Earth Day Books

I love the whole assortment that is available. They are colorful, wonderfully illustrated and great for young children, more pictures than words. Great vocabulary builder. Books about the weather are great like "The Rainy Day", and also The Snowy Day". The pictures help tremendously in teaching differences and they are learning adjectives and descriptive words.

This is a delightful book that describes the wind. It is colorful, not too wordy and has many examples of the wind blowing, to hold a child's attention. My only problem is the reference to the sycamore tree: A sycamore does not have twirly seeds that spin to the gound; that would be a maple. A sycamore has a round seed pod. It is something that most children wouldn't know but it is important that we give our children accurate information at every age. Regardless, I am glad I purchased the book; it explains the wind in an easy way for children and grandchildren to understand.

This is a great series! These books minister to every Christians every where.

The books reads like a TV series, you can't put them down! As you look at the world around you, the signs of the coming of the Lord God is soon at hand! Change your life and walk with him. Nothing is impossible.

Embrace The Change!

must read for adults and teens. must read the entire seriesin order. i read all the books in 2 weeks. life just had to be put on hold.

For concept alone, I would give the "Left Behind" series five stars. The way the Rapture is imagined (people disappearing into thin air, an anti-Christ in the form a charismatic political superstar on the world stage, miraculous events in Israel including a defenseless win of a war) is outstanding. What is far less thrilling is the plotting and characterization. Although this series does more psychological plumbing than the usual thriller, the characters are flat and the pacing of the books is maddening at times.

Since I had seen the movie, I started the series with "Tribulation Force" and read through "Desecration." I slowly grew tired of the enterprise, never even getting to the final two volumes. This is a series that goes on way too long and at times gets petty and petulant in making its theological points. The general vibe is, "We're right, everyone else is wrong. End of story." Certainly people are entitled to their opinions, but the hectoring "always right" tone gets annoying after a while.

Recently I found myself curious again and decided to read the first volume. I would say my review remains the same: brilliant concept, plodding delivery. I particularly dislike Hattie's one-dimensional character. There is a sequence in this volume in which she tells of desiring unwanted pregnancies so that her sister, who works at an abortion clinic, can keep her job. I mean, really? That is just plain misogynistic. Hattie is always, throughout the volumes, the harlot in contrast to Chloe's virtuous foil. So much more could be done in creating nuanced characters.

Sometimes the writing (as contrasted with the characterization) is fine. This is a thriller after all, not literary fiction. I would say Jerry Jenkins is no worse than Dan Brown when it comes to prose styling. At times he chokes on poorly written sentences. Sample: "Irene stayed home, uncomfortably past her ninth month carrying their surprise tagalong son, Ray Jr." Overall, though, the narrative moves along smoothly.

Based on this reading experience, I have no desire to finish off the series. There are some very good things in "Left Behind" but there is also much that could be improved.

what a spectacularly awful reading experience ... i am a christian and have studied the very complex book of the bible upon which this claptrap is based ... to so mislead the ignorant folks who read this is an injustice to them ... they would be better served going to bible study group0s in their church ... i cannot believe that the avg review is 4.5 stars ... i looked at the 1st 115 pges of the 554 pages of reviews and at least 90% of the reviews i looked at were one star ... what gives?

No need here for another synopsis, rather a few words on the widely varying reviews. This isn't 'great literature' nor the finest whatever. What it is is a very interesting read with a fascinating premise. Those of you offended by any positive take on religion probably can't enjoy this. The book could reasonably be reviewed at 3-4 stars based on quality and certainly similar level books are often 'generously' rated at 5 stars by many of the more enthusiastic folks out there. But the 1 and 2 star reviews merely reflect the political 'axe to grind' anti-christian attitudes manifested by a ever growing crowd who apparently are more than ready to bring back book burning and perhaps their own modernized version of the Inquisition. Enjoy!

This is a classic novel about the human condition. The innocence and tentativeness of unproven youth; the rise and fall of an individual's fortunes (monetary and otherwise); the boredom and potential for dissolution that middle age can bring; and finally the nodding, smiling dotage at the end of a life. All the seven deadly sins as well as the seven virtues are illustrated in this novel and it achieves greatness through its beautiful and tragic depiction of each. This book transcends cultures as we can all relate to the feelings these characters experienced.

My book club recently read this and while several members had read it previously, some, including me, had not. It was an absolute delight and I wish I had picked it up sooner.

If I had to make any criticism of the book, it would be that the end was a bit abrupt after all that I felt I had invested in the main character of Wang Lung.

I read this book years ago and it has stayed with me ever since.
Originally published in 1931, it won the Pulitzer prize the following year.

The setting is in China, right before the revolution. Wang Lung is a poor farmer in a village and the book starts with his wedding to plain O-lan. They have four children together, three boys and one girl. He is a very hard working farmer and bit by bit, thanks also to O-lan's skills, he builds a fortune by buying land from the House of Hwangs's family, landowners in a nearest village whose wealth declines dramatically due to their relentless spending.

