Anne Books

The best way I can think of to characterize my reaction to the depth of Julia's brilliant poetry, is to describe it as a soulful experience. And one for which I am truly grateful.

Whether it is via channeling, extreme sensitivity, or just plain intuitive genius - Ms. Horigan somehow opens the curtains between life and death to reveal Anne Frank's most intimate thoughts and feelings.

If you're a person who appreciates being both moved and humbled when faced with the truth of all that it means to be human...and the beauty...then, you'll love this unforgettable book.

Thank you, Julia, for reminding us what poetry is all about with this most transcendant contribution.

What a touching, endearing book! The poems can easily take you in two directions simultaneously; smiling at the insights and words of a brilliant young lady and crying at the atrocities in her past future. I am always amazed at how carefully poets select their words, they must labor over each one. Do the "naturals" just seem to come by it effortlessly? I wonder.
So what's the problem with this work? I've read it. I wish I could read it again as if it were crackling new off the shelf. But I can't change the past. If I could, I know where I would start.
Bravo, Julia Horigan! Please write another volume very soon! I'll be waiting!

This collection of poems -- a shimmering gem -- demonstrates crafted writing that ranks with the finest poetry published today. In many poems, Horigan takes readers to soaring lyrical heights; in others, she recalls with haunting power the uspeakable crimes of The Spellcaster (Hitler); and in all she writes as Annne Frank, the innocent witness to the resilient will of humankind: the will to overcome evil, to prevail against atrocities, and to reaffirm our sacred, eduring spirit. The cumulative strength of these poems first surprises and engages us, and ultimately compels us to never forget, never. This collection will find its rightful place within the group of works we read and teach with Frank's diary. It's a winner!

I found this book buried among a bunch of unread books during a recent move and did not even recall buying it. The cover and title caught my attention so I started to read it and could not put it down. The main character, Susan Given, a DA, was interesting to say the least. She is on the edge of a breakdown, more than likely from being overworked, and decides to take a friend up on a vacation offer. She ends up on an island where she befriends a native named Ascension, only to bear witness to his killing weeks later. She returns home to NYC, only to have to end up dealing with the same people from the island in the long run. While I felt that a little too neat and convenient as far as storylines go, I did find it ingenious. Susan has to deal with an impending divorce, an overzealous boss, raging hormones in her two daughters, an oversexed niece, and an array of other problems all at once, including a serial killer aptly named Rice Krispies. I would definitely read another "Given" mystery and plan to order Given the Crime right now.

Ten weeks have passed since Susan Given, head of the Manhattan District Attorney's Asset Forfeiture Division, barely survived a harrowing experience (see GIVEN THE CRIME) that would have broken a lesser person. Still, every evening Susan suffers from a recurring nightmare in which a hulk tries to kill her. Her former spouse, TV psychiatrist Dr. Hugh Carver, adds to her problems when he threatens her with a custody suit. Realizing that his star attorney is not quite the same. Manhattan DA Bill Archibald arranges for Susan to meet with psychiatrist, Dr. Imogen Blythe, who blithely tells Susan that she needs a vaation.

Susan flies to the Caribbean island of St. Stephens. However, Susan's idyll vacation goes astray when she becomes lost while parasailing. However, worse yet is that she crash lands near where the local drug lord, Crimson, is taking care of business. Feeling that she is a witness to a murder, he plans to kill her, but she is rescued before he can carry out the deed. Susan leaves paradise for the safe environs of Manhattan, not knowing that Crimson plans to follow her in order to silence the only person he believes who can destroy his empire.

GIVEN THE EVIDENCE, with the second appearance of Susan Given, is an exciting tale that blends elements from the legal procedural with that of a thriller. The story line is fast-paced on both islands and the support cast has fully developed characters. However, Susan is the show as her fears and motivations propel the novel forward in a jocular but dire manner. Margaret Barrett and Charles Dennis have the beginnings of what is hopefully a long running series.

