Clubs Books

This story is truly one-of-a-kind; a labor of love (being dedicated to the author's wife) as well as a tour de force. It can be savored on four levels: first as "simply" a fine and original fantasy novel; second as a clever and "natural" (that is, unforced) interweaving of characters and locales from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Tempest, with a light seasoning of Arthurian themes; thirdly as a masterful adaptation of the language rhythms of a Shakespeare play (with the chapters/acts divided into "scenes"); and finally as an extraordinary, subtle (that is, unobtrusive) integration of poetry (again a la Shakespeare) into prose narative. For example, chapters or "scenes" occasionally end with a rhymed couplet, but that is only the most obvious of the many Excellencies. All four levels are seamlessly incorporated in a most extraordinary manner. The first time I read this book - in 1974 - I was halfway through before I began to realize what the author had achieved. Thus lovers of fantasy can thoroughly enjoy the story, while connoisseurs of the English language will find additional reasons to rejoice. This book is a gem - a masterpiece. I have treasured my paperback copy for 27 years. I assume it is reprinted regularly, but I have never seen it again in bookstores. It deserves a fine hardcover "limited" edition with illuminated script highlights and four-color illustrations by a top artist sympathetic to the genre. I plan to commission one as soon as I win the power ball.

This is one of my two or three favorite Poul Anderson books and one of my top 20 favorite novels, period. It's a combination alternate history-swashbuckler-magical fantasy set in the era of the war between Cavaliers and Roundheads, but with a difference: they have railroads already. Well plotted, well paced, inventive, suspenseful, great descriptions. Not too deep, though--just great fun. Characters: Traditional but not stereotypical hero, heroine, sidekick, villain, a few historical figures, some familiar literary non-humans and a guest cameo appearance by a character from one of my other favorite stories of his. This story makes one really appreciate how well grounded in history and literature Anderson is. He also displays that all-too-rare ability to use the English language of the past with complete accuracy, a skill the lack of which can easily break the spell of an effort which might have otherwise succeeded. Attention English majors: There's one other feature I won't completely give away so as not to spoil your fun of discovery, but I will say--pay close attention to the dialog

This is one of those books you want to keep and read again over the years. It's a historical what if? story. What if there was a world where Shakespeare's stories were history rather than fiction and in this world railroads were built 200 years early? It's a wonderful story with all the elements of fantasy of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" combined with the battle between Royalists and Roundheads in a world of premature steam industry. The only thing that would be more wonderful would be if it were twice as long! This is a book you can read today and it is still as great as when it was written.

I am sometimes sorry I cannot give less than one star to some books I have read (I read hundreds of books professionally). On this occasion I am sorry I cannot give more than five stars.

It is absolutely superb, a perfect jewel of a book which I had never heard of and discovered only by chance. The heroic scale and width of concept, and I say this with all seriousness, can be called Shakespearean. Splendid descriptive writing, action and characters, with resonances at the very centre of great mytho-poetry. I knew Poul Anderson was a great writer, but this took my breath away! The best novel I have discovered in years!

It was bound to happen, an individual life bathed in glorious poetry is about to change form and become public prose as a movie. Be prepared, keep the book close at hand and memory and let others talk prose. You will carry the poetry and the poetry will carry you.

It was bound to happen, an individual life bathed in glorious poetry is about to change form and become public prose as a movie. Be prepared, keep the book close at hand and memory and let others talk prose. You will carry the poetry and the poetry will carry you.

Antonio de Nicolas, the philosopher and poet, has written a very original epic based on his own life experience. I recommend it strongly!

There is, as the title suggests, a fire within, a fire without, and it is also within this book. It is written in a simple and self-effacing style that does not point the way for others, but simply shares something of life lived with a great desire for the Whole of things. The rhythm of the prose poetry is not self-conscious, but rather invites us to be more deeply a participant in our own personal living. We too have had such desires to be part of a great wholeness; maybe we have forgotten them. A book like this can awaken such desires even long buried since our childhood. Professor Antonio di Nicolas writes so that the shift between personal and universal abolishes the distinction between the two. Transcendence is found in quite ordinary life where even amongst our chores we can find the love that moves the stars.

