Book Description
Christendom is dying and needs to be removed from its life-support system. Starting with this frank assessment of the current church, Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch present an alternative model for ministry in todayÂ's postmodern world. Instead of mourning the demise of the Western church as the center of society, the authors explain how the church can be reborn through incarnational mission, messianic spirituality, and apostolic structure. Church leaders who heed the authorsÂ' call will see death turned into new life through the creation of a vital, missional church.
[Frost and HirschÂ's] contribution brings an in-depth theological reflection as well as providing a broad scope informed by their extensive reading in theology, culture and mission as well as their on-site visits to missional churches in the USA and the United Kingdom.
—Eddie Gibbs, Donald A. McGavran Professor of Church Growth, Fuller Theological Seminary
This book is a bountiful multi-course meal, each serving presented with charm and class. It will satisfy even eclectic appetites, and please the most discriminating palates. Four Stars.
—Leonard Sweet, Drew Theological School, George Fox University
Customer Reviews:
A important work on the missional movement.......2007-08-12
This is a major work in the missional library. The book is deep and insightful to church culture and postmodernity. The book is rich because it deals with more than five steps to be a missional church, but rather teaches the reader to think missionally. Anyone who is concerned about the future path of the church should read this book. It is not a easy read, but must read. Some of the stories are excellent, the insight is fantastic, and the theology is thought provoking. There is some that a reader will disagree with, but overall there is too much good material to pass up not reading this book.
Missiology Unbound.......2007-08-03
After getting a degree in missions, this is one of the only books I read about missions. Most books out there now are someone's scant expressions written down quickly before they could forget their organized thoughts on the matter. These guys are extremely well-researched, experience-proven and communicative in a precise yet descriptive manner.
They effectively overhaul the current thinking in church, but they don't leave it there. While it would be easy to merely criticize and leave the reader hopelessly wondering how to react, they propose solutions - something that few emergent church leaders do.
This book is not for new Christians or for people who don't like big words. It's thick, wordy and sometimes scandalous. I read and reread it, and I use it to train leaders who are facing the onslaught of postChristian culture.
Read it, but remember that this isn't the Bible.
Ge This Book !!!!!!!.......2007-05-21
If you are involved in any lkind of ministry-which means working with people. Get this book. It will help you come to terms with the world that you are walking in. The one you went to seminary or university is gone-bye bye. Get on your knees to find out what this book has to say to you in your situation.
Tim Wright
A must read for serious Christians.......2007-05-15
Reading this book is an eye-opening experience from beginning to end. I have been mired in the politics of the Christian faith for 50 years. The average Christian church today has no resemblance to the ministry of Jesus, nor the first century church that His Apostles established. This book helps to reveal the hypocrisy of our present day church leaders, who are running their organizations like corporate businesses, rather than missions seaching for lost souls. Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch are to be commended for the outstanding way they not only outline the problems of the present day church, but by offering solutions of how to return to the mission that Christ and the Apostles intended for us.
Ancient / Postmodern Christianity at It's Best.......2007-05-15
This book paints a beautiful picture of the emerging western culture that stands on thorough biblical exegesis, theological reflection, historical precedent, and cultural insight. It's required reading for any student seeking to gain a better grasp of the nuances and opportunities of contemporary culture and Christianity. BUT BEWARE!!! After reading it, I found myself personally convicted that I could no longer continue on in the institutional context of parish ministry that's defined my vocation for more than a decade. It wrecked me in the most liberating of ways and I hope it does the same for all who read it.
Customer Reviews:
It's Worthy.......2006-08-03
A plethora of points and specific examples are examined in "The Design of Things to Come," by Craig M. Vogel, Jonathan Cagan, and Peter Boatwright. Each chapter has several sub-chapters that describe a variety of different concepts and case studies pertaining to innovation, marketing, branding, and invention. Some of the sub-chapters are: The New Breed of Innovator: Global Brand and Industrial Design, Apple: Trend Reader, Powers of 10, The Redesign of the (Ford) F-150, and PayPal.
Chapters:
1. The New Breed of Innovator
2. Pragmatic Innovation - The New Mandate
3. the Art and Science of Business
4. Identifying Today's Trends for Tomorrow's Innovations
5. Design for Desire - The New Product Prescription
6. The Power of Stakeholders - People Fueling Innovation
7. B-to-B Innovation - The New Frontier of Fantasy
8. Making Decisions for Profit - Success Emerging from Chaos
9. A Process for Product Innovation
10 Creating a Blanket of IP to Protect Your Brand from the Elements
11 To Hire Consultants or Build Internally - That is the Question
Epilogue: The Powers of Innovation - The New Economy of Opportunity
One sub-chapter is called "The Fantasy Economy." This title has meaning; it says a lot. One quote from page 92: "The increase in global consumption has driven the pursuit of desire, or fantasy to achieve everyone's pursuit of happiness." I witness this, and this fantasy is directly related (as the authors note) to the acquiring of consumer products. Fantasy, may be what it is.
Another statement is: "The end of communism and the overthrow of dictators around the world has increased the potential of the individual to achieve a life where liberty is a basic right" (Vogel, 92). This is true in some countries in Eastern Europe but for other parts of the world, this is simply not true. Market economies do not necessarily coincide with individual freedom, civil and political liberties, legal protection, and the freedom of speech. I'd like to know what specific nations and regions of the world these authors are referring to.
