Maine Books

This is an hilarious memoir of an adolescent's first summer at sleep-away camp. If you remember what it's like to play color wars, sing ridiculous songs which insult camp food, have your first crush, drink "bug" juice, well, then your experience is not even half as fun as Mindy's, whose camp's meals were salvaged from train wrecks, whose camp's truck was one that could only be ridden in for as long as you could hold your breath (against the fumes), and whose characters are 12 year old versions of Henny Youngman and Totie Fields.

This book is a humorous recollection of what many remember as bad days away at summer camp. The experiences had me wondering how she survived all of them and lived to tell the tale. Unlike most camps, the camp which Schneider attended had no solid rules making for some interesting experiences.
I highly recommend this book to everyone who has ever attended a summer camp, and for those who haven't, I will assure you that this does not happen at all camps.

I looked forward to reading this book each night. Although I'm about 15 years younger than Ms. Schneider, my memories of Jewish summer camp are similar. Ms. Schneider remembers the feelings of young adolescence so well and captures the funny small moments that are so true! This is a story that I want to share with my sister and friends.

This book delivers what it promises---a camp story. There isn't much else here, just the story of one summer at a camp in Maine. The camp wasn't what was advertised, but it turned out to be a great summer for Mindy anyway, especially in retrospect. I think the book aims to mean a little more than that, and be about discovering character traits, learning about appearances vs. truth, etc, but I don't think it really does that. It just tells in a fairly amusing way what the summer was like.

I am not a big camp person, having crawled home with homesickness after a few days both times I tried to go to overnight camp, but I read this book as it was set in Maine. However, it was only in a very small way about Maine. There are a lot of summer camps in Maine, and overall I think they aim to have as little contact with "the locals" as possible. This camp had a bit more than some, due to some property issues, but overall the locals are portrayed as fairly scary Deliverance types. One girl is shown not to be, but Mindy never even learns her name and seems a bit shocked that a local could be nearly human. I grew up in Maine during the time period of this book, and I don't think campers from other areas would really have any clue how different their lives were than most Mainers, and would have no idea how this could create resentment.

From that perspective, it was interesting to get a look at Maine during that period from the other side! The writing is well done and enjoyable. If you went to a similar camp to the one Mindy did, you would probably really enjoy this book. Just don't look for a lot more.

Readers will find that enduring Mindy Schneider's entertaining memoir of summer camp life is much like her experience: a seemingly endless trudge through a benignly monotonous, routinely humorous and absolutely predictable right of passage. "Not a Happy Camper" faithfully recreates Schneider's thirteen-year-old awkwardness, and self-deprecatory voice is full of genuine Jewish angst and humor. Nevertheless, there is only so much you can say about a pathetically decrepit Maine summer camp and its stereotypical denizens. Schneider takes about 230 pages to recount what she could have told in 25.

Duped by the slick-talking owner of Camp Kin-A-Hura (Hebrew for "Are You Out of Mind for Sending Your Child Here?"), Mindy's parents succumb to a barrage of sweetened lies and sign their resigned daughter to a summer's worth of unsupervised, unstructured (unless you consider binge consumption of candy an organized event) and uninspiring activities. There, Mindy discovers the joy of listening to rain on the roof, eating institutional food whose origins and nutritional value are at best dubious and interacting with a group of disaffected, disinterested and disillusioned Jewish early adolescents.

Naturally enough, Mindy wrestles with the weighty issues of trying to navigate the entire summer unnoticed by the cool kids and getting a boyfriend. It doesn't require a genius to predict that the relatively plain Mindy will set her sights on the camp's hunk, only to be consistently rebuffed, all the while letting the gem (the dork who undoubtedly will grow up to be a real mensch) slip through her fingers. Parading with her in this laissez-faire fairyland is a group of characters right out of central casting: the overbuilt air-brained beauties, the sophisticate who believes in reincarnation, the sleepwalker, the recluse and the oversexed camp counselors, whose main advice is akin to "leave us alone."

Mindy is bright enough to understand that the camp divides itself into two: the "Legacies" and the "Losers." Naturally enough, the Legacies, the "children of former campers," are "rich kids destined to lead relatively easy and productive lives." The "Losers," unsurprisingly, are "paste-eaters...conned into coming to this place in spite of the unbridled self-doubt and absolute lack of social skills." Schneider attempts to depict a certain poignancy in the interaction of both groups; sadly, the results are flat and unsurprising.

