This book had me hooked right away, and was hard to put down. It's the only Neil Gaiman novel I've ever read so I can't compare it to his other work, but it was pure fun to read.

I've had this CD for years and I *still* listen to it more than any other album in my collection. Franti and Spearhead simply make magic on this disc. Money very well spent.

"The Spellbinding Power of Palmistry" is a complete course on palmistry intended for people who really want to understand the subject. But even if you don't care to learn palmistry in much detail, this book is easy enough to read and isn't too long, so it should suit your needs. Whether you want to just read palms for friends or do it professionally, this book will teach you enough to get there. How well you master palmistry with this book is only dependent on how much effort you put into it.

I bought 2 books on palmistry, both by Johnny Fincham. I read his latest book first, "Palmistry: Apprentice to Pro in 24 hours." Without question, "The Spellbinding Power of Palmistry" is the better of the two books. That being said, I'm glad I started out by taking a few days to go through "Palmistry: Apprentice to Pro in 24 hours" because it gave me a good framework to build upon. If I hadn't read it first, it would've taken me longer to get through The Spellbinding Power of Palmistry." I wanted to learn as much as I could in as little time as possible, and the combination of these books was a wise choice.

Fincham's latest book also has some illustrations and other little details that aren't included in this book. So ideally, get both books. Just be forewarned that Fincham was pretty bitter and jaded when he wrote "Apprentice to Pro." You'll find he's much more balanced and open-minded in "Spellbinding." There are valuable topics like overall hand shape that are explained well in "Spellbinding" but totally dismissed in his later book. (See my review of "Palmistry: Apprentice to Pro in 24 hours" for more info).

One last thing. Fincham briefly mentions the way palms were read in the middle-ages but focuses on modern conventions and this is a really good thing. As a professional tarot reader myself, I am well aware of how much psychic methodologies can evolve over time. When it comes to palmistry, tarot, astrology, numerology, etc. etc. do not be deceived into thinking that the older a tradition is, the better. Especially since the middle-ages, people have grown more educated, more worldly, and less constrained by powerful religious institutions. Consequently, the tools we use for personal and spiritual exploration have evolved with us, and are continuing to increase in sophistication and potency. What Fincham offers in "The Spellbinding Power of Palmistry" is a mode of palm reading that draws from ancient wisdom without being limited by out-dated perspectives.

Good book, but not perfect. I'd give it 3.5 stars if I could pick half stars.

Firstly, "Apprentice to Pro in 24 hours" means you can learn palmistry in 24, one-hour-long lessons. You won't actually learn palmistry overnight, nor will you be much of a Pro if this is the only thing you've studied on palmistry, but you will learn a whole lot in a short period of time. It's a wonderful overview of palmistry and will give you a valuable framework to build upon if you want to pursue a serious study of the topic.

"Palmistry: Apprentice to Pro" is written to appeal to the widest audience possible. It's super easy to read and will win over skeptics with its numerous references to medical research to support the text. I have this book as well as Fincham's earlier book, "The Spellbinding Power of Palmistry," and am very glad to have both. Between the two of them, you'll find all you need to know to be an effective palm reader. "The Spellbinding Power of Palmistry" is a more complete course on palmistry intended for people who really want to understand the subject. It's still quite easy to read, and isn't too long.

What I liked about "Palmistry: Apprentice to Pro" is how easy it is to dive into it without becoming overwhelmed with information. The illustrations are well chosen, high quality, and very helpful. The book isn't the least bit intimidating --a rare trait among books on a very complex subject. (You may find tiny books on palmistry at the dollar store that can be read in under an hour but that junk isn't worth the paper it's printed on). I didn't bother doing all the exercises in the book, I just read through it (just skimming some parts) and then moved on to "The Spellbinding Power of Palmistry."

My biggest beef with "Palmistry: Apprentice to Pro" is that the author was so bitter when he wrote it. The book is rife with Fincham's irritation --particularly with people who don't maintain objectivity while following spiritual pursuits (he uses the term "airy fairy" a lot). I can ignore snide remarks but when Fincham's personal prejudices are offered in place of level-headed explanations, they diminish the instructive value of the book. Another detraction is that Fincham has done away with the meaning of hand shapes. He insists hand shape only corresponds with body type, not personality --a surprising view from a man that dedicated a whole chapter to hand shape just a few years earlier when he wrote "The Spellbinding Power of Palmistry." My own findings are to the contrary. For me, hand shape has far more to do with personality than body type and am really glad he covered the subject in his earlier book.

Ideally, get both books. If you can only afford one, get "The Spellbinding Power of Palmistry." Even if you don't care to learn palmistry in much detail, your best bet is to learn a few things really well rather than learning a little bit about a lot of stuff. "The Spellbinding Power of Palmistry" will do that for you.

