Nonfiction Books

My kid uses this book for middle school course. It is quite good, clear and in a certain depth for middle school student.

The item I purchased was the wrong edition; but, was not clearly identified as such. My 9th grade son went without a textbook for almost 2 weeks. I returned the book using the label you provided. You received the returned item and never gave me a credit on my purchase. I will have a very difficult time convincing myself to ever purchase anything from Amazon again.

This book is for my son's summer class. It's a typical modern textbook - bigger and heavier than and not as good as the book I used and still have that was first published in 1962.

Excellent workbook to accomany your learning of Spanish. Very clear in English how to proceed. The seller sent me a pristine book.

This book was delivered to me very quickly and in extremely good shape. I would buy books again!!! I had a very good experience.

This is a good workbook for reinforcing the materials in the textbook. There are different drills and interesting exercises to help learning Spanish.

The Mystical Mandala Coloring Book is a gorgeous book at a great price. I got this as a gift for a friend at work. We both enjoy coloring and the spiritual significance of mandalas. This book does a beautiful job of combining both.

These are a bit more intricate than my preferred style; however, I use them in creative writing workshops and many are drawn to them. Thanks for offering the diversity of images to appeal to all interests.

Friends gave me some art markers as a gift recently, and I quickly became addicted to designs like these. I've searched hundreds of similar products and have "test driven" about 15 of them now. This book turns out to be my favorite. I don't love EVERY design in the book, but I love enough of them that I'm about to order my 3rd copy. Yes, I could (and have tried to) photocopy the pages to avoid buying the book again, but the quality of the copy paper I have isn't very compatible with the Prismacolor Art Markers that I use. That doesn't mean that you can't or shouldn't make copies for yourself. I like this product so much that I don't mind spending $3.95, and I think I'm going to order a stack of them. The designs are that satisfying to me. I want to try them out in a variety of color patterns.

These designs offer such satisfying detail in a format that's NOT so small that you have to squint while viewing the page, yet neither are they simplistic, childlike, or so large that using markers results in streaks as you try to fill the space. The scale of the designs lends itself nicely to the Prismacolor art markers I use. If you like to use various shades of the same color, these designs are structured in a way that allows you to experiment wonderfully with that technique.

The quality of the paper isn't way off the charts, but it's a bright optic white and is of a much higher quality than what I've seen in far more expensive products. I'm satisfied with it! Yes, it's true that these images are printed on both sides of the page, so if you use permanent markers like I do, the ink bleeds through, rendering the back side of the page unusable. This is where you'd end up photocopying the other side of the page (if you have access to quality copy paper... if that matters) or buying more copies of the book.

For $3.95 I can't beat this book. I've spend HOURS absorbed in the designs. I posted about 10 of them into the "viewer's pages" section above... hopefully they're visible.

I absolutely recommend this product!

These mandala's have become my favorite Mandala's. I absolutly LOVE these. Beautiful, Magickal, and Fun. You SHOULD definately purchase this book!

Now, this is cool! If you are an adult enjoying coloring books to reduce stress, you couldn't pick one any better than this one! You might even want to get a second one, because the pictures are on both sides of the page. They are so nice that you might be tempted to cut them out and hang them on the wall.

of a wonderfully readable memoir: That's How the Light Gets In: Memoir of a Psychiatrist by Susan Rako, M.D. The title comes from a song by Leonard Cohen: "There is a crack, a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." Rako's book is remarkably candid, insightful, and gracefully written. It's a great read. The writing just flows.

This is classic Natalie Goldberg. I have read most of her work and was not disappointed by her latest look into the heart of writing...specifically a memoir. She is the kind of writer you can and must read over and over again, not only if you aspire to write, but if you aspire to live your life well.

Natalie Goldberg has done it again! As a teacher of fiction and memoir, I recommend this book to all memoir writers. Natalie has prompts that will intrigue and spur writers to put pen in hand or fingers to the keyboard.

By using these prompts, you can't do anything BUT write.

Catherine Alexander
Author and Instructor

Of what I have read so far, I really enjoy Ms. Goldberg's writing. Very down to earth and frank.

This morning at 4:30 I turned on the light to read a few more pages of Old Friend From Far Away. I skipped toward the end and read about how at a celebration for the twentieth anniversary of Natalie's first book, a woman who took her writing class when she was a young student at an alternative school, stood up to speak. The woman told her story of how one Monday Natalie brought in a bushel of rich red apples she'd picked the day before at an orchard near the school. This was a family orchard where a month before the oldest son had been killed in a bizarre gun accident. The woman revealed that this young man had been her first love.

