Bean Books

Whoosh! You see a hat pin sail across the room, much like a javelin, and pin onto the lace curtain. Then, a small man no more than six inches tall scurries across the room.

Welcome to the world of the Borrowers; Pod, Homily, and Arrietty Clock. They live under the floorboards and borrow anything from potatoes to blotting paper. The tiny people live in an old country house, inhabited by `human beans'.
All goes well for the small family until Arrietty is `seen' by a boy. The Borrowers think that `human beans' are always vicious and bad, but this boy turns out to be friendly.
The boy befriends the Clocks and even helps them borrow.
Then, Pod makes the mistake of borrowing precious knick-knacks from the mistress.
Mrs. Driver, the housekeeper, is getting suspicious. Who could be stealing these things?
She sprouts a plan to trap the thieves.
Will the Clocks be caught? Will they have to emigrate?

I thought this book was funny. The Borrowers have limited knowledge on the outside world making the way they act and think seem silly. The book is entertaining, and it is not action packed all the way. It gives you time to think about what you just read, and doesn't zoom through everything. This book is good for all ages. Mary Norton did a great job writing this book.

A classic from my childhood, I enjoy giving this to pre-teen girls and all of them have said they enjoy it, too.

I love this book - I got it for my granddaughter, who will love it as well.

Have you ever pondered where your hairclips, bobby pins and thimbles have gotten to? Do you wonder why small quantities of your father's tobacco and Madeira seem to smoke themselves or evaporate? Did your wooden knight ever ride off the chessboard never to be seen again?

You don't even know what I'm talking about, do you? OK, so have you ever lost your iPod Nano? Maybe the Borrowers needed a stereo for their home entertainment system. The same thing happened to your Nintendo Gameboy.

Mary Norton's "The Borrowers" published in 1952 is about a race of little people living beside a rain pipe, over the mantel, behind the harpsichord and in all the nooks and crannies of the house. These little people "borrow" from us, the big people. They use blotting paper for their carpets, a single onion ring for their cooking and postage stamps for wall portraits.

In the book, Pod, Homily and Arriety are the last Borrowers left in Aunt Sophy's house. They lived in the floorboards under the kitchen ad entered and exited their home from a hole behind the grandfather clock. They weren't rich but they had everything they needed - potatoes for their supper, a gas pipe leak for their cooking, a foie gras dish for their bath. Pod, the father, ventures into the house every now and then for supplies.

This is the story of how Arriety, after being allowed to go borrowing with her father, befriended a nine-year old boy who was a visitor in the house. Then their lives change forever: They discover news about their Borrower relatives, gain new riches and then lose everything they own.

This is a good story to read in a big house on a rainy afternoon. Perhaps you can explore the house for little corners where a Borrower may be living. Or you can guess which of the little things lying around the house are useful for them.

Even if you live in an apartment in the big city with the most modern furniture and high tech gadgets, it would still be fun to imagine what a Borrower family would be using these days. What would a Borrower your age be playing with? What would they use for furniture? Where would they be living?

I bought a package of IKEA tealight candles once and some of them have disappeared. Perhaps a family of Borrowers illuminate their cozy little home with them. Well, they can buy their own iPhone if they need to surf the internet; I'm not letting mine out of my sight.

The Borrowers are tiny little guys, but otherwise people. They get along by using junk that is lying around and adapting it for their own use. This book is about what happens when a human boy actually discovers them, after moving into their area.

Not a particularly uncommon theme, and this one is pretty dull.

I usually like business fables. This one was unfortunately well below par . . . and not because the business described was uninteresting. The business was very interesting.

But the book spent too much time going away from talking about the fable and into attempting to be an elementary class on how to run a very small business. I admit it. The unending repetition of the 4 P's (Passion, People, Personal and Product) got to me.

Is there anyone on the planet who doesn't know that good products sell better than less good ones? Are there any small business people who don't know that your people make a difference? Have you ever been annoyed if people gave you more personal service? Do you enjoy buying from passionate people?

If you know those things, you can skip this book. You've already passed this course.

I liked that the book was based on a real business where anyone would want to buy their coffee. I also liked that the advice was to give great service and products.

