Bonds Books

This book is about dictators and while its events take place inn a small country irrelevant to the world, its story is indeed relevant to the world.
It draws comparisons with other dictators (Stalin) or leaders (Agamemnon) which in our timne would be defined as such.
Most of all this books is about the corruption that power brings to the society and especialy how those corrupt individuals, whoare in charge of our societies (politicians and great leaders) would do anything to achive their goals, including...(wish I could tell you).
I gave it only four stars, since when you are from free countries who have never been part of any kind of dictatorship, might find it to be les relevant, neverthe less this should serve as a vacination for future dictatorships, be it cultural, governmental, religious ( a dictatorship does not have to be a Government one, it can be religious, life stylre, cultural and we must be aware of its anatomy)or social.

In an excerpt from the publisher's preface to the French edition, we are told how Kadare smuggled manuscripts out of Albania, disguising them as translations from a German author, bringing only a few sheets at a time to be safely stored in Paris. His intent was to ensure that the totalitarian government of Albania could not misrepresent his work - that his objections to totalitarian governments would be unmistakable. In this context, it is not surprising that these stories have a didactic bent. But who else wins the Man Booker International Prize with didactic fiction?

Yet again, Kadare is a masterful writer. The plot lines of all three works in this book are very sparse. In Agamemnon's Daughter the narrator quits waiting for a lover he know is not coming and goes to watch a parade from a grandstand - a coveted perspective. In The Blinding Order, government orders evil eyes be removed. Girl's fiance works for governmental agency enforcing order; hoped for political safety for family backfires. In The Great Wall, Chinese administrator charged with rebuilding wall misunderstands reason for the Wall ... Yet all three pieces are riveting reading - through the ruminations of the narrator, each story speaks of political and social power. In each, the ruminations take twists and turns as riveting as any plot-action. And the ruminations ring true to human experience tying into other works of Kadare (especially the The Three-Arched Bridge), mythology (Agamemnon) and history (Tamerlane). This truly is an example of fiction carrying more truth about human behavior/abuse than any factual history book ever could. Pure ecstacy to read.

Glad to know that you enjoyed the first edition of All About Bonds. All about Bonds and Bond Mutual Funds is the 2nd edition, which is both updated and expanded from this first edition. In it, there is a separate chapter devoted to each type of bond and mutual fund. The Treasury security chapter, for example, includes information about the new Treasury inflation-indexed securities and inflation-indexed savings bonds. There are many new tables and diagrams which make it easier to read for both beginning investors and bond investors who want to increase their knowledge and investing skills.

Bonds ought to be easier to understand than stocks, but they're not. Actually, the nuances of bond features and bond selection can be confusing, even treacherous. Esme Faerber's book is a terrific primer for the bond neophyte, but to call this merely a bond primer does not quite do ALL ABOUT BONDS the justice it deserves. In truth, I failed to take the book's full measure until I came back to it a couple of times after perusing other texts. Faerber's book includes some worthwhile features, carefully described, which don't appear in many other bond primers. There is a formula for the calculation of DURATION, with a clear explanation. There is a very good explanation of CONVERTIBLE BONDS, which often are not discussed at all in bond primer texts. Each type of bond receives its own chapter, and each can be studied in isolation. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED...and still useful despite the book's age since publication.

"The Bells of San Filipo" was my first Max Brand western, and what a treat. Just an absolutely wonderful tale. The story had all sorts of things going on and took numerous directions. The story begins with a prospector who leads a very simple, mundane life. But where it goes from there, and utimately leads the reader is a story you'll thoroughly enjoy.

Is there a western writer alive today who can do as much with the western as Max Brand did 80 years ago? I'd have to say no. The Bells Of San Filipo simply defies description. It begins with a hapless prospector who stumbles upon an ancient cache of silver and then... the book takes turns and twists the reader cannot even guess at. Shakespearean scope, myths, criminals conspiring, gang wars... in a book of 200+ pages. Picking up a Brand western is always something special but, every now and then, he tosses a tale at you that just makes you read in awe of his imagination. If you like the unconventional, Brand is for you. The Bells of San Filipo is something very, very different. And very, very good.

I was browsing the shelves at the library, when this caught my eye. I picked it up and took it home. I forgot about it for awhile but then remembered it. I started reading it and I couldn't get into it. I challenged myself to keep reading. I realized that I really liked it. The main character, Charlotte, doesn't have many friends. There is this weird kid named Oliver in her class. One day she notices something suspicious about him. She also sees these guys in red coats. Charlotte has to know what's going on between Oliver and the guys in red coats.

