Abbey Books

Well, I just received CISTERCIAN ABBEYS and I CAN TELL YOU - THIS IS MY SORT OF BOOK!Un-put-down-able.This thick glossy book has it all - every page has at least one picture or map. The pictures shown are clear and well taken. Depicted are the interior of the monastries, the turrets, the brickwork, the decorations, glorious photos of relics, the courtyards, the art. The text is well written, easy to understand & contains useful information. Another fine book by Konemann & I have many including BAROQUE, ROMANESQUE, ROME, CASTLES OF FRIULI, MEDIEVAL CASTLES OF SPAIN, CHATEAUX OF THE LOIRE VALLEY. Cannot be faulted and for a 399page h/bound volume inexpensive. A must. I change my travel plans every time I pick up any of my Konemann's.

This is an excellent coffee-table book, with outstanding photography of beautiful places. It is also an excellent architectural introduction and a fine review of the role of the Cistercians in European history. (Hint: it was major...) But I have another suggestion for enjoying your next visit to Europe. Schedule your travel with stops near each of the abbeys that intrigue you most. They are always serene, there are often musical events in them, they tend to be off the beaten track but to have excellent country restaurants in some nearby village, and they make good starting points for hiking since they are usually isolated. My favorites are Poblet in Spain, Senaque in France, and Maulbronn in Germany.

Like many of the books in Konemann's architectural series, this one offers copious quantities of beautiful photographs. The limited text is informative, intelligent and thankfully devoid of the quasi-theoretical nonsense that spoils so many architectural books. The critical architectural issues are explained but for the most part, the images are allowed to tell the story. Simplified, but effective plans and other diagrams complement the photos and text.

In an age when so-called "star" architects do more talking than building, it is refreshing to see these monasteries, built with humility and a sense of aesthetic understanding that is so absent in the architectural profession today.

I also recommend Lucien Herve's wonderful B+W photographs in "The Architecture of Truth: Thonet Abbey"

Excellent advice on dealing with difficult people. Also great solutions to keep yourself balanced and have harmony with your spiritual and emotional self. Also, the illustrator, R.W. Alley is from RI. That is where I was born and raised. The illustrations are very creative. I have seen his work before.

This is an excellent little treasure of thoughts with a Christian flavor, that provides ideas and inspiration on how to deal with people we find difficult. You can keep it next to your bed or in your purse to re-read frequently and to remind you of how not to get frustrated with relationships with people who are different than you. It can also be given as a gift to relatives and friends.This book has substance, it's well written and because it's small it's easy to take along even in your pocket, for reading anytime and anywhere. I loved it and have even used it as theme for a talk with a Church study group.

A friend and I were shopping and the illustrations in this book really caught my eye. When I read the title I made a joke and said I was buying it to deal with her, (just kidding of course), we had a good laugh. When I got the book home and read it, I was glad I bought it. The book is very small and cute but it has a fountain of good information. When I was done reading it I felt great.
We seem to take things personally when someone isn't nice to us; this book helped me realize that when someone isn't nice to me, it isn't because of me. Now I don't take things so personally any more.

This book was fabulous, I could not put it down (and I am not a reader). It gives you courage to try again or strength, just knowing that others have been down this road as well. Great book, I highly recommend it!

This is a great book with alot of inspirational stories from women who have suffered one or multiple losses and gone on to have living babies. A word of caution though: during times, this book was very uplifting. At others, it caused more anxiety than what it was worth. If you have suffered a loss and then gone to a grief support group or an online forum for the same purpose, chances are you have heard lots of stories of other pregnancy losses and what happened to cause them (usually things you might not have ever heard of). Those stories can cause some unease, but for some reason it seems a little greater in this book. It might just be me personally; but personally, this was a good book but I couldn't finish it because I found that at times it was more harmful than helpful. That being said, I think it is a beautiful book that has allowed alot of women (and some men, I think) to tell their stories. This is definitely a book that I will come back to - when I'm ready.

Pregnancy after a loss can be a very lonely journey, even if you're surrounded by family members who are desperately trying to offer their love and support; and healthcare providers who are doing their best to ease your anxiety this time around. Sometimes the only thing that can make you feel less alone is to connect with other parents who have made this journey: parents who understand the mix of joy and worry that accompany you during this unique pregnancy experience.

Amy Abbey's book reads like a friend who has been there and who understands why one positive pregnancy test the next time around is never enough; how an ultrasound can sometimes feel like 'the enemy'; and how the experience of loss changes the landscape of pregnancy and parenting forever.

