Brown Books

I listened to the Burl Ives song when I was a little girl. Now that I have my own little boy, I was so happy to find the song in a sturdy board book. You can still find Burl Ives singing "Little White Duck" on iTunes. :)

This is probably my 14 month old son's favorite book. We read (sang) it three times in a row today. I think it helps that the illustrations are incredible, and the lyrics flow nicely.

If you're looking for a baby gift, Little White Duck would be a great choice.

I bought this book for my 21/2 yr old daughter after her Kindermusik teacher read it to her class. The children loved all the animals and quickly learned to anticipate with excitement who is coming next. The rhythm of the words is delightful, and I find myself humming it throughout the day. A real classic that every child should read.

This book is great. I sang this book to my babies when they were only 4 months old, and they loved looking at the pictures. They still love the book and song. We always sing it in the car. After months of reading this book, we put it away for a couple of months but brought it back out when we started sign language. It is fun signing with this book with appearances by a little white duck, green frog, black bug, and red snake sitting, swimming, and playing in the water.

Even if you don't know this song, the rhythm of the lyrics, the story, and the illustrations will keep your child's attention to the end.

The fact that it's been pc'd (everybody lives in the end because it was "just a play") is fine. It's less likely to be traumatic (as opposed to, say, Go Tell Aunt Rhody) for a small child.

Another keeper.

(*)>

What an insightful and healing book! Every page has powerful insights where most books might have 20% of real content. I couldn't wait to get through it and read it again. The first six chapters are analytical and the rest provide encouragement and direction. I have recommended this book to almost everyone. I bought several extra to give out as loaners.

As a Behavior Analyst I see a lot of these life situations in the work place (people bring their dysfunctions to work). Managers can learn great techniques to improve performance of staff. You are going to run into dysfunctional people, learn how to handle them!

I bought this book for quick reading on a plane. This title may do the content a disservice, but I did buy the book. I would rather that the title were the sub-title but please read on. Initially while reading the book I was prepared to give it a 7 out of 10 positive score. But as I moved toward the end, the book and advice got stronger and better. The conclusion brings me to rate this book a 9 out of 10. The reason for the seven or the nine was primarily due to the title and expectations. I like to share things with friends, and I was fearful that they might think I bought the book with them in mind. Strong advice, not preachy, and not I'm OK but your not, and well worth the full price. If you have difficult people in your life, buy this book. Thanks Elizabeth, but how about consulting with me on the next title? :)

I bought this book at Krogers while waiting for my wife and
it really turned me around in my view of SUP's ( Screwed Up People).
It is very common sense book on learning how to spot SUP's , dealing with SUP's , and letting SUP's go . A must have for anyone who deals with people in a work environment, home, or on the golf course.

A real world account of the many events that can occur on a daily basis in your life. It made me feel that I was not alone and that other people were facing the same problems. Not only facing them but how to face and resolve them. A friend told me to just put the book down and open it now and then to any page - and it always seems to hit the perfect page.

This is an excellent book that is easy to read, and offers solutions and helpful techniques for almost any adult. You almost always deal with at least one "screwed up person" every day. I have recommended it to patients who have benefitted from it.

She does an excellent job of explaining forgiveness, and moving forward.

Worth every penny.

You will be pleased by this book- generous amount of good pictures on this famous WWII battle tank. I found the coverage of the variants and production very useful. To top it all off the price is excellent!

While not perfect, this is a very good history of the M4 Sherman. Better use of photos and (more important) coordination of photos would have upped this to five stars in my opinion. For example, in many cases one model of tank is being discussed while all the photos show a completely different model. Very good use of diagrams, which ARE usually located on the correct page. Well worth the money, if you want perfection you'll be spending more.

The M4 series medium tank, commonly known by its British-applied nickname of "Sherman", was one of the most important weapons of the Allied ground effort in WW2. The Sherman started as one of the best tanks in the desert when introduced in North Africa, but soon fell behind German tanks in guns and armor. This was because US doctrine didn't emphasize tanks fighting other tanks, but the German doctrine saw the tank as the primary anti-tank weapon. While not a great tank killer, the Sherman was available in large numbers, not only for US forces but for many Allied nations. It also proved itself quite an adaptable design, with room for growth and was able to serve a number of special roles that were never even envsioned when the tank was originally designed.

This soft cover book covers much of the technical developments of the Sherman tanks. Mr. Green uses many period photos, plus views from restored tanks to illustrate the many changes and variations in the Sherman's design. He looks at the tank in the context of actual useage. He also touches on the US tank crews, one of the secrets of the Shermans ultimate success in battle.

For the money this book is a good investment in the basics of the Shermans design and use. Very useful to military historians, wargamers, model builders and tank buffs.