But aside from describing how they run their coffee business, this book was pretty boring and simplistic. For me the upside of the book was the description of peddling to work by bicycle trailed by cookies you've baked yourself and enjoying a half-hour ferry ride in between. That sounded very great indeed!

A short easy to read book with profound principles. The ideas are common sense, but achieving the correct mix and right balance may be difficult to implement.

Moreover, I like the fact that this book has a "discussion forum" via the internet. A useful read for people studying marketing / management.

On second thought, a MUST read for all (employers + employees) on how to improve the enjoyability of their working lives!

This is not a great book. It is short and sweet but general knowledge. It can serve as a great reminder but unless it is in the clearance bin don't bother.

Although there are literally tens of business cases presented in short book if not parable form for popular audiences, BEANS, recommends itself as one of the best ones by virtue of its usefulness for both managers and employees.

It tells a compelling story that presents real world challenges and realistic solutions. It presents a scale of business almost everyone should be able to relate to since it isn't about the sometimes otherworldly power plays the Captains of Industry like to write about. For the rest of us, the human-sized, daily dilemmas of making one's vision work while surviving to make them work, is sensibly and warmly expressed in BEANS.

BEANS is the kind of book that could pay for itself, if a saavy entrepreneur who resonates with its commonsense, promoted its message in their own enterprise.

This book is so poorly written it is laughable. This is a fable for yuppies who are fascinated by Seattle and expensive coffee drinks. The points it tries to make are so obvious (treat customers well, etc) that anyone who still needs to learn them has no place in the business world.
The author keeps inserting street names and places in Seattle as if to say "I know Seattle, isn't that cool?", but the writing is so bad and the points so obvious it could be condensed to a three or four page pamphlet.
I read the author's bio, and apart from working at Amazon (that's in Seattle!) he does not appear to have any real world experience. This is a bad book written by two "consultants" looking to cash in on the self help business book boom.
Leaf through it in a book store sometime and you will see what I mean.
Utter crap. Don't waste your money.

You know, before reading this book, the way most single women behaved with regard to dating/sex confused the hell out of me. It just didn't make sense when I saw a woman blow off nice, intelligent, successful guys and gravitate towards nothing but arrogant jerks. This book outlines some pretty compelling theories about why many women behave this way. After you've read this book, you've got some level of understanding about what goes on in a woman's head. So you've got that going for you...

As if that wasn't enough, these guys tell you how to use that type of behavior to your advantage when you decide you want to bed one of these women. And then they give you some nifty pointers to use in the sack once you get there. I'm sure for a nominal fee, they'd even come out to your local bar and act as your wing man, but you shouldn't need that much help. This book's all you need.

I originally thought that the book would be funny and not truly be serious about the dynamics of male and female dating. Was I surprised! The book is not only funny, but insightful and unpretentious. This is the definitive book for understanding the mysteries of dating. The only other work I'm remotely familiar with that broaches the subject is the independent film, "The Tao of Steve" which has a surprise ending unlike "The Sauce." I can't wait for "The Sauce II" when Bad Seed Bob discusses the dynamics of marriage.

Best "how to" book ever. Borrowed this from my friend and tried it out that night in the bars. First night all I got was "like you are so rude"s. Did the same thing the next weekend and played the chapter 9 and 10 gig verbatim, complete with the line, "what was your name again?" Got some more "you are such an idiot" that night but felt the change coming on slowly. Finally, watching out for TSDZ I waited several weeks before going back into battle. Well, that was last weekend and this time, I bumped into some of the same people. This time, I was bad seed -3x and got lines like.."hey, why were you such an butthead to me several weeks ago, you are not that bad afterall". Key message, I was a playa this last weekend and owe it all to that little green book...The Sauce.

The Sauce is an incredibly sophisticated analysis of dating and mating behaviors; don't be thrown off by the humorous drawings and the irreverant humor throughout! The authors have truly done their research (and I'm sure had a great time doing it). Their use of mathematical analogies to explain the complex interactions involved in human behavior is both funny and interesting. I actually laughed out loud while reading this thought-provoking analysis of dating behavior. As a psychologist, I appreciate the incredibly intelligent way that the authors have summarized what we know to be true from various social psychology experiments on human interaction (all the while laughing my ass off). The Sauce is a quick read that is not to be dismissed!