The authors also comment on the "Dummy" series books. ('This and that' for Dummies.) There are over 2,519 entries on a major website vendor selling "Dummy" books. But I don't agree with the book's claim that those who buy and read the Dummy-series books just want prescribed step-by-step information, and want to learn and do without any risk or thought, as the authors claim. These books are superior to many other "info." and "how-to-do" books because of their succinctness and organization. The authors go on to claim that those who read the Dummy series book carry out task without the need to think, hence the name "Dummy" in the title. This series of books is merely a foundation of which a person can build upon in one's own informational pyramid.
Over-all there is a lot of relevant and current concepts and case studies in "The Design of Things to Come." It's worth the read.
How trends are fostered.......2006-04-13
Many successful products represent a revolution in product design which is driven by customer need and self-image, and there's a new generation of inventors out there who are using this inspiration and vision to create new products. THE DESIGN OF THINGS TO COME: HOW ORDINARY PEOPLE CREATE EXTRAORDINARY PRODUCTS charts their efforts, discussing trends, innovations, fantasy designs, and more. Particular products are featured throughout along with case history examples of their inventors' unique routes. An intriguing, inspiring survey examines the roots of trend-setting products.
In Praise of Multidisciplinary Innovation Teams and Leaders.......2006-02-28
If you're wondering what that object is on this book's cover, wonder no more. It's a walking toaster of course! Surely you want one.
That robot is a walking irony for this book's theme: Apply pragmatism to innovation. The alternative is innovation that amuses but doesn't sell.
I first heard the mantra of multidisciplinary teams for new product development in 1976 from Perdue's Mike Pessemier based on his pioneering research. I was surprised to see these authors argue so strenuously for the same thing. It seems like some lessons have to be relearned before they stick.
Of more novel significance are other aspects of this book:
1. The assertion that the next arena for intense competition that makes a difference will be in design rather than quality, production and delivery;
2. Seeing fantasy desires as being worthwhile needs to satisfy for even the most mundane, non-consumer goods;
3. Recognizing that multidisciplinary teams will work best if led by people who have multidisciplinary backgrounds, experiences and interests; and
4. Factor of 10 perspectives to help those involved see the bigger . . . and small pictures of who else is involved with a new product or service.
All the best books about new product development emphasize process, communication, understanding and adding new perspectives. The Design of Things to Come is a winner, too, in those departments.
Like all good books about product development, this one has lots of entertaining stories about interesting new offerings and how they were developed. Most of the examples were new to me or contained details I hadn't heard or read about before.
Many books that argue for more of a design perspective in new products tend to be somewhat unconvincing. They frequently sound like a pitch from those who sell such services. The Design of Things to Come follows that theme, but the book's arguments and examples are more credible than other pro-design product development books I've read.
It Takes More Than a Good Idea...a Helpful Guide Toward Innovations That Enthrall.......2006-02-18
Yesterday I bought a conically-shaped plastic measuring cup called the Perfect Beaker. I like the concept behind the shape because its aesthetically pleasing design combines the function of a standard measuring cup with a tablespoon and fluid ounce measurement all in one container. Silly, I was thinking to myself, but the product actually reflects the tenets of this insightful book by three academics - Craig M. Vogel from the University of Cincinnati and Jonathan Cagan and Peter Boatwright from Carnegie Mellon. Separately, they are each experts in design, engineering, and marketing, and together they propose an integrated approach to design that combines everything from chaos theory to fantasy fulfillment. Their concept is deceptively simple but like all good ideas, complex to execute, which is why the book is helpful beyond the examples of innovation provided here.
According to the co-authors, each successfully innovative product exhibits a discernible value which fulfills wishes and meets expectations of fantasy. Users of such products see the value as a way to augment their lifestyles. Toward that objective, companies should take seven considerations into account when innovating - emotion, ergonomics, aesthetics, identity, impact, core technology and quality. While the categories may sound like marketing-speak, they resonate clearly when seen as parts of the whole equation. More specifically, the trio asks the innovator what fantasy do people expect from use of the product (emotion), how easy and intuitive is the product to use (ergonomics), how sensory is the product for a user (aesthetics), how compatible is the product to the established brand (identity), how will the consuming public will accept the product and influence each other to buy the product (impact), how does the product function for best performance (core technology) and how long the product will last beyond the initial purchase (quality). Consequently, innovation is a synthesis of these seven considerations and not simply a good idea, as there is a network of decisions that depends on others to fulfill toward a successful product.
Given the number of like innovations in various stages of development, the trio provides helpful guidance on the different kinds of patents available to innovators. Some product designs can be subject to personal interpretation. Design patents have been developed to protect the effort to create aesthetic innovation by protecting the form of an article of manufacture, i.e., a violation occurs if another design looks like the one drawn in a figure that is patented. For products in an even more nebulous state, there is a trade dress, which provides trademark protection for the look of a product or service that associates the product with the manufacturer. In either case, design patent or trade dress, as long as one can use it, one can maintain it. Finally, there is a provisional patent, which gives a company a year of protection at a reasonable cost before it needs to invest in the more expensive full patent. These nuances help motivate what could be a long gestation period before a product is ready to launch.
