Rowe Books

I bought and read this book in two days. The story of Jimmy Swaggat captures my heart because I too am an Assemblies of God pastor. I too have seen the fall of many sincere Christians because they got focused on power, money, greed, sex, or anything other than preaching the Word of God (Col. 3:16).

This book offers the reader an inside view of the life of Jimmy Swaggart. It is rather long though from his family background until Swaggart becomes the world famous evangelist he was to be prior to his fall into sin.

The details of the sexual fall of Swaggart are troublesome for those who are not use to strong sexual language. The negatives of this book is that Seaman does use offensive language at times and she is very harsh on Pentecostals and other conservative Christians. Seaman, at times, seeks to put the blame not on Swaggart himself but upon the Assemblies of God and the Church of Jesus Christ. This of course is not the case for anyone who is committed to being a true disciple.

One final note, I do not doubt Swaggart started out with a sincere heart for people and for God but he allowed his unconfessed sins and unrepentance to keep him from obeying God. Be sure, the Bible says, yours sins will find you out. And in the end, God exposed Swaggart to the world but thankfully we serve a sinless Savior. As Jim Elliott once wrote, "We are all nobodies seeking to glorify somebody."

I have long held the theory that there is little difference between a popular televangelist and a rock star. They just play to different audiences. Both undergo the same temptations. Both face the same potential pitfalls that are the side-effects of fame. The life of Jimmy Swaggart is in many ways intertwined with that of his cousin, rock-and-roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis (and, to a lesser extent, with his other famous cousin Micky Gilley). This book gives insight into how these relationships, along with his poor Southern upbringing and his youthful religious experiences shaped him into to the well-known Christian celebrity he later became. Soberingly, it also points out that the seeds of his downfall were planted early in life, and the demons that would gain victory over him were the same ones he struggled against his entire life.

What really impresses me about this book is the fact that it is anything but a hatchet job. In fact, Jimmy Swaggart had many admirable qualities, despite his struggles with anger and sexual temptation. The author points out many times that the media was unfair in their assessment of Swaggart. She bends over backwards, in fact, to be fair and even-handed. The book does make it fairly clear that much of the ambition to make it to the "top" and the later drive to maintain a lavish lifestyle comes from his wife, who rules the Swaggart empire with an iron hand. If there is any fault in this book, it's that it barely mentions the years since the scandal, where Jimmy maintains a more modest, scaled-down ministry. But that is a minor fault. All the important stuff is here.

Being from Louisiana, I've known of Rev. Swaggart most of my life. I attended one of his first worldwide campmeetings in Baton Rouge. During one afternoon service, we got to shake hands with him. A tour of his ministry included a look at his Goya Avenue headquarters and his house in Tara. That was awhile back. He's since moved both his home and ministry. Many ministers have received unfavorable press coverage. This book's tone is mostly negative. One of the main sources was his 1978 autobiography, To Cross A River. Another was the highly critical Let Us Prey, written by Marvin Gorman's lawyer. We hear from some family members. Comments cover a broad range. The book does get graphic and disgusting at times. Do we need this information about pornography? His wife Frances' "nylon-clad" legs are mentioned. Translation: she was wearing panty hose! There is material regarding the scandals that nearly destroyed his ministry. Talk about one sided! These allegations are treated as proven fact. Most likely, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. It's highly unlikely that Rev. Swaggart will tell his side of the story. One story can definitely be put down as bogus. There's a humorous incident regarding him baptizing a baby. PENTECOSTALS DON'T BAPTIZE BABIES! In fact, he blamed a question on the subject for getting him cancelled in predominantly Catholic cities. Maybe the author got confused about baby dedications. The Swaggart ministry continues, though on a smaller scale. I still think that he should have submitted to the Assemblies Of God's rehabilation program. Even during the state organization's 3 month suspension, he would get up and testify. This book does deal with the effect of his defrocking. The author did a lot of work on this book. It is a good read at times. But talk about needing more balance!

In an age where a television network has become a propaganda arm of the government and co-opted the phrase "fair and balanced", I hesitate to use those two words any more. But fair and balanced, in its true and original sense, is exactly how I would describe this smart, sensitive and thorough study of the fascinating and immensely talented preacher Jimmy Swaggart.

Ms. Seaman has done a superb job with this book. It would have been so easy to denigrate Pentecostal/Charismatic religion or Southerners in general while telling the story of Jimmy Lee Swaggart's rise and fall, but the author has taken the high road. She writes of the South and its rural religious traditions with the respect and authority that perhaps only a Southerner could manifest. She even treats the tender subject of Brother Swaggart's sexual proclivities with a lot more grace and taste than the Brother probably deserves, considering that he has made a career out of telling others how to live their lives. She also avoids any mention of Swaggart's numerous nervous tics, malapropisms, and his abiding hatred of Catholics, gays, and generally anyone else who won't get with the Biblical program as he interprets it.

