Browning Books

This was a cute little mystery. A land developer is murdered and Theo decides to figure out who did the deed. Especially since one of her employees is on the suspect list. What sets it apart from other mysteries is, I learned a little bit about Charleston and I learned a little about tea. I also loved the characters. Theo, Drayton, Haley and Bethany and Earl Gray. Very likeable characters. The mystery, to me, plays a minor part compared to the character development. This was a light easy read, very enjoyable.

Relaxing read, quick read. Enjoyable, yet some of the dialogue and characters seemed somewhat pretentious or "forced" at times.

I also don't like the way Theodosia is portrayed. She's supposed to be a woman in her mid-30's, yet her character seems years older than that. I have this image of a somewhat frumpy woman who's vastly older than her employees, yet there isn't much of an age difference. It's confusing at times.

Would probably pick up the second in the series in a pinch, but wouldn't be my first choice.

Did like the colorful portrayals of Charleston, however.

Other reviewers have detailed the flaws in this book. I wanted to like it, because as an expatriate Southerner I dote nostalgically on books with Southern settings and a lot of local color. This one, with its cozy tea shop setting in historic Charleston, seemed like a sure thing. As a long-time armchair traveler, I didn't mind the travelogue aspects of the book and having never been to Charleston didn't know whether the descriptions were accurate or not. (Apparently not.) I love tea, and thought it might be interesting to learn more about it. (I gather that info is less than trustworthy, as well.) I didn't even particularly mind the shoddy characterizations, or the fact that Theo is a wish-fulfillment character whose life you want to have, rather than any conceivable actual person.

No, what put me off going on with the series was the bad writing. (Sometimes that improves over time with new authors, but I understand that is not the case with Childs.) The switches in point of view not only keep us from seeing the world through Theo's eyes, but also undermine any effort to create convincing characters, and--as another reviewer said--it is very jarring when it happens, and it jars every time it happens. It also contributes to the silliness quotient, because all too often the switch in point of view is for the sake of slathering more praise on the heroine. Childs also needs a lot of work on her diction. I suspected I was in for a long slog on line 6 of the book, when the hair that Theodosia pushed back couldn't be just curly, but had to be naturally curly, although I liked the image of a friendly Medusa. Childs is better with descriptions of scenery and weather (despite the overuse of adverbs, flowery adjectives, and clichés) than she is with her descriptions of human actions and emotions, which are almost invariably both clichéd and oddly off--choppy and abrupt in effect. And she badly needed an editor: in one place we are told that a character "wouldn't have not" done something when clearly what was meant was "wouldn't have" done it or "would not have" done it.

I also really didn't understand how Childs could describe arsenic as "undetectable" and death from arsenic-poisoning as sudden, since anyone who has ever read an arsenic mystery knows that it is one of the easiest poisons to detect and that death from arsenic-poisoning may be drawn-out or fairly sudden, but either way it is an ugly and painful way to die. Perhaps what she intended to say was that it is tasteless when added to tea.

There is one other issue that bothered me in the book, an omission that I hope is corrected in later books of the series. I appreciate that cozies are in part a way of escaping from distressful reality (despite all those murders), but it's a pity that a book that is set in Charleston doesn't have a single character who is identifiable as African American. There is a self-congratulatory half-page in which we are told that Aunt Libby refuses to tear down the slave shacks on her plantation grounds because she doesn't want to make the truth of the Southern past invisible; that's the first mention of black folks in a book where present-day black Charlestonians are otherwise invisible. Now that's irony! Couldn't Haley be black? Or even the presumably gay Drayton? As it is, the book really does feel like the 1950s--as in whiter-than-white 1950s television. I'm not asking for true realism, just for adding a touch of the interracial New South to the cozy Southern setting. Otherwise, the books might as well be set in Vermont.

It took me awhile to get going in this one, honestly. It wasn't that I disliked anything in particular, it just didn't grab my attention. By halfway through, though, it started to pick up and I did read the last 1/3 straight through. I don't feel much of a compunction to rush out and buy the rest of the books in the series, mostly because I didn't get much of a connection to any of the characters, and the mystery wasn't quite good enough to support the slightly weak cast. I could definitely see where this series might be one that develops and grows over time, so I might give it another shot sometime when I'm looking for something to read - but I wouldn't clear my schedule for it.

