J Books

Great book if you ever wanted to know how and where the names of some of the most popular booze came from. ie. tanqurey, capn morgans, JD, Vermouth, ect

This is a great book especially for those of us in the industry; i.e. THE BARTENDERS! If you are always looking for trivia to present to your guests at the bar then buy this book and hit them with some fun facts about what they are drinking. I always wondered why BEEFEATER gin got that name and how the character on the label came to be called a "Beefeater".
The book is wriiten in down to earth lingo without a lot of tech talk. It is a thoroughly entertaining addition to a mixologists' reference library.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I found the contents informative and entertaining. I have expanded my liquor cabinet greatly due to reading this book. In fact, it made me want to run out and buy a bottle of Booker's at 1:00am on a work night. This book is an excellent way to learn more about the origins of your favorite spirits.

What a great read. Educational, humorus and really informative. Sometimes with the PR, you aren't always sure what's what, but Baime gives you all the good stuff. I ended up purchasing 5 copies for gifts for the holidays.

Take equal parts history, humor, and mixology. Shake well and pour liberally into a slim paperback. The result is "Big Shots: The Men Behind the Booze" by magazine editor A.J. Baime. More than just another bartending book, "Big Shots" details the lives of colorful characters such as Jim Beam, Jack Daniel, and Johnnie Walker, whose 19th-century exploits laid the foundations for today's corporate behemoths.
According to research by Adams Beverage Group, Americans consumed 153 million cases of distilled spirits in 2002. Yet few know the history behind their favorite drinks. Despite barroom legend, the Martini evolved from an 1880s concoction invented in Martinez, California. The French monk Dom Perignon didn't discover bubbly wine, he just made it popular. True tequila never has a worm.
Baime reveals the liquor industry's dirty little secrets (Smirnoff brand vodka is actually as American as apple pie) and answers some practical drinking questions (Just what the heck is vermouth anyway?). He also offers little-known nuggets of knowledge, some of which are surprising (Jack Daniel began making whiskey at the tender age of nine), others less so (Captain Morgan was a murderer and a rapist who drank himself to death). The book's snappy narrative has an irreverent, lighthearted tone that betrays Baime's editorial background with magazines such as "Maxim" and "Playboy."
The impact of Prohibition on the liquor industry is a recurring theme, and stories of moonshiners and rumrunners abound. When the Eighteenth Amendment was finally repealed in 1933, American distillers had to play catch up with their Canadian and European counterparts, who for a decade had quietly grown rich encouraging the smuggling of their products. A British gin maker even used packaging designed to float, so if a few cases "accidentally" fell overboard near the American coastline, they could be easily recovered by thirsty Yanks. Baime explains that thanks in part to this little trick, Tanqueray is still the bestselling gin in the U.S. today.
"Big Shots" is not a comprehensive bartender's guide. Drink ingredients are listed as a sidebar only when relevant to the main text. Differences in related liquors, such as Irish whiskey versus Scotch whiskey, are clarified for the social drinker. The author also gives a crash course on cryptic liquor terminology, such as the strange markings found on cognac bottles.
Even teetotalers will appreciate this clever little book. After all, where else can you find corporate history sharing the page with a recipe for Irish Coffee?

First of all, THANK YOU for "Black Raspberries and Other Tales". Thank you for sharing your wonderful stories and imagination with the rest of the world. I'm blown away!

This is a collection of stories that: take us to places we would never want to be with 'Black Raspberries', make us think about things we never thought about before with with 'Hi, My Name is Kelly!', and totally surprises us with 'Tickles'. You, sir, are a masterful story-teller!

My favorite story was 'Tickles'. I thought I had it figured out, but then Campbell totally surprised me. I love O. Henry-type endings, and this is one. I laughed with 'Uncle Roscoe's Thumb' which was more along the line of a personal essay with its conversational tone. I enjoyed this one too.

