Dancing with Divinity: Positive Affirmations for Any Situation
Deanna Reiter
Ms. Reiter and the Dayawati Center for Compassion & Spiritual Connection
Minneapolis, MN
9780980037500 $18.95
Alexandra E. Franzen
Reviewer
It's common to become stuck in negative patterns. Perhaps we eat too much, or frequently grow impatient with our loved ones, or struggle with finances. The conventional wisdom goes, "just count to ten!" or "take a deep breath." But often we need a more specific course of action to break out of a physical or emotional rut. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that health and happiness are not a privilege, but our birthright! Deanna Reiter's Dancing with Divinity reminds the reader that "there is never a need to be alone, unhappy, or lacking anything because there is abundance in the Universe."
Deanna Reiter's book of positive affirmations offers hundreds of short, but powerful phrases tailored to specific ailments or psychological roadblocks. For example, if you're feeling "immature," you might want to repeat the affirmation: "I am balanced between being playful and serious." Or if you're feeling "bored," you might repeat the affirmation: "I create my own reality. I control my own thoughts and perception. I have the power to change my reality at any given moment. I choose to live a life of excitement and awe."
Ms. Reiter is a Certified Personal Trainer, a Yoga Instructor, and Rebirthing Breathworker. Her international travels and deep-seated spirituality pervade every page of her book, which also includes a CD with additional affirmations, spoken word poetry, and original music by renowned pianist Rahjta Ren. What makes Dancing with Divinity unique is that it is geared towards the "everyday" reader -- not the "new-age" fanatic. Reiter's prose is clear, direct, and very inspiring. In fact, it's difficult to picture anyone who wouldn't benefit in some way from this lovely book of wise affirmations.
BloodWeb
Gary Starta
Charles River Press
541 Long Lane, Casper, Wyoming 82609
1979130485 $16.95 http://chalresriverpress.com
Christina Francine
Reviewer
Searching for a novel to read that addresses the evil of humankind today and its problems? Certainly the domination of Americans is a topic of concern; has before. The horrifying fact is that technology will make domination easier. One only needs to stumble upon that last link; a way to control every man, woman, and child.
Agent Caitlin Diggs had every reason not to go back to her job. After losing, Geoffrey, the man she loved to an undercover assignment gone bad, she did not feel stable. Work would help however, even though her parents insisted she finally retire from police work. When FBI Assistant Director, Andrew Dudek phoned her, Caitlin purchased an airline ticket right away. She could get lost in her work and possibly catch a lead on Geoffrey's killers. What she did not know was that she was about to embark on one of the most challenging and dangerous cases of her career. Caitlin knew her assignment involved capturing the nation's latest serial killer, but not one that would decide the fate of the nation.
When the young blond drifter placed the arrowhead pendant against his chest, the crystal liked itself to him; sealing his fate and possibly the nation's as well. Not only did a change come over the teenager named Shenk, but also over the crystal too. Shenk's less than positive qualities, along with societies, affected the crystal tainting and turning it evil.
Starta did his homework. With each chapter his research showed depth. Add to this a powerful imagination and the result is a heart-pounding mystery. BloodWeb is the first of a series, Starta claims, that will feature the FBI Special Agent Diggs.
This book is enticing and a gripping tale that reflects a possible reality with a paranormal aspect intertwined. Starta's story lures readers into an Internet that transcends fiction and enters a resemblance to actuality. Timely.
T is for Trespass
Grafton, Sue
G. P. Putnam's Sons
c/o Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014-3657
9780399154485 $26.95
Doreen Luff
Reviewer
In Sue Grafton's latest alphabetical thriller, Kinsey Millhone finds herself embroiled in a mystery ripped right from the newspaper headlines. Her friend, Gus Vronsky, who lives by himself, falls and is in need of a nurse to help him around the house. Gus' niece, Melanie asks Kinsey to just do a quick background check to make sure that the nurse that she wants to hire is reputable.
Kinsey does the background check and clears the nurse for the task at hand. At first, everything seems fine, but as things progress, Kinsey finds that she put her friend, Gus, in mortal danger. Not only that, she finds herself in mortal danger as she investigates Nurse Rojas further.
In this fast paced novel, Kinsey has to prove that Nurse Rojas is not who she claims, has to save her friend from death at the hands of his nurse, and has to prove that she is not making any of this up.
Sue Grafton has done it again with this quick paced, truly frightening novel. Anyone who is a fan of mysteries, will appreciate this gripping work of fiction.
And It Goes Like This
G. Andi Rhos
Belletristic Press, LLC
31-64 21st Street, Suite 190, Long Island, NY 11106
9780979659454 $15.95 www.belletristic.com
Emanuel Carpenter
Reviewer
What's it like being a rich drug dealer's woman? Sure you get the designer clothes, new cars, and even the expensive home. But at what price? In "And It Goes Like This," a naive sixteen year-old fast food worker named Charlotte-Louise meets her knight in shining armor in the drug dealing Joaquin and becomes a quick study in dealing with rewards and consequences of being a dealer's girl.
When Charlotte-Louise, the daughter of an alcoholic mother, is befriended by street savvy Candace, it changes her life. Not only does Candace help her deal with an unspeakable situation but she also invites her to a party thrown by her cousin Maribel, a drug dealer's woman. There twenty-year old Joaquin claims Charlotte-Louise as his girl, and the two hit it off. Not only is Joaquin honest about how he earns his money but he is surprisingly honest about his feelings for Charlotte-Louise. But is a ruthless drug dealer really capable of love or is she just another naive girl about to be played?
At the party, Maribel schools Charlotte-Louise on what to do if and when her man cheats and readers learn why women are drawn to them:
"…So whatcha gon'd do? Blow up the spot and lose your man and let the next bitch get your man and all your shit? Fuck that!
"You suck that shit up and say, 'Daddy, I need a new car. My car three years old. What people gon' say-you got your woman drivin round in a old ass car---how you gon' look?' Watch you get a brand new car right off the showroom floor. Then you gotta have new clothes to go with your new car. And you gotta have new jewelry to go with your new clothes. Then how you gon' look with a new car, new clothes, new jewelry and old ass furniture? Huh?"
Much like its predecessor "The Coldest Winter Ever," "And It Goes Like This," captures the dilemma many young teenage girls face in poverty: continue only dreaming of the finer things in life or take the risk of hooking up with a drug dealer to at least enjoy them, if only for a moment. G. Andi Rhos is a brilliant storyteller who accomplishes what many authors attempt and fail. She is wise enough to write street dialogue in the way it is spoken and manages to keep readers on the edge of their seats with an exciting story.
This book is not for everyone though with its explicit sex (especially between adults and minors), its mature language, and its glorification of the drug dealing world. It may take some readers out of their comfort zones. And though it is uneven at times and it is so concerned with the minutiae of every setting and every outfit the characters are wearing you want to skip past the narration and straight to the dialogue, you will still care enough about these characters to keep turning the pages until the very last one. Those who live in the drug dealing world will love its glorified look at street life's sex, money and violence, especially its happy but unrealistic ending. If you're looking for an entertaining and thrilling read, "And It Goes Like This," will definitely do the trick. Recommended.
The Way Into the Varieties of Jewishness
Sylvia Barack Fishman, PhD
Jewish Lights Publishing
Woodstock, VT
9781580230308 $24.99
Fred Reiss, Ed.D.
Reviewer
Ritual is religion put into action. For instance, Christians enjoy many forms of mass, have rituals and rites associated with Christmas, and the sacraments. Muslims fast during Ramadan and make a pilgrimage to Mecca. Jews have an assortment of rituals as well. These include kissing the mezuzah on entering and exiting a Jewish home, wearing a yarmulke (skull cap), tallis (prayer shawl), and tefillin (phylacteries). There are the rituals associated with the Seder and fasting on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) Dr. Sylvia B. Fishman in her newest book, The Way Into the Varieties of Jewishness, describes the dynamics of Jewish rituals.
To begin with, Fishman recounts the rituals celebrated by ancient Israelites whose outward manifestation of Judaism was Temple based and land linked. Moving forward in time, she describes the observances formed during the Diaspora (beginning in 586 B.C.E. with the destruction of the First Temple) in Babylonia, then Jewish rituals that arose in connection with European enlightenment (beginning in the late 17th century), and concludes with American Judaism and how its various branches practice their rituals. Her main point is that in each of these periods, Judaism has rituals that differ from the preceding ones. The second part discusses ritual difference between (and among) Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist Judaism. There is also a concluding chapter on the future of Jewish ritual.
Many of the ancient Jewish rituals centered on the sacrificial system at and pilgrimages to the Tabernacle/Temple. When the Temple no longer existed after its destruction along with the capture of Judea by Nebuchadnezzar, the rabbis exiled to Babylonia substituted the synagogue for the Temple and prayer for sacrifices. Although the prophets Ezra and Nehemiah led a small cadre of Jews back to Jerusalem 70 years later and began construction of a second Temple with sacrifices, they added a new ritual by establishing a tri-annual reading of the Five Books of Moses (Torah). Today, it is not uncommon to find the Torah read annually.
For Judaism, there are no biblical injunctions to light the Hanukkah candles, or recite the blessings associated with everyday life. God never commanded Jews to hold a Seder (Passover meal) with the order and symbols associated with the feast. These came much later in Jewish history. The sages of the Talmudic period (200 C.E. - 500 C.E.) decreed that Jews must perform these and other rites. With the destruction of the Second Temple and the dispersion of the Jewish people throughout the Roman world came a dichotomy of ritual between the Jews who migrated through Europe, living in fear under Christendom, and those who settled in the erudite Iberian Peninsula, under Muslim rule.
Ritual change came for Spanish Jewry because no one saw the Inquisition coming. Faced with the choice of conversion or death, many fled only to merge customs of their new country with the Jewish religion. With European Enlightenment came a dichotomy between those living in rural areas under the rule of a rebbe and those who fled to the cities. Ritual reflected the struggle between rationalism and superstition. Eventually, many of the descendants of these people would flock to America.
While the core of many Talmudic-era rituals remains, today's observance of these rituals might not be recognizable to its authors. For example, since the middle of the twentieth century an overwhelming number of American Jews changed the holiday of Hanukkah from its simple celebration of lighting the Hanukkah menorah, playing dreidel, and the giving a few coins to children into a holiday of communal feasts, decorated homes, holiday cards (and now e-cards), and exchanging of gifts.
In the second part of her book, Fishman focuses on modern American and its invention of denominational Judaism. While there are clear ritual distinctions between the various denominations, the differences may be stronger within denominations than between them. Historically, Reform Judaism, which arrived in America first, recognized that Jews living in a democracy, in a society that allowed for social intercourse among all religions, and provided a path for upward mobility, had to change. America was not Europe. Taking its model from Protestantism, Reform Jewish rabbis introduced English into the service, eliminated biblical injunctions and rituals that fostered great distinctions between Jews and their neighbors, created seminaries to train rabbis and sustain Reform Judaism. Orthodox Judaism, which arose from Eastern European immigrants in the late nineteenth century, gave a strict interpretation of God's laws. Eastern European rabbis wanted America Jewry to mimic the Old World. Conservative Judaism intended itself to be a middle ground between the two. In reality, this did not occur because Conservative Jewry's elite practiced rituals closer to orthodoxy while its rank-and-file members practiced Judaism closer to Reform Judaism's practices.
Reconstructionist Judaism emerged in America without claims to a past in Europe. Accepted rituals and worship service arose from its laity, not leadership. Reconstructionist Judaism substituted naturalism for supernaturalism, thereby rejecting the idea of a transcendent and personal God. Many of its religious innovation are now common among all branches of Judaism, including the Bat Mitzvah and confirmation ceremony. Finally, Fishman briefly discusses today's minor denominations, such as Humanistic Judaism and the Havurah movement. The former rejects the need for a supreme being within Judaism and the latter replaces the formal structure of the synagogue with small groups committed to worship innovations.
Fishman concludes with the idea that each denomination of Judaism faces its own challenge and suggests methods for mitigating them. She does not predict the direction of Jewish ritual in America. But, the future is obvious: Jewish ritual will change. Change will occur because of such things as social transformations, mass movements of Jews to and from America, and unexpected catastrophic events. Whether or not the new rituals are incorporated into the denominational form of Judaism will depend for some, such as the orthodox, on the degree to which their leaders accept the change. For others it will depend on how much its rank-and-file believe that the innovations add meaning to their lives.
Rarity From the Hollow: A Lacy Dawn Adventure
Robert Eggleton
Fat Cat Press
0977644820 $6.95 www.fatcatpress.com
Adicus Ryan Garton
Reviewer
Imagine "Wizard of Oz" and "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" smashed together and taking place in a hollow in the hills of West Virginia. Now you have an idea of what to expect when you sit down to read Rarity From the Hollow: A Lacy Dawn Adventure by Robert Eggleton.
