Companies Books

I had never heard of Sears homes until I found out that a home I had previously lived in, was one! Since that day, I have read and researched these fascinating timepieces and how they fit into our American history. Whether a history buff, architectural/house buff or if you simply love to learn, Rosemary Thornton's love for these homes and their value comes through in her books, teamed with her obvious extensive research, to provide a wonderful read. Any book where you can feel the authors passion, and have it rub off on you, is special. I also own, and recommend, her book "Finding the Houses that Sears Built", which has some of the same information, but more pictures of actual home styles and plans. Both books are worth it! I have officically become a Sears Home advocate!!!! Thanks to Rose!!

This was a very helpful book as I was able to find the home I was purchasing in Saranac Lake, NY. It's really exciting to know more about it's history. This is a must-have book if you are interested in learning more about the Sears homes.

I am from London in the UK and until not so long ago have never heard of Sears homes. Searching for authentic historic houseplans on the internet I soon learned about Sears homes. I have never knowingly laid eyes on one but immediately felt it was something I needed to find out more about. Before long I arrived at this book. I ordered it not really knowing what I was going to get and I have loved and treasured this piece of literature ever since. I could not put it down first time around and not the second time around and still flick through it every other day unable to shelve it away in my library.
What I loved most about the book despite the intricately researched contents is the love and passion the author manages to convey already on the very first page. I think this is what grabbed me most, Rosemary's love for these homes immediately 'infected' me. It is written in a light-hearted way (for lack of a better expression)as if she talked to each reader personally. She touches on so many different aspects but at a dose that leaves one with sparks and fireworks inside one's head, buring to turn the page and 'hear' more. The book made me want to book a flight ticket into the heart of Illinois and start searching for these homes myself. Rosemary, one part I particularly loved was your little stories from people or relatives of those who built these houses and lived in them. I wished I could read endless pages of such testimonies as they really injected life into the pictures in your book. It fulled my imagination of the times and circumstances when the houses were built and about the people who built them.

As I mentiond, I have never actually seen a 'live' Sears home and as far as I know we don't have a European counterpart, none of such iconic status anyhow, but my partner and I are researching to have a replica built for us here somewhere in the English country-side (pending planning permission, I suppose). I personally feel that it is most splendid that Americans all over the country recognise their architectural and socio-cultural heritage and start preserving these great homes for all future generations to enjoy in the same way we can or even more. I bet there are hundreds more out there waiting to be discovered and I hope there are plenty of people who will start 'scratching' on the surfaces of their own homes to find out if they are inhabiting one such great treasure. Sears homes, and for that matter all historic homes, have found a great benefactor and ambassador in Rosemary Thornton and as an outsider, if I may say so, I commend the work she has done and I truly hope that she will keep it up for decades to come and inspire many more to join her in her efforts to educate and preserve!

I only wished, Sears would still sell and build these old homes especially now with the internet, we would have ordered one in a jiffy!
Thanks Rosemary for endless inspiration and for spreading so much love and joy over what is basically four walls and a roof!
I can't wait for your next book to come out and if you ever fancy coming to lecture in Europe, be sure to let me know!

My recommendation to everyone, buy it, read it, fall in love with it and read it again and again and again and...!!!

This wonderful book gives you everything you always wanted to know about Sears houses. It has photographs of various models as well as some interior views. It shows ways to indicate if the house is truly a Sears house (and not a Montgomery Ward house)! It tells the cities which had a Sears Modern Homes Sales office (where there is likely to be more Sears houses) and the prices that the houses sold for. Includes testimonials and frequestly asked questions about Sears house. Nice book and interesting reading.

I just finished reading The Houses That Sears Built. I was unable to put it down. I grew up in a Sears house, but I did not know anything about them until I read this book. It is obvious that the author did her homework while researching the subject.

It's hard to justify $85 for a jewelry book, but this combines history, technique and art in one book. If you intend to work with jewelry professionally, or are a very serious jewelry student, it's wise to get this book. You won't get the step-by-step techniques, but you'll get enough background technique you'll be able to wing it, usually sucessfully. He covers the international world of jewelry, so it has everything from ethnic tribal to Danish contemporary, and all the stuff inbetween. I sit down with this book periodically to just enjoy the book, and I always find something 'new' I want to try. Many times I use it a reference for finding the basis of a technique, or a particular table that has the info I require. Whatever it is that I need, I can find it in this book. It's worth the $85 and you won't regret the decision.

