Ohio Books

This is a good story in which the plot and events move fast. It is a long book, but I do reccommend it.

This is my 1st novel by this author and I throughly enjoyed it. I love stories written in first person and keep at a nice pace(speed). This book did just that.

I listened to this book on tape during my daily commute, and it held my attention, the characters were interesting, but the situations were somewhat unbelievable. My biggest issues were handling the descriptive nature of the sexual abuse of Annette by "Buttwright"; I almost stopped listening because of that. It's hard to imagine a 7 year old being raped by an old man. I also thought Annette was a little stupid, and her mama for allowing the oppression that plagued both their lives.

But my biggest irritation, came from the author's multiple use of the word "incredulous".

I am a Eurasian-American female. An African friend of mine loaned me this book with a promise that I would enjoy it. What a wonderful thought provoking book, full of the problems of growing up without guidance from anyone but God. When you are poor, you make due and make decisions that will change the rest of your life or your child's. I would never of thought to read a book by and African author not that I would not but it would never come to mind. The author of this book is extremely descriptive and you can visualize the pages as if you are there. I am in the process of reading all of her books. Thanks you

This book was awful.I don't know if it was the continuous sexual abuse, Annette endured that got to me, or if it was, Mary Monroe's poor writing style.

My criticism is with how, Mary failed to give her characters depth and emotions. It was all just detached, surface reading considering she never took her readers into the character's minds. I realize this was Mary's first novel, and she acknowledged being a self-taught writer. So maybe that explains it, but either way, I hated it!

I just finished this book and I must say I was surprised. It was very good. My initial worry was that it would be fluffy, but the portrait of Jesus struck the right balance between his being compassionate and winsome on the one hand, but far from passive or a push-over on the other. It was enjoyable to the end. If I have friends who wonder what a conversation with Jesus would be like or are seeking to find out more about Christianity in a non-threatening way; Dinner with a Perfect Stranger will be at the top of the list!

Welcome to College: A Christ-Follower's Guide for the Journey

This book is an easy read! The book basically takes place during a 4-course meal in a restaurant. The over-ambitious husband feeling failure in his marriage and life gets invited to dinner by Jesus. The dialogue is very simple and easy to get. It's a story of hope and inspiration! Excellent book for non-believers & believers!! I recommend it as a MUST READ. A+++++++++++

I have the honor of keeping up with college students and military in our church. Our pastor recommended this book and loaned me his own copy to read. It was easy reading and so interesting that I purchased 10 copies to send to my college students along with their Easter package. From choosing the nicest restaurant (wouldn't he want the best for his followers?) to giving good advice to his guest and taking a moment to notice those serving Him, this writer managed to give the reader a nice warm feeling about what it might be like to have dinner with Jesus.

Absolutely FANTASTIC. Simply written. I've purchased several and pass them to friends. Wonderful, wonderful book.

Trite, predictable, uninteresting, unchallenging, and more. A peculiar little book that did nothing for my faith. I want something that stretches or even challenges. This appeared to be narrow, party propaganda. Perhaps, however, this is for someone who has never heard of Christianity. I am also troubled at the numbers who raved about this book. That fact, to me, is a sorry commentary on the depth of Christianity in America. St. Paul indicated that, "When I was a child, I thought like a child." Now that I am a man, I need something more.

"Waiting for the World to End" by Nicole Hunter was a joy to read; one of those books that you can't put down once you've started it. I've never been to Ohio, but I felt like I was visiting as the story of teacher/basketball coach Tom Olsen, who is haunted by his past, unfolds. It reiterates that no matter how ideal a person's life may seem, they may be suffering from secrets they harbor. Several real-life issues bubble up that make the reader think while reading the novel, and long after the last page has been read. I think it's a home-run for a first-time novelist, and I look forward to reading more books from the talented Nicole Hunter.

As the Executive Director of the Mom's Choice Awards, many fine works of literature pass through my office on a daily basis. But, because I'm an administrator, and not a member of the jury, I rarely have an opportunity to read the books that are submitted for consideration.

I recently took a rare day-of-rejuvenation, and grabbed Waiting For The World To End from my "been meaning-to-read" pile and headed out to my deck to enjoy a perfect early-summer morning. Although I did struggle a bit with guilt-anxiety for taking the day off, by the second chapter I was completely committed to the book, and didn't think about work for the rest of the day. I finished Waiting in one seating. It's a thoroughly enjoyable read with a complex storyline and rich character development. I just kept thinking, "why isn't Nicole Hunter on the New York Times best-seller list?" Ms. Hunter is an extremely gifted writer.

