Connecticut Books

I think this is one of the strongest and most wonderful stories I have read. Family is not near as important today as it used to be. Makes you stop and think and appreciate those who will love and know you better than anybody else. I have read this book over and over. I have gone so far to buy the movie and watch regularly.

This book is pointless. The protagonist is on a major ego trip. We are supposed to believe that she is the toast of a research foundation and newspapers around the country because of very superficial interviews she does with people who are already in the news. Also, the author wants us to believe that on the one hand, the grandmother is a hardy person who will live well into her nineties, yet on the other hand she has dementia and other health issues. The author just throws things into this book for effect without considering logic. It is an incohesive, contrived mess.

These women are so dependant upon each other, it makes me wonder why the girls ever got married in the first place. I would hate to be married to someone who has to be so close to her family. What is the point in marriage, no wonder she was so worried about her husband leaving her she has no idea on how to be a wife. These girls need to grow up and move on with life "Leave and Cleve". The fact that the men were so willing to give up their own families, and become dependant on their wives family is totally unbelievable, and also have dinner together all the time come on how stupid. I did read the entire book however, because I do like Luanne Rice and I guess I figured that there would be more coming. Well I do recommend the author, but not this book don't waste your time!

I like Luanne Rice and have enjoyed her books. This book simply wasn't believable. Yes, you can love your family, but her portrayal of this family was over the top. My mother has dementia and is in an assisted living home. It is a wonderful, compassionate place. Georgie's obsession with her husband and family just got sickening as the book went on. Rushing home from Nick's family to be there to cut some cake wasn't fair to his family. Her other books are much better. I wasted my money on this one.

This is the absolutely worst book I have ever read in this genre. Scratching your finger nails on the chalk board would give more satisfaction. Don't even waste your time, there are so many other books out there!

I like a good easy read, but I would still like to read something I can enjoy, and get something from.....other than a stomach ache.
Bradford's story reeks with cliche's, predicatability, and obvious dilema's. Not the worst book of this genre I've ever read...but quickly spun, and too easy.

I loved this book because it is a wonderful short story by an author always known for extensive (400+ page) novels. The story is captivating and leaves the reader wanting more! Too bad this was only a short story. It was also a wonderful TV movie!

This book was really lame. It is riddled with cliches and it is shorter then a young adult novel. Total waste of time. The Lifetime movie was much better, so you know how bad this really was.

Barbara Taylor Bradford's "Love in Another Town" is a lightweight little book to read on a breezy summer afternoon, lying in the hammock. Her story unfolds smoothly, effortlessly, with apt descriptions of people and places; she has a sure touch with realistic dialogue, and a sure knowledge into her characters' hearts.

She swings into the supernatural with the account of a life-changing near-death experience of one of the women. All ends
well as people grow through misfortune, make their choices, find
authentic love and happiness.

Recommended for a couple of carefree summer hours under a big shade tree---lemonade would be good too!

The book is very over-simplified and the main hero of the story is a jerk!

He has left his wife, who still loves him, basically so he could seek greener pastures. When she becomes seriously ill, he just sort of pats her arm and looks forward to when she will die and not be a burden on his health insurance any more. His new object of desire is not much better - she spits venom at her college-age children for staying with their father in the town where they had grown up. It is way too convenient for the author that the wife dies and clears the way for our hero and heroine to get married, so they don't have to face up to how he ruined his first wife's life.

Add to that a few totally unlikely scenes, like the woman's ex-husband groveling at her to take him back after a few years (that never happens) and the stupid near-death experience, and you have a pretty silly piece of work.

Susan Henshaw's fortieth birthday rapidly approaches and Jed plans a "surprise" party for her with a new car as a gift. Unfortunately the local tramp is found dead in the front seat. Everyone who had an affair with her in the town of Hancock is a suspect including Jed. Susan and Kathleen have to do their best to clear him.

