V Books

Ms. Singleton has penned a beautiful, breathtaking novel that is both poignant and humorous, raw and refreshing. Her style is lyrical yet down-to-earth, comfortable as well as beyond the norm. I loved Myraleen's sass and Lilian's unexpected sophstication. These two women juxtaposed yet completed each other. Their characters were as different as their complexions; even so their love was tried and true. The departure from Nadir, MS into war-torn Europe was accomplished so smoothly that it was not a jarring transition. Despite my extreme dislike of "war stories" I was intrigued. How could I be otherwise? "This Side of the Sky" is absolutely beautiful!

I thought this was an awesome novel. I enjoyed every single page. The writer has a gift with words; some of her descriptions made me laugh aloud. If you like southern novels, you will like this one. This story of friendship is one I won't soon forget. I am definitely recommending it to my best friend.

I love Singleton's style. Being from the South, I can relate on so many levels. The two lead characters remind me of myself and a childhood best friend. It was so well-written. I read it so quickly. I couldn't get enough of it. I know I will read it again and again.

This was a good book. Both of the protagonists were likable, and contrasted each other well. My only complaint is that the book dragged a bit in some parts... particularly when the author focused on the war (and the historical events in general).

Otherwise, I'd recommend this book!

I enjoyed this book very much. As other reviewers commented the characterization could have been stronger but put that aside and this book stands out. It's well written. The little known history of the Black WACs was fascinating. Ms Singleton was able to swiftly take the lives of two little girls all the way through to their 80s with little to no effort at all. The novel breezed along! Myraleen and Lilly's lives spanned decades but never once bogged down. Really, a great book!

Getting to the point where we recognize that life will only ever be as good as we make it for ourselves can take some people decades to realize... but when that realization hits, the next obvious question that arises is, "HOW can I make my life the best it can be?" Rayona Sharpnack answers this question brilliantly for those willing to see themselves in a leadership role in life, with her masterful self-help book, TRADE UP.

Sharpnack helps leaders gain awareness of self-limiting beliefs, assumptions and behaviors through examples from her many successful career and life transitions as well as from experiences of those she coaches. We can face some fairly large challenges when we transform our lives from the inside out, since such extensive changes inevitably affect everyone and everything around us, and they seldom happen overnight. As Sharpnack patiently explains, "Trading up to a new context isn't an event, it's an ongoing process."

TRADE UP provides pointers for what we can expect when we begin the five-step process of: revealing our context, owning our context, designing a new context that gets us what we want, sustaining our new context, and activating our context to engage with the world. While these steps may seem deceptively simple and obvious, the real power and beauty of TRADE UP is in the details, where TRADE UP really shines. In the crowded genre of self-help books, it is a rare book that states its case with just the right mix of crystalline clarity and passionate spark... and TRADE UP hits that lofty mark with ease.

When you know that you are in charge of your own life, and your leadership ability is the main thing that makes all the difference in how satisfied you are with how your life turns out, TRADE UP is the book that will help you achieve your dreams. Highly recommended!

Rayona Sharpnack transcends the leadership book genre with Trade Up - a truly insightful and inspiring read! Her examples are concrete, her analysis compelling and the advice is always right on.

The author has put a powerful framework into straightforward language that speaks directly to the reader, as if Rayona were in the room with you. The personal stories of women who have mastered the ability to shift context are inspiring at the same time they make it seem possible for anyone to achieve meaningful change in their lives. The book is a "keeper" -- a resource that I will turn to often to refresh my perspective on "trading up" in life and my ability to do so.

Taking pages from Werner Erhard's transformational thinking, executive coach Rayona Sharpnack presents a self-help process for creating your future; creating it as something other than your past masquerading under a new name. And, she does it with wit, clarity, and stories that make this book an informative and enjoyable read. If you are not familiar with this language-based concept of renaming, making declarations about the future, and living life as a series of possibilities, this book is a good place to start. If you are familiar with this 'life is a story so create a new context by creating a new story' process, this book will be an easy-read, refresher course that may add a few new moves to your game.