When reading this book, I was reminded of when I first discovered John Grisham in 1989 with his debut novel, A Time To Kill. I couldn't understand why he wasn't better known. At the time, he was selling his debut novel out of the trunk of his car. Imagine it. Two years later, the world discovered The Firm and the rest is, of course, literary history.

Those who discover Nicole Hunter and Waiting For The World To End will have uncovered a great secret treasure for themselves. A perfect book for the classroom and reading groups, Waiting For The World To End will provoke readers of all ages to consider and clarify personal beliefs, and encourage them to keep their minds and hearts open to people who have made other choices or hold different opinions.

As I read the last page and closed the book cover, I felt a great sense of pride that our program honors such strong and important work.

Dawn Matheson
Executive Director
Mom's Choice Awards

Footnote: Nicole Hunter and Waiting For The World To End earned the prestigious gold medallion for adult fiction in the 2007 Mom's Choice Awards.

The Mom's Choice Awards® honors excellence in family-friendly media, products and services. An esteemed panel of judges includes education, media and other experts as well as parents, children, librarians, performing artists, producers, medical and business professionals, authors, scientists and others. A sampling of the panel members includes: Dr. Twila C. Liggett, Ten-time Emmy-winner, professor and founder of Reading Rainbow; Julie Aigner-Clark, Creator of Baby Einstein and The Safe Side Project; Jodee Blanco, New York Times Best-Selling Author; LeAnn Thieman, Motivational speaker and coauthor of seven Chicken Soup For The Soul books; Florrie Binford-Kichler, Founder of Patria Press, Inc.- an award-winning independent publisher and Member of The Children's Book Council; Tara Paterson, Certified Parent Coach, and founder of The Just For Mom Foundation(tm) and the Mom's Choice Awards®. Parents and educators look for the Mom's Choice Awards® seal in selecting quality materials and products for children and families. This book has been honored by this distinguished award.

The prose is fluid and beautiful. The characters are like people you may know. These are life stories, told across time and place, successfully drawing you in to consider various perspectives and possibilities. Like a prism, the book reveals many colors; no situation is black and white.

This is adult and young-adult fiction at its best. Finally, a book that invites discussion across the generations on real-life topics including moral dilemmas. The "open" ending is a reflection of the overarching theme: people write their own life stories.

I loved every second I got to spend with Tom and Mary, the main characters in Waiting for the World to End. Maybe it was because I could relate to both of them so much, maybe it was simply due to the writing. (It certainly didn't hurt that both Mary Oliver's poetry and Margaret Atwood's fiction showed up in the book.)

This book is for those of us with regrets, for those of us who understand the sadness of living with our own choices and the lonliness of not being connected to anything of real personal value, and for those of us who feel as though we've missed out on the important things in life.

I purchased the book because i really admire Richard Nourth Petterson for his book THE EXILE , though , reviewing Silent Witness has it's difficulties.

Of course , As in the former Petterson's book that i've read , toward the end I felt very intrested in whats about to happen , But im sorry to say that the book , in its complex didnt thrill me much , until the last 100 pages more or less.

The Exile is very different from this 1 , within every page I read ,I was consumed with suprise and shock so much I couldnt get my hands of the book so I must say im pretty dissapointed for this one .

to summon it in few lines

great ending chapters.
full of information about the characters and emotions but lack of suprises and didnt really thrill me as a reader.

This was my first Richard North Patterson book. I really liked it. Easy to read and easy to follow. I had trouble putting it down.

I can see that this author could become a favorite, depending on whether the errors of this book are common with him.

Beautifully written with great characterization, the first error of this book was a who-dunnit so obvious it couldn't possibly be true. Alas, it was. Laden with romance and a more realistic view of true love that just wasn't enough than I have seen in a long time. I found this well-done presenation very appealing. Treating a certain intimate act as enough of an anomaly to be a clue, however, had me wondering when the book was written. Ah, yes, even now enough of a no-no to effectively capture the readers' interest, it is perhaps easy to forget that what so many men fantasize about is likely what any rapist might do. Not trite, but ... more effective as an attention-getter than as a realistic clue.

Silent Witness is the first book I've read from Richard North Patterson. When I finished, I was left to wonder why I hadn't yet picked up any of his previous works. This book was fantastic. Patterson grabs the reader in the first few minutes and keeps him completely captivated throughout this legal thriller. I particularly liked the way he made effective use of movement back and forth in time to tell his story. Patterson pulls the story forward with strong character development, providing a range of emotions and motivations that spans the character set. Start to finish, this is a great story. Now, I'm off to tackle some more from Patterson that I have been missing.

