Bloom Books

Great book for anybody whos intrested in learning one stroke painting because it teaches you how to paint different kind of flowers and the instructions are easy to follow.

Good solid book, but nothing really stellar. It has some good techniques, but not the Wow factor in many of the other books

The product was in excellent condition when I received. I will buy more books from this seller. Very pleased

I enjoyed the instructions in this book. First, a detailed explanation of how to complete each type of stroke is given. Then, the book has detailed information on how to paint many different types of flowers and arrangements. And finally,(this is the best part) it goes on to explain how to create original arrangements depending on the surface space the painter has to work with. This book was well written and easy to follow

This book is awesome! I have many of Donna's books but this is my favorite. I've been painting using the One Stroke method for about 5 months and I'm HOOKED! I've taken 13 classes with my local OSCI since then, which is the best way to improve your OS painting skills, but this book is a great compliment to those classes. Donna uses about 15 pages in the beginning of the book to go over materials, techniques and colors. Then she covers 50 flowers/blooms using 2 pages for each. The picture of her finished piece is a full page and of course very colorful. Then on the opposite page it lists the brushes and paints you'll need and a step by step guide on how to paint the flower(s). But it doesn't stop there. She uses 14 pages at the end to cover filler flowers and floral composition. Finally the last 2 pages are a gallery of floral project ideas. This is an invaluable resource! Enjoy!

this was a good follow-up to ms.flowers prequel i like this it a page turner and i will be reading more of this authors work the next installment will probaly be about another one of the freinds that i enjoyed reading with a little more twist this author has a way to capture you into her stories with the realistic situation that we as women endower on a day to day bases . unlike the previous story this takes a turn to show how selfish we as women can be . keep up the good skills you have and i will be a fan

I enjoyed this book and I felt like I knew the characters personally. I can't wait until One Night Stand comes out. If you have not read this book, please do. You will not be disapponted

I read a few of the online reviews before deciding to purchase the book and I was pleased. It was well written and held my attention throughout the entire book. I am looking forward to the sequel.

First let me say kudos to Ms. Flowers for writing such an endearing book. As I was reading this book, I just knew that she must've been peeking into my world. I happen to be newly single and I'm out and about dating and my new motto is "No String's Attached." However, my husband is not my business partner and I didn't catch him sleeping with my secretary. I probably would have killed him if I were in Felice's shoes.

Nonetheless, No Strings Attached is a witty book full of humor and real life situations. I can't say the amount of times I reflected and saw myself in the main character Felice's shoes. The chapter titles had me laughing out loud and the dating scenarios of Felice will keep you turning the pages. The other character Sylvah was also a trip. She's recently divorced (you'll applaud her for leaving her asinine ex-husband) and finds herself in a love triangle. She has to choose between dating a man that is 13 years her junior and a man who is close to her age, but he's white. In this day and age interracial relationships shouldn't be an issue. However, sometimes it's not just all about you, it's about the people around you and Sylvah has to decide whether love will conquer all in both cases. Eventually she does end up with one, but I won't say.

Then there are Felice's other two good friends, sweet and shy Candace, that is until she goes to Jamaica and her world begins to fall apart and Alana. Now that chick has problems, but we all know someone just like her, even if she's not in our circle. Most people try to stay away from folk like Alana, but she added a good mixture to the book.

I truly enjoyed this book and can't wait to read the sequel One Night Stand the previous book, Shattered Vessels. Ms. Flowers keep up the good work. You are definitely doing your thang!

Felice Jackson is successful, beautiful, and intelligent but is unlucky in love. After catching her husband ( and business partner) in bed with their secretary, she is afraid to love again until she meets Aaron Crane, a basketball player who sweeps her off her feet and with whom she allows herself to fall in love with....that is until the shocking and unexpected truth comes out. Tired of men and their lies, Felice decides to change her approach and develops a new attitude. She sees nothing wrong with sleeping with 4 or 5 men at a time with "no strings attached". Meanwhile her best friend Sylvah is dealing with the breakup of her 20-year marriage, so in celebration of Sylvah's birthday, Felice, Sylvah, and their other 2 closest friends, Candace and Alana decide to take a trip to Jamaica to get their "grooves" back.

It is then that their lives begin to travel on an unexpected path, Candace makes a mistake that may cost her everything and the ladies begin to see Alana for who and what she truly is as she allows her jealousy of Candace to show the real "Alana". Sylvah decides to embark on relationships with not one but two men: much younger but successful Jason and handsome but white Hunter. After tragedy strikes, Sylvah must decide which direction her life will go. After suffering recurrent nightmares, Felice's past begins to catch up with her and all of her skeletons begin to fall out of the closet as shocking secrets come to light.

No Strings Attached is one of those stories that will have you thinking long after you put it down, it's a wonderful story about friendship, forgiveness, and self-redemption as Felice not only learns to forgive those who have hurt her but also herself. It is a must-read, as it is a page-turner from beginning to end. The ending leaves the door open for a sequel as this is only the beginning for Candace and her story will continue in "One Night Stand", can't wait to see what happens next!!! Reviewed by Shay C of PeoplewholoveGoodBooks

Bloom, Amy. "Normal: Transsexual CEOs, Crossdressing Cops and Hermaphrodites with Attitude", Vintage. 2003.

An Intimate Journey

Amos Lassen

Amy Bloom takes us on a provocative and intimate journey to visit with people who are transgender and they are willing to either reveal or talk about it. The live with variegated gender and they are male to female transsexuals, heterosexual crossdressers and intersexed. Lyle Monelle's mother, Jesse realized early that her little girl was in reality a boy and Jesse used her life savings to help Lyle make the transgender transition. Peggy Rudd and her husband, Melanie are met on a Carnival cruise ship where they are with a group of crossdressers and their spouses.
These two devote their lives to the cause of ordinary heterosexual men with a "feminine dimension". Then there is Hale Hawbecker who is a regular, middle-of-the road guy with a wife and kids and a medical condition that if he had it taken care of, both his life and gender would be changed.
Bloom shows us the people and also their humanity thereby allowing us to appreciate them for who they really are. They are both alike and unlike everyone else. She takes us into their worlds and then to the larger world in which they live with the rest of us. We see that our assumptions about sex, gender and identity and what it means to be male and female may not be what they should be and that even the most liberal of us have preconceived notions about what is "normal". After reading this it is hard to look at happiness, personality and character in the same way. Bloom has a great deal to say about the concept of "normal" and does so in a way that is easily understood.