Ok - so I never realized I wanted to change my bad seed Bob to a good seed! This book is filled with little insights on what we do as women when we want to get a man and what we do once we get them - things we never realized. It's also nice that they get the word out on the Hair Pull - it's about time!! We know we love it! Excellent book, insighful, entertaining, and it will make you laugh and roll your eyes occasionally. It wouldn't be "saucy" if it didn't.

Very nice and meaningful book, which might help you with day to day inner conflicts and teach you how to find a way out to cope with stress of life.
The delivery by amazon was right on time as expected.

www.fpmt.org The Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition has home study courses set up with DVDs, books, transcripts and MP3s of lectures given by true Buddhist teachers. It starts with the basics and takes you step by step through such topics as the Mind, Meditation, Death, etc. Each topic is a correspondence course type setup with no obligation to go on, no registration fees, etc. You see the list of what is recommended you buy for each lesson, and you order what you want. Not simply intellectual teaching, this program is also experiential. You PRACTICE Buddhism, from the ground up. Although buying random books in search of information is what most of us do, there is another way. There is this Buddhism for Beginners section, and a formal university setting (or correspondence course) for those who are more advanced in their practice. Go to the website and browse their selection of books, look at the programs offered, and decide for yourself.

I have been studying and practicing Buddhism for over 4o years - I still do not understand it. For Non Tibetans (this excludes most Asians too) - forget about tantras and mantras and all the hocus-pocus! We will never be able to understand it. We may imitate it but we will not live it inside out. It will be best to stick to some simple western (rational!) method of meditation and stick to a good, moral life. It IS that simple. No need to look to the Himalayas for enlightenment - it is right inside you.
DO not waste time (and life) reading about meditation: Just do it! PRACTICE.

A very helpful and thought provoking book. A pleasant read that leaves you wanting to learn more. Not overly term-laden. Just enough to help educate you as to the terminorlogy of Buddhism, without being incomprehensible. The wisdom and goodness of the Dalai Lama comes through in every chapter. I feel as if this book is a good starting point for embracing the Buddhist way.

An all around good read for anyone looking for some self introspect or not committed to any one particular religion.

Ok, so I love this series so much that I had to stop reading for awhile, because I was dreaming in green, but thats how it goes. The only problem was that I felt the book was incomplete, like there should be a sequel or something...I felt that there are many more problems ahead for these two and that it should be continued with another book....One thing that I loved, was that I got to catch up with the other characters from the other books, that was my fav part, but I really, really wish that Ms. Castle is working on Ghost Hunter #5...I could use some more

I love everything she writes and this is no exception! She is my favorite author no matter which name she writes under.

As always, I really enjoyed this book. I love the way she works the dust bunnies into the story. Being a pet owner myself, it makes her characters much more relatable. I've always loved SciFi/Fantasy and since I got married, I've come to appreciate romance novels as well. This author blends all my favorites into very entertaining books. I highly recommend them.Silver Master (Ghost Hunters, Book 4)

This entire series is worth reading.Her style of writing and the idea of setting the series on another planet is innovative. Her characters are interesting complex simple, flawed and lovable. I hope the next one is availble soon. Check out the Acane Society series as well.

It sounded creative: humans and pets with psychic abilities and living on another planet, but it felt like a "made-for-tv movie." The book seemed formulaic. The hero and heroine (Davis and Celinda) met, fought and chased the bad guys and ended up in love. I was hoping for creative or witty dialogue which was not there. Nothing surprised or delighted me. The characters seemed like copies of characters from other books. In one scene, Celinda was too whiny for me. Davis was her bodyguard. She had to go to her sister's wedding, and she didn't want him to come. She was complaining about the social awkwardness and everyone asking her questions about him.

CAUTION SPOILER: The violence level was mild. A bad guy died when he accidentally shot himself. Thugs were chasing and trying to kill Davis, but he knocked them unconscious instead of killing them. Other bad guy deaths were told rather than shown.

Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: three. Setting: a time similar to early 21st century on the planet Harmony. Humans had colonized the planet. Copyright: 2007. Genre: paranormal romantic suspense.
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For a list of my reviews of other books by this author, see my 4 star review of "Sizzle and Burn" posted 2-09-08.

