Burke Books

A copy of this book belongs in every library in America and in every home. If it was so widely distributed and read, America would not have come to the crossroads it has reached, and we would all know how to protect ourselves and our country.

I enjoyed reading Thom Hartmann's WE THE PEOPLE: A CALL TO TAKE BACK AMERICA. The comic book style made reading interesting and fun, as Hartmann takes the reader through a brief history of the USA and exposes how our government is being hijacked by big corporations.

Neo-Conservatives might find the book leaning too far to the left, but I think Hartmann takes a centrist stand. He does a good job explaining "corporate personhood," a corporation that claims to be a person therefore entitled to legal protections like a real person, and how corporations have slowly started taking more and more control over our government.

One thing I wish he did would've been to describe certain events like the "Alien and Sedition Acts," which comes up in the book. But Hartmann does provide website addresses to find out more info.

Even though the book was written in 2004 it's still very relevant to what is going on today. The illustrations by Neil Cohn are fun too.

This is a simplified version of Thom's political and historical insight. It's done in cartoon style making it entertaining and a valuable learning aid for children or even adults who can gain knowledge about our nations democracy.

At last, a succinct summary of what has gone wrong in the American experiment that anyone intelligent enough to vote can understand. This book should be required reading in high schools across the nation, while there is still time to reverse the dumbing down of history and civics that is threatening the future of democracy in America. Thom Hartmann's arguments that we must act now are based on sound historical reasoning. They will resonate with the true conservative, while offering hope to the progressive that together we can take back America.

And if you are not yet sold, perhaps the fact that it is written in the form of a comic will interest you. If not, it should interest your teenagers. If you don't get it for yourself, get it for them. Better yet, join me in encouraging the authors to make it available online.

Even my nine year old son could understand the history and politics that are layed out in this book. Thom Hartman once again gives an honest look at the current political situation in our country and points the finger where it belongs -- at greedy corporations and those of us who sit by and let it happen. Truthful, but hopeful, this a great book for every politcal ignoramus you know. I bought it to give as Christmas presents.

I saw this book on the "Bargain" table at my local bookstore and, after reading the inside flap, decided to give it a read for the $5 cost. The book centers on the chase to break the 75-year-old largemouth bass world record and I had no idea that such a wonderful read awaited me!

Starting with the story of Bob Crupi, a black-or-white-with-no-shades-of-gray policeman who pretty much sacrificed his entire non-working life to chase the record, and ending with the story of Samuel Yera, the easy-going husband and father living in Havana who puts his family before fishing, Monte Burke weaves the tales of the "big players" in the chase for the record in a way that makes the book surprisingly easy to read.

Between Crupi and Yera, we meet the Long-Kerr duo, a pair of the most accomplished largemouth fishermen out there who work together to fight for the record. We also meet the trio of Jed, Mac, and Buddha who are a bit Johnny-Come-Lately and chase the record for the money. The details of the two groups' rivalry will make any casual fisherman or non-fisherman scratch their head in amazement.

And what would the book be without meeting the top lure makers who are helping make it all happen from the "other" side of the pole? Burke introduces us to Jerry Rago and Mickey Ellis. How the state-funded group in Texas, led by fisheries biologist David Campbell and director Allen Forshage, that is trying to grow the record bass in a fishery? Even better, how about Porter Hall, who has seemingly given up a wife and child in his pursuit to grow the record bass in lakes of his own?

Finally, Burke gives us a look at the "bassholes" who are doing their best to swindle their way into the record books. His look at some of the more notorious examples of "bassholes" is simultaneously hilarious and mind-blowing.

Over and over again, Burke finds a way to keep the reader interested in this colorful cast of characters, while interweaving the feel-good story of the current record holder, George Perry. But, and maybe more importantly, Burke manages to keep all the characters straight in the reader's mind by not complicating their relationships. He keeps it all simple, as it should be, and gives such a telling description of each that when you finally look at the pictures in the middle of the book, you feel like you've already viewed them.

