Warner Books

"EVERY WOMAN HAS A STORY" is a delightful read. I was impressed with the clever and yet simple idea of compiling a collection of personal stories, crossing socio-economic, ethnic, levels of education and age bounderies. The stories are as different as the women who wrote them, and yet the common thread is that of poignancy, honesty, a struggle to survive and grow, and a touch of humor thrown in for good measure. Some of the stories are simple, others more complex. I found them all to be human, tender and touching. I was particularly moved by Paula Silverberg's "LEAP AND THE NET WILL APPEAR". The charming tale of a young woman whose courage and determination in addressing a childhood disappointment, prompted her to face the "failure", muster the challenge, and, as an adult, emerge triumphant. A lesson for us all - "Feel the fear, but do it any way". As an added bonus I found the size and shape of the book to be reminiscent of a personal journal, and reading its content made it so much more endearing. Bravo to the ladies as well as the compiler! May we expect another collection soon?

I find the stories short and sweet! They are very inspirational. They are perfect for women that have a busy life and don't have time to get into a large novel. It is great to just pick it up and read a little and put it down. I am having trouble putting it down though.

I loved the book so much! It was so intriguing to read all the different stories that women wrote about. I've only read it once but now I'm going to go out and buy it!

These are the things we all feel and think at times in our lives about everyday life experiences. These women let us know we are not alone.Great reading to close your day contently.

Daryl Ott Underhill has done a fabulous job! This collection of heartfelt, intelligently-selected essays by women from all walks of life should not be considered a "women's book." Everyone over the age of fourteen -- if not younger -- can derive pleasure and benefit. Because it is a collection and the stories are short, it can be read at odd moments, but the reader is apt to find hi/rself continuing to the end out of pure enjoyment. Phyllis Green, Chapel Hill, NC [Author of Spinning Straw: the Jeff Apple Story]

This was one of the best mysteries I have ever read. I came upon it by accident, not even knowing if it were a mystery or not. It is a wonderful successor to the great writers of the original English mystery. George Felse ranks up there with Poirot and Holmes, but shows a bit more humanity. The other characters, also, show qualities that make you forget that you're reading. The plot, I'm sure, will perplex you and will have you back for more Ellis Peters. I will say that after reading most of the Felse mysteries and a few Cadfael that Felse is better, but this one is the best in the lot.

I have read and loved all Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael mysteries, and for that reason I had been reluctant to start her equally well-known George Felse series. I am very glad that I did decide to begin this series. It's been awhile since I actually read a Brother Cadfael, and I had forgotten what a marvellous writer Ms. Peters was. Her characters in this series are just as well-rounded and realistic as the ones in the Cadfael series. The time and place are much different, but Ms. Peters' wonderful plotting and story-telling are the same. I truly believe that Ms. Peters is still in a class of her own when it comes to authorship. In this book the main sleuth is not George Felse himself, but his protege of a son - Dominic, who is 13 years old. Ms. Peters has written a coming of age mystery book here with her usual great skill. Dominic and his sidekick Pussy are two youngsters that readers will not soon forget. Also, George's wife Bunty is another wonderful character that I can't wait to read more about. They mystery too is ingenious and such a pleasure to uncover. Can't wait for more George Felse.

Best known for her "Brother Cadfael" series, Ellis Peters (1913-1985) was also the author of thirteen novels featuring Inspector George Felse. Published in 1951, FALLEN INTO THE PIT is first novel in that series--and easily the best.

Most of the Inspector Felse novels run approximately two hundred pages; FALLEN INTO THE PIT runs over three hundred. To a certain extent this is due to Peters' establishment of the main characters and locales--but in simple fact the novel is much more densely written than her other Felse novels, so much so that at times it has an almost poetic quality.

Set in England following World War II, the plot focuses on a young German prisoner of war named Helmut Schauffler, who has remained in England after his release. Unfortunately, Helmut is a nasty bit of goods: a bully who attacks only when reasonably certain that there will be no retribution. Needless to say, he makes enemies right and left--and no one is greatly surprized when he is found with his head crushed in and thrown into a country stream.