As she so thoroughly documents, the power and dynamism of Swaggart's electrifying onstage performances would always reach their apex just as Jimmy was at the peak of sexual frustration, and just at the cusp of giving in to temptation. I personally witnessed this at Swaggart's 1987 Thanksgiving Campmeeting in Baton Rouge, in which he ranted, raved and rocked a beyond-capacity audience of 8000 souls who hung on his every word, shortly before hopping in his car and heading over to New Orleans to visit a prostitute. This should not be surprising, considering that most of the "power" in "that old Pentecostal power" is generated by sublimating one's sexuality, and compressing one's humanity and flaws into the pinched, narrow mold of bible-approved expression of the self.

I would put this book right alongside Dr. Edmund Cohen's landmark work "The Mind of the Bible Believer" as a fascinating study in the destructive psychology of fundamentalist Bible belief. However, this book's highest achievement may be in the fact that it can be enjoyed by both believer and doubter alike. Any intelligent reader will be satisfied with this excellent book. Now we just need a sequel, to document Jimmy's subsequent series of continuing rises and falls with other financial supporters and other prostitutes.

"Swaggart" is readable, carefully researched, and objective.

The media focus on the scandals, and these are covered in the book. Ms. Seaman also discusses many of the good things this minister and his ministry have accomplished, such as feeding the hungry, building churches, and supporting missionaries overseas.

Mrs. Swaggart is often portrayed as a "dragon lady," but Ms. Seaman is quick to point out the important, positive and supportive role she has played in her husband's life and ministry.

This book is well worth the price.

I wouldn't say The Black Stallion Revolts was the best written of the Black Stallion series, there are certainly alot of jumps to get where the author wants you to go. But the Black Stallion books are never dull, and always make for an exciting read, and this is no exception.

If I said a lot about this book, it would give it away and spoil the fun of reading it. So, I'll say this:

Alec and the black are in a plane crash in the middle of the rockies. Alec is left with amnesia and the Black is left in the wild and he becomes the "black outlaw."

You will enjoy the book. Find out how the Black and Alec meet again!

THE BLACK STALLION REVOLTS is, so far, the most exciting Black Stallion book I've ever read. When the Black colics, he causes the airplane pilots of the plane he is riding on to lose control. Alec and the Black somehow manage to fall out of the plane, but seperately from each other. Alec suffers amnesia and tries to remember his past, but the Black is wild and free. Now they are alone, unknown, isolated.

I give this a four because I am so angry about what happened to Alec and the Black. Amnesic (or something like that) Alec wanders about thinking his name is Mcgregor while the black is claimed by some cowboy people (you can tell i haven' read this in a long time) Some people think he is a run away murderer and of course Alec doesn't know if he is, he might after all he woke up with blood on his hands. he has no ID either just a bunch of money which he could have stolen (sigh) Finally he remembers who he is and everyone lives happily after. It's a good book but you don't have to read it to understand the rest of the series like some other books in the series. it's almost like and extra or a palate cleansor, but it was worth the money.

This book is great for everyone who loves horses(especially the Black)! After a fight at Hopeful Farm, the Black and Alec head to a free-range ranch for a few months. On the way, a accident in the wilderness sends Alec across many states running from the police(he has amnesia and thinks he murdered someone) and trying to regain his memory.

This book is inspiring to future mothers, new mothers, and grandmothers. It's neatly organized into six sections, all of which give the reader a quick insight into both the problem and the solution for that area. The best part of the book is that it offers simple solutions to widespread issues, such as paternity leave, flexible and part-time work schedules, afterschool programs, responsible childcare and more! I recommend this book to every future mom to understand the obstacles in this nation for parents. I recommend this book to every new mom to understand that all parents are in that same boat with you. I recommend this book to every advocate to recognize simple and affordable changes we can make in our nation to raise our children better. This book is not just for moms. It describes a plan to make a better America for everyone.

A very important book. I agree that some issues were overlooked, but I think that for a simple manifesto format they covered the important basics.

This is a great resource for women and mothers! Joan Blades first, clearly lays out the major issues we face and second, identifies an action plan that we can all contribute to.

Reading this book made me really, really, unbelievably sad...but then, all books of this nature tend to do that to me. I am of two minds on this one...part of me really liked it, but the rest of me loathed it. I do think that probably all women who are in their early twenties, at the start of their career track and considering "having it all" (the career, the husband and the kids) should read this, because there is a harsh reality that comes with being a mom (or dad) AND working full time...and the alternative of one parent staying home requires sacrifices that are just as great (unless you're lucky enough to have a spouse that actually does make enough to support this...and fewer and fewer do anymore). Reading something like this would have been a real eye opener for me ten years ago...and I probably would have made different choices than I did in having our children...I went into it blindly, thinking it would all work out because we decided to undertake parenting as a joint venture, but the reality is quite different than what one might think. Parenting is expensive and hard...but mostly the expense is hard to deal with (the rest has its rewards and is therefore easier to take).

