Lee Books

This book is so great I had a old copy that was my moms when she was litle then mine, so I bought a new one for my daughter it is GREAT, very interesting and good for the imagimation. However there were some coffe stains in the book when the seller listed it as new.

Over the years I continue to love this book. Part of the reason is that it is a well told story involving animals. I also love the drawings.
I recently purchased this book for my niece and for the older children of two families who will be having a new addition. When I was asked to present a child's book to my class in middle school this was the book I chose.

MY DAUGHTER LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH, THAT WHEN SHE WAS SELECTED TO READ TO OTHERS DURING LIBRARY WEEK, SHE CHOSE THE MITTEN. THIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN A FAVORITE OF OUR FAMILY'S AND NOW I AM ORDERING THIS ONE FOR MY FIRST GRANDCHILD. A READER FROM CA.

Even though I buy them for my daughter, I try not to review items that I owned or remember from my childhood as I feel I am biased towards them simply because of the nostalgic factor. However, I do think I would still love this book even if I had just recently come upon it. For starters it has such vibrant colors with the alternating turquoise background and the bright red and gold Ukrainian clothing. And what child wouldn't love the thought of woodland creatures taking refuge from the snow in his or her lost mitten, although the story is just folklore and the product of a child's imagination...or is it?

What a treasure: the illustrations and the story go hand in hand so wonderfully, quiet and witty and authentic. If you have Slavic roots, the Ukrainian illustrator's work may have extra resonance for you. Yaroslava drew the animals wearing Ukrainian costume, but with subtle touches of real life; this one's boots have creases, see the wrinkles in that one's heavy coat. I always wondered if there was an anti-Soviet subtext to the characters all insisting on sharing one living-space until it bursts at the seams (literally)...

The five stars are granted for reason that this is not only an excellent procedural but a romantic story. The romance snaps into place at the end. I won't disclose the details. Jane Bauer is concerned with something known as the City Hall Park case. She is taken off that case and put on a task force to solve old homicides.

It seems to Jane that the initial session is all hype and cheer-leading. She wonders if other groups got more promising cases. Her team's case is set in a rent-controlled building. Four and a half years later all of the former tenants have moved. Such attrition is unusual.

It is a truism that a detective never loses interest in his old cases. Jane talked to Bracken, the investigating officer, about their case, termed the Quill case. It turns out that suspicious circumstances followed other in habitants of Quill's building.

Jane had grown to love her job in the police force. Retiring from it could be a problem for her. She is to move to a new expensive apartment and is slated to start a new job as an insurance investigator.

She likes the havoc below 14th Street. Most of the people in Quill's building had been sad older people, but not Jerry Hutchins. One of the original investigators thought that he did not fit. She flew to Omaha to pursue the investigation. She was in search of Hutchins. The officer assisting Jane in Omaha is injured. A badly beaten Hutchins is located, eventually. Obviously someone in New York City knew that the trail of the case had shifted to Nebraska.

A child Jane gave up for adoption surfaces. The real victim in the cold case used an alias. The plot is exciting and satisfying.

A great read. Her previous series (Christine Bennett, former nun) was getting a little tired, but with this novel she proves to be a great and versatile writer.

I was very pleased with this new series from Lee Harris, since I felt the Christine Bennett series had gotten stale and silly about three books ago.

Jane is a very likeable character, as is the entire supporting cast. I was a bit put off by the violence towards the end of the book, but I also realized it was necessary to the storyline. The whole thing wrapped up nicely, and it was a book I read at night until I fell asleep with it in my hand.

I look forward to Jane's next adventure.

Detective Jane Bauer is pulled of what she believes to be the case of her career to work with a special unit tackling unsolved crimes. She is planning to leave the NYPD soon for a desk job with an insurance company.

Her new partners are Gordon Defino and Sean MacHovec. It is soon evident that MacHovec prefers to stay in and work the phones. Defino and Jane do the legwork. They were to re-investigate the death of Arlen Quill. Quill had been found stabbed to death in the entry of his apartment building.

When they begin investigating, they find that everyone has moved from the apartment building. Considering that it is a rent-controlled building, this alone is suspicious. Then they find out that there were other deaths that in and of themselves were not suspicious but when you put them all together, they were.