With 'Black Raspberries', the most Stephen King-ish of the stories, the descriptions had me riveted until I had to finish it. With 'Road Kill, et al', I was forced to think about my own mortality and how life is a day-to-day gamble, which no one likes to think about, or we wouldn't leave our homes. 'Chat' was excellent, with a twist of an ending. I really thought I had that one figured out too, but then Campbell surprised me. 'Vincent's Nerve' made me laugh. 'Hi My Name is Kelly' made me cheer for Jackson, the hero, and also made me think about the hypocrisy of the whole internet lawlessness and our legal system.

You can 'hear' King's influence in some of the stories, but Campbell definitely has his own "voice". I can only compare them to Twilight Zone-type stories where Rod Serling comes out and introduces the macabre tale that is about to unfold.

Since this was a collection of early writings, Campbell's raw talent shines through brightly. If this is the level of talent he possessed in early works, I can't wait to see a new collection of stories from him now that he is more experienced. Don't keep us waiting! Great read!

Carniverous plants??? You had me by the second page, J.L.. You had me by the second page, my friend. I usually don't like horror too, much, but "Black Raspberries" drew me into the story, much like being around a campfire and listening to the actual storytellers. Hubby had to remind me a couple of times it was past midnight to make me stop reading.

As you read this collection of campfire and other tales, you envision a cozy fire, a roasted marshmallow or two and a madman lurking in your very midst. You feel the anticipation as he makes his way toward you~suddenly the atmosphere changes and you hear the comforting voice of J.L. Campbell as he reassures you that he is only telling a tale and you are safe once more~or are you?
Written with New England wit and wisdom, Black Raspberries and Other Tales will delight its readers with a realism that most of us possess but few have the nerve to admit. J.L. Campbell has that nerve and is well on his way to being the next "King" of horror. Awesome, wicked read!

This collection of short stories by J. L. Campbell is a great asset to any book collection. Full of high tales of fantasy and mystery, the stories are short and engrossing. The stories are deep and yet short, entertaining yet chilling. Could Campbell be our next big mystery writer? I can't wait for the next one. *****

In Black Raspberries and Other Tales J. L. Campbell has brought together a collection of happenings melded into a whirlpool of fantasy. The reader spins there helplessly until the author expels him.
"Black Raspberries" is really the only short story in the collection. Its vivid characters assume life and jump off the page with realism. A plethora of unexpected descriptive phrases contributes to the unorthodox clarity of the heart stopping action. When the reader concludes the story, he is breathless from the tension it created.
The other "tales" are really slices of life and glimpses into previously undreamed of situations. One progresses through the segments wondering what will take place next. Although the tales are unrelated, Campbell ties them together with fragments of personal commentary leading the reader seamlessly from one to the next. Frequently one reads a sentence and stops short wondering just what Campbell meant. Re-reading confirms the author's grasp of heretofore unrealized reality. Just when you think you have zoned in on the purpose of a tale, an unexpected turn leaves you clueless again.
A writer usually has some significant goal to reach and leads the reader down that pathway. But Campbell entices the person who reads to the very edge of an abyss, then leaves him hanging there. I will undoubtedly go back and re-read this book in an attempt to discover "Did I grasp his message?" If his purpose was to puzzle, Campbell succeeded admirably. Long after you put down the book you will periodically wonder, "What did he really mean by that tale?" Black Raspberries and Other Tales can be correctly described in many ways, but one of those will certainly not be dull.

It can be hard enough to come to terms with family and identity when one is not adopted. Imagine growing up the transracial adoptee of a white family in a tiny working class town in rural Massachusetts (read: all white). Moreover, you are biracial and subject to putdowns and jibes by "full-blooded" members of your race. This background makes up the first part of Catherine McKinley's compulsively readable memoir. The second part is her search for her roots, and her reckoning when she finds those roots and they are not quite what she expected.

McKinley has a superb ear for dialogue and mood. Moreover, The Book of Sarahs is so full of suprises that sometimes it's like reading a thriller. McKinley starts out by giving us her fantasy of her birth mother that carried her through her youth (most adoptees have one)...and part of the fun of the book is seeing just how different reality is from her fantasy, again and again. McKinley also writes with wonderful humor and subtle characterizations that make it difficult to dislike anyone in her book despite their foibles. Finally, I can't agree with other reviewers that McKinley was cruel to her adoptive family. Her adoptive parents clearly understood her journey, and by the end of the book she intimated that she had resolved her issues with them.

