The Ovulation Method: Natural Family Planning

Customer Reviews:

Very Effective!!!!.......2007-07-15

I have been on the Billings Ovulation Method for a few years now and beleive me, if you don't cheat it is 99.99% effective. The downfall to this method is that you are not suppose to know exactly how to use it without instruction. There are ways to contact these instructers that can guide you through the process for a fee. Check with your local womens center or life center, they can help. I was able to go through my training course right here in my home for thirty dollars, and you don't have to be Catholic to use it. Good luck to you.

PS.. I did get pregnant during the time of practicing this method but it is because we chose to cheat on my most fertile day. An Anniversary and a few drinks will impair judgement like that so be careful...lol

Promotes the method but doesn't teach it.......2007-07-13

This slim book promotes the Ovulation Method, profiling its advantages and utility. But it is not an instruction book. I'm only giving it three starts because although it's well-written I'm not sure who the intended audience is, or what group might find it useful.

For someone looking to learn a mucus-only method, I would look to "The Billings Method:Controlling Fertility Without Drugs or Devices" by Evelyn Billings. For someone just interested in any kind of fertility charting, not specifically a mucus-only method, I highly recommend Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler as the definitive book in this category.

Well worth it!.......2007-01-13

The ovulation book was great. The book was a good price, it was packed full of information and came with a chart and pleanty of stickers to get you and your spouse started on the wonderful journey of natural family planning.

Could be Better.......2005-07-07

I was hoping that the book went into better detail. It did not help me. However, it was informative and an easy read.

Simple and quick.......2003-09-26

You can read this book in 30 minutes and understand it. After ordering this book I was recommended "Taking Charge of your Fertility" by a friend. Taking Charge is more complete but uses this information, however. By the time my amazon.com shipment arrived with the second book, I was already pregnant from the first time trying The Ovulation Method (we had tried to get pregnant approximately a year before getting this book). So read it. You can also use it to avoid getting pregnant. It works!

Average customer rating:

Speaks the Truth
Strong foundation for someone who wants to do what is right
This Book Changed my Life. Tolle, Lege.
Changed my heart...
The antidote to the outside world

Love and Responsibility
Pope John Paul II
Manufacturer: Ignatius Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Love & Romance | Relationships | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0898704456

Book Description

Drawing from his own pastoral experience as a priest and bishop before he became Pope John Paul II, Karol Wojtyla has produced a remarkably eloquent and resourceful defense of Catholic tradition in the sphere of family life and sexual morality. He writes in the conviction that science--biology, psychology, sociology--can provide valuable information on particular aspects of relations between the sexes, but that a full understanding can be obtained only by study of the human person as a whole. Central to his argument is the contrast between the personalistic and the utilitarian views of marriage and of sexual relations. The former views marriage as an interpersonal relationship, in which the well-being and self-realization of each partner are of overriding importance to the other. It is only within this framework that the full purpose of marriage can be realized. The alternative, utilitarian view, according to which a sexual partner is an object for use, holds no possibility of fulfillment and happiness. Wojtyla argues that divorce, artificial methods of birth control, adultery (pre-marital sex), and sexual perversions are all in various ways incompatible with the personalistic view of the sexual self-realization of the human person.

Perhaps the most striking feature of the book is that Wojtyla appeals throughout to ordinary, human experience, logically examined. He draws support for his views on the proper gratification of sexual needs, on birth control, and on other matters, from the findings of physiologists and psychologists. His conclusions coincide with the traditional teachings of the Church, which invoke scriptural authority. His approach ensures that non-Christians also can consider his arguments on their own merits.

Customer Reviews:

Speaks the Truth.......2007-09-24

This book gives an excellent analysis of human dignity and its relation to the beauty of human sexuality as a gift, and from that gift is life. The book gave me an insight on how our culture has exploited our human dignity and sexuality, such as viewing people as "objects" (e.g. pornography); this book speaks the Truth and I love it! I highly recommend this book for anyone who plans to read Theology of the Body, teach Theology of the Body for Teens, as well as teach Theology of the Body in marriage preparation courses or young adults groups.

Strong foundation for someone who wants to do what is right.......2007-06-27

Pope John Paul II provides answers to questions many don't ask, and most don't know how to answer. This book provides a strong foundation to those who seek to do what is right in relationships (relationship with God, significant other, fiance/ee, or spouse). The authority and correctness of this book has made me, a life-long Protestant, take a second look at the Catholic Church.

This Book Changed my Life. Tolle, Lege........2007-02-15

This is a poetically dangerous book. I first read it some ten years ago, just after having graduated college, when I was emerging from my adolescent decadence & skepticism.. I was searching for understanding, for faith. The thought herein is so limpidly potent it made me high, like great poetry. It radically changed my thought & heart for good. For better. It made me actually embrace the Faith, and the Church's ethic on sexuality & the human person. It really sheds the deepest insight, revealing the pith of what it means to be a human being. To be a man or a woman, a Christian.

