5 comments about Storey's Basic Country Skills: A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance.

1. This book covers a huge range of country skills, including a companion planting guide. I wouldn't be without mine!



2. I am so impressed with this book I am considering it as Christmas gifts for my son and perhaps a brother. I checked it out of the library and enjoyed it so much I purchased it.



3. I am about to purchase my first farm and this book give a little bit of information on a whole lot of subjects. Everything from outbuildings to farm animals to country recipes. You don't need to start at the beginning and read from cover to cover - you can pick and choose what you would like to read about. This is something that I will keep handy as a great reference guide.



4. This is a very handy reference to have. You could not call it exhaustive, but it does provide a dandy introduction to a wide variety of subjects. I still refer to it, usually to determine if a particular area is worth pursuing in detail or to decide on how I am going to approach a project. Say what you want about Storey's - they are a name brand and have made a good effort in reaching the livestock/animal husbandry market. Some of their books are the best available, some are not. But I can always count on them to give me a good starting point. If you want a smattering on a wide variety of subjects, get this book. If you know someone that would value such a reference, this makes an excellent gift.



5. It is a pretty good book for showing you the mechanics of how to build and maintain different areas of the farm. It gives good information on how to raise different livestock. It is not something you would want to just read right through and go start a farm. It is more like something you could look at whenever you need some tips. The best way to learn how to start a farm would be to see if you could work on somebody you know's farm. Either just to help out or for an actual job.

5 comments about Healing After Loss: Daily Meditations For Working Through Grief.

1. No one truly understands the grief, emptyness, and sorrow one feels with the loss of a loved one until, the inevitable comes, and they themselves experience the hurt. So often, people, want to be supportive, to give solace to the survivor but find it difficult to find just the right words to console. A friend of mine, who had also experienced a loss, sent me this book when my dear husband of 54 years passed away. What a tremencous void had come into my life! However, it was comforting to read this book each day and to focus and reflect on one simple "thought". Not overwhelming, but soothing to the spirit. I have sent this book to a number of my friends who needed support and they have all been equally inspired.



2. This little book easily provides a comforting word as one struggles to deal with the loss of someone close. I liked the way each page offers a wise saying, the author's comment around it, then an affirmation to use. The wisdom is simply yet meaningfully presented. Keep it by the bedside or dip into it at random - it will always bring you what you need.



3. Someone gave me this book after I lost my 13 year old to cancer. What I love about this book is each page gives you something to think about or ponder. As you read each page, you will either be moved by what is said, or not. If it resonates with you, you can stop and ponder what has been said. If one particular page is meaningless,
   you just continue to read on until something else hits home with you.
   
   It is hard to concentrate when you are grieving, so having a page a day to read and think about is a very good place to start. ....I have purchased this book several times now for other bereaved parents and for a friend who lost her husband... another who lost a sister....I highly recommend it!



4. This is the best book for one who has lost someone that I have ever read!! It was given to me after my husband died, and I have been giving it to others ever since!! It's a daily reading, and practically always hits you between the eyes!!



5. 
   This little book is an absolute Godsend after the death of a loved one, in my case, a spouse. Each day's short reading is about all one can process in the initial phase of grieving. I read from it every morning before starting the day's activities and, almost every day, it seems to be speaking to me! The author truly "hits the nail on the head."

5 comments about Get Out of That Pit: Straight Talk about God's Deliverance.

1. As usual, Beth Moore gets to the point and gives real advice. She never "talks down" to you, she has been there too, and she is so positive in her outlook it becomes contagious. I highly recommend this book.



2. I found it to have a strong biblical foundation. Beth Moore is refreshingly open and candid and non-judgmental but also challenging. I would have given it five stars, but the book seemed to run out of steam at the climax -- it just didn't come together in grand fashion like the first 3/4 of the book. But I'm really glad I got to read it, and I will be re-reading parts of it. This is my first Beth Moore book, and I will be reading others.



3. I have been going through this book with a ladies devotional group and have really enjoyed the message of this book as well as the take aways from this book. It is always nice to have a book that you get so much out of that you want to pass on to others- this is definately a book like that! It has great study questions and prayers to follow with to help you glean important reminders from the book!



4. Great book! Beth Moore did a great job on this one like all the rest of her! Anyone feeling "stuck" should pick this one up! Very uplifting and encouraging!



