Bridges Books

I found this title in the Judaica section of my local bookstore and was immediately enthralled... and no, I am not Jewish.

I am, however, a writer - and Karyn Kedar shares her call to write this book when she says, "Write. About forgiveness. Write. A subtle echo of new life. Write." and I think every writer who has experienced a spiritual call will know, will understand, will nod alongside these words.

YES! Write, we say, enthusiatically.

This impressive book is about forgiveness without forgetting. It is about healing and wholeness. It shares its message through a combination of instructive prose, poetry (almost like songs or psalms) and a memoir style of writing.

I couldn't help but write quotes as I read along - for example.... "Acceptance is the compassionate embrace of yourself and your place in the world: without judment, without fear, without regret. You are who you are. You are not who you are not."

Simple, yes. Strong? Indeed!

This universal message will (I hope and pray) find its way into the hands and hearts of readers of all faiths. Read it, embrace it, live it.

This perceptive book is about more than forgiveness, it shares life affirming lessons, insights and inspirations. As you journey across the bridge to forgiveness, its thought provoking teachings will motivate the reader to feel, to assess and to act. The poetic and succinct writing makes this challenging subject both approachable and an enjoyable reading experience.

"Forgiveness is an intricate dance through pain and anger and loss. Let hope be your partner. Let joy take the lead." Karyn Kedar's Bridge to Forgiveness contains so many gems like this that you will never see forgiveness in the same way. Her bridge is a guide to finding peace after pain, and, like her previous two books, is very inspirational. I highly recommend the book.

Forgiveness is a concept that, until now, I never really thought too much about. Sometimes I forgive, sometimes I don't, but I never really thought about the implications of that choice. This book was therefore a real treat that took me on a tour through the steps of forgiveness. With anecdotes, prayer, and her personal thoughts on the subject, Karyn Kedar has helped me understand that forgiving does not equate to weakness. In fact, forgiving demonstrates an inner strength that would otherwise go unnoticed. Thanks for a great, thought provoking book on this topic!

This book was fun to read, and it was interesting to learn how David Paterson himself was the inspiration for Jess in the book. It's not quite as in-depth as I hoped it would be (it's not even very thick), but if you love the movie it's fun to have.

This is a great book to understand the story behind the movie, and the story behind the story as well.

You want to be on the "in" to knowing about all things Terabithia? Well, be sure to get this book. Make sure you have read the book, "Bridge to Terabithia" as talking about events which take place both in the book and in the movie will spoil what happens if one is already not familiar with the book. The pages are filled with photographs, both of filming and behind the scenes. This book is nicely done and was written by David Paterson, the person who wrote the screenplay of the new movie, who is also Katherine Paterson's (the author of "Bridge to Terabithia") son whom the Newberry winner book was partially dedicated to in addition to another person. My one complaint, if I had a complaint, would be that I wish that this book was longer though it is 47 pages long-which is long for a behind the scenes type of book. I throughly enjoyed the book and I am in my early twenties. My niece who is eight, read the book this afternoon and enjoyed it as well. The back of the book says that it is for ages eight and up which I think is appropriate given the sensitive nature of the book that the movie is based on and the fact that they reference events from the book and movie in this companion book. Excellent for those who are awaiting the movie's release!

If you have seen the updated version of "Bridge to Terabithia," then you probably know what a rare, landmark film it really is. Geared for children, yet easy for people of all ages to identify with, it is one of those special stories that sticks with you.

The writing of an appropriate screenplay was possibly the most important element of making this a successful transition from the popular children's book, and nobody was more qualified for the job than David Paterson, the son of the author Katharine Paterson (not to mention the inspiration for the Jess Aarons character).

