Leigh Books

This book is everything it promised--and more! The recipes are sophisticated without being difficut. And delicious!

WOW - we have been so excited by this book. I was desperate for something that would help me plan meals for the week without doing casseroles or having to cook everything at once and stick it in the freezer. This system allows you to eat FRESH meals without recreating the base ingredients every time. Having the meat and vegetables already prepared for the week takes tons of time away from meal prep. Slicing and dicing is the primary time-consuming element.

The book makes a statement we've found absolutely true: We can enjoy meals that taste like we've gone to a restaurant, and we've spent far less time and money. I also appreciate the lack of processed-food ingredients in the meals. The butter and fat content is a bit high, but I substitute olive oil nearly 100% of the time for better heart health. We haven't found anything that we don't want to try again!

LOVE the colorful photos. They inspire me to create something new. I'm also learning to create my own new recipes that use leftover meats, vegetables and breads into later meals. It's been a great cooking school!

With two active teenagers, and a demanding full-time job, I find it a challenge to get healthy, well-balanced meals on the table sometimes. Many of the common cook-for-the-month plans rely heavily on casseroles and starchy dishes. This book is different. Simple, elegant preparation for the weekend meal. The "leftovers" reappear later in the week in a number of guises - ethnic and spicy, simple and kid-friendly, the whole spectrum. A really nice variety. And the main courses are those we often prepare - roast chicken, grilled fish, flank steak. The creative part is in the use of leftover meats and side dishes. My only concern is that it's a paperback - I may wear it out! A spiral bound version would be so much nicer.

I bought this book for everyone at my office. It is the best book that I've seen for organized cooking that does not include canned soup, processed cheese etc.

If there are more like this out there, please let me know!

This is a great cookbook for busy people who like to eat delicious, healthy, creative meals. The recipes are easy to follow, with short ingredient lists. The preparation is simple but elegant. And the main idea behind this book, that you can "cook big" on the weekend and still not be doomed to eat exactly the same thing as leftovers for the rest of the week, is a lifesaver for me. The pictures are beautiful and the layout is easy to read. My only concern is that the binding will not hold up to years of use in the kitchen. I checked this book out of the library and liked it so much that I am now buying a copy.

Molly takes you on a journey of memories long ago obscured by the hype and break neck pace of the digital age. A time when the country was in turmoil and everyone was trying to find a deeper meaning and context to the chaos. Molly, as our tour guide, is intelligent, sincere and on a personal quest to live a "useful" life. While it takes her 20 years to figure it out, it seems all too brief for this reader who couldn't put the book down and longs for the next installment. Molly's tale is at once tender, intelligent, at times infuriating, and completely human. I loved every word! Leigh Curran is an exceptional writer... poetic and profound.

I did not know what to expect when I picked up this book for reading on a business trip. I got so involved in the richly real characters that I could hardly tear myself away to go to meetings. I finished it on a plane, and I sat reading til the plane cleared out because I still had a couple of pages to go. The book is beautifully constructed, with an unpredictable, almost musical flow, and the characters will stay with me for life.

This is one of those "best friend" books you tell your best friends about, as I have done. There are moments and images that have stayed with me for the months since I read it.

If you came to consciousness in the '60s, or know someone who did, revisit the times and how they grew into a gentle wisdom in the '90s. I thank Leigh Curran for this beautiful work.

I was invited to a book signing by the author having known her casually many years ago. Aware of a play she had written I went, bought the book had it signed, gave Leigh Curran a hug and left. Having reading material at home that had to be attended to I left it in my car to be picked up when I had a few spare moments. Now almost three quarters of the way through I find her narrative so moving that I am portioning off the remainder so that I won't come to the end too quickly.

This book is involving, clear, passionate - so personal, fascinating, heart-breaking, heart-warming, illuminating and ultimately so inspiring. And fun. I was in tears and stitches and relished every word!

This book is involving, clear, passionate - so personal, fascinating, heart-breaking, heart-warming, illuminating and ultimately so inspiring. And fun. I was in tears and stitches and relished every word!