After a delightful thirty pages or so, "Not a Happy Camper" descends quickly into a seemingly interminable monologue about summer camp. For those who have graduated from this so-called life-altering time away from home, the head-nodding recognition of pranks and pratfalls could dangerous veer into whiplash. For the uninitiated, this memoir will convince them that they really haven't missed much at all.

Thomas Desjardin has done something I would have thought impossible. He wrote a history book that I found hard to put down! His expanded research included many eye witness accounts of the battle of Little Round Top which serve to give us a clearer picture of what happeded that day. No one or even couple of people can give an accurate accounting. We all have a limited range of vision. When gathering all accounts it may seem that one contradicts the other, but it's really only a matter of perspective. We all see things differenly plus & understand it differently. This book takes nothing away from Chamberlain. It only shows he was not alone up there. I found the book fascinating & well worth reading.

I initially read this book after participating in a staff ride of the Gettysburg battlefield. My knowledge of the battle at that time came largely from Shaara's "The Killer Angels", and the subsequent film "Gettysburg". As both were meant to inspire and entertain rather than inform, I had an unrealistic understanding of the 20th Maine and its place in the struggle at Gettysburg. Thomas Desjardin's book changed that.

Well written and fast moving, "Stand Firm Ye Boys From Maine" provides excellent background information on the 20th Maine, identifies members of the Regiment beyond Chamberlain and his brother Tom, and reminds the reader that the 20th Maine's opponents at Little Round Top weren't a nameless mass of rebels, but members of a proud regiment with a strong leader all their own.

Desjardin explains the fight between the 20th Maine and the 15th Alabama in tremendous detail, with accompanying maps that enhance the narrative. More importantly, he describes the post-war growth of the Chamberlain legend, and explains the difference between Chamberlain the Man, and Chamberlain the myth. Desjardin's Chamberlain is not the battlefield intellectual who conceived an unorthodox maneuver in the face of the enemy to win the day, but an ordinary man who led from the front under extraordinary circumstances. I prefer the latter.

Students of Gettysburg will be interested in Desjardin's perspective on familiar events, and those unfamiliar with the battle will find it a great introduction to the subject. While not a history of the overall campaign, it is definitely a great starting place to learning what took place in PA over 140 years ago.

This is a well worked area of the ACW but Thomas A. Desjardin brings a fresh look to the subject. He is an excellent author and scholar, both show in his books. The book contains very good maps, photos and current status of Little Round Top, roster of the 20th Maine, 5 Appendix, notes and index. This is a very well done book that can be used as an introduction or reference.

The defense of Little Round Top by the 20th Maine Regiment on the far left of the Union lines on the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, July 2, 1863, is perhaps one of the most famous small unit actions in American military history, right up there with Custer's Last Stand - except the latter lost. As the author of STAND FIRM YE BOYS FROM MAINE (SFYBFM) points out, the U.S. Army still uses the actions of the 20th Maine's commander, Col. Joshua Chamberlain, as a model of leadership under hostile fire.

Author Thomas Desjardin picks up the story of the 20th Maine in the aftermath of Chancellorsville on or about June 21 as the regiment marched north along the east slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains while Lee marched his Confederates on the west slope towards Maryland through the Shenandoah Valley. After some skirmishing at Ashby's Gap, the unit arrived in the vicinity of Gettysburg at the end of the battle's first day. Desjardin's focus is, of course, on the 20th Maine's resistance against the assaults of the15th and 47th Alabama regiments against Vincent's Spur on Little Round Top, followed by the 20th's relatively uneventful occupation of Big Round Top before being relieved. Chamberlain's command spent the third day, during Pickett's Charge, in reserve behind the front lines. The next day was spent maneuvering across the Gettysburg battlefield until, after it became apparent that the Army of Northern Virginia had decamped and was headed homeward, a pursuit was mounted through rain and mud to a final skirmish with the Rebels on Sharpsburg Pike on July 10, an event that marked the end of the Gettysburg Campaign for the boys from Maine.

Having finished with the battle itself, Desjardin examines the post-war period, during which, Little Round Top having receded in time but not in the participants' memories, bickering broke out among the survivors as various accounts of that fateful day in July, 1863 had to be reconciled with each other (or not).

