Nonfiction Books

If you love Walt Disney World and enjoy a little behind the scenes trivia, then this book is for you. Beautifully printed with pictures and lots of insights to how my favorite park has evolved. Fun stuff to pass the time with.

I am admittedly a Disneyphile, but this book was great as sort of a pocket reference to many of the details at Epcot. I thought it was great to read about many of the little touches many people probably miss. In a park as detailed as Epcot, truly a huge book could be filled, but this guide was great as an overall overview while still calling out some key details.

I love to read about the designing and background to the evolution of the Parks & Pavillions. Each one gets 2-4 thin pages. I'm still looking for the book that gives the depth that Jason Surrell did for his "Pirates OTC" book.

I'm a certified Disney nut who enjoys reading about anything Disney - films, Walt, and (of course) Walt Disney World. That said, I bought "The Imagineering Field Guide to the Magic Kingdom" about a year ago, and I really enjoy it. I think it evokes the magical feeling you get when you walk down Main Street USA. If you can't be in The World, taking a virtual walk through it isn't a bad option.

Since I enjoyed that book so much, I wanted to buy the "Epcot" version. I was curious to see how good a job it would do at describing Epcot's origins - IE, go back to the EPCOT days and discuss Walt's determination to build a city that would function more efficiently than the cities of his day did. I thought the book did a decent job with that. It doesn't spend a huge amount of time on the subject, but I think that's appropriate. It's meant to be a happy (and brief) overview of a neat place, not an avenue through which to lament the EPCOT that could have been.

Epcot visitors will expect the book to be divided into two basic sections - Future World and World Showcase. It is. It talks about the three different sections of Future World (East, West, and Central), and it provides information on each World Showcase pavilion. Other topics - like Kidcot stops and Illuminations - are also considered. Tidbits of information are presented on all major attractions. I thought that it skimped a little bit on a couple of headliners, particularly Mission: Space and Test Track.

The biggest 'con' I associate with this book is that, for me, it fails to evoke the feeling that you get when you're at Epcot. The biggest 'pro' is that it's an informative, fun read about Walt Disney's most ambitious undertaking. For $10, it's a worthwhile addition to your Disney library.

This book has amazing information on the building of Epcot...what went into it and how it grew from conception to finalization. A great Disney lover book!

This book was worth every cent to my girls ages 12 and 9. We took it on a trip just recently and it kept them busy for a long time. They love the friendship bracelet craft, the doodle area, the game boards, cats cradle string games and the licence plate checklist! My son was not particularly interested in this item since the crafts seem more geared toward girls. I don't recommend it for younger children, since it will be a little above their level. It's perfect for kids age 7-8 through teens.

There are some used ones for sale, but you need to purchase a new one for this type of book. The used ones will be written in, and have the activity pages filled in already which is no fun. Each child needs their own copy.

My children are getting a little older and needed some more engaging activities for road trips, and this book was just the thing we needed. The Klutz books are always fun, and this one is one of their best, and it is perfectly designed for back seat survival! We road test lots of different items because of my website, and this item was definitely a hit. I give it two thumbs up, and so do my girls. We will be bringing it on all our trips from now on.

A long roadtrip can be hard on kids no matter what they're ages. This had something for everyone. It had crafts for the daughter and games for the son. It included everything that was necessary (no hunting for makers or pens) and included a two page list of all the license plates of the US with a spcae to mark the date and where you saw them. They kep a look out for unusual ones along the way.

It is a truly excellent book. It really does the job of keeping a child occupied. I bought it for my 9 y.o. and he was totally consumed by it. I didn't hear a single peep during the whole trip! He had some other activity books on the back seat, but this one was his absolute favorite! We played games from the book together, he tested the adults' IQ, he checked if we really knew traffic rules, he marked down all license plates of states other than his home one, and so on... Everything from the book was real fun for everybody in the car! Highly recommended!

I have 9 year old twins who thought this was a good book. The packet of activities came with some items that needed scissors. Make sure to pack your own. They had a fun time with it and it was a good hit on the 10 hour road trip we had. While they didn't play it the whole time they did use it through out the trip. It was a good sturdy book that will last for some time to come.

