Authors Books

Inez is very understandable and likeable. I enjoyed her character; especially that she didn't feel sorry for herself and grows through the years into a remarkable young lady who truly loves her half brother. I loved their relationship. All the characters in this book are very likeable even though flawed. But then again isn't that how we are in real life? I would highly recommend to anyone.

This is such a nice read. It takes you to all the best places in California...and Hawaii. It is one of those books you wish you could read again for the first time.

Martha Sherril is a master of the coming of age novel. Her heroine, Inez, is a girl who grows in wisdom and ability subtly as she ages. Gradually, we see more of the world with her. In many such books, that young voice stays static (I am thinking of Franny and Zooey, which I admire for its dialogue but not for the voice). She captures perfectly the 70's in California with its sixties aftermath, and her family's crazed attempts to cope. The father is a character full of that boy-man charm, hard to love, hard to hate, impossible to forget. Read this book.

Before I read The Ruins of California, my understanding of those who reached middle age in the 1970s was framed by John Cheever. Their mid-life crises involved late night drinking-and-dialing to old college pals and lovers. Getting soused and crashing your neighbors' suburban swimming pools.

With elegant writing and fine dialogue, Ms. Sherrill has produced a novel which expands my thinking about this liberating--and debauched--time in my parents' generation. The book covers familiar ground--a girl's coming of age, a daughter-father relationship--in a refreshing and highly-entertaining way.

Inez Ruin splits time between her divorced parents' lives. She lives with her est-fulfilled mother and grandmother in a house in Van Dale, a Southern California suburb, where her bedroom is pink and all her friends go to church. To visit her gorgeous, brilliant and promiscuous--and egocentric, and self-indulgent, and wealthy--father, Inez regularly flies north to San Francisco, land of afros and patchouli, "passing from mother to father, a baton of a girl flying in the distance between hands."

I lost count of Inez' father's girlfriends, as Paul Ruin pursues the intoxication of new love, over and over, all the while over-indulging his two children with expensive gifts and exhortations to lead free lives, to not sell out. When his son skips college, Paul declines to intervene, justifying his inaction with the thinking of the day: "'He's got to come to all big decisions on his own,' my father said. 'Or else he'll just blame me, or blame his mother, or, worse, he'll never learn how to make a big decision at all.'" The devastating consequences of this way of thinking are made starkly apparent by the story's end.

As the author guides us through Inez' teen years, she recreates the thrills of girlhood crushes, breaking rules, that first car, and getting high. She also relates the unlikeable selfishness of teendom, without making us permanently hate Inez.

I've read all three of Ms. Sherrill's books, and in my view this latest effort is her finest. I especially loved all the mentions of what made the 70s the 70s to a girl growing up then; bamboo back scratchers, Get Smart, Necco wafers, Corvairs, those pink, round vinyl Samsonite suitcases. What makes this book memorable is the ultimately gladdening portrait of a complex daughter-father relationship, a relationship which reaches a satisfying coda along with the decade: everybody eventually has to grow up.

Inez Ruin is about six years old when her story begins. A bright and effusive young girl, Inez lives with Consuela, her blousy, former flamenco dancing mother, and Abuelita, her Peruvian grandmother in Van Dale, a working class suburb in the San Fernando Valley. Life for Inez is pretty ordinary, at least on the Latino side of the family; Consuela is a good mother to her, but she's often lost and loud, "with a mind like a sail, her face weird and dreamy," and her grandmother is never around, a life spent instilled with the work ethic, she spends most of her time working cleaning houses.

Her father, Paul lives in San Francisco and as the novel opens, Inez is being packed off to spend the summer with him. Paul is a college educated mathematical genius, he's also the archetype of the early seventies West Coast hippy chic. Groovy and play boyishly handsome, "with inky black hair, and always wearing crisp, starched white shirts," Paul drives an MG, loves flamenco dancing, and to the reticent Inez, he is the embodiment of all that is cool and elegant.

Inez spends most of her youth gliding from one zone of life to another, from the serenity and innocence suburban of Van Dale to the glamorous and cosmopolitan cafes of North Beach, "where she drinks dark espresso with three packets of sugar," but she often feels like a fish out of water, never really feeling at home in either culture, her father living so separately from her, and in such different circumstances of climate and culture.

Paul's life is a "foggy universe of beautiful people and rich hippies," where Inez often feels out of place, where her clothes are wrong, and where she never knows what to say. She's often overwhelmed by her father's whirlwind round of dinner parties, film screenings, museum openings, and Haight-Ashbury happenings. He organizes flamenco festivals, and throws" juergas" - flamenco parties, and shares an attitude, a sensibility, and a groovy wavelength, with his "in" crowd.

Whilst Consuela busies herself selling real estate, attending personal improvement classes, and hooking up with an eighth grade school teacher, Paul woos his daughter with heavy doses of charm and love. Just when she had decided he was a rat and a fink, it would dawn on her that he was a god and she loved him more than anybody; its as though her father makes her - and also her half brother Whitman - uncertain and off kilter, "you wanted more of him, but you weren't sure either."

Inez is constantly caught off guard by the parade of girlfriends that steadily marches through Paul's life, the stream of beauties, each one more accomplished than the last, who give him hope and make him feel alive and young and desired: there's the sweet hippy Marisa, who charms Inez by giving her trinkets from Cracker Jack boxes; there's Justine, an astonishing beauty "with a strange and unearthly elegance," who has a knowledge of Eastern religion and has a silken tent that she erects in her living room with candles inside; she totally beguiles Inez with her lovely patchouli smell and her expensive designer outfits.