Military specialty libraries strong on World War II history won't want to miss M4 Sherman At War, a survey of a tank which played a key role in every aspect of the battles, enabling the Allies to manufacture enough units to overwhelm the superior German tanks they faced. The design and employment of a tank which beat the odds is reviewed in chapters packed with vintage black and white photos, cut-away diagrams, and historical and design facts: a fascinating, involving read.

The M4 Sherman is THE American tank of the Second World War, seeing service in all theaters of war and being operated by a number of Allied units. That being said, the Sherman was a badly designed tank that was never the equal of its German contemporaries. That Sherman crews accomplished so much says more about their courage and steadfastness rather than the quality of the tank they manned.

The Sherman went to war an under-gunned, under-armoured and under-powered tank whose boxy, too-tall silhouette provided German tank and anti-tank gunners easy opportunities for kills. In a rare, pre-war blunder Chief of Staff George Marshall decided the M4's main mission was to be a weapon of explotation rather than a slayer of enemy tanks. The newly created tank destroyers were tasked with that duty. Yet realistically how could a Sherman crew pick and choose its opponents in a combat situation? Nevertheless Marshall, aided by General Lesley McNair, pushed through this doctrine and Sherman crews went to war in a seriously flawed design.

Green and Brown do an excellent job of documenting the Sherman's flawed beginnings, the seemingly endless - and usually unsuccessful - attempts to upgrade the basic design and its armament along with the stateside struggles between various Army bureacracies that hindered production of the best possible design.

Likewise in describing and illustrating the tank, its various components, and combat record, the authors do a bang-up job. The book is packed with photos, cutaways, profiles and digrams, many in color along with dozens of wartime photos and contemporary acccounts of the M4 in action.

All in all, a comprehensive, insightful, well-illustrated, and entertaining guide to a a combat legend. And only $19.95!

Recommended!

This novel is riveting from start to finish. Marie, the teenage protagonist is so well drawn and compelling, I had to stay with her to the end.

There are few contemporary novels which cross genres so effectively, and this one did just that. Not only is it a literary story filled with georgeous language, it's a horror story too. Brown Davidson does not shrink from exploring all the dark corners of what Marie must endure. Like the best of Stephan King, Brown Davidson forces us to experience the unspeakable.And it makes for an unforgettable read. As a literary novel, comparisons can be made to Janet Fitch's "White Oleander." Both present powerful female adolescent protagonists who must live by their wits.

Plan ahead. You won't put this book down until you finish it.

Reviewed by Katie Weekley for Small Spiral Notebook

Within the few chapters of debut novel, Marie, Marie, Hold on Tight, Terri Brown-Davidson wallops the reader with the two big tragedies of her narrator: the death of her baby sister, Alyssa Ellen, and the ongoing abuse by her mother. What else could possibly happen that could keep us reading? Even Marie seems incapable of imagining any change or improvement in her life. She seems to turn to her boyfriend, Dell for help, telling him:

"I love you too," I say softly, tracing his cheek with one finger. "But if you tell anyone about my mother, I promise I'll never speak to you again."

I know he believes me because he shuts up quickly, not angry but despairing: I'm excellent at reading emotions - Momma's given me years of practice.

Marie has spent the years since Alyssa's death, tiptoeing on the edge, nervously anticipating any change in her mother's mood, yet loyally standing by, defying anyone who says she deserves to be treated better. Marie understands the restlessness of her mother, the woman who before clocking in at the meat-packing plant every day, sits gazing out at a field of rippling veldt, only able to escape in her mind, and only for a few hours a day. Marie fears she may be cursed with the same wanderlust, impossible to fulfill.

Terri Brown-Davidson's writing is as taut as the fine tightrope Marie is walking. In a situation where the protagonist seems to have no hope for change, Brown-Davidson manages to maintain a gripping narrative, densely weaving Marie's past and present. Brown-Davidson has previous published a book of poetry, and while this influence is evident in her lyrical, visual style, she has deftly matched the richness of her writing with an cold, economic presentation of events, telling us exactly what we need to know about Marie.

This novel is about the dead-end cycle of abuse, and how difficult it is to escape the damage done. And although it is not a happy story, it is strangely optimistic, because only when Marie is faced with the worst situation yet, does she find the strength in herself to believe that she does not have accept the same destiny as her mother.

Terri Brown-Davidson is such a masterful writer that you're reminded of the power of words on every stunning page. But she's more than a poet of language and imagery. She's an artist of the human psyche. It's a dark tale about a girl who suffers the most horrific abuse and is unable to escape. And yet, there's a light in this child that can't be extinguished. Her secret world of hope revolves first around art, and then a young man who falls in love with her and sees the beauty of her soul. So as dark and haunting as this book is, it ultimately tells the tale of that vital spark of humanity that stays lit even in the direst circumstances. To me, "Marie, Marie, Hold on Tight" is a book about hope.

