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Reviewers Recommend
Aunt Ruby, Do I Look Like God?
Ruby L. Taylor
Maria Rask, illustrator
http://connected2thefather.com
ISBN: 0974512206 $12.95
Alyice Edrich
Reviewer
In a society of many nationalities, it's only a matter of time before a child wonders who God really
looks like. How can God say He made man in His own image when we obviously have many
different features? In Aunt Ruby, Do I Look Like God? children are allowed to wonder this
age-old question, but then in the twinkle of an eye, they're given the reassurance they need in
knowing that "yes, they do look like God and so does everyone else in the world."
Sometimes, it's the simple answers to our questions that leave us with the most profound "aha"
moment and this was the case for Ruby and her niece.
Finally, you won't want to miss the captivating illustrations in this children's book. I can't help but
find myself wondering if and when Ruby will turn that beautiful cover art into a greeting card and
poster line.
Safari The Romance and the Reality
Molly Buchanan with Shan & Dave Varty
National Geographic Society
1145 17th Street N.W., Washington, DC 20036-4688
ISBN 0793327654 $20.00 199 pages
B. A. Brittingham
Reviewer
"Africa is a paradox: a savage land, a sensitive land, a fragile land. The continent is where our
journey began, where humans developed a brain-to-body ratio out of all proportion to that of any
other creature in this living world. Yet it is a place where time stood still for hundreds and
thousands of years."
So begins Molly Buchanan's ode to --- and chastisement of --- a continent. Or, to be more precise,
the wildlife conservation efforts of a continent.
Many of us like to indulge in a sort of collective fantasy, one where Africa reigns as the final
bastion of diverse animal and plant life. To some degree, this was true until the late nineteenth
century. Then, over the next fifty years, a complex combination of land mismanagement, human
encroachment, civil strife, and indiscriminate hunting permanently destroyed many species while
bringing others to the threshold of extinction.
In an effort to halt this negative eco-publicity, countries like Uganda and Kenya outlawed
professional hunting in the 1970s. The results were unexpected and appalling. According to
Richard Bonham, owner of the Ol Donyo Wuas Lodge near spectacular Mount Kilimanjaro,
"When the hunters moved out, the poachers moved in. Nearly 90 percent of Kenya's elephants
were slaughtered in the following decade."
The clash, as always, involves human economics vs. animal need. Fifty-three African nations are,
like much of the world, trying to buy into The Great Dream symbolized by our Western lifestyle
standards. The Masai farmer/cattle rancher wants greater wealth for his children. Accordingly, he
is willing to set out poison for the lions that prey upon his livestock.
One method of bridging the gap between the needs of man and nature is ecotourism. Preservation
of wildlife is necessary to bring in tourist dollars. Where once the wealthy few went on safari
(with the express purpose of killing) today's travelers are from a broad cross-section of middle
and upper class households. Thankfully, the emphasis has shifted to image capture, the deathless
commitment of picture to film or digital memory.
But things are rarely that simple, are they? Even with the assistance of notables such as Nelson
Mandela, Dave Varty, Richard Leakey, Valli Moosa, Ian Player, Colin Bell and many others, the
issue retains its barbed intricacies. There is a section on the excesses of ecotourism. Buchanan
offers an example of how even good intentions can be overwhelmed by the "too muches." As
thousands of people climb Kilimanjaro each year, pathways are being worn into the mountainside.
During frequent rainstorms, the paths become funnels carrying topsoil into the Pangani River
whose source is on Kilimanjaro. "It has recently been discovered that the coral reefs on the stretch
of coastline where the Pangani . . . reaches the sea are dying because they are covered in
silt."
Despite the brevity of this book, Buchanan manages to state succinctly the myriad problems
facing attempts to preserve this continent's uniqueness. Mentioning the superlative photography
seems nearly unnecessary since stunning pictures are synonymous with the words "National
Geographic." Even if all one does is thumb through the photos and read the occasional paragraph
(you will be doing yourself and the book a disservice if you choose this shorter course) it is still
well worth the time.
Reckoning of the Dead
D.L. Naquin
iUniverse
www.iuniverse.com
www.freewebs.com/naquin
ISBN 0595310273 $15.95 1-877-823-9235
David Brown
Reviewer
Nicole Steele didn't know she had it in her heart to kill. She started out to rescue her younger
brother from a gang of cutthroats, the same cutthroats that had murdered her parents. But when
she comes across her parents' murderers, she can't stop herself from bringing about the reckoning
of the dead. However, she's in denial of being on the vengeance trail. For example, Nicole is
riding with Marshal Harley, who is out looking for Slaughter, the murderous outlaw plaguing
Indian Territory, when they get into an argument over the meaning of the word justice and how
Slaughter should be brought to justice. Below is an excerpt:
Nicole stood suddenly, handing him a bowl of beans. "Eat, Marshal. And don't give me any talk
about the law and justice. Justice is a bullet, justice is blood, justice is graveyard dead!" She
poured herself another cup of coffee and sloshed some beans on her plate.
"So you are on the vengeance trail!" He took the bowl of beans and held it in his hands as if afraid
he might find poison in it. She watched him with a slightly amused look on her face. Finally, she
said,
"I don't want to kill them. I just want to get my brother away from them."
Reckoning of the Dead is considered a revenge novel in the sense that Nicole gets revenge for the
murder of her parents, or rather brings justice. It was the law of the old West. But it's also a story
of a sister's love for her younger brother and her determination to get him free. For example,
Nicole had just been in a shootout with one of her parents' killers and had taken a bullet to the
shoulder. Butch, a handsome young man riding with her, encourages her to forget about facing
Slaughter, the female outlaw that is holding Jared captive:
"And when you get there and see Slaughter you're going to try and draw on her," Butch was
saying, "and when you do, she'll kill you." He placed a hand on her uninjured shoulder and spun
her around. "Gotta get this shoulder taken care of before you go anywhere else."
Grabbing her halter rope, Nicole said tartly, "I've got to get Jared out of there. That's all I care
about. I want my brother to be free."
Having read lots of historical and revenge western novels, I find it particularly interesting that
Nicole didn't want to kill them but had trouble controlling herself once she saw them and started
to remember what they had done to her parents. In addition, Jared's slow return of his memory
added to the tension of the story. The scene below illustrates his own frustration at having lost his
memory of his childhood. Here he is fleeing from Slaughter's wrath.
Jared was out of breath when he reached the sanctuary. It was a mile outside of town, among the
high cliffs, his place of escape from The Killer when she was in one of her horrible moods. He
flung himself straight down against the rock, rubbing its smooth surface with one trembling hand.
The bearded man on the floor, the one Rufe Murrill had killed...that was his father, now he knew
it. There were more, others. He could hear voices yelling, mocking, hear fists pounding... He
threw his hands up to his ears in order to block out the sounds. In a few minutes they ceased, and
he sagged back against the rock, his brow crinkled. But what was his father's name? And where
was his mother? Now he was sure his mother was that Cherokee woman. Did he have sisters,
brothers... He gasped and bit back a sharp cry. He couldn't remember! It was as if he had no life
prior to six years ago. He lurched up, his mouth opening wide. What was it Rufe Murrill had said?
That Jared was eight years old then? Jared's brow wrinkled. Eight. Twelve. Who was twelve?
Somebody he loved? Maybe an old dog? No, he wouldn't have had a pet that old. His head was
hurting again, as it had been doing here lately whenever he got to thinking about his past and
trying to place it all.
Another interesting point was the fact that both the protagonist and the antagonist were women
masquerading as men and were both good with a gun. I think it was interesting the way Jared
discovered Nicole was a girl. The setting was realistic and well defined. The author did a
particularly good job with the theme, and stayed focused on it.
As a whole, Reckoning of the Dead is exciting and compelling although shocking in places.
Jared's captivity in an outlaw camp and his problem with his memory was touching. Nicole's
determination to rescue him against all odds is also touching. The fact that her father had been an
outlaw turned preacher was another point of interest, and the fact that Nicole is now a gunslinger
added a strange blend of excitement and anticipation to the novel.
A must read for anyone who likes a tough female lead character.
Zod Wallop
William Brownine Spencer
St. Martin's Press
ISBN 0312136293 $21.95
Jean Carroll
Reviewer
The novel "Zod Wallop" by Spencer begins: "The wedding was held outdoors. An April sky
darkened and gusts of wind like large, unruly hounds, knocked over folding chairs and made off
with hats and handkerchiefs. A bright yellow hat went sailing over the lake, cheered on by two
small children."
The book "Zod Wallop" by Harry Gainsborough begins: "Rock yawned. 'Gotta get moving,' Rock
said. A couple of hundred million years went by. A rock is always slow to take action. A rock
watches an oak grow from a sapling to a towering tree, and it's a flash and a dazzle in the mind of
a rock. What was that? Rock thinks, or maybe, Huh?"
"Zod Wallop" (by Spencer) is about Harry Gainsborough who wrote a book called "Zod Wallop"
(and his beginning is far more enticing than that of Spencer's), and a cast of characters, escapees
from Harwood Psychiatric, who believe they are living out the book Harry Gainsborough.
wrote.
But wait. There was another "Zod Wallop." The original book, a childrens' book, by Harry was
burned by Raymond Storey. Harry had to rewrite it and make it less scary to appease Raymond,
but, as it turns out, the first must have been pretty awful because the second (or is this the third?)
was most frightening, so frightening that the escapees set out on a journey to set things right with
the world.
Raymond, in his presumably delusional state believes "they are coming," and he and his catatonic
wife, Emily, along with Harry, Allan, Rene and the monkey, Arbus, are off on their quest.
In this wild and weird tale, Spencer leaves no character sitting idly by while the plot twists, and
you never know what bizarre turn of events, or even what casual comment though few
comments are casual will set one of the "maniacs" off in another direction.
Is it fantasy? Is it hallucination shared by Harry, Allan, Rene and Emily? Are all, indeed, totally
unhinged? Or, as Raymond's mother believes, ". . . nothing in Raymond's world happens by
accident" If it is hallucination, why are so many people out to stop the group from their
mission?
Captured and returned to Harwood Psychiatric, Raymond tries to explain to the counselor during
group therapy called the Great Tiredness of Group by Harry the urgency of the situation.
"You are working for the Gorelord," Raymond said. "You have no doubt drunk the blood of the
Rawn Worm and inhaled the bone dust of the Hunkering Spinespits. To expect you, a minion of
He Who The Vile Venerate, to be anything more than a pawn would be wrong."
Spencer has a way with description. In this excerpt he describes elderly men and women at a hotel
in Florida where the journey ends. "Protected from the sun by large yellow umbrellas and layers of
clothing, they regarded the ocean with weak but vigilant eyes, like the last of some religious sect,
their faith failing with their memory, awaiting the fulfillment of some ancient prophecy. Half a
dozen of them were already turning away from the dying sun and dragging their long shadows
back to the hotel. . ."
How to classify "Zod Wallop"? A fantasy? Certainly humorous. Most unusual. Definitely a story
with plot twists you don't see coming.
Imprint of the Raj
Chandak Sengoopta
Pan
ISBN 0330491407 A$25.00 234 pages
David Skea
Reviewer
Chandak Sengoopta is a very articulate writer with a delightfully wicked and somewhat sarcastic
sense of humour. Born and educated in India, he then studied in the United States before settling
in England. Consequently he sees the faults and foibles of both the English and his fellow
countrymen with equal ease, and is not backward in showing it. This makes his book an
interesting read. For example, he describes the Indian Mutiny of 1857 as the Sepoy Mutiny;
politically correct historians would call it the Great Rebellion, and the term that I heard used in
India, the First War of Independence, doesn't even get a mention. He says that he wrote this book,
about William James Herschel and the colonial past of fingerprinting, after seeing Satyajit Ray's
film The Golden Fortress.
Fingerprints were only accepted as proof of identity in British Courts after 1902, just over 100
years ago. Until then proof of identification was 'always dependent upon personal recognition by
police or prison officers'. Before the population explosion that occurred during the industrial
revolution this may have been an adequate method for identifying repeat offenders, and then
shipping them off to the penal colonies across the world, out of harms way. However, as the cities
became more crowded and travel easier and quicker, due to the railways, a habitual criminal could
and did operate in many areas where he/she was relatively unknown and with little chance of
being identified as a recidivist. This was a worrying trend for the law abiding citizens of
England.
The government, therefore, was keen to employ a system that would identify such persons. Such
a system would have to be precise and easily searched. In France such a system, the brainchild of
Alphonse Bertillon, was employed and this system was soon in use across Europe.
However, in India, some 50 years previous to this, the perception of wholesale fraud by the local
inhabitants and the perceived difficulty of telling one coloured person apart from another
prompted an expatriate magistrate to look for a system that would positively identify a person and
a very different solution was used. The reasons for doing so had more to do with civil actions
mostly involving implied impersonation with documents dealing with land transfer or loans and
drawing a pension. The system involved the placing of finger marks (prints) on the documents as
'a signature which the writer would obviously hesitate to disown'. A magistrate could then
compare and identify that the person making the claim was the same person as had registered the
document. The magistrate who first used this technique was William James Herschel. Herschel
used fingerprints in his dealings with the public and recommended that the prison system also use
them as 'unambiguous evidence of identity was not un-needed'. Unfortunately few followed his
recommendations and his system was not put into general practice; its use ceased soon after his
departure from India.
The story now shifts to England. A Henry Faulds, working as a medical missionary in Japan,
chanced upon prehistoric 'sun-baked' pottery bearing the finger impressions of the potters left on
the clay whilst still soft and in 1880 Nature published a long letter from him 'on skin furrows of
the hand'. This letter induced Herschel to recount his own experiences in India. Debate, claim and
counter-claim followed as to who was first to conceive the idea that fingerprints afforded
irresistible proof of identity. All to the good as this broadened the knowledge of fingerprinting for
others.
Meanwhile back in the Empire (British India) a new Inspector General of Police, Edward Henry,
made history by introducing a modified Bertillon system that included the left thumb print.
However there was no easy way to categorise the prints and they were only used to confirm an
identity established by other means. This was similar to the system introduced 2 years later in
England the English system including all 10 fingerprints.
The major breakthrough that has allowed fingerprints to be categorised and searched came in
1897. Henry and two very able Indian assistants came up with a remarkable system that allowed
fingerprint cards to be categorised and searched in extremely short times. How this is done is
explained in Sengoopta's book and I'll leave it to the reader to find it out. Edward Henry returned
to England where he continued to champion the use of his fingerprint system and eventually
became Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police in London.
Over time there have been many calls for a national database of fingerprints and such. Sengoopta,
however, points out that when it comes to establishing a national identity database, the British are
a race apart; categorically rejecting any suggestion of carrying an identity card or having on
record bodily identification such as fingerprints. Even in the two world wars the British Identity
Card only contained the briefest of details name and address. Times, though, are changing.
Ten Thousand Acres
Preston L. Gorbett
Publish America
Baltimore, MD
www.publishamerica.com
ISBN: 1591298059 $19.95; 211 pp.
Thomas Fortenberry
Reviewer
Ten Thousand Acres is a western historical novel with modern sensitivities. It takes place in the
late 1880s in the open plains region of what will one day be Colorado and features a woman
protagonist, Flora McAndrews, though one could argue that the book actually has dual
protagonists, this woman and a runaway slave. You can see exactly how dynamic the conflicts and
issues of this book are as it explores the trials of a widow attempting to carve a cattle ranch out of
the wilderness of Indian territories with the aid and companionship of a runaway slave. The title
derives from a deed for ten thousand acres the protagonist possesses in unsettled territory after
her husband dies on the move from the East Coast. The historicism is honest, the details vivid and
even educational as this world is realistically and beautifully drawn, while the novel pulls no
punches in showing the prejudices and dangers of the day.
Very real dangers exist on numerous fronts for the main characters, from weather, shelter, and
starvation to loneliness, banditry, Indians, the threat of rape, abuse, and the fear and horrors of the
day that exist in slavery and the "crime" of escaping it. Chester, the runaway, is a traditionally
tragic hero, who has suffered terribly through no fault of his own. He perseveres and struggles to
maintain his dignity in a world that views him as subhuman property. Despite repeated hardships,
repeated escapes from Southern plantations and Indian tribes, and being hunted like an animal,
Chester is able to preserve himself while simultaneously absorbing and learning from each new
culture and situation. In this way he is the "noble savage" of the novel, both educated beast and
moral giant who stands above his peers. That he himself doesn't devolve is testament to his
prodigious strength, physically and spiritually. This deep faith in humanity is further explored as
Flora, the white widow, and Chester, the African slave, fall in love. This love is, in the eyes of
their culture, immoral and illegal. Their love is, naturally, the most true and human thing in their
world. Therein lies much of the novel's tragedy and conflict.
Ten Thousand Acres is an impressive study of human nature that doesn't bog down in
metaphysics or obtuse symbollism. It gets the job done in the blistered, sweating, sunburned flesh
with minimal distraction. It is also good, almost thrilling reading. The prose is simple and direct,
echoing the time period, and hewn from strong, natural resources. It is a fast, easy read that
presents fully the time, place, and people. The story moves at a substantial clip due to non-stop
action, and a lot of ground is covered both literally and figuratively. The author Gorbett seems to
have a knack for touching on the entire history of the times fleetingly, so you gain an awareness
almost subconsciously and never have to halt the tale. It is a nice feat of writing and this lean 200
pager fits the style of the era much better than a bloated 1,000 pager would have done. There is
romance galore, but of the searingly honest, soul-baring kind without a lot of fluff. Readers will
greatly enjoy this study in modern themes, with its psychology, sociology and conflicts, set in a
riveting, historically accurate drama. There is a lot to recognize and ponder within these pages.
But most of all, there is the roaring, almost mythic climax. All of the tragedy and triumph of
human spirit chronicled here ends in an utterly heart-stopping way which leaves us aching inside.
I'll never be able to look at the snow-covered mountains, witness a fleeing deer, watch rising
smoke, or feel the caress of a tender breeze in the silent fall of autumn leaves again without
remembering this book and its characters.
Learn More Now
Marcia L. Conner
John Wiley & Sons, Inc
111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030
Phone (201) 748-6011 Fax (201) 748-6008
ISBN: 0471273902 $14.95 USA / $21.99 CAN / 10.50 GBP 237 pages
Kantha
Reviewer
According to Marcia Conner, we re all born with a vast capacity to explore and learn... and, we
can unleash the power of our intuition to rediscover the joy of learning and expand our personal
and professional productivity. Learn More Now delivers all that Marcia promises and more.
Learn More Now is an inspiring, compelling and totally absorbing read. I started with
apprehension, expecting a struggle, and finished it with delight and very knowledgeable on how I
obtain knowledge and skills, how to focus my energy and realize my full potential.
Learn More Now offers a pragmatic and powerful set of resources for any organization or
individual wishing to learn better, smarter and faster.
This unique and timely publication provides an excellent step-by-step guidance on what matters
most in learning and learning more. The publication covers ways to consumer acceptance and
policy and regulatory issues. I especially appreciated the easy-to-use ten-step basics to help me
better understand how I learn and the best practices for dealing effectively with different learning
styles. Wow! As a principal in a research and consulting firm that specializes in food science and
technology development, the invaluable information within the book has been extremely important
to my 'competitive intelligence' activities. A great book for a great price!
The perspective on understanding learning techniques and ways to maximize the knowledge is
well developed and easily implemented for improvements on a daily basis. Parents and teachers
would be well advised to read this book in order to develop an understanding of effective
education. Conversely, those engaged in business will find much to benefit from learning how
experiences develop the habits of customers and intelligent ways to effect their perception. An
essential read for everyone!
Come To My Party And Other Shape Poems
Heidi B. Roemer
Henry Holt and Company
115 West 18th Street, New York, NY 10011
ISBN: 0805066209 $17.95 48 Pages
Kimberly M. Hutmacher
Reviewer
Dancing Leaves
Crimson and coral
And yellow as butter-
We reach up to snatch
Waltzing leaves as they flutter.
Hip hip hooray
For fall's festive confetti!
Let's heap the leaves up and jump!
Are you ready?
Picture those charming words falling like leaves across the page. Come To My Party and Other
Shape Poems is a volume of thirty-eight seasonal concrete poems. There are very few collections
of children's poetry whose focus is specifically the concrete form. Ms. Roemer's poetry dances
across the pages and in the imaginations of her lucky young audience. Her poetry form is
enhanced beautifully by the playful illustrations of Hideko Takahashi. This would make a lovely
edition to any children's library. I hope this talented new poet doesn't make her growing audience
wait too long for her next collection.
What's Killing You and What to Do About It
Donald Monus and David Hamilton
1st Books (AuthorHouse),
1663 Liberty Drive, Suite 200, Bloomington, IN 47403
http://www.authorhouse.com
ISBN 1414047959, $13.25 265 pages
Paul Lappen
Reviewer
Many health, diet and how-to-live-longer books are currently on the market. This one comes from
the perspective of 20 years of Naturopathic research by Monus, looking at the diseases caused by
our modern way of life.
There are times when taking antibiotics is a very good idea, but they should not be taken every
day, like a multi-vitamin. Not only will the body build up an immunity to antibiotics, so that higher
and higher doses will be needed, but each dose will weaken the body's immune system until it can
barely handle the common cold.
Even if you don't take antibiotics every day, you are still taking antibiotics every day. How?
Cows, pigs, chickens and other meat animals are given large doses of antibiotics and other
chemicals every day to keep them healthy during their short lives. Antibiotics have been found in
the water supply which is sprayed on crops that make it to your dinner table and in the water that
comes out of your faucet. Just wait until next winter's cold and flu season meets all those
weakened immune systems.
Another item that is slowly creating havoc with your immune system is your bedside alarm
clock/radio. Electric devices like that give off harmful RF (radio frequency) energy anywhere up
to two feet in every direction. You may be sleeping in a field of RF energy. If you sit in front of a
computer for long periods of time, you are sitting in a giant bubble of RF energy. The computer,
monitor, surge suppressor, printer and any other nearby components are all giving off energy that
is wiping out your immune system. And then there are cell phones, another source of RF energy,
seemingly glued to the ears of most people.
One of the major causes of disease are parasites and viruses that enter the body through a
surprising number of ways. They won't show up on the average blood test, because no one
actually looks at blood under a microscope any more. Once the patient has flushed their system of
parasites and adopted a much healthier diet (the book tells how), the effects of even major
diseases like multiple sclerosis and cancer have been severely reduced or even totally
reversed.
This book is meant to be used in addition to, not instead of, regular medical treatment. A major
recommendation of the authors is that each person should take responsibility for their health; don't
leave it for the medical profession. I have read this book twice and can only say Wow. It is very
easy to read, quite eye-opening (some might call it radical) and extremely highly
recommended.
Thurber's Light
PublishAmerica
Baltimore, Maryland
ISBN: 1592863515 $19.00 226 pp.
Virginia Ward
Reviewer
From the moment she sees the Saint Rosabelle Lighthouse, Darcy Vornack is hooked. To save the
decaying lankmark and earn a place of her own, Darcy agrees to spend three months camping
beside the crumbling structure. Part suspense, part mystery, part love story, this is a tale of
determination and perserverance.
In her quest to reclaim the land from destructive kudzu vines and to save the lighthouse from
demolition, Darcy and Martin Thurber, the long ago lighthouse keeper, now resident spirit, join
forces to solve an old mystery and preserve the light.
This is Whatley's first novel. It is engaging and fast paced. The parallel stories of Darcy Vornack's
struggles and Martin Thurber's tragedy are lived side by side, finally becoming one to save the
light and reveal the truth of the past. The presentation of the relationship between Darcy and
Thurber is unique, leaving the reader to contemplate the possibility of the partnership of
souls.
Whatley's use of language may not be what some readers have come to expect of contemporary
fiction, yet this volume is clear, lays a path for the reader to explore, and doesn't give up its
secrets until the last possible moment. Thurber's LIght is not easily put aside.
Alisa's Bookshelf
Club Dead
Charlaine Harris
Ace Books
http://www.charlaineharris.com
http://www.penguin.com
ISBN: 0441010512 $6.50 258 pp.
Sookie and the Vampire Bill are once again thrust into trouble in Club Dead. Sookie is very
unhappy with the Vampire Bill. It would seem she is being dumped, but no one knows for sure
where Bill is and what he is doing. What is a girl to do? Just accept some financial settlement or
try and stake the cad who left her without even a goodbye? While Sookie is nursing her broken
heart, it would appear the Vampire Bill has met some foul play. With Eric and Bubba for back-up,
Sookie heads to Shreveport to try and find Bill.
Sookie has one major clue to find Bill, Club Dead. With the help a very sexy werewolf, Alcide,
Sookie gains entrance to the illustrious club that caters to vampires, shifters, and other oddities.
As usual, things do not go as planned.
Club Dead widens Sookie's group of admirers and brings a great deal of conflict with them. How
could a girl choose between the Vampire Bill, Eric the Viking Vampire, and Alcide the very warm
werewolf? The politics of the vampires make Sookie's head spin let alone the addition of
werewolves and shifters.
The first two books in the series, Dead Until Dark and Living Dead in Dallas really just
introduced us to the full cast of characters. In Club Dead, Charlaine Harris shakes up Sookie's
world and gives her more perspective on life. Sookie is finally able to see Bill's weaknesses and
decide for herself if she wants to try and work through them.
Club Dead is a very fun book to read. Charlaine Harris has a wonderful sense of wit with a tongue
in check approach to the story line. How could anyone keep a straight face with the image of
Bubba, Elvis has not left the building, and his cat fancy? The Southern Vampire series is one of
my favorites for its humor and characters. My only complaint is in regarding the ending. It was
very abrupt and left me wanting more.
Charlaine Harris is the other of three more Sookie novels; Dead Until Dark, Living Dead in
Dallas, and Dead to the World, to be published May, 2004. She is also the author of two popular
mystery series; the Aurora Tegarden series and the Lily Bard Shakespeare series.
Living Dead in Dallas
Charlaine Harris
Ace Books
http://www.charlaineharris.com
http://www.penguin.com
ISBN: 0441009239 $6.50 272 pp.
Our favorite cocktail waitress is back again for another adventure. Living Dead in Dallas
introduces us to the various political goings on in the vampire world. Sookie and the Vampire Bill
have been invited to Dallas. The Dallas Vampire's need Sookie's telepathic skills and she is drafted
by Eric, the Viking vampire sheriff of Area 5 to help them. Sookie feels obligated to Eric as he
has recently saved her from a very nasty creature with a venomous bit. Off to Dallas she and Bill
will go.
Of course things are not as they seem. With a very scary group of religious nuts and a suicidal
vampire, Sookie is soon overwhelmed with all that is happening. To complicate life even more,
back in Bon Temps one of Sookie's co-workers meets a grisly end. Life will never be simple for
Sookie and Bill, but Sookie never expected this much action.
Living Dead in Dallas is another fantastic adventure created by Charlaine Harris. From page one
we are thrust into Sookie and Bill's world and the action does not slow down much at all. I loved
the description of Dallas with its vampire airline and hotel. This is the kind of book you read all
day and night because you are unable to put it down.
Charlaine Harris is the other of three more Sookie novels; Dead Until Dark, Club Dead, and Dead
to the World, to be published May, 2004. She is also the author of two popular mystery series; the
Aurora Tegarden series and the Lily Bard Shakespeare series.
Dead Until Dark
Charlaine Harris
Ace Books
http://www.charlaineharris.com
http://www.penguin.com
ISBN: 0441008534 $5.99 260 pp.
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris is our introduction to Sookie Stackhouse, the Vampire Bill
and the colorful town of Bon Temps, Louisiana.
Sookie, a very blonde, buxom, barmaid is not your average girl in Bon Temps. She has the ability
to read other's minds. This ability is not an asset when working in a bar. Image if you could 'hear'
someone's thoughts, worries, dreams, their most intimate feelings. How is a girl supposed to find
a boyfriend in the backwater of Louisiana when she is acutely aware of all his thoughts? Sookie
has found a solution the Vampire Bill. Vampires where 'outed' some years ago after the
invention of artificial blood. Sookie is unable to read the minds of vampires and finds great
comfort in the arms of Bill.
Sookie begins her adventure with a chance encounter with the Vampire Bill and the 'Rat' couple,
some local trailer park trash. Things quickly escalate as Sookie faces a series of murders that
surprise, surprise appear to have been committed by a vampire.
Dead Until Dark is a hilarious adventure from start to finish. From Sam Merlot, the bartender
with secrets of his own, to Jason, Sookie's brother and all around stud-muffin with a fancy
pick-up truck, all the characters are colorful and entertaining. While Dead Until Dark is not dark,
heavy, horror, it is entertaining and engaging.
Many have compared the Southern Vampire series to Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series.
While both series focus on human/vampire relationship, the similarities are few. Sookie lacks the
predatory aspects of Anita Blake. Sookie is also very na‹ve, while no one would ever consider this
of Anita Blake. Anita is very angst driven. In contrast, Sookie is just a nice, hard working girl
who happens to have some gifts or disabilities depending on your point of view. Dead Until Dark
does share the mystery elements Laurell K. Hamilton focused on in the early Anita Blake
novels.
Charlaine Harris is the other of three more Sookie novels; Living Dead in Dallas, Club Dead, and
Dead to the World, to be published May, 2004. She is also the author of two popular mystery
series; the Aurora Tegarden series and the Lily Bard Shakespeare series.
Alisa McCune
Reviewer
Bethany's Bookshelf
Whitework Quilting
Karen McTavish
On-Word Bound Books, LLC
7004 Olson Road, Two Harbors, Minnesota 55616
0974470600 $39.95 www.onwordboundbooks.com
Featuring full-color, full-page close-up photographs of artfully done whitework quilts, Whitework
Quilting: Creative Techniques For Designing Wholecloth And Adding Trapunto To Your Quilts is
a solid guide for machine and hand quilters alike. Extensive step-by-step instructions walk the
reader through whitework quilting techniques to create artful, professional-looking creations.
Chapters address wholecloth methods, trapunto, applique and pieced quilts, auditioning stencils
and marketing one's designs, and much more. A lavish and beautiful resource for those who are
serious about creating memorable, original quilts for personal or professional purposes, and so
wonderfully illustrated it is a joy to simply page through.
Florence Nightingale On Public Health Care
Lynn McDonald, editor
Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3C5
0889204462 $95.00 1-519-884-0710 www.wlupress.wlu.ca
Florence Nightingale On Public Health Care is the sixth volume in the Wilfrid Laurier University
Press "Collected Works Of Florence Nightingale" series, which gathers all available and surviving
writing by Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), the famous heroine of the Crimean War and major
founder of the nursing profession. Some of Nightingale's writings see print for the first time in
these robust compendiums. Public Health Care includes Nightingale's "Notes on Nursing for the
Labouring Classes"; papers on mortality in schools and hospitals; considerations on rural health;
and Nightingale's experience bringing nursing into hellish workhouse infirmaries. A superb
primary source of wisdom and insight that transcends centuries, very highly recommended for
medical science history and reference shelves, and a seminal foundational study offering
revelations of practical problems and ethical dilemmas that holds value for all students, scholars,
scientists, and practitioners of modern medicine, Florence Nightingale On Public Health Care is an
impressive addition to any academic or professional History of Medicine reference collection.
The Galaxy Global Eatery Hemp Cookbook
Denis Cicero
Frog, Ltd.
c/o North Atlantic Books (dist.)
PO Box 12327, Berkeley, CA 94712
1583940553 $27.50 www.northatlanticbooks.com
The Galaxy Global Eatery Hemp Cookbook is a unique cookbook concerning the culinary uses of
hemp - well known for its applications in clothing, rope, and plastics but little known for its seeds'
taste (like a cross between hazelnut and a walnut) and the cooking uses of its flour and oils.
Superbly written and presented by Denis Cicero (owner of one of New York's most
up-and-coming restaurants) with the assistance of professional chefs Kris Czartoryski, Suzanne
Gruber, and Michael Lipp, The Galaxy Global Eatery Hemp Cookbook features easy-to-follow
recipes, enhanced with luscious full-color photographs, a simple glossary, and a true appreciation
of the wonderful delicacies that can be enhanced with the flavor of hemp. Dishes offered include
Fruit Hemp Salad, Hemp Cheese Sticks, Hempnut-Crusted Catfish Filets, Lemon Hemparoons,
and a great many more.
The Railway Detective
Edward Marston
Allison & Busby, Ltd.
c/o International Publishers Marketing
22841 Quicksilver Drive, Dulles, VA 20166
0749006331 $25.95 www.internationalpubmarket.com
Set in London 1851, The Railway Detective is an exciting period piece mystery revolving around
a perfectly planned train robbery. Detective Inspector Robert Colbeck must investigate the crime
and unravel a tangled web of murder, cover-ups, and ruthless ambition. Escalating into a deadly
race against a criminal mastermind, with the life of a beautiful women held hostage in the balance,
The Railway Detective skillfully combines high-stakes action with lasting intrigue.
The Fairy Tales Of Oscar Wilde
P. Craig Russell
NBM Press
555 8th Avenue, #1202, New York, NY 10018-4364
1561633917 $15.95 www.nbmpublishing.com
P. Craig Russell is one of the top artists working in the genre of the graphic novel today. His
latest visual storytelling triumph in a series of marvelous adaptions of the fables and fairytales of
Oscar Wilde flawlessly published by NMB Press is Fairy Tales Of Oscar Wilde: The Devoted
Friend and The Nightingale And The Rose. Russell works his detailed and "museum quality"
artistry to his usual high standards in the retelling of Oscar Wilde's original and imaginative
stories. Readers of all ages will enjoy and treasure both the stories and the artistry of this
outstanding graphic novelization. Also very highly recommended are the earlier volumes of this
wonderful series: Fairy Tales Of Oscar Wilde: Volume 1 - The Selfish Giant and The Star Child;
Fairy Tales Of Oscar Wilde: Volume 2 - The Young King and The Remarkable Rocket; Fairy
Tales Of Oscar Wilde: Volume 3 - The Birthday of the Infanta.
The Ladies' Room Reader Quiz Book
Leslie Gilbert Elman
Conari Press
c/o Red Wheel/Weiser
368 Congress Street, 4th floor, Boston, MA 02210
1573249173 $14.95 1-800-423-7087 www.redwheelweiser.com
The Ladies' Room Reader Quiz Book is an engaging collection of multiple choice, match-up, and
fill-in-the blank quizzes, all featuring trivia about women in history and fiction alike. The answer
key is detailed and goes at length to present vignettes of information behind each answer. A fun
guide for self-testing one's knowledge of the feminine side of things, or just plain whiling away the
time while learning fascinating tidbits.
Cats In Love
Hans Silvester
Chronicle Books
85 Second Street, 6th floor, San Francisco, CA 94105-3441
0811844064 $29.95 1-800-722-6657 www.chroniclebooks.com
Professional photographer Hans Silvester is passionate abut nature as evidenced in his acclaimed
career as a travel photographer. Now with Cats In Love he turns his artist's eye to the subject of
our feline companions in an impressive array of full color photography wonderfully capturing the
images of cats against the dramatic backdrop of Greece. These are images reflecting the dignity,
grace, beauty, and emotional range, and sexuality of cats, individual and in tandem. Cats In Love
is
enthusiastically recommended for anyone who appreciates their feline companion, and for
students of animal photography wanting to seek how it is done by a true master of the art.
Perils Of Paradise
Rita Beamish
The Bess Press
3565 Harding Avenue, Honolulu, HI 96816
1573061689 $11.95 1-800-910-2377 www.besspress.com
Perils Of Paradise collects eight suspenseful and true stories about ordinary people in Hawaii for
work or play - people who enjoyed the bounties of Hawaii's natural beauty, yet who had to
struggle for their lives against the ruthlessness of nature. Tales include the stories of a man
trapped in a sea cave who almost drowned save for his rescue by lifeguards, a kayaker adrift for
days south of the Big Island, and many more. A dramatic collection of cautionary tales against
underestimating the potentially deadly nature of the elements.
