The Mitford Bedside Companion: A Treasury of Favorite Mitford Moments, Author Reflections on the Bestselling Series, and More. Much More.

Book Description

A must-have companion to the bestselling series

Jan Karon's Mitford Years series is a publishing phenomenon that, since 1996, has sold more than twenty-five million books and attracted millions of devoted readers around the world. With the series now complete, Karon's fans have raced through nine novels—and then sat down and read them again and again. For all those who love returning to Mitford, this gorgeously packaged companion will be the perfect book to curl up with. What was that Uncle Billy joke about the census taker? Where was that beautiful prayer Father Tim offered? The Mitford Bedside Companion will make it easy to find the greatest of the countless gems that grace each of Karon's novels.

Featuring favorite scenes, casts of characters, Mitford crossword puzzles, plus a hilarious read- aloud scene and lots of trivia questions for fan gatherings and family get-togethers, and much, much more, The Mitford Bedside Companion is an enchanting collection. Here, too, are new essays from Karon on everything from the life of a writer to her grandmother's secret to good health. Beautifully packaged and filled with eye-catching art, The Mitford Bedside Companion is a book that any fan will cherish, relishing favorite scenes from each book and, in one volume, fondly reliving the best times spent in the little town with the big heart.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent!.......2007-09-17

This book has so many of my very favorite anecdotes and information about the folks in Mitford. It is so wonderful, I had to force myself to put it down when I first received it because I didn't have too much time to spend on it then. It is truly worth every dollar you pay for it!

The Mitford Bedside Companion.......2007-09-16

This book is a joy to read! Like a letter from a dear friend! An entertaining remenisence of Jan Karons Mitford series.

Mitford Bedside Companion.......2007-09-14

Although a review of the Mitford Series by Jan Karon, this is a way to
renew your friendship with the characters you met in the books. A lovely way to spend some quiet time. I enjoyed it immensly and am giving some as gifts this Christmas season.It also helps to bridge the time until the new series about Father Tim comes out.Just delightful!

Another hit for Jan Karon.......2007-08-24

I am in love with everyone and everything in Mitford! ("What don't you love?) It was wonderful to sit down and read through some of my favorite Mitford moments. The trivia quiz and crossword puzzle where just fun. The sketches add to the enjoyment. I would recommend this book to anyone who has visited Mitford and, like myself, just doesn't want to leave.

Just wonderful!.......2007-08-07

I've thoroughly enjoyed this book. Yes, favorite Mitford moments, and wonderful reading just before sleep, or those times when you have a precious few moments to read and you want something heartwarming. If you loved the Mitford series, this is a lovely companion when you can't spend the time of an entire book set in Mitford (or Canaan, or Whitecap, or...).

The Hornblower companion;: An atlas and personal commentary on the writing of the Hornblower saga,

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The Hornblower companion;: An atlas and personal commentary on the writing of the Hornblower saga,
C. S Forester
Manufacturer: Pinnacle Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
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ASIN: 0523004400

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THE HORNBLOWER COMPANION - AN ATLAS AND PERSONAL COMMENTARY ON THE WRITING OF THE HORNBLOWER SAGA
C.S. Forester
Manufacturer: Bonanza Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J4X8PG

A Pliocene companion: Being a reader's guide to The many-colored land, The golden torc, The nonborn king, The adversary

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Super Reader
An essential book for Julian May fans
Only To Complete Your Collection...

A Pliocene companion: Being a reader's guide to The many-colored land, The golden torc, The nonborn king, The adversary
Julian May
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

ASIN: 0395365163

Customer Reviews:

Super Reader.......2007-08-30

For a fan of this series by Julian May, and I have read them many times, this is excellent. Lots of tidbits you may have missed when reading, too.

This includes the information on the various different types of operant powers, the society of the Pliocene, as well as of the milieu and the technology that Marc Remillard manages to bring back.

An essential book for Julian May fans.......2002-11-09

It has to be asked - is it necessary to add this book to your shelf? Do you really need another 'Readers Guide' type book?

Well, if you're a fan of Julian May's sprawing 'Galactic Milieu' series, (a page-turning & adventurous retelling of 'Paradise Lost' long before Phillip Pullman thought to do it) and a member of the Julian May discussion group
Alright, so it only covers the 'Exiles' part of the series (this book really needs an update) but the glossary is quite useful even if some of the entries are short, and the three interviews with the author are worth the price of the book by istself.

