Social Sciences Books

I begin graduate school this fall to become a therapist and this was my best summer read thus far on therapy. It's very well written and very honest.

My human sexuality professor recommended this book. She stated it helped her when she was beginning to practice. I am an LAPC and when I began to read this book, I could not put it down. It normalizes so many feelings that beginning therapists have. Please get this book, I am re-reading it!!

I really enjoy this book. I like the way the author is so blunt and frank about the pros and cons of psychotherapy. Gives a realistic view of what I will most likely encounter later in my career.

Absolutely the best book to read for a therapist, whether beginner or well experienced in the field. It's so honest, with a hint of humor, and laid out so organized. The progression from introducing the concepts to applying in day to day therapist work is very well thought out and written. It doesn't pathologize any real personal feelings that a therapist can have during and about their work, but instead it accepts it as it is, and then tries to help one understand where it's coming from. When I read this book, it helped me feel so validated about my own frustrations with my work, and also helps me reflect my own part in it, and what I can do next. I've taken a more self-awareness and directive approach in pursuing my career as a therapist after reading this. It is not pretentious at all, yet so very precise and well-supported by discussions of what it means to be a therapist. I think every therapist should read this to be an ethical therapist in the field, and also for own personal self-care in our profession. I'm in love with this book.

Its the first time I read one of Kottler's books. Incredibly easy to read, very organised, extremely practical and inspiring in its honesty of the good, the bad and the ugly of the therapist's calling. I keep it in a draw to read my favourite parts before a session. A must for the novice therapist. The other "bible" I keep re-reading is Mary Pipher's "Letters to a Young Therapist". Brilliant!

My book arrived within five days of placing my order, which was wonderful because I started class the very next day. There was some writing in it as described, but I don't care because it's a book, and as long as I can read the text, that's all that's really important. Anyway, the book was in great condition, it was the right edition, and it's easy to read. Thanks for the great service!

This book is a great example of the passive exploitation of the college textbook market. Publishers have perfected the art of having an expert slap together material that is not elaborated upon enough for advanced students, or which repackages information that can be obtained cheaply (or freely) elsewhere. Then the publisher can charge a grossly inflated price for the book, encourage professors to require it for students, then keep the price high by forcing scarcity in the marketplace for those same students who are forced to buy a copy at any cost. This particular book will only ever be purchased by college students in communications law, most of whom can get 99.9% of the knowledge herein for FREE. Here's the rub - this book is almost entirely made up of reprints of court case documents, which record the rulings and reasonings of judges. But if you are a college student - that is, a member of the only possible market demographic for this book - then your college probably offers free or inexpensive access to database services (such as LexisNexis or WestLaw) that compile this information for scholars.

In this book, the "author" Zelezny has supplied a brief introduction that is so brief as to be useless. Then each chapter has an introductory page that features a paragraph on the overall topic, followed by a list of one-sentence descriptions of why each of the selected cases is of interest. Then the court documents for each of the cases are simply reproduced (with some omissions that enhance brevity but damage full learning), and only a handful of those cases are supported by any explanatory introductions or conclusions from Zelezny. In short, Zelezny just barely tells you why he's reprinting information that is free elsewhere. Instead of buying this completely extraneous book, the student would be better served by simply learning which cases are considered classics in communications law, then reading the cases (plus their supporting documents to boot) on the computer network offered by the campus that holds the class that requires this book. Guess which one costs less. [~doomsdayer520~]

"Must-have" if you're interested in law or law school bound...Superb reference and learning book (there is also a Study Guide -- harder to find); you'll keep this book for years of use! If you take a Criminal Justice course, this is the text you should hope the prof demands. It is truly the best out there. Yes, it's pricy - but worth every dollar.

The title was all that attracted me to this book. It seemed poorly written and nobody in our book club enjoyed this book. The characters came and went and then reappeared (the book was in chronological order versus taking one character at a time) which made it confusing. It was a hard read. I actually got through another book club pick "Andersonville" by Kantor- almost 1000 pages with less trouble.

Although this book was listed by the vendor, it was out of stock so I never got it. My account was credited, but why list the book when it isn't available.?

I recieved the book promptly. The book is in good condition. I am currently enjoying the book and it is alway nice to see history thru a woman's eyes. Thank You Cokie Roberts

One of the most sophomoric books to hit the market in a while, the prose is bad, the content is mere filler of cute stories of women doing very little, and the author can't stay on the subject at all.

Ms. Roberts did a fine job on sharing the little known history of our founding mothers. It opens one's eyes to the role women really did play in the war for independence.

The seller was quick and the book came in very good condition. Keep up with good job!!

The book was all highlighted in certain chapters. It was false advertise like new. I wish I had spent the extra five bucks on a new one so I could made my own highlights instead of having all highlighted with different colors like in three chapters. Thank god, I only used the book twice for 2 important chapters.