I actually used this book as a child on long car trips. I remember it fondly. I have 2 sisters and we all played quite nicely with this...for a while. The only problem was we wanted to do different things in different parts of the book. This led to 3 little girls squabbling over a book. Not fun! My advice is to get 1 per child.

Again, I purchased this book for a small friend. I read it first and enjoyed it, but his mother tells me he and his brother also enjoyed the stories.

This is a fun book that my daughter and I are reading together. She is 8 and I wanted to teach her some of the Buddhist precepts I find character building. She loves the stories.

While many children's books deal with fiction this book speaks of the reality of here and now. It is thought provoking on a child's level teaching spirituality and awareness. My six year old seems to enjoy listening to the stories.

My daughter (2) is a little young for this book yet, but I read it and think it is wonderful for children. If you have children about 6 or older who are having a difficult time or are angry about something, this book would be great. Even if your children are happy though, there are wonderful lessons here for everyone and that can help the world to become a more peaceful place.

I bought this book for my wife as she was getting ready to start law school in the fall of 2007. Prior to buying this book, she had taken a summer enrichment class aimed at developing the skills necessary to succeed in her first year in law school. My wife read this book after finishing her summer class and before the actual start of her real classes; she did this following one of her professor's advice. Well, she is glad she did! Everything she had done in class was referred to in the book, plus further tips on how to be on top on her law school assignments. So, if you have decided to go to law school, this is the book you need to ace your first year!!
I, myself, am a lawyer too, and I know what a head start she has accomplished.

If you are already a good reader, then this book probably won't help you much. There are some basic tips which help to orient beginners to some of the lingo, style, and format of (particularly) legal opinions...which are OK but something which isn't surprising/new/presented in an amazing fashion.

The heart of the book appears to be getting people who are poor or so-so readers to realize that reading is *the* primary tool used by law school students and good lawyers, and gives prescriptions for trying to make you a more engaged readers. McKinney teaches at a law school, and so can be said to "have done well for herself," so her ideas may be helpful...but if you're already a good reader, you already are engaged, etc. Her emphasis on being an active reader may be just what you are already doing; it seems to be (again!) directed towards readers who are not careful to actually understand what they read, who gloss over words/phrases they don't know, who don't "get" the importance of transitional phrases which clue the reader in to important clarifications, qualifications, etc.

She has some exercises which may or may not be helpful, too, to try to stimulate you to use her system of reading.

Besides pushing a more active reading, McKinney has an emphasis on being generally involved in one's law school education; part of what is said is to go ahead and make provisional assumptions/hypotheses/guesses about what is going on, being willing to update them in the light of new information, etc. Though she is supposedly helping you to use your time better, some of it is a bit overboard and certainly extra work for very little bang: for example, she wants you to guess and write down what some brief will be about, rather than just reading it and finding out...

Also, she seems to think that she has discovered something amazing when she asks readers to visualize, e.g., the facts of the case; she puts a huge emphasis on bringing one's own experiences to the task of reading, apparently in an attempt to get people more motivated/invested in what they are doing. If McKinney had taken the time to understand the current theory of ways that we learn--visual, aural, tactile--then she would have presented this better and also with a little more humility. She is a visual learner, apparently, so this method worked for her; you should use what works for you.

Her "method" uses an acronym which has to work too hard. Several letters stand for more than one word/idea, and "E.M.P.O.W.E.R." is just too much like people writing down "knowledge is power" without actually working to have the knowledge.

As you might have gleaned from the above, one of her unspoken goals appears to be just encouraging law school students to "hang in there," that they *will* "get it" if they apply themselves, and not to be afraid of having an opinion which might not conform to what others think, etc. In short, ask lots of questions, read actively, participate a lot, and you'll get more out of being a student.

I may not be the most unbiased reviewer (I want to UNC Law and know Ruth well) but this is one of the best, if not THE best, book to help law students get through their first days of law school. I use the book myself (I also teach law) and it has the best skill-building exercises I have used. As a legal writing collegue of mine said, "Ruth should walk around with a tiara all day--she really is the queen of legal writing!"
Incredible book. If you buy one book before starting law school to help you prepare for your first semester, this should be it.