Based upon the ideas that an individual is responsible for the content and decisions (all of life is a choice) that make up their life and that most everyone will reach a point in their life when the other edge of their double-edged success strategy begins to bite them, Sharpnack offers a 5 step process to move to the next level of performance in life. The step one is to 'name your game' - find words to describe how you see yourself, or your winning formula. The next step is to or 'feel the pain' -- see how this limits your potential or controls you life and this gives you a reason to change. Step three is to 'author a new own story' - find words to describe a new way to succeed at life. Step four is a 'practice to master' bit - observe yourself without criticism. Step five 'invites others into your conversation' - moves you into action toward your new commitments in life.

The above is a gross oversimplification and the author gives each step much more depth, but perhaps you get the idea - change the way you think and you can move the world, or at least that portion of the world centered around you. Read the book, it is not heavy lifting and the benefits might be enormous!

Dennis DeWilde, author of "The Performance Connection"

Trade-Up! truly differentiates itself from the pack of books on leadership. Rayona's message extends beyond lessons learned and prescribed "to-dos" by offering a solid foundational framework from which to base your leadership journey. Rayona has a gift of language that is both descriptive and generative. There are many "gems" that you can easily miss so I encourage multiple readings as I find new and provacative insights each time I pick the book up. Leadership isn't meant to be easy so I usually tune out to authors who supply a quick "fix" to the challenges we face as leaders. Trade-Up! steers clear of trying to oversimplify leadership. It offers a rigorous approach to leading change using concrete concepts that are applicable Day One. It invites you to expand your field of thinking and "being" in order to realize greater potential than you ever imagined. Once I opened myself to taking a deeper dive into the practice of context shifting, I was able to achieve results quickly and now there is no going back! Trade-Up! is just the beginning.

Ian Tescee draws upon his more than twenty-two years of experience and expertise with creating electronic music to compose and perform "A Traveler's Guide To Mars", a collection of fourteen original and unique works inspired by space scientist William K. Hartman and utilized in the major planetarium production about Mars at the Carnegie Science Center's Duhl Digital Dome in Pittsburgh. Tescee utilizes keyboard synthesizers and electronic drums, analog guitars, and even sings on one of the tracks. Enhanced with a half-dozen NASA commands and a countdown, a cello solo by Nancy Snustad, the faint quoting of a line from the Ray Bradbury short story 'The Lost City of Mars', "A Traveler's Guide To Mars" also features music written by electronic musician Russell Story, and 'The Wooden Prince' based on a theme by Bela Bartok. The individual pieces comprising this flawlessly produced and highly recommended CD include The New World (5:27); Passport (6:01); Earthrise (4:01); The Lost City of Mars (4:16); Aquamarine (3:43); The Wooden Prince (2:24); Dust-Red Sky (2:02); God of War (2:42); Beneath the Ice (2:09); It's Time to Go Back: Part 1 (2:48); It's Time to Go Back: Part 2 (3:54); Space Tourist Mars (5:23); Life on Mars (4:50); Billions and Billions of Stars (3:54).

This is a fun and exciting trek around the Red Planet. I absolutely love the "hike" format, and this book is probably the next best thing to actually being there on Martian soil. Tidbits like what to wear on Mars and how to tell time definitely give the book a light-hearted personality. Another great feature is the author's own "personal experiences" / Mars exploration observation sections entitled "My Martian Chronicles." Thanks to the author, a great guide, I felt so involved in my "trip" that I wanted to buy a souvenir T-shirt! LOL I love the Classic Martian Map and Topographic Map foldouts at the front of the book. I especially like the easy-to-read large font of the text. I didn't have to squint while reading the book, which is a good thing.

