Journals Books

I just got my copy yesterday and I've picked it up every chance I can. Some of the pictures/stories made me laugh out loud, others brought a tear. I love the cover shot...Wrigley reflected in the sunglasses. Awesome photography captures the enthusiasm and spirit of the fans and the most beautiful ballpark in the world. This IS the year...GO CUBS!!!

This book is fantastic and every Cubs fan should pick it up. Also, if you're a real big fan of Will like I am, you should pick up the CD "Come With Me" by Will Byington. You wouldn't think a goatee sporting ladies man like Will would have such sick rhymes, but he's right 'Bob Dylan couldn't afford him'

I just got the book yesterday, and I love it. Its unique style of pictures coupled with anecdotes from Cubs fans big and small. It kind of reminds me of the excitement I used to get on the last day of school where everyone where you would go around and have everyone sign your yearbook. Once you get home, you'll go back and look at all the pictures and see what everyone wrote in your yearbook. Its a must have for any Cubs fan. I'm going to buy several more copies to send to relatives who are Cubs fans that no longer live in Chicago

An outstanding collection of stories & photographs from in and around the greatest baseball park in the world.... Wrigley Field. It doesn't matter if you've never been to Wrigley, or been 100 times... this is a definite buy for every Cubs fan.

A nice book which captures the essence of Wrigley Field, the Cubs and baseball. I highly recommend this book - it's a home run

My nutritionist recommended that I get this journal after he'd used it with several teenage clients. I've been writing down my daily food for almost a year and had gotten very tired of it--but using this journal has actually created a renewed sense of purpose for me. I absolutely adore the focus on the positive in this journal, which gives me a much better attitude overall. I also like that your hunger is rated on a three-step scale, so you really have to face eating when you're just not hungry. The summary for each week is great and there's a strong focus on setting your own goals and working to meet them. I highly recommend this journal for all, regardless of age! As an aside, the orange part featured in the photo of the book is actually a paper wrap that slips right off, leaving only the starburst design and a small title that reads, "WLC Journal." That makes this very discreet and comfortable to carry around without proclaiming that you're on a diet or writing down your food.

What I find so amazing about this companion guide to Weight Loss Confidential is that it is truly a complete and self-contained program that provides teens the essential tools to manage their weight - once and for all!

Fletcher drives home the point that for teens to manage their weight successfully, they must adopt a plan that is individualized and right for them - no more 'cookie-cutter' programs! But she also reinforces that regardless of the approach, the bones of any successful program still involves a life-long commitment to healthy food choices coupled with a do-able physical activity program that teens can live with.

The real jewel in Weight Loss Confidential Journal is not only do teens benefit from the wisdom of an expert nutritionist who has "been there" with her own son's weight battles, but they also benefit from the in-the-trenches wisdom of their peers. Cap it all off with some awesome, simple and teen-focused recipes and meal plans, Weight Loss Confidential Journal provides a recipe for success that teens and their parents cane really sink their teeth into! Bravo, Anne Fletcher...Bravo!

The Weight Loss Confidential Journal is a terrific companion to the Anne's book Weight Loss Confidential. The book and journal are focused on helping teens develop and sustain healthy nutritional and activity habits. The best part is that in addition to being scientifically sound, Anne interviewed other teens who had lost weight and kept it off. Which is such a great approach!! The Journal is broken up into 23 weeks with a topic for each week, as well as, a place to write goals and track exercise & food intake. Each week also has excellent tips from other teens that are very motivational and interesting. I would highly recommend this Journal to be used in conjuction with the book!
Beth Wolfgram MS, RD, CD

This journal helps teens who want to lose weight, take it a step further by providing the tools to do it in a "user friendly" format. Each week provides tips to help teens achieve their goal of becoming a healthier person from the wisdom of teens who have actually made this happen. As a registered dietitian, I recommend Anne's "Weight Loss Confidential" when working with overweight teens and I am now excited to share this fantastic food journal/workbook with them also!
Denise Barratt MS, RD, LDN
Health Concepts Nutrition Therapy

