Colette Books

This CD is wonderful for totally relaxing and aiding in erasing the everyday stress from your mind. Colette's voice is so enchanting and the sounds of the sea, sea birds and visualiztion that Colette guides you through is incredible. It is as if you are truly sitting on the sandy beach with the sun warming your skin. I can't wait to play the CD after receiving the Chakra crystals I have recently purchased and using them in tandem to heal and open all the Chakra's, to experience Chakra healing on a much deeper level.

Wonderful CD! Bliss! Feel refreshed after listening, great audio sound and effects! I looked everywhere to find this, after attending one of her seminars! She's Fantastic, Friendly, easy to understand & connected with her audience! Recommend to anyone who needs to relax, get intouch with their inner self, for healing, meditation, destresser, self-esteem, self awareness & self empowering! Love it!!!

I know one person said that it was cheezy. At first I thought the same way too but I listen to it every night and I cant say enough! What a beautiful voice this women has! I love the story she has us go along. I can imagine being on that beach all alone, feeling the breeze and warm air. I really like when the wind picks up on the yellow and when you go into the crystal mountain and sit on the throne with white light. I would love it if she made more of these. I would buy every single one!!

THis an awesome CD. What a journey! I listened to this every night. She has the most amazing soothing but uplifting voice. I can actually see the different colors of the charkrs that you journey though.
I bought this also for a dear freind of mine and its become one of her favorites. We both listen and love Kelly Howell CD's also.
The song at this end, on LOVE, you just float away. BUY this CD. Give yourself a real treat! Its also very calming and healing.

Colette has a beautiful, clear, and relaxing voice. The images she presents are clear and helpful. One of the best new age CD's I have purchased. WELL worth the money!

I just finished this superb work a few moments ago. Warning: once you start, you will not be able to put this book down.

As others have said, this is a true story which reads like a finely crafted work of fiction of the historical "thriller" genre. The constant tension is palpable as our heroes, the downed American airman desperately seeking help in occupied France, the young, small town schoolteacher who decides to risk all to hide him, the brave French Resistance fighter, all attempt to evade capture and death at the hands of the Nazis. That's all you need to know. Treat yourself...get this book and find out what happens to them. As the story draws to its end, you will truly care. I promise.

I love stories of the WWII era in occupied Europe and have read many, both history and fiction. Alan Furst's works of fiction are good, especially the earlier ones. Robert Ryan's works, The Blue Noon and Early One Morning, are both superb. They are based on actual events and real persons, with additional fictional characters inserted. A central "real" character in the latter, race car driver Robert Benoist, appears briefly in The Shadows of War.

Airey Neave's They Have Their Exits is a thrilling true memoir of escape from a Nazi prison camp. Neave also appears briefly in Ryan's The Blue Noon. Clare Francis' Night Sky is by far the best fictional work I have enjoyed of this genre.


All these books are excellent page turners. If you only read one, however, read In The Shadows of War. Whether you are interested in WWII and/or clandestine operations in occupied Europe or not, you will love this book and be moved by it.

I first encountered Thomas Childers in his excellent courses for The Teaching Company. His full history of WWII and his course on Hitler's Empire are excellent. Childers is a highly regarded U. of Pennsylvania professor of history. I recommend those works as well.

This is a very well written story of both the French resistance and the story of one of our pilots that crashed and was helped to avoid the Germans in occupied France. It also documents the experience of the pilot when he is captured by the Germans. It is a chilling example of the cruel treatment the pilot and other prisoners had to endure.

Thomas Childers has done it again - a truly amazing recount, from a very personal view, of another air war story from WW-II. His previous "Wings of Morning" was spell binding and yet here is "In the Shadows of War", another captivating book to be read over and over.

this book is fascinating as it ties in a captured American pilot's story with that of the French underground. A sobering view of the stranglehold the Germans had on occupied France and the tragic and heroic struggle of ordinary people.

i must say i am not the most advid reader in the world but when i bought this book i could not put it down. this book has it all, great adventures rich with texture and amazing characters!
there are many subplots to this book which also help advance the story to a wonderful ending. what a great movie this book would make and the fact that it really happend makes it even more compelling. thomas childers is a wonderful rich story teller. thanks for a great read!