Normal flows logically from her clever crossdressing denouement in Come To Me - an unequivocally straight view tempered by a transcending humanism.

As usual, Bloom's prose is witty, engrossing and tight as a snare drum. She mixes her personal views, field quotes and historical backdrops like a hit record pro. The first two essays, on FtM transsexualism and MtF CDing, provide her book with its sharp polarity. Regarding the former, Bloom concludes, "I met men"; regarding the latter, Bloom allows they "are as far from gender warriors and feminists as George W. himself" - and she nails it each time. (This brings up a questionable subtext, though: Bloom, via her editing, seems to suggest that it's 'easier' to be a man because they're 'simpler.' There's no way enough material visited or studied in this slim, amusing book to justify that view.) The Intersex chapter, alas, has far fewer quotes, providing essentially a podium for ISNA (which is cool).

Bloom approaches her topic from the outside, and it is her ladylike skepticism that gives Normal its confiding, maternal touch.

After a popular novel and two stunning collections of short stories, psychotherapist and fiction writer Amy Bloom turns an eye toward gender, and her new non-fiction book is a knockout. Made up of three individual essays and an Afterword called "On Nature," Bloom examines issues of gender that are outside what most of society calls "normal." In "The Body Lies: Female-to-Male Transsexuals," we are introduced to a number of people born genetically male who are living as women (with or without sex reassignment surgery); in the section on "Heterosexual Crossdressers," we learn about manly men who, at times, enjoy dressing in feminine garb; the last segment, "Hermaphrodites with Attitude," is about people born with ambiguous "genital anomalies." The author interviewed numerous transsexuals, crossdressers, and intersexed people as well as doctors, educators, sex researchers, and others to give readers an engrossing glimpse at the confusion, prejudice, and misunderstanding that occurs when people are not so easily boxed into categories of "male" or "female." With a deft touch and a wry sense of humor, Bloom makes a cogent argument for acceptance and understanding. In a segment that will no doubt be much quoted, she writes, "(O)ur mistake is in thinking that the wide range of humanity represents aberration when in fact it represents just what it is: range. Nature is not two little notes on a child's flute; Nature is more like Aretha Franklin: vast, magnificent, capricious-occasionally hilarious-and infinitely varied" (p. 149) Anyone interested in a combination of delightful writing style and keen insight about issues of gender will find this book fascinating. I highly recommend it.

The jewel here is the section on crossdressers. It is entertaining and dead on. You see, I used to be a crossdresser--until I became a woman. One thing that so many of my sisters don't want you to know, and don't want to remember themselves, is that most transsexuals (at least the ones who weren't gay when we were men) began as straight crossdressers. As adolescents, we discovered that it was intensely erotic to wear panties, bras, and other lingerie. We did this in private, and we looked into a mirror, and we masturbated. As we grew older, the intense sexuality of this experience diminished (but did not disappear), and we discovered that we were gratified to venture out (no longer in lingerie but in skirts, nylons, and blouses). Some of us were able to enlist our wives in this activity.

Unlike so many social scientists, Amy Bloom sees what is in front of her face. These crossdressing men--just like me before them--say that they have a feminine side, which she cannot see. What she does see is the intense eroticism of their activity (for them that is). Why is it a turn on to be appraised by others as a beautiful woman? The answer is autogynephilia, which is what we all have. Autogynephilia is being turned on by the idea that you are a woman. For a good introduction to this concept read The Man Who Would Be Queen.

Also look at Deirdre McCloskey's autobiography, Crossing: A Memoir. She used to be just like the men in Normal. Like me, she made the decision to go further, and she became a woman. But there is nothing fundamentally different between those men and us.

The rest of Normal is okay but not nearly as compelling. Thus the four stars.

After a popular novel and two stunning collections of short stories, psychotherapist and fiction writer Amy Bloom turns an eye toward gender, and her new non-fiction book is a knockout. Made up of three individual essays and an Afterword called "On Nature," Bloom examines issues of gender that are outside what most of society calls "normal." In "The Body Lies: Female-to-Male Transsexuals," we are introduced to a number of people born genetically male who are living as women (with or without sex reassignment surgery); in the section on "Heterosexual Crossdressers," we learn about manly men who, at times, enjoy dressing in feminine garb; the last segment, "Hermaphrodites with Attitude," is about people born with ambiguous "genital anomalies." The author interviewed numerous transsexuals, crossdressers, and intersexed people as well as doctors, educators, sex researchers, and others to give readers an engrossing glimpse at the confusion, prejudice, and misunderstanding that occurs when people are not so easily boxed into categories of "male" or "female." With a deft touch and a wry sense of humor, Bloom makes a cogent argument for acceptance and understanding. In a segment that will no doubt be much quoted, she writes, "(O)ur mistake is in thinking that the wide range of humanity represents aberration when in fact it represents just what it is: range. Nature is not two little notes on a child's flute; Nature is more like Aretha Franklin: vast, magnificent, capricious-occasionally hilarious-and infinitely varied" (p. 149)

Anyone interested in a combination of delightful writing style and keen insight about issues of gender will find this book fascinating. I highly recommend it.

Shakespeare's collection of sonnets is so much a part of the western cultural heritage that reviewing it is kind of like taking coals to Newcastle, but it is worth a few words. First, however, a note about this edition: it is exactly what I wanted, with a few unobstructive footnotes at the bottom of each page, an index of first lines, and two critical introductions, one offering up historical context, the other more interpretative. They enhance your reading, they do not do it for you.