When I got to the part where the woman explained how Natalie's writing class gave her an avenue for expressing her suffering and grief, I found myself sobbing (in a good way) with recognition of the truth of her words.

After the woman finishes telling her story Natalie writes:

"It's a holy thing to be a writer. It is why you want to write your memoir: to remember all of it. The good and the bad. To trust your experience, to have confidence that your moments and the moments of others on this earth mattered... It is a great thing you are doing whatever it is you are remembering. You are saying that life--and its passing--have true value."

I hesitated to buy Old Friend From Far Away since I already have Natalie Goldberg's other enormously helpful writing books. But all the praise from other writers is well-deserved. Every page makes me want to click my heels with delight--even the pages that make me cry. I wholeheartedly recommend this book!

--Suza Francina, author, The New Yoga for People Over 50 and other books for people at midlife and older.

I am very pleased with all the products I purchased through Amazon.com. Amazon has consistently been reliable, efficient, and reasonably priced. I recommend Amazon.com for all your shopping needs.

I highly recommend this history series for kids of a wide age range. 5-13ish. The kids just don't get this kind of exposure to the world and its history in traditional Public Schools anymore. You will really want to get the book to go with this if really get into it. (to create a time line and see maps and so on...)
We Love this!

I have the Story of the World book and workbook, and I thought having it on CD might be nice for the car. I have very much enjoyed the smooth voice of Jim Weiss in several other story cds I have by him. So it made sense to try this one.
Sadly, Jim sounds rushed in this cd. I think that kids will just space out much of what he says, because there are so many facts packed in at such a fast pace. I wish he would have taken his time, and ambled through history at a leisurely pace rather than the slightly tense and frenzied reading that he has done here. I felt compelled to take rushed notes, and stop and replay - not appropriate for this age!

Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer is incredible. It is an entertaining, informative, spectacular way, to a journey through history.
My daughters ages 8 and 6 love to listen at home or in the car. I am drawn in to listening as well. Thanks!

After reading all the reviews about SOTW I was hesitant to buy it. We are a very conservative, Christian, homeschooling family and some of the reviews made me wonder if this would be the best choice for our family. I decided to get the book form of Mystery of History and the audiobook of SOTW to use as a supplement. I haven't opened our Mystery of History yet (though I will soon...) but we finished the whole set of CD's for volume one of SOTW and will start volume 2 tomorrow. We listen to it in the car as we travel. My 7 and 8-year olds beg to hear more history every time we get in the car. My 4 and 5-year olds get a lot out of it as well.

I think listening to someone else read the book makes it more fun for all of us. It helps bring the stories to life. We have all learned so much about ancient history and I'm so grateful. Sure, we've learned a lot of ancient myths and about many of the Greek gods and all, but that is all a part of the history of the various civilizations, and we don't have any trouble explaining to our children what is true and what is make-believe or just plain false.

I would highly recommend this set to any family that wants to increase their knowledge of ancient history.

Teeth Are Not for Biting (Best Behavior Series)

This is a great book to read to toddlers to teach acceptable and unacceptable behavior. It has colorful pictures and using simple words easy to understand. This book also offers tips and advice at the end for parents and caregivers.

I wish I would have seen this book four months ago when my now 17 month old toddler was in his biting prime. Nevertheless, I still purchased it (his biting had already significantly decreased) and I'm very happy I did. Once in a while his biting will "resurface" and home we go after day care to take a look at his "Teeth Are Not For Biting" book. The words are very simple and catchy, the illustrations are perfectly colorful for a toddler (white and bright teeth being the focus) and he actually gets the hint that "teeth are not for biting"! I highly recommend this book to any parent of a baby/toddler. Good to have, especially before the problem begins.

The best behavior series is tackling children's less than desirable behaviors one by one;preventing kicking, hitting, the sharing of germs, tail pulling, and now, biting. The text highlights the benefits of teeth for activities such as chewing and smiling as well as acknowledging situations where children might want to bite and alternatives to biting. A variety of well-drawn illustrations present a variety of children in multiple environments. The text does not follow a predictable pattern-while some phrases are used repeatedly, the pattern changes a few times over the course of the text, from "Teeth are not for biting" to "Biting hurts" and back again, which may be confusing for the 0-3 year old audience. Parents may appreciate the resources for discouraging biting and assistance with teething available at the end of the book.