Author Martha Sherrill beautifully charts Inez's growth from a wide-eyed and precocious innocent into a young woman, who sees the world as a place of enormous possibility, yet is also aware this world can be fraught with danger and indecision. As Inez matures and changes, so does the image of her father. Paul is a gloomy, difficult, sweet insightful and honest man, adoration like a drug to him; but he's also a man quick to criticize, and instruct, and at the same time lenient, constantly coddling his daughter with flattery and indulgences.

Regardless of his faults, over the years Inez grows to unconditionally love her father; part of her growth is the realization that the Ruin family are a complicated and often self-indulgent lot, who beg for attention and analysis. They're also romantics - always finding ways to feel special about themselves and better than other people; they're theatrical, and outrageous, and even provocative.

Full of ironic and fragile judgments about life, love, and the human condition, The Ruins of California is also about the legacy of familiaral love. The characters are beautifully drawn and are utterly fascinating. Paul is most memorable, because he is a complex mix of good intentions and human flaws; he's obviously a product of his free-wheeling, permissive time, but he's also a man who just doesn't want to grow up, constantly trapped in a netherworld of adolescent angst, frozen by his unremitting vanity and self-absorption.

It is obvious that Paul dearly loves Inez and Whitman, and that he will do anything that he can to help them - he encourages them to go to college, and constantly promotes the benefits of hard work - but the irony is that, when the crunch finally comes, and a terrible family crisis threatens to fracture them, it is the world-wise and newly mature Inez who provides the navigating force, and who ultimately liberates her father. Mike Leonard February 06.

I read this book over 20 years ago. It was my introduction to Samuel Johnson. The book inspired my deep devotion to Johnsonia. The subject, I now know, is fascinating; for over two centuries biographies of Johnson have never been out of print. But this book caught my attention and fixed it. It is a moving portrait of a person like all of us except with greater disabilities and greater strength and, after years of struggle, greater triumphs.

I urge anyone with an interest in English literature or 18th century England or in the heights to which a honest and brave man can reach to make the effort to read this book. It is, at the very least, a good read. It may also make ytou a better person.

I found this in out annual library sale for $1. I look forward to reading it based on the reviews here on Amazon. I suspect he is the famous Dr. Johnson that was said to disprove Berkeley by kicking a rock? Yes.

This biography has everything: meticulous scholarship, incisive literary criticism, and a prose style that recalls the days when professors could actually write a beautiful sentence.

The weaknesses are very few. At times Bate's analysis can "sprawl," as he once put it, especially when he tries to apply Freud while discussing Johnson's "self-demand" (an intriguing concept that never really explains Johnson's indolence satisfactorily). Also, Bate tends to defend the Thrales even when they come off poorly, which is surprisingly often. Finally, a bit more on Johnson's relationship with Edmund Burke would have been welcome, for these two geniuses were all too aware of each other's greatness.

But these are only minor quibbles. Altogether an inspiring achievement, and a testament to the heights that only the humanities reach.

Samuel Johnson was a brilliant critic, perhaps the greatest English writer after Shakespeare, a fascinating eccentric, and a genuinely heroic man. The great merit of Mr. Bate's biography is that he succeeds in the magical illusion of bringing Johnson alive again, giving us a vivid sense of what it might have been like to know him.

The highest praise for this book is the regret you will feel when the pages end and Johnson's great figure bows out. The biography is that rare item, a genuinely inspiring book.

I always wondered how anyone dare write a biography of Samuel Johnson since Boswell's Johnson is arguably the single greatest volume in all biographical literature. I now understand a bit better how this can be done , thanks to W.Jackson Bate.
Boswell presented Johnson as he knew him and heard him. He was a living witness who both worshipped the great man, and knew how to draw him out. Boswell is presented Johnson as he appears to contemporaries, in a way Johnson 'live'.
Walter Jackson Bate is doing something different. He is taking all the accumulated knowledge of Johnson, and using whatever techniques modern psychological and literary approaches give for understanding the human personality.
He is telling the story in a more detailed , systematic way and in a way which aims at a kind of deeper comprehension.
What he does is provide insights into the life and character of one of the most fascinating and loveable characters of all English Literature.
Physically huge and powerful, and yet tremendously vulnerable emotionally, a person at once strictly critical in his evaluations of others and of literature, and yet suddenly surprisingly kind in care for friends and misfortunates, Johnson is many paradoxes. But what fascinates above all is his tremendous genius, his great mental and linguistic power in presenting an understanding of Literature as vital to Life.
He is certainly one of English Literature greatest 'characters' and 'creators' as this work makes abundantly clear.

i have this book for so many years and thought i would pick it up and read something different , i really enjoyed this book how the author betrayed these men as brother with issues with dealing with there spirituality and how to be loving and faithfully and how dealing with their own demon that they are not alone .these 3 story was well written and have a very real storyline that still is happening in the black community this is a good story.yes i really did enjoy just wish i hadnt waiting so long to read

If you haven't read a good book yet this is the one. This book awakens your senses to men and their struggles. Don't want to say too much I may ruin it. LADIES story #2 will have you taking the book to the kithchen, the restroom, school, and work. MEN this will shed some positive light about yourselves. If I've never respected you (Men) before I do now. You have my uptmost respect. MY KINGS!!!!

Secrets of Gingerbread Men is a touching collection of novellas featuring African American men and the difficult choices they often face in today's society. Each storyline was tightly woven and the author has a distinct voice among the masses.

