May Books

Although the text doesn't follow along with the song my son loves this book and "reads" it all the time. Very sweet.

I own this book and have it for sale. But I noticed that no one had rated it and people looking for books on N.C. might not know what is in this to make a judgement about whether they want to buy it or not.

So here's what's in this book: Lots of DETAIL....photographs of people, places and art from past and present. Photographs of Wade Martin, a cool old photo of the inside pool of the Biltmore House, completely done in tile with no windows....Photos of wood statues/carvings from the area, lots of hooked rug and pottery history and photos. Packed with historical accounts as related by the elderly of what life was like in the 30s, that everyone worked,and what they did and how they did it. An interesting photo of an "automobile train" - 15 wagons hooked together and pulled by a Packard truck to haul rock off the mountain.

Detailed family histories, family tree of Harriet Elizabeth Alexander and the Mace Family, photos of tombstones, cemeteries and churches. Photos and descriptions of chairs and chair making: corn shuck woven maple ladderback,two-back wagon seat,detailed photos of workmanship. Photos of brochures of household implements indigenous to the area in the 1930s. Handweaving of Allie Josephine Mast, woven coverlets, Shook House, Mast House and inhabitants' histories and photos. History and photos of old sawmills. This book makes me want to visit Western N.C.

If you are visiting Western North Carolina and wouldlike to understand what history you are seeing, buy this book....

Perfect. Our friend with cancer was very pleased to receive it.
Pat & Louise

This lovely collection of stories is refreshing in it's honesty and authenticity. This is how real women think and emote. A refreshing change from the more frivolous, albeit amusing, fiction genre that has become so popular. If you want to have short journeys with an interesting woman, read these stories. This author truly understands how intellectual women and men process the world they live in.

Almost everyone wishes to lead a long and productive life. Most of us accept the biblical seventy as a reasonable life expectancy. Recently [circa 1978], organized research in the field of gerontology - the study of the problems of aging - has attempted to come up with a formula to increase life expectancy. Now all one has to do is read May You Live to be 200! to find some of the secrets of a long life; for amazingly enough, there is a group of people - those who live in the Caucasus, in Russia - who live to be well over 100 years of age!

Personal interviews, both with the centenarians themselves and their doctors (who, for the most part, are not therapists but astounded researchers), bear out the above statement. Henry Gris, whose native tongue is Russian, and Milton Merlin, afforded us a portrait of active, respected, well-adjusted men and women, who believe that life does not begin until after the age of 100 - quite a contrast to the present problems of the American elderly....

Included are diet lists, aphrodisiacs, daily programs, six rules for longevity, tips on working and sleeping, charts and statistical records.
--- excerpts from book's dustjacket

This is my first review, so I hope that tells you how strongly I feel about this book. I actually purchased my copy as a college freshman in 1989 when I was feeling homesick before the holidays. It was very comforting and comfortable - really reminded me of what Christmas felt like at home with Mom baking cookies and Christmas caroles on the record player. I re-read most of the stories every few years, and get something else out of them each time. This year as a mother I saw a few of them with new eyes (sometimes teary). I am now purchasing a few copies to use as gifts - this is a book that every Christian woman can enjoy. There is fine literatrure here, but also warm stories and heartfelt themes.

Big Mama is an older black woman with a scrapbook containing the mementoes of her youth and her granddaughter loves to look through it with her. Today, they are together on the bed looking through it and there are pictures of Big Mama and another girl named Bettie Jean playing together. Bettie Jean was a black girl from the upscale area of town with Big Mama was from an area on the lower end of the economic scale.
Big Mama and Bettie Jean went to the same school and one day when young Big Mama's father was doing yard work in the upscale area, Bettie Jean called over from her house and asked Big Mama to come over and play. They enjoyed themselves immensely and when it came time for lunch, Bettie Jean's mother fixed them immense sandwiches with plenty of fixings.
A short time later, Bettie Jean was over at Big Mama's more modest house playing and when it was time for lunch, there was very little in the way of special things. Therefore, the girls had may'naise sandwiches and sunshine tea. May'naise sandwiches were simply a layer of mayonnaise between two slices of bread and sunshine tea was nothing more than sugared water. Fortunately, Bettie Jean was fine with that and later that day, Big Mama's parents explained to her that it was the thought and companionship that made her day with Bettie Jean, not the price of the food they consumed. The story closes with Big Mama and her granddaughter going to the kitchen to fix a special lunch.
Life is not equal in the socioeconomic sense, yet we can all be equal if we understand that it is appreciating each other for what we are that makes the world work harmoniously. Big Mama's parents were proud people who worked hard and held up their portion of the social structure. They instilled in their daughter a sense of joy in who she was and this story demonstrates how Big Mama was trying to pass those values along to her granddaughter. It is a delightful story.

