People Books

Although this book was written in 2000, when I saw it at a book boutique I bought it immediately...a fabulous book on a unique culinary culture for those who love to delve into french cooking recipes. I highly recommend it! The photos transport you back there and it has made me so homesick to return to Paris again even though I return there every year when I can to visit family there and have always made it a pilgrimmage to go to the Marches a few times a week, especially to the 'Richard Lenoir Marche at Place de La Bastille in the 11th arrondisement...you can spend the entire morning (they close at 1PM) there perusing from table to table and end your day walking home in the streets of Paris with a tote-ful of delicacies to prepare the sumptious evening 'repas'
The varieties of each food are endless and fabulous and fresh, the colors of the fruits and vegetables are brilliant, the energy at the marches are exhuberant, and venders are so proud of their products...This book really does take you back to feeling like you are there in the midst of a culinary feast; the recipes are easy and with US measurements, and the descriptions of each arrondisement gives you such a personal tour that you feel akin to each personality they present you with. This is really the true colloquial joie de vivre experience in Paris-a way to commune with nature's bounty. I highly recommend this book; 5 stars!! a true feast for the eyes!!

Nicolle Aimee Meyer and Amanda Pilar Smith have created a book that is part travel guide, part cookbook, part biography -- and all wonderful! The photographs are terrific. The text brings the markets and their people to life. And I can't wait to try some of the recipes, which are for many classic French favorites. Altogether a complete success! Bravo!!

Beautiful photography and lively writing make this a perfect gift this holiday season (or any time) for anyone who likes to eat and loves Paris. Even for a longtime resident of the City of Lights like myself, this book brings another Paris to life, one you will want to explore again and again, in these pages and of course like the authors did themselves, bicycling through every arrodisement, leaving no quartier unvisited, no fromage untasted, no croissant unfinished! A magnificent and original hommage sure to earn its place among the classics of cuisine and travel.

A must for anyone seeking out the real Paris, off the beaten track of tourist traps. Even if you can't visit more than two or three markets per visit to this wonderful city, this book will continue to be a major reference for seeking out these fascinating places of food, drink and 'objets'. Happy exploring!

I love this book! The cover roped me right in and before I knew it I was buying it. I am so glad I did. The book is organized by arrondissement; each chapter is devoted to one of them. They tend to focus on the biggest or best market in each arrondissement but they devote paragraphs to the others. The text itself is gracefully written and yet very convivial. For each of the main markets, the authors start you out on a typical Parisian morning and gently suggest the path you might want to follow as you navigate that particular market; it is almost as though they are walking along with you. They tell you what's available at each market and what are each market's strengths and weaknesses. You will be introduced to a lot of people - the butcher at the Marché d'Aligre, the poissonier at the Richard Lenoir, the organic farmer at the Batignolles market, the interesting old fellow who hawks bath salts as he soaks his feet in green water... I feel as though I'd be able to walk up to them and say hi. There's some history mixed in there, too, so you'll get to see some nice old photos and learn about everday Parisians of the past. And of course there are the recipes. Most of them appear delicious and a few rather exotic. Many of them come from the very people that you "met" in the chapter preceding, so you know they're authentic and the human element makes you want to try the recipe all the more.

I love Paris. This book really gives you a sense of what it is like to be there - colorful, vibrant, stately, modern, classic, young, old... Paris is all of these things and more at once. I went there seven years ago and I don't think I hit a single market. This book makes me feel incredibly well-equipped; I think that without it I would feel a bit intimidated. I plan to go back and I'm gonna bring this book with me!

Thought I cancelled this but the system didn't cancel it. I returned the book and am waiting on my refund. It toook an extra week to get to me. I no longer needed it then.

The Power of Acknowledgement is a direct, easy to read, and engaging book with a powerful and inspiring message. We rarely acknowledge what others do for us--but when we do--we all benefit. The act of acknowledgement is a powerful communicative tool, for the one who uses it and for the recipient. The author provides examples from everyday life that illustrate how the act of acknowledgement transforms our interactions with others and, in turn, transforms our relationship to ourselves. Simply inspiring!

The Power of Acknowledgment.

Thank you for providing the tool, in one tome, to improve lives -- mine, yours, and those around us.

I've learned that everyone needs recognition, and voicing appreciation -- of accomplishments, talents, wisdom and humanity -- is one positive step. This practice truly helps transform.

Written simply and directly, sharing valuable professional and personal experiences, the book provides easy access to inspirational wisdom.