"Secrets of Gingerbread men" is a heartfelt, tear jerking trilogy of how profound God's role is in the life's of the people portrayed in the stories. It is stories about family, faith and love told with such vivid emotion that you feel as if you know each character in the story personally. The first story deals with a family of brothers that must face the impending death of one of them. The second story is about a marriage that stood the test of time filled with issues that might have destroyed any other marriage if they hadn't let God be a major force in their life. The last story is about a renewal of faith, when a young man realizes that he can no longer live in the current lifestyle he presently has and needs God back in his life in order to overcome accusations of involvement in a murder. Each story different, yet each story the same. "Secrets of Gingerbread Men" was a delightful and refreshing read that everyone that reads it will definitely enjoy.

I'm hard to please. Period. But this book made me read and read and read! I like Taylor's stuff. A believer myself, I had my doubts about Christian fiction. But this lady has her eye on the prize. Who says Christian fiction has to stay "in the closet"? The real things real people go through are the same things God can fix. Each of these stories touched area of life that I've experienced although my favorite was The Marriage Bed. Check it out.

The book is clear and easy to read with interesting information. I would listen to the CD at night and kept falling asleep so I didn't remember what he said. It didn't matter because my unconscious mind heard it. I noticed immediately that many cravings have stopped. At night I remembered that I had a fruit popsicle in the freezer and was going to get it when my mind said "but you are not hungry". I took a moment and noticed that I was full and satisfied and did not get the popsicle and more important did not feel deprived. It was there and I chose not to eat it. I also came home from work and instead of snacking, I excercised to a a Taebo video. During excercising I noticed that I actually enjoyed it. I felt energized and felt good about how well I had followed the exercising routine. It has been only 4 days and I have lost 2 pounds already. I am confident that I am on on the right path.

Steven and Joy Gurgevich do a wonderful job of explaining the power of the mind and how hypnosis can be used to create lasting changes in behavior. I Recommend combining it with the approach in Body Esteem: Weight Loss Through Self-Discovery (includes 2 Audio CDs), the two books wonderfully compliment one another. Body Esteem gets deeper into the emotional reasons behind eating and is more of a workbook approach.

By accessing the subconscious, my weight loss struggle finally went beyond dieting, which was the key for me. Just consider what drives your eating habits, that's the place to start. Most people are so focused on working from the outside in, rather than the inside out, they are never able to build a real foundation for permanent lifestyle change. I'm over the "lose weight fast" diets and bogus pills, I'm getting thinner and healthier by changing the way I think about myself and food.

One of the biggest secrets THE SELF-HYPNOSIS DIET book contains is that it's not really a diet book at all, even though it will likely be one of the best sources of information you will ever find to help you consistently maintain your ideal weight. While diet books help people maintain good body weights by paying close attention to what and how much they eat, the magic of this book is that no regimented self-control regarding food is required at all. Rather than measuring small portions and obsessing about food and weight, the authors present self-hypnosis techniques that provide the reader with a whole new way to address long-standing emotional issues. THE SELF-HYPNOSIS DIET demystifies hypnosis, with help from a companion hypnosis CD that comes with the book and makes it easy to use the powers of the mind-body connection to get amazing results.

What I love most about THE SELF-HYPNOSIS DIET is the way this book says, "If a person really believes that they can have their perfect weight, they will," and then includes real-life case studies about how various clients found unique ways to address their specific, individual issues. I loved reading the success stories about the woman who imagined she could eat whatever she wanted and really lose weight... and she did... and the story about the man who learned to eat imaginary, very filling mushrooms before each and every meal, therefore feeling full at the proper time. I also love how this book is packed with dozens of useful tips and helpful research which can help readers uncover and heal their own inner beliefs and issues pertaining to their weight.... and how easy it can be to use this self-hypnosis method to achieve all kinds of goals in life, in addition to reaching and maintaining optimal weight and health.

The companion hypnosis CD is easy to listen to and especially helpful for those who have never before experienced hypnosis, as Steven and Joy guide us through a process of allowing ourselves to become absorbed in our own thoughts and ideas... discovering how a hypnotic trance and a daydream are very similar. As mind and body share information more effectively through this focused state of immersion where we are immersed in our own ideas, we gain the advantage of becoming more comfortable and relaxed and positive... making the changes we desire happen by letting them happen. And it just doesn't get better than that!

Before I was hypothyroid never had to worry about my weight, so becoming hypothyroid was a major rude awakening. Where before I could lose weight by cutting out a few sodas and chips each week, after my thyroid problem started, I not only couldn't lose weight, I actually gained weight following stringent diets. It was awful. I was so relieved when I finally was able to start losing weight again, by optimizing my thyroid function, changing what I ate, and adding in supplements and appropriate exercise (an approach I've outlined in detail in my book, The Thyroid Diet: Manage Your Metabolism for Lasting Weight Loss). But that doesn't mean that I don't work at this every single day. I always have more to lose it seems, because it's easy to gain, holidays and wintertime can be setback periods, and I'm by nature not an athletic or active person. So weight loss and management is a lifestyle for me, not just something I can do once and forget about!

So, with all this in mind, I have to say that s Steven and Joy Gurgevich's book/CD, The Self-Hypnosis Diet, is a resource that I consider pretty much indispensable, no matter what type of diet you are following -- helping make any diet successful -- whether you're following my Thyroid Diet, or you're doing Weight Watchers, or Ediets, or low-carbing it, South Beach, or making up your own diet as you go.

I've been using this book and companion CD for more than a year, and I consider it absolutely essential to my ongoing diet and weight loss efforts. Dr. Gurgevich is a member of the faculty at the University of Arizona's College of Medicine, where he is the Director of the Mind-Body Clinic and teaches mind/body medicine to physicians. Dr. Gurgevich is very much the real deal, and he has created an incredible, effective approach.