Now, why you want to read this collection. Most of us come to the sonnets singly: random reading assignments, in mixed anthologies, or one is quoted provocatively some place. With few exceptions, each is a perfect example of what the sonnet form does and how form itself shapes meaning. But read straight through consecutively, they offer a close-to-the-bone narrative of Shakespeare's preoccupations. This is the source of all that speculation about his sexual preferences. We've all heard lots of opinions on the bard's relationship with the "Young Man" and the "Dark Lady" but there is nothing like getting it first hand, and I must say that my ideas changed after sorting through for myself. For one thing, love--platonic or carnal--is not the only thing on his mind. Immortality, beauty, truth and a few other problems get a work out. The most pleasant surprise is how truly readable and accessible it all is.

Thy merit hath my duty strongly knit,
To thee I send this written embassage,
To witness duty, not to show my wit.
(Sonnet 26.)

How to do justice to the legacy of literary history's greatest mind -- moreover in such a limited review? Forget Goethe's "universal genius" and his rebel contemporary Schiller; forget the 19th century masters; forget contemporary literature: with the possible (!) exception of three Greek gentlemen named Aischylos, Sophocles and Euripides, a certain Frenchman called Poquelin (a/k/a Moliere), and that infamous Irishman Oscar Wilde, there's more wit in a single line of Shakespeare's than in an entire page of most other, even great, authors' works. And I'm not saying this in ignorance of, or in order to slight any other writer: it's precisely my admiration of the world's literary giants, past and present, that makes me appreciate Shakespeare even more -- and that although I'm aware that he repeatedly borrowed from pre-existing material and that even the (sole) authorship of the works published under his name isn't established beyond doubt. For ultimately, the only thing that matters to me is the brilliance of those works themselves; and quite honestly, the mysteries continuing to enshroud his person, to me, only enhance his larger-than-life stature.

The precise dating of Shakespeare's sonnets -- like other poets', a response to the 1591 publication of Sir Philip Sidney's "Astrophil and Stella" -- is an even greater guessing game than that of his plays: although #138 and #144 (slightly modified) appeared in 1599's "Passionate Pilgrim," most were probably circulated privately, and written years before their first -- unauthorized, though still authoritative -- 1609 publication; possibly beginning in 1592-1593.

Format-wise, they adopt the Elizabethan fourteen-line-structure of three quatrains of iambic pentameters expressing a series of increasingly intense ideas, resolved in a closing couplet; with an abab-cdcd-efef-gg rhyme form. (Sole exceptions: #99 -- first quatrain amplified by one line -- #126 -- six couplets & only twelve lines total -- #145 -- written in tetrameter -- and #146 -- omission of the second line's beginning; the subject of a lasting debate.) Their order is thematic rather than chronological, although beyond the fact that the first 126 are addressed to a young man -- maybe the Earl of Pembroke or Southampton, maybe Sir Robert Dudley, the natural son of Queen Elizabeth's "Sweet Robin," the Earl of Leicester -- (the first seventeen, possibly commissioned by the addressee's family, pressing his marriage and production of an heir), and ##127-152 (or 127-133 and 147-152) to an exotic woman of questionable virtues only known as "The Dark Lady," even in that respect much remains unclear; including the nature of Shakespeare's relationship with the two main addressees, regarding which the sonnets' often ambiguous metaphors invoke much speculation. #145 is probably addressed to Shakespeare's wife; the closing couplet plays on her maiden name ("['I hate' from] hate away she threw And saved my life, [saying 'not you']:" "Hathaway -- Anne saved my life"), several others contain puns on the name Will and its double meaning(s) (exactly fourteen in the naughty #135: "Whoever hath her wish, thou hast thy Will;" and seven in the similarly mischievous #136), and the last two draw on the then-popular Cupid theme. Sometimes, placement seems linked to contents, e.g., in #8 (music: an octave has eight notes), #12 and #60 (time: twelve hours to both day and night; sixty minutes to an hour); and in the famous #55, which praises poetry's everlasting power and as whose never-expressly-named subject Shakespeare himself emerges in a comparison with Horace's Ode 3.30 -- in turn written in first person singular and thus, denoting its own author as the builder of its "monument more lasting than bronze" ("Exegi monumentum aere perennius") -- as well as through the number "5"'s optical similarity to the letter "S," making the sonnet's number a shorthand reference for "5hake5peare" or "5hakespeare's 5onnets," echoed by numerous words containing an "S" in the text.

Of indescribable linguistic beauty, elegance and complexity, Shakespeare's sonnets owe their timeless appeal to their supreme compositional values, the universality of their themes, and their keen insights into the human heart and soul; as much as their transcendence of the era's poetic conventions which, following Petrarch, heavily idealized the addressee's qualities: a form new and exciting twohundred years earlier, but encrusted in cliche in the late 1500s. Indeed, Shakespeare's "Dark Lady" Sonnet #130 owes its particular fame to its clever puns on that very style, which went overboard with references to its golden-haired, starry- (beamy-, sparkling, sunny-) eyed, cherry- (strawberry-, vermilion-, coral-) lipped, rosy- (crimson-, purple-, dawn-) cheeked, ivory- (lily-, carnation-, crystal-, silver-, snowy-, swan-white) skinned, pearl-teethed, honey- (nectar-, music-) tongued, goddess-like objects. "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;" the Bard countered, proceeded to describe her breasts as "dun," her hair as "black wires," and her breath as "reek[ing]," and denied her any divine or angelic attributes. "And yet," he concluded: "by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare."

Arguably, Shakespeare's very choice of addressees (a young man -- also the subject of the famously romantic #18: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day;" the first of several sonnets promising his immortalization in poetry -- as well as the "Dark Lady," in turn introduced under the notion "black is beautiful" in #127) itself suggests a break with tradition; and compared to his contemporaries' poetry, even the equally-famous #116's on its face rather conventional praise of love's constancy ("Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments"), echoed in the poet's vow to vanquish time in #123, sounds fairly restrained. But ultimately, Shakespeare's sonnets -- like his entire work -- simply defy categorization. They are, as rival Ben Jonson acknowledged, written "for all time," just as the Bard himself immodestly claimed:

'Gainst death and all oblivious enmity
Shall you pace forth; your praise shall still find room
Even in the eyes of all posterity
That wear this world out to the ending doom.
(Sonnet 55.)