This novel is an unabashed, unashamed exploration of the life of young Lacy Dawn, as she learns that she is the savior of the universe. The naked, genderless android, Dot-com, who lives in a ship in a cave, told her so. Add her abusive father, her weak-willed mother, a sexually-abused ghost for a best friend that was murdered by her own father, trees that talk to her, a dog that can communicate telepathically with cockroaches and so much more.
There is so much to this story, and its writing is so unblinkingly honest; Eggleton spares us nothing in his descriptions of her father beating her and her mother, the emotions that the mother and daughter go through, the dark creeping insanity that eats away at her Iraq-veteran father, and the life in general of people too poor, too uneducated to escape.
In part, it is a grueling exposition of what children endure when being physically and emotionally abused. Eggleton almost seems to suggest that the only way for a child to escape is to learn that she is the savior of the universe. Lacy Dawn is strong, tough, smart—all those attributes that any child should have—and she reminds us that children are survivors, adaptive and optimistic. Instead of giving us a story of escapism, Eggleton shows us a girl whose life follows her through the story.
But don't think you're going to be reading something harsh and brutal and tragic. This book is laugh-out-loud funny at times, satiric of almost everything it touches upon (some common themes are shopping, masturbation, welfare, growing and selling drugs, and the lives of cockroaches). The characters from the hollow and from the planet Shptiludrp (the Mall of the Universe) are funny almost to the point of tears.
I hate happy endings to stories that deal with any kind of oppression or abuse because they tend to suggest, "In this case, it worked out okay," and the reader walks away with the impression that the world is a better place (think of all those inner-city sports movies about black kids who win the big championship despite being addicted to crack). I thought for a long time that this book was an escapist fantasy, and when the fantasy broke, it was going to be tragic. No one wants to see a little girl go through heaven only to learn that hell awaits her at the end. And then when I realized that Eggleton was not writing an escapist fantasy, I worried that this happy ending effect was going to take place, making me not like the book, despite all its positive attributes. But when I realized that Lacy Dawn had to fix her life first before the story could progress, and that this was IMPOSSIBLE except by extraterrestrial means, and that Lacy Dawn carried her past with her as part of her instead of in spite of, it made the prospect of a happy ending much better.
Go here, buy the book and read it. It's absolutely fantastic, and the proceeds go to the Lacy Dawn Adventures project. It's like buying ice cream for charity—everybody wins.
The Three "Only" Things: Tapping the Power of Dreams, Coincidence, and Imagination
Robert Moss
New World Library
14 Pamaron Way, Novato, CA 94949
9781577315964 $21.95
Karen Nell McKean
Reviewer
The Three 'Only' Things is the latest work in the prolific career of author Robert Moss. The author's many incarnations as a successful writer include: foreign news correspondent; best selling novelist; and writer of passionate, semi-autobiographical books on dreamwork. Now he brings his unique genius to us in explaining how dreams, coincidence and imagination are the overlooked wellsprings of personal power that have changed history and have the power to transform our lives......right now! This book brings clarity and practicality to subjects that have often proved illusive and fuzzy to other writers. Through the ample use of personal stories and carefully researched historical references, the art and practice of living by The Three 'Only' Things is made completely accessible in the context of contemporary life. The explanation of the nine powers of dreaming; the nine rules of coincidence and the seven open secrets of imagination; provides us with a clear road map for not only solving practical problems but for returning magic and mindfulness to our everyday lives. This book opens our eyes to the miracle of life in which we already 'live, move and have our being. The Three 'Only' Things is for everyone who wants access to greater creativity and clarity in life.
Fifty-Seven Heaven
Lonnie Cruse
Five Star
295 Kennedy Memorial Drive, Waterville, Maine 04901
9781594146008 $25.95
Mary Welk
Reviewer
Kitty and Jack Bloodworth are attending an antique car show in Paducah, Kentucky, when the body of Kitty's cousin is found stuffed in the trunk of Jack's prized '57 Chevy. It's no surprise that someone would want to murder Will Ann Lloyd. The woman was as irritating as a horde of wasps at a summer picnic, and her tongue could be just as sharp as their sting.
Kitty Bloodworth experienced her cousin's venom the night before the car show when Will Ann accosted Kitty in a restaurant and accused her youngest daughter of being a sneak and a tramp. Those were certainly fighting words, and according to the Paducah police, might have given Kitty a motive for murder. Kitty's more worried about her daughter Sunny than about herself, though. She always viewed Sunny's relationship with Will Ann's son Craig as one of pure friendship. Now she wonders if something more isn't going on between the two.
Released by the police and back home in little Metropolis, Illinois, Kitty begins her own investigation of the murder when she learns that Will Ann hired a private detective to follow Sunny. Her plans go on hold, though, when Kitty is hospitalized after a freak highway accident. Her short-term memory temporarily destroyed by a concussion, she doesn't even recall Will Ann's death until told of it by her husband. She must now begin from scratch to carve out a history of past events and her part in them. It's a frustrating and often futile chore complicated by a sudden change in Jack's health. But Kitty is nothing if not persistent. Her knowledge of small town and family dynamics proves to be the key to solving a crime that's stumped the best and brightest of the Paducah Police Department.
Lonnie Cruse is the author of the Metropolis Mystery series and a member of the Antique Automobile Club of America. This is the first book in her new Kitty Bloodworth '57 Mystery series and combines her knowledge of rural living with her passion for antique cars. Kitty and Jack are two of the most delightful people to hit the pages of traditional mysteries in many a year. While their ages are never given, the reader knows that they've been married long enough to achieve that stage of comfortable love usually reserved for couples over the age of fifty. Their concern for each other comes shining through when the uncertainty of medical problems touches their lives both in the plot and in a subplot involving Jack. But there's nothing gushy or gooey about this love relationship. Cruse is equally adept at showing the man-is-from-Mars-woman-from-Venus side of her characters, allowing Kitty to express her exasperation with Jack in situations that mirror normal day-to-day living. Her exasperation is always tinged by fondness, though, and this also shows in her relationship with her daughters. While this is certainly a character-driven mystery, the plot is realistic and well developed, the clues are honest, and the resolution is satisfying. I look forward with pleasure to the future adventures of Kitty Bloodworth and her Chevy loving husband, Jack.
Choice of Evil: A Burke Novel
Vintage Books
Random House
1745 Broadway, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10019
9780375706622 $13.95 www.amazon.com
Max Carrillo
Reviewer
"Choice of Evil" might well be Andrew Vaachs' last book. In the sense that maybe it should be. I've been a fan of Vaachs' books, and his ultra-hardboiled anti-hero, Burke from the beginning, and have watched with interest his career as a crusader against child abuse. But both his novels and his crusade have reached a level at which they are starting to seem overdone, and a little disturbing.
Aside from that, the book is not just up to previous quality, and is visibly leaning on previous laurels and exposition. The hard has just been boiled a little too long. Every time we hear about Burke's childhood in youth prisons, and his "family" or "children of the street", it becomes a little less affecting. Worse, yet, "Choice of Evil" is flaccid, and doesn't make a lot of sense. Okay, we can let Vaachs cruise on his past, filling pages with reminders of past novels instead of creating new stories. But what fan of Burke can fathom the tough guy's inexplicable tolerance for the non-lesbian asexualpot, taking her along with him against his own better advice (because she "loves" the man he's tracking, who he has never met?) It's not only not Burke, it's not even plausible. The cyber empire and electronic Batcave of the baddie is ridiculous. The plot is full of posturing and gaping holes. The homosexual cadre that hire Burke are about as plausible as Maxwell Smart's organizations. We find ourselves wondering what is going on, lamenting the whole idea.
Even the anti-"freak" screed is getting a little worn. We are aware by now that the world of Burke (and Vaachs) is populated by "freaks": organized, powerful childsex predators with impunity from justice and therefore worthy of murder by Burke and his pals. Don't get me wrong: I don't really object to Burke's brutality. For myself, of course...I like reading about heavy violence and apparently lots of other people, including other fans of Burke, do too. But getting back to those younger readers, are we comfortable with the idea of glorifying brutality and lynching if the name of a just cause? Does that even come through? Dirty Harry had a just cause, didn't he? John Wayne killed Indians for a damn good reason, did he not? Death squads seldom work for the Devil or sheer money. The problem is that people don't always make the connection. The "Miami Vice" television series was a huge hit with coke-snorters and dealers. Of course, the cops were AGAINST drugs, but they personified the cars, clothes, attitudes, and firepower that cokesters most admire. In many ways the show was a commercial for cocaine, not an anti-drug message. And you know it. So what is Vaachs REALLY saying. And to whom?
Vaachs is not at all naive about hidden messages. It's hard to believe he was unaware that his book depicting Batman as a lethal crusader against pedophiles was aimed at a major homopedophile icon. In case you yourself were unaware of it, Batman and Robin have long been heroes of men who want sex with young boys. The rich older guy with the young protege; all quite nice, after all. And as Robin grows older, the two will remain friends, even though there will be other proteges in the future. It's a common fantasy: lots of pedophiles are not the drooling monsters Vaachs portrays, but tend to wrap their sexual fantasies wrapped (as so many of us do) in romance. Vaachs' appropriating Batman was seen as a deliberate insult and attack by the "Man/Boy Love community", which is unlikely to cost Vaachs, or most of us, a great deal of sleep. But what about the covert messages of Burke and his band of bloodthirsty "brothers" and "sisters"? It's hard to say if Vaachs cares much about that; and he won't respond on the matter. He lets you know that it wouldn't break his heart if his readers starting killing off "freaks", but he doesn't come out and say so. He is, after all, an attorney and officer of the court.
Librarians should wonder about the effects of all this on young readers...or any readers. It's hard to root against a crusader, especially one with a banner as bright and unequivocal as Anti Child Abuse. There is little remorse as the inhuman fiends get their torture and grisly death at Burke's hands. After all, they aren't, as is stressed over and over again, human. The rub, of course, is that they ARE, in fact, human. Just as Nazis were, in fact, human. Just as Jews and homosexuals are human. Just as are we all, some with more humanity than others perhaps, some less.
Perhaps I am the only one who gets edgy listening to Burke/Vaachs drool over the lynchings. I equate the two in this matter after having spoken with Vaachs and found him every bit as heroic, and every bit as unbending and vituperative as Burke. He doesn't believe in therapy, he doesn't believe in rehabilitation, he doesn't believe in change of heart, he doesn't even believe in the Law...he believes these freaks should be eliminated from the living race, and quickly.
Whether the child-abusing freaks are really the powerful, evil-dripping, organized monsters Burke deals with or (as has been my experience) frequently hapless mopes who lose control of their stunted sexual and emotional drives, it's a little scary, to me at least, to hear people dehumanized, and sentenced to summary death.
Of course, Burke is just a fictional character, a dark paladin who thrills us by striking out to do the right thing that we would do if we could, unhampered by The Law, or by tender feelings. He is, essentially, the Rambo for kiddy-freaks, correcting the history of the child protection system as brutally and straightforwardly as Rambo deals with the infuriatingly untouchable gooks, Commies, and raghead terrorists. The thing is, most people who read this review don't necessarily approve of Rambo.
And I don't approve of Burke/Vaachs inciting murder. The old chestnut question, of course, lies in where the lines get drawn. Of course we know that WE are on a different side from BABYRAPERS. We don't have to worry about "them" coming for us after the others have been taken, do we? Well, which side of that line are abortionists on? They destroy the lives, if you listen to that particular pack of crusaders, of a lot more kids than the pedophiles do, and a lot more absolutely. And there are those who cut through the cynical web of law and kill them. Some approve of that: I'm guessing that you probably don't. If you served in Viet-Nam, you might have been called a "baby killer" to your face. How would you feel about criminals slipping through the night to murder ex-GI's? If you have ever agreed to do business with a prostitute under the age of eighteen, you are, in the eyes of the law, a pedophile; a sex-offender who must register with the police for life. Probably most child abuse is, as Burke himself states, visited upon children by other children. Should we kill them, too, for raping smaller kids in their group home? The line is more elastic than you might think.
And when it comes to killing people as punishment-and a lot of people think that it's never okay under any circumstances-you have to draw pretty rigid lines. You don't want emotional appeals overturning the supposedly impartial gaze of law. Vaachs, though a lawyer himself, doesn't mind doing that at all. One interchange from my last conversation with him stands out to me. He was asked about a case in Wenatchee, Washington, where it later turned out that the adults driven from jobs into prison for satanic abuse of children had been victims of false testimony modeled by interviewers and "therapists", as we are becoming aware is not uncommon. He said he didn't know about the case, and somebody supplied a tag, the headline "Wenatchee Witchhunt Overturned." Smiling the savage lawyer's smile he always turns upon anyone not agreeing with his ideas that anybody accused of child abuse is guilty, incurable, and deserving of quick culling, he said, "If there are witches, let's hunt them." Of course, the very term "witchhunt", like "snipe hunt" intrinsically carries the idea that the snipes and witches do not really exist, but beyond that, the attitude (admirably naked, I have to admit) is a bit scary. There was a time when witches were thought of as inhuman, powerful, numerous, and deserving only of non-judicial death from believing crusaders. Who in their right mind would have stood up for the rights of people whom commune with Satan?
