The Lost Art of Gratitude: An Isabel Dalhousie Novel (Isabel Dalhousie Mysteries) Review

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(More customer reviews)You have to believe that author Alexander McCall Smith has a special fondness for his main character in "The Sunday Philosophy Club" series, Isabel Dalhousie, for he has created for her a seamlessly agreeable life. She is intelligent, well-educated, well-to-do and beautiful. She has a handsome, sensitive and younger fiance, who has fathered her beautiful and well-behaved son. Isabel loves her "job" as a moral philosopher and editor of a scholarly journal and lives in a historic mansion in Edinburgh, a city that fits her like a glove.
So without the frisson and stress, how does "The Lost Art of Gratitude" (and others in the series) grab the reader's attention and hold it? It may well be that the very stresslessness of living is what makes her story so interesting and enjoyable to the reader. You know that nothing terrible will ever really happen to Isabel and to the ones she loves. Who doesn't fantasize about a world where we are surrounded by beauty and intelligence that will never end? Where babies don't ever have to have their diapers changed nor do they ever get colic or throw tantrums. Where your SO, in addition to being beautiful/handsome and talented, respects you and intuitively connects with your every thought and impulse. And is always yin to your yang.
McCall Smith does provide a few gray clouds for his heroine in "The Lost Art..." in the form of a couple of Isabel's old adversaries--Minty Aucterlonie and Christopher Dove, but they have both been vanquished by Isabel in the past, and there is no doubt that she will prevail against them again.
Ultimately, the greatest pleasure from the book for this reader, was the time and space that Isabel Dalhousie is given to ruminate about the human condition and the interactions of people in ordinary day-to-day situations. This isn't peace in the Middle East or the answer to world poverty, but it is important reflection on how we behave toward each other as residents of shared communities. Hypocrisy and greed are two of the main identified enemies for Isabel, but all human folly is grist for her consideration. Respect and charity are always her goals.
McCall Smith's paragon does have interesting flaws--she is overly considerate and reasonable and therefore unable, at times, to correctly read the baser actions of others. These misunderstandings and her occasional outright cluelessness give the story needed zing and interest.
"The Lost Art of Gratitude" is another gentle and sweet installment in a series that you have to hope will hold McCall Smith's interest and enterprise for many years to come.


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Brotherhood of the Wolf (The Runelords) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is much better than the last book, and it is developing into a true epic unlike some other series (*cough Goodkind cough*).
I have to say though, the whole concept of endowments and such grew tiresome halfway thorugh the first book. While it is a novel concept, Mr. Farland seems to be using it like a gimmic and I wish he would focus on it a bit less.
I have to congratulate the author for avoiding the trap of the caricature fantasy novel characters in his books. I like the fact that Geborn is an ordinary person, but he is a little hard to sympathize with, I found him a little two dimensional. Raj Ahten is much more interesting, hopefully the promising development of his character we saw in the second book will continue in the future installments.
Another thing I like about this series is the non traditional enemy, mainly in the form of Reavers, the battle between the reavers and humans is very interesting and adds to the already impressive depth of the series, hopefully Mr. Farland will provide more clarification on Duskin and Toth history in future books. Unfortunately, Mr. Farland has chosen to follow the unfortunate tradition established by Tolkien and Lewis of polarizing his world into the good being represented by the Northern (read caucasian) regions and evil being concentrated in the south (by the darker skinned races) this trend in fantasy of representing evil by the eastern and southern races is unfortunately ubiquitous, so I can hardly be upset with David Farland, but it is a little disappointing nonetheless, I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed this trend, but perhaps I'm a little more sensitive to this phenomenon being of an asian origin. However, Mr. Farland, if you are reading this, I would like to congratulate you on an excellent series so far and keep up the good work!

