Passion The Books

If politics is getting you down, read this book. It recalls a time when thoughtful problem-solving and bipartisan collaboration were practiced by elected officials. Bethine Church's memoir takes us from agrarian Idaho in the first half of the 20th Century to Washington DC at the end of the century, showing how politics changed with the years. The author's father was a Governor of Idaho; her husband, the late Frank Church, was a prominent U.S. Senator; and she herself was a lifelong political strategist and campaigner. The author shows how politics can be a noble art that serves the public, and she reveals something of the courage and wit a politician needs to survive in the public arena.

A Lifelong Affair: My Passion For People And Politics is the autobiography of Bethine Church, so-called "Third Senator from Idaho" due to her lasting influence, and the widow of Idaho Senator Frank Church. Reflections on her personal life, cogent observations on specific chapters of American history (including the Vietnam War), as well as the powerful love story of her marriage (including her husband's battle with cancer) fill the pages of this "reader involving" life story of a remarkable and politically active woman.

Capturing the life Frank & Bethine Church lived and the love they shared in Washington, in their home state and in the World, Bethine reveals much about the strength,character & comlexities of our country---then and now. She entertains us & gives us hope for the future of America. So perhaps we we need to pay attention.

Elizabrth Murrray's books and art work are beautiful and inspiring. I am contributing these volumes to the public school of my grandchildren to accompany thier new school garden. She has a new book of art by children in Equador called Nantu Aujujae but I couldn't find it with your search, I wanted to include it with the other Elizabeth Murray books for the school. I hope you post it soon.

An easy read and visual feast, Monet's Passion exposes methods behind the color, texture, layout and scents of his magical gardens. It magnifies one's experience visiting the gardens or his works in galleries, and is a valuable companion to the painter's many works.

Beautiful photographs of the gardens at all seasons. Plant lists. The author tells about the history of Giverny and her experiences as a gardener there. It would have been helpful to know which US zones the plants would be hardy in.

This was a wonderful study. Each woman who participated in our small group was enriched by this study that frees us to look at a variety of ways to communicate with God. The study is done with Biblical references, opportunities for frank discussion and the author is down to earth.

This study guide is has a useful blend of ideas and real application. It reviews key concepts throughout the guide and while some of its ideas are well-known, many take a new stance. The guide is good at getting you to think and process the material, not just gloss it over and move on to the next chapter.

I have used many Bible Study Books in the past with groups, usually frustrated by the trite questions and the lack of digging into God's Word. This year we used this book and the whole group has loved it. It really makes us read the Word and the quotations from Discipleship Journal are fantastic. This is a very "meaty" study which I would highly recommend to anyone wanting to develop their prayer lives.

From the author of the most widely read book in Christian spirituality after the Bible, THE IMITATION OF CHRIST, comes this jewel of spiritual insights on the Passion of Christ. The great Thomas A Kempis goes thru the four Gospels and covers the whole Passion of Chist in detail, giving profound meditations that really stir the soul. These are just beautiful insights on what Christ suffered, and how we can and should respond to this incredible love of the God made man. Perfect reading for Lent, or really for anytime of the year. A Kempis gives short to medium length meditations in 35 chapters, covering all aspects of the Passion, and concludes each chapter with a wonderful little prayer. This book has never been in English before, and its timing is perfect with all the interest in Christ's Passion. The combination of Thomas A Kempis and the four Gospels is a powerful means of spiritual inspiration and insight. The Passion of Christ will affect you as never before. Don't miss this book!

If you like "The Imitation of Christ" you will love this book. Thirty-five chapters, only a page or two each, examining in a prayerful way each step of Jesus' Passion. Five stars does not do this book justice. My husband and I are each reading a chapter a day for Lent and it is one of the most inspirational books we have ever read. The translation is at once clear and devout. My highest personal recommendation for this book.

Excellent meditations on the Passion of Christ based on the four Gospels. The meditations can be used as sources for prayer, and give much hope to the afflicted soul.

Charles Hobson creates gorgeous, imaginative, unconventional books. This book has an unusual structure, opening out from the middle, with each half of the page dedicated to one half of a pair of famous lovers. It's a lovely and romantic book.

Beautiful artwork,fascinating words,mix and match your favorites to design your own "odd couples"! So,besides being a visual delight,this book is also very informative.

