Maine Books

Cute book to add to my table of Christmas Stories. Will make a cute addition this Christmas.

I ordered 30 copies of this Dover Thrift Edition of A Christmas Carol and used them as stocking stuffers at work.

This is a great item for the price, lower than some greeting cards, and I suspect appreciated a tad more than the usual overflow of candy around at holiday time!

Everyone has their favorite version of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Make this dramatic retelling yours. At about 2 hours, its perfect for listening in the car while running around during the holidays or on your MP3 player while putting up Christmas lights. I plan on listening to it every year from now on. Patrick Stewart gives voice to every character, including the narration, and gives the kind of performance which I have come to expect from an actor of his immense talents.

I saw this script produced at the Castle Museum in York during its first run. It's the most faithful adaptation I have ever seen of A Christmas Carol, which is one of my favourite novels.

Highly recommended.

THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST PERFORMER i HAVE EVER HEARD. MR. STEWART BRINGS TO LIFE THE COMPLETE STORY. MAKING THE STORY MR. DICKENS INTENDED GO RIGHT TO YOUR SOUL.
I HAVE PUT IT ON THE LIST OF THINGS WE ARE DOING FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY, THIS HOLIDAY SEASON AND TO SIT DOWN AND LISTEN TO THIS GREAT STORY.
YOU WILL NOT BE UNHAPPY WHEN YOU BUY THIS CD.
THE HALLEY FAMILY

With books like this one from King , you do much better reading the thoughts in the minds of the characters. This one will keep you up at night reading. Another one that i loved. I highly suggest this one.

This is a story about two deaths. Dolores Claiborne is the housekeeper for a wealthy lady, and the police are investigating her death.

There is the killing of a husband in the past, and the police suspect Dolores of causing this death, as well. The novel then goes into the backstory of the relationship between the two women, and what is really going on.

Since I have never actually read a Stephen King book, I figured I should pick one up just to see what he's all about. I spent some time trying to figure out which one to take on - one of the real classics, perhaps, or something more unknown? In the end my wife suggested I read this one, given my criteria of "a minimum of supernatural stuff please".

I was impressed - it was really good! The book is told entirely first person and is the account of the woman (Dolores Claiborne) as told to two police officers about her involvement with a murder. The thing I really enjoyed about this book was the real humanity in it. Dolores' character is right on - she has great voice and depth, and is highly believable from beginning to end. You can see how all the events of her life came together to shape the character who is telling the story. I guess people call Stephen King a Master of Suspense for good reason - who would have thought that going to the bank could invite such tension?

My favorite parts, though, were the sad reflective bits that made Dolores really seem alive. All the characters, really, were how I thought they should be. Her family members were well developed, and the bit players still had their quirks that made them a little more interesting.

One thing that I think King tried to capture, but could have done better (or did I just miss it?) was the setting. I would expect the quirks of living on an island to be much more prominent, but it didn't seem like he was able to get much more specific than just a small-town atmosphere. Every so often he'd mention something to remind you that this place wasn't actually attached to the mainland, but it didn't seem enough.

Thankfully for me there wasn't a whole lot of supernatural stuff. Some, yes, but from what I understand it was to set up a connection to another book. It didn't detract, although without much intention of reading the other book, it also didn't add much : )

The only other problem I ran across was in the written dialect. It took a couple pages to get used to, and after that it flowed well, but there were some places where it wasn't consistent and that bugged me (e.g. referring to a truck as a "pickup truck" half the time and a "pick-em-up truck" the other half). And the New England expressions were fun and all, but I felt some parts could have benefited from a more serious tone.

All in all - great read, and from what I hear pretty different than his usual. I'd recommend it.

Dolores Claiborne is an unusual novel. The story is told by Dolores herself from start to finish as she tells police about a murder she committed and one she did not. Even when the police speak to her, the reader only sees Dolores's response. For nearly 400 pages, we hear one voice in one long chapter. We follow her life primarily through her troubled family life and job as a housekeeper for a stern woman named Vera Donovan. Dolores has been accused of murdering Vera and to help convince the police she didn't do it, she confesses to murdering her husband years earlier. She gives a candid account of a fairly miserable life leading up to the day of Vera's death.

