Wallace Books

As its name suggests, this useful book presents the fundamentals of the Catholic faith in a concise question-and-answer format. Produced by the always reliable Daughters of St. Paul -- their two-volume Saints for Young Readers for Every Day has been a staple of my family for years -- "Basic Catechism" includes straightforward explanations of doctrine, discipline, and customs. The section on the Eucharist is exceptional, as it provides pastoral answers to common questions like "How can Jesus be truly present at so many Masses at once?" An added pastoral dimension are the explanations (and ink illustrations) of the many items used during the celebration of Mass. What kind of wine must be used to celebrate the Eucharist? What are the cruets? What is a ciborium? a corporal? a pall? a paten? You'll find answers to all these questions and much more. "Basic Catechism" is a suitable gift for converts, high school students, and lightly-catechized Catholics. Highly recommended.

This book marks the emergence of baskets as an artform, not just a craft. For the collector or the admirer, this is a great compilation of work by artists from all over the U.S., showing great diversity and great style.

Battleship: Pearl Harbor, 1941 by Wallace Louis Exum is a wonderful historical fiction account of the few week's leading up to and including Dec 7, 1941 in Pearl Harbor. Mr. Exum gives a first rate account of a new Chief Quartermaster reporting aboard the battleship Neveda. Here we see what life was like for a prewar Chief as he settles into the mess and takes care of his division.

Mr. Exum is a retired CWO4 from the Navy so you can feel the expertise that goes into the character of Chief Earl Toland, the main character of the story. Although this book is short it is full of detail and a real life feel. A Chief who gets the only Battleship to move underway during the attack. He transforms from a peacetime CPO ready for retirement to a bloodied warrior ready to be the CHIEF. An excellent read for anyone looking to flesh out the way it must have been for the enlisted man in Pearl Harbor.

Pilkey argues that barrier islands move, whether we like it or not, and that attempts to stabilize them nearly always make things worse. A wonderful read, especially for your next beach vacation. Pilkey is regarded as something close to the devil incarnate by coastal developers and their allies

Yes, you've seen the Oscar winning movie. You've seen Charlton Heston play Ben Hur and you think you know what the book is all about.
But similiar to the way the Harry Potter fans compare the movies to the books and see the many differences in the pair, the same is true for "Ben Hur". I'm not saying "Ben Hur" is a bad movie - it most certainly isn't and "Ben Hur" won 11 Oscars to prove it. But there is something different about reading the book.
The story is well known. Prince Judah Ben-Hur and Messala were childhood friends. Messala becomes extremely loayal to Rome and banishes Ben-Hur's family. Ben Hur is enslaved on a war ship. Somehow, he makes it back to Rome and decides to take revenge against Messala.
He changes and decides he wants to give up the sword. A simple story, told without the Hollywood spectacle, is extremely moving. You get to see the internal workings of the man as he struggles between revenge and redemption. I recommend this book highly.

In 1880, a retired Union General by the name of Lew Wallace completed his first historical novel while serving as governor in the Territory of New Mexico. He wrote it in response to questions raised by a famous agnostic sharing a train ride from Chicago to Indianapolis. At the time, Wallace wasn't as knowledgeable of the facts surrounding the life of Christ as he had thought. After doing extensive research, he was inspired to write what has become the definitive religious epic. Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ helped Wallace sort out his own beliefs about God and Christ, and inspired others to do the same. Today, it stands as the most widely read novel of the 19th Century, and one of the most popular works of all time. It has never been out of print in its 130 year history, and has been made into several plays and four films.

Ben-Hur reflects the life and journey of Lew Wallace. At the Battle of Shiloah, through an accident, he and his men arrived too late to help, making the Union losses significantly higher than they would have been. As a result, Wallace was disgraced. Judah Ben-Hur, through the accident of a loose roof tile, loses his home and property, his family is sent to prison, and he is sent to the galleys. Through a miracle of courage and circumstances, Wallace worked his way back, became a successful statesman and author, and is today remembered in the Hall of Statues in Washington, DC. Through a similar miracle, Ben-Hur works his way back to save his family and get revenge over those who caused their calamity. Ben-Hur is a story of courage and revenge, but it is also a story of redemption and salvation. I believe Wallace saw his life the same. Ben-Hur crosses paths with Christ more than once, so that, in the end, his hate and destructiveness are swallowed up in Christ's love and forgiveness. I believe Wallace saw the same miracle in his life.

Ben-Hur did not take off immediately; but, after several years of word-of-mouth, everyone was reading it, especially pastors and their congregations. In 1900, two producers, Klaw and Erlanger, bought the rights to bring Ben-Hur to the New York stage. It was an amazing production that boasted five teams of horses and chariots on stage at once for the great chariot race. They used treadmills for the teams, with moving scenery. There was also a great sea battle that was considered spectacular. The success of the play inspired showmen in the fledgling industry of motion pictures to take note.

The first film version of Ben-Hur was a 15-minute pirated version in 1907. This lead to a law suit by Wallace that set the precedent for future book-to-movie copyright cases. Eventually, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer bought the rights, and produced the first legitimate adaptation in 1925, directed by Fred Niblo and starring Ramon Novarro. In 1959, William Wyler directed a second MGM production of the book, this time starring Charlton Heston. It won 11 Oscars, including Best Picture and Director.

I found the novel by Lew Wallace to be more charming and less "big" than the 1959 film. Even the characters were more life-size. I pictured a Robert Taylor in the role of Ben-Hur rather than Charlton Heston. The only actor from the film that seemed to fit the novel was Finlay Currie as Balthasar, the wise man from Egypt. He was perfect. The entire first of eight books, into which Ben-Hur is divided, is occupied by the three wise men, of which only Balthasar is carried through to the rest of the book, and plays a significant role. In addition to playing Balthasar, Currie also narrates the film.