Don't miss this one...one of the best I've read this year!

This book touched me to the core! Catherine's story is searingly honest, human, passionate and moving. Inspite of being extremely busy I could not put it down from the time it was delivered until 3am when I had finished it. This tour de force not only addresses issues of adoption, identity, race and prejudice but also how one's environment and circumstances affect one's own perception of events and experiences. It is the best book I have read in years!

I beg to differ with some of the other customer reviews posted for The Book of Sarahs. Reality is messy. Members of the adoption triad--birthparents, adoptees, and adoptive parents--share a complicated, emotionally charged relationship from the moment the adoptee is born. There are one thousand and one reasons why birthmothers feel that relinquishment is the best possible choice for their child; there are just as many reasons why adoptive parents choose to raise a non-biological child. But the adoptee has the most to gain or lose. In my twenty-six years as a birthmother, I am continually amazed by the infinite variety of paths triad members have traveled, yet we're all connected by the same feelings of uncertainty, wistfulness, and longing for what might have been. Thankfully, adoption today is much more open, kinder, gentler; many studies have documented the impact of adoption on all triad members, and there are fewer black holes than there were a generation or more ago. Catherine McKinley's personal story of life as an adopted Black child raised in a white family and predominately white community will captivate readers. One does not have to a member of the adoption community to appreciate her search for self. Ms. McKinley's prose is a pleasure to read, a beautifully, richly written story of relationships that readers will find hard to put down.

Catherine went searching for the truth and she found it. It was reality and not a made up story with a happy ending. I believe that she was very self serving in telling the story. I felt she did not really appreciate the parents who raised her, until the very end. I wondered how they felt after reading this book. She certainly laid out all her complaints about them. I personally could relate to her mother, who was doing the very best she could for a rather unappreciative daughter.
On the other hand, I think I gained some insight to what it was like to grow up black in a white world, not easy at all. I'm glad she was able to tell this story with as much depth and clarity as she did.
This story also brings to light the plight of the children of a middle class woman who had several children and didn't choose to acknowledge or care for them. What about birth control? Yes, she was mentally ill, but I wonder if we can excuse her for that.

In the last several years I have done the research that reunited my husband (in his 60's) with the birth mother who gave him up. The search was very interesting and it was a miracle how it all came together. The story has a bittersweet ending, since his birth mother passed away within a year of their reunion.

This is a great story and I couldn't put it down.

This book tells the tale of Catherine McKinley's search for her birth parents. McKinley, who is biracial, was adopted at birth. Brought up in a White family, she found herself drawn towards African American culture in her search for building her own identity. As an adult, questions about who she was and how she came to be gradually took over the focus of her life. In this book, she details how she searched for her birth parents and eventually found them, as well as other family members.

From reading the blurb on the back cover of the book, I had expected the book to focus more on McKinley's experiences of growing up as an adopted biracial child. I have very little experience myself with issues relating to adoption, and I had no idea how consuming the questions of identity and family can be for an adopted child. Prospective adoptive parents might learn quite a bit from this book about how adopted children may have an unquenchable thirst for knowing their birth parents, a thirst that can taint relationships between them and their adopted family members if not handled appropriately. Adoptees, on the other hand, may be quite interested to read how McKinley proceeded in her search, and how the results of her search compared with her dreams. The emotional issues concerning adoption are never easy to reconcile; after all, every adoption starts with a tragedy that has resulted in parents having to give up their children. The children and all of their parents, both adopted and birth, must spend the remainder of their lives putting the pieces back together.

The Bucky Wilson Story is a wonderful adventure for children of all ages, whether a read-to-me story for a pre-reader, or a book for the more experienced reader. Bucky Wilson shows children that you don't need to be big in size to be important, that the size of your heart and your courage is much more important. With Christmas just around the corner, this book makes for a perfect gift!

This book is a very educational read and helps get the Southampton swim team pumped up! A must read for all Southampton swimmers and people interested in Russian midget circus clowns!

