Chamberlain Books

I was given this book by an aunt and loved every word. It definitely makes one think. The story is sumple, yet beautiful.

I wanted so much to like this book. I love stories about Ireland, but this book and its characters gave very little to like. It is a story of mother and daughter and grandmother, but what a horrible tale. I see no real need to read this unless you have nothing better to do than being dissappointed.

Three generations of Irish women. Three generations of women who do not understand their mothers. Three generations of women who do not know how to communicate with their daughters. But all of the women filled with complete love for the woman in their life that they do not comprehend. Cliona, the grandmother of the novel, did not see her mother for what she was. However, despite her best efforts, she did not give her daughter what she thinks her daughter wanted and needed. Grace, Cliona's daughter, resented her mother and vowed to tell her daughter, Grainne, everything; to be close to her and to avoid the pitfalls she had with her own mother. But no one is ever the mother they think they will be.

The Mermaids Singing does a beautiful job of placing three very flawed relationships in the beautiful setting of an island in Ireland. The island calls to Cliona while Grace rejects it. Grainne is left to sort through her confused feelings in an effort to find a place to call home. Lisa Carey adeptly changes the narrator from character to character in order to convey the feelings of each. Despite the conflicting emotions, the reader is able to understand each woman's perspective in an effort to reconcile the feelings between mother and daughter.

It takes about 100 pages to get a feel for the characters and get invested in the story. But once it sinks in, the novel takes off and is emotional and moving. The incorporation of traditional Irish fokelore and poetry makes for an even richer story. This is a novel to which any mother or daughter can relate.

This book is such a powerful and emotional book that it gives you a new outlook on life. Wonderfully crafted, the story transports you into a different reality. The realism is so moving because the book combines magic into reality which causes you to believe there is more to life than what is on the surface. This is my favorite novel of all time and it was the book I looked to when I was depressed. A MUST read

I loved this book. Honestly, I picked it up in some discount area and I can't imagine my life without it. Silly, maybe but true. I thought it was amazing as a teenager and saw it in a whole new light after losing my aunt to cancer. I've read it many times and I just think it's the best book. It's all about what's not said & the dangers in not speaking up, about how valuable time is and life in general.

I just love the whole thing. I loaned it out so many times, I had to buy another copy just for myself again.

One of my favourite books. Great story, told with great pace. I am in shock at the minority of people who do not like this. What on earth is their idea of a good book?

I bought this book some years ago and have read it twice, gripped both times by the situation Churchill and the UK were in, and by Lukacs' skillful writing. Lukacs succeeded in communicating the intensity of the situation whilst not being portentous. I came back to the book because of Ian Kershaw's latest book which includes as its first issue the same decision: whether or not to seek terms from the Hitler through Mussolini's mediation. I shall be intrigued to see if Kershaw can add anything to Lukacs' account.

A fascinating 'microscopic history' of larger-than-life personalities - Hitler and Churchill. The book gives the reader a real understanding of these few days where the world was held in the balance. A must-read for anyone more than casually interested in WWII.

Several reviewers here don't appreciate scholarly writing. Lukacs (and his editor) didn't adulterate concise prose to produce a coffee table book. There are no fictions here; its conclusions are based on carefully and voluminously researched facts. Lukacs HAD to include concrete historical reference; his argument would have been incomplete without it, his conclusions unconvincing.

Yes, he's old fashioned, even Edwardian; he takes care to say only what he knows and nothing more. Yes, the form he insists on for each chapter erects a scaffold that detracts from his aedifice and might better have been removed after construction. His distinction between sentiment and opinion adds little to his argument. But his conclusion is unassailable and as formidable as a Roman arena. If he writes like a scholar, he is one. Those who object should remember that each of us is entitled to one's own style. To hold otherwise is to telegraph envy or confess to low standards.

He might well be the best living historian, for he's a master of his discipline. What he has done here is to write concisely about events that are exhaustively researched and confer new significance. That is what historians are supposed to do. He knows what he's talking about, and, when you finish reading, you know, too.

Hardly anyone remembers the Earl of Halifax, but he had more support among Tory MPs in 1940 than Churchill did, and he probably could have become Prime Minister after Neville Chamberlain resigned. Halifax believed that some settlement between Britain and Germany was possible that would allow Britain to preserve its independence. Churchill knew that this was a dangerous illusion.

That's the central conflict of this book: How Churchill, the new PM, won out in the War Cabinet over Halifax, the Foreign Secretary, and brought the politicians and then the public around to the view that Britain could resist Nazism and fight for its independence. Churchill's leadership was far from preordained, and Lukacs shows how he established it.

His writing is superb, and his thinking is sharp. Even when I was unconvinced by one of his points, I found it worth thinking about. And he is excellent in establishing the atmosphere of May 1940, when Britain's future was darker than ever before or since. It's very hard for a historian to get away from presentism, the sense that what came to pass was inevitable, but Lukacs manages it well.