Merilee Kaufman
Actress/Poet/Vocalist

An easy and pleasurable read. Such a simple concept that can change your life as well as those around you.

The Power of Acknowledgement will have you improving your business and personal relationships. The ideas in the book will take just minutes to implement and will make a difference in all of your personal and professional relationships.

Entering into the lucid and enthralling world of Lauren Lawrence is a magical journey into the hearts, minds and imaginations of the most fascinating and acclaimed people of our time. More significantly, it is a powerful mirror to our common experience of self-discovery and a guidebook for the adventure of life we all share. I simply cannot say enough great things about this profound book; Private Dreams of Public People is in a class by itself.

What particularly impressed me is how Lawrence gets right down to business answering some of the deepest, soul searching questions I'd had for years concerning dreams but didn't know whom to ask. She creates a tapestry based on her wealth of experience in the often puzzling and baffling inner world that dreamers visit when they are asleep.

In her own inimitable way Lawrence employs images, thoughts and emotions to help guide individuals to becoming fuller and more complete. I was totally captivated by her interpretations of the most personal dreams of people like Paul McCartney, Sophia Loren, Gore Vidal, Luciano Pavarotti, Madonna and a host of other luminaries we only know from their external presentations. The intimacy was so great I felt almost like an intruder in their innermost beings.



Larry Geller, author of "Leaves of Elvis' Garden"

Lawrence shows us the interior life of stars. This is a first. Usually stars hide behind personnas. Lawrence lifts these veils and gets at the inner core of the stars dream lives. Particularly liked Paris Hilton before she became Paris Hilton.

I was amazed at how well this book was put together. I loved the analysis on the different people. You learn so much from this book, like information you could never find out. When you buy this book you will rate this book 5 stars just like me, because you we'll see how good it was.

Reading the various dream iterpretations that Lauren Lawrence writes about introduced me to an entirely new level of personal understanding. While I enjoyed reading the dreams of "celebrities", what I really found enlightening is how I was able to relate to some of the fears, desires and hopes expressed by these dreams. Some of my dreams have been very similar to those she has written about. In addition to finding the interpretations interesting, I was able to learn about myself and see the similarites between us all. I really enjoyed this book.

Who would have thought Paris Hilton was sensitive enough to dream? This is the beauty of the book. It is filled with the dreams of celebrities from Madonna to Sophia Loren to Kurt Vonnegut, and yes, Paris Hilton! While the interpretations are terse and insightful it seems Lawrence is softer on the celebs than she is on stock traders in her column in Trader Monthly. She kills them ... but always with humor. All in all the book is a must read.

THIS BOOK IS FOR HORSE-LOVERS!
With the Kentucky Derby on her mind Katie is stressed to the limit. She wants to the jockey of Willow King, her horse. She had been practicing but someone else has come into view. A jockey named Mark is new to the riding academy and wishes to ride Willow King in the Kentucky derby. Evryone thinks it is the best for everyone, but Katie has other plans.

This book was even better than Willow King and I didn't think that could be possible! It's realistic and is written by a real Jockey so it's no wonder I could feel my own feet in the irons. Katie Durham is a true hero who shows real mettle in this unputdownable novel.

This was a great book!! I absolutly loved it! I think that it deserves 5 stars more than any other book. It is about a girl named Katie who wants to take her horse Willow King to the Kentucky Derby and ride him in it. Katie is a girl thet was born with one leg shorter than the other. In the 1st book, Willow King is born with crooked legs and is going to be put down. But Katie knows how he feels and saves him and turns him into a race horse. Along the way (in the sequel) she meets a blind girl Camela and has to deal with Mark, the jockey who wants to ride Willow King in the derby. I also reccomend the 1st book, Willow King. I hope you read this book because it is a awesome, awesome book.

Arter reading the firse one about Willow King and Katie, I just had to read the second one and was not disapointed. After wiining the Futurity, Willow King is pointed to the Kentucky Derby. Katie dreams of becoming his jockey and riding him in the Derby. She works super hard and eventually, makes it to being a jockey. While in the mean time, meets Camela who is Cindy's cousin who is also blind. Together, they are able to learn a bit from the other.