Only To Complete Your Collection..........2002-01-31

This hard-to-find book is a companion to the four-book Pliocene Exile Saga by Julian May. (The saga itself was followed by two related series, the Great Intervention and the Galactic Milieu.) I remember way back when these first came out, I was but an ignorant lad and I too readily dismissed them as foolish tripe of the most juvenile sort. I mean, one-way time travel back to the past of Earth's Pliocene era? Where strange aliens ruled? And people ran about, zapping each other with mind powers? Yeah, it sounds hokey, but it's actually really good and quite addictive stuff.

In any case, this volume is a reference guide to the saga. It has some nice maps and it reprints three interviews with the author, which are rather informative. It also includes a bibliography of sources that inspired her, references to real poems that were quoted in the saga, and a discussion of why cats are great.

The core material, however, isn't so compelling. By deliberate design, May doesn't give away too much about any characters in these listings, so they tend to be very skeletal. A typical entry will read something like "Joe Bloggs was a powerful redactor who lived in Goriah and fought in the Great Tourney. For details, read his adventures in 'The Golden Torc'." Um...okay. By comparison, most guides of this sort for other series will spill their guts about every tangential detail.

Also, keep in mind that the guide only covers the Pliocene saga and it treats characters from the other two series only insofar as they had relevance to this first set of novels. So, if you want the lowdown on Rogatien Remillard, for instance, you're out of luck.

Book Description

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.

In The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien spun a clever web of wordplay and verbal hocus-pocus. Inspired by these linguistic games, master "hobbit investigator" David Day untangles the crafty puns and riddles, hidden meanings, and mythical associations that lie beneath the saga's thrilling surface. More than just a delightful study of an author who deeply loved and understood the intricacies of the English language (Tolkien helped compile the prestigious Oxford English Dictionary), this magnificently illustrated companion charms with its own beauty and enhances our understanding of one of the world's great masterpieces. Starting with the word "hobbit" itself, this illuminating guide moves on to examine Bilbo Baggins, the Gollum and the goblins, hobbit heritage and history, Buckland and Brandy Hall, Gandalf, Shire Society, the Fellowship, and much more. Intriguing to the uninitiated and enchanting to the enthusiast, this sparkling companion enhances the enjoyment of Tolkien's dark, mysterious world.

Customer Reviews:

A pleasant surprise...........2002-11-09

I will agree with several of the other reviews - this book is not what you 'expect' it to be - but a very good book nonetheless. When I saw the word "companion", I assumed the book would read more as a study guide. I assumed it would read more like a dictionary of people, places, and things, etc.

This book is more like a walk through Tolkein's head. Have you ever wondered "Where did the word 'Hobbit' come from?" "How did Tolkein come up with the names of his characters?" "How did he build their personalities?"

I found it interesting that Tolkein felt his characters more or less "already existed in another realm and he needed to learn more about them as oppposed to him actually developing them."

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I found it very interesting to learn how such a wonderful story actually came to be... and I thoroughly enjoyed the illustrations.

Features gorgeous illustrations by Lidia Postma.......2002-08-09

Fans of Tolkien's Hobbit and the new movie will relish this companion volume by David Day. The Hobbit Companion features gorgeous illustrations by Lidia Postma as it presents a history of hobbits, places, and links between Hobbit settings and mythology.

Interesting and fun with nice artwork.......2002-02-03

From its title, I assumed that The Hobbit Companion was similar to other `companion' books I have seen before. I expected to find a kind of encyclopedic volume full of descriptions of hobbitish people, places, and things, and all accompanied by colorful illustrations (judging by its cover, the illustrations would be quite nice). It would no doubt include the backgrounds of the members of Thorin and Company and, of course, a complete history of Gandalf and Smaug.

Well, I was right about the illustrations (they are wonderful), but I was way off on the content, for "The Hobbit Companion" is no ordinary read-along helper designed to explain hobbits and their funny ways. It is not even a look at the story of "The Hobbit". Instead, it is an in-depth look at the particular names used by J.R.R. Tolkien to describe the tale of Bilbo Baggins. The author, David Day takes an etymological scalpel to Bilbo's adventure and lays each invented (and sometimes reinvented) word on the table.