This is the best kind of popular history.

Although Richard Chamberlain was well past his prime by the time I discovered his TV miniseries work (such as The Thorn Birds), I always admired him. He was the appitomy of the handsome prince on a white horse, and still is for so many women. I always knew he was gay, and at age 69 he finally came out not too long ago. It wasn't exactly a surprise, it had been whispered about for years, but it didn't seem to affect his career in a negative light, even in his prime when he was denying it.

I have always admired people who have overcome terrible obsticles or battled tremendous odds to overcome things. This book was a spiritual journey as much as it was a biography, telling of his rough childhood in an alcoholic home to his sexuality to his success as an actor. I think a majority of people picked up his book not because they wanted to read about his accomplishments in life, but about The Dirt on Hollywood. Who did he have to sleep with or preform for to get those plumb roles? But, he doesn't say. He's a gentleman. He doesn't even see his being gay as a polical issue, it's just another fascet of his personality. Maybe that's the whole point, right?

I am a huge Thorn Birds fan and remember how popular Shogun was while growing up in the early 1980s. I bought the book believing it was going to focus on when and why Richard Chamberlain "came out of the closet" recently (and finally) to the public. Instead, most of the book focuses on his career and his spiritual journey through the years. He mentions his long-term boyfriend but there is a lot of spiritual mumbo-jumbo (hence the title of the book). A good read if you know very little about his career.

This book was an inside personal look of a gifted actor! Richard Chamberlain is a wonderful actor and stole my heart in The Thorn Birds. It was a great read!

I waited four decades to read the real truth about a childhood heart-throb. Now, I regret that the book was ever written. I "loved" Richard Chamberlain as Dr. James Kildare from the time I was five years old. (For three consecutive Halloweens, I made door-to-door "housecalls", dressed as my hero.) It tortured me when I had to wait from the time the program went "off the air" until he portrayed Hamlet. I remember very well as I watched Hamlet how I got a sense of something drastically "wrong" but was too young to put into words what I "felt." The older I got, the more I failed to understand why he hadn't married. After I aged and understood the concept of what I surmised, I really believed it to be the reason he hadn't married and had a family. Then, just before the book was published, I saw a tabloid showing him and Martin which confirmed my thoughts. When I started reading the book, I kept wishing the words I did not really want to see would be magically eradicated from the paper. Ofcourse that did not happen. For the first time I just viewed The THORN BIRDS." (...back in 2003 when I first read the book and wrote this review, which I kept "on hold" -- but the review kept "coming back to haunt me" when I looked at papers on my desk. If I had put it onto Amazon, I would have been one of the first ones to review the book. I just hoped the whole thing would "go away!") For two decades, I had wanted to see the movie, but for seventeen years, we did not have television reception. He was a wonderful actor, but his personal life has much to be desired. Chamberlain is an eloquent writer, well versed, sophisticated, and intellectual, but I am sorry he ever wrote this work. I was tiring of his father being "blamed" for being the "root of all evil." It was a feeble attempt at spiritualism. He had some interesting points, but this topic was overdone. His blatant, irresponsible drug episode LOST ME FOREVER! Lastly, there seems to be a parallel (see page 64) during one of his Dr. Kildare, episodes when he states that the character Gloria Swanson played "... becomes acquainted with a much younger female patient and the two become friends..." was that a foreshadowing of a relationship yet to pass-- that of him and "young" Martin? With regard to Swanson as an actress, he continues on page 65 "... her playing was never as full again, and she knew it. I don't know when I've felt so bad for a person. I knew this performance, coming near the end of her legendary career, was probably one of this actress' last." -- not too unlike THIS BOOK being one of Richard Chamberlain's final performances. Richard Chamerlain, the good actor, whose life could be considered a bad play.

In his memoir, Richard Chamberlain describes the early feelings of inadequacy and need for love that lead him into acting, his break-through role as "Dr. Kildare" and later success in Shogun and The Thorn Birds, but the book is mostly about his spiritual journey, especially his experience with transcendental meditation.

Chamberlain comes across as an intellectual and well-spoken man; unfortunately, I found his endless discourses on meditation and the essence of Truth and Love confusing and repetitive. I was expecting more about his acting career. The book contains many professional and personal photos.

This first book in the Lindsay Chamberlain series is a good one. Ms. Connor weaves a tight plot and an excellent murder mystery. Lindsay is an archeaologist, so it makes sense that old bodies make up a big part of the story, but when the past starts creeping into the present, a murderer does not hesitate to kill again to keep family secrets. I found the book a nice mix of past and present, and I liked Lindsay. I did find that sometimes she comes off a bit artificial, but I'm sure she will develop in future books. The archealogical lore is good, and since archeology has always been of interest to me, I liked that part of the book very much. It is perhaps unfair to compare this writing to that of Kathy Reichs, but I could not help doing that. There are some similarities, but Kathy Reichs' character development is much more practiced than Ms. Connor's (at least with this first book). I will read more to see if anything changes, and let's face it, this book had a darn good mystery to it.