Peters' plots are typically contrived, and although handsomely written and more than usually entertaining this is no less true of FALLEN INTO THE PIT than it is of her other works; long-time mystery readers will likely spot the killer through the way the author draws out her plot and sets forth the characters. Even so, this remains a particularly fine title in the Felse series. Recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood. He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.
- Psalms 7:14 - 15

In these days after WWII, England is no longer the place the young men left when they went away to fight. The mining industry has been nationalized, and even Comerford's old slapdash efforts at opening up its shallow coal deposits are about to be reopened, with a flood of new faces coming in to operate the new machinery. The men who went away, of course, aren't those who came back: Jim Tugg, the hired man at the Hollins farm, with daring exploits as a paratrooper; Chad Wedderburn, the pacifist classics master who spent years in guerilla fighting; even Charles Blunden, son of Selwyn Blunden of Harrow, fought all the way across North Africa and Sicily.

Expatriates from all over Europe are common enough, even ex-POWs who still slip and say 'Heil Hitler!' if they forget. (And get beaten up, maybe, by somebody whose brother died in a Stalag.) Helmut Schauffler, though, has been asking to be murdered by going far beyond that.

Gerd Hollins had lost her entire family in the concentration camps. Haunted by memories of horror that won't stay suppressed, she asked her husband to hire Helmut, because if she could learn to see one German as a human being, it would help her to let go of her nightmares. Unfortunately, Helmut is a creep - an actual Nazi who enjoys psychological torment (though he's not stupid enough to try it in front of her husband or hired man). When he's fired and takes a job at the quarry, he still harasses her in a slimy way, while causing discord everywhere else he goes.

Sergeant Felse isn't surprised when Helmut finally turns up floating in the brook, head bashed in, although he's less than thrilled that his 13-year-old son Dominic found the corpse. Despite George's best efforts, Dominic gets interested in the case, especially since his classics master is a suspect.

After reading almost all of Ellis Peters' Cadfael mysteries, I decided to give her other works a try, just to see if they could possibly compare. Well, to say I was surprised at what a fantastic novel this is can only be appreciated by those who have read and marveled at the brilliant Cadfael series.

Peters has created not only a very suspenseful and intriguing whodunnit, but a work of great depth, warmth, humor, and tragedy, full of complex character studies and profound insights into human nature, the effects of war, and how the murder of a man whom everyone hated anyway still rips apart the fabric of a small, close-knit community. And above it all emerges a playful, lighthearted banter between a precocious 13-year-old and his loving parents which is absolutely delightful to read. Somewhere around the middle of the book, after she has painted a vivid picture for us of the people, place, and times, young Dominic becomes central as the book's primary protagonist, and I cannot think of a more well-suited character to carry this novel.

As for the mystery itself, it was simply ingenious, better than many of the Cadfael mysteries, some of which are fairly easy to solve. This one had me on my toes until the very end, and threw some whopping surprises in along the way.

This is truly a work of genius, many-layered, lovingly crafted, and brilliantly well-told. Good luck finding another modern author who can come close to this level of accomplishment. Peters' work deserves much more acclaim than it has received.

As a mystery writer myself, I have a list of my own favorites from whom I learn. No one does it better than Ross Thomas -- a writer's writer.

I just finished this, my first Ross Thomas book. It is just incredible. His writing is evocative of character, place, complexity and conflict, in as few words as possible. I found myself rereading lines in order to grasp their full impact. The underlying clear vision of the writer is impressive as well.
All with an underlying passion and self-deprecating humor. I loved every single moment of it.

Victor Orcutt of Victor Orcutt Associates has discovered an ingenious way of earning large amounts of money. If a community becomes disgusted with rampant corruption in the ranks of its civic leaders, Victor will come in and clean things up. But Victor has found that before bad government can be reformed it has to first become even more corrupt. When the good citizens of Swankerton, a southern gulfcoast city, hire his firm to rid them of their thoroughly corrupt municipal government, he in turn hires Lucifer Dye to carry out the task of making the corruption worse.

Who is Lucifer Dye? Why he's the novel's protagonist and first person narrator. Born in Montana and raised in Japanese occupied Shanghai, Lucifer's biography is an exceedingly interesting one. For the past decade he has been a spy stationed in Hong Kong.
When the ultra-secretive intelligence agency he works for abruptly hands him his walking papers, Victor Orcutt is right there to provide employment for him on the Swankerton project.