When it comes to diet and weight loss, I only recommend books or products
that I have personally tried and found helpful. I'm a diet product guinea pig for thyroid patients, and believe me, I've tried some pretty wacky things along the way. Most of the things I try I never even bother to write about. Why? Because they don't work, and they're just trying to rip us off!

But this is different. Quite simply, the Self-Hypnosis Diet does work. It helps make the connection between what you WANT to do, and what you DO! You know that feeling -- you're shoveling a cookie in your mouth and thinking, "Why am I eating this when I want to lose weight?" Your goals and desires are not translating into action. Somehow, after you read the Self-Hypnosis Diet, and listen to the accompanying CD, if you're like me, you'll find yourself acting the way you WANT to when it comes to diet and
exercise. Instead of sabotaging yourself, you end up supporting yourself, and making decisions that are good for you. It makes it easier to be on a diet.

I know something like self-hypnosis doesn't sound like it's for everyone. It sounds woo-woo or "holistic-ballistic!" But it's actually very straightforward...by learning to relax and make a true mind-body connection, you get your weight loss goals synched up with your behavior.

An interesting aside: When I first started with the Self-Hypnosis Diet, my best friend kept asking me what I was doing, as she thought I was looking great. I gave her a copy -- she didn't need to lose weight (she doesn't have a thyroid problem, lucky her!), but she wanted to try to stop eating chocolate and eat more veggies. After a few weeks, she had gotten rid of her raging chocolate cravings, and was craving salads. And she told me she had the weirdest side effect. She stopped smoking of all things, something she'd wanted to do for years and had given up hope on!

Mary Shomon, Thyroid Patient Advocate and Author

I admit I went to sleep listening to the entire thing (they say that is normal). But now that I know which tracks get to the beef, they are very good. They help to make you mindful (the book comes with a CD). The book is a bit boring but what is unique is it's not food plan and it's not quackery "you are getting sleepy" hypnosis. I put it on my IPOD and listen before bed. The net/net is that it makes you mindful during the day. It helped me give myself a Girl Scout cookie Samoa intervention (I normally eat pretty good but those Samoas are down right evil I tell you!). It worked. I heard about it from Dr. Mark Hyman's emails that I get (he is awesome as well) and Dr. Weil also did a plug on these guys. You do have to get past the corny parts "you can do it, yes you can" but it's worth it. I also like Belleruth Naparstek. Her voice is soothing and she has an entire series. So, if you are struggling or need adjusting, add this to your aresenal and just use it as time to relax. It may surprise you that it has some impact on your thinking (but I do recommend staying awake for tracks 6 & 7 where the real beef is).

Here is the clarion call to a true life that
glorifies God. Put the lies of culture aside
and learn the real truth.. and live it!!

The fact Pastor John Piper in some of his books, "Don't Waste Your Life" and "A Hunger for God" quoted Law in this book several times intrigued me to read it personally. As I went through the chapters, however, it is clear to me and will become clear to the readers as well that Law sounds eerily close to a Roman Catholic minus the devotions to the rituals. Despite many deep, excellent, stinging, uncomfortable, soul-searching reflections and illustrations on the Christian life contrasted against the futility of a self-centered life that I believe are profitable for Christians, particularly to defy the preaching of prosperity gospel that seems to "prosper" more than the true gospel, sadly Law embraces the fatally erroneous doctrine of justification by works. In his view, Christians need to practice the principles of piety, self-denial, generosity, meekness, simplicity of life and all the Bible, particularly the New Testament teaches, the best they can in order to be saved that sounds all too familiarly popish. What he mostly brings up from the Bible is the wonderful teachings of Christ. There is no mention of poverty of spirit, dependence on God's grace to live a sanctified life or to desire to live for him to begin with, let alone the cross, justification by faith, sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, and perseverance of the saints.

Well, the immediate questions that arise are of course, aren't Christians saved already, and that they are saved by grace on the basis of the finished atoning death and resurrection of Christ on the cross, and not by works? How does one know that he has done his best? What is the standard? Whose standard is it to use to determine whether one has done his best, man's or God's? If it is man's standard, which one? The Pope's? How can we be so sure if it is his standard to be used, not someone else's? If it is God's, where is it in the Bible that says God commands us to do the best we can and not rely on him for everything without excluding our responsibilities? Where is it in the Bible that God's standard says we are saved as long as we do the best we can? This is unquestionably deadly because in the end, it points to the perfectionist demand of the law where no one can meet, which is warned against by the Apostle Paul in his epistles, particularly to the Romans and Galatians. The meat of what Law talks about is all about doing and there is no mention of child-like dependence and trusting on God's grace in Christ through the Holy Spirit to enable us to follow what Law, in some cases, biblically and exquisitely exhorts to embrace and practice. To properly describe what Law offers here is a mixture of rich food and poison. The rich food is his biblical heart-piercing warnings, rebukes, reflections, illustrations and encouragements, specifically about prayer, fasting, simplicity, modesty, generosity, humility and self-denial that I must admit are too good, too important, and too bitter-sweet, eye-opening of an exposure and remedy to my own weaknesses to be overlooked as well as too precious to be neglected in practice. The poison is his constant insistence of justification by works. For the fullest benefit to be reaped, enjoy the rich food. Let it purify our souls and reform our lives, but spit the poison out. Instead, embrace and enjoy the even richer food of justification in Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone, and to the glory of God alone for these are the fountain that enables all true piety.