I've always been a little hesitant to read any Austen novels, because I didn't think I was going to get anything out of them, and they would be hard to understand due to the different jargon involved. This book solves that problem. They give Austen's back story, have a timeline of important events that were going on at different parts in her life, so you can get a sense of what kind of world she was living in. Another great point is the glossary of terms in the back of the book. They even describe real places that are mentioned in the storyline, such as shop names. It's quite a good read and I believe it's the first time I've actually been taught something by a fictional novel. The only downside is that the characters they use to show you which terms in the story are in the glossary detract from the reading experience. They're kind of difficult to get past if you already know your stuff. SUGGESTION: If you're new to 19th century literature and are bad with geography, this book is going to be great for you. If you already know Jane Austen and are looking to add to your book collection, I wouldn't pick this one up.

I have been a Jane Austen fan for years, admiring her subtle, clever humor and sharp observations. I had never read any of the tales contained in this volume -- in fact, I had never heard of three of them -- but I found myself delighted by The Watsons and Sanditon, wishing that Jane Austen had lived to complete these two lively stories.

I found Northanger Abbey rather tame; in fact, as I finished reading it, I realized that my flat response was based on the fact that the story's main conflicts were not based on romantic tension, but on the inability of the heroine to understand some of the ancillary characters' true motivations. Because there was little doubt of the hero's interest in her, there was little suspense surrounding the eventual "happily ever after" that Austen always provides.

The big surprise in this small anthology was the complex, fascinating epistolary novel Lady Susan. The title character is a self-serving, self-righteous, manipulative and very attractive widow with a teenage daughter. The plot unfolds through the letters written by Lady Susan and those in her orbit, and I found myself almost gasping at Austen's ability to create a character so believably evil in motivation and action. Most of her villains are either somewhat foolish and bumbling incompetents or nasty, petty characters that help drive the plot, but Lady Susan is central, purposeful and actually vicious - she knows what she's about, and she doesn't hesitate to do whatever it takes to achieve her ends. It was a pleasant surprise to find myself genuinely concerned about the young men under Lady Susan's seductive influence, as well as the well-being of her hapless daughter, and to realize that I couldn't guess at how the resolution would be achieved. When Austen steps out of the letter-writing mode to wrap up the story, I found myself slightly disappointed, but she apologizes handsomely for depriving the British postal service of the revenue that her characters' letters had been generating. Amusing, tongue-in-cheek, and probably much less awkward than having each of the various letter-writers send each other congratulatory "All's well that ends well" notes at the conclusion of the story.

I highly recommend this book, not just for the novelty of reading some lesser-known Austen gems, but also because of the helpful historical and literary notes provided in this Oxford edition.

This book brings together Austen's earliest novel, Northanger Abbey (although it was not published for many years after completion), with some of her earlier works and her final, unfinished, piece Sanditon.
This edition also has a fine introduction, which gives an interesting view of Austen's works and fleshes out some of the details surrounding the three lesser known works.
Northanger Abbey is, of course, the best known of these works, and a review follows below. Of the other three pieces, Lady Susan is the only completed one.
It follows the epistolary format that Austen experimented with extensively in her early career, but ultimately abandons the format, a little disappointingly.
It is an engaging piece, and the Lady Susan of the title is a vivacious, although reprehensible, character. Lady Susan has by far the strongest voice of the piece, but it is unclear whether she is truly intended as the heroine, or whether our sympathies should lie with her hapless daughter Frederica. Lady Susan is certainly a much more determined flirt than any of Austen's other major characters, and much older too (although perhaps not wiser).
The Watsons is a much shorter fragment, also dating from Austen's earlier career. It is darker in tone than her other works, and seems to tend more towards realism. It seems that this may be one of the reasons she chose not to finish the piece, although it seems that she ultimately intended for the piece to have a happy ending.
Sanditon is Austen's final work, begun shortly before her death and, sadly, never finished. The piece appears to have had a great deal of scope, describing the life and a times of the seaside resort of Sanditon. The tone and outlook of the piece are surprisingly upbeat, given the poor state of Austen's health as she was writing.
I hear that authors never like people to pick their early works as their best, but I've always had a sneaking fondness for Northanger Abbey. Luckily, Jane Austen is unlikely to complain about me liking one of her earliest works.
The novel's appeal is its extremely likeable anti-heroine, Catherine Morland. Catherine's appeal is her innocence and above all her fallibility. Of course, none of Austen's heroines are perfect, but Catherine has a charm that Austen's more self-possessed characters like Emma Woodhouse and Lizzie Bennett lack.
For this reason, I would say that Northanger Abbey can be a good introduction to Jane Austen, especially for younger readers, who may identify more readily with Catherine's naivete than with some of Austen's more mature characters.
As ever, Austen is in fine satirical form, but she and her characters stop short of outright mocking the fanciful Catherine and her unfortunate novel-reading habits. As one might expect, the novel ends with Catherine's reform, redemption would perhaps be too strong a term to use here, and Austen allows the imperfect Catherine to shine among a sea of other imperfect characters. (Naturally, some are more imperfect than others.)
One of the novel's stated objects is to satirise the gothic novels of Mrs. Radcliffe and her imitators. For the most part, Austen succeeds admirably, but once again her treatment of the subject is rather gentle. Although not many people these days will read the original gothic novels, I'm sure there are plenty of people out there addicted to contemporary fantastical horror that would crack a wry smile at the story, and be able to identify with 'poor' Catherine.
Perhaps at times the characters do seem to be a little overstated, maybe a little too black and white, but this is a very creditable early effort from Austen, and perhaps some of her characterisation issues can be traced back to her use of the gothic novel as inspiration.
All in all, a fine book, and certainly one for all of those 'almost pretty' girls out there who have their heads stuck inside books at every opportunity.