On top of all this, Jane is going through some changes in her life. Recently she split up with Hack. He's married and his daughter was getting suspicious. And she's moving into a new apartment. Then the letter arrives and complicates her life even more.

She ends up going to Omaha to try to find one of the former tenants who might have much needed information. From that trip, she is concerned that she was followed. The case takes on a different tempo. She ends up putting herself in danger in her attempts to solve it.

I really like Jane. She is a complex character but yet she is human. New York is always a great setting for a mystery with a detective for the protagonist.

The plot takes many twists and turns before everything is discovered. It is very well written.

I have always enjoyed Lee Harris' other series starring ex-nun Christine Bennett. The two series are very different and I think that is a good thing.

I highly recommend this new series and cannot wait for the next book to be published.

We're familiar with solving old crimes from the author's ex-nun Christine Bennett series, now some 15 or so books in that set. As devoted fans, we were delighted when Harris set out to give us a new heroine, NYPD Detective Jane Bauer. Bauer is nearing her 20 years of service, with every intention of "pulling the pin" (retiring), but is given a special assignment with several other detectives to solve an old case from years earlier. When Jane discovers that in addition to the murder victim, a few other folks who lived in the same building are also dead, she launches a sequence of investigations that eventually flush out the truth, mostly from clues that were never worked the first time around. Her male sidekicks Defino and MacHovek help her with much of the legwork, but it's Jane's trip to the Midwest that really brings things into focus midway through what turns out to be a fairly complex plot.

While much of the form of this book -- the cold case, the New York setting, and a female lead with both smarts and a winning way of dealing with people -- reminds us of the other Harris series, we have here more of a police procedural without having to rely on "helpers" to track clues from official sources. Jane is a likable gal, as a couple of men that warm up to her in the story find out. Meanwhile, all of Harris's skills are on display, including a plot with just enough intricacy to engage, enough characters to provide variety, and a solid writing style that pleases us from start to finish. We not only recommend this new entree, but will also no doubt anxiously await another outing with Bauer. Will she retire or not ?!

Being a new mother i was exicited to read the chapter "From womb to wisdom." It is going to be a excellent guideline in my new childs dental health. Every parent should own this book for the imprtant dental needs that every shild most desperatly needs. Thanj you!

The authors provide an educational book in a fun and interesting format. To be a well-informed dental patient, everyone should read this book.

Being a new mother i was exicited to find information in the section "From Womb to Wisdom." It is going to be an excellent guide line in my new childs dental health. Every parent should own this book for the important dental needs that every child most desperatly needs. Thank you authors such needed informaiton!

I am a dentist and believe that this book has useful information for anyone interested in restoring and preserving their dental health. This book is aimed at the person who is apprehensive about going to the dentist. Based on the premise that most fear is of the unknown, Dr. Mac Lee, Joleen Jackson and Vicki Audette have written this book with the aim of demystifying dentistry.

Speaking personally, I know that sometimes I struggle to explain things that to me make perfect sense in a nontechnical, nonthreatening manner. This book does that.

It starts by discussing common reasons people are afraid to go to the dentist and tries to help get you past those fears. Whether you are afraid it'll hurt, or your embarassed for us to see your teeth, Dr. Lee gives tips on how to get past these feelings so that you can get the dental care you need.

The book goes on to describe various dental procedures, what is involved in them, and questions you should ask. I especially like the section on children's dental needs. It covers every age range and answers common questions about subjects such as baby teeth, braces, and broken teeth.

I can't tell you how strongly I feel that this is a great book for any dental consumer. I am ordering copies for several of my patients as well as copies to donate to our local library.

As a general dentist, I see many of my new patients struggling with the issues that are covered in "Nothin' Personal Doc, But I Hate Dentists!" Mac and Joleen have many combined years of experience in the dental field and they have taken this expertise and transformed it into "English" for the patient to be able to understand easily, instead of "Dental-ese" which we are often guilty of using when speaking to our patients.

This book allows patients to make informed choices and to give them an idea as to what they should ask their dentist during the visit. A well-educated, talented and confident dentist welcomes any patient questions. We know that the better informed our patients are, the better choices they can make for themselves regarding their dental health.