Seeing what is not obvious to others is what it takes to succeed to innovate. While this is not exactly a ground-breaking conclusion, the co-authors offer a strong stepwise tome to ensure the journey toward fruition is a thoughtful one. As another fine book from the Wharton School, "Making Innovation Work: How to Manage It, Measure It, and Profit from It" states with compelling evidence, the future of competition is innovation and creativity. By refining products with insights into what consumers want, companies will gain a market edge in the new millennium. The Perfect Beaker is a good example of this trend, as it conveys a sense of delight to me, which is the core of pragmatic innovation.
Practical Observations about Invention and Innovation .......2006-02-01
We recommend this fascinating book to anyone directly engaged in innovation, working in a related field (from marketing to engineering) or curious about how new products come into being. Craig M. Vogel, Jonathan Cagan and Peter Boatwright share many case studies, which they generalize into rules for innovation. They offer useful, practical observations about current social changes. And, they do it all in lucid, personable prose; their obvious affection for innovators gives the book warmth. However, despite their many examples, the authors don't - in the end - convince readers that the process they outline is really how innovation actually happens. They use author J. K. Rowling's successful Harry Potter books as a primary example of the role of fantasy in design - but they do not establish that her writing process resembles the pragmatic innovation methods they outline. Readers also may wish that they had answered one other question: why do some products that are not especially innovative do better in the marketplace than some that are truly new? This aside, the book's insider stories and advice are interesting, well focused and immediately applicable.
Book Description
An encyclopedic reference work on biblical prophecy, this highly successful book explores the basis of interpretation, biblical covenants, prophecies of this age and its end, the tribulation, the second advent, the millennium, and the eternal state. Includes an extensive bibliography and index.
Customer Reviews:
Unquestionably the most comprehensive study of Bible prophecy available today!.......2007-08-25
In his ground-breaking 1948 work on Systematic Theology, Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer (then President of Dallas Theological Seminary) wrote concerning Eschatology, "It is assuredly the desire of God that His own who are in the world shall know what He is going to do." Ten years later, Dr. J. Dwight Pentecost (also of Dallas Theological Seminary) carried forward Chafer's passion for illuminating biblical prophecy by writing Things To Come, the book that is still accepted by many conservative, evangelical scholars as the most comprehensive, systematically detailed, doctrinally sound study of Eschatology available today.
As did Chafer, Pentecost bases his teachings on a literal (grammatical-historical) interpretation of Bible Scriptures. Preceding the body of his work with an entire section explaining the "allegorical" and "literal" methods of interpretation, Chafer then covers the entire field of prophecy from the Abrahamic covenant in Genesis to the "new heavens and new earth" in Revelation. The strength of his work lies in his ability to clarify the differences in God's plans for Israel and her future kingdom on earth and His plans for the Church, which will reside in Heaven.
Although not a book for lazy-minded prophecy faddists, any serious student of Eschatology should have this book in his or her personal library.
Edwin Scroggins is the author of Bible Prophecy in a Nutshell: A Mini-Survey of God's Great Plan of the Ages
Things to Come Still Relevant.......2007-02-21
This interesting book on Bible Eschatology makes for good reading and study. Written some years ago, it is still a monumental work for student and professional alike. Recommended.
Clarifying Eschatology.......2007-01-29
This is a book that was carefully and prayerfully written to help explain and encourage awareness of the end times. It a most valuable reference book. It prompts a slow read for understanding and a must read for study.
Over the top academic ... a 'visit to the dentist' read.......2006-11-25
I was not inspired to finish the mammoth text after maybe a 20% read. The mid-20th century high academic style strikes this reader as a visit to the dentist in the same period. You will really need to want to finish this one.
The material is highly relevant (the reason I gave it a try) ... but the delivery is via a very dull, square needle. It wore me out ... I gave up.
very deep book.......2006-11-07
This is a very deep book for the study of the end times. In no way get this mixed up with a novel type book. This is for serious study. The only downside is that this book uses many many quotes from others, and personally I don't care for that style. However still probably one of the best books out there on the end times.
Book Description
What do you do when your life isn't living up to your dreams? When the man you love is unavailable, and yet you long for a family, a home? What is the cost of compromising until the real thing comes along?
Reading Elizabeth Berg is like having a friend sit down and talk with you about the deepest truths and most perplexing issues in life, and in this exquisite new novel the bestselling author of Talk Before Sleep and The Pull of the Moon once again gives us superb fiction about a passionate woman who solves life's problems in a way that is far from traditional, but close to the wise dictums of the heart.
Patty Ann Murphy says she's "Ms. Runner-Up" in life. Rarely the bridesmaid, never mind the bride, Patty sells houses for a living (well, she's sold one house so far), longs to be married and have a family, but is irresistibly drawn to the wrong man. Ethan seems perfect for Patty--handsome, generous, and sensitive--but he's hopelessly unavailable. Patty's frustration leads her to feelings she doesn't admire--jealousy of her beautiful best friend, Elaine, for instance, about whom she says, "Find me one woman who doesn't withhold just a bit from another woman who looks like that." She's also worried about her mother, with whom she's very close but who is beginning to act strangely. Patty longs more and more for the consolation of loving and being loved, but for the moment feels she must content herself with waiting--until she can wait no more.