The book stresses that families NEED two full time working parents to make ends meet and doesn't seem to take into account people who choose to do with less (like one car instead of two, second hand instead of new, ect...) to have one parent stay at home and the other work full time...but the reality is that for the way most people live and the wages they can realistically pull down, both do need to work just to make a basic living wage with no bells or whistles. What got my dander up is that the book proposes that mothers WANT (or need) so much and they should get it just because they are mothers and it's the right thing to do...without any REAL ideas on how these changes could be brought about realistically. The reality is that unless you already are at a job (that has a family friendly staff) you're probably not going to be able to negotiate flex time or bring your kid to work (and how many single, or non parent people...or even parent people) WANT someone's kid at work all the time (or even occasionally)...I know when I worked, I hated it when people brought their kids in to hang out while they worked...it's disruptive even when the kids ARE well behaved...and most aren't.

The rest of it, well there are so many women (and men) out there who are vehemently opposed to any type of benefits for parents, because, well, how dare mothers or fathers demand (and get) benefits that singletons wouldn't get...and why should they have to pay for or support parents and their evil spawn...there is such a backlash against mothers out there that I am seeing seething out there these days...I don't see the manifesto being well received by men or women in general...and especially by those who have chosen not to have children. In some ways I can understand this, as ALL people parents or not, deserve to earn a living wage, have healthcare and all that stuff too, and I can see where the idea of implementing universal child health coverage would get the dander up in single people or childless couples, the same way paying taxes for schools they don't need and will never use does NOW. The same people that don't want to pay taxes for your kids to go to school, certainly won't want to pay taxes for your kids to have universal healthcare coverage.

Overall, I think it's a good book, but the reality of DOING what this book suggests is just mind-bogging. I don't see it happening anytime soon...my advice, unless you have a fantastic support system of child friendly family and friends...or a super high paying job that you're guaranteed not to lose in the next twenty years...seriously reconsider having children. Without one or the other (or, even better, both) becoming a parent will be a significant financial drain and you really will have a hard time properly parenting your kids...just read through the child care section in this book or talk to a few minimum wage working mothers with kids in substandard daycare situations if you don't believe me. Oh, yea...and I'm serious about the child-friendly part of my above statement...just because they are your family and friends doesn't mean they will actually want to help you or support you in your parenting emotionally or by offering supplemental child care and babysitting. Heck, we had a few friends that refused to socialize with us after our daughter was born...SOCALIZE, not watch our kids, just come and have dinner or play games or hang out...yea, that's right, you might actually LOSE friends by having kids because there ARE people who don't want to deal with them at all and/or who feel that somehow they'll be roped into helping with the rugrat...it does happen. I give the book B-...great ideas but I don't see the ieas here being easy to implement or widely accepted.

THE MOTHERHOOD MANIEFSTO is a good introduction of key points necessary to improve lives of mothers and children and families, both in the workplace and at home. Blandes and Rowe Finkbeiner present the following as a part of a 'Motherhood Manifesto' - key items that mothers and anyone who care about them should agree on to improve the lives of mothers and families:

M: "Maternity/Paternity Leave"
O: "Open Flexible Work";
T: "TV You Choose and Other After-School Programs"
H: "Healthcare for All Kids"
E: "Excellent Child Care"
R: "Realistic and Fair Wages."

Blandes and Rowe-Finkbeiner write in easy, clear prose (some may find it a bit too basic). They support the need for the 'manifesto items' with engaging examples of how mothers and families both struggle without the above elements, and how mothers, families, and businesses have made things work once one or more of the above 'manifesto items' are implemented. They also substantiate their claims with many references.

The book is a good introduction for those who are new to the topic. For those who are already engrossed in the issue, the book does not present anything truly new. As someone who has been interested in women's issues for years, this book really did not present any exciting new information.

The book definitely has its biases. Most importantly, in many ways, the book doesn't address the roots of the problems facing not only mothers and families, but society as a whole.

I couldn't help feel somewhat sympathetic with those 'evil' CEOs and others, who prefer to hire men and single women versus mothers. If we want to live in a society where we value profits and efficiency, pay the cheapest prices for products, do not want to pay our taxes, and want all kinds of luxuries, we pay for this by having absurdly low minimum wages, lack of benefits (especially for part time work) and in general a whole host of family unfriendly policies. Our institutions, all things being equal, will prefer to hire single women and men to mothers (noting that mothers perform the vast majority of child care duties).

Looking at the Point of View of the CEO who wants to maximize profits and efficiency, would you prefer to hire someone (all things, such as qualifications and skills, being equal) who leaves for months of family leave, sick leave (for taking care of those sick kids) and has to run home early in the evening to get kids out of day care, or would you prefer to hire someone who can work without all these interruptions?

Ultimately, we can't keep the kind of society we have (have corporations maximize profit, and businesses maximizing efficiency, expect to pay low low prices at our nearest Walmart for all kinds of goodies, and not want to pay taxes) AND have a truly family friendly society. We as a society have to determine what we really want for ourselves, our families, and our businesses, and make some hard choices.

While the Manifesto Items presented by Blandes and Rowe Finkbeiner are a good beginning, they should only form the beginning of a much deeper trend to change society as a whole so we value women (mothers and non-mothers), families, and children as they deserve to be valued. Profits and efficiency, fed by a consumptive materialism, will have to take a lesser role. Unless we realize that we can't have our cake and eat it also, mothers and families will continue to get the short end of the stick.

