Book Description
In nineteenth-century China, in a remote Hunan county, a girl named Lily, at the tender age of seven, is paired with a laotong, “old same,” in an emotional match that will last a lifetime. The laotong, Snow Flower, introduces herself by sending Lily a silk fan on which she’s painted a poem in nu shu, a unique language that Chinese women created in order to communicate in secret, away from the influence of men. As the years pass, Lily and Snow Flower send messages on fans, compose stories on handkerchiefs, reaching out of isolation to share their hopes, dreams, and accomplishments. Together, they endure the agony of foot-binding, and reflect upon their arranged marriages, shared loneliness, and the joys and tragedies of motherhood. The two find solace, developing a bond that keeps their spirits alive. But when a misunderstanding arises, their deep friendship suddenly threatens to tear apart.
Download Description
Lisa See is the author of Flower Net (an Edgar Award nominee), The Interior, and Dragon Bones, as well as the critically acclaimed memoir On Gold Mountain. The Organization of Chinese American Women named her the 2001 National Woman of the Year. She lives in Los Angeles.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.......2007-10-03
I thought this book was very informative as to the life and habits of the Chinese around the turn of the 20th century. Relationships have changed little since that time, people are always misunderstanding situations. It was beautifully described and written.
True friendship.......2007-10-02
This book is not a "feel good" book, in fact you will be choking back the tears by the end of it. The book goes deep into the relationship between two friends starting with early days of footbinding and on to through the ups and downs of life. It is well worth your time to read!
So-So.......2007-10-02
Based on all the reviews, I had expected this book to be much better than it was. I found the chapter on the feet-binding process well-written and interesting, but the rest of the novel was fairly uneventful for me. I thought a lot of the messages the women were writing to each other were too "sappy". I really felt no emotional connection to any of the women - except maybe for Auntie (Beautiful Moon's mother). I'm glad I read the book, but I think it's overrated.
Easy Read.......2007-10-01
Easy read but distrubing to learn of the cultural practices that young chinese girls had to endure.
Everyone I Know Loves This Book.......2007-09-29
Once I read Snow Flower, I passed it on to a friend, who passed it on, and on, and on. Everyone has loved this book. For myself, I found it engaging and endlessly entertaining. It has a beginning, a middle and an end that are all wonderful. The writer has a beautiful way of telling the story of an enduring friendship. I highly recommend.
Book Description
Once, all life in the universe knew the Flower of Life as the creation pattern - the geometrical design leading us into and out of physical existence. Then from a very high state of consciousness we fell in darkness and forgot who we were. For thousands of years the secret was held in ancient artifacts and carvings around the world, and encoded in the cells of all life.
Here Drunvalo Melchizedek presents in text and graphics the first half of the Flower of Life Workshop, illuninating the mysteries of how we came to be, why the world is the way it is and the subtle energies that allow our awareness to blossom into its true beauty.
Sacred Geometry is the form beneath our being and points to a divine order in our reality. We can follow that order form the invisible atom to the infinite stars, finding ourselves at each step. The information here is one path, but between the lines and drawings lie the feminine gems of intuitive understanding.
Explore the miracle of our existence by meandering through the wonderland of geometry, science, ancient history and new discovery, seen through the widened vision of Drunvalo and the Flower of Life. Volume 2 will explore in great detail the Mer-Ka-Ba, the 55-foot-diameter energy field of the human lightbody. This knowledge leads to ascension and the next dimensional world.
Customer Reviews:
Truly inspiring!.......2007-08-26
Quite possibly the most inspiring and educational book I have ever read on the subject of the nature of reality. The flower of life is the source of everything. If you're into metaphysical studies, this is one book you'll definitely have to pick up!
Extremely Interesting and Thought Provoking - even with a grain of salt!.......2007-08-22
I whole-heartedly enjoyed this book. It brings alot of concepts of sacred geometry into a perspective that is fairly easy for one to grasp - even someone like me who is fairly mathematically challenged.
There is certainly alot of fringe theory and science included, along with channelled material about the very ancient history of Earth (Lemuria, Atlantis, etc). I take this kind of stuff with a hefty grain of salt, but allow myself to be taken along for the ride for the duration of the book. It certainly makes for an interesting story, and does provide a great deal of food-for-thought about many aspects of the mainstream version of history.
Whether or not you choose to remain open minded to that kind of thing, the information on sacred geometry and it's application - which is really the heart of the work - is valuable no matter what path you are coming from. You could discard all the fringe theory and history, and STILL come away with alot of really amazing knowledge that is based in MATH...and you really can't fudge math.
So my advice is to not throw the baby out with the bathwater if you don't like the fringe material. The info on sacred geometry is enlightening and facinating and will give you alot of new energy to integrate into your spiritual practice - whatever that may be.
Disgrace.......2007-08-20
this is such an interesting subject that this man has disgraced. people like this give a bad name to people making a true attempt at discovering the truth, such as Graham Hancock. pitiful. stay away from this garbage.
