May Books

The unusual approach taken by Delamar here, is to give a biography of Louisa May Alcott, but then follow it up with an entire section devoted to Alcott's most famous book, "Little Women" as it was viewed from 1868 on, and then take both scholars' and average readers' assessments of it's place today. I liked that. It gave dimension. I think it shows scholarly research, but is written in language the average reader can read.

This triple-look at author Louisa May Alcott presents information I'd not seen in many of the other biographies. The special "finds" are a real contribution to literature. The book overall is scholarly, yet quite accessible in readability.

I have had this since it was first published and I have enjoyed it very much over the years. My father and I have been making the gingerbread recipe since I was young and just made it again last week (I often add chocolate chips to make it more of a treat). My daughter will soon be old enough to help me with these recipies and I look forward to sharing them with her. I highly reccomend this as a book to any parent or grandparent looking to share the baking experience with their child.

As a child, I loved cooking and loved hearing Little Women and Little Men. So I have many, many memories of enjoying this book. I think I read from it more than actually cooking, because the recipes definitely require help from a grown-up, at least for those toward the bottom of the target age. However, I "helped" my Mom make the Honey-Pumpkin Pie with Gingersnap Crust for Thanksgiving when I was five, and it's been a standing tradition in our family for 22 years now. I'll partially attribute my life-long love of cooking to this book, because it helped link work in the kitchen with stories I loved.

I don't own this book. I have never read it, but I know Ms Alcott is a wonderful writer.

A lovely, feel-good book that should be read around the fire on Christmas Eve, with children tucked in around you, and hot chocolate aplenty.

The childhood of Louisa May Alcott is surely a subject to fascinate young readers. While many recognize her as the author of the classic "Little Women," few may know that she also penned a poem, "Thoreau's Flute," a mournful tribute to her childhood friend, Henry Thoreau. In her verse she laments that "The genius of the wood is lost."

Louisa, very much like Thoreau, was drawn to nature. She wrote as a child and her authorial skills bloomed under the tutelage of her proud parents. Nonetheless, she found time to run off to the concord woods where Thoreau had built a hut, and Louisa said that she felt closest to God.

The Walden Pond area was often visited by Louisa and her sisters who enjoyed picnicking near the water and rowing on the Pond.

This story of a young girl's friendship with a kindred soul is beautifully illustrated with woodcuts, apt companions for a tale emphasizing individual realization and nature's bounty.

- Gail Cooke

The other evening I descended my stairs to find my husband snuggled on the couch with a picture book and my 3 year old son, reading. This is not unusual. What was unusual was that my thirteen year old daughter sat with them listening intently as well. The book, not surprisingly, was Louisa May and Mr. Thoreaus Flute.
It is a well woven story of inspiration and the search for authentic self. The illustrations have a distinctly natural appeal that defers to the passion of Thoreau very well. They absorbed my youngest. The story and the words are engaging and inspiring enough for my eldest, a big fan of Little Women. It is a lovely book to share with your young creatives.

I really enjoyed this book. Being a basketball player myself, this book hit close to home for me and the fact that this book was based on the 1980's helps me feel that i'm not alone in liviing this life. i hope there is a sequel!!

I really enjoyed this book. It was a fresh, fast, interesting read that took me back to some of my yesteryears where I took a nostalgic walk down memory lane and reminisced about falling in like, falling in love and replayed in my mind those tingly feelings we've all experienced at some point in time. Rashad is simple in her prose, but simplicity is what's needed to tell this simple, coming-of-age tale that reminds us about early beginnings, growing up, finding our true selves, alone but also with the special ones we love. I can't wait to read the promised sequel "Love, Lies and Basketball." Kudos to Rita Rashad!!! If you enjoy a good love story and you're a fan of women's basketball too (or even if you're not), this is DEFINITELY a book to get!

a great follow-up to the first book, making ribbon leis 2 continues on its lei making path, this time challenging the reader with more complex and time-consuming leis. these may take a long time and require effort, but the finished product is truly breathtaking and very realistic. Fabulous designs that can inspire you to be innovative in your choices of ribbons and design your own.

With a spiral binding allowing it to lay flat for easy reference, Making Ribbon Leis 2 by Coryn Tanaka and May Masaki is a simple, hands-on guide to creating colorful and festive leis just as are often used for celebration in Hawaii. Step-by-step instructions and color photographs mark this easy-to-follow, fun-to-do, one-of-a-kind, do-it-yourself, and enthusiastically recommended, instructional reference.

This is a great story and a lot of fun to read. My four year old loves it and it is one I never get tired of reading to him. I think all kids will enjoy this fun story.

This book is one of my four-year old daughters' top five books, and mine too. We checked this out at the library, then had to buy it because it became a favorite. We love this book!

I just finished reading Stedman Mays' Martha Place. As an avid mystery reader, I recommend the book for its fascinating exploration of the life of Martha Place. The author takes the facts of the case and then uses poetic license to construct a compelling work of fiction. As a New Yorker, I recommend the book for its accurate and interesting historical detail about turn-of-the-century Manhattan and Brooklyn Heights.
The book, in short, is indeed a good read!

I read this novel over the course of two days. I loved it. An incredible fictional story loosely inspired by a fascinating case from American history--the first woman in the world to go to the electric chair, at Sing Sing prison, New York, in the 1890's. Martha Place is a truly memorable character. I'm surprised that the author Stedman Mays, a man, was able to write in the voice of Martha Place, a woman, so convincingly. Anne Perry (a favorite author of mine) says it best in the mini-review she wrote, which appears on the cover of the novel: "A very human story told with great sensitivity. There is a courage to it which lifts it above ordinary tragedy. I found it very moving." I couldn't agree more. Should be made into a movie.

My son loves browsing this gigantic hardcover. It's a totally majestic volume of photos that lays on our den coffee table as an impressive reminder of our naval seapower.

Seapower is visually stunning, with page after page of pictures that show both the physical might of the Navy, as well as the hard work that its ships' crews undertake to make it all work.

Much like previous coffee table books on submarines and aircraft carriers, the book has little text, but relies instead on imagery to be worthwile. In doing so, they succeeded. Most modern classes of U.S. Naval warships are displayed, from the carriers, to the AEGIS cruisers, Arleigh Burke and Spruance destroyers, the Perry class frigates, battleships of the past, and support vessels. The pictures range from action shots to tranquil silhouettes against the setting sun, and the selected pictures leave a reader with a strong sense of the worldwide commitment and flexibility that makes the U.S. Navy the envy of the world.

This is not a history of the Navy, and doesn't encompass much in the way of naval aviation, training, and so forth. This is simply the raw, brute strength of the tip of the spear, and for those with an interest in the modern Navy, required bookshelf reference material.

I think this book is a great book to help those who have recently converted to Eastern Orthodoxy and has quickly become one of my favorites. The Spiritual counsel takes place in a communist country where many of those Fr. John are writing too are new to the faith and live in time of persecution. Here is a unique chance to have a glimpse at the simplicity of the Orthodox life. The importance of the individual's choice in determining the course of their own life while constantly taking up your cross. The publishers did us all a great favor in publishing this work. I highly recommend it to those who are already in the church and to those who are inquiring into the Church with the help of a priest to answers some of the issues you may come across.

This is a remarkable book about a remarkable person, a person gifted by God to provide us with a secure purpose and resolve in times of great insecurity. His simple and straightforward advice is so rich in its instructiveness, yet so honest in its application to our everyday problems of life. It would be a blessing to have this book in every Christian household, to guide us all through the many hidden traps of our short journey in this life.