This one expands on were he stopped with the first book. 19 chapter headings with a multitude of sub headings.

* The Message of Jewelry, why we wear ornaments
* The Means to Creation: working environment, facilities and implements
* Metal, the Jewel's Raw Material: Its origin, quality control and variety
* Basic Techniques: processing sheet metal without deformation
* Sheet Metal: Forming by deformation techniques
* Wire: The uses of drawn or extruded flexible filaments
* Tubing: The use of Fistular Forms
* Surface ornament with out heat: Metal removal techniques
* Surface ornament with heat: Metal fusion techniques
* Fabrication: Building fragments into units
* Casting: Methods of giving form to molten metal
* Natural Materials in Jewelry: Using natures valued nonmetals
* Stones and their setting: Inorganic minerals employed in jewelry
* Metal Finishing: Achieving desired surface appearance
* Metallic Coating Techniques: Changing the base metal's surface appearance
* Metallic Buildup: Electrolytic molecular creation of surface and form
* Coloring Metals: Achieving patinas through heat, chemicals and electrolysis
* Standard weights, Measures and Tables
* Glossaries, Bibliographies, Sources of tools, supplies and services: USA and UK

Around 800 pages of pure golden info, I have read and keep finding new and interesting things since I picked up a copy last year. I find this gift keeps on giving every time I pick it up. He goes into detail that others can only dream about.

This book isn't only for jewelry artists, anybody that is into the metal arts working or a collector. This will give years of educational enjoyment. It is truly an investment grade book of knowledge. I use my copy on a metals arts forum for answers to question from people that are looking for answers that can be counted to be correct.

This book is the jewelry makers bible. I cannot begin to scratch the surface of its value by lising content. It is a gem of a book (pun intended).

Oppi Untracht did the jewelry industry and anyone serious about learning jewelrymaking the right way, a HUGE service by compiling the information in this book and presenting it in clear and easy to understand language. This book must have taken years of research and editing to produce and publish. That, my friends who harp about price, is why this book is so high priced. It is not over-priced, it is aptly priced. Think how much the Oxford English Dictionary costs- [...]
it's just words, why so expensive?!

You could learn a new technique or factoid every day for a year from this book and then start all over again and learn even more.
This book, however, is not for teaching silver or goldsmithing, gem setting, etc. It is not a how-to book at all. It is a reference book, like the ones that the library won't let you check out because they're too valuable.

If you are serious about jewelry making, fine and art jewelry- not hobby craft wire and bead stringing- put this on your wish list. You'll be thrilled if someone sends it to you for a birthday or holiday gift. If nobody will kick for it, save your nickles and find a used one, reclaiming the silver from spent pickle solution and making solder from scratch never goes out of style.

Jewelry Concepts and Technoloty by Oppi Untracht is the must reference text for the jewelry artist. Untracht provides historical reference for styles and techniques, clearly explains how various techniqures can be utilized by beginners, advanced art jewelry students and professionals. If that is not enough, the visuals and historical references stimulate the imagine.

This book was purchased to replace a book lost out of our Mineral & Gem Society library. We have many master gemologists and geologists in the club and each speaks highly of this book. It's full of basics but also provides information for the advanced jeweler. Highly recommneded.

well this is the first book i read on winston churchill . bought it in 1983 . the foreword is unforgettable but historical mistakes in it makes this work not the very best on the luife of sir winston. great prose nevetheless.same can be said of book number two.

This is a truly *massive* work, equal parts scholarship and artistry. Though volume one runs close to a thousand pages (counting notes, sources, etc.), I finished reading it this afternoon after an off-and-on reading of about two weeks, and it just flew by. Manchester crafted this with such precision care that I fell into the narrative from page one.

The greatest strength of the book itself-- aside from it's subject-- is Manchester's gift of narrative. WC was the quintessential Victorian, as Manchester points out time and again throughout both volumes. It is only appropriate, then, that the author should give some feel of what it was like to live in the British Empire at the time of Queen Victoria. Some of the very best passages, in my opinion, deal with life during the last quarter-century of Victoria's reign. These are not mere digressions. These fascinating glimpses into WC's era help the reader to better understand Churchill himself, who was born a Victorian and remained one to his dying day.