Susan Bethany
Reviewer
Brenda's Bookshelf
Return to Me
Shannon McKenna
Brava
Kensington Publishing
850 Third Ave, New York, NY 10022
Phone: (212) 407-1500 FAX: (212) 935-0699
ISBN 0758205600 $14.00 352 pages
Seventeen years later, Simon Riley is back in LaRue. The townsfolk remember his youthful past.
The one where trouble followed him wherever he went. And none are pleased that Simon is there.
Even if it is only for a short time while he cleans his uncle's home.
Meanwhile Ellen Kent grew from a skittish sixteen-year-old girl to a luscious woman who knows
her own mind. She has finally made up her mind that she needs to get on with her life and have the
children she desired. So she accepts Brad's proposal. Of course, Ellen did not like his mother very
much. Nor did she and Brad have easy conversation. But she would have to make it work.
Then Ellen learns the bad boy is back. Her insides quiver. Her eyes are opened. And she knows
she will never be happy in the concrete stale boring slot she would find as Brad's wife. Ellen
knows she needs a man not afraid of being himself. And to Ellen's way of thinking, Simon fits the
bill nicely.
Simon does not think so though. Besides he was never going to commit to any woman. He would
only bring heartache. Yet Simon still could not let go of the past. He had to see Ellen.
The plot and characters are intense. Ellen, the poor little girl, dreams of marriage and all the
trimmings. Yet the selection of men simply do not compare to her first love. On the other hand,
Simon is the boy from the wrong side of town only wanting to be accepted. He has found
acceptance in Ellen's arms. Now can he make the right move?
McKenna has a winner here. Not too sweet and not too racy, RETURN TO ME hits the spot and
proves that love exists for everyone.
The Morning After
Lisa Jackson
Zebra
Kensington Publishing
850 Third Ave, New York, NY 10022
Phone: (212) 407-1500 FAX: (212) 935-0699
ISBN 0821772953 $6.99
Nikki Gillette was tired of chasing after boring news stories. Her passion was crime. She
devoured it. Not because her father happened to be a judge. But because her fickle boss, Tom
Fink, refused to let her in on the top news that garnered hefty bylines.
Then a call came in. There was a body - well, make that two bodies - found in a coffin in
Dahlonega. Knowing a story was in the making, Nikki dashes from Savannah to Dahlonega only
to find out the police refused to talk. Even more interesting is the fact that Pierce Reed, a
detective from Savannah, was called in to investigate. Nikki is not detoured from writing the story
even though no one is willing to talk. So rather than wait, Nikki pays a visit to her source who
spills the beans. In return, her story is splashed on page one. Of course, the Survivor is loving the
attention. And proceeds with his plan.
Meanwhile, Reed receives more cryptic messages and is taken off the case because of his
involvement with the first victim. He cannot stay away from the investigation though. So in an
attempt to keep Nikki from destroying the evidence, he pays a visit to the pesky reporter. And
finds out that she is one of the targets.
This has become a cruel game no one can figure out. On the surface, the killer seems to be
randomly killing and digging graves. Little do they know, The Survivor is exacting revenge for a
crime committed years ago that involved Reed, Nikki, and all of his victims. All seems to be going
as planned. But then he makes a mistake.
Enough to make the heart thrum, Jackson writes tales that can give you the creeps. The main plot
is vividly simple but a breathtaking paradox that escalates with each passing breath of the killer's
plight. That said, Jackson has penned an easy read. However, readers are guaranteed a short
night's rest because THE MORNING AFTER is sure to be a book difficult to lie aside.
Mr. Perfect
Shelagh McEachern
Avalon Books
Thomas Bouregy & Co., Inc.
160 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
http://www.avalonbooks.com
ISBN 0803496443 $21.95
Lionel Parford could not stand disorder. Everything needed to be in its place. Including his family
who badgered him constantly about finding a wife. But he was not interested. The only women he
seemed to come in contact with happened to be ditzy females who looked solely at his
pocketbook. That, however, excluded his next door neighbor. Although there was no doubt in
Lionel's mind she was ditzy to an extreme, he had to admit she cleaned up well considering the
state her apartment was in when the smoke alarm began blaring.
Verrick Grant believed life was for living. Unfortunately, her neighbor did not. She was the tooth
fairy content in her role. She loved children and managed to be totally outrageous in her job
environment and on the stage. Fortunately, scenes of both are portrayed in this comedy. Most of
the time, however, Verrick is the one that is in the jam and Lionel is right there to help. Of course,
his appearance and demeanor are perfect every step of the way. This leads to Verrick calling him
Mr. Perfect because everything he does is just that. But in one specific scene, Verrick finds out
that MR. PERFECT is not all that . . . well, perfect.
This will make you laugh until tears form in your eyes. The plot makes sense and moves swiftly. It
may be difficult for readers to get a handle on the character's inner feelings. However, this is in
part due to their contrasting personalities. At the same time, McEachern makes Verrick and
Lionel charming. Readers simply will enjoy Verrick's quick wit and Lionel's elusive demeanor.
And then wonder how in the world these two managed to fall in love. Then again opposites do
attract.
This being McEachern's debut, readers may notice work is needed on the basics. The main point
of contention will probably be with the point of view hopping from either Verrick or Lionel to a
secondary character in quick succession. It became a spin cycle which continued to the very end.
Gratefully, the head hopping does not detract readers from the overall plot. Rather the events
managed to keep the pages turning through the distracting switches.
MR. PERFECT is truly an enjoyable read. They say laughter is the best medicine. But do not try
to eat or drink with this fun tale. Your clothes and furniture will thank you for it. Suffice it to say
that this book is full of comical gaiety that has not been seen for ages. It could be said
McCachern's debut is a work of art. And to be quite honest, MR. PERFECT fits snugly in
Avalon's choice of lead titles.
Gypsy: A Promised Land Romance
Carolyn Brown
Avalon Books
Thomas Bouregy & Co., Inc.
160 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
http://www.avalonbooks.com
ISBN 080349646X $19.95 192 pages
Tavish O'Leary rode silently toward the wagon train. As he came closer, he noticed a woman
sitting near the tree. Thinking she was dead, Tavish cautiously picked his way to the outskirts of
the wagon train circle. There was no way he wanted to be involved if the entire train had been
killed. Then he heard the sounds. Feminine voices carried through the night. Still he needed to
check and see if this one lived. Deep in his mind, Tavish could not believe she would be part of
the bride train. The thought lingered for a second too long. Before Tavish knew what happened,
he was flat on his back. And the woman began haughtily speaking of his intelligence before
stomping back to camp.
Gypsy Rose Dulan knew she should have killed that man who intoned she was little more than a
squaw. His entire demeanor spoke not of kindness. And it was just her luck that he would be
riding at the back of the train now that Patty was headed home.
For an ordinary tale of boy meets girl, Brown definitely lets the sparks fly in this one. GYPSY is
the third book in The Promised Land Romance series. Although strictly a stand-alone title, the
Dulan sisters are back. And Gypsy is fighting the attraction she has to the short little man who
continually shows up when least expected. Likewise Tavish has no desire to be anywhere near the
woman who promised to gut him the next time she has the opportunity. But crazy things happen
when on the dusty trail.
GYPSY is a light read for those lazy days. While the characters could have been more developed,
the experiences are something to be enjoyed. The trek to the west was not an easy feat. The men
had to provide the protection. Yet the women also had to be of stern stuff just as the women are
portrayed in this series.
It's entertaining. It's satisfying. It's Carolyn Brown at her best.
Suitors and Scoundrels
Karen Woods
Awe-Struck E-Books
ISBN 1587494175 $TBA
George Blake, the Duke of Chisholm, lost his beloved wife in childbirth. His mother immediately
decided he needed to remarry right away to provide a motherly figure for her grandchildren.
Beside himself in grief, George agreed. His intended, however, refused.
Her heart belonged to another. Yet Sarah agreed they had no choice but to wed. However, she
refused to wed George until after the official mourning passed. He agreed to her stipulation. The
time grew to be much longer than a year as death after death assaulted the Blake / Elham /
Roberts family with a vengeance.
George knows that Sarah is now coming out of her mourning. And he decides the time is right to
pursue her as a wife. His arrival is delayed by business when unexpectedly a letter arrives directed
to her Uncle James. Sarah gives news of their wounded associate. And this is where Sarah's
childhood love enters the picture. Although it is true, her father denied the courtship, Marcus
Lewis decides that Sarah is now old enough to choose for herself. And Marcus is determined to
win. But then so is George.
This tale contains a hodge podge of characters that do not seem to know their own mind. For
example, Sarah is brilliant in the world of business and does not let anyone push her into bad
decisions. At the same time, Sarah cannot make up her mind on the subject of marriage. When
Marcus enters the picture, Sarah decides Marcus is the man she wants by her side. Then she turns
and makes a promise to George. To keep the reader really thinking she is a floozy, Sarah then
dangles both men along because she cannot choose just one. Even worse is knowing how both
men feel. This leads the reader to believe (quite incorrectly) that Sarah will finally know her mind
on the issue. And when she does make up her mind, it is simply unbelievable.
Nonetheless, SUITORS AND SCOUNDRELS is a cute story that does not have a clear-cut plot
except to bring Sarah to happily ever after. Getting there, however, is a mass of twists and turns
that do not always make sense.
Brenda Ramsbacher
Reviewer
Buhle's Bookshelf
The Russian Far East
Josh Newell
Daniel & Daniel, Publishers
PO Box 2790, McKinleyville, CA 95519
1880284758 $59.95 1-800-662-8351
Now in its second edition, The Russian Far East: A Reference Guide For Conservation And
Development is a complete update of the classic 1996 reference, offering region-by-region maps
and information concerning geography, climate, flora and fauna, population and resources, as well
as contributions from ninety authors giving expert analysis and insights, black and white
photographs, and tables and charts to form a comprehensive handbook of the Russian Far East
environment. A first-rate referenve for environmental studies shelves, with a great wealth of
information and insights arranged in easy-to-look-up format.
Ex Situ Plant Conservation
Edward O. Guerrant Jr., Kayri Havens, and Mike Maunder
Island Press
1718 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20009-1148
1559638753 $40.00 1-800-828-1302 www.islandpress.org
Ex Situ Plant Conservation: Supporting Species Survival In The Wild is a grand compendium of
essays by learned authors discussing the practice of promoting conservation of wild plants, as well
as how such efforts can also support and work with in situ conservation. A superb, cutting-edge
resource for those involved in plant conservation theory and practice for botanic gardens, zoos,
conservation organizations, managers of protected public and private lands, students and faculty
of environmental studies, and much more. A technical and college or professional-level anthology
with complex multiple focuses on in-depth aspects of its subject, recommended especially for
environmental awareness and conservation reading lists.
Visions For The Next Millennium
Clyde Butcher
University Press of Florida
University of Florida, 15 Northwest 15th Street, Gainesville, FL 32611-2079
0813027349 $30.00 1-800-226-3822 www.upf.com
Visions For The Next Millennium: Clyde Butcher Wilderness Photography -- Focus On
Preservation is a showcase volume of 37 black-and-white photographs in which acclaimed nature
photographer Clyde Butcher chronicles some of America's most beautiful, complex, and
endangered ecosystems. These superbly crafted photographic images range from the forests of the
Pacific Northwest; to the rocky country of Utah and Colorado; to the woodlands of the
Chesapeake region; to the wetlands of Florida. Butcher utilized a large-format camera which
allowed him to capture in extensive and elaborate detail the textures of these remarkable and
memorable landscape portraits. Visions For The Next Millennium deserves an honored place in
the collections of all dedicated photography enthusiasts -- and will prove of immense visual
interest to environmental activists as well.
Making More Working Wooden Locks
Tim Detweiler
Linden Publishing
2006 South Mary, Fresno, CA 93721
0941936791 $21.95 1-800-345-4447
Making More Working Wooden Locks: Complete Plans For Five Working Wooden Locks by
woodworking expert Tim Detweiler is the second of two outstanding titles from Linden
Publishing devoted to specialized do-it-yourself projects of making locks and other security
devices out of wood. Making More Working Wooden Locks is profusely illustrated and an ideal
step-by-step instructional guide appropriate for even the most novice carpenter. The four locks
and one wood safe comprising Making More Working Wood Locks will challenge and intrigue
any dedicated woodworker. Also very highly recommended is Tim Detweiler's Making Working
Wooden Locks (0941936600, $21.95).
Woodworker's Guide To Making Traditional Mirrors & Picture Frames
John A. Nelson
Fox Chapel Publishing Company
1970 Broad Street North, East Petersburg, PA 17520
1565232232 $17.95 1-800-457-9112
The Fox Chapel Publishing Company is the premiere publisher of books for dedicated home
woodworking enthusiasts and special project carpenters. Woodworker's Guide To Making
Traditional Mirrors & Picture Frames by John A. Nelson showcases a series of 18 woodworking
projects for making 18th and 19th century mirror and picture frames. From Small Looking Glass
(c. 1790); to Early Looking Glass (c. 1800); to Victorian Wall Mirror (c. 1865); to Chippendale
Wall Mirror (c. 1875), these patterns are detailed and presented with easy-to-follow instructions.
Enhanced with tips on specialized tools (as well as tools commonly found in home woodworking
shops), Woodworker's Guide To Making Traditional Mirrors & Picture Frames will prove to be a
popular and appreciated addition to any home woodworking hobbyist's personal reference
collection.
Whips And Whipmaking
David W. Morgan
Cornell University Press
512 East State Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
087033557X $19.95 1-800-666-2211
Now in its second edition, revised with additional information concerning whips made in the
Mongol tradition and the evolution of whip design in general, Whips And Whipmaking is a
straightforward, easy-to-follow guide and to the art of leather braiding to create whips for
performance or sport use. Black-and-white photographs and an extensive discussion of the lore,
history, and quirks of whips through the centuries make Whips And Whipmaking a one-of-a-kind,
information packed resource.
Tying Emergers
Jim Schollmeyer and Ted Leeson
Frank Amato Publications
PO Box 82112, Portland, OR 97282
1571883061 $45.00 1-503-653-8108 www.amatobooks.com
Written by a contributor to "Field & Stream" and "Fly Rod & Reel" magazines, as well as an
expert professional photographer with experience in the sports fishing realm, filled cover to cover
with over 2,200 step-by-step color photographs, Tying Emergers is a hands on, walk-me-through
guide for fishermen of all skill and experience levels. 217 emerger patterns, each with individual
fly plate and recipe, ensure that even the most dedicated and practiced emerger fly fisher will see
something knew in this amazing and comprehensive resource especially recommended for fly
fishing enthusiasts.
The Naked Warrior
Pavel Tsatsouline
Dragon Door Publications
PO Box 1097, West Chester, OH 45071
0938045555 $39.95 1-800-899-5111 www.dragondoor.com
The Naked Warrior: Master The Secrets of The Super-Strong Using Bodyweight Exercises Only
by Russian strength expert and former Spetsnaz instructor Pavel Tsatsouline is a thoroughly "user
friendly" instruction guide to enhancing sheer brute body strength; mastering martial arts secrets
of instant power generation for rapid surges in applied strength; getting a world-class power
lifter's quality workout; developing a harder, firmer, yet resilient body; acquiring the crushing
upper body force needed from one-arm and one-leg pushup routines; building up leg muscles and
performance -- and all of these with no gym, no weights, and yet benefiting from an effective
workout anywhere you happen to be at the time. The Naked Warrior is an enthusiastically
recommended addition to any dedicated or aspiring athlete's bodybuilding reference
collection.
The Illustrated History Of Scotland
Chris Tabraham
Oyster Press/Graphic Arts Center Publishing Co.
KSB Promotions (publicity)
PO Box 10306, Portland, OR 97296-0306
1932573011 $35.00 1-800-452-3032
For the non-specialist general reader, the history of the land of Robert Burns, Scotch whisky, and
Queen Mary has never been so well done as with the Oyster Press edition of The Illustrated
History Of Scotland by Chris Tabraham (Principal Inspector of Ancient Monuments for Historic
Scotland). The informed and informative text is superbly illustrated throughout with the
professional photography of Colin Baxter. Of special interest and value for the novice student of
Scottish history is extensive "Chronology" appendix that begins in 2,800,000,000 BC with the
stones of Scotland's original formation near the South Pole, and then proceeds upward to the
Second Elections to the Scottish Parliament of 2003 AD. No personal, professional, academic, or
community library World History collection can be considered complete without the inclusion of
Chris Tabraham's The Illustrated History Of Scotland!
The Harcourt Street Line
Brian Mac Aongusa
Currach Press
c/o Dufour Editions, Inc.
PO Box 7, Chester Springs, PA 19425-0007
1856079074 $29.95 1-800-869-5677
The Harcourt Street Line was a double-track suburban railway that ran in Ireland from Dublin
through Dundrum and Foxrock to Bray. It was shut down and abandoned in 1958. Some forty
years later in May 1998, the Irish government launched a major investment of capital to create a
new railway (Luas Line B) that would run along the identical trackbed of the old Harcourt Street
Line as far as the Sandyford Industrial Estate (a distance of about eight kilometers). In The
Harcourt Street Line: Back On Track, County Dublin native and railway enthusiast Brian Mac
Aongusa presents the reader with an informed, informative, and colorful history of this local
railway. Highly recommended reading for all railroad fans and a unique contribution to Irish
transport history collections, The Harcourt Street Line is so well done that it could wonderfully
serve as a template for others wanting to capture the history of their own local commuter
lines.
Einstein Simplified
Sidney Harries
Rutgers University Press
100 Joyce Kilmer Avenue, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8099
0813533864 $12.95 1-800-446-9323 http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu
Now in a newly revised and expanded edition, Einstein Simplified: Cartoons On Science by
Sidney Harris (easily one of America's most acclaimed science cartoonists) brings originality,
insight, and appreciation for the oddities, quirks, eccentricities, and occasional culture shocks that
the contemporary sciences so often inject into our ordinary (and often extraordinary) daily life.
Demonstrably doing for science what Scott Adams' "Dilbert" cartoons have done for business,
Einstein Simplified will delight scientists, academicians, and non-specialist general readers
alike!
The Tale Of The Scale
Solly Angel
Oxford University Press
198 Madison Ave., NY, NY 10016-4314
0195158687 $28.00 1-800-451-7556 www.oup-usa.org
Author Solly Angel envisioned a travel scale weighing a pound back in the mid-1980s and
decided to bring it to market as a reality. His evolution from idea to invention to marketing and
design follows his thought processes in an unusual series of insights into the inventor's mind and
achievements. Angel had no mechanical skills to aid him in realizing his vision, which makes his
story of an inventor's achievement truly a remarkable series of insights. The Tale Of The Scale:
An Odyssey Of Invention is unique and rewarding reading -- especially for anyone who has ever
wondered about taking their own ideas, concepts and inventions into the marketplace.
Willis M. Buhle
Reviewer
Burroughs' Bookshelf
The Essential Neruda Selected Poems
Mark Eisner, editor
City Lights Books
261 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94133
0872864286 $16.95 www.citylights.com
The Essential Neruda Selected Poems presents fifty poems by Pablo Neruda, one of the greatest
known Spanish poets, both in their original language and in new translations created by a
collaboration of eight poets, translators, and Neruda scholars. A captivating celebration, and a
superb introduction to the pathos of Neruda's work one hundred years after his birth. "Winter
Garden": It shows up, the winter. Splendid dictation / bestowed on me by slow leaves / suited up
in silence and yellow. // I'm a book of snow, / a wide hand, a prairie, / an expectant circumference,
/ I pertain to earth and its winter...
Medicine Buddha Teachings
Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche
Snow Lion Publications
PO Box 6483, Ithaca, NY 14851
1559392169 $16.95 1-800-950-0313 www.SnowLionPub.com
Written by the tutor to H. H. the Seventeenth Karmapa, Medicine Buddha Teachings is an
introduction to basic principles of tantric theory and way of life. A solid resource of wisdom and
understanding, patiently and thoughtfully narrated, Medicine Buddha Teachings includes the
Medicine Buddha Sadhana in Tibetan and in English translation, an extensive discussion
concerning the Medicine Buddha Sadhana teachings and their value in reducing suffering, an
examination of the Medicine Buddha Sutra, and the Twelve Great Aspirations of the Medicine
Buddha. Introduced and annotated for additional clarity by Lama Tashi Namgyal, Medicine
Buddha Teachings is a welcome resource especially for Vajrayana Buddhism reading lists and
reference shelves.
The Knights Templar In The New World
William F. Mann
Destiny Books
One Park Street, Rochester, Vermont 05767
0892811854 $16.95 www.InnerTraditions.com
Written by a great-nephew of a Supreme Grand Master of the Knights Templar of Canada, The
Knights Templar In The New World: How Henry Sinclair Brought The Grail To Arcadia is an
exploration of the mysteries and secrets of Prince Henry Sinclair and his Templar followers, who
allegedly came to Nova Scotia almost one hundred years before Christopher Columbus. A
compilation of obscure but compelling evidence, that presents famous individuals of history in a
manner that reads like a fantastic adventure.
John Burroughs
Reviewer
Christy's Bookshelf
Remember White Meidilands
Shirley Ann Gandy
PublishAmerica
P.O. Box 151, Frederick, Maryland 21705-0151
www.publishamerica.com 1-301-695-1707
ISBN 1413701825 $19.95 183 pages
Shirley Ann Gandy, Ph.D. has had a successful career in music as well as author of three books of
nonfiction. She lives in the Tennessee mountains near her two sons.
Zack Cole is a man used to fixing problems with one problem he can't seem to resolve. A
successful entrepreneur, Zack feels a real loss in his life until he meets Abby. Abby Crowley is a
young woman with a small, four-year-old son. Abby grew up in a Catholic orphanage, with the
message constantly drilled into her that she must obey. In order to escape the orphanage, she
married a man who turned abusive. When Zack learns of the abuse, he helps Abby escape to his
house on top of a mountain near Soda Creek, TN. There, Abby finds paradise, and begins to
enjoy life and its circumstances while falling in love with Zack.
Abby's young son, Sammy, is bitten by a copperhead and rushed to the hospital. Believing he is
dead, Abby wanders away from the hospital in shock. Later that evening, Abby is abducted by
four men who try unsuccessfully to assault her. Taken by ambulance to a hospital in Maryville,
Tennessee, she can give them no information as to who she is or where she is from. Meanwhile,
Zack, desperately trying to find Abby, hires a private investigator to aid in his search. Abby
wanders away from the hospital in Maryville, where Delta, a homeless woman, finds her hiding
under a bridge. Delta takes Abby under her wing, hoping to help her recover from her amnesia.
Deciding to go to a warmer climate, Delta begins to drive to Florida with Abby. She makes one
critical decision in her travel: to go east, through the mountains, instead of south through
Chattanooga.
REMEMBER WHITE MEIDILANDS is an inspirational love story told in an engaging style. Ms.
Gandy displays her vast knowledge of the mountainous regions of East Tennessee through her
vivid descriptions of its horticulture, small communities, and unique lifestyle. Her characters are
realistically portrayed, from personas to dialect. Full of twists and turns, at times the suspense will
leave the reader in an anticipatory state, anxious to read what happens next. This is one book
guaranteed to bring tears and smiles.
Appalachian Paradise
Maggie Bishop
High Country Publishers, Ltd.
197 New Market Center #135, Boone, NC 28607
ww.highcountrypublishers.com 828-964-0590
ISBN 0971304564 $9.95, 172 pgs
Author Maggie Bishop has lived in the mountains of North Carolina since 1993. An Air Force
brat who put herself through East Carolina University, Maggie is a former manufacturing
executive, founder of High Country Writers, and a hiker, swimmer, golfer, and skier.
APPALACHIAN PARADISE is her first novel.
Suzanne Bowers is an upper-management executive used to living a high-pressure life, a woman
who has decided love is only a fabrication. When her therapist orders her to take a vacation, she
decides to go to her uncle's cabin in the Appalachian Mountains, where she plans to begin a
five-day hike through the mountains. Wes Avery is an easygoing man full of Southern charm who
agrees, as a favor to Suzanne's uncle and unbeknownst to Suzanne, to accompany her on her trek
through the mountains. When the two meet, sparks fly. Suzanne is fiercely independent and finds
Wes to be an irritant, but finally decides it would be safer to have another person along for her
venture into the mountains.
During their five-day adventure, Wes realizes he is in love with Suzanne, but Suzanne initially
wants nothing to do with the man. However, she is highly attracted to him, even though she does
not want to be. The two slowly begin to know one another and become friends. They face danger
together and share many visually aesthetic moments. Suzanne slowly begins to unwind and finds
herself opening up to Wes. Before the trip is finished, their campfires aren't the only things
sizzling in the mountains. However, upon their return, Suzanne is confronted with two unknown
truths that Wes had not divulged and she flees to Baltimore, to her old lifestyle. But Wes is
determined not to lose Suzanne and begins his own battle to bring her back to the
Appalachians.
Maggie Bishop brings a vast knowledge of the Appalachian region and its multitudinous array of
horticulture to APPALACHIAN PARADISE. She displays the unique ability to draw the reader
into each setting with vivid description, to the point that the reader feels part of the scene. The
story is well-paced, the characters deftly drawn, the chemistry between Suzanne and Wes searing,
and the romantic story teasing enough to leave the reader anxiously waiting for "the
moment".
Nudist Among Us
Allen Parker
PublishAmerica
P.O. Box 151, Frederick, Maryland 21705-0151
www.publishamerica.com 1-301-695-1707
ISBN 1413701787 $16.95 99 pages
As a nudist, Allen Parker writes about a subject he knows well. Raised in Virginia, his vocational
choices have ranged from being a mechanic to the construction industry. NUDIST AMONG US
is his first work of fiction.
Some may think a Christian nudist is somewhat of an oxymoron, but NUDIST AMONG US
proves otherwise. This is a rambling collection of stories and comments about a Christian nudist
named Chester whose life reads like slapstick comedy.
Chester is an affable fellow who plunges into life and its situations full-steam ahead, sometimes
without thinking of the consequences. Constantly caught in the crossfire is his wife, Karalynn, a
woman of supreme patience who stands by her bungling husband at times when most would wish
they had some sort of weapon in hand and, if so, would use it freely.
Parker shows a propensity for Southern humor and philosophy delivered in a style reminiscent of
Will Rogers. Although NUDIST AMONG US is a quick read, it's a fun book, sure to brings
smiles and chuckles.
Christy Tillery French
Reviewer
Debra's Bookshelf
Foul Matter
Martha Grimes
Viking
ISBN: 067003259X $25.95 372 pages
Best-selling author Paul Giverney is switching publishers, and most any acquisitions editor in New
York would gnaw a limb off to sign him. While Paul isn't interested in self-mutilation, he does
make an unusual demand of the house whose multi-million-dollar offer he's decided to accept:
Mackenzie-Haack must drop one of its most valued authors--Ned Isaly, a better writer than Paul
who sells far fewer books--as a prerequisite to signing Giverney. Unfortunately for Ned,
"Mack-Haack" is not in a position to rip up his contract. It's far easier for the publisher to hire a
pair of hit men to take Isaly out--thugs who turn out to be more discerning than your average
performers of "wet work."
Foul Matter follows the sometimes comic results of Mackenzie-Haack's determination to sign
Paul Giverney, and it follows Ned Isaly and his writer friends as they struggle variously with their
novels. The book's premise, if implausible, is intriguing. Unfortunately, the book seems to be short
a chapter or two. Grimes does finally answer the question readers have been asking themselves
since the book's first chapter--why is Giverney gunning for Isaly?--although the payoff isn't really
worth it. But the author leaves unanswered a more important question about Ned that develops in
the book's course. Ultimately, then, Foul Matter is an unsatisfying read, though there is some fun
to be had along the way.
Nobody's Fool
Richard Rosso
Vintage
ISBN: 0679753338 $14.95 549 pages
Donald Sullivan--"Sully"--has rarely met a promising opportunity he didn't walk away from.
Arguably the most stubbornly wrongheaded man in the economically depressed village of North
Bath, New York, Sully scrapes a living as a jack of all trades, often fed construction work by the
town's most fortunate scion, Carl Roebuck. Roebuck, a man with the sexual appetite of a satyr,
enjoys an amusing love-hate relationship with Sully, the product of a lifetime of acquaintance in a
small town. Richard Russo's Nobody's Fool abounds in these rich relationships, fully-formed
characters sharing complex, realistic histories with one another. Chief among those characters is
Sully's landlady and one-time 8th-grade teacher, 80-year-old Beryl Peoples, who has been Sully's
staunch ally for more than forty years.
Nobody's Fool is a chronicle of one particularly trying period in Sully's life, during which he is
plagued by a grotesquely swollen knee and by unusually vivid reminiscences of his abusive father,
now dead. ("Sully hated to think of his father at rest, and had there been a way, and if Sully'd had
the money, he'd have left instructions to have Big Jim dug up every decade or so, just to make
sure he didn't get comfortable.") The book is beautifully written, and Russo's evocation of North
Bath is so successful that the town and its strange-looking denizens will come to reside in your
imagination. A good, long, slow read you'll be sorry to part with.
The Quiet Game
Greg Iles
Signet
ISBN: 0451180429 $7.99 559 pages
Some seven months after his wife's death, best-selling author and former prosecuting attorney
Penn Cage returns with his four-year-old daughter to his home town of Natchez, Mississippi. He
manages almost at once to stir up long-moldering racial tensions in the small town with a chance
remark he makes to an ambitious and unusually persuasive journalist, the braless and
insubstantially shirted Caitlin Masters. Penn soon finds himself investigating the thirty-year-old
murder he had mouthed off about, but many people--among them the director of the FBI and
Natchez's most fearsome resident, the corrupt Judge Leo Marston--would prefer that the 1968 car
bombing of black factory worker Del Payton remain unsolved.
The plot of Greg Iles's The Quiet Game is complex, and its principal characters are three
dimensional, but the book did not pack the emotional wallop I expected of it after reading Iles's
24 Hours. It may be that the story is slowed down by unnecessary detail. For example, describing
Penn's arrival at the site of the murder, the parking lot of a battery plant, Iles launches into a
history of the factory: "The dark skeleton of the Triton Battery plant materializes to our right as
Ike turns onto Gate Street, then right again into a parking lot lighted by the pink glow of mercury
vapor. The Triton Battery Company came to Natchez in 1936 to build batteries for Pullman rail
cars. In 1940 they retooled the line to manufacture batteries for diesel submarines. After the war it
was truck batteries, marine batteries, whatever fit the changing market. The last I heard, Triton
was using its ancient equipment to produce motorcycle batteries for European manufacturers."
But while slower than it might be and longer than it perhaps should be, The Quiet Game remains a
decent read. Fans of courtroom dramas in particular will enjoy the book's denouement.
Angels & Demons
Dan Brown
Pocket Books
ISBN: 0671027360 $7.99 572 pages
Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is awakened in the middle of the night and confronted with
evidence of something he hadn't thought possible: the Illuminati, the world's oldest satanic cult,
though long thought a defunct organization, is apparently thriving and responsible for the horrific
mutilation and murder of a brilliant physicist. Arrived at the victim's workplace, a secretive
nuclear research facility in Switzerland, Langdon discovers that the Illuminati have more in store
for the world than the assassination of a single scientist. The group has its hands on the world's
most destructive material, stolen from the dead man's lab, and is intent on destroying the Catholic
Church by violent means.
Angels & Demons is the precursor to Dan Brown's much ballyhooed The DaVinci Code, which
also features Langdon in the Indiana Jones-ish role of studly-smart professor-hero. The book is
similar to The DaVinci Code, too, in its style and content--a romantic flirtation in the midst of
crisis; secret religious history unveiled; complicated information rendered highly digestible by Mr.
Brown's skillful hand; short, explosive chapters that make the book very hard to put down. A
great story, well-written.
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
Lynne Truss
Gotham Books
ISBN: 1592400876 $17.50 209 pages
Author Lynne Truss is not above vigilantism. Indeed, given her druthers, Truss would arm the
citizenry--that portion of it, at least, that takes its punctuation very seriously--with permanent
markers and Wite-Out and set it loose on a world of greengrocers' signs marred by misplaced
apostrophes. And she mightn't stop there: "No matter that you have a PhD and have read all of
Henry James twice. If you still persist in writing, 'Good food at it's best', you deserve to be struck
by lightning, hacked up on the spot and buried in an unmarked grave." Truss's plea for violent
action in the face of mixed up itses may go unheeded, but her light-hearted, best-selling paean to
punctuation, originally published in Great Britain (and retaining British punctuation practices), has
clearly tapped into a vein of previously voiceless pedants who believe that the lives of punctuation
marks are worth celebrating. Evidently, as Truss writes, "a lot of well-educated sensitive people
really have been weeping friendlessly in caves for the past few years, praying for
someone--anyone--to write a book about punctuation with a panda on the cover."
Published in the U.S. in 2004 with an (unremarkable) introduction by Frank McCourt (author of
Angela's Ashes), Truss's Eats, Shoots & Leaves is a breezy, funny account of the history, abuse,
and proper use of a host of punctuation marks--the apostrophe (with which the author's affections
clearly lie), the comma, the semi-colon (failure to use which was, according to George Bernard
Shaw, "a symptom of mental defectiveness"), the exclamation point (among punctuation marks
"the big attention-deficit brother who gets over-excited and breaks things and laughs too loudly"),
and so on. The book is a quick, amusing read, and it is besides an attractive little volume,
panda-covered, of course: the perfect gift for the sticklers in your life.
Rats: Observations on the History & Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants
Robert Sullivan
Bloomsbury
ISBN: 1582343853 $23.95 242 pages
Author Robert Sullivan spent many nights over the course of a year observing the nocturnal
goings-on--rat-watching, in other words--in an L-shaped alley (actually the intersection of two
alleys, Ryders Alley and Edens Alley) in Manhattan, just blocks away from Wall Street and City
Hall and the site of the World Trade Center. (Sullivan had been trying to trap a rat in his alley in
the early morning of September 11th, 2001.) The alley he selected is bounded by a Chinese
restaurant on one side and an Irish pub on the other, so that its greasy-slick cobblestones are
awash nightly in edible garbage of both ethnic varieties, palatable to aficionados of either type.
The alley is, in short, the perfect place to raise children.
Rats, as it happens, have a lot of children to raise. Among the skin-crawlingly fascinating bits of
information Sullivan provides in his highly readable paean to the Rattus norvegicus, or brown rat,
is that both male and female rats can have sex twenty times a day. "If they are not eating, then rats
are usually having sex. Most likely, if you are in New York while you are reading this sentence or
even in any other major city in America, then you are in proximity to two or more rats having
sex." Nor is their copulation unproductive: "One rat's nest can turn into a rat colony of fifty rats in
six months. One pair of rats has the potential of 15,000 descendants in a year."
Sullivan's observations on rats in general and on the rats in his alley in particular are interspersed
with rat-related asides. He includes in his book, for example, chapters on New York's
rat-motivated rent strikes in the 1960s and the rat fights of the 19th century, in which single
dogs--and more rarely men--were pitted against scores of rats at a time for the amusement of a
human audience. Some of Sullivan's tangents are more interesting than others, and readers will
differ in their preferences. (The anecdotes of rat-hardened exterminators or urine baths as
precaution against the Black Death? There is something here for every taste.) And Sullivan
sometimes gets carried away with his poeticizing of the rat's experience and relationship to man.
(I mean, they're just rats.) The book as a whole, however, is a delightful look at a
rarely-considered world that is, often quite literally, right beneath our feet.