What a great little book. The illustrations are outstanding. The artist really captures the essence and spirit of Corgis. We own several Corgis and this book is a constant on our coffee table. We can't help but smile every time we look at the pictures. It is a real hit.

The write and illustrator have some much imagination. Loved, loved loved the pictures!! We have a corgi, so of course we loved the concept, but this book is for all ages and you will enjoy reading it over and over again!!! Please Ms Colette, write more!!!!!!

Basically a picture book, (and forgive me, but how does this Anjou person get credit ABOVE Evie for having "authored" the book???) this book is an absolute must-have for your corgi book collection! Evie Anderson never disappoints, and this collection of her early work is just delightful! Most highly recommended!

If you are a Corgi owner or just love the breed this is a must have. I have liked the artist Evie for many years and her illistrations are perfect. I can see her two furbabies posing for the pictures themselves. It is a nice simple book that should be a part of everyones collection.

Great children's (and adult) book. The illustrations are amazing and so true to life. Looking forward to seeing these wonderful and spectacular dogs with their own show.

when will i have the time to make these cakes. some look so outdated. duh i should have known. but i love Collete Peters and am glad to have one of her books.

Each year I prepare the desserts for my husband's office Christmas party (over 400 guests). I always try to come up with one special "show stopper" and Colette's chocolate bowl and ornaments was it for last year! I'm certainly a beginner but, with a little practice and Ms. Peter's clear instructions, I was able to create pieces that were the talk of the night. Several people even asked to take one home to show their family. I can't wait until next Christmas when I can try something even more amazing!

I treated myself to "Colette's Christmas" by baker extraordinaire Colette Peters while on vacation. It seemed a strange thing to read while at the beach, but I was absolutely captivated. What a fevered imagination Ms. Peters has! The showstoppingly gorgeous desserts and projects she shows within include a layer cake covered with fondant that has been pieced and quilted to resemble and antique quilt (and it surely does); a chocolate bowl filled to overflowing with spectacular chocolate spheres (the cover photograph); hinged, jointed cookies which really move and make splendid Christmas ornaments (all in human forms, like Santa, Raggedy Ann, and so on); gift boxes made entirely of decorated cookie dough; a shimmering "stained glass" cake; and a three-dimensional Christmas gazebo constructed around a towering decorated Christmas tree made of piped icing.

Even if the projects herein appear way too complicated or time-consuming for most people--as they do for me, I'll admit--Ms. Peters gives splendidly clear, concise directions in a conversational tone that make starting your own gingerbread house seem, somehow, not as daunting as it really should be.

If you're a Christmas junkie like me you'll *love* this book. The author manages to make breathtaking edibles that capture the season and will have you trying them out regardless of the time of year. Truly inspirational!!

I'd definately give this book six stars if they had the option!!! The descriptions on each item are incredibly detailed making it so ANYONE can follow the directions and have it turn out as nice as the pictures. The book takes what looks INCREDIBLY complicated and makes it so even the novice could recreate it. Definately a must have in any Christmas or baker's collection!!

This was the first work on depression authored with a real life perspective on the illness and its affects on "life" that I had read. Having been trained in the mental health field and being employed in a mental health related job, this was the first work to help me feel better about my own illness. It was so easy to be understanding and supportive of others with this illness, but when it came time for me to understand and to be caring for myself, it all but elluded me.

Also in this work I found the connections between depression, addiction, weight related issues, and hormonal problems. Every little piece of my spotty medical history came into focus under the hands of the author in this book. I have yet to read anything that has helped me on the road to understanding my depressive illness any more than this book. Having a lay person relate information through her own real experiences is a definate plus as well.

The author feels that many substance abusers have an underlying emotional problem like depression, anxiety, bi-polar disorder etc. They really need to be treated for this in order to get the substance abuse under control.

If you are having a substance abuse problem, read this book and be sure you get screened by a real professional for emotional problems. Keep an open mind and save yourself a lot of trouble and heartache. When the emotional issues get resolved, the substance abuse problem may practically take care of itself!

This is a very accessable book for anyone concerned about depression in a loved one or yourself. Written so people (not just professionals) can understand it. I've given it to several friends who were helped, too. Best of all, it helped my partner realize the behavior wasn't crazy but treatable. Excellent book.