Harriet Klausner

Ten weeks have passed since Susan Given, head of the Manhattan District Attorney's Asset Forfeiture Division, barely survived a harrowing experience (see GIVEN THE CRIME) that would have broken a lesser person. Still, every evening Susan suffers from a recurring nightmare in which a hulk tries to kill her. Her former spouse, TV psychiatrist Dr. Hugh Carver, adds to her problems when he threatens her with a custody suit. Realizing that his star attorney is not quite the same. Manhattan DA Bill Archibald arranges for Susan to meet with psychiatrist, Dr. Imogen Blythe, who blithely tells Susan that she needs a vaation.

Susan flies to the Caribbean island of St. Stephens. However, Susan's idyll vacation goes astray when she becomes lost while parasailing. However, worse yet is that she crash lands near where the local drug lord, Crimson, is taking care of business. Feeling that she is a witness to a murder, he plans to kill her, but she is rescued before he can carry out the deed. Susan leaves paradise for the safe environs of Manhattan, not knowing that Crimson plans to follow her in order to silence the only person he believes who can destroy his empire.

GIVEN THE EVIDENCE, with the second appearance of Susan Given, is an exciting tale that blends elements from the legal procedural with that of a thriller. The story line is fast-paced on both islands and the support cast has fully developed characters. However, Susan is the show as her fears and motivations propel the novel forward in a jocular but dire manner. Margaret Barrett and Charles Dennis have the beginnings of what is hopefully a long running series.

Harriet Klausner

An excellent quick read about a real experience of Heaven. It is so encouraging and reinforces the truth of the scriptures and what is ahead for believers. It is up to us to take the promise and the book tells us how. Also, it is very comforting for loved ones who have lost someone. It assures us through personal experience that we will be together again for eternity. It is truly a great comfort. The chapters cover the topics of TAKING AND RECEIVING, HEAVEN, PARADISE, ANGELS, MUSIC IN HEAVEN, THE TEMPLE, and THE THRONE ROOM.

If you have had any doubts about HEAVEN, this is a must read.

If you have lost someone you love, this is a must read.

If you know someone who is grieving for a lost loved one, this is must read.

A Glimpse of Heaven

The book is written from personal experience.

It is validated by many Biblical scriptures through out.

It contains insights and nuggets which will promote the spiritural growth of Christians in understanding what is to come and how what we do today will impact eternity.

It is comforting for those who have lost loved ones.

It is very simple to read yet very profound and everyone will understand it.

I have given it as comfort gifts to many. And they have found it very helpful.

It is a beautiful story and will make you realize that Heaven is real and is in the future of those who believe.

Highly recommended.

Wonderful story of a true experience of the glories of heaven. The Best Is Yet To Come for those who believe. The book is Biblically based and tells of a modern day story. Very encouraging to those who have lost loved ones and helps us all to know that heaven is a real place. My Mom is the lady who experienced heaven, so I know the story is real.

I highly recommend this book.
Dianne Pedersen, author of: 21st Century Woman of Virtue

This book is wonderful! I don't know how to describe it. I'm not into sports and all that, but this was a riveting read.

In many autobiographies, it seems obvious that someone wrote the book for that person. But in Gold Thunder, Rex's no-punches-pulled account blends with Anne's seamless strorytelling to the point that one can almost imagine Rex sitting next to you.

Gold Thunder is very fast paced. You put the key in the ignition, rev it up a few times, and then watch it go. As the motor purrs to a stop and you turn the last page, you'll wonder where all the time went

Anyone will enjoy this book,including non race fans like myself. I'm sure that many aspects of it make more sense to race fans, but the book itself is a wonderful introduction to racing. I had no idea that NASCAR had such a colorful history. What a cast of characters! It's enough to make even the newest fans feel a bit of nostalgia.

