Short Stories Books

I guess if a character in a novel irritates you then you have no choice but to give it "5ive stars". This book was awesome I loved it. Avery Jackson is "Ms. Victim" personified. I mean everyone trying to shield and protect her from harm was very sickening. What the heck happened to Carter, in the last two novels he was something else but now it's Avery this and Avery that. I wanna know why when a man is a s.o.b at first but as soon as he finds love he's a jellyfish. Call me crazy but I was rooting for Kimberly...she is what she is. Michael what can I say, Steven and Janet are some kind of parents, Leigh you surprise me and Haley you are not missed. Anthony get out NOW. Darn good book Ms. Winters.

Hands down the best series that I've read this year! The Chase Family is a definite page turner that will keep you on the edge of your seat. My favorite person is Kimberly and I think she's getting a really rotten deal but she's a survivor and I think she'll pull out just fine, with or without Michael. Gotta love Carter, Avery won't see it coming. If you like drama mixed with romance, you will definitely not be disappointed with this series. Can't wait for Book 4.

I Loved this book!!!! I am such a Angela Winters fan. I love all of her books. Great read...I finished in 3 days.

These books are good........My advice is to start with the first book before you get the other books that way you can follow along with the characters.

I was up all night and could not sleep until I finished No More Good!

OMG! I cannot wait for the next one. I was on the edge of my seat and read it in a day. Angela Winters is one of my all time fav's!

As a vampire craves blood, Thomas Ligotti's readers will enjoy Noctuary. The stories are complex, at least some of them. I read one of them over the phone to a woman I know and she laughed a few times. At least at the beginning of the story. Makes me remember the line, "Be careful what you laugh at." The wonderful thing about the stories in Noctuary is that you don't have to understand them to enjoy the writing.

Ligotti shuns the spotlight. But that's okay because he certainly didn't shun the dreams and nightmares that I experienced while reading this book that I consider a masterpiece.

It's a haunting piece of work and my only warning is that Ligotti will take you to a place -- hidden in your mind -- that you don't even know exists.

Flawless. Highly recommended.

...we smile." -Autumnal, from Notebook of the Night.
Thomas Ligotti is one of the most original and unsettling horror writers of this day and age, only somewhat rivalled by his predecessors, Poe and Lovecraft. (One writer who does come very close, however, is Ramsey Campbell.) He is the epitome of the horror writer, thinking of ideas a great deal of us wouldn't even be able to think of: In Part One, we meet Lucian Dregler, an obsessive searcher for the Medusa; Samuel, the deranged postman, descending into his mind on each successive All Hallows' Eve; Arthur Emerson's encounter with a god who may realise his dreams; and Mrs. Rinaldi's ancient wooden chest, home to something infinitely pure and equally corruptable. Part Two take a darker tone. Here we meet Andrew Manning, destined to bring about the end of earthly life; a scientist turned leper messiah and his marvelous machine; a painter determined to become part of his landscapes; and a man pursued by puppet-like horrors, written in the shades of a nightmare. The final section is entirely devoted to vignettes showcasing Ligotti's talent at using very few words to pull off the same effect. The micro-narratives range on subject matter from the unreal ("New Faces in the City") to the Gothic ("Salvation by Doom") to the premundane ("Primordial Loathing"), from the eyes of demons ("The Demon-Man"), from the mouths of the the dead ("One May be Dreaming", "Autumnal"), of the sum of all days ("The Interminable Equation"), on dark, rainy nights ("The Nameless Horror"), ponderings on the mystique of things ("The Mocking Mystery") and the sardonic beauty of it ("The Order of Illusion"). These and many more can be found here. The only piece that came even close to disappointing me was "The Physic", but, thankfully, even that is worth every word.

Thomas Ligotti is a truly unusual author. He has a fascination with "weird fiction," with the unknowable, the macabre. This is paired with a knack for eloquent word-poetry, intelligence and complexity, and a sense of the chillingly unusual. When I finish reading several Ligotti stories, I find that the world looks different. The colors aren't quite right any more, or the angles, or maybe people seem a little darker, a little stranger.

I have several books of Ligotti stories and Noctuary is my favorite. I have often wondered why, and the answer I eventually came to is that most of the stories in here are shorter than those in other books. The longest one is less than 40 pages, and many are only two or three pages long. As much as I love all of Ligotti's writing, he's at his best when he writes in short chunks. Otherwise I find his writing sometimes drags a little.