This is one of those books you can't put down, and hate to see it end. I liked it so much, I bought one as a gift for my daughter. I read many novels. This one was in my top 10 of all time.

This book is a real-life account of growing up in a large family with limited financial means and often rocky family dynamics. The matriarch of this clan is the prizewinner of the title. While raising 10 kids and keeping the wolf from the door, she hits upon a way to generate income by entering any/every contest that comes along. She frequently does win, of course, very often in the nick of time. The book was written by a daughter, who ably recounts the challenges and rewards of growing up in a family that lives so close to the edge. Her mother is a gritty, funny, honest-to-god domestic goddess. She is a prize-winner in so many ways--it makes this book uplifting without being sappy--good read.

I saw the movie based on the book first. Once I found out it was a book, I had to read it. I couldn't put it down.

I thought this was a wonderful book that came to my attention only after the author had died. The story revolves around a family of 10 kids, an alcoholic father and how the mother (sporadically) supports them by winning contests and jingles she (Evelyn) has written.

While the story wouldn't hold up in this century - I thought it was a great slice of life of the 50's. Evelyn's journals and contest entrys are well preserved and entertaining to read. She must have kept everything!

Underneath all the entrys and journals is a smart woman. She knows the power of the written word and also hooks up with a group a ladies that also enter such contests. These women are smart as whips - yet somewhat stymied by their roles in life - housewives. Contesting offers them a way to challenge their wits and writing.

The father is a somewhat disappointing character - but somehow he even redeems himself, but you have to read the book to find out how!

I first heard of this book on the Today Show. Then I happened to run across the movie on HBO. It is a good quick read.

I typically enjoy fiction, but the title of this book caught my attention. And soon after starting the book, Evelyn Ryan became one of my heroes! I won't offer any spoilers, but the book generated within me, and many others who have read it, genuine feelings for Evelyn, including respect, compassion, sympathy, and encouragement. If the measure of a good story is the ability to arouse that many emotions, then this is a really good story!

I really like this series. In this entry, there's a *little* less danger for Rachel and a little more romance. Along the way, there's a lot she's learning about herself, even if she sometimes doesn't like what she learns. There's less Ivy and Jenks in this book, and I kinda missed Jenks, but at least Rachel wasn't fending off Ivy every other chapter. There's also a new character introduced into Rachel's life, and I'm curious about what sort of role David the Were will play in the future.

Ok, bad - I wasn't really ever into the Vampire Erotica. Thankfully it only seemed to crop up once per novel a bit like it was the "obligatory erotica". Of course, that's the genre the book is supposed to be in so it's not like I wasn't warned or had the opportunity to not read it - nothing I consider offensive just not my thing. The good part of that aspect was, it seemed fairly well done and not excessive.

The good - there was quite a bit of it mostly in the stories. Some items were a bit abbreviated but it wasn't really until around the 5th book of the series that I began to catch on to the overall story line of this series. No, not dense, it's just that in the earlier books much of the story had the feel of "fire and forget"...complete stories that had a feeling of being done. I'd call it a lack of cliffhanger endings - again, however, the stories felt like they hadn't been condensed at the end nor were dozens of pages left on the editing room floor because it was too long. Call it "just right".

A few elements didn't fit well but seemed to be things that had to happen to get the main protagonist where she needed to be for the next book in the series. I'd label one of those as the death of her Vampire Boyfriend. It could be I was just disappointed because it seemed like a relationship that was intended to last, but it clearly made her available for what happened in the new few hundred pages (including in succeeding books).

The story line had potential to be exciting, and the book started off with action. Unfortunately the author developed the lead character, Rachel Morgan, into a sex starved witch who evaluated each male (elf, werewolf, vampire, even demon) she encountered from a sexual standpoint. It was really annoying when it became so pervasive, maybe she was writing to other women.

Additionally, the author allowed the lead character to squeak out of mistakes through luck instead of clever intelligence. And the constant whining by the lead character of negative events that were affecting her also annoyed me. I wanted the lead character to take charge and develop into a strong person, and kept listening to the book because of tantalizing moments of action in which the heroin succeeded in overcoming the challenge of the moment.

Still frustrating waiting for those moments, and having to listen to the constant whining and sexual evaluations of the males in the book.

