Bean Books

Joe Adams may be the funniest new voice in the South. The stories in this collection all make me laugh out loud, and I find myself reading them over and over again. Not only did I buy one for myself but have given it as gifts to friends who need a few laughs (and a few who didn't)

If you're looking for a book to keep you laughing, this is it. The stories are real and funny. The characters are real and funny. It's about growing up in the South and the book is truly food for the Southerner's heart.

If you're looking for a book to keep you laughing, this is it. The stories are real and funny. The characters are real and funny. It's about growing up in the South and the book is truly food for the Southerner's heart.

I genuinely enjoyed this book. The stories reflect the true humor in simply being human, especially if you grew up in the South. I could have read 100 more of Mr. Adams artfully expressed stories....I hope to discover more of his work....and, yes...I actually DID go out and bring home some butter beans to further wallow in the nourishment of this read...

Joe Adam's "Butter Beans for the Soul" is a charming, laugh-out-loud read that will leave you with a smile on your face, and, as the title suggests, nourish the soul. This book is a collection of articles written for the author's hometown newspaper, "The Gaston Gazette" in North Carolina. The chapters are brief recollections and musings on growing up in a small, Southern town, as well as the author's humorous observations on his life today. With a heart and style as big as Mississippi's Willie Morris ("My Dog Skip"), Joe Adams tells us of the miracle of Television first coming to his small town; his grandmother stopping by the funeral parlor once a week to make sure her casket was still there (as the author notes, "Nobody had the heart to tell her it was a display model"); or taking his elderly cousins from the small town of Gastonia on a pilgrimage to Graceland in Memphis ("We've been here since 5 o'clock watching people go up and down on these glass elevators. We try to guess which floor people will get off. So far Mary's ahead'). He even locates an enchanted "healing springs" on his journeys that have been deeded outright to God. ("Although", he adds, "I don't know who pays the taxes. I would hate to see them try to foreclose on God for back taxes"). As life is a collection of moments, this witty collection of "snippets" -as the author calls them-provides warm insight and great humor into the author's rich life. All who read it will benefit from the joy contained within this book, and may find themselves craving a big bowl of butter beans once they're done.

Rebeccasreads highly recommends THE CHOPSTICKS-FORK PRINCIPLE for anyone interested in hybrid childhoods & bicultural lifestyles.

Cathy Bao Bean, an immigrant from China (circa 1950s), recounts how she figured out how to be herself while attempting to satisfy disparate cultural norms. Through her ebullient & articulate voice, we discover some slightly warped wisdom & a mess of good cheer.

THE CHOPSTICKS-FORK PRINCIPLE is a memoir about how to reconcile the expectations of families & society at large, & how to raise a child in a respectful context while also choosing the "path less traveled". Race, class, & gender issues interweave seamlessly in her wry & sly narrative, all spiced with the sweet & sour, the serious & hilarious.

This is a wonderful book, with great stories and intriguing perspectives. Anyone who is a parent would benefit from reading it. It provides an excellent window to education/learning, intergenerational harmony, and cross-cultural communication.

Cathy came to speak at my college class today and I have to say she is an awesome lady with great insight on life. She's also very funny. She read some exerpt from her book and it really got the class laughing. Her concept of the fork and chopstick is ingenius, I loved it. Her writing style is also very descriptive and witty. If you like to laugh, you'll love this book.

I am very excited about reading this book. HAPPY READING!