Weight Loss Confidential Journal is unique in that it features advice for truly overweight teenagers, not those seeking to lose five or ten pounds. Neither patronizing nor preachy, the advice provided is provided from teens who have maintained significant weight losses.
The book features 23 weeks' worth of advice. Each week, the focus is on a different aspect of controlling one's weight. The themes "Recover from your slip-ups", "Make peace with your body", and "Get rid of diet thinking" emphasize the mind-body connection of the total person.
Weight Loss Confidential Journal also provides space for a daily 23-week diary. Besides recording food and beverage intake and time spent exercising, participants are asked to record their feelings, moods, and random thoughts, and are encouraged to jot down the day's successes. At the end of the week, users can list things that were helpful, evaluate whether their goals were met, and set new goals. Readers are also asked to list how their lives are better, and why they want to achieve a healthier weight. Reviewing the week helps readers to see their progress. Interestingly, the space designated to record weight is a small one; this shifts the focus from being solely on weight to encompassing larger goals and seeing the big picture.
Planning and realistic goal-setting are stressed. Users can plan their responses to obstacles, such as a class trip, that might interfere with progress.
Written by a registered dietitian, this book takes a moderate and balanced approach to nutrition. It focuses on eating healthful, appropriate amounts for all food groups, and includes portion sizes for foods and beverages, guidlines for food plans, and healthy recipes for teen favorites such as pizza and sandwiches.
Overall, this is an excellent book. It presents an individual, realistic approach to weight management in a user-friendly format.

Essential contributions to the study of Western Esotericism. Alexandria issue #5 covers:
Dante and the Comic Way -- Joseph Meeker
An Ecology of Mind -- Doug Man
Science's Missing Half: Epistemological Pluralism and the Search for an Inclusive Cosmology -- David Fideler
Negotiating the Highwire of Heaven: The Milky Way and the Itinerary of the Soul -- E. C. Krupp
Nature and Nature's God: Modern Cosmology and the Rebirth of Natural Philosophy -- Theodore Roszak
Creativity: The Meeting of Apollo and Dionysus -- F. David Peat
Mithras, the Hypercosmic Sun, and the Rockbirth -- David Ulansey
Musical Emblems in the Renaissance: A Survey -- Christina Linsenmeyer-van Schalkwyk
Jung and the Alchemical Imagination -- Jeffrey Raff
Two Platonic Voices in America: Ralph Waldo Emerson and Thomas M. Johnson -- David Fideler
Alcott's Transcendental Neoplatonism and the Concord Summer School -- Jay Bregman
Chaos and the Millennium -- Ralph Abraham
Is Anything the Matter? -- Roger S. Jones
Magnificent Desolation -- Dana Wilde
Soul Loss and Soul Making -- Kabir Helminski
Ideal Beauty and Sensual Beauty in Works of Art -- Aphrodite Alexandrakis
Socrates and the Art of Dialogue -- Robert Apatow
Footprints on the Threshold -- Christine Rhone
Science: Method, Myth, Metaphor? -- Amy Ione
Teaching Archaeoastronomy -- Greg Whitlock
Oneiriconographia: Entering Poliphilo's Utopian Dreamscape - A Review Essay -- Peter Lamborn Wilson
Memorial of A. H. Armstrong -- Jay Bregman

Memorial of Marie-Louise von Franz -- Jeffrey Raff
About the Contributors

Essential contributions to the study of Western Esotericism. Alexandria issue #5 covers:
Dante and the Comic Way -- Joseph Meeker
An Ecology of Mind -- Doug Man
Science's Missing Half: Epistemological Pluralism and the Search for an Inclusive Cosmology -- David Fideler
Negotiating the Highwire of Heaven: The Milky Way and the Itinerary of the Soul -- E. C. Krupp
Nature and Nature's God: Modern Cosmology and the Rebirth of Natural Philosophy -- Theodore Roszak
Creativity: The Meeting of Apollo and Dionysus -- F. David Peat
Mithras, the Hypercosmic Sun, and the Rockbirth -- David Ulansey
Musical Emblems in the Renaissance: A Survey -- Christina Linsenmeyer-van Schalkwyk
Jung and the Alchemical Imagination -- Jeffrey Raff
Two Platonic Voices in America: Ralph Waldo Emerson and Thomas M. Johnson -- David Fideler
Alcott's Transcendental Neoplatonism and the Concord Summer School -- Jay Bregman
Chaos and the Millennium -- Ralph Abraham
Is Anything the Matter? -- Roger S. Jones
Magnificent Desolation -- Dana Wilde
Soul Loss and Soul Making -- Kabir Helminski
Ideal Beauty and Sensual Beauty in Works of Art -- Aphrodite Alexandrakis
Socrates and the Art of Dialogue -- Robert Apatow
Footprints on the Threshold -- Christine Rhone
Science: Method, Myth, Metaphor? -- Amy Ione
Teaching Archaeoastronomy -- Greg Whitlock
Oneiriconographia: Entering Poliphilo's Utopian Dreamscape - A Review Essay -- Peter Lamborn Wilson
Memorial of A. H. Armstrong -- Jay Bregman