This novel, sequel to the original story of Willow King, I strongly recommend to anyone interested in horses. It is the story of a young girl who comes from behind with her horse Willow King to go for a million dollars in the famous race at Belmont, the Kentucky Derby. It shares her feelings as she trains to be a jockey despite the discrimination and hard work involved on her way to the top. Despite everything, she works hard to achieve her goals while dealing with her uncertainty and strenuous training. I recommend this book and the original to everyone as a truly moving and heartwarming duo of the world of women jockeys.

As one reviewer notes, Robert Williams name is not noted in other books about this era. This is a great loss to history. Also reading "Blood Done Sign My Name" will give readers a more complete picture of life for Blacks in the South in the 60's & early 70's.
However, as Timothy Tyson told me in February, "desegregation is not complete". "Blood Done Sign My Name", is in production as a major movie at this time. It is being filmed entirely in North Carolina.

A compelling look at a fascinating figure of the modern American civil rights movement whose story continues to be relevant. Particularly interesting is the nuanced and thoughtful treatment of the complex dialogue and tension between "nonviolence" and "self-defense" in the history of the Black freedom struggle in the US.

The period of Williams's life following his exile is only very tersely outlined (as the author himself admits), giving the book a bit of an abrupt end. More analysis of Williams's decision to renounce public life, of his scepticism about the later direction of the "Black Power" movement that had claimed him as one of its icons, and of his decision to seek an "understanding" with the US gov't enabling his return from exile, would probably make for most interesting reading.

Mainstream history seemingly gets real nervous about who is carrying a loaded weapon and who one associates with. Combine the two and it will take an outstanding historian like Timothy B. Tyson to bring to life the tireless work and controversies surrounding civil-rights activist Robert F. Williams.

Williams brought the element of armed self-defense in seeking equal rights, especially in his hometown of Monroe, N.C. Though Williams, a military veteran, stressed that the specter of self-defense was necessary - and proven successful in confronting the KKK and other racists - his stance drew the ire of the NAACP's national office, the FBI and other government agencies & those in the civil rights movement who stressed non-violent actions no matter what the situation.

The book is more than a biography on Williams. It shows how his demands for equal rights meant something different to various individuals and groups, though Williams would not politically "fall in line" with any movement. It was the perceived idealism that drew many to Williams, but it was such a coalition - including Malcolm X and the Socialist Workers Party - that made him particularly dangerous in the eyes of federal officials.

While in exile from the U.S. after being erroneously charged for violating several federal laws, Williams was in Cuba after the revolution, North Viet Nam during the war, China as the Cultural Revolution caught fire and travelled to Africa. His independent thinking got him in trouble in Cuba; a radio show he conducted to the U.S., Radio Free Dixie, along with public comments he made, found Williams facing the wrath of Cuban government officials and ultimately led him to China.

The book also shows how his wife, Mabel and women in Monroe & in other cities not only demanded civil rights, but were willing to defend themselves and their families from violent attacks through the barrel of a gun. Mabel Williams was also an important person in the writing, editing and publishing of a newsletter that gained national and international attention.

Williams was an important catalyst for Huey Newton and the Deacons for Defense in their quests to skillfully confront the haters on the streets. In yet again another example on why we must continue to look past the history as it is written in textbooks, Robert F. Williams showed what can be accomplished when the intimidators become the intimidated while trying to perpetuate the myth of white supremacy.

The civil rights movement was not created by, lead by, or moved forward by the dozen or so media heros whose names we all now know. The civil rights movement succeed because so many ordinary people decided that they could no longer stand to live in the midst of injustice, and decided to step out of their daily lives and do something about it.

Robert Williams did just that. An ordinary working class guy, he used his people skills to form a network of working class black people who did not have the patience of the old line leaders of the local NAACP chapter in his hometown. He got himself elected president of the chapter, and backed by dozens of local people, formed one of the most activist chapters in the country. The national NAACP never was comfortable with Williams or the work of his chapter, and at best held them at arms length.

Inevitably, Williams' hard pressure on local structures of racism lead to a backlash. When he was attacked and his family threatened with death, the local police did nothing. When he and his community defended themselves, by taking up arms to combat the armed violence of the white racists, he was charged with murder, and became the subject of a massive FBI hunt. Escaping to Cuba, he operated a radio station, beaming the "truth" along with progressive jazz and blues which would never be played on corporate radio in the south, to Dixie.