This really is an "anybody" kind of book, but those who have had some fishing experience will truly get the most out of it. Those who have never fished may be scared to touch a rod and reel after reading this book for fear of catching the bug caught by the characters within.

Though the book is written in an easygoing style it contains a lot of fascinating and in-depth information on fishing and the American history of the sport.

Burke is both a capable writer and a fisherman and his intelligence, sense of humor and love of the sport come through in the stories he tells.

I could not put the book down. What a great writer. I don't fish for the Big bass but I really enjoyed reading about the men that do. A great read. I would recommend this book to any avid or even weekend bass fisherman (woman)!!!

Wow and I thought I was an obsessed fisherman. The book is all the more relevant now that one of the anglers mentioned in the novel has garnered recent publicity for his unofficial world record. It covers all the aspects of the hunt for the world record: the guys trying for it, the lure makers, the scientists, and many others. The author even goes to Cuba for a fishing trip and talks to an eccentric angler in the U.S. who's trying to grow his own world record bass. It's an eye-opening read.

Mr. Burke....Excellent. From California, to Cuba, to Georgia, I loved this book. Very well researched, and written. I felt I got to know each character in the book. Being a fisherman myself, I knew the names, but not the stories.....again, BRAVO!!!

This is the perfect book for anyone going to school to teach English or already teaching. I wish I had discovered this before I started. It has valuable information in it.

This book was recommended to me by many people--professors in my master's degree program and English teachers. I borrowed a copy and I knew right away I had to have my own. This book has it all--sound theory and excellent examples of practical techniques in action. It even discusses how to get a job. The portions on class room instruction were especially interesting to me because I see discussion as the most important thing that happens in an English class. This book is The Book to get if you're going to teach English (especially high school English). I have enjoyed all of Burke's books and I hope there are more to come.

This is a really good book with lots of great information and good ideas for teachers both new and experienced. However, you'll have to get by his "look at me" pompousness and the many errors. It looks like Mr. Burke decided to edit the book himself, as he's so good at what he does. While I'm sure he is a really great teacher, all writers need a really great editor. The deficiencies can be overlooked because of the variety of quality information. Putting his picture on both the front and back of the book was a bit overdone, though...

Full of Jim Burke's years of experience and his insightful ideas. The writing is very personal, entertaining, and truthful.

This book is very comprehensive in providing all that is valuable in teaching English and Language Arts. I used it has my second resource to prepare me to take the TEXES #117 ELAR 4-8 state exam. I plan on using it to guide me in lesson plan design.

After the Bible, this is the best book written for the church today. Bar None. If this book (the ideas in it) would be taken seriously, it will change the church in America - maybe save it from being like the church in Europe. I've recommended it to every single pastor I know.
Rev. Karen Walters

This is one of those books that you could read at any pace, but to really nudge out the details of the pages you really have to do alot of reflection. What i really like about the book was it opened up avenues for fresh questions and perspective. I found that by preasenting their concepts of ministry tried with real stories makes the book authentic. I love this. It gave a realistic vibe to it.

Great book. I got the book from the library and have been using it for a college class. The book is very good and has actually casued me to rethink some of my ideas about non-christians. There are excellent stories in the book. It reminds me of how Jesus taught; in parables. I have never written a review here, but this book impressed me quite a bit.

I was interested in this book because my church is launching a daughter church. The insights that Burke has are so dead on. My husband's Bible study decided to go through the book a chapter at a time, using the discussion questions at the end of each one. The questions are good - really make you think about how the church should look in this culture. I work in a non-profit organization. The entire staff bought the book and we've been using it during staff meetings. This book is accessible, but not "dumbed down" at all.