This book obviously represented an experiment for Stephen King. No chapters, no voice but that of Dolores, all of it told as a flashback, etc. By all rights it shouldn't work, and the thick Maine accent of the narrator should have been the final ingredient in a recipe for disaster. Yet, somehow, it does work and works well. Dolores is a tough, salty, old woman but she has her good points. She's a tireless worker, fair-minded, and she tries to be a good mother and wife. Unfortunately, her husband is far too wretched a specimen to allow her marriage to work and her boss begins to lose her grip on sanity, which exaggerates her already harsh attitude.

Dolores Claiborne is not a horror novel so much as a character study. I used to think that was unusual for a King novel, but I'm starting to realize that he actually doesn't write nearly as many pure terror novels as his reputation would indicate. Still, it is suspenseful in parts and you quickly come to care about the characters and what happens to them. I would recommend the book whether you're a long time fan of the author or just looking for something different to read.

I found this novel by MR. King to be absolutely wonderful. It was so interesting to read and the well written story was very unique. This book is not frightening like many of the author's stories, but it still keeps an overwhelming spookiness about its tale. The story looks into emotional bond between two different women and their lives that are betrayed by violence, abuse and many other emotional problems. This is a strong and emotional story that is well worth your time. Highly recommend for your reading pleasure.

Awesome, awesome murder mystery. I could not put the book down. The shockers keep coming at you and the ending is completely unpredictable. Very well written. Very intelligent mystery. Read this!

This is one of the finest debuts I've ever read. Blanchard's voice is crystal clear and powerful. The book seems to come from a genuine knowledge of the circumstances. Complex characters and situations that arrive on the page from depth of experience. I am often left so cold by these banal, calculated police procedurals; they are so dull. Not this one. There's a beating heart at the core of this wonderful book. Do yourself a favor; read Darkness Peering by Alice Blanchard. It's a sure thing.

This book is a must-read for everyone who has tired of the formula "thrillers." The conclusion is a total surprise, even to those of us who paid attention and usually can guess the end. The character development was reasonably thorough and the plot progression was filled with unexpected twists and turns. The complexity of the relationships added credence to the conclusion. This is a book that will haunt its readers for awhile. Alice Blanchard has a unique gift that leaves her readers wanting more.

Blanchard's "Darkness Peering" is one of the single best debut thrillers I've ever read. It's original, powerful and utterly brilliant, with that raw energy of a writer discovering their talent right in front of our eyes. Great book.

This was an awesome read. Constant suspense. Characters were all believable. The author led you to believe that there were several possibilities of who the killer was. I did not even suspect the actual culprit. Well done in keeping the reader guessing and then surprising them at the end. I would definitely recommend this one.

This is a simple book of a Little Sal, and Little Sal's mother, and Little Bear, and Little Bear's mother, who get mixed up with each other on Blueberry Hill.

It's very realistically written and illustrated, and the exciting part isn't too scary for little ones.

I will note that it's a bit long - maybe better for kids with longer attention spans than shorter ones. If they're as young as Little Sal is, it might be better to wait a year before reading :)

I don't understand the positive reviews here or the caldecott award. The sketchings are artistically done, true, but in a way an adult can appreciate intellectually; they don't really evoke emotion. The story is a yawner.

I loved this book as a child so I got it for my
grandchildren. They aren't as impressed with
the pictures from 1950 as I was, but still is
a good story.

She has hundreds of books and everytime I visit she would ask me to read her this book. She loves the illustrations... especially the seal!

sweet book for little kids. It is an excellent book to read aloud to your children and grandchildren. It is about a girl out picking berries for her mom and it shows a baby bear doing the same for his mom.

