Books about Inspired from Amazon.com

What does itreally mean to be a good father? What did your father tell you, that has stayed with you throughout your life? Was there a lesson from him, a story, or a moment that helped to make you who you are? Is there a special memory that makes you smile when you least expect it?

After the publication of Tim Russert’s number one New York Times bestseller about his father, Big Russ & Me, he received an avalanche of letters from daughters and sons who wanted to tell him about theirown fathers, most of whom were not superdads or heroes but ordinary men who were remembered and cherished for some of their best moments–of advice, tenderness, strength, honor, discipline, and occasional eccentricity.

Most of these daughters and sons were eager to express the gratitude they had carried with them through the years. Others wanted to share lessons and memories and, most important, pass them down to their own children.

This book is forall fathers, young or old, who can learn from the men in these pages how to get it right, and to understand that sometimes it is thelittle gestures that can makethe big difference for your child. For some in this book, the appreciation came later than they would have liked. But as Wisdom of Our Fathers reminds us, it isnever too late to embrace it.

From the father who coached his daughter in sports (and life), attending every meet, game, performance, and tournament, to the daughter who, after a fifteen-year estrangement, learned to make peace with her difficult father just before he died, to the son who came, at last, to appreciate the silent way his father could show affection, Wisdom of Our Fathers shares rewarding lessons, immeasurable gifts, and lasting values.

Heartfelt, humorous, engaging, irresistibly readable,and bound to bring back memories of unforgettable moments with our own fathers, Tim Russert’s new book is not only a fitting companion to his own marvelous memoir, but also a celebration of the positive qualities passed down from generation to generation..
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Amazon Best of the Month, June 2008: When Senator Robert F. Kennedy entered the presidential race during the chaotic year of 1968, anarchy appeared to be gathering on the horizon. America was coming to grips with an unwinnable war in Vietnam and unacceptable social policies at home. The Last Campaign examines Kennedy's bold (and tragically shortened) efforts to awaken his country's social conscience and moral sensibility. In contrast to the cocksure attitude of Thirteen Days (RFK's own 1962 memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis), Thurston Clarke reveals a very human politician who often trembled at the podium and scanned crowds for an assassin's glare. Though motivated to serve by an unwavering desire to help the poor and oppressed, Kennedy also lived with a deep fear that his life would be cut short by violence. "I'm afraid there are guns between me and the White House," he prophetically remarked during the spring of '68. Yet The Last Campaign chooses not to explore what could have been. Instead, Clarke focuses on what is certain: for an 82-day period, Kennedy "convinced millions of Americans that he was a good man, perhaps a great man." --Dave Callanan

Exclusive Q&A with Author Thurston Clarke

Kennedy during a 1967 visit to the Mississippi Delta where he found children starving in windowless shacks. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and his brother, President John F. Kennedy, conferring at the White House. Kennedy discussing the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. with press secretary Frank Mankiewicz on April 4, 1968.

Amazon.com: He was a Presidential candidate for less than 100 days - why does the name Bobby Kennedy continue to resonate today?

Clarke: The fact that he was the brother of a beloved and martyred president, and that he was also assassinated are of course important factors. But I think Bobby Kennedy continues to be relevant because he tackled issues such as race, poverty, and an ill-advised and unpopular war that remain relevant. And not only did he address these issues but he addressed them with an honesty and passion that no other president or politician has equaled since 1968.

Amazon.com: Despite his own fears, Kennedy made himself dangerously accessible to crowds. Was this an act of defiance or conviction?

Clarke: It was both defiance and conviction.

Speaking of President Johnson's bubble-topped, bulletproof limousine, he told a reporter, "I'll tell you one thing: if I'm elected President, you won't find me riding around in any of those God-damned cars. We can't have that kind of country, where the President is afraid to go among the people." When his aides (who were worried about his safety throughout the campaign) urged him to spend more time campaigning from television studios and less time plunging into crowds, he told them, "There are so many people who hate me that I've got to let the people who love me see me." Kennedy also knew that crowds revived him-"like a couple of drinks," according to aide Fred Dutton-and that letting people see him in person was the best way to prove that his reputation for being "ruthless" was unmerited.

Amazon.com: Hypothetical questions achingly surround Bobby Kennedy and his legacy. Did any single "What if?" occupy your thoughts as you researched this book? Kennedy campaigning in Los Angeles during 1968

Clarke: Several "What ifs" haunted me.