We are dipped into Chinese culture, taken from the seemingly bottomless poverty of the early days throughout the rise to wealth, only to be propelled downwards again due to a terrible draught and subsequent famine, when everything seems lost and the family has to move to the city, starting all over again.

We are reading spectators of the rise and fall and twists & turns of Wang Lung's family. Many touching episodes have moved me throughout the book, especially the ones connected with hard-working, silent, subservient O-lan and later on, the ones related to their mentally retarded baby girl.

The story is absorbing and mesmerizing, exquisitely written. Page after page, truly unforgettable. A must-read classic.

This book does exactly what the author intended: It creates a picture of the Chinese culture right before the arrival of the revolution, providing a view of a world quite different from our own. I have read several of the negative reviews, and my advice is, if you cannot for one moment let go of your attitude that the only right way is the way we do it now--the Christian American way--then you're going to have trouble with this book. Also, if you think that all writing has to be at the level of modern pulp fiction, then you also will be sadly disappointed. But if you read the book for what it is, a picture of a particular place and time, then this is an excellent book to develop a certain sense of understanding of the Chinese culture, particularly the agrarian part of it. These are not good people or bad people; they are just people of a particular ethnicity, with their own set of motivations and traditions. They are going to do things we don't like or understand, but then that is the purpose of a book like this--to make us think not in terms of right and wrong but in terms of why.

Really liked this book, but hated how Wang Lung and his family treated his oldest daughter. She is never given a name. She's only referred to as "The Fool". The family leaves her to play alone, outside, with her piece of cloth. Rarely do they check up on her. And, if nobody thinks about it she is sometimes left outdoors. She's treated this way just because she is mentally challenged. It's bad enough that Wang and the other does this. But, it's really hurtful, that O-lan, the mother, does this. You would think that maternal instinct would cause her to feel differently. However, it doesn't.

This is Pearl S. Buck's stunning Pulitzer prize winning novel, 'The Good Earth'; it was written in 1931.

The book itself is easy to read, written in plain language using simple words to describe people, places and things. No dictionary or thesaurus needed here.

This is not only the story of Wang Lung and his wife O-lan (by arranged marriage), but also in a sense, a historical novel that gives the reader a glimpse of early 20th century, rural China. The tale follows Wang Lung life that starts from the humblest of beginnings; to later, when the winds of revolution started to bring a subtle but steady changes to his way of life as he knew it, with some unexpected effects.

While reading this book, I could not help but feel that this story could be transposed to any poor rural area almost anywhere in the world; its theme has a universal chord to it.

Conclusion:
A beautiful story of a changing China and its people.
Highly recommended.
5 Stars

R.Nicholson

Awesome book, really ties up all the loose ends for all the characters in the rest of the series. It makes me want to read the entire series again.

My prayer is that the church would pray that we would be accounted worthy to escape all these things and to stand before the Son of man as Christ taught us to pray always. Since Christ instructed us to pray accordingly, then it is the perfect will of God that we escape the tribulation. However, Jesus said to pray to be accounted worthy to escape and gave many parables to clearly show us we must not be negligent to God to escape.

Jesus even said woe to those who give suck in those days showing us that just because a woman is with child does not mean she is worthy to escape the tribulation. We have a duty to know the will of the Father for our lives and to do his will to enter into the kingdom of heaven through the strait gate. Many in the church in that hour will contest the ruling of God when he shuts the door. The church will ask why has God done this to us? Here is why.

Jesus taught us to pray a certain way and we have to obey his instructions to be accounted worthy to escape. Many prominent teachers in the church preach just the opposite of what Christ taught in this respect and declare that all Christians will be raptured unlike what Jesus taught in all his parables. Christ taught that if we intend to escape the tribulation we better be ready and prepared. He gave many parables illustrating what we need to do to be ready for his coming. Substantially the entire church world has rejected these truths because they are clearly written in the gospel and never preached. Therefore, the preachers' duty to warn has been breached and many will be judged unworthy to escape, they must endure the tribulation to be saved in the end. He that speaks lies will not escape.

When Jesus went to Bethany to raise Lazarus from the dead, he asked Martha if she believed he could raise him up. She said she knew that he would be raised up in the resurrection on the last day. Jesus said the resurrection was on the last day four times. But Tim and so many other precious men of God teach the resurrection is not on the last day, but before the tribulation, which by all accounts is no less than three and a half years before the last day. Was Christ mistaken? Was Martha Mistaken? Are you mistaken? Someone must be wrong. Someone must be right.

I'm so proud of men of God like Tim that have given their lives for the sake of the gospel, but let us reconsider some issues that perhaps the church has inadvertently overlooked. There's no reason to jump up and down like children because we are afraid someone might spoil our doctrine. Lets just look at what the Bible says and see if we can't all learn what Christ and the apostles taught.