Also recommended:
The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works 2nd Edition
Shakespeare: For All Time (Oxford Shakespeare)
Much Ado About Nothing
Love's Labour's Lost
William Shakespeare's Hamlet (Two-Disc Special Edition)
BBC Shakespeare Comedies DVD Giftbox
BBC Shakespeare Tragedies DVD Giftbox
Olivier's Shakespeare - Criterion Collection (Hamlet / Henry V / Richard III)
William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice
Twelfth Night

Shakespeare was, in my opinion, a far better poet than a playwrite. Not to say that his plays aren't good; he wrote many that are among the best I've read. But some of his others are terribly boring. Not so with his sonnets. This collection is my constant companion, I read a sonnet whenever I feel down. They catalogue the experience of a truly remarkable man in a style both rich and clear. A great collection of great poetry.

This is in reference to the CD (audiobook) Sonnets read by John Gielgud. Just received my copy and was pleasently surprised that the remastered 60's recording is remarkably clear. Gielgud was one of the greatest actor/directors of Shakespeare, and to listen to him read the sonnets "...trippingly on the tongue...", (Hamlet,act 3, sc. 2.) is nothing short of historical.
Listen to them at night or on a rainy day, or just follow along with a hardcopy of the Sonnets in your hand. You'll be reciting them in short order.

This is a nice edition, worthy of gift-giving. There is only one Sonnet per page, so you can choose one and bookmark it for a friend. The paper is quality and the binding and overall look is very good.

Like the other readers who reviewed this book, I am a huge Austen fan. I've read "Pride and Prejudice" so many times I can quote whole paragraphs by heart. So when I discovered Fanny Burney, a contemporary of Austen's, I couldn't wait to get into her books. "Camilla" is the second book by Burney I've read, and it's reinforced my initial impression that Burney is not up to Austen's caliber as a novelist. She tells an interesting story, but her characters seem too much like stock pieces acting on a stage, and the overly dramatic dialogue doesn't help matters much. Austen's genius was in not only telling a mesmerizing tale, but in bringing her characters so completely to life that they seem totally real. Austen's novels are of their own time and for all time; Burney's books are stuck rigidly in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

A singular problem with "Camilla" is Camilla herself; she comes across more as a sweet but empty-headed ingenue, tripping from one mess to another and managing to make mountains out of molehills. Her younger sister Eugenia, crippled and disfigured with smallpox but well-read and profound, is a far more interesting figure, and if she had been the center of the book, it would have been a far more interesting book. By 600 pages we get kind of tired of Camilla's incessant mess-ups, and just wish she'd hurry up and marry Edgar and have done with it. As another reviewer stated, I would like to see "Camilla" brought to the screen; with the fat trimmed from the novel, a good script, and in the hands of a good director, it might be a better movie than a book. Taken on its own, "Camilla" is not a bad book at all; but there is no way it can stand up to Austen.

Why do I think it should have been called Eugenia? She is the character whom you will respect and adore the most at the end of this book. But before I elaborate on that further, let me say that this is the second book of Fanny Burney's that I have read and she is the author who has, by far, the best gift for pulling her readers into the very emotions of her characters. The characters in Camilla felt like very real people to me by the end of this book. This is not just due to the fact that it is almost a thousand pages long - I felt this way within the first few chapters. Ms. Burney was a great inspiration to many later authors, most notably, Jane Austen. In fact, scholars believe that Camilla was the direct influence for Austen's masterpiece, Sense and Sensibility. The flavor of Austen's books were clearly cooked up while she was reading Ms. Burney, and you'll find that the inspiration and enjoyment Ms. Austen received while reading Camilla, as well as other Burney books, is no mystery.

The story follows two sisters, Eugenia and Camilla, and their cousin, Indiana, in the months preceding their marriages. Not only are the lives of these three women explored, but we see several equally strong male characters and the supporting cast is as delightful, frustrating, and dramatic as good supporting characters should be. Although Camilla is darling and sympathetic, you may, as I did, find that much of what she goes through could have been easily avoided. Much of what occurs involves Camilla's suitor, Edgar, who decides, based on the advice of a friend, to look for her faults and be sure she loves him before declaring his love and asking her to marry him. On the other hand, Camilla, who is deeply in love with Edgar is given advice by her father to avoid him and hide her feelings for him as much as possible (to avoid complications in their already established friendship). This of course, places everything in a muddle as both are working against each other. On top of this, Camilla seems to have a knack for finding herself in situations, which Edgar always just happens to witness, that appear less than flattering to her character. The reader finds themselves frustrated with the continual thousand page cycle that ensues, but fear not, by the end you find that Ms. Burney planned and shares these frustrations. As you can imagine, the book deals greatly with the expectations placed on young women, trust, prejudice, and giving individuals, especially those we love, the benefit of the doubt.

Ms. Burney writes about her characters in such a vivid manner that you feel as if you can actually see what's going on. Facial expressions, emotions, settings, etc. are painted with subtle yet strong master strokes. Besides giving us Camilla's story in full, Ms. Burney gives us multiple strong sub plots. Eugenia's story is perhaps the most dramatic and in my opinion, more powerful and moving that the main story. I will not spoil the book by giving you the details other than to say that she overcomes insurmountable odds, and does so with a grace that will endear her to you.

Besides giving us wonderful human interest stories, Ms. Burney once again weaves intrigue, wisdom, tragedy, comedy, and a host of surprising plot twists in this book that will hold the reader glued to every page. It's length was never felt. In fact, the closer I came to the finish line, the slower I read because I didn't want the book to end. Despite it's being a thousand pages long, I finished the book rapidly and never felt a numb, boring moment. Camilla will capture you from her opening pages and hold you betwixt the beginning and end in utter turmoil, suspense, awe, and, most importantly, rapture.