Ligotti's work is not for everyone. If you don't like the weird or the macabre, you won't enjoy his work. If you prefer your stories to be normal, with a beginning, middle and end, all wrapped up in a neat little ribbon, then this is not for you. If you prefer your world to be its same, comfortable self when you close your books - don't read a word of Ligotti. Ligotti's style is definitely not for everyone. He hands us phrases that no one but he would conceive of, that almost cannot help but elicit a shudder:

"We witness the scene and, with what remains of our mouths, we smile."

But for those of us who enjoy it, it is a dread and harrowing pleasure - one that I would not give up. My only regret is that Ligotti is not a more prolific author.

ligotti is the most disturbing horror writer i've ever encountered, hands down. after i finished "noctuary" i was hungry for more, but unfortunately could not find "grimscribe" anywhere, and am still fiending for a copy. the stories in this book resonate with a kind of sickly unreality (maybe best articulated in "the tsalal") and one gets the sense that while ligotti is on the one hand the impassioned horror writer trying desperately to communicate his vision to the reader, he is on the other hand the avant garde artist in the tradition of duchamp, laughing openly at our pathetic and delusory attempts to impose meaning and order on a universe that in the final equation has neither. it is almost as if he makes a point of pointing out the pointlessness. in this way, he is like his idol hp lovecraft, who constantly added subtle layers of philosophical nihilism and the most extreme forms of pessimism to his work. for those who love tasting the dark, you can't live without this

To realise that for only a few dollars more I could have bought 'The Nightmare Factory' instead which contains all the stories in this book + many more! I guess I will end up owning them both. Ligotti is one of the few creditable horror writers working today and I could never get tired of his stories. They just seem to get deeper and deeper with each subsequent reading. However - if you are looking for blood/gore type horror don't bother - this is a deeply subtle writer at work ..

I like outdoor stories, and this is some storytelling at it's best. There are better writers, but Joe Parry can storytell with the best of them. It's not even fair to put this in a genre. I gave the book to my sister when I got done reading it, and she loved it, and she would never hunt or fish. This book is more than that. The story about Tip's last rabbit brought tears to my eyes. It made me remember my own great dogs, and the story on fly-fishing with his friend Big Bill made me laugh, and if you have ever tried to tie a fly, you will understand. I can't recomend this book enough. I'm going to look for more stories by Parry and put this book in a lot of Christmas stockings.

When it comes to writing from the heart, Joe Parry has few peers. His ability to weave a story in such a way that it brings out the true essence of our most basic emotions is a tremendous talent, for sure, but it also reflects the hard, agonizing work Joe puts into selecting just the right words to say exactly what he wants to say, when he wants to say it. It truly has been my pleasure to work with Joe for going on three decades, on the many features he's contributed to Pennsylvania Game News. Reading Joes's first book, "Of A Predatory Heart" was a tremendous showcase of Joe's talent, and I'm sure "A Rising Son" will be just as good-Bob Mitchell, Editor, Pennsylvania Game News.

I very, very, very rarely read outdoorsy type books. I almost NEVER read hunting/fishing oriented books. The only type of book I read less is romance (and I never read them). So, why did I read this book? I'm not really sure. I stumbled upon one story and halfway through realized I was laughing so hard I was almost crying. So, I read another one. And ended up bawling my eyes out. Hmmmmm. After reading a third and then a fourth, I realized that hunting/fishing/outdoorsy or not, the stories in this book are addictive. It doesn't matter what type they are, they're stories from the heart and those stories work for anyone and everyone. So, whether you're an outdoorsy type who loves to hunt and fish or just someone who enjoys REAL stories that make you laugh and cry and just be glad that the author decided to share life with you for awhile, you really WILL love this book. Give it a shot, you won't be sorry.

Reviewed by William Phenn for Reader Views (3/08)

Joe Parry is a Vietnam vet that is also an outdoorsman and a writer. He lives in Pennsylvania with his wife, son and daughter and writes his stories about this area. His stories have appeared in: Fins and Feathers, Turkey Magazine, Sports and Field, the Pennsylvania Game News, Field and Stream, Readers Digest, the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, Northwest Outdoors, the Philadelphia Daily News, and the Wellsboro Gazette.