In this book, we see Mars treated almost as if it was a tourist region. The author has divided Mars into areas of interest. He then discussed separately each area. Just like Earth, Mars has many different regions and scenery.

Although I am keen on space, somehow this book did little for me. After awhile I found it too much and lost interest in the details of each region. What I would have preferred on Mars is fewer notes and more pictures.

The other point is the book is full of interesting pictures unfortunately to appreciate them you need a large size book then this one.

Having said that if your interested in Mars geography though you will find this author knows his information, it is current and he explains his points well.

A Traveler's Guide to Mars is well written and quite fascinating for anyone with an interest in the planetary geology of Mars.

Hartmann breaks down the history of Mars into three geologic eras (Noachian, Hesperain, and Amazonian) based on the amount of cratering on the Martian surface. From there, he explores each one of these regions in detail.

From the majestic Mons Olympus volcano and 2500 mile long Valles Marineris Canyon to the probable glacial "melting mountains" of Promethei Terra and controversial ancient ocean shorelines of Vastitas Borealis , Hartmann provides the reader with a sweeping scope of Martian history, replete with stunning aerial photography and images, that is simply quite amazing. He even discusses the "microbial fossil" Martian meteorites as well as the notorious "Face on Mars" in the Cydonia highlands.

Take a trip to Mars ... you won't be disappointed

This is a really cool book! I didn't know we had the so-called red planet (a better name is the butterscotch planet) mapped out to the extent that we do. I've always loved geography and to take a tour of the features of another world is thrilling. If you like astronomy, geography, or have an optimist's bent on human destiny being among the stars, read this great book!

la compañía donde trabajo, me hablo de este libro y de que SE CUMPLIO LA PROFECIA DE LA GUERRA EN IRAK Y LA MUERTE DEL TIRANO...
Ya me habian hablado del libro,pero me encogia de hombros..
PERO AHORA MISMO VOY A PEDIRLO !
QUIERO SABER QUE VA A PASAR DESPUÉS DE IRAK...

Este libro de profecias es algo de eso que NO TE EXPLICAS, PERO EXISTE !

Almost poeticailly written. Very interesting and seemingly accurate.

como lo HABIA PROFETIZADO ESTE LIBRO !
IMPRESIONANTE !

cheques LA PÁGINA 128, QUE SE REFIERE A NUEVOS VIRUS...
ATERRADOR !

PARA VER, NO SOLO EL PASADO RECIENTE (cuyas profecias se han cumplido al pie de la letra )SINO EL FUTURO:
PLAGAS, CATÁSTROFES, DESCUBRIMIENTOS, GUERRAS...
Lo bueno y lo malo...PERO NOS SIRVE DE ADVERTENCIA Y PROTECCION OPORTUNA !
Increíble profeta ! QUE CONOCIA SU PROPIA SENTENCIA DE MUERTE..QUE SE CUMPLIO !

This book is a great training book for up and coming student who want to train in this art. Great step by step drill!!!!

Just like I said about UFT vol.2,this is a sport bjj book for begginners.About one in every four moves shown in this book can be translated to mma competition.
The moves inside are divided up as follows;
1)Takedowns-22 moves
2)Guard Passes and The Turtle Position-21 moves
3)Side Control-17 moves
4)Mount-17 moves.
5)Rear Mount-8 moves.
Once again,Royce links the moves together and this is an excellent book.

This is a great reference book on BJJ techniques. However, I do agree with other readers that this book really does not cover UFC technicalities (i.e. strikes). Would definitely recommend for someone studying ground techniques but not for NHB/UFC training.

Any fan of Jiu-Jitsu will love this book! My husband read it constantly. Great illustrations and step-by-step directions on how to do each move. A++

Royce Gracie is at his simplistic best,Teaching moves that are simple and will be remembered in the ring. Royce Gracie is the only man in octagon history to defeat 3 oppenents in one night 3times to win the first 3 out of 4 UFC Championships.