Another thing that kind of creeps me out is that I never wrote anything like this about Vaachs' earlier books. And for an obvious reason: I liked them. They were well-written, fresh, taut, and tough an I gobbled them up. So apparently, for me at least, the negative messages I'm expressing concern about don't bother me if the writing is good enough to blast it by my blood-crazed eyes.
But now we get a Burke book that is decidedly NOT well-written. And I am starting to think that's not such a bad thing. It might be well if it's the last one.
Why Should the Boss Listen to You? The 7 Disciplines of the Trusted Strategic Advisor
James E. Lukaszewski
Jossey-Bass, a Wiley Imprint
San Francisco, California
9780787996185 $24.95
Otto Lerbinger, Ph.D.
Reviewer
An exciting and practical book about how to become a "strategic trusted advisor" to CEOs and other leaders. It is based primarily on Lukaszewski's more than 30 years of counseling experience, most of it as a crisis counselor, but also in leadership building, reputation recovery, and strategy. His readers benefit from his "war stories," which serve to summarize the key lessons learned from working with CEOs, boards, and senior executives. He reminds the reader: "Keep in mind that my career has been devoted to dealing mostly with the extraordinarily bad news of organizations, leaders, and institutions."
Why Should the Boss Listen to You? is highly readable, following the author's dictum: "Be brief and to the point." Along with cogent ideas, the book provides some practical advice. His "Three-Minute Drill," for example, is universally applicable in presenting recommendations to the boss. His six steps -- (a) situation, (2) analysis and assumptions, (3) the goal, (4) options, (5) recommendations, and (6) justification -- are not dissimilar to case study reports at the Harvard Business School. Lukaszewski, however, sets word limits on each step in recognition of the value of a CEO's time -- don't waste it. Of the 450-word total, the options step is allocated 150 words, more than twice that allocated to the other steps. More generally, he recommends that "every document, every script, every written piece of information should be screened for its time requirement." His practical advice is: do a word count for every message and divide by 150, because that's the average rate at which people talk.
This book serves as a roadmap for anyone who aspires to become a "strategic personal counselor" for a boss or client; also for staff heads who want to become "the Number One Number Two." Serving as a self-improvement guide, Part One of Lukaszewski's book clearly describes the realities of advising top executives: the pressures they face, what they expect from advisors, and how to achieve maximum impact. Part Two addresses the book's subtitle: The 7 Disciplines of the Trust Strategic Advisor." He offers copious advice on what each discipline means and how to build it.
Lukaszewski's focus is on the 5% of problems affecting most organizations that "present the greatest threat to organizational stability, reputation, and market share," rather than on the 95% which come directly from day-to-day operations. Public relations and public affairs professionals can especially identify with this 5%, because their responsibility is to attend to the "socio-political environment." To this end, they have developed special skills, such as issues management. Lukaszewski advises aspiring counselors to study issues and trends as a way to improve on their forecasting ability and contribute to the CEO's ongoing concern about "tomorrow's goals." You need to know what's going on in the world to be a window to tomorrow.
To be a window to the future, the discipline of understanding the power of patterns is essential: "the ability to use your understanding of known patterns of events and circumstances to recognize or forecast the results of various actions and decisions." Here Lukaszewski rivals academicians, because they would argue that one of the purposes of education is to teach this pattern recognition skill. Educators do it by discussing theories and concepts and rigorously applying them in case study analysis. Cases in academic texts are what Lukaszewski calls "war stories" -- the big difference being that professionals have lived through experiences.
Compared with "process thinkers" and "linear thinkers," strategic counselors are "intuitive thinkers." They have "the ability to 'see' solutions and next steps even in the absence of evidence and data." Lukaszewski sees the further advantage that "the intuitive mind has a significant amount of random experience from life 'floating around' that 'gets triggered' by having to find immediate or deadline-driven solution and answers." Often, the goal of the intuitive thinker is to find the great idea or the most interesting or creative solution -- the silver bullet -- that is especially relevant to highly emotional or "perceptual" issues.
To illustrate, his first discipline is to "be trustworthy," which he deems a critical dimension without which a relationship cannot grow and survive because it requires open and trusted communications. As sociologists and public relations professionals remind us, trust is the cement that binds people and groups together and makes the existence of organizations and society possible. His exploration of the subject includes sensible, simple, constructive, and practical lists of what needs to be done; e.g., six necessary elements in establishing trust and ten of the most frequent and easily avoidable ways in which trust is "busted."
The focus of a strategic personal advisor must be "the boss." Lukaszewski pays homage to the boss, saying, "I have to confess my unending admiration for those at the top of the pyramid." Fortunately, he draws a line -- unless "what the boss is doing is immoral, illegal, completely stupid, or financially irresponsible." An advisor must think strategically: "You have achieved a strategic mind-set when you are able to verbally inject mental energy into an organization's operational and strategic processes to help leaders and their organizations achieve management objectives." Although staff people -- one of the audiences of his book -- sprinkle their advice with the terms "strategy" and "strategic, " they too often fail to relate their specialized activities to the organization's goals.
The essence of strategy and of having a "management perspective," which is another discipline, is to relate everything done in an organization to its goals. Becoming a verbal visionary, a further discipline, helps inject mental energy. Lukaszewski defines a visionary as " an optimistic individual who can get others to focus on the future or on some meaningful, useful, positive goals, which those others willingly contribute to achieving." Verbal skills help to do this.
Seven skills (Lukaszewki enjoys making lists and numbering items) are required to become a verbal visionary: (1) Be a storyteller, (2) Be memorable, (3) Be inspirational, (4) Be thoughtful, (5) Be ethical, (6) Be a coach and mentor, and (7) Be virtuous. He considers storytelling "among the most powerful verbal techniques in any culture" and credits Jack Welch's verbal vision for enabling him to transform GE from a bureaucracy into an efficient and profitable corporation.
A trusted strategic advisor who has learned the seven disciplines can counsel the boss constructively and show how to use advice. Optimistically, the advisor "will experience significant individual rewards, such as access, influence, and impact." The way to manage your own destiny, says Lukaszewski, is by helping leaders realize theirs.
Wanton Woman: Sue Logue, Strom Thurmond, an the Bloody Logue-Timmerman Feud
Anna Flowers
iUniverse
9780595474462 $15.95
Steve Glassman
Reviewer
The most violent and colorful chapter in American history was not forged in the Old West. For real nastiness, you have to look to the so-called New South, the period from the close of the occupation by Federal troops after the Civil War until the establishment of Civil Rights in the 1970s. To the rest of the country, the post Reconstruction South is conveniently typed as backward and ignorant - and rural and somehow out of step with the goings-on in the larger society. The glories of the Old West, on the other hand, are regarded popularly as the simple working through of Manifest Destiny. Those western achievements still linger grandly in the popular mind (if a bit embarrassingly in age more enlightened to the rights of the native inhabitants). But compare the literature of the Old West and the New South. In the former, you have Ned Buntline and hordes of dime novelists. The latter, on the other hand, produced William Faulkner, Thomas Wolfe, Eudora Welty, Flannery O'Connor among dozens of other recognized literary whizzes all of whom, in one way or another, dealt with the social engine that produced a society so notably violent, unequal, and - magnificent.
Anna Flowers true-crime book, Wanton Woman: Sue Logue, Strom Thurmond, an the Bloody Logue-Timmerman Fued, is reminiscent in many ways of Faulkner's ground-breaking novel, Sanctuary, one of the very first hard-boiled crime novels. In Faulkner's novel, set in Depression-era Mississippi (and Tennessee), Temple Drake, coed and vamp, creates all manner of havoc owing to her sophomoric hedonism. She stiffs college boys, goes off with an older man (when she knows better), and ends up raped by an impotent psychopath. The worst of her crimes is allowing an innocent man be condemned for a deed she knows darn well he did not commit. This last skullduggery was dreamed up and carried through by her father, a judge while a broken Temple looks on without raising a hue or cry.
Wanton Woman is the tale of another judge, a man that only the most uninformed citizen of this republic is not acquainted with, Strom Thurmond. Most of us know him as the longest-serving U.S. Senator, but Thurmond's influence - in all manner of public offices--is felt like a lodestone throughout this book. The protagonist Sue Logue nee Stridham was a woman, who arrived on this mortal coil in 1896. Unhappily for her, she was born in the wrong time and place. The South Carolina of her youth was practically a feudal society. Her hand was given in matrimony by her father to a neighbor. The reason Sue appeared attractive to her suitor's family is that her prospective father-in-law wanted to reunite the property that belonged to his family estate. The marriage with Wallace did not take because Sue voracious sexual appetite literally scared hell out of Wallace, who shortly went into a sort of hermitage at the family's remote sawmill. Brother George, however, knew a good thing when he saw it. He and Sue developed a long-standing affair. Momma Anna, Wallace and George's mother liked Sue just fine, and not a word was said about this rather peculiar family arrangement.
Years go by. The family indulges grudges with neighbors and relatives as befitting a family of good standing in the rural South (or medieval times), and Sue becomes enamored of a young school teacher with the peculiar first name of Strom. Clearly, he's a young man going places. Sue, though not graduated from high school, sets her heart on becoming a school teacher. Shortly after Strom's election to the office of local superintendent of schools - and a steamy and on-again off-again fling with Sue - she is appointed teacher of the local school. A dozen more years pass. Strom is now a judge and the family enemies are in control of the school board. Sue is dismissed as a teacher. Worse, her husband of record is slain by one of the folks the clan is on the outs with.
By now it is the 1940s, and the modern world is beginning to impinge even on the Deep South. Brother George and wife-of-record Sue decide a straight-out assassination, the way matters of this sort had been handled for decades, might be messy and attract unhappy legal attention. So they enlist a nephew who was a policeman to find a hit man. The fee: five hundred dollars. Sue writes a check for her half of the hit man's charge. After a couple of months the policeman nephew sings like a canary. The local sheriff, a first cousin to George, goes unarmed to the family seat to collect George and Sue. After giving his regards to Momma Anna, the sheriff politely asks George and Sue to come along to the courthouse. George shoots him in the face, but the deputy - who was thoughtfully armed - returns fire. George is only grazed but the deputy and a family retainer are killed in the fracas.
George and Sue and the hit man are put on trial. The two lovebirds are only accused in the first trial of being accessories to murder, but they are convicted. Along with the hit man, they are sentenced to fry in the electric chair in January of 1943. In the scene that even Faulkner could not have conjured in a realistic way in a novel, Strom Thurmond, by now a state senator turned captain in the Army reserves, is charged with delivering Sue from the women's penitentiary to the place of execution. He and Sue have one last sexual romp in the back seat while his longtime driver dutifully chauffeurs Sue to the so-called Death House. Although it is claimed Strom was pulling wires behind the scenes on her behalf, Sue was dispatched on schedule, the first woman put to death in South Carolina's electric chair.
Anna Flowers has produced a historical true crime book that is Southern Gothic in tenor and content. It is the sort of thing that Poe as well as a long line of Southern writers would look on with favor. Good going.
Nod's Way
Robert Stikmanz
Dalton Publishing
P.O. Box 242, Austin, Texas 78767
9780974070391 $24.95
Dr. Tami Brady
Reviewer
Nod's Way is a divination system with a few interesting twists. Most creatively, this book has been given to its author by Jackanapes Plenty. Jack, as those who have read Prelude to a Change of Mind already know, is part Dvarsh. In fact, Nod's Way is the adapted translation of the Sosnod, the ancient Dvarsh oracle wisdom book.
The divination process is reminiscent of I Ching. The forecaster rolls three dice. Two of these dice are eight sides with the moon in its various phases and a couple of star formations. The third dice is a regular six sided type with additional symbols. Read together (three rolls for three layers of interpretation), the forecaster receives comments relevant to their query. In total, there are 36 auspices which match the Nod Calendar of the Dvarsh.
Nod's Way is an intuitive divination system that I personally find very useful. The imaginative background information adds a little fun and fantasy into the mix. What a great idea!