Ultimately, Williams' stance of self-defense was taken up by Stokley Carmichael in the South, and by the Black Panther Party in Oakland, and is now well known as the "Black Power" movement. But at the time, it was simply a slightly more hardline version of the NAACP. Local chapters of the NAACP, building on long traditions of mutual support in black communities throughout the south, supported by thousands of ordinary people, formed the backbone of the civil rights movement. Anyone who thinks otherwise should read the statements by Bob Moses and the other SNCC organizers, who readily admitted that they could never have accomplished anything at all if not for the decades of groundwork done by the local NAACP chapters throughout the south.

Great book, which everyone interested in the history of the Civil Rights movement, or just interested in the way social changes really happen, should read.

Ultimately, the notion of white supremacy and the so-called glory of the Lost Cause always devolved to the use of violence and intimidation against black people and any one who sided with them. Williams' is an amazing story of courage and determination as he challenged the KKK and assorted white rabble of rural North Carolina in the 1940s through the 1960s in his quest for racial justice.

Williams, a soldier during WW2, came back to Monroe, NC after the war and took on the clowns and goons of the KKK and the local and state white government. When they fired on his home, he shot back, upsetting the applecart of segregation.

Tyson's book is a powerful portrayal of a man quite willing to die for his rights, a man fed up with the violence degradation inflicted on him by southern society, and a man willing to kill to protect his property, his person and his family.

Tyson's realistic and entertaining portrayal of the stupid and inane actions of white southern racists in North Carolina is another reason to read this book. The local thuggery is almost comical, until one remembers they are well armed and prone to alcholism and violence. Tyson goes into great detail about a 1958 case where two black boys, 10 and 8 were BEATEN and IMPRISONED for kissing a white girl.

Williams and his wife are not well known heroes of the Civil Rights struggle. This book gave me a greater appreciation of the vicious hatred, violence, and stupidity they were fighting, and how disciplined and determined the Civil Rights struggle had to be in the face of overwhelming white resistance.

I have had the pleasure of meeting Stephen Glenn at a number of seminars and look forward to taking the Developing Capable People workshop so that I may lead parenting classes for our school district (check the research on test score improvement in school districts providing families with these skills). My only "complaint" is that I did not have access to this material while raising my own children. I DO raise 32 a year and have used the seven steps for developing capable people as the basis of my philosophy for teaching. Over the last 19 years there have been but a handful who did not respond to methods suggested in this book - two were diagnosed as having severe psychological disorders. It is NOT a cookie cutter solution to raising children, nor is there any inference that parents don't DO for their children. It is about HOW we do for them - it is a guide to help you hear yourself and THINK about how and what you communicate to your children. I don't subscribe to any philosophy that is extreme in either direction, and I never felt that message related in this book. What is HAS done is remind me that my job is to help a child see himself/herself as capable - to develop intrinsic motivation. It is a HUGE job today when so many young people see themselves as lacking in academic skills. While their parents undoubtedly love them, they are often ill equipped to effect change. This book provides such a well written, easily understood narrative that one cannot help but come away with a better sense of "how to" and a set of skills that will be useful, even if only a few steps are implemented. It is a book I give to every new parent as a gift, one that I will continue to purchase with my own money for ANY parent who struggles and is concerned about his/her child's well being.

If I were emperess of the world, it would be required reading before taking a new baby home from the hospital (and certainly one for young single mothers choosing to raise their babies). I'm willing to step out and even suggest it be made mandatory for all educators too! Don't miss this book! I am about to purchase my 50th plus copy.

The first 25 pages or so make the case that today's families are more dispersed and isolated than they were pre-WWII, that our nation's growing affluence has led to self-indulgence, and that technological advances have dramatically increased isolation within nuclear families.

The result of this shift is "American children at the onset of puberty (who) face and incredible smorgasbord of opportunities with a deficiency in capabilities. Self-confidence, self-validation, self-discipline, good judgment, and a sense of responsibility are all lacking..."

The authors state that there are "four critical factors that demand our attention" networks, meaningful roles, on-the-job training for life, and parenting resources. Parenting resources is scarcely addressed at all, and networking is given just a couple of pages.

The bulk of the book is about how to provide meaningful roles and on-the-job training for life by providing an apprenticeship in thinking and problem solving. The authors discuss how to understand and strenthen a child's perceptions/thought processes, how to communicate effectively with your children, and how to strengthen various life skills in a meaningful, real-life way.

For me, this book is a real paradigm shift. I've read many books focused on a single aspect of this book - books about affluenza, family meetings, social skills, natural consequences, anxiety, parenting, even books about RDI (Relationship Development Intervention for Autistic Children, which is VERY MUCH in sync with this book), and so on. This book ties all of those facets together and shows how they are related and why they are important to equipping kids to deal productively and effectively with life in the real world.