The whole idea of the book is that Tolkien was not just a wordsmith, but also a word trickster. Day shows how names and words such as `hobbits', `Baggins', and `Gollum' (and many, many others) were not picked randomly out of the air, but rather were intentionally molded to convey a multitude of hidden meanings. An example of such cleverness is given in `Baggins' in which `bag' shows what a `money-bags' Mr. Bilbo and his wealthy family were and `bag man' describe the burglar that he became.

The book is full of many interesting and often funny uses of such word-roots, but it is sometimes difficult to tell where the author is citing Tolkien's admitted reasoning for his word choices or if Day is just making them up from his own deductions. And with the occasional major blunder by the author (Sauron did not live in Isengard, nor did Bilbo's parents drown in an accident) I began to becoming skeptical and to wonder where Day was getting all this stuff from (the book could use a good prologue by the author).

But I kept reading, and regardless of if JR.R. Tolkien's `jests' were all intentional or if they were cleverly discovered later by David Day, they still make for very interesting reading. I particularly found the examiniation of the naming of Smaug to be facinating, especially the reminders that `smeagol' is Old English for burrowing and `smugan' is Prehistoric for to squeeze through a hole. Put them together and you get Smaug, one nasty hole-squeezing dragon!

Overall, this book is a good read, but what makes it one that I highly recommend is its beautiful `pillowed' cover featuring a scene of "The Party" and the gorgeous illustrations on nearly every of its 91 pages (including a central foldout showing Bilbo, Gandalf, and the 13 Dwarves). Lidia Postma did a great job!

Not bad, but not good..........2002-01-28

...just sort of mediocre. Primarily I was greatly disappointed with the horrible illustrations which depict the Hobbits as dirty, ugly Troll-like creatures who don't bathe or comb their hair and have spent to much time in Hawaii or someplace tropical since they all seem to have a rich "Coppertone" tan. That said, some might find this merely an "illustrated version" of the prologue to "Fellowship Of The Rings", giving a back history of the Hobbits as a race of creatures, where they came from and what the meanings of their names might be. On this level, the book works and at times can be quite interesting and useful, especially to someone who is reading Tolkien's "Lord Of The Rings" for the first time. It could also be a spoiler to the very same reader so be prepared to be let in on future accounts as told in the Ring trilogy. I think I might have really enjoyed this book much better had they used another illustrator and not the one that did the work for this book, for that is really my only problem with "The Hobbit Companion" and certainly not with the caring thought and detail that the author put into depicting Hobbit lore as a genuine society and race. So to sum it up, for true Tolkien fans this book is probably a must but may disappoint on the level of illustrations. One can only hope that if it is ever reprinted they do so with another artist.

Not what you'd expect but a pleasant surprise.......2001-12-30

For those of you who expect The Hobbit Companion to give you step-by-step insight into Tolkien's prequel of the Lord of the Rings, this might not be the book for you.
The book actually details hobbits as a race; not the book of the same name. But it does so in a very surprising manner.
The study of hobbits (which includes Frodo--this volume does not refer just to one book) delves into the meanings of the words that Tolkien carefully selected and crafted.
Tolkien's mastery of vocabulary and language is made evident as it is broken down and explored, so you can see how the words shaped the story, rather than the other way around. Learn the meanings behind words such as Hobbit, Bilbo, Baggins, Smaug, Frodo, and more. And see how 13 consecutive words in the dictionary from hob to hobo created how we think of hobbits.
If you're an author or wish to become one, you may find this book very enlightening, as it explores Tolkien's thought processes. You'll look at and think of words in a way you never have before.
If you're not, you may find the masterfully done illustrations of hobbit life, which evoke a classic style of art, fascinating in themselves including large illustrations of Gollum, floorplans of Bilbo's home, and a 4-page foldout of Gandalf, Bilbo, and the dwarves.
Finally, the book is exquisitely crafted, which you can tell as soon as you feel the cover. It's meant as a keepsake, and if carefully preserved, it can be a treasured part of your library for generations to come.