I saw the film Gettysburg (Widescreen Edition) on the Big Screen when it was released, and was greatly impressed with the leadership qualities of the Joshua Chamberlain character under fire (as portrayed by Jeff Daniels). Subsequently, I visited the Gettysburg National Military Park and stood in reverence before the monument to the 20th Maine set in the trees now covering Vincent's Spur. Therefore, the final chapter of SFYBFM, "American Legend, American Shrine", in which Desjardin puts the regiment's defense in perspective and deflates some of the mythology surrounding the action, poured a certain amount of cool water upon my adulation. As the author points out, as evidenced by Chamberlain's recollection of the event, the colonel never actually ordered "forward", but only that his men fix bayonets. With that, the Maine troops charged off down the slope on their own and the famous "right wheel" by the 20th's left was more of a ragtag pursuit after already fleeing Rebels instead of the textbook maneuver of mythology. Moreover, the entire Army of the Potomac's line, from left to right of the famous "fish hook", was never in danger of being rolled up. Had the 15th Alabama actually been able to capture and hold Vincent's Spur, it would've had to face the 83rd Pennsylvania, the regiment next to Chamberlain's, as well as the 140th New York that had just come up. Furthermore, there was only room on Little Round Top for perhaps eight artillery pieces to be aimed at the rest of General Meade's army. If all of Longstreet's cannons couldn't dislodge the Federals on Day 3 of the confrontation, eight weren't going to do it on Day 2.

The strength of SFYBFM is in the comprehensiveness of Desjardine's research, which encompassed examination of close to eighty accounts of the battle by survivors on both sides. There are twenty-two pages of Notes and a six-page Bibliography. There's a complete roster of the 20th Maine soldiers at Gettysburg, which includes each man's rank, company, hometown, age, marriage status, civilian occupation, height, and post-battle status as applicable (killed, wounded, mortally wounded, captured). In addition, Appendix One enumerates the number of combatants in the three regiments involved. Appendix Three, Four and Five list in greater detail the nature of each casualty for the 20th Maine, 15th Alabama, and 47th Alabama respectively. For example, Private Mansfield Ham of the 20th Maine is noted as having been:

"Wounded severely in side, thumb shot off."

SFYBFM includes a serviceable assortment of photos sprinkled throughout as well as a number of maps, the most useful of which depict the evolving positions of the 20th Maine and 15th Alabama as they engaged.

STAND FIRM YE BOYS FROM MAINE is an exemplary battle history. While it may refute some of the more outlandish claims of the legend, e.g. that the survival of the Union hinged on the 20th Maine's victory, it puts the supreme efforts of both sides on a human scale and not on pedestals, especially as the personalities and civilian lives, both pre- and post-war, of combatants from both sides are described. From this vantage point, the Civil War student, whether casual or serious, can better appreciate the command style of the regimental officers and the heroic fighting qualities of their men. The volume deserves prominent place on any bookshelf dedicated to the American Civil War.

Interesting book, good subject. Some people, with a degree of justification, bemoan the attention given to the 20th Maine, but I'm not one of them. What I would like to see is that same attention given to other deserving regiments as well.

This book has the advantage of being well-documented and, as far as I can tell, accurate. It has the disadvantage of being somewhat superficial in that the regiment is never put into any larger context. There are anecdotes galore, and of course there is a thorough reconstruction of the 20th Maine at Little Round Top. But the substance of the battle around them is lacking; to be fair, this is not supposed to be a book about the battle as a whole.

In short, this is a good supplementary book if you have already read a thorough account of the battle (I recommend Coddington, personally), and it's good for bits of information about the 20th Maine, so it fulfills its purpose. Subjectively, I found it a rather dry account; interesting, informative, clearly written, but somehow lacking flavor.

This fall I learned that Priscilla Maine was a distant cousin. In the course of getting to know her, I learned she was an author. Being curious about her work, I requested "Angels Unaware" as a Christmas gift. I sat down with my autographed copy and couldn't put it down! Priscilla's characters became so real to me that I began feeling what they felt. I found myself frustrated with the people for not accepting Rebecca, angry at the attitude about unmarried nurses (I am a nurse myself), and ready to strangle the haughty Reverend. Angels Unaware is a vacation for the soul. Share it with someone you love. As for me, I can't wait to read "Journey of the Eagle".

Priscilla Maine is a gifted writer who breathes life into her characters in this beautiful book. ANGELS UNAWARE provides escape from the here and now, whisking readers back to an earlier time. The hardships of the period are drawn in such detail that it makes one appreciate the convenience of running water and electricity. Having read this book, I eagerly anticipate Maine's next, which I have now purchased, JOURNEY OF THE EAGLE.

Angels Unaware is one of the best books I've read in a very long time. The characters are unforgetable, and the story is very interesting. Details from that time period add to the continuity of the story, and it is obvious that Priscilla Maine did a lot of research before writing this work. The theme of having faith in God is not lost; neither is it pounded in. Rather, it is woven into the fabric of this book. I look foreword to reading the next book by this author.