Ms. Wolzien has alot to live up to in her novels and this is not up to her usual standards. Her attempted red herrings just turn out to be loose ends. Susan and Jed never once discuss the affair--why--it almost gets him arrested and everyone else in town has told the police and Kathleen about it. This novel seems just sort of tossed together. It is however enjoyable for all that and I am slowly working my way through all her novels.

I was in my mid-30s when I read this one the first time. I thought then that maybe since I hadn't turned 40 myself, that I didn't understand why Susan was crying in the tub or flinching every time someone said something about Volvos being more her style than a sports car. But now that I'm over 40 myself, I really think that she was reacting more to the reappearance of a former rival for her husband's affections than the idea of no longer being 30-something. I do think that Valerie Wolzien did a great job of spreading the guilt and suspicion around. . .but to be honest, the murderer's identity seemed to have come out of left field. I had a hard time seeing where she planted the clues when I read this the second time. It also bothered me that, this being a series, and knowing we'll see these people again, she left so much unsaid and unresolved between Susan and Jed. In the end, when she goes and buys the car that SHE wants rather than the one "he" picked out for her, is that supposed to be the payback for his having hurt her by stepping out with the town tramp? In some ways, not knowing how they dealt with this kind of taints him for me in the subsequent books. When he's all loving and can't do enough for her in some of the later installments, I'm thinking, "You snake. Are you behaving badly again?" So. . .all in all, I just try to pretend this book was never written and enjoy the other ones for the pure fantastic pleasure they are. Don't bother looking for this one if it goes out of print.

Susan Henshaw is back with her friend Kathleen, who was a police investigator in the first book of the series and is now a friend and neighbor, married to a widower named Jerry. Kathleen lets it slip that Susan's husband Jed is preparing for a surprise party for Susan's 40th. birthday. Susan is already depressed by her approaching middle age and the fact that a woman named Dawn, who has had affairs with most of the men in the neighborhood, is back in town. The party becomes really depressing when a dead body shows up and Susan and Jed become murder suspects. There are no end of other people with motives, but the final conclusion is a weak one and the motive is pretty questionable. There are some nice touches, such as Susan's son Chad becoming a hero because of his knowledge of cars, but basically the book falls a bit flat at the end.

I wouldn't put this author in my top ten favourite mystery authors, but I enjoyed a couple of her other books. Her prose isn't sparkling, but they're pretty good in-the-tub reading. However, when I reached the conclusion of this one, I nearly dropped it in the bubble bath: the piece of information used to solve the crime is something that the author SPECIFICALLY tells us nobody knew. Because, if anyone had known this piece of information, the story would have ended right there. I re-read the crucial passage three times and every time it was there in black and white: the person who claims at the end to have spotted something is someone who specifically DID NOT.

This is otherwise not a bad mystery, and I like the way the author makes you get to like the victim a little, but it's very hard to get past that impossible solution.

Second book in the Susan Henshaw series.

Susan is days away from her 40th birthday when she find out that Dawn Elliot, the neighborhood tramp, is moving back to town and all of Susan's insecurities resurface when she once again must be reminded of her husband affair with the woman. But Susan has other things on her mind as well, including the "surprise party" that he husband is planning - but that whole thing doesn't work out so well when Dawn's dead body is found behind the steering wheel of the brand new car that Jed bought Susan for the big 4-0.

With the help of her friend Kathleen, an ex-detective, the two set out to solve the mystery of Dawn and the men she was involved with, including a strange husband, but this book quickly dissolves into naughty neighborhood goings on and storylines that could only be described as soap-operaeque. I don't know why I continued on with the series, other than its throw back to kinder gentler days of Dallas and Knot's Landing.

As a fan of the genre, this is a fine read about a very unique crime and its impact on the community. I found it well researched and unbiased.

The fact that the author is contributing a portion of the proceeds to the victims should more than offset any concerns.

Content gleaned mostly from public records.
Probably written under deadline and for a paycheck.
Do not recommend.

I found this a terrific read - neither too prurient nor too prissy. It was a horrific crime, and there are lessons - both for individuals and communites - to be gleaned. I read it in one long sitting - the author did a great job!

DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!