It is not often that a new-to-me mystery writer sets me off on a glom o'books but this one succeeded. I had not read anything by her before, although I do like some of Kathy Reichs books and I took a lot of anthropology classes when I was young and enthusiastic and didn't mind the idea of crouching in a hole with dust plastered to my skin by sweat. In this book you get all the pleasures of archeaology with none of the sunburn and bugs.

The mystery is interesting and the author does a good job of coming up with interesting bits of physical anthropology and how it connects with field archaeology to recreate a time and place. Lindsay Chamberlain is probably a bit too good at her job, but still she is interesting and her personal doubts balance her terrifying technical competence and keep her from being too perfect.

There's also the usual personal conflicts and professional jealousies that occur when a group of people are brought together in cooperation and competition with one another.

Look out Patricia Cornwell and Kathy Reichs. Beverly Connor's books are as good as anything written by the two reining queens of forensic science. Connor's heroine is a combination of Sherlock Holmes and Indiana Jones. Her books are fast paced and extremely entertaining. If you like archaeology or forensics, or if you just plain like a good mystery, give Beverly Connor's books a read. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

The story begins at a ancient Indian dig and the setting is very realistic. During the excavation, the archeologists discover a skeleton that is not one of the Indian burials. That's just the beginning. The sheriff in the nearby town discovers bones of a child believed to be the missing daughter of one of the residents. Lindsey Chamberlain, a forensic anthropologist as well as an archeologist agrees to identify them for the sheriff. She discovers that the bones are not that of the missing child, but of another child. As she is pulled into the mystery of the murdered children, she is also pulled into the intrigues of a very strange family. I enjoyed the mystery, but I particularly enjoyed the archeology. It was like being on the dig myself. I'm looking forward to the other books in the series.

Based on the glowing reviews I read about this book, I was delighted to find a new (to me) mystery writer. However, after slogging through the book, I was extremely disappointed. I found the many storylines to be just patched together and the characters very one dimensional. One quirky gesture keeps reappearing in the book -- the number of times that somebody "runs his thumb over Lindsay's lips" or "touches her lips with his fingers" (usually right after digging up some skeleton part - ugh!). All in all, a very juvenile read. Too bad.

For such great reviews I was pretty let down. Like another reviewer, I found too much info about stuff that has nothing to do with the crime or story. And ALOT and WAY too much info about knots. If you buy it you'll know what I mean. Started out very Promising....got half way thru and it fell apart. I can assure Patricia Cornwell she has NOTHING to worry about!!

Someone should buy the rights to this book and plan to turn it into a movie. Diane Fallon, forensic anthropologist, gets out of her car at a crime scene and presents her credentials to a patrolman, who says (nodding toward the two men who reported the crime) "They say it's not normal." Diane muses "Not normal. The kind of death they called her out for usually wasn't." If you like CSI, complete with the forensic analysis, study of bugs, and yes, evidence in the form of knots, you'll be fascinated. There's even a subplot with a mummy. If you're looking for a nice, cozy, "everyone-snowed-in-at-the-manor-house" story, this is probably not for you. I've become a big fan of this series and will eagerly look forward to more works from this writer.

The explanations which bring to light the forensic process are excellent in this book, but the mystery surrounding them relies on hyperbole of several forms. First, the lead character is a superwoman who seems determined to beat us over the head with feminist and liberal attitudes of the author in such a ham-handed way that even if you agree with her you wish she'd stop being so obviously manipulative. It's like a terrible kindergarten teacher. I don't like propaganda of any form in my literature, and while it's present in most of the genre in varying degrees, this book was truly horrible in this regard. While I like Ms. Fallon, the lead character, she is a collection of traits with no unifying concept to her; I end up feeling like I've interviewed an actor and seen only what they were trained to show me. Finally, the mystery is slightly weak. The responsible parties are not introduced through a chain of clues, but are mentioned incidentally, and hidden, then brought out suddenly. This requires that their personalities be as outrageously, one-dimensionally "bad" as Fallon's is "good." Clearly the author has talent in the forensics area, as I was fascinated by these details, but the rest of the book is frothily vapid attempts at mind control. I would not recommend this book to anyone I like.

Following the discovery of the first three bodies in this case, the deaths come thick and fast. It's not as tight as the first mystery in this series and the author does a real no-no in the introduction of one of her villaims but it is fair to say that she definitely gave hints that there was another one skulking around.