Must also read volume 2 .......2007-07-29
Best explaination of sacred geometry and how the whole universe fits and operates on the same principles, why we are here, where we are going. Drunvalo is very humble, sincere, and only wants to explain and help. Not an "easy" read, but well worth it. Way beyond interesting.
Left brain approach to spirituallity.......2007-05-28
Reading Drunvalo was my intorduction to Thoth and sacred geometry. Overall, I think that this is a good book that combine anthropology, physics, spirituallity and geometry. Very good intro to the synthesis of these ideas. I feel that the most valuable aspect of this book is that it attempts to give a mathematical perspective to the unity of the universe and it elucidates that thru creation itself that the infinite source not only pours out his essence but presents its omniscience within and throughout the phenomenom of manifestation.
Book Description
Combining the authority of the AHS with the visual expertise of DK, this full-color gardening reference is the definitive guide for gardeners. Simply the definitive full-color reference to the horticulture of North America, AHS Encyclopedia of Plants & Flowers contains more than 8,000 plant profiles, over 4,250 photographs, and practical advice on everything from cultivation, pests, and diseases, to plant selection and identification
Customer Reviews:
The American Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers (American Horticultural Society Practical Guides).......2007-07-15
Great for anygardener and it is a useful reference for people trying to figure out what to plant and where to plant it. Great book would highly recommend to any one.
Excellent reference.......2007-06-27
My kids and I use this as part of their homeschool education. It has wonderful pictures and TONS of information!
One hefty book!.......2007-03-24
Pair this book with The American Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants and you will have the most comprehensive gardening guides you will ever need! The reviews suggested buying the books together and I'm glad I took the advice.
The books are HUGE! I wasn't prepared for the sheer weight of them but they are beautiful as well as informative.
Great gift for the person who has everythhing and loves flowers!.......2007-03-23
This book has great pictures and covers any type of flower you can dream up in it's 700 or so pages. The book is broken up into sections (i.e. Shrubs, tulips, etc.). A great value here too, it costs $60 in any other book store. The book also tells you what seasons each type of flower grows in.
Perfect garden lover's reference book.......2007-01-13
This is a killer book. You can look up characteristics of a specific plant or research what to plant for a particular area. I use this book constantly, and also just sit down to look through it for fun. Everything has a picture, which I think really sets this book apart. It's big and heavy, but actually makes a great "coffee table book."
Book Description
We buy more flowers a year than we do Big Macs, spending $6.2 billion annually. We use them to mark our most important events, to express sentiments that might otherwise go unsaid. And we demand perfection. So it’s no surprise that there is a $40 billion global industry devoted to making flowers flawless.
Amy Stewart takes us inside the flower trade—from the hybridizers, who create new varieties in the laboratory, to the growers, who produce flowers by the millions (often in a factory-like setting), to the Dutch auctioneers, who set the bar (and the price), and ultimately to the neighborhood florists orchestrating the mind-boggling demands of Valentine’s and Mother’s Day. There’s the breeder intent on developing the first blue rose; an eccentric horticultural legend who created the world’s most popular lily; a grower of gerberas of every color imaginable; and the equivalent of a Tiffany diamond: the “ Forever Young” rose.
Stewart explores the relevance of flowers in our lives and in our history, and in the process she reveals all that has been gained—and lost—by tinkering with nature.
Customer Reviews:
The dirt DIVA endorses Amy Stewart's book, baby!.......2007-08-28
As an opinionated garden columnist, who preaches organic gardening to anyone who will listen . . . I was thrilled to read a book that finally tells the true story behind the floral industry. The system is ridiculous and needs drastic change. This will only happen when flower consumers are educated enough to see what their purchases are doing to the soil and to the farmers and their families, who work amongst toxic pesticides just so we can have a nice, long-lasting, unscented, superficial flower on our table.
Plus, the book is beautifully written.
AMEN AMY!
Amazing Introduction to Exciting World of Flowers.......2007-08-24
When you go to the supermarket and see groceries, most of us have at least a basic understanding of from where and how the food came to be there, such as the fields where crops grew, ranches where livestock were raised, slaughterhouses, processing facilities, etc. But how many times have most of us thought about flowers? Especially considering just how short a period of time there is between when a flower is picked, when it is displayed in our homes, and when it finally wilts, there are an amazing number of processes and work involved in flowers. Travelling around the world, from the "design" stage (yes, you'll read about how flowers are "engineered") to planting, to selling, to transportation, to marketing, all the way to the florist's shop or the supermarket, Stewart covers it all. You'll even learn a lot about some of the "allied" professions in the flower trade, like logistics, retailing, biotechnology, and more. And best of all, the book is written in a very easy to read style. If you have any interest in flowers and/or you just like learning about how things work, then I wholeheartedly recommend this book to you.
Flower-ific!.......2007-07-04
I brought this book with me on a vacation to Hawaii last week, outwardly hopeful that it would be as great as it sounded, but inwardly nervous that it was not beach-appropriate. But I am delighted (and relieved) to report that it was fantastic, and I could barely put it down. (I went for a wedding, and I would even break it out when I had a spare five minutes.)