I have not read the book. I caught the movie last night, It wasa fabulous film, so serene and peaceful. I dozed off for minute, not out of boredom, but out of athe peaceful refreshing feeling it gave me.

It left me waiting and wondering if there was ging to be a wedding, when I saw gim make it back after speaking to Little Barry on the bus.

I bought this book after seeing the Hallmark movie on T.V. which I throughly enjoyed. The movie was much like the book, with minor differences. Of course, the book had more details that explained the characters better. I'm not a fishing enthusiast, however, it was an interesting theme. I'm always looking for an appropriate book for my teenagers. There is one "PG-13" paragraph in the book where the main character, Noah, thinks back about a girl he use to know. Aside from this, it's a very "clean" book.

It's oft been said,that there are only two types of novels. One,"A Man went on a Journey" and two, "A Stranger Came to Town" This beautiful story is of the second type.
This is the first novel of Terry Kay's that I've read;and it leaves me wanting to read more.I have a fondness for earthy novels of the American South.I never get enough of Erskine Caldwell,William Faulkner,Steinbeck,Twain, and recently,Melinda Haynes,and now I've found another in Terry Kay. If you like reading about these "Salt of the Earth" people being written about with a great command of feeling,description,understanding,love and compassion;you'll love this book.
As you read this story,you will feel you are among these people,experienceing all their hopes,trials,happiness,sorrow and experiences. When you finish the story ,you feel that you would love to visit the place where all this took place,meet some of the people and maybe even "toss in a line" ;or even spend a little time with the author. Too bad, but 1948 is a long time ago,everything has changed in 60 years; so we have to be content with the writings of authors such as Terry Kay;and be thankful for them.
He has crafted a haunting story,filled with wonderful characters and writes lines that make you appreciate the thoughts that generally one marches past without appreciating.
A man wanders into town,stays a brief time and leaves the town and people changed forever.I can only imagine the sequels that Kay could write in follow up to Noah in his future travels,what a character!
When I read a book ,I take notes of great lines ,and this book is full of them. Here are a few of my favorite among many;

"He's like a politician. Wants what he wants,but wants somebody to
give it to him."

"..and the talk would spread like a flash fire in a field of dry
grass..."

"People like Noah made their way through life on tiptoes,afraid of
being heard,or seen,she believed."

"One day,she wanted to see such places,to eat the fruits of history off
the tress that carried them."

"Having a man in the kitchen was like having a donkey at a dance."

"They'd all been living on hope,waiting on some kind of miracle, but
they all knew it was hope that rested on quicksand."

And how about this one?

"You're gonna make a great ghost when you die",Moody said.
"Why's that? Taylor asked.
"You so easy to see through," Moody told him.

This book is a real treasure.

This book is delightful. Terry Kay slowly and deliberately draws a tale that seems to be primarily about fishing, but is actually a story of the effect people have on each other and about life itself. A gifted fisherman comes into a small southern community and forever changes it and everyone in it. This book was a very satisfying read.

Fantastic imagery. Interesting, yet melancholy story set in a pituresque time and place. I highly recommend it!

This is a cute story about duck detectives out to solve the case of the pilfered vegetables.

This is a well crafted book that even reads like the old show. I found it was easy to mimic Jack Webb's presentation. What is also cute is the incorporation of old children's fables for extra characters.

The artwork is fun and my girl liked to say the tag line "Dum de dum dum"

You can't go wrong with this one. I have had to read it couple times every day so far.

My son brought this book home from school. We read it over and over again. It was actually lots of fun to read! We loved it so much we're ordering our own copy!

I read this book to my five year old son tonight with my "Dragnet" voice and we laughed as the catchy Dum De Dum Dum was read. I decided to read it to my 8 year old daughter as well and she also loved the book and said we have to get it. I came back to my son's room down the hall where he should have been going off to sleep, and noticed at 8:53 the he was still up listening to me read the book to his sister, he liked it that much and now I am ordering it from Amazon this instant! Dum De Dum Dum Dum!