Terri Brown-Davidson's haunting first novel Marie, Marie, Hold On Tight, dark as a Grecian tragedy, illuminates the twisted relationships of the beautiful, but unstable, Jennifer Prescott and her daughters, Marie and Alyssa.

When Dan, Jennifer's lowlife poster-boy of a lover, returns after a six-year absence and takes over, teen-aged Marie, the gifted, but alienated, anguished - and inescapably unreliable - narrator must face the disarray and grief of her childhood; and confront her own crime as well as the inexplicable crimes of her wayward mother; a mother often indifferent and careless of her daughters, yet magical:

But then, we all loved the globe. Worshipped the globe, as well as Momma's animation that resulted from her playing with it. She'd spin it with one elegant nail, slam the finger down on a continent before it slowed. We'd squeal, excited as she was when it paused, though we knew that most times Momma cheated, tried to make it stop on Africa.

The writing is tight -- evocative, compelling -- it's difficult to select a sentence to convey the effect. Perhaps the following paragraph wherein Marie, convinced she is herself ugly (despite signs the blight is ending), knows her mother is beautiful, a view reinforced by the reactions of strangers:

"We glide through double doors, Momma preceding me, and eyes - many eyes - move toward her emerald-suited splendor; just loud enough for me to detect, a man murmurs to his wife, "My God: what hair," and I sense Momma grinning beside me, pleased beyond reason as she tosses snack after snack into the shopping cart--"

Haven't you known women like Jennifer, women who shop as greedily as they devour attention? But Jennifer is inscrutible, complex; and like the best of mothers tries to prepare Marie for life by taking her along not only to the market but to more than one workplace:

". . . at the Kawasaki factory . . . hunched over a table littered with bolts, screws, her shoulders bent into an "S" as she worked along the conveyer-belt, her fingers spasming, sweating as she struggled to keep up . . . the other women older, fatter, coarse, their faces lined with grime, their gray hair tucked into spiderweb nets, their faces forced blossomings of moles, sun-toughened skin: they hated my mother because she was young - because she was beautiful - . . . shoes tapped out the rhythms of "Hound Dog" as they sang and joked and laughed, their fat fingers never missing a screw; and when Mother sagged over the conveyer belt, her knees buckling, the teasing increased, the vitriol sharpened, shouts of "Prescott, Prescott, where're your balls?" filled the long gray room, and still the belt rolled over, rolled on as Momma quietly fainted and two tough, muscular women stepped in hastily, pulled her away from the line."

Marie reasons her mother's gallant efforts to stay afloat are a way of apologizing - although for what is going on at home there can be no apology - of demonstrating she can do no better and the unspoken hope Marie will have a better life than her own or that of Alyssa, of whom neither can bear to think. Jennifer's job at the abattoir is clearly the end of the line as far as financial independence goes.

"The meat-packing plant is huge and square and gray, like an enormous box that leaks sweat, water trickling down its outer walls. There are some windows set into the box, but they show only an inner darkness, shadowy shapes, people moving within, so quiet they might, themselves, be a dream. Steam rises from several pipes that push up like thick fingers from the roof of the plant. Grabbing Momma's hand as we approach, I feel a weird excitement though Momma doesn't look pleased."

And Marie will have a better life, if she can get past the horrific scene six years ago when Dan left. If she can come to terms with her mother's subsequent actions. If she can stay with Dell, the young poet who is her soul mate, and whose love may help her escape the past to become the artist she is meant to be.


*the title is from T. S. Eliot's The Wasteland

This review first appeared in Issue 19 of In Posse Review

Marie, Marie Hold On Tight
by Terri Brown-Davidson

Terri Brown-Davidson's novel Marie, Marie Hold On Tight is not for the squeamish and should, perhaps, have been titled, Reader, Reader, Hold On Tight. But, despite the depths of depravity that are explored a shaft of light shines througout the novel. Marie's is a story of cruelty, insanity, incest, and murder. Her's is also a story of love and survival. A reader with courage will know and understand Marie and hope, maybe pray, that she will endure. Read this book and be rewarded. Mrs. Brown-Davidson's writing is poetry disguised as prose.

Five stars.

This book covers all areas you may need to run your operation and then some. It includes everything from menu planning and the proper equipment needed to marketing, how to hire good employees and how to handle inspectors. No aspect is missed. No matter what area you are concentrating on, it is covered in this book. From colleges and churches to prisons and nursing homes. It even includes a history lesson on the non-commercial food service industry. Being able to know these little facts will impress clients and vendors.
The authors even advise on programs to look for when purchasing a computer to run your operation and how to design an attractive Web site. It's a step by step guide for someone just starting out in the industry. The authors clearly break down the many, many aspects of the operation. Even offering advice on how to spice up the menu (roast beef becomes succulent roast beef with Au Jus and peaches become yellow cling peach slices.
Although the size of the book may seem overwhelming at first, it's less intimidating when you realize that about half of it is useful charts and forms. All are extremely detailed and helpful. Most you will want to copy or tweak a bit and use. You will probably want to take notes or have a highlighter handy while reading this book.