Memorial of Marie-Louise von Franz -- Jeffrey Raff
About the Contributors

Essential contributions to the study of Western Esotericism. Alexandria issue #5 covers:
Dante and the Comic Way -- Joseph Meeker
An Ecology of Mind -- Doug Man
Science's Missing Half: Epistemological Pluralism and the Search for an Inclusive Cosmology -- David Fideler
Negotiating the Highwire of Heaven: The Milky Way and the Itinerary of the Soul -- E. C. Krupp
Nature and Nature's God: Modern Cosmology and the Rebirth of Natural Philosophy -- Theodore Roszak
Creativity: The Meeting of Apollo and Dionysus -- F. David Peat
Mithras, the Hypercosmic Sun, and the Rockbirth -- David Ulansey
Musical Emblems in the Renaissance: A Survey -- Christina Linsenmeyer-van Schalkwyk
Jung and the Alchemical Imagination -- Jeffrey Raff
Two Platonic Voices in America: Ralph Waldo Emerson and Thomas M. Johnson -- David Fideler
Alcott's Transcendental Neoplatonism and the Concord Summer School -- Jay Bregman
Chaos and the Millennium -- Ralph Abraham
Is Anything the Matter? -- Roger S. Jones
Magnificent Desolation -- Dana Wilde
Soul Loss and Soul Making -- Kabir Helminski
Ideal Beauty and Sensual Beauty in Works of Art -- Aphrodite Alexandrakis
Socrates and the Art of Dialogue -- Robert Apatow
Footprints on the Threshold -- Christine Rhone
Science: Method, Myth, Metaphor? -- Amy Ione
Teaching Archaeoastronomy -- Greg Whitlock
Oneiriconographia: Entering Poliphilo's Utopian Dreamscape - A Review Essay -- Peter Lamborn Wilson
Memorial of A. H. Armstrong -- Jay Bregman

Memorial of Marie-Louise von Franz -- Jeffrey Raff
About the Contributors

Essential contributions to the study of Western Esotericism. Alexandria issue #5 covers:
Dante and the Comic Way -- Joseph Meeker
An Ecology of Mind -- Doug Man
Science's Missing Half: Epistemological Pluralism and the Search for an Inclusive Cosmology -- David Fideler
Negotiating the Highwire of Heaven: The Milky Way and the Itinerary of the Soul -- E. C. Krupp
Nature and Nature's God: Modern Cosmology and the Rebirth of Natural Philosophy -- Theodore Roszak
Creativity: The Meeting of Apollo and Dionysus -- F. David Peat
Mithras, the Hypercosmic Sun, and the Rockbirth -- David Ulansey
Musical Emblems in the Renaissance: A Survey -- Christina Linsenmeyer-van Schalkwyk
Jung and the Alchemical Imagination -- Jeffrey Raff
Two Platonic Voices in America: Ralph Waldo Emerson and Thomas M. Johnson -- David Fideler
Alcott's Transcendental Neoplatonism and the Concord Summer School -- Jay Bregman
Chaos and the Millennium -- Ralph Abraham
Is Anything the Matter? -- Roger S. Jones
Magnificent Desolation -- Dana Wilde
Soul Loss and Soul Making -- Kabir Helminski
Ideal Beauty and Sensual Beauty in Works of Art -- Aphrodite Alexandrakis
Socrates and the Art of Dialogue -- Robert Apatow
Footprints on the Threshold -- Christine Rhone
Science: Method, Myth, Metaphor? -- Amy Ione
Teaching Archaeoastronomy -- Greg Whitlock
Oneiriconographia: Entering Poliphilo's Utopian Dreamscape - A Review Essay -- Peter Lamborn Wilson
Memorial of A. H. Armstrong -- Jay Bregman