This was one of the funniest kids books I have ever read! It was hilarious and downright entertaining. It had my children and I excited about turning the page. I even called my 15 year old sister, read it to her and she loved it! Ms. Palatini should make this a series. I would buy every one!

Let's say you're a parent that loves nothing more in the entire world than to sit down and watch a little "Dragnet" on the telly. Now let's say you're that same parent, but you'd like to instill the wonders of Jack Webb in your little one. Enter Margie Palatini and Richard Egielski's, "The Web Files". More "dum de dum dum"s than you could shake a fist at.

Bill and Web (partners) are working the barnyard shift when they hear trouble ah-brewing. Someone's been pirating a peck of purple peppers (ready for pickeling). It's off to confront he usual suspects, when our heroes get a lead. In the end, you can rest assured that the dastardly villain will have met his just desserts and our brave ducktectives can work another day.

There are people who will buy this book, read it over and over, and love every minute of it. They'll revel in the exceedingly terrible puns that crop up with frightening regularity. They'll soak up the detective atmosphere (a combination of "Dragnet" and Ed McBain). They'll never get bored with this puppy, and that's all right. There really are some nice things in this book. Egielski's adept illustrations compliment the rising action, best displayed in a scene in which a variety of fairy tale characters hound the police precinct with tales of woe. I was especially taken with the third degree our heroes give a distraught Little Boy Blue.

As for myself, the aforementioned scenes are gold. But the puns.... lordy begordy the puns. Admittedly I have a low pun tolerance. If you can read the following sentence without twitching, then this is undoubtedly a good book to get: "A lot of squawking going on down in the coop area, Ducktective Web. Looks like fowl play. Report says feathers are flying. Chief says we should check out the chicks." You get the idea. I, personally, had problems with that sentence, but that's just me. Other people will adore this book. It does have some nice touches here and there and is chock full of enough movies and cop shows to bring a chuckle every other page. If you like a good rousing yarn and don't mind slightly painful text, this is the perfect book for a dark and rainy night. Hint: Have your kids hum the "Dragnet" closing music when the book's villain is tried and convicted. The book supplies all the "Dum de dum dum"s itself.

I purchased this book based upon reviews. I was not disappointed. I'm a advid/electic reader (2-4 novels a week, and I work 40+hrs/week). These stories, all of them, really moved me!! Each one prompted an intense emotional response (literature doesn't get better than that!), some stronger than others...but I'll let you decide which stories move you most. Defintely worth your time/read! Definitely!

A collection of eight stories! Each story is unique and the writing is very, very modern. Throughout the book, he mentions things like Sam's Club, Pearl Jam, etc., and many other places/things that actually exist! No one story in the book is overly long or drawn out, each one seems to be the perfect length to explain the story completely.

"When the Nines Roll Over: And Other Stories" is one not to miss if your a fan of Benioff and/or witty short stories! The writing is excellent, very vivid descriptions and characters. Unfortunately this book is out of print, but it is very easy to find elsewhere online.

The eight short stories are:
(brief descriptions without giving anything away)

When the Nines Roll Over~
(the story of a punk band's lead singer and her boyfriend and a business savy talent scout that wants to sign them)
4 out of 5 stars!

The Devil Comes to Orekhovo~
(the story of three Russian soldiers, sent out to occupy a supposed empty house in enemy territory)
5 out of 5 stars!

Zoanthrophy~
(the story of a lion hunter in New York City, his son and the worlds greatest lover)
4 out of 5 stars!

The Barefoot Girl in Clover~
(my personal favorite, the story of a high school football star who steals a car and sets out for California, but only makes it to Pennslyvannia and meets a girl he will never forget)
5 out of 5 stars!

De Composition~
(the story of a man who makes an elaborate bomb shelter in his backyard, he thinks the world is coming to an end and locks himself inside)
3 out of 5 stars!