Many books claim to be the end all be all when it comes to instructing managers and preparing them to lead a team in the food service industry. None of them compares to The Non-Commercial Food Service Manager's Handbook. It is a step by step guide to every part of managing any non-commercial food service industry, whether it's a church, a prison, a nursing home or even the military. I have never seen a more complete and thorough explanation of what is required of a manager. With its in-depth explanation of money management, menu planning, purchasing and inventory, food handling, safety and literally dozens of other necessary components to being an effective manager I highly recommend this book for anyone looking into management as a career.

The food industry is something that is increasingly under scrutiny for new legislation whether on the type of food served, or the conditions under which it's prepared. Anyone who is taking on a management role in a non-commercial establishment such as in a nursing home, or is perhaps considering setting up their own catering business supplying food for companies will find this is THE book that will not only get their business up and running, but will do so in such a way that it should run smoothly and successfully.

The book is a comprehensive guide to the non-commercial food industry. It covers everything from the basics of what a non-commercial food service is, right through how to set up accounts, the kind of equipment you should have, how to hire employees, statutes you must adhere to, marketing and so on. Everything you could possibly need to know in order to run a non-commercial food service is right at your finger tips. Everything is set out in a logical manner so that you can either read it right through before even starting your business, or use it as a reference guide to dip into when you need to know something once you are established.

At over 600 pages, it's quite a hefty book, but the style of writing flows easily and the print is eye-friendly so that the amount of pages and sheer volume of material presented in it isn't as off-putting as it could be!

Accompanying the book is a CD that contains the forms presented in the book in a ready to use format. This makes the book not only a great reference manual for the industry, but also a hands-on guide to get either started, or better organized in your business.

There would be a lot more people with the confidence to start up their own businesses if there were more "how to" manuals like this one!

Have you ever been in a hospital during lunch time but were afraid to try the food? We've all experienced bad cuisine at places like hospitals, schools and churches, but after reading The Non-Commercial Food Service Manager's Handbook by Douglas Robert Brown and Shri Henkel, I realized that it doesn't have to be that way. If you're a food service manager, then this is the book you can't live without.

It discusses real issues like bookkeeping, operational expenses, necessary computer programs, endless menu ideas, recipe costs, inventory, equipment, packaging, nutritional information, delegation tips, kitchen cleanliness, equipment, first aid, inspections, dishwashing, and food storage. Nothing is overlooked, not even the signs of food allergies, customer service issues, marketing and advertising, catering, taste testing surveys, personnel issues, and surprisingly - how to deal with kickbacks from vendors.

I love the fact that it discusses the history of food service - going back to the time of chuck wagons - and how it provides checklists, forms, employee quizzes, and actual case studies. After reading this book I not only was hungry, but was looking forward to my next meal at a hospital cafeteria.

The Non-Commercial Food Service Manager's Handbook by Douglas Robert Brown and Shri Hinkel is a solid reference source which would be indispensable to a new manager and a helpful resource to even the most seasoned veteran.

It effectively covers all the bases for this niche, with everything included from history and menu planning to quality control, labeling regulations, employees and marketing. Filled with numerous checklists and questionnaires, restaurant managers can easily tailor their plans and ideas to best suit their specific needs, whether their restaurant is part of a church, school or prison. It offers numerous reference sources, both on and offline, for further research as needed.

In so thorough a publication, it would be nice to see some information or links on the many non-commercial restaurants that also grow some of their own food onsite, benefitting their bottom line as well as the residents, workers and patrons. Other than this slight omission, it could easily be called the bible of the industry.

This book has been a very good page turner. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading.

Squiggly Line

ISBN:031615525

The Wanna-be All-American girl

"He is still watching,waiting until she comes gliding down the stairs. Her golden bangels clinking together in a melodious song."
Meet Sunita Sen an eighth grader who's Indian. Her life was fine until her grandparents came to stay for a year. Ashamed of her heritage she keeps to herself. Her mom even tells her she can't have boys over-meaning her friend Michael. Sunita makes an excuse to avoid him. Over time Sunita grows fond of her family but not so fast. Find out in this wonderful historical fiction book.