This book is a milestone in bridging the gap between dentists and their patients. I give it to all my new patients and encourage them to spread the word to everyone they know. Mac and Joleen have helped not only the general public, but also the dental community with the publication of their informative book. I recommend it for anyone who has a dental visit coming up, or if you are looking for a new dentist! (which, together, SHOULD make up 100% of the population)

I purchased OM Yoga in a box. This is a good beginning for those who can't make it to a class. The cards offer a visual reference and the stick figure drawings give the basics of each position. What a clever idea. I just love the incense that came with it too. My two little ones (3 and 5) have even joined in to do the yoga with me. Great starter kit!

"Yoga is a practice of awakening and connecting with all that is." ~Cyndi Lee

I can think of very few gifts that will actually change a person's life and this is one of them. Yoga can actually change your life. Yoga is so much more than a duplication of poses. While other exercise routines can make you feel a bit like a robot, yoga opens your inner world and as you complete the poses, you actually grow and change and become a person who is more aware of the world and yet the world influences you less. You start to connect with the deepest levels of your inner self and as you continue practicing yoga, you start to feel very good about the poses you have mastered. In this way, you also start to boost your self-esteem, all while being very aware of how you affect everyone in your world.

Cyndi Lee has a unique and very effective method of introducing you to yoga. She has a fun almost playful approach and I laughed out loud a number of times because of her witty humor. She is the director of the OM yoga center where she teaches hatha yoga. She has been teaching yoga for over 20 years, but her pictures look like she is ageless. Her beauty represents the deeply calming benefits of yoga. Her work has been featured in Shape, New York Magazine, Yoga Journal, Elle, Forbes, Newsweek and Self. She writes a regular column and lives in New York City. She travels to lead workshops and retreats in places like London, France, Italy and the Virgin Islands.

I wish I had found these boxed sets a long time ago. Each box contains everything you need for yoga practice besides a blanket and a yoga mat. I'd also like to recommend a soft blanket or comforter, a pillow and yoga blocks if you are just starting your practice. You can use the yoga blocks for some of the poses like triangle pose.

This box contains 2 Compact Discs, flash cards, a yoga belt (nice feature!), a candle, incense and an incense holder. The 2 Discs are in a durable little book with additional information.

The first CD is a 70 minute instructional CD that guides you through:

Warm Up
Sun Salutations
Standing Poses
Seated Poses
Backbending
Finishing Poses
Relaxation

When you open the box it is like an exotic experience. The Bodhi Sattva incense has permeated the entire box and everything has the scent of "celestial sandalwood."

Once you start the CD you soon realize that there is a method here. I had enough time to quickly place the cards out in order so I could see all the poses. This is very effective and unlike most yoga workouts on video, you can actually see the poses while you are doing them. A lot of yoga poses have you looking straight down at the ground, so it is great if you have cards placed out where you can see them.

Each flash card has information on both sides. When viewing all the cards from the top, it is easy to see the different colors of cards and separate the cards into sections. What I loved most about the cards is the names of the poses and the additional information on each card.

During the workout, you will learn the basic poses first and then put them into practice in the Sun Salutation section. On a "standing poses - sun salute card" you will find information on the "swan dive forward" with drawings and information on how this pose stretches the hamstrings and strengthens the legs and back. On the other side of the card, you will see Cyndi Lee illustrating the pose and see the words: Surya Namaskar. I found that these cards added a new depth to the yoga positions and loved learning all the added information most yoga workout videos don't ever discuss. This is a very authentic yoga workout.

The second CD is an amazing musical experience. This is music for when you want to experience the benefits of Yoga on your own without instruction.

OM Yoga is a well-organized system that provides a quiet sanctuary where you can regain physical strength and mental clarity. There is a emphasis on the breath and you can create your own practice sessions with the cards and CD.

There are 5 Suggested Practice Sessions:

OM Yoga Basic Level
Short Practice 1-3 (Three variations for added variety. Choose 35, 45 or 50 minutes.)
Very Short Practice - You can warm up and then relax

If you are already practicing yoga, you might want to buy this for yourself and some for gifts. This is truly serenity in a box! Also look for: OM Yoga Flash Cards: A 68-Card Deck with 32-Page Booklet. I really think you might enjoy both because I loved reading through the little booklet and seeing how the cards are used in each section. If there is a more perfect workout system, I haven't found it. This is just a beautiful healing gift for the body and soul.