Leigh Branham has done an admirable job writing a practical manual for keeping good employees. I believe any employer will find scores of proven tactics they can apply at once. As Joe Bosch of Pizza Hut says: "If a company implemented just four or five of these practices, they would be significantly better at retaining talent." Gee. Making more money because your employees are motivated. What a concept.

Doni Tamblyn is author of Laugh and Learn: 95 Ways to Use Humor for More Effective Teaching and Training and The Big Book of Humorous Training Games (Big Book of Business Games Series)

I read the book as part of an MBA mid-term project and would recommend this to any line manager or human resource practitioner who wants real, proven ideas and thoughts about attracting, retaining and developing quality employees. The book is very well structured and easy to read, yet a no-nonsense approach and in depth look at retaining valuable people.

Finally an employee retention resource from an outstanding consultant that combines practical step by step instructions with theory AND excellent examples from top companies. Keeping outstanding employees should be a top priority for every business, but unfortunately retention often runs a distant second to recruitment. Leigh Branham takes the mystery out of keeping top employees by providing business owners, managers and consultants proven retention tips. After introducing each retention practice, Leigh provides a questionnaire to evaluate your company's effectiveness. Plus the appendix is filled with surveys, checklists and evaluations you can start using today! As a consultant and coach, I am using Leigh's material with companies and individual clients and getting excellent feedback.

Keeping the best employees is a goal that is not often met in today's changing and fluid new economy. Leigh Branham introduces four key strategies designed to help an organization keep the employees it wants. These solid practices are designed to have a positive impact on an organization's best workers by increasing motivation, performance and satisfaction. These four key points are organized in parallel with an employee's life cycle in an organization:

Key #1: Be a company people want to work for.
The leadership of the organization must create an environment where three essential elements are put into place: adopt a "give and get back" philosophy, measure what counts and pay for it, inspire commitment to a clear vision and definite objectives.
Key #2: Select the right person in the first place.
Poor recruiting decisions today result in the poor performers of tomorrow. An organization must claim responsibility for recruiting to ensure it not only chooses the right candidate, but also stays connected to the external business community, and thereby having access to the full diversity of the talent pool.
Key #3: Get them off to a great start.
Knowing that between 50 and 60 percent of employees change jobs within the first seven months, it is seasoned experienced manager and leaders that focus on this critical period to the organization keeps its best employees. The keys elements during this period: communicate how their work is vital to success, get commitment to a performance agreement, and give autonomy and reward initiative.
Key #4: Coach and Reward to maintain commitment.
To sustain an employee's commitment to the organization, his relationship with his manager is a critical element. It is said that 50 percent of satisfaction at work is determined by an employee's relationship with his or her manager. Managers should: proactively manage the performance agreement, recognize results, and give employees tools to take charge of his or her career.

If at all possible, this book should be read in combination with Branham's subsequently published book, The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave: How to Recognize the Subtle Signs and Act Before It's Too Late, and preferably read first. That is desirable but not imperative. Either book can firmly stand on its own merits and both are "must reading" as competition for talent becomes increasingly more aggressive. That said, the subtitle of this earlier book correctly indicates what it provides: "24 ways to hang on to your most valuable talent." Branham carefully organizes his material within eleven chapters and focuses on four "Keys," providing with each several "retention practices." Too many business books are bloated with theory but wholly impoverished in terms of practicality. For that reason, I commend Branham on the fact that he devotes most of his attention to explaining HOW to establish and then increase the appeal of an organization that people want to work for, how to hire the right people in the first place, how to get new hires off to a great start, and how to use effective coaching and appropriate rewards to sustain their commitment. Well done!

She had an amazing insight to what the Christian life is all about. A worth while read.

Contrary to popular belief, this is not primarily a book about God. Sayers wisely does not try to tell us about God directly, but about what is godlike in ourselves. 'The characteristic common to God and man,' she says, is 'the desire and ability to make things.' She draws a vivid and detailed analogy between the Christian Trinity and our own creative imagination. In working out the details of this analogy, she tells us a great deal about them both; but, inevitably, more about our own minds than God's.