Debra Hamel, Reviewer
http://www.tryingneaira.com
Diana's Bookshelf
Exorcising Angels
Simon Clark & Tim Lebbon
Earthling Publications
12 Pheasant Hill Drive, Shrewsbury MA 01545
www.earthlingpub.com
ISBN#: 0972151885 $35.00 87 pgs
One of the tasks of good fiction is to suspend reality, if only for a moment. A sign of brilliant
fiction is when the line between reality and fiction are blurred. This is the task Simon Clark & Tim
Lebbon set out to accomplish in their collaborative work Exorcising Angels. They accomplished
this with a great deal of talent not only making the unreal come to life, but also challenging the
mind of their readers to keep the two separate.
Exorcising Angels is the story of one man's quest for answers. Lieutenant Delamare Smith needs
to know the truth behind a story penned by Arthur Machen. More to the point, he needs to know
how this piece of fiction fits into the reality of what he saw during the war, whilst stuck in a
trench. As Smith and Machen delve into the reality of fiction, or the fiction of reality, the line I
spoke of blurs. The truth they seek out will forever blur that line. This is a truly chilling tale by
two of the most talented modern horror writers in the field. Their styles are so perfectly meshed,
readers will be hard pressed to determine which of the two penned what part of the tale.
In addition to the collaborative piece, readers are treated to two stories written individually by
each author. Being as these are short stories I won't say much lest I ruin the treat. Let me just say
that in the hands of Simon Clark & Tim Lebbon, the fabric of reality is stretched, pulled, pushed
and reshaped into a place of mystery. Sometimes dark, sometimes not, in the end what we call
reality will be different for each reader.
This is a must have for any collection of fiction to be complete. In their attempt to honor Machen,
Clark & Lebbon are spot on.
Dead Man's Hand
Tim Lebbon
Necessary Evil Press
2722 South Hill Road #31 Gladstone, MI 49837
$12.95 www.necessaryevilpress.com
Do you ever get the feeling you are about to witness a life-changing event? Perhaps when you
meet someone, you just get the sense something is about to come down. Occasionally, the
something you get the feeling about isn't all too pleasant. That is the feeling Doug gets when he
meets Gabriel, a scarred and wounded stranger with only one eye, heading into town one rainy
night.
The scene is set with a solid Western flavor and readers will have no problem relating to Doug,
the main character; an average guy who runs a general store in Deadwood, a small town which
sees a lot of gunplay. He knows immediately when he meets Gabriel the action about to take place
will not be good since he seems bent on finding a man named Temple.
When Doug tells his friend Jack about the arrival of the stranger he acts very odd and becomes
violent. Doug doesn't want to become involved, but when he returns to his shop Gabriel is there.
When he tells Gabriel that Temple is already dead, things take a bizarre shift. Doug finds that he
and Jack are involved in something that is way beyond the natural world as they know it. What
ensues is an ongoing battle between Temple, an assassin with a bit more on his side than one
would expect and Gabriel, who is also a bit more than the battered gunfighter he seems.
Dead Man's Hand is the first in a series of alternative reality novellas from Tim Lebbon. I am not a
fan of westerns in the least, but when Lebbon puts his touch on the genre, the story becomes
supernatural, with a biting, horrorific edge, which left me wanting more. His gift for the written
word continues to amaze me, filling Dead Man's Hand with rich characters, perfect pacing and a
conclusion that completes the story, yet left me tingling in anticipation for the next
installment.
This is the work from a master storyteller at the height of his game. With characters like Temple
and Gabriel, readers will crave to read more. My advice is to pick up this series from the
beginning and follow it along with me, as I am sure it will be unforgettable.
The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud
Ben Sherwood
Bantam Dell
1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019
ISBN#: 0553802208 $22.95 272 pgs
Whenever reminiscing about childhood there is always one kid you can think of who had
everything going for them, someone good at everything they tried. Charlie St. Cloud was that
type of child.
Raised in a single parent household, Charlie formed a special and very strong bond with his little
brother Sam. When he decided to take him to watch a ballgame, he was in for much more than
just another fun adventure. On the way home an accident puts both boys and their dog teetering
between life and dead, in a dark place where Charlie promises his brother he will never leave him;
but suddenly he is gone, the only one resuscitated.
As an adult, Charlie spends his days as the caretaker for the cemetery where his brother was laid
to rest. Each night when the sun goes down, in keeping with his promise, he meets Sam at the
edge of the woods and they spend the night playing and visiting. His life may not be perfect, but
he is content with having Sam, never expecting what fate has in store for him with a woman by
the name of Tess Carroll. She is a brave free spirited extraordinary woman who is preparing to
sail around the world. When she crosses paths with Charlie neither of their lives will be the
same.
You might think this sounds like a romance and it is, but it is so much more that to pigeonhole it
into that one genre does the work and its author a major disservice. This is a novel for every
reader preference; gripping, compelling, sad and joyous. There is a lovely degree of spirituality
with a supernatural flavor. It has a degree of drama in the story of the two brothers. Action fills
the book as Charlie struggles to find the truth about Tess.
The range of emotions I experienced while reading The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud was
phenomenal. Ben Sherwood has the power and gift to make readers feel his words with a book to
be savored and most certainly in your library. I challenge you to pick up your copy of The Death
and Life of Charlie St. Cloud and take your reading experience to an entirely new level.
You Wouldn't Want to... Series
David Antram, illustrator
Franklin Watts
A Division of Scholastic, Inc.
Box 1795 Danbury, CT 06816
www.scholasticlibrary.com 1-800-621-1115
ISBN# 0531124266 Individually $26.00 Set of four $104.00 32 pgs
Greek Athlete by Michael Ford ISBN# 0531123529
Civil War Soldier by Thomas Ratliff ISBN# 0531123502
Medieval Knight by Fiona Macdonald ISBN# 0531123537
Pyramid Builder by Jacqueline Morley ISBN# 0531123510
There are a lot of glamorous jobs in history that children often daydream about. The jobs in the
You Wouldn't Want to be a ... series might be included in those daydreams. However once
readers learn what the jobs really entailed they may not daydream about them and if they do, they
will certainly have a bit more respect for the position. Titles in this fun series are:
Greek Athlete: This book takes a look at what it was like to be a young man preparing to be an
athlete in the Olympic games. Believe me, it certainly entailed a lot more than one might think.
The book looks at such things as training, military service, practice, sacrifices and the various
events, which were a part of every competition. The image of an athlete leading a life of luxury is
quickly dispelled, but in a way that will be fun for children to read.
Civil War Soldier: Looks at America's bloodiest war from the perspective of what it was like to
serve from both sides. The book explores everything from enlistment to medical treatments for
injuries. This is a delicate subject to approach when writing a book for children and in my opinion
Thomas Ratliff has done a superb job of getting the facts across in a serious yet entertaining way
that is not threatening. I found it to be an enjoyable read filled with little known facts about the
life of a soldier during service.
Medieval Knight: This book was particularly interesting to me, as I always wanted to be a knight.
Okay, since I am a girl, my daydreaming would lean more toward being around knights. There is
more to be considered than riding off to battle and returning to a luxurious castle life. In fact the
life of a knight had few luxuries. It was a lot of hard work and there were oh so many ways to
meet ones demise. This is a truly charming book that presents a lot of information that may be
missed or perhaps fantasized out when thinking of this time period. They style is perfectly suited
for children and great fun for adults.
Pyramid Builder: Now this is a job you can tell right away involves a lot of hard work. Let's face
it, those stones are big and it was hot! But the heat and blocks were just the beginning of the
hardships faced by the pyramid builders. What is really neat about this book is it looks at all of the
work it took to build a pyramid, from heavy laborers to scribes. It also explores the living
conditions and many other factors. This is an utterly engrossing read that is sure to please all
ages.
This series is designed for grades two through five and is perhaps the most enjoyable read I have
had in quite a bit. I must give my highest recommendation to any children's book that can be as
entertaining for the adult as it is for the child. The information is presented in such a way there is
never too much being given at once and very often, even though you are taking in so many things
that are new to you, it doesn't read as such. I know if social studies had been presented to me this
way I certainly would have paid more attention in class. This is a great way to get children
interested in study of history. It is simple and brilliant. Facts made fun. If you have or work with
children or just happen to like history, this set is perfect and comes with my highest
recommendation.
Books About Animals Series
Franklin Watts
A Division of Scholastic, Inc.
Box 1795 Danbury, CT 06816
www.scholasticlibrary.com 1-800-621-1115
ISBN: 0531124258 Individually $24.00 Set of four $96.00 64 pgs
Animals Survivors of the Wetlands by Barbara A. Somervill ISBN# 0531122034
Animals Survivors of the Artic by Barbara A. Somervill ISBN# 0531122042
How Animals Play by Betty Tatham ISBN# 0531121739
How Animals Communicate by Betty Tatham ISBN# 0531121674
Animals fascinate most children and many adults. Their lives and all the surrounding components
hold a great interest for me as well. If you or anyone you love feel a deep fascination, respect for,
or are drawn to animals, you won't want to miss this series. Although it is designed for children
the material is presented in such a way it will hold the attention of readers from all age
groups.
Animal Survivors of the Wetlands is a heartwarming book, which tells about the animals of the
wetlands, that at one point were endangered or even thought extinct. Now they are thriving or
well on their way to thriving. The wetlands themselves hold a special meaning to me, as I am a
Florida resident and often hear about the everglades. The wildlife success stories covered in this
book are: Alligators, Brown Pelicans, Whooping Cranes, Manatees, and the Cranes of Kushiro.
All of the profiles are told in a way that makes readers enjoy the species for all of their wonderful
characteristics, respect them for their struggles and most important think about what we can do to
see to their continued survival. Readers can feel the passion of author Barbara A. Somervill in her
words, and coupled with stunning photographs, it makes for an entertaining and powerful
read.
Animal Survivors of the Artic tells of the struggles faced by the unique animal life in the frozen
North. It too tells of survival stories about species that were pushed to endangerment who are or
have begun to make a recovery. It is truly fascinating to read of a place and its inhabitants, where
due to the extreme low temperatures, are not seen by many. The animals discussed in this book
are: Caribou, Ringed Seals, Artic Peregrines, Polar Bears, Fur Seals, Walrus, and Musk Oxen.
The lives of these special animals are looked at in a way that provides both fun facts and also a
glimpse at the hardships faced by each. Man causes many of the hardships and as readers will
discover, the solutions too need to be caused by man. This book is also penned by the passionate
Barbara A. Somervill and filled with beautiful and moving artwork.
How Animals Play is a book sure to make readers of all ages laugh and smile. The images are
simply glorious, showing various types of animals engaged in many different types of play. The
book explains in a most entertaining way that as with humans, animals play for the sheer fun of it.
In addition to being fun play teaches skills that will be needed for later in life such as, fighting,
hunting and mating behaviors. The words of Betty Tatham show her readers that animals and their
behavior are very similar to humans when it comes to play, as well as very different. It is
important when teaching about nature to get across the message of the beauty these animals bring
to the world. This book does an exceptional job of that. To read and look at pictures of such an
array of animals and their play behavior is a true blessing.
How Animals Communicate lends insight into the numerous ways in which animals communicate
with other animals, be it friend or predator. There are several ways that animals can communicate
and in this book readers are shown how they use colors, touch, smell, sounds and even tricks to
send messages to each other. The messages sent are as various as the ways they are sent, ranging
from 'I love you' to 'flee there is danger'. Betty Tatham gives her readers a glimpse into the
intricate way animals correspond with each other and the outside world. The bit I found
particularly interesting was the last chapter on how animals miscommunicate on purpose. They do
so to trick other animals, such as animals that want to eat them or animals they want to eat. No
matter what your favorite animal is, this book is a truly interesting read on a fascinating topic and
has splendid art.
All the books in the series, Books About Animals, have some wonderfully common traits:
exceptional writing, stunning photographs, glossary, information on further research and a
sources list. To make the most of this learning tool there are words highlighted throughout the
text which are found in the glossary. The books are sturdy with hardbound covers, high quality
pages and easy to read text. No home or school should be without these books. They grant their
readers insight and understanding into the lives of natures many wonderful creatures in a way as
fun as it is educational.
Diana Bennett
Reviewer
Duncan's Bookshelf
Under Pressure
Frank Herbert
Science Fiction Book Club 50th Anniversary
401 Franklin Ave, Garden City, NY 11530
ISBN#: 0739435272; $9.95; 178 pp.
This novel of the 'near' future was written in 1955 when the nuclear power plant for our first
nuclear submarine (USN Nautilus) was built and tested at the super-secret naval engineering
facility outside Pocatello, Idaho. My uncle, Cmdr. William Spencer, USN was one of those
engineers who built Admiral Rickover's 'Nuclear' Navy ship by ship.
In the mid-fifties little was known about our future Navy and their capabilities. Frank Herbert
included these 'visions' in his novel Under Pressure: Nuclear power in a triple hulled vessel; Good.
No diesel backup; Not good. A nuclear pile held to the deck by clamps; Not good. Long voyages
entirely under the surface; probable. Nations fighting over a limited oil supply; probable.
Under Pressure explores the psychological forces at work among a four-member subtug crew that
is sent to retrieve a barge (60 feet across by 1 mile long) of oil from under the noses of the hunter
packs that lay in wait in the North Atlantic. The four men are under enormous pressure to renew
the Navy's faith in its subs by succeeding where 24 previous missions have failed.
Herbert's Under Pressure is an interesting snapshot of Herbert's vision of the future, circa 1955.
He predicts that secretaries of the future will be able to speak and their words will be transcribed
into text on their computer screens. Are we there, yet?
An astute reader should pick up several Life and Look issues from the 1950's and get a feeling for
life as it was in the age of Rickover and Chuck Berry and Fats Domino and the young senator
who married an aristocrat named Jacqueline Bouvier. It was an age of expectation and our view
of the future was limitless.
Red Thunder
John Varley
Ace Books / Penguin
375 Hudson Street; New York, NY 10014
ISBN#: 0441010156; $14.95; 411 pages
Four Chinese astronauts step out of their spacecraft and set up a camera. They are intent on
documenting their 'First Man on Mars' arrival. Their homeland has invested $billions to put them
on Mars first before the Americans. They are lined up facing the camera, broadcasting back to
Earth when four Americans in a huge electric-powered 'monster' truck appear behind the Chinese,
stealing their thunder by being first to land on Mars.
The premise of Red Thunder is eminently plausible. What if four smart Americans and a
'recovering' alcoholic astronaut with the 'right stuff' decide to build a vehicle to fly to Mars? The
astronaut had an extended family with welding and electrical specialists. This team also knows
that an American mission that is racing to beat the Chinese has an 'explosive' engine and a disaster
in deep space is probable.
'Getting there first' is both symbol and metaphor for the re-birth of American technological (and
heroic) skills. Red Thunder gives us the pain of a disaster followed by the warmth of success.
When the home-built vehicle Red Thunder sets down in the Pluto parking lot at DisneyWorld, the
President (she is female, last name Ventura) and the world are present to welcome the returning
heroes.
If this story is made into a movie twenty years from now, Bruce Willis will be exactly the right
age and visual image for Captain Travis Broussard, our ageless hero. If you liked the movie
Armageddon, you will also enjoy Red Thunder.
Marty Duncan, Reviewer
www.omagadh.com
Emanuel's Bookshelf
Girls in Trouble
Caroline Leavitt
St. Martin's Press
ISBN 0312271220 $24.95 368 pp.
It's 1987; and sixteen year old Sara is pregnant. Her boyfriend Danny is a bit of a rebel who her
parents want no part of. Neither do they want a part of Sara and Danny's baby. Their main
concern is that Sara will move on with her life after the birth so that she can follow her dream of
attending college and living a good life. But since Sara wants to be a part of the child's life, she
has opted for an open adoption. So finding Eva and George as adoptive parents was like a dream
come true. The middle-aged couple welcomes Sara into their home with open arms, taking
snapshots with her, teaching her to drive, and even keeping souvenirs of her for the baby's sake.
She is allowed to come and go as she pleases. They even treat her better than her own parents.
But sometimes dreams become nightmares.
Once Sara gives birth, things take a dramatic turn for the worse. The adoptive parents no longer
want to see her every day, telling her they need time to bond with the baby. Truth is: Sara's
maternal instincts and natural bonding with the child prove to be a bit too much for the jealous
parents to handle. Meanwhile, the na‹ve Sara continues to make her unwelcome presence felt by
dropping by Eva and George's home on a daily basis, almost to the point of fanatical stalking. But
she can't help it. She loves her newborn baby, Anne, even though she's not really her baby at all.
When Eva and George express their true feelings about Sara's frequent visits, she takes matters
into her own hands, which forces the couple to make a drastic decision of their own.
"Girls in Trouble" tells the story of a unique and original topic, an open adoption gone terribly
wrong and how the lives of the people involved are affected. The story spans over a sixteen year
period. The author does a splendid job at capturing the perspective of each person involved,
including the birth parents, adoptive parents, birth grandparents, and the young girl who was
adopted. Caroline Leavitt (author of Coming Back to Me) has definitely brought her "A" game to
the table with her crisp and intriguing writing style that will make you smile.
Though the slow-paced beginning of the story contains a few clich‚s about childbirth and
adoption, it gets a full head of steam and continues its pace for the remainder of the tale. By the
story's end, you will surely crave more and more. "Girls in Trouble" is a captivating story that will
surely find its way beneath the arms of a plethora of loving fans of all ages.
Good Grief
Lolly Winston
Time Warner Books
ISBN 0446533041 $18.00 352 pp.
When Good Grief first arrived on my desk, I told myself I would just read the first chapter to test
the waters. A couple of hours later, I had devoured the book like a fat man at a buffet restaurant.
Needless to say, the water was warm and oh did it feel good.
Good Grief is the hilarious new book about surviving death. No, that wasn't a typo. The story is
filled with both poignant and sardonic comments from Sophie Stanton (the main character) and
how she copes with the loss of her husband Ethan to cancer. Her spouse, who made his living as a
software programmer, has gone on to a better place after merely three years of marriage. Sophie,
a PR manager, now finds herself a reluctant widow. At only 36 years old, she is the youngest
person in group counseling for the grief-stricken.
Sophie goes through all of the textbook stages of grief, including denial, anger, depression, and
acceptance. During the first stage, she questions the meaning of life and the senselessness of her
job, trying to promote a patch used to increase male testosterone. " I feel like an imposter in a
cubicle-like the artificial crabmeat of public relations managers. Then there's the fact that I have to
say "scrotum" to people all the time. Is this really the color of my parachute?"
During the depression phase, she finds solace in staying home and watching TV shows like Cops.
" now I see the attraction of the show. It makes your own life seem pretty together." Truer
words have never been written.
Though her deceased hubby's mother tries to help out the best she can, including helping with
sending his belongings to Goodwill and spreading her son's ashes in the ocean. When she shows
up to work in her robe and bunny slippers, her human resources manager gives her a much needed
sabbatical. It is after this moment when Sophie decides to leave the Silicon Valley city she and her
husband had shared and packs up to move to Ashland, Oregon to be with her friend Ruth and her
four-year old daughter to start all over again.
In Oregon, Sophie trades sunny California days for cloud-filled ones. She rents out an unused bed
and breakfast. Then she donates a portion of her time to Big Brother/Big Sisters where she winds
up getting matched with a self-mutilating, foul-mouthed teenager named Crystal instead of a
young, sweetheart to play Candyland with (like she'd hoped for). Afterwards, the road to recovery
begins-a road that includes a new career and a new love interest.
Good Grief is a strikingly original work filled with charm, truth, and a heaping helping of sharp
wit. First time author Lolly Winston, who resides in California, succeeds at the difficult task of
taking a delicate subject and having fun with it without being offensive. The novel reminded me a
lot of Dave Eggers "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" in style and content. I highly
recommend this cleverly written book and hope the movie is in the works. Good Grief is an
outstanding piece of work.
Miriam the Medium
Rochelle Jewel Shapiro
Simon & Schuster Inc.
ISBN 0743244788 $23.00 320 pp.
Miriam Kaminsky was born with a gift. She has psychic abilities. But she's no Miss Cleo or any
other phony baloney. She's the real deal who foresees the past, present, and future with pinpoint
accuracy. Whether she's studying tea leaves, listening to dead spirits, or studying the auras of
those around her, her clairvoyance comes through loud and clear. Her gift was cultivated by her
grandmother, a feisty Russian immigrant, who is a talented psychic in her own right.
Unfortunately, not everyone believes Miriam's powers are a blessing. In fact, her own family,
Rory, her pharmacist husband and Cara, her teen daughter prefer she not even use her abilities.
Even her own mother had banned her from using what she calls the voodoo her babushka
grandmother had taught her when she was a child. Welcome to Miriam the Psychic's world.
Miriam's powers are only the beginning of her problems. Her husband's business is on the brink of
financial failure. His one employee, Fred, is a lazy man who would rather make small talk with
customers than do his job. But Rory does not have the heart to fire him. At least Rory and Miriam
still have the hots for each other.
Her daughter Cara throws herself into her schoolwork in order to hide the jealousy she has
towards her mother and her psychic gift. When she meets bad boy Lance, Cara forgets all about
schoolwork and plans for college to be with him, much to her parents' dismay. To top if off, her
nosey neighbors want her to move because they believe her readings attract weirdoes to the
neighborhood.
At work, Miriam listens to all types of on the phone, from a lovesick Sopranos type, an Asian
masseuse with relationship issues, and a woman who wants to leave her family for another man.
When a talent scout offers to make her rich and famous for her gift, Miriam has to think long and
hard about the offer. Although her grandmother advised her to never do such a thing, her family's
money problems make the offer tempting.
First time author Rochelle Jewel Shapiro has created an unforgettable and intriguing character in
Miriam the Psychic. Unfortunately the dull plot, mostly about a housewife with every day family
problems, does not do the character justice. After 150 pages, I was just about ready to give up on
the book altogether. Reading about Miriam's adventures in Great Neck, New York was like
watching Jackie Chan drop kick bad guys on a soap opera. It would have been much more
stimulating to read about how the protagonist was tracking a serial killer, unveiling a political
scandal, or even preventing World War III. There is an interesting and exciting development
about a missing teenager that almost saves the book but it comes much too late to do so. Though
I can't recommend the book, I believe it may still find an audience in a demographic outside of
mine.
Mirror, Mirror
Laurel Handfield
Strebor Books
ISBN # 1593090145 $13.00 240 pp.
Jordan Overton's life was dull. Her daily routine consisted of catching the bus to work, working
as a temp for an acerbic boss, conversing with her gay roommate Terry, and eating her way out of
depression. Meanwhile, she couldn't help but to fantasize about her boss's sexy partner, the
married Trent Prescott. But when Jordan's boss turns up dead, her dull life turns into one of
mystery, ruse, and danger. And so begins the plot of "Mirror, Mirror," the second novel from
author Laurel Handfield (My Diet Starts Tomorrow).
After the mysterious death of her boss, Mr. Hines, Jordan's dreams of Trent soon become a
reality. After a hot and steamy affair, Trent attempts to persuade her that he had nothing to do
with Hines's death. His power of persuasion is also used to convince Jordan that he is in love with
her and wants to leave his wife, the ex-model Jaquie. But when the affair becomes a convenient
alibi for Prescott, Jordan starts to question the authenticity of Prescott's emotions. What's more, a
killer is on the loose; and everyone's a suspect.
Laurel Handfield has crafted a captivating page turner in the murder mystery in "Mirror, Mirror."
The characters and dialogue feel real. The humor comes at just the right moments. Above all, the
plot is well thought out; and the denouement pays off big time. Though there are a few awkward
sentences that can be distracting; and the writing could use a tad more flair, it doesn't take away
from the fact that the book is well worth the price. "Mirror, Mirror," is a wonderful escape filled
with generous helpings of suspense and intrigue.
Mississippi Blues
Cassandra Darden Bell
B E T Books/Sepia
ISBN # 1583144811 $14.00 240 pp.
They say you should never judge a book by its cover. After reading "Mississippi Blues," a new
novel by Cassandra Darden Bell, I wondered if that included the marketing fluff on the back as
well. While the book claims to be about a tense reunion between siblings, it turns out to be about
a hodgepodge of lackluster events that take place in the main character's life.
From the onset, we learn that the protagonist, Beverly Lamark, is a successful author living in
Massachusetts who has written several bestsellers under a pen name. She has all the rewards of
success, including a husband who is an attorney, intelligent children, a luxury vehicle, and a
gorgeous home. But like all too many books of this genre, the main character's material rewards
are not nearly enough to make her happy. As it turns out, her husband is a workaholic who barely
has time for her, which includes time for love making. Her children are growing up a little too
fast. To make matters worse, she's written off her siblings in Mississippi since the death of their
parents.
A phone call from Beverly's sister Mabel causes her to reluctantly plan a road trip with her kids to
the southern state to decide what to do with the land their parents left behind. During the trip the
family is assaulted and robbed, which is only the beginning of their problems. After a bitter
confrontation with her siblings, tragedy strikes, causing everyone to re-think their relationships
with each other.
Though I enjoyed Bell's style of scribing southern dialect and the authentic feel of the sibling
confrontations, it wasn't enough to save this novel. The uneven plot was at times frustrating to
read. What's more, the easily forgettable writing has no pizzazz or style worth mentioning. During
times of tragedy and fear, the author does very little to convince the reader of the main character's
feelings. While most writers work at painting a picture and making the reader feel as if she was
there, this book felt more like an old relative telling a dry story. "Mississippi Blues" had this
reviewer singing the blues.
The New Solution Selling
Keith M. Eades
McGraw Hill
ISBN 0071435395 $29.95 300 pp.
In my business humor book, "A Job Ain't Nothing But Work," I made a joke about everyone
selling solutions these days. "My wife won't give me any. Got a solution for that?" But in the new
book "The New Solution Selling," solutions are all business. It begins with a clear definition of
what a solution selling is: "a system of methods that includes tools, job aids, techniques, and
procedures that help salespeople and sales teams navigate the selling steps that close more sales
faster." After this clear definition is given, author Keith M. Eades, founder and president of Sales
Performance International and Solution Selling Inc, uses his expertise in sales for teaching the
reader the necessary steps of selling, including pre-planning, cold calling, and the very important
closing of the deal.
"The New Solution Selling" is not your run of the mill business book that typically renames and
regurgitates business practices that have been in place for years. Instead, the book not only gives
valuable information on the sales process but it also gives reliable examples. This includes sample
pre-calling letters, thank you letters, and letters that ask for more business. Examples can be put
into place immediately after reading the related chapter. It is perfect for the salesperson looking to
penetrate the Fortune 500 market.
The book addresses major issues in the sales world, including what to do when your top
salespeople are promoted to management, how to respond when you're not the first in line, and
how to identify and respond to the pains your customers are facing.
Having graduated from business school and worked in sales for a number of years, I can tell you
that this book is the real deal. It has found a permanent place on my business book shelf right next
to "Who Moved My Cheese?" and "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People." This is the kind of
book that should be on college campuses all across America. It is a very informative and easy to
follow book that every salesperson should own.
Thugs Are For Fun
J. Gail
Jazoli Publishing
ISBN: 0972697820 $14.00 288 pp.
After spending my teen years growing up on the mean streets of Detroit, I was able to gain first
hand exposure to the drug culture. This was a culture that included violence, illegal activity, and
plenty of thugs. So when I came across the new book "Thugs Are For Fun," my curiosity was
peaked.
In the book, the reader is introduced to Jacilyn (Jacy) Thomas, a chocolate soul sister in Philly
who has a pretty good job in corporate America, a college degree, men falling at her feet, and a
passion for thugs. Why (you might ask) would a college graduate who seems to have everything
going for her get involved with a hoodlum? The author writes "The vast majority of people in
Philly were living below the poverty line and in misery. Crime flourished. Therefore her choices of
types of men in the city were slim. Most of the professional brothas in Philly lived far out near the
main line and in Germantown, Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill or on college campuses, but she had
no business to attend to out there or a reason to be in those areas. In addition, from Jacy's
experience those types of guys were usually the ones that pretended as if they were too good to
approach a woman."
When Jacy meets Rich, it's almost like a dream come true. Although he tells her he is in
construction, Jacy knows from experience that he is really a drug dealing thug. As their
relationship progresses, Rich spends lots of money on her. He takes her shopping and to
restaurants. He even pays her rent. But when Rich's jealous tendencies and desires for a
commitment are revealed, Jacy pulls back. After all, she believes thugs are just for fun
anyway.
Meanwhile, Jacy struggles to make it in corporate America while feeling overworked and
under-appreciated. When she decides to start her own business, her ambitions are met with near
failure. She must deal with sexism, bureacracy, and vendors who try to take advantage of her. But
Jacy's determination helps to see her through.
"Thugs Are For Fun" is an intriguing debut from first time novelist J. Gail. The story is a gritty,
urban tale of relationship woes and personal struggles with life in general. The plot is captivating
and will surely cause readers to turn page after page from beginning to end. The characters feel so
authentic, it will make you wonder if this is a true story.
But the book does have its share of flaws, including a chock full of grammar errors. It also lacks
consistency with how the slang is written. With that being said, a forgiving reader should be able
to look over the errors and concentrate on the fascinating plot and convincing characters. "Thugs
Are For Fun" is a good read that will give books like "The Coldest Winter Ever" and "Bad Girlz"
a run for the money.
Emanuel Carpenter, Reviewer
http://www.geocities.com/emanuelcarpenter
Gary's Bookshelf
The Great Divide
William R. Garlington
Legacy Publishing
602 N. Wymore Road, Winter Park, Florida 32789
ISBN 0970839529 $12.95 www.legacypublishing.org
The Bean and Nut families reside in the same community, they are the best of friends as the book
opens, but something breaks them apart. Later they resolve their problems and realize how
important they are to each other. The author has tackled a social issue and done it very well with
a light hearted tale that is very well told and should be used as required reading for school
children. It should also be a book that adults around the world read and learn from. The book is
lighthearted but has very deep social messages.
The Northumberland Nightmare
Paul L. Wegkamp, Jr,
Infinity Publishing.com
519 West Lancaster Avenue, Haverford. PA 19041-1413
www.buybooksontheweb.com
ISBN 0741418479 $18.95 877-BUY-BOOK (877-289-2665)
The horror of this book is that everything in it is true. The author's son Chad, who looks like the
All American kid in college began a descent into a life of hell that affected everyone in the family.
After a series of incidents, after seeking medical attention it was learned he suffered from the
illness of schizophrenia. A short time later Chad robbed a bank, was charged, convicted, and
treated like any other criminal. The family fought the system but lost even though they clearly
showed that several professionals diagnosed Chad. The example of how uncompromising the law
enforcement is shown when Paul's wife is pulled over for an expired inspection sticker on a rental
vehicle she was driving. The officer sees only that the car has an expired sticker regardless of the
fact she does not own the car. This book should make others mad that the court system is so firm
to punish someone who suffers from a real affliction.
The Handbook of Mascot & Nicknames
Peter J. Fournier
Raja and Associates
16807 Harrierridge PL, Lithia, Fl 33547
ISBN 0974113603 $19.95 www.rajabooks.com
Ever wonder how many schools have the same logo or mascot? Author Fournier tells everything
there is to know on the level of community colleges and universities in the United States and
Canada. Broken down into several categories for universities then community colleges in the
United States, then Canada by institution, then mascot makes the book very easy to read.
Hopefully there will be other editions to include elementary, middle, and high schools. This book
can be the source of plenty of trivia questions.
A Flamingo Named Flannigan
Merry Ruthe Wilson
Xlibris Corporation
www.Xlibris.com
ISBN 1401092020 $26.95 1-888-795-4274
This beautiful book that the author also did the artwork as well, is a delightful children's story
about finding your place in the world. Flannigan is a flamingo who is very different from his flock.
He is an all white albino. He leaves because he is treated as if he does not belong. Along the way
he meets an orange flamingo named Flambeau who, like him, has been ostracized from her group
as well. The two go off into the world and meet lots of interesting characters as they both find
their place in the universe. The story is written so that anyone can read and enjoy but has a lot
deeper symbolism. This is a very fine children's book that should please all ages. The artwork adds
a lot to the whole feel of the work. I am pleased that I was able to have the chance to read this
enchanting uplifting book.
The Pool Hustler's Handbook
Chef Anton
Tricks of the Trade Inc
6213 Sacramento Ave, Alta Loma CA 91701
www.ChefAnton.com
$14.95 1-800 679-3859
Want to improve your game of pool? Want to know some new things so you can dazzle your
opponent? Well, this is the book to do it. The author, who is an expert of the game, now reveals
lots of tips for you to play a better game and impress your friends. Anton speaks in terms that are
easy to understand and follow with illustrations that show each shot. This is the number one
resource by a master who once beat Minnesota Fats. I have tried out some of the shots the author
writes about and found even I the worst pool player in the world, can play a better game of pool
by following his advice.
Search for the Fountain
Linda J. Falkner
iUniverse
5220 S.16th ST Suite 200, Lincoln, NE 68512
www.iuniverse.com
ISBN 0595270794 $18.95 877-288-4737
Falkner interviewed over 25 individuals who all have two things in common none of them is
younger than age 80, the oldest being 103, and each is very positive about the life he/she leads.
Some still travel around the world, others talk a good lingo of politics and world events, while
some are still working because they just want to keep active. Readers will be fascinated by these
uplifting accounts of these people who gracefully grow older and look at their age as just another
number on the chart.
Still Doing it
Joani Blank Editor
Down There Press
938 Howard St #101, San Francisco CA 94101
ISBN 094020827X $12.50 www.goodvibes.com
This book breaks down the myth that once you are a certain age, you are through with sex. In
their own words seniors talk about how sex and sexuality are still important to them. Some
readers may find the discussion to be too graphic, but you know what I say? Too bad, because it's
great to see that the people who wrote for this collection have not just retired and said that's all
there is. In fact, they are an inspiration to all of us to look at life and enjoy it to the fullest, and
having good sex is just a portion of it. "Still Doing It" is a groundbreaking book that should open
the door for more frank dialogue about sex and aging. I hope when I am their age I can be as
active as they are. This is a very enlightening book that gives hope that there is life after a certain
age.
The Last Jihad
Joel C. Rosenberg
Forge
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
ISBN 0765346435 $7.99 www.tor.com
I've always loved reading suspense thrillers and this one is a doozy that is very timely. Someone is
trying to kill the President of the United States because he has a peace plan for the Middle East
that is not only believable but is also something that should be done in which everyone in the
region could profit, if his proposal is instigated. The author has masterfully blended fiction with a
well thought out idea of a way to really have peace. This novel is so logical that it should be on
this and other administrations reading list.
Laci: Inside the Laci Peterson Murder
Michael Fleeman
St. Martins Press
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010
ISBN 0312995857 $6.99 www.stmartins.com
The author has written a very good account of the murder case that continues to shock the nation.
Fleeman goes behind the scenes and brings new information of why the police only suspected
Scott Peterson, Laci's husband, of the brutal killing of Laci and her fetus. The author tells in a
straight progression that is very easy to follow. Readers of the True Crime genre will love to read
this well document account of the case that ends before the trial. I love books like this because we
as readers get a chance to see behind the scenes and this is a well-researched first book on the
case.
I Like Your Shirt
Daniel S. Goodman
1st Books Library
1663 Liberty Dr., Bloomington In 47404-5161
www.1stbooks.com.
ISBN 1403393990 $13.95 800-839-8640
This is a fun little book that has a lot to say about lots of things. The author has a witty way with
words in a poetic form that is not anything like any other book classified as poetry. Thousand
island dressing, Al Pacino, Sara Lee, and Judi Dench are some of the things he comments on.
Goodman will have readers chuckling out loud at his funny pieces.