There is a rapture, which I will discuss later, but the scriptures relied upon by most of the churches to support the rapture teaching do not apply to the rapture, but the resurrection. Let me explain. The resurrection scriptures are found in I Corinthians 15 and I Thessalonians 4. Most of you in the church know them well but lets cite a few facts from the text. These passages refer to the coming of Christ in glory, the trump of God, the voice of the archangel, the resurrection of the dead, and the meeting of the Lord in the air of all the saints. And a very distinguishing fact that "We shall all be changed." Both are public events for all the world to witness. Jesus said he comes in glory after the tribulation and the dead in Christ shall rise. This is exactly how he said it in Matthew. "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:" Matthew 25:31 So when did Christ say he would come in his glory? Jesus gave us the answer in the prior chapter. In Matthew 24:29-30 Jesus said, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days...all the tribes of the earth shall mourn and see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, fro one end of heaven to the other." These are the same facts that are written in Corinthians and Thessalonians. Therefore, because Jesus said all these things occur after the tribulation, it is a fixed event which occurs after the tribulation. What we were instructed to pray for was the rapture before the tribulation, not the resurrection. The rapture requires a follower to do what Christ taught in his parables. The resurrection requires a person to be saved before he dies. Jesus never instructed his followers to pray to be accounted worthy to be resurrected. The instruction was a prayer to escape the tribulation time. So no one should have to say, why didn't the Lord instuct us to pray this way and tell us clearly if we had to be accounted worthy to escape the tribulation. Now you all know that Christ was never negligent to warn us to compel us to be ready. Is that your gospel that you preach, too? Lets all obey Christ and pray as he taught. Ready or Not, Here I Come

There are only two resurrections: one after the tribulation and another after the millennium. You must be a part of the first resurrection to be saved. Therefore, the resurrection is not the rapture because it would serve no purpose after the tribulation since the harm is past. However, even though you must be a part of the first resurrection (unless you are a believer who is alive at the time of the resurrection) to be saved, Tim and many others like him teach that natural Israel will be saved during the tribulation, which would be impossible under his own belief because he holds the resurrection occurs before the tribulation.

Here's why the resurrection cannot occur before the tribulation. The preaching of the gospel will flourish during the tribulation. The foolish virgins will get wise in a hurry and the unwise stewards will decide to follow Christ with all their hearts or fall away. But after the resurrection no one that is not already saved will be saved. Therefore, the resurrection cannot occur before the tribulation based upon what Jesus says occurs during the tribulation.

The promise in scripture is to repent to escape the wrath to come, which occurs during the tribulation. Jesus taught us to pray accordingly. Hence, the escape or rapture is before the tribulation during a negligence time. This is why all the parables have a negligence setting. There is no negligence setting during the tribulation, only panic and fear. Thus, nearly all the parables apply before the tribulation as in the days of Noah and Lot.

The Apostle Paul alludes to an escape in I Thessalonians 5, but says at the beginning of the chapter that the church has no need that he write on the coming of the day of the Lord because everyone knows it comes unexpectedly like a thief in the night. So Paul believed that the fact that Christ was coming at an unexpected time was such common knowledge he said very little about it because it was virtually a non-issue it was so fundamental to the teaching of Christ. This is why the teaching that Christ only appears publicly after the tribulation cannot be true because at that time it will be expected. It will not be as a thief in the night. Jesus said in the tribulation you will desire to see one of the days of the son of man and will not see it until he comes with lightening for all the world to see.

However, Paul uses many of the terms that are used by Christ in his many parables of his unexpected coming such as sleep, watch, sober, darkness, drunkenness, night, and escape. His use of such terms indicates he was acutely aware of the teaching of Christ. Hence, he references the parables of Christ implicitly. His epistles to the Thessalonians combined follow the same order of the synoptic gospel accounts of the coming of Christ which alerts the church to the antichrist and then the tribulation, but then backs up in time as do all three synoptic gospels and depicts a negligence setting right before Jesus returns as a thief in the night just prior to the revealing of the antichrist.

In that night Jesus says, two shall be in bed, the field, grinding at a mill, and one would be taken and another left. (Luke 17) You cannot be left behind spiritually or taken spiritually. These are not even parables. These are prophetic statements of Christ, which Jesus says many will come from all directions and sit down in the kingdom of God with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This can only be a physical removing of the ready Christians from the face of the earth. There flight is not in the winter or on the Sabbath. This is the rapture of the wise virgins and the wise stewards which Jesus gave more parables concerning than any other truth, approximately 30 parables and illustrations all pointing to the same truth. This is the most compelling truth in the Bible to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Indeed, Jesus gave notice to us in the church of our own negligence and the resulting judgment against us during the tribulation unless we are accounted worthy to escape the tribulation. It is the foremost truth of the parables of Christ. Where this foremost truth is rejected, it is foreseeable there will be judgment, specifically, against the church. This is the gospel of the kingdom that Christ preached that he said would be preached throughout the whole world and then shall the end come.

I absolutely loved this book and the series.....being a Christian, I am so thankful that God is in control. These books are so humbling to me!