Not many people know just how much anguish this man has gone through with the true-to-life events of the book and movie, but a somewhat stronger image is painted through this book. Though it is short, it is a nice companion to the film and goes behind the scenes from David's point of view. There is some information about Josh Hutcherson and AnnaSophia Robb, two gifted young actors who essentially carried the entire film with their dead-on performances in the lead roles. I truly believe that the movie could not have been made nearly as well without them--particularly Josh Hutcherson, whose obvious connection with this character is evident from beginning to end. You hear about actors who have the gift of communicating a message with their eyes and facial expressions, but this young actor really has it down cold. I give him a lot of credit for what he did with this character.

This book also talks a bit about the film's special effects, the cast and crew, and the inevitable challenges that came with putting the movie together. It was not enough to just get the cast and start filming; it was a deliberate process, and with a story as important as Katharine Paterson's, it needed to be done the right way. With David's well-written script--along with the hard work and talents of everyone involved--they managed to get it just right, and it is one of the rare book-to-film cases that does genuine justice to the original author.

All in all, this is a great book to buy if you are (like me) a huge fan of the movie and would like a little something more. It includes a lot of nice pictures, along with some brief quotes from both the book and movie. Throughout it all, though, the prominent voice is from David Paterson himself, who really is the heart and soul of the entire thing. There's one line of his from this book that says it best: "When people meet me today and learn about the connection between my life and Bridge to Terabithia, many times their response is 'Wow. You're the original Jess. That's cool.' They mean it in a positive way, but it's like seeing a scar on somebody and remarking that the scar looks cool. They don't understand the pain that caused it."

Indeed, David's story is bittersweet, and this book is one way to get a little more insight on what this man went through when he lost his own "Leslie Burke"--his best friend. Nothing hits home quite like a film that reflects a true story, and through the tragedy of it all, this memorable story was able to be written. A lot of people have come to know Terabithia and be inspired by its message, and when you think about how beautiful that is, it truly starts to make sense when David Paterson says that "some gifts come in two forms."

I highly recommend this item, as well as the book and movie that made it possible in the first place. Terrific job to Katharine and David Paterson for bringing the story to life, and may it continue to touch people's lives for years to come.

If your game is based on discipline with a little open mindedness and flexibility thrown in, Bill August's book on bidding is an excellent reference. If not, this book is a must.

Any player, whether beginner or advanced, can profit from reading this book. It teaches not only the structure of bridge but also how to think conceptually about the game.

Bill August has that rare capacity that enables a master player to be a good teacher. He has a common sense approach that lets novice, intermediate and expert players hone their bidding abilities to a sharper and more accurate degree. The examples are easy to follow and make for a better understanding of the bidding principals they are meant to illustrate. If there is any degree of uncertainty in your bidding, this book is a must for you.

This is a simple and direct presentation of natural bidding using nothing but logic and reason. It is a presentation which explains the "hows" and "whys" for each action and anyone can learn to be a better player doing nothing but following the "show and tell" concepts.

Tom Phelan makes those terrible times come to life in a very special way with this novel. The characters are engaging, the story first rate. He clearly has done his homework, and this is a very moving book. It is one of the saddest things I've ever read.

Canal Bridge was an amazing book about an Irish story one never hears about or sees in the movie -- Irish in World War I -- fighting for the British against the Germans -- but it was more than that -- it was their Vietnam -- an unpopular war, an angry populace. Yet this is also a fierce love story told through multiple points of view, between lovers, friends, neighbors. Also amazing -- the author is 90+ years old! Not that that should matter in a book, but it's a wonderful tidbit. READ THIS wonderfully written and compelling book!!

I absolutely loved this book, from the first page to the last. Mr.Phelan has honed his writing skills and sharpened his pen (well, computer) to produce this excellent novel of a small village in Ireland and the folks of same who lived through World War I. The writing is good. the storyline crisp, and the characters well defined.
Good job!

The Irish Independent calls Tom Phelan's THE CANAL BRIDGE "Another First World War masterpiece....An ambitious, accomplished and deeply moving contribution to Ireland's formidable corpus of fiction about the Great War."

Books Ireland, the magazine of the Irish publishing industry, describes THE CANAL BRIDGE as "a powerful and deeply affecting novel."