Joe's stories on hunting, fishing and the outdoors cover so many areas of this lifestyle, from rip-snortingly funny to tear-jerking and sad. The tales that Joe recounts in his book are compelling and full of life. He mentions the torment within the heart of a hunter that has returned from the war, not wanting to kill again but missing the hunt -- taking that first shot and how it brought him back. Then there are the amusing tales of missed game, falling out of a tree stand and killing a tree with multiple arrows. The heartfelt stories of a young man's first hunting rifle. Joe introduced his children to the outdoors and instilled in them the appreciation of nature. He tells of his daughter being all excited about going hunting and the excitement of his son's first kill.

Joe does not limit his stories to just the people of the wilderness and outdoors, he also includes vignettes about his pets Bear and Tippy Two. He tells a very sweet story of how Bear saved his life by bringing him his Nitro when Joe left home without it. Out in the woods one day as the pain started shooting in his chest, who came to the rescue but his trusted hound Bear? Joe tells about his other hound Tippy Two, a little Beagle he bought for forty dollars. The story of her death is very sad and gives the reader an insight into Joe's feelings for his animals.

"Of a Predatory Heart" is a great book of the outdoors and it's more than just hunting stories. It is a book of love and feeling, sadness and courage, it is an emotional adventure. I enjoyed "Of a Predatory Heart" and gave it a very well-deserved A; it was an enjoyable read.

If you love the outdoors, you will love this book! Joe Parry is a phenomenal writer as well as a true outdoorsman. B. Krug

This story has everything I look for in a book: excellent characters who evolve; a good, strong plot; romance; and humor.

Sarah is a fourty-something mother whose husband has betrayed her and whose grandmother has just died. She takes refuge with and also takes care of her grieving Aunt Edna, grandmother's caretaker for the last 20 some years.

The cast of characters includes a blind black man who repairs the chairs that Edna endlessly paints, the rest of the family who are quite quirky and a southern baptist minister with a bad toupee.

There's old family squabbles, new acquaintance mystery. And most of all, there's a big old life lesson - what you see is not always what you get. It's all in what you choose to see.

This is not quite a light read; it's a lot thicker than that. But it is utterly lovely.

(*)>

"We were two fat women, eighteen years apart, a chair artist and a designer of Christmas ornaments, who only knew we had troubles and a hot summer to get through," says Sarah. But as it turns out, there is a great deal more to quirky Aunt Edna's troubles than Sarah could possibly imagine. As the novel turns from the hot, oppressive heat of Texas to the misty beauty of Scotland, she learns of her aunt's remarkable secret life and comes to fully understand the fragile business of living, and even of dying.
My reviewing experience is minimal, but it would be remiss of me to not let you know how much I enjoyed this book. Joe Coomer's book "One Vacant Chair" is one of the most well-written stories that I have ever read. If you have the time this summer and you're looking for a great read, try this book. You won't be disappointed.
"It's where you sit down that determines everything in life."

Since Joe Coomer and I are distant relatives (cousins by marriage), I've been reading his books for about four years. I started with KENTUCKY LOVE because that's where his ancestors and mine began. What a book that was!

Then I read three more, in no particular order, so I'm wandering helter-skelter through his writing career ... and enjoying every moment of these fine reads.

Each book I read is so unique from the other, but each has common threads: warmth, love of family and friends, love of life, life lessons, smooth reading, realistic characters, etc.

I really looooooove the concept of ONE VACANT CHAIR, and appreciate finely-drawn characters who have unusual jobs in life.

Go, Joe!!! (And congratulations on the movie deal on THE LOOP. Can't wait to see the movie!)

Friends and family have been phoned and emailed with the rave review I've given this book. Funny, touching, sweet, and spicy---it has everything you hope a book will have, and then some. Realistic characters, great dialog and a realistic plot kept me reading well into the night. Tell your friends...they'll thank you.

This book works on so many different levels. It's a great read that's hard to put down once you start. It has wonderfully fleshed out characters who come to life on the page. The themes are compelling, and Coomer handles them with a strong sense of humor and sensitivity. The discussion of art technique adds another interesting dimension. All in all, I loved this book!