Ms. Braestrup's memoir about the sudden death of her husband, Drew, and her subsequent journey toward recovery thru spiritual altruism is uplifting. This is not a book about someone who becomes a religious zealot and follows a certain hardcore doctrine of my-way-or-the-highway to holy salvation. Many unanswerable questions dealing with death, life and the randomness of fate permeate Ms. Braestrup's book. An extremely honest introspection on life and her unique position in the Maine Warden Service. Her observations about calamities which occur in the state's forests are highly informative and sometimes unsettling. The halfwitted wilderness escapades carried out by some of the victims calls into question our bragging rights about being a highly evolved life form. This memoir is well written, non-sarcastic, illuminating, and an all-too-human journey of hope. A beautiful narrative that has quickly become one of my favorites.

By way of revealing and often-humorous anecdotes, Kate tells how her job as a Maine Game Warden Chaplain helps her adjust to widowhood.
This was a very good and thought-provoking narrative. It seemed choppy at first, but all the pieces came together later on and really made sense.

I couldn't stop thinking about Kate Baestrup's powerful book for several days. How incredible for her to have such an intimate role in the experiences of families who may be -- or may not be -- struck by tragedy. I was on the edge of my seat several times hoping beyond hope that the child who was lost in the wilderness, or one of the other real life characters lost in the Maine wilderness and chronicled by Kate, would be found.
But There If You Need Me is much more than an adventure book. It sheds light on spiritual truths about life and death with a caring yet totally real sensibility. Kate may be a minister, but she isn't afraid to talk about the saltier side of life, to record the off-color humor of her partners in the Maine Warden service, or admit to her all-too-human frailties. This is a book you'll remember for a long time, and want to come back to for further reading and reflection.

I stumbled on this book at the bookstore as I was looking for a good non-fiction book that was easy to read. Kate's story is about a wife and mother of four whose life is turned upside down when her policeman/husband dies suddenly in an auto accident. She finds an outlet for her own grief by following her husband's dream of becoming a chaplain. Her journey leads her to theology school and instead of being a police chaplain, she becomes a chaplain to the game wardens in Maine as they search for missing persons. Kate uses a few Bible stories in such a refreshing way. My favorite is the story of the ten lepers and what a real miracle is. You will be amazed at the answer! I thought the audio version was a different story when I ordered it but was not disappointed in getting the same story as the author, Kate Braestrup, reads it ... her voice was so soothing and expressive! I recommend both the book and the audio book.

Because the author's husband was killed in a car accident, Kate Braestrup decides to pursue her husband's dream of becoming a minister (not a great reason or calling). Kate Braestrup's stories about her work as a game warden chaplain in Maine are interesting. HOWEVER, Kate Braestrup's theology is extremely frustrating. As a Unitarian Universalist minister, she readily tells people who had lost loved ones that their loved ones are in heaven (she claims because this is what Unitarian Univeralists believe she can provide this assurance). Later in the book, she admits to not believing in heaven at all. She believes when people die, there is nothing more. She attended Bangor Seminary yet suggested erroneously that Christians believe Jesus was the reincarnated Elijah. With such weak theology, I found her role as a chaplain very disconcerting. I threw the book away after reading it because I did not feel it was worth passing along to others.

Strange Fits of Passion is my second Anita Shreve read. I bought it simply because she wrote it and then realized it was about an abusive husband and a battered wife that flees with his child....After I realized that I was not too thrilled... I'm not too keen on that sort of plot.... I have to admit though it was much better than I expected - simply because of her descriptions. Shreve is a talented descriptive writer and her prose draws you in. Each chapter of the book is an interview of sorts of the characters in the story which is performed by a reporter that covered the story after it took place. This format kept me interested and the reader gets to see the story in the light of each character's opinion. I did enjoy this book, but it was one of those that after you finished reading it you are like....o.k. it's over lets start reading something else - I enjoy things that make me think a little more or at least wish it wasn't over...

I just discovered Anita Shreve and so far all of her books are great!

I am a big Anita Shreve fan and was overjoyed to see there was a novel I'd overlooked. I love her main character's perspective in this novel. We forget how different things were for women back in the '70s. This may seem like a short while ago but reading this book made me realize how far we've come and yet how far we still need to go. I particularly like how the author allows each of her characters to narrate, giving the small town a collective voice.