So I cannot possibly recommend it highly enough. It should be read by, or explained to every Christian, not just Catholic. It ought to be a part of every Catholic's catechesis, as well as at the top of the reading list of anyone who seeks to understand the Faith.

[Aside: If you are a priest, have you quoted this book in a homily yet? Please, Father.. I mean, I realise hearing from the likes of S. Ambrose or John Chrysostom is waaay too much to ask, but can we get at least this much of the Tradition? Please? Is thirty years back already too far? By that mark we should have already had enough of the St. Louis Jesuits & their ilk by now.. and we all know we're *never* going to get sick of them!]

I've heard (or rather have read) some folks - a rank few - attack this work, and it's author, on the grounds that they are theologically suspect: for being phenomenalist. More Heidegger & Husserl, than Augustine or Aquinas.. For being modernist, in other words. Instead of being reactionary, the pope's too "liberal" for some. Funny. People are such a hoot.

All I can say is that I know nothing about this supposed masonic subversion of the papacy, myself. I only report the nattering for the sake of full disclosure, as it's the only negative criticism I've read of this book anywhere. Virtually every Catholic I respect who has read this book loves it.

Lots of folks from the other side of the spectrum shoot their mouths off and scratch their pens over the Church's teaching on sexuality in general, without ever really bothering to understand it. They call John Paul (and Paul VI & Benedict, etc., etc.) authoritarian killjoys, amongst worse things. (The Church's prohibition of condoms prevents the control of AIDS! Or didn't you know? Wait.. Or is it the Church's prohibition on sexual activity outside marriage? Is that killing people too? I get so confused.. Anyway..) They would never bother to touch this book. They cannot afford to give it a fair read. Like witches with water, trolls sun, vampires garlic, or Kal-El kryptonite, exposure to the truth in these pages burns.

Despite all the cocky posturing, I think many of them sense this.. They know it might actually awaken conscience, and move them to become someone they would rather not be. For, as we all know, an informed conscience can be a truly inconvenient thing. Tant pis..

But useful, nonetheless. Being that it can free you from unhappiness, addiction, "poor self esteem," and that ultimate killer of love, freedom & life: sin. Which is why this book and the "inconvenient" yet beautiful truth that it proclaims is so essential.

Purgatorial fire (Truth, Love) hurts, but cleanses.

Final admonition: acquire & read this book.

Changed my heart..........2006-12-13

This book is so beautiful and stunningly true. It took my breath away and it spoke to my heart. It brought me to a new understanding of my body and how I express Love through it. I feel that it is truly inspired by the Holy Spirit and is a "must read" in this age. It's a great companion to his "Theology of the Body."

The antidote to the outside world.......2006-07-27

"Love and Responsibility" is Karol Wojtyla's analysis of erotic love between men and women. Originally given as a series of university lectures in 1958-59, the book was first published in 1960, ironically the same year the first oral contraceptive pill was approved by the FDA. "Love and Responsibility" is the philosophical foundation on which Wojtyla (later known as John Paul II) based his "Theology of the Body".

The overarching theme of Love and Responsibility is the personalistic norm, whereby one treats others as persons, not as objects of use. This idea is especially important in the realm of sexuality since it can be easy to use the other person even within the bounds of marriage.

I found Wojtyla's writing about shame to be especially interesting. Shame has negative connotations these days, but in Wojtyla's understanding, shame is simply when something that is private crosses a boundary and becomes public. The sexual values of our bodies should remain private, but today many young women dress immodestly making the sexual value of their bodies public, so this would be "shamelessness".

And if anyone is under the impression that the ideas in this book are going to be prudish, just take a read through the final section of the book on Sexology. Wojtyla says a husband must take into account the different sexual arousal rate of his wife so that "climax may be reached by both the man and the woman, and as far as possible occur in both simultaneously." I can see why women liked this pope!

While the reading might be a bit on the philosophical side for some readers at times, I believe if every man would read "Love and Responsibility" and take it seriously, women today would be treated with more dignity and respect that they currently are given.

Search and Rescue: How to Bring Your Family and Friends Into, or Back Into, the Catholic Church

Average customer rating:

Very good recomendations for this matter
How to Present Catholic Beliefs
Inspirational, a must-read for all Catholics
The How-To of Evangelizing, Not a Theology
Helpful but not very

Search and Rescue: How to Bring Your Family and Friends Into, or Back Into, the Catholic Church
Patrick Madrid
Manufacturer: Sophia Institute Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 192883227X

Book Description

You don't have to become a biblical scholar or a theologian to be an effective spokesman for the Catholic Faith. In fact, even though you don't know all the answers and can't explain every aspect of the Faith, you can begin winning souls to the Church right now . . . using prayer, friendship, and common sense.

It sounds almost too good to be true, but in Search and Rescue Patrick Madrid explains why these are among the most effective, time-tested methods for bringing family and friends into — or back into — the Church. As the publisher of Envoy magazine, author of many apologetics books (including Surprised by Truth 2), and a veteran defender of the Faith, Madrid himself has used these methods successfully for years.