Memorial of Marie-Louise von Franz -- Jeffrey Raff
About the Contributors

Essential contributions to the study of Western Esotericism. Alexandria issue #5 covers:
Dante and the Comic Way -- Joseph Meeker
An Ecology of Mind -- Doug Man
Science's Missing Half: Epistemological Pluralism and the Search for an Inclusive Cosmology -- David Fideler
Negotiating the Highwire of Heaven: The Milky Way and the Itinerary of the Soul -- E. C. Krupp
Nature and Nature's God: Modern Cosmology and the Rebirth of Natural Philosophy -- Theodore Roszak
Creativity: The Meeting of Apollo and Dionysus -- F. David Peat
Mithras, the Hypercosmic Sun, and the Rockbirth -- David Ulansey
Musical Emblems in the Renaissance: A Survey -- Christina Linsenmeyer-van Schalkwyk
Jung and the Alchemical Imagination -- Jeffrey Raff
Two Platonic Voices in America: Ralph Waldo Emerson and Thomas M. Johnson -- David Fideler
Alcott's Transcendental Neoplatonism and the Concord Summer School -- Jay Bregman
Chaos and the Millennium -- Ralph Abraham
Is Anything the Matter? -- Roger S. Jones
Magnificent Desolation -- Dana Wilde
Soul Loss and Soul Making -- Kabir Helminski
Ideal Beauty and Sensual Beauty in Works of Art -- Aphrodite Alexandrakis
Socrates and the Art of Dialogue -- Robert Apatow
Footprints on the Threshold -- Christine Rhone
Science: Method, Myth, Metaphor? -- Amy Ione
Teaching Archaeoastronomy -- Greg Whitlock
Oneiriconographia: Entering Poliphilo's Utopian Dreamscape - A Review Essay -- Peter Lamborn Wilson
Memorial of A. H. Armstrong -- Jay Bregman

Memorial of Marie-Louise von Franz -- Jeffrey Raff
About the Contributors

The final chapter (so far) in the Early Journals of Will Barnett, ALL OVER HIM, is a fitting and satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. It has the same down-to-earth quality of the previous book, giving it the texture of a real life as opposed to a fictional story, though this book feels a bit less like a transcribed journal and more like a first-person narrative. The period covered this time around is Will's freshman year at the University of Texas, Austin where he is living with his beloved Uncle Sean while temporarily separated from his boyfriend, Lance, who is going to art school in San Francisco. The year is 1974 and Ronald Donaghe lovingly recreates the era showing us the political scene of the times, including the burgeoning gay rights movement; pride parades; the free-love, anti-monogamy attitude of most gays at that time; the drug culture; and hippie lifestyle. While little happens in terms of plot (much like real life) the strength of the writing lies in the bonds of family love however it is defined, and the word that I believe best describes this book is: bittersweet. The book doesn't quite capture the raw emotional power of the first one, UNCLE SEAN, and my one quibble would be that my patience began to wear a bit thin with the constant commenting on how beautiful every man was. But of course I'm no longer a 19-year-old boy with raging hormones! There is a very nice epilog at the end that brings us up to date on what became of all the characters and gives the series a satisfying conclusion in the event that Donaghe decides not to continue the series.

three and a half stars

Mark R. Probst
The Filly

"All Over Him" is the seamless continuation of the story of Will and Lance, begun in the first installment, "Uncle Sean" and picked up again in "Lance." Once again Ron Donaghe has the reader glued to the pages following Will and Lance as they navigate the events of their lives, in a world relentlessly telling them that long-term, committed love between two men is an elusive dream. Alone and together they face what could be the biggest test yet of their love and the reader won't know the outcome until the very end.
Once again, with remarkable consistancy, Ron Donaghe speaks as Will in a completely believable, almost too believable way, often leaving the reader wondering if Will is out there too, reading his own story.
"All Over Him" answers the question about the permamancy of love shared by two men.

Another great contribution to the Continuing Journals of Will Barnett, "All Over Him" finds its storyteller, Will Barnett, in his freshman year of college, hundreds of miles away from the love of his life, Lance. Even as the boys stay in contact with regular phone calls, external factors threaten to tear them apart. Ron Donaghe continues to bring to bear his considerable skill as a writer and storyteller himself, working in real-life events from the era of his story (in this case, the early 1970's) to make the tale that much more vivid. Donaghe writes with a compassion and respect that leaves the reader feeling like he just spent time with old friends by the time the story concludes. A must read for all fans of Will's story, old and new. --Andrew Barriger, author of Finding Faith.

While the first two books in The Continuing Journals of Will Barnett focused on young gay love in an anti-gay setting, this longer, more complex installment uses that relationship to explore the difficulties of lasting gay relationships and the challenges of a growing gay civil rights movement. Setting the book in Austin and San Francisco during the 1970s gives author Ronald L. Donaghe many opportunities to examine those changing times, while still keeping the focus on Will and Lance.