Starting a church based on the principle that people should feel safe to express themselves exactly as they are without any semblance of pretense, Burke wrote No Perfect People Allowed to chronicle how he dealt with the messiness that inevitably follows. The book is at its best when Burke simply relates stories of his interactions with authentic people and talks about how he approached each situation and why, but it stumbles when he starts talking about broader principles and the bigger picture. At the end of the book, Burke laments that the church has historically emphasized pastors as instruments of instruction while neglecting to enlist people with leadership gifts into the role, and one certainly gets the impression that Burke himself is more gifted as a leader than a teacher. His examples of practice are greatly superior to his contextualization of them. For example, while he has a reasonable grasp on interacting with people of the postmodern generation, Burke's short theoretical explanation of postmodernism is atrociously awful and carries the potential to mislead ministry leaders who may not have the academic background to discern how far offbase he is.

This book is a great start for beginners who want to work in the fashion industry or for those who consider fashion designing a hobby and want to improve on their illustration skills, like myself. Burke starts with the basics, like learning how to draw the female figure in different poses and drawing some examples of clothes, but she also touches upon fabric rendering and ideas on how to make a presentation. There's even a section on designing for men, childeren, and costumes. Overall a very informative, clear and consise book to get started and to encourage and inspire amateurs to want to learn more.

I haven't really had a chance to play a lot with this book since I got it a month ago, but so far, I like it. There are very colorful designs, croquis', and many illustrations. It seems like it gives a lot of information in a short amount of time.

I'm wanting to become a fashion designer and i bought this book and i was amazed. it really teaches you how to draw fashion models (and people in general) in all different poses. it shows you so many different poses both with an actual person modeling the pose and then a block figure showing you how to draw it. after the structure is learned, it teaches you in a really easy way how to flesh it out, and then how to draw the clothes and how the clothes are supposed to look at folds and creases. if you like this book, i recommend Draw Fashion Models! by Lee Hammond, a great book that goes in depth into more poses and how you should draw the clothes and how they look when the arms are raised, when you're leaning on one hip, etc.

i really recommend buying this amazing book, it's straightforward and very helpful!

I wore holes in piles of paper trying to work up to the basic points so magnificently outlined in this book! It's like having an art teacher with you (without the snide remarks) to bring your abilities to the top.

If you are planning on studying fashion, or just doing it for fun, you need this book.

Highly recommended!

I bought this book for my 16 yr old daughter who is an aspiring fashion designer. To get into design school & possibly qualify for a scholarship, she must prepare a portfolio. She expressed concern that her sketching skills would look amateurish so she asked for a book to help her.

This book shows in picture and text detail the supplies needed to do a project & an easy format to follow. She loved it and was so excited to have a guide to help her. This book not only helps in this regard, but has several sections that gives pointers on design elements and much more pertinent information.

If you or someone you know is an aspiring fashion designer, do not hesitate to get this book. It will be a valuable tool that will be put t good use.

I am a perpetual beginner but I have enjoyed the benefits of yoga for years. Most of my yoga books and manuals show postures and sequences but they don't give me enough context to quickly or easily understand which asanas or sequences I should focus on. Since I am have little time...I don't like to work to hard figuring out what to do. This is the first guide that makes it quick and easy to decide what I want to do. It is smartly organized with its anatomical/chakra color-coding, anatomy reference and super easy fan format for scanning postures and stuffing into a briefcase or pocket.

I am keeping my other books for reading, but this is the guide I always take with me for my active practice...

I absolutely love my yoga fan. As a teacher and student, this book is an excellent guide for sequencing and for referencing any pose. I love how the fan is grouped and broken down into seven sections, which offers an easy and flexible sequence to follow. The sections are even color coded to match the postures with the chakras! I never leave home without this book. At any time, I can flip it open for a quick reference. It's also a great companion when traveling - it's small and easy to pack as a guide for my personal practice!

This is a great little tool for teachers as well as students (like me!).
It's well put together and covers a wide range of poses for all levels
in a very handy format!
Love it!

I've found the Yoga Fan to be a great tool for my individual practice. Developing my home practice is an integral part of my yoga practice, however left to my own devices it's easy enough for me to reinvent poses and confuse or lose sequences; having the Yogi Fan is like having a Yogi in my pocket to guide me.
It's organized in a usable way -- pose for pose; and it's wonderful for creating flow sequences. I'm particularly fond of the Yogi's tips -- I always find something useful there.
Great design, excellent construction, perfect packing size for when I'm out of town. Definitely recommend it.