Blandings the blest and the blue blood: A companion to the Blandings Castle Saga of P. G. Wodehouse, with a complete Wodehouse peerage, baronetage & knightage

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Blandings the blest and the blue blood: A companion to the Blandings Castle Saga of P. G. Wodehouse, with a complete Wodehouse peerage, baronetage & knightage
Geoffrey Jaggard
Manufacturer: Macdonald & Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Fuzz against junk,: The saga of the narcotics brigade (A Traveller's companion)

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Fuzz against junk,: The saga of the narcotics brigade (A Traveller's companion)
Akbar Del Piombo
Manufacturer: Olympia Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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La Companera Palida / the Pale Companion: Saga De Crimenes Y Misterios Shakespearanos / A Shakespearean Murder Mystery (La Barca De Caronte)

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La Companera Palida / the Pale Companion: Saga De Crimenes Y Misterios Shakespearanos / A Shakespearean Murder Mystery (La Barca De Caronte)
Philip Gooden
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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A Pliocene Companion: A Guide to the Saga of Pliocene Exile

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A Pliocene Companion: A Guide to the Saga of Pliocene Exile

Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HKLH14

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um bom suplemento
A Must For Any Saga Game Narrator
Ok.
Ok.
Perfect, enough to make perfect characters.

Saga Companion (Dragonlance, 5th Age)
William W. Connors
Manufacturer: Wizards of the Coast
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Customer Reviews:

um bom suplemento.......2002-01-14

é um bom suplemento com novas regras para combate e magia e resoluçao das ações , tambem possui dicas legais de como criar uma historia e um otimo sistema de geracao de backgrounds de personagens, no final do livro varias tabelas com armas , armaduras e todos roles lancados ate o momento. para os fas de saga uma otima aquisiçao

A Must For Any Saga Game Narrator.......2000-10-31

A Saga Companion is a neat, compact addition to the Dragonlance Fifth Age Saga game, TSR's diceless, card-based version of the AD&D Dragonlance game.

A Saga Companion offers a variety of rules simplifications, options, and additions for the Saga game's Narrator, many rules being written by players themselves rather than the TSR staff, who gathered these, their own ideas, and many of the Dragon Magazine's "Sage Advice" columns on the Saga game into one volume. The book, though compact, is concise and extremely easy to use, for the most part merely needing the Fate Deck to perform any action; very occasionally the reader is referred to the Book of the Fifth Age, Heroes of Hope, Heroes of Sorcery, or Heroes of Steel.

Adventure and story design tips (derived in part from Joseph Campbell's works on myth and folklore) are included. This book also offers creation guides for the Narrator to build new hero roles, hero races, monsters, spells, weapons, and armor. Design sheets for personal photocopying are provided for all of these save the weapons and armor.

A Saga Companion, while not perfect, is a must for any Saga game Narrator.

--Sharon Daugherty for Skirmisher Online Gaming Magazine

Ok........1999-10-22

This book isn't the greatest of all the Fifth Age adventure game supplements, but it is very helpful for those narrators who are extremely creative and need rules for their games.

Ok........1999-10-22

This book isn't the greatest of all the Fifth Age adventure game supplements, but it is very helpful for those narrators who are extremely creative and need rules for their games.

Perfect, enough to make perfect characters........1999-08-10

Please take a saga character without this book. The only thing you know is his scores, name, social status etc. Then take a saga character with this book. We know everything (I MEAN REALLY EVERYTHING) about this character's background. His family, his enemies and even his companions. And for narrators there is a good (I MEAN REALLY GOOD) way to make adventures. What could you have more?

Average customer rating:

The Lack of Leadership

"Must have" for your leadership library

This book shows the landscape about how the great companies use OD and HRD

Glorification of deadbeats

A Step-by-Step System To Organization and HR Development

Best Practices in Leadership Development and Organization Change: How the Best Companies Ensure Meaningful Change and Sustainable Leadership (Essential Knowledge Resource)

Manufacturer: Pfeiffer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Best Practices in Organization Development and Change: Culture, Leadership, Retention, Performance, Coaching

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The Successful Leadership Development Program: How to Build It and How to Keep It Going

Linkage Inc.'s Best Practices in Leadership Development Handbook: Case Studies, Instruments, Training (A Jossey Bass Title)

ASIN: 0787976253

Book Description

In this important book, successful organizations—including well-known companies such as Agilent Technologies, Corning, GE Capital, Hewlett Packard, Honeywell Aerospace, Lockheed Martin, MIT, Motorola, and Praxair—share their most effective approaches, tools, and specific methods for leadership development and organizational change. These exemplary organizations serve as models for leadership development and organizational change because they

Commit to organizational objectives and culture
Transform behaviors, cultures, and perceptions
Implement competency or organization effectiveness models
Exhibit strong top management leadership support and passion

Download Description

Commit to organizational objectives and culture
Transform behaviors, cultures, and perceptions
Implement competency or organization effectiveness models
Exhibit strong top management leadership support and passion

Customer Reviews:

The Lack of Leadership .......2006-09-11

As a graduate student in International Relations I study the effects of poor leadership all over the world. So you can imagine how important insightful words on leadership are in this day and age. Mr. Carter has given us the tools to make us better leaders all we have to do is use them! I highly recommend we all read this book.