Overall, this edition makes a good addition to any Austen fan's bookshelf, the inclusion of the lesser known pieces makes an interesting companion to Northanger Abbey.

Samassi is a courageous guy. The author tells us how this African young man left his country with a group of fellow countrymen with a government scholarship to study in England. Because of corruption, the young man is deprived of his scholarship just four months after their arrival. But, the young man struggles to continue his studies and succeeds to finish it.
Having lived in Europe for quite sometime, I had overserved a kink of animosity between black people born from mixed marriage and their African counterparts who migrated from Africa. I have long been trying to fathom why. But, Issaka has given me a new angle into this. In the book, Samassi meets with a black Gernman gril of 20. Regina, her name, was born to an African father and a white German mother. But, since she was young, the father walks out without leaving any trace as how his daughter could find him. The girl faces decrimination in the house and thinks she faces racism in the streets. This is actually a phenomenon quite common in Europe. But, why it happens? the author brilliantly tells us that, at leat from his point of view.
The book is full of exciting and interestig scenes. I will recommend reading it.

I first got to know Issaka K. Souare through his writings in West Africa magazine of which I was a regular reader. I very much like his writings as they always provide very good analyses of world and African affairs from an African perspective. So, I didn't belief that he could write such an interesting fiction book. But I bought the book because I was sure to get some interesting ideas, which I did.
But, as I went through the novel, I was very impressed by his skills in writing fiction as I have always been for his analytical skills.
Samassi, the main character of the novel is an interesting personality. He shows a tremendous courage when he gets deprived from his scholarship. Maymouna's role in the first chapters is very fascinating. First, when the author reveals the corrupt practices of officials at the embassy through the cultural attaché's conversation with Maymouna. And then when Maymouna offers her assistance to Samassi. Regina is also a very intersting character. But more interesting than herself is the captivating debate that her personality generates between Samassi and his colleagues and the very intersting issue of antagonism between black Europeans from African descent and migrant Africans in Europe that they discuss. The scene at Dakar airport is excellent. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for fun and interesting ideas. After all, it's concise and relatively cheap.

This is a wonderfully written book. The opening sentences are captivating: "It was very cold in London. Weather forcasters would describe it as freezing. The temperature was below zero. A seemingly strong but cold wind was blowing every now and again.." The author brilliantly used this to get the scene ready for the arrival of "Samassi" and his other five mates that had been sent by their government to study in London. We see in this first chapter the young man's ambitions for his nation, Africa. We are then taken by the author to a drama when "Samassi" gets deprived from his scholarship in a fraudulent way but with the incredible strength of the young man who continues his studies regardless.
The story of Regina, the black German girl is fascinating. In a very light and fascinating way, the author explains why many black Europeans of African descent tend to be antagonist to their African counterparts who migrate to Europe. Why Africans or black people abroad are so marginalised
By the way, there are many Africans who come to study in the West and want to contribute to the development of their home countries but they don't know what to do given many malpractices in these countries. Samassi's return to Africa, not going straight to his home country could respond to some questions raised in this regard. The scene at Dakar airport is captivating. But I'm a bit angry with the author because he was too harsh to end the story where it ended! It is fabulous! I'll recommend it to anyone who has a test of good writing, and care for Africa and Africans living abroad.