Manchester provides insight into British colonial administration, life in the British Raj at the end of the 19th century, and the upper class's attitudes toward sexuality and marriage. While this is fascinating in itself, Manchester goes even further and weaves a vivid tapestry of politics, history, and culture through his use of personal correspondence. It is his exhaustive use of personal correspondence-- between WC and his parents, WC and his wife and children, WC and Members of Parliament, and between all sorts of people talking about Churchill and the events in which he was caught up--- that this gives Manchester's work the feeling, not of history or even biography, but of a life too large to have been lived by one man.

Manchester is one of those writers who appears unable to disappoint. This is a book to be read and savored. For years, it sat on my shelf - I saw as a large undertaking that I wanted to do right.

The book has a very interesting structure. First, it begins with a kind of interpretive introduction to the man, vividly characterizing him while also evaluating his strengths as a man of history and his glaring weaknesses. You see him, worts and all, and it is both funny and enlightening. The psychological depth is virtually unprecedented in any other bio I have read. Second, you get a view both into his milieu - as an aristocrat of talent and privilege in Victorian Britain - and a biography of both of his parents. This is crucially important, as we come to see Churchill as an anachronism, but also as a boy neglected by narcissistic parents. (Interestingly, the absence of one or both parents is a common trait in extraordinary achievers.) Third, you get his life story, more from the events he was involved in than as an intimate portrait, though much of his personal life is covered. Indeed, he used action as the most effective tonic against depression.

The man that emerges is flawed and complex, but evidently a political genius. In my view, the key to his character is that he remained a Victorian gentleman, who viewed martial valor as the greatest source of meaning and glory in life. This suited him to titanic struggles, such as the one he faced with Hitler that places him in the ranks of the greatest historical figures. As an egotist, he always wanted to place himself at the center of events and yet did so with courage and tenacity in spite of his physical weaknesses. When out of power, he exercised other gifts, such as writing, with equal talent and energy.

Nonetheless, Manchester proves that Churchill was not a politician deeply in touch with his constituency: he never developed a typical base of power and often his views did not synch with the mainstream. Without Hitler, his hour might never have arrived: this duality is a theme that runs through the entire book.

If there is any flaw here, it is that Manchester includes a plethora of detail, not only about world events but in Churchill's political maneuverings. Normally, I delight in these details, if I know there is a purpose to all of it, which I did not always sense in this book. (Here a comparison with Robert Caro is instructive: you always know where he is going and why.) Others may see it differently, of course. Also, many of the historical details I already knew, so did not need Manchester's wordy introductions, but they were useful in the many cases of which I was ignorant.

All in all, this is one of the most engrossing and fascinating bios I have ever read. Warmly recommended.

Winston Churchill was not a likable or even an admirable man.He was dishonest,childish,ruthless and disloyal.Perhaps worst of all,he was a megalomaniac-he knew that he was a Great Man,and that some day he would fulfill a magnificent destiny. But when war and catastrophe came to England he was perhaps the only politician psycholigically capable of inspiring continued resistence and defiance to Adolph Hitler and the Third Reich.Given that England had already lost the war,that was a breathtaking achievement.

James Boswell's "Life of Samuel Johnson",published in 1791,is generally considered the finest biography produced in the English language.However,Manchester's work is perhaps superior. Boswell was of Johnson's world and therefore conveyed it to his reader only incidently;that is,he naturally assumed that his reader would be familiar with the things and events with which he was familiar.Manchester,writing of the past,appreciated the necessity of re-creating Churchill's world for the reader.He was brilliantly successful.The world which Churchill inhabited would have been amazing even to most of his contemporaries because of his social class.As Manchester points out,in over 90 years of life Churchill never drew his own bath;one of his relatives,visiting friends without his valet,sent down word that he was having trouble getting his toothpaste to "froth properly".He'd never applied toothpaste to a toothbrush himself.It isn't just the story of Churchill's life that is so engrossing.It is the wonderful recreation of Churchill's world,of the people he knew and the conversations he had,the events which occurred and the way that Churchill and his friends and enemies reacted to the events.