5. I really enjoyed this book. It laid out in a simple format the different types of pits in life. They are...
   
   (1) The one's people push us into.
   (2) The one's we accidently fall into ourselves.
   (3) The one's we fall into deliberatly ourselves.
   
   No matter which one you are in, it gives Biblical advice how to get out! This is a great book!

5 comments about Stumbling on Happiness.

1. Excellent book!good quality!absolutely no difference with a new one.shipped on time to my house.its just so wonderful



2. Daniel Gilbert takes us through the elusive study of happiness in three phases.
   
   1) He convinces the reader how nearly impossible it is to measure happiness, along with all the falicies of attempts to measure it. He concludes "The best you can do is ask someone how they're feeling at any given moment"
   
   2) He shows many problems with individuals predicting happiness. We tend to overestimate how much we enjoy things, and how long the happiness lasts, as well as overestimating pain from negative occurances. He shows why this happens (one reason is too much focus on recent events) as well as how our memory fails us similar to imagination.
   
   3) He closes with a tentative recommendation on what to do - in general it is not good to ask for advice, but it is relatively reliable to ask people how they are feeling at any given point in time.
   
   The subject is soft and squishy, but Daniel Ong manages to create a book that is readable, enjoyable, and even useful. Well done, and well worth the time!



3. I bought this book because I wanted to know how I could become happy. However, this book turned out to be a long list of psychological experiments that proved how badly human imagination and memories are flawed and follible. Yet the author concludes that nothing is better than our imagination and memories to depend on to predict our future happiness.



4. This book is fabulous. As much as the content informs on the human condition, the frolicking experience of reading it reinforces it. Makes me glad to be human. Highly recommended!
   - kara



5. Gilbert notes that the frontal lobe evolved in order to control the environment in our quest for safety and pleasure (avoid/approach reactions). It does so largely by trying to predict the future. Unfortunately, we often stumble because our predictions are so often based on poor information gleaned from our past and present experiences through the filter of our inaccurate memories. In other words, we tend to repeat false assumptions and often poor decisions when predicting our futures so that when we do actually find happiness, it is often stumbled upon rather than planned.
   
   As Gilbert says, "In order to have a smooth rational-seeming reality, we fill in what we don't know with details that are often wrong and leaving out details that are actually important if we realize them. And we do this seamlessly and largely unconsciously." "We tend to accept the brain's products uncritically and expect the future to unfold with the details- and only with the details- that the brain has imagined" He further states, "What we feel as we imagine the future is often a response to what's happening in the present and we predictably underestimate how different we will feel in the future."
   
   Inaccurate predictions begets poor decision-making which often leads to an unhappy state. We then tend to rationalize our unhappy outcomes to make them more acceptable to ourselves which means we are likely to make the same choices in the future.
   
   
   Any resultant feelings of inadequacy and lower self-worth can lead to even further repetition of poor choices. When in the discontented state, the mind seeks more stability and control. But what does it do? It rationalizes and continues to base its predictions on information from an often inaccurate and unstable past and present and fails to learn from experience.
   
   For example, if you feel inadequate and odd in the sense you don't feel you fit in, you may seek out and depend on others that you see as being similarly inadequate or odd- the very people, if you do depend on them, that are most apt to reinforce your feelings of inadequacy rather than help give you the stability and centeredness that you seek.
   
   Thus, the vicious circle continues as one clings to ones old ways...
   
   So, in the search for stability one may cling to the tottering present in order to seek peace and happiness, but the result is most often a repetition of the past. The myth of Sisyphis comes to mind as one pictures the endless attempts to perform an impossible task such as rolling a boulder part way up a hill that is too heavy to reach the top and doing it over and over again...
   
   But is it impossible to overcome the tendency to embrace failed thoughts and actions so that at least we stumble less and are happier with our lives?
   
   Of course and careful observation of others who have found happiness is one recommendation.
   
   .

5 comments about How to Survive the Loss of a Love.

1. THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I HAVE EVER READ!! ITS SO POWERFUL FOR YOUR HEART, BODY, AND SOUL!!



2. I am a divorce attorney. I order ten copies of this book at a time and give copies out to people who are hurting. You can read this book in one night, and I recommend that you read this book over again during the next days as needed.
   
