Gloria: The Merlin and The Saint: From the Joan of Arc Tapestries Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I found this book to be very interesting. I did not read the first two books in the trilogy but had no trouble following this book. I think it was an interesting story, combining fiction with a historical character. The way Chamberlin describes La Pucelle througout the book keeps you wanting to read more of the story.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Gloria: The Merlin and The Saint: From the Joan of Arc Tapestries

Click here for more information about Gloria: The Merlin and The Saint: From the Joan of Arc Tapestries

Read More...

Nancy Cunard: Heiress, Muse, Political Idealist Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Nancy Cunard knew a virtual who's who of the artistic world of the first half of the 20th century before getting embroiled in the Spanish Civil War and World War II. It is a fascinating story of the rich little girl who had everything and who would spend all she had to help the needy in wartime. A hellish haze of alcoholism and mental illness would eventually kill her in 1965. Ms Gordon has written a moderately long account (nearly 450 pages with notes and index) of her advocacy of the defendless and her love affairs with the famous. It is an interesting story for any reader who is familiar with both James Joyce and Langston Hughes, with both the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Nancy Cunard: Heiress, Muse, Political Idealist

Get 29% OFF

Click here for more information about Nancy Cunard: Heiress, Muse, Political Idealist

Read More...

Mississippi Jack: Being an Account of the Further Waterborne Adventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman, Fine Lady, and Lily of the West (Bloody Jack Adventures) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)In this, the 5th novel in the picaresque/historical fiction series about the adventures/misadventures of the irrepressible Jacky Faber, we see our heroine again narrowly escaping transport back to England to be hanged for piracy. Jacky then begins another rousing adventure tale as she travels west to the Allegheny-Ohio-Mississippi Rivers on her way to New Orleans, meeting characters along the way that sound like they could have come from the pens of Mark twain, James Fenimore Cooper, and George MacDonald Fraser. She meets and shelters a runaway slave named Solomon (just like Twain's Huck Finn and Jim), a free-spirited backwoodsman and a Shawnee, Lightfoot Bumpus & Chee-a-quat, (Cooper's Natty "Leatherstocking" Bumppo & the Mohican Chingachgook), Royal Navy Lieutenant Flashby and Captain Richard Lord Allen (sharing the good and bad traits of Fraser's anti-heroic rogue Harry Flashman). The author, Louis A. Meyer, throws in the "Larger Than Life" Mike Fink of American Folklore and many other interesting (albeit flawed) folks. Jacky seems to have a knack for getting into trouble and thoroughly loves the attention she receives (except for the rough handling, imprisonment, and tar and feathering parts, that is). All in all, this is one heck of an exciting riverboat ride and the most rollicking Jacky Faber escapade yet. I highly recommend this and the other books in the series.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Mississippi Jack: Being an Account of the Further Waterborne Adventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman, Fine Lady, and Lily of the West (Bloody Jack Adventures)

Get 25% OFF

Click here for more information about Mississippi Jack: Being an Account of the Further Waterborne Adventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman, Fine Lady, and Lily of the West (Bloody Jack Adventures)

Read More...