Here's another great auto racing book that will not only let you into the life of Rex White, it will teach you along the way. Stricken with polio at a young age, growing up in poverty and working countless hours on a farm never hindered little Rex White's passion to get behind the wheel of a race car. You'll find out why his father played a major role in his "race to finish, race to win" atttitude, and you'll meet all of the people who impacted Rex's life on his way to becoming a NASCAR champion. People like modified great Frankie Schneider, who became White's mentor, to partner Louie Clements are all given prime space in this book. Rex tells what racing was really like in the good old days, his love of Chevrolet, and the countless hours on the road traveling on nickles and dimes to get to the next race. A regular dinner was a package of Lance crackers. You'll also attend several wild parties honchoed by Clown Prince Joe Weatherly.
The best part of this book are the lessons learned thanks to a great work ethic. You'll laugh at the loads of funny characters that come into Rex's life, and then also deal with racing's dangers and the many tragic events that happened on the track. It's loaded with photos, tells of the great/not so great 1963 year at Daytona with his Mystery Motor 427 Chevy, GM's "on again, off again" policies on racing and becoming a member of the official Chevy racing teams.
Another can't miss book on the great sport of auto racing from the eyes of one of NASCAR's all-time best 50 drivers. He may have stood only 5'4" in stature, but this is a giant of a man when it comes to racing and winning in life.

This well-written biography of Rex White, one of NASCAR's Fifty Living Legends, will keep you reading to the end to find out the outcome of all White's adventures in the 1950s and 60s on the early NASCAR circuit. White drove before the ovals were paved, and seems as comfortable on dirt tracks and on the road to the next race as anywhere in the world. Along the way, readers will learn as much about the stock car racing sport as readers of "Seabiscuit" found out about the life of the jockey and the history of the horse racing sport. This is a very enjoyable book with delightful accounts of team high jinks throughout the story and enough historical material to keep NASCAR fans arguing for years.

This is a very good book for information on subjects to make
you understand better what they are and how they are made.
I was amazed at the things that I did not know about foods
and the preparing of them. This book would interest anyone
just beginning to cook or have many years of experience.

If you've cooked from Anne Willan's books, as I have for some 30 years, you get to recognize her culiary voice as spirited, firm but encouraging, and always food-friendly. Her latest, "The Good Cook" (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, comes to the rescue of the beginner in the kitchen.

Text and the 250 useful photos show 70 essential techniques to produce 350 easy and delicious recipes. One is her Last Minute Cheese Souffle. The first souffle I ever made was from her old recipe, which called for a roux of potato flour. She has rethought things, omitting any flour, but retaining the short cooking time at high heat, or only 12 minutes at 400F. The beauty of this is a souffle that doesn't make the guests wait and the host fret. Simply bake it while people are congregating at table.

"Food friendly" means she always cooks so that recipes don't overwhelm the natural taste of the ingredients. No fad fashions for her, no "Texas Tuscan," but her chosen-few herbs applied lightly to taste like themselves and no meats or fish made mysterious by "concept" cooking. From Italy, she got the idea to dress a salad of cooked beets and red onion rings with mint. I had not thought to grill radicchio, nor to season it with ground spices like coriander, cumin and chile pepper.

There are dozen of great tips. A cone of tender artichoke leaves inserted into the tougher globe can be filled with sauce. The milk in scalloped potatoes won't curdle durng baking if the spuds are simmered first in milk and then baked in cream. Like her old friend Julia Child, she believes there's a place for cream and butter. Also from a knowledge of food chemisty comes salvation for root vegetables that make a "damp puree" when baked bythemselves. So, to celery root or turnips or parsnips, add potato for its transforming starch. Be creative with tools, such as using needle-nosed pliers to pluck salmon bones. Pork roasted with milk whitens the meat -- and makes gravy the color of caffe latte. No need for make phyllo when she herself uses the store-bought. One recipe calls for 12 phyllo sheets, each laid at a slight angle to the first "like the hours on a clock." I wish I'd thought of the graphic simplicty of that description.
Submitted by Margo Miller, Boston, Massachusetts.

`The Good Cook' by leading culinary educator, Anne Willan is one of a very rare breed of books that can act as a good textbook of cooking methods. While I am sure there are some like yours truly who actually open `The Joy of Cooking' or `Mastering the Art of French Cooking' or `Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking' and read it from front to back, but around 99% of all cookbooks are, after an initial scan to get a sense of what's in them, meant to be consulted on a recipe by recipe basis.

Some books such as `Cookwise' and Alton Brown's three books are meant to be read from cover to cover and you can do this by skipping all the recipes and get a good foundation in the science of cooking. But, cooking is not really about Science, it's about learning basic recipes and mastering a fairly wide variety of techniques. Thousands of professional cooks do exceptionally well by following the kind of advice given by Daniel Boulud without ever cracking the covers of Harold McGee's `On Food and Cooking'.

