 |
Book
Reviews,
Book Lover Resources, Advice for Writers and Publishers |
| Home / Reviewer's
Bookwatch |
Reviewer's Bookwatch
Table of Contents
Reviewers Recommend
A Book of Angels
Sophy Burnham
Ballentine Books
0345361571 $12.00
Jean Carroll
Reviewer
Do angels really watch over our lives?
Sophy Burnham writes a book of anecdotes gathered from several sources that seem to support
the
fact that angels are watching over us.
Aside from present-day stories, Burnham's book also delves into historical writings about angels
from different religions.
More questions than answers are found. She asks: Where do guardian angels go when they're not
around? Is it always the same guardian angel? Does it have more than one person to guard? How
many angels are there, a few or thousands? When were they created, and when did they fall? Was
it,
as Dante said, "before time," or as Milton wrote 350 years later, that the fall occurred after a
battle
in heaven?
Opinions differ greatly in the quotes she offers from the writings of many. The Greek theologian,
Origen believed that angels are born and die the same as humans, and that they live to evolve to
higher and higher states. St. Thomas Aquinas, one thousand years later thought angels do not
reason
but have just one life choice and that is for God.
Burnham uses quotes from the Bible, Emerson, Emanuel Swedenlorg, Walt Milton, Whitman,
Shakespeare, and many others. Almost every one of the 295 pages of the book has a quote about
angels, or an illustration of angels.
One quote I particularly liked was of Roderick MacLeish: "It is said, and it is true, that just before
we are born a cavern angel puts his finger to our lips and says 'Hush, don't tell what you know.'
This
is why we are born with a cleft on our upper lips and remembering nothing of where we came
from."
Another quote - or is it a misquote? - left me puzzled. It is from American Health Magazine,
January/February 1987 issue: "Thirty percent of the Americans who do not believe in afterlife say
they have been in contact with the dead.":
Another question that arises is whether angels are the spirits of the dead. Burnham adds her own
experiences with ghosts and angels and explains that "Ghosts are the spirits of the dead, but
angels
are the messengers of the devine."
The Last Liberal Outlaw
Mike Palecek
New Leaf Books
ISBN 1930076029 $14.95
Chuck Gregory
Reviewer
I've been waiting for Mike Palecek to finally get it right. I've read his other four novels, and
enjoyed
each one, but every time after finishing the book I felt a little bit cheated. I wanted something else
to
happen; I didn't want them to end when they did.
With "The Last Liberal Outlaw", Mike has created a novel that left me just as exhausted as the
others, but this time I didn't feel as if the story was unfinished. I'll be waiting just as hungrily for
his
next book, but it won't be because I wasn't satisfied with this one. It'll be because I was
satisfied!
Palecek is at his best when writing about small-town America. It's a place he clearly loves even as
he
pokes fun at its quirks and reveals the sickness that lies just below the surface. It's a place he
knows,
and he shares his knowledge in delightfully original ways even as he cries out for change. We
haven't
had a writer like this since Kurt Vonnegut was at his peak.
Several themes follow Mike Palecek from one book to the next, even though each novel stands
alone. Any character or place that seems familiar from a previous book is revised, perhaps
reinvented for the next. Palecek writes about sins large and small, and about redemption, with a
decidedly Catholic viewpoint. He writes about injustice, about intolerance, about money, and
about
power. His world has violence; it's usually just below the surface, but it often erupts suddenly and
in
peculiar ways, perhaps even wresting control of the story away from the author. I felt that he
maintained control of his vision in this novel. He guarded it with the strength of his own character
and took his readers on a journey that never lost its focus. He used twists and surprises to develop
the plot rather than allowing the plot to run away on its own. That's what makes this his best
book.
Mike Palecek's characters are complex, multidimensional creations that are confused and
confusing
but somehow incredibly real. When suddenly one of them is driven to an action that seems out of
character, we realize that we should have expected it from the start. People fulfill their destiny.
Fate
plays a large role for Mike Palecek.
A stereotype that recurs in Palecek's writing is the revolutionary priest. Often this character is
paired
with a roommate or twin having diametrically opposing views. Yet there tend to be more
similarities
between this pair than there are differences. The model is taken from what we think of as real life:
the far left and far right have more in common with each other than with the center.
A setting that recurs in Palecek's writing is the prison. It's prominently featured in "KGB" and
"Twins" as well as "The Last Liberal Outlaw". I know that Mike spent some time in federal
prisons
for resistance to the military; I hope that his experience was not long enough to be the basis for
the
extensive prison scenes that haunt his writing. I will say that this part of his writing is terrifyingly
real.
Little people are trying to make a difference in Liberal, Iowa. Big money is trying to get bigger by
creating a prison-based economy for the once-agricultural community. People who oppose the
plan
either die or go to prison, but somehow the cover-up is falling apart even as it nears the pinnacle
of
its success. Tom Blue is caught up in the crusade without ever planning it, and he manages to get
himself accused of sedition for a column he prints as editor of the local paper. Is he "The Last
Liberal Outlaw" of the title? You'll have to read this fine book to get the answer to that question.
You'll learn a lot along the way, and you'll laugh out loud more than once; perhaps you'll cry,
too.
Other novels by Mike Palecek:
KGB -- AmErica House 2001 1-58851-698-9
Joe Coffee's Revolution -- Waubesa Press 2003 1-878569-94-5
Twins -- Waubesa Press 2003 1-932542-06-X
The Truth -- Writers Publishing Coop 2003 1-930149-26-3
Land that Moves, Land that Stands Still
Kent Nelson
Viking Penguin
375 Hudson St, New York, NY 10014
0670032263, $24.95, 357 pp.
Coletta Ollerer
Reviewer
Recently widowed Mattie Remmel decides to continue working the farm in South Dakota after
her
husband's accidental death. She needs a handyman and hires Dawn, an attractive young woman
and
former GI, who is looking for a new start. When first approached by Dawn, Mattie saw that "she
was slender, and as tall as the deer fence, and dressed in jeans with holes in the knees and a blue
work shirt. Her blond hair was tied up carelessly behind her head." (p63) Mattie's daughter Shelly,
a
college student, is on the farm for the summer. She is not sure if she wants to remain on the land
and
help her mother or if she should finish her education. These three are joined by a 14 year old
runaway Native American boy whom Mattie takes under her wing.
Mattie discovers a secret her husband, Haney, had kept from her and is haunted by its
implications.
"Mattie looked up into the cottonwood tree where light scattered among the leaves. She felt
nothing, then surges of anger and hurt, then nothing again for a long time." (104)
Unbeknownst to Mattie, before his death Haney had contacted a local Museum with regard to a
sink
hole he discovered on the property. Haney felt it might contain some worthwhile items. Lee
Coulter
from the museum comes to investigate. Mattie wants him to go away.
Dawn's past includes a boyfriend, Styver, who has worked up an active dislike for her and comes
looking for her. Elton, the Native American boy, sets himself up as Dawn's protector.
The Pollards, a neighboring man and his grown son, pose a threat to the four in that they are
boorish, dangerous and tending to thievery. Mattie struggles to deal with them and is sure they
have
been diverting her water to their fields. Shelly has had a run in with the son and both man and son
have attempted to assault Dawn. Hector interrupted their efforts.
Hector, a Mexican and therefore an outcast in S D, has managed through hard work and
enterprise
to acquire land on which he farms and raises livestock. He works for the local phone company to
augment his income. Mattie and family are the few who accept him and include him in their
lives.
This is a story of ordinary people struggling with the problems life throws at them. They come to
love and appreciate each other even as they squabble. Each is heartened by the courage and
strength
of the other. The reader will appreciate and enjoy this opportunity to peek into their lives.
Perfect
Natasha Friend
Milkweed Editions
1011 Washington Avenue South, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55415-1246
ISBN 1571316523 $16.95 hardcover
ISBN 1571316515 $6.95, paperback
Franci McMahon
Reviewer
This first novel by Natasha Friend has been well named, Perfect. Both the internal and spoken
dialog
has a crisp, real feel. Her descriptions are vivid and fresh. Friend's subtle use of language, her
delicate touch brought me tears and out-loud laughter.
The story line, a girl's struggle with an eating disorder, is one aching to be told. Friend shows
thirteen year-old Isabelle Lee as a member of a family frozen by grief over the sudden death of
Isabelle's father, which no one talks about. Her mother has put away all his photographs and the
girls
are so afraid of her fragility they believe she'll break down if they ask to see them. When he died
Isabelle's little sister April was the only one who cried. Now, three years later her mother can't
stop
crying. When Isabelle wakes in the night to sounds from her mother's bedroom, she goes to the
door
and calls out to her. Her mother never answers. Isabelle copes by; "Most of the time I just put my
pillow over my head and hum for a while to drown her out."
When Isabelle is caught vomiting up her breakfast by April no amount of bribe will work to keep
April (aka Ape Face) from telling their mother. Isabelle finds herself in a Group, led by a therapist
with a gentle touch. In the group is Ashley, the most perfect, most admired girl in school. Friend
uses no hold-backs in her portrayal of their Bulimia. Through the slightly cynical eyes of Isabelle;
"You wouldn't believe how fast and bubbly everything comes up if you drink a lot of Diet Coke
first."
This is an excellent novel where the main character grows, and where the reader can experience
that
growth and come away richer for it. Not a hint of preachiness tarnishes this novel. My hope is that
every teenage girl has Perfect within reach.
Charley Sunday's Texas Outfit!
Stephen Lodge
Behler Publications
2365 El Toro Road, #135, Lake Forest, CA 92630
ISBN: 0974896217 $15.95 157 pp.
Brian Hill, Reviewer
http://www.BrianHillAndDeePower.com
Tough, old former Texas Ranger Charley Sunday faces two problems: he's bored, living with his
long-time chum Roscoe on his broken down ranch near tiny, dusty Juanita, Texas, west of San
Antonio; and far more seriously, he's nearly broke, and is facing the foreclosure of his land.
His beloved grandson Henry-Ellis comes to stay with Charley while his parents are on vacation.
Charley and his grandson have always had a special bond, and Charley dearly wants to pass on his
rugged and rapidly vanishing--frontier values to the boy, who is growing up in our high-tech
urbanized, confusing world. While watching the classic John Wayne film Red River, they see a
commercial about a herd of 300 genuine Texas longhorns that is being auctioned in Golden,
Colorado. This becomes an itch that Charley has to scratch, and he heads to his favorite pool hall
to
do some "serious thinking." The bar is owned by his sometime sweetheart, the wealthy
Flora-Mae. It
turns out Charlie and Flora-Mae were thinking along the same lines, and they form a partnership,
financed by Flora-Mae, to bring the herd back to her ranch so she can get back into the cattle
business.
Charlie, Roscoe, Henry-Ellis and their old dog Buster head to Colorado to the auction. They run
into their first of many obstacles from a very evil, abusive meatpacker named Pike who intends to
buy the herd and turn it into fast-food hamburger. Pike sends his attorney, a young Indian named
Rod to the auction to make a pre-emptive bid. But it turns out Charlie and his gang win the
bidding.
Their celebration is short-lived and is replaced by despair when they find Pike has convinced the
trucking companies to not do business with Charley: he can't get the longhorns back to
Texas.
Or can he how about an old fashioned cattle drive across the West? Charlie is just desperate
enough, and perhaps crazy enough, to attempt it. So off they go, accompanied by beautiful TV
reporter Kelly King who thinks the cattle drive makes a unique human interest story and also Rod,
who has had enough of his boss Mr. Pike and switches sides.
Charley Sunday's Texas outfit faces the usual hardships all cattle drovers did, the weather,
potential
rustlers, the rough terrain and brutally long work days. But this cattle drive also faces unique
challenges: how do you get cattle across an oil company's fields? Through an Air Force Base? It is
then we enjoy the central theme of Stephen Lodge's simple, elegant and pleasantly sentimental
story;
Charley Sunday's indomitable will, the same pioneer spirit that conquered the West, will not allow
him to quit, will not permit him to fail especially not in front of his grandson. This may be the last
chance the old man has to show Henry-Ellis what kind of young man Charley was in his glory
days
as a Texas Ranger. And for Henry-Ellis' part, it is a wonderful opportunity for adventure across
the
great, glorious West much more fun than surfing the Internet or going on a fancy vacation in
Hawaii with his mom and dad. "Take them to Texas, gentlemen," Charley tells his men at the start
of
the drive, echoing John Wayne in Red River. And over the course of the cattle drive, Henry-Ellis
sees that his grandpa can ride, shoot, brawl and fight for what he believes in--just like Duke
himself.
Through Kelly's TV reports, the whole U.S. gets caught up in the cattle drive saga reality TV at
its
very best. Pike turns out to be a particularly vengeful foe, who uses all his resources and contacts
to
keep Charlie from succeeding. Charley's outfit gets the cattle back to Juanita, Texas but not
without some unusual allies including a biker gang and the President of the United States.
Author Stephen Lodge is a veteran Hollywood screenwriter and actor, and it shows in the
wonderfully visual style of this novel. Mr. Lodge takes you right into the middle of the action.
The
scenes move along at the clip of wild horses galloping across the prairie. In fact you wish he
would
slow down a little and spend more time describing the wonderful scenery and vistas they are
traveling through. I would also have enjoyed learning more backstory about Charley's
undoubtedly
fascinating life and times.
If you loved the old West cattle drive novel (and TV movie) Lonesome Dove, you will love the
vivid
characters, warm relationships and fast-paced action of Steven Lodge's novel of the New West,
Charley Sunday's Texas Outfit.
The Burning Point
Frances Richey
White Pine Press
P.O. Box 236, Buffalo, NY 14201
ISBN 1893996719 $14.95 141 pages
Karla Huston
Reviewer
" in the real world all that holds us has no hold, except for the gravity we give it."
A burning point is the spot in which fire flares into a conflagration or the place in which
something
hurts or the point in which memory smolders into awareness. In this book, which won the 2004
White Pine Press Poetry Prize, Frances Richey often examines memory and art and the way art
can
transcend and allow one to imagine, affirm and perhaps revise a history and a life.
Often the characters in Richey's poems are the ones her narrator speaks of in "Walking Man."
There are the people made of ash
who leave behind their limp sweaters,
their empty shoes,
who walk the night on club feet (14)
They are frequently the subjects of others' paintings and the subjects of Richey's imagination.
Some
are mothers and fathers; some are sisters, daughters and sons. They are often broken or looking
for
affirmation and even forgiveness as is the narrator of many of the poems.
Richey's poems seem to be impressions of a reality, her language lovely and rich and filled with
texture, color and light. In the poem "The Return," she says:
What do you say when you've forgotten
how the grass smells
married to the dark
the soil crumbling in your hands?
When the sun makes a bed for you to lie in?
When a voice you've never heard
has missed you,
singing down your bones
it's taken to long to get here. 102
Of the thirty-two poems in this collection, thirteen are written about the paintings of Wyeth,
Renoir,
Chagall, Giacometti, Vermeer and Charain. While Richey may write about the work of these
artists,
there is little in her poems that is straight description. Instead she uses these paintings as places of
consciousness that then become points of self-discovery and even self-affirmation.
Richey uses art as the entree to her own imagination. In the poem, "Lovers in Blue," after the
painting by Chagall, she asks,
Why can't I make them what I want?
Would it offend Chagall if instead of lovers
I saw sisters, the small gloved hand
touching the face
of the one who in life
does not want to be touched (43)
Richey's narrator continues to imagine a different situation from which this painting might have
been
created, her scenario filled with both the artist's words and Richey's own longings. This is a
extended
poem, covering several pages, stanzas that slip in and out of time and place and even desire but
ending in nearly the same place: "Can I make them what I want? / Would he mind if I see in them
what I missed two views of the same face" 49.
In another piece, Richey's narrator thinks about her mother's stories, stories that were often both
true and not true. How would a daughter know which? "Mother's stories are like that, fantastic /
in
their disappearances, futile heroics, / villains wrapped in furs" 18. The poem creates its own work
of
art, its own collage as the narrator traces her own experiences as both mother and daughter.
I was a woman
with a child of my own
the night I drove back roads
to the turnpike, leaving
behind the cardboard girl, that fiction
mother wanted me to be. (20)
The narrator examines both the real story and the myth created by both her mother and herself
"from
some other story she didn't know / or couldn't tell" 21.
According to the author's biography, Richey left the business world "to pursue a more personally
satisfying life." Now she teaches yoga and meditation. The connections between Richey as yoga
practitioner and poet are frequent. In the poem, "The Yoga Lesson," Richey's narrator speaks of
Loli who is pregnant and whose center of gravity keeps shifting. Yoga is a Sanskrit word for
"link,"
and it requires the participant to bring a certain quality of attention to its practice. In Latin, yoga
is
religio. The practice of yoga requires an almost religious attention to breath and body and mind.
For
a woman who has made life-altering changes, Richey must have experienced the same sort of shift
in
her center. Perhaps this is why she quotes Sanskrit when she says, "Lead me from the unreal to
the
real" 87. Perhaps this is what poetic attentiveness means.
Many of the pieces in this book wrestle with memory. Some might find writing of the past to be
trivial with more than a slight nod to hubris. Some might find that writing from memory is a way
to
control what once seemed out of control. Some might find a certain ability, an impulse or maybe a
compulsion, to revise what might have been. Still, what is important seems to find its center of
gravity in Richey's words. "What courage it takes / to see that way, to hold what isn't there / and
let
it burn your hands" 17.
Who is the REAL John Kerry
Michael Ashbury
Book Surge. LLC
5341 Dorchester Rd., North Charleston, SC 29418
ISBN 159457707-2, $14.99, 141 pages
Sylvia Keeler
Reviewer
Do we know the REAL John Kerry?
Michael Ashbury's new book "Who is the REAL John Kerry?" reads like a biography. Yet a
biography based on the writings of numerous investigative reporters and leading newspapers as
they
independently examine the many facets of this man who wants to be President of the United
States.
Facets, which are now being discussed in the main stream press, but lacking the detail, which was
presented by this collection of reporters. The book documents the articles, their source and dates
of
publication
Mr. Ashbury traces the heritage of John Kerry, who is often thought to be Irish, because of his
many
comments and his connection to the Massachusetts Irish Community. In fact his paternal
grandparents were Jewish from Eastern Europe. His maternal grandparents were French having
gained a fortune running Opium on the coast of China.
He then examines John Kerry's aristocratic upbringing and education at Yale, with an early
connection to the Kennedy family and the fact that one his cousins was a friend and benefactor of
Maria and Lee Harvey Oswald. One of the ironies of life.
Vietnam, one of the cornerstones of Kerry's current Presidential campaign is discussed in detail.
Kerry's claim of leadership is based on a crew of 5 and command of a boat about the size of his
yacht, which he currently tools around Nantucket. The book discusses the obscure Navy
regulation
that Kerry used to get a ticket home and the misleading injuries and actions that led to his various
medals. It includes statements by doctors and commanders on whether he should have been given
a
medal or Court Martialed for his actions.
The book discusses Kerry's lack of character in abandoning his wife of 12 years and two small
children in his pursuit of his political ambitions; even though she was suffering from severe
depression and suicidal. He then sought and gained an annulment of their then 18-year marriage
when he married Theresa.
Little is currently said of Kerry's 20 years in the Senate, mainly because it was one of little
accomplishment. Even in a Democratically controlled Senate his colleagues never saw fit to
promote
him to a position of leadership. And, his major committee assignments generally resulted in a
whitewash of the issues of the day. The one thing that is documented over and over is his liberal
approach to all issues that affect our American way of life taxes, government programs, defense,
etc. Various independent analyses listed in the book rate John Kerry as the most liberal member of
the US Senate.
Mr. Ashbury believes that John Kerry's liberalism is deeply ingrained. His father was a Foreign
Service Officer assigned to the Bureau of United Nations Affairs, apparently leading to his strong
belief in the United Nations, The book also relates speeches where Kerry is quoted as saying "that
Western imperialism was more dangerous than communism especially as it affects Asians and
Africans". In another speech Kerry stated, "I'm an internationalist. I'd like to see our troops
dispersed throughout the world only at the directive of the United Nations." Further in this speech
he stated that it his goal to eliminate most CIA activity.
Interestingly the book points out the Rich and Famous lifestyle that the Kerry's maintain with five
homes valued at more than $35 million, and a family estate in France. While the rest of us have to
put up with commercial aviation the Kerry's travel the world in a luxurious private Gulfstream V
jet.
A family that lives the life of his often quoted "Two America's".
"Who is the REAL John Kerry?" is a must read for all of those debating who should be the next
President of the United States.
'Pressions: Memoirs of a Southern Cat
Edith Holmes
Llumina Press
http://www.llumina.com/store/pressions.htm
ISBN 1932560513 $18.95 paperback
ISBN 1-932560-50-5 $35.95 hardcover 344 pages
Michael LaRocca
Reviewer
This is one of the most accurate pictures of life in the "New South" that I've ever read. The setting
is
Georgia, on both sides of the tracks, and the story spans roughly 20 years in the lives of a number
of
unforgettable characters.
Caterina is a socialite and potentially the First Lady of Georgia. Annie Lou is the mainstay of her
sharecropper family, and also of her part of the community. These two ladies seem so different,
but
they share a friendship which, no doubt, would be frowned upon by many on both sides of the
tracks.
To express the above paragraph another way, this book takes an honest look at racism in all its
many
shades and hues. I grew up in the New South, then attended an all-black college even though I'm
white. Next, I managed a Latino hog farm where I was the only English speaker, and finally I
moved
to China. Racism is a subject I know. This book showed me that I don't know everything yet.
The plot is juicy. Intrigue, secrets, lies, adultery, marriages that succeed and marriages that fail,
oppression, power plays, political politics and sexual politics, racism, and all the other goodies we
know go on just below the surface. A few extra goodies you might not expect, such as bipolar
disorder, a coma patient, and a hint of the psychic. Plus, a wonderful history lesson that will
intrigue
and enlighten, and a natural weaving of the past with the present. You can read it at that surface
level and lose yourself for a few very enjoyable hours.
But, I didn't read it like that. Well, I did read it like that, but at the same time I didn't read it like
that. The author has put so much into this novel that it would be a shame to miss any of it. Plot,
characterization, description, and a real gift for the English language. This book gives you much
to
feel, and to think about, long after you finish reading it. Savor it. Then reflect upon it.
Through Violet Eyes
Stephen Woodworth
Bantam Dell
New York, New York
0553803379 $6.99, 333 pages
Michelle Williams
Reviewer
"Somebody's knocking! Somebody's knocking!" cries a little girl just before she is murdered. Her
killer: a man with no face. In Stephen Woodworth's newest work, Through Violet Eyes, criminals
are brought to justice and death is no longer the finality in the journey of life.
Dan Atwater, Special Agent for the Los Angeles Police Department, is assigned the toughest case
of
his career. Gun shy and tormented by his past, Dan struggles to protect the number one witness in
the case: Nathalie Lindstrom. Nathalie is one of the Lords chosen ones. With eyes of bright violet,
she is a lightening rod for deceased souls who are constantly knocking for her attention.
Nathalie and the other Violets fall prey to an obsessed killer who knows all of their secrets and
defenses. With seven Violets missing and assumed dead, Nathalie and Dan team up to uncover the
identity of the faceless man, seen through the eyes of those he's killed. Using personal items as
touchstones, Nathalie is able to summon the deceased Violets and obtain imperative information
about the case. With each murder, the killer grows more violent. Soon, Violets are being
murdered
in their sleep and although she has trained her mind to defend against attacks, Nathalie's most
vulnerable time is at night
Through Violet Eyes captures your attention and curiosity from the very beginning. Although the
author's descriptions can be somewhat graphic and more than little distracting at times (chewing
his
gum with the deliberation of a bull masticating his cud), and a bit difficult to keep the characters
straight with three to four variations of each of their names, his imagination is clear and the
storyline
fascinating. Police drama, the implication of an afterlife and hint of romance, Through Violet Eyes
puts a whole new twist on the movie Ghost, and was just plain fun to read.
100 Bullets Volume Seven-Samurai
Vertigo Comics, a division of DC Comics
1700 Broadway, New York, New York
ISBN# 140120189X $12.95 168 Pages
Rick Mohr
Reviewer
If you knew without a doubt you could get away with a crime, what would you do? Would you
play it safe and maybe just run a stop sign? How about robbing a bank? Could you even go so far
as to commit murder, especially against someone who has done you wrong? Suppose that a man
walked up to you and handed you an attache case, and when you opened it, you found a gun,
ammunition, undeniable proof of the persons' guilt, and then this stranger told you that the
weapon
was untraceable, and if you chose to use it, even if caught, you would walk away with no
repercussions. Could you do it, more importantly, would you?
This is the premise of the powerful multi-award winning series from DC Comics under their
Vertigo
banner entitled 100 Bullets written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Eduardo Risso, which
not
only comes out in monthly installments, but has also been collected into trade paperback
collections
the seventh and latest being Samurai, and what a powerful piece of work it is.
Before I get into the story, I should take a minute and expand a little on the Vertigo imprint.
Although DC Comics may be the home of such comic icons as Superman, Batman, and Wonder
Woman, Vertigo is designed for the more adult, more discriminating reader, and make no
mistake,
these stories are not for children. This is in no way to imply that they are pornographic or explicit,
far from it; instead Vertigo endeavors to show what the medium is capable of when not hampered
by
what is perceived to be either overrun with spandex clad super-heroes, or simplistic children's
fare.
In over ten years of publishing, Vertigo has lead the way with work from such noted authors as
Alan
Moore and Neil Gaiman, and with such award winning titles as Swamp Thing, Sandman, and
Preacher among others-their Hellblazer, in fact, is soon to be a major motion picture staring
Keanu
Reeves.
Samurai collects issues 43-49 of the monthly issues but don't let that throw you off, as you will
quickly be brought up to speed on the story so far. In the first of the two stories in this collection
Chill in the Oven, we meet Loop Hughes, a free styling poet in solitary confinement in prison, as
he
devises a plot against his archenemy, Nine Train, who just happens to be not only the biggest guy
in
the joint, but also the baddest. The second story In Stinked, follows the misadventures of Mikey
and
Garvey as they stumble upon an illegal zoo where the animals are shot for sport and what happens
when they befriend a deadly, half starved tiger.
Brian Azzarello shows what a master storyteller he is by creating a world inhabited by characters
talking and reacting as if they were living breathing flesh and blood. The powerful and gripping art
by Mr. Risso aided by the mood-enhancing coloring by Patricia Mulvihill brings the style of film
noir
to the printed page, drawing you into the world that Mr. Azzarello formed. This is the perfect
blending of words and pictures into a new art form that could best be called print noir.
Gripping and powerful, after reading 100 Bullets Volume 7-Samurai you will find yourself
searching
out the first six volumes to find the richness in what has come before, and eagerly await the
forthcoming volumes, or perhaps even visit a local comic book store (you can call
1-888-comic-book for the location of the store nearest you) and pick up the monthly chronicles.
You won't regret it either way this is a true example of the finest the medium has to offer, just
remember, it's not for kids.
Mastering the Rockefeller Habits
Verne Harnish
Select Books
ISBN 1590790154 $24.95 150 pages
Roger E. Herman, Reviewer
http://www.hermangroup.com
Read this before your competitors do!
Verne Harnish is the acknowledged Pied Piper of fast-growth companies. He's devoted a
substantial
part of his career to working with senior executive teams of companies that are growing at least
20
percent a year. It's a unique environment, calling for special tools, techniques, attitudes, and
approaches. The secrets well, a lot of them are in the pages of this book.
Harnish's credibility is established before you even get to the table of contents. Page after page of
testimonials start the volume probably a lot more than is necessary. But, before even starting to
get
into the meat of the book, the reader is primed to believe that the pearls of wisdom are about to
come tumbling out of the pages.
In ten advice-filled chapters, Harnish teaches the principles based on focusing on priorities, data,
and
rhythm. The synopsis of what enabled John D. Rockefeller to achieve fame and fortune starts with
an overview for the busy executive who may only have time to scan the balance of the book. This
author knows his audience.
I suspect that most readers will do more than scan the chapters. There's so much meat in those
pages
that the reader is slowed by wanting to grasp the concepts then pause to ponder how the ideas can
be put to work. Some of the content is common sense or at least common knowledge. The
question is how much the reader has been applying the principles presented. You can guess the
answer, which is why you'll spend a bit more time than you might expect to invest in a 150-page
book. A co-authored chapter on bank financing and an appendix with case studies adds to the
value.
If you own a business that is fast-growing or should be, take the time to curl up with this book
and
a pad and pen. If you are a senior executive of a fast-growing company, what's contained in this
book should be gospel to you. Be sure that it is by reading, absorbing, and applying this book
before your competitors do!
Misspent Youth
Peter F. Hamilton
Macmillan
20 New Wharf Road London
ISBN 0333900693 $20.00 358 pp.
William Shaw
Reviewer
I chose this book because of the author's reputation for exciting SF. He is best known for his
massive 'Night's Dawn' trilogy. Hamilton writes fast paced, colorful stories and blends in the
relevant
science without allowing the science to impede the story flow. Set in the mid twenty first century
most of what we today expect of Science has come true. Life is full of easy to use technology but
overshadowed by its impact on the environment. Most SF fans will like this story but Hamilton
uses
a lot of sexual activity as his main theme. As a 'fountain of youth' story the ending is fairly
predictable but Hamilton tells a good tale. His characters are all very human when faced with the
miraculous and easy to relate too.
The basic story is of an eighty-year-old English scientist (credited with inventing a more powerful
Web) who is chosen as the first human to be rejuvenated using genetic science. After eighteen
months of treatment and millions of dollars he is turned into a twenty year old - with oblivious
results. He quickly comes to terms with his new vitality. His wife, son and friends do not accept
his
attempts at a new life that plays out under the fascinated gaze of millions of Web viewers. The
background is a struggle for independence although set in Europe it could be any fight against
centralized, intrusive government.
Raid on the Sun
Rodger W. Claire
Broadway Books
ISBN 0767914007 $24.95 259 pages
Bill Toth
Reviewer
"I would be the only journalist in twenty years," writes Rodger Claire, "to learn the names of and
meet face-to-face with all eight Israeli pilots who had flown to Baghdad in 1981." This is one of
the
special elements of Claire's recreation of Israel's daring bombing of Saddam Hussein's nuclear
bomb
producing power plant. It is a tense, highly informative book based
upon many hours of interviews with the pilots and their leaders.
In the telling of the story, Claire, a journalist and a former editor at Los Angeles magazine,
provides
the reader with insight into the character of the Jews of Israel, their politics, their attitudes
towards
protection of their homeland, the conflict between Hawks and Doves, and the mind-set of the
pilots--a very special breed of warrior.
The story also provides a compelling contrast to our own present attitudes towards homeland
security and pre-emption as a means of defense.
The story begins on the eve of the mission and flashes back, taking the reader through all of the
twists and turns and decision making leading up to to the raid. Most importantly, it takes the
reader
into the minds of the pilots.
The book is dramatically paced, has good character development, and is solidly researched and
sourced.
If anyone has any doubts about the sadistic character of Saddam Hussein, he or she should read
this
book. If anyone has any doubts about about Hussein's desire to be the dictator of Arabia, he or
she
should read this book. And most importantly, if anyone has any doubts about Saddam Hussein's
desire to create weapons of mass destruction, he or she should read this book.
The Usahar: A C'yiss Novel
Karen Anne Mitchell
iUniverse, Inc.
iuniverse.com
2021 Pine Lake Road, Suite 100, Lincoln, NE 68512
ISBN# 0595307426 $10.95 112 pages;
Peter Weiss
Reviewer
Revolution of the Heart
They dressed her in a thin, black teddy that rode up tightly between her thighs and buttocks, its
surface a mosaic of satin and lace patterns, and they had her kneel before a mirror and pretty
herself
with cosmetics and a tease of curl in her hair, then dab her body with a bit of rich perfume.
Elizabeth
did this all without protest, for it was fairly typical. She was to be taken for sex, and so she must
appear sexual. A small part of her, a part that she wanted to deny, actually enjoyed the process,
the
bit of vanity it allowed her.
I am beautiful, she thought from time to time. No wonder they want me.
[from "The Usahar"]
Imagination is a wonderful thing. When it flies, it takes you places you've never been before.
Imagination is freedom: freedom from constraints, from the past, from the known, from the stale.
When someone has the tools to share imagination with others, it's a rare and wonderful thing.
A gift, at all levels.
Passion is a wonderful thing. Commitment to the now, lust for life, honesty, fearlessness,
authenticity.
Karen Anne Mitchell, as it turns out, has the tools to share her passionate imagination with others.
And anyone fortunate enough to inquire will find in her work an alien world that evokes the most
familiar and intimate questions about what it is to be a human being.
In her first novel, "The Usahar," Ms. Mitchell has devised an ingenious method for exploring the
various threads found in the tapestry of human emotion. In her world, she manages to separate the
twisted strands of sex and love, need and desire, service and freedom in ways fascinating to
contemplate.
In her preface, she states that "The Usahar" is a "Damsel-in-Distress" story, but what we find is
that
Ms. Mitchell's writing is always about more. The seductive uni-polar world she has imagined is a
framework into which the passions of her omni-polar heroine are delivered to be cultivated and
'harvested.' It's a devilish idea and it resonates on many levels.
And on none more so than what it is to be female in a patriarchal paradigm; to be the biological
receptor made to willingly beg to receive, to be used as a female, and compelled to desire the
subjugation out of passion and need and finally submerged in pure sensation, to radiate joy, again
and again; to be emotionally harvested and utilized, to be used, the female orgasm, volcano at the
center of the world, taken and given, shared, generated, flowing.
Ms. Mitchell may be informed by the erotic writings of Anais Nin and Anne Rice, but her vision is
more mature. Unlike the lusty but ultimately featherweight vignettes of Nin, or Rice's forays into
some abstract feudal world of the past, each of whose vision of womanhood reveals
woman-as-child, Ms. Mitchell's heroine is an adult with an adult's intellect and emotions coming
to
terms with what is happening to her: she is living in a clear-and-present fascism, subverted by
power
and biology. This world is now, existing parallel in time to ours, with all our possibilities and
perversions, all available to the villain, to the heroine, and to Ms. Mitchell.
"The Usahar" owes more perhaps to the writings of John Fowles and his novel "The Collector,"
which shares the theme of femininity imprisoned. Where Fowles is cerebral in his polemic on class
warfare, Ms. Mitchell is far more visceral and intuitive; where Fowles' heroine maintains her 'ivory
tower' distance throughout, Ms. Mitchell's Elizabeth knows the complex and humiliating human
truth that total existential surrender to pleasure, being powerless within it and against it, being
ravished by it, physically and emotionally deconstructed through it, may be the height of female
arousal; where Fowles sees the ultimate dark triumph of evil over good, Ms. Mitchell's vision is
finally more elevating as her characters strive for ways to follow the longings of their own hearts.
Her compass is fixed on magnetic north towards freedom as she sets her lovers in situations of
self-opposition and on paths of realization, letting them evolve in their circumstances, becoming
increasingly aware, honest, and empowered.
Her writing is strong; she knows how to construct a sentence and an idea; and when she gets
going,
you can feel her purring right along. Her cadences make music in the ear; her ideas, colors in the
mind. It's a world of contradictions and opposites where circuit boards develop emotions, sex
slaves
long for men, and freedom is lost without the slightest hint of cruelty or violence. There is no pain
in
Ms. Mitchell's world, or only the pain caused by absence of pleasure. It's not about bullies and
winning; it's about being conquered from within, subversion and capitulation, self-betrayal, being
dismantled from the inside out. (Sort of like the Bush era.) She's a bit of a magician as she shows
a
slave grasping freedom through love, an automaton developing consciousness in dreams, a man
(of
all things) as a savior to sex slaves, and a master race with imperfect knowledge.
One arrives at the end of Ms. Mitchell's fine first novel satisfied but wanting more. She has a sure
touch and a clear vision, and, as this tale and her short stories show, also a deepening awareness
of
the fertile possibilities at her disposal. One looks forward to the unfolding "C'yiss" novels with
anticipation and pleasure.
It would be easy to hate men in seeing what they want from women, and what they will do to
have
it. It would be easy to blame the faults of the world and society on them. The joke goes, "If they
can
put a man on the moon, why can't they put all of the men on the moon?" Fortunately for us, Ms.
Mitchell is more generous than that.
Nurturing Souls, second edition
DS Bauden
Limitless Dare 2 Dream
100 Pin Oak Ct, Lexington, SC 29073-7911
ISBN 0975492209 $18.00 213 pages
Ann Wesley
Reviewer
In this revised edition of DS Bauden's first novel, Australian ranch hand Sydney tells Alicia, "I've
only known you a little while, but in that short time I feel closer to you than I have to anyone in
my
life."
That's the same emotion readers will likely feel about this talented author as they travel on another
gut-wrenching journey through Nurturing Souls. Bauden's novels all involve a character who has
lost her parents and is looking for love and someone to be her family. She's been successful in
crafting books that share a theme without being repetitious or predictable much like a Patricia
Cornwell or John Grisham can keep their repeated themes fresh.
In this story, Alicia moves to her aunt's Montana ranch after her parents are killed in a car
accident.
It's a given that she and Sydney will fall in love, but as is Bauden's style, the road to living
happily-ever-after isn't easy. While Alicia's pain is real and felt throughout the book, so too is
Sydney's. The Aussie has been wounded by a heartless ex-lover who has turned to stalking and is
determined to prevent Alicia and Sydney from starting a life together.
When Ally's grief at times becomes too much to bear, Sydney offers a comforting shoulder to cry
on
and the women find themselves feeling more than compassion. The same-sex attraction is new to
Ally but powerful enough that she is eager to explore her desire. Sydney, on the other hand, is
terrified of her decent into the land of love. More than any obstacle her former partner can throw
at
them, it is Sydney's fear that threatens the couple's future most.
"Love did nothing but hurt me when it was taken away. I hurt so badly I couldn't breathe,"
Sydney
tells her brother. Anyone who has ever lost someone can understand what Sydney felt and why.
Bauden's words convey that feeling that literally makes our hearts feel like they are torn in half in
such situations.
The characters in this book are so well developed it is difficult to determine which is the lead.
Each
has a strong story to tell and the two perspectives meld seamlessly. The reader will feel an ache in
her own heart as Ally's emotions get the best of her while she looks to heaven with the hope of
making some connection with her parents. Readers feel the comfort she experiences when Sydney
wraps her arms around Ally and tells her a childhood story of stars symbolizing lost ancestors
who
watch us from above. The comfort extended soothes Ally and the readers, allowing us exhale and
continue.
