Kenneth Taylor – well known as the author of The Living Bible, and founder of Tyndale House publishers – was a man dedicated to conveying the Christian message to children (he had 10 himself) in simple, understandable truths. Big Thoughts for Little People, a much-loved, best-selling picture book has now received fresh new illustrations while maintaining Taylor’s text from the original edition. Many readers my age may be familiar with the original version of this classic title, which was wildly popular during the ‘80s, and be looking forward with nostalgic fondness to sharing this new release with their own children. I however, missed out on the first edition as a child, so it was with fresh eyes that my daughters and I dug into it together....more

There are the ladies on the right: Laura Ingraham, Anne Coulter. There are the ladies on the left: Rachel Maddow, Laura Flanders. Amy Goodman, host of Pacifica Network's Democracy Now!, is just about as left as they come; she's the kind of liberal Rush Limbaugh loves to hate; she could be the model for his portrait of the lunatic left. Moreover, she would probably welcome his bloviating attack. There could be no better sign of a person's righteousness and basic humanity than to be the object of the Limbaugh ire....more

Douglas Hofstadter is a larger-than-life academic researcher who manages to combine a thirst for beautiful forms with the most penetrating theoretical insights, whether it is in mathematics, music, linguistics, philosophy, or the visual arts. He is a Professor of Cognitive Sciences but also has an involvement in Philosophy, Comparative Literature, and Psychology. No surprise then that he gravitates to the most fundamental overlapping problems, the notion of the self, the I, the problems of volition, perception, mind, and consciousness. These problems are notoriously difficult to understand because we are the object of our own study....more

The theme of The Principle of the Path is “how to get from where you are to where you want to be.” Each one of us have dreams and wishes, but in the journey of life we have to compromise some of them. But in some corner of our heart, such a dream still persists and we move on thinking that it will remain unfulfilled. The dreams may be related to our personal lives, in the area of our jobs, relationships or marriage (or anything else of your choice). Andy Stanley wants us to reach our destination. He says that we are not able to reach our destination not because of lack of determination, but rather due to lack of direction....more

Tony Woolliscroft is a UK based photographer who, for the best part of last 20 years, has been following and documenting the Red Hot Chili Peppers' growth and development. From early gigs in small venues, to large stadiums, and even to the secret shows that the band has done. He has followed them all along documenting them in photos. The Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American alternative rock band the originally formed in Los Angeles in 1983. They combined alternative, punk, funk, rap, and psychedelic rock in to a unique and very recognizable style. While they recorded three albums with little success, it was 1989's Mother's Milk that propelled them to international fame. It was during their 1990 European tour that Tony Woolliscroft first met the band....more

Growing up during the heyday of the Space Race, my mind was constantly filled with stars and other solar systems. Back in the 1970s, we were told that we’d be working on Mars. We were supposed to put a man on the Red Planet by 1985. There were ship models and suits and geographical mockups of what we’d find there. It was so cool. Then somewhere in the 1990s, all of those plans and dreams seemed to fade away. Ben Bova still writes great science fiction, and I still enjoy his novels because they make me feel like I’m in space....more

Far too often adventure stories set in places like Africa or other exotic locales feature Western heroes who have to overcome various challenges in order to achieve their goal. If the people who live in the area play any role in the proceedings it's either in the guise of savage natives who mean them harm, or simpletons who have to be led by the hand in order to get anything accomplished. If anything is said about their belief systems it is either represented as superstitious nonsense or some sort of black magic....more

Michael Gray’s Hand Me My Travelin' Shoes is subtitled In Search Of Blind Willie McTell. By no means mere biography, it is, instead, a fascinating and often elagaic tale of his quest for information about the Georgia-born bluesman. Blind Willie McTell is a somewhat marginal figure in the history of the blues, best remembered as the composer of "Statesboro Blues", a tune turned into a monster hit by The Allman Brothers during an early incarnation of the band. Apart from select re-issues, little of his output remains in circulation today, and while its potency remains undiminished, his brand of country blues has long since fallen from fashion. ...more

Charlie Doig's thirst for revenge impels him into the chaotic depths of a dying White Russia as he chases, in an armored locomotive, after Glebov, Bolshavik and killer of Doig's beautiful wife, Elizaveta, and the rest of his family at the Pink House, in James Fleming's unusual historical thriller Cold Blood. Cold Blood's first person point of view gives the thriller an immediacy that brings alive the chaotic time of the Russian Revolution. One particularly haunting and beautiful piece of writing comes when Doig and Joseph, his uncle's house steward at the Rykov palace, walk through the eerily silent, misty streets of St. Petersburg one October night on their way to a Lenin rally, where they hope to kill Glebov....more

I look forward to fall these days because it means the weather will finally cool down again – and there will be a new Robert B. Parker Spenser novel on the shelves. This year’s offering is The Professional, and I instantly fell in love with the cover when it finally popped up on various websites. I bought the book on a Tuesday and knew I wanted to save it for a time when I could sit back and read it in a single sitting or two. Thanks to a dental appointment the following Thursday, I didn't have to wait for the weekend. I was with my favorite Boston sleuth and we were hot on the case from page one....more