~TheRebeccaReview.com

I really enjoyed using Cyndi Lee's Yoga practice!! The only draw back is I'm hearing impiared. So at first I sometimes did not hear Cyndi's voice as it dipped low, so I was unable to hear her voice. I also have Shiva Rea's Yoga Sanctuary, and am looking for other Audio CD's to alternate my practice.

This may be my favorite yoga workout ever. Because it's a cd, and not a dvd, it may take some getting used to, especially for a total beginner. But it comes with a set of cards which show you the correct poses. What I like the best about it is that the cd lets you pick and choose the various sequences to create your own workout. You can just go through the entire workout, or you can pick from various workouts they suggest, or you can create your own. I like the instructor very much for the most part (she makes one comment about a "spinster aunt" which I find very offensive), and I find the level of difficulty perfect--not too hard, not too easy. Plus, since I can basically create the workout I want, I can modify it to be as difficult or as easy as I want it to be.

Having never participated in yoga before, this box contains everything I need to get started. I find myself getting further and further into yoga every day.
I bought a yoga video years ago, but had a hard time following it. The C.D. and flash cards make the whole experience much more positive. Cyndi Lee has a calming and easy to follow voice on the C.D. Her cards are illustrated so that I can easily visualize the poses. If you are thinking about trying yoga for the first time, this is the way to go!

A boy wakes up one morning to discover that he's now living in a very ODD world, indeed! The alarm clock only shows ODD numbers; he only has one sock and one shoe to wear; his new shirt has 3 sleeves, and his poor dog has five legs! It didn't get any better at school, either, with only odd numbers on the calendar and a math teacher with five hands and an alligator tail! And so continues his very odd day! What is happening to me today, he wonders, and will I survive this very odd day? With truly funny illustrations by Karen Lee, kids and adults alike will have lots of fun looking for the odd numbers and odd items hidden in the illustrations. Authors Doris and Dani did a great job on writing a very tight text with rhythmic overtones that carries the reader into page-turning mode.

One Odd Day and My Even Day (as a combo) were one of Learning Magazine's 2008 Teachers' Choice Awards for Children's Books winners. One Odd Day is also a 2008 Bill Martin, Jr. Picture Book Award nominee (Kansas Reading Association).

As with all Sylvan Dell books, there is an educational section "For Creative Minds" at the end of this book containing: "Odd Fun Facts & Counting"; "An Odd Coloring Chart"; "'How Odd?' Oddities"; and "Creative Sparks".

This 222 word picture book makes learning odd numbers easy and fun. It combines the concept of "odd" numbers with the commonly-used meaning "odd" referring to "strange." Mixed in with odd numbers, the pictures show many odd or strange inconsistencies.

The For Creative Mind section shows odd and even numbers in picture formats using accompanying vocabulary the very young reader can understand. Parents and teachers will find this a very useful teaching tool to use when introducing beginning math concepts.

Sylvan Dell Publishing is known for publishing high quality books with outstanding educational value that also manage to keep children entertained. One Odd Day by Doris Fisher and Dani Sneed is no exception.

A young boy awakens one day to find that he is surrounded by odd numbers. His alarm clock has only odd numbers, his shirt has three sleeves, and his dog has five legs! As he continues his day, he finds odd numbers lurking at school, on the playground, and everywhere he turns. Exhausted by his "odd" day, he returns home and falls asleep, only to awaken to an "even" day!

The story is told in rhyme, and children love the music of poetry. Both Fisher and Sneed are accomplished writers of children's literature. The watercolor illustrations by award- winning artist Karen Lee are colorful, amusing and fit the story perfectly with their odd qualities. Odd numbers are hidden within each page for children to find.

When the rhyming is finished, the reader will find various activities and art projects at the end of the book that explain even and odd numbers in more depth and enhance learning. The activities include open-ended questions as an educator would ask, and have been reviewed by an award-winning math teacher for accuracy.