Andre Dubus said about Elizabeth Berg's Durable Goods, "Elizabeth Berg writes with humor and a big heart about resilience, loneliness, love and hope. And the transcendence that redeems." And the same will be said about Until the Real Thing Comes Along.
Amazon.com
For the protagonist of Elizabeth Berg's Until the Real Thing Comes Along, the biological clock is ticking all too loudly. Alas, there are no likely partners on the horizon for Patty Ann Murphy. Even an attractive, appropriately sensitive guy ends up giving her the heebie-jeebies: "Now he is turning my face toward him and kissing me and I feel that as soon as he stops I'll start screaming. I don't, of course. I say, 'Would you like some pretzels?'" The only man who doesn't inspire this kind of junk-food diversionary tactic is Patty's high-school sweetheart Ethan Gaines--but he happens to be gay. What's a woman of the '90s to do?
The answer: she persuades Ethan to impregnate her, and they agree to a marriage of true minds (if not bodies.) They won't, of course, actually marry, or even live together. But Patty signs on for a lifetime of child rearing with her sexually indifferent soul mate--and finds herself wading into a wealth of emotional complications. Will Ethan ever make love to her again? Will her parents accept her (essentially) single-mommy status? Berg manages to cast these thorny issues in a comedic light, without ever consigning Patty and her wisecracking cohorts to a complete farce. And there is that payoff at the end, when Ethan hands her the love child in the delivery room:
With a tenderness I would not have thought possible in earth-bound humans, he gives her to me. Her wet head is cupped; her quivering chest is calmed. What have my hands been doing all my life before this? I see now that they too have just been born. I unwrap the blanket, stop breathing.
Yes, Patty does eventually start breathing again. And readers will share her delight at the undeniable fact that the real thing has finally come along. --Anita Urquhart
Customer Reviews:
unrealistic, silly, not good.......2007-05-18
I agree with the other reviewer that said the dialogue was not realistic. I too found myself thinking the same thing, who talks like this? I listened to this on audiobook and the reader made it even worse. She makes Patty sound really stupid (she is, but the reader made it worse) I really couldn't wait for it to be over and I hope I forget it soon.
Disappointing and a waste of time.......2006-12-10
Ill conceived and silly. Really a waste of time - I actually felt that the novel was very depressing. I will not be reading any of Ms. Berg's other novels. Too unrealistic to believe that a gay man would become the love of someone's life and that a person could not move on from this relationship.
A FAIRY TALE FOR ADOLESCENTS.......2006-09-03
I am a huge Berg fan, but this book did not cut it with me. The main character, Patty, is approaching mid-life and desperately wants a child. Ethan was her first love and continues to be "the love of her life." He also loves Patty dearly, so what is the problem? Ethan is gay and his love for Patty is that of a cherised, long-time friend; they feel comfortable together. Patty asks Ethan to impregnate her so they can raise a child but, of course, marriage is out of the question. We are not talking in-vitro fertilization here or anything that might be plausible, but a pregnancy developed by a good old-fashioned "romp in the hay"...or in the case, the bed! Patty gets her wish, she has a baby girl. In the end, Ethan also gets his wish, he finds "the love of his life" in another man. As for the baby, well, we can only hope everything worked out well for her, too, but we will never know because that is where the story ended.
The problem with the book has nothing to do with sexual orientation but the fact the plot and events were just too inconceivably far-fetched. For the past 20 years, two of my very best friends (men) have been in a committed gay relationship. They are literary scholars and avid readers. When I ran the scenario of this book by them to see what their reaction would be, they thought either the book was nuts, I was nuts for reading it...or possibly both. On top of that, the book has a juvenile writing style that makes one wonder where Berg's thought process was when she wrote it. Like Picasso, she must have been going through her "blue period!" Ms. Berg, you missed the mark on this one.
Disappointing.......2006-06-13
I've recently discovered Elizabeth Berg and have been greatly moved by 3 of her books. I was really looking forward to this one... though I am married with a child, I certainly do remember the occasional angst of my single days! HOWEVER, this book is SUCH a disappointment. The whole plot is just a cop-out and the protagonist is not very sympathetic. I suspect the book might be based in fact, which I suppose would somewhat redeem it.....
Ignore the bad reviews!.......2006-02-03
No need to re-iterate the plot, I just wanted to say that I appreciated the reviewers who shared in the delight of this book. I love Elizabeth Berg's writing style and found this easy read entertaining as well as heartwarming. This book was second only to her later "Say When" which I thoroughly enjoyed. If you're looking for a good vacation book (though you'll probably read it in one-two sittings) this is the one. You'll find yourself chuckling through a few tears.
Average customer rating:
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Things That Come In Groups: Grade 3 (Investigations in number, data, and space)
Cornelia Tierney
Manufacturer: Dale Seymour Pubn
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Math
| Science, Nature & How It Works
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ages 9-12
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Mathematics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Elementary School
| Education
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
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ASIN: 1572326956 |
Book Description
Rrrring! the alarm sounds. It's time to put out a fire! This three-dimensional book follows a day in the life of firefighters as they race to the rescue. Complete with pop-ups, movable parts, and flaps, this is an exciting introduction to the field for young firefighters.
Customer Reviews:
Here Come Our Firefights! A Pop-up Book.......2007-02-12
We use this book during fire safety practice at Preschool. Excellent!