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit correspond to what Sayers calls the Idea, Energy, and Power. For a writer, the Idea is the book as he first imagines it; the Energy is the book as actually written; the Power is the impression it makes in the mind of each reader. The analogy applies equally well to all art forms. Sayers makes the Trinity seem as plain and familiar as a conversation. If you ever knew what you wanted to say but couldn't find the words, you felt the difference between the Father and the Son. If someone took your words to mean something you never intended, you felt the distance between the Son and the Spirit. Critics may say the Trinity is not real, but they can never again call it incomprehensible.

The rest of the book concentrates on the purely human maker. The longest chapter, 'Scalene Trinities', discusses the ways that the creative imagination can go wrong, and classifies them as failures of the Idea, the Energy, or the Power. I find this the most useful part of the book. Whatever kind of work we do, we find it all too easy to become obsessed with technical details (the Energy). We almost forget that we are trying to express an Idea, and so our work loses the Power to benefit other people. We need to be fully aware of all three parts of the process.

The Mind of the Maker is a brilliant book. But if you read it just for its theology, you will miss two-thirds of the brilliance. It has still more value as a guide to human creativity. If you are a Christian, or if you do any kind of creative work, this book will do your mind good.

If you are interested in an airtight, supremely reasoned, brilliantly explained, and determinedly impersonal description of what Christians state in their creeds, this is the book for all time. Beware, Unbelievers...**

**Of all the silly things written in the name of "atheism," probably the silliest is that God is the product of our minds. Well, duh.... How are we to know God except through our human minds? How are we to describe God except through our language and actions? It's only a question of which came first - God or the human capacity for an idea of something greater than ourselves who must have created us. I am infinitely more interested in the thoughts and writings of those who have studied and labored over a subject for all of their lives and built on the ideas of those who have done the same since the beginning of self-conscious thought. I am bored to tears with the ravings of those who just can't accept as the result of, say, several weeks - or a lifetime - of intermittent, random thoughts that there is something greater than themselves and with rules that go along with this being. So, on the grounds of depth, completeness, longevity, and logic, I prefer "The Mind of the Maker" not only to anything ever written denying God but to all other books about God.

The Mind of the Maker by Dorothy Sayers is a classic for a reason. She is an excellent writer and a wonderfully deep thinker. At times I honestly got lost in the depths but, as I look back, the truths and nuggets of "ah ha"s are worth a few head scratches.

She opens the book explaining that it is not an explanation or a defense of the Christian faith. The book is her attempt to "demonstrate that the statements made in the Creeds about the Mind of the Divine Maker represent, so far as (she is) able to check them by (her) experience, true statements about the mind of a human maker." (preface) There is a universal truth found in the act of someone who creates and the Creator of all things.

She explains how Father, Son, and Spirit can be well understood by the creative mind's "Idea", "Energy", and "Power". She mainly focuses on the illustration of the writer (her occupation and obviously greatest experience). The essential nature of an idea working its way with the energy of a person writing with its connected power that is released is an incredible thought. I've been meditating on it often.

Many times, as a follower of Christ, I focus on "just" one aspect of our God: the Father or Son or Spirit. I too often miss and do a vast injustice to Him as I do not focus on the eternal relationship that they all together forever work. Sayer has given me a new way of remembering and reflecting on my Love and Hope which has affected me.

I believe that being creative can be a spiritual discipline. This book will be my "proof text". We are most like our God when we exhibit his love and work in a finite yet glorious way while we create something. Be it a new song, photograph, painting, story, etc. Hmm, maybe even creating another blog entry... a bit.

I highly recommend The Mind of the Maker even if you can't run through it, it is worth a slow soak. Don't be afraid to put it down and ponder. This book isn't for the "fast food" reader but it is accessible to all.

Sayers starts with the orthodox concept of the Trinity and suggest that the mind of man as creator is analogous. By examining the mind of man as creator and the work he creates, we can acquire a better understanding of the Holy Trinity. While this might seem outlandish at first, it works! When you think about theological concepts just as concepts, they can be very hard to grasp. But Sayers uses concrete examples to illustrate theological concepts, and avoids the temptation to overextend her analogy. She concentrates mainly on the writer-creator, since she herself is a writer. Her insights on the creative process of writing are almost as interesting as the light they shed on the nature of God. These insights go well beyond the concept of the Trinity--she offers an interesting perspective on the existence of evil, free will, and much more. I've never read anything like this.