When I was asked to teach the "critical reading curriculum" at The University of Iowa's Phillip G. Hubbard Law School Preparation Program, I researched methodically to find a text that would be "on point" as they say in the legal world. Ruth Ann McKinney's Reading Like A Lawyer is just that. Written in an engaging and easy to read style, McKinney teaches prospective and current law students all the skills necessary to successfully understand a variety of legal documents. These skills include learning to brief a law case and analyze casebook law, learning how to decipher the complexities of analyzing statutes, and discovering how to read legal cases outside a law classroom's casebook. The strength of McKinney's text is that she provides you with real edited casebook cases, real-world statutes, and real non-casebook (i.e. unedited) cases, ready for the reader to read first-hand. McKinney then supplies the student with a list of questions to help them hone valuable legal reading skills. After a student finishes learning how to read a case, and then reads it, a highlighted and annotated version of the same legal case appears, wherein McKinney demonstrates the areas in the case that are important and should have been identified as important by the reader. Reading these annotated cases is akin to entering the mind of an experienced high level attorney as s/he reads and analyzes a case. When I brought McKinney's Reading Like A Lawyer to the attention of the Dean of Students at The University of Iowa's School of Law, Dean R. Chayce Ramey, I was delighted to learn that he often recommends McKinney's text to law students, and that he himself refers to it when teaching legal skills. I was surprised to see so few reviews of McKinney's text, and I suspect part of the reason is that this is one book many competitive law students would like to keep a secret. Well, the secret's out of the bag -- McKinney's book is an outstanding must read for all prospective and current law students!

Dr. Ervin Nieves
Critical Reading Instructor,
Phillip G. Hubbard Law School Preparation Program
The University of Iowa

It was wonderful giving to the young one's in my life something that brought me such joy and fun when I was their age.

This music has been listened to in our family for years! My oldest (who is now in her mid 20's) remembers them!

A WONDERFUL C.D. for kids and adults, it will bring back memories of the songs you once sang. Our grandchildren LOVED it!

My children grew up on these songs, and now they are growing up with children of their own and wanted to pass the music on. Fun!!

We are using this CD with our Awana class at church. The other teachers and I were looking for a song that would teach the old and new testament books. Wee Sing has a song for each and the children love them.

I bought this book to read to my 6th grade math class. We had been working on perimeter and area and I was trying to explain the Pythagorean Theorem to them as an introduction to what they would see in 7th grade. Only the "math" minds were really able to get the concept, until I read them the book. The book goes into great detail using fantastic visuals that link well to the story. The kids loved it and many more said they were now able to understand the formula. I'm even planning on showing it to my 8th grade coworker - they were having trouble understanding it as well.

This is probably the most enjoyable way I have come across to teach Pythagorean Theorem to my children. It's one of those special books which children will read without realising they are learning a mathematical concept. Highly recommended to teachers and parents grappling with this sometimes difficult topic!

I teach high school math and read this book before vacation when the kids aren't keen on "doing math". They LOVE it, especially since they've been using the pythagorean theorem for years.

This is generally a good book about the Pythagorean Theorem. I was disappointed, however, that someone did not catch the gross anachronisms before publication. In the book young Pythagorus travels to Alexandria, Egypt. However, Pythagoras was born (as the book points out) around 569 BC. This predates Alexander the Great by more than 200 years. Of course Alexandria would not have existed before Alexander the Great. Also as Pythagoras' ship approaches Alexandria, you can see the great lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, in the background. The lighthouse wasn't built, however until around 271 BC - even after Alexander's death. I know it's just a fictional children's book, but come on. Our children deserve a little better research.

Well let me tell you you are wrong if you don't already have this book! This book is simply breathtaking. I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to get it! I've never heard a Harriet Tubman story told quite this way before. She prays to God and listens to His responses to lead her away from slavery that first fateful time. I actually felt like I was there...hiding...holding my breath. Will she make it? Of course we know the answer but the way the book s written is just amazing.