Though the book can be a bit confusing it's a page turner. I thought the book was ok because I like the cultural stuff but sometimes my mind would go blank thinking about the book and I would not comprehend what Sunita was thinking sometimes. People who read this book I think should be 14-17 years old. Because people younger or even people who are 13 probably will easily be bored or won't quite get what is going on with the main character. To add more to the subject it was hard to concentrate on because sometimes I couldn't understand and have to re-read it and didn't know what they were wearing sometimes. I liked the book because I absolutely love the history of our world and I have never learned so much about India than I have in this book. I liked this genre alot because it taught me that some of us don't like our heritage or where we came from. Or that we are not like everybody else because we have diffierent customs than they do. My most favorite part about the book was the cliff hangers at the end of most of the chapters like this one: "As I flopped down on my bed I knew in a few minutes my life would come crashing down. Then the door bell rang." But all in all I totally reccomend this book to everyone who is willing to read a book about a cultural, pressured,Indian girl name Sunita Sen.

This teen novel depicts the life of Sunita Sen, a 13 year-old girl of Indian heritage whose grandparents come from India to visit for the year. The reader witnesses Sunita's transformation from a shy, angry youth to a mature teenager. This is a young-adult novel that builds its plot around the theme of feeling different. Ms. Perkins' gives the reader the sense that she has lived the story herself, Ms. Perkins handles the topic of multicultural identity with great alacrity. The reader feels compassion towards Sunita as she struggles to gain her personal freedom amidst rumor mills, peer pressure, and the aromas of a distant land. The story is well written and artfully describes a contemporary teen dilemma. It is an enjoyable read. Because of the way it introduces the themes, it may prove to be a valuable book for beginning cross-cultural, multi-generational discussions.

This book takes place in California and at the main character's Sunits Sen's highschool, at the beginnig of the book. By this time her Indain grandparents Dadu(grandfather) and Didu(grandmother) as she and her family calles them has moved from Inda to live with them. Now at her highschool she is late for class and remebers that day when she and her guy freind Michel had last spoken to each other. He had asked if he could come over that day and she had completely blown him off and didnt tell him why because she was afraid he would think her family was weird. Her mother had changed when her grandparents moved in. She no longer wore the sweat pants and sweat shirt any more, but a saree to make her parents fell more at home. She also cooked constantly and waits on the hand and foot to be the perfect Indain daughter. Sunita is known throughout her school as the cleerful, smart and outgoing girl thats why one of her nicknames is Sunni. Now she is cold and distant to everyone at school and at home, exspecly to her mother. Theres only one place she isnt like this and thats in the back yard in her grandfaters garden, where he tells her stories of how he and her grandmother meet and resites many Indain poems. The Not So Star Spangled Life of Sunita Sen is a wonderful book, and i would highly recommed it to all ages.

Sunita Sen isn't black or white, red or yellow. She was born in Kolkata, India. For most of her life that was perfectly okay with her. In fact her nickname, Sunni matched her sunny, cheerful outlook. At the end of her 13th summer, she is on top of the world. She and Michael Morrison are seeing more and more of each other and looking forward to 8th grade. But her carefree American life is shattered when her grandparents arrive from India to spend a year with her family. Her mom takes a leave of absence from her job as a chemistry professor. She starts wearing sarees and cooking Indian food. To make matters worse, she informs Sunni that it's no longer okay to have boys come to visit. On top of all that, her new social studies teacher begins the school year with the topic of cultural diversity, which only makes Sunni even more aware of her differences. Suddenly -- and for all those reasons -- she withdraws from her friends and family. Torn between her desire to be a normal American teen and her love for her Indian family, Sunni struggles to meld the two cultures into her life. In the process she must face up to her own prejudices.

Sunni comes across as so genuine that any teen will easily relate to her dilemma. Through her exploration and discovery of her heritage, Perkins offers readers an intimate view of Indian culture. "The Not-So-Star-Spangled Life of Sunita Sen" is a sensitive and realistic portrayal of the unique pressures facing multi-cultural teens.

Carol Drinkwater provides so much information and knowledge about her Olive Farm. Delightful Memoirs of her life. Excellent.

The Olive Season, the sequel to Carol Drinkwater's The Olive Farm, transcends the travel memoir genre to create a searing personal narrative.

In The Olive Season, Drinkwater has wed her fiance, Michel, in the South Pacific, and has returned to their farm in southern France to bring in another olive harvest. The harvest season proves difficult, however, and the care of the olive farm becomes a challenging undertaking for the newly pregnant Drinkwater, whose situation is complicated by her husband's absence, her own professional obligations, and intrusions from her past.

The events of The Olive Season force Drinkwater to revisit her past, transcend her present and muster her courage to shape her future. Suffused with the idyllic scents and scenery of southern France, The Olive Season is both a superb piece of travel writing and a wrenching examination of life, its tragedies and its triumphs.

A five-star read that will not disappoint.

All of Carol Drinkwater's books are very well written and hard to put down. If you like the subject matter of olives, this is a particular treat. Beyond the work and detail involved in maintaining olive trees, the hard work of the harvest, the anticipation of having them pressed and rewarded with fine oil as a result..Carol's books are to me, a realization of a dream. She and Michel took the risk of buying a poorly maintained property and poured their hearts and soul into it.