The leading volumes in this important field of culinary textbook aside from Willan's works are the Culinary Institute of America's `The New Professional Chef' and Madeleine Kamman's `The New Making of a Cook'. As the titles of these works indicate, they are especially valuable works in that they have been around for a long time and have gone through major revisions as a result of actually using them in culinary classrooms. To further distinguish these select volumes, I will point out that they are different from the excellent books of techniques by Jacques Pepin and James Peterson, in that these works are reference books of techniques rather than the far more common reference books of recipes.

Willan's book is a careful blend of both recipes and techniques illustrated by excellent supporting photography which could easily be both read and cooked from cover to cover. In fact, while the techniques are excellently presented, this book may not be as good a reference as Pepin's classic, but it is far better than virtually every other work I have seen as a TEXTBOOK! And, my reason for saying this is based on more than Willan's skill as a teacher and the quality of her material. It is also based on the fact that the book is easy to read. It's presentation is not too different from taking lessons in cooking from a very wise and experienced aunt who has a grown and married daughter who is also an accomplished cook. References to recipes contributed from Willan's daughter, Emma, are often used as clever devices for introducing shortcuts and modernization of classics as when Willan presents Emma's take on Coq au Vin which can be done in a single day rather than in the traditional three days. For any who are unfamiliar with Willan's credentials, I will point out that she is the founder and one of the principle instructors at a highly respected cooking school based in France which also gives sessions at the Greenbriar Hotel in West Virginia.

The book's contents are organized in a very friendly way which ease you into useful techniques very quickly, unlike the CIA text which starts off with a seemingly endless chapter on the details of making excellent classic French stocks. While this follows the CIA course schedule, it is not suited to maintaining your interest when you need to get a meal on the table tonight.

The principle chapters are:

Essential Flavors which deals with basic pantry recipes such as Persillade, vinaigrettes, gremolata, and garlic bread, with techniques on using a chef's knife and a mandoline, plus recipes for basic salads such as potato salad and cole slaw. After a good deal of such immediately useful recipes and techniques is the obligatory section on stocks that is less fussy than the CIA, but quite correct, thank you.

Tips From the Pros is a grab bag of tips on modern mixing equipment, marinates, brines, and frying.

Saucery will cover just about all your everyday needs with more vinaigrettes, mayonnaise, hollandaise, béarnaise, butter sauces, gravies, and pestos.

Eggscetera covers boiled, deviled, curried, stuffed, scrambled, and coddled eggs as well as omelets, crepes, souffles and mousselines.

Fabulous Fish and Seafood is a bit short for a school based on the French coastline, but it does cover the basics for shrimp, mussels, scallops, and generic fin fish.

From the Farmyard covers poultry
Mastering Meats covers roasting, braising, stewing, steaking, grilling, and medallioning (sic).
Perfect Pasta and Rice covers basic dry pasta dishes plus making fresh pasta featuring daughter Emma. You could do much worse than to learn Risotto making from this chapter.

The Vegetable Story covers lots of new knife skills plus blanching, sautéing, salads and grilling.

Pastry Fundamentals covers exactly those things which the average home cook needs to know, such as a standard pastry crust (pate brisee), biscuits (baking powder and butter, not buttermilk) quiches, phyllo dough (how to work with it, not to make it) and savory pies.

This is just about as good a sophomore level textbook you are likely to find on cooking techniques and basic recipes. It not only teaches, it gives the reader a journeyman's lay of the land for French and Italian cuisine. There are no distractions for wine or name-dropping or storied suppliers or dish histories. This is `Just the Facts, Madam' with a wee bit of leavening with family stories, not too different from what you may hear among your favorite aunt's stories.

Not the least feature of the book is the fact that the author gives tips on the proper serving time for dishes, as when she compares a roast (serve immediately) with a braise (improves with age).

If you know everything there is to know about cooking, this book may bore you. For all the rest of us, I strongly recommend this book for everyone interested in improving their cooking.

I admit that I bought this primarily because I wanted to see the rendition of "Northanger Abbey", and I was not disappointed. The illustrations were charming, and the characters looked just as they ought-Henry and Catherine especially. I loved Catherine's facial expressions, and Henry was as dashing as a long-term fangirl like myself could have wished.