But Madrid doesn't give you only the benefit of his own considerable experience: in Search and Rescue he also includes simple and genial advice from St. Francis of Assisi, St. Augustine, and other great lovers of God. Get Search and Rescue — the book that shows you how you can start winning souls for Christ today!

Customer Reviews:

Very good recomendations for this matter.......2007-08-12

The expirience of the the author Patrick Madrid is a big help for the people which are in this situation!

How to Present Catholic Beliefs.......2007-07-26

This book is an excellent presentation on Catholic beliefs and how to present them the others and to people who may have fallen away from the Church. It is an easy read and an excellent reference book for later use.

Inspirational, a must-read for all Catholics.......2006-07-24

Search and Rescue is a thought-provoking and compelling book that should become required reading in every Catholic high school. As Catholics, many of us do a very poor job of sharing our faith with others. We're either reluctant to get into discussions with our Protestant friends, or we may have a condescending attitude about our faith that pushes others away. This book will prepare, encourage, and empower you to share your Catholic faith with family, friends, and others, and could quite possibly help to bring them into or back into the Catholic Church.

From his many years as a successful apologist, Patrick Madrid shares his experiences with why you should evangelize, what your mindset needs to be for God to work through you, evangelizing without words, how to prepare yourself mentally and spiritually to engage in discussions, how to approach others about your faith, how to endure failures, and, ultimately, how to trust the process to God, who is the only One who can truly bring non-Catholics back to the Church. Additionally, Search and Rescue is filled with inspirational quotes and prayers from some of the greatest saints, popes, and evangelists in the Church's history, and ends with an excellent reading plan for improving your skills at being God's messenger.

The How-To of Evangelizing, Not a Theology.......2004-12-22

Search and Rescue is a practical, hands-on style, guide to evangelizing. Patrick Madrid takes the reader into the specific steps that they need in learning how to DO evangelization. He deals with using opportunities to talk to strangers, friends, family, door-to-door evangelists, and especially the bitter ex-Catholic person that most will deal with eventually. Madrid shows you that in order to evangelize you needn't be a theological expert, but that you MUST have a proper mindset towards evangelization and the people that you are trying to evangelize. He warns that our pride and arrogance can get in the way of the best laid arguements. In fact, there are entire chapters of this book dedicated to: making sure that we are doing it for God and not for glory, not treating people like scalps to be won for the faith, making sure that we ARE sincerely friendly and loving to people (and not just trying to come across that way), and recognizing that the Holy Spirit does the true converting and that we are but tools of that conversion.

Useful ideas that will be especially gleaned by the reader of this book: making sure that you talk more to God about the person you are trying to convert than you talk to the person about God, be constantly aware of the tendancy to pride and the subsequent need for consist visits to the sacrament of confession, and being reasonably prepared to deal with common arguements.

Search and Rescue is NOT an apologetic or theological work. It is a how-to manual for APPLYING apologetic and thoelogical studies. The author gives lots of great references for where to find good study guides for the faith and apologetics, including a strong emphasis on person daily prayer and scripture reading.

This is an awesome work that will teach people how to evangelize those around us in the world, as well as how to deal with the painful situation of a close friend or family member who leaves the Church over 'issues' or because of a conversion to protestantism. Those looking to become serious about evangelizing people in the world, or those confused about what to do about the family member being wooed by charismatic protestant church members NEED this book.

Helpful but not very.......2004-01-31

This book could have been much more helpful. It does give good quotes from the Bible, lessons he has learned, and examples from history to help along the way. However, most of what he says seems obvious at times. Even though it's obvious, it's good advice, but advice that is hard to follow. The recommeneded reading list is a great addition at the back of the book to help people begin reading about the Catholic faith.

Average customer rating:

Tears will come
A bad father and mother
Beautiful journal for a hard journey
A very moving book
Exploitation for politics

Letters to Gabriel
Karen Garver Santorum
Manufacturer: CCC of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Religious | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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Accessories:

Braun IRT 4020 ThermoScan Ear Thermometer

ASIN: 1568145284

Book Description

The book is a series of letters that Karen wrote to her son, Gabriel Michael, who was born prematurely and died two hours after birth. Karen expresses the bond between mother and child with incredible tenderness and love. Through her lived experience and deep faith, Karen makes a bold and profound statement about the gift of life, family values, the bond between parent and child, the grieving process and the paradox of suffering. What began as a normal pregnancy for Karen ended with serious difficulties just as her husband Rick Santorum (Republican - Pennsylvania) was leading the charge against partial birth abortion in the U.S. Senate.

Customer Reviews:

Tears will come.......2007-07-04

My wife and I have also lost a baby. We know the heartbreak. This little book will make you cry. It will also make you proud to live on the same planet with people like the Santorum family.

A bad father and mother.......2006-11-16

They had many living children, children who needed them. Instead they allowed her life to be risked bringing to term a non-viable child. She took a terrible risk with her life, and the welfare of her children.

Then, she compounded the terrible fright she gave her children into emotional trauma by bringing a dead baby home for them to meet!