Domestic violence stories are so difficult to read. Anita Shreve is such an outstanding writer, and she presented Maureen/Mary's plight in a wonderfully compassionate manner. I was on the edge of my seat reading the events as they unfolded and was saddened that Mary didn't receive the justice that she deserved. I think had this been in current times instead of the 1970's, the outcome would have been different. An excellent, thought-provoking novel from one of the best authors of our time.

Anita Schreve is one of my favorite authors-- commencing the day I read The Pilot's Wife--there was no way that I could have anticapated the ending of that book--a complete surprise. Following that read, I purchased her book Fortune's Rock's --another great read
Strange Fits of Passion was so good that I had difficulty putting it down.
I highly recommend it.

Fudge a Mania by Judy Blume is a fiction book. I think that this book was really interesting because I didnt expect Fudge to like Sheila and try to marry Sheila. I think you should read this book because it is funny and its interesting. By Jamilex Dones

Fudge-A-Mania ,a fiction book by Judy Blume, is all about this five year old boy named Fudge. He plans to go to Maine and spend three whole weeks with the Tubmans. Peter is Fudge's brother. Fudge, his mother, father, Toosie, and Muriel all went to Maine because they are going on a family vacation.

This book is good because it's funny. I also like it because my favorite parts are when Sheila was trying to tie a ribbon around Turtle's neck but Turtle kept drooling. Also when Fudge ate to many raspberries and he got sick.

I think other people will like the book Fudge-A-Mania because it's silly and fun to read. La'Lonnie W.A

This story is called Fudge-a-Mania by Judy Blume. It is a fiction book. It's about a 5-year-old named Fudge wanting to get married to Sheila Tubman! Plus Fudge's big brother hates her. I also think it's a funny book like when Sheila calls Fudge "Fudgie-poo." I think you'll like it because it's a comedy. -Jade Juliano

Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner is a realistic story about a kid named Little Willy and his Grandfather who live on a potato farm. One day Grandfather gets sick because he didn't pay his rent. So Little Willy, who's ten years old, takes care of Grandfather and his farm.

StoneFox is a good book because it tells an excellent story that will make you cry. I recommend Stone Fox
because you will want to read it over and over again. -Mondy Cameau

Do you like funny books? Then this is a book for you. There is a lot of events going on like will Fudge get married? Read to find out. For readers who like funny books.

Antonio
3rd grade

That Camden Summer contains a vicious rape scene. I will never buy another book by this author. I do not read romance novels for violence. And to think she writes Harlequin romances!

This was a "romp", which I thoroughly enjoyed and hated to see it come to an end.

Description from the back of book:

The year is 1916. The place is a tiny New England village called Camden - where a newly divorced woman learns that love can be more special the second time around...

When free thinking divorcee Roberta Jewett returns to her hometown of Camden, Maine, she discovers that small-town folk consider a divorced woman little more that a prostitute. Condemned by her mother and scorned by neighbors, she nonetheless perseveres in her struggle to forge a good life for her little girls and herself. Behaving like no "respectable" woman would, she gets a job as a county nurse, learns to drive, and buys her very own Model T. Embittered by her painful marriage to an unfaithful husband, she has no intention of being any man's victim again. So when widowed carpenter Gabriel Farley begins work renovating her house, Roberta's first response to him is blatant resentment. But Gabriel's quiet, vibrant masculinity soon finds a way to soothe Roberta's heart.

And in the ultimate test of will and devotion, she must depend on the man she has grown to love and summon the courage to stand up to the entire town.

* This book was so great. I can't tell you how many times it brought tears to my eyes. I couldn't put it down & it's a definite keeper. The story is wonderful & sad at times but Roberta doesn't let the bad things overrule the life she's worked so hard to keep exciting for her girls. I don't see how anybody wouldn't love this book. I HIGHLY recommend.

I can't exactly pinpoint why I didn't LOVE this book. I guess it took a long time for me to start to like Roberta. I thought she was too abrasive at first to Gabe, who was sweet, strong and understanding (a trademark of Spencer's men it seems), but it was still a good story.