Bravo Issaka. I look forward to reading your next title.

I found siege of shadows to be entertaining, cant put it down reading. It left you at the end eagerly awaiting the sequel, which never showed up. Well developed charactors with an interesting storyline.....but what happens next ?

Lynn Abbey is one of my favorite writers, and she's done a beautiful job with this one. You will take Kyle and Kiera into your heart the moment you begin and I guarentee that you won't be able to put this one down until you are finished! I would definitly class this as a must read for fantasy nuts like me! :) (oh, and if you want to read the BEST thing by Lynn Abbey, check out "Jerlayne", a tale in the anthology Elf Fantastic)

A wonderful involving book, well-realized characters, and quite the plot twist at the end...but oh, Lynn, where is the rest of the story?! I understand the philosophy of leaving your readers wanting more, but c'mon - that was an honest-to-God cliffhanger! You've had four years - Spielburg makes sequels faster than you!! Please, please finish the story.

Emma Merrigan is a 40-something in not the most glamourous of occupations. By day, she's a librarian. As she sleeps, she goes into the Never-never and moots curses. In this book, she's trying to sort out a curse that's followed a family for several generations. Sadly, she doesn't really answer how this is going to happen and leaves us hanging. I very much enjoyed the book, but I would have preferred some resolution for this one rather than having to wait til the next episode.

This is a great series. I enjoyed the first two immensely, and had a hard time putting this one down. Emma is not the run-of-the-mill heroine. She's middle-aged, twice-married, holds down a real job, and has a complex relationship with the mother who abandoned her as a child (and looks like her daughter). Plus a hot romance with a long-dead French swashbuckler with whom she hunts and moots curses.

The only thing I didn't like about this one is the abrupt ending. Even though a sequel is obviously forthcoming, a few pages of wrap-up would have made it more satisfying.

I highly recommend this book to fans of contemporary fantasy.

From the day I picked up the first book in this series I knew that Lynn Abbey had written something special. At last, someone was writting urban fantasy for the woman I had become. The main character in this story, Emma, is a woman of a certain age ahead of two bad marriages, some good step children, her father's death and her mother's disappearance when she was an infant. In the first book in the series her mother reappears and Emma's life has not been the same since.

Emma is a curse hunter, one of a group of people with special powers and the ability to travel to another dimension. Their goal is to destoy the curses that are nurtured by human misfortune. But Emma came to her talent late and did not have the indoctrination of most curse hunters so she is a wild card, or a black sheep as her stepfather says.

In this section of the story while trying to moot a particularly odd curse she runs into the Curia, the official curse hunter society and must deal with not just the curse but the other hunters as well.

Blaise, her ghostly SO, makes an appearance along with other characters from the earlier books.

While I probably should knock a star off because this book is obviously a wind up for the next book, I'm not going to do it. These books are too scarce to damn with faint praise. So at the top of lungs: THANK YOU MS ABBEY, THIS BOOK REALLY HIT THE SPOT.

Wow! Like one of the other reviews I found this book very slow and almost boring at first. If anything, that's the *only* thing I would change.

The lead female is an only child and somewhat vain and self-centered. But then things start to happen, [you will never expect] and the author addresses questions of faith. I felt like I was reading about myself in places. It was so moving!

This is my first read by Ms. Samson, but definitely not my last!

I found the first 60 pages a little dry, too much detail,, I really had a hard time warming up to it (It was my first book by this author)But it picked up after that and wound me in tight. This is the sotry of a seasoned warrior, definitely not a ladies man and a young, intelligent pampered noblewoman who lives for the pleasures of the day. She dislike him even before they meet, intensely. I really hate to give away the real heart of the book, I literally cried the last hundred pages and I'm a tough old bird! When they finally connect, there is a connection of souls but it is immediately coupled with a devastating tragedy of monumental proportions, which I won't give away. This is a very deep book emotionally, the charaters are real and complex, their growth beautiful. There is nothing shallow about it. Be prepared to be emotionally devastated but also to be challenged. I recommend it very much, it's a beautiful love story but so much more.

A compelling and heartfelt story about faith, love, and devotion. I enjoyed this book immensely and I definitely recommend it to anyone who is struggling--whether it be with their health or with their mind.

