Short Stories Books

The book was well written, great humor and very relatable for anyone who has ever been in love or would like to be. The only thing is that the cover does not give the book any justice. At first glance you would think its one of those trashy romance novels, however its about more than romance, its about true love and the romance behind it.

This novel was a soulful journey. It connects with the reality of relationships and with all of its struggles and triumph. I was drawn into the characters from the opening page. He tells this tale with a poetic spin. His words unfold beautifully and each character takes on a life of its own. I think readers will find a little bit of themselves in this book. I loved it!

This book is a beautiful experience. It is one of the most passionate and real books that I have ever read. I couldn't put it down and I wish that it was longer. The emotions of the characters are so strong that they leap off of the page. This book makes you want to go out and fall in love and hope that you experience half the passion and true love that these characters experience.

I must admit I have not normally been a fan of romantic fiction, but Mr. Channer provided me with a very pleasant literary experience. The story was one, not just of romance, but of life and the joys, pains, ups and downs of the situations we deal with in life.

I felt a true insight to each character. I admired Fire's loyalty to his friendship with Ian, despite the fact that Ian was not always the most pleasant or trustworthy person. Surprisingly, I was on the edge of my seat during every "episode" between Fire and Sylvia. The attraction between them was electric and I was drawn into their romance. Black love is not always tastefully displayed in literature or the media, but there was a real-ness to their situation. Their experience made me mad, saddened me, made me smile and then go through each emotion all over again!

The book had a poetic flow to it. What I also enjoyed was the very colorful descriptions of the different settings in the story. I could visualize the streets of New York and London, smell the scents, hear the sounds and feel the culture of Jamaica.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It is a story of struggle: exploring struggle, working through it, overcoming it, and realizing that there are some things you just never get over. It is a story of love and passion, tragedy and conflict. It has motivated me to include more Black romantic fiction in my reading collection. And that was no easy feat!

Colin Channer to me is like a modern day Picasso with a pen. His dialogue is compelling, soul-stirring and purposeful and his characters are engaging. You can almost close your eyes and imagine yourself seeing the story unfold as if you were a fly on the wall at a gallery in New York, a beach house in Jamaica, or the Streets of London. This is the mark of a truly great storyteller.

Our main character, Fire, is a "simple" man with a "complex" life. By simple I mean he wants what any sane person would want, a circle of good life-long friends, a fulfilling life, and someone emotionally and physically available to share it all with. So, when he meets Sylvia, he feels like he has found the one. What he doesn't know is that Sylvia, an engaged magazine editor, is all but disengaged from her own true desires for her life. Soon we see that complications abound, and the journey they take throughout the story takes the reader on a cross-continental journey in search of introspection, true meaning and, possibly, true love.

An interesting point is that Channer's characters are written from their souls - what drives them to do the things they do is less about their gender than their emotions and their pasts. With such a multi-faceted story, several layers of conflict, we still get a crystal clear picture and understanding as to why things unfold teh way they do. It is a believable, gripping, page turner, and Channer conveys it effortlessly.

Waiting in Vain, simply put, was one of the two best books I have read in a long time. The other was Satisfy My Soul (also by Colin Channer). As an aspiring writer, I wish my prose was as naturally beautiful as Mr. Channer's. Until it is, I will keep devouring his work in hopes that some of his literary poeticism rubs off.

except for the Bible, this is the best.
It is the full and undiluted version from the first english translation.
read it, learn it,live it.
j

The book is excelent reading but please get a different version.
This version only has 580 or so pages where as other versions have over 1,300 pages. That means that this version is only half the story.
So much gets lost in translation already don't cheat yourself even more.

Although the story is well known to me, the editing of this audio book was so confusing. I absolutely could not follow it. Too much is cut out.

Story has good twists, but there are too many French places and people which makes the audio confusing.

This book is long out of copyright and so is available free for your Kindle elsewhere on the net.

(Great book though!)

I don't know what it was about this book that made me want to read it over and over again. It didn't have any colosal {I don't know if I spelled that right} battles or anything. I guess it was just the amazing storyline! The adventure was fantastic, but I honestly like whats going on with the woodlanders better than Martin the warriors journy, more action happens with them. In all, this is one of the best Redwall books, complete with an awesome one on one battle at the end. Read this book!