When I got this book at the library, I was getting ready for a boring book. Even though I had already read two of Nancy Bond's books (which I loved), I didn't think that this would be as interesting a book. I was totally wrong. Right away I got pulled into the main character's (Charlotte) life and a certain mood came over me. First of all, I am very much like Charlotte and I feel for her. But this book also is adventuresome - even though they stay in one town - and the friendships that gradually occur are remarkably written. Also, the setting is perfect - a small tourist town in Massachusats. I urge everyone to go to their library to find this book. Most of you won't regret it! If you end up liking this book, there are more with the same characters (I've read one of the sequels so far).

Jamie Denton has a special talent for pulling and tugging at the heartstrings inside you. I cried a lot throughout THE BIOLOGICAL BOND. I cried for the heroine, Rebecca Martinson, who lost her baby right after birth without even knowing the sex of the child. I cried for the hero, Sam, who had to take the biggest risk of his life and contact the biological mother of his fourteen year old daughter, Melanie, because she is his last hope for a bone marrow donor to his child. After Rebecca and Sam meet there are sparks everywhere. I cried for the two of them and their inability to recognize and live up to their true feelings and desires. And when they do, it's almost too late. The scenes and obstacles that come between Melanie and Rebecca, Melanie and Sam, and the three of them together are heartbreaking. You sympathize with them and for their respective losses. You feel for them and the things they face and need to overcome. Then there is the absolute love. The love that Sam has for his daughter is stunning and beautiful but most of all, priceless. Jamie Denton did an incredible job with the heartwarming relationships between Melanie and Same. Thank you for the love you give these characters and the happy-ever-after. The love the characters shared and the happily ever after will touch every reader, and make this a keeper book.

Romance At Its Best

Fourteen years ago lawyer Rebecca Martinson unwilling placed her child for adoption. She's never forgotten that haunting first cry of life and the child she never held. Now in family practice, she buries her past in a successful career based on helping families in need. Until one shocking day, that is, when Sam Winslow enters her office and declares himself the father of a dying daughter in need of her biological mother's bone marrow.

Desperate to save his daughter, Sam had the court records opened so he could track down his daughter Melanie's birth mother. Now he faces the adult version of his beloved daughter complete with unexpected and unwanted attraction. When Rebecca demands a month to meet and get to know her daughter, Sam capitulates with the understanding that afterward she will walk away, and Melanie will never know the visitor was her birth mother.

Both Rebecca and Sam know the risk heartbreak by allowing Melanie to meet her mother. They don't realize that they also risk heartbreak by spending time together. Rebecca's family are judges and doctors; Sam owns a farm. Rebecca has a successful career and Sam doesn't see how she could ever trade her power suits for an apron. With all their differences, however, they share a daughter they both love.

THE BIOLOGICAL BOND delivers an unexpected love story with tender empathy. Indeed, author Jamie Denton's flair for creating believable characters and a bond that go beyond blood result in a memorable, beautiful tale. As the biological mother, adoptive father and beloved daughter each reveal their innermost fears, the reader's heart can't resist a flush of understanding. Further, the unique family environment, rich characterization, and revelation of secrets keeps the pages turning. THE BIOLOGICAL BOND comes very highly recommended.

In Times Literary Supplement's "Books of the Year" (2002), Felipeo Fernandez-Armesto writes:
"Bitter Bonds is the most intriguing work of micro-history since The Return of Martin Guerre."

In 17th-century Batavia, Cornelia van Nijenroode, the daughter of a geisha and a Dutch merchant in Japan, was known as "otemba" (meaning "untamable"), which made her a heroine to modern Japanese feminists. A wealthy widow and enterprising businesswoman who had married an unsuccessful Dutch lawyer for social reasons, she discovered that just after her wedding, she and her husband were at each other's throats. Cornelia insisted on maintaining independent power of disposal over her assets, but legally her husband had control over her possessions and refused to grant her permission to engage in commerce. He soon began using blackmail, smuggling, and secret accounts to channel her wealth back to the Dutch Republic.

Cornelia fought back and tried to get a divorce. The struggle - complete with legal subterfuge, mutual recriminations, and even public brawls - would drag on for fifteen years and culminate in only a partial victory for Cornelia.