The Indigo Tea Shop located in the historic district of Charleston, South Carolina was a dream come true for its owner Theodosia Browning. Theodosia gave up a high-stress life as an advertising executive and never looked back. But her advertising background has helped her to make the Indigo Tea Shop a special place for the locals as well as for tourists. When Hughes Barron is found dead sitting at a table in the garden after drinking tea supplied and served by Theodosia's staff during the Lamplighter Tour, Theodosia realizes that she has to find the murderer before the police lock up Bethany Shepherd, a temporary worker, for the crime.

The book is filled with tea lore and lavish descriptions of Charleston and its surrounding environment along with lots of historical asides. The characters are fairly well drawn though Bethany and Haley's tears were getting on my nerves by the end of the book. The mystery at the center of the book is almost an aside to presenting the tea shop and local characters that will be featured in the rest of the series. However, the murder mystery is well plotted and planned and once you finish the book you can pick up on earlier clues to the murderer even though it is unexpected.

Dr. Bev does a wonderful job giving simple but informative tips on becoming an independent consultant. I have read a couple of her books and they are great. The print is easy to read, and there wonderful samples of contracts,work logs, invoices, and other items a new consultant will need to track and grow a successful business. I recommend this book for anyone desiring to become an independent consultant. I felt confident after reading this book.

I read Dr. Browning's first edition of this book and the 2nd edition is a big improvement, particularly in the specifics of pricing services. She lays out a neat table describing various pricing levels that may be either misleading or inspirational (depending upon how one views money matters) to novices or people looking to start a grant writing career. The truth of the matter is that it takes years of work developing a sound knowledge and experience base, and building a reputation in your community, to earn a basic living as a grant writer. And most grassroots nonprofits - and even some larger ones - balk at paying a REAL hourly rate for the REAL work it takes to write a clear, well-written grant proposal. I love to write and to improve people's lives - that's how I got hooked into writing my first successful grant 5 years ago. And while I do not agree with Bev on her pricing strategy and find the discussion of her ethical beliefs (use of "finder's fees and taking a percentage of a grant as payment) in the book to be confusing, I do respect her success. Because I know first hand what she went through to get there. Probably the most informative section of her book is the chapters related to costs of start-up, which can easily be used as the basis for researching a Business Plan.

This book gave me just the information I was looking for. It is well worth the price.

A warning that the author issues about this book that should be heeded:
It is not for general grant writing/research or for people who are seeking personal grants.

However, for the grant-writing upstart it is a priceless guide! Thank you Beverly Browning...

I was utterly surprised and disappointed when I opened the box and found what can only be described as a pamphlet inside.

It certainly is NOT worth the $49 price tag. The roughly 60+ sheets (printed on both sides) of paper and the oversized type serve as negative reminders that I paid far too much for this booklet.

I can't comment on the validity of the information contained because of my lack of grant writing experience, but I am absolutely certain I paid way too much for way too little. This book reminds me of my grade-school strategy to dupe the teacher into thinking she got what she asked for by writing with really big letters and repeating paragraphs verbatim in order to fill us space. Didn't work back then, either.

I loved this book because the author took time to flesh out the main character. The main character is not simply someone who accidently stumbled across a mystery, but someone who cares to know why someone was murdered.

The mystery was okay. Not quite an Agatha Christie, but certainly reminiscent of one.

This is the second Tea Shop Mystery. I look forward to reading the next one in the series.

A very enjoyable story with great characterizations. If anyone wants to read a new cozy series this is it. Take a chance and you won't be disappointed!!

I love tea...I love mysteries...and I love the recipes at the back!