AMAZON REMOVE THIS BOOK FROM YOUR SITE...this is a disgusting attempt from a pathetic author and publisher to profit from a family that was tragically murdered. The case has not been to court yet and the author claims it is all about how the community came together, then why did he title the book in this manner... it is in bad taste. The title and subtitle are evident examples of the gross dis respect for the family that was murdered. The author doesn't have a clue or the right to profit from everyone's pain from this horrible and tragic event, that will always haunt many in the town and the family. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders and any other book retailer that carries the book needs to destroy these books immediately. The book is poorly researched and poorly written. Don't listen to the good reviews..they seem to be from the publisher. Anyone who reads this review please boycott all books from the author and publisher The Lyons Press, AKA: Globe Pequot Press, Morris Corporation, GPP.

Simply put this book is a great read. Yes it starts with the tragic murders of three people, but the murders are not the focus of the book. The substance of the book is how the community rallied together and supported each other in the face of that tragedy. It is a well written and inspiring story. I recommend this book to everyone, not just true crime readers.

This story is about terror and heros it is also about history and drama. This book was not the best book i have read but it kept me entertaind.

a glaring example of 'vanity press,' this 'author' has compiled thoroughly un-extraordinary prose and passes it off as something of importance and value. This thing was on a 99 cent table at books-a-million. I LOST 99 cents. Just wretched...

Paul Janeczko's collection of poems tells the story of the infamous Hartford Circus fire of 1944. From the gradual points of view of performers, parents and anxoius children, Janeczko leads his readers through the excitement of the Big Top event, to the horror and tragedy of the fire. From parents, freaks and photographers, the reader is lead through the terror and confusion of the fire and the anguish of the hospital afterward. The best poem in my opinion was not saved for last. The touching point of view of sally Weissman, the nurse attending the emergency room to which so many victems were rushed is this books most powerful moment.

I am very excited about the new format of books written in poetry, some of my favorites being "Love That Dog" and "Shakespeare Bats Cleanup." However, both of these are fictional stories and the format really DOES NOT work for non-fiction.

The poems feel uninspired and would have been much better expressed in, say, a historical fiction novel. Also, the book offers us no real information about the fire or the circus.

If you would like to get books written in poetry, please check out "Love That Dog" by Sharon Creech or "Shakespeare Bats Cleanup" by Ron Koertge. Don't even bother with this one.

The book Worlds Afire is the best drama book I have ever read but since I'm only 13 I'm sure that there is a lot more better drama books out there I just haven't heard of yet. This book is about "a circus gone bad" as I would say. It is also a true story that is going to haunt my dreams for the rest of my life. That's how good of a picture the book draws for you as you read. As your reading you can just see all the people dying in the torturous flames of the Hartford fire. The book takes place during the circus act of the tigers. The worst thing about the fire is that there is only one escape for all those people to get out of and barely half of them did. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone shape, color or size.

I read the other reviews and was shocked by what happened to those people. We spent two weeks in New England last summer and booked all our reservations from this wonderful resource. Every place we stayed was exactly like it was described in the book. An example of some of the inns we used were The Inns At Mill Fallls (wonderful and top knotch in every detail),The Dan'l Webster Inn (the dining room was excellent and service was also fabulous),Nauset House (a great value, interesting guests and a breakfast to remember), The Rangeley Inn (wonderful small communtiy, beautifully decorated and delicious food). We would use this resource again.

My husband used this book to plan a romantic getaway for our wedding anniversary in New England. From this book's description, a place named the 'Water's Edge Inn' sounded like the perfect option. However we arrived to find it a horrid place with tacky decor in the common buildings and were given a dark room with stained bedspread, a tiny window overlooking the parking lot, tacky old furniture, and decor last updated in about 1958.

As with any travel book, the author may only place ads for those that pay for them. However, I am deeply disappointed with how completely misleading the descriptions were.

This book also recommends The Vermont Inn in Killington, which was infested with fruit flies. When I tried to check out one day earlier, the innkeeper refused to credit my deposit, and I am taking it up with the credit card companies, as well as writing to all the guidebooks about the lousy service.