As Boswell loved Johnson,Manchester worshipped Churchill.Indeed,Churchill was in some ways a lovable man.He was devoted to his wife and family(happily married for almost 60 years-how many men can say that?) He revered his father (a syphlitic,who depised him,)and he was loyal to his country and the Empire it ruled.Personally,I doubt that I'd have been able to spend more than ten minutes in a room with Churchill.But this book is one of the finest I've ever read.I was honestly sorry to read the last of its almost 900 pages and I'm opening the second volume tonight.In the forward to the second volume Manchester quotes a definition of biographer.The biographer is judged "by his ability to suggest the sweep of chronology and yet to highlight the major patterns of behavior that give a life its shape and meaning."Boswell did that. Manchester,I believe,did it better.

This is William Manchester at his best. This is fascinating reading and fascinating writing. Of course Winston Churchill was quite a character but to be honest I didn't know that fact until I read this book and its companion volume.
After reading this book I put it to my mind that I would read everything that Manchester wrote. I've got a couple more to go. You can't miss with this purchase. A great story, great writing, and good history. What more could you ask for?

My kids and I came to know Little Bear through the cartoons on TV first. Perhaps part of the appeal of the books for my kids is that they know these stories well from the cartoon, but the books are much more engaging!

Best of all, unlike the cartoons, you have the amazing illustrations of Maurice Sendak. They give the books a timeless appeal.

Perfect to read to little ones, and an excellent reader for K-2.

Other titles in the Level 1 - Beginning Reading series are:

- "Father Bear Comes Home"

- "A Kiss For Little Bear"

- "Little Bear's Friend"

- "Little Bear's Visit"

This is a warm, nurturing view of childhood. My children and many others have loved it for years.

I purchased the Little Bear (An I Can Read Book) for a first grader that I mentor and she had asked for this book. I have given her other books and can't wait to give her this one

Little Bear, first published in 1957, is a true classic in children's literature. The book is about a bear cub who is a good friend to Owl, Cat, Hen, Duck and Emily, the little girl who visits in the summer. Elsa Holmelund Minarik and Maurice Sendak teamed up to create these stories. The stories are filled with quiet humor, affection and imagination as Little Bear and his friends celebrate birthdays, play games, meet new friends and explore their neighborhood.

The first of five classic Little Bear books, written for beginning readers, Little Bear contains several stories. In one story, "Birthday Soup," Little Bear can't find his mother and thinks she's forgotten his birthday so he sets out to make birthday soup for his friends only to find out his mother hasn't forgotten his birthday. In "Little Bear Goes to the Moon," Little Bear decides that he'll fly to the moon and Mother Bear lets him as long as he's back by lunch.

This book and the others will delight young readers, and encourage them to keep reading.

My 6 year old has listened to this CD a million times, reading along with the book, and still hasn't gotten tired of it. We even listen to it at bedtime, as it's very soothing and doesn't have a lot of distracting sound effects to startle her as she falls asleep. We couldn't be happier with it, and I plan to purchase other copies as gifts.

These volumes are excellent quality. The paper is thin and buff color, the printing is two color, and the font is readable. They were much better quality than I was expecting. Thank you.

I realize that most of the readers of this review will be unable to carry out my suggestion but for those that can, I recommend this procedure to get the most out of the Liturgy of the Hours. After daily or even Sunday Mass, walk over to the rectory and suggest to the pastor that you would like to have the priests join and of course lead Morning Prayer in the Church before daily Mass. He will probably be overjoyed that you are that interested in praying 'his' prayers and will begin as soon as he can. In addition to the spiritual benefits of group prayer, you will be surprised how quickly you become expert in navigating the 'Breviary', even pointing out, diplomatically, the times the priests make a mistake. It becomes quite habit-forming and as others have said, your day will not be complete without it. Since we have two daily Masses, we are able to pray both Morning and Evening Prayer in common. The priests still pray the Office of Readings and Compline in private but who knows when we will join them for that. We have also printed up books with the Morning and Evening Prayers in them for those who do not wish to purchase the Liturgy. The only day we do not pray in unison is on Sunday and maybe someday we will bite that bullet. By the way, we are not the only parish that does this. I know of at least one other parish that recites the Morning and Evening Prayer and like us has a goodly number of participants. I do understand that work would preclude the majority of wage-earners from participating but for those who are retired or otherwise not working this does give you the chance to practice your faith. And finally, the daily reading of the Psalms mirrors so much of what is occurring in our modern life that it is almost scary. But then, considering the author, how else could it be?