Lucifer's much anticipated work in Swankerton really doesn't get underway until the second half of The Fools in Town Are on Our Side. The first half of the book is largely about Lucifer's early life and his later tenure as an intelligence agent. Subjects which are both amazingly interesting to read about.

This book deserves a 5 star rating for a number of reasons. The narrative is extremely compelling and substantial. There's lots of action including several instances of sudden, shocking violence. As in all Ross Thomas novels, almost all of the characters are imbued with cynical attitudes that are finely honed. In fact, the degree of cynicism found in the pages of this novel is a delight to behold and is probably its most engaging characteristic.

The Fools in Town Are on Our Side is one of the author's best efforts. Highly recommended.

It's been said that what Elmore Leonard ("Freaky Deaky," "Get Shorty," etc.) did for crime novels in urban environments, Ross Thomas did for crime novels in suburban environments. Thomas' novels aren't so much gritty as they are witty, and less about openly violent crimes as about deep corruption beneath the veneer of civilization.

"The Fools in Town Are On Our Side" is one of the best Thomas novels. It's really about three or four stories all wrapped together. The stories all happen to be about the narrator, Lucifer C. Dye. Dye was born in Montana, but spent his childhood in Shanghai, China, before and during World War II. Story No. 1 is about how he came to be raised by a Russian-born madam running Shanghai's top brothel. Story No. 2 is about how Dye came to be the youngest Sergeant Major in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, largely on the strength of his perfectly fluent Mandarin (Chinese), and his subsequent recruitment into a government intelligence program. Story No. 3 is about how he got booted out of the program. And Story No. 4 is the main story, wherein he is offered $50,000 (it was worth a lot more back in 1970 when the book was written) to help "corrupt" a town, the idea being that in order to get the townspeople to vote for a reform slate, they have to be really fed up with corruption. That requires making things far worse so people see how bad the corruption is.

Of course, Thomas does not tell the stories in that sequence. Instead, they're all mixed together, which ordinarily I find annoying, but each story is so interesting that the technique works here.

There's a little bit of violence, but for the most part, the book is really about intrigue, double-dealings, and so forth. If you've never read anything by Ross Thomas, this is a great introduction.

At eight years of age, Lucifer Dye could "shill a crap game, pimp for a whore house, speak six or seven languages, roll drunks, and hustle the rubes," but could neither read nor write.

Dye is the central character in "The Fools in Town Are on Our Side" (1970) by Ross Thomas.

It is a complex, unique, compulsively entertaining small town corruption novel.

After Dye completes his education on a "scholarship" granted by a clandestine government agency he is employed by the agency, Section Two. And, he is told, "There is no Section One."

After being unceremoniously dumped by the outfit, he is hired by Victor Orcutt to corrupt the corrupt in a Gulf Coast city.

Myriad scalawags abound, chicanery is the order of the day and abundant deceptions are trump cards, as a cast of sharp, unforgettable characters are manipulated by Dye, Orcutt and two associates.

There is never a dull moment in the absorbing narrative.

The "heroes" are tarnished and shady, and not much better than their adversaries.

The novels of Ross Thomas are fascinating and impossible to put down.

Out of print for nearly a decade, several of his works are being reissued by St. Martin's Press. Do yourself a favor---pick one up and enjoy the ride.

I loved this book. The first time I read it, I could not put it down until I was finished, and I have read it many times since. I think Ms. Garlock develops her characters well. I can almost see them when I read the book. Victoria is a very independent woman with a definite soft side. Mason is a world - weary guy who just wants to settle down. The children and their suffering (unfortunately) is very real. This was the first Dorothy Garlock book I read and went on to read as many others as I could find - all of which were wonderful.

Victoria is forced to part with her beloved ranch home to the very masculine Mason Mahaffey and his brothers and sisters. The friction that begins with Mason and Victoria can only lead to love and passion. As Mason struggles with the decision of giving his siblings a home or letting Victoria have have her ranch, the readers will feel deeply for both characters. In the end love rises and soars between Mason and his "Golden Girl" to create one of the best books ever! Dorothy Garlock has truly delivered one of the greatest romance novels of all times!