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Imagining Egypt Review

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(More customer reviews)This is really a children's book and not suitable for anyone who is looking for genuine reconstructions of Ancient Egyptian buildings. The pictures are pretty enough, but the information is, unfortunately, minimal. For those interested in serious archaeological treatment, look elsewhere.
JLR

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Explore the history and culture of ancient Egypt in a brand-new way with this unique book sure to appeal to adults and young people alike. The ancient Egyptians thrived over a 3,000-year period and are considered to have been one of the most sophisticated and innovative societies the world has ever known. In Imagining Egypt readers learn how to decode hieroglyphics, find out how the pyramids were built, read ancient myths and legends—and experience the daily life and culture of the Egyptians in a whole new way. Brand-new computer recreations of ancient monuments and structures, rendered by the author in full color just as they would have looked in their own time, are acompanied by photos of the sites today. With its highly original artwork, lively layout, and entertaining, interactive style, Imagining Egypt carries readers back to an exotic and fascinating time and place, into a culture that exerts influence and commands respect today. Going beyond artifacts and ruins to show what life was really like at the time, it's perfect for students, teachers, armchair historians, and travelers. Visit www.imaginingegypt.com for special features and offers readers of Imagining Egypt.

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Family Matters Review

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(More customer reviews)As Mistry makes clear in this novel, the "one important story [is] of youth, and loss, and yearning for redemption...Just the details are different." With these themes as the bedrock of his story, he depicts the world of a multigenerational Parsi family in Bombay, their world changed forever when Nariman Vakeel, a 79-year-old former professor and sufferer from Parkinson's disease, falls and breaks his leg, effectively ending any possibility of an independent life. His stepchildren, Coomy and Jal, quickly dump Nariman in the two-room apartment of their younger half-sister, Roxana Chenoy, her husband Yezad, and two sons, supposedly for only three weeks, while his leg heals. Beset with financial problems, lack of space, and resentment of Coomy and Jal, who remain in their father's 7-room apartment, the family does its best, but tensions rise and slowly erode their relationships, precipitating intense personal crises for each family member.
Concentrating more on the world writ small than on the broader, more expansive views of A Fine Balance, Mistry creates a number of vibrant and fully drawn characters. Nariman Vakeel, recalling his dreams and disappointments, his 11-year love for Lucy Braganza, and his disastrous arranged marriage, is touching in his neediness and in his apologetic helplessness. His grandchildren delight in his stories and seek ways to help out; Roxana makes do in every way possible, tending to Nariman's most personal needs; and Yezad, frustrated by the lack of financial support from Coomy and Jal and a job in which he is underpaid, feels jealous of the old man's claims on Roxana. Mistry's dialogue, the subtle and not-so-subtle undercurrents it reflects, the often humorous interactions, the honest but naïve motivations of some of the characters, and the meticulously depicted and subtle decline of the family are the work of a master.
The one jarring note for me was the use of Shiv Sena, a fanatic political/religious group, as a motif thoughout the novel, their threats, extortion, violence, and fundamentalist rhetoric intruding periodically (and often dramatically) on the lives of the characters. While this obviously broadens the scope of the novel and offers a context in which to evaluate Coomy's religiosity, the fears of small businessmen like Yezad and his boss, and Yezad's eventual conflicts with one of his sons, it felt contrived to me, too strong and too obvious in what is otherwise a novel of more subtle interactions. Mary Whipple

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Watercolor School (Learn as You Go) Review

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(More customer reviews)As a novice watercolour painter and devoted bibliophile, I have found a new way of spending my hard-earned money: Watercolour books. However, this one might be one of the last I buy, as it's really useful. bought the book yesterday and I am delighted with it. The advice on how to do things is sound, and this is a book that encourages you to find your own style and shows you how the same image may be rendered in such a different way by different people. Unlike other books I own, this one is not only a set of beautiful pictures. In fact, I didn't like some of the art displayed in it, but this is in fact a plus, as it shows the variety of styles and effects you can achieve with watercolour. I know that there are other techniques not displayed in this book, but as a beginning step it's definitely worth every penny. It's got a lot of demos (which are implicitly exercises) and it might end up being a classic on the subject.

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Watercolor School offers clear, visual explanations and easy exercises that build up skill and confidence. Eight specially devised demonstrations show how to deal with the most popular subjects from beginning to end.

