literature

AN EXCELLENT RESOURCE BOOK FOR CHRISTIAN EDUCATION IN OUR CHURCH. WE ARE USING THE SPECIFIC DEVOTION ON DISCIPLESHIP FOR NEW MEMBER ORIENTATION.

REV. MINH-HANH NGUYEN REDEEMER LUTHERAN CHURCH OF LEISURE WORLD SEAL BEACH, CALIFORNIA

This is an excellent book for several reasons. First, it is a wonderful collection of 52 different devotional Christian writers from the second century to today. Second, for anyone interested in developing spiritual disciplines the exercises at the end of each chapter are excellent launching pads. Additionally, the book gives succinct biogaphical information about each writer, lending some insight into the readings themselves. And finally, each chapter ends with a brief review of and information on the availability of that writer's works.

DEVOTIONAL CLASSICS by Richard Foster has done more to introduce 21st century Christians to the greatest spiritual authors of history than any other book I know of. At the same time it has spawned a host of clones.

This book will introduce you to authors like: C.S. Lewis, Dallas Willard, Jonathan Edwards, Francis de Sales, John of the Cross (my personal favorite), Bernard of Clairvaux, Francois Fenelon, and St. Augustine. And that is in just the first section! Altogether you will be introduced to 52 of the greatest writers of Christian history, one for each week of the year. Each section will introduce you to the author, offer an excerpt from that author, couple that excerpt with Scripture, reflection questions, and suggested exercises. To cap it all off Foster will offer his own reflections on the passage.

There is nothing wrong with the latest 40 day or 12 week study to ___________ (you fill in the blank). Those studies are useful and have their place, but jumping into this book could forever change your reading habits.

I just finished reading Eye of the Beholder.It is a very interesting novel. It keeps you very interested and you just don`t want to put it down. I liked the novel for the most part.The two main characters Tyler and Lymie get into a little trouble during the novel with their interests in art. I like the novel because of what happens during the novel. I would urge a friend to read this novel because it is a fun book to read,and if I liked it I`m positive that they would like it to.

The book "Eye of the Beholder" is a very good book. It is about two boys named Tyler McAllister and Lymie Lawrence, who are in the eight grade. They are staying together when they have the chicken pox. It is then when they hear about the Badoglio festival that will take place in Wakefield, Badoglio's hometown. The main reason for the festival is to let everyone see the two heads Badoglio made and threw into the Hoosickill River. The towns people were going to try and find the heads. Lymie and Tyler made two heads that looked like Badoglio's and threw them into the river shortly before the town was going to look for Badoglio's heads. I really do think you should read this book so you can see what happens in the rest of the book. I liked the book "Eye of the Beholder" because it seemed like it was something that could have really happened.

This is a great book! It is so funny and so well written!

I've long been a fan of Rey's (of Curious George fame) The Stars, a New Way to See them, but that is a bit more complex and geared towards adults and advanced students. This book is ideal for children and parents alike because Rey breaks down the major constellations one by one and draws them so they look like real pictures, not like those horrible drawings in the NY Times and other publications. His lion looks like a lion! The text is very basic, easy to follow and explains the basic astro stuff like stars, planets, magnitudes, but not much more. The major reason to buy this book if you already have his other book is for the handy sky charts. Unlike his more advanced book which has an entire sky map, this book as more handy "sky view" charts which are an easier way to learn the night sky. Another winner from H.A. Rey that anyone can profit from if interested in learning the stars!

H. A. Rey's classic "Find the Constellations" ranks among the clearest, most intuitive books on stargazing in print and is a must for any young person's personal library. Rey, using his wonderful talents as an illustrator and storyteller masterfully presents the stars in a simple to digest format, explaining the essentials one needs to know in order to appreciate and understand the night sky. Rey also adds the myths that gave the constellations their place in our culture and creates a book that provides countless hours of learning and enjoyment.

Every adult should give their children or their favorite niece or nephew a copy of this book and enjoy with them tender nights discovering the wonders of the heavens.