This was one of the "newer" novels from Ms. Spencer I read and I was a little hesitant because it was newer..But so far I have read this book TWICE and would read it again in a heartbeat. I always like writers who can pull a reader into the book or novel to the point you see yourself there. That is what happens with this one. I traveled back in time and lived with Roberta and the kids and laughed and cried with them. I would have to say the most enjoyable parts of the book were when Roberta wanted to buy a car (how scandalous!!) and her first driving lesson. This is a love story, but it is also an adventure. Buy this, you will enjoy it.

I was excited to know that there was another X-files book make by Kevin Anderson because I love how well he writes his novels.

I was disappointed when I finished the book. Here are the positives and the negatives I found.

On the positive side it was detailed.

On the negative side I found that the main plot of the story seemed a long way away from what was happening. I felt lost and confused at the end.

I really wish that it had not been drawn out so much. I understand that it was meant to build suspense but I didn't understand anything until the last seventy pages.

If you are going to read Kevin J. Anderson's novels read: "The X-files Antibodies

I enjoyed this book but i thought i could have been better. While reading this book i felt like Mulder was left out alot. But the book kept my attention. Although i thought it could have been better i reccomend this book.

Now having read 7 books either written or co-written by Kevin J. Anderson,(3 Star Wars, 3 X-Files and 1 Dune) I can say that the man has good ideas, I just don't think that his writing is all that absorbing. As with his Star Wars books, his X-Files books never quite ring true of the characters. As for the cases, they are pretty good, but it isn't Mulder and Scully who are chasing down the monsters. Of all the new X-Files books, Charles Grant's "Whirlwind" nails the characters of Mulder and Scully, but the case isn't particularly involving.

Of the three X-Files novelizations by Kevin J. Anderson, I think I like this one best. The plot is fast-paced and the story line is mysterious.

It's a shame that there are only a few X-Files novelizations by Anderson and other authors. I loved the show and am just discovering these books.

Now, it's too bad there aren't any "Millennium" novelizations!

This is a review of the audiobook version of Ground Zero by Kevin Anderson read by Gillian Anderson.
Set against the world of government sponsored nuclear weapons research , Ground Zero has agents Mulder and Scully investigating the death of a researcher who is blown to bits - but the rest of his office is intact. There is no known personal sized nuke- so what happened? The audiobook is read by Gillian Anderson , and the abridgement has the focus on Scully's part of the investigation and the unlikely supernatural conclusion that takes the agents to the south pacific and the site of a planned above ground test of a new super weapon.
Anderson's reading is great! I got a good chuckle out of her comments about how that Mulder's theories were bound to be way out there and not grounded in science. Well paced, the book moves along with action and theory and some cool supernatural mysticism concerning a lost tribe , wiped out by an above ground nuclear test in the 50s and their long journey to retribution and vengeance from beyond......

Each book in this series is better than the one before it. All I can say is I'm reading this series in order and it's alot of fun.Good gory fun. Read. Enjoy.

John Connolly's THE KILLING KIND is the third in his series of crime novels dealing with former NYPD detective-turned PI Charlie Parker. (First was EVERY DEAD THING and second was DARK HOLLOW.) These novels are first-person tough guy narratives told from Parker's perspective, in the tradition of such hardboiled crime writers as Ross Macdonald and James Lee Burke; however, the Parker novels definitely have their own distinct twist and flavor and are not at all clichéd. Parker is a man with an extremely troubled past that includes the brutal murder of his wife and children, as well as killings committed by Parker himself as he pursued and finally caught his family's killer (chronicled in EDT.) Along the way, he's found a new love interest, psychologist Rachel Wolfe, and he's gotten lots of help from friends named Angel and Louis (a gay, interracial couple of semi-retired criminals.)

