Ireland Books

We used this book in a "Five in a Row" style the week before St. Patrick's day and my kids got so much out of it. It's a little book full of great information about a great Christian. It was an introduction for them to missions, persecution, slavery, Ireland, the Trinity, and more. We followed up our study with Celtic music and a meal of corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, green shamrock-shaped honey rolls and green lemonade just for fun.

Ann Tompert, an excellent author of children's books, has done it again in her wonderful style of writing. It will be most enjoyed by those 5-10 years old, with 3rd to 5th graders being able to read it for themselves. She wrote this book based on the facts present in one of St. Patrick's letters. It is primarily about his life to when he got home from his slavery, and prepared to return to Ireland. Only one page is spent on his ministry in Ireland. Then it talks about his days of slavery and incarceration later in his life ending with how his being in Ireland has continued to affect it. There is only one page of writing for every two pages open. Most pages of writing only have 7-12 lines of typing on them. The illustrations are great. As the School Library Journal Editorial Review states it: "It is mounted in an exceptionally handsome format, with a formal presentation of the text on yellow backgrounds richly framed by borders of brown and gold, facing full-page, mixed-media illustrations of power and distinction, gleaming with brilliant color. The artistic style is decorative yet forceful, with an interesting variety of landscapes and flat, simple, but very expressive human figures."

This is a great book for people who wan't to know a little basic information about the life of St. Patrick. It explains wonderfully for children and adults! It talks from birth to death. There is little information about his childhood, but Ann Tompert covers it best she can.

Long ago in the forth century a boy was born in Britain,his parents called him Succat but later in his life he was called Patrick. He grew up with his parents in Britain they thought him about God. He was not a religious man until he was captured by the Irish pirates and sold as a slave. His master was very kind to him. He tended his flocks and while doing that he prayed to God and started to communicate with him. God deliverd himfrom his bondage and show him the way home back to his parents. There he thought people about God after a few years he went back to Ireland and spread the word of God,he was captured and put in prison but he still teach people about God and started many churches and stayed there until ha died.

"Scandinavia Since 1500" is a scholarly history of the area encompassing the modern nations of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland, along with what were then outlying possessions such as Iceland. Nordstrom focuses on the major governmental, economic, and social trends from the Reformation to the present day. What is emerges is a nuanced survey of a region with a more complicated history than may be commonly thought.

The biggest single thread in this history is the growth of nationalism and the gradual deconstruction of the Danish and Swedish empires that once dominated the region. The interaction of various portions of the Nordic area with sometimes exploitative central governments in Copenhagen and Stockholm is the context for the development of local governance, economies, and feelings of nationalism. Nordstrom makes a point of keeping his analysis fairly objective and of including lesser known areas such as Iceland and the Faroes in his analysis.

"Scandinavia since 1500" clearly represents extensive research and analysis. The tone of the book is relentlesses academic and extremely dry but will be of value to those looking for more information than may be found in popular histories or the average tourist guide.

Scandinavia, an often overlooked and opaque faction of affluent modern countries that never seem to capture the spotlight like its modish Western European neighbors. There is a lot more to this unheeded part of Europe then the common images held today: Scandinavia has a proud and rich history. In bygone times, Denmark and Sweden were two of the mightiest naval powers in Europe that ferociously contended for supremacy of Northern Europe in the Early Modern Era as well as significantly contributed to the Continent`s great wars of the age. Although quite contrary to the existing welfare states plagued by immigrants today, an abundance of great thinkers, reformers, scholars, inventors, writers, painters, and scientists from the region once contributed to the greater development of European and Western society as a whole.

Bryon Nordstrom, a professor of Scandinavian History at Gustavus Adolphus College, examines all five of these fascinating Scandinavian countries with emphasis on how the interactions between each other and the rest of the European powers have transformed the countries of today. From the beginnings of the first Paleolithic nomads to the modern contemporary states, the bulk of the significant historical events are covered with special attention to an in-depth analysis of the complex times from the 16th Century to present.

Nordstrom accomplishes, quite commendably, the strenuous task of providing readers with the historical highlights over the past five centuries, as well as elaborating and clarifying any ambiguities or misconceptions one might have. Although his delineation of the major events comprising Scandinavian history is much in the diction of a 300 page lecture, this does not hinder the effectual illustration of this intricate subject. As long as you, have any spark of interest or appetite for knowledge of the region, a modest comprehension of the book will likely contribute to a greater and more complete understanding of how these countries were shaped and exist today.

Being a history professor, Nordstrom's writing is rather straightforward. He delivers his message clear and straight to the point with no frills and with little personal bias in his writing which is rare for his profession these days. It becomes evident he has strong appreciation for his subject and an thorough, almost encyclopedic knowledge of the region.