Garden of No~
(the story of an aspiring actress who is about to get her big break)
5 out of 5 stars!

Neversink~
(funny story about a man who meets a girl that talks endlessly about her amazing deceased father, who she happens to have cremated and keeps his ashes in her apartment)
5 out of 5 stars!

Merde for Luck~
(the story of a man who has a very awkward bathroom accident while aboard a plane, he flashes back and tells the story of how he got to this point in life)
5 out of stars!

*****
Author David Benioff is married to actress Amanda Peet(Martian Child, Griffin & Phoenix, The Whole Ten Yards, A Lot Like Love, Saving Silverman), his first book, "The 25th Hour" was a huge success and was turned into a movie with Ed Norton! His new book "City of Thieves" has gotten great reviews and is on my list to read soon!

Short stories, by their very nature, do not often lend themselves to detailed character development or complex plot. This book of short stories by David Benioff is no exception. Most of the stories provide brief glimpses into fractured pieces of lives: "Zoanthropy" is the story of a young man whose father, a fabled big game hunter, has come to Manhattan to dispatch one of the lions that periodically roams the city; "De Composition" has as its main character a man who has built a bomb shelter in his backyard and is now in residence, pending the destruction of civilization; "When the Nines Roll Over" concerns a rock band, its drummer, and a female singer.

One story in the collection, however, "The Devil Comes to Orekhovo", is a stand-out. Set in Chechnya, it centers around three Russian soldiers, sent to secure a mansion thought to be an outpost for Chechen rebels. At thirty-six pages, it is the longest, and most developed, story in the collection.

A writer friend of mine has a completed novel and a collection of short stories to his credit. He believes the novel is "not bad" but his heart and soul can be found in his short story collection. While he believes his novel will not have too many problems being published, he has less hope for his short story collection. The popular theory in the world of publishing is that short story collections do not capture the reader's attention and the market is very limited. Short story collections do not get the attention or press they often deserve and David Benioff's WHEN THE NINES ROLL OVER & OTHER STORIES is a case in point. This is a great collection of well written and captivating stories but it has hardly received the attention it deserves.

Benioff, who is known for his novel THE 25TH HOUR, his adaptations of books for film (he is currently working on a screen version of THE KITE RUNNER), gives us eight short stories that can engage a reader. The stories are varied and include tales about a recording exec who falls in love with a punk rocker, a man who searches for a girl he met briefly who mesmerized him in high school, a man who is battling AIDS and the moral implications of being a part of a research study as well as other beautifully told tales. Benioff's gifts as a writer are evident throughout, but his ability to create distinct voices in his main characters and tell eight very distinct stories is amazing.

Since Benioff is a young writer, we are certain to be hearing more from him in the years to come, or at least I hope we hear more form him in the future. He has a gift for writing and a voice that is certain to entertain and challenge readers.

I generally do not enjoy short stories and abhor authors who write a collection of short stories after sucess with a novel. However, David Benioff's When The Nines Roll Over is an excellent collection of short stories. I couldn't put the book down and it is the only book of short stories that I own! Benioff is a master story teller who tantalizes the reader and intrigues you so that you have to finish the story in one sitting. Each story provokes some thought as well as discussion. Many authors short stories are a collection of the same themes and at times seem as though they are the run-on thoughts of the author. This is not true in When the Nines Roll Over, as all the stories vary in theme, setting and have a great diversity of characters to keep one entertained for hours. My personal favorite is The Devil Comes to Orekhovo and I still mull over it now and then! Each story is diversely entertaining and I give this work two thumbs up!!

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and its excellent photographs tied to Biblical excerpts and history. This enabled me to feel like I was there and saw all the important sites short of traveling there to see them. The presentation and color is fantastic.

It is an incredible book, and more people should know about it and purchase it! The colors in the book are so crisp and clear. It makes faith come alive! It shipped very quickly and came in perfect condition.