The young lovers now find themselves split between those two cities, because of college and life-long ambitions. As with any long-distance relationship, theirs becomes tested in many ways. However, unlike their heterosexual counterparts, they lack role models for their relationship, since even Will's beloved Uncle Sean has not maintained the lasting love he sought.

This book's epilog closes the journals out for now, with Donaghe giving some clever winks and nods to his many loyal readers. We know we can expect at least one more visit with Will and Lance, and that we can expect many more unforgettable characters from the ever-creative mind of Ronald L. Donaghe.

-Duane Simolke, author of The Acorn Stories and Degranon

Donaghe gets better and better. "All Over Him" is a worthy addition to this lovely series. Here we find Will and Lance trying to stay true to each other though separated by distance. Of course this is not easy. Thrown into a different environment, each young man has to overcome temptation and desires which seems an impossible feat in the real world. But this is fiction, and should gives us hope that monogamy is possible.
Being a sentimental fool, I find myself screaming at Will to just drop everything and go to Lance. But I understand Donaghe's message. Will is only 19 and needs to sort out his feelings for his Uncle Sean, whom he loves since 14, and his husband, Lance. Uncle Sean's emotional search for one true love to spend his life with just tugs at my heart. I am glad he finally found Hank and Hanky Hank. The ending is satisfying but I hope Donaghe is not considering to end the series. All Over Him is one year in Will's life when he was 19. I am sure Will and Lance has much more to tell.

As a long-time rubber stamper, I began making books earlier this year. This book has great instructions for all different book designs, as well as decorating techniques. I found the instructions easy to follow and well detailed. This is a much used resource in my craft book library.

For those who wish to take the hobby of scrapbooking to the level of fine art, this book will provide plenty of inspiration. Covering everything from numerous ways to create and bind a scrapbook from "scratch" to techniques for making your own decorative paper, it's all within the covers of the book.

Many different methods of bookbinding are presented in thorough detail moving from simple to more complex. Paper making and decorative paper techniques, such as batik and various print or collage techniques are presented as well.

Very innovative ideas for ways to display your special photos are shown as well. Samples of pages are unlike any I've seen elsewhere, and are always eye-catching. This book is not one for those who wish to speed scrap, but if you want to create a one-of-a-kind album, or a unique layout for special photos, look to "The Art of the Scrapbook" for ideas.

This book is a beautiful, artistic work on book making/binding. It's thorough, beginner-friendly, and has attractive projects. I only have one problem with it: the title. I would think that the title would more prominently announce something about bookmaking, and not use the word scrapbook (since these days, scrapbooking has grown in popularity, and is a completely different hobby).

That said, this book is an excellent introduction work to bookbinding. It has instructions on many different types of book bindings (from simple to more challenging), as well as much info on decorations for your book covers (marbling, quilling, and more). The book is written in an encouraging, informative tone, with the emphasis on craftsmanship and artistic expression. The text is accompanied by full-color pictures of handmade books by various artists around the country.

This book is an excellent introduction to bookbinding, and will certainly whet your appetite for all sorts of exciting artistic expression.

This book isn't just a book that shows some examples and gives you some templates and says "go do this"... This is a book that any true artist would love to have in their collection. It gives complete instructions on construction of paper arts and all facets of the craft. There are more projects in this book than I have found in any other book on the subject. The projects are explained with clarity and I learned how to do things I would have had to take a class to learn. The author is a real artist not just a craft person. I recommend this book to anyone that wants to take this craft to another level.

I own quite a few scrapbooking and bookmaking books, and this is the one that got me hooked. I absolutely love this book. The tools and materials needed lists were extremely helpful in getting me started. The author also shows some terrific and easy techniques that I haven't seen in other books. The gallery sections are incredible -- beautiful without being completely way out there. Lots of practical ideas for projects. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

Absolutely love this book! It's been really helpful. I can see how much my baby eats every day (and reminds me when she'll probably be hungry again), when she takes naps, how long she is sleeping... every page has a place for notes and I can write in how she is acting or if I've given her any medication, etc. I'm already on my second book and I've purchased a third. My only complaint is that I wish it was bigger!