Reasons to buy "Appretice to Pro":
1. if you're a bit skeptical about palmistry but want to explore it, this book will convince you there's something to it and get you started on reading palms
2. if learning things from a book isn't always easy for you, this book's the easiest you'll find
3. if you want to learn palmistry in depth, as quickly as possible, start with this book so that you've got the basic background you need to rapidly pick up lessons from more detailed books
4. there's a small number of very helpful illustrations in this book that weren't included in his earlier book
5. Fincham covers some unusual markings in "Palmistry: Apprentice to Pro" that aren't discussed in "The Spellbinding Power of Palmistry"

Good luck, and have fun in your studies!

How do you review such a diverse collection of writing?? What I can say is that it's perhaps the best short story collection I've ever come across. Simply superb writing. Creative and provoking stories beautifully told.

And... well, this might sound silly but if you're shopping online you really must know this... one of the sweetest things about this book is the way it feels. No, really. If you were holding this book you'd notice the cover is textured so that the glass pane feels like glass, and the pages feel like they're made of handmade paper. I don't know... there's just something about the book that feels delightful and extremely well thought out (which it is, from cover-to-cover).

I found my copy at a specialty bookshop in Australia and I think I was sold the moment I held it in my hands. I just knew I had found something I was going to love. And I really had.

Great way to put it into practice the pile of big ideas conveyed in the book, "Ask and it is Given." Every card has a simple statement on the front that summarizes a concept from the book. There's a paragraph on the back of each card with a bit of discussion about the card.

If you haven't read the book, you would probably get something out of the deck on its own, but you'll get 100x more if you read the book first. And it's such an incredible book, it's a Must Read anyway.

I'm a professional tarot reader and I love ending my readings by letting my client pick a couple cards from this deck. I tell the person before hand what the deck is and that the cards will offer them some sort of advice/lesson on how to manifest the life they desire. Once they pick their cards, I explain the lessons to them. I don't rely on the paragraphs on the back of the cards, although I sometimes skim over them to refresh my memory.

I read this book purely out of personal interest -no prof made me do it.

The preamble provided helpful context, explaining how the author intended the book to be used and by whom. The first half of the translated text was like a "best of" collection of Norse legends and they were super fun to read. Some parts made me laugh out loud.

The second half of the translated text is an instruction manual on writing on poetry. It's extremely dry, and probably only relevant to ppl studying ancient germanic texts and language usage. I read a few pages and stopped. I imagine most readers of this book are looking for the stories told in the 1st half, anyway.

Any text this old isn't going to be super-easy to read (Shakespeare is bad enough!) & when I bought it I was doubtful if I'd really found the best translation out there. But this one was fine and way easier to read than I expected. A few passages were a little confusing to me but there wasn't much I didn't get. Granted, I went into this with some basic background knowledge of Norse mythology and their world view (having read Thorsson's books on using runes for divination) --that background knowledge really helped at times.

I got the feeling the translator went to great lengths to stay true to the original intent of the text, and I appreciated it. A few more footnotes on some of the tougher passages & terminology would've been a nice touch.

Perhaps I'm fussier than most, but I've had a really hard time finding music that's "just right" for Reiki. Some meditation music is too sleepy for Reiki (I'm healing ppl, not sedating them!), and most of the albums written for Reiki that I've found are just plain cheesy. This CD is beautifully written, inspiring music that just takes me right to the head-space I need to be in! For me, the right music immediately tunes me right into the energy and makes it flows like crazy. This CD has done amazing things for my Reiki practice. I love it!!

As I write this, Amazon has volumes 2 and 3 listed for over $30 ea. Ouch! That's a lot for any CD, but if they're as good as this first Volume, they'll be worth every penny so I'm buying them. Huge thanks to George Raphael for making such a beautiful, powerful album.

I knew nothing about html or css when I started. I found this "Visual QuickStart Guide" at a specialty reference bookstore in Australia. I spent 45min. that day, thumbing through beginner's web design books and nothing else even came close to this book for clarity and relevance. So off I went with my "QuickStart Guide" and for 2 weeks, I spent evenings & weekends reading this book and trying out code on my computer. Then voila! I had a website! Well... it worked well in different browsers on my PC but it took another 2 weeks to choose a host and get it all online. Still, that was pretty quick. If you haven't programmed at all before, it will probably take a little longer to get going (My previous experience: I did programming in c++ at university, years ago.) but I honestly don't think you'll find a better book for getting started. Once in a while I found a term in the book that wasn't super well explained. I was always able to figure out what it meant though, because the examples & such are so clear.