Walking After Midnight: One Woman's Journey Through Murder, Justice & Forgiveness Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)In a world where an "eye for an eye," and a "tooth for a tooth" is often the law of the land, it is a welcomed relief to read a book about forgiveness and reconciliation, especially after a horrendous act of murder. A young man who was drunk at the time brutally and senselessly murdered Katy Hutchinson's first husband, Bob, on New Year's Eve in 1997. No one could have faulted the author had she called for the full force of the law to come down on the killer and send him away to prison for life. Instead, she reaches out to him and through numerous personal contacts seeks to understand what led him to kill her husband, helps him to come to grips with his past, make amends, and begin his life anew in a productive manner. Her basic philosophy is that it is senseless to destroy another life over this incident; there has already been enough hurt on the part of her husband, her, and her children. Mrs. Hutchinson shows that forgiveness while not easy is possible after tragic and painful events, and that it is possible for a young man who killed to begin reconstructing his life in a positive way. It is worth the time to read the book to realize that the way to end violence is not with more violence, but with redemptive love.
My criticisms of the book lie not with Mrs. Hutchinson's experience or motivations but with the way in which it was written. The great Russian writer, Franz Kafka, said that if you are going to put a gun on the mantle piece in the beginning of your story, someone has got to use the gun before the end of the story. He was referring to the fact that you don't introduce ideas or characters and then not deal with them. "Walking After Midnight" introduces many situations that never are fully dealt with or resolved. As a reader who does not know the author, I am left wondering why she said some of the things she did.
For example, shortly after her husband's murder she moves from Squamish, British Columbia to Vancouver Island with her children. Her first husband's law partner recommends an attorney, Michael Hutchison, in Vancouver to handle her legal matters. In the course of their meetings, they fall love and are married nine months after her husband is killed. The author indicates that some of her friends and her mother feel uneasy over her relationship with and subsequent marriage to Michael. She says on page 103, "...those who know me well will assuage their fears by reflecting on my history of good decision making. The rest of the world will not see it that way. I don't care..." What she is doing here is bringing to the reader's attention that the people who know her the best are not embracing this relationship. However, she does not show the reader how that reaction is affecting her. Does it make her angry or does it create doubts in her own mind about her impending wedding? How does she resolve this lack of enthusiasm? She says that her friends should trust her knowing her good decision making in the past and for the rest of us, she doesn't care. That does not resolve the issue. Good decision making in the past is no guarantee of future good decisions, and it tells the reader to mind his or her own business, which I find to be disrespectful of the reader.
The other issue this raises is why bring Michael into the memoir at all. The memoir is really about her husband's murder, her grief, her need to take care of her five-year old twins, and the reconciliation with Ryan Aldridge, the young man who killed her husband. Why not just stay with that story? A memoir does not have to tell the whole story. I'm sure she wanted to bring Michael in because of the love they have for each other and she wanted to honor him. However, from a purely literary point of view, it gets in the way of the real story and raises too many questions that act as a distraction to the main story. Her relationship with Michael could be another memoir.
Lastly, I never quite understand why restorative justice is so important to the author. She mentions that her father before he left a room would look around to see if anything needed doing. She says that that behavior instilled in her a sense of responsibility to clean up after herself and those around her. She then transfers that learning to cleaning up after her husband's murder, which involves the reconciliation with Ryan. But is that all there is to it? Why is cleaning up so important? Why does she have clean up other peoples' messes? Can't they take care of themselves? In her own life and work did she see the awful affects that hate can have on people? Perhaps she was a victim of that hate herself, which made her determined never to hate another person. Or maybe she was the recipient of love and forgiveness for something that she had done wrong and wanted others to experience the same. In other words, what in her life led her to value restorative justice? Was it just her father picking up things in a room? That sounds simplistic for a complex and counterintuitive idea such as restorative justice. I think that if we knew more about how this attitude developed in her, it could be used to help develop it in others.
In spite of my critique (and please remember I am only dealing with the method and style of writing), I think it is a powerful story, and my only wish for the author, her family, and Ryan Aldridge is for peace, happiness, and fulfillment in life.



Click Here to see more reviews about: Walking After Midnight: One Woman's Journey Through Murder, Justice & Forgiveness

"Many people who have been harmed or wronged often feel that to respond with non-violence and forgiveness is to be weak. As Katy Hutchison reveals here, to forgive and seek reconciliation not only requires even more strength than a resort to force or retaliation, but also ensures deeper, more far-reaching beneficial consequences for all concerned. I am sure her remarkable story will serve as an inspiration to others by beset by grief and loss as she was."-The Dalai Lama On New Year's Eve, 1997, Bob McIntosh left his family and friends at the dinner table to check on a disturbance at a neighbor's house. He never came home. Savagely beaten by an unknown assailant, McIntosh died that night at a local hospital, leaving behind his wife and twin four-year olds. While authorities searched for McIntosh's killer, his wife, author Katy Hutchison, began the slow process of rebuilding a life for her children and herself. Refusing to be defined by her husband's murder, she moved to a different town, pursued a new career, and eventually remarried-but, with questions about her husband's death still unanswered, the healing Hutchison longed for was slow in coming. In the spring of 2002, authorities arrested a young man named Ryan Aldrigde for the murder of Bob McIntosh. On hearing the news, Hutchison startled investigators by asking to meet the man who had killed her husband. She didn't take satisfaction in seeing Aldridge in custody, nor did she want to rail against him for the harm he had inflicted on her and her family. Instead, she wanted to learn from him why he had attacked McIntosh and what she could do to help stop incidents like it from happening again. In a letter she sent to Aldridge after his arrest, Hutchison offered this remarkable sentiment:"All I want for you is what you took from Bob-a happy and productive life."Walking After Midnight tells a story at turns devastating and triumphant, a unique exploration of one woman's courageous response to tragedy that challenges our expectations about grief and loss. It's an inspiring account of the power of forgiveness, compassion, and a different kind of justice."An excellent primer for handling loss with intelligence and dignity...an antidote to the endless cycles of violence that consume too many lives and too many countries."-Frederic Luskin, Ph.D., author of Forgive for Good and director of the Stanford University Forgiveness Projects"A remarkable story of tragedy and transcendence. Not everyone who walks this road will make the choices Hutchison did, but all will recognize the intersections and obstacles she encounters along the way. And no one who reads this story can dismiss the authenticity and passion with which it is told."-Howard Zehr, founding theorist of restorative justice, professor of restorative justice at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding of Eastern Mennonite University and author of Changing Lenses