For Hemingway Paris was "a moveable feast"; Nietzsche said, "An artist, a man has no home in Europe save Paris." To many it is the city of love; for artist Charles Hobson it is the backdrop for some of the most famous and intriguing liaisons the world has ever known - Napoleon and Josephine, George Sand and Frederic Chopin, Marie and Pierre Curie, Anais Nin and Henry Miller, and others.

Uniquely constructed with a gate fold "French door" format, Parisian Encounters blends art and literature to tell the stories of eight famous couples. Collage-like images present portraits of the couples and segments of their handwriting. A brief biographical essay accompanies each portrait.

We learn that when Napoleon asked Josephine for an annulment so that he might marry Princess Marie-Louise of Austria, he wrote, "I still love you, but in politics there is no heart, only head." An established poet within Parisian literary society, Louise Colet was 11 year his senior when she met the then unpublished Flaubert. He used her as a sounding board as he created Madame Bovary.

The relationships of the couples were complex - "each playing instrumental roles for the other - emotionally, creatively, and intellectually - and this interplay wove their lives together."

Parisian Encounters is an original, a wonderfully revelatory volume uniquely conceived and executed.

- Gail Cooke

Hi Steve --

I really enjoyed your book! I felt like you were in the room reading it to me. Your personality and your energy came right out of the pages. The examples of the different leaders you have worked with were excellent. You could really envision what you were talking about and what made some better leaders than others. Of course your ICE concept is dead on and something I personally connect with extremely well. I absolutely believe in Integrity, Courage and Empathy and have always strived to be a leader with these qualities. Bottom line, Steve ... you nailed it! You must be SO proud! --Anne

I read this book while traveling. It is an easy quick read and holds the reader's attention. The principles are substantiated by real life examples and not only is applicable to business, but to everyday life.
If more managers took the author's advice, both employees and managers would have more success.

Dear Steve,

Over the weekend I read your book "Passion and Ice". I found it irresistible to the end, only putting it down for brief interruptions.

Having known you over the last 8 years and listening to you speak, many of the stories were familiar. Your Passion and leadership are inspirational and a model for us all. I know that your stories and examples will touch everyone who reads it.

The relationship you describe with your Dad is heartfelt and brings back many memories for me of my Dad. While my Dad and yours never knew each other on earth I know they would have liked each others principles and zest for life. What great examples for young men !

In closing let me say that this is simply the best, most practical book I have read in years (and I read many). Your lessons taught reach far beyond leading in business but, more importantly, are great examples of how to lead a better life.

I intend to reflect on the ICE principles in my days moving forward and hope to apply them to every aspect of life.

I will encourage others to read and do the same.

This is an excellent book which will be best received by those seeking a deeper, more meaningful walk with God.

Everyone needs a fresh idea, a pat on the back, a stream of cool water in the desert of ministry and living that comes by just being human. The ENCOURAGEMENTS have enhanced my devotional life, made Jesus fresh to me. Thanks.

Irvn E. Rutherford, Executive Director/Founder
Global Ministry Teams

One of the hallmarks of well-being is a life infused with meaning and purpose. Your ministry is filled with encouragement, those of us who read the encouragement book every day find spiritual meaning and purpose for daily living. I am a pastor in The Christian Methodist Church and I have received much inspiration for sermons and work shops by the references you give through your ministry.

May God richly bless this book and you.

A Servant of God,
The Reverend Dr. H. Leon Williams Sr.

This is a great book, I read this as a very new believer and was taken to a new level of knowing God after reading this book. I would recomend it highly, and have read mine more than once, and reference it often. Great gift for that person who desires to seek God.

I highly recommend this book. It is very reader friendly to even the newest believer, but will challenge a even the seasoned Christian.

It's one thing to be saved, but it's another thing to be on fire for God. This book describes the heart and fruits of someone with 'a passion for God.' It also deals with many modern misconceptions in the church. If you want to really see the Holy Spirit manifest in and through you, read A Passion For God. Or if you're striving simply to know and love God more, and just to be closer to him, BUY THIS BOOK.