THE OLIVE SEASON and THE OLIVE FARM are excellent as is THE OLIVE HARVEST. When I recently saw A CELEBRATION OF OLIVES, I thought C. Drinkwater published a new book and ordered it. I received it today and was disappointed to find it's a double volume of THE OLIVE SEASON and THE OLIVE FARM combined, both of which I have. According to Amazon.com readers who buy A CELEBRATION OF OLIVES also buy her other books. I feel like I was duped and cannot return the book.

In the Olive Season, Carol Drinkwater continuous Michel and her dream-come-true olive farm experience in the south of France. Other reviewers of her first book, as well as this reviewer, hoped for a sequel and Carol did not disappoint them. Although the book can be read and enjoyed without reading The Olive Farm, this reviewer strongly recommends that readers first read the Farm, as it provides the necessary backdrop and introduction to characters that enhances the enjoyment of the Season.

In the Season, Carol shares a lot more on personal level than in the Farm. Although I have enjoyed the first book specifically because it largely revolved around their farming experience and dealt less with them at intimate level, I can accept the change in focus because it is quite understandable when one reads about their tragic loss halfway through the book. The closing paragraph of the book confirms this conclusion. Do yourself a favour and do not read the last page of the book before you "legitimately" can after you have read the rest of it - apparently some people actually do that! It will not necessarily spoil your reading experience, but the story unfolds very well and pulls the reader closer to the author as it develops. Similar to the first book, the Season is well written and/or edited.

I again enjoyed Carol's description of the French rural characters she and Michel meet during their farming adventure. Although I appreciate her sharing of her research into various aspects of farming and nature, I find that those specific paragraphs tend to clash with the writing style of the rest of the book. Although short, they are almost reference book fact-like descriptions. However, they are far and in between and do not really distract from the overall reading experience. Their exploits into the French countryside and visits to interesting little shops and eating places do a lot to make the reader want to get onto a plane and explore those hide-away places!

If you have enjoyed The Olive Farm, you will also enjoy The Olive Season, although it is somewhat more "heavy" because of the dramatic events referred to earlier. Would I buy the next episode if Carol writes it? Yes, probably, even if only to find out whether they have managed to find a beekeeper! She clearly wrote, or at least completed, this one, inter alia for her own personal healing, but her writing style is such that I would support sequels in the Olive-saga much more positively than I would support Hollywood follow-on's!

This book is more than worth its money in culinary gold. I recently graduated from culinary school and have started a catering business with my husband. I've read a number of books on how to start a catering business and have found this to be the best one yet. Lots of information and very good detail. Every caterer needs to have this copy in their reference library.

A must have book for a new Caterer starting their own business.

If you want to enter the catering business, there are plenty of lighter guides on the topic on the market - but if you're really serious about professionally entering the business, you can't be without THE PROFESSIONAL CATERER'S HANDBOOK: HOW TO OPEN AND OPERATE A FINANCIALLY SUCCESSFUL CATERING BUSINESS. A cd-rom supplements the weighty exploration which is actually a detailed manual of step-by-step instruction on all the basics. From bookkeeping and handling profits and loss to considering the pros and cons of professional equipment, there's no better guide on the market. College-level culinary schools in particular must have this reference.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

"THE PROFESSIONAL CATERER'S HANDBOOK: HOW TO OPEN AND OPERATE A FINANCIALLY SUCCESSFUL CATERING BUSINESS" by Lora Arduser and Douglas Robert Brown.

This book is an indispensable addition to any would be caterer's library. If you have thought about turning your catering skills into a full time business this book will open your eyes to all that is involved in starting and operating your own catering business.

Any and every aspect of operating your own successful catering business is included in this fabulous book. The authors start by talking about the skills needed to open and operate your own catering business, the give you a step by step planning guide to developing your business goals and plan.

Each chapter of this text skillfully builds on the last one to provide you with a comprehensive handbook to answer all your questions. Should you own or lease, what laws should you be aware of, how to market your company, how to set up the event, staffing, which equipment to purchase, and should you start as a home based catering company? These are only a few of the thousands of answers you will get from reading this handbook.

From the very first page of the book the author's are getting you excited about opening your own catering business. The tone of the book is uplifting and positive and will make you feel like you could do this!

The book also comes with a companion CD-ROM that will provide additional resource material including tons of business forms to get you started. This book is great for anyone in the catering business, weather a seasoned business owner or just in the contemplation stages of owning their own business; this book will be an invaluable source of information.