For those in search of a book which does not preach but simply shares what is probably already our own, it can be a book with light on our sometimes darkened footsteps. You can take from this book what you need without being offended.

Bigotry, religion, war and money in the early 1900s all come together n this romance written by Coloradan A. Robert Hill. The story starts with a boy and girl on the banks of the Cuchara River in southern Colorado and follows that boy and girl as life buffets their hopes and dreams. For most of the book, both the boy, Robert, and the girl, Concepcion, are suject to forces outside themselves. Robert is sent to a Catholic college in the east by bigoted parents who want him away from Concepcion and her Hispanic ancestry. Concepcion, whose parents disapproved of her involvement with Robert, marries someone else while Robert is gone and she has a son. Robert, disappointed with Concecion's abandonment and grieving of the deaths of his parents takes his vows and becomes a priest. Robert works among the poor in St. Louis for a while, but eventually ends up back in his hometown of La Plaza de los Leones. Concepcion is still there and an incredible temptation, so Robert takes off again, heading for World War I in Europe and more tests of his faith. The story is good and its only stumbles are a few missed typos that the editor should have caught. The characters are well defined. Readers get to know Robert, caring and hoping that he will eventually find the happiness he has sought for so long.

I think the what I like the most is the way the author places the reader beside his characters. You feel, smell, sense the beauty of Colorado; its vast grasslands, its mountains, its people and their loves. A beautifully told story!

Once in awhile a novel comes along that really grabs me. A. Robert Hill's novel, A Mountain Stands There is one of these that does. From the time the little German boy and the little Hispanic girl swim in the buff, the story dug deep into my mind. Robert Gunther is the little boy and Concepcion de Varga is the little girl. Born and raised on neighboring ranches, the two children become physical lovers the night after they graduate from high school. Like many "White people" in Colorado, the Gunthers do not want their son marrying one from the Brown race. This fact lights the fuse for a story that explodes like Roman candles on the Fourth of July. Through the advice of a former high school lover, Emily Schumann, Gunther sends Robert to a Catholic school in Boston. After a series of tragedies, Robert becomes a priest who does not keep his vows when Concepcion seduces him. The guilt driven priest ends up in a trench in France during the height of World War I. The author through Father Robert Gunther reveals warfare in the European war. The author's description of the fighting during this period is amazing. Wounded, the priest resigns both his Army commission and his black frock and comes home to his ranch in Colorado. I don't want to ruin your enjoyment of this book by telling you more. I will tell you this, from the time you pick this book up, you won't want to put it down! Even though I finished A Mountain Stands There a week ago, the words still throb inside my head.

I just thought I would let you know that I enjoyed the novel,"A Mountain Stands There", as well as a friend of mine in Walsenburg who read the novel. I was especially intrigued by the Hispanic and Anglo relationships that were definitely part of our history and culture, and still prevails today, even though there are more mixed ethnic marriages and less surface prejudice, etc.

How could I have missed this series? I enjoy stories set in this period because my own father was born in 1890; in Kentucky. He was a small-town boy, following the work to Ohio where he and several of his brothers settled.

I can picture him being a member of such a club as the Moosepath League and having small adventures such as author Reid depicts in this series of books. My father was not bumbling like most of these characters, but he was witty and funny and would no doubt have led them on even more exciting adventures.

Reid paints a vivid picture of a small town of the late 80s ... filled with characters who would make entertaining neighbors. They'd certainly liven up any neighborhood with their quaint, old-fashioned, yet quirky fun.

It's obvious this is a satire, and I love satire myself. (I discovered these books because on Amazon.com they were placed beside one of the books I wrote: THE TOONIES INVADE SILICON VALLEY. While the TOONIES does not disparage our lovely Valley in anyway, I certainly delighted in poking a bit of fun at our techie culture ... tongue-in-cheek humor, of course ... as Mr. Reid does in these books.)

Fun reads! Enjoy all four.

I had lunch with Van Reid in August of 2001. He was as fun to talk to as his books are to read! I love the humor, the insight, the intrigue and the adventures of the Moosepath League! I agree that this installment is not as "heavy" as Daniel Plainway (at least to all but Ephram, Eagleton,and Thump!) but all the other elements are present. I laughed out loud several times while flying, which caused my fellow passengers to wonder about me, I am sure. Moxie!