One Foot Outside The Door
Vina St. Fran
Zam Publishing
P.O. Box 2716, Farmington Hills, Michigan 48333-2716
9780615137971 $15.00 www.zampublishing.com
Tiffany Ellen
Reviewer
If you haven't heard of author, Vina St. Fran, you will soon. The newcomer penned the steamy novel, "One Foot Outside The Door". The story is set in trendy the trendy town of Southfield that is right outside of Detroit. What a good read! It was riveting and you never had any idea where you would land by the time you finished the book. Cyndarella Worthy, the lead in the story is the kind of woman who goes for hers in life with friends showing her love as she stumbles before she gets it right. The love scenes were written raw and real, leaving you wanting to take a cold shower if you don't happen to have a partner around. I think what really impressed me most is I haven't read a book like this before with Chaldean or Arab-American characters interacting with African American characters. I believe what gives "One Foot Outside The Door" its strength is that it is so racially diverse. It was an interesting twist that I really liked and I look forward to seeing what happens in Part 2 since this is a trilogy. There are many areas that makes this is book a knockout. St. Fran addresses not only dating mishaps, but also racism from both within and outside of the black community.
"One Foot Outside The Door" is moving as it is entertaining from beginning to end. Cyndarella Worthy, the heroine of the story is a powerful woman who is determined to be happy in all areas of her life. Of course, things don't always go as she plans. Point in case, Bashar Bazzi, a Chaldean American, was Cyndarella's high school and college sweetheart. He disappeared on a business trip fifteen years earlier, leaving Cyndarella out in the cold after a four-year courtship. Was it because she was African American that her lover had rejected her in such a tasteless fashion?
There is a rawness rendered in St. Fran's enticing and groundbreaking story as she celebrates her friendship with three lifelong girlfriends, 2 African-American, and One White. It is truly remarkable to be drawn into a story of friendship everyone can relate to.
The authenticity of the setting is what makes "One Foot Outside The Door" a beguiling novel. Metropolitan Detroit, which has been noted one of the most segregated cities in America, is home to the largest population of Arab-Americans outside of the Mid-East. What happens when love crosses that color line? Written in a racy, titillating language St. Fran's readers will be rewarded with an absorbing plot line that moves swiftly with an ending that will leave you hungering for more.
Eight-year old Melina wants to become a good violinist. When she loses confidence, her Rumanian teacher Andrea decides it's time for a magic dose of self esteem. A mysterious old woman in rags gives Melina some curious advice; a violinist Russian hamster, who happens to live under the old woman's hat, offers her a virtuoso performance; a shooting star fills her with hope on Christmas Eve. Is Melina actually playing better, or has her violin become magic?
Who is the old woman in the town square, and why does she wear the same emerald ring as her teacher Andrea?
The Magic Violin is a wonderful Christmas story that is encouraging for all children. Sometimes, children do want to feel like that they want to explore and try something different and when they do not accomplish what they want they want to quit and proceed with learning something totally different. However, the key is believing in yourself and having faith in what you are trying to accomplish. I think that Mayri did an excellent job depicting these standard everyday beliefs that not only children experience, but everyone experience. Sometimes, we believe that it is something magical that came over us, but when in the very essence it is believing in what we are doing that is the magical essence.
Congratulations on a job well done! Stay blessed.
Five Stars Rating
From Where I Stand, It Is What It Is
Tonya D.Floyd
www.authorsden.com/tonyadfloyd and
PublishAmerica
www.publishamerica.com
9781413779363 $16.95 http://www.versatili-t.com/index.html
From Where I Stand, It Is What It Is poetically sums up the author's views on many of life's perplexing, yet relative issues. Tonya Floyd will take you on an interesting journey, contemplating everything from unexpected realities of relationships, to her love of food. The enclosed expressions served as the author's outlet for a multitude of emotions when she was not able, or was too uncomfortable, to express such things verbally. This very personal journey through Tonya's mind and heart envelops the reader in Tonya's emotions and allows the reader to envision some of her experiences through vivid description and creative details. This book, mirroring its author, is a unique and magnetic combination of intelligence, beauty, strength, vulnerability, creativity, and honesty. It began as a personal journal which the author kept over a period of seven years, as nothing more than a hobby. It sat in a drawer for years before its creator was encouraged by a friend to reopen it and share it with the world. Fortunately, it has now come to light for others to see, relate to, and perhaps even learn from.
From Where I Stand, It Is What It Is is a poetry book written by Tonya D. Floyd and published by Publish America. From Where I Stand, It Is What It Is was very easy to read from beginning to end and her book, From Where I Stand, It Is What It Is, is filled with everyday subjects and lifestyles. I think that Tonya did an excellent job displaying her personal journey. Her poetry book, From Where I Stand, It Is What It Is, is divided into different sections and each section opens up with a story which makes even more interesting to read.
I Ain't Ascared of Nutin'… The Evolution of Me
Kyndall Brown
Buddafly Books
9780615149882 $9.50
I Ain't Ascared of Nutin'… The Evolution of Me is all about Kyndall Brown.
I Ain't Ascared of Nutin'… The Evolution of Me was written by Kyndall Brown and published by Buddafly Books. Kyndall's first debut book of poetry is very well written from beginning to end and Kyndall speaks straight from the heart. Kyndall's writing style for a young lady is remarkable and very inspirational for others both young and old.
I Ain't Ascared of Nutin'… The Evolution of Me consists of 64 pages and focuses on various subjects such as politics, friendships, relationships, life and beauty. I think that Kyndall did an excellent job composing a wonderful book of poetry. Some of my favorite poems that are published in I Ain't Ascared of Nutin'… The Evolution of Me include I Ain't Ascared of Nutin'… The Evolution of Me, War, Butterflies, Can You Live in My Dreams, I will Succeed, Friendship and Nothing Can Hold Me Back.
With each of these poems, Kyndall's sense of vision, imagery and composition is very uplifting.
I only wish that her first debut book of poetry, I Ain't Ascared of Nutin'… The Evolution of Me, was longer. Other than that, excellent job! Congratulations on your journey! Stay blessed and look forward to reading your next book!
Afrika Midnight Asha Abney
Reviewer
Ann's Bookshelf
Letters of Ted Hughes
Christopher Reid, editor
Faber & Faber
9780571221387 30.00 Brit. pounds
Writing a review after a number of major British newspapers and journals have already published theirs is an interesting exercise.
Interesting, not because everything seems already to have been said and all the best quotes to have already been used, but because of what other reviewers select from the many letters and from the great range of topics about which Ted wrote. He wrote to a huge range of people - family, friends, poets, editors, scholars, teachers, schoolchildren, theatre directors, politicians, royalty. As he got older and more famous, the pressures of answering correspondents grew: "I've spent most of this week simply writing letters.", he told his aunt, "Even writing very briefly, they take me ages". Still, he managed to write about many things, some serious, some trivial, some at great length, others with exemplary brevity. So, what reviewers choose to write about from this treasury reveals their own preoccupations.
Those reviewers who are intent on feeding the public's seemingly insatiable curiosity about Ted's relationship with Sylvia Plath begin with that and make the most of the three letters to Sylvia which are included in the book and the many references to her in other letters (a long list of which appears in the very useful Index of subjects). They look up Assia Wevill in the index, too (a shorter list). Then, it seems, they browse a bit further, add something from Ted's letters to his children, Frieda and Nicholas, and note some of Ted's comments about a few famous literary figures.
Ted's detailed and extensive comments about many of his poems, his descriptions of his poetic methods, of mythology, and especially his discussions of Shakespeare and The Goddess of Complete Being, leave them baffled and terse: "a little goes a very long way", one reviewer complained. Yet, these are the very letters which give the most insight into the thoughts and purposes behind Ted's work, and they reflect the passions which drove him to be a poet in the first place. Yes, they are long and complex, and often they represent only one fragment of a long exchange of letters in which discussion and explanation flowed back and forth between Ted and his correspondent, but they are a fine example of Ted's generous spirit and an important guide to his work and to aspects of his life which influenced that work.
There are many other far less serious letters to balance these lengthy flights. One which everyone can enjoy is Ted's letter to Frieda describing his visit to Buckingham Palace in 1974 to collect his Gold Medal for Poetry from the Queen. The preliminary visit to the clothing store, Moss Bros., for a hired suit, was disconcerting: "[My waistcoat] was short. Between the bottom of the waistcoat & the top of the pants, I had three inches of white shirt puffing out. I could see I was going to spend my time in front of the Queen, surrounded as I imagined by lords and ladies, pulling my pants down to cover my socks, then pulling them up to cover that waist gap from below, & pulling my waistcoat down to hide it from above, and I thought I'll look like a right hick". When he mentioned that he would be meeting the Queen in an hour's time, however, a more dignified-looking outfit was immediately found for him. The rest of the letter is similarly graphic and funny - a wonderful picture of the whole visit painted for his school-age daughter.
Christopher Reid, the editor of this book, has done an excellent job in selecting letters from the hundreds which were made available to him. It can't have been easy to decide what to include and what to leave out, but he had complete editorial freedom in this matter. Nevertheless, he is well aware that some aspects of Ted's interests have not been well represented. One reviewer, Ed Douglas, chose to fill in some of the gaps that Reid was obliged to leave in the interest of keeping the book a manageable size. Douglas, as a fisherman friend of Ted's, is well situated to write about Ted's little-known work as an environmental activist. 'Portrait of a poet as eco-warrior' (The Observer, Sunday November 4, 2007. http://books.guardian.co.uk/poetry/features/0,,2204850,00.html) is a fascinating and informed supplement to Ted's letters.
Poet, Craig Raine's review in The Times Literary Supplement (Nov. 21, 2007 http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article2914885.ece ), on the other hand, is a curiosity which would surely provide food for thought for any psychologist. Raine seems to be obsessed with combing the letters for hints about Ted's sex life. He begins with a completely irrelevant reference to a sexually explicit self-portrait by Egon Schiele, then extrapolates from there, quoting selectively, to demonstrate that Ted left "a paper trail for posterity" which shows him to have "remained 'untamed, undomesticated, unruly and animal' ". Ted's astrological interests are dismissed with a sneer, and a few Birthday Letters poems are dismantled (questionably) for good measure. "It is easy to be censorious", says Raine, but he goes ahead with his speculative accusations anyway. Strange, when Ted's letters to him, when Raine was poetry editor at Faber & Faber, are friendly and generously appreciative of his work.
John Carey's review (The Sunday Times, Oct. 21, 2007. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/poetry/article2677205.ece ) is perhaps the best, broadest and most objective of those recently published. Yet, for many years Ted and Carey were not on speaking terms with each other. The bad feeling began after an angry public exchange of letters over Carey's review of Shakespeare and the Goddess of Complete Being, and was exacerbated when Carey's signature appeared (amongst others) on a public letter concerning Sylvia Plath's grave. Ted's own description of the many problems Sylvia's more radical fans had caused over her grave appears in two letters in this book. As does Ted's last letter to Carey, seeking to heal the "misunderstanding" between them and written just a couple of weeks before he died.
Christopher Reid states quite plainly in his introduction that this book is not "a biography in disguise". Nevertheless, the chronological ordering of the letters and the incidental and, sometimes, specific biological content provide a far more vivid, truthful and very personal picture of Ted's life than any biography could achieve. There is amazing variety in this book which contains not just letters but also photographs, and, for example, an astrological chart for Philip Larkin; another made for Sylvia Plath in 1956, with a note about the suicidal placing of Saturn (which, according to astrologer Neil Spencer shows that Ted was very good astrologer); a diagrammatic method of comparing "sensibility and temperament" in the work of various poets; and a sketch which Ted made of his Order of Merit medal for his Aunt Hilda, which is part of the last letter in the book. Reid's note that Ted died nine days after writing this letter provides an appropriate but chilling ending.
For me, nothing can compare with the sense of Ted's presence which I feel when looking at his handwritten letters. His strong energetic handwriting, his characteristic dashes, the occasional indecipherable word which has to be puzzled over, the odd spelling mistake and the inserted afterthoughts, all convey his character. A printed transcript on the white pages of a book loses that sense of energy and immediacy. Nevertheless, the letters collected in this book display a whole range of emotions, enthusiasms, interests, concerns and obsessions: there is warmth, humour, occasional bleakness, passion, love, dedication, pedagogical instruction, self-questioning, self-discipline and everything else which characterized the man himself. The letters span Ted's life from his teenage years to his death, and they tell us a great deal about him. Above all, as John Carey rightly says, "No other English poet's letters, not even Keats's, unparalleled as they are, take us so intimately into the wellsprings of his own art".
A series of extracts from letters included in Letters of Ted Hughes was published in British newspaper, The Telegraph, November 27 -29, 2007. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/10/06/nosplit/boted106.xml
A Venetian Bestiary
Jan Morris
Faber & Faber
9780571233052 A$29.95
This small, slim book about animals is not as insubstantial as it looks. Jan Morris's writing is as rich and colourful as ever, and her knowledge of the history and the little-known sights of Venice provides her with a rich source of material.