"Elementary" and "My Dear Watson" do appear in these stories, but not together in the same phrase. That out of the way, these are absorbing stories that reward the rereading with gentle humor, action, cultural and linguistic ("Halloa!") history, and even "mystery."

I use the quotation marks advisedly. Part of the secret of Holmes' near-mystical powers is that Doyle consciously controls how much of the mystery he reveals in advance, so that in most stories even an aspiring Holmes can not dope out the mysteries based on the information given. This reveals more about the author than the stories, making Doyle interesting enough to make me want to know more, so I read Martin Booth's The Doctor and the Detective: A Biography of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Doyle's life story is every bit as interesting as the ones he creates.

I have been a fan of Sherlock Holmes from the time I was a boy. I am not alone. How else could you explain the longevity of a character who was created primarily as a mass entertainment in the Strand Magazine, the Victorian equivalent of a television show. But, unlike his contemporaries in the Strand, Holmes has gained immortality. As time passes, he moves in and out of fashion, sometimes newly popular and cool, and at others hopelessly old fashioned and quaint. But, there's something about that monomaniacal probably bi-polar, self destructive and vain character that keeps him bouncing back.
I have many editions of Holmes stories, in print, in film and in television episodes, most remarkably and satisfyingly, the Granada series with Jeremy Brett, but I had to have this one.
In most of the collections the one thing that is achingly absent is the series of drawings by Sydney Paget. In "The Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes," that defect is corrected.
"Here," the flyleaf proclaims, "are the original Sherlock Holmes stories ... as they first appeared in the British Magazine, the Strand." These are facsimiles of the pages of the magazine, so the layout of the narrative in two columns with illustrations inserted in the text, is exactly as it was a hundred years ago, down to the choice of font.
All of the stories are not here. This is not a "Complete Sherlock Holmes." (That volume, sadly, is out of print and is only available, in limited quantities, at some booksellers.) However, all of the stories that were published in their own volumes as The Adventures, The Memoirs, and The Return are here, as well as the serialization of The Hound of the Baskervilles. So, since the stories are available elsewhere, I shall concentrate on the illustrations which are really what make this volume distinctive.
Sydney Paget, who along with Sir John Tenniel, pretty much defined Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century illustration, is the source of much of how we visualize Holmes. He is the man who created the cape and deerstalker that has come to be most associated with the character. (The calabash pipe was the contribution of stage actor William Gillette.) In Paget's illustrations we see Holmes expertly portrayed in all his bi-polar glory, from his languid despair over the lack of imagination in crime to the monomaniacal pursuit of a clue once his interest is aroused. The clients who seek his aid and the villains he threatens are no less clearly drawn. Paget is meticulous in his presentation of significant detail and, as good illustrations should, match perfectly with the moment in the text when the imaginative "snapshot" is taken. He is, perhaps, at his most impressive, though, when the scene calls for darkness, as in the attack by the Hound. The brilliant highlights surrounded by the subtle grays, with just enough detail to suggest the scene, cast against almost complete darkness, is pure genius. Paget is a master of light. As far as I know, this is the only place where the original illustrations and the text appear together and fully justifies its purchase even if, as I have, you possess many other versions of the tales.

Original Illustrated Sherlock Holmes / 0-7858-1325-X

This collection contains the following stories from the following collections:

ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
- Scandal in Bohemia
- Red-Headed League
- Case of Identity
- Boscombe Valley Mystery
- Five Orange Pips
- Man with the Twisted Lip
- Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle
- Adventure of the Speckled Band
- Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb
- Adventure of the Noble Bachelor
- Adventure of the Beryl Coronet
- Adventure of the Copper Beeches

MEMOIRS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
- Adventure of the Silver Blaze
- Adventure of the Cardboard Box
- Adventure of the Yellow Face
- Adventure of the Stockbroker's Clerk
- Adventure of the "Gloria Scott"
- Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual
- Adventure of the Reigate Squires
- Adventure of the Crooked Man
- Adventure of the Resident Patient
- Adventure of the Greek Interpreter
- Adventure of the Naval Treaty
- Adventure of the Final Problem

THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES

THE RETURN OF SHERLOCK HOLMES
- Adventure of the Empty House
- Adventure of the Norwood Builder
- Adventure of the Dancing Men
- Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist
- Adventure of the Priory School
- Adventure of Black Peter
- Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton
- Adventure of the Six Napoleons
- Adventure of the Three Students
- Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez
- Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter
- Adventure of the Abbey Grange
- Adventure of the Second Stain

This is a very extensive collection of Sherlock Holmes stories, although the collection is not comprehensive - the stories contained in The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes are missing, and the Study in Scarlet is absent as well. The illustrations are quite good, and occur at a frequency of about once a page, and add - surprisingly - a great deal to the narrative. I highly recommend this collection if you have not been exposed to Sherlock Holmes or if you are looking to consolidate your collection in a single, tightly-bound, illustrated volume.