The introduction of Diane Fallon as also a knot expert allowed some different forensic techniques to be discussed, add to that the mummy inherited by the museum and the contents of the Victorian pickle jar that came with it, and there's lots here to keep the biggest forensic mystery junkie interested.

While you don't have to have read the first book in the series I would definitely suggest it. Connor has a habit of continuing small threads from book to book. Besides the first book is also a good read.

I (finally) finished this book. I struggled through to the end, each page an investment of time I didn't want to go totally to waste.

I'm disappointed. Plain and simple, it could have been better.

So what did I like and what did I not like? Let's start with the positive:

First, the murders which kick off the story are interesting, and the investigation that follows was well-described.

Second, like Dick Francis, Connor includes lots of information about subjects not directly related to the crimes being committed.

Sadly, that second item leads into the list of things I did not like:

Where Francis wove other subjects into his mysteries, Connor grafts her digressions onto the story in a ham-handed fashion. In addition, she goes on at great length, almost like a textbook, as if she wants to impress the reader with her research. Not very artful.

Second, the writing is clumsy and needs editing. Chapters end in the middle of conversations; people do NOT talk the way she writes dialog; and she repeats conversations between the main character and others at the expense of pages of worthless rambling.

Third, the murders start to pile up beyond all reason. Just not realistic, sorry.

Fourth, there is a holdover subplot from the first novel in the series, about why-people-hate-Diane, which just gets stale. Enough!

Finally, the villain is introduced right at the end, out of the blue. Not fair! Nuff said.

I gave it three stars because it kept me wanting to know what happened, but this writer needs an editor who can chop a 380+ page book into the 220 pages it deserved.

There is something inherently compelling about Chamberlain's account of the last couple of weeks of combat between the ANV and Grant's army group. The guy was there, in the middle of the worst fighting, and was probably THE most effective Union field general. He was obviously tough, intelligent, resourceful, clear-headed, and his reputation as a combat leader helped him get the most out of his officers and men. It was probably no accident that he was chosen to receive the formal ANV surrender. Grant knew Chamberlain was reliable and would do the right thing without being told. That he could remember this amount of detail so many decades later is another example of his powerful intellect. He apparently had at least one failing. He did not know how to write a clear narrative. I realize that people of that era wrote in more flowery prose than we are used to, but his style really gets in the way of the story he was trying to convey. If you are into history, this is worth adding to your library, just be prepared for a tough read.

For very dedicated civil war buffs only.

Very detailed and drawn-out account of the battles near Appomattox at the of the war. Chamberlain wasn't a Professor of Rhetoric for nothing, and he lives up to the title in this book. I slugged my way through half of the book before giving up. Page after page of flowery decriptions of the heroism and high religious morals, etc., etc. of the fighting men, minute by minute accounts of charges and retreats, which general/commander gave this order, which brigade went this way and that, accounts of who lost their sword and what happenned to the guy's hat, the after-war history of the replacement sword.......it just goes on and on endlessly. It's all so confusing, and there are no good maps included to illustrate the movements of the troops.

Chamberlain was a genuine civil war hero, so we have to forgive him, but he could have used a good editor. If it were pared down to maybe half the length, it would make for an interesting and exciting read. As it is, it's a good cure for insomnia.

Joshua Chamberlain is probably the most famous 'minor figure' of the American Civil War. While history has remembered an amazing number of Civil War generals (quick, name three generals from America's Revolutionary War), Chamberlain never rose to a position high enough to be generally considered important. Except, that is, for his amazing work on July 2, 1863, when his regiment, the 20th Maine, held the left flank of the Union army against repeated Confederate attacks, culminating with a bayonet charge when the regiment ran out of ammunition. For his actions on that day, Chamberlain received the Medal of Honor.

But while Chamberlain's heroism at Gettysburg was amazing and vitally important to the survival of the United States of America, they were hardly the only important actions Chamberlain took during the war. Chamberlain would go on after Gettysburg to be wounded six times, twice declared dead in The New York Times, and rise to the rank of Brevet Major General and division commander. During his time with the Army of the Potomac, Chamberlain had a front row view of the battles that ended the American Civil War, and he was on the field at Appomattox when Robert E. Lee finally accepted the inevitable and asked Grant for terms of surrender. Chamberlain was then selected to accept the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia.

Given those exploits, Chamberlain had quite a bit to report on, and in The Passing of the Armies he offers his views on the final campaign of the war and the disbanding of the Army of the Potomac. Chamberlain's writing is fascinating, although the style is appropriate to the 19th century and can appear a bit cumbersome to the modern reader. It is nonetheless a gripping read as the reader travels with Chamberlain across the last battlefields of the American Civil War, feeling the excitement and horror of the first industrial war in history. Chamberlain's perspective was at once close enough to feel the heat of the battle yet removed enough that he is able to describe the larger picture relative to the battlefield. All the book is really missing is a few better maps; it can be difficult to follow the battles given the limited maps included in the book. But that is a minor point, and the reader will be caught up in the battles even if unable to place them on a map.