Angels Unaware, by Priscilla A. Maine, is a powerful, well-researched historical novel. The author's own spirituality shines through as she recounts the strength and determination required of a woman, alone, who takes her medical skills and strong religious beliefs to the hill country of southeastern Oklahoma. Rebecca Rice isn't satisfied to live out her life in the manner expected of a middle-aged widow in the 1890s. Much to her brother and sister's consternation, she ventures into the backwoods to serve people who have no access to adequate medical care or spiritual guidance. Rebecca relishes the challenges of her mission, eagerly casting away a way of life that leaves her "empty and unfulfilled." After several days of travel, she arrives at her new home--a dilapidated, vermin invested cabin. But making the cabin habitable is the easy part of Rebecca's new life. She encounters hill people resistant to her offer of service, people who harbor deep-seated prejudices and fears. For the first many months, Rebecca's only friends are a young woman who at first appears to be retarded; an old, gnome-like woman, accepted as a healer in the backwoods; and an orphaned wolf cub who becomes her constant companion and protector. She teams up with "Ole Woman" and accompanies the healer when she makes her rounds to families in the area. Although largely ignored by the hill people, Rebecca at last feels as though she is moving toward her goal of faith healing. Throughout this insightful book, Angels Unaware brings the reader to an understanding of the hardships endured in this isolated hill country where superstitions and ignorance often prevail making health improvements and spiritual development a slow, arduous process. I found myself aching with Rebecca's effort to help people so resistant to her faith healing and rejoicing with each hard-won acceptance. Angels Unaware weaves spirituality, medicine and the complex lives of hill people into an unforgettable story of grit and courage. I highly recommend this entertaining novel.

Mary E. Trimble Reviewer

"Angels Unaware," by Priscilla A. Maine takes its title from the Hebrews Biblical text 13:2 "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." The theme's in Maine's book serve this homily well, as her characters learn what it means to untangle old hates and prejudices in order to extend their gifts and create a community together.

"Angels Unaware" shows us lives of strength, courage, and grace laced with ingenuity and hardwork. Almost every character goes through convincing change throughout the course of the book--even the villain of the piece (you'll have to read to find out this surprise).

Priscilla Maine says, "My great-grandmothers came West with a wagon load of dreams. They birthed and buried their infants alone, plowed fields, outlived husbands, tragedies, and trumphs that inspire my writing." Those fore-mothers, reading over Maine's shoulder must surely be proud of how she continues their heritage.

--Janet Grace Riehl, author Sightlines: A Poet's Diary

This is one of the best novels I've ever read...


The novel LONGINUS: Book I Of The MERLIN FACTOR tells the story of Gaius Cassius Longinus, the battle-hardened Centurion of Rome who is assigned to guard the crucified Jesus. But while guarding Jesus, Longinus stabs him in the ribs with his spear, ensuring Jesus' death. It's a simple act, but one that changes his life forever. After that fateful day Longinus flees Rome, narrowly escaping the Roman priests who want to take the spear and its supposed power for themselves.

LONGINUS: Book I Of The MERLIN FACTOR follows the Centurion's life from his love for the prostitute Irena to his mystical studies with the Druids of Gaul. But it also reveals Longinus' profound spiritual awakening through his Druidic studies and the spear that speaks to him with the voice of Jesus.

Something of a departure from my usual genre of reading but nevertheless I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is fast moving with more than a few unexpected twists and turns. I found myself picking it up at every oportunity as I wanted to know what happened next and whether Longinus manages to achieve his aim. I am really looking forward to Book II.

I found this book very interesting. It kept my attention throughout, I didn't want to put it down. It definately was different reading than what I usually enjoy. My usual interest is romance or comedy. Steven Maines is a great writer whose book Longinus: Book I Of The Merlin Factor is fascinating! I can't wait to read the sequel.

I was intrigued, yet wary when I saw the title and cover of this book. Would the era and subject matter be more suited to a man? I prefer historical fiction that examines characters' lives rather than posing them solely in their adventures.

I was wonderfully surprised how the author, Steven Maines, managed to so skillfully accomplish each without sacrificing the other.

The story line is unexpected, revealing a unique spiritual point of view. Whether you agree or not with the author's vision, you will be captivated by his ability take a minor character in history and weave a remarkable and fascinating tale.

A great read!