"In fluctuating temper and varying fortune, in and out of love with the place, I have written rather too much about Venice in the sixty-odd years since the city first bewitched me", she writes in her 'Introduction', signing it with her Welsh name, Trefan Morys. This book, she goes on to say, is "by way of an epilogue", but whether she can ever really get Venice out of her system seems doubtful.
Morris's imaginative, vivid and humorous style is evident from the first paragraph of the book. And her familiarity with Venice and her delight in its history, its people, its art, and its curiosities, is evident in the things she draws attention to in this book: the "unmistakable knees" of the owl on the statue of Minerva in the Riva degli Schiavoli; the "black humour" of the artist portraying Noah's raven in the mosaics of the Basilica; the exclusion of male cats in the street-name of the one thoroughfare named for the cats of Venice; and the symbolic presence of the four Golden Stallions of St. Mark in a painting of the crucifixion by Lotto. All this and much more is packed into this little book about the beasts - real and mythical, mild and monstrous - of Venice.
This is not a book which will allow you to follow some kind of 'Jan Morris Animal Trail' through Venice (thank goodness!). A few of the many paintings which Morris mention are not (I think) even in Venice, although the artists are Venetian. This is a book, however, which may open your eyes to some of the delights which the average tourist to Venice generally misses. The curious and fascinating carvings on the capitals of the Doge's Palace, for example; and the many different animals which can be found around the streets and in Venetian painting and architecture. My own favorite discoveries amongst Venetian animals have been the mouse (not the lion, which Morris mentions) in the Carpaccio sequence of St. Jerome in the Scuola degli Schiavoni, and the cat which peeps out from beneath the skirts of Athena on the gates of the campanile of San Marco. This book, makes me keen to go and discover more.
Mustard, Custard, Grumble Belly and Gravy (5-7 age group)
Michael Rosen
Quentin Blake
Bloomsbury, c/o Allen and Unwin,
PO Box 8500, Alexander St. NSW 2065. Australia
9780747587385 A$19.95
Fun, nonsense, the spooky and the scary, rhymes and zany, wonderful illustrations. What more could a 5-7-year-old want? Well, a CD to listen to in the car, perhaps. All this is here one aptly named package.
Michael Rosen knows just what appeals to a young child's imagination. And Quentin Blake's illustrations are as quirky, simple and delightful as ever.
My six-year-old grandson dissolved in giggles on hearing the antics of an absent-minded small boy in the bathroom - "I suck the sponge. I suck the sponge" - appealed to him no end. So, too, did the poem about Grumble Belly, who begins by looking like a normal Grandfather in Quentin Blake's drawings but is taunted so that he gradually turns into a monster which chases and catches his small tormentor. The final illustration shows the small bog hugged in the arms of a huge, hairy beast, which is reading him a story.
Rosen's poems describe things and situations which are familiar to most families (a bossy big brother, scary dreams, mishaps, naughtiness, Mum's nicknames for dawdling offspring) and he uses language which is instantly recognizable to children who invent their own silly sentences, word-play and funny rhymes. This, combined with Quentin Blake' deceptively child-like drawings, is ideal. The humour of the poems is illustrated in the pictures, and sometimes the pictures add some enlightenment of their own. A companion piece for one simple poem about a dog and an attractive but unopenable dustbin is left until the end of the book. The dog, so it says, does not know the boy, but the accompanying illustration shows that there has clearly been some collaboration between them.
All through the book there are things with which children will identify, some serious, some funny. They may learn a few things, too: "Don't squash peas on your knees", for example, and "don't put mustard in the custard". There is plenty for parents to smile about, too, although they may wonder if they should edit out some very tempting ideas - such as the one about making glorious bubbly messes in the bathroom.
Musicophilia
Oliver Sacks
Pan Macmillan
9780330444361 A$32.95
Do you suffer from earworms or brainworms? Most of us do. They are those fragments of music which repeat themselves endlessly in our heads, sometimes (as Oliver Sacks notes) "maddeningly, for days on end". In advertising, television and film, music is often designed to do just that. What is needed, these industries believe, is a catchy tune which no-one will forget. And how often do you find that some advertising jingle seems to be stuck in your brain?
"All of us, to some degree, have music in our heads", writes Sacks: but thankfully not all of us are possessed by music as are some of the people in Musicophilia. Some suffer musical hallucinations, hearing loud music just as if a radio had been left on. Some experience music as part of a pre-epileptic aura. One man, a surgeon, after being struck by lightning, dying and being resuscitated, became so obsessed with piano music that his whole life was devoted to satisfying that obsession. He taught himself to play the piano, took music lessons, and learned notation so that he could write down the tunes he heard in his head. Even a second, serious head injury did not change his obsession and, although he still practiced as a surgeon, musicophilia dominated his life.
Music, it seems is more deeply embedded in us than language. It stirs the emotions, alters our movements, soothes compulsive ticks and remains as a musical memory even in the most deeply amnesic people or in those isolated by disease and dementia. Sacks, in his work as a neurosurgeon, has seen the value of music in people suffering from Tourette's syndrome. He has seen its co-ordinating power in patients with mental and physical disabilities. And he has experimented with the use of music therapy in patients with Alzheimers and other sorts of dementia. He describes the astonishment of seeing deeply demented, mentally isolated, uncommunicative people respond and become alert when music is being played: people who never speak sing along with tunes they recognize, faces become unfrozen, immobile patients start to move. And he observes and describes the effects of music on many other very different conditions.
A glance at the chapter headings in this book suggests the wide range of areas and conditions in which Sacks has studied the effects of music: musical savants, Cochlear Amusia, Musician's Dystonia, Parkinson's Disease, aphasia, dysharmonia, Tourette's Syndrome, Williams Syndrome, hypermusicality, depression, musical dreams, emotional response - all these and more are discussed in the context of music and brain function, but in language and in a style which most readers will understand and enjoy.
Many of the case-histories in this book are fascinating and Sacks's seemingly boundless curiosity, excitement and sympathy are readily apparent in his writing. He is (understandably, since he is a neurosurgeon) what philosophers call a 'Mechanist'. For him, every aspect of our experience has some physical basis, is related to some particular brain function or neurological activity, and our response to music, miraculous as it seems in some instances, is no exception. He explores the many wonders he describes in this book with scientific rigour, and for the non-scientific reader this can be dry and difficult at times, although Sacks keeps his science as simple and non-technical as possible.
If you are not a Mechanist, you might argue that not everything about music has yet been scientifically explained. Sacks would agree but he is sure that eventually it will be. So, if you wish to take spiritual comfort from the very similar things which people describe after near-death and out-of-body experiences (both of which are discussed in this book) you may need to do what the lightning-struck, musicophilic surgeon eventually did when he refused to have his condition analyzed further, and chose, instead, to simply accept the mysteries of his experience and the grace and blessings of the music which changed his life.
And if you are not a Mechanist, there is much to ponder in this book. What, for example, is one to make of the most deeply amnesic patient, who cannot remember anything at all from one minute to the next, and yet is able to sight-read a musical score, play and improvise on the piano, and even conduct a choir through an entire musical score with intelligence, skill and feeling? His behaviour is anything but automatic and he seems totally present and engaged, yet he remembers nothing at all once the music stops? What, too, of the fact that although he has no memory of any previous moment, he knows at times that something in him is 'broken'?
Music, for the ancient philosophers, was what connected us with the Divine Source. Its harmonies created and shaped our world. And in spite of everything science has discovered about the brain, in spite of increasingly sophisticated tools which can map the minute areas of the brain which respond to music, its mystery remains. Whatever way we choose to explain its powers, however, the therapeutic value of music is immense, as Sacks convincingly demonstrates in this book. And his own "old-fashioned" method of close observation of his patients and imaginative empathy with their experiences, allied to clinical, scientific analysis, is not only necessary for our understanding and use of the therapeutic power of music, it is what makes Musicophilia such a warm, human, humane and valuable book
Surveillance
Jonathan Raban
Picador, Pan Macmillan
9780330418393 A$22.95
Surveillance is a disturbing but immensely readable novel which reflects the uncertainties of our world. Set in Seattle, where Raban now lives, it portrays ordinary people in a seemingly ordinary world where security, mock-terror exercises, surveillance, deception, suspicion and questions of identity increasingly intrude into their lives.
This is the Settle of tomorrow, but only just. Everything Raban describes is already there in some degree (as it is in every other big city) and the gradual and insidious loss of personal freedom is something we already live with. In Surveillance, Raban shows how easily government controls can escalate and how easily people adapt to them and treat them as normal and harmless.
Lucy Bengstrom is a freelance journalist, a parent by accident and single by choice, and an intelligent, likeable character. Her daughter, eleven-year-old Alida, speaks and acts like any normal American pre-teen (Raban has a superb ear for dialogue), testing the waters of adulthood life, puzzled by its emotional intricacies. And Tad Zachary is an actor, a neighbour and a good family friend. He has adopted the role of stepfather to Alida, but he is dealing with the recent death of his partner, Michael, and his own questionable health. Into their lives come Mr Lee, the new owner of their apartment block, who has identity problems and grand plans, and August (Augie) Vanags, author of a best-selling book about his survival as a boy in Europe during the horrors of the Second World War.
Lucy is commissioned by a big magazine to find and interview Vanags. She finds him surprisingly easily and discovers that he is not the recluse he is made out to be. But her growing familiarity with him and his wife, together with the way in which he and Alida get along, threatens her journalistic objectivity. When doubts are raised about the veracity of Augie's identity and the truth of the claims he makes in the book, Lucy is in a dilemma.
Alida is clever at maths but a dunce, so she thinks, at human relationships, so she is trying to analyse these using algebraic formulae. It is complicated and it doesn't always work, but it helps. One of her classmates is arrested (it would spoil the book to explained why, but the crime is thoroughly modern and completely understandable) and Alida is full of admiration for him. She is full of admiration, too, for Augie Vanags, who teaches her to kayak and treats her like an adult.
Mr Lee's plans for his own future include the need for a wife. He carefully lists Lucy's assets (including: being a US citizen, secretarial skills, a ready made family and potential gratitude to him for being chosen) and decides she will do. Lucy's reaction when he offers her this great opportunity precipitates a crisis, but meanwhile Tad has discovered a valuable secret about the unsavoury Mr Lee.
Everything in this novel moves at high speed against a background of incidental events and conversations associated with security. Lucy watches as a casual acquaintance is arrested on suspicion of terrorist activities; Tad surfs the Net looking for leaked secrets, corruption and incompetence to fuel his hatred of the President and administration; Augie argues for the recognition of the real threat of terrorism and the need for less complacency in this fight, which he calls World War Four. Nothing is ever certain and Raban handles it all with skill and humour. So well, in fact, that we easily identify with these people and accept as perfectly normal the world in which they live.
Just so, can the increasing restrictions imposed on our own freedoms in the name of security creep up on us until those freedoms are irretrievably lost. But Raban is never polemic (although Augie can be, at times) and we are drawn in by his story until we want to know what happens to these people and how the specific problems they face are resolved. The disappointment is that we never do, because the ending is as uncertain as everything else in the book. Maybe that is realistic, but it seems as if Raban has taken an easy way out. Maybe this book is just the first in a series and Raban will enlighten us in the next volume. Maybe: but judging by the way the world is in this book, I wouldn't count on it.
Ann Skea
Reviewer
Bethany's Bookshelf
The Prairie Girl's Guide To Life
Jennifer Worick
The Taunton Press
63 South Main Street, Newtown, CT 06470
9781561589869, $14.95 www.taunton.com 1-800-477-8727
Knowledgeably compiled and ably written by Jennifer Worick, "The Prairie Girl's Guide To Life: How To Sew A Sampler Quilt & 49 Other Pioneer Projects For The Modern Girl" is a nostalgic, practical, and fun guide to activities that were the commonplace responsibility and legacy of 19th century women who helped settle the American prairie. This handy little illustrated volume of instructions, stories, advice, and commentary will enable today's young women to replicate the skills and projects of their great-grandmothers. After an informed and informative introduction, the five chapters are deftly organized by their location in the home: The Kitchen; The Bathroom; The Parlor; and The Barn And Beyond. From creating the perfect stew with corn bread and making rock candy; to creating calling cards and the art of courtship, to darning a sock and knitting a shawl; to milking a cow and planning a vegetable garden, all of these 'yesteryear' projects are particularly appropriate for instilling an appreciation for our female forebears. Of special note is what "The Prairie Girl's Guide To Life" offers in terms of pioneer gatherings ranging from tea parties, soapmaking parties, and quilting bees, to the ice cream social and square dances. "The Prairie Girl's Guide To Life" is very highly recommended for personal, school, and community library Women's Studies, American History, and 19th Century Popular Culture reference collections and supplemental reading lists.