Despite all the excellent books written on the Civil War, only those who actually experienced the war can provide a feeling for what it was like to survive the battles. Joshua Chamberlain's memoirs give the reader an opportunity to actually get inside the head of a true American hero. As such, they are invaluable reading for anyone interested in the American Civil War, war in general, or leadership.

Very few books have been written to which the term "classic" has been almost immediately applied. The Passing of the Armies by Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain is one of those books. Chamberlain enlisted in the Union Army in 1862 and was immediately commissioned Lieutenant Colonel of the 20th Maine Infantry. In May 1863 he was commissioned Colonel of the regiment and it was this position that he held when the 20th Maine gained renown for its defense of Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg on July 2, 1863. By the end of the Civil War he had risen to the rank of Major General and he carried shrapnel in his body for the rest of his life as a result of wounds received during the conflict.

Prior to enlisting Chamberlain was a college professor, having graduated from Bowdoin College in 1852. In 1856 he was teaching classes in natural and revealed religion at Bowdoin. By 1861 he added Professor of Modern Languages and in 1862 he had been granted a two year sabbatical to study in Europe when he decided to fight for the Union. After the war he was twice elected Governor of Maine; he became President of Bowdoin in 1876 and in later life he served as a government surveyor during the McKinley Administration.

Chamberlain begins his narrative with the beginning of the final campaign of the Army of the Potomac against Confederate General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia. It was the spring of 1864 and Union General Ulysses S. Grant had Lee and his army backing up toward what finally became the siege of Petersburg, Virginia. The final campaign began on March 30, 1864 when the two armies clashed along the White Oak Road just southwest of Petersburg. Grant and Lee hurled their troops at each other's line in such a tenacious manner that Chamberlain was surprised when, at the end of the battle, Grant ordered a maneuver around Lee's flank instead of falling back to regroup, as had been the custom of the Union Army after sharp engagements during the preceding years of conflict. The author then goes on to discuss every major action of the campaign through the surrender of Lee at Appomattox Court House, Virginia and the final Grand Review of the Union Army in Washington, D.C.

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was not a historian. He wrote in the introduction to the book: "History is written for the most part from the outside. Truth often suffers distortion by reason of the point of view of the narrator, some preoccupation of his judgment or fancy not only as to relative merits but even as to facts in their real relations." In this same paragraph he writes that he will simply tell of things as he saw them.

What Chamberlain did was to write a book that transcended the entire war. He was able to see the participants for what they were; men doing a job as best as they could, given the horrific circumstances. At Appomattox he and his regiment had been assigned to oversee the final act of the surrender, the stacking of arms and the furling of the colors of the Army of Northern Virginia. He ordered his men to snap their muskets to "carry arms," a customary salute, as the Confederate column approached. Confederate General John B. Gordon, at the head of his column, draws his saber, spurs his horse so that he rears a bit, and brings the tip of the blade to the toe of his boot as a return salute. It was a soldier's salute, one that could only come out of the bonds of shared experience.

Chamberlain's narrative at times seems melodramatic, as when he describes a girl dressed in white placing a wreath around his neck during the Grand Review, or when he describes receiving the order that disbanded the army on July 1, 1865: "Ceases to exist? Are you sure of that?" He also uses the text to make a political statement. Chamberlain completed the book shortly before his death in 1915. It was written during a time when the awarding of the Congressional Medal of Honor during the Civil War was, in some instances, being questioned. Entire regiments had been awarded the medal simply for re-enlisting and some soldiers were still attempting to obtain the medal, often under dubious circumstances. Chamberlain wished to see those who had actually earned the medal keep it, "but let us not behold the sublime spectacle of vicarious suffering travestied by the imposition of vicarious honors."

The Passing of the Armies is part of the pantheon of Civil War literature. It is simply the work of one soldier trying to make some sense out of all he has seen. It is not a self-serving volume, as many books are that are written by high ranking officers. The scholar that wants to experience the conflict without the hatred should read this book.

Obviously this is different from Shaara's works beacuse this is historical non-fiction and reads more like history vs. Shaara's excellent historical fiction novel which is more like a story then this memoir of civil war hero Lawrence Joshua Chamberlain. If your looking for a novel like Shaara's I wouldn't reccomend this book but if you are looking for facts and more about Chamberlain then I strongly reccomend this novel for you.

I read this book in two days, and I probably would have read it in one day if I didn't have to work. If you like books with twists and turns around every corner then read this book. I found that I came to care about each of the characters, and did not expect many of the surprises revealed throughout the story. Chamberlain is an exceptional story teller. I can't wait to read more of her work.