Kennedy had wanted to avoid going to the Ambassador Hotel on the evening of June 4, 1968 and instead watch the returns at the home of John Frankenheimer. The networks, however, protested that they needed him at the hotel for interviews and wanted to cover the victory celebration live if he won. Kennedy caved in and went to the hotel.

Kennedy always went through the crowd in a ballroom or auditorium after speaking, and became angry with aides who tried to hustle him out a back door. But on the night of his assassination, he broke his own rule and went through the hotel pantry where Sirhan Sirhan was waiting.

And what if he had won the nomination and become president? I doubt that there would have been riots at the Democratic convention in Chicago that year -- riots that helped elect Richard Nixon to the presidency and that have proven to be an albatross around the neck of Democrats for forty years. A President Robert Kennedy would have withdrawn America from Vietnam soon and there would be fewer names on the Vietnam wall. There would have been no bombing of Cambodia, Kent State, or Watergate, and so on, and so on.

Amazon.com: Kennedy's campaign strategy was fraught with risk, as one observer remarked that "he kept hammering away at the plight of the poor when there was more chance for political loss than gain." Had Bobby simply had enough with politics as usual?

Clarke: Kennedy's obsession with the plight of America's poor was more the result of his own personal experiences than any rejection of politics as usual. He had held a starving child in his arms in Mississippi. He had visited the appalling schools on Indian reservations where students learned nothing about their own culture and history. He had tramped through tenements in Brooklyn and come upon a girl whose face had been disfigured by rat bites. He believed that he had a responsibility to educate the American people about these conditions.

During a flight on his chartered campaign plane he told Sylvia Wright of Life magazine, ". . . for every two or three days that you waste time making speeches at rallies full of noise and balloons, there's usually a chance every two or three days . . . where you get a chance to teach people something; and to tell them something that they don't know because they don't have the chance to get around like I do, to take them some place vicariously that they haven't been, to show them a ghetto, or an Indian reservation." And it was moments like these, Kennedy told Wright, that made a political campaign, despite all its banalities and indignities, "worth it."

Amazon.com: In your opinion, will we ever see another Bobby Kennedy? Have we become too jaded to embrace a candidate like RFK or has campaigning simply become political theater?

Clarke: One of the aides who scheduled many of Kennedy's appearances that spring, told me, "What he did was not really that mystical. All it requires is someone who knows himself, and has some courage."

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The best-selling guide to preparing delicious vegetarian recipes on the grill is back, with 50 brand new recipes and the very latest in modern grilling trends. This update to Andrea Chesman's classic book presents 250 healthful, flavorful recipes for vegetarians and grill aficionados alike. It's filled with an incredible variety of fast and easy vegetarian dishes ideal for gas grills, charcoal grills--even an open campfire grill--including appetizers and soups, fresh salads, sandwiches and burgers, tasty wraps, pizza and flatbreads, flame-kissed pasta, juicy kabobs, and grilled desserts. Favorites include Brie, Cranberry, and Pistachio Quesadillas; Grilled Portobello Salad with Roquefort Dressing; Lentil-Stuffed Pita Pockets with Grilled Onions; Vegetarian Fajitas with Chipotle Sour Cream; White Pizza with Leeks and Peppers; Tandoori-Style Vegetable Kabobs; and Grilled Nectarines with Mascarpone Cream. The expanded introductory chapter features helpful information on current equipment options such as pellet grills, grill pans, built-in grills, and indoor grilling machines, making it easy to enjoy mouth-watering grilled vegetables and vegetarian meals with flavor you can only get from the grill!.
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A tale of hope, courage, and the amazing journey of one special dog.

When you meet Baby, the first thing you notice is her limp. She only has three legs, you see -- she lost one following years of mistreatment at a puppy mill. But spend a little more time with Baby and her irrepressible "Ma," Jana Kohl, and you'll hear the story of how this gentle creature has gone from puppy-mill victim to celebrity "spokesdog" -- hobnobbing with celebrities, lobbying politicians, and inspiring an entire movement to end the kind of animal abuse she suffered for so many years.

Several years ago, Jana decided she wanted to buy a toy poodle. But the nightmarish conditions she was confronted with at a breeder's farm -- hundreds of dogs confined to small, dirty cages for their entire lives until they were killed for the crime of being too old to produce puppies -- opened her eyes to abuses in the world of commercial breeding. There are thousands of puppy mills all across the United States, and most of those cute little puppies in pet store windows are products of such nightmarish places. Jana knew this was a wrong she couldn't ignore.