Armchair Interview says: An excellent book for both home and classroom. It makes math fun and entertaining for children while providing short curriculum for teachers.

One day a little boy wakes up to find his clock had only odd numbers and his shirt has three sleeves. What else is odd in this odd day? What a fun way to learn about the mathematical concept of odd numbers! Authors Doris Fisher and Dani Sneed explore different ways in which children can notice odd numbers throughout their day. Doris writes in delightful verse about the numbers one through nine.

To add to the fun, illustrator Karen Lee adds visual humor to the story. The dog has a dragon tail and Mom wears a firefighter's hat and ballet tutu in the morning! Teacher, Miss Dodd, has three eyes! Young children will have fun finding these and other fun images in the book. Number words are highlighted in bold to help the first and second graders learn to read them. Activities in the back of the book are varied and fun for a rainy day at home or math time at school! Children ages 4 to 7 will delight in this book.

Early one morning a small boy wakes up to the ring of his alarm clock, not knowing that this will indeed be an "Odd Day." The alarm clock has only odd numbers; he has one sock to put on, and one stinky shoe. He has old jeans and a new shirt, but the new shirt has three sleeves. Princess, his dog, has five legs. His lunch consists of five bananas; he rides to school on polka dot bus number nine. The calendar hanging on the wall has only odd days, and his math teacher, Miss Dodd has five arms. Miss Dodd explains that numbers called even are found between odd.

What great news he thought going outside to play, tomorrow will not be so odd, like today. He was eager to go to bed that night, thinking tomorrow would be right. To his relief, when he woke up the next morning, there were two stinky shoes and Princess had four legs. Sitting up in bed, he discovers his room has six doors and his mother has two heads!

This book is fun and a pure delight to peruse. You and your child will laugh and enjoy a fun time together as look for all the odd numbers on each page. Shadows on the wall are 3,5,7, the price tag on his shirt is $9.99. The red and white table cloth is printed with odd numbers in each red square. Look closely at each page for hidden odd numbers. Did you see the number 7 in the light bulb?

As always Sylvan Dell Publishing is number ONE! Not just a brightly illustrated fun book, but also an educational one. Check-out the "For Creative Minds" section in back of the book. Count the shoes, the fish, and the eggs to determine if they are odd or even.

Though I have not experienced divorce (or marriage for that matter), I found myself relating to Relational Shifts. Recently, I lost a loved one unexpectedly. My family is still feeling the effects of that loss. "Relational Shifts" gave me insight and allowed me to see families in an entirely new way.

Though I have not, and am much too young, to have gone through a divorce, I have found many ways to relate to this book. I was going through a breakup while reading this book and felt empowered by the beliefs and wise words of the authors. This book definately helped me believe that I could make it through and taught me many life and relationship lessons.

This is a story told with brave honesty and deep love. While their story is certainly unique, I would imagine most families can relate to many parts of their experience. It should give people that are going through relational shifts a sense of hope and a new perspective on the possible outcomes of these shifts. Julie, Lee and Tasha face adversity with humor and hope and are an inspiration to those who want to heal and grow with their experiences.

In these days of reality television, I thought I was immune to shock. Wrong. This book about how divorces happen and how to respond to them shocked and surprised me in so many ways that I had to step back and think about what I had read before having any idea of how to review this book. This reaction occurred despite having gone through a divorce many years ago. In fact, if the personal story parts of this book had been portrayed as a novel, I would probably have complained that the book was unrealistic.

The book's format is an unusual one that I can only characterize for you as "She felt and said; He felt and said; Their Daughter felt and said; and Lessons drawn heavily from Buddhist thought." The level of candor is extraordinary. There doesn't seem to be much that happened to these three people that they won't relate to you.

What's the basic point? I would paraphrase the book's advice as being to approach marriage as a way to live with personal integrity while adapting the relationship to match the needs of the moment and the long term.

Julie Rappaport and Lee Liberman got into trouble with their marriage because they didn't know each other very well before marrying. They also didn't spend enough time discussing what kind of a marriage they wanted. Julie wanted to try her wings and Lee wanted a traditional wife. The couple also experienced sexual issues that are apparently more common than I was aware of. They both ended up feeling like they were giving away parts of their personal identities to be in the marriage, yet they loved the other person. Becoming parents was similarly haphazard, although they are both devoted parents. Unlike many people who divorce, they clearly did their best to put their daughter's interests first.