This book is teeming with wit that parents will enjoy as well as a grand sense of imagination and creativity that children will cherish. Despite being what some might call an uptight "yuppie" high school principal, I love it nearly as much as my kid! I've read it to my son Sam and even my colleague Keith's son Ronnie about 6 times through, simply because we all enjoy it so much. The 124 pages ensure that it won't just be another picture book you can read your kids in one night. You can spend a few weeks on it, and your kids will want to hear it over and over, so you save money on children's books! It is a story of resiliance that teaches good lessons, and the amount of creativity captured in the tale is incredible. What is more incredible is that this David J. Stott unfortunately has no other books to buy; however, I check the site frequently, anticipating any possible future work of his. He is a talent to say the least, and his ability to appeal to youngsters is something I could sure use in the faculty of my high school! In conclusion, this is a book you should order right away--your kid will be so hooked on it that he or she might even read it on their own (if old enough), and reading is surely a much safer activity than many others that appeal to children these days, such as dodgeball, MTV, and the like. There are some big kids that play dodgeball these days...

hey this book is very cool! i think everyone should read it.. even if u r afraid of clowns!! the clown in this book is the bestest clown ever!! so anyways i recomend this book to anyone!! 4 all ages!

This is a great book and represents my circus very well. Bucky was a true hero and he will be remembered forever.

Cache Lake Country stands up to the test of time. Out of print now, it is still as relevant and beautiful a testament to the outdoor experience of Rowlands, Kane, and Chief Tibeash as it was in the 50's. If you love nature and the solitary experiences of the wilderness then you'll love this book.

Rowlands is a marvelous writer, for sure, but I was totally smitten with the outstanding black-and-white illustrations of the highly talented illustrator, Henry B. Kane, who brought, humor, fine draughtsmanship, art, and passion together for this book. It's reminiscent in some ways of Joseph Wood Krutch's "The Voice of the Desert" and Abby's "Desert Solitaire" but it takes place in the North Woods (some say Quebec, others say Ontario). I liked this book even better than the two aforementioned because of the great teamwork of Rowlands and Kane.

Don't we all wish we knew someone like J.J. Rowlands. What a life! He should have been a father; what a wealth of information he might have imparted... ...and what delivery! Couldn't put it down. Thank goodness he left us his book.

I reviewed this book several years ago, and after accidently stumbling upon my review, the same images, smells, and excitement still come to mind. I just purchased an old copy at many times the original price, and I can't wait to read it again after more than thirty years. It still amazes me to thnk that a simple diary of life in a bygone distant frontier could elicit such a Technicolor panorama in the mind of the reader. Everyone should read this book. It's good for the soul.

I can only echo the other reviewers to date: this is simply the finest and most memorable book from my youth. The painstaking black and white line drawings embellish a story of life in the Canadian backwoods. The author was well aware that his was a disappearing way of life, when he spent time as a timber overseer on a remote Canadian lake, and his obvious care in crafting his recollections shows his love for that life. I was fortunate enough in my youth to have a chance to canoe 200 miles of Canada not all that far from Cache Lake country - and can only say that Rowland's account rings true. I have made some of the recipies, perched on rock shores above sparkling Canadian waters. I can only add that in a world of quick fixes and patent falsehoods, Cache Lake Country is a collection of truths. If books can truly be friends, this is a best friend.

Back in the prehistoric days of the 1970's, I found this small book in my school library. Despite it's small size, it became, and has always been a bible of life in the northwoods. No politics, no social agenda, just a detailed blueprint of the pleasures and perils of living far from the city. The book covers the basics of shelter and winter warmth. It instructs the reader in a variety of skills ( from keeping oatmeal warm until breakfast, to making snowshoes to get along in mid-winter). All in all, I recall it as the first docu-drama that I ever had the pleasure to read. Though it can be labeled as non fiction (of the instructive kind), it has the ability to build endles dreams of pioneer life in the mind of most any reader.

This is one of the best action adventure books I have ever read. The story takes off from page one and the action never stops. I think the Texas Rangers are great.