I agree with a lot of the readers of this book. I just recently have gotten reaqainted with this story after seeing it for the first time when it came out. To young to understand, it was a movie with cool love scenes. But now as a grown woman, it has envoke an interest and emotion like never before. I am not finished reading this but I have seen the movie and read "the Lover" several times in the past month. It has awakened a dragon that was lying dormant for a long time. I am sooooo glad to read this book, because it has answered so many questions that the movie did not. WHile "The Lover" is my favorite movie, I was left lingering with many questions unanswered. But in reading this book, I feel much more fulfilled. Excellent read and I cannot wait to read more of Duras' work. Look out for my screenplay in the future. While it is nothing like that story, the emotion that was envoked in me by loving this story, allowed the art inside of myself to reappear. Like an old friend lost in time...

this is like a writers version of a directors cut of "the lover"...
if you loved the lover then you will love this :)

it fills in a lot of details that were not included in "The lover"...

answers some of the questions you might have been asking about "the lover"...

This is the first time I've read Marguerite Duras' book and I love her style of writting - superb, beautifully written and her usage of words. The translator get some credit of it - though I cannot compare since I dont know french.

If you have watch the movie, 'The lover', this book is must read. Many of the feeling, reaction .. just cannot be portrait enough in the movie.
From the starting of this book where the child met with the chinese man, it moves me deeply, in knowing their passions, their suffering and their seperation - far much than express in the movie as we will have a much broader idea.

I am not indicating that the movie is bad; it isnt at all. But, it is through this book that, the author has bring you into their capturing world, as if, you were there; you feel their pain and their love affairs.

Considerable addition to "The Lover", actually much better. Her notes which include her ideas as to how the book should be filmed are particuarily fascinating.

I read this book because I love the movie. Marguerite Duras's novel is a fascinating retelling of the domestic experiences of her adolescence that have shaped her work. This book is far more daring and truthful, it emphasizes the tough realities of her youth in Indochina and reveals much that her earlier works concealed. This book both shock and entrance me. It's initially written as notes towards a film script for the "The Lover"; the book has grainy, film tic qualities of a documentary. Gone are the romantic and nostalgic readings of the past.

Here are the humiliations and passions of the poverty-ridden world in which Duras grew up: the intense sexuality of the young woman who was her friends and classmates, a group of adolescents impatient for the experiences of adulthood while still caught up in the conflicts of childhood. From one book to another, the lover has changed by counting his bankroll in front of the destitute whites, the older brother ready to kill for his drugs, the younger brother is transformed, the "child", and herself express differently with her stubborn desire and her pain.

Neither her worldly success nor the fuss about the "The Lover" have caused this novelist to deviate an inch from her desire to tell all, about the freshness of desire, the violence of loving, which makes us understand the work. Everything is here, immediate, sensual. "The North China Lover is a brilliant book that is both stunning and diabolical. Highly recommended.

Harriet Bisset is a reformed bad girl. This preacher's kid rebelled, and she has the reputation to prove it. Harriet's father retired, and he and her mother left for India on a mission trip. Now, his replacement, Pastor Paul, has his own way of doing things, which makes Harriet extremely unhappy. If the old way was good enough for her father, it should be good enough for Pastor Paul. He even goes so far as to hire Maddox McCray, a church consultant, and change becomes a way of life at First Grace Church. The problem is, Harriet doesn't like change. She's attracted to Maddox, and he makes it clear he's interested in her, but can they overcome her resistance to the way he's changing her church.
Change, just for the sake of change isn't always good, but refusing to accept any change isn't good either. Tamara Leigh presents an interesting concept, one I'm sure many churches face. Splitting Harriet is Chick Lit with a serious message. A fun, satisfying story of love and forgiveness, with a strong faith message.

