Spencer Books

If you are ready to heal from the trauma of Childhood Sexual Abuse, then this book is for you! Triumph Over Darkness is a collection of writings and drawings that are varied, creative and powerful commentaries on incest, rape and abuse. Through poetry, art, and first person accounts, 70 women share their experiences of childhood sexual abuse and walk with the reader along the path towards wellness. They reflect each stage of the healing process with a clarity and beauty that is frequently painful, often hopeful and that helps the reader understand the facts and myths surrounding the experience of abuse. Triumph Over Darkness will: Provide tools for survivors of abuse. Give insight into the process of recovery. Dispel the feelings of isolation. Help the reader understand the trauma of abuse. This second addition adds special chapters for partners of survivors, a look at ritual abuse and multiple personality disorder.

Or as near as one can get to such a thing! Astrologer Neil Spencer has put together a first class comprehensive overview of the position of astrology in contemporary Western society. It is entertaining, balanced, intelligent and often very funny. "Believers" (I am a professional astrologer myself) and "sceptics" can both benefit from reading this book.

Early on there is a brief guide to the basics of astrology itself, followed by a quick look at the history of the subject over the last few hundred years. Most of the book is taken up with considerations of every possible aspect (pun intended) over the last century. The rise of newspaper horoscopes, psychological astrology as self-development, statistical evidence or lack of it, the use of astrology by the likes of Ronald Reagan and Princess Diana, successes and failures in predicting the future.

Spencer does a good job of exploding many popular ideas that are held by many e.g. being born on the cusp (you are actually either one sign or another) and the ever-present myth of the Age of Aquarius (highly dubious as to what it actually is). Although Spencer's own astrological input takes a back seat most of the time, countless examples of astrology in action are scattered throughout. The chart comparison between Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky is an entertaining example!

Read this book if you REALLY want to know what astrology is all about.

Of course Twelfth Night is Shakespeare's best comedy, you know it is -- twins, yellow stockings, sexual ambiguity, romance, what more do you want? The surprise is that this little paperback is the best edition of it on the market. I'm glad my old Pelican fell to bits so I had to shop for a replacement. The introduction to this new Penguin just knocks the spots off the Arden, the Oxford and all the other plodding scholarly college editions -- a far better way into the play, witty and cute and illuminating. And it's small enough to go into a pocket or into a rehearsal room.

This anthology of dramatic plays for children includes "Jack and the Beanstalk", "Tom Sawyer", "The Indian Captive", The Ghost of Mr. Penny", Rumpelstiltskin", "Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater", "The Land of the Dragon", Huckleberry Finn", Arthur and the Magic Sword", "Niccolo and Nicolette", Reynard the Fox", "Johnny Moonbeam and the Silver Arrow", "Abe Lincoln of Pigeon Creek", "The Man Who Killed Time", "Androcles and the Lion", "Twho Pails of Water", "Rags to Riches", "The great Cross-Country Race" "Trudi and the Minstrel", "Don Quixote of La Mancha".

The selection spans several cultures and classic stories. Each play is about 60 pages long, has between 8-20 characters, and would be suited to an elementary school-age level.

Georgiana and Elizabeth were the first and second wives of William 5th Duke of Devonshire. Their tale is an eighteenth century one, but it is also a twenty-first century one. They had a friendship which eclipsed everything that society of their day thought was acceptable and it is only now that the truth is emerging. The best way to find out about the two Duchesses of Devonshire is to read the recent biography about Georgiana by Amanda Foreman which tells the brilliant story of the two duchesses amid a world of love, romance, deceit, adultery and money, from Georgiana's point of view. Then read this book from the 1890's written by a descendant of Elizabeth Foster, one member of the curious Devonshire menage-a-trois. There are letters from two-hundred years ago that tell a first hand account of events in Miss Foreman's book. They are fascinating and you meet many famous people of the day first hand, including Melbourne, Byron, George IV and Fox. I can't wait to read the modern day version of Elizabeth's story which can be found in Caroline Chapman's new book telling the story of Elizabeth Foster: 'Elizabeth and Georgiana: The Duke of Devonshire and His Two Duchesses' which has just been published. For any one who has not yet read about the Beautiful Duchess, her best friend and her husband it's about time you did. Vere Foster's book is essential reading, especially if you want to get an overview of the subjects of two very important eighteenth century figures and subjects of at least one brilliant modern bestselling biography. Read this and then read the two modern biographies and find out the truth!