I love the concept behind this series but, it seems to me that Rachel just gets dumber by the minute. How many deals can one person make with demons. It seems that she never thinks about the consequences of her actions. She only deals with the aftermath of what she has done after the fact.

I am not even going to comment on the "Ivy" factor. I feel bad for her and I don't think that Rachel takes into account her feelings or how the way she flaunts her "male" relationships in front of her affects her.

I do hope that as the series continues she finally gets a clue!

I am currently on the 5th book in the series (I am hooked), but this has been my favorite so far. I love the characters! I felt like I got a little closer to them when I read this one.

At first I resisted this book because it seemed to be written by an adult looking over his childhood from a very mature place. However, late in the book it is a revelatory experience to find that this is exactly what happened when an unfair accusation concerning Antwone at age 25 during his Navy experience 'caused' him to buy a dictionary, a thesorus and learn writing almost from scratch at this age. He soon found that he couldn't stop. Later he wrote this book that has become a best seller very deservedly. It is full of remarkable coincidences that could not be other than genuine because of hundreds of tiny clews that all add up to this person having been there. This is a profound work concerning human holistic Intelligence that Confirms Joseph Pierce's 'Magical Child Matures."

Wow..if you thought the movie was thought provoking..
the book is beyond that!
This book covers Antwone's childhood, where in the movie,
we only saw a taste of it.
This book tells the story of a little boy who beat the odds,
and used his innate ability to survive, extreme verbal, emotional
sexual and physical abuse.

Finding Fish, by Antwone Fisher, is a passionate and heart wrenching look into the life of the author as a ward of the state. Thankfully, he escapes the terrors of his childhood and eventually finds success. Fisher writes with a distinctive voice. He is able to convey the emotions of the young boy he portrays in the memoir, rather than telling the story through the voice of an adult. The memoir is an honest, and shocking, look into the world of an orphan without anyone to protect him. His father had been shot two months before his birth and his mom is in prison. Throughout his life with the Picketts,his foster parents, Antwone is forced through horrific events that are painful to read about. He is molested at a young age by a babysitter, beaten, mentally abused, and treated like a ghost. He becomes reserved and shy, lacking love and the comfort of a family. Even worse, his social workers are sadly oblivious to the abuse because the Picketts are able to transform into respectable and polite adults when in public. Remarkably, Antwone braves through his torturous childhood, as well as homelessness for a short time, and finds himself in the Navy. This becomes his miracle, and inspires him to do more with his life. He finds himself traveling around the world, educating himself about different cultures as well as teaching himself English with the help of a thesaurus. In comparison to his childhood, Antwone is in paradise. This transition from a hopeless child with no allies in the world to a strong, successful Navy officer illustrates a major theme in the memoir. No matter how horrible somebody's life is, with perseverance and hope it is possible to achieve anything. Although Antwone is thrown into a terrible life, he finds his own success and thankfully escapes his past and finds happiness. This book is an emotional rollercoaster and any reader will become attached to Antwone, rooting for him against the negativity in his life.

Finding Fish was a good book. I first learned of Antowne Fisher a few years ago when he appeared on the Montell Williams show. After hearing his story on the show I immediately wanted to go out and buy his book to find out more about this wonderful young man but could never find the book. A few years went by and then a movie of his life was made. After seeing the movie, which I thought was very good, I decided that the movie did a good job of telling his story and that I no longer wanted to purchase the book. Some years later I was in a book store looking for some books to purchase and came across Finding Fish on the book shelf. Since I was in a thrift book store I said what the heck and purchased this book along with some others. Well needless to say it was meant for me to read this book. The movie just touched on a small portion of his life and did nothing to give us a better understanding of Antwone's full story. The book went into more detail and was just phenomenal. I have such respect and admiration for Mr. Fisher and all that he endured. The saying is true: "All things happen for a reason" were it not for his horrific
childhood I don't think Antwone would be the man he is today. Kudows for Mr. Fisher!! If you have not read this book I recommend you do.

and taught me something. It taught me how much we all share--the need to belong, for family, to search, to question. This book is unexpected tender and this boy's journey impacted my own journey, my own questions of family, of accceptance.
~Carol D. O'Dell
Author, MOTHERING MOTHER
Kunati Publishing, April 2007

As a book I will have to rate the writing five stars. It was easy to follow along and kept my attention. As a true story, this has been the most sickening book I have ever read considering I have read many true crime books and do read many of Anne Rule's books as well. What a twisted father? This family takes the word dysfunctional to a new height.