Get 31% OFF

Click here for more information about Walking After Midnight: One Woman's Journey Through Murder, Justice & Forgiveness

Read More...

Mark Twain: The Gilded Age and Later Novels: The Gilded Age / The American Claimant / Tom Sawyer Abroad / Tom Sawyer, Detective / No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger (Library of America) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This collection of five Mark Twain novels is the sixth volume of his works published by the Library of America (LOA). Once again, the LOA has performed their usual impressive work of scholarship and quality craftsmanship.
The first five volumes comprised his classics and well known short stories, novels and essays. With this volume, the reader is introduced to five of his least famous novels. The Gilded Age was his first novel (1873) and the only one he ever collaborated with another writer on (Hartford neighbor Charles Warner). The other four books were written toward the end of his career (from the 1890's on).
Three of the novels were sequels : "The American Claimant" was itself a successor to "The Gilded Age" as it follows the further misadventures of Colonel Sellers; "Tom Sawyer, Abroad" and Tom Sawyer, Detective" continues the exploits of Tom and Hucklebery Finn. The final book, "The Mysterious Stranger" was never published in Twain's lifetime as it reflects the tragic darkness of his family life with it dark haunting gloom.
This volume is a must for the Mark Twain fan (along with the other five LOA volumes of his writings). While I do not consider this collection to be Mark Twain at his best, even Mark Twain at 3/4 strength is better than most other writers at their peak. The humorous satire of human nature (and of politics in the first two novels) is present in all five books.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Mark Twain: The Gilded Age and Later Novels: The Gilded Age / The American Claimant / Tom Sawyer Abroad / Tom Sawyer, Detective / No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger (Library of America)

Get 27% OFF

Click here for more information about Mark Twain: The Gilded Age and Later Novels: The Gilded Age / The American Claimant / Tom Sawyer Abroad / Tom Sawyer, Detective / No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger (Library of America)

Read More...

Elizabeth Bishop: Poems, Prose and Letters (Library of America) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This carefully edited book collects much of Bishop's poetry and prose--fiction, memoir, reportage, reviews--between two covers for the first time, and that is all for the good.
The best introduction to Bishop's work, however, is still "The Complete Poems, 1927 - 1979," supplemented by the best pieces in "The Collected Prose" (1984), edited by Robert Giroux, who is also co-editor of the present Library of America book and editor of "One Art" (1994), the mammoth selection of Bishop's letters. The earlier editions of her poems and prose were published in an era when editors still respected Bishop's excellent judgment about which of her poems and prose pieces should appear in print. Bishop was her own best editor, and I don't think the publication of so many of her abortive poems serves her particularly well.
My main criticism of this book has to do with the "Letters" section. As with the Library of America edition of Flannery O'Connor's writing, this selection offers letters not available in "One Art" (or in O'Connor's case, "The Habit of Being"); but the Library of America edition does not supersede "One Art" because it offers fewer letters in total. Both O'Connor and Bishop were epistolary geniuses on the level of Keats and Hopkins and we deserve editions of their letters that aspire to comprehensiveness. There is a new edition of Bishop's correspondence with Lowell on the way, but what about her letters to Marianne Moore, May Swenson, and other friends with whom she had significant correspondences?
I suppose ardent readers of Bishop's letters are supposed to photocopy the letters published in this Library of America edition and stick them in "One Art" in order to have all of the in-print Bishop letters (which are a fraction of the letters she actually wrote) in one place. I am happy to do this, but aren't Library of America editions supposed to collect ALL of a writer's most important work in one or more volumes? I would rather have Bishop's poems and non-epistolary prose in one Library of America volume, and a more complete edition of her letters in another, even if the letters book were longer in coming. The Library of America edition of Hart Crane, another epistolary genius, is comprised mostly of letters, in part (I suspect) because the editor had a new edition of Crane's letters to select from. (In fact the same person edited both Crane books).
Giroux refers to his "files of Elizabeth's vast correspondence" (p. 944). When will these files become available to the rest of us in the form of a "Collected Letters of Elizabeth Bishop," which would no doubt be a multi-volume work, or even an expanded edition of "One Art"? The latter book, as far as I can tell, is not mentioned at all in this Library of America edition--why not? Has Giroux decided to "disappear" his own wonderful edition of Bishop's letters?
I suspect this Library of America edition of Bishop was rushed to press in order to capitalize on all the recent attention paid to Alice Quinn's selection of Bishop's unpublished poems, and the attention that is about to be paid to the forthcoming Bishop/Lowell correspondence. Why not wait a few more years until the shape of the Bishop canon is a bit clearer to publish an apparently definitive volume such as the present Library of America book? Quinn is currently editing Bishop's notebooks and journals, which promise to be fascinating, but which this Library of America book does not excerpt at all.
Bishop herself was a voracious reader of other writer's letters and journals, and she even taught a course in epistolary writing at Harvard in the early 1970s. I wish editors and publishers would take a cue from Bishop's own interest in letter-writing and publish more of her letters. As anyone who has read "One Art" or the letters published in this Library of America edition knows, Bishop's letters are the ultimate pleasure reading. A bigger edition of her letters would probably not supplant the latest Dan Brown book on the best-seller lists, but there is a larger market for it than one might suppose.


