English Books

Relentless, depressing, more carefully delineated than anything in Dreiser, this semi-autobiographical novel grabs you on the first page and swings you around like a dead cat till you hit the end.

What makes this more than a simple juv-prison tale is the period detail of the Los Angeles area in the 1940s. It's very much like what you find in cheap movies and film noir of the period, except that in the movies the authentic setting is there by happenstance, whereas in Bunker's novel it is put there with conscious purpose as vital background to the plot.

I had only read Edward Bunker's 1st novel before I was arrested for armed robbery and I had this book sent in to me when I was in Snohomish County Jail awaiting sentencing and it gave me a strange courage when I read it. Edward Bunker is the real deal.
Nobody can touch him in terms of understandng and experience. Prison is like war; you can never understand it unless you've experienced it firsthand.Most people will never have to endure what Eddie Bunker(and me) have had to endure but because Bunker is so talented, they can get a little taste by picking up any one of his books; I've read them all and they're uniformly awesome. My first book STONE HOTEL was strongly influenced by him. I think he's the greatest.

I have read all of Bunkers books and love this one . A story of a boy and the cycle of a life of crime , and desperation... if youve been there you know already. So there is hope out there a way out of the darkness.. Read all his books.. real gritty gangsta ..

California in the post WWII era was as bad as it was in the early 1990's. Unemployment, drugs, juvenile crime, sex offenders, you name it. It was all there, and there was no protection for anyone, children or adults. Read this book and you'll feel sorry for anyone who grew up in that era. Anyone who talks of the good old days has false memory syndrome!

All I can say is that "Little Boy Blue" is a blueprint for how a troubled boy can be transformed into an adult sociopath. Ironically, the system that is supposed to reform him is the culprit in pushing him toward further hopelessness and delinquency. Alex Hammond is basically a good kid with good instincts who is battered by authority until he lashes out and becomes submerged in hatred. There are many instances when he can choose between obedience and rebellion, and even though he inevitably decides to rebel, he often seems to have little choice. Frustration with a dictatorship of adults who have little patience or tolerance for the special needs of this disturbed boy sends him hurtling on a collision course with tragedy. Especially troubling is the scene where Alex is placed with relatives who are inflexible in their method of discipline--he seems to be making slight progress when a fabricated lie shoves him back down the mudslide. Here Alex actually shows a hint of conscience--or has he simply gained dominance over the aggressor? The harrowing course of his life is told in uncompromising, brutally-honest terms. Every professional involved in rehabilitating children should own a copy of this book. It chronicles the downfall of innocence, introducing a doomed child whose life is always threatened by an undercurrent of depression.

Very amusing, particularly to Brits. Purchased as a gag gift for a British ex-pat returning home to the UK for a trip.

I love this book! I'm a big Britcom fan and can now get a lot more laughs out of my favorite shows.

This little book, which crams an enormous amount of information, both practical and interesting, should be in every Amnerican's pocket before they leave for the UK. I learned more from it than from several larger books put together. It even explains cricket, that baffling sport! I thoroughly enjoyed reading every page, and while I wasn't going to travel to Wales or Scotland to practice those versions of Gaelic, it is contained within should you wish to. A most superior book, and entertainingly written besides. Enjoy!

This book is great. It's tiny, easily hidden, extremely funny, and you can make British people laugh with it. Really! Even Brits find it fun to read... "Oh, so THAT'S what they mean on those American programs on the telly. I was wondering."

I read this little book before setting out to Scotland for a year. What a great thing to do! I was more prepared than many of the people I was traveling with to deal with the idiosyncracies of Brit-speak. I especially love the foreign language section in the back... you don't really need it, since everyone speaks English, but it's fun to whip out something in Gaelic and see how many people understand (answer: not many).

I highly recommend this book, if only for its entertainment value. You won't regret it! I'm even able to watch the BBC now!

Lonely Planet's "British Phrasebook" is a great introduction to the British way of life and speaking for foreigners. Whether you are an American going to visit the British Isles, or a person studying English as a foreign language this can be a good guide and reading supplement. Traditionally to Lonely Planet phrasebooks, this one gives you a short and easy-read introduction to the origin and modern state of English. Then follow the sections dealing with British English and regional languages.