I have read several of Dorothy Garlock's books and this is definitely one of her best. This is a romance set in the days of the American Wild West. The heroine, Victoria McKenna, is appalled to discover that her devious half-brother has illegally sold the family ranch, deeded to Victoria in their father's will, to the hero, Mason Mahaffey, and his rather large family of younger siblings. While awaiting the outcome of the legal dispute over the property, the Mahaffey's take up residence at the McKenna Ranch. They soon discover that the ranch is a resting spot for various vagrants,and possible criminals, all of whom are welcome to rest, lodge, and eat with no questions asked at the McKenna Ranch, a precedent set by the Victoria's deceased father to prevent getting gunned down. A relationship develops between the main hero/heroine couple of Victoria and Mason, as well as the extremely well depicted romance between Mason's sister Nellie and one of the vagrant cowboys,Sage, who has a secret troubled past. It was actually the secondary character's romance that was especially endearing and had me reading page after page to find out what would happen to them. The story has plenty of action and adventure,a nasty villain, as well as danger and mystery. A very good story with lots of fun, humor, and touching romance. A keeper.

I know I say this with each and every Dorothy Garlock book that I read... but this is the best one yet!!! I think this is my all time favorite book!!! I just couldn't put this book down!!!

Mason purchases Victoria's ranch from her brother, while in England. However, the ranch was not for her brother to sell, as it was left in a last minute will to Victoria. Nevertheless, Mason shows up with the right paperwork, and deed of sale - and the will Victoria has that her father made out before he died, hasn't been recorded until she brings it in to her lawyer's office. The will was witnessed by an employee at the ranch, and although it appears to be valid as well... Victoria and Mason must wait out the lawyer's research to find out who actually has the right to the property. Only both Victoria and Mason understand that possession is nine-tenths of the law, so Mason refuses to stay anywhere but the ranch until things are settled.

In the meantime, Mason brings his two sisters and three brothers to the ranch... which further upsets Victoria, watching her home be taken over by this big family. The family, determined to be together, and Victoria determined to be alone... all have some sacrifices to make.

It's a fun story to read, with these strangers being forced on each other... all trying to claim their legal property, but finding much more than a new home. That's not all to the story, like classic Garlock quality, the story is full of gunshot wounds, villians and outlaws, and danger lurking from all corners.

Be prepared to stay up all night reading "Forever Victoria" by Dorothy Garlock.It has adventure, mystery and passion. You have to read it, I guarantee you will not be disappointed.

This book was in good condition and arrived swiftly. My contact with the seller was excellent and would buy from them again.
Gail Bagley

When you're looking for a particular recipe and you've already scoured 20 or so cookbooks in search of it, just pick up "The Joy of Cooking" and you'll most likely find what you're looking for.

This compact volume was one of my first cookbooks (luckily) and I still refer to it with some frequency. I find that it is particularly useful for basic recipes such as pie crusts. Taking that particular recipe as an example, I made my first pie crusts from their basic recipe (many years ago) and that's the one I still use today, although I have tried others off and on. These recipes have all withstood the test of time.

The book is also filled with all manner of cooking tips and techniques. A well-organized index will direct you to the recipe that you're trying to find. You'll also discover that multiple alternative recipes are offered for the same basic dish so that you can select the one most suited to your tastes.

This cookbook is the workhorse of them all. I would recommend it for both the newbie to cooking as well as to the professional chef as a reference document.

This one gets my highest recommendation -- I can hardly say enough good about it.

Excellent basic reference to cooking a very wide variety of foods for a very wide variety of purposes. Few books fulfill the job better.

When I was young my mom used the Joy of Cooking book regularly. Then there was house fire and the book was lost. I have been looking for years for a copy of the 1948 Joy of Cooking. I currently have other copies but my mom still talkes about the 1948 and how good it is.

I HAVE BEEN COLLECTING COOKBOOKS FOR 40 YEARS AND THIS IS MY ALLTIME FAVORITE! N0 COOK SHOULD BE WITHOUT A COPY OF THIS BOOK. BASIC EVERYDAY COOKING TO CLASSY ENTERTAINING IS COVERED. IF I COULD ONLY HAVE ONE COOKBOOK IN MY KITCHEN, IT WOULD BE THIS ONE. A GREAT PRESENT FOR A NEW BRIDE OR A BATCHELOR

Written by an author who also served in the United States Army in Vietnam, Killed In Action is the biography of draftee, journalist, and anti-war activist Stephen H. Warner. Though staunchly opposed to the war, he refused to avoid service to his country for the sake of principle, and served as an Army journalist until enemy fire slew him. An eloquent, articulate account, that draws heavily upon Warner's own words and testimony from people who knew him, Killed In Action is a singularly vivid portrait and testament of shining ideals and a life brought to its end all too soon.