I was really impressed with Stewart's ability to take a complicated, international industry and reduce it to enjoyable anecdotes, from a 3rd generation violet grower in California to the early morning Dutch flower auction. Even better, I feel smarter now. (If I hadn't borrowed it from the library, I probably would have broken out my highlighter.) There's just so much information packed in there -- she clearly put a tremendous amount of hours and research into this work.
Having said that, I think you have to like flowers, at least a little bit, to really enjoy Flower Confidential. If you don't, I could see how you'd want to chuck it out the window -- for me, it would be like reading a towering stack of Car & Driver with no end in sight.
[...]
the flip side of all that loveliness.......2007-06-01
As a flower junkie and floral designer, I was vaguely aware of the flower industry's workings, but this book spelled it all out pretty clearly for me. The Big Idea I have taken away from this is that we the flower-buying public need to demand quality, cleanliness and sustainability from the flower industry in the same way we are coming to demand it from those who supply our food. "Fair trade" is a phrase most Americans associate with coffee-- we should expect similar standards with respect to the flowers we purchase as well. All that loveliness should not come at the expense of the health of those producing it or of the integrity of the environment.
Calling all florists.......2007-05-13
Amy Stewart gives us a rare and insightful look at the floral industry. She has a wonderful style that makes the readers feel as if they are by her side as she journeys around the world exploring the past, present and future of cut flowers. I have been in the business as a floral instructor and designer for many years and, through this book, I gained exposure to many industry issues that I was not aware of. A very interesting and enjoyable book. It's a must read for those of us who make a living from flowers.
Book Description
INSPIRATIONS is a lush sourcebook of ideas for creating the perfect ambiance for any major party or event. INSPIRATIONS is packed with gorgeous photographs of 10 such parties. Ranging from modern to romantic, and the majority of arrangements pictured have never before been seen. The chapters will focus on Bailey's inspirational elements derived from art, travel, nature, and more.
Preston Bailey has established himself as the floral designer for celebrities and the affluent alike, and he continues to set the bar for event design. Over the past year, some of his clients have included Donald and Melania Trump, Regis Philbin, and Oprah Winfrey.
Customer Reviews:
Beautiful Book.......2007-09-24
Beautiful Book, no doubt. Just wasn't exactly what I was looking for. Wanted more day to days ideas!
Inspirational book.......2007-03-12
Great book, lovely pictures as always - very similar to all his other books, but a great coffee table book.
Beautiful!.......2007-01-19
I loved this book. I've never seen such artistics arrangements. I'm a visual person so looking at the beautiful photos was far more rewarding than reading about flowers and centerpieces.
Gorgeous Photography.......2007-01-15
This is a beautiful book for the coffee table! Page after page of incredible eye candy! While most of us could NEVER duplicate these awesome fetes of floral design, it is great fun to behold the beauty of this man's creations!
Very Inspiring.......2007-01-11
I love this book. The themes and pictures are great. It's more for the higher end weddings
Book Description
Synchronicity is an inspirational guide to developing the most essential leadership capacity for our time: how we can collectively shape our future. Joseph Jaworski offers a new definition of leadership that applies to all types of leaders: community, regional, national, international, corporate, political.
Customer Reviews:
the best book i have ever read.......2007-04-11
it should be a must for all college students
Dancing in the moment.......2007-03-17
If you are following the path of coaching and be a leader in your field
its a great book to read.
An engaging personal saga of leadership and the inner life.......2004-08-01
Synchronicity is one of the most inspiring books I know on leadership. The book is a fascinating and holistic blend of the personal and the professional. Jaworski is a name you may already be familiar with. He is the son of Watergate prosecutor, Leon Jaworski. His career is facinating. He began his professional life as a high-powered attorney in Houston. He chased after and won all of the trappings of external success. Then, suddently, his wife announced she was leaving him, and he was forced to confront himself, his values, and the meaning and purpose of his life. The rest seems to flow out of this pivotal experience. Jaworski left the practice of law and went on to become founder, chairman, and CEO of the American Leadership Forum. This organization continues to serve established local leaders and promotes collaborative problem-solving in communities and regions for the public good. In the early 90's, he joined Royal Dutch Shell in London as head of Global Scenario Planning. The initiative he led there is credited as instrumental in the peaceful transfer of power in South Africa which put an end to the government of apartheid. At the time the book was published, Jaworski was with MIT's Center for Organizational Learning which later closed in 1997. His role there was to work with leading corporations on building learning organizations, a topic which still receives considerable focus in leadership circles. It's a concept that appeals to many, and yet few have succeeded in implementing one. The old models die hard. Still, change is in the air.
The book speaks to topics that resonate with us at a deep level: integrity, commitment, responsibility, values, meaning, vulnerability, trust, collaboration, to name a few.