The Irish Emigrant says THE CANAL BRIDGE is "a masterful story...Must be ranked among the more successful of the novels dealing with the First World War."

About a quarter of a million Irish men served in the British army in World War One, and about 35,000 died. Tom Phelan's gripping new novel, THE CANAL BRIDGE, tells the story of two Irish stretcher-bearers (and the lovers and families they leave behind) as they struggle to survive the slaughterhouse that was Europe from 1914-1918.

Due to political divisiveness, Ireland has no tradition of honoring the memory of its WWI soldiers. In writing The Canal Bridge, Tom Phelan has raised awareness of these men and paid tribute to them.

Fredrica's book was recommended to me as an aspiring erotica author. I loved it! The sub/dom scenes were well written and the book was HOT. If this is your cup of tea (as another reviewer put it) then it is a definite read!

If Domination and submission mixed with admittedly kinky sex are your cup of tea then this book is for you! A young and unjaded woman is introduced to the joys of depravity by an English Baron. Some very graphic language, but the author still manages to do it in a tasteful manner. Definitely belongs on your bedside table!

This is erotica at its very best, with great characters who come to life right from the start. It's the story of how Cassandra, an innocent young woman initially employed as a governess to the Baron's two young children, is quickly drawn into a world of sexual domination, where pain and pleasure go hand in hand. As she struggles to learn the ever-changing rules of the Baron's sex games, Cassandra realises that this is a world she actually enjoys, and a world she doesn't want to leave. However, the Baron's fiancee Katya has other ideas, and only one of them will remain with the Baron when the games come to an end.The question is, how far is Cassandra prepared to go to make sure that it's Katya who has to leave? There is something for everyone in this highly arousing and well written book. Once I'd started reading it, I couldn't put it down! More please, Fredrica!

In London, her husband Paul Williams tells Cassandra she is frigid; that it her fault he is leaving her for Louise. When she says she has no prospects having never held a job, he coldly tells her not to sell her body as she will starve to death.

Not long afterward, Cassandra applies for a job as a governess to two small girls four years old Helena and two years old Christina, daughters of Austrian widower Baron von Ritter. However, as he offers her the position and she accepts, Cassandra is unaware that the previous governess Abigail was fired because she failed at the sex games, he and his mistress Katya play with the staff. She and her two little charges bond so when they are sent to Austria to visit their family, they are upset as they do not want to leave their governess behind. Although she misses the children whom got into her heart, Cassandra has little time to dwell on her feelings for her preschool companions as the Baron seduces her into joining the sexual games. Although she does not understand the rules, Cassandra has promised the two little girls she will be there for them when they return. She is the first governess with a non-selfish reason to win the sexual contests even as she does not grasp the rules that the Baron and his mistress keep changing.

This is a fascinating erotic character study that looks deep into the soul of the triangle formed when Cassandra replaces Abigail as companion to the girls. The Baron realizes the newcomer is different as Cassandra does not hide her warm motherly affection for the young girls; Katya sees her as another disposable servant for them to abuse. Fans will enjoy Fredrica Alleyn's intriguing heated contemporary while wondering whether Cassandra will triumph especially since she holds a non-sexual ace in the hole.

Harriet Klausner

David Mandel's, "The Compleat Who's Who in the Bible" is a thorough and authoratative guide to every biblical character you ever heard of and thousands more. It is well written and easy to read and provides a wealth of information not only for casual Bible readers but for serious biblical scholars as well. It's a godsend.

"The Compleat...." is an excelent reference book, long awaited for, both by experts and common people, with interest in the Bible.
Well researched an easy to read, it brings to life in a most methodical way all of the Bibles characters. A Book to have permanently at hand on your desk.
I highly recomend it.

David Mandel has written a wonderful, resourceful and detailed encyclopedia about Who is Who in the Bible, covering both the Old and New Testaments. I am writing to enthusiastically endorse the author and recommend this book as an astonishing practical guide for any student of the Bible who wishes to have access to every single possible personality that has played a role in creating the Judeo-Christian civilization.