However, this was not the only treat in this volume. "Carmilla" was excellent, with drawings that added to the creepy atmosphere of the story, and "The Mysteries of Udolpho" adapted surprisingly well, though I thought Emily St. Aubert had a little bit of a bad '80's hairstyle. Finally, "At the Gate", the last story in the book was very sweet (though sad) and the artwork well done.

This is a wonderful volume and a great way to introduce people to the Classics. I highly recommend it.

The newest addition to the fourteen volume 'Graphic Classics' series from Eureka Productions, "Gothic Classics" is the third multi-author anthology and wonderfully showcases the short story in graphic novel format. Comprising this outstanding compilation is Ann Radcliffe's archetypal gothic novel 'The Mysteries of Udopho' adapted by the collaborative work of Antonella Caputo and Carlo Vegara; the adaption of Jane Austen's gothic parody 'Northanger Abbey' by Trina Robbins and Anne Timmons; Edgar Allen Poe's 'The Oval Portrait' as illustrated by Malaysian illustrator Leon Wan Kok; Myla Jo Closser's canine ghost story 'At the Gate' which is illustrated by Shary Flenniken; and J. Sheridan Le Fanu's famous vampire tale 'Carmilla' as presented by the team of Rod Lott and Lisa K. Weber. "Gothic Classics" is very strongly recommended to illustrated graphic novel enthusiasts, as well as fans of Radcliffe, Austen, Poe, Closser, and Le Fanu. Readers, community librarians, and graphic novel collectors should visit the Eureka Productions website for a complete listing of all the titles in their continuing and highly accomplished 'Graphic Classics' series.

I am a big fan of the Graphic Classics series, and I am an even bigger fan of the anthologies, such as "Horror Classics" and "Adventure Classics". The anthologies give us a chance to read some great tales by authors who may not be prolific enough to rate their own individual books, but who have still made a powerful and influential contribution to literature.

As expected, this latest volume, "Gothic Classes", maintains the already high bar set by previous volumes. The black-and-white comic book style is especially suited to horror, and the illustrators have a real passion for adapting the tales with appropriate illustrations. "Gothic Classics" is a bit different from others in the series, having only five tales, each in a longer format.

This edition includes:

"Carmilla" - The infamous lesbian vampire tale by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu that inspired Bram Stoker's own "Dracula". This is one of those incredibly famous stories that I have long heard about but never read. The illustrations by Lisa K. Weber are done in her usual style, showing the influence of Tim Burton's own Gothic animation style while remaining original. It was great to finally read this.

"The Mysteries of Udolpho" - Another classic of Gothic fiction, by Ann Radcliffe, that I have heard about for years. Carlo Vergara provides the perfect art-style, reminiscent of the old Graphic Illustrated series, heavy on the lace collars and dashing brigands occupying gloomy castles with dank hallways.

"The Oval Portrait" - A Poe story is always welcome, and this short piece provides a brief rest from the longer features. Illustrator Leong Wan Kok gives us a sharp portrait of an artists obsession.

"Northanger Abbey" - Jane Austen makes a rare appearance here in Graphic Classics, with her sharp send-up of the Gothic novel. The art by Anne Timmons is all sweetness and light, but everything is not what it seems. Or is it...?

"At the Gate" - A short and sweet tale by Myla Jo Closser. I must confess to have never heard of this, but that is one of the joys of the anthology format that it brings you new things you might not have discovered elsewhere. A couple of dogs chat at the gate of heaven, wondering when they will be let in. Shary Flenniken provides the cute illustrations for this heartwarming tale.

This translation of four plays by Euripedes is brilliant, clean and clear, without pretension. It offers the direct gaze of an Athenian at human emotion and human fate, which is considered a matter of luck more than character. For the Athenians matters of state and import are rooted in the family, where everything begins.