Longinus: Book I of the Merlin Factor is an exciting and intriguing page-turner about the life of Longinus, the Roman Centurion who pierced the side of Christ while he was on the cross. This novel has something in it for everyone as it's an action-packed, spiritual, thought-provoking novel of historical fiction which also has a love-story entwined in its pages. It can be read on several levels but as others have mentioned, once you start it, you cannot put it down. I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading book 2.

I've been camping in Maine for a few weeks... Mainers expect you to have one of these. They say "get out your DeLorme's" not "do you have a map?" Some people I've met have pointed me to the right page without looking at the back.

The details in this atlas are great! All of Maine's public reserve land and campground are clearly marked. If you are trying to do some real camping in some remote areas, get this map. This is a must if you are going to be doing anything outdoors in ME. I never thought I'd say a map is fun to read.

After reading reviews on Amazon, I bought this book with a couple of others for my sister-in-law who moved to Maine. Within a week of moving to Maine, they got lost and used this atlas to find their way! They really like it.

This is the bible of maps of Maine. And most, if not all, other states have a version available. The first time you use it will probably make the purchase worthwhile.

If you like maps and spend any time in Maine hiking, paddling, or traveling backroads, you must have this. It is fun to study and indispensable for exploring Maine.

The detailed maps are great but guys...no use looking for a road map of Maine, I mean the whole state as it doesn't exist: incredible! so do order a map in addition!!

this IS truly a BOOK FOR ANYONE WHO LOVES AND RESPECTS nature as the majority of us do here in BEAUTIFUL MAINE!!

ALL of her books are super! This one tops them off!!

MACHIAS, MAINE!!

Louise Dickinson Rich is a star! A truly wonderful and gifted writer. You can't put her books down.

This book is a great read for anyone who's ever had the desire to just chuck it all and head for the woods (a desire that seems to wax and wane like the tides, popular one decade [1970s, for example], totally passe the next). Today taking to the woods for many means building a $500,000 "rustic retreat" with pool, hot tub, and wine cellar included. For Louise Rich, back in the 1930s (the book was published in 1942), things were much different.

For one thing, her house had no plumbing. Water had to be hauled to the house in buckets. Supplies and the mail came by boat. Life was no picnic for her and her family. But, of course, there were trade offs. The beauty of the place, for one. The living as one with nature. The need to be resourceful, and the feeling of pride and accomplishment that goes with it. Trade offs worth the hardships, Rich makes perfectly clear.

Rich captures the flavor of her idyllic spot in the Maine woods a few miles east of Upton along the Rapid River (the swiftest river east of the Mississippi, even though it is only about four miles long). She describes what life is like there, how the busy summers are a prelude to the slow, long winters. She talks about her neighbors, the loggers, the animals they encounter, how one endures and enjoys life in the woods. She describes the effects of the hurricane of 1938 and the havoc is caused even there, so far inland. Her prose style is clear and direct, and she truly makes the reader jealous of her situation rather than sympathetic. It's an excellent book, one that I've read a number of times, always with an I-wish-I-was-there enthusiasm. Highly recommended.

A friend gave me this book when I was at a very low point in my life. My wife and I read it together, over a long weekend, and packed the car Monday morning. By Wednesday we had our old house listed and Friday we put in an offer on 40 acres with an old farm. We haven't looked back since; but we have given copies of this book to all of our old friends for Christmas.

"We Took to the Woods" is as charming and delightful a book as you will ever find. It's the story of a city woman living on a remote Maine river with her husband and children. She's not poor, nor a rube, nor does she display the eccentricities one associates with people who flee to the wilderness. Rather, she seems happy, well-adjusted, and full of sympathetic tales about the few -- very few -- people she comes into contact with in the course of her daily life. And she really did live in the woods --the nearest store was a long boat ride away and she didn't go "outside" for a four year stretch. Her township of Upton had a population of 182.

The book is set up in chapters that answer questions: "Isn't housekeeping difficult?" or "Aren't you ever frightened." One of the better stories in the chapter, "Aren't the Children a Problem" tells about her husband delivering the author's baby in the dead of winter -- and greasing it with olive oil which he kept to dress his trout flies. The new parents discuss what they are supposed to do with the hot water always called for when a baby is being born -- and they decide to make coffee.

For the modern reader, the highlights of the book are probably tales of the trials of living without conveniences. The Rich houses -- they had a winter and summer house -- had no plumbing. Heating and cooking were with wood. What you needed for groceries was delivered by boat once a month; the Sears catalog supplied the rest. For anyone who has ever thought wistfully of fleeing civilization, this is a humorous primer of both the rewards and hardships of such a life. It deserves a permanent place on the short shelf of Americana classics.

