Communication is mankind’s greatest achievement and if you don’t believe me think about every other major accomplishment of the human race and ask you’re self if that could have happened without good communication. The core of good communication is simply, grammar! Without a good understanding of grammar your communications skills suffer greatly which can put you at a massive disadvantage in life. Luckily, even though we often develop many bad language habits you can get a grammar study guide and online grammar course to help fix some of these problems!

Surely bad grammar can’t be that terrible?

You may think so but let’s look more closely at the ramifications. The old saying “first impressions count” is very true, human beings make very quick judgment calls when we meet someone for the first time. Even if you are well presented, courteous and friendly if your spoken grammar is not good all these things can be undone as the other persons mind immediately tags your communication as poor. Is this fair? No, but life isn’t fair and neither are most people so we must all look for the best advantage we can get in life. Poor grammar is often seen as a lack of education, or simply being lazy with your language which can be seen as being lazy in general. This is of course very bad when working or looking for work where good communication is essential and can be detrimental to your personal life as well when making friends.

Still not convinced your grammar is holding you back?

Let’s look at an example. When applying for a new job you send your resume and a cover letter by email to the company which goes to an inbox flooded with other applicants. When the employer finally has time to sift through all these emails he gives each one a cursory glance and deletes any he thinks are not worth his time to consider further until he gets down to a more manageable list. If your cover letter has even a few glaring grammar mistakes and the one before was much better written do you think your resume will get looked at? The chances are much lower and even then if you get picked for an interview if your grammar is poor you may be considered to be slow or dull instead of articulate and clever.

How about another example then? When meeting new friends you are trying to impress you try to tell an amusing story, you notice however that some of your audience is a little put off by your grammar bungles or even worse they interrupt you and tell you your mistakes making you look a fool. Social humiliation is not fun and while you may be a wonderful storyteller or joker your true talent will always be overshadowed by poor grammar!

I don’t have time to be an expert on English grammar!

You are right, it takes a long time to become very good at grammar but perfect grammar is not essential just good grammar is all you need. Avoiding the common mistakes and knowing what really jars peoples sense of language is the real trick to speaking and writing well, to this relearning grammar as an adult via an online grammar course or grammar study guide can be an essential part of giving yourself a major boost to your career and social life!

Book Review of A TRAVEL GUIDE TO HEAVEN by Anthony Destefano (Doubleday, 2003) by Michael A.S. Guth

“If heaven is anything at all, it’s fun.” With that opening line Anthony Destefano sets a tone for his book that turns out to be as much fun to read as the place it is describing. Reading these words in the preface, I was buoyed up with the hope that A TRAVEL GUIDE TO HEAVEN would combine sound theological teachings on the afterlife with a bit of humor and grace – but without the stuffy jargon of philosophers. Destefano does not disappoint his readers. He gives us concrete images of heaven that we can grasp (a perfect rose, a beautiful sunset, breathtaking views) combined with new ideas of what it means to go on the vacation of our dreams (frolicking simultaneously with tame “wild” animals and even dinosaurs).

A little background on this book will help to explain its wonderlust theme. This international bestseller actually represents Destefano’s second attempt at writing a book on heaven. After attending 15 funerals of friends and relatives over a seven-month period, Destefano wrote his first manuscript, which he called HEAVEN, designed to make the afterlife more physically real than what the priests and ministers had done in the 15 funerals he attended. But this attempt at writing turned out to be so boring that Destefano never finished it.

A few months later on his fifth wedding anniversary, he wanted to treat his wife to a surprise overnight stay at a posh Beverly Hills hotel but found the hotel had lost his reservation. The Presidential Suite at the hotel was not in use that night, and when the hotel generously allowed him to stay in the suite instead, Destefano walked into a room so immaculately furnished that one might say it was a little piece of heaven on earth.

“You enter and there’s a beautiful Steinway grand piano, and it’s a Steinway, not some (cheap imitation), and there are fireplaces in every room and his and her bathrooms and saunas and Jacuzzis, and a dining room for 12 and this giant kitchen and butler service, OK? There’s a bottle of champagne in every room and a terrace that extends the whole length of the hotel overlooking Sunset Boulevard, and at first my wife says, ‘You did this for us?’ And I say, ‘You’re worth it, baby’. I got away with that for about five minutes.”

The feeling of joy from being surrounded by luxurious accommodations immediately suggested to Destefano the ingredient he needed to make a book on heaven seem more tangible to his readers: comparison to a vacation in the Presidential Suite of a five-star resort. Of course, in heaven the luxurious accommodations don’t stop with the hotel furnishings, they include a fabulous makeover of a new body (Chap. 2), interesting fellow travelers on the vacation (Chap. 4), and angels for tour guides (Chap. 7). Forget about resting in peace, heaven is going to be filled with so many fun and interesting activities that we will naturally go from one activity to the next learning more, experiencing life at its fullest, and growing in our own spirituality.

Destefano contends that the physical location of heaven is Earth. Citing portions of the New Testament that refer to “a new heaven and a new earth,” Destefano argues that eventually earth itself will experience death, resurrection, and transformation so that the “new earth” will in fact be heaven. Many of us have assumed heaven exists in another dimension beyond the three-dimensional limitations of earth, but Destefano argues continually that heaven is not a spiritual concept but a physical place that we will inhabit with our new and improved physical bodies. Given that humans have existed on the earth for about a million years, the physical size of this newly transformed earth must obviously be much larger than earth today, otherwise there would be congestion and shortage of space for all those people.