The events that have transpired in the timeframe which the book is centered around (1500 to present) are presented in an adequate introduction which outlines the fundamentals of the region but also further elaborates on scholarly details. If you aren't already familiar with the basics of the Kalmar Union, the Hanseatic League, and the Nordic countries' involvement in the Thirty Years' War, Nordstrom provides a thorough overview. He also breaks down the perplexing Dano-Swedish wars during the 17th and 18th centuries which number around eight and were sparked by a multitude of reasons. Professor Nordstrom organizes the past five hundred years into three sections; Early Modern (1500-1800), Nineteenth Century, and the Twentieth Century. Special emphasis is placed on each country's political, economic, and social progressions. While all five modern day Norden countries are covered, a majority of the book deals with countries with a paramount role in the region's progression, which is mostly Sweden and Denmark.

Although "Scandinavia Since 1500" is not without it's low points: the economic evolutions of Norden during 19th and 20th centuries do certainly drag down the pace a bit, and a recurrent stress on peripheral topics such as "women's rights" and environmentalism are quite common. However, his purpose of creating a straightforward history of Scandinavia for the past 500 years is accomplished exceptionally well and worthy of five stars for a meritable effort of meticulous research and a diverse encompassment of little known details. With no other book of it's kind available today geared especially towards Americans, "Scandinavia Since 1500" makes a compelling read for any student of history, and especially Scandinavian-Americans, who hope to gain a familiarization with a part of the world that holds a rich and considerable history well worth a thorough examination.

Having been born and lived in Denmark till age fourteen, I was taught history in a most subjective fashion.
Many years later when visiting Stockholm I saw an enormous monument celebrating a battle in which Sweden defeated Denmark. I was aware of the battle, but obviously no monuments to it existed in Denmark.
Years later I stood on the battlements of Kungelv castle watching the Gotaelv running below. The loss of Bohus county to Sweden was but a minor footnote to Danish history, but obviously very important to Sweden as it controlled access to the Western oceans.
Professor Nordstrom's book has succeeded in putting events such as these in a subjective form and is a must for anyone seriously interested in the history of Scandinavia.
PHT
Branford, Connecticut

My Scandinavian history professor recommended this book to me. What he didn't tell me is that he was mentioned in the preface of the book (the author obviously used my professor's book for a reference). Anyway, the book does a great job detailing the economic, political, and cultural situations in Scandinavia dating from 1500 to the present. If I were a professor teaching this kind of history, I would definitely require this as a text because of it's comprehensiveness and how relatively short it is. It's a good book for those interested in Scandinavian studies.

This book is about common sense: the way ordinary people have reasoned about the world since the beginning of recorded history. It is a compendium of anecdotes, about anecdotal thinking. I find the insights engrossing, entertaining, and scholarly-if not scientific. This book hopes to rigorously analyze the processes that thinkers have followed throughout recorded history in order to reach rational conclusions. These processes are interesting in their history of use as official rules of thumb, but they are fatally flawed. The fundamental flaw is that the nonscientific processes are not reasoning- they are persuasion, as in rhetoric. Being nonscientific in nature, "The Science of Conjecture" is misnamed, but quite worthwhile to those of us who would like to understand the lawyer and jurors' mind.

If you read "Sophies World" by Jostein Gaardner and wanted something with more bite, this book is it. It's one of the few truly intellectual books I've read without being academic or boring. I had no idea how much we take certain things in our 21st century thinking for granted. One example is juries and innocence until proven guilty. The book is a marvelous history of legal and ethical thinking and how we came to civilized methods to deal with charges of guilt. It makes me aware of the manipulative power of different styles of logical arguments. Buts it's not only about law. The author explains why Islam is fundamental (God can't be wrong) so why bother considering pros and cons of situations. Christianity was lucky to have the reformation and counter-reformation to challenge why there is probability/chance or unknowing. There are great sections on scientific theory - reasoning for hard sciences like physics and astronomy. Why cannot astrology be a science? Because there are no hard rules; too much depends on the art or experience of interpreters who "explain" exceptions to rules, because so many situations don't follow their rules. The sections on soft science describe biology and medicine, and the impact of clinical trials. How did we arrive at "scientific thinking" to establish proofs? Its all here. I'm not into mathematics and the title sounded so boring to me - mathematics and before the 16th century ie Pascal. If ever there was a case for "don't judge a book by its cover" this is it. Its solid reading, but it is also deeply satisfying and fascinating in understanding a little bit more about how and why we think like do in the 21st century. As an aside the author is also a Latin scholar who translates many texts, correcting false interpretations. But he does it in subtle ways; nothing show-off. James Franklin dazzles us with his humility one moment and superb, accessible writing on complicated subjects the next moment. I never knew that "like" and "probably" were introduced from Greek. Medieval Europeans did not have sophisticated languages that included "like" or "probably" but with medieval enlightment they were introduced. What an impact these two words had. The author corrects cultural misthinking of how poor medieval thinking was. It was an explosion of brilliance in virtually a person's lifetime from 1150-1200. The Renaissance was mild in comparison. This book touches and explains our human development of consciousness and thinking in so many fields eg law, medicine, science, ethics. The author draws on Ancient Greek texts, Roman texts, the Talmud, Jewish philosophers, Islamic philosophers, Christian theologians and even Sanskrit writings. The subjects discussed heavily affect my daily life and thinking. Understanding a little bit of what we take for granted, makes me reconsider glib, slick arguments I'm confronted with in newspapers and television every day. If you buy the book, it's a great read over 1-2 months that can be savored and sipped like a great wine.