The Writing World
Delma Luben
Infinity Publishing.com
519 West Lancaster Avenue, Haverford. PA 19041-1413
www.buybooksontheweb.com
ISBN 0741413264 $13.95 877-BUY-BOOK (877-289-2665)
Luben has a firm handle on the writing world. She covers many different aspects of the publishing
universe in honest and frank terms. The book is a very positive resource for anyone who wants to
publish his or her writing.
If Your'e Having a Crummy Day .Brush off the Crumbs
Mims Cushing
Morris Publishing
3212 East Highway 30, Kearney, Nebraska 68847
ISBN 0971940002 $10.00 1-800-650-7888
The author, who suffers from the disease Periheral Neuropathy, trains others how to deal with it
in a positive manner. She puts many minds at ease by revealing that over twenty million people
also suffer from this disease. But the book is not just about Periheral Neuropathy. It also shows
the power of positive thinking to eliminate other problems some might have. The author is
donating all proceeds from the sale of this book to The Neuropathy Association for Research. The
book is often times witty and funny while conveying a serious message.
Hey, Wait a Minute!
Dee Logan
Legacy Publishing
602 N. Wymore Road, Winter Park, Florida 32789
ISBN 0870839510 $10.95 www.legacypublishing.org
Logan has taken things in everyday life and made them very funny. In a humorous look she
targets and comments on classic cars, telemarketers, social security, the garden club and many
more things we take for granted. This would make a very fine gift for any occasion.
Seven Before Seventy
Joyce Brooks
Eakin Press
Austin, Texas
ISBN 157168803X $19.95 www.eakinpress.com
The author is on a quest to travel seven continents by age seventy. This is a delightful travelogue
throughout the world that highlights many of the most beautiful or dangerous places on the
planet. Brooks is your guide as she tells all about some amazing places not usually delved into.
She includes many breathtaking photographs that highlight this astonishing expedition
Obsessive
Diane Saks
iUniverse
5220 S.16th ST Suite 200, Lincoln, NE 68512
www.iuniverse.com
ISBN 0595221270 $13.95 877-288-4737
Saks has taken many of the TV shows of the nineteen sixties and given a new perspective to them.
She uses many aspects from the show "Leave it to Beaver" that any fan of the series will easily
identify. She combines the cold hard reality of today with the fictional realm and gives the feel that
the world would be a much better place if the TV creations were reality. I liked the idea of using
TV characters in a real world but the novel falls short because it is not as interesting as it could
have been. The author should have spent more time on the story instead of so much detail to the
old TV shows.
Gary Roen
Reviewer
Gorden's Bookshelf
Turbulence
John J. Nance
Jove Books
The Berkley Publishing Group
A division of Penguin Putman Inc.
375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
www.penguinputnam.com
ISBN: 0515134864 $7.99 405 pages
Nance is a pilot and his aviation details ring true. He writes thrillers that are believable. In
'Turbulence,' he does a very good job building and explaining the phenomena of passenger rage. It
is easy to get lost in the anger building within the passengers. The one major weakness in the tale
is the little too contrived ending.
Meridian Flight 6 is a regularly scheduled Chicago to Cape Town route. Meridian is an airline that
is failing. It is disintegrating from within. The crews do not trust each other or the company. To
make enough money to stay in business the company schedules flight plans that are impossible to
keep and blames everyone else for the problems. The Meridian workers take the lead from the
company and blame others for any problems that might occur. They use threats and intimidation
on any passenger that might complain.
Flight 6 is a disaster waiting to happen. An inexperienced pilot is flying a route beyond his skills.
The flight attendants are led by a woman who has no social skills and enjoys the power she has
over others. A passenger forced to travel on Meridian 6 has had his wife killed by Meridian
neglect. Add a poorly maintained plane to the mix, an African civil war, and a paranoid US
government, calamity is just a single misstep away.
'Turbulence' is a thriller so plausibly written you will fear boarding the next plane. With every
newscast, you wait for an announcement of a passenger mutiny hoping you do not know anyone
on board. It is an easy thriller to recommend.
Full House
Janet Evanovich
St. Martin's Paperbacks
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
ISBN: 0312983271 $6.99 334 pages
'Full House' is a light comedic story based on the personalities and actions of eccentric characters.
This is a well used style of writing. Evanovich's slant on the style is a light feminine center on the
theme.
Billie Pearce is a divorced mother of two who decides to try something different while her
children are vacationing with their father. She decides to take polo lessons even if she can barely
sit on a horse. The stable owner and polo instructor is Nick Kaharchek, a rich playboy
businessman with an eccentric family.
Billie's polo horse, Zeke, steps on her foot and before she knows what is happening the smitten
Nick drives her to the hospital and finally home. There he talks her into letting his cousin Deedee
stay with her before she marries Frankie the Assassin, a professional wrestler. Nick's other cousin
Max keeps blowing things up and Raoul the local exterminator, who can't seem to kill any insects,
is stopping by talking about neighborhood break-ins. Nick and Billie start romancing each other
with food and before Billie knows what happened her dull average life is no more.
'Full House' is junk food for the reader, a small dish of chocolate fudge ripple with a drizzle of
strawberry sauce on top. It doesn't have the high tension pace of a Carl Hiaasen novel but it does
have more easy laughs. Full House is a book to take on a weekend visit to the beach when all you
want to do is relax.
S.A. Gorden
Reviewer
Harold's Bookshelf
How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth
Gordon D. Fee, Douglas Stuart
Zondervan Publishing
5300 Patterson SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49530
ISBN: 0310246040 $15.99 264 pp.
This is the foundational understanding that everyone should know before studying the Bible.
Although it is written in an easy to understand style it is still full of very valuable information. For
example, people often ask why there are so many different translations of the Bible. The authors
do an excellent job of showing the complications and difficulties of translating and how different
versions of a verse could each be just as viable as an accurate translation. The authors also deal
with the problems of interpretation, exegesis, historical and cultural context and literary
conventions of the time. They look at the narrative style of the Old Testament and its function as
well as Acts, the various parables, prophets, psalms, wisdom literature, and the revelation. You
may not agree with every aspect of their treatment of the various books and literary styles, but
this is the best treatment of the problems of translation and interpretation that I have come across
to date. "How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth" is highly recommend for anyone interested in
Bible translation or interpretation.
Your Inner Edge!
Dr. Charles Lambert, Ed.D.
Trafford Publishing
Suite 6E, 2333 Government St., Victoria, B.C. V8T 4P4, CANADA
ISBN: 1553954831 $19.95 219 pp.
The worst thing about this book is that so many people will pass it by because of the cover design.
The cover strongly suggests that it is another business development book. With a dollar sign and a
subtitle of "Business Success and Inner Development Through High Performance Training,
Self-Motivation & Warrior Spirit" it is easy to understand why. This classification could not be
further from the truth. This is a very valuable self-improvement book that could help people truly
change their lives. In fact, it is one of the best self-improvement books I have read in a long time.
Author, Charles Lambert, Ed.D. brings together current research on motivation, personality types,
psychology, physics, and the martial arts into a cohesive whole to help the reader change their life.
For each part he includes various exercises to illustrate the points and help the reader understand
exactly what is happening. This is all organized into five "Modules" for the reader to work
through to achieve the desired results. The first module deals primarily with mental rehearsal and
cognitive hygiene. Cognitive hygiene is his term for cleaning up the clutter in the mind related to
negative self-talk. Dr. Lambert does a phenomenal job of describing the problem of self-talk and
providing a positive, workable method of dealing with it. It is amazing that he can deal with this
subject so well in just a couple of chapters when whole books have been written about it and have
not done as good a job. Module two is on focusing and concentration. Again, this is an excellent
treatment of the subject and includes several exercises to help you learn better focus and
concentration. The author's background in the martial arts shines through strongly here as he
blends ancient focus philosophies and modern techniques. Of the remaining modules, module
three covers various ways of applying the skills learned in the prior modules. Module four focuses
on using the martial spirit, persistence and motivation to achieve your dreams. This includes a
strategy for enjoying your life on a daily basis and keeping yourself motivated over the long term.
Module five is a short section basically designed for coaches, managers, and anyone else who
needs to motivate others. "Your Inner Edge!" is a highly recommended read for anyone seeking
to change their life, improve their business, improve their self-image, or otherwise improve their
life.
The Age of Henry VIII
Professor: Dale Hoak
The Teaching Company
4151 Lafayette Center Drive, Suite 100, Chantilly, VA 20151-1232
Lectures: 24 Format: Audio Tape, Audio CD, DVD
When it comes to English kings few are as well known by name as Henry VIII. Most people know
of his break from the Catholic Church and at least one or two of his wives. What is the true story
of Henry VIII? What were the circumstances surrounding the various marriages and untimely
deaths and divorces? What was the political situation and cultural climate in which he lived? All
these and many more questions are answered in these 24 lectures from Professor Dale Hoak,
PhD, a specialist in the history of Tudor England. Professor Hoak does an excellent job of
bringing the life of Henry VII to the ordinary person on a level where they can understand the
various factors that drove the Reformation and were in turn driven by the Reformation. This was
a time of great change for the monarchy and for all of England as political bonds were severed
and created and the battle between the authority of the king and that of the church was settled by
the creation of the Anglican Church. Take a trip back in time and get to understand Henry VII
and his world in a way that most books can't even approach. "The Age of Henry VIII" is highly
recommended for anyone interested in this period of history and represents the sound historical
scholarship you can expect from The Teaching Company.
A Reader's Greek New Testament
Richard J. Goodrich, Albert L. Lukaszewski
Zondervan Publishing
5300 Patterson SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49530
ISBN: 0310248884 $29.99 585 pp.
If you have taken a course on Biblical Greek or have studied yourself you probably have taken the
standard route of memorizing all the words that occur 50 times or more in the New Testament.
This is great and represents a pretty substantial vocabulary however, it is still annoying to have to
stop every few words and look one up. That is where this book comes in handy. It is a standard
Greek New Testament except for one thing. Each word that occurs less than 50 times is
footnoted at the bottom of the page. As appropriate the footnoted word may indicate case,
idiomatic use, voice, figurative use, or other information to help the reader understand how the
word was used. This ability to read the text without having to continuously refer to another book
makes reading a pleasure again instead of a chore. "A Reader's Greek New Testament" is highly
recommended for anyone who already has a basic understanding of Biblical Greek.
The Slate Roof Bible, 2nd Edition
Joseph Jenkins
Jenkins Publishing
PO Box 607, Grove City, PA 16127
ISBN: 0964425815 $40.00 291 pp.
A complete education about slate roofs is the only description that seems appropriate for this
book. "The Slate Roof Bible" not only covers the various types of slate, installation techniques,
and other items you would expect but also the history of slate roofing, slate quarrying, and other
information. With photographs or illustrations on almost every page it is easy to understand the
techniques as well as everything else discussed. With the knowledge in this book you can easily
create the impression of being an authority on slate and slate roofs. "The Slate Roof Bible" is a
highly recommended purchase for anyone who wants to gain a thorough education on slate and
slate roofs.
Felted Knits
Beverly Galeskas
Interweave Press
201 E. Fourth St., Loveland, CO 80537-5655
ISBN: 1931499330 $21.95 112 pp.
"Felted Knits" teaches the art of taking a knitted project and "felting" it. Each hair in a piece of
wool has many small scale like coverings that can be made intertwine with those of neighboring
hairs and so create a thick matted effect. The result of purposely causing this to occur is a type of
felt. In the first part of the book Beverly Galeskas explains the felting process, examines different
types of wool and the different results that might be expected. She also discusses how to create a
felting effect in the washing machine as well as how to create the same effect by hand. Finally she
discusses how to troubleshoot problems so a mistake can be turned into a useable product. The
second part of the book is composed of various projects. Some of these projects include bags,
mittens, hats, vests, slippers, and even a rug. These projects are very detailed and include the
complete instructions for knitting the project as well as the felting technique. The last part of the
book contains various notes and illustrations of the techniques required to complete the projects.
While these are helpful I would not suggest this book to an absolute beginning knitter. The
average knitter or anyone with a modicum of experience would have no problem with these
projects. For those interested in creating a felted effect with knitted wool this is a highly
recommended book and is sure to save hours of trial and error.
Men in Knits: Sweaters to Knit that He Will Wear
Tara Jon Manning
Interweave Press
201 E. Fourth St., Loveland, CO 80537-5655
ISBN: 1931499233 $28.95 126 pp.
A truly innovative book in the category of knitting, "Men in Knits" examines not only the
techniques of knitting the sweater but also matches a man's profile with the type of designs they
are likely to enjoy. He may help pick out the color and be happy with that choice but not like the
sweater because of the way it fits or the basic style. This examination of style starts by dividing
personal style into three categories - Young Men/Active Casual, Young Professional/Modern
Casual, and Corporate/Traditional. To help determine which category your man falls into the
author even includes a personal style worksheet. Once the personal style has been determined you
can look at the lists of designs that fit that style. After learning his style the next step is to
determine the appropriate colors and fibers that work well for him. After finding the right colors
the last thing to look at is how it should fit. Here Tara Manning really shines as she discusses not
only how the different personality types like their sweaters to fit but also how to deal with body
types, how to measure, and how to customize the fit. The second section of the book starts the
actual patterns and instructions. For each one she discusses appropriate personality types, finished
sizes, yarns, needles, and other items needed, as well as the specific instructions for each row and
section of the sweater. While the vests left me rather ho-hum about them the sweaters are a work
of art that are impressive and I would be proud to wear. Tara Jon Manning has done an excellent
job of creating sweater designs that are very nice and have a strong appeal to men. For those who
want to create one for their favorite man (adult or child) "Men in Knits" is highly
recommended.
Pools & Spas: Ideas for Planning, Designing, and Landscaping
Fran J. Donegan, David Short
Creative Homeowner
24 Park Way, Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
ISBN: 1580110800 $19.95 215 pp.
Full of photographs of beautifully designed pools and spas set in various architectural
environments, "Pools & Spas" is literally full of creative ideas if you are planning on adding a pool
or spa to your home. However, the book does not stop with designs but also includes information
on maintenance, various types of pool equipment, and even the process of installing an in ground
pool. While the coverage of in ground pool installation is not detailed enough to do it yourself it
does give you an idea of what is going on at the various stages so you know what to expect from
your contractor. If you are even thinking of installing a pool or spa, whether in ground, above
ground, or portable, you should pick up a copy of "Pools & Spas". It includes a lot of factors that
you might overlook when planning your pool and everything you need to know to take care of it
correctly when it is finished.
Simple Chic: Designer Knits, SuperQuick!
Jil Eaton
Breckling Press
283 Michigan Street, Elmhurst, IL 60126
ISBN: 0972121811 $24.95 131 pp.
"Simple Chic" is basically organized into five sections. The first section covers various types of
equipment, suggestions for a knitting bag or basket, yarns, how to measure, techniques to make
sure the end product fits, and how to launder knits. The next section covers how to cast on,
create a knit, purl, the stockinette stitch, how to decrease or increase your piece and how to bind
off. The third section focuses on creating hats, scarves, socks, pullovers, and mittens. Next is a
section on knitting items for babies, teenagers, and even pets. Finally is a section on warm items
for winter that even includes stockings for the fireplace ready for Santa to fill. Not your old
traditional knitting designs that you are used to seeing, these designs include stylish designs that
are in vogue today.
Voices of Healing
Icy Smith, editor
East West Discovery Press
PO Box 2393, Gardena, CA 90247
ISBN: 0970165420 $24.95 136 pp.
"Voices of Healing" takes a look at the experiences of the Asian American community in the light
of September 11 and its aftermath. Through a series of interviews it tells the story of real people
and their loss, survival, and life changes as a result of the attack. The people interviewed include
nurses, firefighters, police officers, people who lost a loved one, those who cried with someone
who did, and those who were caught in the economic aftermath. New York's Chinatown district
was devastated by the loss of jobs as travel to New York came almost to a standstill. Businesses
closed, people lost their jobs, and the whole area suffered. While this is true of the majority of
New York, the Asian American/Pacific Islander community provides a good microcosm view of
the situation. Through these interviews Icy Smith brings these people to life so the reader comes
to know that these are not just anonymous individuals but real people with families, friends, and
real lives that interact with many others in much the same way that all of us do. It also points to
the solidarity of this community, as the struggles of a few become the struggles of the many. The
book finishes with interviews from Muslim and Sikh Americans as they call for tolerance and
understanding. "Voices of Healing" is an interesting read that does an excellent job of presenting
the plight of the people through personal interviews.
What's Next? God, Israel and the Future of Iraq
Charles H. Dyer
Moody Publishers
820 N LaSalle Blvd., Chicago, IL 60610-3284
ISBN: 0802409075 $12.99 136 pp.
There is no shortage of books that describe the events leading up to the end of the world and
ultimate restoration of the Kingdom of God on earth as described in the Bible book of Revelation.
On the one hand, "What's Next" doesn't add anything new to one of the interpretations that has
been around for a long time. But it does describe it in a simple, straight-forward way without
getting the reader all involved in the details of specific verse translations and the like. It presents
the view that the events of Revelation are still yet to occur, a great leader will come out of Europe
to bring a temporary peace to the Mid-East, the battle of Armageddon will occur, God will
establish his kingdom on earth, and similar. What makes this book unique is the beginning where
author Charles H. Dyer provides a very even-handed and reasonable treatment of the Mid-East
situation. At a time when many Christian authors are decrying the evilness of the Arabs and
Muslims without any factual knowledge of their religion or culture it is refreshing to find a voice
crying in the wilderness that these are our neighbors too and they are real people. He provides
welcome insight into the religious and cultural history of people whom he knows personally in
contrast to the few radicals that we always hear about on the news. "What's Next?" is a highly
recommended read that provides an insightful view into the Mid-East situation in addition to a
basic overview of the end-times as understood by the author and many other Christians.
Your Chicken is Cooked
Lauren Rae Brimmer
Fallbrook Press
PO Box 28582, San Diego, CA 92198
ISBN: 0974466123 $16.95 178 pp.
Filling a rather unique niche in the cookbook genre, "Your Chicken is Cooked" is a series of
recipes that prove you can make a great meal from leftover chicken. Each of the meals that
contain chicken start with already cooked chicken as a primary ingredient. The recipes range from
appetizers to soups to main dishes and include several really tasty meals. Among them are
excellent recipes for Oriental Chicken Salad, Sweet and Sour Chicken, Chicken and Dumplings,
Sesame Chicken, Florentine Chicken Casserole, and Broccoli and Roast Garlic Chicken. Don't be
fooled by the title to the book. In addition to all the chicken based recipes the book also includes
several dessert recipes that are chicken free. All the recipes are reasonably fast and most take
twenty minutes or less to prepare. "Your Chicken is cooked" is highly recommended for busy
people or anyone looking for great tasting ways to use leftover chicken.
Always Use Protection: A Teen's Guide to Safe Computing
Dan Appleman
Apress
2560 9th Street, Suite 219, Berkeley, CA 94710.
ISBN: 159059326X $17.99 250 pp.
A basic guide for teenagers "Always Use Protection: A Teen's Guide to Safe Computing"
provides a solid basic education on the problems of viruses, slammers, trojans, identity theft, and
other items that could wreck their system. Besides these common problems he also discusses
other ways that people can place their self in danger or be taken advantage of on the Internet. For
example, he examines the problems of chat rooms and some of the various scams currently on the
Internet. While this is a good book for those with no understanding of these problems it falls short
of being a complete guide simply because it ignores so many areas where the truly dangerous
predators lurk. For example, it should at least mention the problems associated with forwarding
mail from a friend to your friend list. If done incorrectly it provides people with a complete list of
your friends and their e-mail addresses. Starting with this information you can start building a
profile of an individual including their friends, area where they live, go to school, etc. Areas like
this are completely missing from the book but are some of the most commonly used practices of
the truly nefarious predators on the net. Viruses only destroy your computer; these predators can
get into your life. As a result "Always Use Protection" warrants a rating as "recommended" but
could be much better.
The Writer's Tool Box: How to Write Fiction and Non-fiction That Will Sell!
Patrika Vaughn
A Cappela Publishing
P.O. Box 3691, Sarasota, FL 34230-3691
ISBN: 0965630978 $60.00 5 CD set
While Patrika Vaughn's earlier book "Everything You Need to Know to Write, Publish & Market
Your Book" was a solid winner of a book for the beginning writer, this work has both good and
bad points. On the good side this work follows up on the prior book with much more detailed
information on how to write better. The different CDs cover "Why Your Writing Isn't Working",
"Openings That Hook Readers", "Choosing Your Voice", "Bringing Characters to Life", and
"Plots that Intrigue". As usual she does an excellent job on these subjects and the information is
sure to improve the writing of anyone trying to break into the writing market. She does a really
good job with the ones on "Openings that Hook Readers" and "Plots that Intrigue". These are
perhaps the most important parts of good writing and so many people do them badly. There were
two things about the CDs that I found annoying. First is that every CD had the same opening
information repeated on it. It was appropriate on the first one in order to introduce herself and
make sure the listener knows exactly what a writer's advocate does. But repeating it at the
beginning of each CD was marketing overkill and annoying. The only other problem was the
actual speech pattern used on the CDs. The conversation was choppy and hesitant like one of the
old documentary school movies from the 1950's. At times I felt like shouting, "Just say it and
move on". The bottom line here is that the CDs are valuable and contain very good lessons on
how to improve your writing. If you can patiently work through the presentation you will be
rewarded. "The Writer's Toolbox" is a recommended purchase for anyone wanting to improve his
or her writing.
Refuel: The Complete New Testament
Thomas Nelson Bibles/Transit Books
501 Nelson Place, Nashville, TN 37214
ISBN: 0718006763 $16.99 389 pp.
I really enjoy finding a Bible that will get people talking and this one will definitely do that.
"Refuel" is basically the New Century Version of the New Testament. But that is where the
resemblance to a traditional Bible ends. A lot of people will probably have a hard time accepting a
Bible of this nature but a lot will also find it the best idea in youth Bibles in a long time. I tend
toward the second group. So, what makes this Bible so different? The first thing that grabs your
attention is the fact that it has the same layout and style as a modern teen magazine. In addition to
the Bible there are music reviews, suggestions on how to live your faith, life guidance ideas, tips
for understanding girls (the Refuel version is designed for teenage boys) and a lot of other items
of contemporary interest. I have to say that this is one of the most difficult reviews that I have
ever had to write because you really cannot appreciate the appeal of this Bible until you actually
see it. It stays true to the traditional Bible and New Century Version and so provides the complete
story of the New Testament while at the same time providing visual appeal and guidance in a
manner that is much more likely to appeal to a teenage boy. It is easy to pick up and just start
reading and inviting to leaf through and read a few sections at a time. Now, having sung the
praises of this wonderful Bible and how strongly it appeals to teenagers I will have to note that
although the scripture is an accurate rendering of the Bible as translated in the New Century
Version, the filler pieces, columns, and short articles do at times advance particular positions that
all Christians may not necessarily hold. I might as well go after one of the really big ones as an
example. Page 126 has a listing of ten "Random Causes Worth Standing For". The first item on
the list is "The Rights of the Unborn". While this is somewhat vague it obviously comes down on
the side of Pro-Life. Some Christians agree with this and some do not, and most seem to want to
take all the facts and circumstances of a particular case into consideration (such as when the
mother's life is in danger). Of course, the wise parent can use these things as a way to open the
door to discussion and an opportunity to teach their children. My point is not to attack or defend
the various positions but to make the reader aware that such items are in the book. All in all
"Refuel: The Complete New Testament" is one of the most exciting innovations to come along in
youth Bibles in a long time. In my opinion a Bible that a teenager will actually pick up and read is
far more valuable than one that sits on a shelf and is rarely, if ever, opened. "Refuel" is a complete
marketing makeover for the Bible while still retaining a true translation at the core. Brilliant!
Survival of the Thinnest
David Hariton
Cypress House
155 Cypress Street, Fort Bragg, CA 95437
ISBN: 187938454X $14.95 95 pp.
Is it possible that we have this whole diet thing backwards? Are we working against our own
biological programming when we diet and so it becomes a waste of time over the long run? These
are questions that David Hariton answers in the affirmative in his book "Survival of the Thinnest".
In his book he examines the needs of the hunter/gatherer man and how the gene code worked for
them. Now, it seems that that same gene code is the very thing that causes us to put on those
extra pounds. What can you do about it? Actually it is fairly easy, work in conjunction with that
gene code so that it becomes your ally instead of your enemy. That is the basic premise of the
book, what you can do to work with your body instead of against it. This is not entirely new
research in the area and not a particularly new idea, but I will have to say that he does an excellent
job of describing the idea so that the average reader can understand it. Equipped with this
knowledge they can then take control of their body type (assuming no actual medical reason such
as glandular problems). Because he explains it so well and leaves the reader with a good
understanding of what needs to be done, "Survival of the Thinnest" is a recommended read.
From the Kitchen Table to the Conference Table
Laura Michaud
Cameo Publications
PO Box 8006, Hilton Head Island, SC 29938
ISBN: 0974414948 $17.95 117 pp.
Family businesses can be a wonderful thing. I've seen them help keep a family close together
because they are involved with each other throughout the day. On the other hand I've seen it tear
a business and a family apart as family members make decisions that others don't support,
personal problems are brought into the office, and promoting one family member over another
causes hardship. It's no wonder that almost seventy percent of family owned businesses fail in the
second generation. Does this have to be the case? What can you do to keep from being just
another of these statistics? That is what Laura Michaud addresses in her book "From the Kitchen
Table to the Conference Table: Family Business Communication". Laura grew up in a third
generation family owned business - Beltone. Based on her real-life experiences Laura provides a
solid plan for navigating the treacherous waters of a family owned business. Her plan is thorough
and includes many things people don't think about when starting a family business. For example,
there is the need to examine the fact that family members may have different goals. Some may
need medical benefits, some may want more take home pay, and others may want more flexible
time demands. Another example is planning for succession. Most people just think of planning for
who will take over the business when they pass on or retire. But succession planning is so much
more than this. If it is not done correctly the company may need to be sold just to pay estate
taxes. Or leaving the business jointly to several children may set them up for crippling power
struggles. These are only two of the many areas she covers very well. The majority of the book is
dedicated to finding the individual strengths of family members and making sure that the company
plays to their strengths and then keeping communication channels open. There are several books
on the market that examine starting a family business and how to get it growing. I am really
surprised that there are not more that deal with the problem of the expanding family business that
soon has dozens of grandchildren, cousins, and in-laws working for it. Well, you are not on your
own in this area anymore! "From the Kitchen Table to the Conference Table" is a highly
recommended read for anyone involved in a family business and provides the advice necessary to
keep the business growing for multiple generations.
The Case for a Creator
Lee Strobel
Zondervan Publishing
5300 Patterson SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49530
ISBN: 0310241448 $19.99 305 pp.
Why is it that the world of science has made such an about-face with the idea that the universe has
an intelligent designer? At one time in the very recent past anyone supporting the idea of a
Creator of the universe would have been ridiculed in the scientific community. These days they
seem to be in the majority with more and more converts every year. In his book "The Case for a
Creator" author Lee Strobel goes over the evidence that is causing such a shift in thinking. In a
very easy to read interview writing style he discusses evolution, Darwinism, science and faith, the
big bang theory of cosmology, physics, astronomy and probability, biochemistry, DNA, and
consciousness. For each one of these subjects he delivers an interview with a top scientist who is a
specialist in that particular field of knowledge. Here is your chance to listen in as Lee quizzes
them on their reasoning and theories. Listen in as he asks the difficult questions and receives
soundly reasoned answers. While these are recognized experts in their fields it should be noted
that they were, of course, hand picked because they believe in a creator. As a result the book is
basically an opportunity for them to espouse their views and give answers to common objections.
Still, hand picked or not, the important thing is that they provide soundly reasoned, realistic
answers to the questions and problems posed. If you received an education on evolution in school
then you owe it to yourself to at least be fair and learn the other side of the coin. If you have
come to doubt a creator for whatever reason and have been taught that science has no room for a
creator then you owe it to yourself to see why top scientists are moving over to the creation
camp. At least you will find that there are two sides to this debate and it is not a closed question
coming down on the side of n/ creator. "The Case for a Creator" is a highly recommended read
on one of the most enjoyable books on the subject that I have read.
Everything You Need to Know to Write, Publish & Market Your Book
Patrika Vaughn
A Cappela Publishing
P.O. Box 3691, Sarasota, FL 34230-3691
ISBN: 0965630919 $19.95 189 pp.
If you have the urge to write but are unsure of your ability, direction, or just don't think you know
enough about the industry then take heart. Patrika Vaughn's book "Everything You Need to
Know to Write, Publish & Market Your Book" has everything you need to get started. Many
books are available in the writing genre but this one has a few things that set it apart. The first
thing I noticed is that she really starts at the beginning. The first chapter starts with examining
why you want to write and how this colors your writing. It also examines what to do once you
know what you want to write, and methods to keep yourself motivated. One of the better sections
is a short chapter that deals with how to cure writing fears. Everyone who writes has them at
times but not everyone knows how to get around them. Patrika Vaughn obviously does. Other
exceptional chapters include ones on writing an effective beginning, developing the action, and
developing characters. Poor character development is one of the leading causes of novels that
can't keep a reader's interest. When it comes to hooking the reader and then keeping them
interested in the characters and plot this book teaches all the basics. The last part of the book
covers how to approach the market, how to submit your presentation, and even self-publishing.
The sections on approaching the market and presenting your book or proposal are both excellent.
"Everything You Need to Know to Write, Publish & Market Your Book" is a recommended read
for anyone who wants a top quality overview of the writing, publishing, and marketing business.
It is very evident from the writing style and information that Patrika Vaughn knows exactly what
she is talking about. If you are looking for help with a specific area of writing such as plot design
there are better books that focus just on that area. However, if you want a strong overview and a
clear understanding of what is needed to become a writer and how to go about it, you can't go
wrong with this book.
You're Probably an Old Geezer If...
C. J. Wilderson
Noble House
8019 Belair Road, Suite 10, Baltimore, MD 21236
ISBN: 156167835X $12.95 76 pp.
Exactly what you would expect from a book with this title, "You're Probably an Old Geezer if..."
is full of short observations about old age put in a humorous light. Of course some of the
comments are funnier than others, but generally it is a source of a good laugh at old age. "You're
Probably an Old Geezer if..." is a recommended book for anyone who wants to see the funny side
of getting older.
Washington's Crossing
David Hackett Fischer
Oxford University Press, Inc.
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
ISBN: 0195170342 $35.00 379 pp.
A monumental tome, "Washington's Crossing" provides an extensive and thorough examination of
the people and events leading up to and surrounding the crossing of the Delaware River as well as
the results of the successful New Jersey campaign of which this was one small part. For those
who are serious historians and wish to check primary sources or other information the author
provides documentation in the form of 45 pages of appendices, 33 pages of histography, a 27
page bibliography, and 56 pages of notes. For those less inclined to study at that level the
easy-to-read style of David Fischer makes the book a great read. He closely examines the makeup
of the various military units including the Hessian regiments, British regulars, Scottish Highland
regiments, Connecticut Light Horse regiment, Hamilton's Artillery, regiments of riflemen, etc. He
also examines the background and history of Washington, the Howe brothers, Cornwallis, and
many other major players in the war. After reading "Washington's Crossing" you come away with
a deeper understanding and appreciation for what the American and British forces went through
and what each was trying to accomplish at various stages of the war. This was a critical time for
the American militia and David Fischer drives the point home well as he takes you through one
unsuccessful campaign after another until the tide finally turned for the American troops. Each
side is carefully examined in terms of fatigue, moral, military planning. What happened, why it
happened and the effect it had on the war at that point. A fascinating trip into history it is an
excellent read and highly recommended.
A Snoodle's Tale
Phil Vischer
Zondervan Publishing
Zonderkidz Imprint
5300 Patterson SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49530
ISBN: 031070751X $8.99 48 pp.
"A Snoodle's Tale" is an absolutely delightful story for the young reader. Although not always
perfect, it has a strong-metered rhyming style that is easy to read and fall into the rhythmic beat of
the story. A new Snoodle is born in Snoodleburg but he can't find his place in the world. It seems
he is not particularly good at anything and everyone is making fun of him. He eventually learns the
truth about life and how important he is. Where other books struggle to make a point about
everyone being important and having their place in life, "A Snoodle's Tale" makes the point easily
and gracefully. This is one of the best young children's books I have read in a long time.
Our Toxic World: A Wake Up Call
Doris J. Rapp, M.D.
Environmental Medical Research Foundation
PO Box 60, Buffalo, NY 14223
ISBN: 1880509083 $24.95 432 pp.
Author Doris J. Rapp, M.D. is Board Certified in Environmental Medicine, Pediatrics and
Allergies. In her book "Our Toxic World" she shares her knowledge of how everyday toxins in
our environment affect us. The reality is that chemicals are everywhere in our lives and it is nearly
impossible to completely escape them. It would surprise most people to find that these chemicals
not only affect our physical health but also our actions, behavior (aggression, fatigue,
hyperactivity, etc.), fertility, and even our memory. Through this book Doris Rapp rings the alarm
about how pesticides and chemicals have become major factors in chronic illnesses of all kinds. Of
course the book is not just about all the problems of toxins but also includes sound advice on how
to choose safer products and protect yourself. She also dedicates several chapters to discussing
wildlife research data and lab data. While this is interesting information to a point, she includes so
much detail and so many examples that it starts to read like a research paper instead of a book for
the general public. I did like her summarizing statement that we are creating stronger more
chemically-resistant pests and weeds and weaker, more unhealthy humans. In addition to the
toxins she also discusses genetic engineering and the potential health problems it may cause. If
you are concerned about the toxic environment and how it may be affecting your health you will
be hard pressed to find a more informative, better-documented book than "Our Toxic
World".
Linux+ Study Guide, Second Edition
Roderick W. Smith
Sybex Inc.
1151 Marina Village Parkway, Alameda, CA 94501
ISBN: 0782143121 $49.99 537 pp.
I reviewed the first edition of this book and found a few shortcomings, all of which have been
fixed in this edition. The prior edition did not cover some hardware items that I saw on the exam;
this edition includes it. The prior edition had installation screen shots from the Mandrake
distribution, but Redhat is a far more common distribution in the business environment. This
edition uses screenshots from RedHat Fedora. The index in the prior edition was not as thorough
as I would have liked. This edition includes the items I looked for but was unable to find in the
prior one. Even with the shortcomings in the prior version it was still the best certification study
guide that I had reviewed. This edition is an improvement on the best study guide available,
making it the new champ. One of the things I like best about Sybex certification books is that they
are one of the few publishers who provide both the information needed to pass the exam and the
information needed to actually work in the real world. All the most common networking and
administrative tasks, troubleshooting, adding packages, adding hardware, and installation are
covered in detail including installation methods and problems, security, file services, and
troubleshooting. The author does an excellent job of walking the reader through all the various
processes step by step and explaining each item in detail. Each chapter ends with a chapter
summary, a section on exam essentials that summarizes exam critical items, a summary of
commands covered in the chapter, a key terms list, and review questions and answers. The book
even includes a CD with a test engine, two exam preparation exams, and flashcards. I've taught
Linux at the college level both for certification and for practical application purposes and this is
the best book available for the new or only minimally experienced Linux user who is planning to
take the certification exam. The "Linux+ Study Guide, Second Edition" is the best exam
preparation study guide I have seen on the market to date and a highly recommended read for
anyone seeking certification.
The Intimate Landscape
Estelle Riback, editor
Lost Coast Press
155 Cypress Street, Fort Bragg, CA 95437
ISBN: 1882897811 $29.95 108 pp.