The Rapture proved to be a message of hope to me that the promise of God was believed by someone who was counting on that hope as much as I was. The writing style used by the authors is something to get used to but once you have mastered their style it presents a wonderful word picture for your mind to contemplate and digest. Man takes hope from various aspects of life one of which is reading. I have found that most of the reading material being written today is not up to the quality that I demand from my books but this whole series of books by these two writers has certainly made the grade in my estimation. I look forward to more of their special ponderings of The Word in the future.

I received my book in record time and it was in excellent shape!! Thanks for another great Amazon purchase!!

I have been a fan of Zecharia for ten years. He is a profound biblical scholar and one of only a few who can read ancient Sumerian. Zecharia is also an expert on near eastern mythology and takes a highly controversial position regarding these myths and texts which originate from the area of modern Iraq.

According to Zecharia, when considering these accounts of Gods and men, one should take them more at face value and interpret them in the most literal and straightforward way. His interpretation could be classified as an "ancient astronaut" theory; he believes that for thousands of years before the Christian epoch that gods really did walk the Earth; the Sumerians called their gods the "Annunaki", in the Old Testament they were known as the "Nephilim"; but they were not supernatural beings, rather they were a space- faring race of extra- terrestrials who created man as a slave labourer. Amazingly Zecharia states that these "Gods" originate in our own solar system, on "the twelfth planet" which the Sumerians called Nibiru and orbits the sun every 3600 years, This orbit takes it far beyond Pluto and away from the plane of the ecliptic. The planet must have some form of internal volcanic activity so that it can support life.

As the ancient texts say, these "gods" were often quarrelsome and possessed emotions much like humans; a disagreement between the extra- terrestrials Enki and Enlil (gods of the Sumerian pantheon of twelve) led to the unleashing of nuclear weapons in the twenty-first century BCE. Evidence can be seen for this in the Sinai peninsula where the the desert rocks are charred. The extra- terrestrials built "space facilities" in the middle east; Jerusalem was their "mission control" centre and Baalbeck was their landing platform. According to Zecharia all the "gods" of Earth come from Nibiru and at any moment they are likely to return.

The extra- terrestrials encouraged humans to worship them as gods and to build temples for them, their life -spans were much longer than humans' and many of the Annunaki took up physical residence in their temples, where they were fed and served by humans. The gods also procreated with humans; kingship and civilization were introduced by them, and royal bloodlines were composed of the Annunaki's descendants. Zecharia points out the many theophanies of the Old Testament, which were really encounters with these extra- terrestrials.

When the planet Nibiru enters the inner solar system, it's gravity wreaks havoc, the Earth and the moon were cataclysmically formed when one of Nibiru's moons collided with a proto- planet called in Sumerian, Tiamat. Catastrophe or civilization always accompanies the twelfth planet's return.

This is an extremely entertaining book even if you are not convinced about all of the details.

Probably a good primer on the Sumerian tablets, Stonehenge, the Mathematical relationships, et. al. But if you're already familiar with this stuff, not much new here. Ties it all together. Some doom and gloom. I've read half of Sitchin's series. Am fascinated by the whole thing. Chariots of the Gods is also on message but more lightheartedly, and always a good read or view. Way ahead of it's time! Depressing to think that for nearly 2000 years, we've been blindsided by religious zealots who mostly went out and killed people who wouldn't accept their version of history. Hopefully, they'll get their comeuppance soon. Cathedrals are nice, but they should pay property taxes like the rest of us!

The chapter on the antikythera mechanism alone is worth buying the book. The whole Earth Crhonicles series makes sense of what accepted history cannot explain, along with evolution. A must read for those who are not afraid to learn the facts even if it shakes their world from the nonsense they were taught in school. Yes it is upsetting to think of spending money tolearn rubbish in learning institutions but better to know and leave that behind than stay in the dark one's whole life.

All I could muster to make any of this book fit my reality. A good job of historical ancient history.

Zecharia has a vivid imagination, and a genius for manipulating history fragments - a science fiction Jim Jones. What will be next? I for one, refuse to accept that I was genetically engineered from female apes by aliens during ancient times. Ruled by aliens gods who governed the human race with a lust for power and by the navigation of the stars (sounds like Ronald Reagan).

Personally, I rather remained an ape then to be ruled by aliens who lived on a planet which is warmed by radioactive decay.

Christians, we have another false prophet .... Sitchin. Someone sould tap Sitchin on the shoulder and tell him "Christianity is about a spiritual realm; not alien and a rogue planet."

I admit this isn't usually my kind of book, I like to stick to vampires and paranormal romance, but I'm really glad I gave in and checked out this book. Yes, it's a short book, but as another reviewer correctly pointed out, it's not short on the suspense and action. Lots of drama. Enough to fill a 300 page book. Lots of turmoil here, in the life of a young troubled girl. I can't think of anything to add that hasn't been already said before, just that it's weird in a good way and will have unique appeal to young women, but guys too. I love Twin Peaks and The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer, so I thought the girl in this book was a lot like Laura. Every young woman over 18 should read this book.