   When my own girlfriend/partner had a sudden stroke, I was devastated. One of my divorce clients who I had given this book to, told me, Gary, there is this book.... I read this book again that night, and found it to be quite helpful as I supported my Marilee with her stroke and then a painful death from cancer that was discovered.
   
   This is an excellent book for anyone who is experiencing a loss, be it due to divorce or separation, or any other loss, such as a sudden illness of a loved one, or even the loss of your own employment, etc. Also, people who initiate a divorce are also suffering from a loss, albeit a less sudden loss. They are faced with the loss of the dream that they had when they committed to their partner.
   
   This book walks through many of the steps involved with loss, and the three mega-stages of surviving, healing and growing.
   
   But this book! Dollar for dollar, it will be one of the very best investments you will ever make. When you are next hurting due to an unexpected loss, read this book that day, and the next day or days as you need to. And buy a second copy of this book to give to friends who are devastated by loss.



3. If you experience an end to a relationship....the loss --- it leaves one vulnerable, raw....and this book, written by 3 authors: doctor, poet, counseler....will give instant First Aid!! Amazing! Such a Blessing!! And it is such a small paperback! You just may find yourself carrying it around with you! Jotting down sentences on post-it notes and leaving them around the house to uplift you... Interspersed with poems that are short and very much to the point...you will find they often speak as if directly from YOUR heart!
   Quite amazing book which helped me many years ago! Since then I have always made a point to keep a copy on hand in case someone experiences such loss and is in need of comfort and good help! I give them my copy! They may find they do the same whenever they run into someone with similiar sorrow!!
   
   May you never need this book...but if you do....may you be pleasantly surprised to find such deep satisfaction from the Comfort and Hope it brings!



4. in this book you won't find any hard core advice on how to deal with the loss of love and it does not offer anything you haven't heard before or you haven't read on the internet or from a magazine. the advices are good, but they are very light and nothing new. it's easy to read and it's short. i finished reading the entire book in less than 3 hrs. the poems were very nice though but over all this book did not really help me.



5. This book was so helpful & easy to read. I got it as a gift, and now I have purchased several to give to friends & family.

5 comments about You Can Heal Your Life.

1. I absoulutely love this book. If you apply its principles in your life you will definately see a change. I have very little to say about it because it is such a personal experience for me. If you find yourself reading this review, buy the book you are meant to read it.



2. I love everything I have read from Louise Hay. She gives us all so much hope.



3. I bought this book yesterday and I finished reading it in one sitting. I could not put it down. I'll read the book again slowly and start to do the exercises today.
   
   Although this book was first published over 20 years ago, the message is still so relevant today, especially after the phenomenon of "The Secret".
   
   I recommend to read this book together with "The Sedona Method: Your Key to Lasting Happiness, Success, Peace and Emotional Well-Being".



4. This book was recommended by a friend who permanently keeps it on her bedside table. I am reading it now and without even finishing it, I have already purchased 4 others to give to family and friends. I like the author's straight forward approach of taking charge of your life. GREAT book!



5. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in helping himsef/herself improve their thoungts and positive energy.

5 comments about Out of the Shadows: Understanding Sexual Addiction.

1. As I am currently in the process of divorcing a sex addict, this book was very insightful for me. It is still very painful to accept, but at least the book sheds insight into how and why this happens.



2. Carnes does a great job of not only showing how destructive sexual addiction can be, but also how slippery the slope is so that the addict can easily fall into the illegal and extremely shameful without realization or intent.
   Along with this dire warning, he also offers hope and shows that while admitting the problem may be humiliating, refusing to admit that the problem is there can easily lead to absolute devastation.



3. This book has some good information in it. It forces you to take a hard look at yourself as a victim or co-dependant to the addict.



4. All I have to say is if you are someone who feels they may have a sexual addiction problem or somebody who knows an individual who has a sexual addiction problem, this should be the first book to read! Out of the Shadows is the best source for insight on sexual addiction out there, its the sex addicts "story" so to speak. Addicts, spouses, friends, professionals can ALL benifit from the material outlined here in this book as well! I'll recommend it all day everyday.....



5. My mind had a revelation when I read this book. I always assumed about my husband's addiction. Thought I knew what to do and how to do it, and all the while I was getting more frustrated and angrier. Now, I see why and how it is all happening and happened. The traumas, the cycles, the behavior, ...the escaping into this illness and insanity.
   I came away with a much better understanding and awareness. In this revelation came MY FIRST STEP towards my own healing and my role in all of it, as the spouse. I can honestly say; reading it helped me to "listen" my husband and be in counseling about the addiction. It isn't about me. I have no control over it. Yes my anger and pain is real...no doscounting that. And in turn, some people may disagree: but I have honesty, and boundaries for myself, and compassion within the boundaries for my husband.