It was just what I expected. It was given as a gift to a friend and I am so happy with the purchase. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to deepen their prayer life.

I wanted to buy the Liturgy of the Hours, but I wasn't able to buy all 4 volumes at once. So I've been buying them as the season for each comes. They are amazing! I used the Shorter Christian Prayer a little before, but each of these complete volumes is better. There is more variety in the prayers and it is great when it is a saint's feast day and you get to read about the saint. Not to mention the Office of Readings which often includes a homily from an early Church father! I recommend this to, well, anyone!

The Liturgy of the Hours is, after the Mass, THE universal prayer of the Church. Composed of Psalms, Biblical readings, intercessions, writings of the Church Fathers, and prayers specific to each day of the liturgical year, this beautiful prayer orders the day and unites each person to the other members of the Mystical Body of Christ, who are saying the same prayer the world over. I truly love this 4 volume set, finding it to be a deep well from which I daily draw the spiritual drink I need.

Quite sick and tired of all these cookbooks calling themselves dairy-free in an attempt to gain sales from the milk-allergic. Milk-allergic people can eat eggs.

This book is fantastic. There are plenty of delicious things to make. I wish there were more pictures.

Fran Costigan has done it again. With her second bood about vegan baking she has taken the mystery out of asking "what's for dessert" to the many people out there who are vegan or just want to watch their fat intake. I have personally baked with Fran at one of her vegan dessert boot camps in NYC and can say first hand that everything is tasty, easy to make and just plain wonderful. Buy the book and start with the chocolate cake to live for then go on to the delectable uncoffeecake and then to the very tasty great big orange bundt cake, you will love them all.

Fran's cookbook is easy to follow and covers a range of different dessert options. The Chocolate Cake to Live For is unbelievable! It's always fun to serve vegan desserts to non-vegan friends and see if they even notice the difference. This cake, I'm telling you...it's sinful. Everyone loves it. If you don't have time to make a layered cake, half the recipe and make a single layer...frost it with one of Fran's yummy frosting options and enjoy! The best part is, it's so easy to make. Did I mention it tastes great?

Fran's book is filled with delicious recipes. There's so much variety, that there is truly something for every taste.

Plus, Fran provides plenty of education about the ingredients used in the book, and techniques for successful vegan baking.

Since I'm not a professional chef, I especially appreciate the reliability of these recipes. I usually bake for special occasions like birthdays, holidays and parties, and I want a product that I can be proud to serve to family and friends. Fran delivers every time.

I recently had the pleasure of studying with Fran at her Vegan Baking Bootcamp at the Natural Gourmet Institute. Fran suggested that we use her recipes as components for our own desserts. So for my birthday I made a banana-coconut cream pie using the Almond Cookie Crust, the Coconut Cream Filling and Frosting, and the Banana Cream Pudding. The result was spectacular - creamy and delicious.

The recipes are also adaptable according to your needs and preferences. I substituted coconut for the almonds in my pie crust, agave and maple syrup for the cane sweeteners, and kuzu for the cornstarch and arrowroot. The book includes a section on using the various starches correctly and interchanging them. I used other recipes in the book as examples of how to substitute the sweeteners. Fran includes cautions in the book to let you know when substitions won't work - another very helpful feature.

Since I love to bake, I have a lot of dessert books in my library, and I can honestly say that Fran's are my favorites. I can't wait for her next book!

This book was published the year I married....I received SIX copies as shower gifts! It was a sign....I was destined to use this cookbook forever. And, so far,that has been the case.
I have found very few recipes to disappoint and many to thrill. The steamed lobster with ginger and scallions is always amazing-especially with lobster fresh off the boat. Singer's stuffed lobster is excellent, though not for the squeemish as you need to kill the bugs before you cook them. Jerry Giorgio's stuffed mussels are also a crowd pleaser.
A friend recently cooked Chicken Adobo for our book club and everyone took the recipe home. Katherine Hepburn's Brownies are delicious and a perfect end to every picnic. And where else was I to look when assigned to make matzoh ball soup for my daughter's kindergarten class?
If you love to cook, you will love this cookbook.