Even though Julie soon remarried, the three continued to function as a family after divorce . . . celebrating family events, taking vacations, and covering for each other. I thought this aspect of the book was potentially the most valuable for those who are considering divorce: You can divorce and still have a good relationship with your former spouse.

Where the book is weakest is as a guide for planning for marriage and building a strong marriage. While the questions are certainly good ones, they aren't nearly enough to help those who are in the throes of passion and a new marriage to think through what needs to be thought through. As I read the material about how each spouse felt like they couldn't be themselves in the marriage, I was reminded of a neighbor whose husband left her after 30 years of marriage commenting that he was tired of not being able to be himself. I suspect that complaint is fairly common. I know that my favorite compliment about my wife is that she lets me be myself.

But independent of the book's advice, it's riveting reading. I couldn't put it down.

This is the story of a family, but more so about two people who married and then failed to adjust to each other. They tell how they divorced and then reformed their family with their children so they could raise them without rancor. There is a lot of self-examination about happiness and fitness of being with someone or not, in the style of the current philosophy about personal happiness. The authors allow their daughter to tell some of her story, about how she adjusted to the divorce. But the underlying questions--could this marriage have been saved, how much adjusting did Tasha have to do to normalize a tragic situation for her (being now part of a split family) is not as well-defined. The authors make a very complete roadmap of how they thoughtfully crafted their divorce (which is amazing cooperation) and brings to mind the question; why could they not learn to get along, at least until the daughter grew up? The designation "mismatched" is interesting but begs the question--if they got this far, how come they couldn't go farther and learn to adapt? So though couples who plan on divorcing can certainly learn a lot from "Relational Shifts" on how to avoid rancorous adjustments to splitting up a family, if you are considering divorce and you have kids, you might also read Divorce Culture which is another thoughtful book on the impact of divorce on children and society.

I learned more about the personalities in the Washington and Lee families and the history of food. It was really enjoyable.

I'm seventh cousin to U.S. Grant but have always had tremendous respect for, and interest in, the family of General Robert E. Lee. Altho we know that General Lee was a man of impecable morals and a champion of valor and honor, less has been known of his immediate family. Anne Carter Zimmer's book gives us a window in time into the life of the family of her great grandparents and a look at 19th century housekeeping. I grew up in Ohio before moving South and some of Mary Lee's household hints were utilized by my grandmother and mother. This is a fantastic book, warm, humorous, informative and with photos and shetches enough to make one sense that they might have felt at home in the Lee household.

Please, Anne, let us hear from you in the future. I'd very much like to know more about your singular family!

Anyone who is interested in knowing more about the personal side of Gen. Robert E. Lee and the people who stood behind him and allowed him to become great (his family) will enjoy this insight into their everyday lives and the heritage the author (Lee's great-granddaughter) has had to live up to throughout her life.

I would strongly recommend this.

This book is a great one for providing us a glimpse into life over 100 years ago. It is hard to imagine what a woman had to do back then to create the genteel life. Every household had to be self-sufficient, as this remarkable volume shows, making its own foodstuff, soap and cleansers. I loved this book and have shared it with good friends.

Mix together some spicy ingredients of Southern history, add "receipts" (aka recipes) for food, plus personal memoir, and a fascinating book is ready for you to devour or to send to friends as a gift.
What a marvelous, brilliant weaving together of the family history of the Robert E. Lee family, along with insider Civil War history, social history, food history, family characters and so on, have been put together by Anne Carter Zimmer, who gives us recipes one longs to try. I definitely want to attempt the Charlotte Russe and certainly the Sally Lunn. (Wish I had the courage for the oyster dish where, halfway throughout, you throw out one batch of oysters and add a fresh batch.) When I read the book's first line, "We didn't make much of ancestors when I was growing up," (this from the great-grandaughter of Robert E. Lee), I knew I was in touch with an authentic voice and that I would love this book. And love it I did.