I've owned copies of Euripides all my life and never got around to reading them, but when Grief Lessons came across my desk last week, I was compelled to read straight through it. The title alone speaks of Carson's special talent for reaching the heart of the matter. Grief Lessons. The layout of her character's dialogue, too, flows back and forth along the margins of the page so that your eye moves easily down the text. The characters speak simply, without flourishes, without annoying Victorian poetic touches. Grief Lessons opens up Euripides to you so clearly that you can hear the characters weeping and shouting at each other on the stage of your mind. At the same time, so simple is Carson's translation that her words have an open ended flexibility that let you imagine them being pitched almost any way. Is Admetus a typical egocentric or an oaf? I'd always felt sorry for Hippolytus, cursed unfairly by his father. Now I'd like to curse him myself. I've never seen pomposity in a youth so clearly shown in a play. Moreover, Euripides lived at the end of Greece's golden age. His cynicism of the gods and heroes plays very appropriately on the stage of today.

There is so much blood letting in these plays I would hate to be the stage manager. What a clean up after every performance.
Seriously folks...
The plays are spellbinding. The insights into what motivates human beings are brilliant. I enjoyed reading these plays 10 times more than I ever thought I would. I read the review inThe New Yorker and thought I'd take a chance. (I don't normally read the classics)
I gave it to my wife who loved the plays as well.
Great job.

The Grieving Time is a book everyone who has lost a loved one should read. Excellent.

It has been almost a year since my wife died suddenly and unexpectedly. Since then I've spent much time reading and pondering, trying to come to terms with my new reality. This is one of two books I found which provided enough comfort that I've given copies to other newly berieved widows and widowers.

This book tells it like it is with love and clarity. I highly recommend it for all who have lost a spouse.

Also known as Hellcatraz, journey through the now deserted corridors of the world famous penitentiary. Visit the cells which once held "America's Most Wanted". The history does not begin or end with the use of Alcatraz as a prison, for it was known to Native Americans as a place that contained evil sprits. Ghostly manifestations and paranormal sightings have occurred since it was used as a defensive fortification in the 1850s. The pain, isolation, punishment, and resulting deaths appear to have been indelibly etched in the walls, cells, and corridors of this legendary prison --- Read the book and find out abot the ghosts of Alcatraz from an ex-warden's wife. Enjoy!

This is One Haunted House book carefully written with accuracy for the intent of education as well as entertainment.

Fantastic pictures document insightful accounts of life on Alcatraz from it's first discovery through the Civil War years, the penetentiary years to present day.

Just as attending Mr. Kouri's lectures, reading Haunted Alcatraz will expand your conseption of the Supernatural through the integrity and professionalizm of a True Parapsychologist.

Haunted Alcatraz teaches one not to fear Ghosts, rather to learn from their existance in an effort of guidance towards final peace.

Haunted Alcatraz isn't just another book about creeking floors, flying objects and poltergeist activities, but a comprehensive study about the past and the present through personal true to life accounts.

Highly recommended. Leota Adams Dean of Studies British Parapsychological Academy of London

One of the Very BEST books ever written about Alcatraz Island and the Ghosts who reside within. Excellent Historical Documentation. Fantastic Photographs. I had No idea it was Haunted until I read this book.

The information collected about the Ghosts is truly exhillerating!

I can't wait for Michael Kouri's Next book to come out.

The Power of the Rose, the sequel to The Haunting of Hawthorne, is a very good book about a girl named Valerie. Valerie likes this really cute "jock" at shcool, but she had a first love, Basil Haris. This boy gave Valerie a flower and the next day he was gone. The flower started to fall apart, but Valerie kept one of the pedals from the flower. Every night she stared at it and got a warm felling inside that Basil would be coming back someday. To find out if Basil comes back you'll have to read the book.

I think this book is great.I'm in 7th grade and this book is great for all ages.It is about a girl named Valerie. Who falls in love with this guy named Basil who is actually the ghost of Hawthorne and comes back becauses his school is being distoryed and he does not want that to happen.so I think anybody will love this book.

I thought this book is pretty good except for the kissing. The person telling the story is Valerie Moran. The other characters are Basil Harris (who is a newcomer). Bob Short who is only in the book for a short time. A music teacher by the name of Mrs. Gottsman. A history teacher, his name is Mr. Kramer. A subsitute named Ms. Walters. Troublemakers Jim Argus and Dennie Plover. And one more character Jan Draper.