For excellent quality, humor, detailed plots, and kind, likeable characters, you can't beat Van Reid's "Moosepath League" novels. The latest, "Mrs. Roberto", seems to me to be a little lighter in tone than "Molly Peer" or "Daniel Plainway", but is still immensely involving and entertaining. This kind of writing just cannot be found anywhere else today. If you are fond of the classics or nineteenth century American literature, you will love Van Reid.

The willing adventurers of the Moosepath League of Victorian Portland, Maine, have lost none of their good-natured innocence in this fourth adventure, despite entanglements with tavern keepers, loose women, pickpockets, hoboes and worse. Indeed, Van Reid's droll storytelling depends upon it.

Misdirection and misunderstanding form the strong foundation of the meandering and digressive missions of the League's six members, who gather at the Shipswood Restaurant in the spring of 1897 for one of their regular dinners. They raise their water glasses (prohibition has been in effect in Maine for 46 years) to their only female member, Miss Phileda McCannon, who's making a journey to settle her deceased aunt's affairs. Mr. Tobias Walton, their chairman and the oldest at 48, is a bit subdued on this occasion as Phileda has not given an answer to his proposal of marriage.

Joseph Thump, Christopher Eagleton and Matthew Ephram are still in a small state of excitement after nearly running down a tavern keeper named Sparks who could have been Thump's double, but for his workingman's clothing and his high-pitched voice. The youngest member, Walton's faithful assistant Sundry Moss, 23, is the only one who dares to hazard that the crowd of ruffians backing away from the near-accident were pursuing Sparks rather than attempting his rescue.

The trio of Thump, Eagleton and Ephram have not seen the last of Sparks. Walking home through an unfamiliar and doubtful part of town, Thump happens to save a policeman from certain death-by-falling-piano, thereby incurring Mrs. Sparks' heartfelt gratitude for preserving her cousin, the perpetrator, from a murder charge.

This might again have been the end of it, but the trio, inspired by an incident in a play, determine that the lovely balloon ascensionist, Mrs. Roberto, must be in need of rescuing. Their mission leads them to a house of ill-repute (not that they ever realize where they are) and a run-in with the gang that's after Sparks, from which they escape thanks to Sparks' youngest son and his urchin friend who lead them over Portland's slippery rooftops. Sparks' network of less-than-respectable relatives continues to aid the trio as they seek Mrs. Roberto from Bangor to Dresden Mills, taking up with a large party of hoboes along the way.

Meanwhile, Moss, attempting to distract his employer, has taken Walton to visit his uncle in Norridgewock, though they never make it quite that far. The train is delayed in Bowdoinham where Walton is pressed to come to the aid of a glum prize pig. Perplexed by the locals' assumption of his expertise in porcine matters (the reader has been let-in on the misunderstanding), but as willing and easy-going as ever, Walton embarks on a visit to the Ferns, unhappy owners of the depressed pig, where Moss, a farmer's son and a bit more worldly than his fellow Moosepathians, soon susses the problem.

With digressions for the furtherance of romance and good acquaintance, Reid piles misunderstandings upon misunderstandings, constructing a hilarious journey through the towns and by-ways of Maine and the social strata of its best inhabitants. It all culminates in a spectacular and chaotic natural disaster, reuniting the League and necessitating numerous rescues and confusion and some wonderfully vivid writing.

Lots of local color and history round out the adventure. Reid's prose is playful, witty and dry, as well as eloquent and visual. The contrast between the transparent innocence of the steadfastly clueless trio and the sharp wits of Sundry Moss (think young George Burns and Gracie Allen) is a pleasure, further enhanced by the ready-for-anything calm of Toby Walton. Reid (whose Maine roots go back more than two centuries) leaves us with a tantalizing hint of the next to come in the League's adventures. These books are for anyone who enjoys wit and good-natured storytelling in the Dickensian tradition.

As someone who also has a severe mental illness, I find this book to be excellent and inspirational. This book should be read by all whose lives are affected by mental illness in some ways.