When I first found this book, it was on the bargain rack at Barnes & Noble. I'd already have a few vampire anthologies in my hands so it was pure luck that I happened to pick this book up. After reading the insides cover, I actually questioned what this book was about. It wasn't anything "normal" that I had ever bought or read.

When I finally got around to reading it, I couldn't put it down. I finished it within two days and by that time I was on a hungry search for me.

So you can imagine how I felt to find it's sequel.

What makes this book amazing is its protagonist, Ariella, with the knowledge and brainpower of a 40-year-old and the naive and courage of a 13-year-old. The way she handled her family life and the intense knowledge of the outside world was enthralling.

Hubbard gave Ari a voice that is rare. Compounding a classic folklore creature with intriguing mystery and an earnest interest in the environment, she managed to give life to a common story that was quickly growing old. Whereas Anne Rice or (the more modern) Stephenie Meyer's vampires are romantic and things of our wildest fantasies, Susan Hubbard creates a being that could very well be living right next door. So realistic are her characters and vampires that you might begin to ask yourself...just how much of this is really a book?

This book was alright...However, the way that it was written is questionable. Ari, the main character, had a very consistent character in the beginning of the book and because of the influences of her friend, she began to change. However, later on when Ari decides to find her mother, the image of her hitchhiking seemed very unbelievable to me. There were other things about Ari's character that didn't quite fit in what the image the author seemed to want to convey. Overall I enjoyed this book, but I have read better vamp books than this.

I couldn't put it down. Literally. I started reading at around 10pm and at midnight I thought, "I might as well plan on little sleep because I've got to finish it." At 2am I went to bed ready to head to the bookstore to get the sequel.

Hubbard has created some great narration in her main character and some very intriguing characters and situations. This book is a wonderful example of a plot where the character learns that not all is as it appears to be...or is told.

Tony

Ariella Montero has always lived differently from anyone else. She lives with her father in a mansion in Saratoga Springs, NY, where she is home-schooled by her father. Her only other contact with the outside world is their housekeeper - she has never had a friend her age. Her father keeps her on a strictly vegetarian diet, saying she has a type of blood disorder, and spends his days in the basement - his lab - with the unappealing Mrs. Root as his assistant.

When the housekeeper decides that Ari needs to get out and meet some young people, she asks permission for Ari to come home with her and have dinner at their house. The McGarritt's noisy world - with several children - is so different from what Ari knew, but she eventually became close friends with them. However, she begins to learn about her mother, and decides one day to go seek her out.

Most of the book is her journey south, and about her discovering her mother and their secret. OH, you want to know the secret? Read the book! It's a really interestingly created coming of age story. I highly recommend it.

I am a very big fan of the Stephenie Meyer, Twilight series and I cannot believe that I have found another book that I like nearly as much! This story is unbelievably written, and captivates you from the first page. Usually reading some books, especially near the first few chapters I catch my eyes skim reading it, and with this one, it catches you from the first few paragraphs. You just don't want to miss out, and even through that, I still couldn't put this book down, and read it in a day! The absolute only thing that I would change about it was that it was too short! BUT....there is a sequel that I'm starting also tonight....haha!

The book starts off telling and explaining the life of a thirteen year old girl that has been compeltely sheltered her entire life. A house maid introduces her to her family and from there things begin to happen that introduce her to adulthood, and secrets that threaten to burst free.

Mixed with a bit of friendship, daughter-hood, romance, and the need to discover yourself, this is a great read! I'm still confused as to why I found it in the fiction section! I would have put it in the YA or sci-fi.

GREAT READ!

This is a great book for beginning and experienced marathoners alike. It provides history, motivation, and a complete guide for everything from completing a first marathon to attaining a PR. Higdon has done a great job updating editions to keep up with nutrition products, such as gels and sport drinks.

I'm training for my first marathon and was given this book by my cousin who has run multiple marathons. I should say that I am in college and have been distance running since I was around 13. I run for fun, not really for competition and the idea of a marathon intimidated me because it seemed like such a far leap from what I am used to.

This book provides a lot of motivation but in ways I did not expect. I didn't realize upon getting this book that it was not only targeted to first time marathoners but also to people who really don't run. I found the provided training schedules to be a bad fit for my personal fitness. The novice schedules were too slow to start, and the advanced schedules were too intense. I also come from running 6, sometimes 7, days a week so only running 4 days is a problem for me.