Rarely in my readings have I found a single writer's work that envelops in one book the history of humanity since the Creation to the times of Jesus Christ.

When writers allude to Biblical people and stories they assume the reader knows, I get lost. I don't know them. This book is a perfect resource. The biographies are blessedly brief and well-written. It's easy to use and the timeline is particularly helpful. The book hits its mark perfectly.

Lawrence is probably the best writer on the game of bridge today. All his books are world class, but this is one of his best. Balancing is rarely discussed in bridge books, but presents difficult problems. Using the same style he used in "The Complete Book of Hand Evaluation," Lawrence examines all the common balancing situations. He discusses hand evaluation, planning a balancing auction, and common understandings (and misunderstandings). Lawrence's tone is never dogmatic: the emphasis is on specific examples and how to analyze situations rather than on mechanical rules. Where there is a choice of methods, he says so, discusses examples, the consensus approach, and his personal reference. Where a problem has no good solution, he does something unusual for a writer about games, he says so! Anything by Mike Lawrence is worth the money!

The definitive book on when to keep the bidding open.

I just complete reading this book today. Even though now it's 21st century, this book stands well. You can find every situation you 'll encounter at the bridge table everyday. The dangerous and safe suits theory is one of the only two ways you should follow in auctions. It will enable you not losing your IMPs, MPs or even money. Trsut me, not those specular or fantasic declare's plays make you win, but those competitive biddings and solid defenses make you win. If you want to be a winner at table, buy this one and Mike's another book 'Complete book on Overcall'. Of course, 'To bid or not to bid','Kantar teaches Modern Denfese' and 'Kantar teaches Advanced Defense' also will make you a winner. And those classic 'Abbott' series just can amuse you and won't make you a winner.

Superb! This book has helped my game (particularly match-point pairs, but also IMP Swiss teams) immensely. Read it 5 times and insist your partners read it. Don't let your opponents read it.

This book was very informative on covered bridges in Vermont. Design descriptions of the various types of bridges are quite illuminating. The 215-page book is thoughtfully organized, broken down to reflect 13 distinct geographic areas in which the bridges are clustered so that the reader can effectively plan covered bridge tours. Black and white photographs and maps are provided to aid the reader in easily locating these bridges. I highly recommend the book for anyone interested in covered bridges!

Found the book very helpful in finding covered bridges in vermont. Included exact directions to and history about each bridge and was organized according to region. A great guide for any covered bridge enthusiast!

Covered Bridges of Vermont was a delight to read. Have visited 103 of the ones he writes about, and the directions to them are very good, historical background accurate, and pictures are also very good. He gives tips for the best time of day to take photographs, taking into consideration the location of each bridge. No covered bridge enthuiast should be without a copy! He lists other places of interest as well. Now will have to find the ones we missed on our trips! Would have paid twice the price, and well worth it.

This is an excellent book for covered bridge finding. The directions are perfect to the tenth of a mile, roads are well defined as to location from the nearest town. Photo tips are very helpful. Plus, you get a short history about the bridge and the maker. I recently used this book to find several bridges in Vermont and was very happy that the information here is so pricise

These long poems set in Indiana leave one with a sense of wonder. They tell stories about places and link us to the people who walked those places in past times. Lovers of history, Hoosiers and ex-Hoosiers will especially feel at home with Jeb Carter.

The fourth collection of poems by Jared Carter, Cross This Bridge At A Walk intersperses verse with the rare snippet of musical notation, allowing for a deeper combined experience for those skilled at reading music without disrupting the poetic flow for those who prefer to immerse themselves in words. Centering upon the history and experiences surrounding a long bridge and the river that lazily drifts underneath it, Cross This Bridge At A Walk flows much as river water does, the poetry coalescing into long, free-verse paragraphs that run, ramble, and drift, sometimes open-ended, yet always sparkling with hidden depth. "They said there was nothing left at all, after the rising and falling / of the water level, over twenty summers and winters. / But I still wanted to go back, that November day, along the old road, / dropping down through those same hills, the valley up ahead"

"To go, if there is time, to look at what
the land holds..."