"Must have" for your leadership library.......2006-08-24

Once again Louis Carter and a team of experts have written a brilliant book on leadership development. As a person working with organizations to enhance their leadership systems I highly recommend this book as a must have for their library. Great case studies and best practices to benchmark.

Chris Webb, Director, The Ariel Group

This book shows the landscape about how the great companies use OD and HRD .......2006-07-08

I think this is for the practitioner. In fact it is lack of accademic focus, but it has the great merit to show how the OD and HRD is implemented in field actually . Throuhg this book I can see the overall landscpe of practical OD.

Glorification of deadbeats.......2006-05-30

Ulrich leads up to believe that the likes named here are the holy grail of best practice. The list of names reads like the book of deadbeats and the academically challenged, Agilent thrashed its self to a fraction of its former glory by the people he named and we are supposed to kneel in worship. Its leaders were clueless buffoons.

The other three reviewers must be Ulrichs relatives, or on the payroll. If you take on board this rubbish, do your current employer a favour and find work in another field of endeavour.

A Step-by-Step System To Organization and HR Development .......2005-03-16

"In September 2003, Lou Carter's Best Practices Institute performed a research study on trends and practices in leadership development and organization change. BPI asked organizations in a range of industries, sizes, and positions in the business cycle to identify their top methods of achieving strategic change and objectives. The study found that there is a strong demand, in particular, in the following areas of leadership development and organization change (leadership development, performance management, organization development and change, innovation and service enhancement, and coaching). Louis Carter, David Ulrich, and Marshall Goldsmith (editors) say that our continual research in the area of best practices in leadership development and change strongly support the assumptions and organizational case studies that we profile within this book (from Introduction)."

Louis Carter et al. write that `'this book contains step-by-step approaches, tools, instruments, models, and practices for implementing the entire process of leadership development and change. The components of this book can be practically leveraged within your work environment to enable a leadership development or change initiative. The exhibits, forms, and instruments at the back of each chapter may be used within the classroom or by your organization development team or learners.''

In this context, BSI defines a six-phase system to leadership and organization change, which may be seen in most of the case studies in this book. The phases and case studies are listed below:

I- PHASES:

(1). Business Diagnosis, (2). Assessment, (3). Program Design, (4). Implementation, (5). On-the-Job Support, (6). Evaluation.

II- CASES:

(1). Agilent Technologies. Inc. - Electronics with 36,000 employees. (2). Corning - Communications with 23,300 employees. (3). Delnor Hospital - Health care with 1,382 employees. (4). Emmis Communications - Media with 3,080 employees. (5). First Consulting Group - Business services with 1,775 employees. (6). GE Capital - Finance with 315,000+ employees. (7). Hewlett-Packard - Computer hardware with 141,000 employees. (8). Honeywell Aerospace - Technology and manufacturing with 100,000+ employees. (9). Intel - Manufacturing, electronics with 78,700 employees. (10). Lockheed Martin - Aerospace and defense with 125,000 employees. (11). Mattel - Consumer products with 25,000 employees. (12). McDonald's Corporation - Leisure, restaurants with 413,000 employees. (13). MIT - Education with 9,400 employees. (14). Motorola - Telecommunications with 97,000 employees. (15). Praxair - Chemicals with 25,010 employees. (16). St. Luke's Hospital and Health Network - Health care with 5,500 employees. (17). StorageTek - Computer hardware with 7,100 employees. (18). Windber Medical Center - Health care with 427 employees.

Finally, as Louis Carter et al. say, ``although each organization differs with respect to area of expertise, amount of yearly revenues, and types of initiatives undertaken, each shares a similar goal of creating more successful and results-oriented organizations by way of organizational change and leadership development.''

I highly recommend this handbook to all leaders who want to achieve organization change and leadership development.

Best Practices In Leadership Development And Organization Change How The Best Companies Ensure Meaningful Change And Sustainable Leadership

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Best Practices In Leadership Development And Organization Change How The Best Companies Ensure Meaningful Change And Sustainable Leadership
Marshall Goldsmith
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N7GFWW

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