I've tried to give these books a fair chance. I like the Charleston setting and there are some good recipes in the back of the book if you enjoy tea. However, the writing gets in the way. All of the books in this series contain sentence fragments and don't seem to have been proofread. The characters are one-dimensional. They are not likeable. Theodosia is a busy-body, and comes across as an arrogant know-it-all who really has an issue about competing with the police and obstructing justice. Haley is irritating beyond belief. Drayton seems to be the only regular who is not obnoxious. The plots are silly. I would probably go to the library and page to the back of the book for the recipes but would not waste the time and money reading these

Previous reviewers have already pointed out this book's many shortcomings. Let me add to the list with my biggest beef: about a fourth of the way through the book the author reveals who the murderer was in her previous book, "Death by Darjeeling" - which is a HUGE no-no for mystery writers. Did Childs ever stop to think that maybe someone might, as I did, read the second book before the first? That seems like a real no-brainer to me...

"Deadly Goals", is a true life book that places event that happened into different ways. Starts out with a famous college football player, for the N.A.I.A, as an all-American football star. Then ends up with court counts of murder of his own girl friend, and as an abusing of a victim. Steroids also messed up his career as pro NFL player for the Cleveland Browns.

This cruel man's name is Parnell Jefferson. Parnell to many reviewers is compared to the O.J. Simpson case. Parnell had many mistakes in a roll of this book The Miami cop that found Parnell doesn't like to let his cases to go to crap. By doing so in this book he showed his part in the book, by taking him behind bars.

Parnell was believed to be not caught only if he hadn't walked out of the pros'. Also in his wild use of steroids, that made him great into his work, he was charged with a huge amount of a fine.

I would recommend this book to an adult reader, because all of the use of backtracking or flashbacks. All of this concludes to a hard understand book. This book does have a lot of details in it. And so that brings to my thinking of why this book isn't all that great. But the thought of what happened to the victims was horrible and the fact that the time he serves is great to hear. The NFL got a bad outlook of this all.

The emotional rollercoaster ride this horrible story took me on went from anger to tearjerking pain to disbelief, sympathy to pitilessness and back again. Several times I looked up from the compelling and well-written narrative to find my two dogs looking at me strangely, no doubt mystified as to the mood they sensed, but no one should be unaffected by this document of a wasted life and the lives ruined in its process. The worst of the domestic violence I witnessed and experienced as a child could not compare to this stupefying tale of the women unlucky enough to love a genuine monster - literally "to death," which term people use far too carelessly. This "person" can hang all the blame for his reprehensible behavior and murderous actions on those drugs he likes, I believe rather that they only magnified and enhanced some ingrained personality flaw instead of completely transforming him into a way out-of-control creature mindless and heedless of such change. And even with all of his statements to that effect, with the violence-littered path he was on that led to the unjust demise of Regina Marie Prickett Butkowski ["Jeannie" to her loved ones], this character still refuses to squarely take responsibility for his actions. His is the tale of a classic manipulative control-freak abuser, only unfortunately enhanced by dangerous drugs, which as the sad historical data indicate are hardly necessary for that kind of [mis]behavior. This story of a "man" from a town not far from where I live with the venomous power to both charm and destroy his victims at the same time should, in my opinion, not only be an essential part of every women's shelter resources or those of other organizations dealing with these issues, but I recommend to anybody who knows someone whom they are definitely aware or suspect is entangled in an abusive relationship that they either give them this book or relate the hideous story of betrayal and murder, psychological as well as physical, within its pages. Although the dust-jacket blurb proclaims it has "startling parallels" to a certain justice-denied double murder in Brentwood 11 years ago, it's actually the other way around since this case was concluded 3 years before Nicole Brown and Ronald Goldman were reduced to bloody shreds of human beings by a more famous monster. If that celebrity-filled tale doesn't resonate with the masses to a great influential degree, those lifestyles being largely out of their reach, then this one which predates it should; because the people involved are ordinary folk who became trapped in a situation they found difficult to believe was itself ordinary - and in that aspect of it lies the most frightful dangers of all.