There is far more focus on Christ in the novel, the 1900 stage play (in which he is played by a beam of light) and the 1925 film than in the 1959 version. The book wrestles with the question of whether He will be an earthly King or a Savior of souls. Ben-Hur, who is a Sadducee, hopes he will be an earthly King, and actually trains three legions of Galileeans in preparation to help Him overthrow the occupying Romans. But Balthasar is convinced Christ will be a Savior of souls, and tries to convince Ben-Hur of the same. It is not until the miraculous events of the last of the eight books that he accepts that fact, and accepts Christ as his Savior.

To date, Ben-Hur is still the greatest Christian novel ever written, as well as one of the all-time great classics. Men still struggle with the question of whether Christ is an earthly King or a Savior of souls. To find out, we must all take similar journeys to Ben-Hur and Balthasar, and be hindered along the way by various Messalas. Not many of us will be like Balthasar and "get" it so quickly. Most of us will be more like Ben-Hur: accept what life throws at us with defiance, deal with it as best we can, struggle, realize we can't do it on our own, accept God's salvation, transcend our troubles through faith, and be transformed into someone new, someone Christ-like. Ben-Hur isn't just about Lew Wallace's journey from failure to freedom; like Pilgrim's Progress, it reflects the common journey all Christians must take.

Waitsel Smith

I'm so glad I came across this book, because I recently viewed a two-part biography of Harry Truman on PBS; and it left me with an entirely wrong impression of Bess Truman. According to that television biography, Bess and daughter Margaret spent as little time at the White House as they could - the film made much of Bess as a mostly absent First Lady, and of President Truman as a lonely man abandoned by his family as the price of serving his country in its highest office.

According to this book, written while a widowed Bess Truman was still very much alive, she not only supported her husband's political career; she orchestrated it. She conducted herself as First Lady in a way quite unlike her predecessor, Eleanor Roosevelt; but inactive, aloof, and uninvolved she was not. Since author Robbins cites many reliable sources, not just his conversations with Mrs. Truman herself, I'm inclined to believe his book instead of that TV biography. The Bess it described could hardly have been Jacqueline Kennedy's favorite among all earlier First Ladies, but the Bess of this book most certainly rings true in that role.

This is a quality book, easy to read considering the deep philosophical and wide conceptual ground it covers. If you have enjoyed Reason, Perrow or Dekker discussing human error then I think you will find considerable value in this book. Excellent arguments about ecological validity, root cause, Heinrich's legacy, taxonomies, distributed cognition, normal accidents, psychology of risk, and on and on. Ultimately more questions than answers, but this caused me to understand how to question a lot of the more superficial texts and methods, which may lead in interesting directions.

Not an introductory text, but an excellent addition to the field that really ties together many ideas in the safety of complex systems. Fully indexed with complete references.

Corey Tierney is the proud owner of Kids' Kloset, a children's clothes resale store. She opened the store after her disaster of a marriage fell apart when she failed to produce an heir for her husband. Corey had always dreamed of being a wife and mother so opening Kids' Kloset is a way for her to feel like she's involved with children, even if they aren't her own.

Brandon Wolfe is the single father of two little boys. He's a very proud, stubborn, and determined man who has started up a llama ranch and single handedly raised the boys since his wife's death. He's more at home with nature than civilization and often comes off as abrasive.

After Brandon attempts to shop for Robbie and John at the mall and balks at the high prices, one of the snooty clerks suggests he try Kids' Kloset. Brandon's male pride balks at the idea of his kids wearing castoffs but the need for clothing at reasonable prices drives him into the shop where Corey is more than willing to help. Brandon accepts her help up until he feels that she undermines his parenting skills. Once he's paid for his purchases, Brandon finds it impossible to resist Corey's allure and invites her to come out to the fair the following day to see what he does. When Corey shows up, everything goes wonderfully and she's intrigued by the beautiful creatures. She makes a couple of suggestions that Brandon feels oversteps boundaries he's already set with his boys, and he reacts like a wounded animal, bellowing at her until she flees the fair in tears. Because Brandon lives in a different town, Corey's surprised when she looks out her kitchen window and sees John sitting alone outside the school waiting for his father to pick him up. John should have been in a different school district but Brandon didn't feel that their local school was adequate and drives him to Boise to attend school. Corey wants to bring John into her warm home but the thought of Brandon's reaction has her questioning her good intentions. It turns out Brandon truck had broken down so he is thrilled that Corey had been there to take care of John. However, he also feels that her good deed leaves him in her debt. When he asks John and Robbie what they should do to repay her for helping, their suggestion is to invite her to the ranch to see the llamas and eat beanie weenies with them. An invitation she accepts despite Brandon's obvious displeasure.

BIG BAD WOLFE is an endearing tale that will capture your heart. Brandon is a very impressive man. He's proud, unbending, and determined to raise the boys without any help from anyone as well as run his llama ranch. It would be extremely easy to dislike him, except for the hint of vulnerability you see throughout the book. His love for his children shines through the pages and you just know there is nothing this man wouldn't do for his boys. Corey's divorce left her with a need to do things for others, especially children. She's drawn to Brandon and the boys despite Brandon's outbursts. Corey sees them as the kind of family she's always wanted for herself. Linda Wallace does a beautiful job drawing the reader into the hopes, dreams, and even the fears of the characters. I am intrigued by the llamas. The grace and gentleness of the animals is impressive. Ms. Wallace incorporates them into the story in a way that enhances the reader's enjoyment as well as educating about an animal we don't normally hear a lot about.

Chrissy Dionne (courtesy of Romance Junkies)

If your home library shelves have good old Missionary stories, than this is a MUST READ and MUST HAVE!