Molly O'Neill's New York Cookbook is a celebration of the New York Food world. She is the food columnist for The New York Times Magazine and spent five years working on this amazing book. The first recipe I tried was "Katie's Café au Lait Cheesecake with a Mocha Crust." The ingredients looked delicious with cinnamon and chocolate wafers for the crust and a rum and coffee flavored filling. I made it for Easter and everyone was very impressed.

Since the author is a food columnist I knew she would be selecting winning recipes and so I felt confident enough to make the recipe for a big occasion without even trying it out at least one time for myself. I was very pleased with the results and can recommend the recipe to you for any occasion.

Whether you are interested in trying lots of new recipes or you just enjoy reading cookbooks, the New York Cookbook has so much to offer. Page after page of delicious information mingle with the even more delicious recipes. Some of the fun recipes include:

New York Penicillin - a chicken soup made by Aunt Marie Stacey. This stock/soup is then used in a variety of recipes and is very easy to make.

Irish Soda Bread - Make two loaves of bread in no time at all.

Simple Fresh Tomato Sauce - The perfect sauce for pasta made with fresh tomatoes, onions, garlic, oregano and a little brown sugar.

Shrimp Fried Rice
Shish Kebabs
Meat Loaf
Rosemary Chicken
Chicken Paprikas
Pan-Fried Sole
Yoko's Japanese Salad Dressing
Marrakesh Carrots

Some of the sweet treats include: "Coney Island Fudge" made with cream and semisweet chocolate, "Zoe Morsette's Oatmeal Macaroons," "Aunt Olga's Cardamom Cake," and "Katharine Hepburn's Brownies." If you love ice cream, you may want to try out the recipe for Hot Fudge Sauce and Butterscotch Sauce.

A few of the highlights in this book include:

Food Walks - Wander through food markets
A Few Essential Ingredients in Italian Cooking
Manhattan Clam Chowder
In Search of New York Steak
A Trip Down Menu Lane
Festivals

The New York Cookbook is an extremely well-researched feast that will satisfy the cerebral appetite as well as please your family and friends when you try out the delicious recipes. These recipes have been created by some of the best cooks in New York and you can use them with confidence, knowing you are making something wonderful for dinner or dessert. This cookbook was a wonderful gift from a friend who loves visiting New York and I already have plans to buy copies for friends and relatives. This is a highly collectible cookbook with recipes you will look forward to making year after year.

~The Rebecca Review

As a native New Yorker, I consider this a classic ... wonderful anecdotes and recipes from a vast array of people who live in the city. Molly's affection for the city is evident (her brother, Paul, played for the Yankees), and her knowledge of both food and the city makes this cookbook a gem.

This book has the best spaghetti sauce recipe --my husband and I loved it--it was a way to bring NY cooking to Hawaii since there are not many good italian restaurants out here like in NY, which I miss. On the downside, not all recipes were good. For ex, I did not like the Madison Square burgers nor did I like the Pad Thai noodles (I tried recipes from Keo or Cooking light for Pad Thai which were better). I will try some more recipes from this book and hopefully will have better luck.

Cooks Magazine recommended this cookbook as being very authentic. I bought it because of their review. They were absolutely right. The recipes are original/authentic New York complete with history and original photos. It's a great read even if you never make any of the recipes.
I highly recommend this book.

This is my absolute favorite novel by Victoria Holt. I cannot praise it any more than anyone else has.

But I must correct the amazon description of "However, Holt creates elaborate characters and sets the narrative in the fabled and romantic Black Forest of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time of the Napoleonic Wars."

The book is set in the Black Forest, yes, but the Black Forest is in Germany(and technically was in Bavaria, which was a kingdom within the German Empire after the unification of 1870), and the book was set in the Victoria era.

I love it when an author can write a story about two people in love and keep the story clean without explicit sex. This author knows how to write a love story that will keep you reading from one page to the next until the end. I'm very impressed with her work on other novels as well as this one.