Later our blood pressure soars when Sydney comes face to face with the woman who used and
humiliated her. The actions Sharon takes to try to force Sydney to succumb to her, will frighten
and
infuriate all but those readers as deranged as Sharon. We feel the fury Sydney experiences when
Sharon continues to intrude on her life. And as Sydney's fists clench, we want to be the force that
propels them to make contact some part of Sharon's body.
Bauden has a rare talent for creating characters and plots that are so real, the reader forgets the
account being read is a work of fiction and that women on the pages are not their friends. With
this
second edition she demonstrates her growth as a writer over the past three years and brings this
story up to the standards reflected in her other novels.
As part of her improved character development, Bauden adds language to make Sydney more
Australian. Rather than just stating the "jillaroo" is from down under, Bauden inserts authentic
phrases throughout the book. Sydney's dialect becomes part of her personality and is defined for
the
reader as it is defined for Ally. The characters maintain a running joke about which has the accent
just one way Bauden balances the seriousness of the story with moments of levity.
Most refreshing about this author is that she avoids following a formula in her writing. This book,
like her others, is original, witty, heartbreaking and eventually uplifting.
April's Bookshelf
But Come Ye Back
Beth Lordan
HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.
ISBN 0060530367 $23.95 278 pages
As the Baby Boomers begin surging into their retirement years like an abruptly undammed lake,
each
member will inevitably ask him/her self, "how will I spend these last years?"
Mary Sullivan is ready with her answer, indeed, she has probably harbored it for years before
husband, Lyle, retired from his accounting position with a small Ohio hardware chain. After a
lifetime in a foreign land (albeit a chosen one), a land that gave her love, two healthy sons and a
comfortable life, she wants to go "home."
In case you didn't recognize the title, it's a line from the quintessential Celtic ballad "Danny Boy."
Home is, of course, the Emerald Isle.
As the book opens, they are settling into their new residence, a cottage near the Promenade on
Galway Bay. Adjusting to each new phase of one's life is never easy, particularly when it is what
might be indelicately termed "the Final" one. But Mary is happy to be back with the familiar faces
and places of her youth. Lyle, who is something of a curmudgeon, is less delighted and takes
every
opportunity to make gritty little comments on all matters Irish and European in general. However,
his actions, such as committing himself to the landscape overhaul of Mary's large family gravesite,
belie his gruff remarks.
Lordan deals with the strains put on their relationship by both the new home and Lyle's attitude.
Mary has many years experience in accommodating him, though to her credit she does this
without
sacrificing her own dignity. She is not an abused wife in the sense that she fears him, but she has
learned the art of rolling with his moods and not taking lengthy offense at them.
Her sister, Roisin, with whom she had hopes of reliving some of the fun times of their girlhood, is
also a disappointment. Roisin's vivaciousness has dried up and she seems determined to remind
Mary
that she stayed behind and held the remainder of the family together while Mary ran off to
America.
Roisin bridles at her sister's suggestions and seems always in a hurry to get along to the next
chore.
Only at the very end, when the event that changes all their lives has occurred, does Roisin display
just a little of the kinder person she once was.
This is a gentle story in a delightful setting. Lordan has mastered the old writing adage "Show,
don't
tell." The prose alternates between overtly mimicking Irish speech mannerisms, and a more subtle
lyricism, a softer shadow of the Gaelic tongue.
In many ways, this book reminded me of Sue Monk Kidd's "The Secret Life of Bees." Though
topically unalike, there is that same sense of being taken by the hand and led to a world where
things
do seem to work themselves out. Here's hoping Beth Lordan does even half as well with Ireland
as
Kidd did representing the American South.
Journeys, Pilgrimages in the Aftermath
B. A. Brittingham
AuthorHouse
ISBN 1403317720 $15.95 282 pages
Occasionally, it is worth the time invested to go looking for an obscure title. On a damp Indiana
summer afternoon some weeks ago, I wandered the cyber-shelves of amazon.com with no specific
destination in mind. Perusing Lynda Van Devanter's "Home Before Morning" I came across a
recommendation for "Journeys, Pilgrimages in the Aftermath."
While it cannot claim the horror of war witnessing that this Army nurse writes about it is,
nonetheless, a different and rather positive take on that most contentious of conflicts,
Vietnam.
In a time of frequent revelations regarding childhood abuse, main character Rick Coulbourn
readily
admits that he has "been smiled upon by the gods of youth." Raised in a charming small town
situated at the tip of the Delmarva Peninsula (think Virginia), he has lived a carefree initial 18
years.
About the only flaw in this otherwise idyllic life is his stoic father who says little on most matters,
particularly the time surrounding his thirteen-month stint in Vietnam. "What did you do in the
war,
Daddy?" is not uttered around the Coulbourn house, in jest or otherwise.
The sole departure from this attitude occurred when Rick was seven years old. Plans for the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial, now commonly known as The Wall, had just been made public. His
father, owner-publisher of the local newspaper, initiated an outspoken editorial and letter-writing
campaign against the structure which some were labeling "a black gash in the earth."
Nine years later Rick applies to the US Parks Department for an internship at one of the national
parks. All slots are filled so he accepts a summer volunteer position at The Wall.
Surrounded by visitors from different strata of American society, he is privy to the sad tales
repeated
in just about every war along with the fury still felt by many at the uselessness of the effort and its
58,000 plus deaths.
Rick, the hearer of stories, becomes the ten-years-after teller making "Journeys" a novel of
connected short fiction. With each story focusing on an odd item brought to and left at the base of
the memorial, any of them could be extracted to stand on its own. Jointly, they tell a
coming-of-age
tale.
Some wounds heal slowly. After seeing the change in his son, Coulbourn Senior finally makes his
own pilgrimage to The Wall. Several years later, Rick enters a relationship that inadvertently
symbolizes the resumption of political and economic contact with Vietnam. It is a reminder that
war
is grievous enough without allowing the emotional hostilities to go on forever.
Brittingham takes an interesting point of view by choosing a narrator from the generation after
Vietnam, rather than a battle-scarred and angry veteran. That bit of distancing suggests a more
objective viewpoint. The book, like The Wall itself, brings home the personal side of war, that it is
not just about numbers, or bodies, or territory at risk, or even political ego, but about individual
lives and lost potential.
April Whyte
Reviewer
Bethany's Bookshelf
The Kregel Bible Atlas
Tim Dowley
Kregel Publications
PO Box 2607, Grand Rapids, MI 49501
0825424674 $21.99 1-800-733-2607
Written by church history expert Tim Dowley, The Kregel Bible Atlas is a reference intended for
all
readers, from lay people to serious students of the Bible. Full-color maps, charts, diagrams, the
boundaries of ancient empires, photographs, information concerning the historical context of the
ancient world, and much more fill this trim yet savvy companion that outlines nearly everything
that
modern archaeology can tell us concerning when and where the great events of the Old and New
Testaments took place. An expertly written, researched, and presented reference.
Home Sweet Homeschool
Sue Maakestad
Revell/Baker Book House
PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
0800759303 $12.99 www.bakerbooks.com
Sue Maakestad draws upon her twenty-four years of homeschooling her eight children in writing
Home Sweet Homeschool: A Survivor's Guide To Giving Your Kids A Quality Education. A
devout
Christian guide that emphasizes the importance of faith in God, Home Sweet Homeschool stresses
the positive aspects of homeschooling as a means to protect children when public schools suffer
from various inadequacies and even such evils as gangs or drugs. Practical advice, guidelines for
levels of responsibility in education and in helping around the house that are suitable for children
of
various ages, suggestions for field trips, ways to maintain balance and discipline, how to ensure a
homeschooled child is prepared to pursue higher education and much more fill this eminently
readible and useful resource.
In Every Pew Sits A Broken Heart
Ruth Graham
Zondervan Publishing House
5300 Patterson Avenue, S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49530
0310243394 $19.99 www.zondvervan.com www.ruthgrahamministries.com
In Every Pew Sits A Broken Heart: Hope For The Hurting by Ruth Graham (daughter of Billy
Graham) with the assistance of freelance writer Stacy Mattingly is a soulful look into the power
and
comfort God offers to those in pain. From the struggle to forgive, to learning to accept God's
healing work, the inner battle to put one's trust in God despite contrary fears and distractions, and
much more, In Every Pew Sits A Broken Heart is a thoughtful and deeply spiritual self-help guide
for Christians in their greatest hour of need. An uplifting testimony of finding the courage to face
terrible hardships.
Meditation In Motion
Barbara Bartocci
Sorin Books
PO Box 1006, Notre Dame, IN 46556-1006
1893732622 $12.95 1-800-282-1865 www.sorinbooks.com
Compiled by freelance writer and public speaker Barbara Bartocci, Meditation In Motion presents
forty-eight stories revealing people who discovered (often quite by chance and under unexpected
circumstance) connections between their physical activity and the spiritual awareness. Drawn
from
all backgrounds and life conditions, these stories range from people who engage in cycling, sky
diving, and hiking the Appalachian Trail, to others who swim laps at the "Y", surf the Pacific
Coast,
or "walk the mall". Enhanced by the author with twenty ways to help her readers become fit both
physically and spiritually, these are stories that combine "how to" ideas with anecdotal
inspirations.
Meditation In Motion is especially recommended for spirituality enhancement and personal
growth
reading lists and reference collections for members of the Christian community regardless of
denominational affiliation.
Last-Minute Liturgies
Donna M. Cole
Resource Publications, Inc.
160 East Virginia Street, Suite 290, San Jose, CA 95112-5876
0893905887 $19.95 1-408-286-8505 www.rpinet.com
In Last-Minute Liturgies: Creating Prayerful Responses To The Unexpected, pastoral ministry
activist Donna M. Cole shows her readers how they can utilize basic resources like the lectionary,
sacramentary, and "Book of Blessings' quickly and effectively in the facilitation of their response
through liturgical services to crises and sudden unexpected events. Readers will learn how to
create
a prayer service with music, symbols, and light; how to involve the assembled Christian
community
in the liturgy; and how to lead a prayer service with grace, dignity, and focus. Last-Minute
Liturgies
is a welcome, practical, "user friendly", and highly recommended addition to any pastoral, clergy,
or
layman support services reference shelf.
Our Church And Our Children
Sophie Koulomzin
St. Vladimir's Seminary Press
575 Scarsdale Road, Crestwood,NY 10707
0881412740 $15.95 1-800-204-2665
First published in 1975, Our Church And Our Children by Orthodox Christian laywoman,teacher,
mother, and grandmother Sophie Koulomzin (and who taught Religious Educatoin at St.
Vladmimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary from 1956 to 1973) is the re-release of a classic
voice
of foundational wisdom for Christian parents and educators, updated with a new foreword and
study
guide by Ann Mitsakos Bezzerides. Addressing topics such as the necessary training for a
Christian
teacher, the values and goals of Christian education both within the home and the church, a close
look at what is appropriate as a curriculum for children from infancy to the teenager years, and
much
more, Our Church And Our Children presents solid insights with the wisdom that comes directly
from long years of experience. Our Church And Our Children is highly recommended for the
reference shelves and reading lists of any Christian charged with the responsibility of raising or
instructing a child.
Susan Bethany
Reviewer
Betsy's Bookshelf
Sonic Alchemy
David N. Howard
Hal Leonard Corporation
7777 West Bluemound Road, Milwaukee, WI 53213
0634055607 $18.95 1-800-637-2852 www.halleonard.com
Sonic Alchemy: Visonary Music Producers And Their Maverick Recordings by professional music
journalist David N. Howard presents the true stories of some of the most influential producers in
the
history of music, from pioneers like Phil Spector and George Martin to the technocrats of today.
The roles that producers have had in crafting nuances of popular music is thoroughly explored, in
this eminently readible and enjoyable anthology. Black-and-white photographs and meticulous
research and listings complement the engaging tales.
The Drama Of Opera
MyerFredman
Sussex Academic Press
c/o International Specialized Book Services
920 Northeast 58th Avenue, Suite 300, Portland, OR 97213
1903900506 $25.00 1-800-944-6190 www.isbscatalog.com www.sussex-academic.co.uk
Myer Fredman draws upon a lifetime of experience in the opera house to provide readers with a
true
insider's perspective in his informative book, The Drama Of Opera: Exotic And Irrational
Entertainment. Written especially to introduce those who know little about opera to the
fascinating
world of titanic efforts that singers and performers undergo to create opera, and the adaptations
this
art form has undergone up to the present day. A revealing tour of the labor put in by designers,
conductors, agents, artist's managers, and of course the gruelling rehearsals done by the
performers
themselves, The Drama Of Opera also extends beyond mechanics to speculate upon the future of
opera in an evolving modern society with tastes that change every generation. An inset selection
of
color photographs adds a vibrant touch to this fascinating tour.
An Actor's Business
Andrew Reilly
Sentient Publications
National Book Network, dist.
1113 Spruce Street, Boulder, CO 80302
1591810205 $16.95 1-303-443-2188 www.sentientpublications.com
An Actor's Business: How To Market Yourself As An Actor No Matter Where You Live by
actor,
director, writer, and acting instructor Andrew Reilly presents need-to-know information for
aspiring
actors, including drama school basics, how to find an agent, the value of unions, getting roles in
community theater, acting on television and in commercials, getting parts in movies, and much
more.
Reilly's no-nonsense writing style offers simple truth in plain terms, as well as a wealth of contact
information and descriptions of acting opportunities in 25 regions throughout America. Highly
recommended for any aspiring professional actor.
Primer Of The Obsolete
Diane Glancy
University of Massachusetts Press
PO Box 429, Amherst, MA 01004
1558494448 $14.95 1-800-488-1144 www.umas.edu/umpress
Primer Of The Obsolete is a compendium of original poetry that showcases the imaginative talent
and literary expertise of Diane Glancy (Professor of Native American Literature and Creative
Writing, Macalester College, St. Paul, Minnesota). The lyrics explore the conjoined cultures of
Europeans and Native Americans and have their roots in history, religion, and traditions. Three
Deer: Three deer step from the woods./They stand on the edge of the clearing./Two female and
one
male with small, four-point horns./They hold their bodies taut as they smell the air./They have had
lessons in danger./They nudge the snow to find the field grass,/look quickly up./They have long
legs,
slim as young girls/but a thickening body the legs can still carry/with the graceful awkwardness/of
a
junior high gym class./One slips in the snow as she tries to hop back into the woods/but
reappears/as
we all do,/drawn to what we fear.
The Arabian Nights Encyclopedia
Ulrich Marzolph & Richard van Leeuwen
ABC-CLIO
PO Box 1911, Santa Barbara, CA 93116-1911
1576072045 $185.00 1-800-368-6868
An impressively collaborative work by Ulrich Marzolph (Professor of Islamic Studies,
Georg-August University, Gottingen, Germany) and Richard van Leeuwen (Associate Professor,
Department of Religious Studies, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands) this
two-volume edition of The Arabian Nights Encyclopedia is a comprehensively detailed
compilation
providing students with authoritative and up-to-date research on the diverse stories historically
comprising the Islamic classic collection of myth, legend, and folklore known to western readers
as
"The Arabian Nights". The characters, themes, most influential translations, textual history,
adaptations, and literary context for each individual story is proffered in a thoroughly accessible
and
"user friendly" arrangement. Featuring more than 800 sperate entries organized in an A-Z format,
The Arabian Nights Encyclopedia is a seminal, core, essential, informed and informative
contribution
to personal, professional, academic, and community library Literary Studies, Folklore Studies, and
Islamic Cultural Studies reference collections and resource holdings.
Paintings and Sculpture in the Collection of the National Academy of Design, Volume 1
1826-1925
David B. Dearinger, editor
Hudson Hills Press
National Book Network (dist.)
PO Box 205, 74-2 Union Street, Manchester, VT 05254
1555950299 $95.00 www.hudsonhills.com
Knowledgeably compiled and expertly edited by David B. Dearinger (a long time staff member of
the Academy, Paintings and Sculpture in the Collection of the National Academy of Design), this
debut volume of a the new Paintings and Sculpture in the Collection of the National Academy of
Design series informatively catalogues a vast array of captivating artworks and information about
their creators. An initial, brief biographical entry about each included artist (along with a
self-portrait
if available) precedes the specific listing of that artist's exhibitions on display. Thumb-sized
black-and-white photographs of each piece accompany a set of facts concerning it -- including its
composition, dimensions, inscription, and a summary of what is known about its creation,
expression, and style. An inset collection of color plates rounds wonderfully enhances this
exceptional and enthusiastically recommended survey of true artistic treasures, which displays and
describes great artworks in such a vibrant and informative matter that it is the next best thing to
viewing them on-site and in person.
Betsy L. Hogan
Reviewer
Betty's Bookshelf
Fire Bringer
David Clement-Davies
Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers
345 Hudson St., New York, NY 10014
0525464921 $19.95 498 p.
It's hard to believe Fire Bringer is David Clement-Davies' first novel. This anthropomorphic
fantasy
about the Herla (deer), who avoid man and move among the Lera (the other animals) as specially
beloved creations of Herne, the forest god, grips you on the first page and takes you for a wild
ride
right to the very end.
It begins with Brechin, Captain of the Outriders, watching over his favorite hind, Eloin, as she
struggles to bear her first fawn. It's a bad time to be so vulnerable, for Drail and Sgorr, two cruel
and power-hungry deer, are trying to change the herd rules of hundreds of years into ones that
benefit them and go against everything the Herla have believed in. They especially fear and try to
squash the Prophecy, an ancient prophetic poem about the coming of a fawn with a leaf-shaped
mark on his forehead who will set the Herla free from the power of evil.
Then Brechin is betrayed to his death and Drail sends his henchmen to find and kill Brechin's
newborn son, Rannoch, and bring Eloin to him for his harem. Watching hinds outsmart Drail by
obscuring Rannoch's leaf-shaped mark with mud and convincing the guards who come to take him
away that he is actually another hind's fawn. Eloin's fawn, they say, has been stillborn. As Eloin
goes
to Drail to deflect attention from the others, Bracken, the mother of the stillborn fawn, becomes
Rannoch's foster mother.
To protect Rannoch from Drail and his followers, Bracken keeps the leaf mark covered with berry
stain and refuses to tell him about his father. Still, although Rannoch knows he is different, in
ways
he is afraid to reveal or even admit to himself, he doesn't believe he is the one the Prophecy
speaks
of. But time is running out, and the Herla need a hero. Now what?
Escape from Memory
Margaret Peterson Haddix
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
ISBN# 0689854218 $16.95 224 p.
Kira Landon has always thought she came to Willistown, Ohio, as a toddler with her mom after
her
dad's death, to make a new life for themselves. It's an odd life for Willistown, since her mom
won't
drive her perfectly good car, won't have a television in the house, and refuses to even touch a
computer, despite her job at the library, but it's the only life Kira can remember and she really
doesn't
think about it much.
Then, during a slumber party at her friend Lynne's house, she lets herself be hypnotized. The
results
are stunning. Her friends tell her she mentioned a nursery and a cobblestoned alley and running
from
danger. And when they repeat some of the foreign words she used, she realizes she recognizes
them.
How?
When she confronts her mom, her mom becomes angry and then frightened, and all she'll say is,
"Some memories are best forgotten." But the memories keep coming. Who is the hurrying woman
whose neck she remembers clinging to with chubby toddler arms? It can't be her mom; she never
wears scent and they never hug. How does she remember the sounds of gunfire and bombs falling
when she's sure she's never heard them before? And how does she know that "Sazahlya,
Sazahlya..."
means "Hush, hush, it's all right, everything's OK..."? What language is that - and how does she
recognize it?
Then her mom disappears, leaving her a note to take the car and go to Lynne's house. When she
calls the library looking for her, she discovers that her mom has taken a month's leave of absence.
Where did she go and why didn't she take Kira? And who is the strange woman who calls herself
"Aunt Memory" and keeps trying to take Kira away?
Stories from Where We Live: The Great Lakes
Sara St. Antoine.
Trudy Nicholson.
Milkweed Editions
1011 Washington Ave. South, Suite 300, Minneapolis, Mn 55415
www.milkweed.org
1571316396 $19.95 280 p.
I don't often enjoy nature writing, since all too often it is written for ecologically evangelical
purposes and has more message than melody to it. However, I'll make an exception for this book,
a
collection of poems, essays, and stories about the Great Lakes ecoregion (where I make my
home),
some of them written by well-known authors (like Margaret Atwood and Aldo Leopold) and
some
by writers known mainly in the Great Lakes region. No matter their fame or lack of it, they all
love
nature and life in the Great Lakes region of the US and it shows. The amazingly detailed black
and
white drawings by nature illustrator Trudy Nicholson are a nice addition, too.
The book is divided into fourths - Adventures, Great Places, Reapers and Sowers, and Wild Lives
-
and each contains about a dozen short pieces of writing, some taken from longer works. Each
also
contains a blurb of extra information, such as how or why a particular piece was written, what the
author's ties to the region are, and what else he or she may have written, which may encourage
further reading.
In the back, there are seven useful appendixes: What Is an Ecoregion?; Defining the Great Lakes;
Habitats; Animals and Plants; Stories [listed] by State or Province; Parks and Preserves [also
listed
by state or province]; and Recommended Reading. A list of the books and magazine volumes
various works were excerpted from would have been a useful addition, but all in all, this book is a
great buy, since it can be used in so many areas: ecology, geology, and creative writing, just to
name
a few. Every US ecoregion will eventually be covered in this series, and if you can afford it, you
may
want to buy all of them.
Betty Winslow
Reviewer
Buhle's Bookshelf
The Beggar's Throne
David Falconieri
MacAdam/Cage Publishing
1900 Wazee Street, Suite 210, Denver, CO 80207
0967370108 $24.00 1-866-986-7470
The Beggar's Throne by David Falconieri is a superbly written historical novel set against the
background of a lethal struggle for control of the British throne during the early years of the reign
of
Edward IV. A gripping saga of Machiavellian manipulations, skillful intrigue, veiled words and
ruthless thuggery, The Beggar's Throne is an exciting story that draws one in to a rapture of
criss-cross motives and keeps one guessing until the last page. Highly recommended.
Shambles
Debra Monroe
Southern Methodist University Press
PO Box 750414, Dallas, TX 75275-0415
0870744860 $22.50 1-800-826-8911
Shambles by Debra Monroe is the story of surviving and coping the aftermath of neglect, terror,
and
tragedy. Delia Arco lives as a social worker, caring for hurt teenagers and a student intern
convinced
that she is a replacement for her murdered parents. Unable to keep a stable romantic alliance, and
nearly frantic with worry for her adopted daughter, Delia struggles to navigate a new life for
herself
despite the devastation of the past. An emotionally wrenching and profound read.
A Place To Stand
Jimmy Santiago Baca
Grove Press
841 Broadway, New York, NY 10003-4793
0802116027 $24.00 1-800-788-3122
A Place To Stand, by award winning poet and seasoned playwright Jimmy Santiago Baca, is the
memoir of a difficult and sometimes violent life. Sent to an orphanage at a young age,
encountering
violence and bigotry at each turn, he became a criminal and a drug dealer. Sentenced to prison, he
had to go to extreme lengths to stay alive - even slicing an attacker's stomach with a butcher
knife.
Though self-defense, his violent acts earned him repeated time in solitary confinement. There,
struggling to resist the dehumanization of prison life, he encountered memories and revelations
that
transformed him and inspired him to express himself through poetry. Yet even when the end of his
prison sentence and freedom beckoned, more tragedy awaited him and his family. A harrowing
true
story, of unbearable loss and suffering, with a final revelation offering a tiny flicker of hope. A
Place
To Stand is riveting, compelling, impossible to put down and highly recommended.
Cross-Talk In Comp Theory
Victor Villanueva, editor
National Council of Teachers of English
1111 W. Kenyon Road, Urbana, Illinois 61801-1096
0814109764 $42.95 1-800-369-6283 www.ncte.org
Now in a revised, updated, and significantly expanded second edition, Cross-Talk In Comp
Theory:
A Reader is an 881-page compendium (including the comprehensive index) of forty-three essays
and
articles contributed by informed and informative experts in the field of instruction and curriculum
development in composition. These diverse writings on the challenges and opportunities in this
ever
evolving field of study are organized into six major sections which include: The Givens in Our
Conversations: The Writing Process; Talking in Terms of Discourse: What It Is, How It's Taught;
Scientific Talk: Developmental Schemes; Talking about Writing in Society; Talking about Selves
and Schools: On Voice, Voices, and Other Voices; and Continuing the Conversation. specially
recommended for academic library reference collections and Comprehension Theory Studies
supplemental reading lists, Cross-Talk In Comp Theory will prove to a seminal and welcome
contribution to the field.
1,000 Signs Of Life
Editorial Staff
Gallaudet University Press
800 Florida Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20002-3695
1563682729 $19.95 1-800-621-2736 gupress.gallaudet.edu
Expertly compiled and organized by the Gallaudet University Press editorial staff, 1,000 Signs Of
Life: Basic ASL For Everyday Conversation is a simple handbook intended for the general reader
and student. Simple black-and-white illustrations clearly show 1,000 signs that can be learned
quickly and used to communicate with anyone who is familiar with American Sign Language.
Organized alphabetically in 17 categories, the common signs covered include those for animals,
food, clothes, people, health, body, days of the week, transportation, holidays, religion, thoughts,
emotions, and many more of solid practical use. A superb reference, self-teaching, and vocabulary
building guide, especially for those new to ASL.
Willis M. Buhle
Reviewer
Burroughs' Bookshelf
Writing Dissent
Robert Jensen
Peter Lang Publishing USA
275 Seventh Avenue, 28th floor, New York, NY 10001
0820456519 $22.95 1-800-770-5264 www.peterlangusa.com
Writing Dissent: Taking Radical ideas From The Margins To The Mainstream by Robert Jensen
(Associate Professor, School of Journalism, University of Texas - Austin) is a manual written
especially for political activists with radical ideas, who often find themselves excluded from
mainstream news and media. Tips, tricks, and techniques for getting one's message out in the
public,
drawing from the author's experience as a journalist, activist, and academic. Sample, passionately
charged pieces of opinionated political writing along with the author's wisdom and travails
attempting to get them distributed pepper Writing Dissent as real-life examples, and the more
general advice on journalistic style and how to make one's message as clear as possible resonate
powerfully. A "must-read" for concerned citizens, activists, and journalists alike.
School Board Battles
Melissa M. Deckman
Georgetown University Press
3240 Prospect Street, NW, Washington, DC 20007
1589010019 $26.95 1-800-246-9606 www.press.georgetown.edu
Also available in a hardcover edition (1589010000, $39.95), School Board Battles: The Christian
Right In Local Politics by Melisa M. Deckman (Assistant Professor of Political Science,
Washington
College, Chesterton, Maryland) examines ongoing local school board elections in America, and
their
effect upon shaping the culture and educational curriculum of the nation, a phenomenon that
gaind
widespread attention when the Kansas state school board, led by outspoken Christians, voted to
delete evolution from the state's science curriculum and standardized tests. Especially focusing
upon
the electoral success of Christian Right school board candidates, School Board Battles strives to
reveal why conservative Christians run for school boards, the extent of the Christian Right's
influence upon school boards, and the manner in which conservative Christians in general tend to
govern. A critical and insightful study of turbulent struggles to determine what will be taught to
America's next generation.
The Postmodern Prince
John Sanbonmatsu
Monthly Review Press
122 West 27th Street, New York, NY 10001
1583670904 $22.95 1-800-670-9499 www.monthlyreview.org
Also available in a hardcover edition (1583670890, $65.00), The Postmodern Prince: Critical
Theory, Left Strategy, And The Making Of A New Political Subject by John Sanbonmatsu
(Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religion, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester,
MA) is
a study and critque of radical politics in the postmodern world. A scholarly accounting that
dissects
the flaws of philosophies that compromise individuals' and society's ability to strategically plan and
enact social change, The Postmodern Prince searches for ways to enable societal transformations
based upon humanitarian ethics and principles. Blending the evaluations of advanced philosophy
with an outlook of practical realism, The Postmodern Prince is a welcome addition to modern
political science and philosophy shelves and reading lists.
Engaging Eurasia's Separatist States
Dov Lynch
United States Institute of Peace Press
PO Box 605, Herndon, VA 20172
1929223544 $12.50 1-800-868-8064 www.usip.org
Engaging Eurasia's Separatist States: Unresolved conflicts And De Facto States by Dov Lynch
(Research Fellow, European Union Institute for Security Studies) draws upon the author's travels,
familiarity with local political, military, and economic dynamics, and access to the leaders of the
recent secessionist states South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Transnistria, and Nagorno-Karabakh.
Discussing
the international community's role and scrutinizing a range of options to resolve the status of de
facto states and prevent violence, Engaging Eurasia's Separatist States is a vital and welcome
contribution to modern political science shelves. Dov Lynch is a voice that urgently needs to be
heard, as it offers solutions to seemingly abstract issues of statehood that can be literally a matter
of
life or death for those living within the states.
Jack Burroughs
Reviewer
Carson's Bookshelf
Financial Basics
Susan Knox
Ohio State University Press
1070 Carmack Road, Columbus, OH 43210-1002
0814251307 $14.95 1-800-621-2736 www.ohiostatepress.org
Also available in a hardcover edition (0814290785, $39.95), Financial Basics: A
Money-Management Guide For Students by certified public account, financial planner, and former
university administrator and teacher Susan Knox shares hard-learned lessons about managing
money
when in college. Practical solutions to common money problems faced by students and family, as
well as flexible money-management tips, tricks, and techniques for readers accustomed to
handling
their money in any of a variety of styles fill this solid, information-packed resource. An absolute
must-have for any young adult entering the complex world of financial matters, especially when
attending school far away from home.
The Keystone Advantage
Marco Iansiti & Roy Levien
Harvard Business School Press
60 Harvard Way, Boston, MA 02163
1591393078 $35.00 1-800-668-6780 www.HBSPress.org
The Keystone Advantage: What The New Dynamics of Business Ecosystems Mean For Strategy,
Innovation, And Sustainability by Marco Iansiti (David Sarnoff Professor of Business
Administration, Harvard Business School) and Roy Levien (Principal at Aldaron and Founder of
Keystone Advantage LLC) is an in-depth examination of how economic battles between firms are
increasingly becoming battles between networks of firms - businesses that share links and must
collaborate effectively in order for each to thrive. The Keystone Advantage uses biological
ecosystems as an analogy to the role and fuction of business networks, with the roles of "keystone
species" in nature compared to "keystone strategies" used by companies such as Wal-Mart,
Microsoft, and Li & Fung. Over ten years of research and practical experience shape the authors'
understanding of such keystone strategies, which are presented in clear and direct terms. From the
value of a niche to the power of a landlord, to the necessity of continual adaptation to maintain
sustainability, The Keystone Advantage is a persuasively presented rendition of powerful modern
business dynamic forces in terms the lay reader or entrepreneur can readily grasp.
Eastern Tides
Frank Daignault
Burford Books, Inc.
PO Box 388, Short Hills, NJ 07078
1580801234 $14.95 www.burfordbooks.com
Eastern Tides: A Surfcaster's Life is Frank Daignault's personal account drawing upon a lifetime's
enthusiasm as an expert fisherman. Chapters recount in-depth, hour-by-hour sagas of venturing to
capture the most grand and elusive fish to be found, illustrated by a scant scattering of
black-and-white photographs. A friendly-toned memoir offering real-world descriptions of fishing
experiences, so vivid as to transport the reader to sunset-lit waters and experience the next best
thing to fishing firsthand
Triumph & Defeat
Terrence J. Winschel
Casemate
2114 Darby Road, Havertown, PA 19083
1932714049 $16.95 1-610-853-9131 www.casematepublishing.com
Triumph & Defeat: The Vicksburg Campaign by civil war expert Terrence Winschel (Chief
Historian
of Vicksburg National Military Park) offers ten chapters detailing every major aspect of what is
widely considered to be the key watershed battle that sealed the ultimate defeat of the
Confederacy
at the hands of Union forces. Meticulously reconstructing details and events from the critical
battle
that would capture Vicksburg and divide the Confederacy, Triumph & Defeat narrates history in a
matter-of-fact tone that clarifies the complex interplay of forces, personalities, and events.
Black-and-white photographs round out this superlative contribution to civil war reading lists and
reference shelves.
Dig Here
Thomas Penfield
Adventures Unlimited Press
PO Box 74, Kempton, IL 60946
1931882355 $14.95 1-815-253-6390 www.adventuresunlimitedpress.com
Dig Here: Lost Mines & Buried Treasure Of The Southwest by Thomas Penfield is a dedicated
treasure hunter's indispensable reference providing the locations of more than one hundred
fabulous
and still undiscovered fortunes hidden away in the deserts and mountains of the American
southwest. Enhanced with treasure lore, dramatic backgrounds to treasure tales, aspiring treasure
hunters will learn about the Treasure of Tumacacori; the Lost Mine of the Tonto Apache; the
Black
Princess Lost Mine; the Treasure of Montezuma's Well; the Lost Adams Diggings, Germonimo's
Lost Gold Mine, as well as the grandaddy treasure of them all, the Lost Dutchman's Mine. These
and so many more are provided with an approximate location, an estimated value, and
authentication
for the reality of the buried or forgotten treasure. In Dig Here, Thomas Penfield has successfully
accomplished the remarkable and highly commended task of separating fact from fantasy, legends
and lies!
The Definitive Guide To Windows Installer
Phil Wilson
Apress
2560 Ninth Street, Suite 219, Berkeley, Ca 94710
1590592972 $39.99 www.apress.com
Specifically designed and written on an intermediate to advanced user level, The Definitive Guide
To
Windows Installer by Windows expert Phil Wilson fully lives up to the promise of its title. This
informed and informative "how to" manual will enable users to create windows installer setups for
all categories of .NET applications ranging from Windows Forms, to Services, to Web projects,
including traditional COM applications. Sixteen superbly organized and presented "user friendly"
chapters are devoted to every aspect of Windows Installers. Of special interest are that chapters
specifically addressing "Updates Using Patches"; How-Tos, Tips, and Gotchas"; "Tools and
Futures". The Definitive Guide To Windows Installer is a strongly recommended reference for
both
personal and professional Windows reference collections.
Michael J. Carson
Reviewer
Christina's Bookshelf
To Walk Among The Stones
Arlene Graham
Whimrose Press
ISBN# 0972398902 $13.95
Readers may not have heard of this author. Writing this book grew one of the most life changing
events for her. If Graham writes the rest of her books like this one, readers will know her. She's
currently working on her third novel.
Like her, Graham's interesting characters go through life changing events too. Combine characters
with ongoing action, suspense, and romance, and a fast read is born.
Sydney and her friend Jennifer were lucky to waitress at the popular diner. It was better than
working at the steel mill; the lifeblood of the city. Sydney had no desire to work at the mill.
Maybe
one day she'd go to college even though her stepmother said she was too stupid to go.
It would take more than working at a diner to raise money to rise out of this little no-where
California city, and go to college. Jennifer found her own solution. Her need for power and
money
led to drug dealing for Rice. He was a snake, but the girls had dreams.
John Harper knew Rice's men. Why had one attempted to rough up his sister behind the diner? He
and Dale barely arrived in time to stop the guy. She wouldn't explain, so, he'd ask Sydney.
Questions
needed answering and she seemed the logical place to start. He was careful not to divulge what he
did for a living. That information would kill his humble, loving mother. One of her children being
secretive and shady was enough. Jennifer would lead a clean life or John would break her legs
himself.
He'd known Sydney for years. Her family lived next door to his, and she loved his mother. John
had
seen her in pigtails and now realized she'd grown into a woman. When had he begun to feel
differently about her? He needed to figure out what the girls tangled themselves up in. The
possibilities scared him.
STORY EXCERPT
"Damn it?" she questioned. "Listen, you. . "
He silenced her then. The way he knew she wouldn't fight back. Leaning over he scooped her out
of
the seat, placing her on his lap. As her lips parted in a startled "oh" he covered them with his,
tasting, seeking what had been there for all those years.
Life can change in an instant with one bad decision. Jennifer and Sydney head to a bar intending
to
make a simple drug deal, but things go bad. Rice believed Jennifer needed to be taught a lesson.
She'd never short him again.
Through his men, John learns of the bad deal about to go down, and rushes to save his sister and
young lover. No one knows why fate decides the paths it does. What happens next transforms
everyone's lives.
She'd left. Years later, Sydney is a news photographer in snow-covered Minnesota. She'd left
California and all its bad memories. Her new life wasn't so bad. Joe, her co-worker and friend, a
reporter, worried about her. She insisted she was fine, at least until John suddenly appeared.
Secrets,
then crumbled revealing whose right-hand man John was and what Jennifer came to do for a
living.
Graham wrote 'To Walk Among The Stones' in third-person. Her ability to engage readers, her
style,
characters, and plot, leave them wanting more. Graham's story is genuinely difficult to take a
break
from. A strong, well-told novel. Love, power, and loss all woven with mystery, intrigue, romance,
and suspense. Recommended.
A City Herbal
Maida Silverman
Ash Tree Publishing
Wise Woman Center, P.O. Box 64, Woodstock, N.Y. 12498
http://www.ashtreepublishing.com
ISBN# 1888123001 $13.95
Live in the city, but daydream about harvesting healthy herbs? You'd plant your own if only there
was a place to grow them. What is a city dweller to do? Well, you go wild crafting (picking wild
herbs) like country folk, that's what. Where, you say? No need to take a long drive. Look around
your area. Chances are those plants crafty enough to sprout between slabs of concrete or vacant
lots
are more than a "weed." Now, you say I see plants, but how do I know what is safe? You need a
reference, right? That's where Silverman's book comes in.
Silverman longed for a fantasy garden once from her city home and attempted a modest version,
yet
it didn't work out. Then, she realized one-day greenery already grew around her, and so, her study
and involvement began. She realized later that there had to be others who felt as she did and thus
wrote "A City Herbal."
Hardy herbs/weeds manage to grow in cities. Silverman chose thirty-four plants special to her and
included them in her book. She'd like others to realize that even in crowded areas with generous
acres of buildings, and blacktop, special plants are found. These hardy inhabitants aren't a weed to
be spurned, but often offer natural aide and beauty. Silverman narrows the vast spectrum down to
the most common.
Many herbal books are on the market, but how many are specifically for city-folk?