5 comments about The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate.

1. This is a great book for anyone wanting to strengthen their relationship with a spouse or family member.



2. I bought the audio version so I could listen in my car. I didn't see anywhere that is mentioned this CD is a CD with MP3s on it. I cannot return it since I opened it to see what the deal was. I am really angry at Amazon for this. If I wanted the MP3's I could have just bought the MP3 Downloads, saved the postage and packaging.
   
   The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate [AUDIOBOOK] [CD] [UNABRIDGED] (Audio CD)
   
   Does that look like I would be getting mp3's on a CD? No.



3. This is a must read for those getting married. Communication between you and your spouse will be so much easier and meaningful. Our son married a year ago and we gave the happy couple this book. They loved it. Another fun read over the summer was Michele Cozzens' award winning women's fiction It's Not Your Mother's Bridge Club



4. Someone lent me this book. I loved it so much, I bought a copy for myself. I think everyone should read it who has or wants to have a relationship of any kind with anyone. I liked it so much, I bought the Five Love Languages for Teenagers and The Five Love Languages for Singles.
   
   Mr. Chapman claims that there are five primary love languages: words of affirmation, physical touch, acts of service, receiving gifts and quality time. Although we all need to be loved in all the ways, there is one love language that is our primary love language. If we are not loved in this primary love language, then our love tank becomes empty and we feel unloved, even if all four other love languages are being spoken to us.
   
   So my conjecture is this may be then, why someone with the love language of words of affirmation would 'fish' for compliments, because they have a deep need to hear affirming words.
   Happy reading!



5. This is such an insightful book that will open your eyes to how you feel love as well as others including your spouse. It also helps you discover how you interpret love and can show love to others in a way they understand. Interesting read, i would recommend to anyone.

5 comments about The Secret Lives of Men and Women: A PostSecret Book.

1. Is there anyone left on earth who doesn't know about these books, the blog, or the website? If so, where have you been? Out of all the coffee table books I've read in the past, the PostSecret series is the very best of the best. I haven't viewed all of them, but will. That's a promise.
   
   THE SECRET LIVES OF MEN AND WOMEN is probably the least favorite of the book thus far. Maybe because it was so thin compared to the other two.



2. ive been a follower for the postsecret project for a while now and i love the books that theyve produced with some never-before-seen secrets in there.



3. I think this one is a little less art, a little more content since Warren knew the secrets were a success (and people cared less for the artistic value of the postcard itself). The postcards are presented in ways that are easier to read than in the first postsecret book (I have not read the second book). The pages are also used more efficiently than in the first book. This book's secrets run more on the darker side. I felt a lot more sad reading this one than the first one. I don't think there was but one funny "secret." All I can say is that I hope the people sending these in are being genuine because I'd feel like a chump if they weren't.



4. I enjoyed the range of emotions the pages and pictures brought out. It was interesting to see so many share without worry. It makes you know you aren't alone in some of your thoughts. Very unique and artistic.



5. Excellent book - its just fascinating what people put out there for others to read!

5 comments about Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.

1. As an executive coach, I've been a fan of Carol Dweck's work for a couple decades -- it was pretty obvious she wasn't just talking about children. Now she's finally written a book I can recommend to all my clients. The bottom line here is that your approach to life and learning -- whether you assume one's own (and hence everyone else's) capacity for learning is fixed and permanent or fluid and expandable -- makes all the difference in both your own success and that of the people who work for and with you (not to mention the ones you raise or educate).
   
   I've called those mindsets "performer" (focus on doing well and appearing to have no flaws) and "learner" (curiosity-driven, not concerned with how one appears to others.) She calls them "fixed-ability mindset" and "growth mindset." What she's done is explore their impact in nearly every domain of life -- failure and success, education, sports, business, leadership, and relationships -- and then explore how to change from a performer to a learner. Based on current neuroscience and her own experiences, this is one of the most practical and powerful pieces of work I've seen in a long time.