This book is a well written, well researched story about a Texas Ranger and his family during the Civil War and post Civil War Texas. From first page to last, I couldn't put "Call To Glory, The Life and Times of a Texas Ranger" down and recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading western and Civil War stories. The realistic dialogue brings the characters to life and takes the reader back to an exciting era in American History.

Reading "Call To Glory" must be done slowly and deliberately to feel the full impact of the story. I read the story slowly so that I could absorb and truly feel the emotions felt by the main characters in the story.

There are no punches pulled. It is very graphic in the description of the cruelness in fighting a war or Indians, and how men are reduced to the level of animal cunning in an effort to survive.

The sadness and loneliness felt by the women left behind compounded the problems for the men who left for war or Ranger duty. The women were struggling to operate a farm and care for a family while the men struggled to survive the daily challenges with the constant worry of the welfare of the family back home.

The authors brought out the qualities and strong fibers of the main characters which helped them endure the calamities of life and setting a gauge for others to follow.

"Call To Glory" should be made into a movie as it ranks in quality with "Gone With The Wind" and "Lonesome Dove."

Ramiro "Ray" Martinez
Retired Sergeant Texas Rangers Co. "D"

Reading "Call To Glory" must be done slowly and deliberately to feel the full impact of the story. I read the story slowly so that I could absorb and truly feel the emotions felt by the main characters in the story.

There are no punches pulled. It is very graphic in the description of the cruelness in fighting a war or Indians, and how men are reduced to the level of animal cunning in an effort to survive.

The sadness and loneliness felt by the women left behind compounded the problems for the men who left for war or Ranger duty. The women were struggling to operate a farm and care for a family while the men struggled to survive the daily challenges with the constant worry of the welfare of the family back home.

The authors brought out the qualities and strong fibers of the main characters which helped them endure the calamities of life and setting a gauge for others to follow.

"Call To Glory" should be made into a movie as it ranks in quality with "Gone With The Wind" and "Lonesome Dove."

Ramiro "Ray" Martinez
Retired Sergeant Texas Rangers Co. "D"

Call To Glory: The Life And Times Of A Texas Ranger collaborative written by Michael and Marilyn Gilhuly is an emphatic, gripping historical fiction novel of bravery, heroism, sacrifice, and a proud way of life. Three brothers must fight, first in the civil war and later putting on the silver badge of a Ranger to protect the innocent against the perils of the frontier. Call To Glory is an exciting Texas western from first page to last!

Great book for any cat lover

author of "Hobo Finds A Home"

Catkin, the small kitten that can be held in the palm of a hand was an innocent cat just trying to help his owner/friend out! Oneday when he was out with his owner he left for a second to chase a butterfly. Little did he know that at that very same moment his friend had been captured with the dreaded little people. Now Catkin is on a mission to find, and save his beloved friend! The question is, will Catkin ever see her again? You will just have to see by buying the book, I strongly incourage this book to be bought! My all time favorite! Especially for the little ones(good bedtime story)

This book is wonderful, it creates a tale that holds a childs interest right through to the end and leaves them feeling happy. I have read it to my own 12 and 10 year old as well as a class full of second and third graders, all of them loved it!

As a collector of illustrated children's books, I consider this recent addition to my collection to be the newest "crown jewel." I only regret that it's not available in hardback. If you like Kinuko Craft (and who doesn't?!), you'll love P.J. Lynch's illustrations. A beautifully written book that is also beautifully illustrated. I can only hope Barber & Lynch do future collaborations...

This beautiful book was a gift from a bookcrossing friend for Yule, 2003. I intend to read this with my nephew, and niece, and someday bequeath it to them (likely when they're a little bit older and less likely to rampage a book). For now it'll be "that book Uncle 'Nathan brings and reads to us."

The story itself is beautifully illustrated and told with a light, spare sort of prose that leaves nearly everything to your imagination, and yet tells you just enough to give your imagination one huge shove in the right direction.

Little Catkin is a gift from a wise woman to a family with only one daughter. The wise woman forsees a danger in the child's future, and Catkin is left as a protector. When his curiosity fails the child, Catkin has to go rescue her from the Little People, and his courage and wit is a delight to read.

This was such a pretty story, and reminded me so vividly of Persephone/Demeter/Hades, and other classic mythology. Very well written, and a joy - as I think I've said three times now - to look at.