"The Intimate Landscape" is a detailed look at the Barbizon School of art. Barbizon art was
mainly landscape paintings from which impressionism eventually sprang. After a brief introduction
on the Barbizon movement and what made it different from the Hudson School and other
landscape artists author Estelle Riback introduces the reader to four of the most important
American Barbizon artists. Each of the artists, William Morris Hunt, George Inness, Homer
Dodge Martin, and Alexander Helwig Wyant, get their own chapter with a detailed analysis of
their influences, history, style, and the legacy they left behind.
The only thing I don't like about the book was the lack of any color prints of the works discussed.
All the prints are black and white and leaves the reader at times wondering what is meant by
comments like "characterized by... diffused color". Other than this one item "The Intimate
Landscape" is an excellent analysis of the American Barbizon movement and a recommended read
for anyone interested in the Barbizon School.
Fat and Furious
Loree Taylor Jordan, CCH, ID
Madison Publishing
PO Box 231, Campbell, CA 95009
ISBN: 096798789X $19.95 356 pp.
In some ways this is another book on the difficulties of dieting and why it often does not work.
On the other hand, it provides one of the most thorough examinations of weight problems that
you can find. Most of the book has almost nothing to do with dieting. Instead the author examines
emotional factors in weight control, psychological factors, self-esteem, biochemical individuality,
hormones, minerals, toxicity, food allergies, blood type, emotional balance, stress, toxic
pollutants, and even parasites. In short, she examines all the various factors that have been
attributed to weight problems. She does an excellent job of discussing the role of psychological
factors and how they influence your weight. Whether it is eating for the wrong reasons, dealing
with limiting beliefs, healing your inner child, dealing with shame or a critical inner voice, or
self-esteem, no area escapes examination. She even points an accusing finger in the direction of
doctors, referring to some as "finger-pointers in white lab coats". Another particularly good part
of the book is where she discusses how a diet has to fit you. An effective diet has to match your
biochemical individuality, carbohydrate sensitivity, insulin resistance, thyroid function and
metabolic rate, hormone balance, etc. Some readers may have problems where she varies from the
traditional view and heads off into the area of alternative medicine. However, she makes a valid
point that in the interest of presenting a thorough examination of the issue she has included this
information. In this section she closely examines toxicity and how to detoxify your body. Included
is information on colon cleansing and parasites as well as the use of natural remedies. I have to
say it is refreshing to find a book that looks at this problem from all sides instead of taking the
position that something that worked for one person is the perfect solution for everyone. It just is
not that simple. "Fat and Furious" is a highly recommended read for anyone seeking a solution to
diets that don't work and who want to understand the various factors involved in controlling your
weight.
End Time Delusions
Steve Wohlberg
Destiny Image Publishers, Inc.
Treasure House imprint
PO Box 310, Shippensburg, PA 17257-0310
ISBN: 0768429609 $13.99 208 pp.
Based on the popularity of various books and ministers these days you would think that everyone
is on the same page when it comes to the basics of the end times. The sequence is pretty straight
forward - rapture, seven years of tribulation, Christ's second coming, establishment of God's
kingdom on earth. While that seems to be the program that sells the most books, it is not the only
opinion on the end times. Some people believe the rapture will come before the tribulation, others
that it will come half way through the tribulation, others that it will occur at the end of the
tribulation, and still others that there will be no rapture at all. Why all the different opinions?
Prophecy is open to various interpretations. In "End Time Delusions" author Steve Wohlberg
provides a solid and convincing case for questioning if there will be a rapture as it is traditionally
taught. He also discussed exactly what the tribulation is, the problem of the antichrist, Christ's
second coming, and various other ideologies related to the end times. Throughout the book he
points out that for the first century and a half or so nobody interpreted the rapture or tribulation
the way it is done now. That is not to say they did not consider end times events the way it is
taught today. Quite the opposite, some of the early church fathers that he quotes point out why
they believe the way they do and why other beliefs are in error. These beliefs that they considered
erroneous include concepts like a pre-tribulation rapture. This book is important because it
provides a logical explanation of an alternative view of prophecy. Well organized and
well-presented, "End Times Delusions" is a solid argument against the mainstream position on the
end times and a recommended read to anyone who wants to understand alternative theories.
The Christian Writer's Manual of Style
Robert Hudson, editor
Zondervan Publishing
5300 Patterson SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49530
ISBN: 0310487714 $19.99 414 pp.
"The Christian Writer's Manual of Style" provides the most exhaustive coverage of the special
writing problems in the area of Christian publications that I have ever seen. This is easily the best
book available on the subject of Christian writing style. Examples of the items covered here that
are unlikely to be covered anywhere else include abbreviations for Bible books including
apocryphal writings, the difference between sacred writings and the bible, should the use of the
word "biblical" be capitalized or not, the difference between the Anglican Church and the Church
of England, Bible permissions for quoting different versions and where to write for permissions,
biblical and religious terms, clerical titles, forms of Christian books, Islamic terminology, Jewish
terminology, and religious jargon. In addition to this specialized information it also includes the
stuff you would expect in any manual of style including commonly misspelled words, syntax rules,
punctuation, proofreading, etc. Of course in any book of this depth some items are bound to
become outdated quickly. For example, there are a couple of references to Word Publishing as a
division of Thomas Nelson Publishing. Word Publishing no longer exists. Still this is the only
outdated information I found in the entire book, which is pretty amazing. "The Christian Writer's
Manual of Style" is a highly recommended read for anyone writing for the Christian market, and
especially if you are writing non-fiction.
Beyond Trauma: Conversations on Traumatic Incident Reduction
Victor R. Volkman
Loving Healing Press
5145 Pontiac Trail, Ann Arbor, MI 48105-9627
ISBN: 193269000X $21.95 238 pp.
"Beyond Trauma" is a compilation of short essays about Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR) as
delivered by various professionals. It begins with an examination of trauma, the trauma incident
network, and unblocking. This is followed by an excellent essay on the psychological foundations
of TIR. Included in this chapter is an examination of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and why
cognitive restructuring is required for successful treatment of PTSD. After this foundational
chapter the essays start examining particular types of trauma, how they function, how they are
similar, how they are different, and how to work with them. First is an examination of the traumas
of war, both as a civilian caught up in it and as a soldier. Then come essays on grief and loss,
crime and punishment, terrorism, accident victims, accidental death, and various other type of
emotional trauma. The final portion of the book examines working with TIR and children,
integrating TIR and Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy, using TIR in a psychotherapy practice,
and integrating TIR with other disciplines. If you are working with trauma or just want to
understand TIR this is a good beginning book. It clearly delineates the basics of TIR as a
desensitization procedure and its effectiveness as a true resolution to trauma related problems.
"Beyond Trauma" is a recommended book for the professional or for the lay reader who wants to
know about this technique before possibly seeking out a practitioner.
Linux in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference, 4th Edition
Ellen Siever, Stephen Figgins, Aaron Weber
O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.
1005 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol, CA 95472
ISBN: 0596004826 $39.95 896 pp.
The first thing a reader should understand about this book is that it is not a book for learning
Linux but is intended as a reference to keep at hand so you can consult it easily when needed. If
that is what you are looking for then you will find this to be one of the best books available. The
book starts with a listing of Linux system and network administration commands grouped
according to function. Some of the groupings include those commands related to managing the
filesystem, managing the kernel, networking, printing, security, starting and stopping the system,
system activity and process management, user related functions, TCP/IP administration, and NFS
and NIS administration. This section only lists the appropriate command and its basic function; it
does not include the parameters or information on how to use the commands. The commands are
detailed in the next, and by far the biggest section of the book. The following section is an
alphabetical listing of Linux commands and all the options available for the command. If you have
ever worked your way through the Linux "man" pages or "apropos" descriptions you will
definitely appreciate this book's clear, straightforward explanations of each commands and
options. This is followed by a section covering the various boot methods using LILO, GRUB,
loadlin, and the Windows NT/2000/XP multi-boot loader. The detailed discussion includes
information on each line in the configuration files, and the various global, image, and kernel
options. Dual booting Linux in a Windows NT/2000/XP environment can be a challenge because
the Windows Dual-Boot loader tries to take over and be in charge. The authors detail how to use
the Windows boot loader to dual boot to either Windows or Linux. The authors also do an
excellent job of explaining the RedHat and Debian package managers. The RedHat Package
Manager (RPM) is very common and the one that I find myself using most often. The package
managers resolve many of the problems related to installing a new program in the Linux
environment. Sometimes a particular program relies on the existence of another program in order
to operate correctly. These program dependencies can cause the administrator to waste a lot of
time installing, downloading another program, installing, downloading another program, etc. One
of the things the package manager does is make sure all related and required programs exist and
install them if they do not. The coverage of these package managers and how to get them to do
what you want is either missing or minimal in most other Linux books. This is the best coverage
I've come across to date. Following the package managers section are chapters on the two most
common Linux shells - bash and tcsh. Once again, the coverage is extensive and much more
detailed than what you find in most other books. It includes the peculiarities of each shell such as
redirection, ways to issue multiple commands, use of variables and variable substitution, built-in
variables, pattern matching rules, arithmetic operations, job-control commands, built-in
commands, etc. I would have liked to see a better discussion of shell scripting for each of the
shells complete with some examples. The information for scripting is in this section but it basically
has the information you need without anything to tie it all together. Think of it like having a
model plane to put together, but without instructions. You have all the pieces and with close
examination, and a few wrong turns, you can figure it out eventually. Then again, perhaps this is
consistent with the book's purpose of being a desktop reference and not a Linux teaching tool.
However, a few examples would still go a long way. The following chapter discusses pattern
matching and how it is used in the Linux world. Since this is something that I use extensively I
really appreciated the detail provided. For anyone who has worked through the problem of a
metacharacter being used in one program like grep and not used in another like sed you will
appreciate the table on page 668 which lists the metacharacters on the left side, the programs on
the top (ed, vi, sed, gawk, grep, egrep) and indicates which metacharacters work in which of the
programs. This is an area that can be perplexing to the new Linux user and the authors provide
several examples that clearly illustrate the use of the various metacharacters to achieve particular
results. For the programmer a revision control system is a critical component of updating and
revising code. The authors dedicate a whole chapter to how to use the Linux Revision Control
System (RCS) effectively. The RCS system is an older model but is easier to use on small projects
than the CVS system. On the other hand the Concurrent Versions System (CVS) is more
appropriate for larger projects with many people or teams working on various portions of the
project. The book also includes a complete chapter on the CVS system and how to use it
effectively in distributed development environment. The book ends with an examination of the
three most common graphical interfaces available for Linux. While the discussion of KDE,
GNOME, and fvwm2 is not a thorough examination of the interfaces, it does provide a good
general overview of things like adding an icon, adding applications, adding menu items, changing
the look and feel of the interface, changing hardware and system settings, and how they differ
from each other. "Linux in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference, 4th Edition" is one of the best
resources available for the Linux user, programmer, or administrator. I could not find anything
that I normally do in the Linux environment that was not covered in the book. It even covers
items in older versions as well as the similar commands in the newer version (like ipchains vs
iptables). I suppose the ultimate question for most readers is how this book compares with other
detailed Linux books like the Linux Bible. The other books are more instructional in nature and
include detailed discussions of how to do various things. That being the case they do not include
as many commands as the ones listed here. In short, if I wanted to know how to do something
then I would pick up another book, but if I knew what I wanted to do but could not remember the
command or options I would pick this one up first. So, it seems to hit its target right on the mark;
not a book to learn Linux, but a great reference to keep close at hand for the experienced user.
"Linux in a Nutshell" is highly recommended for Linux administrators and anyone else dealing
with Linux configuration, installation, or customization on a regular basis.
Questions and Answers for Deep South Gardeners
Nellie Neal
B. B. Mackey Books
PO Box 475, Wayne, PA 19087
ISBN: 189344306X $12.95 115 pp.
Defining exactly what the author means by "deep south" is where a review of this book should
begin. The "deep south" is roughly an area that runs across the southern United States from El
Paso to Little Rock, Memphis, Birmingham, Atlanta, and Raleigh. It does not include any of
Louisiana or Florida and excludes most of southern Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and
North Carolina. For this deep south region the author provides advice and a list of common
questions and answers for each of the four seasons. The information includes when to prepare
beds for particular perennials and annuals, what flowers, trees, vines, or other plants are most
appropriate, how to deal with various problems, etc. The questions and answers are a collection
of actual questions asked by gardeners on author Nellie Neal's SuperTalk MS Radio Network
program. If you are gardening in this "deep south" region and dealing with the problems and
benefits of the location "Questions and Answers for Deep South Gardeners" may be the resource
you are looking for.
Incorporate Now! The National Corporation Kit
Daniel Sitarz
Nova Publishing Company
1103 West College Street, Carbondale, IL 62901
ISBN: 1892949008 $28.95 250 pp.
If you are considering trying to incorporate your business without a lawyer, "Incorporate Now!"
provides all the forms you will need to get the job done. Incorporation instructions include details
such as minimum shareholders, S-Corporations election (and why you might want to do elect it),
minimum capitalization requirements, tax effects, and just about everything else you might need to
know. It doesn't matter what state you live in or what state you want to incorporate in,
information is provided for every state. Forms to be used for standard business transactions are
also included in the book. For example, there are forms for board meetings, shareholder meetings,
authorizing contracts, authorizing the sale of real estate, authorizing the borrowing of money,
appointing a lawyer, appointing an accountant, authorizing stock transfers, and pretty much every
other situation where you might need a form you will find the fill-in-the-blank document here. In
addition to the book, all the forms are also included on the CDROM so you can print them out
easily or fill them in right on your computer. Every form that you can think of for just about any
situation is included in this book and on the CDROM. It is easily the most extensive set of forms
of any similar book I have seen. Author Daniel Sitarz also provides checklists, worksheets, and
information for each item so you will understand their purpose and be able to fill them out
intelligently. This book is an excellent resource if you have already made the decision to
incorporate, however it is not very useful in helping you make that decision. It does provide some
background and comparison of different forms of business but it is somewhat cursory and leaves
out many important details. (For example, if an S-Corporation pays for life insurance or health
insurance for an officer it does not get to deduct those costs from their tax return. But if a
C-Corporation pays those expenses it does get to deduct them from its tax return.) Then again, it
makes no claim that it provides a full analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of a
corporation. In fact the author states "The decision of which business entity to choose depends
upon many factors and should be carefully studied. If the choice is to operate a business as a
corporation or S-corporation, this book will provide an array of easy-to-use legal forms which
will, in most cases, allow the business owner to start and operate the corporation with minimal
difficulty while meeting all of the legal paperwork requirements." Since such an analysis is
intentionally not a part of the book it should not be considered a shortcoming. I only mention it
here to make the potential purchaser aware that it is not discussed here and such advice should be
sought elsewhere. The author's point is well made; if the decision to incorporate has already been
made then this book provides everything you need to make that happen. While this book is
appropriate for anyone seeking a basic incorporation for their business it is not appropriate for a
non-profit corporation. If you are a non-profit seeking to incorporate there are different
requirements for some of the items (like a mandatory clause that upon dissolution all assets will be
distributed only to other non-profit corporations in most states). Except for this specialized
situation of a non-profit corporation "Incorporate Now!" is thorough, explains things well, and is
a highly recommended purchase for anyone seeking to incorporate.
I'm OK, You're My Parents
Dale Atkins, Ph.D.
Henry Holt and Company, LLC
115 West 18th Street, New York, NY 10011
ISBN: 0805073531 $24.00 307 pp.
In the wake of a multitude of books about how our parents have created all of our emotional
problems comes this book that points out the fact that blaming someone is not a solution to
problems. The focus of the book is to take that next step and find ways that you can move
through guilt and anger and create a working relationship with your parents. To this end the book
contains lots of examples from Dr. Atkins' actual patient files. It also includes exercises to work
through, questionnaires to help you understand yourself and your relationship with your parents,
and various lessons to illustrate the principles involved. The first part of the book focuses on you.
It includes an examination of ways to take control of your life so your past doesn't control your
present, how to deal with guilt and parents who use it to control you, and anger. The next part
changes focus to your parents. How did they grow up? What did they go through as they were
growing up? What was their life like? The focus is on developing empathy so you can use it to
develop forgiveness. One of the most important points of the chapter is realizing that your fantasy
parent doesn't exist. Not only do they not exist but also those fantasy perfect parents that your
friends seemed to have were not perfect either. Two of the coping techniques covered in this
chapter include creating reasonable expectations for yourself and your parents and creating
appropriate boundaries. The last section discusses the most common problems when dealing with
parents. For example, some of the problems covered include the bait and switch technique,
manipulating you with a health crisis, becoming easily offended when you don't share personal
details of your life, putting you in the middle of their problems, or using money to manipulate you.
If you have a troubled relationship with your parents and are seeking to change, you should
consider picking up a copy of "I'm OK, You're My Parents".
The Exception to the Rulers
Amy Goodman with David Goodman
Hyperion
77 West 66th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10023
ISBN: 1401301312 $21.95 318 pp.
It should come as no surprise to most people that the media is not exactly neutral when it reports
the news. In fact it seems that over the past several years the news media has become more and
more the servant of politics instead of the reporter. In "The Exception to the Rulers" author Amy
Goodman delves into the political relationships that are typically not reported in the media. She
provides a well-researched look into the rampant corruption of powerful leaders and how the
media helps enhance their power at the expense of the average person. This is a book that should
be required reading for anyone interested in politics or trying to understand why when the BBC
and US media both report on the same incident it is hard to believe they are talking about the
same one. Author Amy Goodman provides a tight, consistent, and highly readable illustration of
the web of deception and multiple relationships between our highest leaders and the companies
they use to create ever-increasing personal wealth. "The Exception to the Rulers" deserves the
highest of recommendations.
The Definitive Guide to MySQL, Second Edition
Michael Kofler
Apress
2560 Ninth Street, Suite 219, Berkeley, CA 94710
ISBN: 1590591445 $49.99 758 pp.
Fully updated to include information on MySQL 4.0 and 4.1 "The Definitive Guide to MySQL,
Second Edition" is one of the most through and yet easily understandable texts on MySQL
available. The author assumes no previous knowledge of SQL or even database theory and design
so you really start at the beginning. In fact chapter five, database design, is one of the more lucid
explanations of relational databases and design theory that I have read anywhere. Another item
that differentiates this book from others of the same genre is the inclusion of a chapter of SQL
recipes. This chapter is basically a cookbook that takes the most common tasks you may need to
accomplish with your MySQL database and provides a recipe to accomplish that task. It includes
coverage of InnoDB tables (very important in a multi-user environment) and many other items
besides the usual installation, administration, and configuration items you would expect. Of
course, if you are writing a MySQL application you will have to use some sort of programming
language to write your program. In keeping with the OpenSource theme of the book it includes
extensive coverage of PHP, Perl, Java, C, C++, Visual Basic, C#, and ODBC. The book does not
pretend to teach any of these programming languages but provides the information to use them
with MySQL if you know that particular language. As a regular user of PHP, Perl, Visual Basic,
and ODBC connections I found the coverage to be excellent, including everything you need to
know to connect to the database and do whatever you need. The book ends with an excellent
reference section, a section on MySQL Tools, and even a section an API reference. In short it is
one of the most exhaustive books on the subject and provides everything for a new user as well as
complete reference coverage for an experienced user, programmer, or administrator. "The
Definitive Guide to MySQL, Second Edition" is highly recommended for anyone interested in
learning, administering, or programming MySQL.
Harold McFarland
Senior Reviewer
Harwood's Bookshelf
The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred
Texts
Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman
The Free Press
1230 Avenue of the Americas, NY 10020
ISBN 0684869128, $26.00 hc $14.00 pbk. 395 pp
To the degree that The Bible Unearthed can be considered a work of scholarship, rather than
simply a history textbook that brings together the most relevant previously known information
into a concise and comprehensible format that is equally useful for undergraduates and browsers,
it presents the authors' research that independently confirms the earlier findings. That should not
be considered a criticism. I did much the same thing in Mythology's Last Gods.
"By the end of the twentieth century, archaeology had shown that there were simply too many
material correspondences between the finds in Israel and in the entire Near East and the world
described in the Bible to suggest that the Bible was late and fanciful priestly literature, written
with no historical basis at all. But at the same time there were too many contradictions between
archaeological finds and the biblical narratives to suggest that the Bible provided a precise
description of what actually occurred." (pp. 19, 21) "But that is not to say that archaeology has
proved the biblical narrative to be true in all of its details. Far from it: it is now evident that many
events of biblical history did not take place in either the particular era or the manner described.
Some of the most famous events in the Bible clearly never happened at all." (p.5) Anyone to
whom that information is new must read this book. Anyone to whom it is offensive probably
believes that humans coexisted with dinosaurs less than 10,000 years ago.
Like Richard Friedman (Who Wrote the Bible?), Finkelstein and Silberman write from a very
blinkered perspective that allows them to demolish biblical literalism while clinging to a mindset
that in some sense religion, specifically Judaism, is "true." They consequently ignore or gloss over
many aspects of biblical inconsistencies that they prefer not to see. For example, while refuting the
claim that the Israelites of the Exodus, who numbered "about six hundred thousand men on foot,
besides women and children," (p. 51) could have traversed the Sinai without leaving any
archaeological trace, they do not draw their readers' attention to the reality that the Bible shows a
population of two million surviving for forty years in a desert incapable of supporting more than
3,000 at the most. And the evidence that Joshua died before Moses was born (to the degree that
both were historical), and that they led unrelated peoples, is not even considered. I am, however,
pleased at finally seeing other scholars acknowledge that the place name given as Ai in every bible
but my own indeed means "the Ruin."
"Irritating" is too mild a word to describe F & S's persistent use of the word "God" in their
synopses of biblical myths, with no hint that the biblical authors had never heard of such an entity.
They acknowledge that "God" is the common rendition in English bibles of the Hebrew word
elohim, but suppress the reality that elohim is a dual-sex, generic plural meaning "the (male and
female) gods." Could they be ignorant of something so basic? Are they being politically correct?
Or do they lack the intestinal fortitude to acknowledge that monotheism is a modern concept that
did not exist when the Pentateuch was composed?
Equally irritating is their bland statement that Isaac died after Jacob's return from Haran, ignoring
or suppressing the contradiction between P, whose Isaac died at that time, and J, whose Isaac
died twenty years earlier. They attribute Genesis 31:51-54 to E, when it should be self-evident
that those verses contain both J and E elements, as well as redactions inserted to harmonize the
two versions. And they gloss over the difference between E, whose sacred mountain was Horeb,
and J and P, whose sacred mountain was Sinai, in effect going along with the pretence of modern
religion that the names were interchangeable. As for E's fable of the sacrifice of Isaac, and an
editor's redaction that had Yahweh intervene and prevent the sacrifice from being carried out,
only the finished version is mentioned. I strongly recommend that F & S consult volume one of
The Judaeo-Christian Bible Fully Translated, and find out who really wrote what.
F & S recognize that the Pentateuch was composed by four major authors and one or more
redactors over a period of several centuries. And while they cite Thomas Thompson's indefensible
claim that its composition did not begin until Hellenistic times, they do not endorse such
nonsense, and rather place the earliest documents in the seventh century BCE. But even that is
too late. In Mythology's Last Gods I spell out the arguments for dating the J document to the
reign of Solomon's son, c 920 BCE. However, I am not unconvinced by the cited evidence that at
least parts of stories I attributed in toto to J incorporate information that was more relevant to the
politics of the seventh century. I am not backing down. I merely suggest that F & S correctly date
some late redactions in J, but incorrectly date the whole document to the time of those
redactions.
I am always pleased when other scholars independently reach the same conclusions as my own. F
& S's explanation of the Jewish ban on eating pork is such a situation: "A ban on pork cannot be
explained by environmental or economic reasons alone . Perhaps the proto-Israelites stopped
eating pork merely because the surrounding peoples their adversaries did eat it, and they had
begun to see themselves as different." (pp. 120-121) What F & S do not acknowledge is that the
surrounding Phoenicians ate pork as the sacramental body of the sow goddess, and a tribe as
viciously male-supremacist as the Jews and Israelites (two unrelated peoples, although F & S
apparently do not know that) regarded any procedure that honored a female deity as a violation of
monolatry. (If that sounds like a guess, keep in mind that the myth of the temptation of Eve
involved eating the vulva-shaped ripe pomegranate that was the sacramental body of the
serpentine sex goddess.)
To answer the question, "Did David and Solomon Exist?" (pp. 128-130), F & S cite the
incompetent fantasy of Thomas Thompson, whom they flatteringly describe as a "biblical
historian," that David was "no more a historical figure than King Arthur." But having
acknowledged that David's existence has been questioned, they proceed to demolish such
speculation by quoting a stele erected by king Hazael of Damascus c 835 BCE that refers to the
"House of David" as an observable reality. They conclude, "Thus, the house of David was known
throughout the region; this clearly validates the biblical description of a figure named David
becoming the founder of the dynasty of Judahite kings in Jerusalem." That the authors would even
cite Thompson's The Mythic Past, if only to refute it, calls into question their ability to distinguish
between legitimate scholarship worthy of rebuttal, and what I can only describe as a literary
hoax.
"There is hardly a reason to doubt the historicity of David and Solomon. Yet there are plenty of
reasons to question the extent and splendor of their realm." (p. 142) In other words, David and
Solomon were little more than village headmen, ruling a population of a few thousand at most.
The magnificent empire that reached to Egypt in the south, the Euphrates in the east, and
Damascus in the north never existed. The reason The Bible Unearthed can be taken seriously,
while similar conclusions in The Mythic Past cannot, is that, whereas Thompson appears to have
started from predetermined conclusions and ignored any evidence that falsified his thesis, F & S
started from the evidence and limited their conclusions to what the evidence proved. Highly
recommended.
William Harwood
Reviewer
Hodgins' Bookshelf
Kydd
Julian Stockwin
Scribner
Book-of-the-Month Club Selection
ISBN 0743214587, $24.00 254 pages
First-time author Julian Stockwin has benefited, in spinning this oldetyme yarn, from a most
impressive naval career, begun at age 14 in 1944 - but he has served it only in modern times,
when little but natural phenomena such as storms and seasickness remains unchanged from the
days of which he writes; for the front dustjacket flap proclaims, "It is 1793. Europe is ablaze with
war ..."
He has done his research well (if not equally well, his self-editing); even exceptionally well,
creating an unusually vivid and convincing portrait of shipboard life in the days of "wooden ships
and iron men". Yet there may be a price to pay when he gets deeply involved in the details of
antique technology; for comparatively few potential readers today may understand what it
requires, as one example, to "reeve the clew garnet".
Before going farther, I must compliment artist Geoff Hunt for his marvelous illustration on this
work's dustjacket. Such a wealth of realistic detail! Every wrinkle and stripe of the many depicted
seamen's clothing looks right, as do even the brass buttons of the officers' uniforms and the
deadeyes in the ship's rigging. I look forward to seeing more from his palette.
Familiarity with the naval-historical genre, through reading the works of such luminaries as C.S.
Forester and Patrick O'Brian, will allow an immediate grasp and appreciation of the situations,
issues, state of technology, and times in general that Stockwin portrays in "Kydd". Then, though,
the burden of introducing readers is simply shifted from Stockwin's shoulders to those of such
other authors as one may choose. Who provides the best - the easiest and most enjoyable - route
into the genre?
In partial answer to that question, one must first of all choose an author whose works are in print.
(This requirement immediately rules me out!) Also, the author should not define terms in
dictionary style, unless all such contents are to be collected into an appended Glossary section.
Instead, meanings must be revealed in an informal, natural style, e.g., conversationally by a
landsman who asks the questions, and by a seaman who answers them.
Once you've selected such a source author, I'd counsel you to begin at the beginning of volume
one in the nautical series; for there's a natural tendency to avoid re-explaining things that one has
clarified previously. For instance, a given author might explain what a carronade was, in his first
novel - and then never do so again.
Starting from scratch in reading this genre, you may otherwise try for literal understandings of all
terms by keeping at least one technical reference work (such as Kemp's "The Oxford Companion
to Ships and the Sea") at your elbow, whenever that reference work is not actually in your lap.
Alternatively, you may just let the nautical terminology wash over you to create a generalized
nautical mood, from which you likely will grow into a better and better understanding of what's
what as you go along.
The latter way is how I began, in fact, showing that it can be done, to a point - but I was already a
keen amateur caught up in the whole romance of sail, and if ever I felt I needed a sailing book, I
bought it.
Let's face it; nowadays there is very little need or application (unless you are a naval historian or
historical novelist yourself) for vast expertise in square rigging. However, any knowledge of
sailing makes reading books of this genre at least somewhat easier. For instance, it helps to know
the principal meanings, still in use today, of "tack".
In Kydd's day ordinary sailors, with their individual stories, vastly outnumbered their officers. Yet
officers have been chiefly featured by most naval historical novelists, e.g. by O'Brian in the
Aubrey-Maturin series, and by Forester in the Hornblower tales.
Yet the enlisted (volunteered) or "pressed" (virtually kidnapped, in the King's name) Royal Navy
man had rarely been made the central character in a naval historical novel, I think since Captain
Marryat in the first half of the 19th century - until Stockwin introduced his Tom Kydd character, a
humble wig maker who hasn't even seen the sea until he is caught by a press gang and forced
aboard a warship, HMS "Duke William", alias "Royal Billy". Let us salute Stockwin for his
near-innovation, then.
Kydd begins, naturally enough, as that lowest of the naval low, a land[s]man, fit only to hold a
line (a rope) when it is thrust into his hand, and to haul upon it when he is so ordered.
Statistically, then, Stockwin's work is more realistic, or anyway more typical, than almost anyone
else's written to date. Yet one soon doubts that Kydd will remain low man on the proverbial totem
pole; we spontaneously feel that he likely in due course - unless he is to be a totally inept bumbler
at the centre of a comic farce, which isn't the case - to qualify at least as Ordinary Seaman, if not
being ranked higher. (Able Seaman is the next step up, meaning able to hand, reef, and steer).
It might prove difficult for Stockwin to maintain for us a high level of interest in a character who
is forever restricted merely to obeying the commands of a great pyramid of superiors. No, it's in
the cards, if not in the stars, that he will improve himself over time.
If Kydd's stagnation at the lowest level doesn't happen, few thanks seem due to the ship's officers,
as Stockwin, who assumes the mantle of champion of the undistinguished, depicts them. Typically
of his style, he quotes the following naval cliche' as the introductory maxim of this book: "Aft
[where the officers had their quarters] the more honour; forward [where the men slung their
hammocks] the better men."
I have read this remark before many times, but never elsewhere have I seen it, to my recollection,
attributed to Adm. Lord Nelson as it is here. Nelson was fond of fraternizing with and
encouraging his captains, but he also was an egotist and thus seems most unlikely to have given
anyone but his King - common sailors included - honour above himself and his cherished "band of
brothers". Moreover, that saying stands as a near-incitement to mutiny of the lower ranks. Surely
senior officers would never say it except in private and between quotation marks.
Sailors, and others as well, were a credulous and superstitious lot in those days. Belief in such
fabulous (that is, told of in fables) beasts as sea monsters and unicorns was widespread. Thus
when an old sailor spins, on pages 113-114, a yarn of mermaids he has known, others don't call
his bluff, but solemnly nod and listen. This is a further detail of 18th century life that Stockwin
carries off very well - best after O'Brian, I'd say.
Likewise, when a crewman has died and rotted in the bowels of the ship, (however unlikely
THAT is; for the roll had to be called regularly, and every man accounted for), the first thing his
discoverer imagines, upon entering the dark of the hold and seeing the dim phosphorescent glow
surrounding the corpse, is "A ghost!"
Something I particularly like about Stockwin's writing is that he takes the time and trouble to
describe such details as the cracking and groaning of the ship's timbers' working in a seaway.
Appreciation of such workmanship requires a certain kind of reader having both perception and
patience, though. This is not a book for persons with attention-span deficits, you may be
sure!
Those in a hurry for action, and disinterested in good writing, may feel frustrated. For instance,
not a great gun is fired until page 104, and then only in gunnery training. Moreover, that training
isn't used in actual warfare until quite late in the book; as a sea battle eventually develops, the
enemy opens fire exactly 100 pages after that training shot, and the British don't respond under a
further 10 pages after that (i.e., on page 214).
Prior to an armed invasion on the coast of Brittany, France, and beginning on page 150, Kydd and
other seamen destined to land in an expeditionary force also learn to use muskets. Thereafter,
author Stockwin appears to forget that training; for, when attacked ashore by the enemy, the
seamen are herded like sheep inside a hollow square formation of Royal Marines, who do 100%
of the actual firing. The seamen don't eve reload the Marines' discharged muskets!
Stockwin thus reduces Kydd's actual role in France to that of a draught/draft animal, one of a
gang of sailors who uselessly - as it turns out - haul a naval cannon inland, where it ends up spiked
(but a spike in the touch-hole only temporarily decommissioned a gun, for it could be drilled out
again) and abandoned to the French.
Life can indeed be ironic, though. In my career it several times happened that I was trained for
duties that failed to eventuate, as seems to have been also somewhat the trend for Kydd. Yet
when men are fighting for their lives, it's scarcely credible that half the available force be
effectively written out of the action at the whim of superior officers - or, in this case, at that of a
novelist, neophyte or not.
It also bothered me that, near this book's beginning, the first-rate three-decker ship of the line, or
line-of-battle ship, or simply "liner", into which protagonist Kydd has been pressed, is given a
preternatural smoothness of motion, tearing through the North Atlantic more steadily under sail
than would be typical of even a diesel ship of many times that antque vessel's displacement.
The fact is, even the famous first-rate flagship HMS "Victory" displaced only 2,162 (long) tons,
or was perhaps the size of a modern fishing trawler. Ocean swells and the like were, and are, most
certainly felt aboard such vessels, and susceptible people, including even the great Vice Admiral
Lord Horatio Nelson, suffered a great deal from seasickness.
Later on, though, the "Duke William" does become lively in a fresh gale, and many aboard are
afflicted by mal de mer; not Kydd, however, for he has found his true calling at sea, and is often
impatient to learn as well as to accomplish more, while he's there.
Early in this work there is much talk of the "Royal Billy"'s having been full of rot and in severe
need of docking for refit. (A different British ship had lost her bottom and capsized with great loss
of life at Portsmouth; had she vanished on the high seas instead, her disappearance would have
been written down as "by causes unknown".) After the menace of Kydd's vessel's possible
disintegration is much discussed, though, author Stockwin simply drops the topic and it never
leads to any consequence, apparently just forgotten. Mr. Stockwin, one really must try to close
the loops one initiates!
Further destroying our faith in the ship, quite late in the book Kydd is assisting the carpenter when
they find a "devil bolt", or "robber bolt". This is supposed to be a long, solid copper fastener but,
instead, some unscrupulous dockyard matey has installed only the head and tail of such a device
as a fraudulent means on increasing his profit. This clearly is a reckless and criminal way of
proceeding but, having established the basic fact of the deception, Stockwin takes it no farther.
Again we await a consequence that just doesn't occur. One might say that such a plot itself
sometimes seems held together with devil bolts!
Another curious trait of this book is that some characters aren't exactly introduced, but rather
materialize out of thin air like a conjuror's rabbit from his trick hat. This feat of magic tends to
occur over the mess table, where we've been given to understand that Kydd's messmates are fixed
by name and number. On pages 43-44, nonetheless, one Doud turns up, apparently as a waiter or
steward. (He will later become Kydd's third mentor, as I recall, and an Able Seaman.) In the same
way, on page 61, first Pinto, then Buddles also turn up by surprise.
Considering the attention Stockwin lavished on some matters, this jumpy proceeding seems odd -
but chances are that his next work will be better organized in this regard, if he reads these notes,
at least.
In another place we aren't told what function, if any, the "Duke William" is performing at sea;
then, at page 146, we suddenly read, "... anything that offered a break from the monotony of
sailing up and down on blockade duty would be welcome." Oh - then they've been blockading
some unnamed French port! How nice of Stockwin to let us know, at last.