This is about Martin the Warrior , a heroic mouse, the self-appointed Prince of Mousetheives (and best friend to Martin), Gonff, the totally evil wildcat Tsarmina, and sundry other animal characters. The plot is that (1) Martin is (after a sidetracked problem) questing for Salamandastron, (2) the woodlanders defending themselves from Tsarmina until Martin returns, and (3) what's happening in Kotir, the moldy, falling-down castle where Tsarmina and her horde of vermin (stoats, rats, foxes, weasels and so on). This is a good series because it never ends on a cliffhanger at the very end. Mr. Jacques is a wonderful author, and I've read all his books except Eulalia!, because it isn't out yet. :(

The Redwall series was recommended to me by my own readers, who recognized a similarity between the writing style, animorphism, and medieval setting of my own debut novel "The Other Side of Yore" and of Brian Jaques' famous books. As I learned more about the books, I was amazed that the books had escaped my attention for so long. Sure I had heard the name in passing, but I really didn't know what the books were about, and had probably passed them over as too child-oriented when I was a young blossoming fan of fantasy. Boy, had I been missing out!
Mossflower may be the best YA fantasy book I've read since "The Hobbit," maybe even surpassing "The Chronicles of Narnia" for imagination, superb writing skill, literary worth, and sheer reading enjoyment!
Far from being just a book for young adults, I am well over thirty and highly critical of most fiction books, and was unable to put the book down. Not only does Jaques write in an incredibly skillful and beautiful style, but his plots and subplots are nothing short of genious. The character developement of the animorphed creatures is far superior to even the average bestselling book of fiction starring realistic human characters. Jaques is a master of dialogue and dialect, and I especially enjoyed the strange coloquial mole-speech;
"Hurr, Oi be liken it moiself better'n any deeper-n'-ever pie oive et, stan' on moi hole!"
The triumphs, determinations, and gallant speeches of Martin the Warrior actually brought tears to my eyes a few times during the tale, and the antics and humorous songs and poems of Gonff made me laugh out loud more than once.
What's more, Jaques created a complex villian to be copied by fantasy authors for centuries to come in the characterization of the wicked cat Tsarmina, and painted a thoroughly believable array of personalities and attitudes in the various soldiers of her army.
Like Tolkien's work, Jaques has also done his homework thoroughly, and has created a vast history to support his tales, which I think is a trait missing from many of the more fly-by-night and commercial fantasies of today.
By the end of this novel, you will have forgotten that mice can't talk and that badgers don't wield swords, having become intimately familiar with some of the most realistic personalities ever to grace the pages of literature. I cannot recommend this book enough, and am sure that the others in the series will be equally delightful!
J. Lyon Layden
The Other Side of Yore

"Mossflower" is the epic prequel to "Redwall". Written by Brian Jacques, it is a book full of adventure and surprise.
The peaceful woodland creatures of Mossflower are forced to live under the tyrannical rule of the evil wildcat queen, Tsarmina. That is until the coming of Martin the Warrior. Martin brings hope and promise to the animals of Mossflower. With the help of a mighty weapon, the habitants of Mossflower will ban together to take back what is rightfully theirs and put an end to the evil reign of Tsarmina.
I highly recommend this book. It is full of action that draws the reader in and keeps him/her reading.

It is all you want in a good book.It has just the right amount of action,
peril,valor,and humor. If you want a book that is good for everyone, you just found one!

It is by far the best read, I loved it, it goes to show you that a woman such as Katherine could play a vital role in the history of england, and her love afair with a Prince! Her and John of Gaunt's love affair has been immortalised as one of the greatest love affairs of all time!

I just completed this novel last night and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is well written and does a more than adequate job of holding the reader's attention despite the fact that it is a lengthy novel. I was touched by the love story Ms. Seton creates for Katherine and John of Gaunt and was impressed that the novel still felt fresh to me, even though it was written in the 1950s.

The one complaint I have is in regard to the ending. I don't want to deny anyone the pleasure of discovering the entire novel for themselves, so I won't give anything away. However, I think I can at least say that I was disappointed in the final scenes that took place between Katherine and John. I was eagerly awaiting the denouement but was left feeling like it fell a little flat.

Regardless, if you are a fan of historical fiction, you will enjoy this book!

One of the reason historical romantic novels were so popular in their day. Lots of story, and history to enjoy, plus being well written.

This is one of my very favorite books! If you like historical fiction you will really enjoy this book.

Found it to be very lengthy and therefore dull in many sections. Lost some interest throughout.