This is one of my favorite Victoria Holt books. It's romantic, there's intrigue, lies, allies, spies, murder plots, a villain, a hero, and everything in between, using the Black Forest and the mythological characters that the heroine and at times, damsel in distress, Helena Trant, grew up with as a back drop. The forests were in her blood and wasn't afraid when she got lost in the mist.

And here comes a hero to literally sweep her off her feet. A man of many and mysterious identities.

These two discover what Shakespeare knew all along: "The course of true love never did run smoothly".

Both are lied to and deceived by people they thought they could trust, and ironically, some of those same people bring them together again.

No one weaves a story like Victoria Holt. As far as I'm concerned, she only has two worthy peers: Phyllis A. Whitney and Mary Stewart.

If you want to be taken to another place and time, and believe in love and fairy tales, this is the book for you.

I have read some Holt novels I didn't even feel were worth bothering to review because of my lukewarm attitude toward them. This is far from the case with On the Night of the Seventh Moon. If you don't like filthy romance books full of corny, eyerolling garbage like Stephanie Laurens seems to insist on dishing out, complete with their relentless bludgeonings of copulation scenes and weak plots, I urge you to pick this book up instead.

From the beginning I was mesmerized by Holt's characters and rich, complex weaving of romance and the evildoers who would keep Helena and Max apart for a decade until they find each other again. In fact, everything about this book had me so enthralled that I couldn't put it down until the very end. Holt has the ability to write adventurous romantic novels that don't make you want to throw up when you read them, and that's something most authors can't lay claim to. If you like your books clean and well-written, Seventh Moon is destined to become one of your favorites, and I would never steer you wrong about that. I know you will really enjoy this particular novel, because it is just that outstanding.

This book is a real love, adventure, and mystery story. I have loved this book sense I first read it and I read it at least once a year. If you're one of the people who are picky about what to read and you have many different tastes this is a book that you can read and love.
It has a wonderful plot and a well written one to, it's set in Prussia and in England. It's really hard to explain this book when there are so many things going on (although when it's going on you don't get confused like other books of this time) Murder, Passion, True love, and many rememberable people that you'll fall in love with over and over again. From England, to her mother's home land, to the arms of a hansome Prince not wanting to be known.
It's a beautiful book and I would say that if you read this you'll be very pleased. Hope you like it!

I'm just glad I read this book while my children are still young. Now I get to use all of Merilee's fabulous ideas from the start! This book reads so quickly too and the ideas don't require anything but the desire to have your children be truly, deeply happy in life. I love how she discusses our society's misinterpretation of self-esteem. True self-esteem comes from true self-sufficiency -- not from mommy and daddy always coming to the rescue! It's so refreshing! MUST READ! This is the instruction manual for parenting that should come with every new baby! :)

I'm highly considering giving this book to anyone having a baby. It is SOOO wonderful, I cannot possibly tell all the great things.

But in case you are wondering, everything is in this book. Ideas of how to handle allowances, jobs, money management (I wish I were taught these things!), etc, etc, etc.

For any parent out there that just wants to be a better one- READ THIS BOOK! And then pass it to anyone you know!

Its been said before, but this is the best parenting book I have read. It is practical, fun to read, and full of ideas which will change your life. It provides your children with ways to gain experience, knowledge and direction. I hope my children will have many friends who were raised by parents who used this book. If I had to describe it in one word I would choose: empowering.

I haven't even read all the way through this book yet, and already know it's probably one of the best guides out there for raising confident, capable, caring ADULTS. Too many parenting books focus on raising children, and end up forgetting that the goal is to one day have your children leave the nest and be able to get along fine without you. The section on financial training alone is invaluable. If all children were raised and trained with these ideals, there certainly wouldn't be the credit mess there is now. If you have kids, PLEASE read this book and takes it's ideas to heart. It may make you the odd one on the block, but it will make you a much better parent and your kids will thank you.

I am very impressed with the thoroughness with which the author addresses the topic of teaching children to work, save, and become independent adults. In all of the reading--and research--I've done, none compares with Boyack's "Plan" for parents to raise independent and confident children. Never before have I seen a detailed, age-appropriate "how-to" list of what we need to teach in our families to produce the kind of adults that seem to becoming more and more rare in our society. I admit that I am feeling a bit over-whelmed by The List, as my children are already 3, 8, 11, 14, and 18 years old (and I am therefore quite a bit behind the schedule!), but I figure "better late than never" and will do my best to get them prepared for life beyond the family home. All in all, suffice it to say I WISH I'D HAD THIS PLAN YEARS AGO!