Somewhere in the Channel - and it's appropriate that Kydd, junior to everyone except the
first-cruise boys, has little idea where the ship is, or is headed - the "Duke William" responds to a
distress signal and finds a much smaller, English merchant brig in a very bad way. At the root of it
all is the offence of barratry. Kydd is one of a small party of men who volunteer to go aboard the
brig and manage to sort out both the brig's physical and her legal problems.
In fact, author Stockwin makes this book interesting largely by having protagonist Kydd volunteer
for several dangerous missions. This also is how Kydd comes to the attention of his "betters" - by
being quick and apparently fearless in raising his hand, then performing his tasks beyond the call
of duty. First, he undertakes a topman's duty when he's only assigned to haul lines (ropes) on
deck; he next volunteers at great hazard to go to the aid of the distressed brig, as already outlined;
later, he volunteers to join a force that will fight for the Royalist French cause, upon the coast of
Brittany. Nor it this quite all ...
One initially gets the impression that some people aboard the "Duke William" are very good,
others are very bad, but few are merely middling. The Captain is one exception. While not
personally maltreating his crewmen, he allows his "hard horse" First Lieutenant a free hand to do
so, thus showing himself (in my view) unworthy and, when failing to act in a crisis, even
incompetent - but not actually malicious or misanthropic.
Eventually the Captain rather weakly allows his worst officers to prevail in a trumped-up
disciplinary matter, and he himself orders severe punishment for Kydd (whereas he should have
noticed that Kydd's chief accuser was drunk on duty); at the very end, however, the Captain
partially redeems himself by seeing Kydd treated well, for a change.
Another early dud amongst the officers is a Mr. Lockwood, perhaps about Sixth Lieutenant - we
aren't informed. He is so cowed by the presence on deck of the First Lieutenant (and, secondarily,
also of the Captain) that although he, Lockwood, is responsible as Officer of the Watch when a
man falls overboard, he is unable to issue the orders needed to bring the ship to and launch a
rescue boat. Lockwood improves slightly with age, though, and shows some resolution at the
end.
A very good man, although rated no higher than Able Seaman for his lack of education, appoints
himself to be Kydd's first mentor, and starts him on his upward climb - literally so, when the two
climb as high as the maintop, about 70 feet (21+ metres) above the deck. First, though, the
mentor must convince Kydd (who initially wishes only to escape the Royal Navy's clutches) that
the effort is worth making; that a desirable naval future is a real possibility.
Kydd takes the point and begins showing promise of becoming a proper sailor, reaching an
absolute epiphany on page 111. Yet earlier he'd almost been swept into a mutiny, fortuitously
pre-empted only by word of a French fleet's breakout and by immediate orders to put to sea.
Although rather little then happens, thoughts of mutiny seem "gone for a burton" for a long time.
The theme will however re-emerge on pages 226+, in consequence of Kydd's blatantly unfair
punishment.
Luckily, Kydd had by then gone far on the path prescribed by his first mentor. When the latter
dies in a shipboard accident, he is much mourned by Kydd who is, however, situated among
hundreds of men on board. Before long he finds a new sort of mentor, an aristocrat doing lowly
penance, who will save Kydd's bacon ashore by speaking good French (and even by having
exactly the required local familiarity!) while on the ill-fated expedition into Revolutionary
France.
Kydd later finds yet a third mentor, more in the style of the first. With all this help, and given his
innate abilities, he survives to be promoted to Ordinary Seaman before the novel's end, when he
also is transferred to a prestigious, active frigate - where, we may presume, the next installment of
his adventures is to unfold.
"Kydd" is a pretty good book, built on an unusual premise and with many passages of fine prose.
Unfortunately, it shows flaws that may perhaps be typical of first novels. It also lacks editing
capable of weeding out failings on the larger scale, some of which I've pointed out.
Editing, you see, is not just proofreading; in the end, a well edited book (presuming it is not
intended as a stylistic satire) will hang together with perfect flow and logic. Without enough of
that sort of attention, "Kydd" is certainly worth reading if you like its genre at all, but I feel it
doesn't fully live up to its promise.
Pete Hodgins
Reviewer
Kristina's Bookshelf
Steal Away
Linda Hall
Multnomah Publishers, Inc
ISBN 1590520726 $11.99 288 pp.
Due to a personal tragedy when she was only fourteen years old, Teri Blake-Addison, a once
police officer, turns private investigator specializing in missing person cases. She is hired by a
minister to look into his wife's boating accident. Not completely satisfied with the filed police
report, the minister hires Teri to investigate the accident.
Teri makes several trips to the Canadian island wreckage site to search for clues. The famous
evangelist continuously questions Teri for her findings. Before he marries again, he searches for
closure to calm his unsettling feelings. After several interviews with locals on Grand Maran
Island, Teri encounters and questions a hermit living off the coast of where the accident occurred.
Teri, unexpectedly, discovers what washed up on shore.
STEAL AWAY, with a twist of events, keeps the suspense plummeting throughout the book. A
story in search for not only a person, but redemption and another chance. The reader is brought
into the realization that a person can be delivered from sin and that there is no sin that cannot be
forgiven, if a person grieves with authentic regret. A discussion guide finishes the book with
questions for book clubs or discussion groups. Look for my upcoming review on the second book
to this series.
Without A Trace
Colleen Coble
W Publishing Group
ISBN 0849944295 $12.99 289 pp.
The disappearance of Bree Nichols' husband and son, forces her to endure a year long search for
his missing plane. Having gone down in an unknown location in the Michigan Upper Peninsula
area, she is determined to find her family and put closure to her life. Her search leads her to
research a fatal crime that has her questioning nearly everyone in town.
Bree and her friend, take their search-and-rescue dog team to investigate the crime that blusters
the town of Rock Harbor. During her search, Bree discovers her relationship with God and
accepting Him into her life, begins to resolve her search for her husband and son. A surprising
discovery leads her to more than she ever expected.
WITHOUT A TRACE is a definite, for any reader who enjoys a good mystery. It is a book
packed with an invariable suspense that keeps the reader holding the book. Michigan's beauty is
brought to life, along with the reality of how a canine search team operates. Readers will enjoy
this combination of mystery, suspense, romance, and inspiration that brings this book to life. This
is the first of the Rock Harbor Series.
Kristina Nelson
Reviewer
Linda's Bookshelf
The Dark Before the Dawn: 70 Secrets to Self-Discovery
Theresa Castro
H and E Publishing
P.O. Box 782388, San Antonio, TX 78278
www.HealingandEnlightenment.com
ISBN 0974522139 $18.95, 156 pp.
The Dark Before the Dawn by Theresa Castro echoes self-help approaches that remind one of
works by John Bradshaw, Louise L. Hay, Napoleon Hill, and Ken Keyes, among others. While
Castro points out that she read a "litany of books on relationships, spirituality, and self-discovery"
(p. 4), after the dissolution of a 10-year relationship and was forced to re-invent herself, she could
not find just one book with all the answers she needed. She researched, took voluminous notes,
methodically studied and analyzed her own situation, defined each challenge, and set out to find
its resolution. Having done this inner work, she now shares her collected data, observations, and
revelations.
Her approach is analytical, yet not clinical; therefore, it is easy for the general reader to
understand. She also ends each section with questions and exercises. Although candid, she never
sentimentalizes or overexposes her private life. She reveals a portrait of careful control of her
situation even as she moved through the darkest shadows in the early days following her breakup.
She does not blame her "beloved" for ending the relationship or herself for not recognizing the
signs of its imminence. Her resolution, perhaps uniquely, revolves around "correcting" that former
relationship after her beloved is no longer part of the picture. Through journaling and professional
counseling, she analyzes not only her relationship with her former partner but also her ongoing
relationship with herself. Defining her challenges and working assiduously toward finding answers
perfectly matches the title, The Dark Before the Dawn, for the reader can feel strongly that a
bright day will dawn. The enchanting cover and interior design by TLC Graphics, likewise,
symbolize beautifully the positive and uplifting approach of the author.
The Hormone Survival Guide for Perimenopause: Balance Your Hormones Naturally
Nisha Jackson, Ph.D.
Larkfield Publishing
5256 Aero Drive, Unit 3, Santa Rosa, CA 95403
www.larkfieldpublishing.com
ISBN 0974206709 $14.95, 192 pp.
The Hormone Survival Guide for Perimenopause by Nisha Jackson, PhD, is must reading for
every woman. Some women sail smoothly from their maidenhood to their years when motherhood
is a possibility to elderhood when the possibility of child-bearing ceases. Some females, though, at
the time of diminishing hormone levels, experience sharp and rapid imbalances which can wreak
havoc. Jackson explains that no longer should the currently estimated 50 to 70 million women (p.
17) in perimenopause accept the outmoded notion from uninformed health care professionals that
these problems are "all in their heads" and be dismissed after a five-minute evaluation and the
pronouncement that they merely should grin and bear it.
No longer should women allow a physician's guesswork to keep them teetering on the brink of
tears and overwhelming depression or to have drugs pushed on them to mask their "hormonal
hurricane" (p. 75) of symptoms. A qualified hormone therapist should administer a comprehensive
hormone profile to test either blood serum, saliva, or urine, then evaluate the results to determine
a valid diagnosis. For her own patients, after administering blood serum hormone tests -- the
"worldwide gold standard for evaluating women's hormone levels" (p. 32) -- a physical exam, and
stress evaluation, Jackson encourages a diet of wholesome proteins, whole grains, orchard-fresh
fruits and garden-fresh vegetables and prompts her patients to abandon factory foods and sugar.
She outlines ample recreation and exercise and helps patients to get better quality sleep. If
indicated, she begins them on a careful regimen of natural bioidentical hormones respecting their
own biochemical individuality. If needed, she also recommends herbs that she deems safe.
Judiciously balancing hormones, if needed, by natural means can change a woman's life
dramatically; and, in some cases, it can save her from what could have been a desperate
downward spiral to premature death. Jackson is adamant about the crucial importance of proper
testing through a qualified practitioner and a reputable laboratory. If your current health care
adviser fails to test you, Jackson recommends finding a knowledgeable and reputable health care
provider who will. Having experienced hormonal upheaval in her own life, having gotten it under
control, and having treated thousands of women, Nisha Jackson is a consummate and caring
therapist to those who need a "hormone survival guide for perimenopause" and wish "to balance
their hormones naturally."
Holistic Aromatherapy for Animals: A Comprehensive Guide to Using Essential Oils and
Hydrosols with Dogs, Cats, Horses, and Other Animals
Kristen Leigh Bell
Findhorn Press
305s The Park, Findhorn, Forres IV36 3TE, Scotland, UK
findhornpress.com
ISBN 1899171592 $14.95, 221 pp.
In Holistic Aromatherapy for Animals by Kristen Leigh Bell, you will learn the origin and history
of the versatile "healing use of essential oils and hydrosols." Also, you will discover that
aromatherapy can be used alone or teamed with conventional, alternative, complementary, or
other holistic modalities (nutrition, herbs, flower essences, homeopathy, and acupuncture) to treat
discomforts, disorders, and diseases.
Bell explains how holistic aromatherapy -- the "therapeutic use of pure, unadulterated essential
oils, hydrosols, and other fragrant plant materials for holistic health treatments" (p. 2)-works
physically, emotionally, conditionally, evolutionarily, and spiritually to help animals to heal. She
offers aromatherapy advice not only for dogs, cats, and other small mammals such as rabbits,
guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils, rats, and mice and large mammals such as horses, donkeys, sheep,
and pigs, but also amphibians and fish.
She describes how aromatic plant materials can be administered orally or topically or diffused to
be inhaled. Because hydrosols are water-based, which makes them unsuitable for diffusion, they
typically are used orally or administered topically -- either with an applicator or the fingers,
massaged into the skin, or sprayed or spritzed onto the bodies of the animals being treated. Some
hydrosols even may be included in shampoo or conditioner formulations.
Instead of masking symptoms and treating maladies that occur simultaneously as separate
problems, holistic aromatherapy addresses every aspect of the animal to bring about a state of
balanced energy and a return to good health. The author also points out how aromatherapy can be
used to nurture the animal to prevent imbalances and crises.
While Bell emphasizes that aromatherapy can be put to good use under the control of pet owners,
responsible pet owners know when to take their animal companions for conventional
intervention.
Objective regarding both conventional and holistic healing methods, Bell takes the reader out of
the maze of misinformation so prevalent in society today where people innocently show their
puzzlement in comments such as, "If my dog has an ear infection, then how will smelling
something help him?" (p.11). Or when a woman, whom Bell advised could help to calm her
terrified dog with aromatherapy during eardrum-piercing thunderstorms, said, "I don't really think
it would be safe to light candles in a circle on the floor around my dog" (p. 4). Remember,
aromatherapy is administered in numerous ways, and it is not new age fluff that the uninformed
might wish to purport.
Bell discusses quality and grades of aromatherapy products. She explains that while synthetic
fragrance oils may have pleasant scents, they have little to do with essential oils and no
therapeutic value. She outlines how to judge the available products and their ingredients, how to
find reputable suppliers, and gives a list of recommended suppliers. Essential oils prepared from
organic plant materials, on the contrary, are said to be the "very soul, or essence, of a plant" (p.
16). Not only that, but also, even more quantifiable, essential oils are the "key defenses that a
plant has to protect itself from invaders such as bacteria, molds, viruses, fungi and pests, such as
insects and animals" (p. 16). Because essential oils are so concentrated and so powerful, their
properties must be respected; and they must be used with the utmost care to prevent dangerous,
or even deadly, consequences. Especially, if your precious pet is a cat, you must have guidance
before proceeding to treat it with aromatherapy. Cats have special sensitivities to certain aromatic
plant materials. It is imperative that you study before you start. If you are interested in
implementing aromatherapy for any of your cherished animal companions, you must read and
study Holistic Aromatherapy for Animals by Kristen Lee Bell and follow her astute guidance and
her "safety-conscious blending style" (p. 7).
Linda Davis Kyle, Reviewer
www.BlueberryPress.com
Lori's Bookshelf
Wizard of Isis
Jean Stewart
Bella Books
P.O. Box 10543, Tallahassee, FL. 32302
www.bellabooks.com
ISBN: 1931513724 $12.95 244 pp.
At long last, this sequel resolves the cliffhanger we were left with at the end of the fourth
installment of this immensely entertaining sci-fi/fantasy series. When last we saw Isis's leader
Tomyris "Whit" Whitaker, her jet and that of fellow soldier Danu Sullivan had been chased by
enemy forces into Elysium territory. In this continuation of the WINGED ISIS storyline, Whit and
Danu crash land and are faced with the difficulties of hiding and surviving in enemy lands. By a
stroke of good luck, they fall in with a group of Amazon rebels. But the enemy is hot on their
trail, and they are outnumbered hundreds to one.
The women of Isis live in Freeland, a democratic city-colony on the western side of the U.S. On
the other side is Elysium where religious fanatics, corrupt men, and the Regulators, a
Gestapo-type of police force live violent, miserable lives. The highly technological and deadly
Elysium men want nothing more than to destroy Isis and take their resources, and only the Border
shield powered by satellites stops them. Unfortunately, the Border has developed inconsistencies,
and that's how the enemy got in. Though the Freeland forces did repel the Elysium attackers, they
can't afford to lose Whit or Danu, and a rescue mission must be planned. Unfortunately, as with
most Isis emergencies, the plan is not quickly decided upon, and Whit's partner Kali and Danu's
girlfriend Tor are tortured by the wait. When the two women take off prematurely on a journey to
rescue the two fighters, they set in motion a series of events resulting in battles, chases, and the
death of a key character.
Stewart's plotting is deft and focused, her characters well-rounded, and the storyline compelling.
Nobody writes lesbian adventure fiction like she does. I have said it before that Stewart's work in
its own special category: a hybrid of science fiction, adventure, and romance in a uniquely lesbian
framework. WIZARD OF ISIS has an exhilarating pace and engrossing plotline. I couldn't put the
book down until I came to the end, and I eagerly await the next installment.
Walking Wounded
Jessica Casavant
Yellow Rose Books
PMB 210, 8691-9th Ave, Port Arthur, TX. 77642-8025
www.regalcrest.biz
ISBN: 1932300201 $13.95 262 pp.
When police detective Alex Ryan's lover dies in a mysterious murder, Alex is nearly paralyzed
with grief. It doesn't matter that she and her partner had been on the rocks for some time Alex
saw her die and had been involved in the catastrophe. The trauma and pain are intense. In
response, Alex resigns from her detective job and leaves friends, superiors, and colleagues behind
who are shocked by her total withdrawal from society.
She moves into a small apartment above a bookstore owned by Megan Cartwright who lives in
the other apartment in the building located across from Alex. Little by little, the two women are
drawn to one another, but the ghosts of the past intrude. Everything about Alex's lover's puzzling
death is unsettling and haunting. And then another woman is killed under suspicious
circumstances. Alex sets out to look into the murder and its possible connections to her lover's
death. Her single-minded pursuit of the truth destroys the budding relationship with Megan. Will
it destroy Alex, too?
With a balance of action scenes, police procedural, and romance, this cross-genre novel has it all.
WALKING WOUNDED is an engrossing story about one woman striving to return to the land of
the living after being emotionally shattered. The final denouement is exciting and intense as the
threads of Alex's past and present unwind and she comes to understand that she is not soul-dead
after all. But will this knowledge cost the life of someone dear to Alex? Don't miss this second
installment of the "Boston Friends" series. Highly recommended.
The Price of Fame
Lynn Ames
BookEnds Press
P.O. Box 14513, Gainesville, FL 32604
www.starcrossedproductions.com
ISBN: 1932667075 $17.99 278 pp.
Kate Kyle has worked hard for many years to rise to the position of lead anchor for the WCAP
TV news program in upstate New York. Little does she know that she will become an overnight
sensation when disaster strikes at the state capitol, and she happens to be the only news person on
the scene to relay the news live, on camera. She also helps with the rescue efforts, and her live
report is carried nationally. Being thrust into the limelight has a dual positive effect: she is
accorded fame, and the adoring focus brings her into contact with journalist Jay Parker, who
happens to be an acquaintance from Kate's college days.
Jay and Kate's lives have touched before twice, actually, under appalling circumstances. But the
third time's a charm, and this time around there is no stopping the attraction. They embark upon a
love affair with more passion and intensity than either of them has ever felt before. But once
again, disaster strikes, and this time it's entirely out of their control. Will the price of fame mean
that these two will be crushed?
This is romance writing at its most absorbing, with all the angst and uncertainty of missed
communications and misdirected intentions. Ames touches on many aspects of these two women's
lives, past and present, and though the reader can't help but root for their relationship, there is no
way on earth it can work for them or could it? THE PRICE OF FAME is well worth the foray
to find out the answer to that question.
Geography Club
Brent Hartinger
HarperTempest
1350 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019
www.harpertempest.com
ISBN: 0060012234 $6.99 paper $15.99 hardcover, 232 pp.
Russel Middlebrook is a 16 year old high school sophomore hiding a big secret: he's gay. He
keeps a low profile because he doesn't want to be treated like the school outcast and scapegoat
Brian Bund upon whom all manner of dirty tricks and teenage cruelties are visited. Instead, Russel
spends his time with Gunnar and Min, a guy and girl known for their brains, but who are also
"occasional visitors to the border region of high school respectability" (p. 6). Russel is not eager
to leave that border. Ever.
By a fluke Russel learns that another student is also gay, and he embarks upon that universally
heady, intense journey where falling in love seems oh-so-right. He joins the baseball team to be
with his boyfriend even hits a home run and suddenly he's living in the Land of the Popular.
But he also meets some other kids who are gay and lonely. They have an inspiration to start a
gay/lesbian support group, but in order to keep out those who would mock and exile them, they
call it Geography Club. Unfortunately, the secret does not stay confidential, and the fallout is
more than Russel thinks he can bear. Will he choose to take the coward's way out? Or can he
stand up to the ignorant people all around?
With a light touch and a sense of humor, Hartinger tells a very serious story, one that is being
played out in high schools across the country. With unerring accuracy, he depicts the isolation and
fear first of one young man, then of a small group, and he reveals the courage and support it takes
for any gay or lesbian high school student to stand up to the crowd. By the end of this novel, I
had tears in my eyes. The story is moving, the characters are classic, and the discoveries Russel
makes are ones that both high schoolers and adults should all learn. Highly recommended.
Lori L. Lake
Reviewer
Lorraine's Bookshelf
The Everything Diabetes Book
Paula Ford- Martin with Ian Blumer, M.D.
Adams Media
57 Littlefield Street, Avon, Massachusetts 02322
www.adamsmedia.com
ISBN 1580629814 $14.95 1-800-872-5627
The Everything Diabetes Book is the latest in an educational series which provides a well
researched thumbnail sketch of the basic definition(s) of diabetes diagnosis, treatment, control,
and special issues. The emphasis is on the individual's responsibility and capability to take control
and make every effort to lead a healthy life with the complication of diabetes. The Everything
Diabetes Book is an excellent resource for the newly diagnosed diabetic, or the person close to
him or her. Helpful information and advice is presented in nonjudgemental yet no-nonsense
fashion. In all 22 chapters are offered, covering definitions of three major types of diabetes,
diagnosis and tests, self monitoring of blood glucose, insulin and oral medications, diet, exercise,
weight loss, emergencies, complications, the diabetic foot, kids and diabetes, special issues for
women and men, emotions relationships, and living with diabetes, daily life with diabetes, and the
search for a cure. Helpful charts and meaningful statistics are embedded in the text frequently.
Additional appendices offer additional resources, glucose conversion charts, and preventative care
guidelines. I particularly found the preventative guidelines to be helpful, as they offer a schedule
for routine lab tests such as blood pressure and pulse, cholesterol (lipid panel), HbAlc,
microalbumin, and comprehensive eye exams and foot exams. It can be confusing for the diabetic
to know how often these things should be monitored by a Dr. in a routine care plan.
If there were ever a disease requiring a comprehensive team approach, diabetes is it. The
Everything Diabetes Book presents a series of suggestions of ways in which different approaches
and different professionals can be helpful. Again, the self help aspect is important, but the
importance of professional medical supervision and monitoring is also emphasized. In general,
The Everything Diabetes Book tends to be more like a basic bible of diabetes rather than a trendy
survey of the latest alternative therapies, though some of that information is referred to.
There are many practical self help tips and facts and resources included for diabetics. All together,
the Everything Diabetes Book is an excellent resource for the diabetic and family or friend(s). It
can be a very frightening experience to receive the news that someone you love or you yourself
are a diabetic. This book presents both the good and the "bad" news in easily digestible
information bytes and in so doing, encourages the diabetic to take back a healthy control of their
life.
Recommended for adults or (literate) teens with issues or interests in diabetes. The Everything
Diabetes Book is a very thorough practical resource for the lay person.
Tolkein: A Cultural Phenomenon
Brian Rosebury
Palgrave, MacMillan/St Martin's Press
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10010
www.palgrave-usa.com
ISBN# 1403912637 $19.95 212-777-6359
Tolkein: A Cultural Phenomenon is a unique offering of literary criticism of Tolkein in that it
includes and integrates recent cinematic and other media related criticism in its analysis.Even
more intriguing to the game oriented youth set of Tolkein enthusiasts, Tolkein: A Cultural
Phenomenon contains an exhaustive sampling and review of many Tolkein based computer and
video games, as well as card and role playing games. These he categorizes under relabeling
assimilation, imitation, and adaptation, and his reduction and analysis of the game phenomena is
riveting, insightful, and direct. Rosebury's view at times seems almost hyperfocussed, not that this
is a bad thing. Of very great interest to me and many other readers is his review of the Peter
Jackson "Lord of The Rings" award-winning movie series. I would say his criticism is not all
positive, but also not unjustified. He tends to give full credit for the work presented in the media
itself, rather than only seeing it as a pale or incomplete version of the much richer literature upon
which it is based.
However, I was also very interested in Rosebury's section on Tolkein in the History of Ideas
(chapter 5, pp.158-192). In it he compares many other Tolkein critics' views, muses about his
own previous analyses, and draws a pervasive conclusion that is only partially summarized by the
following quotation:
'"Through all the crannies of the world we filled with elves and goblins, though we dared to build
gods and their houses out of dark and light, and sowed the seed of dragons, 'twas our right (used
or misused). The right has not decayed. We make still by the law in which we're made (from
Tolkein's 'Mythopoeia')."'
'For Tolkein the fundamental derived human right is the right to create. The idea, with its
romantic exaltation of the creative artist, its implied rejection of the classical notion of art as
imitation, has its immediate roots in Coleridge, whose celebrated but cumbrous jargon of Fancy
and Imagination Tolkein makes a bold attempt to improve upon in 'On Fairy Stories.'58 But
Tolkein saw perhaps more clearly than Coleridge that creative power was as capable of corrupting
its owner as any other gift. his view of artistic 'subcreation', both as a self-conscious artist himself
and as a depictor of artists in his work, is at once a continuation of the romantic tradition and a
critique of it. (page 191)." Rosebury then goes on to state he had changed his earlier view on
Tokein's 'anarchist' element and was somewhat more sympathetic, understanding that Tolkein's
"anti-political stance, like Tolstoy's, rests on a considered and consistent metaphysic, and is more
than just the indulgence of a pious wish that everyone would act rightly without any need of
politics (pages 191-192)"
There is obviously much more, the prose of Rosebury is challenging and relentlessly dense, but
quite rewarding to take the effort to understand. Although Tolkein: A Cultural Phenomenon is
definitely a scholarly work, it will translate well and appeal to a wider audience than purist
Tolkein scholars and graduate students. Clearly it has its deserved place among these, but in this
era of self educated internet students or non-students alike, works such as Tolkein: A Cultural
Phenomenon have doubly lasting impact and educational value. Perhaps parallel to the impact of
Peter Jackson's movie adaptation, Rosebury's work will send the serious reader to other possibly
original sources and experiences for further education.
The Animal Hedge
Paul Fleischman; Illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline
Candlewick Press
2067 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02140
ISBN 0763616060 $16.99 www.candlewick.com
The Animal Hedge is a beautiful children's book with quietly amazing illustrations done in
watercolor and gouache. The story tells of a farmer with three sons who endures the loss of his
beloved animals and farm due to drought. He maintains himself as best he can, sharpening tools.
He remembers the different dreams and abilities of his three sons when it comes time for them to
choose their professions. When they each ask what trade they should choose, he tells them to
watch the hedge that surrounds their tiny cottage, for its shape will give a powerful clue to the
best vocation for each young man. Amazingly, wondrous shapes arise from the humble hedge to
direct the sons in their vocations. The eldest sees a coach and becomes a coachman; the second
sees a mystic ship and becomes a sailor, while the youngest sees a fiddler, always his dream, and
he decides to become a fiddler. But most wonderful of all is the love and the vision of the farmer
for his sons' futures. After they all leave and become successful in their chosen vocations, he is
lonely and shapes his hedge in the forms of all the animals he had loved when he had his farm.
Then all the sons come home and find that it was not nature alone , but their father's trimming of
the hedge that had shown them the desires that lay in their hearts. Excited, they see the many
animals he has shaped from the shrubs in his loneliness. They put their resources together and
return to give their father the animals he has missed; chickens, pigs, and cows. Upon seeing this,
"The farmer's heart glowed like a hot wood stove. And he made up his mind to let the hedge grow
back just as it pleased."
This beautiful and healing tale of love between father and sons is further underscored by the
muted colors and patchwork placements of the American folk art-influenced illustrations. Perhaps
the most striking quality which might be encouraged by the telling of this story is faith in the
dreams of youth, faith which endures and survives hardship and privation, faith which does not
require youth to remold itself in the cast of the past, a faith which sets them free to follow their
hearts, just as the father has done. This is a lovely children's book, very appropriate for preschool
to kindergarten age levels. It is sure to be treasured by child and parent alike.
Shadow on the Ivy; An Antique Print Mystery
Lea Wait
Scribner
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N. Y. 10020
ISBN 074324950X $24.00 212-632-4951 cristine.levasser@smionandschuster.com
Shadow on the Ivy is a Maggie Summer Antique Prints mystery. Set on the campus of Somerset
County College, Shadow on the Ivy presents the dilemma of attempted murder of a young single
parent, resident of a newly established residence for single parents at Somerset, Whitcomb House.
Another successful murder of a Whitcomb House resident plunges Maggie even deeper into the
mystery needing to be solved. Struggling with ongoing personal issues of loneliness, further
enhanced by her recent widowhood and unwelcome knowledge that her spouse had been
unfaithful to her, Maggie ponders the possibility of becoming a single parent herself. Facing two
demanding careers, one teaching American History as illustrated by antique prints and cartoons,
and the other selling antique prints on the antique circuit, Maggie is caught between factions in
the college and private interests in the wealthy founders of Whitcomb House. When she begins to
suspect the murder may take her to high places in the college hierarchy, she finds that even her job
is in jeopardy. While the local police and detective are not exactly bumbling, they are finally only
able to solve the mystery with the full and endangered assistance that Maggie alone can give.
Throughout her efforts, Maggie maintains her email relationship with close and friend and antique
colleague, Will. Will this relationship blossom into something more enduring? Will Maggie find
the solution to the problems that eat her heart as well as the solution to the murder of young
Tiffany? The reader is caught up in her world and eager to continue with every page and
chapter.
One of the loveliest trademarks of the Maggie Summer mysteries is that each chapter is headed by
an actual description of an antique engraving or print, appropriate to the subject of the chapter.
Author Lea Wait educates her readers effortlessly in American History, antique prints, and art
appreciation, along with masterful suspense. There is not a single false step, tone or move in the
flawless narrative. Shadow on the Ivy flows and entices.
Nancy Lorraine
Reviewer
Lowe's Bookshelf
Talk of the Town
Saxon Bennett
Bella Books
P.O. Box 10543, Tallahassee, FL 32302
www.bellabooks.com 1-800-729-4992
ISBN: 193151318X $12.95 220 pages
"Lesbians need a patron saint. We could call her Saint Vulva." (p100.) This musing from one of
the women in Saxon Bennett's novel, Talk of the Town sets the tone for much of the humor and
antics.
Mallory, an attractive, intelligent lesbian who runs the successful Kokopelli-was-an-Alien vending
machine company in Phoenix, Arizona is seeing a psychotherapist to deal with the trauma of her
broken heart. Three years ago Caroline left. Since then, Mallory has worn nothing but pajamas
and spends a great deal of time lost in her imaginary world aka the "Republic of Mallory." That is
until she meets a new physician in town, a woman named Del.
Mallory's best friend Gigi is an artist who struggles with her ambivalence over artistic success
while she works at the local sex toy shop. Although in a relationship with Alex, Gigi loves to flirt
and she has flirted with Mallory for years. Still she has been true to Alex. Or has she? Kim is a
nurse who works with Del and is getting over her relationship with Ollie. Meanwhile, Alex
realizes that her happenstance relationship with Gigi might not equal love.
If you're starting to feel like you'd like to have a score card to keep track of some of the antics of
these women, you're not alone. Bennett's cast of characters is sometimes confusing to the reader.
This is particularly true in the book's early pages. However, this weakness is mild in comparison
to the story's pleasure factor. There are lots of witty and touching moments in Talk of the Town
as well as a few surprises.
Bennett's women are intelligent delightful entertainment that is reminiscent of early Rita Mae
Brown novels, including her use of fiction to depict and detail contemporary political issues. A
favorite example for this reader are the antics of Gigi's Aunt Lil with her partner and other crones
who live in a trailer park in the desert. These women have been known to receive a misdemeanor
or two for their political actions. "They sent Anita Bryant a rainbow colored set of dildoes, the
President a box of cigars with pubic hair attached, [and] Jerry Falwell a leatherman Billy doll" in
their mailing campaign alone. (p101)
Bennett's clear affection and appreciation of lesbians allows for her to poke fun at some of the
community's foibles without becoming pedantic. As with life, not everyone is wonderful but most
have redeeming qualities. And Bennett's optimistic approach to life makes for amusing, often
charming moments. A fast paced, entertaining read, Bennett has introduced an interesting
ensemble cast of lesbians. Apparently the first of several books featuring these women, Talk of the
Town is primarily Mallory's story. There are clearly threads left to explore in this crowd. This
reviewer will be looking forward to future installments.
One Degree of Separation
Karin Kallmaker
Bella Books
www.bellabooks.com
ISBN 1931513309 $12.95, 207 pp.
"Life is twisted" is a favored exclamation from Liddy, a twenty-something dyke from Berkeley,
California. Newly graduated from Cal with her Masters degree, Liddy has taken a contract to
conduct research for a nationally known writer and finds herself trapped in the Iowa corn-belt for
the summer. Her goal was to get away from the West Coast and an affair that ended very badly.
She has no intention of getting romantically involved with anyone this summer. The women of
Iowa City which boasts, arguably, the highest concentration of dykes living in any town in the
Midwest, have other plans for "fresh meat." Even Liddy finds herself reconsidering her goals
when she meets "Marian the Librarian. "
If you are a librarian living in the "River City," Iowa and your name is Marian, you might as well
surrender and embrace the humor of the musical. Marian Pardoo, on the Reference staff at the
Iowa City Public Library, has done just that. Her dog answers to "Professor Hill" while her cat is
dubbed "Trombone." Marian enjoys her work and is pleased with life in semi-rural Iowa.
However, she is nursing some major heartache. That pain sometimes makes her life very
difficult.
Neither Liddy nor Marian is prepared for the chemistry that strikes when they meet. Their
conflagration is wonderful, frightening, and more than a little confusing. Or as Liddy wonders,
"Was she in a foreign movie with no subtitles? Or was this just the way the dykes dated in Iowa
City? Yes, no, yes, no, talk, talk, and more talk?" p112
The two women struggle to overcome their fears of getting hurt by love again and find that
sometimes communication is difficult. When Marian looks for a greeting card to express her
feelings for Liddy, she finds, "There weren't any cards that said, 'Can we do it like rabbits and still
be friends?' Not one read, 'Ignore what I'm saying and jump me, now!'" p122
Having a crush on a gym teacher is a fairly common element in the school years of most future
dykes. In One Degree, Kallmaker pays tribute to what has to be a close second for many of the
"nerdier" lesbians, that of the crush on a librarian. Or as she has Marian reflect of her decision,
years ago to become a librarian, "It always seemed like whatever I could dream I could find at the
library. And ever since I was a girl I thought librarians were the guardians of all the mysteries of
time. It never occurred to me . That I could be one of the guardians." p43
Kallmaker's romp through the lesbian community in a Midwestern College town is entertaining,
sexy and touching. While One Degree is one of her most lighthearted novels, Kallmaker taps
readers on the shoulder with a few well-placed political observations. She illustrates the realities
of public library employment and points out a frightening aspect of our post-9/11 world, i.e., the
Patriot Act and its assault on privacy and the free access to information.
One Degree is a delightful romantic comedy, filled with humor, lust, and lots of intelligent,
interesting dykes. Kallmaker's characters have a familiar feel and it's easy to identify with them.
They are individuals, yet likely to remind readers of women they know. As the novel opens,
Marian is having a bad PMS day and she writes in her journal, "Someone will die if my period
doesn't start tomorrow." p1 When Marian self medicates with chocolate, it's a sentiment with
which most women can empathize.
The "square dance" of lesbians working together and loving each other in a small community will
be a familiar theme in the lives of many readers. Kallmaker calls these dances with compassionate
understanding, a taste for irony, and a deliciously wicked wit. Interestingly, she continues a dialog
that has threaded its way through some of her other romances, as Liddy and Marian discuss
definitions and nuances of the butch and femme "do-si-do." One Degree of Separation is just plain
fun to read. So get out your dance cards and enjoy the music.