Sherlock Holmes is one enduring character, written with the analytical reader in mind, with Conan Doyle presenting the logic and the reasoning as detailed as the story itself.

This particular edition, is the perfect one. Comfortably large size, easy on the eyes, hardbound is elegant and somehow I found it very easy to position it anyways I wanted, whether I was sitting upright with the book on the desk, or when in travel with the book on my lap, lying on my side with the book on the left. I thought this is important to mention , now ofcourse to the content..

The higlight of this edition is the illustration collection by Sydney Paget, as they appeared when it was first published. It is significant to read the stories with Sydney Paget's illustrations, since Sydney Paget practically defined the way Sherlock Holmes appeared. though Conan Doyle's descriptins can lead one to visualize Holmes, it was Sydney who set it on paper. and the fact that he was working along with Conan Doyle, brings in the authenticity and approval of the visual representation of the stories. Sydney Paget ofcourse is a master illustrator, with fascinating black and white illustrations capturing all the drama in the stories.

The book contains,
37 short stories and a complete novel from The Strand Magazine. With all 356 original illustrations by Sidney Paget.

Stories included are
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, published in The Strand between July, 1891 and December, 1892 (12 stories);
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. Published in The Strand as additional episodes between December, 1892 and November, 1893 (12 stories);
The Hound of the Baskervilles, published in The Strand between August, 1901 and April, 1902; and
The Return of Sherlock Holmes, published in The Strand between October, 1903 and January, 1905 (13 stories).

This book contains some of the greatest mystery stories the world has ever known. Throughout the book, through the eyes of Holmes' friend and assistant Watson, who recalls the things he sees and hears while in his friends company. This book also features illustrations that create a further interest in the story itself. Doyle shows his genious by leading the reader throughout each story (while successfully hooking them) and providing them with all the necessary clues to solve it. Of course none of it ever ties up in your mind which further compells you to read on faster and faster. When always at the very end, you see how Sherlock's genious (kindly provided by Doyle's genious) ties everything together very effectively by using the famous deducted theory which was concocted by Doyle and is used in every single Sherlock Holmes novel/story. This is a fabulous book and it will make you thirst for more. This is not a book to pass up!

Jerome Wilson's stories are magical. They illumine a world we believe has gone but is still with us. He creates his characters in an objective, mature yet loving voice, letting them live a life of their own. Wanting to prolong the reading pleasure, I barely managed to restricted myself to one story a day.

Like Chekhov and Raymond Carver before him, Jerome Wilson presses his paper against his subject, and rubs it with charcoal, shading it in, letting the texture of the object supply the texture of the work.

What emerges bursts full form in the head of the reader, producing images that begin when the story ends, that remain indelibly pressed upon you, a pressed flower in your head, and yours to keep.

Jerome Wilson's debut collection fulfills a promise that was apparent when the title story was published in Ploughshares over a decade ago. His skillfully woven characters, such as Sonny Buck, Jessie Leigh and Tammy Faye Lovejoy, draw the reader in, not only by the stories they tell, but through their neighbors' stories, the towns the live in and the people they encounter.

Paper Garden takes a trip down south that is sometimes funny, sometimes shocking, but always engaging. By the end of the last story, the reader has been taken on as much as an emotional ride as Sonny Buck on the ferris wheel. Paper Garden is well worth the purchase. I hope we see more from this writer in the future.

Paper Garden by Jerome Wilson, is a collection of short stories. In each story the characters come to life as Wilson takes his readers from the household of Sony Buck, a precarious little boy, to Jessie Leigh, a sweet yet not too bright little girl, to Mr. Pruitt, a spunky old man with a sharp mind.