I'm a doc with over 3 years of post-doc training and I can't think of a single science text which is more enjoyable to read. Even after 16 years of astronomical observation, I still think of the constellations as Rey drew them (they are easier to remember), and I still get this text out when I want to show someone how to enjoy astronomy. If all science writers were like Mr Rey, we wouldn't be too worried about scientific illiteracy in this country. Along with its twin, The Stars, it stands alone. This treasure is "for kids from one to ninety-two."

Every day we hear about the countless children of the world who have no parents, no homes and who suffer the pain of constant hunger. Lu Chi Fa and Becky White have brought one of those children vividly to life in Double Luck: Memoirs of a Chinese Orphan.

The orphan boy, Chi Fa, is anything BUT a tragic character. His optimism, his love of life and the joy he derives from simple things, such as tasting a peach for the first time, light up every page. He shows maturity and courage far beyond his years as he faces many life-threatening situations. Along with the story of a remarkably courageous boy, we are given descriptions of a beautiful country and an insight into the customs of the Chinese people.

I read the book aloud to my 8 and 10-year-old granddaughters in just two days because they kept insisting on "just one more chapter". All of us enjoyed a truly exciting book with memorable characters. It would be almost impossible to read Double Luck, Memoirs of a Chinese Orphan without being personally uplifted.

I loved Double Luck: Memoirs of a Chinese Orphan because the boy, Chi Fa, was so brave and he never stopped believing in his lifelong dream. Chi Fa and all the people in the book were so real I felt I knew them well. After his parents died, Chi Fa's life was one hard adventure after another. He endured being cold and nearly starving, having to move every time he found a place to sleep, and risking his life to flee the Communist takeover of China. Through everything, he remained a kind person who remembered the people who had loved him. When Chi Fa wished on the Orphan Star in the sky, I very much wanted his dream to come true. It was exciting for me to read from one chapter to the next and I didn't want to put the book down. I intend to lend the book to my teacher and I hope she will ask our librarian to get a copy for my school.

During our lifetime, we read many books'most of them are soon forgotten. But Double Luck is a book I will never forget. It will be with me for as long as I live. No one can read this books and ever be the same. The story of Lu Chi Fa will break your heart, make you weep, and serve as a poignant reminder of how fortune we are to live in America. I recommend this book for all children and adults alike.

All three books are pretty good. Charlottes web is the best with a cute little pig named wilbur longing for a friend. Stuart little is also a good book. You get to see the world through the eyes of a mouse. The third book-Trumpet of the swan-is only ok!

Stuart Little is a mouse that is about 2 inches tall. Stuart is part of the family of the Fredrick.C.Littles. He has a friendly but shy manner. He's very smart for a mouse but his size gives him trouble sometimes. His life is an adventure when he sets out on the age of seven,he trys to find his dearest friend,Margalo, a friendly little bird who stayed with the Littles in their Boston Fern.

Stuart Little is an interesting book. I enjoyed reading it beacause it was funny and it had interesting vocabulary. There were some sad parts in the book. This Book got me absorbed into it.

I would recommend this book for children of the ages of 8 to 12. If you like fantasy stories then you would love this book. If you are a person who likes certain kinds of fantasy books then you should probably enjoy Stuart Little because you may get absorbed into the book. Also if you like fantasy books that have animals in it that talk and you like the Author E.B.White then you'll like this book.

Louis is the main character and he is a swan. He can't talk to other swans. Sam Beaver, a boy takes Louis to school, where he learns to read and write. But this isn't work to other swans and actually Louis was in love with the beautiful swan, Serena, and she spurns hin because he was defective. And Louis's father, the old cob, does a difficult thing. He stoles a trumpet so his son would be able to win his love. Louis wins on his love and pay the trumpet money.