Definitely one to add to your list!

'Nathan

I have been recommending this book to everyone since I read it before a trip to Kenya a year and a half ago. Donovan goes back to the roots of a Christian faith that was originally spread by going from group to group, and letting them hear the gospel and decide together. Many young adults and youth are now involved in "tribes" and "clusters" and this book has a lot to say to those who are in relationship with them
It also challenges the assumptions of our Western mentality of bringing people to our church, of living apart. Donovan realized that living in a mission compound was not the way to share the good news of Jesus. Instead, the missionaries needed to go out and visit and live with those that they cared about, in his case, the Masai tribe.
I talked to several African friends about their opinions of mission stations. One man, from Liberia, said that they had never understood why the missionaries didn't move into their village, but chose to live apart. Then he started to smile and said, "But when the danger came, they moved into the village with us rather quickly!" When is the church in the West going to move out of their Christian compounds?
It is good to follow this book with Michael Hirsch's book on Forgotten Ways. I would recommend it for church boards who are thinking of the future, and for ministers considering campus ministry or new church starts.

Many times a good churchgoer approaches me in my ministry with doubts about organized religion. I always recommend this book, as it offers a practical and spiritual understanding of Christian faith and faith communities. It is a lively and inspiring account of new Christian communities in Africa. Although this book is written by a Catholic priest, it speaks to the heart of any Christian.

This book was required reading for my Master's in theology. The book opened my eyes in the aspect of the realization that to bring Christ to different cultures one must understand that culture. It does not matter if the culture is in Old Africa or modern day Chicago. I would rate the book high on my list of books to read.

This book is quite insightful concerning missionary work in East Africa. It also digs deeply to bring to the suface the core message of the Gospel. This book will challenge you to reconsider your beliefs and approach to evangelism. Highly readable and deeply insightsfull, this is a great work.

A documentary of one man's experience as a missionary to the Masai of East Africa, but much more. Challenges long-held views on both the purpose and the method of missions while maintaining an unwavering committment to the gospel.

Quotation: "Dear Bishop, ...Suddenly I feel the urgent need to cast aside all theories and discussions, all efforts at strategy--and simply go to these people and do the work among them for which I came to Africa. ...just go and talk to them about God and the Christian message. Outside of this, I have no theory, no plan, no strategy, no gimmick, no idea of what will come. I feel rather naked. I will begin as soon as possible...."

Women everywhere will applaud the writings found within Whitehouse's Circles in the Sand. There is a little bit of every woman's story in her story. There are some parts of her story that some women will never experience. But the one universal truth in Whitehouse's story is that women who take necessary risks to search their souls and define themselves reach a point of being keenly aware of who they are.

From the Dedication page: "To my family - this is who I am." With that one powerful statement, Whitehouse drew me in and didn't let me go until I reached the final word of this powerful book.

Circles in the Sand is Whitehouse's very personal memoir of her quest to understand the events of her past and to move beyond them. Daring to do what few women would dare to do, Whitehouse travels through the Middle East on an emotional and spiritual journey to "find herself." What she found by the time she had completed her journey was the window into her soul and a degree of self-love, self-acceptance and confidence that allowed her to share her journey with others.

From the About the Author page: "Edna Whitehouse now goes by the name 'Samadhi,' which means 'Being one with the Divine and being in the moment.'" "A writer who has never forgotten what it feels like to be young and be silenced, Samadhi's messages are: Break the cycle of dysfunction. Be heard. Take back your own power. Go girls!"

The author's work deals with a number of very painful topics, including incest, homophobia and the brutal devaluing of women in the cultures of the Middle East. Through such specific topics and through some very common threads in the lives of all women, readers come to know not only Whitehouse, but the Middle East through her eyes and the beauty in women basking in the midst of other women to claim or re-claim their power.

Whitehouse is currently working on a second book titled Separated at Birth. With her comfortable writing style and her depth of character and substance, I will be eagerly awaiting this book's release!

by Lee Ambrose
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

Dear Samadhi:

Hope all is well. I am finally at the library, and have the time to share my thoughts with you about your book. I manage to get here only once or twice a week. I am getting ready for a trip to England next week, something that is adding to the busyness of my lifestyle.