Though there may have been a few slight annoyances about this book (Dr. Marchmont, Edgar's suspicious nature), for the most part, it was highly readable and very well-written. The Eugenia subplot was fascinating and the characters were well-rounded and interesting (especially Sir Sedley Clarendel, who I thought showed a lot of potential, and who was much more than the fop he appeared to be). I should warn you (especially everybody new to Burney)that it starts fairly slowly, but the plot really picks up a couple hundred pages in. There were several times that I got so into reading it (especially the last 200 pages) that I ignored homework or other things that I was expected to do. Altogether, I highly recommend Camilla to anyone who wants to read something engaging, entertaining and different.

As a devoted Austen fan and having read Northanger Abbey where Fanny Burney's Camilla is mentioned I thought I'll give the book a try. Although it proved quite enjoyable for a time, but after 500 pages and at least "500" recurring events where the main (?) characters, Camilla & Edgar, almost seem to make it just to end up further and further apart I got really bored. The novel would be much better if it were 400 pages shorter.

Burney might have inspired Jane Austen, but Austen exceeded and outsmarted her in every way. Where Austen's plots are tight without any unnecessary subplots and going-ons, just for the sake of writing another 200 pages, Burney keeps repeating events, her characters find themselves over and over in similar circumstances without adding anything new to plot or to characterization, making the whole novel very tiresome after a while. I admit that Jane Austen also used cliché characters but her genius breathed life into them - they are well-drawn and have depth - while Burney's characters - even or especially the main characters, with the exception of the wonderful Eugenia - stay flat and common place, as if cut out from a newspaper.
In my opinion, Camilla, the heroine is simply one of the most frustratingly perfect female cliché characters that appeared in print. Besides some very common place deeds she doesn't seem very special at all. What is apparent right form the start that her family, friends and admirers assume her perfect without any other ground that her being pretty and good-humoured. And it seems the author was quite satisfied with this kind of characterization for she didn't feel the need to emphasize Camilla's good qualities with any external actions really but what is cliché and boring. As a result, Camilla remains a rather one-sided, flat character without any real progress than being understood rather than misunderstood by Edgar at the end of the painfully long 1000 pages. The most incredible and discrediting thing to me was when at a social assembly the boorish suitor of Camilla - not at all a gentleman - starts abusing Eugenia's appearance and Camilla instead of putting him to place or at least leaving him on the spot if she is such a coward to say anything - like I am sure Elizabeth Bennet, Elinor Dashwood or Emma Woodhouse would have done - just remains there sitting stupidly and mutely. So much for sisterly love!

I tend to agree with my fellow reviewers that Eugenia is a far more interesting and profound character, her personal tragedy and the courage she bears it with make her endearing. Hers was the -unfortunately only - subplot that I followed with the most excitement and sympathy.

Still, the novel was an interesting experience for me to know what was considered popular reading in that period and as such, quite useful with my studies.

I just finished reading Camilla. I'm very sad it is over. I am not an avid reader, but Camilla has made me one. If I can read a 900 page book, I can read anything. But I don't know if anything will be as good. I am a big fan of the Austen movies. I finally read Pride and Prejudice. I was a little disappointed that it was slow moving. I found Camilla the opposite. I just ordered Evelina and Cecilia. I can't wait.

Persuasion is a very good book. It's slower than the contemporary novel, which is to be expected (it is nearly 200 years old, after all). Like all of Austen's other novels, it is of course a social commentary. It's a story of delayed love and patience. It's been called her 'most romantic.' The idea of the old love, Captain Wentworth, coming back after years apart and both parties still being in love IS very romantic, but I disagree with it being her most romantic. It's a very sweet story, and also pretty straightforward. It was a lot of fun to read, and a good story.

As an avid fan of Jane Austen, I began reading "Persuasion" with great expectations. Although I cannot say I am dissapointed, I must admit I did not like Persuasion as much as Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility.

First of all, although I sympathized with Anne when he was slighted by her own family and she was taken no notice of in the company of foolish women just because she is not as pretty and "fragile" as them, maybe because she is not as strong and passionate a character as Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, I could not particularly attach myself to her. Still, I read the novel from beginning to the end in a very short time because it has more than enough to keep our interest. Especially the character of Mrs. Croft, the sister of Captain Wentworth is worth notice; because among the "ailing" and "fatigued" women of the higher classes of that time, this woman who walks long distances with her husband, who accompanies him on long sea journeys and takes the reins of their carriage to manoeuvre out of the way of a post is very interesting. In this novel, Jane Austen says quiet a lot of things which can be thought quiet feministic. Well she says similar things in P&P, for example she makes Darcy say that Elizabeth's complexion is greatly improved after a long walk, when Bingley's sisters criticize her for such an unlady-like behaviour.

Another thing about the novel is that we don't really know the feelings of Captain Wentworth. It is true that the letter he writes to Anne at the end is full of love but I didn't feel his passion as I did Darcy's when he proposed to Elizabeth the first time.

All in all, I recommend the book to readers who have read Austen's other novels. But as a first read it may not be so enjoyable as Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility.

Though not as well known as the novels that established the author's name (Pride and Prejudice, Emma), Persuasion is certainly worth your time. It's extremely well-written with superb characterization. The plot isn't too original by today's standards, but is interesting nonetheless. Anne Elliot, the smartest and most pleasant by far of three upper class sisters, is 28 and still single. At 19 she fell in love with and almost married a dashing naval officer named Frederick Wentworth. However, great pressure from her family and relations "persuaded" her to reject Frederick due to his lower station in society. Frederick was greatly hurt and promptly went off to engage his energies in naval action.

Eight and a half years later, Anne still hasn't met another guy she likes as much as Frederick and remains single. But now Frederick returns from war, retired, extremely wealthy from privateering with mercenaries, and more mature. He's ready to settle down and a chance family connection puts him back in the same neighborhood as Anne! He's still upset with Anne. And this time, other women are catching his eye too...

While not up to the standards of Anne Bronte's outstanding The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Persuasion is a good classical romance novel. I think it beats out Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd on plot and characterization, though Hardy's prose is generally more powerful. Nevertheless, Austen can be quite poignant when she wants to be: Wentworth's shocking letter to Anne at the end of the book moved even me, a generally left-brained emotionless creature!