This was, by far, my favorite of her books. It moved faster and kept my attention throughout. The characters were much more real to me than in her other books.

SPLITTING HARRIET is a very entertaining, modern day Prodigal "Daughter" tale of Harriet, a woman bound and determined NOT to return to her rebellious ways. She is so afraid of becoming weak that she has closed herself (and her heart) to life (and love) . . . until she meets someone who has faced his own addictions and knows all too well the pain that a trip down the wild side can leave in its wake. The result is a blossoming love story that truly begins when Harriet realizes that she must first forgive herself and then trust herself before she can really love herself . . . or anyone else! Another great read from Tamara Leigh!

"Splitting Harriet" was a refreshing change for the genre of chick lit, which usually focuses on high name fashion and outlandish shopping. While I enjoy that for a light read, at times, I loved that Leigh's "Splitting Harriet," created characters that the common woman (and man) could relate to. As a woman struggling with church issues, I appreciated Harriet's struggles with change in the church...as well as her struggles to not return to her "old life." She had rebelled, come back, but was still trying to prove to herself (and her brother) that she had changed...and that she wasn't going back. Real life struggles like many of us have.

Leigh's sense of humor had me cracking up, between Jelly Belly meltdowns and cat-caused chaos. The romantic tension between Harriet and bad-boy-redeemed Maddox had me cheering them on.

But I also blame Leigh for my lack of sleep, as I couldn't turn off the light until I had finished the last page.

Splitting Harriet by Tamara Leigh tells the tale of Harriet Bisset former rebel without a cause now Christian without a clue. Harriet, a PK (preacher's kid), lives in a trailer park for senior citizens, still attends her childhood church, and works at the diner she hopes to buy when the owner retires. After a major rebellion as a teen that included tattoos, promiscuity, and drinking, Harriet is trying to make up for her sins to the church she abandoned by taking care of the elderly within it. But Maddox McCray, the new church consultant, roars into town on a Harley Davidson and gets her bad girl blood boiling with both his edgy style and the changes he wants to make to her church. This is the first of Leigh's books that I've read, and I already have another one on my to-read pile. She manages to create lovable, realistic characters and delve into the inner life of Christians with equal aplomb. Harriet turned her life over to God, but lives in constant fear of slipping again, so she surrounds herself with safety. When I was a new Christian, I fell into the same trap: Christian music, Christian books, Christian TV. It's easy to live only within a small world within the larger world, and it feels safe. But God did not call us to retreat from the world, but to be his messengers within the world. Harriet is afraid of change and afraid of her feelings for Maddox because she doesn't trust herself to make right decisions. Leigh gives a powerful lesson about God's forgiveness being unearned and about not locking ourselves away from the rest of the world. I really fell in love with Harriet, and you will too.

This is a beautifully written story that is perfect for young adults. I work in a school where we have lots of students who do not like to read and they all read Love, Meg and thought it was great. The author does an authentic job of capturing the thinking and talking of a teenager. The story is unique and just plain fun. I recommend it to everyone!

I love the fact that her pen pal is "Jennifer Aniston"!!!!
So super cool!!!!
I love it when she reads the letters from her!

I walked into the library looking for a last minute book to read, and came across this book displayed in the young adult section and thought I should give it a go. I am SO happy I did! It was such a good book, and one that I didn't want to put down, wondering what was going to happen next. It did help that there were numerous Jennifer Aniston and "Friends" references, two of my favorite subjects!

Definitely would recommend it!!

Being a guy and not really connecting with the cover and the subject matter, I thought I'd get bored with this book half way through it. I was really surprised to see I wanted to know what happened to Meg from chapter to chapter. I didn't want to put the book down.

The writing is wonderful, the story is compelling and the characters are so very real that you will start to wish you knew Meg in person.

Though this book is clearly written for Woman, it has a big heart that anyone can connect with.

I loved Love, Meg because it kept taking me places I didn't expect. I didn't even expect to read it. I like adventure books. But my friend sent me the link, I heard the sample, and I bought it. Love, Meg is an adventure book.