I am almost entirely pro-life. I believe abortion is almost always wrong. In a case like hers, though, she made a selfish choice. To ease her conscience, she put her children at risk, for no real benefit to the baby. He had twenty weeks of life.

It would be one thing if she didn't have any children. But a family needs a mother and a father. And it's a husband's job to look out for his wife's safety above all other things. Her husband was negligent, and I have no respect for him now.

Beautiful journal for a hard journey.......2006-08-25

This is a beautiful and touching book. I wish I could thank Karen for sharing her personal story. As a mother who has faced similar tragedy I found her book expressed many of my own feelings.

A very moving book.......2005-11-04

I lost four babies late in pregnancy due to medically unexplainable causes. I can relate to this book in a way many cannot.

Those who say the unborn child is just a mass of cells have obviously never held their own departed baby in their arms as Karen Santorum has, and as I have four times.

Those who have never lost a child cannot understand why mothers and fathers need to see and hold their child for closure. My grandmother was denied that gift in 1921 when she lost her first child at birth, and it tormented her her entire life.

Those who would call the Santorums "creepy" for wanting to share their child with their family do not understand what it means to lose a child in this way.

Holding the child, bathing it, dressing it, burying it, these are the ONLY things we can EVER do for our children. And they help give us closure.

Exploitation for politics.......2005-08-16

This book is nothing but pro-life propaganda from the Santorums. That a tragedy like this would be used for political gain is disgusting.

Average customer rating:

Not For Your Everyday Reader.
lovely, but very short
A brilliant, lyrical, and complex novel
Francesca Lia Block
Don't bother

Psyche in a Dress
Francesca Lia Block
Manufacturer: Joanna Cotler
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0060763728
Release Date: 2006-09-05

Book Description

But this is what
I could not give up:
I could not give up myself

Psyche has known Love—scented with jasmine and tasting of fresh oranges. Yet he is fleeting and fragile, lost to her too quickly. Punished by self-doubt, Psyche yearns to be transformed, like the beautiful and brutal figures in the myths her lover once spoke of. Attempting to uncover beauty in the darkness, she is challenged, tested, and changed by the gods and demons who tempt her. Her faith must be found again, for if she is to love, she must never look back.

Customer Reviews:

Not For Your Everyday Reader. .......2007-08-02

It's essentially a long poem.

You're not going to get more than that. If you're in an inquisitive reader, who takes joy in slight and constant mystery, this is a book I'd reccomend.

I personally loved it. I loved the flow, I loved the prose, I loved how one could almost relate, but never fully taste the protagonist as one would like to. (She's always just a step away, and to follow her is bliss)

It's not easily read, you should not read it in and hour because you can; you should savour each phrase and hope to understand, not just for the plot, but because there are small moralities embeded within each chapter.

I reccomend it, because it's something different (and lovely).

lovely, but very short.......2007-05-12

it's got all of her usual beatuiful imagery, and this book does some interesting things with the myths of persephone and psyche. i'm still thinking about the concepts in the book long after i've read it.
all of that's lovely, but...

the book is written in poetry form for some reason, even thought the language is the same as her other books, so there aren't many words on the page, and there aren't many pages. so you'll probably finish this book in a few hours.

the other drawback is the ending, which has a piece that feels a little bit tacked on to me... there's a place where you think that the story is over, but it just keeps going.

all in all this is a lovely little book, but if you want to read something by ms. block and you don't already own say, dangerous angels or ecstasia, i'd get those first. it's more for the real collectors i guess.

A brilliant, lyrical, and complex novel.......2007-01-05

Near the end of Francesca Lia Block's brilliant new novel, PSYCHE IN A DRESS, the title character reflects on her life, thinking, "When your mothers tell you to love and appreciate your body it isn't just to get you to shut up. They know that when you are old you are going to feel exactly the same way inside that you do now. We try on different dresses, different selves, but our souls are always the same --- ongoing, full of light."

In this lyrical, complex novel, trying on different selves, different dresses, different names is exactly what happens to Psyche (Soul). Born to a largely absent mother and a tyrannical, sadistic film director father, Psyche feels at odds with her surroundings. She only feels complete when she unites with her mysterious lover, Eros (Love), who comes to her in darkness, with the smell of "night-blooming flowers" and the scent of the ocean. Eros holds her and tells her stories of the myths. Their relationship seems idyllic until Psyche, goaded by her sisters, betrays Eros's trust by using a candle to see his face.

Eros, crushed by her doubting, flees from Psyche, who is destined to spend the rest of her life trying to recapture the love she once knew. As she does so, she is transformed, in body and name, into various heroines of the Greek myths Eros once told her: Echo, Eurydice (whose Orpheus sounds a lot like Kurt Cobain) and Persephone (whose Hades also bears a passing resemblance to Marilyn Manson). During her odyssey, Psyche travels to hell and back, and through a variety of landscapes, from lush gardens to wealthy boutiques, that firmly place her story in a thoroughly modern California setting.