Whoa is all you need to say once you've started to get into this book. The crimes perpetrated by the mother & father of this family are so disturbing! I found this book to be so easy to read & so gripping. It's sad that it's a true crime story, but it does make for a seriously wild ride! Mr. Cauffiel is a great storyteller. He does not insult the average reader, he understands that not everyone is an investigative journalist or policeman. He writes in a very comprehensible style that is not dumbing down at all.

I READ THIS BOOK ABOUT 2 YEARS AGO ANDI STILL REMEMBER IT. THE TITLE IS DEFINATELY HOW THIS STORY GOES! IT'S UNBELIEVABLE HOW ONE PERSON RULED OVER COMPLETELY ONE WHOLE FAMILY. I'LL NEVER FORGET THIS BOOK!!!

Here is another Cauffiel book that I recently re-read and am left wondering what ever happened to the children of the Sexton family, and little Dawn & Shasta, and how are they doing these days?

This story is highly disturbing yet I find myself re-reading it about once every year or so.

I would love to see a cable special with interviews from the family members and an update on how their lives have fared since everything happened. There is virtually NOTHING on the internet and, like Cauffiel's book on the Alan Canty case, unfortunately both cases happened before things like this were really-super-highly publicized. The Sexton case broke out in the 90's, but I don't remember it much....just...want...updates.....!

I still remember this book very well. Maybe because it is that I never read about a dysfunctional family like the Sextons. They are a large family. Both parents are involved in horrific acts of child abuse. The House of Secrets have children so terrified to misbehave and suffer the frightening and painful consequences. I think the crime of killing a family member who married into the family and became a father of a young son was bad enough. When his infant son was also murdered, it made me cringe with anger over such behavior. Family members are disposable but the author paints a very clear family portrait about their upbringings and backgrounds in West Virginia and their migration to Ohio to get work. It is clearly the family patriarch of these Sextons who rules with an iron fist and a dark hand to torture his children. His wife is no better. I don't blame their backgrounds because the Uncle is reasonable and consciousable regarding his brother's behavior. The Sexton parents are just horrible people who should have never had children. Now these children who are adults by now are completely damaged like war victims or concentration camp survivors. Nothing in life could further damage them anymore even a prison. This is one of the worst cases of child abuse that I have read about in recent history. Why it wasn't reported to the authorities, because the children were so terrified of the punishment later on including the rapes, the incest, the physical abuse, etc. that went on in that home. The house of secrets Sextons migrated to Florida where they were finally caught and brought to somewhat justice. I still remember reading about the young boy who married one of the Sexton girls who was supposedly already married in a sick way to her own father. He would be killed along with his son. I remember reading about them being buried properly in Ohio together. It was just a sad, horrific story of child abuse and a family that should have never been.

I loved the book and have read quite a few of this author's books. It is worth taking the time to read in my opinion.

I'd never heard of Joy Feilding when a friend lent me this book. It's the story of 4 women and how their friendships evolve over the course of their lives. Characters are well developed, the plot is fast paced, and the storyline is mostly delicious. While reading this book, I was reminded of the novels "Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons," and "Saving Graces." All enjoyable reads.

The plot of "Grand Avenue" took sometimes wacky, rather unbelievable turns, which is why I didn't give it 5 stars.

When I picked up this novel by Joy Fielding, I did not have high expectations based on the cover blurb. However, I soon found myself absorbed in this story of four women and how their lives intersected and diverged. The characters are well developed and quite distinct, even though they are friends. At the outset we are told that two will die, one by foul play. From the onset you are misled into thinking that Chris, an abused wife, will die at the hand of her abusing husband, Tony. But this is not to be. All in all, this novel is a good read. I think I'll try another one of Fielding's novels to see if this is an anomaly or is characteristic of her work.

If you like melodramatic, soap opera-ey books, do NOT pass this one up! It has everything - marriage, kids, sex, friendship, betrayal (on several layers), mother-daughter relationships. You name it.

This book is an absolute tour de force. I loved (and lived) every page. Can't rate it high enough.

This is the 2nd Joy Fielding book I've read (you must read Whispers and Lies too). I'm on the lookout for more. Both of the novels I've read by Joy Fielding have had my jaw dropping at certain points.

Fantastic.

This book was absolutely amazing! I literally stayed up a full night to finish it, once I started I could not turn the pages fast enough. I found myself chuckling in one instant and then having to read a paragraph again due to blurred vision from crying. I grew to really care about the characters, finding myself rooting them on and feeling the emotions that were smoothly drawn out in the book. I truely believe that Ms. Fielding has a total masterpiece with this one! Although the book is finished I still feel myself thinking about the characters, so the book really stays with you long after the last page is turned. And, quite honestly..I feel I could read this book again, too..which is remarkable because I am usually not one to do that at all.