Not a traditional memoir, The Chopsticks/Fork Principle is more of a love-letter to the author?s family, friends and to life in general. But it is never sentimental or maudlin. Ms. Bean has taken her Eastern heritage and blended it (not without some lumps and bumps) with her Western lifestyle, to create something greater than the sum of its parts. Her delight in what her life has brought her will sweep the reader into a special world that is, indeed, a very nice place to visit. Her wry, dry and sly humor, her sharp wit, her genuine wisdom and her slightly off-center philosophy of life and living, make this a rare treat - a truly charming book.
Cathy Bao Bean deliberately chooses to see the best side of people and, whenever possible, events. To do this, she has allowed time to mellow hurts and humor to cushion memories.
As someone who grew up in New York at about the same time as the author, I confess to being unaware of the discrimination against Chinese Americans, especially following World War II when many Chinese were mistaken for Japanese. Ms. Bean tells her stories with humor and subtlety, which gives them a resonance they might not have had in less skillful, or kindly, hands.
One of the author?s childhood stories really surprised me. At about the age of ten, her parents sent her to summer camp. ... Her tales of camp were a trip down memory lane for me, and a reminder of how shared experiences - especially good ones - create bonds between people, no matter what their origins or differences.
As a ?manual,? The Chopsticks/Fork Principle has much to teach about relationships with people, nature and community.
If you are looking for a meaningful gift for Valentine?s Day or Mother?s Day, this is a good one!

As a 60 year old who was sent to summer camp when I was 4 years old, went to public school in New York City until high school and then wound up commuting to Columbia College on the #4 bus because my parents considered me too young to live away from home; as the husband of an art collector who has never been encumbered by anyone's opinion of right or wrong; as a parent, as a son......it was pure delight to read this book.

Yes, we've known Bennett Bean for 20 years. We have collected his work, commissioned him to make a multi-media painting for our home and we have been working with him for four years on a carpet project......we understand and celebrate his sense of joy and adventure in making art.......and we did know his wife, Cathy, but not the way we know her now.

Cathy Bao Bean writes with style, grace, wit, relevance. I have sent her book to our children to read so they can see down the road of child-rearing. I have sent her book to friends my age so the see that they are not alone in their feelings.

This book confirms the notion that gems exist outside the normal publishing distribution channels......and how major businesses miss great opportunities every day.

WARNING, CAUTION: This book may cause you a problem. You will want to read it very quickly.....please do not do this. Savor it, read it very slowly.

DOUG ANDERSON

I remain fascinated by Gullah and Daufuskie cooking. This book is a welcome addition to my ever-expanding collection. I'm glad I found it.

This was the perfect gift for my sister who lived on Dafuskie island for several years. She personally knew Sallie Ann and was sad to leave her east coast home and the lovely people she met there. The book brought back memories of a delightful period in her life.

I have tried to catch Ms. Robinson's t.v. shows when I was able. Having grown up poor and having to make ends meet by stretching the food, you appreciate any attempt to liven up the meals. Ms. Robinson has done this very well. I enjoy her, and I enjoy the book.

I grew up in St. Helena Island (Frogmore). Having and using this book brings back those memories

One of my favorite episodes of Sara Moulton's cooking show featured the author and included a visit to her childhood home. I was THRILLED that Ms. Robinson washed her green leafy vegetables in warm water. What a shame such wisdom (do Americans even know the term "nightsoil" anymore???) has been disregarded in the wake of carnival barkers who demonstrate their cooking ability by ripping open a bag of greens (prewashed, My Aunt Fanny!) and cooking raw meat straight from their styrofoam and plastic packaging. Ewwwww, you know no amount of cooking heat can clean that up. EWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.

Thank you, Ms. Robinson.

Sorry for my english. This item has arrived very fast to its destiny in a great state, so I could enjoy it only 10 days after the shopping, with no problems. So... thanks to Amazon for to make easier this kind of business.

The Haunted Mansion is one of my favorite rides at Disneyland. I really enjoyed the stories in this comic. Some were humorous, others "deadly" serious. Some explained the history of a particular Haunted Mansion ghost, others were simply for fun. I plan to collect all the comics in this series.

If you don't want to read the comicbook, then please buy it for the artwork [best priced Disney Merchandise vs. what you will pay @ the Theme Parks] .... looking forward to future volumes from SLAVE LABOR GRAPHICS !!!!