Click Here to see more reviews about: Elizabeth Bishop: Poems, Prose and Letters (Library of America)

Get 27% OFF

Click here for more information about Elizabeth Bishop: Poems, Prose and Letters (Library of America)

Read More...

Embers Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I was moved to add my voice to your reviews of "Embers" for two reasons: because it is such an excellent piece of literature, and because I have read it in its original Hungarian and now in English. Viewing it from such a unique perspective, I can say that it is an outstanding translation and is as effective in English as in Hungarian. While the setting may seem exotic to Americans, the problems it explores are deeply psychological and universal to mankind. While it may not be the choice of readers of popular action novels, it would appeal to serious readers of fine literature. (I speak as one who has worked as a translator, written fiction, and holds degrees in psychology.) The book explores the friendship and love of two men and the meaning of the rift that tears them apart for 41 years and defines the existence of at least one of them for the remainder of his life. The novel is developed masterfully, solely from the viewpoint of one of the men, through his well planned monologue in the presence of his friend, during which he wrestles aloud with the great questions that have defined his life. In the end we realize that the presence of his friend is almost incidental, as the speaker has come to grips with his questions through internal dialogue and soul searching over 41 years of self-enforced withdrawal from the world. In the end he seems content with his conclusions and complete within himself, having answered his own questions, although the presence of his friend was necessary in order to achieve his piece of mind.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Embers

Click here for more information about Embers

Read More...

Oh Garden of Fresh Possibilities: Notes from a Gloucester Garden Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)"Oh Garden of Fresh Possibilities" is one of the most refreshing and original garden books I've seen published in the last twenty years. In contrast to the recent plethora of garden photo books (no doubt thanks to advances in digital photography), "Oh Garden" presents a journey through the intimate garden, profusely illustrated with the author's own beautifully rendered watercolors of flowers, birds, and butterflies. The images and text harmonize and complement each other to form an evocative and powerful message of organic unity.
But the elegant presentation is only the beginning: Kim Smith really knows her gardens, and this handy volume is crammed full of garden lore and practical down-to-earth information. Want to learn how to attract butterflies? Kim reveals which plants will do the job. But she goes one step further and discusses why butterflies are a gardener's friend, and considers the question of the garden's insect population from a holistic viewpoint. For Kim Smith, the garden is not just an assembly of plants blooming in a certain sequence; a garden tells a story, and provides a living habitat shared by both the homeowner and the vast variety of flora and fauna that make up a thriving garden.
"Oh Garden of Fresh Possibilities" is a trusty companion that will be a gardener's friend for years to come. It's also the perfect gift for anyone who has seen a sprightly Monarch butterfly float outside the window and wonders why the wandering butterfly chose that particular spot on that particular day--and how to encourage more colorful lepidoptera to visit. Kim reveals how to weave together color, texture, and aroma into an environment that makes the most of even a small garden, and provides encouragement and advice for beginners and seasoned veterans alike.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Oh Garden of Fresh Possibilities: Notes from a Gloucester Garden

Get 27% OFF

Click here for more information about Oh Garden of Fresh Possibilities: Notes from a Gloucester Garden

Read More...