Very detailed and complete rendition of the chronology of his personal life as well as his military life. I learned details of both aspects of this era in history.

Written by the dying hand of one of the chosen men of his time. For any scholar of Grant, Civil War or Military History, these readings are a must. Grant's military genius was without equal. Had his superiors, early on, had his keen foresight, the Civil War could have ended a year or two earlier. Another great read is "Grant" by Jean Smith.

It is surprising that the most balanced and impartial view of U.S. Grant should be written by Grant himself. His style of writing is clear and sparse, recounting fact as fact and without lengthy editorializing. A must read for any civil war buff or serious historian.

This has long been regarded as one of the better memoirs to come out of the post-Civil War period and I can see why. Grant seemed convinced that the course he was on, and more importantly, the course the Union was on, would lead to eventual victory. Grant wrote his memoirs in the hope of providing some financial security for his wife and family upon the event of his death, which came very soon after finishing his memoirs. This is a refreshingly honest, fair, and generally unpretentious account detailing his own role in this pivotal event in American history.

We get a brief glimpse into his early years, his time as a student at West Point, his military service in the Mexican American War and the most well-known period of Grant's life, his service in the Union army during the Civil War. I found the early part of the book to be very illuminating as I did not know that much about his life before the Civil War. He could be very self-effacing, could admit weaknesses, in other words he just seems to come across as plain spoken and honest about himself. Throughout the book he utters what I considered to be very insightful and thoughtful comments. For example, he admitted the reputation attached to Lee by the Northern press and other Union commanders, but he realized that Lee was still human. He also relates his first encounter as a commander in the Union army as he's about to face the enemy and finds that the enemy was just as frightened as he was. Grant's attitudes toward the earlier war with Mexico and the Southerners' attachment to their cause also offer revealing sentiments.

I'm not going to describe every campaign Grant was involved in, but you will encounter Grant in the western theatre first, with notable successes achieved at Forts Henry and Donelson, Shiloh, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, and etc., up to his appointment as Lieutenant General and head of all U.S. armies in the field. The nearly epic battles fought between Lee and Grant in Virginia from the spring of 1864 up through Lee's surrender at Appomattox in April 1865 are obviously covered, though we also get information on Sherman's movements in Georgia and the Carolinas and other important sections where the war was being waged. I think it's fair to say there is a certain amount of spin or a sort of expectations game being displayed in Grant's memoirs, for example, how the Union armies usually always inflicted heavier casualties on the Confederates, how the North, despite its superiority in numbers, actually had many disadvantages and etc. Some of his points are very valid, but there can also be no doubt that his victories in Virginia came at very heavy costs in terms of Union casualties.

Grant offers opinions on the quality of the soldiers and officers, both North and South. He also demonstrates throughout his memoirs his rather magnanimous feelings toward his opponents, the rights of Southern citizens and their property (i.e., showing restraint in terms of looting and wanton destruction of private property and etc.). Some of this, I'm sure, was an attempt to improve his own image, but no doubt, there had to be some truth in his sentiments expressed. The maps included in this volume are very detailed, but often difficult to read. As a military narrative of the movements, battles and strategies of the Union armies, this is a must read.

Grant finished this lengthy memoir on the eve of his death from throat cancer. Impoverished at the time, the ex-President made his wife rich from the proceeds. Simple, straightforward, earnest narrative, sometimes ironic, sometimes colorful, always unpretentious. Inevitably self-justifying, but candid nonetheless.

The most memorable anecdote describes his first action in the 1861-65 war. Although he was a combat veteran of the Mexican War fourteen years earlier, he was scared, almost frozen, as he led his men against the enemy position. When he arrived, the enemy had evacuated. "The reb commander was as scared as I was. It was a lesson that served me well for the next four years."

Excellent general's-eye descriptions of the battles for Fort Donaldson, Shiloh, Vicksburg, Cold Harbor. His proudest contribution to the Union victory seems to be his strategy of "coordinated attack". He believed the early rebel success was due to the fragmentation of the National fources, which allowed the outmanned rebels to concentrate on one fragment at a time.

Grant is full of forthright and fascinating judgments: he revered Lincoln and Sherman, detested Hallek, disliked Stanton but respected him.

Civil war buff? Don't neglect this.