I am expecting my third child, and this is a must-have. During my first pregnancy, I used a notebook and wrote everything. I found this journal, and it was so convenient to fill in after each feeding and diaper change. It has a blank page on the opposite side which works well for a place to jot down baby's firsts when you cannot get to a calendar or baby book. If you are a person who loves to be organized, this is the perfect book, particularly for breastfeeding. I always get this for first-time moms!

This book is very helpful, especially for newborns who are not on a schedule just yet. It helps you keep track of how many feedings, poo's & wets, and how much rest the baby is getting each day. It's very handy for your babysitter as well. They can also easily jot down the baby's progress each day, and for your spouse they can do the same. It helps to keep my husband and I up-to-date so we won't overfeed the baby or forget to change him.

I received this product as a baby gift when my daughter was first born. Over the first four months, we filled up the book and it helped reassure me that nursing efforts were going well. I just purchased two more books to help me keep track of her days now that I will be returning to work.

I bought this journal on a whim for my sister, who has a two year old and an infant. She's super organized, but with two children under the age of 2, she was struggling to keep track of all the details of the newest addition. The journal was a godsend...it made her life so much easier, especially with family members helping to care for the newborn. Now we can all keep track of the baby's essential info in one place, rather than worrying about charts and lists passed from one person to the next. It's such a simple tool, yet it made an overwhelming situation so much easier. I just bought another one for a friend of mine who had a baby. This will definitely be a must-have for all baby showers moving forward!

It takes a special type of person to embrace an adopted child as if they were one's own. "Blueberry Summers: Growing up at the Lake" is author Curtiss Anderson's reminiscence of his family life as he grew up in 1940s Minnesota. Focusing on the coming of age stories that riddle all of our lives and turn us into the people that we are today, and serving as a memorial to his adoptive parents, "Blueberry Summers: Growing up at the Lake" is a top pick for those seeking to look back at a childhood much like their own and for community library memoir collections.

What a pleasure to read an old-fashioned, heart-felt, utterly sentimental memoir with the power and poetry to evoke the innocence, happiness, and yes, disappointments of childhood and growing up in a family that...mattered. Anderson captures the essence of the whole experience in language that flows effortlessly and often lyrically from the first joyous to the final rather sad pages. What ever happened to no-nonsense writing like this?

In my memory, summer always stretched out like a lazy dog. I read books in a sacred spot under the canopy of a cottonwood tree, rolled in freshly-mown grass, and ran against the chinook wind, spreading my arms wide and hoping to fly. Anderson's book brought back those magic moments. I read it slowly, savoring my own memories as inspired by his.

Curtiss Anderson has done for the Minnesota Lake Country what Peter Mayle did for Provence and Frances Mayes for Tuscany -- transported me there on winged words and introduced me to the sights, sounds, and scents not to mention characters both comical and crochety. Of course the Lake Country of Anderson's youth ('30s and '40s) is what gives this memoir its particular magic plus the author's own poetic prose:

"Nature would always challenge, threaten, protect, and entertain us with its sweet and sad surprises," Anderson writes. "Things would happen that had never happened before and would never happen again. That is the essence of wilderness and wildlife."

Who can forget Clara Johnson and her famous doughnuts (Anderson shares that recipe on page 27), dear old Great-Aunt Ingaborg who was "Norsk to the bone," or young Sarah Schumacher who in the adolescent Anderson's eyes "was the most exquisitely created human being who ever lived?" Each of them is as unforgettable as the entire cast of characters from Anderson's extended Norwegian family.

Anderson's coming-of-age summers beside a northern Minnesota lake will resonant with everyone who grew up in the age of FDR, rumble seats, and water pumps constantly in need of priming. As for the younger generation, I'd make BLUEBERRY SUMMERS required reading if only to prove that it's possible to have fun deprived of play stations, paintball fights, and virtual TV.

This was a delightful,carefree book to read for summer enjoyment. The insight into Curt's boyhood and his relationship with his parents and their friends was so well done. You just felt like you were on the lake fishing sometime.
I recommend.

I really love this book it is good.I love the ending.It is about what happens when this boy is about 12 or 13 years old.If someone is looking for a book to read I would suggest this book!!

I am a teacher of 33 fifth graders. My children all loved this book---even the reluctant readers! It was an extremely popular book with the class and inspired many students to begin writing their own journals. We have also read "Jake's Journal" by the same author and are anxiously awaiting more from this author!