The Best Pop-Up Book Ever - I'm Not Kidding!.......2003-06-05
Over the years, I've bought many pop-up books for my 5-year-old. This one is, without doubt, the most entertaining pop-up book I've seen. Many pop-up books suffer from pointless, non-interactive, or non-functioning pop-up animations. Not this one!
You get, in order,
1) A slide mechanism with a dog pulling covers off a firefighter,
2) Another slide mechanism with a firefighter sliding down a firepole,
3) A side view of a fire truck, with flaps showing the inside,
4) More flaps, showing the operation of a fire hydrant, and also acting as a simple animation for the firefighters,
5) Yet another flap, with a firefighter donning a breathing mask,
6) An extremely cool 2-page full pop-up, showing a house engulfed in flames, complete with a fire truck, firefighters climbing a ladder, and other firefighters shooting water in the front door,
7) A slide mechanism showing a firefighter cutting a hole in the floor with an axe,
8) A flap showing a fire being put out with a water hose, and
9) A fold-out pop-up showing the fire engine pulling out of the station for the next call.
As that run-down shows, you get a lot of interaction AND a lot of learning going on with this book. Very highly recommended.
Book Description
In JANICE SIMS's "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man," recently widowed Gena Boudreau has just about given up on motherhood, until a precocious teenager tries to set Gena up with her single father, Nathan Lincoln.
The star of a reality dating show cooked up by creative director Justine Graves turns out to be a hit. The only thing that can stop the show is the reluctant bachelor Markos Raineau and the growing attraction Justine feels for him. "The Real Thing" by KIM LOUISE reveals what can happen when fate and faith run their course.
Will money come between Charlimae Watson and her estranged husband, Sam, in NATALIE DUNBAR's "My Promise To You"? Sometimes divine intervention is the only thing that can save a marriage, and Red Oaks' Mother Maybelle just may have the answer to Sam and Charlimae's prayers.
When Dr. Gabrielle Talbot arrives in Red Oaks, Georgia, the last thing she has on her mind is romance—that is until she meets Marcus Danforth. But will he break her heart like her ex-fiancé, or will he find a way to win her trust in "A Change Is Gonna Come" by NATHASHA BROOKS-HARRIS?
Customer Reviews:
A Revival, A Little Faith and a Lotta Love.......2007-06-26
Romance authors Janice Sims, Kim Louise, Natalie Dunbar and Nathasha Brooks-Harris follow-up their 2005 anthology, Can I Get An Amen, with a sequel aptly titled Can I Get an Amen Again. In this follow-up, while the protagonists are new, the town of Red Oaks, Georgia, the Red Oaks Christian Fellowship Church and Mother Maybelle remain constant.
In veteran author Janice Sims story, "Brown-eyed Handsome Man", widow Gena Boudreau keeps herself busy in community service, afraid to allow herself to become involved again after her husband's untimely death. She has a hard time reconciling her faith and therefore her church attendance is almost nonexistence. Lily Lincoln is a young lady who thinks Gina would be the ideal woman for her father, Nate, and would also serve to keep him out of her teenage business. Gina and Nate finally meet at the tent revival held by Red Oaks Christian Fellowship. Can the rich widow on the hill overcome the idea that she is a jinx and fall in love with the handsome carpenter? In steps Mother Maybelle who wants to see these two together. Energetic characters and a humorous storyline will delight fans of Sims.
Kim Louis created a unique storyline in "The Real Thing", involving a store executive turned reality show star. Markos Raineau wants to increase sales for Value-Mart and reluctantly agrees to go along with marketing director Justine Graves' scheme. A different woman will accompany Markos on each of the seven nights of the revival. Which beautiful woman of the Marrying Markos Show will be the next Mrs. Raineau? Has Justine made a mistake by throwing a hottie like Markos before a group of desperate and gorgeous hoochies? And furthermore, just how far is she willing to go to keep them from Markos? This was a fun, out-of-the-box story of well-developed, flawed characters with a current theme.
In "My Promise To You" by Natalie Dunbar, a young married couple's marriage is sorely tested by economics and family interference. Sam Watson shows up at the revival seeking his wife, Charlimae, after several months of abandonment. His explanation of having to go to another city several hundred miles away to obtain employment is not a good enough explanation for Charlimae. Her father insists she get a divorce but she is willing to give her marriage another try. The couple attempt to work through their financial problems and their marital woes with a little help from the formidable Mother Maybelle. This was a low-key story that emphasized how the principles of faith and prayer are the key to seeking solutions to a troubled marriage.
Dr. Gabrielle Talbot, seeking a change in her life, takes a position as a head physician at Red Oaks Hospital in "A Change is Gonna Come" by Nathasha Brooks- Harris. After she is deceived by her fiancée', Gabrielle decides to forgo relationships and concentrate on practicing medicine. When she treats the assistant pastor of Red Oaks Fellowship, she meets his brother, contractor Marcus Danforth. Marcus is immediately attracted to Gabrielle and she to him but both struggle with painful memories and past mistakes. Count on Mother Maybelle and a revival to put the couple on the right path. Marcus' thirteen year-old nephew, Kevon, was a delightful treat but the story left me with a few questions in regards to the story's stance on forgiveness.