This is my third book by Diane Chamberlain and the one I liked the most. I do believe that all her books are a great stretch of the imagination, but that's fiction for you. This one was really suspenseful and not as predictable as the others. It's one of those books that you just don't want to put down. I highly recommend it for a fast, easy read with a good story.

The Courage Tree is one of my favorite books. I picked it up at a used book store for $1, and let me tell you I was in for a suprise. It's not only easy to read, but you really connect with the characters. Diane Chamberlain is a greatly talented author and she proves that in this novel.

Janine Donahue couldn't dissapoint her daughter by telling her she couldn't go on the camping trip with her Brownie troop. After being diagnosed with a rare kidney disease when she was three years old, Sophie is far from a normal eight year old girl. It wasn't until Janine found out about a new study that was happening that she had hope for her daughter. Now she has an eight year old who can eat whatever she wants, smiles all the time, and generally gets to behave like an eight year old girl should. When Sophie doesn't return from the camping trip, her family and herself automatically assume the worst. Soon, Janine is the only one that has hope that Sophie is out there alive. Even the man she loves, doesn't seem to believe that Sophie is alive. It is soon a race against time as Janine fights to save the daughter she loves.

I enjoyed The Courage Tree, but didn't like it as much as I thought. Janine's ex-husband, Joe, was portrayed in a selfish light. At first I thought that he would be the 'hero' in the story, but soon read that the only reason he wanted Janine back was because he liked to control her. The way that Janine's parents and Joe ganged up on her was awful, especially since she never stood up to them. Not even by the end of the book. Lucas, Janine's lover, was a tragic character who has secrets of his own. I didn't really like the epilouge either, because I felt that it was unrealistic.

This was my first book by this author and I really enjoyed it. It has a little suspense, but it's mostly a touching family story. I highly recommend it.

I started with the full Dynamic Tension course of Charles Atlas at age 20. I was 5-6 and weighed a trim athletic 130-135. By 25 I was a massively muscled 205-210, all courtesy of the Charles Atlas system of Dynamic Tension. Weights, springs, stretchie-thingies, are not only UNNECCESSARY but are expensive, dangerous, and take up valuable space. You can become just as strong, fit, and powerful as you wish using Dynamic Tension. The exercise industry doesn't want you to know that, and so during his lifetime Atlas was attacked by such people as the late Bob Hoffman of the York Barbell Company, but Atlas and Dynamic Tension were exonerated in court and good ol' Bob had a gag order placed on him. (As an aside, York barbells are no longer made in America, but in China. They're known to occasionally snap in two at weightlifting competitions! So, BEWARE of York products if you're foolish enough to consider purchasing barbells.) Hoffman passed away in 1985 suffering from dementia.

Even today you'll read ignorant attacks on Charles Atlas and Dynamic Tension by people who know better. Why? They have an exercise machine or gizmo to sell you. Atlas doesn't offer you any exercise machines or gizmos, but shows you how to turn your own body into an amazing exercise machine. Dynamic Tension is endorsed by the American Medical Association, and many athletes, including Rocky Marciano (the only undefeated heavyweight boxer EVER) are among the Atlas alumni.

Dynamic Tension is NOT isometrics, although you will read statements by ignorant people claiming that it is. Isometrics are STATIC exercises, meaning you don't move during the contraction. Dynamic Tension is DYNAMIC meaning you MOVE, and you move throughout your entire range of motion.

Forget weights, forget the Bow-Flex, forget all of the expensive exercise JUNK. Your own body is all you need. This introductory book will give you a taste of Dynamic Tension, but the full course is SO MUCH BETTER and SO MUCH MORE. You really should Google "Charles Atlas Ltd" and get the full course. If you follow it, you will reach your fullest potential in fitness. By fitness I don't mean simply strength or muscle size. I also mean cardiovascular endurance and muscular endurance. Dynamic Tension will take you as far as you desire to go. (You should also check out Pushing Yourself To Power by John E. Peterson who is the current leader in the natural fitness movement, and whose physique equals that of Charles Atlas himself.)

With the Charles Atlas system of Dynamic Tension, you pay once and you get the entire course. You will never need anything beyond it. The only "equipment" will be a couple of chairs. That's it. Atlas will not only build your entire body up, but also your health with proper nutrition, proper mental attitude, and real faith in yourself.

Charles Atlas still offers the goods, the real deal. So, get a mild taste of the course by buying this book OR jump right in and make the smartest buy of your entire life by purchasing the complete Dynamic Tension course.

As other reviewers have pointed out, if you buy this introductory book you'll get some grand goodies that cost considerably more than the book if bought separately.

Nate Merritt

Author of I WAS A TEENAGE JEHOVAH'S WITNESS and JEHOVAH UNMASKED.

This is a GREAT product for all Charles Atlas fans!