This book was a delightful read. Jerome Wilson has a gift for grabbing his readers and forcing them to pay close attention to what his characters have to say. Each character was well-developed with a personality all of their own. Oftentimes, I found myself strolling down memory lane while laughing out loud at some of the antics depicted on the pages of Paper Garden and Other Stories.

If you like short stories, I suggest you grab a copy of this book; you'll be glad you did.

T. RHYTHM KNIGHT
APOOO BookClub

I fervently hope that Jerome Wilson's anthology is but the first installment of an insightful and compelling chronicle of his South.

Paper Garden and Other Stories is a vibrant gathering of short stories that are reminiscent of William Faulkner and Eudora Welty. Wilson, however, is not a copy of these literary precursors. I like these short stories because apparently Wilson speaks of his experiences from his perspective -- a perspective covering both urban and rural settings. "The Croquet Players" frolic through a picnic in an urban park and "The Witness Tree" laments the death of a towering grandmother on a rural homeplace.

I also like this writer's terse style that reflects the fluid rhythms -- sometimes calm, sometimes strident -- through which his characters live out their lives. The dialog of Wilson's characters also trumpets reality without being burdensome.

Alba Ambert is an extremely talented writer. She has such a powerful, poetic style and the way she weaves the story is captivating. I couldn't put the book down. I didn't sleep much because I was enthralled in the story and wanted to know more, after every turn of the page. Writers of this caliber should be on the bestsellers list. I highly recommend it!!!!

The incidents in this semi-autobiographical novel are a very disturbing commentary on the status of girls and women living in conditions of poverty and dysfunctional familes. But the quality of the writing lifts the story to a level above the degradation and shows the triumph of ability over upbringing. (Not to mention the influence of one grade school teacher!)

A Perfect Silence made me weep. Every line led somewhre. Every word had a purpose. I felt this book. I first encountered this book as an excerpt in an anthology of Puerto Rican writers. Those short pages sent me on a search for this book and I was not disappointed. This story is perfectly moving, and even more so by the fact that so much seems familiar to me. WONDERFUL

If you want to understand the quiet suffering of people living in an insensitive society, belonging nowhere, searching and wanting to survive even when the thoughts of death race through one's mind: read this book! In rich evocative, poetical, yet realistic language, Alba Ambert describes a woman's life from childhood to adult life.I highly recommend this book as a former professional librarian,a current high school teacher, and as a Puertorrican woman living in the U.S. The author makes you experience the life of Blanca, her despair, her hunger, her loneliness, her inmense love, her grieving, her laughter, and her struggeling against all odds, but surviving. It is the portrayal of a life that no one wants to believe! This book was first published in Spanish in 1987, and won the award for Best novel of the year by our most prestigious instution, the Puerto Rico Institute of Literature. It also won the 1996 Carey McWilliams Award. This is a marvelously thought-provoking novel.

Alba Ambert is a poet and there are images in this book that strike like poetry and linger long afterwards - images of suffering, oppression, loss and images of strength, survival and connection. It is a book rich with language, and it shows the power of language as a force both to wound and to heal. I have shared this book with international students in a creative writing class and found students who came from backgrounds very different from Blanca's empathized strongly with the character and were inspired to explore emotionally challenging material in their own work. Blanca's story of a Puerto Rican woman who overcomes familial and cultural obstacles has universal resonance.

this is my 1st book by this author and although i enjoyed the book and its a book to read slowly to take your time to enjoy,i am not a fan of her's with this book.It has a good rythm and flow.

I just finished reading Plenty More Love and I completely enjoyed this book. It was such a sweet love story and the drama with the arsonist added excitement as well. It has become my favorite book. I have not read the first two books in the series, but I will as soon as I can get my hands on them.

I not only enjoyed the story and plot but I am extremely pleased with the writing. It was well written and professionally done. This was a well thought out, fast paced, action packed story.

Plenty More Love, a novel by Christine Townsend, tells the tale of two best friends who admit to family, friends, and finally themselves, their desire to have more that just a friendship.

Lisa Stevens, an executive tom boy that enjoys spending her time being anything but ladylike, discovers while dating this wonderful guy, that what she wants most, is to tell her best friend her true feelings and to initiate a romantic relationship with him.