The Professional Caterer's Handbook: How To Open And Operate A Financially Successful Catering Business (With CD-Rom), expertly co-authored by Lora Arduser and Douglas Robert Brown, is an informative introduction and comprehensive guide to properly establishing and managing a catering business. Comprehensively mapping out an easy-to-follow, "user-friendly" compendium of strategies and tactics for establishing a company name and reputation, The Professional Caterer's Handbook presents logical and effective advise vitally important for all aspiring catering entrepreneurs. The Professional Caterer's Handbook is very strongly recommended as instructional reading for all small catering business developers, those hoping to create a professional catering business, and for those seeking to expand their catering business.

A smart, fast read, but also practical and frank. Usable advice on query letters, proposals, networking, when to self-publlish and how to negotiate.

This is a nice place for prospective non-fiction writers to start investigating the process of what it takes to get published. A quick and easy read, the book's main benefit is as a reality check to knock the naiveté out of prospective authors. To be sure, pretty much everything Brown discusses is covered by other books on the topic, however, these often spend far too much time getting to the point and/or offering various bits of writing advice that aren't really germane to the nuts and bolts of getting a book deal. Quite properly Brown assumes you can write; and while his brevity is often a good thing, sometimes the rapid pace and flip tone leads to broad generalizations that can be slightly misleading.

He comes at the topic with a wealth of personal experience, having published some twenty or so books with a variety of major publishing houses. Despite this, his perspective is rather limited -- as a former financial writer (for Inc. and Forbes), all but one of his books are business titles. And the reality is that business non-fiction is a slightly different beast, and the lessons learned there can't necessarily be extrapolated to other nonfiction genres. Business books tend to be what Hollywood calls "high concept", that is, all about a central, easily grasped premise, and generally not particularly nuanced. So while much of this "insider's guide" is certainly useful for all prospective writers, some of the advice is very hard to apply to other nonfiction genres.

Similarly, Brown downplays the extent to which his existing position as a journalist smoothed the path to the book world. He advocates a stepped process to approaching editors with one's pitch: start small with a query letter, then if you get a nibble, send a brief (around 3 page) mini-proposal, and then, only as a last resort, put together a proper full-scale proposal. While there's certainly logic to avoiding the substantial work of putting together a full proposal, a writer with his background (especially when working with a "name" co-author) can get away with the approach. whereas 99% of the readership for this book cannot. Probably the worst advice in the book is on page 52, where he argues against sending a full proposal even when an editor has responded "tell me more in writing." If an editor tells you this, you'd better come back with as complete and polished a pitch as possible, because if they're not impressed, they may not give you another chance.

The other aspect of full-blown proposals Brown doesn't acknowledge is that the process of creating the proposal will help you immeasurably in honing your idea and pitch -- and may well lead you to realize you can't write the book. Which is not to suggest that Brown doesn't like proposals -- he includes a complete one of his, and has annotated it with copious footnotes pointing out areas for improvement. This "peering under the hood" is a very strong part of the book, and is well worth examining (even though I actually don't like some of the proposal's arrangement).

Generally, whenever I read a book on this topic, I will jot down the few ideas from it that I found particularly unique or compelling. I didn't do that once with this book -- but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I've already read a lot on the topic, and thus have a good store of material. But this would make a great first book to read on the topic, as long as one recognizes its limitations and reads a few others for more perspective and depth.

I bought this book last Friday afternoon, and had read it entirely by the late evening - I could not put it down.

Not only is it filled with information to help get your first non-fiction book published, it is written in a thouroughly approachable and enjoyable style.

That "memo" is mentioned in the appendix about how this particular book came to be, and I thought it was cool to title a review like that.

Not mentioned in the above little summary is the "snide editorial comments by Ellen Kadin" (on the cover) which are dispersed throughout the book. Ellen Kadin is AMACOM's editor, an independent (and funny) voice to let you know how accurate Paul B. Brown really is. Most, but not all of them are affirmations...but they are all funny. If someone (like me) got the book from a library right next to all those traditional Chapter 6-1/2 books, you might want to skip the her annotations if you are actually reading it _in_ the libary, because you are likely to make enough noise (laughing, cussing, or both) to get dragged out by security...fortunately, I am good friends with my library's security.

With insight and irreverence Paul Brown lays it all out for aspiring writers. He takes you from book proposal to agent to publisher to promotion.

That's all that a would-be nonfiction author could want. He'll tell you things you don't want to hear, but must know in order to make your foray into writing a success.

Brown has endured book ideas that were rejected and books that didn't sell, along with a perennial best-seller Customers For Life.

If nothing else Brown knows his trade when it comes to publishing nonfiction books.

I'd like to point out errors in his 'Nontraditional Approaches' but from my observations, Brown is correct more than I'd like to say.

And, when he has a question, he knows where to go to find the answers, which, of course, he shares with readers.

If you don't like the idea of pitching book ideas to publishers, then maybe being an author isn't for you.