Mr. Amchan has managed to explore all the contadictions and ambivalence of the Vietnam era through the forgotten story of one complex and courageous young man -- Stephen Warner. Deftly paced and brimming with historical fact and insight, it is of interest not only as great history, but as American drama.

THIS IS A TERRIFIC BOOK ABOUT AN ANTIWAR ACTIVIST DRAFTED OUT OF YALE LAW SCHOOL AND SENT TO VIETNAM LATE IN THE WAR. TOWARD THE END OF HIS ONE YEAR TOUR, STEVE WARNER, WHO DEVELOPED GREAT RESPECT AND AFFECTION FOR THE COMBAT INFANTRYMEN WHO FOUGHT THAT WAR, IS KILLED IN ACTION.

THE AUTHOR, HIMSELF A VIETNAM VET, TELLS THE COMPELLING, TRUE STORY OF STEVEN WARNER. A MUST READ FOR THOSE OF US WHO SERVED IN VIETNAM AND ENJOY READING ABOUT OTHERS WHO SERVED. THE AUTHOR'S DESCRIPTION OF ARMY BASIC TRAINING IS, BY ITSELF, WORTH THE PRICE OF THE BOOK.

Killed in Action is a short, powerful book about SP4 Steve Warner, US Army, who could arguably be called the most intelligent enlisted man to have served in Vietnam. This remarkable story begins with Steve's undergraduate years at Gettysburg College where he became an articulate anti-war spokesman at a time when it was not popular cause. Graduating summa cum laude, he went to Yale Law for one year after which he was drafted. Rather than head for Canada he decided to serve and served admirably. The details of Army basic training in the late 60s are as accurate as any I have read. Anyone who went through at this, or any other time, will appreciate it. The story of Steve in Vietnam is absolutely incredible. He had a nice safe job in Public Information but chose to use this position to go out into the field and get stories from the fighting soldiers first hand. His journal entries from these trips are fascinating as is his metamorphis into a soldier. This book will interest both those for and against the war and shows the power war has to change a person. The black and white photographs (all taken by Steve) are stark and haunting. Highly recommend to anyone interested in the Vietnam War and its related affects.

Drawn from the diaries and letters of a former anti-war activist who chose to serve rather than evade the draft and died in the waning days of the War, this gripping account of life in Nam has special poignancy today. Drafted out of Yale Law School, Steve Warner faces the dilemmas of his generation, but his war experiences change him. The author writes the book that Warner the journalist wanted to write but could not. Reads like a novel. I couldn't put it down.

This is a great book about my old neighborhood in the southwest side of Chicago in Mr. Greenwood. I knew many of the people that John Powers talked about, and can assure you that he brings them to life.

Powers talks about the two religions, the Catholics and the Publics. I was a Public. We were a distinct minority, and had to spend many days in school while I Catholic friends were off, yelling "sucker" through the school window. We did own the sidewalks, however.

I strongly recommend this fine book.

This book is a series of memoirs from a boy growing up in the far south-west area of Chicago known as Mt. Greenwood. It centers on his description of life as a Catholic boy going to a Catholic grammar school. Let me say here that I am a Protestant, but I grew up in this same neighborhood and had many Catholic friends so the situations were very familiar to me. The author's delema when he first learns about the different kinds of sins and his struggle to get through the week without sin in case he doesn't make it to confession is a sensitive but funny episode. All of the characters and places in this story are real, if described though the eyes of a boy, of course. If you grew up Catholic or grew up among Catholic children (or grew up in Mount Greenwood, Chicago) this is a must-read!

John R. Powers does a masterful job of bringing back situations common to all of us brought up in religious environments, without bitterness or cynicism. It is belly laughs from start to finish, as well as touching to the heart. His other books "Do Black Patent Leather Shoes..." and "The Unoriginal Sinner and the Ice Cream God" are must reads as well.