Now on the equally tantalizing images. Kadir Nelson lives up to his reputation here. Quality through and through with this project. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it.

Beautiful pictures, historically accurate account of Harriet Tubman in a personal way, told from her point of view. Excellent for thrid graders.

This book is truly inspirational. It shows what one person in God's hand can do to change the world around them. Harriet Tubman was truly a heroine. She was a humble person who was raised up to do a great and mighty thing. The illustrations are wonderfully drawn and the writing is almost poetic. This is a wonderful story for parents who are trying to teach their children about social justice, hearing the voice of God, and communing with Him. I highly recommend it!

This is a very spiritual book. We have a copy for our home and gave one to the Godparents. It has a creative flair to it and lots of wisdom. It is a good guide to remembering to trust in God.

This is a wonderful inspirational book I found for my grandchildren. You do not need to be of African heritage to appreciate the message that it was God that got her through her trying circumstances. Great history lesson too. Don't relegate it to Black History Month only.

While this is a great piece if you want to step inside a virtue theorist's mind, as an actual philosophical text it is rather poor.
While it is obviously religiously biased, it is Lewis' own circular paradoxes that lead to a flawed system of logic that can not support itself.

I was struck with amazement as I read this most beneficial and interesting book! There are so many books to choose from these days for inquiry or answers to the brokenness in our modern day populace, but this one proved to be top-notch in this writer's opinion. The writer's skill conveys keen insights into the mind to understand mankind's condition, including interpersonal relationships from the intellect. Dead hypothesis that would try to excoriate the common sense displayed here in this wonderful little treatise would no doubt fall by the wayside. Can we see the signs of the times from the author's wisdom? Where is the world headed anyway? Read this little book for some answers. I've got a much better perspective on life now due to the dulcet manner of the author; the way he draws on the treasures intrinsic in all of us to begin with. Doubtless you will not find anything insipid within the two covers. A very powerful book indeed! Lewis displays a virtuoso's flair for observing absolutes unequivocally. I will keep one of the copies of two I purchased for my book shelf and the other one for a gift. The Den of IniquityC.S. Lewis: The Signature Classics Audio Collection: The Problem of Pain, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, Mere Christianity

This is a marvelous book for showing the rank and file American college freshman just how he or she may have been unwittingly propagandized in the lower grades. The reigning studenty "philosophy" these days is indistinguishable from classical sophistry's arguments that "everything is relative" and -since everyone has a right to his opinion - that all opinions are necessarily of equal value. I suspect this "philosophy" began its march toward triumph in the first grade when a color blind student, Johnny, misidentified a color, the other students, being naturally cruel, laughed, and the "caring" teacher correctly instructed them not to, but for a cockeyed reason, that "Johnny has a right to his opinion!"

Taking off from such a spot, sophistic relativism invariably before long comes to be embraced by the young with complete uncritical dogmatism, the opposite idea that some judgments are more apposite than others being wholly ignored by "caring" teachers, if not dismissed as patently invidious "judgmentalism." Like Socrates before him, C.S. Lewis here does battle with such lapses in critical thinking, assuming, as did his Greek predecessor, the objective existence of the Good, the True, and the Beautiful, and offering instances of the recurrent Natural Law drawn from many cultures. Defending the position that values are indeed objective, Lewis aims is to call much needed attention to this bracing alternative to the regnant view that all values are necessarily subjective, and therefore, in fact, trivial. Through his usual combination of shrewd wit, clear thinking and epigrammatic style, Lewis succeeds admirably.

This book is a series of three talks where Lewis illustrates the breakdown of education , from a system which embraces natural law, truth, and virtue, to one which embraces much of nothing and feeds back nothing. It is perhaps a bit dated now as teaching methods have moved on (though not necessarily in positive directions), but yet it still has much to say as we contemplate the inadequacy of our present systems and what we need to reclaim to restore them.

In this brief book, C.S. Lewis discusses the failing of relativism and affirms the existence of objective moral values. This system of objective values, which Lewis calls the Tao, must be granted if there are to be any values whatsoever. In a long appendix at the end of the book, Lewis shows that all (or almost all) cultures, both past and present, have affirmed some basic moral principles that are part of the Tao. Against the relativist claim that all socieities have their own moral codes, Lewis demonstrates that all humans are guided by an underlying system of objective values which they may or may not recognize.