We met and chatted at your booth during the Body, Soul, & Spirit Expo in Calgary in April 2006.. It was just after I retired from the Alberta Government as a social worker in the child protection field. I read about half the book, and {personal life issues arose}. Your book remained untouched until recently when I managed to finish it.

I am part of two spiritual groups in Calgary and they are a good stabilizing influence. Both teachers are women who are connected to a current that I resonate with at the present time.

When I finished your book, I felt deep appreciation that I had been exposed to your journey, but traumatized over what you experienced, as a child and a woman. Though I encountered a lot of child sexual, physical and mental abuse in my profession, the job itself was highly rigid and bureaucratic, leaving me with little quality time to spend with the children.

I was a case manager and arranged for therapists to work with the children. I knew the big picture about each child, and in general terms the emotional and behavioural consequences, but I never had the chance to get into such a detailed exposé of the personal side of what the child experienced. Hence, your sharing about what you experienced as a youth and adult was highly relevant, and served to round out my understanding of what this kind of suffering is all about, including the deep emotional and mental scars it leaves.

Circumstances took you to lands where male brutality to women, both psychological and physical, not only prevailed but was culturally sanctioned. I cannot help but wonder whether you were guided to what you experienced simply in order to exacerbate your personal issues and bring the whole thing to a head, where psychological release from your attachments and inner turmoil was the only alternative for a harmonious inner life to prevail.

You came out of the other end a whole person with a lot of understanding of the letting go process, something that can help many people you encounter, if they are receptive to hearing you.

I hope your present life is fulfilling and that you encounter ongoing growth and happiness. When I settle down somewhere, which only the universe knows where and when it will be, I will extend an invitation to you and your partner to visit and enjoy our beautiful Rocky Mountains and turquoise lakes.

Best Wishes,
Doug Christou, Calgary

Turning the pages as you unravel each layer of the veil takes you beyond religions, borders or sexual orientation, into the core of the human Spirit. Your heart travels along the edges of your own insecurities and fears as you explore life through someone else's eyes. Samadhi's amazing journey makes you want to do something, anything, to give your higher self a chance to come into the light, release those butterflies, who in turn will give wings to every Soul they touch along the way. As the circles widen and open up, the little flutters of the voice of LOVE are heard.

This book touched my heart and gave me hope that women can survive abuse in all areas and find the strength to heal and move forward in ones life. I have worked as a counselor in the area of trauma and abuse, for over twenty years. Themes of healing from trauma and discovering ones sexuality only empower and strengthen ones soul from the inside out. I could relate to the family of origin wounds for all individuals and the ability for Samadhi to discover, heal, and forgive are truly the answers to finding peace and serenity within. I was touched by each page of absolute honesty and willingness to share her story. Samadhi, you have changed my life because of this book and reminded me one more time that love does prevail. Thank you.

Linda Mackenzie
Social Worker
BSW, RSW.
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Samadhi's Circles in the Sand is a thought provoking read that I couldn't wait to finish. It is well written and the story flows from start to finish. This is not one woman's struggle; it is every woman's struggle for equality, self respect and self love. I recommend it to everybody.
My only suggestion would be to include maps of the Middle East at the beginning to get a better understanding of Samadhi's travels.
Way to go, Samadhi!

Thank you B.J. Hoff for a wonderful novel that truly brings together that time period. It is wonderful for the Christian book-lover.

This was a great book

There is no book by B.J.Hoff that I wouldn't recommend. But if you buy this book, you need to buy the Ashes and Lace sequel. It's a marvelous spellbinder, which has made the rounds of my family and back again. I also recommend the Emerald Ballad series which I never let too far from home. They are well worth the price whatever you pay.

I don't know what to say, it is great

I just read this and its sequel Ashes and Lace and will read both of them again soon! You just can't put her books down. Her characters are so real you feel like you know them personally, or at least wish you could! And the spiritual message is one of the strongest I've ever read anywhere, but she doesn't preach! Hope there's a third book.