In this third installment, Parker, stilling living in Maine, is hired by a wealthy, powerful man named Jack Mercier to look into the circumstances of the alleged suicide of the daughter of a former friend. As he delves deeper into the case, Parker finds connections to a shady evangelical group called `the Fellowship,' which may also be linked to violence against abortion providers; he also discovers links to a fringe religious group known as the Aroostook Baptists who had disappeared in northern Maine decades before and whose mass grave is accidentally uncovered at the beginning of the book. Along the way, Parker crosses swords with a spider-loving killer known as Elias Pudd, and faces competition from a Jewish assassin known as the Golem. It all ends messily, which is the norm for a Connolly novel.

A supernatural element, which mostly consists of Parker seeing dead victims, is once again in the foreground. The supernatural continues to play an increasingly large role in subsequent Parker tales, too. In doing so, Connolly blends elements of horror into the hardboiled crime genre, which no doubt turns off mystery genre purists, but delights people like me who enjoy crime, horror, and originality. What's really great about Connolly's usage of the supernatural in these books, though, is that he often employs it ambiguously - for example, we're never quite sure if these visions are real or if Parker's imagining them.

As always, Connolly writes superbly, painting settings, and nailing both dialogue and Parker's internal monologue - something that's doubly impressive when you take into account the fact that Connolly's an Irishman and most of his settings and characters are American. Connolly's main characters - protagonist Parker plus sidekicks Angel and Louis - are very intriguing and well-drawn. Connolly's `good guys' have an ambiguous morality - they're not clean-cut do-gooders, just a lighter shade of gray than the truly evil people they face. I find Rachel Wolfe much less interesting. She seems like a stereotypical academic/feminist pacifist, who nags Parker about his past violent acts even though most of them were justified, who feels guilty about killing someone herself back in the first novel even though it was totally justified, and who doesn't want armed protection even when she knows dangerous people may be after her. (This latter tendency often makes her a ready-made damsel-in-distress, predictably.) Fortunately, she's not as central of a character as Parker, Angel, and Louis.

Last, Connolly knows how to make a good villain. His villains tend to be almost like comic book or James Bond bad guys (Connolly himself cites the latter as a big influence on his baddies) in that they sport physical deformities or abnormalities which mirror their internal evil - however, Connolly succeeds in avoiding the `campiness' often associated with Bond and comic villains. KILLING KIND's Pudd is a great example - he loves spiders and often uses them to kill, but he also looks and acts a bit like them, with long, hairy fingers and such. The Golem too, though less of a clear-cut `bad guy' (I often found myself rooting for him,) is also a weird-looking, disfigured character. In future Parker novels, Connolly continues to devise the types of bad guys who stand out from the herd of fictional killers.

If you like hardboiled crime novels and you're not a mystery genre purist who's going to be bothered by having some horror elements mixed in, you'll love this series - though I recommend reading them in order from EVERY DEAD THING for maximum enjoyment and understanding. I just finished reading this book for the third or fourth time, if that tells you anything about how much I like the Parker series. I'm eagerly awaiting my pre-ordered copy of Connolly's latest, THE REAPERS, which is coming out later this month, and to kill time I'm rereading all the preceding books in the series.

Don't get me wrong, I love John Connolly as an author and have purchased almost all his other books, but I guess I just don't get to excited about spiders.

I am a lover of horror films and thrilling novels, none of which have EVER given me nightmares. This book, however, honestly haunted my dreams. The incredible detail that Connolly uses puts vivid pictures in your head that last hours after putting the book down.

This was my first Connolly book, and I absolutely loved it. Although I realized after a few chapters that I was coming into the middle of an ongoing chain of books, I was easily able to grasp what was happening and didn't feel left out at all. I will certainly go back and read the stories before this one as well as the ones after!

I enjoyed this one as much as Every Dead Thing and The Book of Lost Things. There were some very powerfully graphic scenes that offered the most suspense in this Charlie Parker series. What made my copy even more exciting was that it turned out to be an autographed copy!
Since spiders do completely frighten me, this book certainly had its moments of giving me that creeping feeling and turning up the lights to make sure that spiders hadn't crawled out of fiction and into reality in my room! This one was certainly the most horrifying, at least in conjunction with my particular phobias.
I am quite anxious to read his other books!