Finally, when Soul and Love unite, a daughter, Joy, is born, and the true nature of the mythic patterns that have shaped Psyche's life is revealed. Fans of Block's earlier books, including the vastly popular Weetzie Bat series, know that Block often infuses her lyrical writing with mythical and fantastic elements. Here, though, she goes a step further, using the classic myths as the basis for an undeniably modern story. Drug use, rape, abuse and a variety of other evils reveal the true brutality of the myths, while Block's flowing free verse reveals their beauty.

--- Reviewed by Norah Piehl

Francesca Lia Block.......2007-01-04

Francesca, over the years, has changed the way she writes her work tremendously. "Psyche in A Dress" is a lot like "Echo" in the way that it is like poetry and leaves you wondering after every chapter.

Please disregard what the below person said...they obviously don't know anything about writing. Francesca is famously known for her way with words. You should know, after the very first page of someone's work, that the rest of the book will be written the same way. It's your own fault if you don't put the book down after the first two or three pages. Because her work is done so well, she will be helping in the way of the written work for a film version of Weetzie Bat AND creating a show for MTV.

I would rate "Psyche in A Dress" just as high as I would "Neclace of Kisses" or "Weetzie Bat". Although it is a short read, that does not mean it is a terrible book. Francesca writes much differently than most writers, and that is why her work is treasured world wide. She puts her words out there, she is blunt, but beautiful about it. She is short and to the point, but uses words in a way that makes it seem like you are right there in the scene.

Don't even bother picking up this book if you don't understand the use of descriptive words. This book breaks the barrier for other authors to begin looking at writing as an art form. This book leaves you wanting more, and will lead you to picking it up more than once for a quick read. It is an inspiration and joy to own this book. The world needs more positive energy and this lightens the way for it.

Don't bother.......2006-12-31

I can't find anything good to say about this book. I used to be a huge fan of Block's work but now a lot of it makes me cringe. This is her newest book and I received it as a Christmas gift. The plot sounded good in theory (Greek Myths modernized) but I should have known better. There's barely any book here. It's a very slim 116 pages and it's written in a "poetic" style that means each page of text barely has any text on it. It took me less than an hour to read it and I was confused for a lot of it. Half the time I didn't know which character was telling the story - what little story there was to be told. The little blurb describing the book is almost longer than the book itself. I know that I probably would have loved this back in high school (or at the very least pretended to love it) when I was obsessed with Block's work but now? I can honestly say that I threw it down in disgust when I was finished and wished I could have gotten that hour back. I really don't recommend this book to anyone who isn't a teenage girl obsessed with Block's work.

As the Romans Do: An American Family's Italian Odyssey

Average customer rating:

Not as bad some claim, but a little romanticized
Guiding Fun
Not the Rome I know
This book helps me appreciate Roma
POO as the ROMANS POOPOO BOOK REVIEW

As the Romans Do: An American Family's Italian Odyssey
Alan Epstein
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 006093395X
Release Date: 2001-06-05

Book Description

A celebration of the character and style of one of the world's most spectacular cities! This vibrant insider's view of the most mature city on earth is the perfect companion for anyone who loves anything Italian. In 1995, after a twenty–year love affair with Italy, Alan Epstein fulfilled his dream to live in Rome. In As the Romans Do, he celebrates the spirit of this stylish, dramatic, ancient city that formed the hub of a far–flung empire and introduced the Mediterranean culture to the rest of the world. He also reveals today's Roman men and women in all their appealing contradictions: their gregarious caffe culture; inborn artistic flair; passionate appreciation of good food; instinctive mistrust of technology; showy sex appeal; ingrained charm and expressiveness; surprisingly unusual attitudes toward marriage and religion; and much, much more.

Customer Reviews:

Not as bad some claim, but a little romanticized.......2007-03-24

I just moved to Rome with zero knowledge of the city. I found the book a useful intro, but not very erudite. One of the most glaring errors is the claim that the Renaissance started in Rome. It did not, it was Florence. He also calls punks skinheads, which shows a lack of understanding of subcultures. In fact, you will get little sense of the politics or subcultures of Rome, but an obsession with woman's fashion. I think like many Americans disenchanted with their hypercapitalist homeland, anything that is not American will seem quaint and nice. As a result I find many of the observations very romanticized and generalized, and coming from a rather bourgeois perspective. For example, the claim that men don't wear tennis shoes is wrong. Still, I think this book was a better orientation than no orientation. I don't think it's fair that reviewers attacked his writing style. Yes it's simple, but for many that will be just fine.

Guiding Fun.......2006-08-29

Had I read this book before moving to Italy, I wouldn't have believed all the details...living here now and having enjoyed this reading I find it helpful to know Italy is as I am experiencing it. A fun and entertaining book, well worth reading. Alan Epstein allows you to feel and enjoy the charms of living in Italy as an Expatriate. I highly recommend it to anyone moving here, anyone who knows someone living here, anyone curious at all about living in Italy, and wrapping this up-that should leave out...no one.