~(^)~

The thing I liked most was probably the funny things in it. I also have been waiting to get the second issue to see the ending of mystery of the manse. The artwork I liked because the book has different artists for the different storys. The story when the fifi is away is hilarious so I really want to get the next issue soon.

To say that I am happy that Disney has finally licensed some of their best properties to Slave Labor Graphics is an understatdment. This first issue of The Haunted Mansion proves my joy well earned. Each little story in the issue looks at a unique aspect of the Haunted Mansion mythos, many revealing back story details that the general public probably had not heard of before. My one complaint is the lack of color inking, but that's a minor quibble.

Since family diet has turned mainly towards a vegetarian one, I have been searching for cookbooks that would be helpful in pursuing recipes along those lines. Although there are recipes that do contain meat, I have found it easy to substitute those ingredients with vegetarian replacements.

Who knew beans were so versatile? This lively cookbook also provides a wealth of information on bean nutrition, varieties, preparation and availability. I consult it for exciting potluck appetizer recipes like creamy frijole dip and black bean tarts, exotic salads like white bean crab salad and adzuki fruit salad as well as everyday main courses such as chili (for which there are five variations) and wraps.

The recipes are usually quick, the directions are straightforward and the results are tasty and nutritious. This would be a great gift for the health conscious and vegetarians on your gift list!

I have never been a bean lover but am a vegetarian. So when I discovered More Easy Beans and found so many great recipes, especially for appetizers, I was hooked. I truly believe this is the best bean book I have ever used. Some recipes call for meat, but of course, everyone has a friend who likes red meat. What I really found helpful was the recipes all use a can of beans or allow you to make the beans from scratch. All the recipes I have tried are right on with the cooking times. Other books I have used produce bean mush at the end. I highly recommend More Easy Beans.

I loved this book, I am on the weight watchers core plan and the recipes in this book are so easy to manipulate to fit into my diet as free food. I never go hungry and the recipes are so awesome. I recommend this book to everyone who loves beans and looking for a little variety on how to cook them. FANTASTIC! LOVE IT!

This is probably my favorite cookbook so far. The recipes are tasty, healthy and not too complicated. I already loved black beans and was happy to see many recipes which included them. The Lentil Mung Bean Soup has become a favorite at my house.
Definitly worth adding to your library!

There is already a lot of appreciation of the book, don't have much to say here

I have been developing with Wicket for a year or so. When I started working with Wicket I didn't have a good book as a reference. The community is very helpful in this case. In the mailing list you can sometimes see the two writers of this book. Their responses are very helpful. And so is the book.
The book covers a lot of theoretical Wicket stuff, which I think is very useful if one wants to understand it better.
The book is great for a newcomer as well. Just follow the examples and you'll understand Wicket.
I found the book very useful to me, an intermediate / expert Wicket developer.
Each time I read a few pages or a chapter, I learn something new.
I recommend this book to anyone that uses Wicket or plan to use it.

As the Manning publications book Wicket in Action is soon to hit the shelf of your local book store, I was granted the opportunity of a sneak preview. Now, I'm not a person with a lot of spare time on my hands these days but I felt an obligation to give this book a serious read because A) Wicket is an excellent framework for building web applications B) The people who wrote this book are extremely helpful on the mailing list and irc channel and I wanted to know if their talents translated well to book writing. I'm happy to report it has, in spades....
[...]

I already bought this book before it was released. I love wicket and this book sure makes it easier to work with Wicket. It gives you a great in depth view on how wicket works. Adding more and more complexity in all the different chapters.

A needed read for anyone who wants to get the most out of Wicket.

I don't normally review books on Amazon but this is one of the best technical books that I've read in a while. The authors do a great job of organizing and presenting the material. The book is easy to read and I was able to get through it in about two evenings. I'm now using it as a reference while I work on my first major Wicket application. It might help that Wicket itself is well structured which makes the concepts that much easier to understand.