Franklin has done a brilliant job of showing that the concept of probability used by practically all civilizations throughout history[for instance,Hebrew(Talmud),Greek(Aristotle),Medieval(Scholastics),etc.],prior to Pascal's attempt to mathematicalize the meaning of the term probability so as to help out some French noblemen who were trying to find a way to get an edge in certain types of gambling ,was the inductive,qualitative,comparative concept based on recognizing probability as being a primarily nonnumerical,vague concept that could not be precisely defined.Its usage was built into the common languages that human beings developed over time.Franklin's book supports the original logical interpretation of probability first put forth in published form in 1921 in the A Treatise on Probability(TP) by John Maynard Keynes.Keynes's theory is a general theory which analyzes probability from the most general use of the term(qualitative,nonnumerical,comparative) to its most specialized forms(quantitative,numerical,interval,mathematical,statistical,frequency,subjective).There are a few places in this book where the author could have given a substantially better analysis.One place is where he discusses Keynes's concept of the weight of the evidence.He bases his discussion only on chapter 6 of the TP,ignoring Keynes's additional discussions in chapter 14,section 3 and chapter 26,where Keynes became the first scholar in history to both define weight,w,on the unit interval between 0 and 1,and to invent a decision rule,his conventional coefficient of risk and weight,c,which solves a number of the paradoxes of decision theory, as well as a number of the anomalies rediscovered by Tversky and Kahneman.Franklin also fails to point out Keynes's original development of an interval valued approach to probability in chapters 15 and 17 of the TP.The scholar who comes closest to Keynes in incorporating a clearcut role for a vague,comparative,qualitative understanding of probability is D.Ellsberg.

This is the sort of book whose indispensability creeps up on you: you start it without any idea that you'll require it to broaden your mind, but it insidiously works its magic. Totally unclassifiable -- it mixes the disciplines of history, mathematics, philosophy and jurisprudence -- it also happens to be a rivettingly lucid read, notwithstanding the outwardly abstruse nature of its materials.

This book was extremely informative and I would recommend it highly for any scotch whisky aficionado. The book allows you to create a vivid mental picture of how old distilleries must have been, plus the illustrations are great. Scotch Missed will further your knowledge on the history of this fascinating industry.

....when did Brian Townsend change his name to Michael Jackson? Is it possible that "magellan359" got a wee bit off course from one wee dram too many? Other than that, it's an ok review except for the fact that it's more about him than about the book, not what one would expect from one of Amazon's "top" reviewers. Oh, well...

Highly informative paperback on scotland's lost whisky distilleries, including those which have closed in recent years and whose whiskies can still be found in specialist shops or the occasional liquor store that doesn't realise the gems it has on its shelves. Definitely a must for the whisky enthusiast looking for a dram of a book.

Many of Scotland's distilleries had closed in recent (and not-so-recent) decades, and I thought I'd mention some of my favorites, which Townsend discusses in his book.

Some, like the heavily peated Islay, Ardbeg (which I understand has been re-opened, fortunately), were justly famous; others, like Dallas Dhu and Millburn, were more obscure, but their closing was still a loss. People used to make jokes about the Dallas Dhu name (which means "black glen" in Scots Gaelic), but it really did produce a fine malt, and I had fun doing tastings of it with friends back in the late 80's, when it was still readily available in independent bottlings at different ages and from different independent bottlers. It was notable for some semi-sweet chocolate notes, a rare flavor and essence in scotch whiskey, and I used to enjoy it very much. The only other malt that comes to mind with a chocolate flavor to me right now was a 25-year-old bottling of Scapa, a 1968 or therabouts issue, if I remember correctly. But anyway, it certainly was a fine malt and worthy of comparison with the Dallas Dhu. One time I put on a tasting for other single-malt afficianado friends and acqaintances of almost nothing but "vanished malts," of which I had bottles of about a dozen at the time, and we all had a great time tasting their whiskies and talking about single-malts and whatever.

Although bourbons and cognacs are impressive spirits too, if there is one thing that separates single malts from the others, it's the sheer spectrum of diversity and intensity of the many qualities that they possess. The intense, crystal-clear essences and flavors of this great distillate are unique, and in truly appreciating a fine dram of one of the great single malts at the end of a day, even life's more pressing problems seem to themselves vanish for a moment. As someone once wrote, life is still worth living as long as there is a good single-malt available. And perhaps that's why it translates from the Gaelic as "the water of life."