Not the Rome I know.......2006-05-18

Who IS this guy? Was he sent to Rome by an evil alien power to ruin it for everyone else?

I'd have preferred to give it ZERO stars, but that was not an option. Not interesting, not captivating, not educational, not sympathetic. Just more in the "Tawdry Tuscan Sun" vein: pretentious, condescending, badly-written pap. Not by any means an Odyssey, just a collection of superficial and uninteresting vignettes about nothing.

What more can I say? You've been adequately warned by the previous negative reviews. The related website is equally atrocious. In the age of unlimited blogging, why do we all believe that our own small lives are interesting? Well, they aren't to those of us who might have some intelligence but don't want our travel experiences filtered through the eyes and psyche of Alan Epstein.

This book helps me appreciate Roma.......2005-11-03

Alan Epstein's As the Romas Do is a terrific book for a reader interested in Rome, since As the Romans Do makes accurate observations concerning the quirks and personalities of the citizens, streets, bars and traffic of Rome.

Epstein has the skill to write clearly about observations we all make, such as: Rome has more "beauty, sensuality and creativity" than most other cities (p. 4); to visit Rome is to be surrounded by "Bernini, Borromini, and Brmanete" along with "Michelangelo, Raphael and Caravaggio" (p. 33); and Rome is a city of "anarchy", always was and always will be, "that nevertheless functions" (p. 54).

I agree with Mr. Epstein that "St. Peter's is the grandest, most majestic building in Rome and perhaps in the world" (p. 60). Cardinal Ratzinger used to take daily walks around St. Peter's and I wonder if he does so now that he is the pope.

Epstein's comparisons between Americans and Romans are insightful. He writes that "Americans devote energy to the accumulation and management of money" while the Romans "devote energy to looking well, eating well, [and] loving well" (p. 67). I miss Rome and Mr. Epstein reminds me why.

It is so true that Roman people are funny. They prefer the activity of ironing to using a dryer (p. 151), detest dishwashers, hate to give out change from the cash registers at the stores (p. 68), and the Romans "cannot decorate a Christmas tree to save their lives" (p. 145).

The scene of the humorous interactions in chapter 1 that take place in Piazza Santa Maria Liberatrice is worth the price of the book alone. And Esptein reveals some of the secrets on how Roman ladies stay so beautiful up to the age of 80 in several chapters (pp. 9, 75, 76, and 131).

I notice that several reviews here are negative which is curious since Epstein's book on Rome is one of many wonderful books that help the reader appreciate the ancient city. My hunch is that the negative reviewers are probably people who love Rome and are upset that they did write a book about their views of Rome.

Because Epstein is a Jew (p. 17) he misses some of the finer points of Catholic Rome, such as a lack of appreciation of the universities in Rome. The University of Rome has 40,000 students and there are 10 other universities in town. Thus, to say that Rome has "very little here in the way of new thinking" (p. 184) is an honest mistake.

As the Romans Do is a delightful book that plan to read and re-read regularly since I miss Rome and appreciate Esptein's ability to highlight the uniqueness of the Eternal City.

POO as the ROMANS POOPOO BOOK REVIEW.......2005-08-06

He insults his reader by assuming they have never stepped out of their trailer park long enough to now what "mozzarella" is. In short;
I don't know how to describe how incredibly inane this book is, so I'll give you the description on inane, which explains this book better than I can...BECAUSE I KNOW I'M NOT A WRITER!
Main Entry: inane
Function: adjective
1 : EMPTY, INSUBSTANTIAL
2 : lacking significance, meaning, or point : SILLY
synonym see INSIPID

Catholic Traditions In The Home And Classrooms: 365 Days To Celebrate A Catholic Year

Average customer rating:

Great Resource for last minute or extra activity...
A Truly Wonderful Resource for any home

Catholic Traditions In The Home And Classrooms: 365 Days To Celebrate A Catholic Year
Ann Ball
Manufacturer: Our Sunday Visitor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Inspirational | Religions | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1592760430

Book Description

Sometimes the best way to learn about a celebration is to celebrate it.

And it's a great way to teach it, too!

There's no better way to help youngsters celebrate the Church's customs, traditions, and feast days — throughout the liturgical year — than Ann Ball's Catholic Traditions in the Home and Classroom.

Here's not only the "best of Ball" — material from her immensely popular Catholic Traditions in Cooking, Catholic Traditions in Crafts, and Catholic Traditions in the Garden — but even more original recipes, projects, and activities — something for every day of the year.

If you're not a four-star chef, a master gardener, an arts-and-crafts guru, and a catechist with a graduate degree in theology, Catholic Traditions in the Home and Classroom is the book for you! Here — in clear language with easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions — are simple ways to cook, celebrate nature, and craft fun as you discover more about the rich heritage of the Catholic Faith.

Here are blueprints for building solid Catholic identity for home or class.