The book came quickly and came in great condition! I was very happy with my purchase.

The book (that I received very quickly), looked like it came right off the shelf...just like new. Thank you soooooo much!

Crossan-Towers is a fabulous introduction to child abuse and neglect for undergraduates and graduates students alike.

My daughter recently tore her ACL playing soccer at the club level. She was a freshman in HS, at the time. I wish I had come across this book before that fateful day and not a month after.

Warrior Girls is well-written, well thought out, and well-researched. The first chapters are grim with cautionary tales of promising female athletes who were forced to give up their dream of a career in sports because of serial injuries. Fortunately, as the book progresses, the author passes on information about research that is being conducted and prevention programs that are being adopted for the prevention of these serious, debilitating, and purposely ignored injuries to our teen-aged daughters!

My daughter's surgeon told us it is very unlikely that she will tear her ACL again. However, after reading this book, I've learned that my daughter my have a pre-disposition to knee injuries and without some sort of training and prevention program, she may likely do it again! More parents and coaches should be aware of the terrible risks to our daughters' health and sports careers and insist that schools and clubs institute an injury prevention program.

A must-read for parents, coaches and club-directors!

This book will help you protect your daughter from over zealous coaches. It's an incredibly interesting story. It's wonderful that girls are able to participate in sports like never before. It's not wonderful when they're on the sidelines in crutches.

This book will show you how to prevent your daughter from becoming an injury statistic. It will empower parents who are not familiar with the modern sports culture to protect their children. You'll learn how to recognize when your child is doing too much and a coach is demanding too much.

It's a wonderful story and very interesting to read.

Girls are suffering ACL injuries (which can take as much as year to recover from) at an alarming rate in soccer games and similar sports. Sokolove reviews the evidene about these injuries and suggests valuable training reforms that might spare these girls from such devastating injuries. This is a "must read" for any dad or mom whose teenage daughter is in competitive soccer, basketball, lacrosse, or similar sport.

This book is the story of Helen, a ghost, who falls in love with another ghost within a living body. Overall, a good book. The beggining drags, the end is somewhat strange, but acceptable. I enjoyed this book thoroughly, hopefully there will be other writings by this author.

I really liked this book. It kept my attention all the way through. I will say that the topics in the book were a little mature for some of the younger readers, but as an adult I was not offended or surprised. I would definitly recommend this book to all my friends.

This 'first novel' story of FORGIVENESS, LOVE, HAPPINESS, and HOPE, is inspiring (although a little sketchy) and a very good read for a young heart not interested in cheesy epic love stories.
Being `Light' (ghost) is the absolute worst thing to be, according to Helen. As Apposed to being `Quick' (human) or even just dead.
Helen is Light, stuck for one hundred and thirty years, as a wandering soul clinging to her each host (human) until they pass, as... well nothing, unable to remember anything about her past. Wondering why God left her behind.
This story is about how Helen meets one like herself and realizes that it wasn't God that needed to forgive her, but in fact herself that was needed to forgive her.

Just an ordinary day for a Light. Hovering above her beloved host, who hadn't the slightest inclination of her existence, in his English class, when one of the student looked her dead in the eye. She thought at first she had imagined it because no one could have possibly seen her... she was dead. But the next day he looked again, this time even smiled. His name was Billy Blake, at least that was what was believed. In fact, his name was James. A Light like Helen who had taken over the empty body of Billy.
And the story begins!!! The twisted fate of love, fear, and suspense takes these to characters for the ride of their afterlife time. Involving Helen taking on a body of her own, falling in love with James, realizing the consequences of interfering on the life of a Quick, and forgiving herself.


AN AWESOME FIRST NOVEL FOR WHITCOMB AND AN AWESOME READ FOR YOUNG ADULTS (PG-13) OR JUST THE YOUNG HEARTED ADULT !!!

A wonderful book with lyrical, poetic prose. I'm not sure that I'd give it to a young adult (perhaps 17/18 and older), but I thought it was beautiful and creative.

I really loved this book. It's romantic, w/o being mushy or too naughty, it's got the paranormal slant on it, and I really just all around loved it. I also really liked the mystery secret of her curse. I thought it was a really wonderful book.

I just read about All Souls in the NYTBR this past weekend and read it this week -- it was really riveting, great writing, an intricate web of a story. The self interestedness was made really compelling. Good book.

As brilliant and powerful as Florida, and so different. Every one of Schutt's books has had an impact on my life for one reason or another, and this one is no different.

There aren't any descriptions of tranquil happy school years, those "good old golden rule days" are prehistoric in Christine Schutt's spot on story of the students, parents, and teachers at Manhattan's Siddons School for Girls. A New York prep school teacher herself Schutt well knows of what she writes, and she does so with always delicate, sometimes sparse yet revelatory prose. Characters are displayed to a farthing in snippets of conversation or thoughts.