But getting back to Townsend's book, here he gives a nod to the history and scotch of the many famous and more obscure distilleries and whiskies of Scotland that are no longer with us. I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about all the different distilleries, even the defunct ones, but I still learned some new things from this enjoyable book, and I would recommend it to any and all single-malt enthusiasts who are looking for something different in a book about scotch.

The Scottish-Irish Pub and Hearth Cookbook is probably the easiest cookbook I've ever tested and reviewed. My family has gotten used to my cooking experiments. They always know when I have a new cookbook. Everyday for a week or two, I'll spend hours cooking up a storm. Then, they'll tentatively try the dishes and give me their verdict on whether I should make it again sometime.

With The Scottish-Irish Pub and Hearth Cookbook, I completely confused my family. I cooked and they tried the dishes but the majority of the meals, snacks, and desserts were already familiar to them. They were my old standbys many of which I learned by watching my mother and grandmother cook. I even found a few dishes that I remember enjoying as a kid but couldn't find a way to replicate. Now I have the recipes and I can pass them onto my children and grandchildren.

`The Scottish-Irish Pub and Hearth Cookbook' by Scottish / American culinary writer, Kay Shaw Nelson is another cookbook offering by the relatively low-priced, low profile publisher, Hippocrene Books, Inc. which has a large selection of cookbooks about many of the lesser world cuisines in `The Hippocrene Cookbook Library' as well as several books on Scottish and Irish subjects.

I have reviewed a few of these Hippocrene Books and compared to those offerings, this volume is superior to most, although it may not be the very best source for traditional Irish or Scottish recipes. On the other hand, I especially like this book for the fact that it seems to have very good versions of many recipes that may be so common that many flashier cookbooks may not even deign to cover them. My favorite here is the recipe for Scotch eggs, which recently came to fame as a dish prepared on `Iron Chef America' by the `Too Hot Tamales' (Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger) in a battle against Bobby Flay. The recipe made such an impression that while I remember it, I don't remember the secret ingredient or who won the battle.

I also like the fact that there is a much greater similarity between the two Celtic culinary cultures of Scotland and Ireland than there is between, for example the modern cuisines of Spain and Portugal, which some have lumped together. The biggest difference between the two may be the time at which each was influenced by contact with the French. For the Scottish, during the era of Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots, when Scotland and France were active allies against Protestant England. For the Irish, it seems to be much later, beginning in the early 20th century, when Ireland first became independent, and preferred to trade with France than their former colonial masters, England.

While every culinary tradition on earth seems to make a case that they are more congenial entertainers and friends of travelers than anyone else, the Irish can document the fact that not only do they really enjoy a good gathering over beer or spirits, there were actually LAWS passed, the Brehon laws of the Gaelic Celts of the 5th century AD, enforcing hospitality toward strangers and travelers.

The chapters in this book are a great reflection of what is important to these Celtic cuisines:

Starters, including meatballs, lots of oysters and prawns, and the famous Scotch eggs. I'm surprised to find a perfect recipe of the shrimp cocktail, which may have come to these shores from Scotland or Ireland instead of the more easily suspected French.
Soups, especially featuring leeks, which seem to be a native and not a French import. The most famous, of course, is Scotch broth, which is heavy with lamb and barley.
Egg and Cheese Dishes, featuring many dishes from the famous Scottish and Irish breakfasts, including that mysteriously named cheese dish, Scotch Rabbit.
Barley, Oats, and Cornmeal with lots of porridges and cold cereals, such as Muesli.
Seafood, including lots of finny animals from freshwater lakes and streams such as salmon and trout. The most famous recipe here may be kedgeree, a rice, fish, and egg casserole. I just wonder exactly how old this recipe actually is, as two important flavorings are Worcestershire sauce and curry powder, two very British ingredients which may be not much more than 150 years in the British Isles.
Poultry and Game recipes look suspiciously like recipes from southwest France (See Paula Wolfert's great study of recipes from this region). This may either be primordial Celtic influence from Europe or later emigration from Protestant France to the British Isles.
Meats includes a lot of beef as in corned beef and cabbage, corned beef hash, and beef tartare, plus lots of lamb dishes and, oddly enough, several hamburger recipes. Makes me think our favorite meaty fast food came from Ireland rather than northern Germany, as its name suggests.
Vegetables is lots of mashed potatoes and what to do with mashed potatoes the day after. It also shows that the Gaelic cuisine is one of the very few outside Japan that features seaweed.
Bread, especially quickbread based scones and soda bread, which don't use yeast, plus boxty, that famous refuge of day-old mashed potatoes.
Cakes and Cookies, oddly, is separated from desserts, possibly because these are recipes for things served at tea and not after a late supper. The highlight is oatmeal cookies and Scottish shortbread.
Desserts features lots of apples, pears, and berries, especially the classic blackberry fool
Drinks, of course.