The section on British English is, again traditionally, an introduction to the language through British culture, institutions, traditions and way of life. Some chapters open with humorous sketches by S. Hughes that will make you laugh out loud. You will learn how to greet people, how to talk over the phone, how to find your way in the world of slang and cockney (not being a thorough textbook or dictionary of these), how to brace yourself with the features of British pronunciation (not being a course on phonetics), how to tell a British word or expression from an American (not being a British-American dictionary), how to address the Queen or peers (without making you bored with the detailed description of the aristocratic history). But most of the contents are not even the lists of typically British words and expressions. It is an interesting, sometimes funny, sometimes witty, often highly informative yet brief description of British culture (music, sports, food, drink, housing, etc.) and institutions (political, educational, etc.), as well as of ways of travelling, spending your free time and free money. If you need to know the names of high-street shops or intend to watch a report from some cricket match, think of driving a car or going on a train journey, want to read a paper and know what's meant and what's not - "British Phrasebook" is one way of helping you survive in Britain.

The regional section tells you about regional accents and dialects of English with some examples. It also deals with Scottish Gaelic and Welsh. Here (in the last two chapters) there is a true phrasebook letting you say a lot of useful things in the native tongues of Scotland and Wales. Practical transcription enables you to pronounce sometimes quirky letter-combinations of these Celtic languages.

Written in a simple language and entertaining manner, while being very informative "British Phrasebook" is nearly a must-have on your next trip to the Isles and will certainly be your good companion, which will easily fit in a pocket.

My 10-year-old son discovered the Geronimo Stilton books in his classroom. He has ADHD and he can't put these books down! I bought him a few for Christmas and he keeps asking for more. The text is written in a very unique way. Some of the words are in colors and different fonts and sizes. They appear to "pop out" at you, making it very engaging. There are also pictures scattered throughout the text and the stories are humorous. 5 stars I HIGHLY recommend these books!

It all started when Thea found an old map with an x for the spot where the treasure was. She dragged her brother Trap and her cousin Benjamin on to the trip. They took a boat there and a few days later a hurricane struck. Find out what happened to Benjamin, Thea, and Trap.
I really recommend this book because the details were great. It's a great adventure and this book is good for kids from second grade to fifth grade. You should read this book.

Casey,11, R.I

This is the first in a series of books, that my son was introduced to by a friend. The unique thing about the series is that although there are pictures, many of the words are written in creative text or printing, in a variety of colors, right in the paragraphs as well. This really makes for keeping a young reader engaged with the story, especially for those that are transitioning from books with pictures to chapter books, and chapter books that are all text.

My son is currently in 2nd grade, but is reading well above grade level, independantly. The challenge for him is that what he CAN read, he's not intested in yet, and what is at his grade level doesn't hold his interest. He has been devouring these books in around a week each. We also read aloud to each other from them, and they are very entertaining, even as adults.

A wonderful series, great, I think for boys and girls alike as there are very strong, positive main characters that are both male and female.

If you are looking for a new book series, this should be it! There are 24 books out so far, and I have read them all. They are funny, clever, and have lots of funny mouse jokes. They are perfect for ages 7 and up, and come out bi-monthly. They are the best series of books ever. They originally came from Italy, if you're wondering. They are great, so read them ALL!!

There's one fine line between well-played and over-played layouts. The full Geronimo Stilton series falls into the well-played category: the outcome is pleasant and not too loud and the fonts / colour used are really a statement on their own.

Another point to note is the translation involved. While this is not "literature" literature, the adaptation in cultural and linguistics aspect are well taken care of.

I don't know any Italian but have compared the Chinese and English versions of the same book (yes, my colleague at work has the entire Chinese series while I'm catching up by matching the English version). The funny bits are transformed elegantly.

Recommended to not only children, but anyone who's intersted in translating humour and layout.