While this book was very helpful for my son, I couldn't get past the two references of mom and dad "not loving each other." How do you explain the complexity of love to a seven year old? I have no answers other than to say that I was uncomfortable reading to my son that mommy and I don't love each other anymore. We very much do, and while its hard to explain to a seven year old, I had to ad-lib around these two references letting him know that I will always love his mother, but its just not in the same way that it use to be. I want to teach him a deeper understanding of love. All-in-all a good book - many of the themes are helpful for him and for this I thank you.

Under almost any circumstances, divorce is difficult and emotionally draining. When children are involved, the parents' added concern about them can make the situation seem almost overwhelming.

Each child ultimately must find his or her own way to accept the reality of the divorce and come to terms with that new reality. Nothing makes the process easy, but this little book can help. In a tone that's a beautiful balance of frankness and warmth, it says the things a wise and loving older friend might say. It acknowledges the sadness everyone is feeling, it talks about how things may be different in the future, and it conveys two messages the child needs to hear. The first is: "Things will be different, but they'll work out OK." And the second is, "You're not alone."

When Mom and Dad Divorce: An Elf-Help Book for Kids is a must read for families undergoing the trauma of divorce. Written with sensitivity, the book covers the whole range of emotions children experience when they learn of an upcoming divorce. It is a book children can turn to over and over again as they progress through their own stages of divorce recovery. It is filled with the reassuring messages that children of divorcing parents need to hear. And it is as artistically beautiful as it is emotionally satisfying. I wish I had this book to read to my children when our family was going through divorce.

For us lay people it's hard to imagine how a woman such as Roshi Jiyu Kennett could have gone through such hardship as she did in order to become an ordained zen priest and teacher. But the physical and emotional abuse she went through only made her spiritually stronger. It takes only the most motivated individual to go to the end of her spiritual path as she did.

It is not just a guide for a buddhist, but a guide for any person who has an ideal in life. I am not sure I would let my health deteriorate to the point the author did to accomplish my most important goal in life. Yet, as she says, she got what she wanted from the experience. For her, it was worth it. Either she's crazy, or she's a model of the highest order.

The book is massive but it reads quickly. I was engrossed in it for a week. I would say it's completely worth to hunt it down as a used copy in order to own it. It does leave a sense of peace to one who reads it. It does feel like you can find the strength to achieve your own ideal if you really want it.

These two volumes are worth their weight in gold! Together, they cover a period of nearly eight years in the life of Roshi Jiyu-Kennett, an Englishwoman, and one of the first Western women to successfully train in the monasteries of Japan. The first volume, titled 'The Diary of a Zen Trainee' covers her difficult early training up to the time of her priesthood, her constant physical maladies, the incredible rigor and hardship of her stay in the monastery of her teacher, Keizan Zenji, and her wretched treatment at the hands of the Japanese monks. Kennett is a natural diarist, and a clean and direct writer. The second volume, "Diary of a Female Zen priest" is even more engaging than the first; her Dharma transmission, an expansive look at her time spent as priest of her own tiny temple, her relationships with the Japanese people and clerics, everything is composed with insight, no superfluity, and plenty of humor. The two volumes conclude just prior to her founding Shasta Abbey, a still flourishing Soto Zen abbey and training center situated at the foot of Mt. Shasta, in California. It seems impossible to praise these volumes sufficiently. Roshi Jiyu-Kennett was a woman, priest, musician, intellectual, inveterate Westerner, and a person of extraordinary courage, determination, skill and spirituality. She was, as well, a naturally gifted spiritual teacher, and these diaries are among the most enlightening records of the transforming of a human soul that I've ever encountered. I wish so much that she had diaried in the same way her experiences as Abbess of Shasta Abbey - what an increase of treasure it would have afforded us all.

This is the complete diary of British Soto Zen master Jiyu-Kennett Roshi. It was originally published in two volumes, but this new edition combines them into one book. Culled from the journals she kept while training at Soji-ji (one of the head temple-monasteries of Soto Zen in Japan) during the 1960s, it describes in disturbing detail the sometimes violent prejudice she endured at the hands of some of the officers of the temple.

In spite of this, Jiyu-Kennett perservered and received Dharma Transmission from her master, Koho Zenji. She left Japan in 1969, came to America, and founded Shasta Abbey and the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives. She passed away in 1996.

Above all, the book is a guide for how to train in Buddhism, to take every situation that comes our way as an opportunity to see the Buddha that resides in all things. The new edition includes a "Question & Answer" section in the back between Jiyu-Kennett and some of her students at Shasta Abbey concerning the book.

I would also recommend "Roar of the Tigress," which collects some of Jiyu-Kennett's Dharma talks, and was published a couple of years ago.