2. For several months now I've been enjoying and at the same time agonizing over the book, MINDSET, The New Psychology of Success, by Carol S. Dweck, PH.D., a Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. The book presents the results of over 20 years of research into the question of why some experience more success than others.
   
   "For 20 years, my research has shown that the view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life. It can determine whether you become the person you want to be and whether you accomplish the things you value."
   
   The views she is talking about are our old friends, nature versus nurture, genes versus environment, I.Q. versus effort. She doesn't really get into the the issue of whether some people are naturally more intelligent or talented than others, that's all besides the point. What her research shows is that people with a fixed mindset, i.e. they believe that their intelligence, creativity, abilities and talents are fixed and cannot be increased, cannot be grown, tend to be less successful than people with a growth mindset, who believe that their intelligence, creativity etc. can be developed. The interesting thing is that it doesn't matter if your fixed mindset is high or low, that is if you're a positive thinker or a negative thinker; either way a fixed mindset will impeded your success.
   
   The book is filled with examples of the two types from the world of sports and business and sketches of her tests of the theory with elementary school children and college students.
   
   After thinking about it for several months, here's my take on what Prof. Dweck has discovered. The definition of success for a person with a growth mindset is growth and improvement. Have I improved? Am I doing better today than yesterday? These are the questions a person with a growth mindset uses to evaluate performance. If I have improved then I am succeeding. If I have not improved then I need to change the way I'm studying, or practicing or preparing so I can be more successful.
   
   On the other hand a person with a fixed mindset asks, What is my I.Q.? Am I smarter than the others? Am I better than everyone else? Am I worse than everyone else? Am I talented or untalented? Do I have musical abiilty or not? Do I have the talent to be a writer or do I not? I think that being discovered is one definition of fixed mindset success. If the fixed mindset person's talent hasn't been discovered he concludes that it's because he is not talented, or people are against him or no one will help him.
   
   The growth mindset person sees the trophy, the medal, the promotion, as a mere byproduct of the growth that he has experienced. For the fixed mindset person the trophy, the medal, the promotion, is the point, they are the outward manifestations of his inward superiority.
   
   The irony is that the fixed mindset person ends up sabotaging himself because his fixed mindset world view also makes it difficult for him to take risks, or to develop his abilities, in other words, to grow. The fixed mindset person doesn't, after all, believe in growth. As a result fixed mindset people become quite frustrated.
   
   Prof. Dweck's studies give a scientific basis for something that Coach Wooden, of UCLA Basketball fame, discovered long ago: Focus on effort not winning. The factors which determine whether you will win or loose are not all within your control, but the effort you put in to developing and executing your game is.
   
   I don't believe that I can overstate the importance of this book. I've been reading self help, positive thinking, motivational books since at 10 years of age I picked up a Norman Vincent Peale book that my mom had checked out of the library. Those books, all good, are trying to deal with the problem by attacking the fruit of an individuals mindset. Prof. Dweck is attacking the problem at the root.
   
   This book was for me a very uncomfortable read and forced me to analyze my own mindset and much to the chagrin of this basically fixed mindset person I've discovered that I am in many areas a fixed mindset person. OUCH! But what's worse is realizing that many of the things which I have said and done, thinking I was encouraging others and building them up to achieve success, were in fact helping them to fail. OUCH! OUCH! Well the good news is that you can change your mindset.
   
   Greg Marquez
   goyomarquez@earthlink.net



3. The underlying principle of the book - that valuing hard work is ultimately a better motivator than valuing inherent ability - seems to be a sound one. As another reviewer said, the problem with this book is that the author gets that across in the first chapter. After that, it's example after example, anecdote after anecdote, hypothetical situation after hypothetical situation. The only tool the author offers that would help you to bring this principle to your life, is basically "just do it". Other than the repetition of "you should value this rather than that, because it works better," you get nothing but a conclusion. I didn't find it that useful, even though I liked the underlying principle.



4. I first read about Dweck and her research in a NYT article on child development. This is the dose of reality that we all need after years of "positive thinking" mantras. Without responsibility, action and growth-orientation, we block the positive path and fail to realize our potential. This book hammers the points home with detailed anecdotes from business, sports and general society.. plus the research that backs it up is solid.



5. I had read some parts of the book and decided to own a copy. The price is not cheap but when I received the copy, it looks like everything is shrunk. The paper is very low grade and dark.
   Go for the hardcover or CD if you want to own one!!!!