The book begins with a familiar story. A man seeking what we've been led to believe is success. Prestige as a high-powered attorney, a big income and a big home. Then his world falls apart when his wife leaves him, and his identity proceeds to fall apart. He rebuilds a life that is based on authenticity. He speaks of finding the flow in his life when he honors an inner call. He has a vision of what is possible. He sees his life and his choices as intimately connected with the world. He sees himself and his actions in relationship, not isolated and separate. He notes the the busyness of his earlier life as symptomatic of a larger of dis-ease in our culture. We spend too much of our time on activity and too little time on being present to what's really happening around us. We've forgotten the power we have as a witness. We fear having too much time to reflect, instinctively knowing that we're going to have to face ourselves and our lives at a deeper level than we're comfortable with. We're hooked on the notion that commitment and activity are inseparable. So we create a continual stream of activity, making sure that everybody sees us doing lots of things so they'll believe we're actually committed. If we stay busy enough, maybe we'll even convince ourselves that our lives had some meaning even though, deep down, we know they couldn't possibly have any meaning, because everything is hopeless and we're hopeless, and we couldn't possibly affect anything anyhow. Often, it takes a crisis to cause us to question the value of our lives and our activity.
He speaks of proper timing -- that situations unfold at an organic pace that is impossible to rush. All of our pushing and forcing serves mainly to exhaust us. There is a natural flow to our individual lives and to the times in which we live. Nothing of real substance can be pushed or forced to fruition. The purpose of life and our individual lives is revealed at a mysterious pace that the rational mind cannot grasp. There are things that want to happen. We can either fight or embrace the natural flow of our life, thus being an integral part of that larger flow of life. We won't find more riches anywhere else than in our own experience. Jaworski also speaks to an intriguing notion he calls economy of means. Change one small thing and the repercussions can be enormous. How is is possible to see which thread of a situation or a challenge needs to be pulled in order for everything to fall into place without the space for reflection? Economy of means. It's the notion that with perspective and awareness, we can see opportunities we couldn't see before. And seeing these opportunities, we can sense when the moment is right to act, and we will know exactly what needs to be done.
We begin to see that with very small movements, at just the right time and place, all sorts of consequent actions are brought into being. We develop what artists refer to as an "economy of means," where, rather than getting things done through effort and brute force, we start to operate very subtly. A flow of meaning begins to operate around us, as if we were part of a larger conversation. This is the ancient meaning
of dialogue: (dia .logos) "flow of meaning." We start to notice that things suddenly are just attracted to us in ways that are very puzzling. A structure of underlying causes, a set of forces, begins to operate, as if we were surrounded by a magnetic field with magnets being aligned spontaneously in this field. But this alignment is not spontaneous at all -- it's just that the magnets are responding to a more subtle level of
causality.
He writes at some length about his experience at Shell with scenario planning. It's a tool for strategic planning at a level most of us are not yet used to working at. Its objective is to create the future with greater awareness of the consequences of our choices through collaboration and dialogue. The approach was designed to uncover and directly impact the mental models used individually and collectively to make choices large and small. Our mental model is the totality of the opinions, judgements, and beliefs that act as a filter, preventing us from seeing a situation clearly as it is without bias. The work led by Royal Dutch Shell included a diverse team of international experts. The team developed two scenarios known as "New Frontiers" and "Barricades" and two sets of wide-ranging implications on the international community, the environment, energy, economics, politics, business, and people.
Writing "Barricades" was a sobering experience for the entire team. We had been as realistic and conservative as we could in the development of this scenario, yet we had drawn a chilling picture of an increasingly divided world with anarchy enveloping society within our children's lifetime.
New Frontiers is a world where the center of gravity of the world economy shifts from the rich to the poor.... It's a story of new demands, new opportunity, turbulence, and vast change, resulting in governments and businesses being challenged beyond what they thought possible.
Jaworski calls dialogue the power of collective thinking. It's the idea that there is a collective consciousness at the level of the family, the community, the nation, and the world at large. There is a collective consciousness implicit in the times in which we live. These two scenarios were widely presented in 2- and 3-day workshops. Presentations were made to government officials, the business community, black community groups and leaders in exile. The initiative was successful in getting a critical mass of key individuals to focus their attention on choices and their consequences, about the unsustainability of the system and the consequences that each scenario might have on the international community, the environment, the opportuntity for other choices. And power was transferred peacefully in South Africa.
Jaworski describes three fundamental shifts of mind necessary for the creative leadership that will solve some of the world's tougher dilemmas:
1) A shift from resignation to a sense of possibility that comes from seeing the universe as a magical dance, full of living qualities rather than a linear, logical, and predictable view of what's really going on.
2) A shift from seeing ourselves as separate and isolated from everything else that we see "out there" to seeing the world holistically as a web of relationships. Change one small thing and everything else is subtly different.
3) A shift in the nature of our commitment from a highly disciplined proposition in which you "seize fate by the throat and do whatever it takes to suceed" to a deeper level of commitment that comes from an willing spirit. This sense of willingness opens us up to connect with our inner guidance systems and wisdom. To hear the call, to recognize an innate sense of purpose and to accept and honor that.