After I received my initial order and flipped the pages and read them, I realized that the contents were awesome and very easy to follow so I order 3 more copies as presents for my daughters. They are delighted with the book. I recomend this book for all followers of Jesus, as you graphically get to see and read about the places he must have been when he was with us on earth.

In reading the Bible, I find it hard to invision the various places mentioned. This book is wonderful and it is such an inspiration--it makes me feel like I am walking the footpaths as people in the bible. The photographs are absolutely beautiful. I can't find the appropriate
words to explain just how much this book means to me and how it has given me insight to where bible history took place. The words of the Bible now
have pictures.

The book is brilliant - the photography superb and very sensitive. It is inspiring to see many of the places as Jesus would have seen them. I had seen the book before and searched online to get a copy for a friend and was very happy with the process and delivery via Amazon.

Beautifully written, WHERE SHE CAME FROM is also the product of very serious and exhaustive research. It is a magical and haunting book. It brings alive a period of Jewish women's history that is only now being written about in English. Travelling through pre-Holocaust Central Europe with Epstein is an amazing experience: the reader follows both the process of investigation of family history and the emotions this opens up for the writer.

I taught the book several times both in the US and Mexico in classes on Memory and Autobiography. My students loved the book. Many of them bought several copies to give to relatives and friends as gifts. My graduate students (in History and Literature) were impressed by the rigor of Epstein's research, and the skill with which she weaves historical information into her prose.

This is a fascinating chronicle of three generations of the author's female ancestors. It is probably the only book in English that tells the story of Jewish women in Prague in the the first half of the twentieth century. Helen Epstein has a special talent for recreating social history and bringing it alive.

This book was a beautiful personal tribute to the author's ancestors.

I was engrossed in this book from the first page...although it was a slow read for me, because I wanted to grasp the intensity of the generational saga, and grasp the historical facts, correctly. Epstein has more than proved herself in this dramatic memoir of family generations, identity, and history, weaving us through time, each piece of family fabric a part of the final tapestry. The reader is given remnants and squares of fabric in a familial tapestry, of sorts, through history and time, through the horrors of war, and how it affects all the generations, from past to present. From assimilating into society and racial and religous identity, to how one views themselves and what they identify with, Epstein manages to stitch a tapestry of her family, each stitch in time adding to the fabric of her own identity. Bravo for a wonderful read!

In WHERE SHE CAME FROM, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based award-winning author Helen Epstein has penned a meticulously-researched memoir to the four generations of Czech and former Czechoslovak women in her extensive family, from her mother's side of the brood.

While today she associates her public persona to the proud and extensive line of former Czechoslovak Epsteins (see Ms. Epstein's fabulous Amazon Short available off of this site, SWIMMING AGAINST STEREOTYPE: The Story of a Twentieth Century Jewish Athlete), the writer stakes her claim to a noble and illustrious family line which once proudly sported famous Viennese and Prague-based surnames such as Rabinek, Solar, Weigert, Sachsel, Furcht, and Frucht.

Like an experienced batsman for a World Series-winning major-league baseball team, Epstein managed to hang in that old batter's box, waiting for just the right pitch to slug out of the ballpark. In the book world, the analogue was when all the right moments fortuitously transpired to assist Ms. Epstein in securing many essential clues of research which she utilized handily in crafting this excellent book's narrative. Even she'll tell you, the process was far from easy.

Thanks to a dedicated coterie of like-minded collaborators based in points all around the globe as you'll soon read (the former Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic, Israel, South America, and the United States), Ms. Epstein succeeded in cobbling together one of the most comprehensive Czech geneological histories on the public record.

The work is not only emotionally remunerative for Ms. Epstein, to the extent that those missing links in her family chain were finally sewn together, but it's additionally a fine account of several strong women, renowned in their various fields of endeavour, who persevered during the best of times and the absolute horrorific worst of the 20th century.