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Olive Farm Review

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(More customer reviews)While the allure of a foreign land is a subject often plumbed by such attractive sojourners as Peter Mayle (A Year In Provence) and Frances Mayes (Under The Tuscan Sun), British writer/actress Carol Drinkwater offers refreshingly original musings on her love affair with southern France. She is particularly drawn to a tumble-down villa built in 1904; it is called Appassionata " a musical term meaning with passion."
"I am in the south of France, gazing at the not-so-distant Mediterranean, falling in love with an abandoned olive farm," Ms. Drinkwater writes. "The property, once stylish and now little better than a ruin, is for sale with ten acres of land."
Love, as has been said, is blind. In this case, an unabashed Francophile didn't see the lack of running water, save on a rainy day through holes in the roof, or moldering walls or the legions of insects who inhabit the long abandoned villa. She didn't envision the ponderously slow French property laws, the perplexities of nurturing olive trees, the idiosyncracies of the local residents, the vagaries of nature, or the amount of money needed to make her dream home habitable.
Warmed by the Mediterranean sun she simply thought, "To restore this old olive farm, with views overlooking the sea. To create roots, and with this man......it may be illogical, but it feels right."
She invests all of her resources, including her only insurance policy, in what her friends and parents deem to be a scheme of madness, and stakes her future with Michel, a man who proposed the day after they met. So begins her joust with French law, her battles with fire and torrential rains, and her initiation into the complexities of olive farming: "A perfectly pruned olive tree is one through which a swallow can fly without its wings brushing the branches." In the process, she ingratiates herself with two teenage stepdaughters, adopts a number of stray dogs, and makes fast friends among the fascinating local citizenry.
At times, she and Michel find themselves find themselves countries apart in efforts to raise funds for their television projects, their only hope of keeping Appassionata in their possession.
Nonetheless, for Ms. Drinkwater all is a fantasy come true, as it will be for many readers who yearn to experience the magic of southern France.
Part teacher and part torchbearer for all things Provencal, the author includes many snippets of history in her memoir as well as detailed descriptions of the processing of olive oil. She's also a gifted wordsmith aptly capturing with a phrase the scenes, tastes, and fragrances of the land she has grown to love.
Armchair travelers will revel in this intoxicating visit to an ultra chic yet eternal corner of our world.

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McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader (McGuffey's Readers) Review

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(More customer reviews)I purchased the first two readers and after reading through them decided to buy the rest of the series. This is a wonderful reading program and my two children, ages 6 & 8, love reading these short little stories. Both of my children are good readers so we use the readers to increase their fluency and for me to "test" them by having them read out loud to me. They enjoy reading to Mamma and I enjoy hearing them progress in their reading ability. I also love the life lessons that the children are reading about and appreciate the fact that they are reading some profitable, substantial material instead of much of the "fluff" reading that is available at the library.

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Since 1836, children have been delighted by these volumes filled with exotic adventures, exciting stories, beautiful poems, and funny fables. The Fifth Eclectic Reader includes selections from Washington Irving, Daniel Webster, Charles Dickens, Samuel Johnson, and Bret Harte.

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By Willoway Brook: Exploring the Landscape of Prayer Review

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(More customer reviews)This book offers a beautiful description of the changing seasons of the prairie landscape while paralleling it to our growing, changing prayer life. Gives you an opportunity to reflect on your own life with an encouraging tone.

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The Cricket in Times Square (Chester Cricket and His Friends) Review