Also recommended: I Am: The Unveiling of God by Steve Fry

Greg captures the essence of what it means to be a person on this planet. We spend most of our lives preparing, training and learning for the future. Laurie points out what it taked to understand what man's reason for being placed on this earth is. After reading the book one is able to live in a spiritural dimension or "living in the spirit" and truly feel the presence of God in a very real and tangible way. If you want to have more of a purpose in your life or want to know why you are on the earth buy and read it. Good stuff!!

On the shelves of most libraries and bookstores today, Italian themed cookbooks outnumber French themed cookbooks by about three (3) to one (1), as they do on my bookshelf. Of these Italian cookbooks, over half deal explicitly with a regional Italian cuisine, with Tuscany, Rome, and Emilia-Romagna leading the pack. Yet, the most common culinary region as book subject is Provence, in Southern France along the Rhone river. To many minds this is foodie central for the Mediterranean cuisine, being a location with a uniquely strong junction of olive, grape, and vegetable culture with the seafood of the Mediterranean. Not only are many books written specifically about Provence, but it is the spiritual center of inspiration for practically every major culinary writer in English, most prominently Julia Child, Richard Olney and James Beard, all of whom either maintained homes in Provence or visited the area on a regular basis.

Not only does Provence lead in pure numbers, I think it also leads in the quality of the writing and in the diversity of the cuisine. As evidence, I submit a book I reviewed earlier, `Patricia Wells At Home in Provence' and my current subject `A Passion for My Provence' by Lydie Marshall. The two books have very similar chapter headings and both deal with tarts, daubes, vegetable stews, and fish stews aplenty. Aioli and tapenade flows over their pages like water. Still, it was very surprising to me to find virtually no duplication in recipes in the two books. This is doubly surprising because when I reviewed two books on Roman cuisine, I easily found five different entree (not condiment) recipes occurring in the two books with identical Italian names and similar recipes.

Both authors conduct cooking classes in their homes in Provence. Ms. Marshall lives in an old chateau in Nyons, a small town on a small tributary of the Rhone in central Provence. Ms. Marshall is a native of France. Ms. Wells, a native American, spends most of her time in Paris, but she summers in northern Provence, where she and her husband have had a farmhouse for over twenty years.

All of this makes choosing between these two books very difficult, especially since I believe the sizes of each book is almost perfectly proportional to the list prices and the presence of color photos in the more expensive (Wells) but not in the less expensive. The absence of common recipes in these books can probably be explained by the fact that both books specifically advertise themselves as collections of home recipes. As the two homes are separated by quite a distance in a very provincial land, it is no surprise that the two writers have little but a general style of cooking in common.

Certain ingredients share the starring roles in both books. It would not be Provencal cooking without eggplant, onions, asparagus, tomatoes, cepes (porcini), monkfish, and chicken. Ms. Marshall has a great section on fowl of various types, but all recipes can be made with chicken if pheasant or guinea hen is not available. Ms. Marshall also surprises us by covering ingredients such as pumpkin that Ms. Wells does not even mention. Ms. Marshall also devotes a considerable amount of space to pissaladiere, `the Provencal version of pizza' which has its origins in Nice. The classic topping for pissaladiere is an anchovy and onion marmalade. The crust is quite thick, more like a Sicilian than a Neapolitan thin crust pizza. Ms. Marshall in fact makes her pissaladiere with potato dough. She devotes over twenty pages to pissaladiere and other recipes one can base on this dough. In contrast, Ms. Wells has recipes for pizza and fougasse (French foccacia), but nothing on pissaladiere.

On average, I find Ms. Marshall's instructions less detailed than Ms. Wells, but I find no resulting deficiency in the quality of her dishes. Ms. Wells, being a professional journalist who hobnobs with the likes of Joel Robuchon will certainly have more to say about ingredients and technique. But, Ms. Marshall even has her own Robuchon story in describing the great chef's solution to doing a salt baked fish where the salt coat comes off without excessive salt in the fish itself. Ms. Wells includes wines to match each dish and Ms. Marshall does not.

As both books are in paperback with a total list price below $40, I would buy both, especially if you are fond of French cooking. If your budget is tight, get the work by Ms. Marshall and wait for Ms. Wells soon to be published new book on Provencal cooking.

Highly recommended, especially for those on a budget.

An absolutely delightful addition to the important segment of books regarding Provence and cooking. Easy to follow, delicious recipes are accompanied by entertaining anecdotes.