Smallchief

As a nurse working with cancer patients, their families & loved ones I often find myself at a place of wanting to say more to comfort or offer solace. Sometimes the emotions filling & spilling do not allow verbal sharing. This beautiful book fills that space. Sometimes weeks later I will get a note thanking me for the giving of this book...how much Maggie's words have meant to them...how connected to another human they felt while reading it...how sometimes they read it aloud to the dog or cat just to hear their own voice speaking such loving , tender words...my heart fills.

I received this book as a review copy from a small publisher, and was wary. Many of the review copies I've received have been books that were not what I'd normally chose to read (and in those cases, the books rarely get finished or reviewed.)

This book was a welcome exception. Often I've wished I could pass onto my children some of the insights I've had after years of living and experiencing life. Or be able to comfort a friend in troubled times with sage thoughts. This book offers me that opportunity, in a modest-sized, but nicely packaged offering.

Maggie Steincrohn Davis has woven her own reflections with those of well known and not so well known wisemen and women, and presents us with food for thought appropriate for many times -- joyfilled or troubled -- in our lives.

She says in the beginning, "I confess, I could have condensed this book into one sentence - 'See deeply the beauty and interconnectedness of all life; then think, speak and act from what you see.'"

I'm glad she didn't confine herself to a few words - this book makes a lovely bedside book to read in those moments when you feel blue. It makes a wonderful gift for a friend in a time of need. It is uplifting, yet simple; inspirational yet earthy. It gets added to my list of books to give as gifts.

A personal, practical & tender book about honoring the heart - a deep-seeing that goes beyond courtesy, kindness & empathy to the living compassion. Especially fitting for health practitioners, teachers, parents & volunteers.

Maggie's philosophy is to see the beauty & interconnectedness of all life. Her goal is to strive, to think, to speak & to act from what we see. She has been listening to her own heart & the concerns of others for years.

There are books that you read & there are books you live by. Caring in Remembered Ways is just such a book, the kind you can read from cover to cover or leave on your nightstand for those final, meditative thoughts before sleep. The throne room is also a good place for such pondering in a moment of privacy & relaxation.

A simply beautiful inspirational book of verses, thoughts, stories & philosophies.

CARING IN REMEMBERED WAYS is the kind of book I reach for when I crave nourishing insights during trying times in my life. Maggie Steincrohn Davis' book about loving and caring for ourselves and others is true food for the soul, written like poetry. Thirty-one graceful entries gently serve up tasty morsels of ancient wisdom (such as how to see from the heart, or face times when loved ones are dying) alongside a garnish of amusing and heart-warming personal anecdotes.

I love the way Maggie understands all the subtle nuances of care-giving, and the ways love can reach through any situation, when we imagine it can. She writes, "Only by reaching 'beyond-the-beyond' of people -- behind their eyes, back of their pain, beneath their blaming and irritation and fussing -- do we make a path to the best in them. Treating someone with compassion who does not treat us well in return might be our fullest offering of love, as well as our own greatest relief during the daily rounds of vigilance and giving."

In this book, every sentence feels like a prayer and a meditation on love and compassion. As I read each comforting entry, I find myself feeling like I'm back in the warm, sunny days of my childhood -- snugly wrapped by my mother in a fluffy towel after a warm bath. CARING IN REMEMBERED WAYS can help brighten and warm even the darkest, coldest days in one's life. It's the ideal pick-me-up for anyone who grows weary of caring for and nurturing others, and even oneself.

Maggie has written a beautiful book about taking care of our fellow man. Her words flow like a calming river, bathing our souls in caring consciousness. This book will teach you deeply and remind you we are all human. Maggie helps us hear the thoughts of the ill and dying. She takes us by the hand and leads us into their world. How do you handle a parents death, a friends illness, the loss of a pet? What do you say to a friend experiencing a loss? How do you feel about your own aging? These are issues we will all have to face in our life.

Her words inspire us to move beyond courtesy and kindness and realize empathy. She evokes this feeling through a montage of anecdotes, meditations, stories from her own life, collected quotes, eternal wisdom and rivers of thoughts which run deeply over the rocky river beds of life.

The philosophy is to see the beauty and interconnectedness of all life. The goal is to strive to think, speak and act from what we see. Maggie has been listening to her own heart and the concerns of others for years. She has absorbed this knowledge and wants to pass it on to us in a way that affirms the best a human can be. She reminds us: "...any life we care for well can remind us of all we are capable of giving."