Jonathan Hill, an all around likeable fire chief who spends most of his spare time fixing old cars and selling them, is facing a dilemma because he has strong feelings for his best friend Lisa, but does not feel worthy enough to let her know how he feels.

Ultimately, Lisa decides that enough is enough and fixes herself up in her best "hoochie mama" attire and heads over to the fire station, only to turn heads and knock Jonathan's eyes out. While doing so, she hand him an ultimatum; let's be together or end our friendship. With the realization of his possible loss, Jonathan has no choice but to admit his feelings.

The relationship starts off fine, but becomes more difficult as Jonathan saves Lisa's life after someone tries to kill her in a fire. Someone is out to get Lisa and Jonathan does everything possible to determine who it is after the woman that he loves.

As in life, most people discover that a best friend is a keeper whether male or female. In this novel, Ms. Townsend shows her readers that your best friend can also be the love of your life. What I got from this story was that not only were they best friends, but soul mates. In my opinion this is a "add to my wish list" type of novel, because Ms. Townsend takes you down the path of true friendship and love.

Reviewed By: Eleanor S. Shields, Black Butterfly Review

This is a wonderful love story. I wanted it to last forever, but I couldn't wait to solve the mystery. I could not help but turn page after page to uncover the mystery behind the fire, and to know more about the love and desire that Johnathan & Lisa shared for each other. Their love unfolds beautifully. The reader will feel like this is a couple they know and they are a witness as the relationship develops. The storyline is very realistic. It is very similar to a real life situation I've experienced. This book is in the top three books I have ever read! I will, without a doubt, recommend this book to anyone without a second thought. I loved Plenty More Love!

This is such a wonderful love story. This is a book that I know that I will read over and over again. The mystery behind the fire was an added bonus to the book. I felt that it could have been a 500 page novel. Johnathan & Lisa shared so much love and desire for each other. As a reader, I felt that I got to know the couple and what their relationship was all about. Loved Lisa's character. She was strong and didn't play any games. She was from wealth, but worked hard to prove herself to others and mainly to prove herself to herself. Way to Go Ms Townsend. I have recommended this book to co-workers and other friends. Wonderful story,with love and respect developing to the very end and still had lots of passionate moments.

This volume provided an excellent translation of a chinese text that was written many years ago. It describes the social mores and conventions of an era that has long passed. The translation of the story is accompanied by very comprehensive notes to each chapter and also an extensive bibliography. While the book should be regarded as a work of scholarship the story nonetheless is captivating and entertaining and the frequent descriptions of erotic and racy interludes throughout the story creates a certain charm and allure for a lost age. I was so impressed by the translation and intrigued by the story that I have progressed to the next volumes.

hard to rview..read the book 50 yrs. ago and am looking to replace it. orig. was lost in moving. question i have is why vol.1 ..am looking for the entire book...as i recall it was well over a thous. pages .. would like more info. fm. author re; future volumes..when can they be expected? th orig. book was a extremely interesting view into the way things were way back when in feudal china..as i recall it covered not only the rich but also the very poor and how each existed in their world

David Tod Roy's translation of the classic 16th century Chin P'ing Mei is awesome and right on the money. The story leaps off the pages - this is how this famous vernacular Chinese novel was meant to be read! Every element of the story is clear and concise in Roy's translation, allowing the reader to enjoy the plot and the fascinating characters.

To briefly discuss the storyline, Chin P'ing Mei is a "spin off" from the classic Chinese novel Outlaws of the Marsh, and focuses on the trials and tribulations of the conniving seductress Pan Chin-lien and the new life she leads after murdering her husband. Some scholars of Chinese traditional literature will not like this allusion, but the story reads like a modern-day soap opera. The characters are lusty and scheming, and the general climate is electric. The general plot follows the intricate daily triumphs and frustrations of Hsi-Men Ching and his `harem" of six wives and concubines (among them Pan Chin-lien). The story is rife with inter-household competition, infidelity, corruption, domestic abuse and eroticism. Characters are well developed, and the scenery is vivid. It provides a fascinating glimpse into the lives of the merchant class in 16th century China. It is easy to see how this novel has captured audiences for 400 years - and David Tod Roy's excellent translation will no doubt help it to endure for many more years to come.

