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Today’s world is a life in the fast lane, technologically advanced one. We want everything now, and we do not want to wait for anything. People today simply don’t have the time to wait for things. Even when some relaxation time comes our way we would usually rather surf the internet or watch a good movie than say, read a book. We just don’t have the time or the energy to spend on something like this. However, with today’s technology and innovation, we can now read a book without ever turning a page or even picking up a novel. There are now books that are put on tape or CD that we can listen to. We can now read a book without actually reading a book!

These books on tape or, audio books, are made by someone reading the book and recording it. Audio books are a great addition to society in many ways. When they first came out there were only a select few books that were made into audio books, but now you can find almost any book that you’re looking for as an audio book. You can find children’s stories, young adult novels, fiction and non-fiction, self help books and many more kinds of books that have been recorded for convenient listening. These audio books come in handy in many different ways and no matter what your lifestyle is they can definitely make your life a lot easier.

Most vehicles manufactured today have built in DVD players. This is so that passengers can be entertained while inside of the car, but this form of entertainment can be very distracting to the driver. Buying a vehicle with a DVD player or even buying a DVD player for a car that you already own can get very expensive as well. Instead, consider buying a few audio books. If you don’t want to spend the money, your local library should have a wide selection of audio books on hand. They come as cassettes and CDs, so you have those options as well.

Another great thing about audio books is that they allow you to multi-task. When you are reading a book or watching a movie or television show you are limited to what you can do. Usually most people cannot focus on much else but their book or the TV. While listening to a story being read to you however, you can do a wide variety of other things as well as listen intently to what is being read. A lot of people find that audio books make a great exercise companion, as they take your mind away from the fact that you are working hard. Others say they love to listen to a book while preparing dinner, driving, walking or jogging or while just relaxing in their living room. Some parents have found that audio books are a great pastime for their children. The next time you are busy, instead of placing your child in front of the television, put an audio book into the stereo.

Visit http://www.CrownAudioBooks.com to browse from a huge collection of instantly downloadable audio books. You can also download your free audio books right now.

Occasionally a book comes along that you just know you are going to keep, and read over and over again.

Many famous books teach the concept that what you THINK is more important than what you DO: Think and Grow Rich, The Power of Positive Thinking, Rich Dad Poor Dad. The Jackrabbit Factor belongs on your bookshelf right alongside these classics.

With a mesmerizing style that draws you in, this book is an easy and compelling read. The Jackrabbit Factor tells the tale of a young father (Richard) who wants badly to make a comfortable life for his wife (Felicity) and son — and just can’t understand why his much-less-hard-working brother enjoys such easy successes, while he toils away. Even when he takes his brother’s advice to “do this” or “try that”, things just never seem to work out.

One day, he storms out of the house in frustration. With nowhere else to go, he takes a walk into the woods and eventually collapses into an exhausted sleep — a “power nap” that will change his fortunes forever. As Felicity has her own breakdown of sorts, Richard enters a dreamland full of encounters with cleverly-named characters, each with a lesson for him to learn.

This book can truly be a life-changing experience for the reader. I can’t wait to re-read it often and, at the right moment, share it with my children.

The Jackrabbit Factor: Why You Can (Paperback)
by Leslie Householder (Author)
ISBN-10: 0976531011
Publisher: Thoughtsalive; 2nd edition (September 15, 2005)

Copyright 2007, Terri Zwierzynski

Terri Zwierzynski is dedicated to the success of lifestyle-inspired Solo Entrepreneurs. She is the CEI (Conductor of Extraordinary Ideas) at http://www.Solo-E.com and the author of 136 Ways To Market Your Small or Solo Business. Terri is an MBA honors graduate from UNC-Chapel Hill, and has been working with solo entrepreneurs since 2001. You can reach Terri at http://www.TerriZ.com

Find more articles like this at http://www.Solo-E.com, along with hundreds of other articles, classes, and other resources for the lifestyle-inspired Solo Entrepreneur, “…because it’s not just about the business!”

This book is fun to read! With a nice easy flow and simple explanations, it did for me what six months of learning about blogs didn’t do: I immediately set up the Solo-E blog in less than an hour. Throw in another hour to get it formatted the way I wanted, and you can literally read this book and get your blog up in an afternoon.

