales, with most of the action in Bisbee AZ.

Early on, "Rochelle Baxter", an aspiring Bisbee artist getting ready for her first exhibit, suddenly turns up dead. As Sheriff Brady's team deploys, before long foul play is suspected. Soon it turns out Baxter is really Latisha Wall, in the witness protection program of the Washington State Attorney General. Enter Beaumont, who is now a member of the AG's special homicide team - he's sent to "observe" the proceedings in Bisbee and protect the interests of the Washington case. Of course, this goes over like a cement cloud with the whole Brady team and at first the hostilities between Jance's co-stars are pretty hilarious. Then as the investigations proceed, and another murder crops up, together with some sinister implications of a mole having led to the witness to begin with, Brady and Beaumont unite out of mutual respect and form an effective team. Some rather surprising developments at the end of the book, including a moment of pretty high romantic tension between our two leads, is plenty to keep even the skeptics entertained and turning pages rapidly throughout.

As icing on the cake, Beaumont's brief marriage to a woman hailing originally from (coincidentally) Bisbee is discussed and illuminated in considerable detail as a very intriguing human-interest sub-plot. Reprised from Jance's (and Beaumont's) "Until Proven Guilty" is Anne Rowland Corley. In "Partners", we get to learn all the background of this fascinating and unusual woman and what lead to the deaths she caused, including her own.

As yet another gem, the murder "weapon" turns out to be sodium azide, a horrible and deadly poison found in unexploded car air bags. Jance uses her story to lobby for controlling this substance, which at the moment is totally uncontrolled and hence readily available for acts of terror. She doesn't beat us over the head with this issue, but does create a compelling case for action, with a short plea in an "Author's Note" as an afterward that gets our attention.

We think this is one of Jance's greatest efforts. The only worry is that it looks a little like a swan song, bringing together her great stars, her great locales, and weaving a story hard to put down. Little wonder we hail this as a dream gift to the Jance fan club, which must number in legions anyway! Those that haven't spent 24 or so books rev'ing up for this one may not be quite as enthused, but we suspect we speak for those same legions in telling Jance thank you again and again for this 5-star outing!

I just received this book via UPS yesterday afternoon. I started to read it and before I knew it it was very late but I just could not put it down, it was that good. Ms. Jance has managed to place the 2 main characters of her 2 different mystery series together in a flawless manner. JP Beaumont and Joanna Brady are both tough people used to doing things their own ways, without interference from others. Imgaine being able to take 2 such alike people, blending them together and actually making it work And work very well it does too. The story reintroduces a number of characters from earlier Joanna Brady books. At last we know what happened to Angie Kellogg and Dennis, The Parrot Guy, Hacker, Willy and Archie, Bobo Jenkins, Kristin and Terry Gregovich and Junior Dowdle. The book goes in a side trip about JP Beaumont's 2nd wife Anne Corley who grew up in Bisbee. It was interesting to see how that secondary story was woven seamlessly into the main story line. The story was a three hanky weeper in places, during Yolanda Canedo's funeral and when Sadie the hound had to be put to sleep. All in all a terrific book from an outstanding author.

This book got me back into reading. I haven't sat down and read a book in years. This book was so great that I couldn't put it down. I had to read it everynight and missed by favorite shows on TV just to finish it. I stayed up late nights because I couldn't put it down. I encourage everyone to read this.
Thanks J.A. Jance for writing such a great book.

...It is idiotic from the onset due to its premise and delivery. If the author had just said, "here are some ideas that will spice up your sex life", and been on with it, that would have been okay. But her delivery amounts to "wow, what a discovery I made, this is the secret to all unhappy couples across the world!". The secret basically being that she forced herself to have sex on a consistent basis with her partner and found that it was a good thing for her and her relationship.

The biggest problem is that in delivery, her message is about as authoritative as the opinions of a 17 year old. It's almost embarassing enduring her elaborate gushing about what an amazing and great thing it is. I'm reminded of Steve Martin in the movie "The Jerk", having sex for the first time and so excitedly telling everyone that he'd found his "special purpose" in life.

Which isn't to say that some forms of "sex therapy" isn't good for some couples. I believe that's the response we're hearing from 4 and 5-star reviews. Anticipation of the sexual act, along with creative ideas for how to make sex more fun, can certainly bring the focus around for some couples who are looking for more spice in their sex life. If that's what you're looking for, skip all the pages where the author is embarassing herself, and just go straight to the love-making ideas.

I have all of Laura's books and honestly, some are 3 stars or less. This one, however, is a clear winner. It is obvious she took a lot of time and effort in this one (perhaps now that she has a publisher, they have helped her with this). The concept is simple and therefore not too difficult for most people to follow.

Her tips in most sections are quite good - not too wild or kinky, but sensual enough that it has the desired results -- more passion.

One thing missing is ideas for romance to go along with the sex (romance and sex ARE two different things). If I keep tearing out pages just to fulfill my sexual lust then something is missing. If the only time I am paying attention to my partner and treating them nicely is during a sexual escapade, then they could start to feel like I'm using them.

I have found a good solution in the book, The Romantic's Guide by Michael Webb --it has thousands of creative ideas for letting someone know they are special (not just because you want to have sex with them).

If you use these two books in tandem, you will have the ingredients for a very blissful relationship.

I have all of Laura's books and honestly, some are 3 stars or less. This one, however, is a clear winner. It is obvious she took a lot of time and effort in this one (perhaps now that she has a publisher, they have helped her with this). The concept is simple and therefore not too difficult for most people to follow.

Her tips in most sections are quite good - not too wild or kinky, but sensual enough that it has the desired results -- more passion.

One thing missing is ideas for romance to go along with the sex (romance and sex ARE two different things). If I keep tearing out pages just to fulfill my sexual lust then something is missing. If the only time I am paying attention to my partner and treating them nicely is during a sexual escapade, then they could start to feel like I'm using them.

I have found a good solution in the book, The Romantic's Guide by Michael Webb --it has thousands of creative ideas for letting someone know they are special (not just because you want to have sex with them).

If you use these two books in tandem, you will have the ingredients for a very blissful relationship.