Don't be too hard on him, Rehak first wrote this whacky novella as a precocious teen, published in first-year university, and even a prodigy is not perfect. For a first book and for the type of bare bones style book it tries to be this is not a bad book even with its perceived flaws. Rather this than the over-detailed over-long boring pretentious unreadable drivel we sometimes get. Rehak knows how to tell a lurid super-gripping story in a quick and easy flowing style that cuts through unnecessary padding and whatever else it may do never bores. I thought the hokey elements were hilarious, intended or not. With some more decent exposure, this would be a cult classic with the Flora Darbys of the world. I'm not sure what screwed-up, angry, depressed teenagers looking for love and acceptance were called in the 1950s but my friend Alice calls the modern-day equivalent EMO.

Twisted plot and characters with scary twists and turns. Dialogue is fine for the '50s, didn't spot any neologisms. Pacing is not slow but very VERY fast-paced (maybe too fast) and writing style is extremely clear and simple (too simple) but, strangely, engaging. The kind of book that even non-avid readers could find especially entertaining since it's such an easy and straightforward read for the shorter attention span. An interesting experiment in literary minimalism.

I think I understand its unique appeal, non-literary commercial fiction appeal, both in style and sensationalism. Well worth reading, when you're in the mood for this kind of thing. I felt I "knew" Flora, but I wish the author had gone deeper into her thought processes. After I recover from the shock I received from this crazy little story and I'm in the right mood for an easy breezy read that pervs me out or touches my heart (CRIPPLED DREAMS), I'll surely go with this author again- but with that in mind, a longer more fleshed out book next time please. But this is I think a good one to start with.

Girl grows up rich and spoiled. Girl does very bad things. Girl gets disinherited and kicked out. Girl finds God. Girl kills herself. That's all there is folks, there ain't no more.

In my opioion,Mr. Rehak is a very good writer in that the words flow freely and the characters become alive and real. But, this book just isn't "enough". I was left wanting.

This is the book your grandma wouldn't want you to read. Shocking and insightful. This uncut version is also a bit better.

If you are looking for facts on the Centralia fire this isn't the book to start with. This book focusses on three people out of the hundreds affected and then only during a period of time from 1979 until 1983 when the government finally agreed to do something for Centralians. Considering her comments in the afterword about the immense amount of research and information she went through, this book is a disappointment.

As others have noted, Quigley seems fixated on what people supposedly were wearing and a lot of similar minutiae that is distracting from the story. I also find it hard to believe anyone would remember after all these years exactly what they were wearing on any particular day, or whether there were leaves crunching underfoot, etc. It's a book that doesn't know if it wants to be a historical record or a "reality" novel.

Quigley also adds little (one fact really) to David DeKok's excellent history of the mine fire. And without footnotes or references it's hard to tell where Quigley got her facts from.

As to the cause she puts forward, it defies logic. While hot ashes could well have started the fire I have my doubts. I grew up with an coal heater in the basement and the ashes never would've stayed hot enough to ignite anything unless one took them from the heater directly to the dump. Even then I have my doubts. I'd bet heavier on the fire department setting the dump on fire as the former chief admits to her.

It's probably the first book I ever bought that I almost wish I hadn't since it was a waste of time and money. Though, as another reviewer pointed out, the pictures and map are better than the ones in DeKok's work. Still, not worth the price.

If you'd like to learn about the Centralia fire and the blundering of local, state, and federal nincompoops that have led to the devastation of the town, then read "Unseen Danger: A Tragedy of People, Government, and the Centralia Mine Fire" by David DeKok. If instead, you want to waste your time with a silly little Ivy League girl's infatuation with her forebears, loosely connected to the present day fire, then read this plodding book, which only adds one little blurb about a dumpload of smoldering coal ash onto the cause of the fire. B-O-R-I-N-G!

In setting out to write the "great American tragedy", Quigley fails to provide coherent structure, dates and timelines. Her writing is colorful but undisciplined, and I found myself becoming increasingly irritated as the story's momentum sagged beneath her flowery prose and banal Creative Writing 101 metaphors. There are also disconcerting jumps between first and third person narrative and a general lack of dates that could have helped orient the reader as the story jumps back and forth through time. Equal blame should be placed on her editor, who should have reigned her in.

But worst of all, starting with PART THREE, the author introduces an obvious bias against the Regan administration that is so blatant, it calls into question her motivations throughout the rest of the book. I'm not politically Left or Right, but I can't trust any history book that injects that much of a personal bias into its narrative.

I live not far from Centralia, have driven past it many times and have always been curious as to its story. I came to this book excited to learn and became so disenchanted and irritated with the author's writing that I was moved to post my first review on this site. My recomendation is to save your money and seek out a better source for this story.