Ultimately, this book is a great marathon book and I really enjoyed reading it. However, I do think it is targeted to the non-runner and wish it was a little bit more advanced.

Hal Higdon is one of the first names I heard when I started running. He's a true expert in a sport that can benefit anyone-no matter who you are.

I'm a pretty slow runner, but I like this book because it's welcoming. Higdon has helped thousands of people finish their first marathon and this book is putting years of experience on paper.

It's friendly even to beginners, and presents very specific ways to train for a marathon. It's idiot-proof and very, very forgiving.

This book is also a big shot of motivation, as well! Every time you pick it up it makes you want to go for a run-work toward that goal. I'd recommend this book to anyone. Not just people who want to run marathons, either-because it gives tips helpful for any runner from nutrition to clothing to pace and keeping yourself mentally in the game.

Sat and read this book all the way through in a sitting. Lots of fantastic practical tidbits for the first time marathoner, as well as those who have not quite qualified for Boston (yet). The August injury chapter was a favorite. Those sub 3 hour folks are probably reading something else anyways. His website is also quite good. Nice job, Hal!

Tons of great tips make this reference guide a must-have for marathon runners. There are also inspirational tidbits to get you back on the track.

Great story by a guy that wasted a lot of years not being himself to balance his high profile job. he went through lots of the same tribulation I did.

This is a heartfelt story that has not been told before -- a glimpse inside the world of major league baseball from the perspective of a perceptive and sensitive gay man. Billy writes with real passion about the sport he loves, the incredible pressure to excel, and the high personal price a gay man pays for remaining in the closet. He has a lot to say about the culture of professional sports, how players relate to each other both on and off the field, and what it takes to excel in a very demanding job. And for those who are not baseball fans, a useful glossary of baseball terms and slang is included at the back of the book.

I am not a baseball fan. I read a review of this book and there was just something that intrigued me about the story. I was prepared to be disappointed but, once I started, I couldn't stop turning the pages to see how all this was going to work out. Of course it was interesting to read Billy's take on the gay part of the story but, I think even with that removed from the picture, this is a moving story of a boy's dream and his struggles to achieve it. It certainly was a most pleasant sojourn into the baseball business and the life of a ballplayer.

GREAT story. I am not a sports fan, but couldn't put the book down once I started to read it.

I think Billy helps to prove that the stereotype that gay men are vain is wrong. Here is a man that could have any gay guy he wants and is more interested in love.

Having to miss his partner's funeral almost brought tears to my eyes. This story right there provides yet another reason as to why we need gya marriage in the US>

Billy Bean played for 3 major league baseball teams (the Dodgers, Tigers and Padres). He was never a star in the majors, but he had a decent career. Would Bean have a story to tell if he was not gay? Maybe, because it seems everyone writes an autobiography these days. This isn't just the story of a gay man. This is the story of a man struggling to discover who he really is.
Bean discusses his childhood, his high school playing days and his years in the minor leagues. While he progressed through life, he always seemed to feel as if something was missing or not quite right. Still he got married and thought he was living the 'right' life.
Eventually and painfully, Bean realized what he was and decided to act upon it, even though he was not ready to go public with everything. Tragically and much too quickly, his first meaningful gay relationship ended with his partner's death due to AIDS.
Bean's story of coping with this loss, while coming to terms with his sexuality is an engrossing story. You can feel Bean's pain. Gay or not, we all go through our own identity struggles. I guess that is one thing that makes Bean's book good. We can all relate to his struggles. Yet, on the other hand, I have no idea what he must have endured, but Bean paints a vivid and often painful picture of his journey. This makes the book a good read for all people.
I won't totally kill the ending, but I will say that it is uplifting and positive.