While working at elementary school and public libraries for a number of years, I noticed there were very few interesting picture books on geology for grade school children. Earthsteps meets this need and children love it! The pictures are gorgeous, and following the rock as it journeys through time not only presents an easy to understand introduction to geology, but also keeps kids interested as they find the ever diminishing rock in each picture!

as someone working with geologists and geology as a career, i found earthsteps to be a fun way to introduce this subject to children. most children are not exposed to earth science, so a book of this calibur should be a part of all elementary school libraries.

I enthusiastically recommend this book! Who knew that the journey of a rock through time was dramatic AND fascinating? When was the last time you considered how a simple rock came to be? This story is as educational as it is entertaining to the children who have read it in my home. I had a five-year-old guest for the weekend, and THIS is the book she wanted out of all the books in my library. She was drawn to this rock and cared what happened to it. It was fun for her to "find" the rock in every beautiful illustration. Every time I read it to the younger children, I learn a little more, too!

Faith is known as a powerful force to enable one to overcome emotional and psychological barriers that would deny their humanity. Jarvis Masters shares with us his spiritual transformation in a setting that is life denying. His poignant stories gives one insight on the culture of prison life on death row.

Of particular interest is Jarvis himself. He is an incarcerated Black man whose embracing of Vyrayana Buddhism has enabled him to move beyond the violence of prison life. Usually American Buddhism is associated with a white intellectual elite group which appears to ignore the sufferings of those incarcerated. Islam has been known as the religion of choice for jailed Black men while Christianity has provided religious solace and comfort to those imprisoned.

Buddha's visit to death row and Jarvis offers a new view of Buddhism. It has broken through its chains of exclusivisity and has offered those who are incarcerated the hope of finding freedom in the worst of circumstances. Jarvis' sharing of his practice of Buddhism is a testament to the great power of a faith to make a difference in one's life. This is a book to be read by all people interested in the transformative power of religion in today's prisons.

In Finding Freedom, author and San Quentin death-row inmate Jarvis Jay Masters compiles a heart-wrenching, funny, and sometimes profane series of anecdotal essays which might make for a simple read were it not for the author's spiritual transformation. If you are looking for a treatise for or against capital punishment or the values or demerits of prison reform, this is not the book for you. Instead, Masters portrays his prison life plainly, and without posturing, religious "one-upmanship", or political commentary. Instead, he tells of his own day-to-day existence and that of his fellow prisoners without the judgment most of us would inject were we in his position. Despair and his probable death are interwoven subtly, but seemingly without guile. His chronicle of improbable transformation from criminal to Buddhist practitioner is applicable to anyone struggling to find a spiritual homestead, and makes the book easy to relate to whether or not the reader shares a similar background with the author. Without explicitly making the intention known, he teaches us all that we are prisoners behind walls of our own erection, and that the only way to escape our prison is to look within.

I recommend that anyone who is seeking to be spiritual read this book. Jarvis Masters provides a shining example of compassion in action in cirumstances where it is very difficult to be a holy human being.

Nor ears heard what Sienkewicz has prepared for those who love his works! Number two in the trilogy on the history of Poland, this is the best I have read in a long, long time. It stands alone as a story, but many of its characters have been proven in war in other stories of Sienkiewicz. If for that alone, it is worth reading this book after "With Fire and Sword". It tells the love story of a man and a woman tragically separated by foolishness, pride, confusion and the Swedish invation of Poland in the 1500s which divided a nation against itself and drew the best and worst out of its citizens. Above all, this is a romantic novel, but with enough battles, action and virtues to outdo the Illiad. You will cry and laugh as you read it; you will hope against hope; you will feel in the middle of the battle; you will want to unsheath your sword and run after the neighbours... In sum, another Sienkiewicz masterpiece. Written from a Catholic perspective, this book summarizes well the soul of the Polish nation and its love for the Church.

The DEluge as with the rest of SIenkiewicz's works is literature of the highest quality. It summarizes the heart and soul of a nation and few other nations can claim to have such an outstanding piece of literature that touches the nations souls as does SIenkiewicz. The DEluge is thelargest of the three books of the Trilogy butlike the others you will simply not be able to put it down. The character development is so real - it is as if you know these people in your personal life - the plots - the action - the human drama - the history - it is simply outstanding. I do not understand why a mini series has not been made out of these novels - It is work of the highest quality which seems to have laid undiscoverd for nealy a century now!