I was going to read Walden by HD Thoreau, when I read a critical review of it, which said that RH Dana was closer to nature by far. I saw this book (yes this version too) and decided to pick it up. For less than $10, this book is a steal. I can see why it's a classic, and it is very close to nature. I'll never look at water or the wind quite the same way. Nor will I look at work and life quite the same way. Those sailors then definetely had it rougher than a lot of us could ever imagine. Dana does amazing in painting a clear picture of the people and the life. I was depressed and sleeping until noon every day before I read this, now I have found some peace in life again and get up at 6 am every morning. There is more to this book than the reader of it might even realize, it could possibly even save depressed lives. Being a 6th generation Californian, it was nice to know the history of my area as well. In 1835 when Dana visited, this state probably had less than 1,000 people or so, amazing. I agree with the other reviewers who said the nautical lingo is not necessary to be familiar with to appreciate and understand this eternal classic.

Cpt Macintyre was WWII's 2nd highest U-boat killer in the Atlantic. For 4 years he protected 12 convoys from the begining of the war and was credited with 7 u-boat kills but helped to sink many more. This is a wonderful tale written with much humour. Inc his stint as the only British liason for the RN in a US resupply depot(hilarious). He was the young commander in charge of the Lend/Lease 50 destroyer fleet on their 1st Atlantic crossing. An honest evaluation of Western Appraoches command and the changing resources & tactics. If you love WWII naval history a must read. If you like adventure stories a must read too. I loved it.

As a professional in the field of dementia health care, I feel this book should be "required reading" for all health care providers. It is an incredible, practical book written by the well known expert in the field of gerentology, Anne Robison-Kalter. Ms. Robinson-Kalter offers compassionate strategies for caretakers and families. It is easy to read and difficult to put down.

Now for the very first time, America's oldest restaurant offers its history and traditional Yankees recipes in the Union Oyster House Cookbook.

Established in 1826, Boston's Union Oyster House is the country's oldest continuously operated restaurant. The building itself is so old that municipal records do not record its original function.

From 1771 until the beginning of the Revolutionary War it was the home of "The Massachusetts Spy," long known as the oldest newspaper in the United States. During the war it the pay-station for early Federal troops. Louis Phillipe, later King of France, was a guest and taught French to prominent Bostonians. Daniel Webster was said to drink a tall tumbler of bandy and water with each half dozen oysters.

Famous patrons of the Union Oyster House have included Paul Newman, Muhammad Ali, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Bill Clinton, Ozzie Osbourne and Edward Kennedy. John F. Kennedy preferred Booth 18 upstairs which now has a dedication plaque. In 2003, the Union Oyster House was named a National Historic Landmark.

As well as recounting the 180-year history of the restaurant and its Boston environs, Union Oyster House Cookbook has sixty of the restaurant's most famous recipes adapted for home use, including:

Oyster House Clam Chowder
Lobster Scampi
American Bouillabaisse
Shellfish in many forms: raw oysters and clams, Oysters Rockefeller, Clams Casino, Baked Stuffed Cherrystones, boiled and broiled lobster
Pan Seared Haddock
Boston Baked Beans
Hot Indian Pudding
Boston Cream Pie

Illustrated with historic photographs and artwork in color and black and white and including interviews with the owners Joe Milano and Mary Anne Milano Picardi, chef William Coyne and other long-time employees, this a both a practical cookbook and a testament to a restaurant that has been part of the fabric of Boston for 280 years.

Foreword by Senaator Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy

About the authors:

Jean Kerr is author of Mystic Seafood: Great Recipes, History and Seafaring Lore from Mystic Seaport. She is Editor of Taste of the Seacoast, the Boston-Portland, Maine food and wine magazine.

Spencer Smith is a publisher and writer based in Maine

This is probably the greatest tribute by one great philosopher to another. George Santayana, at once one of the 20th century's most reasonable thinkers as well as its most poetic, pays tribute to 19th century British philosopher Herbert Spencer. The first two pages of this essay are extremely beautiful, and, for the most part, on-target. Santayana honors Spencer by considering his least popular doctrine, that of "The Unknowable," as a mistaken characterization of an important insight. This essay became an important run-through, for Santayana, of his basic ontology, later elaborated in "Scepticism and Animal Faith" and in the four books of "The Realms of Being." This may be one of the best places to start with Santayana - or to re-evaluate Spencer's metaphysics. Santayana places himself in Spencer's camp, which is that of a practical man, a "common sense" man, who nevertheless does not fall prey to the limits of everyday "common sense." Spencer and Santayana, in seeing the obvious as well as what lies beyond (behind?) the obvious, prove themselves to be important thinkers. The only trouble with this essay is that it is so beautiful that one can lose the train of thought in elegant phrases and apt metaphors. The solution? Read again!