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This is a fun book. It's a nice book to read a chapter at a time as a bedtime book, because nothing particularly stressful or traumatic happens. The chapters are reasonable short and benign. There is tension, there is some drama, there are rich characters struggling with their individual challenges. But there aren't many chapters ending on cliffhangers that will leave young readers or listeners feeling unsettled.
The strength of the book is the warm friendship between a displaced country cricket, a scheming but kind-hearted urban rodent, and an unflappable feline. There is also the human protagonist, Mario, a young boy who labors in Grand Central Station at his parent's newsstand. Mario's family dynamic, with the passive dad and the hard-boiled, derisive mother, sets up a nice juxtaposition. We see the sweet sap of childhood innocence standing its ground against a well-meaning but distrustful adult world.
I bought this book to read to my kids because I remember loving it so much as a little kid myself, both the book and the filmstrip adaptation, which I believe I can picture myself watching in an overcrowded mobile home that was functioning as a second grade classroom.
There's one distressing flaw to the book, which I don't remember from my own childhood because I wouldn't have noticed or cared at the time, but there is a part of the book that takes place in China Town, where it feels as if the story gets a dose of 1950's borcht belt race humor. The wise old Chinese man's dialect is achieved by switching every `R' into an `L.' As is "Vely solly." Since I was reading it to my kids, I just improvised a little and avoided doing the accent, but if an older kid is reading the book for themselves it merits a discussion. A little social-historical context.
That aside, we had a great time reading this book. The part I am asked to reread is when Chester Cricket, while dreaming that he is home eating leaves, waked up and realizes he's half-chewed through a two dollar bill borrowed from the newsstand register. There's brief panic and then excited brain-storming with his mammalian accomplices. As always, some credit goes to my unsubtle vocal performance, and I'm sorry, you can't buy that at Amazon. But it is funny stuff.


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A Private Inquiry Review

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(More customer reviews)"A Private Inquiry," set mainly in St. Ives, in Cornwall, is both an engrossing mystery and a compassionate exploration of self-deception and ultimate awareness. It is a story of two women, whose lives intersect through the machinations of a third. At first, the book seems merely to be about the increasingly troubled circumstances of 40-ish Barbara Pomeroy, a planning inspector, whose life with her much older husband, Colin -- a retired banker and now an amateur artist -- and their son, Toby, the recipient of a kidney and now a healthy, growing boy, has become fraught with growing despair and romantic distress. Barbara is put off by the appearance of a woman, Clarissa Trelawny, who has taken a nearby home and befriended her husband and son, while Barbara herself is away from home, at various planning meetings around the country, feeling increasingly isolated from the affections of her family. Meanwhile, a noted psychiatrist, Fidelis Berlin, 60 years old, comfortable in her prominence but achingly lonely without fully recognizing it, is dispatched to find the missing wife of a business associate, Neville, who is now a fond acquaintance and former lover. The lives of Fidelis and Barbara intersect, following the ghastly murder of Clarissa, when Barbara is thrown under suspicion. Throughout this involving tale, author Jessica Mann leads us, in her cool and considered prose, into the minds of a women who have shaped their lives so very differently: Barbara, who has made herself into a steely professional, self-absorbed but somehow dispassionate and longing for physical affection; Fidelis, clinical and observant, but blind to the nuance of feeling and emotional resonance; and Clarissa, whom no one really knows, and everyone has underestimated. How these two women come to regard the outcome of the turmoil their lives are thrown into, and whether they manage to grow, is part of this book's allure. Ms. Mann sketches the personal history of her conflicted characters with great assurance, a deft awareness of how we are shaped by the losses of our youth, and how a struggle for personal advancement is so often really a yearning for love. Atmospheric and absorbing, "A Private Inquiry" is a thought-provoking novel, more about self-discovery than whodunit, but at the same time a fully realized mystery, ultimately satisfying, poignant and memorable. Highly recommended.

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The Hot Flash Club Strikes Again: A Novel Review

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(More customer reviews)Much better than the prequel, The Hot Flash Club Strikes Again has our old favorites from the first book, plus a whole new group of really interesting women that anybody can relate to.
What I liked best about this book was that friendships transcended age barriers, and that women in their 60s were valued and loved as much as those in their 20s, despite their rueful horrors of growing older. There was much more substance to the individual stories as well, which concentrated on clashes through the generations: mother/daughter, wife/mother-in-law, fiancee/husband's mother. All true, all fascinating, and all grouped together to make a really really fun read.
I read this in one night: It's that kind of book. I also found some real truths; it is not a merely silly book at all, despite its title.