In the third and final chapter, Lewis foresees a day when men have complete control over the destinies of the next generation. Should men achieve an take advantage of such power, it would not mean that man had finally dominated nature. Rather, it would mean the abolition of man. Unguided by the Tao, man's decisions about what future generations should be like would by guided only by natural impulses. Thus, by destroying the Tao and attempting to dominate nature, man can only succeed in destroying himself.

Like always, Lewis writes with great clarity and intelligence. "The Abolition of Man" is an enjoyable read and certainly worth checking out.

The first half of the book was really good, I really liked both of the stories, but the end was pretty cheesey and I didn't love it. Worth reading, but not on my favorites list. (Mark of the Lion and Redeeming Love are much better)

Let me begin by saying that I loved the Mark of the Lion series and enjoyed Redeeming Love. But as I was reading this book and witnessing a realistic picture of a family falling apart I felt as though a black cloud was hovering overhead. I HAD to finish this book in one day or else I would have been scowling at my husband (of no fault of his own, merely the actions of a fictional man!!!) while feeling a darkness in my heart. For, as always, Rivers writes with such emotion that you can literally feel the pain of the character. If you want a feel good story THIS IS NOT IT!!!

I LOVE historical fiction so I thought I might enjoy this contemporary laced with a historical story. Interestingly enough, I found that the historical story bored me. It was sad but, I suppose it's because it was in a diary format, I didn't really get too into the characters... therefore I didn't get into the story. I was half tempted to skip it entirely. Instead I just scanned the journal entries to get back to the main story athand.

Boy, and that story... what a depressing story. First this Jerk of a husband makes life-changing decisions without consulting with his wife and then seems stumped by her bitterness!! He doesn't even make an effort to try and console his wife. They were both exceedingly selfish characters, neither caring a lick for the other's feelings. She continues wallowing in bitterness and resentment instead of trying to make the best of things.

Before long things spiral out of control!!! And her mom!! I don't want to spoil the story but the loss Sierra faced--all alone!!-- broke my heart.

The adultery aspect... wow. I don't want to give away the ending so I will just say this. I wouldn't blame her if she never took him back. I certainly would not be able to. And if she did she is a more gracious person than ANY of the ladies I know.

Great book and story line --- God can use us even when we are having an attitude problem, Both women in the story realized the blessing God had already given them.

It was a GREAT book. I couldnt put it down! I feel that she taught me something about myself and loving others on every page! I would recommend this book to EVERYONE !!!!

"The Scarlet Thread" has two on-going stories at once and both are entertaining and hold one's attention. One story is set in the present and the other deals with an ancestor from the past.

The present day story portrays how a man has lost himself in his climb on the corporate ladder and thinks he's outgrown his wife. Ms. Rivers weaves a great story as the husband gets his eyes opened and faces losing his family almost before he knows what's happened. He comes to find out his wife is not as docile as he once thought and once she truly seeks God's help, the hubby is in for the ride of his life.

It's a joy to recommend this inspiring book to others.

As a kid my dad gave am Popular Mechanics compilation from the 30's. They had projects that were amazing and challenging. My dad and I a ball building stuff out of this old book. This is the same sort of book.

My hubby requested this book for his 55th birthday and really enjoys it.As soon as he's done with his current remodeling project,he'll probably start on a project from this book.

This is an interesting read if you enjoy old books and are a do-it-yourself type person, but it's not good if you are hoping for some old type projects to do. The articles don't seem to be quite detailed enough to actually build most of the items and a lot of the projects are simply lame. No "boy mechanic" would be interested in doing a lot of these today. I guess some people were more easily entertained back then.

I found a lot of interesting things in this book. I think it is a great reference for any parent that has boys and enjoys spending time with them with projects that capture their attention and curiosity.

I wished I had this book when I was a boy. I believe this book will excite anyones imagination young and old. It is well written and worth the money to buy and the time to read.