This was worth reading. It's not full of porn or scandal but a nice read. I enjoyed that the main character was a real person and not the stereotypically ideal "beauty" queen most authors like to use.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. If you are looking for an entertaining, suspenseful, drama, this is a book for you. It was a page turner, sometimes hard to put down. Donna and Virginia, keep up the great work, and keep these type of novels coming.

Hooks the reader and keeps them captivated to the last chapter. The characters are multi-dimensional and the story is rich with detail about family, friendship and deceit. Plenty of twists and turns with a few jaw drops.
A must-read! You won't regret it.

Read this book quite sometime ago...enjoyed it a great deal, so I decided I would like to experience it again....on audiobook!

Great book. I will be a fan of Deberry and Grant's for a long long time if they keep writing them like this.

This is a great book for adults and children alike. We had to put our 9 year old dog down and our 4 year old daughter just did not understand. this is a such a great book. it helped both our daughter and me and my husband heal. I suggest this book for sure!

I was in Books-A-Million browsing the children's books when I picked this one up. Although I am 25 years old I was intrigued by the title and the beautiful picture on the front. I just lost my best friend, my yellow lab of 12 years, in August 2007. I read through this book and bawled the entire time. Not because it made me sad, but because it made me so happy and it was absoultely touching. It is the perfect book for anyone who has lost their best FURiend. :o) CHildren would love it and so would adults. It also talks about dogs who never had homes on earth, which was so special to me because I am an aniaml lover, not just a pet lover. I highly recommend this book for ANY age group.

Our beloved family member (dog) of 16 years recently died. We have two small children 9 & 5 who have loved her all their life. This was a great way to explain to the children what had happended. It was also good for our dogs best friend and he loved it too. Great book.

I own this book and share it whenever a friend loses a dog.

This simple book has a wonderful message, comforting illustrations, and had helped me thru the loss of many of my beloved companions over the years.

This book (and Cat Heaven) is worth keeping in your personal library, and perhaps ordering a few extra copies to share. It's the best.

"Dog Heaven" and Cat Heaven, both written and illustrated by Cynthia Rylant, should allay the fears and reward the wish that dogs and cats do, indeed, go to heaven. And just how does Ms Rylant know, when the Bible makes no mention of animals in heaven?

The artist used the color palette that God gave artists--vibrant, vivid, and various! The cover illustration gives an idea of this vibrancy. It also shows the first reward God gives dogs in heavens--open fields to run and run and run in. No fences, no leashes, no limits--just freedom to run and chase and dream. There are also clouds turned inside out for the comfort of dog naps and no bad dreams!

Look at the dogs running along the banks of a lake, barking and yapping away at the hissing geese, safely paddling in the waters. And over there, peeking from behind the tree is God Himself, enjoying the sight of such sheer joy! In the kitchen God makes treats for happy dogs and never runs out.

If a dog wants to go back to Earth for a visit to his old home, an angel accompanies him. When the dog is satisfied that all is well, he and the angel return to Heaven. The strays who had no homes are given ones in Heaven, where angel children tell them what good dogs they are all day long.

If someone you love loses a dear and fine cat or dog, a gift of one of these books would do much to lessen the emotional pain of that loss. The ashes of my beloved Marie, a marmalade and white tabby, who died after seventeen precious years with me, rests in a treasure box next to my bed, while her spirit soars in Cat Heaven.

We got this book for my daughter when she was a baby, and it became a family favorite almost immediately, especially when I imitated Grover's voice and read it to her. "Read it again, Daddy" was the inevitable response I would get after finishing the book, and there were times where "Grover" would read it 3-4 times a night. We gave the book away years ago, but my daughter -- who is now 18 -- said she always remembered me reading that book to her in Grover's voice. A couple of years ago, I surprised her with a miniature version of the book as a Christmas present, and we substituted the traditional family reading of "Twas The Night Before Christmas" and sat down and read the book -- in Grover's voice. Her two younger cousins, who weren't around when I read this to my daughter, laughed with their older cousin as their uncle used Grover's voice to read the story. There are so many great memories my family has of this book, and it's a fun read -- even if you can't do Grover's voice.

My kids loved this book so I purchased multiple copies for friends Kids. Great if your kids are having questions/fears about monsters. The more dramatic your reading style, the more they'll love it

I bought this for my 20 month old and he just isn't that interested yet. He doesn't get the humor or the anticipation yet. I will hand on to it until he is older.