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The Legendary Neversink: A Treasury of the Best Writing About One of America's Great Trout Rivers Review

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(More customer reviews)"The Legendary Neversink" is a keeper.
15 years ago I learned that The Neversink River in the Catskill Mountains of New York is where dry fly fishing was introduced in America. It was developed and spread throughout the county until "the Catskill School" became the American School. This book offers further proof that it would be hard to name a sportsman, naturalist or conservationist who did not explore the river, try his hand at fishing it and later write about it.
Wonderfully illustrated, Askins has blended over twenty essays about the Neversink River (written by these individuals over the span of more than 100 years) into a thrilling history of the environment, the explorers and innovators, the economy and the political struggles which threatened and ultimately preserved it for our generation. Every chapter, whether it is a how-to-do-it, an adventure well remembered, or an hilarious tale of men (or women) interacting with nature, is great reading.

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The Neversink River in New York's Catskill Mountains, with its plunges and gorges, is one of the world's great trout streams. So it's no surprise that this diverse and fecund waterway has compelled the finest fly-fishing writers to take up their pens. This treasury of their best work takes a revelatory look at the river from its earliest days right up to the present, and from its origins high on Slide Mountain to the wild and deep ledge pools where the biggest fish live. It includes pieces by John Burroughs, Theodore Gordon, Edward Ringwood Hewitt, George M. L. LaBranche, Hay Berman, Ernest Schwiebert, Austin M. Francis, A. J. McClane, Len Wright, and Jay Cassell. Every fisheman will want to "catch" this collection!

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Vermont Farm Women Review

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(More customer reviews)My wife and I just returned from a Fall Foliage vacation in Ver mont. On a coffee table at a Bed and Breakfast we stayed at, we found a copy of this book. It is the stories of variouss women who own and do the back breaking work of farming. Some have lived on a farm all their lives, others have left jobs in the cities to take on the rigours of farming. These women are not wimps. They are hard working, self-reliant, single minded and full of passion for the farms they work....endless work.
The author's style is both interesting and comelling. This is a non-fiction page turner. It is the most inspiring book I have read in years.

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Jonas and Sally Review

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(More customer reviews)Jonas And Sally, the first of Rich Foss's hopefully prolific writing career, was one of the most compelling and beautifully-written novels I've read in ages.
It is a realistic but hopeful look at what human beings are capable of, from a collapse into sexual perversion to the triumph of an indomitable spirit.
Foss understands the natures of both the abused and the abuser so completely that we absorb the feelings of both in our hearts. We come to seek their redemption so strongly that putting down the novel becomes impossible!


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Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English: A Novel Review