Convenient, concise and informative. The pictures are great and the format makes it easy to follow and learn at one's own pace. For anyone looking for a good introduction to yoga, I highly recommend this portable and invigorating book.

This book has some really great info that you can't find other places. A real must for anyone dx with or close to someone dx with "iron overload".

This book was recommended by a friend when my 26 year old son was diagnosed with hemachromatosis, before I even knew my husband and I are both carriers. I ended up getting two of my sons (2 of my 3 have hemachromatosis)a copy. It relieved a lot of fears and answered a lot of questions, questions that my family doctor didn't know the answer to. It also gave us direction as to what to do and what to expect. Very easy to read, very easy to understand.

This book should be much easier to find.The information is badly needed.If it were more accessable more people would see the symtoms and perhaps get better diagnosis. All doctors need this in their offices. My gastrointerologist said he'd have to do some research on this!!! He's suppose to be the "specialist"!This has helped me understand that with proper diagnosis and treatment this disease need not be a serious problem. Well written. A must read. Many thanks to Dr. Phatak for writing this.

At long last, a single source of invaluable information about diagnosis and treatment of Hemochromatosis along with many personal trials and tribulations of those who have experienced the frustrations of obtaining an appropriate diagnosis. "The Iron Disorders Institute's Guide to Hemochromatosis" is a tremendously welcome resource. I was so impressed I purchased 7 additional copies for my 5 adult children and 2 of the RNs who conduct my frequent phlebotomies.

I'm also relieved that newly diagnosed "Rusties" do not have to go through the agony of research as I did back in 1979 when I was diagnosed as a result of my younger sister's autopsy results. There was scant information available in the medical journals of the period. I recall one occasion spending more than 4 hours in a medical library only to locate a single 2 year old article about Hemochromatosis, which was replete with statements that have since been proved mythical. No one will have to endure that again with the advent of IDI's "Guide".

The "Web" has certainly provided considerably more accessibility to Hemochromatosis information, yet much of what is available still has to be validated. The "Guide to Hemochromatosis" overcomes this problem by providing in a single-source forthright testimony, easy-to-understand charts and time-tested data contributed by highly recognized scientists in their fields.

The "Guide" can reduce, even eliminate, the frustration often experienced when trying to convince a family member of how crucial it is for having the appropriate blood tests conducted to determine stored iron levels. The feedback I've received from those whom I have given this book to has been overwhelmingly positive. There is little doubt as to the value of this book in one's arsenal for educating loved ones about the insidiousness of excess iron and the damage iron can do to the human body.

I found that one can simply read individual chapters in no particular order and assimilate a plethora of knowledge without being bogged down in technical jargon. This book relates well on a very personal level. I can not emphasize enough the value of this book. It commands a highly visible location in my reading library, replacing the "Reader's Digest".

I also highly recommend this book as being very germane to every individual, worldwide, who has Irish, Scottish, or English ancestry.

Finally, there is definitive information out there, instead of just people passing word of mouth warnings. This books is worth gold for people of Celtic ancestry. I was diagnosed with HHC, laughingly called the Celtic Curse because it can strike people of Scottish and Irish ancestry, there was not a lot of information out there about it. One in four people can carry the gene that causes the body to store too much iron in the deep muscle tissue, kidneys, liver and heart. It can be fatal if not caught. This book helps those find a way to live with this problem.

When I learnt I suffered from this, I had not heard of it, no one I knew had it. However, within in the last five years, many people I know are aware of a friend or family member that now has it. It often mimics many other health problems, so it's good to get early treatment and have books such as this one that help you manage your lifestyle.

This book addresses all the issues and give people a sound understanding of the problem, how to face it and how to live with it.