This book is a gem. I feel this book more approachable than, say, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" to today's health-conscious home cooks. I have tried breads (fougasse, pissaladiere) to vegetables to chicken dishes to desserts with excellent results. Try her tartes (pies) for a change from your usual pies; they are truely eye-opening. Besides, it is a joy to read.

Never mind fighting terrorism and the Taliban. America's conflicting values put it at war with itself and make it seek scapegoats abroad. Merton speaks to us across two generations to show how the hatred and evil in us spread across oceans to infect those who become our enemies.

But Merton does not bash America or Americans. He provides a vital antidote to the disinformation that passes as news reports in our media, which are just as clueless as we are in understanding the whys and wherefores of our current crisis.

So do yourself a favor. Turn off the TV and the radio, set aside the newspapers and magazines, and read this book. You'll swear as I do that Merton could have written it yesterday. Substitute "terrorism" for "cold war" and "communism" while you're reading, and you'll see what I mean. There's still time for enlightenment and wisdom to triumph over ignorance and vanity if enough of us can learn to tell the difference.

Various compilations of American monk and martyr for peace Father Merton have gathered his ever more clear and strong prophetic writings for pacifism as a principle of Christian action and orthopraxis, no matter what compromise might have been made with the imperial powers and dominations in this material world which adulterating compromises drove past and present ages of monks into the isolated anchorite mountains and deserts and caves, horrified by any surrendering of the Faith of the Prince of Peace to institutional violence.

Thus we receive most gratefully this gathering of Father Merton's clear essays for Peace as principle of Christian Faith edited by Merton biographer the Reverend Father William Shannon, author as well of Silent Lamp: The Thomas Merton Story.

As Roy Olsen writes in his Booklist essay describing this excellent collection on Christian Peace, "Shannon notes how much soul searching and courage it took for Merton to speak out against the cold war and its perversions, as he saw them, of society, the economy, language, and religion, at a time when his own Catholic Church was, if not silent about war, liable to cheer on armed American aggression. These particular writings of Merton's are, besides being stirring reminders of the Christian duty to prosecute peace, documents of importance to American history as much as or more than to Christian history."

Indeed in that dark day as now to speak of peace was to be exiled and insulted as un-American and even against all evidence anti-Christian, and thus we understand the courage it took for Father Merton to speak out thus prophetically ever more and more clearly and uncompromisingly, compelled by our faith in its fullness and by our Eucharist, causing no doubt his death.

Remember the recent Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis: el Sacramento de la Caridad: una Exhortacion Apostolica Postsinodal recalls how our participation in the Eucharist compels us to work for compassionate peace.

In his lengthy introduction, Father Shannon indicates that many of the articles and essays republished here originally appeared in Seeds of Destruction and in The Nonviolent Alternative. Father Shannon indicates the correct criticism that those works tended to decontextualize the writings, and thus lent themselves to drawing Father Merton's words far out of context, by which some eager ideologues could even force the grotesquely and absurdly erroneous point that Father Merton supported war and killing under certain circumstances. He did not.

Fortunately his biographer, Father Shannon here supplies the context and the fullness of Father Merton's pacifist and faithful thought and spirit. Father Shannon concludes: "I hope that understanding these articles in their context will show readers a neglected side of Thomas Merton: his passion for peace and the ardor with which he pleaded for it, in a world that yearned for it so desperately (p. 7)."

Now we do not even yawn for it, nor appear to care for peace whatsoever, as we murder a million Iraqis, so long as we get our oil, which is why we need very much to read this book once more, and return home to the fullness of our Faith in the Prince of Peace, now in this season of Advent as the angels first announce to the poor shepherds abandoned on the night hillsides: Pacem in Terris. Read here one of the closing articles entitled "The Vietnam War: An Overwhelming Atrocity (p. 315)" and watch how close to home it calls us even now in this time of endless, fruitless, brutal, unjustifiable, immoral and causeless war without end. Pray for our conversion back to Catholicism in its plenitude, and pray for peace.

A great book that lists many essays of Merton during the 60's, including some that orignally appeared in the Catholic Worker Newspaper. Many on non-violence, others on important figures of that time. I especially enjoyed the piece on Malcolm X.