The Beekeeper's Apprentice: A Novel Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)After the death of her family, Mary Russell, a fifteen year-old, moves to a farm with her "evil" aunt. In one of her walks around the area she meets the famous Sherlock Holmes, who is retired and dedicates his hours to the study of bees. Right from the start the two main characters in the book match their wits and Holmes is surprised by the potential he sees in this young woman. He then decides to tutor her and introduce her to the art of investigative work. In the next few years, they go through a few cases and Mary goes away to Oxford to continue her studies; but at one point they are faced with a more dangerous opponent, who wants to kill not only Holmes, but also Mary; even Dr. Watson and Mycroft are in danger. If you want to know the rest, you better read the book!
In my opinion the author does a very good job in maintaining the particular characteristics that define the characters in Arthur Conan Doyle's books, especially in the case of Sherlock Holmes. It is amazing how you feel that the deductive work is done by exactly the same detective you knew from the past, and with the added benefit of a fresh mind assisting him!
I was very pleased to see the ingenious way in which Laurie King connected this new series with the Conan Doyle's work. She concocted a story about her receiving the manuscripts of the different stories in the series some time ago, and that she is merely the editor. The manuscripts were of course written by the enchanting Mary Russell.
Finally, let me tell you that, since I am an avid chess player, I thoroughly enjoyed the way in which Holmes uses a chess game with Mary to explain the strategy he was planning to utilize in one of their cases.
I will definitely continue reading the books in this series, and if you haven't started yet, I recommend you do it now!

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Beekeeper's Apprentice: A Novel

Click here for more information about The Beekeeper's Apprentice: A Novel

Read More...