First she crawls thru the wild world of Hollywood High. I laughed out loud ten times easy. I had just got what chic books were about when this big bomb goes off. A guy shows up and blows up everything Meg believes in. I wasn't laughing then, I was all into it. Then she starts all over again in another city-jungle, and goes hunting for .......You got to read that for yourself.

It would have been even better if an alien had climbed out of her Uncle's head or something, but when she gets the boyfriend that makes up for that. I was rooting for him under the boardwalk. There is another time when she's in an office talking to this business man when my heart was actually pounding in my chest, just like was happening to Meg. Nothing ever works out like I think in this book, and that includes the ending. I didn't see it coming. I was rooting for her boyfriend again then.

The next time I get a link to a chic book, I'm going to do the exact same thing. I'm going to listen to the sample. The rest.... I don't know.... but I highly recommend THIS book for both laughs, cool chic adventuring, and also I even got seriously into what happened to her and her family(s.) Go figure.

Jennifer Leigh Sauer has created a masterwork of words and photography that transcends the local tea culture in the San Francisco Bay Area and brings tea culture to a larger audience. By focusing on the Bay Area, she brings the centuries old concept of tea culture to a larger American audience. Her personal adventure in mastering this subject has created more than a local guidebook. Ms. Sauer's loving attention to detail has produced a beautiful book.

Few photographers can match Jennifer's eye for photographing tea. Her guide to tea in San Francisco is as complete a snapshot as you will find for this city that embraces both European and Asian tea traditions. The Way of Tea is a delicious feast for the eyes!

The Way to Tea has lured me into exploring the diverse world of tea and savoring its pleasures. The book's captivating pictures and thoughtful text are steeped with the author's spirit of adventure and appreciation for the world hidden behind cups of tea. The book inspires an awakening of the senses and intellect --an alluring antidote to the world of stressful living and mindless consumption. The Way to Tea is a beautiful way to celebrate the New Year as a gift to oneself or a friend.

What a delightful and well thought out book for Tea House Lovers, The Way To Tea. think the photos are beautifully done and I love the way the book reads. It is a perfect size for living room tables and friends have already picked it up at bookstores as well.I was surprised at how many quality places there are to go in San Fran. A great book for visitors and locals alike! Have already given two as gifts... many thanks

This is an excellent book with wonderful photographs and extremely well written. After reading this book I definitely want to visit San Francisco and visit some of the tea houses. Anyone would miss a great opportunity to learn more about tea and tea houses and history of tea if they do not buy this book.

Lora Leigh is a wonderful author. This series is well written, compelling and engrossing. You won't want the books to end.

This series gets hotter with every book and it makes it really hard to put down. The story line was good and the sex was phenomanal.

Lora Leigh's Bound Hearts series never fails to deliver. Wicked Sacrifice includes both Wicked Intent(book 4) and Sacrifice(book 5). Both stories are steaming hot and leaves you wanting even more. It always amazes me when Lora Leigh is able to write such detailed characters even in a short story.

Was wonderful. What I expected from Lora Leigh. Only I wish it had been a bit longer.

i THOUGHT the back was a little deceiving.The first story should have stated (SPOILER)it was about 2 men that she has feelings for i dont mind that it is but i was just expecting one guy. 2nd story i like as well GOOD read.

The book and series are full of hot sex and I prefer our men in these books to be of the Alpha Male and stay that way. This book sold me on the rest of the series and hopefully it will be a little more true to form on presenting an Alpha that knows he is one and wants to remain one.

While I love Lora Leighs work this is not my favourite of hers. There were two short stories in the book and not the same amount of emotional development as there is in her breed novels or my personal fav. of hers "forbidden pleasure". Still a good read.

I have loved all the books in this series by Lora Leigh and will enjoy reading more of her books.

I have just started reading Lora Leigh books and really enjoyed her and was told about these books. Just love James and Ella as a couple. Jesse was a real sweety and Terrie was really good with him. I did not want the book to end.

I first bought this book (and the whole series) in MS Reader for my PC and my laptop. Then I bought the series for my eBookwise ereader...more portable. Finally, I bought the paperbacks. I recommend all formats for this series. You can never get enough of a good thing. CJK