This is the book to read if you want to taste medieval Chinese culture: Salty love poetry, sweet wickedness, sour decadence, bitter philosophy, oily sex, all rolled up in a ginger and garlic spiced, fleshy bun. Roy lets you savor all the ingredients and, with a healthy sprinkling of notes, let's you peruse the cornucopia that inspired the recipes. Bon apetit for this first course of five.

David Tod Roy has done Chinese literature proud by producing a scrupulously exact translation of this classic in Chinese erotica. Like what a previous reviewer says, it is "clear and precise", bringing out the naturalistic details of the novel fully to the reader; yet, for all its accuracy, it reads exceptionally well. For introduction, Roy has written a well-argued essay on why Jin-Ping Mei should be read as didactic literature, not as mere erotica, as it has for centuries. Jin-Ping-Mei's checkered history in Chinese literature doesn't disguise the fact that it is a very well written (and detailed) account of the rise and fall of an extended household, made obvious by corruption and its list of licentious dealings (both in Ximen Qing and his harem).

This is a strong witty take on difficult and controversial subjects. I really enjoyed the honesty, humor, and the great language. As a fellow writer I hear Marwa's voice on the page, and I see the people she references on the streets of a country I know well. I live in America now, but was born in Egypt. I was transported to the streets of Cairo, to the hearts of young youth struggling to find something we as humans desperately long for; love, understanding, honesty, respect, and devotion.

Every woman, every person that ever had a broken heart, from every background can relate to some of the stories and experiences in this book, but unlike the author, some of us forget them or fail to reflect well enough on them and can go through years of making the same mistakes in love and relationships.

The book has a number of dimensions some of them being that:

It's very contemporary and gives us readers, a real look through the eyes of an Egyptian woman.

To the Author, I would like to tell her wow!!! Honest read, it's full of laughter but it's also what I would call bare, because Rakha doesn't hide her true feelings, identity and self. This book felt much about Marwa Rahka passing on her warmth and wisdom of life, which is a beautiful thing given that not that many people care so much to give that amount of time to other people.

After reading this book, I often check in on the events in Marwa Rahka's life and her thoughts on many things in Egyptian society by visiting her website and forum (http://www.marwarakha.com/), I now think that the author gave us readers so much of herself; I think it can't be helped if we want to keep updated with her news and views of life.

Normally I pass on most books to others after I have read them; this one for me is what I call A KEEPER, to pass on to my own daughter.

While reading I often thought did she really say that... or be that honest about a man, sexuality, Egyptian society and all of the things that sometimes we are afraid to admit to ourselves never mind actually putting them in a book for others to see and know about you for example

"its normal to pick up a wrong type of shoes every now and then, all women do that; but only smart women give the wrong pair away".

I hope she does a second instalment

I actually haven't finished reading the book yet, but there are some points that are very interesting, and there are others that are kind of confusing. So far it looks like a good book. My cousin Marwa did a good job in putting the book together. :) Congrats Marwa!!

As an Egyptian woman, I was touched by Marwa's honesty, and her uncanny ability to portray what it's really like to be an open minded Egyptian woman in an Egyptian society. I would recommend this to any Egyptian woman that wants to have her eyes opened, or needs help in breaking free of our many restrictions, or just wants to feel that someone shares her pain. I would recommend it to any Egyptian man that has the courage to look at the world from another angle. I would recommend this to any non-Egyptian that wants to have a better understanding of the brute force of society and culture. It's a great and easy read, yet sophisticated in its own way.

You don't have to be Egyptian or living in Egypt to appreciate this book and what it's all about. Marwa Rakha's The Poison Tree is a novel with an international appeal. Its author, being a well-known relationship guru in her country, exercises her analytical abilities at their full length to deliver a truthful image of today's Egyptian society, using an elegant and sincere autobiographical style. Yet, Rakha is careful to relate all the cultural particularities of her conservative society to the bigger picture, diagnosing what goes wrong when inherited preconceptions act as a barrier, preventing young men and women from leading happy lives and forming sound relationships.

The author carefully depicts how failure in finding love, understanding and satisfaction is passed on from one generation to the next, and how the gap between the sexes keeps widening as society insists on compromising women rights, denying women their freedom of choice and expression.

A very good and a smooth read.. You will enjoy every bit of its witty sarcasm from cover to cover. A unique look on current Egyptian society from a rebellious insider.