As these shifts occur, we will notice that synchronicity comes into our life, both the personal and the professional. Synchronity, is defined by Carl Jung as "a meaningful coincidence of two or more events, where something other than the probability of change is involved." When synchronicity comes into our life, it's an indication that we are on the path. There is a sense of ease and excitement, a sense of true belonging to ourself, to one another, to the times in which we live, and to life.
Reads like a good mystery novel.......2004-07-02
My colleagues and I have been designing and facilitating leadership development programs for about 20 years. I've also served as a VP of three Fortune 500 companies. I recommend this book to everyone who is a leader or who wants to be one. Not only does it contain THE secret to true leadership, Mr. Jaworski has written his account so that it reads like a good mystery novel. You wonder what will happen next. And he has written this book from his heart. I hope our paths cross one day soon.
Good Story about Personal Reinvention.......2004-04-27
I read the book on the recommendation of a coworker. For me, it opened up my eyes to finding my type of leadership-in my case servant-leadership. His journey of personal reinvention is a joy to read especially as he learns what is truly important in life.
Book Description
During the annual Pickle Fest, Abby's boyfriend Marco inexplicably disappears for a day. When he returns, he's the main suspect in the death of a clown. It seems the cops have found Snuggles pushing up water-spurting daisies-and Marco was the last person seen leaving Snuggles's house. Although Marco is still a mystery to her, Abby knows he's innocent. Now she has to find a way to prove it.
Customer Reviews:
Blooming Fantastic!.......2007-09-01
Snuggles the Clown has been murdered!
But worst of all Abby Knight's boyfriend - tough guy bar owner, ex-cop, and private eye, Marco Salvare - has been accused of the murder. Now Abby has to pull out of the stops with her team of flower shop amateur snoops to find out the real deal before Marco ends up in the clink for good! Or before Marco's ex-flame ignites an old love torch!
ACTS OF VIOLETS is the fifth entry in author Kate Collins's delightful amateur sleuth series. The heroine is Abby Knight, a college drop out turned flower shop owner. Although Bloomers isn't exactly the Batcave and her two employees (Grace and Lottie) aren't exactly Robin and Alfred, Abby has managed to solve four previous cases involving murder.
As always, despite the fact that murder is involved, the books tone is kept light and just left of wacky. Abby puts me in mind of Janet Evanovitch's New Jersey bounty hunter, Stephanie Plum. Like Stephanie, Abby has a strange family that won't stay out of her business or personal life. Her mother is an artist who creates the most awful statues ever imagined.
In this book, Abby also has to confront Mama Salvare, Marco's pushy mother, and the power struggle between the two women is fun to watch and realistic.
Abby wouldn't ever have been involved in the murder if her boyfriend hadn't tried to take up for her against the clown. During the local Pickle Fest (a truly huge homegrown affair filled with traditions), Snuggles ends up threatening Abby after a near-mishap because she's always had a fear of clowns. Marco can't leave things alone, though, and slips off to have a quiet word with the clown.
Before everything is said and done, Snuggles is dead and even Marco's cop buddies agree that he's the prime candidate for a lead suspect. Throw in the fact that Marco had trouble with the clown while he was back on the force, and you've got a long-standing feud that might just put Marco in prison.
Abby can't have that. She hasn't quite figured out what to do with Marco (and knows even less with his mom on the scene), but she doesn't want him locked away forever either. She also doesn't want Marco's old girlfriend Trina granted any conjugal visits.
I've read earlier books in the series and enjoyed them. Abby Knight is usually a delightful heroine, full of spunk and off-the-wall ideas. Plus, it's funny to watch her start to meddle in something even after she's decided not to. But in this book Abby seems less confident than she ever has. Collins errs on the side of making Abby too much of a worrywart to amp up the stakes in the book. They were just fine without all the additional fretting.
I love the series' ancillary characters. Colm, cool Grace is - literally -grace under fire. Nothing ruffles her fathers or catches her off-stride, no matter what the world-shattering-event. Lottie - with her gigantic sons to double-down as workhorses and bodyguards - is as humorous and insightful as always.
ACTS OF VIOLETS is another fine addition to what looks like will be a long-lived series in the cozy mystery field. My wife and I both read the books and enjoy them a lot. We're looking for it to Kate Collins's next book, A ROSE FROM THE DEAD, coming out in December 2007.
Introducing Mama Salvare.......2007-05-10
Book 5 in the series - the annual pickle fest, a mean clown, and Mama Salvare. The rest of the usual characters return, along with a few new ones. Abby's always had a fear of clowns, and when she is accosted by one at the pickle fest, Marco steps in. Then the clown turns up dead .. and Marco is the lead suspect. Can Abby save him?
Light and pretty fast paced........2007-05-07
A fun mystery. I enjoyed the book. It was the first I've read in this series and the main character was a little slow to warm up to but after we became aquainted I enjoyed it.