"Deadly Goals" is the story of one Pernell Jefferson, a former Small College (N.A.I.A.) All-American football star. He was convicted of the abduction and murder of his girl friend by a Virginia court. His abuse of the victim, Jeannie, and other females was acerbated by the heavy use of steroids to enhance his football prowess. DG is fast, linear, no-nonsense reading. There is a total absence of mystery here. DG is told in classic flashback style. The reader knows the ending from the outset. We only have to read to learn how the wheels of justice turned. BG even includes a note from Mr. Jefferson, penned from the Virginia State big house. A strong point of DG is that all the very real life characters come across as genuine people, warts and all. A disturbing aspect is that not all police departments prosecute abuse toward women equally aggressively. Jefferson's violent proclivities happened in different locales and the Miami and Chesapeake, VA cops were lethargic in pursuing him or responding to his victims' allegations. Jeannie's' abduction, murder and dumping of her body happened in a smaller Virginia town, which would not tolerate such crimes. This reviewer can picture DG as a classic 1940-50s-film noir, with the purp telling his tale from behind bars. He can see Lizabeth Scott or Veronica Lake as the unfortunate victim and perhaps Pat O'Brien and Brian Dunlevy as the detective and prosecutor who bring Pernell down. DG has definite big screen potential, with or without the noir. Any reader must wonder what Pernell's life might have been like had he NOT walked out of the Cleveland Brown's summer camp. (Some observers felt he would have made the squad as a rookie). There was also the controversial introduction of a taped phone conversation with Jeannie as crucial prosecutional evidence at his trial. Making the team might have kept Jefferson out of trouble; exclusion of the tape might have exonerated him, albeit free to abuse other women. BG is recommended as a good no-nonsense straightforward true crime tale. A star is deducted for the lack of any true suspense.

The main character Pernell Jefferson is portrayed brilliantly in this book by Wilt Browning. He shows the the unfortunate death of a young women who just can't escape the clutches of her ex-boyfriend. Wilt got together with all the witnesses who had anything to do with the trial to get both their story and their view of Pernell. Mr. Browning through his book shows the anger and agression that Pernell was building in his head due to the many years of stacking(consuming) anabolic steroids. In addition, he shows the ordeals that Jeanie had to go through and the eventual death that became of her because Pernell could not control himself.

Maybe I have been spoiled, but I wish Ann Rule had done this book. I didn't feel like I really got inside any of the people and there were so many details and descriptions left out. Loose ends lingered and left me wanting to know more.

A true crime story should grab a hold of the reader and put them in the situation with the people involved. I never felt that way with Deadly Goals - more like I was an outsider looking in.
Still, an interesting, quick and very easy read. I read it in a few hours and a fine read for the beach or when traveling.

While it is true, that things in 2007 are far different than when this book was written, I found it to be a striking reminder of where this queer nation came from. I simply could not put this book down.

I've read Frank Browning's THE CULTURE OF DESIRE on several occasions over the years, and it is well researched and Browning's thoughfulness is a real treat. Stylistically, Browning settles into an anecdotal breeziness that is dry, direct and refreshing.

But I did have some issues - Browning sticks close to a very canonical take on all things gay, and he flirts with a certain myopia here - typical gay meccas are increasingly out of the price ranges of many gay people, and a certain shift back to the provinces is investigated here, but not with nearly enough depth. Getting out of San Fran (to a greater degree than he attempted) would have deepened this work tremendously.

Similarly, Browning is a bit more philosophically nostalgic for a bygone era of gay hedonism, and indulges in a fair amount of rehashing past pecadilloes. This is fine, but it is a touch distracting, especially when Browning attempts - unsuccessfully - to expand the hormonal behavior of available guys into some sort of sociopolitical worldview. One gets the distinct impression that Browning feels that there is one 'official' way to be gay, with a small handful of 'official' places to live, and there is precious little room for exceptions to that here.

Far from worthless, this is an often engaging, restless and thought-provoking - if also occasionally maddening - book.