Lucia Lucas (born Emmeline Smith) wished the world to know that the recent death of her husband's aunt, who was 83 years old and who had spent the last seven of them bed-ridden in a private lunatic asylum, was "a grievous blow". Suppressed were the facts that neither Lucia nor her husband had hitherto given much thought to the aunt, and the fact that when Lucia's husband last visited the aunt, seven years previously, she bit him. No, the world must be convinced that the death of "dear Aunt Amy" was not a "happy release", it was "a grievous blow", requiring the wearing of veils, the drawing of blinds, and stoically-born, inconsolable suffering.

So begins E F Benson's 1927 novel "Lucia In London", one of six in which the author chronicles the worlds of Riseholme and its social climbing leading resident, Lucia. I say "worlds" because we are presented with two worlds. There is the real world and the world of pretence. Most characters, especially Lucia live in both worlds. What they privately covet, the publically despise. What they really feel, for example at the death of an aunt, they suppress in order to pretend to something more publically admired.

Benson's chronicles are great fun. The pretence, the point scoring, the absurdity, are richly detailed. There's not much testosterone, but there's a chuckle at least in every sentence.

This is the ultimate book for social climbers everywhere - Lucia the Queen of the tiny town of Riseholm goes to London and takes the town by storm.

This is such a brilliant story - absolutely hilarious - full of the beauty of social sycophancy and insincerity. Everyone knowing what is going on except Lucia who is (almost always) triumphant.

When Lucia's husband's aunt dies they are left with a house in London (and when the news is received in Risehome much calculation is doneby everyone based on no real facts at all.) It is up to Lucia's sidekick, Georgie, to wheedle the news out of her about the house in London and the income.

Lucia, who has always stated how she loathes London has now (very reluctantly you understand) decided to go to London for the season. Her departure from Riseholme however has a number of effects - the first being the power vacuum in Riseholme itself, and secondly she really does end up taking London by storm. Even the most vague of acquaintances of hers are treated as close bosom friends and called by their first names and name dropped shamelessly by her everywhere. This goes on till there is a firm group of Luciaphils in London who are so astonished and appreciative of her powers as the Queen of Social climbing that they establish an informal club to help her and to admire her mastery at work.

In Riseholme life does not go on without Lucia, it goes on firmly DESPITE her - everyone is determined to make a success of their village in her absence to show how much she is not at all needed there. There is the museum to establish,and then Daisy Quantock has helped them all discover the Ouija Board and the powerful spirit Guide (Abfou). They spend a great deal of time 'weedj-ing' for signs of what to do next.

If you haven't discovered Lucia novels yet, you must - Benson writes wonderful sardonic stories full of the small, pettiness of village life and its power struggles. This is wonderful light, laugh out loud stuff.

Since the other reviews here relate to the printed version of the E.F. Benson book, I thought I'd chime in with a review that is specific to this CD version read by Geraldine McEwan.

McEwan starred as Lucia in the delightful "Mapp and Lucia" series in the mid-1980s. It's out on DVD now and I highly recommend you snatch it up immediately before it goes out of print. It's one of the very best British comedies ever.

In the series, McEwan establishes what I consider to be the definitive version of Lucia. She is so delightful that as soon as I found out her readings of two of the Lucia books had also been recorded, I bought them -- although I had never purchased books on tape/CD before.

Suffice it so say, I was not disappointed. McEwan is a wonderful reader who brings out all the wit of the books, and I can't stress enough how marvelous it is to hear her once again using her "Lucia voice."

This has my highest recommendation.

Continuing the extraordinary adventures of Lucia, Benson's delightful story is full of the gossip and social-climbing one comes to expect of Lucia. Peppino, Lucia's husband, inherits a fortune and a house in London after the death of his aunt. Lucia has been the queen of all of Riseholme for ages, with her court including her best friend Georgie, an eternal bachelor who embroiders. When she ascends to London, Riseholme is bereft and feeling slighted, but soon they plot their revenge. Unfortunately for them, Lucia conquers London's high society and overcomes all obstacles in her path to greatness. But can Lucia keep up the pace of London society? And does she plan to desert her beloved Riseholme forever? The Lucia series, beginning with "Queen Lucia", is a delicious concoction of maliciousness and snobbery that will convert any reader.