I highly recommend this "drink for the soul" to nurses, doctors, hospice volunteers, families caring for their loved ones, and everyone who feels disconnected and wants to start learning how to care for others. How beautiful the world would be if we could all know what Maggie knows in her heart. How caring of her to share her knowledge with us.

By reading this book you will realize how the smallest deed can have a positive effect in your own neighborhood. If you nourish yourself with the attitude of compassion, at the same time you will leave attitudes of worry, self-doubt, blame, fear, resentment and pettiness to die without your care. Maggie started Neighborcare to provide hands-on-care, plant care, pet care, help with errands, meal preparation, housekeeping, help with outside chores and help with transportation to medical appointments.

Her vision for the future is to encourage others to serve the ill, dying, injured and heartsick. She applauds volunteer efforts and I believe she is going to succeed in bringing awareness to caring with this thoughtful book from her heart.

The lessons presented in "Caring in Remembered Ways" are your guides to compassion. Along the journey of collected thoughts you may not see the words through you own tears. This is when you will most clearly see the needs of your own soul and the needs of fellow souls traveling with you in life. If you plant the thoughts from this inspiring book in your soul, caring will grow.

~The Rebecca Review

It was certainly not any love for country music that made me pick up The Road to Eden's Ridge -- the only singers named in it that I recognized were Willie Nelson and Roy Acuff. Instead, I was interested in the Maine angle. So often we natives are portrayed as stereotypical bumpkins who can't put together a complete sentence, but not in Eden's Ridge. The characters are distinct individuals so realistically drawn that I feel I've already met them. Lily, my favorite character, is the woman I want to be. Strong, independent, capable of dealing with whatever life throws at her, and yet deeply passionate.

The Western Maine setting, almost another character, is equally well-drawn. I certainly understand why Lindsay wanted to leave for a different life. Snow storms like the one that isolated Lily and Ben, allowing them to express their love for each other, really do happen -- frequently. But the book also captures the beauty of our summer sunsets, apple orchards, fields of wildflowers, lakes and mountains.

What I like best about the book are the many contrasts. It has urban Nashville and rural Maine, Grand Ole Opry and Frederic Chopin, blizzards and heat waves and love stories set fifty years apart. Somehow all these dichotomies come together like the warp and weft to make an intricately woven novel.

Oh, and one more thing. The lyrics of "If I Ever Write a Song," written by Lily for Ben, just might make me a convert to country music.

By all means, Take the Road to Eden's Ridge. The novel, by ML Rose, traces two compelling love stories over the course of generations, finding common lyrical themes in country/western and classical music. As a result its sympathetic characters have broad appeal for performers, songwriters, and fans (like me). It's got plenty of location appeal as well, from Maine to Tennessee: I can see a film in its future. Who can resist a story about second chances to fulfill youthful dreams that's crafted with such virtuoso flair? The Road to Eden's Ridge ends, of course, but its songs resonate.

A Customer

This book has just been released in trade paperback by Turner Publishing. It's a captivating book that kept me up all night until the last page. It's the story of a girl from the Northeast with an Ivy League education who chucks it all for a new adventure in Nashville that brings her life, her family's and those she meets along the way full-circle.

"The most talked about local book of the season. Lindsey Briggs leaves her husband to be in Maine to move to Nashville and causes quite a commotion while learning valuable lessons about love, life and people."

The road less travelled means that you delay gratification and tend to the tasks before you in life. It can also mean unrequited love. Love that is oh so close, yet so far from being fulfilled. That is how I see the novel THE ROAD TO EDEN'S RIDGE. M.L. Rose who wrote this love story is a pseudonym for Myra McLary and Linda Weeks, two friends and writing teachers. They have a knack for using words to portray human emotions. It is a love story over several generations. It is about country music and probably is a true story of a famous person in that venue. It took me several boxes of tissue to get through the novel in one night. A country song kept going through my mind the next day. Willie Nelson's song "To All the Girls I've Loved Before" could be the theme of this romantic novel. Academia on the East Coast and country music in Nashville are twin characters in the story. The ending is classic. You won't want to put the book down. These two writers are brilliant and deserve more exposure to the reading public. I love this tear-jerking,heart-warming romp in the snow, ride on a horse, intimate tale of passion and music set to both classical and country rhythms.

Shadows on the sea was a great book to read. It is about a girl named Jill Winters who goes up to her grandmother's cottage in Winterhaven, Maine. She soon finds out that her mother has to pass through the dangerous waters of the atlantic to visit her brother. The Atlantic is filled with dangerous "u-boats" or german submarines. Jill also finds out that in the town of Winterhaven there a germans hiding adn waiting to attack. Will she save the town of Winterhaven or not?