So begins "Raccoon Grove", the first narrative poem in Carter's newest collection of poetry. Decidedly Hoosier, the stories are lean, honest, and reflect the tellurian watershed of the silent Mississinewa River -- a river as enigmatic as the towns and people that lay within its valley. While Twain's Mississippi embodied freedom, Carter's Mississinewa is a twilit messenger, an ancient witness to all things buried, drowned, and nearly forgotten.

Past the glass factories, the paper mills, the gas wells and the sycamores, the river winds through five counties of the Indiana heartland. It is here, in this area, that Carter's mythical Mississinewa County lies. It is here where musselmen know "ebony shell from monkeyface, and why you never forked pimplebacks"; of tent revivals, midwestern thunderstorms, and preachers who discover miracles of a different sort; of young women creeping up the darkened stairs of the local photographer, a loner who indeed knows the difference between "art" and the hidden ambience of spirit; and of a rebel captain, a covered bridge, a Hoosier militiaman, and a handful of matches...

Born and raised in the Indiana town of Elwood, educated at Yale and Goddard, Carter has recreated the midwest as only a true Hoosier can. Behind his tales rise the shadows of Tecumseh, the Delaware and Miami, the frontier forts, and the people who came after to flood the land with change. The mark of their desires and tragedies live on, much as the Mississinewa dam still remains as both scar and savior. It is Carter's voice that demands we neither seek nor expect explanation from what we see here in this mystical landscape -- merely the acceptance of a real and ancient truth.

In a recent interview, Bob Dylan, commenting on his early days playing the coffee houses in Greenwich Village, said a lot of the folk singers used the songs to project themselves, their own personalities, onto the audience. Dylan didn't approve or condemn that approach, he just distinguished it from his own, which was to focus on the nature of the song itself. I'm paraphrasing from memory here, but it is Dylan's idea that I am getting at - that it is the song that matters, more than the singer. Many folksingers used the songs as a mode of self-expression; the songs were used to delve the personality of the singer. Dylan preferred the opposite tack: to use his personal style to probe the character, history and resonances of the song itself. This is probably why Dylan, the true protean artist, never sounded like the same performer from decade to decade, or even from year to year, as opposed to someone like, say, Neil Diamond who, for all his strengths, seems to be singing the same song from one decade to the next.
This is all a round-about way of discussing the new book of poems by Jared Carter, `Cross This Bridge at a Walk'. In the same way that, with Dylan, the emphasis is all on the songs; with Carter the emphasis is wholly on the stories themselves. As with Dylan, who places all his mastery of technique and tradition at the service of the individual song, who never uses a song simply to showcase his ability, or his personality, Carter subordinates his considerable mastery of formal technique and literary tradition to the stories themselves. Immediately, as you begin to read this book, the stories, and the characters they contain, press themselves on your attention, and it is very easy to read a considerable distance into the book before realizing how all the poems, whether strictly or loosely, are erected on the foundation of the iambic pentameter line, or fall into regular stanzas, or even, in one instance, form a sequence of sonnets. This, of course, is only as it should be. The mark of a master is to make his craft appear effortless, unconsidered, and entirely natural.
Which brings me to another aspect of Carter's poetry worth noting: his voice. Like his formal technique, it is unobtrusive, and subordinated to the voice of his characters, of his narrator, and to the natural speech appropriate to the time and place of his stories. Once again, nothing detracts from his characters, and their particular stories. Carter is a quiet master, steeped in the millenia-old conventions of the storyteller's art, an immersion, without which, mastery is impossible. You don't notice Carter's technique, or his `voice', or his personality; what you notice, and remember, are his characters, and their stories.
Finally, there is the matter of Carter's `regionality'- apparently a term of ridicule in some quarters. There is perhaps a tendency among younger readers (and not a few professors), to confuse regionality with provinciality. Both qualities arise from being `rooted', of having a long history in a particular region. One result of being deeply rooted in a region can be to remain naive, or to become narrow in one's outlook. But another result of rootedness can be to arrive at an understanding of one's immediate world so thorough, and so true, as to transcend locality altogether. It can be credibly argued, (and often is), that genuine universality can be obtained in no other way, except through a lifelong familiarity with one's own native region. (Certainly a consideration of such acknowledged masters as Faulkner, Hardy, or the Brontes, and many, many others, would bear this out).
As a poet, as a storyteller - indeed, as a man, Carter is who he is, without apology. He is old enough to be able to look back over a lifetime of experience, and to see clearly what is dross and what is gold - what is worth his time as an artist, and worth ours as readers. As regards questions of form, technique, voice and any other of a hundred literary issues, he is beyond them. He is a master of the long, relaxed, and replete sentence, as natural as casual talk or idle thought, flowing easily through literary forms of every stripe, like a stream through a rocky landscape. If you are the sort of reader who opens a book with a serious purpose, and expect a serious return for your time and attention, give Carter a serious hour, or several. He is one writer who deserves it.