This book is the best book I ever read! It gets deep inside a young boy's life and tell things that just any body can understand about a teenage boy. He goes throgh times and trails, a lot children go through. It's pretty bad that can't nobody find this book anymore. Not even the places like the library carry this book, and they carry the oldest books!!!!????!!!!?!?!?! So I encourage every body that is looking at this ,order this book, you won't be unsatisfied!!!!!!!!!

I read this book pretty fast and I liked it. It has nice people in it and maybe bad people and all kinds of things happen to Boomer, who writes it. I wish there was more about Mary Margaret but it is Boomer's book so maybe she will make her own. Jake's Journal is what I am reading now which is so good. I keep a journal myself but nothing this exciting ever happens in my life. It is really good.

My name is Rory and I will be in sixth grade this fall. This book is about Boomer and his friends and they have adventures all the time. I think Boomer's Journal is one of the best books I ever read. I like Boomer he is nice and his friends too.

Carole Maso simply cannot be categorized. With books like AVA and Aureole, she shows how language can become an experience in itself, how certain sequences of words turn into moments of such beauty that you want to repeat them over and over, write them down, hang them on the walls so you can be surrounded by them. Break Every Rule does the same thing, although at times I found myself a little turned off by the author's obvious bitterness at a publishing industry that refuses to recognize her genius (I agree that she is a genius, but I wished she would harp on it a mite less). This bitterness turns up now and again throughout the essays included in Break Every Rule. It's a curious blending of modesty and arrogance. That being said, it was a lovely and invaluable experience to see how Maso conceives her work, how she thinks, and what she believes lies in the future for the novel. It's an unflinchingly feminine/ist, liberal plea for understanding and love.

Buy this book along with Beckett, Celan, Stevens, Godard, Fassbinder, Diamanda Galas, Kathy Acker, Craig Owens, Pasolini, Thalia Field, James Baldwin, Gladman, Part, Blake, Gomez-Pena . . . and you will have many good friends.

The venerable Carole Maso has just reminded us how literature "can be" and not "ought to be", and detailed her convincing arguments in this book, "Break Every Rule". The stern Rule-Makers would have us believe that, as writers, we can't do this and that, and must adhere to some "nifty" little rules invented by rigid minds. Well, here is a voice so clear that it can shatter glasses, and it is telling us to set ourselves free. How absolutely liberating!

Carole Maso is a writer of sumptuous, word-smitten prose. In this, an ecstatic's manifesto, the author declares that the future of the novel (if the form is to have a future) rests in the hands of women, gays, blacks, and all the other heretofore marginalized voices in our literature and our culture. Her words practically quiver on the page and anyone who, like me has had the desire to write but been stymied time and again by their inability and unwillingness to conform to the established bonds of the form will find a heartening warrior-ally in Maso.

These essays about literature (Maso's and other writers's), the act of writing, about Maso's own life are essentially an awakening, an alarm call to a new way of envisioning stories. I'm not familiar with William Carlos Williams, whom she credits as an influence, but I am familiar with Gertrude Stein and Virginia Woolf, whose influences are apparent in the novels I've read by Maso and in the techniques she uses to express. With each essay I was astonished at the innovative and dazzling approaches to language. In the essay "The Re-introduction of Color", Maso explores her struggle to find her writing self against the pressures of conformity and convention. This book is inspirational, educational, exquisite. Any writers or serious readers looking for ways to shake the trees of literature's stale greats will delight in this collection of essays, and each reader will find herself or himself challenged, seduced, and ultimately released.

(My review is on Thoreau's Cape Cod rather than this specific edition).

While some literary critics seem to slight this work by Thoreau, saying that it is not as "powerful" as his other works, etc., I personally find this one very enjoyable. Sure, it does not have as much "philosophizing" as other books by him, but it is full of humor and very fun to read. The part where he describes the old man spitting into the hearth is particularly hilarious. The part about him sleeping in a lighthouse is also very funny. It lets us experience the more jovial side of Thoreau. This is probably one of the easiest to read among Thoreau's books.

Published posthumously, this volume is surprisingly consistent and complete (unlike "The Maine Woods" which is chopped into three different parts), it gives one the feel of walking along the entire cape, although the materials are quarried from several different trips. One only wish Thoreau had lived longer and had seen the West, imagine him taking a trip in the Sierra! Oh, well, meanwhile, we still have this one to enjoy.

Thoreau visited Cape Cod in 1849, 1850, and 1853. These trips formed the basis for a series of essays, several of which Thoreau published in magazines. After Thoreau's death, the essays were gathered together and published as "Cape Cod" in 1865.