I am complaining to the guidebook to see if they will update their review.

Robert

I hated this book. Had to read it for class and half the time i wasn't really sure what was going on. I don't think that half the sentances were valid english. This book is just too far from the normal novel to be enjoyed or even understood. Last time i checked novels are suppose to be written in linear form...not all over the place

"Natural History" offered a totally different reading experience. It was like 2 books in one; one printed on the even numbered pages and one printed on the odd numbered pages; one in a narrative style and the other in a newsprint/scrapbook type style (including pictures).

The story is as much about family relations as it is about a murder mystery. As Billy Bray uncovers more about the murder he slowly uncovers more of his family's secrets. The novel covers the family dynamics involved in unearthing the past.

This book is out of date and has inadequate directions. The walk to Dudleytown is not open to the public, but the book does not mention anything about it. Upon arriving to Dudleytown, (one of the recommended walks) we were harassed by a local resident who came after us to ensure our car would be towed if we dared. Upon trying to find other nearby walks, we learned the driving directions were incorrect. More importantly, the walks we did find were wonderful and not even mentioned. This book is not much more useful than a map.

Q: What are we going to do today?

A: Let's go for a Hike

Q: Where?

A: Pull out "Nature Walks In Connecticut" so we can decide.

That's a common Saturday morning conversation at our home. This book has provided us with numerous outdoor plans to fill those Saturdays. Whether you're an experienced hiker or enthusiastic novice, "Nature Walks In Connecticut" will be a valued addition to your outdoors library. The suggested hikes are organized by region; western, middle and eastern Connecticut. Additionally, each hike is evaluated based on length, difficulty and little gems of nature you can expect to see (waterfalls, mountain vistas, shoreline views, etc.).

The authors have managed quite well to make this read like a guidebook rather than a geology text/roadmap. The trail descriptions include discourse on wildlife, flora, fauna and local history. Most of the suggested hikes are intentionally laid out as loop trails, so that you won't spend valuable time retracing your steps. I've found the maps, evaluations and descriptions to be fairly accurate, considering the changing face of nature. The maps are small, but useful for general purpose routefinding. I'd recommend backing them up with USGS topographic maps of the areas where you're planning to visit.

All in all, if you want to get outside in Connecticut but don't know where to go, "Nature Walks In Connecticut" will get you pointed in the right direction.

In early November 2004, I ordered an out of print book, "Families of Early Hartford", through Amazon for a Christmas present. Did'nt get it.

About monthly, I received a delay message...The order will be delayed because...

Today, I was notified that the book was not available and the order would not be filled. That was somewhat irritating.

I am particularly miffed, however, when I found the same item still adverised on the Amazon site. Sound to me like a very poor way to do business.

I rated this service as one (1) star only because there was no slection for ZERO stars.

An execellent resource for any genealogist who might be searching for ancestors from the town of Hartford, Connecticut. The book has an alphabetical listing by surname of the early settlers from Hartford, as well as a comprehensive Index which makes up for the occasional misplaced name. The book details dates of birth, marriage and death of several hundred individuals, as well as information on the names and dates of birth of children. A useful addition to the library of amateur and professional researchers alike.

I took this book with me on a 60 mile trip of the Connecticut heading through central Vermont/ NH and was sorely disappointed. The maps were okay but the book lacked an all encompassing map of the entire river that would have helped in the original planning stages of any trip. The text of the book was strictly written for people interested in watching birds and not serious river travellers. The text about landmarks and towns were fluff and had a description of one town with "congenial air, pleasant surroundings, and plenty of restaurants." When I stopped, a thorough exploration revealed no restaurants. And what does "congenial air" and "pleasant surroundings" mean? How about something substantive if I'm going to stop somewhere. A lot of the text is filler, just like this. It would be nice to have listings of stores and directions within the riverside towns and not pointers on where to find choice spots to watch birds. The author of this book could have done us all a favor by labelling it "Birdwatching on the Connecticut River for amateur river travellers and lightweights." The individual maps were acceptable.