I loved the first three books. They made me laugh outloud! So of course I
preordered the fourth and had high expectations, which it failed to meet.
The story in my view totally lacked the humor of the others. Paige lacked the self confindence of the previous heroines and seemed to look for everyone else to get her out of trouble instead of trying herself. Her constant cheerfulness was annoying, She was staying at Becca's and doing nothing with her life but surposedly fighting her soul going black
while longing for a bad boy! Spoiler alert in the end she ends up saved by Jed by him bathing her in heavens river something that is said early on couldn't handle what was happening to her and would probarbly end up
destorying heaven! The villans in the book is the council, men in white,
and an angel who she killed but hey it's ok he had sexually molested one
of his charges. It feels like the series is going to close soon with a
story of Mona and Jeds brother. Hopefully some of the laughter will come back and it will end with a story that delights us instead of another that makes us wonder how did such a great series go downhill. I love rereading my books but this one I only read a second time, and was hoping that during the reread my opinion of the book would improve but it
failed to do so. Read the first three the fourth don't bother! Or if you must read it get it from the liabray and read it before buying so you can decide yourself whether it's worth keeping. I wish I did.

I have read other books by this author, but especially enjoyed this one. It was fun, sexy, and creative. I read
a lot of books of this genre, but this was such a fast read I was sorry it was over. More like this, please!

In this the fourth installment of Stephanie Rowe's Immortally Sexy series we follow Paige Darlington (Becca's former Rivka apprentice) Paige's body is slowly being taken over by an evil wraith; to combat the evilness that is taking over her body and soul Paige joins forces with Jed Buchanan a shadow warrior that is as dark as one can get. Can these two over come fate and all the other obstacles Rowe throws into their path?

I loved Sex & the Immortal Bad Boy, we were introduced to Paige in the last book of this series He Loves Me Hot. It pleased me to no end to find the perky innocent telling us her tale. I'll admit I was afraid that Paige wouldn't be strong enough to pull off her own novel but I was pleasantly surprised. Rowe managed to keep the wide eyed innocence we first encountered while staying true to the integrity of the character.

The critic that called this story genre bending was correct. I had complete fun reading this story with all its plot twists and turns and especially enjoyed the vivid characters. The ideas presented on Satan, Satan Jr., immortals, evil armies were laugh out loud. I got a kick out of the shape-shifting Goblet of Eternal Youth and the side characters that pop in and out of the hair raising adventures of the story's leading man and lady. The fact that all this supernatural fun is centered on a romance/love story makes it even sexier, better even. Ms. Rowe does a fine job expanding on the supernatural and mythologies while expanding on it which makes for a smooth blending of comedy and romance. This book was fine entertainment.

Paige Darlington no longer relies on Satan to supply her life force, but the Rivka may not have much life left in any case. Her former boss from Hell has turned her into a time bomb; a wraith lives inside her, just waiting to come out and turn sweet, perky Paige into a stone cold killer. She can no longer touch anyone, lest they die, even if they are immortal. Satan is no help; he did this to her, doesn't know how to reverse it, and is in a bad mood because Iris jilted him. Her only hope lies in either finding the scientist who invented the wraith or being cleansed in Heaven. She hopes Jed Buchannan, one of the few people she can touch because he's a shadow warrior and on Satan Junior's payroll, can get her into Heaven. There's just a few problems with that. Junior wants his dad's new toy and has the means to force Jed into betraying the woman he is falling in love with. Then, when the Council gets word of what Paige has become, she becomes a fugitive from them as well. With her life and soul, not to mention the world, hanging in the balance, Paige is in the worst fix any Rivka has ever been in.

**** Ridiculous comedy and hair raising suspense blend perfectly in this fast paced romance. The action never lets up as Paige's troubles grow deeper and deeper. You won't know whether to laugh or shiver most of the time. If you need a fun read, then this is the book for you. My one complaint is there was no preview of the next book in the end. I hope that does not mean the series is over, that would be a terrible shame. ****

Amanda Killgore

Get this book. Not only does it contain all the recepies you could ask for, it is actually possible to ask the more artistically oriented suppliers of chemicals for a liter of, say, nr. 314 and they'll mix it for you.

The only thing I can say against this book is it should have more chemical explanations about the corrosion products formed as patinas, everything else is good.

I could read for hours and hours about the different colors that are discussed is this book. I would consider this book an excellent source for information on just about any color patina you are looking for on silver, bronze, brass or copper. There are several beautiful color plates, but not nearly as many as there are colors that are given. I am also very interested in specifics and would have like to have seen some color photos of the processes in action, but, I am now just making my own. Anyway, it is a great book and I am glad to have it in my collection.

Very nicely done, but I concur with those who believe additional photos are a must. A CD-ROM with high resolution images to go with each of the authors' experiments would be a useful upgrade to an otherwise astonishing book.

I do feel that this book flags the hazardous materials very well, in fact, included are recipes which are subsequently not recommended by the authors based on the total risk or risk/reward ratio. The authors do assume some basic intelligence on the part of the reader.