The DEluge centers about Swedens march into POland. POland initially accepted their incursion, however, as the situation worsens the POles srrike back. The Swedish war machine was beleived to be unstoppable throguhout Europe and they did march through Poland but they made a mistake - attacking the town of Czestochowa (pronounced Ches toe hova) which had significant religous importance to the POles. The POles were rallied by a Bishop who held out against the Swedes under great odds and touched the soul of Poland. It is something we need to learn in our country - that we must put country above our personal needs to exist and win in the world. Sienkiewicz brings this point home again and again throughout the novel. Mike Niziol

The stormy romance between Andei Kmicic and Olenka Billevich seems like an allegory of the relationship between the Polish szlachta and Poland itself. The petty squabbling, quarreling, and self-serving behavior of the szlachta alienates them from their country as Kmicic's headstrong and reckless behavior alienates him from the woman he loves. "It seemed to Kmita then that Poland and Olenka were one and the same, and that he had doomed them both and handed them voluntarily to the Swedes" (Kuniczak translation, p. 753). Sienkiewicz obviously wishes to leave a clear lesson here for the free people of any nation.

The story foreshadows two issues that emerged during the Second World War: the Germans who were "only following orders" and the Vichy French who collaborated with the Germans. What is one supposed to do when his superior orders him to do something that is obviously wrong? At what point does acquiescence to a victorious invader for the purpose of avoiding further harm to one's country become collaboration with an enemy? Can someone collaborate with the enemy for the purpose, as Janusz Radziwill claimed, of turning on him and overthrowing him at a more opportune moment? (The few colonels who went along with Radziwill were in a semi-feudal system in which a retainer obeyed his lord and the lord was supposed to obey the King. Radziwill's foreign mercenaries had no such dilemma because they owed their loyalty only to their paymaster.)

During the 1970s, the United States began to lose the manufacturing capability that led to victory in the Second World War. Our Congress has its own Opalinskis and Radziwills, people whose first priority is their own political success as opposed to service to the country. They are unwilling or unable to understand that wealth must be created through agriculture, mining, and manufacturing, and that it cannot be legislated into existence. The Senatorial filibuster is now used to block judicial appointments, as the Liberum Veto was once used to break up the Sejm. The jester Ostrozka showed how the handwriting was on the wall for the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth's ideological successor and heir, the United States, needs to take the same warning very seriously lest it suffer the same fate.

Anne Graham Lotz's introduction to this small book of daily (morning and evening) devotionals is heart-warming and keys on what made the original of this little book first published in 1794 so widely used --- each morning's and evening's readings are a group of related Bible verses -- nothing more and nothing less. No fluff. And no huge chunk of time is need to get through each short serving. Yet, each day's reading will speak to the heart and mind of the Christian, and provide encouragement, or helpful directions for the day and for life. The last 50 pages or so are more topical in nature, for different subjects such as depression, salvaton and stress -- for anytime throughout the year. This is the one devotional book that will last a lifetime -- it's pure Scripture -- no poems or contrived stories, just God's Word -- timeless. This book is on a par with Oswald Chambers' classic devotinal book "My Utmost for His Highest" but does not include the additional thoughts for meditation that he includes. Chambers' book is great too for a simple daily devotional. The original volume of Daily Light was in the King James Version and this new edition uses the New King James Version, which makes it highly readable. I'm going to give a lot of these books as Christmas gifts to the people that I love.

I originally found a copy of this most excellent, and timeless work over 22 years ago in a used book store. I have read it every day since. It is pure scripture, a daily compilation of related verses based on a single theme verse. The Holy always speaks with new thoughts for the same page, no matter how often you read it over the years. It's a treasury of God's thoughts, second only to your Bible. I will continue to give it as a gift to beloved friends 'till the day of His Coming.