Heres' what you get:

- a poster of a Charles Atlas ad, on the other side are illustrations and descriptions of some of the major exercises from the course

-a small book also describing the exercises, dietary advice, and clean living.

- a boxing lesson. Far better than the one from the original course.

-Charles Atlas trading cards with Atlas photos on the face Atlas quotes on the back.

-a booklet of the course brochure. This alone is worth more than this entire package, check ebay prices for this if you don't believe me!


- a refrigerator magnet

-tape measure as well.

-It even comes with a $10.00 off coupon for the full course! WOW


The downside- one exercise is wrong! The cross arm/chest excercise.

This is sure to be a collectors item- get several!

Five stars for memorabilla. Forty five years ago the comic books had the advertisement of the skinny kid having sand kicked in his face and the fat kid being teased, and how they could change their lives with the Charles Atlas course.
This is the same course, and believe it or not it composes dynamic tension (isometrics) and exercise without equipment. Buy this for the fun aspect and compare it to the other and newer exercise books and you will be surprised how much this box has. Yes it is a box with a book, and other surprises.

The exercises and advise given here are a very solid foundation for anyone who wants to be in shape. Simple and straightfoward. Besides, all the gadgets you receive with the book are worth the price of the kit, specially the poster in his classic posture and cards.

This product is basically a way for the Atlas company to keep the Atlas name in the minds of people. The Atlas course was written many years ago, but it is still very useful for people interested in natural body sculpting. It is an amazing course regardless of when it was written. The best part of this work is the wall poster that is included. But it is still very basic. Save your money on this and get the original Atlas course[...]

I purchased this book because it has a four star rating. Imagine my disappointment when I finally managed to finish it.
It is the most boring book I have ever read. I am an avid reader. In my mental list of five worst books I have ever had the misfortune to read this one will go to the top.
There is no plot and the characters are pathetic. So a word of warning. Have something else on hand to read in-between so you don't die of boredom.

While mapping out a cave, Diane has an accident and discovers a skeleton which had been there for quite some time. She and her team set out to discover the identity of Caver Doe and how he died. Soon the remains of two more people are found. One is found in a car submerged in the water at an abandoned quarry. The other is buried in the woods.

Plus Diane is asked to analyze the bones of a witch, legend has it, that died in an English cave years ago. She is visited by people who want the bones and soon finds herself in a battle over them.

Diane uses both her crime scene investigators and her museum staff to uncover clues as to the identity of the bones. Many things begin to happen and soon Diane believes Caver Doe and the other two people may be connected. She just isn't sure how.

Can they discover the truth before anyone is injured or killed to keep the seventy-year-old secret hidden?

I love this series. It is forensic, but the author doesn't get really technical. Nor is it gory. I also like the caving. While it's not something I would do, I enjoy the adventure and reading about it.

Diane and her various staff people, both in the crime lab and the museum, are such great characters. They really add so much to each book.

The author does such a great job of intertwining stories through each book. I always know they're going to connect, but I cannot figure out how or why. I end up reading the books in this series in about two days as I have so much trouble putting them down. I highly recommend this book.

Frantic would probably be the best word to describe this mystery. Connor also has her usual high body count. However, in this case the reader also learns a little more about Diane Fallon's backstory.

Of course there are a lot of people who are giving a synopsis of this book so I will skip that part. What the faithful reader needs to know is that this book has all the virtues of her previous books in this series and avoids the worst pitfalls.

I love to read. I love mysteries and crime dramas. I've been a fan of Patricia Cornwell for a while, but have been disappointed with her last few novels, so I've been expanding my library (when I say library, I mean it...I own more books myself than my parents, 2 sisters, 1 brother, and 5 nieces combined). I commute by way of the DC area Metro trains and spend a lot of time each week with a book, so they have to be good to keep me interested.

I picked up Beverly Connor's "Dead Secret" because the title caught my eye. The book description on the back isn't the most impressive I've ever read and the cover really didn't sell me the book. The title intrigued me though.

Beverly's writing style is similar to the old Patricia Cornwell style. The book grabbed me from the first moment and held onto my attention to the end. I won't give away any of the plot, but I will say this: I'm usually very good at figuring out the who-dun-it pretty early on, but this one kept me guessing right to the last page.

An excellent read for the mystery fan!

Just how great is Diane Fallon? Let's see.... She's an experienced spelunker, director of a museum, and director of a crime lab (that happens to be in the museum - how convenient). She works two full time jobs. She had a 6 year old South American daughter who was murdered under mysterious circumstances. She's so brilliant and opinionated that her rich conservative family feels threatened by her and has made her a sort of outcast. Three men that we know of are in love with her, this includes her creepy ex-husband that her family FORCED her to marry, as well as the most attractive man at the museum.