The Book Contains:
-Author's Notes
-Acknowledgements
-Introduction
-Bittersweet
-Blackberry
-Bouncing Bet
-Burdock
-Butter-and-Eggs
-Chicory
-Clover, Red
-Clover, White
-Daisy
-Dandelion
-Dock
-Golden Rod
-Ground Ivy
-Japanese Knotweed
-Lady's Thumb
-Lamb's Quarters
-Mexican Tea
-Milkweed
-Motherwort
-Mugwort
-Mullein
-Mustards
-Plantain
-Poison Ivy
-Pokeweed
-Prickly Lettuce
-Queen Anne's Lace
-Ragweed
-Shepherd's Purse
-Sorrel
-Saw Thistle
-Wild Sumac
-Yarrow
-Appendix
-Glossary
-Selected Bibliography
-Index
Silverman raises fine points and provides information and sketches of herbs often found between
cemented dwellings. She offers inspiration for those aching for access to natural plants.
Readers, whether city or country, will find Silverman's book useful in becoming acquainted with
wild herbs. She's done her homework. Her compilation is a useful and organized handbook in
alphabetical order. She thoughtfully provides a glossary for quick study with meanings of herbal
terms and a quick-find index.
I appreciate Silverman's book, and even though I live in the country, will use it.
Christina Francine Whitcher
Reviewer
Christy's Bookshelf
Aidan of Oren: The Journey Begins
Alan St. Jean
Judith Friedman, illustrator
Moo Press, Inc.
P.O. Box 54, Warwick, NY 10990-0054
www.MooPress.com 845-987-7750
ISBN: 097248535X $19.95 US $27.95 CAN
Author Alan St. Jean was born in Pennsylvania and grew up in Ohio. He began writing music at
the
young age of eleven and has written, produced, and performed hundreds of songs since then. Alan
is
the president and founder of Oren Village, a collectible doll company. Illustrator Judith Friedman
was born in Hungary and grew up in France. She is an award-winning illustrator who has
illustrated
dozens of children's books. Judith has taught at the Art Institute of Chicago, her own studio, and
for
various schools and libraries.
On his thirteenth birthday, Aidan of Oren is sent on a quest by his grandmother, along with his
two
orphan friends, Lilly and McKenzie, and his falcon, Charles. Aidan is half human and half natural,
and prophecy has foretold that he holds the key to ending the terrible war raging along the
borders
of their country, Lionsgate. Aidan's grandmother tells him that on the day of the summer solstice,
he
must go to the Valley of the Elves to learn the ancient ways so that he can find the guardians and
bring them back to Lionsgate. The guardians are dragons who were once peacemakers for their
land.
Three days before the solstice, Aidan and his friends begin their journey to find the elves. Along
the
way, they meet up with a baby dragon Aidan names Damon and find their efforts thwarted by
Gorgon, prince of Goth. Their journey teaches them important lessons about life, including
friendship, courage, compassion, and acceptance.
What a delightful tale this is, a mythical adventure that will engage any child's imagination and
hold
them enthralled throughout. Each chapter ending feeds the need to know what will happen next,
with plenty of action and subtle suspense. The comedic antics of Charles are appealing and fun to
read, the characters ideally balanced. The illustrations are superb and enhance this charming story
with perfection. Without a doubt, the next book in the sequel will be eagerly anticipated. Highly
recommended.
Dancing with the King at Conyers
Ali MacDonald
Behler Publications
22365 El Toro Road, #135, Lake Forest, CA 92630
www.behlerpublications.com 800-830-2913
ISBN: 0974896292 $14.95 171 pages
Ali MacDonald has received numerous prestigious awards for her writing. Born in Alabama and
raised in Indiana, Ms. MacDonald now resides in upstate New York. Like her protagonist Grace,
she suffers from Epstein-Barr Syndrome and CFIDS, yet manages her illness without health
insurance. She teaches creative writing and American Literature and leads numerous writing
workshops and book discussions through libraries and schools. Dancing with the King at Conyers
is
her first novel.
Grace McHeath suffers from Epstein-Barr Syndrome and CFIDS, and lives with her husband,
Johnny, in the Hemlock Valley. Famous fashion designer Henry "Honri" Smith shows up at
Grace's
house one day, telling her his family once lived in a house on the land now occupied by Grace and
her husband, and asking if he can visit the waterfall on their property. Suspicious about his
appearance, Grace follows him and discovers he has gone there to commit suicide. When she
confronts Henry, he tells her he has HIV+AIDS and is dying.
Grace invites Henry to stay in her workroom until his disease takes its toll, an offer she is
surprised
to hear herself voice. After Henry has settled in, Myrtle, his housekeeper/nurse, arrives to tend to
Henry during his dying days. Grace is a natural storyteller and, to help ease his suffering, begins to
weave a tale involving Henry, Myrtle and herself taking an imaginary trip to Conyers, Georgia,
where the Virgin Mary has appeared. Along the way, they meet Jesus and the Dalai Lama and
detour to Graceland so Henry can visit the home of Elvis Presley, a man he admires very much.
As
the story unfolds, Grace finds herself ruminating on her life and beliefs and facing realities she had
not wanted to.
What does one say after reading a book that virtually leaves the reader in awe? Ms. MacDonald
writes with such passion, awareness and biting reality, it becomes a humbling experience to read
such eloquent prose. She expresses with raw clarity the mindset and physical suffering of the
terminally ill through superbly portrayed characters that evoke empathy and compassion. A
powerful, outstanding book.
Jena's Choice
Beverly Scott
Bookman Publishing and Marketing
www.bookmanmarketing.com
ISBN: 1594533318 $16.95 436 pages
Beverly Scott is author of the highly acclaimed novels "Righteous Revenge" and "Ruth Fever".
She
resides in Ankeny, Iowa with her husband, both of whom are proud Edsel owners and
collectors.
Jena Grant finds herself in dire circumstances after her brother Jarred is murdered by an unknown
gunman. Her parents having previously died in a mysterious buggy incident, her only surviving
relative is her brother Randy. Everett Walker is a man of power and intimidation who has been
after
the Grants' land for years. He and his two sons, Carl and Chase, have embarked on a plan of
harassment toward the Grants and have threatened harm to any ranch hand that works for them.
In
an effort to gain control of the ranch, Everett Walker demands that Jena marry his son, Carl.
Fearing
the Walkers will force her to marry into their family, Jena runs an ad in the newspaper for a
husband,
someone to help run the ranch.
Flint McKay is half-white and half-Apache, a man who is shunned by the local townfolk and who
has
grown up with prejudice. Flint was Jarred's best friend and has known Jena for years. Concerned
for
Jena's welfare, he asks her to marry him after he learns of Jena's search for a husband. Unknown
to
Jena, Flint has begun a horse breeding business and has been steadily building a good reputation.
When he learns that Jena does not have enough money to make the mortgage payment, Flint pays
off the balance of the ranch, thereby ensuring it will not be lost to the Walkers.
Jena and Flint marry in haste in order to escape Carl Walker's demands on Jena. When Everett
and
Carl Walker learn that the two are married, they become enraged and vow to seek revenge. Jena
makes it clear to Flint that their marriage is a business arrangement only but Flint has other plans.
He
is attracted to the independent, fiery Jena and begins a strategy of seduction. The two face
numerous
challenges by the Walkers while growing more attracted to one another. However, Jena has lost
too
many people she has loved in the past and is determined she will not love another.
Beverly Scott has written a compelling romance nicely meshed with mystery and adventure.
Interwoven throughout are bits of history involving the Apache nation and the government's
efforts
to force them onto a reservation. The dialogue is fitting of the locale and time frame with
characterization masterfully portrayed. The story is filled with intrigue, romance, mystery, and
suspense with nonstop action. This is one mesmerizing book that will have readers quickly turning
pages, anxious to read what happens next. Ms. Scott's style is unique and refreshing; she is an
extremely talented author who belongs on the bestseller list. I highly recommend her.
Nightmares Echo
Katlyn Stewart
PublishAmerica
P.O. Box 151, Frederick, MD 21705
www.publishamerica.com 1-301-695-1707
ISBN 1592866220 $16.95, 113 pages
NIGHTMARES ECHO is autobiographical in nature, portraying the author's life as an abused
child
and the resulting mental turmoil that followed her into adulthood.
The sexual abuse began at the age of nine by Ms. Stewart's father and continued for years after
that.
This young child, however, refused to condone the behavior of the perpetrator, while being forced
to keep the secret to herself due to threats made against her mother by her father. Subjected to
physical and emotional abuse, as well as the sexual abuse, Katlyn was special, exhibiting a
backbone
of steel and fierce mental strength in trying to keep the abuse from affecting her. However, as a
grown woman, her efforts began to break down and she made poor decisions concerning the men
in
her life, while trying to deal with the anger the abuse had left behind. One very positive
observation
to be made is that Ms. Stewart broke this cycle of abuse and did not allow it to penetrate her own
children's lives.
NIGHTMARES ECHO is a powerful read, heartbreaking as well as heartwarming. The reader is
allowed to witness the mental state of a young victim of child abuse and her growth into a woman
trying to deal with the resultant anger and pain. Ms. Stewart delivers a poignant look at the
effects
of sexual abuse and one woman's attempts to deal with the aftermath and her eventual absolution
of
what occurred to her. An engrossing read, one that will touch the heart.
Christy Tillery French
Reviewer
Debra's Bookshelf
The Rule of Four
Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason
Dial Press
ISBN: 0385337116 $24.00 372 pages
Princeton undergraduate Paul Harris has been working on his senior thesis since freshman year, an
investigation into the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili--"Poliphilo's Struggle for Love in a Dream"--a
Renaissance text that was composed by a certain Francesco Colonna and published in 1499 by
Aldus
Manutius. It is unclear whether Paul's study of the manuscript had ever been manageable in its
scope: "The Significance of Bird Imagery in the Hypnerotomachia" is the sort of topic one might
have expected. But by the end of senior year, at least, Paul is intent on nothing less than
deciphering
the great secret of the text--hundreds of pages long though it may be and written in numerous
languages--a task that has already proved beyond the efforts of half a millennium's worth of
scholars.
Great insights come to Paul in the eleventh hour, however, and solving the book's riddle seems to
be
within his grasp. There follows conflict in the form of a pair of jealous Hypnerotomachia scholars
who have made no headway with the book themselves, and various calamities ensue. All of this is
related to the reader by Paul's friend and fellow Princeton student Tom Sullivan, who is himself
the
son of a Hypnerotomachia scholar.
The Rule of Four has been praised in some quarters as the next DaVinci Code, but while Dan
Brown's bestseller offers nail-biting suspense and characters one can root for, The Rule of Four is
a
dull slog in the company of uninteresting characters. Its principal problem is one of credibility. We
are to believe that a freshman arrived in Princeton preoccupied already with an obscure
Renaissance
text to the extent that he was able to recite in chronological order the publications of a
Renaissance
historian who had worked on that text. And we are to believe that during his senior year Paul's
friend Tom worked on the Hypnerotomachia himself for ten hours a day, neglecting his own thesis
and his girlfriend and any other responsibilities he may have had. Clearly Tom must have been
besotted by the book, and indeed we are told throughout The Rule of Four that the
Hypnerotomachia is beguiling: "...the Hypnerotomachia is a siren, a fetching song on a distant
shore,
all claws and clutches in person," Tom's father had once told him. "You court her at your risk."
But
apart from such melodramatic assertions there is nothing in The Rule of Four to make us very
interested in the Hypnerotomachia, or to make us understand why Tom's father and other scholars
were so passionate about it.
There are other problems with The Rule of Four as well, colorless descriptions of characters (Paul
"was driven by a curiosity that made him a pleasure to meet and converse with") and unrealistic
dialogue (are college kids really saying things like "nip it in the bud" these days?). There is a
ridiculous passage in which Paul recounts his thesis advisor's parable about a certain Rodge Epp
Lang's beating of a dog: Paul recognized at once that the name is an anagram of "doppelganger."
(Had the thesis advisor in fact beaten a dog? It doesn't matter.) In short, The Rule of Four is a
great
disappointment, lacking in suspense, its premise impossible to credit. Readers looking for their
next
clever literary mystery are advised to bypass this one.
Degrees Kelvin
David Lindley
Joseph Henry Press
ISBN: 0309090733 $27.95 366 pages
British physicist Sir William Thomson, better known to history as Lord Kelvin, was among the
most
brilliant scientists of the 19th century. Already a published author upon his arrival at Cambridge as
an undergraduate (in 1841), Thomson went on to a distinguished career during which he made
advances in the studies of electricity and magnetism, heat and light, as well as establishing the
existence of an absolute zero--the work with which he is probably most readily identified. But
Thomson was, above all else, a practical thinker who most enjoyed applying scientific principles
to
the solution of real-life problems. Thus, while involved in the various attempts that were made to
lay
the first transatlantic telegraph cable, Thomson invented the mirror galvanometer, a more
sensitive
instrument for receiving electronic pulses than had previously been available. Likewise, Thomson's
interest in sailing led to his invention of sounding machines for aid in navigation and the design of
a
more reliable naval compass.
Lindley's account of Thomson's life and career alternates in the telling between discussions of
science and of personality. The former will be appreciated by readers with some scientific
background, but Lindley does not dumb down his technical discussions sufficiently for the aid of
the
general reader. Far more accessible is Lindley's discussion of Kelvin's life outside of the
laboratory,
as for example his account of the subtle battle between the young William and his somewhat
domineering father James--over the former's expenses, attentiveness to school work, social
contacts,
moral probity, exercise, conduct of professional relationships, and so on. James Thomson was
involved in the particulars of William's life and early career to a degree that must have been
maddening to the young man. (Much of their struggle revolved around a position that opened at
Glasgow University, where James Thomson was a professor of mathematics. James wanted
desperately for his son to work at the University. William got the position, at the age of 22, and
stayed there for more than fifty years.) There are, too, rewarding accounts of the various
luminaries
with whom Thomson came into contact, such as the autodidact Michael Faraday (whose
accomplishments and personality have clearly impressed the author).
Lindley frames his biography with a discussion of the unfortunate fact of Kelvin's career that he
became in his later life something of a dinosaur, clinging stubbornly to antiquated ideas--such as
an
upper age for the earth of a mere 100 million years--while science advanced around him.
Celebrated
in his life, Kelvin has suffered a posthumous diminution of reputation. Such is the "tragedy" of
Lindley's subtitle ("A Tale of Genius, Invention, and Tragedy"), but it is overstated. Kelvin's life
was
filled with frenetic, joyous work on projects that fascinated him, and he was appreciated during
his
lifetime for his contributions. If in some areas Kelvin's conclusions were wrongheaded, he was yet
responsible for substantial scientific advances. He seems to have been a wholly fascinating figure,
and Lindley does a service in making his story available to readers.
Le Petomane
Jean Nohain
Souvenir Press
ISBN: 0285630970 (out of print; market price not available) 95 pages
During a career that spanned more than twenty years, Frenchman Joseph Pujol--Le
Petomane--captivated fin-de-siecle Parisian audiences and brought international crowds to tears of
laughter with his unusual performances. Alone on stage and elegantly attired, Pujol demonstrated
his
peculiar ability to take in copious quantities of air or water at will through his rectum and to expel
either when convenient, a skill which allowed him to perform a number of spectacular feats. Pujol
used his disciplined flatulence, for example, to blow out candles (from a distance of 12 inches) or
to
shoot jets of water--sucked in immediately beforehand--as far as four or five yards. He could
imitate
various animals with his emissions and could play recognizable tunes. (A newspaper of the day
reports: "In reality he produced only four notes, the do, mi, sol, and do of the octave. I cannot
guarantee that each of these notes was tonally true.") And in a coup de grace that would have left
Howard Stern screaming for more, Le Petomane would insert a rubber hose into his anus and,
thrusting a cigarette into the hose's free end, would enjoy a rectal smoke, his sphincter alternately
breathing in and exhaling. (Pujol played the flute using the same apparatus.)
In his very brief (95 pages in my edition, with photographs) biography, author Jean Nohain tells
the
bizarre story of Le Petomane, an evidently kindly baker, and a father of ten, who was determined
to
use his talent for flatulence for good. It is an arresting story, of course, but there is unfortunately
much to fault in the writing and translation into English of the book itself: References that demand
explanation (caf' conc', Kam-Hill) but go unremarked, an off-putting introductory chapter that
relies
almost exclusively on quoted material, a general lack of cohesion throughout. But if you do read
Le
Petomane you will very likely never forget it, and you will almost certainly mention it to at least
one
friend--which is more than can be said about many better books.
Masquerade
Gayle Lynds
St. Martin's Paperbacks
ISBN: 0312986033 $3.99 480 pages
The protagonist of Gayle Lynds' thriller Masquerade has lost her memory. Unable to recall even
her
name, she knows only as much of her past as her caretaker Gordon tells her: she is his fiancee, Liz
Sansborough, a retired CIA agent who has been living under cover as a journalist and who is
being
targeted by one of the world's deadliest assassins, the Carnivore. Liz's reactions when under
attack,
she finds, are indeed those of a trained operative, but her occasional near memories don't
correspond
with what she's been told. Her hunt for her identity takes Liz away from Gordon's grasp, finally,
and
into the thick of a dangerous game of international intrigue in which identifying the bad guys is
hard,
and outrunning them even harder.
Masquerade, if not unputdownable, is a decent thriller with transparent prose and a likeable
protagonist (who figures also in Lynds' more recent novel The Coil). The book unfortunately ends
on a disappointing note, with a final chapter that strains credibility, but I would nonetheless enjoy
reading more from this author.
The Real Minerva
Mary Sharratt
Houghton Mifflin
ISBN: 0618462325 $24.00 272 pages
Life in 1920's Minerva, Minnesota--the fictional town in which the action of Mary Sharratt's The
Real Minerva unfolds--is hard on those who are not fortune's favorites. Teen-aged girls mooning
over matinee idols turn quickly into hardened farm wives with work-ravaged hands and too many
children. But more onerous than the simple demands of survival in a difficult environment are the
constraints imposed by the small town's repressive society, whose members abhor and squelch
diversity and police behavior with vicious gossip and shaming. The three women on whom
Sharratt's
quietly suspenseful novel focuses are each eager to be free of the confinements imposed on them
from without, to shed their identities and become reborn, to have possibilities open before them.
Of
the three, former Chicago society matron Cora Egan has largely succeeded in shedding her past
by
the time the novel begins. Having fled, pregnant, from her abusive husband, Cora settled on her
grandfather's farm, which she now operates by herself, doing men's work while dressed in men's
clothing. Since she has elected to live outside the roles prescribed by society for women, Cora is
despised and feared in Minerva--a situation which has the potential to make her life not only
lonely
but dangerous. Cora is joined on the farm eventually by fifteen-year-old Penny Niebeck, who is
herself fleeing the shameful behavior of her mother--an affair with a married man--which threatens
to
render them both outcasts. Together Cora and Penny raise Cora's infant daughter, working hard
but
happily--an idyllic period that readers will constantly sense is threatened by the potential
re-appearance of the baby's abusive father.
Mary Sharratt's novel is about repression and rebirth and heroism, about the difficulty of simple
living in early 20th-century, rural America, about the relationship between parents and children
and
the nearly insuperable obstacles that can rise up between people incapable of communicating. And
it
is about how a life's course can be altered irrevocably by a handful of choices. Despite the weight
of
the book's subject matter and the casual cruelty and violence it depicts (but does not wallow in),
the
story Sharratt tells is ultimately uplifting. Her heroines persevere and finally survive, scarred but
strengthened by adversity, adopting in their different ways the strategies exemplified by the
characters of Athena (whose Roman counterpart, Minerva, lends her name to the characters'
home
town) and Penelope in Homer's Odyssey. (Throughout much of The Real Minerva Penny is in the
course of reading the epic, and Sharratt weaves the stories of Athena and Penelope lightly into her
narrative. My one complaint about Sharratt's novel is that her Odyssean references sometimes
struck
me as forced.) The Real Minerva is a rich, beautifully written novel, and it is highly
recommended.
Debra Hamel, Reviewer
http://www.tryingneaira.com
Emanuel's Bookshelf
Blood on the Leaves
Jeff Stetson
Warner Books
ISBN# 0446527068 $24.00 392 pp.
Move over John Grisham. There's a new king of torts; and he's taking the literary world by storm.
In
his amazing new debut novel "Blood on the Leaves," Jeff Stetson crafts a delectable tale of racial
hostility, murder, and retribution that commands your attention.
In the book, several of the white men accused but never convicted of murdering blacks during the
civil rights era are turning up dead. What's more, they're dying in the same fashion as their alleged
victims of long ago. When it is discovered that Professor Martin Matheson has composed a list of
the men for a college course he teaches, he becomes the prime suspect in the murder
investigations.
Matheson, an intelligent yet pompous man believes the men got just what they deserved. But did
he
participate in their untimely deaths? That's what James Reynolds, the only black prosecutor in the
district attorney's office, would like to know.
When Matheson is arrested for one of the murders, he hires long time civil rights advocate, Todd
Miller as his attorney. Miller, a middle-aged man who sports a pony tail and is a friend of the
prosecutor, comes from a long line of attorneys. And by the way, Miller just happens to be
Caucasian. Though Miller is not thoroughly convinced of his clients' case, he cannot refuse what
will
prove to be the case of a lifetime.
Thus sets the stage for the trial of the century, even bigger than O.J. When Reynolds's haunting
secret of the past reveals itself again, he becomes even more dedicated in proving Matheson's
guilt.
But battle with a genius professor, a seasoned attorney, and a history of bigotry may prove to be
enough to send the prosecutor over the edge. Can he win the case? And if he does, will justice be
served? Regardless of the outcome, the clear winner will be the reader.
Jeff Stetson, writer of the long-running play The Meeting, has crafted a powder keg of a tale full
of
intrigue and shock that will leave readers longing for more well after its dynamic conclusion.
Though
you may not be able to decide which side to cheer for, you will no doubt love this remarkable
book.
This is the kind of story moviemakers should eat up. I hope Hollywood is listening. Run out and
buy
"Blood on the Leaves" today!
Highly Recommended
Bylines 2005 Writer's Desk Calendar
Linda Hagen Miller
Bylines Publishing
www.bylinescalendar.com
ISBN 097441851X $13.95 150 pp.
Why would reviewer bother to write about a desk calendar? When it is more than meets the eye.
This is the case with Bylines 2005 Writer's Desk Calendar. The calendar consists of short stories,
poems, and anecdotes from writers you may or may not be familiar with. It also includes a list of
essential books, magazines, and websites meant for everyone from the skilled, professional writer
all
the way to the novice.
In the calendar, 55 writers tell about their experiences in writing. This includes advice on how to
deal with rejection letters, experiences with success, and the joy of crafting a story. The style of
writing includes humorous essays, thought-provoking poems, intriguing short stories, and much
more.
Bylines senior editor and creator Linda Hagen Miller says she decided to launch the calendar as
sort
of a cheerleading squad for discouraged writers. The result is an introduction to some of the best
writers you've probably never heard of. Combine that with a compilation of resources every writer
should have and you get one powerful punch. Bylines will make an excellent edition to any
writer's
(or reader's) bookshelf.
Highly Recommended
Hidden
Paul Jaskunas
Simon & Schuster
www.simonsays.com
ISBN# 0743257480 $23.00 256pp.
When college senior Maggie Wilson meets Nathan Duke, a man with money in the family,
business
plans, and political aspirations, their courtship results in a marriage. Though Nate truly loves her,
their matrimony seems more like a conquest than a foundation for longevity. As the marriage
progresses, the couples idiosyncrasies are revealed to one another. Nate is the jealous type who
tends to drink too much. Maggie is a bit on the na‹ve side. Her epileptic seizures cause her grief
and
memory lapses.
After Maggie begins to fall for Phil Carson, a reporter from her workplace, things get
complicated.
One fateful morning, Maggie awakens to a lump on her head and blood on the floor. Her husband
is
accused of the assault. An arrest and conviction leads to jail time for Nate. But Maggie's memory
lapse and personal motivation causes others to doubt her story. To make matters worse, another
man confesses to the very crime Nathan is accused. Maggie must decide what to trust, the words
of
the community around her or her own foggy memory.
Jaskunas dances back in forth in time, from past to present with the delicacy of a trapeze artist.
Written in first-person narrative, the Oberlin and Cornell graduate takes on the incredible feat of
delving into the female psyche, becoming a woman on paper, and succeeding masterfully.
If I hadn't known the book was written by a man, you could not have told me otherwise. The
author's keen eye for a woman's mind, stylish scribing, and unforgettable and realistic characters
makes this book one of the best first novels of the year. Bravo to Jaskunas for crafting such a
compelling, suspenseful story. Buy this book and expect great things from this writer in the
future.
Highly Recommended
The Revolution of the Mentally Dead
Darrin Osborne
360 Publishing Company
www.360publishingcompany.com
ISBN 0975541102 $18.95 375 pp.
In the new book "The Revolution of the Mentally Dead" first-time author Darrin Osborne sets out
to
prove two points: 1) Someone is trying to kill people of color. 2) Non-whites have the power to
control their own destiny. The author believes that there is a White supremacist agenda
threatening
the lives of every brown to black person in the world.
Divided into three sections, The Grave, Elimination, and The Revolution, the book commences
with
a brief history of revolutionary uprisings by blacks in and out of the U.S., including information on
the actions of some well-known historical figures such as Nat Turner and the Black Panther Party,
and some not-so-well known ones like Gabriel Prosser and Denmark Vessey. He later proposes
that
African-Americans stop committing physical and spiritual suicide and backs the proposal up with
interesting data on the life expectancy of Whites versus Blacks and the murder rates of young
African-American males.
The book is at its mind-blowing best when it discusses the failure of the Wars on Drugs, AIDS,
and
Terror. Osborne sheds light on the government's involvement and in the drug trade, which drug
companies are making millions in profits from the War on AIDS, and provides riveting
documentation (including a timeline) on the events that occurred before, during, and after the
terror
attacks of 9/11. Did the U.S. plan and carry out the events of 9/11? Is AIDS a disease created in a
lab meant to destroy Blacks? The answers may astound you.
Osborne even proposes solution to some of the problems that ail African-Americans, including
embracing Hip-Hop as a political movement, creating a legitimate political third party to compete
with Democrats and Republicans, and motivating citizens to register to vote.
The book does have its flaws. For instance, instead of acknowledging the fallacies of art that
depicts
Jesus as blonde and blue-eyed he faults Black Christians for worshipping a "White man (in the
form
of a Caucasian man named Jesus)." And rather than attacking the legitimacy of slave owners' faith
or
how they interpreted the Bible for their own gain, he condemns African-Americans for following
the
same religion slave masters used to rule slaves. The author does not offer an alternative form of
worship.
Osborne believes HIV is not lethal and doesn't cause AIDS. Instead he theorizes the treatment of
the
disease with the drug AZT is the actually culprit that causes death. While this makes a very
interesting and quite believable theory, the author does not support this claim with statistical
data.
All things considered, "The Revolution of the Mentally Dead" is a beguiling, investigative piece of
work. Osborne, a Northeast Missouri State political science graduate and Chicago resident, is
nearly
flawless with his extensive research, thought-provoking theories, and proposed solutions. You
will
not be able to put this book down until the very last page.
Highly Recommended
Stone's Revenge
Sylvia Hubbard
Ariel International Publisher
http://sylviahubbard.homestead.com/
ISBN 0975268988 $16.95 384 pp.
In Stone's Revenge, a copycat murderer is on the loose. The prime suspect is William Stone, the
young son of the original killer. The prosecutor of the original case, Ramsey McPherson, believes
William could be the killer. Ramsey, who has all kinds of reasons for hating Stone, has just found
another. Stone is in love with his daughter Abigail. Before it ends, two questions must be
answered:
is William the killer and will love conquer all?
There is something enticing about Stone's Revenge that makes you want to read more. The
protagonist makes an interesting character. The idea of young, teenage love is intriguing. And a
plot
that combines a murder mystery and street lit is an attention-grabbing endeavor.
But there are far too many problems in the novel to call it a success. For one, most of the
character
introductions are jammed into the first two chapters without much thought given to developing
them. This includes the protagonist, who has so many nicknames it may cause the reader to get
confused about which character is being written about. Secondly, there's a problem with
plausibility.
For instance, when the main character just happens to meet his love interest by chance, it's not
very
believable. The fact that she is the prosecutor's daughter makes it too much of a convenient
coincidence for the author. Lastly, the writer's style could use a bit of sparkle. The story is told in
a
rather plain, every day style instead of with style and finesse. The result is a tale that has potential
but reads more like a first draft.
The author, Sylvia Hubbard, is native Detroiter who has written three other books and is the
founder
of the Motown Writers Network. With those types of credentials, one would expect a lot more
than
this novel offers.
What Doesn't Kill Us, Only Makes Us Stronger
Nicole C. Kearney Cooper
Mind's Eye Publishing
http://www.mymindseye.net
ISBN# 0972913319 $12.00 88 pp.
Short story compilations can be a great launching pad for authors. Each story can show the
potential
for something bigger and better. Yet they all can be distinguished from each other to showcase a
writer's versatility. In "What Doesn't Kill Us, Only Makes Us Stronger" newcomer Nicole C.
Kearney Cooper gives readers a glimpse of what could be.
Told in seven distinct and succinct stories, the book commences with the best story of all,
Breaking
Free, a chilling story of domestic violence. In the story the protagonist, Rachelle meets Cedric, the
man she believes will be the one. Her naivety doesn't allow her to realize that the ring he wants to
give her is a black one around her eye. Just when she's ready to break it off, Cedric proposes. Can
Rachelle change him before he kills her? The answer may surprise you.
The remaining stories, Matriarchal Musings, Grandmother, Honoring the Difficult, Choices,
Metamorphosis, and Passing Lives bring women's issues such as abortion, teen pregnancy, breast
cancer, absentee fathers, and street life to the forefront. In Choices, the main character poignantly
ponders after an abortion " I turned my head toward the window, closed my eyes, and thought
'aftercare.' But who really cares-after?"
There are a few problems with the book. Mostly all of the fictional stories could use a bit of
descriptive detail. Instead of feeling like you're there with the characters, the stories read like
more
like essays. In Metamorphosis, the narration of the thirteen-year main character seems more like
the
writings of someone much older. The book is also a bit light in content considering the price.
However, any book that brings these important issues up for discussion should be commended.
"What Doesn't Kill Us, Only Makes Us Stronger" could be a great launch pad for Cooper's
writing
career. It'll be interesting to gauge the metamorphosis of this author's writings in the near
future.
Emanuel Carpenter, Reviewer
www.geocities.com/emanuelcarpenter
Gary's Bookshelf
Playboy 50 Years The Photographs
Jim Peterson
Chronicle Books
85 Second Street, San Francisco, California 94105
ISBN 0811839788 $50.00
Ten years ago Playboy celebrated its fortieth birthday with two books, "The Playboy Book" and
"The Playmate Book, "that were limited editions. In fact the publisher of both books is no longer
in
business so fans of the magazine cannot even get them through bookstores or distributors About
the
only way to purchase copies anymore is somewhere on the internet if you are lucky.
Now to commemorate its fiftieth year Playboy has once again shown what has kept the magazine
going for so long. Unlike the other two books that included controversial interviews, fiction,
excerpts or short stories by the best writers, and excellent articles, this one only deals with the
photos. Marilyn Monroe, the first lady to grace the pages, began a trend including Bettie Page,
Jayne Mansfield, Stella Stevens who is on the cover, Pamela Anderson, Raquel Welch, and
Barbara
Bach that continues with each new issue. One noticeable aspect is that the picture quality, color
and
detail improved over the years. Beauty is, as they say, in the eye of the beholder and with this
book
there is a lot to behold. PLAYBOY 50 YEARS THE PHOTOGRAPHS is a gem that is now a
collector's item.
Saturday Night Live Equal Opportinity Offender
William G. Clotworthy
1st Books Library
1663 Liberty Dr., Bloomington In 47404-5161
www.authorhouse.com 888-280-7715
ISBN 0759600988 $9.95
Want to know what skits never got on to the show "Saturday Night Live? Now William G.
Clotworthy the man who was the NBC Sensor, tells all about the skits that never made it to the
show and other shows as well. For more than twenty years every skit on the show had to pass
Clotworthy's inspection. For the first time he tells which ones got rejected and why. He even talks
about Tim Kazurinsky's on Weekend Update his character of Worthington Clotman. But the book
is
more than just the story of SNL. It is also about Mr. Clotworthy's 42-year career in television. He
talks about many shows from the 50's and 60's and compares the quality of shows then and now.
He
also deals with why the major networks are continually losing viewers. Clotworthy quotes an
article
by television critic Gary Deeb. "Because the more NBC, CBS and ABC insist on using popular
movies as come-ons and then actually televise severely watered-down versions of these
blockbusters, the more the audience will react with anger and desert "regular television" in favor
of
the premium pay-channels, where viewers at least are treated like they possess a modicum of
discernment." Clotworthy uses the movie "Dressed to Kill" to show how the movie should have
been edited for regular television. Afterwards he comments about the production that was shown
on
NBC. "In fairness, what critic Deeb may have been espousing, was exactly what I thought as I
watched the film for the fifth or sixth time in Brian De Palma's editing room-why the hell did NBC
buy the picture in the first place?" SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
OFFENDER is for anyone who wants to know what really goes on behind the scenes of the
television industry.
Hizzoner the Mayor
Carl T. Langford
Chateau Publishing
P O Box 140432, Orlando, Florida 32814
0884350053 $8.95 www.amazon.com
Former Mayor of Orlando Carl Langford clearly and frankly talks about government in Orlando,
the
years of growth before and after Disney, the creation of the jet port and many other things about
"The City Beautiful." The mayor who served for three terms comments on just about everything
with charm and wit.
Visions of Spaceflight Images from the Ordway Collection
Four Walls Eight Windows
39 West 14th Street #503, New York, New York 10011
www.4w8w.com 1-800-788-3123
ISBN 1568581815 $50.00
For as long as humans have walked this planet there has been interest in space and space flight.
To
prove it writer Frederick I. Ordway III has selected many pieces of artwork from numerous eras
of
history and compiled them in the book. There is also a foreword by Arthur C. Clarke. For each
piece
the author tells the artist, subject, year and in many cases the publication that published the
picture.
Some of the more recent ones are space stations, trips to Mars, and other planetary missions
NASA
has planned. Many have also been used in Science Fiction magazines like Analog, Astonishing
Stories, Dynamic Science Stories, Startling Stories, Super Science Stories, and for the SF short
stories in other collections. It is very appropriate to have science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke
write the foreword to this book "I wonder if 100 years from now, our own space technology will
look as bizarre as many of the anticipations in this book. Few people now remember that back in
the
1920s, most experts believed that the future of aviation belonged to the airship and the flying
boat.
The rocket may play the same role in the conquest of space that the balloon did in the
atmosphere: it
got us there but was quickly superseded. After the rocket, what? Antigravity-as foreseen in some
of
these illustrations? Space drives? Wormholes? We can be sure something will turn up. Because
this
is where the action is Baby!" Ordway writes about where we have been and where we are going
as
well. "The images in the pages that follow helped inspire and pave the way to the space triumphs
of
the latter half of the 20th century. As we embark on a new century-and a new millennium-fresh
images will illuminate the future promise of space. Even now, plans are being drawn up for a
manned return to the Moon and the establishment of a human presence on the planet Mars. Both
are
ideal enterprises for the artist's vision. Unmanned missions building on the discoveries by Mariner,
Pioneer, Magellan, Viking, Voyager, Galieo, Cassini and other 20th century spacecraft will also
capture their imaginations ..The lure of other worlds is taking on a new meaning. First the
Moon, then Mars, the other planets and their moons, comets, and asteroids. Now our
instruments-and our imaginations-are peering far beyond the empire of the Sun. As always artists
will intrigue us with images of things to come and inspire the continuing search for reality."
VISIONS OF SPACEFLIGHT is a beautiful compilation of artwork that no fan of SF or space
exploration should miss adding to their collection of books.
Boston's Blues
Art Simas
1st Books Library
1663 Liberty Dr., Bloomington In 47404-5161
www.authorhouse.com 888-280-7715
ISBN 0759652716 $19.50
This is the most detailed book on the subject of blues music in Boston. The author tells the
beginnings of blues in Boston, musicians past and present, clubs, radio stations in New England
that
play blues and jazz, blues and jazz fests throughout the nation and lots lots more. BOSTON'S
BLUES is the best book on the subject of Blues in Boston. It is also a great resource for any one
going to Boston who wants to know what the Blues scene is like.
The Mouse That Roared
Leonard Wibberley
Four Walls Eight Windows
39 West 14th Street #503, New York, New York 10011
www.4w8w.com 1-800-788-3123
ISBN 1568582498 $13.95
Back in print is the brilliant novel about Grand Fenwick that declares war on the United States,
and
wins through a fluke. The small country is having a tough time in the business world. The
problem:
the United States is competing and shutting them out of the market place. To retaliate, Grand
Fenwick comes up with a plan to declare war on the United States lose and get foreign aid to
rebuild
the small country. Instead in a bizarre twist of fate Tully Bascomb the leader of the Grand
Fenwick
army takes hostage several Americans, a secret weapon, and somehow wins the war. This
wonderful
satire was the basis for the movie of the same name that starred Peter Sellers. Wibberley is also
the
author of the book THE MOUSE ON THE MOON, the sequel in which Grand Fenwick enters
the
race for space between Russia and the United States. Both novels that were made into films have
recently been brought to DVD, but are not easy to find. THE MOUSE THAT ROARED is the
charming classic novel that started it all.
Belly of the Dragon
Jack Romig
1st Books Library
1663 Liberty Dr., Bloomington In 47404-5161
www.authorhouse.com 888-280-7715
ISBN 0759622019 $10.95
This is a novel of the Korean War that shows how a covert mission can go bad. Word is leaked to
officials in Washington that China is about to help the North Koreans by making jet engines to fit
Russian built airframes. This could completely alter the air superiority the U.S. presently
maintains.
The president and his advisors decide that the U.S. must act swiftly to eliminate the threat posed
by
the Chinese made jet engines. Therefore they decide to send in a small covert unit of soldiers to
eliminate the threat, knowing that the odds are against them succeeding in their mission. The
characters are believable and the combat scenes are realistic in a tense tightly written thriller.
You're on the Air
Mike Miller
Chateau Publishing
P O Box 140432, Orlando, Florida 32814
0884350010 $3.95 www.amazon.com
I found that even though this book was written in the 1970's it is still relevant today. All you have
to
do is change some of the names but many of the calls the author used for this book sound just
exactly the same proving that human nature does not change. For a picture of what radio was like
in
Orlando and the nation talk show host Mike Miller who broadcast on WDBO in the 70s pulled
together many of the calls he received for the book Though the topics of some of the calls are
dated
most aren't. The conversations are fun, interesting and true of what any talk show host deals with
on
a daily basis. Miller now broadcasts in the morning on 690am in the Jacksonville area.