If trackbacks and permalinks sound daunting, BlogWild! makes it easy. Andy describes the essentials of blogging in clear, easy-to-understand language. He considers all of the basics you need to make the important creation decisions about your blog, and throws in helpful resources where you can learn more.

Beyond the basics, the book does a great job of explaining why and how to use a blog with your business. The most intriguing concept is that of having a blog instead of a website — that a blog is a cheaper, easy to update, and instantly interactive way to reach potential customers.

The middle section of the book is devoted to actually creating your first blog — step-by-step. I don’t think it could be any easier, even for those who feel particularly technically challenged.

The last section explores the ins and outs of getting your blog noticed. Andy also covers RSS and podcasting — two relatively new technologies that, again, Andy makes simple.

You’ll want this book if you’ve even considered building a blog — it will get you moving, and you’ll have some fun along the way (did I mention the recipes?)

Blogwild!: A Guide for Small Business Blogging (Hardcover)
by Andy Wibbels (Author)
ISBN-10: 1591841178

© Copyright 2006, Terri Zwierzynski

Terri Zwierzynski is dedicated to the success of lifestyle-inspired Solo Entrepreneurs. She is the CEI (Conductor of Extraordinary Ideas) at http://www.Solo-E.com and the author of 136 Ways To Market Your Small or Solo Business. Terri is an MBA honors graduate from UNC-Chapel Hill, and has been working with solo entrepreneurs since 2001. You can reach Terri at http://www.TerriZ.com

Find more articles like this at http://www.Solo-E.com, along with hundreds of other articles, classes, and other resources for the lifestyle-inspired Solo Entrepreneur, “…because it’s not just about the business!”

First thing I noticed about this book is it’s not really a book! It’s not something you sit down and read cover-to-cover - in fact I don’t even know how you would go about doing that, because the format is so unique! I was reminded of a learning tool I bought for my children to help them learn to spell simple words, where all the letters of the alphabet are arranged in 4 columns and they flip them until they get the right letters lined up. Except in this book, the columns are rows, and they contain three intriguing sets of tools full of awesome wisdom in easily absorbable “bites”.

The first tool is a set of 50 inspiring stories. Little real-life bites, some familiar, others obscure, but all emotionally powerful. The second is a set of provocative quotes. (I’m a sucker for quotes so this is my favourite section!) The third is called Powerful Models, and contains various simple but potent human dynamics models. So when you are stuck, you can open this book and flip through the various combinations (125,000 of them!) to find one or more that shakes loose your thinking, inspires you to action, or simply helps you let go of something that is holding you back. Plus there is a simple template called the Action Acceleration(tm) sheet that guides you through the process quickly and easily (you can download the sheets online, also.)

I know I will be reaching for this book the next time I find myself not moving because of fear, doubt, or simple lack of imagination. Put it on your bookshelf, and you’ll have a powerful tool for when you need it!

“You have to love this book for its format alone, let alone its wisdom. It shows the impact of great design and how what is profound does not have to be obscure. Plus there is a quiet political message in it that coaching is available to all of us and is not a profession, but a way of being with each other. Buy the book, give it to people you care about, and pick it up when you feel lost, which for most of us, is all the time.”
Peter Block
Author, Flawless Consulting and The Answer to How is Yes.

How to Get Unstuck and Get Going (Spiral-bound)
by Michael Bungay Stanier
ISBN-10: 0973642440
Publisher: Box of Crayons Press

© Copyright 2006, Terri Zwierzynski

Terri Zwierzynski is dedicated to the success of lifestyle-inspired Solo Entrepreneurs. She is the CEI (Conductor of Extraordinary Ideas) at http://www.Solo-E.com and the author of 136 Ways To Market Your Small or Solo Business. Terri is an MBA honors graduate from UNC-Chapel Hill, and has been working with solo entrepreneurs since 2001. You can reach Terri at http://www.TerriZ.com

Find more articles like this at http://www.Solo-E.com, along with hundreds of other articles, classes, and other resources for the lifestyle-inspired Solo Entrepreneur, “…because it’s not just about the business!”

A Place for Everyone is a simple story that will resonate with adults learning literacy or English as a second language. It explores a woman’s desire for a better life and her frustration at lacking a necessary skill. Its language makes it accessible to those who can most identify with the heroine.