Picture Yourself
Sandy Doell
Publicity Department
Thomson Course Technology
25 Thomson Place, 4th floor, Boston, MA 02210
9781598634396, $19.99 www.courseptr.com
Getting married can be one of the most joyful and/or stressful events in a woman's life. "Picture Yourself: Planning Your Perfect Wedding" by freelance book editor, writer, and wedding expert Sandy Doell offers a do-it-yourself compendium of instructions for planning, organizing, and personalizing every aspect of getting married. Profusely illustrated throughout, "Picture Yourself" covers wedding trends and fashions, choosing just the right ring for the occasion; informing family, friends, and the community; budgets, timetables and record keeping; choosing the right site, the ideal theme, and the particular tone desired; addressing such details as the color scheme, invitations, and attendants; acquiring the wedding dress; dealing with florists, cakes, photographers, and transportation; gifts (giving and getting); such legal issues as the marriage license, changing names, insurance, checking accounts, credit cards, and taxes; and planning the honeymoon. The core of the book focuses on the wedding day itself including getting ready, the ceremony, and the reception. Enhanced with sample forms and checklists, "Picture Yourself" is the complete and highly recommended, single-volume instruction guide for anyone seeking to craft and experience their own version of the ideal wedding.
The Dream Catcher Tour
Paula Buermele
Outskirts Press, Inc.
10940 S. Parker Rd., 515, Parker, CO 80134
9781432703530, $11.95 www.outskirtspress.com 1-888-672-6657
The Dream Catcher Tour is a novel following a group of forty-seven women on an economical, no-frills tour bus excursion around the Great Lakes. As they take in the sights and sounds, they also trade favorite memories with one another. A leisurely delight brimming with female camaraderie, The Dream Catcher Tour glides gently along as it presents moments of interrelated insight, and makes for gentle, fun-loving leisure reading, bit by bit or cover to cover. Highly recommended.
Susan Bethany
Reviewer
Bob's Bookshelf
Boone: A Biography
Robert Morgan
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
127 Kingston Drive #105, Chapel Hill, NC 27514
9781565124554 $29.95 (919) 967-0108
Robert Morgan spent five years researching and reading everything he could find about one of the most misunderstood heroes of the American frontier, Daniel Boone.
In "Boone: A Biography", Morgan looks behind the legends and misinformation to show us the true, flesh-and-blood man. Daniel Boone was more than an 18th century explorer and settler. He fought in the French and Indian War and the Revolution. This Quaker and Freemason served in the Virginia Legislature and had far more respect for the Native American way of life than most people realize.
Some of the myths Morgan debunks include the popular picture of Boone donning a coonskin cap as he explored the wilderness. According to his son Nathan, Boone thought coonskin hats were uncouth and uncomfortable. Raised as a Quaker, Boone preferred a Quaker-style felt hat made from beaver fur to protect him from the elements.
Contrary to what one sometimes hears, Boone was neither the discoverer of the Cumberland Gap nor was he the first white settler in Kentucky. Although he is often portrayed as a fierce Indian fighter, the truth is that Daniel usually avoided conflict by offering Indians gifts. In fact, he was distrusted by some whites and called a white Indian because of his friendship with the Native Americans.
Fleshing out his narrative with a backdrop of life in colonial times, Morgan examines the domestic, political, cultural, and natural world of early America. He also does an excellent job of setting the record straight about one of the time's legendary heroes. The author of a number of historical novels, Morgan writes with an understanding of scene that puts his reader squarely down into the forest alongside Daniel Boone.
Diamonds, Gold and War: The British, the Boers, and the Making of South Africa
Martin Meredith
Public Affairs
250 West 57th Street, Suite 1321, New York, New York 10107
9781586484736 $30.00 www.publicaffairsbooks.com
At the time they took possession of southern Africa in 1806, the British considered the Cape Colony little more than a stopping point on the way to the riches of the east. Aside from keeping it out of French hands, the sparsely populated land settled by Dutch, Germans and Huguenots had little appeal or value.
Conflicts between the colonizing British and Boers led to separate states (Cape Colony and the Transvaal) which were established to create a fragile peace. Unfortunately, in 1871 with the discovery of diamonds, southern Africa was thrown into turmoil as a struggle for the control of the unheard of riches broke out.
"Diamonds, Gold and War" by Martin Meredith describes the origins of modern-day South Africa and the bloody events that unfolded as control of diamonds and gold mines turned the region into a killing field.
From the exploits of Cecil Rhodes and Paul Kruger to the struggles of native leaders such as Lobengula, whose tribe was swept up in the conflict, the tale graphically illustrates how the exploitation of African resources is a long, shameful and continuing tradition of the West.
Well known African scholar and author Martin Meredith relies on new research and his own deep understanding of the region to explain how British policy led to the rise of the virulent Afrikaner nationalism that eventually took hold in the new South African state, creating the policy of apartheid and the racist social order that ruled the country throughout most of the 20th century.
Historical Atlas of California
Derek Hayes
University of California Press
2120 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA. 94704-1012
9780520252585 $39.95 (510) 642-4562 www.ucpress.edu
Derek Hayes' Historical Atlas of California covers 500 years of history. Using hundreds of old maps and other illustrations, this lavishly illustrated volume is the first to tell the story of California's past from a very unique visual perspective.
Accompanied by a concise, engaging narrative and extended captions, the maps offer a compelling and informative look at the transformation of the state from before European contact through the Gold Rush and up to the present.
A book one will pour over for hours and repeatedly return to, the Historical Atlas of California is sure to delight anyone who enjoys studying vintage maps or California history.
The Nature of Dogs
Mary Ludington
Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y. 10020
9781416542872 $35.00 www.thenatureofdogs.com
The Nature of Dogs pairs the photography of Mary Ludington with essays by an eclectic array of writers from Kevin Kling and Mary Gaitskill to James Hillman.
Grouped together by broad canine categories, the photographs spotlight a striking diversity of individual dogs. To complement the portraits, evocative commentaries shed light on the origins, history and hallmarks of the each featured breed.
A work of art and revelation wrapped up in an elegant, oversized volume, The Nature of Dogs will be a hit with anyone who loves these wonderful animals.
My Next Phase
Eric Sundstrom, PhD, Randy Burnham,PhD, and Michael Burnham
Springboard/Grand Central Publishing
237 Park Ave., New York, New York 10017
9780446581172 $24.99 (212) 364-1100
If you are contemplating retirement, is a book you might want to consult. Sub-titled "The Personality-Based Guide to Your Best Retirement", this book offers the reader a step-by-step program to help the future retiree determine his or her retirement style. Taking into account the individual's social and planning styles as well as the person's stress tolerance, the Up-4-Retirement quiz the book contains will indicate how ready for retirement or the next phase in his or her life the reader is.
Although financial security is certainly important when considering when or if one can retire, the authors stress that a successful retirement is based more on emotional factors rather than the size of one's nest egg.
This is not a guide on how to acquire or manage financial assets but, rather, a guide to making the transition from a nine to five job to a lifestyle that allows much more freedom. In fact, some would say perhaps that new freedom and spare time soon lead to boredom, weariness and anxiety.
The quizzes included here are developed around seven personality traits and will assist the reader in identifying, exploring and selecting options that will hopefully help the individual create a plan for the next phase of his or her life.
Kerplunk!
Patrick McManus
Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020
9780743280495 $24.00 www.simonsays.com
Stylistically, Patrick McManus, whose homey stories celebrate and lampoon life among the hunting and fishing set of the Pacific Northwest, has been said to be an amalgam of Garrison Keillor, Art Buchwald and Mark Twain. After reading "Kerplunk!" you can decide how accurate this description actually is. Personally, I think it isn't too wide off the mark!
The 36 hilarious pieces in this collection, which have all previously appeared in "Outdoor Life", recount the haphazard exploits and endearing foibles of the kind of folks, some good natured, some irascible, who appreciate an unproductive afternoon spent fly-fishing, even if the stubborn fish aren't running.
You'll meet a range of characters from an Alaskan guide who spends more time checking his BlackBerry than educating his clients on woodsy outings and an unforgettable backwoodsman named Rancid Crabtree who is responsible for much of McManus' early outdoors education.
In these recollections about the perils he has faced in the wilderness McManus isn't above a bit of exaggeration but, then, what ardent fisherman isn't guilty of a little embellishment? No matter, though. These delightful narratives are highly entertaining and will put a smile on the face of anyone who has spent $100 and hours creating a fly he could have purchased for $5!
Bob Walch
Reviewer
Buhle's Bookshelf
Lies, Lies and More Lies
Vivek
iUniverse, Inc.
2021 Pine Lake Road, #100, Lincoln, NE 68512
9780595435494, $14.95 www.iuniverse.com
Lies, Lies and More Lies: The Campaign To Defame Hindu/Indian Nationalism is a sharp retort to unsavory portrayals of Hindu Nationalism (Hindutva), including accusations that equate the philosophy with pogroms and ethnic cleansing. Though author Vivek admits that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should not be excused of the killings that have happened under its watch, notably in the Gujarat riots, he decries the tendency (especially among intellectuals) to unilaterally condemn the entire BJP and all of Hindu Nationalism, or even equate both with fascism. Worse, too much misinformation has spread concerning Hindu Nationalism and the BJP. Lies, Lies and More Lies spells out the reasoning behind Hindu Nationalism precepts: injustice exists under the current legal system that largely leaves temples of Christianity and Islam to themselves but taxes and restricts Hindu temples; religious conversion needs to be banned because there is no way to distinguish between voluntary and forced conversion; and more. Too little attention is being paid to the threat of Islamofascism, argues author Vivek; demographic birth and immigration trends that are gradually increasing the percentage of Muslims in India and a Muslim community that is too slow to condemn the pogroms it perpetrates fuel an immediate national crisis. Above all, India's salvation lies in preserving its new legacy of democracy and equality. "Without proper guidance, there is a real danger of Hindutva degenerating into a rampage of revenge. Hindutva is not to be equated with communal riots that kill innocent humans. Hindutva cannot be an ideology that relegates another individual to second-class status. It should be a force that makes all Indians conform to the pluralistic, secular tradition of our land that respects one and all." A passionate and thoughtful call for perspective on hot-button Indian social issues.
Intimate Wisdom
Karinna Kittles-Karsten
iUniverse, Inc.
2021 Pine Lake Road, #100, Lincoln, NE 68512
Sacred Love
9780595419579, $20.95 www.sacredlove.com www.iuniverse.com
In "Intimate Wisdom: The Sacred Art Of Love", Karinna Kittles-Karsten draws upon her experience and expertise as an internationally recognized relationship expert and founder of Sacred Love, Inc. to share a unique combinations of Eastern and Western approaches to creating, fostering, and enhancing a romantic relationship characterized by joy, respect and passion. This approach begins with developing the capacity and appreciation for finding love within ourselves, boosting our own positive energy, and thereby claiming the courage to extend ourselves to loving someone else. This is followed by learning how to overcome the diverse challenges of love to create an emotionally prosperous partnership. Ultimately resulting in the values of intimate love-making arts which foster ever deeper intimacies and intensified physical pleasures. Simply stated, "Intimate Wisdom" is an invaluable, practical, and 'user friendly' guide to creating a personal relationship with a significant other that will be emotionally, intellectually, physically, and spiritually fulfilling.
America's Destiny
William Grade
Outskirts Press, Inc.
10940 S. Parker Road, 515, Parker, CO 80134
9781432701338, $8.95 1-888-672-6657 www.outskirtspress.com
Written by former military analyst William Grade, America's Destiny: Cryptic Passages Foretold USA, UK (British Commonwealth), Russia, Islam and EU scrutinizes modern history and the present, and predicts the future, grounded in the visions of the Prime Minister of ancient Persia and Babylon, the biblical seer Daniel. Chapters discuss how the abolition of slavery and child labor, as well as the advent of women's rights and the reforms of the British Empire, were predicted in symbolic form as a 'lion' that would arise with a man's heart. Yet far more interesting are the predictions for the future, grounded not only in Biblical prophesy but also in a grounded understanding of the present. From the forthcoming crisis in gender and sexuality (HIV/AIDS is rampantly destroying Africa's human population due to unrestricted heterosexual activity, yet modern culture in industrialized nations has failed to heed the terrible warning and adhere to the Christian model of saving sex until after marriage), to the coming Russia/Israel/Iran confrontation, to the forthcoming 'Apocalypse' that won't quite be the end of the world, America's Destiny is surprisingly grounded in serious-minded issues and reveals the logic behind tenets of Christian faith designed to stave off societal harm, as well as the amazing insights of biblical predictions.