Robert H. Gerner, M.D, Assoc. Research Psychiatrist- UCLA:

This is a candid struggle of one woman's anguished mental affliction and resolution experienced through the lens of her earlier gift of music. Patients, families and professional alike can readily feel her inner struggle with distorted perceptions of the world around her, and share in the reconstruction of her identity as an individual.

I just finished reading The Music of Madness and I was amazed at Tracy Harris' ability to draw the reader into her descent into madness. Her descriptions of her hallucinations, hospitalizations and depression are incredibly vivid and they reminded me of my brother, who also suffers from a severe mental illness. Her writing is beautiful and I couldn't put it down once I started. I think anyone who has suffered from mental illness could benefit from reading this book. The author's message is one of incredible hope. I have given this book to my brother to read so that he too can see that it truly is possible to lead a rewarding life, even with a severe mental illness. It was fascinating to witness the author's great talent for music and her mind's terrible madness merge into one incredible and unique experience. Bravo to the author for having the courage to share her painful mental illness with the world. Through sharing her story the author affords us all a better understanding of those that are suffering everyday with mental illness!

The Music of Madness is a book about a talented concert flutist and her harrowing journey from sanity into madness and back again. This true story is an odyssey that takes you through the dark cells of mental institutions to the lighted stages of concert halls. One is able to travel with the author as she journeys from her innocent childhood to the dark world of hallucinations, her face-off with death and her emergence into the light of hope and final triumph as she reclaims her career and more importantly her sanity and her right to live life as it was meant to be. The Music of Madness is an inspirational book for all those who have felt the anguish and hopelessness of mental illness either for themselves or for a loved one. This painfully honest story is a source of renewed faith in life and provides everyone who reads it with a stronger belief in the strength of the human spirit. This book brings to everyone's library an exciting adventure full of truth, and the qualities that all of us share in surviving this chancy yet exciting existence we call life.

Also recommended: A Beautiful Mind

To watch my child enjoy reading Christian novels gives me great joy! I have always enjoyed my own and when I discovered the wholesomeness in a children's book for my childs age...Woo Hoo! Simple reading with great lesson.

I think your books are great they are so cool!!!!! I think you should write more of these books I learned alot from these books.

Calie cat

This book is so funny, I read it several times! In this book, Patience, the three cousins, third cousin, is telling tall tales. When she tells a tall tale about dancing angels, Timothy, Titus, and Sarah-Jane, don't believe her. Have they stumbled upon another mystery or is this just another one of Patience's tall tales?

This is the best book that Elspeth has made!

Three cunning ten year olds try to solve the mystery of the dancing angels... read this book to find out more!

Reviewed by India Furney (age 12) for Reader Views (12/07)

Eleven-year-old Bailey hasn't seen her Dad since he left when she was one. Now, all of a sudden, he turns up on Sugar's (Bailey's grandma) doorstep AND he has with him Bailey's half-sister that she didn't even know existed! Her name is Norma Jean and she looks perfect, perfect hair, perfect smile and Bailey hates her!

When Norma Jean comes to stay, Bailey creates the NO SISTERS SISTERS CLUB with her two best friends, Emily and Amber. No sisters allowed and that includes Norma Jean! Eventually, Bailey decides that having a sister isn't so bad after all.

I liked "No Sisters Sisters Club" a lot and really enjoyed reading it. I could relate to the Sisters Club because I have three friends and we call ourselves "sisters." I think this is great for girls ages 8-13.

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Because her mother travels, 11-year-old Bailey stays with her grandmother in central Virginia. The surprise arrival of her father and an annoying half-sister Norma Jean sets in motion the creation of a club with Bailey's friends (who are more like sisters to her than Norma Jean) to which her step-sister is not allowed to join. Then there is the problem of Justin (who used to bully Bailey), a cat-snatcher, and a man trying to burn down an old house. But more than any of these issues, is Bailey's father meaning to kidnap her and take her away from her grandmother while her mother is away? No Sisters Sisters Club is the sequel to Linda Salisbury's The Wild Women Of Lake Anna and continues the "Bailey Fish Adventure" series which is especially recommended to young readers ages 8 to 12.