Customer Reviews:

Great Resource for last minute or extra activity..........2007-01-10

Catholic Traditions In the Home and Classrooms: 365 Days to Celebrate A Catholic Year is a great resource and find. It can get you through the class if you are looking for supplemental material or you can base an entire class or lesson on one of the ideas/traditions found in this book. It is a real great resource for every Director of a Program to have. Some of the traditions would be "lost" if it weren't for this book.

A Truly Wonderful Resource for any home.......2005-06-01

As parents, most of us want to share our faith with our children by teaching, but also by truly living our faith in our homes. This new book by the wonderfully talented Ann Ball will become one of your most used resources in this goal!

Ann Ball shares a project for every day of the year in this great book. Topics included are crafts, recipes related to the liturgical seasons, gardening tips and ideas and much more.

The photos which accompany each project will encourage you to try some new things with your family or students.

Templates and easy to follow directions for the crafts and recipes make this a great resource for crafters and chefs of any experience level. The book is chock full of wonderful stories, information, and lore related to our beautiful Catholic traditions.

This book is one of my new favorites, and I know that you and your family will love it too!

Love in the Little Things: Tales of Family Life

Average customer rating:

Great Family Read Aloud
Great book for parents
A great, big "little" book
A Little Gem
Chocolates, Legos blocks & chainsaws...

Love in the Little Things: Tales of Family Life
Mike Aquilina
Manufacturer: Servant Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0867168145

Book Description

"God stoops down to lift up our homes, to make them outposts of his paradise...no matter how cold the winds may blow on a winter day."--From the Introduction

Paradise? Family life? Really? Yes--and one filled with laughter. If that doesn't sound like your family but you wish it did, or if you're just looking for a book to lighten your spirit, Love in the Little Things is for you.

Love involves sacrifice, Mike Aquilina notes, but as he spins humorous stories from his own family, it is evident that moms, dads and kids are happier when they lay down their lives for one another. Love in the Little Things nudges the reader toward a more satisfying family life.

Customer Reviews:

Great Family Read Aloud.......2007-08-11

I love a great story.

The greatest storyteller was, of course, Jesus. He showed us how to live through parables, stories. Mike Aquilina follows in Jesus' footsteps.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I should let you all know the Aquilinas are friends. I've had the pleasure of personally hearing some of Mike's stories before he put them into a book for the rest of the world. Yet, there was a special pleasure in reading them. In fact, I read them aloud for my husband and children. They loved hearing Mike's stories before bedtime! They made us laugh, cry, and think seriously about how we are to live as Christians.

A good story goes beyond teaching, rather it "shows." It shows us how to live. It shows us the truth we should already know in our hearts (natural order, morality, respect, love) and brings those truths to the forefront of our minds. They show us so that we may imitate and live them out.

A good story is pleasing to the ear and to heart, just as Christ's parables are pleasing. They show us the path to eternal life in a way we never forget. They burn in our souls. Mike carries on this storytelling tradition with Love in the Little Things!

Great book for parents.......2007-07-25

I read this book the night before giving birth to our third son, and have picked it up many times in the past three months while nursing the baby. The short, humor-filled chapters make it perfect middle-of-the-night reading for nursing moms... it is now my standard gift to expecting mothers. Aquilina's tales of his family's life have provided me with lots of great ideas to incorporate into our own family life -- making this book a fun read and a practical one too.

A great, big "little" book .......2007-06-13

This is a "little book." You know what I mean: you take a look, think you can knock this book off by lunch time, and that'll be that.

But, Love in the Little Things is bigger than that. Yes, the reading is quick and easy, but the ideas loom larger than their appearance. Hmmm ... kind of like Jesus of Nazareth ... growing up in a non-descript way, living a quiet family life, full of hidden things beyond this earthly realm, beyond our imagining.

And that's what Mike Aquilina shows us: that family life is a very real reflection of the Trinity. It's the path to holiness for those of us who are called to this vocation.

But, these little vignettes aren't heavy-handed lectures. They are charming tales about Mike (often self-deprecating), his wife, Terri (adoring), and their delightful children (abundant fatherly love abounds.)

In "It's Verse than I Imagined" (and yes, many of the titles are punny, as are Mike's blog post titles), Mike takes a look at his daughter Mary Agnes's growing awareness of the unrelenting ways in which life will break our hearts. He inserts a line from one of my favorite Gerard Manley Hopkins poems at the perfect moment -- and every parent will face a version of this moment -- and in doing so, elevates this essay from sweet and charming to profound.

And, he keeps doing that. In short pieces about his wife, his children and his parents, he shows us, time and again, that family life is bursting with opportunities to grow in holiness. Bishop Thomas Tobin, of Providence, called this book "a domestic catechism for the domestic church," and it is that, indeed.

I'm starting to sound like a broken record -- every time I read a writer I love, I say I want that writer to live next door to me, and come over for copious amounts of coffee (I think Mike would approve the beverage choice ... one of the essays is entitled, "For the Love of Coffee" ....)