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I find it so surprising--reading the angry, negative reviews--that the people who hated the book hated it for exactly the reasons why some steer clear away from the the spiritual-journey-memoir genre. Yes, the author is self-absorbed, yes, she seems to think of only trite stuff, yes, she seems self-indulgent with her problems. And yes, she's allowed. It is after all a book that is positioned to address these things in the author's self; who otherwise would not be searching for something more: more meaning and more appreciation in/of her life.
Here is a woman who shows all the possibly-perceived-as-lacking-substance thoughts of hers and we are throwing tomatoes at her. One thing, she obviously wasn't afraid of that. She wasn't aiming to be coming off as some deeply wise woman but a fumbling girl-woman trying to break out of what she felt was imminent disaster (had she had the baby and delayed her need to find out what she truly wants from her life she might have left not only her husband, but their child, or most probably ending up not leaving out of guilt and becoming crazy instead: exposing her family to that for years; not an uncommon reality). She is not one for anti-depressants, remember.
This memoir falls in the same category as the TV show Sex and the City (of which it was compared to in a review here). Both get trampled for being supposedly superficial, covering the silly plights of city girls who don't know what they want and yet have everything. But this book--as the TV show--actually are part of a wider story that is illiciting reactions from the public because it reflects the transition in which women in the modern world are experiencing: now that we have equality with men professionally, now that we are liberated from all the limitations being a woman dictated two generations ago, how does that affect us? From a distance, in a glance, it seems that women have all the cards to play with now. But this book and many other works by women and/or about women of this generation show that having all those cards does not mean Happiness.
There are still things in society--in regards to a woman's role--that grates. And then there are things within our Modernised, Westernized, Individualized, Ambitious selves, that are lacking.
This is what Miss Gilbert's search is about, and what she represents.
On a collective level, much of the modern world is in search of God, Spirituality (one just needs to walk through bookstores in the US and see the plethora of soul searching self help books on the shelves). This is what needs to be observed and understood as a phenomena in the West; the small voices, small cries, here and there by those who come up with the balls to share their journeys and thoughts with us--no matter how trite-sounding, how shallow-seeming--are part of a collective howl for the meaning of life.
Elizabeth Gilbert's voice is just one of many that calls for recognition as part of a chorus for something that firstly, many women are hollering about, and secondly, humanity in general--humanity in the first world--are crying for: some kind of guidance, indication, that the collective paths we fought for and chose (the best education, career ambitions realised, a certain amount of money needed to live that certain kind of magazine-lifestyle life--which is what Liz Gilbert's life is a reflection of, remember--love in the form of marriage and what society dictates) are truly the things that give us peace and happiness in the infinite sense.
Eat, Pray, Love might not be that deep, wise voice representing the deep, wise journey into the deep, wise self. But this book's packaging and tone, hell, its WORDS, never did say it was. It is a fumbling--almost child-like in its guilelessness--show of the ego's awareness and needs, and its attempt at searching for what many people from all walks of life only wish they could go out and find: THEMSELVES. SELF, being the keyword here. And in this memoir, ultimately, God, being in each of our selves.
To the people who were disappointed that the author didn't seem to give a hoot about India's poverty, they must have not read the book through: Miss Gilbert never ventured out of her ashram and the little village it is located in, after making a decision to further develop her meditation skills and thus skipping the rest of India. She also ignored Italy's corruption with her indulging in good food and focus on learning and enjoying the Italian language. Again, the critics missed the point of this memoir. It's a book about a writer, a New Yorker, a recently-divorced-woman-in-her-early-thirties' journey to heal and find spiritual strength through various means: pleasure first to recover (Italy), spiritual examination and purging (India), combining the two for balance (Bali), which would result hopefully in the kind of substance and depth and balance that so many critics mentioned she lacks.
One doesn't pick this book up to: 1. Be exposed to India's poverty and expect the author to discuss that in depth. 2. Be exposed to Italy's corruption and expect the author to discuss that in depth. 3. Be exposed to Balinese wiles and expect the author to discuss that in depth. (which she actually did in the account of the Balinese woman she raised money for to buy the land the woman needed to build a home).
Next time you pick a book up at the bookstore, call up your powers of perception before purchasing it. A book IS pretty much its cover. Did everyone really expect a book titled "Eat, Pray, Love" A Woman's Search for Everything, to be an experience of religious fervor, one that would reveal the secrets of the universe? It's a story about a girl who thought everything she thought she wanted, would bring her happiness. It didn't. It didn't for her, and possibly not for many other women. If it took this one woman to go to Italy, India, and Indonesia, to get away after a difficult and painful divorce to heal and get perspective--instead of festering and turning into a pile of flesh in depression--then by all means. Yes, she financed her travels through her book advance--after giving away the suburban home and NYC apartment to her ex-husband. And if she wrote this book for us, it's really for us to appreciate and enjoy the ride with her. Anybody else who got so upset needed only to put the book down and pick another one to their taste. If anything, that's this book's lesson: Do what makes you smile and thankful for life.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia

Get 43% OFF

Click here for more information about Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia

Read More...

A Fine Balance Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)India, a country I knew little about, haunts me since reading this book. The author captures on paper the feeling of India on every page. The sounds, the smells and the people stay with me well after the last page was turned. Unforgettable characters that evoke every type of emotion!
Rohinton Mistry meshes the lives of four people of diverse backgrounds into a bond that lasts a lifetime. The in-depth look at a culture and a people that I knew little about has brought about an understanding that I previously lacked.
Dina Dalal, widowed and determined to make it as an independent woman in a world where women have little value, becomes the unwilling glue that supports 3 other lives.Maneck Kohlah is a student, sent by his parents from his mountain village to attend school in the city. Ishvar Darji and his nephew Omprakash are tailors escaping the terror in their village by moving to the city to look for work. This unlikely group of people become dependent on each other out of necessity, their lives entangling to create the basis of the story.
This book is written with much sadness as well as humour and has touched a place in my heart. I look forward to reading more by this author in the future. Bravo!

Click Here to see more reviews about: A Fine Balance

Click here for more information about A Fine Balance

Read More...

Weaving Dreams: The Joy of Work, The Love of Life Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Just finished Weaving Dreams; I laughed, I cried, I dreamed, and was inspired. What an insightful, compelling woman Tami Longaberger is! I am impressed and amazed that as a working mother with such heavy responsibilities as CEO and President of the Longaberger Company she has time for such introspection and sharing. Her writings, with the help of descriptive writer Jane Graham, lay open Tami's inner thoughts, feelings, fears and memories of her life and living that life in the limelight and at times the shadow of her father, Dave Longaberger the founder of the Longaberger Company.
I sat with this book thinking I would only read a few chapters, and didn't come up for air until I was nearly completed (and only because I had to, not because I wanted to!). Written in a conversational, easy reading style, I was immediately engaged, feeling that I was right there with Tami in her stories.
This is not a business book. It's a motivational book for women and even for men also. Whether you're new to Longaberger or have been a customer for years, this is an inside look to leading with a heart. This will inspire you to be a better person, to think more about your choices and decisions, and what you CAN DO for others. It's worth buying, and reading, and then sharing with a friend....