The Breslow teacher Chaim Kramer has in this work tried to distill the practical wisdom of Rebbe Nachman. The chapters are: Simplicity, Joy, The Good Points, Truth, Faith, Torah and Prayer, Torah Study, Prayer, Hitbodedut, Peace, Day and Night, Daily Needs, In the Home, Earning a Living, Charity.The Seven Candles, Tzaddik, Rosh Hoshanah, Eretz Yisrael. The Holy Land, You Can Too.
The book is a compilation of teachings and often there is a choppiness to it. But there is a great deal of inspirational teaching here .
Here is a citation of one teaching of many, many.

"When we have faith , then our livelihood is like receiving manna from Heaven- we can rely on Heaven to send it to us.This way, we are content with whatever we receive, and have no desire for more and more.Conversely, when a person does desire more than what he is given, he destroys his whole life with the desire for wealth, for there is no manna in that. ( Likutey Halakhot, Netilat Yadayim li'Seudah 6:85)"

As this little excerpt illustrates "Advice is Wise only when it is wisely taken." There is also of course a temptation to interpret such a verse in a way which would free oneself from the need to make any effort at a livelihood. I may be wrong, but I don't think Rebbe Nachman is saying this.
In any case I wish that the reader will have the Siyata d'Sheminyah to read wisely even the wisest of works.

"Crossing the Narrow Bridge" is truly one of the most inspirational books I have read. I am baal teshuvah for many years and find this book as important now as when I first began the journey. It is well written and conveys a tremendous amount. The book will definitely make you think. One of its greatest feats is demonstrating the luminous beauty of Torah Judaism. Whether you are just investigating a Torah life or are frum from birth, this book has something for everybody.

I've probably read more than most people have on the teachings of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, and I definitely consider this book to be the most comprehensive, well organized, and practical introduction to the topic. It presents even the deepest concepts with surprising clarity and delivers them right to the heart. I discovered "Bridge" about eight years ago, and it literally became a bridge for me over all kinds of turbulent life situations. I've given it as a gift many times and if I could award it ten stars instead of five, I would. Chaim Kramer's comfortable, straight-forward style is full of warmth and humor. This book definitely has become one of my most cherished "friends".

You don't have to be Hasidic to get a lot out of this book! It dispells forever the stereotype of Hasidic Jews as "letter of the Law." This book reveals the heart behind many Hasidic/Orthodox practices, helping any Jew to start where s/he is at and move forward at his/her own pace toward greater lov of God.

The title comes from the famous quote by Rebbe Nachman of Breslov: "All the world is just a narrow bridge, but the main thing is not to fear at all." Rabbi Kramer tells us how to cross that bridge to greater faith. He explains the heart of daily Hasidic practice in plain, use-friendly language, too. The chapters are arranged by topic, so you can read the book from cover-to-cover, or start with the areas that most interest you. Highly recommended!