Dot is a fortyish garment worker, living with her mother. Though functionally illiterate, she’s a talented seamstress whose work is in demand both on the job and in her neighborhood. Dot’s contented enough, but she knows something is missing from her life. She starts taking an adult literacy class and, with the help of comic books, takes the first steps toward real reading.

But Dot is not rewarded with clear sailing. This is a simple story, not a simplistic one. As sometimes happens in real life, Dot is suddenly faced with problems that seem overwhelming: her workplace goes out of business and her mother becomes an invalid. Can she find work and take care of her mother at the same time? She’s still getting orders for custom sewing from the neighbors, but can she turn this sideline into a means of making a living? Is a home business, with all the paperwork it involves, beyond the reach of someone who’s just learning to read? The story holds out hope, but makes it clear things aren’t easy for Dot.

This book’s vocabulary and formatting make it readable for students at a beginning level.

(A Place for Everyone by Tana Reiff, 1979, Lake Pub Co. Length: 64 pages)

Jane Wangersky is editor of the ESL Free Press, a daily online news source for ESL learners and teachers. She is the author of the e-book Each Week for A Year: Readings for ESL Students on Everyday Life, available in Canadian and U.S. editions from Lulu.com. You can download her free e-booklet, Taking Your English to the Street: Six Common Problems and What to Do About Them, at the ESL Dollar Store.

Book Review: Hemingway—A Life Without Consequences

James R. Mellow ISBN 0-201-62620-9 Houghton Mifflin 1992

Until I read this three-dimensional biography of the American writer who taught the modernists how to write, I thought I knew all I wanted to know about Ernest Hemingway. It’s all in his literature; it’s all in the press and the archives, I thought. But I did not find the man I thought I knew in this biography by James Mellow. Eureka! Biographer James Mellow is as much an artist of life history as the artists he writes about.

For Hemingway buffs, “A Life Without Consequences” is the most enlightening portrait arguably of the most influential writer of the twentieth century. Much of what we already know about the man is documented ad nauseam. That he was and is universally disliked by some, adored and imitated by others can be found in letters to and from him, his four wives, publishers, editors and friends; not to mention his countless critics, “the maligning bastards” he likens to the hyenas of his Africa novels.

To understand this complex man who took his own life, the expatriate behind the legend—heroic war correspondent, newspaper man, big-game hunter, hard drinking, womanizing, openly bigoted, deeply romantic, envious of peers, foul-mouthed winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Print Journalism and the Nobel Prize for Literature—you have to read this book. The extraordinary legacy he left of where he came from, what life did to him and why he did what he did with his life, pulsates in the real characters, places and events of this epic that reads better than a novel.

Born into an upper middle class late 19th century Victorian family in Chicago’s fashionable Oak Park suburb, the Hemingway that Mellow reveals may or may not have been greatly influenced by his musically talented mother Grace and his physician father Clarence. We do know that most of his work is autobiographical; and that his family, boyhood and adult friends and enemies are the basis for the characters in his stories, and that his father, brother and a granddaughter committed suicide.

The woodsy hunting and fishing scenes of his childhood, his first encounters with girls and sex, are wonderful glimpses into a simpler time. His tragic wartime experiences appear in the Nick Adams stories and in later novels. Everything he did as Ernest Hemingway is in his fiction. And of course so are Paris, Spain, Cuba, Key West and life and death. Old photos show the boy Hemingway dressed as a girl, which was common then. In maturity, Hemingway overcompensates for manliness by demonizing homosexuality. He exaggerates masculinity by womanizing and in engaging in love affairs while “happily” married. Mellow includes photos of Hemingway’s family and the people he knew before, during and after two world wars, including his celebrated wives.

Hemingway belongs to the less is more class of literary noir that found its way to Hollywood’s money machine. Joining writers like Dashiell Hammett (The Maltese Falcon) and Raymond Chandler (The Big Sleep), Hemingway’s “The Killers” and “To Have And Have Not” are the classic hard-boiled noir genre of a man who allowed no interruptions, no intrusions into his writing life. He worked from dawn to noon, and was drunk the rest of the day. His characteristic brevity, with plenty of air space between hard-hitting dialogue, finds its way into his novels. By asking the reader to question, to contemplate what the characters might be thinking but not saying, Hemingway is engaging the imagination. With some exceptions, I think this is why most motion picture screenplays are not as successful as the original books.