Painted Moon
Karin Kallmaker
Bella Books
www.bellabooks.com
ISBN: 1931513538 $12.95 214 pages
Bella Books has re-released Painted Moon, one of this reader's favorite Karin Kallmaker
romances. The novel deals with issues of grief and healing, self-discovery and coming out, falling
in love and loving again. Leah Beck is an artist who lost her lover and partner in a freak accident
two years ago. Jackie Frakes is a young architect who is struggling with her dissatisfaction with
life.
An unexpected snowstorm throws the two women together in a small cabin in the Sierras
Nevadas for Thanksgiving. For Leah, the meeting will shock her into realizing that while her
beloved Sharla is dead, she is still alive and still an artist. Kallmaker provides interesting
illustrations regarding how an artist might see the world. Leah expresses her emotions and even
tastes as colors. She speaks about where she grew up as " beautiful, full of life. The greens in the
spring would actually hurt my eyes ..." (p48) and watching Jackie's " face flicker with emotions.
She would paint it gray uncertainty, purple determination, chartreuse fear. "
(p60).
The pleasing addition to this re-release is the new cover art. Bella Books is to be commended for
their graphic designs in general. This cover is one of their best to date. The photograph is
reflective of a pivotal scene over Thanksgiving when the snowstorm breaks and Jackie, Butch
--Leah's husky, named because, "she acts really tough, but when you get her on her back, she's a
pussycat."(p19). -- and Leah venture out into the snow under a full moon. In an epiphany for
Leah, for the first time since Sharla's death, she finds that she HAS to draw, to paint, to create
what she sees. "Leah stood frozen, her fingers itching. The top of her head felt as though it was
burning. The moon hung low in the sky, casting a faint blue over the snow, across the ground, on
the tips of the dark pines. Jackie was etched in cerulean. Her braid spun in the light, the face
reflected the moon's glow. Her cheekbones were dusted in blue celeste, and her chin was a blur as
she threw herself into another drift of the silver-blue snow." (p37) The resulting series of paintings
is titled "Painted Moon."
Creative juices are not the only kind that Jackie inspires for Leah. Jackie's epiphany arrives a few
hours later when she admits that she finds herself sexually attracted to the enigmatic Leah just as
her aunt and uncle arrive to carry her home. There are complications and misunderstandings in the
course of the romance. When the two women come together, the energy is electric. And it shows
in Leah's work. The artist finds herself creating a highly senuous series of paintings that feature
Jackie. Someone observes, "Would anyone but another woman know that the small of a woman's
back is slightly darker, slightly hotter than her shoulders? That her hips are cooler, her thighs
smoother?" (p179)
Painted Moon has what this reader considers classic Kallmaker elements with interesting
characters, wry wit and steamy love scenes. (Some of the images of Jackie and Leah have lingered
in my mind for years.) If you missed this title the first time around, or if you are new to
Kallmaker's novels, pick up a copy of Painted Moon and bask its glow.
M. J. Lowe
Reviewer
Magdalena's Bookshelf
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation
Lynne Truss
Profile
ISBN 1861976127 $A29.95 209 pp.
Lynne Truss's book Eats, Shoots & Leaves is not really a handbook on better punctuation. There
are plenty of those around, and the reader in search of educational improvement would be well
advised to look elsewhere, although there is much to be learnt here. For those of us who tend to
be a little sloppy in our punctuation habits, substituting dashes for commas because it is much
easier, or relegating punctuation to the realm of the pedant - subservient to meaning - this book is
both an eye opener and cause for significant guilt. I'm no pedant myself, and my writing tends to
the sloppy - product of an American, grammarless education that I am - but Truss's very
humorous and pleasurable book makes the clear point that meaning and punctuation are intricately
linked. This is really a book to read for pleasure, rather than edification. If you are indeed a
pedant, you will rally along with Truss, shaking your head knowingly as she describes her own
desperation in the face of a "satanic sprinkling of redundant apostrophes," the way sentences like
"Thank God its Friday" rouses her to violence, and her demonstration outside of the film "Two
Weeks Notice." Truss is known in the UK for her the punctuation programmes she hosted for
Radio 4, Cutting a Dash, and many of her examples come from surveys, listener send-ins and faux
pas she uncovered during the show.
Eats, Shoots & Leaves is a good natured look at the importance of good punctuation, and
provides a lot of very funny, light hearted, and real, examples of transgressions. If you are a
pedant, or "stickler" as Truss puts it, this book will indeed ring bells for you, and you will
probably receive it as a gift from someone who knows exactly what you are. But you don't have
to be punctuation mad to enjoy this book. Like the clever joke which provides the book's title,
Eats, Shoots, and Leaves is a pleasurable read which, above all, celebrates the importance of
clarity in meaning, and the beauty of language in all its variations. Anyone who reads a lot of
books will get pleasure out of the many funny and real life examples which Truss provides. The
book is divided into chapters on the apostrophe, the comma, the semi-colon, the dash, and the
hyphen. The book ends with a look at the potential future of punctuation, and, in particular, the
impact of the hypertexted Internet with its edit-less democracy, its encouragement of strange
alternate usage and abbreviations (think Martin Amis' Kate in Yellow Dog) and the
emoticon:
Having grown up as readers of the printed word (and possibly even scribblers in margins), we may
take for granted the processes involved in the traditional activity of reading - so let us remind
ourselves. The printed word is presented to us in a linear way, with syntax supreme in conveying
the sense of words in their order. We read privately, mentally listening to the writer's voice and
translating the writer's thoughts. The book remains static and fixed; the reader journeys through it.
Picking up the book in the first place entails an active pursuit of understanding.
Truss uses a wide variety of examples for each chapter, citing things like George Bernard Shaw's
overabundance of semi-colons, to Lawrence's serious underuse (and "cavalier attitude"). Flaubert,
Amis, Chekhov, Hugo, Sartre, Fielding, Twain, Dickens, Woolf, and Shakespeare to name just a
few are all used as examples, along with much from the Fleet Street press, various downtrodden
greengrocers, and of course Hollywood. The writing is always light, and Truss is not afraid to
poke fun at herself, or use her own silly examples, like the change in name from Opal Fruits to
Starbursts. The comma chapter is particularly amusing, with examples that clearly demonstrate
this little punctuation mark's importance to the world of meaning: "what is this thing called, love?"
What makes this book more than just a little manual on punctuation, and indeed, more than just a
"book for people who care and want to prevent" punctuation's extinction, is Truss's clear devotion
to the world of words.
The reason it's worth standing up for punctuation is not that it's an arbitrary system of notation
known only to an over-sensitive elite who have attacks of the vapours when they see it
misapplied. The reason to stand up for punctuation is that without it there is no reliable way of
communicating meaning. Punctuation herds words together, keeps others apart.
This book will make the pedant, or "stickler" feel good about themselves. The rest of us will
probably agree with most of what Truss writes, enjoy this book for its good natured, light hearted
banter, and often hysterical examples, and feel bad at our own transgressions. With any luck, we
might even make them less often. If so, Truss's book will have created a better, clearer, and more
understandable world.
Names for Nothingness
Georgia Blain
Picador
ISBN: 033036488X $A30.00
"Every year this happens, seemingly overnight, a loss that is both sudden and inevitable " (3)
Georgia Blain's fourth novel, Names for Nothingness, is a novel of loss both sudden and
inevitable. The novel focuses primarily on the relationships between Sharn, her partner Liam, and
Sharn's daughter Caitlin. Just shy of her eighteenth birthday, Caitlin drops out of high school and
joins the Satya Deva "cult", renouncing her family, her education, and most of all, her own self -
her body, her desires and her responsibilities. Sharn's desperation, Liam's involvement, and the
myriad of emotions surrounding these relationships - filial and maternal guilt, the nature of
"giving" and how we express, and provide love and support provide the forward motion of the
novel.
Although Satya Deva's cult is portrayed in as negative a light as it is possible, with plenty of hints
about its disreputable nature, Blain refrains from any kind of moralistic tone, and there is an
important reality in Caitlin's own movement towards the cult. It isn't just Fraser, the good looking
recruit who draws her in, as other of her schoolmates are shown rejecting him as attractive but
loopy and unappealing. Caitlin is already a misfit - a person who doesn't feel that life is working
for her. We know that the book Fraser gives Caitlin rings true with her, and that her detachment
from life is already the cornerstone of her character. Caitlin's reaction to her daughter's need for
involvement, for physical engagement, makes it clear that her emotional damage predates the
cult:
'I don't want what other people want.' She picked at a loose thread on the hem of her uniform. 'I
can't sit and talk about how I'd like to be a lawyer or a doctor or a journalist, or how I want to be
married with children, or own a house, or any of those thing.' She looked down at the floor. 'It
doesn't make sense to me.' She pulled at the tread. The hem came undone. 'I can't even pretend.'
(49)
And the cult isn't where the interest or focus in this book lies. The reader is drawn to Sharn's guilt,
to her desire for change, and the way in which her feelings differ from her actions, which seem to
occur in spite of her needs and wants. Sharn feels herself to be a failure, and there are indications
of how her early selfishness, and sharp tongue have made her daughter feel unwanted:
She had never been good at any of it, at being with Caitlin or Liam, or even herself. Caitlin learnt
very young not to need her. To survive she had to be self-sufficient. In that shack by the river,
Sharn let her cry. Sometimes she sat outside wanting only to get away from her. When she came
back in, she did not talk to her or comfort her or hold her. She kept her clean. She kept her fed.
And she could do no more.(92-3)
Liam is the opposite. He takes Caitlin as she is, loving her fully and instantly, but he also allows
her the space to make her own choices and is then surprised by the negativity which results or
how he will need to take action to live the life he believes in. He forces himself to see the world as
beautiful, and to see the beauty in those around him. For Liam, the real action takes place in
nature, in the moments between words: "He looks up at the sky, and in that moment the breeze
stirs above them, fanning out the leaves of the traveller palms, the sound like the slow rush of the
wheels on the track when a train departs from the station, pulling out from the platform."
(243)
The narrative voice in Names for Nothingness moves between each of the three main characters,
Sharn, Liam, and Caitlin, in a way that allows their individual feelings to be the primary focus. We
learn about the past through the separate and often disparate memories, from Sharn's guilt ridden
pain , and her longing to be someone other than who she is, to Liam's attempts to bring back a
past through films which captured life in a way that may not ever have been true. The struggle
between the past and the present leaves the future uncertain and open.
Nothing is simple, and as Blain herself says, Names for Nothingness raises more questions than it
solves. Caitlin's life is sad, but she finds a kind of peace, even if the reader disapproves of her
choice, which seems little more than a living death, pointless and empty. Sharn and Liam's loss is
also inevitable. It has already occurred by the time the novel opens. We also know that everything
has changed by the end of the novel, and that something new, maybe something positive will
emerge in the new space between Essie, Caitlin's daughter, Liam and Sharn, even if that positive
thing is very different from what the characters have been driving towards. Names for
Nothingness is full of sadness and loss, but it is also delicate, and beautifully written, with a gentle
understanding of the frailties of human nature.
Magdalena Ball, Reviewer
http://www.compulsivereader.com/html
Michael's Bookshelf
DIY Portfolio Management
Lyle Wilkinson
Selact Publishing
P.O. Box 3182, Wailuku, HI 96793-3182
ISBN: 097283950X $29.99 304 pp.
DIY Portfolio Management provides the tools for those who wish to manage their personal
investments, thus eliminating the fees of an account manager. Mr. Wilkinson describes each facet
of managing ones own investment with the clarity of apparent years of research. Readers of this
book will find they can manage their own portfolio by applying discipline and hard work. Mr.
Wilkinson provides graphs and visual data throughout the book, even websites where one can
download helpful tools in managing their nest egg.
I recommend DIY Portfolio Management to those who want to break free from the fees and
hassles of other financial institutions, and start managing their own investments.
Chase After The Wind
Bennett H. Bracken
Publisher: Sunset Readers Publishing
Sunset Readers Publishing
P.O. Box 1074, 84003
ISBN: 0974933309 $12.95 291 pp.
Chase After The Wind is a tale set in the Rockies in 1838. The west is still wild and largely
unexplored, wherein the Bretton family decides tosettle. After a vicious attack by Indians, Zack
and his brother Danny find their family dead, with the exception of their sister Elizabeth who was
taken captive. Being the oldest brother, though only sixteen, Zack begins a quest to find his sister,
which brings him in contact with several people, and teaches him valuable lessons in life.
As a long time fan of Louis L'Amour, I've always enjoyed stories of the west. Mr. Bracken has
done an excellent job at bringing out the harsh but beautiful ways of the frontier. The story was
well written and the reader will find the characters easy to follow. Emotions flow through the
characters throughout the story, and provide the basis for the 'flavor' of the west, which I believe
is a key element for writing a work of this type.
I heartily recommend Chase After The Wind to anyone who loves a good story, whether a fan of
the west or not. Very well done!
Michael Bogert
Reviewer
Nancy's Bookshelf
Under a Veil of Darkness
Bob Gunner
Cyber Pulp
ISBN 1897013108 $14.00 200 pp.
In this twenty-story book collection written by Bob Gunner, you are sure to plunge into an array
of emotion and atmosphere. Each tale is carefully woven into a complex, stylish piece of
work.
From page one you delve into works of fantasy, dark fiction, and the paranormal. Characters
involving cowboys, fairies, insects, aliens, witches, you name it, enter your mind with a presence
that is all their own. Some stories are quiet, thought provoking and poetic while others are hard
driving and leave you hoping the nightlight will last until morning.
I had many favorites but am going to touch on the ones that stood out the most for me. Now
everyone has their own ideas of horror and what scares them. Bugs pretty much mess with my
mind, so any story involving them has my vote for a sleepless night. In "The Head" you witness a
nasty descent into bugs and bathrooms. Yes I squirmed and twice I checked for creepy crawlies in
my own bathroom, a girl should never be too careful!
The mystique of "Squash Garden" is in its words and heavy description. It's a beautiful story
involving fairies and direct insight into a person needing to believe in something, to keep him
youthful and full of life. There is a lot of touching dialogue and emotion, building slow and ending
with class. It's not so much horror as it is haunting.
"Sacred Cows" is one heck of a complex storyline that keeps you reading in a frantic pace, trying
to figure out where the title comes from and just what is going to happen to the people in the
hospital. This is a gem that stands out from other psychological tales and will keep you turning
the page!
"Dolly" thoroughly disturbed me, as another trigger of fear for me is just that dolls. The subject
matter sent shivers up my spine. The actions and dialogue with the social worker were believable
and eerie, I liked the twist at the end and it is one that will stay with me, unfortunately long into
the night.
Finally "A Texas Witch Tale" offered a wonderful story one would tell at a slumber party,
complete with rich dialogue, great visuals, and heavy description. I connected with the characters
and was able to be taken away, thoroughly mesmerized and feel it is one of the strongest stories
of them all.
Whatever you consider to be horror or great storytelling, you will find many quality gems in this
collection by Bob Gunner. He has his own voice and style and it works. I recommend savoring a
few stories at a time, allowing each one to get under your skin.
After the Fall
Monica Y. Russell
Publish America
ISBN 1413705863 $19.95 134 pages
After the fall offers us an in-depth look at a woman's mental and emotional breakdown and her
obsession to win back the man she loves. This however is not an ordinary love story; it spirals
down further into a black hole of monsters and demons. Forget the romance, love is about
survival.
As if we were looking in a mirror, the woman has two images and this story has two sides. There
is of course her vision of herself, Jayce Paul, a woman who struggles to find an ounce of
happiness in her life. She meets her soul mate King Brown and finally finds freedom like never
before. With him she finds the joy in her life, and a reason to get out and face the day. As long as
they are together, she finds comfort and solace. When the relationship takes an unexpected turn,
her freedom becomes threatened and she loses all sense of control.
We also see the other side, the vision he has of her, the doubts, concerns, and fears that swallow
him up and won't let him go. To be with her costs King Brown his freedom and furthermore, his
sanity. He loves her, but is it not enough or is it too much? The demons he encounters are far
more terrifying than anything he ever thought possible. Is this the woman he fell in love with, or is
there something more sinister that lurks inside her? He has to decide how far he will go and when
to question his limits.
Monica Y. Russell pours out her emotions and delivers us a suspenseful and honest depiction of a
woman tormented by feelings, thoughts, and demons she cannot understand or control. We are
thrust into a world of pain, anger, and determination that love holds all the answers, the keys, and
frees us of our inner darkness. The characters are real and the thoughts are raw and uninhibited.
We have to ask ourselves, how much do we give to the people we love, and how much do we
take. How much do we allow a person to take us over the edge and passed our personal
boundaries?
This is a very thought-provoking and heavy story that will keep you guessing and wanting to read
more. There is little hope of light in these pages filled with darkness. I hope to see more from this
author; she has a clear understanding of human emotion, suffering, and the other side of a tortured
mind.
The Ghostbreakers: New Horrors
G.W. Thomas, editor
Cyber Pulp Ebook
$ 4.99
Take several talented authors, a well-known editor, fourteen original stories, and one incredible
theme and you get Ghostbreakers:New Horrors. If you aren't very familiar with the term
Ghostbreakers, there is a well-defined explanation about them and the different identities they can
take in the introduction. I appreciate the insight a reader is given on a subject they may not be
familiar with; it brings validity to the book. You are also given a link to a list that boasts over 160
different Ghostbreakers to date. Most names you will recognize such as Van Helsing, Doctor
Who, Lovecraft, and some will be new or surprising, but trust me when I say this complete
package makes for an intriguing read.
I thoroughly enjoyed each and every story in here and was thrilled to see a varied amount of plots,
characters, and settings. No two stories were alike, and each author brought their own style and
personality. Fans of the occult, detectives, crime, mystery, and thrillers will enjoy immensely.
While there wasn't a bad one in the bunch, there are a few that stood out for me I'd like to touch
on briefly. "Backs to the Wall" by K.K is about as original as you can get, done more like a
television series or something close to it. You will find this a quick read with engaging characters
and action. "Body of Work" written by G.W. Thomas himself has a smooth flow, sharp wit and
dialogue, his style of writing is very down-to-earth and intelligent. It shows he is quite a fan of
Ghostbreakers and it comes across in his method of suspense and facts. I think if anything he
brings a voice of wisdom into this collection, that stands out from any other.
"Automatic" by Alex Severin and Kailleaugh Andersson delve into a modern world meets the past
type of story that unfolds in an eerie and suspenseful way. Mark Orr's "Hard Justice" is a complex
yet traditional tale with tie-ins and great character development. Again, each story is strong and
stands on its own, drawing you in, taking you back to the days of Sherlock Holmes and other
such fine classics.
Currently it is available as an ebook in multiple formats, however it will be available as a trade
paperback in the near future. There are new collections surrounding the Ghostbreakers such as
Sinister Sleuths and Vampire Hunters on the way as well, and no doubt they will be every bit as
exciting and smart as this one was. G.W. Thomas has started a wonderful trend by bringing back
the beloved tales of the old with styles of the new, allowing for a whole new generation to
enjoy.
Nancy Jackson
Reviewer
Pogo's Bookshelf
Without Wings
Carole Waterhouse
AmericaHouse Book Publishers
Baltimore MD
http://www.publishamerica.com
1591290317 $24.95 301 pp.
Life never gives what one wishes. It could have been different, but she didn't go to Europe that
summer with Terry. Instead, she stayed home, claiming a cold, cancelling the ticket. Now, things
would be different, she wouldn't let the opportunity escape the second time. At thirty-six, Rachel
is already trying to stop time, slow it down and put it in reverse. She was like an emptied pond,
waiting to be filled after seven long years of suspended memory, circling about her head with the
tenacity of a moth spiraling into the flame. She needed someone to fill that space where Terry had
been when George entered.
He came accessorized with jewelry store and house, the conveniences of life and leftover
trappings of his first marriage to Madeleine. Meagan came as an inheritance from the past. At
thirteen, she was just at the age of cutting her teeth before sharpening them on the unwitting
victims of life.
An ill-fitting marriage ballooned about her like an umbrella tent caught in a breeze everything to
catch onto, but nothing quite fits. Needing twelve credits and finish her thesis, Annie suggested
teaching at a local prison. After all, with a captured audience, certainly, they would attend just to
escape their normal routine. It could be her contribution to society, a gesture of improving the
world through influencing her local environment. Annie chose the first story. Conservative
America, really about a mismatched pair who lived in a mismatched world of conflicting inner
desires. He wanted nothing, and she, a settled, conventional life. In prison, what else can you
read? What kind of literature do prisoners want to discuss? The first day is really the hardest, cold
as block ice. She'd never do it, except with Annie's encouragement and then, there's Mitch, one of
the prisoners. He's different from all the others, awaiting her arrival, making copies and keeping
the class on the even keel. He cooperates and tries to keep the others going forward in a smooth
motion, providing incentive to return again by leaving chapters of a recent manuscript, he's
working on.
And then, there are the letters that arrive without a signature.
Caught in a stale marriage, seasoned with peppery arrivals of relatives, Rachel is lost in reverie.
Arriving at the prison, she gets taken in, but never sees her way until the last day. The gate closes
behind her expelled from teaching further classes after a delayed security check.
With the vehemence of a teen, reacting against dictatorial parents, she rebels at thirty-six. George
is distracted. by the ex. Threatening to have a nervous breakdown, Madeleine moves in. One man,
two wives and a teenager to keep life complicated. Annie challenges Rachel to find life outside the
safety of the front door, taking her along to a demonstration half the world away, before driving
off with a strange man. Appointed as the mediator between Annie and Mark, Rachel takes a dive
in local fountain at St. Sebastian's. Nothing really much to think about except it was the deviation
from the norm. They were caught like a pair of guilty teenagers by a nun, praying her beads, while
getting dressed. Stress like water seeks to find a method of escape, slipping through the cracks of
society and undermining the facade of propriety. To add to the domestic meagerie, Mark donates
a cat, but never his own body.
Carole Waterhouse caricatures dysfunctional America: Aunt Didi fussing over her wayward
husband, Uncle Alfred, flying off after a hefty young twenty-five-year old model of oversized
clothing. Didi, wanting to compete equally, stuffs her face with bonbons. Aunt Amanda sends
sporadic letters, giving dire diagnosis of Uncle Raymond's demise from an inoperable brain tumor.
George calmly ignores the circus except Madeleine's dramatic scenes.
Rachel longs to escape and return to the safety and comfort of her mother's lap; but mother is one
who exchanges partners throughout life, shifting from one place to another with the facility of a
plastic sack caught in the wind. Only her mother would understand the absence of Terry and the
vacuum it left. Her mother has taken up with Jake, the urban cowboy wearing a hat with quarters
on it for good luck. One day, he'll hit it lucky at a casino and pay back all the debts, as they move
from state to state playing all the lotteries.
Snared in the absurdity of life's theater, we watch the entrance and exits of all the characters.
Nothing is too mundane or inane, for Waterhouse not to use in creating dramatic tension between
the players. Through using foils, and exploring fantasy, Waterhouse contrasts the imagination and
reality of her characters. What seems real is not; but what is real projects as an illusion an
elaborate charade played out against a scrim. The prisoners play mind games with the teacher, and
the teacher doesn't learn the rules of the game. Fantasy and reality mingle, blurring their edges as
the external pressures slowly squeeze the sanity out of Rachel's life.
Using the dependency of animals as symbols of human helplessness, Waterhouse creates tension
as we read the omens. We watch helplessly as life loses its shape and form, dissolving into a swirl
of absurd gestures rebellion against the past, against society and pyschological pressures. A
master, Waterhouse presents the absurd drama of contemporary America.
The Patron Saint of Liars
Ann Patchett
Perennial, imprint of HarperCollins
New York
0060540753 $13.95 336 pp.
Some of us lie about small things the broken dish or being late at work. We cheat a little, here
and there, stretching the time from fifteen minutes to half an hour, changing dates accidentally to
meet our memory. We maximize our contributions while minimizing our expenses, taking just
another little nibble off the cheesecake in the pantry. After all, nobody will ever notice.
Sometimes, though, the lie is not in the words but in the silence. The refusal to admit the past or
confess the wrong. There are not enough words to fabricate the story, not enough inventions to
contrive like the story a student weaves about the dog eating the homework before the entire class
to a shrewd teacher. We know instinctively, that such embroderies never patch the gap, but only
make it more obvious that something is truly missing. So it was with martha Rose, it wasn't what
she said, but what she omitted, even convincing herself that somehow the deceit was meant to be
real:
"So maybe I was born to lie, and it just took twenty-three eyars to find the reason to do it. I
started with the lie of omission, which some people might see as easier; but I think is actually
more complex. I left my husband with only a note." (p11)
Generally, we like to think that husbands abandon their wives with small children, drifting into the
next unknown town, leaving the burden of responsibility behind them. Statistically it's true. We
wonder, what kind of woman leaves such a note:
"Dear Thomas,
I am unhappy and it cannot be resolved. Do not try and find me. I will not come home. I'm sorry
about taking the car." (p11)
Married in the Catholic Church by Father O'Donnell to Thomas Clinton, but never divorced,
Martha Rose packs a small bag, hits the Highway 40, going east to Kentucky destination St
Elizabeth's, a house for unwed mothers. Three years of marriage to a high school math teacher
and three months late, a doctor congratulates her, making her aware of the emptiness she feels
within her. All that time, married to a man she doesn't love and now a child. Life must have
something better for her. She turns to Father O'Donnell for help, not as a friend but an accomplice
to escape her future.
Life at St. Elizabeth's is institutionalized as girls arrive and are separated into classes according to
their preganancies. None of them will keep their children; this they know. Society has no room for
such irregularities. After the birth, the baby will be handed over and adopted by strangers, and the
girls will return to their previous lives as though nothing has ever happened. Each has a story to
tell, each has some confession. Among the Catholics, there are girls of other faiths, but Mother
Corinne doesn't approve of other religious persuasions. While they're there, they're Catholic,
heeding the institutional policies of the Rule. Rose is different. Catholic, she doesn't take
communion, but across the aisle, a Baptist does diverting the wrath of Mother Corinne.
Morning sickness is rough, but the food is lousy, unpalatable, bringing nausea. Slowly, Rose takes
over the kitchen, first helping Sister Evangeline, but eventually bringing the pots and pans under
her control, learning the art of cookery and creating new dimensions to culinary indulgence. If
stuck there for prison time, then better to do something useful to keep the hands and mind
occupied, avoiding the questions of the future. As the older girls depart for the hospital, their
places are filled with newer faces. Time passes and Rose uncertain, unwilling to give it up. Unlike
the others, she never yields her secret, but never succumbs to the bullying from Mother
Corinne.
Cecilia grows up, remembering her mother always in the kitchen of St Elizabeth's where girls
came with babies and left without them. Never alone, Cecilia was surrounded by dotting pregnant
girls and an admiring grandma in June. The age difference between her father and nmother seemed
strange. Nearly double her mother's age, she doubted her parentage. Maybe she was adopted as
well, like the babies turned over at St. Elizabeth's.
Written from three perspectives, Patchett explores the parallel worlds of Rose, Cecilia and Son,
their lives converging in the kitchen of St. Elizabeth. Shut out from her mother's life, Cecilia fills
her hours with the young unwed mothers that populate the old hotel. Accustomed to her father's
habits and stable life, she rarely doubts that her life is any different from the ordinary until one day
Lorraine mistakes her as another inmate. Only then, she begins to pry inside the secrets of her
mother's mind while she learns to drive. It seems that the car offers Rose both freedom and
security to allow the escape of old memories of California where she spent her childhood. Cecilia's
childhood ends abruptly when her father falls. Taking the place of her mother, she renders first aid
and drives him to the hospital in Owensboro. Her mother is not only absent to her, but to her
father, living in a separate house.
Reticent, Son explains his life apologetically, haunted by a past which allows little sleep. A big
man, one leg was shorter than the other an old knee injury. Nothing, he was particularly fond of
talking about. Other men went to war and came home in caskets; he came back from boot
camp tattooed and shot in the knee. Difficult enough to explain to anybody without a wave of
embarrassment. The tattoo, he managed to acquire when he was drunk one night. Sober, he'd
probably never do it. Life is like this, things happen which you don't plan, and Rose was just
another twist in fate's thread.
Convincing, realistic, the reader hangs onto the action as it moves from page to page. Days slide
by unobtrusively until the day comes for Rose's delivery. We enter the world of the past, confront
social conventions and hide secrets of the unwed mothers who desperately all want to go back to
their lives. A mistake is made, erased from the social diaries and corrected as they step through
the front doors to leave. Rose remains, hiding her secret. The pattern established, continues for
many years, until one day, a stranger appears, asking for Rose, claiming to be her husband as the
two separate worlds collide.
Pogo
Reviewer
Rick's Bookshelf
The Life and Art of Murphy Anderson
R.C. Harvey
TwoMorrows Publishing
10407 Bedfordtown Dr., Raleigh, NC 27614
www.twomorrows.com
ISBN# 1893905217 $17.95 173 pgs.
In all aspects of entertainment, far too often we overlook masters of the craft in favor of the
flavor of the moment. As it is true in film, television, stage and music, so too is it in the world of
the comic book. This being the case, all I can say is thank goodness for TwoMorrows Publishing,
R.C. Harvey and this tribute to an artist who is just now getting the due so richly deserved;
penciller/inker extraordinaire Murphy Anderson.
This might be a good place for me to explain just what the difference is in a penciller and an inker.
A penciller is the one that does the initial beginning art in pencil-laying out the page, drawing in
the figures, background, expressions-those types of things. Some work very tight, where it looks
like the finished art, while some work in a more loose style, almost sketching. An inker goes
behind the pencil artist and embellishes the pencil lines with black ink, adding weight and depth to
what is usually basic line work. It is far more than just going in and tracing over what has been
done before them, instead it takes a artist who is great in their own right to turn the work into not
only salable but aesthetically pleasing final art. Moreover, sometimes, when the right penciller gets
with the right inker, magic happens on the page. With Mr. Anderson, it didn't matter which side of
the equation he was on, every piece he did was a masterpiece.
For fifty years, Mr. Anderson made a career in the comic field as either a penciller or inker. In the
late 1940's and again in the late 1950's he took over the newspaper strip Buck Rogers, with a run
on Flash Gordon in between, but it is his immaculate work for DC Comics starting in the 1960's
and continuing until recently for which he is best known.
The ones he worked on read like a veritable who's who of DC characters, and became the
definitive models on how they should look. These characters include, but are not even remotely
limited to the following: Atomic Knights, Adam Strange, Batgirl, Batman, The Flash, Green
Lantern, Hawkman, Jimmy Olsen, The Legion of Super-Heroes, Phantom Stranger, The Spectre,
Superboy, Supergirl, and Superman.
Speaking of Superman, it is working with what is considered to be by many the definitive penciller
on the Man of Steel, Curt Swan, that Anderson in my opinion shined brightest. As part of the
team affectionately referred to as 'Swanderson', he took what was already a realistic majestic
portrayal in the work of Swan, and transformed it into a run which not only still holds up not
twenty some years after the first publication, but is the standard to which many of today's artists
are held up against. I remember as a young reader, knowing there was something special
happening on the books and could not wait for each issue to hit the newsstand (yes, comics used
to be bought all over the place, not like now where there are pretty much only found in specialty
stores-which is a topic for another column).
Told in a captivating 'he is talking just to you' first person style and filled page after page with
beautiful illustrations, many full page, The Life and Art of Murphy Anderson by R.C. Harvey is
another in a string of comic book creator biographies. I have to say that as a life-long fan of the
medium, I could not be happier to see each released. In addition, with the quality of TwoMorrows
once again evident from page one, I know the preserving of the past for future generations is in
safe hands. More please, I'll make room on my shelf for each one-and if you care about the books
we call comics, so should you.
The Silver Age of Comic Book Art
Arlen Schumer
Collectors Press Inc.
PO Box 230986, Portland, Oregon 97281
www.collectorspress.com
ISBN# 1888054859 $24.95 176 pgs.
ISBN# 1888054867 $49.95 192 pgs.
As those of you which visit here on a regular basis know, my reviews for the last several weeks
have almost all been on comic related books. Well I have to tell you that they have all been
leading up to this one, The Silver Age of Comic Book Art by Arlen Schumer, and a review I can
sum up in one word - wow.
This is without a doubt the most impressive tribute to an era of creativity and concepts the likes of
which the industry will never see again that I have ever had the pleasure to peruse. Allow me to
explain.
What is considered to be the silver age of comics began when DC Comics took the name of a
super speedster called The Flash from the 1940's -'50's and gave it to a new character, Police
Scientist Barry Allen in an issue of Showcase. He was so successful that an entire wave of new
characters with classic names soon followed: Green Lantern, Atom and Hawkman to name just a
few. These joined the still being published Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman in forming the
Justice League, a reworking of the Justice Society. The Justice League sold so well that the
publisher over at Timely Comics changed their name to Marvel and launched the Fantastic Four to
try to compete. Under the leadership and writing of Stan Lee and the pencils of Steve Ditko and
Jack Kirby came many of the heroes still loved to this day-The Hulk, The Avengers, Daredevil,
and perhaps the most famous of all, Spider-Man. This revolutionary freshness continued until
around 1970 when market conditions changed and things were never quite the same. This book
covers those magic years where each monthly four-color issue from both publishers would whisk
you away to worlds, adventures, and concepts never before imagined.
The beauty of this tribute, besides the incredible reproductions of panels, pages and covers from
many classic issues and appearance is in the layout, which can be used many different ways. If you
want to know about the heroes I mentioned above and even more: who they are, where they came
from, their powers and abilities, you have a plethora at your fingertips, which would rival the best
encyclopedia. If you desire to know about the creators, the artists that worked on some of their
most famous characters, then this reads like a veritable who's who of comicdom. I mean just look
at these names: Carmine Infantino, Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, Gil Kane, Joe Kubert, Gene Colan,
and Steranko-legends all. However, it is with the hard cover and its additional 16 extra pages that
the list grows to an even more impressive roster, since now we add Murphy Anderson, Wally
Wood, John Buscema, Nick Cardy, and Curt Swan. As I said, all masters of the craft.
I also need to mention two more things. One is that the size of The Silver Age of Comic Art is 9
inches by 13 inches, and while it may not fit well on some shelves, it allows many examples of the
art to be seen at close to their original size when first drawn and is impressive to put it mildly. The
other is once again, the quality of the production done by Collectors Press. While always known
for the highest level of professional presentation, this truly is a gem in their line. My compliments
to their production department for giving this the care and craftsmanship, which the subject
deserves.
The Silver Age of Comic Book Art by Arlen Schumer has a place of honor on my shelf, and it
should on yours as well, whither you're like me and remember buying these issues off the
newsstands and pouring over each panel, or new to the hobby and want to know more about the
rich history of this uniquely American art form. In my opinion, The Silver Age of Comic Book Art
by Arlen Schumer is pure gold.
Rick Mohr
Reviewer
Riggs' Bookshelf
Lake Effect Country: Poems
A. R. Ammons
W.W. Norton and Company
ISBN: 0393017028 $10.19
Poets themselves write many justifications of poetry, but they do so for reasons different then
those that motivate the critical defense of poetic worth. Dylan Thomas' 'Esullen art' is an assertion
of the poet's expressive right to imagine a world where neither praise nor wages need be paid.
Critical work is otherwise-inevitably bound up in exactly the world that Thomas can, at least
rhetorically, defy. Critics are more apt to be caught up in the urgencies of this time, this place, as
are all editors, librarians, and publishers.