The Fundraising Houseparty
Morrie Warshawski
Privately Published
1480 Cedar Avenue, Napa, CA 94559
9780971278912, $19.95 www.warshawski.com
Now in an expanded edition with new examples, The Fundraising Houseparty: How to Party With a Purpose and Raise Money for Your Cause lives up to its title as a concise, no-nonsense guide to organizing a successful fundraising houseparty. Chapters cover how to compose a tasteful invitation, the all-important task of selecting an "Ask" (the person who will ask party guests for money), how to tastefully make follow-up calls, the role of refreshments, setting a target fundraising goal for the party, and much more. Black-and-white photographs and a wealth of sample documents, especially sample invitations, round out this easy-to-follow guide useful for corporations, charities, and even private individuals (such as struggling artists). "Follow-up calls to confirm that people are in fact coming are absolutely vital. You don't want to hound, but you also want people to realize that this is not a casual party... Two weeks before your house party, start calling everyone on your list... If someone says they cannot attend, then ask them to make a contribution." Highly recommended.
Willis M. Buhle
Reviewer
Burroughs' Bookshelf
Assault on the Senses
Michael P. Ferrari
iUniverse, Inc.
2021 Pine Lake Road, #100, Lincoln, NE 68512
9780595431731, $14.95 www.iuniverse.com
CollegeHumor.com contributor Michael P. Ferrari presents Assault on the Senses, a grimly humorous novel about the downward self-destructive spiral of college student Kalvin Gray. The repercussions of a bad breakup plus the lack of direction in his life are further compounded when he discovers a "wanted" poster warning students of an attempted rapist, featuring a police sketch that looks suspiciously like him. Despite his innocence of the heinous crime, he fears that his reputation and sex life will be ruined - until he crosses paths with the seductive school newspaper editor Katie, who becomes his ally in the search for the truth. His life just might have the potential to turn around - if he can stay sober long enough for that to happen. A tongue-in-cheek look at the dark side to the campus experience.
The Flesh of Kings
M.B. Lemanski
iUniverse, Inc.
2021 Pine Lake Road, #100, Lincoln, NE 68512
9780595432752, $15.95 www.iuniverse.com
Written by defense markets analyst M. B. Lemanski, The Flesh of Kings: The Final Battle Begins After Armageddon is an exciting novel about the battle for humankind's future in the wake of Armageddon. A teacher and mystic going by the name Janus Philio has claimed the title of King of kings in Jerusalem and performed miracles to help heal the world. Is he the second coming of Jesus Christ, or the latest in a series of Antichrists, or something else entirely? Preacher's son and former NFL superstar Julian "the Mighty" Quinn earns political power in what is left of America; his distrust of Philio entangled him in the machinations of a secret society set on assassinating the King of kings. A tense, action-packed adventure ensues, in this disturbing yet utterly absorbing post-apocalyptic tale.
The Coldest Call
Gerry Cullen
Privately Published
11301 Jollyville Road, Suite H4, Austin, TX 78759
9781599161730, $19.95 www.amazon.com
Professional salesman Gerry Cullen offers his years of experience to up-and-coming sellers in The Coldest Call: Why Some Good Products Don't Sell, a no-nonsense guide to the barriers that most strongly deter customers from buying, and salesmen from selling, no matter how high the quality of the product. A handful of black-and-white illustrations, including humorous cartoons, illustrate this tongue-in-cheek yet dead-on practical discussion of the realities of the sales business. Chapters discuss how the rise of the Internet is making the oft-reviled practice of cold calling obsolete, how a poor CEO or an overinflated price can kill sales, why it is vital to make price information readily available to the potential consumer, the value of pictures in helping sales, and much more. Perhaps most valuable is the final page of "deal-breakers" marking a prospective company as a bad place to work, unless there are profound mitigating influences: A CEO or VP of Sales who yells at employees, no published commission schedule or agreement, more than fifteen percent yearly sales department turnover, a company with multiple versions/stories of what it does, or other dangerous red flags. An absolute "must-read" for current and would-be salesmen, also packed with insights for business owners or managers concerning what they can do to help the sales department get its job done.
The Philosophy Of Life
Ronnie Lee
Outskirts Press, Inc.
10940 S. Parker Rd., 515, Parker, CO 80134
9781598008647, $23.95 www.outskirtspress.com 1-888-672-6657
A Chinese poet and philosopher dedicated to perceiving, understanding, and articulating the justice, meaning, and wisdom that are that the core of each of his experiences in the world, Ronnie Lee wrote "The Philosophy Of Life: God, Wisdom And The World Psyche" for the purpose of demonstrating and illustrating the existence of God and the power of the collective mind in the establishing of justice, equality, and personal salvation. Through the use of his poetry, Ronnie Lee is able to articulate his insights and perceptions, readily and effectively communicating them to the reader. Philosophy expressed in poetry, this unique and seminal 680-page volume is especially recommended to non-specialist general readers with an interest in philosophy, in poetry, and in metaphysics. 'Conspiracy To One': the logic to the speed,/Distance and time equations,/To the conspiracy to one,/Can be seen as,//Speed of conspiracy to one - how fast others condemn and accuse you of being wrong/Distance of conspiracy to one - how far they will go and the power of the conspiracy/time of a conspiracy to one - how long it will last//The greater the number,/The greater the conspiracy to one.//It is then the worst,/Up to it's infinitesimal limits,/of injustice,/But it will also be the greatest.//There is hope, Even at the worst stages of life.
John Burroughs
Reviewer
Carson's Bookshelf
Horses for Courses
Dick Pollard
Vantage Press Inc.
419 Park Avenue South, 18th floor, New York, NY 10016
9780533156375, $22.95 www.vantagepress.com 1-212-736-1767
Self-made millionaire and experienced thoroughbred racehorse owner Dick Pollard presents Horses for Courses: Adventures in Thoroughbred Racehorse Ownership, a behind-the-scenes look at the world of racetracks, trainers, breeders, jockeys, and the racehorses themselves. From practical tips on working with, choosing, and laying down the law to a trainer, to properly managing a racehorse farm, to thrilling tales of the author's greatest hits and misses in the racehorse industry, Horses for Courses seamlessly blends elements of memoir and how-to guide into a fascinating whole. A most enjoyable read for anyone curious about the colorful, if sometimes contentious, world of horse racing.
More Than Eyes Can See
Rhidian Brook
Marion Boyars
c/o Meryl Zegarek Public Relations, Inc.
255 West 108 Street, Suite 9D1, New York, NY 10025
9780714531427, $17.95 www.marionboyars.co.uk
Award-winning writer Rhidian Brook presents More Than Eyes Can See: A Nine-Month Journey Through the Aids Pandemic, the true-life memoir of the nine-month journey he and his family made to some of the world's worst epicenters of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. He bore witnesses to individuals and communities ravaged from the disease: truck-stop sex-workers in Kenya, victims of rape in Rwanda, families headed by children in Soweto due to a dearth of healthy adults, children of prostitutes in India, and farmers who sold blood for money - and were infected by unclean needles - in China. Though More Than Eyes Can See clearly speaks of the pain, suffering, and depredations inflicted by plague, also present is the bright light of hope, in the kindness that people show to one another on both small and large scales. A handful of color photographs illustrate this moving testimony of a relief organization's efforts to improve quality of life, as well as neighbors helping neighbors in the wake of devastation.
Healthcare For All Americans
Nelson A. Paguyo, M.D.
Vantage Press Inc.
419 Park Avenue South, 18th floor, New York, NY 10016
9780533156207, $22.95 www.vantagepress.com 1-212-736-1767
Nelson A. Paguyo, M.D., a doctor of twenty years' experience prior to his retirement in 2005, Healthcare For All Americans: Healthcare Crisis USA - A Comprehensive Solution, a sobering observation of the grim state of the American healthcare system today. 46 million Americans have no health insurance, and those who do all too often find themselves bankrupted by medical bills or by insurance companies too recalcitrant to pay. A World Health Organization study ranked French healthcare is number one, and American healthcare as a shocking number thirty-seven! Paguyo offers a solution for America's woes in a system of universal healthcare. A close study of the pros and cons of systems in Canada, England, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Japan reveals positive options that America can put together to form a greatly improved system for ensuring that sick people get treated properly. Tactics for implementing this new system are also discussed, in this thoughtful, well-reasoned proposal for a solid solution to America's healthcare problems.
A Truck Fell on Me
Charlie Renne
PublishAmerica
PO Box 151, Frederick, MD 21705-0151
9781424149018, $19.95 www.publishamerica.com
A Truck Fell on Me is the true-life memoir of author Charlie Renne, who suffered a near-fatal automobile accident. His entire ordeal, from the moments leading up to the accident, to an out-of-body- experience while being rescued, to his long and at times harrowing recovery, is presented in an lighthearted tone, though serious and sad moments are given their fair due. Not only did Renne have to cope with physical injuries of the accident, but also mental issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder, vivid flashbacks, and even thoughts of suicide. The accident itself was so severe that it took Renne over a year to shake the feeling that it had literally killed him. At times self-depreciating, yet ultimately bubbling with positive never-give-up energy, A Truck Fell on Me is particularly recommended as an amusing pick-me-up for anyone recovering from trauma.
Michael J. Carson
Reviewer
Ceecee's Bookshelf
Snitch
Renee Gutteridge
Waterbrook Press
12265 Oracle Boulevard, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, CO 80921
9781400071586 $12.99
Sergeant Ron Yeager was as good as any undercover police officer. Maybe even the best. Well, in his day. So no one was as surprised as he is when he is asked to head and train a new team of Las Vegas' finest uncover police officers in cracking the case of the latest rash of minivan thefts.
Retirement couldn't come to soon when he sets his sights on his new team members: the saved, sanctified and filled with the Holy Ghost little spitfire, Mackenzie "Mack" Hazard who refuses to curb her faith for anybody; then there's the overly confident Jesse Lunden who would rather be working in something flashier like narcotics; there's the life-size teddy bear, Elliot "Dozer" Stillman who catches catnaps every chance he gets, and Lamar Takahashi, the Wiz, who well, um, has to make sure a bathroom is never too far away.
In Rene Gutteridge's second installment in her Occupational Hazards series, she brings together otherwise ordinary characters but when put together they make an amusing, endearing ensemble. This moderately paced, character-driven story will grow on readers who will find themselves caring about the characters so much they might find themselves turning pages late into the night. Read this story when you can sleep in the next day!
This reader can not wait until what promises to be Gutteridge's trademark hilarious mixture of faith and comedy when her third installment in the Occupational Hazards series comes out.
You can visit Renee's website at www.renegutteridge.com.
Crimson Eve
Brandilyn Collins
Zondervan
Grand Rapids, MI 49530
9780310252252 $13.99
Realtor Carla Radling unwittingly shows a house to man hired to kill her. Carla has no known enemies and has pretty much stayed to herself in the quiet town of Kanner Lake so who would be out to do her harm?
Now on the run, she must find out who is out to get her from revealing long time secrets she thought she buried deep in her past.
Crimson Eve is an exhilarating cat-and-mouse chase full of mystery, political greed, and surprising revelations. This story reads like a movie with Brandilyn Collins as the director planting the reader in the action alongside her characters, then yells: RUN!
You will run, you will hide, you will hold your breath as evil stalks by your bedside, but most of all, you will enjoy every nail-biting minute spent reading Crimson Eve. I know I did!
The next installment in the Kanner Lake series continues with Amber Morn due out the spring of 2008. You can visit Brandilyn Collins at www.brandilyncollins.com
The second book in Suzanne Adair's Revolutionary War series features Betsy Sheridan, daughter to Sophie Barton, the main character in her first book, PAPER WOMAN. Seventeen-year-old Betsy is pregnant and married to Clark Sheridan, a successful cobbler and avowed Loyalist. Although Betsy is a neutral, her parents have been branded spies by the British and are in hiding. When Betsy finds a coded message in one of Clark's boots and witnesses a mysterious meeting between her husband and a Spaniard, she begins to suspect he, too, may be a spy for the rebels. But Betsy is loyal to Clark and holds her tongue. Shortly thereafter, their house is burned to the ground and her husband disappears. Betsy, aware that the British now suspect her of treason, intends to find Clark with the help of his apprentice Tom Alexander before joining her parents. Not far behind is Lieutenant Dunstan Fairfax, who wants nothing more than to find Sophie Barton, and he'll do anything, including murder, to get to her.
THE BLACKSMITH'S DAUGHTER is a rollicking adventure from beginning to end. Adair holds the reader enthralled with constant action, spine-tingling suspense, and superb characterization, all wrapped within historical fact. She conveys the tense conflict between the Loyalists and Rebels, and the danger of being either one, in an exceptional and thought-provoking manner. This is one book the reader will not want to put down.