Best one yet!.......2007-04-15
I really like this series and love the style of Kate Collins' writing. Very witty and entertaining read. Can't wait for the next installment!
Good Cozy Mystery.......2007-03-29
When Snuggles the clown is murdered and Abby's boyfriend, hunky ex-cop Marco is the chief suspect because he was the last one seen leaving Snuggle's house, Marco asks Abby to help find the real killer. Even though she's solved some murder cases in the past, Abby is very nervous about solving this one - if she fails, Marco could go to jail. But it won't be easy, when he was a cop Marco had a run in with Snuggles (Dennis Ryson) that resulted in Marco leaving the police force. Marco also had a fist fight with Snuggles shortly before he was murdered. Abby knows that she has to work fast, Marco is the only suspect and even some of his cop friends are afraid he may be guilty. While Abby is convinced that Marco is innocent, she worries because he is keeping secrets from her: what exactly is his relationship with the attractive Trina who was threatened by Ryson and why doesn't he want her to meet his mother? As Abby gets closer to the truth her own life is in danger.
While not the best book in Kate Collins Flower Shop Mystery series, "Acts of Violets" is still a good cozy mystery. Abby's an endearing heroine willing to investigate the murder even though she is full of self-doubt. In fact, my one complaint about this book is that Abby is not as strong as usual, she is full of doubts and insecure about her relationship with Marco. She also has a propensity for unbuttoning her top button on her blouse to show off her ample cleavage, something I don't remember her doing in other books. Other characters are well developed and readers will learn more about Marco just as Abby does. There's a nice sense of humor throughout the book including a pickle parade; Abby's mother's latest art project; a funny scene in a diner; and the scene (and it's aftermath) when Abby finally does meet Marco's mother. The humor does go a bit too far - a character's lisp becomes distracting and is a bit cruel. The mystery itself is well done, although there aren't a lot of suspects. The outcome of Abby's confrontation with the murderer is neatly foreshadowed at the beginning of the book which is a nice bit of writing by Collins.
"Act of Violets" is a good cozy mystery.
Amazon.com
Presence can be read as a both a guide and a challenge to leaders in business, education, and government to transform their institutions into powerful agents of change in a world increasingly out of balance. Since business is the most powerful institution in the world today, the authors argue, it must play a key role in solving global societal problems. Yet so many institutions seem to run people rather than the other way around. In this illuminating book, the authors seek to understand why people don't change systems and institutions even when they pose a threat to society, and examine why institutional change is so difficult to attain.
The authors view large institutions such as global corporations as a new species that are affecting nearly all other life forms on the planet. Rather than look at these systems as merely the extension of a few hyper-powerful individuals, they see them as a dynamic organisms with the potential to learn, grow, and evolve--but only if people exert control over them and actively eliminate their destructive aspects. "But until that potential is activated," they write, "industrial age institutions will continue to expand blindly, unaware of their part in a larger whole or of the consequences of their growth." For global institutions to be recreated in positive ways, there must be individual and collective levels of awareness, followed by direct action. Raising this awareness is what Presence seeks to achieve. Drawing on the insights gleaned from interviews with over 150 leading scientists, social leaders, and entrepreneurs, the authors emphasize what they call the "courage to see freshly"--the ability to view familiar problems from a new perspective in order to better understand how parts and wholes are interrelated.
This is not a typical business book. Mainly theoretical, it does not offer specific tips that organizational managers or directors can apply immediately; rather, it offers powerful tools and ideas for changing the mindset of leaders and unlocking the latent potential to "develop awareness commensurate with our impact, wisdom in balance with our power." --Shawn Carkonen
Book Description
Presence is an intimate look at the development of a new theory about change and learning. In wide-ranging conversations held over a year and a half, organizational learning pioneers Peter Senge, C. Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski, and Betty Sue Flowers explored the nature of transformational change—how it arises, and the fresh possibilities it offers a world dangerously out of balance. The book introduces the idea of “presence”—a concept borrowed from the natural world that the whole is entirely present in any of its parts—to the worlds of business, education, government, and leadership. Too often, the authors found, we remain stuck in old patterns of seeing and acting. By encouraging deeper levels of learning, we create an awareness of the larger whole, leading to actions that can help to shape its evolution and our future.
Drawing on the wisdom and experience of 150 scientists, social leaders, and entrepreneurs, including Brian Arthur, Rupert Sheldrake, Buckminster Fuller, Lao Tzu, and Carl Jung, Presence is both revolutionary in its exploration and hopeful in its message. This astonishing and completely original work goes on to define the capabilities that underlie our ability to see, sense, and realize new possibilities—in ourselves, in our institutions and organizations, and in society itself.
Customer Reviews:
Best Book on this topic.......2007-09-09
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It combines important, visionary concepts with clear illustrations and stories for a general readership. The authors present a hopeful way for humans to deal with the challenges of our time.