Click Here to see more reviews about: Weaving Dreams: The Joy of Work, The Love of Life

Tami Longaberger is CEO of The Longaberger Company, the premier U.S. manufacturer of handcrafted baskets and other home and lifestyle products. With great tenderness, transparency, and candor, this book opens her heart, offering readers a glimpse of her unique "American Dream"—the kind not handed down or given freely—but earned by hard work and fierce tenacity. Whether sharing memories of her impoverished childhood in Appalachia or accounts of reaching out to business women of the Middle East, Longaberger evokes a balanced nostalgia for the sweetness of the past comingled with a passionate call for hope for the future.
Weaving Dreams prompts readers to dream bigger, think more broadly, and risk taking the road less traveled in business and in life. The life lessons remind us that we are all much more similar than distinct, that we have much for which to be grateful, and that the love of family is a treasure to be valued above all else. In Weaving Dreams: The Joy of Work, the Love of Life, Tami Longaberger emerges as a clear voice of encouragement and inspiration, challenging us all to live each moment to the fullest.

Get 27% OFF

Click here for more information about Weaving Dreams: The Joy of Work, The Love of Life

Read More...

The Bluest Eye Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The Bluest Eye, the story of a young girl's tortured life, is not a story you can "like". It reads like your worst nightmares, very disturbing and very graphic. It takes a strong stomach to get through this novel. But, this is just what makes the book a masterpiece, that Ms Morrison can draw such powerful feelings from readers. Toni Morrison has grown as a writer. But this book, her first, takes you to a world most didn't know existed and evokes almost unbearably strong emotions. A must read for lovers of great literature. This is not a book you read for pleasure. It's a book you read for the power of the written word.

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Bluest Eye

Get 27% OFF

Click here for more information about The Bluest Eye

Read More...

Sacred Voices: Essential Women's Wisdom Through the Ages Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Almost 175 women of all cultures and times, from a priestess of the goddess Inanna (2000 BCE) to contemporary storyteller Clarissa Pinkola Estes, are chronicled in this volume. A brief biography of each woman introduces her words: poems, letters, dreams, polemics, stories, sayings, visions, journals, even a recipe.
The reader meets famous women like Hildegard of Bingen or Georgia O'Keeffe, and obscure or anonymous women: Bibi Hayat of Persia, Sarada Devi of India, and Bedouin, Pygmy and Hopi women. One of my favorite entries is this poem where the erotic meets the mystical, from someone I'd never heard of, Rabia Al-Adawiyya, Persian, 717-801:
STARS ARE SHINING
O my Lord, stars are shining
And the eyes of men are closed.
Kings have shut their doors
And every lover is alone with his beloved.
Here I am alone with you.
Sacred Voices' entries bring us diversity of age, race, sexual orientation, historical period, geography, literary form, and spiritual perspective. It is a collection of the wisdom of old women, girls, mothers, artists, philosophers, mystics. We meet extravagant women, modest women--all passionate in their own ways, all truth-telling, all women of wisdom, all now, thanks to this book, part of our heritage.
The volume is encyclopedic but not intimidating, to be kept near at hand for inspiration, comfort, and challenge. Don't try to gulp it down in one swallow. I've been reading a few entries every day--what a treat!
Mary Ford-Grabowski has dug deep into the immense treasure of women's experiences and reflections. She deserves our thanks for bringing it to us in such a beautiful and useful volume.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Sacred Voices: Essential Women's Wisdom Through the Ages

Get 34% OFF

Click here for more information about Sacred Voices: Essential Women's Wisdom Through the Ages

Read More...