Starting with Helen's great-grandmother Therese Sachsel, nee Frucht (Furcht), who lived during the reign of Franz-Josef in the last of the Habsburg-ian thrones, passing through her grandmother Pepi's life story during the turbulent First World War and the First Czechoslovak Republic, and finally overlapping the history of her own mother Frances Epstein, Helen pored over hundreds (if not thousands) of archival sources in constructing this cogent tale.

Collectively, these three noble upstanding women belonging to the author's colourful past outlived the worst of the 20th century's ravages, passing fads, and tragic downfalls.

We swoon with Therese Sachsel during the euphoria of Tomas Garrigue Masaryk's (TGM) storied first Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938), when all seemed possible for the Central European remant of the former Austria-Hungarian powerhouses of Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, and Slovakia. Our hopes and dreams are temporarily crushed alongside her grandmother Pepi Rabinek as we witness the invasion and subsequent occupation of Prague by Nazi hordes, who sweep unchallenged through the former Czechoslovakia's borders after the West's perfidy of Munich. We agonize alongside Pepi's daughter, Frances Solar/Rabinek/Epstein, the paragon of the family and Helen's stalwart mother, as she is dispatched to the Teresienstadt (in modern-day Terezin, Czech Republic) concentration camp, or in the colloquial Czech, the "koncentrak." We also rejoice when Frances is extricated from the hellhole of Auschwitz, and tranported the West in wartime Germany as part of a labour brigade, towards the oncoming Allies from the West, liberated in Bergen-Belsen by British forces at the end of WWII. Finally, we are shocked to discover the insensitivity, sheer apathy, and in many instances -- outright hostility -- that Praguers demonstrated towards the surviving returnees from the Nazi camps, to which Frances and her future husband, famous former Czechoslovak Olympian swimmer, Kurt Epstein, counted themselves.

Helen Epstein's lines draw us inexorably into this story, and once you start you'll have a difficult time finding excuses to stop.

What staggered me as I made my way through this read was Ms. Epstein's formidable discipline. The sheer single-mindedness with which she approached the colossal task of the near-vertical climb to reach the bottom of her family's history. I read with awe how solace was found towards the end.

WHERE SHE CAME FROM will stand as one of the foremost examples of the self-researched memoir. If you need any reason at all to read this book, then let it be thanks to the iron-willed determination which the answers gracing its pages were unearthed by Ms. Epstein.

A book like this needs to be savoured for its significance, appreciated for its illumination, and respected for its purity. There isn't a single letter which graces these pages that wasn't typed, written, or transcribed in the absence of a labour which can only be termed love.

I sit back and wish we all had the staying power of Ms. Epstein. The book is laudatory in the extreme.

As if Ms. Epstein's family history were not enough, there are other benefits to this book too. For those with a keen interest in the past two centuries of life in Prague and the experiences of Bohemia's and Moravia's Jews and its Czech peasantry, WHERE SHE CAME FROM is chock-a-block with painstaking factoids and historical tidbits that'll nudge you gently towards further reading. It will also supply its readers with a glimpse towards the increasingly-distant Czechoslovak past, which, with the passing of the years and the keener integration of this country with the rest of the EU, slips further and further away from the grip of Czech youth.

This book is more than just a reminder, it's a testament to a time which no longer exists. In that respect, it is now part of the permanent historical record.

WHERE SHE CAME FROM is written in a language at once accessible and magnetic. For all ages, for all backgrounds. I can't do anything less than award this superb work of history my highest rating of 5-stars.

I know you will too.

-- ADM in Prague

Although this book has a slow start with a lot of historical information, once you get to the Holocaust section, you will not be able to put this book down. I read it while in Vienna and after I visited Prague. I felt so connected to my surroundings and the author that I literally felt like I was in the book. Makes the enormity of the Holocaust personal and understandable. A MUST READ FOR EVERYONE!