An important book, perhaps a couple of decades ahead of its time........2007-07-31
This outstanding book has been published in several editions under the same title. It is about how to pursue group endeavors capable of changing organizations, communities and the world for the better. To that end, Senge et al explain the details of the path to be taken which they named as "The U Process". I would say that Presence's concepts pushes the envelop in organizational learning, visionary leadership and strategic thinking. I personally see the "U Process" as a set of guidelines for a "Hero's Journey" to be followed collectively by a group. Most fascinating and enlightening.
From conversations with my colleagues, this "U Process" appears to them as being so novel that it is perhaps way ahead of our times. Yet I would suggest that its far reaching implications are practical, useful and important. In my work in facilitating epic spirit workshops and strategic thinking, this "U Process" helps people get in sync with their overall environment. Furthermore, the U Process allows them to become more conscius of being a part of that same environment thus leading into a higher plateau for individual, organizational and collective learning. It is worthwhile to note that going through a Presencing experience at a personal level might be a prerequisite to fully grasp its power for organizational and or collective learning.
Just as is often the case for many new approaches, Presencing experiences will contribute to enlighten disbelievers. For those of us that are putting this book's concepts to work, the adventure has already started to bring rewards.
Brilliant.......2007-07-01
A new way of thinking and talking about change ... and I hope it will learn us a new "doing" of change ;-) I'm convinced !
Presence: An Exploration of Profound Change in People, Organizations, and Society.......2007-05-12
I did not find this to be a very useful book for my MBA studies.
A very important book written by people that care deeply about the direction of our future, and a work in progress however..........2007-01-19
I'm not sure that the presentation given in this specific book is for everyone... and this maybe the source of the polarization of views on Amazon
The best piece of advice I could give would be first go to Otto's website (and some of the other associated websites although probably not SOL) and go through the resources there (and there's an extensive list of resources). It will provide a much better overview than I can give you here. From there you can see the model, gain some context on its origin and application. Then decide if you want to read this book, given what I discuss below.
The book is taken from transcripts of conversations the authors had in the first part of this decade. It includes personal conversations, reflections and commentary on the extensive interviews with scientists, leaders (including many spiritual leaders) and entrepreneurs they did which underpin the philosophical basis of the model they've created. It does provide a good context for the model, it's just that it's quite a long book and sometimes reading it is a little frustrating, especially if you're somewhat versed in the areas they talk about. I struggled getting through the last half for this reason. I have no doubt the other reviewer here was frustrated as well. That said, with the internet, availability of books and democratisation of information these days it can be hard going for authors as often their readers have different and sometimes more extensive experience in the field and other perspectives they've not considered. While their model is uniquely their creation, the concepts and ideas and some of the methods (eg. shamanic journey) are not. For people not well versed in these areas then I'm sure they'd pick up a few valuable new perspectives, insights and ideas they could use in their business (although that isn't the intention of this book and I would suggest that's what frustrated other reviewers who were looking in it for a source of ideas and tools).
In the book you'll find lots of references to dialogue, open space type ideas, systems theory and perspectives, natural systems and the new sciences, spirituality, shamanism, personal transformation and the importance of inner work, prototyping, suspending assumptions, storytelling, synchronicity, seeing from the whole and so on. You'll find that many of the ideas discussed have been written about in their prior individual work. Included are many examples of companies and people that illustrate these philosophies and some extracts of conversations with people like Dee Hock.
What's the difference between editions? From their website:
'The differences between the books are minor. The Doubleday/SoL edition has been revised to be slightly shorter (289 pages vs. 304), but the substance of the book is essentially the same. Changes to the jacket design and the subtitle were made by Doubleday to appeal to a wider audience.
The original SoL edition was conceived as a short-run limited edition book. It was intended for distribution only through SoL's website, and through Amazon. The goal was to get the book directly into the hands of people who were already engaged in deep learning work, and our marketing efforts were focused on that group. SoL decided to have Doubleday publish the book with a SoL imprint in order to respond to a need for wider distribution through more traditional channels.'
There's no doubting though the sincerity of the authors, their care for the planet, and their work and their genuine desire to make a difference with what they do. That can be seen through the establishment of the Global Leadership Initiative and is also deeply reflected in the conversations they've had which are included in this book. (From memory they only go up to around year 2002, so I would imagine things have evolved since then).
This is an important book, one written by people who deeply care about the direction the planet is heading in and have made a very good effort to develop a new tool for use in business and leadership. While some people will see this in a cynical way as being just another theory or another tool for the authors to line their pockets, I don't think this is the case. I love how as part of the course Otto teaches, the notes are actually available free on the internet in the MIT Open Courseware initiative whose aim is to make widely available the content of the university's courses. (Unfortunately though I don't that's going to apply to their teaching of this model!) I know others that do this as well where they generously periodically make publicly available their tools and methods, forcing themselves to constantly innovate and evolve their approach and making a contribution to the public good rather than the common separative method of labeling ideas and models (often that are well known in the public domain anyway) as private intellectual property which is then jealously protected.