This is the true story of Leslie Lemke, a severely disabled musical savant whose remarkable talents emerged as a result of the unfailing love and faith of his adoptive mother, May Lemke. Shirlee Monty's prose is both honest and elegant, and is a fitting vehicle for this truly uplifting tale. Those in need of spiritual rejuvenation would do well to turn to Monty's masterful work before picking up Simple Abundance or Chicken Soup for the Soul.

Medieval History in the Tudor Age, by May MicKisack, is an attempt "to trace the interests and activities of a number of sixteenth-century Englishmen who were concerned to preserve the memory of their country's past" (pg 170). The "sixteenth-century Englishmen" include John Leland, one of the pioneer antiquarians who sought to save texts from the extensive monastery libraries during the Dissolution under Henry VIII, and John Bale who continued Leland's work. An entire chapter is devoted to Matthew Parker, the most famous bibliophile of the age and his circle. Matthew Parker was appointed the Archbishop of Canterbury under Elizabeth I and he used his position to send his agents around the British isles to save manuscripts from destruction and inquire about lost libraries. He was the first Englishman to organize the printing of a series of important historical texts and his efforts stimulated others. The author then moves to Patrons and Collectors, many of whom were active in the consolidation of a royal palace library. She makes the effort to give the reader a broad spectrum of collectors to illustrate how the "taste of history was widespread throughout the land" (pg 74).

By far the most interesting chapter is on the General Histories of Britain. The primary historians, Polydore Vergil, Hall, Fabyan, Rastell, John Stow, Foxe, Holinshed, among others are examined along with their principle works. The analysis of the influence on Protestantism on the view of Medieval History is a highlight of the text. Many historians were interested with the earliest chroniclers who recorded events before the Pope's influence had become as widespread. Also, kings who were considered "anti-papal" such as Henry II, were brought to the fore in an effort to justify the break with the Church of Rome as already apparent in English History. Also, expounded by many for propaganda purposes (and excluded by the more critical) was the myth propagated by Geoffrey of Monmouth of the founding of England by a Trojan named Brutus. The founding date made London older than Rome and English civilization older than Roman civilization. The extent that Holinshed, a practitioner of a "virulent form of Protestantism," goes to reduce the Catholic medieval past is astounding. He declares that "Thomas Becket's mother was Syrian Born and a Saracen by religion!"

My only qualm about this magisterial (and tediously detailed and referenced) work is her brief treatment of the strain of history influenced by Machiavelli. In the tradition of Medieval chroniclers, and to a greater degree, Tudor historians sought to teach morals. Stow, at the end of every kings reign would give a short summary and the moral of the tale. The Machiavelli and continental influenced historian dispensed with morals. John Hayward is one the primary proponents in England and was thrown in the Tower at the end of Elizabeth I's reign partially because he had failed to provide morals (his history was on the usurper Henry IV who murdered Richard II), and partially because his patron was an ex-favorite in revolt. McKisack barely gives John Hayward a paragraph, while other minor figures get pages. This is an immensely detailed, scholarly, and illuminating text that explores the historiography of the Medieval period during the Tudor age and how medieval history was selectively used to further political and cultural aims of the day.

A lovingly written mystery that was orginally one of a set of three, this book is for those who enjoy looking back at at different time when romance and mystery were more pure. This is one of those books that will make you smile as you read it. If you're looking for a graphic novel, this is NOT your cup of tea.