This book is simply heavenly! lol Seriously! It's absolutely amazing. The book is filled with vegan recipes, has faux meat recipes, "nice cream" recipes, even has a dog/cat food recipe that's vegan! Some of the recipes aren't very specific.. Like there was one for a Thai dish that didn't specify which vegetables to use, but I guess the author wanted to allow some flexibility & imagination. Overall, I love this book. I've purchased 2 of them from amazon. I gave one of them to my rabbi & he & his wife use it all the time. The recipes have helped with their blood pressure & diabetes & stuff. It's got a wonderful variety of recipes, with 1400+ to choose from. You've got Cajun foods, Asian foods, Southern style foods, desserts, faux meats, soups, salads, breads, various recipes for vegan 'eggs', and like I mentioned before, even a recipe for pet food! Even if you had to pay 70+ dollars for the book, I'd recommend buying it.

Just keep an eye out for it on Amazon. I bought my second copy from here for like 25.00. :)

I cannot say enough good things about this cookbook. I bought it ten years ago after deciding to prepare more vegetarian meals for my family. We loved almost every recipe I tried, especially Shepherd's Pie, Unbeef Gravy, Unchicken Pot Pie, Swiss Unsteak, Oat Burgers, and Indonesian-Style Tofu. When my grandson was born three years ago with allergies to eggs and dairy products, this cookbook became a life-saver. It is difficult to get enough protein in the diet of a small child without using milk and eggs, but not with this cookbook. With these recipes you can make the dishes all children love, like Cheez Pizza and Macaroni and Yeast Cheez Casserole. I adapted Abbot Burke's recipe for Anadama Bread into a high-protein bread my family loves. You can find the recipe for "Jack's Bread" at [...]. Finally, here is something I have wanted to say for ten years: "Thank you, Abbot Burke and the Holy Protection Orthodox Monastery, for providing us with healthful, tasty, satisfying, and earth-friendly recipes. We love you."

This book is the end all of it all. It has made my life incredibly richer and easier in terms of my vegan diet. The recipes are straightforward and the sections on gluten and dairy substitutes are unparalleled. The recipes themselves are very very good, though they are not as 'exotic' or 'haute-cuisine' as some out there will like. However, this book is THE book for the main stuff you need to do on a day by day basis. Even when using other books that I have in my cuisine library, I ALWAYS use this one.

The point being that this book is the key for preparing the basic stuff that you will use in all recipes (including recipes from other books). This book gives you the building blocks of everything else. Usually books present -say- a specific dressing cause they are recommending it for a salad that they are also giving to you. This book doesn't work like that. It is the pure building blocks. And so even when I am cooking Indian or Thai food, I come back to this book constantly.

...breads...glutens (3 methods of preparation and flavors include ham, sausage, chicken, beef, shrimp, pork, among others)...un-cheese...dressings, unmilk, kreem cheese, yogurt, sauces, etc. it is all here. There is even a very good parmesan chiz recipe. It has A LOT of recipes PLUS potential variations in many of them.

The section on beans and grains is very good as well.

This book is well-researched, the author is extremely knowledgeable AND experienced, and it shows a LOT. He offers alternatives constantly and sometimes even gives you two or three ways of preparing -say- a parmesan cheez.

This is the only book I take when traveling abroad or on vacation trips. I carry it with me on the NYC subway everyday and read from it. I've been doing this for almost a year now. Everything is here, everything is easy to do, and everything is superb.

The main idea is...Given than vegan food is better for you than animal-based food, it should also taste better. Here is how.

This book should be reprinted over and over, my second favorite book...Veganomicon...is on a distant, very distant second place. Sorry Chandra and Terry!!

This is a great book, and if it were on sale for a normal price, I would buy it. It does rely on wheat gluten in a LOT of recipes, and since half of my family cannot eat wheat, that means it won't be tops on my list. However, there are a lot of other great recipes, just not 30.00 or whatever dollars worth. Amazon needs to reprint it.

This is my favorite cookbook and I use it all the time. I've always had a problem with cookbooks because I never have the right ingredients on hand. But, this cookbook has multiple versions of basic recipes so you can always find a version that fits what you have on in your cupboard. The index is also very helpful because you can look up key ingredients and find all the recipes that use it. Plus, this book has a vegan version of just about any recipe you could ever want to make.