There are in addition examples of some very effective patinations, as evidenced in the color plates, which are achieved with relatively benign chemicals and methods; these should appeal to those who are not willing or prepared to work with more hazardous materials. Know your limits.

The techniques employed are described clearly. To cap it off, recipes which give consistently good results are highlighted by an asterisk, a very thoughtful feature to help navigate through the abundance of esoteric and useful formulae.

Bravo!

More than pleased with this purchase. These guys put serious time and energy into relaying info about patination. They leave no questions unanswered, as well as, they give tons of formulas to create with. The amazon price is the best out there!

The Woodlanders is said to be one of Hardy's more descriptive novels and Hardy is also said to have a love for this part of the country. I thought this was a beautiful passage:

"From the other window all she could see were more trees, jacketed with lichen and stockinged with moss. At their roots were stemless yellow fungi like lemons and apricots, and tall fungi with more stem than stool. Next were more trees close together, wrestling for existence, their branches disfigured with wounds resulting from their mutual rubbings and blows. It was the struggle between these neighbors that she had heard in the night. Beneath them were the rotting stumps of those of the group that had been vanquished long ago, rising from their mossy setting like decayed teeth from green gums. Farther on were other tufts of moss in islands divided by the shed leaves--variety upon variety, dark green and pale green; moss-like little fir-trees, like plush, like malachite stars, like nothing on earth except moss."

And this description of Winterborne as a wood-god really stood out for me:

"He rose upon her memory as the fruit-god and the wood-god in alternation; sometimes leafy, and smeared with green lichen, as she had seen him among the sappy boughs of the plantations; sometimes cider-stained, and with apple-pips in the hair of his arms, as she had met him on his return from cider-making in White Hart Vale, with his vats and presses beside him."

It is said that Winterborne was a creation derived from Hardy's own father.

The book also has the typical Hardy realism and tragedy based on innocence and wrong choices, the unfair position of women, mere chance, or should I say Chance, in keeping with the way Hardy uses it. For me, somehow, the more descriptive nature of the book, while not that descriptive--Hardy is a realist not a romantic, gave the book a hazy, almost somnolent quality that almost distracted from the clarity and meaning of the book. Maybe it was Hardy's intention to have the woods form a kind of shadowy hold over the characters, the readers--there's the strange effect a single tree had on Winterborne's father, and another on Grace. But Hardy's description of the moors in Return of the Native had more power for me. Also, the characters seemed undeveloped to me, especially Grace, who was a main character. Marty seemed more real, though maybe that was intentional as the book ends with her, and poor Grace floated un-fixedly in the non-place between two classes.

I love Hardy's novels and poetry otherwise I may have given it 3 stars. I just read it--it may be I need to ruminate on it for awhile.

The Woodlanders is the eleventh novel by Thomas Hardy. Hardy takes us to an obscure village in his mythical Wessex. The novel portrays the beautiful Grace Melbury a nubile young miss coddled by her parents; eager for glamour and disdainful of bucolic boredom. Grace is courted by Giles Winterbourne a local rustic but cast him off to wed Dr. Edred Fitzpiers the local doctor. The marriage is a disaster for Fitzper lusts for Madame Charmond. He also has a fling with Suke a local girl.
Fitzpiers flees to the Continent while Grace seeks reconciliation with
Winterborne. The couple hope to wed under a newly passed Parliamentary
law dealing with the right of women to obtain a divorce.
All goes wrong. Accidents occur as chance and fortune always play a part in the Hardy world. The novel does end happily which is rare for Hardy.
Hardy knew the English countryside as it moved from spring to winter.
His description of nature is beautifully written. Hardy also knew the south of England as it was moving from the rural nineteenth century to the modern world of the coming twentieth century.
The Woodlanders is one of the lesser known Hardy novels that is well worth your attention. The story is well told with many interesting and exciting plot developments which will hold the attention. Well recommended.

The Woodlanders (1887) is one of Thomas Hardy's finest novels, which deals with doomed love in a gloomy rural "partly real and partly dream" country of Wessex.

It is one of Hardy's favorite and if Hardy liked it, I do to, especially since I have never read this novel....I liked The Return of the Native...

THE BIG 6

FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD -1874
THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE - 1878
THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE - 1886
THE WOODLANDERS - 1887
TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES - 1891
JUDE THE OBSCURE - 1895

"It would have made a beautiful story," Thomas Hardy said about this novel, "if I could have carried out my idea of it; but somehow I come so far short of my intention."