As a source of both culinary lore and classic recipes, this may be the best available book I have seen on Scotch / Irish comfort food. It may not be quite as good as `Irish Traditional Cooking' by leading Irish cooking school owner, Darina Allen, which the author recognizes as one of the leading authorities on Irish culinary practice, but for a nice little inexpensive package, this book is very, very good. For more information on the intertwining of culinary lore and ancient Celtic celebrations, see `Celtic Folklore Cooking' by culinary writer and folklorist, JoAnne Asala.

This book is easy, warm, and satisfying. Reminds me of home with family, freinds, good food and good conversations. If you like good "pub" feel, buy the book.

The recipes are great! I've done extensive research on Celtic dining and spoken to many a Scottish friends that grew up with the old Celtic Traditions and they agreed this cookbook is great! So far, the recipes i have tried have been outstanding! If you're looking for authentic recipes and enjoy great food... try this cookbook out!

Yeats lives in the minds of most lovers of great modern poetry through lines of incredible beauty.

"And we will wander hand in hand
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
And pluck till time and times are done,
The golden apples of the moon,
The silver apples of the sun.

"We must lie down where all the ladders start
In the foul rag- and- bone shop of the heart"

"But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
and loved the sorrows of your changing face"

"An aged man is but a paltry thing
a tattered soul upon a stick
unless soul claps its hand and sing..

Yeats believed in much nonsense in his life, and apparently was not the kindest of human beings but he wrote some very great poetry.

I picked up this book of poems as an introduction to Yeats and found it to be wonderful. It contains major works from all of his periods and four plays as well. Highly recommended, for poetry lovers and those with only a passing interest.

In 250 years the mass of pablum we currently pass as literature will be blown away like chaff in the wind.

One of the hard and nourishing kernals left on the threshingroom floor will certainly be Yeats.

These are poems not to be read, but learned by heart.

Among my favorites from this collection (with years of composition) are: "The Stolen Child", "To an Isle in the Water" and "Down by the Salley Gardens" (1889); "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" and "When You Are Old" (1893); "He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven" (1899); "The Folly of Being Comforted" and "Adam's Curse" (1904); "All Things Can Tempt Me", "Brown Penny" and "To a Child Dancing in the Wind" (1910); and "The Cat and the Moon" and "Two Songs of a Fool" (1919).

During a recent fright when we were escaping our apartment down a ladder, I took two books with me, thinking that perhaps I would need something strong. Happily Yeats's SELECTED POEMS AND FOUR PLAYS was at hand, together with, well, something private. This book, edited by the late M.L. Rosenthal, is an expanded edition of a previous book by Rosenthal that had the same title except it was called, SELECTED POEMS AND TWO PLAYS. This present edition doubles the number of plays it prints in one stroke, adding the very late THE DEATH OF CUCHULAIN as well as the strange, feverish THE WORDS UPON THE WINDOW-PANE. Previously we had only the two plays PURGATORY and CALGARY. Did I say CALGARY? I meant, CALVARY, and neither of them are worth the paper they're printed on. In college my professor used to tell us that Yeats, together with his patron Lady Gregory, invented the Abbey Theater and kept it going by writing plays annually and encouraging their society friends not only to attend but to pledge money in exchange for participation in a community-based theater. However, according to Rosenthal, some of Yeats' plays were distinctly unpopular even with this sudsidized theater and neither the actors nor the audience loved them to death.

As a boy, my dad used to quote Yeats on every occasion and he (Yeats) was a patron saint to many Irishfolk. Today not so much, but as I made my way down the ladder I was glad I had the Yeats book tucked into my pants. He is the epitome of the artist who keeps changing through circumstance, open to new influence, even partial to drugs, for many credit his late flowering to the monkey glands he took in Switzerland to rejuvenate his sex life, the precursor to today's Viagra. In his youth he became a member of a secret band called the Order of the Golden Dawn, and spiritualist interests fueled his poetry and politics both. On his honeymoon he discovered that his wife, Georgie, had mediumistic leanings, and they spent many night holding seances and conversing with the spirits of the dead, all of whom, or so Yeats claimed, had arrived to dispense new metaphors for his poetry. He later wrote up these events in his book A VISION.

Rosenthal was a superb editor who went back and checked all of the original manuscripts and who could distinguish Yeats' handwriting in all its different avatars, and this helped him date the poems to within an inch of their lives. His task was made no easier by Yeats' habit of revision and by his need to provide an income for his sisters, who wound up producing elaborate private, limited printings of much of his work to sell to collectors only at absurdly inflated prices. These books are beautiful but useless, like so many of the romantic Irish flourishes the poet's late work commemorates only to condemn. It is a poetry of questions, which always appeals to young people, those who know the answers. "What's water but the generated soul?" (That one always threw me.) "How can we tell the dancer from the dance?" "Is every modern nation like the tower,/ Half dead at the top?" (Makes you think about our nation, caught up in a senseless war against Iraq.) "Those masterful images because complete/ Grew in pure mind, but out of what began?" "What voice more sweet than hers/ When, young and beautiful,/ She rode to harriers?" Riding to harriers doesn't sound so fabulous now, but we've all got something we look back on and say, everything's been changed, changed utterly.