There is a rather large section in the book about how to prepare wheat gluten from scratch using serveral methods and with several different flavors. It comes out delicious!

Indispensible book for navigating the food market. Learn where to spend your food dollars. Send one to everyone you love!

I bought this book because I was trying to learn more about organics. This was very informative. It was written by a mother, so it was very helpful in my search about the benefits of organic eating for my children. It was easy to read and packed with great tips and useful information.

65 diffrent organophsphates are registered for use in strawberry farming. So go ahead pop another one in your mouth. Why are today's teens so big and tall? Zeranol is a synthetic hormone given to stock animals to speed their growth. You connect the dots right to your childs musculoskeletal system and your ovaries. . . . . MYTH; organic food is for outcast aging hippies... WRONG; sales of organic food topped $14 billion in 2007. In 2006 Wal-mart doubled its number of organic products. Safeway has its own brand of organics. . . . MYTH; Organic food is overpriced.... WRONG; compare the cost of producing non-organic food with that of organic. The farmer/rancher who grows/mass produces nonorganically achieves more profit per pound of production. Zeralon, methylbromide, arsenic, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides,growth hormones, endosulfan, ALAR, DDT, POP (What is POP? Do don't wanna know!). Stop making excuses and listen to your inner voice. Daily stress, heavy metals, microwaves, radiowaves, air pollution --- we cannot avoid. But what you directly ingest is within your power to control. Ms. Burke presents all the many aspects of organic foods. From the frightening practices of non-organic farming/ranching to helping you make detailed organic decisions. Vegetables, nuts, grains, meats, snacks, etc. Become informed, really informed about the safest foods available for you, your family, and the environment.

This is an awesome book and answered just what I wanted answered. I was wanting to buy organic not just for my health, but also for the environment. But I know organic doesn't always equal environmentally friendly. And when do I buy local? If local foods aren't organic, should I get imported organic? This book talks about the environmental as well as health interplay in a really easy to read way. Its a quick read and has a very useful shopper's guide in the back. By far the best "organic buying" guide I've seen so far. Love it!

Because I haven't been able to grow a garden of late, I'm forced to shop for most of my groceries. What I wanted to know is what I should buy or not buy. The author answers this perfectly and efficiently with a list in the latter part of the book, stating the produce in question, buy organic or not, and the reasons why.

What surprised me was that she also talks about how FAR food frequently travels and the carbon cost as a result. Is it worth buying organic if it's traveled across the ocean? While I understood this before, her book has made scrutinize this aspect of my food purchases even harder than before.

The book was an easy read but I admit to glossing over some of the talk about why you should eat organic or buy locally. What I wanted was precise information to help make my shopping more effective. I got exactly that.

This is a beautiful book. I kept on thinking how much I'd like to write a book like this. I read it in one night and wanting more. I am looking forward to reading more of her work in the future.

I have never read a book that lays out the struggles of an illness as insightful as A Life Less Convenient (ALLC) does. Jennifer Burke deserves a great deal of accolades for putting together this magnificent journey into the love affair a terminal illness has with one's body. The ex presented in this book is a conglomeration of several people in the narrator's life over the beginning years of her diagnosis. Her body is taken over and controlled by Lupus, and her relationships provide the emotional support she desperately needs...until her illness reels her back in and continues to destroy everything in its path, including her relationships.

A Life Less Convenient tore at my heartstrings. I saw not just illness, but reflective and insightful understanding of how a relationship had failed. In the matter-of-fact reflectiveness of the narrator, there is no blame. There is just the illness and the way both parties handled it; and that's it. It just was. After a period of time, the end of any relationship "just was". There is no innocent party and there is no guilty party. In any relationship, both parties deal with situations the best way they no how - right or wrong, it just `is'. Burke does an excellent job using Lupus as the vehicle for getting this idea across.