The famous post-Stalinist Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko (now in his eighties) admired Hemingway. As a young man Yevtushenko wrote a poem about his chance encounter with “the old man” in a Copenhagen airport café/bar.

“The old man moves with grim victorious determination … the earth seemed to bend beneath him, so heavily did he tread upon it. Rejecting a Vermouth and Pernod with a resounding ‘No’ he is served Russian Vodka, clearly more to his liking.”

Everything in Hemingway’s life is bigger than life until “Papa” can no longer tolerate the myth he has cultivated and the expectations he has of himself. His body physically ailing from war wounds and accidents, his mental abilities fading, what else is left for Ernest Hemingway than to blow his brains out?

A writer/editor, I work with one client at a time for a cost effective solution to your writing and editing needs. Visit me at http://www.susanscharfman.com My novel The Sword & The Chrysanthemum is available in paperback everywhere, and in eBook form at http://www.AuthorHouse.com

In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne chose to use the scaffold as a very powerful tool. It appeared in three separate yet very important scenes. The scaffold scenes can easily be overlooked even though they are some of the most significant. Each scaffold scene foreshadowed the next and brought greater understanding of the novel. At each scaffold scene there were always certain people there: Hester Prynne and her daughter Pearl, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and Hester’s husband Roger Chillingworth. What took place on this platform determined the path which Hester, Reverend Dimmesdale, and Pearl followed. These scenes unite the plot, theme, and symbols in a perfect balance.

As part of Hester’s punishment, she had to stand up on the scaffold for all of the public to view for three hours. Women seemed to ridicule her more than the men did by calling her a “brazen hussy”. Hidden within the crowd is a mysterious character. Old Roger Chillingworth made his first appearance. He was an odd, misshapen man of medicine and intelligence. Hester, with Pearl in her arms, climbed the steps of the scaffold and was questioned by the magistrates. They repeatedly asked her to reveal the identity of the man who had part in her sin. As she is questioned, she continued to stand strong in her decision not to speak the name of the man. Reverend Dimmesdale felt that he must speak to Hester in a way that the town would not suspect him. There was a sense in his speech to Hester that he was begging her not to tell anyone that he was the “fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer”. “Never!” said Hester to the magistrates when they ask yet again what the name was of the man. This part in the book was the beginning scene where we saw Reverend Dimmesdale’s cowardice surface. He knew that he should reveal his sin and ask God for forgiveness, but he did not because he thought that the town would never forgive him.

Reverend Dimmesdale had been holding vigils to hopefully rid him of this terrible guilt that filled him. He had whipped himself, fasted to the extreme and on this night he went up on the scaffold and yelled. Hester and Pearl appeared in the street walking home from Governor Winthrop’s house where he had just passed away. Dimmesdale had both of them come up on the scaffold with him. He thought that maybe now his sin would be forgiven if they stood up there as a family holding hands. Roger Chillingworth, lurking in the shadows, saw this and now had confirmation in his theory of Reverend Dimmesdale being the father of Pearl. Pearl asked Dimmesdale if he would stand there with both of them tomorrow at noontide. Reverend Dimmesdale said no, showing once again the coward that he really was. While they were still standing on the scaffold, a meteor shot through the night sky. As they looked at it, they “beheld there the appearance of an immense letter, -the letter A, -marked out in dull lines of red light” before them. The next day, the sexton approached Dimmesdale and gave him his glove. Everyone in Boston immortalized Reverend Dimmesdale thinking that he could do no wrong which was ironic since he was the one involved with Hester’s sin. Concerning Dimmesdale’s glove, the sexton said that “Satan dropped it there” on the scaffold. Dimmesdale knew he was there last night, but the sexton didn’t think so since the scaffold was a place of standing evil-doers before the public eye in shame. The sexton also mentioned the giant letter A that appeared in the sky. Everyone thought that it stood for Angel since Governor Winthrop just died. Dimmesdale knew what he thought it stood for, but kept quiet once again. Dimmesdale still appeared weak to the reader, but is growing slightly stronger. He wanted to reveal his deep secret. He had gone up into the pulpit to preach with the intention of not coming down until everyone knew of the sin he had committed. He knew that he needed to confess, however still had not mustered up the courage to tell the town.