FROM THE BACK COVER:

The Sheriff and the E-Mail Bride by Liz Ireland:
Caught for good! Does Heartbreak Ridge have a romance curse? No Way! says Sheriff Sam Weston...but he isn't taking any chances. Online, he rounds himself up a lady far from his hometown. The lonesome lawman thinks he's found himself a foolproof courting method-until Shelby, his cyberfiancee, arrives eight months pregnant. Now it looks as if the town's curse may strike again, if Shelby can't win Sam over, and soon!

Stray Hearts by Jane Sullivan:

It's a dog-eat-dog world...Kay Ramsey believed her ex-fiance deserved to pay for cheating on her, so she shaved his prizewinning cocker spaniels! Her punishment? A hundred hours of community service at a local animal shelter. Scared silly of four-legged furry animals, Key knew she wouldn't be able to stick out her sentence...until she saw veterinarian Matt Forester. One hundred hours wouldn't be nearly long enough...

I really enjoyed this book! Jane Sullivan has great skill at telling a story that makes you not want to keep reading until the last page and even then you wish that there was more (I can't wait to read her next book). There was a great mix of emotions both tears and laughs and plenty of romance too. I highly recommend this book to anybody who likes romantic comedy.

Jane Sullivan hits it big and hits it funny with STRAY HEARTS. In a fit of revenge, Kay Ramsey has a grooming service shave Up You into her cheating ex-fiance's prize purebred. The insult should have read Up Yours, but the artist ran out of dog. Her sentence to a veterinary clinic and her fear of animals keep the laughs coming and the chemistry sizzling between Kay and the resident vet. This book is a definite MUST READ. I can't wait for the next Jane Sullivan Novel.

This book contains two complete novels, and I've so far only read STRAY HEARTS by Jane Sullivan, but I had to stop and write a review. Stray Hearts is about a woman, Kay, who is terrified of animals. When she catches her fiance with another woman, she hires a dog groomer to shave naughty words into the coats of his prize cocker spaniels. She gets caught, and the law comes down hard--she has to do volunteer work in an animal shelter.

The hero is the vet who runs the shelter, and he puts poor Kay to work scooping cat boxes! He's skeptical about her, and she's terrified of the animals. I won't tell you how they work it out, but I can assure you it's funny! A great, fast read, very well written, with lots of reasons to smile and sometimes laugh out loud. Especially fun if you like animals.

I received the book, SILENCE IN THE GARDEN on time. The book is in good condition and I'm looking forward to reading it, soon. Many thanks.
From Annie Cunningham

...and therein lies only one facet of William Trevor's amazing gift. When I began this book, I thought I had stumbled upon a novel in a 'lighter' category by Trevor -- before I realized it, I was completely enmeshed in this story and its characters. Trevor's prose is incredibly crafted -- his attention to detail and his ability to develop his characters are almost without peer, but neither of these talents overshadows his story.

As in most of his marvelous writing, there are twists and turns awaiting the reader -- revelations completely unforseen and unimagined. As always, he brings the Irish character -- both individual and en masse -- to life completely and gently. Meticulous details are made known to us quietly, so that by midway through the this absorbing work, we almost feel that we are living among these people. He has the ability to allow us to know them without feeling we've been told about any of them -- more like we've gained the knowledge over time.

We see Sarah Polexfen come to the Irish island estate of Carriglas to serve as governess to the children of her relations, the Rollestons. Life there seems peaceful and detached -- but she senses there is something troubling under the surface, something of which she is not told and is unaware. Years later, when she returns to the island -- the children are grown, their father dead, the grandmother an aged matriarch -- events from the past begin to come clearer, verifying her earlier intuitions. The story is played out over a period from the early part of the 20th century, seeing the beginning of the 'troubles' in Ireland, to the early 1980s -- and the family looks much different in hindsight than when she first arrived.

There is a sweet sadness present in this story -- as in much of Trevor's writing -- but it never becomes maudlin. The events and dialogue are intelligent and, in their own way, endearing -- for we find ourselves growing to care about these characters, even the ones who are less than admirable. For in the end, they are only human, and humans have frailties and warts, and commit transgressions, no matter how admirable they may seem from a distance.

Every single work of William Trevor's fiction that I have read has been a great experience -- if you've never sipped from his cup, start here...start anywhere. His novels and short stories are equally amazing and well-written -- I cannot recommend his work as a whole highly enough.