If you're looking for a challenge in your spiritual walk - this is the book for you. Law's classic book was the transforming resource in the lives of the Wesley brothers as well as abolitionist William Wilberforce - just as it changed their lives, this book will not leave you the same!

I've read an abridged and edited version for the modern reader by John Meister (158 pages) - but it wasn't enough - I had to order the small type 317 page version! This is not an easy read - on the difficulty scale of 1 - 10, this would be a solid 9. I wouldn't suggest this book to anyone in high school or even college - Law deals with real world issues and a little seasoning in life is necessary to get the full effect of his challenge. This is a perfect book for the Christian man who wants more than a Purpose Driven Life, the man looking for a profound, insightful, and challenging read that will deeply impact the core of his being!

You can find these books online. The longer version is a Vintage Spiritual Classics edition and retails for around $13.00. Rare will be the person that will want this book - but if you're the one, don't pass this one up! I give this my highest endorsement and recommendation.

Law deals directly with the concept of devotion to God - and asks some difficult questions about where man places his true devotion in life - in the things of this world, or in the Kingdom of Heaven? Law argues that a wise and reasonable man will wholly devote himself to the things of the Lord for they are far superior to the temporal and worthless things of this world. In fact, Law says that a lack of this devotion is a clear indicator of gross ignorance! The book gives several practical elements necessary for a devoted life including prayer, study, humility and confession. But it is not the elements about which Law writes, it is the manner in which he presents them to the reader that makes this book so exceptional - Law raises the bar and challenges the follower of Christ to live an exemplary life, a life worthy of their calling, a life comparable to the great saints who have walked before us or even to angels who minister above us!

This book should be read by every Christian that can get it. It was a tremendously insightful and humbling book that opened my eyes to the hypocrisy in my own life as well as the church in general. The Christian church in America and I am guessing much of the Industrialized and wealthy west[yes, I am a member of that group] have fallen so far from the devotion and holiness that God requires that it is a shock to see what was the actual New Testament norm just 270+ years ago, let alone at the time of the writing of the New Testament. This was a very easy to read book, compared to say Spurgeon or Calvin. Extremely convicting personally. Would recc. to anyone who see themselves as sinners and wants to know what they should do. Includes excellent examples and is written as a practical guide, though not a how-to book[remember, was written over 270+ yrs. ago, before self-help books where invented;)]Found out about this book from a Word Pictures Program on the subject at their video's are also highly recc. for those seeking to glorify God and enjoy him for eternity[mans chief end]
Sincerely,
Wayne Borngesser

This is a classic of Christian literature. It should be a part of every Christian's library. These are the words that inspired the likes of John Wesley, John Newton, William Wilberforce and others. This issue is especially well edited and the book itself is an easy and inspiring read.

A nice murder mystery series with echoes of the Tony Hillerman Jim Chee/Joe Leaphorn Navajo tales. If you liked those you'll warm to Trooper Nathan Active solving mysteries in the snowscape of Alaska's wilderness. I enjoyed Shaman Pass even more than his first installment - White Sky, Black Ice. The hardback editions are easy-to-read paperback-sized volumes.

If you like mysteries set in the Alaska bush, you'll love this book. Jones' use of the local Inuit language and culture puts you right in the plane and "snow-go" with him. The plot stays convoluted and keeps you guessing "who-done-it" up until the end. This book will especially appeal to men, I think, since it doesn't have much of that "mushy" stuff! Excellent read.

Stan Jones has created a story that combines great story telling and a rather deep look at the culture of the Inupiats, a Native American tribe in Northwest Alaska. His plot is rich, dialogue is compelling and the characterization is exceptional. He manages to capture nuances of a culture that is quite alien to most of us. This includes subtleties of language as well as social differences among the inhabitants of that part of our country. I recommend the book highly.

This second Northwestern Alaska Inupiat mystery featuring state trooper Nathan Active thoroughly lives up to the promise of the first, `White Sky, Black Ice." Active, an Inupiat adopted by whites and raised in Anchorage, still takes a lot of ribbing for his city ways and bush ignorance, and he's still waiting for his transfer to Anchorage while carrying on an uncommitted relationship with a local woman.

Following the murder of a tribal leader at his ice-fishing camp, much of Active's dogged investigating takes place in remote, snow and ice-bound areas, reached on his bargain-priced, purple ("the Ladies' Model") snowmobile, or by harrowing airplane flights. The victim was killed with an antique harpoon, recently acquired by the tribe from the Smithsonian, along with the mummy it belonged to. The mummy was immediately "liberated" from the local museum, where it had been put on display, but the obvious suspects have good alibis.

As Active digs deeper, tribal legends and old traditions come into play. Understanding how the pieces fit into a modern murder requires the help of various villagers, including Active's birth mother and grandfather. The spectacular setting takes a central and active role too as Active asserts himself in places he may not be ready for. Early spring is a stormy, unsettled time and the climax builds during a raging blizzard in a remote mountain pass.

Atmospheric and involving, with bright flashes of humor and an enigmatic and increasingly surefooted hero, this series from an Alaskan native and bush pilot feels like the real thing.

In this sequel to "White Sky, Black Ice," Alaska State Trooper, Nathan Active, an Inupiat Eskimo who was raised by white parents in Anchorage, makes the mistake of buying himself a purple snow machine, which as everyone in Chukchi knows, is the ladies' model. It's just one more indication that Nathan is the village naluaqmiiyaaq--the Inupiat word for an Eskimo who tries to pass as a white man.