Sex a Man's Guide
Stefan Bechtel, Laurence Roy Stains and the editors of Men's Health Books
Berkley Books
www.penguinputnam.com
ISBN 0425165809 $7.99
The authors decided to do the book for several reasons. Among them are that men don't really
talk
to each other honestly about their sex lives, sex has become a billion dollar industry that has
presented a lot of half truths and myths. Some of the topics covered are body image, orgasm,
aging,
diseases, some of the better more informative videos on the market, what men and women want.
The authors have compiled a very complete current resource on the subject of sex that is sure to
educate so many on so much material to make sex more enjoyable.
The Denuclearization of North Korea
James M. Minnich
1st Books Library
1663 Liberty Dr., Bloomington In 47404-5161
www.authorhouse.com 888-280-7715
ISBN 1403367396 $10.50
I feel that this book should be required reading for anyone who thinks North Korea is not a threat
to
the world population. That includes the President of the United States and especially Donald
Rumsfeld, who stated recently that we are not in a guerrilla conflict in Iraq. What world is he
living
in? The author makes the case that North Korea has been flexing its might for some time, and has
the potential to be a nuclear threat to America and the rest of the world. The writer shows that
North Korea is a clear and present danger with real weapons of massive destruction that should
be
treated seriously.
You Can't Sink a Rainbow
Edgar John L'Heureux, Jr
Sabal Palm Press
P.O. Box 756 Goldenrod, Florida 32733
$11.95 www.amazon.com
L'Heureux has written a charming novel filled with memorable characters who come alive as the
story moves along. The author also sets up conflicts of a father and daughter who don't see eye to
eye on an issue, and the environmentalist versus the developer that are believable and realistically
played out. The writer is a master wordsmith with his story and its players. "Sam, an aging
Golden
Retriever, lifted his head from his paws for a drowsy inspection of the trapeze chatter. The bluejay
was soon safe and daybreak quite was restored. Sam stayed awake just long enough to observe
what
he could view of Sabal Palm Landing without awakening any devout slumber muscles. Then, he
plopped his shaggy head back down on his front -paws and returned to canine dreamland." YOU
CAN'T SINK A RAINBOW is a very timely well-crafted tale that ranks in the class of a John
Cheever or John Updike novel.
Chipped Beef on Toast (S.O.S.)
Charles H. Bertram
Infinity Publishing.com
519 West Lancaster Avenue, Haverford. PA 19041-1413
www.buybooksontheweb.com 877-BUY-BOOK
ISBN 0741415542 $13.95
For those of us who served the armed forces no matter what branch of service, this book will
bring
back memories of their own military service. Some of the things he writes about are being late for
duty, cleaning the area, food by military cooks, duty in general, are just a few of the things we can
all relate to.
Good Is Alive and Well and Living in Each One of us
Naura Hayden
Bibi Publishing
www.naurahayden.com
ISBN 0942104129 $19.95
Naura Hayden, no stranger to controversy, once more is at the forefront with this title. Hayden
makes numerous points throughout the work that are different from the other self help titles that
flood shelves of stores. For instance, she says that we are a society that acts blameless and full of
excuses and that the words "personal responsibility" are politically incorrect to even say. We get
into
trouble in life because we let our emotions control what we do instead of letting intellect reign.
These are the arguments so often seen in the TV show "Star Trek." "When you control your
negative emotions and allow your intellect to take charge, the answer to every problem will come
to
you . The power of our Good combined with our thinking without emotion will lead us to
everything we want." Hayden shows why dropping those who treat you poorly, have no respect
for
you and bring you down to their level of unhappiness, is the right thing to do. "Why would I ever
want to be around someone who not only doesn't love me, but doesn't like me?" Hayden also
reveals
that people must learn how to be problem solvers, on complainers. She also talks about sex and
love, staying healthy, astrology and God. But most of all what separates Hayden's title from the
others is that her expertise is from first hand knowledge, instead of a psychology background. It
has
always been amazing that M D. s and others of the health care profession are dealing with
people's
problems when they do not handle their own very well. Hayden has a lot to say in terms the
layman
will have no problem understanding.
The Relationship Revolution
Phyllis Phipps
Summer Hill Books
P O Box 140432, Orlando Florida 32814
www.amazon.com
ISBN 0963834193 $10.95
All through the country there was a revolt that took place during the 1990s according to author
Phyllis Phipps. She shows new and innovative ways to find the person each of us is looking for.
Phipps, a therapist in private practice, has expanded what she has seen in her dealings with singles
in
her discussions, lectures and therapy sessions. She gives hints on such things as where to meet,
the
importance of having business cards to pass out, joining organizations such as the Chamber of
Commerce, the opening lines each person might want to say, flirting right and wrong ways.
Phipps
says that everyone in the last years of the last century whether they wanted to admit it or not was
looking for love. Her book is full of information that is still good today on how to do it
successfully.
Martin Andersen: Editor, Publisher, Galley Boy
Ormund Powers
Contemporary Books
www.directtextbook.com/publisher/ ntc-contemporary-publishing-company
ISBN 0809230445 $24.95
I loved this book because it is more than a depiction of the man who made the Orlando Sentinel a
major newspaper. Powers shows that without Andersen's influence a lot of good things for
Florida
would not ever have taken place. Powers shows his influence in the creation of the University of
Central Florida, the four laneing of US1 in Volusia county, creation of bridges to the beaches in
both
Brevard and Volusia counties, and how Orlando evolved into the city it is today. 'Andersen
reasoned
that an expanded University of Florida wouldn't help Orange County. What was needed, he said
was
a new space age school, a school of technology that could be of service to the engineers at Cape
Kennedy and the related spinoff industries of Brevard and Orange Counties .with editorials and
personal contact, he persuaded the Central Florida Development committee to back the idea."
Andersen was also a major force in getting the roads of I/4, Highway 50, the east west
expressway,
the turnpike, and the John Young Parkway built. He was a man who had a dream and saw a way
to
make it a reality. He also ran his newspaper in the same manner. He was fair to everyone in the
area,
not just a few. His commentaries set the tone of the Central Florida area growth while his
philosophy was "If it's good for Orlando, then it's good for the Orlando Sentinel." This is
something
that has drastically changed in the journalism of today. Ormund Powers has written a very detailed
profile of one of the most influential forces in Central Florida's history. What he shows is that
there
is more here in the region of the state than just Disney.
Gary Roen
Reviewer
Goldman's Bookshelf
Game Face
Dr. James Chlovechok
McKenna Publishing Group
74-923 Hwy 111, Suite 173, Indian Wells, Ca. 92210
ISBN: 1932172130 $19.95
Have you ever wondered how some athletes seem to have a personality transformation the minute
they put on their uniforms?
It is as if mentally, spiritually and emotionally their psyche has been modified to such an extent
that
they seem to have a marked edge over their opponents.
Suppose we were offered a drug that could easily accomplish this feat. Would we take it not
knowing its side effects?
With this in mind, first time novelist, James D. Chlovechok, M.D., author of Game Face, manages
to
combine his private passions with matters of a public nature.
Dr. Chlovechok is a board-certified emergency physician and founder of the Ohio Sports
Medicine
Institute. According to the information I gleaned from the author's description of himself, it is
stated:
"while writing Game Face, he also pursued fellowship training in forensic medicine."
After reading some of the book's descriptive crime scenes, I could see where this training must
have
come in very handy.
Focusing on the theme of drugs that are able to do wonders for athletes without even being
detectable, Dr. Chlovechok crafts an exciting plot with a very surprising twist for an ending.
The beginning of the story finds the team of Mark McKenzie, who is a forensic medicine specialist
and his boyhood friend, Detective Sergeant Tim McGregor, investigating the death of an elite
woman athlete.
What follows is a series of scenes, characters and events that initially do not seem to be
interconnected, and at times I felt like I was caught in "rumbling traffic." However, when you
reach
the last page, you realize how everything nicely fits in, leaving the reader with a memorable story
that is sure to linger on well after you have put the book to bed.
As the novel progresses, readers are informed that a football player had seriously pummeled a
policeman. The player's excuse was that he was taking a new potent drug that he described as
"attitude in a bottle." Apparently, it has the power to transform your personality and is called
"Game
Face."
We later learn that "the drug is unpredictable and makes the people who take it unpredictable. But
once they're taking it they may not believe that."
Following this event, an unexplained death occurs at a Sports Institute, where experiments
pertaining to this wonder drug have been taking place.
At this same institute mysterious computer files, which are supposedly lost, are retrieved under
the
file name of "Game Face" exposing some very interesting findings pertaining to experiments
performed here.
Thrown in is the rivalry between two of the principal scientists connected to the institute, and
their
breakup due to a difference of opinion as to how to best use the drug. And to add another
dimension
to the story, the reader also learns about the hostility between Tim McGregor and his twin
brother,
Carl, leading the reader to some very intriguing and teasing speculations.
What is noteworthy about the author's "gung ho" style is his ability to partially disclose facts and
then gradually reveal them to his audience. In this way, the reader is kept off balance trying to
figure
out the "good guys" from the "bad guys."
Beyond doubt, in writing Game Face, the author perfectly exemplifies the old adage-you should
write about something you know in order to create something that is not only believable but also
memorable. Dr.Chlovechok effectively succeeds in leaving his readers with something that
challenges and provokes thought pertaining to the world of sports and athletes, where winning
seems to be the only thing that matters, no matter the consequences.
Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love
Helen Fisher, Ph.D
Henry Holt and Company, LLC
115 West 18th Street, New York, New York, 10011
ISBN: 0805069135 Hardcover $25.00 Softbound: $15.00
From time immemorial philosophers, poets, writers, and probably anyone else who could voice an
opinion have pondered over the question, what is romantic love?
In fact, if you ask someone to describe its attributes, you would probably be informed that once
you
experience romantic love it is difficult to control. For those of us who have been fortunate enough
to
have fallen in love, we are well aware of some of the effects it may have on us, such as, being
obsessed with our partners, distorted reality, emotional and physical dependence, personality
changes, and domination of our drives to eat and sleep.
In 1996, renowned anthropologist, Dr. Helen Fisher, with a team of behavioral scientists, set out
to
investigate the mystery of "being in love." Their objective was to find out why we love, why we
choose the people that we choose, the differences between male and female feelings as it pertains
to
romance, animal love, love at first sight, love and lust, love and marriage, evolution of love, love
and
hate, and the brain in love.
The culmination of this study has now been summed in Dr. Fisher's book, Why We Love: The
Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love.
In order to scientifically study these themes, Dr. Fisher and her team used the newest technology
for
brain scanning known as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The team endeavored to
record men and women's brain activity, after they had just fallen madly in love. The principal
objective was to record the range of feelings associated with "being in love."
Dr. Fisher's findings are extremely interesting, particularly the observations she and her team were
able to make with their brain scanner concerning the different brain regions that become active
when
their subjects felt romantic ecstasy.
A strong believer in the theory that romantic love is a universal human feeling that produces
specific
chemicals and networks in the brain; the author was determined to discover what effect these
chemicals and networks had on the human brain. Consequently, her study focused on collecting
scientific data on the chemistry and brain circuitry of romantic love, and more particularly on
dopamine and norepinephrine, as well as a related brain substance, serotonin.
Dr. Fisher states that the reason why she concentrated on these chemicals was because the
"attraction animals feel for particular mates is linked with elevated levels of dopamine and/or
norepinephrine in the brain." Moreover, as she states, "all three of these chemicals produce many
of
the sensations of human romantic passions."
The method used by Dr. Fisher and her team was to ask their love-smitten subjects to look at a
photograph of his or her beloved, and secondly to look at another photograph of an acquaintance
who generated no positive or negative romantic feelings. Pictures were taken of the brain and
blood
flows in the brain were also recorded.
Dr. Fisher's observations are presented in an engaging style devoid of technical terms, and will go
a
long way with its interesting insights in helping us understand more about romantic love.
Moreover, this fascinating analysis of romantic love reveals a great deal more about the subject
than
we may have initially perceived.
As a side note, I found it somewhat amusing that Dr. Fisher had prefaced her chapters with
quotes
from many literary giants as Shakespeare, Yeats, Shelley, Dickens, and others who have written
about romantic love.
Many of these quotes only reconfirm Dr. Fisher's scientific findings, and will probably seduce
readers
in rushing back to read the romantic writings of these literary figures.
The Artist's Model And Other Love Stories
Guy de Maupassant
Mark Scott, translator
1st Books Library
ISBN: 1403337241 $14.50
Considered to be one of France's greatest short story writers, Guy de Maupassant, had written
over
three hundred short stories, six novels, three travel books, and one volume of verse, during a
period
of ten years of his forty-three year lifespan.
Author and lecturer, Mark Scott, is a specialist in Russian literature, and he has been very much
intrigued with Maupassant's profound influence over such Russian literary giants as Bunin,
Chekhov,
Turgenev and Gorky. This probably explains his most recent literary foray, The Artist's Model and
Other Love Stories, wherein he shares with the English-speaking world eighteen of Maupassant's
short story gems.
As a translator "par excellence," Scott's talents are very much in evidence in his appreciation of
the
thoughts and images of this French literary icon. Moreover, Scott effectively conveys to the
reader
Maupassant's uncanny ability to write in a highly controlled style devoid of superfluous
words.
It is to be noted that a good translator is not only one who is talented with languages, but also one
who knows how to competently translate the theme or the spirit of the literary works. In order to
accomplish this feat the translator must have an excellent grasp of the sense of the subject and its
nuances, and here is where Scott's translations shine.
The stories included in the collection revolve around human behavior, its frailties, and its hidden
sides that perhaps many people would think best unmentioned. Such themes of illicit seduction,
sexual molestation of children, psychology of the alcoholic, and premeditated murder of children,
are
topics that are difficult enough to write and read about, let alone translate them. However, as
pointed out in the introduction to the book, "according to Maupassant, a modern novel aims not
at
telling a story or entertaining us or touching our hearts but at forcing us to think and understand
the
deeper, hidden meaning of events." It is this deeper meaning that prevails in the minds of the
readers
as they complete one story and go onto the next.
For the most part, the stories are narrated in the first person, and Maupassant refrains from taking
sides pertaining to the behavior or misbehavior of his characters. This is left up to the reader to
think
about and come to his or her own conclusions.
Moreover, as Scott points out, many of the themes would probably be very familiar to fans of
Russian literature such as the infanticide in Maupassant's "The Confessions" that resembles
Tolstoy's
play The Power of Darkness. However, as mentioned in the introduction, similarities run much
deeper particularly the theme of the close interrelationship between love and death. Bunin's Galya
Ganskaya, who Scott has translated in his book, Wolves and Other Love Stories, is, as he
mentions,
an obvious variation of Maupassant's The Artist's Model.
Not all of the stories are sad or tragic, and Maupassant does leave some room for the comical. A
good example is the story entitled "The Nod," wherein the Baroness de Grangerie is tempted to
imitate her neighbor who sits in front of her window and seduces men into having sex with her.
After a little practice in the mannerisms of seduction, the Baroness succeeds in enticing a young
blond man. However, she quickly realizes she has gone too far and insists he leave her home. The
young man refuses and she finally consents to his advances in order to get rid of him before her
husband returns. The next day, she recounts her dilemma to her friend, the Marquise de Rennedon
and asks what to do if the young man returned. She is advised to call the police and sue for
damages. "Ah! Concerning those damages there's one thing that's really stopping me it really
is He left two louis on the mantel for me. Two louis? Yes. That's all. Yes. But that's hardly
anything. I'd really be humiliated. I would. Well?" Well what should I do with the money? The
Marquise hesitated a few seconds, then answered seriously, my dear you should buy you should
buy a small gift for your husband. That's only proper."
It is quite interesting to hear what Scott had to say when I asked him why he translated these
stories
and his reply was as follows: "This book is not going to be a best seller, but I did it because I had
been using excerpts from some of these stories in my college classes. It also has the rather unusual
"Russian twist" to it--in Russian literature classes in the US, professors only casually remark that
Russian writers were influenced by Maupassant, but they seldom if ever discuss this influence in
any
great detail.
All the Pope's Men: The Inside Story Of How The Vatican Really Works
John L. Allen, Jr.
Doubleday, A Division of Random House
ISBN: 0385509669 U.S. $24.95 Canada $35.95
Recognized as a maven when it comes to the intricacies of the workings of the Vatican, John A.
Allen, Jr., Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter, has written an excellent
reference text that will go a long way in helping us to be better informed about its thoughts, how
it
reacts and why, and its perspective of the world.
Due to the complexity of the subject matter, Allen, in order to lay a solid foundation for what
ensues, appropriately begins with an introductory chapter entitled Vatican 101.
Readers are quickly informed that although the media interchangeably use the terms Vatican, the
Holy See and the Roman Curia as if they were one and the same, in fact, such is not the case, as
they
are quite distinct from one another.
Many of us are unaware that the Holy See is an institution rather than a person and it is the proper
term to use for designating the authority of the papacy to govern the Church. It is the central
government of the Roman Catholic Church.
More precisely, it is the Holy See that governs the Catholic Church on behalf of the Pope, not the
Vatican. The Vatican refers to the 108-acre physical territory in Rome.
The Pope, through the Holy See, is the supreme governor of Vatican City.
On the other hand, it is through the Roman Curia that the Pope administers the Holy See and
carries
out his function both as supreme governor of the Catholic Church and as sovereign diplomatic
actor.
Understanding these basic terms is essential in understanding the remaining chapters of the book,
where the author delves into such topics as five myths pertaining to the Vatican, its Psychology,
Sociology and Theology, and finally concluding with two very important and well researched
chapters that are constantly in the news today, the American sexual abuse crisis and the war in
Iraq.
What is noteworthy and extremely helpful in understanding the position of the principal actors
pertaining to these two latter important events is the author's presentation of a chronological
review
of events involving the exchanges between the United States and the Holy See.
Some of the myths that are exposed are quite intriguing. Did you know that there is no such thing
as
"the Vatican?" As the author points out, "there is no "the Vatican" in the sense that most
English-speaking journalists, commentators, and activists use the phrase." It is not a living
creature
or organism. It is rather a bureaucracy "staffed by human beings, each of whom has his or her
own
wants, fears, intentions, visions, hopes, and dreams."
Other myths examined are: who's in charge, Vatican secrecy, Vatican wealth, and climbing the
career ladder.
It should be noted that from the very onset the author tries to maintain complete impartiality and
to
a very large degree has succeeded admirably.
The author refrains from offering his own personal opinions as to whether a particular Vatican
document or policy choice is right or wrong, good or bad, successful or not. The primary
objective,
and one that has been successfully demonstrated, is the presentation to the readers of the
Vatican's
rationale pertaining to various actions or inactions. If you agree or disagree with this rationale is
left
to the reader to decide. However, based on Allen's expose, perhaps you will arrive at a better
understanding as to why decisions are made in one way or another. Lets not forget, Roman
Catholicism is a world-wide communion of 1 billion people, representing every culture, language,
and worldview on earth. It is little wonder that every decision must take into account this
enormous
divergence.
Letter Perfect The Marvelous History Of Our Alphabet From A to Z
David Sacks
Broadway Books, A Division of Random House
ISBN: 0767911733 $14.95
Prior to reading David Sacks' reference book, Letter Perfect The Marvelous History Of Our
Alphabet From A to Z, it never dawned on me just how intriguing are the letters of our
alphabet.
As Sacks points out, these twenty- six letters all have personalities of their own.
Combining his knowledge of history, linguistics, geography, literature, phonetics and other
disciplines, readers are taken on a wonderful journey of discovery from ancient Egypt in the year
2000 B.C., when the alphabet was believed to have originated, up to the present.
Dividing the book into twenty- six chapters, the author illustrates the principal significance of
each
letter of the alphabet or as Sacks terms it- "its personality, as expressed through speech or visual
media."
As an example, if we look at the chapter pertaining to the letter "F," we notice that it has been
saddled with an obscenity or it can be comical just in itself. Another element of its personality is
that
this letter, and not the letter "E" that precedes it, has very often been associated with failure.
If we contrast the personalities of "F" with "A," we recognize how the first letter of the alphabet
is
associated with beginnings, fundamentals, and superiority. Sacks tells us that this letter has
traveled
first class throughout history. In fact, most alphabets start with "A" or its near equivalent. The
Phoenicians, around 1000 B.C., named "A" the first letter of their alphabet and the Greeks
followed
around 800 B.C.
Today, it is commonly associated with excellence pertaining to products such as meat, success at
school, grading of bonds, stocks, and other credit obligations, as well as top service.
We are informed that an alphabet is a writing system based on letters, which by definition
symbolize
phonemes only.
A phoneme is the smallest phonetic unit in a language capable of conveying a distinction in
meaning.
Letters are used in combination to show words of a particular language that a writer shares with
the
reader. We must have enough letters with the right and essential sounds to adequately represent a
particular language. Surprisingly, the number of letters needed is relatively small, "fewer than 30
for
most languages."
What is noteworthy is that alphabets have been quite adaptable throughout history and have
jumped
from language to language across all kinds of barriers. If we look at our own Roman alphabet in
English we notice that it is the product of four such leaps. It was initially copied from Phoenician
letters by the Greeks who in turn had their letters copied by the Etruscans of Italy around 700
B.C.
All three of these languages were quite different, nevertheless the letters were able to adapt. When
the Romans came along, they copied the letters from the Etruscans, and as they conquered Italy
and
lands beyond they brought with them the Roman alphabet. "Roman letters were fitted to newer
tongues, including primitive English (around A.D. 600). Today those letters have grown up to
become our own."
These are some of the many revelations exposed in this thought provoking reference book
wherein
readers are apprised of how languages and their letters interact and change over time.
Sack's enthusiasm and sense of wonder for one of the world's great inventions is contagious, and
once you start reading about this fascinating topic you become addicted to it.
His knowledge and unbelievable comprehensive research imbue this book with a great deal of
revelations seducing the reader to continually return to its pages for another morsel of
information.
It is to be noted that the original hardcover edition was entitled Language Visible: Unraveling the
Mystery of our Alphabet from A to Z.
Daniel Hayes
Graywolf Press
2402 University Ave, Suite 203, Saint Paul, MN 55114
http://www.graywolfpress.org/
ISBN: 1555974090 $15.00
Although, I don't recommend abducting an editor and keeping him captive for several weeks, that
is
just what novelist Daniel Hayes' principal character, Evan Ulmer, accomplishes when he imprisons
in
his basement editor Robert Partnow who had previously rejected his manuscript.
Tearjerker revolves around three characters, Ulmer, Partnow and Ulmer's platonic girlfriend,
Promise Buckley. The dialogue among all three weaves back and forth touching on such subjects
as
rejection, unethical behaviour on the part of editors, media sensationalism, revenge, and
frustration.
Partnow has no idea why he was abducted until he is informed that he had signed a rejection letter
pertaining to Ulmer's manuscript that had been submitted to him by a well-known literary agent.
Apparently, Partnow apologetically admits he never read the manuscript, even though he signed
the
letter that contained all kinds of comments pertaining to its deficiencies.
On the other hand, the abductor is not quite sure the motive behind his irrational behavior. This
comes out after he misleads Buckley into believing he is writing a fictional novel concerning the
abduction of an editor; she confronts him and asks him what is the kidnapper's motivation in his
novel- his reply, "that's the part I can't figure out, I said. And it's sort of driving me crazy." Was it
an
act of revenge or could it just be put down to his frustration? In addition, even after the
satisfaction
of abducting Partnow, things don't seem to turn out as expected.
Ulmer takes a swat at the media as they have automatically presumed that Partnow had been
abducted without perhaps considering that perhaps he just skipped town and decided to change
his
life. They never received any written or oral communication from Ulmer or Partnow, and after all
what makes them so sure that there was in fact abduction?
The media furthermore digs up some confidential personal facts about Partnow pertaining to his
homosexual escapades and plays this up for all it is worth, no matter the consequences to his
family.
Tearjerker, although a work of fiction, is a clever conceived novel that plunges readers into the
depths of a disturbing world of book publishing, where power hungry editors sometimes overlook
some great books and authors, all in the name of profitability, Hayes has effectively blended
fantasy
with realism in a plot that will sure to linger on in one's memory long after the book's reading has
been completed.
The Da Vinci Papers
Kathy Williams
Author House (Formerly 1st Books Library)
1663 Liberty Drive, Suite 200, Bloomington, IN 47403
ISBN: 1410743748 $11.45 888.519.5121
Notwithstanding its lack of good editing and proof reading, The Da Vinci Papers (not to be
confused with the Da Vinci Code), authored by Kathy Willliams, is an engrossing tale intertwining
the lives of a fictional character Marcus Cassius, with that of Leonardo Da Vinci and Igor
Sikorsky.
You may ask what do all of these have in common?
If you know something about aviation, you will recognize the name of Igor Sikorsky as being
connected with the creation of the first commercially feasible helicopter or the world's is first
practical helicopter. Leonardo is not only remembered as a great artist but also prolific inventor,
who had sketched flying machines resembling helicopters.
As for the author's fictional Roman character Marcus Cassius, he was an engineer who one day
fell
off a scaffold, hit his head on a stone and was unconscious for several days. During the course of
his
unconsciousness he had a vision of being transported in time when he witnessed Sikorsky testing
his
aviation theories.
On awakening, Marcus wrote down all his findings, and a few years later, after being chased by
the
barbarian invaders of Rome, he finds refuge in a villa, where he hides the tube containing his
aviation
plans.
Hundreds of years later Leonardo discovered the tube containing these plans that apparently
influenced his own flying machine designs.
All of this may be pure conjecture on the part of the author, however, in view of the fact that
Leonardo was a genius and he did visit some Roman ruins, anything is possible. As for Sikorsky,
apparently it has been recorded that he was captivated by the drawings of Leonardo as well as the
stories of Jules Verne.
Williams effectively pulls the reader through three time frames, the Roman era, the Age of
Enlightment and the Modern Age, and she does a great job of portraying the characters and their
sense of place and time.
The narrative, as told by Leonardo to his student Francesco, moves smoothly and provides the
reader with some interesting tidbits of historical information that are brought to life with some
excellent dialogue.
Norman Goldman, Reviewer
www.bookpleasures.com
Gorden's Bookshelf
Invisible Encounter & Other Science Fiction Stories
J. D. Crayne
Renaissance E Books
P.O. Box 1432, Northampton, MA 01060
www.renebooks.com
ISBN: 1588733777 $4.00 electronic download 123 pages
'Invisible Encounter & Other Science Fiction Stories' is a set of shorts from the pages of a number
of
different science fiction magazines over the last thirty years.
The first set of six short stories is about Cheryl Harbottle and the trials and tribulations of a
non-mechanically inclined wife living in a fully automated home. I kept visualizing George Jetson
stopping by the Harbottle home for after dinner drinks and talks about sprockets and tales about
problems with the latest household automaton. They are well worth the price of the novel
alone.
'Talisman' is a joint fantasy with Larry Niven. It is a standard fantasy/magic tale with an adult
storyline.
'Invisible Encounter' is a well written SF horror story. This creepy tale is a deliciously macabre
story
that will haunt some readers.
'Katzenjammer' and 'All The Best Lines Come From Shakespeare' go back to the light comedy
that
Crayne does so well.
'Invisible Encounter & Other Science Fiction Stories' is well worth reading. Those who like
comedy
will love Cheryl Harbottle. SF readers will love the way Crayne twists SF into unexpected areas.
These stories make a great escape. You might want to consider doling them out one at a time
whenever you need a break from everyday life.
Monkeewrench
P.J. Tracy
Signet
New American Library, a division of Penguin Putman Inc.
375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
ISBN: 045121157X $6.99 421 pages
P.J. Tracy is the pseudonym for a mother and daughter writing team. But don't let that fool you.
They write a hard boiled mystery/thriller that you would imagine a male investigator, who has
seen
the dark side of humanity, would write. Because of the hard edge Minnesota/Wisconsin based
location, you immediately compare the story to John Sandford. Their horrific tale is more
tongue-in-cheek than Sandford but there are enough similarities to find a related storytelling
style.
'Monkeewrench' starts with the sadistic murders of an old couple in a church in Northern
Wisconsin
and then jumps to a series of killings in Minneapolis. Two separate investigations start. Sheriff
Michael Halloran leads the investigation in Wisconsin and Detective Leo Magozzi has the
murders in
Minneapolis. The crimes revolve around a small software company called Monkeewrench and the
unusual group of individuals who make up the company. The murders come faster than the police
can investigate. It becomes a race as to who will be left alive before the killer either stops or is
stopped.
'Monkeewrench' has a large cast of characters and the story is sprawled enough at the beginning
that
a reader can be put off but it soon becomes a thriller you can't put down. The exotic and unusual
characters pull you into the complex story. 'Monkeewrench' is a must read for the lovers of hard
edge detective mystery/thrillers. You will find yourself smiling in spite of the horrific crimes
described.
S.A. Gorden, Reviewer
www.paulbunyan.net/users/gsirvio/content.html
Harwood's Bookshelf
Dude, Where's My Country?
Michael Moore
Warner Books
1271 Avenue of the Americas, NY 10020
ISBN 0446532231, $24.95 265 pp.
reprinted from Freethought Perspective, April 2004.
The first book to be described as a hatchet job on a sitting duck was a biography of the psychic
humbug (tautology) Jeane Dixon. But that same description can be equally well applied to any
non-sycophantic evaluation, including Dude, Where's My Country? of the intellectually
handicapped
theofascist in the White House.
Moore writes (p. xi), "Taking advantage of our grief, and our fear that 'it' may happen again, an
appointed president uses the dead of 9/11 as a convenient cover, a justification, for permanently
altering our American way of life. Is that why they died, so that George W. Bush can turn the
country into Texas?" In the words of the London Daily Mirror, "Take a bow, Michael Moore.
You
were spot-on." But I disagree on one point. Mad King George will never be content as mere
FUhrer
of the Satellite States of Greater Texas. He has the same determination to become Dictator of the
World as Napoleon Bonaparte two centuries ago, and more recently a fellow named Adolf
something, who similarly seized a presidency to which he had never been elected.
After spelling out the long-running business relationship between the bin Laden and Bush families,
Moore asks (p. 11), "If, after the terrorist attack on the Federal Building in Oklahoma City, it was
revealed that President Bill Clinton and his family had financial dealings with Timothy McVeigh's
family, what do you think your Republican Party and the media would have done with that one? .
They would have skinned Clinton alive and thrown what was left of his carcass into Gitmo. So
what
is this all about, Mr. Bush? We have a right to know." Moore's point is not that the Bushs did
business with the bin Ladens. It is that the Republican Party imposes one standard on everyone
else,
and a very different one on itself.
In his chapter, "Home of the Whopper," in which Moore spells out ten of Bush's biggest Big Lies,
he
states (p. 42), "Maybe the reason Bush is still here is that he proved the old adage that if you tell a
lie long enough and often enough, sooner or later it becomes the truth. As the lies that led us into
the Iraq War started to unravel and be exposed, the Bush administration went into survival mode
with their only defensive maneuver: Keep repeating the lie over and over and over again until the
American people are so worn down they'll scream 'uncle!' and start believing it." And he makes a
good case that America has a non-conservative majority, and the delusion that the theofascist
right
wing is anything but a loudmouthed splinter faction is an example of the squeaky wheel getting
the
grease, in the form of media coverage.
In the chapter, "Jesus W. Christ," that begins, "Hi. God here," Moore's mythical narrator
acknowledges (pp. 130-131), "I have a confession to make: Sometimes I screw up. Not all of My
creations are perfect. And, in the case of the human you know as George W. Bush, well, this is
one
that really got away from Me . I keep hearing him say that he is 'acting' on My 'behalf.' Let's get
one thing straight: This guy does NOT speak for Me or anyone else up here."
On Bush's tax cuts for the rich, pushed through Congress before the Treasury Department's
estimate
of forthcoming deficits totaling $44 trillion (TRILLION) was released, Moore, author of the
year's
bestselling work of nonfiction, Stupid White Men, writes (p. 159), "This latest tax cut the MIKE
MOORE TAX CUT! was incredible. Not only did you [Bush] reduce the rate a guy like me pays
in federal income tax, from 39 percent to 35 percent, you managed to do absolutely nothing for
people in the lower brackets!"
Moore is right far more often than he is wrong, and if the online petition for him to run for
president
was serious, and I was an American, I would assuredly vote for him. He has never suggested that
the world needs George W. Bush like it needed Hitler, but I would be surprised if he disagreed
with
me on the point. But he also holds beliefs I am obliged to question.
For example, he opposes NAFTA, apparently not considering that a refusal to treat Canadians and
Mexicans as equals is precisely the kind of bigotry he opposes when it manifests itself in any other
form. He equates "liberal" with "left wing." Socialism is left wing. Liberalism is moderate,
pragmatic, middle-of-the-road-ism. He supports trade unions, not merely in principle (they started
out as an antidote to a clear and present evil), but even today when they utilize the same blackmail
and intimidation tactics as the Soviet Union and the Mafia, and have become a worse evil than the
one they replaced. He thinks (p. 190), "It's really a bad idea to have sex before you're eighteen."
He
cites the risks of such behavior, ignoring the reality that they are avoidable risks, and he shows
every
sign of buying into the Big Lie that consensual recreation involves moral considerations.
He thinks that (p. 192), "Too many of us hold a hoity-toity view of religion and think the religious
are superstitious fifteenth-century ignoramuses. We're wrong." But in an age when definitive
proof
that religion is a fairy tale is no further away from anyone in the Western world than the nearest
university library, believers in religion are fifteenth-century ignoramuses. And he thinks there is
such
a thing as a good Republican. But he is totally right when he says (p. 204), "There is probably no
greater imperative facing the nation than the defeat of George W. Bush in the 2004 election."
There are two species of North Americans. Those who think like Uberayatollah Bush and his
Gestapo are called theofascists (or Conservatives, or Republicans). Those who do not are called
human beings. That two species separated by 30,000 years of evolution are able to interbreed is
incomprehensible.
M. N. Roy, Radical Humanist: Selected Writings
compiled by Innaiah Narisetti
Prometheus
ISBN 1591021413, $28.00 209 pp.
I have never had a high opinion of philosophy. I first encountered the discipline as an education
undergraduate, and found myself wondering, "What color is the sky in these people's world?"
Since
then, I have seen no reason to reclassify meaningless doubletalk as a science. To a scientist (or
historian such as myself), the question, "Is water wet?" can be answered in one word. There is
little
doubt in my mind that a philosopher could write a 600-page dissertation on the question and other
philosophers would see it as actually saying something.
Reading the opinions of philosopher M. N. Roy has not changed my evaluation. He makes valid,
even self-evident, statements about observable reality and the attempts of religion to make it go
away. What he does not do is write anything that can be interpreted as something other than a
personal opinion about the merits of comparative political systems, and the pros and cons of
democracy, Marxism, and the Party system.
For example (p. 61): "The future of democracy is of interest only for those who believe that
democracy is the best form of government so far conceived by human intelligence. There are
people
who hold a different view. They either do not believe that democracy is desirable or have become
skeptical about its possibilities. I shall not argue with them but start from the assumption that
democracy is the best form of government."
Roy also starts from the assumption that morality evolved with no direction from nonhuman
higher
lifeforms (p. 163): "The origin of the laws of social evolution must be traced in anthropology, in
the
nature of man. Man is not a living machine but a thinking animal. An impulse felt by an anthropoid
ape, approximating rudimentary thought, marks the birth of the species; the nature of man is
determined by that event."
On the usefulness of metaphysics in human thinking (p. 64): "The belief that everything in the
world
is predetermined by a force beyond the comprehension of human intelligence, obviously,
condemns
human life to eternal servitude. That servitude may be glorified as the condition of spiritual
salvation
in an afterlife. The democratic view of life originated in the revolt against that time-honored
spiritual
servitude." Also (p. 141): "We have known all sorts of slavery and revolt against slavery. But the
worst form of slavery is spiritual slavery, and no progress is possible unless it is preceded by
freeing
the minds of men from that slavery."
On the validity of metaphysics (p. 145): "Man is said to have a soul, and the soul is the greatest
thing
about man, and there are various theories about the nature of the soul. But if you study all that is
known about man, you find no place where this extraneous and mystic element of a soul could
have
entered into man."
As a former Marxist, Roy tried communism and found it wanting (p. 72): "The ideal of a stateless
society is an obvious absurdity. The most outstanding feature of the communist-social
organization
is greater and greater concentration of power, political as well as economic."
If the quoted passages seem to refute my assertion that abstract philosophy is not a useful
discipline,
let me point out that I don't have to disagree with what an individual says in order to denigrate the
academic context in which he places his conclusions. Roy was a profound thinker, and did as
much
to introduce humanist thinking into India as better-known writers in the West. Roy's conclusions
make sense despite his being a philosopher, not because of it.
William Harwood
Reviewer
Henry's Bookshelf
Efrem Zimbalist, A Life
Roy Malan
Amadeus Press
512 Newark Pompton Turnpike, Pompton Plains, NJ 07444
www.amadeuspress.com, mail@amadeuspress.com
ISBN 1574670913 $29.95 368+xii pp.
Efrem Zimbalist was a world-renowned violinist of the 20th century; who was also an influential
teacher to a generation of violinists. From his homeland of Russia where he first gained notice as
an
outstanding performer, he emigrated to the U. S. in the early 1900s, where his star continued to
rise
and he taught for more than 40 years at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.
As
one of Zimbalist's students, Malan developed a special relationship with him. For this appreciative
biography, Malan draws on hundreds of hours of taped interviews he did with Zimbalist. Besides
covering the violinist's stellar music career, Malan goes into his relationships with individuals in
varied fields. Among these are Einstein, John D. Rockefeller, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Harpo
Marx,
and George Gershwin. Zimbalist's life reflects the fortunes of a talented emigre artist in the
political
and social circumstances of the 20th century. Malan gives equal attention to Zimbalist's musical
genius and the surrounding parts of his life such as his marriage, his friendships, and his
influence.
Living in the Land of Death - The Choctaw Nation, 1830-1860
Donna L. Akers
Michigan State U. Press
1405 South Harrison Road, Manly Miles Building - Suite 25, East Lansing, MI 48823-5202
www.msupress.msu.edu; reaumej@msu.edu
ISBN 0870136844 $24.95 202+xxvii pp.