William Trevor has crafted yet another wee gem of a tale in "The Silence in the Garden", drawing upon class differences between the Protestant aristocracy and their Catholic neighbors and the bloody violence of the Irish civil war. Most of the tale is set in the 1930's, though events span decades from the early 1900's till the beginning of the 1970's. Sarah Pollexfen arrives on the estate during World War I as a governness to her affluent Rolleston cousins. Through her diaries we read of an unspeakable tragedy and quiet lives of desperation led by the Rolleston family.

This lovely novel is sort of William Trevor's take on a Henry James ghost story. A governess arrives at an enormous estate and discovers there is more than meets the eye. As always with Trevor, the prose is luminous and the characters are complex, deft and compelling. I recommend this, just as I would anything Trevor has written. He is the greatest prose writer of our time.

It was hard to put this book down once I started it. Although the women portrayed faced a living hell all around them, the authors elicit the courage and determination each women had to continue the daily existence in the camps. And that is what is so powerful; the daily horrors which become the backdrop for extermination are also part of the reason that each was able to define for herself a path through death.

This book is novel in its approach and subject matter. Women in the Holocaust, and their triumphs, courage, and resourcefullness has been ignored before now. The stories are personal and engaging. I would put it in the top-ten must reads of Holocaust literature.

This book was a difficult endeavor, as one never wants to face the potential raw ugliness of mankind. However, the voices of these women are invaluable in helping the world to remember a time which must never be forgotten.

As a young woman (34 years old) and a mother of three (which qualifies me as a caregiver, I guess), my heart went out to these brave women, struggling to impart some small measure of kindness or at least relief of suffering to their fellow prisoners. Women and children are seemingly the most vulnerable when society engages in chaos, but the women caregivers chronicled in this book were apparently among the most intrepid of all. I believe they gathered strength from the acts of focusing on giving aid to others in the most desperate of circumstances. Anyone who is interested in what the human spirit can endure, and indeed, overcome, should read this book.

Kudos to Dr. Diane Plotkin for her thorough research into the lives of the women featured in this book. Her attention to detail helps transport us to the various camps where we experience dehumanization and deprivation. Through it all, however, it is interesting to see the various ways these women nurtured and tried to protect one another. This is a "must-read" book because it clearly illustrates the general differences in the ways men and women coped with, and adapted to, life in the concentration camps.

Aine O'Malley is the only daughter in an Irish family with four boys, and is neglected, insulted, lonely and highly imaginative. The story opens when she is 10 during a summer in their Victorian castellated house built above the rocky mainland shore. The Dunbeg castle, a crumbling old wreck built nearly 150 years earlier by her great-great-grandfather O'Malley, has its share of family ghosts and legends. Aine's cousin from America, Rupert - her father's brother's son, visits them for the summer, and she finds a rare ally in him even though he's several years older than her. While her brothers ignore her or taunt her and her parents virtually ignore her, Rupert finds time to talk and explore with her, and achieves a real rapport with Aine. They continue to correspond when he returns to Virginia.

The women in this novel are all deeply troubled and unfulfilled. Aine's mother is distant and troubled by her lack of power in her typical Irish marriage where the man rules the roost. Rupert's mother has a similar marriage, but it's further complicated by the fact that her husband is a pedophile and philanderer. Both seem trapped and helpless in their marriages, which creates negative examples of female vulnerability and dysfunctional relationships for Aine.

Aine is haunted by unexplained nightmares, shadows and visions, and is constantly criticized and ostracized by her family for her imaginings; but only Rupert seems to understand her. They don't see each other again for years, when she is 13 and he is leaving for college. An awkward and uncomfortable event causes a rift between them, and they lose communication for several years while he is away at college. They meet again when she is an adult and attending drama school in London, but he is engaged and she is angry and disappointed in him. She agrees to marry Nigel soon after meeting him in London, mainly as a negative reaction to Rupert's engagement.

Aine's intense feelings for Rupert are eventually resolved in a surprising manner, and she eventually faces her demons and ghosts and learns how to deal with them.

The themes of oppression and haunting are mirrored in the splendid, vivid descriptions of the Dunbeg castle and rocky seashore and of the humid, sultry surroundings in Virginia. The author allows us to empathize with Aine and be fully engaged with her environs. We feel we know her before the end of the novel, and want her to find healing and peace of mind in a world that so far has been hostile and insensitive.

By the time Aine turns ten in 1986, she is a loner in spite of two brothers. She enjoys and hates the summer visits to Dunberg, the haunting family castle in Ireland. However, this year, things are different as her aunt and cousin arrive from Virginia for a visit. Her cousin Rupert is four years older than Aine, but the two hit it off immediately. When Rupert rescues Aine from a nasty situation, he becomes her knight in shining armor.

Over the years, Aine recognizes how dysfunctional her family truly is. Even more so, she realizes she deeply loves her first cousin. However, he is engaged to someone else, any sensual relationship with him is taboo, and someone wants to simply destroy Aine, leaving her choices very limited. Of course, there is Nigel to consider.