"I wish you had never thought of educating me," Thomas Hardy's protagonist tells her father at one point in this novel, "because cultivation has only brought me inconveniences and troubles" (pp. 232-33). Hardy (1840-1928) wrote his eleventh novel in 1887, before his better-known masterpieces, TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES (1891) and JUDE THE OBSCURE (1895), and a year after THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE (1886). Set in the "partly real and partly dream country" of Hardy's Wessex, in the "sequestered" forest community of Little Hintock (located "outside the gates of the world," p. 6), a place where "loneliness is not so very lonely after a while" (p. 83), THE WOODLANDERS is about doomed love, betrayal, and social restraints, and like Hardy's other work, it succeeds as a satisfying story of a romantic disaster in Hardy's cruel universe. The novel tells the sad tale of a woman, Grace Melbury, forced to choose marriage between two suitors of different social statures, Giles Winterborne, a local woodlander with a gentle, virtuous nature, and Edred Fitzpiers, an ambitious doctor and a scoundrel. Influenced by her well-intentioned though meddling father, Mr. Melbury, who only wants his daughter to "marry well" (p. 89), Grace's decision ultimately leads to disastrous consequences and, in the end, to a lonely woman worshipping at a dead man's grave. Once again, we discover the course of love is never happy in Hardy's universe.

Rather gloomy for a Victorian romance novel? Well, yes. But reading Victorian fiction does not get any better than reading Thomas Hardy's extraordinary novels. Returning to Hardy's brooding, melancholy fiction after my first encounter with his novels more than twenty five years ago, I am re-discovering Hardy's brilliant ability to convey familiar, primordial truths through his fiction, making him worth reading again and again.

G. Merritt

Hardy classified THE WOODLANDERS with his Novels of Character and Ingenuity, which category included his very best novels (TESS, THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE, THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE). This 1887 novel is so bizarre, however, that you might feel it belongs more properly with his Romances and Fantasies. In the secluded rustic community of Little Hintock all manner of things are a-brewing: simple Marty South has a thing for cider-merchant Giles Winterbourne, who has been promised for years to marry well-educated Grace Melbury, but Grace's father marries her off instead to philandering Edred Fitzpiers, who has a thing for local wealthy widow Felice Charmond. In this circle of desire all manner of things can go wrong--and, this being Hardy, of course they do. Some of his wildest plot contrivances (including two bizarre scenes wherein the Widow Charmond must convey crucial information to Grace, and Fitzpiers even more crucial information to Grace's father) occur without the redeeming Shakespearean scope of a novel like THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE which allows you to overlook the wackiness. Still, even if this is lesser Hardy, it's still Hardy, so the novel has such poetically gorgeous evocations of landscape and character as to make everything worthwhile in the end.

The Black Stallion's Filly, by Walter Farley is exciting and full of suspense!
It is about the most famous race in America: The Kentucky Derby. Only a very few fillies have ever won The Kentucky Derby, but trainer Henry Dailey says Black Minx just might be up to the challenge. There is one big problem. Having been brought up as a pet, the black's first daughter resents training and will not go faster than an easy lope. How will they get her to run the race? There is only a few months until the derby; will she ever enter?
I loved reading this fictional story. I do not know the first thing about horse training, but I felt as though I were the one riding, training, and caring for that horse.
Farley shows that if you really want something, you have to be willing to work for it. It takes a lot of time, patience and perseverance to get a horse ready for the derby. I loved every minute of this book.

The Black Stallion's Filly, by Walter Farley is exciting and full of suspense!
It is about the most famous race in America: The Kentucky Derby. Only a very few fillies have ever won The Kentucky Derby, but trainer Henry Dailey says Black Minx just might be up to the challenge. There is one big problem. Having been brought up as a pet, the black's first daughter resents training and will not go faster than an easy lope. How will they get her to run the race? There is only a few months until the derby; will she ever enter?
I loved reading this fictional story. I do not know the first thing about horse training, but I felt as though I were the one riding, training, and caring for that horse.
Farley shows that if you really want something, you have to be willing to work for it. It takes a lot of time, patience and perseverance to get a horse ready for the derby. I loved every minute of this book.

Actually, I bought it for my 15 year old horse loving daughter and she is the one who feels it is a 5 star item. She says that it has a great plot and it keeps her interest up. She has read many horse books over the years so has quite a large collection, even some original misty books from her grandma. She rates it quite highly, so I guess I would too.

To give Henry Dailey credit it was he, not Alec, who bought Black Minx and trained her to race, although Alec did agree to be her exercise rider and jockey. Over 30 books the details become a bit fuzzy, which makes for some minor confusion. Otherwise, the Black Stallion's Filly is a great book. I can't say the same for the series. The author seems content with the pattern of the books, and hasn't stopped using it:

Alec/Henry finds a great horse (usually a son/daughter of the Black) and trains it, then (against all odds) the horse becomes a champion (usually through winning some great race.)

Aside from that, the characters are DULL. Alec plays the careful stable owner, while Henry does all the thinking, talking, and impulsive decisions, which is a drastic change from the first book, The Black Stallion, where Henry is a married man who has sworn off racing "forever." Another thing: Henry has been "old" for a very long time, yet he never gets any older, and never seems to suffer from any of the afflictions that usually come with old age - arthritis, etc.

While The Black Stallion's Filly gets 4 stars, the series gets 2.

I really enjoyed reading "The Black Stallion's Filly". Of course we all knew right from the get-go that Black Minx would win the Derby; the process was fascinating. This story really centers more on Henry and Black Minx, more than Alec and the Black. Henry's solutions for curing Black Minx of her bad habits and foibles were wonderful.