As I read, I realized that I often step in for my children in the name of expedience - pouring juice for them because I don't want them to spill it, choosing clothes for my daughter because what she chooses doesn't always match, regluing the notes on music flashcards I was making because my 3 year old slapped them on in a very crooked fashion. Now I am considering the unspoken messages of "you're incompetent" that my words and actions unwittingly send my kids. I am consciously trying to take advantage of real, meaningful situations that come up to help my kids perceive themselves as capable.

And that is just one small gem in this book.

The most helpful part of the book is the examples of families putting the author's ideas into practice in specific situations. I personally am having difficulty putting some of the theory into practice - I would have loved examples of how parents can coach elementary aged kids through a massive screaming fight, for example.

All in all, one of my favorite books about raising children.

The bottom line on this book is that you should stop doing everything for your children. Coddling can cripple a child for life. That's a pretty easy premise to accept. However, some of the promises made by this book are not so easy to accept. The authors seem to imply that parents who follow their time-tested strategies can bring all children around. They act as if all children are cut from the same mold and will behave reasonably when treated reasonably. Unfortunately, this isn't necessarily so. On the other hand, regular family dinners and meetings probably won't hurt, either.

I was given this book by my mother when my daughter was 2 and my son was 10. We were beginning to have problems with my son and my daughter was just a challenge, period. I fell in love with the book from the first page. They said they would solve my problems, and they did.

As the authors say, its more work the older your kids are, and its true. My son dragged his feet but eventually became the model child. My daughter became the angel I always knew she was. I kept a cheat sheet with me at all times with the questions to ask and the steps to take for the first few months. It was difficult to remember all the key words and phrases off the top of your head. After that it was a natural thing to do.

My kids are now, 22 and 15. My son is a wonderful, mature, loving, well rounded man. Your basic, responsible adult who thinks before he acts and behaves more "grown up" than many grown ups I know. My daughter is more mature than me! She is growing up in a tough world, as are all our kids, and she is handling it with grace and poise. I had some friends ask me recently what I use for discipline with her as they were looking for knew ideas. I thought for a moment and realized that I dont have to discipline her at all! She is the model teenager. She communicates with us, does her homework without complaint, cleans her room when asked, does chores and is willing to discuss anything with us. I told the other moms that it was due to Self Reliance. I believe that with all my heart.

I think my kids started out as good kids, as most do, I had good clay to mold. But, I knew nothing of raising kids, not good parenting role models to fall back on. I had used P.E.T. prior to this and found it to be effective. However, Self Reliance became the backbone of my parenting and we raised some fine people that will make a difference in the world.

I have also used these techniques with the adults in my life. I used it in my marriage (he caught on after a while), I use it in my business and personal life with great results. They translate to all things and have had them used on me also to good affect too. You know you are being "Relianced", but, it helps you come around to what you need to see to.

This book was recommended reading for a behavior management class that I took for my Master's Program. At the time I was teaching, but had no children. This book totally changed the way I approached discipline in the classroom. Since I wasn't a parent at the time,I would often lend out this book to parents of students and very often never got it back. I just kept buying more copies because I really felt that this book was something that all parents should keep and refer back to through the years.

I am now buying another copy for myself and my husband. We have 4 young children and I'm feeling I need a "refresher course" and I'm hoping my husband will read it so that we can be on the same page when we are discipling the kids. You might consider buying two copies, one to keep on your nightstand, and another to lend out to your friends. It's really that great!

I bought this book the first day it came out and enjoyed it tremendously. There's even the speech Homer Hickam made at the memorial to the Sago miners in the back of the book. I got to meet him at a book signing and he is a gracious man. There were a lot of people at the book signing who enjoyed Mr. Hickam's writing as much as me. He is without a doubt West Virginia's favorite author.

Most of the mining descriptions are accurate. The rescue I have some questions with, however, it is very intertaining.

I have sat and digested this book the best that I can. First off it is not by any stretch my favorite Hickam book I like all the Thurlow and Coalwood books better, with that being said though this book was still a very interesting read. I did not particualrly like either main character maybe thats my own fault just didn't like the personality of either Song or Cable. This book starts off with almost strictly a love story through roughly the first 10 chapters then it gets interesting. This is when Hickam saves this book, the suspense makes you want to finish the book in one sitting. I reccomend this book for anybody but Hickam fans should not open this book expecting another Coalwood book it is much different in both good ways and bad ways.