I read this book years ago and loved it. I was reminded of it recently when someone asked me for recommendations to use for a book club at a center for teenagers and young adults. This one immediately came to mind. It combines history, compelling characters, and topical issues (including domestic violence, racism, abortion, family and work, and a lesbian relationship) in an epic story that will give young people plenty to talk about.

I will add this book, and Ms. Lee's most recent accomplishment, Watermarked, to my Good List.

There are so many modern American authors with nothing special to write about. They delve into the esoteric and have no real life experience or understanding of their heretage to inspire their writings. Not so with Lee. This novel is a wonderful tale of two families unite by tradgedy and form a common bond of love. The main plot is interwoven with the imaginative tales of LaRue Smalls that reflect the meaning of their lives while bringing comfort and ties that bind. This African-American writer leaves the anger beneath the surface and shows two ways of dealing with the horrors and poverty of Jim Crow: alcoholism and violence vs love and creativity. She exchanges beauty for ashes in a universal manner. The writing is clear and the characters real. It is a novel that you do not want to miss.

The Serpents Gift is a first novel by Helen Elaine Lee. The story begins just after the turn of the century as Eula Smalls struggles in an abusive marriage. One night after having been brutally beaten by her husband, she and her two children run through the neighborhood hoping someone will open their doors to her. Ruby Staples welcomes Eula into her home that night. The story covers the life of these very different women and their children. Ruby's daughter, Ouida, is a passionate and beautiful woman who defies convention. In her 20's she falls in love with another woman and chooses to spend her life with her. Eula's son grows up in the loving household of Ruby Staples and her family but is haunted by legacy of his father. Eula's daughter, Vesta is visiblily scarred by having been witness to her mother's abuse. All the main characters have their own separate adventures and journeys, that are powerful and vivid.

The Serpent's Gift is a great novel but not without faults. The earlier sections of the book can sometimes be a little slow in terms of action and progression of the plot. The telling of The Serpents Gift is in third person, and toggles through the happenings of each character. This works great the most of the time, but sometimes I find myself wanting to know more about one character than another. Also I wish that Ouida and her partner had been given more attention. The amazing nature of this romantic relationship between two black women in 1920's America is greatly underplayed here, while other less interesting characters are given too much space and time.

However I think that in general The Serpent's Gift is very well written. The author has an amazing mastery of words and even more amazing storytelling abilities that make this book great.

This is a book that you don't want to end. I wanted delve more into the characters lives as the book went on. They were so fascinating and varied. I liked the way Helen Elaine Lee integrated telling of folktales so closely with the story as well. That aspect gave the book a magical feeling and hope to the characters lives.

i loved this book was well written, and I couldn't put it down until I finished.

Akira Macauly lives a simple life on a sheep ranch she inherited from her grandfather. Life is simple and uncomplicated until one day she discovers a hungry and exhausted hobo, whom she takes in and nurses back to health, despite the objections of many around her. Akira shows such Godly love to hobo and ex-con Gabe Talmadge that something happens to him that hasn't happened in years. He begins to feel gratitude and love, and finds grace and redemption, rather than anger and hate. Akira also finds out that Gabe is not the hobo she first thought he was. Lose yourself in life on a sheep ranch in the early forties, renew your spirit with the faith that Akira shows to all around her, and revel in the love that begins to grow between two totally different people. Settle in by the fire with a cup of hot cocoa and a warm comforter and enjoy until the end!

Robin Hatcher adds yet another compelling story to her growing body of works in The Shepherd's Voice. Gabe Talmadge is the wandering soul in search of a home and a place to belong and he finds it in the heart of every reader who reads this enthralling tale, a story that proves that God's redemption is available to all who ask. Hatcher's proven skill at writing compelling, best-selling romance is enriched and enlarged in The Shepherd's Voice.
Patricia Hickman author of Katrina's Wings

Convicted for a crime he didn't commit, Gabe Talmadge returns to his hometown of Ransom, seeking the love denied to him by his father Hudson Talmadge. Instead of finding the love of his forsaken father, he finds the love of Akira Macauley, owner of the sheep farm, Dundreggan. Gabe also discovers the love of another father, his Heavenly Father. Akira teaches Gabe about love and faith, and he realizes his biggest mistake was forsaking the Lord, several years ago. When he's again mistakenly arrested for a crime he didn't commit, his faith in God is tested, and he learns that it's imperative to always lean on the Lord.