I prefer Lucia in the country, though it is fun to see her get her comeuppance so regularly. Using her best social-climbing instincts and refusing to be embarrassed, Lucia sets out to conquer London and mingle with the beau monde. Soon a secret group of "Luciaphiles" springs up; the social climbers who make up its rank never tire of watching her get into and out of all kinds of trouble.

I love this book. I teach high school and I was never able to find creative and concrete ways to teach grammar concepts. Anderson takes the best of what we know about how to teach grammar (that is should be taught in the context of a student's own writing, that it should be active, that is should be scaffolded, etc.) and really focuses on how to make that happen. Look at his "sentence smack-down" and the "express lane editing" to really change how you look at teaching grammar. My kids loved it and I really felt like they were getting it and would use it again. The book is teacher-friendly and activity-based and includes copies of handouts.

This was a great read packed with real classroom experiences, creative learning activities, and terrific, easy-to-understand explanations of grammar and how to teach it.

Jeff Anderson presents a dynamic workshop on how to liven up a Language Arts classroom, and his book further describes how LA teachers can make learning fun, enjoyable, and effective.

I first came across this book at the library and found that I was constently writing down ideas from the book. I returned the book and decided to buy my own copy! Great resource book for Language Arts teachers! I highly recommend it.

In MECHANICALLY INCLINED, Jeff Anderson tackles the issue of grammarphobia and edit-phobia head on. You know the diseases. They are endemic in English classrooms everywhere.

Anderson advocates using "mentor" sentences and paragraphs taken from books that interest students. He also details how to set up a writer's notebook where kids can write freely without fear of the Red Pen (which, to them, is like an invader from the Red Planet, as narrated by Orson Welles). The notebook includes sections for creativity, exploration, modeling, and copying well-written sentences and paragraphs.

I especially like Anderson's idea for the Editing Checkout, where students "scan" work looking for specific skills, then create a "receipt" of their findings. NATIONAL ENQUIRERS are not necessary for this activity. The kids will get a kick out of it and (not too loud, now) will learn something about editing (with one pen, two pens, red pens, or blue pens) while they're at it. What more could a teacher ask for? (OK, don't answer that...)

After my second child's birth I was really stressed out with the jealousy of my older child, my husband's long work hours, and my post-partum depression. Beth's words of wisdom helped alleviate my guilt, especially when I felt like I was anything but an ideal mother. Her humor raised a smile and she tackled some topics that, unfortunately, mothers don't always talk about because we're afraid to admit that we don't love every aspect of motherhood (which, btw, is very natural).
Beth also encouraged me to take time out for myself and when with my children, to truly enjoy them. I still carry this book around with me....

As a new mother, I absolutely adored this book. The author shared all of the thoughts and feelings of the new mother, which were the same as I was having about my new role in such a beautiful and heartfelt way, which helped me feel less isolated.

This is now one of my favorite things to give to mothers-to-be at baby showers!

I have 4 children...and I read parts of this book after each one. The "New" in the title didn't only mean first time mom to me...I enjoyed the book over and over.

This book was wonderful when I was a first time mother of twins. It helped me keep it all in perspective. When I was most frazzled, it made me realize that whether their stages brought good or bad, babyhood is precious and temporary.

I received this wonderful book as a gift. I often only had the time and energy to read just one page before bed. It always comforted me. I always give this book to new moms.

At present I'm researching the way poets use structure as meaning in poetry. This excellent book not only explains the different poetic forms from poetic traditions from around the world, it also gives details of their history. The book is organised so information can be found quickly. The only drawback I found is the small font it uses.

This book is comprehensive and probably essential for the study of poetry. But there are several serious problems. First, there is only a completely useless Table of Contents and no index. Yes, it is an encyclopedia and the entries are in alphabetical order but the subjects are very broad (Symbol, Twentieth-Century Poetics) making it necessary to scan several pages in several different subject areas without knowing if you have missed the poem or poet you are looking for. How will you know to look for comments on The Illiad under the heading of Simile or that the subject heading Intuition contains a discussion of the Neo-Platonists? Scanning pages for a specific piece of information is difficult because the print is tiny. The Preface and Acknowledgments are in big print and then they switch to very small print for the remainder of the book. You will need lots of time and a magnifying glass to take full advantage of this book.