When Can I Get An Amen came out, it was besieged by controversy over what genre it represented. Was it Christian romance fiction or was it contemporary fiction in a church theme/setting? Some readers voiced concern about the sexin' while others thought it was appropriate and in line with the reality of church going folks. Can I Get An Amen Again will undoubtedly draw similar debate-- and that is a good thing, despite the proliferation of church-themed contemporary fiction that includes sexy storylines. Nevertheless, these stories will have you both smiling and saying "Amen."
Dera R. Williams
APOOOO BookClub
Amazing Read!.......2007-05-13
Everyone of these stories were amazing and spiritual! A must read for all!
Book Description
From the author of Mystery Train and Lipstick Traces, an exhilarating and provocative investigation of the tangle of American identity
“America is a place and a story, made up of exuberance and suspicion, crime and liberation, lynch mobs and escapes; its greatest testaments are made of portents and warnings, biblical allusions that lose all certainty in the American air.” It is this story of self-invention and nationhood that Greil Marcus rediscovers, beginning with John Winthrop’s invocation of America as a “city on the hill,” Lincoln’s second inaugural address, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech about his American dream. Listening to these prophetic founding statements, Marcus explores America’s promise as a New Jerusalem and the nature of its covenant: first with God, and then with its own citizens. In the nineteenth century, this vision of the nation’s story was told in public as part of common discourse, to be fought over in plain speech and flights of gorgeous rhetoric. Since then, Marcus argues, it has become cryptic, a story told more in art than in politics. He traces it across the continent and through time, hearing the tale in the disparate voices of writers, filmmakers, performers, and actors: Philip Roth, David Lynch, David Thomas, Allen Ginsberg, Sheryl Lee, and Bill Pullman. In The Shape of Things to Come, the future and the past merge in extraordinary and uncanny ways, and Marcus proves once again that he is our most imaginative and original cultural critic.
Customer Reviews:
Archive of American vernacular prophecy... in this our time of need...........2007-07-07
In his splendid reading of Philip Roth's trilogy on Nathan Zuckerman as belated American Jeremiah, mapping the hollowing out of its prophetic codes and citizens, Greil Marcus makes an unexpected yet utterly shattering connection to a latter-day Dylan album kindred to "American Pastoral"'s subjects of brokenness. "Only Bob Dylan, in 1997 [when American Pastoral was published], with Time Out of Mind, a state-by-state, city-by-city guided tour of an America that has used itself up and a portrait of an American who has used up his country, comes close to occupying the same territory; and Roth stayed longer" (The Shape of Things to Come, 43). Dylan's conversion into "the indigenous American berserk" would never stand stable, as such, would be subject to reversal and transformation into fits or stanzas of prophetic blessing on it all. Marcus gets at all this instability, and more in this innovative archive outlining the American vernacular prophecy coming back in this our time of worldly need.
A Lot of Predictions Ignored.......2007-04-08
In reading this book I was reminded of the old saying that predicting the future is easy, it's being right that is hard.
I find Mr. Marcus's book to be very interesting reading, but in places confusing. He seem to be saying that he doesn't see the politicians making as much sense as do the artists of our time. Politics, it could be argued, is an art form. In the early days of the republic there were relatively few voters, land owning men. As the enfranchisement has expanded, so has the level of political communications. You can't say what you think, you can only say what you think will get you elected. The politician is an actor being fed a script.
His comments on the predictions of from the music of rock bands is simply not understandable to me. Their bag, like the politician is to say something that their listeners want to hear.
I don't see in his writings anything from writers I see making serious predictions: Al Gore, 'Inconvenient Truth;' 'Hubbard's Peak;' 'The Limits to Growth;' Huntington's 'Clash of Civilizations.'
Our children will face interesting times.
Too Subjective, a chore to read........2007-03-14
I bought this book on a whim while stocking up on "current events" titles. I couldn't get past page 30. If you like sentences, meaning sentences like this one where the writer interjects a second thought before finishing the first thought of the sentence, where there are lots of commas and you have to study the sentence to get the point, then I think you'll like this book. For me it is an utter chore and a bore to read. The book is full of subjective reasoning with little bother to support anything. It's the type of book where I have to read each paragraph 10 times because my mind is wandering after the first couple statements. Oh, what, I didn't understand that. Hmmmph... it must be true. Too bad I just didn't peruse the first couple of pages before buying it because I never would have bought it then. A great book to read and tell yourself how smart you are for reading it. And just to give you an idea about myself, I'm an eight year college grad. So I am capable of understanding the book. However I will not be understanding it because I refuse to read anymore.
I resent doing this.......2007-01-28
I got this as a gift, so I don't know anything about it except what my son has said.
So so..........2007-01-04
What this book did was make me want to research his references and see if I came to the same conclusion. I suddenly really want to read David Lynch movies and read Philip Roth, both of which I had previously been avoiding on a false suspicion they were just bizarro with no thread of relevance to the world around but to mirror a surreal version.
But Marcus does do a nice job of connecting things and interpreting them in the way he sees they fit into the American cultural and historical landscape. And his supposition that these works of art are the manifestation of the failure of America to live up to its lofty potential and promises upon founding sit well with me.
Book Description
When Abby and her new friend, Hannah, take charge of a class project to assemble gift packages for underprivileged children, one thing after the next goes wrong. First their teacher, Mrs. Kantor, must leave school for a few weeks. The class is stuck with a mean substitute who won't let them work on their gift boxes. Then, after their kind principal intervenes and work on the class project resumes, Hannah's baby sister unintentionally destroys many of the gift boxes. Working as a team, Abby and Hannah think of a clever way to save the day, their budding friendship, and the class project.