For most people reading this review though I'd say looking at Otto's website should suffice to give you all the context you need about the model and then reading his new book Theory U - Leading from the Future as it Emerges due out in 2007.
Book Description
Looking for a faster, easier, and fun way to identify plants? Botany in a Day teaches you the patterns method of plant identification, so that you can discover the wonderful world of plants around you, wherever you go.
Instead of trying to identify plants one-at-a-time, Botany in a Day give you a way to learn them by the hundreds, based on the principle that related plants have similar patterns for indentification, and they often have similar uses.
The one-day tutorial included in the text teaches you seven key patterns to recognize more than 45,000 species of plants worldwide. Master these seven patterns and you will be ready to use the included reference guide--Thomas J. Elpel's Herbal Field Guide to Plant Families of North America. Here you will find the patterns for indentification and the patterns of uses for the majority of plants across the continent.
Botany in a Day is used as a guide by thousands of individuals, plus herbal schools and universities across North America.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Resource!.......2007-10-01
Botany in a Day provides an excellent overview to field botany. By learning plant characteristics by family, the reader can more quickly identify their plant by identifying the patterns each plant family presents. The book provides a page or two (or more!) on dozens of the most common families in the northern half of the US. Each plant family section contains additional information about the plant genera represented in this family. The keys to plant families allow the reader to quickly determine what section to turn to. This book is best coupled with a plant field guide to individual species that is grouped by family. You can use the Botany in a Day information to narrow your selection to the family and the field guide to identify the specific species.
I highly recommend this book to both lay and professional people who work with plants.
botany in several months.......2007-03-16
This book lays out the general approach through which a beginner can make sense of the vast amount of information he or she faces in learning botany. I found it most helpful.
Fantastic.......2006-07-19
Take a really dry subject and turn it into a book I couldn't put down!
Tom Elpel's style is right on target and his book is turning into a constant companion for my outings!
Wonderful book for intuitive understanding of the subject.......2006-04-09
In the opening chapter, this book presents a wonderful simplified story of the evolution of plants, from a single cell to modern complex flowers. Both children and adults can gain a unique, intuitive understanding of this process from this explanation. My compliments to the author. He describes each plant family with interesting anecdotes and high quality line drawings. It's the first plant book whose lack of photographs didn't matter. Great tips for identifying families and individual plants have helped me enormously. Bravo!
Teaches the patterns method of plant identification.......2004-12-09
Any interested in plant identification should consider Botany In A Day: The Patterns Method Of Plant Identification as an important guide. Thomas Elpel (Director of Hollowtop Outdoor Primitive School, Pony, Montana) deftly teaches the patterns method of plant identification, providing a method for learning about groupings of plants based on the idea that related plants have similar patterns for identification, and similar uses. Black and white line drawings accompany descriptions of different plant families and their identification processes.
Book Description
With more than 130,000 copies sold since its original publication, The Well-Tended Perennial Garden has proven itself to be one of the most useful tools a gardener can have. Now, in this expanded edition, there's even more to learn from and enjoy. This is the first, and still the most thorough, book to detail essential practices of perennial care such as deadheading, pinching, cutting back, thinning, disbudding, and deadleafing, all of which are thoroughly explained and illustrated. More than 200 new color photographs have been added to this revised edition, showing perennials in various border situations and providing images for each of the entries in the A-to-Z encyclopedia of important perennial species. In addition, there is a new 32-page journal section, in which you can enter details, notes, and observations about the requirements and performance of perennials in your own garden. Thousands of readers have commented that The Well-Tended Perennial Garden is one of the most useful and frequently consulted books in their gardening libraries. This new, expanded edition promises to be an even more effective ally in your quest to create a beautiful, healthy, well-maintained perennial garden.
Customer Reviews:
Well worth having.......2007-10-01
Tracy's use of the latin name as opposed to the common name is a little un-nerving for a begginer- like me - but it is one way to drum it into you so that when you go to the nursery you will find what you truly want... plus the detail to specific plants is amazing. Appendix C is worth the price of the book alone...
A wonderful book I refer to it constantly.......2007-09-30
I bought this book for my Mother-in-law and she wrote 'The information is set out in a concise format which is easily referenced. It is packed with information to help you get the most from your perennials. It is a wonderful book and I refer to it constantly.'
Garden lover's delight.......2007-09-07
I love this book! It is as beautiful as it is informational. It is delightful to read to the work of a master who can convey her heart as well as her technical skills. I am pleased to add it to my gardening book treasures.
The Well-Tended Perennial Garden: Planting and Pruning Techniques.......2007-09-07
I really like this book. It is very informative and was what I was looking for.
Well Tended Perennial Garden.......2007-08-24
Great Book.........so much information. Well organized and easy to use. Seller was quick with professional delivery. Much appreciated!
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- The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything
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Books Index
Books Home
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Water for Elephants: A Novel
A Thousand Splendid Suns
The Memory Keeper's Daughter
The Glass Castle: A Memoir
Suite Francaise