This book examines a mine fire in Centralia, one of the tragic unintended results of the economic might of coal mining that helped build Pennsylvania. As the industry faded away into mostly bootleg and now sporadic operations, the mines remained. Inside many of these mines are long neglected fires with enough coal to keep the fires burning for years. These coal fires create tragedies when the fires and their toxins reach up through the surface. Unfortunately, in Centralia, these fires threaten an entire borough. This book describes the history of the Centralia mine fires, how its residents reacted, and how public officials mishandled the situation and let situations grow worse. Students of state government operations may wish to note the mistakes made by the Thornburgh Administration to the Centralia difficulties.

The region around Centralia once boasted of 14 mine operations, each employing hundreds, with three United Mine Workers locals within Centralia. When the mines closed, local residents were left with the smell of sulfur from the inferno beneath them. Yet, with an average income half the national average and generations of proud residencies, many remained, despite the smell and the existence of ominous pipes used for venting the fire's steam. Yet, when a boy fell into a hole in back yard and narrowly escaped death from the 160 degree heat and monoxide level that was thirty times above the government's set exposure threshold, the residents realized the situation had grown far more serious. The fire was reaching them.

Fire does not know politics, yet the Centralia fire raged at a most politically inopportune time. It roared during the Reagan Revolution, at a time when President Reagan and Governor Thornburgh were calling for cutbacks in government services spending and for relaxing environmental standards to encourage business growth. An expensive fire operation caused by failed corporate environmental failure was low on the government's list of priorities and indeed may have been embarrassing to their goals.

This book provides an excellent history of the Centralia fire along with a description of public policy mistakes that hopefully we may learn from. The fire first surfaced at a landfill. The state required the borough government officials to daily dump clay onto the fire. Yet, the state failed to recognize that Centralia was a depressed community with only $2,300 in its General Fund. The borough officials could not afford to do what the state required of them, so, while they did apply clay when they could afford to, they did what many local officials in similar situations do. They pretended the problem didn't exist or wasn't really that important. Meanwhile, the fire spread. Finally, upon realizing the fire was burning out of control, borough officials called for help.

Under the law, the Federal government would pay for half the costs of extinguishing the fire and either the coal company or the state government paying the other half. The cost of putting out the Centralia fire was estimated to be about $30,000. Yet, the coal company, despite having $3.8 million in assets and $50,000 cash on hand, claimed they could not afford to pay their half. The state government ignored the problem. While no party was emerging to pay to control it, the fire continued raging and estimated costs of ending the fire escalated to $296,000 until parties agree to spend only a fraction of what was need, at $100,000. This efforts were "too little, too late" and those efforts failed. The problem continued growing until a later insufficient $2.8 million effort later failed. The fire was raging ahead of the efforts to put it out.

Federal and state government officials continued squabbling over who should pay to put out the Centralia fire, which continued enlarging into an estimated $9 million plus operation. While federal officials were declaring there was no threat from the fire, state officials were discovering carbon monoxide levels within Centralia at life threatening levels. A new federal law taxed the coal industry for mine reclamation efforts. Yet, Reagan's Interior Secretary James Watt favored directing mine reclamation efforts more towards bituminous coal mines in Western states. The solution offered by the Interior Department for Centralia was they would spend a total of $1 million to assist Centralia residents to move away. Any other spending, they insisted, would have to come from the state government. The state government, though, appeared to pay little attention to the problem, a point on which many fault Governor Dick Thornburgh. Governor Thornburgh never once visited Centralia. Concerned Citizens (a group of Centralia residents) lobbied Congress to address the Central issue, and surprisingly, Pennsylvania's Senator John Heinz cancelled meeting with these advocates. Senator Arlen Specter at least met with residents, yet seemed to agree with the Reagan Administration officials that relocating residents may be the only option. Secretary Watt authorized $11 million in Pennsylvania mine substance control, yet not one dollar was allocated for Centralia. The Federal government finally agreed to create a $850,000 study to determine the fire's location, information most Centralia residents were able to provide for free and which still did nothing to solve the problem.

Finally, most of Centralia citizens decided to relocate. For relocation efforts, Congress provided $42 million. To this day, a fire that could have been put out for a few thousand dollars, has cost tens of millions of dollars, and continues burning to this day. This book provides an excellent description of the residents' anger, fear, and bitterness amongst themselves and their conflicts over how to handle matters. This book shows the human element and the words of those directly affected by the Centralia fire. This is an excellent book of true human emotion alongside a valuable description of an important part of local history. Readers of Pennsylvania history, coal mining, government decision making will all greatly appreciate this book, as well as readers who want to know what it feels like to live with a continuous fire burning underneath your home.

This is a story that needed to be told. And there are many more out there, quite similar, it seems, that we also need to hear. I found the historical aspects particularly fascinating, and will look for more information in that regard. However, I wasn't as taken with the long sections about how the local residents fought for government action. The egregious failures of the state and local governments are an outrage. Seeing more recent disasters, such as Katrina, sadly makes one aware that, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Although I found it hard to 'fall' for Luke, I did like the storyline of this time-travel romance. Loved the setting of Santa Fe and the detail of the family life there. Am not really sure, still, what Like 'is'...