A highlight of the novel is the illuminating social commentary that Austen subtly inserts into the prose. Clearly, she felt that the class system entrenched in British society at the time had its shortcomings. The endnotes in the Penguin edition do a good job of explaining the finer points of Austen's many jabs at class-conscious folks including Anne's self-absorbed father Walter and hopeless sister Elizabeth. Anne's other sister Mary is rendered superbly by Austen as a basically good-natured woman unfortunately marred by a touch of vanity. I personally know a Mary or two.

Recommended to all adult readers!

"Persuasion" is a great literary work, and, to my mind, Jane Austen's finest book. This was her final completed novel before her death, and was published posthumously. As is often the case with Ms. Austen's fiction, "Persuasion" deals with the social issues of the times and paints a fascinating portrait of Regency England, especially when dealing with the class system. Rigid social barriers existed - and everyone wanted to marry "up" to a higher station - and, of course, into wealth. This is also a very poignant and passionate story of love, disappointment, loss and redemption. The point Austen makes here, is that one should not ever be persuaded to abandon core values and beliefs, especially for ignoble goals. There are consequences, always.

Sir Walter Elliot, Lord of Kellynch Hall, is an extravagant, self-aggrandizing snob, and a bit of a dandy to boot. He has been a widower for many years and spends money beyond his means to increase his social stature. His eldest daughter, who he dotes on, is as conceited and spoiled as he is. The youngest daughter, Anne, is an intelligent, sensitive, capable and unassuming woman in her late twenties when the story opens. She had been quite pretty at one time, but life's disappointments have taken their toll and her looks are fading. She and her sister are both spinsters. Anne had once been very much in love with a young, and as yet untried, navel officer. A woman who had been a close friend to Anne's mother, persuaded Anne to "break the connection," convincing her that she could make a much better match. After much consideration, Anne did not follow her heart or her better instincts, and she and her young officer, Frederick Wentworth, separated. She has never again found the mutual love or companionship that she had with him. Anne's older sister never married either, because she hadn't found anyone good enough! She still hopes, however, for an earl or a viscount.

The Elliot family is forced to financially retrench because of their extravagance. They lease Kellynch Hall to...of all people...Wentworth's sister and her husband. Elliot, his oldest daughter and her companion, move to a smaller lodging in Bath for the season, leaving Anne to pack up their belongings before joining them. She gets the Cinderella treatment throughout the book. Anne decides to first visit with her middle sister, an abominably spoiled, whiny hypochondriac, Mrs. Musgrove. She has made a good, but not brilliant match to a local squire. Her husband, Charles Muskgrove, his parents, and their two younger, eligible daughters, Louisa and Henrietta, are delightful. They all tolerate Mrs. Muskgrove, barely, and adore Anne. It is at the Muskgrove estate that Anne meets Frederick Wentworth again, after his absence of seven years. He is in the neighborhood, because his sister is now in the area, residing at Kellynch, of course. Wentworth is now a Captain in the Royal Navy and quite wealthy. When their eyes meet for the first time, you can absolutely feel Anne's longing and remorse. He is aloof with Anne, although civil. The man was hurtfully rejected once before and it appears that he still feels her snub. Now Wentworth is on the marriage market and Louisa sets her cap for him. Accidents and various adventures ensue, from the resorts of Lyme and Bath to the Muskgrove estate, bringing Anne and Wentworth closer together. The passion between the two is sooo palpable, although Very understated, (this is Regency England after all). I think this is Ms. Austen at her most passionate. Some scholars say that she modeled Anne Elliot after herself.

This remarkable novel, and the issues it tackles, is just as germane today as it was when written. And the romance...well, no one does romance better than Jane Austen.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel because of Jane Austen's lyrical prose, her timeless subjects of family relationships, love (and/or the search for it), her heartwarmingly drawn characters that I think any reader anywhere and at any time can relate to easily, and her usual witty and critical social commentary. I find it amazing to think that she wrote this novel nearly 200 years ago! I can think of several people in my own family and among friends, colleagues, and acquaintances who match her descriptions of Anne Elliot, her father and sisters Walter and Elizabeth Elliot and Mary Musgrove, Lady Russell, Captain Wentworth, etc. Times and mores may have changed in 200 years, but human nature has not changed! Reading her descriptions of these characters and well imagining Anne's reaction to them, whether it is with resignation, amusement, or exasperation mirror my own thoughts on them.
Austen has created a wonderful character in Anne Elliot. I found that I liked her more and more as I read the novel, and, had she been real, would liked to have had her as a sister, friend, or relative. She is such a wonderful character because readers have a chance to see how she has grown up, has changed, and is willing to go for what she wants now that she is older and wiser (much like anyone else).
The story is not like Austen's other novels (Pride and Prejudice, Emma) because it deals with the issue of a true rarity in life--a second chance at love. Anne Elliot met and fell in love with Captain Frederick Wentworth, a naval officer, when she was 19 years old. Against her better judgment, she is "persuaded" by family in the form of family disapproval of her choice. Her mother is dead, her father and her elder sister Elizabeth (who have a very strange, almost-marriage-like relationship themselves) are social snobs and do not consider a mere captain in the British navy good enough to marry into their family because they are ranked above him socially. Anne's feelings, Frederick's feelings, and the possibility that he could earn a great deal of money by capturing privateers and enemy ships, or be rewarded with a title for distinguishing himself in battle does not occur to them. Anne is also strongly influenced by Lady Russell, a close family friend and a particularly close friend to Anne. Lady Russell, since the death of Anne's mother, has become a mother-figure/friend to Anne (since Anne is ignored by her father and sister Elizabeth). Lady Russell also disapproved of Anne marrying Captain Wentworth, and Anne, because she was young and easily influenced by those around her at age 19, breaks off her engagement to Captain Wentworth. She has regretted it ever since, and has not met anyone (her father and sister went out in Society, but did not take Anne with them; her younger sister Mary is married, but spends her time complaining about non-existent ailments and about all the wrongs and hurts she has suffered at the hands of family and friends to take any interest in introducing Anne to eligible young men) she would consider as a husband. Eight years pass, and, by chance, Captain Wentworth (now considerably wealthier though not titled) re-enters her life due to the temporary lull in the Napoleonic Wars. He too was very hurt by Anne's breaking off of their engagement, but, like Anne, he has not met any other women who compare to her. Both are wary of eachother--and Austen handles both their introspection and their gradual establishment of a stronger, more mature love for eachother with sensitivity and passion. I loved this story because it clearly shows an older (though still young) heroine who is offered the rarest of all things--a second chance at love with the love of her life. She is wise enough to reject the opinions of her family and Lady Russell this time, accepts the love offered, and offers her own love in return! Captain Wentworth's letter to Anne at the end of the novel is the kind of love letter every woman would cherish. Wow! What a beautiful letter! It warms your heart, touches your soul, and nourishes your spirit. The story is all the more poignant because Anne and Captain Wentworth appreciate eachother and their relationship because they know what they have and what they could have missed had they followed social conventions.
For the die-hard Austen fans, there is plenty of social commentary, and I thought that Austen illustrated the snobbishness of the upper classes very well in her characterizations of Anne's father and sisters. The criteria they use to accept or reject a person are based on such things as whether the man owns property and how much, how many servants he has, title, family background, connections, and, in her father's case, physical appearance is very important. None of these things have any intrinsic value compared to whether Anne is loved and respected by Captain Wentworth, how he treats people, his ethics, morality, etc. Austen's subtle humor and way of poking fun at these values contribute to the tone of this novel.
Give this novel a try. I do not think that you will be disappointed. I highly recommend it.