Twenty percent of the Choctow Native Americans died in the forced relocation from their
ancestral
lands in Mississippi to Indian Territory (in present-day Oklahoma) as a result of the U. S.
government's Indian Removal Act of 1830. But this was only the beginning of their travails. In
Indian Territory, they faced hostility from tribes already settled there, along with diseases, natural
disasters, and starvation. Akers, a professor of history at Purdue and a Choctaw Nation tribal
member, follows how the Choctaws managed to overcome such hardships by intermixing with
other
groups and developing their own micro-economy based on cotton plantations linked to the world
market for this commodity. Like other tribes, the Choctaws also had to deal with betrayals of
agreements with them by the U. S. government. At best, they worked out an ambivalent mode of
survival involving adaptations to regional economic and social conditions and measures to
preserve
their identity and heritage even though they had been transplanted. Akers sets out the historical
account with a multicultural sensitivity to the Choctaws' perduring, though at times frayed, desire
to
hold on to to their traditional ways.
Isabel and the Hungry Coyote (Isabel y el coyote hambriento)
Keith Polette
Esther Szegedy, illustrator
Raven Tree Press
200 S. Washington - Suite 306, Green Bay, WI 54301
www.raventreepress.com; raven@raventreepress.com
ISBN 0972497307 $16.95 32 pp.
The children's tale of Little Red Riding Hood is given a Hispanic twist, with Isabel as Red Riding
Hood complete with a red hood. Basic Spanish words and phrases are inserted into a text which is
about ninety percent English. "Picking flores [flowers], the girl in the red hood sang softly." "This
caperuza roja [red hood] keeps the sun from my face," Isabel tells the coyote. The Spanish terms
are
defined in the glossary at the end of the tale. In keeping with its Hispanic twist, Isabel escapes
from
the malevolent coyote by pouring the basket of tamales and chile sauce she is carrying to her
grandmother's into his mouth as he opens it wide to seize her. As the coyote runs away yelling,
"Fuego! Fuego! [Fire! Fire!]," Isabel escapes to her grandmother's, where the two make more
tamales.
Wrestling with the Ancients - Modern Greek Identity and the Olympics
Alexander Kitroeff
GreekWorks.com
307 W. 89th St., New York, NY 10024
ISBN 0974766003 $32.00 276+viii pp.
The ancient Greek Olympics were the inspiration and model for the start of the quadrennial event
of
the modern-day Olympics begun in Athens in 1896. "The games will go on, although they will
experiences reforms, but as long as the Olympic movement needs the ideological legitimacy
provided by ancient traditions, Greece will remain an important part of it." This ineradicable
identification with the Olympics has had effects on Greek self-image, politics, and society since
1896. Kitroeff brings to light the tensions within modern Greece between representing in various
ways the ancient Greek culture that is a foundation of Western civilization and pursuing political
and
economic interests in becoming more integrated into Europe and being recognized as a fully
modern
nation. With European scholars and historians often ascribing historical roles and influences
Greece
itself did not necessarily accept, Greece was not always able to determine how other nations and
peoples saw it. Kitroeff goes in to these complexities to present the modern Greek mentality and
society so that readers come to comprehend Greece in a relevant, multi-faceted, and progressive
way rather than as simply a symbol for an ancient culture that the Olympics were part of. In this,
Kitroeff also relates Greece's participation in the modern Olympic games. The author is an
associate
professor of history at Haverford College and coeditor of The Journal of the Hellenic Diaspora
and
author of many books.
It Disappears
Nate Powell
Soft Skull Press
71 Bond St., Brooklyn, NY 11217
www.softskull.com; ammi@softskull.com
ISBN 1932360379 $9.99 78 pp.
Powell's graphic, comic-book-like, panels of varying degrees of white and black convey the
uncertain, shifting, grounds of existence. When the white predominates, there's an almost mystic
feeling of tranquility. When the black predominates, there's a noir-like atmosphere. Most of the
panels are in the middle ground of the proportion of the two colors. A man out camping alone in
the
wilderness when a snowstorm starts up meets a dog-like creature with a philosophical outlook.
Identity, one's place in the universe, and modern society are among the topics the two take up as
they search for shelter and other characters move in and out of the story. Powell's unpredictable
illustrations and reflective dialogue present different angles on the perennial existential
questions.
Financing the Sport Enterprise
Thomas H. Sawyer, Michael Hypes, and Julin Ann Hypes
Sagamore Publishing
804 North Neil St., Champaign, IL 61820
800-327-5557; www.sagamorepub.com
ISBN 1571675205 $54.95 316+vi pp.
Financial planning for purchasing a team, financial management, various revenue sources,
licensing,
box-office operations, and fund-raising--it's all here in this comprehensive, authoritative handbook
on purchasing and operating a sport enterprise. Professor of Physical Education, Recreation and
Sport Management is only one of Sawyer's credentials. Michael Hypes and Ann Hypes also hold
university-level positions in sport management and have much other experience in this area
besides.
Guidance covers "The Foundations of Sports Finance" and steps of purchasing a team through
creating a base of loyal fans for financial stability and fund-raising using volunteers and members
of a
boosters' club. Risk management, including proper insurance, is another basic financial subject
covered. Frequently using bulleted lists and highlighted insets, the authors go into all of the
significant sub-topics and considerations of their general topics in this outstanding manual
primarily
for the lay person with an interest in owning an amateur or semi-professional team.
So Quietly the Earth
David Lee
Copper Canyon Press
PO Box 271, Port Townsend, WA 98368
www.coppercanyonpress.org; angela@coppercanyonpress.org
ISBN 1556592043 $15.00 127+xi pp.
The widely-published Lee quotes the mystic Homa Yast, among others, at the beginning of this
collection of poems of his. But he does not have a mystic sense of nature. Nor is he particularly
romantic about nature; although he is in the circle of Wordworth and Blake seeing nature as
essential, or privileged, with respect to the completeness of life and the life of the senses and
feelings. But unlike many poets who revere nature mainly by description or observation, Lee is
more
integrated with nature. The poet sees himself as "part of the story [of the surrounding natural
world], a foreshadowing of its conclusion." In a flinty language reminiscent of Gary Snyder's,
though
not so sharp and concentrated, Lee brings out the shared fates and journey of humankind and the
aspects of the physical world which are like brothers and sisters.
Economic Indicators - Essential Information For Economic Projections In 185
Countries/Territories
Spring 2004 North American Edition
Jean-Luc Beaudry
Square One Data
605-1400 W. Pine Avenue, Montreal, QC, Canada H3G 1B1
888-287-7120; www.SquareOneData.com
ISBN 0973357312 $59.99 384 pp.
An international investment analyst, Beaudry has compiled and organized detailed economic and
social data on nearly 200 countries going back 10 years of use to individuals and businesses
considering investing in certain countries or starting businesses in them. Among the many
fundamental details are life expectancy, devaluation of currency, deposit and lending rates,
unemployment rate, and gross domestic product. In the two-page spread on each country are also
a
color map of its location in its region and color pie charts of a country's ethnic mix and GDP by
product category. Recent currency movements and long-term currency movements versus
inflation
versus deposit rates are shown in color graphs. At the end of each two-page section, the author
provides an "Economic Overview." The alphabetical organization, color of the graphics, and
consistent organization of crucial economic data of the past decade make this a handy,
easy-to-use
reference for many government officials, economists, businesspersons, and the like operating in
today's global business environment.
The Church of Mary Magdalene - The Sacred Feminine and the Treasure of
Rennes-le-Chateau
Jean Markale
Inner Traditions
One Park St., Rochester, VT 05767
www.innertraditions.com; inbox@innertraditions.com
ISBN 0892811994 $18.95 311 pp.
Markale considers that the mysterious Abbe Sauniere and the designs he sought for the Mary
Magdalene Church in a remote area of southern France associated with the Cathar heretics and
other
controversial Catholic groups such as the Templars are symbolic of the belief that Jesus and Mary
Magdalene were married. The Abbe was active in this area in the late 1800s. He was himself a
controversial figure who antagonized French politicians while also currying favor with local
wealthy
patrons who helped him with his project. The Abbe's project also calls into question the place of
Jesus's mother Mary in the foundation of the Catholic Church and Christianity. Markale does
much
guesswork based on bringing together clues scattered widely over time and place to shed light on
and raise both theological and historical questions about the origins and shaping of Christianity.
He's
the author of previous books on similar subjects and ancient Celtic culture.
Dreaming in the Rain - How Vancouver Became Hollywood North Northwest
David Spaner
Arsenal Pulp Press
103, 1014 Homer St., Vancouver, British Columbia CANADA V6B 2W9
ISBN 1551521296 $17.95 236 pp.
Spaner combines telling how the Canadian city of Vancouver came to supplant Hollywood in
some
ways as a center of movie production along with a critique of the contemporary movie industry.
As
he sees it, the independent films--indies--which became possible because of the much lower
production costs and absence of dominating corporate culture in Vancouver is being threatened
because of the path the city cut and the success identified with it. Spaner relates not only how
individual producers, directors, and actors took to Vancouver to do what they wanted to in the
field,
but also how social changes in Los Angeles, economic developments, and private and government
organizations all played a part in moving important aspects of the modern-day film industry north
to
Vancouver. This author who grew up in Vancouver and is now a movie critic of the Vancouver
Province newspaper writes in a popular style giving attention to individuals as representatives of
how Vancouver became a movie mecca while also engaging in analysis and criticism so the reader
sees the larger, more substantive story and import of this.
Utility and Beauty - Robert Wellford and Composition Ornament in America
Mark Reinberger
U. of Delaware Press, Newark, DE/Associated University Presses
London, United Kingdom
ISBN 0874137608 $65.00 190 pp.
In the early 1800s in America, composition--or "compo"--was a plaster-like material pressed into
intricately carved, detailed ornaments for interior woodwork in homes and buildings, particularly
mantelpieces. Robert Wellford (1775-1844) of Philadelphia was the leading maker of compo in
the
U. S. during this period. The neoclassical flourishes, forms, and mythological and other figures of
composition along with patriotic imagery became popular in well-to-do homes along the coast
from
South Carolina to New Jersey because of the sense of elegance it added to rooms, but also
because
it was affordable by not having to be imported. Reinberger gives a full account of this American
decoration which became prevalent in the early decades of the new nation. His account
complemented with many photographs of varying detail deals with the manufacture of the
composition, its different styles, the spread of it, and the fading of this "feminine" art form with
the
coming to favor of the "masculine" style of decoration modeled on the Doric Greek classical style.
Wellford's career as a talented and ambitious businessman is also covered. This is a thorough
work
for architects, decorators, historians, and artists on the relatively brief period of a few decades
when
compo was the ornamentation of choice in buildings along the East Coast and embodied ideas
about
high style and desirable expression of the virtues and ideals of the new democracy. Reinberger is
an
associate professor in the College of the Environment and Design at the U. of Georgia. Historic
preservation is one of the courses he teaches.
Footprints on the Ceiling - Your Child's Footprint Completes the Story
Mark Hetzer
Kim Clayton, illustrator
Webster Henrietta Publishing
PO Box 50044, Mrytle Beach, SC 29579
www.websterhenrietta.com
ISBN 0972822224 $18.95 32 pp.
Every night when young Haley Mae is falling asleep, she cannot help but wonder about the line of
footprints she sees on the ceiling of her bedroom. "Footprints! A baby's to be sure...Footprints no
bigger than the leaf of a sycamore." With thoughts of how they got there come also vague
thoughts
about her father who has died. When one day Haley Mae starts crying when musing about the
footprints, her mother tells her that they got there by her father holding Haley Mae above his head
so she could walk on the ceiling, thus leaving the footprints. Hetzer, who has published novels
with
major publishers, writes a simple, sensitive story about a young child coming to terms with vague
memories of a departed parent. Inside the front cover is a small inked patch a child can use to
leave
her or his own footprints somewhere.
Variegated Trees and Shrubs - The Illustrated Encyclopedia
Ronald Houtman, in association with the Royal Boskoop Horticultural Society
Timber Press
133 S.W. Second Ave. - Suite 450, Portland, OR 97204-3527
800-327-5680; www.timberpress.com
ISBN 0881926493 $49.95 338 pp.
Ronald Houtman is secretary of the Trials Committee of the Royal Boskoop Horticultural Society
in
the Netherlands. This encyclopedic work has more than 760 sharp color photos enabling the
reader
to distinguish the numerous kinds of variegated trees and shrubs, many of which have gained
popularity with modern gardeners. More than 800 varieties are catalogued with special attention
given to their correct names, which are often confused by greenhouses and other places selling
types
of them. Short sections on the hundreds of trees and shrubs also describe them to go along with
the
photographs and note favorable areas of growth and problems arising from planting in an
improper
place. An introductory chapter by W. M. van Nicrop, another member of Houtman's Dutch
horticultural group, discusses "Using Variegated Plants in a Garden." The work is not only
definitive, but attractive with its large size, glossy pages, and hundreds of fine, useful color
photographs. For many gardeners, landscape architects, botanists, and the like, this will be the
only
text they want or need in this area of plants.
The Annotated Brothers Grimm
Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, edited with a Preface and Notes by Maria Tatar
translated by Maria Tatar
Norton
500 Fifth Ave., NY, 10110
ISBN 0393058484 $35.00 462+lvii pp.
With its color illustrations by Rackham, Nielsen, Cruikshank, and other popular book illustrators,
and simple, sprightly translations by Tatar, this collection of Grimm's Tales can be appreciated
solely
for its visual and literary quality. The rich blue cover with gilded decoration and lettering
contributes
as well to the special quality of this book. But for readers looking for more than the timeless fairy
tales tales well told complemented by pleasing illustrations, Tatar's marginal annotations and
introductory essay "Reading the Grimms" along with A. S. Byatt's 10-page Introduction enhance
the
tales in citing the origins of their elements, pointing to references of their characters and imagery,
and denoting particular representations of themes and teachings found in all fairy tales and similar
children's literature. Such material defines the distinctiveness of the Grimm's works while also
setting
them within the wide and long tradition of children's literature. With its inclusion of nine Grimm's
"Tales for Adults" omitted from typical collections along with the varied other material allowing
for
appreciation or study of the many fairy tales in different ways, this work stands alone in its
treatment
of the tales. It's a part of the publisher's series of annotated editions of popular classics, including
the
Wizard of Oz and the Sherlock Holmes mysteries.
Agent of Empire - William Walker and the Imperial Self in American Literature
Brady Harrison
U. of Georgia Press
330 Research Dr., Athens, GA 30602-4901
www.ugapress.org; jmcleod@ugapress.org.edu
ISBN 0820325449 $34.95 238+x pp.
The "imperial self" represented by the mid 19th-century American adventurer--and
agitator--William
Walker as conceived by Harrison has three main facets--it is an agent of American empire in the
world, a type of writer exemplified in some ways by Emerson and Whitman and later Theodore
Roosevelt, and thirdly, a figure in literature. With regard to this third facet, Bret Harte, Richard
Harding Davis, O. Henry, and Joan Didion are among writers of different eras portraying the
imperial self. Such different portrayals reflect the evolution and changeable evaluations of the
imperial self. Aaron Burr, Thedore Roosevelt, and Oliver North of the Reagan administration are
political figures mirroring this imperial self. Harrison goes into all these aspects of the imperial self
as largely originating with Walker. In his own day of the years before the Civil War in his
flamboyant, improbable, half-crazed adventures in Mexico and Central America, Walker was
regarded ambivalently by his fellow citizens and the government--seen alternately as carrying out
America's destiny and as an unpredictable, and frequently lawless, delusional dreamer. His
escapades
and plots came to an end with his execution by firing squad in Honduras in 1860. Though bringing
it
up only briefly, Harrison--associate professor of English at the U. of Montana with a book on
Richard Harding Davis coming out soon--notes Walker can also be seen to represent the ideals,
psychoses, indiscipline, ideas, and behavior inhering in American foreign policy throughout the
nation's history.
Claiming Our Deepest Desires - The Power of an Intimate Marriage
M. Bridget Brennan and Jerome L. Shen
Liturgical Press
Box 7500, Collegeville, MN 56321
800-858-5450; www.litpress.org
ISBN 081463012X $12.95 146 pp.
The authors draw on their own experiences, intimacy, and aspirations as a married couple as well
as
their work in running workshops and retreats for married couples for their counsel on how to
enjoy
marriage as a special spiritual state. The epigraph of one of the chapters notes the reality about
marriage they bring to their subject--"We are never right for each other all the time./We need to
keep growing and making it right." They discuss marriage in the context of Christianity. Marriage
cannot yield its special, fulfilling, rewarding spirituality if a couple does not have faith in God.
"Love, intimacy, and relationship will not be possible if we do not have faith in God." But even
with
their religious conception of marriage, Brennan and Shen recognize that agreeable dealing with
practicalities is fundamental to reaching and maintaining the spiritual and emotional satisfactions
of
marriage. Thus, they talk about finances, sexuality, and putting time into a marriage in a busy
society. The authors talk about the notion of a "mission" as a part of marriage which helps
husband
and wife keep a focus and which infuses the different factors of a marriage, including the
practicalities, with the sense of what is at stake in them, thus continually motivating the marriage
partners to cooperate and seek the best in their marriage.
Sonic - Visuals for Music
compiled and edited by Robert Klanten, Hendrik Hellige, and Tom Hulan
Die Gestalten Verlag
Berlin, Germany
www.die-gestalten.de
ISBN 3899550404 $50.00 335 pp.
"Sonic" is an extended kaleidoscope of the colors, shapes, and images of CD covers, album
covers,
and promotional and tour posters for popular singers and groups mostly from Europe and the
United
States. The innumerable graphics, art work, photographs, and combinations of these in all
styles--from realistic to ironic to psychedelic to postmodern--are presented without captions
except
for notes on the name of the individual or art shop that did the design, the performer, and the
medium (e. g., CD cover). In visually cataloging the hundreds of commercial works used in
promoting and selling popular singers and bands in the highly competitive field of popular music,
"Sonic" contains the many styles of state-of-the-art and some cutting-edge marketing; and also the
diversity of the contemporary visual culture, as seen also in film, music videos, and TV
advertising.
It's a book to enjoy for anyone interested in the field of popular music and today's visual culture.
Commercial artists and marketers especially would benefit from it. Contact information for the
designers noted with the particular works is found in a section at the end of the book.
The Reading Nation in the Romantic Period
William St. Clair
Cambridge U. Press
100 Brook Hill Dr., West Nyack, NY 10994-2133
800-872-7423; www.cambridge.org
ISBN 052181006X $150.00 765+xxix pp.
St. Clair's voluminous book is important in the inter-related fields of publishing history, history of
the book, and history of reading on two grounds--its methodology and its detailed data. St. Clair's
commentaries are informative, and his deductions will likely be regarded as bases for further
studies.
But it is the methodology and the unprecedented details on book publishing and many individual
titles contained in 13 appendices of more than 250 pages which will especially draw the attention
of
many readers, historians, professors, and others in this area. For the appendices somewhat
schematically indicate the methodology and present the data for the deductions. The author's
painstaking efforts and publisher's equally meticulous efforts to accurately record, classify, and
arrange the novel data in smaller type with footnotes account for the high price of the book.
Focusing on publishing and reading--the sociology of reading it might be called--of the Romantic
period in England, St. Clair at first exposes the errors of presumptions and perspectives that are
commonly taken for granted in understandings and in other studies of his subject. Rather than the
historian's or literary critic's approach, St. Clair adopts basically that of the statistician determined
to
get at the truth about the presence, distribution, and effects of books in society as far as this can
be
found. An example of the effects on print runs of the 1774 decisions [as to number of copies
printing]; The main old-canon poets printed in the tiniest of formats, the cheapest achievable at
the
limits of manufacturing technology; Novels published at author's expense, are but three of the
hundreds of specialized categories of the volume of data in the appendices. As St. Clair rightly
notes, the common presumptions and perspectives are not founded on empirical evidence such as
numbers of copies printed, subsequent printings, the timing of publication, etc.; nor are they
capable
of uncovering and properly weighing such empirical evidence. The old presumptions and
perspectives reflected the literary temperaments and sentiments about literature of such historians
and others.
St. Clair uncompromisingly brings an economist's and statistician's requirements of evidence and
conservative assessments of it to his magisterial study of publishing, books, readers, and the
society
and economy they were a part of. "How to assess influence is among the most difficult of all the
methodological challenges that historians face in attempting to understand the diffusionary rise
and
fall of ideas" is but one of the author's remarks exemplifying his questioning of the accepted
knowledge in the field and setting out his own clear, though not dogmatic, premises. A former
high
official in the British Treasury, St. Clair is now a Senior Research Fellow of Trinity College,
Cambridge University. The author, with his great respect for simple logic and plain facts along
with
his innate conservativism in putting forth his new views, has not cast a rock against the house of
embedded ideas about publishing, books, and readers. Rather, he has put out a lodestone which
could very well reformulate the study of books and related subjects.
Moon Pool
A. Merritt, edited with an Introduction by Michael Levy
Weslyan U. Press
215 Long Lane, Middletown, CT 06459
www.weslyan.edu/wepress; selliott@wesleyan.edu
ISBN 081956706X $65.00 hc 309+xl pp.
ISBN 0819567078 $24.95 ppbk
One of the most popular science-fiction writers in the early 1900s, Merritt had the reputation of
the
Lord of Fantasy. "The Moon Pool" evidences the "baroque complexities that Merritt introduced
into
his fairly standard plots through his use of elaborately contrived creatures, technologies, and
settings," as the editor Levy remarks in his Introduction. The Dweller reawakened on the island of
Ponape where an ancient civilization once existed by a Dr. David Throckmartin and his group of
scientist explorers is a vampire seeking new souls to devour. Merritt's fantasy about the
Manichean
struggle between good and evil is colored by his interest in the mystic Madame Blavatsky.
Looked
on unfavorably by some leading critics of the time, Merritt never gained much notice outside of
the
field of science fiction. For later generations, his ornate style limited his appeal. But he holds
considerable historical interest in this genre of popular literature for opening it up to diverse
elements such as developments in the sciences of physics and biology, figures from folk literature,
literary references of all types (e. g., Celtic literature), and philosophical and religious ideas and
themes like Blavatsky's mysticism which were all a part of his eclectic erudition. One sees such
effects not only in today's fantasy literature, but also the popular fantasy movies.
The Night of the Long Knives - Forty-Eight Hours That Changed the History of the World
Paul R. Maracin
Lyons Press
246 Goose Ln., PO Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437
www.LyonsPress.com; jennifer.doerr@globepequot.com
ISBN 159228342X $21.95 225+xii pp.
Maracin's popular account of the infamous Night of the Long Knives when Hitler and his
henchmen
murdered political rivals and numerous private German citizens who had incurred his anger or
suspicions for one reason or another; in some cases, something as normal and transient as a news
article. In charting the background leading up to the well-coordinated murderous purge of most
persons in Germany who would even remotely resist Hitler's seizure of power, Maracin draws
profiles of Hitler's top accomplices (e. g., Gobbels, Himmler) and of the major victims too. A
retired
criminal investigator, Maracin gives a broad view of this few hours during which Hitler l aid the
ground for his eventual dictatorship, showing how the many actors played their part so as to
reveal
Hitler's ruthlessness and dementia and the web of evil he wove.
The Big Ocean - An Underwater Naptime Adventure
D. R. Thompson
This New World Publishing
13500 S.W. Pacific Highway - Suite 129, Tigard, OR 97223
866-899-7421; www.ThisNewWorld.com
ISBN 0972325220 $14.95 32 pp.
As Sally and her mother fall asleep on the beach, Sally dreams that they turn into mermaids. And
they explore the ocean life at all levels, from depths to surface. "An octopus, urchin, anemones,
and
rays/they never knew life came in so many ways." They also come across forests of kelp,
brightly-colored fish, whales, and even the hull of an old sunken boat. The bright colors of the
illustrations help to convey the varied, captivating sea life.
Plank Cooking - The Essence of Natural Wood
Scott and Tiffany Haugen
Frank Amato Publications
PO Box 82112, Portland, OR 97282
www.amatobooks.com; kim@amatobooks.com
ISBN 1571883320 $19.95 152 pp.
Plank cooking is introduced by directions for preparing a plank of alder, hickory, maple, oak, or
other wood. Simple pieces of beef, pork, poultry, or fish as well as all kinds of fruits and
vegetables
can be cooked on a plank over a grill or in an oven to give it a delicious, smoky flavor picked up
from the plank. But the one hundred recipes by the much-traveled authors are for more involved
recipes that are more flavorful using spices, cheeses, sauces, and other ingredients. Aciote pork
roast, grilled peaches with vanilla topping, whitetail tenderloin with blue cheese, snapper with
creamed vegetables, and oyster bacon bites are only a few of the appetizing recipes that can be
done
with plank cooking. Plank cooking is not difficult. But you want to learn how to do it right by
going
to this simple instructional guide including the numerous exceptional recipes.
Henry Berry
Reviewer
Hupalo's Bookshelf
The Family CFO: The Couple's Business Plan For Love And Money
Mary Claire Allvine, C.F.P., and Christine Larson
Rodale
Rodalestore.com 800-848-4735
ISBN 1579547915 $23.95 276 pages
Mary Claire Allvine and Christine Larson wrote The Family CFO: The Couple's Business Plan For
Love And Money to help couples get their finances in order.
Allvine and Larson write: "Managing your money wisely means having a clear vision of 1) what
you
want to do go back to school, have a family, start a rock band and then 2) what you need to get
there money for tuition, financial security, an electric guitar. Most couples get this backward; they
focus on financial assets (what they have) to the exclusion of their real goals (what they want to
do),
which makes it impossible to make wise financial decisions. Only by thinking about your life goals
can you really make your money work for you."
We learn that money conflicts are the biggest source of fights between engaged people and
newlyweds. The authors point out that money arguments between couples usually are about
priorities. For example, the husband wants to start a rock band, while the wife wants to build
savings.
To help couples resolve conflicting priorities, Allvine and Larson suggest couples take an annual
retreat (OK, it could be at home), write down and share their dreams, and agree on a time frame
for
achieving their plans. The authors say couples must decide upon both an investment manager
(someone to handle investments and insurance) and a cash manager (who budgets family expenses
and pays the bills).
The Family CFO discusses seven key financial decisions couples face, including:
1) Managing debt, including student loans and credit cards. The advantages and disadvantages of
pooling money are covered. Suitors learn to tell each other just how much student debt they have,
to
see if either the bride or groom will bolt for the door, when they hear "the number."
2) Deciding whether or not to buy a home and the process of purchasing one. This section
includes
solid information about choosing the right mortgage and a home-buying worksheet to help
couples
evaluate the costs of home ownership.
3) Changing jobs. This section includes the financial planning that may be necessary during a
career
change. As with each section, couples struggling with the decisions are featured and their
reasoning
evaluated.
4) Having children and can the couple afford them? The authors write: "If you had a baby in 2001,
you will spend between $170,000 and $338,000 on the child over the next seventeen years "
The cost of raising children is evaluated in detail. The authors break down typical expenses by day
care, clothing, food, etc. A detailed "Kids Cost Worksheet" is provided. And, they address the
question: "Is it really worth it to have both parents working, given the costs of day care?"
5) Planning for retirement. Allvine and Larson tell couples that retirement doesn't just happen,
couples must make it happen. Building retirement wealth is covered.
Especially for couples without high earnings, Allvine and Larson suggest couples start saving
early.
They write: "What you lack in money you can make up for in time. The earlier you start saving,
the
less money you'll need to save every year to meet your goal compounding interest will make that
money grow exponentially over time."
6) Building emergency savings and getting insurance. A detailed worksheet is provided that
evaluates things such as the stability of the couple's jobs to help them decide just how much
money
should be set aside for an emergency.
7) Crisis management during times such as job loss.
Overall, The Family CFO: The Couple's Business Plan For Love And Money provides good
information for couples who want to learn more about managing their money together.
Ideas Are Free: How The Idea Revolution Is Liberating People And Transforming
Organizations
Alan G. Robinson & Dean M. Schroeder
Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
235 Montgomery Street, Suite 650, San Francisco, CA 94101-2916
415-288-0260 www.bkconnection.com
ISBN 1576752828 $24.95 232 Pages
Ideas Are Free: How The Idea Revolution Is Liberating People And Transforming Organizations
by
Robinson and Schroeder is written for entrepreneurs and managers who want to encourage their
employees to contribute ideas and insight to increase profitability and organizational
efficiency.
The authors argue that managing employee ideas is a crucial area for companies in today's rapidly
changing business world. Companies which utilize employee ideas gain competitive advantages in
efficiency, product development, understanding customers, and improving the company's
culture.
Yet, today, when asked, many company managers say they take a "family" approach and use an
"informal" method of managing employee ideas.
Robinson and Schroeder write: "Tellingly, however, these same managers are not as casual about
other things. Take travel expenses, for example. Would these managers leave a big barrel of cash
in
the corner and tell employees who are travelling to take whatever they need, spend it wisely, and
put
back whatever they don't use? No need for receipts or a report, because they just get in the way,
and
'we're just one big happy family?' No organization manages its money this way, because it would
soon be out of business. It has to ensure that what is supposed to be happening is actually
happening. And, of course, managers who claim in the absence of any measurement or control
mechanism that large numbers of ideas in their organizations are naturally flowing to welcoming
supervisors and being quickly implemented, are deluding themselves."
Robinson and Schroeder tell us that many companies which want to encourage employee ideas do
so
badly, often discouraging employee idea contribution, but creating employee resentment, internal
company sabotage, and manager resentment to the ideas.
Robinson and Schroeder explain why traditional reward schemes for idea contribution often fail,
but
do succeed in generating animosity. For example, we learn that an employee of a large wireless
company discovered an annual $26 million billing error due to a significant number of
international
phone calls that the company failed to record properly. The employee dutifully placed his idea for
a
simple fix in the company suggestion box.
Robinson and Schroeder write: "Under the rules of the company's idea system, once the idea was
implemented, the suggester would be owed 50 percent of the first year's revenue from it in this
case some $13 million. At the time we visited the company, top management had been 'evaluating'
the idea for several years. The idea system manager was furious. The CEO would rather continue
losing $26 million per year, he told us, than risk the embarrassment that might ensue from having
to
pay such a large reward. The sheer size of the oversight would make any manager reluctant to
admit
that it had happened on his or her watch. A $13 million reward would have come to the attention
of his board. Think of the negative publicity: Not only had management failed to bill customers to
the tune of $26 million per year, but it had to pay millions more to discover its blunder. It is easy
to
see why the CEO wanted the idea buried."
Robinson and Schroeder argue that employees want to see their ideas used, so that traditional
reward schemes for idea generation aren't even necessary. But, the authors argue that an effective
idea system must have several key components, such as quickness in evaluating ideas and
providing
feedback. Further, the best success is achieved when the company is able to focus employee ideas
in
key areas.
Robinson and Schroeder write: "When managers learn how to aim ideas at specific targets, they
gain
a powerful weapon. When ideas are needed on a specific topic, the most straightforward thing to
do is to ask for them. The challenge is to identify the right issue, and to define it in a way that is
meaningful to employees."
Perhaps surprisingly, Robinson and Schroeder argue that going after small ideas is often the most
productive, because not only are small ideas the best source of big ideas, but small ideas are often
situation-specific which means they often remain proprietary to the company adopting them. And,
adopting even small changes can lead to new understanding to help the business or can lead to
unanticipated, positive results.
For example, Ideas Are Free tells us about a machinist who noticed that it took considerable time
to
change the oil barrels which were used to hold cooling oil which was sprayed on parts as they
were
machined. He suggested installing an overhead system of pipes to pipe in the oil from a large
tank.
After adopting the change, the company noticed several results. First, the forklift operator whose
job
was to replace the barrels of oil could be redeployed to a more profitable job. Second, floor space
was freed up. Third, oil could now be purchased in bulk, reducing its cost. Fourth, machine
downtime was reduced. Fifth, oil spills were reduced, and because each oil spill required certain
governmental paperwork, the cost in processing this paperwork was greatly reduced. Sixth, the
new
hoses that sprayed the oil had gauges showing how much oil was consumed. Despite recycling
much
of the cooling oil, they noticed that considerable oil was still lost. They discovered that the loss
was
due to the oil that remained on the metal shavings spewed away as the parts were machined. After
a
bit of engineering, the company also found a way to recycle more of this oil, further reducing its
oil
costs.
Robinson and Schroeder write: "People think of ideas because they see a better way of doing
something, or an opportunity to exploit. To have a good idea requires a combination of
perspective,
knowledge, and alertness."
To help employees become better at generating ideas, Robinson and Schroeder suggest adopting
"Idea Activators" such as 1) Employee Job Rotation; 2) Adopting the Customer's Perspective; 3)
Ongoing Learning; and 4) Reading Groups.
Robinson and Schroeder write: "Learning is a cumulative incremental process it naturally involves
small steps of inquiry, information gathering, testing, and feedback. This is why an idea system
capable of encouraging and acting on small ideas is really a gigantic learning and development
tool.
Every idea, even a bad one, incorporates some form of discovery."
I highly recommend Ideas Are Free: How The Idea Revolution Is Liberating People And
Transforming Organizations to all managers and entrepreneurs who wish to tap into the benefits
of
employee ideas.
Peter Hupalo
Reviewer
Jennifer's Bookshelf
Chatting with Girls Like You
Sandra Byrd
Bethany House
http://www.bethanyhouse.com
ISBN: 0764227548 $8.99
Sandra Byrd took questions from her readers all across the country and put them together in this
interactive guide book for girls. Byrd's answers are honest and straight-forward. Her replies come
from real-life experience and are based on God's word.
This book includes more than 61 questions with lengthy and helpful answers. Chapters cover
Friends, Faith, Family, School, Society, and Myself and begin with an encouraging quote from the
Bible.
CHATTING WITH GIRLS LIKE YOU can help so many young girls who are dealing with
everyday situations and feelings, and who are looking for answers. This reviewer wishes this book
was available when she was growing up.
CHATTING WITH GIRLS LIKE YOU by Sandra Byrd comes highly recommended.
Marvin Monster's Big Date
Tabatha Jean D'Agata
Moo Press, Inc.
http://www.moopress.com
ISBN: 0972485368 $5.95
Monster's have feelings too!
This early reader chapter book would work wonderfully in school classrooms and libraries as it
teaches socialization skills. Getting along with others and making new friends can be difficult for
many children. Tabatha Jean D'Agata understands this, and, therefore, has written a book that
readers can relate to while enjoying a marvelous story about goblins, monsters, and
werewolves.
Children will easily identify with the embarrassing and sometimes hurtful situations that Marvin
Monster deals with throughout his school day.
D'Agata mixes playful text, such as toad-warts and roasted beetles, with the illustrator's (Bonnie
Everett-Hawkes) drawings that will surely keep the interest of any young reader. Marvin Monster
is
a cool little monster he just wants someone to understand him.
Visit Marvin Monster.com for puzzles, coloring pages, and more.
Rain On My Wings
Evelyn Horan
PublishAmerica
http://www.publishamerica.com
$TBA
RAIN ON MY WINGS is an impressive and touching novel by talented author Evelyn Horan.
Described as a "problem story for teens," this book is a winner. After reviewing her "Jeannie, A
Texas Frontier Girl" series, I didn't think she could do it, but Horan has out done herself.
This book is set in a small rural town in Texas during the 1940s and '50s. The main
character Linda Hodges witnesses a family tragedy and uses her faith in God to handle the grief
and loss.
RAIN ON MY WINGS is captivating and inspirational. Horan's characters and the dialogue are
realistic and memorable. She keeps the readers interest with her refreshing style of writing. She
keeps the suspense going from chapter to chapter, leaving the reader wanting more. Horan's book
is
intended for young adults, but it is enjoyable for all ages. This reviewer highly recommends
Evelyn
Horan's RAIN ON MY WINGS.
Seeing Color: It's My Rainbow, Too
Arlene Evans, R.N.
CVD Books
http://www.cvdbooks.com
ISBN: 0974352004 $11.95
Arlene Evans has put together a wonderful story for children titled SEEING COLOR: IT'S MY
RAINBOW, TOO. This book is an introduction to color vision deficiency (colorblindness). As a
book not often seen in today's marketplace, Evans's book is a terrific resource for helping parents,
teachers, and day care providers learn about this deficiency. It is a sure way to let children, who
are
suffering from colorblindness, know that they aren't alone. Evans has written the wording in
easy-to-read and easy-to-understand text while giving accurate explanations and astounding
statistics. SEEING COLOR: IT'S MY RAINBOW, TOO provides those, with and around
children,
with the means of identifying the signs of a child who has color vision deficiency. Designed for
children ages 9-12, this book can be read to and discussed with younger children whether it be in
a
classroom setting or at home. This reviewer highly recommends Arlene Evans book SEEING
COLOR: IT'S MY RAINBOW, TOO.
The Adventures of Melon and Turnip
Trisha Adelena Howell
Howell Canyon Press
http://www.HowellCanyonPress.com
ISBN: 1931210047 $15.95
Turnip wants to go on an adventure. He asks his friend Melon to go with him. After some coaxing
and a few choice words to a hot pepper, they are on their way. They meet all kinds of characters
including a squirrel and a snake who, after talking, gets the vegetable pair thinking about their
own
lives and how they interact with others. Turnip and Melon learn about compassion, friendship, and
happiness. They learn to be honest and to share their feelings.
The vibrant colors kept my children's attention from beginning to end. Turnip and Melon's facial
expressions were cheerful, sweet, and contagious.
THE ADVENTURES OF TURNIP AND MELON has wonderful text, beautiful rich colors, and
delightful characters full of spunk. Howell's book is fun and has a positive message what more
could a parent and educator ask for?
Highly recommended!
The Good, the Bad, and the Smelly: Book 1 written and illustrated by Chris Rumble
Tricycle Press
http://www.tenspeed.com
ISBN: 1582461228 $5.95
Uncle Stinky is just that stinky! One whiff of Stinky and you'll run away! Told in the voice of a
little boy named Zack, THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE SMELLY: BOOK 1, is a creative
story
about an adventurous adventurer with a good heart and very little adventure. In the town of
Hootenholler, where there is always someone in the need of helping, Zack and his little brother,
Billy, search for adventures for their stinky uncle and his pickle sidekick. The hilarious text and
silly
sidebars, Rumble's new book is a must-have. In Uncle Stinky's first adventure, he saves
Hootenholler from the Dreadful Plague of Embarrassment and wonders if he should trade his
pickle
sidekick for someone who actually moves.
THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE SMELLY: BOOK 1 features lyrics to "The Ballad of Uncle
Stinky" and a page where readers can enter the "We're All a Little Stinky, but We Can Make a
Difference" campaign at http://www.chrisrumble.com.
This book is an entertaining chapter-book style book for elementary-grade children. The black and
white illustrations, some in comic-book style, add fun and charm to the already enjoyable
wording.
There is a lot to see in this 96-page book readers will have fun for hours!
THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE SMELLY: BOOK 1 by Chris Rumble comes highly
recommended by this reviewer.
The Secret of the Labyrinth
C. J. Lewis
PublishAmerica
http://www.publishamerica.com
ISBN: 1413710352 $19.95
In THE SECRET OF THE LABYRINTH students attend the Academy of the Oracle where they
learn to access the wonderful powers that are buried within each and every one of us.
Edward Forrest, a young Seeker, enters the first school of the Academy in Brynnfeld. There he
grows in power and wisdom as he faces the growing evil among his classmates. Students need to
always be aware of the evil and the Dark Lord who has plans of destruction. What's behind the
walls
of the Great Labyrinth? Find out by getting a copy of THE SECRET OF THE LABYRINTH by
C.
J. Lewis.
This book would make a wonderful addition to any library. As a person who reads fantasy novels,
my teenager, Nicholas, loved this book. "It was hard to put down. The characters are like real
people," he said. If you or if you know a young reader who loves Harry Potter books, then I can
assure you they will love THE SECRET OF THE LABYRINTH by C. J. Lewis.
There Goes a Mermaid! A Norfolktale
Lisa Suhay
The Virginian-Pilot Newspaper
ISBN: 0964830809 $TBA
In THERE GOES A MERMAID! Mermaids live and work in Norfolk, Virginia. Their sculptures,
mounted on pipes, serve as the mermaids "city apartments." They travel back and forth through
these sculptures and lead everyday lives among humans who don't have a clue. Penny is a bank
mermaid and she grants little wishes, and Oceana protects ships.
This beautifully illustrated children's picture book blends reality with imagination. Illustrator Sam
Hundley, merges his artwork skillfully with the author's text. THERE GOES A MERMAID! tells
a
magical story that readers of all ages will enjoy.
The author used a system called dual-narration, which weaves a main story with an early reader
poem. Because this method has easy-to-read text along with challenging words, budding and
developing readers can enjoy this book just as little ones can as this is a read-to-me book
too!
This book comes highly recommended by a Virginia-born author and reviewer.
The proceeds from this book support The Literacy Partnership and The Virginian-Pilot Joy
Fund no publisher benefits from the sales.
Weather or Not: Spring
Lynda S. Burch with MarySue Roberts
Writers Exchange EPublishing
http://www.writers-exchange.com/epublishing
ISBN: 192074181X $TBA
Reviewed by Jennifer LB Leese, http://www.geocities.com/ladyjiraff
WEATHER OR NOT: SPRING is a musical illustrated picture book by author Lynda S. Burch
that
brings well-deserved attention to the world of electronic books. There is nothing like spring. Even
though the rain can damper happy spring day feelings, Burch's musical book is a wonderful way to
teach children about clouds and rain and how flowers and grass grow. It makes the rain a little
more
tolerable.
Burch's book comes with vibrantly-colored real-time photography by award winning
photojournalist,
MarySue Roberts. Burch answers questions, such as "Where does rain come from?" and "Where
do
the clouds go?" in story format set to instrumental music. WEATHER OR NOT: SPRING should
be
in every classroom, library, and day care center. It gives parents, and educators time to play and
learn on the computer with children while learning about our wonderful seasons.
This book comes highly recommended by this reviewer and her two young children ages six and
seven.
Soccer Dreams
Leah Lauber
WCI Press
ISBN: 0974548006 $19.99
At twelve years old, the author, Leah Lauber, traveled the countryside reporting for the St.
Petersburg Times following The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team during the 1999 FIFA
Women's World Cup. Lauber put together a wonderful book filled with autographs, photographs,
interviews, quotes and her true-life experience while on the road.
SOCCER DREAMS is an incredible book for soccer fans of for those who believe in heroes and
the
impact they can have on children. This 92-page book is an inspiration for us all. This young
author
has lived her dream and this reviewer wishes her the best in her journalistic career. SOCCER
DREAMS by Leah Lauber comes highly recommended by a soccer mom, author, and reviewer.
Visit the book's website here: http://www.soccerdreamsbook.com
Mysterious Chills and Thrills
Laura Hickey
LH Publications and Productions
ISBN: 097490130X $5.95
Do you enjoy a good ghost story? If so, then MYSTERIOUS CHILLS AND THRILLS by Laura
Hickey is the book for you. Filled with ten frightening tales, Hickey puts the chills in every
shadow every dark spot. Each story begins with a message a warning of sorts and ends with
why the author wrote that particular story. Appropriate for chill-seekers ages 6 and up, Hickey's
book is the one to read during sleepovers, camp-outs, and at story-swappings. This reviewer
highly
recommends Laura Hickey's spooky and unforgettable book.
The Lost Zoo
Connie Boone
American Literary Press: Shooting Star Editions
http://www.americanliterarypress.com
ISBN: 156167768X $12.95
A floating zoo what a creative idea!
When a powerful storm hits, Mr. Cassidy and the animals he cares for, along with a little lost boy
named Joshua, float out to sea. They're scared and lost. All seems hopeless until they spot an
island
in the distance. Mr. Cassidy, Joshua, and the animals make the best of their Dream Island by
putting
on shows and telling tales hoping to one day return to their home. With charming full-color
illustrations, THE LOST ZOO comes to life with excitement and adventure. Welcoming a series,
this reviewer enjoyed THE LOST ZOO by Connie Boone.
Jennifer LB Leese, Reviewer
http://www.geocities.com/ladyjiraff
Kate's Bookshelf
Deckscaping
Barbara Ellis
Storey Books
ISBN: 1580174086 $19.95
How to integrate a deck with the character of your home and the surrounding landscaping is
beautifully described in the book Deckscaping, by Barbara Ellis. Whether your aim is to maximize
the view, hide a utility area, or create a privacy screen between you and your neighbors, the
techniques and which plants to use, are described with full color photographs and easy to follow
instructions.
The book starts with a worksheet to help you determine how you will use your deck, and which
features you wish to incorporate into the deck. The worksheet includes a list of activities that you
may want to use the deck for, and how much seating or dining space will be required, along with
prompts to check public utilities and the water or electrical needs of your deck.
Deckscaping, of course, includes what to plant around and on the deck, not just the design of the
deck itself. If the deck is new then the shade that it creates may alter the overall shade/sun
patterns
of your existing garden, and methods to assess these new patterns are given along with guidelines
for assessing the optimum size of the surrounding bed, and its shape for the most visual appeal. In
the section that gives suggestions for the different sorts of gardens, kitchen gardens,
hummingbird,
shade, fragrant gardens are just a few of the ideas that are included. Each garden has a list of
suggested plants and a basic design. A complete chapter is devoted to the use of containers, both
on
the deck and in the surrounding area. How to plan, plant and care for the containers is included
along with many ideas and color photographs to help you visualize the effect that containers can
have. This section also has a small section on topiary to create interesting shapes for you deck
plants.
Vines and other climbing plants to cover arbors and trellises, as well as how to make a copper
trellis,
are included in the chapter on Trellises and Arbors. Training a plant to cover an arbor or deck
takes
time, but with some simple techniques, the effect is colorful as well as giving much needed shade
in
the hot summer months. Furnishing the deck to allow for maximum enjoyment is discussed in
terms
of which materials withstand outdoor conditions, and how to care for different fabrics, as well as
suggestions for year round enjoyment of your deck.
Finally, the last section of the book details the plants suggested in the text, giving growing
conditions, cultivars and other pertinent information.
Overall, the book is a well presented and colorful book, that gives many ideas for making an
existing, or new deck more appealing, The topic of planting around a deck is rarely discussed, so
this book is a perfect addition to the library of anyone with a deck.
Poolscaping, - Gardening and Landscaping Around Your Swimming Pool and Spa
Catriona Tudor Erler.
Storey Books
ISBN: 1580173861 $19.95
Poolscaping is a book that approaches the topic of how to deal with the area around your pool or
spa. Written from a gardeners prospective, rather than a contractors prospective, the book details
how to integrate the pool, with the surrounding area and you garden as a whole.
The book starts with a worksheet that determines what you want from your pool and how you
will
use it. Such questions as Do you need to enclose the pool? Who will use the pool? and How will
you use the area that surrounds the pool? Of course a check list for utilities and legal regulations
is
also included.
Basic construction options are discussed for both the pool itself and the surrounding area.
Concrete
versus vinyl, or fiber glass for the construction of the pool and different stone, paving or decking
materials for the surrounding paths and decks. Safety and maintenance issues are discussed
throughout these sections. Many areas require that a pool or pond is fenced for safety, and
making
that enclosed area into an attractive paradise is discussed in detail. Fences and walls, whether for
safety or for windbreaks, plus how to plant along them and suggestions for suitable plants are
listed.
How to plant and maintain a hedge is also given in this section, and how to create a topiary form
is
discussed in the following section. A small section is also given to creating an organic swimming
pool. Ideas for waterfalls and water slides, as well as smaller water features such as small
fountains
is shown in several sections.
Of course, Poolscaping also includes the options for planting around the pool in various ways.
Containers on the side of the pool, raised beds close to the edge of the pool and hanging baskets
on
a pergola shading the edge of the pool are all shown in beautiful photographs, that will inspire you
to create your own poolside plantings. Dramatic lighting ideas for the pool area are also shown.
How different lighting effects give a different atmosphere to the area, from soft moonlight over an
area to lighting a fountain.
The last two sections cover spas and furniture that can be placed around the pool.
The book is filled with beautiful photography to illustrate the many features described. Whether
you
want you pool to be a peaceful oasis, or a formal feature on your property, you can many ideas
and
suggestions from this book.
Window Boxes Indoors and Out
James Cramer and Dean Johnson
Storey
ISBN: 158017518X $16.95
Window boxes for each of the seasons is shown in this book. Bright beginnings for the early
spring
gardens, colorful displays for summer gardens, oranges and yellows for fall gardens and berries
and
boughs for winter displays are all shown in beautiful full page photographs. Basic rules for
successful displays in your window box are given, from the potting soil to the 'One-two-three' rule
for planting the box.
Spring ideas include Easter boxes with colored eggs nestled among the green salad leaves and
young
plants emerging from hollowed out eggs 'planted' ina basket of grass. Phloxes, herbs and daises
are
all featured in this section in an array of traditional window box designs as well as some in less
traditional setting.
Summer brings the colorful geraniums, annuals and vegetables to grow in the boxes. How to care
for, and keep the window boxes overflowing with color is important and so advise on fertilizing
and
watering needs are given. Ideas for window boxes for shady areas and sunny areas, as well as for
scent and succulents are given. Summer vegetables such as tomatoes and strawberries, are
featured
in this section, as are water gardens for a cooling effect in the heat of the summer.
Autumnal gardens include extending the season for some of the vegetables and many of the
flowers.
Grasses and orange pumpkins, along with other plants of gold and bronze foliage or flower, are
the
dominant color in these window boxes. Boxes decorated with twigs filled with late sunflowers
and
golden chrysanthemums and bright red berries are shown alongside gourds and dried blooms
Small
Halloween pumpkins sprouting winter kale give an attractive display for decorating windows in
the
fall.
Winter window boxes are shown with seasonal red holly and cotoneaster berries decorating a box
containing a green boxwood. White cyclamen bloom beneath a dark green myrtle and snowdrops
bloom among some young pines.
This book is more than just a collection of window box ideas, it is more a journey through the
year
with the authors, as they describe the gardens and the delights of the window boxes throughout
the
year.
Garden Stone - Creative Landscaping with Plants and Stone
Barbara Pleasant
Dency Kane, photography
Storey
ISBN: 1580175449 $19.95
The beautiful photography of Dency Kane illustrate this unusual book. From stone walls to
footpaths and statues, all aspects of stonework in the landscape are included. Stone is shown to
give
maturity and quiet romance to gardens when placed in walls that have plants draped over them or
along footpaths that meander though a garden. A single large stones or ruins can form the
background for a carefully designed garden. The stone is also seen in many other scenarios, from
Oriental simplicity to modern sculptures.
The book starts with a discussion of stone in the garden. The different types of stone available and
how to cut, move and care for the rock is also detailed. Specific garden ideas include walls, paths
and rock gardens. How to build a footpath or a wall to allow for drainage and safety. How to
plant
along the wall or along the edge of steps and which plants are best suited to these crevices.
Some of the more unusual designs include how to 'plant' a rock in the garden such that it looks
natural, or, in the case of a modern feature, how to make the rock look stunning and aesthetically
placed. Details of how to create a labyrinth in the garden using small rocks or bricks,
Hillsides make an ideal place to use stone, both in retaining walls and steps. Details are given on
how to make a basic set of steps and which materials work best for steps, as well as simple gravel
steps for a gentle slope. Rock gardens along the slope or bank can make the whole hillside came
alive with color
Shady pools and other water features complete the book. How to install a pond or make the most
of
damp rock strewn areas, including waterfalls (both natural and your own) is illustrated by full
color
images to give you inspiration. If you do not have a large garden, then miniature water gardens
may
be the answer and are shown too.
Finally garden ornaments are considered, from simple stone benches and seats to modern
architectural features made from stone, including some whimsical statues.
This book covers ever aspect of stone in the garden, whether you have a natural outcrop or
introduce the rock yourself. The visual images complement and illustrate the many landscape
features that are clearly described in the book and make this a popular, and award winning
book.
Tabletop Gardens
Rosemary McCreary
William Holt, photography
Storey
ISBN: 1580174663 $27.50
If you need inspiration for indoor gardening projects, then this book is a must for you. Forty
gardens
are illustrated and described with full color photographs, and none of the gardens require
extensive
care.
Of course all plants require some care, such as light and moisture, and these requirements in
general
are covered in the early part of the book, along with container choices and locations. Practical
advise
is also included, so that your indoor garden does not leave water stains.
The different types of gardens described are divided into eight chapters that include Tray and Dish
Gardens, Flower, Foliage and Herb Gardens as well as Glass Gardens. Each chapter describes
several different gardens within that category and each garden is carefully designed to be
aesthetically pleasing as well as easy to create. The gardens have a list of what you need to create
the garden including the appropriate size of the container, and instructions for ongoing care.
Water
gardens are not just for outside, either. Several small gardens with water and even a small
fountain
are included in the book. Suggestions for seasonal gardens complete the book, where information
on
forcing bulbs for early spring displays is given along with suggestions for interesting winter,
summer
and fall tabletop gardens.
The book finishes with a section on continuing care of the plants and the garden in general, as
well
as topiary and troubleshooting when the garden fails due to disease or age.
Kate Copsey
Reviewer
Kimberly's Bookshelf
Johnny Appleseed
Rosemary and Stephen Vincent Benet
S.D. Schindler, illustrator
Margaret K. McElderry Books
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
0689829752 $16.00 40 Pages
Of Jonathon Chapman
Two things are known
That he loved apples
That he walked alone.
And so begins the story of Johnny Appleseed. Rosemary and Stephen Benet wrote this poem in
1933 as a tribute to Jonathon Chapman, who later became the folk hero, Johnny Appleseed. The
poem is timeless. It does as good a job telling Johnny's story now as it did in 1933, and now it's
accompanied by S.D. Schindler's beautiful illustrations. The pictures bring Johnny to life for a
whole
new generation of readers.
Amazing Apples
Consie Powell
Albert Whitman and Company
6340 Oakton Street, Morton Grove, IL 60053-2723
0807503991 $15.95 32 Pages
Absolutely the
Perfect fruit to
Put in your
Lunchbox and
Eat later.
This book contains seventeen poems written in the acrostic form. The poems explain, in a simple
way, about life in an orchard through the seasons. The poems give young audiences the
opportunity
to build on their apple vocabulary. What's a core? What's a bushel? What do apples need to grow?
What are some different kinds of apples? The answers are all here, along with a bonus page of
simple apple activities.
Kimberly Hutmacher
Reviewer
Lori's Bookshelf
Venus of Chalk
Susan Stinson
Firebrand Books
2232 S. Main St. #272, Ann Arbor, MI 48103
www.firebrandbooks.com
ISBN: 1563411377 $14.95 208 pgs
Susan Stinson, author of FAT GIRL DANCES WITH ROCKS, has crafted another quirky and
fascinating novel, this one about a woman named Carline whose seemingly well-ordered life
cracks
in two one night when she is accosted by cigarette-flicking young toughs. With her lover, Lilian,
out
of town at an important poetry slam, Carline has no one to help her deal with this new indignity,
and
she finds herself falling into an emotional whirlpool from which she doesn't know how to
escape.
Carline is a woman of size in other words, she is extremely fat. "Fat. It always came back to that
Vicious comments on the street, carefully worded references to 'professional appearance' in job
reviews, suddenly masked looks on the faces of friends; at this moment, hatred was all I could see,
all I could breathe, all I was" (p. 20). A crisis looms over her life.
Carline works as an administrator in a home economics program and specializes in pamphlets that
help homemakers. Despite distributing information and assistance to women on five continents,
Carline is dismayed that so few people pay attention to the details that are critically important to
her.
She is thwarted because "(p)eople who thought home economics was just pie crusts and
vacuuming
occupied every station in life; they outnumbered, perhaps, those who believed home economics no
longer existed" (p. 15). In her own little home economics world, Carline has barely let into her
consciousness the fact that her job doesn't seem meaningful, nor does much of her life. It is as if
she
has let her extra weight insulate her from true feeling, preventing any awareness to permeate and
spur her toward needed change.
So when Carline is accosted by the young toughs and her fragile sense of self is knocked
completely
askew, she stews for a day. Then her aunt Frankie from Chalk, Texas calls to report the death of a
dear friend. Carline quits her job, packs a bag, and takes off on a bus trip with two odd fellows,
Mel,
who usually rides the bus with her, and Tucker, the driver, who is taking the old bus across the
country to Dallas where it can be auctioned.
The trip Carline takes is both internal and external, and little of it went at all like I expected. I
don't
want to ruin the surprises of the story, but suffice to say that there are several unexpected turns,
each of which causes Carline to come closer and closer to confronting her own fears and pain and
anguish. It takes her a long time to come to grips with the fact that she has "kept going under,
shaking myself out of it, then falling again into fear and self-hate. The worse part was that it
seemed
so ordinary. I needed to stop" (p. 179). The tale of this journey "to stop" is filled with good
writing,
gold nuggets of description, and insightful narrative. The author has offered up a real jewel of a
novel, featuring a character at times awkward, at times selfish, but ultimately compelling and
sympathetic as she moves forward in her quest for understanding.
Stinson's previous novel, FAT GIRL DANCES WITH ROCKS, focused on a 17-year-old fat teen
and her struggles with societal meanness about fat women and girls; VENUS OF CHALK takes
on
some of the same issues and expands upon them by showing a woman, several years older,
dealing
with the similar pain, misunderstanding, and self-loathing. The journey Carline takes, dealing with
awkward relationships, past pain, and internalized homophobia (and fat-phobia as well), makes for
an engrossing read. Do not miss this one. VENUS OF CHALK is one of the best books of the
year.
Everyday Creative: 30 Ways to Wake Up Your Inner Artist
Eric Maisel
Red Wheel Book Publishers
368 Congress St. 4th Floor, Boston, MA 02210
www.redwheelweiser.com
ISBN: 159003077X $12.95 30 pgs
Some time ago, I purchased a set of 48 playing-card-sized cards painted by Susan Seddon Boulet.
I've kept them by my computer and occasionally dip into the deck, pull one out, and see if the
colorful painting in some way inspires me in my writing. Now, with his new "A Little Every Day
Decks," creativity coach, writer, and psychologist Eric Maisel has given me an exciting new deck
and a simple, easy-to-use program to spur creativity and inspiration. Each card contains a truth
about creativity: "Grow creative by astonishing yourself" or "Grow creative by opening to
serendipity," for instance. The point of focus on each card is book-ended by ideas about the truth
and then an exercise that can be done to enhance or change one's experience and accessing of
creativity.
In an introductory section, Maisel tells us, "You can read through the thirty cards in your deck,
pick
out the one that feels particularly resonant, and try the simple exercise the card suggests. You can
use the cards as a thirty-day program, taking in one message a day .You can shuffle the cards, cut
the deck and let a random (is it really random?) message speak directly to you." All of these are
good ideas, and once you've gone through the deck, I have a hunch it will pay off to go through it
again. And again.
I've been examining and pondering the meanings of the cards for a couple weeks now and have
settled upon using one each day at random before I begin my writing. In just a little over two
weeks,
I find that each morning I am anticipating reading the next card. Often the idea contained within
stays with me all day, firing me on to carry out my appointed tasks. The cards are not just for
writers
or artists but for anyone seeking to expand, explore, or open up channels of creativity. Highly
recommended.
The Angel and the Sword
Cecelia Holland
Forge Books, Tom Doherty
175 Fifth Avenue, NY, NY, 10010
www.tor.com
ISBN: 0312868898 $14.95 304 pgs
In the middle of the 9th century, a young girl lives in the royal castle in medieval Europe with her
mother, the queen, and her dastardly father, Markold. The throne must pass through Queen
Ingunn
of Roderick's bloodline. Because she has had no sons, her only child, Ragny, is the last descendant
of the line. "Queen Ingunn had made a mistake, and paid for it all her life, but now, with her life
gone, she saw a way to make amends" (p. 1). The queen lies on her deathbed. Her last wish in
order
to make amends is to see her estranged daughter and to proclaim Ragny rightful heir to the throne
as the new queen of Spain. Unfortunately, it is not to be for Markold holds sway over the soldiers
and servants of the household. Though Markold does not keep Ingunn from giving Ragny a key
piece of information, before the queen dies, he does prevent the proclamation of a new queen.
Instead, he intends to marry Ragny, his daughter, and force her to bear a son of the Roderick
line.
Ragny is young, slender, almost boyish. She hasn't fully bloomed to womanhood, and already she
is
facing dilemmas of the worst kind. She cannot stay with Markold and claim her rightful place and
to
flee is a risky proposition, but she chooses the latter course. With the king's men hot on her trail,
she
begins a journey to Francia disguised as a young man named Roderick the Beardless. Little does
she
realize at first that she has allies her foes cannot even imagine. Despite her youth and
inexperience,
within Ragny beats the heart of a champion, a lover, and a just person, capable of inspiring others
so
long as she is attired as a man. What will happen if she drops the disguise?
I read the first few pages of this historical drama/romance in the bookstore, was utterly hooked on
this epic tale, and could hardly wait to get home and read more about this warrior princess with
strange powers on her side. The twists and turns the story takes kept me reading long into the
night.
The cast of characters priests, the French king, the Viking invaders, Frankish knights, and Seffrid,
the sergeant charged by Markold to track down Ragny are all well-drawn as are the battles and
conflicts. Ragny's journey, both external and internal, was illuminated with grace and power by an
author clearly comfortable with bringing history to life. I loved this book! I'd have paid a lot
closer
attention to medieval history in college if it had been this mesmerizing. Highly recommended to
anyone who loves a tale well told about knights and kings, lost princesses, and justice stolen and
regained.
Fall on Your Knees
Ann-Marie MacDonald
Scribner's, Simon & Schuster, Inc.
1230 Avenue of the Americas, NY, NY, 10020
ISBN: 0743237188 $14.00 514 pgs
At heart, FALL ON YOUR KNEES is the family saga of Kathleen, Mercedes, Frances, and Lily,
the
daughters of James and Materia Piper who live in Cape Breton Island off Nova Scotia. But it is so
much more so big and ambitious that it's very much a tour-de-force. This long, detailed novel
builds and grows in power and tone, having a cumulative effect, so that by the time you get to the
end, you feel you've been walloped with a big stick and fallen into a boggy pond where you are
compelled to continue swimming in order to investigate and understand its power.
The story begins in 1898 with James Piper and doesn't end for some seven-plus decades. In the
interim there are enough twists and turns to sink into melodrama, but the story never does that,
perhaps because the author has real style which is unique and very different from the narrative
techniques used in books nowadays. MacDonald writes from an omniscient viewpoint, going in
and
out of various consciousnesses, switching perspective and point of view with speed and grace.
She
breaks every rule I can think of with point of view and she gets away with it with style. I was
impressed. It's very 19th century, and that was jarring to me at first, but I quickly became
accustomed to the style. The first bit of the book was somewhat choppy, partly because of the
narrative style and partly because MacDonald structured this book almost like a mystery. What
are
the secrets these girls hide? What do their cryptic experiences mean? MacDonald moves about in
time, focuses on various characters (some of whom die unexpectedly), and the reader has to keep
several character arcs floating all at once even though they come at you in a non-linear fashion.
The
middle hits a good stride that carries right through to the final pages. Once you get to the last
couple
of chapters, every little thing falls into place, and you can't help but feel you've been on a major
journey!
The characterization of James, the father in the family, is one of the clearest, most sympathetic,
and
ultimately maddening descriptions of an utter monster of a man that I have ever seen. When I've
read
about abusive characters in other books for instance, Daddy Glen in Dorothy Allison's BASTARD
OUT OF CAROLINA it was much easier to see the character as a cruel, irredeemable monster for
whom I felt no sympathy. James, on the other hand, is rounded out in such a way that although he
commits evil, horrible deeds, I saw him as acting out of ignorance, pain, and fear. He seemed
believable. He seemed all too real. In other words, I didn't see him as evil through and through.
And
I saw some level of redemption for him at the end.
About halfway through, MacDonald writes: "But memory plays tricks. Memory is another word
for
story, and nothing is more unreliable" (p. 255). In the same way that no one's memories are
absolutely accurate, neither are those of the characters about whom she writes. They
misremember,
in effect lying to themselves and to others. Failure to correctly recall or failure to remember at all
becomes a theme throughout as characters attempt to protect themselves or others from the pain
and
horrors they've experienced.
There were other key thematic issues that also struck me: women really got a raw deal in the past;
men also got a raw deal, but they were not nearly so constrained as women; war crippled men in
ways that weren't observable on the outside; physical and sexual abuse scar not just the victim, but
also the perpetrator and everyone else in a family; many habits brought over from the Old Country
(and ANY Old Country counts) did not translate well into more modern cultural practices;
economic
pressures took a serious toll on families, as did war; people close to one another, even when they
love one another desperately, can do awful things to one another; and people who lived in the past
sometimes had simply horrible lives that came to a bad end for no good reason at all.
MacDonald has a great way with tone and managed to make the book extremely
atmospheric sometimes spooky, sometimes suspenseful, and curiously maddening because she
makes the reader wait to get answers to questions one would naturally end up wondering along
the
way. Her use of language, metaphor, and simile was quite wonderful at times, and it's her steady
accretion of images and details that really accentuates the tragedies and events in this complex and
fascinating novel. This is one of those books I will probably always remember. It strikes me as
exactly the sort of book that should be read in colleges forevermore. It's every bit as good as
works
by Piercy, Atwood, Tyler, and Morrison. Outstanding debut novel by a talented Canadian
writer.
The Pen Commandments: A Guide for the Beginning Writer
Steven Frank
Pantheon Books, a division of Random House
1745 Broadway, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10019
www.pantheonbooks.com
ISBN: 0375422285 $19.95 320 pgs
In addition to books about writing term papers and how to properly study, in THE PEN
COMMANDMENTS, Steven Frank has written a guide for the novice prose writer. Other
authors
and experts have covered this topic, but Frank's book is one of the most accessible I have read.
Full
of commonsense suggestions, easy-to-understand explanations, and a cogently organized process,
the book is one to which every new writer should turn.
Drawing on his experience as a high school English teacher, the author walks the aspiring reader
through all parts of the writing process. He's structured the book in the form of 10
Commandments
(i.e. Thou shalt not Kill Thy Sentences; Thou Shalt Describe Thy World, Express Thy Opinions,
and
Preserve Thy Past; Thou Shalt Overcome Writer's Block; Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Writer's
Prose). Humorously and in an engaging sometimes laugh-out-loud style, the author demystifies
the writing process and makes it seem fun. Particularly useful are his suggestions for
recommended
reading and an appendix of the top ten grammar mistakes to avoid. The book is durably composed
with no messy slip cover, and it's the perfect size for any novice to carry in a book-bag or
purse.
Any new writer serious about exploring the world of writing should get thee to thy nearest book
outlet, purchase this book, and read it from cover to cover. The few hours spent will be
immensely
worthwhile. Highly recommended.
The Last Witness: A Mars Bahr Mystery
K.J. Erickson
St. Martin's Minotaur
175 Fifth Avenue, NY, NY, 10010
www.minotaurbooks.com
ISBN: 0312989857 $6.99 368 pgs
In this third novel in the Marshall "Mars" Bahr series, author K.J. Erickson has delivered a terrific
plot, engaging characters, and a nail-biter finish that comes out of left field. Mars is in his final
days
as the lead detective assigned to a special unit created by the previous police chief. Because of a
regime change in the department, Mars and his intelligent assistant Nettie are happy to be moving
to
the Cold Case Unit at the State's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. But one last murder
intervenes.
The wife of flashy basketball star, Tayron "T-Jack" Jackman has been viciously murdered in her
home. Mars intuitively knows that Jackman must be responsible for Terri DuCain Jackman's
death.
He very quickly learns that T-Jack was obsessively controlling and brutal toward his wife, beating
her regularly. Unfortunately, at the time of the murder, the cocky ball player was with Terri's
wealthy parents wrapping up a one hundred million dollar deal in which he would divorce Terri
and
walk away. Not only does he get the hundred mil, but upon his wife's death, he also gets the
five-year-old daughter whom he doesn't ever plan to let Terri's stricken parents see.
Everyone involved in the investigation believes Jackman arranged to kill his wife, but proving it is
another matter. It doesn't help that the new chief of police is a nincompoop or that Mars is soon
struggling with departmental politics of the worse kind. Dead bodies start surfacing, and
simultaneously, issues with Mars' ex-wife and son, Chris, crop up and cause a very harried Mars
to
sweat the impending deadline to close the case.
With Erickson's dynamite cast of characters and an engrossing plot that won't quit, this book is a
real page-turner. Erickson has herself a wonderful new franchise that could go on a long time in
much the same way that John Sandford's Lucas Davenport series has. I can't wait to read the
fourth
book in the series, ALONE AT NIGHT.
Lori L. Lake
Reviewer
Magdalena's Bookshelf
The Last Song of Dusk
Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi
Weidenfeld & Nicolson
ISBN: 0297848828 A$29.95, 304pp
Beautiful songstress Anuradha learns about life, death and the nature of mercy when she married
the
handsome doctor Vardhmaan. Her equally beautiful cousin Nandini struggles with her flamboyant
artistry, her overwhelming ambitions, and her strange attractions. The story is set primarily in
Bombay in the 1920s and is full of rich vernacular, and characters whose troubles stem from a
combination of deep rooted psychological pain and good old fashioned fate. You can almost feel
the
pleasure of the narrator as he turns his gaze on his lovingly depicted characters and notes their
exquisite bodies (no punches pulled), their beautiful and occasionally ugly faces, and their frailties
which drive the story forward. This is character driven prose at its best. The comparisons to
Rushdie
are inevitable, as Shanghvi's writing is lush with comedy and tragedy and full of sexy, magical
characters that readers will remember:
Vardhmaan was fully aware that, in the story of his own life, he had slipped off the pages, taken
refuge in the parenthesis of oblivion, become a minor character (albeit one whose vanishing left a
deeper impact than someone else's presence). However, it wasn't that he had vanished from his
own
life as much as that he had simply stopped appearing in the lives of others: an altogether different
species of vanishing. (124)
The writing always remains light, and even at its purplest when describing the scenery, is always
rooted in characterisation:
Now the drizzle is at its barest. Tumesecent, faded purple water tulips bloom over the marshes
that
Anuradha's gaze grazes on; coming down, in leisurely flight, white geese: behind them, a
persimmon
sky opens flat and far. (153)
Anuradha, Vardhmaan and the beedi smoking Nandini are memorable main characters, and their
relationships with each other, and the people whose lives they touch are well drawn, but even the
minor characters shine in this well written debut. There is Vardhmaan's mother, the vividly ugly
Divi-bai, who hates Anuradha for her beauty, Divi-bai's pet bird Zenobia, the haunted house
Dariya
Mahal, who has rather a good role to play in the story and even gets some of the best lines, the
self-pitying lovesick Edward, whose "breathless, crazy, deceived sadness oozed out of his flesh
and
seeped into Dariya Mahal" (76), the boy wonder Mohan, Or even young Shloka, still in his
mother's
womb:
"Jolted inside its mother, it was now awake. Blinking its translucent eyelids. Struggling. For air.
For
life. Where was it? In a pool of some sort. With this tube. Fluid. Darkness. But just what had
slammed against it? Was it a wall? Or the ground? And had something inside or around it burst
open? The unborn had worries: because there she was, its mother, wham on her face, senseless
and
bloodly as something newly slaughtered." (144)
Even very briefly introduced characters like Nandini's outrageous (and deceased) "genius" parents
the Hariharans, whose fabulous fights and strange work practices is only outweighed by their
slowly
revealed crime, Anuradha's gentle friend Pallavi, or the flamboyant artist Khalil Muratta will linger
long after the story is finished. Like all good novels, the book raises plenty of questions for the
reader: Is love enough, or do we need more--support, friendship, companionship, happiness? Is
there really no mercy in life? Or are there indeed mercies are these little moments, of story and
song,
enough? The book answers these in its own way, in its dazzling, almost purple stories where
humans
sleep with panthers, houses take on the pain of their owners, and sex is a cure-all (and poison).
The
Last Song of Dusk contains delicious spicy food, psychedelic colour, music, humour, tragedy
(which
will make readers cry) and comedy which touches on farce. This is a wonderful rich feast of a
novel,
and a debut which will leave readers hungering for more. For more information visit:
Broken Land: 5 Days in Bre 1995
Coral Hull
Five Islands Press
ISBN 0864184506 $TBA
Like all of the best poetry, Coral Hull's Broken Land operates simultaneously on a number of
levels,
affecting the reader frontally, viscerally, and subtly. On its simplest level, it is exactly what the
subtitle says, a twelve cycled, five day visit to the small outback town, Brewarrina, where the
poet's
father lives. On this level alone, the poetry works beautifully, evoking the good (of which there is
little but tenderly expressed), the bad, and the ugly (both of which there is in plenty). The reader
enters Bre under Hull's skin, experiencing the longing and the letdown; a homecoming for
someone
who would always remain a stranger:
The stranger in town in town arrives at the end of the street
With a shadow cast down from a big slouch hat.
Or wearing that constellation look,
& been around overcoat.
Lanky & striding, bone thin underneath.
The town opens its shutters,
Its dusty eyes, to watch:
The poems vary in their style, their structure, and their cadence. All of them capture the
vernacular
of the town; the differing inhabitants and voices, from the aborigines to the factory workers, and
above all, the voices of its animals: dogs, foxes, a raven with a yogurt carton on its beak, a feral
pig,
and the startling but very real voices of its butchered kangaroos and goats. We begin to unwind in
the breathless dialogue of "Dad's House" which sits narrowly on the page and has no full stops.
Dad
and patch-Em-Up the dog compete with a myriad of details as the eye scans the room. It's a
familiarity which is cozy and even claustrophobic, but it is also deceptive, designed to trip up the
reader, who is soon thrust into the apathetic cruelty of the town. Hull symbolises Bre perfectly
with
Bindo, the overweight and abused dog, whose hatred is turned on "everything that moves, So that
he doesn't have to blame his sadistic owner, whom he still loves." It is with Bindo that we begin to
experience the second level that this collection works on as it illuminates the human cruelty,
apathy,
waste, and prejudice of the inhabitants of Bre. Hull shows these things to us from the inside,
allowing us to experience them firsthand. There is the high and low of "Landscapes of Smashed
Glass" with its metho drinker of "White Lady":
"WHOOOOO!
Blow ya fucken
Head off!"
Or the lost beauty of "Bre Weir":
"There was a time,
when the water rushed strong & clean
through the stone,
beneath the cries of the black cockatoo,
ibis & hawks
that flocked to watch the leap of fish.
The section ends with the poet comforting a puppy left alone by its owners who've gone to a club.
It
is a moment of quiet beauty which calls to mind a parent comforting a child:
"It was like holding
a world
heavy & sweet,
I let my lips rest upon
the plump neck.
the pup's small stres
gradually
Subsiding."
Much of the rest of the work centres around dead or dying animals. Inside the Bre Roo Works,
and
the Goat Abattoir the work comes to a climax, moving lower into the reader's perceptions and
emotions. You don't need to be an animal rights activist to feel the power of Hull's words, or the
overwhelming pain of the scenes she describes:
I imagine every tree, every stone, every roo,
Every living thing
in smaller & smaller concentric circles,
being forced in,
to the machinery.
the Roo Works at its centre,
boning it, grinding it, down.
until it collapses on itself,
then expands out
to cover the land with its nothingness,
until it meets its own shadow on the edge of night (The Dark Dead Blood of
the Kangaroo).
Nothing can prepare the reader for the Goat Abattoir though, where Hull takes us right into the
cauldrons of blood and froth, into the minds of the slaughterers, and the hearts of the young goats
as
the adults go off. The human sounding scream of a stabbed goat: "deep & urgent./Full of the
terror
of murder." has to be absorbed and grieved over. This is very powerful stuff, and more so because
it
doesn't rely on appealing to the reader's sense of right or wrong. It is about pain and beauty, about
loss and longing, and the full loss of life is as large and full of import as that of a human. There is
a
holocaust feel about this, not the least because of the deft way that Hull intersperses her shock
with
the matter of fact handling of the workers, her cousin, and her father. Bre is a painful and broken
place, and Hull captures this pain and ugliness on a myriad of levels. At its base, this is more than
a
single dying, dusty town. It is a place that lives within all of us; an ugliness and loss with which
we
are complicit. Despite the pain, at the end of the book, the poet's longing for her father, and this
home which will never be home, is obvious. Though we wouldn't want to live in Bre, it haunts our
dreams still.