You'll laugh yourself silly with this book. Too bad it isn's available any more for purchase. I wanted to give a copy of it to a priest I know. He read the last book "The Unoriginal Sinner and the Icecream God" and used it in one of his homilies. I wanted him to have the full effect of the whole set. Guess I'll have to lend him my dogeared copy from MANY years past. I'd higly recomend this book as a comical look at many Catholic school childrens upbringing. Much of it is just plain silly, at other times, he hits it right on the nose. If you find it....BUY IT!!!!!

John R. Powers takes you back to the first 8 years of life in a Catholic grammar school in the 1950's and early 1960's. Remember when all your teachers were nuns? Remember getting beaned on the head by a crucifix swung from the belted waist of a nun that walked up and down the classroom isle while you were doing your work? Remember counting your " sins " on the fingers of either hand and trying to remember which hand held which " sins " while you were in line to go to Confession? Clickers? Purgatory? Pagan Babies? Well, this is the book for you. I am sorry to hear it is currently out of print as I have purchased many copies over the years and given them as gifts to many people who have thoroughly enjoyed this book!

When the Civil War begins, Karl Oskar tries to join the Union army, but is rejected because of his bad leg. Kristina is relieved as she opposes war in general.

It is the Sioux uprising which threatens settlers in Minnesota. Danjel and his oldest son fall victim to their savagery.

The final book is fatalistic. Moberg takes Karl Oskar and Kristina to the end of their lives. Kristina dies following a miscarriage. It was after a doctor told her she could endure no more pregnancies. Karl Oskar and Ulrika have bitter words as to whose fault it was.

Karl Oskar's loss causes him to retreat within himself. He raises four sons and two daughters alone. Old age follows, as do grandchildren. The Swedish settlers begin to lose their character, intermarrying to create a race of Americans. The melting pot!

We hear the strains of Like An Angel Passing Through My Room as Karl Oskar, recalling his past, awaits death. The last letter to Sweden, written by a neighbor, informs Karl Oskar's sister of his death in 1890 at age 67. The series spans 46 years.

I read all four books. They were great. Iwould like to find more like these.

The Last Letter Home follows the experiences of Karl Oskar Nilsson, and his wife Kristina, from 1860 to 1890. The American Civil War has come, and Karl Oscar agonizes over whether or not to join in the defense of his new country. However, things become a good deal worse when the Dakota Indians become tired of the treatment they are receiving at the hands of the United States, and begin a war against the white inhabitants of Minnesota. Life goes on after these upheavals, but not without costs. This bittersweet book follows the emigrants through to the very end, as the new generation grows up and becomes Americans.

This book is the fourth and final book of the Emigrants series. Crowning the masterful first three books, this book continues to show Vilhelm Moberg as one of the great authors of the Twentieth Century. As before, the characters are so human, that I found myself suffering with them, and sharing their joy. I wish that I could do justice to these books, but fear that I am not eloquent enough to convey just how wonderful they are. If I could recommend any books above all others that I have reviewed, it would be the Emigrants books. Please consider reading these books!

[For those of you with young children, I would like to recommend the Kirsten books in the American Girls series. Written for young readers (primarily girls), it tells the story of a Swedish family that immigrates to Minnesota in 1854.]

This is one of those novels you savor. A novel you will never forget. This one is translated from the Swedish and it loses nothing in the translation. It is helpful, however, to read the three books before this novel. It is the fourth book in the saga, although it isn't absolutely necessary. This novel holds up very well on its own. Thank You!

This is the last volume in a quartet of books by one of Sweden's greatest authors. Translated from Swedish into English, this work of historical fiction was originally published in 1961. Aptly titled, "Last Letter Home", it is the final epic in a four part opus, the first three of which are "The Emigrants", "Unto a Good Land", and "The Settlers". One should read them in the order in which they were written for maximum reading pleasure, even though each book can stand on its own.

In the first volume, "The Emigrants", the author details the emigration of a Swedish family to the New World, grounding it in the reasons for the exodus of so many Swedes from their mother country in the middle of the 19th century. The focus of the first book in this four part opus is on the family, relatives, and friends of Karl Oscar Nilsson, a peasant farmer who unceasingly worked his farm, only to find that, no matter what he did, he could not progress and would continue to live on the cusp of total poverty. The focus of the first book is on their life in Sweden. Gathering up family and friends of the family, the Nilssons decide to take the monumental step of making a fresh start by emigrating to the new world, specifically the United States of America.