The final scaffold scene took place after Reverend Dimmesdale just preached the best sermon of his life. People were curious as to why he was going up on the scaffold after the sermon. He knew he was dying and that this would be his last chance to tell everyone of the sin he had taken a part in. “Thy power is not what it was! With God’s help I shall escape thee now!” says Dimmesdale to Roger Chillingworth. He said that in order to let Roger know that he no longer was going to be able to control him anymore. He was going to do what was right and he would not be bound by the torture of Mr. Chillingworth any longer. He made his way up the wooden steps of the scaffold with the help of Hester. Again he stood on the scaffold with Pearl and Hester, however this time was for all to see. Arthur Dimmesdale finally confessed his sin to the town of Boston and all who lived there then collapses. Surely everyone was speechless because they never suspected anything like that to happen on election day. Reverend Dimmesdale could have easily not have said anything and just gotten on the boat and left for England. He made the right decision by confessing his sin and letting God take the weight of the sin and guilt that was on him. Arthur Dimmesdale died on that scaffold after spending a little while with Hester and Pearl. His death could be considered triumphant because of the way he stepped up and faced his sin. He faced God and died with a clear conscience, knowing of his salvation and freedom from sin.

Each scaffold scene was extremely important to the story. Once a scaffold scene had been read, the story became clearer. Events that were previously unclear were explained and important actions take place with each scaffold scene. The first showed Hester and her judgment before the people of Boston. She was condemned for her sin and labeled as an example of what not to do. Pastors used her as an example in their sermons. The second scaffold scene lets the reader know that Dimmesdale recognized his sin, yet did not want to confess. He was still too concerned with what people might think of him if he lets people know that he was the one involved. Finally, the third scene showed Reverend Dimmesdale’s victory over his sin when he put himself in the protection of God’s hands. Once in God’s hands and away from the torture of Satan, he was able to reveal his grim secret to everyone. God forgave him just like He will forgive you and me. Obviously God does not want us to sin, however we are of the world so it is natural. Since we are sinners He expects us to confess our sin and ask for forgiveness. Both Hester and Dimmesdale were forgiven for their sin. As far as we know, Roger Chillingworth did not repent of his sin. No matter who you are or what you have done, God will always forgive you and openly welcome you back to the comfort, security, and joy within His arms.

Copyright (c) 2007 Peyton Shearer

Peyton Shearer is proving that anyone can do this by just applying themselves.

Christian Summer Camps

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In Paradise Lost Milton deals with the story not merely one of individual God or man, not merely one incident, a Nativity (birth) or a Crucifixion (death), but with a whole host of characters and an immense cycle of events. There is a war in Heaven; angels without number are defeated hurled through space, falling for nine days before reaching Hell. They are giants in stature, heroes by nature. A diabolical plan is evolved for the continuance of the war by other means: God’s purposes are to be frustrated on every hand; in particular his new creation, Earth, peopled with near-angelic creatures living in Paradise, is to be possessed and corrupted. Sin and Death are to stalk the Earth until God’s son shall come to buy back Man from his inevitable destiny in Hell. If Paradise Lost has one outstanding feature, it is that of dimension; everything, especially the power of evil, is vast beyond human belief. It is innate, it is instinctive, it is inborn. That is why the problem too (the ‘problem’ of salvation – mind’s creation? Or it real). Open opinions invited.

Why? Please read on…

At the newly-created Pandemonium in Hell, Satan opens the great council of the fallen angels. He first asserts his own right to leadership on three counts: appointment by heavenly law and title; free choice; his own merit. He stresses his unenviable position as a leader, for he will be the first to suffer from God’s greater vengeance if they fail. He calls for expressions of opinion.

Moloch, a warmonger (meaning fiery spirit), proposes an immediate renewal of hostilities. They are immortal, and no pain can be greater than those they now suffer. And if they can be and are utterly destroyed, oblivion is better than their present state. And they can inflict a lot of damage before they are beaten.