For those who enjoyed Homer Hickam's previous "tales" of life in Coalwood, West Virginia, you will not be disappointed in this latest work. The conflict between two recently-marrieds, in concert with the drama in the coal mines, makes for a fast-moving story that is dificult to put down. The author's best work, I think, has always been when he's writing about his beloved mountains and people of West Virginia. And though I enjoy Hickam's Josh Thurlow series, I thoroughly get involved with what he really knows best--life in a coal mine community! And one needs to know nothing of coal mining to enjoy the story because Hickam does a masterful job of explaining what goes on "down there." Order this book and enjoy the ride with Song and Cable and all the other colorful characters as they find out many things about themselves and each other in an exciting conclusion to a wonderful story. If this is a first-time read of Homer Hickam, I would certainly recommend going back to Rocket Boys, The Coalwood Way, and Sky of Stone. Those are all non-fiction, but they serve as a good background for Red Helmet, making it all the more enjoyable.

Homer Hickam, in "Red Helmet", transports us to the small mining communities of West Virginia. With characters that make us love them, laugh with them, wipe away a tear or two, and become a part of their lives, struggles, and mysteries, "Red Helmet" is a great read. Curl up on your sofa with a hot cup of tea and a blanket and be carried away to West Virginia!

Return of the Native was received in perfect condition. I have not started reading this book yet. I have started The Good Earth which was ordered at the same time.

The book has been reviewed extensively. It is a modern classic and should be read. You will enjoy it. More important, the buying experience through Amazon was as expected. The books arrived earlier than I expected, in pristine, brand new, condition. What more could you ask for?

The Return of the Native is a great Victorian novel. It's author is Thomas Hardy who published the book serially in 1878 prior to book publication. The main characters whose live are interwoved into a tragedy of Greek proportions are:
1. Clyde Yeobright-He is the Wessex native who returns from his career as a jeweler in Paris. Clym returns to the bleak landscape of Egdon Heath to be plummeted into a maelstrom of passion, sex, suffering and deceit.
2. Eustace Vye-The sexy daughter of a bandsmaster in Budmouth (real name-Weymouth) she is a seductress who dreams of a life of luxury. Eustace will marry Clym; run away with Wildeve and die in a tragic manner. Whether her death is a suicide or accident is not stated. Eustace joins Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Bathsheba Everdene and other memorable femme fatales creates by Hardy's agile pen.
3. Thomasin Yeobright-She is the young cousin of Clym. She falls in love with Wildeve, marries him and bears the former engineer/present innkeeper a baby. As the novel ends she weds the reddleman Gregory Venn. She is a an uncomplicated woman who is a pale version of Eustace Vye.
4. Wildeve-A failed engineer he operates an inn. Though Wildeve loves Eustace he marries Thomasin. He will later leave Thomasin to run away with his true love Eustace. He will drown alongside his paramour.
5. Mrs. Yeobright-The bright, strong and virtuous mother of Clym who hates his marriage to Eustace Vye. She dies when Eustace refuses to open the door to let her into the Yeobright's home. Mrs. Yeobright is, probably, modeled on Hardy's own mother.
6. Gregory Venn-He is a reddleman (one who provides paint to shepherds who mark the sheep in their flocks) who is in love with Thomasin. He enjoys spying on the main characters. As the novel ends he is a respectable dairy farmer.
The characters are often compared to insects or animals who must exist in a godless world controlled by the uncaring fates. Coincidence and irony are used in the complicated plot. Hardy's vision is dark and forbidding.
This Hardy classic includes his usual close attention to the lives of the common people; descriptive pages on nature and criticisms of animal cruelty.
Perhaps the greatest character in the novel is Egdon Heath. Human characters love, suffer and die but it lasts forever.
Thomas Hardy is one of the best English novels along with such luminaries as Dickens, Eliot, Austen and Trollope. It is always a pleasure to read and reread his words.

I read this novel when I was living in Japan. There were no English books avaliable where I was living but a motley collection of classics in the local library.