I'm afraid it's true again. It's no secret that I love Mike Aquilina, and I would love for Mike and Terri to move in next door. I'd love to meet their poetic Mary Agnes and their blunt Isabella (who, in "The Truth About Butterfly Princess" told her father, "That's OK, though. I'll bet you were really handsome back when Mommy married you.") I'd love to talk to Rosemary, the "great and cute saint," to meet sneaker-wearing Michael, who pays as much attention to what's on his feet as does my Anne-with-an-e, and to hug their little Gracie, whose encounter with beloved Papa John Paul II was as sweet as it was enviable.

In other words, I'd love to meet the whole crew. You will, too, after reading Love in the Little Things. And, while you're being charmed by these tales of family life, you just might pick up some tips and inspiration for that long and winding road to heaven along the way.

A Little Gem.......2007-06-05

I got to know of Mike Aquilina's writing through his excellent blog "The Way of the Fathers"; if you haven't visited, go take a look! Mike has that rare talent of successfully expressing the significant or the complex in straightforward language. Here he turns that talent to "Tales of Family Life" and gives us forty miniatures in a hundred and thirty pages, none of which take more than a few minutes to read. All of them are enjoyable, some of them are profound; read and savour them!

Chocolates, Legos blocks & chainsaws..........2007-05-13

Mike's writing is both entertaining and educational. In the short time it took me to read this book from cover to cover, I was constantly pulling friends aside to share with them some of Mike's words. Who, besides Mike, has ever thought that "Lego pain" could be so informative and comical at the same time?

My hat's off to you Mike, for assembling a fine book. Read his book today and learn much more than you thought you could about "little things".

Average customer rating:

A nicely written book, but expensive

The Severans: The Changed Roman Empire
Michael Grant
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

Rome | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

General | Genealogy | Reference | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
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ASIN: 0415127726

Book Description

From one of the world's greatest writers on ancient history--a new work that explores the colorful decline of the Roman Empire during the reign of the Severans, the first non-Italian dynasty, whose reign extends through nine emperors, from 193 to 235 C.E, from Septimius Severus to Severus Alexander, and including the reigns of Caracalla and Elagabalus.

Using the highly praised, accessible style that is his trademark, Michael Grant describes the foreign wars waged against the Alemanni and the Persians; the remarkable personalities of the imperial family; the unprecedented role of women and lawyers; as well as the major developments in art, architecture, the novel and religion during this era. Highlights of The Severans include encounters with Julia Domna's alleged literary circle and Elagablus's curious private life (exemplified by acts such as dancing in the streets, marrying a Vestal Virgin, and smothering his enemies with rose petals).

With its extensive selection of illustrations, maps, and extensive bibliography, The Severans will appeal to the student of ancient history as well as to all generally-interested readers of classical history.

Customer Reviews:

A nicely written book, but expensive.......1998-04-02

Michael Grant's book, The Severans, covers a very short period of Roman history that, due to the lack of source materials, is usually left untouched. My only complaint about the writing style is that the work really needs to be read twice: once to get the general feel of the ideas presented, and a second time to follow all the references to chapters found later on in the book. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Ancient Roman history, even though I found the price a bit high for a 90-page work.

101 Questions And Answers On Catholic Marriage Preparation (101 Questions & Answers)

Average customer rating:

This is not Catholic marriage prep

101 Questions And Answers On Catholic Marriage Preparation (101 Questions & Answers)
Rebecca Nappi , and Daniel Kendall SJ
Manufacturer: Paulist Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Ceremony | Weddings | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Ritual | Other Practices | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
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ASIN: 0809142910

Book Description

This book will serve as a valuable guide both for people planning a Catholic wedding and for those preparing them for marriage. In addition, it can be used in marriage courses at the college level, in parishes and chapels, and as a reference book on Catholic practice for all readers.

101 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT CATHOLIC MARRIAGE PREPARATION provides both an overview of the Catholic Church's position and practice with regard to weddings in the Church as well as clear responses to questions (theological and mostly non-theological) that catholic couples commonly ask when they are preparing for marriage. Written by a Catholic laywoman and a Catholic priest, this book looks at both the underlying theology and practical approaches to the Catholic wedding. The authors provide clear and readable guidance on preparations for the ceremony itself and answers to typical questions (101 of them) that arise during the first year of marriage. These include:

· What is the Catholic understanding of Christian marriage?
· Has the Church's view of "mixed marriages" changed in recent years?
· Since the Church asks us to wait six months before we marry, what are the preparations we are expected to complete in the meantime?
· Is a celibate priest in any position to talk about marriage to engaged people?
· How realistic is the sex you see between couples in movies versus the reality of sex within marriage?
· Is it true that the Church condemns artificial birth control?
· Must the best man and the maid of honor be Catholics?
· Do women still have to promise to obey their husbands?
· What financial decisions must be made in the first year of marriage?

Customer Reviews:

This is not Catholic marriage prep.......2007-05-12

This book gives useful hints about planning a wedding and some of the issues that newly married couples will face. To present this book however as Catholic marriage prep is very misleading for the book at times contridicts approved Church teaching. There are other more reliable sources to read if you want to know what Catholic marriage prep is all about.

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