Nathan wonders if he can endure the teasing long enough to get his transfer back to Anchorage. His relationship with his roommate, Lucy Generous is cooling because of his refusal to talk to her about his recurrent nightmare. Ditto with his birth mother. Instead, Nathan confides in the Inupiat herbalist-cum-psychiatrist, Nelda Qivit, who offers him advice on his sex life and sourdock tea.

And that's about it for the touchy-feely part of "Shaman Pass." So bundle up in your Refrigiwear overalls, your parka with the wolf-fur ruff, and your Sorel boots, because you're going to be spending the rest of the book on the tundra, the sea ice, and the arctic slopes of Shaman Pass.

The adventure begins when the Smithsonian Institute returns an Inupiat mummy nicknamed Uncle Frosty to Chukchi, in accordance with the Indian Burial Act. Museum owner, Victor Solomon (a full-blood Inupiat) wants to put Uncle Frosty on display to draw in more tourist dollars. Young Calvin Maiyumerak wants to secrete the mummy out on the tundra, which is what the pre-Christian Inupiat used to do with their dead.

The Law is on Victor's side, so Uncle Frosty is incarcerated in the museum and his proud new owner goes ice fishing.

The next morning, Victor is found with his parka frozen to the ice next to his fishing hole. Uncle Frosty's ivory harpoon is imbedded in his chest.

Uncle Frosty has vanished.

Naturally Calvin Maiyumerak is the main suspect, but this mystery is much too subtle for a quick arrest. Nathan must first learn who Uncle Frosty was in life, and why Victor was found with a shaman's amulet in his frozen mouth.

This is an unvarnished portrayal of the life and history of the native Alaskans. We are taken on a thrilling ride (even if it is on the purple ladies' model) through some of the harshest landscapes and seascapes on Earth.

Author Stan Jones was born in Anchorage, and has worked as an award-winning journalist there for most of his career. He is also a bush pilot, and readers will be imbibing lots of authentic and hair-raising detail about Alaska and Alaskans, along with the bones of this well-plotted mystery.

The Sista Hood: On the Mic is a great book for young girls on so many levels. For starters, it's set within a hip hop background, a place that is hugely populated by men. Second, the novel shows that young women can obtain any dream they have as long as they work hard and persevere. Third, and just as important as the first two and the others not discussed, The Sista Hood illustrates that sometimes, girls (and women) accomplish their goals because of their "sistas," those girlfriends that are beside them through the good and bad times.

A fresh perspective on the urban novel--written by a Latina author, chronicling the struggle of young Latinas struggling to achieve their dreams of reaching the top of the hip-hop world. (summary by the Latino Recommended Reading List from the Association of American Publishers's * Publishing Latino Voices for America Task Force)
The Sista Hood On The Mic is an exciting book for teens who love music and love to read. It's a fast paced book and would make a great movie one day. This is a wonderful new series with strongly written multicultural characters. (BELLA Online)

This Book is "REAL". This book Not only talks about our every day lives (teens). But it also talks about the social issues, of how a Latina is seen in a world different from her's. The author did an awesome job combining 5 characters, who are from different backgrounds, and still have the same interest, hip-hop. Mariposa teached us that whatever you want to do, despite what others say, you can do it.

The Sista Hood by E-Fierce draws you in from the first page with the bold yet questioning voice of Mariposa as she pines away for school heartthrob EZ (Ezekiel) on the bus home from school. EZ has fallen for Jessica Hoffman, aka J-Ho, and Mariposa's jealousy, after befriending EZ at camp, launches the story. But it's a lot more than a book about a girl pining after a boy. E-Fierce manages to engage many contemporary issues about race, culture, sexuality, and popularity in this engaging tale of friends and sometimes enemies who are all trying to find themselves, as well as separate and learn from their parents. The girls have plenty of very heavy, adult issues to work out, and test the boundaries of family and friendship, forming much more than a clique. How they look out for one another, how they argue, how they learn who's worthy of caring about and investing time in, are important lessons here. Written in a fast-paced style, this had me rooting for the girls to win their talent show.

In a somewhat surprising (to me, at least) turn of events, lesbianism amongst these students comes up, and save for some parental freaking out and macho posturing/homophobia amongst their classmates, it's presented as pretty much normal, just one way of being amongst many. The questions Mariposa asks herself show her to be very self-aware; she's not perfect, and wants to do the right thing, but her confusion over what the "right thing" to do, as evidenced by her various to do lists, proves her willing to work on herself to improve not just her life but those of the people she cares about. Issues of class, race and identity, both in terms of discrimination and how each character feels about her own background, permeate the book, but in a way that makes the reader ask questions as well; Mariposa starts off with some very strong views that she has to rethink as her circumstances and feelings change. The use of hip-hop throughout, both by Mariposa and the influence of that culture, is everywhere in this book, with the idea being that these characters can be a part of hip-hop, not just consumers of it. I'd recommend this to any teenager, or adults like me who like engaging, unique YA novels with strong characters and something to say. I look forward to the next installment in this series.

Mariposa or "Mari", an intelligent, Puerto-Rican fourteen-year old living in San Francisco, aspires to be an MC. While her parents are going through a divorce, she spends a lot of time alone, writing lyrics that depict her pain and how she sees the world through her eyes. She becomes attracted to Ezekiel "EZ" Mathews, another aspiring MC, whom she meets at summer camp and who also attends her high school. The problem is that EZ, being three years older than Mari, refers to her as Lil' Sis instead of what she really wants to be, and that is his girl.