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(More customer reviews)Do you remember that magic moment when you first open a book and realized you've met what will be an old friend, one of those books you know you will think about for ages, that you will reread over and over again (if you read like that, which I do), and that stands a chance at actually changing your life? Do you get all tingly inside? Do you walk around with a goofy grin on your face? Do those feelings of new love make you glow?
Yeah, that might be a bit much, but my feelings for Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English are pretty extreme. I have met my favorite book of the year my dears and... well... I'll try to keep the gushing to a minimum.
Jack Rosenblum, his wife Sadie and their daughter Elizabeth have fled Nazi Germany for the safety of England before World War II. Upon their arrival, they are given a pamphlet on how to fit into England's world. Jack is a diminutive man, standing only five feet three and a half inches, but don't let his size fool you. Inside there is the heart of a lion-hearted Englishman and Jack is determined to prove it. So he takes the list, takes it to heart, and begins to live by the list. So when Jack is arrested as a "Class B Enemy Alien" and thrown into prison, Jack's hopes for life in England are almost crushed.
Lucky for Jack, his friend Edgar gets him declared a "Class C Alien," which means he is no threat to the country, and he is released. Jack, feeling more exposed and threatened than ever, begins to add new items to the list. Jack's list grows and grows, until it is well over 100 items of What it Takes to be English. He obtains all these items except one. The last item on his list is membership in an English golf club.
"For Jack membership of a golf course was the rebuilding of Jerusalem, Atlantis and the perfect salt-beef sandwich all at once-but it was proving troublesome."
They wouldn't admit him because he's Jewish and German to boot. So he decides he will build one himself.
"If you couldn't get milk from someone else's cow, you had to get your own. No golf course would admit him and so he must build his own."
So Jack takes Sadie and moves her to Bulbarrow Hill, the new acreage and cottage Jack build for his golf course. A Jewish business man with a thick German accent is an anomaly, to say the least, in their new village and, not surprisingly, the village folk don't know what to think of Jack. Jack is so desperate to change, to fit in, to be safe, that he will move mountains. He wants assimilation, to "seep unnoticed into village life, like rain into the damp earth, and he did not like" the "scrutiny" of the village folk. However, he doesn't let this deter him and he begins to work on his course alone.
Sadie doesn't know what to think of Jack. She is stuck in the past, with the mother, father and beloved brother she had to leave behind in Germany. She cooks, day in and day out, from her Mutti's cookbook. All the recipes she grew up with are her way of remembering; of saying I love you, to those who are dead and gone.
"Once Sadie tried writing down her memories, attempting to preserve them in a nice book to pass on to her daughter but it did not work. The meaning kept disappearing in the spaces between the words, and her story was written was never quite how she remembered it. Now Sadie wondered whether it would be better for her to cook her way home to them. Perhaps she would find them in the smell of slowly simmering cholent or cinnamon rugula."
One cake in particular, a baumtorte, that Sadie bakes, takes time, patience, and love and remembrance for those gone, and was bittersweet to read about.
Sadie has so much patience for her cooking, but very little for Jack. When Jack declares that he will build the course by himself, Sadie retorts:
"My mother warned me that craziness ran in your family. I should have listened but no, I was young and foolish and easily impressed by your red bicycle and your thick hair."
Isn't that great? I hope you can tell how much I adored these two characters. I am absolutely in love with Jack. He reminds me of my grandmother's family; small, short, and furiously stubborn. And Sadie. Oh, how I just want to scoop her up and give her a hug. Knowing that Solomons based these characters on her grandparents makes me adore them all the more. The writing is utterly charming. Solomons does an excellent job of shaping these characters, of presenting their flaws and their strengths, their humor and sadness, their complete will to survive, to thrive! It's simply gorgeous. This book made me laugh, cry, scream in frustration for these two people, and hug myself in rapturous contentment at their successes. I feel as proud of Jack and Sadie as I'm sure Ms. Solomons does for her own grandparents.
I hope I have convinced you that reading Jack and Sadie's story is something you want to do. The book will be out June 21st. Thank you, Reagan Arthur, for sending me this unexpected treasure.
This book is called Mr. Rosenblum's List in England.

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The Gold Thread: And Other Stories of Young Faith Review

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(More customer reviews)This publisher takes our families highest good to heart. These stories read to our children and grandchildren help mold character, illicit great questions, and provide a means to build a moral conscience. Can't say enough good about this book and also the book "Just David" The format and printing are comfortable and compelling, too.

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The Patchwork People Review

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(More customer reviews)In the novel The Patchwork People, Louise Lawrence, a British author, follows a young man's life named Hugh go though many obstacles of trying to keep his head above water. His family is on welfare and is struggling tremendously. Hugh meets this girl in a train station named Helena who is on the higher status pole of life and changes his life forever. In this enjoyable novel, Lawrence does an excellent job of setting to mood and setting in this novel. As she is describing the negative aspects in Hugh's life, the description is gloomy and gray. As on the flip side, Lawrence shows the brighter side of life with awesome mental descriptions of the joyful settings and atmospheres. Lawrence writes about Hugh's home in Helen's point of view, "It was as if Helena had entered another world, and alien world that was all cold and gray and comfortless, a world that Hugh knew she did not. The ugliness was an assault on her senses. Then finally, he led her indoors, into a small, dark interior where a gas fire hissed and a television flickered." Another devise that Lawrence excels in is her use of foreshadowing. One instance is when Helena does not spend the quantity of her time studying for her exams because she thinks about Hugh, and later she does not need school to do what inspires her, which is riding horses and living off the land. This exemplifies that Lawrence tells the reader that she will follow her inspiration before hand. The final ingenious move that Lawrence exerts in her novel is her clever use of characters. Repetitively offering her characters hope for a better life and seizing it away from them proving that substitute solutions are not enough. This idea ties in with the overall message that Lawrence proclaims. Lawrence's message is about hope to everyone no matter poor or rich. It is about freedom, and being able to live how one would like. It is about finding your own pure happiness inside of you, not what everyone else tells you what happiness is.

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