Customer Reviews:
Gift Boxes!.......2006-06-30
This book was so great, I couldn't put it down. I finished it all in one day! It's about a teacher who leaves Abby in charge of a gift box project. But they have a mean substitute who won't let Abby make the announcement about bringing gifts in for the gift boxes. Abby's friend named Hannah helps her out. Read the story. You'll love it.
This is a great Abby Hayes book!.......2006-02-07
Anne Mazer NEVER dissapoints me.This book is amazing,and I love it! Mrs. Kantor's class is giving gift filled shoe boxes to needy children,but Mrs. Kantor goes away,leaving horrible Ms. Lee with them. She's awful,and she makes school unbearable. What will the class do about her? Find out in this exciting book!
The Amazing Days Of Abby Hayes (Good Things Come in Small Packages).......2006-01-22
-(page 16 of book)
When Brianna told Mason his story was gross and distgusting, he burped at her. When Natalie told Bethany that her story was to short and that she should have put in more action, like hamster fights, Bethany sulked. Mason told me that my story was too perfect!! How can a story be too perfect???? Is that an insult or a compliment? Only Hannah had something positive to say about everyone's work. She was the only person no one was mad at by the end of the writers group. She didn't get mad at anyone, either. Ms.Bunder says alot of writers are in writer groups. Is this what they're all like? Writers must be crazy.
Anson Y.'s book review. HK.
< Box,box and more box. >.......2005-07-11
This is a good book. And I'll hate to have a substitute like Ms. Lee, I also agree on a word in Abby's journal most " Kids are not your enemies."
I love the part where Hannah's baby sister water the boxes, I try to imagine what it was like, and the whole picture flew into
my mind. Didn't I laugh till tears came out.
Want to know what I'm writing about? READ THE BOOK!
a cute little book.......2005-01-02
In this book, Ms. Kantor and Ms. Bunder do a class project. They have to decorate shoeboxes, fill them with toys and send them to the poor for Christmas. But then Ms. Kantor's mother gets sick and takes a leave of absence. Abby's class now has the worst subsitute on earth. Abby tries to figure out two things:
1. How are they going to the Christmas boxes without Ms. Kantor?
2.How is Abby's class going to get rid of their subsitute?
A great read.
Book Description
Did you know—
• It took more than an iceberg to sink the Titanic.
• The Challenger disaster was predicted.
• Unbreakable glass dinnerware had its origin in railroad lanterns.
• A football team cannot lose momentum.
• Mercury thermometers are prohibited on airplanes for a crucial reason.
• Kryptonite bicycle locks are easily broken.
“Things fall apart” is more than a poetic insight—it is a fundamental property of the physical world. Why Things Break explores the fascinating question of what holds things together (for a while), what breaks them apart, and why the answers have a direct bearing on our everyday lives.
When Mark Eberhart was growing up in the 1960s, he learned that splitting an atom leads to a terrible explosion—which prompted him to worry that when he cut into a stick of butter, he would inadvertently unleash a nuclear cataclysm. Years later, as a chemistry professor, he remembered this childhood fear when he began to ponder the fact that we know more about how to split an atom than we do about how a pane of glass breaks.
In Why Things Break, Eberhart leads us on a remarkable and entertaining exploration of all the cracks, clefts, fissures, and faults examined in the field of materials science and the many astonishing discoveries that have been made about everything from the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger to the crashing of your hard drive. Understanding why things break is crucial to modern life on every level, from personal safety to macroeconomics, but as Eberhart reveals here, it is also an area of cutting-edge science that is as provocative as it is illuminating.
“An engaging personal account not just of the physics and chemistry of materials but of the ethics, economics, and politics of innovation, with delightful bonuses on topics from the origins of ‘ghostly’ noises in old houses to the amazing coevolution of armor and armor-piercing projectiles. If it ain’t broke, Mark Eberhart can tell you why—and explain equally well why a shatterproof world remains beyond our reach.”
—Edward Tenner, author of Our Own Devices and Why Things Bite Back
“I don’t remember a book that has taught me so much, nor previously encountering a teacher like the marvelous Mark Eberhart, who in Why Things Break provides enlightening and thoroughly captivating scientific explanations of subjects ranging from the structural failures leading to the sinking of the Titanic to everyday, no-less-fascinating topics such as the reason why, even at the same temperature, winter days always seem so much colder in Boston than in Denver.”—Richard Restak, M.D., author of Mozart’s Brain and The Fighter Pilot
“Eberhart brings his insights to the reader by weaving personal anecdotes—from his childhood fear that cutting a stick of butter would release the energy of the atoms within to his arrival in Boston for an interview with MIT without a suitable winter coat—into a fascinating discussion of the forces that hold atoms and molecules together. A lively, unvarnished look at chemistry on the cutting edge.”
—Kirkus Reviews
Customer Reviews:
Good but not great.......2007-01-31
Having just read the book, I agree with other recent reviewers. There is interesting information in here (for instance, that lexan becomes extremely brittle when exposed to nail polish remover). But that content is diluted with personal rants (such as the author's grad school interview process) and silly analogies (like "If even a tiny scratch were to expose niobium to air at 2,500*F, it would soak up oxygen faster than Bounty--the 'quicker picker-upper'--soaks up water.")