I found the book somewhat long and slow but loved the language and character desciptions, for example Hardy decribes the main female character Eustacia Vye as "Queen of the night whose passions and instincts would make a model goddess but not quite a model woman" with "pagan eyes, full of noctural mysteries. It is a opera of a book, long and slow but with moments of great beauty

Yes, the Heath is the centerpiece, but no more than Eustacia, for they are mirrors of one another, by turns cold and aloof, brooding, mysterious, somewhat wild, tempestuous, and a place where at times man must tread carefully. Some are inexorably drawn to the contours, shades and subtleties of Egdon Heath (Mother Earth) while others seek shelter from its periodic wrath. So, too, the people of the Heath seem divided about their Earth Mother, Eustacia - reading the worst into her or - in the case of many of its men - hoping against hope that the vagaries of nature will look favorably upon them.

This is the most descriptive portrayal of both woman and nature that I have ever read.

As a white middle class generation x'er, I knew nothing of the Black Panthers or Huey Newton that was based on personal knowledge or experience. What I had heard was that they were radical, dangerous, and hated white folks. That seemed overly simplistic, so I decided to look into the black power movement for myself. Of all the books I read on the movement (Malcolm, Eldridge Cleaver, SNCC, Soledad Brother, etc...), Revolutionary Suicide was the best.

First off, Huey is the best writer of all the writers I read on the subject. That includes both the primary books and the secondary interpretive books written by historians. Huey's writing reflects his life philosophy, he lives for the people and therefore writes for the people. He doesn't seek to impress the reader with a fantastic grasp of the english language. He writes simply and matter-of-factly, much as a good journalist does. This to-the-point writing style more engrossing than any of the other books I read on the movement.

Second, Huey, unlike many other movement leaders, doesn't look to hog the glory for himself. He is very upfront about what he was responsible for and what he collaberated on with others. He passes the glory around liberally (some would say too much) to spread the power to the people.

Finally, this book will give you a primary understanding of who Huey P. Newton was and what he was really about. Did he hate white people? Did he advocate armed revolution? Was he a murderer and thug? Read it for yourself.

If you want to attempt to get into the mind of Huey Newton, then read this book. Reading his autobiography gave me a view of the Party I have never felt. This gave me an understanding of how and why the organization was started and also some insight on the life of Huey. You will defintely have a different view of the Party once you have read this. So read, read, read, and keep reading, and educate yourself about this incredible man and organization.

This book is one of the first and only unaltered accounts of the Black Panther Party by somebody who was in it. The book is in Huey's compassionate voice. This book dispells rumors about the BPP Huey set the record straight. This is my favorite book of all time its a book for the ages.

What can I say, that hasn't already been said? Huey P. Newton was a very complex individual, and I find myself reading a section over a second time to digest what was written. It's worth it no doubt. When you start to read this book, you will not be disappointed, Newton sheds light on even personal matters like falling in love, and views on family. This is great if you want specifics on Mr. Newton himself, and not just the BPP as a whole.

If you're going to study the Black Panther Party, you of course must check out a story of its preminent leader. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. He gave me an understanding what it meant to be a radical Black activist during the 60s and 70s. It meant that you had to be courageous, committed, and five steps ahead of the cops, the FBI, and informants.

Of course, now, this is Huey's account of the Party. While his is seriously important, the works of other Panthers and scholars who are now publishing works about the Panthers must also be studied. For now that I'm reading a biography on another Panther leader, Geronimo Pratt, I'm very interested in understanding more about the political split that took place in the BPP. Why did Huey expell Pratt from the Party? Why did Eldridge Cleaver turn out to be so reactionary? I look forward to reading other books on the Panthers to answer these and other questions.

This is a great story of the magic that Christmas brings each year.

A dear teacher friend recommended this book and said she couldn't read it to her class without crying! I thought I would be able to read it to my grandson without tearing up, but alas...he had to finish the last few pages! (Much to his delight!) It is such a gentle, tender story. Even when you KNOW what the outcome will be, you can't help but FEEL the emotions the writer conveys so well! Outstanding illustrations put this book in a rare class!

This was a beautiful story written and illustrated. It allows one to discover how people can reach into the hearts of so many with a simple act of kindness. It also reassures children that one does not have to have a lot to change the lives of another. And that dreams do come true.

Karen

I like Chris Soentpiet's book called Silver Packages. The pictures he drew were OUT OF THIS WORLD!!! The book was outstanding! I like the part when the boy is holding his first one in front of the Christmas tree.

If you want to read a great book then read Silver Packages because it will just touch your heart. It all started when no one had anything so every Christmas a man came and threw silver packages out the back of the train. Chris Soentpiet's illustrations are colorful and interesting.