Because her mother travels, 11-year-old Bailey stays with her grandmother in central Virginia. The surprise arrival of her father and an annoying half-sister Norma Jean sets in motion the creation of a club with Bailey's friends (who are more like sisters to her than Norma Jean) to which her step-sister is not allowed to join. Then there is the problem of Justin (who used to bully Bailey), a cat-snatcher, and a man trying to burn down an old house. But more than any of these issues, is Bailey's father meaning to kidnap her and take her away from her grandmother while her mother is away? No Sisters Sisters Club is the sequel to Linda Salisbury's The Wild Women Of Lake Anna and continues the "Bailey Fish Adventure" series which is especially recommended to young readers ages 8 to 12.

New Salisbury mystery a read for all ages
James Abraham
Literary Critic
Charlotte Sun-Herald

The last time we saw Bailey Fish, she was learning how to live with a new family member, her grandmother, after the 12-year-old's divorced mother had shipped her off to live with Grandma Sugar.

That was in "The Wild Women of Lake Anna," the first Bailey Fish book by former Charlotte Harbor resident Linda Salisbury. Now Bailey's back with new problems in "No Sisters Sisters Club," (8:95, Tabby House).

The title should be clue enough to Bailey's problems. But first some background. Her mother, a journalist, decided to send Bailey from her Florida home to live with her grandmother while pursuing an assignment in South America.

Like most young children, Bailey's foremost fear was that of losing her friends and having to make new ones in a new land. But her Virginia grandmother, who's as sweet as her appellation, soon wins her over, As those familial pains are resolved and Bailey blossoms in her new home, she helps solve an environmental mystery by tracking down the miscreant who had been poisoning the lake of the title.

In that book Salisbury did a good job of presenting a writer's palimpsest, a story layered over another tale, which appealed to readers of various bents. Those who were big on feeling empathized with the displaced Bailey, while readers with a love for mystery and adventure found common cause with detective Bailey.

Salisbury repeats that syncopated storytelling style in ""Sisters," as Bailey's adjustment to more members of a family she barely knew is juxtaposed with her struggle against land pirates.

Imagine waking up one day and finding out that you suddenly had a father and three siblings as well. Worse, one of them was a sister, who would be coming to stay at your place and paw over your things.

Well, that's about the size of the challenge facing Bailey, who must overcome the demons in her nature to learn to accept the new elements of her family. How she does so is played out against the backdrop, literally, of an old, abandoned house on land an unscrupulous developer would love to buy.

In crafting a juvenile thriller with a heart, Salisbury shows that she understands the craftiness of writing. Plot is key, but a plot alone is not enough. Readers must be made to feel for the lead characters. The plot must act as resistance training, pushing the main character to exhibit new muscles of the head, heart and soul.

Bailey's initial reaction to meeting her long-lost father and her half-sister is churlish, but also predictable. How would any of us react if suddenly confronted with family we never knew? Sure, as adults we may be cordial and may even welcome some new blood in such circumstances. But for a child, such a revelation carries with it threats and dangers of displacement and disorientation.

Hence the early challenge, which Bailey must surmount to not only be a better person, but to also move the book along.

Bailey pulls a Columbus, taking the long way around. In doing so, she makes the reader respect and admire her not only for her heart, but also because she shows she has a brain.

One inside joke I love about the two books in Salisbury's series is that the author assiduously pushes reading. "Sisters" opens with Bailey reading one of L. Frank Baum's "Oz" books, and is sprinkled with references to reading buddies and books. There, beneath the mystery and the story of the heart, lies a third layer-the proliferation of literacy.

Salisbury understands that these are new times, in which nuclear families have been exploded with all the power and psychic damage of a nuclear bomb. In these new times, we need new books to raise our children well.

"Sisters" fills that bill nicely.

(...)

This book gives you a glimpse into a vast wilderness region that few know, even those that live in the northeast. It is a story that encompasses the land, people, history, culture, and environmental issues.

A fantastic, well written, visually captivating reflection of the beauty of the wild places of new england...a one of a kind book and a must have.