The World Before Her Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I started reading this book because of Venice and George Eliot. It seemed like a perfect escape, and it was. Venice, separated by a hundred years...and it was much more than that too. It is beautifully written and gorgeously observed. The novel is two linked stories, told in alternating chapters. The first one is about Marian Evans, who wrote novels under the pen name of George Eliot. She is on her honeymoon with her handsome young husband. The second story takes place a hundred years later when Caroline Spingold, a young sculptor, arrives in Venice with her older husband to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary...so like Casaubon in Middlemarch (Eliot's book). Both women are trying hard to convince themselves that they are happy and love the men that they have married...alas...the novel explores how Marian and Caroline come to terms with the truth of their feelings. It explores the nature of marriage, the rewards and the price of happiness, the problems of love and work for ambitious women. The book is layered with descriptions of Venetian paintings and with melodies that literally rise from the pages. Weaving the magic of Eliot's stories in a gossamar way, Weisgall ignites two lives for the voracious reader, seductive for the romantic. I hope she writes another one soon....

Click Here to see more reviews about: The World Before Her

Get 59% OFF

Click here for more information about The World Before Her

Read More...

Sisters in War: A Story of Love, Family, and Survival in the New Iraq Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I learned about this book after hearing a recent interview with the author on NPR. I've read several books on the Iraqi conflict, most of them falling under the "what went wrong" category, and I'd have to say that this is probably the most heartfelt and emotionally wrenching one I've read. The author basically relates the experiences of four women who lived in Iraq during the post-invasion period and throughout the insurgency.
Two of these women, Zia and Nunu, are Iraqi sisters of Shiite background. The other two women are Americans who went to Iraq to aid in the reconstruction process. Heather joins the army and goes to Iraq out of a conviction that, whatever the merits of the invasion, the U.S. can and should play a positive role in spreading democracy. Manal is an American Muslim who staunchly opposed the U.S. invasion but nevertheless goes to Iraq to run a women's rights center. Manal and Heather eventually come to collaborate together on the construction and operation of a women's center, and the book recounts their struggles in overcoming bureaucratic inertia, interference by the Bremer's Coalition Provisional Authority, cultural resistance, and the constant threat to their security.
Zia, the older of the two Iraqi sisters, is the undisputed "star" of this story. She is fluent in English, independent-minded, and confident, characteristics which help her land a job with the CPA in the Green Zone. The book traces her initial naïve optimism in the capacity of the U.S. administration to fundamentally reshape Iraqi society and build democracy, to her eventual disillusionment with many of the policies pursued by the CPA. Her job working with the Americans also makes her a special target of the insurgents, who made a special point of targeting Iraqis who collaborated with the Americans.
Nunu, the younger sister, lacks her sister's confidence and self-assertiveness, and for much of the first part of the book she remains in the background. In many ways, however, her story is much easier for many of us to relate to. As the insurgency spirals out of control and her neighbors and friends are threatened and murdered, she withdraws into a shell. The author deserves credit for portraying these women so candidly that the reader is drawn into their universe. The narrative almost feels like a novel, as the reader is compelled to keep turning the pages to find out how these women's stories were turned out.
These women's stories occur, of course, in a context of carnage and an overall diminution of women's freedom. Many women's rights activists and female politicians, including people that these women know personally, were murdered during this period. If I had to think of one shortcoming, the author might have followed a second family, perhaps from a Sunni background, or from a less privileged economic background, to provide a fuller account of women's experiences during this time. Nevertheless, I really can't recommend this book enough for those interested in how the insurgency was experienced by everyday Iraqis and U.S. aid workers, or for those interested in a more gender-focused account of the Iraqi conflict.


Click Here to see more reviews about: Sisters in War: A Story of Love, Family, and Survival in the New Iraq

Get 34% OFF

Click here for more information about Sisters in War: A Story of Love, Family, and Survival in the New Iraq

Read More...

Zora Neale Hurston : Novels and Stories : Jonah's Gourd Vine / Their Eyes Were Watching God / Moses, Man of the Mountain / Seraph on the Suwanee / Selected Stories (Library of America) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)If Ms Hurston finally gets the readers she deserves, she will take her place among America's finest writers of the 20th Century. She is a joy to read and repays second and third perusals. The oral narrative quality of her writing places her squarely in the company of the best of her Southern contemporaries. She shares their great gifts. By all means, don't deny yourself the pleasure of reading her work.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Zora Neale Hurston : Novels and Stories : Jonah's Gourd Vine / Their Eyes Were Watching God / Moses, Man of the Mountain / Seraph on the Suwanee / Selected Stories (Library of America)

Get 35% OFF

Click here for more information about Zora Neale Hurston : Novels and Stories : Jonah's Gourd Vine / Their Eyes Were Watching God / Moses, Man of the Mountain / Seraph on the Suwanee / Selected Stories (Library of America)

Read More...