The contents are well described (with the exception of one review) as a brief series of morning/evening readings centered around a topic verse. The format of using the Bible to explain itself is precisely what is unique and useful about this volume. I may not gather the flow of each and every verse as it pertains to the topic (this is rare), but I AlWAYS understand the message from it that God wants me to have. I use this with my children in our family time together in the morning. It might be useful to know that Lilias Trotter, Biddy (Mrs. Oswald) Chambers and Francis and Edith Scaeffer (as well as the Billy and Ruth Graham family) also used this devotional in their private and family readings. Many have remembered special events by it (Francis Schaeffer's death date, for example) as the readings on those days Providentially corresponded to the events. I, too, have purchased copies for each of my children. I have found that this volume is delightfully non-denominational...like Scripture itself. IF there is any bias, it would be that the Bible's words are sufficient for their own interpretation. There are other devotional books that I treasure such as *My Utmost for His Highest* and *Morning and Evening* by C. Spurgeon. But now that I have read them, I use them more for reference during specific study. This little volume, updated by Anne Lotz remains my regular reading every year. Finally, this little guide is perfect for men to keep at work as it is brief, discreet (the front cover is blank), and a perfect size for keeping in the drawer of your desk at work or college. It makes personal devotional time DO-able!! It is purse-sized as well, for professional or on-the-go ladies! For practicality, compact size, lovely and durable leather binding, and the elimination of man's interpretation, I give this 5 stars. Good work Samuel Bagster and thank you, Anne!

El Aleph es un libro bastante interesante, recopilación de 18 breves narraciones, muy analíticas. Borges, nos muestra la variedad de su pensamiento y de sus ideas;nos enséña la mitología, la religión, la conciencia, la historia universal enfocada en los siglos mas remotos, la muerte, y en la última de sus narraciones, la que le da el nombre al libro, "El Aleph", término desconocido para mi hasta entonces, exposición de un mensaje filosófico muy complejo desde el punto de su vivencia personal. Para todos los que desean conocer la obra de Borges, este libro puede ser un buen comienzo para tener la noción de sus escritos.

creo que las palabras no bastan para describir la hermosa sensacion de perfeccion en esta pequena gran obra de Borges, lo mejor sera ser breve como sus cuentos, son pequenas piezas de erudiccion, entretenidas, profundas, dramaticas. quien iba a pensar que el universo se podia ver mejor desde un sotano? en realidad me sorprendio con cada cuento y esa palabra, laberinto que puebla sus cuentos, laberintos para protegerse, para observar, laberintos para hombrese inmortales. no hay nada que pueda decir para aumentar su grandeza, lo mejor que puedo hacer es recomendar que cada uno la lea ,la atesore y la disfrute a plenitud.. LUIS MENDEZ

Cuando uno descubre a un escritor como Borges se arrepiente del tiempo perdido divagando en la literatura, intentando encontrar un libro que te haga retener el aire en cada párrafo leído para finalizarlo con una exhalación de complacencia. Borges es de los personajes al que muchos de nosotros debemos agradecerles esa bendita adicción a la lectura.

Jorge Luis Borges juega con sus lectores, especialmente con aquellos -y me considero uno de ellos- que olvidan que están leyendo cuentos fantásticos y tratamos de encontrar alguna relación con nuestro mundo real o buscamos simbolismos que no existen. Esto se debe a que este escritor tiene la facilidad de sumergirnos en cada una de sus historias haciéndonos partícipes de sus invenciones y logrando abstraernos de nuestra realidad.

El Aleph reúne una serie de cuentos cuyos episodios se desarrollan en "dimensiones paralelas" a la nuestra -por decirlo de algún modo -. Dimensiones habitadas por seres inmortales que mueren dos veces y pueden recorrer el mundo a través de un punto ubicado en un lugar secreto de una vivienda en vísperas de ser derruida. No hay un cuento que podamos considerarlo como el mejor; cada uno de ellos tiene un encanto especial desarrollado en un tiempo desconocido y en un mundo irreal.