Due to EZ's urging, Mari befriends his younger sister, Sadie. Along with Mari's best friend, Liza and Sadie's best friend, Evita, the girls form an all-girl group called The Sista Hood. Mari rhymes, Sadie sings, Evita plays keyboards and Liza dances. The girls learn how to bond through their daily rehearsals for their high school's talent show. They end up learning so much about each other and mostly how to have each other's backs through the ups-and-downs that are common, and uncommon, to a teenage girl's life.

E-Fierce does an excellent job of illustrating to the reader what life is like for Mariposa, "butterfly" in Spanish. She touches on issues that any teenage girl growing up in an urban city would witness - divorce, a parent's alcoholism, homosexuality, teen domestic violence, race relations and teen pregnancy. She also makes an admirable effort to show how Mari and her friends come together to be a support to each other, step-by-step. Girls reading this novel will be able to gain so much from this book and hopefully apply Mari's learnings to their own life.

This book was written from Mariposa's voice and sometimes she would say things that were not consistent with her voice/language from other parts of the book. Other than that, I would highly recommend this book to middle and high school girls that struggle with friendship issues.

Lena Willis
APOOO BookClub

This book can be best described as a "look into the depths and crevices of the soul of a black man". Mr. Parks, although still young in this game called life, has captured through his experiences, the essence of his mind's eye. With each word....with each phrase....with each line.....I get a front row seat to his soul.

I look forward to the next masterpiece.

This book was very well thought out and was creative. Although harsh at times, it kind of brings a certain reality into perspective. I beleive that many of us live two or more lives, a professional life of today in 2001, and another life at home that has been passed to you from generation to generation. Mr. Parks put both lives together in fine print for all to see, like it or not. That's the beuty and the brutality of it. He kind of made me feel like there were hidden messages between the words that either you saw or you didn't but either way the overall outcome was what you wanted it to be. The effect this book had on me was more than just the pleasure of reading a different reality on life, but it served me as a motivator to get me to express myself somehow. It was very motivating and entertaining. It shows a true freedom of expression to it. I like how he left everything up to the reader to interpret, giving anyone and everyone a different understanding of what Mr. Parks was trying to say. This is definately one of those books that you could read over and over and truly get something different out of it everytime you read it. Motivation or simply entertainment, even a lesson or two, this book is capable of touching a wide arena of readers.

Time-that is what's captured in Richard A. Parks' work. He takes you through several periods of his own life, and each page you turn reveals a different layer. Park's book allows you to see the warm, funny, angry, compassionate sides of a man. It even allows you to see vulnerability, which increases the impact of this man's words. His outspoken essays are thought provoking, and so are each of his poetic tributes on life, love, loss, and strength. You get to grow with him as you experience his life through his words, and it is a compilation of work that everyone can truly vibe with, no matter your age. This writer's talents are unlimited, and people will be able to read his work throughout time. He has definitely left his mark in the best way---through his words.

Poet Richard A. Parks, Jr. pens poetry which swings the closet door of his personal experiences wide open. Exposed are some of the storms he survived, loves he lost and lessons he learned along his path to manhood.

Someone Is Sleeping In My Head is definitely for those who believe that our brothers don't know how to communicate effectively. Richard A. Parks, Jr. disproves this theory as he invites readers into his head, his heart and his soul with his brilliantly expressed poetry.

I saw an ad for this book at a web site called Mental Satin that my wife told me about and this book was featured there. I saw the title and the artwork on the cover and i figured this was just a bit too deep for my taste. But i was pleasantly surprised. This is a funny book. Parks has his moments of deepness and the reality of his experiences stand on thier own but this young brotha made me laugh at things i never felt were humorous. His essays, "Blockbuster versus Bankbuster" and "Where Are All The Single Black Women?" had me in tears. I enjoy books that break things down to levels where we all can understand. Mr. Parks did that for me and i thank him for that. Well done sir....well done.

This is a really wondeful collection of stories. Two-Rivers takes us from Sapawe, Ontario to the streets of Chicago with stories that are immediate and from the heart. He is a terrific writer who takes us on a great journey of distance, time, and emotion.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this book that brings back fond memories of my own Ojibwe upbringing. Two Rivers writes with a style that is raw and true to his Anishinaabe people. Gchi Migwetch Eddie!

I have known of E. Donald Two-Rivers' work since he started the "Red Path Theatre Company" of Chicago, and am glad he found the time in his busy schedule/career to write a book on short stories based upon the Native American experience(s).

Good Luck E. Donald; and may the you always stay in the Gods' favor for Poety & Muse.

David Andrew Shawanokasic, Menominee

I knew Harold Ball. I wasn't his friend because, as this book explains, for most of his life he drove people away. I wasn't at the party that changed his life, but I know some who were. In fact, I know everybody in this book. Set in the city, on the rez or on the road, these stories read as real to me as the last time I stepped out the door or walked into a truck stop. Each person has his or her own fully realized voice. But what recommends this book most to me are the narrator's voices.

Many writers talk about cultural conflict, the Relocation Act or going back to the reservation, but few express it in more than one voice. Eddie Two-Rivers has the classic short story writer's gift for implication: "It was mid-afternoon-the time of day for sighing. That second when everything is just right and silence slices through time. A slight wind rustled the leaves of a nearby tree and the moment was lost to the past." (p. 54) He evokes nostalgia: "Timber supported the town and everyone in it. I remember it as a green, blue, and brown place: forest, sky, water, and sawdust everywhere. A great place for a kid." (p 221)

Yet he also has that educated awareness that summarizes whole decades in short, sociological parapgraphs: "Bill and Glenda thought of themselves as second-generation urban Indians. Their parents had moved to Chicago's South Side during the 1950s in accordance with the Relocation Act. They met at Red's, a blues bar on Thirty-fifth and Archer Avenue. It was love at first sight. They dated a couple of weeks then decided to live together. Their families disapproved so they moved to the more liberal North Side. Both had been raised in working-class homes. Both regarded their families as being provincial, not with the times." (p. 144)

But Eddie Two-Rivers also understands deeply the power of writing to heal communities and make each of us whole: "Everybody got something they do to make themselves feel better. Writing is my medicine." (p. 83)

You may see it in other writers; you can hear it here.