I have very little to add to the laudatory reviews. Some found the print too small, but for me it was not a problem - I am used to using reference works with smallish print.

I just got my copy and found a lot of fascinating information on the ode which I didn't know. From what I've read so far, the topical discussions are excellent, and there are ample biographical references for the major and some of the minor entries. All in all, it is a great resource for student, poet, poetry lover, and critic.

one of the three books that any student or writer of poetry needs to own, besides a good dictionary. (The other two are Pound's "ABCs of Reading" and Shapiro's "Primer.") Answers questions & points you in the right direction for more. Once you open it, you'll wonder how you got by without it.

This is the most comprehensive and informative encylopedia of poetry and poetics that I know. It at times seems so comprehensive and detailed as to make understanding of its entries possible. It is in fact so overwhelming sometimes that it confuses by telling much more than I, at least, need or want to know. It seems to me in a way a very academic work, wonderful for critics but probably of very little use in inspiring to poetry. So much knowledge about poetry is not necessarily what poetry is.

One of my dearest friends recommended this book to me since I am a 37-year-old first time mom to a now 10-month-old. I am so very thankful she did! This book is a gift from God. I read it through once and am already reading it again, this time taking some detailed notes to help my husband and me on things we want to implement in the future for our child and family. Carol completely captures the way I have felt on so many occasions already, like if we get to church 20 minutes late and I end up in the nursery 5 minutes later, what is the point? Or, how can my sweet bundle of joy be such hard, tiring work? Carol's realtionship with The Lord is so real and beautiful as you will be able to feel from her real-life journal entries she includes throughout the book. Those journal entries are so personal and private, and so similar to many things I have felt and am feeling, that we as readers are so fortunate she included them. You will absolutely not regret getting this book. It is a breath of fresh air:) Your relationship with Jesus Christ will never be the same and your desire to raise your child(ren) in a home with The Lord as the focus will be totally inspired! Carol has another book you might want to check out called The Divine Secrets of Mentoring. I am going to order one today!

This book has been one of those I go back to and reread every other year or so. I picked it up "accidentally" and it has truly influenced my life. I have literally read the chapter on Holy Mystery (marriage) to my husband, and we are now going back to it and looking again at the "hedges" we need to be sure are there. I love also the chapters on the Sabbath, celebrating holidays, gardening and home decor. Not at all a "how to" book, but a very transparent woman sharing her heart with how God has met her in the midst of her struggle and desire. I, too, am very dissappointed to find it out of print. I've given away several as gifts, and now have a friend who I'd love to find a copy for. And if by chance, Carol, you do read the reviews, please let me know if there is a way to get more copies. I'd love to know if you've written more, or plan to. I appreciate your honesty and your writing style. Like some of the other reviews have said. I feel a kindred spirit with you. Thanks so much for your work.

I read this book accidentally, like many of the other reviewers, after I found it on my shelf (I picked it up at a clearance sale a few months ago). I was pleasantly surprised at Brazo's open journal and intelligent and humorous writing style.

This book is inspiring on many levels, as a journal from a worn-out mother of three to God, as the quest of a woman to sanctify her home as the dwelling place of not only her family, but of her savior, as the thirst of a person after God and pursuit of a way to worship him. The list could go on. I am inspired to make some changes in my household and also in my relationships with God and my family.

Great writing and a good book. Highly recommended.

This is a great book. My wife just loves it, and has found it helpful as a stay at home wife and mother. It can be found new elswhere for much much cheaper. She recommends it to all of her friends and gets a copy for each them as gifts when she can.
If you are a wife or mother you really need to consider getting this book, it gives great biblical advice for the adventures you will face in the home.