This book is up to date in its information. It is very informative, and reader friendly. It explains the cause of some mental illness, addictions, phobias and anxieties. These down to earth explanations take all the guilt out of having a disorder, disability, or addiction. This distancing from self blame enables action and change.

A great "primer" on depression. This is the first book I read on depression after reading Darkness Visible, and I still think it's one of the best, especially as the author's daughter, who suffered from depression, contributed to it.

This is an inspirational story that encourages us to be true to our selves and have the courage to follow our dreams--no matter how unlikely they may seem.
Our heroine secretly (but deliciously) lives out her fantasy double life in this story of complex corporate life and romance--with a rock n roll twist.
Cleverly written, this book keeps the intellect intrigued while the developing romance between Suzanne and a "not so straight-laced" character will steal your heart!
Absolutely excellent! I can't wait for another!

As someone who works in the coporate world I can totally relate to the character. By day, three piece suites, meeting, deadlines etc. Otherwise, Kiss T's, jeans, leather, lace and diving right into the rock and roll world!! I HIGH recommend this book!!!

This has been the most fun book of summer 2005 for me. I was hooked from the first page, and I didn't know what was going to happen until the last -- the two signs of a good book, in my opinion. I think every woman can identify in some way with Suzanne -- a sharp professional with a sometimes unconventional personal life. After all, don't we all have different sides?! Try this one for fun. You won't regret it.

Colette Shaw's Won't Get Fooled Again is a pleasure to read! The line between personal and professional interests is questioned and conflicted and I won't divulge its secrets...You'll have to pick it up! It is a well written novel with eye-widening surprises in the plot. Keeps the reader turning the pages. And if the reader is female, single and career oriented, it hits even closer to home. I recommend it as a smart, sexy, cheer-for-the-heroine ride!

Colette Shaw's Won't Get Fooled Again had me hooked from the first page and kept me going to the last. Shaw makes what, on the surface, looks implausible very genuine. She weaves a tale that is at times heart wrenching and always heart-felt. Though women readers may readily identify with the spirited, vulnerable Suzanne, men too should find this story of strong-willed adversaries, shady pasts and plenty of intrigue equally engaging.

a review of Colette's The Vagabond

The opening of the story in the dressrooms of the music hall smell like rancid grease paint, dust, sweat of performers. There's only few people you can relate to, since everyone comes & goes in the music hall, so why make friends?

But the music hall is good place for Renee Nere, a pantomime, who performs half nude in see-through silks, and gets slammed to ground on purpose by her mentor, Brague, who treats her like an amateur: but this a joke between them. Renee is no amateur. At 33 she can out perform anyone

"You get use to not eating, a toothache . . . . but you cannot get used to jealousy." is the way Renee describes her high profile marriage to Adolphe Taillandy, and his many, many mistresses. A marriage ends in divorce when Renee can no longer take it. Divorce from a wealthy man was unheard of in 1910.

Renee, the vagabond, loves the music hall in her own way, even though she hates the dust, the animal abuse, the low-class crowd. But she will never have to deal with Adolphe Taillandy again. She also endures the touring which means terrible food, discomfort, bad hours. It mends her broken life and heart, or gives her a chance to avoid it.

A rich suitor arrives and Renee doesn't want to get involved. She becomes emotionally involve, but then goes on tour, and tries to forget him. She's a vagabond now and she doesn't want to get tied up.

Colette was a master of the word written by a woman, from a woman's heart. She knew how to move from one scene to another and astonish the reader. The most amazing fact of this novel was that it was written in the dressing rooms of the music hall, and on tour too. ("It takes up too much time to write," states Renee, a writer herself, "and the trouble is, I am no Balzac!")

And then there is a nod to people who make up the music halls of Paris: "How unrecognized they are, these cafe concert artistes, how disparaged and how little understood! Forceful, proud, and full of an absurd and outmoded faith in Art . . . . "

Renee's faith in art is on a thin line too, but it saves her from "a woman dying of grief".