I have made it a habit this year to get through many of the classics on audio book during my daily commute. I picked Pilgrim's Progress since it was one of the most influential English books ever published, and I wanted to see what it was all about.

The audio book was published by Blackstone Audio and the reader was Robert Whitfield. The reader did an excellent job and was very easy to listen to. He did some characterization with his voice that made it easy to know which character was speaking. I was a little worried about the older style English, but it gave me no problem. It probably helps that I am familiar with the King James Version of the Bible. Overall, listening to this book worked out very well.

This is the first book length allegory that I have been through and I thought it was an excellent way to teach. There is no doubt which principal each character is supposed to represent by their name, and their actions represented that well also. I can understand why so many families had this book in their libraries. As far as Christian doctrine goes, there are a few things that some would disagree with, but most of the principals taught are still generally accepted today. The path to God's presence is filled with opposition, but there is help available and the reward is worth it.

I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to understand an important part of our heritage, and to see what an effective tool allegory is.

I love this book. It was written from a jail cell in the 1600s. This version is the original so the text is difficult to read at first but I would not want a watered down modernized version (which can be purchased). I find if I read in chunks it starts to flow nicely. The characters have names like, "Evangelist", "Piety", "Talkative", "Faith", etc. So you know just where someone is coming from. I have marked up this book with pencil just like I do my scriptures! It is like reading one long parable in story form! Cool book. I'm glad to have found it.

We've read this book to our son and he has really enjoyed it. He doesn't yet fully understand everything and we had to stop and explain a lot to him, but it is something that we plan on reading over and over again as our kids continue to grow.
I read a review that stated that a main flaw in this book was the lack of one on one relationship with Christ. I can understand what they are saying, but I think what you have to keep in mind is that while we are here on earth and in our day and age we do not physically see Christ. He was once here walking and living on this earth, but He is now in heaven. He uses other means now to maintain a personal relationship with us. For example, we can know Christ through His word and through prayer. Just as in the book, He often also sends other Christians along in our life to help us and encourage us. This book is a good example of a walk of faith. We can't see and physically touch Christ right now, but when we are in heaven we WILL see Him just as Bunyan talks about in the book. Christian persevered in his walk without physically seeing Christ and he was rewarded in the end for his faith. For now, how much greater our reward is for those who have not seen Him and yet believed!

Enthralling. This book will help every Christian deal with the battles of being a Christian in this life and all the struggles that go with it. It teaches you never to give up even when you feel like you can't go on. Life's struggles are not a new occurrence, but as timeless as human existence itself. It teaches you not to be too concentrated on your struggles, but to look at the great prize which is Heaven and not be distracted or enticed by the struggles of life nor the easy way out. Excellent. It is a must read for every Christian.

The first time that I encountered Christian and his pilgrimage was as a preface and a family favorite in the book Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Unfortunately, it was not until twenty-something years later that I actually got around to reading the book itself. If I were you, I would not wait that long.

The first part of the current combined book appeared in 1678. Bunyan, a nonconformist Protestant minister who was imprisoned for preaching without a license, wrote at least the first part of the book in jail. The second part was first published in 1684. It is likely the most popular allegory ever written, and is still one of the best selling books of all time.

What makes it so popular? The obvious key to its popularity is its simple, crisp style. Even accounting for the language changes between the seventeenth century and now, it is not a struggle to read Progress and it flows well for the modern reader. Although the book is allegory, the characters are full of little realistic details that make them feel quite human. Incidentally, I was reading this book as I was walking some of the old pilgrimage trails of Europe and it was interesting to me how vivid and applicable his version of the pilgrimage experience is. The Slow of Despair rang remarkably true, as did characters such as Talkative and Mr. Worldly Wisdom.

The Oxford University Press edition is bound with a scholarly introduction which is, for a change, worth reading. It also came with explanatory notes and a glossary which were helpful for the modern reader who is not familiar with the everyday language of the period.