Lean Mean Thirteen
Janet Evanovich
St. Martin's Press
New York City, NY
9780312349493 $27.95
Stephanie's ex, attorney Dickie Orr, goes missing shortly after Stephanie threatens his life. The only clue to what happened: bloody drag marks leading out of his house. The investigating detective wants to question Stephanie and she has no alibi so is in no hurry to talk. To make matters worse, Stephanie's arch nemesis, Joyce Barnhardt (the woman responsible for Stephanie's and Dickie's divorce), is hot on Stephanie's trail. Joyce is back in a relationship with Dickie and wants the 40 million dollars he embezzled from his firm. Stephanie decides to conduct her own investigation into Dickie's disappearance which leads to charred bodies and exploding buildings. Ranger steps in to protect Stephanie, which is hard going as she continues her investigation while trying to do her official job as a bounty hunter and track down a taxidermist who makes exploding road-kill and a grave digger who's turned tax expert.
The usual gang's around for the latest outing in the Plum series, including Lula and Grandma Mazur. The triangular relationship continues between Stephanie, Joe Morelli, and Ranger, with still no resolution on Stephanie's part. Evanovich once more produces a laugh-out-loud whodunit wrapped around that delicious tease between Stephanie and the two men in her life.
Cold Mountain
Charles Frazier
Atlantic Monthly Press
0871136791 $19.95
Even rustic Cold Mountain, NC feels the cold embrace of the Civil War and most of its young men answer the call to fight. Some of the more hardened stay behind and form the Home Guard, which amounts to nothing more than a group of violent men intent on delivering their own brand of justice to those they call outliers, deserters of the war.
This is the story of two people in Cold Mountain who meet, are separated by the war, and meet again, both drastically changed by the hardships they've endured. Inman, a Confederate soldier, walks away from the hospital where he's being treated for a near-fatal wound and begins his long journey to reach Ada, the one woman he hopes can save him from his despair over humanity. Ada Monroe is a socialite whose preacher father took her to the isolated backcountry of Cold Mountain, NC. When Ada's father dies shortly after the war begins, she finds herself alone and destitute. To her rescue comes Ruby, a homeless young woman who lives her life relying on natural signs. Ruby teaches Ada many life lessons, foremost of which, how to survive on her own.
While working his way back to Ada, Inman encounters every sort of danger imaginable, from men intent on killing him to wild animals. Ada encounters her own hardships, from starvation to hard living. The two work toward one another, physically and mentally, and when they meet have reached the point where their lives can merge into something truly beautiful.
Cold Mountain is a fascinating read; filled with historical and geographical information wrapped around a beautiful love story. Frazier's style is eloquent, lyrical, and mesmerizing. He uses unique phraseology relative to the time of the story and delivers characters the reader does not soon forget.
Lucky You
Carl Hiaasen
Alfred A. Knopf
0679454446 $24.00
Grange, Florida is a small, out-of-the-way community known for its religious miracles, from the weeping Madonna to the stigmata man with holes in his palms that do not heal. Not to mention the road stain in the form of Jesus and the woman who visits every day in her wedding dress. And now, one of their own, JoLayne Lucks, has won one-half of the state's f $28 million lottery. JoLayne works part-time as a veterinarian's assistant and plans to use her lottery winnings to buy and maintain wooded acreage in danger of being developed into a shopping mall.
The other half of the lottery winnings belong to Bode Grazzer, a short man convinced NATO forces are lining up in the Bahamas ready to invade America, and his sidekick Chub, a paint-sniffing mercenary wannabe. Chub and Bode, needing money to begin their own supremacist organization so they can defend the white man when America is invaded, decide to steal the other lottery ticket. They break into JoLayne's home, beat her up and take off with the ticket. On the way to the lottery office, they recruit a convenience store clerk known for his lack of cognitive abilities and take hostage a Hooters waitress Chub has fallen in love with.
To JoLayne's aid comes Tom Krome, an embittered former investigative reporter now working for a small newspaper covering social events. Tom's editor sends him to Grange to write a story about the lottery winner, but before he even pulls out his notepad, Tom finds himself in cahoots with JoLayne and hot on the trail of Bode and Chub. All six end up on a small island in Florida Bay, where a confrontation develops over the two lottery tickets and where two will remain behind forever.
Carl Hiaasen is a master at developing wacky characters and zany plots and dialogue that will leave the reader in stitches throughout the entire book. This is a book all readers will enjoy as they follow the madcap antics of these screwball characters.
Christy Tillery French
Reviewer
Clay's Bookshelf
A Promise to Remember
Kathryn Cushman
Bethany House
11400 Hampshire Ave S. Bloomington, MN 55438
9780764203800 $13.99 www.bethanyhouse.com
Sixteen year olds Jeff Johnston and Chad Phelps - two lives that ended one dark night.
Chad making wrong choices driving without a license and had been drinking after a fight with his dad, crashed into Jeff killing both; Jeff instantly and Chad later at the hospital. Melanie, Jeff's mom and his sister Sarah struggle to go on. Sarah has her faith, a faith that her and Jeff had tried to get their mother to see. Andie, Chad's mother and Blair his father struggle also and have their faith as well but are drifting apart as they blame themselves for what happened.
Than Melanie decides for "Jeff's legacy" she must sue the Phelps for Jeff's death and becomes more obsessed with spending time with Jeff at his gravesite. She develops a rocky friendship with Sarah's youth leader Jake as she struggles with her job with Alford's the grocery chain and the Christians coming into her life, since she sued the Phelps a boycott against the store which moves Melanie to another store and a long commute and a few resentful employees and other series of unfortunate events that she begins to wonder who she can trust but never doubts she is doing the right thing for Jeff.
Andie has strict orders from her lawyer and husband to stay out of the situation but questions if that is the right choice as her friends set out to ruin Melanie's life.
This novel is tremendous! In this author Kathryn Cushman's first novel you not only see the working of God but also the struggles of a poor single mom and the struggles of a rich couple as both deal with the lost of a son. You will also see the story of two mothers who may come from different worlds but really are alike in many ways, who struggle with their loss as the town is torn in two as sides are chosen leaving the question which side would you take? See God move in the lives of both families as they deal with grief, hope, forgiveness and life. Don't miss the ending as it is a total surprise and utterly amazing!
A perfect read for older teens and adults and great for book discussion groups. A definite must read that will leave you pondering long after you've finished the book!
Forget About It
Caprice Crane
5 Spot
c/o Hachette Book Group USA
237 Park Avenue New York, NY 10017
9780446697552 $13.99 www.5-spot.com
At twenty-five Jordan Landau hates her life. She doesn't like her job, her family and especially Dirk her boyfriend. Everyone walks all over her and she doesn't know how to change it. The only bright spots are her best friends Cat who is married and Todd whom Jordan married at age seven they've been the three musketeers forever.
Than one day riding her bike home from work she gets ran into and wakes up in the hospital. The answer came to her she would fake amnesia! Do a do-over! Jordan confides in Todd and he was the only one who knew the truth and he thinks she is nuts. It was working she became stronger, more assertive not allowing people to walk all over her. Jordan falls in love with Travis the man who hit her. She feels horrible that he feels so guilty but knows she can't tell him the truth without going back to the old Jordy. She has managed to dump Dirk, got a promotion at work, even her family treats her better. Than her mother insists on suing Travis than the nightmare starts to unfold how was she going to undo this without hurting Travis than at the hearing it is announced that Travis is married! Jordan doesn't know what to do running off through the streets of New York once she stops she finds herself watching a group of boys playing ball. Suddenly she's hit again - des au vu here she goes again waking up in the hospital but this time Jordan really has amnesia she doesn't know anyone or remember anything!
An absolute must read very original and down right funny! Author Caprice Crane has an amazing sense a humor must be in the genes being the daughter of Tina Louise (remember Gilligan's Island?) and Les Crane whom Caprice admits his humor may even be darker than her own. This reviewer absolutely loves this book (I could have done without the language- didn't feel the story needed it). But looking past that one negative this one will definitely leave you laughing from amnesia to amnesia so what ever you do don't forget about it!
Nobody
Creston Mapes
Multnomah Books
c/o Random House
12265 Oracle Boulevard Suite 200 Colorado Springs, Colorado 80921
9781590526248 $12.99 www.mpbooks.com
Chester Holte has been gunned down and in a pool of blood is where Las Vegas Review Journal reporter Hudson Ambrose finds him. From all outward appearances Chester seems to have been a homeless man but not waiting for the police Ambrose decides to search the dead man for an ID but what he finds astonishes him finding a bankbook with a balance of almost a million dollars and a key that looks like a bank key. In a split second Hudson decides to take the items and with bizarre and strange twists of events sets him on a course that will change his life forever. He discovers that Chester seemed to be an angel to the homeless community who are rocked by his death especially Holly Queens formally of the streets herself. In unforeseen circumstances Ambrose saves Holly from her abusive boyfriend which sets both on a course of danger and the beginning of a relationship. Chester's body seems to have disappeared and Ambrose's questions to the police make them suspicious of him. But the deeper Hudson Ambrose goes the more everything leads to a dirty cop who is no stranger to the homeless by the name of Needlemire. And just who is the strange man that continues to call Ambrose that seems to know the truth about Chester's death?
Whoa! God is all over this awesome suspense novel! Author Creston Maples is to be commended for the outstanding job he has done on "Nobody"! This page turner reads like no other suspense novel that compares to the likes of.
Chester's life is based on the poem "I Stand by the Door" by Samuel Shoemaker which is awesome in itself but the reader will come away a changed person as you can't help but see yourself in the mirror of Ambrose Hudson with the desire to be more like Holly Queens or Chester Holte. Excellent for study groups with questions included in the back of the book or to ponder upon yourself. A definite read for suspense lovers whether Christian or not as the book would definitely make an excellent witnessing tool for the unsaved. What ever you do don't miss "Nobody" as it is a definite must read!
Ever Present Danger: Phantom Hollow Book One
Kathy Herman
Multnomah Books
c/o Random House
12265 Oracle Boulevard Suite 200 Colorado Springs, Colorado 80921
9781590529218 $12.99 www.mpbooks.com
Popular, honor student Ivy Griffith went down the wrong path starting with dating Pete Barton basketball player and hanging out with his buddies Reg and Denny. As the fab four getting stoned was the normal way of life. Than one afternoon Ivy sat dumbstruck and stoned in Pete's car as Pete strangled Joe Hadley classmate and teammate and Pete, Reg and Denny buried his body. The fab four made a pack to never tell what happened. Spinning out of control Ivy ran from home to college never looking back.
Ten years later thanks to seventy year old Lu Ramirez, Ivy has cleaned up her life, has been off drugs for three years and has a seven year old son Montana. Gramma Lu as Montana calls her lived next door and cared for Montana when Ivy was stoned and pulled Ivy back from the pit of self-destruction. But now Lu is dying and Ivy doesn't know what else to do but go home to her parents even if it means facing the past.
Ivy's parents welcome her home and take care of the arrangements for Lu after she dies and starts to help take care of Ivy and Montana. Pete keeps hanging around pressuring her to make sure she keeps the pact. Also in her life is Bill Ziwicki one time classmate and drug dealer for the fab four. At the high school reunion feeling pressured by Pete, Ivy agrees to sit with the fab four. Reg and Denny get very drunk and Ivy suggests Pete should take them to their room. While gone Ivy dances with Bill with a start of a romance. Later Ivy worries about Pete being gone for so long so Ivy and Bill go to the guys' room to find all three have been murdered!
Bill and Ivy find themselves in the mist of a murder investigation and the police and FBI believe both murders are related and that Bill and Ivy are involved. And that is only the beginning…….
This awesome page turner was too good to put down! Not only is it a compelling story but you'll learn about God's unfailing forgiveness and grace. Between the pages is an awesome lesson of temptation and how sin leads to more sin. Author Kathy Herman has done an outstanding job of telling this story of suspense and intrigue. A perfect read for high schoolers and adults alike. Also included is a reader's guide perfect for a reader's group or even a Bible study as the teaching is that amazing. But what I really liked was the "Afterword", a letter written by the author to the reader that will have you stopping and analyzing your own life long after you've finished this book. So sit back and enjoy this awesome spellbinding tale and be prepared the ending is amazing!
Cheri Clay
Reviewer
Daniel's Bookshelf
The Oxford Dictionary of Civil War Quotations
John D. Wright, editor
Published by Oxford University Press Inc.
198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016
9780195162967 $39.95 www.askorford.com www.oup.com/us
The book on civil war quotations was selected in my search for a definitive text on my more than casual interest in the Civil War. I was hoping to have a good reference book to skim through when reading articles or other books on words that various witnesses of the conflict had said. I found this book to be the best so far on the subject.
The editor used numerous letters, diaries, military reports, newspaper accounts, and people's memoirs of their experien