-David Alston

"An incisive analysis of what it means to be a gay man in the modern world; examines various gay communities across North America and documents the struggle of gays to define both their community values and personal identities."--© zebraz

Frank Browning's The Culture of Desire (Paradox and Perversity in Gay Lives Today) is a series of essays exploring aspects of gay men lives (no longer quite "today" as this book is bordering on a decade ago). These essays are hit and miss but there are enough little bits of interest to keep most of the readers happy and lead them successfully through the collection. It is very anecdotal and no conclusions can be truly be drawn from this book but it is successful in showing the diversity that existed in gay America and has only continued to grow since this book. It is not an important read but can be, at times, an interesting one.

Smart, sexy, and as cutting edge now as when it was published six years ago, "Culture of Desire" is required reading for anyone who likes to think of themselves as informed about the state of American/Western European gay male culture (if "culture" is the right word). I have yet to meet anyone who hates this book who didn't buy it for the cover.

This was a pretty good one. Without telling any of the story I'll just say that seldom do I really go for the reasons authors give for a character not wanting to have a relationship or fall in love; In this one, I could totally feel for Rachel. In fact, if I had been in her shoes, I may not even be as 'together' as she was. I really admired her for trying to keep going.
I also really like Joe; he was such a down to earth kinda guy. He is one of those that worked himself up from the bottom & didn't let it go to his head. I just liked his whole personality.
I did, however, have a problem with the baby's mother... couldn't fall for her reasons for her actions at all.
For those that like Christmas stories, this is a good one.

I think the real issue was to remember to believe in miracles -- I still have trouble with the moral issues of these stories -- Can a woman want to hope into bed with a man she hardly knows??
Of course, Rachel has no self esteme, or self worth, and Joe has a serious lack of spiritual value if he claims to be of a good Catholic family -- I reject that claim.
The story on the whole was good [not exactly decent] It left me a little disappointed in the whole value system of the characters but it is what I have come to expect [mostly, hopefully because of the editors] -- Leaving me very few books to keep in my library.

It took 250 pages to write about 5 days. It starts on Christmas Eve when Rachel finds a baby in the manger and takes it in. Through a varity of odd events, not Social Service nor the police come get the baby. Rachel and the boss of Condo Crisis Control Joe, who was cleaning up water at the Condo were Rachel was staying, decide to take care of the baby. Before this night Rachel never knew Joe and vice versa. Over five days we learn about Rachel's tragic past and Joe's stupid mistakes in his younger days. On Christmas Day we meet Joe's huge family. Finally, social services comes to get the baby because they discover Rachel is unmarried. Now with the baby back with social services, can Rachel and Joe have a future? We finally learn more about the childs birth parent which is supossed to be a shock, but it becomes clear earlier on in the book, so it is actually no surprise at all. There was so much in this story that was irrelevant only making the book seem longer with not enough depth. This 250 page book seems a bit long to cover 5 days.

The main problem with this book is the poor way in which the material is presented. Browning clearly knows his stuff; that's not in question. All the information in the world is worthless, however, if you can't express it to others.

The book lacks anything resembling a clear and structured narrative; there's a lot of pure information-dumping. Maybe that's fine for someone who is already an expert in the field (but, then again, if you're already an expert on the topic then you don't need to be reading this book anyway). It has none of the artful grace of a master historian (Norman Davies comes to mind...)

Additionally, if thought that way too much emphasis was placed on art and literature (at the expense of other topics). It seemed disproportionate and over-done.

Overall, TBE is a poorly done work that is not particularly useful or illuminating. I read the whole book and sure, I have some facts, but I'm not much better off as to understanding why things happened as they did (which, ultimately, is what studying history is all about...)

Not recommended.

The reader interested in a basic history of the Byzantine Empire and its literary and artistic legacy will find this book appealing. Unlike other authors, Professor Browning does not hold the conventional view that the Byzantine Empire as we know it began with the establishment of the capital city of Constantinople in A.D. 330. Rather, he takes into account the evolution of Roman civilization in the East from its initially pagan Latinized form to its final definition as a Hellenic Christian state around A.D. 500. Throughout the book, the author describes in excellent manner the development of Byzantine art and letters vis-a-vis the political, economic, and social changes affecting the state during its nearly 1000 years of existence. Maps illustrating the geographical growth and decline of the Empire are included, along with a chronological table and a list of emperors. A good bibliography refers the reader to more detailed works on topics such as the structure of the Byzantine government and military, the Greek Church, and the social customs of the day. The maps may be a little hard to follow at first as different time periods are overlapped in each of them. Also, the full-color plates which graced the book's first edition by Scribner's are missing from this revised CUA Press edition. Maps and plates aside, "The Byzantine Empire" provides an effective, readable primer on the Byzantine world

Interesting book. One word of caution, it starts in 500 AD, 200 years after Constantine. If you are interested in the origins of the Byzantine Empire this is not the book for you.