"Melodramatic and ripe for Hollywood" - Suddeutsche Zeitung

"Blusse's fine research has given us a fresh picture of a woman living between worlds and of the cultural and economic crosscurrents in the Pacific." - Natalie Zemon Davis, author of The Return of Martin Guerre

Winner of the 1998 Golden Owl award for nonfiction, Bitter Bonds: A Colonial Divorce Drama Of The Seventeenth Century by Leonard Blusse (Professor of History of European-Asian Relations, University of Leiden) is the compelling story of Cornelia van Nijenroode, the strong-willed daughter of a Dutch merchant and a Japanese geisha. Cornelia married a Dutch lawyer for social reasons, yet was soon betrayed by her husband, who sought to plunder all her personal wealth. Cornelia strove to obtain a divorce in an era when the law and customs were especially stacked against women, after a grueling fifteen-year-struggle, Cornelia emerged with only a partial success, and in the process, became a footnote to the history of women's rights. An emotional, turbulent true story of betrayal and the quest for independence, Bitter Bonds is ably translated into English by Diane Webb and a highly recommended contribution to academic Women's History reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

This is a beautiful book. Made up mostly of poetry, "The Bond Between A Mother and a Son Lasts Forever" really touched my heart. I'm blessed with a woman who I consider to be the world's greatest mother, and I was honored to receive this touching book from her.

For sons, this is a great gift to give to your mother, and vice-versa.

10/10 Classic.

This really hits home. As of mom of 3 boys and could find something that made me think of each of my 3 sons. A few even brought me to those "good" tears.

I have this book and the sequel Knights Honor. Gellis has a wonderful way of including accurate historical detail without detracting from the main story. This is one of my favorite books that she wrote because she is very clever about creating female characters that think and are believable. There are a few scenes deserving of a warning. There are some scenes that today would be classified as spousal abuse but where commonplace then. The relationships are complex but intense. The feudal system is clearly detailed. I enjoy the Roselynde Chronicles more because I love developing characters but this is also a great read.

This is the first book that I ever read by Roberta Gellis, and it made me a life-long admirer of her writing. Her characters are lifelike and true to the historical era in which the story takes place. The story of Cain and Leah and how they make a life and find love in an arranged marriage is moving and interesting, set as it is in the backgroud of the turmoil created by the weakness of King Stephen of England. I totally and heartily recommend this book to lovers and history and historical novels.

Victoria's teenage dreams of marrying Damien Hunt shattered when she discovered that he and her grandfather had planned the marriage for the sake of their family business. She ran away to a new life, but six years later, when Damien finds her again, she can't help but wonder what his motives are this time.

I love this book. It has glamour and money with love overpowering all. It has the domineering male that draws all women in and the strong willed woman who won't give in to easy. She has known him her whole life and has had a crush on him for half of her life. Now he has decided that she has spent enough time on her own in London; she must now live upto her name and be his wife. Good Job Patricia Wilson. I enjoy all of her books and I think you will, too.

I enjoyed the family theme throughout the novel. I appreciated the details about hunting & the true bonding that occurs when a family passes down such knowledge. There was enough suspense to keep me reading long after I realized how much time had passed. Most of all, I respected the theme that one person can make a positive impact by living out his values daily.

In Skip Coryell's novel "Bond of Unseen Blood" we get hooked right away emotionally reading about a big man named "Bear". He lives in a cabin with no electricity or modern conveniences but he is close to nature. There is a certain degree of sadness in how he reacts to the surrounding world around him. We watch his inner spirit that dwells on old memories. Thoughts drift back of a young son and teaching him how to shot a bow and arrow. We do not know where his son is, or why he is gone now. Bear seems emotionally locked into the spiritual pain of the past. We as readers are already empathetic and evolved with this missing piece of this big man's heart--the author makes this a simple job for us to connect with Bear.

The life out in the back woods affords Bear isolation from other people and from the past we suspect. Bear is a man who is one of those old hunters who uses a bow and arrow and who follows the natural way of conservation and preservation. His hunting is not for fun and games but has a purpose--to supply food for his body. The reader begins to sense that Bear is in his own way, a true practincng environmentalist.

The reader soon discovers an 11 year old foster kid who is seeking his own father. Again, we do not know the circumstances of how they got separated or even why they do not know where each other are at. We see a child reaching out from a sad part of his own heart seeking a connection and reunion with his father. Is this Bear's son?

The story then takes us beyond this point in time and place in an emotional journey of the spirit. This is a moving tale about love, family and even hunting. It is a powerful story about people; the author's writings make you love, respect and actually have real feelings for them all. Coryell paints some colorfully compete characters for us in his book. It was a joy to read and a wonderfully inspiring and entertaining book.