Colette's beginning as a writer is one of the strangest in literature. In her early 20s, she married a no-talent hack named "Willy" (that was how he signed his pieces) and wrote a series of novels about a young girl named Claudine. Willy took these pieces and published them under his pen name, giving his young wife no credit.

In her early to mid 30s, Colette grew weary of Willy, and turned her back on him to embark on a career as a dance hall performer. This is the setting for THE VAGABOND, Colette's first post-Willy novel, and the first to bear her own name.

The main character, Renee Nere, has been touring for 3 years, and although she's sometimes lonely, is enjoying her freedom and self-sufficiency. She's also suffering from what we'd refer to nowadays as Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Her marriage to her philandering and abusive husband was so wretched, that when she meets another man who loves her, the slighest familiar gesture or word will trigger memories that incite revulsion.

THE VAGABOND is a gem of a novel that beautifully shows off Colette's gift for prose as well as her wonderful descriptions of life backstage as part of a touring group. If that isn't enough, she is also very gifted at revealing the psychological insights of her character. The introduction by Judith Thurman is well-done, and both the introduction and the novel left me wanting more Colette.

Colette's Renee Nere is complex, her name alone tells us that (the last name is the first name spelled backwards, not to mentioned that Renee means "reborn"). This female protagonist would certainly fit in with the modern notion of being female, and in the early 20th century, this was not only rare, but not very-well understood. I adore this book because of the way it encourages women (by example) to carve out their own existence and not to rely upon men for security. It is also wonderfully written. However, you'll be in for a shocker if you read the sequel, "The Shackle".

This was my first reading of Colette. What a poetic, beautiful, and amazing writer she was. In this novel, we meet a woman who is definitely revolutionary for her time and ours. Colette is aware of the sorrow and happiness that are intertwined in life. The main character's life follows a path that has much loneliness and doubt, but she, most importantly, has her will. This is truly a feminist classic. What I admire most is the courage to write such a work and to write it so well. The language is intoxicating.

The Vagabond was my first delicious introduction to Colette, and the first book to make me weep openly. I related strongly to Renée, a professional woman who clung desperately to her independence while falling hopelessly for a man who relentlessly tugged at her vulnerability. Renée's confusion about whether love and happiness could coexist kept me captive in suspense until the very last (and infinitely satisfying) page.

If you're looking for a refreshing deviation from the mean of women writers, then Colette is it. Her stories offer a pleasurable clearing of the literary palate.

Her short stories are superb! Much much better than any of her novels. If you like short stories, try reading John O'hara (A completely different vein, but excellent also).

The Collected Stories of Colette by Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, ed., and with an introduction by, Robert Phelps. Highly recommended.

According to the introduction, this collection represents 100 stories taken from a dozen volumes published during Colette's lifetime. They are categorised as "Early Stories," Backstage at the Music Hall," "Varieties of Human Nature," and "Love." Some, like the Clouk/Chéri stories, appear to be fiction, while many, like "The Rainy Moon" and "Bella-Vista," seem to be taken straight from Colette's varied life and acquaintances.

Whether writing fiction or chronicling fact, whether writing in the third-person omniscient or in the first person, Colette herself is always a character-rarely as an influencer, that is, one whose actions or choices drive the plot. Colette's preferred role is as observer-and it is one for which she is well suited.

An inveterate sensualist and a former music-hall performer, Colette integrates her characters (real and fictional) with everything around them-their clothes (costumes), their abodes, dressing rooms, and haunts (sets), and their neighborhoods and towns (theatres). Much of Colette's writing, no matter how mundane the surface subject, is about art-the art of living and, notably, the art of loving. In "My Goddaughter," the subject tells her godmother how she injured herself with scissors and a curling iron and recounts her mother's reaction. "She said that I had ruined her daughter for her! She said, 'What have you done with my beautiful hair which I tended so patiently? . . . And that cheek, who gave you permission to spoil it! . . . I've taken years, I've spent my days and nights, trembling over this masterpiece. . . ."