My son had a real problem w/ biting, but after reading this book over and over, I really saw a reduction. It's a cute book, great pictures. Def would buy it!

As the director of an early childhood facility, we go through cycles of biting with the children. This book is one of the most effective books we use to help children, families, and teachers work through this difficult developmental stage. We have two copies--one for the classroom and one to send home for the parents to read with their child.

One thing I admire about Jared Diamond is his ability (like Carl Sagan) to take complex issues and scientific concepts then molding them into comprehensive bites that the average reader can swallow. The Third Chimpanzee a book that Diamond had published in 1992 has come back into print because of the success of Collapse and Germs, Guns & Steel which is terrific since it tackles a very different series of subjects from the ability of animals to communicate with each other, natural selection and why homosapiens managed to come out on the top of the heap, how/why we find certain people attractive and select our mates to whether or not aliens are listening for our radio signals (and why we might be in big trouble because we gave them our address IF they were listening).

All of this falls under the general theme of the book which focuses on the nature and future of humanity. Diamond has a breezy, enjoyable style that most readers will find inviting and that makes the more complex scientific ideas that much easier to swallow (whether it be how scientist calculate how often we go through evolutionary change or which theory about why men have bigger...you know what than our nearest relatives).

Diamond's book is over 15 years old so things have changed a bit since he first wrote it although interestingly the very things that he suggested could happen do appear to be coming true in many cases so he's added a post script discussing some of these new ideas, etc. that weren't available when the book was written.

As with Diamond's other books he is very upfront about his thoughtful opinions on the subject he focuses on. Whether or not you enjoy the book will probably depend on whether or not you like to have your preconceptions challenged, you agree with him or both.

I thought this book made many interesting and intellectual connections between human nature and the evolution of primates. The author does an excellent job of substantiating his hypthesis with scientific and established facts. His predictions for the future of humans are logically explained.

That being said, some topics are over explained and repetitious.

Overall I think this book is very much worth reading.

I took away the following:

1. Humans are descended from animals. Diamond shows that the things we think distinguish humans from animals - art, language, lifecyle (long child rearing period, menopause, long lives) - have strong roots in our biological history. There is a TON of fascinating detail covering a wide range of topics, and is essentially an articulate reinforcement of the latest science showing the truth behind Darwin's theories.

2. Language is the key to rise of humanity. It's obvious, though, that humans are somehow unique, and the book postulates that language is the key. If humans are 98% the same genetically as chimpanzees, what small thing could make the huge evolutionary difference? The voice box and ability to form languages allow humans to cooperate, form more complex social organizations, and advance knowledge from one generation to the next. Language is the foundation of innovation, which has been essential to our rise. As someone who enjoys languages and can speak a few, I really liked this idea.

3. All humans are equal. Differences among humans in Africa, Europe, Middle East, Asia, the Artic, and so on are not based on genetic selection but rather sexual selection. I've read Stanford research that tracks maternal genes through the millenia and shows that humans spread from Africa to all corners of the world. Diamond postulates that the reason people look different is perhaps due to genetic adaptations to local environments (fairer skin in colder climates, etc), but more likely due to random changes reinforced by our predilection for choosing mates who look most like our own families. My favorite detail: people are more likely to choose mates with similar index finger length (0.6 correlation coefficient) than economic background (only 0.2).

4. Random distribution of geographic resources makes some cultures and societies more successful. From #3, Diamond goes on to say that the reason European culture has come to be pre-eminent in today's world is not because of genetic superiority. Rather, it is simply due to the fact that Europe (and its culture progenitors Greece and Rome) happened to be lucky enough to have the best natural resources. If you've played Risk, Civilization or World of Warcraft, this is pretty obvious. You want to found your cities or capture the areas where there are the most resources that allow you to build the biggest and most advanced armies (Diamond expanded this theory in his more famous book Germs, Guns and Steel, which I haven't read yet). But, I don't know. Though this theory is interesting and powerful, it sparked the biggest reaction in me. I found it somehow...Marxist, stating that all human history can be reduced to economic drivers. While I know resource advantages are helpful to some degree, my humanist side rejects this as the primary driver of history. Where is the role of the individual, of the struggle to grow and learn? Could it really be that Western culture produced Plato, Newton and Churchill simply because it happened to have plentiful deer, while other places didn't? Do I go to work everyday, invest time into my children and bust my tail without a single ounce of impact on the fate of my culture? Of course not, so though Diamond postulates this as a strong theory it gives only a partial explanation of history.