I recently cameto Southern Iowa and was struggling for what to plant in the Midwestern garden that had been left in a sad state of ruin by the former occupants. With my busy family, I needed something low maintenance but also wanted something really lovely to showcase my old Victorian home. Midwest Gardens is the perfect book- well written, beautiful photographs. I felt just like a good friend was leading me by the hand through my land showing me what to plant. I got the book last fall as a gift and followed all the suggestions. Now that spring is coming, my beautiful daffodils, crocus and other flowers are peeping up to be followed by the other flowers recommended. I was so happy with this book that I've decided to try my hand at vegetable gardens. I received that book, too and now that I have been successful wtih flowers, will try that advice and try to raise some great vegetables. Thank you for such a valuable resources.

"Sizzling heat and numbing cold produce special challenges for Midwestern gardeners, says an Iowa State University Extension master gardener, writer, and designer. Iowa's weather extremes forced Laara Duggan to learn what plants worked in her Cedar Falls garden and what didn't. She wrote in journals and notebooks about no-fail flowers and flowers that attracted butterflies. When Duggan shared her gardening experiences with her writing group, members encouraged her to write a book. Duggan's book includes a bit of garden lore, an easy-to-follow chart for designing a colorful garden and tips for seasonal chores. The book includes research from gardens in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio and Wisconsin."

Do you want a book with pictures of gardens you can emulate at home? Keep looking. This book has no pictures, only close-up black and white illustrations of flowers.

This book is a wonderful tool for anyone with a garden. Its a radical new approach to an old concept. We even had fun coloring the illustrations to mach the flowers in our garden. Truly a joy.

After receiving this book as a gift, I felt obligated to try to turn my brown yard into at least a small spot of color. With the guidance and help from Laara's book, my drab fenceline is now lined with beautiful perennial flowers that are low maintenance and high color bringing joy to my family and the songbirds in the area. I even tried buying and growing a rose plant and this spring intend to plant more. The instructions about planting, mulchign and feeding the roses really made a difference. They were beautiful all summer. The book can even make a brown thumb like mine green.

this book is ok, but it's a weak ripoff of The Great Big Burger Book, which is also 100 recipes, all kinds of meat and fish, etc but the first one is a much better book, easier to reproduce.

I brought a copy of this book to a friend's house at the beach and he used it countless times in one weekend. We made lamb burgers, salmon burgers, mango smoothies, iced tea, three pepper slaw, corn relish and even that heavenly dessert burger which was a perfect end to a summer bbq. The menus make planning a meal a no-brainer, from appetizers to condiments. This book is lovely to look at, easy to use and the only book you need for the beach house! I will bring it to every summer party or weekend away this summer. Substantial enough to be a gift but practical too. Heartily recommended for the amateur and the pro.

What is so nice about this offering is that each recipe has a suggested menu including drink, which is really unique. All the fixings are included and go so well. There is also great color photos as well as prep and equipment, etc.

It is organized by major burger ingredient, i.e. beef, lamb, seafood, poultry, etc.

Standouts include: "Curry in a Hurry Burgers" "Blue Bird Burgers" (chicken with blue cheese with a delicious Blue Onion Sauce) Mediterranean Burgers (with figs and lamb and saffron and Saffron Sauce) Tropical Swordfish Burgers.

There is even a great Kid-Friendly Section, knowing that kids can be picky eaters at times in their lives.

One hundred ideas to spice up the burger life of any cook.

Bergers Every Way opened a whole new world for me. I was never a "berger" lover, but after reading this new cook book by Emily Haft Bloom I can't wait to try each one. The text is witty, the photography beautiful, and the whole package is very appealing. My hats off to the author.

Unfussy, practical, easy to use & to cook from. Down to earth recipes. A whole meal plan in one unit. Side dishes make the meal. Drinks a plus. Anyone can do these meals. A summer grill bonanza. Good for a weekend gift idea.

Author Marc Bloom captures a special quality of cross-country through his chronicle of coaching a team that may have been small in numbers, but rich in faith, from start to finish.

Bloom, an observant Jew, was at the helm of the St. Rose harriers - a private Catholic high school in New Jersey - and shows how the journey is more than lacing up the shoes for daily workouts and weekend races.

That the team - which ended up with a scant seven runners - earned a state title is secondary to the paths taken by the coach and each runner in a quest to be the best they can be, on and off the turf.