This book allows the reader to have fun with the story too.
A great book.

This book was bought for our children because it was a favorite of my wife's childhood.

The storyline is simple, suitable for younger children, and has a cute "twist" at the end that younger children will enjoy.

I highly recommend reading (on a regular basis, the more the better!) to your children from very young ages. This book is a good one for this age group.

I purchased these books for my eight year old daughter. We read all of them already. She loved them, and so did I. I was a little disappointed that there were no pictures at all. In the older version, there were some very beautiful pictures that helped bring understanding to some of the concepts of being a pioneer. Overall, this was a great purchase.

Very nice set--I purchased it for a gift and am very pleased with it :)

Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder is a whole series of books about a girl named Laura Ingalls Wilder. The books talk about some of the hardships Laura and her family faced. These books also tell about every thing that happened in her life from Wisconsin all the way to Kansas. The story of her life starts as a young girl and talks about her getting married as a young lady. The books tell how she changed and some of the places she went and even some of the people she met.
I like these books because the way these books were written because they were written so you fell like you are actually there. I also like these books because they tell what people had to go through in the 1800's. I read all these books and I liked them. If you read them you will like them too.

"They're an inspirational source of literature that celebrates the turn of the century, the struggle of the American family and the bonds that held them together."

These books are straight garbage, a friend got them for me and they stink...I could totally pWn Pa Ingall's IRL.

Fantastic set. My daughter was very excited to receive the set and continue her reading journey. The quality of the set was very good and will last a long time.

I am an avid African American fiction & non-fiction reader. However, I never could get into sci-fi-type novels. My Soul to Keep changed my mind forever. I was hooked before the end of the first chapter, and read it in one night. I wanted more...and got it later. During that first read, I experienced so many different emotions: happiness, fear, anxiety, etc. That's a rare thing for me.

I think the problem with the other books that others would compare M S to K to was that the basis of the stories were unbelievable to me. Tananarive Due did an excellent job of making the story believable (at least to me) and taking me on a journey that had me addicted. I cannot wait for the third installment to come out in June!

I had heard of this author before and had browsed a few of her books via Amazon. My oh my.. I'm almost at the end and I have loved this book from the beginning.. I can't put it down. The suspense, the drama and love it keeps you on edge. I would recommend reading this and may check out another one of her books.. Good Job!

Going against general wisdom I bought the hardcover when it first appeared on its cover alone. I'm a horror fan and I enjoy a good story over great writing and I think that's what won me over here. The writing isn't the best, but the story was different, well developed with few holes and satisfying. I read somewhere that B. Underwood bought the rights to the book, hopefully he'll sell it to someone who has the cash to make a solid movie outta this (please no Sci-Fi channel joint). Maybe get Antoine Fucqua, Kasi Lemmons or Carl Franklin to direct with Dennis Haysbert as Dawit.

I almost knew the ending to "My Soul to Keep." I say almost because I have read Tananarive Due's other work and know how she reveals her journey little by little. But don't let that fool you. She'll take it to another level at the end and surprise you. This novel reveals Ms. Due's love for humanity. I saw that in the little girl, Kira and her relationship with her father, and different relationship with her mother. The weird (and he is weird) husband's love of his mortal family and need to find love "forever," was very clear. In my opinion, the glue that holds the story together is the living blood, a metaphor for the blood of Christ. In the beginning of the novel, the Brothers of the Living Blood--immortals--were the only ones to have it until David/Dawit gave it to his wife Jessica, breaking the a covenant law. In essence, he integrated the brotherhood. At times, I became frustrated with the speed of the unfolding and put the book down. But it would haunt me so I had to get back to it. It still haunts me today. Ms. Due is a true storyteller as well as an excellent writer. She delivers.

Minimum Maturity Level - Adult
Strong Language. Violence and Gore. Sexual Situations.

Previous Reading Required - None
It's the first in it's series.

Reading Level - Easy
Not many big words to confuse anyone. Easy to picture what's going on. Easy to follow.

Rate of Development - Average to Slow
The author gets you attached to the characters pretty good. The characters are very real and seem to have real reactions to their surroundings.

The Story - Mystery, Thriller
The story is told through perspectives of Jessica, the heroine, and some others. Throughout the story, her friends and relatives are being murdered and she believes it's just the family curse. At the same time, she is finding things about her husband that are incredible. A secret that puts her life and her daughter's life in jeopardy.