That being said, there are a few short-comings:
1) The cheese and lasagna examples get really old really quickly. The authors could have used different concepts or something a little more relevant or interesting to most developers.

2) The book is somewhat short. While they covered the core topics well, I felt that a few things we missing. I was surprised to see that the publisher trimmed the book and put an extra chapter online but not in print.

3) Some fundamentals like what DTD to include in an HTML page or what the Wicket web.xml should look like would be nice. You can find these answers online with a quick search but this book should really cover it.

But these faults don't hurt the overall usefulness of the book. It would be nice if most/all of this documentation was available in the Wicket project itself, but no such luck which makes this book even more valuable. I don't know if it will be in all copies, but my copy had a coupon for a free version of the digital book (PDF I suppose)... nice touch.

I recommend buying this book and learning about a very reasonable alternative to JSF.

$43.00 for this used book! are you kidding me?

this is a really cute book that has "grown" with my children. my 12 mo old loves to look at the book and the length is perfect for his attention span. my 3 yr old talks about the pictures. my 5 yr old was so proud to read it all by himself.

but $43.00 for this book!!!!!!! that is insane.

My twelve month old loves this book. It's the only one he sits still enough to hear.

Very very simple - but sweet - nice illustrations. It's not a favorite of my 21 month old, but he does still enjoy it, and brings it to be read sometimes

I purchased this one and the others in the Bean series for my 9 month old. She loves the illustrations, they are bright and colorful. I've been reading them to her nightly and she is now anticipating the next page and can recognize, the baby, and Bean. I highly recommend.

My eight month old daughter is very spoiled when it comes to books. she has a ton of them. But the only ones she seems to enjoy are these books. She tries to find bean on each page and she loves it when bean leaps and plays peak-a-boo. These books are a lifesaver on long trips to Grandmas house.

Lundy writes, and cooks, in the spirit of Eugene Walter -- who she quotes in the book. Again...just buy the book and relish it...you will, you know.

I really enjoyed this book and a variety of recipes found in this book. The author added stories that were amusing and made you want to read this book from cover to cover. Having a husband that drives long distance truck, the resturant referrals were great and have proven to be accurate!

The recipes in "Butterbeans to Blackberries" are good enough to make bona-fide vegetable haters ask for a second helping, but this cookbook is so much more than a compilation of tasty recipes. Lundy is a Southerner who not only loves cooking and knows all those hidden secrets of Southern cooks, but she weaves the recipes around the unique people who make the South a special place. Her stories of the characters she runs into are every bit as delicious as the recipes. She's an authentic and fresh voice out of the South and her next move should be a novel of some of those characters (with a few new recipes thrown in for good measure!)

This is the first book of Ronni Lundy's that I read and it inspired me to find and buy all the rest of her books. If you have Southern roots or know anyone who has, the stories and recipes will be even more meaningful to you. The South produces some of the best vegetables in the country and Southerners of all races have been developing ways to best showcase them. Buy this book for the recipes but keep it for the stories too.

This is a cookbook you read. Every word!
It has also reminded me that there are no meat-and-three cafes in all of California that I can find. And all the cornbread tastes like cake. Somebody is missing the boat here. You would make a good living if you opened this type of restarant. You could use this cookbook to get started!

claims Clarice Bean about her current read, "The Ruby Redfort Survival Handbook: What to do When Your Worst Worry Comes Your Way." And Clarice, third of four children (p 10) "being the second from youngest isn't really anything, is it?" has a lot of worries, so many that she jots them in a "worst worries" notebook (p 7) "because people say things aren't so bad if you make a list." What might a girl like Clarice worry about, things like: (Pp 8, 9, 10, 96, 66) the meaning of life, infinity, change, being bored to nearly utter death, and largish spiders. Ms. Redfort's words of wisdom, (p 11) "REMEMBER-it's the worry you haven't even thought to worry about-that is the worry that should worry you the most." Also contained in the survival handbook, helpful hints, like: (p 19, 28, 35, 104) "A true spy will notice the unnoticeable," "Never eat a polar bear's liver-no matter how hungry you are," "If trouble is around the corner, try walking the other way," and my absolute favorite (in the subsection under How to survive in shark-infested waters), "Whatever you do, do not let them explore you with their teeth."