At the center of the story is Astra Dell, a senior class girl who is suffering from a rare form of cancer. She is that "pale girl...the dancer with all the hair, the red hair, knotted or braided or let to fall to her waist, a fever, and she consumed."
Her father is scarcely able to cope with his beloved daughter's illness. He longs for Grace, his late wife who was killed in an auto accident. Despite Astra's suffering, knowing his sorrow, it is she who tries to console him.

Carlotta Forestal, known as Car, is Astra's best friend. Car has an eating problem, devoting the tense meals shared with her mother to simply pushing and mashing the food on her plate. She has a retreat - her father's apartment to which she has a key. She would go there simply to wander about and phone. It is there that she can light a cigarette and "ash it on the table." Mr. Forestal had an unlisted number and her mother didn't know it, so she was safe. Car thinks of Astra and writes frequent notes to her, which are added to the surfeit of good wishes, balloons and flowers that decorate her hospital room.

Another who often thinks of Astra is Marlene Kovak who visits her often, and pens lengthy letters to her. These missiles are sometimes single spaced and three pages long. Marlene will sit in a corner of the school lounge, listening, taking notes, all to be relayed to Astra. A misfit among the daughters of wealth Marlene is an enigma. She attends Siddons solely because her mother, Theta, borrowed money to keep her there. Theta works in a dentist's office to maintain their modest home and make payments on her debt. Theta is as out of place among the mothers as Marlene is among the students, most of whom are economically privileged and emotionally deprived.

Some other soon to graduate students are Alex and Suki, best friends, who yearn to be party girls and whose college acceptance is assured thanks to family wealth. Although in a group they often engage in sub rosa conversations. As obsessed as they are with their own futures they, too, are affected by Astra's illness, remembering that she came back to school the day after her mother's funeral and agreeing, "She's perfect."

Add to this mix the teachers, specifically Anna Mazur who had come to New York from Michigan seeking "sophistication and experience." She found neither, is attracted to Tim Weeks, the most popular teacher at Siddons, and continuously confuses the names of two black girls. When asked, "Do we all look alike, Miss Mazur?" The thought is "The problem was the girls did look alike."

Another faculty member is Dr. Meltzer, "a fat man who smelled like the movies." After a mishap in class, he screams at a girl, "Who do you think you are?" The reply is "A Du Pont."

This is the world Schutt invites us to enter, and it is a fascinating one peopled with finely wrought characters and quite memorable.

- Gail Cooke

Schutt is a master of the incidental, those small moments, some brittle, some brilliant, revealing the human psyche in all its flaws; the briefest glimpse of what we conceal from others, is here exposed. The author brings a fresh, incisive perspective to this novel, in this case the rarified environment of the Siddons School in Manhattan's Upper East Side. To be sure, these students are privileged, their world barely marred by the harsh reality that plagues the less well off. Their sensibilities honed on the classics, diverse languages and the experiences of world travel, these senior girls grapple with which colleges to attend and the angst of bidding farewell to the sheltered years of their expensive education. Through the mysterious illness (an obscure cancer?) that has struck one of the most popular students, Astra Dell, a particular poignancy imbues the novel. The elegant Astra, with her sheaf of glowing red hair, is a symbol of Siddons perfection, struck down by the cruel blow of an indifferent fate.

Astra's slow fall into devastating illness is solemnly monitored by Mr. Dell, his wife lost to a freak accident before Astra's illness; he longs for his wife's certitude and comfort in this grueling time, as he watches his daughter's slender form evaporate under the attack of the disease that can only be fought by extreme measures. Her spare hospital room a testament to the magnitude of the battle, a table is filled with cards bearing well wishes from classmates, a gentle chorus of "get well soon" and "we miss you" crushed by the violence of harsh treatments, as painful and ominous as Astra's disease. It is the haunting voices of these others, classmates, teachers, that create the narrative beyond Astra's hospital bed. It is difficult to allocate emotion to Astra's suffering in lives fraught with the petty dramas of adolescence on the cusp of a new beginning.

A lonely female teacher visits with the students' favorite bachelor teacher. Over the months, Anna Mazur hopes for more, but he clings to the constraints of friendship. Marlene Kovacs, who never fit in with the other girls, is a regular visitor, compelled to return to Astra's bedside, giving in to impulsive theft, letters from Astra's best friend, Car. In a fugue state of her own, Car Forester pens truths that transcend the usual discourse that passes for encouragement, mirroring Astra's dilemma in a frail grasp of life's daily disappointments. Pregnant with the egocentric imaginations of teenaged girls who cannot forget Astra, the characters are increasingly drawn to the demands of approaching graduation. Isolated in the unique self-centeredness of Astra's friends and acquaintances, the pall of death hovers, a shadow of what the world has so far only hinted at, one girl's easy journey through privilege shattered by a random stroke of fate. In this place, truth flickers like a candle. Luan Gaines/ 2008.