Magdalena Ball, Reviewer
http://www.compulsivereader.com/html
Margaret's Bookshelf
Parenting Your Premature Baby And Child
Deborah L. Davis & Mara Tesler Stein
Fulcrum Publishing
16100 Table Mountain Parkway, Suite 300, Golden, Colorado 80403
1555915116 $24.95 1-800-992-2908 www.fulcrum-books.com
A 902-page compendium of information, Parenting Your Premature Baby And Child: The
Emotional Journey by developmental psychologist Deborah L. Davis and clinical psychologist
Mara
Tesler Stein addresses dealing with powerful and painful emotions associated with being the
parent
of a premature child, physical recovery from difficult childbirth, forming bonds with one's baby
when
it must be kept in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), dealing with the difficulties of
discharge,
homecoming, and settling in, observing one's child for evidence of disabilities and coping with
them,
and also, how to deal with the loss of a child. Parenting Your Premature Baby And Child presents
the wisdom of experts in no-nonsense terms for lay people and parents. An extensive index allows
for quick reference, in this well-rounded and thorough compendium of vital information.
Intimacy In Later Life
Kate Davidson & Graham Fennell, editors
Transaction Publishers
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
35 Berrue Circle, Piscataway, NJ 08854-8042
076580557X $24.95 1-888-999-6778
Intimacy In Later Life is a collection of essays by learned authors discussing critical issues of
human
sexuality in late life. Topics discussed include dealing with sexual needs after becoming a widow
or
widower late in life; perceptions of remarriage among older people in Singapore; attitudes and
dilemmas concerning the search for a new partner; and more. A thoughtful, scholarly study of a
critical human issue, exploring the balance between individual and societal needs.
Cowboy Cook Book
Bruce Fischer & Bobbi Fischer
Golden West Publishers
4113 North Longview, Phoenix, AZ 85014-4949
1885590962 $7.95 1-800-658-5830 www.goldenwestpublishers.com
Spiral bound permitting it to lay flat upon a kitchen counter, Cowboy Cook Book is a
collaboration
of Bruce and Bobbi Fischer showcasing a 90 pages of terrific recipes from America's "cowboy
country". These "kitchen friendly" recipes are organized into major sections covering: Breakfasts
&
Beverages; Salads, Soups, Stews & Chowders; Main Dishes; Side Dishes; Breads, Biscuits &
Muffins; and Desserts. From Hearty Sourdough Pancakes; to Cattle Call Stew; to Rancher's Beef
Stroganoff; to Pinon Nut Potato Casserole; to Hoecakes; to Blackberry Jam Cake, the Cowboy
Cook Book will bring great southwestern cowboy cuisine onto the family table to the
mouth-watering, appetite satisfying, tastebud pleasing delight of one and all!
The High-Calcium Low-Calorie Cookbook
Betty Marks
Surrey Books
230 East Ohio Street, Suite 120, Chicago, IL 60611
1572840595 $19.95 www.surreybooks.com
In The High-Calcium Low-Calorie Cookbook, Betty Marks showcases 250 recipes, each of which
is
especially relevant for women having to deal with the calcium deficit condition of osteoporosis
(bone density loss). A diet of calcium-rich foods combined with a regular exercise program can
not
only slow bone loss, it can help female posture and skeletal integrity to remain straight and strong.
These easy, natural, calcium rich recipes range from Tricolor Yogurt Loaf; Oriental Snow Pea
Soup;
Scallop and Oyster Salad; Lady Rainbow Okra; and Swiss Potato Torte; to Blue Cheese Dressing;
Ricotta Peanut Butter; Cheddar Bread; Banana Berry Rice Pudding; Almond Carob Milk Shake.
Acknowledging that children need good calcium dishes for a well balanced diet for young
growing
bodies, The High-Calcium Low-Calorie Cookbook is a welcome and recommended addition to
any
and all family kitchen cookbook collections as well!
Wheat-Free Recipes & Menus
Carol Fenster
Avery
c/o Penguin Group
375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
1583331913 $16.95 1-800-847-5515 www.penguin.com
The author of five previous gluten-free cookbooks, Carol Fenster's Wheat-Free Recipes &
Menus:
Delicious, Healthful Eating For People With Food Sensitivities is enhanced with helpful tips culled
from her own gluten-free lifestyle and her past ten gluten-free years in the kitchen. Showcasing
more
than 250 recipes and more than 100 menus, Wheat-Free Recipes & Menus is standing proof that
gluten intolerant people do not have to be deprived of breads, pizzas, cakes, muffins, cookies,
casseroles, waffles, or sauces! From Fennel Bread; Asian Soba Noodles; Lentil Tabbouleh;
Avocado
Chile Sauce; and Mexican Beef Pie; to Pizza; Yellow Cake; Ham and Egg Breakfast Casserole;
Biscuits; Lasagne; and Wild Rice Pancakes with Pecans, Wheat-Free Recipes & Menus is a
welcome
and essential addition to any gluten-free cookbook collection where all members of the family can
experience wonderful wheat-free dining for all mealtime occasions.
Little House On The Prairie: Season 5
NBC Enterprises - Imavision Distribution
Goldhil Home Media International
411 Video Information (publicity)
5284 Adolfo Road, Camarillo, CA 93012
1897006063 $49.95 1-800-250-8760 www.imavision.com/ihop
The "Little House On The Prairie" television series was loosely based on a series of novels by
Laura
Ingalls Wilder and was universally acclaimed for being wholesome family entertainment which
received 17 Emmy nominations and 3 Golden Globe nominations. Little House On The Prairie:
Season 5 is a 21 episode, 20 hour, 6 DVD boxed set showcasing the lives and adventures of the
Ingalls, including their move to Winoka to be near Mary where they manage a hotel and meet
Albert
for the first time. Then the family return to their home by Plum Creek and work in Walnut Grove,
where their life stories continue to be played out to total viewer engagement. The "Season Five
Special Collector's Edition" is enhanced with wonderful DVD extras including cast interviews
with
Dabbs Greer (Reverend Robert Alden) and Alison Angrim (Nellie Oleson); as well as a Season
Five
Interactive Quiz Trivia Challenge; fully restored state-of-the-art color corrections; picture
enhancements; noise reduction improvements; full motion menus; and behind-the-scenes insider
stories. No true Little House on the Prairie fan will want to be without the addition of this epic
collection!
Margaret Lane
Reviewer
Molly's Bookshelf
A Mother of Sons: Poems of Love, Wisdom & Dreams
Jayne Jaudon Ferrer
http://jaynejaudonferrer.com/index.html
Loyola Press
http://www.loyolapress.com/
ISBN: 0829417702 $12.95
Enjoyable read .. Recommended 5 stars
Exuberant Sons as portrayed in Rudiments of Life, Attack of the Diapered Viking and Word
Pictures offer the reader a touching view into the too short time Moms have with little ones. I Am
A
Mother Of Sons might well be the verse for any mother of sons, " and a penchant for ice cream
and frogs" Or, "frail babies with frantic cries" And, "humble men whose love will engulf us
forever" Cries out to those who may also have had one of those frail little ones, or a boy who
loved
both frogs and ice cream, and are now grown into men to be admired. Perspective, About
Sundays
cause the reader to stop and consider more than just the moment. Eager Sons are portrayed in
Welcome To My World as the writer describes little boys the world over, or in A Day In The Life
which is sure to bring a smile to the lips of every mom. Earnest Sons offer seven delightful works,
I
especially enjoyed Earth Angel and thought of the little boy who lived in my house and is now
grown to be a man I am still happy to know. Kindred Spirits with words telling of the eldest son,
is
another of the works I savored as I thought of my own eldest son. Edgy Sons presents a lesson in
economics and a peek into the student driver. Evolving Sons rounds out the work with the last
seven
poems, Image is Everything evokes memory, Farewell, My Dear One is poignant and delicate,
And
So You Go might well be the chant for every mother of a son or sons.
Spanning some eighty-five pages the reader is treated to a variety of heartfelt odes written for and
about sons by a loving Mom. A Mother of Sons: poems of love, wisdom & dreams is exactly that;
verses filled with affection, common sense and reverie. Talented writer/poet Jayne Jaudon Ferrer
presents elegant lyrical work in this sylvan composition. Moms and Grandmoms whether they are
lovers of poetry or not are sure to enjoy A Mother of Sons: poems of love, wisdom & dreams.
Lovers of poetry will be doubly delighted as they read each passage with care, stopping often to
savor a word or a phrase and then moving on to the next enchanting portion.
As might be supposed; I am also a mother of sons, the verses offered by writer/poet Ferrer
touched
me especially.
Lovely book to tuck into a special gift for a New Mom, Your own Mother or Grandmother, or to
a
friend who is also a mother of sons.
Enjoyed the read. I don't always keep the books I receive for review. A Mother of Sons: poems of
love, wisdom & dreams is a book I will be keeping and reading again.
Happy to recommend.
Fancy Crazy Hydrants
Baltazar Ray
Fancy Crazy Publishing
PO Box 1648 New York New York 10159
ISBN: 0974538698 $TBA
Interesting read Recommended 4 stars
The year is 2999 and fire hydrants no longer serve the purpose they once did. Many today are old
and outdated and stand only to provide revenue when motorists park in front of them. When two
unsuspecting older hydrants are toppled from their posts and are tossed into the back of a truck
loaded with other hydrants an escapade is about to begin. Hydra and Pluggo feel the magic in the
air, they hear a voice telling them 'I will be watching.' And the pair are told they have heretofore
unknown powers. Soon Hydra and Pluggo are puzzling over what those powers might be as they
set
out for Guerlin City. They are not sure just what is drawing them there, but they do mean to find
out. A bridge, a dog who has been turned into a hydrant, Ben and Guido the collectors of the old
hydrants, a child in a burning building and the adventure has just begun. Meet Five Feet, the
Mohegan River, kidnappers and children rescued, Fred the Baker and Veeda the duck continue
the
narrative. When Pluggo decides to stay with the ducks; Hydra knows he must press on alone.
Before
long Hydra is reunited with Pluggo, the exploit takes new turns and a near disaster is
averted.
Fancy Crazy Hydrants is meant for target audience six to eleven years old. I believe reading
vocabulary used by the author is beyond the scope of most six and seven year olds, however the
book does lend itself nicely as a 'read to me' type chapter book for use by parents and teachers
alike.
Some twenty chapters spanning 161 pages and the words 'to be continued' will no doubt captivate
young readers. The notion that hydrants can come to life and perform heroic feats is sure to tickle
the fancy of the middle grades portion of the target audience. Fancy Crazy Hydrants is a good
choice for the 'quiet reading time' following the tumult of noon recess for middle grade youngsters
when teacher reads a chapter a day.
Writer Baltazar Ray presents a novel notion with his initial offering. He says he plans to continue
the
hydrant series. I was sent an uncorrected ARC for review, it has some glitches of syntax which no
doubt will be corrected when the final product is produced in November 2004.
Fun names, lots of adventure, fast pace, Fancy Crazy Hydrants is a merry read.
Dancing with My Daughter: Poems of Love, Wisdom & Dreams
Jayne Jaudon Ferrer
http://jaynejaudonferrer.com/index.html
Loyola Press
http://www.loyolapress.com/
3441 No Ashland Avenue, Chicago Illinois 60657
ISBN: 0829417680 $12.95
Charming Read Recommended .. 5 stars
Illustrating the phases of a daughter's growth from infancy to adulthood, each stage is presented
by a
dance: Waltz, Jitterbug, Tango, Samba, and Freestyle. Waltz (Infancy): offers Heirloom in which
an
'all thumbs' mom laments that the family sewing talent evident in a handmade dress has skipped a
generation. Passing the Torch is a poignant peek into a mother's memory of her childhood and
wonder at the memories she may be creating for her own daughter. Jitterbug(Toddler days and
terrible twos): presents a delightful view of the child expectant parents dream of and the child they
hold dear in the heartfelt Her Father's (and Mother's) Daughter. Mother Magic is sure to bring a
smile to the lips of every mom as they consider their own little princess awakening, a tad less than
queenly, from her nap. Tango (the teeny bopper years): Budding Beauty, Loaded Question and
Crush explore hopes and dreams and fears and questions that daughters fear to ask and Mom
fears
to hear. Am I pretty, will he like me, oh no, Mom caught me trying on her bra and her lipstick and
. Samba (the house has a teenager): Mom's Top Ten Tickets to Trouble the poet must know
my mom and those rules for living she had in mind. Domesticity Specificity the poet must know
my child and our divergence over the little phrase 'clean your room.' Freestyle (that time of mixed
emotion when Mom must let go even though she desperately wants to do anything but.) Red
Riding
Hood Revisited presents the hopes and longing of grandmother, Veiled Retrospective and Mom's
advice for a daughter's 'big day,' Essential Minutiae is a glimpse at all those important 'little
things'.
The flow of writer/poet Ferrer's writing is delicate and graceful then swinging and twirly, now
foot
stomping and then swaying to the beat of the hearts of Mother and Daughter. The reader follows
Mom and child from the moments of choosing the perfect name to birth through the terrible twos
and on to watching a beautiful butterfly emerge from the little girl cocoon. Harmony and discord,
adoration and frustration each is realized, accepted and met with intuitive understanding that
without
the one the other would not be so sweet.
September Lullaby with its heartfelt sincerity might be the mantra for every mother trying to help
their own child cope with the uncertainty caused on 9 1 1. Words spilling from the pages of
Dancing
with my Daughter: poems of love, wisdom & dreams are filled with merriment and admonition,
rueful awakening and acceptance. The awe new mother's experience is soon offset with the antics
of
a toddler bounding through the house with all the abandon of a hippo on ice skates. Dainty
dresses
give way to styles that cause a mother to cringe before a sophisticated, stylish young woman
appears. The reader considers both her personal childhood and the bonds she is forging with her
own child while savoring the words Writer/poet Ferrer cleverly presents on the pages of Dancing
with my Daughter: poems of love, wisdom & dreams.
Lovely gift book for a new mom, Your mom, or Grandmother. While I have only sons, I enjoyed
the
read, thought of my nieces and am happy to recommend.
Lulu's Lost Shoes (We Both Read) level K-1
Paula Blankenship
Larry Reinhart, illustrator
Treasure Bay Publishing
17 Parkgrove Drive So SF Ca 94080
www.webothread.com http://www.amazon.com
ISBN: 1891327569 $3.99
Engaging Read .. Recommended . 5 stars
The school bus is coming, Lulu must hurry. Book bag in hand she is ready to set off for school
when
Dad calls her back. Lulu Beetle must find her shoes. And the hunt is on. The shoes were down by
the tree. Everyone looks. Frog searches in the pond, the kids on the bus hurry to help. And at last
the shoes are found where you might not think they will be.
Writer Blankenship's creative narrative is counterbalanced by the well-executed illustrations from
ingenious artist Larry Reinhart. What child has not had to hunt for his or her shoes at least one
time
during Kindergarten? As she helped her youngster chase down the elusive footwear ehat parent
has
not torn their hair and wondered if the school might allow her child to attend wearing bedroom
slippers just this once.
Illustrations set the mirth-provoking tale off to perfection. Children are sure to adore the dining
table
made from a spool of thread and a watch, or the school housed in a watering pot. Lulu's Lost
Shoes
is an anecdote certain to draw the target audience of Kindergarten readers right into the fun.
Pages
are designed to be 'read' by mom and child or teacher and class.
Perfect work for that after lunch recess quiet time when teacher and class gather on the rug for
some
reading time. Lulu's Lost Shoes lends itself to the group reading that punctuates most reading
time
with little folks as well as providing some problem solving discussion starters. Fun book for use
with
pupil mentors as older student and younger enjoy a book together. Lulu's Lost Shoes will prove
an
apt addition to the home, school or home school library. This is a book I would use with my own
Kindergarten youngsters.
A hint for parents page is included to give parents who may not be teachers a bit of added help in
using the book to its fullest.
The Day the Zoo Came to Visit
James D. Smith
Stina Brown, illustrator
Xenopus Books
PO Box 84114 Canada Post Market Mall 3626
ISBN: 0973114207 $12.95 http://www.amazon.com
Interesting read . Recommended . 5 stars
Janey and Jamie went to the zoo. After returning home the kids hear a knock on the door. What a
surprise awaits the pair: the zoo has come to them.
Writer Smith has produced a nicely done book meant for children ages 4-8. Large, brightly
colored
illustration and alliterative rhyming text make The Day the Zoo Came to Visit a sure favorite for
the
younger set. Animals tumble over one another in alphabetical order as they invade the house. I
especially enjoyed the expressions of surprise, surprise and surprise depicted on the faces of
Janey's
fuzzy bunny slippers as the various zoo critters traipse about. Illustrator Brown has a keen, child
pleasing technique.
Dilemma faces Janey and Jamie as they struggle with how to rid themselves of their unwanted
guests. Janey's solution is well done, opens avenue for parent or teacher guided discussion as to
what to do with surprise guests, what children might do in unusual situation and the like.
From a teacher standpoint I am pleased to see the animal sizes are kept in perspective, so often
children's books ignore all reality and offer hippo, moose and newt all approximately the same
size.
Faces and actions of the animals depicted are child pleasing, but are not embellished with 'human'
expression.
The Day the Zoo Came to Visit is sure to prove a valuable asset to the school and home library.
The
work is a read to for the youngest set as parent and child cuddle for reading time before the little
ones aged 3-4 prepare for nap or bed time. Except for very polished readers The Day the Zoo
Came
to Visit is a read with help for the 5-7s. Eight and Nines will enjoy reading the book for
themselves,
or reading to little brothers and sisters.
A glossary of more unusual animal names is included. A word to the adults page offers teaching
suggestions for parents to use as they guide their children's reading toward noticing alphabet,
alliterative words, hidden illustrations and the like.
This is a book I would use in my own Kindergarten/First Grade Classroom. And it is one I will
use
today with my Developmentally Disabled Adult clients.
Nicely done, Happy to recommend.
Molly Martin, Reviewer
http://www.angelfire.com/ok4/mollymartin
Nancy's Bookshelf
A Dirge for the Temporal Written
Darren Speegle
Raw Dog Screaming Press
ISBN 0974503134 $14.95 208 pages
What is a Dirge? It is a lingering sense of supernatural, the mystical, and mixed with a bevy of fear
and excitement, seen in only half exposure. A Dirge for the Temporal encompasses these
meanings
and treats us to a blend of subtle temptation and brutal beauty. Thirty-four stories take us through
a
poignant mind's eye of gifted author Darren Speegle.
Forget formulas here, it is a time travel of past, present, and future, fused in a collection, where
you
have to question whether you are the character or the reader. While I wouldn't mind telling you a
little about each story, I think it best to let you go on your own journey. From this vast collection,
I
will recount the ones that most intrigued me.
I drifted in and out with "September", caught up in the subtle references to name and places. It
has a
unique voice and rhythm to read by. The context of the story is like a puzzle, and once put
together
leaves you in awe.
"Illusions of Amber" had me engrossed. It's a story to pay attention to and yet become lost in. A
sense of strange inhabits the desolate town of Amber, Indiana, but is it safe to stay in Room One
at
the Traveler's Lodge?
"The Smell of Sex" is like an ethereal moment where it would appear time has stopped. It caresses
you in, with incredible character development, and imagery, only to leave you cold and wanting
more.
To read the story "A Dirge for the Temporal" is to be caught in the middle of a dream and a
nightmare. The author's voice speaks in languid motions, bringing you in, taunting you close, and
then drifting away for you to decide what you come away with. It's hauntingly sweet and yet
disturbing.
In a "Nasty Set of Circumstances", the character feels the girl he is seeing is sucking the life out of
him. He believes she keeps him in a perpetual state of apprehension, and questions who holds the
power in the relationship. If he had the opportunity, what would he do to change it?
"The Day it Rained Apricots" left me with a smile. It is a blend of mood and tone; mixed with
history and visual bliss. A competition among bakers in a small village in Bavaria, serves up an
interesting twist.
"Junkyard Fetish" is a hardcore, bloodthirsty tale that is one of my absolute favorites. I loved the
dialogue, the flow of the story, the characters, and the element of "the game".
"Mousse" reminds me of a smooth tawny port at the end of the day, it definitely tastes like
another.
And finally "Dandelion Girl" rounds out my favorites, for its sweet, sentimental, and subtle
descent
into questioning the nature of evil. Appearances can be deceiving, and leave a bittersweet taste in
the
air. I liked the whimsical poetic path it took me on and the feeling I was left with in the end.
Atmosphere and imagery run amok in these stories. You don't just read about the places, you
experience them, the people, and the entities that inhabit them. Daren Speegle has the ability to
capture your soul, and slowly release it back to you, with merely a few scars. It's more than worth
the read, it's worth the euphoria your mind senses when you've turned the last page.
Compositions for the Young and Old
Paul G. Tremblay
Prime Books Inc
www.primebooks.net
ISBN 1930997434 $15.00 215 pages
In a thoughtfully put together piece, Paul Tremblay has touched on something unique and
inspiring.
Compositions for the Young and Old is a blend of bizarre and rich stories that takes a reader from
the minds of the youth to the last years of life. Twenty mind numbing melodies make up an
exciting,
eerie, and timeless read. Of the twenty I decided to spotlight about half and leave the rest up to
your
own imagination.
"Perfect" starts out the hearty collection with a stomach-turning twist. Seven-year-old Billy isn't
quite thrilled being the protector of his little sister Emily, a role given to him after the death of his
father. Between making Emily happy and keeping his mother's attention, he finds solace in
injuries,
boo boos, and scabs. This is an interesting read with underlying themes, all representative of a
true
child's mind.
With a graphic and visually flooded story as this, who needs television? "Role Models" takes us
on a
night at the carnival through the eyes of a twelve-year-old boy. His need to get away from his
alcoholic father leads him to a show where he gets much more than he bargained for. What
happens
at the show is anyone's guess.
"Hurt" is highly creative and vies for my top favorite. The lyrical words alone allowed me to feel
the
pain alongside the main character, desperate to rid himself of the terrible ache in his back. His pain
is
insufferable and keeps him from living a full life. He finds his way to a woman who explains the
"hurt" and attempts to rid him of it. Well written with credible dialogue, insight, and imagery.
"City Pier" is an extravagant story dealing with many themes and plotlines. A sort of technological
universe in the water is the backdrop of this fascinating read. Complete with terrifying "pier
fellows"
and a world where it has its own weather, you are swept into a highly imaginative tale. I don't
really
want to give anymore away from this but it is superb storytelling.
"The Harlequin and the Train" was disturbing in so many ways. But this is meant to flatter. I have
a
fear of clowns, always have and always will. Any story with a mere mention of a clown in it and I
have shivers run down my back. Still, I read on and thought it was sordid, vile, supreme, and a
great
twist on a zombie/virus/outbreak theme. From the first paragraph on I was caught up in this
demented story with an ultra-creepy reference to clowns. This is another vying for top spot of my
favorites, shivers and all.
The story of "Cold" is prosaic, sensual, striking; poignant, and left me enthralled. A
compassionate
blend of trust, greed, lust and desire help to create a moving story of a man in search of warmth.
How he finds it leads him to discover more about himself than he cares to know. This is what one
would refer to as music in motion.
"With More Than Eyes" is the quintessential story of a mother's battle of depression, sanity, and
the
love of her children. Told with flawless insight and raw inner dialogue, it left a potent punch in my
stomach and nightmarish thoughts in my mind. This is a story that will affect you, whether or not
you believe the character's own reasoning to be true. Sometimes our own worst enemy is the
thoughts in our head.
To round out with a bit of humor we get the enjoyable story "Perception". With a distinctive way
to
tell a story, it takes the reader into a new realm of thought and awareness. You will indeed be left
with your own perception.
"Walls" is the one that I favored most. We go on some sort of hellish mind bend with Stephanie, a
woman wanting nothing more than to break out of the walls that consume and cage her life. Each
word delivered an intense crescendo of poetic verse and vivid imagery. I believe many will be able
to
find a little of themselves in this one.
Now again these are only half of a complete and compelling collection from Paul G. Tremblay.
Each
story is a wonderful escape and thoroughly addictive. The author has a talent for latching on to
normal every day thoughts and ideals and finding a way to twist, bend, and shape them into a
reflective sense of storytelling. From subtle and restrained to psychological and frenzied horror,
Compositions for the Young and Old is powerful mind literature.
The Eternal Battle
Keith Gouveia
Lulu Press
www.lulu.com
ISBN 1411605349 $12.50 236 pages
You cannot go wrong if you pick up this book! Add vampires, werewolves, zombies, and those
who
hunt them, and it more than equals a wild ride and an intense read. The Eternal Battle is
fast-paced
with suspense, drama, a touch of humor, sensuality, and oh yes some blood too. We venture into
the
modern day world where the good guys not only hunt but also become the very creatures they
fear.
If faced in the same situation, would you really know what to do?
Mike Caisse is a homicide detective, dedicated to both his job and his wife. On a regular call for
duty
he and his partners witness the birth of a vampire and from then all hell breaks loose. Jean is a
powerful vampire with a need to create a new bloodline. He chooses Mike's wife, Julie, to be his
next mate and together they bear a child, Daniel, who is half human, half vampire. From the day
he is
born, Daniel is one step closer to death, as he ages at a rapid rate. In a failed attempt to take back
their son, Julie places a dangerous curse upon her husband. Mike becomes something far more
powerful than Julie and the vampire who changed her could ever be. Once his friend John
becomes a
foe in the deadly game, things take a chilling turn. It is no longer about family, love, and faith or
power; good versus bad or light against dark, it becomes a matter of survival.
This is a very involved and complex story told in three parts: the seduction, the curse, and the
betrayal. Each part lures you further in, until the story gives way to page turning fervor. Emotions
are descriptive and the dialogue is natural and energetic. The characters are well developed and
the
plot unfolds to a satisfying and climatic ending.
The most potent highlights of The Eternal Battle are the scenes between the monsters. Told in
visual
imagery and raw description, the reader is able to picture each strike, blow, bite, and drop of
blood.
While not obscenely gory, it does leave an impression.
I look forward to the sequel: Eternal Battle :Vengeance to carry on what has been started. Keith
Gouveia is a talented author who has powerful stories to tell, so open a book and slip into his
world.
The Ravenous
T.M. Gray
KHP Industries
www.khpinsdustries.com
ISBN 0974768057 $20.00 250 pages
Forget environment-friendly "save the trees" slogans. Once you venture into the realm of The
Ravenous, you will find it's about survival and obeying the laws of nature. T.M. Gray thrusts us
into
a supernatural journey complete with sacrifices, forest gods, cults and horrific imagery that will
keep
you up long into the night.
In the small quiet town of Gotham Creek, Maine, rare trees grow to twice their normal size. In
fact,
just as rare is finding them on any map. Outsiders are not welcome. The resident doctor, known
for
more than just curing the sick, and delivering babies, is up to something far more sinister. It seems
he will go to any length to protect the town and its dirty secrets. With a plethora of concoctions
he
calls medicine, many are kept unaware of the raw truth, and believe only what they are told. One
boy
in particular, holds a potent ability to hear the chants and calls of the trees. Plagued with
headaches
and ears that bleed, he may very well know too much. Specific sets of rules are followed in the
town, or a heavy price is paid.
Based on the ancient Druidism ways, every ten years a human is sacrificed to the sacred woods.
The
ritual is to be considered a privilege and high honor, not something to be feared. Once the name
of
the "chosen" is revealed, the fate of one is decided, and cannot be altered. With the Samhain
festival
on its way, mysterious things happen, deaths occur, and the trees begin their feast. Two men,
strangers to Gotham Creek, venture into the forest and come up missing; adding to a list that has
been steadily growing for a number of years. With a concern for unwanted publicity, the doctor
takes a stand.
The Ravenous creates an eerie ambience, and sets a pace that is a steady nail-biter. Each character
is
given a strong introduction, and it is their complexity that drives this story forward. There is far
more here than the element of horror. Imagery of the trees, how they breathe and come to life,
and
what drives them to feast, all provide an experience that reaches far into the darkest crevices of
your
mind. Character dialogue, development, and visual description, bring this story validity and
intelligence.
T.M. Gray's writing sweeps you in and invites you to stay, with words that will disturb and decay
your mind. I consider her a valuable asset in the genre of horror and dark fiction, and look
forward
to reading many more of her published works.
Dianne Hollander
James W. Foster
Lulu
www.lulu.com
ISBN 1411606507 $11.92 217 pages
Believe it or not, there are small towns out there, where you can get away with just about
anything.
Unfortunately for a family just starting out, that was the way of things. Dianne Hollander isn't just
about the inner workings of a psychopathic woman, it is also about the way people of Vollmer's
Hollow turned their heads, and blamed everything on an old superstition.
Dianne Hollander grew up differently than other girls. It wasn't just her mannerisms, but her
physical
stature and dark thoughts. Even her parents weren't sure what it was about her; she was cold and
kept to herself. As an adult, she makes a plan, and starts with a transformation to snare a husband,
someone with the means to support her. After she becomes a doctor's wife, the plans move
forward.
Along the way she begrudgingly bears two daughters, beings she has little interest or care for.
Love
is not an expression often used in their household.
A venture into the building of a new chronic care facility, for ailing people to stay, becomes
Dianne's
number one priority; after all, she always wanted to be the doctor in the house. Fixing up the old
"town hall" she runs the business, with little concern over the rumors of a curse. Not long after,
strange incidences occur.
Intermixed in the taut storyline, is a wrestler, beset with muscular dystrophy. He arrives at
Hollander
House to rest and recuperate from his hard physical years. Unfortunately, nothing prepares him
for
the events that take place. The patients seem to die, not too long after they arrive, all from the
same
ailments. Why doesn't anyone investigate? Dianne walks up and down the stairs with a basket of
food, but no one knows who resides up there. Unexplained deaths surround the makeshift
hospital,
but it's all dismissed as ghosts. Is it possible to live there and make it out alive?
This is a well-rounded story with plenty of character development, dialogue, and suspense. James
W. Foster takes us through a woman's emotional and mental ordeal, and the way she handles the
stress and people that enter her life. The inner thoughts are very real, and lend a sense of eeriness
to
the human nature factor. Dianne Hollander, is worth the read.
Nancy Jackson, Reviewer
http://www.nancyajackson.com
Paul's Bookshelf
Hoax: Why Americans are Suckered by White House Lies
Nicholas von Hoffman
Nation Books
33 Irving Place, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10003
http://www.nationbooks.org
ISBN 156025582X, $13.95 196 pages
This is one person's look at life in present-day America. The author feels that America is inside a
3000-mile wide terrarium, cut off from the rest of the world. This would explain that by the time
of
the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, the difference in world view between America and the rest of the
world grew to the size of the hole in the ozone layer over the South Pole.
During the Nazi era, the Big Lie was simple and repeated over and over again until it became the
equivalent of inescapable sound. For whatever reason, George Bush was not a good liar. He and
his
advisers made the mistake of elaborating, retracting and adding on to the reasons for attacking
Iraq.
The rest of the world must have been laughing when the Bush Administration came up with one
more reason for invasion. The American people believed them, as they generally do when their
government and television tell them something. Another rule to keeping things simple is to not
offer
any evidence, so there can be no refutation. The supposed warehouses full of evidence turned out
to
be nothing.
Ever since the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, America has believed that it is a "city on a hill,"
a
feeling of "we are right and you are wrong." Since Providence has chosen America to work
through
human history, anyone already occupying the continent could justifiably be removed or
killed.
The first lines of the National Anthem contain the roots of flagolatry, or excessive reverence for
the
national symbol. Democracies are always right, America is a democracy, so America is always
right.
Since America is the best democracy, it is more right than the others. Inside the terrarium called
America, Arabs don't exist and nobody has heard of them. Arabs are considered non-people with
a
non-claim to nothing. Americans go on and on about being the greatest country in the world with
an
almost neurotic need for praise from outside the biosphere. Americans also have rabbit ears for
criticism from outside, but the voice of reason just bounces off the glass.
This is a Wow of a book. I'm not sure if I have ever read a book quite like this. It's rare when an
American can look at this country the way foreigners (probably) do. It is very highly
recommended.
Terrorism: Theirs and Ours
Eqbal Ahmad
Seven Stories Press
140 Watts Street, New York, NY 10013
http://www.sevenstories.com
ISBN 1583224904, $6.95 64 pages
From the perspective of someone from South Asia (Ahmad was from Pakistan), this book looks
deeper at this thing called terrorism.
There are several aspects to the official approach to terrorism. First, terrorists change. Yesterday's
terrorist is today's freedom fighter, and vice versa. Second, there seems to be no such thing as an
"official" definition of terrorism. Explanations are designed to arouse our emotions, instead of
stimulating our intelligence. Third, government officials may not be able to define terrorism, but
they
know that it must be stamped out worldwide.
Fourth, it's supposedly possible to tell the difference between a terrorist and a freedom fighter.
Fifth,
the official approach ignores the causes of terrorism. Cause? What cause? Sixth, the moral
revulsion
against terrorism needs to be selective. Terror from disapproved groups needs to be strongly
condemned, but terror from allies or approved groups can be ignored.
Why do groups commit terrorist acts? Getting their grievances heard through regular channels
hasn't
worked, so, to them, terrorism is the only way to be heard. Terrorism is an expression of anger
and
helplessness, and also a sense of betrayal. Through the spread of modern technology and
communications, terror has become globalized. Everyone is a target.
The author recommends several approaches for America. Stop with the double standards. Don't
condone some terrorism, and condemn others. In the present situation, such an approach will not
work. Also, America should actually consider the causes of terrorism. It's a political problem;
seek a
political solution. The author also recommends reinforcing the framework of international law.
Try
going through the International Court of Justice.
This is an excellent book. It's short, and written from a non-American perspective. It does a fine
job
looking at the background behind terrorism, and it's well worth reading.
Robbing Us Blind: The Return of the Bush Gang and the Mugging of America
Steve Brouwer
Common Courage Press
http://www.commoncouragepress.com
Box 702, Monroe, ME 04951
ISBN 1567512380, $16.95, 282 pp.
This book looks at the myriad of ways that average and lower-income Americans have been
systematically robbed of their monetary wealth through deliberate government policy. That wealth
has been given to the top 1 percent of the people, in terms of income, by a group of elites and
super-rich that the author calls the Bush Gang. The Bush family has been at, or near, the seat of
American power for 16 of the last 24 years.
To give one example, from 1982 to 2002, the number of Americans without health care jumped
from 25 million to 43 million, a rise of more than 50 percent. In that same period, the number of
American billionaires rose from 13 to 229.
The Bush Gang's plan looks something like this: Give tax relief to corporations and the very rich.
Build up the military with big increases in defense spending. Be very aggressive in international
relations. Deregulate business as much as possible. Overlook the criminal actions of those
businessmen who support this agenda. Ignore the real possibility of large deficits. Also, attack
labor
and working Americans as much as possible.
This book covers a number of topics. The Bush remedy for a sick economy is CEOs who will
drive
up a company's stock price by laying off thousands of workers. There has been a systematic plan
to
keep wages low for most Americans in order to transfer wealth to the richest. The famous Skull
and
Bones club at Yale was originally endowed in the 1830s by the Russell Trust. It was connected to
a
company that, at the time, was the premier American smuggler of opium. The media, especially
Rupert Murdoch and Fox News, can be counted on to keep up the fear level. One of the
justifications for tax cuts is that the money will be used for new investment. Has that happened
over
the last 25 years?
What is to be done? The Democratic Party needs to get a backbone. It should not blame Ralph
Nader for the results of the 2000 election, but itself. It needs to push its vision for America: higher
minimum wage, federally funded health care for all, full employment, public works spending that
fixes America's infrastructure, good public schools, etc.
This is a gem of a book. Can't get ahead financially? This book gives part of the reason. It's highly
recommended.
Banana Republicans: How the Right Wing is Turning America Into a One-Party State
Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber
Jeremy Tarcher/Penguin
http://www.penguin.com
375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014
ISBN 1585423424, $11.95, 264 pp.
This book looks at how the Republicans, now in control of every major part of the federal
government (Congress, the White House, the Supreme Court and the mass media), are now
working
to maintain and strengthen that hold through manipulation of the American political culture.
Republicans have worked hard, and very methodically, for at least the last 20 years, to build the
conservative movement. It now ranges from conservative think tanks, like the Heritage
Foundation,
to K Street lobbying firms, to right wing media (especially talk radio). Starting from the grass
roots,
Republicans have become very good at getting their message to the public. The weekly
Republican
"must attend" meeting in Washington is run by tax opponent Grover Norquist. It is there that the
message of the week is chosen. Democrats are nowhere near as organized.
Even inside the Republican Party, moderation and disagreement are squelched, and traditional
oversight agencies are stripped of their influence. The National Cancer Institute's website was
altered to say that abortion increases a woman's chance of getting breast cancer, even though
actual
research overwhelmingly shows the opposite. The CDC's website has been altered, in that
information showing that condom use is effective in preventing AIDS has been removed. This is
in
line with the Christian Right's opposition to sex education.
Woe unto that person or group who uses their constitutional right to oppose the war in Iraq.
Tennessee State Senator Tim Burchett has advocated the deportation of war critics. Who can
forget
the experiences of the Dixie Chicks? A number of recently published books equate liberals with
hating America, and generally betraying the nation. Ann Coulter has called Democrats the
Treason
Party. It has now become popular among Republicans to label any dissenter, whether
environmentalist or senior citizen, as a terrorist.
This is an excellent book from Rampton and Stauber. The brains behind PR Watch, they have
created another Must Read look at how the US Government really works. This is highly
recommended.
Tritcheon Hash
Sue Lange
Metropolis Ink
http://www.metropolisink.com
5629 Windstone, Cave Creek AZ 85331
ISBN 095805438X, $14.95, 228 pages
Set approximately 1000 years from now, Tritcheon Hash is a hot-shot female pilot on the planet
Coney Island (named for a famous Earth penal colony). Several hundred years previously, all the
women from Earth packed up and moved to Coney Island, leaving the men on their own. Now,
the
only contact between them happens once a year in a neutral part of the galaxy. At that meeting, all
male babies born on Coney Island are exchanged for a ton of frozen sperm.
For the past 50 years or so, secret contacts have been taking place between both planets
concerning
Reunification, a very touchy subject for both sides. The leaders of Coney Island need to know
what's
happening on Earth. All their probes and long-distance readings can't get past the Dispro Haze.
It's a
mile-high layer of dust, chemicals and debris that surrounds Earth and blocks out the sun; giant
xenon lamps are used to simulate the sun. Tritch is chosen as a one-person mission to Earth, but
specialized training is needed, first. At the local military academy, she meets Bangut Walht, a
sensitive young man (it's the only place on Coney Island where men are allowed), to which Tritch
is
immediately attracted. She also meets Slab Ricknoy, a loudmouthed, arrogant jerk. The program
ends, and the men are sent back to Earth, the day that Hash and Ricknoy get into a fight.