Fortunately, Clarice's "utterly best friend" Betty Moody shares her fascination with all things Ruby Redfort. Unfortunately, her ubf moves away, leaving her alone with her worries and her tickets for the movie premiere of Run, Ruby, Run, in which she has a small part. Even worse, a new (Swedish) girl arrives at the school, soaking up the attentions of her classmates. With Betty (mostly) incommunicado, Clarice slips into despair, and misinterprets the actions of others, thus piling on additional worries. But when all seems lost, she stumbles upon the clues to a kidnapping, uses what she's learned from RR to help solve the crime, and makes a new friend. The hardcopy version of this book, with its colorful cover and built-in bookmark, would be a great choice for any third to fifth grade worrier, with its refreshingly original variety of fonts, sketches, and predictably-positive-ending story. Also good: The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron, The View from Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg, and The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart.

My daughter (6 years) loves this book.
She loves all of Lauren Childs books

I'm 8 years old and I like the Clarice Bean books. In this book Clarice Bean is upset because her best friend Betty Moody moved to California for her dad's job. Clarice misses her a lot. Other things start to go wrong like a new kid named Clem Hansson is sitting in Betty Moody's seat and Clarice doesn't like her that much. There are some problems with Clarice's house and they need to get it fixed. Clarice's new room is an attic, and she's a little nervous because she doesn't like spiders and there are a lot of them in the attic. My opinion about this book is that it is a very good book. I thought the book was very interesting. I read it in less than two days. I liked it a lot more than Clarice Bean Spells Trouble, and it's about as good as Utterly Me, Clarice Bean. I think a lot of kids would like this book.

The condition of the book was excellent, it got it here fast and my sister loved it!!! Thank You Very Much!!!

My Review of Clarice Bean, Don't Look Now, by Lauren Child
By MJ age 9

I love this book! It was sooooo hard to put it down! This book is the BEST! (You must read the other books in the Clarice Bean series or this one won't make sense!)
Clarice Bean is miserable because Betty Moody has moved very far away. As her house is repaired, Clarice Bean has been e-mailing Betty Moody because Clarice Bean's phone isn't working. To make matters worse, a new kid comes to school and Clarice thinks she is a bully. Her name is Clem, Clem Hansson. Want to know more? Well, I don't want to ruin surprises, do I? =)

This is a great book for people who are new to excercise, and also as a refresher in motivation for those who might have taken a break from excercise for awhile. The message carries in to the rest of your life as well by overcoming excuses in general that prevent you from success. Terrific book and worth the read!

I always love a book with humor and this one will good humoredly call you on any and all excuses you could possibly come up with for skipping out on excercise. I really appreciated the additional informational facts and studies on exercise and health. Jeanne Murdock's personal comments about how she handles her own "excuses" make the book even more pertinent. The quick-read chapters are easy to take and very fun to read again and again. Reinforces what you know and what you should know about working out and getting fit.

This is a great book for those who have and continue to find excuses in lieu of working out. And for those of us on the fence, we finally get that shove to the side of exercising. You can't run, you can't hide, at some point your exposed lingering excuses will have to be addressed and acted upon. Great book!

Jeanne Murdock's book really struck a chord with me. I always have an excuse for not working out. She dissolved all of my "foolproof" excuses. I found it very motivating!! I would highly recommend it, especially for those who think they are too busy!!!!

What a fantastic book! There is no way anyone could read this and not exercise. Makes every possible way anyone might try to get out of exercising seem ridiculous. Anyone who wants to get in shape but keeps on finding some reason not to should read this book.