And the photo on the cover IS completely misleading--the book is about fractures on a micro scale. You won't find anything about why the bridge in the photo broke.
50% moderately useful info, 50% personal rant.......2006-11-29
I enjoyed about 50% of this book. The author gives some good practical explanations of why materials, such as the hull of the Titanic, fail. As a layperson, I found this very interesting. However, I found his personal rants about the politics of scientific research and his personal tales of life in graduate school and beyond really, really tiresome. In addition, the title and book cover (a picture of a bridge failure) are a come on which have almost nothing to do with the contents. The science in the books moves from the macro to the micro, which makes a certain amount of sense but I found the topics to be really poorly organized. I would not recommend this book unless you have lots of free time.
Disappointed ..........2006-10-24
As a non-scientist, I enjoy reading intelligent books about science that do a good job of explaining scientific concepts to an educated but non-technical audience. I recently became more interested in materials science after reading Stephen Sass' "The Substance of Civilization" (which I recommend heartily) and had hoped that this book would make a good next step.
Unfortunately, the promise of the book's title remains substantially unfulfilled. This is a more a book about why EBERHART is interested in why things break and why he thinks it's a disgrace that most people don't understand more about science (and specifically about materials science). Now, both of those (and particularly the latter) are potentially interesting topics but they aren't the reason I picked up the book.
This is not to say that there is no direct information about materials science in the book. But the information that there is tends to be woven into other stories (which themselves are filled with other stories and regressions -- it's a book that could also use a little more editing) about the importance of materials science, rather than the science itself.
Some answers;but a lot of questions remain........2006-09-18
I really enjoyed this book. Although I am an Engineer in my senior years; one does not really need more technical knowledge than that received in High School to enjoy this book. The author has done a fine job of communicating with lay people who may only have a passing interest in why things break. Most people ,who have little science background ,will find it a pleasure to intercourse with an extremely knowledgeable Scientist whose world includes highly complicated areas such as Quantum Mechanics.
Although the author touches on some difficult areas,he always puts what he is dealinng with in language and examples that are easily grasped.
You are going to learn that the sinking of the Titanic was a lot more involved than simply hitting an iceberg. And how about the fact that the Titanic had no binoculars for lookouts,insufficient lifeboats.You'll also find why so many Liberty Ships sank in the Atlanticduring WW11, without having been hit by shells,bombs ,mines or other armanents. You'll also see that the reason for their sinking was not even incorporated into the design;or for that fact,even known.Amazingly ,a fix was quickly found.
Even something as simple as "unbreakable" dishes like Pyrex and Corningwareis explained. The book also discusses some simple things ;such as why snow doesn't have to be shovelled in Colorado--or did you even know that? He discusses a lot about metals,how the properties of various metals was found by trial and error;but the reason why things happened was basically unknown.He also discusses a lot about glass,particularly armored or safety glass. I once had an experience with large panels,5 X 10 feet; that were used as interior walls in buildings. Several broke for no apparent reason. The panels consisted of two sheets with a plastic film sandwiched between them. When they broke.it looked like a bullet had hit them. All the breakage radiated from one point,similar to a giant spider web. It was determined that it was caused by an impurity.Supposedly,theimpurity was a Manganese crystal that kept growing until it created enough stress to fracture the whole panel,with not a piece left bigger than a piece of popcorn. Something like you see with a rear car window in a hot parking lot or when struck a severe blow in an accident.The intent being that the pieces would be small fragments,rather than shrads that were large and would like daggers. Our panels,with the plastic layer still remained in place. I used a magnifying loop and lo,and behold,right in the center of the "Web" you could see the tiny black crystal,no more than a couple of millimeters long.I would be curious to hear from anyone else who has heard of this type of failure as it is not discussed in the book.
I also had a lot of experience with "Lexan" and was very surprised to hear some of the things the author had to say about it.
Some good points..........2006-06-24
The book is a good treatise on material analysis, with the attendant dryness you might expect. Dr. Eberhart injects some humor, but at the level you might expect from a research scientist. As for the analyses of the three failures mentioned in another review, there is scant information provided. In his summary of the failures, he makes references to some facts that are not explained, and leaves the reader curious, unsatisfied. (Example - the decompression flap in the Aloha flight. Why was it opening? What triggers it to operate?).
Probably a bit esoteric for the average reader without any background in materials.
Books:
- The Spider-Man Chronicles: The Art and Making of Spider-Man 3
- The Stanley Kubrick Archives
- The Tabernacle : Shadows of the Messiah (Its Sacrifices, Services, and Priesthood) (See How the Tabernacle Relates to Jesus)
- The Talented Mr. Ripley: A Screenplay
- The Tools of Screenwriting: A Writer's Guide to the Craft and Elements of a Screenplay
- The Vision A Two-in-one Volume Of The Final Quest And The Call
- The Way We Lived Then : Recollections of a Well-Known Name Dropper
- The Writer's Guide to Writing Your Screenplay: How to Write Great Screenplays for Movies and Television
- There's No Business Like Soul Business: A Spiritual Path to Enlightened Screenwriting, Filmmaking, and the Performing Arts
- Think and Grow Rich
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Revolution