I re-read this book almost every year. I first bought it about 10 years ago and it is still one of my favorites. Carol Brazo has a way of making even the duty of cleaning the floors and toilets a blessing and almost a "holy" act. She turns the housewife from a woman who can barely keep her head above water into a creative, centered person who can be fulfilled in what she does at home and within herself. This book helped me realize my potential wasn't wasting away because I stayed home with two little boys. It helped me to realize that I was not alone when I felt like no one in all of time was feeling like I was. When I felt overwhelmed, this book brought me back to being centered and balanced. It brought me inspiration like Martha Stewart can only dream of doing. Thank you, Carol Brazo, for a warm, wonderful book about what really matters in life.

This book is intended for graduate students of English who might need to acquire a reading knowledge of Old English for their studies, but who are not necessarily knowledgeable in Indo-European linguistics or familiar with archaic, highly inflected languages.

The author begins with a simplified but fairly comprehensive grammar of Old English which runs about 40 pages, and covers pronunciation; an explanation of gender, number, and case(s); the forms of the definite and relative articles; strong and weak verbs; adjectives; nouns; additional sections dealing with more advanced declensions/conjugations of nouns and verbs; and i-umlaut.

I read the grammar several times initially, and returned to re-read several times as I progressed through the readings, to review some of the concepts. As an earlier reviewer noted, you don't want to rush through the introductory grammar in your haste to get to the Old English texts; only confusion and frustration will ensue.

I should note in respect to pronunciation that Prof. Diamond uses distinctive symbols to denote palatalized C and G, which allows the beginner to avoid having to check the rules constantly to determine if a given C or G needs to be palatized in its environment within a word. This allows the student to pronounce Old English with confidence from the beginning, and I found that I quickly internalized the use of palatalized C and G using this method.

The readings are interesting and challenging. They are printed with Old English on the left- and Modern English on the right-hand page, allowing the student to plunge right into reading Old English without memorizing long vocabulary lists, with minimal flipping back to the glossary. The readings are graded, increasing in complexity of grammar and vocabulary as one progresses, and also incorporate fewer word-for-word translations as the student is guided into Old English poetry; this makes the student work harder on translations as he/she advances through the readings, and prevents excessive reliance on the Modern English.

There is a full glossary in the back, which includes all divergent verb and noun forms for the student's convenience. For example, it lists "seoles", the genitive singular of "seolh"; and "slog", the preterite singular of "slean". For a beginner, these situations might otherwise be nightmarish, trying to feverishly determine the infinitive of the verb or nominative singular of the noun, sufficient to look it up and find its meaning.

This book fulfilled my fondest hopes, allowing me to gain a reading knowledge and proper pronunciation of Old English in a relatively short period of time, and I highly recommend it.

This is the first Old English grammar I studied, nearly 25 years ago, and it remains perhaps the best one-volume introduction to Old English around. Concise, simple, and accessible, this text has both a reader and a grammar in one cover, containing selections from the major Old English poems and prose works.

The prose works include 'The Voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan', selections from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and the preface by Alfred the Great to the medieval work on Pastoral Care by Pope Gregory. There are relatively few Old English prose works that have survived into the present day; there are even fewer authentically Old English pieces, as many Old English prose works are in fact translations of Latin pieces, and for some reason adapted their grammar to the Latin original rather than the Old English natural pattern.

The poetry exhibits the paired-verse pattern (although the translations accompanying them do not strive to keep the metrical pattern). The poetry include majors works such as Caedmon's Hymn, The Battle of Brunanburg, The Battle of Maldon, The Wanderer, The Seafarer, maxims, riddles, and other poems. There is no Beowulf contained here, nor any other heroic poems (such as Deor), as Diamond states that these are the most likely follow-up readings after one gains a grounding in Old English, and the poems contained here are often overlooked by students save for the most dedicated of scholars.

The texts here are normalised to Early West Saxon dialect, with a grammar very simplified; concepts are introduced that are directly useful for the texts contained herein. The glossary is similarly normalised, and cross-referenced for various verb forms and other vocabulary links such as prefixes and alternatives. In a remarkable insight on how students use texts, Diamond states that, for the purposes of this introductory text, notes have been eliminated, as students rarely refer to them anyway. The section on metrics introduces the five principle types of verses, as well as some minor variations.