This is a workmanlike collection of quotations on friendship, something that one could put together from internet sources in about two days. Most of the quotations are uninteresting, far too many are from (old) poetry.

I was specifically looking for "One friend in a lifetime is much, two are many, three are hardly possible," which I have always thought came from the ancient Greeks, and have been looking for sporadically without success. Turns out to be from "The Education of Henry Adams," a book I read years ago. The mind plays tricks.

There is not much that can be said of a work such as this other than if it is affordable and provides good usage. This book does both.

The title describes the work completely. It is a collection of quotes. It is organized in order of the last name of the person to whom the quote is attributed. When all is said and done, that is not a very helpful scheme unless you already know the quote and already know the author but I cannot think of another scheme that would prove useful. When looking for something, you just wade in, browse and hope to hit paydirt.

The price of this work actually aids in its usability. It is by no means a comprehensive work but does have plenty of material. That means that it is fairly easy to browse through. I much more thorough treatment would be greatly lengthened and would drive up the price. This is a useful work.

The quotations in the book encompass a gamut of variances. From those so profound you have to read them twice to those that you groan at and wonder what possessed the editor to add them. Overall the book is worth the money... all 80 cents.

ORDERED THE BOOK AND WAS TO BE SHIPPED AUGUST 13TH BY US POST OFFICE, THROUGH DVDLEGACY AND TO THIS DATE...THE 2ND OF SEPTEMBER STILL HAVE NOT RECIEVED IT. THESE ARE PEOPLE THAT KEEP SINGING YOU A SONG AND TAKE THEIR SWEET OLD TIME TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS, DON'T EVEN BOTHER ORDERING THE BOOK....YOU WILL PROBABLY NEVER GET IT. OUR POSTAL SYSTEM ISN'T THE WORLDS BEST BUT IT DOES NOT TAKE 3 WEEKS TO SEND ANYTHING IN THE USA.

I recently took a job where one of my focuses is to seek out and write grants. I have had some experience but not to this magnitude. I was researching books to help make sure I met the criteria for the technical writing and ran across this book. It was great and gave me some ideas as to how to structure specific areas of my proposal. It was well worth the purchase price as far as I'm concerned and I know that I will use it again in the future.

This is another great book by Dr. Beverly. She makes everything so easy for those just starting out their grant writing journey or for those who have been at it for a while and just need a litle push. As always, the book was informative, relevant, and a must have for your grant writing tools collection.

I love this book. Great gift ideas for recycing jars. Thanks

Marie Browning's has done it again! A creative genuius, Marie has packed her most recent offering with easy, yet clever designs and this most recent book in the Jazzy Jars series is sure to be another best seller!

Generous to her core, Marie shares her wonderful designs that encompass not only a variety of techniques but an incredible array of craft mediums. If that wasn't enough, this creative diva shares quick and easy packaging that includes lid decorations, special tags and labels, and much more.

With layer mixes a new gift giving trend, Marie has also included an entire section of recipes for layered mixes and other foods that can be quickly and inexpensively created for all your gift giving needs!

If you LOVE making gifts...you will LOVE this book!

Marie Browning is a creative inspiration. ALL her books guarantee your crafting success! WARNING...Marie Browning's books are addictive. Once you have one - you'll want them all!

This author wrote a couple of excellent books - and then just sought to crank out as many as possible, without regard to quality. This one is particularly lousy - ugly stuffed FELT gizmos to make the jars look as though they were made by your six year old. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!!!!!!