My Suggestion - Recommended
The book starts off with a puzzling prologue. One that makes more sense as the story develops. And as the story develops, you actually begin to care about the characters. The writing is a little on the easy side to read, maybe at about a high school level. But then again, that is the kind of writing that I like. Without spoiling anything for you, I'd say read it and stick it out to the ending, you won't be disappointed. If I could give it 4.5 stars I would. The only thing keeping me from giving it 5 stars is the development just takes a while.

Interesting. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I would be interested to see where the rest of the story leads. Keep up the adventure....

A great beginning that promises an adventurous trip. This is the type of story that would appeal to my grandchildren as much a it did to me. I would hope that it continues the line of adult/child understanding, and close relationship, as Keith implies, and am anxious to know where and what the story will reveal.

The setting is a sleeper ship; a large spaceship launched from Earth and destined for the trinary system whose primary star is Alpha Centauri. The light barrier has not been broken, so the journey will take years and the ship contains a complete set of components so that the people will be able to colonize the planets and they have taken samples of much of the flora and fauna of Earth with them. The people are inside cold-sleep tubes so that their metabolism is slowed to the point where their heart beats once every minute, a state of deep hibernation.
Unfortunately, the ship is barely out of the Solar System when a device carried by a boy causes his cell to malfunction, and all of the redundant systems fail to compensate. The computing system then does the only thing it can do, it reanimates him. However, he is only eight years old and the other fail-safe mechanisms designed to wake the senior officers in case of trouble do not work. The boy is then forced to live on his own for five years until he tries to enter a restricted area. This finally causes the emergency wake-up routines to reanimate the senior officers and after a short period of time they determine what has happened. The boy's parents are awakened and they learn that he has eaten a great deal of their emergency rations. The leaders also understand that five years of being alone will have caused the boy severe psychological trauma and he may even be feral. At the conclusion of the short, the boy has been discovered in an environment that simulates Yosemite and his mother is inside that environment looking for him.
This short is an excellent lead-in to what is clearly going to be an engaging novel. There are many potential plot lines that could be used as a consequence of the boy being alone for five years. The reasons why his small device caused all the fail-safe mechanisms to prove inadequate is also another potential twist. His mental state and how he will relate to his fellow humans is another area that could be explored. Finally, the colonists still have to get to their destination and given that they are still 2.25 light years from Alpha Centauri and a great deal of their rations have been consumed, the viability of the colony is now in jeopardy.

I read this story aloud to my five-year old son. After I read it out loud, I read it again to myself. We are both very eager to find out what happens next.

It's a great start to a story that has a huge universe of possibilities for what could come next -- from a simulated Yosemite to the high tech of a space travel to the frontier of the colony they are on their way to start.

Can't wait to read the rest of it!

A very good beginning with plenty of promise- and does what the best beginnings do: tell you what's going on and makes you want to know what happens next! We are embroiled immediately into the conflict: a 13-yr-old boy has been wandering alone around a spaceship for 5 yrs while everyone else was still in cryogenic sleep (for their 10 year journey).

While the world of the ship Hope is fairly well explained as we go on, the concepts (the science!) behind this science-fiction story are not particularly imaginative. The Hope is a giant spaceship equipped to transport its passengers to Alpha Centuri and supply them with the necessary tools to create the first human establishment outside of the Solar System. The future, while blessedly being fairly easy to understand- down to , is not all too different from the present- which somewhat stretches its credibility.

This same standard stereotypes practice somewhat also infects the characters, who often do not have much of a "voice"- we got the old-ish/tired-ish doctor type, the big mate (who does interesting resemble a zebra), etc. Such characters are often described. This is especially evident in the boy parents, who practically read from the "Concerned Parents Dialogue Guide"TM. The main character, Captain Drake does not suffer as much under such short-cut writing, thankfully, and is shaping up to be a quite effective person. (Even if he is forced to call into commands where someone/something gives him intel and he commands them to do such things "lock down the holding bay", "sweep the cargo deck"- well worn scenes from any spaceship drama of the last 30-35 years.)

Such criticisms don't particularly reduce the likeablility of this piece, however. It's fun! Stuff happens! Judging by this excerpt I would fully expect the novel to be an light, enjoyable read for a nice weekend after one of those soul-crushing weeks.