Tritch arrives on Earth, near Lake Michigan, and her cover is blown almost immediately. Earth is
a
place of extreme dirtiness. The air is dirty, the people are dirty and much of the planet is either full
of
radiation, or officially dead. She runs into Bangut Walht, who shows her the few bright spots. She
also meets Slab Ricknoy, now a General, who is convinced that Hash is there to spy on him. He is
also a paranoid person, who believes in endless war. Ricknoy has also impounded Hash's ship,
looking for its faster-than-light drive, called a lighterator. By galactic law, Earth is confined to the
solar system. Should people like Ricknoy get an FTL drive, it would not bode well for anyone,
especially the inhabitants of Coney Island.
This is a really sharp satire about men and women about which I'm sure some people will
complain. I
enjoyed it. It's very easy to read, it has things to say, and it's quite a perceptive story. Well worth
checking out.
Paul Lappen
Reviewer
Pogo's Bookshelf
Nicholas Evans
The Smoke Jumper
Dell Publishing, Random House
New York
0440235162 $7.99 560 pp.
Listed as a New York Times Bestseller, The Smoke Jumper is just another Hollywood novel that
has all the ingredients to make an epic movie sprawling across the silver screen and continents.
Three hundred pages in, I stopped. What might make a good movie, might not make a good
book,
depending on the viewer, but it has all the ingredients to make it politically correct while
exploiting
all the social issues of the day .
Forest fires spread across the western states each year, destroying homes, lives and livestock.
They
are political, receiving the attention of George W to demand logging of the great western forests
with newly laid roads; however, Smoke Jumper is not about forest fires or the lives that are
involved
with them, but a reasonably bad romance framed in a political ring. It begins well enough, but
doesn't seem to end. Moreover, it seems to exploit hardship, misery and trauma for no other
reason
than the author's pocket opening with the abuse of a young girl, Skye.
Seventeen, Skye celebrates her birthday in a local bar with her friends Jed, Calvin and Roxy until
her
stepfather walks in with two women, one dressed with more make-up than clothes and the other
had
"breasts propped up like melons on a shelf." Both teetered as they walked to the bar, nearly falling
as they tried to shimmy. Suddenly self-righteous, he attacks Skye sitting with her friends. She
escapes to the local railyard where kids hang out, meeting a kid, smoking a joint. Desperate, she
takes off with him in a stolen car. Although Skye plainly states she doesn't do drugs, for the
author's
convenience she has a police record later as she gets labelled a cop-killer. Did she kill the cop?
No.
She happened to be in the car, trying to stop the crazy driver when he hit the gas pedal, ripping
out a
State Trooper's arm as he gets dragged on the highway alongside the car. Gruesome beginning,
isn't
it? But Skye isn't just a street kid with a bad past, to make it politically correct, she's Oglala Sioux
mix. Certainly, Native Americans have been run over and suffered incredible discrimination,
painted
as worthless do-nothings, alcoholics and gamblers; but the contrived portrait of Skye is
objectionable, patronizing Indians for commercialism while creating a multi-ethnic, issue-oriented
book.
And although the United States is highly dysfunctional country where greed dominates, there is
something perverse about a writer who mixes all the bad elements and reprehensible aspects of
humanity to fill his own pocket. The smoke jumpers are only glory boys used to open the novel
and
killed off easily as Wagner knocked off five hundred in an opening of one his operas. The cast
lacks
credibility as the stereotypes fill up. Ed Tully is the would-be smashing Hollywood composer,
born
into the rich family where dreams are supported by his indulgent loving mummy with a Steinway
Grand at the foot of the stairs. His daddy became a billionaire through mowing lawns, creating his
own division of lawn-mowers and naming their private plantation, Grasslands. Instead of opting
for
a musical education at Julliard or Curtis or recognized state institutions of University of
Pennsylvania or Indiana, he opts for the backwoods school in Montana, cranking out musical after
musical without any difficulty. In his summers, he takes up smoke jumping. As everyone out west
knows, there are never enough hands to contain forest fires. Moreover, they're so desperate that
they will accept someone who needs daily insulin injections. Ed's an expert at self-injection as it
was
a childhood handicap. Later it renders him sterile when he wants to tries to have a baby with Julia,
the heroine.
Ed meets Connor through smoke-jumping in Montana. Conner is a self-trained photographer who
earns fame through a picture he sold to the New York Times of Ed jumping against a backdrop of
flames. They belong to a Mutual Admiration Society, "Hearts of Fire." Infatuated with Julia, Ed
suggests that she spend her summer near him in Montana. The three make a cosy trio, sharing an
apartment and the plot follows the tidy arrangement. Julia marries her
composer-come-smoke-jumper while Connor drools. As consolation package, Connor gets
enlisted
as the sperm donnor and surrogate father of Julia's baby. Feeling rejected, he seeks adventure in
the
Bad World Out There, first going to the battle zone of Sarajevo and then the genocidal land of
Rwanda, snapping internationally acclaimed pictures as a photojournalist and ejecting his
frustration
into another journalist's legs. Eventually he penetrates Julia's resistance when it becomes
legitimate
to covet his neighbor's wife.
How does it fit together? Julia flies out to work as an advisor for wilderness training for juvenile
offenders where she gets Skye along with nine boys. The odds are rather amazing, aren't they?
Nine
boys; one girl? With American fanaticism regarding sex education and discrimination of sexes, to
have a single party of trailblazers in the Montana wilderness with nothing but the elementary
basics
and no separated toilet facilities seems rather remarkable. To control the kids from taking off, the
counselors strip them of their trousers and boots at night. They're out there for two months doing
socialization exercises, thinking up twenty optional phrases for cuss words in the wilderness
without
tents, surviving on granola bars. Credibility like chewing gum gets stretched. Julia comes for her
first
time as counselor, but pages later she's suddenly has several years experience with WAY in
Colorado where she was an art student. Montana just happened to open a new office where they
had
an opening for her near Ed. Her acceptance is instantaneous--of course.
And naturally, counsellors are not allowed to intervene when kids get bullied. The kids are
supposed
to circle together and talk their problems out as rational adults although any idiot knows that one
girl among so many boys is going to be harassed to death. Peer pressure which rarely creates
positive reinforcement or good behavior in civil society is suddenly supposed to create sane
resolutions in the wilderness.
The inevitable happens the lost children of WAY are on an isolated mountain when fire erupts.
The smoke-jumpers arrive floating through the air. Skye runs away into the fire, getting consumed
in
the flash-over, Connor saves Julia's life huddled against a rock while Ed crashes through a tree,
getting burned, survives, but loses his eyesight. Lance Armstrong is admirable, but Ed simply is
not
credible. A superhero, the paragon of all diabetics, he blindly takes up jogging on country
backroads, expecting vehicles to yield to him. And chimney climbs. His character deteriorates into
bad sexual jokes and self-pity to fulfil the morose musician-type. By now the book's objective is
obvious: thou shalt covet thy neighbor's wife. He goes from daily injections to dialysis machine.
The
violin sobs loudly.
At this point, not even halfway through, the novel's sensationalism of tragedy becomes thin.
Certainly the victims of Rwanda and Sarajevo deserve more respect than this
The opening is jarring. The horror of a trooper, dragged by a car, losing his arm and being
abandoned on the ground is unjustifiable violence opening a book that receives "closure" through
the
incineration of Skye on the mountain. Obviously she was never told that oxygen is highly
inflammable. The author's bad pun on names and death is also tasteless. Every day, Americans see
violence in the news. It surrounds them waking and sleeping, but in Smoke Jumpers, violence is
purely gratuitous: just slap in your face dirty America. After 911, journalists and newspapers of
the
United States organized to protest the sensationalism of disaster and trauma, creating guidelines
for
ethical behavior and professionalism of journalism too bad New York publishers didn't get the
message.
As for myself -my sister was killed by a rig picked up by an oversized mirror off a bicycle on a
short bridge and dragged alongside it for nearly a mile. The only road connecting my town to the
next, twenty miles away. A doctor stopped the driver of the rig. He didn't know he was dragging
her
body on the highway. I can't imagine the driver's horror or his trauma. It was on the front page of
the newspaper my father was delivering that afternoon for the Skagit Valley Herald. It's how he
found out.
And truly, I cannot imagine that a passing truck would not intervene to assist a State Trooper.
The
opening is appalling not only for the shock horror, but for the callow use of senseless violence as
a
vehicle for a third-rate romance.
There are those who die in the terrible fires of Washington, Idaho, Nevada,California, Montana
who
deserve better tribute and recognition for their profession. The title robes them of their dignity,
using
their profession for sensationalist writing. They might find the book revolting as much as
musicians
might find their stereotyping in Ed disgusting. And journalists might have their bawdy moments,
but
they also lose their heads and lives in an increasingly dangerous profession.
Whether rape, domestic violence, explicit sex, death by forest fire, aircraft accident, genocide it's
all here in this book to be sold for some pennies to slide into the publisher's pocket.
Issue-oriented, it
seems to be lacking in ethics as well as genuine characters. Spread on a screen, in
two-dimensions, it
might conceivably work so long as the fires are artificial and kept under the pyrotechnics
specialists'
control.
And for all those who write well and self-publish, don't ever forget, it's a NYTimes Bestseller with
raves written on front and back covers and advertising for flyleaf inserts with tasteless content.
For
gushy, positive reviews go to Amazon. They sell books.
The Soldier's Return
Melvyn Bragg
Hodder and Stoughton
London
0340767278 $24.95 hc $13.95 ppbk
For everything there is a time: a time to love and a time to hate; a time to remember and a time to
forget; a time to live and a time to die. Nobody wants to remember the forgotten war, the horrific
campaigns of Burma and the hideous war crimes of the Japanese, the mutilated bodies, the
tortured
POWs in pits, the nightmares that followed the brave young men as they returned to their homes
across the seas to Australia, England and America bedeviled by ghouls springing into their dreams
and filling their days with nightmares.
The bunting down, the crowds dispersed, the war over for nearly a year, Sam Richardson returns
to
Wigton, scarcely a village with more tongues wagging than tails and where families live doubled
up
in poor cottages with less means than what they received in war rations, facing the aftermath of
war
with its withdrawal of extra work.
Leading his men home, ex-coporal Sam Richardson of D Company, Ninth Battalion, Border
Regiment 17th India Division or the 14th Army confronts an unknown destination as a stranger
invading his own land. Ten men to a section, three sections to a platoon, and three platoons to a
company how can anybody forget basic arithmetic? The men follow him instinctively when they
disembark the stalled train to cross the outlaying fields encircling the town. After a journey of
nearly
six weeks travel and halfway around the world, the village seems isolated, undisturbed by world
events. Crossing the fields, Jackie quips of the mushrooms and rosehips he gathered in childhood
to
earn money. Life seems complacent, easy to accept. New houses are built as people return to their
routine life interrupted by the war.
The past and present collide as Sam returns to his wife, Ellen, and son, Joe, nearly seven years
old.
Ellen remembers a different man. Now on her own in his absence, she has own expectations of
life,
working to support her son. Unwilling to give up her jobs, she matches Sam in her determination
to
have control over her own life. Crowded in by the constraints of his soldier's pay, he resents
remaining in the rooms of Aunt Grace's where he has no privacy to speak to his wife. Aware of
her
aunt's dislike of Sam, Ellen is determined to protect her marriage, coming in conflict with Sam
because of inability to articulate his frustration. He has changed but the village has not. Unable to
reconcile the past with present or express the trauma he suffered, Sam finds himself at odds with
his
wife and world while their income supports Grace and Leonard, who live off the rents of others.
Although the world is at peace, domestic warfare begins as Sam struggles to claim his
independence
and reassert himself within the niggling community again.
In Burma, the enemy was easy to identify and attack, but difficult to elude; at home the enemy
lurks
within, more difficult to attack and impossible to evade as nightmares and memories trap Sam into
the past, causing barriers within his private life. Unable to relate his experiences to those around
him,
Sam becomes isolated by the war he survived, an alien to his own people not wanting to hear of
the
past and unable to relate to guerrilla campaigns of the far east. For them the war meant rations,
extra
labor and pubs as they accomodated the war effort and the influx of soldiers without seeing the
ugly
face of armed conflict. He returns to his old employer for work to be told that there is no
obligation
to re-employ enlisted men. And while others who remained behind, left unscathed by the war,
receive free housing, he takes lodgings in Water Street where the lavatory is in the yard just off
from
the slaughterhouse and stockyards. Had by country, village and neighbors, Sam yearns for escape
and listens to Alex plan his departure to Australia.
Melvyn Bragg presents a moving psychological study of a soldier returning home from the
Forgotten War in Burma, outlining the differences in mentality as Sam and his wife become
alienated
from each other in their habits and reactions. Although, Ellen remained in the village, she too si
changed by the demand for women to work outside the home and to take responsibility alone for
a
her child. During the time of Sam's absence, Joe becomes friends with Mr. Kneale, a retired
teacher,
who acts as a surrogate parent. Moreover, intimidated by Grace's domination, Ellen strikes back
through claiming her independence in finding employment and establishing her own small circle of
friends. Each has a different experience and understandign of the war that can not be easily
reconciled as Sam sees the loiterers and hangers-on whom he has come to despise, living a safe
life
and leeching cigarettes from men returning from fighting in front lines.
In the aftermath of the Second World War, little was known to treat men of delayed shock
syndrome as people viewed men as Jackie good for only the looney-bins and locked away in
institutions. Returning late, few wanted to know or here of the horrors of another battle. With
little
social support and no recognition, a soldier was supposed to just blend in and return to civilian
life,
swallowing the past lest the past swallowed him.
Bragg gives a lyric tribute to the men who returned to their villages and town, inviting us to walk
the
shady hedgerows and spreading fields of Cumbria in search of internal peace. Thoroughly well
written, with rich understanding of internal conflict and life in rural villages, Bragg offers a vivid
portrait of a soldier's return and the immense difficulties of adjustment back into society, not only
then after WWII, but after every war.
Pogo
Reviewer
Sharon's Bookshelf
Coping With Alopecia
Nigel Hunt & Sue McHale
Sheldon Press/Internatonal Publishers Marketing
PO Box 605, Herndon, VA 20172-0605
0859699102 $12.95 1-800-758-3756
Alopecia is a medical condition that causes severe hair loss in men and women. The collaboration
by
psychologists Nigel Hunt and Sue McHale, Coping With Alopecia offers solid information and
practical advice about the different types of alopecia, causes and treatments, and how to cope
with
the social consequences of hair loss, from getting along with peers to the strain that losing one's
hair
can put on relationships. Personal anecdotes along with medical and psychological wisdom create
a
balanced guide to living with the effects of and successful recovering from alopecia.
YogaBand
Lisa M. Wolfe
Wish Publishing
PO Box 10337, Terre Haute, IN 47801
1930546696 $9.95 www.wishpublishing.com
In YogaBand, certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor Lisa Wolfe draws upon her
more than 14 years of professional experience in the fitness industry (which includes owning her
own gym and participating in fitness competitions) to offer an innovative and challenging Yoga
workout specially designed to increase personal muscle tone, improve physical flexibility, and
reduced psychological stress levels. After an informative introductory explanation of the
increasing
and enduring popularity of Yoga, YogaBand is divided into individual chapters on what
YogaBand
is; how to prepare for a YogaBand workout; special considerations; breathing techniques; safety
cautions; the yoga poses; sample routines; and additional information to insure a safe, successful,
and personally rewarding exercise experience. YogaBand is a welcome and highly recommended
addition to personal and professional yoga exercise program reference collections.
Quick Fixes For Everyday Fears
Michael Clarkson
Marlowe & Company
c/o Avalon Publishing Group
161 William Street, 16th floor, New York, NY 10038
1569244626 $12.95 1-800-788-3123
Quick Fixes For Everyday Fears: A Practical Handbook to Overcoming 100 Stomach-Churning
Fears by investigative journalist Michael Clarkson is a self-help guide to dealing with common
fears
that interfere with our daily lives and goals, including fear of intimacy, fear of doctors, fear of job
interviews, fear of exams, fear of public speaking, and much more. Addressing characteristics,
backgrounds, and brief yet effective strategies applicable each specific fear, plus a general chapter
addressing relaxation techniques to cope with general worry, Quick Fixes For Everyday Fears is a
useful guide filled with tips, tricks and techniques for overcoming psychological obstacles to one's
goals. An easy-to-use guide with emphasis on brevity and means to swiftly get through difficult
situations.
Ask The Bible
Morry Sofer
Schreiber Publishing, Inc.
51 Monroe Street, Suite 101, Rockville, MD 20850
1887563873 $21.95 1-800-822-3213 www.schreiberpublishing.com
Ask The Bible: The 400 Most Commonly Asked Questions About The Old Testament, by
translator
and lifelong student of the Hebrew Bible Morry Sofer, is the debut volume of a planned four title
series that will go on to cover the New Testament (volume two), the Qur'an (volume three), and a
fourth volume surveying the beliefs, values, and stories common to all three of these historically
related monotheistic world faiths. Ask The Bible is largely in a question-and-answer format,
organized according to sections of the Bible. Exploring such questions as "Who wrote the Bible?"
"Why did God give us free will?" "Does the Bible believe in life after death?" and many more, Ask
The Bible offers plain-terms explanations of holy scripture, and is highly accessible and
understandible to readers of all faiths and backgrounds.
Sharon Stuart
Reviewer
Sherry's Bookshelf
The Adventures of Melon and Turnip
Trisha Adelena Howell
Paul Lopez, illustrator
Howell Canyon Press
PO Box 448, Tonasket, WA 98855
www.howellcanyonpress.com (888) 252-0411
ISBN: 1931210047 $15.95 32 pages
Ms. Howell does it again. This is the second children's book I have reviewed for this author and
her
sheer exuberance captivates me. She steps up to the plate and once again delivers fun and
enchanting
characters experiencing highly educational lessons about life.
The Adventures of Melon and Turnip is a delectable story about friendship, acceptance and
respect.
Included are enjoyable imagery, whimsical poetry and bright distinct colors keeping the reader
(even
an adult one) entertained! True joy at your fingertips for juvenile readers.
Ms. Howell bestows the reader a superb treat. She includes in her book a basic "how to" about
writing and illustrating a children's book enticing the child to try their own hand at creativity.
The author has proven to be versatile author and she can seamlessly move from one genre to
another.
Life is Full of Surprises
Darlene Duncan
Ocean Breeze Publishing
PO Box 214164, South Daytona, Florida 32121-4164
ISBN: 0972332405 $15.95 250 pages
Life is Full of Surprises is a book that is, indeed, chock full of surprises. The first unfolding
surprise
reveals a fresh all encompassing romantic love blooming between two women. The second
surprise
is the intelligently written tenderness of emotion when main character, Barbara, deals with the
death
of her lover. The author handles both of these story lines with polished writing that beckons you
to
hear the inviting lapping of waves on a distant shore.
Barbara is dealing with a storm in her heart from the accidental death of her lover and business
partner. Little did she know the events to follow would lead her to the discovery of the
destruction
caused from monstrous avarice. She meets and falls in love with Judy who has been jilted by her
lover, Carol. Carol is found murdered under unusual conditions setting Barbara up as the fall guy.
A
master plan filled to the brim with deceit and greed unravels and spills out the unexpected
truth.
This fast paced murder suspense reads quickly with its many hairpin curves and jolting bumps in
the
road. Murder, shady business deals, loyalty and greed all play a role in keeping this a beach
sizzling
page-turner.
Phoenix
Rhonda Taylor
Dreambound Publishing
PMB 204, 1464 Graves Avenue, #107, El Cajon, CA 92021
(619) 449-2445
ISBN 0974862207 $14.95 474 pages
As the bird, the Phoenix, rises anew draped in strength and courage, the main character, Aubrey
exemplifies the magnetic power of survival by rising anew again and again. The book begins with
Aubrey as a young child suffering from her mother's mind, sickened with alcoholism. Her mother's
battle with the bottle, poverty, religion and men keep the family dynamics in a constant uproar. As
Aubrey grows she becomes irrevocably changed.
The author writes "Maybe that's where the beauty is, she thought, that something beautiful can
happen, if only briefly, in the worst conditions." This dysfunctional carrousel would seem to
translate
into a bleak future for any child. Aubrey witnesses her mother's bouts with anger, addiction,
relationships, the selling of one of her children and a stay at a mental institute with shock
treatments.
Aubrey's older brother is an abuser work in progress. He bullies and lies and isn't much comfort
nor
help to Aubrey. He unfortunately has many role models to teach him the art of abuse. One of the
children's stepfather's physically abuses both Aubrey and her younger brother.
Like a cat with nine lives, Aubrey always lands on her feet no matter how violating the
mistreatment.
She, possessing the wisdom of an old soul, has the vision to applaud the small miracles of the day.
Phoenix is a story of Aubrey and her two brothers held captive on a perpetual trampoline of
mishaps, hurts and violation. Yet, Aubrey is never broken or disillusioned. She embraces the times
and people she does find acceptance with and in her own way, she arrives at the destination of
how
to live with what she knows and make it work.
Eroticism
Netti
Trafford Publishing
Suite 6E, 2333 Government St., Victoria, BC V8T 4P4 Canada
www.trafford.com
ISBN: 141202062X $20.00 141 pages
Strong Adult Content.
Eroticism is a bold account of sexual and spiritual freedom. It is openly written by a sensual
woman
exploring and seeking fulfillment and understanding.
Being a widow, this energetic, people oriented woman was facing life alone. Her marriage had
been
a loving sexual connection of deep trust enveloped in an eternal bond. She didn't have any ideas
about approaching love and sex in new relationships. She was still a vivacious and vibrant woman.
With the help of friends and self-awareness, she opened herself to what might be if she allowed
herself to dream.
"We are in this physical world and God has given us our greatest pleasure here on earth and that
is
the joy and bliss of two people joined as one in the act of love play" sums up why the author
found
her journey a necessary one.
The book, through letters, outlays a detailed account of non physical sexual communication which
continues after people touch skin to skin. She discusses in nonrestrictive casual style her renewing
her life after the death of her husband. She discovers adult toys, the magic of meeting people on
the
Internet, and how to be alone but not lonely. Netti writes her book with fearless narration sauteed
in
a heavy dose of love and trust. Her last chapter is dedicated to opening minds and enticing others
to
come out of their shell.
Adult sex and language content
A Lethal Legacy
Patricia C. Behnke
PublishAmerica
PO Box 151, Frederick, Maryland 21705-0151
www.publishamerica.com 877-333-7422
ISBN: 1592865062 $19.95 217 pages
Ed Townsend, the main character, is a successful author and a seemingly upstanding attractive
man.
That is, until a young alluring complicated woman enters his life and he misbehaves all over the
place. Ed can't keep his control button engaged when it comes to his cousin's sensual daughter,
Kristina.
Kristina, like a Cheshire cat licking her hidden agenda chops, plays amusingly with her human
toys.
Full of street smarts and venom she calculates how to commit, in her opinion, a rather
compassionate murder. Kristina appears to be an acorn that didn't fall from the mother's tree
keeping
the reader in suspense until the end.
The family infrastructure is learned through Ed's rearview narrative mirror while the present is
used
as fodder for his new novel. His first book was based on his beloved cousin, Gary. Gary was
married
twice with the first marriage producing his daughter or so everyone believed. His second marriage
was to a former Miss America. There was no way Gary's marriages could work. He was a
homosexual and had known his desires from a very young age. Gary finally settled in with a long
time friend and lover until he died from AIDS. Fears and clandestine relationships tainted the love
of
a father to a son leaving Gary to die without his father being present. Gary's death initiated a chain
reaction that suddenly snaps clean with the murder of his mother.
This is a great read for scandal and suspense junkies. The author teases the reader measuring out
the
story bit by bit keeping you intrigued and turning the pages. A Lethal Legacy is a captivating tale
of
obsession and greed.
Sherry Russell
Reviewer
Taylor's Bookshelf
Take Eat, Take Drink
Ernest Bartels
Concord Records
270 North Canon Dirve, #1212, Beverly Hills, CA 90210
0758600372 $14.95 1-800-551-5299 www.cph.org
Take Eat, Take Drink: The Lord's Supper Through The Centuries by Ernest Bartels is an
introduction to the doctrine and practice of the Lord's Supper, written for Christian pastors and
lay
readers alike. Examining the tradition of the Lord's Supper from the Apostolic Era to Medieval
times to the modern day, and changes in the doctrine as seen among a wide variety of Christian
churches including Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Anabaptist, Pentecostal, Lutheran, and many
more, Take Eat, Take Drink is both a thoughtful study and an excellent prepration read if one is
about to participate in the Lord's Supper with a Christian denomination with practices that one is
unfamiliar with. An extensively researched and meticulously compiled yet eminently readable
account.
Jesus Now And Then
Richard A. Burridge & Graham Gould
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
255 Jefferson Avenue, S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49503
0802809774 $16.00 1-800-253-7521 www.eerdmans.com
The collaboration of Richard A. Burridge (Den of King's College, London, England) and Graham
Gould (former Lecturer in Theology and Religious Studies, King's College, London, England),
Jesus
Now And Then explores Jesus Christ's life and impact on humanity. Beginning with the New
Testament, Jesus Now And Then examines early church debates, manners in which Jesus has been
portrayed throughout history, the context of current questions and controversies about Jesus, and
much more. A seminal account as accessible to lay people as it is to serious students and
theologians, Jesus Now And Then strives to truly understand what history and religion alike have
to
tell us about Jesus. A superbly researched account that also traces perception and understanding
of
Jesus' legacy up to the modern day.
The Wisdom Of Creation
Edward Foley & Robert Schreiter, editors
The Liturgical Press
St. John's Abbey, PO Box 7500, Collegeville, MN 56321-7500
0814651224 $16.95 1-800-858-5450
Under the careful and collaborative editorship of Edward Foley (Professor of Liturgy and Music,
Chair of the Department of Word and Worship, founding Director of the Ecumenical D.Min.
Program, Catholic Theological Union) and Robert Schreiter (Vatican II Professor of Theology,
Catholic Theological Union), The Wisdom Of Creation presents significant and seminal
theological
contributions to the effect of humans have had (and continue to have) upon the natural resources
and ecosystems of the Earth. The contributions by eleven colleagues and friends of Dianne
Bergant,
C.S.A., Ph.D. (who as a professor of the Hebrew Bible and the Wisdom literature of the Judaic
tradition) comprise an academically impressive and sagely diverse body of perspectives that make
for
informed and informative reading. The Wisdom Of Creation is especially recommended reading
for
members of the Christian community who have an abiding interest with respect to theology as
relevant to past, present, and future environmental issues.
How The Bible Came To Be
John W. Miller
Paulist Press
997 MacArthur Boulevard, Mahwah, NJ 07430
0809141833 $18.95 www.paulistpress.com
How The Bible Came To Be: Exploring The Narrative And Message by John W. Miller
(Professor
Emeritus, Conrad Grebel Univesity College/University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada) is a Bible
study guide that examines the form and message of the Bible as a whole, with especial note on
how,
when, and why each of its diverse components were brought together. Exploring the many factors
that contributed to the Bible's formation, and the intents and goals of those who penned it, How
The
Bible Came To Be offers a wealth of insight into the origin of sacred texts and proffers a wealth
of
background information highly recommended for lay reader and scholar alike. An excellent
historical
and literary scrutiny, presented in plain terms.
Church That Works
Gary L. McIntosh
Baker Book House
PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
0801091616 $16.99 www.bakerbooks.com
Church That Works: Your One-Stop Resource For Effective Ministry by Gary L. McIntosh
(Professor of Christian Ministry and Leadership, Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, La
Mirada, California) is a useful advice guide for pastors. Topics covered include how to assess new
ministry trends, welcoming and following up with newcomers to one's church, revitalizing a
declining church, ministering across generations, leading and compensating one's staff, and much
more. Of especial interest is the insight into the changes the Boomer generation have brought to
American secular and religious society, reinventing and redefining even the stages of life.
Emphasizing practical needs as surely as spiritual, Church That Works is an all-around excellent
reference and resource, highly recommended for anyone charged with tending to the daily
workings
of a church or the spiritual needs of a congregation.
The Christian Almanac
George Grant & Gregory Wilbur
Cumberland House Publishing
431 Harding Industrial Park Drive, Nashville, TN 37211
1581824068 $22.95 1-888-439-2665 www.cumberlandhouse.com
The impressive collaboration of George Grant (Professor of Moral Philosophy, Bannockburn
College, Franklin, Tennessee) and Gregory Wilbur (Professor of Aesthetics, Bannockburn
College,
Franklin, Tennessee), The Christian Almanac: A Book Of Days Celebrating History's Most
Significant People And Events is now in a newly revised and expanded second edition. Day by
day,
it recounts the births and great deeds of remarkable Christian individuals, essays concerning these
notable figures' life and works, scripture readings that allow one to to read through the Bible in
one
year, liturgical feast days and holidays where appropriate, and much more. An immensely packed
treasure trove of reminders why every day is sacred, compiled with an index for easy
reference.
Read The Way You Talk
Jack Hartjes
The Liturgical Press
St. John's Abbey, PO Box 7500, Collegeville, MN 56321-7500
0814629725 $5.95 1-800-858-5450
Read The Way You Talk: A Guide For Lectors was specifically written by Jack Hartjes (an
elementary school teacher, lector, and instructor of lectors at St. Paul's Parish, St. Cloud,
Minnesota) for Catholic clergy and laymen assigned to read the "Liturgy of the Word". This
slender
(56 pages) instructional showcases the principle that readings should be delivered with the
cadences
and vocal inflections normal to ordinary speech to be most effective. Three informed and
informative
lessons are provided to give invaluable and applicable instructions in eighteen distinct areas which
include pronunciation and inflection. While specific to the role of reading the liturgy in a church
setting, Read The Way You Talk is also very highly recommended as a tutorial for anyone having
to
do recitation or readings in any public, clerical, pastoral, or devotional setting.
John Taylor
Reviewer
Truett's Bookshelf
Uncle Yeshu, Messiah
William Harwood
Xlibris.com
ISBN 1401034519, 291 pp, $18.69
reprinted from Pagan Palaver, no. 23
Some things are complicated and involved sufficiently to confound any person trying to explain
with
only limited time or space in which to attempt it. Uncle Yeshu, a biography supposedly written by
his younger nephew, is that kind of book. The reader will know from the first page that the thing
is
fictional, while at the same time, he'll question his own definition if he knows anything
approaching
the truth of the era and locale of its plot and characters. Yeah, you guessed it. Yeshu is one of the
pretenders in Judea at the supposed time of Christ.
Uncle Yeshu is not an admirable, or even a likeable person. Grotesquely deformed, stunted, and
repulsive in looks, combined with a warped personality composed of psychopathic/schizophrenic
syndromes, the man rapidly convinces the reader that he is an extremely questionable Messiah....
and
that, instead of a liability to the book's interest and worth, becomes one of its chief assets, making
of
it in many sections a real page turner.
The story itself, however, is only a fraction of the wealth of information concerning the provable
conditions, beliefs, and people of that long ago seething caldron of ignorance, superstition,
racism,
hate, and fears. That alone makes the price of the book a real bargain, and promotes it to the
"must
read" hall of fame.
As we read and become acquainted with the above described conditions, Yeshu's exploits and
their
results become ever more convincing as a reality of the era. Many actual facts of that era have
been
enemy to the Christian movement since its beginning, and the Church, particularly the Roman
Catholic hierarchy, well as leaders of the Greek Orthodox Catholic giant, have done everything in
their power to obliterate, discredit, or put the lie to all of the things you'll learn in Harwood's
book.
Just for example, fact: During supposed lifetime of Jesus Christ, there were at least 16 other men
parroting the same claims and creating huge followings all over Judea. Six of them were crucified
by
the Romans, and all six were reputed to have risen on the third day, thus freeing humanity from its
otherwise unavoidable fate in eternal Hell.
One of the tragic problems grimly threatening our society and our freedoms today is the
inescapable
reality that most people do NOT want to be informed; they want to be entertained. Thus in many
respects we are little different from the swarms of uninformed, childishly minded dupes for the
Yeshus of those centuries ago. Pomp, pageantry, and glittering ritual do not a God create, nor
fables
a Savior. Do yourself favor. Get your copy of "Uncle Yeshu, Messiah" today.
Mythology's Last Gods: Yahweh and Jesus
William Harwood
Prometheus
ISBN 0879757426, $53.00 416 pp.
reprinted from Pagan Palaver #25
In reviewing several of Dr. Harwood's books I have written that this or that one needs to be
required
reading for every High School and University student in America. You have my absolute
assurance
that this book should be at the top of that list.
Would you really like to know the truth about an Omnipotent, Omniscient God? With brilliant
logic
based on factual proof, Harwood trashes the idea in easy to understand demonstrations that tear
down Religious nincompoopery about it.
If you want to know the provable truths about the creation and evolution of God, this is the
history
of it based on the author's relentless research. But when I mention the "history" of it, don't yawn
and
turn away. The book is most compulsive and keeps the reader eagerly turning pages to gulp in
more
and more. I have never read a book, fiction or nonfiction, as interesting and informative as this
one.
All of us use the terms "mother Nature" and "mother Earth," yet very few people know the origin
of
the tags. The explanation and history of each term is also the story of how and why Gods became
existent. From that beginning we follow their evolution, learning along the way how and for what
reason each came into vogue. Here is the explanation of sacrifices, how they began, and how they
eventually became the prototype for the ultimate sacrifice: a son of God, Jesus the Nazirite being
the
last. (I have mentioned before in these pages that Jesus was only one of at least 16 "sons of gods"
nearly all the result of the god of that era doing a bit of "fugga" with a beautiful earth maid. Oh
yeah,
and always she was a "virgin" of course.
I could go on and on mentioning the landmark points in Harwood's masterpiece. Mentioning
them,
or pointedly and fully discussing them can never do justice to the book itself. Like the shock of an
exposed and live electric wire, one has to "experience" it to know how it feels; descriptions,
however vividly written can never supply it.
Do yourself a favor and be thankful for it in all of your future dealings with "religious" subjects.
Consult the next page for a complete listing of Dr. Harwood's books and where they may be
obtained. Or if you like the lazy route, then order any of them by the title and author name at the
special order desk of any bookstore anywhere.
In the face, as it were, of this book, I am deeply moved by the fact that millions of "Christians" all
over our land will refuse to even read such a thing, and that many of those who do read it, will
totally reject it entirely. That is a very revealing indication of the "intelligence" of the majority of
our
society.
The Autobiography of God
William Harwood
Xlibris.com
ISBN 1401056660, $19.54 325 pp.
reprinted from Pagan Palaver, ## 21 & 23
Over many years, some few of our fellow beings have noted and called attention to the multiple
personalities of the Biblical God. To those sufficiently equipped with ability to read, understand
and
think about what they have learned therefrom, the actual "Holy" depictions of this Biblical Deity
create nothing less than a paradox, no one of His personalities possible, given the next description
to
also have to combine into the whole. Dr Harwood has written of this farcical condition with a
delightful and amusing sense of humor and truth bordering on the macabre. Hughie, Yahweh, and
Pan are the three characters he chose to let speak for themselves as the revered God evolves.
The portrait would perhaps be less compelling had not the author painstakingly begun at the
beginning, where and how each character of Big Daddy in the Sky originated. He began even
before
the Volcanoes, Huge Phallic Idols from carved stone, etc.; then, as development of each
progressed
in the minds of control freaks among men, the final product literally becomes the now-believed-in
three-pronged God.
Each of the trio tells of his trials and tribulations as he gradually grew up and attained more and
more substance in human concept. Let's examine one early transition. We'll eavesdrop on Yahweh
as
he explains his earlier years:
"My original name was Yahuwah. The suffix "-ah" indicated that I belonged to the ruling caste,
the
cunt-bearing caste. Men were mere toys in those days, given to women by the Mother (my oldest
name, but now seldom used) purely for their pleasure."
To Mr. or Mrs. Ordinary Christian that statement would have no meaning, just one of the reasons
Christianity has been so successful. Ah, but to those who have burned midnight oil trying to learn
of
and understand mankind's earliest forbears, the information that Mother (women) were our first
God(s) will not be any surprise. Yahuwah goes on to explain why the saying, "Nothing is older
than
God," is ridiculous. "Anything older than 6,000 years is older than God." And of course he is
right,
to those who have taken the time to learn the facts.
As the author calls first one and then another of his trio to come forth time and again to tell more
and more of the developments, and how each of them reacted to those occurrences, the realism of
the many varied building stones of God run all the way from the sublimely comical to the depths
of
human depravity and ignorance.
The book and its truthfulness will remain a mystery, even if read, by any undoubting Christian.
The
reason of course is that any "undoubting" Christian simply does not have sufficient understanding
nor enough factual data to draw from. It was no merely wisecracking comedian who first said,
"An
ignorance of history compels one to have to repeat it."
On the other hand, for most Freethought people, especially those who long ago could see the
many
self-contradicting facades of The Holy Trinity, Dr Harwood's The Autobiography of God will be a
romp-thru of sheer delight. The best compliment any author can give to another's work is: "Gee, I
wish I had written that." And that is my exact sentiments for this very informative and amusing
masterpiece. (from # 21)
In our pages we have been promoting Harwood's various books for one reason only. He is the
first
writer I have encountered that goes into such intricate detail about literally hundreds of Biblical
discrepancies, errors, self-contradictions, and impossible occurrences, then logically explains the
real
happenings that are now coming more and more to light as trained and dedicated investigators
continue to plow into Religious beliefs, their beginnings, changes and growth in their colorful,
ambiguous and lopsided evolution. All the greats, Ingersoll, Paine, Graves, Jefferson,
Shakespeare,
Galilei, et al, had many identical ideas and were just as acute and accurate in reasoning, but simply
stated their theories without going into great detail as to why their reasoning DID identify the
Bible,
Torah, Koran, etc., etc., as the very poorly written pulp fiction trash all such really are.
Undoubtedly, if freedom of the press survives (which is becoming more and more an endangered
part of our constitutional guarantees every day), William Harwood will one day be recognized and
applauded as one of the truly great philosophers/authors of this or any other era.
But on the other hand, if the dim bulbs our uninformed and unthinking populace have allowed to
take over our government, courts, and schooling, continue to be successful in duping even a bare
majority of our voters, Harwood, me, and many of our fellow rationalists may soon find ourselves
on the "Most Wanted Criminals" list too. (from # 23)
Jack Truett
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
Copyright ©2001
Site design by Williams Writing, Editing &
Design