Because of this nexus between heaven and “the new earth,” Destefano is able to depict concrete images of life in heaven based on the best scenery that has existed throughout all of history on earth. God spent millennia creating beautiful waterfalls, golden meadows, as well as various exotic plants and majestic animals. “God is not going to waste anything he spent so much time and effort creating.”

Throughout his book, Destefano provides citation to the bible to back up his claims about what life will be like in heaven. Judging from the praise his book has received from people in different Christian denominations, his scriptural citations seem to please a wide Christian audience. For example, Destefano claims that prior to Christ’s resurrection, none of the souls of the faithfully departed were allowed into heaven; the gates of heaven had been closed. Destefano cites 1 Cor 15:20-23; Phil 2:8; Rom 5:18-20. His first citation contains the phrase “For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life.” His second citation contains “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth.” The third citation states “In conclusion, just as through one transgression condemnation came upon all, so through one righteous act acquittal and life came to all.” None of those citations indicate the gates of heaven were closed.

Destefano would have had stronger support for his claim by citing John 3:13, “And no one has ascended into heaven, but he who descended from heaven, even the Son of Man.” Yet biblical scholars have noted that line is contradicted, e.g., by 2 Kings 2:11, which says Elijah went up to heaven (hundreds of years before Christ was born). Reading John 3:13 in context, Christ is pointing out to Nicodemus that by questioning whether Christ is correct, Nicodemus does not yet understand he is speaking to the Son of God. In our modern language, Christ might have said, “No human being can speak from personal knowledge of heaven, as I do, who came from heaven. No human has traveled up to heaven and come back to earth to talk about it based on direct observation.”

A TRAVEL GUIDE TO HEAVEN is well-researched and draws from scripture for inspiration. I conclude with a quotation from the book that will inspire the reader to contemplate a paradise in which “eye has not seen, ear has not heard” the marvels that await us. “And don’t forget the children. God knew very well when he created the first tyrannosaurus and brontosaurus that little boys and girls would be thrilled by the very thought of them billions of years later. In fact, God might have made the dinosaurs and allowed them to roam the earth for millions of years for that reason alone.” In order to enter the kingdom of God, we must accept it with the eager anticipation of a child. We should not underestimate God’s desire to make us happy in heaven and give us child-like joy at the wonders of his creation.

First, what is a book review and why do people want them?

You have just read a book and are offering your opinion. Essentially, you are providing a mini-version of the book so someone else can decide for themselves if it’s worth their money and time.

A book review is a description, analysis, and evaluation of a book. It talks about the quality, meaning, and significance of a book. It isn’t just a short, 6 paragraph retelling. It’s not a book report or a summary.

It’s your reaction to the strengths and weaknesses of the material. It’s how you felt about the book’s purpose, content, and authority.

There is no right or wrong way to write a book review. Book reviews are personal and reflect your opinion. There is no minimum or maximal length. If you’re writing one for an Amazon, you will need to be concise and to the point – but if you are writing for a magazine, you could run 1500 words or more.

One way to write it is to state what the author has tried to do, compare (in your opinion) how that author succeeded, and back it up with evidence.

Here’s some guidelines:

1. Write an opening statement giving essential information about the book: title, author, first copyright date, type of book, general subject matter, special features (maps, color plates, etc.), price and ISBN. (In online reviews, this can be skipped, since it is part of the blurb for the book and that data is just a few paragraphs above.)

2. State the author’s purpose in writing the book. You can often get this from their preface or first chapter. Where they don’t come out and say so, you can ask yourself these questions:

a. Why did the author write on this subject rather than on some other subject?

b. From what point of view is the work written?

c. Was the author trying to give information, to explain something technical, to convince the reader of something?

d. What is the general field or genre, and how does the book fit into it?

e. Who is the intended audience?

f. What is the author’s style? Did it suit your own tastes?

g. Scan the Table of Contents to see how it’s organized sensibly.

g. How did the book affect you? Did you change any ideas you held because of it? How does it fit in with what you think or your own personal world view? Did it bring up old memories of yours?

h. Did the book achieve what it set out to do?

i. Would you recommend this book to others? How come?

3. Sum up the book in an elevator pitch – if you had to recommend this book to someone during an elevator ride, in the time between floors.

4. Explain how the author got his point across. What descriptions did they use? How did they tell the story – and did they keep you interested? Did their arguments make sense? Did they leave anything out or leave you unconvinced at the end?

5. Check into the author (this is fairly easy on the Internet) and see if what you find – reputation, qualifications, influences, biographical, etc. – establishes them as an authority. Do you see any relation between the author’s philosophy, life experience and book you’re reviewing?

6. If relevant, make note of the book’s format – layout, binding, typography, etc. Are there maps, illustrations? Do they help your understanding?

7. Check the back matter. How’s the index? Are the footnotes accurate and useful? What does the bibliography look like – long, short, haphazard? Make notes of what you find.

8. Summarize (briefly), analyze, and comment on the book’s content and its summary. List the main topics, and briefly summarize the author’s ideas about these topics, main points, and conclusions. Use specific references and quotations to support your statements. Once you have a good grip on that book, the conclusion will some simply.