Robin Hatcher's THE SHEPHERD'S VOICE is a sober portrayal of Depression era realities with spiritual truths entwined through her well-developed characters.

Akira Macauley believes God answered her prayer for hired help on the sheep ranch her grandfather has left her in Ransom, Idaho, when she finds a penniless vagabond collapsed on the road. With trust in that belief, she hauls him back to the ranch and helps him to regain not only his health, but also his lost faith. The unfolding story of Gabe's tainted past, his life as a convicted murderer, and his struggle to regain his lost faith holds the reader captive. The plot twists and turns test the faith of both Akira and Gabriel and challenge their growing relationship while presenting, with brutal authenticity, a picture of life during Depression years.

Hatcher builds the romantic relationship between Akira and Gabe Talmadge's through worldly realities to a credible happily-ever-after ending in a way that every romance reader will find endearing. Some readers may be discomforted by Robin's strong presentation of Akira Macauley's faith or Gabe's struggle to regain a relationship with God, but her genuine warmth and distinctive writing style make that faith a believable, integral part of their story. Your heart cannot help but be touched by the romance, the spiritual truths, and historical setting. After reading The Shepherd's Voice, you'll understand why this author has received so many writing awards.

This is a remarkable oportunity to rediscover the work of the underestimate John Buscema. Great storylines , in a luxous volume.But I missed more Jack kirby works with the surfer

I haven't read a Surfer story since I was a kid... I loved this book! I read it in one sitting (rainy Sunday afternoon) and was transported back to 1968...still a "carefree kid". The stories have held up well and managed to hold my interest. I you read comics as a kid, or still read them, I would recommend this book...Enjoy!

This book contains the first 18 issues and Bonus material of the Silver Surfer written by Stan Lee. While the modern Silver Surfer is sometimes a bad character in these first issues he is something like a saint and he is suffering human prejudice but never giving up to help. He examines the human race in order to understand human behaviour. The Silver Surfer therefore is not a character you can easily identify with but the moral and message of the stories and the way the Surfer views the humans is absolutely interesting and very thrilling. Issue 1-17 was drawn by John Buscema. I know his work on the Avengers which is great but these Silver Surfer stories are by far his best work. Buying this book means buying the very best of John Buscema. In addition the printing quality is superb and the book is oversized.

I ordered this from amazon several months ago. About one month ago they informed me it would not ship until some time in 2008. I am not sure why they are still selling it if they are having that much trouble shipping it out. Just go get one from your local comic book shop. It's worth it.

This huge book reprints all 18 issues of the original Silver Surfer comic book series from the Silver Age of comics (including the letter pages), plus a Surfer back up story from Fantastic Four Annual #5 and a Surfer parody from Not Brand Echh #13. The Silver Surfer happens to be writer Stan Lee's personal favorite character. To quote Stan from the book's intro: "Perhaps the Silver Surfer comes closest to being the ultimate, quintessential superhero. The virtue of his character, the purity of his soul and the nobility of his actions, coupled with the altruism of his motives, are virtually without parallel--unless one returns to the root of all goodness, for perhaps only in the Holy Bible itself does such morality exist." Stan used the Surfer to articulate his own beliefs and convictions, as the Surfer soared around the Earth soliloquizing about mankind's faults (particularly prejudice and bigotry). Pretty heavy stuff for a superhero comic book. The Surfer was a tragic figure, as he regularly faced fear and hatred wherever he went, despite the purity of his motives. Another tragic aspect of the comic was the forced separation of the Surfer and his ladylove, Shalla Bal, who still lived on their home planet of Zenn-La. But I don't want to give the impression that this comic book is all talk and no action. There is plenty of action, as the Surfer battles villains like the Stranger, the Abomination and his archenemy Mephisto. Through the typical Marvel Comics misunderstanding, he also battles heroes like Thor, Spider-Man and the Human Torch. All this is beautifully illustrated by John Buscema, with the exception of the last issue, which was drawn by Jack Kirby. This review ran longer than I intended, so I will wrap it up by recommending this book to all fans of Marvel Comics.