Oh and BTW, in response to an earlier reviewer's query: in the first chapter of the first book it is plainly stated that the Black is "too big to be pure Arabian". Additionally, in Book #2 (The Black Stallion Returns) Abu Ishak states that Shetan (the Black) is NOT a purebred Arabian. However, even if the Black WAS a purebred Arab, the Jockey Club was still registering Arabians up though 1943 (the first book in the series was published in 1941). One more thing - at least one offspring of the Black already WON the Kentucky Derby - Satan, in the book "The Black Stallion and Satan". Just FYI.

This was a funny book, couldn't put it down! Ready for the next one in the series.

HE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME HOT
STEPHANIE ROWE

Rating: 5 Enchantments

Meet Becca Gibbs and Nick Rawlings. Becca is Satan's number one Rivka. Rivka's are trapped to Satan's essence for all eternity. Becca has been harvesting souls for Satan for a very long time, one hundred years to be exact. She has killed and tortured someone very near and dear to her. She has also seen the jealousy in Satan's eyes when anyone shows her concern. Nick is a Markku, a being also created using Satan's life force. Nick's family and race were once Satan's top assassins, souls stealers, basically whatever Satan bid the Markku had to do. However, the Markku escaped Satan's control and now they are to be hunted down and destroyed.

Becca may have to follow Satan's order but she has spent the last century finding loopholes to get her own way. The time has come for Becca to try to free herself from his life force and control. Satan finds out about her plot and decides that maybe he doesn't need his top Rivka anymore. He sends Becca her own replacement to train.

During this wild and exhilarating ride to freedom, Becca and Nick meet. Nick is a half healer and as such his emotions are stronger than any she has ever met. His emotions are so strong that they begin to leak into Becca with the lightest of touches. This may not be a good thing, because everyone knows that Satan doesn't share and all these new feelings of love and caring are going to get someone killed. Not to mention the purely evil souls trying to get revenge on Becca by killing her. And Nick has problems of his own. Will Becca get away from Satan? Will Nick save his people? Is there enough love in the universe to overcome all of the obstacles? The only way to know for sure is to read the book; be warned you will not be able to put it down.

Ms. Rowe has created a world not that much different than our own, which allows the reader to feel even more connected to the story. Don't let the fact Satan play a role in this tale keeps you from reading it. The bowels of Hell are just as terrifying as you would expect, yet the love shown throughout the story gives you the impression that maybe it can and will concur all. This tale is the ultimate testament and example of good being inside everyone and that good will find a way to escape evil no matter the cost.


Dee
ENCHANTING REVIEWS
July 2007

After trying to cut off her life force from Satan by connecting it to a fish (and failing), Becca is definitely in hot water. Especially since Satan is having none of that. After spending 100 years as Satan right hand ...err..WOman...and having to pretend to not adore any but the big guy, Becca want's out. As punishm...oh, I mean, in Satan's kind and understanding way, he has placed Paige (Becca's replace...I mean, apprentence) with Becca to be trained. Paige is the embodiment of innocence/cheerleader. This with the help of Nick--out to save his baby sister by killing Satan...oh, wait a minute...if he kills Satan wouldn't that kill Becca???.....well, that's not going to go down well....hmmm, interesting times, interesting times.

I love this series! It never fells to make me laugh out loud. I don't understand why it doesn't have more reviews.

Is freedom too much to wish for?

Becca Gibbs is tired of being Satan's favorite Rivka. If only she could tie her life force to someone or something other than Satan, she could have free will. Unfortunately, not only does her plan fail, but she now finds herself saddled with an apprentice, the annoyingly perky Paige. Even worse, she finally meets an incredible man, Nick Rawlings, and he has to kill Satan or his sister will die. Becca wants to be free of Satan, but his death would mean her death. Will love stand a chance when all of Hell is at stake?

What a hilarious story! Stephanie Rowe returns to the humor that I fell in love with in DATE ME, BABY, ONE MORE TIME with this third installment. Who can't help but laugh at Satan's shameless preening?

HE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME HOT is easily a stand alone story although readers will better appreciate Becca's plight if they have read the first two books in the series. Becca's angst over her role as Satan's minion has been developed throughout the series, making her story perhaps one of the strongest yet. Becca's ability to find the loophole in almost any demand of Satan's makes this tale much more believable as we have seen her logic successfully used throughout each book.

HE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME HOT is an amusing and fun tale. Stephanie Rowe has a unique sense of humor that she showcases to full effect in this third installment. Paige gets her own story next, and I can't wait to see what troubles befall this energetic Rivka!

COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES

this is a great series, I got the 1st book from a friend and got hooked. read them all now, waiting for the new book. Rowe's books takes all the scary bump in the night creatures and puts a new twist on her stories mixing romance, mystery, the unknown then she adds her own little funnies to make her work original.