This being my 3rd O'Day-Flannery book, I'm starting to see a cookie-cutter pattern to her storylines (single woman, not happy with life, freak occurance like a storm, good looking man saving her or helping her, denying what is before her eyes, finally accepting time-travel, the inevitable drawn out process to some physical interaction then the "I love you' ... then living happily ever after). Hope it doesn't get boring!!

I've read tons of time-travel romances, and most of them have been better than this. Sometimes, the author has the time-traveller accept her situation much too easily "Oh, I've gone back in time. Okay." or, in this case, she never accepts it at all. Her inital resistance to accept what had happened to her was realistic, but the author dragged it out for waaaaaay too long. Proof of what had happened to her kept smacking her in the face, and every time she refused to even consider the truth. "I can't have travelled back in time", "It's impossible" and "This guy [the hero] is insane and/or a liar" over and over and over and over. Broken record....

This is the last time I try to read something by this author. Her books are boring, her romances uninspiring, and sometimes (example TIMELESS PASSION with its disgusting rape scene) downright offensive. HEAVEN ON EARTH was boring, and the heroine so annoying I wanted to smack her.

Don't waste your money on HEAVEN ON EARTH. If you want a good time-travel romance, I recommend A TIME TO DREAM by Sherry Lewis or REMEMBER LOVE by Susan Plunkett.

After I started reading this book "Heaven on Earth by Constance O'Day Flannery, I just couldn't put it down. Every pages filled with excitment and adventure. I like the message that the author had given us that we all have our own destiny like Luke and Casey. They're destined to meet but the odd is that they met in a strange situation--"time traveling". The only confusing part of this book in my opinion is that the author wrote too much about science and new age stuff. Even though, she tried to explain them as simple as possible but still...science is hard to understand. Especially about time traveling that includes an explanation about atoms and such. But overall, I recommend this book for it was not at all as boring as it seems.

I have read several of this writer's books and really enjoyed them. So I was suprised at this book. The central characters are almost unlikeable, definitely boring and lack depth. I also didn't care for all the New Age references, it didn't seem to fit. I would advise against buying this book. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't much.

Heaven On Earth had an interesting premise, certainly different than the usual time travel romances. The fact that both Luke and Casey were time travellers was a wonderful basis for the book, however, a few things made the story dull and lacking in spark.

The hero, Luke, was very hard to identify with and seemed distant. His character wasn't explored enough and left me with many unanswered questions. His physical description was also lacking. He talked a lot about New Age concepts but wasn't clear enough on what exactly he did and why he did it. Too vague in his explanation of why he was time traveling.

Casey was a great character and she was written well. But I felt almost as if she was more concerned with having a child than with being in love with Luke.

The descriptions of New Mexico and of the customs were excellent. It made for a wonderful setting for Heaven On Earth, but the lack of good characters made the story hard to get through no matter how well the setting was painted out. It was a book that you would either love in the first twenty pages or hate by the beginning of the first chapter.

There is hardly any information to go with each day of the year; which is not in keeping with the title of the book! The information about the months of the year is interesting, but other than that the book is bare.

On the down side there are quite a few missing entries for days. On the upside there is some very interesting information on the tides of the day and other calendars. I would give this 3 1/2 stars.

The comprehensive listing of Pagan events for the year is a must have for all practitioner libraries. All paths covered in effecient detail. I highly recommend it for everyone.

This is not as new-agey as it sounds, really. It is more of a straight up calendar type book. It goes through and does mention a whole lot of festivals and rituals and associations for the various days of the yearl.

You will get a lot of surprises about what was worshipped when, or was worthy of a festival or celebration.

This book is chuck full of information for each month and encompasses many different Pagan cultures. A wonderful resource for the curious, newsletters, calendars, event planning and for teaching/lectures. I highly recommend this book for personal and group libraries.

Home delivery to James Woolsey and his gang of bozos.

Woosley said about Lafayette "This is either a guy working for the black oligarchy, or some committee set up by intelligence agencies to crank out disinformation for the quasi-religious wanna-believers."

Snap out of it dummy!
Read his books and try to learn something, banana head, and stop being a mumbling parrrrot!
On a second thought, I changed my mind...stay dumb, we need dumb people like you so we could stay in business without competition.
Are you listening to me? Please stay the way you are, don't change a bit! And we will thank you for it!!!!
Keep reviewing Men's shaver products. From one of Woosley reviews . He wrote "Threw out my old electric after getting this. Great shave. My only complaint is that the sideburn trimmer does not trim mustasche very well." Silly man!

Folks, Lafayette is not an American secret agent. He is not American, he is French. He does not live in the United States, he lives in France, and he is in his late seventies!
As a matter of fact, Mr. Lafayette waged an open war against the CIA and government's coverups in all his books.

And trust me YOU CAN TRUST THIS MAN! He is the real thing!!!

Bozo Woosley, you don't even deserve to wipe the dirt off Lafayette shoes!