ALLC is a series of letters to `an Ex'. Each letter is in essence a short story depicting a different period of time in the evolution of the narrator's dealings with Lupus. ALLC gives interesting insight into what people dealing with a terminal illness deals with and I suspect, will be an insightful book for those who love people with some form of terminal illness. Throughout ALLC, Burke has done an excellent job of incorporating fantastic images that portray fear, love, frustration and angst. These images are disturbing to a large degree, but help the reader understand the many facets of emotion involved with dealing with terminal illness. The letters in this book are fictitious in that names, times, situations have been changed or made up. ALLC is the writer's way of trying to explain what was really happening to her and why its so difficult to maintain healthy relationships when one is battling an illness like Lupus.

Burke explains in a honest, open, insightful way all the physical limitations that caused the demise of a relationship.
Her writing allows us to understand the feelings of vulnerability that people dealing with a terminal illness may not be able to explain.

Each letter in ALLC is a little more insightful than the last. Every letter shows incredible growth and insight into the understanding of the human factor and how relationships are affected by different obstacles.

ALLC would be a great resource for people struggling to understand the emotional, physical and relationship issues involved with a terminal illness, like Lupus. This book has the ability to provide a starting point for open and honest conversation and understanding between both parties involved in dealing with a terminal illness. This book should be recommended reading at the first diagnosis of a terminal illness.

Jennifer Burke is an amazing woman. Her novel is a wonderful book that takes the reader on a rollercoaster ride of a relationship. Though many relationships may feel like a carnival ride, the hills and valleys protrayed in this story are amplified by the narrator's fight with the debilitating disease, Lupis. Tale is related in a first person narrative taking an inspired form of letters filled with those thoughts left unsaid.

I recently read "A life Less Convenient - Letters To My Ex" by Jennifer Clare Burke.

This interesting, entertaining and captivating book chronicles the effects of long term debilitating disease on a young woman's relationships and her body. The story is unfolded via a collection of letters to ex-partners along with splendid photo-art. Through these letters and art one gets a sense of the challenges laid at her feet and the feet of her past loves as her body suffers the effects of medication side effects and illness.

As a health care provider, I am no stranger to observing the impact of various chronic diseases on the human body. However, observing a patient in the office paints just a small part of the picture of their situation. Being aware of the far-reaching impact of serious illness is something to always keep in our sight and consciousness. This literary work provides a window into the life of a woman living with chronic illness. It does so in a manner that is often humorous, often touching, and with an easy to read writing style that makes it difficult to put the book aside.

The story is inspirational as it shows us the heroine's tenacity while living life in the face of debilitating disease as well as the compassion and concern exhibited by her past partners. One of the greatest dangers for any sufferer of chronic disease is isolation. What we have here is a story of a young woman who chooses to avoid that isolation as she faces the challenge of becoming well. She chooses life and is a fine example for all of us to emulate. Moreover, for health care providers, her story serves as a reminder that what stands before us are not simply bodies suffering from disease. What stands before us are human lives that we dare not lose sight of as we wage our war on their diseases.

Anyone who knows a person living with chronic disease would do well to read this book.

From what can only be described as an intellectually and emotionally astute perspective, this story hits the soul hard and fast leaving only what the author deemed truly necessary to the imagination.

Author Burke will certainly have you smiling and on occasion very excitedly. Often, though, I was left wistful, my heart moved and solemnly empathetic to the plights stalwartly endured by the author. I found myself needing to pause at several instances throughout the novel to tend to misty veils in which I would lose and then find myself utterly floored and unable to continue for an awed moment or three.

It was an honour experiencing Ms. Burke's visceral and no-holds-barred literary style as seen throughout her Letters; each one peeling back yet another delicate layer of intricately brilliant Grace throughout the story's storm of wayward or waning moments of Love, Health and Life.

While A Life Less Convenient may not be for the most timorous of hearts, Ms. Burke's hauntingly unique and compelling voice will surely serve to elegantly educate and engage to the point of forgetting oneself and leave you wanting for much, much more.