The 20th century, among its other legacies, seems to have established, beyond all reason or
contrary argument, the legitimacy of the epochal label, and every generation since 1900 has
grown progressively anxious about labeling itself. We are condemned to be in the Age of X or the
decade of Y, whether we will or not- particularly if we depend for our livelihood, either directly
or indirectly, on what books we choose to read and to urge upon others. That gets us to the core
difficulty- for in an Age of Information (cliche are often true!), the question of what to read, what
is worth reading, has become the economic, the political, and the aesthetic issue of the day. There
is something new here- the questions that formerly occupied only a certain kind of power-elite
now are universal, for all of us are subject to the diseases engendered by excess.
The American Academy of Poets designated April as "National Poetry Month" some eight years
ago, and despite its hallmarkian name, the effort is one of the few such declared occasions, that is
really is worth some attention. For there is no doubt that the sheer quantity of information, made
possible by new technology, tends to overwhelm our capacity to notice, much less attend to, the
number of "messages' that cross our awareness in one day. Too much noise is the knowledge
equivalent of no signal at all. Too much information is the same as silence- is silence, albeit
audible, even painful. Just as the age of authority might be occupied with who deserves that
appellation, what technologies confer it, we need to be occupied with the question of genres.
Poetry is in contention, in a battle that is no longer figurative, symbolic, or the pastime of the
aesthete. Human beings have always been able to extend their technologies far beyond their
biology, and information technologies are our most distorted invention in this regard. We can
store more discourse in a day than the Greeks and the Romans combined left in the world, and we
can do so at home. Yet, a hypothetical being from another planet, with world enough and
Einsteinian time, would likely be unable to distinguish our attention spans, our ability to absorb
facts, from any Roman. Overall size and state of nutrition might locate us, but within some
predefined limits, and with the exercise properly "blind" (in the strict scientific sense), our
imaginary inquisitor would report little difference, and none of significance.
The Information Age is as true as any other cliche, which is to say that it is true at the beginning,
and with qualifications. Like any other expression that captures, however briefly, the essence of
human aspirations, this phrase fathers forth many others, the most useful of which is the concept
of "attention" economies. In the face of infinite possibility, we will tend to select, either
consciously or unconsciously, according to some schema or the other that designates value, or
somehow subsumes the others in a heuristic or explanatory way. The ways of knowing and
evaluating exist in hierarchies, in other words. A computer programmer may not know much
about a new computer language, but that language will be easier to learn in from a knowledge
base that includes algorithms, just as legal language and biological terms make more immediate
sense to a person who knows a bit of Latin. In other words, those forms of discourse that "inform
information" will be the ones most valuable to know. These forms of knowing exist in an odd,
always valuable, yet never defined state-quite other than the secondary discourses whose value
they permit. An algorithm permits the elaboration of content because in a curious sense, it is
content less. In another sense, of course, the same algorithm can be seen to contain all of its
particulars- to be the condensed version of countless elaborations of being.
We are almost ready for Ammons, but not yet. Poetry is, to my mind, a basic mode of human
thought, and is more than that. I believe that poetry, the sensibility that makes people like
Ammons write, and gives Harold Bloom and countless others of us plenty to go on about, is the
central sensibility of our time because poetry does something essential for us- it renews and
educates our attention, and gives us the means to survive, if we listen, our own technological
nemesis. We have an apparently suicidal capacity to invent new weapons (are there not enough?),
a limitless and lethal capacity to kill the very earth itself, and appetites that know nothing of
satiety- and now an endless capacity exhaust our attention, to spend every waking hour amassing
urgent details while the important things of civil society languish. The discourses of war, of
religious hatred, and even of good arguments have done us more harm, in their insistent whining,
than we can imagine, and our solution, our American answer, seems to be to empower the Censor
and the Guardian, two very ineffective conservators whose very existence in the Republic is
excuse enough for panic. Without an increase in our national capacity to attend to what matters,
we are doomed, and without some thoroughly and unapologetically advocacy of a different form
of knowledge, we, the animals, and the earth itself will not have to wait for an asteroid or for the
sun to burn away before we experience the collective results of our ordinary ways of behaving.
Information vies for attention, and attention cannot overwhelm information, the glut and
undertow of the political sideshow, the deterioration of freedom, the addiction to goods and
services, all of the voices, that will literally suffocate us. Given these opinions, I should think that
even readers who may think the case overstated will not be surprised when I say that our most
important activity-although certainly not the most urgent- is to support this effort by the Academy
of American Poets to increase the public awareness of the richness and depth of our traditions,
our of heritage, as nationalistic and limited as it may one day be, of poetic thought. For poetic
thought offers us an alternative to the epistemes that put the Guardian at our gates and the Censor
in our very mouths. For this time, in this place, our essential task is to learn how to enrich our
capacities to attend, to attend with all of us, to attend as an act in itself. As my contribution to
that effort, I will do what I always do-write essays about the ways of my favorite poets, their
wondrous, awe evoking ability to rephrase the world and if even for a few minutes a day, to
redirect and renew my own attentive capacity.
A.R. Ammons has been described as a Nature poet, a poet of the Sublime, and some of his best
work consists of long poems. I want to begin with one of Ammons' least known collections
precisely because the poems are short and contain some of the most economical expressions of his
very peculiar method- some of his "meta-poems", in which he is most visibly in, but not of, or not
completely of, the nature he speaks. Ammons has always written about poetic knowledge, in one
form or another, but does so here in ways that allow the poet to comment on the very processes
of the poem that he is now speaking into the world. Thus, we get a curious doubling effect, the
poet making a poem and commenting on the making. Consider "Nature Poetry"
if no one sends you
messages to read, none
you can read
(so you have no
replies to shape)
still you may irrelevantly read
messages sent to
no one, light shaking off a poplar leaf,
(like seen wind chipped free)
or breaking into
threads
of bright backed water
in brookstone shallows
We are immediately taken out of the realm of intention, and of interpretation by the first
conditional- no one has sent you a message that cannot be read." This poem, like many of
Ammons works, must declare itself at once to be a poem. It is plausible to argue that all modern
poetry must make use of this declarative power, a speech act that must at once address the matter
at hand and declare its nature as poem. Poems, in a more conventional time, might be identifiable
by a rhyme, by a sound scheme, by some other formalism. Students new to poetry often prefer
this kind of signal, as it indicates the kind of utterance they are reading. However useful and
appropriate these conventions may be, they are not necessary and in fact may get in the way of an
understanding of many poets. Poetry, as evidenced here, is a kind of discourse in which a poem is
declared, asserted. Moreover, in that way the poet reserves the right to speak in ways not
susceptible to argument, and to occupy the space unique to poets. The exemptions from the rules
of other discourses, the exceptions, what is permitted and more importantly, what is promised-
these all may change with time and fashion. The basic declarative and assertive act does not, and
in Ammons, it assets the poet's right to urge a reader to "read irrelevantly " a message with no
author. We are in the immediate absence of a final authority, and at the same time in the presence
of an available, honored, and in some ways timeless speaker who declares that for a moment, we
join in the occupation and apprehension of the sacred.
Now comes Ammons full force- not only is there no author here, but this message was not sent to
us, to anyone. There is no one here to read that which still must be read . Here we have this
double negation, but so far we still have the promise of a landscape, light, or weather. But where
in Nature has anyone seen "seem wind chipped free"? So this Nature is not raw data, the thing in
itself. Nevertheless, do you not remember seeing this wind? Stop for a moment and consider all of
the occasions when light has broken for you into "threads". You have seen it, or near it. Without
commentary or paraphrase, there are occasions, if you have time to read Ammons, when you
cannot help yourself- you do know exactly what he means, having never encountered that image,
the light, or the wind. There is a very good reason for the peculiar feeling of seeing without
seeing that Ammons evokes. It is that such light did not exist except perhaps in a potential that
bears about as much resemblance to the experience of this poem as an encounter with a tiger does
to a scientist's chemical notation of its genetic code. The "nature" of "Nature Poetry" is contained
in the circle of the poem itself, in messages that threaten to become irreducibly idiosyncratic,
unless
"these messages, though not sent to you and requiring no response
may nevertheless be
taken
down in strict observances (like studied regard)
as if to be nearly adequate messages to no one."
(Lake Country Effect, p. 13)
Ammons renders "nature" as messages, although we "may" or may not choose to "take them
down". Is this not an act of reverence, even if the messages have no author?
Yet if this reverence were all, it would not be nearly enough to support the centrality of poetry to
all forms of knowing. Reverence has its place, but how to avoid an over inclusiveness that results
in the easy activity of connecting everything to everything else? That habit of mind is what clutters
the world now, and we will need something in addition to the reverent, deliberate, cultivation of
intention for its own sake that we find in this poem. That act of attention is not complete, can
never be a source of renewal without a means to deal with what Ammons is talking about in
another poem, one that describes attention in motion:
"Say something and then
question it nearly out of existence: or split
something cleanly down
the middle, but make
one side as if
wrestle and beg for
the opposites and complements
of the other, the
whole then standing
incredibly, a shambles
magnificently held up:
or drive a huge force of argument through the
parties' exceptional manglings
till hardly a quibble remains whole: let
the quibble speak.
(Lake Country Effect, P. 20)
The kind of attention this poet advocates is not content until the whole emerges from the
fragments, or is the diamond like quibble of the core. Is not a way to think, to live, and if we
could just incorporate these ways of sorting ourselves, combining attention, profound and
reverent, with such valuing of truth - we would not stand a better chance than any afforded by the
manifesto, the marketing speech, the paranoid blurts of governments?
We should take time to read poetry- for a few minutes a day, to stand with and in this kind of
wisdom. We seem to have time for everything else.
Michael Riggs
Reviewer
Roger's Bookshelf
It's Your Move: Dealing Yourself the Best Cards in Life and Work
Cyndi Maxey and Jill Bremer
Financial Times Prentice Hall
ISBN 0131424815 $22.95 264 pages
Good Messages in Confusing Flow
Although classified as a Business book, this title is really a self-help book. It was confusing for me
as a reader, possibly based on my expectations.
Based on the subtitle of the book, I expected that I might see a card deck kind of format clearly
presented. I imagined perhaps 52 great ideas that I could use to build my effectiveness. The fan of
playing cards on the book cover reinforced that expectation. When I finally got past the pages of
the publisher's advertising to reach the table of contents, I found that there were nine "hands," an
introduction, a preparatory chapter, and a conclusion. Each hand (examples: attitude, visibility,
style, listening, learning) in the table of contents has categories that highlight information and
advice that would be helpful for anyone looking for some self-improvement help. There are
graphics of success cards at the end of each chapter, but the graphics were not emphasized as well
as they could be in the chapters. This is a design issue, rather than content, but the design affects
the readability of the book.
Some "players" are introduced in the first chapter, representing composites of readers. The idea
here, I believe, is that readers would be able to identify with these characters as they move
through the book. These characters do stay with us through the book, but an army of other people
pop in and out as examples in various vignettes. This parallel theme confused me as I was trying
to follow the players and all the valuable advice being offered by the authors. The result of all
these themes, a large number of call-out boxes, and a sans serif typeface made this book seem
overly complicated.
Unquestionably, there is a lot of valuable advice in these pages, but be prepared to separate the
book you'd like to read from the others that seem to be interwoven with it. The index, which
appears just before the closing advertisements from the Financial Times, is helpful. The conclusion
includes a survey with check-boxes that will enable the reader to focus on next-steps.
Stop Whining, Start Selling
Jeff Blackman
John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 0471463639 $27.95 340 pages
Results. Now!
Blackman's focus is on results. His clients call him a "business growth specialist." In Stop
Whining, Start Selling! Blackman fires tips, advice, reminders, and gentle prodding in short bursts
that continually hit the mark. There's lots of substance, yet Blackman captures your attention with
his conversational, fun style. You're absorbing his message because it's so comfortable to
assimilate.
This is a powerful book for sales professionals, sales executives, company owners, and the rest of
us who sell every day. This book is packed with tested principles. Its 9 Profit Pillars, 100 Profit
Points and over 827 growth strategies inform, remind, encourage and generate results and
profits.
Great for reading, as you settle into bed at night or to jumpstart your morning. It's an effective
energizer and thought focuser. Once you read and apply its wisdom, you'll want to buy copies for
others in your company or even customers and clients. Remarkably, it's the perfect gift for the
seasoned veteran, the up and comer or even a new hire.
Inner Peace for Busy People: 52 Simple Strategies for Transforming Your Life
Joan Borysenko, PhD
Hay House, Inc.
ISBN 1561708704 $17.95 171 pages
A Book for the Times
The events of the past few years have intensified our stress levels. The economy, the impact of
9/11, war, political rhetoric, unemployment, uncertainty, and just the pressure to do more with
less has presented untold challenges. Everyone is so busy that balancing all the things on the to-do
list has become nearly impossible. "Stop the merry-go-round! I want to get off!"
Is there no serenity anymore? Is there no way to get away from all the noise even if that noise is
in our heads? Reading this book, and thinking about its messages, will move you to a different
space if even for a brief time.
I started reading the 52 chapters at the rate of one each evening before bedtime. 52 chapters = 52
weeks. The more I got into the book, the more I accelerated my reading. I gained something from
each brief chapter. Sometimes I learned a new idea, a new approach, a new way of looking at
something. In other cases, I was gaining some new knowledge and insight things I hadn't really
thought about before.
Joan Borysenko is an expert in stress, spirituality, and mind-body connection. As a no-nonsense
businessman, I've avoided the spirituality and mind-body stuff until recently. Maybe I'm getting
older; maybe I'm becoming more sensitive; maybe I can benefit from these approaches more than I
thought I could. This Inner Peace book makes the process comfortable; I don't feel discomfort at
all in reading it. No "woo-woo" alarms sounding.
This is good stuff.
You'll find Borysenko's writing easy to work with and absorb. Her personal stories engage the
reader with the perspectives and advice she shares. Whether you read a chapter a week or read
straight through, this is a book with value for you, personally.
Roger E. Herman
Reviewer
Shaw's Bookshelf
Spire City
Derek Smith
BookSurge, LLC
5341 Dorchester Rd., Suite 16, North Charleston, SC 29418
(843) 579-0000 ext. 38
ISBN 1588989615 $15.00 250 pp.
A medieval city of low buildings has grown around a tall spire. It is the only city on the planet
Corvan. The city has no native name. A highly evolved race of humans called the Tecs live in a
technology rich environment only on buildings attached to the Spire. The natives live in poverty in
the city below dominated by the Tecs who have great mental powers. The natives supply all the
Tecs food. The Tecs sustain the belief that they and the natives are genetically mismatched and
cannot interbreed without intervention. Such intervention is unacceptable to natives.
The story revolves around a tec/native cross breed, Jack Crossman. Jack is the product of a
relationship between a male tec and a native mother. Their relationship is not accepted by Tec
society and when Jack's father dies when he is only a teenager his mother is forced to flee to the
family farm outside the city. Ostracized by the natives when his mother dies he returns to the city
and falls under the sway of the local mob chief, Ram-sai.
A disaster causes the Spire to disappear and the most of the Tecs are killed only the High-tec and
his daughter, Sarah, survive. Ram-sai poses as a champion for the natives to put an end finally to
Tec domination. He has his own plans for domination. But after a surprising journey back to
Earth on their return to Corvan Jack and Sarah are thrown into an uneasy alliance caught between
the still powerful Tec remnant and the native revolution.
I chose this book because I am always looking for new SF material. This is a powerful story of
rich vs poor and the domination of high technology societies. I liked the way the author lets the
story flow without any sermons. You develop a genuine interest in the characters. The book is
aimed at all ages and especially those who like SF. This is the author's second book and I plan to
read his first 'Rat2rap' next.
Rat2rap
Derek Smith
BookSurge, LLC
5341 Dorchester Rd., Suite 16, North Charleston, SC 29418
(843) 579-0000 ext. 38
ISBN 1588983684 $15.00 285 pp.
An alien entity has been poised at the edge of the Milky Way for millennia, watching, waiting for
humankind to pose a new threat to his race. The entity is terrified of the potential of its weapon
but more afraid of humans. While unknowingly investigating the alien's recently discovered but
disguised weapon a diverse group is caught in the tyrannical plans of the rich to lay claim to an
entire new galaxy. If they do the entity will have no choice but to unleash the weapon.
I chose this one because I had previously read the author's second book 'Spire City' and enjoyed
it. Rat2rap is different it is a unique view of the near future. The story never stalls right up to the
shocking ending. The humans run down their chosen paths oblivious to the threat of the alien.
Every move they make brings their destiny closer. The target audience is definitely adult. I think
the author is trying to tell us something about our place in the universe and how divided we are
becoming.
William Shaw
Reviewer
Sheila's Bookshelf
The Buffalo Soldier
Chris Bohjalian
HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers
10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022
www.HarperCollins.com (212) 207-7000
ISBN: 073227480X $13.95 405 pp.
The intricate dynamics of this complex family relationship make compelling reading. Laura and
Terry Sheldon lose their twin daughters to drowning. Two years later, they decide to take in a
foster child with the idea of adoption. Alfred is not what they expect he is a 10-year-old African
American. Quiet and introspective, the boy is the object of a lot of speculation in a very small
Vermont town that has no other black residents. All he wants is not to be shuffled off yet again to
another family.
Terry and Laura's relationship is fragile because they are unable to move beyond the loss of their
children. Terry, a state trooper and an avid hunter, barely knows how to communicate with Laura
any more and just knows that he wants her back the way she was before their daughters died.
Depressed and vulnerable, one night's indiscretion while on a week's hunting trip changes his life
forever.
The elderly couple that live across the road become surrogate grandparents to Alfred. Paul buys a
horse and he and Alfred care for it together, forming a strong and lasting bond. They bring Alfred
a book about the buffalo soldiers, the black American cavalry soldiers who dispersed the Indian
tribes in the 1870s. Very short excerpts lead in each chapter. As you follow through the separate
story that they provide, you learn that a Native American woman and her children were sold to a
black cavalry sergeant after an incident in which her husband was killed. While at first she is
unhappy and disoriented living among white people, eventually she creates a real family with him
and is happy.
Bohjalian works magic with his characters. Down-to-earth with believable problems, you are
completely drawn into their world. Bohjalian is author of eight novels, including Midwives, which
is also highly recommended reading.
Prodigal Summer
Barbara Kingsolver
Faber and Faber
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
19 Union Square West, New York, NY 10003
www.fsgbooks.com/faberandfaber 212-206-5340
ISBN: 0571206433 $14.00 ($26.00 hardback) 444 pp.
Kingsolver showed us life in Africa from a unique perspective with her brilliant novel The
Poisonwood Bible. Her new novel is as far from Africa as it can get this one is set in the
Appalachian Mountains north of Knoxville, Tennessee.
This amazing work of art brings to the surface all the beauty and fragility of the world around us.
Three lives are tied together by the finest of threads. Kingsolver only offers hints as to how those
lives interact in the future, allowing the reader to imagine the outcome. Her skill is in indicating
the fragility of the environment of the human heart: as we impact the earth and its environs, so we
impact one another.
With repetition and skill, Kingsolver underscores theories on ecological balance coyotes and
livestock, vegetarian versus hunter, insecticides and pests. Having a brilliant grasp of these
complex issues, she uses the characters to explain concepts of low-impact living. Creating
ecological imbalances by killing coyotes and fumigating orchards are paralleled to the complexity
of lives intertwining and the impact humans have on one another. There are no easy answers here;
she makes the reader really consider their environmental position.
"Most people thought you could just choose, carnivore or vegetarian .Just clearing the land to
grow soybeans and corn had killed about everything on half the world. Every cup of coffee
equalled one dead songbird in the jungle somewhere ."
While earlier parts of the book feel a bit postured to make points, from then on everything flows
together in a beautiful intermix of lives, both human and nonhuman. Kingsolver has created a
masterpiece that reads with the rhythm of life and death, and is both entertaining and educational.
This is important reading, no matter what your position on environmental issues. It is
thought-provoking, sad and inspiring. Kingsolver has found a creative outlet to educate us on the
tragedies and miracles that occur daily in the world around us.
Sheila Alexander, Reviewer
www.autumnwood.biz
Sherry's Bookshelf
The Pekinese Who Saved Civilization
Sir Addison Silber Howell, Esq.
As told to Trisha Adelena Howell
Howell Canyon Press
PO Box 448, Tonasket, WA 98855
www.howellcanyonpress.com (888) 252-0411
ISBN 1931210071 $11.95 208 pages
The Pekinese Who Saved Civilization is a clever refreshing approach to a commentary on every
issue thinkable. Sir Addison Silber Howell Esquire is an aging toothless Pekinese who believes "a
whole race who can't even get the basics of food, rest and shelter right is in big trouble and
desperately in need of my help".
Addison, while referring to his owner as his personal slave, enthusiastically froths with joy while
telling his perspective on solving personal and global problems. He candidly shares his ideology,
assessments and philosophy about careers, money, sports, military, taxes, sex, drugs and
more.
Sir Addison describes exercise as "Baloney". He states "Exercise is a completely useless activity
that needlessly takes me away from eating". Addison describes his relationships with witty charm
flanked by lampoonery. This perspective, told from the Pekinese's point of view, tackles serious
issues head on while keeping the humor in tow.
There are numerous pictures of Addison displaying different behaviors and actions. Addison does
possess a face that reaches out and tugs on the heartstrings.
The book offers an energetic pace reminding us to rise above the details of the day. If you are a
Pekinese lover, a political satire admirer or enjoy an entertaining unconventional bold kind of read
you must have this book. Hilariously potent.
The Princess and the Pekinese
Trisha Adelena Howell
Paul Lopez, illustrator
Howell Canyon Press
PO Box 448, Tonasket, WA 98855
www.howellcanyonpress.com (888) 252-0411
ISBN 1931210039 $15.95 32 pages
This colorful freshly illustrated story opens with beautiful Princess Lillian frolicking in her
pampered lifestyle. Suddenly life, as the Princess knew it, comes to a crashing halt with the
unwanted appearance of a new addition to the family. The addition is an adorable slobbery playful
Pekinese puppy.
An adventurous story of alarm and envy unfold concluding in the moral that unconditional love
wins out over apprehension and panic. The Princess and the Pekinese offers an innovative
entertaining twist that I won't spoil for readers. The vibrant pictures in the book delight the
imagination and the story delivers a robust message. Well done.
Review Yellow Flowers on a Rainy Day
Tanya Hyonhye Ko
Oma Books of the Pacific
www.OmaBooks.com (310) 833-3915
ISBN 0972997407 $9.95 64 pages
Yellow Flowers on A Rainy Day is a delightful poetry collection bearing witness to the author's
rarefied yearnings, passions and experiences.
Among the thirty-seven offerings are such distinctive poems as The Crab on the Rocks, The Road
of Mother and While I Was Making Seaweed Soup. Juicy tidbits of information like learning that
seaweed soup is known as birthday soup gives you a glimpse into why this book is a fabulous
little gem. The poems are simply but skillfully written with textured meaningful words drenched
with true emotions of love, loss, hope and spirit. A great book to add to your library and a great
gift especially for mom's and mother's to be.
Sherry Russell
Reviewer
Taylor's Bookshelf
Ministerial Ethics
Joe E. Trull and James E. Carter
Baker Book House
Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
0801027551 $19.99 www.bakerbooks.com
Written by the editor of "Christian Ethics Today" and by a veteran pastor of thirty years'
experience, Ministerial Ethics: Moral Formation For Church Leaders is now in its second edition.
Chapters address critical issues such as moral choices that confront a minister, interactions with
colleagues and congregations, the thorny and deleterious issue for clergy sexual abuse, and much
more. A sober and committed in-depth discussion of serious matters.
Concepts
Paul Dehn Carleton
Carleton House Publisher
295 Cherokee Pontiac, MI 48341
0974558303 $25.00 1-248-332-1696
Concepts: A ProtoTheist Quest For Science-Minded Skeptics Of Catholic, And Other Christian,
Jewish & Muslim Backgrounds searches for the common source of beliefs in God - exploring
prototheism, the science of religion. From the origins of belief in gods to how Christianity came to
have such enormous influence in the western world, to what modern science has to tell us on the
workings of the brain and applications this knowledge has with regard to faith systems, Concepts
is a thought-provoking study that neither embraces nor denounces any one religion. Instead it
explores what science has to say about faith itself in a critical and compelling manner.
The Bible As Book: The Transmission Of The Greek Text
Scot McKendrick and Orlaith O'Sullivan, editors
Oak Knoll Press
310 Delaware Street, New Castle, DE 19720-5038
1584560827 $60.00 1-800-996-2556
The latest volume in outstanding "The Bible As Book" series, The Bible As Book: The
Transmission Of The Greek Text is co-edited by Scot McKendrick (Curator of Classical,
Byzantine and Biblical Manuscripts at The British Library) and Orlaith O'Sullivan (former
Cataloguer of Manuscripts and Early Printed Books at The Scriptorium: Center for Christian
Antiquities). The Bible As Book: The Transmission Of The Greek Text is a wide-ranging
collection of fundamental essays by a wide variety of learned authors, and based on the
proceedings of the annual Hereford Conferences sponsored by The Scriptorium: Center for
Christian Antiquities, concerning the study and art of textual criticism of the Greek Bible. An
extremely detailed and technical linguistic accounting that very meticulously deconstructs the
Biblical text, with exhaustive research and reference designated by pages of footnotes for each
essay, The Bible As Book: The Transmission Of The Greek Text is very highly recommended for
advanced Bible study with its in-depth and scholarly focuses upon syntax and grammar issues
when evaluating the biblical text in translation.
Commitment And Connection
Gail Heffner & Claudia Beverluis, editors
University Press of America
4270 Boston Way, Lanham, MD 20706
0761824553 $45.00 www.univpress.com
Collaboratively compiled and co-edited by Gail Gunst Heffner (Associate Director for Applied
and Community-based Research at the Calvin Center for Social Research) and Claudia DeVries
Beverluis (Dean of Instruction and Professor of Psychology at the Calvin Center for Social
Research), Commitment And Connection: Service-Learning And Christian Higher Education
addresses academically based service-learning as it has been implemented on Christian college and
university campuses. Sixteen contributors focus upon the service-learning movement in Christian
education as a builder of community and in developing students. Of special note is the final and
illustratively insightful chapter "The Development of Academically Based Service-Learning at
Calvin College: An Historical Perspective". Commitment And Connection is strongly
recommended reading for all college and university level administrators and educators whether
their campus is secular or parochial.
Sunday Morning Memories
Don Reid
New Leaf Press
PO Box 726, Green Forest, AR 72638
089221564X $13.99 1-800-999-3777
Sunday Morning Memories is a collection of reminences by Don Reid of growing up attending
church services and church-sponsored events in his community. In looking back down the years,
Reid reveals a wealth of life lessons learned from and shared with family and friends. It was in
those Sunday meetings and services that habits and attitudes were formed and reinforced to last a
lifetime. Sunday Morning Memories is very highly recommended reading for any and all members
of the Christian community -- and might well inspire some readers to rejoin their church
community in their church service celebrations, their Sunday School classes, vacation Bible
schools and camps, Christmas and Easter pageants, pot-luck suppers, and more!
John Taylor
Reviewer
Vogel's Bookshelf
Book Row
Marvin Mondlin & Roy Meador
Carroll & Graf
161 William Street, 16th floor, New York, NY 10038-5306
0786713054 $28.00 1-800-788-3123
In the last couple of decades of the 19th century and the first few decades of the 20th century,
New York City was home to a series of legendary booksellers who did business on and around
Fourth Street south of Fourteenth Street. It came to be called "Book Row" by dedicated
bibliophiles and had its own very distinctive culture, aromas, and for the true book lover, an
excitement that could not be duplicated in the same quantity, quality, or diversity in any other
American city of the time. In Book Row: An Anecdotal And Pictorial History Of The Antiquarian
Book Trade, authors Marvin Mondlin and Roy Meador have collaborated to provide a definitive
and enthusiastically recommended history of the times and personalities that made Book Row the
Mecca for book collectors in search of antiquarian treasures, as well as budget bookaholics
looking for something interesting to read.
Raising Funds With Friends Groups
Mark Y.Herring
Neal-Schuman Publishers
100 William Street, Suite 2004, New York, NY 10038-4512
1555704840 $55.00 www.neal-schuman.com
Raising Funds With Friends Groups: A How-To-Do-It Manual For Librarians by Mark Y.
Herring (Dean of Library Services, Winthrop University, Rock Hill, South Carolina) provides a
very highly recommended survey and presentation of the basic tools and techniques required for
librarians (especially of small and medium sized libraries) to transform their Friends Of The
Library organizations into an effective and reliable economic support group. Some of the
fundamentals covered include expanding membership rosters; using e-mail, list serves, blogs, and
e-zines; and planning programs that will continue to bring public attention and financial support to
the library. No college or university Library Sciences collection can be considered complete or
up-to-date without the inclusion of Mark Herring's Raising Funds With Friends Groups!
Breeze Into Japanese
Kazuko Imaeda
Cheng & Tsui Company
25 West Street, Boston, MA 02111-1213
0887274226 $39.95 www.cheng-tsui.com
Breeze Into Japanese is a book with two audio CDs designed to help novices language gain basic
conversational ability in the Japanese language. Featuring time-tested instruction methods,
numerous examples and self-exercises, language and culture tips, native Japanese speech on the
audio CDs, and a flexible, gradual introduction to the language that does not rush the beginner
into the Japanese script but rather gradually teaches hiragana and katakana (the two Japanese
alphabets), and a few kanji, Breeze Into Japanese is a first-rate self-preparation resource for
business travelers, vacationers, or anyone looking to learn the basics.
Teaching Writing With Rubrics
Laura A. Flynn & Ellen M. Flynn
Corwin Press, Inc.
2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 1320-2218
0761931848 $34.95 1-800-818-7243 www.CorwinPress.com
Co-authored by classroom education experts Laura and Ellen Flynn, Teaching Writing With
Rubrics: Practical Strategies And Lesson Plans For Grades 2-8 is a very strongly recommended
compendium of "teacher friendly" step-by-step instructions on creating a classroom writing
program using rubrics to explain at a glance what is being taught, how it is taught, and how the
students will be graded. Enhanced with eleven comprehensive and classroom tested lessons plans;
effective methods for adapting rubrics for high school students, gifted students, English language
learners; even students with learning disabilities; and working strategies for evaluating every step
of the writing process, Teaching Writing With Rubrics reduces subjectivity and increases
objectivity with respect to assessing both teacher and student accountability.
Elements Of Successful Teaching
Barbara D. Bateman
IEP Resources
PO Box 930160, Verona, WI 53593-0160
157861502X $21.00 1-800-327-4269 www.AttainmentCompany.com
Expertly written by Barbara D. Bateman (a nationally known expert in special education and
special education law), Elements Of Successful Teaching: General & Special Education Students
was first published in 1972, but has been recently revised to incorporate and reflect The
Individuals with Disabilities Act and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Focusing on how
teachers can create and maintain a positive learning environment, keep their own knowledge and
their level of instruction accurate and current, master specific skills related to teaching, keep up
high professional standards, and more, Elements Of Successful Teaching is a superb all-around
supplementary guidebook for teachers of all backgrounds and instructional assignments, including
public and private school educators as well as home schooling instructors. Elements Of Successful
Teaching is solidly presented and highly recommended as a practical evaluation and instructional
of the environment and abilities needed to promote lifelong learning.
Totally Positive Teaching
Joseph Ciaccio
ASCD
1703 North Beauregard Street. Alexandria, VA 22311-1714
0871208806 $25.95 1-800-933-2723
Totally Positive Teaching: A Five-Stage Approach To Energizing Studies And Teachers by
Joseph Ciaccio (a history teacher with 31 years of experience and classroom instruction expertise)
will material assist any "burn out" classroom instructor to reinvigorate themselves with a renewed
love of education and an upbeat attitude enhanced with improved and constructive teaching
techniques. Totally Positive Teaching will instruct teachers on devising activities to meet the
mutual needs of students and teachers; transform personal counterproductive feelings; respond to
behavior problems with self-discipline; help academic underachievers to become self-motivated
and successful students; all while developing instructional strategies to keep students intellectually
and emotionally engage in the curriculum. From kindergarten to college, If you are a teacher who
feels his or her enthusiasm on the wane, the give Joseph Ciaccio's Totally Positive Teaching a very
careful read -- it could enhance your professional well being for many years to come!
Hip-Hop Poetry And The Classics For The Classroom
Alan Sitomer and Michael Cirelli
Milk Mug Publishing
9190 West Olympic Blvd., Suite 253, Beverly Hills, CA 90212
0972188223 $24.95 1-310-278-1153 www.HipHopintheClass.com
The collaborative work of Alan Sitomer (California Literacy's Teacher of the Year) and
poet/educator Michael Cirelli, Hip-Hop Poetry And The Classics For The Classroom offers a
unique text equally appropriate and recommended for traditional classroom curriculums or home
schooling use. Hip-Hop Poetry And The Classics For The Classroom offers sample worksheets,
composition exercises, and study questions to help students study and think about both works of
classic poetry (by Tennyson, Keats, Dickinson, Shakespeare, and more), as well as contemporary
hip-hop poetry by Tupac Shakur, Public Enemy, Notorious B.I.G., Ice Cube, and others. A fresh
combination of old and new in English poetry appreciation, and a superb resource for poetry
classes of high school level and above, Hip-Hop Poetry And The Classics For The Classroom is
also very useful for recitals and poetry slams, as well as a resource for gifted and talented
education programming.
America In Paris
Adam Gopnik, editor
The Library Of America
14 East 60th Street, New York, NY 10022
1931082561 $40.00 ww.loa.org
Compiled and edited by New Yorker staff writer Adam Gopnik, America In Paris: A Literary
Anthology is a seminal celebration of statesmen, soldiers, student tourist, and sometimes even
expatriates' experiences in the grand, romantic, and one-of-kind city of Paris. Excerpts from
journals, letters, and stories spanning centuries from pre-colonial days down to the modern times
offer a grand cohesive whole of Paris through American eyes, painting a captivating picture that
shifts with subtle nuances and the march of years. An enchanting and highly articulate literary
composite portrait, featuring writings from Benjamin Franklin, Abigail Adams, P. T. Barnum,
William Faulkner, Jack Kerouac, and many more.
Dramatic Success!
Andrew Leigh and Michael Maynard
Nicholas Brealey Publishing
3704 Beard Avenue North, Minneapolis, MN 55422
1857883403 $25.00 1-888-273-2539 www.nbrealey-books.com
Dramatic Success! Theatre Techniques To Transform And Inspire Your Working Life is a unique
guide to improving one's performance and success in the business world by learning theatrical
skills. Individual chapters knowledgeably instruct the reader on just how to enhance their ability to
communicate, how to motivate and coach effectively, the skill of earning trust and empathy,
helping to reveal the talent in others, how to better be able to take change in stride, producing a
"high performance culture", and more. Dramatic Success! is recommended as being a truly
first-rate supplement for dedicated professionals seeking to improve their business relationships
with co-workers and contacts alike.
Sell Your Boat In 30 Days!
Thomas Cook
Sheridan House Inc.
145 Palisade St, Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522
www.sheridanhouse.com
1574091867 $19.95 1-888-743-7425
Got a boat to sell? Then you will want to give a close reading to Thomas Cook's Sell Your Boat
In 30 Days!: Minimize Your Investment, Maximize Your Profit. Cook knowledgeably covers a
variety of "how to" issues ranging from preparing the boat for a new owner; doing paperwork;
pricing the boat; advertising and salesmanship; to negotiating with prospective buyers; finding
new markets for selling boats through the online resource of eBay; brokers; consignments sales,
trade-ins, donations, and other boat disposal alternative. From placing an ad to confirming a sale,
Sell Your Boat In 30 Days! takes all the guesswork, anxiety, and risk from the process of selling
any watercraft of any kind.
Paul T. Vogel
Reviewer
James A. Cox
Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129
phone: 1-608-835-7937
e-mail: mbr@execpc.com
e-mail: mwbookrevw@aol.com
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
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