Thoreau's "Cape Cod" is different in tone in theme from his earlier books. The tone is leisurely and light. Instead of solitude or the wild woods, the picture that remains with me from this book is that of a long walk, or, as Thoreau puts it, a "ramble" through the sand and dunes of Cape Cod. The book is picturesque, full of humor and wry observation. Thoreau unforgettably describes the ocean, in its storms, vicissitudes, and moments of peace, the fish and the fishermen, the sands, birds, plants and lighthouses of Cape Cod, and the people. I have visited portions of the Masachusetts coast, but I have never been to Cape Cod. Thoreau took me there in his book.

The book is arranged into ten chapters. It opens with a description of the shipwreck of the St John on a rock off the Cape. Thoreau then describes a ride by coach across the Cape. But the heart of the book lies in the following chapters in which Thoreau with a companion walks the 30 mile beach from Nauset Harbor to Provincetown with many stops and diversions along the way. I felt the salt air and saw the fishermen and the sandy beach as I walked with Thoreau.

The most vivid characterization in the book is in the chapter "The Wellfleet Oysterman", as Thoreau describes a grizzled, taciturn, and ancient native of Cape Cod and his family who offer him hospitality for the night. Another memorable chapter involves the description of the Highland Lighthouse, no longer standing, and its keeper. The stops with the Oysterman and the Lighthouse punctuate Thoreau's long walks through the day over the beach and his meditiations about and descriptions of what he finds there.

Thoreaus walk ended at Provincetown, on the northernmost portion of Cape Cod, with its wood walkway, shanty houses, and ever-present scenes of fishermen, boats, and drying fish. Thoreau offers what I found an affectionate portrait of these hardy fishermen and their families. Following a description of what he found at Provincetown, Thoreau offers a great deal of historical background on the exploration of the Cape, from the Pilgrims reaching back to earlier French, Icelandic, and English explorers.

Thoreau's "Cape Cod" is a worthy companion to his books describing his experiences inland, on Walden Pond and on the rivers and woods of New England and Maine. It is beautifuly written with unforgettable descriptive passages. It made me want to get up and go from my life in the city, and over 150 years after Thoreau wrote, wander and walk for myself along the dunes and sands of Cape Cod.

This hardcover edition from Peninsula Press is unquestionably the best available edition of Thoreau's Cape Cod, for these reasons:

1) While all other editions are based on Thoreau's journal entries from only his first three visits to the Cape, this edition includes an epilogue compiling Thoreau's notes from his fourth and final visit, in which he traveled south to Chatham and Monomoy.

2) This is the only edition to translate the many, many Greek and Latin phrases Thoreau includes throughout the work, and it is also the only edition to provide illustrations, maps, and sidenotes in-text.

3) This is the only indexed edition ever created.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for fans of both Cape literature and Thoreau in general.

This book details the flora, fauna and people that Thoreau found in Cape Cod in the 1850s. Thoreau organizes the book around a single trip to Provincetown, although much of the material that he uses in the book came from various visits to the Cape, and to the ocean in general. He starts with a description of a shipwreck at Cohasset, then a stagecoach ride from Plymouth, then a walking trip with a companion along the outer shore to Provincetown. Along the way, he describes not only the plants and animals he encountered, but also the people who he met. The book finishes with a lengthy academic historical account of the discovery and mapping of the Cape.

I found this to be the most humorous of all Thoreau's work. The character sketches he provides in this book, sharpened with his trained eye for observation of natural phenomena, are legendary. The cultural description of the Cape and its environment is quite fascinating for those interested in the history of daily life in 19th century Massachusetts. As Thoreau describes the desolate, treeless desert that made up the far reaches of the Cape, one begins to comprehend what it meant for an economy to be based on wood and whale oil for fuels. Thoreau stresses how valued driftwood was for residents of the Cape, as one of their main sources of heating and cooking fuel. Doubtless, he would not recognize the Cape today with its lush new forests. Or its Wal-Marts--switching to an oil economy has brought mixed blessings for the Cape. For those who think Thoreau to be a humorless didactic philosopher, this book shows a very different aspect of Thoreau as a writer.

You will forget about the outside world when you read this; nothing but sand, wind, and water. Plus some natural history, local folklore, a few shipwreck tales. Typical Thoreau; he finds beauty, interest, detail in the wilderness. The desolate landscape will help to clear your mind. Highly recommended.