This is a wonderful story that would certainly make a great movie. It definitely has all the elements necessary: a main plot and little side stories that are very important to the big picture. The author's strength is displayed as a magnificent coach, friend, and teacher, but it's his spirituality that plays a huge part in the team's building to where they mature and become winners. His Jewish Faith combined with the team's Catholic Faith show the Higher Force as what He really is: The all-loving and caring God. There are life lessons to be learned from this book. Plus, it's a delightful read! You'll love it!

Cross-country is the Rodney Dangerfield of sports in many high schools, overshadowed by the soccer craze and derided as a fall-back for those unable to make the cut in the glamour sports. If more people read "God on the Starting Line" they might see this sport for what it is: a demanding test of willpower, pain tolerance and team cohesiveness played out in a natural setting.

As Marc Bloom illustrates through this vivid depiction of his undermanned squad's break-through season, cross country is completely at odds with the pressures and temptations faced by today's adolescents in our video-game, fast-food culture. It's his ability as a coach to connect with these kids and instill a desire to rise above the ordinary that makes this simple story such a triumph.

The author, in his exuberance to connect with the reader and in his meditations on the larger meaning of running, lapses into a series of seemingly random associations in some passages that break up the training and race descriptions. Yet those with the patience to follow his train of thought through these interludes may come away convinced that the purification-by-pain and honest living demanded by cross-country running do indeed bring both coach and athlete closer to the divine.

-Kevin Joseph, author of "The Champion Maker"

This a very personal real story of an expert on Track and Field (Bloom) and empty nester with a desire to coach the pure running sport of Cross-Country. Remarkably, his only taker in New Jersey is St. Rose, a private Catholic School. Although Jewish, there is a prompt mutual respect between the team and Bloom. At this point in the book, Bloom has been coaching his team for several years but every summer he faces a challenge in team depth and symptoms of a summer of too little training. With his skeleton team, Bloom develops and gets to know each individual. He works personal motivation, skill in workouts, a touch of psychology and a mix of father figure and teacher together to help guide the boys through life. The book is surprisingly personal as Bloom reveals much of himself, his past and his family along with his own running experiences as he in turn learns about the boys under his tutelage. Bloom acts as a total coach knowing each boy's personality, personal conflicts and athletic needs while providing versatile training that promotes a team running style while also perfecting their training to the course they will run on at the Parochial Class B Championship. There is a great blend of faith as Bloom shares in their prayer before each race, holds a boys crucifix while he runs hoping that rubbing it will power the boy forward and at other times touching his own mezuzah for the same reach of faith and power. The final race is exhilarating as the boys give a tremendous effort and do run as a team as there coach has continual emphasized. Whether they win or not, they run as great heart, each one showing great improvement. The final sprint to the end is exciting as you literally sprint with the coach along the course to see how they finish. Without peeking at the end, you will find their final efforts surpisingly rewarding. Throughout the book, Bloom discusses the issues such as the detrimental effect hard training has on young girls, the effect multi-year sports has had on distance running (particular soccer) and insights to past great runners. The book may be more appealing to the mature runner as it's not all races and training but a look back at Bloom's life from mid life with an introspective look at the boys' lives and future as well. The book will be a treat for those former cross-country runners who enjoyed the simple purity of the sport and who also know that when the summer final cools, making your sweat turn cold, its cross-country season.

God on the Starting Line is an excellent non-fiction book about a NJ high school cross-country team and its coach. Bloom's smooth writing style brings out the joys and heartaches experienced by cross-country coaches and runners everywhere. I have coached x-c at two different Catholic high schools (in NJ and PA)and Bloom's honest description of the day-to-day experiences is very accurate. Bloom makes the reader feel a part of this team and his descriptions are both brutally honest, yet thoughtful for each team member. His race descriptions and training methods can be appreciated by runners, coaches and fans of distance running. Highly recommended!

I ordered this book for a college course, and it was great front to back! Two chapters went more into detail than neccessary considering the "Golden Age" yet the book accurately describes the history of the Islamic World from the prophet Muhammed and before up to present day. A definate buy for those who want to know more about the history of the middle east concerning Islam.

This is a wonderful introduction to the Islamic Empire and (to some extent) Islam itself. It's meant to be a companion to the PBS video "Islam: Empire of Faith." It covers the same time period (the first 1000 years of Islam), but doesn't have the same exact content as the video. There is some overlap, but not enough to make either the book or the video redundant. This book is written by a husband-and-wife team of professors (historians) at Boston College. This is not dry history, by any means, but a vivid description of Islam and its origins, practices, and political rule. It's not sensationalist and/or imbued with the "Islam as Enemy Number One" mentality that pervades so many modern books about Islam (many of which are written by journalists or other people not qualified to be writing about Islam, Muslims (American or not) and the Muslim world in the first place). It's just fascinating reading about the second largest religion in the world and how it built the most glittering civilization the world had ever seen. The authors themselves say that to understand Islam today, we must focus not on the misdeeds committed by a few in its name, but "appreciate its glorious history and achievements." It doesn't have much on Islamic beliefs and practices or Islam and politics: it really is mostly history. But it's history that puts Islam (modern and past) into perspective and that will (hopefully) help us Westerners put some of myths about Islam finally to rest.

In trying to better understand Islam, I bought this book on Amazon and have found it to be quite good- excellent, in fact.

I was not looking for an in-depth scholarly work, but an overview and perspective. Mission accomplished. Each chapter is neatly organized into topical information that follows logically and neatly dovetails into the previous chapters.

The full color photographs are excellent- I truly wish more books would offer up such visuals as well as Bloom and Blair have in this book.

If you're looking for depth ad naseum, this isn't your book. But if you're looking for an interesting read with a reasonable index and reasonable "cast of characters" outlined both in the book and in the index, give this one a shot.

This book does not give an accurate or chronologicaly coherent description of the birth and rise of Islam. The authors of the book are not Islamic historians, they are art historians writing about an age and culture that did not produce significant works of art. To a person unfamiliar with Islam it seems complete and accurate.

This book is the companion to the PBS movie, Islam: Empire of Faith. I began reading this book, full of stereotypes against Islam. This book really opened my eyes. The whole History of Islam has been filled with misunderstanding. I would recommend this book to any person. It is extremely well written, and it would help anyone to better understand Islam!