Shadows on the sea was a great World War II book to read. It gives you the real life of an actual person who lived in the world at that time. It was very suspenpensful with all the action. It gives you a taste of what it felt like in the war. In my perspective I would have been terrified if I was Jill. Hopefully there is a sequal to this book. Another book similar to this is Private Peacful.I would recommend this book to anyone!!!!!!

My 11-yr-old daughter, 5th grade advanced reader, was assigned to do a report on an Historical Fiction book regarding its symbolism. I gave my daughter this book and she enjoyed it very much and is doing her report on it. I was worried that it would not have much symbolism in it but I read it myself and found that it is chocked full of symbolism. She only had to come up with 8 symbols, but there are many, many more in this book. I'm very happy about that.

This book changed the way i think now of all life i am so happy i decided to read this book from my school library. Its packed with action the beginning is sort of boring but keep reading it gets so much better.

decpite the fact im a boy and this is about a girl i boght it at my school fair.and i truly loved it.im a history geek and this was very accurate to what civailains went through.i do know that this would 99.9 of the time this would not happen.although the gerry's did send sabouters (who were cought.)overall this is a very good book and a nice way to show school kids what civalians went through during the war.

Shadows on the Sea takes place in Maine during World War II, and it is the year of 1942.
This is an intriguing book about a girl named Jill Winters. Her dad, Drew Winters, is a famous singer. When her Uncle Cliff gets sick, her mother needs to go see him and Jill's father arranges for Jill to go by herself, by train, to Maine, to see her Nana. Ever since Jill's mother went to see her Uncle Cliff, Jill has been listening to the radio to hear if a German U-boat torpedoed the ship her mother went on.
On the train, Jill meets a rich girl named Wendy and she and Jill become friends. From there the story begins. The two remain friends for a time then Jill meets a boy called Quarry and he introduces the girls to a group called the Crystals. You have to be voted in to the Crystals and Jill was voted in because her father was famous. Wendy wasn't and, so, Jill and Wendy's friendship broke up. Jill and Quarry remained friends though. Then Jill found Sarge, her Nana's cat eating a pigeon, she found a flask attached to the pigeons leg, and in it was a piece of paper with "sonnabend IV" written on it. Jill told Quarry about it. This is the mystery part; from there you will start staying up at night to read. This book is good for people that are interested in World War II and are ages 9 and up. I really enjoyed this book; it is historical fiction. If you are not a fan of reading, this book will get you reading. If you are looking for books to read, Joan Hiatt Harlow is the author of this book and many more great books.

Lucky you are, you people of Maine, because you can enjoy in person the stories told by Doug Stover. But now, the publication of this book, Eminent Mainers, allows all of us to savor Doug's stories at our leisure. And what a delight they are. Who can forget Hiram Maxim and his machine gun or the man who knew he would be reincarnated as a sheep or the man who wore a handkerchief over his face? Please don't spend all your money buying copies of this book to give to your friends - we need to take up a collection so Doug could return where he grew up and compile another book, Fabulous Floridians.

This is the ideal reference tool for those doing research on Maine people and accomplishments, as well as a great source for browsing. Alphabetical arrangement is highlighted with topical indexes in the front; of particular note is the listing by birthplace. Subjects' schooling, business and professional credentials, connection to Maine and family-related tidbits bring these folks to life. In many instances even their burial places are given-handy for those who want to pay their respects! "Eminent Mainers" has over 500 pages of intriguing facts about thousands of people. What a delight!

This book is a great resource for teachers, especially those who teach history, government, literature, and biography. Teachers live by the stories they tell, stories that link to people, places, and events. Eminent Mainers
is about Americans: native born, immigrants, and descendents. It it illuminating, hysterically funny, and most of all, useful! Buy it for every teacher you know and they will love you forever!

What an incredible amount of work has gone into this unique book. It's about much more than Maine. Through succinct details of hundreds of lives it provides a snapshot of the creative energy that has made the USA what it is today.

This is really about a web of people, times, events and places that extends far beyond Maine. The power of Mr Stover's big set of little, though dense and concise, stories of people who just happen to be Mainers is really national and beyond in scope. I live in Atlanta, Georgia yet found several references to people with considerable and lasting impact on Atlanta's development and growth. It would be interesting to build an online community that follows all the threads that Stover begins to unravel for us.