One of the best horror anthologies I have ever come across. Really well-chosen, well-written stories. Starts off with a bang with NIGHTGUARD and keeps getting better. HEY, FAIRY! is a great story. Real imagination here, all through the book. Can't wait for the sequel!

After reading some of the other reviews I felt compelled to throw in my 2 cents. The various reviewers are all over the map from "LOVED IT ALL" to "IT SUCKED" - which is to be expected in any collection of short stories, and while there were some that I thought should have been omitted, there are others that more than make up for it. I am a fan of the horror genre, and gay which of course means I'm the core audience for this book and probably a little biased - that said, I truly enjoyed most of the stories in this collection... Notably - Genus Loci, Bear Shirt, The Spark and Piercing Men. I also enjoyed The Goodbye, though it was far from Queer Fear and many would argue should not have been included, it was a nice "palatte cleanser" in the mix.

I loved this book! The stories were first-rate, including work by some of the best-known and accomplished horror writers in the field, including Michael Marano, Douglas Clegg, Caitlin R. Kiernan, and Brian Hodge. The stories ran the gamut from vampires and werewolves and ghosts, to more eclectic supernatural slitherings. The advantage of being the first book of this kind ever ("Bending The Landscape" is also good, though it came later than "Queer Fear") is that it breaks the ground and claims it as its own. This book, after all, was a finalist for two Lambda Literary Awards and a Spectrum Award. On the downside, there's something about a book like this that seems to exacerbate homophobia and jealousy in some readers, some of whom have reviewed it online (proving that if you can't write or edit yourself--or are a bigot--you can always diss a book online). I advise readers to that (...) and get to "Queer Fear," post-haste. I only wish editor Michael Rowe (who also edited the vampire books "Sons of Darkness" and "Brothers of the Night") had contributed some of his own work. I've read his non-fiction in "Fangoria" and "Rue Morgue," and his fiction in the "Northern Frights" series. It rocks! Oh, well...maybe next time...hope there's a sequel!

I really liked this book, even though I'm not a big fan of the horror genre. It's an elaborate, wide-ranging collection of stories, many of which use their "queerness" as a metaphor for their estrangement from mainstream society -- hence, the "fear." Even if you're not a horror fan per se, it's a great and often fascinating read.

What disappointed me the most about Queer Fear was that the editor seems to think that "gay" and "queer" should mean "gay male." All but one of these stories are about men, and most are of the carelessly-written sort that one expects to find in anthologies of "gay fiction." There's very little that's frightening (or even interesting) here, more a preoccupation with sex than writing good stories. However, Caitlin Kiernan's "Spindleshanks," the ONLY story in the book about lesbians, is, curiously, also the only story in Queer Fear that transcends the pulply, hackneyed tone of the anthology to deliver something of literary merit. I would have given the book one star, but Kiernan's lush prose and skillful characterization are worth a couple more.

This story is very good, and the complex protagonist keeps you turning the pages to find out what his next trick will be. There are many layers to the story, and the thinking process doesn't stop even when you turn the final page. Perhaps living in Ann Arbor during some of the time of the novel helped keep my interest high, but I found the whole work entertaining, and look forward to more books from this author, perhaps set abroad to demonstrate the range of his style.

I just read Rowe's book, cover to cover. Again!
I loved it more the second time.
Rowe shows great versatility in this second novel of his.
As one unknown ancient Irish said :For what is in a word, but a sound...what is in a thought, but a quickening of the mind's eye.
The voice over is the staccato of a troubled, not particularly likeable man. Somewhat like our society today. Yet the internal dignity of the human spirit shines through, and there is subtlety in his redemption as the plot builds and builds...like a Volcano.
A great read, anytime, anyplace.

A Question of Identity, by Jonathan Rowe, deals with a lot of great topics, including betrayal, commitment, mid-life fantasies, personal change, adventure, journalism, politics, and sex. It's fun, funny, and engrossing.
I liked the way the plot developed --- the twists and turns made
sense without being predictable. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I know Jonathan Rowe grew up in Ann Arbor and is writing about his hometown. I remember him in high school breaking into the University of Michigan steam tunnels just to exeprience "another dimension". So Rowe, how come we see no Shakey Jake in the book. For those from the Netherlands, Shakey Jake is: a) a guitar strumming balladeer with no hits (no songs either) b)an alien c)the Roman Soldier condemned to walking the faced of the Earth for his behavior at the Crucifixion d) all of the above. Other than Jake's Shakey absence (and mine) the book, like Rowe, is great. Rats on Rowe! Rats on.!

An entertaining, accesable boomer mystery. Devoid of pretense and authored with astute midwestern, academic humor...think Elmore Leonard with diminished self-indulgence. In lead character, attorney cum investigative reporter David Fisher, Mr. Rowe manages to comfortably combine the indulgent libido driven tambour of a Philip Marlow gumshoe with the neurotic self-effacing Mensch of Woody Allen in Crimes and Misdemeanors. Mr. Rowe has created a playful, modern, maze through the lives of several 70's 80's & 90's activists turned upstanding citizens, saddled with the formidable baggage of past indiscretions. A great read, where all of the characters are identifiable by looking over your shoulder.