When a so-called reviewer attacks the government as the creators of the murders of 9/11, most rational readers should ignore the illiterate writer of such trash!
And when a redneck, third rate "reviewer" assumes that a scholar, a linguist and a noted writer of 130 books is somehow the agent of the evil government and secret intelligence agencies, that "reviewer" who never read Lafayette's book (As he/she admitted) smacks of James Bond fantasies (remember SMARSH?) and should be laughed at.
The campaign against de Lafayette is made clear by the "reviewers" themselves, who stated in their comments that they are out to destroy him, for reasons best known only to themselves. When you click on the button saying "See all my reviews" under their reviews for any of the one star reviews they gave to de Lafayette books, most often the reviewers have placed the SAME REVIEWS on ALL HIS BOOKS and no one else's, using the same text for all the books and PERSONAL ATTACK on de Lafayette. The stupidity of such actions is overwhelming. A genuine reader, if he/she dislikes the book of a specific writer, would not buy thirty more books of the same writer, and spend his or her time reading the stuff he/she so dislikes, then spend valuable time on reviewing 30 books by the same author. I suggest the campaign is based on some ulterior motives, which are unclear to me.
Incidentally, the books are not "cheaply produced." Obviously the reviewer never saw one, or he/she would have noticed the lovely paper, the meticulous binding, the exquisite layout, the stunning page design, etc.
Final notes: I suggest the "reviewer" who is infested with hatred learns to write Standard English. The mistakes are amusing and sad at the same time.
Amusing enough, all those negative third rate reviewers (3 persons led by one woman notorious for her intoxicating bad body odor, and who became bitter because of her failures in life) claim to be expert ufologists with 25 years of expertise in the field...well none of them is known in the community, none of them has credentials, none of them has authored any published book, not even one single article about UFO or Anunnaki.

Bear in mind that Maximillien de Lafayette is the author of "Biographical Encyclopedia of People in Ufology and Scientific Extraterrestrial Research: Leading Authorities, Scientists, Personalities and People Who Matter"
He is the only author in this field who gloriously wrote about 700 ufologists and gave them international exposure. If he is against ufology and truth in ufology, why would he spend time and efforts to write about other ufologists in a very positive manner???
A government agent or "disinformer" would do the very opposite!!

The unique writings by de Lafayette are of a higher dimension than 3D. This book has great depth! What could be more important than knowing who created us and for what reason? And, just as important, what is going to happen to Earthlings in the future? Those who have written negative reviews here on Amazon are not willing to read and consider the material with open minds. The fact is that we have been brainwashed all our lives; and the history and religions we have been taught, to a large degree, were constructed to keep us subordinate to religious and political leaders. Regarding Mr. Mahdi's review, I would say that I will hold the Ulema teachings I learn sacred and apply them only for the good. Thank you Mr. de Lafayette for sharing your insights so generously!!

I am in agreement with the reviewers who think these books are bogus. I have been diligently studying this field and related ones for over 25 years. I hoped for newer more coherent information, but all I found was a cut-and-paste pastische. Expensive rip-offs of others earlier writings. This "guy" has taken every theme he can find and packed them into his cheaply produced bloated books.

The people I know who have followed the field looked at the books and found them stinking of inauthenticity, as I do. They are marketing ploys to get your $$ regarding a field that deserves better.

This is either a guy working for the black oligarchy, or some committee set up by intelligence agencies to crank out disinformation for the quasi-religious wanna-believers. Hey, I DO believe in UFOs etc and have been thru the learning curve with Sitchin, Cathy, Greer, and i forget how many more without digging books out of old boxes.

If you think you are finding sparkling new info here, I suggest you are a newbie to the field. Just because you have some initials after your name doesn't mean you know gold from fools gold yet. So stash the name-calling like "redneck."

The "above-top-secret" government (military-industrial complex types) keep creating new "enemies" to misdirect the masses. It used to be cold war, then when that petered out, they came up with terrorism. Now they are preparing the UFO Religion for all the New Age suckers. Look up Werner van Braun's final warnings. Have you seen through 9/11 yet?

Sure we wish some benevolent Father-Mother figure would return to earth and make our boo-boos go away. Maybe it's up to us to grow up. Look, there behind the curtain.... it's the Wizard of Oz yanking your chain with his light-show.

I liked the style of the author of this book. He is using his mind instead of conspiracies theories. This is what I liked most: He tells us what scientists think, what religious people think, what important people think, what everybody think, and then he comments on their ideas. And after that, he gives us his personal beliefs. I think it is wonderful. No favoritism. I noticed that the author is different from other writers and authors who write UFOs books. In truth, he is very unique because he has an international cultural background and knows what is going on in the world and secret places.
He does not write for everybody, I think. For example people who go to church everyday will go crazy if they read what he writes. People who believe everything the government tells them will not believe what he writes in his book.
I ask myself how come he knows so much? He is not from the United States but he knows a lot about American secrets and American UFOs. It is a mystery.
I read 4 books by him and I am learning new and very important things. And he explained everything very clearly. So I must give 5 stars.
Goodbye.
From Russia with love.
Igor Poppovich