Not only am I a LWL member in Los Angeles and am very grateful for Amy Swift and leader Jen Sincero. I bought the book and recommend it to all of my girlfriends that are frustrated in their overpaid corporate jobs. Hard to believe that the almighty dollar does not make for a women's happiness. Ladies Who Launch gives you the courage to launch from within, plan your exit stategy and first and foremost believe in yourself. Like I wrote above, if only this book and this nationally recognized networking group were around when I began my business, I would not have felt so isolated. The growing numbers of women that are choosing freedom in their hearts and their souls versus "working for the man" are and will reap what they sow. Like Alicia Key's sings "I am superwomen, yes I am" The LWL team Victoria, Beth and Amy and all the other leaders certainly are and if their isn't an incubator by you just yet, purchase this book and become a leader in your own area. I thought fashion moved fast, I think Ladies Who Launch might move faster.

Just gave this book to a friend who recently started her own business... the perfect gift!

This book is a complete re-hash of "you can do it" pop-psychology. It offered absolutely nothing new in terms of real concrete getting things done. The repeated references to "take time for yoga" and have parties to sell your products to friends is annoying.

The surveys and "studies" mentioned in the book are invalid in terms of how they were conducted; no marketing expert or sociologist would give them any credence.

The book appears to be a marketing tool for the author's own business, a franchise of Incubators which cost hundreds of dollars to join. Don't waste your money; the book itself is an advertisement for a poor product.

I found this book to bevery validating of my own journey starting my Business & Life Coaching practice a few years ago. Imagine it, Speak it, Do it, and Celebrate it, are simple ways to remeber the content. I encourage all my female clients in business to read this book.

I found this book trite and a waste of time. There are much better books to consult. The website for Ladies Who Launch is also pretty much worthless, unless you want to read about the success of celebrities and such. Their organization isn't as wide-spread and helpful as they would have you believe.

I didn't find anything that was of help. And as others have mentioned, some of the language in the book was sickening.

I'm just not impressed.

I am the kind of person who finds a great book, devours it word by word and then keeps it so that I can experience it again another time...this is among my all time favorites!

This review is for the Little, Brown and Company first edition, a paperback, published in Great Britain in 1993, 598 pages. Ms. Wood has published 18 novels with another due out shortly. VIRGINS OF PARADISE was Ms. Wood's third BIG novel. Read all about this author at www.barbarawood.com.

VIRGINS OF PARADISE is a long novel that recounts the sociological changes in Egypt from 1945 to around 1992 by tracking the Rasheed clan, a wealthy and initially aristocratic family whose locus is a mansion on Virgins of Paradise street in Cairo. Ms. Wood divides her story into seven parts, each one a significant slice of time in recent Egyptian history, and relates how the extensive Rasheed family fared through the social and political upheaval.

The baseline is set in 1945 when, at the end of WWII, the British occupation disintegrates and the royal aristocrats reign, but there are portents of change. Part two, begins on Black Saturday, January 23, 1952, when a mob destroys mostly British interests in Cairo and continues through July of that year and the exile of King Farouk, which precipitates upsets and tragedy for the Rasheeds. In part three, in 1962, we see how the Rasheeds have coped with the sociological changes under Abdel Nassar. For part four, the plot continues with the intricacies, secrets and crises of the Rasheed clan in 1966/1967 up to the eve of the six-day war. Nassar dies in 1970. Part five picks up the epic in 1973 after President Sadat has made some changes. Here, the story shifts in part to Southern California where Jasmine (Yasmina), born in part one and disowned in part four, is studying medicine. In part six, the story tracks both the Rasheeds in Egypt and the outcast Jasmine in 1980 and into 1981, when President Mubarak assumes control after the assassination of Sadat. The plot gets sticky as the swirl of lives begin to converge and clash in part seven, in 1988. The epilogue, sometime in the early nineties, picks up where the epilogue left the reader wondering.

The western connection in VIRGINS OF PARADISE begins with Alice, a blond Brit who becomes the second wife of Ibrahim, the dominant Rasheed male. Alice and Ibrahim beget Yasmina, who we meet in the prologue as a protagonist. Written in the omniscient, everybody's point of view, there are many protagonists in VIRGINS OF PARADISE. My favorite is Amira, the widowed matriarch raised in the old days when, once married, a woman never left her home. But Ms. Wood takes us behind the veils and lets the reader grasp the values and the frustrations of the Egyptian woman in a changing society.