Next speaks Belial, the appeaser (Hebrew, for worthlessness – signifying sloth), who proposes peace and ease at any cost. Even though they suffer pain, they exist and they can think, and such privileges should not be thrown away by renewal of the war. By adopting a submissive attitude, the fallen angels may persuade God to commute their sentence and ease their torments.

Mammon the materialist (wealth regarded as a god or evil influence) follows, dismissing arms resistance as futile, and passive acceptance of their fate as alien to their convictions. He proposes that the fallen angels should henceforward accept Hell as their natural environment, develop its resources, and build an independent, orderly and fiery empire. His proposal is greeted with loud acclaim.

Mammon’s plan does not suit Satan and Beelzebub, who have already decided what is best to be done. Making full use of his powers of oratory Beelzebub, a schemer (using scorn, the sting of pride, the hope of a practical and painless solution and the wonder of new information about “another world”), points out that God would never permit the establishment of a rival empire. Attack he favours, but not direct attack. A new world God has created and the new race of man is destined to inhabit it. This new world will be less strongly guarded than Heaven. He proposes subversion or even its occupation and it would be pleasanter than Hell. Beelzebub cunningly prepares the way for Satan by suggesting that a reconnaissance should be undertaken to test the validity of his plan. This is accepted with enthusiasm.

Commending the wisdom of this decision, Satan the clever manipulator, calls for a volunteer to undertake the hazardous spy mission to the earth. None being forthcoming as Satan had anticipated – he offers to go himself. Satan shows courage here, but the courage is motivated by malice and spite and the desire for power and glory. The united devils rejoice in their “matchless chief”. Satan instructs them while he is away to make the most of Hell’s resources and amenities. Having achieved his purpose, Satan brings the deliberations of the council to an end.

Bhaskar Banerjee is deeply involved in the quest in unraveling that fountain of strength contained within us all. His diverse inspirational awareness programs, talks, sharing of various articles, newsletters, have helped many take a glimpse of the joy of their being. Currently associated with an affiliate website 24-7 for high demand products, you may like to click below to have a look that could be of interest and value for you.

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Kimberly Saunders’ book Budget Meals - Eight Weeks of Delicious Dinner & Dessert Recipes is not just another cookbook. Saunders goes beyond the traditional cookbooks that only list the ingredients you need to make the dishes found within the pages - she provides 8 weeks worth of meal plans that will not make you broke buying specialty ingredients you will only use once. Each meal plan is broken into one week stretches - complete with a shopping list. The shopping lists are organized conveniently into sections that are similar to the departments found in your local grocery store.

The introduction to the book includes helpful tips on how to stay on budget when you go shopping. Saunders advises to stay away from deals that are too good to be true because they usually are and to double-check your cart before you pay - be ruthless with yourself and take out anything that was not on your list.

You are not left hanging when you are done the 8 weeks worth of meal planning, realistic advice is given to create your own meal plans and you can always mix and match days from different weeks for endless meal variations.

Saunders points out that most of us miss budgeting and planning for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. She suggests that this crucial part of meal planning and budgeting can help you save money and get healthier by skipping the vending machine and the corner coffee store breakfast of coffee and a muffin. Making your own bread is another avenue suggested for saving money, but sometimes convenience has to win out over cost.

The simplicity of the recipes is refreshing and can be executed by novice chefs, making this book a perfect gift for someone venturing out on their own for the first time or busy households. If you use a slow cooker, most weeks have at least 1 or 2 meals with instructions to convert the recipe. For instance, in Week 6 there are 3 days you can choose to use a slow cooker for meals like Mild Mexican Chicken, Italian Sausage Casserole, or Pork Steaks with potatoes, carrots, and parsnips.

Kimberly Saunders’ has written a cookbook with 56 days worth of home-cooked dinners and sound advice for meal planning. And don’t forget to end dinner with a dessert, a recipe is provided for each day of the meal plan. Finish off family meals with Glazed Apple Cream Tarts, Rhubarb Crumble, or German Chocolate Cake. Like the dinner recipes, the desserts are simple, wholesome, and delicious.

Harmony is a Freelance Writer based in British Columbia, Canada. She is author of the blog Writer In The Making (http://writer-in-the-making.blogspot.com).