The second volume, "Unto a Good Land", focuses on the arrival of the Nilsson family and friends in the United States of America. It details their journey from New York, a journey that was to take them across the Midwest by rail, steamer, and foot, to arrive in the wilds of what would one day be the State of Minnesota. It is in this wilderness that the Nilsson family and friends would homestead and struggle to make a new home. The author regales the reader with the travails this hardy group of settlers would encounter in their efforts to create by the sweat of their brow a new home in the wilderness. The early struggles of the Nilsson family to succeed in what was an unknown frontier is engagingly chronicled.

In "The Settlers", the author continues the story of the Nilsson family and friends. It is the story of a family who struggled to prevail in Minnesota, an alien land of harsh, inhospitable winters and scorching summers. The book continues to chronicle their lives and their adaptation to the adopted country that they would forever call home. It tells the story of the divided Nilsson brothers, each of whom would forge a path alien to the other. The author hones in on the fact that the early settlers were subject to being taken advantage of by the unscrupulous. He highlights the mass migration of disaffected Swedes to Minnesota and details their contribution to the prosperity of that part of the country. The author shows how these early Swedish settlers consolidated themselves into a thriving, bustling community, despite the obstacles and hardships that were to be their lot in the early years of their struggle to make the new land yield to their will.

This last volume, "Last Letter Home" is a bittersweet continuation of the story of the Nilsson family, as well as that of their friends. With the fabric of their lives now firmly woven into the fabric of their adopted country and with the birth of a new generation, they have earned the right to call themselves Americans. With their destiny now firmly intertwined with that of their adopted country, they face new challenges in this new country. Having conquered the wilderness and having achieved a measure of stability and comfort, they believe that the worst is over, only to find themselves thrust into a Civil War. Moreover, the blood of their friends and family would be shed, as a Sioux uprising, an angry outgrowth of broken treaties and governmental promises, wreaks havoc in Minnesota and its surrounding environs, a region mostly inhabited by Swedish settlers. Still, the Nilssons prevail and leave their mark, not only on the pages of these books but in the heart of the reader.

I have enjoyed all four volumes of this well-written and vibrant epic work. The author, a master storyteller, has woven a captivating tapestry alive with period detail and beloved characters. These are books that those who enjoy historical fiction will love reading.

This is a must have for anyone who will be renting a property. I have other properties that I have rented and I wish I had this book before I rented them out!

I will be a first time landlord and have done alot of research online as well as other books and had continued to come up short as far as detailed explanations and suggestions. This book is it! It has literally everything you need and is extremely thorough. I borrowed it from the library and have come here to purchase it. I can't do without out it.

I was very satisfied with this book. It was so comprehensive and easy to read -- even for a non-business-oriented, non-real estate-trained person like me. There are examples, thorough explanations, form examples, and perforated, blank forms.

I think this book is must-have for every landlord or recommended for those thinking of becoming a property mgr. or landlord.

I actually thought I was purchasing the software which would have typed up many of the sections for me - which would have been nice, but I was very impressed with how well organized and informative the book is.

Many items include the actual state laws regarding rental property which is very helpful because many of the websites are not easy to navigate.

Leases & Rental Agreements provides owners of real estate with a quick do-it-yourself handbook for renting out a property, including tear-out legal forms and tips on preparing different types of rental or lease agreements. From making disclosures on hazards to complying with laws covering security deposits and privacy, this provides all the details necessary.

What a hilarious book!I've read it a t least a hundred times and yet i cant help laughing the next time i read it!It is a really good book.My father had bought it in the 1970's and now it has been completely worn out.Unfortunately , no new copies are available.Such masterpieces should not get extinct!

What a hilarious book!I've read it a t least a hundred times and yet i cant help laughing the next time i read it!It is a really good book.My father had bought it in the 1970's and now it has been completely worn out.Unfortunately , no new copies are available.Such masterpieces should not get extinct!

This book will take you right back to your early years! In fact, as an adult you will actually understand more of Don Martin's jokes. I laughed so hard I almost fell down.

Captain Klutz is great. Sadly, my copy of this book (and of part II) was donated accidentally. Hopefully I can find another someday.

I love don Martin. Unfortunatually my copy of this book is so worn that it is dangerious to read. It is saddening that his books are not more readily avialable.