Nova Books

Path of Life was Tolstoy's last work, written in the last year of his life. It is a compendium of thoughts by great thinkers throughout time, from all religions, as Tolstoy did not believe in a dogmatic religion but in one which all people could share. Tolstoy's similar work, A Calendar of Wisdom: Daily Thoughts to Nourish the Soul, Written and Selected from the World's Sacred Texts, is more easily accessible in its day by day format but is not nearly as extensive as Path of Life in elucidating exactly what Tolstoy though the meaning of life to be.

What is most amazing about this book is the fact that this is the first translation of one of Tolstoy's most important works. There are few books which hold a permanent place on my bookshelf: Path of Life is one of them.

This book is the culmination of 36 years of research by the author, whose wife was a direct descendant of Patrick Cottar. Researching the origin of a family in eighteenth-century Nova Scotia is very difficult unless the family happens to descend from the Acadians, Foreign Protestants, Planers, or Loyalists. It appears that the Cottars were not members of any of the foregoing emigrant groups.

Surnames included in this book: Adamson, Archibald, Arsenault, Atkinson, Baillie, Baldwin, Barnhill, Bird, Blaike, Blair, Bos, Briard, Bridgett, Burrows, Burten, Butler, Caldwell, Cameron, Chapman, Chisholm, Christensen, Churchill, Clark, Clow, Cole, Cook. 96 pages, hard cover. 2001.

The characters that were introduced in the first volume and continued their journeys in the second volume begin to meet each other. Either knowingly or not, their destinies are all intertwined. As they say, you are only six degrees of separation from anyone in the world. The six degrees is the maximum, and our characters are all going to be much closer than the six by the time we are done.

Ed and Norman both learn hard, but valuable lessons. Tom has brought them so close to the listener that it actually hurts to hear them learning the hard lessons. The others are learning new things as well, but not in so tough a manner as Ed and Norman. We still have a ways to go, and need to learn more about the chracters and how they are all related.

Expertly compiled by attorney Daniel Sitarz, Personal Legal Forms Simplified is a no-nonsense consumer reference which is packed from cover to cover with everything an American needs to know concerning basic contracts, wills, living trusts, bills of sale, promissory notes, and more. Its easy-to-use forms (valid in all 50 states and Washington D.C.), are both available in the text and are also included on CD. Personal Legal Forms Simplified is an excellent and strongly recommended resource for ordinary citizens with no specialized legal training or experience of their own.

This book of photographs,edited by Allan Sekula was published by the press of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design when Sekula was at NSCAD as a visiting professor in 1984. I know, because I met him then and he is one of the few insightful critics of photography. These photographs were taken earlier this century in a mining area of Nova Scotia,Sekula chose them from a larger body of pictures,and provided commentary that put them into a meaningful social context,and described how this was an important part of that area's visual culture. I am amazed it is cited in Amazon.com,it was a pleasent suprise to find it here. Now,try finding a copy!

I believe, as usual,
Book News did not read
the book they intend to review...
So...

Part of the "Canadian Immigration" series, Pier 21: Stories from Near and Far is a fact-filled book for young people about Pier 21, a building that saw 500,000 Canadian service people off to fight in World War II, as well as witnessing the arrival of countless children, war brides, refugees, and displaced persons. Illustrated with maps and historic black-and-white photographs as well as some color photography, Pier 21 is a surprisingly detailed resource that brings the dock's rich history to vibrant life. Enthusiastically recommended for children's library Canadian History shelves. "During the first half of the 20th century, Canada's immigration politics mirrored the intolerant beliefs of many Canadians about certain people... 'Non-preferred' immigrants included Blacks, Asians, and Jews. Changes were later made to Canada's immigration policies to eliminate such discrimination."

On the faculty of Southern Illinois university in Carbondale, Illinois, Danial Sitarz is an experienced business attorney and has authored more than two dozen legal and small business books. He therefore brings considerable expertise to the latest addition to the Nova Publishing Company's 'Law Made Simple' series in "Powers Of Attorney Simplified" in which he provides the non-specialized general reader with a comprehensive guide to the use of powers of attorney and the legal forms (valid in all fifty states and Washington D.C.) associated with them. The legal authorities including: Limited Power of Attorney; Durable Power of Attorney; health Care power of Attorney; general Power of Attorney; Unlimited power of Attorney; Advance Health Care Directives, and more. The forms are on an accompanying CD and can be easily filled in and printed out on any home or office computer. Thoroughly 'user friendly' from beginning to end, "Powers Of Attorney Simplified" is a confidently recommended addition to personal and community library reference collections.

This book is a great book to use as a resource when prepariang for a disaster. Don't let the title fool you into thinking that it can only be used for a nuclear disaster, although that is the book's main focus. Many of the guidelines (such as what types of food to store or how to build a homemade water purifier) can be used for other types of calamities. The book is easy to understand and follow. It is written in simple, layman's terms. In other words, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to follow the directions.

"I hadn't been born the day before yesterday, and had come to realize that words do indeed make a difference" (p.23).
And so they do.
Admirers of Robert Reginald's Nova Europa novels were waiting for Quæstiones, though without knowing what to expect - except that it would surprise them. Each of the novels has had a different historical setting, a different tone, and different preoccupations. If you dipped into European history at different moments and in different places, each time the mix would be different. So why shouldn't that also be true of Reginald's alternative vision of Europe, Europe as it might just have become, but for a single spear-thrust into the side of a pagan Roman emperor on a battlefield near Baghdad in the year 363 of the Christian Era.
Quæstiones is about a fantastic journey. Magic plays an important role, but the journey is more truly fantastic in another sense - as in all great journeys, the travellers not only discover the wonders of the world, but also learn about themselves. It's a gentler book than the earlier novels, yet there are plenty of robust characters and situations, and it must be one of the few full-length novels in any language to have a parrot as one of the central figures.
To come back to the words: Reginald charms, jokes and seduces as in all his books. Legs are pulled, vanities punctured and narrative rabbits pulled out of hats. It's a good read.