5. The end is near: beware of nuclear weapons and environmental catastrophy. In this area Diamond seemed to leave the field of science and enter that of personal political view. Most of the book felt deeply analytical and data driven, the last sections felt light on science in comparison. That said, I don't disagree with the point. It's just hard to accept when his argument for protecting endangered species is "you never know which one matters."

Overall, an enjoyable and thought-provoking read.

The only way to describe this book is 'excellent.' Starting with our evolutionary origins, Jared Diamond examines possible reasons for many uniquely human (or so you'd think) behaviors and oddities, ranging from art to relative penis size (after reading this book you will be able to say that you're better hung than a gorilla). Next, Diamond turns his focus to some of the nastier behaviors of human societies - genocide, racism, etc - and explores what recent findings mean to us as a species. Finally, in the last few chapters, Diamond goes on a conservation crusade, convincingly arguing the case for working toward a sustainable future. Read it - it will change the way you think of yourself and others in relation to the world.

Hey, my review is going to be broken down in to four sections, the introduction, the information that you can retain from this book, the interest level of this book, and the age group I recommend this to. This book (The Third Chimpanzee) talks about how us humans are what we are today and what came in the process of it. This is an interesting topic to speak about because it is a surprise to know what we came from and how our great ancestors chose the "right" mates for them, which eventually created us in the end.
I will be talking about a few of the subjects Jared Diamond covers in his book, the evolution of human sexuality is a very important subject, you will learn about how your ancestors chose their mates and what made them do it. You will learn about male jealousy over a female and the evolution of extra-marital sex. The chapter on how we pick our mates and sex partners will make you want to read even more, Diamond talks about the scientific studies about this subject and how we subconsciously become turned on by different characteristics in a male or female without even realizing it, as example the temperature of their hands or as funny as it sounds the way they give you a hug may allow you to make a subconscious decision for mating. The information you retain from this book is amazing, if you are looking to find as much information as possible about human evolution, this book is for you. Now, how interesting this book is to me, I do not know, even though this books hold a lifetime worth of information, there is also a lot of ranting and raving, so many people might become very bored with this type of writing. This book is just a very hard read, to get into it you MUST give it your full attention or else you wont really learn anything about. I found part three to be one of the most interesting subjects because it spoke about the origins of art and how some societies elaborated on it and how some did not. The reason this book is a crucial read is because Jared Diamond does not just question the reader he also provides them with answers that have been long awaited. I recommend this book to a 16+ age group, not necessarily because younger children could not understand the book, but it is long and tiresome and certain points, so they may lose interest. This book is excellent for any information seekers, that are looking for theories and scientific studies to back a book or essay they are writing about, yet I would not really recommend this to someone who just wants to read for fun. Jared Diamond also covers an interesting topic which might spark an interest in high school readers which talks about why people smoke, drink and use dangerous drugs. This book is full of fun and interesting information so you kids who are in high school or you students who are in college, I recommend you read this for it will benefit you in the future.

I am a long-time fan of James Herriot's books. I worked in an independent book store when I found this jewel, and I have given it at every baby shower and young child's birthday since. It is a collection of stories taken from his books and illustrated. The stories are sweet, poignant tales of the literary veterinarian's encounters with four-legged friends in England.

If you are an animal lover or Herriot fan, this is a must- see. The illustrations are realistic with a touch of warmth and they bring life to the stories that graced these literary masterpieces. Many friends and family who recently have had children love this gift. It is a book to be cherished and read to/with your children for years!

The binding is solid with a dustcover I remove when reading with small children (who love to rip my dustcovers!). The papers is a tolerant high gloss that can easily withstand sticky little baby fingers. My niece and I have clocked many hours reading and cleaning this book!

The stories in here are not just bedtime tales. This is life-enriching literature with quirky characters and poignant emotion which you will treasure for years to come. I got as much out of reading these to our son as he did, and you will all enjoy the illustrations. As with real living, the death of a beloved pet is included in one of the tales, so if your children would be upset by this, you might discuss beforehand.

Our 3.5 year old daughter loves this book. The illustrations are beautiful and the stories compelling. They are on a level that she can relate to without feeling condescended to. The stories are interesting and fun for adults to read and they are great to talk about afterwards.

My 7 yr old son and my 5 yr old daugher both LOVE this book. And so does mom! It has beautiful illustrations and the stories are warm and wonderful.

This is a great example of a living book. The stories transport the listener to another place, and the journey is a pleasure. My 5 and 8 year old daughters love these stories and their illustrations.