THE SONG OF THE TIDE is a modern day Gothic drama that captures the essence of the genre. The story line works because the plot adheres to its roots of an atmospheric location, ancestral curses, insane people, and brooding individuals whose forbidden love divides their family even as society condemns them for it. Mary Ryan paints a powerful portrait of an angst-laden woman that will bring her a stateside audience who will want more of her works published here.

Harriet Klausner

A falling down Irish castle, a fey little girl with a host of brothers and an unfilled mother and traditionally clueless father. A rebellious aunt and American cousin come to visit and nothing will ever be the same. Aunt Isabelle warns the tiny and already dramatic ten year old Aine that "Men ... eat feelings. They have none of their own and live off other people's." As Aine approaches womanhood, ancient childhood fears haunt her, as does the prospect of life. Her unconventional and unfulfilled mother equates marriage with "mortgaging your life," and then makes a very dramatic exit. As Aine's very difficult life unfolds, the constancy and concern of cousin Rupert Bear for Tigerlily is an inspired touch, but (as in life) happily ever after is more than a bit of a fantasy. This is a pretty yet dark and multi-layered poetic tale that keeps hopefulness on the horizon, and has a lot to say about families and coming of age. The author is extremely talented, and the reader will feel pulled into this living, breathing family and the various landscapes.

Evocative and engrossing, Mary Ryan's The Song of the Tide creates a story with complex layers, emotions, and settings, describing them with skill and sympathy. The heart and soul of Ryan's heroine, Aine O'Malley, reveal a flair for the dramatic, a vivid imagination, and a keen perception or prescience that become a burden as she grows older. The lessons Aine learns about women's roles in society and the source of their satisfaction or power -- whether it is derived from domestic dominance or the ability to escape such ties -- runs in tandem with Aine's own struggle to escape her obsessions and ghosts. Aine's folly results from her belief that her power to control situations or people's opinions is derived by what she leaves unsaid, and more often her reticence or lies create further turmoil and obstacles for her.

Aine's family owns a crumbling castle called Dunbeg, where the story begins with the arrival of Aine's American-born cousin, Rupert and fraternal aunt, Isabelle. Even to 10-year-old Aine's perception, it soon becomes apparent that Aunt Isabelle is on the lam, running away from her husband. Aine immediately forms an alliance and deep attachment to Rupert, her gentlemanly cousin from Virginia who is the first male that didn't pick on her (Aine comes from a family full of brothers). In their explorations of the land surrounding the castle, Aine and Rupert fall afoul of a local resident tramp named Aeneas Shaw, a silly childhood misadventure with surprisingly far-reaching consequences. Aine, already a martyr to nightmares and insomnia, privately adds her new Nemesis Shaw to her list of fears, but recants her initial reporting of Shaw's attack on her to the police because she feels sorry for him and does not want to be the cause of his confinement to a mental home or to prison. In this one act, Aine establishes a pattern that will follow her throughout her adolescence and young adult years, in which she subverts her own fears about her safety, or allows others to convince her she's crazy or has an overly-vivid imagination, to the detriment of her well-being.

When she is 10 years old, Aine suddenly faces down the taunts of her brothers, screaming "From now on, I want some respect!", but it is not until a decade later that she realizes the power to gain freedom from such bad treatment is actually in her own hands, not in the hands of her tormenters both real and imagined. Aine's role models, after all, are her aunt, who after fleeing her abusive, lecherous, alcoholic husband, returns and submits to his will, and her mother, whose attempts at an intellectually-satisfying life are thwarted by her husband's need for clean shirts and who ultimately turns to an unsatisfying and unsuccessful adulterous liaison as a means of escape. Aine's Aunt Isabelle advises her thusly, after her outburst demanding respect:

"'You must never, ever let them see it . . . Aine, darling,' she whispered. 'You must never show them!' My mouth opened. 'Show them what?' 'You must never show men what you really feel,' she repeated. 'Men . . . eat feelings! They have none of their own and they live off other people's.'"

Aine seems to take this advice to heart and begins a lifelong habit of leaving things unsaid, lying to hide the truth, and being evasive with everyone, including herself. The one constant in Aine's life is Rupert's friendship, and her one goal as she travels through puberty into womanhood, is to win his love. What she finally realizes about herself as a woman and as an individual in her quest for his love makes for fascinating, dramatic reading.

The Song of the Tide is a lushly descriptive, hauntingly beautiful tale set in Ireland, England, and America, and each scene has an all-encompassing quality that surrounds the reader in a tangible atmosphere. The reader is a witness, not only to the beautifully-described exteriors, such as the eerie castle Dunbeg and the sultry state of Virginia, but is also privy to the interiors of Aine's mind and even her dreams. The story succeeds on all levels to draw in the reader to a well-constructed plot, a complicated conflict, and a satisfying denouement.