Ed Two-River's book Survivor's Medicine is an important contribution to the literary world both for Indians and non-Indians. The stories unfold to present a fresh perspective on the human condition in general, and the reality of American Indians specifically. As an educator, the collection of stories explores a spectrum of issues and themes that makes it a dynamic book for teaching in the classroom. Each story broadens the reader's perspective about the reality of American Indians' experience today and challenges the reader to consider and question his or her own perceptions. It grapples with history, politics, and culture in a way that is accessible and poignant to audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Survivor's Medicine can be used with students of all academic abilities. The story "Slow Walker: Hero of the Mud Flats Battle" which tells the story of childhood lessons and lifelong memories fought out in the bush in Canada, can be read to a third grade classroom or in a college literature class. I highly recommend this book for educators at all levels and encourage Native educators across the country to use this book with their students. Mr. Two-Rivers is a wonderful and rare role model for young Indians today. I anxiously await his next book.

How does Mark Ellis do it? Just when I think I've read the best that he has to offer, he blows me out of the water with another masterpiece. As I read these OL novels, I am completely immersed in the story and the plot.

Talon and Fang is one of those which kept me turning the pages until the late hours.. Great character development, typical Outlanders humor, and of course the mystery and suspense that only Mark Ellis can weave.

This novel represents a major event in the mythology of Outlanders. Most series novels of this type put you right back where you started from, without altering the fabric of the characters or the format. Talon and Fang takes an extra step and goes beyond this limitation.

This book has action, adventure, life-threatening situations, romance, and mystery. More than your usual action/adventure beat the bad guys plot, this book brings familiar characters a little closer to real life. If you liked the intertwining threads of the other novels in this series you'll love Talon and Fang.

If you are tired of the hum-drum watered down mess that the "Deathlands" serise has become well then my friends this is the book for you.

Set in the future with nost of the Cerburus warriors dead or aged this book provides a freash spin on things.

Kane (old now) wants to find some way to get back and warn his old friends of all that will take place in order to do so he has to walk into the very belly of the beast. Lets just hope he hasn't lost his edge.

My Impression-Great book, how one central point is resolved is very inventive!! Well worth the money.

Talon and Fang is, without a doubt in my mind, the best novel that the author has written in the entire series.

It's what would be called a Flashpoint. To any new readers to the series, it'll be very confusing if they pick up the older novels after reading this one.

Mark has written a novel that is very emotional, tragic, but touching and out and out uproariously funny in several sections.

It begins almost thirty years into the future. The entire face of the Outlands has been changed, much to the efforts of the Cerberus exiles.

Sam has taken total control of the continent, and a good part of the world as well. The nine baronies were destroyed completely in a five year war that took place after Cobalt managed to rebuild his power base and launched an all out assault against Cerberus.

Kane, Grant, Lakesh and Bry are the only ones who managed to survive the wars. Both Kane and Grant were instrumental in the victory over the nine barons, but the cost to both men was insurmountable.

Grant lost Shizuak, and Kane lost his wife, Brigid, when they rescued him from the hands of a cult, The Nirodha, based in India. That single even left more of a scar on Kane than any of the wounds that he had suffered over the many years he spent as a Magistrate, and then an exile fighting the Barons.

He has spent over twenty years researching a means to travel back in time to fix what had happened, so that he wouldn't have to suffer as he has. Even Grant, his partner, and his best friend, turned his back on Kane, thinking that he has become totally fused out because of what happened.

Kane however, has a plan. Sindri disappeared, and was never heard from again, but Kane realized what the little man did. He managed to trap himself in Zero time, using the operation Chronos facilities on Thunder Isle, just before the reactor reached critical mass. He is critical to bring about Kane's plan to life.

As always, Kane has a number of obstacles to overcome. First and foremost is Tanvirah, the daughter of Lakesh and Erica van Sloan. She is now the Scorpio Prime of the Nirodha cult, like her mother before her. She is under Sam's orders to try and win Kane over, with any means at her disposal. Grant even tries to stop him, and the fight that ensues is one of the more entertaining scenes in the novel.

But, despite as crazy as he appears, Kane's whole scheme might actually work, and after bringing Sindri back from the Zero time he had been trapped in. Together, he and Sindri use the remaining TAV to travel to the City of High River, formerly known as Cobaltville.

Surpassing even more trials and tribulations, they reach the city only to be captured and whisked off to China where they would face Sam, the Imperator.

Here, Kane confronts the hybrid and discovers exactly who and what he is, and during the confrontation, he learns the Imperators great plans. His own plan to send Sindri back in time actually succeeds, but at the cost of his life.

Once again, this is the best novel that the author has written to date, and I am very eager to read the conclusion.

It's when you come across books like Talon & Fang that you know your money spent on a series is well-spent!! I loved this book! I think it is quite possibly the best in the whole series.

Talon and Fang could be one of the best in the whole series so far. It has one of the most original plots of them all of the ones I've read. Along with the action it has lots of heartbreak too. I can't wait for the next one in this two parter.