Diamond includes a brief bibliography with dictionaries, grammars, commentaries and more; this is now somewhat out of date, but also shows the slow pace at which some aspects of Old English scholarship proceed, with references going back to volumes published in the late 1800s.

A very useful and fun text from which to learn!

I bought both Prof. Diamond's Old English Grammar and Prof. Baker's Introduction to Old English after checking them out from my local library. They are both excellent works, but I prefer Prof. Diamond's book for a couple of reasons.

First, although trivial, I have learned other inflected languages such as Greek and Latin and they always present noun declensions for the various cases in the following order: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, ablative, etc. Prof. Diamond presents noun declensions in the same way while Prof. Baker's book presents them in the order nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, etc. It throws me off just enough to be irritating when I am trying to memorize the case endings.

Second, as mentioned in other reviews, Prof. Diamond presents translations with each text. This makes it possible to learn a few words and them jump straight into the texts without having to guess whether or not you understood the various pieces.

Prof. Baker's book has its merits such as its companion website and its more detailed discussion of grammar, but I would recommend starting to learn Old English with Prof. Diamond's book.

One more point - if you are considering buying both keep in mind that many of the literary samples in both overlap so if you buy Prof. Baker's book you should buy it because you want a better understanding of grammar not because you want more samples of Old English.

I was lucky enough to take Old English, Old Norse and Beowulf in old English from Dr. Diamond at the University of Nevada, Reno. What a wonderful teacher... His book was a wonderful introduction to Old English.

A must for all Asatru Folk who need to learn Old English. The smart idea the writer has is to skip the Latin transations and to only use poems written in Old English, this way you learn the words as well as the grammer. Wyatt Kaldenberg

of a wonderfully readable memoir: That's How the Light Gets In: Memoir of a Psychiatrist by Susan Rako, M.D. The title comes from a song by Leonard Cohen: "There is a crack, a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." Rako's book is remarkably candid, insightful, and gracefully written. It's a great read. The writing just flows.

This is classic Natalie Goldberg. I have read most of her work and was not disappointed by her latest look into the heart of writing...specifically a memoir. She is the kind of writer you can and must read over and over again, not only if you aspire to write, but if you aspire to live your life well.

This morning at 4:30 I turned on the light to read a few more pages of Old Friend From Far Away. I skipped toward the end and read about how at a celebration for the twentieth anniversary of Natalie's first book, a woman who took her writing class when she was a young student at an alternative school, stood up to speak. The woman told her story of how one Monday Natalie brought in a bushel of rich red apples she'd picked the day before at an orchard near the school. This was a family orchard where a month before the oldest son had been killed in a bizarre gun accident. The woman revealed that this young man had been her first love.

When I got to the part where the woman explained how Natalie's writing class gave her an avenue for expressing her suffering and grief, I found myself sobbing (in a good way) with recognition of the truth of her words.

After the woman finishes telling her story Natalie writes:

"It's a holy thing to be a writer. It is why you want to write your memoir: to remember all of it. The good and the bad. To trust your experience, to have confidence that your moments and the moments of others on this earth mattered... It is a great thing you are doing whatever it is you are remembering. You are saying that life--and its passing--have true value."

I hesitated to buy Old Friend From Far Away since I already have Natalie Goldberg's other enormously helpful writing books. But all the praise from other writers is well-deserved. Every page makes me want to click my heels with delight--even the pages that make me cry. I wholeheartedly recommend this book!

--Suza Francina, author, The New Yoga for People Over 50 and other books for people at midlife and older.

Natalie Goldberg has done it again! As a teacher of fiction and memoir, I recommend this book to all memoir writers. Natalie has prompts that will intrigue and spur writers to put pen in hand or fingers to the keyboard.

By using these prompts, you can't do anything BUT write.

Catherine Alexander
Author and Instructor

Of what I have read so far, I really enjoy Ms. Goldberg's writing. Very down to earth and frank.