A finalist for the 2003 Independent Publisher Award, Stephen Gorman's Northeastern Wilds: Journeys Of Discovery In The Northern Forest is a stunning tour of adventure and wonder amidst remote woodland beauty. Captivating photographs of natural beauty and unique words of wisdom, memory, and appreciation for nature's bounty distinguish this very highly recommended informative and simply beautiful pictorial "great outdoors" northeastern tour.

The Northern Forest is an area of twenty-six million acres that stretches from Adirondack Park in New York through Vermont, New Hampshire, and most of Maine. "Northern Wilds: Journeys of Discovery in the Northern Forest" consists of historical information about this area as well as the author's personal experiences. The author provides detailed descriptions and commentary of the various facets of the Forest. These descriptions include what one might expect while hiking in the area in different seasons, canoeing the rivers, or camping as well as how the area is changing due to development, logging, and other ecological factors.

Filled with stunningly beautiful photographs, it made me want to visit the Northern Forest at my first opportunity. A recommended read, but worth the price just for the pleasure of enjoying the photography.

This is an invaluable reference book on early oak furniture, which is neccessary for anyone who wishes to have an understanding of the subject. It is both full of expert knowledge explained in a clear concise manner and also contains numerous photographs of the furniture which is depicted in an organised chronogical order that clarifies the text.

This is the most informative book I have seen on all subjects of wooden furniture and does not limit itself to only oak. It describes in great detail the facts on why varying woods were used in each time period due to availability and why only certain trades were allowed to do specific work due to guild laws. The descriptions and photos are amazing, ( WARNING, you will be spellbound for hours looking at these...:) ), and the index at the back of the book uses the best system that I have seen by far, each picture is displayed in thumbnail size pictures and arranged by catagory. Simply look at the index section for chairs, see the thumbnail photo of the one you seek and the page location is written underneath. Family and friends borrow this book so much that I have often contemplated buying a second copy just to be sure of having it around all the time...:) This book will never go out of date. If you only ever buy one book on earlier woodworking, this is the one you must see. Would also make the best coffee table book I've ever seen.... Its BIG, its impressive and its the best, what more could you wan't?

This is a great book, it has so many photos I could not count them, then has them all in the index - a photo of each item, making it easy to locate any specifically. My only complaint is the photos are not colour but it would cost 4x as much (but perhaps would be worth that price).

if you have an interest in the development of early furniture . . . and how to recognize real pieces that are still on the market . . .and still surprisingly available . . .this is perhaps the definitive book out there . . . it is highly recommended despite how costly it is . . .

It's a shame this book is out of print. It captured high school perfectly. I still check it out of the library when I need a good laugh.

This book is a story about a group of misfits in a normal school. These guys formed their own club called The Obnoxious Jerks, and now they're out to do stuff! What kind of stuff, you ask? No one really knows!!! But they start with dishing out cow brains and end up wearing skirts to school as a uniform protest. This book is hilarious. It had me laughing for hours.

This book is one of the better ones that I have read. In fact, it's one of the best. Okay. The story is about these guys who call themselves the Obnoxious Jerks, (if you read the book, you'll see why). They are at this school where there's all these rules and regulations. They just try to change the rules or tell what they think of the rules by doing protests and stuff. They called them jerk-outs, and woah, are they funny. At one point, actually the beginning starts at this point but then backtracks to show how they got to this time, they wear skirts to school to protest the no shorts rule. Remember, these are guys we are talking about here! There are also lots of conflicts within the story, of course without a conflict, what do you have? Nothing. One of the biggest conflicts is between Leslie "The Iceberg" Freeze and Back's best friend Joe. All I can say is that you need to read this great book. It shows the smart people with the imagination and perseverance to get things done. This book should go to all the weirdo's out there. The smart ones that are a little offbeat, not the same as everybody else. As a weirdo myself, I can identify with this book. It's a good book that everybody should read. I give this book three thumbs up.

If there was any book that should never have gone out of print it was this one. Just thinking about it makes me laugh. Definitely one of the best books ever written. It is perfect for teenagers and those of us older who like to pretend we aren't and just need a good laugh. It captures the high school perfectly and lets us have fun with it.