Colette is attuned to everything, every sense, every nuance. "A faint fragrance did indeed bring to my nostrils the memory of various scents which are at their strongest in autumn." ("Gibriche") ". . . set in a bracelet, which slithered between her fingers like a cold and supple snake." ("The Bracelet") " . . . the supper of rare fruits, an[d]of ice water sparkling in the thin glasses, as intoxicating as champagne . . ." ("Florie") "Peroxided hair, light-colored eyes, white teeth, something about her of an appetizing but slightly vulgar young washerwoman." ("Gitanette")

Colette does not pretend to be an objective observer of human behaviour; she does not hesitate to express to the reader her weariness with certain individuals or situations, and her stories of her vain, pretentious, overbearing friend Valentine reveal her jaded and waning affection. She knows this woman so well that she sees her almost as Valentine sees herself-a drama queen acting out stories, roles, and games without depth of feeling for them. "What Must We Look Like?" becomes Valentine's driving philosophy, to which Colette responds with "a mild, a kindly pity." In "The Hard Worker," Colette says, "I can see she does not hate him, but I cannot see she loves him either." What Colette sees-and does not see-is to be respected.

Some stories, such as "The Sick Child," are vivid and imaginative and reveal Colette's amazing ability to think and dream like a gifted child. "The Advice," with its mundane beginning and premise and twisted, horrifying ending would enhance any collection of gothic or mystery tales. Other stories, like "Gibriche," several of the other music-hall stories, and "Bella-Vista," tackle topics that even today remain controversial. "Bella-Vista," in which Colette's moods seem to wane with every familiarity achieved with her hostesses, offers an ending that is heavily foreshadowed throughout but is surprising and gruesome nonetheless.

Most of the stories, whether fiction or nonfiction, seem to come from life in one way or another. The quantity of stories and the quality of the collection reveal the incredible scope of experience of Colette, the dry, often weary yet obsessive observer, interpreter, and chronicler of human nature. As Judith Thurman says in her introduction to Colette's work, The Pure and the Impure, "This great ode to emptiness was written by a woman who felt full." As well she should.

Diane L. Schirf, 27 May 2003.

If you're looking for a refreshing deviation from the mean of women writers, then Colette is it. Her stories offer a pleasurable clearing of the literary palate.

Ok. You've read the Claudine novels, and Cheri and the Return of Cheri. Now what? There are other novels (The Vagabond, Gigi, My Mother's House) but there are these short stories that are "must-reads."

Colette was one of France's most distinguished writers. Though not a writer of massive books like Victor Hugo or Proust, or of psychological novels like Zola or Flaubert, she caught that French essence of individuality and quirkiness and the golden age of La Belle Epoque before World War One changed France forever. Her books are pure joy as are these short stories. If you have NOT read Colette, you are in for a treat. (And don't neglect Claudine or Cheri. )

The book Giants and the Joneses was great. I liked how the book was based on Jack and the Beanstalk. I liked how the book had its own dictionary too. I recommend this book to a lot of people. I hope she writes a sequel. I can't wait to read her other books.

If you love the B.F.G by Roald dahl, if you like stories about "little people" like The Borrowers and The Littles, if you are in search of a great read aloud for your seven year old, this is the book to choose! As you know, there are no such things as giants, and the giants tell their children there are no such things as beanstalks or iggly plops. Or are there?

This is an incredible book! I teach 2nd grade and used it to teach about context clues. The kids were mesmerized!!

The Giants and the Joneses begins where Jack and the Beanstalk leaves off. In our time, the Giants of the land of Groil still tell the story of "Jack and the Beanstalk." But no one really believes in the "Iggly Plops" or the Little People. No one except an eight-year old giant named Jumbeelia. Jumbeelia drops a bean over the edge of Groil and the next day she climbs down a giant beanstalk where she collects a few new toys - including the three Jones children.

This is a fun story with the added challenge of a make-believe giant language to decode. (A dictionary is included.) The story does get a little scary when Jumbeelia's brother captures the Jones children and mistreats them, but this shouldn't be enough to put most children off. In addition, this story may lead readers to contemplate sibling relationships, treatment of smaller, helpless creatures, and whether there may be truth in legends.

My girls - 5 and 8 - love this book. I read it to them three months ago and we still talk about "igglyplops" and "bealy" things. The story is compelling -- three kids in a world of giants. The giants have their own language, but kids can identify with the giant childrens' normal everyday lives. There's an imagined world, suspense, and siblings who grow to love one another -- who could ask for anything else?