In this book Diane falls through a rock floor, slams against a cave wall while suspended in the air, is stabbed, is drugged and kidnapped, is punched in the jaw, and has her stabbing wound manhandled by the creepy ex. She refuses to take a break and will only a take one Tylenol (no codeine, naturally).

What annoys me the most about Connor's writing is her dialogue. Everyone, except for a rich family's housekeeper, speaks like a robot. No one says "yeah" or "yep", always "yes." There are no exclamations, pauses, or slang words. The small amount of cursing seems awkward and out of place.

Do not pick up this book expecting something on the level of Patricia Cornwell's earlier works or Kathy Reichs' Tempe Brennan novels. It's terribly written soapy cheese with one-dimensional characters and a Mary Sue leading lady.

If you are into new age spirituality, I believe this Wanding Kit will appeal to you. It first got my attention when I was online looking for information on wands and found information on the Fitchel (pronounced Feeshelle) Society web site about a book by Evan Twede. I then went to the Amazon web site and found the Wanding Kit. What can you buy in this day and age for $11.21? I felt the kit is reasonable priced. The kit includes a 10" wand and a 96 page booklet.

In the booklet, Wanding is described as "...the process of harnessing universal power towards creating the results you desire in your life..."

Although the wand apparently is made in China and therefore, I would speculate that even though it looks similar in style to the Fitchel Wands, the similarity probably ends there as the Fitchel Wands start at $49.50 for a 12" wand. Fitchel Wands are all hand crafted and ritually prepared and takes a month to go through the whole process. Do not be deterred by this because Evan tells you in the book that you can use anything from an ink pen to a fallen tree branch for your wand.

The author covers some history about wands and how they were made. He also covers the individual sections of the wand. I have never came across some of the information in this booklet and really enjoyed reading it.

He takes you step by step on invoking the spirit into the wand. He even gives you instructions on how to make your own wand if you should desire to do so. Of course, after all the preparation, the author also gives you techniques on how to use the wand.

Even though there are other methods that a practioner of the occult arts could use instead of the wand, I appreciate the wanding method as another "tool" that can be added to the practitioners compliment of occult objects such as Tarot, Runes, Pendulums, etc.

I am happy that I purchased this kit and find the information very instructional and informative.

I am infinately thankful for this and to the author and to the spirit of the wand. You might not believe it but everything is life! Even my wand, even quantum physicists prove it. Well anyways I WON THE LOTTERY WITH THIS! Doing the asking question method thing, with a little practice after three weeks I won it!!! Thanks to this and god I live the life of my dreams. Just believe, have fun, and wait for it.

I don't really need to go into detail for this one.

If you're looking for a good first wand and are without trees to ask the gift of a limb from or don't want/need to spend a great deal of mony for a finely crafted and uselessly over-ornamented one,then just get the kit and ignore the book and it's super-fluffy approach to using the wand. (or you could always go with the Wandmaker's book,which is more of a fun,entertaining read being in the style of the "Ology" series,except that wand is even cheaper and likely to snap on you like a twig,and you might look weird invading the kids section of a bookstore to get a wand)

If you're looking for a more serious instruction booklet or a more finely crafted wand,stay away from this,otherwise you might feel cheap and dirty for lowering yourself to getting the cheapest,most trite touchy-feely New Age take on magick...ever.

I stumbled upon Evan Twede's Wanding kit recently at a book store here in Melbourne, Australia. Once I picked the item up I couldn't put it down. It was destiny. I was meant to buy this. The kit includes an easy to read booklet as well as a beautiful wand. To me wanding is all about letting the Universe know what you want/what you desire. It's that easy!! It's basically unlocking the Universe's Abundance. Whatever you want you can have by a simple invocation to God/The Universe. Evan makes it so simple to read and understand how to use the wand and invoke it's magical powers. All you need to do is a single, positive, imperative claim on whatever you feel is lacking in your life.....that could be anything from money, to a partner, to the perfect house. Abundance is your birthright. Once you've invoked whatever is is you desire just let go of the outcome and how it will manifest. That's not up to you to decide but the vast Universe. Ask, it is always given and lastly be open to receive. This is the best way of starting to wand by buying this wonderful kit. Have been using it everyday and I feel a change already in me. Congratulations Evan for something that has already changed my life. Do yourself a favour and buy this kit............IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE!!!!!!

OK, I'm rather embarrased that i bought this... Fact is, I was searching for cool toy wands, and came across this kit (which I had seen in the bookstores) for just a couple of dollars. For a couple of dollars the little toy wand is cute, in a nice velveteen pouch. The book is mainly annoying in its constant efforts to pass some simple occult and magical ideas off as 'not spells' or 'not sorcery'. The core ideas for using a wand for specific spell-casting aren't bad, but the fakey window dressing is just silly.
Don't pay more than $3 would be my advice ;)
Ian