Her first step was to adopt a rescued adult dog instead of buying a puppy from a commercial breeder. And that's how she found Baby, a roughly nine-year-old poodle who had been locked in a cage. But Jana's mission didn't stop there. Soon, Jana and Baby (whose sweet face and three-legged hobble attract attention wherever she goes) found themselves speaking to groups about the terrible conditions at many breeders' farms and urging politicians to change the lax laws that regulate this industry. Today, Baby is the unofficial spokesdog for the Humane Society of the United States on the topic of puppy mills, and she and Jana travel around the country lobbying for reform on this important issue.

A Rare Breed of Love contains more than sixty photographs of Baby with many of her high-profile fans, from Barack Obama to Judge Judy to Patti LaBelle, as well as original essays from luminaries such as Alice Walker and Gloria Steinem about the special love we all have for the pets in our lives. In this heartbreaking, compelling, and ultimately heartwarming book, Jana Kohl and Baby offer practical advice on what each of us can do to raise awareness, make a difference, and stop animal suffering everywhere..
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Experience the beauty, drama, and life-changing power of the Bible like never before! Inspired By … The Bible Experience breaks new ground in the presentation of the Bible. Unique among audio Bible products, The Bible Experience is a captivating performance of the Bible presented by a stellar ensemble of almost 400 of today’s award-winning actors, musicians, clergy, directors, and producers. This historic production features an original musical underscore by the Prague Symphony Orchestra and Hollywood-style sound design created at Technicolor Studios and was awarded the 2007 Audies Audiobook of the Year for the New Testament edition..
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This profound and accessible book details how science is studying nature's best ideas to solve our toughest 21st–century problems.

If chaos theory transformed our view of the universe, biomimicry is transforming our life on Earth. Biomimicry is innovation inspired by nature – taking advantage of evolution's 3.8 billion years of R\'9126D since the first bacteria. Biomimics study nature's best ideas: photosynthesis, brain power, and shells – and adapt them for human use. They are revolutionising how we invent, compute, heal ourselves, harness energy, repair the environment, and feed the world.

Science writer and lecturer Janine Benyus names and explains this phenomenon. She takes us into the lab and out in the field with cutting–edge researchers as they stir vats of proteins to unleash their computing power; analyse how electrons zipping around a leaf cell convert sunlight into fuel in trillionths of a second; discover miracle drugs by watching what chimps eat when theyᱥ sick; study the hardy prairie as a model for low–maintenance agriculture; and more.

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In 2006, Judith Durant delighted knitters everywhere with her collection One-Skein Wonders: 101 Yarn Shop Favorites. At last, knitters had a rich array of fun, festive patterns for all those yarn "orphans"— single skeins purchased on impulse or left over from long-finished projects.

With knitters clamoring for even more of these imaginative patterns, Durant has tapped into a wide circle of knitwear designers across the country to compile a totally fresh collection of enchanting projects. Once again, the excitement of small-scale possibility will attract knitters of all skill levels. Like its predecessor, 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders offers patterns for small projects that can be completed with a single skein of yarn.

These designer projects range from the adorable to the elegant. The book includes plenty of patterns for those never-can-have-enough items: hats, scarves, bags, and shawls. It also highlights the unexpected: a useful knitted notebook cover, a fun-to-wear mitered square belt with beads, and an elegant ring bearer pillow. There's something for everyone here — from the novice knitter to the experienced yarn artisan.

With patterns arranged by yarn weight, knitters will easily find broad ranges of possibilities for their particular single skeins. A full-color gallery features detailed photographs of all 101 projects, allowing knitters to browse through all the patterns quickly to find the perfect match for each skein.

The patterns in 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders are practical and fun. They're ideal weekend projects, perfect to give as gifts or wear and enjoy. Because they're small enough to fit in a tote bag, they're great to take on the run. Best of all, they offer simple solutions for that stash of single skeins every knitter has tucked away.

Whether the yarn was picked up on impulse — because it was on sale, or just too beautiful to resist — or left over from a project completed long ago, every skein of yarn cries out to be used. 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders offers the ultimate solution for converting those lonely skeins into knitted wonders..
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