If you don't like the idea of a 40 to 50 page book proposal, Brown will explain why it's in your best interest to get through it, or scrap your idea of a nonfiction book deal.

If you want a bigger advance - and why you should try to get the most you can (besides the obvious reason) - are nailed by Brown in Publishing Confidential.

If your idea is to write a nonfiction best seller, then Brown's book will save you a lot of time, and serve as your tour guide.

You may not write the next top selling business book, it's not a guarantee, but Brown's book will help you get through it with his `insider's guide to what it really takes to land a nonfiction book deal.'

Brown delivers.

I came across this book at our local library. I honestly just picked it off the shelf because "Lulu" looks a lot like our dog, and thought it would be a cute story about maybe losing a pet and finding it again. From the moment I began to read it, I realized what the story was really going to be about... And yes my 5 yr. old and I cried, and my 8 yr. old put on a brave face, but was very moved by the story. This brought up many questions concerning our own dogs life and when his possible death would be. It also has made my 5 yr. old more loving and gentle with our dog. It's a beautiful but very honest story. One that I imagine plays out in many households everyday.

I bought this story for my 3-year-old niece after her dog died. I read it to my girls before giving it to her and my 5-year-old and I both cried. The book is a very touching example of a girl's relationship with her dog. The pictures are excellent and the words simple enough for many ages. My sister said she found it helpful to help her daughter with the experience.

This box of Kleenex book is about a young girl preparing to say goodbye to her beautiful dog LuLu. She, like the young boy in I'LL ALWAYS LOVE YOU describes how she and the dog grew up together and have been lifelong friends. She recounts how she and her beautiful dog played together, yet lately her dog no longer can see or hear or move around comfortably. LuLu becomes lethargic and spends a lot of her time sleeping.

LuLu eventually dies and the girl's mother tells her the sad news. The girl goes through the usual and expected grieving states of sadness and anger. Her father tells her that she can pick out another dog, but the girl insists that LuLu in her healthier days is the only dog she wants.

Like the boy in I'LL ALWAYS LOVE YOU, the family buries LuLu in their back yard. To honor the dog's memory, they plant a cherry tree over her grave. It is then when that tree is in blossom that the girl can finally say goodbye and fully accept the death of her beloved dog. She even gets a new puppy.

This is a very moving and wonderful book that might even make you cry. It was especially poignant for me because as a child I had a terrier mix who looked a lot like LuLu and I was quite sad when she became old and infirm and died. She was a wonderful dog.

This is a book that will help ALL ages move through and recognize the grieving process. Excellent books like this and I'll Always Love You, Old Dog and the Christmas Wish, Jasper's Day and The Rainbow Bridge: Pet Loss Is Heaven's Gain help children AND adults realize that not only is it okay to be sad, but it is understandable and even accepted. Anger is often part of the grieving process, especially when a beloved pet dies. This astute author reminds all readers and listeners that these feelings will eventually pass and in time the child and others who loved the pet can think fondly on the animal with love and happiness.

I give this book the highest possible endorsement. People of ANY age who have ever lost a pet or who have a pet near death will find comfort in this book.

To Corinne Demas, I say a heartfelt (with tears in my eyes) THANK YOU!

In this heart-felt book, a young girl must learn to deal with the impending death of her beloved dog, Lu Lu. Told in first-person style, the little girl and her loyal dog have been friends for many years. Lu Lu wags her tail when the girl comes home from school, and they spend hours playing together. However, the little girl has noticed that Lu Lu is unable to do many of the things she used to. She's getting old, and she's lost her sight and hearing.

The little girl seems to realize what's happening to her best friend. She has to carry Lu Lu outside and feed her food and water to her. Lu Lu has lost most of her energy, and she spends most of her time sleeping.

Finally, the sad day arrives, and the girl's mother tells the little girl that Lu Lu has died. The little girl is sad, but she's also upset and angry. Her father tells her that she may have another dog, but she only wants Lu Lu back the way she was when she was a puppy. The family buries Lu Lu in a box in the back yard. The following spring, they plant a cherry tree over Lu Lu's tiny gravesite. Only then can the little girl say goodbye. She even gets a new puppy to love.

This is a very touching book. My family has a terminally ill dog, and this book helps young children to understand the grieving process in losing a beloved pet. My children have known our dog their entire lives, and great books like this one help them understand that its ok to be sad, upset, and even angry when a pet dies. The most important thing that this book points out is that eventually, the anger, pain, and sadness will eventually go away, then the child can look back on their times with the pet with happiness.

I give this book my highest recommendation. Children and adults who have lost, or are going to lose a pet will find its story touching and moving, and the ideas contained inside will help with the grieving process; not just the process for children, but adults as well.

Thankfully, our pet is neither old or sick; however, my daughter still loves the book. In the book, the changing seasons is a gentle metaphor for the life cycle. Highly recommend!