This is character driven women's fiction at its best. The eclectic cast of female characters, a virtual harem, allows for multiple scenarios, permutations on the plight of woman in a repressive society where she is circumcised at puberty, betrothed without her consent, excoriated if she does not produce a male, and can be discarded by her husband saying "I divorce" three times. The several generations of Rasheed women allow the author to play out a spectrum of solutions to the female predicament. VIRGINS OF PARADISE is an epic portrayal of women coping in a patriarchal society.

I loved this book. Everytime I know a friend who needs to escape into another world, I search the internet to find Virgins of Paradise to buy for her. I read a lot and this has always been one of my favorite books. Don't miss it! It takes you to a different world and when you're finished reading it, you'll wish she had written a sequel.

This novel of soap opera style love, honor and family secrets is intelligently told against a backdrop of Egyptian politics with a feminist theme focusing on the oppression of women in a male-dominated society of centuries long tradition. The rights of women and men in Egypt are drastically different. There is a passage in the book where one woman decrees that women should be informed by their husbands if they are being divorced, informed if they are taking a second or third wife, be given the right to divorce their husbands if they are being physically abused...basic rights that I expect as an American woman. A young woman in the novel dishonors her family by being raped, another because her hymen was broken innocently and she would not produce blood as proof of her virginity on her wedding night.

Amira is the matriarch of the prosperous Rasheed family. The story begins in 1945 and it is Amira's ever-present voice throughout that links the many women and children as their lives unfold through the years until the end of the book in the early 90's. Her husband has died and her son Ibrahim is now the head of the family. His first wife dies while giving birth to his daughter Camelia. Driven by grief and shame for not having a son, he curses God and disappears to Europe. He comes back with an English wife, Alice who also bears him a daughter, Yasmina. Although they want more children, the couple has bad luck with subsequent pregnancies and like many men in Egypt, Ibrahim becomes obsessed with producing male heirs. He takes the drastic measure of claiming the son of a beggar girl as his own. Most of the story focuses on Amira, Ibrahim, Alice, Camelia and Yasmina although there is a large cast of supporting characters.

I was appalled by the lack of rights and limited choices for women. It was entertaining and educational without being overly preachy or political. It was a fairly long book at 600 pages, but I really enjoyed reading it. Recommended.

Barbara Wood's epic tale of the Egyptian Rasheeds masterfully allows the Western reader a glimpse into the lives of a Muslim family and the trials and tribulations that women universally endure as the so-called lesser sex.

The saga unfolds from many perspectives, both male and female. Amira, the family matriarch, married at thirteen and accustomed to wearing the veil and remaining within the walls of her domain on Virgins of Paradise Street in Cairo, retains a secret past locked deep within her that shames her with its elusive mystery, yet at the same time endows her with the strength to rule her family with a loving decisiveness that never fails her. Ibrahim, her son, wants a son of his own so badly, that he curses God and spends the rest of his life wondering if his ill-spoken words have cursed his ability to sire male children. Yasmina, Ibrahim's daughter, follows the mandates her grandmother dictates, marries and has a son, but decides to follow her own heart and become a doctor. Carmelia, her sister, pursues a different path; flouting Amira's old-fashioned ways, she becomes a famous Eastern dancer. Zachariah, the house's adopted son, inherits too much of his biological father's dreamy idealism, seeking the paradise of God rather than its earthly alternative. All the Rasheeds struggle against the times, the old ways, a newer thinking and what they intrinsically know is morally correct.

Wood weaves her family epic with informative facts about the Middle East. The reader witnesses a female circumcision firsthand along with the perspectives of the participating women. The powerlessness of woman within a society where she wields little power outside the walls of the harem is illustrated through the events experienced by most of the women characters. Wood manages to adequately portray these women as religiously fervent and yet striving for personal freedom without being overly preachy. Her research into the Arab world is to be commended---meeting the Rasheeds amounts to exposing yourself to an otherwise alien world.

There are times when Wood repeats herself. One has to wonder if certain parts of the story are written out of sequence and never edited or if Wood thinks that after so many pages have been digested a gentle reminder of what transpired 150 pages back is needed.

Like other such 'BIG' novels, Virgins of Paradise has its predictable moments, but for the most part, it is an enjoyable and not overly literary story in which to delve--especially if, like myself, you listen to the unabridged audio version, wonderfully performed by Brilliance Corporation in a 19 hour format.